#whatever other moralizing and propaganda may come about after the fact

[death-rebirth-senshi]

I think it's interesting to look at ideas they played with in dark souls 3 that made their way into Elden Ring, because while I don't think the Lord of Londor ending is nothing, it's fairly. A whole load of nonsense that's just kind of there.

And like, to a degree that fits the vibe of dark souls 3. It's all a whole load of nonsense; linking the fire, an age of dark, usurping the fire, it's all equally desperate attempts at mending a world that started circling the drain long ago.

And becoming Elden Lord in Elden Ring is similarly kind of vague as far as what it means and what exactly you accomplish by becoming elden lord. And it's similar to me in the way these desperate masses bow to you and beg for you to "make Londor whole", somehow.

Slightly less vague in Elden Ring; like the first flame, the Elden Ring has power, and power specifically to enforce a new Order upon the lands. And you get to choose what kind of Order that will be, or you can reject it and burn it all down, or you can reject it for something dark and frightening and uncertain.

[daughter-of-melpomene]

NEW THEME NEW THEME

also new opla oc?? SPILL -🍂

NEW THEME YES!! I've probably been due for one for a while, honestly, but when I saw Rachel Zegler as Lucy Grey Baird I was just like, yes (😅). Anyway, I'm glad you like it!!

And yes, I would be more than happy to tell you about my new babe! Here goes:

So, for starters, her name is Hayashi Lark and she's a Sanji ship, because I do love that gruff kickass cook. A lark, if you didn't know, is a bird that's pretty well-known for its beautiful song, but also for the fact that they don't sing while in captivity. As you may imagine, there is some symbolism going on with the name here.

Lark has been a singer employed by the World Government since she was very young - her parents were both governors of a relatively large village, and when their daughter began to show serious talent with singing from a very young age, they immediately put her in vocal lessons and lessons for various different instruments, and, when they deemed her trained enough, began to trot her out to sing at public events and at get-togethers with other Government officials. When Lark was nine, her parents both died from a bad fever that had ravaged the whole village, and since she had no other family to take her in, she was given over to the care of the World Government, and several officials remembered her performing at Government dinners and were like, "You know what? Let's turn this little nine-year-old girl into a showpony!".

And so it goes - from the age of nine, Lark is shoved into pretty dresses and shipped all across the several oceans, performing at Marine bases to boost morale. Most of the songs she sings are boring and mainly focused on how brave and just all Marines are, propaganda songs written by the Government itself, but she also writes her own songs, though most of them are much too focused on freedom and rebellion for her to be allowed to sing them onstage. She's also fascinated with pirate songs and sea shanties, the kind Marines would never be allowed to sing; whenever she can escape her handlers, she'll go looking for any place in a given village she thinks might have information on them and writes down whatever lyrics and notes she can find, saving them in a beat-up notebook that she takes with her everywhere. She wants nothing more than to escape the life of borderline captivity that she's been living and learn to play and sing as many pirate songs as she can, and maybe even write some of her own, but for a very long time that feels impossible.

And this, as you may have suspected, is where Luffy and company come in. In between Syrup Village and Baratie, they dock at the village Lark is currently performing in to pick up some extra supplies and stop to see her show in the town square. They're all really taken with her voice and presence onstage, but Luffy, being Luffy, can tell that she doesn't actually want to be doing any of this, and approaches her to offer her a place on the crew, or at least to help her get away from the Government and take her someplace else. Lark immediately accepts the place on the Straw Hats - after all, what better way to learn more pirate songs that to be on an actual pirate crew? - and with some moderate difficulty, they manage to collect the few belongings Lark wants to take with her, including her notebook and guitar, and escape on the Straw Hats' ship.

Now, when they get to Baratie and Luffy winds up being taken as a chore boy, Lark offers to pay off their dinner debt by doing a show at the restaurant. Zeff doesn't want a singer in his place, but agrees to let Lark sing one song in exchange for a month off of Luffy's sentence. Lark sings one of the only pirate songs she knows in full, actually managing to quiet the whole restaurant full of rowdy pirates with her voice, and Sanji takes one look at her while she's singing and goes, Oh, I'm in love. And though finding the All Blue is still Sanji's dream and main motivation, he will admit that some part of the reason he left Baratie with the crew was wanting to get to know Lark better.

Aaaand that's about all I have for her so far!! It might be a bit before I have a proper intro post for her, but if anyone wants to ask me more questions in the meantime, feel free!!

(Tagging the other OPLA girlies @starcrossedjedis and @auxiliarydetective!!)

[kieshartzishere]

I’m a non-Zionist Jew and I saw some post of yours going around. Just here to tell you that you come off as a huge piece of shit. “if this offends u you’re a Zionist because I don’t know what Zionism means because I morally learned about it in October” 🙃 Non-Jews on this app treat any Jew who doesn’t suck their asshole clean as a Zionist. I’m sure you’re reading this in your head thinking “actually this one is probably secretly a Zionist because they’re being so mean to me 😢😢😢😢” Nope. Fuck Zionism and fuck you and every other Nazi piece of shit on this app whose masks are barely hanging on my a thread. I will be overjoyed when y’all finally get the courage to call us slurs because at least you’ll be honest with yourselves.

Joy to the world, I got a hate ask! I finally made it!

Look, I'll admit I'm still learning, I will not forget the fact I am indeed susceptible and not immune to propaganda. There are certain views now that I wish I can explain clearly and with full chest that I've digested from other users on this site, jews and non-jews, zionists and non-zionists. (I highly believe that you don't have to be a jew to be a zionist or vice versa. Nor do you have to label yourself as a zionist and support whatever isreal is doing.)

I've met people who are jewish. I actually wouldn't care if you were xyr this or that. If a person turned out to support the thing of blah blah blah, I wouldn't first think "wuh oh this guy must be a [identity reigning from religion/culture/whatever]" I'd think "wuh oh, maybe I'm wrong and I should look into it more with the SAME person to teach me." And I did! I did learn some things. But that person just turned out to have more extreme views than they first let on that I just couldn't agree with. Nor should I use them as an example for all jews. That's baseless.

Why? Because I looked out the window for myself and sought out on what is true.

And truth is, I just don't agree with it.

I know the terminology and its meaning dates back hundreds to thousands of years with fully developed culture and I have no reason to tell you your own history because you would have much more knowledge on it. And it's not my place as a non-jew to tell you. But you can't assume I've not read up on it. (Nor assume I know everything about it)

If I'm feeding into that propaganda, if I seem to "hate" jewish people (I don't.) inherently because I don't like the support of isreal or zionism (and to its extensions) and putting words in my mouth by assumptions, then I'm sorry.

I'm sorry people use pro-palestine reasoning to justify antisemitic and harmful actions that put your lives in danger (and I may be one of them to you from that post, but I am mostly refering to the doxxing and arsoning and just straight up inhumane stuff). I'm sorry that people, mutuals, friends, followers, etc. will turn their backs on you without reasoning because they only took you as a "isreal supporter." I'm sorry that you're hurt by me and hundreds of others becaude of our individual stances.

But I won't apologize for you still being offended. Zionist or not. I clearly said to fuck off.

Now please, feel free to block me and goodnight. I still have many things to learn and I still may be wrong in the future.

(Do I know what I'm fully saying. Probably. Again, not the most knowledgeable, and I'll admit that. My points and stance may change in the future after all.)

[liquidstar]

I feel as if many people, myself included, have been having problems with the way “critical thinking” is conducted in fandom circles more and more. Which I’d say is a good thing, because it means we’re thinking critically. But still the issues with the faux-critical mentality and with the way we consume media through that fandom group mentality are incredibly widespread at this point, despite being very flawed, and there are still plenty of people who follow it blindly, ironically.

I sort of felt like I had to examine my personal feelings on it and I ended up writing a whole novel, which I’ll put under the cut, and I do welcome other people’s voices in the matter, because while I’m being as nuanced as I can here I obviously am still writing from personal experience and may overlook some things from my limited perspective. But by and large I think I’ve dissected the phenomena as best I can from what I’ve been seeing going on in fandom circles from a safe but observable distance.

Right off the bat I want to say, I think it's incredibly good and necessary to be critical of media and understand when you should stop consuming it, but that line can be a bit circumstantial sometimes for different people. There are a lot of anime that I used to watch as a teenager that I can’t enjoy anymore, because I got more and more uncomfortable overtime with the sexualization of young characters, partly because as I was getting older I was really starting to realize how big of an issue it was, and I certainly think more critically now than I did when I was 14. Of course I don’t assume everyone who still watches certain series is a pedophile, and I do think there are plenty of fans that understand this. However I still stay away from those circles and that’s a personal choice.

I don’t think a person is morally superior based on where they draw the line and their own boundaries with this type of stuff, what’s more important is your understanding of the problem and response to it. There are series I watch that have a lot of the same issues around sexualization of the young characters in the cast, but they’re relatively toned down and I can still enjoy the aspects of the series I actually like without it feeling as uncomfortable and extreme. Others will not be able to, and their issues with it are legitimate and ones that I still ultimately agree with, but they’re still free to dislike the series for it, after all our stance on the issue itself is the same so why would I resent them for it?

Different people are bound to have different lines they draw for how far certain things can go in media before they’re uncomfortable watching it and it doesn’t make it a moral failing of the person who can put up with more if they’re still capable of understanding why it’s bad to begin with and able to not let it effect them. But I don’t think that sentiment necessarily contradicts the idea that some things really are too far gone for this to apply, the above examples aren’t the same thing as a series centered solely around lolicon ecchi and it doesn’t take a lot of deep analysis to understand why. It’s not about a personal line anymore when it comes to things that are outright propaganda or predatory with harmful ideals woven into the message of the story itself. Critical thinking means knowing the difference between these, and no one can hold your hand through it. And simply slapping “I’m critical of my interests” on your bio isn’t a get out of jail free card, it’s always evident when someone isn’t truly thinking about the impact of the media they consume through the way they consume it.

I think the issue is that when people apply “Critical thinking” they don’t actually analyze the story and its intent, messages, themes, morals, and all that. Instead they approach it completely diegetically, it’s basically the thermian argument, the issue stems from thinking about the story and characters as if they’re real people and judging their actions through that perspective, rather than something from a writer trying to deliver a narrative by using the story and characters as tools. Like how people get upset about characters behaving “problematically” without realizing that it’s an intentional aspect of the story, that the character needs to cause problems for there to be conflict. What they should be looking at instead is what their behavior represents in the real world.

You do not need to apply real-world morals to fictional characters, you need to apply them to the narrative. The story exists in the real world, the characters and events within it do not. Fictional murderers themselves do not hurt anyone, no one is actually dying at their hands, but their actions hold weight in the narrative which itself can harm real people. If the character only murders gay people then it reflects on whatever the themes and messages of the story are, and it’s a major issue if it's framed as if they’re morally justified, or as if this is a noble action. And it’s a huge red flag if people stan this character, even if the story itself actually presents their actions as reprehensible. Or cases where the murderers themselves are some kind of awful stereotype, like Buffalo Bill who presents a violent and dangerous stereotype of trans women, making the character a transmisogynistic caricature (Intentional or otherwise) that has caused a lot of harm to the perception of trans women. When people say “Fiction affects reality” this is what they mean. They do not mean “People will see a pretend bad guy and become bad” they mean “Ideals represented in fiction will be pulled from the real world and reflected back onto it.”

However, stories shouldn’t have to spoon-feed you the lesson as if you’re watching a children’s cartoon, stories often have nuances and you have to actively analyze the themes of it all to understand it’s core messages. Oftentimes it can be intentionally murky and hard to parse especially if the subject matter itself is complicated. But you can’t simply read things on the surface and think you understand everything about them, without understanding the symbolism or subtext you can leave a series like Revolutionary Girl Utena thinking the titular Utena is heterosexual and was only ever in love with her prince. Things won’t always be face-value or clear-cut and you will be forced to come to your own conclusions sometimes too.

That’s why the whole fandom-based groupthink mentality about “critical thinking” doesn’t work, because it’s not critical. It’s simply looking into the crowd, seeing people say a show is problematic, and then dropping it without truly understanding why. It’s performative, consuming the best media isn’t activism and it doesn’t make you a better person. Listening to the voices of people whom the issues directly concerns will help you form an opinion, and to understand the issues from a more knowledgeable perspective beyond your own. All that means nothing if you just sweep it under the rug because you want to look infallible in your morality. That’s not being critical, it’s just being scared to analyze yourself, as well as what you engage with. You just don’t want to think about those things and you’re afraid of being less than perfect so you pretend it never happened.

And though I’m making this post, it’s not mine or anyone else’s job to hold your hand through all this and tell you “Oh this show is okay, but this show isn't, and this book is bad etc etc etc”. Because you actually have to think for yourself, you know, critically. Examples I’ve listed aren’t rules of thumb, they’re just examples and things will vary depending on the story and circumstance. You have to look at shit on a case-by-case basis instead of relying on spotting tropes without thinking about how they’re implemented and what they mean. That’s why it’s analysis, you have to use it to understand what the narrative is communicating to its audience, explicitly or implicitly, intentionally or incidentally, and understand how this reflects the real world and what kind of impact it can have on it. 

A big problem with fandom is it has made interests synonymous with personality traits, as if every series we consume is a core part of our being, and everything we see in it reflects our viewpoints as well. So when people are told that a show they watched is problematic, they react very extremely, because they see it as basically the same thing as saying they themselves are problematic (It’s not). Everyone sees themselves as good people, they don’t want to be bad people, so this scares them and they either start hiding any evidence that they ever liked it, or they double down and start defending it despite all its flaws, often providing those aforementioned thermian arguments (“She dresses that way because of her powers!”).

That’s how you get people who call children’s cartoons “irredeemable media” and people who plaster “fiction=/= reality!” all over their blogs, both are basically trying to save face either by denying that they could ever consume anything problematic or denying that the problematic aspects exist all together. And absolutely no one is actually addressing the core issues anymore, save for those affected by them who pointed them out to begin with, only for their original point to become muffled in the discourse. No one is thinking critically because they’re more concerned with us-vs-them group mentality, both sides try to out-perform the other while the actual issue gets ignored or is used as nothing more than a gacha with no true understanding or sympathy behind it.

One of the other issues that comes from this is the fact that pretty much everyone thinks they’re the only person capable of being critical of their interests. That’s how you get those interactions where one person goes “OK [Media] fan” and another person replies “Bro you literally like [Other Media]”, because both parties think they’re the only ones capable of consuming a problematic piece of media and not becoming problematic themselves, anyone else who enjoys it is clearly incapable of being as big brained as them. It’s understandable because we know ourselves and trust ourselves more than strangers, and I’m not saying there can’t be certain fandoms who’s fans you don’t wanna interact with, but when we presume that we know better than everyone else we stop listening to other people all together. It’s good to trust your own judgement, it’s bad to assume no one else has the capacity to think for themselves either though.

The insistence that all media that you personally like is without moral failing and completely pure comes with the belief that all media that you personally dislike has to be morally bad in some way. As if you can’t just dislike a series because you find it annoying or it just doesn’t appeal to you, it has to be problematic, and you have to justify your dislike of it through that perspective. You have to believe that your view on whatever media it is is the objectively correct one, so you’ll likely pick apart all it’s flaws to prove you’re on the right side, but there’s no analysis of context or intent. Keep in mind this doesn’t necessarily mean those critiques are unfounded or invalid, but in cases like this they’re often skewed in one direction based on personal opinion. It’s just as flawed as ignoring all the faults in the stuff you like, it’s biased and subjective analysis that misses a lot of context in both cases, it’s not a good mindset to have about consuming media. It’s just another result of tying media consumption with identity and personal morals. The faux-critical mentality is an attempt to separate the two in a way that implies they’re a packaged deal to begin with, making it sort of impossible to truly do so in any meaningful way.

As far as I know this whole phenomena started with “Steven Universe Critical” in, like, 2016, and that’s where this mentality around “critical thinking” originated. It started out with just a few people correctly pointing out very legitimate issues with the series, but over time it grew into just a trend where people would make cutesy kin blogs with urls like critical-[character] or [character]crit to go with the fad as it divulged into Nostalgia Critic level critique. Of course there was backlash to this and criticism of the criticism, but no actual conversation to be had. Just people trying to out-do each other by acting as the most virtuous one in the room, and soon enough the fad became a huge echo-chamber that encouraged more and more outrageous takes for every little thing. The series itself was a children’s cartoon so it stands to reason that a lot of the fans were young teens, so this behavior isn’t too surprising and I do believe a lot of them did think they were doing the right thing, especially since it was encouraged. But that doesn’t erase the fact that there were actual real issues and concerns brought up about the series that got treated with very little sympathy and were instead drowning out people’s voices. Though those from a few years back may have grown up since and know better (Hopefully), the mentality stuck around and influenced the norm for how fandoms and fandom people conduct any sort of critique on media. 

That’s a shame to me, because the pedestal people place fandom onto has completely disrupted our perception on how to engage with media in a normal way. Not everything should be consumed with fandom in mind, not everything is a coffee-shop au with no conflict, not everything is a children’s cartoon with the morals spoon-fed to you. Fandom has grown past the years of uncritical praise of a series, it’s much more mainstream now with a lot more voices in it beyond your small community on some forum, and people are allowed to use those voices. Just because it may not be as pleasant for you now because you don’t get to just turn your brain off and ignore all the flaws doesn’t mean you can put on your rose-tinted nostalgia goggles and pretend that fandom is actually all that is good in the world, to the point where you place it above the comfort and safety of others (Oftentimes children). Being uncritical of fandom itself is just as bad as being uncritical of what you consume to begin with. 

At the end of the day it all just boils down to the ability to truly think for yourself but with sympathy and compassion for other people in mind, while also understanding that not everyone will come to the same conclusion as you and people are allowed to resent your interests. That doesn’t necessarily mean they hate you personally, you should be acknowledging the same issues after all. You can’t ignore aspects of it that aren’t convenient to your conclusion, you have to actually be critical and understand the issues to be able to form it. 

I think that all we need is to not rely on fandom to tell us what to do, but still listen to the voices of others, take them into account to form our opinion too, boost their voices instead of drowning them out in the minutiae of internet discourse about which character is too much of an asshole to like. Think about what the characters and story represent non-diegetically instead of treating them like real people and events, rather a story with an intent and message to share through its story and characters, and whatever those reflect from the real world. That’s how fiction affects reality, because it exists in reality and reflects reality through its own lens. The story itself is real, with a real impact on you and many others, so think about the impact and why it all matters. Just… Think. Listen to others but think for yourself, that’s all.

[blueink2k]

Propaganda in Death Note and How It Played Into Light’s God Complex

[This is based on information from the anime, as I have yet to read the manga for myself. Caps from or references to the manga may be included to emphasize points or provide visuals, but the version of the plot I'm referring to is taken from the anime.]

Light Yagami does not pick up the Death Note knowing he’s going to use it to commit mass murder and become the God of his New World.

Actually, he does the opposite. He kills someone to test it as he’s under the impression it isn’t real, convinces himself it was a freak coincidence, and decides to try it out in a way that will provide a more concrete conclusion. When it does end up working he’s stunned, to say the least.

“I killed them both...I killed two men. Those were human lives. I-It won’t be overlooked. Besides, who am I to pass judgment on others?”

Light Yagami, the perfect, straight-A, model student, has just confirmed he killed two people using some strange supernatural notebook that just happened to fall into his hands. He’s always believed strongly in his morals. He’s been on course his whole life to join the police force like his father an deliver justice, and here he is, an indirect murderer. 

So what does he do about it?

...He comes up with a reason to justify himself. 

The people he killed were criminals. Mere scum who do nothing but rot and infect the world. Wouldn’t everyone be better off without them? It isn’t that he’s never considered this before, he has, albeit not to the same degree as taking their deaths into his own hands. But now that he has the power to do so, why shouldn’t he? He’s smart, he’s determined. He’s capable of it.

In fact, in his mind, he’s the only one who is.

He’s kind of right. He’s the top of his class, he comes out on top in national tests, he barely even has to try. Plus, he’s the only one that has a Death Note, and therefore the power to do this. 

At this point in time, he doesn’t consider himself a god. He doesn’t want to rule the world, he just wants to change it. Something else important to note is that he doesn’t refer to himself as Kira or anything other than Light. 

...That is, until...

Websites start popping up all over claiming that whoever this mass murderer is is named “Kira”, a god among men risen to punish criminals and save the world.

Two things to note here;

Apparently, “Kira” is returning, meaning there must have been some kind of previous belief in an entity that either did something similar to Light or had the same beliefs. There isn’t any other canon mention of a previous Kira, and this in and of itself is pretty vague, but given that there’s tons of religions in real life that have never had a big breakthrough, it’s reasonable to believe this could be something similar. That, or a creepypasta. Or a cult.

Light created this understanding that he had to be the one to change the world to cope with his murders. Actually - that might be the worst way to put it, since we know how strongly he feels about justice and being given an outlet to carry out this wish of world peace just enhanced this, but nonetheless... It’s impossible to assume he’s doing all of this without even a speck of guilt. Therefore, this is the first hint of appreciation or even just acknowledgement that what he’s doing is right. 

Disregarding the first point (as interesting as I find it), this is really the first time Light is ever told what he’s doing is good. His own father - who he idolizes -considers Kira evil. His sister flat out says she hates him. Of course, this is all after Kira actually does become popular, but still, all he receives from that point on is disapproval from the people he cares the most about. The online love for Kira is all he has.

So, yeah, he probably internalizes it.

He thinks he’s doing the right thing. He thinks he’s giving others justice. He thinks he’s the only one who can do this. Others agreeing is only enhancing this. They’re the ones who call him God.

As the story progresses, Kira’s power and popularity grows. He gains direct news coverage, people begin sending him names of people to kill, his following grows. So much so, that when someone gets a Death Note and figures out that must be what he’s using, their immediate response is to find a way to contact him.

Cue Misa Amane and Sakura TV.

Sakura TV is a news program known for its unreliability. Demegawa, the director, even says he’s willing to make things up for publicity. And that’s when the Second Kira tapes arrive. 

This, however, is only the first encounter with Sakura TV.

After this, the only direct involvement the police has with it is in the Yotsuba arc, when it’s used to lure out Higuchi. Otherwise the program promotes Kira all on its own, even going so far as to create Kira’s Kingdom - half a scam for viewers’ money, half a way to get more people to see Kira as God. And it works. He gains a following of people who believe he will create a new, better world, and will even give themselves up to help him. 

An example of this following is when a mob of followers attacks the SPK under Kira’s orders. They’re so quick to join in, and are even willing to put their names and faces on TV in trust that Kira will not kill them.

All of this publicity sparks fear in the general public. People begin fearing that if they do something wrong Kira will kill them, causing crime rates to drop nearly 70% over Kira’s 6 year reign, as well as completely stopping wars.

Demegawa is eventually killed. Other news programs begin scrambling to claim the voice of Kira, topped by NHN, where we are reintroduced to Kiyomi Takada as Kira’s spokeswoman as well as one of his greatest supporters.

Light, as much as he hates Sakura TV and NHN’s depictions of Kira, uses them to his advantage as much as he can.

But really, imagine what this is all doing to him.

At the beginning, he struggled with grasping what he was doing as right. His sense of justice, righteousness, and perfectness shattered by a single notebook. But this is perfect, he figures that if he really wants to fix the world, this is one surefire way to do it. And yeah, his family hates Kira, but online he’s worshiped as God. We already know he has a pretty decent ego, and all of this is doing nothing but fueling it.

To top it all off, as he continues with his killings, his following grows. More and more people begin to support him, every single day there’s news stations upon news stations covering his story, some negative, some positive. People from all over express admiration towards him, even the President of the United States sides with him. He is literally worshiped as Kira, as God.

This all makes it sounds like his god complex starts later in the series, so to clarify; no, he does not pick up the book with plans to become God, but the second people start fueling his ego, the more twisted his ideals and motivations become. He’s the only one who can fix this rotten world. He holds the power of a god in his hands, he does what only a god can do, and everyone treats him accordingly. He is Kira, he is God.

Between websites, news programs, and his cult-like following, Light had enough attention to feed into his ego for a lifetime. He was perfect pre-Death Note. Smart, charming, set for success. There never was a time where he was particularly not narcissistic, it was just that he only felt this way inside of himself. The way he presented to others? A perfect, cool guy persona with an - in all honesty - annoying prickly jerk hiding inside. But no one ever knew this, he never let them know, and because he was always naturally successful it was more of an expectation he just met rather than surpassed, so he wasn’t consistently praised and this incredible self-esteem wasn’t propped up by anyone but himself.

To cycle back to the title of this rant-essay-analysis-whatever you’d like to call it, I want to share some examples about exactly why I even classify this news coverage and whatnot of Kira as propaganda.

Kira’s supporters cause a riot at SPK HQ under Kira’s orders and Demegawa’s direction.

Mikami providing his insight as to why he supports Kira on television, openly promoting Kira and encouraging others to join him.

Takada announces her new role as Kira’s spokesperson on NHN.

Mikami uses his power as Kira to kill members of Kira’s Kingdom, supposed followers of Kira who have been using his publicity to gain money and attention.

Most of this doesn’t exactly look like your standard propaganda posters or news story, but it does fit the overall criteria;

Information from a biased viewpoint used to promote/publicize a certain view (accepting Kira as God)

Shows exclusively positive views on Kira

Assigns Kira positive adjectives and makes him appear as good (God, savior, messenger from Hell), never considering or showing the bad

Presenting only positive statistics (Light does this in his monologue where he brings up the 70% crime rate drop, and given there’s no way he could have calculated this on his own he likely got it from one of these media sources. Not that it’s incorrect, per se, but he does fail to mention how many innocent people he’s killed in order to do this.)

Appeals to regular, everyday people by talking about how he’s doing this for the betterment of the whole world. People who are directly affected by crime are also likely positively impacted by this.

Initiates and spreads fear by explaining how Kira only attacks those who do wrong.

In the end, Light’s personal descent into his god complex, as well as his effects on the world can be attributed to many things, but it would be a crime to ignore just how big of a role news and other types of media played in this without his direct input. To think, if Light had won and overtaken the police like he was going to, he’d have absolutely no problem stepping into his shoes as God. Everyone else already set the stage, he just had to get there first.

-

This is my first Death Note analysis, so please excuse any errors, I just watched the anime for the first time and am doing my best to piece together all of the plot and especially Light’s deep characterization the best I can. If I ever read the manga or find something new, chances are this will be updated. But as for now, it’s finally finished after a week or so of procrastinating. Thank you for reading if you got this far! <3

[cruelfeline]

Anyone who hangs about Twitter potentially saw an unfortunate Hordak take cross their timelines today. 

As is custom on this blog, I’ll be taking it apart for my own personal amusement (and for the amusement of any of y’all who like to watch me do so). I doubt the poster will see this, as they’re on Twitter and not apparently on here, but in case they do: this is for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of followers; it absolutely does not need to be responded to if that’s not your cup of tea. 

So, that little disclaimer in place, let’s see what we can make of this! Because this is on Medium, I’ll be using screenshots as quotes; just a heads-up.

So... this first bit isn’t really anything Hordak-related. It’s more... fandom drama, I suppose? Not really something I can pick apart. I can, however, give my own personal opinion on this sort of thing, for what it’s worth.

It’s true that people can and should be able to feel whichever way they wish about a character. And to talk about that character. 

However: it is also true that people who dislike Hordak can be very unpleasant in making that known to those of us who enjoy him. Including descending into personal insults for no discernible reason. Add to that the fact that his character means a great deal to some fans for intensely personal reasons, and it is not difficult to see why some fans aren’t keen to see anti-Hordak content on their timelines, in their mentions, etc.

Censoring character hate isn’t a requirement, but in some circumstances, it can simply be a polite thing to do. It doesn’t take great effort, and it prevents people from experiencing just another bit of unpleasantness on their social media. And if you don’t want to do it? Well, that’s your right; but don’t be shocked when people voice their displeasure by replying to your words. Because that is their right.

And that’s all I really have to say about that. 

Odd way to phrase things, really. These aren’t “reasons to forgive.” The first two scenes involve Catra’s asphyxiations and are things that would need to be forgiven, not things to forgive.

Though, y’know, I really only apply that to the first scene, where he assaults her without her necessarily doing anything wrong. Mind you, I believe he does it out of a combination of needing to maintain a hierarchy for safety purposes (this is a man who needs people to be afraid of him to maintain his own safety) and poor leadership skills mimicked from a narcissist, but it’s still a terrible thing.

However! The second time? After he asks her about Shadow Weaver? This isn’t torture-fun-times. This is Hordak neutralizing a threat to the entire Horde. Because that is what Catra is in this moment: a threat to the security and wellbeing of him and the entirety of the Fright Zone. She lies about a critical mistake. She proves herself to not only have poor judgment in serious matters, but to be very willing to lie about it in order to guard her own selfish motives. While I can’t condone the method Hordak uses, I do wish people would stop using this second instance of punishment as some sort of proof-of-torture. He does not do this for no reason. He does it because Catra released a dangerous prisoner into the wild and lied about it. And his concerns over it ultimately prove correct.

This entire qualification doesn’t have much to do with whether he deserves forgiveness or not, but it’s a point I want to make because it combats this idea that Hordak did this to an innocent girl “for no reason” or “just to be cruel.” That’s simply not the case; no matter how unpleasant the method, Hordak is a military leader punishing a subordinate for seriously endangering him and everyone else in the organization. Badly. I don’t know what the equivalent would be in modern military, but Catra’s error is massive. It doesn’t make what Hordak does right, but it does give a reason other than a simple “he’s a bad, bad man.” So.

Adding this scene is... actually kind of odd because he doesn’t really do anything to Adora here. And also: this scene is... what’s the word... meaningful-in-hindsight, so to speak. Essentially: in this scene, Adora is claiming that Hordak is responsible for stealing her, for robbing her of a peaceful life with her family. And Hordak is claiming that he neither knows nor cares who she is, and that she does not matter to him. 

The interesting aspect of this scene, and something that OP fails to acknowledge at all, is that both Adora and Hordak are wrong.

let’s see if I can talk about this without crying... nope, already starting to tear up

Hordak never stole Adora; Light Hope did. Hordak did not orchestrate this unfortunate life for her. Rather, Hordak, a lost clone dealing with his own insecurities and fears and problems, found an equally lost infant in a field and gave her the only home he really knew how to create (and one that, for its flaws, was still better than the absolute nightmare he was “raised” in). In all likelihood, given Light Hope’s lack of understanding of infants, he probably saved Adora’s life by doing this: without him, she may well have perished alone in that field.

Hordak likewise does remember her, eventually. And she is not inconsequential to him: by saving her, he ends up saving himself, and all of his brothers. By forging this near-unknown bond with her all those years ago, by choosing to take in an infant rather than letting her die, he plays a key role in deciding the fate of the universe. 

This scene that OP sarcastically claims is a reason Hordak shouldn’t be forgiven has a sibling:

The fact that OP apparently fails to recognize this and realize that these are the only two moments in the series during which Adora and Hordak directly interact, that they’re a pair, means that OP misses the connection between the two and the significance of how they misjudge one another initially. It indicates a lack of understanding of the themes of the show: themes centered around connections with other people, love, and forgiveness. Which, given the contents of this essay, is unsurprising.

Moving on!

Y’know, whether or not one believes, in terms of definition, that Hordak is a colonizer (I personally don’t for pedantic and clone-cult reasons, but that’s not really relevant to this post), it’s interesting that OP notes how Stevenson confirms that he is... but conveniently leaves out the part where she confirms that he did it because he was brainwashed.

That’s... an important piece of information to leave out when discussing whether Hordak should be forgiven or not. A very important piece.

And it doesn’t really matter whether he’s a colonizer or a conqueror; the reason it comes up is because people seem very stuck in the mindset of “if it’s a colonizer, it must die” without acknowledging any sort of nuance. There’s also the question of whether what Hordak did actually caused the same sort of upheaval and lasting damage we see resulting from legitimate colonization, and all of the implications of that, but this isn’t really the place to go into that. Honestly, I don’t really think SPoP as a whole is the place to go into that.

No. Hordak is not the person who taught her all of these things. 

Shadow Weaver is.

Hordak did not personally teach her that Princesses are evil. He did not teach her that wanton cruelty is fine in getting one’s own way. He did not feed her propaganda. 

Actually, as an aside: can we even confirm that Catra ever thought that Princesses where evil? I mean... she works with Scorpia, and she has no apparent morals to speak of. She does as she wishes for her own personal gain, not because she displays any sense of “fighting the evil Princesses.” And in terms of disposing of Entrapta because she was “manipulated” into viewing Princesses as evil: Catra disposes of everyone. She manipulates and uses everyone. That is one of the key aspects of her arc: she uses and abuses people for personal gain. She does this whether they are Princesses or not: just see Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle. Add to this the fact that Catra, from the first season, knows that she and Adora have been lied to, manipulated, and that the Horde is in fact evil, and... this entire line of reasoning falls apart. 

None of this is an attempt to “absolve Hordak of blame.” Hordak just... legitimately had no hand in raising any of the children. That was not his role (and while I know that this was confirmed by Stevenson at some point, I don’t have memory of where; potentially the last podcast?). And Catra did not operate on any sort of propaganda that she actually believed in: she simply used and disposed of people as she saw fit because she cared more about her own rise to power than she did about those around her. This was one of her major character flaws, and really? Trying to pin this on Hordak, or even fully pin it on Shadow Weaver? It absolves Catra of the blame, of the intentional bad choices she made (as emphasized by Adora) and thus weakens her entire arc.

All in all: Hordak may have created a poor environment for the raising of children, but of note is the fact that only Catra turns out this way. The other kids, whatever their problems, are not in the habit of manipulating friends, lying to them, using them, and then tossing them aside. That is a Catra Problem. Part of this can be attributed to Shadow Weaver (who only treated Catra in the poorest way), and part of it is just... Catra being not-the-best.

All right. Now we get to the really disingenuous portion of the essay.

First, as just stated: Hordak is not Catra’s abuser. Shadow Weaver is. Hordak had no hand in raising her. Hordak did not direct Shadow Weaver to abuse her. Hordak did not personally feed Catra anti-Princess propaganda, and even if he had, we know by the first season that Catra sees through whatever propaganda she was exposed to and has no actual moral objections to Princesses. But that’s not the main aspect of this portion that irks me. 

The main aspect that irks me is that this is not the scene Hordak stans mark as abusive. And I cannot imagine that OP does not know this.

But let’s talk about this scene, for a moment, before getting to the actual, legitimate abuse.

OP talks about his scene almost flippantly: “Hordak finds out Catra lied about Entrapta, he becomes angry and attacks her with a clear plan to kill her.”

Yes. Yes, he "becomes angry.” He becomes angry and attacks because as far as he knows, Catra killed Entrapta. This isn’t some annoyed “you lied to me!” moment. He legitimately thinks Entrapta is dead because Catra sent her to Beast Island. OP just blissfully glosses over the fact that Hordak is attacking Catra in rage and grief because Catra, as far as either of them know, killed his only friend and then lied about it for approximately a year. Like... how do you gloss over that in discussing this scene? How do you gloss over the enormity of what Catra did, and the unimaginable pain Hordak experiences when finding out?

So. The writeup of this scene is poor. It misses all of the emotion, all of the reality of what Catra did and what Hordak felt. But! That’s not even the unfortunate part of this portion. Let’s get to the real disingenuity.

This is the abusive scene. This is that stomach-turning moment when Catra removes a disabled man’s ability to move with dignity and without pain solely to force him to escalate a war for her own personal benefit.

Hordak is not a danger to her here. Hordak has not been a danger to her for a while because he has been holed up in his private quarters, trying to deal with the emotional fallout of Entrapta supposedly betraying him. He wants nothing to do with Catra. He wants to lick his wounds and gather himself and somehow heal from this deep personal pain that’s been inflicted upon him.

And that’s a problem for Catra because it stands in the way of her using the war as a way to best Adora.

So Catra identifies Hordak’s physical weakness and exploits it for the purpose of spiting her ex.

The fact that OP completely fails to acknowledge any of this is... well. Disingenuous. Absolutely so.

The next portion of the essay talks about people feeling that Catra was too easily forgiven and isn’t really Hordak-centric; I won’t really go into it here. Moving forward:

Ah, one of the most annoying questions I see asked. Let’s, again, acknowledge and move past the fact that Hordak was not actually Catra’s abuser...

When, pray tell, was Hordak supposed to show this remorse? When? While he was serving on Prime’s ship, trying to forget the pain of losing Entrapta, of failing to prove himself, of losing everything? Should he have done it while screaming in agony in the purification pool? Should he have done so while alone on Prime’s ship, trying to serve quietly while piecing together his memories?

Not only was Hordak simply not in a position, narratively, to go into a whole remorse bit, but he had other problems. Like, life-endangering problems. 

The appropriate time to go into his feelings on Etheria and the Princesses and All of That would have been after Prime’s defeat, upon Hordak’s re-introduction to Etheria... but then the show ended. So.

Agh, vulgar. Taking a brainwashed, conditioned slave and bastardizing his triumph at finally seeing himself as a real person, instead claiming that his intent was to glorify his own misdeeds. No. Just... no.

Again: this is not the time for guilt. And it is a demonstration of why guilt and remorse were not front-and-center in Hordak’s arc during season five: his arc was about finally realizing that he was his own person, a person worthy of identity and love and care and freedom. And this arc culminated in him separating himself from his abuser and declaring his personhood. 

That is what this scene is: not Hordak reveling in his makeshift empire, or in the terrible deeds he’d committed, but in declaring himself his own person. 

I should hope that he is proud of doing that. I’m proud of him for doing that daunting feat, of defeating his abuser and defying his god and recognizing that he is worthy of more than what Prime thought of him. And I recognize Entrapta’s role in it: not as the sole inspiration for his change, but as someone who showed him a foundation of love and acceptance, someone who introduced him to the idea that he was worthy of care and happiness and affection simply because he was a living being, no strings attached.

Trying to shoehorn in some sort of claim that this is about pride in his misdeeds, rather than joy at finally accepting his own sense of self is a massive misinterpretation of this scene, a misunderstanding of Entrapta’s role in Hordak’s arc, and... can I say it’s disingenuous again? Because I’m going to: it’s disingenuous.

All right; we’re at the end. And while the first sentence here is something I absolutely agree with - the decision to forgive Hordak is personal and subjective both for viewers and for in-show characters - the whole conclusion falls apart from there.

It highlights another glaring omission from OP’s arguments: the fact that Hordak is a brainwashed clone slave.

Hordak did not choose to “spend his life trying to prove his worth to Horde Prime.” He did not choose the method of said proving: that Prime would look kindly upon conquering rather than some other task. And he did not choose to have certain concepts and ideas (all beings must suffer to become pure; all creatures, no matter how small, have a place in service of Horde Prime; failure is when something ceases to serve a purpose) conditioned into him.

Hordak was manufactured as a cultist slave. He was “born” with hardware implanted into his body against his will to better control him. He was indoctrinated and brainwashed to the point that he believed that Horde Prime was his literal god - and in a way, Prime was, because he could mentally invade and possess and physically control the clones whenever he wished. 

Hordak was not allowed to have a sense of self. He was not allowed to have a name. He was not allowed to express emotions. He was not allowed to live without that life serving to glorify Horde Prime. Hordak was so absolutely sick with this mentality that he saw himself as a failure due to physical disability and assumed it was his responsibility to fix that. 

The idea that Hordak simply chose to do what he did, that he had the same foundational morality and mindset as any “normal” person might, shows a glaring lack of understanding even the basics of his narrative. 

Yes: Hordak did bad things. But he did them for legitimately tragic, nigh-horrifying reasons that this essay just ignores for the sake of... I don’t know? Trying to justify OP’s distaste for the character? I am uncertain. But it’s a mark of a poor essay, of a poor understanding of the character, and is honestly just disappointing to read when the show itself tries so hard to drive home its wonderful, hopeful themes through Hordak’s story.

Whether one forgives Hordak or not is one’s personal choice, but I certainly hope one makes said choice with better insight into his character than this essay provides.

[little-mad]

Ummm #21 from the dialogue prompt with Tara & Lane??

“Well, aren’t you fascinating”

From this list of prompts here

This was fun. If anyone has any other prompts, feel free to send them my way.

____________________________________________________________

Tara watched Thomas’s retreating figure until it disappeared into the distance. She never would have imagined she could enjoy their border-side meetings so much. At first, she’d only very hesitantly agreed to take part out of some strange curiosity. But now, she actually found herself looking forward to seeing her giant acquaintance. 

Blowing out cheerful huff of air, Tara was turning to head back to town when she began to feel tremors rumbling the earth. They were the same kind of tremors that heralded Thomas’s arrivals and departures. However, the footsteps did not belong to Thomas. 

Eyes as wide as saucers, Tara stood frozen in place, staring as none other than Thomas’s best friend emerged from behind a clump of trees on the other side of the border. Lane’s gaze immediately fell upon the human. He had a sour look on his face, as if he was looking at an irritating insect that wouldn’t stop buzzing in front of his face. 

Tara instinctively took a step back. Though she knew giants never crossed over the border into human territory, she couldn’t help but feel as though she needed to put distance between herself and the man that had tried so hard to devour her. 

“Thomas told me he had been meeting with you,” Lane began as he stepped closer to the edge of giant territory, “but it was still so bizarre to witness.” Were she not so anxious due to the giant’s presence, Tara might have felt embarrassed that her conversation with Thomas had been overheard. 

“W-what are you doing here?” Tara demanded, mentally cursing herself for the weakness in her voice. 

A low chuckle came from Lane as he stopped his approach a few feet away from the creek that separated human and giant land. “I suppose it must have been morbid curiosity,” he said with a slight shrug. 

Tara narrowed her eyes at the giant. She didn’t trust him in the slightest, and the fact that he was sneaking behind his best friend’s back seemed to only prove her point. However, according to Thomas himself, Lane had started to get “slightly more receptive” to the idea of seeing humans as people rather than simply prey. Still, that wasn’t exactly all that assuring to Tara. “I hope you don’t intend to try to eat me again,” she warned. 

Lane smirked. “Don’t tempt me.” Tara scowled and forced herself to stay in place rather than retreating backwards as her instincts were urging her to do. When it was obvious she wasn’t going to say anything in response, Lane sighed. “It’s not like I can cross the border,” he stated with an eye roll. “And besides, Thomas would kill me if he ever found out I ate his precious little human friend.” He said the words like they were almost painful to get out. He clearly still couldn’t comprehend the idea of a giant and human being friendly with one another. 

“So, what? You’re just here for a friendly chat?” Tara shot back, arms folded over her chest firmly. 

For a moment, Lane just glared down at the human. It almost seemed like he didn’t know the answer to the question, like he had shown up without a real purpose in mind. Finally he said, “I’m just trying to figure out what it is about you that made my friend lose his mind.” 

It was Tara’s turn to roll her eyes. Thomas had told her a little bit about what he’d been hearing from Lane ever since that day. Apparently it was a lot of insisting from Lane that Thomas was insane or that his hunting instincts were broken somehow. Sometimes Tara would ask Thomas why he even bothered to put up with the guy anymore. Thomas would always remind her that Lane hadn’t told another soul about Tara and that he had never expressed a desire to end their friendship though they so strongly disagreed on the topic of humans. It was clear that Thomas believed there was some good in his best friend. Maybe Tara owed it to the guy to give Lane a chance?

She released a heavy sigh. “Listen, I’m not in the mood for a fight right now. If you want to have a civil conversation, I’m willing to hear you out.” Truthfully, she really wanted to turn tail and run home. However, whether she liked it or not, she’d somehow become humanity’s unofficial ambassador. Thomas was proof that giants could be reasonable. As much as she hated to admit it, Tara was pretty sure she would regret it if she didn’t at least attempt to bridge the gap with Lane. 

The giant’s light eyebrows rose and he looked down at Tara as if he were studying her. She wasn’t exactly fond of the scrutiny, but she supposed it was an improvement from the look of distaste she’d been getting earlier. “Well, aren’t you fascinating,” Lane remarked dryly. “A human that wants to befriend giants.”

Tara scoffed, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I never said I wanted to be your friend.” 

Air rushed past her as Lane suddenly dropped into a crouch. After meeting with Thomas as many times as she had, Tara had become slightly more accustomed to the intimidatingly massive movements of giants. However, seeing the way Lane moved, she began to realize that Thomas may have been toning down his motions for her benefit. 

“Good, because giants have no business making friends with their food,” Lane sneered. The same glint of hunger was in his eyes as the last time they’d met. It was obvious to Tara that he was itching to snatch her up and gobble her whole.

Lips pressed firmly together, Tara stared the blond giant down. She knew he wanted to provoke a reaction from her, though she didn’t know what he hoped to achieve in doing so. Perhaps he deemed it his duty to “put her in her place.” Either way, Tara wasn’t about to let his words get to her. “If that’s all you wanted to say to me, there are other things I could be doing,” she stated, though didn’t make to leave just yet. 

Lane snorted, “Have to get back to the cave you live in, huh?” 

Tara’s eyes narrowed. Thomas had told her that he’d informed Lane that humans did not in fact dwell in caves like barbarians as giant textbooks claimed. Evidently the information hadn’t sunk in.  “I don’t live in a cave, I live in a house in a town,” she corrected, her voice tight with restrained irritation. 

“That’s what Thomas said, but I don’t buy it,” Lane responded. He wore an amused look on his face, as if the mere idea that humans could be advanced enough to live in towns was funny.

It was clear that Lane was completely taken over by the propaganda giants had developed to paint humans in an inferior light. Unlike Thomas, he was unwilling to accept new information and quite adamant about clinging onto his preconceived notions. “Believe whatever you want,” Tara said with a dismissive hand wave. “Thomas described you as being scholarly, clearly he was mistaken.” 

An angry frown formed on Lane’s face at Tara’s statement. “What is that supposed to mean?” he questioned sharply. 

Tara suppressed a smirk as she gave a nonchalant shrug. “Well a real scholar would get their information from a primary source,” she told him. “You seem to base all your human knowledge on outdated secondary sources.”

During their last encounter, appealing to Lane’s morality hadn’t been especially effective. His sense of right and wrong was totally warped by brainwashing. And so, Tara decided it would be best to use the giant’s logical side against him.

With a scowl on his face, Lane shifted his weight so he now had one knee on the ground. “You’re not a reliable source, chances are you’re lying to try and make humanity seem less pathetic.” 

Tara shook her head. The guy had some real trust issues when it came to humans. She didn’t see how he had any business being wary of humans when humans had only ever been giants’ victims. 

“How about this then, next time Thomas comes to visit, you come with him,” she started. Lane opened his mouth to argue but she held up her hand to stop him. “I’ll bring with me something that undeniably proves how advanced humans are.” She wasn’t sure exactly what she’d bring. The first thing that came to her mind was a rifle, but her town had so few and they were only meant to be used in case of an emergency so she doubted she’d be allowed to borrow one. Maybe a book created using the printing press her town had gotten a few years back would do.

Lane looked skeptical. Tara had a feeling he didn’t like the idea of doing something that a human suggested. At the same time, if he refused it would be akin to turning away from a challenge. Lane definitely seemed like the competitive type. “Fine, but I’m sure you’ll only end up embarrassing yourself,” he relented.

Without bothering with a goodbye, Lane stood up and withdrew back into the depths of giant territory. Tara couldn’t help the smug smile that grew on her face as she watched him walk away.

[ohnobjyx]

you answer about celebrities being prudent with dating got me curious as western boys in bands, especially in the rock/alternative/rap scene, seem to have a reputation for dating/sleeping around a lot, do asian idols just not date/sleep around a lot or are they just better at hiding it because they are expected to?

Hi, anon! I’m slowly working through all the asks, but I remembered yours when I was watching this week hotpot episode from SDoC S3 (I’m wondering if I should write a post compiling all the candies, but I have so many asks pending).

To start with the answer, let’s put the disclaimer first: I don’t know celebrities, I’m a simple fan just like all of us. Whatever they do in their private life it’s their own thing, and I just simply try to place an objective view of their situation here.

Just a clarification: when we talk about idol or celebrity, I’m talking about those that are pretty successful in the industry (with their number of fans ranking in the millions). These are the tip of the iceberg in the industry however. The bulk of them have less fans, but are also less subjected to scrutiny by the public.

1. First of all they are prudent because it isn’t widely accepted as “good” that people date/sleep around a lot, especially among the older generations. However, many young people also feel that it’s unacceptable, and their opinions may vary from “they must be very promiscuous or they flicker a lot” to “if they haven’t been able to keep a relationship for long, there must be a problem with this person”.

2. We’ve already talked about the fact that celebrities are expected to uphold a clear and good moral example for their fans. They’ll be heavily criticized if they do things that aren’t socially approved, and it’ll impact negatively on their work prospects. So, I suppose that in the case any celebrity did date/sleep around, they’d have to be masters at hiding their “affairs”.

Let’s just imagine how a male idol’s gf fans (the type of fans that fantasize being their idol’s gf) would react if their idol publicly dated around with many girls. I don’t think that would end well.

3. Like I said at the beginning, I’m going to talk about those idols and celebrities that have more success in the industry.

So, when we talk about dating/sleeping around, there’s something that we can’t ignore: time.

I don’t know about the workload of the boy bands (especially, as you said, in the rock/alternative/rap scene) but the workload of an Asian idol is terrifying.

Let me show you a few examples:

a. Even before he debuted in the boy band, dd spent almost everyday hours dancing, no free weekends and barely vacations, since he was 13 and entered the company. As a child, he got myocarditis when he was learning to dance. As soon as he got discharged, he went back to dancing, and spent his summer vacations (just a month in China, btw, August) dancing from 1 pm to 9 pm everyday, to recover the lost ground (this really was a test for his love for dancing, but just imagine it: he could do 8 hours a day just because he liked it, how many hours would he pull when pressed by the company?)

b. To anyone unfamiliar with Asian culture, the Lunar New Year’s Eve is the most important celebration in Asian culture, a night when family gathers together to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Asian idols usually are full of work, even that same night, so they almost never spend the New Year’s Eve with their families. A famed actress (in her fifties), once said in a program: “my father died last year... and one of the things I regret the most is that I haven’t spent a single New Year’s Eve with him in the last 20 years”.

c. In 2015, a year after his debut with Uniq, dd posted on w/ibo: “Just another year that I can’t be with my parents on New Year’s Eve... just a little sad” (and from what I know, he hadn’t spent a single New Year’s Eve at home since his debut).

d. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Running Man, another c-variety show that’s very popular in China (I recommended it, btw). They did a night-life special last year, and when the director announced the theme (that they’d start filming by 4 pm and continue through the night), the host were like “just that?”:

“Then like our usual jobs”, “I can stay awake longer than an owl”, “I’m also good at spending all-nighters”.

One of them actually said: it seems that they don’t really get what an actor’s job is... everyone say how many days and nights have you gone by without sleeping in you busiest times? Angelababy (that’s her stage name, yes): “When I was a model... I really spent  three days and three nights   without a single moment of sleep.” Li Chen: “Before I came here to film yesterday, I spent 4 days filming night scenes for my drama, so 4 nights without sleep.”

Song Yuqi: “If we count sleeping an hour a day... I went a full week without a full night of sleep. Yesterday was the longest I’ve been sleeping in the last month”.

Their attitude is what surprises me the most, to be honest... It’s like, “of course we would spend a whole night awake, no problem!”

e. One of the previous hosts from this show once said that from his daughter’s birth to her first birthday the amount of time he spent with her totalled to three months.

4. I actually remembered your ask yesterday when I was watching the hotpot episode because of this:

The hosts mentioned getting back at their hotels after filming at 6 am (I think they had been filming the episode during the day and most of the night, and wanted to film a part of the dance using the first daylight). Actually, dd was talking about ZYX making noise in his room practicing dance moves at 6 am (wtf dude, you just pulled an all-nighter, please sleep).

There was a stalker photo of dd taken at 3 am when dd was coming out of the filming site for SDoC S3, one of the other day (just imagine it: you’re leaving the workplace, after a hard day of work, and instead of getting into the car peacefully you have to escape from these people). 

This kind of workload is insane. When they aren’t filming, they are travelling to filming sites, filming tv shows episodes, filming commercials, doing interviews, photoshoots, practicing whatever show is coming up next, reading scripts, and a long list of things they do. Almost without a single moment to rest.

I remember an interview of another actor, in which he said that if he had a free moment in his schedule or a free day, he spent it sleeping and talking with his family.

I’m not saying that with this kind of schedule keeping a relationship is absolutely impossible, but it resembles greatly a long distance relationship, no matter where your home actually is. So dating around a lot is quite of... difficult? (at least in my opinion). And about sleeping around... maybe it’s just me, but if I had a free night with their workload... I’d pass out as soon as I was in my room, and that’s all the sleeping I can envision.

(Btw, this kind of work pace is a trend in China. I've been told that it’s actually common to have surgeons doing 36-hour shifts... here I was thinking that 24h shifts were outrageous).

5. However, it’s not impossible. It wasn’t so long ago that a scandal got out about an actor who was married and with an adult son AND still had time to keep a mistress.

I hope I haven’t rambled too much, anon, and that you find my answer useful!

Edit (thanks to @gremlin-02!): “you're missing the part about propaganda. chinese idols have to hold up "chinese culture/good morals/examples of good citizens" they are not gonna be promoting a play boy idol since it "corrupts" the family values and state system.”

You are absolutely right, and it’s also a point that supports the second part of this post. We tend to forget about it, but the national propaganda has shaped the country from its core. Without it, the country would be very different today. Not better or worse, just... different, since propaganda, for all its bad reputation, has played a large part in their economic growth and their position in the world economy today.

[funnuraba]

A Rough Moral Overview of Archie Comics: Teen Propaganda Machine

Part 5: Al Hartley Rears His Ugly Head

And then... there's the grim shadow of Al Hartley and his Christian Archie comics.

In any discussion of the politics of Archie Comics, Al Hartley stands in a class of his own. If you know much about Archie Comics, and even if you don't, you may have seen some of his work, because by modern standards--oh boy, do those Spire Christian Comics make an impact. They're officially licensed, all of them, and some are reworked from stories he wrote under the official Archie banner, often stories that were already groaning from the strain of not mentioning Jesus.

The "Christmas spirit" was sometimes used as a stand-in. In the Spire Archie comics, the characters are allowed to preach openly.

Usually Betty. Dear God, Al Hartley's Betty. But one interesting thing is that Ethel and Dilton, of all people, are usually the runners-up in Jesus loving. Apparently the Evangelical split with science hadn't taken effect yet, because Hartley-Dilton is an ally to religion, and his cleverness only brings him closer to God. Hartley's Ethel is, bizarrely, an incredibly sympathetic take on the character, perhaps one of the kindest ever looks at a girl so desperate for acknowledgment, validation, anything, that she's willing to put up with Jughead.

Except for the comic where she talks about how her parents neglect her, and Archie and Betty explain to her that God wants her to honor and respect the parents He chose to give her, no matter what they do. That's kind of a slap in the face.

Ethel is either the innocent in pain, ripe for conversion, or a zealous convert. Archie often takes her place as the clueless wandering fool. Reggie, Jughead and Veronica are sometimes converted at the end. Sometimes Veronica is the worldly, promiscuous no we can't go quite that far, but that's the suggestion. Reggie and Jughead also slot very well into an exhibition of humanity's sins, with Reggie of course being vanity and Jughead gluttony. Usually Jughead's gluttony is a forgivable sin, but one in need of fixing nonetheless.

KRAK! This mansion, owned and operated by one "Professor Beelzebub", represents, of course, Sin in all its forms, and Jughead is swallowed up early on by a room full of food. Betty approaches Archie, from outside the house, and manages to free him with the power of prayer.

Notice the sinful masses crawling from the wreckage almost as an afterthought. Can you guess who Hartley's favorite character is?

Yes. Al Hartley was just a little partial to Betty. Hartley was supposedly born again after tiring of the cheesecake work he produced for the first part of his professional life, but he managed to be astonishingly horny for Betty despite that. And his writing is responsible for Insufferable Christian Betty, AKA the worst Betty.

Hartley's comics are.... not subtle. They're Archie at the height of camp and the height of hilarity...

....and they're hateful, reactionary trash covered in a sugary Archie coating. A Sugar, Sugar coating, if you will.

Even in his "official" work for Archie Comics, you can smell the conservative right through the page.

One recurring theme is that Jughead's love of food and disinterest in girls are not two separate traits, but rather one single pathological obsession with food that causes him to eat because he isn't dating.

That, of course, is a problem to be fixed. Jughead Jones sits around thinking about how 36-24-36 girls are the best type of girl???? Really, Mr. Hartley???

And forget what I said about sympathetic portrayals of Ethel. This is how she gets her happy ending. As a hot dog.

Hartley's reign of terror actually started in the 60s, but by the 70s his art (and often writing) have become immediately distinguishable. The tells are in the girls' eyes (Betty's especially) and in Jughead's nose, which under Hartley's pencil starts to shrink near his face.

Oh, and this face thing, and the triple punctuation marks.

This is a typical set of Hartley panels showcasing all his trademarks except Jughead's nose.

And the fact that his Reggie never stops making this face.

His official Archie work, while slightly restrained, still shows an inherent worship of authority (A sixteen year old girl looking at her principal and thinking she feels sorry for “that cute man”??????? What????)

....and a sense of emptiness within the characters, waiting to be filled by... something.

His openly Jesus-y comics would revisit this theme, over and over again.

And one wonders if he was really as burned out on cheesecake as he claimed.

Yeah, he was barely holding himself back in a few different ways.

(These are three different stories taking place on the beach where the Archie characters spend about half their natural life cycle. The last one has no writer credited anywhere, but they’re Hartley’s pencils and the themes are quite similar to his two confirmed “Veronica being a bitch to Archie at the beach” stories.)

A couple of Hartley stories stand out in a very weird way: his Veronica isn't just spoiled and domineering, she hardly even wants Archie to start with. And in these stories, Archie's interest in Veronica is paper-thin, held together only by the main conceit of the love triangle and the fact that man is born to sin. One senses a touch of the aggrieved self-shipper at work, and more often than not it comes at the expense of humor. Other writers and artists had fun with a mean Veronica; Al Hartley just wants her sinful ass to stop getting in his best girl Betty's way.

Boy, does he want her gone. She and Reggie often end up together in the Spire stories, in defiance of the prevailing canon since at least the 50s, which is that that Veronica’s willing to date Reggie if Archie doesn’t show up or blows it, but for whatever reason, Archie is her primary interest. She doesn’t like Reggie for his personality in any story where Reggie’s personality actually figures beyond “other boy”. Yet Hartley sees them as the snooty secondary couple, brought together by their love of vanity and other sins, and the fact that Betty must be Archie’s final choice at all costs.

At their best, Hartley’s stories touch on realistic insecurities and add a little human dimension to characters like Ethel and Betty.

At their worst, they remind you exactly how cynical those additions are. Hartley has no compunctions about mocking Ethel if that’s what the story needs. "That fellow just offered two cows for Big Ethel!" Betty cries, in the middle of a band/missionary performance by The Archies in India. "That's the best offer we ever had for Big Ethel!" Jughead laughs, as Ethel (on triangle, because of course) looks distressed in the corner. Archie tells Jughead not to joke, because the man is serious! Hartley Triple Exclamation Points!!!

These insecure characters could be anyone at all, because the only reason they show these insecurities is so Al Hartley can sell you, the reader, on fixing your own insecurities with his brand of Jesus. In his non-Archie comics, they’re replaced seamlessly with non-characters, and the only result is that it's less funny.

And of course, don’t forget: just because Al Hartley only draws white people in these Spire Christian Comics, that doesn’t mean there’s any kind of racism going on in good old Riverdale.

[princesssarcastia]

*sad trombone noises*

so i finally gave in and watched season 3 of young justice, and I have to say.....

meh.  @padmerrie you were right it probably wasn’t worth watching :/

there were too many threads they were trying to tie together.  also, i felt that drifting away from the season finale formula they had for the first two seasons was a definite mistake on their part.  the team kicks ass and takes names, then the justice league has a big issue they need the team’s help with, and then we end with a shot of the Light being like ::even though we failed in every way possible, everything is somehow still going all according to plan::

like, there was one moral of the story at the end about being genuine and not conning your crew, if I may borrow a line from leverage. but the problem is THAT WAS THE WHOLE MORAL LESSON FOR SEASON TWO. THAT—THAT WAS LITERALLY THE WHOLE POINT OF THE DICK-ARTEMIS-KALDUR CONSPIRACY.

so that made it seem like they learned nothing from season 2.

the story for season 3 would have been so much cleaner if they weren’t fucking staging heroic rescues for their new public portion of the team.  imagine the power of garfield actually creating a new team, with the purpose of inspiring people and being genuine enough to overcome Luthor’s bullshit machinations as UN Secretary General.  imagine the narrative of truth being more powerful than propaganda. 

but nooooo Batman’s gotta be an edgelord and take the rest of the bats, and kaldur, and wonder woman (honestly what the fuck), down with him, into his authoritarian paternalistic bullshit.  HARD PASS.

I did like that people of color played a lot of the key roles in this season, between artemis and halo and cyborg and black lightning. love that the season started with one black man in charge of the justice league and ended with another one taking charge of it.  (fuck batman).  i did not like that the now-off-network-television cartoon then felt comfortable showing cyborg and halo in particular getting brutally savaged on screen a bunch of times.

would have honestly been cooler if big barda had saved the league and the team from granny goodness and the anti-life equation, as repayment for when superman saved her life.  feel like narratively that would have been cleaner, and would tie into that message about being a genuine person with compassion inspiring others to be the same, you fucking assholes. 

also, the fact that they re-used mind control of the justice league is tired; and the fact that they didn’t even use it WELL is even more tired.  there should have been more tension about the fact that some of the most powerful people in the universe were under the thrall of one of the top ten worst people in the universe. season one did that BEAUTIFULLY and season 3 didn’t even try. that’s what comes of recycling your material, folks.

I feel like they sorta...made good use of Apokalypse, and sorta didn’t?? The stuff with Vandal Savage would have been cooler if like, he and Darkseid hadn’t decided they could bro-hug it out at the end, after savage literally deprived darkseid of the one thing he wants most in the entire fucking universe, but whatever.  the whole galaxy wide war thing was neat.

connor “coming out” to the world as a giant fuck you to lex luthor was also neat.

i really enjoyed the dickbabs content. 

i REALLY enjoyed Kaldur’s atlantian boyfriend, that was perfect.

but my FAVORITE part of the whole season was when they’re in Russia, and the team has driven off black manta, monsieur malla, and captain boomerang; and Amanda Waller in their ear can’t identify Artemis, and Black Manta says, “duh, she’s one of the leaders of the Team™.”

and waller is like, “the team?”

and black manta is like, “yeah, the team™, the justice league’s covert ops squad.”

and then waller and boomerang are like, “the justice league has a covert ops squad?!?!?!?”

thats fucking hilarious. the idea that these assholes are still covert after all the explosions they caused?? that the U.S. government is that oblivious? fucking priceless.

[yonojono]

The Imitation Game, now a social dilemma

The Imitation Game is another name for the Turing Test created by Alan Turing in 1950. It is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equal to or indistinguishable from that of humans. With advanced technology, we have seen that almost anything can be hacked into and stolen while the victims are left unaware of the situation that has undergone inside their devices. If data is not being hacked into, chances are that the companies of the applications that they use on a regular basis, are stealing data and not for anything good. The Netflix Documentary “The Social Dilemma” which is a play on the title of the movie “The Social Network” which just so happens to be the biopic movie of this guy that you may have heard of called Mark Zuckerberg and how he creates this platform that you may have also heard of called Facebook. The documentary starts off with a touch of irony and a pinch of salt as a bunch of employees who worked or still work at a lot of the big shot companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram and Snapchat speak about circumstances that they faced at their respective companies. They had ethical concerns and were campaigning for ethical designs but at the same time, these are the very people that take advantage of the users’ psychology and work to keep them on their platforms for as long as possible such that it has become a battlefield for them to see who can hold the users’ attention the longest. This is quite concerning because of how fast technology is changing and becoming better by the day such that at this rate, people can might as well live inside a small box and look at screens of social media platforms all around them, day in and day out. 

 However, it is important to address this issue in countries apart from the US as the social dilemma focuses mainly on the audience from the US. It shows a parallel storyline where siblings in a family are struggling to disconnect their personal, offline lives from the virtual one. In countries like India, China, South Korea, Japan and many other eastern and third world countries, there is a huge cultural difference as opposed to the west. Especially when it comes to children doing well at studies, it is quite common for eastern parents to be authoritarian and do whatever they have to do so that they do not have any distractions around them and focus on studying. Having said this, it does not mean that the west does not have the concept of strict parenting or that the east does not know how to go easy on their kids, but the fact is that an Indian parent spends on helping their kids with homework is 12 hours per week whereas an American parent spends 6.2 hours per week on an average. Most of the Generation Z Indians did not have access to technology and social media as the concept of mobile phones and touchscreens did not arrive in India until much later than it did in the US. Albeit there may be some people that do get carried away in the world of virtuality, a lot of the people still know how to draw the line between social media and reality because they have a lot more to be worried about in real life than on social media. Blame it on the education system or on the strict parenting, children are still worried about scoring well even in their preliminaries, let alone their board examinations. We see them studying day and night to make this happen and most of them do not get to have mobile phones until much later in their lives, beyond an impressionable age. We only see the negative side of the coin when it comes to these things but if the coin could be bothered being flipped over, maybe there is a positive side to it after all. It is very probable that people do not get influenced as easily as the document portrays it and that maybe there’s a slight exaggeration about how people believe everything that they see on the internet. 

 But the fact that big tech conglomerates have been taking advantage of people who use their platforms and have been influencing people in the worst ways possible is not moral. We see terrorists and crime insinuators being bred at homes because of the propaganda that these companies have been feeding them. A lot of lives have been impacted because of this and it is about time that they take responsibility for what they have been doing and for what? A few measly bucks. An example for this is the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. In 2018, the world was shaken when they found out that Facebook and a political data analysis firm called the Cambridge Analytica were the perpetrators of a massive data breach. They obtained and used the data of millions of users without their consent to their advantage. Hundreds of thousands of users had signed up for a survey called “this is your digital life” which they might have thought, sounded harmless, at the time. But Facebook allowed the survey to take all the data that the users had entered and played the psychology card to get people to vote for the politician, Donald Trump. His institute paid Facebook to get the data of users regarding their political preferences. As shown in the documentary, users are shown as puppets being controlled by imaginary people literally behind the screen and are shown only what the companies want them to see. AI has advanced to a level that can show human-like behaviour and knows what humans want to see and uses methods to show it and more to them. But the big tech conglomerates exhibits behaviour similar to that of a child having newly discovered a toy that it constantly solely wants to play with and shows no interest in absolutely anything else. Unfortunately, the toy is the actions they take that can affect emotions, behaviours and actions of the user in real time, which they monetize and exploit. This is not just limited to people who can possibly do no harm, it has an impact on deranged people who end other people’s lives for their extremist causes. It does not just bring people closer and make the world smaller, it may possibly end them as well. 

 With COVID-19 plaguing the world, forcing people to be indoors and isolate themselves, it took a toll on their mental health. Without technology and social media, people would not have been able to get any work done from home or would not have been able to stay connected to their loved ones. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that social media has done a lot of good and was intended to connect people from different parts of the world for each other’s benefit. It was not created with malicious intent and none of the creators thought of how it could have a totally different face to it than what they imagined. People decide that their self-worth revolves around something as inconsequential as the amount of likes and views that they get on social media. They make careers out of being an influencer and millions of people all around the world struggle to achieve the façade of perfection that is displayed on screen. It has insinuated to put down a lot of the viewers’ selfconfidence and self-esteem which in turn affects their mental health.

 People are having their freedom and right to decide taken away and they don’t realise it. However, with the help of the documentaries like “the social dilemma” and “the great hack”, they are finally aware of how deep the problem goes and just how serious of an effect it can have on people’s lives. Social media is not just seen as a tool that brings people closer to each other anymore. It is seen as a destructive weapon that could cause a lot of damage to a community, instigate hate crimes, terrorise people and ruin mental health. It would be impossible to lead lives without social media in this day and age because it causes a great deal of good and a great deal of harm at the same time which is why it is about time that we, as users, become more mindful and aware about giving our time and energy to the platforms and if we actually need to use it as much as we do now. We need to reflect on ourselves and think about what we say on social media as it can leave an impact on other people as well. Now that we know the adverse effects that it can have, we need to spend more time with real people than we do online. We can very often forget that everyone displays a persona on screen and that it is not a true reflection of a person. There is a lot more to life than a mere screen on a device. Humans should strive to become a real life indicator of the Turing test and identify what is real and what is imitation

[asterekmess]

S3A - E3

Hiya, back with another episode of the rewatch. I am...not looking forward to this episode. *deep breath* here we go.

Read More’s save sanity

Hey, so I know this is a really heavy first bullet point...but isn’t anybody else uncomfortable with the image of a black boy running around out of his mind with fury and bloodlust and going after little...white kids? Am I reading too much into this? I know Cora’s running around too. I just...whatever, I’m just gonna keep my mouth shut.

Straight from way too heavy to way too light. So that girl dropped a big jar of fireflies, but they say that fireflies that actually glow aren’t native to California, which would mean these are part of the whole magic thing going on, and at the end of the whole firefly thing they get rid of all the fireflies. So...what if someone finds that jar and opens it?

...nevermind the jar opened up somehow...

Okay, listen, I have a petty and biased hatred for this moment with Scott. Like...is it so hard to say, “I had to get the kids he was chasing away from him?” It’s not like they don’t have time..they just stand there in silence for a while. I also hate the savior pose he strikes there with the kids clinging to him. Like, I get that it’s a very common trope. I still hate it. I use the anti-scott tag for a reason, let me be salty.

why te fuck does Scott FLOAT in the intro?

Lydia has seriously emptied an entire bottle of ibuprofen? She should be dead. Or at least at a hospital. She’s too smart not to know how dangerous it is to take ibuprofen (even the recommended dosage) for too long at a time.

Lydia...Lydia knows about werewolves now. Did no one tell her about this whole escape plan for the betas? She could’ve helped.

Cue the shitty SFX running. Y’all look ridiculous.

Man, come on. Are you seriously telling me that Derek never played hide and seek with his siblings? Like, they’re werewolves for fuck’s sake. Derek never did fake chases through the woods? He tracked PETER for christ’s sake, all the way across town. He was like yards behind him before he got shot that one time.

This show relies a lot on character’s losing time and just finding themselves places. Jackson losing time, Lydia losing time. Lydia losing time again, but in a new way. Later, it’ll be Stiles losing time. I’m just saying, it happens a lot.

It’s fucking august in California. Does it actually get that cold? Poor Lydia’s nose is always red cus she gets forced to wander around in the dark and freezing. I can see her goosebumps when she kneels next to the pool.

I know it’s gotta be hell on her voice, but I think it’s so interesting the way Lydia screams and how it has to jump around the chords before hitting that one note. I don’t know why I find that so interesting. Guess it just reminds me of a wolf howl. Seriously, look ‘em up. Weirdly similar. GO  Holland!

What do you mean the last memory that she had of her mother, Scott? You should’ve told her RIGHT THEN. Right off the bat. There was TONS of time between her getting bit and when she died. You should’ve told Allison right away. Fuck you, you had all of spring break!

god fucking damn it now I’m crying again. Erica, sweetie...Derek honey...

I’m trying to get past the tears to enjoy this romancey stuff, with the candles and the lil lamps, and the LOTR references. I’m really trying.

This is totally not what I should be thinking about while watching the two of them make out, but like, so does Caitlin not go to their school? She just sort of appears a couple times, but Stiles doesn’t seem to know her. Maybe she went to the same school as Heather?

don’t like bugs don’t like bugs ew ew ew ew

Hi cora!

Isaac! You’re somehow feeling better, even though you were apparently out of commission like an hour or two ago...wait huh?

I gotta say, okay, listen I just can’t help it. I know this is serious, but that lil smirk on Isaac’s face? I don’t think he looks smug, personally, I think he looks like he’s about to go play, go rolling around in the grass and leaves, playing with a pack member. He’s been alone for so long this summer, what with Jackson leaving. he’s had no wolves to play with (cus’ we know Derek’s a grump). As worried as he’s gotta be, I bet he’s having funnnnnn.

I..uh..Cora what sound is coming out of your mouth? That..that does not sound like a wolf. That sounds like a wild cat of some kind. Wolves don’t make that screechy noise. They bark and growl, like the sound that came just before. That doesn’t even sound like a roar. Who gave you cheetah sounds?? You’re canine, not feline. Come on they did SO WELL with Derek’s sounds-- No. NO Do not tell me they gave Cora cat sounds cus she’s a chick. I’m gonna fight someone. (For those of you interested, if you scroll to the bottom of this webpage, you can listen to wolf growl snippets and they’re such good quality (I think the bark snippet is broken tho). Listen to those whimpers and whines too, fucking fascinating. I love wolves. Such beautiful animals.)

Cora with Isaac and Scott attacking her and growling at her: “Fuck you, I’ll bite you!” Cora with Derek just growling at her: “BYE bro!”

Stiles, honey! I missed you! Literally, just the sound of your voice makes me feel better.

Scott, Seriously, Derek just said you haven’t tracked either of them anywhere near the pool. You’ve both been following them all night! Yeah, they’re dangerous, but they couldn’t get to the pool and back in time to fight you! I”M GONNA SMACK YOU. DOn’t use that fucking patronizing tone of voice when Derek is TELLING YOU FACTS.

OUR fault? OUR FAULT? I’m gonna fucking *kicks a chair and storms off, grumbling* *Spins around, cus fuck it i’m gonna yell. it’s my post.* NONE OF THIS is DEREK”S FAULT. NOne of this is ISAAC’S FAULT. Fuck dude, I’ll even say that it’s not Scott’s fault! If it’s anyone other than the Alphas’ fault, it’s Allison’s, but tbf she thought she was helping.

DEREK SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH. I swear to god.

ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING? DEREK WOULD NEVER SUGGEST MURDERING BOYD AND CORA. NEVER. He thought Cora was fucking dead and he just found out she’s alive! HE WOULD NEVER. NEVER. FUCK YOU. FUCK EVERYTHING. *Throws a plate* YOU KNOW YOU ONLY FUCKING WROTE IT SO THAT YOU COULD SHOW OFF SCOOT MCFUCKFACE’S SUDDEN FLIP IN MORALITY BY HAVING HIM SAY THAT “KILLING ISN’T THE RIGHT THING TO DO” OH REALLY Scott? REALLY? Killing is bad? YOU DIDN’T THINK SO WHEN YOU SPENT MONTHS attempting to commit PREMEDITATED MURDER of a GUY WHO WAS ALREADY DYING. MONTHS. Scott. FUCK YOU. FUCK THIS SHOW. 13 minutes in and I’m already about to chuck my laptop across the room. MY CAT WON’T EVEN CUDDLE ME ANYMORE I’M SO ANGRY.

And now I’m really fucking sad, cus’ I hate watching this poor girl get told she’s just hallucinating.

WHY does everyone go shopping at fucking 8 pm in Beacon Hills? What...Chris you don’t even have a day job.

I don’t...I don’t understand this scene with Isaac. Like..what exactly are they trying to imply? That he thinks she’s hot? All he’s seen is her raging around with fangs free and glowing eyes. And yeah, some people definitely think that’s hot. But like...that’s just so...what? I choose to read this scene as him just wondering about Derek’s home life. Like, “Since when do you have siblings? Why don’t you tell me these things? I have an aunt?”

WHAT DO YOU mean “Your world?” CHRIS YOU GREW UP AS A HUNTER. THIS IS YOUR WORLD TOO. He was YOUR dad. You’ve been a part of this WAY longer than Scott! Don’t blame the werewolves for ruining your life! THAT WAS YOUR DAD and YOUR STUPID HUNTER CODE’S FAULT.

OKay, listen, I have so many issues with this I need a therapist to mediate my conversations with it. FUCK YOU TW for bringing in Chris. I dont’ give a fuck if he’s experienced or trying to redeem himself. He is a HUNTER he has Slaughtered Derek’s kind for his entire life. He may want to do the right thing, but the right thing definitely doesn’t involved him Standing in front of Derek and forcing him to listen to hunter PROPAGANDA BULLSHIT. I’M SO FUCKING MAD. This was so inappropriate, holy shit. SO far beyond okay. Even the CONCEPT that werewolves wouldn’t be as good at tracking other werewolves as hunters are is fucking stupid. You said it yourself, Chris they can follow scent up to TWO MILES AWAY. Wolves can track their prey for weeks without losing the scent. Just because Isaac stepped on some footprints doesn’t mean he’s incapable of finding them. And what’s all this shit about them “Being able to rely on their human half”? NO? First off, minor detail. Werewolves aren’t half wolf, half human, dumbass. They’re all werewolf. AND The show has said like Ten TIMES that they can’t access their human form/the thought processes they would normally have during a full moon without an anchor, and Boyd and Cora are effectively anchorless on this moon. This is just utter bullshit and I’m so goddamn angry I don’t even know how to process it. “If you’re not trained like me you have no idea this print is Boyd’s” YEAH THEY DO. THEY CAN LITERALLY SMELL IT.  DEREK ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE TRACKS. FUCK you.

ALSO. Getting REAL SICk of people slicing their wrists every time they need a little blood for a ritual or for bait. YOU CUT THE MEAT of the arm. ON THE BACK. WHERE YOU WON”T HIT a VEIN. DUMBASSES.

WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK DO YOU MEAN NINE YEARS DEREK? YOU’D BETTER MEAN CORA WAS NINE YEARS OLD, CUS’ THE FIRE WAS SIX YEARS AGO. and what do you mean you don’t have a lock on her scent? you’ve been following it just fine all night! Wolves remember human scents decades later.

Booooo, i hate the entire concept of wolves going mad on a full moon. It’s lazy and boring. Wolves are not vicious animals, they’re shy as fuck. THey don’t attack without reason. Werewolves should be the same. Full moon’s enhance their wolfishness, so it should make them MORE SHY. The moon should enhance whatever they feel, rather than just making them mindlessly aggressive.

“Primal apex Predatory satisfaction”? seriously? Shut the FUCK up Chris, I’m really fucking sick of your hunter bedtime stories.

....i hate this woman.

Casual reminder that Isaac wouldn’t suggest Killing boyd. Ever. I fucking hate these writers.

yeah yeah, running scene. blah blah blah.

See, I never really understood those fics where Peter just refuses to give anyone any info. He tells Derek what’s up constantly. He didn’t lie or hold anything back when he helped Derek figure out what was up with Jackson or how Jackson needed Lydia to be cured. He walks right up to Derek and says “Hey, so those Alphas clearly want you to join them and that means they’re trying to make you kill your own pack” Peter helps Derek all the time. He’s just a dick while he does it.

Look, I love this moment with Peter, his “Let Scott be the hero of his morally black and white world. You and I, we live in shades of gray” lines are so good, and they speak so much to his character and personality. And he’s right. But I hate that they built the scene around Derek planning to kill his own pack, and following Scott around doing as he asks. I just hate what they do to Derek here.

The dog whistles suddenly have no effect on their hearing? Love it.

Take a second to bring up a plotline you won’t explain for ages. I vibe with that, so long as it is eventually explained.

OOh, suddenly BHHS has a football field?

Not gonna cry, not gonna cry. FUCK I’m crying again.

I just...dude I’m over here trying not to completely lose my shit and cry like a baby, and Stiles is in the middle of panicking and losing his oldest friend and he still puts the dots together. Like. Jesus christ this boy.

NOW Derek? You choose NOW to take Every Single Step down the stairs? JUMP.

...what is this a cartoon? Glowing eyes in the dark? one too many sets? Yeah, yeah, I get it, they’re supposed to look like fireflies.

Why did you stop to look at each other after blasting them? Just go.

OH, yeah, of course Scott has to be the one to hear the extra heartbeat. Scott. Not Derek. Not the ALpha who’s senses are heightened above the a Beta’s. Not DEREK the ALPHA who has a PACK, which makes his senses even stronger that that. No. Scott. The omega. Because he’s like an inch closer to the door. Yah. Sure. That makes sense. SUre.

Dude I wish my high school had that much backup supplies free for the teacher’s to grab. Also, I hate this woman.

WHy were the lights off in the boiler room if she was in the back grabbing stuff? That..what?

OH. I forgot, so Caitlin’s out of high school? She’s...what, 18? 19? Okay, fine, I’ll take that.

Oh stop faking Jennifer, fuck you.

Crying again. dont’ mind me. This is Derek. Not choosing to kill his beta or his long lost sister. Choosing to die himself instead. THAT is Derek (it’s self-sacrificing and it’s because he gives his own life no worth, but it’s still him.)

HOW IS IT DAWN? THAT WOULD BE like 6 HOURS of standing around! Or did the sun not set until like 10 pm? Hm? This show has no concept of time, and werewolves are very time oriented. Someone take away the show from the writers. They’ve lost their privileges.

I hate this. I hate that Isaac shouts for Scott. Not Derek. That’s just so fucking dumb. I’m so tired of it. I’m just so fucking sick of it.

I don’t even wanna look at this. I hate this woman so much.

YOU REALIZE that the third Virgin was Taken. The third virgin is DEAD. the sacrifices have been made, and now Jennifer has control over people. This is where she starts controlling Derek. Right Fucking Here. He loses his agency the moment they touch, if not the moment they make eye contact or he gets in range. I hate it. I HATE IT.

BOOM. Episode three, and Stiles already has the villain after next figured out. He’s past the Alphas now. 

Final Thoughts: I’m angry, I’m tired, and I honestly got very little joy or interest out of this whole episode. I hate what this show did to werewolves and how much insane Scott glorification there is and how every little thing HAS to be about Scott. Scott’s relationship with Chris. Scott saving the kids. Scott’s the one Isaac calls for. Scott’s the one who hears the heartbeats. I get that he’s the main character. I also hate that he’s the main character. It’s just so sad and pathetic and boring and just....ugh. I’m going to bed. I will try for another episode or two tomorrow.

(I promise I’m okay. Just go listen to the wolf howls for me in that link, huh? Listen to those beauties and imagine how amazing a wolf show could have been.)

[trainsinanime]

About Slytherin

People don’t talk about Hogwarts Houses all that much anymore, and for good reason. Between what we know about the author, the quality of the recent movies, the allegations against these movies’s biggest star (to be clear: I’m not taking sides on Depp/Hearst before the court case is resolved, and I reserve the right to not take sides afterwards either), it’s not exactly been fun to be a Harry Potter fan, and many people have moved on.

But sometimes you still see folks declaring what Hogwarts House they’re in, or what they imagine as a headcanon for a fictional character they like. And fairly often, the answer for that is Slytherin, both for themselves and for heroic characters. But how accurate is that? And more to the point, what is Slytherin really about?

I’m sure there’s stuff on Pottermore about this, but who cares. Within the actual books, we get three competing definitions of Slytherin from various sources:

The official description, from the Sorting Hat

Its reputation

What its people are actually like, filtered through Harry’s point of view.

The Sorting Hat is, functionally, a school official, and presumably gives the description of Slytherin that he’s supposed to. This description lists several core attributes of the house: It’s racist, and people may be devious, but they are also clever, loyal and true friends. Also deeply racist. If you leave out the racism then this sounds nice, and those qualities (minus the obvious racism) is presumably what people mean when they call themselves Slytherin. But can we trust the nice parts of that description?

There are plenty of examples throughout all the books of wizarding society featuring heavy propaganda from official sources, and official descriptions being incomplete and inaccurate. So it is at least possible that the Sorting Hat is speaking pro-Slytherin propaganda. (And also anti-Hufflepuff, I mean, seriously)

Compare and contrast with the reputation the house has in the wizarding world, among people who probably know more about it than just whatever new synonyms the Sorting Hat came up with. This reputation is simple: People assume Slytherin is evil, because evil wizards, notably Voldemort, and followers of evil wizards, notably the death eaters, often come from it. Harry’s experience certainly doesn’t contradict that either; to him, Slytherin is the house where all the bullies come from, both amongst students and teachers. His views gradually start changing as we see more non-evil Slytherins, like Slughorn, and with the whole Snape redemption arc (which, to be honest, was not my favorite by a long shot). The end conclusion the books reach about Slytherin appears to be that they’re just misunderstood and unfairly ostracized.

That conclusion, and Snape’s whole redemption arc, which is central to it, sure is… something. Parts of it have the same energy as the common hot take we’re currently seeing everywhere that goes, “calling racism racist is just bullying and forces vulnerable people to become racist”. I did not like it then and like it even less now.

But no matter what you feel about this arc, it’s important to note that the bad things people are saying about Slytherin are all based in fact: Voldemort did go there, and everyone else we know who is in Slytherin was either a Death Eater or has parents who are Death Eaters. The main exception here is Slughorn, who is hardly a shining beacon of anti-Voldemort resistance.

This brings us to the final source of information we have: The people who go to and teach at Slytherin. Now, since the books are all from Harry’s point of view, we’re obviously getting only a limited glimpse into life at that high school dorm, which may not be representative. But it is the best thing we got. And based on that, we see roughly three different categories of people in Slytherin: The aristocrats, the professional bootlickers, and the social climbers.

The aristocrats are easy to define as Draco Malfoy: His father is a racist slave-owning rich and powerful aristocrat. Draco knows that he will become a racist slave-owning rich and powerful aristocrat himself, and he’s already acting like one. And he doesn’t appear to be an exception there. It is heavily implied that a lot of Death Eaters are very powerful people, and their kids all go to Slytherin.

The professional bootlickers are Crabbe and Goyle, but also Professor Slughorn. Here we get people who are part of the power structure, but not at the top. They follow the aristocrats because they hope to gain social status that way. Slughorn is definitely much nicer than Crabbe and Goyle about it, but his main redeeming quality is arguably that he also seeks to decorate himself with royalty from other houses. He’s still a strict follower.

Finally, we see Snape and Tom Riddle: Both are outsiders who don’t really fit into the aristocratic system, because of their social background that is judged unacceptable. But both of them resent their social backgrounds and are willing to work with the established aristocracy. And since they’re very good at it, the aristocrats let them, and in the case of Voldemort, even let him lead. The fact that there are two of them implies that this is not an accident; Slytherin is, to a certain extent, open to people who don’t fit into the aristocracy normally, as long as they’re willing and able to get the aristocrats what they want.

So based on that, what is Slytherin about? I would argue that it’s power. Where Gryffindor has heroism, Ravenclaw has knowledge and Hufflepuff has a belief in the fundamental fact that all wizarding people have equal value, Slytherin represents power. Specifically, the house Slytherin’s explicit in-universe purpose is to preserve and perpetuate an old, very stratified and aristocratic power structure within the wizarding world.

This is supported by a number of key attitudes among all Slytherins who we meet. For example, all Slytherins have a rather cynical outlook on human worth, and believe it is right and necessary to rank people. Even Slughorn, the token “nice” Slytherin, has clear ideas of who is the most important among his students and who doesn’t matter at all.

Slytherins also have a rather peculiar moral codex that again serves its power structure. The aristocrats very clearly believe that rules and laws should apply strictly to other people; and the bootlickers help enable them in whatever crimes they do. Among aristocrats, it seems like they are openly acknowledging their schemes to some extent.

Here is where we get back to what the Sorting Hat says: Friendship and loyalty are key Slytherin traits. Sounds nice, until you realize that they mean the loyalty that Crabbe and Goyle show towards Malfoy. Or the kind of friendship that in real life goes, “I won’t tell anyone about your tax evasion and I trust you won’t tell anyone about my affairs”.

The racism of Slytherin is not an incidental element to make Draco seem more evil, but rather an integral part of preserving these power structures as well. First, the belief that some people are naturally better than others is engrained in Slytherin culture anyway. But more importantly, it limits the pool of people who can get into the aristocratic system, and thus ensures that the few at the top stay few and have to share less wealth and resources. Plus, the racism also provides the ideological underpinning of the whole system. Crabbe and Goyle follow Malfoy in part because they’ll get some of his riches and glamour, but also because they believe that he has a right to be in power. He comes from an old family that always was in power, and they’ve been taught both at home and in school that having the right ancestors is super important.

Is some of this a stretch? Maybe. But maybe not. Hogwarts is, after all, a reflection of the outside world, and there are plenty of examples of similar more-or-less aristocratic school systems that seem to have been the inspiration for Slytherin. In the US, the term “trust fund babies” is very obvious. In the UK, the elite private schools like Eton that educate most top politicians, journalists and so on are also a clear analogue. Slytherin appears to be a critique of that.

Until it doesn’t anymore, of course, because Harry needs to get closure with the incel who once lusted after his mother or something. Not gonna lie, Deadly Hallows was weak as shit.

So yeah, Slytherin: Aristocratic, racist, all about keeping the guys in power there.

Does that mean it’s wrong to head canon either yourself or your favorite fictional characters as Slytherin? No, of course not. As long as you/they are openly racist, have a superiority complex and believe that inherited wealth and power is always a good thing, then it’s perfectly alright to have such head canons. If not, well, then it becomes a bit more difficult.

[the-desolated-quill]

If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own - Watchmen (TV Series) blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own feels like a tale of two episodes. One has well written characters, emotive storytelling and exciting possibilities, whereas the other contains ham-fisted, painfully obvious subtext and annoyingly long infodumps told to the audience with all the grace and subtlety of a brick to the face. 

Let’s start with the positives. At the beginning of the episode, we’re introduced to the character of Lady Trieu, played by Hong Chau, who buys a farmhouse from an Oklahoma couple by offering them a genetically engineered baby. I love this scene so much. It’s by far the most tightly written and engaging scene so far this series, and serves as a perfect introduction to a genuinely interesting character.

Lady Trieu is a Vietnamese born trillionaire industrialist who absorbed Adrian Veidt’s company after his disappearance and seems to take heavy inspiration from him, even going so far as to have a gold statue of him in her complex. It’s unclear whether she knows about his involvement with the squid (how could she possibly know?), but she clearly shares his vision of making the world better. 

Or... does she?

That’s precisely what I love about this character. Trieu is clearly the secret mastermind behind whatever is going on here (more on that later) and it would have been easy to just simply have her be a carbon copy of Veidt, but she isn’t. There’s a subtle, but clear distinction between the two. In my review of Look Upon My Works, Ye Mighty, I talked about the paradox of a liberal capitalist and how it’s often not enough for Ozymandias to simply save the world. He needs to be seen to be saving the world. He wants something with spectacle in order to appeal to his own vanity. This is true of Trieu as well, except, despite all his flaws, Ozymandias clearly at least wanted to help people, albeit in an incredibly flashy way for his own aggrandisement. Trieu doesn’t even want that. She just wants the attention and the good will. 

The opening scene is a perfect illustration of this. Giving that married couple their own DIY baby was one thing, but all the crap with the hourglass and the silly monologue and everything, there was no need for any of that. And lets not forget, she didn’t give this couple a baby out of the goodness of her heart. She did it solely because she wanted their land so she could claim a fallen object from space. The same is true of this Millennium Clock she’s building. I’m pretty sure its purpose isn’t just to tell the time, but that’s not the point. It’s described by her daughter as not the Eighth Wonder of the World, but rather as the First Wonder of the New World. Plus, of course, she is a trillionaire. If she just handed out even a small portion of her vast wealth, it would make a huge difference, but then there would be nothing in it for her. Nothing to gain. Unlike Veidt, Trieu is a character driven by pure cynicism. She has no interest in saving the world, but rather the attention and adoration of the world around her. She wants the world and the people around her to rely on her to save them. Basically if Ozymandias is an altruist tempered with narcissism, then Lady Trieu is a narcissist tempered with altruism. It’s a beautifully realised character and one I’m most excited to see more of in the episodes to come.

I also like the connection she has with Angela. Both were born and raised in Vietnam, except Trieu’s mother was a native to Vietnam before the US invaded and absorbed the country, turning it into the fifty first state. This puts Angela in an interesting position. Being an African American, her family obviously has history of being the victims of colonial oppression, but in this alternate history where Vietnam is part of America, Angela is also now in the role as one of the colonial oppressors. A settler in a country stolen and plundered from the natives. It’s an interesting position for her character to be in and I’m very curious to see where the show takes this.

After taking a backseat in the previous episode, Angela mercifully gets to take the lead again this time around and she’s great. With the FBI breathing down her neck, Angela continues to get to the bottom of the mystery involving her grandfather, the murder of Judd Crawford, and the Seventh Kavalry, and I really like where this is taking her character. She privately confides in Wade about what she has learned, even asking him to hide Judd’s Klan robe. This is the kind of character stuff I wanted to see in the previous episode during the funeral. How do you react to the knowledge that one of your closest friends was a hateful bigot? And from the looks of things, it seems as though Angela is doing her level best to protect Judd’s memory, at least until she gets to the bottom of what the fuck is going on here. I love this because it feels totally believable.There’s still a part of her that doesn’t want to accept Judd’s racist ties to white supremacy and clinging onto the idea that he might be misunderstood or that there’s something else going on underneath. This is an excellent internal conflict that has so far been handled exceptionally well. You don’t think less of Angela for not wanting to accept the truth because it’s totally understandable and believable.

Also I just want to briefly talk about what we learn about Wade, aka Looking Glass, in this episode. The man’s a doomsday prepper, living in a bunker in his back garden, preparing for another squid attack. I LOVE this so much. It makes total sense in the context of Watchmen and, like with Lady Trieu, it serves as a really nice inversion of an existing character. Like Rorschach, Looking Glass is a paranoid conspiracy nut, but unlike Rorschach, there’s actually some truth and logic behind his paranoia. Again, it’s a subtle distinction, but it’s enough to allow the character to go off in his own direction.

Here’s the thing. The bits I like about this episode, I really like. Unfortunately the bits I don’t like, I really don’t like.

Let’s begin with Laurie. What is she even doing here? Not only is she so utterly divorced from the character in the graphic novel, she doesn’t even contribute anything meaningful to the plot, other than to bicker constantly with Angela (which, considering this is the first time in Watchmen that we’ve had two female characters together interacting with each other, it feels immensely disappointing that this is the best the writers can come up with) or to spout gratuitous fanwank and pop psychology. The pop psychology in particular irritates me because it simply doesn’t gel with the tone and themes of Watchmen. I’m really hoping all that stuff about trauma and wearing a mask to hide the pain doesn’t in fact apply to Sister Night, otherwise I’m going to be extremely annoyed. Not only is that cliched beyond belief, it also stands directly against the whole point of Watchmen as a concept. Alan Moore’s intent was to scrutinise the reasons behind why someone would put a costume on and fight crime. Some just want the attention, others want to compensate for their own inadequacies, and some just want to live out their own violent, hedonistic fantasies. Only Rorschach fits the trauma model proposed by Laurie, and even then it’s not really accurate. Rorschach uses his trauma more as an excuse than a motivation. Watchmen serves as a deconstruction and criticism of superhero archetypes, so to potentially give Sister Night an obligatory tragic backstory would feel like a grave disservice to the source material.

The pop psychology also represents another problem this episode has. It seems to spend an awful lot of time telling its audience about its themes and commentaries rather than just showing them. One of the things I loved so much about the second episode was that it respected the audience’s intelligence. The connections it was making between the police and mob psychology, the superhero genre and its roots in US propaganda, and the KKK and the moral absolutism of most comic book heroes were apparent in the episode’s visual language and symbolism. It didn’t try to highlight them in fifty foot high neon lettering, instead trusting the audience to make the connections themselves. Here, however, completely the opposite. At numerous points, it feels as though the episode is sitting me down like a naughty school child and straight up telling me the plot, rather than trust that I’m a grown man who is perfectly capable of following this by himself, I pinky promise.

Take the whole subplot with Adrian Veidt for example. By watching the previous episodes, you can deduce that he’s trapped in a prison of his own making and is trying to escape (although admittedly it turns out that the clones aren’t in fact his creations, which is a pity because I think that’s less interesting, but still). Awesome idea. Love it. But showrunner Damon Lindelof is clearly worried that the idiots sitting at the back of the class didn’t get this, so Adrian spends his limited screen time here just explaining his subplot to the audience. It’s really annoying.

Or what about the Millennium Clock? The Seventh Cavalry are clearly in league with Trieu for some unknown reason, and in their video message to the police in the first episode, they say ‘tick, tock’ a lot, which is clearly a reference to the Clock. All a bit goofy, granted, but do you know what’s even goofier? Will getting up out of his wheelchair, staring dramatically into camera and saying ‘tick, tock’ for no fucking reason whatsoever other than to spell out the connection for the slow people in the audience who didn’t make the link. Dude, I promise you, we are following this. It was just pointless. But not nearly as pointless as...

Good God, do I hate Lube Man!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against there being humour in Watchmen. The original graphic novel had moments of dark humour, but there’s a time and a place. It just feels weird and kooky just for the sake of being weird and kooky. And again, it serves as a less than subtle reminder to the audience of the themes of the show. The police are abusing their powers and letting smaller crimes fall by the wayside, but rather than let that come up naturally in the story, we get a random excerpt from the Silver Slider here. All I can say is Lube Man had better play a vital role in the episodes to come, otherwise I’ll be pissed.

See, when Good Lindelof is writing the scripts, I’m enjoying this show immensely. When Bad Lindelof takes a turn at the keyboard, however, that’s when I start to get worried. 

[ashleyswrittenwords]

How to be a Queen [Part 21]

Summary: Princess Zelda is at a loss. Her handed royal responsibilities have begun to weigh heavily on her and she is eventually backed into a corner. Live a life she loathes or run away from everything she’s ever known? Navigating life is hard, and Link forces her to learn that she doesn’t have to do it alone.

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Part 1

How To Be A Queen

Another month came and past with only the acknowledgement of a ripped calendar page. The next month’s page was already packed with ink, so much that it stained my fingers and the heavy scent could never quite elude me.

In the following weeks, Father allowed Impa to step down from her position as his advisor to be appointed as my own senior advisor. Hours allotted for study were readjusted for roles my father had once primarily filled. Slowly, I began to answer his reports and letters myself and scarcely needed his direction. I allowed my work to consume me.

With that, it wasn’t uncommon that my dreams fused with reality. They replayed in such startling detail that I was always so convinced that I was merely experiencing déjà vu. And like all dreams, I vaguely held the idea that it was one but couldn’t persuade myself enough to act any differently. Not unlike the night before, the war cabinet had reconvened after a short break that had given me enough time to attend Father for supper. Now, Admiral Whitehurst was at the head of the war room with an ardent passion in his voice.

“If we do not pull back from our holdings, the opposition will only be more prompted to strike first,” he said while pushing the black tokens further east with the croupier stick.

Admiral Fierlin rose from his elbow, decidedly more animated than before, “The capital is empty. They have no leadership other than the few elders who refuse to evacuate. If anything, I should tell my men to encamp the outside walls.”

There were a few grunts of support that rumbled through the room until Whitehurst bent over the table.

“We have an organized group already in the city! How are we supposed to protect it when the capital has already been compromised? It’s in Hyrule’s best interest that we abandon this fantasy and regroup in safer conditions. For the sake of protecting our own,” he stopped to push back the white hair that was tied back at his neck.

I shut my book of maps. The sudden noise caused a short draw of attention.

“Admiral,” I began, my voice started out small but caught its strength when I matched Whitehurst’s level. “You imply that the people of the desert are not our own.”

A part of me wished to use the fan in my skirt’s pocket, but I refused myself. I watched as Admiral Whitehurst’s temper flared before he collected himself, “The Gerudo are indistinguishable. We have an opposition that has wanted to burn Hylian villages. It is an impossible task to separate them from any Gerudo that wishes to stop this madness.”

“Yet there is an entire force within the capital that is dedicated towards putting a stop to the rebellion,” Firelin sighed before rearing up to a partial stand, “If we show that King Rhoam demonstrates unwavering support for their current government, their morale – too – would be strong.”

Admiral Fierlin was an older gentleman who was a purebred politician at heart. His eyes dark and sunken. These characteristics weren’t a rarity while the candles burned longer within these walls. Admittedly, he had a stubborn will but I paired that with his years of loyal support. Him and Whitehurst were not unlike each other in terms of backgrounds. Each had been knighted by my grandmother and had continuous presences at court. However, as common as their characteristics were, their opinions were starkly polarizing.

“You propose that these skirmishes turn to war!” Whitehurst bellowed. “This is not the Gerudo Uprising of the past that never fully manifested itself! This has the potential to devolve into a national crisis!”

Fierlin was fully standing now, his face growing red, “And if the rebellion is not managed then it will spread, John! You were right when you said they were invisible, so what do you propose when we do not show our support for the aristocracy? Let the unnamed madman who we can’t track for the fucking life of us take the city? To all we know, the guy leading them could be the Fierce Deity himself with all these gods damned rumors and myths.”

I swallowed as I glanced at Admiral Whitehurst who gripped the baton with a vice-like grip while his counterpart continued, “Do we negotiate a treaty when the people he works with want death to our King? No, perhaps we want Yiga propaganda to be peddled out like the weekly paper. Maybe in the margins it can have the scheduled time for each of our executions!”

Suddenly, my feet found the floor and their heated words hung in the air, “That’s enough!”

Much like them, my brows were drawn and the still air made my hair stick to my forehead. My heart beat loudly in my chest and it was apparent that I desperately wanted to leave. An itch of Impa’s voice was in my head saying that I didn’t need to be here; that royalty rarely graced these halls unless absolutely necessary.

“You both must look at these people and see them as what they are – our people,” I spoke like I thought Father would, but even then I knew he seldom cared for casualties. “A people that are starving and need care packages less they be more swayed into falling under rebellion rule.”

Whitehurst closed his eyes and spoke as if I had made his exhaustion two-fold, “Princess, men are not allowed to enter the walls.”

“I’m not blind to that, sir. I am also not blind to the fact that we have trained women in our forces,” I began, cutting him off before he could argue. “I agree that it is not traditional, but if a woman has knighted you then I see no reason that one cannot be a proper knight herself. I do not care for your belief of the capability ending at being spies.”

“But-!”

“You and I both know it ends at a title!”

The admiral grew quiet, then asserted, “How are we to determine that they would even allow a Hylian soldier of any kind?

Fierlin licked his teeth and pulled a paper from before him, “The aristocrats and a few of their elders will arrive any day now. I dare say we should entrust the Princess’s diplomacy to see to that.”

The offending admiral sat, silently accepting the opposition, “I will see to it only at the approval of the Gerudo.”

I returned to my seat as they began discussing how they would readjust positionings and where new recruits should support. It wasn’t long until the candles were so low that light in the room was slowly dimming. Officials trickled out while I jotted some last notes. Once I was satisfied, I stood and seemed to interrupt the murmurings of the last few.

A yawn threatened to make itself known as I squeezed between chairs until Admiral Whitehurst’s voice caught my attention.

“Your Highness?”

I found his eyes and he continued next to Fierlin, “May we have a word?”

“If this is about my seat placement, then I’m afraid it’s impossible to move me any farther than I already am.”

They shared a look that made me soften my stance and pull back a chair at the table across from them. Whitehurst glanced at the other admiral before relenting to Fierlin to speak with folded hands.

“As the General’s senior admirals,” he started with a gruffness in his voice. “We thought it would be appropriate to seek your counsel in discovering General Nohansen’s successor.”

I opened my mouth and closed it, feeling a tightness constrain my speech.

“We have some candidates in mind,” Fierlin continued at seeing my hesitation. “And your opinion has weight. It is something we would appreciate when we put together a committee.”

Whether it be grief or doubt, whatever it was, I swallowed it and forced my lips into a tight smile.

“Of course, gentlemen.”

 ---

Light flooded in and washed out any remnants of my dreams. I groaned and tried blocking it out with my pillow.

“Good morning, sunshine!” an unmistakable sing-song hum washed away the quiet. Sounds of rummaging around my bed roused me from any possibility of falling back asleep. With a huff, I forced myself to a seat with half-lidded eyes.

My voice was crackly, “What time is it?”

“Seven o’clock on the dime, love,” Anju said with a sweet smile.

Again, I groaned as she peeled back the covers and placed my slippers at the foot of my bed.

“What time did I go to bed?”

The woman looked up thoughtfully, “I believe the evening maids emptied your bath at one in the morning.”

“Hylia,” I sighed and fell against the pillows.

Eventually, I was dragged from the soft cushions of my bed and forced into a seat. Though it couldn’t have been too bad because there was a warm breakfast awaiting me in a tray.

“It was very kind of you,” Anju hummed out while taking the comb from my awaiting hand.

I blinked, somewhat more awake, “What was?”

She laughed as she weaved together the braids in my hair. It seemed like I would be suiting a low, knotted updo again today.

With a pin in her mouth, she said, “That cute little care package you sent to Hateno for the coming spring. Malon just about lost it when I brought back so much wine.”

I grinned with a mouthful of orange slices and watched Anju in the mirror, “Did she? I figured her parents would benefit from it. I had drunk so much!”

Absently, I watched her from my seat. Light locks escaped her cotton cap, slowly were they lightening to a soft red from days spent in the sun. The winter had been so dark in Castle Town that I had thought I was imagining her red hair from last summer.

She made a face, “No, it’s Aryll she needs to worry about.”

“What was your excuse?”

“I told her that your parents own a winery,” she shrugged, careful to avoid losing focus of where the myriad of bobby pins were. “Malon feels more than she thinks.”

There wasn’t a chance for silence to set in because Anju’s best skill was scaring it away. She went on to mention how her parents were and if she wasn’t engaged by the time she turns twenty-five she’d have to propose to Kafei himself. In turn, I’d smile or laugh, and she’d elaborate on whatever I responded to. These moments in the morning were ones I cherished. Then, small details about the court filtered into her words and I felt that immature feeling of insecurity.

“Your ladies-in-waiting miss your presence,” she stepped away to admire her work before disappearing into my closet for a gown.

I glanced at the ceiling, “They miss my gossip.”

“And do you not theirs?”

This made me stifle a grin because the girl inside knew it was true, “That’s why I have you, love.”

She made a noise halfway between a laugh and the squawk of a large bird from behind a partially open door. Eventually, she came back with a royal blue gown. She didn’t give me enough time to think of the reason for the choice.

“Ah, so you don’t go to court anymore because of me and not because of an impending national conflict.”

“Oh, no,” I stepped into the fabric, happy that she chose something with loose material. “When have I ever shown interest in politics?”

Anju laced up the dress and a heard her smile soften, “The lords who bother to show up do find your absence agreeable, however, from what their personal servants say. Though I can’t tell if it’s because of their satisfaction that they don’t need to suck up for royal favors.”

“Even when I’m not in prayer at an alter for six hours of the day?”

“I have heard no mention.”

To be frank, socialization was the last thing on my list of priorities and I was beginning to think it was going to be a detriment. Growing up, I was told relentlessly that my social connections would be the spine to my reign. If the support of the court was nonexistent, so would be my power. As Anju went on about random bits of gossip, I quietly smiled to myself.

“-and Urbosa blew him off totally. Quite honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it!”

My eyes snapped to the mirror, “Urbosa?”

“Mhm,” she hummed while tying off the laces, “When she arrived with the aristocrats last night and Lord Ibauna asked about her-”

“I missed their arrival?” I spun to see her confusion.

“It was rather late, Zelda, but the King was there so I doubt they minded,” then she paused and cursed to herself. “Gods, I’m sorry, I meant to tell you first thing that His Majesty requested you to greet the Gerudo  in court today.”

“No,” I shook my head to negate her worry, “It’s alright, Anju. My day has barely started.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” I mustered a rather sleepy smile. “Thank you.”

 ---

The royal library was large, but it didn’t take long to find her. Lanterns hung from the banisters, but the natural light from the tall two—story windows was ample enough. She sat in a small alcove that was tucked away from where the librarians would normally be. Happiness made me smile as I saw Urbosa relaxed in an armchair with a book in her grasp. We wrote to each other often, especially these last two years where she seldom traveled to Castle Town. The only time I had gone to see her without Father was last summer, where I rode to Gerudo Town with a convoy to see her. It meant being held up in a carriage for six hours with dozens of personnel and barely enough time for a bathroom break.

When I waved away a guard, Urbosa looked up with a start. Then, she took off her spectacles.

Feeling a tad awkward, I shrugged uselessly. “Hello, Lady Urbosa.”

Immediately, she arose and met me for an embrace. I laughed at the strength she put in to slightly lift me to my toes.

“Zelda!” she said in a tone of warm honey. “I thought I would not see you until later today.”

“I’m so sorry for missing your arrival,” I voiced penitently once she let me go.

Sternly, Urbosa dismissed it and gestured me over to sit with her.

“My desert rose,” she said coolly, a smile brimming her cheeks. “How have you been?”

My excitement waned enough to take Urbosa in. Often when Gerudo officials visited, she adorned Hylian fashion and made sure to include the small gold flashes of desert jewels. By both Hylian and Gerudo standards, she was gorgeous. Tall, slender, and cheek bones reaching the goddesses.

Despite the general taboo, she crossed her legs. I glanced around the library and came to the conclusion that we were alone. I swallowed my self-doubt and sat with her in an identical chair.

“Good,” I clasped my hands together.

Urbosa raised her chin, “I do not mean your superficial Hylian pleasantries. How are you?”

Despite what she meant, I almost laughed. Tucking a strand hair behind my ear, I sighed, “I’m doing the best I can.” I paused when I felt a gnawing, “Assuming my best is enough.”

“There she is,” Urbosa humorously said with underlying remorse. “A little bird told me you went on an adventure.”

It was very much like her to cut to the chase. More than anyone, she hated anything artificial. Uncle had no doubt told her. They had a bond I hadn’t seen in any other ambassador. Somehow, she sat up straighter, “And you did not even think to visit!”

“But I did!” I said quickly, “I did, but-”

But I was left alone and wasn’t strong enough to press onwards. A silent knife that had always been there pressed into my heart as I thought of blond hair and a strong jaw. It wasn’t as friendly as my other visions.

“Stay calm, Zelda,” she smoothed, “It was merely an attempt at humor”

“I know,” I bit my lip, “I know. I apologize, I didn’t get enough sleep.”

“I can understand that. I can imagine your stress.”

“Uncle is not doing well,” I quietly told her, folding my hands over each other again. “Every time I see him… he’s thinner. I have to strain myself to hear him. I truly fear that any day I’m going to wake up and…”

Urbosa reached over and took my hand, “I saw him. I saw Rhoam last night as well. You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Urbosa, I-” I breathed out shakily. “I don’t know what to do. Father is a shell of himself. They both are. Nothing was as it was when I left.”

She squeezed my hand and made me look at her, “And now I am here. You have nothing to fear, my rose.”

I wore a watery smile, “You have no idea how thankful I am for you. I actually have something to ask of you.”

The Gerudo woman sat back and nodded for me to continue.

“The senior admirals want me on their committee when they review possible candidates – to replace Uncle. I understand if you’re too busy, but if I could ask you to be present during these interviews…” I trailed off, unsure of myself.

“Of course, Zelda,” she said easily. “There aren’t many that know that old man as I do. However, I would trust your judgement regardless.”

“I appreciate that,” I smiled, though it quickly dissipated. “I’m sure you could tell from Gerudo Town, but the admirals are split.”

This make her harden. “You are not wrong. It’s been frustrating. All these months of my people dying and all we are told is how Hylian troops are positioned at the border. It feels more that they’re trying to contain us than defend us.”

“I realize that,” I frowned. “There’s nothing but in-fighting. Half feel like we should wait until the rebels attack us or head directly into a conflict no one understands. Last night, while you were arriving I suppose, they came to a partial agreement.”

“An agreement being…?”

“Being that if we can get Gerudo officials to allow the Hylian military within the walls, we can offer added protection on both sides. This would enable us to deliver more supplies of greater quantities,” I quickly added, “And I’m able organize a force of trained women, so your laws aren’t violated.”

She grew quiet in her thoughts. I almost thought I lost her until she nodded, “Yes, I can get behind that. The latter part would sway the rest of my peers easier. How quick can this happen?”

“I would have to discuss timeframes tonight, but I can surmise next week? Time would be needed in garnering relief and a sufficient team to carry this out,” I felt a wave of satisfaction.

“I could only ask for sooner, Zelda. That city holds a great deal in the hearts of my people.”

“As for I. That’s the home of a very cherished friend of mine.”

We shared a smile until Urbosa’s face upturned.

“Your men, they are…” her face scrunched and she rolled her hand, “What is the Hylian word? Men are very… emotional, no?”

I stifled my laughter, “At times they lack the ability to manage.” My hands smoothed out my skirt, “Sometimes I wonder if some have any emotion at all.”

At that, she raised a brow, “I wonder where that is coming from?”

“It comes from nowhere in particular,” I smiled politely. “Let us entertain the court together.”

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 127 Review

0/10 This chapter sucks. Continuity is dead.

In my last post I said if we got flashbacks, it’d be damage control for the last chapter. I was right.

The first couple of scenes in this chapter are clear attempts to clean up the last one’s mess. We never saw Jean and Mikasa make contact with Hange, and here, we do.

Honestly, I think this could’ve been handled better.

Jean had something of an arc in chapter 126, where it seemed like he genuinely had chosen to follow Floch, only it turns out he was working with Hange all along. So I get why these scenes are presented out of order. It’s an attempt at dramatic tension.

It fails, though, because not enough time was devoted to showing Jean working with Floch. Jean stood next to Floch in some scenes. That’s it.  

Let this be a lesson to aspiring writers everywhere. If you want to do a story arc, or even just a mini-arc, make sure you have the time for it. If you can’t spare the time to do it justice, it’s better to just cut it completely.

Hange’s character is much better served this chapter. I forgot to mention this last time, but Hange’s character was screwed over pretty hard last time.

Her arc has been about growing into her new role as commander. She failed to constrain Eren, and Floch, and everything’s gone to shit in general, and she doubts her own leadership.  

Then, after escaping the Yeagerists with Levi, Hange considers just walking away and living out in the woods.

They chose not to.

This is a major turning point for her character. She’s beaten down and has a chance to walk away, but she gets back up.

This major plot beat has maybe a few panels devoted to it. At most.

We don’t see the choice get made. In fact, it’s kind of implied that Hange didn’t consciously make that choice at all. Hange is building a cart to lug Levi around, and he notes that Hange’s doing that because they can’t stay on the sidelines.

Was Hange building the cart because they’d already decided they weren’t quitting?

Or were they going to use that cart to carry Levi to the eventual site of their woodland hut?

Was Levi just pointing out that Hange is doing what they’ve always done?

Or did what he say convince them in some way?

Who knows, because chapter 126 is still a rushed mess on every level.

Whatever Hange’s motivations or line of thinking, it should have been shown during the scene in the woods, when it happened, not in this flashback to a completely different scene.

Character development happens when characters make revealing choices. Showing the character’s motivation separately from the resultant action dilutes the poignancy of that character development.

It’s actually worse than that because not only was Hange’s thought process shown after the fact for no reason, the moment the choice itself was made is not shown at all.

The moment where Hange is surrounded by the ghosts of her fallen comrades would’ve been sooooo much better if it had been in the forest with Levi. It should have been in the forest with Levi.

Hange already chose what they were going to do, so there is no gravitas to this moment. It’s just exposition. This could have been a powerful moment. Instead, it’s just Hange monologuing about their motivation.

When the same happened with Erwin, we saw his struggle as it was happening. We were in the moment, so we felt the weight of Erwin’s struggle. He was bearing out his feelings, agonizing over having to throw his life away unfulfilled.

In 127, Hange is sitting in a chair, explaining her thinking, agonizing over nothing because she’s already decided to throw her life away, and is apparently already at peace with it.

This is what damage control looks like. Isayama fucked up and he’s trying to make up for it.

And even then, we still don’t have the explanations we badly need.

Why did Annie choose to help? She’s not doing this because it’s the right thing to do, she just wants to see her father again.

How did they convince her that they could deliver on that?

It’s the same with Pieck and Magath. They didn’t want to just do nothing, but what convinced them that this was better than doing nothing?

Mikasa asked Hange what the plan was, and their response was basically, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

So in other words, they have no plan!

Jean raises a good point about stopping Eren: it’s a death sentence for them. Hange’s only retort is that it’s the right thing to do, so they have to do it. This is great.

Genocide is inherently wrong, thus the answer to genocide is not more genocide. With this many lives involved, tit-for-tat is not acceptable.

In some cases, there may have to be retaliation, but there are always limits. These moral limits have a general applicability to them. Of course there are exceptions, but they apply in almost all cases.

I love how Hange explicitly rejects Eren’s dumbass egoist worldview.

“‘Just bringing freedom to this island is enough for me’ Do you think a single one of them would be so narrow-minded as to say that?”

Eren doesn’t just care about Paradis. He doesn’t care about the outside world.

He seemed torn about whether to rumble the world. And he did cry over having to potentially rumble the refuge camp.

Gather around, children, because I have some very mean things to say about Eren here: let me tell you something about crocodile tears.

Crocodile tears are when you feel sad for something, except it’s fake, because deep down, you don’t care. The expression comes from an ancient legend that crocodiles cry for their prey while eating them.

Eren agonized a lot in the lead up to making his decision.

-rolls eyes-

What a drama queen!

Rumble the world, or not? If you have to take time to decide which is right, you’ve already failed.

Eren never truly cared about the outside world. He’s just doing this to bring freedom to Paradis; the lives of everyone else is a nonfactor.

It’s great to see Eren finally getting the dragging he deserves. He is, in fact, a narrow-minded ass.

Jean’s point still stands, though. And even though Eren is obviously indefensible, people still keep making excuses for him.

Hange says their “cowardly idealism” is what pushed Eren to do this. Note that this is the second time they’ve said this.

Uh, what?

Was making reasonable overtures of peace to the outside world cowardly?

Obviously not.

Establishing relations with other countries? That sounds reasonable.

Making contact with pro-Eldian advocacy groups? That sounds reasonable.

What about this is cowardly?

And what’s so idealistic about hoping for peace when there are possible paths to it?

Hange did nothing wrong. Eren is the one who did everything wrong.

Eren’s friends were actually working on a solution. They were trying to make a lasting peace between the Eldians and the world.

Meanwhile Eren was just bumming around not doing anything!

Could there have been a peaceful solution?

Beats me, but I’m not going to spend any thought on coming up with one.

By now, I think it’s clear that the point is that there is no peaceful solution. We saw Paradis try and fail repeatedly. The story in general has not even entertained a possible, peaceful solution.

Creating a Wall Titan “nuclear umbrella” over Paradis won’t work. Eren will be dead in a few years, and they don’t want to continue the Reiss’s gruesome traditions.

Armin’s idea of a targeted rumbling won’t work either because it’ll only increase the world’s resentment towards Paradis.

The point is that sometimes peace isn’t possible, but also that excessive violence isn’t justified. I don’t know how the story will end, but I don’t think it’ll be a happy one.

It’s always uncomfortable whenever the series talks about history and playing the victim. It’s such an obvious commentary on Japanese politics, I cringe every time.

Past Japanese war crimes are a very big factor in Japan’s relations with its neighbors. China and the Koreas are still indignant over the crimes Japan committed, and they feel the Japanese haven’t been apologetic enough.

Paradis is obviously a mirror of Japan.

Island nation with a sordid past that leads to rocky international relations even today. That’s Paradis and Japan.

The series’ stance is that these past events should not be such an issue anymore.

That’s not wrong…but I have a reservation.

The biggest flaw with the Paradis-Japan connection is that the Eldian Empire ended thousands of years ago.

The Japanese Empire ended 75 years ago. That’s not much.

China does overplay the war crimes issue, but there are still real issues with how the Japanese have responded. Many Japanese people are still taught a cleaned up version of what happened.

If anything, China should be called out on abusing the issue of war crimes for political reasons. Their government uses it as propaganda to rally popular support and distract from domestic issues.

In Attack on Titan, the Marleyans are not called out for that. They’re called out for playing victim over something that happened 2000 years ago.

The Marleyans, used by the story as a clear parallel to Japan’s neighbors, are portrayed as in the wrong because “it was a long time ago.”

Let me tell ya, that’s not a good look. What we see in the story is just close enough to reality to draw comparisons, but just different enough to be arguably offensive.

I will say it’s nice to know what Isayama thinks on a given issue. Annie calls out Mikasa and Armin on not being prepared to kill Eren if they have to. She aks how they know he’ll even listen to them.

Armin: we won’t know until we try.

Brilliant.

You can tell who’s side Isayama is on whenever the characters argue because the side he’s against will be the one with the dumb platitudes.

Mikasa: How are you going to stop Eren?

Hange: We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Annie: How do you know talking will work?

Armin: We won’t know until we try.

Then…stuff happens.

Annie claims Mikasa will fight her if Annie tries to kill Eren, even if Annie’s just trying to defend her homeland.

Then Mikasa draws her swords for no reason, and Annie looks like she’s about to titan shift for no reason, then…Annie backs off for no reason.

There were definitely some plot beats missing here. Annie instantly goes from getting ready to shift to backing off. What happened?

And why did she back off? Her point still stands. She said Mikasa would fight her if she tried to kill Eren and Mikasa did not deny it.

The only plans of attack discussed have been (1) talking Eren down, and (2) killing him. It looks like they’re going with plan (1) now, but Mikasa is clearly not going to let Annie go through with plan (2) if (1) fails.

That’s a pretty important issue. And Annie raised it herself, only to just drop it for no reason.

Why does Annie think her time is better spent here than on a boat heading to the mainland?

Getting to her father in time to die with him sounds a lot likelier than stopping Eren, especially when killing him isn’t an option.

And then we come to Yelena.

You know, actually, this chapter has a lot of the same problems the last one did. Lots and lots of rushed plot beats that should have been fleshed out more.

One of the dumbest tropes in fiction is when a character looks into another character’s past off screen, learns sordid things about them, then exposition dumps about it.

Oh, look, this chapter exists.

This is lazy, lazy writing. Instead of a flashback montage with narration, we get some word balloons.

Why is this happening? Anything would have been better than this. There could have been a few more pages devoted to this. He at least could have come up with a better way to deliver this information.

Is Isayama just that dead set on finishing this manga before 2021?

Then Yelena delivers a monologue of her own. I can only assume that it is stupid on purpose.

Speeches like this have been given before in Attack on Titan. Annie gave one in her arc.

“You think you’re better than me?! Well you’re not! You’re a shithead just like me!”

-Annie, basically.

Kenny gave a similar one too. He said that everyone is a slave to something, even mother’s to their children. Then he asked Levi if he really thinks he’s so virtuous and then he died.

I mean, I don’t know what you’d call someone who, all else being equal, fought for the sake of their children if not a “hero”.

Yelena’s speech is dumb and that’s the point. It’s drivel that sounds smart, but is really just edgelord crap.

“You give yourselves to the sublime excitement that is the idea of saving hundreds of millions of lives.”

Christ, not this again!

Claiming good deeds aren’t really good because people do them to feel better about themselves is very common on the internet. You see it all the time on Reddit.

In fact, Yelena even says it like she’s trying to sound smart.

“The sublime excitement.”

-SIGH-

The problem with this reasoning is that it’s moving the goalposts. Yelena is redefining altruism and selfishness to get the result she wants.

You could think of many examples of people doing things that are obviously selfless.

Take a soldier. Let’s say their platoon is on patrol, and then the enemy tosses a grenade at them. The soldier dives on top of the grenade and shields his platoon from the explosion. But obviously, he dies.

That was selfless.

-puts on crazy, blonde, mop-top-

HOWEVER!

WHAT IF SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO BE REMEMBERED AS A HERO?

DID YOU EVER THINK OF THAT!?

Shut up I know this actually did happen in this manga that’s not the point.

Yelena has redefined selfishness to cover everything people do, and at that point, the word becomes useless. She’s wrong because when you think about it, “selfish” is a meaningless word in her worldview.

Yelena then proceeds to list off all the bad things everyone’s done, as if they’re all to blame for it.

Annie did awful things, I won’t argue against that. And she doesn’t seem very apologetic about it, so Yelena actually has a point there.

She also has a good point with Armin. Destroying the port was excessive, especially since it never ended up helping in the end. The port was destroyed to delay a Marleyan attack. Too bad the Marleyans just attacked via airship instead.

Reiner broke the wall, but despite what the man himself says, he was still just a brainwashed kid at the time. I don’t think it’s entirely right to blame him. He’s very apologetic about it, either way.

The Battle of Liberio never should have happened, but the Survey Corps was forced into it by Eren and they did what they could to limit civilian casualties.

It’s the same with Jean and Falco. Jean almost killed Falco, but only because Falco got in the way. That’s on him. Not. Jean.

Gabi killed Sasha, but it was a battle! Wars are ultimately fought to the death. If you go into the military and don’t expect to die, you’re clueless. There was no foul play with how Gabi killed Sasha. She boarded their airship, and shot her. That’s war.

She wants to believe that these people are just as bad as she is. Because if everyone is a piece of shit, then she isn’t so bad in comparison. It’s a common tactic people use to rationalize their own shitty behavior.

But she’s wrong, and they all prove her wrong. Jean can’t forgive Reiner, but he doesn’t let that get in the way of stopping Eren.

And no matter what Yelena says, it’s selfless what the 104th and Hange are doing. Long term, stopping Eren is a death sentence for them. They don’t care.

Leave it to Reiner to give the most Reiner response to Jean possible.

“I felt really bad about it afterwards.”

“Don’t forgive me. I don’t deserve it.”

“I’m sorry.”

That was the cringiest thing in the whole chapter. Good on you, Jean, for beating him for it.

(Not really)

This chapter was about everyone coming to terms with working together, but I feel it was half-baked.

Magath and Jean’s fight wasn’t really resolved, just dropped.

Annie and Mikasa’s fight was also just dropped.

None of the bad things Yelena brought up was commented on or dealt with. They weren’t dropped; they weren’t even taken up!

Reiner and Jean’s fight was properly dealt with, but that was it.

Now we’re heading into a fight with Floch and……I guess the emotional processing is over?

You know, I take it back, this chapter was better than the last one, but it still had a lot of the same blatant issues.

Rushed plot beats, unwieldy dialogue, and undercooked plot developments.

So.

On to the next chapter?