#even more than the usual ‘i think i will root for the underdog’ kind of way

[marisatomay]

ok i know absolutely nothing about baseball (i’m the same anon that asked about baseball a few days ago) so why is the phillies being in the world series such a HUGE deal?

okay so we won the wildcard slot in the playoffs this year which in layman’s terms means our attendance in the post season was already on shaky ground and almost shocking because we were honestly shit this year in the philly way (constantly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, giving us all ulcers) and only won 87 games in the regular season (compare to the astros 108 wins) and all of the stats said that we would be eviscerated in the first round of the playoffs and we were like “that’s fine we’re just happy to be here :)” because we truly have had such a miserable year that it was nice to just be included for once but instead we beat the cardinals and then we beat the braves (the team with the best record) and then we beat the padres and none of the series were really that close. and now we’re not “just happy to be here.” now we’re fucking hungry. it’s been 14 long years since we last won a world series and we’re absolutely starving. and it’s so clear that the other teams and the national announcers and commentators cannot believe our scrappy mutt of a rabid rescue team dares to be here but here we are. in the world series. after 13 years since our last appearance and 11 years since we were just in contention for a league pennant. and we won the first game of the series tonight. in houston. in extra innings. after coming back from an ulcer-inducing 5 run deficit. go phils.

[the-art-of-sanshoku]

Manga Recommendations from Things I Read in 2023

I wanted to make an end of the year post highlighting things I read last year and want others to know about! I tried focusing on manga that don't have anime adaptions (although a few of these are getting ones soon) and covering a variety of genres. Anyway, let's get right into it with:

Ikoku Nikki (Tomoko Yamashita)

Status: Complete, 54 Chapters, unlicensed - complete fan translation (Note: When I say something is licensed or not this only refers to having an English release.)

Genre: Josei, SOL, Drama

Synopsis: After the loss of her parents, 15 year old Asa finds herself in the custody of her aunt Makio Koudai. Makio, the introverted novelist, has no experience with children but will do what she can for Asa.

While this isn’t an ordered list I will start with what is probably my favorite manga I read this year. Ikoku Nikki is a very cathartic read for me as there are a lot of adult characters who are just trying to figure things out (although this also applies to the teen characters, but it’s just more relatable with the characters closer to my age). Figuring out how to like yourself even when you don’t fit to society's “norms”, figuring out how to process traumas from growing up that still affect you well into your 20s and 30s and beyond, figuring out how to love others, figuring out who “you” even are.  And it’s written and worded so lovely and deliberately that sometimes it says something and just puts into words a feeling you’ve had for forever but were never able to express and all of a sudden it just makes sense.

The cast is diverse and I think everyone can find someone to relate to. There are neurodiverse characters, and characters that widely spread the LGBTQIA + spectrum. But they don’t feel trope-y or anything, they’re just well fleshed out and well realized people. Ikoku Nikki just has a very “understanding” vibe that is just comforting to read and be seen by media. In a way it was a little of a life changing (life affirming?) read for me and I highly recommend it to anyone, and I pray it gets an official English release in the future so I can add it to my collection and support the author properly.

Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyou Bugeisha Ketteisen (Yousuke Nakamaru & Kyoutarou Azuma)

Status: Releasing, 32 Chapters, unlicensed - ongoing fan translation

Genre: Action, Battle Royale, Seinen

Synopsis: 16 historical figures participate in a grandiose tournament of 1v1 battles to determine Nobunaga’s successor

On the opposite end of the manga spectrum we have Tenkaichi, which is just a very fun read. And sometimes I feel kind of crazy how little I’ve seen this talked about online by anyone, as it’s a super quality battle manga. It feels like a manga written by battle manga lovers for battle manga lovers, and in the author’s notes you can see this to be true. They love unpredictable battles with over the top powers and larger than life characters and they deliver. Tenkaichi lacks a “main character” so every fight feels like either side could win and I have even been surprised by a few outcomes of the battles. And even without a main character, the characters that exist are just super cool and easy to pick one to root for. They also usually become a bit more fleshed out via backstories so they’re not super shallow either. The art, paneling, and character designs are also really good, if you like fighting manga at all check this out.

Medalist (Ikada Tsuruma)

Status: Releasing, 36 Chapters, licensed 

Genre: Sports, Drama, Seinen

Synopsis: A cinnamon roll coach and his cinnamon roll student aim to make her a gold medalist level skater

Medalist is a classic underdog story that is really elevated by its superb main characters and art. Inori and Tsukasa are a very silly and endearing duo, but are also incredibly dedicated and hardworking that make them impossible not to root for. Their relationship and belief in each other really forms the core of the manga. The art can be really funny with silly faces, but also really intense and beautiful to capture the figure skating and emotions of the skaters pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into their work. Each competition feels really thrilling and has you on the edge of your seat, and it does a good job of getting into the specifics of the scoring so you can follow along. It’s inspirational in the way that great sports manga are, it just makes you want to work hard to become someone you can be proud of.

Souboutei Kowasubeshi (Kazuhiro Fujita)

Status: Complete, 250 Chapters, unlicensed - complete fan translation

Genre: Supernatural, Horror, Action, Shounen

Synopsis: A lovecraftian mansion poses a threat to Japan. To handle this, a team of supernatural/paranormal/spiritual experts are sent in along with - a scrungly artist?

Kazuhiro Fujita is a mangaka that I feel is super underrated in the west. Despite getting anime adaptations of 2 of his works in Ushio to Tora and Karakuri Circus (although the Karakuri adaption was not the best unfortunately), I feel that these were overlooked and he doesn’t really get talked about. Which is a shame because I think he’s a really great mangaka. He’s been around since the 90’s, and you can tell through his artstyle and storytelling style. Despite Souboutei coming out in 2016 it still feels very old school shounen, but this isn’t a bad thing at all. Fujita’s manga are full of heart and his artwork really exaggerates faces and body language to communicate the character’s feelings. I like his manga a lot because from the start it will often tell you “the big bad” and the whole manga will build up this antagonist until a satisfying end and climax. It doesn’t introduce new threats, or powerscale indefinitely, or pad its runtime with unnecessary filler, it starts - brings you through an emotional rollercoaster of twists and turns - and then ends.

Souboutei is no different in this regard. It builds and builds on the primary antagonist (in this case the mansion of Souboutei) and its mysteries to make a journey full of intrigue where you want to keep turning the page to find out more. The mansion is also a great setting that becomes a character in its own right, a twisting labyrinth full of malice and various horrors. Fujita also always makes a unique cast of characters with varied motivations, ages, character designs, and abilities that make each memorable and likeable. Fujita also likes to make every little detail count and sometimes add to the main plot where you least expect. Being a shounen there’s also plenty of action, and his battles feel creative and the abilities are inventive to make for some exciting fights. Souboutei has a bonus for the main character being an artist and having large themes on passion and creation and “what is art” that gave me an extra layer of enjoyment. Also it must be said that Sakamaki Deido would totally be a hit as a tumblr sexyman if this manga had any fanbase at all. But whether you read Souboutei or one of his other works, I hope you give Fujita a try.

Rojica to Rakkasei (Kinome)

Status: Complete, 25 Chapters, unlicensed - has complete fan translation

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, SOL, Seinen

Synopsis: The titular characters Rojica and Rakka spend wacky days in their wacky world.

Rojica to Rakkasei is a breath of fresh air with a fantasy world that’s just plain weird and unique. A lot of manga fantasy lately feel like derivative goblins and dragons and slimes type worlds in medieval european-esque settings. Not Rojica though, it kind of feels almost like surreal and absurdist manga, but doesn’t go quite that far so it’s easier to follow as a series of episodic adventures. It’s a short, creative read that I enjoyed from start to finish. 

Witch Hat Atelier (Kamome Shirahama)

Status: Releasing, 74 Chapters, licensed

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Drama, SOL, Seinen

Synopsis: In this world there are people born as witches who can wield magic to help others. Or at least that’s what the world is made to think. After one fateful day, ordinary girl Coco, will learn the truth behind magic and become a witch apprentice.

Speaking of refreshing fantasy worlds, Witch Hat Atelier is a wonderful manga with great worldbuilding and setting. The “magic system” used in the manga is unique and feels very naturally woven into the world and society. This magic is harshly regulated and has many rules of its use, but Witch Hat Atelier lives by the creed “restrictions breed creativity” to create interesting solutions to difficult scenarios. The characters are delightful, focusing more on a younger cast of aspiring and bright girls who aim to become witches proper. Their struggles to make a magic unique to them and find their own voice in society make them a relatable bunch. Kamome Shirahama’s artsyle and paneling is also to die for, I love just looking at this manga. This manga isn’t all just school life and rainbows though, there’s a dark undercurrent to the story in the form of the antagonists the “Brim Hats” that bring some extra excitement and thrill to the story as well.  Just a brilliant manga. Also the only manga with my little meow meow Qifrey

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Uoto)

Status: Complete, 62 Chapters, recently licensed

Genre: Historical, Drama, Seinen

Synopsis: We’re studying heliocentrism! But it’s the 1400s…

A manga that really touched me on its themes of legacy, and passing knowledge down to new generations. This manga focuses on the secret studies of those who look at the stars and dare to challenge the current knowledge of the world. It takes place in Poland, which is a rather unique setting, in the 1400s. The constant threat of the inquisitors is felt at all times and our characters are left to question if this pursuit of knowledge is worth the weight of risk. What is the worth of my life? What is my purpose? What does it mean to be fulfilled? Philosophical, romantic (in a literary sense), and profound, this manga stands out among the crowd.

Futari Ashita mo Sorenari ni (Suzuyuki)

Status: Complete, 87 Chapters, recently licensed

Genre: Romance, Comedy, SOL, Seinen

Synopsis: Long term couple moves in together - fluff ensues

This is likely my favorite romance manga as it is one of the few to depict fluffy domestic life with your partner. Finding manga that deal with established relationships can be hard, but to find one about a healthy romance where the characters just live together and love each other and feel like adults and not the blushy “oooh she h-hh-holding my hand??” teenager mentality is a super fresh and nice thing to read (although I like those kinds of romances too, it’s just a bit oversaturated of a market comparatively). It’s a feel good romcom SOL with pretty much zero drama which some people may not like, but it had me grinning from ear to ear like a madman the whole time. If you like cute domestic fluff it’s a must read. Doesn’t overstay its welcome and has a great ending.

I have some more manga I want to talk about, but this post is pretty long so there will maybe be a part 2 ^.^

[langernameohnebedeutung]

a thing worth noting that with the examples the reblogger gave about "female obsessive characters" is that when it is a female character that's obsessed with boys or men it is almost always played as either a joke or meant to be seen as dangerous and creepy - usually both. All the "boycrazy" female characters in the example are meant to be seen as antagonists and/or comic relief, and we know the classic trope of the "maneater". Meanwhile when a male character is "girlcrazy" and behaves in a similar way as the girl characters more often than not he is meant to be seen as an underdog, an aspiration, a guy who is "maybe overdoing it a little" but who you are meant to root for anyways. Take for example the guy in Love, Actually whose only character trait is wanting to sleep with as many women as possible and whose sole goal in the movie was trying to get to US america bc "it is full of hot babes" and who you are clearly meant to root for when he immediately gets flirted with by not one but three "horny sex manic" women at the same time (all of whom he ends up sleeping with at the same time) as soon as he arrives there. The only times I can think of something like that happening to a "boycrazy" female character and being meant as a positive thing may be romance movies targeted at a female audience already, while male characters like that can be found in almost every movie or show there is

That is a good point - usually, the joke is that the woman is being "hysteric/insane/axe-crazy" like the character I think they mentioned from Fairly Odd Parents but not really someone you should sympathise with like we are expected to with the Big Bang Theory guys. Plus, there is also a lot of attractiveness-based dehumanisation happening there. (In fact, ironically, Barney Stinson even directly says this in an episode, describing women on an acceptable hot to crazy ratio)

Plus, I also think it's important to consider that a lot of the bias against women is expressed in a misogynistic, patriarchal framework, not an egalitarian one. Obviously, our point of view (I hope) would be to look at the action that was committed and evaluate the moral implication of that action, regardless of gender. To say: "This Action is bad and you shouldn't treat anyone like that, no matter what gender you are or they are". But 2000s sitcoms do NOT operate based on that standard of morality (hell no, that's kind of the issue here).

(in fact, a lot of media still doesn't do this, that's why movies constantly have those scenes about women slapping their boyfriends which make me want to rip my own hair out. Which is a good example of why this isn't simply a dynamic of 'women are allowed stuff and men aren't': It's a complex interplay of various aspects of heteronormative culture and patriarchal tradition. Most of these movies are made by men. And these men certainly are not some dedicated feminists, otherwise they wouldn't portray (and treat) women like they do. Hollywood certainly doesn't historically or culturally come from a feminist perspective of "abuse is abuse, regardless of gender" and they are certainly not those evul, conniving misandrist manhaters that the right likes to imagine going: "I think physical abuse is okay when a woman does it, so I will portray her slapping around men" (in fact, the right rarely takes offence to these things UNLESS it is to silence conversations about misogyny in media)

The truth is: A lot of writers who write these tropes simply do not consider it abuse. We talked about why they excuse it in men like Barney Stinson (usually by focusing on the men's side of things and using the female characters as props) but that's not how it works for female characters. In fact, the men getting slapped around ARE characters whose interior workings the movie or show addresses. And we are not supposed to find either more or less sympathetic for this. If these writers came from the perspective "this action is bad, regardless of who does it", why would they make light of their lead characters suffering physical domestic abuse? Why would they still treat the woman like a viable love-interest (and her action as justified when they would never portray it vice-versa?) Even make it a punchline? - The reason is that they come from a place where a) women are by nature ineffective creatures for better or worse and b) that a manly Man-Man(TM) cannot be hurt by a woman through the same action through which he might hurt a woman. Because of Man Strong and Woman Weak. A male character who genuinely reacts to being slapped is portrayed as being whiny and weak.)

And I think if we look at the issue in that context, we realise there is in fact (back to the original point of my post) a lot of predatory (or perceived as predatory) behaviour that female characters are criticised for by the narrative that don't really play a role for a male character - BUT: It's usually not about getting The Sex.

The patriarchal, heteronormative narrative is that a) "men always want sex" and b) sex is a resource that women possess and must be "convinced" to give to men (and the more Manly Points you have, the more easily women will drop that sex-loot for you.) - that, on top of the 'women are ineffective' theme is why there are so few shows genuinely judging male and female characters the same just based on their actions. That is the reason why a lot of the time when a (conventionally attractive! of course!) female character commits what is basically sexual assault against a male character, that man is portrayed as happy about it in the end (especially when it's about scenes where he loses his "virginity") - it's because the patriarchal reading of this situation, fucked up as it is, is "she gave him a gift". (She is only treated as predatory if he finds out that he doesn't consider her attractive later) This is also the reason why a lot of men feel more attacked by something like the Barbie movie than all those classic sitcom tropes of men being slapped by their girlfriends - because for them, one of those upholds their worldview of Man = Strong / Woman = Weak and one challenges it. And the one that challenges that view is not the one where a woman slaps a man).

A lot of the time, when movies and shows conceived in this patriarchal framework actually want to portray women as predatory, they (unsurprisingly) also conceive predatory behaviour (in women) in the same patriarchal framework - or rather, their patriarchal framework informs them of what kind of behaviour is predatory in women - something that is usually informed by real-life misogynistic stereotypes and narratives - like the femme fatale, the succubus, the maneater, the vampire).

[that-thing-that-feeling]

So Shawn really said he related to Steve the most. Interesting.

What I find funny is that there’s still certain subsets of stans that genuinely act like Jonathan is nothing but a self-insert and is therefore just SO privileged as a character… when he’s literally one of the most sidelined and underwritten mains of the show. While Steve gets like so much screentime in comparison and a lion’s share of the marketing and content and recognition.

Like you’re telling me that Jonathan “gets antagonized every season and not listed on the Netflix tudum” Byers is the obvious Creator’s Pet and not Steve “gets his own Wikipedia page and a massive ‘protect Steve’ billboard” Harrington isn’t. I wasnt even a stan of anyone, let alone a Jonathan stan, starting the series five years ago but I still noticed this disparity in treatment. Lol

I have loved and enjoyed Steve as a character where he fits in the show, but the cognitive dissonance from his fans is so annoying. Even if he’s as prone to poor and shallow writing as much as the rest of the mains (and I feel for him just as much as the others in that sense), he still has it easier than half the main characters, maybe more, and he likely always will.

Which is fine and dandy, but makes it all the more obnoxious when I see people who would throw other characters under the bus to always put him in the better light no matter what, or people who act like Steve is just SO hated by the writers—at least the writers remember him as a character. Jonathan is what, hanging on by the skin of his teeth? Considering his most lauded moment of the season was apparently only conjured as a lucky afterthought of the writers in the middle of filming.

If you ask me, Steve seems like he’s one of the most traditionally heroic-protagonist type of characters and treated as such outside the show. He is set up perfectly for escapism, he’s given all these fanservicey and heroic moments, and for that I can understand why people are led to root for Steve (the writers even admitted writing S2 Nancy this way, to boot) and hell, I would go so far as to say they want to be Steve.

But then you have the Byers, who especially in S1, feel rooted in the kinds of realistic and depressing situations people would want to escape from, even if you take away all the supernatural elements. And you’d think they’re just as subject to the same “underdog” treatment that Steve gets, but then you get people—in 2023, mind you—who are antagonizing them (which reeks of classism btw; “Joyce is a bad mom compared to Karen”, “Jonathan is selfish for worrying about his college issues and just wants a sympathy card lying to Nancy”, “Will is too much of a crybaby who hasnt been through as much as X person”) coupled with the way they are sidelined in the show. Just annoying treatment all around. I do hope S5 fares better compared to the past two seasons, but most of my expectations are on the wrapping up of the supernatural plot at this point.

Yeah the whole Jonathan as a self insert thing makes little sense when they’ve totally underwritten and sidelined him; it’s always a way people try to hate on Jonathan as a character for shipping reasons usually.

And agreed there’s a clear disparity in how Steve is treated and given heroic moments and a lot of screentime. But I still think his writing isn’t as good as it should have been bc once they landed on the popular thing with him, they backed away from all other layers (note this interview from between s2 and s3):

Also a lot of their sympathy/empathy in s2 is all around him and they clearly see him as a victim (of Nancy smh, of “circumstance”???) and have tried to erase his privilege:

Here’s the original thing on Shawn being like Steve and the Duffers relating to Mike (from July 2016, and idk why there’s weird formatting):

The irony though that Shawn talks about Jonathan and Steve co-existing and collaborating (like Shawn and the Duffers?) and then Jonathan and Steve basically never spoke again SMH

I also agree with you w the Byers and classicism; you def see that with fans in how they view them and I wonder w the sidelining on the show. Anyhow it’s baffling to have so sidelined the Byers. I think it’s as they moved away from more realism into what was just funny and popular and memeable.

[muted5ilence]

Do you wonder if the rising prices and shitty economic and political and societal and environmental stuff as a whole is kind of just to do

Erm

I dont know terms well enough, but…

Weaken everyone who can’t afford it so only the elite few survive selfishly?

If you are weak you will eventually die off

If you are weak you wouldn’t be able to fight back

But this is why a bundle of sticks is so strong compaeed to a single stick.

But they’re making sure that bundles cant form. And even if we could, they use growing technology and destroying those sticks from the inside out to ensure those bundles can be broken. Every time. Without fail.

The longer it goes on, one of two things happens. One day these twigs will finally piece themselves together, and be able to overpower the technology that breaks them repeatedly

Or they all die, rot in the ground, to be consumed by the fungi and such that take the decay to keep themselves and their interconnected web alive.

Like the whole deal with capitalism at this point (which is why I’ve liked other ideals a little more when its combined for the BETTER) is that you take advantage of others for your own gain. Be unique enough to be successful to survive, but be smart enough to abuse those that are not smart enough. Eventually it perpetuates a cycle of stupider and stupider people, weaker and weaker, more compliant and complacent. That’s what work has always been, afterall. Which is what school was meant to teach. It teaches you to be compliant, to obey, to work and toil away with your life for meaningless grades until you die. The teachers dont benefit much beyond their meager pay. Students dont benefit because the system actively DENIES what they need to learn to FUNCTION. The only beneficiaries are the ones above ALL of them. The government and corporate entities that feed off of those stupid drones. Teachers, like many workers, are NOT paid enough to actually care, and are stuck being unable to do anything. If they tried to change things or speak out or do anything that might be considered manipulating the kids to believe smth specific, anything to get people to care, they could get fired and lose their lifeline. So they’re stuck in complying in order to survive.

This should not be how a society functions EVER, but it’s the BARE BONES ENDLESS CYCLE. Wars, revolution, etc etc. Every dystopia has this. I am reminded of the promised neverland.

We shouldn’t have to feel like we need to fight back against oppressors. You always root for the underdog because that’s literally how it works in society anyways.

I’m getting mixed up in my train of thought, hard to focus, but my point still stands. Flowers blooming in antarctica had made me break down over life. I want to die but I know I can’t. I can’t kill myself or let myself die. I care too much, I think. I can’t really tell inside my head, but I think some part of me (could be survival instinct, could be smth else) is just too stubborn. I can’t NOT have hope for the future!!! I can’t!!

I can’t stop myself from hoping things will be okay in the end, which is the only reason I can’t die. Because I need to live to see better days again. Despite the objective fact that there may never be better days in all senses.

Society sucks because people are just… selfish, close-minded, and disrespectful? Like in general? All things that have likely been cultivated BY the whole capitalist system.

Politics sucks because it became capitalist. And considering the whole Palestine genocide, I am pretty sure that capitalism is just as bad if not worse than communism at this point. Could be fascism but like I said before, I’m not great with terms. But its colonialism, too. Politics sucks because it’s ran by the elderly usually, or by idiots. I stand by statements I’ve made that experts should be the ones in charge. People who have done the research, have the knowledge, who care about it actively and always, SHOULD BE THE ONES IN CHARGE OF THOSE THINGS.

It kinda bleeds into the whole mental health issues that happen, because you have people who aren’t professionals saying that people dont have any issues. Inherently, those people must have issues of their own. But they have to be out of touch or selfish or close minded (which ig is related to out of touch) BUT ESPECIALLY disrespectful to do such things. And the only ones who can actively make things RIGHT with the people who HAVE the problems, say it with me… ARE PROFESSIONALS!!

Professionals, being people who were interested in the topic, did the research, learned the skills and have the knowledge, and actively care.

You are not a professional if you do not care. Then it’s just a profession. You are simply a worker at that point.

We are led by idiots. Not professionals. Perhaps professional politicians. But that just means professionals at looking good and appealing to others. Professional actors. Actors should not get that seat of power. You cannot act your way out of your genuine beliefs and behaviors—or even lack thereof. The fate of society should NOT be determined by a popularity contest, but even in school that’s promoted!!

I stand by my belief. Professionals in the specific fields of study should be in charge, and not the ones who haven’t done the research or put in enough work (like they insist the newer generations should do). This is an idealized and general series of statements from someone who doesn’t have in-depth knowledge of language: Historians should probably be in office in the way that they could be advisors. They know what has happened, how it happened, how it affects things, and how it should be avoided. Economists should probably be the ones in charge of how the economy goes, even though I’m sure they work more like commentators. I think just in general that a whole advisory council should be made of professionals. And you need someone who knows how to listen and critically think, who cares about society as a whole, to run the country if we follow a similar structure. Traditional checks and balances are not working!!!

I was told by my U.S. History teacher, a male history teacher that I enjoyed for the time I had him (before covid hit): Normal people should be running this country. But they wouldn’t want to.

It’s so fucking true, too. But like… have a council. Of professionals. Professionals IMPLYING that they care. Not workers. Workers leads to compliance, complacency. To a damn salary.

Have people who actively research things and always want to learn and keep up with those specific things, be in charge of those things!! They know more! And it should be because they fucking CARE!

If you want this stupid structure to work, with a president, then a qualifier should NOT be age. Obviously boomers are fucking stupid anyways at this point because they’re out of touch, stuck in the past. You need an open-minded individual, who actually has a heart, that can make the right decisions! Especially in times of crisis.

Please. Let it be that people who are stronger than I am are able to fight for these things. Fight for the good causes.

I’m not mentally, physically, nor emotionally strong enough for this. I’ve been sheltered. I’m cursed with so many mental issues from trauma and abuse and likely the ways my brain wouldve been structured anyways. I could never progress at the fast pace that is expected. And I am not strong enough to fight like I wish I could.

I am simply a dreamer. Someone that has been left isolated for so long that I can only think. About nothing, about everything. And I wish I could lose hope, that I could kill myself, but I can’t. I’m a coward, always have been. I could never set myself free in rebellion to fight. I would get killed by someone sent to do so. And you would lose another human life. Insignificant only when you consider humans as stock, a number in a category. But every individual matters, I promise you. I don’t do much, but I’d like to be a person who supplies hope.

(Seriousness aside, I’ve literally been called an “emotional support creature /aff”, and a “perfect friend”, so I am completely fine with this support role.)

Please… Let there be people who can understand such messages, and who are stronger than me. Because power has always mattered in societies. Don’t let money = power in the end. Money can change, because that’s what is valued in exchange. It’s all bartering. Please, do not let cotton and paper have a higher value than that of human lives. Houses have a higher value than human lives do in the current economic state. The VALUE placed on HUMANS and THEIR POTENTIAL should NOT be LESS than that of the OBJECTS MADE BY HUMANS

Break this system down. Make it bad for business if thats what they care about. And once one thing ends, dont stop. Keep forcing their hand. Make sure that the corrupt system used to overpower us is unable to do so. If you recognize they are making advancements to increase force used, I see no reason that we couldn’t do the same. Dont play games. Its not a game. It’s life. They will see it as a game because they are winning, they made the little game with a handicap in thei favor. Turn the tables. Treat them like a game. Show them it’s more than that. Show them that it is good to care. That they dont care, and they should.

Ideally no mass self-destruction lmao, ik they need workers to supply themselves and we are the workers, so dying would mean no more supply, but they have technology on their side as time goes on, so they still dont care.

You have to make sure they CARE. CARE can do good.

Have hope for a better future where people care. Dont stop caring. If you stop caring, you comply. If you comply, you die. Hope fosters care. Have hope. If you lose hope, you cant care, and that is quite literally why suicide rates get so high, isn’t it? A hopeless situation?

That is my message. My belief. And I have certain beliefs I will always hold. They are what keep me from killing myself, afterall.

Let Hope foster Care to work with Action to bring Change.

Its the ideal family system (/hj).

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Nimona was good! There are changes from the graphic novel but I think it worked really well for the movie for the most part? Like, the changes are made so that the messages can be delivered in a single movie with less than 2 hours of run time (not to mention animated films are usually marketed as family friendly films, so the tone has to be tweaked as well.)

I love the original graphic novel and i think i still slightly prefer it, but the movie does a good job to communicate its themes of how everyone deserves to be seen, even if they are “different” from others and even if you can’t understand them 100%, and how the people in power can let fear of the Other corrupt them into being the real monsters. I think the trans themes come through a little more strongly in the movie iteration, and i think the tweaks are more relevant to the current social landscape. The animation and voice acting is also top tier, and it’s just a joy to watch!

now, I do think making the knights be descendants of knights/nobles from Gloreth’s time—with Goldenloin being a direct descendant of her—kinda flattens the themes about oppression into an Us vs Them situation. I think it’s almost scarier that the Institution would pick up (snatch up) orphans or coerce poor families into giving up their kids to the Institution to be reared as their enforcers, because it drives home the idea that the ones in power will 1) exploit people who are powerless and use them to perpetuate the unjust system, and 2) create arbitrary scarcity for favors (e.g. only X number of people can be knights etc) so that they can turn people against each other and weed out the ones who don’t blindly obey their orders. By making the knights all nobles (aside from Ballister), it sort of makes the conflict less nuanced? But since the movie only has a limited amount of time to get the conflict across, I can understand why they introduced that element since it’s easy to understand (though i really wish they did more with the classism, if it’s such a prominent part of the sertting in the movie.)

(re:Ballister’s status as the lone commoner, i get that he needed to be an outsider, and “underprivileged underdog vs smug rich assholes” would instantly signal that he’s the one we should be rooting for... I just wish it was more nuanced than that.)

I had also hoped they did more interesting things with Goldenloin being a direct descendant of Gloreth, especially since Nimona herself has a connection with Gloreth in the movie... but Goldenloin’s ancestry is mostly used as a shorthand to show how he’s Mr. Popular in-universe. I feel like his family background didn’t really have a significant impact in the film—if the scroll came from Goldenloin’s family archives instead of the Director, or if he had some vague prior knowledge about Nimona/”the monster” due to his family connection (which could either support or contradict the Director’s story, depending on where the plot needed to go), i think his background in the movie would’ve been utilized better.

(I do like that there’s a hint of resentment from him having to carry the burden of Gloreth’s legacy in his internal monologue, but the movie never really circles back to that, so... it kinda feels like they raised a point and then kind of didn’t do anything with it

also I know they made Goldenloin have short hair because of animation and budget concerns (plus whatever other reasons), but like... how cool would it have been to have him physically resemble the Gloreth statue. It’d make the point (if there was actually a point) about being forced to carry a family legacy he didn’t really want come across clearer, and it’d be more impactful to drive home that people only see Gloreth when they look at Goldenloin etc etc. Commentary about how institutionalized oppression may also constrain those within the system etc)

tl;dr: Nimona movie good! There were some stuff that I liked better in the graphic novel, but over all the main message from the comics was preserved and delivered well, and the tweaks made sense for the movie. I think I still prefer the graphic novel because some of the particular character dynamics/character backgrounds were more compelling for me, but the movie is A LOT OF FUN and also REALLY BEAUTIFUL

[vulpiximisa]

gunjou no fanfare review

I really wanted to like it. It’s horse boys. I like horses. It looked like there was thought and care put into it with big names like sawano and oreimo guy and joi (jay oh won and not Joy-ee).  

I was not expecting the BL vibes from the first episode. I wonder if that turned off a lot of the viewers. I mean I definitely wasn’t expecting it from this sort of thing. I don’t know the producers/writers enough to know if the LGBT thing is legit or not. But I don’t trust like that.

Ngl I was expecting more from Yu. He’s kinda boring. Yeah the backstory is interesting to see him go through the change from being an idol to something totally unrelated and having to face the backlash of it. Unfortunately he’s not very interesting personality wise. He’s kind of just A Guy. Not really even an endearing one. Iunno, he hadn’t really done anything that stood out to me. I was waiting the entire series to see what captivated him about horse racing that he dropped his idol career for. I was thinking something about the spiritual horse visions or whatever that he would sometimes see, but it didn’t really add up for me. I just didn’t get it. 

I guess that final race with Shun showed what he always saw when he was horse racing? Was that it? I guess it went over my head. And I guess CEO was his adoptive mother that she groomed him into idol-ing so it was just him growing up and being his own person that he chose to do horse racing.

Anyway next chara, Star girl horse boy jockey Manami Shun. I didn’t like him at first because he came off as the natural prodigy kind (which he was and I dont care for those kind of charas). I liked him more when he went through the kisuke arc. Only because I enjoyed seeing someone who’s usually all smiles finally cry and break down. I’m… not totally surprised that he chose not to stay a jockey. He really didn’t feel like the competitive type and more of the whimsical Horse Boy type. 

Other characters uh… Eri Is There. The fact that they had a staple girl but didn’t do much with her other than to say She Is The Girl. Rip.

I liked Aki’s reveal because after Amane came in, I was like we can’t have Two antagonists being mean to Yu at the same time can we? but it was for different reasons and it was great. Theres not much else with his chara tho other than being the red haired hothead osakan, because of course he is. 

Hayato’s character arc was the best. I wish we got a little more on him and his friend but most of their backstory was through their word of mouth. I don’t really care about his friend though. Real BL hints dropped in that last ep. (HAYATO PONYTAIL IM GONE!!!!!!!)

 Kota was my favorite and I honestly think it might have been more interesting if he was the main chara just because he was an underdog type of chara. Lol maybe I just want my MCs to be a nervous wreck and a noob and I want to see them climb up. (i was rooting for Amane/kota, but I’m sorry nobody could handle my big brain) I can’t say that I didn’t like his growth because I’m proud of him, but he’s just a side chara at the end of the day. rip

Amane was fun but he didn’t really do much. He was supposed to be the Punkass rival but huh? Hanae’s English isn’t the worst but I kinda wish they got someone with better English to voice him. Kind of breaks the immersion sometimes. (Him and sakurai sensei having the English off was funny ngl)

Like can I even call this a sports anime? I don’t really even feel it? Like maybe if there was like, a chara from a rival school and they’d like “let’s meet on the track” kind of thing. I think if we got them racing each other like in the last few episodes earlier I might have thought it was more sporty but I understand if they want it to be realistic and can’t jump right to riding horses without all the build up.

The horse racing world just feels very Adult. Which is maybe why the series is about Adolescence and seeing the jockeys grow up. There were definitely a lot of time skips and they felt a little older when they were doing their internships. The little fake out in the beginning of the last ep gave me real Yuru Camp vibes lol. I love timeskips so I kind of wish we actually got to see it that way. 

How do I feel about the BL “bait”. Like, I don’t know the creators intentions, like, Can I Say that they meant to write Yu and Shun as intertwined souls? Yeah, definitely. It could be LGBT friendly without making the homophobes too mad I guess. Like the way Run With the Wind did it, I guess. But I think Yu and Shun had a little more soft scenes that I’m fine with it. I guess.

Kinda mad that Yu got Shun’s horse whispering powers though. I mean, I get it, in that way that its like “Shun as a jockey is dead but Shun wants Yu to take him with him as he rides horses” or something. 

Also, not really sure what the ghost horse on the right trail symbolizes? The path to jockeyness? Because Yu takes it when he can but Hayato doesn’t see it, and Shun chooses not to go that path. Yeah something like that I guess.

Uhhhh all in all, that… certainly was a show. I guess I was expecting something a little more wholesome because horses were involved? Even though that makes no sense because horses are delicate and stupid creatures apparently. The whole horse racing as a sport feels gross to me though, because I always get those “middle age old men smoking and betting all their money” vibes from it. 

[atarahderek]

Function Pairs and What They Share

According to Carl Jung, the cognitive functions never act alone, but rather in complementary pairs. Perceiving functions act alongside their opposing function of opposing orientation, and so do Judging functions. So even when you're actively using your dominant function, its complement is always right there, supporting it (and sometimes nagging and distracting it). Of course, this can only mean that the function pairs must share something other than class. What common goal do they pursue? What common interests do they have? After much consideration, I believe I've figured it out.

Extroverted Sensing and introverted iNtuition

Se is the function of the here and now. It likes to stop and smell the flowers. It lives for the moment. It's interested in self-gratification. Meanwhile, Ni is a very focused function. It has a series of short term goals that it uses to build to a long term goal, or just a steady future in general. It thrives on accomplishment. Both of these functions are very closely tied to the reward center of the brain. Both pursue gratification, albeit usually different kinds and in different ways. But neither likes to delay gratification for too long. Both of these functions can lead to a depressed state when left unfulfilled. This is how they work well together, to achieve the same goal of getting those rewarding endorphins.

Se/Ni - Reward motivated

Extroverted iNtuition and introverted Sensing

Ne is the function of imagination and possibility. It likes to take a good look at the big picture, then hone in on the details. It likes to keep its options open, and prefers to envision the distant future and the grander goal. Si is the function of nostalgia, memory and pattern recognition. It prefers to act on precedent. It looks for the best route forward based on the route that it has already taken, and that others have taken before it. Both of these functions love puzzles--and not just the jigsaw kind (that's more Ne's area of expertise). They love to explore together and find new ways forward based on what they learn from the good ol' days. They can both become hyperfixated and fail to acknowledge the immediate world around them. They work well together when they have a goal of discovery and problem solving. They share a love of finding their way.

Ne/Si - Navigation

Extroverted Feeling and introverted Thinking

Fe is the empath function. It's the function of nurturing and compassion. It focuses on growth and emotional outreach. Ti is the logic function. It's the function of cause to effect; action and consequence. It focuses on figuring out how things work, and is disciplined in its pursuits. And it doesn't hold back in its honesty. Basically, these functions are like your mom and dad, respectively. They work well together when Fe reminds Ti to temper its truths with compassion, and when Ti tells Fe it's okay to let go of the bike. Of the function pairs, these two couldn't be more different yet more suited to one another. And they share an unparalleled ability to grow a healthy and well-rounded you.

Fe/Ti - Parenthood

Extroverted Thinking and introverted Feeling

Te is the leadership function. It likes to bounce ideas off of others. It prefers to build a solid team. And it believes that the team is only as strong as its weakest member. Thus it will go to great lengths to see that its weakest member is stronger than the strongest member of the other guy's team. Fi is the idealist function. It believes everything has a purpose. It pursues potential in itself and all those around it. It likes to encourage others to tap into that potential and achieve it even when the odds are against them. Both of these functions are highly altruistic (not that Te will admit to it at times). They both root for the underdog because the underdog's success is everyone's success. Together they create a strong team capable of achieving anything.

Te/Fi - Fight for the underdog

Needless to say, your functions can't operate properly unless they operate in pairs. They simply aren't complete without one another. And neither are you. Even though your dominant and inferior functions get on each other's nerves more often than not, they still need each other, and you need them both. You can't truly use them individually, at least not without becoming unhealthy. And eventually they do learn from your auxiliary and tertiary functions how to work as one cohesive unit. When you achieve that stage in your life, you will be a wise, emotionally balanced elder in your village.

No, seriously, we don't start developing our inferior function until at least our late 30s, and it takes the rest of our lives to complete that process. So by the time your inferior function is mature, you'll be telling your grandkids about the good ol' days when all you had to rely on was ol' Dominant.

[sneezemonster15]

The reason why a lot of casual Naruto fans hate SS but like or tolerate NH is because they are satisfied with the idea that Hinata at least 'loves' Naruto.

The reason for this is the romanticization of unrequited love in media all over the world. We are conditioned to sympathize with the person who experiences unrequited love, it appeals to our sense of rooting for the underdog, the unloved one. And so when that character finally ends up with their object of love, we as audience rejoice, and consider it as a triumph of love.

Sadly, in NH's case, this element of love stays one sided throughout, unlike in other media. From Hinata. Unreciprocated by Naruto. So most fans who project their idea of a one sided love turned to a successful one because of a critical event such as 'marriage', consider it as a victory of love.

When it's not. This victory of love in NH's case remains entirely unsubstantiated from Naruto's side throughout the manga and the even The Last.

One sided love, in reality, is a tragedy for both characters. It's a mockery of mutual understanding and love. To love truly means to understand your object of love, to let go when your object of love cannot reciprocate. Which is something Hinata does not understand or even attempt to, despite several hints being dropped left and right. And that makes her a selfish character. Not sympathetic or kind. Naruto is the kind one in this relationship because he gives in to her idea of love, chased by his own demons, thinking at least one of them will be happy.

In real life, one sided love (or in her case, infatuation and hero worship) doesn't usually work. Not between two conscientious people. But Hinata is not a conscientious character.

And that's what makes me detest Hinata. Behind her veil of sympathy, is a selfish covetousness, entitlement and a complete lack of insight into Naruto's heart and nature. She does sympathize with him at the start, but that he suffers as an orphan is a fact that no one can ignore. Naruto virtually screams it from the rooftops. The fact that the rest of the village treats him like an undesirable (except for Sasuke and Iruka of course) says more about Konoha citizens than it says about Hinata. Where Iruka and Sasuke stand up for Naruto, all she did was stutter Naruto Kun from behind a bush.

This boy always deserved more. This unloved, unwanted boy deserved to end up with his beloved, Sasuke. Because they share a mutual love, a mutual understanding, mutual effort, mutual devotion and mutual sacrifice.

What do Hinata and Sakura know about devotion and sacrifice? These two women who couldn't even care for their own families that loved and supported them?

We as the audience need to be more insightful, when judging media like Naruto. Unfortunately, I have learnt the hard way that expecting that out of Naruto fandom is a fool's errand.

[rallamajoop]

Christopher Lee and the Humour of Dracula

Though Hammer’s Dracula series may not quite be my favourite Dracula films, I think Christopher Lee still ranks as my favourite actual Dracula (and as I may have mentioned before, this is a crowded field).

There are, IMO, three key components to what makes his particular take on the character work.

You’ve got your menacing Dracula:

Your sexy Dracula:

And your oh shit this did not go as planned Dracula:

That last one being the aspect I feel doesn’t really get enough appreciation.

I don’t know how many of the faces Lee pulls are unintentionally hilarious, or just intentionally hilarious, but they’re amazing either way.

Dracula dies a different way in all 7 of Lee’s Hammer films. Marathon the Hammer Draculas, and you’re going to watch the poor guy make these faces a lot. By the time I’d finished the series, I’d seen him die so many times I’d started kind of rooting for him as the underdog.

None of this is to take away from how genuinely menacing (or sexy) this take on Dracula can be ‒ which might be a little surprising, given this is an interpretation devoid of so much of what made Stoker’s original so threatening to begin with. For all the noise the Hammer’s scripts make about Dracula as “the greatest evil that ever lived,” this is a rare version with no interest in invading England, whose worst acts are inspired by nothing more machiavellian than hunger or revenge. We assume he’s out there in the countryside eating people on the regular, but it’s surprising how little of that we see. This is a rare take where you could make the case Dracula may genuinely have invited Jonathan to his castle for no reason more nefarious than wanting someone to reorganise his library.

I bring all this up not to convince you that Lee’s Dracula is secretly misunderstood (though, you know, by all means write me that fanfic) ‒ this guy is still seriously bad news ‒ but it is just a little embarrassing how many of his actual kills happen only as retaliation, usually after some bastard tried to kill him first (see Dracula Has Risen From The Grave especially) and fucked it up. 

He also hardly speaks. So little, in fact, that the supercut of every word he says across his 7 Hammer Dracula films is barely 9 minutes long (and about 3:30 of that is from the last just the last third of The Satanic Rites of Dracula, being the one and only film in which he actually shows some ambition).

Nor does he spend much time even trying to pass for human ‒ a crying shame, IMO, considering how well Lee plays the few later scenes where he gets the chance (see also: why Scars of Dracula is honestly one of my favourite entries, for all its many flaws). A Dracula who can lull you into a false sense of security has a whole other kind of menace.

The point here is that Lee’s really not given that much to work with. Bloodshot eyes, pointed fangs and cherry-red Kensington gore will only get you so far. Add in the fact that he has to put up with the indignity of looking very silly and being killed in some gloriously ridiculous ways, and keeping the menace going must be something of a job.

But for what he’s given, somehow Lee still pulls it all off.

Not many people could do that. Not many Draculas could do that.

Ultimately, Lee’s Dracula is more wild animal than evil, more of a presence than a character. But short of maybe Nosferatu, I’m not sure I could name a more effectively menacing Dracula.

Nor do I think I could name a sexier one.

Obviously, this is the very specific kind of “sexy” built entirely on (many) lovingly-shot vampire-hypnosis scenes, but Hammer really went in hard on the seductive-Dracula angle. This is by no means the first time Dracula had sex appeal ‒ Bela Lugosi had a rather intense female fanbase going all the way back to when he was only doing Dracula on the stage ‒ but now men were noticing it, and academics were writing about it, and that made it official. For all Christopher Lee may protest that he wasn’t trying to become a sex symbol, that he just “did what was in the script,” he still did that really very effectively. (So did the actress who played Mina, who was famously directed to play her following scene “like the morning after the best sex of your life.”)

The major Dracula films of the 20th century form one heck of a sexy-Dracula trend. Before Hammer, the 1931 film couldn’t more than hint at any fangs going into any necks. After Hammer, by 1979, Dracula’s seduction of Mina had become the core of the film. By 1992, Dracula had become the hero of a romantic tragedy.

But as Dracula became increasingly more of a romantic figure in those later films, he lost something of the core of the original sexy-vampire-fantasy that had all those women swooning at Bela Lugosi ‒ of meeting something so irresistibly alluring that one, long look into its eyes could have you willingly taking off the crucifix that was meant to protect you, and baring your throat to the beast.

I don’t think any Dracula has committed to that better than Christopher Lee. Whether he meant to or not.

Mind you, being Hammer’s Dracula, you’re also going to have to put up with then being suddenly interrupted, and having to stop, panic, and leave the building in a hurry.

Or getting caught in the act of trying to hide down a trapdoor, then looking urgently back and forth with a panicked expression, before giving up and just chucking the nearest candlestick at Van Helsing. 

Or that great moment where he’s finally wrestled Van Helsing to the floor and leeeeans in to bite him... with this one stray lock of hair in the middle of his forehead sticking up like the start of an impromptu mohawk.

Which brings us all the way back around again to the joy of watching poor Dracula have a very bad day.

Hammer’s take on the character always had its campier side, and was that much more fun for them. Even Stoker’s original novel had its moments, where Dracula twice pauses to make a grand, self-important speech right before turning tail and fleeing. Dracula may be evil, he may be sexy, but he’s a difficult character to play completely straight. And I don’t think even Christopher Lee ever really tried. Dude had some real comedy chops I don’t think he gets enough credit for.

We’ll end this ‒ much like the films ‒ on the glorious spectacle of Christopher Lee meeting his untimely end by making the fatal error of walking into a bush.

Classic.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Hey! I’m glad to see more appreciation for the Blackfyres they tend to be demonised a lot in the fandom in large part due to headcanons that Daemon Blackfyre was racist,etc but when you look at him and his whole family how tragic is it that he died so young while watching one of his season be murdered in front of him?! I think one of Daemon’d greatest sins on the eyes of the fandom is him trying to subvert the status quo in a way(and we know what happens to kinfo who attempt to do that Aegon V is a good example he also has my respect for almost ordering Bloodraven’s death and then sending him to the Wall)He grew up as a bastard knew first hand what it is to be ostracised and was used by a narcissistic abuser against Daeron and Daena(possibly if she was still alive which I hope she is!I’m tired of female characters either disappearing or being killed of in childbirth!)Also I kind of hope Daemon actually isn’t Aegon’s son. It would be very poetic in a way that his claim only comes from his mother(who should have been queen instead) and would make Daena’s silence kind of make more sense because why wouldn’t she proclaim her son was the current king‘s hoping to improve his life in a way since being a bastard was already hard enough.Bit yeah some of the anti Blackfyre stuff I’ve seen like how Daenerys I couldn’t have possibly been in love with Daemon it was just propayanda and if Daemon was interested in her it was because of her being legitimate,etc. We barely know anything about that house yet they’re accused of all kinds of awful stop to justify what was done to them. Honestly I feel like they’re the Starks in this case while the Targaryens take the root of the Lannisters in how they treat them though in their case it’s even worse because they’re all family.

Thank you for the thorough ask, kindhearted-ocean! I’ve faced some pushback (some of it rather personal) due to writing some of those headcanons/metas, so it’s always good to hear they improved someone’s fandom experience. Now to talk about your other points, which will be under the cut for length/some wank:

I think it’s evident that GRRM intended Daemon Blackfyre to be a tragic character, or he wouldn’t have made him so much younger and less politically powerful than Da3ron II (he does like his underdogs) nor so sympathetic; if you consider that his possible inspirations were James Scott the Duke of Monmouth (adulterer and religious hypocrite), Henry Trastamara (antisemitic torturer), Simon Montfort (another anti Semitic pogrom starter), among others, you notice his character is much less gray, which is unusual, considering GRRM usually makes his characters darker than their historical counterparts (see for example Rhaenyra versus Empress Matilda). I think you’re right that a portion the fandom dislikes Daemon for “not Remembering his place” in Westeros, even though the treatment of illegitimate children has been criticized in the main series, and the onus would’ve been on Da3ron II—the person with all the power in the relationship—to treat Daemon (a child, since 16 is the age of majority) with something other than suspicion and contempt. One of the reasons why I became so interested in Daemon and Aegor (whose Golden Company chooses their leaders and seemingly based on merit rather than seniority) was their dedication to meritocracy; it didn’t matter the way you were born, or where, or to what family, but all great warriors were welcome. Some people vaunt Da3ron II as a reformer, but compared to what Daemon seemingly could have done, and what Aegor actually did, I don’t see how he materially made things better socially (considering the intellectual elitism and cronyism that went on in his court, quite the opposite).

Thank you for acknowledging that Aegon IV was a terrible person to everyone. In his last years, which Yandel admits he was at his worst, were the years he had acknowledged Daemon. All of his supposed “favoritism” was to use Daemon (I can’t repeat this enough, ages 12-14) against Da3ron (ages 29-31). It’s bizarre that after pages of being told how cartoonishly evil and selfish Aegon IV is, that suddenly he was the perfect doting parent who spoiled Daemon (this was after he raped and murdered Bethany Bracken). That’s just not realistic, and ignores the forms that parental abuse can take. I think Aegon’s opinions toward Daemon were narcissistic, viewing him as an extension of his legacy rather than a person. The signs of narcissistic parenting when applied to Aegon and Daemon make a chilling amount of sense. Not that he had much of a chance to be a parent. While Daena’s fate is unknown, we do know she made a sacrifice to refuse to name the father, and that must’ve had a profound effect on Daemon (possibly contributing to his own ideas of sacrifice for his children), certainly more than anything Aegon did for him emotionally.

If the Daemon/Da3nerys rumored relationship was just propaganda, then GRRM himself bought into it when he said they were “in love” (though what love could two preteens get into, I don’t know). But one wonders whose propaganda it was, since Doran Martell (Da3nerys’ descendant) and Barristan Selmy (Targaryen supporter who killed the last Blackfyre claimant) both believe it. A revolt over an impossible marriage is an easier narrative than an uprising over a corrupt ruling family that ignored systematic injustice for its own gain, since it places blame on Daemon and his heart rather than Da3ron’s misrule (similar to how the Targaryens’ crimes against the Brackens are swept under the rug for Aegor Rivers’ supposed love for Shiera). It also erases Rohanne of Tyrosh, one of the few Essosi (and coded Lebanese, considering Tyrosh is based on Tyre in Lebanon) female historical characters who didn’t die horribly, the only non-Targaryen consort to have named a child, rescuer of the Blackfyre cause after her husband’s death, to support the narrative that Daemon was an evil racist abuser and Aegor somehow worse (also someone posted in her tag that she should be killed, because if antis can’t find canon evidence that Blackfyres were terrible, they have to make it up, and if they can’t even do that, they have to resort wishing violence on tertiary characters for no reason). Then her children Aenys, Haegon, even the 12 year olds Aegon and Aemon have heinous behavior headcanoned onto them to try to retroactively justify their brutal murder by Bl00draven. The Blackfyres never killed a Targaryen, and tried to conduct themselves honorably, while the Targaryens constantly had to resort to war crimes (what has been established as such in-series: killing hostages, denying guest right, targeting squires/standard bearers) to crush already defeated enemies. I think GRRM intended us to feel at least a little sympathy for the Blackfyres in that light.

[ohifonlyx33]

Okay, I need to talk about Jancy/Stancy because it's driving me crazy.

I usually have a clear choice in a love triangle. Often it's dictated by narrative, chemistry, and/or specific tropes. But I'm at a loss here. There is no clear choice.

First a look at STANCY:

In one sense Steve/Nancy was set up as first love, which I adore.... but they tried to frame it as maybe not being the most fulfilling relationship... with their emotional needs not being met, mostly due to trauma or lack of development or naivete.

Steve was also framed as an obstacle for Jonathan. While Barb saw Nancy's crush on Steve as a silly, vain infatuation because Nancy would change around Steve. Nonetheless, they had cute moments and good chemistry. With Steve being always ready to protect Nancy, and eventually coming around to learn from his mistakes while Nancy pushes him away out of guilt and grief... I actually started to sympathize with Steve. Most importantly, they've also both grown as characters...

But even with his expanded role as babysitter, even as he became a fan favourite, it really does still feel like his character was made as a love interest for Nancy. His character was literally written into the show and given relevance because of her. He was first made aware of what was going on in Hawkins and learned about the Upside Down BECAUSE of her. So after he and Nancy broke up, he is still fundamentally seen as a romantic lead. I feel like he needs someone. Given that they put a nail in the Robin/Steve casket right away, it looks like there's really no one else he's interested in, which means Nancy, the female romantic lead among the older kids, is the one for him. He never really got over her anyway.

Now I'm lowkey rooting for Steve just as a character to be happy, and it seems like Nancy is the answer... or at least he still believes she is. But even though they've both grown, it might be too late for them (especially if they write them together without enough time to transition). And we have to ask... Does Nancy really want to let herself rekindle those old feelings, when she called it bs and wouldn't even tell Steve she loved him by the end of their relationship? Does she really want the same life Steve wants (I'm assuming the 6 kids doesn't have to be literally 6 kids)? We've really only ever seen them in a relationship as it was falling apart.

Season 4 tried to hint at a possible rekindling, and the chemistry and tension was interesting to watch... But they also have to give Jancy some type of confrontation or admission of a breakup. And the show still hasn't done enough to show what Nancy thinks about that.

Then there's JANCY:

Jonathan was set up as an underdog. I LOVE when the underdog gets the girl instead of the guy who is no good for her. Except Steve wasn't totally the bad guy everyone thought he was. And right out of the gate, Jonathan was pretty much creeping on Nancy. So I didn't immediately root for him because I didn't like s1 Jonathan any better than s1 Steve...

Meanwhile Jonathan's character was also pretty weak and passive. Not necessarily bad traits for a character... especially if the character has other strengths or finds strength in other ways or is forced to rise to meet challenges. He did rise in relation to Will, for the most part. And as he also showed understanding and kindness toward Nancy, slowly I could understand why Nancy might choose him. He seemed safe and reassuring. And although it still felt a little weird, I came around to accepting that he and Nancy were good to each other, and that they had trauma bonded... but I never quite felt like they had as much chemistry.

However, where Steve and Nancy might have had more chemistry, Jonathan and Nancy had the writing on their side. I won't say it was 100% good (compelling) writing. I found some of it rather boring and less than memorable... but it was supportive of them as a couple. Some of it was actually quite sweet and soft and seemed to reinforce that Jancy was supposed to be endgame. But I still never felt super invested in them. Jonathan never quite felt like a romantic lead and never stopped feeling like a loner.

And in later seasons Nancy seems to be moving forward with goals and determination. And Jonathan seems stuck and indecisive. Thwy seem like a fairly grounded couple,, but he seems like the kind of guy she was so scared of getting stuck with... I don't know if that's the type of guy Nancy wants or needs.

I know Jonathan wants Nancy to be happy, but so does Steve. So that's where I'm stuck. Who will make Nancy happier as things stand? Does the narrative really want to retry Stancy now that they are both better people? Can that work? Is Jancy really just going to drift apart just because of college and long-distance and lack of open communication in one instance? Does Nancy really want the passive pothead with no clear dreams or the idiot jock who dreams about having a family with her? She was scared of having a relationship like her parents, full of boredom and resentment... The question is will she be bored with Jonathan or come to resent a family with Steve? Will she decide that a nice quiet life with Jonathan (who may or may not also want kids) sounds good after all the trauma? Will she decide that having a family is actually an adventure she wants in her life?

I can see both options working and failing.

[astrolology]

The Love-Hate Relationship with Stelliums (Pt. 1) ✨

Guysss pls remember that astrology is holistic and this should be read taking into account your overall chart placements, as well as the planets in your stellium and what sign rules your stellium. TAKE NOTE lol

1st house

❤️: You may be a person who is very driven towards a particular goal, single-minded in behavior and with a sense of determination that is hard to beat. The focus is on self-improvement and is rather internally driven - there can be large amounts of time focused on figuring one’s identity out. You’re not afraid to say things as they are - you’re able to dish out criticism hard but you give credit when its due. You extend the courtesy you receive to others. You may have an innate sense of wisdom that you keep deep within that you don’t let slip unless to extremely close ones but in times of hardship you are a good source of motivation. You always seek to improve yourself and it’s hard (if not impossible) to drag you down because of your strong personality and how you tend to always move on no matter what. I think 1st house stelliums are the embodiment of “don’t look back” and y’all always try to make the best out of every best situation, sort of like seeing the silver lining in everything. And also when crises emerge you’re able to keep a calm head on your shoulders and are good at making snap decisions, which makes you good on your feet!

👹: I don’t think y’all are as self-absorbed as ppl make you out to be but there’s definitely an element of self-centredness such that when you do something, you often consider what is most convenient or productive for you. You might get upset when your plans are disrupted but sometimes do the same to others even though you might be aware of what you’re doing - in that aspect, 1st house stelliums can be hypocritical. For you, there is never enough - you’re never satisfied with anything, be it yourself or for other things so you can seem really unappreciative. Keep in mind that you also tend to force others to agree with you and don’t be so quick to dismiss the other party’s POV no matter how dumb it seems. Remember that there’s always something to learn from other people, no matter their status. You need to work on expressing your appreciation to others in a more genuine manner (altho I know y’all do it in gruff, slightly awkward ways when sincere - kinda cute ngl).

2nd house

❤️: You may be a person who has a strong moral code and has a staunch value system that you won’t deviate from no matter what. Sense of loyalty is usually unbreakable and it can take a lot to truly anger you. You can have a good financial sense and good instincts/foresight that allow you to plan ahead for stability’s sake. More often than not in certain areas you are a master of categorising and structuring things which means that your mind is analytical, critical and (usually) organised. You hate it when people think they know you because you (understandably) know yourself the best - there are many privatised layers of yourself that you prefer to keep... private so yeah it just annoys you when that happens. Y’all are a leader in certain aspects of your life and even though 2nd house stelliums tend to prefer being the right-hand man, your control freak tendencies come out and you end up leading anyway. You become really productive because of the fear of failure - you have crazy high expectations for yourself and expect the same of your closed ones (although ultimately you’ll support them in whatever they do). There is an appreciation for the finer things in life and when it comes to your loved ones you’re not afraid to spoil them hard. 

👹: Be careful not to let this driving need for stability restrict you from spontaneity and following your heart’s desire. There is an inherent inflexibility in your nature; stubbornness can really be your kryptonite. You don’t really take any opportunities that you think might threaten your security which, while giving you a stable fort, can hold you back in your own happiness + prosperity. You might realise that there is a limit to your perspective but really struggle in seeing outside of that perspective mainly because you spend so much time thinking about what matters to you that you’ve become accustomed to your train of thought (altho when you do break it it’s lowkey groundbreaking). The focus on this house is on stability, not only on material wealth, so while you may be reaping in one aspect you might tend to lack on the spiritual or emotional elements of life. You can be very, very controlling and demanding so you might want to tone it down a little if not people might get the wrong impression. People might think of you as judgemental (and you are tbh) but I believe it’s just 2nd house stellium’s way of assessing a person’s character/abilities. 

3rd house

❤️: You may be a person who puts in a lot of effort into various forms of self-expression (not limited to verbal communication but also finding a specific niche such as music, art, writing etc.) Your brain is naturally sharp and inquisitive and you may be able to pick things up very quickly. You might be rather adaptable but are surprisingly stubborn when it comes to your opinion or intellectual capabilities. You might have a dark/dirty sense of humor and because of that you also have a keen ability to see past the societal nuances of propriety and get to the heart/root of whatever a person is saying. You can spend your entire life trying to understand people and why things work the way they work - your brain needs to be stimulated in order for you to feel alive. Passion for you has to be applied in a productive manner - you probably aren’t a person to just take a passion for something as a mere hobby. Rather, you would either apply that passion to one of your existing projects, create a new one or use it as a motivating factor. Your interests are wide and varied, which makes you really well-rounded in certain aspects! 

👹: Many people say y’all are flighty beings and I can certainly see why they would think so. Because of your perceptiveness, you tend to change your narrative whenever you’re speaking to different people, so as to make yourself sound more convincing. In that aspect, you can be quite manipulative. Your ego probably isn’t the smallest either haha - you can tolerate being slighted at some things but if it’s a challenge to one of your passion projects you’ll probably become very upset. You need to stop giving people the hot and cold shoulder all the time and even though you’re quite sociable you tend to flaunt but hide your true thoughts. You have to be more open and honest in your self-expression, and not that idealised, constructed version of yourself you think people will find interesting. I’ve noticed that 3rd house stellium ppl have an obsessive need to “stand out” and make themselves feel unique which, despite all your charms and popularity, might be the reason why you find yourself sometimes so isolated. You’re a perfectionist (although you would deny it) and secretly quite controlling but unlike other stelliums you can manage it better I feel. 

4th house

❤️: There is a pressing insistence regarding relationships in your inner circle - be it your family, closest friends, or your future family. Extended focus on your cultural heritage can also be possible. Deep down, compassion is at your core and you are very protective of your friends in a silent but aggressive way. Having a stable family life is very important to you but I’ve noticed that more often than not, 4th house stelliums have turbulent family relationships. The beauty of 4th house stelliums is their ability to break through whatever toxic relationships they’ve been in and to create families of their own - be it unconventional or not. They are the epitome of “we choose our own families”. Y’all can be very empathetic and rather selfless to the point where you allow yourself to be manipulated (even though you’re aware of it) - but it’s usually for a justifiable reason. You find it easier than most to balance the emotional landscape but there are moments where you need an outlet to express yourself. There can be an obsession/possessiveness over your own culture - you take pride in your roots and become lowkey insulted when people disrespect it (and if you don’t, you somehow nearly always manage to find some other culture to assimilate yourself in). 

👹: Y’all probably get very upset when things don’t go your way but the problem with this stellium is that there is a want to speak out but you choose to bury everything inside instead - giving you a very passive-aggressive and even aloof image. Internally, you guys might think that you are giving off a very soft/giving aura but some people are wary precisely because you are hard to read. You are very, intensely private (rivalling 2nd/7th house tbh) and you have to learn how to share your true thoughts, no bullshit, no suger-coated thoughts with your family and dearest friends even though you are capable of handling yourself. You are independent, ambitious, and people often underestimate you, but you have to let people in first in order for them to know what you’re capable of! Also, idealisation of certain things (eg. a future family life/partner) can be prevalent and you overthink things to the point where sometimes you make yourself miserable. Again, please talk to someone hahaha you don’t have to deal with everything yourself. 

5th house

❤️:  Insecurity runs rampant in any 5th house stellium BUT y’all are quite paradoxical in a sense that you also have a very strong aura of confidence. Sometimes, in crucial moments, you manage to convince yourself and others that you are the most important person in the room haha - literally the epitome of “fake it till you make it”. Still, a deeply rooted kindness is found in 5th house stelliums such that you’re always looking out for the underdog in the room. If you are developed you probably have a strong sense of righteousness which prompts you to look out for people who might be struggling. Y’all are very concerned about your physical appearance and most of the time you like to keep your body in good shape, which draws the attention of people in the room. You likely have an infectious smile (this is just a hunch but I don’t believe 5th house stelliums smile a lot - y’all quirk your lips or smirk but a true smile is rare so when you do... it melts the hearts of people). Everything that you do will have a youthful flavor and you have a healthy appreciation for downtime/self-care so while you might not (contrary to popular belief) be that fond of kids, kids are attracted to you. Oh and actually I think the stronger this stellium is in a person, the shyer the person seems at first impression but inwardly and as time goes by, they become more humorous and dramatic. 

👹: You aren’t exactly manipulative, but you know how to use the power of suggestion (and your charms) to get what you want. If unchecked, it’ll become a habit because to you, it’s an instinctive thing to do and you might not realise you’re hurting other people because of it. You are stubborn and prideful (which isn’t a bad thing sometimes but) you take criticism quite badly such that if a person tries to offer their opinion or goes against your beliefs, you might take it as a personal attack. You have a fear of being restrained/constricted (like 9th house) so you’re actually quite aggressive to those who you perceive to be a threat to your authority. You can also experience extreme mood swings (from crazy happy/hyper to melancholic in a snap) and when you do you expect people to give you attention. But you are hypocritical in this aspect because you yourself can be quite insensitive to other people’s feelings, or you brush them off if you’re not “in the mood”. 

6th house

❤️: You are most probably quite an organised person, not in a tidy way (although you could be) but in matters of life there’s an insistence on order and structure. The way you think can be very logical - you are able to think concisely and connect the dots in a quick manner and logic is probably prevalent in everything you do. However, in contrast to this pragmatic behavior, you are deeply caring and you won’t think twice to give up something if a loved one needs it. You are very disciplined in certain aspects of life and you are able to maintain a consistent effort in everything that you do. You’re probably someone who finds joy in small things and although you have high standards, it doesn’t take much to make you happy, as long as it’s genuine. You can be a perfectionist and really quite meticulous in your work which makes you someone who is detail-orientated. You give a lot of yourself to other people and most of the time you don’t expect anything in return, which is one of the great things about 6th house stelliums. You take effort into maintaining your physical health and you mighttt be a fitness freak or someone who keeps track of their diet really carefully. It’s likely that you encourage other people to follow your lifestyle and generally, you exert a sort of mellow influence around other people that makes them want to be better. 

👹: There’s a tendency for 6th house stelliums to fall into pessimism, precisely because of your pragmatic nature. Y’all may say that you’re being “realistic” but in actuality it does dampen the spirits of some people. You can also become really unreasonable and inflexible once you’ve made up your mind on something and that makes you a bit narrow minded because you simply refuse to listen to other people’s POV. This can also cause tunnel vision which can really limit your full potential and I think it’s something worth spending your time working on. When pushed into a corner or feeling insecure, y’all might try to cover it up by being condescending or giving the cold shoulder. There’s also a risk of being overly reliant on a schedule/structure and hence, cautiousness when it comes to being spontaneous or embracing something foreign. Because of your affinity towards maintaining health, your hypochondriac tendencies may be exacerbated and you need to try to lessen your over-worrying behaviour haha. Although you never dish out something you can’t receive (eg. high expectations - you’re truly your worst critic), your demanding tone can really make others cautious of you.

OVERALL, I strongly believe that the way to embrace your stelliums isn’t to reject or force yourself to change the values they represent, but rather taking those eccentricities and moulding it into something more precious and beneficial to yourself. It has to be done with a thorough understanding of yourself; with patience. 

-C

[eunahfmd]

famedcrowned3 interview #1 / conducted on august 19. 

how do you feel on your group’s final ranking from the second round?

“it’s a relief to have moved so far up in the ranks. i know we’re still not on top, but fifth is still a lot better than eleventh. last round, i felt really disappointed with our ranking. i may not seem like it, but i’m a competitive person because of the way i grew up, even before participating in candy shop. so, i’m really, really hoping that our upward momentum can continue.”

what are your thoughts on your group’s original song for the final round?

“i’ve got a lot of faith in so bad. i think it’s a really great song. it shows off a more chic side of candy than we’ve gotten to show the public in the past, but it’s still very us. i like sun’s parts in the song the best, even more than mine. but it’s a good thing! my chorus part comes right after her pre-chorus, and hearing her lines really makes my energy spike because she sounds so good! her parts are definitely my favourite, but i think so bad as a whole highlights all of our members’ voices best points. the song as a whole is catchy, and i hope it’ll stick in the viewers’ minds!”

what has been the biggest challenge in rehearsals so far?

“for me, it’s definitely been working around my individual schedules, while also preparing for candy’s upcoming comeback. just those two things are hard enough usually by themselves, but the addition of crowned activities has meant that completely learning another song from scratch and rehearsing it to the standard of crowned means i’m working around the clock. i do kind of feel like i’m a little out of sync with my members because of it.”

what is your prediction for your final ranking?

“at the very least i expect that we’ll maintain our ranking in the upper half of the placements. aside from that... i want to say first. we have to believe in ourselves to make it a reality.”

after seeing the first two rounds, which one group do you consider your biggest competition?

“calypso, probably. they’re really strong performers and their recent return to promotions with rollin’ means they have an underdog image that i think the public could really root for.”

[gammija]

Your favorite tma character? Your favorite episode? And your favorite ship? I'm just curious...

AH thank you for the message, first of! I love getting to talk about tma some more 

Favorite character: Martin, without a doubt. I mean, he’s already fun to root for from the start before even hearing him (we all like an underdog) but then we get to hear him and he’s? this really kind guy, clearly the soft and meek archetype, as Jon described him, a bit of a dimwitted coward - EXCEPT, he ALSO survived 2 weeks of a supernatural horror, which has killed others before him, through what must’ve been some real quick thinking and determination! After already going through with an investigation that saw him breaking and entering like that’s something he does all the time. it also helps that he likes spiders - it’s not a big thing but ive always been annoyed at how liking spiders is usually equivalent to an edgy, dark brooding character, while real spiders are harmless and mostly just wanna help out with flies. liking spiders despite all the anti-spider propaganda /j out there also testifies to some, i dont quite now how to put it, quiet rebellion?   ... and all that’s just from his introduction 

yeah there was no way i wasn’t going to love martin

Favorite episode: Idk, it depends on what i’m ranking them on. Favorite overal is probably 165, since it has a really nice mix of cute jmart, a real bop of a statement, and plot development. Also the source of a meme that got so big it escaped the fandom entirely. Before s5, i probably would’ve said 142 - im fond of monster(ish) protagonists. Also, in general, I like the basic statements a lot (otherwise i wouldn’t have listened at all) but i like the plot parts just a lil bit better

Favorite ship: i mean, obviously, it’s jonmartin - I’ve probably said before about other fandoms, but I’m not very invested in shipping as a whole, so I usually just ship what’s canon, as long as canon does an okay job of explaining why two characters get together, or (more often) the biggest fandom ship, cause you kinda have to, if you want to read most fanfiction. That said, jonmartin is probably the ship i’ve been most interested in, ever, because of the shape of tma as a whole making their coming together not obvious on first sight, and it always requires some work to make it believable, which is more interesting to read and think about than two people just being predestined to be together

[ckret2]

GVK spoilers below, about conspiracy theories

I’m gonna get around to posting all my GVK reactions but this one got long so I’m putting it in its own post.

The Monsterverse series, in both KOTM and GVK, has some pretty interesting things to say about conspiracy theories and ecofascism; but, unfortunately, it doesn’t REALIZE that it’s saying any of them, so it keeps dropping the ball and missing opportunities to explore them.

Starting with KOTM, “there’s too many humans so we’ve just gotta let some die and that’ll fix pollution 🤷” is like false ecofascist claim #1 but at no point in the movie was it challenged as unfactual, it was just presented as a sad truth that people have to do morally ambiguous things about. Except that it’s just literally mathematically not true!

Emma could be such a GREAT, believable character—especially in this world with, like, frigging QAnon nonsense getting such widespread traction—showing a compelling, realistic tragedy of how this normal, intelligent, well-educated white mom who otherwise is likely left-leaning (pro-environmentalism, pro-nature conservation, got a doctorate and generally more academia correlates with more liberal ideals) got sucked into a far right ecofascist doomsday militia that combines hokey pseudo-environmentalist propaganda with “in balance with nature” semi-religious mysticism, because she was exploited at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable (when her kid had just died) and was lacking healthy emotional support (when her husband turned to alcohol and then ran off).

... Except the movie never says that her “overpopulation” beliefs are WRONG. It says that they’re RIGHT, and she was just forced to choose between two losing scenarios—deliberately kill most of humanity to hopefully save a few, or watch humanity kill itself.

Nobody bothers to mention that the size of the population isn’t the problem, it’s the disproportionate pollution coming out of first world countries. Nobody bothers to mention that when Emma talks about “overpopulation” and shows a screenshot of an overcrowded neighborhood, it ain’t affluent downtown skyscraper condos in Europe or America that she’s highlighting, but large masses of poor people whose neighborhoods look “dirty” to the white woman’s eyes, despite the fact that they’re contributing the least to humanity’s carbon footprint.

Emma’s beliefs are empirically wrong, and if KOTM had ever demonstrated that, it would’ve been brilliant. Instead, it tries to say “she was right, she just went too far,” and in doing so loses an opportunity to make Emma a deeply believable, timely, realistic, well-meaning but wrong villain.

And now we’ve got GVK, which has swerved away from the ecofascism but doubled down on the conspiracy theories. Here, Emma’s daughter, who was raised for five years with what amounts to a survivalist doomsday cult’s beliefs, when faced with the grief of her mother’s death and the struggle of trying to reconnect to her estranged father, turns—again—to conspiracies to make sense of the world around her. Because that���s what Madison’s been raised with, and even though she got disillusioned with the particular “we know something special that the normal people can’t handle” beliefs that she was raised with, that kind of thinking is still what she knows. She’s still doing what her mother raised her to do! She’s still pulling the “hypercompetent highly-trained lone wolf ‘survivor’ saves the world” shtick that Jonah’s gang taught her to do—but it’s never brought up that it was screwed up to raise a child like that and it’s screwed up for her to still be interacting with the world like that.

At least THIS conspiracy theorist isn’t literally advocating for global genocide. Bernie’s focus largely seems to be on “this corporation is trying to screw people over and screw up the environment—” (because in Monsterverse, as in Toho monster movies as a whole, kaiju/titans and the environment are symbolically conflated, so if a corporation is messing with Godzilla then they’re messing with nature as well) “—so I’m gonna find out what they’re up to and be a whistleblower.” Which is great! Solid start! We’ve got a guy taking aim at big business and who says “when the weather Godzilla acts erratic, it’s not random chance, it’s because a big business is doing something it shouldn’t,” so it looks like we’ve got a leftist conspiracy theorist, that’s different, could be interesting to explore.

Except then he starts talking about governments serving a “global elite” and facilities built by “lizard people” and then we’ve swung right back around to the far right by casually dropping in a couple of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Add that in with the whole “hollow earth” thing and damn, we’re namedropping a lot of antisemitic conspiracy theories, aren’t we? Granted, most conspiracy theories ARE antisemitic—but like, they could have dug around for some that aren’t. Have him talk some more about Roswell. Have him bring up things that we’ve actually got documentation happened and theorize that MKUltra research was used in Apex’s development of their pilot’s psychic mind link to Mechagodzilla. Have him bring up tailor-made-for-the-Monsterverse conspiracy theories that don’t exist here, “Monster Zero is actually the secret weapon of a nearby ‘Planet X’ that’s gonna invade,” whatever. Instead, nah, we went with the antisemitic ones.

Now, do I think the writers behind KOTM and GVK intended antisemitism? Do I think they’re closet alt-right trying to dogwhistle the fascists in the audience? No, I think they think they’re making fun of—or playing around with—what they see as harmless, unbelievable, way-out-there conspiracy theories. I think they know just enough about “hollow earth” and “global elites” and “lizard people” to make references to them, but not in a way that promotes the common antisemitic understanding of those theories as true. (Monsterverse’s hollow earth, a weird underground jungle where King Kong lives, sure doesn’t resemble the usual conspiracy theory.) To me, the way they were used suggests the writers didn’t deeply understand (or at least, didn’t deeply think about) what the theories really mean—nor what they imply about the beliefs of the characters who espouse them. Which is the crux of my issue with how the movies deal with conspiracy theories and ecofascists and so forth (beyond the fact that, hey, I just don’t like seeing likable characters casually referencing antisemitic beliefs): the writers didn’t think about the implications.

Because these things do imply a lot! For example, if, say, Josh, total newb to conspiracy theories, had asked about lizard people, I would have grimaced to hear it but I would have believed that he’s a teen boy that picked up the term at school and doesn’t know anything about what’s behind it. But on the other hand, I can’t believe a guy so deep in the conspiracy theory world that he bathes in bleach doesn’t know exactly what those conspiracies mean—or, even if he does somehow staunchly refuse to believe that “lizard people” is a code for “Jewish people,” that whatever circle of conspiracy theorists he runs with doesn’t use it as a code. Bernie didn’t pick up those beliefs in a void. I really doubt that’s what the writers wanted to imply about the goofy likable underdog with a podcast.

And sure, the “global elite” and “lizard people” references are presented like a “haha look how far out his beliefs are” joke—the same as the fluoride reference, which is basically Hollywood code for “bogus nonsense only complete lunatics believe” thanks to Dr. Strangelove—but at the same time, they’re never really disproven. Nothing he believes is challenged. Nor are any of Madison’s beliefs that she’s picked up from him. Everything they both believe is either a “wow that’s wild” throwaway joke, or else they’re presented as totally right, e.g. about Apex being up to dubious crap that’s irritating Godzilla.

Just like Emma, who was presented as in the wrong not because she was incorrect but because she WAS correct but took the wrong actions. And just like Rick in KOTM, who kept bring up the hollow earth theory like a running joke but then the joke was that he was right.

And that’s at the root of the issues with both movies’ portrayals of conspiracy theories. Aside from the jokes that are never explored (and therefore, never disproven), the movies say that, every time it matters, the conspiracy theorists on the fringe are correct, the heroes that need to be believed. Even though all (excluding Rick) are characters who have suffered deep loss, who have been hurt, who you can imagine as passionate but grieving people who turned to dangerously wrong extremism in their search for meaning... the movies don’t portray them as people who have been led astray by their pain, but enlightened by their pain. Which is what they themselves think they are, sure, but that doesn’t line up with reality.

The movies never forces them to grapple with how far they’ve gone astray from reality—and I think they should. I’d like to see them processing the revelation that their beliefs are wrong. Whether it’s as big as somebody trying to convince Emma that killing half the population doesn’t fix the pollution caused by corporations rich enough to weather a global hurricane, or as small as Bernie looking at Apex’s financial records and realizing the company’s money is going to the CEO’s vacation home rather than a reptile government and deciding to rethink those beliefs after they’ve checked out Hong Kong.

“Conspiracy theorist is right about everything” is already a common enough trope that Monsterverse isn’t breaking any new ground with it. And in a franchise like Godzilla, whose movies are rife with messages both allegorical and literal about environmentalism, corporate exploitation, the futility of military action, international politics, war crimes... letting the conspiracy theorists be wrong and showing that they’re wrong and what that wrongness can lead to would mesh far better with the themes of Godzilla.

Think about Jonah and Emma unleashing Ghidorah (who emerged from a destroyed ice cap and immediately caused devastating hurricanes—a perfect metaphor for climate change), and what that could say about how ecofascists who purportedly joined the movement because they support environmentalism are actually far more in bed with the destructive industries really at the root of environmental damage... if the movie acknowledged them as ecofascists.

Think about how Jonah collected Ghidorah’s head at the end of KOTM and by the time of GVK it was in Apex’s hands, and how this exchange demonstrates that “I want to unleash titans to destroy humanity to save the environment” Jonah the ecoterrorist and “I want to beat the titans to protect humanity” Simmons the billionaire CEO actually have far more similar ideals beneath the surface of their opposed goals—ideals that have less to do with the environment or with humanity and more to do with securing personal power and control... if the movie had explained how this exchange took place.

Think about how Madison’s mother died trying to mitigate just a little of the damage she did under the thrall of a doomsday cult’s skewed beliefs, how even though Madison broke free she found herself embroiled in similarly skewed beliefs just three years later, and how powerful it would have been if she recognized that she herself had walked right back into the kind of fringe beliefs her mother had led her into as a child, and if she had then resolved to learn how this kept happening to her and break this pattern... if the movie had ever let her realize that she was making the same mistakes, or even acknowledged them as mistakes.

There’s so much potential there, so many things you can see happening right beneath the surface... but the movies never touch on them. And so it looks like, in Monsterverse, all fringe beliefs are either right or harmless. And we never get the “disillusioned conspiracy theorist” story that could be so brilliant and that, right now, would be so relevant.