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beneaththemasks · 3 years

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Analyzing Atsushi and Akutagawa pt.1 (I have a lot to say so there's gonna be a part 2)

CW: Dazai hate

first of all I want to clarify that I don’t think any of this is going to happen but it’d be really nice if it did... however, since BSD is a fiction story and my analysis is based on what would be ideal in the real life I don’t think it’s too likely for this to happen.

I think Atsushi should leave the ADA and Akutagawa should leave the Port Mafia.

To begin with, I’d like to tell you how I came up with this idea;

The thing is that in the BSD fandom there’s this (sadly too popular) discussion about Atsushi being a good, strong and entertaining main character or not. Many times I’ve seen people discussing this as if it was simply and wholy a matter of yes or no and the more the discussion grows the more angry I get (but i get angry too easily so don’t mind me).

In my opinion Atsushi is not weak, I actually don’t think any character in BSD is tbh (I mean they’d beat the shit out of me even if they don’t know how to fight because all ever do with my life is sit on my tiny piano and play my silly little mozart). But leaving the physical strenght aside, I still don’t think he’s a weak/strong or boring/entretaining character. I think the charm of Atsushi as a MC lies elsewhere.

Yes he’s pretty, he’s kind, he has an e-boy haircut and I��d let him step on me with those worn-out dirty boots.

But he’s also a common person living among prodigies and demons.

(Really, I feel like standing up and appaluding Asagiri for choosing Atsushi as the mc and writing him the way he did because there’s nothing that could make my shitty life better than knowing that the protagonist of my favourite story in the world is someone I can relate so much to that I actually ended up learning more about myself through him.)

And yes, we’ve seen this happen many times in countless stories (yes yes haikyuu for example) where the plot worked as good as any other even though the MC took longer than the rest to get to where they were but managed to do so in the end (unlike the typical shonen mc that levels-up overnight) plus what people mostly criticize about Atsushi as a MC are his constant war flashbacks and how much he self-doubts himself.

So I came to the conclusion that it's not really Atsushi and his journey as a MC but his unresolved trauma what seems to annoy the audience instead.

And that’s how I came up with a fiction-breaking answer to your problems; If you want Atsushi to stop suffering over and over again for the same things, he has to leave the ADA and get some real therapy.

(Don’t misunderstand me, even if I accept him and love him as he’s now, I’d still love it if this were the real final for him bc it hurts me to see him suffer all the time.)

Think about it, Atsushi is just a poor boy, abandoned by hell itself and thrown into the street in the worst conditions a human being could be just to end up running into a maniac manipulator with a good heart that offers him a roof over his head on the condition he accepts a job that Atsushi himself says doesn’t want and is too afraid to be a part of and that he tried to leave once but failed to do so and then felt too guilty to try again because he eats guilt and remorse with milk for breakfast so now he has no choice but risk his life, face his archenemy physical pain to beat his enemies and constantly fear that he might not be doing what’s right or being good enough while having a huge responsibility on his bare shoulders.

As it stands, his situation can only be explained by that famous saying “it’s not that you don’t want to grow/heal, it’s that the environment is not apt for you to do it”. Yeah, no wonder he hasn’t made any progress overnight and feels so hopeless at times.

I love everyone in the ADA (not you Dazai) and their found family made out of scraps and angsty love is all I ever whish for, but just because he’s finally found people to rely on that care about him doesn’t mean it’s enough to heal so much damage (suprise suprise your family and love won’t always be enough to heal trauma). Atsushi won’t overcome his fears by facing them head-on nor will he become more independent by fighting on his own (actually we all know he hates fighting alone and that’s because he’s not in a place where he can trust in himself yet) instead, it’s very likely he’ll end up pushing himself to the limit to get “stronger” faster and end up loosing sight of himself.

And here's where Akutagawa enters.

The reason why I also mention him is because Akutagawa for me is the perfect example of why Atsushi has to stop now before it’s too late.

Akutagawa has been past the point of no return for a long time now, he’s fought so hard to get "better" faster for the sake of being recognised by Dazai that he stopped recognising what’s real and what’s not. Akutagawa is already strong enough and has everything he needs but can’t recognise it because he works in a place where the more and faster you kill the better you are, so even though he’s the most feared member of the PM he doesn’t believe it because he hasn’t heard Dazai saying it.

To me it makes perfect sense that Dazai insists so much on making them face each other, I mean, Atsushi has everything Akutagawa wants and Akutagawa has everything Atsushi wants and as long each they stay blinded by their own unrealistic expectations they’ll keep risking their lives for something they will never accomplish under those circumstances, it turns into a vicious cycle where Dazai seems to be the only one benefiting from this since he now has two UltraRare awakened subordinates to fight for the sake of his book or whatever he wants. (but don’t let me get too excited about this topic ‘cause I could talk about Dazai for 3 days)

Yes I know I know, it was a very good thing that Asagiri decided to break that toxic vicious cycle and made one of them think for both to finally make Atsushi challenge Akutagawa to stop killing for six months as a condition to fight with him (that's called GROWTH, breaking out of the cage, abandoning the nest, etc).

But unlike Atsushi, Akutagawa doesn’t have many people to rely on when the time all of his enemies show up -after mori has beaten the fuck out of him for not showing results and lowers his rank to the same Oda had- to make him pay (let’s be honest the mafia couldn’t care less about the errand boy).

Basically, Aku has to leave the Port Mafia in order to stay safe, gain perspective and find a reason to live of his own rather than sit and wait for dazai to approve of his every move (the same goes for Sushi, he has to stop throwing himself off of high buildings to save people and stopping bullets with his mouth to be validated by his peers).

But yeah, Akutagawa is probably not going to leave the PM and Atsushi is probably not going to leave the ADA but as someone who really wants to see them doing some real growth and barely stands this “just forget your trauma and fight” thing that’s going on I had to say it.

I mean, look at Dazai, it was no untill Oda told him he clearly wasn’t going to find a purpose to live that he decided that mayyyyybe the PM was not a good place to try spiritual healing.

What’s more, I’d say almost every single character in BSD is too fucked up to be able to heal in the kind of environmet they work at and that they must have let the pain sink or whatever bc they jsut don’t want to change their lives but idk man that’s fine if it makes them happy.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga #bsd akutagawa #bsd atsushi #sskk #analysis time

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hellyeahheroes · 3 years

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Okay so I’m not gonna lie, I cannot muster myself to give a crap about latest issue of Fantastic Four, which had Dan Slott retcon it so that not only is Franklin Richards a mutant but never was a mutant, he jsut used his powers to make himself register as a mutant to feel special. Like, as far as retcons go this one is bad and poorly done, it is a writing with subteltly of a jackhammer for no good reason. Buuuuut.... in order for me to be offended about it I would have to care about Mutants as Minority Metaphor (which I will be for brevity call MMM from now on).

If we assume mutants are metaphor for minority then whooo boy, imagine telling a kid that just started exploring himself as a part of a miunority group he doesn’t fit it ans is just “pretending” for some abritrary reason. That would be a dick move on pair with bi, pan, trans and ace exclusionism from LGBTQ spaces and communities. Which would be on pair with Xavier’s assholery. So if any of you buys into MMM then you have a good reason to be offended.

I don’t. Fuck MMM. Mutants are waay too white and straight with too much focus on white and straight characters at the expense of their actual minority members and recently is waay to fashy to play this card. Times when we needed this metaphor are long gone, we do not need a bunch of white cishets to stand for actual minorities, we can have the characters from actual minority groups. I am especially not going to be taking this shit when X-Line is heald by a writer whose previous works include “Avengers are fascists and that’s good” and “Antisemitism is right: the comic book”

I am also not gonna be like “Slott is breaking his toys because he doesn’t want to share with better writers”. First of all, X-Men need to stop trying to steal characters from other teams and their fandom need to get over their entitlement for any character who is a mutant or even a character who is popular (Kamala Khan). X-Men and X-Fandom just want to get praises without having to put in the work. And I’m not gonna pick a side between a writer who throws a tantrum whenever he has to share with others and isn’t dictating the terms and a guy whose appriopriate description is somewhere between “Grant Morrison without heart and humanity” and a “cryptofascist”. I wish neither of them were fucking up these books and characters.

I can, however, say I find Slott’s attitude really stupid. It is not different from all these writers who feel the need to drago Superman down because they cannot think of problems that cannot be solved by punching them away. Or drag all heroes down because they’re obsessed over street level jerks like Batman, Wolverine or Punisher and cannot think of a way to write a story that isn’t about these characters and a kind of threats they deal with and lose their minds when they realize someone like Flash or Doctor Strange can solve such threat easily. Or bend over backwards to make a story that should be about high-power heroes be about street level one (Metal) no matter how contrived it looks like.

I am tired of this desperate need for “realism” that drags more fantastic characters down and limits the king of stories mainstream comics can tell within superhero genre. If you don’t want to write the character, do not write them. Have Franklin go on a cosmic journey to learn more about his powers and let a writer who wants to engage with this type of character work with him. Don’t go trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

-Admin

#Fantastic Four #Franklin Richards #X-Men #Marvel

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bxstiae · 4 years

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THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; mun & muse - meme.

tagged by: i took it from @wildshero tagging: anybody who wants to i guess.... um... @lupihero / @hyaciiintho / @origcmibird / @dansiere / @drakslay / @fellcarnate / @gerudofury / @aerialarcher / there i added people.

fill out & repost ♥ this meme definitely favors canons more, but i hope oc’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. multi-muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is: canon / oc / au ( dependent on verse ) / canon-divergent / fandomless

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK.

Are they underrated? YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main story? YES / NO / MAYBE

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO / MAYBE

How’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. ( it honestly depends who you ask, and when in the story it is. )

How strictly do you follow canon? — I follow enough canon to not change the plot, but its very VERY lore heavy. and it diverges post game as well. Not to mention there are some discrepancies with my Link as well. namely his eye colour. his personality is BIT more jaded than canon. but then again, he is a character that is ( in theory ) YOU. so its how YOU play the game.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals. — i mean. idk im not really a sellout in general....?? he’s... extremely interesting in the fact that you have a tired man(tm) who’s just about done with the world at such a young age. he’s the hero of hyrule, and has done many feats. he has interesting stories to tell. and he’s not at all a boring person. he’s a bit quirky, has a fan-base, and overall, who WOULDN’T want to interact with link? i mean its LINK. after all... not to mention that he’s not really PREDICTABLE for the most part. I mean he is kind of but also not at all. I just??? i think a lot of people find him interesting? he’s also very attentive at times. you literally have to throw a rock and he will look your direction.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?). — he is a selective mute. he WILL not talk. he will not approach you. you HAVE to approach him.... while he tends to be ‘OP’ he really isn’t. he’s still very much a human, and will react as such. its very hard to approach cause he has that ‘intimidating feel’ and lets not forget that he really does straight up ignore people if hey dont say anything to him. in that aspect it’s hard to interact with him. because its not like he ‘tunnel visions’ but he just wont pay attention to you if there is nothing to pay attention to.

What inspired you to rp your muse? — he’s been a muse for me since 2012. just always put on the backburner for a reason. but really? link was the ONE character that I could relate to. he was my go to guy. really. in high school, i struggled with friends and a lot of other things. but i pushed through. and honestly. link was ALWAYS a character that i turned to for that. it happened with Skyward Sword as well. when BOTW came out it was the same way. BOTW was my go to game in college because of link. so when i finally gt the wiiu version and started playing TP again, i was like. YEP im making him again. cause yes. the themes in TP are all themes that are right up my alley too. so of course i am going to find inspiration there. I ALSO found inspiration when i found some celtic music as well. I listen to msic when i write my replies. and when i was writing a reply on another blog. i found some celtic music and i just had THAT MOOD.

What keeps your inspiration going? — the game. celtic music. honestly art. vines. anythign that reminds me of TP Link keeps me going. some of the interactions i have keep me going. the PLOTS i have keep me going.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice? YES / NO.

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO. ( lol yea. )

Do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO. ( i mean i love to write drabbles tbh. I don’t think i have on link, but I would always LOVE to. though if you look at some of my asks, they can be considered drabbles. lololol i love to write. )

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO.

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO ( link is the ONE muse i never EVER lose confidence in. which is why he is such a strong character for me. link is me. straight up. and i think somebody asked me that too. he’s NOT a self insert but. i can relate SO much to him in so many ways. but i love the way i portray him cause he is very unique. i just hope that my confidence doesn’t SCARE duplicates and other people cause i would never want people to be intimidated by THIS fact that i am confident. )

Are you confident in your writing? YES / NO. ( lol yea. honestly i love to write. though my style always changed and sometimes i worry about that. cause sometimes i have prose and sometimes i dont. but im an adaptable writer which i always loved about myself. )

Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO. ( yea. both. i am both. im sensitive ooc but want to say shit about my portrayal. i don’t really care. say shit about me, and then i get upset and sad. )

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal? — depends n the criticism. I say this all the time. theres constructive criticism. and then theres. just plain hate. I accept anything thats constructive. I want to know what i need to work on or what people would want to see. link is an ever-changing muse. i learn and grow and i will take anything thats told to me nicely without the hate.

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character? — PLEASE. jsut send them my way i LOVE all the questions and character development. you dont even have to be a mutual for that.

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why? — yes and no. i mean its my HC. you are allowed to disagree with my HC. hoenstly. thats the beauty of INTERPRETATIONS. i dont expect every TP link out there to agree with all of my HCs. so long as we can all be mature adults about it and talk normally with one another. we gucci. like we are allowed to have different HCs. and honestly. I would want to know because i would want to know what YOU think about the ‘canon.’ cause it’s different. i like those differences.

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it? — idk why they would? its link? its the protag. and in a way its supposed to be different for each person anyway??? its like taking Robin or Corrin from FE. like people are allwoed to disagree with the portrayal i GUESS? but i don’t understand why anybody would like stragiht up HATE the portrayal. its just different? idk.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it? — see above tbh. but honestly. depends. do you hate him for the portrayal. or do you hate him cause of his character personality. like you’re allowed to interact with ‘bad’ characters. not that i think anybody would HATE link? but you know i could be wrong??? idk how to answer this cause what do you mean by hate? you can hate a character. but still interact with them??? idk how to compute this question???

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors? — yes and no. honestly. i know i make mistakes. but i don’t want grammar nazi’s. i write to relax. the only time i would want people to tell me is if they were trying to figure out what i meant. does that make sense. like if they are confused on something. then its okay to tell me. otherwise if its something that is just a small mistake that you can ignore. then its no big deal. its also how you approach me too. like approach with caution. i am a delicate flower. so don’t attack me for making a mistake.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun? — i am VERY VERY easygoing!!! I want to say im VERY kind. i am very accepting and EXTREMELY FORGIVING. no joke. I want to be the kindest person out there. I dont want people to be intimidated by me. I don’t want people to be scared of hurt by me. hoenstly. I am a very nice person. I may have different opinions but i am VERY respectful to everybody even those i do not agree with. Nobody should ever feel weird about me like ever okay? please don’t. I never want bad blood. so if something ever happens between us. you are always ALWAYS more than welcome to come talk to me when emotions have fizzled out. I am very apologetic too. so like?? idk??? who would???? consider me??? and asshole??? im tired. and i shut my door fast but its mainly cause... i am tired. nothing else has to do with it. i am very excitable and happy for people who talk to me. i consider ANYBODY who talks to me a friend. im jsut??? no really. i know people are shy. but im over her a big tired ball of fluff. i only want love and happiness for people. anybody who’s talked to me can testify to this. ♥♥

that’s about it, congrats for filling out!

#⚜ ; — [ ᵗʳᵃˢʰᵇᵒᵃᵗˑᵗˣᵗ ▲ ooc. ]#⚜ ; — [ ᵗᵉᵃʳˢ ᵒᶠ ˡᶤᵍʰᵗ ▲ dash games. ]#[ i DID IT ]#[ and now i leave ]

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lovingloudly-archived · 5 years

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if you had to recommend some songs by queen for someone who had never listened to them or only know like one song by them,, what songs would you recommend? -🌱⭐️

ehdjrfghkdgdkjh AAAAAH this is v relevant (well queen always is to me but shh) cause i watched the rest of the rock montreal concert last night and cried during SONGS I HAD NO REASON TO CRY AT they just make emotional waah :,)

first off!! a couple of things to note about queen: they literally have a song that will??? never be surpassed in how popular and iconic it is, srsly. NONE OF US have any recollection of learning the lyrics yet when it comes on everyone in the nearby vicinity is like OH FUCK YEAH!!!!. another thing, queen is the only band where each member has individually written a number one single and i think that is pretty iconic so i’m gonna list these songs by band member because honestly KNOWING SOMETHING LIKE…. OH I DONT KNOW… A NOW Astrophysicist writing a song called fat bottomed girls….. yeah! and last thing, u may or may not know so many more queen songs than u think :))

ANYWAY YEAH THERE MIGHT BE A LOT HERE, LISTED BY BAND MEMBER AND KINDA CHRONOLOGICALLY/BY ALBUM (also genuinely i havent even heard all of their songs SO THIS MAY BE INACCURATE IN THE FUTURE BABIE)

* means my personal faves :D

freddie (cat dad, loved his husband jim hutton :D read mercury & me, u fools!!, literally can’t look at him in the 70s vs 80s and believe they’re the same, actually was v shy irl and finding that out made me feel ok abt being shy myself 🥺):*my fairy king liar (JOHN DEACON HAS THE SICKEST BASS SOLO IN THIS OK.)seven seas of rhyefunny how love is (CRIED THE FIRST TIME I HEARD THIS TBH)killer queenin the lap of the gods (AAaaAAaaAAAAAAAAAAAAH)death on two legslazing on a sunday afternoon*seaside rendezvous (feels like a summer boardwalk or carnival. ur gonna love it)love of my life*somebody to love (honestly thinking too hard about how many looking for/wanting love songs freddie wrote makes me SO emotional bc he really wanted somebody to love and then a year after he wrote it’s a hard life about the same kinda topic he met jim and they were together until the end :,) and freddie said in an interview that he had “found that niche he was looking for his entire life” and OHH MY GOD THAT MAKES ME CRYY)good old-fashioned lover boy*we are the champions (i can’t listen to this too often but when i do DEFINITELY OPT FOR A LIVE VERSION LIKE LIVE AID BECAUSE IT. HITS. MY HEART)bicycle race (freddie rlly just wanted to write a song about bicycles. and also don’t listen to anyone who tries to say this is about bisexuality oh my GODDD)*don’t stop me now (the happiest song on earth, according to science, IT CHECKS OUT!!! I FEEL SO MUCH SEROTONIN BC OF THIS. EVEN WHEN IT PLAYED THAT ACAPELLA BEGINNING AT THE END OF BO RHAP OHHH MYGOD) *play the gamecrazy little thing called love (inspired by elvis, FREDDIE COULD PLAY LIKE 3 CHORDS ON GUITAR AND WE LOVE HIM FOR IT)staying power (watch me put all of hot space on here. ITS A FUNKY ALBUM!)body language (LISTEN. I KINDA LOVE IT)life is realcalling all girls*cool cat (FREDDIE SANG THE FULL THING IN FALSETTO. DO U SEE THIS)*soul brother (HE WROTE THIS ABOUT BRIAN/DEDICATED TO HIM U GUYSS :(((( AND THEY WERE SOUL BROTHERS!!!!! ohmyodtheywereosulbrothrsrs)*it’s a hard lifepain is so close to pleasure (also composed by deaky!)the miracle (it’s credited to all of them but it says the main composers were freddie and john!)*breakthru (THE JOY OF THIS SONG AND HOW MUCH FUN THEY WERE HAVING ON THE VIDEO :(((( IT GETS ME EMO)was it all worth itinnuendoi’m going slightly mad*the show must go on (makes me cry too much to listen to it unless its SAD FREDDIE HOURS but when you think about how close to the end this was yet how fukgignhn incredible his vocals still were it’s so heartbreaking and admirable like waah i just :( love freddie mercury sm)

brian may (TALL. big hair. what is his routine tbh???, ASTROPHYISICIST?? THEY’RE ALL SO SMART. LOVES ANIMALS AND IS TRYING TO END BADGER CULLING. i’d offer him my life):keep yourself alive*doing alright (this was written before queen was properly formed and the band was still roger, brian and tim staffel, who also helped write it, in smile!)the night comes down (you can tell ESPECIALLY well in this song that the only time slots they could get at the studio to record was super late at night ksjfdgjkfdg)father to son*now i’m here (SOUNDS SO GOOD LIVE BECAUSE ITS FASTER AND JUST MORE ENERGETIC AND WAAH OH MY GOD CAN’T RECOMMEND LISTENING TO LIVE VERSIONS OF NOW I’M HERE ENOUGH)*’39 (um. the only song to exist actually! queen’s designated yeehaw song. jsut listen to it played live at earls court babie!! the story of the song is here and TBH LIKE. BRIAN WENT OFF AND CONTINUED TO GO OFF WITH HIS SONGS)*good companytie your mother downwhite man*we will rock youall dead, all dead*sleeping on the sidewalk (MY FAVE BRIAN VOCALS TBH)*it’s late*fat bottomed girls (:^])dragon attack (GONNA YEET THAT SOUND EHYEYEYAAH)dancerput out the fire (PEOPLE GET SHOT BY PEOPLE. PEOPLE WITH GUUUNS)las palabras de amor (depacito song.)*hammer to fall (I PREFER THIS SONG LIVE BUT STUDIO VERSION IS STILL. SO GOOD. THESE LYRICS??? ‘HERE WE STAND, HERE WE FALL, HISTORY WONT CARE AT AALL’ UHHHH!!! HEHEHEHEY HAMMER TO FFaaAAALL?)*who wants to live forever (dont TALK TO Me about this SONG ill cry i literally never listen to it its been months it makes me SO sad and how the music swells and ohh my god I CANTT.)i want it allscandal*headlong (just how cute they all are in the music video ALONE…. hoop diddy diddy… hoop diddy doo :(( wow)roger taylor (for some reason the fandom thirsts over him. its kinda just creepy. i just thinks he’s cute in a rat way and i love him AND ROGERINA see: i want to break free :)) also he said trans rights and as the wise jim hutton said freddie and roger were ‘clearly soulmates’)i’m im love with my car (OH YOU THOUGHT BO RHAP WAS THE WEIRDEST SONG ON ANATO????)drowse*action this day (oh sidenote brian and roger hated hot space and NOBODY IN THE FANDOM NOR ROGER’S OWN CHILDREN AGREE WITH THEM. IT SLAPS HARDDDDD)*radio ga ga (nothing can communicate my joy whenever i hear this song but like with a lot of other songs NOTHING COMPARES TO THE LIVE VERSIONS OF IT AND SEEING ALL THE PEOPLE DO THE HAND CLAPS LIKE :((( their power..)*one vision (yeah its by roger but ever wondered why the last lyric is fried chicken? jim hutton saying to freddie after the band were messing around adlibbing ‘u should leave that in’ AND THEN THEY DID. THANK YOU JIMOTHY HUTHICN)a kind of magic*these are the days of our lives (:()

ALSO AGAIN I HAVENT LISTENED TO ALL OF THEIR SONGS, SO THERE’S A LOT I’M LEAVING OUT DFJHKGFFKGLJ

john deacon (born august 19th 1951 :) and he rlly wants u to know it. his dream when asked was “wet.”, he likes cheese on toast, HAS A LOT OF KIDS, wrote some of the most iconic basslines in the world and is just overall incredibly bouncy and groovy. whether u call him deacy or deaky is up to u and then ur fate will decided by the disco gods)misfire (the general fandom agrees this is abt premature ejaculation. the song’s only 1:50 long AND IT’S MORE OF A FANDOM INSIDE JOKE THAN ANYTHING BUT REALLY.. LISTEN TO THAT SONG AND TRY TO THINK IT HAS MEANING THAT Isn’t That. again, JOHN HAS LIKE 6 KIDS)you’re my best friend (john was only like early 20s when we wrote this but it’s about his wife and :((((( wtf true love)*another one bites the dust (REALLY JUST LIKE. MADE THE BASSLINE FOR ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC SONGS IN THE WORLD. AND HE DID IT MULTIPLE TIMES???)*back chat (another similarly inside joke kinda thing in the album, THE GENERAL CONSENSOUS IS THAT THIS IS ABOUT BRIAN AHAHSHDSFHKJDF BECAUSE THE HOT SPACE ERA WHAT KINDA TENSE SINCE THEY DIDNT AGREE ON THE ALBUM BUT WE’LL NEVER KNOWWW)under pressure (ANOTHER BASSLINE FROM THE MAN THE MYTH THE DISCO LEGEND HIMSELF)*i want to break free (OH AND HE DID THIS SONG AS WELL UHH. EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU JOHN DEACON????)*friends will be friends (makes me so emotional :((( queen were a familyyyy :()

and bonus stuff:

LISTEN TO FREDDIE’S SOLO ALBUM ‘MR. BAD GUY’ I AM BEGGING U,,,, U WON’T REGRET IT IT’S SO ??? JUST LIKE SO FULL OF FUCIGNGN,.. LOVE SONGS AND IT’S S DANCABLE AND ALSO MADE ME CRY AND GOD. it was literally just remastered and rereleased THIS MOnth this is such a good time to listen to it,, pls… their solo stuff is so goodas for live performances definitely recommend live at the rainbow, rock montreal, live aid, hungarian rhapsody & wembley ‘86 HELL I HAVEN’T WATCHED MOST OF THESE MYSELF I’M TOO EMOTIONALLY SENSITIVE WHEN IT COMES TO QUEEN….. BUT I HOPE U LIKED THIS LONGWINDED POST :)

#anon #answered

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lokiarsene · 5 years

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More PQ2 liveblog thoughts–this time with no salt!

Ryuji acknowledging that what Kamoshida did wasn’t just physical abuse, and that what he put Ann through was even worse than that, was really refreshing to see, especially since the base game did very little to actually show Ryuji understand and acknowledge and care about Ann’s feelings and what she suffered. Any hope of development he had once Kamoshida was apprehended just went out the window, so kudos, PQ2.

Akechi telling Ryuji and Ann, who are particularly vocal about how much they hate Kamoshida (with good reason!) that he understands how they feel is…. painful. Very painful. Especially since what set them off is how absurd it is to think of a whole city built around the idea that Kamoshida is a hero. Of course Akechi would understand how that feels: the entire country of Japan thinks his piece of shit father is a good man.

I painted a tile red by accident, and Ann chimed in by saying it was a nice color. Of COURSE she’d like the color red. ;_;

I can’t believe I forgot this, but the contrast of Akechi having Bless/Light skills, and Joker having Curse/Dark? I love it. I love it a LOT. To me this is the most clear sign that Akechi really did have the capacity for goodness in him, that if he hadn’t been mistreated and deprived, he’d be the true hero his childhood self clearly wished he could be (see also: Robin Hood). And with that line of thinking, I find it equally fascinating that Ren’s innate talent is Curse/Dark.

I don’t pay much attention to the P5 fandom, but from what little I’ve glimpsed, people seem to have this misconception that Ren is some uwu cinnamon roll, when this is so damn far from the truth I really wonder if these people like,,, actually,,, paid attention to the game they were playing. Ren’s ultimate persona is Satanael. It shoots the Demiurge in the fucking face. His whole shtick is a gentleman rebel intent on purging corruption and impurity from society, and he does this while being affiliated with Dark himself. I think a lot of people, even some Akeshu shippers, may overlook Ren’s own capacity for darkness and controlled viciousness in the name of justice. People who evade the law must be dragged screaming back to the rule of law. There’s a reason why his dynamic with Akechi is as compelling as it is, and it’s because they are absolute equals, cordial rivals with similar powers, motivations, and yes, even inclinations.

I’m just saying, if people are able to see Akechi’s potential for being different/better than what he was, then the same can be said for Ren in the reverse. And by some accounts he really is quite questionable, though I’ve previously discussed the moral ambiguity of forcing a conscience onto the minds/hearts of people instead of allowing them to go to it willingly. Personally I stand with Akechi on the matter–FORCING change on someone, no matter how corrupt they are, is a problem unto itself. But I also agree with Akechi in that some people are so corrupt they just need a good killin’ though, so… y'know. Grain of salt and all.

All-Out Attacks in this are ALSO adorable. God I’m enjoying the look/style of this so much more than I did Q1, weirdly enough.

Boy I did not in any way at all miss Justine and… what’s the other one. Christine? Something? Oh no, it’s Caroline. Whatever. I didn’t miss them, and they are by far the lamest of the Velvet Room attendants. Anyone have any ideas as to why Ren’s VR attendants would be children? Because as far as I know in the other games, except for 2, the VR attendants were some reflection of the Wild Card user themselves. The VR attendant was either someone who would be their peer, someone they could learn from, or, with Yu and Margaret, a guiding figure, stern but helpful. And then Marie showed up so… whatever, I guess. I guess Yu learned how to listen to terrible poetry from a tsundere goth or something? Not sure.

I haven’t quite figured out how/why Justine and Caroline–and then Lavenza–can in any way relate to Ren, and part of me wants to say they were actually meant to be Akechi’s VR attendants if he were a true Wild Card user. Children with two different personalities with a strong sense of justice that doesn’t yield no matter what? That fits Akechi quite well. Those attendants then merging into a gentle but determined, soft-spoken girl who only wishes to find the truth and reveal it? That fits Akechi too. It reflects a gentleness/softness, a purity that he lost too soon.

When I put it that way, I can kinda see how they would fit with Ren, who is also seeking the truth because of his muddled memories (which is so convoluted, oh my god, don’t get me started), but they make so much more sense if I think of them as leftovers that were meant to go to Akechi first. But since Akechi isn’t a Wild Card user…. womp womp.

Mona’s outburst that Ryuji should respect Justine and Caroline, then backpedaling to say no, he doesn’t know them, but [respecting them] “just feels right” is………….. really interesting. He says they have something “unwavering” within them, and when they look at him, he gets the feeling he just has to listen to them–“there’s something deep in my core, this feeling that screams ‘I have to do what they say!’ wells up inside me.” IN TER EST ING.

And FINALLY your whole crew can join you in the Velvet Room! Takes me back to P2 days.

Akechi: “Still, two Personas at the same time? I’m impressed. My hat’s off to you, Ren.” FDJSKLFDSLK AKECHI YOU BRILLIANT MOTHERFUCKER

!!!

AND NOW MY BUDDIES CAN HAVE MULTIPLE PERSONA

FUCK YEAH FUN TIME

And Justine/Caroline speculate that the power of the Wild Card is changing to adapt, since “another with the power of the wild card is here as well.” I’m guessing that refers to the P3 or P4 protag?

After playing other JRPGs, I realized something about the Persona series that stands out and that I really enjoy: how talkative your teammates are. They encourage you, cheer you on, compliment you for an attack, express fear if you’re hurt; they thank you for the help you give them, they comment on how much health or SP they lose–it all feels that much more engaging and exciting. Plus it’s a small but really special way to show off their personalities and just how they work together as a team.

OH MY GOD

MY GAL MINAKO MAKING THE BEST FUCKING ENTRANCE

THAT’S MY GAL DSJKLAFJSDKL LET ME PUT HER IN MY PARTY DFJSKLFDaaa AND THE BATTLE MUSIC CHANGES TO P3-STYLED MUSIC WHEN SHE’S HERE JKFDSAJKLFSDAJFLSDJFKLSD OH MY GOD I WANT TO CRY

This is the kinda fanservice I live for, idc. The kind of fanservice that is fun and harmless, that just makes the story exciting. Because who doesn’t love a good crossover?

Oh my god hearing the P3 music again makes me want to tear up. Y'all don’t know how special P3 is to me ;_; It means so… so so so much. And seeing her again, and hearing this music, just fills my heart with so much painjoy that I want to cry.

I GET TO NAME HER? DFJSLAKFDSKL I JUST BURST INTO TEARS. I KNOW THIS IS RIDICULOUS BTIA FKJDSL SHE’S JSUT SO SPECIAL AND!! ATLUS IS FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGING HER!!!a

As a side note, I’m really touched to see Akechi interacting with others that aren’t in the PT. He is genuinely kind to them–a pleasant boy indeed.

“I watch the news pretty regularly, too.” Considering how many times you can check the TV in the dorm in P3, and that SEES would keep an eye on the Apathy Syndrome cases, she’s not lying. Good on Atlus for putting that in there.

Watching Minako bond with Futaba over headphones, and be so kind and friendly, just… warms my heart. THAT’S the P3 protag I know and love.

//THE POPCORN MAKER IS A TRANSPOSITION KILN, LIKE FROM DARK SOULS 3 FADSJKLFDS// THIS IS THE GREATEST GAME EVER MADE

Justine and Caroline confirm that the other Wild Card user they sensed was Minako, which I suppose makes it canon (sorta?) that Akechi is not a Wild Card user, and that his two Persona are likely a special case, caused by the severe split in his motives and in his heart thanks to Shido.

Persona fusion in this is really cute! Justine and Caroline slowly merge the film, do a dance, and butterfly wings sprout from their backs!

“But nothing’s certain in this world, and this problem isn’t going to solve itself.” I FUCKING LOVE YOU, MINAKO.

Watching Futaba struggle but still go through with trying to reach out to Hikari, to explain how difficult it was for her to socialize and share her time with others, also makes me look at P5 in a nicer light. I really did think Futaba had one of the better S-Links, it’s just that pedophilia bullshit that was a GIANT RED FLAG distracting me from the rest of it. If her S-Link had something like this instead–Futaba finds a girl who is like her, and wants to help her since she understands exactly how she feels, but she wants Ren’s help/advice with it–I would have been much happier.

YOU CAN PUT MINAKO IN YOUR PARTY OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Her Japanese voice is adorable by the way–so bright and friendly and warm.

#this is the ask tag #pq2 liveblog #pq2 spoilers

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sprnklersplashes · 6 years

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Season 7 Characters

I am a good bit of the way through season 7 now, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on the characters. Overall, there’s no character I outwardly dislike (except Gothel but I’m meant to dislike her), but I only really like two characters, Drizella and Robin. As in, these are the only two characters who engage me on an emotional level. Everyone else is just sort of..... there. I am leaving out Rumple, Regina and Zelena because I’m lazy as fuck I have made my opinions known about them already and nothing as really changed. I am also not doing Naveen/Drew or Anastasia because as much as I like them.... they barely qualify for characters.

Anyway, if that didn’t put you of, then let’s-a go!

Drizella Tremaine/Ivy Belfrey- Oh my precious, crazy Drizella, you stole my heart in episode 6 (Wake Up Call) and have kept it. I think the main reason she is so sympathetic is because she has a relatable backstory-I’m sure a good number of people in the audience can relate to the frustration of being the second favourite child and living in the shadow of an older sibling. And Adelaide plays her so amazingly, small upset, dejected looks at her mother’s indifference to her in Hyperion Heights so that you can’t help but be on her side, even when I learn she is evil I still sort of rooted for her to make her mother regret what she did. Even after she drugs Ana, her tearful “I don’t want to die” made my heart ache for her. Wrong decision, completely wrong decision, but I can so, so get where she is coming from with it. I like how her arc centered on family and making amends with her sister. And then her redemption came and sent such a compelling character to hell with “well you ended up not hurting your sister for your own gain so good for you, don’t worry about us,your victims, just go live your life.” Oh Drizzy, I wish I could have given you the redemption you so richly deserved. I also would have liked less focus on Henry, because their relationship felt sort of random. And more exploration of her relationship with Ella.

Robin Hood-Mills/Margot- I’m so happy with how they used Robin. I find her such an interesting blend of the LWM and the Enchanted Forest, like watching her use the word “jerkwad” to a troll hunting mob in the Enchanted Forest. And I find her to be the most realistic character; her struggle with finding herself and her identity, the contrast between the “popular girl” she was in high school which just gave her a superficial happiness, and then finding her true calling as Robin Hood, doing something worthwhile, was so nice to watch. I cheered when she picked up that bow! And same in Hyperion Heights, Margot’s conflict with her mother is something very realistic, they never communicated enough. I also like her sense of humour a lot. And how she stands up for her beliefs and fights for the little guy-or girl, Alice, in her case-like a real Robin Hood. However, I don’t like how most of her main development took place in flashbacks, an issue I have with most characters. And I do find her present day character to be a bit... two dimensional. But hey, I have more episodes to go, so I could be wrong. I’d like to see more of her as a character, but from what I have seen I feel like she mainly exists as Alice’s love interest.

After this I think my reviews/analysis/whatever we’re calling this post are going to be less in-depth because Drizzy and Robin are the only two I really care for.

Rapunzel Tremaine/Victoria Belfrey- Well damn if season 7 did one thing, it was make a sympathetic villain with Victoria. I did find her a bit “knock off Evil Queen” until her backstory was revealed in 7x09. The whole theme of that episode was Punzy’s love for her family and even as a villain she is still doing everything because she loves Ana. My favourite kind of villains always have a sort of code or justification that makes them think they’re in the right. In a way, she reminds me of s1 Rumple, who kept his love for his son, but was still corrupted and evil with it. A moment for her that sticks out a lot is when Gothel has kidnapped and bound her and yet her concern is still for Ana, the first thing she does when she sees her is ask her if she is okay. That right there is some complex characterisation; she’s evil but with a tiny nugget of goodness left inside her. Now her redemption is where she falls down; she starts to realise that she should have focussed more on Drizella and less on the deceased Ana, which was good, and she saved Drizzy at the cost of her own life, but like I said before, Drizella was one out of many victims who never got any closure, most importantly Ella.

Lucy Mills- I do think Lucy is a lot like her father and that’s why I like her so much; her belief, her drive, and her sass. She isn’t really the most complex character there is, btu she’s just so loveable. She sees the best in everyone, even Tremaine (even if I sideeyed that part because come on bb). I don’t know what else to say about her; I can’t really say I love her development because imo, there is not much development to love, but who doesn’t love a funny, heart of gold munchkin running around believing in people all the time?

Tiana/Sabine-Well she’s... a good person. I like her development in becoming “her own knight in shining armour”. But like..... That’s sort of all their is to her. I do like her, she’s cute, her relationship with Naveen is adorable. She’ confident and strong but.... there isn’t a whole load of depth to her. Or maybe there is and I just forgot. I would say “I can’t believe ouat messed up the Princess and the Frog” but... it’s OUAT. She seems to fulfil the role of “supportive best friend” more than she does her own character arc.

Ella Mills/Jacinda-Okay for one thing-Dania does not deserve the hate she gets. She is a fine actress. Leave her alone demons. That said, she’s kind of like Tiana for me. Yeah she’s a good person but there’s not much depth to her. I feel like her lack of a backstory is bad for her because it makes it hard to sympathise with her. Sure we know she had a hard life but we don’t see it. I like her more in HH funnily enough, despite overall preferring the EF flashbacks. Watching her fight for Lucy is pretty cool to watch. The narrative fucks her over a lot, especially when t comes to Tremaine and how she did not once factor into her redemption arc despite being hurt severely by her.

Wish Hook/Detective Rogers- Sigh. Like Ella and Tiana, he’s a good person who deserves a happy ending, but that’s really all there is. He gets a little bit of complexity in 7x13 and 7x16 (I think), which is nice. They did skip over his redemption arc, which works for story purposes, but part of what I loved about Killian was his redemption arc. My favourite moments of his were him showing how much he had changed so WHook doesn’t fit that for me. I sort of see him as fundamentally the original character but less-less flawed, less self loathing, less redemption arc (that’s not grammatically correct but let’s move on). They also seem to have taken away the cheeky and sarcastic humour, which may make him more appealing to some people but I miss it. Objectively he’s pretty unproblematic, which I think in a way makes him boring, but undeserving of all the hate the CS fandom throws his way. He also gets manipulated and used a lot, which does make me feel sympathy for him. His scenes with Alice, young Alice in particular, are cute. And I do like that he stopped drinking. He’s a good man who deserves happiness probably more than anyone else, but kind of a watered down version of OG Killian. Don’t get me wrong, I tried really hard to love him but... I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Who knows, maybe at the end of the day, I did jsut see Killian as a prop for Emma, which is why I feel little attachment to a version that isn’t with her.

Henry Mills Swan- Henry is one of my favourite original show characters, so what drew me to this season was a grown up Henry. I am glad that despite being an adult, we still have that cute nerdy wide eyed dreamer of a kid. He does some things and I just think “that is so freaking Henry” like his fist pumping and Star Wars references and using his lunchbox as a weapon. And a lot of his child personality is still there, still an optimist who believes in people, but I feel like he’s matured a bit now. At the same time, he wants to be like the kind of heroes he read about and grew up with. He wants to give Ella a special ring like his grandparents had. I’ll admit there re bits where I don’t feel that he is Henry, but I think that’s because there is such a big jump between Gilmore!Henry and West!Henry.

Alice Jones/Tilly- I went in expecting Tilly to become my favourite, which is weird now because I am fairly neutral on her. I find it interesting the way she sometimes acts like an overgrown child because I think it is a way of showing how emotionally stunted she is, which is pretty neat. She is definitely very cute and makes an eccentric, bouncy kind of Alice, which is what I do think of when I think “Alice In Wonderland” (although my Alice knowledge is limited to the animated film and the Tim Burton one so I may not be very knowledgeable in that respect). I like her dynamic with Robin a lot. She isn’t really that well developed but she is fun to watch. I also wonder sometimes if her eccentricity and “strangeness” for a lack of better word is just her hiding how upset she is. I don’t really have anything else to say about her.

Gothel-To be honest, Gothel seems fairly one dimensional. There is very little to her. She wants to kill everyone because people killed her family. I feel like the writers have kept trying to make villains “bigger and badder” since s5 and then Gothel was just overkill. She has pretty much 0 redeeming qualities, which is cool, she’s the bad guy, but I don’t know, I think it just comes off as pretty shallow. Maybe a “she was always evil” story a la Cruella de Vil would have worked better? I will give it to them that she is very very creepy sometimes.

Dr Facilier/Samdi-I love how on the one hand, he is so, so like his animated counterpart but with enough uniqueness to stand apart. Daniel plays him so amazingly, his movements are so fluid, he’s charming but there’s a danger to him. He is a slimy little bastard (kinda like a... frog. See what I did there?). He intrigues me but I don’t see much to him. But he does remind me of s1 Rumple with his deals and general tomfoolery. I’ll come back to this section ocne I have watched more of s7, but for now my general perception is that he is fun to watch but I don’t see much below the surface.

#ouat s7 #drizella tremaine #robin mills #rapunzel tremaine #victoria belfrey #lucy mills #tiana ouat #ella mills #wish hook #henry mills #gothel #dr facilier #lotta shit going on here #long post for ts #if you're on mobile

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blu-b · 6 years

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Trying again to post my Ragnarok blabbering....

Let’s try and see if tumblr still thinks it has too many paragraphs. If so, I shall split it into two. Reminder that this is just me spewing out everything that bothers me because I actually have so desperately few Thor(ki) pals on tumblr that I'm basically jumping on any opportunity to actually talk to someone about it. Which is why you precious few who commented are now getting the full broadside of my entire jumbled misery. I apologize in advance. You really don't have to read all of it. I’m also not looking for a grand discussion or anything. I just need to get it out of my system.

I respect that there are people who liked the movie, and I don't mean to spoil it for anyone else, so what I'm going to say here is all just a very personal, subjective impression that is by no means anything else but an opinion. Also I feel kind of stupid because the film has been out for a year and...yeah well.

On we go.

upstartpoodle replied to your post “I’ve finally seen Thor: Ragnarok (yes yes, I’m late to the party, I...”

I haven't seen it since I knew from the various spoilers I've seen that it wasn't really my cup of tea, so I can't really comment about the film as a whole, but I've seen a lot of complaints from other people about inconsistent characterisation, too many jokes, dropping the ball on plot points established in the previous films, etc. There's an increasingly long post that keeps cropping up on my dash about it.

calicoskatts replied to your post

I enjoyed it but for me it was jsut another entertaining movie from Marvel but nothing particularly interesting. I thought I was watching Guardians of the Asgardians personally. I’ve been put off from Marvel over the last bit tbh, so maybe that’s why? Like I said, I enjoyed it but I wasn’t wowed or anything.

nelioe replied to your post

*raises hand* I agree, I too thought the movie was awful

miusmius replied to your post

I honestly loved it!

hiko73 replied to your post

What? The movie was amazing from beginning to end, imho....I feel at a loss why you hated it so much.

So, before I say anything, I need to explain that I basically knew the film's plot from gifs and Youtube clips before I watched the DVD, although I didn't know all of it. I already thought some of the scenes sucked big time from the snippets I had seen (Get help, the obedience disk), but actually there were a few that I thought were bad and that turned out rather good in the movie. I’ll come to those in a minute.

So, I think seeing the movie in its entirety for the first time was what did me in. Really, my brain hurt after the end credits rolled off the screen, and I felt like brainwashed. I mean, I knew it was different, and loud, and colourful, and that’s not what I’m having a problem with. It’s rather…a conglomerate of things that just rub me the wrong way.

I’m not mentioning the inconsistent characterisation and the many loose threads that never get cleared up sufficiently (an entire fandom has been waiting for an explanation of how Loki survived Svartalfheim! I had expected it to be a major plot point early in Ragnarok, but it wasn’t even mentioned apart from ‘I thought you were dead’. Well yes, thanks Thor, me too. I’d like to know how he managed not to be dead!).

I’ll also not mention obvious plotholes because well, it’s Marvel we’re talking about, so things like that are expected, and I’ll neither mention obvious flaws on the technical side (too many rapid cuts, weird camera angles or frames) because artistic liberty and all. What does get on my nerves is how almost any serious scene is broken up by something ‘funny’. No two characters can have a quiet talk for two seconds before some joke is cracked that does or does not fit the situation. It’s…tiresome. Especially since most of the jokes aren’t really funny.

Here's a thing: a have a weird humour, I Hate comedy with a capital H, and I despise nothing more than random comedic slapstick elements in an otherwise serious film. Why for heaven's sake can no one make a serious movie anymore? Argh. This film is literally titled "The end of the world" and yet there's a joke at every corner, and no it isn't a black-humoured jab at fate, it's the kind of knee-slapper that's only funny for half the time it takes, and not again afterwards. It makes me angry. Comedy has to be precise and on-point to work. There's a lot of well-placed comedy in the previous Thors and the Avengers; comedic elements that are funny even when you watch the scene a second and a third time. Now, Taika Waititi takes comedy to an entirely new level that isn't necessarily one I like. I also need to say that although I don't know him personally, he comes across as a very taxing person, taxing in a sense that his constant good spirits and giddiness and sort of bouncy energy would definitely wear out my social batteries if I had to be around him all the time. It wore out Tom Hiddleston's, as we can see in several behind the scenes footages where Taika takes to fooling around in front of the camera while poor Tom would just like to get on with his work.

Anyway, back to the movie. Of the major things that rub me wrong is that it does have a very problematic attitude towards violence.

It is rated for a viewing age 12 and up in my country, but I sure as hell would not let my children watch it. There are scenes that come down to nothing but random violence for…well, not even the sake of anything. Hela just skewering Fandral and Volstagg like that? What for? If it’s meant to establish an emotional connection and show just how dangerous Hela is, it fails spectacularly, because it is not given enough time, or enough emotional room. It’s just ZAP and they’re dead; if you don’t look closely you don’t even realise it’s them because they've never had a moment to being reintroduced. Half of the audience has probably already forgotten who they were.The scene with Hogun is gruesome as is the slaughtering of an entire army, and it does nothing whatsoever in terms of significance. Later on, we see many other characters just resorting to brainless mass shootings and seemingly enjoying the heck out of it. Valkyrie, Skurge, you name them. There's a very problematic message in having a character stumble off an enormous spaceship, having them fall off the gangway drunk because it looks cool, and then proceed to mow down a bunch of innocent and mostly unarmed scrappers on a trash planet.

Now, I don’t have a problem with violence in general. I just don’t like the way it is presented here.

There were a few scenes that were actually good.

Thor and Dr. Strange for example, even though the plot could easily have done without that sideline, and Benedict Cumberbatch is also only pouring 50% of his effort into his performance - still, it’s solid, classy acting.

The scenes between Thor and Loki on Midgard in the very beginning stand out because both Hemsworth and Hiddleston are given enough time to actually act out their characters' emotions without being interrupted by a joke. I really liked the dynamics here and I wish the film would have picked up on that course.

Some of Hela’s scenes where a little background on her character is revealed were good as well, but overall I thought Cate Blanchett was alternating between gross overacting and doing minimal duty as per contract. It would have been nice to have her on screen some more, and learn a bit more about her past and her motivation. Revenge for being imprisoned by Odin? Sounds familiar. Hela, darling, how about a little talk about that with Loki over tea and biscuits? I'm sure the two of you could have shared some experience. (Also major kudos to Loki for NOT tearing into Odin like "Aha, so throwing your kids into a cell seems to be your standard educational measure, dad.")

Anthony Hopkins was awful. He has never been good in any of the previous films, one of my main reasons for my major dislike of Odin, and I don't know if he's getting senile or what, he just was really really bad in this one. It only adds to the awful characterisation of Odin altogether. The last straw was his dealing with the Hela situation: "There's this threat that is coming for Asgard, born of one of my own mistakes, there's nothing you can do about it and I don't give a shit so bye and good luck, I guess." Good thing he disappeared, or I would personally have crawled into the TV and shoved the old man off the cliff.

So, what little else I liked was actually any scenes with Heimdall - I wasn’t a big fan of Heimdall, ever, but he seriously kicks ass here, not only because of superb acting on Idris Elba's part but also because his scenes aren’t interrupted by hectic cuts or off the mark jokes.

Surprisingly, Skurge’s story arc was interesting as well. Now, I don’t like Karl Urban - you've probably figured out by now that there isn't an awful lot of people that I like. Basically I think his character is rather unnecessary - why not use one of the established characters? Why not let Fandral or Hogun be torn between right and wrong? Anyway, Karl does play him well and I see why a character like that would be in there (his death though? More random, unnecessary violence).

Bruce Banner / The Hulk really went on my nerves the entire time. The fight between he and Thor is well choreographed, but the entire sequence is too long *yawns* Some of the stuff with Thor in Hulk’s room is actually funny, but that was that.

And then Loki. Please prepare yourself for a rant of epic proportions.

Now, I do admit I'm biased because I love Loki; I've loved him in Norse mythology ever since I was a child. I went to study Old Norse for a bit mainly because of the Edda and Loki, and I love what Hiddleston has done with the character in these films. I also get that this is Thor: Ragnarok and not Loki: Ragnarok and that he is a supporting character just like all the others.

That said, in the few scenes that he actually has - you don't really need Loki for what he does. Any random side character could have stolen the ship's codes, or placed Surtur's crown in the flame. That last bit was a bow to the original myth (and the comics, I suppose) where it's really Loki who releases Surtur and causes Ragnarök (which is why I -love- the 'saviour' scene because it's a reference to Loki arriving at the scene of the final battle at the helm of the ship of the dead, called Naglfar, in Norse myth). But - in the film, all in all, you don't really need Loki for all that. Valkyrie could have done it, or Heimdall, or Skurge for that matter (what a heroic plot that would have made for him!).

And there's more to it than just lamentably little of Loki in this film. The entire film, to me, seems like a deliberate attempt to ban Loki to the background, give him as little screentime as possible, and make him look ridiculous altogether. Not only is his character basically replaceable in what he does, no -

(I've seen quite a lot of the BTS stuff in advance, so this plays into it as well.)

Let's start with the small things:

- There's hardly any close-ups of Loki in the entire film, Norway being the one great exception (consequently, he rocks the scene).You can always see him do something in the background, but the camera is never close enough to pick up clearly on any emotions or anything. Best example is the sofa scene at the Grandmasters'. If that was shown correctly, you would be able to read the entire course of the fight from Loki's face - there's glee, there's worry, there's schadenfreude, there's hope and admiration and anger and frustration and everything you can possibly imagine he goes through, but we are shown only mushed images of it. The entire dragging long battle between Hulk and Thor would have been way more interesting if more of Loki's facial expressions had been cut into it.

- Basically all he's good for is delivering cues for Thor and being there as a projection screen for Thor's heroism.

- The camera always seems slightly out of focus; Loki is there but he's not, somewhere at the back or to the side. Even when he's meant to be in the picture, the camera frame is just this little bit out of focus or he's being filmed at a weird angle.

- Weird angles. It's a signature thing for Loki in this film. He's being filmed from behind, above, below - now don't get me wrong, it's a very interesting artistic device - and the scene where he appears before the grandmaster, filmed through the transparent floor is a masterpiece in terms of camera angle - but when it's 80% of these frames and the rest is 15% hovering in the background and 5% good, clear close-ups, it conveys a message about the filmmaker's attitude towards this character - and in Loki's case, this message is not doing him any favours.

- More weird stuff: time frames. As I said above, you only ever see Loki doing unimportant stuff. Sitting around talking to the Grandmaster's cronies, getting "captured" on purpose, trying to get through to Thor. We don't see him doing any kind of stiff like Thor does, nothing "heroic", we don't even see him do any significant amount of magic. The only heroic moment he has, at the very end, is again botched by off-kilter dialogue ("I'm not doing get help" just sounds soooo out of place at this moment) and weird framing. Like, Thor gets all these super-cool, physical fighting scenes, full-on frontal, kicking and punching the shit out of everyone. Again, I get that this is Thor: Ragnarok, and we also have the Hulk and Valkyrie who need their hero moments. But we do know that Loki is just as good a fighter as everyone else, he fights differently, but he's very capable of defending himself and others, as seen in Dark World. In Ragnarok, he's right there in the middle of the fight, but you never see him do anything. You see him close in on someone, cut, then you see him pull out a knife of a body or juggle his helmet or whatever, but never any real action that proves how capable he is as a fighter, not like Thor gets them all the time. You see him jump, and roll, and fall on his ass, or doing a pirouette and tossing his hair back afterwards. The focus is not on him doing his share of defending Asgard, but on how he's a weak and pathetic fighter (this post explains it with great visuals). The thing is, somewhat heroic moments have been filmed, but have been left out in favour of more ‘funny’ sequences.

- Talking about ridiculousness: There's a total of seven scenes where Loki falls on his ass, his face, or is somehow on the ground for some reason when it's totally not necessary. In comparison, in Dark World and Avengers, he was only ever on the ground when either defeated, or due to battle action, not just for shit and giggles.

The one at Dr Strange actually makes me wince from the sheer impact with which he hits the floor, bouncing back two feet high in the air (can’t find the gif right now, but he does), and everyone in the cinema laughs. Actually laughs, like this is some funny one-liner. Someone's dropping from the sky and hitting the floor real hard and y'all laugh? Like no, this ain't funny at all, not to me.

- What are these scenes actually good for? Why did the previous films set him up as a master magician who - as even Dr Strange says - is a force to be reckoned with, when everyone can just shove him to the ground like that? Why is nearly everyone suddenly more powerful than him?

- Shitty lines/shitty scenes: 'Safe passage through the anus'. Boy, it makes me cringe for poor Tom who actually had to say this shit out loud, or play stuff like the (thankfully deleted) portaloo sequence. Like, wow. I mean, I know I have a different type of humour from nearly everybody else, but this shit is just so not funny, and I really hate Taika Waititi for even including such lines and scenes in the script. I mean, I get that he favours Thor over Loki, but was that really necessary? It's so cringeworthy it makes my teeth hurt.

- (On a minor sidenote, can we talk about how it also speaks volumes that Hiddleston was given a costume that he can barely move in and that makes him visibly uncomfortable, yet no one gives a shit?)

To sum it up, I don't like how Ragnarok treats the character of Loki and ignores all of his potential in favour of cheap jokes. It says a lot if a script needs to make fun of one character in order to let its main character appear in a better light. Taika talks about how Thor's and Loki's relationship is at the focus of the film and how they finally get to resolve their problems. I'm sorry, but I don't see any of that. I don't see any brotherly moments or reconciliation or at least an attempt to make things right. And that brings me to the one character that I have the biggest problem with: Thor.

Now, the general consensus was that Thor grows, he learns, he takes up responsibility, he has this great character development that makes him into a better man. I don't see that. What I see is a man who uses and abuses everyone in his path to achieve his own ends. He thinks he can command Valkyrie by repeatedly reminding her of her oath to the throne (the throne being a very prominent motivation for Thor, as we shall see) even when she's made clear that she gives a shit. When that doesn't work, he keeps trying to guilt-trip her, and when that doesn't work either, he fakes concern to get her attention, and once he has it, he cruelly pushes all the buttons that he knows will make her yield (basically telling her: you can either forget everything and rot on this planet, or you can do something about it and help me).

He manipulates Banner in the same way because he needs the Hulk for his Asgard mission. I mean, telling Bruce he prefers him over Hulk, and telling Hulk he prefers him over Bruce - I get that it's meant to be funny, but when you think about it, it isn't. It's manipulative as heck and it's exactly the kind of shit he always accused Loki of: lying to get his way.

And when it comes to Thor's interactions with Loki, he has not learned a single thing. He still treats Loki the way he always did: a scapegoat at worst, a convenience at best. In Norway, after Odin departs, Thor doesn’t hesitate to immediately accuse Loki of both Odin’s death and bringing about Hela as a consequence - as if Loki had any inkling that this was gonna happen. He wouldn’t be so stupid as to bring destruction to Asgard on purpose, remember it’s the only home he ever truly knew, so even if he did let things slip while posing as Odin, he surely never meant for Hela and Ragnarok to happen. He was just as surprised about the Hela revelation that Thor was, and as for Odin’s death - I doubt that this was intended. Especially since we still don’t know xactly how Loki got rid of Odin, but if he’d wanted to kill him, he could certainly have done so while Odin was weak and defenseless, but he didn’t - he just wanted him out of the way, not dead. Yet Thor completely assumes Loki is to blame for all of it, and as a consequence he falls back into his abusive treatment of his brother.

Yes, all I see is an abusive sibling who purposefully manipulates his mentally unstable younger brother. He knows what Loki has been through in the past; moreover, he has heard from Odin himself just how everyone in this family was played and lied to. He has seen what that did to Loki in the past. Thor knows exactly what's at the core of his brother's mind: the ambition to gain his family's approval, a fear of being abandoned, a deep-rooted sense of worthlessness and the ever-prominent desire to impress his older brother. Of course Loki sucks at saying all this out loud, and Thor probably doesn't know the full extent of the damage, but after the events of Avengers and Dark World he must at least have an inkling of what's going on inside that mind.

And yet he goes ahead and uses all of Loki's greatest fears against him:

"Our paths diverged a long time ago" - no they didn't, he just never let Loki catch up to him.

"It's what you always wanted" (never seeing each other again) - have you even paid attention to your brother, you big fool?

"But you, you stay the same", "you could be so much more" etc. - and being what, exactly? Thor's thrall, tagging along behind him, helping out when shit hits the fan, and otherwise keeping his mouth shut? To Thor, Loki is only acceptable when he behaves like Thor wants him to. He fails to see that it's Loki who's forced to change more than anyone else. He was forced to change almost first thing after being born, from a Jötun baby to an Aesir one just to please his new father. He's constantly forced to change to adapt to everyone's expectations: Odin's, Frigga's, Thor's own. And when he refuses to play along, he's the one at fault.

There are two scenes in Ragnarok in particular that I find hard to watch in respect of Thor's abusive qualities. First, the elevator scene /Get Help.

Loki tells Thor no three times, he even gives him a reason why he doesn't want to do Get Help (which, considering Loki and his difficulties to express emotion, to Thor no less, is a big deal). I don’t know about y’all, but if my sibling told me they found something humiliating, which is several steps up the uncomfortable scale from "I just don't like it", I would never force them into it. Thor has to respect his brother's feelings and stop right there. A no is a no, even from Loki, even in this situation, especially considering how the entire move is nonsense after all - but Thor doesn't stop. He disrespects his brother's wishes, he ignores Loki's feelings, and what's worse, he even belittles him for it and laughs it off: No, for me it's not.

Yes, well, Thor baby, guess what? It's not always about you.

Even worse is the taser/obedience disk scene. It makes me physically cringe. And I will happily fist-punch everyone who tries to tell me it's just "a joke" or "friendly sibling barter" or wasn't "meant to hurt Loki" or that Thor "didn't know". I'm sorry, but nope.

Thor knows exactly what the obedience disc does, how it hurts. He has absolutely NO reason to use it on Loki. Loki has been playing along to his plans, he has even tried to offer Thor an explanation and a possible way out, but at that time Thor decided to throw a tantrum and sulk. Did he really think Loki would go through with that half-arsed attempt of collecting the 'reward' for Thor's capture from the Grandmaster, when just some hours before Loki has told Thor that he Grandmaster is a lunatic and that he basically wants to leave Sakaar just as bad as Thor does? Did Thor even listen??? Not to mention that there never was a 'reward' promised by the Grandmaster; instead a threat of public execution looms over Loki if he fails, so the reward he speaks of is possibly, once again, getting away with his life (while using the time this buys him to come up with a means of escape).

There was no reason at all to place the taser disc on Loki and leave him there - besides, Thor must have planned to use the disk even before he could be sure Loki was going to betray him, so it was Thor's plan all along to leave his brother there for whatever sick reason. How could he be so sure Loki would find a way to free himself? How could he be sure the rebels would be the ones to find Loki, and not the Grandmaster, or Topaz, or any of the hundreds of guards that swarm the place? Not to mention that time passes differently on Sakaar, so who knows how long Loki lay there writhing in agony. Thor walking off telling him "Good luck, I guess" while his brother is in obvious physical pain, and at the mercy of a crazy dictator, is the ultimate cruelty. But the throne is always more important, eh?

How could Thor be sure Loki would follow him to Asgard and come to his aid? Seriously, Loki could just have taken that ship and flown to the other end of the universe for all he cared. He's the only Asgardian on a ship full of refugees, he has no reason at all to help Thor, not after the taser disc and the general way Thor treated him, and YET he comes after his big brother because he desperately seeks Thor's approval, and Thor knew that and manipulated his brother into exactly this behaviour back there in the elevator.

And does Loki get a thank you? Not even! All he gets is a flippant "You're late" (everyone who tells me that's 'friendly sibling banter' again must have a truly fucked up relationship with their sibling), and then he's being ordered off to the vault to basically perform an act that could cost his life, without Thor even wasting a second thought to it. Well, we've already seen in Dark World how little Thor cares for Loki, as he just leaves his dead little brother behind to rot on a foreign planet. Doesn't even send anyone to come and collect the body or something. Doesn't even seem to care in Ragnarok whether Loki has made it out of Asgard alive or not (does he check frantically if his brother is aboard as they float off into space? No...but hey look, there's a throne, and people call him majesty, so all is grand).

Not even the "I'm here" scene does anything for their relationship. How often does Loki have to prove that he will sacrifice himself for Thor, and how often does he get nothing in return but accusations ("You faked your death!", "You killed our father!"), dubious compliments ("Maybe there's some good left in you") or at the most Thor throwing him a bone of approval: "Maybe you're not so bad after all" instead of "Thanks for saving our arses".

So, is this 'growing'? Is this 'mature'? Has Thor learned one single thing that makes him a better character? I don't think so. He takes up right where his father left, caring only for his throne, and manipulating his brother just the way Odin has always done. Yes, he became a little less uptight, and yes there's the new Thor who's sassy, nonchalant, doesn't give a fuck, doesn't let himself be played by his brother's schemes. I love the way Chris Hemsworth is playing this new Thor as opposed to the previous films. It's fun to watch him finally fill this role with a bit of spice. I really really like this new Thor. The problem is, I like how the new Thor is, but not what he does.

All in all, I think what happened was that Taika and Chris Hemsworth decided it was time to put the focus on Thor and make his character the center of the plot - which is fine, with it being Thor: Ragnarok and all, but why does it have to be at the expense of another great character that could have been used in so many other, different, better ways for the plot? I think they tried deliberately to shift a bit of Loki's coolness and cunning to Thor who, let's face it, has been a rather one-dimensional character in the previous films.

What I'm going to say now is unpopular, and probably mean, but it's the vibe I'm getting from day one since I started watching any Thor movies and BTS and interviews: All of this ties in nicely with Chris Hemsworth coming across as borderline jealous of Hiddleston and the success he gained for his portrayal of the Loki character, who was never supposed to steal Thor's spotlight. It's a shame Taika Waititi rolled with it in Ragnarok and actively added to this fiasco by way of bad filmmaking.

On a final personal note: Just yesterday before watching the film I wrote a little scene post-Ragnarok where Thor finally gets to understand everything that bothers Loki, and finds a way to comfort his brother in a very gentle, caring way, because that was what I understood Thor had finally learned: true compassion, the ability to understand, the motivation to go and make up for every time he was a shitty sibling in the past. I can't see that now, not anymore after watching this film, not after what Thor has been made into and how he treats Loki :(

I'm sorry this got so long. I'll disappear for a while now and see if I can manage to un-watch this movie. Thanks for reading/listening.

#upstartpoodle #calicoskatts #nelioe #miusmius #hiko73 #warning: long post #loki meta #thor meta #my thoughts on ragnarok #I'm blabbering #I just love Loki too much ok #probably because I can relate to him on so many levels #it's not even funny anymore #sorry

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mysticdragon3md3 · 4 years

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reactions to Haikyuu season 4 “To the Top” ep1-5

6:18 PM 3/9/2020 HAIKYU‼ TO THE TOP Episode 1 – Introductions I was reluctant to watch this right now, because this series was a big deal to me, and I just wanted to watch something light, that I didn't have to pay attention to, while i eat... But my watchlists are outdated and I had been meaning to watch this FOR A WHILE NOW. Whenever I watch something intense or important to me, I feel like I have to set aside all this time and focus, and carefully document every reaction I have, so I can look back at my fandom in later years for this precious milestone of nostalgia,... Bu treally, it's just making me postpone a series that I love. I can't keep doing that. Acchan. New side character, huh? I'm so glad to hear Burnout Syndromes again. In Haikyuu. They were great in Dr. Stone. I'll admit, I wasn't looking forward to season 4 when I found out the director changed and they changed the character designs to more closely emulate the manga-ka. Because...I actually preferred the anime character designs from season 1-3..! I have a habit of this. Atsuko Nakajima's anime character designs for Get Backers were better than the manga-ka. I preferred Sengoku Basara's anime character designer, over the original videogames' designs... It's just a thing with me. Please don't kill me. I'm so glad Yachi Hitoka's poster turned out so cool! *o* I like how this series can relax intos ridiculousness like making a big deal out of measuring their heights. lol "I order you to shrink, Tsukishima!" Tanaka...! LOL I missed your sudden outbursts after your sudden coolenss, Noya-san! I love how this once scene at the end of season 3 is being stretched out to have so much weight. ^-^ So many handstands, Noya-san. lol Yup, Tsukishima. Everyone reviewing season 3 kept saying Tsukishima really shined. Also, Ukai said at the end of the match that Tsukishima was the MVP. Evil Kageyama grin! LOL I was going to enjoy the humor in it, but then that somber music kicked in. o_o So they're still having practice matches against other schools in that montage? Oh no...Kageyama can't read all the kanji?? lol Waiat a sec. Shiratorizawa, Aoba Josai, Date-tech...? Oh, it's the first year special camp. Cute! They finally brought the little chibi crows into the anime! ^o^ Good idea to use them for the commerical break bumpers. LOL Tsukishima is suddenly filling in Kageyama's "yelling 'BAKA!' at Hinata" role1 LOL Well, I do want to see all these different schools students interact with Hinata in training camp settings. I like that NOya is praising Hinata's crazy infiltration. ^^; OMG Takeda-sensei angry...! O~O! Bowed right into the desk! LOL Well, I guess if the host school's coach says it's ok, then Hinata is ok to hang around?? "Wakatoshi-kun"? Why "-kun"? Are they rivals? Friends? Well, that got me fired up. Nothing without Kageyama? Don't make me laugh. This is what I was excited about the different school mixing interactions for. I want to see Hinata meet this challenge. Actually, this reminds me of Shokugeki No Soma when Tadokoro Megumi was just relegated to washing dishes during the stagiaire, but even from that position, she could make valuable observations and give invaluable input. I suspect that even if Hinata is technically just the "ball boy", he'll learn an amazing amount. And frankly, if he jumps to retrieve the balls, especially with his running speed, that'll probably hype up the players to want to challenge him. But I've actually wanted to see Hinata work with Oikawa, and see how Oikawa would use Hinata's athleticism. Sounds like an important thesis statement. "Skills and talents arne't meant ot be had. They're meant to be shown." I love how proud Hinata is, even of being ball boy, like he's unfettered by doubts. 7:03 PM 3/9/2020 End of ep. I can relax. Maybe I should re-watch without taking reaction notes? ===================================================================== 7:05 PM 3/9/2020 HAIKYU‼ TO THE TOP Episode 2 – Lost I really dislike all this talk of just praising how tall all the players are. All the one's the dialogue has picked out so far, are the ones with the least skill. There are already impressive players, who just aren't as tall. Are these coaches in the back from the other schools. I like that one of them is saying it's be a waste to ignore Hinata because he's short and not turn him into a wing spiker. I love how Hinata is just staring and absorbing everything. Oh, yeah. Hinata's serves are the thing he needs to work on the most. I like how Hinata hitting the ball against the wall by himself calls back to when he had to practice by himself all during jr. high. I'm pretty sure Hinata is apologizing because he's going to ask Tsukishima to practice with him. That's the type of audacious, crazy thing I'd expect from Hinata. lol Chubby bird! ^o^ Glad it seems like Ukai understand there's something Hinata can learn even from being a ball boy. Is thatt the vice principal? He's afraid of angry-Takeda-sensei too??? LOL!!! I love how instead of getting angry, Hinata is just impressed by everyone. Even when Goshiki clearly tried to insult him by stealing the ball before Hinta. This is strange. Why is Hinata shaken by Ushijima asking why he's even there? I thought Hinata already figured out he could get good practice, even as just the ball boy, and even just by observing? Well, he "fell"? And then Goshiki walks by...~.~;;;;; That's the Hinata focused face! 7:41 PM 3/9/2020 Aw, man! I want to keep watching! Noooooooooo~! I have stuff to doooooooooo! ;o;!! What else is Production I.G. animating this season? Because this ending theme is almost ALL stills, like they had no budget for it. Whereas, most of the ending themes for the other seasons were animated. Maybe they realized how much better the episodes are when they pour the money from the ending theme budget, into the episodes instead? Forgot to note i lvoe the joke about NOya crashing into Tanaka. lol ======================================================== 7:43 PM 3/9/2020 HAIKYU‼ TO THE TOP Episode 3 – Perspective Go get that Growth, Hinata! Evne if you have to scrape on your hands and knees! ...Oh, now I get the first image in the new opening theme. Hey, if I have to rewind to read a subtitle that got interrupted by the commercial break, and it crashes again, I'm going to start to get annoyed that the commercial breaks keep coming in the middle of dialogue. HINATA! ---Oh! He caught it! ^O^ OMG LOL Does Goshiki really not know how to deal with Hinata's compliments?! LOL!!!! Oh, I see...He's starved for compliments at Shiratorizawa... LOL Commercial. So of course I browse Tumblr. I forgot how little I'm on social media, while I'm engrossed in an anime. I need to watch more of my watchlist. I lvoe that this show has gone on long enough for little callbacks to mean a lot. 6-6 Almost didn't recognize Tanaka's body language. He's almost never jsut standing straight. Oh, right! Tokonami is where Daichi's old friend plays now. FINALLY. A solidly rendered close-up. Hinata's face. I know they changed character designs this season and it does seem to be more flexible to accomodate more motion and expressiveness in the animation...But it's just not as cool as these soldily rendered shots, that used to be almost all the fames in seasons 1-3. OMG Is Kageyama keeping up with the All-Japan group?? I thought I saw a spoiler from this part a long time ago, and he was having trouble keeping up? I'd like it if he was keeping up though. I do like how eveyrone's afraid of Hinata. His intensity. ^o^ Oh no... Damn. Distracted by a compliment/comraderie somehow makes getitng hit in the balls worse... "I keep telling you to keep your damn eyes open"? Wait...Is the Shiratorizawa coach starting to *coach* Hinata now??? 8:29 PM 3/9/2020 Damn it. I want to see (if) Tsukishima actually ask Hinata to practice with him. I can't keep watching the NEXT episode! I have stuff to do!! ================================================= 8:31 PM 3/9/2020 HAIKYU‼ TO THE TOP Episode 4 – Take It Easy I feel like this part is where the editor of the manga came in and was like, "We can't go this many chapters without Hinata actually playing". lol Oh, so Sakusa isn't sick. He's just a germaphobe. I like how oblivious Kageyama is to normal human interaction. ^-^ That's relatable to me. I love that Date-tech's freshman is being all genki in the same frame as Hinata. Double genki!!! ^O^ They all want to block Hinata? I think this is what I wanted to see, when Hinata crashed the training camp, but I forgot about when he got into training as ball boy. So Hinata is the best practice you could get vs a spiker because he can read blockers better than anyone else? I'm glad Kageyama is having a good time. He doesn't intimidated; he gets excited. Omg This kid *wants* Kageyama to get intimidated? Ladies and gentlemen, we have our running gag comedy relief. Commercial. I should probably watch In/Specter. I used to always say I like yokai series. ...Do I really? Maybe it was just that some manga I used to read had all these tropes I liked attached to yokai. Anime goes in so many different directions, you can't expect the same. So this Miya guy is finally being the antagonist they've been hinting at. "Goody 2 shoes"? I like we're getting scenes of Hinata and Koganegawa talking. They have similar wavelengths. "The heck are you talking about?! I"m chewing him out!" "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're cheering him up." lol "What good does it do you to cheer me up?" "Lots! I mean... I wanna beat you." I love how encouraging and warm Hinata's face is. But why is everyone else so angry looking? They don't want Hyakuzawa to get strong and have to face him or something? ^^; This is the 3rd time there's been a longer monologue and I don't quite understand it. What's happening to my braiiiiiiiiin???????????????????????? I really hope there's just a better translation that makes more sense to how I udnerstand things. Oh, this is Kunimi's technique, right? Hinata taught Hyakuzawa, Kunimi's pacing control? ...Yeah, it's Kunimi's technique. Hinata is soo nice!!!!! ^-^ Hinta is the best cheerleader! ;U; And coaching better than Washijo! ^o^ Give Hinata all the high fives! ;U; Wait. Why is Koganegawa watching from the sidelines too? Doesn't he have to play in a 2 vs 2? lol Oh, no. What's with Kageyama. Well, I'm actually not as intrigued with what's going on with Kageyama, compared to how much I want to see more of Hinata having an effect in his training camp. I guess if I could stop marathoning anywhere, it'd be here. 9:09 PM 3/9/2020

. 12:22 PM 3/10/2020 HAIKYU‼ TO THE TOP Episode 5 – Hunger Yeah, what's up with Kageyama? Is there some other translation of Goody 2 Shoes that actually sounds more insulting? Or is that just foreshadowing somethign we're not supposed to understand yet until a flashback explains things? So is everyone watching Kunimi on the sidelines now? lol omg Did those oysters give him food poisoning, after all? Yuck... I wonder if it's asking too much to hope Hinata ends up in this practice match? Koganegawa pestering Kunimi...lol Poor Goshiki...Doesn't he know he's in a series all about learning from and even collaborating with your rival? ^^; I'm so glad Sugawara taught Kageyama how to high five! ;u; He'd be totally lost right now without it! ;u; "Taking your time" to enjoy stuff, huh? Advice of the episode, I guess. Or this whole training camp story arc? I was wondering why Miya Atsumu portrayals were getting all this horror genre framing, but it's because he's a reflection of Kageyama's old "King of the Court", right? "Anyone who can't hit my tosses just sucks." And wait. Miya is voiced by Mamoru Miyano??? *_* Yeah, what DOES he mean by "Goody 2 Shoes"??? "Serious, honest, and an all around good kid"? But why such comments getting this ominous direction????? @~@?????????? Foreboding!!!!!!! I'm so glad Kageyama 1:07 PM 3/10/2020is such an oblivious, blank slate that he doesn't have any malicious reactions to anyone weirdness. "But fighting is normal. Not being able to back down and fighting is totally normal." Hiiiiiiinataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!!! ;u; Making people feel better without realizing how profound his words are! ;U; What? No crow flying by? Please don't eat those oysters... Race upstairs? Looks like. lol These guys are so funny! ^o^ I know the shippers like to take KageHina's interactions as couple flirtations, but I always thought they annoyed each other too much. (That's just my personal preferences.) Funny comrades though. ^-^ "You can fly even higher." 1:07 PM 3/10/2020

#md3 watches haikyuu #reactions

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mysticdragon3md3 · 7 years

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"It's a matter of representation... The real issue with whitewashing isn't necessarily that like, 'That character has to be Asian!'. It's more like, 'This was an opportunity to cast a person of color and you chose not to.'" ---Kevin Nguyen

So, yeah...I'm Asian-American, but I've lead a pretty sheltered life. I'm still learning about the stereotype problems and lack of Asian representation through this whole discussion and many others that have surfaced since the Hollywood GITS, the Dr Strange controversy, and others. But even though my lifestyle is so sheltered and asocial that I'll likely never be hurt from the repercussions of lack of Asian representation, there are obviously people who are being hurt, for there to be so much protestation. I can't just dismiss any accusations of whitewashing, just because it doesn't hurt or effect me. But by listening to TED Talks about parasocial relationships, media studies, and public pedagogy, it's pretty clear that fiction can effect the real world. [playlist "parasocial relationships, fandom & fiction's effects on RL" at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGXNMLue5g1eDLOvlcfdxU-MAu2Bc-ku] "Stories have a unique ability to change a person's point of view. Scholars are discovering evidence that stories shape culture, and much of what we believe about life comes, not from fact, but from fiction." ---"How fiction can change reality - Jessica Wise" (TED-Ed at https://youtu.be/ctaPAm14L10). The stories I'm exposed to effect me, whether I realize it or not.

And I realized, looking back to my reaction to the Asian character Hogun, played by Tadanobu Asanoin in the movie "Thor", that I HAVE BEEN EFFECTED. All of us saw Hogun and were like, "Why is there an Asian guy in the Nordic mythological pantheon world? That doesn't make sense!" But really, we didn't blink at Heimdall played by an African-British actor. So I had to ask myself, "What the heck is going on here?! What is wrong with me?!" Because whatever was wrong here, had clearly effected me too. I realized that it wasn't so much that it didn't make sense for an Asian character to be in Asgard. It was more that we, as Americans, were unaccustomed to seeing Asians in our stories, that when they did appear, all we could see was their ethnicity. And this is coming from an Asian-American, so I know that this problem stems from the stories I have been exposed to in American media and culture, and the lack of representation in our American media and culture. It was influencing me all this time, without my noticing. The exclusion from media had an effect. On the other hand, though African-Americans still have to fight for representation, the representation which they have swayed media and culture to give them thus far, have made enough strides to subconsciously convince me, in the American audience, that African-descended people are normal. Stories have successfully convinced us that they are just normal people. That's why when we saw a black Heimdall in Asgard, we didn't say, "It doesn't make sense for an African person to be in Nordic Asgard!" Instead we said, "Idris Elba is a really good actor! He's going to make Heimdall so cool!" But we, including me, didn't say the same thing about Tadanobu Asano. Because we're so unaccustomed to seeing Asians, that seeing them immediately flags them as "other" instead of just another guy, just another actor, just another human being. Retroactively analyzing my initial reactions, at least that's what I think happened to me. I just hope now that I can change those previously unconscious reflex reactions by exposing myself to more diverse representation, until it becomes normal.

So I have to look into white-washing accusations. I can't just dismiss them. Nor can I latch onto the first resolute opinion that someone else tells me through some article. But I feel like I've learned a lot so far.

I've learned that homogeneous cultures like Asian countries really don't understand the importance of diverse representation, so hearing Japanese people say they were fine with Johansan's casting as The Major, doesn't really mean anything. As Ai Yoshihara said in the article "'Ghost in the Shell': 4 Japanese Actresses Dissect the Movie and Its Whitewashing Twist", "People in Japan worship white people." So it doesn't really matter that the Japanese people interviewed by That Japanese Man Yuta were fine with The Major not being an Asian actress. ("What Japanese Think of Whitewashing (Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Interview)" at https://youtu.be/2DhoBuU1Dtc) ("What Japanese Reviewers think of Ghost in the Shell (2017)" at https://youtu.be/HAxt0UkezXI) It doesn't matter that someone from GITS's original manga publisher was fine with The Major not being an Asian actress. ("Kodansha’s Sam Yoshiba supports Scarlett Johansson casting choice for Ghost in the Shell" at http://bit.ly/1SA65kO) Because they don't understand that representation is a sorely missed opportunity in America. This insight was brought to light by a comment I read on Anime Bento's Facebook: "So what? The movie isn't being made in Japan. It's being made in AMERICA. The thing that these Japanese fans and Yoshiba don't seem to undestand is tha tAmerica isn't Homogeneous (like Japan is) This was a mishandled opportunity for more Asian actors to be represented as Protagonists and not jsut side-kicks or comic relief characters. But instead they decided to just cast another white actor eto play an ethnic role." ---Ko Miyavi Reading that comment was the first time I realized representation was about opportunity and expanding the general public's perception of humanity, vs just being accurate to the source material. Cultures that are barely scratching the idea of diversity, tolerance, and acceptance, really don't understand the importance of such opportunities.

I listen to a lot of movie podcasts and media pundits who are experienced in the movie business, who cite the unrealistic viability of a business strategy hinging an expensive special-effects-heavy movie, on an unknown Asian actor. (Even though these same movie pundits have often said that movie popularity no longer can rely on star-power and casting to draw in audiences.) But the most compelling idea I heard was from Imaginary Worlds podcast's Eric Molinsky: "And the studio execs, when they're being blunt will say, 'Well, you know, we can't cast an unknown Asian-American actress in a big blockbuster movie.' Which is bullshit, because they cast unknown white actors all the time as the leads in big budget fantasy movies." (https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/ghost-in-the-shell.html) It's true. Pacific Rim, Avatar, even the upcoming Valerian... You can just see the money dripping from every CG shot. Yet, those high-risk business ventures cast relatively insecurely-established actors in their leads. Them just being white (males) was apparently enough to negate the risk to recoup profits.

But what really makes me feel sad about these missed opportunities are some things John Green said: "Reading is always an act of empathy. It's always an imagining of what it's like to be someone else." ---How and Why We Read: Crash Course English Literature #1 at https://youtu.be/MSYw502dJNY "I love stories because they let me out of this prison of myself." ---"Why Stories Matter - John Green (NerdCon: Stories 2015)" at https://youtu.be/IBk0Am9vlkA "Literature is a way of exploring and explaining the self, of understanding how we come to identify ourselves and other people as human." ---Crash Course Literature Preview at https://youtu.be/zMTERytCNAU Given that history has already proven the power of fiction to influence our empathy and increase social tolerance, with the effects of novels like Uncle Tom's Cabin and TV shows like Will & Grace or Modern Family (https://youtu.be/KURTpn0Nuzs), I realize the weight of the opportunity missed whenever movie executives hide behind the business excuses of avoiding Asian casting. And then I get sad when it happens.

Now there's just one more concept I'm still in the process of wrapping my novice head around. Representation can't just be token. Casting Asian actors and writing Asian characters doesn't help if the portrayals just reinforce stereotypes. When people say it's better to whitewash than to portray another stereotype, Kevin Nguyen commented, "You're just saying you couldn't write an Asian character without Asian stereotypes." So not only do we have to demand representation, but also non-stereotypical representation.

This looks like I'm in for a long ongoing process. ~o~ Being human is hard. x_x;

#please ignore my idiocy #pbs idea channel #representation #I'm still trying to figure myself out #gits

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