#i am planning to do an even more in depth analysis of it

[0sbrain]

i have been enabled to be autistic about emesis blue so i will now study the first scene that absolutely killed me and one of my personal favorites in regards to cinematography

(screen recording so you can watch it first)

are you ready? let's go!

the phone call ends and we are overwhelmed by an unnerving silence. a clock in the room amplifies the sense of dread. it's beat feeling almost like a heart, while also grounding the scene on real time

the static guides us as scout turns his head to look at something off screen. the shot positions him in a clear comparison with the pawn on the chess board, the only blue piece surrounded by unlit red ones on and off the board. it is between the queen and king implying the lack of importance and agency he has. we can appreciate a triangular composition based on these pieces and scouts face, leading the eye of the viewer towards the aforementioned pawn. a couple of rocks help cementing the effect by filling in the negative space left in between scouts face and the pawn, while also adding to the idea that the blue figure being surrounded, as they stand parallel to the other red pieces

he sees something and we switch camera so we can see what he spotted. someone starts whitelisting hall of the mountain king

despite being able to see him, we are in an angle that alludes to scouts pov. the light cast by the lap burns his face making us ignore his features and guiding us directly to where his mother's face is peaking in front of the window, surrounding her by darkness. as we keep hearing the song, it builds up tension like winding a jackbox, becoming uncanny as it suddenly cuts to come back again like a record player getting momentarily stuck.

scout watches as her head drops when an off screen figure drops it. when it hits the floor the whistling ends breaking the tension to then pan to the left side of the room where we see the shadow made by an intruder wielding a blunt object

the clock stops ticking while we can see the figure standing on screen, on a first watch, our eyes will focus on the shadow as it is situated withing the only well lit area on screen, being also the place we are led to by the panning.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

this scene builds up tension in a way that misdirects the viewer to explore the uncomfortableness and terror of being frozen in place (fight/flight/freeze/fawn). we know something is wrong and therefore, something is about to happen. so we expectantly wait, unable to do anything about it. then, as it is about to end, we are made aware that the danger we were waiting for, had been creeping up towards us, out of our sight while we were staring the opposite way. this entire movie is incredibly crafted, but as a fan of cinema and a fan of horror, this scene is my favorite.

(thanks @hydepotions for giving me an excuse to be a little more autistic than usual)

#emesis blue is a love letter to animation and cinema and it has been at the back of my mind since the day it released #i am planning to do an even more in depth analysis of it #(maybe a video??? only time will tell) #emesis blue #tf2 #film analysis

[microclown]

Crowley and Aziraphale's communication in the final 15 is bad, but going back through the season I've realized it's even more prevalent than I thought…

not all of these miscommunications are a problem, but they barely have one interaction that doesn't include some form of lack of communication, so I thought it was worth highlighting the pattern

List under the cut, analysis at the end

Aziraphale doesn't tell Crowley about the naked man, Nina does

Aziraphale doesn't tell him it's Gabriel, he tell him it's Jim, Crowley sees it's Gabriel

"I feel like your exactly and my exactly are different exactlys" (aka miscommunication- assuming they're on the same page when they're not)

Cowley doesn't tell Aziraphale the stakes, that he could be erased from the book of life for helping Gabriel

The Apology dance is literally dancing around the issue. He doesn't want to apologize because he doesn't believe he is in the wrong, but they never talk through it, they just move forward

"Ah, we're going to the pub!" As they're walking in the door. so Aziraphale didn't tell him where they were going, he just lead him there??

Aziraphale and Crowley don't agree on how to get Nina and Maggie together, but they go ahead and execute their own plans without discussing it further. Crowley does ask "I'm lost, am I doing a rainstorm?" but Aziraphale has already moved on and doesn't answer him. He's already decided the ball is the better option, but he doesn't communicate that. Later, Crowley tries to tell Aziraphale about his plan with the rainstorm, but Aziraphale ignores him. "You don't want to hear about my plan?" Then when Crowley tells him the rainstorm plan was a bust, Aziraphale has no idea what he's talking about.

After telling Crowley about the Clue, Aziraphle doesn't let them discuss it at all. He literally cuts Crowley off from asking any questions about it "no! not another word."

When Aziraphale asks to take the Bentley, he doesn't really ask, he's telling Crowley he's going to take it. Crowley says no indirectly "You can't drive my Bentley." Aziraphale explains that he can drive because he has a license. So Crowley says "No" plainly. Aziraphale ignores him. Crowley says "No" again, louder, clearer, slaps Aziraphale's hand away, but Aziraphale still ignores him.

When Aziraphale tells Crowley what he learned about Gabriel in Edinburgh, they never discuss it fully because Crowley cuts him off to execute his rainstorm that they've also never fully discussed.

Neither Aziraphale or Crowley tell the other that Shax confronted them. More importantly, Aziraphale doesn't tell Crowley that Shax tricked him into revealing that Gabriel is in the bookshop.

Aziraphale is very coy with Crowley while planning the ball "wait and see!" He never actually tells Crowley his plan.

When Aziraphale suggests "just talking" to Gabriel, he looks pleased when Crowley says "Actually, I will." He doesn't seems to read Crowley's tone. Crowley then proceeded to yell at Gabriel and tells him to jump out a window. Probably not what Aziraphale had in mind.

Of course, the whole scene in the ball. Crowley doesn't tell Aziraphale about the demons straight away, he leads with a seemingly less urgent "somethings wrong". Aziraphale is barely listening anyway. He's too in his own world, too caught up in psyching himself up to ask Crowley to dance.

After the demons storm the ball, Aziraphale tells Crowley he's got a suggestion, but Crowley cuts him off "I've got it."

Crowley doesn't tell Aziraphale what he learned in Heaven. He doesn't tell him about Armageddon part 2, or that Gabriel was fired for not wanting to go ahead with it. He doesn't even tell him this during their big fight at the end, when you would think it would be a convincing point towards Aziraphel staying.

Neil has revealed that Crowley never told Aziraphale that he was living in his car

And then their final argument is laden with miscommunication, (people have gone into great depths analyzing this already, but I’ll just sum it up so it’s included) - Aziraphale assumes Crowley would want to be an angel again, but they’ve clearly never discussed this. Crowley assumes Aziraphale is on the same page with why heaven is so bad, but they’ve clearly not fully discussed this either.  Crowley can barely look at Aziraphale when he’s confessing. He can’t get out the word “partner.” He can’t finish his sentence “I would like to spend…” Then there’s “nothing lasts forever” which Crowley interprets entirely differently from Aziraphale’s intention. “I don’t think you understand what I’m offering you” “I understand, and I think I understand a whole lot better than you.” And then, when Crowley has given up on trying to communicate verbally, he kisses Aziraphale as a last “Hail Mary” to get him to understand. But of course he doesn’t. That’s not communication. 

So.

If you’re still with me, what’s the point of laying all this out? Well, a couple of things. I’ll try to organize my thoughts coherently. 

 _

Crowley and Aziraphale’s communication is beyond a simple fix

It is so much worse than I originally thought. What they need is couples therapy. They both need to become aware of the broken way they relate to each other, and they need to do a lot of work on listening to each other, giving each other space to talk, and being honest with what they know and how they are feeling. We needed someone to call them out, make them aware of this, but Nina and Maggie TRIED this season, and it was not enough. Unfortunately, I’m fairly confident season 3 will not just be six hour long couples therapy sessions. I’m not sure how much room for working on communication skills there will be at all. Neil has described season three as big, loud, and action packed. I have no idea how this issue will be resolved in that context. 

_

Something horrible I realized when making this list. Crowley’s relationship with Aziraphale is beginning to mirror his toxic relationship with heaven. Aziraphale develops a plan- taking care of Gabriel, investigating the clue, organizing the ball. He wants things to go just the way he has in mind. He does not let Crowley say no. He does not let Crowley ask questions!!! And now Aziraphale is running heaven? What makes us think he would treat Crowley any differently in a real position of power? It would have been so. bad. if Crowley accepted Aziraphale’s offer. Yes, Aziraphale and Crowley are on the same page on preserving the world and humanity, and yes they love each other and want to be with each other, but when it comes to what to do about it, they don’t see eye to eye. And neither of them know how to properly collaborate or communicate. 

_

Finally, why do Aziraphale and Crowleyhide things from one another? Simply, they don’t really trust each other. I mean they do, sort of, but not entirely. They have a deeper trust. They trust that the other cares about them, and won't harm them intentionally, but they have so many deep rooted issues with trust from their past with heaven and hell that it overflows into their relationship. People have said Crowley keeps information from Aziraphale to protect him, but that also comes from a place of mistrust. He doesn’t trust Aziraphale to protect himself. He doesn’t trust him to do what he would do with that information. Similarly, Aziraphale doesn’t trust Crowley to let him do things his way. They don’t know how to collaborate! Not really. It's something they want, but were never taught. Collaboration was never encouraged in Heaven or hell.

#not sure I believe in the final point anymore #I think their motivation for lying can be summed up to Crowley is being protective and Aziraphale is in denial #reposting because I needed to make some edits #this is mostly to organize my thougts #I might make some separate posts later #good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale x crowley #crowley #aziraphale #crowley x arizaphale #good omens season 2 #good omens 2 #go 2 #gos2 #neil gaiman #good omens analysis #good omens meta

[bobauthorman]

The Luffy-Kid Connection

With the recent chapter of One Piece being released, I thought I should talk more about Eustass Kid This isn’t an in-depth analysis of his character and motivations, but instead delves into how he parallels our main protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy.

From the very beginning, Kid is introduced as a dark reflection to Luffy, from having roughly the same bounty (Albeit a little higher) and having a Number 2 with a 9-digit bounty of his own. They even want the same thing, to be Pirate King. Hell, when they are first seen fighting together, they unveil the thematically same technique.

However, while Luffy and his crew have saved numerous nations from destruction and freed them from tyranny, Kid is infamous in-universe for wreaking havoc on the common folk. It could be easy to write this off as propaganda or exaggeration, but as we see in chapter 594, Kid has no problem with crucifying people he’s beaten. This is a level of viciousness we’ve only seen on the worst of enemies, and a sign that whatever’s said about Kid may not be entirely fabricated. And while Luffy has always been concern about non-coms getting caught in the crossfire, Kid makes it clear he doesn’t care who gets hurt outside of his crew.

Furthermore, there is the matter of humility. Luffy always had people question or mock his dream of being Pirate King, but he just shrugs them off, only throwing down with those who plan on trying to get his way of that. Kid, on the other hand, admits to killing people who laughed at him. Remember the time in Mock Town when neither Luffy or Zoro bothered to fight back against the Bellamy Pirates for mocking the concept of dreams? I sincerely doubt neither Kid or Killer would be so restrained.

When the story brings Kid back into the spotlight, we see he is trying to form an alliance among his fellow pirates…just like Luffy, at the time, went into an alliance with Law to take down one of the Four Emperors. And while Luffy made it clear at the time that he wanted to beat the Emperors except for Shanks (Or, more accurately, that Shanks not be the first), Kid’s prospective alliance was made for the explicit purpose of beating Shanks. And while Luffy’s alliance works out, Kid ends up betrayed and cheated by the pirates he tried to trust.

In Wano, where both men are beaten and captured by Kaido, Luffy and Kid end up in competition over who can do the most labor (And, I am deeply impressed that Kid can carry just as much as Luffy with one arm). But while Luffy helps Old Man Hyo and learns a new Haki technique, Kid walks out as soon as he can, and doesn’t.

And finally, we reach Elbaf, where Kid finds himself in a rematch with Shanks. A very short rematch, to be precise (I was rooting for Shanks, btw), but it’s here that we see two more old friends, Dorry and Broggy from Little Garden. The same technique that once cleared the path for the Straw Hats to sail on their way, it is used to sink Kid’s ship. And speaking of this fight, recollect back to Alabasta, when the Straw Hats saw the Barogue Works fleet but chose not to attack, not wanting to waist their time on small-fry. Kid, on the other hand, made the choice to attack the lesser pirates in Shanks’ fleet…which played a big part in why Shanks waisted no time stomping Kid.

In short, Kid’s role is in part how integral Luffy’s natural kindness and empathy is to his becoming Pirate King…by showing how screwed he’d be without it.

#One Piece #Manga #Analysis #Eiichiro Oda #Monkey D. Luffy #Eustass Kid #Pirate #parallelism #Saobondy #Wano #Jaya #Alliance #in-depth #Straw Hat Pirates #Kid Pirates #Trafalgar Law #Kaido #Shanks #Roronoa Zoro #Hyogoro #Haki #Gear 3 #Chapter 1079

[room-surprise]

Hi there, I’ve been reading your Kabumisu fic (SMHTGOTG) and I am obsessed!!! I love the way you interpret Kabru’s and Mithrun’s personalities and adapt their stories to a modern world. I can’t wait to see more of Mithrun’s past and them meeting the Laios gang!

I truly feel like you gave them the love and depth that Ryoko Kui wants for her characters. I really appreciate it after seeing more one-dimensional takes about Dunmeshi characters on twitter (of course it’s twitter) and even tumblr as the series got more popular.

Kui put so much effort in creating a beautiful and heartfelt story, trying her best to reflect complicated social issues through fantasy setting, showing how characters with varied backgrounds/ races overcome prejudices, grow to respect each other’s differences and how human they all are deep down, all while encouraging fans to care for their health, but all some people zoom in is which race is the most obviously problematic, which race is allowed a free pass to hold prejudice, which character is not that great actually did you not know they were racist at some point in the story??? (Growth? Never heard of her. Ignorance? That’s a CRiME!)

Ironically, all of that just reminds me of how performative the canaries are when they act all shocked and offended about Mithrun stating the slur the elves used to say all the time

(So sorry for the long rant 😭, I just really appreciate your fic and the analysis your made about Dunmeshi among the increasing bad faith takes)

OMG... Anon thank you so much for writing to me! This absolutely made my day. You're very sweet. Honestly I have the best readers in the world you're all paying such close attention to what I write and picking up what I put down, and that makes me so so so happy 😭

The #1 thing I ask myself while I'm planning and writing my fics is "does this feel like something that would happen in Dungeon Meshi?" And I guess I'm doing an OK job of that because people keep telling me what my writing feels like :D

And you are 100% right, there's always been bad takes and oversimplifications of the world and characters of Dungeon Meshi like what you're describing, but since it's getting more popular that means more people are talking about it, which unfortunately means, statistically, that there are going to be more bad takes…

On the positive side, there's also been lots of wonderful new fic and art that people are making, and lots of good takes too! Just a bit frustrating to wade through the swamp of bad stuff to get to the treasure.

Gotta just try hard to stay positive and focus on making good stuff you love, and not stressing about stuff that's bad and makes you upset.

And never apologize for writing me a long message!!! I agree with everything you said and I was so happy to read this when I got up this morning, so thank you for taking the time to write to me. You can write or DM me any time (though obviously you can't stay anon if you're DMing me lol)

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #kabru #mithrun #my stuff #fanfic #kabumisu #kabrun #kabrumithrun

[the-eeveekins]

The 17th Day of G-Witch: Cycle of Sin

Here it is, the one minute scene that spawned the 2nd most popular ship in G-Witch! It's a real shame Nika was horribly underutilized in S2 and basically just locked away in a room half the season like they didn't know what to do with her. I would have liked to see her have to confront the naivety of her worldview with the reality of the world.

I love this moment. I think it's the only time in the series we see Miorine drop her guard around someone other than Suletta and genuinely smile. I think this is the moment she accepts that she has real friends in Earth House.

God, look at that longing on Suletta's face. She's so in love with Miorine and missed her so much it drives me insane.

They broke out the horror vibes for this scene. Eri and the coven are more than a little terrifying, especially that little smile on Eri's face as she casually cooks Elan's brain.

Here's the greenhouse conversation. There's already a lot of great analysis surrounding all the symbolism in this scene, from the tomatoes to their distance within the design of the greenhouse itself. One thing that has always bothered me was the idea pushed after the next few episodes that Miorine didn't talk to Suletta enough before executing her plan. And yeah, logically you would say that she should have tried a few more times, but Miorine very clearly picks up on the fact that talking to Suletta will not turn her against her mother's manipulations in just this one conversation. She very clearly notices how uncomfortable Suletta is during this exchange, but even with that discomfort, when push comes to shove, she'll listen to Prospera, even if it means giving up on her dreams or killing someone.

You can see that Miorine was about to push this further, and I personally think she was about to ask that armor piercing question of "Would you hurt me if your mom told you to?" But when Suletta mentions that she even sees their relationship as a result of her mother's actions, and that everything good in her life is because she listens to her mother, I think it breaks her resolve and her heart. You can just see the pain on her face as she realizes that no amount of words are going to get through to Suletta and break her idolization and worship of her mother. So she goes and does the only thing she can think of next...

...which is to immediately go and confront the person responsible, Prospera! I know Miorine is shown repeatedly to be out of her depth when dealing with Prospera, but I just love her in this scene. She loves Suletta so much that when she realizes her fiancee is practically brainwashed, she immediately goes to the source of the problem and tries to confront it head on to help Suletta.

I am a little sad that at no point does Miorine seem to clock the discrepancy between what Prospera tells her about them surviving the Vanadis Incident 21 years ago and Suletta only being 17. I know it's a heated moment and she's not thinking logically at the time, but I feel like it should have given her pause later on to realize something else is going on.

This whole scene is great, Mamiko Noto and Lynn gave an absolute amazing performance, especially Prospera's chilling lines while whispering into Miorine's ear.

I do dislike how at the very end of the series it tried to say Prospera had given up on vengeance entirely for Eri's sake long ago, when it very clearly plays a role in her actions with Miorine over the next 4 episodes. At the very best, she does need Miorine to win the presidential race and stain her hands with blood in the process for her plans for Eri. On the other hand, later events make it look like none of this matters and she was just dragging Miorine through hell for no reason other than petty vengeance against Delling's daughter. (More on that in a later episode though!)

#25 days of g witch #g witch #the witch from mercury #gundam #g witch spoilers

[pennyblossom-meta]

Incoming analysis on The Temptation of Elminster by Ed Greenwood and how Elminster's relationship with Mystra is a direct parallel to Gale's. Should be able to get it out soon. EDIT:(currently a bit overloaded with work, but working on the analysis. Might need to split it since it's turning rather monstrous).

As a very short summary of the bigger piece of meta, I'll say this:

The way Mystra, in her infinite wisdom, is placed on a pedestal is quite... something. It's certainly unique to see how her Chosen (i.e., Azuth, Elminster) are happy to be "tempered tools for her to use". Here's a quote from Azuth, to Elminster:

"We are her treasures, lad...we are what she holds most dear, the rocks she can cling to in the storms of wild Art. She needs us to be strong, far stronger than most mortals ... tempered tools for her use. Being bound to us by love and linked to us to preserve her very humanity, she finds it hard to be harsh to us...to do the tempering that must be done. She began the tempering of you long ago, you are her 'pet project,' if you will, just as the Magisters are mine. She creates her Chosen and her Magisters, but she gives the training of them to others, chiefly me, once she grows to love them too much or needs them to be distant from her. The Magisters must needs be distant, that creativity in Art be untrammeled. You, she has grown to love too much."

That being said, Ed Greenwood is a so-so writer with an enviable imagination. But after reading this book, I now understand Mystra's allure to wizards better and the power dynamics between Gods and mortals in Faerûn. It's not pretty and there's a lot of whimsical fancy going about that she indulges because Mystra herself sometimes falls prey to her mortal side and the Chosen are a link to that remnant of humanity.

However, Mystra has the following twist: she is a woman who is primarily a goddess, being described as an unfathomable first love with superpowers, a mother figure, a teacher, a lover while being petty — and suffers from the idealistic narrative perspective of the Male Gaze.

At the same time, it's important to understand that Mystra's plans are for the long run, and possibly in league with Ao's commands to maintain the balance of her portfolio; otherwise all magic might collapse.

In the main post, I've an in-depth analysis of Azuth's message to Elminster. I'll highlight some of the more important passages:

"You are the dearest of her Chosen, yes," Azuth said with a smile. "She speaks often of you and of the joy you've brought her in the times she's spent playing at being mortal."

"All who work magic serve Mystra whether they will or no," he said. "She is of the Weave, and every use of it strengthens her, reveres her, and exalts her. You and I both know a little of what is left of her mortal side. We've seen traces of the feelings and memories and thoughts she clings to in desperation from time to time, when the wild exultation of power coursing through the Weave...that is the Weave...threatens to overwhelm her sentience entirely. No entity, mortal or divine, can last in her position forever. There will be other Mystras, in time to come."

"Mystra loves you as no other," the god told the mage, "but she loves many, including myself and others neither of us know about, some in ways that would astonish or even disgust you. Be content with knowing that among all who share her love, you are the bright spirit and youth she cherishes, and I am the old wise teacher, None of us is better than the other, and she needs us all. Let jealousy of other Chosen...of other mages of any race, station, or outlook...never taint your soul."

And this describes very well how Mystra's relationship with Gale went. My perception is that most Chosen (if not all of them) are in love with Mystra and that this love comes from the nurturing feelings that the Weave produces.

By the end of the book, after trials and tribulations aplenty, Elminster says this:

"Oh, Mystra, ye've been my lover, my mother, my soul guide, my savior, and my teacher," Elminster said aloud. "Please, hear me now."

Are wizards generally in lack of nurturing, motherly figures or is it just the Chosen? Mystra seems to turn her relationship with the Chosen into a dysfunctional, co-dependent mother-son-lover-teacher situation. When she needs the men who are her Chosen to "grow up", she distances from them and gives them tasks, while keeping them fondly within her reach — as they look after her fondly from afar, remembering the romance of youth.

#bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 meta #bg3 spoilers #mystra #elminster #ed greenwood

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

World War Z is one of my favorite novels, but every time I reread it I am reminded of how painfully American it is. Very "third-way centrist," very "Democratic Liberal during the Bush years," very "I believe in America, we're the best country on Earth, let us show you the light." it is vehemently anticommunist, and plays the "both sides" card by having a character whose family suffered under Pinochet claim that imperialism and white hegemony are ghosts from a bygone era that developing nations need to get over; "far-left is just as bad as far-right, why can't we all just get along?"

A lot of the stories are interesting, and I want to do an in depth analysis of the timeline of the Great Panic someday, but this is a book that suggests Colin Fucking Powell would have been a great bastion of democracy and freedom, so I can't take any of the politics seriously anymore.

Iran becoming a nuclear nation and going to war with Pakistan

A Chinese civil war splits the PLA and dissolves the PRC, but not a single word is spoken about the multiple separatist movements in the United States after they were abandoned by the federal government for YEARS in zombieland (only that they were "given the option to be readmitted peacefully" when the feds came marching back)

Floridians turning Cuba into a "capitalist utopia" and Fidel Castro taking credit for the subsequent Cuban Evolution

Nelson Mandela personally signing off on an Apartheid-era plan to abandon half the country as human bait

The whole situation between Israel and Palestine (that is a can of worms I am neither qualified nor willing to dissect here)

Hollywood military propaganda gives people the will to live

The British royal family "shielding the soul" of the UK under the burden of their godlike mandate?!? (gag me with a fucking spoon...)

This book would be VERY different if it were written today. Published in 2006, it was obsessed with the Cold War but barely glossed over the War on Terror with one reference to "Gulf War 2" (Iraq) and a handful of references to a low-intensity "brushfire war" (Afghanistan) that ended in American victory by 2008, although a Pyrrhic one. I do not remember nor can I even imagine a time when ANYTHING within this book could be considered plausible outside the deepest fears and/or wettest dreams of the most diehard 'Mericans.

The more I get into it, the worst is sounds. I think I like the idea of the book more than the book itself now.

The prologue ends with a hint at an eventual sequel. The narrator says that a lot of people consider it too early to write a history book about a war that only just ended (and in fact is still being fought in some northern countries), and that it will take a few generations for people to fully process what happened. "Perhaps decades from now, someone will take up the task of recording the recollections of the much older, much wiser survivors." That is a book I would like to read; a retelling of WWZ with far less hero worship and characters who don't all sound like a 30-something American SNL writer.

#world war z #max brooks #politics #geopolitics

[thesweetnessofspring]

This is going to be kind of long so thank you for reading beforehand.

When do you think Peeta decided he was going to enter the arena with the goal of protecting Katniss instead of fighting for his own survival? I have read so many comments from people that think that ever since he was reaped alongside her, he had decided she was the one who should make it out alive. Now, this is probably true but I think it presents his character as one dimensional and Katniss is constantly mystified by him and even refers to him as hard to predict. After reading the books several times, I think that he believed Katniss had the highest chances of surviving thanks to her skills (his mother’s own assessment probably replayed on his head too), but he fully decided to protect her after she got an 11 as her training score. Even though it was very well deserved, it also made her the Careers’ main target. It’s no coincidence that after this, he requested to be trained separately.

This takes me to his private coaching session with Haymitch. There’s a popular tumblr post where Peeta just tells him that he has been in love with Katniss for 11 years and even though it’s funny, I’m not so sure this is the way he chose to go about things. While it is true that he had feelings for Katniss, he also knew Haymitch was not a sentimental person and that he probably wouldn’t respond well or even consider a strategy based on feelings instead of facts. Especially at that point where they had just begun to develop a bond and it wasn’t as strong as it was in Catching Fire, for instance. So it makes more sense to me that Peeta made a case of how Katniss had the highest chances of winning the games which would only increase with their help and probably Haymitch was able to tell there were deeper feelings involved there which helped devise the star crossed lovers strategy in the first place.

Also, the night before the games, he tells Katniss: “Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to show the Capitol they don't own me”. So he kept thinking about it which sounds like his mind was still reeling with possibilities about how to make his last days meaningful while staying true to himself which shows he had much more depth than what we sometimes give him credit for.

But I don’t know, am I reading too much into it? Was it really as simple as Peeta loving Katniss since the beginning and that’s it? I love your analysis so much, thank you ♥️

Non, I love your thoughts and careful analysis of Peeta's character here! Too often he's reduced down to "in love with Katniss" and while that is obviously a huge cornerstone of his character and a fundamental aspect of how he makes decisions, it is not his only facet! And those different parts of him contribute to how he loves her as well.

I can only imagine that being reaped alongside your crush would be horrifying. Katniss volunteered and took her place first and he had to have hoped that she would win and come back. And then his name gets called and suddenly, for his wish to come true, that means he would have to be dead. At first, I'd imagine he'd think like Katniss. Hope they wouldn't have to raise a hand against each other. And although Peeta was unlikely to be reaped, he still could have. In this world, I imagine every person imagines how they'd play the games, Peeta especially. And if he hadn't been reaped with Katniss, he had his strategy down. Get sponsors. Win them over. And could it be that he even joined the wrestling team as a "just in case"? He says himself that he couldn't go down without a fight. Peeta was not planning to be a pacifist.

His mother certainly put doubts about his ability to win in his head when she declared Katniss the survivor, the winner. And the thing is, the Games have a huge element of randomness. Annie winning just because she could swim the longest and a variety of factors. If Katniss had gone after that bow and arrow, a Career might have gotten her--she was never a close-range fighter. Without Peeta to make her desirable, she might not have gotten as many sponsors. Peeta could have won on his own, even if his chances were smaller. For his mother to not even give him any hope of his survival? That's rough. But it was also possibly the first time Peeta could acknowledge that Katniss was more likely to win.

And they are a team up until Peeta asks to be trained separately. Part of that is constructed by Cinna, Portia, and Haymitch, but also the natural partnership Katniss and Peeta have. Neither wants the other to die, both would want the other to live if possible. Could Peeta have believed they could work together from the start? It's possible and a strategy I'm sure many did use, if not to the extend they did pre-Game. But so many things put the Games in Katniss's favor. She was the girl on fire, he was the boy next to her. She volunteered for Prim, he was the weepy boy. She got the eleven to his eight.

All of this had to accumulate to the outcome Peeta thought was inevitable: Katniss really could win. And she had a little sister and a mother that needed her, and a boy who would likely become her boyfriend. Peeta was the extra boy no one would really miss. So, yes, while I think Peeta was also trying to help Katniss, he hadn't discounted himself until that training score.

As for his session with Haymitch, the idea that Peeta came in with his crush as a first option also doesn't make sense. I do think that Peeta came in like "look, Katniss has the best chance of winning, and 12 needs a winner. What can I do to help her?" That's when the idea of infiltrating the Careers came about, Peeta making contingency plans of how to protect her physically in the arena from her toughest competitors. Haymitch picked up on Peeta's crush I'm sure. And Haymitch is the strategist, so if he brought in the star-crossed lovers, I wouldn't be surprised. He seems giddy about it after the interview, how well he can sell it, while Peeta is moody. Peeta was willing to do it, but how mortifying to have to use such a tender, private affection harbored for eleven years to save the life of the girl you've admired for a decade.

Suzanne is a careful writer and so Peeta still thinking about ways to not let them change him had to have come with consideration of how he was feeling at the time and how that strategy played out. Could it be he didn't realize the impact he was already making? Or that he was afraid his plan wouldn't work? He had to get in with the Careers which would have been no easy task, and if he failed, he'd just be another victim. Was there anything more he could have done? I'm sure that idea was growing and growing in his head as his seemingly imminent death approached. What did he live for in his short life? How could he be more than a tool for a government that oppressed so many? And I think this line shows that his thoughts weren't 100% on Katniss. Saving Katniss was a way to do this, but it was not like it was in Catching Fire. Then, for both of them, it was only about saving the other person. But for Peeta, the boy with the crush, the boy who didn't want to be a pawn, it was about Katniss but also about him. They're very interconnected and can't be separated because of their connection and the circumstances they found themselves in.

#the hunger games #peeta mellark #anon ask #long post

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Hey folk - I don't have a tip jar or anything for the blog, but I do support it and the general research work I do through Patreon! If you're appreciative of the content I produce here, even a $1 pledge would be a huge help.

This Patreon supports not just the blog, but the time I spend studying animal legislation, litigation, and regulation, the conferences I attend, and the formal research papers I publish. I don't get any external funding for my work, and it's all done in addition to my day job as a freelance fact-checker.

Right now, I'm working on three separate original research projects, all of which I plan to submit for publication in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Patreon funding is what pays for the time it takes to do this extensive, in-depth data collection and analysis, as well as write the paper and pay the (very high) fees to publish it open-access where anyone can read it for free.

The current papers in progress are:

An examination of all the different ways zoo businesses are defined in the United States, and why it matters (legally, practically, within the industry itself, etc).

An examination of the different definitions of an animal "sanctuary", and why it's so complicated and often confusing.

A cross-comparison of the standards and policies of all five major zoo and sanctuary accrediting groups in the United States, categorized by topic and publicly available as an interactive spreadsheet.

In the interest of total transparency, because it matters to me: I struggled to update the Patreon for a long time, and I want to recognize that- sometimes I feel like shouldn't promote it now, because of that past difficulty. When I was newer to the field and this work, I was really uncomfortable talking about work that wasn't finished, or that dealt with sensitive industry politics. I also over-committed on perks, especially with regards to trying to send out physical rewards (stickers). I put a lot of thought into what to offer on Patreon before advertising it again to address that. I've found my footing regarding comfort levels for what, when, and how much I share as well. I've committed to updating my patrons monthly - and hopefully more frequently! To those of you that supported me through that struggle-bus period: I cannot thank you enough. It got me where I am today, and I wanted to acknowledge that.

#patreon #crowdfunding #please support the blog

[headingalaxys-spicy]

So how about a Big county Y/n, Eventually Y/n is bigger than Russia 2x More bigger, they Have everything like everything, strong soldier like US, bigger army like China, and Powerful weapon like Russia, even happiest county like Finland [ btw i search it on google ] Dang like they can take The heck out of everyone, their most land or their whole country , even the yandere , so yandere!US, Yandere!Russia, Yandere!China, olso Yandere!Germany... So how would they react and act.. Eventually i am curious about this

- ⛩️ anon

While I can’t write a complete Mary Sue character (to me that archetype gets boring REAL quick) I think I did get pretty close. Afterall all good characters have some relatable weaknesses. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for your patience ⛩️ anon!

Yandere! America can go either way.

I can see him wanting to join you or plan out your demise. Depending on how many times you beat his ass in a war and how masochistic he feels like being will determine how he may just show up with a “treaty” that's rigged with a ton of caveats that make him seem that he’s in the position of the upper hand when he isn’t. The man's ego is being crushed right now, so go easy on him lol.

You absolutely get on him about some of the issues that he needs to handle, like health care and the quality of life for his citizens. Bro is definitely gritting his teeth and barring it but deep down he kinda just wants to be smoothed in hugs by you. Have you live with him and he lead but for now he can’t really think of a feasible way to do that.

He’ll actually become depressed that he isn’t number 1 in the world and will not show up for awhile. But trust me he’s been obsessively watching every video, news report, magazine cover, etc of you and your many successes. He’s even gone so far as to have some of his FBI agents go to your nation to see if it’s really as serene as the articles and stories make it to be and when they come back to confirm it. It makes him all the more depressed. Eventually, though he’ll come to the conclusion that the two of you should be married so that he can still seem like he’s the one on top. After all he has no intentions of allowing other superpowers like China or Russia to have you first. So the extent that after a few months of him being in a deep depressive haze. He’ll regain that vigor 100% concentrated on having you to himself. That also does mean that he’d go into some crazy war for you in a heated attempt at keep away.

Yandere! China knowledge really is power in his case along with wisdom

Since he’s mature and has seen the likes of this similar to Rome. He’s going to play it cool and not be rash. But on the inside, he’s contemplating how in the hell you got power like that in under the span of 100 years. He is going to do an in-depth analysis of your inception to your current-day success.

At meetings, he will make it a point to ALWAYS sit next to you he will either glare or bribe whoever dared to sit next to you with food, medicine, or better trade deals if they promise to NEVER sit next to you. That right is reserved for him and him alone. He will start building his relationship with you to see if he can extract extra information about your success and plan on if he can try to take you down and claim you for himself so that he can finally beat the likes of America and Russia altogether while having someone as lovely as yourself under his control. He will go out of his way to bring Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner to every conference doting on you and showing how versatile and refined his palette is. He will ask you your preferences and stick to them and they will be at the forefront of what he and his chiefs cook you for every meal. Eventually, he will get more intense by asking if you want to go shopping in Beijing, Sichuan Province, and Guangdong and dressing you in all of the trendiest fashions in China.

Since you tend to have no reason to fear for your own safety, your guard is down. After all, you’re the most powerful nation. But lacking the wisdom about some of the older nations' darker tendencies, you wouldn’t have anticipated that Yao began to poison your food. It’s not like it makes you vomit or anything, but you’ll be exhausted to the point where you’re unable to board a plane and would decide to stay with him for a while longer. After all, he’s being so kind and understanding.

Essentially what’s happened is that his Yandere tendencies have morphed into Munchausen Syndrom by proxy and you’ve fallen into his hands without you really taking notice of it. His wisdom, mixed with crazy yandere tendencies, wins this time.

Yandere! Germany being diplomatic is his forte

He’s definitely bought a few books on your culture, history, art, etc. He does keep track of all your happenings. He’s intrigued by how you were able to accomplish such feats in only the span of a century. He definitely admires your hard work and dedication to the improvement of your society and your people. And yes, he’s bought a book titled:

How to romance a (Insert Country Ethnicity here) for the hard-hearted German. Although learning from his mistakes in previous romance attempts, he does add some nuance and subtlety to his actions.

He’ll always allow you to have the opening comments in the world meetings and the closing comments. He loves hearing your lovely voice and will actively make sure that you have even more speaking time than America, China, and Russia. Blatantly showing his nepotism. He knows that he can score some points with you this way. He always has keynotes for you and what you need in his types up notes before every meeting and he will always ask if you need any help and if he can have some “private” side conversations with you about trade deals, alliances, and if his citizen s could be able to freely roam in your country if he gives you “x”. He’s extremely diplomatic in his attempts to woo you. Even though on the inside, he’s screaming, “Ja! Ja! I get to be closer to (Y/N) than anyone else!”

Slowly he will begin to pry on how you have advanced military technology and how you keep your secrets. He does have a secret notebook where he keeps track of all the things that make you successful and takes note of it. After all, you have to get to know your target well in order to take them down. However, once he figures out that taking you down would only have a 2% success margin he would move to trying to have a permanent alliance with you. So if he’s ever in a pinch, he can depend on his sweet (Y/N) to help him out, and in turn, he’ll be devoted to you in any way that you need.

Yandere! Russia just wants you to hold his hand dammit!

From the start, Russia won’t mince words: He wants to become one with you and you to become part of mother Russia. He’s the most direct about what he wants and he’s lived long enough to know that there are some bets you simply don’t take, and trying to be sneaky, wagging war, or trying to take you down from the underground will lead to issues in the future. So he will be forthcoming about his intense affection for you. After all why be afraid of him if he knows that you could already kick his ass? Heaven's sake, he even leaves his beloved metal pipe of pain at home. To show you that he is dedicated to becoming a good ally to you and that he just wants your attention and affection….

ALL OF IT. However, that does mean that he isn’t above being intimidating to others, particularly America, China, and Germany, during meetings. He tries to hold back that ominous dark aura that he has, and to some degree, it works because it does manage to evade your attention, and he’s able to concentrate it on whomever successfully managed to take the second seat beside you in meetings. (The four of them have managed to create a schedule on who gets to sit next to you and have all made a group chat lightly threatening not to sit next to you ever. All four of these nations understand that they can’t get into a hight level fight over you if they want to stay alive but also not have you intervene. Your disapproval of them in any way stabs them in the heart.) He does sit only about an inch away from you, and sometimes, his scarf will find its way around your neck on occasion in a loving manner.

“Oh, Y/N aren’t you cold, da? I can share my warmth with you.” If we're being honest, his behavior toward you is kinda cute.

He’ll always have some new draft of an alliance for you to look over, and with each attempt, he will bring in a bottle of your favorite booze, a large stuffed Russian polar bear, or other types of gifts. He’s trying to stay in your good graces while presenting himself as a gentleman. He’ll also offer to drive you back to your hotel or ask if you want to see a play with him or gaze at the nighttime sky. He will also take note of your interests and tailor his dates to that. Anything to keep you the hell away from the others. He also has a habit of grabbing your hand ‘by accident’ before the start of every meeting because he likes to feel your warmth. His motto in this scenario: “If you can’t beat them join them!”

#hetalia #yandere hetalia #yandere #yandere america x reader #yandere america #yandere russia #yandere china #hws #hetalia fandom #yandere germany #yandere headcanons #hetalia drabble #headingalaxys writes stuff #headingalaxys speaks from the void #hetalia headcanons #not my best work but it had to be done

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 20 - My Friend Bashi (Part 1)

We had reached the milestone of 20 episodes, and I want to sincerely thank the readers for sticking with me so far. :)

I also have a small announcement: after finishing liveblogging this episode, I will take a very small break from the show to do some reading of articles and comics instead.

It's starting to feel awkward - constantly referencing some canon materials without reviewing them on this blog proper, y'know? I originally planned to do this all at once, before the movie, but I think it'll be more fun to do it in multiple reading breaks, during the show.

So many kids in this city, and Joris is friends with none of them. Except for Tatak.

All analysis and plot leaves my body as I think about how much Kerubim cares about Joris.

He's really not perfect, but no matter how much I joke about his failures, he really does care and try his best.

He's too nice for me to actually make fun of in any serious manner.

It's very nice to see the more down-low, bittersweet moments of parenting and childhood portrayed. It's also nice that it's just between the two of them, without Simone.

I love her, but it's very cute to see just Joris and Kerubim, and how they act when they're alone together.

I think that it's interesting, that even at 7yo, Joris is already at the... "this one social interaction was a disaster, and it's over, just irredeemably over"-level overthinking about relationships.

Perhaps it's knowing that for Kerubim it, often times, was like that. Kerubim did inspire very many people to either hate him with passion, or leave him.

Perhaps it's the fact that, besides Kerubim, Kerubim's friends, and Simone, he doesn't have a family; and besides Tatak, he doesn't seem to have any friends: and that makes him struggle with the idea of losing relationships.

Keke I will be real, I think Tatak is his only friend in general.

...Man. I am making myself sad by writing these things.

I don't think Joris ever had good social skills in his life. Just issues after issues.

As I've said in the previous posts, both Keke and Joris have an issue with needing to be liked always all the time, and the way it makes them do things to seem Cool and Awesome. Even if Joris has this issue in a very introverted way.

It might just be normal kids stuff, but it does add a certain flair to the things we see him do as an adult, if one accepts the idea he's always been like this.

Kerubim's way of connecting to others is to draw from his own experiences, and compare them. It's a more... mature way of cheering up people, than just saying "it gets easier!" like he used to.

For all his faults, Kerubim has grown emotionally from his youth. But it can be a thin line between making everything about yourself, and trying to say that it gets better from experience.

Even so, Joris cares a lot about his experiences and life (cough cough. the Lore), so it works for them, both as a way to distract him and to cheer him up. Kerubim knows this, it's his go-to technique.

Anyway.

I think Kerubim either vastly overestimates the depth of what happened here (I highly doubt Ecaflip is giving him tasks because he's "the best"), or he is lying to Joris, because "I spent my whole childhood afraid that my father, who is a living god, would eat me Zeus-style, because of shit like cleaning the toilets badly or not delivering the fish on time." isn't a nice story.

This is exactly what I'm talking about.

A small aside: according to The Wheel Of Destiny #8 Kerubim Crepin (which will be one of the things I liveblog during the Reading Break), Bashi and Kerubim became friends before the events of episode 3, Strich Hunt.

It makes a lot of sense, because before the events of that episode, Ecaflip had... a very rough way of treating and speaking to Kerubim. Even if he had a soft spot for him, enough to save him (and then manipulate him) during said Wheel of Destiny article, I think Kerubim only truly cemented himself as Ecaflip's most favourite in the Strich Hunt episode.

Also, considering the fact that in Wheel of Destiny, little Bashi reports to knowing and strongly disliking Atcham, it's safe to say that in this episode we have a confirmed instance of Atcham being canonically present and simply not mentioned.

...keke sure is the guy who says "im the last living crepin. laugh" while having a brother. insane.

I yet again want to gush about the portrayal of relationships in this show.

I think all of us can relate to meeting someone, and not thinking much, — not yet knowing that they will turn out to be one of the coolest people you've ever met.

Anyway, tangent incoming.

One thing that's interesting to me, is that Kerubim is never depicted as having friends in the temple. From what we see, he spends most of the time alone, or with Ecaflip.

The reasons may be:

He is Ecaflip's favorite. He had important tasks from the moment he joined the temple. It alienated people.

He was Atcham's brother. Kids are judgemental, and Atcham is a perfect bullying target. Chances are, they didn't like him due to the association.

He came in very mentally ill and unsociable, due to, y'know, being orphaned, and never managed to make friends because the impression that he's "the sad mentally ill kid" stayed.

No wonder that he got anxious around three people, and then immediately trusted them when they were nice to him.

He probably hadn't had anyone be nice to him in ages. Or, like, acknowledge him too much, at the very least.

I won't elaborate on how I think Atcham was treated in the temple lest I fucking scare you, (Something-something, literally catboy Rule of Rose,) but I will say that, just like Atcham is still violently mentally ill due to whatever happened to him, Kerubim's experiences with loneliness and alienation as a child most likely fueled his dishonesty and attention-seeking behaviours as an adult.

So I understand why, even though Bashi kinda sucks, Kerubim is so broken up about losing him. There's a lot more tragedy to this than one can first see.

It was a very important moment for Kerubim to finally have a person in his life that wasn't his father (who constantly threatened to fucking eat him), one of the kids who either disliked him or were too intimidated to talk to him, one of the random monks, or his severely mentally ill brother (who fucking hated him.)

He was his first friend.

#ep20 #wakfu #dofus #krosmoz #ro liveblogs dofus #atcham crepin #kerubim crepin #joris jurgen

[thelastunicornflipouts]

EDIT: thanks for the likes, comments, and reblogs! I am planning on doing an analysis on each of Schmendrick’s spinoff novelettes, since every single one of them adds layers to his character. I have a huge soft spot for movie-Schmendrick - he is the cutest patatino ever - but unfortunately he lacks most of the depth book-Schmendrick has.

“The Green-Eyed Boy” analysis. Was Schmendrick a neglected child?

Though it’s – maybe - not one of Peter Beagle’s masterpieces, I still think “The Green-Eyed Boy” does a perfect job in its shortness (it’s not even 20 pages long) in portraying Schmendrick’s character and in explaining his behaviour not only in the short novel itself, but also in the other works that feature Schmendrick, being them the ones that predate it (like “The Last Unicorn”) or subsequent ones.

“The Green-Eyed Boy” is a short story about Schmendrick’s apprenticeship with Nikos, the narrating voice of the novelette, and it opens the short tales’ collection “The Overneath,” which includes another Schmendrick’ story, “Schmendrick Alone.” Even though the latter it’s another interesting portray of the magician, “The Green-Eyed Boy” seems to be much more poignant when it comes to explain where Schmendrick comes from and why he acts the way he does.

GREEN EYES

Despite most people would remember Schmendrick’s movie-version, where he has light teal eyes - most possibly due to the overall blue palette of the movie, which would have made the colour green too much of a distraction, but at the same time his clear eyes make a nice contrast with the overall dark tone of the movie – he is described in the book version as having bright, almond-shaped green eyes. It is those green eyes that are his most defining characteristic (rather than his large nose, which it is still mentioned in the novelette but it’s not as notable as in the movie), hence the title itself. But, even though they immediately catch Nikos’ attention and are what ultimately make him decide to take Schmendrick as an apprentice, they seem to be more as a stigma than else, as Nikos mentions: “I don’t know where he got them” … “but no one in his family ever had eyes like those.” Immediately, Schmendrick is presented as separate from his family. His most striking feature is what cuts him off from them, doesn’t matter where the eyes come from. He is different, visibly different, and he is treated as such.

SCHMENDRICK’S PARENTS

What follows next it’s Nikos meeting with Schmendrick. Or, more precisely, Nikos interacting with the boy’s father while the latter gets abandoned at his place. Schmendrick’s father is immediately presented as a rough man, obsessed with his work to the point that he could only measure his kids’ worth with how much they could help with the cooperage. He never directly addresses Schmendrik – except for when he leaves, where he simply gives him a slap on the head and tells him to work hard – and he is always dismissive, when not downright emotionally abusive, calling Schmendrick – who, let’s not forget, is twelve years old in the novel – “useless”, commenting how he cannot help with any of the family's trade, his uncles' included. He does not allow Schmendrick to talk on his own, not even when the boy has to tell his name, and argues with Nikos when he does not accept any fee, in fear that the wizard would send the boy back home.

There’s plenty of information – if indirect – about Schmendrick’s mother as well. She is never seen, only mentioned. In “The Last Unicorn” it is played for laughs, when a very drunk Schmendrick interrupts the head of a cursed village to comment how his mother never liked him. Here it seems clear that his mother has put a lot of expectations on him since his birth, giving him a high-sounding name (“… which was the name of an ancient hero, best remembered for slaying a many-headed sea monster, but dying himself in the battle.”), a name his father immediately objects on, commenting on how it was his wife insisting on giving the baby boy such name. Yet, she is nowhere to be seen, even though Schmendrick’s father comments that she “sends love.” She will never visit Schmendrick, as if he is something she wishes to forget, a boy she put many expectations on which he then failed to comply. I would not be surprised if she is the one who has begun to call the child Schmendrick, a name the boy is so used to that he would not answer any other, as he himself admits, bitterly aware of the meaning and implications of such nickname.

NEGLECT

Schmendrick, as already said, seems bitterly and acutely aware of his nickname, to the point that he can give Nikos a way too much accurate definition of it (“The boy who is sent to do a man’s job” … “The person utterly out of his depth, far beyond his pitiful capacities.”). Nikos himself is shaken both by the name itself and Schmendrick’s self-contempt. There is another one key element, though. This is the first time Schmendrick speaks. And he speaks clearly, with a pretty articulate vocabulary for a boy his age. Until now he has kept quiet, staring in front of himself, apparently even unable to tell his own name without his father’s intervention. It might sound counterintuitive until you realize that Schmendrick is simply doing what most neglected and emotionally abused children do to keep safe: he is trying to avoid to attract attention on himself. Until his father speaks, Schmendrick keeps quiet, staring at nothing, and acts anxious when he is addressed with a question, even if said question is as simple as “What are you called, boy?” He knows far too well – and Nikos notices too – that if he attracts attention, he will get insulted or dismissed as a fool, so he prefers to stay silent. More painfully, he keeps quiet until his father leaves. Only then he speaks freely, in front of a stranger – a potentially scary stranger, being Nikos a wizard.

Immediately after, Nikos comments that all he has done for Schmendrick for the first days was feeding him, musing that maybe his parents had not given him enough food. Schmendrick, still in Nikos’ words, seems to be overly focused on food for a while, something that it’s hinted even later in the story as one thing that might stop Schmendrick from leaving after he has caused a mess with magic (“Go, put your things away and see what’s left of yesterday’s potato stew.”). Given that Schmendrick’s dad seems to be pretty obsessed over work and that Schmendrick’s two (or three, since “Schmendrick Alone” mentions three brothers, but it might be just a mistake since the story is a few years following “The Green-Eyed Boy”) older brothers are said to be trained to take over the cooperage, it is perfectly plausible that Schmendrick, being seen as the most “useless” and expendable child, is given less food, to the point that, at twelve, Nikos is even convinced that the boy has been starved and it is canon that also adult Schmendrick has a very thin frame. Might it be a consequence from childhood, when he was so used to be hungry that he is not bothered by feeling it? In “The Woman Who Married The Man In The Moon” – which is by far the darkest among Schmendrick’s short stories – he is about to refuse Sairey’s invite to dinner, before he accepts and comments: “Many thanks. I sometimes forget that I am hungry.” This might be a clue that Schmendrick is used to hunger pains, both because of his vagrant lifestyle and his childhood.

SCHMENDRICK’S APPRENTICESHIP

Aside from mourning on Schmendrick’s difficulties and mistakes, Nikos is extremely adamant that his student was a hardworking, smart, and mindful one. Schmendrick studies an awful lot and practices incessantly, giving the reader a much different portrait of him from the one anticipated by his father. The boy is far from stupid, and he seems to be – even though Nikos never says it directly, only hinting it through sentences that inform the reader that he had let Schmendrick the run of his private library, or that Schmendrick was an extremely attentive student who not only understood but also could elaborate the lessons – the best student the old wizard has ever had, aside from the natural power Nikos had sensed. Schmendrick is capable and clever, as other stories hint (it is said that he is quite good with riddles and charades, can cipher, knows multiple languages and is wise beyond his years), still it is his motivation to do all this that seems to be his worst hinderance. Schmendrick does see the underlying theme of magic, he knows that nothing is forever, and everything yearns to be something else. So it is his desire. He has been seen as a worthless fool for all his life, and now he wants to be seen as something different, more powerful, and more respectable, such as a wizard just like Nikos (a sentiment that it’s much better portrayed in “Schmendrick Alone,” where a 19yo Schmendrick constantly thinks about what Nikos would - or wouldn’t - do or say, in the circumstances he finds himself into, to the point he even conciously mimicks some of his tutor's mannerisms). Schmendrick is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, wanting to prove others and himself who he really is and what he is capable of. His most annoying, and notable, characteristic in “The Last Unicorn” is his attention-seeking demeanour and his tendency to brag to whomever interacts with him long enough to let him do so. He alternates moments of incredible wisdom with comical lack of style which are only apparently at odds. Schmendrick is a very smart and capable individual who yearns for praise and attention, a child who has always been measured for what he is not able to do instead of his real capacities. This, however, in a twisted self-fulfilling prophecy, is exactly what makes difficult for him to perform magic, despite all his genuine effort. He sees magical talent as instrumental for him to be recognized – to be seen, and this is what it’s causing him so much trouble and failure.

SARDANA

In the last pages of the novelette, the reader is introduced to the only (acquired) family member who comes to visit Schmendrick, to “see if he was happy and treated well,” an apparently throwaway sentence that it’s instead very telling about Schmendrick’s parents and brothers’ consideration of him, since they have apparently forgotten about him or do not care how he is doing. Sardana is one of Schmendrick’s brothers (the middle son, from what it’s told in the story, which lets us know that Schmendrick has at least two adult brothers while he is still a child) wife and she is very vocal about her worries about Schmendrick. She too has felt an outcast in the cooper’s household - since, as she says, hers was a combined marriage for business reasons - and Schmendrick was the only one who was good to her. Not much else is said about their bond, but it is safe to say that young Schmendrick has seen himself mirrored in poor Sardana. Later, it becomes apparent that Schmendrick, who should be 13 or 14 years old around this time, has a strong infatuation for Sardana. This is extremely telling. Schmendrick, who has never received love or, simply, care and affection, is unable to tell the difference between romantic love and platonic love. He mistakes Sardana’s concern with love, a very common reaction among people who had been emotionally neglected and abused, who might think that the person caring about them is in love or become extremely clingy to those who show affection to them. Very telling is Schmendrick’s reactions. He pesters Nikos for guidance on what to do for Sardana. Schmendrick has been considered a helpless fool until now and puts his personal value in what he can do, not who he is. He cannot think that Sardana might appreciate him for him – which she does – but only for what he might be able to do for her, which will lead him to perform a very dangerous spell that might cost him his sanity.

ESCAPISM

Another thing that can be inferred from “The Green-Eyed Boy” is very covert in the story itself, but it gets clearer in every other Schmendrick’s spin-off short story. In “The Last Unicorn” Schmendrick is the character who appears to be the most genre-savvy about stories and fairytales, while in other novelettes, especially in “The Woman Who Married The Man In The Moon,” it’s obvious that he possesses a wealth of tales he tells others or himself. Most importantly, in the same novelette, he tells these stories right in the moment in which other characters need comfort and soothing, being them lost and confused children or a grieving widow. This might be a sign that Schmendrick is well into the habit of escapism, which might have begun from a young age. Being a lonely child, neglected by his family and – safe to assume from a comment from Nikos – bullied by the rest of the townsfolk, it is very likely that child Schmendrick might have begun to read and invent stories he then told to himself to keep himself company. As previously said, Schmendrick appears to have the tendency to space often in “The Green-Eyed Boy”. While his family considers this a sign that he might be just a simpleton or tossed in the head, it might also mean that he is dissociating from the situation – in “The Green-Eyed Boy” Schmendrick is shown to do that right when his father is insulting him. His might be a coping mechanism to feel less alone and to protect himself when others attack him.

#The Last Unicorn #tlu #schmendrick #schmendrick the magician #the green eyed boy #peterbeagle #schmendrick novelettes #schmendrick spinoffs #schmendrick analysis #child neglect #emotional abuse #review and analysis #schmendrick's childhood #I work with abused children #and they painfully share many characteristics #schmendrick was definitively a neglected child

[aidenpriceless]

Which Shrek character would excel the most in PFL, in your opinion?

Greetings. Apologies for forgetting this reply in the drafts, hopefully you are not inconvenienced by the delay. Am I correct in assuming that you would like me to draw some comparisons between the cast of the Shrek animated movie franchise and the roles of our agents? In that case, this question would require an in-depth analysis of their abilities for me to formulate a satisfying response.

There are plenty of characters within the source material, but let us stick with our main entries: Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, and Puss in Boots.

Shrek

Superhuman Strength (diminishes when transformed into a human)

Durability (survived being burned alive)

Can travel on foot for miles without tiring

Hand-To-Hand Combat (Krav Maga, Irish Street Fighting)

Survival skills from living in the swamp

Improvising plans

Knowledge of fairytales and ogre lore

Powerful roar he can use to blow people backwards

Bonus abilities from the original book: swallowing lightning, heat vision, fire breathing

If we were to compare Shrek to any of our agent, we might see resemblances with Agent Washington and Agent Maine. His durability and being a jack of all trades would certainly make him an asset to our organization. He is likely to meeting our standards, in terms of performance. His temper, however, can cause many issues and further observation would be required to establish the proper measures we need to take. 8-/10

Princess Fiona

Master Martial Artist

Superhuman Strength (As an Ogre)

Durability

Expert Weapon Combatant (in the alternative world of Shrek Forever After), can hit targets while blindfolded

Team Leadership (in the alternative world of Shrek Forever After)

Princess Fiona is most similar to Agent Carolina, as we have seen the speed with which both are capable of landing hits. Her already enhanced strength is a great addition. She would benefit from using our camouflage armour enhancement and become virtually unstoppable. 9.5/10

Puss in Boots

Combat Proficiency (mostly as a swordsman) despite his small size

Sharp claws

Expert thief and hunter (thanks to speed and fluidity of movement which he also uses in dance challenges)

Distraction, using his cute nature

Guitar playing

Implied to be at least bilingual

Even more so than Princess Fiona, Puss In Boots is fast. Due to his ability to deceive, he would benefit from a holographic projection enhancement such as the one assigned to Agent Connecticut, who shares the usage of blades as her main weapon. In short, there is potential, but the determining factor is the presence and focus on the mission. Those values may not align with this character. I would not send him on a mission alone and not expect him to wander on his own. 7/10

Donkey

Empathy

Ability to keep secrets

Diplomacy, with which he has successfully changed others' stance regarding people or issues

As you may have noticed from exploring the franchise yourself, Donkey's special...Skillsets do not unfortunately include combat, which is the main requirement in hiring our agents. (3/10) If we are not strictly talking codenamed agents, there is plenty of members from freelancer personnel who could instruct him to a suitable profession. Namely, our field medic for simulation troopers, mr Frank DuFresne.

#shrek #rvb #agent connecticut #agent carolina #agent washington #agent maine #frank dufresne #project freelancer #pfl

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Thoughts on Oak after reading the stolen heir?

DISCLAIMER: not everyone is going to like this and probably even less will agree, so keep in mind that this is just my opinion because you asked for it and i'm willing to give it. please take whatever measures you need to protect yourself and not start discourse about my opinion on my post.

i spoke about my thoughts on Oak a little in this post, but i'll go into more depth here.

i felt as if many of Oak's characteristics were plucked from his family and stitched to him without rhyme or reason.

like. do i find the fact that Oak trips and accidentally murders 11 people fucking hilarious? absolutely. no question. do i think this skill is at all supported by his personality, present actions, or what we are given of his background? absolutely not.

i think it makes sense that he would be schooled on how to use a sword, given Jude and Madoc's skills. i don't think it makes sense that neither of them would give him the time in their day to teach him less aggressive forms of defence (i mean really, what else is Madoc doing in exile that he can't teach his only son basic defence and de-escalation tactics when he clearly did so for Jude whilst in the middle of planning a coup d'état?), nor does it make sense that Oak would not request this of them if they didn't offer.

the Death Mode Activated aspect of his character was sort of just dropped on our heads like an anvil in a Road Runner episode. it left me going ??¿?¿¿ 😵‍💫 ?¿¿??¿ and it felt more like a plot device, or a way to make him stand out from the likes of Cardan (king of witticisms and being down bad for scary women), than something that would actually suit him.

and i expect this might be intentional, but to me, Holly made Oak extremely unrelatable. he's "devastatingly beautiful" (to apparently everyone else– the hooves are not an issue for me, but personally i could never get down with the blond hair thing), charming in a smarmy sort of way, an alleged lovetalker (or whatever it's called, i don't remember), an immortal prince (and soon-to-be king) of Faerie, and he's really really good at killing people.

already, there's too much going on there for my tastes.

but then you add in the fact that he doesn't want the throne for no reason other than he doesn't like the politicking involved, and yet he physically inserts himself between danger and other royals? intentionally?? sorry but you're already balls deep in court politics there, my guy.

in the end, i found i didn't have much sympathy for Oak, because when Suren dropped the bomb and bridled his ass, i was cheering her on. it was the best damn thing she did in the whole entire book. i was delighted, even, that she now has the opportunity to humble him in a way he's never been humbled before.

i genuinely hope most of my feelings regarding him change in the next book. i am rooting for this trajectory for him, because it's not as if i want to cavort in his misery. i just do (for now).

–Em 🖤🗡️

thoughts on Suren

more theories and analysis

#the stolen heir critical #like i can't explain succinctly why i was not really a fan #i just wasn't #he lacked the depth of Cardan while not being different enough in tone for me to separate Oak from him #the stolen heir #the stolen heir spoilers #suroak #oakren #holly black #suren #oak greenbriar #asked and answered #nonnie

[mdhwrites]

FYI, Amphibia actually got to have a full 20 episode season for its third and final season, while Owl House's third season was shortened to three specials. So don't go saying Amphibia exists as an excuse that Owl House could do better without needing more time when that show got to have a full season 3.

Answering this late night because it's just kind of... Frustrating because I chose the examples I did for a reason. The blog they're responding to for context.

So, part of the point of the blog was to compare two elements that got roughly the same amount of time. The same amount of episodes/appearances and critique which one did it better. This is also part of why I stopped the analysis when the characters finish their arcs because Amity finishes her arc BEFORE the show's shortening could have even affected it. Before it could be excused. Dana has said (interview here) that Eda's Requiem was in production when news of the cancellation came down. That is still two episodes AFTER the latest point, the one that is the most equivalent with Sasha's arc, that I place the end of Amity's character arc, Looking Glass Ruins. Amity's arc, or failure to properly have one, is NOT a product of the shortening.

It is just a product of bad, wasteful writing. Amphibia was able to do an arc more impressively, more robustly and more meaningfully to its actually story than TOH was in the same amount of time. The ONLY difference is that yes, Amphibia's plot got to move forward but that isn't an argument in Amity's favor. In TEN. EPISODES (and more appearances), Amity has literally NOTHING to do with the actual overall plot of The Owl House. She is a romantic subplot who doesn't move other characters' arcs forward, doesn't add to the world building besides a single time of going to a new location, or even adds much depths to the themes because of how botched her motivations for her change are. Or, you know, how there's a lot implied Amity but actually very little exploration of her character or relationships (this is part of why Alador's change of heart sucks so much because Amity seems to give zero shits about him before suddenly being a daddy's girl) which isn't nearly as compelling as what Sasha got because her appearances are DRIPPING with character and exploration.

This also ignores that Amphibia is quite literally INFAMOUS for the amount of episodes that don't technically need to exist. There are a LOT of episodes, even in S3, that serve more to add flavor, fun and small bits to theme than move the story forward. I love this flavor because Amphibia is genuinely fun and has a lot of fun with its world so it actually has flavor but... Well, it's not like it couldn't have been shortened. I actually wrote up an outline for how to do it but decided that that deserves its own blog if people are interested because it is still pretty long and doesn't actually address the real problem here.

Amity's arc finishes before the shortening. It wasn't affected by losing out on those extra episodes. It was written as intended for her going from enemies to lovers. That is part of why I feel it's so okay to compare the two because if Amphibia had been shortened, Sasha's arc might have had to get worse. Amity's literally didn't get affected by TOH's though. Maybe how she is post her arc could have been explored more but that's it. Her actual arc to becoming a good person was untouched. I am harping on this because I am SO TIRED OF HEARING THIS FUCKING EXCUSE.

But despite that, her arc also did very little actually with her and/or the world. That's the bigger point. You can argue that TOH had plans to do that post her arc (Reaching Out shoots that concept in the head admittedly) but why wait until then? Why be that wasteful? Even if they had three full seasons with 20 episodes each on average, Amity's arc, at its furthest point, takes up a SIXTH of that time. Ten of Sixty episodes. And in that time, they do such a piss poor job actually exploring her changing and wanting to become different. Meanwhile, Sasha spends 9 segments, because True Colors and the like are counted as one segment in the overall segment count, of a show with 106 segments. A bit less than ten percent. Even if we say 10 segments to include Commander Anne, it's still under ten percent of the runtime, which is WAY less time devoted to Sasha's arc percentile wise while Sasha ACTUALLY FUCKING MATTERED. She is also explored, expands the lore of the world, show us sides of it we wouldn't get otherwise and actually presents compelling, thematic arguments that challenge Anne and the show. Now yes, Amity doesn't literally get the full runtime of her episodes but she gets the majority of almost all of them but Looking Glass. If it's literally time spent on a plot line featuring Amity? She probably still clocks in at just around the same amount of time for her arc as Sasha did for hers.

TOH has flaws that run DEEP. Flaws in priorities, planning, pacing, actually exploring its own world or keeping things consistent. Amity is actually one the best examples of it because while yes, I like the character in S1... It didn't feel like she was actually ready to have her arc wrapped up soon after Winging it Like Witches. There was simply too much potential, too many problems in the way between her and Luz, or her and happiness in general, too little actually explored about her place in the world, for it to wrap up in two episodes or so.

And then it did, despite the fact that it wasn't shortened at that point. Then you look back on her arc and holes just keep showing up. Not because of Disney. Not because it was gay. Not because of the shortening.

It's because it was badly handled and not actually well written, especially when compared to its contemporaries. It just looked that way for a while but looking like something and being something are vastly different.

======+++++======

Sorry for how repetitive this blog probably is. I'm just really tired of hearing this excuse.

Edit: Shout out to the fact that someone actually, before the blog was published, asked me what would have happened with Amphibia if it had been shortened like TOH. So... I'll set that one for the morning.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #amity

[middlenamesage]

I’m flattered by the asks I’ve been receiving these last few days. And I love that it started happening during the Aquarius Moon this month, as my North Node is Aquarius, and I’m definitely looking to move more in a direction of supporting community however I can.

Fun fact though: I’m actually more of an astrology teacher than I am a chart reader. I do continue to welcome asks on different kinds of charts, from natal, to different types of transit charts, to synastry (solar returns aren’t even my specialty!). And the best questions for me are more specific ones. Especially if I’m gonna be having asks coming in more frequently and might not have time to devote to a mini analysis for a whole chart.

However, I believe that the most fulfilling way for me personally to support community when it comes to the astrological community, is to teach. For me, astrology has been a personal tool that I’m so grateful I learned for myself and can apply to my own spiritual journey. I believe this is a big part of why astrology has been spiritually healing for me, whereas most healing practices or insights that were delivered by a practitioner (particularly 6th house practitioners part of the mainstream medical system) were harmful or just not helpful.

I love the idea of assisting people one on one to a place in their astrology education where they feel confident enough about both knowing the information, and being in relationship with the Universe, that they can produce their own astrological insights in the context of experiences in their own lives. I do have a small amount of experience with teaching, as around a year ago, I gained a couple students from Twitter that I was giving weekly or every couple weekly one-one-one lessons via webcam to. (And I’ve taught a friend irl fairly in depth.) I think my students have had fun with me because it’s been a little bit like having a personal astrologer for them to keep coming back to… but my objective is to show them the process in how I reach the insights, and how they can start to reach insights by themselves.

Anyway, I’m starting to think it’s time to “open up the books” again with my astrology teaching. 💡 This is something I did free of charge with my first go around, as money is not in any way my motivation with this pursuit. An energetic exchange is important though, so doing this in the future, my policy is that I’d be willing to discuss whatever budget is realistic for someone, and also willing to discuss a trade if you sell any of your own services of products.

This isn’t yet my official advertisement and I’m not yet officially opening the books. Life feels quite chaotic (even though I feel blessed for my current spiritual mindset), so I’m going to need to wait at least until after this upcoming eclipse to put any teaching endeavors forward into motion again. And still at that point, I envision that I’ll only take on two students at a time, and might need a waitlist, as I’m feeling behind in other areas of my life, and it is really important for me to have the time and energy to give my best to anyone I’m teaching.

I’m intentionally not putting any hashtags on this post because my followers are people who already naturally saw something in me that resonated with them, without getting a reward for it, so y’all deserve to be the ones aware of this upcoming chance. If any of you find yourselves with questions about this or already find yourself thinking this is something you’d like to do, please let me know here as it will help me to assess my specific goals and plans moving forward with teaching again.

Cheers 🌞