#just an average American family * . ✦ . ˚ (dynamics)

[vampiricgirlboss]

Lester, as the eldest and the Count's only son, turned out to disappoint him with his financial irresponsibility. The youngest Dracula daughter was impulsive and married a human and is rarely heard from. Lily is the one who stayed, the middle child holding her family together, and because of that, she is the Count's favourite child.

[artbyblastweave]

So one thing that irks me about discussions of the NCR is the idea that "they're flawed because they're trying to be America again. And Being Too Much America is what caused the War" without differentiating between the vast buildup of Nuclear Weapons and Geopolitical tensions, versus, like, being a republic and having a large-scale central state.

What's your thoughts?

I think the NCR circa New Vegas is textually intended to be repeating the USA's downward spiral. They're in the process of recreating the core dynamics of pre-war America- overconsumption of resources driving imperialist expansion, capture of the government by moneyed interests, and a prolonged conflict with a peer power that's suffering under similar expand-or-die pressures- but they're constrained from a one-to-one recreation mainly by the fact that they're working with a post-apocalyptic resource base, with the scraps left over from the last people who went down this path. Peanuts compared to the Sino-American war, but likely as close to that situation as the post-war-world is logistically capable of producing.

You see bits of this from the NCR perspective all throughout the game. There Stands the Grass is propelled by projections of incipient famine in the NCR due to rapid population growth, and you see the beginnings of this in Flags of Our Foul-Ups- O'Hanaran was sent to the Army by his family to lessen their food burden. Chief Hanlon's very first line is about how the NCR is overtaxing most sources of freshwater within the core territory, and he recounts how tiny groups of settlers backed by NCR logistics were able to take and hold a well in Baja against scores of locals; IIRC there's a cut event at Camp Golf itself where you'd see NCR rangers doing the same thing to Mojave locals encroaching on their water supply. The White Wash demonstrates that the NCR's sharecropping setup in outer Vegas operates at the expense of the locals, who can only get the water they need to support their own crops via subterfuge. If you assume that Heck Gunderson's underhanded Brahmin-farming empire in Beyond the Beef is supposed to parallel the real-world problems with the sustainability of beef farming, you start to get a sense of where all of that water is going and what structural problems (Heck Gunderson) might be in the way of allocating those resources more sustainably. There are likely more examples of this storm on the horizon that I'm forgetting.

As a result of all this, there's a level on which I think introducing the Tunnelers in Lonesome Road as a dangling White-Walker style Looming Apocalyptic Reset Option hanging over the west coast was gratuitous, not because it's Avallone grinding his axe with the idea of society rebuilding, but because it's simply redundant with the political situation already depicted in the base game- If you want the NCR to have collapsed by a future installment, just establish that they weren't able to put the brakes on in time and devolved into a completely dysfunctional oligarchy that collapsed under its own weight!

(Now, as a final note, one thing preventing me from fully committing to this take is that we honestly don't have a fantastic sense of what day-to-day life looks like for the average citizen in the NCR heartland, which I feel is kind of important. Because if the textual situation is supposed to be that the resource crisis is due to misallocation due to interests capturing the government, I like that a lot better than if the situation is genuinely intended to be that there are Just Too Many Goddarn People, because that's like. Lazy and Malthusian and leads to the usual ugly conclusions pretty quickly. More and more it's looking like the upcoming Fallout TV show is leaning into the recent decline of the NCR as a plot point, so, uh, fingers crossed they stick the landing when it comes to fleshing that out?)

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

Remember to boycott!

I don't know why, but I'd rather see Bill recover (And become a better version of himself)… I guess I'm tired of the "Irredeemable Wrong" trope (I know it's reality, although it's more applicable to people, because people unfortunately, they can be evil creatures… We all see Putin and Benjamin… Just pure evil, but in the case of supernatural characters or simply not people, it is strange, because we judge the character through the prism of what we know, not what this being knows, that's why I love TOH, because at least here many perspectives are shown, but many productions, especially those old, is based on one perspective…)

Hello, we live in such an absurdity that characters can forgive genocide and murder of an ADULT MAN, but if he were a demon or another entity, they would not forgive and this is absurd, because a person probably knows what he is doing, while a demon or another entity cannot be fully aware of his actions, because he is NOT HUMAN, HE DOESN'T LIVE IN THIS WORLD AND DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE SERIOUSNESS, ESPECIALLY THE FRAGRITY OF LIFE

I'm just tired of this trope where we often have double standards, we should expect more from an adult than a demon or other entity, I just find it quite disturbing and stuff like that, because seriously, I don't understand that we have normalized forgiving genocide/murder in humans, but in beings who don't know shit about how important life is and that it's bad, we suddenly expect them to understand right away

(Information, this does not apply to Bill, although he can be explained by being a demon and having a fucked up psyche)

I don't know if I managed to describe my feelings towards pop culture, but I'm not fanatical about the fact that we see double standards, we forgive a bad person when he is a human being, but when he is another entity, we throw him into a bad pile…

I don't idealize this type of characters, it all just irritates me, because you seriously have to be human for them to forgive you WHEN YOU KNEW 100% THE SERIOUSNESS OF YOUR ACTIONS? I'm already irritated by the trope of dying villains (Especially with the sacrifice because it's empty), it just seems meh

Maybe that's why I didn't like many American cartoons… I preferred Czech or Soviet cartoons, or from other countries, but the USA productions were average…

Apparently productions in the USA have improved in this respect, but it doesn't change the fact that there are things that irritate me, there are just a lot of them, e.g. Violence as comedy (It bothered me when I was a kid, yes, I'm talking about "Tom and Jerry", or characters who make fun of others, mainly protagonists… I speak as a former scapegoat, I'm just not into violent comedy, I prefer character dynamics)

I don't know why Americans were obsessed with making comedies out of violence (Unfortunately, Poles used to be too, and that's why I don't like Polish productions… At least many of them), but I just didn't like it… Eh…

Now that I have your attention:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote at the very top, I wanted to write why I would like Bill to have a new form, and this is what I came up with, so yes, my ASD brain, as usual, jumps from topic to topic like a frog

My only concern is that people will miss fundraisers because of this

Today I had to pay an invoice (As I mentioned, I don't have a bank account, so you know, physically), so that's fun…

I mention this because actually… I don't know

[shihalyfie]

I really hate how the Tamers dub gets rid of the subplot of Jian’s family being discriminated against. Can you go into more depth about that?

It's something that's mostly very subtle and isn't spotlighted in detail, but during the early episodes when Yamaki's being a jerk to just about everyone in the vicinity, one of the things he does is maliciously misread Jian and his dad's Chinese names using their Japanese readings. At first it can be passed off as him just struggling to figure out how it's read (it's already difficult to figure out how to read names even in native Japanese unless you ask the person themself), but the above exchange in episode 13 occurs that makes it clear that Yamaki's attitude is that he can't be bothered to care about how to read it correctly. "That's not how we read it in Japan" is basically him going "that's your fault for being in our country and not doing things the way we do here."

As you said, this isn't reflected in the American English dub, but there are some considerations here:

First of all, the original Japanese version is also still somewhat guilty. While it was uncommon for Japanese anime to take into consideration the idea of representing the actual Chinese student population (and still is now), Tamers is still a bit sloppy about it; its own names are taken from Chinese actor names without any regard for whether the readings are Mandarin or Cantonese ("Jianliang" itself is Mandarin). Pot, meet kettle.

This is not an issue that's easy to recognize unless you're familiar with Japanese-Chinese social dynamics and the concept of "names that can be read differently" across said languages. Naturally, it's probably clear when I explain it the way I did above, but when something's going through a translator and then editor without this kind of explanation, it may not immediately jump out to someone unfamiliar and they may not realize it's supposed to be a thing. Even if they did recognize it, it's definitely something unlikely to make sense to the average American kid who's not familiar with how either language works. An anime dub doesn't have the luxury of being able to write multiple-paragraph asides to explain things like this, so sometimes you really do have no choice but to skip it.

And finally, if they did reflect it...that would call attention to the fact said American English dub is doing this exact same nonsense. In a series dub where most of the names are either left as-is in Japanese, changed to other Japanese names, or barely modified, "Henry" and "Suzie" are the most blatantly overhauled names for the obvious reason that their names are Chinese and thus were probably considered "more difficult". This is why I have to remind people that dub name changes being as aggressive as they are float a very dangerous line between "accessibility" and being straight-up racist -- remember that for some reason 02's dub was putting out "Yolei" as a name that's somehow supposed to be more internationally accessible than "Miyako" and yet is so uncommon and obscure that it's constantly misspelled and mispronounced all the time. I do think that there is a certain degree changes are warranted for accessibility (when names are likely to accidentally sound like exising words in the target language, when they really are that phonetically incompatible, or when wordplay is involved), but "Asian names are Weird and Bad" is still a huge motive behind these things, and this is the kind of sentiment that gets propagated further if you're too aggressive about forcing name changes down people's throats.

[asexual-means-no-attraction]

Being in a very mogai-infested fandom is pain, but I'm probably most annoyed by demisexuality being so rampant as a HC. There is no reason for that label to even exist. I just came across a fanfic and decided to read it just to see what the author considers to be "demisexual" and:

[[Casual intimacy isn’t his thing if he’s being honest. The idea of sex without the weight of romance isn’t something he feels he’s comfortable with.]]

That's... literally normal. In fact, it's what I was specifically taught as a child was normal. That sex should only be had with the person I loved, and preferably was already engaged/married to. Because my family is catholic and that's their conservative opinion on sex.

It's totally fine to not be into one night stands or other hookups, but you are not a different sexuality because of it, otherwise being catholic is also a sexuality I guess.

(I didn't proof read any of this, so apologies now)

Gonna go off on a tangent here, but I swear it's related:

Growing up I watched a lot of Disney. And something I noticed a lot in any non animation show or movie, was just how rich everyone was. A house would have only a father and daughter, but have 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, a massive living room and dining room, and a state of the art full blown security system that at the time I didn't actually believe could actually exist cuz no 'normal' person could have that. And that would be the standard for many movies that were very much supposed to be realistic in the settings. They'd even say these people have average jobs. Even the apartment in wizards of Waverly place was HUGE. With each kid having their own bed rooms significantly larger than mine. They literally own a family restaurant that they live upstairs in. But the apartment was bigger than my childhood home. And this is coming from a kid who grew up middle class, the most well of between all my friends. If I were to base what the normal American home looks like based on the media I watched as a kid, I would have a very warped idea of what homes look like. If you actually look at the stats, not even my middle class home is normal.

Mainstream media is produced by rich people (the workers under them not so much, but the actual person in charge generally), and that can easily give a bias or warped view of what's "normal." This is even more exaggerated by the fact that characters in mainstream media are designed to be interesting not normal.

So if you're basing your idea of attraction, dating, sex, etc on what you see in the media, it's going to be warped. Which I feel like ties into your comments quite well.

Usually when I see people try to explain what is and isn't normal for experiences of attraction I get examples of media and fiction. Usually examples of characters having one night stands or being playboys. Which:

1. Flirty play boy characters are common in the media because it's easy to make them a dynamic character. Giving them character development or to gain special feelings quickly give them a whole new perspective that audiences love (this isn't a bad thing for the record).

2. Most irl people who are like these fictional characters don't get nearly as many one night stands as they or the media claim. They aren't nearly as much of a player as they seem. And they're also usually pretty annoying unlike the characters in the shows who are made to be likeable. It's unrealistic in the first place.

3. Media itself is not a good standard of what is normal as it's entirely biased on what the producer deems as normal or average. See my tangent at the beginning. The characters aren't a good way to figure out what's "normal."

I have had people explain things usually actual people as examples which I think ties into my earlier rant in exactly the same way.

How you view the people around you (or more accurately your perception of them) is biased. You have a limited social circle and can't really base what's standard for society off of it. I'm guilty of this too. We all are. It's a very natural thing to assume everyone is like the people that you have experienced with-- for better or for worse..

If you're in your teens and have teenage friends, it's gonna be really easy to feel like they're all obsessed with sex or dating. It's a new thing that you're (hopefully) just now really learning about and exploring. It's easy to go a little overboard with something new. And it's also normal to not be interested in something new. Some kids are gonna be really into dating while others aren't. Some are gonna go from one person to another, others aren't. Cuz no one knows what they're doing. No one knows their boundaries yet. No one knows what they want outta relationship yet. They're figuring it out. Whether you are interested in it or not-- both ends of the spectrum and everything in between is totally normal.

As a young adult you're still figuring things out so it's the same thing. Your own journey to figuring out what/who/how/where you want a relationship is gonna be unique then someone else's. It's normal for each person to have a different journey. This alone isn't some new identity.

Lastly, on a final note. The amount of people who want "sex without romance" is a lot smaller than we're led to believe. And the people who do feel that way are the ones who are abnormal. They may have trauma that influences it, they may not. They could be likeable, they could not. They may be abusers who just want someone to abuse, they may not have any ill will at all. They may be a shitty person, they may not. Regardless, our society pushes "romance goes with sex" a whole hell of a lot more than "sex and romance are separate." Like... a lot so. Historically and in the modern day.

So if your entire reasoning for a whole brand new identity is "I want to connect before we date or have sex," I need you to know how much that is actually extremely normal. And how much you've been influenced by biased media, possibly a shitty friend or ex, and just a warped pov in general (not necessarily of any fault of your own).

[skynapple]

Btw I finally finally got the gist of my story down that I've been world building since like,,, middle school. It's messy and long.

Genre: fantasy

Tl;dr - girl gets sucked into her favorite book, makes a lot of difficult decisions, falls in love but not with the main character (sort of).

Summary: An average young woman, Lynna, falls into a fantasy book and realizes she's a crucial part of the story. A knight, Daniel, in the story has been able to hear her speaking out loud to her book the entire time she was reading, so now she gets to befriend him and his brother, the prince "Charles" god I was not original but now I'm attached to the names, in person. In her fantasy-self, a powerful entity has possessed her, allowing her a host of magical abilities but also the ability to travel between her home and fantasy dimension. Over the course of time, she finds love in a manner of forms, and discovers the meaning of selflessness and devotion. In the end, she becomes a permanent part of the world and helps rightfully close the rip in time that brought the two dimensions together.

Characters: Lynna - Female, 20's, Book editor, American but presides and works out of London, UK.

Charles - Male, 20's. Prince in the book, married young (arranged), a year younger than Daniel.

Daniel - Male, Mid-20's. "Main character" in the fantasy book, prince's adopted brother and serves as his knight/protector

Erika - Female, early-20's. Side character, brief antagonist for a subplot, talented magician and organized thief

Storyline (Messy and plot holes but whatever):

Beginning: Daniel fell in love with her purely because she was the voice in his head encouraging him to press on through a difficult circumstance (because in the modern world she was fangirling out loud to herself). Charles though, pretty much fell in love at first sight but knows his brother has been talking about this girl for so long so he just doesn't get in the way and ends up in a loveless arranged marriage. Lynna does fall for the knight so their together at the end of I guess the first act.

Lynna has sort of an emotionally abusive family so the book for her was escape, so as soon as she realizes where she is she just accepts it as a blessing. Is very intrigued by the prince because he wasn't really in her storybook all that much.

The Middle: ok here's the messy bit. Charles is shown to be sneaking off to, I guess we'll call it the "villains" location, the king next door, and asks to be 'returned home.' The villain has similar magical abilities to Lynna, and sends Charles through a portal. We don't know where yet. This is just to show a bit of shady behavior and foreshadow some things. The assumption to everyone else is he's away on diplomatic business.

At some point, the castle is attacked by a group of magic-wielders, one of whom steals a precious conduit stone. Daniel leads a pursuit and captures her. He's at first intrigued cause... sword wielding woman with a flirty tongue but more like, 'how did you end up like this.' The thief, Erika, is intrigued by his apparent compassion. She escapes, and he pursues her again, but this time he lets her go if she can promise to return what she stole and seek honest avenues, she agrees but he has no idea if she's lying. They have an interesting dynamic, he did a bad thing for her, she did a good thing for him. Returns as normal and just says she got away.

Charles returns and is mostly absent, his wife is shown to be pompous and selfish. Charles realizes she's been sneaking a man into their room and threatens her, but she sobs and he kinda sees it as an out, so he agrees to a quiet divorce on a grounds of... idk they make up some kind of legal separation agreement. This actually ends up changing her drastically and as she becomes ruler of her nation alongside her true lover, she remains endlessly devoted to Charles. Platonic soulmate type of thing. Also illustrates that Charles is a bit manipulative himself and yet has a lot of compassion.

Lynna notices Daniel is growing distracted, and it becomes apparent when Erika returns, this time on the kings business as she has turned a new leaf, that he can't keep his eyes off her. She watches them sword fight together and can't handle it. She breaks things off with him and at this point he can't deny that there's something pulling him towards Erika either. (This is devastating for him because being loyal is such a crucial part of his very being that even though he never was really disloyal to Lynna ever, just the whole thing is overwhelming for him. He needs a min.) Mourning the loss of the relationship, Lynna decides to return home indefinitely realizing that fantasy isn't all that much better than reality.

At the end of this part, she runs into Charles at a library in London, where she realizes that he lives an entirely double life and goes strictly by "Charlie."

At first she's just surprised to see him and that he has a family (mother, father, sister) in London. He's confused why she's there too, since she's American. She moved abroad to study and ended up staying to live permanently after graduating. Mostly she's wondering why he never mentioned it, and wonders if he read the same book/fell into it too, and how he got there. He does say he's read the book, and has a conduit that lets him travel (didn't mention the villain king). This actually leads to a fight where he reveals he knew that Daniel and Erika were supposed to end up together at the end of the story (that their soul mates) and didn't tell her. She knows that wasn't in the book and he just pretends he had a different version. So they kind of part ways and don't talk for a while, because to her he's obviously hiding a lot. They end up running into each other a lot and she ends up sort of getting a lot closer to him.

Lynna has a lot of trust issues, and has a tendency for escapism. She doesn't like confrontation and would literally rather live overseas far away from her family than confront any personal issues. This carries over in small form, like ignoring texts so she doesn't have to deal with them. Charlie calls her out on this as he gets to know her. She calls him out on a lot of things too, like his anger issues and how he constantly fleas from responsibility, and that he's a bit immature. They yell a lot but they're really just stripping each other down to their cores and realize they're both a mess inside.

Charlie finally opens up about his past, that he was kidnapped by the villain king and sent "to a world without magic" until his royal parents could pay ransom. His royal parents suck and took their time but also the villain requested half the kingdom as his own, so they finally obliged to get their son back which is why he rules the nation next door now. Meanwhile, time is different in the modern world. Being a child, he was inserted into the foster system since he was kinda picked up off the streets with no records. He was adopted by his current family in London and grew up there thinking all his memories of his early years were just psychological escape fantasies from whatever situation lead to him ending up on the streets. He takes lots of prescribed medications.

For a while he grew up as an adult and then one day was virtually sucked back into the fantasy world, as a child again and had to grow up again as a prince. By the time he's mostly the same age as he was in the modern world, the villain visits him and offers him a deal to "go home" and return him back to his "true family." At first Charlie refuses, but after realizing he will never have the love, freedom, and warmth that he felt in the modern world, he agrees to the terms and is allowed to travel back and forth whenever he wants. The portal is more stabilized so, he can gauge how much time has passed.

Lynna's upset he made a deal with a villain. Charlie is conflicted because the manipulation has sort of worked on him. The villain hasn't appeared to do anything super harmless on the surface, and Charlie is too enamored with his average life to really think too critically about it. He shares his dream with her of getting his doctorate and becoming a professor. She argues that he has responsibilities to his crown and that he owes his people better leadership than what his father has shown. She believes he will become a good king. Charles asserts that he's worse.

It sticks with him though and he announces he'll return to the fantasy world and try to be better. Over time she realizes that as much as she fought with Charlie, that she loves him because no one else has really opened her up and exposed her to herself really like how he did. She decides to return also and to stop running from her problems all the time. They make up some excuse for the absence... Erika and Daniel have gotten married by the time they return. Charles invests himself in actual diplomatic relations and trying to establish a proper setup for things for his coronation. Lynna compliments his efforts. He says it's all for her. She asserts that its not, he just tells himself that so that he won't have to de with the fact that he's known what his purpose is all along and that he knows he really wants to be a good king, because he was born for it. She's right.

They do end up together and she makes him promise that whenever he wants to visit "home" that he'll ask her, and not the villain king. Along the way she's been sort of being "trained" by the entity inside her. The entity serves as a conduit for the world, helps the seasons change, maintains a certain power balance between the nations by being sort of omnipotent she can keep the other nations in check. She's not a god per se but.... yeah. The entity has to choose a pure soul. For as 'flawed' as she was, the entity was basically able to see her character development in the future LOL. The conduit Erika stole originally, however, was a mini version of the one thing that can kill Lynna.

The villain king has found a way to obtain it and is upset that his manipulation tactics are no longer working on Charles. He basically has, through treaties, manipulated the neighboring nations into owing him and even though he doesn't rule them, he essentially controls them. So without Charles, its kinda the last missing puzzle piece and thorn in his side. He knows Lynna is the reason, but also the power. He knows if he has Lynna, he has Charles, and has all the power.

Lynna and Charlie get married, making their nation the most powerful because of her entity. So the villain decides to make his move to kill her by possessing Erika. Erika has been the keeper/protector of this massive conduit (the whole world runs on magic so it's just this massive power generator thing that when stolen cripples a lot of things). Erika is the only one who can actually weild it. It's sort of Lynna's kryptonite. The world, and thereby a certain sort of her own power is sort of channeled into it, and yet its the only thing capable of killing her, so she's weak to it. Erika isn't stronger than her but is definitely able to easily get the upper hand. Right before dying, Lynna wills the entity to enter Charles's body, making him the new entity.

Charles was at a safe place away, being protected by Daniel, (aware that a battle was happening but having complete faith in his wife and also completely unaware that the special conduit was being used against her). Now in the entity form, he's able to see her last moments. He immediately recognizes that its not Erika, but unlike Lynna, knows the secret place the villain king is manipulating it for because of his close relationship with the villain king. He's able to teleport to that place since he's been there before, and kills the king. With his abilities, he's also able to revive Lynna and Erika (Erika died when the king did). After returning the entity, they make a few discoveries.

The dimensions were torn and a lot of people who currently live in the fantasy world were people who fell from earth, including Daniels original parents. The dimensions have been destabilizing, so they make the difficult decision to close it, cutting them off from their earth families but preserving current life otherwise. And I guess they all live happily ever after.

Sidenote: Charlie was the author all along of the original book, having written it during his time in london as a way to collect all his weird dreams and flashbacks, visions, and memories (some of which happened some didn't; he sees weird things as a result of the dimension destabilization), some of it he wrote as "ideal." so he had pretty much written himself out of the narrative, wanting it to focus on his brother instead, which is why Lynna was originally attached to Daniel more and had not recognized Charlie as a character. So rather than the fictional character Charlie essentially created, Lynna falls for the author instead.

Sidenote: Since Lynna's occupation before all this was as an editor. Every writer needs their editor to make a story flow :)

[bookqueenrules]

How Gimple and Company have missed the mark on Daryl Dixson Season 1 and the ratings are showing it.

Let’s talk ratings first:

Disclaimer: Yes, streaming matters, but by comparing a show’s performance to other shows on the network, we can get an idea how the show is doing.

Dead City performed better in the demos and overall.  Now, of course, the season isn’t over, but DD is down week to week from episode 1 to episode 2 by 18% in the key demo!

Yes, DD is competing against Sunday night football, but Dead City aired during the summer slump when people tend to watch less T.V. DD is also airing at a time when little new programming is coming, and has been advertised extensively. DD should be doing better.

I believe the problem is obvious.  I did a post I submitted to twdmysterymusicbox linked here about why I thought it would be revealed, at least to audience, that Beth is alive in episode 3 of the spin-off. 

Everything I said stands except the fact that I gave too much credit to TPTB! 

It’s what they should have done!

Here is part of that post:

“Dead City was considered a success by most, but why did it do well?

Some wanted to see NYC zombies. Some wanted to see Maggie and Hershel. I would argue MOST wanted to see the development of the Negan/Maggie dynamic. How many would have watched just Maggie trying to get Herschel back?  Some, but it would not have had the same viewership, and the TWD fans actually care about Hershel as Maggie and Glenn’s son. 

So, why will people watch DD?

Some are looking forward to variant zombies, some want to see Daryl, but for how long will the average American TWD viewer tune in to see Daryl hanging out with new French characters with accents and subtitles to boot?  

Personally, I would enjoy it regardless, but I know many people that hate subtitles and won’t be particularly interested in how things went in France.  Sure, the scenery is beautiful, but it won’t hold the interest past a couple of episodes. The “cure” premise was JUST seen in The Last of Us.   TPTB should also have learned that the decline of the flagship was largely due to killing off “family” characters we cared about and bringing on lots of new characters that never became as important to the audience as the original characters of the first few seasons. Hopefully, TPTB learned this lesson. 

While I DO expect to see a Carol flashback in season 1, the show will need to bring something to the French story that will excite and surprise viewers. If MMB would have decided to be in season 1, it may have been a different story. The Daryl/Carol dynamic would have been there, and I would be predicting your typical “cliffhanger” style reveal towards the end of the first season.

That is why I think there will need to be SOME reconnection between Beth/Daryl in season 1 for the audience to care enough to tune in to Carol/Daryl finding her in season 2. 

So, I was wrong about what they were going to do, but I was right in WHY they should have done it!

Let me add here that bringing Carol alone will not improve ratings much. There STILL has to be connection to the TWDU and character development. We have seen the Carol and Daryl show the last few seasons of TWD and viewership declined. MOVE THE STORY.

Viewers want to see character development. They were watching to see what would happen between Maggie and Negan.

This “stand alone” DD show is not what viewers want.  There has to be connection to and movement in the original narrative viewers loved.

The stakes in this spin-off are almost ZERO. Judith and Carol are happy in the Commonwealth. Zeke is taking care of them both. 🙂There is no crisis only Daryl can solve back home. He is not in France searching for his long lost love Beth…..

There are no stakes in the French storyline either. Laurent has Isabelle and his new found parent to look after him. It’s not even imperative that Laurent make it to the “Nest” at a certain time.  We are not going to discover how the outbreak started, or why/if they are making varient zombies

Most importantly, Daryl’s happy ending is nowhere on the horizon. Why should people tune in? Dragging out this storyline and trying to milk the franchise even more is a disaster.  They can print as many articles saying people love the spin-off as they want, and I think those actually tuning in are enjoying it.  However, the numbers don’t lie.  The "must watch" interest is not there. 

Not enough people care enough to tune in.  I predict episodes 3 and 4 will have even lower ratings.

The SHIP baiting and dragging out of Daryl’s romantic storyline is not working. It’s been 12 years already! We have seen Beth set up and taken away, Leah as one episode non-romance, flirting with Connie, but NO actual romance for Daryl. Now, it’s obvious that Daryl/Isabelle is another bait.  The time for that is long past. Give the viewers a true romantic partner for Daryl.  In the apocalyptic world of TWD the environment and the trauma the characters face are enough of an obstacle.  Who will Daryl fall in love with?  The question must be answered for viewers to care.  This is the only way to develop his character any further. 

Thoughts?

[hoursofreading]

Here’s the good news about the rise in unmarried 40-year-olds: It suggests that heterosexual marriage has gone from socially compulsory to largely optional (if still aspirational). It means greater diversity in how people are structuring their families. It almost certainly means fewer women in abusive marriages, and fewer women married to jerks who don’t particularly like or respect them. And rising age of first marriage means that these unmarried-at-40 statistics don’t tell us anywhere close to the full story of marriage in the United States. In large liberal cities in particular, it’s not at all unusual to get married for the first time in your 40s, or to have a child in that same decade of life. For college-educated people in particular, young adulthood lasts longer than ever, and is likely to be capped off with significant stability in middle adulthood. For many women, this means unprecedented freedom, and far greater wellbeing. It’s hard to overstate just how significant this shift has been. In 1980, the average age at first marriage for American women was 22. Today, just 6% of Americans marry by the time they’re 21. Rising age of first marriage and decreased marriage rates have also meant that far fewer marriages end in divorce — when people aren’t quite so socially pressured into getting married, and when they have more time to figure out who they are and what they want, they pick more suitable partners and wind up in more stable relationships. Fewer divorces is better for individual mental health, as well as for children, and certainly for a family’s financial health (and for women’s financial health in particular — divorce has historically plunged a lot of women into financial chaos or even poverty). This is also good news for liberals. In 2022, single voters broke for Democrats 59-39; married voters broke for Republicans by almost an identical margin. And that leftward lean came from unmarried women, 68% of whom voted Dem in 2022. Unmarried men, by contrast, leaned Republican, and married men were the most conservative of all. Human beings are social animals, and it seems the more women are tied to men, the more women adopt the politics of those men (that dynamic could be its own post — some day I’ll write it). We see decreasing marriage rates coming along with other liberalizing social trends: More girls graduating from high school and more women graduating from college; more women in the workplace; fewer women having children, or women having fewer children; fewer Americans going to church or organizing their moral lives around religious principles. Single women, the nonreligious — these are America’s pro-choice feminist voters. Unmarried women have different priorities and needs than married women, and are more likely than ever before to have children. The Democratic Party, while far from perfect, has proven itself much more adept at catering to these voters’ demands, and making their lives marginally better. The Republican solution — get married and figure it out for yourself — doesn’t quite work.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Why I am Predicting a Beth Appearance by the End Episode 3:

@bookqueenrules:

OFC, this is TOTAL speculation based on TWDU and non-TWDU clues.  I am NOT saying that Daryl will necessarily see/know that she is alive by the end of ep. 3(or in a post credits scene), but I believe it will be revealed to the audience by then that she, or someone who looks like her, is alive. 

I’ve seen symbolic clues in “Diverged” in Season 10 and Dead City. 

DD was in the writing/development stage FAR longer than Dead City. So, Dead City writers already had access to the outlines for DD before production began. So, when Maggie showed a family picture with a person we can infer to be Beth having eyes gouged out in the shape of the surprised emoji, that was a major red flag for me.  That happened in episode THREE of Dead City.

 In Diverged, a wholly symbolic episode, Daryl takes off on his own and his motorcycle breaks down. It is in the THIRD place he looks, that he finds the knife, symbolically representing a love interest. he needs to fix his bike and continue his journey. 

Some of my belief is based on storyline conjecture. So, back to Dead City.  It was considered a success by most, but why did it do well?

Some wanted to see NYC zombies. Some wanted to see Maggie and Hershel. I would argue MOST wanted to see the development of the Negan/Maggie dynamic. How many would have watched just Maggie trying to get Herschel back?  Some, but it would not have had the same viewership, and the TWD fans actually care about Hershel as Maggie and Glenn’s son. 

So, why will people watch DD?

Some are looking forward to variant zombies, some want to see Daryl, but for how long will the average American TWD viewer tune in to see Daryl hanging out with new French characters with accents and subtitles to boot?  

Personally, I would enjoy it regardless, but I know many people that hate subtitles and won’t be particularly interested in how things went in France.  Sure, the scenery is beautiful, but it won’t hold the interest past a couple of episodes. The “cure” premise was JUST seen in The Last of Us.   TPTB should also have learned that the decline of the flagship was largely due to killing off “family” characters we cared about and bringing on lots of new characters that never became as important to the audience as the original characters of the first few seasons. Hopefully, TPTB learned this lesson. 

While I DO expect to see a Carol flashback in season 1, the show will need to bring something to the French story that will excite and surprise viewers. If MMB would have decided to be in season 1, it may have been a different story. The Daryl/Carol dynamic would have been there, and I would be predicting your typical “cliffhanger” style reveal towards the end of the first season.

That is why I think there will need to be SOME reconnection between Beth/Daryl in season 1 for the audience to care enough to tune in to Carol/Daryl finding her in season 2. I wouldn’t expect them to connect until late episode 4 or episode 5, but they will have to be separated again by the end of 6.  They will need that time to tell their story and have the audience care again about their connection. Nicotera said in a recent interview that the DD spin-off talk began 7 years ago.  It was supposed to be set in the American West where Daryl encounters different groups each week.  He referenced three OLD shows as examples.

 One was Kung Fu with David Caradine. 

I could go into detail, but each show he referenced is about a man who is searching for something/someone and encounters different people who they change and are changed by them before moving onto the next place on the search.  Yes, I had to research each one.  They were before my time!  This stretched out search for Beth would have made sense then because the audience still remembered her and their connection vividly. That will not work now. It’s been too long and these series are finite. Gimple, sort of, said as much on the red carpet at the finale of the flagship. He said he was already past the spin-offs in his planning and was now thinking about how to develop the next generation and new stories while integrating the “iconic” characters. So, I don’t think these spin-offs will go much past three seasons. Especially with only six episodes per season, it doesn’t give that much time to develop these stories. 

Some non-storyline clues are that the release of EK’s album is on the 22nd of September right before episode 3 airs.  She has been releasing singles all summer.  Why wait for the album release until then?  Norman said in interviews last year that he would, “run into some familiar faces” in the spin-off.  Who else is going to run into in season 1 in France?

Just a few days ago there has been even MORE weirdness. An extra-long first episode?  All of episodes 1 and 2 being screened in theaters in four major cities on Monday?  WHY? I almost wonder if they decided to reveal Beth is alive at the end of episode 2. The ONLY reason to prescreen is to increase buzz, but really what hasn’t already been teased about those first two episodes? I understand that they may need more publicity due to the writer/actor strikes leading up to the release, but why would “spoiling” the first episodes really increase the buzz if it is JUST about the Laurent story?

I’m excited to see how it plays out!

@twdmusicboxmystery​:

I absolutely LOVE everything you’ve said here. Love the symbolic clues you’re looking at. Love your points about Dead City. Love your research into early iterations of the DD spinoff. (I kinda wonder if all the New Mexico symbolism from 11x01 was a nod to that.) Love all your points about publicity and such.

And you’re right. I heartily agree. I don’t have much to add, but all of your conclusions are the only thing that make sense. The only other “faces” we could run into are people like Heath and Davon. And don’t get me wrong, it would be fun to see them again. But it’s not like any of those characters will do much to further Daryl’s story.

And let’s not forget that ep 1 starts with an echo of Judith’s line about Daryl deserving a happy ending, too. Which means that one way or the other, he’ll find his true love and soulmate in this spinoff.

Can’t wait! Thanks SO much for your thoughts! Xoxo!  🍁 🍂 😍

[npdbenrey]

i love fucking with inhuman species' cultural dynamics. i think its cool if they're nothing like your average american. i think its actually better to explore the idea of other species' not having fucked up concepts like humans do. alien species who has no genders and no need for a gendered system. demon species that also doesnt have genders because they reproduce asexually. troll subspecies that doesnt kill people because they learned to photosynthesize??? (this one is a joke)

i love fucking with constructs. cuz like when we write or even just think about inhuman characters, we tend to assume their culture would be similar to ours, but like. what if it isn't? what if they aren't all that similar? what if they don't communicate verbally? what if their young grow up alone because the species is highly isolated to the point members of said species have never met their family? sorry i love this kind of shit. autism rant over. toodles

[vampiricgirlboss]

𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐩 :

out of the coffin * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (ooc)

I'm not just gonna sit around here and deteriorate * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (self promo)

Better Tombs and Gardens * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (promo)

Bundles for Transylvania * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (asks)

like a stake through my dead black heart * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (musings)

the kind of place I'd like to be found dead in * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (starter)

the cobweb in my brains * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (writing)

a warm exotic flamboyance * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (aesthetic)

a groovy chick * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (image)

Dracula's daughter * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (faceclaims)

disco vampire * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (music)

just a regular gal * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (the Countess herself)

just an average American family * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (dynamics)

a simple country boy straight from the dirt * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (Herman)

her father the Count * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (Grandpa)

I love her so much * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (Marilyn)

your little pointed ears * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (Eddie)

my dear brother * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (Lester)

you know I never drink wine * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (headcanons)

a man who makes my blood run cold * . 　 ✦ . ˚ (Lily & Herman)

[reversecreek]

welcome to marina, WILLA DENEURVE ( woman, she/her ) ! they are a TWENTY-EIGHT year old who has lived on the island for TWO MONTHS. word on the street is they’re currently living in HYLAND PARK and works as an ACTRESS. everyone also says they look a lot like ASHLEY MOORE. what do you think?

PINTEREST

“Her voice was trained, supple as leather, precise as a knife-thrower’s blade. Singing or talking, it had the same graceful quality, and an accent I thought at first was English, but then realized was the old-fashioned American of a thirties movie, a person who could get away with saying “grand”. Too classic, they told her when she went out on auditions. It didn’t mean old. It meant too beautiful for the times.” — Janet Fitch, White Oleander.

HISTORY:

willa ws born to honestly like….. the perfect family not to honk my own tit bt……………. they were jst rly quite wholesome. her mum celeste was this larger than life person who could never b contained by the four walls of any room she was in. she hd the presence of a gold glitter chess piece on an otherwise mundane wooden board. her dad marlon used to always joke that he had absolutely NO idea how he landed her bc he was just this like. rly average guy by all accounts n purposes….. blended into the sea in high skl……. had a few close friends but was never rly Notable or made a proper impression anywhere…… he always retold it as him coasting thru life until he met her in college. kind of like he’d been half awake before

willa always very much took after celeste…… there’s this one quote i remember reading that goes vaguely like “my mom and i would sit and listen to leonard cohen and joni mitchell lyrics together. from a young age i remember her being like “i’m playing this song and when it’s done i want u to tell me what’s happening in it” n she would give me a fake glass of wine when i was 8 and i would listen and b like. i think there was an affair.” which so much summarises their dynamic…… she ws just so like. dramatic n fun n always encouraged that in willa too. her mum was like. everything she aspired to be…… got scouted by a modelling agency in college n shot one campaign before blowing it off simply bc she was bored. starred lead in a play. spent a few weeks travelling asia selling handmade candles shaped like koi fish or curled up foxes or elegantly stretched hands. dated a parisian movie star during a break she and her father took n was featured in tabloids on his arm at the premiere. sm fun n exotic stories willa literally cldn’t get enough. whenever she’d tell them to willa as a kid her dad wld roll his eyes like ohhhhh here she goes again but it’d all b playful n he’d smile bc he honestly cldn’t get enough either. the stuff dreams are made of luv (lizzie mcguire stans rise)

(car accident & death tw) so u know when ur walking down a flight of stairs n then out of nowhere u miss a step n u get that lurch in ur stomach like ur in free fall? yeah. i won’t go into it too much but one night they were driving back from getting frozen yogurt and then suddenly they weren’t. she doesn’t rly remember much about it except for completely ignoring the doctors trying to give her the news and just saying “dad chose pecan. who chooses pecan?” n repeating that over n over n over until it didn’t rly register in her ears as english any more.

willa was uprooted from marina at 11 to go n live w her aunt in NY. this was like. a huge adjustment honestly….. her aunt blanche hd always been a little unconventional bt extremely glamorous. she lived in an old defunct theatre she’d bought out n came from a lot of money. willa’s mum’s side of the family hd always been well off bt celeste opted to live a little more Ordinarily shall we say after settling whereas blanche ws jst balls to the walls dripping w eccentric excess…. wld say she was never naked bc she ws always wearing black opium by yves saint laurent…… probably the living embodiment of la vie boheme….. she’d been admitted a yr early to a rly prestigious parisian design school n is an AMAZING seamstress. a corset she stitched a broadway star into got commissioned fr an actress’ red carpet walk at an indie film festival. rly just lived such a life rich w lots of stories n lots of talent too…… had that star quality essence tht her mum had n that was smthn willa found quite comforting everything considered.

(grief tw) u would think maybe a situation like this (one involving so much sudden change) wld cause a kid of tht age to withdraw into her shell bt willa only came out of her shell MORE. she coped w her situation by spinning it into a celebrity origin story inside her head. the tear jerker tale someone tells during their x factor audition to get the judges rooting for them. mentally streamlining things. repackaging all that hurt as a surefire ticket to success bc it had to be useful for something right? there had to b a point to it right? willa decided the point was she’s a star. KFHSGKFHGFKHGKJSFHG. get it girl….. she ws literally just like ok well clearly i’m destined to be famous n i’m the main character of this story. this story called earth. it’s all about me.

rly heavily immersed herself in her high skl theatre scene……. loved experimenting w fashion n literally wore the most outlandish things like. she treated the hallways like her milan f/w debut every new school yr…… a lot of the things she wore were actual like. costumes frm her aunt’s collection…… she has a multi-story closet u have to climb ladders to reach things in like a very rustic library…. it rly wasn’t uncommon for willa to turn up one day corsetted like a pirate with billowing sleeves or sporting the baby blue gingham of a swedish milk maid. it’s like she literally jst…… became a role. always. every day. the world ws her stage. the cameras were always rolling. her aunt only encouraged this tbh n honestly? icon. we love to see it. willa partied a bunch n rly lived a lax lifestyle where responsibility was concerned…. her aunt ws her best friend…… made rly gd friends with performers in the drag club scene n loved the glitz of that….. lots of wild nights turned grossly bright mornings

snagged an agent fresh into her first yr of college (she gt accepted to a pretty competitive theatre program at [redacted] in NY bc i haven’t looked into what that wld be yet <3 i’m merely a helpless british lass <3) n booked a few commercials n things….. when i say willa wld enter audition rooms like she owned the place i’m rly not exaggerating…. once she turned up to a casting call for MEN n just walked right to the front of the line scraping a random chair along the way n then took a seat w her legs crossed popping a bubble in her gum as they all glared at her like wtf is literally going on who are u. she received several complaints n she was just like “ur all acting so jealous of me….”

i feel like she got a pretty big role in a theatre production in her last yr at school. haven’t decided what yet. maybe smthn rocky horror or even mimi in rent. this was meant to b some like huge moment for willa like yes girl finally making it ur on ur way this is what u wanted n she WAS happy abt it but once it was wrapped she jst had this strange like Huh feeling in her chest……. n a la celeste w all her exciting stories was just like well i’ve done that so what’s next?

SO basically i feel like she finally moved back to marina a few months ago n lives in the big empty house in hyland park tht used to belong to her parents. she inherited it n never sold it. it's kind of eerie n weird n like a giant frozen shrine. she hd a brief stint starring on a reality tv show beforehand where her dog gained a handful of fan accounts dedicated to him……. u maybe will see why in the first bullet point of her personality section………… FKGHKSHFGGKFSHKHG. honestly she ws received pretty well too (mostly bc she’s so fking dramatic n like a caricature of a person) bt it wasn’t anything to warrant actual Fame (despite what willa herself might think). she’s mostly jst like. chilling honestly. accepting scripts n flying out fr auditions still. she’ll nab the occasional part bt she’s looking for that One Thing that rly feels like her big moment….. otherwise i cn just imagine her treating marina like a little dollhouse compared to the roaring mansion of NYC n having fun playing around in it. strikes a pose w a hand on my hip…. and now to personality.

PERSONALITY:

got a very large n lithe greyhound n named him marlene dietrich bc she was a black n white hollywood starlet famously known for her affairs n “bedroom eyes”. willa was like ugh. icon status instantly. didn’t rly foresee the responsibilities tht came w owning a dog tht loves exercise n complains abt him being like “ugh he wants to run soooooooooo much 🙄 like where are u literally going”. having said tht loves him dearly n he can often be seen wearing little clothes. a baby’s bonnet. a quilted leather waistcoat. a custom dog boa. he’s very glamorous. willa calls him a gay icon despite no evidence to support this theory. she also says he can sniff out evil in ppl so she brings him sometimes when she’s first introduced to a friend’s new bf n if his nose quivers a certain way she’s like “marlene has spoken. it’s done”. her friends r like omg? what’s done? willa gets up n walks away without elaborating. marlene’s little paws clicking along the floor w attitude.

literally dressed as marie antoinette for her high skl prom even tho there was no theme pertaining to this. jst loves the spotlight. can fake cry and WILL to get out of a parking ticket or teach someone to watch their tone or even simply for the theatrics of it all. the Most dramatic………….. rly fits being an actress like when people find out what she does it’s very like oh that makes sense.

says she doesn’t get hangovers. she’s just like “i revoked that it doesn’t happen to me”. alludes tht this is bc she’s an all powerful deity that was Chosen to be Blessed bt really she’s jst great at bouncing back n acting fine even w a blistering headache. it’s about believing the performance so much that u even convince urself.

has an extremely elevated sense of self importance bc this is kind of the equivalent of several layers of bubble wrap to cushion her frm the world. strives to b extraordinary bc ordinary honestly feels like a death sentence n there’s nothing she’d want to b seen as less. despite this weight she puts on that she rly doesn’t tend to let ppl’s opinions affect fr the most part like she’s quite firmly set in this I’m Literally The Most Gorgeous And Beautiful Angel Star Creature To Walk This Narsty Little Earth view

probably an incredibly big fan of dramatic short lived love affairs. she wants the glamour of it all. the scandal. the randomly breaking up w someone in a public place n sliding on sunglasses after delivering the words over a freshly ordered coffee (tht she’ll leave without drinking bc that’s star power babey she waits fr no man or no hot beverage)…….. has no preference gets w any n all regardless of gender……… romanticises things so they hv a better spin or story in her head n doesn’t rly take things seriously like jst has fun in her fantasy world…. she’s like ugh chuck i know u wanted to marry me but i’m a beautiful bird in a cage n u literally need to undo the latch n set me free……. the guy’s like……. my name’s chase n we’ve only been on two dates….. willa’s like…… please don’t take this so hard i can tell ur besides urself but people r starting to stare……. gets up n leaves. no-one was staring. chase is confused n honestly probably semi concerned fr her welfare.

always has to b the hottest n most glamorous person in a grocery store…. probably goes to them when she doesn’t even need anything jst holding a basket nonchalantly over her forearm glancing over at a cashier in her wizard of oz corset seamed interpretation on a dorothy dress thinking he wants me soooo bad it’s not even funny….. seduces him over the check out counter jst for him to ask her to come back to his so she can lean back scandalised n cry “IS THAT THE KIND OF WOMAN U THINK I AM, PAUL?! YOU’RE A GHASTLY LITTLE MAN, YOU ARE….” with all the gusto of a telenovela. attracts the shocked glances of all surrounding elderly.

speaks fluent french. probably on her brief stint on tht reality show i mentioned earlier was like “ugh can you believe Deneurve of this guy?” n in her head was like this catchphrase is sensational it’ll catch on fast the twittersphere is abt to implode but it didn’t become a thing except for in a small isolated community. despite this she’s like “yeah it went viral….. go figure. just another day in the life.”

honestly like a lot of fun bt also a huge handful at the same time. keeps her real Serious emotions in a locked box bt is always overflowing w melodramatics n rly giving her all at the drop of a hat where Performing is concerned. probably Loves parties n sees them as another form of production in which she wants to b the lead. rly just. loves herself. except does she? 🤔 lifts my hand up like rihanna n winks. find out next time. lucky by britney plays as i slowly disintegrate in spiderman rp…..

[grabyourpillow]

So. I watched Avatar the way of water

so you don't have to. hear my thoughts about it and then decide for yourself

Entails spoilers but that doesn't really matter because the scenario is at a solid twenty three on a 0-10 predictability scale.

Okay so, first things first.

The movie is stunning.

The special effects teams did an awesome, terrific, 11/10 job and I thought to myself "AI could never." Every plant, every flower, every creature felt like a living, breathing organism. The planet's ecosystems felt coherent and beautiful and alive. I had chills at some scenes purely because they were absolutely absolutely breathtaking. There are details in the morphology of different Na'vis, from the skin patterns to the development of the limbs, etc... And I honestly think 95% of the world building can be attributed to the special effects teams working on the movie.

And the scenes in the water, oh my god. You'll have to see for yourself. If only for these I don't regret seeing it in a movie theater, and they will probably fuel my imagination for years to come.

Okay that's the setting. Now,

The story: uuuuuhhhh

You're missing the bad guy from the first movie right?? No??? Too bad, because he's back. And bigger. And bluer.

because we couldn't be bothered to think of other tension points memory transplant. Bad humans destroy planet. Bad guys wants to destroy good guys because they don't have anything better to do and also revenge. Good guys good, by the standards of... US military of course.

Ah right, I have to take a detour here. Let's talk about.

🇺🇲American ideals in the movie🇺🇲

My god. It's like the VFX team tried to create an original and unique world, but the top scenarist was like. "It has to speak to the every day person: the average american male, of course."

Starting from the hero Jake Sully. Jake Sully's only personality traits are "US sergeant" and "a father protects, his family" — You'll hear that sentence about 3000 times. I suppose they thought it was deep.

(He's talking to his son. Lol.)

Jake tells his wife what to do during the entire movie, and she complies. He's not always right, but his wrongs are never shown as such. His outbursts are justified, hers are either calmed down by him or... one time, after their son's just died, he tells her he needs her to be strong. You know? Like him. THIS WOMAN HAS BEEN READY TO FIGHT THE ENTIRE MOVIR AND YOU'RE TELLING ME when some JACKASS kills her SON SHE NEEDS PROMPTING??? FUCK YOU

The Water tribe's structure is... The men go hunting. Women are healers. Some women have power but still the chief (a man) utters the other. The boys get into fights! And their dad is like "Go apologize. *Whispers* what's the other guy look like". The girls are kind and keep their younger siblings in check!

Which. You know, this is what I can observe, in my own life. It could be argued it's a good representation of the social pressures and dynamics of those gender groups in current society. The question is

FUCKING WHY

WHY am I seeing traditional gender roles and American values on a LITERAL ALIEN PLANET. GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK. And the thing is, I'm not even sure it's by design. What is more terrifying, is that it might stem from an UTTER INABILITY TO CONCEIVE ANYTHING ELSE COULD EVEN EXIST.

And the most terrifying to me is: the intended audience probably does identify with Jack Sully. I can imagine a lot of family dads sitting there slightly teary eyed going "yeah. A father's job is to protect his family."

WHICH COULDVE BEEN A STRENGTH. It could have taken that audience and told them: look. Trying to protect his family like that got Jack nowhere. Understanding of other cultures, of your own children is equally, if not more important.

But no.

I'll talk about it later but. To me, the movie unintentionally highlights stuff, and fails to deliver what could be deeper and meaningful messages every single, time.

It's a talent really.

right. Back to the story

A girl has disney princess powers because of, of...,

*Checks notes* a... miracle... You know what I give up.

(She was conceived like fucking Jesus by Mother Nature. this was actually the one scenaristic way out I could forgive, were it not for all the other scenaristic shortcuts.)

To sum up:

Visuals 12/10

Scenario: -2/10

Jake Sully: fuck you

Americanism: -1000/10

For the first hour, the only words in my mind were "utter shite." Now. With such a negative balance, is there anything worth seeing at all, besides the special effects?

I'm sad to say, there is.

For me at least. And it was

The children.

My attachment to the children is what carried this entire movie for me. Both their parents and the narrative fails them at every turn but that's ok, because they grew somewhat beyond what the narrative was tryna do with them. I'll put this in a reblog because 1. I'm tired 2. I need more picture space

[eduardobolivar]

hshqintro: eduardo bolívar y tovar

&&. is that ( danny pino )?? no, it’s just ( eduardo bolívar y tovar ). he is a ( prince ) of ( venezuela ). he is ( 40 ) years old and his birthday is the ( twenty fourth ) of ( november ) which makes him a ( sagittarius ).  he is ( adventurous and empathetic ) and ( protective and casual ) but, unfortunately, also ( frivolous and acquiescent ). those traits just make him a ( gryffindor ) and in scientific terms an ( esfj ). he is ( heterosexual ) and the program’s ( conversationalist ).  his theme song is ( volare ) by ( domenico modugno and franco migliacci ). his interests include ( dancing and baseball ). he practices ( catholicism ) and is a supporter of ( francisco bolívar y tovar ). his quirk is ( claiming small inconveniences are god’s way of keeping him humble ) and favourite quote is ( when i choose to see the good side of things, i’m not being naive. It is strategic and necessary ) by ( waymond wang ) because ( he is a fundamentally optimistic person ). last but not least he ( does ) believe in true love.

biography.

Eduardo has been chatty since he was born. He learned to speak quickly and never quite stopped much to his parent’s consternation. Did he have important things to say? Not really. But in a family where he was the third sibling and second brother, it seemed important for there to be someone who could relate to the younger siblings and their smaller woes. Not everything had to be as serious as Francisco might claim. Since he does not know he is his parent’s only true born son, he never felt quite the same call to responsibility and seriousness the older siblings did. Ana was always his favorite, he was unfortunately easily weakened by big puppy eyes and enjoyed feeling like he really mattered to someone. 

He was somewhat average in his studies, but he was pretty good at judging professional competence and finding good advisors with the right expertise. Thus, his parents appointed him Grand Duke of the Guyana region which contains the valuable oil reserves found in the Orcino Belt in the state of Delta Amacuro as well as its valuable port cities. Though the position was powerful, he has been subservient in his role as a supporter of his brother, never even considering the possibility of taking on more power. 

The fact that his first true love and fiancee was a school teacher only kept him firmly entrenched in the family dynamics. He met her during a public tour, at an event organized for his investment in baseball facilities for local schools, and fell head over heels immediately. The fairytale was easy to sell to the public because it was real, and Maria had been charmingly good-natured. Unfortunately, their love was not meant to last, and only a few months after their engagement she broke it off, unable to handle the pressure that came with royal life.

Something in Eduardo changed after losing his love, and the tragedy after losing more of his family. He redirected his energy into supporting his family even better, remaining stalwart in his affection and loyalty to Ana during her own struggles. He couldn’t simply let another person he loved go without a fight. Six years later, to support his family, he agreed to a political match with [princess/duchess of TBD latin american country] -- he is good at being family, but not as focused on being a husband. Still, in the past couple years, he has come to love her in his own way. He does not realize that his wife doesn’t mind because she has greater ambitions for them: the Venezuelan throne.

Eduardo joins the program now because he is concerned for Ana and to share the exciting (and nerve-wracking) news that he is going to be a father!

extra.

TLDR; Eduardo loves his family and doesn't realize he could pose a threat to Francisco's throne at all....

Char Inspo: Jesse Katsopolis (Full House), Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer), Benedict Bridgerton (Bridgerton), Graham Dunne (Daisy Jones & The Six)

Plots and Connection Ideas: friends/best friends, enemies, friends to enemies, university friends, sporty friends, wine friends, exes, flirtationships, fellow dads club, anything else~

Discord: cityharlot

[berserkrs]

kim seokjin, homosexual, cisgender male + he/him ― hey look, it’s sasha kim! they’re 26 years old, they’ve lived in shrike heights for two weeks, and they’re currently working at jennifer's. i heard they’re pretty naive, but i think they’re so optimistic at the same time. can they make it out alive? || lo, 24, he/him.

B A S I C S

Name: Hanseul ‘Sasha’ Kim

Nickname(s): Sasha, angel (previously), doll (previously), bear (previously)

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Homosexual

Age: 26

Birthday: June 15 1962

Birthplace: Daegu, South Korea

Occupation: Sales staff at Jennifer’s

Ethnicity: South Korea

Languages: Korean, English

Nationality: American (first-generation immigrant, qualified for both citizenship and nationality)

Education: High school

B I O G R A P H Y

cw: homophobia, heterosexism, mentions of patriarchal traditions, sex work, unhealthy dynamics, slut shaming, nothing graphic but you know. better safe than sorry.

Sasha, born ‘Kim Hanseul’, was born to a very modest family in Daegu, South Korea. His parents were not refined folk, but they were very hard workers and worked long hours to put food on the table for Sasha and his elder sisters. Sasha was the only boy born after three daughters, so there were high expectations for him to step up and take on the patriarchal role when he was older. Unfortunately for his parents, Sasha was not fitting the mold they had laid out for him. He showed zero interest in anything traditionally masculine, instead admiring his sisters and the lives they led, the clothes they wore, how pretty they looked when they were dolled up. It was difficult, but he pushed that side of himself down, for his family’s sake.

At school, he was neither popular nor unpopular. Though some of his male peers picked on him for how soft and ‘feminine’ he supposedly was, he got on just fine with his female classmates and had quite a few friends. He had average grades and no real interest in anything outside of fashion and makeup. Every day, after school, he would go to the convenience store to buy magazines with his pocket money and secretly peruse the magazines on his way home before feigning that he bought it for his older sisters.

Around the time he became of age, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He was accepted into an average university, undecided on his major, and despaired on what to do with his life since nothing seemed to really suit him. He couldn’t bear to disappoint his parents by following his dreams. 

One day, when window-shopping in Gangnam on a weekend-trip to Seoul, he met the wealthy, older gentleman who would become his life’s saviour. Yoo Jun Seo was a lonely man, uncharismatic but amiable, and he was utterly captivated by Sasha’s beauty. At first, Sasha was flattered but uninterested in the man’s interest. But, Jun Seo wasn’t really trying to date him. The arrangement he offered was simple, in exchange for his companionship, Sasha would never have to worry about money a day in his life. Better yet, they would go to America, where he would not need to worry about embarrassing his family either. He could be fully himself.

And so, despite the warnings his friends gave him, he took the offer and lived alongside Jun-seo for six blissful years. Jun-seo was kind to him, treated him well, let him use his credit card whenever and on whatever he wanted. Sasha really could not be happier. That is, until he was traded for a ‘newer model’, told by the man he thought of as his boyfriend, his partner, that he was too old now. Too ‘used up’.

That was only a few days before arriving at Shrike, having nowhere to go and nobody to call until he remembered that an old friend from school had also moved to Shrike. His friend was nice enough to help him get on his feet, helping him find a roommate and a job at the local mall. 

W A N T E D  C O N N E C T I O N S

 ROOM-MATE: I picture Sasha’s roommate as being someone who is hard working and has probably grown up without any luxuries. So they’re very good at everything Sasha isn’t good at, budgeting, saving, etc. Sasha is very spoiled and out of touch with reality so I can see this as being an enemies to friends/whatever kind of dynamic. 

FRIENDS: because you can never have too many of them.

NEIGHBOURS: I picture Sasha living in a cheap apartment complex.

[alliluyevas]

The post you made about that person's assumption that leftist polyamory makes polygamy less shocking reminded me of an article I read on that exact dynamic (newyorker(.)com/magazine/2021/03/22/how-polyamorists-and-polygamists-are-challenging-family-norms) where there were some interesting points (Mormons recognizing the overlap more often than leftists, plural marriage being destigmatized to weed out child abuse, etc). But I do agree with you that the average American is still shocked by it lol

thank you so much for sharing! this is a great article that addresses a lot of what I’ve been mentally calling the polygamy horseshoe theory (most Americans are still pretty uniformly offput by it, while it seems to be predominantly endorsed (albeit in extremely different presentations) by fringe right wing Mormons and often-LGBT left wing progressive types)

I also got excited reading the vignette about the first Mormon polygamist family because I was like omg I know them!!! By which I mean I have read the one wife’s blog and then I found her/her husband on Facebook and perused their social media. But I was aware of them—they’re fascinating too because as explained in this article none of them were raised Mormon and converted specifically bc they were already interested in polygamy and also because the husband initially got into this from watching big love which is just crazy to me as I feel like you’d have to be borderline unhinged to take big love as an advertisement FOR polygamy…

That being said, among the comparatively progressive Mormon fundamentalists who are often most willing to speak to the media/connect with outsiders, I’ve definitely seen a few people voice that polygamists should support gay marriage bc it makes their own marriages more likely to be legalized, which connects to the idea that Mormon fundie types may be more aware of a possible alliance than vice versa. (Also, there are just WAY more left leaning progressive polyamorous people or LGBT activists or whoever than there are mormon fundies, who are a very small niche group, and the ones that aren’t completely isolationist are probably looking for whatever allies they can get, while the progressive polyamorous types tbh have better options) (also, “comparatively progressive Mormon fundamentalists” is a very low bar lol, Julie and her family are very conservative trump supporters but they’re still less fringe/right wing than probably the majority of Mormon fundies)

anyway thank you for sharing and I thought this was a really good article!