#but like even homosexuality in general would probably get you stopped by the police here

[tea-with--honey]

Happy pride to the folks who live in countries where being queer is a crime and, in some instances, legally punishable by death. I see you, I'm with you, I'll celebrate with you. Hoping ur celebrating online or in your head or in an awesome private place with your queer companions. Maybe youre not! Maybe youre out there fighting for our rights and if you are then hell yeah! But this goes out to the ones who cant because of the risk. We're still queer and we can still celebrate pride in our own little ways. Love yall :)

[antifainternational]

Hello there!! I've recently gone to a convention and, when exiting and waiting for my ride, found some people preaching about "homosexual sin" And showing everyone a picture of a dead baby saying it's an aborted fetus. [That was especially bad, because it was at a family friendly event, and I can guarantee a lot of children under the age of 10 saw the corpse.] I was really enraged and in the moment threw two cans at them, and generally stuck around to defend a cosplayer who was screaming at them. Later a man tried to take his microphone and some other people rushed to stop him. It didn't escalate, but that made me think:

What would've been ideal for me to do?

I was willing to pick up the speaker and run, or kick it over, or steal the microphone, I'm willing to get charges if I have to to stop them, but I wouldn't want to do that if it wouldn't be the most effective method. I have a feeling next year they will be there again, and so will I. I can get a group of people to help me if needed.

I don't want them to feel safe when they say 12 year olds deserve pregnancy, even if it will starve or kill them. [that I had asked him about, and he had told me it just would've been gods plan.]

That is absolutely infuriating and most of us would've reacted in much the same way. It's not that hard to figure out what actions you're going to take when you know in advance what you're going to be confronting fascists, but when shit like this catches you off-guard it's hard to know the right way to react. There are an endless number of ways you could have reacted in this scenario; it would be impossible for us to tell you what the ideal thing to do was, because we weren't there and don't know all the variables that should be considered. We get asked a lot to second-guess antifascist actions/reactions to far-right bigots but we try not to, because we believe that other antifascists know the situation and their communities well enough to know how to appropriately respond. Also, we're not here to police other anti-fascists but rather to support their actions! So back to you: was what you did ideal? If you feel that it was at the time, then we trust that you're right about that. The important thing here is not what you did to confront these assholes; the important thing is that you did something to confront them and you backed up other people confronting them, too. We've no doubt that 90% of the people who saw that shit were on-side with you but didn't know what to do and seeing other people taking action probably gave them enough courage to step up, too! So, Anon, thank you for your service!

[mst3kproject]

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster

We've talked about how there are an awful lot of fishman movies.  There are way too many Bigfoot movies.  There are even a surprising number of movies about monsters named Paul, but one thing I swear I never thought would be in two different movies is growing space blobs in the Mexican jungle.  Yet here we, are following up The Flame Barrier with Caltiki, the Immortal Monster. The cast includes Gérard Herter from Secret Agent Super Dragon and Daniele Vargas from Hercules Unchained. Mario Bava insists he didn't direct this but Riccardo Freda says he did, while most film websites blame both of them.

Long, long ago, the Maya were doing math and building pyramids in Mexico when a sudden unknown cataclysm forced them to abandon their cities. In the present (or at least the 60s), a group of scientists have come to the ruins to see if they can solve this mystery.  Two of them venture into a cave, and only one returns, raving about Caltiki, a Mayan goddess.  The rest of the party set out to find out what happened and perhaps rescue the other man, but instead discover a huge carnivorous blob monster!  Most of this beast is destroyed by crashing a gasoline truck into it, but they take a sample back to Mexico City with them for analysis.  Because that's a great idea that won't bite them in the ass at all.

The opening titles of this movie tell us that it is 'based on an ancient Mexican legend'.  I don't know anything about Mexican folklore but I did look through the List of Mayan Gods and Supernatural Beings page on Wikipedia and there are no names there that you can remotely bend into 'Caltiki'.  I'm going to assume this movie has about as much to do with ancient Mexican legends as Village of the Giants has to do with H. G. Wells' Food of the Gods. The same credits also tell us that the dancer we see ripping her own clothes off in some 'native ceremony' was a woman named Gay Pearl. The early 60's was around when the word 'gay' stopped being used to mean anything other than 'homosexual', so I suspect she changed it shortly thereafter.

Although the basic premise of a growing space blob in the jungles of Mexico is strongly reminiscent of The Flame Barrier, in several ways Caltiki, the Immortal Monster takes an opposite approach to telling the story.  One of the things that made The Flame Barrier kind of annoying was how it puttered around in the jungle with character-driven stuff for ages before it even introduced the monster.  Caltiki goes almost entirely in the other direction.  The first thing we see is the aftermath of a monster attack, with the dying archaeologist staggering back to camp.  In the minutes that follow, we watch the rest of the expedition puzzle over what happened to their colleagues, but we have almost no idea of who they are.  Most of the character development has to wait until they get back to Mexico City.

Unfortunately, the characters are really not very interesting people.  Our supposed hero is the dishwater-dull Dr. John Fielding, who is one of those movie science guys whose significant other whines because he would rather look down a microscope than gaze into her eyes.  Fielding promises his wife Ellen that he'll pay more attention to her, and I guess he does because next time we see him he appears to be happy with her and their little daughter, but if I were to call the issue 'minimally addressed' I would be giving it way too much credit.  The other subplot in the movie is about a mixed-race woman named Linda (repeatedly described as a 'half-breed') and her relationship with one of the archaeologists, Max.  Max was a dick to begin with, and when he goes mad with pain after being attacked by the blob monster he only gets worse.  He never seems very interesting or threatening, and since the audience knows there's a blob monster coming, we feel our time is being wasted.  Linda, as the only major character who isn't white, is killed when Max decides she is no longer useful to him.

Another place where Caltiki does exactly what The Flame Barrier didn't, but with far better results, is with the monster itself.  In The Flame Barrier the space blob was immobile and basically just looked like somebody spilled a truckload of petroleum jelly.  The blob of Caltiki, however, truly is the coolest thing in the movie.  It's a pulsating, leathery mass that reproduces by stickily dividing in two, and dissolves people's flesh to leave only their skeletons.  There were worse monsters on Star Trek: the Next Generation nearly thirty years later.  Not only that, but the blobs are active, able to roll around and grow to engulf screaming victims, with a satisfying sense of weight and volume to their movements.  There are also some pretty good gore effects, my favourite of which is a guy who's still breathing despite having had his face dissolved.

The Flame Barrier kept its blob in the distant jungle, where the only people it was menacing were three explorers and a chimp.  We were told about the threat of its exponential growth, but that was fairly abstract.  In Caltiki we still don't get the city-smashing rampage depicted in one of the posters, but just knowing that the city is there and having Fielding's wife and daughter around to be chased by swarms of blobs makes the threat feel far more concrete.

So this movie gets right a lot of things the other Mexican Space Blob movie got wrong, but I wouldn't be reviewing it if it wasn't still a bad movie.  The dull characters and the refusal to deal with their arcs is one big problem.  Another is the poor picture quality.  The lighting is mostly good enough that you can tell where people are and what they're doing, but the film stock itself is not very good, which makes for a loss of detail.  In some of the wide shots you can't tell who's supposed to be talking because it's impossible to see whose mouths are moving.  In another, Fielding consults a book that appears to consist entirely of blank pages.

The dubbing is also not great.  Fielding and his wife have very bland voices, which is a big contributor to them seeming like very bland characters.  The guy voicing Max gnaws on the scenery, sounding like a villain from an old Disney movie.  Fielding's daughter Jenny has the voice of an adult woman trying to talk like a child, and it sounds even worse than the same thing did in Manos: the Hands of Fate.

The script is pretty ham-fisted at times, particularly in the character scenes that tell us things far more often than they show us.  Much of this is the fault of whoever wrote the English dialogue, but there's also the series of ridiculous plot devices that prevent anyone from warning Ellen Fielding that the blob in her basement has begun to grow.  First, Max escapes from the hospital and goes to the house to get help from Linda, and pulls out the phone cord so nobody can turn him in.  One of the scientists, finding no answer on the phone, tries to drive out to the house to talk to Ellen, but gets into a car crash.  The police block the road off while they investigate the wreck, and Fielding runs the road block in his own haste to get home, leading him to be arrested and thrown into jail!  I have to admit, it was pretty funny just watching these contrived events pile up.

As far as having a point to make goes, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster kind of shaves by one in two different places, but never quite gets there.  For starters, there's the idea of archaeology as a treasure hunt.  When the diver first ventures into Caltiki's sacred underground lake, he finds the bottom littered with bones but also with the gold jewelry the sacrificial victims were wearing.  He returns to the surface and does not even mention the skeletons, but brings fistfuls of gold and goes back for more despite the risk of running out of oxygen.  I suppose he is punished for this, as is Max when he tries to retrieve a piece somebody else dropped, since they're both attacked by the blob.  It doesn't really qualify as a thematic thread, though, since the gold is never mentioned again. For the rest of the movie, the characters are motivated by scientific interest in the blob itself.

This leads into what's sort of a second motif, people disregarding the danger posed by the blob.  Fielding has a sample he wants to study (the movie has no idea what kind of scientist he is.  An archaeologist?  A microbiologist?), and upon discovering that radiation makes it grow, he pumps more into it to see what happens.  He and his colleagues are admittedly more cautious about this than the characters  in Reptilicus, but the idea's still there: scientists who think they have everything under control, but don't understand how dangerous what they're working with really is.  Again, this doesn't really go anywhere.  At the end they about-face and insist on destroying every scrap, not even leaving enough for an “... or is it?” ending.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster comes very close to being so bad it's good.  There's plenty of stuff to laugh at, while the actual monster is threatening and well-executed enough to be entertaining in the way it was intended to be.  If the film-makers had diverted a little of that money into better film stock, I probably would have enjoyed the movie very much.

[amandaklwrites]

TV Series Review: Miss Scarlet and the Duke (2019)

Genre: Historical Fiction/Murder Mystery/British Period Drama

Rating: 10/10

TV Show Review:

I. LOVE. THIS SHOW.

Pretty much this review will be me talking about everything I love this series, just a warning. I hope you love it too, so you can enjoy my blabbering and gushing!

I will do this review a bit differently, since it’s still relatively new, especially here in the US. I’ll talk about my general thoughts, and then I’ll do a “keep reading” when it goes down into spoilers for each episode.

So, here, for the spoiler-free part of my review:

Let me start out by saying that these characters make the whole damn show. Yes, the mysteries are great and all, but it’s the characters in this series, for me, that drives the whole thing. Eliza Scarlet is a masterful main character, and I love everything about her—from her determination, her willingness to fight the crowd to be what she wants, how she’s willing to admit some issues, that she still relies so heavily on her father after he passed away. Her humor is so incredible, and I think she’s just someone I wish I could be. Her feistiness is so wonderful. And then our Inspector Detective William “the Duke” Wellington is… one of my favorite leading men, fictional of course. I like that he’s overprotective of her (sometimes, to funny extents), that he does his job well and follows a lot of the right paths, that he doesn’t seem surprised by much of anything, and that he’s willing to fight even when he’s falling apart at the seams. And their relationship! They are so clearly in love with each other (probably have since that “chaste kiss” when they were teens…), they bicker like a married couple, and though they annoy the living hell out of each other, they would die for one another. I like that their relationship isn’t perfect and they take note of that in the show, but it feels real. It’s one of the most real relationships I have ever seen.

Moses and Rupert are such important characters and I LOVE their relationship with Eliza, their friendships that seem so different, but they just fit. I can’t go much into detail about either of them, or it will spoil entire plotlines of mysteries, but I will say that I love what the story does with their characters, how it gives them breaths of their own, that they become some of the most dynamic characters in the show with so much to them and that take a life of their own. That they feel real and important and interesting, and I love the representation. That’s all I’ll say about them in the spoiler-free review.

Now, the mysteries, were incredible. They kept me guessing through every episode, and I would have some feelings about things/people, but I wasn’t sure how it would get there. At times, I thought of the truth, but figured that they were going to trick me with it (my grandpa always told me that I have a brain for a detective, if I had some training, so that’s fun!). But still, they were so innovative and different from other mysteries that I had experienced. And I liked that each episode felt a bit different—we had a taste of ghost story feeling, even an intense thriller. They were really, really good mysteries, to me at least. And I do love me some mysteries.

Okay, so the costumes, sets and music. MY GOD. It was all SO BEAUTIFUL! Eliza’s clothes were magnificent and they had POCKETS!!! William was way too sexy in those clothes (can we bring those back??? We can leave out the discrimination that came with the time period, but let’s bring back the clothes at least!). Everyone had gorgeous clothes. And the sets were beautiful—those dirty, Victorian, coal covered streets… I loved it! (My mom says she’s not sure why I’m so in love with the dark atmosphere of the Victorian era, but I am!). The MUSIC. Can they just upload a damn soundtrack already? I need to listen to this music all the time! It sounds different and cool and I’m just so in love with it.

THE HUMOR! My god, I had never seen a murder mystery show set in another time that does humor so well. I love how they travel between scenes to make it funnier, the lines they say to one another. It makes me feel like these actors absolutely had a blast filming this show. They were so on point, and some of the funny scenes made me laugh harder than any comedy movie I’ve seen.

As you can see, I’m obsessed with this show altogether. I love it, and I want to watch it over and over. The vibe, the love stories, the characters, every. single. thing. is my jam. I know they’re planning a second season and I cannot wait for it. Ugh. My god. It’s wonderful.

So here ends my spoiler-free review. After this, I’m going to talk spoilers. So if you have seen the show and/or want to read the spoiler-y thoughts, please click on the “keep reading.” If not, see you around after your watch the show! It’s well worth it!

Let me start out by explaining more of my thoughts on the relationship between William and Eliza, because I worried that some of what I had said would give away possibly too much. So here’s that part:

The (hilarious) way that William mutters “oh jesus” whenever he finds Eliza waiting in his office, or the fact that Eliza calls herself his wife (or in one instance, something worse, but to save herself) to get what she wants also feels like a sly to personally agitate him. How that he would toss her into jail/into court when she went against things he said she shouldn’t do (though he released her/got her out at some point) never got old and even funnier to me each time. I told my mom, she was like a toddler—he couldn’t keep her in sight, so he had to lock her out. But I liked that she still argued with him despite it. Their back and forth was perfect.

I will say here, that I have seen people’s comments online how they wish that William was more on board with Eliza’s detective dreams and support her 100% much earlier on. And I get that, that he can seem like an ass at times. But honestly, I think he feels more realistic that he’s a little harder about it in the beginning. Trust me, I love this show and the way they play with characters and storylines, and that they are so forward (I mean, Eliza is so forward-thinking and modern, it’s amazing), but to me, if they made EVERYONE, i.e. William especially, it wouldn’t ground me into the time very well. I like that it was more gradual for him, to fully support her. And actually, I think for a man in the Victorian Era, with his position, he supported her as much as he could. Though he fought her on it at times, he eventually gave up trying to stop her. And I do think, in some respect, he was trying to protect her, because he does care for her. He was a man of his time, in his position, and he is changing. Can we at least give him that? Because, in all throughout history, it took a while for things to change. And it was men like William that started to understand, that started to recognize that, that helped make it happen. Plus, Eliza didn’t let him pull shit all the time, and she did fight him on it.

Now, I’m going to comment on each individual episode with my thoughts. I’ve never done this before so yay! Here it goes!

EPISODE ONE: Inheritance

I knew the weird uncle wasn’t the girl’s uncle. I didn’t expect that it was her husband (I should’ve!! We knew he was a cheat and a conartist!!), but I knew it wasn’t her rich uncle. I knew from the moment he came on screen—I remember thinking, this guy looks too young around his eyes. His beard and mustache look fake. So, I was right to an extent.

I can’t be the only one who was horrified to discover what the police did to women who worked as prostitutes or in dance halls—they could be arrested and searched for venereal disease? Seriously??? For men who were so obsessed with wanting their wives to “stay safe” and “be protected,” they sure were fine with flipping the case when it came to women that they would also gladly pay to sleep with? Why don’t they check the male clients who are PAYING for this industry. It was appalling and horrendous, and it made my skin literally crawl as they tried tying Eliza down to the chair.

On the note of that scene, Eliza calling herself William’s favorite whore to save herself is literally one of the funniest (though, darkly) things—especially in the next scene, when you see the two of them sitting in his office in silence and William is mortified, annoyed, and I think amused at the same time.

I loved how Eliza tricked that bastard husband—she set him up, AND she gave him laudanum to make him pass out? This woman knows what’s up!

Instantly from this first episode, I knew I loved this show and these characters. Eliza shows her charm and wit and humor and smarts. She’s skilled and I love her personality so much. Though I can see how she could be aggravating to others. William absolutely adores her. Rupert annoyed me a bit at the beginning, but by the end—when he asked Eliza to not marry him, I knew I would like him. And Moses! A Jamaican man brings in the race question of this dark, old world, but I love that he likes Eliza and finds her interesting. He’s terrifying, but I think he’s a good, decent man, he’s only trapped in this world because no one will let him be anything else. But he’s such a rich, interesting character.

EPISODE TWO: The Woman in Red

This episode brings in the reality of homosexuality in this world. That it has always been there (damn those bastards who think otherwise), but it has been hidden away. That men and women have to fear for their lives, and also marry people they do not want because they want to not be noticed. I loved finding out Rupert was gay—my mom called that one!—and the friendship he develops with Eliza. That he trusts her to tell a secret that could literally have him killed and ruined. And that Eliza doesn’t even blink, that she’s willing to keep his secret to the grave, and I cried when she basically told him that. It’s quite beautiful that Eliza even seemed to be grateful that he trusted her enough to give her that secret.

Which was used in interesting juxtaposition to the gay man, accused of murdering his lover, and his wife. I understand the woman’s hurt, that she loved this man and it turned out he didn’t love her in the same way. But that didn’t mean her willingness to let him die for a crime he didn’t commit was at all good or called for. With Eliza talking her down, to prove that the woman’s husband was innocent, I think proved that though she was hurt beyond reason, she did love that man who was her husband and didn’t want to see her die. It’s really a hard situation, especially during that time, when people were constantly shoved down their throats that homosexuality was bad. Not that I’m giving her a “it’s okay,” but I can understand the pain and confusion she went through. Especially because she pulled through.

Through this whole episode, we thought it was the wife that had murdered the lover (the other man). I was surprised to find out that he had killed himself, cut his own throat (which I had heard wasn’t possible to do—but my grandpa, who had worked as a detective, told me that is a myth people talk about, that it’s really easy to cut your own throat). That was a shock, and it made me so sad. That he was dying because he was unhappy, because he hated what he was, because of damn society telling him so. I actually started crying, because as someone who is bisexual, I would be condemned in this time during for openly being with men and women, though I couldn’t even compare to people who are gay or lesbian, because the situation is not the same. But I could connect, I could understand. And I hated knowing the pain all those people were in, that a man had killed himself because of what he was, and that another man had to live with that. It truly breaks your heart.

William’s response to finding out the dead man was gay was interesting. I thought his comment “in my line of work, nothing surprises you” funny, but also telling. He didn’t act disgusted, he didn’t mistreat the husband when they questioned him afterward. The show didn’t directly say his thoughts on homosexuality, but I got the vibe that he was “whatever” about it. Like he knew it was there, and he wasn’t condemning it publicly. That gives him credit, in my book.

Another great episode that got deep and beautiful.

EPISODE THREE: Deeds Not Words

Is this show just obsessed with getting right down to modern issues that were also faced in this time, but not as strongly discussed? Because I’m all for it! This episode was all about the suffrage movement. But I liked the take they did on it.

Yes, they spoke out about the treatment of women. That men, white men, controlled this whole world. But I also thought it was interesting that they made this main suffragette not the greatest person. It made everything complicated. Like, everything she said to Eliza made sense, and I found myself cheering with her. But she shot a man in cold blood, she was willing to bomb a whole building of men—even though it seems justified because of what their club represents.

I think this episode was discussing the balance. That there can be change, but when you attack the people who you are trying to change, it may not work in your favor. At least, that was the vibe I got. Not to stoop to their levels, to become just as horrible as them. Her ideas and words were great, but her actions were a bit… skeptical.

Eliza and William’s response were interesting as well. Eliza felt a passion for the cause, William thought it a bit extreme. But, to me, by the end of the episode, they had a common understanding, they had reached a comfortable middle. I think, this show was showing that was how change came. People seeing eye to eye, and then it spreading from there. Of course, William has faults, but I think he’s truly trying. Especially with each episode. And the more Eliza and he grow.

EPISODE FOUR: Memento Mori

We got our ghost episode! I wasn’t even expecting it, it was incredible! A ghostly image of a dead wife that had killed herself reappearing in photos? How wild and cool is that idea!

I didn’t know that the Victorians had a thing where they took photos of their dead loved ones, looking like they were alive (y’all, the Victorians were obsessed with death…), but it’s an interesting concept. Maybe even sweet. I get what they were trying to do, even if it did seem morbid. How I feel about it is, if it brings you peace, then go for it (as long as it’s nothing disturbing or harming anyone).

The twist was one I had a hint of but hadn’t expected the whole thing. I knew the daughter had something to do with it (how disturbed is this poor girl??), but I hadn’t expected that the mother had planned this before she killed herself because she knew the woman and her husband were already having an affair. It was interesting and a creepy twist, but I was all for it.

Still, I loved how we had moments of eeriness and the haunting feeling in the house when Eliza stayed over. I felt scared and freaked, and most people that know me know that I do not like horror. But this was the perfect eeriness, which I do love.

That scene from this episode where William screams at the poor telegram young man to give them the message or he’ll break everyone bone in his body and then being like “are you crying?” was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe. I mean, it’s terrible, but the way it was done was hilarious and amazing.

EPISODE FIVE: Cell 99

This episode was… dark. I liked that it was set in an abandoned prison, and my god, was it creepy as hell. I loved all the shots of William walking through gave me the chills.

This one felt like a thriller to me. How it was filmed, set up, how everything went down. Except for the hilarious scene when they are both so annoyed with each other (Eliza and William, that is) that they both scream in frustration is brilliant. But otherwise, it took a dark tone that made me feel like something was watching my back. Especially as that big, scary guy came walking down the stairs when William and Eliza were trapped, ready to kill them both. I was nearly screaming at the tv in utter horror.

My mom had called it—and I had a feeling—that Eliza’s father had been murdered, not just drinking himself to death and found in the gutter. And there’s a gang now? How interesting!

The masked man was strange, as well as the forger locked away. But he was shot and killed, and it confused me.

I have a strange confession to make: that whole time with William in his dress shirt (without the coat), with his arm covered in blood, was weirdly…. Hot? Please don’t ask me explain. I have weird things to me. But I think it was also hot that though he was hurt and bleeding, he was gearing up to fight that big, scary man to protect himself and Eliza. I like that kind of shit, so much.

This episode was twisted, and it left me with more questions than anything.

EPISODE SIX: The Case of Henry Scarlet

My mom knew William’s boss was in with the gang! I liked that they actually explored the reality of corruptness in the police force (my grandpa had personal experiences himself, and that was why he left), and they laid it all bare. Despite the things that we are learning in this present day, it’s always been there. Which is horrifying and disturbing. That these police who are supposed to protect us are willing to delve into the corrupt world to bring themselves more power and money. Because that’s what it boils down to, doesn’t it? Powerful men wanting more and more.

I liked that William was okay with the truth unfolding, and not fighting it, trying to prove innocence for his boss. To me, it made me feel like that he knew something was up with that man (just beyond not liking him). For his character, it made me think that he was one of those people that was actually good and good at his job, trying to do the right thing. Even if he got distracted and didn’t give Eliza credit where it was due, and fought some things, he was trying to do what he thought was right. He didn’t kill anyone, he didn’t go after anyone specifically. Though him and Moses had some standoffs because he wasn’t sure about the other man, he gave him some thanks and shook his hand. Which is huge for that time period.

I did suspect William’s buddy. I always felt like something was happening with him, and that he would be the perfect bad guy because he knew what was going on at all times. And it was proven right! Though it wasn’t any less terrible, William having to realize that his close friend at Scotland Yard as the bad, bad guy who killed their boss when things were turning ugly.

But Moses to the rescue! I loved that he swooped in, teaming up with Eliza, and taking the guy out! I love Moses so much, he’s one of my other favorites.

And their ending, with a promise of dinner, of love on the horizon was exactly what I needed.

Lasting thoughts:

Besides all the amazing storylines and characters they brought in, besides Eliza and William’s chemistry and relationship, to me, this felt like a story about a daughter and her father. We see flashbacks of Eliza as a child with her father, how he taught her his detective work, when that wasn’t something men did typically in that time, and how she would still talk to him after he had died. That though she had chosen this profession for herself, it was also some way to connect to her father. Something they had shared when she was motherless and only had him, and he gave her these skills and talents, helped her hone in on them. And once he had passed, she fought like hell to keep it, but make it her own. I liked that their relationship wasn’t perfect, but they loved the hell out of each other. She was a grown woman, who believed in herself, but she still turned to him—a ghost, a memory, or whatnot—when she felt at the bottom.

This series is incredible, perfect and just all around so masterful in so many different ways. I knew from the moment I heard about it that I would love it. And it turns out I was right, but even more than I had expected.

Now, I think it’s time for a rewatch.

[poplinn]

I do think that the new outbreak of toxic people drumming up their toxic groups in this fandom is hurting people. They think theyre doing something right but all they're doing is making mentally ill and/or young fans too scared to enjoy or create in fear of being harassed.

Hi anon! first of all i want to apologise for responding so late. I have a lot to say about your ask and just wanted a clear head before i decided  to respond. i want to start  off by saying you are absolutely right.

Before i continue i am going to put a read-more because, well, i have a LOT to say about this, so, mini-rant ahead under the read-more…

These people are doing more harm than good.

I understand if you want to make a small list with content warnings, for a fandom, that is completely fine! But using such a list to start bullying, harassing, threatening and in general, witch-hunting people is not okay. Many great and talented people have been driven away from the fandom by that tiny toxic group(or the cucks, as i like to call them for easy sakes). Content creators are even scared to post their content too now, both of these things are a huge shame. It’s terrible. Sites like tumblr are supposed to be for sharing your content without limitations. [well, until the nsfw ban, but you get what i mean..]

I happen to be in contact with some people on the blocklist, and let me tell you, they are truly amazing and wonderful people. 

Yeah sometimes people make content you may not agree with, but that doesn’t mean you have start attacking people for it. Do you know how easy it is to click the unfollow or block button? But apparently some people are so stupid they prefer to screech instead of click one single button. 

But for example, I dislike a certain popular hc for medic. I dislike the Jewish medic hc. I’m a Jewish man myself, but I don’t like seeing Jewish medic for multiple reasons, none of which are out of antisemitic nature. What do I see when I see Jewish medic? I mind my own fucking business. The person who posted that wanted to create that, fine by me. I don’t agree with it, and I don’t have to. I’m not going to make a dumb expose list for everyone who ever said anything about medic being Jewish. I mind my fucking business like a normal, mature person. 

And there was/is a huge discussion about drawing or writing tf2 non-con…yeah, rape isn’t good. Every sane person knows that. Writing or drawing rape does not mean you’re a rapist (unless it’s an autobiography of course, then I’d like you to take a trip to prison). But, some people, including myself, write or draw non-con as a coping mechanism. I use confrontation to cope. I have a few triggers, and by confronting myself with said triggers I’m slowly getting over said triggers.

If I write or draw about these triggers or rape, I feel like I’m relieving my feelings about what happened to me. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, and i’m not the only person who does it like that. 

Yeah, I get people don’t always want to see that. That’s why tags exist, that’s why people use those tags for content and trigger warnings. That’s why you block those tags if you don’t want to see it.  It’s that simple

Also, some of them make the claim that fiction is reality. I disagree, fiction is not reality. Yes, fiction can impact reality, but it isn’t one and the same. If you can’t distinguish fiction from reality then, well, you’re either not ready for fiction or not old/stable enough to be able to tell the two apart. Besides, if fiction really IS reality then so many movies and books would have been banned, or the writers of those must have been in jail by now, right? Writing a book about a fictional serial killer does not mean the writer is planning to or already has commit murder. Take Tf2 fan-fiction writers for example. They write about dudes slaughtering each other on a daily basis, but some of them wouldn’t even DARE to hit a fly in real life. 

People who commit crimes because of a fictional piece were already going to do so to begin with. No sane human sees a crime that occurs in fiction and thinks to do the same. Those who do commit crimes because of a fictional piece were already planning to do so to begin with, and were probably not a completely hundred percent stable person.

And about the discussion of miss p being a lesbian, yeah I get that Jay said she’s gay and that, and if she really was a Canon lesbian, it’d be weird to ship her with men. However, those cucks do also make soldier a homosexual despite him having a (gorgeous) wife? Isn’t that kind of hypocritical? Anyways, Jay most likely was joking about miss p being gay, he’s known to be a jokey person like that. I feel like the way he did it was just saying “oh yeah btw she���s gay”. To me it feels vague. In the same sense that jk Rowling suddenly says everyone is gay in Harry Potter. Yeah, I hc her as a funky lil lesbian too, but i don’t go off on a tangent when someone sees her as bi, because the way she was “confirmed” as a lesbian, was vague and uncertain, and most likely a dumb joke that split the fandom in half.    

Anyways, most of the cucks I ran into are underage, and aren’t even allowed on this site, which can explain their irrational behaviour, and refusing to listen to anyone who slightly disagrees with them, but lemme tell y'all something, minding your own fucking business would have prevented this entire blocklist ordeal.

Besides, YOU are in control of what you see on the Internet. Don’t like a certain type of content? BLOCK IT! or just, STOP LOOKING AT IT! it’s not that hard!

You are responsible for your own experience on the Internet. Not ready for that? Then close your phone/laptop and go outside. Content creators are not responsible for what you do online, these creators don’t know you, don’t expect them to fucking take care of you, they’re not your parents. Avoiding certain content does NOT mean you have to start policing others on what to post. You have no right to tell artist what they can and cannot post. Again, you may criticise or dislike it, that’s fine, but actively demanding censorship or threatening the creator makes you look like an incompetent asshole. 

And if you disagree with something, it’s better to start with calming yourself down and contacting the OP in a respectful and mature manner. Maybe talk to them, broaden your horizon, broaden their horizon. Can’t agree eventually? That’s fine, it’s normal. Simply block the tag or the creator themselves and boom! You’re done, and didn’t harm anyone in the fandom and probably learned something, and OP probably too! If something isn’t tagged you can always, nicely, reach out to OP and ask them to tag. Most of the time they will. And if they don’t, just unfollow or block them if they continue posting a certain something that triggers you. Making a blocklist is one of the most immature things you could do. You bully and harass people to the point where some feel unsafe, and some even suicidal, in a fandom about a dumb fucking hat Simulator. Is that really what you want?? A fandom is supposed to be a safe and fun place for everyone who likes a certain something. By being toxic, and harassing others to the point where they don’t even feel safe(not only those who are young or mentally ill) in a what was supposed to be a safe place for them, you’re actively harming that safe place, and frankly, you don’t deserve to be in the fandom. 

Also, I’ve seen a lot of these cucks say they actually hate tf2 as a game, and really, if you hate the game so much why are you still here in the fandom? And ruining it for the rest for us?

If you do feel unsafe, follow steps I mentioned above. Talk to people, block tags, block people, and mind your own business without policing others in what they can and cannot do. Unfortunately, the creators who do feel unsafe because of the toxic group cannot talk them, because the moment someone even slightly disagrees with them, or tries to respectfully discuss why they’re being “cancelled” the cucks start screeching like full-blown autists.

You’re not the law enforcement, you are (most likely) a minor who isn’t even allowed on tumblr in the first place, and who has no idea how the internet, or fandom spaces in specific, even work.

Fucking hell I miss 2014 Tf2 fandom sometimes. 

~~

I hope this ramble makes sense, and again I’m sorry for making this so long.

And I’m sorry for posting drama again, I don”t like it either, and i usually have a lot of patience, but after a few years of this shit, i have come to reach my boiling point, and i just snapped, I’m sorry.

I sometimes refer to the cucks as you, idk why, but just now that isn’t referring to you anon.

Hopefully this will be the last of drama/discourse for now.

Thank you for reading, have a good day. 

-pop 

[alderlyncurium]

Sex is NOT a requirement for initiation into Gardnerian Craft. Period.

With that ‘too-long-didn’t read’ header I might have said it all — or nothing. I know I might be opening a can of worms — or maybe addressing the elephant in the room. But before I go into it, let me clarify two key points:

The above DOES NOT equal: ‘Abuse/predatory behaviour does not happen in Gardnerian Craft’. We are not going to pull the typical ‘Oh well, if he did that, then he never reaaally was a *true* Gardnerian’. (Very) unfortunately, it does happen — and we have to own that.

There IS a place in Gardnerian Craft for sex. If you have read enough about the Cult, you probably have a slight idea. But there is a place, a context, and a form for it. More below.

Now, let’s cut to the chase. I recently came across with Sarah Anne Lawless’ articles on abuse in the community and Neopaganism (they also led me to Greer’s article). If you have read them, you can I guess how I felt: devastated. If you have read them you will probably assume that I felt really attacked, and that this entire post is just a #NotAllCovens. No BS in this article...Of course I felt attacked for the first 2 seconds — when one holds something very dear (even sacred) and someone else portrays it in a different way that one has experience it, this is meant to happen.  After those 2 seconds, and probably due to my involvement on consent culture (and probably as well to my corporate growth mindset) I switched to ‘What can I do?’: ‘Should I clarify it?’ (Because mansplaining always works y’know), or ‘Maybe I can say that’s not welcomed!’ (Because that helps a lot, of course). At the end I just decided to tweet the article. I also took the chance to try to stand up against dear Shelley Rabinovich, who tried to show off her alleged Gardnerian-ness and WitchQueen-ness in order to defend one of the men named in the article (and I say alleged because, nope, as crazy as it may sound, receiving a copy of Gardner’s BAM from Doreen when you visit her, or claiming lineage via the nonexistent Mary Buckle, does not make you a Gardnerian). Then I felt absolutely powerless.  In all this conversation (not just the articles) there was a clear call out on the lack of action from so-called leaders. I have been raised, Craft-wise, in a consent-aware environment. I am not a leader, nor a BNP, I don’t have a big audience, and I doubt the majority of members of own tradition even know who I am. Because of how the cult is shaped, my authority extends (as I like to say) ‘just about 9 feet away’ — nor more nor less. I keep addressing and stressing it in the articles I write in Spanish for seekers. Also driving the consent conversation in different fora. There are no specific names mentioned in the articles so I cannot drive a conversation in the community around specific individuals. Right. That’s what I have done, or what I can’t do. Now, what CAN I do? I can speak up. I can listen. I can provide advice. I can offer my support/help. I can confirm/clarify. 

I have been listening to all the discussions on these topics (and open to listen to more). I am speaking up. Let me clarify some aspects, and end up with the advices. The support for help is an ongoing one.

Now, before I ‘clarify’ I want to make something clear. The below is not intended to make a victim feel like an odd exception. Repeat with me ‘Abuse DOES happen’ yes, in Gardnerian Craft too. This is not ‘Oh, I guess it happens...It never happened to me, though...’. These are points for Seeker who are still in doubt about some aspect on Gardnerian Craft and sex:

Gerald Gardner/BDSM: As a victorian man, he was definitely against homosexuality. There is an account about him being very fond of some-BDSM practices in ritual. I am not going to ‘defend his virtue’. What needs to be clear is that he did not pass down BDSM as a form of sexual practice, or practice to generate any form of arousal. To put it very bluntly, having someone getting randomly aroused in the Circle, or getting sexual in it would be weird AF — and I would ask the person to leave immediately. 

There is a place for Sex in Gardnerian Craft: And that place is a place of consent; usually between partners and in private. And I say ‘usually’ because there might be consenting coven members who might decide and agree to raise sexual energy together. Never seen or heard of it, but who knows. The part that is not ‘usually’ or negotiable is consent.  As Sarah mentioned in her article about other traditions, in Gardnerian Craft is one single initiatory rite where sex might take place — usually between partners. Always consensual. Never by surprise. Always discussed first. Never a requirement — most (if not all) covens, offer alternatives for that rite. 

Consent is (should be) embedded in Gardnerian practice: Usually, it’s the controversial bits that are highlighted: the nudity, the sex, the BDSM-style of some practices... But, in fact, and maybe because of that, Gardnerian rituals are shaped, from the very beginning, in a consensual manner. One of the most vulnerable rituals, when the candidate is first brought in, is full of milestones and consent questions where the candidate is asked over and over again if they want to continue to the next step. They have to provide explicit, verbal, consent to virtually every single step — being the first time they are in the Circle. On top of that, each candidate is assured that they can, at any time, stop the ritual and leave —without any animosity from the group’s side.

Nudity does not equal consent: Yes, we practice naked. No, that does not mean permission. If nudity doesn’t mean permission in a gym’s showers, or at the beach, it certainly doesn’t mean permission in the Circle.

Consent is an ongoing discussion: Gardnerian initiates talk, a lot. We just love talking and discussing. We have initiates-only platforms where we discuss. Guess what’s a recurrent topic: consent. This is an ongoing discussion. Like, literally, right now, there is an ongoing discussion on of the platforms about consent on a low level as greeting-hugging. 

The main takeaway from the above should be: While there is room for sex and nudity in Gardnerian Craft, consent is paramount and non-negotiable. 

And just so that we don’t loose the thread and think we are glorifying how consensual Gardnerian Craft is to erase any accounts of abuse events, let us repeat again: Abuse DOES happen — even in Gardnerian Craft. 

Now, the tips/advice:

Call the police: Sarah already mentioned this on her article. But, in case there is any shred of doubt: CALL THE POLICE. If you think, for a moment, that doing it is going to be the cause of enmity between you and the wider Gardnerian community — Stop.Thinking.That. However, I do empathise with the fact that not everyone feels empowered to that themselves — or the abuse is not clear enough. Proceed to second point and we will help you call the police.

Reach out: We are here. Even if you have already gone to the police, let us know. Name them. This is not out of sheer curiosity — WE NEED TO KNOW. We need you to enable us to tackle this in parallel to the authorities. We don’t have a central authority and, as I said above, my own authority might only extend ‘about 9 feet’. But we are damn good witches, and we will make sure, to the best of our ability, that no Seekers are sent on that person/group’s way. We cannot ‘undo’ an initiation. But we definitely can, and will, outcast abusers from every single possible place. Where can you do this? You can reach out to us, public (and sometimes loud!), members of the High Priesthood, who are willing to support Seekers on this. We will make sure to socialise and give it the right amount of visibility.

Verify, verify, verify: While this might not completely prevent abuse from taking place (because, as we have said, abuse does happen) it might reduce the chances. There are two things you will want to verify:

That the person is a proper initiate: Whether they are truly Gardnerians.

That the person is a proper person: Whether they are initiates or not, you want to make sure there haven’t been issues in the past with them. Where? Again, you can reach out to us, anytime.

All of the above will not make up for those who have already suffered abuse. If it can prevent a single person from falling into it, I should be content, for my means are limited. 

I guess this entire text could have been reduced to: Abuse in Gardnerian Craft should not happen, but it might and does happen. There is not a lot we can do, but we can do something.

The de-centralised, autonomous, mystery, hermetic, initiatory, character of Gerald Gardner’s cult (together with certain aspects like nudity), makes it an excellent place to foster and safeguard the most vulnerable, yet thrilling, and transforming, experiences. Unfortunately, the same character also makes it an excellent place to foster abuse in the form of gaslighting.  

What we can do is let you know we are here, and we can help.

NB: Some interesting reading for Seekers that also tackles some of this topics and gives tips on identifying traditional groups ‘safely’ (also gives tips on first-contact, etc.) is @thornthewitch​‘s ‘Traditional Wicca: A Seeker’s Guide’

[jaykanashimi]

not to rant but the complete lack of knowledge the general public has about LGBTQ+ history is so funny. they'll start talking to you about a politician or news outlet or whatever and you'll say you dont like em because of their blatant homophobia and they hit you with "huh. you guys sure do hate a bunch of people" (which is its own kinda bad generalisation but ANYWAY) like karen i NEED you to understand that we're talking about a person/company/whatever that actively tried to get LGBTQ+ people arrested, abused, or even killed.

people really be out here saying that homophobia is over, when really they're just content with being complacant, turning a blind eye and excusing everything as "not REALLY homophobia" unless it's a number of people beating up an LGBTQ+ person on the street.

WE live in a state where electroshock conversion therapy is legal (and you probably do too).

WE live in a country where males who have had sexual relations with other men cannot donate blood, even though it is known that this ban is more based on discrimination than science (and you probably do too). This policy was supposed to be reviewed in 2018, but it never happened, and there has been no talk of the matter since.

WE live in a state where our Prime Minister introduced an asylum policy where LGBTQ+ asylum seekers looking for a place to live where homosexuality wasn't illegal were sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement, where homosexuality WAS a persecutable offence, punishable by 14 years imprisonment. LGBTQ+ asylum seekers are believed to have been killed by this action, if not abused.

WE live in a state where an LGBTQ+ protest march (which later became Mardi Gras) was organised in the city of Sydney WITH PERMISSION, only for the protest to begin, and this permission be REVOKED, resulting in the protest being broken up by police, and 53 marchers arrested. Even when these people were released, with some having charges put against them, the Sydney Morning Herald published the full names of ALL 53 PEOPLE ARRESTED, resulting in these people being outed in a time where homosexuality was STILL A CRIME. This action outed people to their families, who ostracised them, their places of employment, who fired them, and the general public, who witch-hunted them.

WE live in a world where LGBTQ+ works and artists are still ACTIVELY BEING CENSORED, even in countries where it's legal, and apparently accepted, including the Smithsonian (namely David Wojnarowicz).

WE live in a world where historical works are desecrated or downright DESTROYED in an attempt to erase LGBTQ+ presence from history.

The general public is seemingly unable to comprehend that they live in the same world as the LGBTQ+ community until pride comes around, where they all want in on the festivities. It's OUR city. It's OUR state. It's OUR country. It's OUR world. We share it, just because i doesn’t affect you personally doesn’t mean that these problems are happening in some faraway place. It’s happening here and it’s happening now. Stop telling yourself "the LGBTQ+ community hates a lot of people", and ask yourself "WHY would the LGBTQ+ community show disapproval of this person/company/etc? Are these feelings uncalled for, or is there more there?". A lot more stuff is gonna make sense if you do.

Our hatred, our anger, our voices, our beliefs are not misplaced. We just know those who actively try to tear us down.

[ghostmartyr]

Hi Immi. I'm new to the fandom--joined around the drop of ch107. Since then there's been a big buzz about historia, regarding her sexuality, her character regressing and her relationship with ymir. i'd seen snk s2 and honestly never occurred to me to ship yumikuri because i hate ships but being on tumblr, well, it's everywhere. I see people get hate on shipping her with males but i'm not sure where i stand. Is she explicitly lesbian? If not then why is it so bad? Is the tumblr fandom just toxic?

Hi.

Uh.

Hell, dude, you pretty much summarized all the reasons I stopped checking the tags. I’m not exactly in the fandom anymore. I do my stuff, but I am actively avoiding mostly everyone, and that’s just because of the immediate aftermath of the chapter. So uh, welcome, I guess, I’m not here.

I answered–well. No, I covered a bit of what I’m going to go over here in my chapter post, aka the unfun section of it. Making this a bit of a rehash, but most things I type are anyway.

The most obvious thing is that people should not be getting hate. That is a general statement, disconnected from anything that’s going on. It is applicable in every fandom, in every situation. Even in the cases where someone is doing something that poses a very real danger, the solution is not sending hate. Sending hate is exactly what it sounds like, and people should behave themselves better.

Where you end up standing on any of this does not make the behavior magically okay.

And again, I basically left the fandom. I have no idea what’s going on, and frankly, I do not want to, so none of this is based on anything that’s happened in the past three weeks.

My perspective on fiction is that it is entirely selfish. People want what they want from it. While I don’t like most of what other people like, the fact that they’re capable of enjoying things should be celebrated. Go them.

That doesn’t mean I think stories are beyond reproach, or what happens in fiction can’t be offensive or damaging.

Fandom is not the same as canon. A personal pet project is very different from something being consumed by millions of people. Fandom currently has a very black and white style of thinking, and so it neglects that difference.

For an easy and relevant example, Kurt and Rachel from Glee getting it on in a fanfic is not equal to it happening in the show. One is someone’s random fantasy, the other, unless it’s handled with the kind of respect Glee has never dealt in, is going to be very inflammatory.

(See: Blaine and Rachel (for different–-but still relevant!-–reasons))

A lot of people do not agree that the difference between fanon and canon is relevant to some of the things people end up enjoying. The reason being that stories never feel that different to the individual experiencing them. Who creates it, or how wide its reach is, is not automatically something that matters to the emotional experience. It will hurt in roughly the same way, so often the argument that one is excusable and the other isn’t is done before it starts.

I’m meandering a little because I do not really know how to handle this delicately. So far this is all just foundational. stuff.

I guess I’ll go with blunt.

yumikuri is a canon romantic bond. Ymir is implied to be a lesbian because one character says she looks like one, Historia is a complete blank slate outside of that relationship because Ymir is her sole love interest.

The status of Historia’s sexuality is that she is romantically interested in Ymir, a girl. That is the entire sum of what the manga’s covered.

107 heavily indicates that Historia is coerced into having sex.

That should never have opened up a discussion into what her sexuality is. Someone being forced into sexual intercourse is indicative of nothing except that they are being forced into it. That is the exact opposite of desire.

Yet it opened the door to people reminding everyone that it is absolutely okay for a character to be bisexual.

That is a true statement.

(Editing in emphasis, because it really is.)

I do not know how to adequately describe why the context makes that statement so tone deaf and infuriating.

The manga has been running for almost ten years. In that time, there has been no indication of Historia having interest in anyone outside of Ymir, a girl. That could cover a lot of different sexualities, and there’s nothing wrong with someone wanting any of them.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t incredibly insulting ways of going about introducing them.

Historia’s first major appearance after her girlfriend is killed off-screen (if you believe that, which all but three people reading this and the person writing this do) is all about forcing her to fuck a guy to make babies.

Even in some hypothetical where her pregnancy is the result of a happy relationship, it would be insulting. As far as we know, it isn’t, so we are dealing with the full brunt of how disrespectful that summation is.

There is this common thing that happens in stories, where you have the gay relationship, one dies, the other lives on to go have a happy life with someone of the opposite sex. The subtext is that this weird one-off sexual thing may have happened, but don’t worry, they’re still normal.

I don’t know how to say that convincingly, because it’s a subtext that I’ve picked up on throughout hundreds of different stories. I don’t know how to cram that history into one post.

Girls liking girls is seen as an aberration, even in stories about liking girls. The relationship will be an exception. The more femme character won’t really like girls, just this one. The concept of a girl liking another girl as a normal facet of her sexuality, which exists outside this relationship, is commonly disregarded, or given to the non-POV partner.

This should be a problem that it’s easy to agree on. Lesbians like girls as a rule. Bisexuals like girls as a rule. Not exclusively, but Likes Girls is still very much a part of the identity (unless we get into discussions of bi covering multiple genders but not necessarily binary ones).

Then there’s fandom.

I can’t count the number of times I have seen the argument that Historia only sees Ymir as a friend. I have been invested in her character and that relationship for five years. Barring the last month, which I don’t want to know about, probably at least once a week, someone would make the case that okay, maybe Ymir likes Historia, but Historia doesn’t like her back.

Many, many times before I left the tags last month, people were saying that Historia’s pregnancy isn’t an LGBT issue, because Historia’s interest in Ymir was never canon.

I get twitchy when people are staunch supporters of her being bisexual. Because as much as I want to trust people, and as much as I know that every marginalized identity is desperate for scraps, the conversation about Historia has always felt like, “it’s important to remember you can’t prove she doesn’t like men.”

When it’s not full on, “it’s important to remember her liking a girl is in your imagination.”

Because she’s the pretty one in the girl on girl couple.

I want her to be gay or ace. Nothing disproves that, but I feel like an idiot for wanting that, because the classically pretty one isn’t going to be a lesbian, and years of consuming anime and manga should have taught me that. Beyond the first sentence, none of that perspective is particularly healthy.

Queer fandom can be really complicated to navigate, because some of the things people want to see–-which are fundamental to their identities, and that’s why they want to see them–-run exactly counter to what other people want to see.

There’s a post from Yuri on Ice fandom that I think encapsulates this. I don’t know the background, or what has been shouted back and forth since I saw it, but here’s the gist. Someone suggests that one of the figure skating gays could be ace. Dozens of people go, “bad post op,” and it’s treated humorously.

Asexual representation sucks. An episode of House, noteworthy for using the word and having someone quote the statistic occurrence of asexuality, ends with one half of an asexual couple having a hormone imbalance, and the other lying about her interest in sex so she could date him.

Yeah.

Gay guys also have a hard time with their sexuality being policed. Holding hands is okay (sometimes), but kissing? Sex? The dirty homosexuals are depraved for enjoying such things. Gay women can have degrading sex because it’s hot.

People want their identities respected.

That is not an unreasonable thing.

What tends to happen on Tumblr is that people forget that they aren’t the only ones being treated like crap. There are layers of pain and anger they bring to every fight, and over and over again, people who should know what that pain is like, and help each other through it, sharpen theirs until they can use it to chop off someone’s head.

107 is insulting in a lot of ways. The aftermath was worse for me. From what little I saw, many people were very eager to say that the part where a queer woman was dealing with a coercive pregnancy shouldn’t be judged for the queer part. Because there are people issues, like war and tragedy, and then social justice issues, which aren’t about people. They don’t really matter in a war story with internment camps and genocide.

I’m being glib, but… that’s what it felt like. That’s what a lot of people I liked shrugged and agreed with.

I want Historia to be a lesbian (or ace), but for right now, we do know she’s queer. That is a part of her character, and it is one that people have been talking over for years. Having post after post reminding everyone that her being queer does not matter to the story? That her being queer is not a lens worthy of being looked through when it’s clearly not about that?

I don’t agree with… basically any of the fandom behavior I’ve seen touching this. I think people should behave themselves better, and treat each other more kindly, and pain is no excuse for bleeding all over everyone.

But where that pain comes from has been repeatedly dismissed, and where it comes from is not insignificant, no matter what route you want canon to go.

…And as far as Historia’s character goes, this is a regression, and the writing should be ashamed of itself. It violates the themes of her arc with such direct intent that it’s painfully easy to believe there’s a twist to it, but for now it’s just infuriating, because the girl who fights fate has been made its tool, and Ymir, aka her love interest, is very relevant to the whole arc where we covered this. 107 is bad and should feel bad, and I am extremely not happy that I think that is exactly the feeling I am intended to have, because being emotionally manipulated is much more annoying when it works.

Hopefully that gives your questions an answer.

[ziobrowski]

Cisza wyborcza już wkrótce

Ciekawe, co o wyborach sądzi pan Gniot, który tak trafnie przewidział wynik poprzednich wyborów?

Poniższe emaile najprawdopodobniej zostały wysłane z naruszeniem ciszy wyborczej oraz stanowią agitację w zakładzie pracy. Niestety nikt z SII nie miał jaj tego zgłosić.

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Small though after debate tonight... FW: Small though after presidential elections Date: 2015-10-20 23:46 From: Gregoire Nitot Dear colleagues, I just watch election debate on TV. My feeling : · Kukiz seems the worst candidate. He has some courage & passion. But he has no respect to other candidates, other parties, no tolerance, no management capacity, dangerous ideas. Serious & mature Polish people should not vote for such candidate. · I never liked PIS : o They have unrealistic promises which will expand Polish budget deficit. They will increase corporate & social security taxes in order to realize those populist promises (increase ZUS, PIT, CIT). So companies like Sii & employees with "_high_" salaries (majority of Sii workers!) will suffer with PIS. o They plan to implement not efficient ; complex & costly tax system, complex rules. o They say that they support Polish people? In fact they are anti many Polish people unfortunately ; anti rich people for example, anti non catholic people, anti-large companies with foreign capital (pity because those companies give us work & pay large taxes in Poland), anti-banks, anti EU, anti-foreigners, anti-businessmen... o Moreover it may be a dangerous party for press liberty & democracy... · SLD / Barbara Nowacka (ZL), or Adrian Zandberg (partia razem): some nice & generous ideas ; good for poor Ppeople... But they will increase taxes of companies like Sii. They don't like neither large multinational companies & their management. They will increase taxes to high salaries ; so it will be not good for Sii & our customers. (Once corporations will stop to invest in Poland because of bad tax system ; it will not be good for anybody ; rich & poor Polish people !). · Korwin -Mikke : his promise & liberal ideas are great for companies like Sii & businessmen like me! But crazy guy ; racist ; anti homosexuals ; anti EU ; not credible ; not serious. Poland should not be managed by a clown. · PO & PSL : not the worst. Main risk is that they may stop freelance contracts... · Best for Sii seems Ryszard Petru & Nowoczesna party! So If we want to support Sii growth ; we should probably vote to Ryszard Petru... ! But of course everybody is free to vote for anybody. Majority of Sii colleagues do not share my point of view ; & hundreds will vote some PIS ! We respect all Polish political parties in Sii, even PIS! Challenge is that in order to have nice life, assure good education for our children, good hospitals, good salaries ; we need solid economy with solid companies like Sii. It is actually those companies which recruit us, pay our salaries & invoices, pay taxes, PIT & ZUS which enable to finance healthcare, retirement, civil servants or education systems for example. Dobranoc! (sorry for spam for colleagues who don't care about Polish politics). Gregoire Nitot Prezes & founder PS : I sent few months ago email to all after Polish presidential election ; email below… Some people liked it ; some others hated it ; majority probably did not care or did not read this email… I read critics even few weeks ago after this previous email sent in May 2015. (Actually I'm reading each month annual interviews of each Sii workers ; in particular I read what people don't like about Sii, critics & change propositions). Few Sii workers wrote in their annual interview that they did not like my email & that it is my role to comment on Politics. I respect their idea ; their critics ; but I comment whenever I want… If some Sii workers are not happy with that… Trudno !!!!! My objective is not to be nice with Sii workers ; be popular ; be appreciated ; promise everything like Beata Szydlo ; but simply I try to take good decisions ; in order to build solid company on a long term basis, healthy, fair, with good reputation, better company than our competitors... So I try to recruit & promote best leaders for example ; try to implement best processes, organization & rules… + I always try to execute our 15 core values like transparency, fairness, trust, courage or respect. But hopefully I'm not the only one who build this company. It is not my company ; but ours. Thousands of people build Sii Poland. All of us build it. So thank you very much. It is great to build this company together ! J FROM: Gregoire Nitot TO: all@pl.sii.eu SUBJECT: Small though after presidential elections Czesc, I'm a bit sad after Polish presidential elections… L Duda is perhaps not a bad guy ? But I don't like PIS party. I hate PIS ideas. Of course PO has some big shortcomings. I'm not neither a PO fan. They can do more in order to transform, modernize & improve the country we live in. They can be more courageous, taking sometimes tough decisions, unpopular ; but for the long term good of Poland and its citizens. But PO is not the worst party neither. Their KPI is good : unemployment figures, growth, privatization, EU & US relations… So how above half of Polish people can vote for PIS ??? I don't understand that. It is like above half of Polish people complain about their life. Why ? Poland is a wonderful country, great culture, democratic, great people, great history… We are all extremely lucky to live in Poland. We have a unique chance to live here. + Poland realizes an amazing economic performance for 10 years ; with amazing growth ; with amazing opportunities & progress for millions of Poles : possibility to buy house or flat, travel, etc…. All Polish people profit of this growth ; not only rich people. (This performance is not due to PO ; but due to EU funds & milliards of foreign investments which come to Poland each day). So why so many Polish people complain about their life, voting for PIS ? Actually according to me PIS is : · EUROSCEPTIC, against EU party ; scared about foreigners, immigrants… o Of course EU has tremendous shortcomings. EU has bad constitution, too complex, too bureaucratic. It needs approval of 28 countries in order to make any decision. So obviously it can't work. Nobody understands who has the power between European Parliament, Commission, head of states (Tusk). (But EU has a bad constitution & is not efficient because each EU state is egoistic, thinking only about own interest ; not interest of the majority ; & none of those states want to lose its sovereignty to EU. Me I'm a strong defender of EU integration). o For example Sii is a strong company because there is a clear leader & boss (me), able to make fast decisions. If I had to consult each subject with 28 people & get approval of all of them before making any decision ; overhead cost would be huge, organization would be not efficient at all, we would not be agile ; flexible, fast. We would lose against all our competitors ; companies from Poland ; but also competitors from Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, India, China ; & we would go bankrupt soon. o BUT : § Without EU funds ; Sii would not open Lublin DC for example ; would not open branch in Katowice, would not create hundreds of jobs in Poland. Actually Sii received 20 M PLN EU funds since 2008…; We reinvest those 20 M PLN in Poland, created hundreds of jobs ; took some risks we would not have taken without those funds. Sii pays dozens on millions of taxes each year to Poland : ZUS, PIT, CIT, PFRON, ZFSS,... (I'll actualize next week our amount of taxes paid in Poland in 2014 : http://sii.pl/kluczowe-liczby-i-fakty/ [1] ) Those taxes are used to build roads, hospitals, sponsor police, justice, pay retirement… § Poland is growing, becoming better, mainly Thanks to EU funds & International investors. So Poland should be very happy with EU § Thanks to EU there are no war in Europe for the 1st time since centuries… · PIS IS AGAINST BUSINESSMEN like me. Against foreign investors. They'd like Polish state or Polish people to control everything : banks, retailers, big companies… If i would not come in Poland in January 2006 ; there would not be Sii Poland. + I'm a French guy ; but I'm more honest than huge majority of Polish businessman (I have a Polish "wife" (I'm not married), Polish children. So I'm a bit Polish also. I try to obtain Polish nationality). Poland should be very happy that I emigrated here 9,5 years ago. Thanks to me Poland receive hundreds of M PLN of taxes… So why PIS do not like those businessmen like me ? Once again Sii is a great chance for Poland. Actually we contribute to Poland growth, to Poland success. Poland achieves success thanks to company like Sii, Intel, Roche, Volvo, Gemalto, Citi, Credit Suisse, Sabre, ABB, Mbank, etc… · POPULIST party ; not courageous ; but telling what Polish people would like to ear ; claiming for example that it would reduce retirement age. Stupid! Awful management control proposition. People are living older. Who will pay for those retirement? How PIS will finance that ? Increasing ZUS ? So foreign companies will stop to invest in Poland… · TOO MUCH PATRIOTIC party ; which do not respect & care about others. It cares only about egoistic Poland interest. It is not ready to make compromise with EU partners ; or even with Russia & other countries. Personally I'm not a patriot. I don't care about homeland. I am deeply ready to Fight & Die for ideas. I would fight against Hitler, against Stalin, against Communism, against Fascism, against Nazism. But i would not make war & die for any flag, any country ! There are more important ideas / ideals in Life than defending Poland, France or any country. I'd prefer to help those poor African people who are risking their life crossing Mediterranean sea in order to enter Europe ; than helping Polish or French politicians. I obviously always support France or Polish teams in sport. I love Polish or French traditions ; traditions & culture from Kaszuby or any part of the world. Good that we are all different. But We all live in 1 world. Each human should have chance to have a decent life. So I Hate this patriotic idea. Why those boundaries ? Why some people who get born in poorer part of the world should not have chance to realize their dream ; like we can do it in Poland or France ? Rich countries should help poorer countries ; like richer EU citizens help Poland citizens with EU funds. · TOO MUCH RELIGIOUS party ; narrow-minded ; racist. I come from catholic family. My mother & 1 sister are going to the church each Sunday. But I don't believe in god. Actually I'm convince god & religions are a human invention in order to keep hope despite death. Anyway I'm generally tolerant to each religion. I have great Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Muslim friends. But I think religion should not be present in politics. PIS is a racist party against Jewish, against Arab, against Muslims... PIS cares too much about religion. PIS listen too much religious people ; sometimes dangerous extremist people. I hate too religious / fundamentalist people : Muslims, Jewish, Christians, Hinduisms... All those fundamentalists ; those terrorists ; no matter from which religion ; are very dangerous for human kind. Religions cause wars. Religions cause hate between people. So some small though. Long email at night… Many colleagues may think "who is this stupid guy" ? Some may resign from Sii. Trudno. I'm not happy with this election & I tell it. But I know some Top Sii Directors are PIS fans… I will not fire them ! (I like very much their honestly). I'm always tolerant to different ideas! We need different ideas ; different points of view to be better together. I won't quit Poland & Sii will continue to invest in Poland. But i feel sad now. I did not believe 53% Polish people would vote for PIS... I should create new Political party perhaps... Party which defends our 14 values, party who will defend people worldwide ; Power People from any country, any culture, any religion! Perhaps 1 day ? I'll send more interesting email next week ; communicating our financial results, success et failures of the year, plans & objectives for coming months… I'm waiting for management weekend this week to send this report after to all at the beginning of next week Cheers, Greg Best regards, Pozdrawiam, GREGOIRE NITOT Prezes / CEO Sii Sp. z o.o. | www.sii.pl [2] Mobile : +48 695 196 420 Links: ------ [1] http://sii.pl/kluczowe-liczby-i-fakty/ [2] http://www.sii.pl/

[acsversace-news]

One thing that sets the second season of American Crime Story apart from its predecessor is that, while People vs. O.J. was told entirely linearly, The Assassination of Gianni Versace hops back and forth in time quite a bit, and also plays with the audience’s expectations. It can be confusing, but I think to a certain extent that is intentional. It sets the tone well at least for the second episode, entitled “Manhunt,” which is very centered on the enigmatic serial killer and murderer of Versace, Andrew Cunanan. Andrew’s own thoughts seem scattered and confusing, though he is able to masterfully charm people into giving him what he wants; whether it’s a room with a view of the ocean or just some plain old attention.

The episode begins, however, with Versace himself in 1994 entering a hospital with his lover Antonio. Though it isn’t spoken outright, it is heavily implied that Versace has AIDS. I looked it up, and it was never confirmed that he was in fact HIV positive, though it does seem likely given it was the height of the epidemic at the time and his chosen lifestyle, funneling through partner after partner. Given the news, a tearful Donatella asks him “What is Versace without you?” He replies, “It is you.” Much of the outright conflict in the episode, and the series thus far, comes from Donatella (Penelope Cruz) butting heads with Antonio (Ricky Martin). She blames Antonio for her brother’s condition, and even after he is killed due to something else entirely, Donatella’s heart still does not soften for Gianni’s lover, as much as he tries to convince her to let bygones be bygones.

The series is beautifully shot, as mentioned in the previous review. One particularly pretty scene early in the episode, which involved almost no dialogue, showed Donatella standing before her brother’s open casket, alone in an enormous room. She unzips a bag and actually puts her brother’s suit on for him, tightening his tie while she says goodbye, not with words but with her eyes. All done up and looking sharp, as he would have wanted, the casket is closed and put into a kiln to be turned to ashes. Gianni Versace is then bagged, boxed, and presumably shipped to Italy. All the glitz and glamour comes down to this for all of us.

But beyond that much of the episode belonged to Darren Criss’s Andrew Cunanan. We begin with him driving a red pick-up truck and swapping license plates with another car outside a Wal-Mart. He’s then on the road to Miami and listening to the radio when we hear a news bulletin about him being wanted for the murder of another man, not Versace, so we are suddenly made aware that this is in the past. Cunanan switches the station and blasts “Gloria” singing and screaming outside the car window with euphoria. He soon arrives in Miami Beach.

There he tells his first of many lies in the city, explaining to an old desk woman at the Normandy Plaza that he grew up in Nice, France. He also tells her that while he’s a man of little means now he plans on becoming a fashion designer. He seems to charm her well enough, and is even able to finagle himself into a room with a view of the ocean later, after some practicing in front of a mirror. Now that he’s in Miami, the official stalking of Versace begins. He heads by the designer’s home and tries to open the gate to no avail. He gazes at the second story windows from across the street hoping to get a glimpse of something. But he knows he may have to play the waiting game here.

In the meantime, he makes friends with HIV survivor and fellow gay man Ronnie (Max Greenfield). After some “magic pills” saved his life, Ronnie headed to Miami Beach. There’s he’s basically been doing drugs and prostituting himself, which Andrew quickly takes to. Really, Ronnie just becomes a sounding board for Andrew to continue lying to. He tells Ronnie that Versace had proposed to him, though it didn’t work out. Andrew talks about Versace dreamily saying “That’s the man I could have been.” Ronnie replies “Been WITH.” Andrew nods.

In one extremely uncomfortable scene to watch, Andrew takes a gentleman back to a lavish hotel room. “I can be submissive,” the old man tells him. But suddenly Andrew is wrapping masking tape around the man’s head, eyes, nostrils… and finally mouth. The old man struggles on the bed while Andrew dances flamboyantly, repeating “Accept it.” Finally, the man stops struggling, Andrew holds a pair of scissors over his head, and for a moment we don’t know if he will kill the man or save him. He saves him, stabbing a small hole over his mouth so he can breathe. The man is clearly shaken, but decides to not tell the police about his encounter, probably due to the shame of being homosexual; we see his is also married as he puts a ring back on his finger after their encounter.

Speaking of the police, they and Detective Lori Wieder’s (Dascha Palanco) efforts are barely touched upon this week, other than to make a point that the FBI had dropped the ball, not putting out fliers that would have warned the general public about Cunanan, and certainly would have alerted them after he sold a gold coin to a pawn shop owner in the area. Wieder pushes for these fliers but doesn’t get her way. I suspect we’ll see more of her butting heads with the feds as the manhunt continues. At the end of the episode, after stalking Versace at a nightclub (a place Wieder also pushed police and the feds to stake out for Cunanan) and failing to find him, Andrew orders a tuna sandwich down the street. The man working there recognizes him from America’s Most Wanted and calls the cops. By the time they get there, Andrew is gone again.

I don’t know the full true story and I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I don’t know exactly how long this manhunt goes on. I’m hoping it ends in the next episode, as I fear the cat and mouse game could get old fast.

TB gives it: B+

[tomfooleryprime]

Starfleet’s moral relativism problem: is it ever okay to condemn another culture?

Central to all of Star Trek has always been the Prime Directive – that set of rules that governs our intrepid space explorers from Captain Kirk to Captain Janeway and everyone in between. Poor Captain Archer existed in a time before, and I’ve often pitied him for having to shoulder the burden of having to make some really questionable ethical decisions without having a Prime Directive to shift the blame to when it turned out his decisions really sucked.

At its core, the Prime Directive dictates that Starfleet cannot interfere with the internal affairs or development of alien civilizations. Some of the best Star Trek episodes involved our heroes clashing with the ethics of a rigid application of this doctrine, but there was always one implication of the Prime Directive that bothered me – the idea that we shouldn’t judge other cultures through the lens of our own because who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong?

This philosophy of moral relativism argues that there are no universal moral standards – sentient beings are completely at the mercy of their own societies to impart a code of moral behavior and whatever it comes up with is “good enough.” There may be common themes among many societies in terms of morals – most seem to agree it is wrong to commit murder, for instance – but ultimately, what is “right” according one society is not guaranteed to be “right” for another. And let’s be honest with ourselves – even with the topic of murder, we still fiercely debate exceptions to the “no murder” rule such as war, capital punishment, or self-defense, not to mention we have heated arguments over what even constitutes murder when we discuss issues of abortion or animal agriculture.

Our own society provides an incredible patchwork of thorny moral and ethical issues that we still have yet to decide upon. We debate things like abortion, torture, slavery, free speech, and more. We probe these issues by asking ourselves questions like, “At what point does life truly begin?” and “Is torture ever justified?” We explore them by posing philosophical experiments like the Trolley Problem and asking ourselves whether it is morally acceptable to kill one person to save the lives of two or more others.

But at the end of the day, might (in terms of numbers) makes right in moral relativism. While I don’t subscribe to that theory, there are times when our beloved Star Trek characters do under the guise of defending the Prime Directive. On the surface, it sounds very peaceful and anti-colonialist. After centuries of watching many empires from the Romans to the British set fire to cultural diversity – and given arguments that many Western nations continue to do this today, just without being quite as invadey – this sounds like a nice change of pace. Live and let live. But this also creates a mind-boggling acceptance of suffering, genocide, exploitation, and oppression within Starfleet.

One of the first chronological examples of the faults of moral relativism is found in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, “Cogenitor.” Archer and his crew meet an affable, three-gendered species called the Vissians, but we quickly learn that only two of the society’s genders have any real rights. The third gender is referred to as a “cogenitor,” and Trip Tucker ends up on Captain Archer’s shit list for teaching it how to read and putting ideas in its head. When the cogenitor later begs for asylum, Archer refuses. It gets worse – the cogenitor is sent back to the people who basically treat it as chattel and commits suicide, and Archer points out that Tucker’s interference led to its death and will mean the Vissian couple will probably never get to have a child. No winners in this ethical dilemma of an episode, only losers. Until you remember none of this would have happened in the first place if the Vissians had just treated the cogenitors like people.

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Angel One,” we encounter the cringe worthy society of Angel I, a planet of misandric women who oppress men. We all got a few giggles at the ladies of Enterprise-D being suddenly held in higher regard than their male counterparts, but things get very dark when Beata, the Elected One of Angel I, decides some dudes need to die for spreading heretical teachings that imply men are equal to women. We get a sort of cop out solution in which Beata has a change of heart and decides to banish rather than execute these “heretics” after Riker makes an impassioned speech about basic rights, but Riker was more than willing to let things go bad if need be, because, “The Prime Directive” and “Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.” In another Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Symbiosis,” we’re introduced to the Ornarans and Brekkians and we find out that after an ancient plague, the Brekkians started peddling an expensive and addictive drug to the Ornarans and calling it a “treatment.” There’s no plague anymore – the Brekkians just control the Ornarans through their drug addiction. Dr. Crusher finds a way to synthesize this drug and offers to help wean the Ornarans off their addiction, but what does Captain Picard do? He tells her to mind her own damn business because it’s not the Federation’s place to tell the Brekkians that it’s wrong to deceive and enslave the Ornarans through an addictive drug. And this is the most uncomfortable part of moral relativism – who gets to draw the line and where do we draw it? On one end of the spectrum, we have moral relativism which claims anything goes – societies should be able to torture animals, employ the slave labor of children, and oppress women as they see fit – just as long as enough people agree it isn’t wrong to do so. At the other end of the spectrum sits moral absolutism, a theoretical construct that would result in a perfectly unified, homogenous culture, but one that would also strip away many facets of culture that lead to human diversity.

If Star Trek is supposed to serve as a guide for how we might become a more progressive society, it does a terrible job a lot of the time. Now, there are many instances of our protagonists saying “to hell with the Prime Directive!” and taking what most of us would agree is the more morally praiseworthy route. But there’s no rhyme or reason to it. Just look at how they treat the Borg. Why is it okay to let some societies oppress men or drug another species into submission but it’s not okay to let the Borg assimilate the galaxy in their ultimate quest for perfection?

I’m going to guess the answer is that until the Borg decided to stick nanoprobes in a Federation citizen, the cheerful little robots simply weren’t the Federation’s problem. We might argue that the Prime Directive certainly has provisions for self-defense — how ridiculous would it be to consent to being annihilated or assimilated just because the Federation is afraid of offending another culture and refuses to draw a line in the sand where right stops and wrong starts? The slope gets slippery here though.

We could say this mirrors the concept of large Western nations trying to police the rest of the world and impose their customs on other societies - but how many of us watched documentaries about the Holocaust in school and wondered why the hell previous generations allowed shit to get that bad? How many of us continue to stand by while people in Iraq and Syria live under the threat of the Islamic State? I doubt most people even realize what’s going on in the Philippines or Venezuela right now because hey, “Not my country, not my problem.”

It is a huge gray area for what constitutes forcing certain customs on unwilling societies and trying to genuinely help people, but if we can’t agree that Nazi extermination camps and religiously motivated beheadings are bad and need to stop (even when they aren’t happening to us personally), I’ll be surprised if we ever make to the 24th century. It makes me wonder how exactly Earth “solved its problems” and created a utopian society in the first place with this attitude of moral relativism.

Let’s face it – we have no shortage of modern travesties that sound ridiculous in the context of this philosophical approach. The Chechen Republic has been reportedly rounding up gay men and torturing them in recent months, and moral relativism would have us shrug and say, “But their culture says homosexuality is a sin.”

Bacha bazi, a practice where adolescent boys are groomed for sexual relationships with older men, remains pervasive in many Pashtun societies. Moral relativism would tell us that we shouldn’t condemn predatory pedophilia because to do so would mean unfairly imposing our Western beliefs on their culture.

I could keep going on, but this post is already long enough. The bottom line is, all too often, Star Trek lazily glosses over a lot of moral and ethical dilemmas by using the argument, “Who are we to judge?” June is Pride Month, and in honor of LGBT individuals all over the globe who all too often have less rights than their cisgender heterosexual counterparts, maybe we should avoid looking to the “progressive” future of Star Trek and instead ask the question, “Who are we to not judge?”

While I can’t resolve one of the greatest philosophical questions ever devised, someone once gave me a great piece of advice that I think applies to this idea of moral relativism: no person’s belief is inherently worthy of respect, but every person is.

[anvh89]

Shadow Hunters, Malec and what I consider the biggest issues

So for some time I and some of the TW meta group have been watching Shadowhunters and discussing/ranting about it. It’s been interesting enough to garner interest and rants and continued viewership, mostly to delight in the things that are going on which are nonsense and also appreciating the Malec story (and ranting about it)

I will admit I have not read any other the source material for a number of reasons *couch*plagiarismfanficscandal*cough* and the writing being meh at best, so I’ll keep to what the show has been telling us and maybe the wiki if something had to be looked up.

So a lot of the issues stem from world building problems, much of it is clearly borrowed from HP considering the origin, but beyond this much of the world building is almost random.

Let’s keep to my interest in Malec for the first bit , so early on the budding relationship meets resistance from Alec, he’s shown as very reticent he’s clearly got a crush on Jace but it’s secret and he’s ashamed of it, now could be many reasons, but then he makes the decision to marry for duty and family because that’s “following his heart” (this after an episode where he’s told by Izzy their parents are trying to marry them off and he just goes not a chance), which implies there is probably a taboo about being gay, but the show never brings that up, there is no homophobia it seems which makes it weird how strange Alec was about his homosexuality to begin with.

And just to get back to that Marriage story line and what it implies and which I think everyone will agree makes zero sense and I’ll tell you why. So the implication of the story line is that SH society is feudal, you see that in the way they talk about families, the Lightwoods, the Herondales, the Branwells etc. (This is almost certainly borrowed from the HP universe) so we have this society which values family power and prestige, that’s what we’re told during the marriage debacle, the Lightwoods were circle members who went back to the clave but lost status (but not that much of a loss since they just got bumped out to the NY institute) but the Clary shenanigans made them lose more favour and the solution the parents came up with was marrying off their kids to a family in better standing.

I’m not sure exactly why it had to be Alec, some weird reason for Izzy not to do it like being a diplomat to the DWers which makes little sense, there is no indication that Maryse stopped working when she married her husband, and Izzy was clearly more open to the idea in the first place.

At any rate this is an interesting storyline with far reaching implications about how SH society functions, but then Alec just decides not to go through with it and there are no consequences? This is where the world building fails, for a number of reasons, including “we’re a dying breed”, we’re led to this conclusion that the SH society is very traditional and set in its ways, that families and family ties are important, that SH are dying out. So basically we have a situation where you’d expect marriages to be based on politics and not something you could decide to get out of on a whim and with the Dying out part you’d expect there to be the expectation of no homosexuality or at least the need to perform the duty of breeding new SH’s for the war.

That could have been a very interesting story line, Alec torn between his love for Magnus and his duty to his society and the expectations of his marriage. Marriage in feudal societies and their view on fidelity was very different so you could have had him in a political marriage with Magnus as his lover on the side no problem. Lot of potential there, but instead it was used to leap frog the Malec ship into something totally romantic without having to spend any reasonable amount of time convincing the audience that Alec and Magnus had developed real feelings for each other (we’re talking about a timeline for the whole show of something like 2 months) and that leapfrogging into a romantic relationship really hurt the shipping potential for Malec, because it’s hard to be convinced that they’re so much in love when most of the scenes were Magnus being thirsty for some SH butt and Alec being weirdly maybe into it but also maybe not?

@flower-of-the-desert live chatted the first season recently and had some things to say about that.

Another massive is just how blind the show seems currently to the fact that the SHs are basically white supremacists and the shadow world is a police state.

It’s really blatant if you just pull the veil off for even a second.

Shadow hunters are the pure beings with angel blood so they can wield divine power (and they can be tainted as seen by Izzy not being allowed into the iron sister’s castle thing, another inconsistency, celibate women in a feudal society where the race is dying out…) to protect the mundanes from invisible demons, and also maybe Downworlders which is a horrifically racist word, I mean downworlders? And this is something they call themselves as well? Bad worldbuilding again, I mean surely no one would care to be called downworlder it’s clearly oppressive just from the word down.  

I looked at the wiki and the accords is basically the SH and the Clave acknowledging that the DW’s have souls and can’t be hunted and killed for sport.

It’s also clear that because they have demon blood in some way downworlders are looked down upon by the clave and SH and Valentine is just the logical extreme of a fundamentalist who wants to commit genocide on the unpure DW’s (which on the show you might have noticed just how many DW’s are POC, it’s where the show gets their diversity)

Then the show keeps telling us (important the complete disconnect between show and tell on this show) that the new generation is a more tolerant generation and such, but here is the thing.

Banging a Downworlder does not make them tolerant!

Seriously when we’re told they’re more tolerant of DW it’s basically because they’re out there having sex with them, Jace and Maia there in season 2 when he was hung up on Clary was basically him slumming it to get bury his manpain…  but the thing is more often than not we’re shown the SH’s exploiting the DW’s for whatever they need at that time, Alec going to Magnus for every little thing, Clary to Luke and Izzy to Raphael and it’s always for something they need help with.

That also goes to the Police state thing, but the most clear examples is during the time where the Seelie woman was killing shadow hunters and making it out to be vampires and werewolves, the shadow hunters decide it’s time to demand DNA tests, to insert trackers in werewolves and Imogen “A downworlder cannot challenge our authority . not in times like these” and then of course there is the fact that Izzy straight up kills the Seelie with impunity and there was no repercussion for her at all. I was stunned I thought oh no now you stepped in it, killing her was the wrong thing to do… but nope and it’s not the only case. They routinely threaten DW’s and such to get their way, Izzy even takes that picture with Raphael’s sister and Simon and that was distasteful too.

It’s especially annoying since we’re presented with the idea that the SH are good, and then we have the way Imogen talks about the downworlders – “Valentine wants those people dead, I am trying to help them” incredibly patronizing and racist it seems almost ripped from the history of slavery (those people can’t think for themselves, they need the help of us good civilized people) and of course her little speech about how Jace is from a line of strong shadow hunters who are revered and feared by those who oppose all that is good and just.

I mean this stuff is so blatant I can’t believe that fandom isn’t in more uproar about it!?

And perhaps it’s because my exposure to fandom has been mostly through Malec and the shiny Malec scenes distract people from the clear truth.

I have to make something clear, I don’t ship Malec, in fact I don’t ship anything on the show, I want to be able to ship Malec, I was all geared up to be able to do so, I appreciate the Malec as a gay relationship and the representation, but the show failed to make me feel the romantic & sexual tension the potential for something more before throwing the two together.

So last episode 219 Raphael and Izzy had more tension together than Malec has had through most of the relationship, even though they should have faced the same issues, and they did, we had a string of episodes where Alec kept fucking up because he didn’t believe in Magnus or he didn’t trust him or he allowed his own privilege to cloud him from the truth of just how awful he was being. Instead of resolving these horrible events in any satisfying way we got the no resolution “Sorry I love you” Smooch that just put Malec back where they started before the episode happened.

That’s not even mentioning how utterly disappointed I was with Magnus big dark secret, what he considers his most ugly side… he’s 400-ish or more years old first we’re expected to believe that he’s never told any of his many loves that he accidentally killed his step-father as a child? And then there is the disappointment that that’s all he is ashamed off? That’s the extent of his dark past? He didn’t have an Angelus period where he didn’t care about human life at all or something, maybe started a war or something… nope all he has to be ashamed off is that one thing and he’s never told a soul for 400+ years…

That’s nit-picky maybe but Magnus has just been continually portrayed as one would a young girl in love for the first time, super doormat and all.

To another nit-picky world building issue

Portals

They make absolutely no sense, when Valentine is being brought to Idris and he gets sprung… when we’re told you can’t enter a portal you don’t know where is going because you’ll be lost.

There are no damn rules about Portals, they do whatever is necessary for plot reasons, sometimes you can enter a portal without knowing, you’ll go where the last person went, but sometimes if you enter a portal you’ll end up where you’re thinking off as you go in…

This is just terrible world building, you have to have a clear rule for how magic stuff works, which brings us to runes and how they’re facing the same problem, they work how the plot needs them to. So the episode where Clary is hallucinating they have to active the healing rune on her to heal her, but instead Jace hugs her and activates his own healing rune and somehow that heals her too? What? And when they were looking for Jonathon they shirtless hug because they can search him out with a new magic rune Clary received from the angels which is terrible deus ex rune writing and could have been done so much better a different way if you’d tweaked the world building and didn’t needlessly have to have the main character be uber-speshul.

But yes they’re tracking jonathan through Clary’s blood and nothing makes sense because they don’t have the same blood or DNA and Jonathon is filled with demon blood versus Clary’s angel blood and don’t even get me started on why Jace had to do it… The whole thing was proxy-sex so they could be weird around each other for no reason, it could have been comedic if they’d have had Alec with them also shirtless hugging because parabatai bs power, at least it would have made it genuinely awkward.  

Another thing, where did Luke’s tattoo runes go when he was turned into a werewolf? And why is he not a shadowhunter werewolf? How is it that he’s no longer a shadow hunter because he got werewolf std’d but Jonathon who’s got demon blood out the wazoo and spent years in edamame or whatever it’s called, the demon realm, he is still a SH for some reason.

World building I tell ya.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something but my mind is all ranted out except for the Malec break up, which damn they should have used those old no-resolution slights to make it better and not have focused so much on the lie and the political aspects because while those are big there are big betrayals that were just glossed over during the season that could have been brought forth to really put a wedge between them for them to overcome or not.

[heidisamiam]

“Triple Banana, Bitch”: Or, McDanno and the Challenge to Heteronormativity

1. Introducing the Case

[1] Imagine a TV show where two co-workers/friends survived being trapped under a collapsed building and Person A sustained some pretty severe injuries. While trapped, the Person B says “I love you” to them. They are eventually rescued, and the following conversation ensues.

A: When we were in there, you said ah, y'know before you did the thing with the bomb, you said what you said ... I want you to know, I feel the same way. B: How is that exactly? A: You're making me say it? (B gives A a look.) Come here. (They hug.) I love you.

Now imagine a couple years later, a mutual acquaintance, Person C, is listening to them discuss Person A’s ex’s upcoming divorce.

B: What about therapy? It worked for us. C: You two lovebirds have a therapist? A: (Incredulous scoff.) Yes, we have a therapist.

Around the same time, imagine the couple arguing because Person B found out that Person A had been thinking about retirement without consulting Person B.

B: You didn’t feel the need to include me in the decision for you to retire. I trust you to bring me into big decisions like that.

You’d probably think that was a romantic couple, wouldn't you? They got together, they expressed their love after a traumatic event forced them to, they’ve worked at their relationship, they still have spats over things like major life decisions.

What if I said that Person A is Detective Danny Williams and Person B is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-0?

2. Maybe It’s A Joke

The thing about Hawaii Five-0 is that they treat Steve and Danny as if they are the lead couple.

And I don’t mean this in an “if one of them was a woman, they’d be together” kind of way, but in a “sometimes you forget they aren’t actually a married/romantically involved TV couple” type of way. In the Season 7 finale, there was a moment where I honestly was confused why Steve didn’t give Danny a kiss before leaving his office.

It’s intentional, maybe not to the extent that I see it. It started out in a wink-wink-but- clearly-a-joke sort of way. Both friends and strangers referred to them as a couple very early on in the show. But, unlike some shows, there haven’t been “no homo” responses (and none as far as I know from the actors). Maybe a little incredulity from Danny on occasion, but that is his response to teasing in general.

In S1E4, Steve is playing basketball against a guy in prison to try and get information out of him. Steve yells at Danny to shut up to try to get him to stop heckling him. The prisoner he’s playing against asks, “How long you two been married?” No reaction from either of them.

In S1E7, Steve is in a hostage situation while Danny is in the perp’s house. They’re on the phone, and Danny—who looks around to make sure no one is in the room—whispers, “You, uh, you miss me, don’t you?” Steve says, “Of course I miss you.” The retired Navy guy Steve is with asks, “Who are you talking to? Your wife?” Steve replies, “I’m talking to my partner.”

In S2E18, Harry the retired police officer offers them marriage counseling.

They go to a sorority house in S3E12 and one of the women in the house says, without really seeing them interact, “Kelly, your dads are here to pick you up.”  Both men look slightly put out by the statement—but Steve expressly says it’s because he doesn’t think he looks old enough to have a daughter in college.

In S5E17, they occupy a woman’s apartment for a stakeout, and a nosy neighbor assumes they are married. At the end of the episode they leave for couples therapy (no, really) and the woman is confused, because they said they weren’t married, to which Chin says they just fight like an old married couple.

There are numerous other examples of this. A lot of it happens non-verbally, in looks they get from other people or that other people share behind their back, including people who have known and worked with them for years, usually Chin.

In S4E11, Danny calls Steve cheap while the whole group is out, and everyone backs away from their argument, side-eying each other like, “oh the married couple is fighting again.”

So, maybe it’s a joke.

3. More Than Subtext

But maybe it isn’t.

“Ho yay” is a phrase that is sometimes used, meaning “homoeroticism, yay,” to refer to homoerotic subtext in otherwise heteronormative narratives. The history of this has its roots in the fact that you couldn’t put overt mentions of homosexuality on television for a long time. So you had to do the wink, wink, nod, nod. The “roommate” or intimate friendships that most people would interpret as good friends.

There seems to be a conception used in anti-gay rhetoric that homosexuality didn’t exist until the last couple decades and that the liberal agenda intends to turn everyone gay. I would recommend to these people to read any Ancient Greek text (like, any of them), but maybe straight men and women don’t see subtext, because they don't have to. They’re represented.

Sometimes people use the term “queerbaiting” to refer to TV shows that use homoerotic subtext not in a way to imply that characters are gay, but, rather, to tease the idea that a show has gay characters so that people who want to see that kind of representation on a show watch it, but so that people who are “offended” by gay representation won’t not watch it.

I’m not sure if this happens intentionally, or if it’s just people who are fed up with the lack of representation reading into it, because the big TV demographic that everyone is after is males age 18-34, and the majority of men are heterosexual. So, this is unfortunate, but this is the problem with diversifying television, film, publishing, etc. Straight white men are still the default, so anyone else is a niche market, i.e., a risk.[2]

But Hawaii Five-0 goes way beyond the jokes, and I think even beyond baiting. You can actually watch the show as if they are in a romantic relationship together without squinting. Sure, it’s an open relationship, and you have to read both characters as bisexual (easy to do with Steve, a little harder to do with Danny), but on my reading it’s a relationship that goes outside the usual mapping of two men or two women onto a stereotypical heteronormative relationship tropes.

Maybe they aren’t sexually involved--the jokes and innuendo are almost always about them being romantically involved. And that might help my case.

4. The Evolution of a Couple

But I’m getting ahead of myself, because it takes them awhile to get there. Their relationship really starts out with pulling pigtails. They tease each other about their musical tastes, food likes and dislikes, Danny’s love of New Jersey, Steve’s love of firearms. But then “Sexy Eyes” by Dr. Hook comes on in the car one day (S1E11), which is such a lame song there is no reason why Steve McGarrett would like it, and Steve refuses to let Danny change it. It is my personal belief that Steve McGarrett listens to Supertramp and King Crimson exclusively (I have absolutely no proof of this), so not letting Danny change the song from “Sexy Eyes”? I don’t even know what to do with that.

A lot of friendships (and particularly male friendships) are based on ribbing. But neither Steve nor Danny interacts that way with Chin, Kono, Max, Jerry, or Kamekona. In fact, the only person Danny argues with the way he argues with Steve is with his ex-wife. And Steve doesn’t even remotely interact with any of the characters the way he does with Danny. He gives Lou a hard time on occasion, but he never really teases anyone else. The more I think about it, the more I think he is one of the most earnest characters on television. Steve does have a very close friendship with Chin, and in later seasons with Lou, but they’re more serious with each other. The care and support are there, but the playfulness isn’t.

In the first season, Steve and Danny have pet names for each other. In S1E6:

Steve: When I say, “Book ’em, Danno,” it’s a term of endearment. Danny: OK. Do it every day. I like it.

Danny first refers to Steve as “babe” in S1E10. He says it’s a Jersey thing, but he never refers to Chin as “babe” or Kono (who would probably shoot him for it). Sometimes Steve parrots back with a “babe” of his own. They do this in front of other people who don’t know them, usually men, usually men who look like they have no idea what to do with these two crazy cops.

Kono calls Steve “boss” or “McGarrett” and Danny is always “Danny.” Chin calls them by their first or last names. No one calls Danny “Danno” except for Danny’s children, because it’s a nickname Grace bestowed on him.

They flirt. See S1E13:

Steve: We're gonna tear into this guy's life and we're gonna rip it all apart. Danny: I have never liked you more than in this moment right now. It’s beautiful.

Substitute “I have never been more turned on than in this moment right now,” and you’re in an action movie where the guy is hitting on the badass woman.

Or in S2E1:

Danny: Why are you smiling at me? Steve: You’re not wearing a tie. It suits you.

There was also the thong incident. While in a party bus investigating a case (S4E6), Danny finds a discarded g-string, he holds it up to show Steve, and Steve says, “You gonna get an evidence bag, or are you gonna put that thing on?” For a second you can see on Danny’s face that he thinks Steve might be serious.

They know each other in ways that you only people you are intimate with. Danny has a catalogue of Steve’s looks.

Meanwhile Steve catalogs Danny’s tones of voice. Hell, Danny knows Steve’s favorite kind of frosting when he surprises him with a birthday cake. They open up to each other about their pasts in a way that we don’t (or rarely) see them do with anyone else. They communicate with each other nonverbally. They read each other. By season 7, they recognize each other’s moods and use that knowledge to encourage them to talk about what’s on their mind.

This certainly could be best friend behavior. Or it could be the result of their couples therapy (really).

Like I said, maybe they don’t have a sexual relationship, but they also touch each other a lot.

They don’t do this with other characters that they are friends with. Sometimes Steve will put his hand on Chin’s shoulder. Everyone on the team is a hugger. They’re all close. They’re ohana. But it’s different.

Steve and Danny sit really close to each other on couches. In season 3’s Halloween episode (S3E5), they watch The Notebook together on the couch. Steve’s girlfriend Cath is on the opposite end, Grace next to her. Then Danny. Then Steve on the end. He puts his arm around the back of the couch and Danny snuggles next to him. (It was apparently Scott Caan’s idea to do this.)

In S2E8, Steve shows up at Danny’s apartment, puts his arm around the back of the couch behind Danny and they watch Enemy Mine together.

They almost always sit next to each other when the whole group is together. They danced together at Kono’s wedding (S6E1). Not a group dance, this was arms around each other, holding hands, dancing like a couple. I have never seen two straight males friends do this, and I know plenty of straight men who are openly affectionate with their male friends.

One of my favorite moments happened in S4E3 where they are in a warehouse after a shootout, and Danny needs zip ties, so he walks toward Steve, who just lifts his arm as he crosses the warehouse in the other direction to give Danny access to the pocket on his tac vest. Danny grabs the zip ties while they both keep walking. It’s a practiced dance of bodily familiarity. Again, this could be because they work together closely. Steve and Kono have a silent language sometimes when they’re taking down bad guys, but they share a certain cold-blooded killer instinct that Danny and Chin don’t, but it’s not the same as a physical familiarity.

Danny knows Steve’s blood type. He gives Steve part of his liver in S6E25 (after he goes on a cold, uncharacteristic, ballistic rampage against the guy who shot Steve). They will put their lives on the line for the other and directly in harm’s way. They will go all over the world to find the other at all costs.

Danny went to North Korea to rescue Steve (S2E10). Because Jenna knew that Danny was Steve’s person to call in an emergency. She could have called HQ. She didn’t. She called Danny.

Danny went to Afghanistan to bring Steve back after he is captured by the Taliban and rescued by the Army, who didn’t know he was there (S4E20). And Danny gets super defensive when the Army officers who hold Steve try to get him to leave the room. Steve is surprised Danny is there, he asks Danny why he came, and Danny says, “I had to make sure you were okay.” Steve looks so touched in that moment, because it was the first time anyone done something like that for him.

Danny goes with Steve to a random location in the Cambodian jungle to dig up a grave, because it gave Steve a clue into his mother’s identity and past that is haunting Steve (S4E18).

Steve went to Colombia to with Danny to try to find Danny’s brother (S5E4) and later to get Danny out of Colombian prison (S5E18). He gets on a fundamental level that Danny has to get revenge for his brother, and he knows that it’s going to hurt Danny.

My point is that they really seem like a couple.

Danny goes with Steve to a doctor’s appointment in S7E20. He is in the exam room with Steve while the doctor comes in. He asks questions like a spouse. He makes the doctor tell Steve the same thing that he has been telling him in the hopes that he’ll listen to the doctor. They also have a conversation about playing doctor, because Danny is messing around with the doctor’s equipment.

Danny: Now, would you please do me this one favor. Steve: No, I will not bend over and cough with your cold hands. Danny: It’s not that kind of test.

Note that Steve’s objection is the coldness of the hands, not the hands.

Danny enters Steve’s house without knocking. Steve enters Danny’s apartment without knocking. Danny cooks in Steve’s kitchen. And then there was this in S1E24:

Steve: I’ll take powdered eggs over your eggs any day. Danny: You love my eggs. Steve: They’re terrible, Danny.

Why would Danny be making Steve eggs? Who cooks their work friend breakfast food?

5. Defying Heteronormativity

The show hits on a lot of the typical heteronormative romantic TV/movie tropes with Steve and Danny’s relationship.

Agents dating, on a stakeout, undercover—this happens in particular when Steve opens up to Danny about his stunted emotional growth during a stakeout, to which Danny responds by buying Steve a guitar.

Anguished/dying declaration of love: When they are trapped under a building together (S4E19) and when they are dealing with a uranium bomb (S7E18) (more on those below).

Like an old married couple: Again, numerous examples of this.

Belligerent sexual tension: Danny rants at Steve all the time, and Steve argues back, you keep waiting for Janeane Garofalo to jump in and say, “Would the two of you just do it and get it over with? I'm starving!”

Innocent cohabitation: Steve lets Danny stay at his place for a while after Danny’s apartment gets destroyed, Danny sleeps with the TV on (which drives Steve crazy) to drown out the noise of the ocean (which drives Danny crazy), so he buys Danny super expensive noise-canceling headphones from a store clerk who gives him the “partner?” face (S2E9).

Love at first punch: Danny punches Steve in the face in the first episode (S1E1).

But it isn’t entirely heteronormative. Sometimes you run into the “which one is the more feminine one” stereotype when you see gay couples portrayed on TV. You might be tempted to think that H50 plays into this and that Danny is more feminine because he’s sometimes called the nagging wife, and because Steve is a Navy SEAL and Steve really is the central character of the show.

But when you look closer, Danny shows more overt signs of traditional hetero-masculinity than Steve does. His primary emotional response to anything is anger. He goes alpha male protective over his kids to the point of causing others bodily harm. He falls asleep in front of the TV, wakes up when Steve turns it off and says “I was watching that.” He’s the one who sometimes leers at women, is distracted by bikini models. He fathered two children. He is coded as straight.

Steve meanwhile always looks women in the eye. He is either very reserved or he is more individual, person-centric in his choosing of romantic or sexual partners. Given that his old nickname was “smooth dog” (still not sure if that was a joke or not, because Steve is also a huge dork) you get the feeling that he used to be more of a lothario, but doesn’t do that anymore. Maybe he was overcompensating. He is also, in spite of his hard exterior, extremely thoughtful and compassionate. He’s also nags Danny about Danny being a slob after Danny house sits for him. He’s a control freak--usually the accusation given to women.

He also remembers down to the day how long he and Danny have been partners (this happens multiple times over the course of the show).

It wouldn’t be a stretch to consider that maybe Steve is bi or gay, but was closeted while serving in the Navy. You see him in two relationships with women on the show, and both women are not traditionally feminine. Catherine was great. She was absolutely likable. She was a Naval officer, she likes her steaks rare, she drinks beer, she shoots guns. She was competent, confident, and kind of a badass. She was perfect for Steve, and I could roll with it. I like Lynn, too. She’s tough, a thrill-seeker, well-matched for Steve, someone he can do things with that Danny wouldn’t do.

It takes a little mental gymnastic work, it does, but they might just have an open relationship. It works for some people. And it would make Hawaii Five-0 a really progressive show if they went there.

There’s the Rachel issue to contend with. Steve seems upset when he finds out that Danny and Rachel started sleeping together again at the end of season 1. Mostly because Danny didn’t tell him. But in the end, Danny actually chooses Steve over Rachel. Steve gets arrested, and, even though Danny is supposed to meet Rachel and Grace at the airport, he goes to Steve instead.

The writers are teasing Rachel and Danny getting back together, which I vehemently oppose. They tried it twice, Rachel lied to Danny, she resents his job, they don’t work together. It also throws off my narrative a little, even though I think Rachel actually likes Steve, so maybe Danny is going to break Steve’s heart and I will never forgive the writers.

Steve and Cath never really defined their relationship. Though Steve did plan to propose to her, and Danny encouraged it. That doesn’t really kill my theory, though, because I think Danny probably loved Cath, too. Marriage would have been the only way to keep Cath in Hawaii, but marriage wouldn’t have precluded Danny and Steve from still being together in some capacity. Because Cath accepted Danny’s role in Steve’s life. In one episode (S3E17), Cath buys Steve tickets to the Pro Bowl, but Steve already had tickets for him and Danny. Cath just took Kono instead and teased Danny and Steve about their date. In the end, Steve gets injured on a case and can’t go. Danny could still go, but chooses to stay with Steve at the hospital instead. Danny has always been more important to Steve than even Cath was.

I do think part of Danny still likes the idea of a nuclear family, because he’s a parent. But he’s not necessarily a monogamist, though. As evidenced by the fact that he started sleeping with Rachel when she was still married. (Presumably Rachel was already planning to leave Stan, but Danny gets upset when he thinks his sister is cheating on her husband in a later episode, so I don’t know. But hypocrite much, Danno?)

Now you have them in more of a polyamorous situation. They give each other dating advice, but it’s sort of like telling your crush what you would like them to do to woo you. It’s sort of like they are the primary couple and they are negotiating how to deal with the open part of their relationship. Maybe they still both prefer sleeping with women. Danny seems to lean more that way. Maybe they do the commitment, companionship thing with each other. Maybe whatever they have together is new and they’re still working through it.

In S7E16, they “accidentally” spend Valentine’s Day weekend together. They’re with their respective girlfriends, but they end up spending most of the weekend together, and it was their girlfriends who booked the vacation, the adjoining rooms, and they seem more interested in hanging out with each other than they do Danny and Steve.

When the four of them have dinner together at the end of the episode on the beach in a romantic setting, Steve and Danny are sitting next to each other and Lynn and Melissa are on the other side of the table. Earlier in the day, Danny had apologized to Melissa for something and she says, “I knew what I was getting into.”

It’s also worth noting that the steamy love scenes we get on screen are between Kono and Adam and between Chin and Abby. You see Cath and Steve making out pretty heavily once, fully clothed, and you see them in bed together, but Steve and Lynn never even kiss. You see Danny and Melissa in bed together, but it’s only ever implied.

Whatever else, this show does challenge heteronormative stereotypes on some level.

6. The Evidence of Affection

They regularly say “I love you” to each other. Sometimes there’s a “bro” or “buddy” added, but it almost always sounds awkward. You feel like they know other people are watching so they don’t go for it. Most of the time. Sometimes there’s more feeling behind it. “I love you,” I thought I was going to lose you. Sometimes they say “I love you” in the way that you say thank you after you convince your spouse to do an unpleasant chore.

Steve takes Danny on a date (a hike, whatever) in S1E20 to show him cliffs that he used to climb and petroglyphs that his dad used to take him to when he was a kid. This is a big deal, because Steve is opening up about his family. He even suggests that they take Grace there when she’s older. Danny, who complains just to complain, reluctantly agrees that “it’s nice.” It’s kind of romantic.

Steve ends up falling when he goes to check on another fallen climber. Steve breaks his arm in the process but is more worried about Danny being careful when he climbs to the summit of their hike to get cell service. Help does arrive. As the helicopter takes him away, Danny makes a heart sign at him. Maybe it was a joke. But at the end of the episode, he gets jealous when a woman comes up to sign Steve’s cast.

But when Danny thought they were going to die under the collapsed building (mentioned at the beginning, in S4E19), there was no joking around. Again,

Danny: When we were in there, you said ah, y'know before you did the thing with the bomb, you said what you said ... I want you to know, I feel the same way. Steve: How is that exactly? Danny: You're making me say it? (Steve gives him a look) Come here. (they hug) I love you. Steve: I love you, buddy.

Take out the “buddy” and re-read that. I’ll wait.

In S7E18, there is a uranium bomb that Danny and Steve have to removed the uranium from and then take to another location. The bomb is volatile, and they have to take it across uneven terrain in an old truck. Before Steve starts the car, he tells Danny he loves him. Danny doesn’t say it back right then, he panics. But after Steve gets the uranium out, Danny apologizes, “Look, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.” Told him about his retirement plans? Told him that he loved him? Who’s to say?

My all-time favorite line is in S5E12 when Steve starts helps out a teenager, Nahele, who stole his car but was really just dealt a shitty hand in life:

Danny: You know what you are? You’re a half-baked cookie, soft and gooey on the inside. Kid should be in juvenile hall, and you go and you give him a job  That’s why I love you, babe. You like fixing broken toys.

You don’t always see portrayals of male friendships that are so openly affectionate or willing to say they love one another, and I don’t want to diminish that, I really don’t. Familial love and platonic love are no less important than romantic love. As someone who identifies on the aro spectrum, this is important to me. But you get plenty of solid platonic relationships on the show.

Steve and Chin also have a strong relationship—Steve totally loses it when Chin is strapped with explosives in S1E12. He breaks into a police evidence room and steals $10 million to save Chin’s life. We find out in a flashback scene that after Chin’s wife dies, that Steve would regularly call him in the middle of the night and invite him out for coffee at the diner near Chin’s house, and he would sit with him in companionable silence in the middle of the night. That is friendship. That is love.

But it’s still not the same as it is with Danny. It’s more like you would expect a brotherhood, family, or a close friendship.

Steve and Kono’s relationship is probably my favorite on the show, because Steve neither treats her like a sister nor as a sexual object. Danny leers at Kono the first time he meets her. Eric hits on her, Sang Min hits on her. Steve treats her like a peer. They’re friends, but there is a mutual respect that you rarely get between men and women in real life.

7. More Than Ohana

So, maybe they’re just family. Maybe.

They go to couples counseling—I am not making this up; they literally go to couples counseling—because they have communication problems that affect their working relationship. They also argue about money. These are the two classic problems that romantic couples argue about.

Danny always pays when they go out and would like Steve to stop conveniently forgetting his wallet. Steve doesn’t share his feelings enough. Danny feels like Steve doesn’t listen to him. Danny is the nagging one in the couple (in S1E13, he even admits this, “I don’t want to be a nag, but…”). But Steve is the control freak (as Danny regularly points out, as Steve himself says in S7E18 When he exposes himself to the uranium so Danny doesn’t have to). They’re both worrywarts, particularly about the other, and about Danny’s daughter.

Steve goes to pick up Grace from school in the first season (S1E23) like he’s her step-father, because Danny is in the hospital. He didn’t talk to Danny about it—all he knew was that the doctor said he was going to be okay. He already knew it was Danny’s day to get Grace.

The way they know each other is intimate.

There is a scene in S7E14 where Danny and Chin watch Steve have a conversation on the phone, and Danny gives commentary, knowing the gist of the conversation based on Steve’s body language,

Danny: His mouth has not moved in three and a half minutes. Chin: You know, maybe she's got him on hold. Danny: No. No. His nostrils are flaring. He's pacing like a maniac. And he just switched the phone from his right hand to his left hand, which means he wants to punch something. Chin: Well, you know your boy well.

In addition to the counseling, which is not just a one episode gag (no, really, they have a workbook), Steve “accidentally” books them a couple’s counseling retreat. It’s almost as if he wanted Danny to see that they are a couple, but then he chickened out.

They talk to each other like a couple. There are so many examples of this, I don’t know where to start.

When Danny’s mom comes to visit (S6E15), Steve offers to come down to keep Danny company because she is driving Danny crazy. This was after Steve met her and was overwhelmed by her and Danny’s bickering that he escaped.

Steve: What could the FBI possibly want with your mother? Danny: I have no idea. Why do you think I’m calling you? Steve: Did you ask her? Danny: Of course I asked her. What kind of stupid question is that? Steve: Whoa. Why are you getting mad at me?

Because he recognizes that Danny is upset about something else and projecting. After Danny explains why he’s upset (counseling works!), Steve responds with “You want me to come down there? I’ll come down there.” He’s working a case, but he would drop everything to run interference with Danny’s mother.

Steve cares about Danny’s daughter and son as if they are his family. And you can write it off along with the theme of “ohana,” you could, but by  season 7, Steve and Danny are basically co-parents. Steve goes to the governor to help Danny keep his custody agreement in season 1. When Danny gets taken to Colombia, he asks Steve to talk to Grace. Steve does, and the way he talks to Grace it’s clear that he respects her enough not to lie to her.

In S4E14, the whole group is together, including Grace, celebrating the end of a case. Steve pulls Danny away from the group under the guise of bringing back drinks for everyone just so he can tell Danny what a good kid Grace is. The way Steve looks at her is with fatherly pride.

When Grace’s school dance is held hostage in S7E8, Steve is absolutely frantic until he sees that Grace is okay. He calls out her name like a concerned father, and when she sees him, she races to him to give him a hug. When they separate, Steve looks at Danny and asks, “No hug?”

Danny says, “I’ll give you a hug. I’ll give you a kiss. You pick a base.” Then the three of them walk together, Danny with an arm around them each. I want a scene where Grace’s friends ask her who her dad’s hot boyfriend is. Because you know it happened.

In S7E23, Steve helps Danny decorate Charlie’s bedroom (at Danny’s house? At Steve’s? I can’t tell.). Danny is dealing with protecting a witness (he also leads Steve--not the team, Steve personally--on a wild goose chase around Oahu to track the men who want to silence the witness, which amounts to him ordering Steve around until Steve drives his truck through a house to stop the bad guys), so Steve finishing building Charlie’s race car bed. He plays race car driver with Charlie before bedtime, he tucks him in, brushes his hair off his face, and wishes him goodnight. Like a parent.

Their families talk about them like they’re partners. Hell, Steve takes Danny as his date to Steve’s aunt’s wedding.

In S2E19, Steve’s sister Mary runs into them at the beach as they are coming in from surfing. She asks, “So you guys are like surf buddies now?” And Steve says, “Kind of.”

It’s meant to be on the surface a comment on Danny’s surfing ability, I think, but the awkwardness of it doesn’t account for that. After Mary leaves, Danny says, “So we’re surf buddies now.” The ensuing argument that you can fill in goes something along the lines of: you can’t tell her we’re seeing each other? It is the natural next line in that conversation. “Surf buddies” is like the male version of “gal pals.”

When Danny’s sister comes to visit, she knows who Steve is because Danny talks about him a lot. She says “Mom said you were a catch.” But you don’t get the feeling that she means a catch for her.

The clincher for me was in S7E18 (the uranium episode).

He and Danny have an argument in front of students at the police academy until Duke intervenes. Steve read a list that Danny left on his desk full of things he likes, things like traveling (which Steve points out that Danny always complains when they travel together). Steve calls Danny out for keeping something from him and offers to talk about it, and Danny gets mad because Steve invaded his privacy by looking at the list. The next scene you see Steve talking on the phone to Chin trying to get his assessment of the situation.

We find out that it’s a list of things that Danny would like to do when he retires. Steve gets upset. In the “I thought we would always be together, please don’t leave me” type of way.

Again, “You didn’t feel the need to include me in the decision for you to retire. I trust you to bring me into big decisions like that.”

In the ensuing conversation, Steve compares his relationship to Danny with Danny’s first marriage. Danny says that maybe he wants to open a restaurant after he retires. Steve is incredulous, but by the end of the episode, after they’ve both survived, Steve wants him to name it “Steve’s, “because if we’re not together, we’ll still be together.” Steve is so co-dependent on Danny I could write a separate essay about it. To show his support, Steve even buys Danny a monogrammed chef’s hat in S7E25.

The last scene of S7E18, when Lou tells Steve that HPD was the target of the uranium bomb, you see Steve turn and look at everyone eating dinner in the house (McGarrett’s house. Where Danny was cooking.), and the camera following Steve’s gaze focuses on Danny.

8. McDanno Forever

I can work with the girlfriends and the apparent heterosexuality. I can work with the “bro”s and “buddy”s. My point is that if the writers started writing out the women as love interests and wrote in a few more domestic scenes with Steve and Danny, it wouldn’t take away from the show. In fact, I don’t think anyone would notice anything was different. Because it wouldn’t actually be different.

It also genuinely wouldn’t feel out of character for Danny to finally figure out that he and Steve have actually been together together for years without him realizing it. Steve, of course, knew all along.  

But it also wouldn’t surprise me if they are already knowingly in a committed but open relationship. One that maybe started with sex but ended up as life partners of some sort, because however you want to define it, Danny is very clearly the most important person in Steve’s life. And Danny clearly relies on, depends on, trusts and loves Steve.

You can actually hear the reactions when they tell everyone.

Lou: *nearly falls over laughing*

Chin: “Yeah, we know, brah.”

Kono: “Everyone knows.”

Jerry: “Worst kept secret since The Flash’s identity.”[3]

[1] Originally posted on Wordpress here. Title is a quote from Danny regarding the level he reached on Pac-Man. Also, all photos and were taken from google searches, and probably the property of CBS. [2] There’s a lot more to say about this. Diversity without tokenism is really important to me, and some day I'll write something about it. [3] Granted, Wally West told everyone he was The Flash, but then he outed Barry Allen in the process...

[thegloober]

Return to Terror: Why the Election of Jair Bolsonaro Would be a Disaster for Brazil

by Pablo Villaça

October 26, 2018   |  

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João Carlos Grabois was still in his mother’s womb when he was tortured with electroshocks. 

A little more than one month from his due date, he was a victim of Colonel Brilhante Ustra, probably the cruelest torturer of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for 21 years, from 1964 to 1985. That was a tough competition considering the many, many monsters who worked for the regime (including the notorious Sérgio Fleury). 

Ustra, however, was a special kind of monster – one that found in his role during the dictatorship the opportunity to prey upon all the political prisoners that had the misfortune of falling into his hands. In at least a few occasions, for instance, he took the young children of people he was torturing to see their parents while they were in the process of being massacred. 

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On another occasion, Ustra sent soldiers to pick up the infant child of another couple he was “interrogating,” and to make them talk, he ordered his subordinates to torture the child. 

For fifteen hours.

Yes, he tortured a baby.

It just so happens that Colonel Brilhante Ustra is the idol of former Captain Jair Messias Bolsonaro, the extreme right-winger who seems likely to become the next Brazilian president. 

Bolsonaro even honored Ustra when he was voting for the absurd impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, dedicating his vote “to the memory of Brilhante Ustra, Dilma’s horror”.

Dilma was tortured by the Colonel when she was a young political prisoner during the dictatorship.

Things get uglier, however: Bolsonaro also says he believes in torture and that the only mistake of the military was torturing instead of killing the people who fought against the regime. He also said that he was not going to rape a fellow congresswoman because “she didn’t deserve it.” He compared the quilombolas (members of black rural communities formed by former slaves) to animals. He said none of his sons would date a black woman because they were “well raised.” He stated that repeated beatings could “correct” children and stop them from “turning gay”. This week, he said that, if he becomes president, he will not allow blacks, women and homosexuals to “play victims” anymore, which adds to his recent declaration that he would stop “all kinds of activism” in his presidency.

It’s no wonder, then, that his followers started putting his words into action even before the end of the election.

You see, in Brazil, we have (too) many political parties – and a candidate can only be elected if he or she gets more than 50% of the votes, something that usually demands a second round between the two winners of the first one. So, when Bolsonaro ended the first round with a little more than 46% of the votes, many of his fans took to the streets in celebration.

And that’s when the terror started.

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The same night of that first round, a 63-years-old black master of capoeira, Moa do Katendê, was stabbed to death after saying to a Bolsonaro voter that he voted for Fernando Haddad, the left-wing candidate from the Worker’s Party who also got to the second round. 

And that was only the beginning: since then, dozens and dozens of acts of violence were committed against Haddad’s supporters, the victims frequently belonging to one of the groups mentioned before: blacks, women and members of the LGBTQ community. (There’s a “map of political violence” listing many of these incidents – which already includes three murders – here).

How can someone like Bolsonaro be so close to becoming Brazil’s president? 

Well, in order to understand that, we have to go back a few decades – and I’ll promise I’ll be brief.

Brazil was going places in the late 1950s and early ’60s. After tumultuous times that included the suicide of president Getúlio Vargas, we had a progressive president in Juscelino Kubitscheck. Later, after Jânio Quadros resigned after only seven months as his elected successor (that’s a story for another day), Brazil had an authentic left-wing president for the first time: João Goulart (Jango), pictured above. 

Jango started his “basic reforms” – a program that would change education, wealth distribution, the redistribution of abandoned land, the creation of lines of credit to producers, and the nationalization of strategic resources (energy, water, oil and so on). That didn’t sit well with the right-wing-dominated military and with an economic elite that’d been benefiting from the state since the end of slavery in Brazil, and well before that. 

So a coup d’etat took place. The military deposed and exiled Jango, ended all political parties, and nominated a general as our president. That happened in 1964. Four years later, in 1968, the military approved what would be known as “Institutional Act Number 5” (AI-5), which gave the military unlimited powers to repress the growing movements against the dictatorship. People started “disappearing.” Hundreds were arrested, tortured, killed. I have close relatives who were tortured in the so-called “basements” of the Political Police. 

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The military remained in power for 21 years. In 1985, we finally got a civilian as president again. However, he was not elected by the people, but by the Congress, which was back in action. Nothing is easy in Brazil, though, and that president, Tancredo Neves, got sick and died before he could take office. His vice-president, José Sarney, became the president and… well, he was not a good one, driving inflation to a new peak. 

Our next president – the first one elected by the people since João Goulart – lasted less than three years before an impeachment procedure that resulted in his resignation for corruption charges. Then came a period of calm: we had Fernando Henrique Cardoso for two terms (eight years) and then Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, aka “Lula,” for another two. Cardoso helped implement a new currency and control inflation. Lula implemented reforms that took 42 million people out of the poverty line, and turned Brazil into an international leader in fighting hunger and inequality. 

After eight years, Lula left office as the most popular president ever, with an almost 90% approval rating. He was succeeded by Dilma Rousseff (pictured below), an ex-revolutionary who fought the dictatorship and was tortured by the military. Four years later, Dilma got reelected.

And then, the same forces that helped take Jango down decided they’d had enough of leftist presidents. With the help of the media—all major Brazilian networks are Fox News, basically—some members of the judiciary, and the right-wing parties, they cooked up absurd accusations against Dilma involving BUDGETARY MANEUVERS (not corruption, I want to stress) and impeached her. Oh, an important detail: her vice-president helped them do it. (In Brazil, it’s frequent that the President and the Vice-President are from different parties; and her successor became part of the “white coup d’etat” to remove her.) 

The country got really polarized between Left and Right, and that’s when our worst historical mistake came back collecting its dues. You see, when the Dictatorship ended in Brazil, we didn’t do what Chile and Argentina did when their dictatorships ended: we didn’t held any military accountable. Everyone was pardoned. 

Not one torturer went to trial. 

Not one executioner. 

So now we have generations of people who simply don’t believe we even had a dictatorship. 

Or that it was a hardline one. 

They believe that everyone who got killed or tortured “deserved it.” 

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That the youth wanted to establish a “Communist Dictatorship.” 

And that the military “saved” us. 

That’s the context that made Jair Bolsonaro possible. 

And that’s why he acts like he was in the ’50s and managed to convince people that “COMMUNISTS ARE A THREAT!” 

Yes, in 2018 that’s still a thing in Brazil. 

But then something happened: Lula became the favorite to win the presidency in the next election. More than that: he was expected to win in the first round. So, to stop that, he was accused of corruption by Sergio Moro, a right-wing partisan judge, and incarcerated. The whole process is full of irregularities and it has been denounced by international groups as a way to keep Lula from running. Which they managed to do even though the UN human rights committee ruled he should be allowed to run. (Noam Chomsky visited Lula in his cell recently and wrote about it.)

And that’s when Bolsonaro started posing as the country’s savior, vowing to “end corruption and violence” by any means necessary – conveniently forgetting the stains on his own resume. He was named in a bribe list known as “Furnas List.” He was proven to have a “ghost worker” in his payroll (which is funded by federal money). He used federally approved funds to pay for his rent even though he had an apartment of his own. His son, who is also a congressman, had an astounding growth of 432% in his net worth in a span of few years. His current presidential campaign was recently exposed as receiving non-disclosed corporate donations to send fake news to millions of voters through WhatsApp (corporate donations are forbidden by Brazilian electoral law).

Still, Bolsonaro poses as the solution for corruption. And many Brazilian bought the farce. 

What’s worse is that to many of his fans, his misogyny, his racism, his homophobia, and his xenophobia are seen not as negative qualities, but virtues. 

And here we are: the second round will happen next Sunday, but one of Bolsonaro’s son (another congressman; yes, politics are a family business for them) already threatened to send the army to shut down the Supreme Court in case it tried to contest his father’s candidacy based on the aforementioned irregularities. 

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As that was not enough, Bolsonaro himself said, during a speech a couple days ago, that he will oversee a “cleansing of the reds” (meaning left-wingers), who will have to “either get out of the country or rot in jail”.

In case you didn’t notice it, I’m one of those “reds” – and a vocal one, at that. What’s more shocking is that Bolsonaro’s fans, seemingly still living in the 1950s, are always saying they’ll “finish all communists” in Brazil. 

Sen. Joseph McCarthy would have loved them.

I haven’t given up, though. The election is couple of days always and maybe, just maybe, Brazil will come to its senses before it’s too late. I can’t believe my country will basically tell its children (I have two of my own) that hatred is something to be rewarded.

It may be a cliché, but I keep thinking of John Lennon’s verses:

“You may say I’m a dreamer/But I’m not the only one./I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one.”

The pessimist in me reminds me that Lennon was shot to death. The realist, that his words remain alive. The optimist, that maybe they still hold some power.

I can’t stop hoping. 

And so I hope. For my children, my country, and our humanity.

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[humanauction]

The Weather Report 7 - week ending 29.10.17

the weather in Baghdad will be cooling down rapidly over the next few weeks. daily temperatures will be a slightly chilly 28C - 32C (79F-87F). precipitation will hold fast at 0%, the wind will drop to 7mph and humidity will top out at around 34%. by European standards it’s actually going to be lovely weather, with most people down to only two costume changes a day (compared to the 7+ of high summer). so it is going to be t-shirt and shorts by day, polo shirt and chinos in the evening. as we enter the winter season, the Baghdadis are gearing up for their annual Start-up weekend with investment opportunities from all over Iraq coming to pitch their ideas. it really is a buyers market at the moment - you’d be crazy not to invest.

Baghdad Start-up weekend - Powered by HUMAN AUCTION



Meanwhile, elsewhere…


ASIA - CHINA: the 19th annual Communist Party Congress - with over 2,280 delegates because in china that is only the vital people - were “asked” if they wanted to enshrine Xi Jinping's name in the country's constitution. now this in itself might not seem so important to us here in the civilized west. firstly, who cares about china, right? secondly, who cares about communists, right? and thirdly, if we don’t even expect our own governments to win by a majority or ask the people who they want running the country then why should we care about China doing it, right? whilst all of those are valid positions, the reason it matters more is because the person “asking” the congress about enshrining Xi Jinping's name in the country's constitution was… you guessed it - Xi Jinping. guess what else happened? it passed overwhelmingly.

Literally EVERYTHING is made in China these days

EUROPE - UK: Holocaust memorial to steal glory over other memorial at Victoria Tower Gardens. the Buxton Memorial - representing the abolition of slavery feels particularly ignored. which is ironic given the higher than ever number of people actually enslaved right now, worldwide. The Burghers of Calais also feel like this glory-chasing by the Jews (“so, what, NO ONE else died in forced labour camps in enormous numbers during WW2?”) will mean people have less time for burgers. preferring to avoid confrontation, the passive aggressive sculptures/memorials have started their own, closed, Facebook group to discuss their options. the goat with kids by the small stone wall is already back in therapy, having taken quite a hit to their confidence at being so much smaller than the other statues. the whole family are hoping to relocate to an as yet unnamed European city “we were looking to leave before Brexit anyway” said the smaller of the kids “this just helped reinforce that decision”. the 1930 statue of (suffragette) Emmeline Pankhurst by Arthur George Walker has been sulking all week. she posted a :’-( face on twitter, put “perturbed & betrayed” as her “how are you feeling today?” status of her Facebook public profile, and, just this morning, threatened to leave social media all together on her tumblr blog to “try and make a difference the old-fashioned way”. plans are already progressing for the protest campaign. a live stream on Twitch is confirmed - chaining as many feminist statues and memorials as she can muster (and she sure can muster) outside parliament. 11,045 people have clicked “Yes” they will be attending the Facebook event “Victoria Tower Gardens Rally” with 29,432 “Maybe”, 7,366 “I Wont Be Attending” and over 15,000 replies of solidarity. the Testicular Cancer Memorial has been approved by all parties however.

Testicular Cancer Memorial Proposal - absolutely fine

AFRICA - TANZANIA: 13 people were arrested for promoting homosexuality, which is a crime in the east African nation. normally promoting homosexuality would consist of fabulous shoes, a nice flat, possibly some flirting… in gay strongholds like Brighton, Tel Aviv or San Francisco and if you are SUPER lucky - maybe even a blowjob. sure, in Tanzania it includes these things, but it also covers taking part in a public meeting to discuss challenging a law stopping private health clinics from providing HIV and AIDS services. and not one of those unenforced old-school laws we forgot to nullify. three South African lawyers were among those arrested, and were subsequently deported because, according to Lazaro Mambosasa, “Chief” of Dar es Salaam police,  “they were promoting homosexuality”. The arrests come a month after Deputy Health Minister, Hamisi Kingwangalla, publicly pledged to "fight with all our strength against groups supporting homosexuality in our country”. the Tanzanian government, keen to drive their people back into the stone age at full-speed, has banned imports of water-based lube (because only queers use lube) and drop-in centres serving key populations at risk of HIV. both are essential to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. all this as Tanzania faces environmental disaster due to deforestation, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and general environmental destruction. the main GDP contributing industries - mining, fracking and agriculture are to blame, and this is a very real problem when they; account for 50% (24% agriculture + 26% industrial) of the GDP; make-up 85% of exports; half the population are employed in these industries and half your electricity comes from natural gas. Add to that 34% of the population living in poverty, and  18% of all electricity generated was either stolen or lost due to transmission/distribution issues last year and you have the ingredients for a perfect storm. but yeah, consenting sex between men is bad.

Gay dogs - banned in Tanzania

EUROPE - DENMARK: From January 2018, cannabis will be legalised as part of a four-year trial. patients will be prescribed cannabis if the treatment fits the diagnosis according to the Copenhagen Post. however many horticulturalists are choosing to ignore the requirements to legally apply for a license as they “will be a very complicated set of rules" to grow the plant,and stoners don’t like complicated. or licenses. or rules. 13 companies queued politely to apply for licenses to grow marijuana. the Danish government deny (remember what it means when a government confirms something unequivocally?) they have made it prohibitively complicated/expensive for the average Jane or Joe. not only that, but they claim it will be easy and cheaper to use cannabis in many medical cases. currently, legally or illegally, the price of marijuana in Europe is, £10 - £20 ($13 - $26/€11 - €22) a gram for “buds” of varying quality and around £50 - £100 ($65-$130/€56-€112) a gram for concentrates (BHO, shatter, isolater, etc…).  but Lars Tomassen, director of Danish Cannabis claims under current legislation it would cost some 6,000 krone (£715/$935/€808) per patient a month - EVERY MONTH!? to “adequately” treat the average patient”? this has led some to question just how much it would actually cost to comprehensively treat the average patient. also the likelihood of life-long treatment e.g.rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson disease… is unlikely as the bill runs into the millions. several sources are now suggesting that the government is attempting to price normal horticulturalists out of the market and thereby maintain their absolute monopoly on the drugs trade themselves. which is crazy talk, i know. maybe a long time ago we may have done that. one time, maybe, but it isn’t normal practice and the last time anyone did that… Afghanistan was occupied. by… yes, ok, by us, but to be fair the heroin is a lot better now than it was in the early 2000’s.

Denmark - might not need any more weed

SOUTH AMERICA - GUIANA (FRENCH OCCUPIED): Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the French-occupied colony was marred by pitched battles between protesters and police in on Thursday (26.10.17). it went on for a little while and got quite exciting. anyway, apparently it was “unclear why the local population were upset”, said some French people we know through AirBnB. most nations would love to be colonised by the French, and yet this honour seems not to be what the French Guianans were looking for. everyone knows that countries colonised by the British, French or Spanish - some several hundred years ago - were/are the lucky ones. not only did they get to stay in their own country, probably, but they also reap the rewards of their chum/overlord’s other… “interests”? then petrol bombs, tear gas, blockades and industrial action (aka going on strike) gripped the small country, and in particular its capital, Cayenne - where spicy food was invented. the French authorities were proper moany, and got unwittingly drawn into a game of verbal tennis.

France to Serve

“there is no reason for this kind of behaviour” they said. “apart from significant social deprivation” the locals said.


0-15

“you have jobs and the same conditions as French citizens” they said. “we have 23% unemployment. double that of France” said the locals.


0-30

“we are including you in our space program” they said (they launch rockets etc into space from French Guiana). “money is being poured into Guiana” said the locals “for prestige space projects”


0-40

adding the “welfare of ordinary people in French Guiana has been near-totally neglected”

GAME - F. G. F.G. to serve.

some, mainly the Guianans, argue that French Guiana should be granted full independence like all the, every single one, other South America country previously occupied by a European one with better weapons. France disagrees, refusing even to recognise it as a country and instead calling it the second largest region of France by land area. it is also, somehow, the largest outermost region of the European Union (of which it is part). however that works...

Macron’s wardrobe choice - pissed EVERYONE off

Have a sunny week,

HA


@humanauction


[politicalfilth-blog]

A Ted Cruz Twitter Explanation, Rand Paul Summons His Father In Senate

We Are Change

Welcome back amazing, beautiful human beings.

I’m seeing more YouTube channels being demonetized, terminated, and blacklisted so if you can please sign up on our email list. That way we have another way to contact you as I patiently wait for the inevitable next attack on our YouTube channel by the Google Alphabet CIA monopoly corporatocracy.

We’re going to give you the news that’s important and the news that matters. You probably won’t hear anywhere else because we’re living in a day and age of mass misinformation and propaganda. In today’s video we’re going to talk about war mongers bankrupting this country, more saber-rattling by Israel and Saudi Arabia, plus some important psychological lessons to learn from the latest U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Video is also available on DTUBE

There is a bigger battle for the future of all wars right now at the US Senate plus a lot more.

As we are shooting this video, US Senator Ted Cruz is trending worldwide on Twitter. Moments after he liked a pornographic video. He seemingly did not realize that likes are public. Everyone is now going crazy.

The official Pornhub Twitter account has even offered Ted Cruz a premium membership to their services. Personally, this issue does not affect my life or anyone else in the general public. I see it as a distraction, but there are some important lessons we could learn here. Number one, no one is perfect, we all make mistakes, including a US Senator representative of the United States. He is a conservative and preaches traditional values who boasts on his public Twitter account that he’s a father of two and who his wife is.

However, he publicly liked a pornographic video on his Twitter account on 9/11. The second lesson is what you resist persists, and for me, it shouldn’t be a big deal that he liked the pornographic video. However, people do see it as a big deal because this is the same Ted Cruz that defended a ban on dildos and other sex toys in Texas with his legal team arguing that there was “no right to stimulate one’s genitals.”

If you study psychology, you understand that what people hate the most in others is usually the shadow within themselves. As demonstrated wonderfully in a hypocritical political system with incidents like this one.

Also with former Republican Senator Larry Craig who helped enact the military “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. He was also known as an anti-gay marriage campaigner. He was caught soliciting sex from what an undercover male police officer in a public bathroom.

Often if someone hates you because of the way you choose to live your life, or your sex, or your race, or for your personal preferences or choices, there is a reason. I think it’s important for a lot of people to understand that the person is throwing hate against you usually is doing it because of deep psychological rooted problems.

That’s why an example for most people who are homophobic usually have homosexual feelings.  People repress things and hold them in, build on it and make it bigger than it is. That’s why I think the world would be a better place if we all would just stop judging people on what they do when it does not affect us. Understand where it’s coming from so we don’t react negatively to put an end to the cycle of hate and fear.

That’s why I am, linking to an article by a licensed therapist. I recommend you check it out. It would be nice if people could stop projecting your fear and anger onto others. That, of course, begins with not giving such a hard time to Ted Cruz who just for the official record right now is blaming his staff member for this incident

In U.S. Senate news we have Senator Rand Paul introducing a bill to give money to hurricane victims in the United States instead of foreign dictators via foreign aid. This bill has been completely blocked by the Senate. He has brought up a very important point including examples of what we spend on foreign aid.

We spent a hundred billion dollars building roads in Afghanistan. Then more money blowing up roads in Afghanistan. We build schools then we blow them up again.  Then we spend more money rebuilding all of them.  Sometimes we blow them up, sometimes someone else blows them up. Then we always go back and rebuild them. What about rebuilding our country. Sounds like a practical idea but of course, the bill is blocked.

Rand Paul is also waging another war against endless wars.

He’s trying to repeal the 16-year-old Authorization for the use of Military Force (AUMF) which passed shortly after 9/11. It has allowed U.S. Presidents to declare war without Congressional approval. It has permitted the bombing of several countries including Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

It also allowed the legal justification for the U.S. President to assassinate a U.S. citizen. It has been used to launch 37 military interventions in 14 different countries. Rand Paul is forcing a debate on this crucial issue almost standing alone. It would have passed if it wasn’t for his protest. He is bringing up vital points like the fact that there’s hypocrisy on both sides here. The anti-war left is no longer demanding the end of wars.

If you still believe in the political system, he has vowed to continue this protest. Most interestingly the only significant press he’s getting from this protest is from the online community. The mainstream media, of course, remains silent.

This is an important issue to me because if it weren’t for the AUMF, the president wouldn’t be able to bomb and kill anyone he wants at any time without congressional approval.

This law that Rand Paul wants to repeal has changed the landscape of not only Presidential powers but shaped international world events. This has been going on since 9/11 when Ron Paul former Congressman and Presidential candidate pointed out that 9/11 was used as a justification for passing the Patriot Act. He noted that the extensive bill was written many years before the attacks occurred. 9/11 just provided an opportunity to implement the police state.

That one event 9/11 introduced the AUMF and the Patriot Act. This started the current horrible foreign policy that still persists.

Many scholars, whistleblowers, professors, and experts say the government story about 9/11 does not add up. They say that it is bankrupting this country. Today almost every penny of our income tax goes to supposed defense spending. Over eighty percent of the money you give to the U.S. federal government goes directly towards the war industry and the security industry. They are setting up a surveillance state that is being turned and used against you the American citizen. As Edward Snowden even said don’t fear Trump, be afraid of the surveillance state.

With all of that happening the United States federal debt has just surpassed 20 trillion dollars. In just one day the debt jumped over 317 billion dollars after President Trump signed a new spending and debt limit deal.  This will keep the government afloat until December.

We are being bankrupted and are robbing our children’s future. We will be in servitude because of this debt all because of these meaningless wars that have been raging on for over 16 years now. Which is what the majority of our taxes are spent on. Yet still put us into bigger deficit while the United States cozies up to despotic nations. Nations like Saudi Arabia and Israel where we all commit horrible foreign policy decisions together.

The same Saudi Arabia that appears complicit and implicated with 9/11 along with American intelligence and Israeli intelligence. We’ve been telling you about this unholy alliance between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States for a very long time.

It’s been pretty much-made official with this latest breaking news of the Saudi Crown Prince having a secret visit to Israel. This in spite fo the fact that Saudi Arabia officially does not recognize the Jewish state.

The two countries supposedly do not have any diplomatic relations. This is not a surprise for me because for years now we’ve been documenting and telling you how Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the U.S. have not only had a common enemy with Iran but actively finance rebel groups.  With the purpose of getting rid of the Iranian linked Syrian government and Bashar al-Assad.

These nations supported the rebel groups inside of Syria knowingly. They knew they were creating radical Islamic terrorists and helped the rise of al-Nusra and ISIS. All for their greater geopolitical goal of isolating Iran. These three countries see as Iran and Syria as their common enemy. We’ve been telling you this for some years now. We’ve been accused of being fake news and conspiracy theorists, but now we’re being vindicated. Recently a top Israeli general just came out and admitted the greater truth behind Israel wanting a war with Iran. A general tasked with writing his country’s defense policy has admitted that Israel cannot take on Iran’s military alone if that day ever comes. He admitted for Israel that terror groups like ISIS continue to be a minimal threat and instead Israel’s main focus tends to remain enveloped in an obsession with Iran.

Currently, Iranian backed militants are taking strategic areas of Syrian territory and may ultimately set up shop permanently on Israel’s border.

This led up to the events that we were talking about on this YouTube channel with Israeli Prime Minister meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When those talks failed, Donald Trump’s sent Jared Kushner to Israel. We told you to look out for a very strong Israeli move. Israel went out and attacked Syrian government forces, and now they’re colluding with Saudi Arabia even on a bigger level over the future of Syria. A Syria which is strongly influenced by Iran, China and Russia. That’s why this Israeli general said: “we can achieve a decisive victory over Hezbollah, and we don’t need help from a single American soldier. However, we cannot fight Iran alone.” He also said, “I consider future cooperation with the U.S. much more important than anything we’ve had in the past.”

That is why we’re about to see the United States and Russia come face-to-face in Syria. That is why US President Donald Trump has stated that the US will declare Iran non-compliant with its nuclear deal. Even though the nuclear watchdog chief even stated that Iran is playing by the rules. We are going to be keeping a very close eye on this situation on this independent news channel.

In other potentially disastrous war news, more sanctions were passed on North Korea. This has caused them to down on threats against the United States.

There are also massive demonstrations happening in Spain right now. Hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets for a Catalan national day. The people of Catalonia are calling for a break from the Spanish government.

The Catalonians are declaring their desire to vote for independence on October 1st, 2017. This is an event which I’m personally thinking attending myself and covering from the ground.

If you’re interested in that, let me know. That is the news for today. I hope you guys enjoyed this broadcast if you found it informative please share it with your friends and family members.

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