#What would Foucault say...

[troynovant]

me using this site as a weird semi-public diary

I'm trying to take stock of my life and it's an odd inventory. I'm 32, I have an Ivy League degree and and Ivy League Ph.D. Both, unfortunately, are in English literature. I have a job that affords me a good deal of respect in the sense of cultural capital but very little renumeration in the sense of actual capital. I am also completely at the mercy of an academic department that can, at any moment, simply not rehire me; for all I know it won't rehire me in the fall. I have enough savings to last about a year if I find myself unemployed. My employment prospects are altogether somewhere between mixed and grim. I am highly qualified for a profession that no longer exists and over-qualified for most others. I have repeatedly failed to gain any form of long-term work in my field, live with two housemates, and have to replace those housemates whenever they move out. I am materially comfortable in most other regards.

Socially, I'm really very lucky: I have lots of friends, far more than most people in their early thirties, though it's unclear if those friends, some of whom are relatively wealthy, could help me find work if things went south in my current department. Romantically, things could quite literally not be worse. It turns out, and I should have known this, that extended multi-year flirtations with men who are mostly straight and ultimately fall back upon that do not make for a satisfactory emotional life. I have almost no experience socializing with other gay men; this would have been a real surprise to me as a teenager, but my friends are, other than a few girls, primarily straight men. I take a revolting sort of pride in that even though it is at this point clearly not setting me on the path towards any sort of long-term happiness.

Physically, I think I have a nice face but am clearly out of shape. I'm proud of my hair, which is pretty healthy for a man my age even if it's thinner than it once was. You'd think, given all my hangups, that I had a weird dick or some sort of obvious physical problem but that's not the case, almost surprisingly. I have an absolute standard dick; I also have a completely crippling pornography addiction. My biggest strength, I think, is that I am smart. That sounds arrogant but I've never had much reason to doubt it. I can say the right things about books and movies and art and architecture and history and travel and even science -- I guess engineering would be my blind-spot but even then I can usually follow along. I'm good at conversation, I have character and personality, I'm not boring. People like to talk to me and I'm good with people, but this is all in the arena of socializing. I'm always a hit at parties and then spend Valentines day alone.

I know, objectively, that I could date if I wanted too -- I'm really not bad looking, and I can usually win people over in conversation -- but I'm just scared of putting myself out there. I'm scared that someone will look at me and think that I don't live up to my photos (I photograph well, basically the opposite of the more common phenomenon of a good-looking person who looks bad on camera) but my fear of rejection is equal to my fear of rejecting someone. I know, on some level, that I could never go on a date and then not go home with the other person if they were pushing for it, because whenever I'm one-on-one with someone all I can do is try to please them.

I feel like if I were to actively date I'd have to do it like this: send only the most unflattering photos so there's little chance that they'll be disappointed, get too drunk to be nervous, and just commit, in advance, to the idea that I'll pretty much do whatever they want regardless of whether or not I'm actually all that attracted to them. I think I would also have to make it a rule not to go on a date with anyone who is even a few degrees removed from me socially because I'd hate it for gossip to get back to my friends somehow -- "hey, apparently my friend went on a date with your friend C**** and he was drunk and weird and then kind of bad at sex" lmao truly a nightmare. But then, this is all hypothetical -- I'm so stuck in my ways, so unlikely to actually try. I think people around me have started to notice something -- I'm very spontaneous and open to new experiences, but only in ways that are somewhat superficial. I'll travel to new places, eat anything however exotic, wear whatever, try any drug given to me, try most things at least once, really, and yet in bigger ways my life never really changes. At the end of the day, I'll come back home on my own and maintain my little instagram account and nothing will change even if it looks like things have. At this point, I think my fear that my friends, family, colleagues etc. will think that I'm a loveless, sexless freak is exerting a stronger pressure on me than any actual desire for companionship, which is so characteristic of course -- again my priorities are just social. I've put all my eggs in the same basket, my social life, but I know on some level that my friends are all going to get married, have kids, move away, and basically grow up in the way that I seem to be incapable of.

[dickgreyson]

I wish Foucault was alive today😭😭😭

[oflgtfol]

i do have to say though he is so fun to talk to especially bc we are both the same brand of nerds ie. sci-fi movies and like astronomy/science in general. he’s an astronomer more in the earth/planetary sciences kind of way whereas i have a much heavier background in the physics side of astro and so like i get to talk to him about science, have him ACTUALLY LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND AND BE INTERESTED, while also still not having a 1:1 similarity in our knowledge. like he never took optics and he doesnt wear glasses so i was explaining to him how im legally blind without mine and like how short my near point is as opposed to his etc. like nobody else in my life is interested in this shit except for the people who i already took classes with and therefore already knows about it

[girlcalledjonny]

Should be writing an essay but I’m here reading posts about super powers and agreeing that reading minds would be the worst and thinking that I’d probably go for communicating with animals or being able to remember everything I read (including page numbers for referencing) or of course time travel but maybe the ability to change out superpowers at will so sometimes I could fly over the ocean at sunrise.

[hexagon-club]

Really fucked with me learning that when Michel Foucault first arrived at UC Berkeley his friends tried to warn him not to participate in the local gay bathhouse scene due to the risk of AIDS, but that he did it anyway because he thought that AIDS was just a social construct. And when he inevitably got infected with AIDS as a result of unprotected sex he refused treatment insisting it was a pulmonary infection, and he didn't get diagnosed until his symptoms were so bad that he was forcibly hospitalised.

"AIDS is just a social construct" sounds like the sort of thing you would make up as a parody of the sort of stupid shit a post-modernist would believe. But the most famous post-modernist in history believed it, and ended up dying as a result of that belief. And given how respected he was, other men probably also died as a result of believing what he was saying. I get that they didn't know as much about AIDS in 1983 as we do today, but it been around for a few years already, so one of the supposedly smartest men on the planet should have had enough evidence to be able to overturn the hypothesis that viruses are just social constructs.

[lsd-astronaut]

Books the LoTR characters would read:

First of all, a disclaimer: this is my own opinion and I will not care if you think otherwise. Second of all, I always gift books to my friends and family, and I've never got a complaint, so that has to count for something. I'm also putting some of my favourite books but that's just me of course ♡

Frodo:

Sloggiest classical high fantasy books you can find. Yknow these '90s fantasy books with like eleven books in a series, and each book is at least 500 pages long? He would love that.

I'm currently reading the first book of Crown of Stars (seven books baby), which is like an alternate fantasy medieval Europe, with lots of details and research done and it's super gritty and entertaining. Frodo would inhale that. The rest of the Fellowship are worried for him, they haven't seen him in days.

Sam:

Fantasy and poetry because he's cool like that.

Something not to complicated like Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and then he will surprise you by reading something super dark like Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang.

Also really likes literary fiction. Idk he strikes me as someone who would like reading about people's lives, and a plot where the action is less important than the characters evolution. Tried to read weird lit but didn't like that the main themes were rot and body fluids, it reminds him of Frodo during the Quest.

Merry:

I'm basing this on personal experience; but every time I see a cute guy either on the bus or on the Friday train, they'll be reading something like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, or something by Hemingway, which does not strike trust, and it's a bit pretentious and on the nose. Like are you really reading Marcel Proust for fun? Be honest with me, my guy, you looked gay (for legal reasons this is a joke).

He likes non-fiction. Some of the books he has are Tristes Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss; Folie et déraison by Michel Foucault; and he once even started talking about how he didn't really agree with Freud's Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. The glare that the rest of the Fellowship gave him could have killed Sauron on the spot.

Pippin:

I doubt his AuDHD allows him to read anything really dense (or maybe he hyperfixates so badly that he reads one book in less than 12 hours who knows)

Graphic novels and comics are a must in his bookshelf! Eventually becomes a Marvel brainrot fan, to the dismay of everyone else, especially Aragorn who has to pay for the merch.

YA fantasy bc I'm taking into account his age. Percy Jackson hyperfixation and that's why he's gay now (again a joke)

Aragorn:

Romantasy but not of his own volition, he is just a really good partner, and Arwen seems to me like a romantasy girlie. Poor guy has been forced to read A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Fourth Wing, and Powerless. Put the limit at Colleen Hoover (not saying that Arwen likes her either, she just likes to make Aragorn suffer like a good gf). Will deny again and again to the rest of the Fellowship that he likes any of these books, and once even drew his sword at Boromir.

Legolas:

These random ass raunchy period romance books you find on your mother's bookcase just lying there and you read them out of curiosity and end up learning about things you should not be aware of yet, and they're not even written well but you can't stop reading. Chick lit, if you want.

Has read the Bridgerton books multiple times.

Gimli:

Science fiction. Gets really nerdy about alien invasions, but it's not like he believes in any conspiracy theory of course. Legolas barely understands what he's talking about half of the time but who cares when your boyfriend is that cute.

He loves and actually understands pretty well space operas. The Final Architecture trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir are favourites of his.

Boromir:

Sports romance. HOCKEY. He just likes the whole "turn off your brain to enjoy this" honestly, he needs a break sometimes of course!

Read Vampire Academy out of curiosity and really liked it, though he does admit it and Faramir will act like he doesn't know him (it's actually a good saga I'm sorry okay)

Faramir:

This guy right here owns the entire Realm of the Elderlings book saga. It pains me to admit that he would relate a lot with Fitz.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman because he's not dead inside, okay?

Éowyn:

Really basic sorry but she is a Hunger Games girlie through and through.

Actually, I feel she would like dystopian fiction a lot. Has watched Divergent (only the first movie, the rest are trash) with Faramir more times than she can count. Faramir gets cold sweats whenever he hears something that reminds him of the movie (he knows the dialogues by heart)

Éomer:

Yes, yes, I know Rohirrim don't read or write, BUT he would own all the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. Why, do you ask? Well, purely because it's a fantasy series of mages that are Chosen by their Companions, which are white horses. And Éomer is a good ol' horse girl so what more could he ask for.

[philosophors]

“I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for love relationships is true also for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we don't know where it will end.”

— Michel Foucault

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

"Foucault is famous (or infamous) for arguing that claims to truth about a given topic are often masks for power-seeking, or are corrupted by power-seeking."

Interestingly, to me, many elitists would verbally disagree with this claim but in practice would 100% believe that because they possess truth they are entitled to some form or another of power.

The classical philosophically theist conception is that the Creator God of All is Ultimate Reality. That to be “real” is to be in God. As such it is not for the Christian to says that there is no Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality. It is a common criticism among conservative evangelicals at postmodernists that they do not believe in Absolute Truth, however this is not true for all: postmodernists who believe in Absolute Truth’s rather assert that by the time it enters the human mind it's always already mediated by subjectivity. To the Christian then this would mean that God is not able to be known (a word which in biblical theology is relational and intimate, not abstract and intellectual) in completion. This too is a traditional Christian belief: the ways of God are not the ways of this kosmos(“structured order”, commonly but unhelpfully translated “world”). Qohelet says that all is smoke, hevel, enigmatic and vain and absurd; Paul says that we see reality as if looking through a dim and cloudy glass; the apocalyptic tradition sees all of humanity as seeing through a veil (apokálupsis means “revelation” or “unveiling”). In all three cases Christians assert that, one, our perception of reality is fundamentally obscured in some way and, two, only God can reveal to us the divine perspective on the happenings of reality. As such the Christian has no reason to object when a postmodernist claims that by the time a conception of Truth has entered into the human mind that it it's always already mediated by our subjective experience looking through the veil. 

If I am right to say that God is Absolute Truth and that all of humanity’s perceptions of reality are metaphorically veiled, then it stands that Foucault is right that people who claim to possess Absolute Truth are claiming to either be or speak for God. And he who claims to be or speak for God is ALWAYS making a power move and very often is corrupted by power. Because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The only way out of this problem is to redefine, to deconstruct and reconstruct, the very meaning of the word “power” until we have a meaning of the word that is not corrupting, and, would you look at that? Jesus already did: "He who wishes to be the greatest among you must become a slave." 

This redefinition of power — as well as related concepts such as glory and honor and lordship and riches; as well as poverty and slavery and submission and service — has been a big struggle for Christianity as a religion. Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly in his book On the Genealogy of Morality, argues that there are two fundamental types of morality: "master morality" and "slave morality".

The master morality is marked by a strong will: they, the aristokratíā, the self-designated Best, are the definers of “good” and “bad” the former of which is defined based on whether it benefits them and their pursuit of self-defined personal excellence. "The noble type of man experiences itself as determining values; it does not need approval; it judges, 'what is harmful to me is harmful in itself'; it knows itself to be that which first accords honour to things; it is value-creating." 

Meanwhile, the slave morality is said, by Nietzsche, not to be a created morality but a reactionary one in response to the masters’. The slave devalues what the master values and what the slave does not have. It is nondirect and subversive, dēmokratía rather than aristokratíā, emphasizing compassion and meekness, humility and charity, freedom and equality. 

…the Jews achieved that miracle of inversion of values thanks to which life on earth has for a couple millennia acquired a new and dangerous fascination - their prophets fused "rich", "godless", "evil", "violent", "sensual" into one, and were the first to coin the word "world" as a term of infamy. It is this inversion of values (with which is involved the employment of the word for "poor" as a synonym for "holy" and "friend") that the significance of the Jewish people resides: With them, there begins the slave revolt in morals.

In case it’s unclear, Nietzsche believes this is a bad thing. 

Friedrich Nietzsche was not wrong when he called Christianity a slave religion though he was in his estimation of its value; the Early Jesus Movement was mocked as a cult of women and slaves and little children (2nd century Greek philosopher Celsus is rather infamous for this insult). In its earliest stages it was radically egalitarian; it was also deeply devoted to both political critique and non-violence from its beginnings in Galilee up until even 336 Christ Era.

But here is where I arrive at the problem, which is multifold:

A cosmic shift in the way in which we organize and structure our perceptions of reality is personally dis-easing and unnerving. 

There is no such thing as a private definition and a redefinition of power as agápē — other-centered, life-giving, intimate and sacrificial love — has immediate public (and thus political) implications. 

A religion with a slave ethic (I prefer “ethic” to “morality”) is fundamentally incompatible with an imperialized institution: when Christianity becomes the religion of Rome, either Rome must become Christian and fall into the sea or Christianity must become Roman and thus become defiled (Jesus and the apostles repeatedly condemn oppressive political powers as intrinsically demonic). Which one happened is up for debate among historians and theologians alike; I am inclined to believe that both took place.

The biggest issue however is that Christianity, religion of women and slaves and children that it is, does claim to have intimate and relational knowledge to Ultimate Reality. To put it in Hegelian-Marxist terms: Christianity is a religion of dialect between humility (God becomes a human and dies the death of a slave in order to liberate creation from its slavery to sin and death) and supremacy (it is the only way through which to access God and ergo salvation, thus making us the New Creation People while outsiders are slaves to sin and death — extra Ecclesiam nulla salus). 

Sidenote: I am using the words “Christianity” and “religion” because Modern Christianity is a religion — in fact the way we post Age of Exploration define the world “religion” is because of Christian missionaries to the Americas. In the first century it was Rome who defined “religion” and the Early Jesus Movement did not fit that definition lacking as it did anything the Romans recognized as a sacrificial system, a priesthood, a temple, etc. As such it was regarded as superstitio (what we might call “a cult”), not religio. 

Anyway, Christianity, from its very beginnings as a Jewish religious renewal movement, has had to wrestle through the relationship between having an intimate and relational knowledge of Ultimate Reality in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and knowing that according to this God “power” is defined as humility and service. This is the core source of conflict in the book of Acts, specifically the latter section on Paul: Paul is constantly getting arrested and starting riots and disturbing the peace. Why? Because he is claiming to have power, intimate knowledge of Ultimate Reality in a way that is in no way connected to other power structures. However, whenever Paul appears before an imperial power, they always come to the conclusion that, though this man is quite possibly mad, he poses no military threat. Why? Because though Paul is claiming to have power — authority, knowledge, liberty — this power manifests not by way of revolt or warmongering but by radical, extreme, seemingly inappropriate love and generosity. Which is definitely a threat in the long run, but to imperial powers seems so ridiculous as to ultimately be something to just ignore (at least in part).

This same logic can be seen articulated throughout Paul’s first (though technically second) letter to the Corinthians: the Corinthian followers of Jesus Messiah, both Jews and non-Jews, are said repeatedly to possess liberty, authority, and great knowledge as given to them by the charis (gift, grace, favor) of God. This is the supremacy side of the dialectic and the Corinthian believers revel in this. But, Paul emphasizes the humility side of the dialectic: knowledge puffs up but love builds up; those who love each other surrender authority to each other; we have been set free from slavery to sin so that we may freely be able to love God and neighbor. One gains true freedom by choosing out of love to become a slave to right relationships (tzedakah, H; dikaiosunē, G). 

And Paul himself learns this from Jesus. Dialectic is a firm aspect of the Christian tradition. To quote Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: 

“Christianity is a paradoxical religion because the Jew of Nazareth is a paradoxical character. No figure in history or fiction contains as many multitudes as the New Testament’s Jesus. He’s a celibate ascetic who enjoys dining with publicans and changing water into wine at weddings. He’s an apocalyptic prophet one moment, a wise ethicist the next. He’s a fierce critic of Jewish religious law who insists that he’s actually fulfilling rather than subverting it. He preaches a reversal of every social hierarchy while deliberately avoiding explicitly political claims. He promises to set parents against children and then disallows divorce; he consorts with prostitutes while denouncing even lustful thoughts. He makes wild claims about his own relationship to God, and perhaps his own divinity, without displaying any of the usual signs of megalomania or madness. He can be egalitarian and hierarchical, gentle and impatient, extraordinarily charitable and extraordinarily judgmental. He sets impossible standards and then forgives the worst of sinners. He blesses the peacemakers and then promises that he’s brought not peace but the sword. He’s superhuman one moment; the next he’s weeping. And of course the accounts of his resurrection only heighten these paradoxes, by introducing a post-crucifixion Jesus who is somehow neither a resuscitated body nor a flitting ghost but something even stranger still—a being at once fleshly and supernatural, recognizable and transfigured, bearing the wounds of the crucifixion even as he passes easily through walls. The boast of Christian orthodoxy, as codified by the councils of the early Church and expounded in the Creeds, has always been its fidelity to the whole of Jesus. Its dogmas and definitions seek to encompass the seeming contradictions in the gospel narratives rather than evading them. Was he God or was he man? Both, says orthodoxy. Is the kingdom he preached something to be lived out in this world or something to be expected in the next? Both. Did he offer a blueprint for moral conduct or a call to spiritual enlightenment? Both. Did he mean to fulfill Judaism among the Jews, or to convert the Gentile world? Both. Was he the bloodied Man of Sorrows of Mel Gibson; the hippie, lilies-of-the-field Jesus of Godspell; or the wise moralist beloved by Victorian liberals? All of them and more….”

Secondly, as Fleming Rutledge said, “Christianity is the only major world religion to have as its central focus the suffering and degradation of its God. The crucifixion is so familiar to us, and so moving, that it is hard to realize how unusual it is as an image of God.” He goes on to say in his book The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ that it is not merely the death of Jesus that is important but the method by which he has died. Many have written about the method of Jesus’ death but what he points out is that to speak of God’s death by crucifixion is to speak of God dying a slaves death: nameless, forgotten, emasculated, violated, dehumanized. Less than children and women. Though it was not slaves alone who were crucified, crucifixion was the main deterrent of slave revolt. For those watching the excruciating death of this carpenter hanging on a tree this was the most humiliating way to die imaginable; for the apostles after the resurrection of Jesus, the crucifixion was an enthronement as king: all four accounts of the ministry of Jesus portray his death as a royal enthronement. His message is called “εὐαγγέλιον”, that is, “good declaration” of a new king. He’s given a crown and a robe and a scepter. They bow before him and worship him. The lift him up. But it’s all backwards: a crown of thrones, a back robes in blood, reed scepter, a cross for a throne. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Our God became king of the universe and liberated creation from the curse of slavery to sin and death by dying the death of a cursed slave though he knew no sin. 

However, this paradox that power means servitude and that freedom means slavery (and vice versa) is not a dialectic tension that has been synthesized in any meaningful way by those professing to be followers of the “religion of women and slaves”.  Christus Victor (in which God becomes king and liberator of slaves by dying a slaves death) is rejected in favor of Penal Substitution (in which God is a wrathful punisher of the enslaved). Eugene F. Rogers said in his masterful work “Same-Sex Marriage as an Ascetic Practice in the Light of Romans 1 and Ephesians 5”, “In typology, earthly realities do not define heavenly realities, even if we learn earthly things first. Rather, heavenly realities redefine earthly ones.“ But we have not done that. Those who claim to believe that Christ is victor and king have completely ignored the way Jesus redefined those concepts and have instead made a god in the image of (sub)human beastly kings who conquer their enemies with violence and bloodshed. The apostolic tradition of recasting violent imagery in light of the crucifixion/enthronement of God is ignored so that we may cry that “Deus Vult”. Deus definitely does not vult. “Christian” Nationslists care about the morality of scripture when it comes to abortion or homosexuality, but they ignore the numerous prophetic oracles against idolatry of state and wealth, and the emphasis on advocating for women, foreigners, and the marginalized. Both individually and corporately we do everything we can to avoid having to live by the Sermon on the Mount. 

So it seems that Foucault was right: claims to truth are claims to power. And Lord Acton was also right: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If the Church is going to be who she was created to be — an immortal multiethnic community of other-centered, life-giving, intimate and sacrificial love — and assert true Real power over the forces of darkness, we are going to have to do as Jesus did: empty ourselves and become slaves of right relationships. For if we try to seize freedom and power, we will find ourselves enslaved to sin and death. If we willingly bond ourselves, out of love, into slavery, we will find ourselves elevated as a royal priesthood by the Most High God. 

May the favor of our God and LordJesus the Anointed One be with us. May the Lord God have mercy on us. May the God of peace crush the adversary underneath our feet. Amen. 

[magic-shop-stories]

Bts father headcannon where their child wants to become an actor/ actress and how they would react to their child being in the public eye

💌 Reply:

Hey there, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your request, I'm a bit late but I hope you dont mind and can still enjoy these headcanaons... hoping it's what you imagined and wanted. I was in the theater today and got a bit inspired (tho the play wasn't too good ...content-wise xD) Feel free to reach out again and have fun reading XO -c-

NAMJOON

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

after their high school’s production of Hamlet

his child plays Ophelia/Horatio with chilling vulnerability

he sits in the front row

clutching a dog-eared copy of Shakespeare (he’s annotated since years)

post-show, his child meets him backstage

still in costume, face flushed under stage makeup

Confession

they hand him a handwritten letter 

tucked inside a vintage copy of King Lear

note reads: “Appa, You taught me words have weight. Now I want to give them wings. Let me act. Love, Your Hamlet (Not Tragic)”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

freezes

eyes scanning the letter twice

his grip tightens on the book

knuckles whitening

voice low, almost a whisper:

“This… this is your truth?"

Next Minute

sinks into a backstage folding chair

gesturing for them to sit

“Explain. Why acting? Why now?” 

leans forward, elbows on knees

debate mode activated

After an Hour

paces the empty theater aisle

muttering quotes: 

“‘All the world’s a stage’… but the audience can be cruel.” 

stops abruptly

“You’re sure? Unshakably sure?”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts Jin at 2 AM: 

“Hyung. They’re… brilliant. Like, Shakespearean brilliant.”

sneaks into their room to watch their old play recordings

smiling at their Prince Hal monologue

Fear

wakes from nightmares of tabloid headlines: 

“BTS Leader’s Child: Nepo Baby or Genius?”

journals: “How do I armor their heart without crushing their spirit?”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“Talent is a gift. But this industry… it’s Sisyphus with a spotlight. Can you carry that boulder?”

Action

buys out a small indie theater for a private workshop

hires a Tony Award-winning coach

specialized in mentoring LGBTQ+ youth

“Learn here first. Safely.”

Two Weeks Later

creates a ”Artistic Integrity” contract with them over banana milk

“Never apologize for your craft.”

“If a director dims your light, walk. I’ll handle the fallout.”

“Grades stay up. Philosophy minors make better actors.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Education & Art

enrolls them in a hybrid Ivy League/acting conservatory program.

“You’ll need both to dissect Ibsen and survive TMZ.”

hosts Saturday Seminars

they analyze A Doll’s House

he connects it to Marxist theory

Creative Safe Spaces

builds a new home studio with soundproof walls

adds a library of plays

door plaque: “Rehearsal Room / Existential Crisis Zone.”

co-writes a modern adaptation of The Tempest 

but Prospero is a K-pop idol

“Hyungs will cameo. No pressure.”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

insists their debut is a stage play

not a Netflix show !!!

“Theater audiences respect boundaries. Mostly.”

leaks fake scripts 

to Dispatch about them playing ”a time-traveling barista”

diverting attention

Paparazzi Protocol

teaches them ”The Kim Namjoon Evasion”:

= wear oversized scarves (distracts cameras)

= quote Foucault (confuses reporters)

= summon ARMY (via a secret Social Media code)

hires a bodyguard disguised as a ”philosophy tutor”

“Sunbae will quiz you on Kant and karate.”

EASTER EGGS

Lyrical Nod

sneaks “you showed me I have reasons I should love myself” into their opening night card

Bookmark Gift

golden bookmark engraved with their childhood nickname: ”My Little Army-Princess”

Secret Cameo

appears in their student film as ”Disapproving Librarian #3”

blinks Morse code: “P-R-O-U-D.”

JIN

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

years of “living room Broadway” performances

(starring Jin as the unwilling villain and his child as the dramatic hero)

his child ambushes him during his Saturday skincare routine

they toss a crumpled acceptance letter from a prestigious acting conservatory into his lap

along with a plastic Oscar they stole from his “Dad Joke Trophy Shelf.”

Confession

Jin pauses mid-sheet mask application

“Appa. I’m doing it. For real this time. And you’re gonna cry at my Oscar speech.”

“Yah! My Oscar speech is already written! Fine… let’s hear your draft.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

gasps

sheet mask slipping off his face

“Finally! I’ve been waiting to say, ‘My kid’s the star!’ since you were three!” 

flexes in the mirror

“But I’m still the lead in this household.”

Next Minute

scrolls through the conservatory’s alumni list

“Hmm. This one did a toothpaste commercial. You’re already better.

After an Hour

forces the family to reenact “Goblin” 

dish towels as capes

casts himself as the handsome deity

“Method acting, baby! Cry like you’re chopping onions!”

EMOTIONS

Pride

updates his Instagram bio to “Proud Appa of Korea’s Next IT Actor” within 5 minutes

texts his last TV show co-star Gong Yoo: 

“Hyung. My kid’s stealing your roles. Sorry not sorry.”

Fear

secretly watches child star burnout documentaries 

mutters, “Not my baby.” 

buys 17 self-help books titled “Raising a Nepo Baby (But Make It Humble)”

Nostalgia

digs up old photos of himself in college theater

(pre-debut Romeo with tragic eyeliner)

“See? You get this from me.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You want to act? Great! First lesson: Always angle your left side to the camera. This side.” 

points to his cheekbone

Action

hosts a “Debut BBQ” with all HYBE staff

forces Bang PD to watch their student film

“Invest in this face. Future CF king!”

Two Weeks Later

creates a “Jin-Approved” survival kit

portable steamer “Wrinkles are the enemy”

script highlighters with ARMY bomb sketches

emergency Snacks labeled “For When Co-Stars Are Rude.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Coaching & Connections

co-stars in their college thesis film as a washed-up idol (typecasting himself)

“I’ll be your tragic comic relief. Again.”

drags them to celebrity golf tournaments to network

“That’s Director Bong. Laugh at his jokes. Even the bad ones.”

Public Advocacy

wears a “Proud Appa” button to their premieres

interviews himself on the red carpet: 

“Yes, they’re talented. Yes, I’m jealous.”

starts a YouTube series: “Appa’s Acting Academy”

where he “trains” them in over-the-top melodrama

episode 1: “Crying on Cue (While Eating Spicy Noodles).”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

leaks fake scandals about himself to divert paparazzi

(“Jin Spotted Buying 100 Melons”)

teaches them the “Dad Joke Defense”

when reporters ask invasive questions, respond with:

“Why did the actor cross the road? To avoid you!”

Paparazzi Protocol

hires a decoy child (a lookalike cousin) to attend fake auditions

“Let them chase the wrong Kim.”

parks a pink Lamborghini outside tabloid offices daily

“Distract them with my beauty. Classic misdirection.”

EASTER EGGS

Signature Sass

sneaks his catchphrase “Worldwide Handsome” into their character’s dialogue

“It’s method acting. My method.”

MV Nostalgia

recreates their childhood “No More Dream” parody video for their 18th birthday

“You’ve always been main character energy.”

Dad Joke Legacy

stuffs their script margins with pun annotations

“Hamlet’s ghost? More like Hamlet’s host… of issues!”

*two GIFS for Yoongi bc I just couldn't resist the first one lol

YOONGI

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

his child has secretly joined an avant-garde theater troupe

reimagining classics like Medea as dystopian tech tragedies

they win a regional competition for their role as a cyborg Medea

channeling rage through glitchy, mechanical monologues

they arrive home late one night

trophy in hand

places it on Yoongi’s studio desk beside his unreleased mixtape drafts

Confession

no words

just a playbill tucked into his notebook with their role circled in red

Yoongi finds it at 4 AM

coffee cold

stares at the stark graphic design: “MEDEA 2.0: Humanity Optional.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

eyes narrow at the trophy

flicks to their shadow in the doorway

“You’re back late. This why?” 

voice flat

tho fingers trace the trophy’s edges

Next Minute

watches their performance clip on his phone

jaw tight

“Hm. Intense. You cried here..." 

pauses the video

“Real tears or glycerin?”

After an Hour

sits at the piano

improvising a somber melody

“Medea’s a heavy first role. You understand her… or just memorized lines?”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts BTS group chat: 

“Got a kid who’s better at angst than me. Unrelated.”

saves their performance video as “track_idea_97.mp4” for future sampling

Fear

researches the troupe’s director

grilling them over coffee

“You let minors play suicidal androids? Cool. Let’s discuss boundaries.”

nightly ritual

checks their phone for burner accounts 

tracking toxic fan forums

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“Acting’s a contract. You give pieces of yourself away. Sure you wanna sign?”

Action

buys the troupe’s script rights to prevent exploitation

“Now you own Medea. Fix the ending.”

Two Weeks Later

builds a home recording booth rigged with acting software

“Practice here. No audience.”

leaves a therapist’s card on their pillow

“For when the role… sticks.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Artistic Integrity

funds a short film they co-write

a meta-commentary on celebrity culture

directs the soundtrack himself

“No autotune. Raw.”

connects them with indie auteurs who value anonymity

“Art’s not a brand. Remember that.”

Practical Safeguards

sets up a shell company to manage their projects

“Stage name: Min (name). No ties to me.”

teaches them to encrypt scripts and emails

“Paranoia’s a tool. Use it.”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

insists their debut is a voice role in an animated film

“No face, no gossip. Just talent.”

they flood the internet with AI-generated deepfakes of their “public outings” to confuse paparazzi

Paparazzi Protocol

loans them his black face mask collection

“Wear these. And hoodies. Always.”

hires a cybersecurity team to scrub their digital footprint weekly

“You exist offline. Period.”

EASTER EGGS

Lyrical Nod

samples their Medea monologue in a BTS intro track

lyrics: “Burn the script / Rewrite your own fire.”

Studio Secret

names a synth preset “(name) Fury” after their performance

uses it in Agust D’s next album

Hidden Message

etches “민 (name)” (their stage name) into his mic stand

“For luck. Don’t tell.”

J-HOPE

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

his child auditions for a modern retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" as a dancer

tho lands the role of Mercutio

after the director spots their raw emotionality during a sword-fighting rehearsal

they send J-Hope a vague text: 

“Appa, come to the Seoul Arts Center at 7 PM! Surprise! Wear something sparkly.)

Confession

J-Hope arrives in a sequined bomber jacket

expecting a dance showcase

lights are dim

his child appears onstage

delivering Mercutio’s death scene with a ferocity that leaves the audience breathless

post-curtain call, they find him backstage

frozen mid-clap

glitter tears streaking his cheeks

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

stares, mouth agape

“Wait... you?! Since when do you act?! I thought this was a dance thing!” 

voice rises an octave

Next Minute

laugh-cries

shaking their shoulders

“YAH! You lied to me! Genius! But also grounded!”

After an Hour

replays their monologue on his phone

zooming in on their face

“You got Mom’s angry eyebrows. Perfect for tragedy.”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts the members: “MY BABY’S A STAR!!!!” 

spams 50 heart emojis

Jungkook replies: “Hyung. Chill.”

buys a custom neon marquee sign for their bedroom: 

“Future Oscar Winner Sleeps Here.”

Guilt

replays old videos of them dancing together

“Did I push too hard? Was it my dream?”

Protectiveness

memorizes every cast member’s Instagram

“That Tybalt guy better not be a fuckboy.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re amazing. But why hide it? I’d have choreographed your sword fights!”

Action

drags them to a 24-hour diner

ordering pancakes shaped like Oscars

“Eat. We’re celebrating.”

Two Weeks Later

surprises them with a collab

rechoreographs the play’s fight scenes into hip-hop battles

“Mercutio b-boys into the afterlife. Yes.”

hosts a “Dance-Acting Bootcamp”

teaches them to “cry while popping” for emotional auditions

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Creative Coaching

convinces Bangtan to cameo in their student film as background K-pop idols

“Just act natural. Which is… unnatural.”

designs their red carpet debut outfit

a sequined jumpsuit with light-up sneakers

“They’ll see you coming. Literally.”

Public Cheerleading

starts a TikTok series: “Appa’s Backstage Diaries”

filming their rehearsals

trendy hashtag: #HobiRaisingHollywood

sneaks into their Zoom auditions as a “technical assistant”

mouthing “YOU GOT THIS” behind the camera

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

organizes flash mobs outside paparazzi hubs

“Distract them with my moves. Classic Hobi.”

teaches them the “Hope on the Street Evasion”

a dance combo that doubles as a crowd escape route

Paparazzi Protocol

parks a neon-green convertible outside their auditions

blasting “Chicken Noodle Soup”

“No one hears your lines over this beat!”

hires a bodyguard who moonlights as a dance instructor

“Learn the running man and self-defense in one lesson!”

EASTER EGGS

Lyrical Nod

whispers “I’m your hope, you’re my hope” before their auditions

Legacy Accessory

gifts them his iconic rainbow Gucci sweater

“For luck. And branding.”

Secret Project

drops a remix of their Mercutio monologue over a J-Hope beat

SoundCloud title: “Hope World Meets Shakespeare.”

JIMIN

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

months of rehearsing alone in their room

his child auditions for a modern adaptation of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

set in a K-pop training academy

they land the lead role of "Hermia"

a trainee torn between love and ambition

the night before rehearsals begin, they leave a script on Jimin’s pillow

highlighted lines marked

“I fear my passion will eat me alive… but I’ll let it.”

Confession

Jimin finds it after a late-night shower

hair damp, wearing his ratty BT21 Chimmy pajamas

he sits on the edge of the bed

tracing the highlighted words

his child tiptoes in

he pats the space beside him

“Come here. Let’s read your lines together.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

eyes widen, lips parting

“You’re… Hermia? My baby?” 

voice cracks

pulls them into a hug so tight they squeak

Next Minute

recites their lines back to them

improvising exaggerated gestures

“No, like this... passion, jagiya! Throw the script!”

After an Hour

sits cross-legged on the floor

dissecting the character’s motives

“Hermia’s scared? So are we all. But you… you’re braver.”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts Taehyung: 

“They’re better than me at 16. Cursed genes.” 

attaches a blurry screenshot of their audition tape

buys front-row tickets for all BTS members

“You’re our idol now.”

Anxiety

stares at their rehearsal schedule

circling scenes with intimacy coordinators

“If anyone touches them...”

wakes at 3 AM to watch documentaries about child actors

muttering: “Not my baby. Never my baby.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re made for this. But if it hurts… we stop. Promise me.”

Action

rearranges his world tour schedule to attend every rehearsal

brings thermoses of honey tea for the cast

“Hydrate. Or I’ll cry.”

Two Weeks Later

hosts a “Confidence Bootcamp” in their living room

mirror work: 

“Tell yourself you’re enough. Louder.”

breathing exercises stolen from his idol days:

“Inhale courage, exhale doubt.”

improv games where he plays an overly critical director

“Now roast me. Harder!”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Creative Coaching

coaches their emotional scenes by sharing his own struggles

“I threw up before debut. Twice. Now… look at me.”

connects them with BTS’s vocal coach for projection lessons

“Sing your lines. Own the room.”

Public Advocacy

wears a custom “Proud Appa” silk robe to their premiere

paparazzi swarm: 

“Yes, they’re mine. Yes, I’m sobbing.”

starts a YouTube series: “Behind the Curtain with Y/N and Jimin”

showcasing their rehearsals

Ep. 1: “How to Cry on Cue (Without Ruining Your Eyeliner)”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

leaks old baby photos of himself to overshadow their debut articles

“Let them laugh at my chubby cheeks. Not your talent.”

teaches them the “Jimin Evasion”: 

smile brightly, wave, then bolt

“Works every GDA.”

Paparazzi Protocol

hires a former MMA fighter as their “personal stylist”

“She does��wings and roundhouse kicks.”

parks his car outside tabloid offices with a sign: 

“Park here and I’ll serenade you. Warning: Off-key.”

EASTER EGGS

Serendipity Symbolism

gifts them a butterfly bracelet

“For when you need magic.”

Lyrical Comfort

whispers “You never walk alone” before their curtain call

Secret Cameo

appears in their play as ”Mysterious Dance Mentor”

credits list: “Special Thanks to Dad"

TAEHYUNG

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

it's their high school graduation project

his child writes and stars in a self-written play 

titled “The Melody of Lost Things”

a surrealist story about memory, identity, and a jazz musician who communicates with ghosts

Taehyung is dressed in a beret and silk scarf

he sits in the front row with a vintage film camera 

post-show, his child finds him backstage

they're clutching a folded program stained with tear smudges

Confession

they hand him a script annotated with doodles and a note:

“Appa, You taught me stories are spells. Now I’m casting mine. Let me act. P.S. The jazz ghost is totally you.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

smirks, eyes glinting

“Knew it. Knew you’d steal my artistic angst.” 

tugs them into a hug, beret askew

Next Minute

examines the script like a rare vinyl

“This line...‘ghosts hum in minor keys’...chef’s kiss. But page 32 needs more… saxophone.”

After an Hour

drags them to a 24-hour jazz bar

reciting their lines over live music

“Feel the rhythm. Now you’re living it.”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts Park Seo-joon: 

“Hyung. My kid’s writing better scripts than us. Adopt them.”

buys a theater marquee replica for their bedroom

lights it up nightly: “TAE JR. TONIGHT!”

Protectiveness

sits in on rehearsals

glaring at any castmate who flubs a line

“Yah. Respect the art.”

creates a secret scrapbook of their reviews

labels it: “Proof the World is Wrong Sometimes.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re a storm. But storms need direction. Let’s chase the lightning.”

Action

gifts them a 1930s microphone and a Gucci/Celine trench coat

“Wear this to auditions. Confuse them into hiring you.”

Two Weeks Later

co-writes a short film with them:

asilent movie about a time-traveling painter

casts himself as the mysterious art dealer

“No pay. Just exposure.”

hosts a “Vante Film Fest” in their backyard

screens their play on a projector

serving champagne in mason jars

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Creative Collaborations

connects them with indie directors who specialize in magical realism

“Tell stories that hurt and heal. Like us.”

turns their play into a graphic novel

illustrating it himself

dedication page: “For my ghost, who taught me to sing.”

Public Advocacy

wears a custom suit to their premieres

their play’s title embroidered in gold thread

“Subtle? Never!”

starts a YouTube channel critiquing their performances

“Scene 3: Flawless. Scene 4: More eyeliner.”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

invites paparazzi to fake art exhibits 

featuring AI-generated photos of their “new projects” 

“Chase this masterpiece.”

teaches them the “Vante Vanish”:

disappear into crowds by wearing head-to-toe prints 

humming “Singularity”

Paparazzi Protocol

loans them his vintage sunglasses collection

“Hide your eyes. Keep your soul.”

hires a mime troupe to follow them in public

“Distract the press with silent chaos.”

EASTER EGGS

Jazz Soul

samples their play’s dialogue in a SoundCloud track 

titled “Winter Bear: Remixed”

Legacy Accessory

gifts them an iconic blue silk scarf  

“For when you need drama… or a tissue.”

Secret Nod

names a stray cat in their play “Tata”

“BT21 cameo. Shhh.”

JUNGKOOK

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

Jungkook’s child stars in a viral school play parody of “Dynamite” 

he mistakes it for a "fun project"

months later, Namjoon visits

he spots a local theater flyer for “Macbeth: K-Hip-Hop Edition” with JK's child’s name

bolded as Lady Macbeth

he corners Jungkook mid-workout: 

“You do know your kid’s the next Lee Byung-hun, right?”

Confession

child drags Jungkook to their dress rehearsal

he sits in the back row

snacking on gimbap, until Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy

“Out, damned Spotify streams!”

= blasts through the speakers

Jungkook drops his rice ball

“…That’s you? Since when?!”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

stares blankly

squints at the stage

“Wait...you’re acting? I thought this was… dance practice?”

Next Minute

leans forward, eyes widening

“You’re good. Like, really good. Why didn’t I notice?!”

After an Hour

texts the BTS group chat: 

“Hyungs. My kid’s a genius. Am I… failing as a dad?” 

Jin replies: 

“Yes. Buy them lamb skewers.”

EMOTIONS

Guilt

rewatches every school play recording he’d archived as “cute hobbies” 

“How did I miss this? Idiot!”

buys parenting books titled “How to Not Be Oblivious 101”

Pride

forces Bangtan to watch their play via Zoom

“Hyungs, clap louder! They’re my DNA!”

sneaks backstage after shows

leaves golden star stickers on their script

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re… amazing. But why hide it? I’d have built you a Hollywood set!”

Action

turns his gaming room into a mini-theater

complete with spotlights

“Rehearse here. I’ll be your audience.”

Two Weeks Later

challenges them to a ”Act-Off”:

he performs Hamlet while bench-pressing

“Multitasking! You try!”

hires a dialect coach to perfect their English for international roles

“You’ll slay Hollywood and Korea.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Hands-On Coaching

learns stage combat to spar with them 

“Mercutio’s death scene needs more flips.”

records their monologues for his late-night gym playlist

“Motivation and pride!”

Creative Collaboration

directs their college film project

a meta-drama about idol families

casts himself as the “overprotective appa” 

“Just… act natural.”

samples their Lady Macbeth laugh in his solo track

credits: “Feat. My Kid’s Evil Genius”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

posts thirst traps timed with their premieres to hijack headlines

“Let them thirst over me, not you.”

teaches them to ”VLive Distract”:

go live eating ramen if paparazzi swarm

“Fans love noodle ASMR.”

Paparazzi Protocol

gifts them a black face mask with ”Golden Child” embroidered inside

“Wear it. Always.”

parks his Mercedes G Class outside auditions

engine roaring

“No one stalks you through this noise!”

EASTER EGGS

Golden Touch

swaps their silver trophy for a custom gold-plated one

“Only gold for my kid.”

Lyrical Nod

whispers “You’re my golden hour” before their curtain calls

Secret Signal

develops a finger heart code for crowded events

“Two hearts = I’m here.”

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Advice for Turtle Islanders

Hey everyone, I’m aware that I’m very privileged to live in a country where the government are like, regular level shit instead of Trumpian, so I wanted to help out people living in the so-called USA however I could. Here’s my advice for what it’s worth - I don’t have experience living under an authoritarian state but I have studied history and been paying attention to what everyone has been saying in the past few weeks, so I thought I’d offer some of my suggestions for how to keep yourselves and your neighbours safe going forward. It’s hard to know what to go so far as to suggest, since it’s just so unpredictable what might happen over the next few years. But in the interests of predicting every eventuality, I hope you’ll overlook any particularly outlandish suggestions. Hopefully it won’t get as far as some of these actions imply, but it’s always better to be prepared than blindsided. You don’t have to do all these things. Just do what you can, and remember you aren’t alone

-Join a labour union, go to meetings, and be prepared to strike

-Attend protests even if you think they won’t do anything. But bear in mind you will increasingly risk arrest and police brutality. Dress unremarkably, don’t take photos at protests and DEFINITELY don’t share them online

-Call your senators, congresspeople, governors, state legislators, mayors and city councillors. Continually bother them and kick up a fuss about even the smallest thing you disagree with. It’s important to keep government busy so implementing evil legislation is harder

-Set up or volunteer with a community fridge/kitchen or homeless shelter

-Knock on your neighbours’ doors and start getting to know them. If they are safe people, build relationships of reciprocity and care with them

-Read. Expose yourself to as many ideas as you can, but especially political theory, queer storylines and other subversive texts. Some recommendations:

Hope in The Dark by Rebecca Solnit

The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin

How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa

Anything by Marx, Kropotkin, Chomsky, Gelderloos, Freire, Fanon, Foucault, Harvey, Graeber, etc

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell

Pirate Care by Marcell Mars, Valeria Graziano and Tomislav Medak

No Ordinary Men by Elisabeth Sifton and Fritz Stern

Conspiracy of Decency by Emmy E. Werner

-Try to set up or join a local group in your community that discusses political or philosophical ideas, does consciousness-raising, builds connections between neighbours, provides stopgap services to desperate people, teaches people their legal rights, or some equivalent act of mutual aid or resistance

-Key in to existing activist networks for climate, racial, migrant or gender justice - attend their events, fund them, give your time

-Consider whether at some point you’d be willing to do things the government will tell you are forbidden, risking arrest, imprisonment and possibly more severe consequences further down the line. You will have to answer to your own conscience but it’s also important to try and keep safe. If you’re willing to hide people from ICE or the police, source ‘illegal’ HRT and other essential medication, lose or falsify records, help someone get reproductive care, spread forbidden ideas, graffiti or poster government buildings, hold sit-ins, occupations or encampments, key certain people’s cars, let people in or out at borders who you aren’t ‘supposed’ to, sabotage fossil fuel or military infrastructure, disrupt party conventions, withhold tax, film or take photos in places where it’s banned, conscientiously object should a draft come in, or other similar behaviours, do them quietly and carefully. Involve as few other people as possible and DO NOT in the coming days broadcast your willingness to do so. Also for legal reasons I’m joking 😉

-Pick a behaviour from the government which, if enacted, would result in you immediately leaving the country. Once they do this, get OUT. Don’t make it too small, but don’t wait until they’re rounding up journalists in the street, holding public executions or imposing military curfews either. (I’m not saying any of these things will happen, I’m just saying pick your line.) If you’re trans, this event might have already happened, in which case start the process of seeking work or asylum abroad. Do your due diligence - make sure the place you choose will be safe for people like you, and bear in mind that asylum seeking is a big step that will expose you to dehumanising bureaucracies and local hostility even in the most liberal countries

-Put together a go-bag

-Donate any money you can spare either to these advocacy groups or to people in need directly

-Be radically, aggressively kind and compassionate to everyone you meet

-If you have children or are responsible for them, talk to them about what is happening. Strike a balance between explaining to them that it’s important to stay true to our principles and making sure they know to be careful

-Take time to be with loved ones and experience moments of joy, whether this is group meals, days out, shared catharsis, birthdays, religious celebrations, making music, movie nights, whatever replenishes you and reminds you what the fight is for

-Pick an hour each day in which to engage with and respond to the news (broadcast channels, papers, social media). The rest of the time focus on your well-being, that of your family, friends and neighbours, on your job, on being kind, on your volunteering, on resisting in countless tiny ways. Unless something big and emergent is happening in which case respond and react in real time

-Seek out good news stories from your own country and the world. They are out there, I promise

-If you see an arrest or immigration raid, get your phone out and start filming. You have a right to record it

-Donate to bail and strike funds

-Spend time in nature, and learn the names of local trees, flowers, birds, mammals, fish and reptiles. Educate yourself about the natural history and ecology of your local area so you can replenish your mental health, defend your environment and remember that there is life beyond the fascist state’s delusions of total control

-Learn about and engage with your local indigenous tribes. Study their history, attend any events they put on that are open to the settler public, donate money and any supplies they might need, agitate for their rights, see if you have any land you could transfer to their stewardship, and learn some of their languages if they think that’s appropriate

-Make an effort to research and understand things that are happening abroad. The US empire thrives on isolationism, ignorance and poor education. Learn foreign languages, follow other countries’ politics, study their history, watch their films, expose yourself to their cultures and teach yourself to point them out on a map. The more you feel affinity with people across the globe, the more you are a citizen of the world and able to keep your heart safe from narratives of exceptionalism - because you’d best believe the propaganda will be targeting you too. You’re not immune to it. You have to work at resisting. Foreign news services can also help you keep a handle on what’s real if your national ones are lying to you

-Run for school board, union rep, a welfare or campaigning role on your college campus or in your place of worship, or some other small-scale local post where you can make a difference

-If you’re in a position to do so, see if you can help marginalised people receive cheaper services through your job, volunteering or advocacy (for instance offering discounted rates if you run your own business)

-Learn first aid, cooking, and basic clothing repair, and teach these skills to others. Use them to help people with relevant needs

-Pick your battles. Sometimes you might have to let smaller things slide in order to make a bigger difference later. Other times, the small things will be the thin end of the wedge and you’ll want or need to take a stand

-Wear a mask and try to keep up to date with your vaccinations

-Be ready to mobilise your community to protect vulnerable people or places from vigilante attacks, especially if there’s a mosque, immigration centre, lgbt venue or abortion clinic in your neighbourhood

-Download the Signal app and Element software. Get a VPN. Turn off ‘learn from this app’ in your phone’s Siri settings for every app. Leave your phone at home if you’re protesting or doing anything else spiky. Put it in the fridge or at the other end of the house if discussing things you don’t want overheard. Assume you are under surveillance most of the time

-Carry narcan

-Get a library card and take out as many books and DVDs there as you can, use the internet there, stay warm there, really make use of the public service. You can even offer to volunteer there if you have time

-See if you can access academic and scientific papers somehow, and make an effort to read at least one over a semi-regular period of time. This will help with the education mentioned above, as well as keeping you in touch with the truths which your government is so eager to suppress. Lots of downloads also helps an academic in their career, which will be very valuable now that so much of their funding has been cut

-Pick up your neighbours’ groceries or prescriptions for them, drop them off at/pick them up from medical appointments, watch their kids, bail them out and cook for them

-Quit twitter. Use BlueSky instead if you want but don’t assume you are unobserved there. Consider quitting Facebook and Instagram too if you can - Supernova offers a vaguely similar user interface to insta if you want to keep up with friends and continue sharing pictures

-It might help your sanity to start keeping a diary or journal, detailing your emotions and experiences and keeping an eyewitness record of your government’s behaviour. If you do this, though, consider keeping it in a secure hiding place or writing it in code. Perhaps send a copy securely to someone outside the country, but only if you can do so safely, and be ready to destroy it if you think you’re in danger from its discovery

-See if you can get involved with or start a movement for community green energy in your local area

-If you have any garden space, try to plant and grow a bit of your own fruit and veg

-Get trained in non-violent direct action and in self-defence

-Save as much money as you can. You never know when you or someone else might need it

-If it’s accessible to you, consider getting a therapist to talk through the difficult experiences and painful emotions that are going to come up in the next few years. But be careful - make sure you trust the professional you use and that your conversations are as private as possible. Even if both of these are the case, be considered as to how you phrase things

-Walk, cycle, or take public transit whenever possible

-Make art! Paint, draw, sing, play instruments, write stories or poetry or lyrics or plays, act, dance, collage, sculpt, whatever frees your heart and keeps it your own

-Donate individually or through orgs to sex workers, domestic violence survivors, Romani and Traveller individuals, and other people at risk of precarious housing and/or income

-Educate yourself about Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Paganism, Indigenous Spiritualities and other non-Christian religions

-Carry a spare scarf to offer to a hijabi whose hijab might be torn off by vigilantes

-Offer court support to friends and neighbours

-While you still can, source and distribute as many binders, packers, breast forms and pairs of tucking underwear as possible

-As much as possible shop with small local independent businesses, and follow consumer boycotts

-Consider eating less meat. Ignoring the environmental and ethical implications of the meat industry, deregulation is likely and this means many food safety standards will be scrapped

-If you can afford it, get an air filter for your house and a water filter for your tap

-See if you can file lawsuits against government bodies or big companies for violating various laws and rights

-Make sure the disabled people in your community can access spaces, services and transit, that they have enough money for necessities and for disability aids, and that there’s an evacuation plan for them in the event of flooding/fires/a tornado/vigilante violence/government violence

Stay safe out there everyone. Look after each other, keep your head high and your heart soft, and survive.

[transmutationisms]

hi! was wondering if you have any recs for some good critiques of Foucault’s historical method (or lack thereof)?

I enjoy reading his theory but I know his methodology can be lacking and would love to learn specifically how. ty <3

i don't have a text off the top of my head that is solely dedicated to making this critique of foucault (usually it's scattered into various historical literature) but i can just tell you:

foucault the historian has the consistent problem of relying on too few primary sources, almost all of which are french or english, meaning his claims are often only applicable to limited local cases (even the differences between the highly centralised, bureaucratised french state and the british situation tend to get flattened). his sources also tend to be authority figures like doctors and government officials, and he frequently makes the assumption that the powers they claim to have (or claim they SHOULD have) are powers they actually do have, which leads to a 'top-down' history that presents authorities and institutions as almost infallible in their efforts to repression, with virtually no attention paid to how people actually received any such mandates, and whether they were actionable, or subverted, or both. he also has a real problem conceiving of liberty in any terms but individual; politics for him is frequently characterised by a group vs individual struggle, which is a problem if what you are trying to understand is, say, the history of class struggle.

as a philosopher foucault articulated some general methodological guiding principles that remain useful in history: genealogical and archaeological methods, the call to historicise (meaning, to problematise; to contextualise) institutions and ideas presented as timeless or transcendent. there are also concepts in his historical narratives that other people have since fleshed out further, nuanced, and grounded in better evidence and 'bottom-up' histories, like biopolitics. so it's not unusual to see his name pop up in historical footnotes, especially in an introduction or conclusion where he may form part of a conceptual framework the author is using to interpret their evidence and turn it into a viable argument. but even these usages are certainly subject to critique (eg, the emphasis on individual liberty that suffuses his conceptual work; the extent to which his arguments can apply beyond the specific early modern metropolitan french contexts about which he was writing) and he should pretty much never be cited as a historian because his methodology in that respect was at best lacking.

[illumins]

𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞—𝑙. 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘 (#⁰³)

✦trope: fluff, spidey-mark, spiderman

✧first pov

▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭

It’s the kind of morning where the sunlight seems to perform, glittering through the leaves of the trees lining our school’s front walk like something alive. The bus, dented and smelling faintly of rubber and stale lunches, sits idling at the curb, and I am hyper-aware of my own heartbeat, the tap-tap-tapping against my ribcage as I shuffle in line to board.

I find a seat by the window, sticking my backpack onto the empty space beside me. I tell myself it’s to save the spot for Jenna, but she’s decided to sit up front, leaving me an island in a sea of noise. The other students buzz with the sort of aimless energy only a field trip can inspire. I watch them, trying to imagine how it would feel to be as light-hearted, their thoughts not tangled in a net of impossible hopes.

Mark climbs onto the bus last, his hair a tousled mess from the wind, a grin playing on his lips as he jokes with his friends. They’re talking about the new exhibit at the science museum, something about rare minerals, but all I can see is the way his shoulders ease back in laughter, the effortless orbit of his friends around him. He’s got this gravity, and I feel caught in it, helpless.

He doesn’t notice me, not yet. He’s recounting some anecdote that has them all leaning in, their expressions lit with shared amusement. I watch his hands as he speaks, animated and sure, the way I imagine Spider-Man’s might be when he’s scaling a skyscraper or swinging between the canyons of New York’s avenues. I try to picture telling him, confessing everything right there in the vibrating hull of the school bus. But the words knot in my throat, unspoken.

We arrive under a sky scrubbed clean by the wind, the museum rising before us like a monument to all things curious and unknown. Our teachers herd us toward the entrance, their voices raised over the clamor. I stay a few steps behind Mark, watching as he squints up at the banners flapping above the entrance, his profile sharp against the pale morning light.

Inside, the museum is a cavern of shadows and echoes, the air cool and tinged with the scent of metal and glass. We wander through the exhibits, the teachers giving us time to explore while they discuss logistics at the front desk. My friends cluster around a display of meteorites, their surfaces pocked and scarred like moons. I drift away, my sneakers silent on the polished floor.

I find him by the Foucault pendulum, standing so close to the barrier that his breath must be fogging the brass plaque explaining the physics of it all. His concentration is a tangible thing, and I watch the way his eyes track the slow, hypnotic swing of the pendulum.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” I say, my voice softer than I intend, barely threading through the hum of distant conversations and the distant echo of footsteps.

He turns, his smile quick and surprised, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to break his private communion with the exhibit. “Hey,” he says. “Yeah, it really is. Did you know—”

But I’m barely listening, too caught up in the way his hair curls just behind his ears, the earnestness of his gaze. I shuffle my feet, feeling suddenly clumsy, the words I’ve rehearsed slipping away like water through fingers.

“So, I was thinking,” I start, but my voice trembles and I have to start again. “I was wondering if—”

An explosion shatters the moment, the sound so loud it seems to consume the air. Screams slice through the museum as people start running, a stampede of fear. Mark’s hand shoots out, grabbing my arm, pulling me close. His body shields mine as the sound reverberates, the ground beneath us shivering with the violence of the blast.

“Are you okay?” he shouts over the noise, his eyes scanning the chaos, always looking for how he can help. I nod, words lost in the tumult.

We move together, his hand firm on my elbow, guiding me towards what I assume is safety. My heart is a wild thing inside my chest, not just from the blast, but from him, from the heat of his hand through the fabric of my shirt.

As we reach a quieter corner, his friends gathering around us, his face is inches from mine, his brow furrowed with concern. The chaos around us blurs into a backdrop as I’m suddenly, acutely aware of his closeness, the faint smell of his cologne mixed with the metallic tang of fear.

“Seriously, are you all right?” His voice is steady, a contrast to the trembling of my own limbs.

I manage a nod, my throat tight. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks to you.” The words tumble out awkwardly, carried more by relief than by courage. The truth is, I want to say so much more, to rewind to the moment before the explosion, to the question I had been about to ask.

He smiles, a quick, reflexive thing that doesn’t quite reach his eyes as he scans the area, still in protector mode. His gaze is everywhere, taking in exits, assessing threats, so unlike the carefree high school student he plays in the daylight of ordinary afternoons.

Mark turns back to me, his hand still gripping my arm lightly. “We should keep moving. It’s not safe here.”

As we walk, I can hear the sirens in the distance, the sound growing steadily louder. The museum staff are directing visitors toward emergency exits, their voices calm but urgent over handheld radios.

We reach a side exit, the cool air outside a slap after the stifling fear inside. Police cars and fire trucks are converging on the scene, their lights painting the world in harsh strokes of red and blue. Mark's friends cluster together, everyone speaking at once, trying to make sense of the chaos.

I stand slightly apart, the weight of my unasked question heavier than ever. Just as I gather the remnants of my scattered courage, ready to reach out and touch his arm, to pull him aside and finally speak my truth, he looks over, his expression shifting as he sees something beyond my shoulder.

“Stay here,” he says abruptly, and then he’s gone, melting into the crowd with a swiftness that speaks of more than just urgency—it speaks of necessity, of duty.

The others don’t notice his departure, not at first, caught up in their own relief and recounting of the event. I watch where he disappeared, the cold knot of disappointment settling in my stomach. Not because of the missed chance to confess, but because I know, with a sinking certainty, where he’s gone.

To change, to swing into action as someone else entirely. As Spider-Man.

I wrap my arms around myself, watching as the first responders begin to corral us further away from the building. The sound of distant thuds and muffled shouts suggests that the danger isn’t over, that whatever caused the explosion might still be unfolding inside.

And there, under the relentless sweep of emergency lights, I realize the truth isn’t just in the words I’d failed to say. It’s in this moment, in the pulse of fear and the clarity it brings. It’s in the understanding that my confession wouldn’t just be about a crush; it would be an acknowledgment of his double life, a step into his world of constant peril and masked identities.

As I watch, poised on the edge of something vast and terrifying, a new resolve forms. When this is over, when he comes back, I’ll be waiting. Not just to confess, but to stand by him. Maybe then, he’ll see me not just as a classmate, but as someone who knows the weight of his secrets and chooses to stay.

But for now, I wait, the sirens wailing a lament, the flashing lights casting shadows where I stand—alone but undeterred, ready for whatever comes next.

[feminist-furby-freak]

Gender ideology is based on philosophy and postmodernism? Got any thoughts on those, the latter especially?

I'm so over postmodernism. I am so over Nietzsche and Foucault. As a "Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies" major I would say 90% of what we read is postmodernism. Ironically we read very little by women...

[yingdu-lover]

ok so just saw that people have already applied Aristotelian ethics, Kant's philosophy (idk much about this) and other theories (haven't studied but will definitely check out) to analyse link click and its characters

my theoretical approach to link click can be summarised as (not an exhaustive list)

1. Existentialism

2. Absurdism (they are not same)

3. Stoicism

4. Bakhtinian philosophy

5. Foucault

6. Queer-feminist political theory (socio-cultural and artistic representation in South and South East Asia)

7. Postmodernism

8. Poststructuralism

All of these are related. The list of 'isms' and complex theories may intimidate someone at first, but in reality link click becomes very easy (in terms of the vision and significance) to understand. I remember a link click yingdu post that had Roland Barthes 's quotes

oh i found it!

Roland Barthes is a famous post-structuralist (cultural) theorist. One of my absolute favourite 'authors' (iykyk). He is AMAZING!

Writing is that neutral composite, oblique space where our subject slips away, the negative where all identity is lost, starting with the very identity of the body of writing

Oh, Barthes.

He is not. talking about. writing. only.

Apart from literature, he talks about movies, photographs and a lot of other things you would not expect 'culture' to be preserved, emerge or evolve.

anyways-

to me, link click exploits sensuality of the image, still or moving.

for a show that is very 'metaphysically rich,' it treats physicality with equal importance.

If you urge Lu Guang to write an 'ode to death,' he would not miss the body horror, the intimate physical experience of agony when your senses are rendered irrational. and 'death' itself does not mean 'physical death'. That line from 'the eye'

And the clock tower bell only struck nine

or the original Chinese version which says

The clock tower bell struck nine times

'nine' is significant here

this is an excerpt from ts eliot 's famous poem, 'The Wasteland'

Unreal City. Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.

in this poem 'nine' symbolises Christ's death. Basically, the modernist post-war gloom that associates lack of vitality to the 'unreal city'

this scene gives me chills~

and 'nine' also has positive(?) mystical and spiritual symbolism in South East Asian cultures.

okay okay this reminds me of a post i wanted to- ok I will)

(this is just incoherent blabbering)

one of the strongest points about link click is that, it is not pretentious.

it knows what it can show. it shows what it wants. clarity of vision is something even many famous productions lack. horribly lacks.

ok i lost my track I forgot what i was going to say, um.

hyperfixate, cry and theorise. this should be the motto of lcf (it probably is already)

[faerytri]

Same could be said for you. Which one of us truly holds the anchor of reality? Of the two of us, who has the stronger claim to some sort of grip on the fabric of life and truth? Are we not both simply figments?

What are we but caricatures of existence?

Allegedly I was born at some point

[max1461]

There's this thing that people do that bugs me. Here's what it is: they dedicate a lot of thought to meta-analysis of beliefs—how and why they spread, who they benefit, what ways people can use them to justify their desired ends—without giving so much as lip-service to whether they think these beliefs are actually right or not. This is rather galling, because, although the correctness of a belief is not the only factor determining its various meta-properties... it's a big one that you can't ignore!

There are distinct left- and right-wing flavors of this. The left-wing flavor is exemplified in that old post(?) that went around a while ago saying that corporations would use astrology to determine their investments if astrology weren't femme-coded. More academic versions of a similar sentiment exist all over the humanities. Some writers present a patently ridiculous thesis along these lines, while others (Foucault is a good example) can be read as saying something more tempered and reasonable. The right-wing flavor of this is I think fairly well captured by Tanner Greer's article "Culture Wars are Long Wars". I think this article is not that bad, it is again a fairly tempered example of this approach rather than a really out-there one, but this aspect of it really seriously bugs me.

In summery: no matter your philosophical stance on "objective truth", in practice we all have convictions about what is true and what is not which we live by. To quote an old teacher of mine who was maybe quoting someone else (I don't recall), "nobody's a postmodernist when they open their medicine cabinet". Actually I think that's wrong: some people are postmodernists when they open their medicine cabinet, and they often die because of it. Anyway, your meta-beliefs about beliefs will be affected by your actual convictions, and you can purport to a kind of detached neutrality about what is "really true" but you cannot instantiate it. Whenever you purport to it you are eliding something.