#Class Analyses

[adragonprinceswhore]

Perhaps my biggest beef with HotD is that it actually fails to depict misogyny. The story is not exploring patriarchal structures, it’s continuously reinforcing a dated, essentialist view of gender politics where women are essentially good.

You know what actually explores patriarchal structures? Alicent scheming to put her son on the throne because she knows that his mere existence is a threat to Rhaenyra’s claim since he is a son. The Dance is a direct consequence of how patriarchal societies disregard women and always put men first, that’s why Rhaenyra has to fight so hard for the throne, and that’s why Alicent fears for her sons (and grandsons) lives.

The issue with Westeros is not that “men are in charge and they’re essentially bad”. That’s a shallow understanding of how a patriarchal system works. The issue is that misogyny is ingrained in the foundation of the society.

If Rhaenyra ruled, the realm could never know peace because her reign would constantly be questioned, no matter what daddy said. And as long as Aegon lives, people would call for him to be king, making him enemy no. 1 whether he wants the crown or not.

The writers of HotD seem to think that misogyny is a choice in Westeros. It is not.

[dearmyloveleys]

analysing less spoken about whc1 ep2 scenes that symbolise Suho & Sieun's relationship + how food is a symbolism of integral sustenance, to which what Suho’s existence means to Sieun:

ah yes, ep2, wherein suho famously asks if they're (him & Sieun) were "a married couple in a previous life".

But more than that scene, I want to bring attention to the following scenes afterwards, where the camera brings us through Suho and Sieun's separate lives. These scenes juxtapose how Sieun returns to a lifeless home while Suho goes about his livelier delivery job. They too, shed light on the symbolism of food in Sieun and Suho's relationship.

At home, Sieun sits and eats pre-packed convenience store food that he heats up in the microwave. The way the sequence is filmed, it indicates that he’s been doing this and eating cold, lifeless food for a while now. Food in many cultures across the world is supposed to reflect genuine warmth and human touch, but him eating these manufactured, quick solutions to hunger further reflects how empty and emotionless his life is. It’s almost like he’s part of the robotic system his parents and society have made him apart of.

I'd also like to draw attention to how the microwave's design is shaped like an egg, to which I then draw a link to the line that defines Sieun's story in whc1:

The bird fights its way out of the egg. - Demian

This quote is flashed in the beginning of Ep1, and it foretells Sieun's eventual coming of age story and breaking out of his shell. It is poetic that he heats up the aforementioned soulless, cold food in that microwave. This foreshadows that through food which is very much a character trait associated with Suho, Sieun will experience the pain of youth as much as it brings him light, both of which Suho gives him.

Next, as for Suho, we see him going on food delivery jobs. He loves eating and even works as a food delivery driver, which cements his character association with food. He sends these more sincerely (more or less), but definitely warmly cooked food to people who wants them. This act of delivering warm food is very much a representation of what he is to Sieun. He delivers warmth and company to Sieun, which is what food should do when done and prepared the right way. And Suho is a warm person — he gives a sweet in secret to a child at one of his delivery addresses.

His food delivery scenes allude to a later part of Ep2, where we see this symbolism of Suho being the person to deliver warmth to Sieun, finally materialise into a physical act and therefore breathes a tactile/physical manifestation into their relationship dynamics.

He feeds Sieun the ssam wrap, gently pushing through Sieun's resistance as he always does. Metaphorically, and recalling Demian's quote, he breaks through Sieun's shell. In return, Sieun smiles with his eyes — his eyes are so soft and fond after Suho feeds him. Because for the first time in a while, Sieun is eating warm food and it’s given to him by Suho. From a more retrospective angle, Suho has given Sieun the life, attention and warmth that he wishes for.

Suho is Sieun’s sustenance.

Regardless if you view them platonically or romantically, this entire sequence revolving around food and how it symbolises Suho’s role as a giver of warmth and substance, exemplifies just why Sieun is so attached to Suho. After all, Sieun’s always been cold and lifeless. He just needs someone to show him that he can be loved. He needs someone who is willing to put in the effort, break his shell, to show him that he can be loved.

[the-travelling-witch]

when i was in high school, french was one of the three advanced courses that made up my final exams and bc not a lot of people took french as a main subject, our class was relatively small. we also got along well with our teacher, so over the course of three years we goofed off quite a bit.

for example, at the beginning of our last year, there was an exam where all of us mentioned the concept of “l’épanouissement personnel” in our literature analysis after discussing it in class, which our teacher commented on with a chuckle.

so naturally, for the entire rest of the year (yes even in our finals), there was the unwritten law to incorporate “l’épanouissement personnel” into every exam, no matter the context.

now imagine the first years all taking the collective challenge to sneak the same arbitrary word into their history exams. maybe it’s a word trein used that ace thought was hilarious or one he stressed the importance of so strongly that deuce had it written down five times on the same page (for which ace obviously clowned him). or perhaps it’s not a word but a historic date or event, which is now brought up in every exam.

it’s definitely ace’s idea, so he eggs deuce on immediately. epel is always here for some mischief and so is ortho. jack and sebek turn their nose at the idea, but at the accusation of running from a (human) challenge, they change their tune real quick. after a test it becomes as important as discussing the answers to ask where the others mentioned the agreed upon word/event.

maybe there was a concept/book/statement so dumb covered in the second year curriculum, azul, jade and jamil couldn’t help tearing it apart in a discussion. and bc nrc students are petty by nature, they all referenced it in their exams as well.

riddle didn’t want to but bc it was discussed at length beforehand, he used it as a negative example subconsciously before he even realised it. ruggie, again, is here for the mischief and kalim and floyd “studied” with jamil and jade, so they actually remember it being discussed and just wrote it down.

we all have that one teacher who hammers home the same key phrases every year to the point where you could recite them in your sleep. and at this point, the third years have listened to professor crewel repeating the same chemical principle since year one.

it’s always the exact same words and intonation, leaving some students to mumble along when he recites it in class. no wonder then that it becomes second nature for all of them to scribble it on their tests at least once. at the end of the day, crewel notes it with a “good boy”, so there’s only upsides to this.

i guess the only fitting conclusion to this post is to say that goofing of with your classmates is important for l’épanouissement personnel—

[zeldasavefile]

Why is every majoras mask analysis video bad ? Genuinely asking !!!!

[yaekiss]

need to be a gorgeous tyrannical emperor seated atop a throne with unparalleled beauties hanging off my arms

[youling-the-ghost]

The inadvertent symbolism of Bubba holding Jeremiah where he later gets stabbed?? Hello??

[bisexual-biohazard5]

I was thinking about how Percy as a character would react when it comes to giving empathy to others.

Like if it was a practical problem, this man is finding you a solution one way or another. But if it's like a personal problem, he feels awkward and he doesn't know how to deal with it but he's definitely be there for the person. Because he was isolated from childhood, family didn't pay much attention to him because he's quiet which also leads to him being really independent because he's used to having to do things for himself. And he'll feel bad if anyone had to do anything for him and will want to repay them. It could be a result of his mother who made to keep the house in order, put food on the table, take care of 7 kids and also educate them before they go to Hogwarts.

Percy is shown as a nerd, someone who likes books and there are actual scientific articles saying that people who read more have more empathy because they allow themselves to see things from other people's perspective.

Percy would see the stress his mother is dealing with, the stress his father is dealing with to try keep a roof over their head and would step foward to help if needed so they have a little break.

So when it comes to personal problems, he doesn't ask for help because he doesn't want to worry anyone. This in turn means that he never learned how to actually offer empathy or comfort someone and ends up being awkward. He's better at finding practical solutions not emotional because he's always been emotionally reserved.

This could be why Percy is always making sure his siblings aren't getting into trouble. Its because he doesn't want his parents to be worried but also if his siblings ever got hurt, he knows he doesn't have the ability to offer proper empathy. So he prevents any problems from happening in the first place.

Below is a scenario to summarise.

Percy when his family goes to hin for emotional support: Umm- So like I'm not qualified enough to deal with this but I could book you a therapy session?

Percy when his family asks him on how to find a body (It was a prank but Percy thought they were serious): Don't touch anything without gloves. Don't leave any hair or DNA behind. Leave the blood to me. Cut off the hands and feet first and then bury the body in a forest but do it in dry weather so you don't leave footprints-

[cyanferret21]

Hey guys, do you remember this London scene from Sonic 3?

Okay, so I’m rewatching the movie once again, and something clicked for me this time.

I alway associate this moment with one reaction channel that was reacting to the trailer for the movie. While watching it the guys pointed out that the position of everyone in the shot looks odd. Like if somebody is missing there! Trailers likes to omit some moments and details that are only gonna be present in the release version. They hid Shadow’s super form in the trailer, for example, while still showing the scene itself. So, the missing character is not that big of a stretch in this situation.

As we all now know, there were actually no character there. Later when they were reacting to the movie itself they even noted that “wow, guess there were no hidden character in that odd spot after all, huh”. And they left it on that.

But now I’m watching the movie again, remembering that reaction, and still thinking: why is that odd blank spot there?

And I think I have an explanation!

It’s a cool visual representation! You see, by this point, we have a few conflicts on our hands. On one side, the main plot of the movie - with Sonic and his team versus Robotniks. But we also have the conflict of found family vs blood family - Agent Stone vs Gerald Robotnik. Both of whom dragging the blanket of Ivo’s attention on themselves.

We already saw the scene where Ivo and Gerald spend their “quality time” together in VR. And we saw how hurt it made Stone. Although, he can’t be mad at Eggman about wanting to spend time with his previously presumed dead grandpa-

-but he’s not obligated to be happy about being ignored either. Stone is not used to being forced to share Ivo’s attention with anyone else, and it shows.

And so now we come back to scene I started this whole discussion from. And what we see?

A literal GAP between Agent Stone and the rest of Robotniks!

Yeah, I did on purpose called all the three of them Robotniks. Despite everything, Shadow was like a brother to Maria. We see from the flashbacks that in the past Gerald too cared for the alien as for his own kid. “They’re trying to take Shadow away from us, Maria!” HE CARED! So Shadow I can count as technical Robotnik, alongside Maria Robotnik, Gerald Robotnik and Ivo Robotnik.

And they all stand on the left side of the shot, leaving Stone standing alone far to the right corner. The closest standing to Stone is Ivo, and even he is “one human-sized gap” away from him. (The gap that Gerald can and want to fill in to achieve his goal)

It might also be that Stone himself has chosen to separate himself from the group here, feeeling as if he’s not part of it. Not part of Ivo’s family! And isn’t it sad!?

The scene hurts even more when you remember that at the start of the movie, in the first scene where Eggman shows up, he calls Stone “the only person in the world I could trust”

Stone: Doctor, you have visitors.

Eggman: Oh, really? I thought I was having an anthropomorphic nightmare, where the only person I could trust in the world shows up with all my worst enemies…

[gayjaytodd]

just saw thee dumbest black sails take of all time on twitter

"the really inane gay subplot concerning Flint" you meant the plot? you mean the thing that's Flint's entire character motivation?? the thing that kicks off the entire rebellion against england??? that inane gay subplot????

[io-lu-art]

"Well then, your hands are cold."

After the obligatory annual rewatch of Pride and Prejudice my father asked me: "Why does Lizzy tell Mr Darcy that his hands are cold after he confesses his love to her again?"

And I didn't know how to answer that - UNTIL. I. REALISED.

WILD GUESS, but if I recall correctly from my limited experience of 21 years on planet earth, your hands get cold when you are anxious about something or nervous or what not (excluding the cases of external temperature change or sickness, we are talking pure emotions here).

Now watch this:

Throughout the movie there are 3 deliberate closeups on Darcy's hands before the climax, all of which occur in immediate proximity to Lizzy. And I cannot help but notice, without wanting connect one with the other right on the nose...

...look at his hands! He is SO. NERVOUS. around her it makes me wanna scream and giggle and cry-

Now, I hope it is not too bold of me to assume, but...

...I mean you clearly see where this is going...

When he helped her onto the carriage...

...when they were dancing, when they finally meet on the field at dawn.

You put everything together and you've got your answer.

So, what's my theory? Darcy's hands have been cold all this time when we see him around Lizzy. And Lizzy has been paying attention.

That's it. That's the juice.

You may go on with your normal life now while as you still can.

Pls tell me someone else figured this out before me and I am just late to the party.

[msue0027]

Can i be picky, pricky, mean and bitch a little? Pretty please?

So, I've watched x-men apocalypse (wow, I'm soo early to this party). It was nice, and look, there's my country (so of course I'm gonna have opinions). And well. I've been reading fanfics, and as i skim thru the tags i see Nina Gurzsky, and then again, and hm again, and who tf is Nin... Oh, NINA, as in Erik's daughter. Wait, Gurzsky?

What kind of surname is that? Because it's not Polish. (but we can fix that.)

I know in comics Magda is of Romani ancestry but i don't remember it being mentioned in the movie? So i guess she's polish-polish. And "Gurzsky" looks like she's 4th or 5th generation of emmigrants to america, has let everyone pronounce the name anyhow which led to diff spelling, and doesn't speak polish anymore.

(Really, who came up with that name, I'd like a word. What was your reasoning, your reasearch, the background you came up for Magda? Maybe it makes sense and is justified to be like that? Maybe I'm wrong, don't have all the info, misunderstood something? Then I'm really sorry.)

Nonetheless, let us begin. Gurzsky

So i guess anglophones just skip this surname all together, but let's try to read it. It would be something like goo-zh-ski or goor-zz-ski. Both are bad and hard to pronounce. Why is the "z" there? Why complicate it unnecessarily? Let's drop it (some ppl would do it anyway, even if it being there was justified, it's called simplification and it happens when there's many hard consonats next to each other, or something, i'm half asleep). My brain did it intuitively upon reading this name. It shouldn't be there. There's no reason i could see. So it's Gursky now.

Ehh. How many times? "-ski" is traditional ending of a polish surname, and used to indicate nobility. "-sky" is traditional transliteration from cyrylic alphabet, it's for the russian surnames. (And the ending "-sky" came there from Poland.) (I'm very passionate about that, sorry not sorry. But don't get me started at another polish surname "-cki" bc americans always pronounce it wrong. That “c” is separate letter and not just “k”, and i don't think i can find corresponding sound in english language (so you might be forgiven) and i don't want to bombard you with IPA (never mind, next day me kinda wants, so, it’s like “ts”, or german “z”), especially that it's not main topic of that post. But really, you could put some effort. We know the language is very different from your own, with weird sounds, but please, try. We're gonna love you for that. For one word. Anything really. Well, you already know “kurwa”, so maybe one more. Sorry, i digress.) So, it's "-ski", but not really. This type of surname changes based on gender. "-ski" is masculine, and "-ska" is feminine. Yes, not always, there are women with “-ski” and men with “-ska”, but then it does not flex at all (same form for both genders). You just have to ask. But that's minority. So now it's Gurska.

And surnames don't have to follow general rules of orthography and flexion, they can have their own unique spelling and way of decletion, you need to ask the bearer of the name. But. They still usually do. So looking at that name? It begs to be the deriving from mountains: góry. So it should be Górska. Pronounced: goor-skah. Now it is a Polish name. A good one.

So. I'm gonna use this name for that little family. It's canon for me now. Magda Górska and Nina Górska, and Erik was going under Henryk Górski. (Kinda cute if you ask me.)

Oof, I'm done. That was long. Thanks for coming to my little ted-talk, hope you enjoyed :))

(ps. i have rewatched scenes set in Poland, and Erik actually intrudeces himself as Henryk Górski, which means i was right but also why have a made this long-ass analysis? It was fun tho, and too much of my half asleep brain power went into this not to post it.)

[bogkeep]

the green knight (2021) 🤝 the boy and the heron

movies with incredible visuals and vibes i enjoy watching but could not even begin to tell you what they're about or trying to say

[shannonsketches]

he's so important to me

[quixtrix]

let's talk BL manga lore; on grooming, identity, and racism

spoilers for the official captain laserhawk bl manga ofc, plus brief discussion of grooming I've refrained from speaking about it because of spoilers, but it's been well over a month and I believe that it's time to openly discuss it. if you would still like to read the manga before reading this discussion, here's the link to buy a physical copy and you can search up 'Captain Laserhawk: Crushing Love' in your digital book store for it. okay time to talk about two, basically three subjects; racism, identity, and grooming. i'm starting with the grooming first, because that's the main focus of this manga. i would have to preface this by saying i've already discussed this topic in an earlier post (albeit it is a prediction, but it is a spot on prediction.) i'll briefly elaborate on it right now with what we know.

dolph's very first day with alex was carefully calculated to where dolph would be exposed to the world, but heavily rely on alex. he is shown around to alex's friends and is able to buy his own clothes, but it is under the heavy scrutiny of alex. alex ultimately decides what dolph wears, alex decides how the day goes, alex leads dolph. even when they have a beach day, take note of how alex holds dolph, dragging him around.

even the romance and the events leading up to when alex takes dolph's virginity are calculated. note how alex grasps dolph's hand, grabbing on tight enough to almost press down on his knuckles, loosening his hand, making dolph relinquish control. the context for the fight page is that after their sweet lil beach day, alex takes dolph down an alley where alex knows that he'll come across people who aren't the fondest of him. this event was calculated, alex knew it was going to happen, and he used it to test out his new lil boytoy.

also, alex taking dolph out to fight isn't just so he can get in the pants of a barely 18 year old. while holloway notes during this flashback that adrenaline is the greatest aphrodisiac, this is a test to see how good the new weapon he picked up is. how the new boy works, to see how eden's boy robot can benefit his group, not just him. its literally in the morning panels we get where alex talks with that woman, anna. they're talking about how loaded he is with tech, and while alex does consider that, he still actively thirsts over dolph.

also im jus saying if i personally was talking with one of my greatest confidants and they refer to someone i'm thirsting over as KID, i would personally be icked out. i would have a conscious and not do some weird shit, like literally refer to dolph in passing as kid in the next page. dolph aint even the first one who alex has done this shit to, as evident by this line by one of his friends, grace.

alex is a groomer and groomed dolph, case closed.

anyways! time to get on with what i really wanted to talk about, how racism and loss of idenity ties into dolph's character!

in this manga, during pillow talk between dolph and alex, we get dolph's backstory. dolph literally has only known this man for a day and he's giving him lore because alex treats him more normal than eden did. god. ANYWAYS ENOUGH DWELLING ON DOLPH BEING A VICTIM IN ALL WAYS INCLUDING BEING ONE OF THE OXFORD STUDY, we get to know about his brief life before eden took him in.

now let me turn for a moment to the show, and how we were told about dolph's backstory. this is VASTLY different than what we got in the show, with it being implied that dolph's parents were a white prostitute and a darkskinned immigrant man. this adds onto the idea that this supposedly impoverished, crack addicted boy came into this world not as an act of love, but as a mistake. not just a mistake though, his parents are supposedly the epitome of immoral, a prostitute and a criminal. not to mention that this also ties into the idea of the uncultured brown man and pure white woman, basically a racist idea that the scary immigrants who aren't like us good white christian americans (and honestly jus any homogenous group in general, though in america its ofc more applicable to white people), are corrupting our mother marys, our women. eden takes on this perspective in order to subconsciously frame in the minds of post american viewers the idea of this man as an other that they are helping and didn't at all snatch up from his mother for child experimentation. the concept of other is something that finds it's origins in fascism, and in order to mask the presence of said fascism, someone who is seen as apart of the other is given a seat at the table with the collective us, (as in the majority, or the ones that are supposedly superior), and will ultimately serve as an example of why the other are labelled as such. i go into this more with my rayman analysis. I brought up the specific portrayal of dolph's backstory from eden's documentary to showcase how eden has manipulated the view people have of this man. eden has not only manipulated the view of the in universe audience, but eden has manipulated our view.

in the propaganda documentary, we are shown photos of this man being a captain, someone of relatively high rank in the military. you can't even normally earn that through having an education, you'd have to have years of experience. he's portrayed as older than he is.

another thing, dolph fans, let's be honest with ourselves; before the manga, it was not uncommon to headcanon that man as a FREAK. with both the supposed images of dolph at a nightclub and the flashback of alex and dolph meeting outside a club, it wasn't too hard to think that the hottest man alive in that show who was fully born human was a freak. a sexual deviant. someone that a christian mother would be horrified enough by that she faints. the manga however, shows us that dolph really isn't any of that. hell, he didn't even get to go to a club before he met alex. in reality, he's around 18 years and his only sexual experience is his groomer.

say that again with me, he's around 18. he's just around 18, he's a young adult, and the environment he's grown up in has stunted him by treating him as a subject, a thing, cutting him off from anything that would humanise this child by not allowing him to see his mother. hell, even his childhood best friend serves eden by being the one in his ear, having him at her beck and call all in the name of eden.

we get none of dolph's true backstory in the show for any number of reasons. maybe it's on purpose, maybe it's a result of having to possibly cut down episodes, who knows? what matters though is that this adds a layer to the core problem defining dolph's life; the perspective others have on him warping who he is.

back to the pages with dolph's memories of his mother, we see dolph as he was when he was just a boy. he's his mama's boy, her son, a child. even when eden takes him in, he stubbornly clings to that bit of him that's pure, untainted by the idea of him being an experiment, a tool. this bit of him, this hint towards who he is supposed to be as a person, is something he clings to desperately. it leads him to follow eden's orders again because they promise that they've found his mother.

and yknow what happened with who dolph was told was supposedly his mother?

she was just a random ass indian woman.

wasn't even the right woman. they just used his identity issues because he's indian, and she was indian and in a cult that eden needed to take care of.

this, while admittedly is kind of funny, (like the confusion is funny in the moment look at ts) is actually fucked up crazy racism. they literally said that this random ass woman who happened to be indian was his mother like HELL!?!??!?!?

this insane fr. lucy didn't even double check LIKE GIRL THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR FRIEND'S MOTHER WHO HE HASNT SEEN SINCE HE WAS LIKE 6 AND YOU DIDNT EVEN DOUBLE CHECK IF SHE'S THE RIGHT PERSON?!?!?!?

moving on from that, this actually brings up a deeper layer of dolph's identity issues; the lack of cultural identity.

i want to preface this by saying that i am not entirely sure if this is the right term for this identity issue nor am i claiming to be an expert on the type of identity crisis that i am about to discuss. that being said, this specific disconnect of cultural identity that dolph has is actually reminiscent of those adopted from other countries, or transnational adoptees. there seems to be a need within these adoptees to find out more about their own heritage or their own mothers and families that they now struggle to find. while dolph does not actively go out to reconnect with his heritage, he does exhibit desires to find his birth mother. this type of identity issue seems to ask the question of 'what could I have been if...?,' and it tends to mess with the idea of the self. adoptees that struggle with this question hold a desire to go back, to almost reclaim what would have been. yes, dolph is not adopted into a family, but he is still a child under the care of eden, which became like his family, which is why i believe that this kind of identity issue could reasonably be applied to dolph. it explains why he does what he does in the manga, and how it's ultimately wrapped up by him losing this desire and moving forward. albeit he moves forward by alex instead becoming his main purpose, but this serves as the first chain of the past that he leaves behind. with this, he severs a tie that would have made him continue to be stuck under eden's control, and possibly find himself. he answers the question of what could have been with 'it doesn't matter anymore.'

but actually, he doesn't answer that question. he leaves it be.

i am reading way too into this tho lol. i would say that he doesn't explicitly say it, and that we do see a lack of dolph's past being used against him in that way because dolph has freed himself from that part, but in reality, it's because eden can't pull the same trick twice. im aware that the manga focuses HARD on dolph's grooming, but i feel like they really could have properly wrapped up dolph's identity arc with his mother if it was acknowledged at the end, but i fear we are left unsatisfied. that's one of my gripes with the manga. it gives us things that tie up loose ends, but some of these ties have entirely missed the holes they were supposed to secure. but what is done is what's done, and here we are.

tl;dr, dolph was groomed by alex. dolph's identity has also been warped by eden heavily, by how they dehumanised him as a child to be a weapon internally, to how he's shown to the public to be a case that they've saved, and yet he still becomes something that is "disgraceful." textbook example of this poor boy that we have saved that is actually jus like all the others that we know. dolph also suffers under similar identity issues as adopted children do, and this specific issue of his is let go in order to allow him to begin moving on and finding himself.

as always, im open to discussion and critique! my askbox is open as well if you want me to yap abt smth else in the show :P

[friedmagazinebouquet]

Giggling and kicking my feet (spending my class time reading research papers about Diomedes)

[heroicallynude]

I'm gonna be honest, now that I'm done with school, I actually how no idea how to apply for jobs in my field (classical archaeology). Like. What kind of jobs are typically available? Museum positions? But which? Excavations? But where do I find those? Researching? But who pays for that and where would I apply?

How was none of this part of the curriculum fr, I feel so lost and it's extremely intimidating and makes me feel a little hopeless in terms of breaking into the field because I have no clue where to even start