#a person who stands for justice above all else will likely advocate for an ''eye for an eye'' punishment

[sha-brytols]

welcome to my twisted fucking mind

all the different layers under the cut. heart.

[charlotte-headcanons]

Hey! How have ypu been? 2,3,6,7,9,15 Who else but Monty (Kata, Brulee, Peros too :D) yeah it's a big order!

Phew, that one sure took a while! But everything for you, friend 💕💕 We're alright, hope you've been well too! ✨

Some practicalities first: We decided to organize this answer by characters, for maximum space to go into detail on each headcanon! Some headcanons pertain to our modern AU rather than to the One Piece canon as we found these headcanons worked better for a particular prompt: we'll indicate those at the start of each bullet point!

Send us a number and a character and we'll post headcanons!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Mont D'Or is a librarian by passion and a prosecutor by profession. He opened up and manages his own library in the early mornings and late evenings, but in-between that, he works on court cases. He might be overworked, and is definitely a workaholic but he hardly ever slacks off on either of his careers; and he's notorious for being professional, convincing, and very attached to every case. Highly principled unless Mama orders him to do something for her, he refuses to prosecute those he doesn't believe should be prosecuted, and for those he wants to face justice - he will get so heated that he might get reprimanded by judges for yelling or by cops and detectives for joining their investigations uninvited. His sister, Galette, is his secretary, and she follows him around everywhere, helping out however much she can!

3. Drinking headcanon

Mont D'Or... might have a bit of an alcohol problem. It's not that he gets drunk often... but he does drink regularly. Essentially, every time his siblings piss him off, he takes a sip, so you can imagine how many sips accumulate throughout the day. His prefer drink is red dry wine and he mostly drinks alone, without witnesses, not to give a bad example! To get really drunk, he would have to drink a lot; but if he does get drunk, he mostly gets more explosive than usual or somewhat lagged out, processing all information input slower than normally.

6. Musical headcanon

In Mont D'Or's eyes, the main function music has is to help him either focus or unwind. For both of these roles, he enjoys classical music most - think especially something akin to Wagner. He despises loud music and prefers instrumental pieces, although he is also an opera enthusiast. His guilty pleasure, discovered quite recently, could also be lo-fi kind of music! It calms him down a little, even though he doesn't like to be caught listening to it, as his expressed music-related opinions are overall quite snobbish.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Mont D'Or would gladly cook if he had the time for it; but being as busy as he is, he is forced to depend on others and on ordering food throughout each day. His tastes encompass rather fancy cuisine: he adores charcuterie boards and seafood, refuses to eat fast food, adds cheese to pretty much everything that is remotely acceptable like an apple pie and calls it an acquired taste. Besides that, he always likes to have a cookie with his black coffee; considering how much coffee he drinks every day, that is a lot of cookies consumed!

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Mont D'Or was known as just a nerd. He was way more shy and less aggressive than he is now; it was only over time, having been ridiculed by some siblings for his unconventional (in this family) interests, that he toughened up and learned to stand up for himself. Ever since he learned to read, Mont D'Or was a frequent visitor to all libraries of Totto Land. At the time, there weren't that many, nor did they have impressive book collections, so soon enough, Mont D'Or started reading books way above his age target group, and by the time he came of age, he was disappointed to find out that he has already read every book currently available within Big Mom's territory. At first, little Mont D'Or wasn't quite sure what he can offer to his family of murderous pirates: he wasn't strong nor all that ruthless, and his strengths could be found rather in the areas that wouldn't be that useful for sailing or plundering. He also felt lonely before Galette came along, and he could most often be found alone, or around Compote, who had a soft spot for her smart little brother. Eventually, Mont D'Or figured out that strategy and organization were the areas where his family could need him, though; from there, he moved on to transform from a quiet nerd into a pillar of Big Mom Pirates’ planning.

15. School headcanon

Besides setting up many more libraries in Totto Land than it once had, Mont D'Or took it onto himself to kickstart a proper education system in his mother's territory. In the past, none of the Charlotte siblings went through formalized education, rather having to learn from experience or directly from Big Mom, other pirates, and from each other. Now, Mont D'Or makes sure that teachers are recruited to Totto, and at least basic schools (available universally) are established!

Modern AU: It is probably not surprising that at school, Mont D'Or would be a straight-A's student. Stellar at every test, he would however not be all that liked by the teachers due to his behavior problems. His temper and lack of respect for authority if the authority is wrong would both make him a troublesome student to get in conflict with. He'd absolutely correct the teachers on their mistakes, and if they dared refuse to acknowledge their faults... he would yell. 😔

Katakuri, Brulee, and Perospero under the cut!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we discussed in a previous post, Katakuri would definitely be every parent's dream child, aka a doctor and a lawyer in one! A neurologist and an advocate, Katakuri would be very close to burnout, and wouldn't really actively work in the law field anymore, not wanting to infringe on Mont D'Or's turf. He would definitely work too much, but telling him to rest would hardly be a solution: with his perfectionism, he would not be able to sleep unless his task was carried out well. He wouldn't like his job all that much, really, but he'd still keep it to continue supporting his younger or less talented siblings with his money; and not to disappoint his mother, of course.

3. Drinking headcanon

Katakuri refuses to drink alcohol, finding every possible excuse to not be pressured into it. First of all, he just doesn't want to show his mouth, lay down, or do something even more embarassing for anyone to see if he gets drunk. More importantly, though, he is scared of falling into an addiction as a coping method, so he prefers to just avoid the temptation altogether. If possible, he'd rather not be around drunk people, too!

6. Musical headcanon

Katakuri enjoys all kinds of music and has quite a diverse tastes, with some of his favorites coming from indie rock, metal, cute pixel music, grunge, and more. He is quite embarrassed to share the music he listens to, so when possible, he listens to it on headphones. When he's fully convinced that he's alone, he might sing a little or bob his head to the music he enjoys; if listening to songs around people, though, he'll keep a fully straight, unmoved face.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

As the supreme donut lover, Katakuri actually has a secret bucket list of all flavors of donuts he wants to try! He cares about the textures of food a lot, and generally prefers soft and chewy things. To set him apart from Luffy, Katakuri also doesn't really like meat, with few exceptions! Sometimes, Katakuri joins Perospero in his morning tea drinking sessions, and it was from his older brother that he learned to like his tea very sweet. As for cooking, he tried it as a child, but found to have little patience for it back then; now, he'd probably do way better if he tried to cook, but just like Mont D'Or, he just doesn't have the time!

9. Childhood headcanon

Katakuri is probably the Charlotte that changed the most since his early childhood. Before the Brulee incident, he was actually a rather lazy, even if talented, kid. To get him to train, an incentive of donuts was always necessary; and having been highly influenced by Daifuku and Oven, he also used to be a bit of a troublemaker. If anyone made fun of him or annoyed him, they would always see Katakuri throwing hands - he was far more eruptive than now and didn't really care what others thought. Brulee getting hurt because of him, though, had a life-changing effect on him; and it effectively molded him into the hardworking, serious, troubled person that he is now.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Despite starting off as a troublemaker who slept through the boring classes, these days Katakuri is a model student, and many teachers marvel at his transformation. He is just as good in sciences as in sports, and often represents his school in various competitions, regularly winning too! Although he gets A's in everything, his favorite school subjects remain the humanities. After school, he revises the lesson material for exactly an hour every day, but doesn't need to study much before tests, having a great memory and a kind of sixth sense for filtering out important information. Despite not wanting to be in the spotlight, he's very popular with fellow students and a lot of classmates have secret crushes on him, girls or guys!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we headcanon, one of Brulee's main hobbies is tending to her herbal garden, and she knows a lot about the healing properties of plants! Naturally, then, she would gladly choose pharmacy as her career path: the calm atmosphere combined with helping others would fit her vibe perfectly. Besides that, she would also work voluntarily babysitting the children of her siblings; the kids would always be kind of scared of her at first, but soon enough they would outright cry whenever she would have to leave even just for a moment.

3. Drinking headcanon

Brulee drinks alcohol rarely and in small amounts; mostly as an addition to a good dinner. She is an extreme lightweight, so anything more than one glass of her favorite white wine results in her becoming way more clumsy than usual and inevitably getting a next-morning headache. To avoid this, she makes sure to never drink more than she knows she can handle!

6. Musical headcanon

Another classical music lover, Brulee would enjoy something akin to Schubert's songs most! Even though she isn't the best at it, with her voice being just a bit too nasal and too scratchy, Brulee likes to sing (especially ballads and lullabies!) and often hums while working. Having a bit more free time than most of her siblings, Brulee also managed to learn some instruments, albeit she only ever stuck to the basics and simple pieces. The piano is the instrument she plays rather well, so she can teach her younger siblings how to play a few easy songs if they so please; very recently, she also picked up the violin, and she enjoys practicing it although, so far, the sounds she can make hardly resemble what she would like to hear.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Brulee cooks a lot and enjoys doing that a bunch! She's quite experimental and healthy with her recipes, and prefers salty foods as well as meat or soups. As a result, she is one of the few bastions that keep some of her siblings from succumbing to dessert-only diets. Once in a while, she bakes bread too; since she always cooks way more food than she needs, she often ends up sharing or donating it! You can almost always smell something cooking up in her hut; even if Totto Land has so many high-level chefs, Brulee still likes to make her own, homemade food herself.

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Brulee was much more anxious than she is now. She was always a bit awkward and clumsy, and kind of bullied for her witchy appearance by the other children in ports and in Totto Land. Over time, she learned to embrace herself, though; in the stories her older siblings told her, she always identified with the witches, and she later proceeded to amplify this image of herself as much as possible, instead of resenting it!

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Brulee would be a mediocre student, who'd be kind of picked on, at least until Katakuri got all set on defending her! Her favorite school subject would be history, and she'd also enjoy some parts of biology - though she'd much rather learn about plants and animals than the human insides. Always a sweetheart, Brulee would enjoy secretly making her classmates happy with little anonymous gifts; each birthday or Valentine's Day, anyone could count on at least one card from a secret friend, who everyone would suspect to be her, as she isn't all that great at hiding.

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Perospero would be an interior designer, but really, one of a kind. Even if just designing a chair, he'd see his work as art and himself as an artist, and he'd act accordingly. Cracker Any architect unlucky enough to have to work with him would end up in despair as he'd blatanly ignore the technical limits and capacities of a building for the aesthetic. Likewise, his clients would have to be prepared for many unexpected decisions and costs: Perospero would not take orders from them but always stick to what he thinks looks good, no matter how intricate or expensive. Effectively, the only clients brave enough to employ him more than once would be the rich and extravagant ones: those would appreciate his work immensely, while anyone remotely more practical would have to complain.

3. Drinking headcanon

Perospero parties and gets drunk quite often, although he exclusively drinks overly sweet cocktails and never drinks outside of a social context! When he has too much to drink, he gets either hyper, horny, or annoying - or all three at once - depending on his mood. Whichever it is, he also loses all understanding of personal space, gets a lot more touchy, and much more likely to lick everyone and everything. At the end of the night, he has the tendency to pretend that he's much more drunk than he actually is, too, hoping that someone will carry him home like the princess he wants to be; though most of the time, it just ends up with Daifuku pulling him back by the leg.

6. Musical headcanon

Perospero loves to sing, especially publically, and he's surprisingly good at it! damn I really got a stroke first time I heard him sing, like, my man, how can you sing so well with an entire tongue out wtf Perospero explain. His preferred repertoire of music to sing includes all sorts of songs from musicals; as for music to listen to, he ranges between musicals and hyperpop, or any music sweet and bubbly on the outside but disturbing and horror-like as it develops!

7. Food/cooking headcanon

Perospero does not cook on principle, insisting that they have the chefs for it. His diet as a whole is downright atrocious; he adds sugar to quite literally everything, acts dramatically, as if he was poisoned if forced to eat anything not sweet enough, and mostly lives off candy. His 'tea' can hardly be called that anymore, considering that it contains more syrups and sugar than tea itself. Basically, Compote gets chills whenever she sees him eat and continuously marvels at how the fuck he is still alive.

9. Childhood headcanon

Having to take care of his siblings early on, Perospero didn't get much of a careless childhood. Once Linlin was unable to keep all children with her on the Rocks Pirates ship, by the time he was 8, he was put in charge of all the younger siblings she left in a port (while Compote was looking over the ones that stayed with Linlin on the ship). Perospero looks back at his childhood fondly, though; he liked ordering his brothers and sisters around, liked being in charge, and especially loved being admired and looked up to as the eldest sibling role model. Once Katakuri became a new favorite of the family, Perospero was so jealous and grumpy for a while that he even went through a rebellious phase of trying to run away; he came back less than a day later though, having cried his eyes out once missing his family and homesickness kicked in, never to try to leave ever again.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: At school, Perospero would definitely focus on socializing way more than on learning. Among the teachers, he would be known as a smart but lazy kind of student, doing the bare minimum for most classes, though excelling in art and music. He would have mostly girl friends, essentially running his own mean girls group; together with them, he'd always come up with excuses to not exercise during P.E. so that his looks don't get ruined and so that he can just spend the time gossiping about the guys instead. If someone got on his bad side, Perospero would also not be above bullying them, although he wouldn't do that in a conventional way - rather, he'd just make his victims severely uncomfortable, getting way to close, switching between flirty and dangerous tones, and making them feel trapped before just backing off and laughing. An absolute menace to society, even in a modern AU 😔

If you managed to get through all of this, we salute you, soldier 🎖️Hope you enjoyed, though! ✨ It was sure fun to come up with. Thanks for the ask! 💕

[crimsonfluidessence]

Prompt 18: Devil’s Advocate

“You’re not listening to the point I’m trying to make,” Esredes said, running a hand down his face. “I’m not Nidhogg’s servant, and I am not saying what he is doing is right. I’m merely saying there is a reason behind it.” These conversations were always delicate, like walking on a tightrope of glass, and Esredes did not have the proper balance for it. It was never that easy with the wanderers in the snow- that is, the general category of people who lived their lives out in the Coerthan or Dravanian wilderness like himself and his people, but were indifferent to everything. They held no love for Ishgard, but weren’t exactly interested in hearing out all about the heretic’s side either, though they generally remained friendly on the surface.

Like it often did, it had started with a hunting trip, during which a midlander woman had appeared and slain a beast with just her hunting spear. She had such a serene and gentle, friendly face, on the background of her bloody spear, that it almost caught him off guard.

Still, she was amicable, asking Esredes all about what he was doing while offering him part of the kill and telling him of how she was from a nearby village. Everything had been just fine until one too many questions from her had lead to this point, and now he was stuck in that usual dilemma of trying to explain to the unaffiliated observers what his purpose truly meant. “What reason could he have that justifies what his horde has done?” The woman asked, still keeping that calm tone as if it was a casual debate. “And if you’re not serving him, then who are you serving, exactly?” “His reasoning doesn’t justify anything,” Esredes said. “Ishgard attacked him and took his eye and started the war. He was in his right to kill the founders for it- but all the rest? No, not at all. So I don’t serve him. I am merely saying that if you were as inherently angry of a being as he is and someone violated your good will and took your eye out, you would risk losing your mind too.” “So who do you serve, then?” She repeated. “Know you the name of Lady Iceheart?” “Ahhh.” She said, as if it had just clicked together. “Heard a lot of things about her, yes. You’ve all been giving Ishgard’s caravans a lot of trouble lately, right? For what sort of purpose?” “To kill the Archbishop.” “Oh, really?” This seemed to intrigue her. She leaned forward on the large piece of rock jutting out from the ground she was sitting on. “So the Archbishop doesn’t get a sympathetic motivation for you?” “No,” he said. “He has to die if Ishgard is to hear the truth.” “What about Nidhogg, then?” “I’m not confident he’ll listen to reason either.” Esredes said. “That’s another problem entirely.” “Does Nidhogg deserve to die, too?” “There’s nothing else to be done if he is lost to reason.” “You’re not listening,” she said with a cheeky little smile, leaning forward even a bit more. “Do you believe he deserves to die?” “Yes,” Esredes said with a blank expression and tone. “I don’t think what he’s done can be forgiven. Much as I don’t wish to cause the dragons any more grief… A monster is a monster.” “What if he listened? Would you spare him then?” He shrugged. “What else is there to be done? If someone stands down in a war, you don’t kill them for it. If it means the war ends, then yes, it’s a price worth paying not to punish him.” “And if the Archbishop surrendered?” “Ishgardians have a justice system, dragons do not.” Esredes said. “If he surrendered his own people would tear him apart for what he does. That’s out of my control completely.” “And what if the decision was on you alone?” “He can rot in gaol for the rest of his life.” Esredes said plain and simply. The woman was silent a long moment, running a hand down her spear as Esredes’ words stirred in her head. Then she finally looked up to him, and nodded with a faint smile. “I see,” she said. “Thank you for being willing to elaborate. I always like to hear what is behind a person’s thought process, and I’ve never spoken to one of hers about it.”

In the end, the conversation ended amicably, and that was that. She was soon on her way, and he was on his. There was more business to attend to at camp, and he was needed. A fact made immediately clear by the second he got back, an enforcer coming right up to him. “Esredes, we need you at the dungeon.” She began in a low and quiet voice. “There was a group captured earlier, and…” “I’m on it, thank you,” he said, walking at a fast pace towards the interior of the mountain their camp was on. Several cavern tunnels ran through they inhabited, but this one was closed off and off limits except to those who had the knowledge of its existence and a key- and so Esredes pushed past multiple wooden doors until he was in that little wooden room above stone, where multiple people were already inside. “What happened.” Esredes said as he came in. “Esredes,” said a man in the center of the room that the couple other people in the room were standing by. “I thought you were out today.” Esredes knew immediately why he was called here when he saw who it was there waiting for him. This one was not exactly his favorite member of all time of his camp or the movement- he meant well, ultimately, but one of Esredes’ tasks in the movement always ended up being keeping his own from getting carried away and becoming the monsters Ishgard wanted of them, and this one most definitely made him work that task. “I just got back, and I heard the news.” Esredes said as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked up to plant himself a couple feet away from the man. “Please, tell me what happened.” “Well, commander,” the man began. “We were out at the village trading supplies with the locals when a faction of knights came into town like they were tyrants taking the place over. They planted themselves in the middle of the town square and announced that there was a demon child in the village that violated their agreement with Ishgard unless she was handed over. The locals were uncomfortable, they were intimidating them- so we did what was appropriate to do in front of so many seeing eyes.” His own eyes darkened as he spoke. “It was more than they deserved.” “So have you any idea why they believed there to be a demon child?” “That’s what has to be gotten out of them,” he said. “They didn’t find the girl, but the bastards were fully prepared to execute a child. I trust with that information, you’ll deal with them properly, commander.” “Very well.” Esredes said. “Then I hope you will not be protesting if I talk to them alone.” He turned and walked towards the staircase down into the stone room. “What are you going to do?” The man asked, and Esredes stopped there by the first step. “I’ll find out just how far Ishgard’s thorns are stuck in them, of course. Standard procedure.” “Esredes, these aren’t the kind of men you can just talk to and pull the thorns out, trust me. They were bloodthirsty, for a goddamn child’s blood! They’d slaughter all of us without a single thought and never regret it.” ”That may be the case,” Esredes simply said. “And it may not. That remains to be seen.” “Are you seriously going to try and convert child killers to our side?” “The damage has not been done yet,” Esredes said. “They were following orders, and if this girl had the blood in her or some voidsent attached to her- then you can’t expect men of Ishgard to think better of it, can you? All I’m saying is that I will assess the depth of the thorns, nothing more. You know our creed, sir.” He turned his head back and stared right at the other man. “The worthy find salvation. The wicked scatter to the icy winds. And we must be fair judges. You would do your best to remember that.” There were no more words out of the man. He merely crossed his arms and stared at Esredes.

And with that, Esredes descended the steps and pushed the iron door open.

The fairest judge, he would always be.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

Super Heroes ARE NOT INHERENTLY a Conservative power fantasy

Master Post

I don’t really agree superheroes are inherently a Conservative power fantasy nor that they simplistically preach law and order and justice are necessary for a happy ending.

After all Superman was fighting corrupt politicians in his very first appearance. The X-Men are institutionally persecuted often by government forces. Stan Lee did an entire story arc in refutation to Law and Order politics in the early 1970s.

Yeah, they hit people to save the day but like...I honestly think that’s far more of a human power fantasy than something of any specific ideology. There have been examples of mythic and folklore figures doing that since forever. The broad appeal of those types of characters throughout history and across political ideologies speaks to how it’s not inherently a political power fantasy of one type or another.

I know someone who is incredibly Liberal and has himself and people he’s known been persecuted by the police and he’s outspoken against such institutional persecution. He loves Daredevil and more poignantly the Punisher, a character outright adored by the police themselves but who is near universally framed (even within his own stories) as not a good person and someone you shouldn’t aspire to be like. This was even the case in his debut in Daredevil season 2 where it was made explicit that he is self-destructive.

Obviously my friend would be disgusted by the Punisher in real life, as would we all (I’d hope). But the fantasy is still unto itself appealing despite it conflicting with his ideologies. Hence super heroes are not a power fantasy rooted in a specific political ideology. Now sure that is one anecdotal piece of evidence. But the Punisher is clearly very, very popular and the degree to which he is popular (especially in the 1990s) wouldn’t really add up if his fanbase were predominantly Conservatively leaning people with the occasional Liberal exception.

He’s very obviously a character people of either leaning or in-between enjoy and was after all created by an outspoken young Liberal in Gerry Conway. Batman too is often perceived as very conservative. But he is the most popular superhero ever so he obviously appeals across political ideologies. After all, the two most defining Batman writers (after Bill Finger) were the incredibly Conservative Frank Miller and the incredibly Liberal Denny O’Neil.

I also don’t think super heroes are analogous to stand your ground myths. For starters, super heroes are not enshrined by the law. The closest comparison you could draw is if you encountered a clear cut crime in progress and intervened non-lethally somehow. E.g. that scene in Spider-Man 2 where Peter Parker walks away from a mugging in progress, but for the purposes of what I’m saying actually tried to intervene.

I once received counterpoints to the above view that went something like this:

You are extrapolating specifically European myth created by white males and applying it to all humans. African myths are different. Native American myths are different. Asian myths are different. You’re making my point that comics are a dominant conservative culture - specifically white male - fantasy, not refuting it.

Actually I wasn’t. There examples of such figures in Eastern myths too such as Sun Wukong. Son Goku is a 1980s manga character based first and foremost upon him (and Jackie Chan) and is a veritable institution in Japan. There is a vast crossover between fans of him and fans of other superhero characters despite him not being directly based upon any of them, having distinctly Eastern cultural influences and also not being a crime fighter in the traditional sense.

Goku in truth is probably more comparable to figures like Theseus in spite of not being based or influenced by him. African myths and European myths may be different but most cultures involve figures who have beyond human abilities and among those figures those who engage in actions that, within the values of those cultures, are regarded as good. All human beings are innately attracted to stories that in one shape or form present them as physically more powerful than they are, a by-product of more innate survival instincts. On our absolute most deepest levels we are animals and because of this the fantasy of being stronger, faster, less vulnerable to injury or malnutrition and/or having the ability to defend our homes/territories/family units (which in superhero comics is usually extended to the general population of a native city) is incredibly potent and attractive.

The counter pointer continued:

“It’s not a female fantasy. Women tell very different myths, most of them lost because men wrote down the stories. The romance genre is dominated by female writers because those are the stories women are drawn to tell.”

Given the vast plethora of female fans of the genre from 1938-now I really do not see how we can honestly say this is a genre that is particular to the power fantasy of one gender or another. Wonder Woman was after all a distinctly female power fantasy created with a lot of input from two women very much ahead of their time.

But going into another culture Sailor Moon (and her predecessor Sailor V, who was more of a traditional crime fighter) was arguably even more of a female power fantasy. She was the singular vision of a female mangaka who was aiming at a young female audience and was very specifically creating a female power fantasy. In both cases they are people with secret identities who engage in physical violence to varying degrees against very clearly coded evil individuals who pose direct threats to innocent lives.

Now about the gun debate? Well, most superheroes use guns?

But for the sake of argument let’s extent ‘guns’ to mean stuff like:

Ray guns

Web-shooters

Firing concussive energy blasts, like Cyclops’ optic blasts

Any kind of projectile

Well, even if you define guns like that, the majority of superheroes’ weapons are non-lethal whereas guns are designed specifically to kill. Yeah you can wound or incapacitate but gun wounds can still be lethal or crippling. Plus you could in theory kill someone with a net but that wasn’t what it was designed to do.

Things get iffy if we count biological weaponry, like in Cyclops’ case. Whilst his super power is literally having a powerful gun for his eyes, it’s also part of who he is and he’s got no choice in that. This changes the context drastically from someone who owns a gun and seeks to use it.

In Cyclops’ case he’s forced to own that weapon and it’s an immense burden upon him . It curtails his ability to have physical and emotional intimacy with others the way anyone else would. I anything I’s more analogous to a disability. So it isn’t like this is a wonderful fantasy about how cool it’d be to own a big gun without the burden of choosing to own it in the first place

That doesn’t even make sense considering the real issue regarding American gun laws ultimately isn’t about people merely owning  guns but how they use  them upon  owning them. Cyclops still has to choose how to use his biological ‘big gun’ even if he didn’t get a choice in owning it one way or the other. It’s also a poor analogy considering Cyclops’ ‘Big Gun’ doesn’t even work properly due to a disability he has.

In fact, it’s posited superheroes are needed, especially vigilante heroes like Spider-Man who take law enforcement into their own hands despite being outside the law enforcement establishment, because the Marvel U is a dangerous, violent place. This is very similar to arguments used by conservative gun advocates in the US: we need guns to protect ourselves because our institutions can’t. Moving on let’s talk about the severity of crime. Is it not a Conservative power fantasy that the world of Marvel and DC comics is a dangerous and violent place? And therefore vigilantes who take the law into their own hands are needed?

That’s kind of similar to what Conservative gun advocates argue isn’t it? Guns are needed to protect one’s self.

Well for starters, the nature of the severity of crime is questionable in most Marvel or DC comics sans like Batman. It is made clear that superheroes absolutely do good but at the same time it wasn’t presented as though there was such a massive crime problem that say Marvel New York would’ve fallen apart without them.

That is exempting of course super villains.

Super villains however are cut from the same fantasy cloth as the heroes so how much to they really count towards representing real life concerns over crime anyway? They were after all literally created as a means to challenge the heroes. Action Comics #1 for example didn’t have any super villains.

Similarly modern interpretations of Batman do not seek to present the world or urban landscapes in general as inherently so riddled with dangerous crime that it necessitates Batman. They make it clear that Gotham is this extreme exception as opposed to the rule. Greg Rucka once spoke about this in an old documentary (for I think the History channel).The idea is that Gotham is exceptionally bad thus they need Batman.

In most versions of Superman post-1987 Lex Luthor has such a stranglehold on Metropolis that it needs Superman. And in Golden Age versions of Superman he was presented as just tackling general urban crime that existed amidst the Great Depression, most of which stemmed from organized crime or corrupt political figures. But it wasn’t as though Metropolis was on the brink if not for Superman’s intervention.

Really the levels of crime and such that exist in superhero stories exist purely to justify a superhero being a crime fighter in the first place; it’s a practicality issue not an ideological one. I think this is different to say police TV shows or films that present characters who allegedly exist in the real world, who represent real world police officers who do a real world job that involves them interacting with allegedly real world threat levels. In a superhero story, of course t here is more crime that actually exists in the real world but I don’t think anyone making the stories ever honestly thought otherwise or paid much thought to it one way or the other. It was just a means to an end of challenging the protagonists.

Okay, but how about the fact that heroes rarely (if ever) calling for gun control or gun bans? Surely that is a Conservative.

Well no not really. Again, it’s not really an ideologically driven factor in super hero stories. It’s more akin to how superhero comic books just do not touch for example the issue of abortion or how they rarely make it truly explicit what political leanings a character has one way or the other.*

John Byrne when discussing his iconic Superman run stated he felt the character was a card carrying Republican, but to the best of my knowledge no Superman comic before or since has ever come out and said that. No Punisher story to my knowledge has ever stated Punisher is a Conservative in spite of the fact that he obviously is. No Spider-Man story has stated Spider-Man is a Liberal/left leaning moderate. And yet he has been depicted that way in most stories and it’d just be incredibly likely given his age, where he lives and his family background. I don’t even know if any Captain America story has stated clearly and without question that Cap would obviously vote for the Democrats 100% of the time out of the two major parties, even though he was explicitly Liberal  from the very first piece of artwork depicting him. In ne of Bucky’s early adventures as Captain America though he simultaneously protected Democrat and Republican politicians.

So whilst superhero comics do not involve characters calling for the abolition of guns 99% of the time, that’s less because they are or are not a Conservative power fantasy and more because the companies do not want to touch what they at least perceive as an incredibly volatile issue.

If the gun debate in America (which to me shouldn’t even be a debate, just get rid of them) ever moves to a place where there is virtually nobody opposing the abolition of guns most superheroes would absolutely be depicted in support of that.

To strip back everything I’m saying, super heroes are intended more on, and consumed more on, a symbolic level  than something in line with a particular ideology.

They are vigilantes who fight crime. But it’s understood that the crime is in the story simply because it is universally understood as ‘a bad thing’ that can cause harm and damage. The superhero is you. You being a vigilante symbolises how you have to on an individual level deal with a problem, the ‘bad thing’.

And the super powers are the catharsis of how much easier it would be to deal with the ‘bad thing’ if you were more than what you are.

I don’t agree with 100% of this, but this video (which is interesting unto itself) touches upon this idea around the 15:30 mark.

It’s not as though a Liberal enjoys the genre for the escapism or the perverse indulgence in politics they wouldn’t agree with whilst a Conservative just loves it’s reaffirmation of their beliefs.

They love it for the same reasons and those are usually rooted in the human elements of the characters alongside the power fantasy. Which is why I maintain there is an innate human appeal to the genre regardless of what perspective you come at it from.

I mean Jesus, if we are really going to argue that superheroes are a Western  Conservative power fantasy why have countries with anti-Western  values, countries that American Conservatives are heavily in opposition to, devoured the genre on film?

Why is the MCU outright beloved  in China?

Why have they tried to create their own super heroes in a similar vein?

Because these characters are not a Conservative, or a white, or a male power fantasy. They are just a human  power fantasy.

*And contrary to what people who are hardline on one ideology or another think, not opposing an issue isn’t tantamount to supporting it. Neutrality exists. If you support abortion that’s Liberal stance on the issue. If you oppose gun control that’s a Conservative stance on that issue. If you do not care about them one way or another you ware not expressing a Liberal or Conservative view point.

The whole ‘With us or against us’ viewpoint is absolutely myopic and overly simplistic. By this logic America was supportive of Hitler before they joined the Allies in WWII. But they were also supportive of the Allies because they weren’t supporting the Axis powers either.

Neutrality can exist.

[humansofhds]

Evelyn Nam, MTS ’18

“I am humbled when I witness the impact that my content has on people. It’s been a really cool experience to read messages from nine-year-olds to 65-year-olds saying that they are inspired by my confidence and that I'm being helpful.”

Evelyn is an HDS and Harvard Kennedy School grad and a feminist content creator on TikTok with over 655k followers and 11.5 million likes. View all of Evelyn’s work here, and follow Evelyn on TikTok (@herspective) and Instagram (@herspectivefeminist).

The Journey from Academia to Social Media

I came to Harvard Divinity School in 2016 for my Master of Theological Studies and then went straight to the Harvard Kennedy School where I pursued a second master’s program for two years. So, I ended up graduating in 2020 into the worst economy possible, and an especially hostile one for Asian individuals. 

The year 2020 was a year of reflection for a lot of us, and personally it really gave me the opportunity to process all the education and experiences I had collected at both HDS and HKS, and to think about how I wanted to utilize and leverage them to make a difference and have impact. This led me to start creating content on TikTok. 

I started posting on TikTok somewhat as a joke initially, but when I began to notice just how toxic, racist, and sexist the app was, I decided to address it; and here I am. 

When you live in a white supremacist patriarchy, everyone else faces the risk of being dehumanized. Therefore, when technology is added on top of it, it's even doubly dehumanizing because it is much easier for people to attack and harass each other fueled by the anonymity of social media. There are people on the app who make destructive content and actually get celebrated, recognized for this. Seeing this happen up close was revealing and showed me that I had been living in something of a progressive bubble. 

HDS especially is such a spiritually progressive place that it made me think that the world couldn’t really be that bad. So, in a way, TikTok, Instagram, and social media influencing gave me a wakeup call. My education at HDS and HKS helped me in different ways. HDS emphasized the tenet of leadership, most adequately expressed in the ability to know and understand where the other side is coming from. I don't have to meet them where they are, but I have to know where they're coming from and to extend empathy even to those with whom I disagree. This does not mean that I should stop calling them out, or that I should stop speaking the truth, but it does mean that even though they might have successfully demonized somebody like me, an East Asian woman, I can still humanize them. This is a really difficult thing to do, but HDS really hammered in its importance for me.  

Friendship as Activism

Additionally, HDS validated my voice and my eagerness to intervene when something is happening that shouldn't be happening. It validated that it is important to trust our instincts for justice, to get involved and to use our power and privilege to get in between somebody who is getting bullied and someone who is bullying them. And so, when I saw bullying happening on the app, how could I not feel called to intervene? If I had turned a blind eye, who was I helping? 

As an MTS student with a focus on Religion, Ethics and Politics, I had structured my course selections in ways that would enable me to be a good feminist. So, while I took gender courses, I also took courses about forgiveness and spiritual counseling because I wanted to be an effective friend to women and non-binary individuals who wrestle the most with patriarchy. There is a lot of religious illiteracy on the app, but I am grounded in my own knowledge that Jesus is a feminist, and a loving God. 

As a progressive Catholic, I may not agree with the church, but I agree with God. I am confident of his love for Black folks, for indigenous folks, for people who are marginalized, struggling, or poor. When God is represented as an authoritative, cosmic being responsible for punishing people and managing punishments, it bothers me because that narrative instills fear in people and it traumatizes them. What I would love to see instead is a more diverse representation of different religions. Right now, the app lacks this, so there's an access gap there that is exacerbating the religious illiteracy problem.

Highlighting Marginalized Voices

TikTok recently made a public apology in which they admitted to having suppressed the voices of LGBTQ+ content creators, stating that they did that because they were afraid that LGBTQ+ creators were going to be bullied by the public. And my response to that is, well they should have reprimanded the bullies instead. 

I think about the many activist content creators that I see, especially Black queer women who talk often about oppression and are so insightful and wise. They don't get as much traction and they have a harder time reaching audiences and going viral than white cis women do. As it currently stands, the content that easily blows up is usually put out by cis white women with “pretty privilege”. The more marginalized identities one has, the harder time they have on the app, so it is quite literally a microcosm of the world. 

One of the reasons why I'm still active on TikTok is that I can utilize my platform to highlight marginalized creators. There is a community in that; we see each other and talk to each other even behind closed doors, and this is necessary because personally, as an Asian woman this has been a really tough year. And one of the things that made it even more difficult was feeling like I was isolated or that nobody cared about my struggles. But through this app, I have met a lot of people who do care about my struggles and care about marginalized identities. 

The  second thing is that I am humbled when I witness the impact that my content has on people. It’s been a really cool experience to read messages from nine-year-olds to 65-year-olds saying that they are inspired by my confidence and that I'm being helpful.  

Practicing Selfcare and Healthy Boundaries

I think my version of internalized misogyny is that I still believe that my role is to self-sacrifice. This is what makes me a great advocate to begin with, because I jump to the defense of people who are struggling without really caring about the risks it might pose to me. 

However, it is not always healthy to think that my role is to prioritize everyone else above myself. It has finally reached a point where that is not working anymore, so I have some unpacking to do there. I am now realizing through social media activism that if I show up all burned out, I'm not good for anybody. So no, I don't think I'm an expert at selfcare yet, and I think being open about that is important because I hope that by being vulnerable about my own internalized misogyny, I can encourage other women to be also open about their own. 

This presence of vulnerability is something I miss about being in the HDS community. HDS is a really special place, and I want people to know that. It is an exquisitely compassionate place, and your time at HDS probably is the only time where you will get to be as vulnerable, authentic, and honest as you can be about yourself and all your flaws and still be accepted, loved, respected and valued. 

The entire culture of HDS is that all anyone has to do is to show up as who they are. And I would like to encourage everyone at HDS to fully know and understand that. 

Interview by Suzannah Omonuk; photos courtesy of Evelyn Nam

[swag--hudson]

Everything Wrong with Netflix's version of Death Note

(This will be step by step while I watch it)

OBVIOUSLY IT CONTAINS SPOILERS This also does not cover the white washing or anything beyond the story/plot of the movie. Obviously the white washing was reason enough to not watch this disaster but my curiosity got the best of me.

1) who is that girl with dark hair? Is that supposed to be misa..:? If so, why does she seem to have no interest in light at the beginning? 2) Light is a little wuss; normally he would be able to talk himself out of every situation or not be involved with the bullying at all. 3) this principle is a huge dick + why the fuck doesn’t he go after the dude that knocked Light’s lights out? 4) holy shit, lights little bitch scream + freak out in detention 5) why are you hitting yourself? 6) ryuk is the green fucking goblin apparently 7) I personally don’t think light would kill a bully, he tends to go after people who are real criminals, not emotionally compromised teens 8) why the fuck would he go right for decapitation? 9) who is going to clean up that classroom? 10) why didn’t he get in trouble if it was that much of a mess? 11) light’s relationship with his dad is bad. In the anime all he cared about besides becoming the world’s new god + getting rid of baddies was his family. 12) Light’s still afraid of Ryuk after the first meeting… even though an apple rolled out of the opposite side of the room he showed up in to make sure that he was introduced (again). 13) Light doesn’t seem to have a sister so far, and his mom is dead. Sure, it gives him motivation to use the Death Note but they haven’t touched upon the real reason (he was bored) which makes him seem more justified. Which isn’t the point of Death Note. Light’s supposed to be morally compromised. 14) his last name is Turner instead of Yagami 15) he fucking had the death note when “Mia” comes to talk to him and he friggin shows her it. What the fuck, why would he do it? He even showed her that he killed that bully. Light never would have done that. Ever. 16) he shows her how it works + fucking kills in front of her!!!!! 17) he actually likes misa instead of being a bag of dicks and showing everyone that he’s a manipulative asshole like he’s supposed to be. We’re not supposed to like this jerk. Although I think I liked him better in the anime compared to this little bitch 18) he hasn’t used the heart attack Death yet, he’s mostly done accidents, which doesn’t fit his MO 19) he fucking outs himself for recognition by making people write in Japanese instead of just keeping quiet and going about his business. Sure, Light has an ego but he wouldn’t want to have people investigating him. 20) L actually goes to a crime scene. He wouldn’t risk that, even if he was wearing a mask. 21) the fuck are those light up sun glasses and why does he ask people to sing a weird ass song for him? 22) Light is out as pro Kira immediately to his dad, making him suspicious. I recall him playing devils advocate and saying that Kira has a point, but that Kira needed to be stopped in the anime. 23) L doesn’t mask his voice on video chat 24) the justice for the wicked website looks like Reddit or four chat. Some shitty, non gothic or scary looking site 25) Light is too emotionally compromised by “Mia”, why the hell is he so enthralled with her? 26) the police chief immediately meets with L in person 27) “please James, have a seat. Rest your glutes.” 28) WHAT THE FUCK, WHY IS THE ACTUAL L HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE!?!?!? 29) Light is being creepy with his dad. Immediately asks about L. Tries to spin it light L is Kira instead. Then proceeds to ask what would happen if Kira was caught. 30) Light wears sunglasses at dusk/night 31) “it’s my book” says light, who suddenly turned into a 4-year-old 32) Ryuk kills all the FBI agents. He wouldn’t interfere with Light’s plans or help in any way usually. That, and he keeps telling Light to give the notebook up. 33) Light’s dad went on tv with his name + face. Light basically gives himself away by not killing him. I don’t recall that happening in the anime at all, if I’m wrong please feel free to correct me. 34) idk why but Ryuk’s head looks huge compared to his body. 35) pulling a fork out of a holder makes the same sound as a knife apparently 36) Light had a temper tantrum in front of L for a few seconds and then gives him a creepy face. He basically tells L he’s Kira by submitting to playing “the game”. 37) Watari goes missing to go get L’s name for Light. It tips L off big time. 38) L gets over emotional, goes after Light. light’s dad threatens to kill L. What the fuck? 39) Ryuk isn’t interested in light’s game at all. He just wants to give the notebook to someone else or kill Light. 40) no mention thus far of shinigami eyes 41) Light wears a fucking top hat at one point 42) the Wammy house is abandoned, leaving me to believe that there will be no Near later on in this shit show 43) the homecoming picture scene. Seriously. What the fuck was Light doing? 44) Light leaves his locker open, another dumb picture inside 45) Watari is found in Wammy house, doesn’t tell Light L’s name + is shot by people looking for him (deployed by L) because “Mia” wrote it in the death note. Upside is that she calls Light a pussy. 46) “Mia” reveals that she killed all the FBI agents + is way smarter than Light. She even tries to kill him so she can have the Note book. The reason that I put this on the list is because there’s no way the normal misa was this smart + a bad ass. As far as this Netflix series goes, I’m all for her killing pussy-light. 47) really bad remix of L’s original theme 48) despite trying to kill Light, Mia still warns him about the cops. 49) L can’t drive for shit and almost hits innocent people on the sidewalk while screaming. 50) wow that’s a lot of trash bags in that one ally way 51) L said he didn’t carry guns earlier because they’re distracting. L later points a gun while yelling “Light”. 52) Light isn’t at all like his character in the anime. He never manipulates people to the extent that he was previously able to. He also never befriends L, which probably turned out to be the worst thing for him. 53) Light fucking decides to explain the notebook to L before some dude in an apron beats L with a wooden beam. Said man then says “Lord Kira” and let’s Light go. 54) Light’s last stand is in a Farris wheel 55) Light thinks he can somehow run away from everything when he’s literally stuck in Farris wheel surrounded by cops 56) Light put Mia’s name in the book that said she’ll die if she takes it from him; wrongly predicts that he can convince her not to take it. Ends up being some fucked up farris wheel Romeo and Juliet ending with bad music. 57) mia lands in fucking flowers while Light lands in water even though they fell from the same point 58) L is perfectly fine even though he had his head smacked with a beam hard enough to knock him out 59) the Note that says that Light will die conveniently lands in a burning trash can + that means he still lives. L gets fired or something. 60) Light is in a coma but doesn’t seem to be guarded by police even though it was pretty clear he was Kira. Someone sneaks in and gives him the death note back 61) dad knows he was Kira but doesn’t really do anything 62) inappropriate theme music and inappropriate time 63) some of the above comments are solved through a really shitty explanatory Death Note entry 64) L’s laugh and then immediately sad look 65) it ends with so many questions + really sucky and inappropriate song still playing.

66) neither L or Light really win- Light doesn’t die/ get thrown in jail on screen and L doesn’t die/ catch Light.

[lawschoolruinedme]

Okay, so you seem like a nice person, and I am sure there are other people who have seen this post that had just been picking up notes slowly but surely since America Jumped The Shark. 

I am going to go through this for you, so you understand. 

1) Victim’s claims based on he-said/she-said are easier to bring. 

False. What you must remember is that before a person is charged, a complaint is brought to the police. They’re like the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system. And if investigating police don’t believe the claim made by the woman as ‘founded’ they deem the case unable to prosecuted and therefore the claim never proceeds past the reporting stage. 

Many police screening processes are still plagued with the ‘rape myths’ - if she was really raped, she would have fought back and there would be defensive marks; she’s too calm to be a rape victim; she’s just saying this to get back at him. 

The big problem is that police only really like “good” victims; the women who are seen as blameless and therefore worthy of legal proection. 

One study has found that up to 50% of cases reported to police were deemed ‘unfounded’ and therefore never proceeded past the reporting stage. 

If you want to read more on this, go read Trauma, Trial, and Transforation: Guiding Sexual Assault Victims Through the Legal System and Beyond by Judith Daylen, Wendy von Tongeren Harvey & Dennis O’Toole; and Sexual Assault Law, Credibility and ‘Ideal Victims’ by Melanie Randall. 

2) A claim doesn’t need to be proved or brought to court to have devastating consequences. 

This one I’m going to give you two examples of: 

A. Donald Trump. Who has a half dozen rape allegations against him, which were being brought to court. Who is now the president of the united states. 

B. Woody Allen. Who has a history of abuse of children and is still considered a ‘great’ in the movie industry. 

You know what else has ‘devastating’ consequences? Being accused of murder. But no one says the police should stop investigating beheadings because they might for a moment think it was someone else who did it. 

People who are accused of murder / stabbing / other violent crimes absolutely face condemnation when perceived through the public eye. That’s the media, not the criminal justice system. You can’t tell someone they shouldn’t report a crime because CNN might get wind of it. 

3) Rape Victims Have the Deck Stacked Against Them 

You’re Damn Right It Is. 

When police deem a case ‘unfounded’ they often refuse or fail to administer rape kids, which deprives women of even the possibility of proceeding with a charge through the civil system. By failing to administer these kits, the police are effectively saying ‘no, you shouldn’t have the right to know whose semen is in you and whether or not there’s signs of vaginal tearing which would indicate aggressive penetration’. Silly women and thinking they need rape kits. 

 Sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes. Many women cite fearing they will not be believed, or that they will be blamed for their assault as not reporting. Because they aren’t and they will be. 

When a criminal charge is brought, it is because there has been a crime against society. It is the court saying ‘you have done something wrong that goes against what we as a society believe is right.’ But it is the woman who stands at the pinnacle of that and has to face cross-examination, the antagonistic nature of defence attorneys at preliminary hearings (no jury, no playing nice in the sandbox, after all), a method known as ‘whacking’ the witness, in the hopes that the stress of facing cross examination will force them to drop their testimony before trial. 

The belief that ��only true victims can withstand this pressure’ is another rape mythos. And it’s another way the whole system of sexual assault trials are stacked against a complainant. There are dozens of articles about how a criminal trial for sexual assault is effectively a re-victimization of the woman. 

The woman becomes a spectacle for the court. And because it is not her case, but society’s, there often isn’t an advocate in the courtroom for her and to protect her interests. 

Did you know that the defendant in a proceeding can require the victim to undergo a professional examination, and all findings of that professional MUST be disclosed, but the same cannot be required of the accused assailant because it’s considered a serious affront to their rights?

4) Mens Rea for Rape and the law of Consent 

First, I have no idea what judge has thrown mens rea out the window on criminal cases of sexual assault. In sexual assault cases, the mens rea requirement is that the court must find the assailant had no consent communicated to him, and therefore a guilty mind. There’s a whole discourse surrounding the fact that the ‘reasonable person’ in these situations is really the ‘reasonable man with his own prejudice and stereotypes about female sexuality’ (go read Carol Smart, the woman is brilliant). 

Aside from the above, this one I will emphasize reflects entirely my own opinion, whereas a lot of the above is from my own research and advocacy work. 

I believe victims. 100%. The false reporting of rape is so categorically low that I do not have a reason not to believe them. 

I also believe that someone who has sexually assaulted may not be criminally responsible for that assault. I don’t believe every assailant has to go to jail. Because there is a valid defence of mistaken belief in consent. 

I also believe that sexual assault victims should begin turning to civil trials for restitution. Because the criminal justice system does not protect them the way it should. And because an assailant who may not be guilty of a crime may absolutely be liable for a tort. 

You’re absolutely right this is a fraught area of law. But I don’t think you understand why and I hope this helped explain it. 

[ro17-0458-blog]

March List of demands for event to occur March 25th 2017...

March 10th  2017,   170458 demands

 List of demands rough draft (so  this is small scale like what I would demand from my case in specific)

Sorry for the length I’d rather be thorough because people will ask WHY to anything anyone demands… so to save the time I wanted to go ahead and get you all the raw thoughts for the rough draft. but i can make it try to sound professional if you need me to in a final draft ?

 I still plan to work with BSU and Isla Vista as a community(as discussed with DJ and PAOLA) to turn in a list of demands for this community that will make that greater/physical change. But that’s after more outreach and gathering of stories and projected demands from people here and on campus org's that do face injustices or issues that can be addressed or presented through a collective community presented list of demands.

 Me though … I don’t really know what to demand

(1)         Public acknowledgment in IV with this ‘townhall’ and an official laminated letter with signatures from representatives from every department where I faced hardships; acknowledging that this was NOT the best way to handle a human.  

* I need someone to take accountability in public, because though I do get it in those rare private instances If I have to say publicly what I have been through, I would like for them to bare themselves in public as well…

(2)         S.I.E. training ( I don’t like the acronym or the term survivor really so maybe I’ll think of something more fitting for myself) but Survivors initial encounter training, is what it’d stand for. And basically it’s a training to put the HUMAN back behind the badge, degree, and scrubs. A lot of time a uniform can take over a person’s ego and destroy the human aspect. So how we here have a lot of badges, ranks, and uniforms walking around Isla Vista trying to protect the community from ‘hard core criminals’…it’s just not that deep. They patrol a University and CC community that’s 23k deep and less than two miles so they forget they’re dealing with real ass humans. People’s children, and people who don’t always come with guns to shoot, but we DO have a whole lot of misguided individuals who are perverse in mind, action, and behavior. These are young adults coming straight from high school with new found freedoms, temptations, and demons. So they’re( these officers) fighting a whole different kind of war in their imaginations…they’re not addressing the multitude. And that’s why this rape culture can and has manifested how it has. Because instead of addressing the silent gas leak that’s eventually going to cause this place to be a culture and lifeless rape accepting party unincorporated area that’s feared and negatively stigmatized permanently, they are focused on ‘protecting’ us from SERIOUS DANGERS that CAN EVENTUALLY lurk…

** this is a MATCH to the citizen’s academy( I’m totally taking it just because), which is described as an 8 week interactive course from 6-9pm(April 5th-May 17th) where we are taught how to deal with active shooters and police stuff )

My ideas with this training

So this training should be mandatory for anyone a survivor may come in contact with. But definitely the officers, its ( education for education* then we can all deal with one another -that’s what they are quoted saying well the liaison-)

·         Possible pairing with SBRCC staff/advocates, CARE, & survivors,  and [ IVFP UCPD GVCH SPBD SBSO GSO and local survivors.] And come up with plans and procedures to change…

 - Attack and end to the question WHAT IS YOUR CASE ABOUT? Change it to WHAT IS YOUR CASE NUMBER?.

*Let it be my decision to say what is my case about after you ask my case number. But never ask me what is my case about, especially when first meeting me

-DNA evidence, make it clear if you don’t need it tell me not to bring it in, don’t have me assuming you need it due to a lack of communication and humiliate myself bringing it in.

* applies to all* but is inside of the case.

-Scheduled weekly or (case specific) case updates. Calls from detectives, or even people inside of these departments, have someone else call or email. Just check in.

* Keep open line of communication, so we feel like we are being protected and not ignored. Because bottom line is a lack of communication leads people to panic, we’re either being not heard or ignored. And basic instinct when you are not being heard is to GET LOUDER, and basic instinct when you are being ignored is to GO ELSEWHERE for help with what you need.  And in my case that led to me releasing my video, case number, and information. … ( but that is also credited to the not keeping of deadlines)

- Updates on deadlines. If it changes, let me know SIMPLE AS THAT.

*Communication takes 2 seconds ( I am away and will be back…) I typed that in less than a minute… IT helps with a peace of mind. This community is tooooo small for it to be expected for someone to live in such close proximity of someone who had committed a crime specifically to his/her body; and be advised not to have a restraining order but to be silent; yet to have little to NO communication with anyone pertaining to her case. Instead of assuming an entire station is too busy to return a call for weeks… My mind instantly goes to I AM being ignored by an Entire station, I must go above the station.

-All of these concerns and trainings should be addressed through workshops and actively working hand in hand with the SBRCC advocates and survivors; the workshops and classes and how we feel is fit to teach them and address those concerns is how we shall present them. Just like however they present their citizen’s academy.

(3)         Continued counseling and psychological services for at least 7 years.

* ( hopefully I’m done with my educational dreams by then) But yeah, and not just CAPS like I want someone in my area wherever I end up I want this city? Area? University? Someone to follow me wherever this journey takes me with a psychologist plan where I can always be guaranteed someone to vent to especially since I may be fighting for common sense within systems and having to assist with change within them for years to come)

(4)         Annual monthly meetings…with an email, community text, and physically posted, Sheriff’s station crime statistic update.

The actual meeting should be in the form of townhall 2hrs tops on a week or weekend night.  WE SEND REPS they send reps and the community comes. Each month new reps lead it each month new officers represent the IVFP so we see all the faces In IVFP eventually, and they address everyone who comes from the community; just like they meet ALL of the leaders of active voices in IV. And also ALL of these leaders in IV get to address their concerns and have that platform. . so what maybe the leaders use a week and go into the community hear concerns come up with a list bring it up to IVFP at each meeting and have people from the community address the concerns of the officers as well then let’s see what the officers have to say about it, TOGETHER OUR REP and those officer REPS come up or provide resolutions and projected timelines, or just make meetings to discuss and attack. Then at the end as a community, we give a community update or commentary, and the officers give their crime info and updates.   = that’s my VISION if we wanna try to get some form of ‘comfortable communications’ going with anyone in a uniform willingly perpetuating the unjust dehumanization within this ‘legal /justice system= they gotta come to my level, and let people in this community teach and speak to them since they police OUR community.

*The community text, email, physical post* = So having It can be as vague or as detailed, but tell us what’s really good, what is going on in our community, how many reported active shooters?, bomb scares, sexual assaults, robberies… where did they happen, Any good news? New officers, new additions to the station, any news with the officers, they need prayer fam? They praying for us? Events coming us?  (( they main concern is we don’t care and we don’t have a community because we don’t talk to them… BET))

(5)         Transfer of Schools, and help creating and executing my extended education plan. With all of this going on I haven’t had the time like other student do TO have thought of that plan. So at this point I think they can go ahead and PLAN AND ASSIST, be that financially, with letters of recommendation, definitely TUTORING if I have to take more math courses, and whatever else may come up.

*But yeah this for sure altered my life in MAD ways, be it financially, emotionally, physically, mentally, even my hamsters be neglected sometimes… I’m not complaining I’m just saying an EYE FOR AN EYE. Help me, help you, help ME, since I’m Helping YOU.

(6)         Counseling for my mom and dad

* Not couples counseling or sessions together, but at least 10 individual sessions each or whatever someone can give .. I’M NOT TAKING LESS THAN 7 SESSIONS EACH, and I know they mean more than only seven sessions. So I’ll start with indefinite …then negotiate.  They totally need it.

(7)         The UCPD and IVFP males and Females… parents or non-parents come up with a group amongst themselves that they lead monthly or however it goes, and as parents create events and invite the community to them.

Come as real people and address your concerns for us as ‘PARENTS’ ( since every one is ,….” As a parent I want my child to xyz…; but as an officer, as a doctor, it is my DUTY blah blah)” … well I want these parents, non-parents, and just genuinely ‘caring’ adults with uniforms, badges, …maybe even add the scrubs, and degrees; to do their own community service out here.  We have events and post them up all the time, it’s not that they are not invited, ((maybe not wanted)) but they can show up in Plain clothes and be a part of the community with us… Also this will help make people not be scared to report, so that I know if something happens why it is so important for me to report ahead of time, instead of after getting raped and while you’re shoving your beliefs and guilt trip down my throat while I am trying to take control of a situation I had no control or memory of. I’M panicking you’re Panicking Let's eliminate or lessen the possibility of the PANICS and MISCOMMUNICATIONS, and humiliation,  with fluid community outreach. *outreach= preventative measures taken before a splinter is revealed as a plank;pluck it now G* Between community and resource, BY these resource offices. all in PLAIN CLOTHES. IV is super small it is ALL POSSIBLE if people CARE forreal how they portray they do. If NOT OH WELL I wash my hands of it. But I can only TRY

(8)        LIGHTS/ ILLUMINATION/ GLOW STICKS/ HELL something ON SLOUGH ROAD,

*This is a damned if I DO damned if I DON’T situation. It makes no sense to tell a DEVEREUX employee it is sketch that they are driving on a dark road at night. We get off at night, & go in at night at all times actually sooo… it’s not our choice to go down the dark road, it’s an only option… they made it and have kept it pitch black. I used to walk to work with a flashlight at 11pm during my first year, until we made an alternate walking route. So now I drive with high beams at night*correction because of this and an additional situation with UCPD I no longer work at night at all complete schedule change from my 3+ year norm)

But…DON’T MAKE IT TOO LIGHT where we can’t see the stars and the beautiful view(light pollution). But make it light enough that I can see joggers in the fog. Plus my residents, they fear that road, and some like to go for walks but can’t do night walks. This should be a right of theirs as it is of ours if they want to go walk and stare at the stars from that area by the lagoon they should have a safe lit road to walk on to reach it. Also in this process DO NOT TOUCH THE NATIVE AMERICAN GARDEN that is there. AND IF THEY DO NOT WANT LIGHTS IN THAT SPECIFIC AREA around their garden DO NOT ADD THEM, BUT IF THEY DO …IMPROVE THEIR LIGHTING as well they put some lights for now.

 Sooo I thought of other demands kinda smaller scare if the case specific demands fit more for the greater isla vista demands .

  Like for this list instead of the mandatory training being for MY case specific demands . That can be for GOING FORWARD WITH IV AS a community since it'll take a lot of planning and some time to create classes workshops and all but IS POSSIBLE .

 So in the meantime an immediate change implemented can be they are required to bare minimum take courses at UCSB SOC 1 with Avery Gordon definite possibility it's BASIC .they don't have to take up seats in lectures but all readings midterms Sections and finals should be mandatory for officers working here because that class goes over important information that educates on the SYSTEM & ON INJUSTICE . They only learn how to protect and serve and should be accountable for having knowledge on the system they have entered. I'm sure there are other key courses.

 And another demand I fashoo want my parking ticket erased especially since it was a safety concern .im actually meeting and bringing attention to that today with the ONE officer who I could speak with so I'll seee where that goes either way I'll take it to court lol.its not expensive it's the principal though if I'm doing something to ensure my safety because my community is unsafe and lacks resources , respect that.

  I think you point out the problem, come with proposed resolutions, address the concerns with the necessary individuals, present your proposed resolutions, go through negotiations,,, reach a consensus …. Give the new plan a trial run…long enough to document results …and if ultimately it doesn’t work try again until you get it.