#and if anyone tries to agrue that I’m not an adult

[trash-goddess]

One of the worst things about being a teenager is being infantilized. You are expected to be (reasonably) responsible for yourself but do not have any of the respect, resources nor decision making power that comes with it such responsibilities as an adult.

Being an adult with a fully functioning brain, and the having the respect, resources, decision making power and responsibilities is a delightful experience. Taking control of my life and living on my own terms has made every aspect of my life much more manageable.

So. As a twenty four year old. Who works full time, and thus has saved and paid off my student loans. Who is capable of managing my finances, groceries, and living a healthy lifestyle. Who is by all accounts, a reasonable adult. I find myself frustrated by seeing myself described as a child who is incapable of making such decisions has become incredibly frustrating. It showcases a lack of maturity and understanding!

I refuse to be dragged back down into childhood by people who have never even met me and do not know what is best for me.

And you can take my voting rights from my cold dead hands.

[naominorbez]

Ask Meme

Tagged by @roboticabirdie (Perfect timing btw!  I’m going on a hiatus from social media soon. :] )

Rules: Tag 9 people whom you’d like to know better

Relationship Status: Single 

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick.  I’ve only ever worn lipstick for theatre; it’s not my thing.

Last Song I Listened To: I think Restrained by tiasu?  I was re-listening to their Fire album; it’s a favorite of mine. 

(Last song I sung is a different story, though.  I have a constant playlist stored in my mind that cycles through all the songs I’ve learned over the years; I was recently re-singing songs from elementary school choir! X) I first learned Waltzing Matilda in that choir, a song that I have come across quite a few times in my life, and will probably see again in the future.

Anyway.)

Top 3 Shows: Steven Universe, Black Mirror, and Merli.

(I just started watching Merli, actually.  Only seen the first three episodes, but I love it.  It has its roots in Dead Poets Society, which is a film I found to be mediocre b/c the teacher put his “carpe diem” philosophy over . . . y’know, actually teaching the material.  I think Merli balances it (that is, the philosophy of the teacher and the teaching of his class material) better, but it also has REALLY interesting characters--some who are interesting because of their tendency to do the wrong thing [the main character is like this!].  It’s on Netflix; check it out.  Warning for adult content though--this show is not for kids.

@katy-133 & @phanatyy , I feel like you especially would find Merli quite interesting; it’s the jerk Main Charater or Rick and Morty combined with Dead Poets Society.  Merli [the main character] is quite Rick-like, and Bruno [you’ll meet him in the first episode] is kind of this show’s Morty.  Like Rick, Merli drags both Bruno and the philosophy class to some strange, bad, and interesting places.)

Top 3 Characters: Oof.  Remind me to redo my Top 10 Characters list someday.  The characters I like change depending on what I’m personally feeling, though it’s safe to say a few characters I will always love (such as Hogarth from The Iron Giant).  For the sake of not repeating myself, here are 3 characters I’ve really enjoyed recently:

1. Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles.  I recently re-watched the film, and spotted quite a few things I hadn’t noticed when I last re-saw it a few years back.  The emotion of Mr. Incredible’s arc is captured so incredibly well (no pun intended), and I found myself really understanding & empathizing with him in ways I hadn’t before.  I can’t wait until The Incredibles 2.

2. Javier from The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.  Ok, let me say this: Telltale just keeps getting better and better.  I was starting to have doubts after the first episode of TWD: Michonne, but the next two episodes were pretty good (not to mention the cinematic battles and Michonne’s mental struggle--I CRIED AT THE END, OK?!), and Telltale Batman was awesome.  A New Frontier is a great step forward for Telltale.

The narrative design in A New Frontier, not to mention the writing and the expressive facial animation, was great.  I really empathize with Javi, and find him to be an interesting and complex character.  I also find it interesting that he’s showing his nephew, who’s going through puberty, what it means to grow up and “be a man”, which gives more weight to your decisions as a player.  This also gives a new light to things when Clementine enters the narrative: How will she, a stoic loner more than capable of protecting herself, impact your nephew’s life as he grows into adulthood, hoping to be the family protector someday?

Honestly, I really like all the characters in A New Frontier so far--yes, even Conrad, who did a bad thing (won’t say what because of spoilers), but had a complex and understandable reason for doing so.  I’m not saying he was in the right or anything, but I could see him and understand why he did what he did.  The characters in A New Frontier are all beautiful, flawed, and relatable, and Javier is my favorite of the bunch so far.  I can’t wait to play the next few episodes!

3. Merli from . . . well, Merli.  

Let’s be straight: this guy is a total jerk in a lot of ways.  He doesn’t play well with other teachers, and unabashedly says that he favors the students over them (the “who do you really work for” thing in teaching is a whole new can of worms that I won’t open right now.  Different teachers have different stances on it, though). Not to mention he openly disobeys his authority figures and doesn’t seem to have much of a moral compass.   Yikes.

But like I said . . . he’s the Rick of this show.  And if you’ve seen Rick and Morty (like I have.  Still wondering if I should have), you know that Rick may be pretty amoral, and is capable of horrible things, but the writers do a really good job of showcasing his talents and making us empathize with him.  And the writers of Merli have done pretty much the same thing.  There’s a moment at the end of Episode 2 that I really like, which showcases this perfectly.

Plus, the guy who plays Merli does an amazing job.  Especially how he utilizes facial movements--the way he expresses is kind of amazing (actually, all the actors/actresses on this show seem to have this talent, but Francesc Orella [who plays Merli] takes the total cake).  I’d show you a GIF, but apparently Tumblr doesn’t have a Merli GIF of Merli, so here’s a video clip instead that shows scenes from Episode 1.  The show is Catalan; this clip doesn’t seem to have subtitles, though.  Sorry. ^^;

(Side note: I especially like the show’s subtle commentary on the education system with the characters Pol and Joan.  Pol has failed twice in school, and is called a “trouble-maker” by one teacher, but his tendency to ask questions about the material Merli teaches is, to Merli, a very good thing, which improves his standing in the class.  Joan is a very book-smart student who seems to follow the syllabus and do the homework strictly, but he’ll have to do more than that to pass the class--he’ll have to be thoughtful about the material, not just regurgitate answers when prompted.  Merli agrues for a thoughtful classroom that is aware, with things that students will take away for their future, not a classroom of students who only memorize material for grades and then forget it the next year.  This is just what I’ve interpreted from the episodes I’ve seen so far; this was probably not the writer’s intent)

But seriously, if you like Rick and Morty and/or Dead Poets Society even a little bit, you need to watch Merli.  It’s Rick-Lite teaching high-school philosophy as Morty tries not to be too embarrassed by him, with a ton of interesting side characters--I have a hard time choosing my favorite.  Like I said though, warning for adult content.

__________

Thanks for tagging me, @roboticabirdie ! c: Sorry this was so long; I apparently had a lot to say about Merli. ^^; 

I tag: (only if you’d like to do this) @disabledpaladin , @phanatyy , @rosemaryorangelemon , @katy-133 , @somestrangecircus , and anyone else who would enjoy doing this.  (I can’t think of nine people at the moment.)

Have a good one!