When it comes to sorting RvB characters into Hogwarts houses for the purposes of Harry Potter AUs, too many people rely on a simplified view of the houses and what each individual RvB character would have been like when they underwent sorting. It’s important to keep in mind that in Harry Potter canon, children are a mere 11 years of age when they undergo sorting, and unlike Harry himself, they cannot dispute with the Sorting Hat as to what house they would end up in. It’s true that the Sorting Hat has powers to discern what their priorities are, and what they are willing to do in order to accomplish their ends. However, there is definitely a “nature vs. nurture” debate with regard to what the Sorting Hat itself has caused with regard to making the general profile of a house turn out the way it does. Telling a bunch of generally ambitious children that Slytherin House tends to turn out “bad” people may in itself result in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conversely, sorting adults based on how they turned out as adults will often result in bad sorting. This is why Leonard Church, the Director, should be sorted into the same house as Leonard Church, the Alpha. In this essay I will
The main difference between Izzy’s love for Blackbeard and Stede’s love for Ed is that Izzy only wants him to be one thing, forever, and Stede wants him to be all that he wants to be (even if that includes being whipped in the nads by his deranged drinking buddy), in this essay I will-
Just realized something about Our Flag Means Death— it’s Peter Pan.
Stede is Wendy, telling bedtime stories to his ship of lost boys (and Jim). He’s bringing romanticized English domesticity to the high seas— and Blackbeard is enraptured by him, particularly by *that* part of him: the hidden closet of outfits, the cozy library full of books Stede has actually read, the sense of wonder and newness Stede brings to Ed’s old boring swashbuckling world.
Ed wants to become part of Stede’s world— trying out thimbles and kisses, or fine clothes in this case. They gather a crew of lost boys (and Jim) and Stede’s influence changes and softens them, while Ed challenges, endangers, and inspires them; their dream of the biggest, baddest, bestest lost boy there is. He’s immature, he’s fickle, he’s utterly captivating; he never grew up and he will always be the kraken on the dock.
Captain Hook, or the British empire, chases Peter Pan across the waves— for Ed’s legend but also for the harms he’s caused them— and then they eventually recognize Stede’s importance and use him against Ed, too.
And like with Peter Pan, Stede eventually leaves both Ed and the pirate life: Stede abandons Neverland to go home and “grow up”— returning to Mary. And here’s where he breaks the pattern: unlike Wendy, he comes back.
But even that is more complicated, and in interesting conversation with the original story: there is no “real world” to go back to, really. There is no correct way to grow up.
Stede cannot “go back” and “grow up”— because that path was always a lie. Mary, in his absence, has discovered a new path for herself into her own wondrous, adventurous world; she’s up-ended the fantasy of Growing Up, being serious, or a “normal” life and adulthood. It’s wonderful! I love Mary. He could go back, but their old life and marriage was fake— that was the real game of pretend.
Mary hollows out her life and their world in Stede’s absence and says: these parts were nonsense, and this worth keeping, and this worth building. It gives Stede the bravery to go back, but also the clarity and the context to see that neither world is more real than the other— that his love for Ed is real, too, and not something to be outgrown. He refuses the moral. Wendy goes back to Neverland to find the lost boys, to find Peter.
But most importantly: this means Izzy Hands is Tinkerbell
I don’t know what kind of drugs they put into this movie but it IS the female gaze I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s the yearning???? The hand holding?????? The handsome men making open displays of emotion?????? Bickering friends to lovers????? Men crying on screen due to embarassment and rejection and heartache instead of some acceptably “manly” reason??????? Women’s desire for men not being demonised or viewed as icky????????? The friendship and solidarity between women???????? THE COSTUME DESIGN???????????????
the only valid reason deadpool hasnt shown up to kick some crusty purple ass is because he wants to see scott lang expand in thanos’ ass, in this essay i will
You know how some people in the fandom shrug off Naruto’s crush on Sakura like, “it was just a dumb crush” no big deal? But these same people take Sakura’s childhood crush on Sasuke seriously like it’s this deep long-lasting love. But Naruto’s feelings? No importante.
That’s not how it works.
Realistically, your 12-year-old crushes are superficial. Usually you just find this person cute and think in a selfish mindset what they can do for you - how winning them can up your social status (Sakura vying to be popular/better than Ino) or self-esteem (Naruto not wanting to be seen as a loser).
What I’m saying is, logically, anyone who watched this show should fall into 2 camps of thought.
A. if one interprets Sakura’s crush for Sasuke seriously - like it’s the real deal long-term ride or die shit, then you have to by the fucking transitive property of narrative logic, treat Naruto’s crush on Sakura in the same vein
B. if one interprets it as: Naruto had a crush on Sakura but it means nothing in the grand scheme of things, like it holds no candle to the real shit™ honest to god committed long-term romance (so he can be conveniently paired off with Hinata), then for fuck’s sake treat Sakura’s crush on Sasuke the exact same way
My take is that these crushes were a by-product of Naruto and Sakura’s struggles with self-esteem in early academy days.
Yes, their crushes evolved over time as the story progressed and they matured. Only bad writing had Sakura’s crush grow into this unhealthy infatuation, to the point of reality-bending denial, because imo the way it’s shown is still childish - heavily skewed towards how she feels about this man. (As a 12 yr old? cute. As a grown woman? yikes.)
Naruto’s crush on Sakura turned into a healthy friendship, full of mutual support and funny antics. Apart from lighthearted flirting, he doesn’t fixate on pursuing Sakura anymore. Sure, he likes her and asked her out for lunch a few times but in the chapters after the time skip I never got the impression that he was that serious about her.
What kills me about all this is how some people look so hard for a legit romance and reach so much to squeeze it out of these 2 crushes that imo neither grew into anything you can really work with. NaruSaku had potential because it’s a close friendship but was totally negated by the trainwreck of whatever Sakura thinks she has with Sasuke.
A friend asked me this. Her brother insists it’s a comedy because the concept is inherently funny, but she doesn’t agree.
I think it’s satire/parody, with comedy,fantasyand slice of lifeelements.
Parody/satire - of history, ofc, making fun of geopolitical relationships and stereotypes of peoples all over the world (except South America/Africa/Middle East… smh). The basis of each strip is usually a fun fact or anecdote, like the average walking speed of germans vs austrians or the unusual food coloring of american pastries.
Comedy - Most of Himaruya’s strips are done in 4 panels, the format of gag manga, to setup a punchline. Comedic timing is woven in the pacing of the show. Hence anime episodes are only 5 min. The humor is all over the place, shifting between absurd (Germany kicking Italy out in a box labeled ‘F**K’), crude (Ukraine’s boobs announcing her presence), dark (Russia’s heart literally falling out), slapstick (Hungary & her frying pan), and savage (Canada being forgotten)
Fantasy - While not in-your-face, there’s a philosophical side that touches on themes of love, family, death, and identity. Violence and war are alluded to (See: Lithuania in bloody sunday, China’s scar), but we mostly see characters’ mundane routine, complaining, drinking, just…living. Makes you wonder: How do nations get born or die (Rome, Prussia)? What is life like for these characters – awfully lonely, as we see in that France episode. Can they form bonds with humans? What happens if a land is in civil war; what does ‘illness’, ‘marriage’, or ‘family’ mean for them? Yes, magic exists (see: the magic trio), as do aliens (tony), and talking animals (kumajiro), but the real “fantasy” is the melancholic sense of mystery about the world. I think that’s neat.
Slice of life - here’s where the deeper characterizations and angst comes from. There’s usually no ‘plot’ in slice of life - no beginning, end, or climax. Hetalia can jump from modern day to ww2 to ancient era, to alternate universes (see: nekotalia) in the same episode. With its vignette-style storytelling, it can cover any combination of characters in any timeline. Sure, the first seasons followed Italy, Germany, and Japan but has since expanded to other regions - east europe, asia, oceania, etc. You go into it thinking it’s rainbows and pasta. But like slice of life implies, it shows the highs andlowsof life. Loneliness, insecurities, bonds falling apart – this is the stuff that fleshes characters out and fuels angsty fanworks. You’ll definitely find at least one character or situation that you relate to. Again, isn’t that NEAT?
Alfred is manning the trolley. The trolley is playing ‘All Star’ at an extremely loud volume. He is distracted. The trolley is moving at 65mph. There is very little time to react
Arthur has cloned himself. He and his clones have been super glued to the track by an unknown person.
Francis is standing by the lever. You can get his attention by screaming. You have ten seconds to convey that you want him to pull the lever….if you want him to. Otherwise, leave him be.
Feliciano will get up and move depending on which way the trolley goes. His death is inevitable.
What will you do
Now I’m going to answer this unironically, as if OP has a gun pointed at my head.
The thing that everyone forgets is that Alfred/America is the one on the trolley. This is key. We have no say in this. It’s his choice. This is not a moral dilemma. This is an exercise in character interpretation and hypothetical conjecture.
However, it’s actually impossible to tell if America at that very moment is in the “spite england ya’ll” or “haha you can’t die yet you owe me money” or “of course imma hero here to save you!” mood. Their relationship perpetually oscillates between these contradictory truths, and sometimes all three mindsets are at play at the same way. Canon America’s brain is fucking wild. Hell, I’d make the case that if he could run all of England’s clones over, killing them, and claim it wasn’t his fault (”the trolley was going too fast” “I couldn’t decide in time”) and get away with it, he absolutely would. But see, even ifhe decided instinctively to spare England, his vitriolic ally, there is the added complication of assuming that France would go along with it.
You see, France can just as easily feign not understanding America’s incomprehensible yelling as his voice is distorted from the wind caused by the trolley speeding at 65 mph, and therefore conveniently allowing his insignificant other, his pain in the ass rival, to perish without taking the blame for it. This is also a possibility that he’s in a non-bitchy mood and does not wish violence upon England, yet who could blame him if he couldn’t hear America over that obnoxious All Stars music that was playing “at an extremely loud volume”? This situation makes it almost impossible for England to survive, evenifthey both made a conscious decision to save him.
Italy’s role here is completely irrelevant. He dies either way and neither America or France have strong feelings of resentment towards poor Italy, unlike England whom they share a common disdain for, yet at the same time wouldn’t feel right to end in such a premature way.
My answer is, of course, that the trolley will continue to take its course, as the universe intended. RIP England.
Then again, this is all irrelevant because they’re all fucking immortal metaphysical representations of nationalism and England and/or Italy will simply re-spawn and come back to life eventually. Then maybe England can explain why he thought it’s be a good idea to clone himself and who is the ‘unknown person’ who tied him on the tracks. Then maybe Italy can explain to them why he was feeling suicidal that day. Yeah, maybe we ought to unpack that??? What America was doing on top of that thing and France standing around the lever being extra is completely in-canon, needs no explanation. I rest my case.
If the Boruto era is a fake reality created by the infinite tsukuyomi, then who’s dream are we seeing?
There’s only one person who benefits from the situation in Boruto.
Orochimaru.
Who gets to roam free despite all his crimes? Orochimaru.
Who gets a experiment (Mitsuki) to do with as he pleases? Orochimaru.
Who is now seen as this “iconic” non-binary comic relief who attends parent-teacher conferences?Orochimaru.
Who gets his prisoners (Karin/Sui/Juugo) to go back to work for him, their abuser?Orochimaru.
Who would NOT want the village systems to change – no reforms, reparations, or justice? Who would be delighted to see the Hokage accomplish nothing, except for technological advancements? Orochimaru.
Who hates Kohoha and wants to see it in rubble?Orochimaru.
Who would arbitrarily make male/female pairs breed in the same year so their offspring are all the same age? Orochimaru.
Who would pair Naruto with Hinata for their “OP genetic baby” potential? Orochimaru.
Who obesses over childrens’ potential and power-levels? (= Boruto genin are ridiculously OP) Orochimaru.
Who has a brilliant mind for genetics and inventions like ninja tech? Oro-chi-ma-ru.
Who would be petty enough to give everyone the shittiest haircut? Orochimaru.
Who is cuckcoo enough to throw in moon space aliens villains? Orochimaru.
Who would want Anko to be the butt of a fat joke? Orochimaru.
Who is aware of Sasuke’s special feelings for Naruto? OROCHIMARU!
Who has a grudge against Sasuke and would reduce him into a deadbeat father trapped in a loveless marriage? Orochimaru.
Who would make Hinata and Sakura one-dimentional side characters because he frankly doesn’t know them that well? Orochimaru.
Who would actually keep Sasuke in-character because he’s known him for years? Orochimaru.
Who would give Naruto a soul-crushing desk job in retaliation for getting in the way of his plans? Orochimaru.
Who is cruel enough to find amusement in everyone’s suffering? Orochimaru.
The events of Boruto couldn’t be Hinata’s dream, even though she “got what she wanted.” She’s barely present. The mother/wife trope has usurped most of her identity (clan politics, techniques, worldview, resilience). Her original goal wasn’t Naruto. He inspired her to become strong, but her goal was to become strong, for herself. Why would she let her husband neglect their family? The Hinata in Boruto is not who Hinata wants to be. The Naruto in Boruto isn’t the man Hinata loves.
In conclusion.
Madara won Boruto is all in Orochimaru’s head everything makes sense
my thoughts on cruella’s prospective development/plot for cruella (2021) sequel
so i’m basing things on the statement above from the director and everything i’ve learned and analyzed from the first film, of course. as we know, cruella is self-destructive to a detrimental level. that is, she will do things she knows cause her great harm and it all stems from a self-hatred she’s yet to escape from, even upon the finding that the baroness murdered her mother. as we know, the voiceover takes place as cruella stands over estella’s “grave” aka after every event in the film besides her and the gang driving to hell hall. in this voiceover, she still discusses her mother’s death as partially attributable to her, unfortunately. “let’s skip past the part where i killed her.” though it had once seemed like cruella had gotten past that blame when she’s shown saying “it wasn’t my fault,” the chronology attests that a bit of regression has taken place and that’s understandable given the sheer level of trauma she had to endure.
by the film’s conclusion, cruella is not stable whatsoever as she’s still grappling with the weight of what coming into her true self means- as we saw in the monologue, she faces inner turmoil between embracing herself and how she perceives that to be letting down her mother- and not everyone around her is exactly the most supportive given their continual discussion over “missing estella.” point being, this instability only deepens the chasm in which self-loathing can accrue for her.
as i’ve been over in other posts, cruella’s intentional creation of an evil public persona is both her most notable advantage in that she has effectively created a shield between her and the rest of the world that she is weary of but it’s also her most notable disadvantage because the creation of this persona will lead to a massive amount of hatred from the public. by crafting a (FALSE) narrative tor herself that has the masses believing she brutally murdered and skinned three dogs, she is bound to be despised because to the outside world, that is the “real her.” only she and those close to her know that she’d never do such a thing and that the persona is all a facade: antithetical to who she actually is as a person. essentially, she wants a way to protect herself from a society that’s been cruel to her for all of her life but the way she chooses to do this is one that she knows will bring her immense and likely unbearable amounts of pain.
cruella isn’t going to want to stop at the tale of her skinning three dogs. knowing she has an ever expanding platform, she’ll amplify the narrative and this is where an homage to the original 101 dalmatians could come in. essentially, i think she, with anita’s help, will plant a story in the press that supposedly identifies her as the killer of that many puppies/dogs and it will somehow tie into a fashion show of some sort. after all, i reckon that as the empress of what’s emerging to be the world’s most prominent fashion house, she’ll want the house of de vil to make an unforgettable debut and an apparent murderous origin from a whole line of clothing- or perhaps one massive statement piece- would do just that along with her other momentous goal to have the world hate and fear her in equal proportion such that no one can get close enough to hurt her again. with nearly unlimited access to resources now given her acquired wealth, she’ll be able to keep upping the antics, making her persona more and more formidable.
in reality, the so-called “murdered” dogs will be rescued by her and heaven knows there’s enough room to tend to a large amount of dogs in her mansion. anyway, the point is that the amount of hatred she’ll be mailed with from what could very well be millions of people if the story goes global, as i have no doubt would happen with that kind of thing, will destroy her confidence and self-esteem. it’ll make life miserable for her. yes, she knows that isn’t who she is, but to be treated LIKE she’s a heartless killer by everyone and to have to play that role to the media perpetually…i couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of toll it would take on her, but i know it would be agonizing.
in a way, this would devastatingly further subvert her entire journey thus far, which has already been alluded to with her directly stating she’s begun to play a role for the media. “but people do need a villain to believe in and i’m happy to fit the bill.” she’s gone from having to hide under a feigned submissive personality trait- who she was as estella- to a brief time period where she could be fully herself to the outside world without being notoriously known as a killer and then directly back to having to project a fake persona, only this time, it isn’t a demure woman. it’s that of an absolute monster who murdered dogs.
the increasing trauma will likely become more and more debilitating to her as she won’t be able to even show her face anywhere without being met with loathing and contempt by all who recognize what i call the anti-cruella aka the fake version of her she’s procured to keep people away. as such, in her efforts to fend off the outside world, that world will swallow her whole with its resentment of “her” due to the method of defense through deception she utilized. therefore, as the director said, she’d be destroyed as in utterly damaged from worsening mental illnesses and in pain and this destruction will have aborned from within herself as she is the engineer of the anti-cruella persona.
all i can say is they better give my baby the happiness she deserves by the end meaning that they should write her to ultimately feel as though she doesn’t have to hide behind any personas anymore and can simply be herself: cruella de vil. a woman who isn’t always some ball of sunshine on the outside but is and has ALWAYS been an incredible person. someone who fights for justice unapologetically. a brilliant, creative woman who has and will continue to take the fashion world by storm. i want her to feel comfortable not having to put on a show of “sweetness” or one of a deplorable being to live in this society. her apprehension about this does NOT make her a bad person. she’s very rightfully afraid to be who she is because she knows society is cruel (“hello, cruel world”) and will misjudge her without even attempting to understand her but creating these personas are all just self-destructive measures that will do her more harm than good.
as a bit of a side note, the baroness could play into my aforementioned thoughts on cruella shedding her personas. cruella would of course need to show the public that the dogs are alive and well to prove that the evil persona was all fake. however, the baroness could complicate matters (after escaping jail given she still has a network of people who are loyal to her and just like her, they contribute to a corrupted justice system) by actually stealing the dogs and killing some of them, framing cruella and leading the world to believe that she’d lied and really was just a horrible person. if something like this were to happen, i’d hope that the truth would come out, that cruella’s name would be cleared, and that she could live happily and truly free from the confinements of living in the shadow of a fake version of herself.
Bert and Ernie have been written as a gay couple, but Sesame Workshop has confirmed Muppets aren’t sexual. Based on this evidence, we can conclude that the two of them are asexuals in a homoromantic relationship. In this essay I will
In De coniuratione Cicero, Sallust announces that everything that‘s wrong with current society comes from the desire for money, implying that capitalism is the root of all evil. In this essay I will-
…you ever think about the fact that this picture exists… but we never saw this moment
Bc that’s from episode 6 when they practice for Finally Free bc Luke just got back from his parents from his birthday bc he’s in his sad flannel and all we see of this moment is the moment before when Alex does a count off of “1, 2, 3, 4-” and then it cuts to the next scene.
BUT THIS PICTURE EXISTS AND ITS A CRIME WE NEVER SAW IT
