Sick Of Kyoshi Mischaracterization I Think

I just realised yet another little detail that symbolises so much in the story!

During Dos Orugitas, we see a young Alma Madrigal that seemed to be cheerful, playful and even a little clumsy. The braided hair, the frilly dress and the big smiles help create an image of her as a sweet, carefree young woman who was not afraid to just be herself.

Once the tragedy with Pedro happens and the miracle is born, Alma immediately takes shelter in casita and we see her alone, silently processing the events of the evening; looking extremely weary, lonely and traumatised. She looks down at her babies. Her Julieta, her Pepa and her Brunito, and her expression changes. She knows she needs to be strong for them. She’s resolute, but there’s a sadness in her eyes that says she knows what this means for her, too. She can never go back to the woman she used to be.

The next time we see Alma, she is putting on a black cloak and leaving the room. This room was the cocoon where she transformed into a new person, leaving her old self behind. She’s become different. Her smile doesn’t quite meet her eyes anymore. She looks tired, somber. Older, even.

There’s a shadow, a trauma she’s carrying that soon takes form in the perfectionism and control that eventually hurt her loved ones. This event shapes the way she deals with challenges from this moment on, and she is always in fear of the family losing their home once again.

She became harsh. Strict. Everything has to be perfect in order to protect and earn the miracle the love of her life granted their family with his noble sacrifice.

This is an incredibly strong woman who has been through hell and came out alive, for her family’s sake. This black cloak follows her from her young years to her old age, and becomes a constant throughout the movie. It represents the weight and the burden of the grief she silently carried ever since that moment, and will continue to carry for the rest of her life. It represents the change she had to go through, putting her emotions last in order to become the strong matriarch her kids and the village needed. It represents the loss of not only her beloved Pedro, but also of her innocence, her youth, her laughter and her smile.

From the moment young Alma Madrigal and her children were gifted a miracle, she became the one responsible for the whole village. She, as the only one blessed with the magic and the one whose gift repelled the enemies, was naturally placed in a position of power and leadership in the worst moment of her life.

It’s likely she was the one everyone immediately looked to for directions right after the miracle happened, and that she had to leave her feelings behind to help other lost and grieving people rebuild their lives and their homes, creating what the village of Encanto eventually became. She put everyone else first. She was extremely selfless.

Alma Madrigal is such a complex character. There are so many layers to her personality. This is why you guys can’t just write her off as a villain or as a horrible person/grandmother. It’s not so black and white.

storyteller

sometimes I forget that I'm just a teenager writing a webcomic in my spare time, so I shouldn't hold myself to the same standards as, say, a feature film with an entire team of professional writers, or Hiromu Arakawa. Writing flawed stories is okay, and even necessary in order to write better ones :)

(if you want to read aforementioned amateur webcomic...)

When the ATLA live action comes out we should all just. Collectively not watch it. Bc we all know that everyone's gonna hatewatch it and then it will get renewed for three more seasons bc of high viewership.

I like the movie Jack best, but book Jack needs some love too, so I’ll take bits and pieces of both 

art by Seth Tobochman

The End, by Alister Lockhart.

I love how when Shigaraki was introduced it was just “okay so this dude wants to destroy everything, that’s the only thing he wants to do, nothing else, just destroy, which very convenient because his quirk allow him to do just that. Also he’s covered in hands for some reasons, he hates all might guts and want to kill children for funsies and he talk like he’s in a video game” he was so cartoonishly villain the first time I saw him I couldn’t take him seriously because I found absolutely hilarious.

But now, now that we know he’s been abused to hell and back and groomed to become AFO angry murdery pet. That AFO made sure he’ll never recover from his trauma, that he’ll stay emotionally unstable and dependent from him. Took away his name, to remodel him into what he wants him to be. Isolated him from other people except from Kurogiri who was literally made to be his personal caretaker. That video games must have been one of the only form of “contact” from the outside world he got for years, outside of y’know murders. That he’s wearing his family and victims remains even thought he said himself it made him sick because AFO encourage him to, so he can stay enraged. That he believe he doesn’t need a future and that destroying everything is the only thing he can do.

He’s been brainwashed to be a murder machine yet he still is kind toward the rest of league, calling them his “nakama”, ready to fight an entire army to rescue them if needed and ready to kill when someone mess with their feelings. He cares a lot and literally his first thought when he learned that an entire army, that included multiple people with a lot of political influence, was willing to be under his command was to think how he now had the money for Compress’ sushi, something he had mentioned once over a month ago and he remembered. He never contradicted missing Kurogiri either and said that his nakama could do as they please/didn’t have to do anything they didn’t want to when he talked about his plan to destroy everything.

But he’s still brainwashed and let himself being experimented on by Ujiko because he wants more power. Even though he knows the Nomus often lose their sense of self and are basically made into murderous monsters. He’s doing everything AFO wants him to do, he becoming everything AFO wants him to become. And he died for it. It’s very obvious he won’t stay dead for long, he’s the main antagonist and the story is far from over. But right now, even if just temporary, Shigaraki died. Killed by the people who groomed him into become a villain. And it was planned since the moment they bought him with them. And once he’ll come back he will most certainly still do what they wants him to do

.

The only form of actual free will he have, when he doesn’t destroy or plan on destroying, he express it by being kind and caring towards his friends. A part of him is still the same kind child who played with the other rejected kids. The main antagonist is one of the biggest victims of the manga and no one knows. The heroes dehumanises him like they do with every other villains. The league is full of people who were discarded, abused, villainized or weren’t saved. And Shigaraki made sure his friends had a place to go, promised them they’ll get their revenge against the society that gave up on them. And that’s something he decided to do. He could have just used them, treated them as nothing else than assets and pawns like AFO treats him. But he chooses to care. Because despite everything he is still kind.

And that just destroys me.

Kocoum (voiced by James Apaumut Fall ) from Disney’s Pocahontas (1995)

DOES THE NDN LIVE? : NO

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

This was the first time I remember seeing a Native American character die in a cartoon. I was five-years-old at the time. 

My experience with Pocahontas as a child was different from most children (I could never understand why the white characters were supposed to be the “good guys” when they not only killed this man but were singing and bragging about killing Indians all throughout the movie). But I remember watching this specific scene so vividly: the horror that flashes on his face when he realizes what happened to him, Pocahontas’s very emotional reaction to his death, the people crying as his body is brought back to the village. There was something about this death that felt so personal and unjust and at five years old I didn’t understand just what it was.

Kocoum is murdered by a white man so that the white man can have an epiphany, and he is forgiven for it. Before he’s killed, he has to be framed as being jealous and violent so that there’s a “good reason” to kill him off. A man who was singing with his friends about murdering “savages” gets to have a redemption arc but a jealous NDN who literally fought against these men who invaded his home, almost bludgeoned his friend to death and is kissing his future wife has to die. 

And as if all of that wasn’t bad enough, Kocoum was Pocahontas’s husband in real life. She had a child with him, and when she was kidnapped, Kocoum was murdered and her child was raised by the women of his family. When Pocahontas was held in captivity, she never saw her son again. Disney was familiar enough with this story to know the NAME OF HER ACTUAL HUSBAND but decided to turn him into a jealous suitor who has to die so a settler can learn a lesson.

My love letter to Scar and Lex from AVP

aka 'why AVP is definitely a love story XD'

(I was talking to someone about this yesterday who is definitely not a monsterfucker, and they were not convinced by my take on AVP at all XD. I think this is definitely a monsterfucker spin on the movie)

_

her expression when she's peeking through the wall and watching him go through his scarring ritual is curious, not fearful

he's obviously curious about her too, and doesn't attack, letting her say her piece before deciding what to do about her

she's the one who calls him friend first :) (admittedly, it's in an 'enemy of my enemy' context, but hey)

he could kill her here, but hesitates a long time:

He's clearly torn about letting her come with him, but when he sees her looking at him like this, he can't help but want to assist her:

He does not have time to waste hacking a xenomorph to bits, let alone giving Lex Xeno Biology: 101, but he does it all the same, and he even makes a little joke to lighten the situation

He cobbles together some gear to keep her safe:

His plucky human goes first into the danger ahead, but he's there, guarding her back. Plus, he's taller so he can see ahead too:

He lets her take care of her friend and doesn't butcher him to get at the parasite/hatchling/chestburster. Instead he waits for her to leave, then catches the thing and destroys it (so as not to upset her further?):

Even in the heart of the hatchery, where time is 100% of the essence, he pauses yet again to explain the self-destruct feature on his vambrace to her: (10/10 for communication, Scar)

Yautja can run way faster than humans, but he stays half a pace behind her for the entire escape sequence:

Tell me this isn't the face of a man in wonder at the person before him:

And Lex isn't exactly... unaffected... oof

Then he waits for her to nod her consent, and does a really tidy job of marking her as a Blooded, and his concentration is to the max!! (his little purr after he's finished is so cute too). The he bows in respect to her. She may be human, but she's his equal as a warrior.

After Lex has saved his life and injured (and seriously pissed off) the Alien Queen, and while she's tearing the place to bits to get at Lex, Scar does the most Extra™ spin attack to draw her attention away from Lex, lodging his combistick right through her face. Bad. Ass!

Then while Lex gets away, he roars and flares his mandibles in a challenge at the Queen, which gives Lex the opportunity she needs to pick up the chain, and the two of them haul on it together and work seamlessly. They clearly understand each other without the need for words, or ego. This is very much a Team Effort:

He protecc:

Bonus Alien vs Predator shot :)

This heartbreaking scene, where he feels like he's trying to tell her something (in the novel, he apparently says 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' in her voice...)

Lex seems genuinely grief-stricken when he dies:

I wonder how long she stayed there like that before the Ancient's ship showed up?

Lex' final expression:

In short, this definitely is an inter-species love story and you can pry that theory from my cold, dead little claws :).

Also why did he have to die??? T.T

Toga Himiko’s Easy Life

We see Himiko hitting a breaking point in the latest chapter, going on a suicide run and declaring that heroes are no longer necessary for her easy life. I’m going to review Himiko’s character arc so far underneath the cut to show what pushed her to this breaking point. 

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