#ideal casting for jon

[shart-factory]

jon sims, the independent

[just-an-enby-lemon]

HC that Chester and Norris also don't kow who Augustus is. Both or one of them might think is Jonah, but they don't really know. They never actually heard Jonah, Is a new voice and even if Jon knew everything once is hard to think inside a computer even less to remember all that information. They are just trapped in barely existence in a Windows NT with someone who might or not be their biggest enemy and if someone were to check the secret notes encrypted in the accient notes app they would find a weird conspiracy board over "who is here with us".

[rqg179]

listened to the magnus protocol trailer and i am constantly torn between the knowledge that i really liked mag200 as an ending for jon & martin, i personally love that we don't know what happened to them, and i think any appearance, even of a Somewhere Else version or alternate timeline version of them, would cheapen that. and the knowledge that if i hear jonathan sims talk in anything ever i will start crying immediately

[branwinged]

Will you accept a mad dany arc if grrm does it in a different, more sensical way or would that always narratively suck for you?

it has nothing do with my personal feelings regarding the character. i dislike speculation of dany having a downfall arc because it reveals a misreading of the text and the narrative role she plays within it. i don't believe it can be done in a satisfying way because she was always intended to be a heroic character. the 'mad dany' reading relies on certain initial assumptions about her character that are being problematised within the story—which is difficult to discuss because grrm's intent regarding dany is at odds with the orientalist framework he employs in the construction of essos, but i'll try to be comprehensive about it. so dany is an exile, homeless and perpetually seeking a home. she was told by viserys that westeros is "our land" but she's not culturally westerosi the same way the rest of our cast is because she's also never known westeros. all she has are second hand, romanticised accounts from viserys (These places he talked of [...] they were just words to her). dany has lived her entire life in essos and absorbed their cultural norms and slavery is normalised in most of essos (There was no slavery in the free city of Pentos. Nonetheless, they were slaves), it's especially apparent in her first chapter which pointedly draws attention to the various slaves serving at illyrio's manse, something dany doesn't express any moral objection to, because nobody has taught her this is wrong. and that understanding only comes after viserys sells her to drogo and she personally experiences a similar loss of autonomy.

Do you know what it is like to be sold, squire? I do. My brother sold me to Khal Drogo for the promise of a golden crown. Well, Drogo crowned him in gold, though not as he had wished, and I . . . my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been much otherwise. Do you think I have forgotten how it felt to be afraid? DAENERYS II, A Storm of Swords

and when mirri reveals to dany that her act of 'saving' her was no saving at all. rescuing her through the offer of a place in drogo's khalasar is a meaningless gesture since it does nothing to address the systems that have enabled mirri's enslavement in the first place. yeah, she's fourteen and possesses no power in her own right and is not complicit in drogo's crimes but mirri's presence in the story is meant to teach her that lesson. dany does not arrive already possessed with a political consciousness that opposes slavery, she learns and reorients her worldview just as jon did once he became familiar with the free folk. this is an important detail because without it her crusade in slaver's bay is no longer a story about a former enslaved and sexually abused girl being provided the means to begin a revolutionary counter-struggle against a culture of dehumanisation, but about a civilising mission where a culturally westerosi (westeros, where slavery is outlawed. westeros which is clearly imagined as the occident to essos's orient) character with superior ideals travels to foreign lands to educate the barbarians—which would've made her a straightforward white saviour figure. this IS undermined by the way her storyline is rife with orientalist tropes and i'm getting to that, but my main point is that dany's character is very deliberately written to be someone who is stateless and doesn't belong anywhere. she is an other. which is compounded by her targaryen heritage—the targaryens are narratively imagined as white enough to co-exist with the rest of westeros but they're also being othered because they're a family originating from the east with 'depraved' inbreeding and blood magic practices (practices that are reviled throughout the whole continent), which simultaneously makes them too other to ever fully assimilate despite the family being culturally westerosi in all the ways that matter. this especially comes through in the coin quote, every house has had occasional despots for rulers but people only bother to pathologise the targaryens and that's because they're foreigners. "the gods flip a coin" is presenting this dichotomy of targaryens as either mad - violent barbarians from the east, or great, in which case they're exoticised as otherworldly, above the laws of gods and men. and the final thing that serves to other her is her association with the dothraki. the dothraki are initially introduced as violent savages, but that view has been challenged since then as dany adopts dothraki customs and comes to love their people as her own and even sees herself as more of a khaleesi than a queen. and i must emphasise that this is no way done well because a) the dothraki are constructed out of offensive stereotypes about steppe cultures b) five books later grrm hasn't bothered to give any of them interiority because he clearly doesn't care about the dothraki, they're an afterthought in his narrative about dany and c) i think the subversion of their introduction as the inferior racial other basically amounts to "they're noble savages".

so you see all this at work when in-universe those who revile her speak of alleged violent tendencies, that she's coming to burn the continent down, that she hatched her dragons through foul blood magic and that she tricked her khal husband into murdering her brother and has acquired an army of savages, that her court is made up of foreigners and 'honourless' westerosi men (jorah, barristan, and soon tyrion), while others talk of her supposed otherworldly beauty ("The last of her line. They say she is the fairest woman in the world.")—the mad dany reading of her is taking all this at face value, it's falling for that in-universe narrative her enemies have come up with, which associates her and her allies' foreignness with moral depravity. (this is also what the show did, which i said "achieved her s8 ending by fully leaning into the horror of the savage oriental horde come to oppress the civilised westerosi landowning class" and that hysterical randyll tarly speech "at least cersei wasn't a FOREIGNER"). a very early example of this is in the first book. robert wanted a teenager dead because she was a targaryen: aerys's daughter, rhaegar's sister, because she married a khal and adopted dothraki customs as her own. and it was ned who put up a fight against this. ned is flawed in my ways but do you suppose the narrative will diminish ned's legacy in this, in his stance against dehumanisation. and asoiaf is primarily about that, every major character has had experience with being othered (cripples, bastards, and broken things is about this) and within this narrative dany is meant to be The Other who is working to end institutions of otherisation. her upcoming invasion of westeros is not playing into the the threat of the foreign invader but raising questions of whether westeros is also in need of some reform (at one point tyrion directly compares a serf to a slave, something that might be narratively painting westeros as not culturally superior at all for having outlawed slavery). the problem, of course, being that the way grrm subverts the image of essos as the inferior racial other is by first populating it with orientalist stereotypes. he parallels some of the violence found in ghiscari culture and the dothraki raid of the lhazareen village with ramsay and amory lorch and gregor clegane et al operating in the riverlands in acok but the ghiscari are also portrayed almost as a monolith, as uniformly morally suspect individuals because our only introduction to them is through the slavers. it's the way dany is the only active abolitionist with a narrative voice in essos (there's the shavepate. but he's also a scheming violent extremist so), i said her story is not a civilising mission but when you fail to give any of the ghiscari oppressed a voice it doesn't result in great optics. and it is undeniable that the story is About Westeros, dany's great narrative destiny lies over there, when the long night arrives—an apocalyptic threat meant to affect the entire world—the battle for the dawn will also take place over there, i doubt the essosi will play a role in that.

[amaltheas-garden]

Jon and Sansa will bring the story of Rhaegar and Lyanna full circle:

We have very few details on the relationship between Rhaegar and Lyanna, but what we do know is Lyanna was in an unwanted betrothal to Robert at the time she disappeared with Rhaegar. Whether she went willingly or not is up to speculation. Aside from Robert, most accounts agree that Rhaegar embodied the fairy tale prince-like character (prior to the war). Lyanna wept at the beauty of his music, and was crowned his queen of love and beauty before leaving her family forever. Her story ends alone in Dorne, dying in her bed of blood, abandoned by the man she thought would save her, begging to go home.

It's easy to see then, the parallels between Lyanna's ill-fated romance and the romantic dreams of her niece, Sansa Stark. Although the two share few similarities in personality and hobbies, both became enamored by princes who hide their darker nature, and lured them away from the safety of their homeland, before going to war with their families. However, Lyanna's story ended far from the North, dying in childbirth, whereas Sansa has escaped that fate (even more interesting considering Lyanna's book storyline is a near one to one of Sansa's in the original outline). And, if we recall the very beginning of A Game of Thrones, Robert proposes to Ned that they wed Joffrey to Sansa, joining their houses as he and Lyanna might have. There is a conscious effort on Robert's part to set the past right through the relationships of their children. So right from the jump Sansa is cast as the Lyanna stand in, though she too escapes her "Baratheon" betrothal, and is on course to run straight into Rhaegar's son (as per the girl in grey theory).

So where does Jon lie in all this? If we take the girl in grey prophecy to be about Sansa, we know the two will meet sometime in the near future. Sansa has already become disillusioned of her chivalric ideals of love and knighthood (that's not to say she doesn't believe in heroes and honorable knights, just that she's far more skeptical of surface appearance), and yet, it will be her bastard brother who will embody the traits of the hero Sansa has been searching for. Rhaegar appeared as the perfect prince, yet was the one to kill Jon's mother, and Sansa, in a similar situation, is seduced by the charm and beauty of Prince Joffrey, only to be exposed to his vicious cruelty, narrowly escaping his family (even more interesting to consider Lyanna, had she survived, would not have been Queen, as Elia was still his lawful wife, and would be considered a mistress to the King as there was no chance of her escaping Rhaegar now that she carried his child, similar to Joffrey marrying Margaery, while threatening to make Sansa his mistress). Jon on the other hand is the brooding, solemn, plain-featured bastard, sharing no traditional qualities with that of the typical hero. That is to say, he's about as far from Rhaegar as you could get. And yet, it is Jon who commits himself to defending and protecting those who cannot (Sam, the wildlings, Alys Karstark) because that's who he is. No songs are sung for the men of the Nights Watch, he doesn't gain anything by protecting those others might deem weak, unworthy, or exploitable, but he does it anyway. Jon does not look nor act the part, but the strength of his moral character is what distinguishes him as the unconventional hero of the story.

I would also draw a comparison between the legend of Azor Ahai sacrificing his wife Nissa Nissa and Rhaegar's "sacrifice" of Lyanna, to bring about the third head of the dragon he thought necessary to save the world. After reading @/stormcloudrising's phenomenal metas on Sansa's connection to Nissa Nissa/the Amethyst Empress, I believe the idea of sacrifice will appear again in relation to Jon's character arc. Many in the fandom have speculated that AA/NN and the Bloodstone Emperor/Amethyst Empress are one and the same, the former featuring the sacrifice of a wife, the latter a usurpation of a sister. Sansa already occupies the (false) position as Jon's sister, while Jon has refused to usurp her rights as heir to Winterfell. However, with Jon's parentage reveal, the opportunity of a Jon/Sansa romance becomes possible, potentially elevating her to the status of love interest. And, if we're going with the NN/AE are the same theory, it would mean she occupied the role of both sister and wife. As for Rhaegar, his prophecy obsession is what led to him endangering Lyanna, placing his need for the third dragon above her own safety, ultimately killing her. Jon spends a good chunk of ADwD with Stannis, a claimant to the title of AA/the Prince that was Promised, who similarly struggles with the question of sacrificing one life to save the world, "What is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?” (ASoS) To which we already know the answer, Everything. Stannis, like Rhaegar, will fail the moment he sacrifices Shireen to fulfill his "greater purpose". Daenerys is also a claimant to the title, and we will likely see a contrast between how she and Jon approach being Rhaegar's heirs and inheritors of the prophecy. Stannis will lose everything after Shireen's death, the same as Rhaegar when he left Lyanna to die, condemning House Targaryen to death in the ensuing war. Jon will likely face a similar decision of sacrifice upon discovering he could be the subject of prophecy that consumed his father and once honorable king. And just as he refused to usurp Sansa's claim, he will reject the sacrifice of a loved one (lover perhaps?) as prerequisite to fulfilling his role as AA/TPtwP.

Jon's character always comes back to his identity as a Stark. Discovering his true parentage will undoubtedly be a source of inner conflict, culminating in his decision between Stark and Targaryen (spoiler: its Stark). It's a classic case of sins of the father, and how Jon asserts himself as an individual outside of his father's tainted legacy. Jon being the hero to Sansa and helping her return home would effectively resolve the generational conflict caused by Rhaegar's "kidnapping" of Lyanna away from the North. Rhaegar caused immense amounts of pain to the Stark family through his one act of selfish cruelty, which Jon will rectify through one of loyalty and selflessness. And narratively, Lyanna's son being the one to save her niece and return her to Winterfell would just be so chef's kiss.

[ultfreakme]

"It'd make more sense if he was a villain" : Jay Nakamura, The Yellow Peril and Orientalism in the Comics Community

That quote above is speculating the potential of Jay Nakamura as a villain, specifically in the context of arguing for the incompatibility of Jon and Jay as a romantic couple due to the ideological differences that may arise from being a villain. Such speculations about fictional characters aren't uncommon and have been demonstrated in the canon of comics itself with stories like Injustice. But these statements should be regarded with caution, and with consideration for the context of a character.

This quote was said in service of comparing Jay Nakamura and Ash, a character introduced in Lazarus Planet, and to emphasize his potential as a love interest despite him being a villain.

There’s more but the general consensus seemed to be, that there was excitement in the potential for romantic tension between Jon and Ash due to Ash’s villainy, but the same was the reason for separating Jon and Jay. Many others stated Jay had to have manipulated Jon to an extent, which ‘corrupts’ Jon. This argument is not a concern when it comes to Ash although textually, Ash is the ‘homme fatale’ as defined by C.S.Pacat and is thus intentionally manipulating Jon throughout his appearance by looking down on his attitude as a hero, whereas there is no evidence of manipulation between Jon and Jay.

Why would one see a potential for "villainy" in certain characters? Is it story-based? Is it a personal preference for certain themes? Is it for entertainment? Or perhaps, something much deeper than all of this that you may not even be aware of?

What is the difference between Jay and Ash, and why does the villainy of one elicit enthusiasm and the perceived villainy of the other bring out irritation? While there is audience reception, writing quality, and subjective opinion which readers are free to express, these large-scale reactions warrant examination. Jon and Jay’s relationship had caused waves in international news. The story of Superman is inherently political and that of ‘Superman: Son of Kal-El’, ties itself back to these roots. Thus, the immediate aversion to Jay must be addressed and examined, since his character and his relationship with Superman can impact queer representation in media by virtue of carrying the brand of Superman.

DC Comics and The Depiction of Asian Culture

With characters such as Black Lightning, Steel, and New Super-Man getting new runs, and newer characters such as Xanthe Zhou and Cameron Kim(City Boy) being introduced, recent years have seen a push in diversifying the cast of superheroes. But American Comics as a medium have always idealized the image of the White Man and has been a means to define American Values, thereby alienating people of color(POC). Comics often reflected the anxieties of the Western World, with Captain America from Marvel Comics punching Nazis, and Superman fighting the Ku Klux Klan. While it has pushed for the message of freedom, community and rebellion with an emphasis on righteousness, the reflected anxieties are confined to those of the White Man.

World War 2 had given rise to anti-Chinese and Japanese propaganda, with American-Asian individuals being suspected for treason. Japanese immigrants in the 40s were accused of being spies for Japan. A quote from the article, ‘The "Yellow Peril" Mystique: Origins and Vicissitudes of a Racist Discourse’ states:

“Anyone who accepts an invitation to visit China or to entertain visitors to America from China are to be regarded either as dupes, as potential victims of cleverly trained agents of the People's Republic of China, who, during the course of an ordinary conversation, are able to extract secrets from them, or as spies working for a foreign government.”

Tensions from World War 2 and the perception of China as a Communist hellscape threatening American Capitalistic freedoms has led to such accusations. The idea of those of “the Orient” but specifically East Asians being experts in espionage to gather data, and leak it to the Chinese or Japanese governments has transferred over into fiction. 

Colonialism, and the racial hierarchies proposed by evolutionary theories of the nineteenth century placed the ambiguously Eastward individuals as subservient to the White Man. The concept of evolution had been co-opted by colonizers, upper class Western political circles, to expand upon eugenics to justify that POC fell into a hierarchy, where the white people were always on top. Asian and specifically East Asian people were defined by inferiority and a lack of advancement, but also as a marked threat with their supposed shrewdness as we’ve established.

The most prominent Asian characters in DC have been Ra’s Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul, Lady Shiva, Cheshire, and Katana. They have long histories within the comics and are deeply influential, but the characters listed are typically in antagonistic roles, primarily using espionage-based techniques, expertise in weaponry, and membership among shadowed organizations to execute their goals. For the sake of brevity, we’ll be examining the portrayal of the Al Ghuls with a focus on Talia Al Ghul. Talia, much like Jay, is introduced first as a love interest and thus relevant for further discussion on the perception of Jay.

The Threat of The Lover from The Orient

The Al Ghuls originate from an undefined part of the Arab world. Talia is Arab and Chinese, but she is not allowed to be fluid, she is not allowed both. Depending on the creative team’s intentions, she is portrayed both as a temptress and a romantic interest, oscillating between these identities depending on her loyalty to her father and her love for Batman. When she is meant to be a victim of her father, imposing stereotypical morals assigned to the Arab world through orientalism, she wears ‘harem’ robes, she is darker, she is distinctly Arab. When she is a sly temptress, she wears a qipao or a kimono, leaning into Asian stereotypes. 

While Orientalism portrays Asian women as sexual beings, who are seen as particularly dangerous because of their influence on the libidos of White Men, it veers towards a lack of desirability in Asian men. The sexual interest of Asian men is portrayed as inherently predatory of white women, a danger from which white women must be rescued.

What would this mean, then, for an Asian Queer Man, who is a romantic interest of Superman?

Jay Nakamura and “The Pink Hair Connundrum”

Talia’s former fluidity in her design and clothing is contrasted starkly by the clear definition of Jay’s design. Much like Lois Lane, whose assigned color is purple, Jay has been assigned a specific set of colors to make him identifiable; these being pink, orange, greens and teals.

Many of the recently introduced Asian characters have strong silhouettes and stylization. Kong Kenan is primarily red with accents of yellow and black, Xanthe Zhou’s is blue and yellow, City Boy is Black and Red. Identifiable and concretized designs are necessary to the superhero genre, where the design is essential towards cementing identity. This is in direct contrast to long-term portrayals of Talia, whose skin tone, color scheme and styling varied with great frequency. 

Jay’s design competes in vibrance with the primary colors of the Superman suit. This raises issues because the Asian Love interest is visually not subservient to the White Hero. The muted colors expected of any romantic interest is not present here, which immediately creates tension.

His design adheres to typical fashion choices in queer culture. The stereotype of a ‘pronoun haver with dyed’ hair has run rampant in recent years. While queerphobic individuals denigrate these features as something lesser, the queer community gravitates towards alternative design choices which turn eyes for a purpose. The LGBTQIA+ community uses alternate clothing, colors, and fashion pieces to mark themselves and their identity within the community, mainly to signal to other LGBTQIA+ individuals of their presence (Flags and Fashion: Expressions of Solidarity through Lesbian Clothing, Eleanor Medhurst). It is a form of solidarity.

Heteronormativity is defined by a set of social rules imposed on varying aspects of culture, from language to clothes, and the replication of these enforces what is ‘normal’. The fashion choices of the LGBTQIA+ community defy these rules despite efforts by these imposed social norms to police them. The heteronormative majority see it as their duty to correct these transgressions in hair color, clothing, speech, etc.

But, following these normative rules means the marginalized individual would have to put in extra labour to conform– to not be judged and refused. The queer person is expected to do this additional labour, and it falls to the marginalized people to negotiate within themselves the extent of compromise they must make for their own identity to fit into their environment (A gay reflection on microaggressions, symbolic normativities, and pink hair Aleksi Soini). The normative people are never challenged.

It is up to the LGBTQIA+ individual to prove themselves as ‘normal’. 

Solini’s article recounts a moment where a coworker of his stated, “‘You're okay; you're not one of those over-the-top faggots with bleached hair”. Heteronormativity functions in binaries. You are male or female. Similarly, you are straight or gay. There is of course, in the name of inclusion, a “normal” gay, and an “abnormal” gay.

Jay Nakamura would be considered the latter, because his character design is a representation of someone who takes no efforts to conform to heteronormativity. 

In the context of Superman: Son of Kal-El, he is a reporter who wants attention so that he may redirect it to protect refugees. He purposefully stands out with his chosen orange and green hoodies. His ability to stand out is a direct attack against the narrative created by the colonizer of his country, Henry Bendix.

Henry Bendix kidnapped Jay and his mother, Sara, to silence them. Sara was the former president of Gamorra, and ran against Henry Bendix in the previous elections. Bendix abducts these two in an effort to silence the call for the freedom of Gamorra. Jay is one among hundreds who are experimented on, essentially enslaved under Bendix’s command— a clear effort to erase their identities. It is implied his hair turned pink due to the experiments, since he has black hair in an alternate universe where Bendix did not colonize Gamorra.

His hair is a symbol of resistance within the story itself, since he gained it after surviving long periods of experimentation. On a metatextual level as a queer character, he represents the LGBTQIA+ tendency to transgress heternormativity. Subversion is an act of resistance. 

The aesthetic of “Superman and Lois Lane” appeals to conservative values, and this is often used to push the image of a perfect American Nuclear Family, leaning towards the stereotypes of yesteryears where ‘traditional values’ reigned supreme. Superman 2016 leans into this, the setting is an idyllic countryside village known as Hamilton. Lois Lane, defined as a career woman and intrepid journalist is confined to the home, and Clark is seen primarily around the farm. They are both removed from their profession meant to symbolize the protection and distribution of truth. Their clothing abides by these as well. Lois wears athleisure, tight tops and leggings, found in muted pinks and purples, as opposed to her rumpled office formals. Clark is often seen in flannel tops, jeans, and jackets, primarily in reds and muted blues and browns. Visually, they are meant to conform to the binary established by heteronormativity. The primary colors of the Superman suit are shown in tandem with the American Flag. There is space made for color, but only as long as it conforms.

Jon and Jay’s story is firmly set in the city of Metropolis and constantly circles the idea of truth, journalistic integrity, and propaganda. His unnatural hair and bright clothing stand in stark contrast to Superman 2016, disrupting the aesthetic rules of heteronormativity in the fabric of the Superman story.

The clear definition of his color story, as an Asian man, a queer man, and a love interest, creates tension within the world of comics.

Espionage and Distrust of Asian Characters.

As established previously, the World Wars, colonialism and the eugenicist taken on evolution embraced by the Western world in the 19th century led to a deep suspicion of anyone of East Asian descent. 

The belief in the shrewdness of Asian characters is reflected in the characterization of those like Talia. Talia is portrayed as having deeper meaning in all her actions. She leaks information to the heroes in ‘Tower of Babel’. In her time as the CEO of LexCorp, she sold all the assets to Bruce Wayne though she was portrayed as a villain. Her character is frequently presented as untrustworthy, and readers are made to question her every move. This is further reinforced by these double-crosses and information sharing. Similarly, Cheshire and Catman’s relationship in Secret Six is defined by deep distrust, Cheshire toys with Catman by hiding information and shifting loyalties depending on what is advantageous to her. Simone often comments on her sexual appeal being dangerous, and the ways in which she uses a character’s unwillingness to trust her to further intrigue and disseminate information.

As an Asian journalist, a refugee, and a recently-introduced love interest, Jay is in a position which raises anxieties in the common American comic reader who has been trained to distrust the idea of information in the hands of such an individual. The established tension arising from his character design motivates readers to uphold such suspicion.

The text of the story makes it explicit that he admires Lois Lane, and his position as the journalist love interest of Superman calls for parallels with Lois. His monicker, The Truth, is directly derived from the Superman slogan, ‘Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow’. Yet, there is fear that he is manipulating Jon.

The fight between the Axis and Allied powers led to a deep mistrust from the American against Japanese immigrants and American-Japanese citizens. General John L. DeWitt’s statement regarding the Japanese immigrant population summarizes the sentiments in this time:

Sinophobia continued to flourish, and was worsened with the accusation and trial of Wen Ho Lee, a naturalized American Citizen from Taiwan, who confessed to reporting classified information regarding nuclear weapons in America to Chinese scientists while visiting Beijing. The truth of this accusation remains contested, but the confession and sentencing led to the intensification of distrust in Chinese people.

The country of Gamorra is located in Asia, and is located south of Japan. It was created initially by Korean writers Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. Gamorra was colonized by those of Japanese descent, and it can be surmised it is an allegory for the colonization of Korea by the Japanese Empire. This history is not reflected in Superman: Son of Kal-El, and readers would identify Gamorra as vaguely Asian.

Though the Yellow Peril targeted various countries in different manners, xenohpobia and orientalism affected Asian populations on a similar scale. It was specifically, “the Whites” against “the Others”. The ambiguity of Jay’s Asian origin makes him a potential target for a combined imposition of stereotypes from varying Asian cultures.

The overall effect, is that in fiction, the Asian Lover cannot be trusted with information.

Seduction, Hypnotization and the threat of Sexuality

Morality Panic around the sexuality of Asian bodies has existed for centuries. The British population characterized Chinese immigrants as morally depraved, defining them as opium smoking individuals who indulged in gambling and prostitution. Setting aside the fact that the cause of the opium distribution in China was due to the British, and the first of the Opium Wars were fought because the Chinese government took measures to get rid of opium, the presence of Chinese populations in Britian was in defiance of the colonial mindset.

An increase in immigration occurred during the World Wars, and White Women grew more independent through the job opportunities created during this period. The reluctance of White Women to conform to the patriarchy and the increase in immigration, led to rumours of helpless white women being lost in the Limehouse streets, victim to the “moral depravity” of the Asian Man.

Sexuality has always been a source of control in the heteronormative patriarchy. The binary of male and female is defined by the subservience of women, sexually, to men. Specifically, white men. A loss of control in this sexuality for the White Man is a threat.

Cheshire, Lady Shiva, and Talia are portrayed as using their sexuality to weaken their White Male opponents. She is a threat because she results in a loss of control over libido, she weaponizes it against the White Hero. He falls victim to his sexuality, and is seen as helpless to these ‘charms’ and a hapless victim. Grant Morrison takes this much farther with Talia and Bruce, wherein she is implied to have sexually assaulted Bruce Wayne. The metaphor of sexuality as a weapon becomes that of overt assault, the stereotype stretched to its extreme. Cheshire’s seduction is shown as dangerous, and Thomas Blake is weakened drastically around her purely due to his attraction towards her. It seems her mere existence is a devastating blow. 

While the Asian Woman is a sexual object, one who seduces, a temptation which cannot be refuted, the Asian Man is portrayed as deeply undesirable and sexless. Anti-immigration laws, exclusion, and the deep history of Orientalism and Xenophobia ostracizes the Asian Man from American Masculinity, creating the “American male” and the “other”, thus stripping Asian Men of their masculinity. Due to masculinity being defined by sexuality, the othering of the Asian Man leads to an assignation of sexlessness (Park, M. (2012). Asian American masculinity eclipsed: A legal and historical perspective of emasculation through US immigration practices. Mod. Am., 8, 5).

They are feminized, portrayed as undesirable. Which leads to the stereotype of The Seducer, a byproduct of the Yellow Peril. Due to the perceived lack of desirability in Asian Men, their sexuality is instead portrayed as inherently predatory. Shanghai Express(1936) and The Cheat(1915) portray Asian Men as sexual predators victimizing white women, who must be rescued by the White Heroes. The Limehouse district of London were fear mongered as places where the Triad Gangsters would kidnap White Women and force them into sexual slavery (Witchard, Anne (4 February 2015). "Yellow Peril: Sinophobia and the Great War: a Q&A with Dr. Anne Witchard".).

Jay is a queer man, desired by a white man. On many occasions, Jon has initiated physical intimacy with Jay. White men, as we’ve seen before, are seen as victims of their libidos. But Asian men are sexless. A white man could not possibly truly desire for the Asian body, especially not for the Asian male body. The impositions of the aforementioned stereotypes in fiction have led to a disbelief in the existence of such a relationship configuration. Jay does not conform to the aesthetic of the Asian seductress, or of a feminization of any sort. Rather, he has glasses, fitting more into the Asian Nerd stereotype, which emerged from the demasculinization of Asian Men.

It is difficult for a comic reader, who has been hammered down with the idea of seduction, temptation and subterfuge around the Asian sexuality, to see Superman fall for an Asian boy with glasses, free of external manipulation. Jay with pink hair and a distinct lack of revealing outfits or overt sexual advances must then, therefore, be using some unseen and undetectable force, more sinister than can be imagined, shifting into the realm of the magical.

Whatever the explanation, it surely cannot be an honest desire.

And so it veers into speculations of seduction. Many had hilariously proposed that he had used pink kryptonite with sincerity. Plenty had examined the swirl-like pattern behind Jay in a singular panel to mean that he had used hypnosis. His joke about working with Lex Luthor to tease Jon was used as a confession of his crimes, and his plans were always to expose Jon's vulnerabilities. On and on they went

The label of ‘terrorist’, journalism, and the perception of refugees

This, is sensitive. I have often hesitated to speak about this to anyone due to how fresh the topic is, how real the violence of this can be. It is no secret, that the United States labels the populations it wishes to exploit or eradicate with the label of ‘terrorist’. The invasion of Iraq, the current unchecked occupation of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and the dismissal of Yemeni efforts to support the aforementioned countries is due to the labelling of a fight for liberation, for freedom, as ‘terrorist activity’. Heradstveit and Pugh put it best;

One of the primary ways in which a government increases its legitimacy and induces its population to support it above and beyond what their own interests dictate is by assimilating the concepts of ‘opposition’ and ‘crime’. It goes without saying that governments are meant to act against ‘crime’, at any rate crime committed by their less powerful subjects, as this is part of the definition of a government.

They propose that the label of ‘terrorism’ can cover anything from guerilla warfare, armed resistance, any form of political opposition, even those which are non-violent and can be classified as vandalism. Any action in opposition to the locus of control, is classified as terrorist activity.

Comics reflect reality, as mentioned at the beginning. Jay does the same in his journalism. The second issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El, portrays Jay reporting on a Gamorran refugee boat, which was sinking on its way to Metropolis. These are the first bits of dialogue we hear from Jay. He is aligned with an anarachist group called ‘The Revolutionaries’, who undertake armed violence in a fight for liberation. Batman puts the label of criminality and specifically, of terrorism, into the reader’s minds.

This is meant to be refuted, and it is within a single issue. But the readership saw it as confirmation of their suspicions arising from the previously mentioned points, while ignoring the critique on the US government. Jay’s position as a disenfranchised refugee is entirely forgotten, despite the text repeating his position at varying points. 

The seeming confirmation of the Asian seductress, of subterfuge, always takes precedence.

Superman comics have often been used to empower people. Superman’s story is inspired by Jewish myths and lived experiences. His status as an illegal immigrant has been covered across multiple mediums. He has smashed the Klan, he has helped free an enslaved world, he has helped people through their trauma, he has defended immigrants trying to find safety, assured queer children that they are loved and accepted, he fights corrupt billionaires who exploit the common folk. 

Jay’s story contributes to the same values, but he is dismissed purely on aesthetics and race. 

It is important to evaluate why certain characters make us uncomfortable. What elicits this reaction? What is the source? I would never urge someone to like a character, this is subjective but it is important to analyze where our biases can come from. Sometimes it is as harmless as being unable to relate to a story. On other occasions, it can be rooted in something as insidious as this. 

If you would like to make Jay a villain, or any hero into a villain for that matter, ask why.

[martinblackwoodhater]

Unpopular opinion: the worst thing about Martin are his fans, especially the ones who mis-characterize him

this is actually a very popular opinion for most people who can at the very least fathom the concept of hating martin. i also think it's the wrong opinion.

People always like to complain about other fans because then they can cast blame onto some like nondescript entity and like a strawman of martin mischaracterizers so that they can ignore martins actual flaws as a character and ignore how much of a puppet he is as a character and how he flip flopped so limply yet extremely in s5 purely due to the actual writing

Martin was, in my opinion, kinda a bad character, but people don't actually talk about that they cast the blame away from the writing and instead to the ghost of a concept of evil martin misunderstanders so that they can feel more intellectually superior in their own interpretations when the character can't even really hold that much weight by himself without the people projecting onto him purely because of the way the writers clearly didn't really understand where to truly go with him.

He was kind of a shell of a character by the end, just a distorted husk of his potential as a character, no more than a weird hypocritical confusion of ideas and ideals and motivations without real clear direction or purpose other than exposition and the idea of a romantic relationship with Jon and maybe some semblance of overinflated humanity he's still getting snappy and overdefensive and territorial about ((because he thinks it makes him superior to Jon and everyone else)), but even that wasn't really interesting 🙄

[bellysoupset]

I'm getting a migraine and jonah's my favorite character so would it be possible for him to have a head injury or a migraine for him to join my suffering

I'm sorry you feel so bad anon! I hope you're feeling better by now 💕 here's some tortured Jon for you. Mild spoilers for Mikey 17

---------------------------------------

"We are going to be late," Leo grumbled, zooming around the apartment to grab his wallet and car keys, "c'mooon, Jonah, your hair is fine!"

"It's a little flat on the top," Jonah pouted, walking out of the bathroom and fixing his jacket, still trying to fluff up his hair with his fingertips.

"You look great," Leo reassured him, planting a hand in the middle of his back and pushing his fiancé out of their place. Jonah was frowning as they got the elevator, but Leo paid him no mind, checking again the theater's schedule. They'd miss the trailers at the start of the movie, but hopefully not the intro...

"I'm excited, I'm hearing great things about this movie," Leo drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, speeding a little, "amazing cast too..." He fully expected, and even hoped for, Jonah to scoff and say that he didn't like Robert Pattinson, but all he got was silence.

Leo bit down his lip, letting out a huff, "don't sulk, you can pick the next one, baby," he promised, stealing a glance in Jonah's direction. His boyfriend, still sullenly quiet, shook his head.

"I'm not sulking," he pressed his forehead to the closed car window, "I have a headache."

"As in vert-"

"No, just a headache," Jonah frowned, closing his eyes, "I'll be fine, I took a Tylenol before we left."

"Aw," Leo felt a stab of guilt for not realizing it earlier, as well as a swell of disappointment at the thought of them missing the movie. Because movie theaters hated him, Mikey 17 was playing almost nowhere now... "do you wanna go back home...?"

Jonah let out a huff, a smile tugging the corner of his lip, "can you sound more like a kicked puppy?" He teased, the rubbed his forehead, "I'm fine, I'm sure it'll stop soon."

"Alright," he brightened up at the prospect, fully hoping Jonah was feeling better soon so they could properly enjoy the movie. In sympathy, Leo turned down the music and stayed quiet the rest of the drive.

He had bought the tickets online, so Leo was going through his phone, as Jon guided the way as they entered the mall and power walked to the third floor where the Cinemark was.

"Do you want to get popcorn?" Leo asked, not glancing up from his phone as he struggled with their damn app to get the tickets. What a horrible app, "or soda?"

"A water," Jonah's voice was clipped and the blonde glanced up from his phone, not missing the way his boyfriend was grimacing.

"Jon," he said, more gentle now. Fuck the movie, he didn't look well, "baby, let's go home. This movie is coming out on digital in two weeks, it's fine-"

"No," Jonah shook his head stubbornly, "I'm fine, really. Headache is almost gone..."

Yeah, right. Leo didn't believe him and he eyed his boyfriend skeptically, but opted for not pushing it. He was a grown men, if he wanted to suffer with a headache for two hours, Leo really couldn't do much about it.

He bounced his leg nervously as they stopped by the bomboniere, so Jonah could get his water and Leo a large popcorn bucket. They were absolutely going to miss the first five mins...

"Ah, he's dreamy," Leo teased, whispering, as they walked in and got in their seats. The actual room wasn't packed, rather empty actually, but he still didn't want to bother anyone. He pointed at the screen where Rob's character had just fallen through a thick layer of snow and was now lying on the ground waiting for death, "ideal man."

"Uh-hum," Jonah scoffed, sitting down and tugging on the back of Leo's shirt for him to sit down, "right. Bleeding and dying."

"He's not bleeding," Leo grinned, happily leaning back against Jon's side and relaxing on his seat. He spread out his legs and passed his boyfriend his water, starting to get sucked in by the movie.

Leo was fully expecting a more dramatic picture, so he was pleasantly surprised by how upbeat the movie was. It was right up his alley with science fiction and acidic humor and the blonde had all but forgotten about Jon sitting next to him until they hit the halfway mark.

The movie was loud and chaotic, the banquet scene specifically, so it took Leo a split second to realize the groan he heard hadn't come from the screen, where Mikey was getting spectacularly sick all over the place. Instead, it was coming from his right, where Jon had hunched over himself, cradling his head.

"Hey," Leo suddenly crashed back into reality, movie becoming background noise as he blinked several times to adjust his eyes from the bright screen to the dark room. Jonah had his elbows planted on his knees and he was cradling his head, whole face scrunched up.

It wasn't an unfamiliar position, Leo had seen Luke curled up like this more times than he could count, but never Jonah. Leo turned on his seat, fully towards Jon, "angel," he planted a hand on the middle of his back, rubbing up and down, "let's go home, okay?"

He expected some sort of resistance, because this was Jon, but instead what he got was another groan. On the screen, Mikey twitched on the ground, face covered in vomit. That certainly couldn't be helping, Leo thought, grabbing his boyfriend's bicep and helping him up, abandoning the popcorn bucket but grabbing Jonah's untouched water bottle.

He heard a couple whispers from the row behind them, complaining about them standing up and also snickering at the couple for leaving due to the gross scene, but Leo rolled his eyes and paid them no mind. Jonah was moving at a sluggish pace, one hand pressed firmly over his left eye, fingers curled at the root of his hair.

"Leo'hurtsss," he slurred, just as they got out through the emergency exit, "fuck...."

"I think you have a migraine, baby," Leo whispered, his voice echoing slightly in the long, empty hallway. The emergency exit was through the sterile structure of the mall, with none of the glaring colors and smells, "c'mere-" he planted a hand on Jonah's face, expecting to feel a fever, but instead he was cold and clammy.

"Want'home," Jonah's words jumbled together and he lowered his head to Leo's shoulder, pressing his forehead there with so much force the blonde stumbled slightly, "fuck'urts..."

"I know, I know," Leo rubbed his back softly, wrapping an arm around him, looking around the stone labyrinth, "let's go home, Jon..."

His boyfriend was unresponsive and Leo felt a little panicked. Jonah didn't have migraines, not in all the five years they had been together at least, so this was new and Leo couldn't help but think it might be a proceeding sign of a vertigo episode. Which meant he wanted Jon to be home as quick as possible.

"Wait," Jon groaned, just as the elevator stopped on the parking lot. He stumbled out, bracing against a concrete column, "don't-Don't feel well-"

"I kn- OW!" Leo jumped back, startled, just as Jon pitched forward and his lunch made a nasty reappearance on the ground. He hadn't even heaved!

Jon was folded in half over the gross puddle, a line of spit hanging from his bottom lip, groaning softly. The one hand that wasn't grabbing onto the pillar came up to dig at his forehead, as if he wanted to claw his brain out.

"No, angel, shh-" Leo lowered his hand gently, circling the vomit puddle and holding Jon by the shoulder, "you poor thing..." he cooed, moving his hand up his back so he could squeeze Jonah's nape, "is it hurting that much?"

Jonah nodded, sniffling, eyes squeezed shut, "burning-"

Leo worried mulled over the possibility of dragging his ass to the ER. How normal was it to get a migraine after never having one?

As if hearing his train of thought, Jon let out a pitiful, "wanna go home... Leo, please-"

"We're going home," he promised, pulling back his hands so he could open the water bottle for him, "take a sip, clear your mouth, baby."

Jonah made no movement to get the bottle, so Leo sighed and held it up to his lips, tipping it just enough to get a sip of water into his mouth, "there you go..." he mumbled, concern eating at him. Seeing Jonah this obedient and unresponsive was terrifying, "big gulp, angel."

Jon swallowed, then pitched forward with another burp, the water coming back up untouched and still clear. Leo cringed, "or throw it up, I guess..." he teased, no heat in his voice as Jonah groaned and collapsed to the side, straight into his arms.

"Leo, it'ssstoo bright..."

"Here," the blonde planted his hand over his boyfriend's eyes, covering them and feeling his whole body relax, "better?"

"Hmmm," Jonah was melting against him, going all boneless, so Leo rushed them across the parking lot, deciding he needed to get his boyfriend lying down before he passed the fuck out.

"I'msorry'bout your movie..." Jonah said, just as Leo unlocked the car and helped him into the passenger seat. The blonde rolled his eyes, planting a kiss to Jonah's temple and lowering his seat just a little so he wasn't sitting up so straight, stripping his jacket so Jon could use it as a makeshift mask to cover any brightness.

"It wasn't that good," Leo lied, kissing the top of his boyfriend's head, "we'll be home in no time, okay?"

"Mmm'kay," Jonah curled up against the door, pressing his forehead to the car's interior, "am I your ideal man now? M'dying..."

"Oh my God, fuck off," Leo let out a surprised snort, grinning, "stop talking, Jonah."

[rosemaryentombed]

i wish people didn’t act like supers struggling with moral and ethical quandaries is an affront to superman’s legacy and or ideals when superman himself is a complex onion of a man with multiple iterations that highlight different ethical conundrums depending on the time he was written in and the people who wrote him. which is to say, he is not a god that can do no wrong. same with his super extensions. kara isn’t the perfect genocide survivor who has to be milquetoast cookie-cutter politically-correct all the time bc she doesn’t wanna ruffle feathers with the american neoliberals who still consume comics regularly. kon can struggle with his super identity bc he’s a clone first, a kryptonian later. john henry irons took on the mantle as a homage to a deceased hero, and even he struggled with the mantle because the mantle is HEAVY. the idea of being a super is hard, and none of the superfamily cast look at it the same way, but they DO look up to kal el/clark kent/superman to guide them even when he struggles himself. he is their family, their brother, cousin, lover, father, but he is NOT their god.

which is to say, jon CHOOSES to staunchly uphold superman’s legacy. he chooses to look down on killing as a viable option to eliminate a threat. he’s hardheaded because his mother’s hardheaded, but his mother wasn’t born with superpowers and isn’t a biracial human-alien. i would go as far as to say jon’s the MOST conservative super in the cast, and these next few years are gonna tell us if he’s gonna CONTINUE being a hardline conservative with regards to his father’s legacy and thus ruin his relationship with jay and continue to alienate himself from his peers, OR if he’s gonna learn to flex and apply nuance as he moves forward.

and i don’t wanna hear nobody else whining about supers in the secret six, when kon and the suicide squad have had history since his foundational stories. you can’t pick and choose when your morally ethical super works and doesn’t work. clark was a military guild member under zod during new krypton bc they wanted more drama when he was initially conceived to be of the Dalit/labor caste/guild. sam lane committed genocide. clark knew kon was being preyed on older women but looked the other way because he wasn’t his responsibility despite them both being supers. our good guys can do stupid shit. it builds character. after nakamura shoots nia nal and jon kent in the tiddies after he catches them in bed together, jon will get his glowup too

[lysistratawrites]

lioness.

the treasure of house lannister may not rest untarnished for long.

Pairing: Original female! Lannister x Jaime Lannister

A/n: Why the idea of four Lannister siblings seems that interesting? 🤔

Rate: Teen (+13)

Certainly, Jon Arryn’s funeral had been far from what she expected to change the court’s atmosphere. Such a grotesque death only deserved the show his perturbed widow managed to throw, the memory still clinging to the minds of the witnesses, the fair lady beside him between them.

“It is better for you to stay here.”

“Cersei may need me.”

A hum escapes his lips as they both make their way along the gardens of the Red Keep, far from prying eyes; what could go wrong in a simple stroll with his beloved sister?

“You will be safer here. Besides, I doubt you want to see Robert praising the virtues of the Starks… I sometimes wonder how well did they read that brute…”

A soft giggle escapes her lips, and he decides it is the sweetest sound the keep has heard in ages.

“I received a raven from Father early this morning” her sweet brow furrows as she speaks, her hands clasped at her front, and he can’t help but think that their ideal peace will shatter into tiny little pieces sooner or after. “He wants me to be his heir, and is looking for a man for me to marry to and rule from Casterly Rock when he dies.”

Jaime clenches his jaw, trying his best to hide his feelings. “I will find a way to keep you close,” he promises, though the weight of his words presses heavily upon him. They had found a sort of happy system, the four of them, with his sweet little sister being the anchor to cement it all, even Cersei had grown used to ignore the presence of Tyrion waddling around court, and now the urgency to defile the little lioness threatens to destroy it all. “Has he told you about any potential husband?”

She shakes her head, her golden curls bouncing with the movement. “But you know Father,” she sighs, “he already has someone in mind, someone powerful, or at least convenient to our cause.”

Whenever he looks at her, he can’t help but remember the late lady Joanna, the pride of the West, the apple of their father’s eye. The last time he saw lord Tywin clearly happy was before his lady wife passed away. He wonders if Tywin hopes to see a reflection of his lost happiness through the presence of his youngest cub back home.

“I can try and make him consider some names if you want” he tries to not sound as worried as he is, because the mere idea of being separated from Meredyth Lannister breaks his heart. “Maybe Addam Marbrand can make a good husband, and our house can get close to Ashemark again.”

His sister looks at him thoughtfully, her emerald green eyes distant as though weighing the future. "Addam Marbrand is strong and loyal," she admits, crossing her arms. “You have always been friends.” In her gaze, Jaime can spot uncertainty and a flicker of hope. "I trust your judgment, brother," she decides finally.

Surely Addam could be a nice election, they know each other since they were mere lads and their trust has only grown over the years, but a feeling of unsteadiness takes him by surprise. Is his friendship with Addam truly strong enough to transform into family ties, or is this path fraught with risks that they cannot foresee?

A hint of jealousy stings him deep down. The mere idea of any man claiming a place in Meredyth's life makes his chest tighten. He had more than enough with Cersei being pushed by that brute of Robert Baratheon, he realizes in that moment that he may never be ready to know about any man putting his hands over his sweet little sister.

His thoughts whirl in the silent storm of his mind as he watches Meredyth move besides him, her green skirts carefully caressing the ground beneath her feet, the afternoon sun casting gold across her hair. The tranquility of the moment seems almost mocking with the maelstrom inside Jaime's head.

“At your return, be sure I will ask you about every detail from the journey” Meredyth's voice breaks through his conflicted thoughts, her words teasing yet laced with fondness.

If only she would have been the eldest instead of Cersei… He often thinks about how different things might have been, how that fool of Rhaegar may have chosen her instead of Elia Martell or Lyanna Stark, how he could have been her sworn protector and have cradled her sweetly in his arms every time they met beneath the shadows of the court. The world would have seemed a little less daunting with her by his side.

“At my return you may already be betrothed to any man Father finds suitable” he mumbles, almost gritting, his tension escaping through the tense grip around the hilt of his sword. Meredyth chuckles softly, dismissing his worries with a gentle wave of her hand, and he can’t help but feel sorry for his little lioness, delicate and resilient, forever entangled in the web of politics spun by their father. Yet beneath her laughter, Meredyth's eyes betray a flicker of understanding, an unspoken acknowledgment of their shared reality.

“The truth is that I will miss you. I will certainly miss the gardens, debating with Tyrion over anything, listening to your stories," she confides, her voice laced with a hint of wistfulness. "And I will certainly miss our walks.”

"I will miss those too," he admits, his voice barely audible over the whisper of the evening breeze, not being able to believe how that kind-hearted woman has just assumed her fate with no quarrel.

She takes one of his hands between hers, the tip of her fingers brushing his skin with a care he always missed in their sister. Her face, though smiling, holds a trace of sadness, like a shadow lingering beneath the sunlight.

“Do you think you could travel with me back home?” Her gaze lingers on him for a moment, filled with hope and an unspoken longing.

Oh, if only she would have been his twin and not Cersei…

[anthroposeen]

[tma spoilers: sasha's arc, discussion of women in tma and general spoilers for s1-5]

i wanted to do a breakdown of how the tma fandom interprets the main cast of 'protagonist' women specifically pertaining to sasha's role in tma canon and how shes viewed in the fan sphere :)

i think its interesting how sasha is almost universally liked by tma fans when she was a very short-lived character with just about no screen time. its obviously tied to the fact that sasha was considered an ally by jon and the other original staff and they take measures to avenge her in some regard- this is perpetuated as shes painted as an obvious protagonist (one of the few who arent necessarily morally grey) with no real content to prove she had bad qualities. other women in tma have a considerable amount of content (im specifically referring to those working in the archives or having a large role in jon's life: georgie, melanie, basira, and daisy) which lets the audience see them in a more multi-faceted light. we see their rights and wrongs through jons eyes, and since they have more canon content, obviously they're more complex characters and they serve more nuanced narrative purposes. at the end of the day, sasha's use as a character was to drive the plot with a significant death and inspire a revenge or depression in the other characters, and she served this role perfectly. jon avenges her twice in s5 alone (smiting the not!them and then cursing her name at jonah) so we know she was very important pre-s1, but as the audience we just dont get to see that depth to her.

theres also the internalized misogyny that fandoms often have; sasha was the main and only female role in s1 (not counting gertrude since shes dead) and her relationships largely revolved around men. all of her coworkers were men, and we know they admired her. we know she was friends with them all individually and also glued them together in group settings. she had a "will they wont they" relationship (his words of course) with tim, and she was the character that introduced us to michael. the other more fleshed out women of tma had relationships largely revolving around other women. melanie and georgie were partners, melanie had moments were she was friends with basira, and basira and daisy came into the series as a package deal. when these characters are given the choice between choosing to help jon or choosing to help the woman closest to them, they dont choose jon. obviously this can rub the audience the wrong way, but it also showcases a loyalty to the idealized fanon interpretation of a woman over the canon multi-dimensional women we dont need to extrapolate on.

i get that its easier to like a female character when she's a protagonist who supported the male lead; and bonus points if shes such a vague character that anyone can paste their interpretations onto and it cant be "disproven". of course its sexier to leave things up to the imagination, but it just irks me to see people fawn over a (please forgive me) one dimensional character when more complex women exist in canon. people have the tendency to beg for flawed women in fiction then dislike them or ignore them when they get the representation they asked for. if you're willing to defend jon but not melanie, basira, daisy, or georgie, maybe ask yourself why.

disclaimer: i dont think anyone is a misogynist for liking sasha or preferring her over the other women in tma! i like both canon and fanon interpretations of her character and i wish we got to see more of her, but i do think theres something to be said about how the fandom treats her vs the other women in the cast. and i know im not at all the first to say it! i was just thinking about this as a general observation of fan content that ive seen and i dont mean to hate on anyone, their fan content, or sasha as a character!

[magnuspanoptes]

🔥 jm

i don't think i have a more unpopular jm opinion than what i already said in this post. but assuming you've read that, i don't think they should've tried their hand at writing romance because they weren't particularly good at it. which is understandable because a) not really a priority and b) the statement format held them back from doing any deeper character work for most of the supporting cast (i think they should've considered going for full audiodrama after a certain point, given the kind of story they were telling) so the way i would've written jm past s4 is that jon fails martin in MAG 159, he's taken by the lonely. my reasons for this are that i was certain they were doing a repeat of gertrude losing all three assistants to ruthless utilitarianism with jon failing to protect his own despite not wanting to see people as something to "watch, use, and discard", even when his immediate survival depended on such a philosophy. and later when they did the 167 curiosity episode i was also struck by the manner of their deaths somewhat mirroring's jon's era. sarah carpenter : tim - desolation; fiona law : sasha - had that element of curiosity where you finally encounter something you cannot get away from; emma harvey was a case of the archives being infiltrated by another fear's servant, so : not!sasha. eric : melanie - tried to leave by gouging their eyes out, and that leaves us with michael : martin. the personality + affection for gertrude and jon is obviously a deliberate writing choice, so naturally i would take this one step further. i understand now this was never going to happen because um. elias was betting on jon to be able to get out of there because of his love for martin so lol. lmao even. but i can engage in a little delusional fantasy. anyway so martin doesn't really "die" either, it's a fakeout death, but gives jon adequate motivation to go full fear mode in season five (DO IT FOR THE DEAD WIFE!), and then it's revealed that martin turned into a proper avatar of the lonely as he comes back to haunt jon in four or five s5 episodes the way michael used to (it's a proper haunting, jon thinks he's going delirious with grief). the final episode of this arc would obviously take place in martin's domain and jon goes in there with every intention to get him out. and. apologising for invoking orpheus and eurydice sorryyy but truly ideal scenario here because, you guessed it, he doesn't manage it ✌️ martin ends up being one of the avatars whose death he's (partially) responsible for. i'm a huuge divorcetragedy enjoyer so this would've been, like, the height of romance to me.

[disturbingstar]

𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥

Plot summary

On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behaviour have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

Trivia

Rosamund Pike had to gain and lose 12 pounds three times over the course of a 100-day production to play Amy at different times in her life.

Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman and Emily Blunt were all considered for the role of amy dunne before rosamund pike was casted.

Ben Affleck is actually nine years older than Carrie Coon, despite playing twins.

The whole play with the pens of different colors was Gillian Flynn's visual solution to the translation to screen of Amy's diary.

Kim Dickens, normally blonde, became a brunette to play Detective Boney.

Ryan Reynolds, Brad Pitt and Jon Hamn were considered to play nick dunne before ben affleck was chosen.

Ben Affleck shut down the production of gone girl for four days because he refused to wear a new york yankees cap in the movie.

“The Bar” restaurant in the movie opened as a functional bar and restaurant after filming and operated for a few years. It has since permanently closed.

Fincher decided to cast Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne because he saw a particular smile that aflleck had on dozens of pictures and realized he had the perfect suspicious look for Nick.

Breakdown

On their fifth wedding anniversary, writing teacher Nick Dunne returns home to find his wife Amy missing. Amy's fame as the inspiration for her parents' successful Amazing Amy children's books ensures widespread press coverage. The media finds Nick's apathy towards the disappearance suspicious.

Flashbacks in the form of diary entries show a complex reality and a deteriorating marriage. Amazing Amy was an idealized completion of the real Amy's failures. Both Nick and Amy lost their jobs in the recession and moved from New York to Nick's hometown of North Carthage, Missouri, to support his dying mother. Nick grew distant from Amy and began an affair with Andie, one of his students, while Amy became resentful towards Nick for uprooting her.

Detective Rhonda Boney and the forensic team find poorly concealed evidence of a struggle and profuse blood loss in the house. Boney learns of financial issues, spousal disputes, and Amy's recent attempt to buy a gun. Medical reports indicate Amy was pregnant, which Nick denies knowledge of.

On every wedding anniversary, Amy had set up elaborate treasure hunts for Nick. This year's clues appear in places where Nick had sex with Andie, thus revealing Amy's knowledge of his affair. Nick discovers thousands of dollars of items purchased with his credit card hidden in his twin sister Margo's woodshed. Amy's clues lead authorities to a half-burned diary documenting her growing dread of Nick and ending with a genuine fear that he will kill her.

It's revealed that Amy is alive and hiding in a campground in the Ozarks. After discovering Nick's affair, Amy conceived an elaborate plan to frame him for her murder. She had him ramp up her life insurance and secretly used his credit card to buy the woodshed items. She befriended a pregnant neighbor, told her stories about Nick's temper, and stole her urine to fake a pregnancy, thus eliciting media sympathy after her disappearance. She wrote a diary with increasingly fabricated entries and placed incriminating evidence in the treasure-hunt spots for the police to find. On the morning of her disappearance, Amy drained and splattered her own blood across the kitchen and then cleaned it haphazardly. Her original plan was to drown herself after Nick's arrest and have her body found to ensure his death sentence.

Nick deduces Amy's scheme, convinces Margo of his innocence, and hires lawyer Tanner Bolt, known for representing uxoricide suspects. Nick meets two of Amy's ex-boyfriends: Tommy O'Hara claims he was framed for rape by her after he ended their relationship; wealthy Desi Collings, against whom Amy had filed a restraining order for stalking, turns Nick away.

When Amy's campground neighbors rob her, she calls Desi for help, convincing him that she fled Nick's abuse. Desi agrees to hide her in his lakehouse. Bolt convinces Nick to reveal his affair on a popular talk show, thus seizing the narrative initiative from the media. Andie reveals the affair at a press conference shortly before the show, but Nick insists on conducting the interview. He affirms his innocence and feigns regret for his shortcomings as a spouse, knowing that Amy will be watching.

The interview is a success, garnering widespread sympathy for Nick. However, Boney has already gathered enough murder evidence and arrests Nick and Margo. Bolt bails them out, and they brace for the impending trial. After watching Nick's interview, Amy rekindles her attraction to him and spends weeks crafting her escape story. Using lakehouse surveillance cameras and self-inflicted wrist and vaginal injuries, she makes it appear that Desi kidnapped and raped her. She then seduces Desi, slits his throat during sex, and returns home covered in his blood, thus clearing Nick of suspicion.

Medical examiners lend credence to Amy's story. During questioning, Boney probes her inconsistencies, but Amy spins the focus onto Boney by calling her incompetent. The FBI believes Amy and closes the case, but Boney gleans Amy's guilt. Upon returning home, Amy tells Nick the truth, admitting to Desi's murder. She states that Nick pleading for her return on TV is the one she wants and the one who inspired her forgiveness. Nick shares this with Boney, Bolt, and Margo. Despite unanimously agreeing that Amy is guilty, everyone acknowledges a lack of evidence. Bolt wishes Nick well and returns to New York.

A televised interview takes place in their home seven weeks later. Anticipating Nick's intention to leave her and publicly expose her story, Amy reveals her pregnancy minutes before the interview, having inseminated herself with Nick's sperm from a fertility clinic. Nick reacts violently at first but feels responsible for the child and ultimately decides to stay with Amy, despite Margo's despair. The “happy” couple announces on television that they are expecting a child.

[jbaileyfansite]

Jonathan Bailey is always booked and busy!

The actor, 36, rehearsed a large musical number for Wicked while simultaneously filming Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers.

“I’ve got videos on my phone of me practicing on long-haul flights," Bailey says in PEOPLE's new special Wicked edition of practicing his character Prince Fiyero Tigelaar's big ballroom number, "Dancing Through Life," amid his other projects.

At one point in his travels, Bailey was even met with a circumstance less than ideal for his royal role, as an airline lost his luggage while he was traveling from Canada.

Leaving him with just the clothes on his back, Bailey did, however, still have access to Fiyero’s magic dance boots, which were in his carry-on.

Wicked, the upcoming film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, stars Ariana Grande as Glinda, opposite Cynthia Erivo, who portrays Elphaba. (The musical’s original Broadway cast included Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the roles, respectively.)

Others who are featured in the project, directed by Jon M. Chu, include Ethan Slater as Boq, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Bronwyn James as ShenShen.

Bailey tells PEOPLE that his character "has that golden glow of privilege where everything comes to him so easily that the most interesting thing for him to do is to rile everyone up."

"He’s never really met anyone who challenges him," continues the star, who landed his first job at age 7 in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of A Christmas Carol and has since appeared on dozens of stages, including the 2019 gender-swapped production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, for which he won an Olivier Award.

Source

[bikkue]

Posted this on Twitter, might as well post it here 🤷‍♀️

Conclave, The Musical hypothetical casting (1rst draft) -- LET'S GO

(any new input is welcome)

Cardinal Thomas Lawrence - John Owen-Jones

Cardinal Aldo Bellini - David Hyde Pierce

Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco - Nico Di Crescenzo

Cardinal Joseph Tremblay - Dennis O'Hare

Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi - Adrian Lester

Sister Agnes - Donna Murphy

Cardinal Vincent Benitez - [Ideally they should choose an unknown actor much like the movie did, but...] Jon Jon Briones

[mastergeeka]

I’m coming up to about a year of being a NRB fan which means we’re almost at a year since it all went to hell, shall we say. Brilliant timing on my part, thanks so much Universe. But because how much time has passed, I want to take a look back on everything. Time gives a new perspective as they say. Also, I'll be real, I've had these thoughts in my head for months at this point and I need to get them out.

By the time I was seeing information about the situation, I was already like a third of the way through binging everything the channel had ever made. My real life was going through a particularly rough patch and I was definitely using NRB videos as escapism. I ended up deciding that the videos were a source of joy that I needed at the time and since Adam had left and Carley wasn’t appearing on the channel, no matter who was lying vs. telling the truth, my watching of the videos that already were posted would not greatly benefit or punish any involved party so until more details came out, I just tried to ignore the situation. I basically tried to live in a world where both parties were innocent until proven guilty and it was just a really sad misunderstanding or that it never happened at all.

The word “tried” in all those statements is doing a lot of work. Most of the time it worked and I was able to escape reality for a bit, but sometimes my brain would say something like “Am I a bad feminist for not immediately believing the woman, do I just want her to be wrong subconsciously and that’s what’s making me waver? The rule of thumb is believe victims when they speak out”,

“But the ideal of believing the woman/victim doesn’t apply here, no victim has come forward, Carley is just saying that she heard about it and maybe Carley’s just been misinformed or she could be making up rumours. I want to believe that a person can redeem themself and if he took accountability the first time, surely that deserves some credit? That’s what we want people to do after all, take accountability and grow, so we should reward that behavior with trust”

“Sure, but be realistic here, what does your own life experience say is more common and therefore likely with this sort of thing. Don't be naive” and those voices would go at each other, back and forth until I gave up and went to do work or something. So the silver lining there is that at least this kept me from slacking too much. Isn’t that something? I give all this preface to show that this situation isn’t something I’m taking lightly.

Now that I’m in a better place in my real life, I decided I should actually look at everything that happened and see if I could draw any more conclusions to help satisfy the curious/nosy part of my brain. Unsurprisingly, I haven’t been able to crack the case wide open but one thing is clear, and getting clearer by the day: The rest of the cast are on Adam’s side. From the cast members unfollowing Carley, them liking Adam’s statement proclaiming his innocence and his plan for legal action, to recently Jon’s Kickstarter game having a quote from Adam on the front page. These are forms of public support that would be the safest to use if there was a legal battle happening in private.

What this means to me is: Just from a logical standpoint, whatever I believe about Adam, I have to extend it to the whole cast. I can’t condemn Adam but not condemn the rest of the cast. The rest of the cast either know the what happened or didn’t look into the situation enough before standing by Adam. That means if I believe Adam is guilty, I must therefore believe the rest of the cast is complicit and at the end of the day, I just don’t want to do that unless the evidence makes it impossible not to do so.

I really like watching the channel and I don’t want to force myself to stop watching or feel complicit in supporting bad people unless I have to. So until evidence comes out showing otherwise, I believe Adam is innocent. I have to. And if I am wrong, and I must stop watching/supporting NRB as a whole for ethical reasons, at least I gave myself a little more time to enjoy it before I have to say goodbye. Is that selfish? Yeah probably, at least a little if I’m honest, but it’s an understandable level of selfishness that I could forgive someone else for, so I can forgive myself for it, if it turns out for the worst.

And I want to also say that I still think it’s possible Carley isn’t a liar as well. This is not a “Carley is lying” post. If I’m applying innocent before proven guilty to Adam, it’s only fair that I apply it to Carley as well. I’ve tried my absolute best to keep my reasoning consistent across the board with this. I believe she believes what she said but I think it’s possible she could be wrong. And wouldn’t that be nice, if it turned out both parties were innocent and there was just a big confusion? I’ll admit it’s not the likeliest scenario, but I’m still hoping for it. Basically, the more people involved in this that are revealed to not be huge jerks, the happier I’ll be. That’s what dictating my best to worst case scenarios.

The whole reason I wanted to make this post is to remind everyone, including myself, that we as the public still don’t know much of anything. We have 4 comments on a YouTube video on one side and vague PR statements on the other. That’s pretty much it, officially. The rest is just based on how the people involved are interacting with each other and the like. That leaves a lot still up in the air and that’s really frustrating. Uncertainty is one of the worst feelings and I think it’s easier to just say Adam’s guilty and move on than to keep being uncertain about this for so long. Because if he is guilty after all that, we have to process that, on top of having dealt with the terrible uncertainty for this long so we want to “bite the bullet” now, so to speak. It’s less emotionally risky to just assume the worst now, deal with it, then push it into the past and I think there’s a significant portion of fans that did that or that are trying to anyway. The drawback there I want to point out though, is that it ignores the possibility that there is a happier ending to this. Additionally, condemning Adam but trying to stick by the rest of the cast may feel like the simplest & easiest solution at first, but it’s not a realistic one or one that works with the very few pieces of information we do have: the actions of the other cast members.

My goal with this post is not to convince people to either side. That would require me to pick a side and as I think I’ve shown, I can’t. My goal in making this post is to encourage people to keep their minds open to the possibilities out there and remind them not to jump to conclusions too soon. Because one year feels like a decent estimate to me for how long legal stuff like this lasts and I think it’s possible that people could speak freely soon. At least, that's what I'm hoping for and I want other people to have hope, too.