#and it works on us the audience as well!

[57sfinest]

calling harry a “can opener” was SUCH a good play for so many reasons i think about it every day.

in the context of his work, it makes him a tool. as many people have pointed out, including martin luiga, part of the hdb tragedy is that he simply cannot leave the force, and his superiors know that and are using it to their advantage. no matter what happens, even if harry hated every nanosecond of every bit of the work and wanted to leave, he can’t and won’t leave. they can leverage anything they want against him and then reel him back in with a facade of kindness when they “allow” him to keep his job, as long as he does what they want him to. the 41st knows he has this inexplicable talent with people and they use him for it. he’s a cop: that talent can be used in so many awful ways, to push so many different agendas. and they won’t even be his own. a can opener has no particular desire to open a can, aside from maybe the satisfaction of fulfilling a purpose. a can opener has no agency, it’s just a tool for someone else to use to get what they want. and he’s learned to be okay with being used as long as it means he gets to stay. his complacency with this system makes him guilty even if he’s also being harmed by it.

but in the context of his personal life you kind of... flip it. the people around him are going to be opened up whether they want to be or not, and it’s terrible for his relationships. it’s shown that the questions, the prying- the can-opening- it’s become inextricable from who he is as a person. it’s like he doesn’t know how else to communicate, except it’s hardly communication when you’re just ripping people open. he’s invasive as all hell, although whether he means to be is debatable. he’s the kind of person that wants to take things apart to see what makes them tick. he dissects people, but really that’s too delicate of a word for what he does; if he doesn’t get what he wants right up front, he’ll abandon all subtlety and go for brute force. if he can’t get your screws loose he’ll just smash you on the ground and pick through your pieces until he’s satisfied, and if what he did to you isn’t fixable? oh well, there are other cans to open. 

and he’ll use it for personal gain: we already know he is (was?) manipulative. once he knows how you operate, he knows how to make you keep him. he can yell or he can cry; he can threaten you or he can threaten himself; he can be completely suffocating or he can withdraw completely; he can be an incorrigible liar or brutally honest; he can present himself as a threat or a joke or a talent. he’s a chimera- that’s why he’s got this inexplicable magnetism, even when people know they shouldn’t like or trust him. fidelity of character means nothing to him. he’ll be whatever he needs to be as long as it gets him what he wants. the can-opening is just his way in.

[drac-kool-aid]

I like how in these past two entries Dracula is just There In the Background.

He's a flying bat, maybe a bird, he's that figure on the seat over there in the distance with the glowing red eyes. This is so different from how he menaced Jonathan (where he was the creepy old man that is Actively Keeping Me Prisoner yet still wants to have nightly chats) or the Demeter crew (where he understand the Nothing is Scarier trope and generally keeps out of sight till the end).

This time, he's just chillaxing in the background because we've had those two instances of different flavors of horror, and now we are thoroughly terrified of him, so just seeing him in the background is enough.

And this kind of tickles me in a weird way because I do so love when you can see the danger. It may not be actively menacing you. In fact, it may be moving away from you. Honestly, you don't even know if it has noticed you, and it's still TERRIFYING.

Like, sure, the idea that the monster is watching you and you not realizing it is scary, but sometimes you watching the monster is worse.

[aquanutart]

Nyaha~! Caught in my electroweb! ♡

[ofthebrownajah]

I do wonder when they're gonna get into "you do not want to be the chosen one" aspect. Cause yes they have shown the madness and what the Aes Sedai want to do to him but we do still have some show onlies thinking being the Dragon is a good heroic figure? Guess I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop in the show where they're like "actually this is more like finding out you're the antichrist."

[dennistakesamentalhealthday]

dennis is an angry character btw im sorry but he is full of rage but that rage is not exclusive his anger does not negate sadness and fragility and insecurities in fact they work together and dtamhd was one of the first times where his anger was not used as a joke via a surface level rage explosion from him but instead explored the fragility of his anger. the way he keeps reassuring the workers he encounters (and himself) that he's not mad. when he tells daisy he's not mad but he is a little bit upset. dennis is angry and that anger is what makes him so fragile. he was upset and it manifested as rage bc he doesnt know what to do with his own sadness

[hotwaterandmilk]

I'm still not well so this isn't going to be articulate, but I wanted to say something anyway.

In the wake of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (amongst other titles) being purged from streaming I've seen countless posts saying "This is terrible, we need to stop this practice -- they might purge a good show next!" and yeah, for sure a lot of titles being impacted by streaming purges/lack of physical media/a decline in archiving right now aren't going to be remembered for changing the world.

However, I think it is vital that we fight to preserve these titles for their own sake not just because "What if next time it's something we actually like?!" There is value is preserving things widely regarded as "bad" not just because I have firm beliefs about the absurdity of taste, but because who gives a shit if something is deemed "good?" Actual human people put their time and energy into realising these artistic visions. Even if the results are arguably not "good" or "popular", should the efforts of these artists be lost to the sands of time? No, no they fucking shouldn't.

I share a lot of art on this blog from titles very few people consider culturally important or valuabe. However, I don't look at the things I collect & share like that. Even some of the most objectively absurd titles I own are still pieces of art that were developed, published, and consumed by humans in the real world. Whether they've turned out to be broadly memorable or not is irrelevant because they existed and that in itself makes them worthy of preservation so that others can choose to familiarise themselves with them long after the original creative team is gone.

So yes, we should all be trying to preserve the media that's important to us and not let corporations try to stamp out every trace of a financial (though not necessarily artistic) misstep. However, it shouldn't take the threat of something we, personally, like being taken away to stir us into giving a shit.

Even the demise of less admired works should concern us and make us start to burn copies of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies because it might not mean anything to you or I right now, but to some kid in 20 years it could be a seminal experience that leads them to follow their dreams. Or it could become a cult classic that people reflect on at watch parties years in the future. Or it could continue to be a footnote in the history of television that nobody really cares about.

Ultimately I don't think it matters what level of value we arbitrarily assign to media now or in the future, we should be trying to preserve as much of it as possible so that generations from now people can enjoy the option of engaging with these titles should they so wish.

[puppyeared]

Atla live action 😐

[james-stark-the-writer]

started watching A Murder At The End of the World and i'm only like 4 minutes in rn but oh my fucking god, they already did the impossible, they made synthesizing a literal audience not only not annoying but actually intriguing and effective. holy shit.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

"And that's what ultimately made him stay and be fond of what used to be Yunmeng Jiang, [...] Jiang Yanli certainly wasn't grand, but kindness is always remembered more personally and why she is so important to Wei Wuxian." finally someone that gets it. I tried to convey that while writing, that he does leave eventually in that universe but that every day he stayed there was because of her and her unwavering kindness.

She wasn't very strong but she was kind in a world that urged her not to be and that's enough strength for me. I believe WWX loved her and that she loved him and that's why she chose to save him in that moment. She was strong then and people keep denying her that.

Hello,anon!

I think there are several factors as to why fandom is very harsh on Jiang Yanli that stem from misogyny. Casual misogyny, internalized misogyny against the gender and the everyday social accepted misogyny that is ingrained in us by what we see from most depictions of women that are counterproductive and outright contradictory in what we should be or tell ourselves we can just be.

Usually kindness and softness are seen as a weakness for women and is mocked as either being too feminine in execution and disdained in nature despite it desperately being something humans really want and crave as natural instinct. Kindness is weak in Jiang Yanli because she does not have the physical clout to uphold the protection wanted doe Wei Wuxian, but Wei Wuxian also never holds that as something she needs to strive for to be a good person. While he values strength he values the kindness in being able to use that talent for other's benefits even more.

He never disparaged the women in the work for their own positions or even judges some of the routes they take for survival because he understands the unfairness in the Jianghu and overarching society they are from that is not kind to idealism, love, kindness, and softness. He thinks it's commendable to live and be able to flourish against that though by trying to stay nurturing and loving.

What draws him inherently is kindness towards the people he befriends and continues to interact with. And also meets that kindness for kindness. MXTX main characters as men wonderfully incorporate what the general confucian gentlemen is expected to be and that does include the idealism of treating women as respectable people which is a usual counterpoint for a traditional practice steeped within misogyny and hypocrisy. There is a very blurred line of praise of men that shows these traits to be masculine while condemned in women from overarching real world politics that are superimposed upon Jiang Yanli.

What is praised in the man, is mocked for the woman. Fascinatingly sad when a simple "why" is asked in terms of what Jiang Yanli did wrong, that is not also mirrored in Lan Wangji her counterpart in caring and loving Wei Wuxian in the same capacity but romantically. Which is the one that usually gets reasonably defended about their actions and said "nothing more could be done by them" and that is usually unanimously agreed upon due to the logic of the world Wei Wuxian was created for?

[sysig]

Some possible* Tala stickers :D (Patreon)

[sskk-manifesto]

Atsushi's back in the game!!! ۶( ˆ o ˆ )

[devilsskettle]

listen to me. tiffany relating to bride of frankenstein (1935) is a subversion of the title of the film bride of chucky because even though she is the titular bride of chucky, it's not the bride who she related to in the movie, it's the original frankenstein monster. she goes to all this trouble to put chucky back together and bring him back to life (like the creature demands to have someone made for him that he can spend his life with) and then she finds out that he never intended to propose to her and laughs at her for assuming that after finding the ring on the mantel the night he died (like the creature is rejected immediately by the bride who is afraid of him), and the shot of her crying while watching the movie is a direct response to the creature's tears in the movie. then at the very end it's the creature's words that she uses when she says "we belong dead." so the assumption that she is moved by the movie because she feels kindred to the bride (just because "bride" is in both titles of the film and they're both women) is incorrect, she's actually aligned with the creature in both scenes that reference bride of frankenstein. and this makes way more sense for her character throughout the film, since as the writers have said she has "more conventional" motivations (such as the desire for love and companionship and understanding, just like the creature) than chucky, who is more "straightforwardly bloodthirsty." hey did you hear me. i said

[caswlw]

the idea that they’re writing the season as they go so they’re seeing the reaction the audience has and that it (even in the smallest way possible) could have an impact on what happens this season (and in future seasons) is so wild to me. not saying that they’re seeing our response and saying “oh that sounds good, totally writing that in,” but it’s not impossible to say that they will see what the people want, realize the best way to generate buzz and excitement and increased viewership is to keep your fans happy, and then actually do something about it instead of killing characters/storylines just for kicks

911 has the opportunity to be that bitch even more than it already is and they shouldn’t squander it while they’re on top

[azulock]

My boyfriend was asking me how long I still think the blue lock manga has to go, I told him they'll probably still have a u-20 world cup tournament arc after this one, I also explained what's happening in this arc. This in turn led me to have to explain that, if I go about it realistically, the blue lock project isn't preparing these boys for SHIT.

Like why no penalties??? This is one of the most nerve wrecking moments in football, they need to get used to that. Also stick some screens and a fake audience in there, Japanese people may watch football silently but the rest of the world doesn't, these kids are gonna discover so many new slurs, an angry enough audience can break a whole team's mind. And hit up the sprinklers or turn off the ac, these guys gonna have to play in adverse weather at some point.

Anyway I know the reason is this is a shonen manga, he gotta spice shit up, but I tell you penalty shootouts are spicy enough. Anyways, who I think would survive penalties: Shidou, Barou and Kunigami, and only because they are all the right type of crazy.

[lonestardust]

[feliciadraws]

Hot take but instead of CGI, anime should go back to more retro style animation, like we should totally bring back bold, dynamic animation and imitation cel-shading and bold outlines and rich details and unique designs because that’s what the modern anime scene needs more of and I just know that retro style animation would look absolutely amazing with modern technology