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duhragonball · 3 years

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Battle Tendency Liveblog: JJBA Ch. 105-108

“Master Kars has taken a fighting stance! I... I wasn’t expecting tongue...”

Hey, remember Wammu? Well, he’s dead now, so the only Pillar Man left to worry about is the leader, Kars. His army of vampire slaves don’t like this, so they try to bumrush our heroes, but Lisa kills a few of them, then threatens to destroy the Red Stone of Aja unless Kars honors their agreement.

And Kars is cool with that. He only took off his headdress and exposed his antennae to prepare for the next one-on-one fight. He then kills his unruly henchmen to prove that they don’t speak for him. Moreover, Kars is now willing to fight Lisa Lisa. Earlier, he said that he didn’t like fighting women, but now that he’s seen her in action, he’s on board with the idea.

But he doesn’t want to fight in Skeleton Heel Stone, where Joseph and Wammu squared off. Instead, he chooses the Piza Berlina Temple, right next door to the S.H.S. Apparently, after a hard day of chariot racing, the winners used to come here to worship their gods and drink the blood of the losers.

It’s weird to me that Kars and Wammu should be so familiar with this place, and carry such an abiding respect for it. I mean, they’ve viewed ordinary 20th Century humans with utter contempt, dismissing them as backwards primitives. Santana disassembled a German rifle like it was easy, and he’s supposed to be the big dummy in the Pillar Men. That’s how little they think of 1938 technology and civilization. The Hamon users in this story only get a bit of respect because they‘ve become worthy adversaries.

And yet, the Pillar Men seem to be a lot more respectful towards ancient humanity. Esidisi knew the writings of Sun Tzu, if not the man himself. You’d think he’d just ignore or devour Sun Tzu sooner than look at him. And you’d think Wammu would have wanted to fight in the traditions of his own culture, but instead he’s all into this ancient human racetrack. It can’t be because it’s old. Compared to Wammu, it’s positively brand new.

On the other hand, these guys are the last of their kind, as we’ll learn in a few chapters. Human culture is the only kind the Pillar Men have gotten to see, and it’s been that way for about a hundred centuries now. If Esidisi wants to read a book, he’s pretty much going to have to tolerate human authors, because that’s all that’s left. And if Wammu wants to admire a sporting arena, he’s stuck with places like these, built by those pesky “primitives”.

Joseph asks Lisa to let him fight Kars instead, since he’s still worried about her being a woman. Also, he believes Kars is weaker than Wammu, so he should be able to defeat him. But Lisa insists on handling this, and she strips down to this circus outfit. That sounds like I’m making fun of it, but I’m not. It looks pretty badass, but also period-appropriate.

The fight is very short. Kars pulls some sort of disappearing act, then emerges from one of the stone surfaces of the temple, trying to slash at Lisa from behind with his blades. But Lisa has it scouted, and she wraps her silk scarf around Kars’ arm, charges it with Hamon, and kills him, wham, bam, thank you ma’am.

And then the real Kars emerges from the same stone, and stabs Lisa in the back. Somehow, Kars disguised one of his vampire minions to look just like him, right down to the blades in his arms, and sent that flunky out as a distraction. It’s a cheap trick, and a complete 180 from the honor displayed by Wammu in the previous fight. Kars doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about dishonoring Wammu’s memory, nor does he care about breaking his word. The only thing Kars cares about is getting the Red Stone of Aja, and now he has it.

Unfortunately, this takes Lisa Lisa out of action for the rest of the story. Kars hasn’t killed her, but she’s too badly hurt to do anything from here. That kind of sucks, because Lisa’s such a cool character. A friend of mine once complained that Lisa got a raw deal in Part 2, and we should have gotten to see her get a big fight, on par with Joseph vs. Esidisi, or Caesar vs. Wammu. I can’t really disagree with the sentiment.

However, I have a hard time figuring out how such a fight could have been worked into the story. She couldn’t beat Kars, for Pete’s sake. He’s the final boss of Part 2, so it sort of falls to Joseph to do the honors. And she couldn’t beat Wammu or Esidisi, because Joseph was the one who needed the antidote to their poison rings. Lisa could have lost to either of them--the way Caesar lost to Wammu-- except she’d have to die, which would spoil the big reveal of her origin story.

So maybe there needed to be an extra Pillar Man in the cast? Not Santana, because he’s too weak, but maybe Kars’ group has a fourth guy named Talqingedz or whatever. So Lisa Lisa could mop the floor with that dude... and then what? Would it really carry any dramatic weight for her to defeat a guy like that? A Pillar Man so ancillary to the story that the plot would flow just as well without him? When you get down to it, Lisa Lisa’s dream opponent for Part 2 just ends up looking like Wired Beck, a random jobber presented solely to establish her credibility as a fighter. And we already got Lisa vs. Wired Beck, and clearly that wasn’t satisfying enough. So Lisa Lisa vs. a Pillar Man probably wouldn’t have been much of an improvement.

Nonetheless, I think it’s a valid criticism of Battle Tendency. You come out of this story wishing we could have seen more of Lisa Lisa in action, and we just aren’t going to get it. But the root of the problem isn’t that she didn’t get to fight more, it’s that she was presented as a fighter when that really wasn’t her role in the story. She’s a teacher, training Joseph and Caesar in the ways of the Ripple, but more importantly, she’s an enigma. Who is she? What’s her connection to the Joestars? To Straizo? To Caesar? Where did she get the Red Stone of Aja? And so on.

Her Ripple mastery makes her one of the strongest fighters on the board, but that’s just another piece of the puzzle. I think there was a profile of Lisa Lisa in the manga that said her Ripple was three times stronger than Joseph’s. But we never get to see it demonstrated, because that’s not the point. We’re just supposed to wonder who this lady is and how she got so powerful, and where has she been this whole time. I think this is also why everyone keeps writing her off as a woman. It’s not just chauvanism, it’s intended to keep the reader off-balance. One minute Joseph and the Pillar Men are respecting her power, and the next minute they’re dismissing her. It keeps you guessing.

I suspect this is one reason why Araki dealt Lisa Lisa such an inglorious defeat here. Could Lisa have defeated Kars in a fair fight? Yeah, I think she could. But if she cleaned his clock, it would defeat the mystique of the character. The same is true if Lisa lost to Kars in a fair fight. We’d say “Oh, okay, she wasn’t quite as strong as Joseph, so that’s that.”

Now, the other major reason for Kars to defeat Lisa Lisa like this is to demonstrate Kars’ main character trait. He only cares about achieving his objective. Wammu had his warrior code, and Esidisi had his devotion to his comrades, but Kars has only himself and his goals. He had Lisa and Joseph cornered in the abandoned hotel, but they didn’t have the Aja Stone on them. Lisa made that bluff about a bomb, and then proposed this contest to settle things. Kars agreed, but not because he had any intention of honoring the agreement. He just let things play out because he knew Joseph would bring the Stone to the battlefield, and even if Wammu lost, he would still have all of these vampires to back him up.

That’s how Kars was able to defeat Lisa. He used Wammu’s own honor to lull Lisa into a false sense of security. After seeing how noble Wammu was in defeat, and how gracious Kars was in disciplining his vampires, she began to believe that Kars would fight her fairly. That was Kars’ plan all along. Once he had her isolated on the temple, with the Red Stone of Aja on her person, he made his play. It’s dirty pool, but it worked, and that’s all Kars cares about.

This makes Joseph super-duper pissed, but what’s he gonna do about it? He’s way down there on the ground, surrounded by vampires, and his Ripple is weak from the fight with Wammu. So now Kars can just watch from a safe vantage while his henchmen tie up the last loose end.

But then, the Nazis show up, led by Stroheim, complete with a repaired cyborg body. And Speedwagon and Smokey are here too, along with a fighting contingent of the Speedwagon Foundation. And they came prepared too! Everybody’s armed with UV emitters. To be sure, ultraviolet lamps haven’t worked so well against the Pillar Men, but against ordinary vampires, they seem to do the job quite nicely.

So while they clean house, Joseph climbs up to where Kars and Lisa are, and he’s ready to throw down. Joseph has plenty of harsh words for Kars’ dirty tactics, but Kars doesn’t care. This has all been a chess game to him. The Ripple Clan, the vampires, even Wammu and Esidisi, they were all just pieces on a board, maneuvered and arranged until he could secure a path to victory with minimal risk.

See, that’s the other thing about Lisa Lisa. It’s very subtly expressed here, but Kars was clearly very worried about her. He knew Joseph was a threat because he killed Esidisi, but he knew he could use Wammu to wear Joseph down. But Lisa Lisa is even more powerful and experienced than Joseph, and she’s shrewd enough to destroy the Stone if cornered. He knew he couldn’t beat her at her own game, so he let her think she was playing her own game in order to set her up for that sneak attack. If Kars hadn’t done that, he’d be dead by now, or the Stone would be lost or destroyed.

Likewise, I’m not sure Kars is confident about a fair fight with Joseph, even though he’s tired from fighting Wammu. I mean, you’d think he’d just charge Joseph and cut his head off if he could, but instead he lures him into another trap. Before Joseph got up here, Kars tied Lisa’s feet to a rope. He made sure not to kill her, but only so he could use her as a hostage. Kars tosses Lisa down, and Joseph has to grab the rope to keep her from falling to her death.

And the whole point of that was to keep Joseph standing still. He can’t let go of the rope, so he’s in no position to defend himself. Now Kars can just walk right up to him and kill him at his leisure. As far as Kars is concerned, this is what fighting is all about. Not a test of strength and skill like Wammu’s ideal, but the achievement of victory at minimal risk.

And this is where we see Joseph exceed Lisa Lisa. They both got suckered into Kars’ traps, but Lisa doesn’t have Joseph’s penchant for trickery and quick thinking. She’s got more Ripple power, sure, but that doesn’t matter against a guy like Kars. I’m starting to get the impression that Kars is a lot weaker than Wammu, since he fights so conservatively in this story. He may not be able to afford to fight Joseph in any other way.

So how in the hell can Joseph get out of this one? Well, first he tries to kick Kars to keep him away. Kars just cuts his leg, along with a section of rope that was in the way. Joseph’s Ripple is so weak that the kick did nothing.

Then Joseph sets his own scarf on fire and talks about how he has a plan, and it’s so awesome that he can make this work before the flames reach his body. Kars thinks this is just desperate posturing, and all Joseph seems to do is swing away. Kars thinks he’s trying to get some distance so he can recover his Hamon energy.

Then Kars cuts the rope, since Joseph won’t stand still and get murdered.

And it backfires, because Joseph did more tricky rope tricks! Hermit Purple, bitch!

Basically, that very first bit, where Joseph tried to kick him, even then, Joseph had a plan. He got Kars to cut a section of rope, which he then used to tie his own leg to the rope holding Lisa Lisa. Then he goaded Kars into cutting the rope so Lisa would fall, not realizing that Joseph had her secured with his other rope. Also, that other rope got caught on Kars’ own foot. It’s complicated.

Oh, wait, I forgot to talk about chess. Okay, so earlier, Kars was gloating about using Lisa as a pawn to achieve checkmate. It’s a good analogy, but I’m pretty sure chess was invented within the last 2000 years. In other words, Kars literally slept through the entire history of the game. So for him to be talking about it now, I have to assume he learned about chess during that month while Joseph was training. That kind of sucks. Esidisi and Wammu were running around trying to find the Red Stone of Aja, and Kars was probably chilling out in Switzerland playing chess and drinking hot cocoa all night. Wotta heel.

Then Joseph pulls himself back up with his scarf and uses Overdrive against Kars’ blade. Joseph’s Ripple is so strong that he just powers right through, destroying the blade on Kars’ arm like it’s no big deal. That’s interesting, because when Joseph first saw Kars’ blades, he worried that he wouldn’t be able to block them, and now it’s Kars who wasn’t strong enough to block.

Maybe “Light Mode” was more of an illusion than a genuine power? I mean, the blades are super-sharp, but I never understood what difference it made for them to be all sparkly, unless it’s a psychological trick to demoralize the enemy. It definitely worked on Stroheim, and it worked on Joseph for a while, but I don’t think Joseph’s gotten that much stronger since their last encounter.

Anyway, the Ripple worked, and Kars’ entire arm explodes. Yeah! Then he falls off the temple, and Joseph loosens the rope to help him on his way down. Cool! Then Kars lands on a bunch of spiky rocks, the same gruesome fate he intended for Lisa Lisa. Yeah, how’s that taste, Kars? You loincloth-wearin’ piece of crap?

So... yeah, we won! Great job everyone! Except for the Nazis, they can all go fuck off and die in a fire. Smokey’s feeling a lot better about everything, so he asks Speedwagon about Lisa Lisa. See, earlier, Lisa revealed to Joseph that she was the baby that Erina rescued at the end of Phantom Blood. But Erina told Smokey about the same baby back in New York, and Smokey knows that Lisa Lisa is Joseph’s mother.

Except, Erina told Joseph that his mother died of a disease when he was a baby, so how can Lisa be alive and a Ripple Master? Speedwagon agrees to explain, since Smokey took care of Erina while he was away, but he insists that Smokey not reveal any of this to Joseph, because it’s Joestar family business.

I hadn’t really considered it until now, but this is the first time we’ve seen Smokey and Speedwagon interact so far. They’ve gotten to know each other off-panel, and they seem to have a bond over their shared respect for the Joestars, so it lulled me into thinking they’ve appeared together before this. Anyway...

The origin of Lisa Lisa isn’t all that complicated, actually. She was raised by Straizo and became a Ripple warrior, while Jonathan and Erina’s son, George Joestar II, joined the British Air Force in World War I. George and Lisa fell in love, married, and had a baby, Joseph.

The catch is that there was one last zombie from Phantom Blood. Speedwagon and Straizo thought they got all of Dio’s zombies, but one of them was very clever and managed to stay hidden. He just made sure to eat his victims’ entire body, so as not to leave any physical evidence. Also, he faked a disability to excuse himself from any daylight activities. By the 1910′s, he had successfully infiltrated the RAF as a Major.

So George learned of this, because he knew all the Phantom Blood lore from his wife and mother. But George never had any Ripple abilities himself. He may have had the potential for it, but he was never trained, and I guess he didn’t develop it naturally, the way Joseph did.

So he tried to gather evidence to expose the zombie Major, but his plan backfired and the zombie killed him instead, then covered up George’s death by reporting it as a plane crash. Speedwagon and Straizo investigated this, but before they could act...

Lisa got wind of it and took matters into her own hands. She killed the zombie major, but she did it in front of another officer. The authorities knew nothing of zombies or Stone Masks, so they just thought she murdered an RAF officer in cold blood. So she had to leave Britian as a fugitive, and she’s been living in exile in Italy ever since. The Speedwagon Foundation has been trying to clear her name, but I doubt there’s whole lot they could do about a case like this.

And there you have it. Erina was so heartbroken over the death of her son and the exile of her daughter-in-law that she asked Speedwagon to never tell Joseph what really happened to his parents, and to keep the Ripple a secret from him. Of course, none of that really worked, because Joseph developed the Ripple on his own, and Straizo and Stroheim forced Joseph to develop those abilities even further, leading him directly to his long lost mother. Erina wanted to protect Joseph, but she couldn’t save him from his own fate. Smokey starts crying, and I’m like “same tbh.”

This ties back to a point I made early on. When I watched the anime, it seemed kind of random to introduce Smokey, then drop him for most of the story, then bring him back at the end. But now, it makes a lot more sense. He was a viewpoint character, but only so far as the stuff about the Joestar Family. All the fighting and Ripple stuff could be done without Smokey, since Joseph could function as his own viewpoint character for that part. And while it’s kind of weird for Smokey to be absent for so long, it helps that he seemed to feel the same way. He clearly went out of his way to join Speedwagon on this mission to Switzerland. He simply cares about the Joestar Family that much. He couldn’t sit in New York and wait for an update.

Anyway, Lisa’s going to be okay, and the vampires are all dead, and Kars is slowly dying from the Ripple wound Joseph gave him, so it looks like we’re all finished here. Stroheim decides to put Kars out of his misery by shooting him with high-intensity UV rays. Maybe that’s overkill at this point, but we might as well let Stroheim have his fun.

Oh SHI--

So yeah, Kars had the Red Stone of Aja this whole time, but he only just now decided to use it. That’s because the Stone will only amplify the power of his special Stone Mask if there’s a powerful light source. This whole fight has been happening at night, so Kars had to wait until morning to try this little stunt. But Stroheim has helpfully supplied a bunch of UV lamps, and those work just peachy, thanks. Fuck Stroheim forever.

And just like Dio and Straizo before, the Stone Mask digs bony protrusions into Kars’ brain, but this time the mask has the Super Aja powering it, so Kars stands to gain even more power, turning him into... what exactly?

#jojo's bizarre adventure #battle tendency #joseph joestar #kars #lisa lisa #robert e o speedwagon #smokey brown #rudol von stroheim #george joestar ii

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ironwoman18 · 3 years

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The most dangerous work of the world.

This was a request from @ole4kamgg

Enjoy!

Spencer walked in the BAU office, with a dizziness in his head. JJ walked towards him and held him as he collapsed in her arms crying.

"We will find them... Spence... That's a promise" said JJ hugging him and holding her tears. She never saw him like it. .

His wife and kids were kidnapped and there were not visible evidence of who did it.

Meanwhile the team was in the meeting room deciding what to do.

"Matt and Luke you will go to the last place Max and the kids were. Ashley you will get access to their cameras and look for anything of the unsub. Tara and I will get more of the..." Emily took a deep breath to hold her tears "... Of the victimology"

They all nodded and we're about to leave when Spencer walked in. Immediately all the team members walked to him and took turns to hug him.

"I want to help... I... I need to do something" Emily looked at him and sighed.

"Spence... You know how these things are... Remember Hotch"

"I know but I need to feel helpful" he looked at her with some tears.

At last Emily nodded "ok you go with Matt and Luke. And JJ come with me to their house. Tara stay here and look Spencer's cases. Look if there's someone looking for revenge" the blonde woman nodded and the team split.

Dave was out of town publishing his new book so he would not help them this time.

JJ looked outside of the window "why is this happening again? Why our families have to deal with this?"

"Sadly the unsub can't beat us in a fair fight so they play dirty. Using our loved one" said Emily.

"It sucks..." JJ started to cry softly. Emily just held her hand as they arrived to their house.

Meanwhile in the restaurant the guys arrived. They started to cheek the place where the car was parked.

The Luke started to imagine the situation, while Matt was inside talking to the manager to get the recording of the cameras. He sent them to Ashley and walked outside when the guys.

"Ok what did you find?" Asked Matt

"This..." Luke showed him a bag with a bracelet, it was simple.

"This isn't Max's so we can be agree that the unsub is a woman" Spencer said looking for any other clue.

They continued to check the place but there were nothing else at plain sight.

Luke's phone rang "hey there Ash, you are on speaker"

"Hey guys. Ok I check the video and I just send you something interesting. The person who kidnapped Max and the kids looks definitely like a woman. She's wearing sunglasses and a hoodie on so I can't see her face. But I called you because I saw something interesting. As you can see on your tablets the woman got distracted for a second while Max was getting the kids in their car seats when she throw something to the bushes" as she was talking they could see it on Matt's tablet.

"That's very smart of her" said Luke.

"Yeah and I could see how she ripped off a bracelet so she is leaving clues"

"That's so Max..." Said Luke with a chuckle "we will check it and go back to analyze the evidence. Luke ended the conversation and Spencer walked to the bushes where the piece of paper squeezed into a ball.

Spencer put the ball in an evidence bag and the three men left.

The women in the Reid's house where searching for evidence. JJ was outside while Emily was inside. They discovered some things in the trash can that showed that the family had being spying.

"I guess this is enough prove that the real victim is Spence" said JJ.

"Yeah but who...?"

Back in the head quarter the team talked about the evidence. They were agree that the person who kidnapped Max was from a previous case. But they did not know who.

"I guess the key is this paper... Max throw it while the unsub was distracted" said Spencer "let's see it"

He puts his gloves on and opens the piece of paper. There was some handwriting from Max. Spencer's eyes opened widely after reading.

"Oh my..." Said him in shock.

"What's up Spence?" Asked JJ.

"Ok... Quick heads-up. I had been talking to Max about my previous cases. Telling her what happened and she took notes. She wanted to know and remember that in case someone wanted to hurt us..." He sighed "and this paper is about Lindsey Vaughn"

"Wait... What? She is in jail after kidnapped your mom and working with Cat"

"Not anymore" said Tara "I called to the federal prison she was in and they told me she escape... Six months ago..."

"Really? And why they never told us?" Said a very angry Emily.

"The guard who was in charge of her area was working with her and he never told anyone until his supervisor decided to supervise" said Tara rolling her eyes "that's when he discovered everything"

"How long?"

"A week ago"

"Jeez... Well we need to move quickly. Let's look for her save places" they all nodded and left to do it "the main question is... Why is she doing?"

The team dedicated all day looking for information. Penelope even joined them to help them.

The situation was getting critical as the hours passed and they did not know where she was.

Until finally they had some clues. The team split again in two locations. Matt, Luke and Tara when to a location and JJ, Emily and Spencer when to the other.

They were nervous because of everything they went through the years.

Matt, Luke and Tara's location was not the right one so Emily and company must have the right one.

When they arrived they went slowly in looking in each compartment. After some more minutes they finally reached the place where Lindsey Vaughn held Reid's family.

"Well well well... Look who finally arrived" said Lindsey with a smirk "our superhero, Spencer Reid" said this with sarcasm holding her gun up to the door, shooting if any of them showed their face.

"Lindsey you want me, not them. Let my family go" said Spencer hiding his feelings of worry.

"Yes I want you... I WANT YOU TO SUFFER!!" She said in rage "suffer like I did when you took Cat away from me... You are the responsable for her dead"

Now everything makes sense. She was trying to revenge Cat's dead "she decided to accept the dead penalty... It's not my fault"

"You pushed her!!!" Said Lindsey clearly upset "you made her do it...!!"

They decided to split because there was another door from behind. Meanwhile Spencer stayed to distract her.

He kept her talking while JJ and Emily moved the other door.

When they were there they managed to free the kids without Lindsey to see them. They were scared but JJ was able to keep them quite as part of a game. She got out with the kids but Max will be harder to get her out since she was closer to Lindsey and her main target.

So Spencer had to do something desperate. He decided to stand in front of the door holding up his gun. Emily was at the other door and when Lindsey held up her gun toward him then to Max, she did not have other choice but give her a shot from behind, killing her immediately.

They ran to Max to free her and she immediately hugged him "I... I knew you would understand"she said in tears hugging him tightly "I knew it..." They walked out of the building as a second ambulance arrived to check her.

As they checked Max Spencer walked to his kids and hugged them.

"Daddy you squeezed me" said Jason giggling softly.

"Oh I'm sorry buddy" he smiled with tears in his eyes.

"Don't be sad daddy..." Said Rachel looking at him with a little pout.

"I'm not sad honey. I'm happy" he smiled at her "you can cry when you are happy or sad" they smiled big and hugged him more.

"This is always a gratifying moment. When a family is reunited and there's a happy ending" said JJ to Emily.

"Yeah... I live up for this moments in these job"

OOooOOooOO

Finally I put this into words. I had been planning this for quite a while but today is ready!

Hope you liked it. Comments are welcome and appreciated!

Maxcer squad: @dreatine @andiebeaword @aperrywilliams

#criminal mind #spencer reid #maxine brenner #maxcer #fanfiction

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itakecareofsickpeople · 3 years

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Why Do I Hate Ivermectin?

I was asked to do an article on ivermectin and I feel that it is important to understand the science behind ivermectin (and HCQ). I think if you know the science, you will be as skeptical as I am.

I was once being quizzed by an Attending Physician when I was a resident. I stuttered as I was answering and said, “I think…” He stopped me mid-sentence and said, “Son, you are a second year internal medicine resident, I don’t give a shit what you think. What do you know?”

You see, it really isn’t relevant to all of you what I think. You aren’t interested in my opinion. You are reading this post because you are interested in what I know. I don’t take anything at face value and I always read all of the studies that people are using as a reference to prove a point. The thing is, most “studies” aren’t worth the paper they are printed on and don’t actually “study” anything. Worst thing is, sometimes it’s a fake.

We all know about the faked anti-vaccine trial by Andrew Wakefield, the completely discredited, former doctor, who started the anti-vaccine movement by faking data on autism and vaccines. In case you didn’t, he faked the original anti-vaccine study and In 2010, the British General medical council found that Wakefield “had been dishonest in his research, had acted against his patients' best interests and mistreated developmentally delayed children.” That’s right anti-vaxxers. That’s your start, one giant lie.

I have read all of the studies that I will make reference to in this post and regrettably, every study I can find on ivermectin. As of now, I do not see any evidence that supports the use of ivermectin for Covid in humans outside of a clinical trial. Hey! That’s what the cdc says too….odd.

In general, American doctors are snobby. We want studies from Europe, Israel, Australia, Canada and the good ole USA. We don’t want studies from countries with dictatorships or totalitarian regimes. These countries have a long track record of producing fake studies and bad studies. Countries such as China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. You know, the same governments that hack us and steel info from us, those ones. It is in their governments interest to make all of their people think they have a treatment for covid, otherwise there would be revolts. American doctors generally would never consider a study from Egypt as high quality, unless it was published in a very well respected journal. There just isn’t any quality control.

The science behind HCQ is basically the same, except with ivermectin, a large clinical trial showing it helped, was all fake. HCQ just didn’t work. Lots of us used HCQ at the beginning of covid until real studies were done showing it didn’t work and may actually worsen outcomes.

Remember, most drugs are safe in normal doses, but toxic in doses outside of the “therapeutic window” that is the dose that both will have the desired effect, but also is safe and well tolerated. Too little drug, it doesn’t work, too much drug, it causes toxicity.

First, It is very important to test all drugs that are easily available for activity in covid. This starts in a test tube. Ivermectin was approved in 1996 for the treatment of strongyloides and hookworms. In animal studies, it is lethal in overdose and causes toxicity at 10x the approved dose. It also was found to be a teratogen (birth defects) and is not approved for use in pregnant women. Otherwise, it is quite safe and effective in comparison to approved treatments of the time and was approved after being studied in about 1700 patients (half given ivermectin, half given old treatments). It is widely available and is pretty safe (Except in pregnancy).

Ivermectin was found to have in vitro (test tube) activity against the SARS COV2 virus. I know that sounds great, but remember what we said about the therapeutic window. It was shown, in the test tube, to inhibit activity of covid by 50% at a concentration of 2 μM (1,750 ng/mL), which is > 35× higher than the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of 0.05 µM (46.6 ng/mL) after oral administration of the approved dose (~ 200 μg/kg) and ivermectin showed little to no activity at 1 μM in vitro.

Wait, so that means you would need 35 times the approved dose to inhibit covid and ivermectin is toxic at 10x the dose. It also causes birth defects? Count me out.

As you might imagine, based on this knowledge it is very hard for me to believe that you can safely dosed ivermectin could have any benefit for covid. Now, on to the bad studies.

Remember what I said about studies from certain countries?

In November, an article from Egypt was published without review in an online site called Research Square. Never heard of it? Me either? It showed a 99% reduction in mortality. Holy crap, that’s amazing, right? Of course. Despite it having such a completely unrealistic outcome, many doctors picked this up and ran with it. In America, a group of doctors that named themselves the FLCCC, led by two guys named Paul Marik and Pierre Kory, latched on to this and started spouting its effects. I personally have a lot knowledge and not a lot of respect for Marik’s work predating covid. His FLCCC “treatment guidelines” have never been evidence based and in general he has never been able to publish studies that prove his claims.

So after this first study from Egypt comes out, a bunch of studies follow and are picked up by Marik’s group. They did a “review” of them and included the Egyptian study. Most of the studies aren’t even reviewed and are published online as “preprint.” They are from Egypt, India, Iraq, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Peru, Nigeria, Mexico, and Argentina. None of these places are exactly known for being in the 1st world and none of the other studies showed the massive effect as the Egyptian study.

Then, a medical student in the UK is assigned the Egyptian study for a report. He actually reads the study. It doesn’t make sense. He then requests more information from the authors and they sent him the “patient data.” It was clearly faked and he got some journalists involved. After they involved an expert on faked studies, the study was then taken down from Research Square over “ethical concerns.” Too bad Marik didn’t bother to do what the med student did.

Unfortunately, this has led to a massive amount of confusion. If you think that there is a treatment for covid, you might not take the vaccine. Even If it worked, we would be taking about a minimal effect. Heck, it could even be toxic if you give it to that many people. The other big problem is we have to do a bunch of American studies to see if it does work. Studies that could have been done with another treatment. What a waste of time and lives.

So why do I hate ivermectin? Well, I don’t. I hate the waste of time I have spent writing this article to discuss a drug that could only be effective for covid if you took enough to kill you. I hate the people that faked the study, they have cost lives. I don’t hate Marik, but I definitely think he is crazy and I’m not interested in what he thinks and that isn’t new. Unfortunately he has a big microphone and I just have this little one.

My biggest recommendation is ask your doctor if you should have the vaccine. If you trust YOUR doctor, listen to HIM or HER. Not some YAHOO online like ME. Remember, you trust your doctors to take care of your babies, born and unborn, cut you open, give us anesthesia and put cameras in all our holes. You trust them to help you make major medical decisions about your life. Keep doing that, they care about you. We care about you.

Please, don’t post any articles in support of ivermectin. I read them and found them lacking. Also, don’t post another doctors opinion of ivermectin. I don’t care what they think, just what they know.

PS: I am a Critical Care Pulmonologist, I take care of sick people. Hopefully that won’t be you.

Oh yeah. Feel free to share. I should really charge for these.

#itakecareofsickpeople #covidsucks #covid

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general-kenobi357 · 3 years

Text

Someday Soon-Chapter 7

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Fem!OC

Summary: The Pogues try to pawn off the gold they found but run into more trouble then they bargained for.

Word Count: 4.2k

🔅🔆🔅

The next morning John B parked in front of the pawn shop in town as we all piled out of the van. I grabbed the hunk of gold which had been melted down earlier, I handed it off to JJ, who began to criticize Kie’s work.

“Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein.” He said weighing the gold in his hands.

“Like you could've done better.” Kie countered.

“I could have.” He said, turning to look at the group. “I took a welding class.”

“Yeah, that you skipped every day to visit me in English.” I pointed out, reminding him of the previous school semester.

“Whoa, whoa. Hey. Sh! Chill out, okay?” John B broke off the bickering.

“Easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off.” JJ responded, looking at the gold in his hands. “How did I get this job anyway?”

“'Cause you're the best liar.” Pope answered without skipping a beat as he entered the pawn shop and we all began to follow.

The bell rang above me as the door shut, I followed Kie to go look at a shelf of trinkets while JJ started talking to the women who sat behind the counter.

After a lengthy debate a price was finally agreed upon and we were told we’d have to go to a warehouse to complete the sale. I found it strange that this pawnshop had a warehouse when there were quite a few bare shelves in the store. Why would they need a warehouse to hold stuff when their shop was half empty? I figured that maybe I just didn’t know enough about the in and outs of pawn shops and chose to not voice my concerns while we all exited the shop with a warehouse address in hand.

🔅🔆🔅

We were driving through the Cut on our way to the “warehouse” and something felt off, but then again things had felt off since we had started this treasure hunt, so I decided to push down the feelings of dread that were beginning to bubble up. I sat between JJ and Kie staring out the window which was across the van watching the rows of trees fly by as we continued down the road to the most deserted part of the island.

“So they keep money out here?” Pope asked in disbelief.

“That's what she said.” JJ replied, pausing for a minute a smirk grew on his lips. “That's what she said.”

“Stop.” Pope cut off JJ from laughing at his own comment.

“I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive.” Sarah turned around to look at us from the passenger’s seat.

“'Cause you're rich.” JJ commented.

“You've never heard of it either.” Kie defended Sarah while I smacked JJ’s arm. “There's nothing but weeds back here.”

A moment passed before the car behind us flashed on lights and sirens signaling us to pull over. The stealth cop car pulling us over in the middle of nowhere only added to the doubt I felt. Something was definitely wrong.

“Cops? Out here?” Kie asked as we all looked back while John B pulled over.

“God! Are you kidding me? What did we do?” JJ demanded on edge. “I hate cops.”

“Did you bring the gun?” Kie asked as he began to hide the gold in his bag, I prayed the answer was no I wasn’t sure what would happen if he had.

“No. Okay? Iz told me that I couldn’t bring it with me everywhere I went. I left it back at the place.”

“Thank God.”

“He's walking up.” Pope warned as JJ stuffed his bag under the seat.

I was looking back at the car when I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking near John B’s open window.

“Why don't I go ahead and see them hands in the air?” A masked man demanded loudly, waving the gun in front of John B. “All y'all's hands up in the air now!”

Everything became a blur as he ushered us out of the van before instructing us to lay down in the ditch. I focused on remembering how to breathe as he began to rip apart the van clearly looking for something. It was all a set up, there was no warehouse, only a dead end road where one man could threaten us at gunpoint in order to take the gold we had found. I hadn’t noticed John B sneak away towards the car that had pulled us over but I did hear the muffled protest from the rest of the group. I could hear JJ cursing beside me while I watched the masked man find the gold and head back to his car which John B had just snuck into.

There was a pause before John B called out to us and we all rushed to his side. Incapacitating the man who had robbed us before John B ripped off his face covering so we could find out who he was. I didn’t recognize him but JJ seemed to, rambling about how he supplied his father with coke.

“Come on, let's get outta here.” John B urged as JJ grabbed the dealer’s wallet. None of us wanted to wait around for the real cops to show up.

“We got one last stop.” JJ told us, looking at the id he had found. “Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives.”

The dealer screamed threats at us as we made our way back to the van so that we could get outta there.

🔅🔆🔅

“Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland.” Sarah spoke up as we drove up to a rundown trailer.

The ride here had been silent as we all tried to recover from what had just gone down.

“I don't know about this, man.” Pope spoke up uneasily. “Dude, why are we at Barry's?”

“This'll only take a second.” JJ responded hopping out of the van before making his way to the steps of the trailer.

“Where are you going?” John B asked JJ as he made his way across the porch.

“Yo soy justicia.” JJ responded as if that answered the question before disappearing into the building.

“Did you glean anything from that?” Pope asked as we all shook our heads.

“You know somebody should probably…” Kie started to say before John B got out of the van.

“Yeah, I got it.” He reassured, following JJ’s path into the trailer.

The rest of us stayed quiet as we waited for the pair to return. I felt numb still trying to figure out what was going on and why I hadn’t spoken up when I had the chance. Maybe if I had voiced my concerns we wouldn’t be here, maybe we could’ve gone to the mainland, traded the gold with someone else.

I was pulled out of the thoughts that were beginning to drown me when the rest of the gang got out of the van as JJ and John B approached us. I stayed sitting near the door figuring we would be leaving soon anyway.

“All right, so we're looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit.” JJ spoke to us all digging through a bag full of cash. “Sorry about that, y'all.”

“So that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers?” Kie asked hopelessly.

“This Barry guy's gonna find out.” Sarah reasoned. “And he's gonna come after us.”

“Yes, he will. This is not the time to start wilin' out.” John B added, it seemed like he was continuing a previous conversation they had most likely had inside.

“How'd you like havin' a gun pulled on you?” JJ asked finally snapping and pinning John B against the van.

“Relax.” John B told him in an attempt to calm JJ down.

“He had it right here on you, bro.”

“What are you gonna do when he comes for us?”

“We punch him in the throat.”

“Yeah, good fuckin' idea, JJ.”

“I'm not putting it back.” JJ finally said letting go of John B. He climbed past me into the van and sat down before looking at everyone. “You guys getting in or what? What”

“We're sick of your shit.” Kie told him.

“Oh, my shit?” JJ challenged getting back out of the van.

“Yeah. Yeah. Your shit. Yes. Your pulling guns on people shit.”

“You acting like a maniac…” Pope added.

“Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man!” JJ cried out. “Know how much I owe because of you?”

“I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't ask you to do that!”

“I just did pay it back. Right here, right now, by myself.” JJ spat holding up the money he had found inside. “You know what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Go off by myself.”

“JJ... Hey, wait, man.” John B spoke up trying to stop him. “Iz could you?”

“Yeah I’ll go see what I can do.” I said. I didn’t have to hear the rest of the question to know John B wanted me to go after JJ thinking he might listen to me.

“Should we wait?” Kie asked as I began to follow JJ.

“No, I’ll um meet you guys at The Wreck later.” I stated, figuring it might take awhile to talk to JJ.

🔅🔆🔅

It took me a couple minutes to catch up with JJ who was walking a lot faster than I expected. When I finally caught up to him I put a hand on his shoulder hoping he would turn around and he did, looking the most pissed off I had ever seen him.

“Jesus, what?” He groaned before realizing it was me, his face softened slightly but he couldn’t take back the comment.

“What? JJ, really?” I asked now that I too was pissed off. “I want to know what the hell is going on. Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what? I’m paying off the restitution.”

“JJ we have the gold, you don’t have to use that drug money. You don’t have to make more enemies.”

“It’s a little late for that Iz. Why do you even care?”

“Why do I care? Oh I don’t know maybe cause you’re important to me, because I know that you’re better than this.”

“Then clearly you don’t know me.” He told me before turning to continue walking. “Stop acting like my girlfriend, I don’t need someone telling me what to do.”

“Where are you even going?” I asked, trying to keep up with his quick pace while also attempting to let go of the comments he was making.

“Home.” He said after a moment. “I gotta go prove to the old man I did it. By myself, without him.”

After that comment I stopped trying to keep up, I stood still and watched him go. The tears I had been holding onto all morning finally springing free as I watched him fade from view. It felt like I had just lost the one person who kept me together.

🔅🔆🔅

I felt more lost than I ever had as I found myself walking up the stairs of The Wreck and towards the table that my friends were all seated at.

“There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home.” Pope said, I assumed it was an answer to a question that I had not heard.

“That’s exactly where he’s going.” I corrected Pope as my friends all turned to look at me.

“Are you alright?” Kie asked standing from the table and holding me an arms length away to inspect my features.

At that question I fell apart all over again and as the tears fell freely down my face the rest of my friends got up and all pulled me into a hug. After a couple minutes they all let go of me as Kie led me to sit down.

“What happened?” Pope asked concern written across his features.

“We fought about the money and then he left and I couldn’t stop him.” I explained between hiccups caused by my previous sobbing. “I’m fine guys or I will be, I’m just worried.”

They all gave me a look of uncertainty as if they didn’t believe what I was telling them but after a couple minutes Pope finally decided to change the topic effectively dropping it.

“Okay.” He started hesitantly. “It's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. So our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once. Put it in... in a safe or a vault or something. I... I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. I can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning.”

“All right, let's do it.” John B said ready to start planning.

“What about that thing with my dad?” Sarah asked him.

“What thing?” Kie asked as John B cursed under his breath.

“I have to go fishing with Ward.” He explained to us.

“You can't get 400 mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?”

“Look, I have to go.”

“Blow it off.” Pope spoke up. “It's 400 million in gold!”

“Make something up!” Kie added

“Look, I... I have to, okay?” John B shut down their suggestions. “He... he saved me, all right? If it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster care. I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it at night. Right?”

“Fine. Fine, go fishing.” Kie said. “And at least JJ will probably have washed up by then.”

But I wondered if he would. As much as JJ’s words had hurt me I still worried, I had seen what Luke Maybank had done before and I knew he would want to keep the money that JJ had got for himself.

“I um I gotta go to work.” I said finally standing up when I noticed the clock on the wall. “I’ll see y’all later.”

“Yeah we’ll meet you at the Château tonight.” Kie reassured me letting go of my hand that she had been holding since I had arrived.

🔅🔆🔅

I closed the car door with a sigh, the sun was low in the sky. My mom had just dropped me off at home after we were done working and was about to go collect Emmy.

“I’ll be back in a while.” She assured me as I opened the back door to grab my bag from the seat.

“Okay I’ll see you then.” I said with a smile as she drove out of our driveway once again.

I made my way up to the porch and was about to go into my house when I noticed something on the dock at the Château. Confused, I dropped my bag on the steps before heading in that direction to go investigate.

As I got closer I noticed someone in a suit working on laying out a blanket. Then a head of unmistakable golden hair popped up as the old deck creaked under my feet.

“JJ?” I asked, confused by whatever was going on.

“Sweetheart.” He greeted me with a smile, meeting me halfway down the dock before leading me towards the picnic he had set up.

“What is this?” I asked him, my concern growing as he sat down.

“Sit, please. I got it all set up.” He stated, avoiding my question.

After a moment I sat as he offered me champagne.

“What is this?” I asked him again, pushing away the glass he was trying to pass to me.

“It’s um, It’s an apology. For this morning and for midsummers. I know I shouldn’t have run away-”

“It’s fine JJ.” I interrupted him trying to figure out what was really going on.

“No. No it’s not fine Iz. I mean I was a dick and I just didn’t know what to do. I’ve never liked a girl as much as I like you and I just don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” He confessed but I had no idea how to react. This is all that I wanted, he was all I wanted and yet now that he had finally said what I had been waiting for him to say I couldn’t hear it.

“JJ did you spend all your money?” I asked him.

“What? No, not on this dinner.” He answered and I knew he was dancing around the question. “Now will you please just stop worrying and enjoy this meal with me after I told you how I feel about you, Sweetheart.”

At that I decided to stop, to give into his request and push away my worries for an hour. Kie and Pope would be here soon, they would know what to do, how to help.

We had finished eating and JJ had convinced me to dance with him. Which is what we were now doing, dancing slowly to the music that played softly from the radio that JJ had brought out onto the dock.

“Can I kiss you?” JJ asked me suddenly, as I looked into his blue eyes.

I took a moment to consider it before nodding my head. This kiss was different from the last, we both knew it was going to happen and as our lips met it felt like it was meant to happen. All of the questions and worries I had melted away as I deepened the kiss.

But as I pulled away to catch my breath they all came crawling back. The questions of where we stood and what we were burned in the back of my throat, begging to be let out but I swallowed them back down as I looked into JJ’s eyes again and saw the smile playing on his lips.

I smiled back as we continued to dance, hoping to prolong this moment as long as I could before we had to go back to reality.

“Hey, do you have a swim suit on?” He asked as the song playing ended.

“Um no. Not right now.” I answered wondering what else he was planning.

“Well go get one.” JJ instructed as we pulled apart from each other. “I’ll meet you at the Château, okay? I’ve got one more surprise.”

“Yeah, okay.” I replied hesitantly making my way over to my house.

As I walked in Mom and Emmy both turned to look at me from the kitchen.

“Hey Hon what’s going on?” Mom asked.

“Um, not much I think I’m gonna hangout at John B’s for a while more.” I explained as I made my way towards my room.

I closed the door behind me before changing into a bathing suit and then throwing on a pair of shorts as I wasn’t sure where JJ was taking me. I had no idea why I needed a swimsuit but I figured maybe if I listened to JJ it would finally explain what was going on. Before I left my room I turned on my phone. I hadn’t used it in days since I had no way to charge it and I was trying to save the battery for anything important. This constituted being important. I dialed Kie’s number and listened to it ring before finally going to voicemail.

“Hey, where the hell are you guys? I’m with JJ at the Château, something is wrong. I don’t know what to do. Please get here soon.” I talked to her voicemail hoping she would hear it soon.

I tried Pope’s phone but got no response there either. After leaving a similar voicemail I figured I should head back over to where JJ was. I considered for a minute asking my Mom for help but then I thought it best not to. I wasn’t ready to explain everything that had gone down in the past few days and I wasn’t even sure how to.

🔅🔆🔅

I crossed the lawn quickly to find JJ waiting in front of the Château for me. He still wore his dress shirt which I found an odd choice since he had ditched the rest of the suit for a pair of colourful swim trunks. In one hand he held tightly to the bottle of champagne he had opened earlier which was now almost empty.

“Finally.” He said, smiling as I walked over to him. “I wasn’t sure you were coming back.”

“Sorry. I couldn't find a bathing suit.” I lied, not wanting to tell him I had called our friends.

“That’s alright.” He said, his words were slow as he finished the last of the champagne before setting down the bottle. “Okay cover your eyes, I’ve got one more surprise for us.” He instructed before taking my hand.

With my eyes closed I couldn’t tell where we were headed but I knew it wasn’t far as we came to a stop after a short walk.

“Okay keep 'em covered.” JJ spoke hesitantly as he let go of my hand. I could hear the shuffling of fabric then a pause before I heard the sound of splashing water. “Alright you can look.”

As I opened my eyes it took me a moment to readjust to the bright lights that surrounded me. I stood with my mouth open in shock. That’s when my gaze lowered to where JJ sat in a huge hot tub a smile covered his face as if he was proud of all this.

“What the hell?” I muttered, still looking around the yard which was completely different. Had I not been so worried about JJ I could’ve appreciated how beautiful it was.

“I bought a hot tub.” He stated, grabbing a new bottle of champagne, I watched him open it, trying to figure out what to say.

“Yeah.” I muttered agreeing with his comment. “Why?”

“I figured we had earned it. You know the Pogues deserve a little luxury.” He explained. “Now you need to get in here, immediately.”

“Did you spend it all?” I asked, hesitantly moving closer to where the hot tub sat.

“Pretty much all of it, yeah. But, I mean, like, come on, look at this!” He exclaimed, waving his arms around. “Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me.”

I wanted to scream at him and ask what the hell was going through his mind but I couldn’t form any response. I stood paralyzed watching him. I could feel tears forming, clouding my vision begging to be let out but I wouldn’t let them, I had cried too much today I didn’t want to again.

“Sweetheart, what?” He asked, noticing that I was barely holding it together. “Can't a man have a little luxury in life?”

“JJ, seriously?” I asked, finally finding my voice. “You could have paid for restitution!”

“Okay, well, you know what? I didn't do that!” He snapped, standing up and pointing a finger at me. As he stood I saw the huge bruises covering his torso. It all made sense and I realized that I shouldn’t have let him walk away. I shouldn’t have let him go home. “I got a hot tub! I got a hot tub for us. For my friends. You know what? No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family!”

“JJ, what happened?” I asked, the tears finally falling down my cheeks. I didn’t need to ask though, I already knew.

“No, you stop being emotional. It's fine, okay? Sweetheart, I’m fine.” He tried to convince me but his voice cracked with every word he spoke, he started moving closer to where I stood. “Just get in!”

JJ held out his arm for me to take and I did. Kicking off my shoes before I climbed over the side, I stood beside him pulling him into a hug. I held him while I cried, I didn’t know what to say. How to make it better. And as I held him he began to break down as well, sobbing into my shoulder.

“I just couldn't do it.” He started to say between sobs. “I can't take him anymore! I was gonna kill him. I just wanna do the right thing.”

“I know.” I tried to tell him but I couldn’t speak very loudly as I choked on my words. “I know.”

We stood there for what felt like hours, I could hear voices speaking behind us before two people climbed up the steps and joined our hug. I could tell it was Kie and Pope as they muttered to us, trying to sooth JJ as he continued to sob.

After we all finally pulled away, Kie explained that they had arrived slightly after our conversation had begun. They had heard it all, they didn’t need an explanation. The rest of the night we all sat in silence. I never left JJ’s side, I held onto his hand like my life depended on it, as I tried to make sense of it all.

🔅🔆🔅

#outerbanks #outer banks #jj mabank #jj obx #obx #jj x oc #jj maybank x oc #jj x reader #jj maybank x reader

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

Text

Why Doc Ock WOULDN’T be a goddam rapist!

I can’t believe I have to spell that out, let alone outright explain it. But fine, let’s talk about why Otto’s actions in Superior with MJ are way out of whack for his character.

Basically, Doc Ock wouldn’t view using MJ’s feelings for Peter or her history with him as rape. I just don’t think he’s so dumb not to realise that that’s immoral and him taking advantage of her, which he wouldn’t do.

Now, Doc Ock has taken advantage of people, including women, before and even visited violence upon them. But there is a big difference in each of those situations.

Obviously with Betty Brant, Aunt May, Felicia, Mary Jane and certain other women, Otto has kidnapped them or threatened to harm them. But this has been a strictly functionary action on his part. Person A is of value to Person/People B. Otto wants something from Person/People B, therefore he will threaten Person A in order to get it from them. It’s a clinical and functionary decision. He would (and has) done this with male abductees. It’s not a signifier of his feelings towards women as a whole.

By extension in his pettier moments he’s attempted to harm people as a form of revenge. But it has never been strictly gendered. He bears the world malice in general.

Let’s get a bit more specific though.

With Aunt May he was ostensibly being himself (in personality and body) whilst omitting the fact that he was a super villain. However, his main use of her was as a means of escape and furthering his one true love, science. He wasn’t pretending to be someone she knew. He wasn’t putting on the face of someone who looked noticeably younger or different from himself so that could never have been a factor in May’s affections for him. And he wasn’t sleeping with her! Yeah, that’s kind of a critical difference between his relationships with Anna Maria and Aunt May. Hell, it’s highly unlikely he felt legitimate romantic feelings for her. More likely he had a soft spot for her because she reminded him of his own dearly departed mother.

And let’s remember he displayed lingering affection for May even after she ceased being useful to him. He privately praised her kindness.

He sought to connect with her at Christmas and chose to leave when he realized he’d spoil the holiday for her.

He was upset when he learned she was in a coma and had flowers sent to her.

What about Black Cat? He clearly liked her and forced her to remain in his hideout. Later he nearly beat her to death. The difference here is that Otto never forced himself upon her or tried to use deception to get her into bed. His attempts to kill her only occurred after she betrayed and stole from him, going on to team up with his enemy and actively work against him. Again, this wasn’t a gendered thing on his part. He was avenging himself on a specific person for specific slights against him.

We then come to Angelina Brancale, a.k.a. Stunner.

Along with his associate, Carolyn Trainer, Otto planned on creating a virtual reality construct that could interact with the real world. This construct would be of Otto himself and assume his place in order to avoid Otto risking his life. They needed a test subject though, someone who wasn’t going to be missed. Otto selected Angela Brancale who was enamoured with him and would’ve done anything for him. Angela went through months of sometimes painful experiments with the end result being the creation of an interactive avatar of her own.

This was Stunner, the super strong, beautiful, Amazonian companion to Doc Ock. Stunner reflected the obese Angela’s ideal self-image.

Superficially this one might seem like a clear-cut case of exploitation. To a certain extent it absolutely is, but it is more complicated than that. For starters it’s obvious that Angela wanted to become Stunner and enjoyed being her. There is also no indication that Otto strictly speaking forced or tricked her into doing anything. Yes, she was selected because of her affections to him and how she wouldn’t be missed.

But we do not know if she was briefed about the potential ordeal she would have to go through or if she had the option of bowing out at any point. Carolyn Trainer referred to her as a ‘trooper’ for putting up with all the experiments and the pain they entailed. Carolyn is a villainess but it at least implies that Angela had agency in this situation. Angela and Carolyn later teamed up and seemed civil with one another, which further implies that there was no ill-will between then. If Angela had been tricked or lacked agency that’d unlikely be the case.

Additionally there is no evidence to suggest before or during Angela’s transformation into Stunner that Otto was having sex with her or using sex to manipulate her. There isn’t even any evidence that they were having sex after she became Stunner.

As final food for thought, he genuinely loved her when she was Stunner and it seemed that he connected to her because he understood the suffering she endured due to her weight.

Oh, and of course, Otto wasn’t pretending to be someone or something he wasn’t with Stunner. If anything he was startlingly vulnerable with her.

The only other significant relationship Otto had pre-Superior was with his fiancée. However, there is 0 evidence of him manipulating her during their courtship. He wasn’t even a villain at that point so he’d have had nothing to lie to her about.

Let’s also consider the following regarding Otto’s interactions with women.

This is the man who literally tried to cure AIDs just to save his ex fiancée Mary Alice.

This is the guy who kidnapped Betty Brant and Aunt May to lure out Spider-Man and then offered them tea.

This is the guy who was pleased to see Peter and MJ happy together because it meant his enemy was back to his upbeat and normal self and would thus continue to be the adversary he Doctor Octopus deserved.

And yet @danslott-blog, Slott-stans, Superior-stans, Spider-Fans who are none of those things and just people in general are willing to accept that this guy would be a rapist?

We are happy to say he really wouldn’t even imagine that sex with MJ or Anna Maria would be morally reprehensible?

Just creatively speaking, not in terms of his character or personality, we’re happy to say THAT guy would play in that ballpark and be depicted this way? Shall we be chill if Carnage was outted as a pedophile while we are at it too?

Of course the counter arguments to the above would be that his attempts to sleep with MJ at least were attempts to prove his superiority over Spider-Man. Or to avenger himself upon him in some way.

First of all the entire concept of Superior is broken. It postulates that Otto is seeking to prove himself better than Spider-Man by becoming an improved version of him. But the problem is that the logic doesn’t line up there.

If the only way he can prove himself better than Spider-Man is by literally becoming him and in turn turning him into Doctor Octopus, that’s tantamount to admitting Spider-Man was always better than himself. The only way he could have won is by becoming the guy he always claimed was inferior to himself.

Second of all in regards to his attempted ‘conquest’ of MJ, sleeping with her wouldn’t even prove his superiority. It’s made clear by issue #2 that he’s merely interested in MJ for sex and no other reason. He accesses Peter’s memories of being intimate with MJ and experiences the sensation of her body that way, being implied to masturbate during this internal screaming. Afterwards, he states he’s got her off his mind and the story clearly conveys that he’s going to turn his attention to other romantic/sexual pursuits.

So he only wanted to sleep with MJ and nothing else. Not even that, he just wanted to know the sensation of sleeping with MJ and was content to access Peter’s memories and wank off to that end internal screaming intensifies.

By this logic then he’s proven himself if anything inferior to Peter. And no, I’m not making some kind of judgement about masturbation. My point is if Mary Jane consented to sleep with Peter, but has not done that with Otto, then by definition Peter would have accomplished something Otto would not have. If you remove sex from the equation and just said Otto was trying to ‘win’ a mere kiss from Mary Jane and she didn’t do that, but she had done so for Peter, then by definition Otto would’ve failed where Peter has succeeded.

The fact that he was content to move on from her by simply browsing Peter’s memories (from his POV Peter’s ‘accomplishments’ if you will) means that he was never trying to sleep with MJ to prove his superiority in the first place. He was just a horny creep. Nothing more.

Not to mention, he is aware Peter had slept with Mary Jane and done so on multiple occasions. How would even regularly sleeping with her prove himself superior? It’s just sex. He’d know that. He’s both an adult and an incredible clinical person who clearly knows how to romance a woman. One of his biggest regrets in life was giving up his fiancée.

So Otto would be aware that sex would be no proof of his superiority and it wouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. What would really prove himself superior would be having and maintaining a relationship with MJ that was either longer lasting or over all better than the one she held with Peter.

But he’s not interested in that because he moves on after wanking off. And he is trading off of trickery to even get his foot in the door in the first place. This isn’t a case of him being a younger or more attractive man and using his own charms and traits to court her.

He is only got as far as he did because he looks like someone she knows, because she believes he is that person, because he’s using Peter’s memories to pander to what she likes (like her favourite movie) and circumvent what he knows will turn her off. Hell in ASM #698 he jumps immediately into a relationship with her but it’s obvious to both him and MJ that the emotional groundwork for that had been laid in preceding months.

So even if Otto was enough of a slimeball to not consider this rape, a man that intelligent and egotistical would still recognize that sex wouldn’t be a badge of superiority on his part.

If anything his own romantic life would be something more worthy of pride.

Let’s say we accept for the moment that Otto conforms to stereotypical standards of attractiveness. Well then what would be more impressive from your POV?

a) Wooing a stunning actress/supermodel when she believes you are someone else she knows, someone much in their 20s or early 30s, very in shape and at least fairly handsome

b) Being a rotund, arguably ugly (but at least typically unattractive) middle aged man and wooing a relatively attractive woman your age, a younger more attractive woman who was immediately smitten by you and a younger woman smitten by you that your own genius transformed into a veritable vision of stunning beauty?*

Yeah, obviously the latter right?

Also, the idea that sex with MJ would constitute a form of revenge is highly out of character for Otto.

That is more of a Norman Osborn tactic. Otto actively despises Norman’s ideology, as elaborated upon in Superior Team-Up #11-12. In those issues Otto and Norman endeavour to work together in spite of a philosophical disagreement. Otto feels that Spider-Man should be defeated through science whereas Norman feels they should attack his soul.

To prove the point Norman infects Otto’s old fiancee Mary Alice with a deadly virus (read: AIDs, this was the 1990s) so Otto will understand the torment they could inflict upon Spider-Man.

Initially Otto seeks bloody revenge upon Norman. However, he defies Norman by instead reaffirming his original belief. He sought to defeat Spider-Man through science and thus prove his philosophy superior to Norman’s.

Okay. That wasn’t published at the time of Superior #2 so let’s say we ignore it.

Even doing that, Otto had been defined for decades as someone who wouldn’t go in for such spiteful attacks on his enemies.

In Spec #221 (part of the ‘Web of Death’ storyline) Peter himself states he doesn’t believe Otto will target his loved ones, even though he just learned his secret identity.

Hold them hostage to lure him out? Okay.

Maim or kill them for revenge? He’s just not that sort of guy.

Or at least he wasn’t until this creepy ass scene from ASM #700. Among other things, he specifically refers to the prospect of sex with MJ as ‘another victory for the Master Planner’.

Let’s try coming at this from a different angle then.

If Otto believes himself to be Peter Parker because he inhabits his body, perhaps he doesn’t regard sleeping with MJ as unethical at all. She is giving her consent to Peter Parker and he is Peter Parker now.

That’s a rather huge stretch to make about the character considering he actively tried to hide the fact that he was secretly Otto Octavius from so many people in Superior.

Moreover, during ‘Dying Wish’ it was clear (due to mischaracterization) that Otto was doing what he was doing for revenge, that was even partially why he wanted to sleep with MJ (see above). He wanted to ‘have something Peter hadn’t had in a while’ (...ugh...). Furthermore in ASM #700 he was bombarded with Peter’s morality (or some shit like that, I don’t know...) and this convinced him to be a good guy.

But that was seemingly thrown out the window when Superior started as he seemed to just be a bad guy who battled crime to again be superior to Spider-Man. He wasn’t honouring his fallen comrade and didn’t have his moral compass as seemed to be implied in ASM #700 because if he did why was he still trying to rape Mary Jane?

Shit in fact in Avenging Spider-Man #15.1 he’s LAUGHING at Peter’s demise and the fact that he’s gotten away with this. He refers to Spider-Man in the third person as he does this. This event also happened literally the day after ASM #700, so it was less than 24 hours since he had been blasted with Peter Parker’s memories and resolved to be a ‘hero’.

Not to mention in various issues he clearly refers to himself and Peter as separate entities. In Avenging Spider-Man #15.1 his thoughts drifted to MJ and he called Peter a fool.

He does the same in Superior #2 where he refers to Peter in the third person.

His dialogue utilizes quotation marks when using Peter’s full name; “Peter Parker”. This demarks how he is making a distinction between himself and the real Peter Parker. He is acknowledging himself as a pretender.

In Superior #4 internally reprimanded ‘Parker’ for never finishing Grad School. At the same time he negatively compared Peter’s efforts to when he received his own doctorate, referring to himself as ‘I’.

In Superior #10 he referred to Peter as a separate person, referencing how he expunged him from his mind in the prior issue.

He also chastises Peter as a ‘reactionary fool’ who allowed ‘his’ enemies to make the first move. Where ‘Parker’ dealt with symptoms he plans on dealing with the disease. He even refers to himself by name as Otto Octavius.

When he runs into MJ he wonders what ‘Parker’ would say and gripes that fooling her was easier before he purged ‘his’ (meaning Peter’s) memories.

In Superior #21 he refers to his “…life as ‘Peter Parker’…”. He’s clearly making a distinction between the real Peter Parker and himself as a pretender.

In the same issue, when Stunner blames him as Spidey for murdering Doc Ock, it takes Otto a moment to register what she is talking about. He then attempts to reveal the truth to her. He starts by saying “I’m actually…”

These moments when taken with all his other unethical actions in Superior also undermine another defence of Otto’s raptastic efforts in Superior.

This is the idea that ‘he’s changed’ in the interim leading into Superior. Now his attitude towards women and morality is different so it’s believable for him to act this way.

Let’s ignore how again, Superior Team-Up disproves this. Otto’s actions clearly showcase that he in fact has not changed as a person. He’s not grown or evolved. He just happens to be crime fighting now as a form of ego boosting and to prove himself better than Peter.

More importantly if Otto was going to so noticeably change in his attitudes to women then we should have seen that happen!

You can’t just jump forward and tell readers to just accept a character has had a change of heart and is now open to the idea of fucking rape!

How, when and WHY did he change to be this drastically different predatory creature? This wasn’t like how Aunt May or Norman were different when the former was resurrected and the latter was written by JMS. Those were extrapolations of aspects of those characters that were already there. This was essentially something wholesale new and starkly against how he was previously defined. Its akin to what Slott did to Ben Reilly in ‘Clone Conspiracy’ or to Ashley Kafka when he had her declare someone irredeemable (even though she believed Carnage was redeemable).

Finally, lets pretend to ignore all of the above.

Let’s say Otto being a rapist would be entirely believable.

That doesn’t mean you should actually DO it!

Doc Ock is a classic goofy mad scientist archetypical villain, even if he was (allegedly) on a redemption tour in this story. Adding something so creepy, disturbing and vile from the real world to his character taints his character. It took him to a bad place where he was peers with the likes of Purple Man and Doctor Light. It makes him practically irredeemable. Maybe a skilled writer on a MAX book could pull off a redemption arc for a rapist or attempted rapist. But not only is Slott not that skilled, but he’s played it for comedy!

Frankly, unless you have seriously done your research on this topic you shouldn’t even be touching it.

To touch it so casually for humour is seriously FUCKED UP!

I don’t even want this topic really raised in mainline Spider-Man titles period personally but to do it like this?

*gagging noises*

Not to mention it was entirely unnecessary.

Otto had attempted to mass murder half the planet in an arc just the year before Superior. Surely that is enough fuel for a redemption story, you don’t need to make him a rapist/attempted rapist on top of that.

But no. Gotta milk that crass shock value for all it is worth!

Shit, the topic with MJ was handwaved within one issue!

Fuck Slott.

Fuck Superior.

Fuck everyone who defended this disgusting garbage!

*This also dismantles the myopic idea that an older man who looked like Otto would be jumping at the chance to have sex. That’s another defence I’ve heard. The fact is multiple women found Otto attractive as he was.

#Superior Spider-Man #The Superior Spider-Man #otto octavius #Doc Ock #Doctor Octopus #Spider-Man #Peter Parker #Dan Slott #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #Carolyn Trainer #Lady Octopus #Lady Ock

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Bridesmaids Ten Years on: “It Should Not Have Been Subversive”

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“From the producer of Superbad, Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin” headlines the 2011 poster for Bridesmaids. It might as well have continued “comes a comedy starring… women!” While the producer in question, Judd Apatow, had nearly created his own subgenre of modern coming-of-age comedies featuring male friendships (regardless of the age his characters were ‘coming of’), a credible, genuinely funny, ensemble laugher starring all women was virtually unheard of. Or at least so it seemed at the time. Quotes on other posters included proclamations like, “Chick flicks don’t have to suck!” (Movieline) and “Better Than The Hangover!” (Cosmopolitan).

Ten years on, it seems both like yesterday when the film came out and also a whole era away: a time when women headlining a comedy movie was somehow strange, “chick flicks” were accepted to be a lesser form of cinema, and The Hangover was considered the pinnacle of hilarity. From a script written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig (who also stars), featuring a wedding where romance is in no way the focus of the movie, and starring a host of funny women, a smattering of gross-out humor, and some of the most honest and empathetic depictions of female friendship around, Bridesmaids was a beacon. And it shines just as strong today.

A week ahead of Bridesmaids’ 10th birthday (its original U.S. release was May 13, 2011), Den of Geek is chatting with director Paul Feig via Zoom. Feig is in Belfast and into week four of his fantasy adaptation The School for Good and Evil (based on the book). When we tell him we can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years he laughs, “You can’t? Imagine how I feel!”

While the movie itself remains fresh, funny, and sweet, that it was considered quite so daring just 10 years ago is a bit of a shock now. Certainly Feig never considered the movie to be subversive at the time.

“But everybody kept talking to us like it was!” he says. “It just made me mad because the whole subversive thing was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a movie starring women.’ And it was like, ‘Really?’ It was 2009 or 2010 at the time we were making it. It was like ‘Wow, if this is subversive, that’s kind of a sad indictment of the industry that we’re in.’ It was annoyingly subversive. It should not have been subversive. It should just have been a funny comedy starring funny people.”

He’s right of course. The fact is the movie was a benchmark. Feig explains that female writer friends who were pitching ideas for female casts at the time Bridesmaids was being made were all told across the board, “We have to wait and see how Bridesmaids does.” That is a whole lot of pressure for one movie—the idea that Feig’s comedy would influence the cinematic landscape for an entire gender. But the reality is, it did.

Feig is demure when we bring up how much the movie changed the film world, but he concedes that it did help to prove to studio execs that female-led films can make money.

“I’d been told in the years running up to that, when I would be pitching female-led projects, ‘Oh no, you can’t, because men won’t go see it. Internationally, it won’t work. Blah, blah, blah.’ All these rules, rules, rules, and you just start to go like, ‘Well, so we’re just going to accept those rules? So women can never have their own projects?’

“We were able to at least show them, ‘Look, if you do it, and it works, then audiences will show up. And not just female audiences. Men will show up.’ I think our movie benefited from the fact that women would bring their significant others to the film, whether they wanted to go or not, and then they could tell their friends, ‘Hey, you should see that. It’s really funny.’”

It worked. Bridesmaids was a massive success, both critically and commercially, grossing over $288 million worldwide (it’s the highest grossing Apatow movie to date) and bagging two Oscar nominations.

Bridesmaids isn’t the first female ensemble comedy, but it’s undeniable that it was a 21st century game-changer. Without it we may not have had movies like Pitch Perfect and its two sequels (if you think that film isn’t influenced by Bridesmaids, check out the poster), Bad Moms, Ocean’s Eight, Girls’ Trip, Feig’s own Ghostbusters reboot, Rough Night, as well as Melissa McCarthy vehicles Identity Thief, The Heat, Spy, Tammy, and The Boss.

Not every one of those projects is gold and nor should they have to be. The fact that they are allowed to exist and stand or fall on their own merits is crucial. It’s the equivalent of the idea that women in various forms of employment automatically have to be that much better than their male counterparts. Women should have the right to create and star in terrible comedies just as much as men…

Though she was relatively famous before Bridesmaids—perhaps most recognizable for her TV roles including as Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls—it was Bridesmaids that truly pushed Melissa McCarthy into the mainstream. Nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as sister of the groom Megan in Bridesmaids, since then McCarthy’s become one of the highest paid actresses in the world.

It’s quite astonishing, then, that Feig didn’t actually know who she was before he met her at a table read.

“I had never met her before in my life,” he laughs. “We brought her in for an audition because she was friends with Kristen and Annie, and we were having trouble casting that role. Then she just blew me away. And I can’t believe to this day that I did not know she existed until the moment I saw her because she’d been working a lot before that.”

Feig’s first encounter with the script and McCarthy was at a table read back in 2007. Feig says he was in the middle of post-production on an “unsuccessful Christmas movie” called Unaccompanied Minors, which featured Wiig, when Apatow called up.

“He said ‘I know you like to work with female characters, so you should come and see this.’” Feig recalls. “I remember just going like, ‘Oh my God, we can have an amazing vehicle for the funniest women we can find.”

It wasn’t until three years later though that the project finally came to fruition. Feig says all the basic structure of the script was there but with some differences to the detail. The airplane scene wasn’t originally in the movie, and the women made it to Vegas. The character of Officer Rhodes (played by Chris O’Dowd) was a little different. And the infamous dress shop scene, where the group gets explosively ill after Wiig’s Annie takes them for a meal at a cheap restaurant was, according to Feig, “a little more of a competition about Helen [Rose Byrne] wanting an expensive dress and Annie trying to steer towards a cheap dress.”

The dress shop scene in the finished film has become notorious with food poisoning landing in full force during a bridal fitting, McCarthy’s Megan straddling a sink, and Maya Rudolph’s bride-to-be Lillian forced to relieve herself in the middle of the road wearing a wedding dress. Yep, not only is Bridesmaids a film about women, it’s a film where women have violent diarrhea, a massive taboo, even still. Feig recalls it was a delicate balance to make sure it was character driven and not just gross.

“When we first came up with the idea and pitched it to Kristen, she was a little nervous, but rightly so. I mean, honestly, with Judd and I, two guys suddenly going, ‘Hey, let’s do this,’ it could have been terrible,” Feig says.

“We like to have these outrageous scenes that stick with you, but they can’t be outrageous just because, ‘Hey, let’s just have something, everybody shits and farts all over the place.’ That’s not funny to us. What’s funny to us is the idea of she’s competing with somebody who has more money. She has no money. She’s going to try to compete by taking them to a shitty restaurant and saying it’s a good restaurant. And it’s going to blow up in her face. How does it blow up in her face?

“The funny thing is she’s not going to admit in front of her nemesis that this blew up in her face. And so now the comedy is like, ‘We’re just going to throw so much evidence at you that you’ve screwed up.’ The comedy’s going to be like, ‘I’m fine. They’re fine. Nothing’s wrong. I’m not sweating. I’m not about to die.’ And that’s why it’s funny. Then that allows us to go like, ‘And now let’s just have the evidence be hilarious and go crazy with it.’”

So much of what works so brilliantly about the movie is the chemistry between all of the cast. Wiig and Rudolph were already best friends in real life, and the rest of the cast, who all came from the world of improv, had either worked together or at least seen each other’s work.

“The great thing about comedy people, in improv especially, is they’re not lone wolves,” Feig explains. “They live and die by the interaction they have with the people they’re working with. So you don’t get a situation where somebody is a diva or trying to be like, ‘Oh, they’re stealing my jokes.’ They want to make each other as funny as they can while they also make themselves as funny as they can. So it was just a wonderful, supportive set. I mean, we had so much fun. There were never any moments of anything other than just laughing and having a great time.”

Though most of the cast was recognizable, to a U.S. audience at least, from TV shows like SNL, since Bridesmaids their careers have boomed. As well as McCarthy’s enormous success, Wiig has most recently starred as a main character in Wonder Woman 1984 (with a chance she might return for another installment); Ellie Kemper is now best known as The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit; Wendi McLendon-Covey is the star of The Goldbergs; and Maya Rudolph seems to be in everything—we loved her as the Judge in The Good Place, among other things.

Pre-Bridesmaids Australian actress Rose Byrne was probably best known for serious roles in movies like Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later and Troy, and while her character, Helen, is something of the straight woman of the gang, she’s had plenty of opportunities to exercise her comedy chops since, with movies including Neighbors, Instant Family, and Like a Boss.

Though the antagonism between Annie and Helen and the effect it has on Annie’s friendship with Lillian is the central tension of the plot, it was always important to Wiig and Feig not to turn Helen into the villain of the piece.

“Helen doesn’t really do anything terrible,” Feig explains. “I always said, we have to face this from Helen’s point-of-view, which is: Helen meets Lillian. Lillian’s this awesome, smart person. And she then meets her friend who she’s heard all these weird stories about and the friend is kind of a mess. And so to her, she goes like, ‘That’s kind of a toxic friend. I’m going to, in a very lovely way, try to steer Lillian away from this bad influence in her life and towards better things, because I think she can go better places.’ So from Helen’s point-of-view, everything that Annie is doing is terrible because Annie’s trying so hard.”

It means that Bridesmaids very clearly avoids the trope that women aren’t able to get along, and Feig and Wiig pointedly wanted to avoid any sense of it being a catfight.

“We like to redeem people at the end,” Feig says. “It’s really sweet to redeem Helen and go, no, she’s just this needy person who has a husband who was never home. And she’s trying. She clearly has no self-confidence whatsoever, no self-esteem and so she’s just trying to buy it. So it just makes everybody redeemable and lovely at the end.”

Feig says he’s always been fascinated by female friendships and says he’s mostly friends with women. It’s another reason it was always important to him that despite being a “wedding movie” that Bridesmaids kept the relationships between the women at the heart.

Says Feig, “I don’t consider this a romantic comedy, even with the Chris O’Dowd love story. To me, that’s just a prize at the end that Annie gets when she works herself out with her friend. But that’s what drew me to it. If you look at my other movies, I’m just obsessed with the idea of female friendship and exploring it on screen, because I just find it to be one of the most interesting and fun and sweet relationships in my life that I’ve experienced.”

It’s this authenticity that helps Bridesmaids still ring so true a decade on. Though a comedy about women, written by two really funny women, which isn’t a romance and contains farts and shits shouldn’t be subversive, it was definitely a trailblazer. And Feig concedes that it’s helped with “getting over that stupid hurdle of ‘chick flick.’”

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“I despise that term because it’s just a way for guys to dismiss movies starring the opposite sex,” he says. “Hollywood is not an altruistic town. They’re not going to do stuff just to do the right thing. It has to make money. We were at least able to show: look, you can actually make money and do the right thing.”

Bridesmaids is now exclusively streaming on Peacock.

The post Bridesmaids Ten Years on: “It Should Not Have Been Subversive” appeared first on Den of Geek.

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scarlet-it-was · 3 years

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folklore for evermore: the ruby x christina edition

combining two of my favorite things: taylor swift and fandom. here are the lyrics and headcanons that are giving me life from the summer/autumn sister albums; reylo & msr editions to follow

cardigan

you drew scars around my stars

but now i’m bleeding

but i knew you

stepping on the last train

marked me like a bloodstain

i knew you

tried to change the ending

peter losing wendy

...you put me on and said I was your favorite

I’d be remiss not to include this as the first in the list considering I’m writing a fic and using specific lyrics as the fic name and chapter titles. If you’re interested, you can find it here: You Drew Stars Around My Scars

my tears ricochet

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace

And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves

You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same

Cursing my name, wishing I stayed

You turned into your worst fears

When I think of the...distinctly disappointing end of the series, these last lines come to mind. Even though I don’t really believe that Christina killed Ruby—but if she had, she definitely turned into her worst fears, which was ultimately being as much of a failure as her father.

this is me trying

I've been having a hard time adjusting

I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting

I didn't know if you'd care if I came back

I have a lot of regrets about that

Pulled the car off the road to the lookout

Could've followed my fears all the way down

And maybe I don't quite know what to say

But I'm here in your doorway

Headcanon: Christina has been resurrected in some fashion, perhaps by the Mark of Cain, or a secondary magic trap she set just in case things went to hell. This finds her regretting her choices, contemplating her next steps, if she even wants to take them, but ultimately, ends up finding Ruby.

And my words shoot to kill when I'm mad I have a lot of regrets about that I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere Fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here Pouring out my heart to a stranger But I didn't pour the whiskey

Headcanon (cont): Ruby proved time and time again in the show that she knows exactly how to cut right to the center of a person with her words, and I’m sure over the years, she’s said some regrettable things to her sister (not that they were undeserved). Ruby also put in the effort to take the classes and make herself as an attractive candidate as possible for her ‘dream job’ and when she finally is ready—she finds a thin, light-skinned Tamara has been hired. And the rest of the story in the little bar scene—she and William didn’t stay strangers for long.

mad woman

And there's nothing like a mad woman

What a shame she went mad

No one likes a mad woman

You made her like that

And you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out

And you find something to wrap your ***** around

And there's nothing like a mad woman

Really applicable to both parties who were both oppressed by patriarchy (both) and whiteness (Ruby). I censored one of the words because I’m not comfortable using that word in reference to a POC, but the Swifties know what it is. Anyway, you end up with two women who are willing to ‘go the distance’ so to speak to get what they want and not be interrupted because of the bodies and skin they were born in.

peace

But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm

If your cascade, ocean wave blues come

All these people think love's for show

But I would die for you in secret

The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me

Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

Headcanon: In spite of her money and magic, there’s a certain amount of peace that she’ll never be able to give Ruby in part because she can’t (and doesn’t want, nor does Ruby want) for her to take away her blackness. The flip side is that Christina’s ambition will likely always put them in harm’s way to an extent. But at the end of the day, in spite of Leti’s accusations that Ruby is being used, Christina is the only one who is up front with her 100% of the time regardless of how it comes out. She always comes through for Ruby.

Hoax

My best laid plan

Your sleight of hand

My barren land

I am ash from your fire

Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason"

Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in

Headcanon: a sadder and more cynical take on if Ruby had betrayed Christina in the finale (which I still don’t think she would have, but it wasn’t my show and I didn’t write that ending) which did in fact wreck her best laid plans with Ruby’s bait and switch of seducing Christina in her natural body instead of William’s—leaving Christina dead at the end of the series.

willow

Life was a willow, and it bent right to your wind

They count me out time and time again

Life was a willow, and it bent right to your wind

But I come back stronger than a '90s trend

Including this lyrics specifically because it reminds me of one of my favorite AU fics, Leave It To The Davenports – if you haven’t checked out this WIP, it is a ride you don’t want to miss.

gold rush

Gleaming, twinkling

Eyes like sinking ships on waters

So inviting, I almost jump in

I don't like a gold rush, gold rush

I don't like anticipatin' my face in a red flush

Walk past, quick brush

I don't like slow motion, double vision in rose blush

I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush

Everybody wants you

But I don't like a gold rush

What must it be like to grow up that beautiful?

With your hair falling into place like dominoes

I see me padding across your wooden floors

With my Eagles t-shirt hanging from the door

At dinner parties, I call you out on your contrarian shit

Headcanon: The last line specifically reminds me of Ruby snarking at Christina about being late and in return being called demanding. But also, overall, it captures the feeling of Ruby initially being distrustful of William’s affections towards her specifically when there are any number of women he could be with.

no body no crime

Headcanon: The whole damn song is my murder wives anthem.

happiness

Past the blood and bruise Past the curses and cries Beyond the terror in the nightfall Haunted by the look in my eyes That would've loved you for a lifetime Leave it all behind And there is happiness

I can't make it go away by making you a villain

I guess it's the price I paid And I pulled your body into mine Every goddamn night

There'll be happiness after you

But there was happiness because of you Both of these things can be true There is happiness

In our history, across our great divide

There is a glorious sunrise

Dappled with the flickers of light

Headcanon: Misleading song title in a way. This is what I’m dealing with in chapter 3 of my fic in the wake of Christina’s death and the process of Ruby moving on and finding happiness on her own. The writers Lovecraft Country tried really hard to make Christina a hateable villain, and I suppose through the lens of straight up hating white people, they may have done that for some viewers. They failed to give her any real Big Bad qualities though outside of manipulation and apathy—which while those aren’t shining character traits for her, it doesn’t make her the best (worst?) option for being the overarching antagonist. We had villains literally chopping people up and sewing them together, but Christina was the bad guy? Nah, I think not

long story short

Fatefully

I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me

Misery

Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep

And you passed right by

I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides

The knife cuts both ways

If the shoe fits, walk in it 'til your high heels break And I fell from the pedestal

Right down the rabbit hole

Long story short, it was a bad time

Pushed from the precipice

No more keepin' score

Now I just keep you warm

No more tug of war

Now I just know there's more

And my waves meet your shore

Ever and evermore When I dropped my sword

I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door

And we live in peace

But if someone comes at us, this time, I'm ready Long story short, I survived

Headcanon: based on the idea that Christina survives, but does in fact have her magic stripped from her and is reflecting on the time period and going forward how she will protect her and Ruby’s relationship going forward by critics (like Leti) who would make Ruby choose between them.

Evermore

Hey December

Guess I'm feeling unmoored

Can't remember

What I used to fight for

I rewind thе tape but all it does is pause

On thе very moment, all was lost

Sending signals

To be double-crossed

And I was catching my breath

Barefoot in the wildest winter

Catching my death

And I couldn't be sure

I had a feeling so peculiar

That this pain would be for

Evermore

And when I was shipwrecked (Can't think of all the cost)

I thought of you (All the things that will be lost now)

In the cracks of light (Can we just get a pause?)

I dreamed of you (To be certain we'll be tall again, if you think of all the costs)

It was real enough (Whether weather be the frost)

To get me through (Or the violence of the dog days) (Or the violence of the dog days)

(Out on waves, being tossed)

(I'm on waves, out being tossed)

I swear (Is there a line that we can just go cross?)

You were there

And I was catching my breath

Floors of a cabin creaking under my step

And I couldn't be sure

I had a feeling so peculiar

This pain wouldn't be for

Evermore

Headcanon: Specific to You Drew Stars Around My Scars and Ruby’s grief in the early chapters and how she feels that the grief is impossible to move past when she thinks back about the months that the two of them spent getting to know each other as friends and lovers. She uses magic to connect with Christina even when she’s not there.

#text post #long ass text post #ruby x christina #lyrics #tswift for every occasion #all my problematic ships #we could have had it all

5 notes · View notes

sunritual · 3 years

Text

Let’s try this again

They should make a law where if the police don’t read you your Miranda rights you get out of jail free, like if you don’t get your receipt at fast food restaurants you get a mail free

The shaggy law - There should be a law that if you continuously and shamelessly deny doing something, no matter how indisputably obvious it is that you did it, you should get off free for pure savegery.

Confederates as “rebels for tradition” is laughable

Ram rainbow spiral horns profile.

People think grammar rules are etched into the universe — they’re not. When people say AAve is incorrect and ignorant, they say that their conception of how one should speak is inherently correct despite no evidence/truth. Grammar is agreed upon not mandated

Hippie sauce infusion pizza joint

Plain nude balconette with little purple and pink flowers at wiring

How could anyone predict anything happening but how could any be surpised either

Hierarchies - nahhhh

Humans aren’t inherently higher than any other creature or thing, but as humans i don’t think it’s wrong to prioritize other humans. There no better or worse but there is optimal for certain environments and lifestyles.

What differentiates a piece of art from a slightly different replica - when is it an entirely different piece altogether? Moving a figure slightly? Adding a splash of paint ? Changing a color to the point where no one could tell? Is the persons perception the deciding factor or what’s actually on the canvas. If abstract art is about the perception, and the waning behind it - does it change with these things?

An exhibit where people are invited to paint over and destroy or change the art

The differences between us and other. Are feeble - not illusory but

Periwinkle sky blue black and white each of a half circle . Faded out

Uni should be about exploring ideas — new and old famillar and foreign - honeing writing reading reasoning debating listening etc skills.

Umm, Karen were your parents married when you were born?

Ummmm no, umm i mean , uh ,yes —what??

Then why are you policing what other people do?

Dark blue light blue orange lemon circles layer on top of each other, several difffent sizes

Job apps tip!! For every job you apply to , Change your last name on your resume to the last name of the hiring manager and they will think you are related to them and hire you with nepotism. ( then, or coarse, legally when you get the job)

Unpopular opinion: i don’t really mind diarrhea

I for one think it’s incredibly brave of the brats girls to reclaim such a derogatory term

Starting every Describtion of every British show with “its kind of like skins but..”

Beanie baskin took that treat she snatched it - she ain’t even askin

The squad bod - a group of ghost friends share one body in which they have to live their lives -

My playlists are a matter of fact, not opinion. They reveal truths about the human experience

A cats gorilla imeritive of aesthetics.

I don’t chose them, they are not for joy but for truth. They are not intelligible but feel able

📝 narrative - longing

👼 chaotic

🌾 childlike wonder

Things that seem homo and phobic ATST

- Woodstock

- Brown eyed girl

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on ya when you think everything BG a gone wrong and everything bows up in your face

If women can’t do drag because they have an advantage then what is drag? Is it having good looking tits and a waist ? Looking like woman? or is it about having charisma uniqueness nerve and talent?

Examining Tik toks through different philosophical lenses

What makes it so they put parenthesis around lyrics in a song? What intonations and such make it parenthesis worthy

What’s an article of clothing from your childhood that you viscerally remember for seemingly no reason

I feel like the problem with the property brothers is they had too good of a childhood

Do you ever wonder if personality traits would be diffferntnin different cultures? Would a quiet person be even quieter if they were brought up in North Korea? Or the same amount of talkativity? Do we have the traits no matter what, or are we inclined to be more of one way than the others around us. Are personality traits created by comparison to those around?

Maybe the anxiety comes from knowing your not “supposed” to be as quiet as you are. You don’t really want to talk, that’s okay , but it’s expected that you do. So you are anxiety that your not living up

I find happiness every single day

This feeling has made me so appreciative of my mental state usually. How many people feel like this on the regular? How many people have this as their default? I am so lucky. My default is happy. I have my issues, but i need to appreciate the gift i was given. I was given elation. Childlike wonder. Curiosity. Adventurousness. Self completion and fullness. The rest will come.

If you see a celebrity you want to talk to in public but don’t want to bother them, make sure they don’t see that you saw them and start a fake conversation telling a friend that they should buy a product they are a sponsor for, and that they should use their coupon code. When they approach you to thank you for being such a loyal fan, obviously pretend to be shocked that they just so happened to be there

Christianity excuses selfish politics and beliefs

Things i never would’ve noticed if they weren’t pointed out to me:

-Left and right handed ness

Rating sports teams by uniform colors

Balloon animals but make it clothing!

Logics doesn’t care about your feelings, but it certainly cares about your biasees.

He who findeth keepith, whilst he who loosith weepith.

Religious thought often starts at the conclusion they want and attempts to make arguments justifying it.

Jewish debate starts with an agreement that we are going to follow the book, but argues about what the book truly says. Not good enough when you are still just following the book

Why did Jesus need to die for our sins

Dream - swimming in a lake and bump into something you think is a human tying to save to but is it! Oct 29 9:03

Candle company logo etc

I’m sorry for your loss

It’s not oka

If people can accept that stupid bad jokes can be

Is there a reason for each thing existing? Sufficient reason

Understanding if an area is a matter of perspective or fact? Is it Emperical ?

If you assume you have free will you limit your critical thinking ability and therefor stour actual free will - you need to navigate technology such as algorithms that show you why at you want to see or you completely loose free will - you cannot chose when you don’t even know a choice. there is Somthing controlling you

Revelation is within it doesn’t involve others - can happen in a moment

Revolution- requires work and years and years of convincing others m

What counts as a second chance? What counts as a first chance? What does giving someone the benefit of the doubt entail ? Letting them out of jail , or letting them have a 2nd term as president.

**Picture of coke or Pepsi book**

Trump supporters be like: THIS is the BALLOt sleepy crooked joe SEND to MY neighbor. So much FOR democracy

One flew over the coup coups nest

Ashge-nazi = Jewish trump supporter

The heathers of the USA are Cali, New York and Texas. Florida, too

Shape shifting would solve all of this. I could go to Washington DC, pretend to be trump, concede then leave. It would be hilarious, however if me and trump looked identical and had to so the most idiotic crazy shit to prove to America that we indeed are the true DJ.

Coup busting outfit - light cute short sleeve camo shirts , army green super utalitarian cargo pants , double sash belts in leather with grommets studs or spikes (to be decided by team (with democracy) or left up to the individual) leather (vegan available) lace up knee high boots (maybe with spikes if not too 2012) and the pies de resistance two army green denim shoulder high gloves that fold down as far as needed for the comfort of the fighter. Will be adorned with patches decided by the wearer. Edges will be frayed to honor to the coup busting aesthetic and spirit of the endeavor. We can decide on a signature lip color, but spf is required for all fighters. Of coarse we will have those football stripes below the eyes, don’t be stupid.

How far away can something be from a face and still have humans think it’s a face

Senator Portman - i hope you are well, and want to thank you for the hard work you have put in to this election. However, it has become abundantly clear that joe Biden and Kamala Harris have secured more than enough electoral and popular votes to warrant recognition as president and vice elect. Upon reading the transcripts of he hopeless court cases, there is absolutely no evidence of vote measurable fraud. is time you stand up for democracy and face reality by congratulating he pair on their success. Americans and scared and they need a powerful republican voice to demounce the unsubstantiated conspircy theories that attempt to thwart democracy in this beautiful county. Please do the right thing , and stand with sanity, freedom and democracy. History books and citizens will thank you. May god bless you, your staff and loved ones

Could mermaids exist through evolution in the future

Me learning about real us history - all the nations destroyed by the USA—- I’m the baaad Guy

The rest of the world - duh dodododosodo

Print that looks like a page of writing that has been sourced in water so it’s bleeding and darker in speckles

Zamps= examples

Clothes with green screen cut outs

Robots don’t need to be sentient to destroy us.

Navy mock neck long sleeves big orange and little white stripe on tube cage sides

A veritcal line stretch waistband

Cross cross and straps back

Square high neck

Scarlet polka dots around can light blue text and beach image as front

Blue stroke red inside square, blue triangle rainbow with eye and funky font

Y either know a particular topic or not , but it’s hard to pin down intelligence on one category

Cream background , ice cream pink script name kinda bev hills hotel script looking ish

Move your mouth in a differ way

Supersonic vibrating butt cleaner

Half magenta half red violet a blue teacup in the center with white floral frills thick serif font

Pink background am orange flower in a vase white present ribbon n red as a table

An app that familiarizes people with science - through experimental learning ― hands on experiences that make it seem less top down and authoritarian , and more like a set of steps that we take, things that anyone can do to get closer with nature and the world

A social media philosophy app - teaches what others said and gives people a chance to express their views , postulate, argue, etc gadfly? How would be avoid a shit show, how can we make social media more humanitarian. how can we care about people while also expressing deeply held ideas , how can we encourage users to examine their deeply held ideas without alienating them. How can we discourage hatred and abuse and groupthink with design? How do we slow people down and encourage them to recognize the human behind the screen. Street epistemology? Socratic dialogue?

Socrates - asking questions. Breaking it down to bits. Deeply understanding their argument. Asking about different possibilities and circumstances. Take vast assumptions and show scenarios that make go against them.

Build fact checking into apps

Narrative self vs experiential

Walks you through steps of the sciefitifc method and encourages you to explain how you feel each step actually helped you- then walks you through a scientist doing the same for their reasarch

Republicans only want to be free in the specific ways that benefit corporations

Are Christians more willing to support the death pen early because they already believe in the cruel and overstepping punishment of hell?

Where did the idea come from that you need to remain impartial when trying to persuade

The idea that there is someone in a similar but different dwelling, hearing similar but different sounds and feeling similar but different feelings is wild

We synthesize sets of traits, and particular actions in a super biased culturally constructed way

With the way we see things as humans- we categorize things into groups that aren’t really reaaal ― paratheletic groups

I just want the people and jobs that benefit society

Connection to nietzsches Dionysian art and eckheart tolle/Taoism

No matter your personality, there is probably a part of the world that you would fit in with naturally.

An ordinary girl is selected as one of the representatives of earth in the first meeting of various alien species after one advanced planet discovered and United 10. Confused as to why she was chosen, she goes on her journey meeting

Wha ba Bada da da da da dada he’s a wha ba ba dadada as a matter of fact it’s not my fault if you came up here thinking that you would win

Wanting to break boundaries and rules for the sake those who are hurt by the rules

You are imagining the best case scenario of the life you want to have and experience Ming the reality of the life you so have.

Yes her drips cosmetics line to students i. Class

Chez it people can goldfish people

Your personality flows where a system needs it to go to maintain balance

0 notes

forunfeltimaginations · 3 years

Text

Let’s try this again

They should make a law where if the police don’t read you your Miranda rights you get out of jail free, like if you don’t get your receipt at fast food restaurants you get a mail free

Confederates as “rebels for tradition” is laughable

Ram rainbow spiral horns profile.

Hippie sauce infusion pizza joint

Plain nude balconette with little purple and pink flowers at wiring

How could anyone predict anything happening but how could any be surpised either

Hierarchies - nahhhh

An exhibit where people are invited to paint over and destroy or change the art

The differences between us and other. Are feeble - not illusory but

Periwinkle sky blue black and white each of a half circle . Faded out

Uni should be about exploring ideas — new and old famillar and foreign - honeing writing reading reasoning debating listening etc skills.

Umm, Karen were your parents married when you were born?

Ummmm no, umm i mean , uh ,yes —what??

Then why are you policing what other people do?

Dark blue light blue orange lemon circles layer on top of each other, several difffent sizes

Unpopular opinion: i don’t really mind diarrhea

I for one think it’s incredibly brave of the brats girls to reclaim such a derogatory term

Starting every Describtion of every British show with “its kind of like skins but..”

Beanie baskin took that treat she snatched it - she ain’t even askin

The squad bod - a group of ghost friends share one body in which they have to live their lives -

My playlists are a matter of fact, not opinion. They reveal truths about the human experience

A cats gorilla imeritive of aesthetics.

I don’t chose them, they are not for joy but for truth. They are not intelligible but feel able

📝 narrative - longing

👼 chaotic

🌾 childlike wonder

Things that seem homo and phobic ATST

- Woodstock

- Brown eyed girl

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on ya when you think everything BG a gone wrong and everything bows up in your face

If women can’t do drag because they have an advantage then what is drag? Is it having good looking tits and a waist ? Looking like woman? or is it about having charisma uniqueness nerve and talent?

Examining Tik toks through different philosophical lenses

What makes it so they put parenthesis around lyrics in a song? What intonations and such make it parenthesis worthy

What’s an article of clothing from your childhood that you viscerally remember for seemingly no reason

I feel like the problem with the property brothers is they had too good of a childhood

I find happiness every single day

Christianity excuses selfish politics and beliefs

Things i never would’ve noticed if they weren’t pointed out to me:

-Left and right handed ness

Rating sports teams by uniform colors

Balloon animals but make it clothing!

Logics doesn’t care about your feelings, but it certainly cares about your biasees.

He who findeth keepith, whilst he who loosith weepith.

Religious thought often starts at the conclusion they want and attempts to make arguments justifying it.

Jewish debate starts with an agreement that we are going to follow the book, but argues about what the book truly says. Not good enough when you are still just following the book

Why did Jesus need to die for our sins

Dream - swimming in a lake and bump into something you think is a human tying to save to but is it! Oct 29 9:03

Candle company logo etc

I’m sorry for your loss

It’s not oka

If people can accept that stupid bad jokes can be

Is there a reason for each thing existing? Sufficient reason

Understanding if an area is a matter of perspective or fact? Is it Emperical ?

Revelation is within it doesn’t involve others - can happen in a moment

Revolution- requires work and years and years of convincing others m

What counts as a second chance? What counts as a first chance? What does giving someone the benefit of the doubt entail ? Letting them out of jail , or letting them have a 2nd term as president.

**Picture of coke or Pepsi book**

Trump supporters be like: THIS is the BALLOt sleepy crooked joe SEND to MY neighbor. So much FOR democracy

One flew over the coup coups nest

Ashge-nazi = Jewish trump supporter

The heathers of the USA are Cali, New York and Texas. Florida, too

How far away can something be from a face and still have humans think it’s a face

Could mermaids exist through evolution in the future

Me learning about real us history - all the nations destroyed by the USA—- I’m the baaad Guy

The rest of the world - duh dodododosodo

Print that looks like a page of writing that has been sourced in water so it’s bleeding and darker in speckles

Zamps= examples

Clothes with green screen cut outs

Robots don’t need to be sentient to destroy us.

Navy mock neck long sleeves big orange and little white stripe on tube cage sides

A veritcal line stretch waistband

Cross cross and straps back

Square high neck

Scarlet polka dots around can light blue text and beach image as front

Blue stroke red inside square, blue triangle rainbow with eye and funky font

Y either know a particular topic or not , but it’s hard to pin down intelligence on one category

Cream background , ice cream pink script name kinda bev hills hotel script looking ish

Move your mouth in a differ way

Supersonic vibrating butt cleaner

Half magenta half red violet a blue teacup in the center with white floral frills thick serif font

Pink background am orange flower in a vase white present ribbon n red as a table

Narrative self vs experiential

2 notes · View notes

storyinmypocket · 4 years

Note

It’s not that i’m sexist, I just remember a time, when I held the door open for a girl, and she began to scream and cry. “You oppressive piece of shit,” she began to say, and when I tried to calm her, she kicked my way. I used self defense, and moments later she was on the ground. The cops were called, and I’m writing this from prison now. It’s not that I hate women, just a selective few, the ones who abuse the system, and many of them do.

Wow. Wooooow. I don’t know what I did to merit this charming attempt at trolling, but okay. Okay. Let’s do this, because picking apart something this goddamn ridiculous is a nice easy exercise in critical thinking skills for when someone hits us with an actually plausible story. And maybe while I’m at it, address the fears of some cis guys who legitimately worry that something like this could possibly happen to them.

Today on Things That Definitely Never Happened, Ever:

1) If the truly implausible occurs and someone starts screaming and crying about you being oppressive for you opening a door, they’re probably dealing with PTSD or some other really unfun mental illness. Unless, of course, you were one of those assholes that sees a woman, sees a door, and immediately tries to race her to said door so you can be all gentlemanly when the woman in question is clearly able to open it for herself. At that point, a woman is justified in telling you to fuck off. If you reach the door first, you can hold the door for the person after you, but “I see you appear to be a woman and I must run past you to be a gentleman!” is a dick move. But even then, screaming and crying is a disproportionate response and generally a sign that the person is Not Okay and you need to proceed accordingly.

2) If someone is that severely unwell, do not try to calm them. You are a stranger who just triggered the fuck out of them, and any further interference will not go well for either of you. This is when you say, “Okay, sorry, whatever,” and you back away. You do not attempt to further interfere with the person. Let me provide some advice that gets drilled into the head of pretty much every woman I’ve ever met for when something sketchy happens: immediately go to a well-lit place with people. If she follows you, you have witnesses. If she doesn’t, at least you can find an uninvolved person (ideally another woman, but sometimes you have to take what you can get) to go check on this woman and her meltdown. Do not call the cops for mental health issues if you can help it -- that’s how people die. On the other hand, if it’s a white woman, her odds are better than most, so... There’s that?

3) Let me get this straight. Let’s be absolutely clear, Nonny. You say, in this little fairy tale, that she kicked your way. While screaming and crying. Not that she made contact, she just... kicked your way. Mid-meltdown. So, um. I’m not getting a real sense of threat here. I’m not getting that she roundhouse kicked you in the face, or even that she went for your balls with clear intent to harm. Which was it, Nonny? Which made-up thing was it? Was she attacking you with clear intent, or was she having a meltdown and lashing out because you wouldn’t back the fuck off while you “tried to calm her”? And then you “used self defense” (what does that even MEAN? did you strike her? grapple her? fucking trip her?) and she was on the ground moments later. Why was that an appropriate use of force? If she’s crying and screaming and melting down, what was PHYSICALLY PREVENTING YOU from getting the fuck away from her? Why did she need to be on the ground? Why were you even still in her space when she was flipping out? So many questions. If this bullshit happens to you? Throw your manly pride out the nearest window and get the fuck away.

4) More questions. The cops were called. Who called them? Were there other witnesses? Did she call them, after you put her on the fucking ground? Did you call them because this lady just attacked you? The passive voice there is really interesting to me, because I’ve generally seen it as a sign of one of two things: either there’s so much trauma involved in this that you’re dissociating hard, or you’re making shit up as you go along and you have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m leaning towards the second one, because...

5) You can’t use Tumblr from prison, dipshit. And I mean, I wouldn’t use a contraband cell phone for the purpose of going to some random person’s Tumblr and telling them my “victimized by teh wimminz” story, but maybe that’s just me.

6) It’s not that I hate men. Just a select few. Because the really neat thing about human nature is that women and men both make up stories to make themselves appear unjustly wronged, in more or less equal amounts. False reports of rape, that terror of cishet men everywhere, happen in the same ratio as false reports of literally any other crime. And society is in many cases still skewed in favor of believing men. So if this feels mean, and harsh, and like I’m putting someone who theoretically could be an innocent victim in all this through the third degree, questioning every detail, picking apart the specific wording they used: welcome to the experience of many, many rape victims. Welcome to my experience, and why I don’t tell random men about the times I was raped.

So, gentlefolk, if you’re concerned about any of this implausible nonsense happening to you, let me tell you, as a mentally ill person: if a woman who is a stranger to you is melting down, do not attempt to calm the woman, because my experience has been that men try to do that by moving closer, and that is the opposite of helpful. Put some distance between the two of you. Don’t go all fucking Ender Wiggin on her if she does attack you. Remember that the purpose of self-defense is to get you away from the threat, not to prove your dominance over it. These are lessons that women are taught over and over, for how to deal with a Random Scary Guy. Apply them to Random Scary Women, as well.

I don’t particularly want men to live in fear. I don’t want anyone to live in fear. I want to live in a world where this shit doesn’t happen and where victims, both men and women, are given the benefit of the fucking doubt and we don’t re-traumatize them when they talk about what happened to them. But that’s not the world I’m living in right now, I’m not Nonny’s friend or loved one, and I didn’t fucking ask, so... Here we are. Just you, me, and this here steaming pile of horseshit.

#rape cw #seriously what the shitting fuck #Anonymous #sometimes people talk to me

7 notes · View notes

incorrectswntquotes · 4 years

Text

Rachel Corsie: There was a numbness. I couldn’t believe that it was happening to us

I had to remind Rachel Corsie of the date: June 19, 2019. It was one of the most stunning moments of last summer’s Women’s World Cup, and Corsie, as captain of Scotland, was there right in its midst.

Just how did Scotland, needing a win to go through to the round of 16 and leading Argentina 3-0 after 74 minutes, contrive to draw that game? The Scotland men’s team have provided many heartaches over the decades and, in keeping with tradition, here were our women making their own contribution to our great canon of cock-ups.

Corsie, 30, can smile about it now but her pain at the time was very real. Over the closing 16 minutes, Argentina clawed it back to 3-3, in part courtesy of a last-minute penalty controversy via VAR, which put Scotland out.

“I can still remember the feelings that I felt in the moment,” she says. “There was this slight numbness about what was happening. As Argentina came back into it you were sort of thinking, ‘I’m not sure if this really is happening.’ I know it’s a cliché but that is how it felt.

“We were 3-0 up but we weren’t feeling complacent. They had good players, especially their No 9 and No 10. I knew them both as players, especially their striker, Estefanía Banini, who I’ve played against a number of times in the States. We were playing really well. We scored a second, then a third, and then their centre back went down with cramp. I thought, ‘We’re in control of this’. We actually could have got to 4-0 when Erin [Cuthbert] had a chance, but their keeper made a good save.

“I was angry when their first goal went in [after 74 minutes]. I remember being angry because it was sloppy. Then their second goal — it just shouldn’t have gone in, enough said. Then those last few minutes were frantic and it got nervy for everyone. We were the better team, we played better football, but we didn’t win the game. It was very painful.”

That drama aside, Corsie loves her career as a professional footballer. At present, she is home in Scotland for the close season of the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States, where she plays for Utah Royals in front of 10,000 crowds and earns, she admits, close to $100,000 a year (about £76,000) in actual or benefit-related earnings. Intriguingly, Corsie has been training with the Hearts men’s reserves, and this week is also helping to coach Scotland Women’s under-16s.

She was a north-east of Scotland child who grew to love football through her parents. Her great grandfather, Donald Colman, played for Aberdeen and Scotland prior to the First World War. As a child, Corsie would accompany her father, an amateur coach, to his matches on a Saturday, run around and fetch balls, and realise in time that she was quite good at football. She became an Aberdeen season-ticket holder, along with her mum, and began regularly attending that theatre of dismay known as Pittodrie.

Having amassed 114 caps and seen it all over the past ten years, I asked Corsie: where exactly is women’s football today?

“It is night and day compared to when I started, but it feels like a lot of the growth has come in the last three, four, five years,” she says. “When I was first capped for Scotland [in 2009] there were just fewer players playing — so that part has certainly grown. Also, an appreciation of the women’s game has drastically changed. Five years ago there was still this feeling that we were trying to prove ourselves, and having to justify our existence. There is far less of that now, which allows us to keep moving forward. Plus, you had all the excitement of last summer’s World Cup. So, yes, I think we have momentum.”

In this context, I put to her my own perplexing theory about the women’s game, observed most notably during the World Cup. While women’s football wants equality — whatever that means — it was striking how, whenever some atrocious piece of play occurred on the park in France, TV and radio commentators would soft-soap the moment, calling it “unfortunate” or “a pity” rather than nailing the mistake. For context, I suggested, on Match of the Day such incidents in men’s football would be ruthlessly called out for what they were by pundits. Why should women be spared the same sort of analysis as the men?

“I’m glad you’ve raised this, because I agree with you,” Corsie says. “When you watch male pundits debating football, I love seeing guys like Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville making their points strongly. But that is sometimes missing in coverage of the women’s game.

“I think commentaries of women’s football originally took on this pattern [of non-criticism] because a lot of the women commenting were current players, and so were reluctant to say something that might offend their friends or colleagues. That was a part of it.

“The other point people make is, ‘go easy, we’re trying to grow the women’s game’ but my counter argument to this is, if there is a mistake on the pitch, it is almost a bigger insult to us not to call it for what it is — a mistake. If a defender goes to clear the ball, misses it, and the striker scores, and you say, ‘oh, that’s unfortunate’, I would be insulted by that. It’s almost like, that’s their level, just accept it.

“People comment in this way because they want to try to encourage the women’s game. But it doesn’t do us any favours.”

I asked Corsie what it was like training with Hearts. Was there a physical and technical gulf there? Could she keep up with the men?

“Hearts have been brilliant to me,” she says. “It was Shelley Kerr [Scotland Women manager] who fixed it up. She knew I was home for three months, that I wanted to train, and fixed it for me to go into Hearts. They have been fantastic, allowing me to train with them, providing me with kit and much more.

“A lot of those guys have played in the Hearts first team. So it has been great for me, to play at their speed, at a different level, to be honest.”

How did she compare technically with the men? “Well, I’m a centre back, so this is position specific,” she says. “They are all better than me in terms of things like dribbling ability. But, in terms of my passing and my first touch, I was absolutely fine.” And if there was a sudden emergency, and Hearts needed a centre back for a men’s reserve game, could she step up? “That would be a step too far for me. On a full pitch, with the change of pace and physicality, it would be too much.

“Of course, that isn’t the point. Compared to the women’s game, it is a whole new level. But the standard of the women’s game is what is relevant and what matters to me.”

Will Corsie remain in football as a coach after retiring?

“You do reach a certain age and think: ‘What else is there in life?’ I love football, it will always be a part of my life. And I want to give back to football, somehow.

“But I trained and qualified with Ernst & Young, and I enjoy that side of work. I enjoy the corporate world. Who knows what the future holds?”

#rachel corsie #swnt #scotland wnt #wwc 2019 #womens world cup

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vroenis · 4 years

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The 2019 Charlie’s Angels Reboot Was A Good Project & Deserved More Respect From Hollywood

We’ve just finished watching the film and there was a lot both J and I really enjoyed about it. We’re critical of media and art in different ways and I certainly don’t speak for them, as for me, oddly I’m lenient in ways that they probably aren’t when it comes to production and culture. I don’t have to dive too deeply into the cultural response to this picture to know how it went down, I’ve come into contact with just enough of it to have a clear understanding of the popular digest. The response is not at all unexpected, it’s just uninformed.

I feel that the 2019 (year of publishing) Charlie’s Angels reboot was a good project with a wonderful spirit. Elizabeth Banks’ aims were clearly evident in the final product, however it may have been shaped along the way, and that it was under-served in the production process likely from the very beginning.

This casting is fantastic.

I do wish there were better cast-ensemble promos for me to lift from the internet and wonder whether that’s another telltale sign of production or whether the heat has just faded since release and they’ve just dropped out of the archives but I struggled to find well composed images.

The first short sizzle-teaser I ever saw for the film, I thought was quite good. Neckbeards and mouthbreathers won’t have paused for a second thought before launching hate for the project - anything in the most vague proximity of feminism or empowerment of women, or even simply just not being centred around men - will be enough to bring snide internet snark by the truckload. It remains interesting that men continue to struggle to live in a world where there can be things that also exist that are not for them, they cannot simply let these other things also exist without contributing in some way. As it were, the project looked good. Sharp, clever, playful, and a timely reboot reclaimed in the most contemporary way. When I looked up the production details and found out Banks was championing it herself, I really took an interest in it. As the first full trailers released, the casting looked great - genuinely diverse and with real chemistry, I hoped it would find the audience it was looking for.

J and I have had a lot going on in our lives over the last two years and still do. We’ve gone to theatres I think twice in that whole time, maybe three times and I think two of those were gift certificates generously paid for by family. So tonight we finally got around to watching Charlie’s Angels. If we’d seen this in theatres, I’d have still be satisfied and had the same evaluation.

A production budget of $55 million is low-balling a project of this scope;

There seems to have been a bit of pre-production shuffling and Banks did a lot of wrangling herself early on.

The whole shoot front to back was just over two months and I assume three countries, US/or studio inclusive.

CGI is noticeably subpar but not exactly cheap either, so it still would have cost a significant portion of that prod. budget. When I say subpar, the CG in this film isn’t bad, please don’t take that criticism as overly negative of the CG artists’ work - remember that people do the best they can with the time and money they’re afforded. If you want to understand what that’s all about, I encourage you to watch Corridor Crew’s channel on YouTube.

Combat choreography with principle actors isn’t great, there’s far too much editing but again, I’m betting there wasn’t a whole lot of money and thus time for training and rehearsing for them, so combat is noticeably slow.

2nd Unit photography looked very good because this kind of thing is very old-school Hollywood in that it contributes to what makes an action/spy movie look like one. Unfortunately, that means it was also expensive. We’re really running out of money here...

There is a lot of licensed music in this feature which isn’t cheap at all. Again this feels super old-school Hollywood and definitely demographic targeting, but it firmly timestamps the feature - any film, really - and unless your film is about capturing the essence of the time IT WAS THE 80′s! or FOLK FESTIVALS JUST BEFORE COVID BROKE OUT as an example of not necessarily wanting to capture the past, I really think trying to nail down pop songs of the hot present ultimately does your film a disservice.

And I’ll address that one first because I feel like it may have been one of the easiest changes to make to lift the overall quality of the picture. Instead of burning thru an immense amount of budget on a pile of pop licenses, I think a calculated risk could have been taken in getting a young contemporary musician to create a slick electronic score in its entirety to back it along side the generic orchestral action fare, no disrespect to Brian Tyler. To be honest, Tyler probably could have done it all himself but was also probably just writing to spec. BUT HEY... WHY NOT SCOUT FOR ANY NUMBER OF AMAZING WOMEN OUT THERE WHO ARE PHENOMENAL ELECTRONIC MUSICIANS AND PRODUCERS what am I talking about it’s Hollywood...

This is what I mean by the project deserving more respect and being under-served. Hollywood doesn’t believe in projects like this, they don’t realise what the project is and why it needs frontier, sincere, good faith hiring and instead under-funds but funds it nevertheless SEE? WE FUNDED IT, WE DID THE GOOD THING, SEE US SUPPORTING THE WIMMINS? WE’RE NOT SEXISTS YOU CAN’T SAY WE’RE SEXISTS YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FILM oh it didn’t do very well except we didn’t let you make it the way you wanted to make it, we still shackled you to

THE SAME TERRIBLE HOLLYWOOD TRADITIONS THAT, BY THE WAY, ARE FAILING OUR MANLY MAN MOVIES FULL OF MEN HOLY SHIT THE DEBT-RECOVERY CYCLE IS REALLY DOING A NUMBER ON OUR INVESTORS I SURE HOPE WE DON’T HAVE TOO MANY CONSECUTIVE FAILURES OR, SAY, SOME KIND OF GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC AND/OR ECONOMIC EVENT HAND-WRINGING

ahem where was I

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provided the entire soundtrack for The Social Network and it’s both fantastic and timeless. OK oranges and refrigerators, but the principle still stands - I get the intent of Charlie’s Angels was a summer blockbuster but it would have still been elevated by being all the more slick having its own identity in music, having its own sound. You want that soundtrack by that amazing young woman because it sounds fucken awesome.

Charlie’s Angels still needed a few passes by a dialogue editor. I say that a lot. I know my standards are high and it’s a Hollywood film. There’s no problem at all with the vernacular, idioms and the casual language, that was all fine. It’s always just the little details - again, it’s always time and money which - really is just money. A good dialogue editor or script supervisor might have been able to just elevate this whole thing to that super-smooth level of flowing just right. Or perhaps if the actors had spent more time in training and combat rehearsal together, they’d have riffed better and improvised more. They still have good on-screen chemistry but again, more time - more money for time - and things improve.

If you don’t know my taste in film, you could see if you recognise anything in the Film Notes page of this journal, but it’s totally OK if you don’t. Basically most of them are long and boring, with super long takes of people not saying or doing much. I still love Hollywood films tho - I love all cinema and I’ll repeat like a broken record, I should either add a section to Film Notes of my favourite blockbusters or create a page for them. Anyway - Charlie’s Angels still has too much editing mostly due to the aforementioned combat, but also because of that good old Hollywood formulaic style-guide. It’s easy to look up the production credits and pluck out names but on a project like this, it’s difficult to pin the end result on the roles themselves. In these cases, personnel like editors are more like daily jobs rather than creative contributors which again is an immense shame. I catch myself before saying “It doesn’t have to be a Malick/Shortland/Lynch project...” but why not? Why can’t a summer blockbuster have its own fantastic identity? General audiences can identify Michael Bay and Christopher Nolan - sure, one or perhaps both of these people take themselves far too seriously, but why not let a project have its own identity?

We run back into the conversation of protecting investments and style guides.

The easy answer to Bay and Nolan is they’re men, but they’ve also had time to prove their worth over time with previous work and track record. Because they’ve had the privilege to do so. Because they’re men. And most of the people making decisions and letting them experiment and sometimes fail to recover investment on their projects and hey, don’t worry, just try again, are men - and they were permitted to try again because they were themselves men.

Whether individual men do or don’t deserve whatever they did or didn’t get, I’m not here to discuss. Many of them definitely didn’t and I can’t change it.

What we should be changing is how we finance, how we empower and how we hand over autonomy of projects to women in cinema, in the arts - in professional life, in any industry.

YOU DON’T KNOW THE DETAILS OF THIS PROJECT

So. Fucking. What.

I can make educated guesses and I can support as much as possible as fair and equitable an arts industry wherever I engage with it.

I really liked Charlie’s Angels. It had a lot of heart. It had a wonderful sense of play and sass and smarts. Yes, a few too many “why didn’t they just shoot the bad guy” moments etc. - again - script reviews, better writers, more time...

More money.

More respect from an industry that doesn’t respect women and women’s autonomy; social, professional, in all aspects.

I hope Elizabeth Banks wants to make another one, can raise the finances for it and has even more control of the next project. More power to her.

#2020 #chrono #writing about film #cinema #Charlie's Angels #Charlie's Angels 2019 #Elizabeth Banks

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langernameohnebedeutung · 5 years

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people need to learn to think critically like fictional characters are fucking fictional they're not using real reasons like having big boobs no it's whatever dudebro is in charge choosing to have them unzip the outfit to show off their boobs

Especially if it's always the women who "want" to show off their assets and never the guys who “make the decision” to wear stuff like that - This theme is so evident that even shows like The Boys or films like Galaxy Quest (20 years ago) parodied it to excellence. so the connotation of “you think that’s misogyny??? hmm??” is so hilarious like. this is not some new, radical feminist notion.

On the other hand, shows or films can also highlight that it's a character making a decision. I remember watching Umbrella Academy and it really stood out to me that you had Klaus who wore the tightest, most revealing, definitely intended to be sexy clothes - a guy. But it's never sexualised or treated as "empowering" - it's just the way he dresses, there is no montage of him empowering himself wearing these outfits, the camera doesn't go up and down his body. He's a disaster boy and that's how he dresses.

We can also think of Avatar. We have a lot of female characters - Azula, who prefers armour, Mai, who has this long goth-looking coat that conceals her many knives, Toph who wears in a tom-boyish fashion that is also a rebellion against her up-bringing, Katara who wears her traditional coat throughout the show. So when we see Ty Lee wearing a crop top, it highlighted as an actual choice to wear something that reminds her of her favourite place, the circus (yeah we’re even given background on that one). Plus we have some cultural context - for example, the outfits from The Beach are episodes by actual traditional outfits that exist so in a show that draws on various Asian cultures, it makes sense that a character woudl wear an outfit like that.

I also brought up Lorna's outfit in that scene in The Gifted (that she has in my icon). Throughout the show, she wears expensive, elegant (goth) clothing when she's with the Hellfire Club and less expensive, messy clothing when she's with the poorer Underground. And she's surrounded by female characters who usually all have a rather distinctive style, none of them sexualised - and that outfit isn't sexualised either when she wears it. So even without agency, that is how you portray that someone chose to wear that outfit.

But in most superhero or spy flicks, we don’t even find out where they get their outfits or it’s literally just spelt out that someone else developed this. For the heck of it, I literally just went through all the promo pics for the standard-version vault hunters in Borderlands to see whose wearing something that reveals any skin on their chest below the collar bones:

#Borderlands 1: Lilith, the only female playable character has a deep. All the guys are covered up

Borderlands 2: Maya, the only female playable character, has a turtleneck - with a boob window. All the guys are covered up.

Borderlands the Pre-Sequel: For the first time, we have two female characters. One, Athena, is fully-covered up! Nisha...has a crop-top and some cleavage. While she’s on an adventure on a moon.

Borderlands 3: keeping up with the 2 female characters on the team. One is wearing a crop-top, the other has cleavage. Apparently, these characters all “chose” to wear these outfits. But with 1 exception, all women “chose” to wear something sexy. What a coincidence. Another example that always dumbfounded me even as a kid was Winx Club. Literally all the girls either wear mini-skirts or crop tops or magically turn into creatures that wear magical mini-skirts or crop tops. The only exception are older characters like the headmistresses, the guys who are all completely covered, and those two witch side-characters who are not traditionally beautiful (which is a huge plot-point). They can’t “choose” an outfit like that if they magically turn into it.Or let’s look at the Avengers - Black Widow and Maria Hill both seem to have made the “decision” to wear a tight bodysuit paired that they both decided to partially unzip in the front. Also remember how long BW was the only female character on the team. You know. Until Wanda joined them.

.... sure glad she made a “decision”And I’m not going to pretend I know much about DC but let’s look at the Justice League:

“But she’s from a warm island!” - yeah and Aqua Man is isolated against the freezing temperatures of the ocean, he should be sweating his ass off thereLet’s see who made the “decision” to show skin in X-Men First Class:

I wonder about the corresponding villain team-

(also let’s not forget that literally all major female characters in X-Men First Class “decided” to strip at some point)It’s really interesting how we women are a hive mind. Or as this 30-something tumblr user said: “ Girl wants to flaunt her stuff and prove she still can fight, let her!” Dude, I’m not stopping “her”, but honestly, it’s not rebellion anymore.It used to be. The short dresses in Star Trek TOS were “rebellion” - and the fact that it’s interpreted as misogyny today is an interpretation happening before a completely different background. Except in 2009 -

it’s not a rebellion anymore.

Ah ya know. The girls and their decisions-

#nonfandom #rant #Anonymous

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