jacearthereal

[jacearthereal]

Mood

[jacearthereal]

Chapter 284 Translation Notes

Happy anniversary to the most mistranslated and yet most important (fight me) chapter in My Hero Academia!

Thanks to fandom saint @alluratron​, I finally got my hands on the raw scans for chapter 284. I’VE BEEN DYING FOR THESE.

And I have to say…it is a veritable   t r e a s u r e   t r o v e   of meta, my friends. More on that here.

Anyways, I went and translated the whole chapter…

Keep reading

[jacearthereal]

jaiden so cool

[jacearthereal]

Omae: Complexity of Self-Expression and Intimacy with the Japanese “You”

The anime adaption of chapter 322 is rapidly approaching, so I wanna talk about something really interesting: as far as I can tell, Izuku is the only person Katsuki has ever used the pronoun omae (おまえ) towards in-canon. Furthermore, he has only used omae towards Izuku on three occasions.

The first time is after Deku vs. Kacchan 2 in chapter 120.

The second time is right after his apology in chapter 322. (Katsuki actually uses omae four times in a row in this scene.)

(We'll get to the third time later, just you wait.)

Why does Katsuki address Izuku differently in these scenes? To answer this, we’re gonna commit some language nerdery.

First, let’s be real about the fact that Japanese pronouns can be complicated. There are a ton of them. You learn the common uses—like you could say that, broadly, omae tends to be used by guys for their friends and romantic partners. But the reality is that in a high-context language like Japanese, pronouns can come across wildly differently depending on who uses it, to whom, with what tone, and in what context.

It is difficult to generalize real-life usage, so to be clear, I am talking about MHA as a piece of media. I could try to tell you that omae is rude but also friendly but also condescending but also comedic but also confrontational but also affectionate—and so on, but that wouldn’t help you understand what Katsuki’s omae to Izuku means and why it feels significant.

The thing is, Izuku and Katsuki can each say omae and mean completely different things, because their normal way of speaking tells us how to interpret their words.

When Izuku speaks, he is polite and considerate. He uses the boyish first-person pronoun boku (僕). In Japanese, avoiding second-person pronouns is the polite thing to do; you use the person’s surname and an appropriate suffix instead, and this is the tactic Izuku uses to address others. When he does say “you,” it is usually the familiar kimi (君) towards Katsuki.

We see Izuku use omae in only a few circumstances: he uses it towards himself during inner monologues when he is trying to figure out what to do or compel himself to act, and he uses it when he faces All For One.

Both of these involve what I think of as “tough talk”—Izuku talks tough to himself to push past his fears and be a hero. With AFO, he is talking to a villain, someone he has to defeat. From someone like Izuku who speaks with such politeness and humility, omae reads as aggressive and confrontational.

Katsuki, on the other hand, is always aggressive and confrontational. He uses the masculine, somewhat boastful first-person pronoun ore (俺) and the second-person pronoun temee (てめえ) towards just about everybody. Temee is an extremely rude, combative word; Japanese descriptions usually point out that it reads like fightin’ words—it’s what you’d call an opponent, someone you are confronting, challenging, or belittling. As mentioned, you’re supposed to avoid “you” words to be polite, so the fact that Katsuki whips out temee constantly and makes up insulting nicknames instead of using anybody’s real name is just like, damn, dude!

Unlike Izuku, Katsuki sounds like he is challenging everyone all the time. This means that, coming from him, omae actually seems gentler.

After Deku vs. Kacchan 2, he opens his sentence with omae, and Izuku looks startled by this.

They just had a huge, emotional fistfight, and Katsuki… isn’t addressing him as an opponent, like he always has before. For once, he is addressing Izuku not as his enemy, but his equal.

This scene is the first time Katsuki properly grapples with the truth of their mutual weaknesses and comes to an understanding about it. It leaves him frustrated and unsure, but he walks away seeing himself and Izuku as being on the same side.

Because he takes All Might's words to heart: they are two halves of what makes a hero. They need to learn from each other and push each other to truly reach their best—as rivals, not enemies.

In chapter 322, Katsuki talks Izuku through how he felt about him all these years. He goes over all the things he's had to face to see how wrong he was, to see his own weakness and Izuku's strength. The whole time, he uses the "you" word he always has: temee.

But when it comes time to tell Izuku his true feelings, he calls Izuku by his given name, apologizes, and then right away he says this:

This is a direct call-back to the core question that Katsuki posed to Izuku during Deku vs. Kacchan 2: "Is my way of admiring All Might wrong?"

The second half to that question has always been, implicitly, "Does that mean yours is right?"

Here, Katsuki acknowledges Izuku fully as All Might's successor and affirms that Izuku's path is not wrong, using omae to tell him so. And then he uses it three more times to convince Izuku to come back with them and fight together, "because saving people is how we win."

To me, omae in this scene comes across with such softness. He's speaking with more humility than we've ever seen, both in what he's conveying and his word choice. (There is a whole other conversation to be had about Katsuki's word choice for "I'm sorry," but that is for a different time.)

This omae is not just a sign that he sees Izuku as his equal, it's expressing care for him. Katsuki sacrificed his life for Izuku, telling him, "Stop trying to win this on your own." He is trying so hard to make Izuku understand: Come back, I was wrong. Come back, I care about you.

Which brings us to the third time Katsuki uses omae: chapter 362.

That's right, the infamous "Can I still catch up to you?" / "Can I still reach you?" line uses omae.

Here's the thing that's unique about this omae: it's in Katsuki's head. This is internal monologue; he isn't talking out loud to Izuku, he isn't trying to convey something to him face-to-face, he is just thinking about Izuku.

The word choice isn't for anyone else's benefit or any external purpose: this is just how Katsuki sees him.

I can't overstate how soft, vulnerable, and sincere this moment is for Katsuki. And what gets me about him thinking of Izuku as omae is, it makes me wonder, "How long has he thought of Izuku this way?"

When did Izuku stop being temee in his head?

Changing how you address someone is a big deal in Japanese. Whether it's a name or suffix change (Deku -> Izuku) or a pronoun change (temee -> omae), it represents a significant shift in the emotional dynamics of a relationship.

It crops up a lot in media as a dramatic moment of intimacy, sometimes even being a part of love confessions. This heightened drama is exactly what we see with Katsuki's apology when he calls him Izuku.

Katsuki addresses only Izuku with his given name and omae, and in the whole run of the series, he only uses omae in a few select instances. I would argue that this is really important, subtle character writing.

Looking at the scenes, at least to me, each omae reads as progressively more honest and intimate. Each time Katsuki uses it, he is reaching for Izuku. Each time, it means more.

[jacearthereal]

When Shigaraki stabbed me, do you remember what I said? I said, “Don’t try to win by yourself.” There was more too that. My body moved on its own, and then I got stabbed. I thought I should tell you. I looked down on you our whole lives because you were Quirkless. You were obviously way behind me, but I felt like you were way ahead of me, too. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to see you. I didn’t want to accept you. That's why I bullied you to get away from you. I tried to feel superior by rejecting you. I was always losing to you. After getting into U.A, not a single thing went the way I wanted. Everyday, I was made to feel how strong you were and how weak I was. It’s not something that’ll work itself out just by saying it out loud, but it’s how I really feel, Izuku. I’m sorry for everything.

[jacearthereal]

Katsuki Bakugo holds Izuku’s heart ❤️

To Izuku Midoriya, Bakugo isn’t just another ‘regular person’ by which I mean he doesn’t see Bakugo as a friend or someone he can easily talk to. Bakugo is much more than that. I mean everyone should know by now that they have been in each other’s life’s ever since they were kids.

And the first and most clearest way of seeing this is when he ends up fighting against Monoma in (S5) when Deku unlocks black whip for the first time.

He clearly states that without Jiro, Sero and Sato Bakugo wouldn’t have passed. With this said, Izuku could have easily say something back but he didn’t because he knew Monoma was egging him on.

But as their battle continued Monoma asked Izuku, “How can Bakugo smile so unconcerneldy? He was caught by a villain. And he was responsible for ending the symbol of peace.” Sure Bakugo was caught by the LOV however he was not responsible of ending the symbol of peace, aka All Might.

Bakugo, himself, thought the same thing which he was beating himself up for which is made clear in ‘Deku vs. Kacchan pt.2’

That right there the “…he was responsible for ending the symbol of peace.” Was what triggered black whip. (that’s what I, personally, think)

We seen through the show, especially when Izuku and Katsuki were kids, in every memory we are shown Bakugo is always smiling. However after Bakugo fell into the stream and Izuku went down to help him to lend him a hand and saying, “Are you okay Kacchan?” That was the first moment were Bakugo isn’t showing a smile.

However after Bakugo fell into the stream and Izuku went down to help him to lend him a hand and saying, “It would’ve been bad if you hit your head?” That was the first moment were Bakugo isn’t shown smiling.

If it were in real life a friend helping out another friend would end up being happy knowing that their friend is giving them a helping hand responding with a simple, “yeah I’m okay, I just scraped my knee.” or “yeah I’m fine I just got some dirt on me.” BUT remember this is an anime, not real life.

This was the moment were their relationship switched as we are clearly shown. That was the moment were he started bullying Izuku. But as the show/manga continued, and still is, Izuku is seen to be ‘attach’ to Katsuki. Izuku gets super emotional when it comes to Katsuki. And you can clearly see it when Bakugo gets captured by the LOV we saw how he dropped to his knees head down on the ground as tears spilled and he yelled to the top of his lungs. Everyone that was surrounded by Izuku (Todoroki, Uraraka, Asui, Tokoyami, Shoji) they all had their hands reached out to Izuku but neither one of them dared to touch him.

So when one of the previous users of OFA came he said, “Earlier you thought, ‘I’ll capture that guy, right?” We are never shown when Izuku thought this. It could have been when Monoma was egging him on or (the one I think is the most resonable choice) is the second part where Monoma is speaking about Bakugo getting caught and how he ended All Might

Izuku was clearly angry to hear those words. The previous user basically said it, “If you use your power in anger, the power will react to that.” Izuku was truly angry pissed at Monoma by speaking about Bakugo in that way.

And here, everyone reading this who got this far, is when we get to see that Katsuki isn’t just another person to Izuku. That Katsuki truly holds Izuku’s heart. By the previous user saying, “What’s important is controlling your heart.”

Overall, Izuku loves Katsuki. (wether it be romantic or not) Izuku loves his Kacchan.

[jacearthereal]

Okay! I saw it! Let's talk about it!

AHHHH! It was so good! It was ALMOST everything I wanted. There were a couple moments I felt like Bones was trying to minimize the gravity of this apology. Specifically, the lack of transition of Izuku's eyes.

When Katsuki first confronts Izuku, and starts at the beginning of their story (them being shown as young children) Izuku's eyes are completely void.

As Izuku begins to realize what's happening (when they reach their middle school timeline) we see his eyes coming back.

By their high school timeline he looks stunned and his eyes are lightening and becoming wider.

As he hears his name, his eyes have come back entirely.

By the end, his eyes are clear, present, his pupils are blown wide and light has finally returned them.

In the manga Horikoshi very intentionally shows Izuku's eyes becoming lighter and more present with every line that Katsuki says. Almost as if, Katsuki is slowly bringing Izuku back to life. Bones opted to leave those details out and that super sucks. This scene is so beautiful and powerful because even though it is BAKUGO'S moment, it's HIS apology that he's been agonizing over for months, it's still equally about both of them. It's still their give and take. It's so /them/ meeting each other where they're at, no matter what, and filling a role for each other that no one else could possibly fill. And by removing Izuku's part in that, you miss the full impact.

BUT it would be wrong of me not to acknowledge all the wonderful things Bones DID do in the episode. The rest of the animation was genuinely stunning. And Okamoto did an amazing job of bringing Katsuki's words to life. He made him so soft and I will forever be grateful for his portrayal. At first I was a bit upset he didn't do the pause indicated in the manga before saying Izuku's name but honestly...I like the change. I like that Katsuki says "Izuku" so confidently and without reserve. Because he knows he can. And he knows Izuku will accept it despite the fact that he probably shouldn't. It was a very nice change.

I loved that we got more shojo glow throughout, I also loved how they handled Katsuki's catch scene and Izuku finally feeling safe enough to sleep. That wasn't in the manga people! The catch was, yes, but NOT the panning in on Izuku's face as he relaxes into Katsuki's arms and falling asleep! That was a nice bonus touch that [not completely] helps balance out the loss of the eyes animation.

Overall, the handling of chapter 322 was done with a care I can appreciate. I can't wait to see how they handle our boys next big scene. 💚🧡

[jacearthereal]

modern pieta

long story short, I was listening to a space on twitter of people going absolutely batshit about the vol 37 cover (whom just dropped), and someone said something like "Izuku could kiss his forehead" and it has kind of inspired me for this one.

Also the "lineart version" because it was supposed to be the OG version but per usual I got carried away aha

[jacearthereal]

i'm going insane–

you're telling me.

the light was always there if you'd just turn around.

turn around. behind you. where izuku was.

izuku is. your light.

i'm ok this is fine i'm so normal

[jacearthereal]

thoughts about bkdk being canon?

i sorta answered this already (here if u're curious) but i suppose i can answer again, this time more in depth and specific to bkdk :')

this turned out WAY longer than i thought so erm. more under the cut LOL

personally i don't think bkdk will be canon. before bkdks throw tomatoes at me, it's not because i dislike them as a ship — rather, canonizing them would be canonizing a main boy x boy relationship in an extremely popular shounen series. i've expressed my pessimism way more times than i should LOL but i truly don't think shounen jump would be willing to take this risk. let it be known that shounen jump has allowed canon lgbt ships and characters in their IPs — blue flag is perhaps the most well-known example of a main relationship being between two guys — but blue flag is not nearly as internationally famous as mha. the more eyes on an IP, the more cautious its choices have to be. it's why the most popular shounens tend to be "stereotypical", "cliche" and "cheesy"; this is what works with its main demographic (teenage/young adult males, to be exact), and if a series gets as big as the likes of mha, it's only smart to keep following that trend.

now, horikoshi does have a tendency to subvert expectations, even within his incredibly cliche hero school story.

bakugou is a subversion of the morally dangerous, edgy rival character by being one of the most heroic, straight-laced teens in the series (as well as genuinely apologizing for his faults that he recognizes are his own). even though he looks and acts like that, his motivations and aspirations are always admirable, even pure and childlike at times. unsurprisingly, people hate him for not being either fully evil or fully good, despite how horikoshi specifically wrote him to be a healthy balance between both his failures and his accomplishments.

deku is a subversion of the stereotypically boyish, emotionally stunted, shounen main character by being unashamedly emotional, awkward and sensitive regarding feelings other than anger or happiness. aka he cries a lot, so much so that average shounen dudebros genuinely hated him for being "soft" and "a baby", but praised him during his vigilante arc where he was ... well, for lack of better phrasing, far more similar to existing shounen protags for being less openly empathetic and more badass. you could honestly argue that deku's entire character isn't meant to be typically badass, flashy, or otherwise appealing to the standard shounen audience. his character arc literally deals with being the hero no one thanks or acknowledges, but he continues to selflessly help others despite the lack of appreciation.

ochako is a subversion of the one-note, intentionally-less-interesting-than-the-mc love interest character — it may not look like it at first glance, but ochako has her own arc that is both connected to deku, yet simultaneously not dependent on him that's been festering in the background since she developed her childish crush on him. the more i read this series, the more i'm convinced that she was never meant to end up with deku. she was only meant to play that role before she comes into her own skin and uses her attraction to deku as a way to be her own kind of hero. or horikoshi is going to shove them together last minute, in which, well, fuck me i guess.

all might is a subversion of the gary-stu archetype, because instead of being the perfect human specimen the way he always presents himself to the public, he's constantly physically deteriorating. not to mention he's a subversion of the know-all mentor character, because he honestly kind of sucks as a mentor. this comes from his own faults as a selfless hero, unable to properly learn from his own mistakes until it was too late. also because he's never taught anyone before so like duh. love him though. i am a toshinori supporter first, everything else second

there's other characters that have been subverted too but you get the idea. horikoshi is very good at writing characters, and to an extent, character relationships. that might be his biggest strength outside of, obviously, his art. and clearly he likes subverting our expectations, otherwise he wouldn't write his main characters like this. he knows what's the norm, uses those tropes as a baseline, only to go out of his way to overthrow those norms the further he develops each given character.

however! i don't think horikoshi will go so far as to subvert the stereotypical main ship (izuocha) and instead pick the relationship between the main two characters (bakudeku). rival relationships in shounen are pretty popular anyway, and mha is not the first shounen to have a deeply meaningful relationship between the male main character and the male main rival/deuteragonist. naruto and haikyuu both have oddly homoerotic friendships between the main two rivals and neither of these relationships are romantically canon.

the reasons why they aren't isn't ever explained why, but i sincerely think at least a sliver of the reason is because both characters are of the same gender. case in point: haikyuu only has a handful of canon boy x girl relationships by the time the series ended. so little that you could literally count the number on one hand, despite the amount of characters in the full cast. and yeah a vast majority of those characters were guys, but those guys were left presumably single, or at least their relationship statuses weren't disclosed. haikyuu did what naruto didn't, which was consciously understand that the most impactful relationships within the entire series were always between two men. for example, hinata and yachi are canonically close friends, and furudate could just pair them up without much thought. but they didn't, instead opting to keep hinata single and keeping his most important relationship with kageyama. likely somewhere there, no matter how faint, furudate didn't canonize kagehina due to fear of backlash, even though it'd make sense chemistry-wise.

bakudeku is in the same boat, where deku could be paired up with ochako if horikoshi just stopped giving fucks — they have a good friendship, with ochako having a crush, or at least a strong admiration, on deku — but he is decidedly not. at least not yet, but it'd be weird to canonize them after taking deku's long platonic feelings for her into account. deku has been entirely single this whole time with nothing aggressively romantic happening between him and ochako (except for the blackwhip situaiton, which ochako's VA herself mentioned as not inherently romantic, but as a chance for ochako to showcase her heroism). i'm inclined to believe this is part of horikoshi's subversions: specifically keeping deku and ochako away from heartfelt, desperate moments where their connection can be brought to the forefront. this makes it even stranger that horikoshi gives bakugou a lot of the standard damsel-in-distress roles, such as being taken hostage by the sludge villain, being kidnapped by the league of villains, and even being carried by deku during their fight with all might. granted he was carried over the shoulder, but he was specifically carried, lol. compared to ochako, bakugou is put in much more danger, consequently "depending" on deku to save him, as much as he hates that.

narratively, this makes bakudeku the most purposeful relationship, from their connection since childhood and having it develop slowly but surely during their adolescence.

their relationship is significantly meant to represent change and equality, as their relationship arc is parallel with many of mha's core themes. canonically they are the two students that inspire the rest of their class to be better heroes. the character deku interacts with most is arguably bakugou, if we put their history into account. even though bakugou was his bully for most of their lives, deku still unconditionally cares about him, even without bakugou asking him to. most times, it's actually against what bakugou wants, which is for deku to leave him alone. he also has the most emotional investment in bakugou, since he canonically sees bakugou as his image of victory, as well as someone who instantly triggers his emotional response as opposed to his logical response. literally like 80% of deku's "outbursts" where he acts utterly irrationally (and not always in a heroic way) are related to bakugou. see: sludge villian,

bakugou's kidnapping (in the original japanese version, i believe he says "give him back" in a distinctly possessive way, as if bakugou is genuinely his. but i could be wrong, idk how to read japanese),

deku vs kacchan 2 (instead of trying to talk down bakugou, he ends up fighting him even though it's against the rules, just because he can't exactly say no to bakugou's unconventional way of dealing with his feelings),

blackwhip's awakening (there is murder in his eyes. monoma insulted bakugou and deku was ready to kill him),

danger sense's awakening (same as blackwhip's awakening, but amplified to 100 given how bakugou was straight up stabbed in front of his eyes),

and bakugou's apology. (this one isn't deku being impulsive, more that bakugou appealed to his emotions and it worked way better than any of their classmates' attempts lol)

through a few of these given pieces of evidence, it's also evident that bakugou cares a hefty amount for deku, just in a more lowkey, less obvious way. this feeling gets distinctly more desperate when deku runs away, so much so that bakugou bluntly tells everyone that he knows deku best (something he probably would have never verbalized earlier in the series), mobilizes his class to chase him down, and eventually talks deku into coming back. so it's also canon that bakugou cannot stand the thought of deku not being near him — "it makes me wanna keep him at arm's length" and whatever.

in literally every story-related way imaginable, it makes sense for bakudeku to be canon. in terms of relationships, they have the most developed, dynamic, and interesting one. they get the most screen time. the proof is quite literally in the story. everything bkdks look at for bkdk proof is canon, a somewhat rare situation shipping-wise, where two characters that aren't together in canon already feel like they are together in canon. at this point, all they'd have to say to make it canon is "i like you". so why the hell am i such a fucking cynic about them?

i've already mentioned up there that it's already pretty damn hard for a shounen jump to canonize a gay ship. it doesn't matter how popular the ship is in the fandom; if the mangaka and/or the manga distributor doesn't want them to be canon, then they won't be canon. it's made even worse that deku and bakugou are the main characters; if they were background characters, they honestly might've had a better chance in my eyes.

because here's the thing: canonizing bakudeku means that mha (and to an extent, shounen jump) is now officially supporting the lgbt community. which it already techncially is with its side characters like toga (either bi or pan), magne (trans) and tiger (trans), but they're side characters. purposefully not as important as deku and bakugou, who are the poster characters for merch, advertising, and spin-off material such as movies and games. regarding the lgbt community, japan is more conservative than the US — they haven't legalized gay marriage, and the overall understanding and acceptance of it is lower than the western world. all of this combined makes it very hard for any canon lgbt content to be big, mainstream and serialized. this isn't to say that japan doesn't allow any shows involving gay characters, but those shows are considerably more niche, many of them falling under bl/gl instead of any other broad genre. even yuri on ice, which was a big hit for what it was worth, only got one season and a movie that is seemingly never coming out.

mha is, in every sense of the word, not a niche series. horikoshi would be risking a lot making his male main characters romantically involved with each other, because mha is not a series that can fly under the radar and be solely picked up by smaller groups that are more accepting of queer people and relationships. it'd be like making luffy from one piece canonically gay. and i have never read one piece but i'm pretty sure all the dudebros in both the west and in asia would flip their fucking shits. it doesn't matter how close deku and bakugou are. as long as both of them are guys, their canonization will be inherently "political". at best, people would complain about why romance should be in a story like this in the first place (a common homophobic argument against lgbt relationships, since they have nothing against the male mc dating the main girl). at worst, people would be outright homophobic, aggressive towards the direction the manga is moving, and horikoshi could face serious repercussions regarding funding and advertising.

shows in the west get screwed over constantly for including lgbt relationships. steven universe had to fight tooth and nail to include ruby and sapphire's romance, and even harder for their wedding. the owl house's lumity faced something much similar, and the show even got "cancelled" — i know it's a glass half-empty idea, but i think they got cut short partly because of lumity. kids cartoons always try sneaking in lgbt content, but either they get cut, hidden, or relegated to background characters where you'll blink and you'll miss it. we're getting better i guess, but the undeniable truth is that if even the US is this finicky about lgbt representation, then there's no way japan will fold so easily.

if bakugou were a girl, then bakudeku would be canon by now. if deku were a girl, then bakudeku would be canon by now. it's the same shit every time; shounen series write the most groundbreaking, mindblowing relationships between two dudes, only to never make them official due to their genders. instead, they're stuck with having the most important dynamic within the entire narrative, but it's strictly platonic. i don't think it's because shounen mangakas are inherently homophobic. i don't think horikoshi is homophobic at all. i simply think that they'd rather play it safe, knowing their main audience. shounen is not written for any fandom demographics. we're big, but ultimately we hold no power over the story.

when i say i don't think horikoshi is homophobic at all, i truly mean that, because — i think if he had it his way, he would've made bakudeku canon by now.

there's already so much shit. a baffling amount of shit to prove their loyalty to each other, how they affect each other and their arcs, how they're save to win, win to save. how bakugou is a key component of deku's character, and how deku is probably the most important character to bakugou's entire development. horikoshi is deliberate in how he writes them. he's deliberate in how he framed bakugou as "the girl" that "the hero" needs to save. he's deliberate in their complimentary personalities and values. he's very fucking deliberate in how he specifically makes their relationship the most changing, beneficial, and understanding. if horikoshi didn't care about these two and their connection, he wouldn't have done all this. he would've latched deku and bakugou onto other characters, or had them be standalone individuals. but no; their entire existence is about dependence. about finding that middle ground and growing together, intertwined.

he's also not afraid of adding lgbt characters into his series, as long as those characters don't get a large amount of screen time. like previously mentioned, toga is canonically not straight, having interest in both deku and ochako. and she's written pretty damn well too, with her attraction to deku and ochako playing a huge role in her characterization. like i said before, horikoshi is good at writing characters and relationships. i don't doubt that he's capable of writing lgbt relationships too, if given the opportunity. i'd actually shit bricks if horikoshi made togachako canon. somehow i find that more likely than bakudeku. sick and twisted.

he also made magne and tiger, who are both wholly unimportant characters and one of them fucking dies. but the point is, i believe that horikoshi would want to make more characters lgbt, he just very possibly cannot right now. there's too much at stake; he's a popular mangaka writing a hugely successful series, with an insanely wide outreach. there will obviously be a sized portion of his reader base that just absolutely hates the gays. i'm pretty sure he's aware of this.

all this said, i find it hard to believe that horikoshi doesn't like bakudeku as a canon duo. not a romantic relationship exactly, but at least as an official partner duo. they're constantly paired up promotionally anyway. it would take horikoshi zero effort to make them future pro hero partners. it would probably take him more effort to justify why they aren't. what i'm trying to say here is this: horikoshi is possibly trying, in the most subtle ways possible, to allude to their relationship deepening in the coming years. just, well, not strictly romantically. in the same way his fellow shounen mangakas either stuck to heterosexual romances or no romances at all, he will likely settle for a simple platonic relationship between bakudeku. but he won't confirm nor deny that bakudeku are more, the same way furudate didn't say shit about kagehina. it's up to your interpretation. they could be just friends or dating or married; just know that the mangaka himself likes the idea that his main two guy characters are this close with each other.

ANYWAY. THE POINT IS. i do not think bakudeku will be canon. i refuse to get my hopes up, and i will continue to be a pessimistic little bitch until i'm proven wrong. i hope i am proven wrong. i hope horikoshi decides to make them canon, i really hope he does. but i'm just not sure if he'll be allowed that chance, or if he'll want to do it in the first place. in the meantime, i am fully prepared to see bakudeku as yet another failed mlm relationship in mainstream shounen, one that could have been genuinely revolutionary. oh well. at least we still have fan content.

[jacearthereal]

Rereading old interviews and losing it at how frequently and fondly Hori talks about Katsuki. You can hear his happiness talking about him— he’s such a proud dad to this naughty little kid.

Interviewer: Is All Might your fave?

Hori: Have you seen my cheeky son?!

Okay, I have more interview excerpts that I found reassuring.

1. May 2015 interview where Horikoshi talks about his ‘vertical axis’ of All Might passing the torch to Izuku, and a follow-up question showing that Bakugou is part of that main axis.

2. April 2016 interview where Horikoshi talks about what he thinks a hero should be. He wants to give the readers that feeling that everything will be okay when the hero arrives, which is why he’s dragging Izuku’s arrival out of course. 😮‍💨

3. June 2018, he talks about how ‘rough’ he found it writing the kidnapping plot, and how he only felt better once Katsuki was safe. Also talks about expanding his previous thoughts on what makes a hero, using Dk and Bk as examples.

From the same interview, hints that Eri will be important in the final arc. 👀

4. August 2018, he talks about Bakugou’s childlike nature. He wants readers to understand that he’s just a kid.

5. December 2019 (same interview as the first I shared, but a better translation). Another reminder that Bakugou is not meant to be seen as a horrible person. Also love that Hori will stubbornly reiterate this in the story to prove his point. He wants us to love his boy. 🥹

More to come (pic limit!)…

[jacearthereal]

The word “heart” in BNH is something...

So my friends and I were watching My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising and I got so confused as to why the song from the last battle was so... out of place (I wouldn’t say out of place as to “it shouldn’t be there”, but out of place in a surprising way because it’s not so common to have this type of song during a battle.

There were so many things happening during this scene, but the direction of the anime chose to focus on a song that was very sentimental, melodical almost romantic.

So, I searched this amazing song and the name is “Might U” from Yuki Hayashi and LET ME put some of parts of the lyrics that catched my attention.

If we’ll be united

We’re stronger together 

Big sigh here because in this scene Midoriya sacrificed (passed down) his quirk to KATSUKI and the song is telling exactly what we were seeing, that Katsuki and Midoriya are just stronger together. Not apart. United.

This is a good way to see that they need to develop more their relationship (whatever Horikoshi sees it, he sees it as something important).

Whatever they may say It’s plain to see the reason why Oh, that’s all because of the mighty heart

Again the thing with the heart.

Mighty is really from All might (The one who can do all of the things). A mighty heart. A heart strong enough to do A LOT even the impossible.

And I say... In the movie we saw a miracle happening.

There’s other song after this one called “A heart that is inherited” (There’s no lyrics just instrumental, but the name is still very curious).

A good friend told me something that a specific character told Izuku Midoriya and I CAN’T STOP SCREAMING.

Why this song is called this specific name? If it was just about the quirk they would call it “A power that is inherited” but they chose the word HEART. What are the implications of this word in the story of Boku no Hero? Why Horikoshi chose to explore it this way?

 And seeing these specific chapters of the manga (I’m not gonna lie I’m still reading it, I’m not finished, but... BUT- social media gave me all the spoilers I needed so you tell me... WHY?)

This just tells me that Horikoshi is really aware of the emotions between these two characters, there’s no doubt, and that the OFA is linked with these particular emotions. In the movie we had a LOT of parallels that I’ll try to show in the future (if this friend could also help me they could do the part 2 or I could link it here later).

As someone who loves to delve into this process of creating stories, this aspect of Horikoshi’s story gave me a lot of chills.

You can say that he’s using the word heart because emotions like bravery and compassion are attributes of a hero, but all of the heros that inherited the OFA had different views of this quirk.

What is heart for Izuku Midoriya? It’s not the same as it was for All Might.

So... we’re getting somewhere.

[jacearthereal]

thank you for your service but i’m a little skeptical of how the script was sourced. are we sure that 8flix is official and the guy behind it isn’t writing the scripts themself? like, we are 100% certain these are all real, no doubts? i’m not at all aware of how the film industry works, but the reason for my concern is on the 8flix site which states “season 4 transcripts are available” and right underneath says “looking for the REAL SCRIPTS?” emphasis on real scripts. Furthermore i don’t understand how one guy is getting them, where is he getting them, how? I just wanna make sure those who’ve donated haven’t been scammed for a fake script. thank you again and i hope all is well

they're legit!! personally have no doubts.

they have official s3 scripts, and a few episodes from s1&s2. they also have unofficial transcripts. the difference is pretty clearly noted on the site imo. if you look at the transcripts - it's just the sounds, the words said, second by second. the "REAL scripts", such as the ones included for s3, are different and clearly official.

8flix is cited as a reliable source by Cornell among other film studies programs

i believe they knew s4's codename "tareco" before that was common knowledge as well but could be making that up

the creator of 8flix has 25 years experience in tv, he has connections, and he has a reasonably respectable site, all of which would garner him access to such things, in the name of making screenwriting accessible.

the site has 1000s of movies and tv shows besides stranger things. why would he write thousands of fake scripts for some elaborate scheme over the course of years?

sorry if this comes off blunt, just have seen a lot of concerns like these over the last few weeks and they're totally unfounded!

alas, still no update my friends!!

[jacearthereal]

4x04 "Dear Billy" Script Breakdown

Okay friends, let's talk about the S4×04 "Dear Billy" Scripts

For the purposes of this post, I'm mostly going to be looking at the Lenora scenes since I'm going to be focusing on the Mike/Will dynamic and what this means for Byler.

Now, before I get into my analysis, I know we were hoping for more from Mike's POV here, but Mike was not a POV character this season, so this makes sense that specific stage directions for him are left out of the scripts. This does not mean, however, that directions were not given during the time of filming. It just means that they weren't explicitly written out. So let's take a look at what's in front of us, and I'm going to try to be as objective as possible.

So first the episode opens with Mike, Will, and Jonathan being informed of where El was taken. We really don't get too much more from the script here than the text we see show up in the show itself, but we definitely get the sense that both Mike and Will are really concerned about the people they left behind in Hawkins and are also concerned about El, but I do think it's funny that Will is more concerned about El being with Owens than Mike is.

Mike starts off as incredibly distrusting but becomes less guarded when they identify that they are friends of Owens.

The context for this is later brought up because Mike trusted Owens with Will in season 2, so he feels more comfortable knowing that El is with him. The only reason I bring this up in my analysis is because the text and stage directions in this scene, and the following scene in which Will and Mike are talking about Owens, makes allusions back to the dynamic that Mike and Will had in season 2 of the show, Mike being extremely protective over Will and constantly feeling the need to look after him and check in on him, so the fact that Mike seems to relax when it's his girlfriend in a serious situation seems curious. This could just be chalked up to Mike trusting Owens though, so I'm not going to make any definitive claims about that. However, it's still intentionally making parallels here so I think it's important to talk about.

The next thing I really want to hone in on here is Mike's reaction to El's letter and the combined imagery with Jonathan.

So here, we get this scene of Mike opening El's letter and we can tell he's deep in thought. What he's thinking, we don't really know yet, the notes just say "Mike stares ahead contemplatively." We see this come out more later when he talks to Will.

But then we get this really tender moment with Jonathan here and I really want to take a closer look at this.

Here we see Jonathan going to the fridge and lingering on a photo of Nancy. It specifically says that he "stares longingly at the CHEERFUL COUPLE in the photo." Here we're getting pretty blatant love imagery. Jonathan misses Nancy and he misses when things were less complicated. Even with the current deception in their relationship, we can really see from these directions that he really loves her.

This is then paired with the next scene in which we once again get Mike sitting in El's room while Will is pacing and Mike is still looking at the note

I mean, the contrast in these two scenes could not be more stark. We have Jonathan, lovingly looking at a photograph of his girlfriend, while Mike throws the letter from his girlfriend away. I think it's pretty safe to say that the Duffers wanted us to pick up on this imagery and the difference in tone.

Mike then follows this gesture by speaking with concern about the fight he had with El, and claims the fight was like something they "can't come back from."

The tone of Jonathan's scene is longing, a wish to return to the relationship, but the tone in Mike's scene? While it's more complicated because he is worried about El, I think the symbolism really speaks for itself that on some level, Mike knows that things are over for him and El, and if throwing the letter in the trash is any indication, I'm not sure he entirely wants to come back from it.

This is again, another example of narrative dissonance in which the story we're being told by Mike, that he wants to fix things, and the imagery of the scene, discarding the letter, tell us two very different things.

Okay, so let's take a look now at this next shared moment between Mike and Will. This takes place right after they are talking about whether Will trusts Owens, and Will replies by saying Owens is a good guy, but it was "you guys" who actually saved him (referring to the rest of the party).

We get this shared look between Mike and Will

The directions here are not explicitly romantic, but it's good to know that the script's intention here was to build back some of the intimacy in Mike and Will's relationship. We see them joking around for the first time since Mike has been there, and it feels like this tender exchange where the dynamic of their old friendship comes back.

So the next scene here is the big one, and I'm going to try to do my best to parse it apart.

Here we have Mike and Will in Will's room, getting ready to leave Lenora.

Now, we have a lot going on with Will here. We get to see his mood shift very blatantly as he navigates this conversation with Mike. The pining is palpable, but there are a few key moments I want to highlight and explore more.

The first is this bit here with Will giving Mike a "SLY SMILE"

We can see here that Will is initiating this sort of flirty behavior with Mike, and while we don't get explicit directions to indicate exactly how Mike smiles at Will, the important thing to take note of here is that Mike returns the smile. Mike returns the smile that is meant to be flirty in nature.

How can we establish that flirtation is the tone here? Well, let's take a look at these stage directions in a moment between Steve and Nancy from the same episode.

This takes place after Robin and Nancy secure the files on Creel and Nancy has doctored letters for herself and Robin to make it look as though they are students writing a thesis.

She hands them to Steve, and he gets upset that he's not being included here. We then see the same stage directions are given to Nancy to convey the way she looks at Steve. A "SLY SMILE"

Here, she seems like she's trying to let him down easily that he won't be included in the operation, and in the very next scene where Nancy, Steve, and Robin are in Nancy's room, and Nancy is looking through her closet, Steve is saying he can bring charm to their mission, and Nancy tells him "Not the kind of charm we need" with a flirtatious expression.

It's a big plot point in s4 that they are re-examining the relationship between Steve and Nancy. They have romantic history together, and their scenes together in this season are meant to read romantically to hint at the possibility of them getting back together and to establish the love triangle between Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan.

It very much feels as though the "SLY SMILE" is meant to be romantically coded here. So what does this mean that Mike returns Will's "SLY SMILE"? We can't necessarily say anything definitive, but I think this hints towards Mike's openness to the flirtation, whether he's conscious of it or not.

And then, of course, we get the blush from Will, which I think is another clue aa to how Will took that interaction between himself and Mike: Will establishes flirty behavior, Mike returns it, and Will gets flustered.

Now that we've established this exchange, this next bit here becomes far more interesting.

This directly follows Mike's line, "No, no. You didn't do anything" as he's trying to apologize to Will.

Will is turning to Mike with "ANTICIPATION." He's just had, what read to him, as a flirty exchange with the guy he's in love with, and then he hears these words and thinks he's getting "DENIED," but we also get here that Will's facial expression here is "LOST ON MIKE."

I think there are a few things we can take away here:

1. Consciously, Mike seems unaware of the way Will feels about him. He's not picking up on Will's disappointment.

2. I don't think Mike realizes that he's flirting back with Will.

So if this is the case, what does this mean? It means Mike's feelings are what's driving the way he interacts with Will in this scene, not Will's.

So when, in the next line, Mike says, "It's Hawkins. It's not the same without you," this is coming from an incredibly genuine place. He's smiling at Will and telling Will this because he wants to, not because of anything he thinks Will might be feeling or wanting to hear.

There are a couple different ways you can take this, that either Mike is just smiling at Will like a friend, or that he's subconsciously flirting with Will because he wants to. Personally, I'm more inclined to lean towards camp 2 given the rest of these scenes.

So let's move on to this next bit. Here we have Mike telling Will that he feels "like he lost [him]," and these stage directions given to Will make it clear that Will is happy to hear this from Mike, happy to feel like he's still needed by Mike. Again, Mike is telling Will all of this completely unprompted. Mike is still motivating and driving the emotion in this conversation.

So when we get to this part

The locking of eyes is very intentional. It's not just that Will is looking at Mike, which from the rest of the stage directions in this scene, it seems like he has been intently looking at him the entire time, it's that Mike initiates this eye lock. Mike is the one that makes this moment intimate here, not Will.

Then we have this bit here following the "Cool." "Cool." exchange, which it's important to note that there is no stage direction for that, so the little eyebrow quirk from Finn was likely an acting choice, but again, editors choose the takes that best convey the message of the story, so I'll leave that up to y'all to interpret.

But we do get a very explicit direction that reads "THE SOUND OF SKIDDING TIRES seizes the moment."

I think this is important because it implies that this eye lock continued from Mike's initiation of it to this moment here. In seizing the moment, the sound breaks their eye contact, but the intentionality of this is unquestionable. We're meant to read this scene as at the very least deeply intimate, but likely romantic with the amount of romantically-coded exchanges that exist within the script.

We may only fully be seeing Will's point of view, but when we look at the deeper implications of the writing here, I think there's a lot more going on here than just Will's feelings.

The last part I want to just take note of here is when Mike and Will are running from the soldiers who are actively shooting at them, there's nothing explicitly written into the script about Mike covering Will with his arm, so this looks like it could either be an acting choice or a direction that was given upon filming.

I don't know that the script gives us anything conclusive on Mike's feelings, but I definitely think there's some interesting choices being made to chew through here. Anyway, let me know what you think!

[jacearthereal]

You don’t have to say anything. I was being a total jerk to El. I deserved it.

[jacearthereal]

Transcrição: Ep. 153: Off Menu: Joseph Quinn - Parte 1

Tradução feita por fã.

Algumas coisas da transcrição podem estar erradas / equivocadas visto que eu sou humana e cometo erros, ainda mais escutando sotaque britânico. Se você viu algo que acha que está errado, por favor entre em contato comigo pelo meu twitter @jacestiel ou por aqui pelo tumblr.

Estarei posteriormente postando partes futuras.

Essa primeira parte vai até mais ou menos uns 10 minutos de podcast.

 Legenda:

(...) = Não achei importante o bastante para traduzir.

(?) = Não tenho certeza da frase.

(-) = Palavra faltando. Não consegui entender.

PRIMEIRA PARTE

 ED GAMBLE

Bem-vindo ao Podcast Off-Menu. Pegando o leite do humor, colocando no xarope de morango da internet e balançando para todo lado em uma grande conversa. James.

JAMES ACASTER

Esse foi o final?

ED GAMBLE

Sim.

JAMES ACASTER

Ed Gamble lá, meu nome é James Acaster. Nós estamos no restaurante dos sonhos e nós chamamos um convidado toda semana e perguntamos-

ED GAMBLE

Um milkshake.

JAMES ACASTER

E perguntamos qual o milkshake favorito deles.

ED GAMBLE

Esse milkshake que o grande James ouviu com o xarope de morango.

JAMES ACASTER

Meu favorito começa com sobremesa de manga, acompanhamento e bebida, não nessa ordem. (?)

(pausa)

E nessa semana nosso convidado é...

ED GAMBLE

Milkshake e cerveja merecem uma bebida (?). Não é um bom. Sabe, esse é o primeiro na série. Eu provavelmente deveria ter feito algo diferente, desculpe.

JAMES ACASTER

E nessa semana nosso convidado é...

ED GAMBLE E JAMES ACASTER

Joe Quinn!

ED GAMBLE

Joe Quinn, um ator maravilhoso, é claro. Interpreta Eddie Munson em Stranger Things.

JAMES ACASTER

Sim. Digo, atualmente, o homem mais falado do planeta.

ED GAMBLE

É, acima de Jesus Cristo, nosso senhor e salvador.

JAMES ACASTER

É, para ser justo. Estou muito animado.

ED GAMBLE

Ele segurou o topo por um longo tempo.

JAMES ACASTER

Ei, e você não pode manter o topo para sempre.

ED GAMBLE

Munson está vindo te pegar, Cristo.

JAMES ACASTER

Lá vem, Munson.

(pausa)

Nós ambos acabamos de finalizar Stranger Things 4.

ED GAMBLE

Brilhante!

JAMES ACASTER

Nós ambos amamos. Nós ambos amamos o personagem Eddie Munson e estamos muito animados para esse episódio.

ED GAMBLE

Muito animados em falar com Joe sobre a refeição dos sonhos dele. Mas seria uma pena, James. Se Joe pegasse um ingrediente secreto que nós discutimos anteriormente porque teríamos que remover ele do restaurante dos sonhos e colocá-lo no restaurante dos sonhos do Upside Down.

JAMES ACASTER

No restaurante dos sonhos do Upside Down, onde o Demogorgon mora.

(...)

ED GAMBLE

Lição valiosa, como sabemos. O Demogorgon que está abaixo desses personagens em Stranger Things.

(...)

JAMES ACASTER

E o ingrediente secreto dessa semana é...

ED GAMBLE E JAMES ACASTER

Eggo Waffles.

ED GAMBLE

Eggo Waffles é outro ingrediente secreto que nós pegamos especificamente por causa do convidado em Stranger Things.

JAMES ACASTER

O personagem da Eleven come Eggo Waffles e ama. Eddie Munson não come, mas você sabe, é uma comida muito associada a série.

ED GAMBLE

Sim. Minha esposa me fez chorar de rir outro dia porque estávamos assistindo Stranger Things e tinha tipo... Mike e Eleven estão em um relacionamento e ela estava “Por que você iria gostar da Eleven?”. Ela estava constantemente “Ela iria tentar te beijar e de repente ia falar “Papa, eu quero Eggos””. Uh, estranho. Então toda vez que eu assisto, eu realmente rio. Imagine assistir e ficar “Pare, pare de dizer Papa”.

(...)

JAMES ACASTER

Ela fala sobre Papa bastante, né?

(...)

Isso me lembra que devemos fazer um aviso de spoiler para esse episódio.

ED GAMBLE

Nós vamos falar com Joe e obviamente todos vimos os episódios da temporada quatro e obviamente muita coisa acontece. Se você não viu, vamos tentar não dar spoiler nesse capítulo.

JAMES ACASTER

Vamos tentar, mas olha, nós somos só humanos. Então aviso de spoiler.

ED GAMBLE

Vá assistir Stranger Things temporada 4.

JAMES ACASTER

Vá assistir e então ouça esse podcast.

 ED GAMBLE

Mas assista hoje porque é meio que importante. Então assista e volte para ouvir o podcast. Seria bem útil para nós.

JAMES ACASTER

Quando eu penso... Stranger Things é 23h mais.

(...)

ED GAMBLE

Fico pensando se vamos conseguir colocar o Demogorgon no chat com o Joe.

JAMES ACASTER

Espero que consigamos. Espero que se conseguirmos fazer isso, façamos a edição.

ED GAMBLE

Dedos cruzados. É o primeiro episódio da temporada. Uma maravilhosa maneira de começar, também gostaria de lembrá-lo que estou em tour...

(Eles falam sobre as datas do tour e os locais aonde vão. Não traduzi isso, mas fiquem livres para procurar.)

(...)

ED GAMBLE E JAMES ACASTER

Mas, sem mais delongas, esse é o Off Menu: Menu de Joe Quinn.

ED GAMBLE

Bem-vindo Joe, ao restaurante dos sonhos.

JOE QUINN

Oi.

JAMES ACASTER

(quase gritando)

BEM-VINDO, JOE QUINN, AO RESTAURANTE DOS SONHOS. NÓS ESTÁVAMOS ESPERANDO VOCÊ POR UM TEMPO.

JOE QUINN

Jesus. Oi.

ED GAMBLE

Você reagiu meio em choque quando o James apareceu.

JOE QUINN

Não estava esperando isso.

 ED GAMBLE

Você parecia tão chocado. Se eu não soubesse... Diria que foi uma boa atuação porque você fez coisas maravilhosas em Stranger Things reagindo a coisas horríveis acontecendo.

JOE QUINN

Bem. Aquilo não foi horrível. Eu só estava mortificado (?).

(...)

ED GAMBLE

Surpreso. Coisas surpreendentes. (?)

JOE QUINN

É, coisas surpreendentes.

(Ele diz Surprising Things, fazendo uma piada com Stranger Things)

JAMES ACASTER

É, isso daria um bom TV show assim.

ED GAMBLE

Pulando de trás de coisas.

JAMES ACASTER

Surpresa!

ED GAMBLE

De baixo-orçamento também.

JAMES ACASTER

Tirado de diferentes filmes, eu acho.

JOE QUINN

Eu ficaria surpreso com isso.

JAMES ACASTER

O quão surpreso eu estou por todo caminho. E ficaria animado no final. “Foi mais surpreendente que o último.”

(pausa)

E falando em surpresas no seu show. Podemos falar sobre as surpresas agora?

JOE QUINN

Podemos falar sobre todas as surpresas agora. As surpresas ao redor.

JAMES ACASTER

É animador. A série está na cabeça de todo mundo e nós gravamos isso na segunda seguinte. E saiu numa sexta o episódio final, não foi?

JOE QUINN

Sim, os dois últimos saíram sexta.

JAMES ACASTER

Estou numa tempestade agora. As pessoas (?) nas redes sociais estão ficando loucas.

JOE QUINN

Está ainda bem cru.

JAMES ACASTER

As pessoas estavam ficando insanas.

JOE QUINN

As pessoas estavam ficando insanas.

JAMES ACASTER

Elas estão insanas com isso.

JOE QUINN

Elas estão insanas com isso. Elas estão tão surpresas. Está bastante ainda no foco, mesmo, do momento. É tipo isso.

JAMES ACASTER

Toda vez que você arregala os olhos eu penso que estou falando com Eddie Munson. Toda vez eu fico “Ali está” “É, ali está...”.

JOE QUINN

Não é a peruca.

(risadas)

JAMES ACASTER

Bom sotaque.

JOE QUINN

Obrigado. Foi perfeito James, você aceita cartão?

JAMES ACASTER

Sim. (pausa) Seu americano...

ED GAMBLE

James é muito bom com sotaques. Ele ama conhecer o sotaque de outro cara.

JOE QUINN

Deveríamos fazer dupla?

JAMES ACASTER

Sim?

JOE QUINN

Sim.

ED GAMBLE

Você tem algum pedido para o sotaque do James?

JOE QUINN

Não, está tudo certo. Talvez (-) Americano.

JAMES ACASTER

Sim. Isso foi perfeito.

JOE QUINN

Está bem.

JAMES ACASTER

O que você quer que eu fale e eu vou ajustar a minha voz.

JOE QUINN

Última vez que você esteve surpreso.

JAMES ACASTER

(com sotaque americano)

Diga a última vez que eu estive surpreso ou tive que estar quando assisti Stranger Things.

JOE QUINN

Essa foi boa.

ED GAMBLE

Foi surpreendente.

JOE QUINN

Sim. Surpreendentemente bom.

JAMES ACASTER

Essa era a voz americana que eu faria se eu estivesse em Stranger Things e as pessoas pensariam que eu era americano e estariam muito surpresas que eu era britânico.

JOE QUINN

É assim que eu achei que eu soava.

JAMES ACASTER

É?

JOE QUINN

Você se sente como um sociopata. Você meio que fica “Hey, man” e depois de um tempo eu estava tão empenhado que eu ficava “Eu soei certo? Eu soei bem? Você gostou disso? Você gostou de alguma coisa?”

JAMES ACASTER

“Fazendo americano demais?”

JOE QUINN

Exatamente. É como pôr o sapato no outro pé. Eu estava falando com Joe Keery e estava em um ponto tão profundo e ele estava “Cara, eu não posso te salvar, mas eu prometo que tudo vai ficar bem” Mas, é. Obrigado por isso, James.

JAMES ACASTER

É, não se preocupe. Estou feliz que você fez um sotaque americano muito bom.

(pausa)

Eu achei que você falaria para eu fazer Shrek, obrigado por não ter me falado para fazer Shrek.

ED GAMBLE

Você é um grande fã de comida?

JOE QUINN

Eu sou um fã de comida, definitivamente. Eu sei o que eu gosto e são a maioria das coisas. Eu tento ser paciente com outras pessoas. Eu tenho problemas com quem escolhe demais. Comedores difíceis. Eu não gosto disso. “Oh, tem cogumelos nisso?” Coma, é delicioso ou “Ah, eu não gosto de peixe”. É claramente algo psicológico, mas eles precisam superar isso, comer, é bom.

(...)

ED GAMBLE

Vamos começar com água com gás.(?)

JOE QUINN

Com gás. Mas onde você está nessa coisa toda de “Faz mal pra você”? Porque eu acho que é um mito.

ED GAMBLE

O que você ouviu?

JOE QUINN

Eu ouvi que tem ácido na água. E o ácido na água é o sentimento bom que você sente na boca, mas é ruim para você porque está estragando seu dente. Então aparentemente você deveria usar um canudo. Evita o dente, mas então você não sente o sentimento de satisfação.

ED GAMBLE

Mas você põe diretamente—

JOE QUINN

Qual é o ponto?

ED GAMBLE

Mas se ele pode danificar o seu dente. O que ele faz com seu estômago?

JAMES ACASTER

O que você quer dizer? (?) Tem ácido no seu estômago para lutar. Eles lutam.

JOE QUINN

O estomago é cheio de ácido.

JAMES ACASTER

Sim, então se tem ácido na água. E tem ácido no estômago. É onde a batalha acontece.

JOE QUINN

O que é mais ácido para o ácido?

JAMES ACASTER

É um contra o outro.

ED GAMBLE

Mas por que eles iriam um contra o outro se é ácido com ácido? Eles deveriam ser amigos.

JOE QUINN

Ou trabalharem juntos.

JAMES ACASTER

Ambos são amigos. (?)

JOE QUINN

Ainda. Ainda são.

ED GAMBLE

Podem mudar de ideia.

JAMES ACASTER

Mas aí não era ácido. Mas aí o ácido no estômago vai ser—

JOE QUINN

Estomacizado.

JAMES ACASTER

E aí demitido. (?)

JOE QUINN E ED GAMBLE

Perseguição Ácida.

(Pausa)

[jacearthereal]

Subtext is bad? Fandom Analysis by me.

As a literature/language student and future literature teacher, I can assure you that it doesn’t matter what the author writes in a book - explicitly or vaguer - people are going to interpret different things in the story.

Being part of fandoms since 2015 (or even more if you count the other things I watched when I was younger) gave me the background I needed to understand a little about it.

There is a Brazilian book by an influential writer who we study at college. His name is Machado de Assis. The book is called Dom Casmurro. And every literature teacher will have to answer the question for the curious students “Capitu (the name of the character) cheated on Bentinho or not?”.

Machado didn’t answer explicitly the question on purpose. And this is a great way to explain subtext because the author hides messages, creates dialogues and scenes, and shows some thoughts (sometimes not reliable ones), but they don’t write with all the words in the text “Yes, she cheated.” or “No, she would never do that.” or even “He deserved it.”

The subtext is not entirely bad.

And it was probably one of the things that saved people from censorship on media in hard times too. (Yes, I’m talking about dictatorship).

Subtext is power for the story, that can help and yes, sometimes can also get in the way of the message. It depends on what you do with it.

The idea is to leave the message to the reader to catch it or to give the message in their hands? When we give the message we enter into the territory of “Show don’t tell” (I prefer to say “Show or tell?” because we don’t need to show everything or tell everything).

Do you believe that the reader will know what did you want with the story after all of the scenes you created and all the dialogues?

I’m not saying that they have to have an answer (they don’t), but they should be able, at least, to interpret the story based on what you exposed.

If you answered yes then you’re on the right path.

But, again. People will always surprise you with different interpretations. I see a lot of them on Twitter with TV shows and movies. Star Wars, Supernatural, Heartstopper, and now Stranger Things.

Star Wars is political? (of course, it is, but some people are biased and pretend they don’t see the political aspects).

Castiel from Supernatural was in love with Dean Winchester? (For me he was, but I’m done fighting with people that think his monologue was fraternal and not romantical, even if the writers confirmed later).

Heartstopper is more the study of hidden messages than people having different interpretations (I thought it was very subtle but they hid Charlie’s problem with food very well and just some people noticed at the scenes).

And Stranger Things has so many hidden messages that people who are not aware have all kinds of interpretations. Especially with Will. Is he gay?

People need to understand that everything a writer puts in the story has a message. Everything, sometimes even the color of the clothes they are wearing or the hero they chose for a class project. I saw a girl on Tiktok saying Will’s drawing was a Chekhov’s gun because it was an object of importance to the plot.

“It’s a principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.” (Chekhov’s gun definition)

We can still disagree with the writer’s choices, we can interpret different some scenes, but at the end of the day, it’s their choice (sometimes I say this sadly) what will be canon.

I believe the problem with Stranger Things is not the subtext, maybe the dialogue, but not the subtext. I like how they’re developing Will’s character. (Is it sad and makes me cry? yeah, but I still like it).

We can’t control how people will interpret what they see. And it’s not excluding subtext that we will resolve problems. The problem would be if they didn’t put the elements they addressed to work. And they are working on their way. (Not saying it’s good, but they are building something). And it will be great if they close these arches addressing the things that need to be addressed next season. And maybe, we hope, we will have answers as the journey is not finished yet.

Now... All people will have the same answers?

I don’t know. But I hope the ones that matter will.