Eprlp

Ben and Gwen: lonely kid and gifted child

I’ve thought a lot about these two and their family dynamic. Both are relatable to me but in different ways. Like Gwen, I’ve always been the “mature” one who was good at school and loved by the adults in my life, but I also don’t have any friends and have a desire for fame and attention like Ben. At first glance, they seem to have little to complain about, being white kids with stable homes and two parents, compared to someone like Kevin, but there’s more to a character than just the surface and I think both have a lot of emotional issues relating to their self worth.

With Gwen, we get glimpses into her life and how everyone views her as perfect. Sunny envied how she was adored by her parents and Verdona and Gwen wished her mother would stop thinking of her as the “good influence”. All the adults in her family loved her and expected her to be the role model for the other kids which is a double edged sword. Yes you get praise and love but also pressure and high expectations. You’re expected to babysit the other kids and often have to bury your true feelings to please everyone and people will envy the love you get. And that love is often conditional and based around living up to their standards, remember how Natalie told her “normal people don’t glow” and how she doesn’t like her daughter or nephew using their powers around her.

As a kid, she was constantly doing extracurriculars like cotillion and judo before earning a scholarship to go to college early in Omniverse. We got a glimpse into her daily life in “It’s not Easy Being Gwen” where everyone expects her to fulfill certain obligations. Gwen seems like a child prodigy who feels she has to be the best and is always filling her schedule with activities and is always trying to get into the top schools. I think that’s why she fell for Kevin. He was the only one who loved her without putting her on a pedestal or because she’s family. The only person she could be herself around and doesn’t force her to act like a perfectionist. People complain about her outfit change in OV and I agree with some of the criticisms, but with all the pressure in her life, I get why she would want a change from the expectations in her life.

Ben strikes me as someone with a deep inferiority complex. It’s implied that he’s a bit of a loner who doesn’t have many friends with JT ditching him for Cash. He did get along better with Sunny which makes me wonder if he can relate to being in Gwen’s shadow. Fans talk about how great Carl and Sandra are as parents and while they are nice people, their free range approach can seem negligent. They only seemed concerned about Ben’s heroics once they witnessed it. By that time, Ben had been on late night road trips with Kevin, who punched holes in their doors, for weeks and didn’t even come home one night in “Save the Last Dance”. Ben may have acted the way he did in the OS as a cry for help as he feels neglected and the favoritism everyone has towards Gwen may rub off on him. It reminds me a bit of how Steven from SU acted the way he did in the early episodes because he was constantly being left alone without the gems or Greg while being compared to Rose. Kids who don’t have friends nor get much attention while living in a family member’s shadow can and do develop inferiority complexes.

Ben’s desire for fame seems to stem from wanting to be loved and wanting to feel special. He becomes so full of himself because people finally love him as opposed to viewing him as some average kid. Fans have dismissed the bullying he faced as cliche or unnecessary but it adds to his character. A lonely, bullied kid who’s in the shadow of his overachieving cousin will want something that makes him feel special, like the Omnitrix. Ben has to learn throughout the 4 shows that he is the hero, not the watch. I think that’s why he loved using transformations like Four-arms, Humungousaur and Feedback so much even if they were inadequate for the situation as they made him feel confident. The way he fights is reminiscent of standing up to a bully too, picking an intimidating form, offering a chance to back off and then doing what he can to stop the threat. It’s easy to write him off as just a spoiled brat or narcissistic but I think 1, that’s ableist and 2, is a rather shallow way of looking at his character. While he can be insufferable at times, is it wrong to want acknowledgement or praise when there’s people like Will Harangue or the Rooters who hate you just for existing? I think he deserves a break from fans who hate him and he acts a lot better than most kids would in his situation. Compare him to Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, who I also love as a character, who would break down after seeing what Ben has to deal with every day.

I think both may envy each other at times. Gwen has been shown to be jealous of Ben getting all the glory as well as how Ben was given a car by her boyfriend despite her parents being wealthier. Like Sunny, Ben may have viewed Gwen as a stuck-up overachiever who got all the respect from their parents. That was until they bonded and became friends in the OS but it occasionally came back like when Ben lashed out at her for telling him he couldn’t use Feedback, believing she was trying to take the only thing he had. Because they have it easier than Kevin, it’s easy to expect them to just get over it but I think both Tennyson cousins need a lot of therapy and need to talk about their issues with each other. Both characters mean a lot to me and remind me of my own struggles.

using reblogs as my reposts

School days

RIP Regulus I guess

Monster 2023 (movie)

We follow three main point of view of the story in the movie. People ask for Yori's pov, but i don't think we can't have his pov, that's why :

The movie starts with the mother's pov then it switches to the teacher's pov because he is the monster in her story in her pov, for Mr. Hori the monster is Minato (in his pov he thinks the young boy is a bully) then the story switch to Minato's pov. I think the monster in Minato's pov is himself. The Point of view switches to the monster in the other story. (idk if it's understandable but i wanted to talk about it)

Yori isn't a monster in anyone pov. So with how the story is build we can't have his pov.

(+ we have a glimpse of the headmistress' pov after the mother and the teacher's one, she is kinda their monster too in a way.)

rei

If you're a Snape fan, you've probably had that moment scrolling through some Marauders posts and thought: Did these fans even read the books? Or maybe you've come across those wild comments where Snape gets turned into some kind of full-on villain, while James and Sirius get treated like flawless, saint-like heroes.

It’s like they’re talking about a totally different Harry Potter series! Sometimes, you’ve gotta wonder—do they even know what really happened in the story? Are we even talking about the same James Potter here? And honestly, comments like this kind of answer that question:

A lot of Marauders fans (not all, but definitely some) have no clue what really went down with the Marauders and Snape, who they really were, or what role they actually played in the story.

They’re just here because, let’s be real, the Marauders fandom is super appealing. It’s full of people their age, with tons of fantasy, drama, epic fanfics, hot character fan-casts, tragic love stories, and endless TikTok edits, roleplays, and cosplays. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it makes you feel like you belong to something special.

With all this awesome fan content, why would anyone go out of their way to actually read the books and face the not-so-glamorous truth? The Marauders in the books are mostly about petty fights, bullying, and not much in the way of exciting, romantic storylines.

And that’s exactly why the hate for Snape has gotten so intense. Snape doesn’t fit the dreamy, tragic aesthetic they’re looking for. He’s basically just there to be the “bad guy,” so they have someone to hate and blame everything on. That way, their perfect heroes get to stay flawless, and Snape can just be the villain in their headcanon.

I have a more comprehensive post here about the (rebranding of the Marauders and, consequently, the need to villainize Snape)

Late to the trend

This dialogue collects all the beautiful meaning of the movie but let's focus for a moment on Yori's "sorry I lied".

That child dared to disobey his own father and incur his punishment, again, just for Minato! These kids want so much to be together, freely and simply. They just want to be themselves with someone who truly understands them and to express their care. They want to never have to ask permission again. Why the social stigma shouldn't have let them experience their first love, their true identity?

And finally in the end they both let go of the shame. They no longer ask permission and accept themselves as they are.

- MONSTER (2023), dir. by Hirokazu Kore'eda

I go against James Potter who was a bully because he was rich, entitled, hated kids with abusive parents, outcasted the awkward students and therefore hated Snape.

Giving the reputation of Potter family, he probably didn't even know they were rich or what rich or poor meant until Sirius bragged about having a lot of money. He was best friends with Sirius, who had abusive parents and made him feel safe enough to leave home and know that he would be accepted. He befriended the shy looking guy with mysterious scars and the insecure, scared rat.

He just didn't like Snape because they liked the same girl, that's all.

If he wanted to make fun of someone's looks just because they're looks, he would make fun of Remus's scars or Peter's weight.

dynamight and izuku