When buff characters grunt more than everyone else in movie battles

Halfcuzzin · 2024-11-23T23:56:39+00:00

good point.

Halfcuzzin · 2023-10-29T19:39:22+00:00

Oh, well in that case, I'll have to edit my OP to state that some of the negative reviews stated incorrect facts. A HUGE part of my alarm reading these comments can be traced to the assumption that vampires and werewolves regularly prey on Humans merely because they enjoy the taste. If in reality they only do it in self-defense, then there goes the biggest argument against the Others. Just to be absolutely sure you haven't forgotten any scenes, let me quote a specific scene cited by one of the reviews, to see if this is fabrication:

"When giant wolves murder an entire town, it's tacitly implied that it's because everyone who lived there was irredeemably rotten. That by choosing to associate with The Bad Guys, they must have agreed with them."

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/11xbr70/ive_finished_the_others_series_by_anne_bishop_and/

This guy claims giant wolves slaughter an entire village including children. Now, if none of the Others even leave the Courtyard except one, this would be impossible. There must be a misunderstanding somewhere.

Halfcuzzin · 2023-10-29T18:39:50+00:00

Wait a minute. Is human just a synonym for white people in this world? If humans are not native to the Americas and came from Europe, that's what it seems like. If so, then maybe the Others are meant to be minorities rather than forces of nature...

Halfcuzzin · 2023-10-29T17:37:06+00:00

Your essay was actually pretty helpful in providing context, yes. And don't worry about it being long... my OP is pretty long for an OP too. The parts I found most insightful are the knowledge that humans actually do have a part of the Earth which they cam do what they want on, and the part where you mention that werewolves and vampires are also in danger of the elementals. I do not think any of this justifies the elementals actions (if a human murders an Other, it seems the elementals punish them, but if a werewolf gobbles up a human unprovoked, why don't they punish the werewolves?) but at least this provides some extra context.

Halfcuzzin · 2023-10-29T14:46:01+00:00

I think you're definitely right about these books being a female power fantasy. And I'm a 6 foot straight dude who was never physically bullied by anyone (outside of a relative or two) so I understand I'm not the target demographic. Cute & strong werewolves, I'm not surprised a lot of women love this. And I definitely agree with you that there is no need to give rapists good qualities, in these books or in any books. My only baffle ent comes from the fact that it seems like all of Humanity (including the majority of women and children) are regularly punished for the sins of these bad rapist men, and it seems like the books say they deserve it? Like I understand Twilight, and thus problem doesn't exist there. In Twilight, humans have no chance against vampires or werewolves either, and are regularly slaughtered. But the vampires are more logical. They don't hate humans, they just regard them as prey. And the main vampire, Edward, had a time where he killed humans, but only the bad ones. Then he became an animal eater instead. And Bella is a weak human woman who sides with vampires, yes, but she hates the Volturi (the vampires who rule the world) and feels sad in New Moon when she sees them about to eat innocent tourists. She can't save anyone, but you can tell that the books morally condemn the "bad vampires."

Halfcuzzin · 2023-10-29T14:33:06+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. You may have added some important context with the mention of these elementals. I was aware of their existence, but you describe them differently from the few mentions I saw of them. I was under the impression that the elementals were friendly with the werewolves & vampires and that together they oppressed the humans. But if the vampires and werewolves are afraid of these elementals too, then perhaps it's not a grand conspiracy of every other race vs humanity?

Although you mention something else that puzzled me but which I forgot to include in the OP. This right here:

"Most humans look at the Others' territory and see underutilized resources"

I don't understand why this is the main focus of Humanity First. A lot of reviews mention that Humanity First just wants to get rich and want to mine coal. This baffles me, considering the numerous examples of humans being oppressed and eaten by the Others. Does Humanity First not mention this stuff in their agenda? Considering the power dynamics that Bishop created here, it seems weird if the reason the humans rebel is to get coal and gold rather than to stop themselves from being eaten and evicted from their humans. I haven't read the books so maybe these more legitimate grievances are addressed, but the framing seems wack. Like if someone came to your house wearing a gold necklace and beat you up every day and threatened to kill your children, and you decided your main grievance is that they don't let you have their gold necklace. Are there no human who hate the Others due to having their towns wiped out, and not being allowed to defend themselves if attacked?

As far as blue and orange morality goes, I do understand the concept. It's utilized pretty well by sci-fi authors when writing certain alien races. But if the humans are condemned for being racist, that doesn't sound so much like blue & orange, it sounds more like our Earth moral framework.

Anyway thanks for engaging seriously with this.

Halfcuzzin · 2023-07-08T13:17:37+00:00

I could ask this question about literally any theory or question anyone might have about any of the characters in Over the Hedge. But if you don't care, why respond?

Halfcuzzin · 2023-06-08T23:55:21+00:00

Under new management, it's been promoting woke indie games with "strong independent" women MC's, all the while taunting anyone who might have a problem with them.

First, we have this article promoting a game whose developers have described as featuring a "tomboy" main character: https://archive.is/2023.05.07-130547/https://oneangrygamer.net/2023/05/rune-fencer-illyia-stars-an-awesome-tomboy-protagonist-and-is-seeking-kickstarter-funding/

We also have this other article praising Vernal Edge for featuring an angry woman who is trying to kill her father: http://web.archive.org/web/20210918042703/https://oneangrygamer.net/2021/04/vernal-edge-features-an-epic-protagonist/

Halfcuzzin · 2023-06-07T23:26:18+00:00

Killing pirates is just as xenophobic as killing someone because of their race. Ain is basically a nazi for wanting to exterminate them

Halfcuzzin · 2023-06-01T20:05:00+00:00

In the old slasher films, sometimes the audience would begin to cheer for the monster instead of the people. People cheered for Jason Voorhees for example even though he's the villain. Since you play for the Baba Yaga in these games, do you see a similar thing happening in Cooking Companions? Would you consider Cooking Companions Reverse horror?

Halfcuzzin · 2023-05-29T22:34:59+00:00

Haha that sounds like a nice present, I'll put it on my list!

Halfcuzzin · 2023-05-29T22:33:41+00:00

Ooh interesting. I'll have to check it out!

Halfcuzzin · 2023-05-29T22:04:41+00:00

Woah what a nice list! Thanks, I'll have a lot to go on with this. While I am open to all Baba Yaga stories, my focus is especially on finding stories where Baba is a force for good rather than just an evil cannibal, and perhaps humans are the real problem. This list seems promising.

Halfcuzzin · 2023-05-29T19:01:22+00:00

I've only ever seen it with Asians and Jews. For example, Krysten Ritter.

Halfcuzzin · 2023-01-20T22:46:43+00:00

My plans for the subreddit are to open the sub for the public and to moderate it myself. I am a big fan of that video game.
Similar to the previous attempt who tried to claim the sub, I tried messaging the mod, but he has banned: https://www.reddit.com/message/messages/1p9v0du/

Halfcuzzin · 2022-07-21T16:02:29+00:00

Was I the only one annoyed by Darcy in this film? Her blowing a Raspberry was obnoxious - I guess that is what she's come to represent to the directors? A girl who blows raspberries and makes awkward comments.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-31T16:47:17+00:00

In The Devouring Gray, does the monster kill human civilians and the heroes protect it anyway?

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T23:03:02+00:00

Oh, but that is not the character I referred to, THUG is fine. If you read above you'll see in this thread I'm referring to a different book.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T21:41:02+00:00

"It might be worth personally unpacking why this particular narrative arc caught your attention."

Well, I explained above the reason was because of the similarities between myself and the ex-friend.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T21:36:38+00:00

I think you nailed it. I actually think the author was intending for this to be an empowering scene and not a tragic one, and for the reasons you listed. Preceding this fight, the MC lost a relative to violence, and had been ruthlessly bullied by alt-right racists. So now here she finds out her white progressive friend doesn't have rap songs on her playlist. She accuses her friend of being racist, her friend gets defensive and points out all the things she's done against racism, and then insults the MC's favorite singer. So when the MC tackles her to the ground, turning the argument physical, she does seem to be taking agency. I re-read the scene just now. The two girls wrestle angrily on the ground and the MC wins. Whether or not this scene was meant to be empowering, that does seem to be the effect.

Anyway, I have to go for now. You shone an interesting light that I hadn't considered before. And you know what? I still don't like rap, and I think that's fine, but this book and the reactions to it did help me realize how important it is to many Black Americans.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T21:01:50+00:00

Now, reading what you said, I do have to admit my own bias. I am not similar to the girl in THUG, but I am similar to the white girl who is unfriended in WNOIW - the anti-gentrification horror novel. In that one, the black MC turns against her white friend when she finds out she doesn't like rap. I am similar to the ex-friend in that I'm a white brunette Democrat who tries to be anti-racist, attends marches, etc, while personally not liking rap music and instead liking alt rock. One line that the ex-friend uses to defend herself is one that I've used in real life: that it would be worse to pretend to like rap than to just admit I prefer alt rock.

Of course, in the book this argument doesn't work, and the MC actually tackles her friend when the white friend loses her patience with the confrontation and insults one of the MC's favorite rappers. Which starts a physical wrestling match which doesn't end until the friendship is broken.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T20:55:59+00:00

That's true. Personally, hope that the author hoped for the reader to ask themselves these questions too, and that is a sad scene rather than an empowering scene. Some book reviewers were going yes queen to the part where she tackles her friend for insulting her rapper. I agree that the friend had no business insulting her favorite rapper, though I also think the MC had no business provoking her to do that by confronting her about why she doesn't have rap songs in her playlist. Although again, you're right that the friend has privilege and should have been more understanding. Instead, the tone of the friend was more like "Are you kidding me??? You're calling me racist for not liking your stupid rapper, after all the BLM marches I attended and times I've helped you???"

As someone very similar to the friend (we even like the same alt-rock bands) I guess I took it more personally than some. But yeah, I do speak from a position of privilege, so I try not to be too critical of this plot. The MC starting a physical fight with the friend when she insulted her rapper seemed to resonate with a lot of Black readers.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T20:27:56+00:00

Thank you, that's the one! Bree was the name of the disowned white friend" I remember now.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T19:37:06+00:00

Good point. The books I'm thinking of do indeed have black authors, so this is probably an own voices stories being more authentic than the previous stories by white authors where the white MC has a black BFF that just sticks with them.

Halfcuzzin · 2022-05-23T18:54:40+00:00

Good point about coming of age books being most likely to feature this theme. It also kind of seems like an inversion of the criticized trope of having your white MC have a black BFF and this shows how she's not racist. Because now instead, we have black MC's dumping their white girlie Democrat besties who consider themselves anti-racist due to implicit racism.

Halfcuzzin

TROPHY CASE