#flick answers

[mentally-amoral-armourer]

(- @physically-bloody-medibot )

[It had been a fairly uneventful day for Flick. No one had come by for repairs, nothing unusual or wacky had happened, just a normal, completely regular day.]

[Which led to quite the shock when an unfamiliar robot seemed to pop right into existence in front of them.]

“Holy fuck, where did you come from!?”

[He exclaims, clamouring to their feet out of surprise. Taking a pause to compose himself, he clears his throat, before continuing.]

“Ahem, I mean to say. Why might you be here? And how did you get in? I could’ve sworn I had the door locked…”

[They muse, taking the opportunity to observe the newcomer. A medibot, he guesses. Quite an unusual one, though. They aren’t normally so short, or so… bloody. Though annoyingly enough, the robot still stands taller than the man, who takes note of the odd construction of the being before them.]

“And… If I may ask. Who exactly are you?”

[notbecauseofvictories]

One of the more interesting things, as I slowly read my way through the Discworld series, is how specific they are.

No one else could have written the books I've read except a person living through the latter half of the 20th century. No one in the 1850s or the 1950s or the 2020s could have told jokes in quite the same way, on topics as diverse as shopping malls, rude earthworks, Morris dances, sword and sandal movies, movies in general, computers, academia, quantum, gender and changing expression of that gender, etc. It is in some ways a sort of artifact of the late 20th century---largely because that's when the books were written, but also because I suspect Pratchett was a collector of shiny facts and liked working them into his writing.

And of course, I grew up with the same references (or, at least, was reading Pratchett at the right time to figure out what he was referencing) so it works marvelously on me.

Which makes me wonder....what's the 21st century equivalent? Is there a writer out there who trenchantly and amusingly referencing tiktok? Is that even possible in the modern understanding of lit? Are there writers who manage to integrate facebook intelligently and cleverly into their prose---not as 'found media' (which is fine, but not what Pratchett is doing) but describing the human experience of being on facebook, and how that connects with the whole experience of being human at all?

[artist-issues]

Hi! I've seen you comment a bit here and there about Pocahontas. This movie has had this quite messy reputation attached to it since it came out and hasn't been able to escape from it since then. Personally, I've always liked Pocahontas, but I do acknowledge that it has its glaring issues, especially when it comes to the context of what actually went down and Pocahontas's true story. I'm interested in reading your thoughts on the movie and what Disney could have done better regarding the whole "diversity" and historical accuracy thing. I genuinely believe Disney had the best of intentions when it came to the themes, message and depiction of Native American culture, but the execution unfortunately did not seem the most appropriate at times. What do you think?

I don’t know. I don’t have a settled opinion on Pocahontas. I will say I really enjoy it, and I think maybe the aesthetics of the movie are what appeal to me the most because it’s the one I want to have on in the background most often.

When you say “what Disney could’ve done better regarding the whole ‘diversity’ and historical accuracy thing” and “did not seem the most appropriate at times,” I don’t know if I understand what you mean. I don’t know if I understand what anyone means when they say that.

There are almost zero cold hard facts about the historical Pocahontas that EXPERTS agree on. Almost zero. So when people say “oh no, it wasn’t historically accurate,” it’s like, “no, of course it’s not. It’s a fairy tale based on a historical person that we know very little about to begin with.” Seems like what they’re mainly mad about is that Historical John Smith’s version of Historical Pocahontas saving him is the framework for the animated film, and we all generally agree that his version was fake. And people are mad about that?

But…why? If it’s already supposed to be a fairy tale loosely inspired by a historical person we know very little about…I mean, nobody is furious with the Robin Hood stories and going “how dare you misrepresent Robin of Lockersley, 1160, and King Richard I!!” Because we all know that they’re stories loosely based on—anyway. You get my point. Why would you have beef about a fairy tale being based loosely? Moving on.

You can say “because now generations of kids are growing up thinking that’s the real story of Pocahontas!! What an outrage!”

…All right, well, then you’re doing a terrible job teaching your kids discernment as a parent. When kids I’m responsible for watch a movie, I tell them “it’s a movie. It’s not real.” If it’s a movie about historical events, I tell them, “If you want to know more about the real story, let’s learn about the real story.” It’s not on Disney to teach your kids that a fairy tale is a fairy tale, it’s on you.

Anyway, you get it. Moving on.

Thing is, the Pocahontas movie’s message is “Love tries to understand, not to possess.” Great message. Especially good when applied to the problem of prejudice.

So then, they just shift the events, the character motivations, and the depictions around as needed, like they would any fairy tale in order to send that message in the best way. And because it is a fairy tale, not a documentary, great. Do it.

If Historical John Smith’s fake story makes that message more compelling, great. Use pieces of it. Why not? After all, they never claimed that this was the true, accurate history of colonization, the Anglo-Powhatan war, or John Smith’s interactions with Pocahontas. If they had made that claim, sure, let’s talk about historical accuracy. But they didn’t, so let’s not.

That’s all I had to say about the “historical inaccuracies” thing. Now let’s talk about “representation.”

What is it that people have an issue with here? Did they really want Disney to animate hundreds of Powhatan’s people dying of disease? Did they want Disney to animate heads getting chopped off and women getting raped? What’s the argument? That Disney should’ve made the colonists the clear and undeniable villains, the monsters of history, and the Native Americans 100% pure and innocent, wronged victims?

They’re not mad that Disney did a bad job representing Native Americans in a movie that was supposed to be a fairy tale. They’re mad that Disney didn’t represent Native Americans the way they would’ve.

Far as my eyes can see, people who call Pocahontas racist or misrepresentative just don’t want the story to be “Love tries to understand, not to possess.” They want the story to be “White colonists were unredeemable racist monsters and sub-human tyrants who deserved to rot in hell, while the Native American people were entirely innocent victims who did nothing wrong.’

The problem is that’s just not a true, or even helpful message for any movie to have. Sorry. The statement I just typed out up there in bold is not a true or helpful statement. And thank God the Pocahontas movie didn’t make it.

There’s nothing racist being said in the Pocahontas movie. There are depictions of the sin of racism in the Pocahontas movie. There is a difference. Characters in the Pocahontas movie talk and sing about each other as if the other people group is sub-human. That is a depiction of racism. But the message of the movie, and the way it treats Native Americans, is to treat them like human beings. Therefore, the message is not racist.

In terms of who is good and who is bad, who is right and who is wrong, the movie very clearly shows that the Native American characters did not start the violence. The Native American characters did not want war. The Native American characters were willing to be friendly and willing to defend their land and each other. The Native American characters were the first to try and make peace with the colonist characters. And they were all (Kocoum included) entirely human characters. They were even the good-guy-coded characters, in the movie’s conflict. All of the Native American side characters are noticeably smarter, kinder, drawn more carefully, and are more heroic than the white characters. (When Thomas is thrown overboard the other white side characters leave him behind. In contrast, when Namonteck is shot the other Native American side characters rescue him immediately and fall back.) And, not a caricature among them. Meanwhile, Wiggins, Ben, and Lion are all drawn with exaggerated characteristics. The heroine is Pocahontas the Character, not John Smith the Character. So what is the issue you have?

What people think is racist is the “idealization” of a Native American woman falling in love—or, as they like to say now—“committing herself to a white colonist.” But that’s like…a gross oversimplification of the movie. John Smith (the character) committed himself right back to her, nobody wants to talk about that? Also, they low key didn’t commit themselves to each other at all costs—he tries to, at the end of the movie, stay with her or have her come with him, and she won’t leave her home and her people?? So what’s the argument?

Not to mention, why is anyone even upset that the character Pocahontas falls in love with a white colonist character? Are you saying that this sort of thing would never happen? That a young woman who’s people are embattled with and mistreated by invaders would never find one invader who comes to an understanding with her, and then they fall in love? You’re mad because that would never happen? Incorrect. It happened all the time in history. It happens all the time in other stories you love, like West Side Story.

Who the heck cares if it didn’t happen exactly that way (even though maybe it did) with the historical Pocahontas? We already established that this wasn’t supposed to be a historically accurate retelling, it was supposed to be a loosely-based fairy tale. And the message “Love tries to understand, not to possess,” works perfectly with a fairy tale where the girl from one side of a racially-charged hate war understands and falls in love with a guy from the other side.

I mean people who talk about Pocahontas, the historical figure, with reverence and respect, all usually agree on one thing: she did help maintain some kind of peace between colonists and Native Americans. Whether or not you think the colonists should’ve even been there in the first place is beside the point—sorry, but it is; they were there, now let’s deal with the reality.

So when Disney makes a movie where the goal is to tell the message “Love tries to understand, not to possess,” and they have to be true to the universally-agreed-upon “Pocahontas probably helped bring some peace…” in their fairy tale…why on earth do you have a problem with Pocahontas the Character falling in love as a reason for bringing about that peace?

It’s because you don’t find “falling in love” to be anything other than demeaning for a woman. And it’s because you don’t want John Smith, or any white colonist character, to be depicted as human. You want them all to be unredeemable racist monsters.

The goal is no longer to have movies that say what Pocahontas said. We don’t want movies where there’s messy racism, but then it ends with attempts at peace and understanding. We want movies where there’s entirely one-sided racism, and then revenge for that racism. That’s what we want. We want endless apologies and zero forgiveness.

And for better or worse, Pocahontas is not a movie about endless apologies and zero forgiveness.

IN CONCLUSION: 1. None of the “you” statements were directed at you, idiosyncraticrednebula. 🫡

2. Anyone who wants to teach me where I’m wrong is welcome to, but you have to show your work, and you have to be consistent, you can’t just say “lol imagine thinking Pocahontas isn’t racist. You are the problem.” and then block me. 🙄 all right, well, you can, but all you’ll get out of it is an echo chamber.

3. If you want me to talk about the art, the storytelling, the quality of the movie outside of all this (and it should be outside of all this, because this was a fairy tale, not a historically accurate documentary) it’ll have to be in a different ask, and I’m happy to.

4. Should Disney have made it more clear that this was a fairy tale, a stylized story based only loosely on historical events? …Yeah. Definitely should’ve done a Prince of Egypt-style title card or something. But they didn’t—so now show me why it’s racist or misrepresentative.

[altschmerzes]

Man dnd honor among thieves is so good I remember watching that just waiting for Edgin and Holga to have their obligatory forced kiss/romance that they would’ve gotten in any other movie and when the movie didn’t go there I was like. Damn. Damn ok 11/10 movie actually. And then the movie went even farther and had Edgin save Holga instead of bringing back his wife because HOLGA’s his daughter’s mom and I. I don’t cry easily but I did tear up. This movie said fuck amatonormativity

RIGHT. RIGHT!!!! THE JOY. THE RELIEF. THE OVERWHELMING GENERAL CRUSH OF FEELINGS I EXPERIENCED. what a movie that was just so completely unashamed to be exactly what it was. sincerity in all ways - in genre and in feeling and just. all over. what a charming film that was so special to me. the ending was just. perfect. because he used it for his baby girl’s mom and that was so. AUGH. and holga being like YOU WASTED IT ON ME? WHY DID YOU DO THAT? tropes of all time. chewing glass, climbing the walls, etc.

[b0tster]

Okay so as someone who has never played an AC game, and only has passing familiarity with souls-like games, do you think it'd be enjoyable if I was only into mechs? Is it more Mechwarrior plodding big pew pews or is it basically a sekiro reskin?

in terms of gameplay its vaguely soulsy but it is def a big pew pew game first and foremost! i havent played mechwarrior but i think you would enjoy it!

[socalledsomethingorother]

*holds out jester hat flipped upside down* do you, m'lord, perhaps have a headcanon to spare?

ive got a silly one if i may be dojapilled for a bit

katsuki and izuku both unconsciously do the wrist flick thing during sza’s verse in kiss me more.

they discover this when mina’s scrolling through tiktok with her phone on full volume while they’re all in the commons. ochako is the one to notice, so she asks mina to play the tiktok again so she can record the boys being gay.

she’ll randomly send it to katsuki just to piss him off

[dxckgrxsonx]

Literally no thoughts except Dick Grayson thirst rn, like that man is both Yes, sir your daughter will be home by 8 and your daughter calls me daddy too

HRHRHRURHFH

he’s, ‘yes sir, I’ll have her home by 8 but she’ll barely be able to walk and I have her underwear in my pocket.’

[silverjetsystm]

9 - 15 movies that I could watch 500 times :

The second film is "The Blazing Sun." Also, original flavor GITS, not the live action.

tagged by @biitchcakes

tagging @cordeliabarton @echoestm @kylo-wrecked @lalamoon @valkxrie @voicestm

[teamhawkeye]

idk if i can do that "5 favorite films" poll thing, lads

everyone else has variety in theirs. meanwhile, 3 of my 5 are just the original Star Wars films

[nightowl33art]

Hello I just wanted to say hi and it’s nice to see another system who’s a phi enjoyer :)

Hello fellow system. Handshake on that. ✨💚

[guentzel]

bunch of asks beloved!! 🧃😇🌍 ☕️ 🎉🌻🥦

🧃 cold drink

my absolute favorite cold drink is arnold palmer half and half, specifically the strawberry one you can only get at like, kwik stars, which is super fucking annoying but its too damn good

😇 blorbo

i got so many blorbos... bones from star trek, nixon and speirs from bob, thomas barrow from downton abbey, bruce mclaren, kris and geno from the pens, yadi waino bdonnie bcraw and nado from the cards ;u; god john marston from rdr!!! i need to stop collecting so many

🌍 place

i love st louis! ive only visited it four times but its one of my favorite places to be, esp busch stadium. makes me wish i could live there

☕️ hot drink

i would say hot chocolate or tea? but i dont really drink hot drinks unless i have to, like im cold or forcing myself to be "healthy"

🎉 holiday

uuhhhh i guess christmas?? i enjoy seeing my family and giving gifts, and i love the cold and the snow

🌻 flower

delphinium!!! i love flowers that are like, cone shaped like that with a bunch of petals??? and their colors are gorgeous

🥦 veggie

give me all the mushrooms, i will eat them raw i dont care. give me the mush

[mentally-amoral-armourer]

[arthur flickers into awareness of the body]

[it finds itself in a building very similar to its home, but a quick inspection reveals that its found itself in the blu base]

[did ymir get it here?]

[in any case it needs to get out right now - no way will arthur just be able to ask for help without getting shot. it can worry about getting home once its safe]

[so it cloaks and starts running...]

[...only to trip and fall directly in front of whatever room flick is currently in, creating a loud clang]

-@emotionally-anxious-spybots

[It had been a quiet day for Flick. There had been a match scheduled for today, leaving the halls of the base quiet and unoccupied.]

[A welcome occurrence, if you asked him.]

[Idly working on a broken mechanism within one of the spare pistols, they didn’t even notice the footsteps…]

[But he certainly did notice the clang.]

[Composing himself after definitely not falling out of their chair in surprise, he approaches the Armoury’s exit.]

[Surely it’s just an early returning team member, or something fallen off a shelf, or…]

“Well, then.”

[Or a robot. Apparently.]

“I’d suppose the crash was you, then?”

[He questions, maintaining a casual tone, though a hint of caution seeps through. They’re not letting his guard down just yet.]

[bizlybebo]

May I hear Flick lore

/nf

HEHEHE MY LITTLE GUY,,,, a lot of it is. very handwavey but i do have a general story beat sort of thing figured out for him !!

basically he’s just. Some Random Kid. there’s no significance to that. he really is just some guy /gen. in the world i’ve built (name is a wip) poverty is common, and it’s also not rare for kids on the outskirts of the country to be orphans.

flick literally wandered the streets of a specific district like a rat (and had a lot of run-ins with an underground society of sorts that lives beneath the country) for most of his early life. he knew the stray cats individually and named them all and he knew his way around every alley and rooftop, which was what made him so hard to catch.

until one day, rosemary <33333 my beloved sees this little like. 7? year old just wandering the streets and is like hey. what the hell, goes to check it out, see if he’s doing alright, and after trying to confront him gently he manages to steal her watch.

it leads to this wild goose chase of sorts with flick remaining two steps ahead for soo long. like months on end. rosemary just wants to talk to this odd lil guy she sees on the streets by her shop and make sure he’s got a home and parents or something. flick just finds her entertaining + intentionally keeps her at arms length because of his inherent distrust in adults.

but anyways rose eventually coaxes him in and eventually basically adopts him !!! she calls him her protoge/mentee though.

rosemary’s an old shopkeeper lady, with her not-quite-wife jane (name subject to change cause i’m indecisive). they never really could afford to get married and their entire relationship is a kind of commentary on gay marriage/queer couples in general and having to hide. they’re “very good friends” in the eyes of historians, yknow.

ALSO JANE LITERALLY NAMED FLICK. HE HAD A PERSONALITY THAT RESEMBLED FIRE/SPARKS AND SO SHE NAMED HIM AFTER THE SOUND A LIGHTER MAKES.

ANYWAYS jane has magic. very few people have it in this world since it’s a bloodline thing and most of the people with magic have, unfortunately, been hunted for sport or forced into hiding. the abilities are kind of “watered down” over generations because of it. those with more earthly magic that pertains to the oceans, forests, etc. have been hunted for sport, whilst those with more “otherworldly” magic from a realm that was closed off long ago are often sought after for their different abilities: mainly healing and stuff to do with making deals/“lie detecting”.

all that to say that jane has the otherworldly magic, and spends her life in a sort of hiding because of that. when the government starts picking up on signs that she may have magic, she and rose go to the underground society mentioned earlier since it’s kind of a lawless land, and they’re hoping to find somebody they can bribe into changing her legal files to remove all suspicion from her.

in short, they can’t afford such a thing living in such a poor district. jane thinks the shop and flick are put in jeopardy by her situation, so she hands herself over to the authorities. having magic in this world can immediately grant a person a luxurious life in the upper districts, but it is one without freedom and you’re usually put in the servitude of certain influential figures. basically the government is VERY corrupt and exploits people with magic terribly, which is why it’s so common for people w magic to go into hiding.

ANYWAYS. that’s just flicks backstory really cause rose and jane are very important parts of who he is today. HE HAS A LOSER NERD BEST FRIEND NAMED APHID !!! aphid is not aphid’s. birth-given name nor his legal name, it’s a whole Thing since aphid is in hiding, but not for magic reasons. but they have their odd lil names together and they’re so codependent <33 if i kept taking this answer would be obscenely long

[garciapimienta]

Xavi is leaving but Flick is coming… the epic highs and lows of fc barcelona

[brozonesimp]

The new pfp to confuse nunalastor and get a second chance with nunalastor i assume?

HUSH DON'T REVEAL MY PLAN

[riverdale-retread]

top three riverdale references or riffs?

I've been sitting on this forever because I am not confident at spotting references or riffs, and I'm assuming that the musicals and musical numbers don't count.

I really liked the film noir references in the costumes and lighting for that episode where Jughead starts out by acting like he's a 1940s Bogart type of private eye, and Veronica wears the hat, and she ends by making a direct reference to Chinatowns.

I've never watched any of the movies where a scary man with a chainsaw chases down women, but I've seen bits and pieces, so I liked Betty wielding the chainsaw in S5.

Veronica Lodge and Cheryl Blossom both read a lot of lesbian pulp fiction in their spare time, which I found fun.