#so shut the fuck up about it being knock off goncharov

[oopshenangians]

Zethopa - Alaine x Maxine Relationship Analysis

!!! SPOILERS FOR UNDERGROUND 80’S HORROR MOVIE ZEPOTHA!!!

TW: brief mention of car/pedestrian accident

I’ve seen a lot of controversy here about Zepotha and I’d like to break that up by giving a character analysis about Alaine, our protagonist. Alaine is dating Danny, one of the antagonists. However, it is obvious that there is someone else who is on Alaine’s mind often. This someone? Maxine.

Groundbreaking for its time, Zepotha really does lean into themes of LGBTQ+ and lets Alaine struggle with her newfound bisexuality. She battles with herself between choosing Danny or choosing Maxine. She knows the safe choice. But she also knows the choice she’d much rather follow.

When Danny is revealed to be an accomplice, it shakes Alaine to her very core. What she knew about her safe option was a lie. This mirrors how she originally feels as she starts struggling with accepting her bisexuality. She turns to the option she wants and craves. She turns to Maxine. This in itself is another breakthrough for Alaine. She realizes that how she feels is okay. It’s not something she needs to be afraid of.

Before anything can happen between Alaine and Maxine, they’re distracted by the now famous Bridge Scene. Throughout the rest of the movie, Alaine and Maxine are close. They share glances, subtle touches, but never go farther than that. However, at the end of the movie we can see Alaine hopeful in her new life after all the horrors that consumed her throughout the movie.

Before the audience can get the hope we see in Alaine’s eyes, there’s a cut to Maxine and Lydia walking down the sidewalk, laughing with each other. Out of nowhere, a car swerves off the street, striking Maxine, killing her. While the credits roll, we hear a voiceover of Alaine receiving the news. In her voice, her despair is evident.

The killing of Alaine’s love throws the realization that in the environment she lives in, there’s no hope for her to live how she wants. She can never fully explore the sexuality she’s only recently come to love. The time she lives in will never allow it to happen.

While very much “kill your gays” of Zepotha, I think it went about it fairly well. The directors and producers knew what they were doing. They called out the homophobic rhetoric of the time. They never once second guessed this decision and it made Zepotha what it is today. I’m so happy to see it getting the recognition it deserves.

[shachihata]

rating bsd characters on whether i could beat them in hand-to-hand combat

atsushi: probably not. i think i could take him if he didn’t shift but like. The man is literally a weretiger if he was using his ability i’d be gone. What else do i have to say

ranpo: i think so but just because he'd lose interest really quickly like if i put something sweet in the general vicinity of our fight he'd go for it immediately and i could just tackle him and go from there

kunikida: i think the sheer force of his belief in his ideals would knock me the fuck over even if he didn't have his little poetry diary. i think i could get like a hit or two in on him though. it'd be a fair loss

dazai: deceptively strong. also like, a former mafia member. i think the only way i'd win is if he was letting me win but also i'd place pretty good bets on him letting me win

kenji: r u srs

tanizaki: i could if he wasn't using his abilities but i wouldn't because naomi exists

naomi: see above. tanizaki would beat my ass if i touched her

kyouka: i care about her too much to try to beat her up but also she's a trained assassin and she'd win without breaking a sweat

yosano: i think i have less chance of beating her than kunikida just because unlike kunikida i don't think she'd hold back. yosano would for real like kill me and i'd let her because how dare my hubris actually let me think i have a chance of beating yosano

fukuzawa: he's old but on god have you watched that man fight? i would be on the ground. Amen to this gilf

katai: the man is literally a shut-in redditor. say no more

mori: i would just because i hate him so bad. i think elise would be on my side as well. literally sheer force of will would carry me through this fight

chuuya: on god bro chuuya could do it single-handed and blindfolded i respect chuuya too much to even challenge him. Not a fight i'm willing to take

kouyou: like chuuya, i Do respect this milf, but not enough not to challenge her. i think i could beat her but only if i took her by surprise like if we were in a fair match i think she'd win but i'd put up a good fight

ace: god this guy is fr a stickbug like hello? he is so fucking bougie i would snap him in half without his stupid little gem collars he has Nothing

karma: yeah this is just a normal guy and a normal fight i’d give us equal chances at success

akutagawa: this is contingent on whether i beat dazai earlier or not. if dazai had let me win akutagawa would be too catatonic to even enter the ring. if dazai had beat me akutagawa would also put me in the grave just to prove a point

higuchi: yeah i think so. this would be a fair fight for sure higuchi doesn't seem like the type to bend the rules. if she saw akutagawa on the floor she might try harder to defend his honor but i think it'd still be at least a good 50/50

hirotsu: like fukuzawa, this is a deceptively strong old man. like he leads the black lizards. i don't have a chance

gin: would give me a fighting chance out of mutual respect but i wouldn't beat her. she's too capable for that

tachihara: hmm this one's tough. maybe? like he's a trained hunting dog but also he's holding a LOT back yknow. i think i could win if i played dirty and started waxing philosophical about "who's your real family" before tackling him

kaiji: ok you saw him in the fight with yosano, without his bombs he is Nothing. also though he looks like he would literally launch himself at me like a feral animal. i'd give myself like a 60% chance on this one

yumeno: This Is A Child. not to mention that their ability is scary as fuck. yumeno would be the one challenging Me to the fight and i would let them win without asking any questions

sakunosuke: i wouldn't fight this dilf literally on moral grounds. he would tell me to step up and i would just forfeit the match. sakunosuke come back to me i miss you pspspspsps

ango: corrupt government agent desk worker? sign me up. i think he'd definitely get a few good hits on me but i'd knock him out just on principle alone

fitzgerald: i would win. he might be a capitalist who literally gets his superpowers from spending his money but i have a special ability called "i am communist" and with it i would knock fitzgerald off of that fucking whale a second goddamn time

alcott: once again i would win but morally? imagine the cost.

poe: man maybe the guild just isn't a physically strong team yknow. poe looks like he would fall over in a stiff breeze. Poe looks like i could punch him in the arm as a joke and they would feel it for a month

hawthorne: hawthorne looks like he'd call me a slur and if he wasn't using his ability i would pummel this fuddy duddy bitch to kingdom come

mitchell: same vibes as hawthorne ngl i'm pretty sure i could take her. she's a milf though so i'd give her a fighting chance

steinbeck: i think this would be a fair fight. also though i would let him win because he hasn't been in the manga since chapter fucking 44 and i miss him so fucking bad steinbeck PLEASE come back and beat fitzgerald's ass for me

lovecraft: tentative yes? like he doesn't look very PHYSICALLY strong, it's mostly just his "eldritch being" thing that makes him a threat, right? if i played it dirty and like, distracted him enough so he's comfortable and not in a state where he'd want to activate his powers then i think i could get at least a few good hits in on him

lucy: yeah easy as long as we're not in her room with anne. if she wasn't using her ability i could take her down easy but if she was and i had to deal with anne too? no thanks

melville: this is an old man but i don’t think this is a Deceptively Strong old man like fukuzawa and hirotsu. i would feel bad fighting him because he does seem like he’s just chilling but i’d do it

twain: he’s a sniper. hand-to-hand i’d knock him out. look at the way that fruit wears his shirt i’m winning this one

dostoevsky: fuck this guy i could and would choke him like the kermit meme. anemic rat bastard would die in one hit. i just have to get him started talking about god or humanity or some shit and then i would go in for the kill

pushkin: he’s a coward i just have to look intimidating and i already have a leg up on him i could take him out and i would enjoy it. he ADMITS that he’s not that physically strong. he’s gone

goncharov: simply based on dedication alone i don’t think i could win like... the minute he thinks about dostoevsky he powers up like a super saiyan. i would take great pleasure in fighting him though

mushitaro: yeah he'd be no problem. what is he, a writer?? he looks like he lives at his desk in shrimp posture for like 16 hrs a day i could knock him out

fukuchi: this old man would fucking murder me without blinking and also at this point in the manga i'm pretty sure he's functionally immortal because of "plot" "armor." if i fought him there would be a dramatic scene where i think i'm going to win before he pulls some bullshit like he has a multidimensional punch or something that killed me the day i was born and retconned the whole fight out of existence

gogol: i would win but only on the condition that i convinced him beforehand that "winning" is a social construct that he is falling prey to and his "want" to "win" is really a loss of free choice. this is more of a verbal battle, not a physical one

stoker: he is a head impaled on a sword. next question

sigma: augh. i wouldn't fight sigma they've gone through enough. if i HAD TO i would win but only if there was absolutely nothing on the line like this is just a friendly spar between friends because the minute sigma gets desperate they go bark bark bark feral and that'd lower my chances significantly

teruko: trained soldier. i would lose and she would enjoy sucking every last ounce of youth out of my shriveled body. freak

jouno: he might be blind but his ability would let him sense me from like a mile away and he's obviously pretty capable in an actual fight. i think i could give him a black eye before i went down though

tetchou: physical embodiment of no thoughts, head empty. in a fair fight? no. if i took him by surprise, then proceeded to distract him by talking about his weird habits and gossiping about the latest hunting dog drama while slowly wearing him down? maybe. 8 times out of 10 though he'd beat my ass i think

shibusawa: funniest man on the fucking planet he is NOTHING without his stupid little feminine-trait crystals i would break his nose hands down and everybody will clap