Went and saw Hunger Games tonight. It's the first time I've seen it in theaters since 2012. Here's the main difference I noticed between watching in 2012 vs 2023.
2012- When the cameras cut to Gale while Katniss and Peeta were in the cave, people went "aw!" out of pity for Gale.
2023- When the cameras cut to Gale while Katniss and Peeta were in the cave, people were laughing at him.
as someone who went from a less successful good guy in dating to a more successful "toxic" guy in dating what i've learned is that women like the excitement, the danger, the unpredictability, and the challenge of a man who they perceive to be toxic versus a good guy. they see good guys as being boring. for many of these women there is no excitement in a man who is polite, nurturing, responsible, or even loyal. there is an excitement; a kind of forbidden fruit kind of excitement for women being with guys with red flags. the problem of course is that those red flags often turn into big life-changing trauma for these ladies. i always laugh at ladies who would say they want to thug and then get with a thug only to be left by the thug with two kids and a boatload of trauma. i showed them the same kind of understanding i show men who choose women significant because of how they look only to find out she's a horrible human being, a terrible wife and an even worse mother to your children. to me they all are in the same boat. also the elephant in the room is usually for these ladies the sex with the toxic guy is better than the sex with the good guy.
everyone acting like cloud’s some kind of hero for fighting sephiroth after he did all kinds of war crimes when he could’ve just blown him once and prevented all that shit from the start
The constellation who doesn't yet have a name. Shin Yuseung was well aware of who it was referring to. 'Mister.' It was only a gaze but in fact, many people died because there wasn’t a 'gaze' at an important moment. In that sense, Shin Yuseung was lucky.
[The constellation who doesn't yet have a name is nodding.]
Shin Yuseung received the attention of only one person in the world and stepped forward.
for @chocolatemalt (took the excerpt from the comments don't worry im not spoiling myself on the novel!)
I think out of all the Straw Hats, and especially Luffy, Usopp has probably had the truest coming-of-age story. He started off as a dreamer, then one day decided to take action and sail out to sea. There were times when he hit rock bottom, but he managed to overcome those challenges. Now, he's still learning how to face day-to-day challenges, but he does it in his own imperfect way.
What people admire Luffy for, they often criticize Usopp for unfavorably. However, I believe Usopp will ultimately receive something beautiful that comes with hindsight:
appreciation and recognition for his character growth.
There is no need to concern yourself with the opinions of others. You are allowed to listen to people and what they have to say to you, and in the end, choose to thank them for their time, be done. Opinions are malleable and subjective, and they always will be.
There is a quote from none other than Alice in Wonderland that goes, "I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then," and that got me thinking; isn't that only reason people want to go back and change things? Because they are different people now, and will make different decisions? How amazing is it that people can experience hindsight? How amazing is it that the human brain is ever evolving to the point where we can think of a whole new reality based off of a single decision? How amazing is it that we can become entirely different people after the reading of one novel, or the listening to one story? How amazing is the human brain that can feel regret because it has grown?
Hot Take: "Equal Fights" Predicted Online Faketivism
In some ways "Equal Fights" hasn't aged well in its effort to teach about feminism, that the execution wasn't handled as well as it could have been & that it wound up painting the feminists as straw men stereotypes. Rumor has it that even Lauren Faust, who did storyboards on the episode, isn't a fan of it in hindsight.
However this episode feels a lot more relevant to me now in our current age of online purity culture.
We live in an age of social media where young people, who had little to no power before, now have a tool at their fingertips to signal boost for those who need help the most. Teenagers can be everyday heroes in their own right. Frankly I respect you kids for being motivated in your sense of kindness & nobility.
However the problem is that unfortunately what good that can actually be done gets drowned out by a lot of harassment & bullying in the name of social justice. Especially if these young people's sources are very dubious & self-serving.
That's basically what Femme Fatale is as a character. She's a grifter who uses a progressive movement, feminism in this case, as her means for her own gain. Namely, robbing banks.
It's understandable that every super villain has a gimmick. Two-Face has the Number 2 & duality, FF could've just been a devious collector of currency with women imprinted on them. (I myself wish they would discontinue the bulky, useless penny & bring back the Sacagawea dollar.) But beyond that, she uses it as an excuse to get out of getting arrested, to claim that what she's doing is good for society at large, & above all to manipulate & influence the young & impressionable Powerpuff Girls.
The girls, being literal children, take her words to heart & implement them in ways that do more harm than good. From bullying boys in the schoolyard to letting Femme Fatale get away with her crimes.
Reminds me an awful lot of kids & young people on Tumblr & Twitter who get riled up by the words of self-proclaimed progressives who turn out to be TERFs, grifters, or members of the Leopards Eating My Face Party. Namely, the people who use progressivism & online activism to their own end.
And it's not just the Youtubers with the large subscriber base. It's also the individuals who reblog, retweet & bully even on a small scale to make themselves look good or feel like they're making a difference. Not to mention the burner & bot accounts being used to fan the flames of discord within progressive circles.
But what I find the most telling is that FF claims to be a feminist, she collects Susan B. Anthony coins, but she doesn't even know who Susan B. even was & why she was so important to American history.
Reminds me an awful lot of certain gay or trans Youtubers who would try to have you believe that "queer" is a slur, when in reality we not only reclaimed it as an umbrella term to include bisexual, trans, intersex, asexual, etc. people, but is an important part of our very history.
The slogan chanted demanding our basic human rights:
"We're here, we're queer
Get used to it."
It makes me sick that there are multiple generations of people who don't understand our own history. That there are people within our community who would promote & capitalize on that ignorance.
That's who Femme Fatale is. Willingly ignorant herself, selfish, manipulative, & would promote such lack of values to the next generation for her own gain.
And that's why she deserves to serve time in prison, while online faketivist grifters deserve to lose followers, go broke, & disappear into obscurity so they can't do any more damage.