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calehenituse-brainrot · 1 year

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Hiiiii may I request a very obvious and everyone knows it— a simp, pining, very much in love cale? With a dense reader who doesn’t realize they’re making him flustered- dense and oblivious? :>>

Thats all u can choose how u want to write it :))

Oh, ur works are so gooooodd btw :DD

LETS GO BABE !!! AND THANK YOU 🥺🥺💗

im gonna make this short as hell because i need sleep and it's three in the morning. im loopy as hell and couldnt think of how cale as a character would simp and this is the best i could do, im sorry 😭

Alver was a bit elated, to be honest.

After the war, things finally settled down and the lives of the citizens of the Roan Kingdom settled back to normal, or perhaps even better than before.

The talk of heroes was still a warm topic amongst the nobles and commoners, especially about Cale Henituse, the most praised hero of the continent.

Despite the heavy nickname he carries, Cale Henituse continued to be himself — not that Alver was surprised — and still became that bastard guy that Alver trusts.

Cale was chosen to handle the matters a Prime Minister would handle, gaining the position as the proxy of the Prime Minister — a position that was still vacant, of course reserved for Cale himself. But if the man himself knew of it, he'd immediately run away so Alver declared him to just be a proxy to keep the man by his side with the reason that he hasn't found someone fitting for the position yet.

Of course, Cale wasn't given as much as work as an actual Prime Minister are usually given. Alver was kind to his dongsaeng, so he would make sure Cale still has enough rest to slack off for awhile.

During those times, Cale would rarely come by to visit the Royal Palace, which was absolutely understandable. Alver himself would not want to visit his workplace if he's given a day off if he wasn't the Emperor and practically living in his workplace where a political dispute is always happening.

'He's been visiting often, hasn't he?'

Alver glanced up from his paperwork to his dongsaeng who wss reclining on the couch of his study, just sitting there and munching on cookies, this time without Raon.

"Cale..." Alver sets his fountain pen down, looking at Cale with a slight frown on his handsome face. "Is there something wrong?"

"Of course not, Your Highness," Cale answered quickly. "Nothing is wrong."

Alver pursed his lips into a thin line, not believing Cale once a bit because he knows his dongsaeng and while it is probably not something particularly serious from how lax Cale was, Alver was sure it was still something that bothers the redhead.

Alver hummed, taking another sheet of paper from the piles that were on his desk. "Then, is there a reason why you're here?"

"Can I not spend time with my Hyung-nim?" Cale asked with a raised eyebrow as if he was completely serious - Alver knows that he's not because why would Cale be here and spend time with him when he had been whining the other day about how looking at Alver's face was enough to remind him of the stress of work?

Alver shook his head, deciding to just accept Cale Henituse being contradictory as usual. He wonders why he's still so confused when he should know best that Cale Henituse is a walking contradiction and everything he does is confusing.

"Well, if you're staying here, might as well know that Dame [Name] is going to be here again for a private audience."

"From the [Last Name] Household?" Cale questioned and Alver let out a chuckle, "Is there any other one?"

You were a lady from the [Last Name] household, the head family being your single mother, Baroness Charlotte and you were the eldest one out of the three daughters the baroness had. People had originally thought the daughters were going to get married off to older noblemen who were willing to pay off their dowry but due to the Baroness' competence and your clever mind, your sisters have been pried away from the clutches of older noblemen as you were both enough to help your sisters to live.

Your household was compassionate towards orphans and the poor even before the war, providing food and shelter to the ones who needed them. This gives your family very good support from the commoners and loved ones, always being helped by the commoners with the little things. Your family had been very neutral when it comes to siding with the Princes as you all only focused on yourselves and those who are in need.

During the war, Alver had you and not your mother be in charge of sending out help to those who are in need, citizens of the Roan kingdom or not, and to make sure everyone is safe. Due to seeing his thoughtfulness, your family eventually sided with Alver. You had been exceptional in carrying out your duties and earned quite the fame for being the representative of the warm and generous Roan Kingdom, so when you returned, the title Dame was given to you for your services.

Cale would know that, not only because you were an important figure in what would be Roan Kingdom's history regarding politics and international affairs, but you had always coincidentally been wherever he was during the last few years so your title was given pretty quickly and earned much more respect from the nobles.

"Right..." Cale turns away from Alver.

Alver let the conversation to sink into his brain. Why did he have to say that to Cale? The man has been present every time you had to have a private audience with Alver, which had been a frequent event because you were building an establishment to house the homeless.

A knock was heard from the other side of the door of Alver's study.

"Come in."

You stepped into the office, dressed as formally as usual with a white shirt with ruffles and a long, fitted red skirt that flares around your lower calves. There was a folder clutched close to your chest, most likely the cause of your presence here.

"Oh!" You sound elated when you saw Cale in Alver's study but then turned back to look at Alver. "Your Highness, I didn't know you were expecting a guest."

"Dame [Name]," Alver greeted you with a relieved smile. "Please tell me you've brought me good news regarding that housing property case."

Cale stood up from the couch, approaching Alver's desk as well, curious about what good news you were bringing that you were smiling so brightly.

"Of course," you say, closing the door behind you and approaching Alver's desk. "The verdict's out -- the housing property is still within its area and not Viscount Chers'. We sued Viscount Chers for destroying some of the building he claimed to have entered his estate and won, so he has to pay for the cost, damages, and also interest."

Cale has heard of the case before. Viscount Chers had thought the housing property was being built on his land and had ordered his guards to destroy some of the building. With you supervising the project, you immediately sued Viscount Chers for his actions.

"Dame [Name], have I ever told you that I love you?" Alver smiled at you as he received the folder in your hand.

Cale jolted a bit upon hearing Alver's words and glanced at you, seeing your smile as you spoke, "Flattery gets you nowhere, Your Highness."

Alver sighed. "Shame."

Cale wanted to ask since when were you and Alver gotten close enough to be joking around like that. Of course you had been close to the two of them, but it seemed you have gotten more familiar with Alver. Just in time, Alver caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow, confused why Cale looked like he had a lot on his mind.

"How's your family, Dame [Name]?"

"Oh, my, thank you for asking." You cupped your cheek and closed your eyes as you continued, "My mother is well, but my sisters have been going out to parties more than ever. I think they're starting to have people they fancy."

Cale tilted his head, interested. "You seem relaxed about that."

"It's a part of being young," you told him. "Besides, I'm so busy to the point I can't really keep them safe forever. It's like having kids of your own, I guess. What about you, Cale-nim? What would you do with your own kids?"

Cale let his mouth speak before thinking properly, stumbling out his words. "I guess if we have kids -- wait, no, I mean, I already have kids, like Raon, Ohn, and Hong."

Alver watched this with a raised eyebrow, a knowing smirk forming on his lips as he watched his sworn brother trip over his own words and overexplain things. 'Is this why he had been in my office for the last few days?'

"I'm not the type to restrict them too much from experiencing life," Cale told you. "I don't want to be someone they grew to hate because I held them back from living their lives."

You smiled softly at him and Cale grinned, patting himselfon the back for his answer. "That's actually a very good insight for parenting. I might need to remember it once I have kids of my own."

"Aw, look at you both, talking about kids," Alver teased, the shit-eating grin on his face made the alarms in Cale's head come to life.

He caught on.

"Speaking of, Dame [Name], I heard you've been getting many letters regarding marriage," Alver brought up the rumor he had picked up a few weeks ago. He didn't think that such a rumor would end up being something so useful.

"Marriage?" Cale asked, his whole body going tense.

Your cheeks are tinted red as you laughed away Alver's words. "Oh, please, all of them are only sent because they heard you were handing me one of your major projects for developing the kingdom. I'm not dumb enough to see they're simply trying to get to you and Cale-nim."

"You should tell them that you're with my sworn brother so they won't bother you," Alver said, wasting no time to immediately struck that nerve.

You laughed again. "Oh, no, I don't want Cale-nim to get entangled in weird rumors."

"I don't mind."

Cale's cheeks are red when he said that and he wanted to hide from you when you and Alver turned to look at him. He cleared his throat and continued, stuttering a bit when he spoke; "I-I mean, just use my name if they caused you trouble. I don't mind."

"Oh, my, thank you so much, Cale-nim!" You grasped his hand with both hands, the smile on your face so bright that Cale's face immediately darkened with so much blood rushing to his face.

"I might overuse it so much that no one will dare to get close to me," you say, letting go of his hands.

'Oh, please do overuse it,' thought Cale.

"I think that's what my sworn brother would like," Alver added with a grin.

Cale wanted to kick Alver in the shin.

"Do you hate the idea of me with another man that much, Cale-nim?" You asked with a playful grin.

Cale opened his mouth to defend himself but no sound came out when he saw your smile and the red flush of your skin. He closed his mouth and decided to just stand there like an idiot.

"I don't think another man could live up to my standards considering I have been spending so much time with the both of you," you continued shyly. "Perhaps I should linger with the others lest my mother will complain about my being single."

"Or you could just keep spending time with us," Cale prompted, shrugging his shoulders to appear nonchalant. "There's no harm in that. Keep all of the bugging men away."

He doesn't miss the raised blond eyebrow Alver was giving him while you weren't looking.

"Perhaps," you murmured, beginning to walk towards the door. "Talking with the both of you is wonderful but I do have to rush to handle these paperwork."

"What time do you get off work?" Cale questioned quickly.

You stopped, turning to look at the red-head. "Around four. Planning on taking me home and meeting my mother, Cale-nim?"

"She loves the cakes from that dessert shop, right?"

You laughed, shaking your head in disbelief. "Yes, Cale-nim. The strawberry shortcakes are her favorite."

Cale nodded. "Noted."

You bowed to the both of them, excusing yourself out and leaving the two brothers inside the study.

Cale let out a sigh. "Well, I'll be leaving—"

Alver grabbed a discarded paper and crumpled it into a ball, throwing it at Cale who frowns. "What?"

"I cannot believe you came here just so you could ask Dame [Name] on a date."

#cale henituse #cale henituse x reader #lout of count's family #tcf cale #trash of the count's family #lcf cale

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blindmanbaldwin · 3 months

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Perhaps it was seeing it on a premium large format screen, perhaps it was my mood that day, or perhaps it is because I'm always drawn to the stories of people trapped inside of their contradictions — but I was impressed with "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" last year, especially with its cinematography and editing. I thought bits of the film, particularly the climax, had shots/rhythm evocative of the great Terrence Malick only to find the film's editor Mark Yoshikawa is a frequent collaborator of Malick.

Now I could talk at length about those comparisons, or the sense of gaze of the film (Tom Blyth's eyes are fascinating to track when he's in close-up/medium shot), or the relationship the wider series has with the medium of television. But I'd rather talk about the beginning of one scene near the beginning of the third-act as an example of effective pacing building dramatic tension and establishing character.

Start on this wide shot at a low-angle. "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" uses low-angle shots frequently, which makes sense in a story about insecurity about power/class gaps. Low or high angles means we see something at an unnatural eye-line — which creates a visual power imbalance.

In the background we have a man just barely peaking over the horizon. This is Coriolanus Snow, our boy from the Capitol who comes from a noble family that lost everything in the war. In the first chunks of the film, we learn that Snow wants to restore his family's former glory. He wants to get that power back. The power gap that we see.

But this isn't the Capitol. This is District 12. This is place he was sent because of his failure. He cheated at the titular Hunger Games to win them for his tribute. So what could he be looking for out here to help him with his desire?

POV shot now. Cutting from that low-angle wide to seeing through Snow's eyes. While it isn't the subject of this post, the POV shot is the most direct expression of gaze. Think about cinema's greatest voyeurist Alfred Hitchcock and all his iconic POV shots ("Vertigo"). Nothing gets inside of a character's head like literally showing what they see.

Snow moves toward something — a something we now know was the (relative) perspective of the first shot.

Or, rather, not a something. But a someone:

Now back on Snow. Only this time he isn't obscured in the background but near the center of the frame. The camera pushing in before to emulate his movement seen now in his movement. Going toward the someone seen in the previous shot. Someone we couldn't really see before — but now are getting closer to finding.

Close enough to see her guitar.

Of course, if we were listening we would already know that this is Lucy Gray Baird. For her voice echoes through the forest and calls to Snow. But we're sticking to the visual — where we see him pushing toward someone. Pushing toward her.

Baird was his tribute in the Hunger Games. Living (but not hailing from) District 12, she had the lowest odds to win the Games. But through her own determination and a little bit of a push from Snow, she succeeded in winning the Games.

More importantly — she succeeded in winning his heart, as he did to her.

Go back to earlier: the beginning of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" establishes Snow's desire as reclaiming his family's lost power. Story is conflict, conflict is character, and character is desire. Think mathematically for a moment: Character is action that is a function of desire. But desire cannot remain static. Pull any book or movie off of a shelf at a library. What a character wants at a start will not be the same thing/only thing they want at the end.

Snow began wanting to reclaim his family's lost power. But through this desire — him cheating the games and getting exiled to District 12, the lowest and poorest district in all the land, runs contrary to this desire. He cannot get more power being among the powerless. Why would he act in such a contradictory manner?

Because once he laid his eyes on Lucy Gray, young Coryo had a new desire in his heart. He didn't want to just reclaim what belonged to him, but he also wanted to protect her.

Like all functional drama, this creates a problem — he wants two things that are mutually exclusive. To protect her requires working against the Capitol which means pushing his family further down the social ladder. But to work on restoring his family means throwing her to the odds, and he can't stand thinking of her brown eyes dying out there.

Speaking of brown eyes...

Now we're on Lucy Gray's face. Focus on her and her playing (notice her eyes looking down and not hyperaware of her surroundings), but with another element in the background. Snow coming on the horizon.

Adapting a work from one medium to another always creates new restraints, but also new modes of expression. Condensing a 450-page novel into a ~2.5 hour film requires conveying the emotional arguments of the work in different ways. As such, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" focuses more on Snow's desires/contradictions than Baird's (even more than the novel) but we still have to some sense of her internal desire to create a compelling character that isn't just an object for Snow's character journey.

Of course, there is the real basic desire of surviving the Games, but that is lackluster and doesn't create real emotional bite. No, her central desire (at least in the film) comes through that one point mentioned earlier — she lived in District 12, but she did not come from District 12. Baird is a wanderer, or at least before the war was part of a wandering culture. Now she is trapped. Her desire is to get back what she lost; she wants to fly as a bird once again.

Look at the above shot. There is no distress on her face. While Snow got exiled for his actions in the prior chunk of the film, Baird got no punishment. She went back to District 12 and could play her music again. Not free to fly high but freer than she was at the start when she got called to fight in the Games.

This natural landscape Baird and Snow find themselves in during this scene is (metaphorical) paradise. It is the closest place to Baird's desire of freedom. The latter bits of the film's third-act use this idea to great dramatic effect.

Baird and Snow's desires both overlap and conflict. Both want to get something that they lost from the war — Snow his status, and Baird her freedom. But their desires operate in opposite direction. Baird wants to go up (free) while Snow is concerned with what's happening down on the ground among the social community. What Snow wants at the start can only be found in having people beneath him, while Baird's is found in having some space to be in.

But recall — Snow also wants to protect her, and this desire comes through a genuine feeling toward her. At the start it may be boyish attraction to her brown eyes and voice, but what his gaze perceived turned into something more. They both want the same thing of undoing loss.

And it's that sameness that pulls Coryo to Lucy Gray. That sameness that pulls him down the social ladder (he has a famous last name, she has no name) and down the society's hierarchy (he is Capitol, she is District) to risk his future for her. That sameness that pulls him to throw his own life and his chance of getting his past back away. That sameness that keeps him walking.

That sameness that makes her bring this strange man into her world. That sameness that makes her trust him with her everything.

Her personal space out here, far from the suffering in District 12 and the tyrannical bloodshed in the Capitol, now has the presence of that strange man she let inside.

Viewing this natural space as her paradise, she had won this peace but found that her ghost still lingers. A ghost that she doesn't really want to let go of — as evident by her attention going to him, and the unconscious act of her voice calling him here. Remember: nothing in conventional narrative is coincidence or happens spontaneously. Every action a character does is an expression of desire.

Why does she sing? Becuase that's her life. She is a performer. She performed on stage in District 12's bars. She performed when got selected for the Games, which is what first caught Coryo's eyes. She performed for the whole nation to survive in the games. And she performs for Coryo — because she wants to perform for him.

And through this her desire reveals its contradiction. She wants to be free and untethered; to fly like a bird. But she has the same feeling for him that he has for her, and this feeling creates an attachment — a tether. The wanderer found a home.

She could tell him to go away. She could tell him to leave. She could tell him to do whatever. Her words don't matter.

Film is a language of image. Sound (music and dialogue) matter, but ultimately is it a moving picture. A film establishes a character through visual actions. Lucy Gray identifies Coryo, and she stops playing so she can talk to him. So she can go to him. He is pulled into her world — but she is pulled toward him.

Think about the sequence of shots, specifically the POV shots. It is basic movement: start far from the object, and move toward the object. As the character whose POV the camera emulates gets closer to the object, the film cuts back to the opposite side to establish the geography of the scene. But it also creates a little bit of tension — these two forces are coming together and one of them doesn't know it, so what will be the reaction when they come together?

A few frames of static. Coryo stands in anticipation. Waiting to see what she will do.

Go back through these ten shots. Notice they all are of the same vantage point. We see Snow approaching from the horizon, and we see Baird playing her guitar on a rock with Snow coming behind her. While the scene progresses by composing more of the frame around the subject as they get closer together, the core angle remains the same: one shot from him walking and one shot of her point in space. We don't change this basic idea.

Until the scene begins with them coming together to have their first conversation since the Games — which also ends the scene as it shows the distance that remains between them.

They are pulled together, except Coryo stands above her. They both want to be together but they both occupy different places in the social hierarchy that they can never escape. The contradictions of their desires expressed in the blocking of one shot.

#the ballad of songbirds and snakes #snowbaird #tbosas #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #film theory #character theory #film analysis #tom blyth #rachel zegler #gifs #didn't revise this at all so i bet there are typos a plenty #it is late #too late

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rmbunnie · 11 days

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Red Hood Characterization

This is really long so I'm putting a cut here, I've been thinking about Jason Todd's character motivations and the question of whether or not his actions are based in a Moral Code (I don't think so, not to say he's without any morality) and I talk about that in more depth here.

I saw someone say on here that Titans: Beast World: Gotham City was some of the best Jason Todd internal writing they'd seen in a while, and I've been a Red Hood fan for 8 years or so now? pretty much since I read comics for the first time, so I went and checked out and I thought it was good! The way the person I saw talking about it as if it was rare and unusual made me wonder though, because as well-written as i thought his stances on crime were, there wasn't really anything in it that went against the way I conceptualize Jason?

This kinda plays into a larger question I've been thinking about for a while with Jason though, which is that, do people think that the killing is part of a fundamental worldview that motivates him a la batman, and that worldview is the reason he does the things he does?? Because 8 years ago i was a middle schooler engaging with fiction on the level that a middle schooler does, so I simply did not put much thought into it beyond "poor guy :(" but ever since I actually started trying to understand consistent characterization, I don't really see Jason as someone who's motivated by a moral code in his actions the way batman or superman is!

tbh my personal read is that he's a very socially-motivated guy, his actions from resurrection to his Joker-Batman ultimatum in utrh always seemed to me like every choice made leading up to his identity reveal was either a. to give him the leverage and skill necessary to pull off his identity reveal successfully, or b. to twist the knife that little bit more when he does let Bruce find out who he is. Like iirc there's a Judd Winick tweet like "yeah tldr he chose Red Hood as his identity because it's the lowest blow he could think of." And I think that's awesome, I think character motivations rooted so deeply in character's relationships and emotions are really fun to read! I also think it's where the stagnation/flatness of his character comes from in certain comics, because if his main motivation is one event in one relationship that passes, and he is not particularly attached to anything in his life or the world by the time that comes to pass, it's a little harder to come up with a direction to go with the character after that, because there isn't much of a direction that aligns with something the character would reasonably want? But I do think solving this by saying "all of the morally-off emotionally driven cruelty he did on his way to spite Batman was actually reflective of his own version of Batman's stance that's exactly the same except he thinks it's GOOD to kill people" isn't ideal. To be fully honest, it seems to me like he never particularly cared one way or the other about killing people to "clean Gotham of crime," he just did everything he could to get the power necessary to pull off his personal plans, and took out any particularly heinous people he encountered along the way (like in Lost Days.) Not to say I think the fact he killed people keeps him up at night anymore than everything else in his life events, I just never really thought he was out there wholeheartedly kneecapping some dude selling weed or random guy robbing a tv store for justice.

Looping wayyy back to my question, Is this (^) contradictory to the way he's written/the overall average perception of the character? Because like I enjoyed his writing in Beast World i have zero significant issue with anything there, I just didn't believe it would be a hot take, like yeah, that is Jason. It's been a while since I've read utrh and lost days, but I don't think my takeaway directly contradicts either of those too bad iirc. Idk all this to say I think Jason killing and being alright with killing is an obvious and objective fact, but i guess i've always seen it as more of a practical tactic than a moral belief, and I think taking the actions made during the lowest points of a character's life where he is obsessively focused on this ONEEEE thing and trying to apply it as a Motivating Stance to everything he's done after that, doesn't really follow logically for me.

#edit: i am so so open to discussion and disagreement on this but please try to have something substantial to say. god bless!#like ofc jason kills but to me it was less “everyone I've ever killed deserves death objectively”#and more “when people are dead they stop doing things like heinous atrocities and trying to kill me"#i don't even think he wanted the joker dead (only) because he thinks he objectively morally deserves death #although the joker is one of the most extreme cases possible and he if does think that he's VERY justified #i really do think it was just about bruce #and wanting bruce to avenge him to show he loved him and he mattered and wanting his dad to give him security #all the killing was about the clown and everything with the clown was about bruce #i've NEVER forgotten the bit in lost days where he has the joker tied up at gunpoint and doesn't kill him #i think if it was only about a moral greater good situation he would have taken him out then and there #if you disagree i'd love to hear why provided you can be civil and not an jerk #also if you disagree PLEASE PLEASE put screenshots and comic issues if possible #i'd love to check them out and form my own stance on them #just know that if you say like. battle for the cowl. or the Tom King batman annual or something i probably won't care too much #comic characterization is ever-changing and inconsistent i truly believe that the best thing to do is just read the important stuff #and try to form your own stances from there #because there's never gonna be 100% of comics involving a character that align with each other perfectly and that's just a given #jason todd #red hood #dc comics

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syrupsyche · 7 months

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Today's chapter has some of my favourite quotes from the Brick— both about Enjolras and the book in general. This is going to be a long post so I shall segment this into parts!

Hugo's realism

First, a bit of meta-analysis. Hugo creates a sense of believability REALLY well, not only by name-dropping real historical figures and events but also by inserting the ambiguity of historical retelling:

This man, whose name or nickname was Le Cabuc, and who was, moreover, an utter stranger to those who pretended to know him, was very drunk, or assumed the appearance of being so [...]

[...] We will add, that if we are to believe a tradition of the police, which is strange but probably well founded, Le Cabuc was Claquesous.

Why not state outright that Le Cabuc was pretending to be drunk? Why make it ambiguous that Le Cabuc was Clasquesous? To create that sense of realism. One might think that it's counterintuitive to admit that one doesn't have all the details, but that is what makes a piece of fiction seem more 'real', for what sort of historical event has ever had a 100%, completely truthful depiction? Hugo purposefully makes it so that his retelling of the June Rebellion has bits and pieces missing so as to replicate all other pieces of history: which that is unable to cover every aspect of the truth.

The Paradox of Enjolras

Hugo's description of Enjolras is contradictory in certain parts. He is a "frail young man of twenty years", but he also possesses "a superhuman hand". He is framed by many metaphors of purity (his "pale...woman's face" and "virgin lips") but is also undeniably terrifying. He is both "executioner and priest, composed of light, like crystal, and also of rock." Even Enjolras contradicts himself:

It is a bad moment to pronounce the word love. No matter, I do pronounce it. And I glorify it [...] Death, I make use of thee, but I hate thee.

Why? Well, Enjolras' paradoxical nature has been a long time coming (see: charming young man who is capable of being terrible), and his character is thus used to emphasize the unfortunate reality of revolution and of justice (which is what he Represents). Justice is a charming notion, with a terrifying execution. Justice is the young beautiful man, as well as the ruthless killer. By presenting Enjolras as both pure and horrid, readers can see the horrid reality of justice: that it is no glorifying matter; it takes a TON of sacrifices and terrible actions.

Enjolras has to kill Le Cabuc because he is Justice, and he exists in a world that still needs Justice, so he must play his part to the end. And Hugo perfectly portrays Enjolras/Justice well by crafting him with this paradoxical personality.

Love, The Future is Thine

The Quote of All Time. It also gives us an insight into Enjolras as a character rather than a symbol: I've mentioned before that he obviously detests the violence he has to commit, but he ultimately accepts his role as Justice. Still, he yearns for a world where he does not need to exist as an executioner of Justice anymore, where "no one will kill any one else, the earth will beam with radiance, the human race will love".

Here, he resembles Valjean quite a bit: he martyrs himself ("I have judged myself also, and you shall soon see to what I have condemned myself.") for others, similar to how Valjean sacrifices himself for Champmathieu. He would rather condemn himself to death, to non-existence, if it meant he could usher in a world that is peaceful and free. What a tragic character! And we shall see, once more, his views on this in 5.1.5, where his speech is full of hope for the future! So contradictory once again: this man who has only known violence is so full of love.

Sorry for the long analysis but this is one of my favourite chapters ever. Please share me your thoughts on this as well because I had to cut things out from this post bc it was seriously getting too long so I would gladly infodump once more if anyone wants me too haha

#les mis #les mis letters #lm 4.12.8 #enjolras #victor hugo #syrup ramble #if i ever get a tattoo 'love the future is thine' is high up on the list of options #syrup talks about lit

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accio-victuuri · 1 year

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ESQUIRE COVER STORY

Cover Character | Xiao Zhan : The Crack

"There have been two Xiao Zhans for a long time, and one of them is here, and that is me."

Xiao Zhan said while eating in the middle of filming in the Mountain Scenic Area in Chongqing at the beginning of February. "There is another Xiao Zhan, Xiao Zhan in quotation marks, but he may not be me anymore. We all work for him, including myself."

Xiao Zhan put down his chopsticks, opened his hands, palms facing each other, as if he was gesturing for an invisible small box.

Same as before - like most people - nothing special - just want to do this job well - don't think much of it - don't know what else to do - just be alone - In the narration about Xiao Zhan, no matter Xiao Zhan himself or the staff around him, from time to time, they can only end with these sentences when faced with questions floating in the air.

For a star, the mentality of most people may be contradictory. On the one hand, people are used to the world of labels, and they want to summarize a stranger with a few words, and they don’t want to work hard; on the other hand, the impulse to explore the truth often attracts us to question labels and look for more familiar emotions and human nature. . For Xiao Zhan, this contradiction is particularly prominent: he has very few labels, and no one can find out the most accurate ones; at the same time, the closer people are to him, the more they find that his life is the one we are most familiar with - because we are so familiar, we suspect that it is not true. This contradiction is like a crack. Xiao Zhan is doing everything he should do in this crack.

When I was young, usually before Chinese New Year, Xiao Zhan would climb a mountain in order to worship his ancestors. At that time, he felt that Chongqing is really too big, the mountains are so far away, and it takes such a long way to climb the mountains. In the morning, I just woke up, followed the adults, started from home, took the bus to the junction station, changed trains, went from the southern district of Chongqing to Jiangbei, crossed the river, and came to the entrance of the mountain. It was the 1990s, and the mountain road was still a dirt road at that time, and people in the village walked out on their feet I don’t know how many years ago. There are weeds on the side of the road, and the road is narrow, less than one meter wide, and cars cannot drive on it. Xiao Zhan remembers that the mountain road under his feet sometimes appears and disappears, clear for a while, blurred for a while, when it catches up with the rainy day, the road is very slippery, and the children run in front. Children always rush to the front, and adults always follow behind shouting, wrong, wrong, not over there, but over here.

Without coordinates and navigation, Xiao Zhan and his family could only rely on their memory to find the ancestral house on the side of the mountain road. It was a brown-black wooden house. The house may be a hundred years old, and grandma Xiao Zhan's parents or grandma's grandparents once lived there. Of course, no one lives there now. Xiao Zhan walked in the old house. He remembered that there were two bedrooms on the first floor and a small bedroom on the second floor. There was a wooden ladder leading to the second floor. An old stove, burning firewood. The whole house is made of wood. There is a small yard outside the house, and there seems to be a pomegranate tree inside.

This is an essential itinerary for a large family. On the mountain, there were many activities. Xiao Zhan and his brother and sister picked wild onions, pulled radishes, dug wild vegetables, and tried to make a fire to cook together. Tired of playing, sometimes he also tries to stay by himself for a while. He saw there were hills behind the big mountains, so he left his family and climbed up those hills, starting a child's adventure. When he got to the back of the hill, there was no one around, and he stayed there quietly, looking at the blue-black distant mountains. Families often stay on the mountain all day and don't go down until evening.

"Children are not afraid," he now recalled himself at the time, "only grown-ups will." Looking at the hazy distant mountains, he really wanted to walk over—the most important thing a child lacks is courage—— At that time, he felt that no matter how difficult the road was, he could climb up it with both hands and feet. But later, when he got older, went to middle school, went to university, and came to this mountain again, he didn't dare to climb as boldly and casually as he did when he was a child.

The last time I went to this mountain was a few years ago. Now the road has been newly built, and the expressway can directly lead to the foot of the mountain. Xiao Zhan and his family drove to the foot of the mountain, but the mountain still needs to be climbed with both legs. They are walking down the road that they have traveled over and over again for many years. When he was a child, Xiao Zhan felt that adults had long legs and walked so fast, but now, he stayed in Chongqing less and less, and found that his parents were getting old and couldn't walk anymore. He and his brothers and sisters carried their luggage, step by step, and the long and exhausting journey in memory - passing through so many places, such as a bamboo forest and a graveyard, marking a mileage after another - seemed to be shortened this time Without knowing it, I arrived at the gate of the old house without taking two steps. Looking back along the way, the large bamboo forest when I was a child is now just a small pile. There seemed to be only three or two of the horrific clusters of graves. There are also those small hills. When I was a child, it took so long to climb up. Now, it seems that I only need to lift my feet lightly, and I can climb up with one step. As for those steep ridges in memory, it seems that the slope has also dropped now. The dirt road is gone, and the black asphalt winding mountain road is shining in the sun. There are also resorts, farmhouses, and many viewing platforms built on the mountain.

The mountain used to be so far away and so high, Xiao Zhan thinks now, but as time goes by, the mountain is no longer far away, nor is it so high. At that time, he was just an ordinary Chongqing kid, but now, many people know Xiao Zhan. However, what has not changed is that the mountain still has no name.

Now, Xiao Zhan still dreams of the place where he lived when he was a child, the factory area that meant the whole world at that time. The factory area seems to belong to a certain auto parts production company—the first district, the second district, the third district, the fourth district, and the fifth district—he even forgot which district he lived in—the houses in the factory area are very similar, seven or eight The buildings are high and the buildings are dusty in my memory. There are many playmates of the same age in the factory area. When homework is done—as in the rest of the country—the children run downstairs, their cries echoing in the air. "So-and-so come down quickly! So-and-so has already come down!" Playing at eight or nine o'clock, the mothers would stick their heads out of the window again, calling down from a distance in the night: "So-and-so, come home! So, sleep!"

Playing football, playing hide-and-seek, hiding in haystacks or corners, some dark corners. The scariest place in the factory area is an abandoned sewer, with a huge hole and the height of a person, and it’s so dark inside that you can’t see anything. Occasionally a bat flies out. Brave children, light a match and go inside. Xiao Zhan had never been inside the cave, it was too dark, and he watched them from afar.

Falls are commonplace, children will fall to the ground while running, and so is Xiao Zhan, who left a lot of scars on his knees. Now, looking at those childhood scars, he felt that that might be a more real life. Now it's more false, unreal. At that time, there were no mobile phones or the Internet. The life at that time seemed to be still here every moment, like a photo was taken, stopped in the memory, and stayed in the heart. Xiao Zhan still remembers that sometimes his parents would not let him go downstairs, worrying that he would play too wildly. He was alone in the room, leaning over the window and looking down. He can still recall what he saw at that time—the balcony of the neighbor's house, the flowerpots on the balcony, the clothes to dry, the garden downstairs, and the paths in the garden. He remembers everything clearly. When he was in the third or fourth grade of elementary school, he folded the plane and threw the paper plane down from the fifth floor. A plane flew so far that it reached the balcony of the next building. He also often dreamed of running around the factory grounds, where he had run as a child. In these dreams, Xiao Zhan doesn't seem to have left here and came back again. He remembered the mood in the dream - he still lived here, but now he was just tired from playing, climbed the stairs, went home, and wanted to go to the bedroom to sleep.

At that time, Xiao Zhan's home was on the fifth floor. When going up the stairs, the corridors are aging, and many lights are no longer on. Every time he walked to the third floor, out of fear of the dark, he would take a deep breath and rush up to the fourth floor with a "bang bang bang", and there would be lights on the fourth floor. Now, every once in a while, he still dreams about the dark third-floor hallway. The dream was pitch black, I couldn't see anything, I didn't know what was in the corner. Another time, he was very impressed. In his dream, he had passed through the darkness on the third floor and came to the fifth floor, but there was still no light. Facing the familiar door, the self in the dream stretched out his hand, struggling to unscrew the door, but he couldn't open it, so he clenched his fist and knocked on the door, but there was no one in the room. He couldn't open that door no matter what, so he stood in vain in the corridor in his dream.

Like everyone else, Xiao Zhan sometimes dreams about exams. Every time he wakes up with a start. Once was a math teacher, a little fierce. In fact, he liked that teacher very much, but in the dream, the teacher looked at him and said, what's the matter with you, why can't you solve a single problem? He looked at the functions in the book and was dumbfounded, "How can I still remember the functions? I can't do a single question, it's over."

The factory area is the whole world, it is almost vast and boundless. If you want to go to the factory area, you have to report to your parents in advance, just like going abroad. At that time, he was reading encyclopedias, a set of four, one of which was about the earth and the universe. There was a picture in the book, which was a cross-section of the earth, and there were many layers under the surface. He thought the earth was like this, so he remembered that there was a particularly large stone in the garden downstairs. He later called his friends to come to the rock together, and suggested that we move it away, and the magma is underneath, which is the real appearance of the earth.

Thinking back now, such thoughts at that time were naive and ridiculous, but he savored it carefully, and still didn’t know why he was so obsessed with that stone and the true appearance of the earth at that time—it was just an ordinary stone, a child, but he wanted to learn from it. See the whole universe behind you.

Chongqing in Xiao Zhan's memory is very old and very new. In the movie theater, he remembers that in the 1990s, his parents took him to watch "The Yellow River", "The Lotus Lantern" and "The Disaster of the Python". When going to Jiefangbei, you have to squeeze the bus. It's really hard to squeeze in. Presumably everyone wanted a seat. He couldn't remember exactly which bus it was - maybe it started with 3 - and after getting on the bus, people would quarrel and sometimes fight over the seats. There was so much traffic on that road, there was always something like that going on. Standing in the car, Xiao Zhan looked out of the window. The bus passed through a long section of quiet and peaceful road in the lower city, and the two sides of the window showed the appearance of a somewhat old old city. However, after crossing the Yangtze River Bridge, he immediately entered a cheerful, modern modern city. It was already Shangcheng District. At that time, Chongqing had already started to build high-rise buildings. As for the lower urban area, the old houses used to be the most adjacent to the river, and most of them have been demolished long ago. Such a cityscape is very charming, Xiao Zhan thinks now, as if he is in the history, in the calm past that can't go away, when he looks up, he can see the dazzling glass curtain walls on the high-rise buildings, like those mysterious Things that go to the future have to take themselves away.

There is also Datianwan Stadium in Yuzhong District. A era. Chongqing's home court was popular all over the country at that time. His father took him to watch football, Chongqing Lifan, in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 - the best years of the Chongqing team - the stadium was often filled with tens of thousands of people, and everyone shouted "Chongqing, Xiongqi!" Xiao Zhan was young at the time, so he couldn't understand, looking at the dense crowd of people's heads, he just felt lively.

That was the age of reading newspapers. When he was young, Xiao Zhan’s family had always subscribed to the Chongqing Commercial Daily. He liked to read newspapers, and he would almost finish reading the newspapers with so many pages. Later, a few years later, when he grew up, there was a free "Chongqing Morning News" on the subway light rail, and he also took a copy habitually. Usually, he reads social news first, and reads it from beginning to end. Sometimes, when the newspaper is finished and the subway has not arrived, he turns to the front page and reads it from beginning to end.

It was also the era of pen pals. In school, the teacher encouraged the students to make pen pals—perhaps to improve their ability to write essays—he also made one, and communicated with each other, chatting about the weather, sunshine, and rain in Chongqing. However, there are only two correspondences. However, he still remembered the state of waiting for his letter. After writing the letter, only a week later, he came to the school's reception room to check the class mailbox. Cracking his hand upwards, he opened the iron box, and looked for the letter with the word "Xiao Zhan" written on it from the thick stack of envelopes.

Time moves forward in a certain flowing order. junior high school. high school. University. He took the college entrance examination and filled in the art volunteers. His score exceeded the Chongqing score line, and he could also take the school examinations of other schools across the country. The teacher asked Xiao Zhan, are you sure you want to choose Chongqing? Do you want to go out and try it, for example, go to Beijing or Zhejiang, and go to Gome to see it.

He said no. Xiao Zhan is very clear that Chongqing is very good. He likes Chongqing so much. If he hadn't been an actor and didn't have to go to so many places, he might have stayed here forever. However, he also thinks now that everything is unknown, if there is a parallel world, he might not be in Chongqing long ago. It's not that he deliberately wants to leave, nor does he deliberately want to stay, it's just that he doesn't have a clear destination, and he doesn't have to go somewhere.

Now he has forgotten the name of the road to work. Introduced by a friend, he submitted his resume and passed the interview. The design company was in an industrial park in Chongqing, and he couldn't remember whether it was on the second or third floor. Walking in, there are rows of workstations. The company is not big, with about ten people. Go to work at nine o'clock in the morning and leave work at six o'clock in the evening, clock in twice. He went out from home, took a bus, and crossed a bridge. Sit when available, stand when not available. Sometimes it blocks, sometimes it doesn't. In a meeting at work, he sits sideways—like most people—he wants to sit furthest away from his boss. The work is mainly to make pictures and draw pictures. They wear headphones, listen to songs and draw pictures. The whole atmosphere of the office is relatively dark, with a dark industrial style, and the air conditioner makes a muffled sound in the room. On a rainy day, the room gets even darker. He doesn't smoke, and he doesn't care if the air is a bit smoky when he is close to his colleagues who smoke at his work station. Sometimes, if customers want something urgent, they have to stay up all night and work overtime. When he came out in the morning, his head was a little heavy, Xiao Zhan went to a nearby convenience store to buy some snacks.

If it's raining when you get off work, it's a bit annoying. Xiao Zhan had to walk uphill to take the bus. The rainwater flowed down the road. He walked up against it, which was equivalent to going up against the current. After a few steps, his shoes were completely wet. Tired already, his whole body was sticky from the water, and now water got into his shoes, and he stood there anxiously waiting for the bus. There are many people leaving get off work, and the first bus may not be able to get on, so continue to stand and wait for the next one.

After the salary was paid, he gave part of it to his parents and kept some for himself. He doesn't smoke or drink, and he goes to KTV with his friends at most, and rarely goes shopping. He was really short of clothes when the seasons changed, so he thought about buying two. This habit has been maintained-what is missing, what to buy, and to buy directly, never go to the mall first.

Now, after waking up, Xiao Zhan stood in front of the mirror. In the mirror, his hair is messy, and sometimes his face is a little swollen. He thought, what would they think if they were seen like this? He is responsible for his own image. As an artist, you have to care about appearance. He loves to eat bread, but carbohydrates make people swollen, and filming will cause single eyelids to become swollen. Then restrain the desire. There is a play where skewers are to be eaten, so he will be hungry for a while in advance. For a while, he stopped drinking water after six o'clock every night. For a while, he was so thin that he lost 20 catties than his usual weight. But he felt that there was nothing to say about these, just for work needs.

His face looks small. Many people saw him and asked how old he was. He likes to pretend to be vicissitudes and say that he is over thirty. But people always think that this person is in his early twenties. He said thank you. But being small isn't always good. When you want to play some roles that relatively need to control the age span, looking younger is an obstacle to the shaping of the characters. Once, he met several older actors in the play, and he observed their expressions and facial movements. He noticed that the corners of a person's mouth will go down a little with age, and he also deliberately learned to face down. There is also eyes to learn - it turns out that he always looks at things with focus and concentration, which are the eyes of young people - when he observes those older actors, he finds that they are squinting when they see people. Focus, don't care, don't bother - he learned it, and looked at himself in the mirror, it seemed that he finally looked alike. Of course, he is not just pursuing a sense of age, but because of the needs of the plot, he wants to shape the character more completely and prevent the audience from jumping.

He started exercising and consciously training his muscles in the second half of 2020. In the past, he only ran regularly. Later, because he wanted to play a strong man in a play, he started to exercise. This habit has been retained until now. Now, even in the dressing room, he finds time to do some high-efficiency workouts, or go for a run. But always, there are always some voices who worry that he will destroy the image he once had. He also didn't want to grow his hair longer, and he didn't want to keep bangs when he made up. The team will always tell him, you listen to everyone's voice, you look better that way. Sometimes, he made himself rough on purpose, and people would indeed be angry—and many people would be angry—sometimes, there would be voices from outside telling him, you don’t want to exercise—this face is his, but Countless people looked at it, and countless people asked for it—this face, the face in the mirror, Xiao Zhan looked at it, sometimes thinking that it belonged to him, and it seemed to belong to other people.

Being considered good-looking, will this become a stumbling block in his acting career? More than once, someone asked him that. It may be the same dilemma for good-looking stars. He would think so too. But he can't do anything on purpose. Everything depends on the script, the plot, and the needs of the characters. If you're playing a young man in an urban drama, he thought, it's not right to be ugly on purpose. If the plot is worthwhile and requires him to change this face, then he also has enough enthusiasm and willingness to change for the role. This face can help him, but he also knows that sometimes he has to pay more.

Now, he thought, perhaps it was more important to find balance. Some of the people who like him will stay forever, and some will leave. He just walked forward step by step, just like climbing a mountain when he was a child, with this ever-changing Xiao Zhan's face.

When reading the script, Xiao Zhan always thinks a little carefully—if he is an audience at the moment, and he looks at it from the perspective of a third party, can this story, this script move him, and can he empathize with this character? ——He was very afraid of just becoming a wandering spirit on the scene, just standing and reciting lines. There's no point in saying lines in vain, he knows. In an emotionally charged costume drama, those days, he was always figuring out how to speak in order to make the audience worry about him. The best class, of course, is playing with those better actors. He is not afraid of the audience saying that he is not as good as those senior actors. What he cares more about is whether he has made progress in the play and whether he has learned new things

When he first started acting, Xiao Zhan did what the director said. But in fact, until now, he still doesn't know which expression or which action of himself in the camera is "good"-he really doesn't know where the standard is, and no one has discussed such issues with him-what is it like? face is right? The so-called actor face, movie face, model face, idol face, these mysterious words, what is the difference between them? His criterion for judging is very simple, that is, to only look at the picture itself, and see if the face in the picture can move him.

Now, Xiao Zhan will have dreams every time he arrives at a new crew. He often dreamed that the director came to him and asked him how to perform a scene. "But I can't even remember the lines" - he thought in a panic in the dream - and then woke up suddenly. He couldn't fall asleep, got out of bed, came to the table, took a pen to mark on the script, looked for those unreasonable places, and continued to recite the lines.

One way to relieve stress is to run. Now running is not as convenient as before, and now there are always people following. In 2016, he just debuted and lived in Moon River. In order to be photogenic, he always runs along the small river next to him. Later, there was a drama, and he went to Xiangshan, Zhejiang. Every night, as long as there was no night drama, he would go for a run. The summer was very hot. At that time, Xiangshan was empty and far away, and there were some vast and endless farmlands—unlike when he went to Xiangshan a few years later, it completely turned into a bustling scene—there were wheat fields and rice fields in the countryside, which were very beautiful. After dark, he ran along the concrete road at the edge of the field. There are often big cars coming on the road. For safety, he will turn on the flash of his mobile phone so that passing vehicles can see the lights and notice people. Sometimes he runs alone, sometimes with other actors. After running for a while, the body will be soaked, but it is very comfortable, hot and cool. Sometimes while running, it will rain in the sky—Xiao Zhan is Xiao Zhan at this time, he feels—at this time, he completely belongs to himself.

From his debut, from his first play to now, every role of Xiao Zhan is not repeated. Every time, when receiving a new script, whether he or the team, always ask, do you really want to take this role? Are you really going to make this movie? They repeatedly screened and considered, hoping that each character will have new progress, and each character is also different from Xiao Zhan.

What does he think of himself? There doesn't seem to be an easy answer. Filming, filming commercials, and some public events, other than that, Xiao Zhan stays alone most of the time. On the set, like a bat burrowing back into a cave, he burrows into a hotel room, and won’t come out until he can; usually, he stays at home, of course, except for the driver who picks him up at work, few people know where he lives— ——It's like a habit, more like an instinct—he estimated that if he switched to another job, he wouldn't like sitting in a cafe or bar. He didn't go to crowded places before, but his current job is surprisingly suitable for him—he can stay alone after work—watching dramas, playing games, doing push-ups, and thinking about things by himself.

There are many problems that you want to understand when you are alone - of course there are those that you can't understand - Xiao Zhan's method is to not think about it for the time being. Problems had to be solved by himself, and he hardly ever opened his mouth to others. Confidence is a word that is far away from him. A friend told him that if you are under pressure, you should tell others, talk to others, and vent. He disagrees. You can figure out the problems that can be solved by yourself, and talking about the problems that cannot be solved will only increase your troubles. He would rather do something new. It's an experience. People are constantly encountering problems. When new things encounter new problems, the old problems are forgotten. At this time, the answer is obvious: this shows that the previous problem is not so important. Even if those important issues are forgotten, they will resurface in the dead of night—like a big wave coming, a lone lost ship, at this time, Xiao Zhan feels that there is still no way.

It's not a question of telling, he thought. Even after talking to a hundred people, the problem is still there, unresolved, and it floats back in the middle of the night.

He has been like this since he was in college, because he does not confide and is unwilling to express, but he becomes a safe object, and he will be caught by his friends and confide in him. His character is a living tree hole. However, on the one hand, in order to help his friends, he always listens, and then forgets after listening; If it’s irrelevant, don’t talk about it, I really don’t want to hear it.” He felt that it was difficult to keep others’ secrets, so he tried his best not to listen to other people’s privacy—listening is risky, and if secrets are revealed, he would be one of the suspects—he He didn't want to be a suspect, let alone prove his integrity to his friends: "That's not what I said, I didn't betray you." That would be ridiculous, he thought.

Now, he spends very little time alone. When it is extravagant, there can be three days in a row. During these times, he and the staff try not to communicate with each other as much as possible, and keep busy with each other, leaving room for him to return to his own small universe. This was a habit at first, then became a tacit understanding, and is now a fact. Occasionally encountering a little trouble at work, Xiao Zhan seems to be able to draw some energy from his body at any time to firmly control the matter. An event, a rare accident, it was time to go on stage, they were still on the way to the stage, got out of the car, Xiao Zhan rushed to the stage, the host was improvising, filling the time sentence by sentence. Walking to the stage, Xiao Zhan remembered that his heart was still beating wildly, he suppressed it first, and then sent the words out of his mouth. But no one saw any flaws—he was too well controlled, too steady—and like so many times before, the staff was sure that he really had a small universe with him.

"I'm going to run"—sometimes, he may be a little tired, or suddenly want to relieve pressure, he joked like this—it's just a joke, but his expression is serious. What did you run away for? Maybe open a florist shop, or a gallery, he said. I can run anywhere—in short, stay alone—to the factory area of my childhood, the stands in Datian Bay, or the bus in Jiefangbei. You can also run back to the fifth floor where the door cannot be opened, or to the design station. If you continue to run, you will reach the mountain in your childhood. The mountain used to be so far away and so high, but as time goes by, the mountain is no longer so far away, nor is it so high. Many people know that his name is Xiao Zhan, but the mountain still has no name.

article source.

#xiao zhan #this is a long and interesting read about his life from a child to adulthood #loved it!!!!!#the way he said he also works for this other xiao zhan gets me

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blondiest · 3 months

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something i wish to remind everyone, and something i am always trying to remind myself, is that there is a totally valid range of interpretations of any number of aspects of canon. right now i'm thinking about wammy's house, but this could also apply to a number of characters. i will cut myself off before i start rambling about mello. this is for all of our sakes.

here are my thoughts. if you wish to write wammy's as a wretched uncaring institution OR as a mostly-normal, relatively caring one, i actually don't think either of those things are strongly contradicted or supported by canon. if you take just the manga to be canon — which is what i tend to do, since various extended universe items are, at times, contradictory and confusing (<- the incomprehensible LABB timeline) — we know incredibly little about wammy's. you can pick and choose how you like the information from the oneshots and from LABB, etc, but at the end of the day, manga canon is thee original and is thus imo thee foremost source to consider on these matters. how you want to fill in and make sense of the blank spaces is something that's up to you, and is not often a matter of clear-cut correct versus incorrect in terms of canon (with a few exceptions).

NOT that one has to comply with canon — i love creativity and divergence and think there are absolutely interpretations unsupported by canon that are immensely compelling — i'm just saying our knowledge of wammy's is so nebulous that it's hard to prove or disprove most things, and it makes more sense to decide what personally compels you than it does to try and find the ‘right’ answer. does this make sense

#death note

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harmonic-psyche · 9 months

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Does Anyone "Deserve" Redemption?

Fandom discourse often focuses on whether certain characters deserve to be redeemed. Online fandoms for kid-friendly cartoons (such as Avatar, MLP:FiM, She-Ra, and Steven Universe) seem especially likely to feature intense debates on that topic.

Every time those debates seems to follow the same patterns, so I want to talk about them generally.

One of those patterns is being wrong. Not that everyone involved is wrong, but the debate itself is wrong.

(The framework below is based on real life and then presumed to apply to fiction — just like most criticisms I have seen of fictional redemption arcs.)

I. Is "Deserving Redemption" Contradictory?

Trying to decide who does or doesn't deserve redemption is hard. Factoring in every detail about someone's situation, relationships, history, and moral character to determine what they truly deserve is always a Gordian knot of complexity. Let's start by considering a few simple reasonable statements about ethics:

Every person should be a good person.

"Redemption" means becoming a good (or at least better) person.

Every person should get exactly what they deserve.

Some bad people are so bad that they do not deserve redemption.

From #1 it follows that every person should become better, and that every bad person should be a good person. Put those together with #2 and you get "Every bad person should get redemption."

Put together #3 and #4, though, and you get "Some bad people should not get redemption." #3 and #4 contradict #1 and #2, so at least one of them is wrong. Which?

#1 and #2 strike me as true by definition:

Something is “good” if it is what it should be, so every person should be a good person.

A person who is considered successfully “redeemed” is basically always considered a better person than they were before.

If we accept #3 and #4, then bad people can only deserve redemption by becoming good enough to deserve it. They must become better — but that's what “redemption” means!

Restated a final time, if redemption is making a bad person into a good(/better) person, and someone only deserves redemption by already being a good(/better) enough person, then nobody deserves redemption at all!

But some people should be redeemed. On that point I expect everyone here to agree.

Since #1 and #2 are true, #3 and #4 cannot both be true. We must reject at least one of them. Why not both?

II. Should We Even Say "Deserve"?

I propose scrapping the idea that some people ""deserve"" bad things and do not ""deserve"" good things. We do not even need to use the word ""deserve."" Everyone should become better because becoming better is good, regardless of what anyone ""deserves.""

In my experience the word ""deserve"" has been worse than useless, mostly just causing confusion and rationalizing punitive/vengeful feelings. Conversations about redemption, punishment, and rehabilitation would often benefit from never using the word ""deserve"" at all. Then we can talk about whether trying to redeem someone is helpful.

Everybody (or nobody) ""deserves"" redemption because, at least in my view, the idea that anyone ""deserves"" bad things or does not ""deserve"" good things is usually an unhelpful idea. Throwing it out can give us an even better value system, one which prioritizes harm reduction and helping everyone flourish.

Sometimes punishment is part of redemption. Sometimes it is not. Sometimes punishing a "bad person" makes them worse, and sometimes rehabilitating a "bad person" with zero punishment makes them better. In those cases, punishing the "bad person" is simply unhelpful and so it is wrong.

III. Should Anyone Try To Redeem Their Abuser(s)?

No.

I want to clarify that trying to "redeem" bad people can still go horribly wrong sometimes. Sometimes, trying to redeem someone is not worth the effort. Sometimes that effort is better spent trying to escape from, or remove, that person's power. For example, abuse victim(s) trying to "redeem" or "fix" their abuser(s) is generally a terrible idea.

"Redeeming" someone who abuses their power over other people generally starts by taking away that power. If someone genuinely wants redemption, then they can prove it by giving up their power. If someone does not want redemption, then they cannot be trusted with that power.

Abusers characteristically leverage their relationships with people for power over them. Trying to "redeem" someone by letting them abuse you will basically always fail, as many people have learned the hard way. Arguably it is impossible.

Even if everyone can and should be redeemed, that does not mean that you can redeem them if they refuse to change for the better. Abuse victims should escape if (safely) possible, and in some cases incapacitate their abuser(s), to reduce harm by preventing future abuse.

IV. Caveats: An Incomplete List of Important Factors I Did Not Address in This Post

"Redemption arcs" are a storytelling trope in fiction which often serve a very different purpose than real-life people pursuing self-improvement. Although I believe that the argument above applies to claims about what fictional characters do(n't) ""deserve,"" other factors may limit its application.

If someone defines "redemption" differently than I did above, e.g. as improving someone’s reputation instead of their character, the discussion becomes very different.

In this post I use the word "redemption" interchangeably with "rehabilitation."

The concept of "redemption" originates from, and remains heavily influenced by, a Christian ethical framework. Christian ethics focuses on doing what the Christian god commands. Typically that interpreted to include prioritizing interpersonal forgiveness over harm reduction. But I don't. I do not endorse or recommend using a Christian ethical framework.

#important #philosophy #ethics #redemption arcs #universal compassion #original content #long post #essay #abuse #abusive relationships #relationships #fandoms #discourse #queue

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cursedvibes · 5 months

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omg I finally found someone who cares about Kenjaku and interested in them as much as I do. I always felt like most of the annoying fans (cough Geto/stsg fans cough) see them as an extension of Geto and not their own character with a unique personality, also they’re not really popular with Japanese fandom so there’s that…

Sooo idk if someone has already asked you that question but I just wanted to know what do you think of the existing paradox within Kenjaku’s behaviour? I’m talking about the fact that they seem to behave differently depending if they’re being observed or not, in such cases as: Kenny generally treating Yuji like a tool for their plan but saying “thank you for getting along with my son”, while they were walking with Yuji’s friend inside the “cursed space”, in complete darkness, not observed by a single soul — I’m still not sure whether it was just a way for Gege to emphasize that Kenjaku is, in fact, Yuji’s parent (if some readers didn’t catch it in ch.143) OR it should be interpreted as Kenny saying “oh yeah thanks for helping me to fulfill my plan by befriending Yuji —> resulting in him finding a finger”… but I also wonder could it be their real, genuine feelings? The fact that they actually care about Yuji in a sense would probably feel weird a lil bit but on the other hand there are also cases where they act contradictory, for example looking down on Tengen in general when fighting Yuki & Choso, mocking Tengen in that scene where they sit in front of TV, but the moment they’re not observed directly - the moment Tengen dies - they say their goodbyes to her and call her their “friend”. You see what I’m trying to imply? I might be completely wrong on this but it kinda feels like Kenjaku has an issue with the whole true feelings/emotions shtick. It probably makes sense since they should stick to their plan and any kind of attachment might ruin everything, it’s high risk on their part — Kenjaku shutting down their excitement immediately after they start feeling something real for the first time in hundreds of years, pressing Takaba to the ground — once again, understandable, but I do wonder if it results in something more in the end. There is also a theme of loneliness/intellectual loneliness specifically that is associated with Kenny so I’m honestly sooo fascinated by their character and I’m looking forward to see how it all unfolds.

Also do you have any analyses/meta posts about Kenny maybe? I’d love a link or something and I would definitely read it!!

Hi! Always lovely to meet a fellow Kenjaku fan! It's a real shame that Kenjaku so often gets overshadowed by other characters, particularly Geto, even when the story is focusing on them (as we can currently see) and when they are talked about, then often purely in the context of stsg, when they have so many more meaningful connections and ones that are also more important to their character.

The stuff you bring up about Kenjaku's contradicting behaviour is exactly what's been ghosting around my brain the past months or year even. I talked a little bit about it recently here and here. As far as other analysis posts go, what I could remember (and find again on my blog...) there's something about Kenjaku's motivations and how I think "for the lulz" is a bad way to describe it, a post about their perspective on death and a post reflecting on the power Kenjaku & Tengen have over Sukuna and Gojo, despite those being technically "The Strongest". I hope that's helpful and what you were looking for?

Regarding what you said about Kenjaku's contradicting behaviour, I think it all ties back to Tengen and their dispute because here you can see very well that Kenjaku both cares about Tengen, but also puts her as the centrepiece of their plan and is thereby ready to sacrifice her when push comes to shove. Despite going through with capturing her, Kenjaku doesn't seem very happy with how things ended with Tengen. They like her, respect her, see her as an equal, but are also very frustrated by her stubbornness and inability to change or even engage with the world. They had to force her in the end to do it and they didn't even get a good conversation with her after waiting centuries to see her again. She just kinda went along with what they did, again showing no resistance or strong will for survival. So Kenjaku doesn't really hate her, they are just frustrated with her non-actions.

You can also see that in the words they scream at her in ch 205 about having actually lived and gained new experiences, contrary to Tengen, who stuck to her old ways. It seems like they wanted to bait her into a response, a discussion, something, but they didn't get anything. At this point it was probably not surprising to them. I assume Tengen used to argue with them a lot more back in the Heian era and that is what Kenjaku is currently missing. Even if people disagree with them, Kenjaku wants to be presented with interesting perspectives by people who understand the world like they do. Tengen clearly used to have that, she build jujutsu society on it, but then she decided to distance herself from Kenjaku out of self-preservation and...maybe weariness? Hard to say at this point, but she was clearly not about allowing her body to evolve to discover new things about cursed energy and humanity.

Kenjaku tried to find something similar in Yuki, but she doesn't engage enough with them to bring any meaningful discourse (unfortunately, I wish the two had discussed their world views more during their fight). So now that Tengen is gone or controlled and can thereby not give any meaningful intellectual input, Kenjaku is looking for new people to fill that hole, new friends who are equal to them, challenge them and also give them some sort of stimulus they have been missing for centuries apparently. That's part of why they do the merger in the first place. They want something that can truly surprise them and present them with something completely new.

Besides intellectual curiosity, Kenjaku just seems lonely. Unlike Sukuna, who is fine just playing around with others, eating and having one person to rely on, Kenjaku seems to want more people around them. Not many I assume, but they need friends and currently they seem a bit desperate to find new ones, seeing how they even ask Hazenoki to hang out with them. That's also where we see that contradiction. Kenjaku wants friends, but over the last millennia their plan has taken up so much of their headspace that they are ready to kill said friends for that end and that tendency to use others for their gain is also what keeps them from finding new connections because obviously nobody wants anything to do with them when they get treated like that. They ask Hazenoki to be their friend, despite both of them knowing he has to die for the Culling Game to end and their plan to progress. So at best he could've given them company for a few days and then they would've killed him. But at this point Kenjaku is even fine with that. Hell, they are talking to dead people and the thin air (a non-listening Tengen). Not a good sign for the state of your mental health.

Takaba is interesting because he came to Kenjaku out of his own will and offered to give them something interesting/funny, basically fulfil their conditions for friendship. He doesn't even mind that much that Kenjaku is trying to kill him. Perfect candidate for friendship, but by being so open, forthcoming and generally being a weird guy, he unnerves Kenjaku. For one, they aren't used (anymore) to people being so friendly with them without any self-serving motives, listening to them and sharing their interest. Like with Sukuna & Uraume, Kenjaku is always the one who engages conversations and meetings, the two don't care about Kenjaku unless they need to further their personal goals. Similar with the reincarnated sorcerers. Kenjaku approaches them for a binding vow and the entire relationship depends on serving their own benefits. The other thing is that Kenjaku doesn't seem used to having someone they share so many common interests with and who they can indulge with, without ulterior motives playing into it. In this case it's comedy and pop culture instead of cursed energy, but that doesn't seem to matter and solving the riddle that is Takaba's cursed technique gives Kenjaku another reason to get invested in/with him.

It's like you said, Kenjaku wants connection, but when presented to them, they get uncertain and awkward on how to deal with them and don't seem to want to get too attached because they will kill them in the end anyway. With Tengen that was less of a problem because she's immortal and will always exist in some way, but not talking to her still seems to be very aggravating for them. Even with Takaba, despite having the time of their life and feeling better than they have for centuries, Kenjaku will have to kill him in the end. At least with how the Culling Game rules are now (they could change them...). Takaba is also very hard to kill... The ocean scene where Kenjaku goes from happiness to trying to drown Takaba honestly perfectly encapsulates their mental state towards close relationships, including how they treat Yuuji. Someone gets too close, they try to push them away like they're allergic to feelings. It's like a defence mechanism. If they want to follow through on the plan they have been working on for thousand years, they can't afford to dally around with some random clown, even if they like his company.

Same with Yuuji. I think Kenjaku does care about him in some way and sees him as their son, but that just doesn't keep them from hurting him. They sound proud of him in Shibuya and excited to see what he will evolve into. I think they banked on Sukuna switching vessel and Yuuji using his special body to become hopefully something interesting in the future, using Sukuna's cursed energy as a kickstarter for his development so to say. I mean, if Sukuna hadn't switched vessels, he would've been useless and unable to ever come out again after Shibuya and Kenjaku was clearly preparing for him to participate in the Culling Game. So Yuuji being a vessel/cage was only a temporary solution.

So I think Kenjaku's words to Sasaki are genuine, but they are also thanking her for starting the whole finger situation (Yuuji was the one who found it, but Sasaki was the one who wanted to play around with it). I'm also wondering if they intended for her to look into Yuuji's past and confront him with his parentage because they know Sasaki is very curious and Yuuji's parent he never mentioned turning up in her bedroom and telling her about a death game they started seems like something that she wouldn't be able to brush past. I mean, they didn't say this to Iguchi, who was also Yuuji's friend, only Sasaki. Only question is, how do they expect Sasaki to get in contact with Yuuji in the state Japan is in? And then there's of course the question of if Gege will even pick up this plot threat again.

Being interested in seeing what Yuuji will evolve into is Kenjaku's own way of showing they care, you could say. They don't give a shit about Choso's power level or potential after all, he's just a failure. Yuuji's potential is what makes them care and I think having birthed him themselves plays into their feelings as well, since Kenjaku clearly has a very close attachment to the womb, pregnancy and birth. Their interest in him is self-serving, but that doesn't mean they don't care or deny any parental feelings (at least not when in the right company, where they can open up more). Hell, despite looking down on Choso, Kenjaku does call themselves his parent. There's only a bit of blood connecting them, they didn't even birth him, but they don't deny their familial connection. So yeah, despite all that, Kenjaku always treats people bad because their own interests come first.

The current fight is interesting because Takaba could give something different to Kenjaku. He can entertain them, satisfy their curiosity and show them something new. He proofs that they don't need to go through with the merger, that there are other options they could take and might even end up happier for it, but I also think that Kenjaku will not use that opportunity to turn around. They have come too far, suffered set-back after set-back for thousand years just to get to this point, so no matter how good the alternative is, they will not give up on the merger. Tengen is already captured, she can't stay inside them forever and when she's set free, she will likely wreck chaos even if she doesn't merge with other humans. This fight shows us what Kenjaku could be or less destructive ways they could take, but at this point they are too far gone. I'm really curious to see how this will all play out and how this fight will end, what it will mean for Kenjaku, their plan, the protagonist team and how exactly they will deal with Takaba. Highly doubt it will mean anything good though. Either way, I smell some character development incoming.

#asks #kenjaku #jjk spoilers

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gravyhoney · 8 months

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Cw// gun/weapon

Let me into your brain about the silly legos (hc’s) - ✧

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED ABOUT MY HCS‼️‼️

Idk which Legos you were referring to so I will make a HC post for Ninjago characters since it’s what I’m currently hyperfixating on.

Buckle in for an extremely long post because I am insane. Cutting it to keep it organized for u guys 🫶

So one thing about me is that I love incorporating other people’s headcanons into my own. And sometimes that leads to some contradicting headcanons, so in my little brain I have like, multiple different sets of headcanons for a bunch of different characters while also having My Headcanons, those being the ones I believe in the most/came up with without outside influence. I will be listing My Headcanons, but I type that entire preface to explain why some of my posts might be contradictory of the headcanons I list here 🫶

It’s gonna go like this in no particular order. (The order of how excited I am to share my hcs for them)

Character name- gender/pronouns, sexuality

List of headcanons

——————————————————

General-

Their eye color aligns with their element, they all have their natural eye colors, but after realizing/unlocking their elemental powers, they began to change.

Adding onto the above hc, Kai and Nya's eyes are still pretty dull due to them being like, the last two to realize their powers, while Jay's are extremely bright and vibrant.

Jay- she/they (occasionally he) transfem + gender-fluid, bisexual

Hard of hearing, wears hearing aids. I think the hearing loss has always been there, but I think her elemental power just worsened it, bc you know. Thunder loud.

That being said, I think she was the first to get her elemental powers. I think they got them when she was like, a really really young kid.

Has heterochromia.

Came out as trans like, mid-prime empire.

Has psychosis and suffers from delusions.

Not rlly a Jay hc, but related. Their mom gave them up because she was desperately hoping they wouldn't have an elemental power, but if she did, they'd be near unfindable because she lived through hell and didn't want Jay to have to go through the same.

AuDHD

Nya- she/they transfem nonbinary, bisexual demiromantic

Has a tremor after un-merging with the ocean.

Her and Kai both have pretty bad anger issues.

SHE CAN BREATHE UNDERWAAAATTTEEERRRRR I believe she can ok?

For a long time after Hands Of Time she hates the way she looks because of how much she looks like her mom.

Still holds a heavy resentment against their parents, because even though it wasn't their choice to leave, them and Kai still had to grow up alone.

Fucking hates the taste of cinnamon.

Has time blindness, but only after un-merging with the ocean. She became disoriented and confused about the passage of time after being the ocean for so long.

Sometimes they still feel pulled back to the water.

Best friends with Cole (I believe this one wholeheartedly)

ADHD

Lloyd- he/they nonbinary, aroace

Has insomnia, and a sleepwalking problem when he can get to sleep.

Looked fairly human when he was young, but as he got older, his Oni and Dragon features started showing more.

The feelings he felt for Harumi was mostly confusion because she was the first girl he got close to that didn't have what felt like an 'older sister' role in his life.

Really likes bugs.

Has auditory processing disorder.

Their body doesn't regulate temperature regularly.

Religiously watches iceberg videos.

Likes wearing more loose fitting, baggy clothing.

High-empathy autistic.

Kai- he/him transman, bisexual

He and Nya both have pretty bad anger issues.

He likes occasionally dressing femininely, but usually decides against it because he’s afraid people won’t take him seriously.

HIS ASS IS NOT THE DESIGNATED DRIVER

Has burn scars that go pretty far up his arms due to his own elemental power.

Extremely high body heat, has to wear gloves to avoid burning people at the touch.

Has a pretty bad memory due to constant concussions (his ass got beat to shit CONSTANTLY)

Was stealth trans for a while, because he wanted people to take him seriously, but stopped caring after a while and is extremely open about his identity.

Has a deep paranoia that he’s going to hurt the people he cares about, and is constantly over correcting at ever little mistake.

ADHD

Cole- he/they, gay ace grey-aro

After the events of DOTD he has to use a mobility aid for a while while he gets accustomed to having a body again.

Body-image issues.

He feels like he’s supposed to be in charge of keeping everyone safe.

Best friends with Nya and Vania (I believe in this one SO hard.)

He loves cooking, and is very defensive about it. NOBODY is allowed in the kitchen while he's cooking (except Nya she's his taste tester).

Has constant night terrors and has a very detailed sleep routine to avoid them.

Super good with kids.

Girls girl (gender neutral).

OCD + ADHD.

Zane- they/them agender, panromantic ace

Will sometimes pick up little crafts or projects, jack of all trades type vibe.

Is actually SUPER up to date with every single internet trend or meme.

Can't taste (bc they're a nindroid...) but fr thought for years that all food just had no taste until the robot reveal and they're like 'ohh'

Has constantly wildly shifting morals.

Genuinely the scariest of the group, sometimes freaking out everyone else. This makes them sad. They present themselves in such a way to make them approachable.

Has a tendency to blame themself when everything goes wrong.

Refuses to talk about their feelings to anyone else, bottling it up.

Autistic.

Pixal- any pronouns agender, unlabeled ace

Runs every single online forum about the ninja, none of them know.

Always has to feel useful, or she gets stressed out easily.

Listens to podcasts when he works.

Wildly defensive.

Felt a little unworthy of the Samurai X title when nobody knew it was them.

Low-empathy autistic.

Skylor- she/they, lesbian

True neutral (generally looks out for herself, doesn't really do things for the greater good, but for her own sake)

Doesn't remember her mom at all, she passed away when she was extremely young.

After the events of S4 she completely uprooted her life, changed literally everything about herself to disconnect herself from her father. Renamed the noodle shop, and completely rewrote the menu.

Makes most of her own clothes.

Picked up painting, is insanely good at it.

Slightly self destructive, constantly trying to distance themself from the ninja, but Kai always drags her back.

Realized her elemental power at a very young age, mostly because of her father.

BPD + CPTSD.

Vania- she/fae/it/he transwoman, lesbian aromantic

Very talkative.

Writes to Cole a lot (she has both a phone and his phone number it just likes writing to him).

Plays a lot of instruments, faer favorites being the harp and the violin.

Extremely anxious that she's not going to be a good queen, constantly overcorrecting.

Really indecisive and always changing his mind.

AuDHD

Harumi- she/he bigender, pansexual

Probably bites people.

Because of how sheltered she was with the royal family, she doesn't know a lot of basic life skills, and had to teach herself near everything she knows.

He did learn how to sew, and mends his own clothes.

Has albinism.

Always blaming her problems on other people, that being a product of the extreme pressure he was under when princess.

ADHD + CPTSD.

Sora- she/they/various neos transfem, lesbian

Always has to be busy, or she will start spiraling.

Wildly protective of Arin.

Was constantly getting into fights in the early days of living in the crossroads, very quickly learned they'd have to constantly fight to survive.

Talks about xer childhood like 'haha yeah it be how it be :)' and everyone listening is completely horrified.

Views everyone she meets as a threat until they prove they aren't.

Really likes reading, her favorite genre being sci-fi.

Does some creative writing, but has never shown anyone her writing.

Love language is quality time.

Since realizing their elemental power, she's had a tremor in her hands. She hates it.

Low-empathy autistic + OCD.

Arin- he/they transmasc, unlabeled aroace

Needs people to be in the kitchen when he bakes, he's very social.

Wildly protective of Sora

Has night terrors, has never talked about it.

Actually really good at fighting dirty if needed. Bro kicks ASS.

Picks at his fingernails.

Has read Sora's writing, (she doesn't know) he finds some comfort in it.

Love language is physical touch.

Is always completely down to prank people, a devious little guy.

Nearsighted, but doesn't ever mention it because he doesn't know.

Craves validation from anywhere he can get it.

Low-empathy autistic + ADHD

Wyldfyre- he/she/they nonbinary, queer greyaro

Anger issues for days.

Really physically strong.

Love language is physical touch.

Has burn scars on their hands and thinks they make them look badass.

Talks loudly because he has hearing loss.

Doesn't know how to interact with people, seeing as she was raised by a dragon.

Low pain tolerance, but knows how to hide it.

It never came up until she started living with people, but he's deathly afraid of seeming weak or incapable.

ADHD

Euphrasia- she/her transwoman, unlabeled ace

Introverted as hell.

Can hold her own in a fight for a surprisingly long time (I know this is not canon compliant, let me be delusional)

Had really long hair, but had a manic episode and cut it all off.

Likes drawing.

Despite her job, she's not too keen on reading.

Autistic

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skullndaisy · 10 months

Text

✨Spoilers for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (this is a bit of a ramble)✨

What's nuts about the concept of "canon events" is that Miguel is persistent with the idea that these events are meant to happen no matter what.

If that's the case, why would Miles' interference affect what is meant to happen?

A canon event disturbance should not exist if something that is meant to happen can be altered. That's a massive contradiction. Trying to hold Miles back from something that is inevitable feels pretty useless, though I understand Miguel's fear and his reasoning behind prohibiting Miles from even trying to rescue his father.

But being so strict about a concept so finicky (that might not even apply to every Spider-man, considering Spider-Gwen's existence & Miguel not having typical Spider-man origins) also feels kinda,,, idk,,, would impulsive and misguided be the right words to use here?

I think Miguel's judgment might be clouded in hopes of finding a reason why such tragedies exist, it might be comforting to a Spider-Person who is suffering from loss to finally have something to blame for all the pain they endure. Though in Miguel's case, since he believes it was his fault entirely for why his daughter's universe collapsed, it only makes him feel worse.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the concept of a canon event, idk.

We never see what actually caused the collapse of Gabriela's universe, which leads me to believe Miguel isn't even entirely sure what caused it's collapse, either. He just thinks it's his fault because, technically, he wasn't meant to be there.

I don't want to think he's hiding something, Miguel isn't inherently a bad person, he feels misguided more than anything... Besides I don't think he'd have a reason to lie or deceive the entire Spider Society, that's just not in his character. He feels genuine terror and is haunted by it, therefore will do anything to prevent a repeat of the trauma he'd inflicted once before.

That being said, projecting all of that pain onto Miles is incredibly irrational, because his theory of canon is contradictory and his behavior merely proves it. The dude is grasping at straws. Miles isn't even the root cause of canon, sure his existence was caused by an anomaly spider, but nothing in those chain of events were directly caused by him. Miles didn't build the first Collider, and Miles didn't ask to be bit by that spider.

It's just a tad curious, I dunno. THIS IS JUST A THEORY. A GAME THEORY.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I kinda wanna have discourse on this since I am pretty much on Team Miles for this movie.

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dolphin1812 · 10 months

Text

We’ve reached the first Grantaire ramble! Here are some interesting and/or funny lines:

“Ecclesiastes says: ‘All is vanity.’ I agree with that good man, who never existed, perhaps.”

We’ve already read about how Grantaire is contradictory and his disrespectful attitude toward religion (his jokes about the cross in his introduction). Here, we get an example of both of those at once. He questions if Ecclesiastes (also a part of the Bible) was real, which would probably offend the religious sensibilities of more devout Christians, but he’s agreeing with him as he does so, thus affirming the words of the text.

“Caligula made a horse a consul; Charles II. made a knight of a sirloin. Wrap yourself up now, then, between Consul Incitatus and Baronet Roastbeef.”

I don’t understand the reference with Charles II, but the wordplay is at least entertaining.

“ As for the intrinsic value of people, it is no longer respectable in the least. Listen to the panegyric which neighbor makes of neighbor.”

This suggests that he’s upset by the lack of community and callousness toward others that he observes in his daily life, but that his response has been cynicism rather than action. He even makes a reference to cynicism as a philosophy later on, joking about Diogenes’ cloak.

“Virtue, granted, but madness also. There are queer spots on those great men. The Brutus who killed Cæsar was in love with the statue of a little boy. This statue was from the hand of the Greek sculptor Strongylion, who also carved that figure of an Amazon known as the Beautiful Leg, Eucnemos, which Nero carried with him in his travels. This Strongylion left but two statues which placed Nero and Brutus in accord. Brutus was in love with the one, Nero with the other.”

Given that so much of Grantaire’s introduction was about his adoration of Enjolras and was filled with allusions to ancient Greek figures associated with homosexuality, it’s not surprising to see what appears to be another reference to queerness. It’s also not surprising that Grantaire’s attitude here is unclear, as he’s always full of contradictions. On the one hand, Brutus’ love for a statue of a boy is portrayed as a “spot” on his character, marring his image of virtue. Grantaire, though, just questioned the meaning of virtue itself, claiming that it was linked to violence (the “slayer”) and was determined by the victor, not by one’s character. Moreover, Brutus’ love of the statue of the boy is equated with Nero’s love of a statue of an Amazon (a woman), suggesting some level of equality between their loves. Consequently, this story could be less a commentary on queerness from Grantaire and more an instance of his general rejection of love, mocking Nero’s affection through the comparison with Brutus’. It could be a continued criticism of virtue, too. If “virtue” is violence and destruction, then love is a “spot” on virtue, even though love is typically thought of as a better trait.

His cynicism is a product of despair as well, as we see from his admission that he’s “sad” in between all his other statements. He’s still very petty, though, continuing to speak even after Bossuet silences him.

I admit that I don’t follow the references to theater and law in the other discussions (aside from the Charter), but it does give us an idea of the range of interests here. Les Amis may be bound by republicanism, but they not only have different opinions within that, but different hobbies and priorities. Grantaire’s in his own category (disavowing politics and also ranting in a very specific way), but Jean Prouvaire’s interest in mythology is really distinct from the focus on mistresses in Joly and Bahorel’s group, which is also different from the definitive political focus of Courfeyrac and Combeferre here. This isn’t to say they couldn’t all discuss these subjects - Grantaire is definitely knowledgeable about mythology, and Combeferre is basically interested in everything - but it still says something about how they choose to spend their time when they’re not doing activist work. It also gives us an indication of who’s closer to whom, even if they’re all friends. On top of that, the list of discussions (theater, politics, love, etc) gives us a feel for what a Parisian café was like at that time. It’s a wonderful way of giving us a sense of place while helping us get to know the characters.

Courfeyrac burning the Charter in the middle of all this is so funny. Combeferre, with his belief in gradual progress through education and small social changes, really tried to defend it (albeit “weakly”), but Courfeyrac was feeling chaotic, and the fire was right there.

#les mis letters #lm 3.4.4 #grantaire #courfeyrac #combeferre #I don't think there'll ever be a day where I'll read a Grantaire rant #and understand it #I don't think HE understands his rants #and that might be the point?#but there are so many references there that trying to analyze it is always tempting #it just falls apart really quickly too

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ericamzdm · 2 years

Text

Terrible at Acting

Basic storytelling groundwork: When Bow says Adora can’t act to save her life, he’s not revealing some heretofore unexamined element of Adora’s character. He’s talking about this:

Reunion is our big example of Adora acting, and the ways in which she is bad (and good!) at it.

To start with, it’s not a matter of personal scruples. Adora isn’t bothered by lying to Bow’s dads - she’s confused/anxious about WHY she’s being asked to lie (and considers the lie itself excessively “elaborate”), but she’s totally willing to play along.

In fact, as soon as she has a personal stake in the situation, she’s all in.

No, Adora’s difficulty with acting has nothing to do with excessive moral purity.

So why’s she so bad at it?

Three reasons.

Firstly (and most trivially): Because of her sheltered and setting-atypical childhood, Adora doesn’t really know what scholars are. So, she doesn’t have anything to base the act on, and can’t judge how well or badly she’s doing.

Secondly: Adora can’t keep her story straight.

This isn’t simple absent-mindedness. Adora didn’t forget the backstory Bow gave her and panic; she delivers the history line with absolute confidence. She legitimately seems to think it’s an acceptable answer. Adora just... doesn’t see a problem with changing the details of her story, or having those details contradict.

Because Adora was raised under a regime of constant gas-lighting.

Adora’s “safety” and “happiness” in the Horde hinged on her ability to accept the things Shadow Weaver told her as The Truth - even as those things were incoherent, self-contradictory, or just blatantly false. So Adora learned not to question, to not try to put things into a consistent framework. To just accept what she is being told, here and now.

Adora can’t keep her story straight, not because “she’s kinda dumb” or has a bad memory, but because she does not expect reality to make sense - so of course her lies are going to be nonsensical.

When lying, Adora doesn’t reach for consistency, she reaches for truthiness; for things that feel “right” - things that are flattering, engaging, and affirming. George and Lance are very invested in History, so Adora mirrors that back at them.

Annnd... that’s not strictly speaking bad acting? Like, it’s not ideal. It’s definitely bad for Adora herself, long term.

But in terms of trying to fool people? Confidence and flattery get you a lot farther than having an airtight alibi. Adora acts like this is normal and makes sense and ... it works. George and Lance both accept the absurd band-aid of “triple major” and move on.

Thirdly (and most significantly): Adora gets lost in her role.

So. This lie, right here.

It’s pointless.

It doesn’t further either of her “real” goals: Confirming Bow is a Good Little Future Historian, figuring out what “Serenia” means.

Or, well. It’s pointless if you assume Adora is treating this as an act. Because the goal this does advance is “Show Off What A Good Scholar Adora Is”

And Adora really, really cares about that, because as far as she’s concerned? She is a scholar.

Adora is bad at acting, not because she is too moral and rational to lie successfully, but because she suffers from catastrophic levels of bleed. She can’t separate herself from the role she is playing, and that lack of boundary causes... problems.

It means she can’t feign ignorance - she legitimately doesn’t seem to understand that “Adora the scholar” would not be privy to the same information as “Adora the She-Ra”.

And it means she is deeply invested in people liking her adopted persona.

She wants people think she is the best, the most skilled and knowledgeable. She wants them to be impressed by her performance in her false role.

Even when that undermines the reasons took on the role in the first place.

She is driven to show off, to recklessly over-reach.

And in doing so, she ultimately shatters the lies holding her act together.

#spop #adora #s2e7 #the relevance of this #to adoras emotional investment in shera #is left as an exercise of the reader #but yeah #adora doesnt think of herself as a liar #but she does lie #constantly #reflexively #and with conviction #because to her #there is very little distinction #between what is true #and what she feels #SHOULD be true

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thirteensfavoritetoy · 5 months

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So as much as I've been an RTD detractor over the past several months (and even more so since last night) I may have to play devil's advocate on his behalf due to a theory I'm currently contemplating. There's one important caveat, however: I haven't watched the episode (still not going to either) and am basing this idea on the info I've seen and read here, so I'm asking those of you who actually have seen it to let me know whether this idea holds up to scrutiny.

(spoilers for "The Giggle" ahead, obviously)...

Now as I understand it, after the bi-regeneration thing happened, 15 told 14 that he (15) existed because 14 had fixed himself, i.e. "fixed" himself to Donna and her family and taken the time to deal with his trauma.This idea of 14 "fixing" himself seems contradictory to 13 telling Yaz in LOTSD that she couldn't fix herself to anything, any place, or anyone.

So of course I can't know for certain if RTD was aware of the above lines from LOTSD (although I'd be rather surprised if he wasn't), but I think there's a possibility that RTD's intention was for this latest relaunch of the show to begin with a Doctor who, while not completely free of their past trauma, has at least worked to get past it. Obviously from his own original run with the show with 9 and 10 he is aware of how much trauma the character of the Doctor has suffered over the centuries, and may have felt that 15 should start his run on Disney+ (ecch) with a clean slate, more or less. The allusion to "fixing" wasn't necessarily part of his attempt to erase and contradict this aspect of 13's era... he's already done plenty of that anyway🤬...but was simply accidental because he didn't express it in a different way.

So I put it to all of you...

Does this idea hold water, or do you feel that the reference to "fixing" was intentionally a part of the 13th-era erasure?

If it does hold up, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in this case. But he can still fuck off about all the other shit.

#doctor who #thirteenth doctor #13th doctor #yasmin khan #fourteenth doctor #14th doctor #donna noble #fifteenth doctor #15th doctor #the giggle #russell t davies #anti rtd

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haggishlyhagging · 11 months

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“Disempowerment, then, may be inscribed in the more prominent features of women's unreciprocated caregiving: in the accord of status and the paying of homage; in the scarcely perceptible ethical and epistemic “leaning” into the reality of one who stands higher in the hierarchy of gender. But this is only part of the story. In this section I want to identify some countertendencies, ways in which women's provision of emotional sustenance to men may feel empowering and hence contradict, on a purely phenomenal level, what may be its objectively disempowering character.

Tending to wounds: this is a large part of what it is to provide someone with emotional support. But this means that in one standard scenario of heterosexual intimacy, the man appears to his female caregiver as vulnerable and injured. Fear and insecurity: for many men, these are the offstage companions of competitive displays of masculinity, and they are aspects of men's lives that women know well. To the woman who tends him, this fellow is not only no colossus who bestrides the world, but he may bear little resemblance to the patriarchal oppressor of feminist theory. The man may indeed belong to a more powerful caste; no matter, this isn't what he seems to her at the moment. One imagines Frau Stangl's tender clucks of sympathy as the harried Fritz rehearses, greatly edited, the trials and tribulations of his day at work: How put upon he is from above and below, how he suffers!

Why isn't every woman a feminist? (See Chapter 5 above.) Feminism tells a tale of female injury, but the average woman in heterosexual intimacy knows that men are injured too, as indeed they are. She may be willing to grant, this average woman, that men in general have more power than women in general. This undoubted fact is merely a fact; it is abstract, while the man of flesh and blood who stands before her is concrete: His hurts are real, his fears palpable. And like those heroic doctors on the late show who work tirelessly through the epidemic even though they may be fainting from fatigue, the woman in intimacy may set her own needs to one side in order better to attend to his. She does this not because she is "chauvinized" or has “false consciousness,” but because this is what the work requires. Indeed, she may even excuse the man's abuse of her, having glimpsed the great reservoir of pain and rage from which it issues. Here is a further gloss on the ethical disempowerment attendant upon women's caregiving: In such a such a situation, a woman may be tempted to collude in her own ill-treatment. . . .

An apparent reversal has taken place: The man, her superior in the hierarchy of gender, now appears before the woman as the weaker before the stronger, the patient before his nurse. A source within the woman has been tapped and she feels flowing outward from herself a great power of healing and making whole. She imagines herself to be a great reservoir of restorative power. This feeling of power gives her a sense of agency and of personal efficacy that she may get nowhere else. We read that one of Kafka's mistresses, Milena Jesenka, “believed she could cure Kafka of all his ills and give him a sense of wellbeing simply by her presence—if only he wanted it.”

While women suffer from our relative lack of power in the world and often resent it, certain dimensions of this powerlessness may seem abstract and remote. We know, for example, that we rarely get to make the laws or direct the major financial institutions. But Wall Street and the U.S. Congress seem very far away. The power a woman feels in herself to heal and sustain, on the other hand—“the power of love”—is, once again, concrete and very near: It is like a field of force emanating from within herself, a great river flowing outward from her very person.

Thus, a complex and contradictory female subjectivity is constructed within the relations of caregiving. Here, as elsewhere, women are affirmed in some ways and diminished in others (see Chapter 6, p. 94), this within the unity of a single act. The woman who provides a man with largely unreciprocated emotional sustenance accords him status and pays him homage; she agrees to the unspoken proposition that his doings are important enough to deserve substantially more attention than her own. But even as the man's supremacy in the relationship is tacitly assumed by both parties to the transaction, the man reveals himself to his caregiver as vulnerable and insecure. And while she may well be ethically and epistemically disempowered by the care she gives, this caregiving affords her the feeling that a mighty power resides within her being.

The situation of those men in the hierarchy of gender who avail themselves of female tenderness is not thereby altered: Their superordinate position is neither abandoned, nor their male privilege relinquished. The vulnerability these men exhibit is not a prelude in any way to their loss of male privilege or to an elevation in the status of women. Similarly, the feeling that one's love is a mighty force for good in the life of the beloved doesn't make it so, as Milena Jesenka found, to her sorrow. The feeling of out-flowing personal power so characteristic of the caregiving woman is quite different from the having of any actual power in the world. There is no doubt that this sense of personal efficacy provides some compensation for the extra-domestic power women are typically denied: If one cannot be a king oneself, being a confidante of kings may be the next best thing. But just as we make a bad bargain in accepting an occasional Valentine in lieu of the sustained attention we deserve, we are ill advised to settle for a mere feeling of power, however heady and intoxicating it may be, in place of the effective power we have every right to exercise in the world.”

-Sandra Lee Bartky, Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression

#sandra lee bartky #female disempowerment #emotional labor #patriarchy #women’s love #male entitlement #male fragility #male vulnerability #male privilege

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