#i believe it has value and for its time was super important

[indie-queer-movie-tournament]

Boys Don’t Cry

tw deadnaming in the synopsis below:

Female born, Teena Brandon adopts his male identity of Brandon Teena and attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska.

Letterboxd:

I guess the first things I need to do are note the usual crimes. The film deadnames Brandon Teena, misgenders him, and while it ultimately falls heavily on Brandon's side in a lot of ways, it still fails to equip uneducated viewers with a way to respectfully address and respond to the subject matter. If you think that isn't this film's purpose, my response is merely to point out that its purpose is very obviously to show the horror of the violence against trans people. If it can't do so without enacting microagressions against us in the process, it shouldn't have been made at all. This film casts a cis woman as a trans man, which has the same erasing, hurtful undertones that casting a cis man as a trans woman does, though obviously with different nuances. If this film shows anything, though, it is that the transphobic belief that trans men aren't men is what gets them killed in many circumstances. The film also goes out of its way to show Brandon's dressing in a way that emphasizes his anatomy and suggests that he is somehow artificial.

[heritageposts]

how do i start to read marxist leninist/leftist stuff ? i searched on the internet but it’s super confusing lol

the most important value for me as an ML is anti-imperialism, so i guess i'll always recommend that people start with works centred on that

some suggestions below (all books should be available either on marxist.org or as pdf/epub files on libgen)

American Holocaust by David E. Stannard

about the colonization of america. not explicitly marxist, but it's probably done more to radicalize me than any other piece of writing. this is the pile of corpses capitalism is built on:

Within no more than a handful of generations following their first en counters with Europeans, the vast majority of the Western Hemisphere's native peoples had been exterminated. The pace and magnitude of their obliteration varied from place to place and from time to time, but for years now historical demographers have been uncovering, in region upon region, post-Columbian depopulation rates of between 90 and 98 percent with such regularity that an overall decline of 95 percent has become a working rule of thumb. What this means is that, on average, for every twenty natives alive at the moment of European contact-when the lands of the Americas teemed with numerous tens of millions of people-only one stood in their place when the bloodbath was over. To put this in a contemporary context, the ratio of native survivorship in the Americas following European contact was less than half of what the human survivorship ratio would be in the United States today if every single white person and every single black person died. The destruction of the Indians of the Americas was, far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world. That is why, as one historian aptly has said, far from the heroic and romantic heraldry that customarily is used to symbolize the European settlement of the Americas, the emblem most congruent with reality would be a pyramid of skulls. - David E. Stannard

2. Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin

Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital is established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun, in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed. - Vladimir Lenin

3. The Wretched of The Earth by Franz Fanon

Let us look at ourselves, if we can bear to, and see what is becoming of us. First, we must face that unexpected revelation, the strip-tease of our humanism. There you can see it, quite naked, and it’s not a pretty sight. It was nothing but an ideology of lies, a perfect justification for pillage; its honeyed words, its affectation of sensibility were only alibis for our aggressions. A fine sight they are too, the believers in non-violence, saying that they are neither executioners nor victims. Very well then; if you’re not victims when the government which you’ve voted for, when the army in which your younger brothers are serving without hesitation or remorse have undertaken race murder, you are, without a shadow of doubt, executioners. And if you chose to be victims and to risk being put in prison for a day or two, you are simply choosing to pull your irons out of the fire. But you will not be able to pull them out; they’ll have to stay there till the end. Try to understand this at any rate: if violence began this very evening and if exploitation and oppression had never existed on the earth, perhaps the slogans of non-violence might end the quarrel. But if the whole regime, even your non-violent ideas, are conditioned by a thousand-year-old oppression, your passivity serves only to place you in the ranks of the oppressors. - prefrace by Jean-Paul Sartre

4. Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire

Yes, it would be worthwhile to study clinically, in detail, the steps taken by Hitler and Hitlerism and to reveal to the very distinguished, very humanistic, very Christian bourgeois of the twentieth century that without his being aware of it, he has a Hitler inside him, that Hitler inhabits him, that Hitler is his demon, that if he rails against him, he is being inconsistent and that, at bottom, what he cannot forgive Hitler for is not crime in itself, the crime against man, it is not the humiliation of man as such, it is the crime against the white man, the humiliation of the white man, and the fact that he applied to Europe colonialist procedures which until then had been reserved exclusively for the Arabs of Algeria, the coolies of India, and the blacks of Africa I have talked a good deal about Hitler. Because he deserves it: he makes it possible to see things on a large scale and to grasp the fact that capitalist society, at its present stage, is incapable of establishing a concept of the rights of all men, just as it has proved incapable of establishing a system of individual ethics. Whether one likes it or not, at the end of the blind alley that is Europe, I mean the Europe of Adenauer, Schuman, Bidault, and a few others, there is Hitler. At the end of capitalism, which is eager to outlive its day, there is Hitler. At the end of formal humanism and philosophicrenunciation, there is Hitler - Aimé Césaire

5. Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism by Michael Parenti

probably the most accessible introduction to communism that doesn't demonize countries that have undergone—or attempted to undergo—a transitation into socalism (like the ussr, cuba, etc.)

The very concept of "revolutionary violence" is somewhat falsely cast, since most of the violence comes from those who attempt to prevent reform, not from those struggling for reform. By focusing on the violent rebellions of the downtrodden, we overlook the much greater repressive force and violence utilized by the ruling oligarchs to maintain the status quo, including armed attacks against peaceful demonstrations, mass arrests, torture, destruction of opposition organizations, suppression of dissident publications, death squad assassinations, the extermination of whole villages, and the like. - Michael Parenti

[ashleyhuh]

Hyper analyzing Devlog 07

I am just too excited for this and I NEED to talk about Devlog 07 and just the implications and some speculation of each screen shot AND the new art!

I wanna start from a more overlooked screen shot which really puts us in Andrews shoes and more!

In Andrew's eyes he doesn't even value his friend enough to consider him anything other than "Friend B" which to me is probably how he remembered it as I'd like to imagine in this scene he sticks up for Ashley and probably might even stop being friends with him again, somewhat how like they tried forgetting Nina and blocking out her name and face from their memories only this time he wasn't even important enough to Andrew his name was simply forgotten, not important enough because Ashley is far, far more important to him.

This to me really confirms that Nemlei wants to tell this story for how it is and how many of us see it. A romance novel, even in Decay we see Andrew still loving Ashley but angry he loves her and angry with himself for being this way. We see this in how he is still physical with her tho he is using that touch as a means of frustration, he wants her but he hates that he does. This drawing is also just super fucking cute I love it

I think honestly its incredible how this is the first time we see a police officer this late into the game considering what types of antics they've been up to. There isn't much to analyze here other than with the officers seem to have a more relaxed mood, talking more about the monotonous parts of their job and as such I don't believe they'd be looking for Andrew, but Andrew is still hiding from them as he can't afford to be seen by Police.

This to me could say a lot or nothing. The soul in front of lord unknown could very much so be Andrew's as it's popular speculation that he is going to be sacrificed and Ashley has to get him back. The game has made it clear to us that when you lose your soul you don't die which is a key element if Nemlei is going to ever develop that detail further with what we've speculated from before. This area could also have major significance if it's important that Ashley and Andrew try to summon lord unknown in the optional part of the game. Who knows it could matter it could not such as with the gun having bullets or not.

[0pheleschimera0]

i don't really get simpatico but i would love to understand it more bc its such a big part of transformers now. if you're willing, you can do that big post on simpatico here?? if you wanna??? i'd really appreciate the help 🥺👉👈

The thing with Simpatico is that i didn't exactly Get it at first too, most of my exposure was through fan content and reading the thing i was just Yeah it Makes Sense people ship this, but then it kind of bestowed on me more how these two people are just two parts fitting together perfectly in a way they wouldn't with others, and it's not even inherently Romantic to me, even if i see them as very much in love and conjunxed post MTMTE/LL story.

Their relationship is quite silly in the context at first. Brainstorm's profile calls him a conflicted Perceptor fanboy. The only thing we get, up to this point, is his Annoyance with how his genius is overshadowed by Perceptor. While Perceptor doesn't seem to give him his time of day at all, more concerned with his work and what Rodimus wants from him than what Brainstorm is up to.

It's honestly just my personal interpretation of either characters, but Perceptor is finally allowed to fullly get back to science again, he's not expected to be holding his sniper rifle (even though he was never expected to! He had himself believe that holding a weapon will make him of more value!), while Brainstorm is there with his own super secret super important agenda.

Brainstorm is, apparently, an MTO, while we don't know what for, but MTOs have a very sad track record and usually have a lot of baggage as they're usually "born" and then kicked into the heat of battle, barely having any chance to learn who they are, just what they're for. Yet Brainstorm has never killed anyone - and despite that, he's still LIED about being an MTO.

Here they're talking about the concept of Constructed Cold, but there were TWO waves of them - pre-war and post-war. What Brainstorm is talking about he was not even born to witness yet.

They're both people who, one way or the other, "defying" what they are. It's a common theme with tf ships for me, but in case with this, it's Perceptor believing that he has to be more, and at the point of MTMTE, perhaps, not feeling entirely whole, and Brainstorm WANTING to be someone He actually Wants to Be.

Brainstorm feels threatened when his intellect is belittled by people calling Perceptor the genius. Brainstorm is quite egotistical and selfish, but it all ends up being just a facade, just as much Perceptor's cold and perfect exterior he cultivated throughout years during the war, of someone he thought his side needed.

Up until Brainstorm's time travel shenanigans, we saw them interacting sometimes, and a lot of the time, it was Brainstorm trying to impress Perceptor somehow, or just being himself that draws attention of Percy nevertheless.

And then we see Percy smiling the most he's ever smiled throughout the comic, calling Brainstorm a genius himself, impressed by the intricate work of Brainstorm.

Perceptor gets up to clap for Brainstorm at his trial, and i think it's the moment that sold Perceptor for his respect to Brainstorm. Everything he ever knew about Brainstorm - the careless egotistical and cowardly scientist - turned out to be nothing but means to an end, making way to a dedicated, caring, kind and brilliant person into his mind.

I think their finale just says it all regarding these two, honestly.

"I always wanted recognition for what I am."

"Me too."

Brainstorm spent his life on science and to be recognized. He didn't hide the fact he's an MTO just because. He wants to be seen for his achievements. Perceptor's war trauma had him feel useless to his comrades, who's "purpose", who's Genius, was ultimately the thing people saw in him, brushing off his personal achievements, maybe even the fact he could be more, his person, the way he feels Brainstorm could understand, too.

They're simpatico for a reason, and its just one of them, but pretty crucial and at the very core of why they're so compatible.

While i understand simply thinking of them as "science duo" they're so so much more than that.

[agentstarkid]

REDAMANCY ✦ DR3

“The essence of "redamancy", when loving someone, resides in finding oneself wholeheartedly committed to another person. It involves investing time, effort, and emotions to build a relationship based on trust, empathy, and understanding. Redamancy emphasizes the idea of love in its purest form, where both individuals feel valued, supported, and cherished by one another. In this context, loving someone through redamancy means having an unwavering appreciation and admiration for their unique qualities and accepting them as they are, flaws and all. It entails fostering a deep emotional bond that brings joy, warmth, and fulfillment to both individuals involved. Love, translated through redamancy, is an enriching experience that nourishes and uplifts the lives of those involved, creating a sense of security, happiness, and contentment.”

✦ pairing: daniel ricciardo x famous!latina!reader

✦ type: social media au

✦ fc: becky g

✦ warnings: female!reader, covid-19 & quarantine mentions, age gap, language, slight mention of mature themes.

✦ pit wall live: holi babes! WE'RE OFFICIALLY DONE WITH 2020! 🥳 Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm feeling festive so this is a gift from me to you guys! Thank you for all the love and support 💖 if you haven't already left me one, please consider leaving me a comment to let me know if this whole thing at least makes a bit of sense (I crave validation, guys lmao) and my inbox is always open! I'm super excited for you to get to know Girlie a little bit better! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because I sure did enjoy making those edits, don't they look so fucking cuteeeeee??? 😩💕

p.s.: keep an eye out for a name that could be important in the future 👀

─── The Joker & The Queen (Masterlist)

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

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SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

f1gossipofficial

♡ 2,345 likes

f1gossipofficial NEW WAG ALERT 🚨 After months of speculations, we can finally see them together! Daniel and Y/N arrived at the paddock for the Tuscan GP today and it's fair to say, she knows how to make an entrance 🔥 It's the first time Ricciardo introduces a WAG to the paddock 🥰

View all 1,307 comments

user she's wearing heels and he's still a head taller than her 🥺 THEIR HEIGHT DIFFERENCE IS TOO FUCKING CUTE 😭❤️

user she's just a smol 🤏🏻 cinnamon roll ❤️

user2 🐍🐍🐍🐍

user3 what the fuck is she wearing? 😂 she needs to hire a stylist because she looks like a fucking clown. This reflects badly on Daniel 🤮

user she's serving Y2K style 🔥🔥🔥 also why tf would it reflect badly on him the way she dresses??? 🙄 I think she looks gorgeous!

user4 They have been together since January, but the picture of them walking next to each other is like they don't even know each other 😂

user5 can't believe Daniel hasn't dump her unfaithful ass yet 🙄 she must be really good at the things that she does on the mattress 🤮

user the only thing she's probably worth for, he might as well take advantage of it Imao

user6 The amount of hate this girl receives when all she does is just appear, no one knows her personally but ends up throwing opinions based on her looks and a couple of tabloids. Lol. Fangirls are crazy! 😂

user7 noone does it like her 😘

user8 lol he deserves so much better 🤢🐍

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OCTOBER 6, 2020

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OCTOBER 11, 2020

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yourinstagram

♡ liked by rubendias, iamcardib, danielricciardo and 8,452,325 others

yourinstagram When your birthday gift includes a podium finish you know it's gonna be an unforgettable experience! 🤩 Every year I grow I'm reminded of how precious this life is, thank you all for helping me fill it up with so much love. Your kind words and constant support means everything to me. Thank you so so so much 💕

Don't say it, don't say it, OKAY I'm saying it: I'M FEELING 22!! 😘

View all 20,975 comments

salmahayek Happy birthday hermosa ❤️

danielricciardo Who needs a four-leaf clover when I've got you by my side? Just call me Danny Ricc, the luckiest bloke around! 😎

taylorswift Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22! 🥳 Happy happy birthday my angel! There was happiness because of you 🥰

user stop acting all innocent we all know you are a fucking slut

userA yourinstagram we can tell by all the guys you let into your bed 👀

florencepugh Happy birthday to a special soul ❤️

fioamato Happiest 22nd year babe! Wish we could be together to celebrate. Te amo un mundo ❤️

sofiareyes Feliz vida reinotaaaa! 🥳🥰

user2 sos una gran ridícula 🐍

user3 stop shoving it in our faces every 5 minutes jesus christ, we already know the only way you can stay relevant is fucking your way through talented people

reesewhiterspoon Happy birthday to my favorite resident loud persona!

jvn Happiest birthday babe! Becoming friends with you has shown me a strength & kindness that is v rare. You're brave, smart AF, and the talent is next level & quite literally iconic. Grateful to know you & call you a frand!! Love you to pieces Queen! xx

llane Feliz cumpleaños hermanita 🎂 te deseo muchas bendiciones! ❤️

lilymhe as a wise woman once said: It seems like one of those nights, we ditched the whole scene and end up dreaming, instead of sleeping 💘✨

user4 Oh I didn't know it was international snakes day 🐍😂

lewishamilton happy birthday sis 💜 hope you had lots of fun x

instagram birthdays and F1 races make a winning combo

user5 I hope you are aware you're just a bed-warmer until he finds something better 😂

user6 Those who are throwing her hate, is everything okay at home? You must all be excellent people and role models 😂

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NOVEMBER 01, 2020

yourinstagram has added to their story!

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NOVEMBER 16, 2020

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DECEMBER 18-21, 2020

iamdannaschwarz has added to their story!

corey_wilson has added to their story!

itsvittoriasousa has added to their story!

fioamato has added to their story!

yourinstagram has added to their story!

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DECEMBER 25, 2020

danielricciardo

📍Los Angeles, California

♡ liked by yourinstagram, natalie_pinkham, pierregasly and 5,242 others

danielricciardo Merry christmas to all, ya filthy animals! From me and my snuggle buddy 🎄 We've been good... mostly! 😝

Tagged: yourinstagram, corey_wilson, lukerockhold

View all 8,345 comments

yourinstagram Merry Christmas from our reindeer crew! ❤️🎄

danielricciardo Santa's got it easy this year, because I've already found the perfect gift 😘

natalie_pinkham Cuties ❤️ Merry christmas guys! Sending you all the love ❤️🎄

user THEY LOOK SO FUCKING GOOD UGHH 😍

user1 she's gonna be his downfall 🤢

f1 Merry Christmas to our favorite honey badger 🦨🍯❤️

user2 please Daniel check your eyesight 😭 I mean what did you even see in Y/N

kristenanniebell Merry christmas, guys! Sending lots of love from ours to yours ❤️

user3 La pareja más bonita 😍😍 Merry christmas to us with that first photo

scottyjames31 this got me cheesing hard... I'm a bit worried for Santa if those are his reindeers though 😳

user4 Daniel!! RUN!! Don't get too close to her... she's fucking poison!! Everything she touches rots away 🐍🐍🐍

user5 MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!! Santa should be delivering my adoption papers to you any moment now ❤️🙈

fabioquartararo20 Merry christmas brother! 🥂❤️

user6 who else lives through celebrities holiday posts? Buon Natale, Daniel and Y/N 💚

user7 dude, based on the recent news lately popping up on my feed (that I did not even care to know about), I hope you get yourself to an std clinic to get tested. I see you are in your russian roulet phase- no judgement. sincerely, I wish you the best

user8 this comment section reeks of jealousy it does not pass the vibe check at. all. 😤😤😤 it's fucking christmas guys, what the fuck is wrong with y'all leave them the fuck alone!

user9 they are so many wonderful and interesting people in the world, but you chose Y/N... disappointing. You could sincerely do so much better

user10 Love it or hate it, they are living their best life. Haters can keep commenting, but they're just a bunch of jealous basic bitches lmao ANYWAYS, MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! Keep being fucking iconic! ❤️

user11 To all the haters out there, keep commenting. Love knows no bounds and Daniel deserves exactly who he's chosen 😘

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DECEMBER 31, 2020

yourinstagram

♡ liked by lilymhe, rubendias, greeicy and 10,652,485 others

yourinstagram Moving towards 2021 with a better mindset. Keep practicing kindness every day, guys! 💖🤗🤭

View all 15,921 comments

itsvittoriasousa Queen of positivity 💁🏻‍♀️💗😘

user lmao omg love this video 🤭 such good vibes

blakelively ❤️❤️❤️

zendaya the vibes are immaculate 💅🏻

lali Y QUE SE CALLE EL DECORADO 😝 Te adoro nena ❤️

user1 No me canso de verlo 😂

iamdannaschwarz A lot of palo santo to cleanse, purify and remove all negativity 🪔🧿😌🤍

user2 Por qué tan hermosaaaaaa 😍😍😍

user3 It's the palo santo and the big echeveria for me lol

user4 Love your attitude

karolg Positively divinaaa! Toda una BICHOTA 💁🏻‍♀️💗

user5 Keep it up, Queen!! Let your light blind all those negative nellies 😌 You're shinning brighter than the sun ☀✨

user6 you can't tell me her and Dan are not meant to be 😂 I bet they are so much fun to be around 🤭

─── Please don't forget to reblog and comment! ♡

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

ok new prayer request: i really don't like my job. it's basically three jobs run out of the same shop, and I am only barely making miminum wage. it's frustrating and stresses me out so bad that I keep getting headaches, which NEVER happened this much before. the reason I'm here is because it is literally the ONLY place I applied that gave me the time of day, and because my boss and manager and coworkers are super nice.

I want a different job. something that maybe I'm not doing three(3) different jobs and only barely getting paid for one(1). maybe something that's just ONE SINGULAR JOB that I can be confident in instead of feeling like I'm constantly juggling things running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I also want to move. I want to get out of my parents' house and out of this tiny little two-horse town. I'd like to try and chip away at my ambitions and I just can't do that here, no matter how much my parents try to convince me I could have a small career here and stay in this town. I don't want to. I want to move.

the camp that my church has done retreats at is hiring for this summer. I'd make just about the same or possibly a little more working there than I do at my job currently for the same amount of time. and it's something I would LIKE to do. it's something that wouldn't make me so frustrated or anxious I believe and it also includes the opportunity to learn some higher-level production technology and possibly a connection to a major regional production company, which is the industry I want to work in.

I have two main hangups right now:

number one, the big one, is that for the last several months, for a while honestly, I've been struggling with some thought patterns and temptations that are sinful and wrong which I keep slipping back into those thoughts, letting my mind and imagination have the reins, and the habits that fuel this sin. I won't go into a ton of detail but some of my mutuals know a little. I'm working on it, but I have repeatedly messed up and turned back to these habits and that makes me feel like I shouldn't work at a Christian camp, since I'm struggling with (in my mind) a fairly major sin issue. however the camp's belief statement does mention the importance and value of repentance and growth, so there is that

the second issue is that I would feel SO bad for leaving my current job. I've only been here 6 months and everyone has been so kind to me and my manager is having a lot of family and personal issues and I would feel guilty for leaving so soon.

but I have this opportunity, which could be a REALLY good opportunity in many ways and would be something that I find PURPOSE in instead of just getting through the day. I'm praying on it, and I'm praying on my sin issues of the last half-year, but I would like to ask for additional prayer here on all these counts, too. I have confessed (mainly to people I trust here, since it's stuff I don't want to discuss with my mom lol) and repented but I have slipped and backsliding repeatedly, literally up until this week. I do think that wanting this camp job is a good motivator for growth in this, though. i could just use wisdom and prayer and peace about all this as I try to figure out what to do. thanks 😅💖

[ihavemanyhusbands]

Hi hi 🩷🫶🏻 before anything i'd like to say that this blog is my comfort space 🥹 idk how to explain it but the vibes are so cozy and fun, not to mention your incredible writing skills! You're amazing, thank you for sharing your talent with us 💓

I also have a fun lil request lol, i was wondering what your ideas and theories are regarding the type of women Will, Hanni and Duncan are into, doesn't have to be 100% accurate obvi but just curious about your pov

Howdyyyy!! Awww omg thank you so much!! This is soooo sweeeeet 😭❤️🥹 I’m really really glad you feel this way about my blog!! Thanks for being around!! ❤️❤️

Hmmm as for preferences I won’t touch the subject of appearance for the sake of reader insert neutrality! But here are some of my ideas on personality:

Duncan

Either the polar (ha!) opposite of himself or someone similar in temperament. He NEEDS to be put in his place from time to time and he likes a woman who can test him and push him.

But he also needs someone who can understand him and the things he has been through, without the cloud of judgement over his past mistakes or actions. He needs (like all three men, honestly) some softness in his life. Someone who can remind him of why it’s worth living it, despite all terrible things that have happened or may happen. He needs constancy too, bc no one in the past has stayed for him (ooooof its true even if it hurts). He’s very much into physical touch, so someone affectionate for sure. Maybe borderline clingy, even. He’s been so starved for it for so long it’s what he yearns for.

——

Will

First and foremost, someone PATIENT. Will has his quirks and things he’s very particular about, so he needs someone who’s understanding of that. When he becomes withdrawn or is in a bad mood, patience is important for knowing when he needs space and time. Also, because he is a fisher and he will 100% bring you along with him, so it’s pivotal.

Ideally, someone who has similar dry humor as him. Able to keep him in check and ground him when he feels himself becoming unmoored. Someone he can be comfortable enough with to just be in companionable silence. He is also, unsurprisingly, very much touch starved, so affection is more than welcome. Someone tender hearted is his weakness.

——

Hannibal

Some of Hannibal’s favorite qualities are a quick wit and a certain level of cunning. He values intelligence, both street smarts and book smarts. Above all though, he cares most about loyalty, open mindedness, and clear communication (it may seem terribly ironic, but if he lets you get close to him, it’s a requirement).

He needs someone who sees him for who he truly is, and love him regardless. Trust is literally of utmost importance!! But while he loves doting on his partner, he definitely likes to be a lil spoiled in return. Contrary to Duncan, I believe he wouldn’t be very into someone super clingy, but he still likes to get loved on for sure!

——

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda Under Cut

Han Sooyoung

han sooyoung is one of the main trio protagonists yet people constantly ignore her in order to ship the other two males despite the fact that they are all doomed by the narrative TOGETHER!!! fanon content is even worse because it either slaps a lesbian sticker onto her to shittily write her off in fanfic OR they make her so one dimensional its like a cardboard stand in. han sooyoung arguably has a more important/interesting dynamic with the main male protagonist yet everyone ignores her because they want their uwu gay babies IM SO SICK OF ORV FANS

Dokja and Joonghyuk are a very popular ship (rightfully so, i get it) but usually Sooyoung is seen as in the way of their relationship or not as valued as the other two even though her place in the story and relationship with the other characters is just as strong. Recently there was a post on twitter being rude about people who ship her and Joonghyuk (which is a super valid ship) and i saw a lot of hate that i believe just stems from her getting “in the way” of a yaoi ship. 

99% of that kind of symbolic fanart REFUSES. to acknowledge her existence man. even though she is part of the main TRIO man

Shinoa Hiiragi

The fandom hated her for getting in the way of Mika/Yuu (she had a crush on yuu). The rare times they didn’t hate her they made her into a fujoshi obsessed with shipping them which isn’t in character at all. In fact if you look at the owari no seraph specials she would ship yuu with kimizuki but no one even cares

One of my favorite characters ever forever and treated heinously by crazed fujoshis that hallucinated she was getting in the way of MikaYuu, which for the record she wasn’t! I mean even if she WAS getting between them it wouldn’t justify the crazy misogyny that got thrown at her but she had a ONE-SIDED CRUSH on Yuu. He didn’t even like her back. What was the issue, then? An unrequited crush is not going to prevent a relationship! Whatever I haven’t even told you about her. She’s Silly. She’s incredibly cunning and a great leader, in fact she is the leader of the anime’s main squad. She’s calculating. She’s a gossip and a prankster and a bit flirty and a bit mean-spirited and she presents herself in a Silly Goofy way, in part to cover up the amounts of angst in her backstory, like my girl has ISSUES. She even has an epic demon weapon that is better and cooler than most other demon weapons but if you ask any fangirl from way-back-when, she’s just a bitch and the personification of evil. and probably homophobic too, even though she has a girl rival-turned-friend which is the gayest trope out there. 

She seems to be the (male) protagonist's love interest and appears to be canonically in love with him, but he is not interested in her whatsoever, often brushing her off and dismissing her in favor of thinking about his found family instead. I don't necessarily ship him romantically with any other male character (i hc him as aroace) but by god the anime was extremely charged with homoromantic subtext in every corner. One of those "holding each other's faces in the opening, spends the entire first season pining and wishing to be reunited" types. The fandom ships her love interest with another male character to the extent that I started watching the show in the first place because i kept seeing ship posts of the main character with that other guy thought they were cute. And also i cannot fucking stand her personality and want to light her on fire. I think the rest of the fandom agrees with me but I'm honestly not sure. I'm also a gay man so i think you could argue that I, the submitter, could play the role of the "yaoi" terrorising her as well

[nerves-nebula]

i scrolled through your Entire TM(N)T Tag and i simply adore it!!! as a kid i was a less intense version of leo (golden child) but i soon grew out of it and now i’m a lot more like mikey (craving violence) and it’s so interesting to see the two parts of myself coexist in separate people. if you wanna, could you expand on mikey and leo’s relationship and dynamics, both before and during the farmhouse arc? they just scratch my brain <3

(also sorry if the purple text is an issue tumblr won’t let me send it normally?? idk it’s [tumblr] lmao)

RIGHT SO!! buckle up cuz this gonna be a long one :P (part of the reason it took so long to answer sobbb. its too complicated so i kept putting it off)

before farm house:

Mikey found leo very frustrating, Leo got on his nerves with all his boasting and special treatment from Splinter. He also hated how Leo tended to boss them around after getting his Leader role. So Mikey tried to get on Leo's nerves as well (even if Leo wasn't doing anything to intentionally antagonize Mikey at that moment)

this means there's a lot of bad blood between the two, and they might be more antagonistic than is really warranted towards each other. this often ends up with Raph dealing with the brunt of Leo's frustration, cuz despite his anger, Leo wouldn't be able to justify attacking Mikey most of the time.

this is because Leo believes Splinter when Splinter rants to him about how disappointing his weaker siblings are. Leo doesn't think it would be fair of him to beat up on Mikey, even if he believes Mikey is lazy and rude and has no sense of self discipline. But Splinter always talks about how strong Raph is, so Raph is the one Leo feels ok with fighting. Leo fighting with Raph doesn't make Mikey like him any more, lol.

another aspect of their relationship is their competitiveness. Leo and Mikey are the most outgoing and competitive. A lot of raphs theoretical competitiveness has kind of been stripped from him in this iteration due to the sheer amount of stress and responsibility he's been given. it's kind of hard for him to have fun pretending a video game is super important when the slight stress of that makes him feel like he's in a life or death situation. Raph can have fun playing a game, but he'll drop it like a hot coal if it gets too stressful. And Donnie is just generally conflict avoidant, so competitive games aren't great for him.

So Mikey and Leo really only have each other to compete against, the others might tag along in whatever game they've devised but most of the time it's really just Mikey and Leo competing against each other. but since they also have a very REAL rivalry/grudge against each other, these competitions and games can get a bit out of hand or a bit too serious.

a third thing is that Mikey will often lose his temper and call Leo stupid. usually for believing in something Splinter told him. Leo finds this annoying because he sees it as Mikey lashing out because he's not as good as Leo. Cuz Leo's whole worldview is based around the hierarchy Splinter has built.

Meanwhile, Mikey is irritated that Leo can "fall for" Splinters abuse tactics so easily- mind you mikey is a bit more emotionally intelligent than his brothers, so it's not really their fault. but imagine how frustrating it is to see someone you love fall for textbook manipulation over and over. And then act horribly towards you because of something that YOU WARNED THEM AGAINST BELIEVING!!

like that's not really how manipulation works, and they're all kids so its not entirely Leo's fault, but it's hard not to resent someone when you see that the reason it works so well on them is because they benefit from it. it's hard not to feel like they value that privilege more than they value you.

shredder arc (leading into the farm house):

So by this point, Mikey's kind of tried more to be less outwardly cruel to Leo, since he's now gone through Leo's mind and knows Leo is so manipulated that he doesn't even realize Splinter is abusing him. They fight a lot less in the years leading up to/before the farm house, since fighting enemies as a team had kind of forced them to trust and understand each other a lot more.

still, the events leading up to the farm house have kind of brought up old wounds- specifically, the split between Leo and his brothers. Leo spent months trying to convince his brothers that Shredder was evil. Mostly for selfish reasons, and in doing so was incredibly insensitive to Donnie and his other brothers pain at the realization that Shredder was, in fact, up to some suspicious shit. His brothers felt more at home with the foot clan than with Splinter, so they're really hurting, and they hate the idea of going home and having Splinter and Leo rub it in even more.

Donnie in particular feels like he just lost another chance at a better family, like he just brought his brothers into another trap, like no one would ever actually genuinely want to be his family. like he's stuck with splinter. forever. so he's (not for the first time) seriously suicidal. Which Raph and Mikey are concerned about, and Leo doesn't really get the seriousness of at first.

farm arc:

SOOO after Leo begged to be allowed to come to the farm house, things are tense. Leo now understands that his relationships with his bros are worse than he realized, and he needs to be on his best behavior around his brothers. He ends up treating all of them with the same level of deference he would treat splinter, which is really weird.

BUT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT HIM AND MIKEY, SO TO GET BACK ON TRACK- Mikey kind of regresses back to being more childish, trying to get a rise out of Leo, which doesn't work at first. he does eventually end up provoking Leo into snapping at him, and Mikey gets even more aggressive in response (because none of them are in a good headspace at the moment) basically saying that Leo will always be like this if he doesn't stop faking being a better person.

Leo is frustrated to the point of tears because he's exhausted from walking on eggshells for weeks and he can't figure out why Mikey won't just let him act the way he was told to act !! Eventually, after a few rough confrontations, Mikey manages to explain that they don't want Leo's submission or anything- they just want him to be LESS MEAN ALL THE TIME. which includes un-learning what Splinter has told Leo about his brothers.

and, even more important than that, includes Leo talking about his own feelings. AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT!! includes Leo accepting that Splinter isn't always right and has, in fact, REALLY HURT his brothers!!

and this is a lot, but it mostly only happens because Mikey is willing to try (in his own messy, imperfect way) to confront Leo. Donnie is too emotionally hurt to do anything but dissociate and run away, and Raph doesn't have the energy to try to facilitate change within the family this way. He can help the discussions progress, and help the turtles communicate with each other, but Raph doesn't have the emotional will to force Leo to take that first big emotional step.

after farm house:

funny enough, their competitive nature facilitates a lot of camaraderie with each other once they stop treating each other as ONLY adversaries. they can safely be aggressive in a joking way with each other, they can compete without any hurt feelings, it's pretty nice. Leo also feels comfortable asking Mikey for his opinion on stuff, cuz he knows Mikey won't sugar coat things too much.

there are a lot of small issues they gotta deal with every now and then though. for example, Mikey's habit of irritating Leo led to a bit of transphobia growing up. Not because Mikey had transphobic ideas of gender (he's agender himself, he never really understood gender and never will) but because he noticed it irritated Leo and he was a kid and didn't understand the rhetoric he was parroting.

so a lot of Leo's internalized transphobia doesn't just come from Splinter, but also from his brother, who he lives with. and that's rough.

and the way that Leo will still catch himself either implying, thinking, or straight up just saying that he thinks Mikey is dumb. even if he 's saying it in an offhanded way like "lol your so stupid" it's still really hurtful to Mikey, who was told his entire childhood that he was dumber and lazier than his siblings, and that's why he didn't matter. it bothers Mikey a lot more than most of them realize and takes Mikey a while to voice his discomfort, because he feels like even being insulted by it is, in and of itself, trivial and dumb.

but outside of those unfortunate issues, they get along really well! Mikey encourages Leo to indulge in silliness more.

SOOO thats the gist of things. i think.

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

Please scream about Ghostbur to me.

Coming soon: me screaming about Halo

OKAY here goes nothing !!

Also this is one of my favorite gifs :)

ANYWAY! MOVING ON TO THE!! RAMBLE!!!

Okayokay I just recently had an epiphany in regards to Ghostbur + the rampant mischaracterization that the fandom gives to him, and the epiphany is this: Ghostbur is an extremely multi-faceted character.

That doesn’t sound too monumental on its own—well-written characters should be multi-faceted!—but with Ghostbur, I feel like it’s much more extreme… which also makes him more confusing.

It’s so freakin rare to find anyone who actually understands Ghostbur’s character & doesn’t wildly mischaracterize him/have a super strange idea of who he is, and for the longest time I couldn’t understand it! I chalked it up to fans being unable to actually look at his character and dig deeper, or only being able to see a very surface-level Ghostbur, but now I think it’s a little different than that :0

Ghostbur is a very complex little guy—which most people don’t realize! He’s mature but also childish, and he’s happy but also depressed, and he cares so deeply for everything but he also doesn’t value his own life, and he wants to die but he’s scared of death. It all sounds very contradictory, but if you understand his character then you realize it makes sense!

And I’m pretty darn certain that the reason fans misinterpret him so much is because they’re only paying attention to one of his many facets!! Rather than seeing All of Ghostbur’s facets and quirks, they only focus on one, and the result is a very very mischaracterized ghost.

There’s a big issue when it comes to infantalizing Ghostbur; it’s definitely the most common mischaracterization I’ve seen. And I think the reason it’s so rampant is because it’s… sort of grounded in truth? Ghostbur is very whimsical and silly and smiley, and he does quite a few things that would be seen as childish—things such as refusing to talk/think about sad things, only focusing on “happy” things, deriving the most fulfillment and satisfaction from simple tasks, etc etc. I don’t think it’s wrong to say that Ghostbur has childish traits! Not wrong at all!! It’s an important part of his character, I fully believe that!

The problem comes when people only see Ghostbur as childish. When they only pay attention to his sillier aspects. When they cannot understand that yes, parts of Ghostbur are childish, but he is still an adult and he’s really quite mature!!

Another mischaracterization I’ve seen, though not as frequently, is sort of… I guess “dark Ghostbur” would be the best way to put it; they think of Ghostbur as creepy, as unsettling, as dead, as unnatural, as disturbing. They see him as something wrong, as something that is not supposed to be moving and talking and smiling. Someone who watches pleasantly as terrible things happen all around, someone who’s ready to kill and torture. Basically, this version of Ghostbur leans more into the ghost aspect—specifically, a creepy, supernatural ghost who’s clearly, undeniably inhuman.

This, again, is founded on a bit of truth! Ghostbur has definitely done or said creepy things—most notably whenever he talks about death. He’ll say things like, “Alivebur blew up the nation and killed everyone, it looks like Tommy killed himself, I want to die” and he will say it all in an easy, pleasant, smiling tone of voice, as if he sees absolutely nothing disturbing about the subject matter.

But the problem happens when fans only see this side of his personality, and make it into his entire personality. Because truth is, Ghostbur isn’t a generally creepy character! He’s super sweet and wants to help people, and he’s always looking for the good in others. He just happens to also have a bit of an unsettling side to him, but that is by no means reflective of his whole entire personality, and shouldn’t be viewed as such!

The many complexities of Ghostbur is something I could literally go on and on about, but this kinda scratches the surface of what I mean. He has so many wonderful sides to his beautiful & unique personality, and I think most fans are incapable of understanding all of them :( It’s very unfortunate, because he really is SUCH an amazing character!! He’s incredible!!! He does not deserve how the fandom treats him, not at all.

[alpaca-clouds]

Lessons in Sincerity: Stories and Autism

I spend one of my weeks in hospital sharing a room with one of the most exhausting individuals: A white, cis gay grandpa. Exhausting, because old, white, cis gays tend to have this thing about them, where they do not believe in privilege, because they certainly cannot have privilege, because in the 80s and 90s the governments let them die of HIV. And because their issues are fixed, stuff is actually great now. As such this gay granpa loved to complain about stuff us young gays did. Chief among them anime, because all anime is stupid, according to gay grandpa. (Note, that according to gay grandpa everything animated was anime, including the exclusively western animated shows I watched while sharing that room.)

I quickly gave up arguing about it, because gay grandpa loved to hear himself talk either way. But of course gay grandpa is not the first old white man I heard chiefly complaining about modern animated properties.

Meanwhile I am thinking about how important the animated stuff was always to me - especially as an autistic kid. And I actually think that fits very well with the entire idea of sincerity in storytelling. Especially when I am thinking about Digimon.

See, thinking about the entire thing with sincerity in storytelling, I do think about Digimon a lot, because Digimon is very much a property that is really, really big about this aspect. Digimon is very, very sincere in the way it tells its stories. While so much western media really is afraid of those big emotions, Digimon has always been all about those big ass emotions.

And... Well, to me as an autistic kid this was so incredibly valuable.

Digimon was for a long time my main hyperfixation. And part of that was undoubtedly that it just helped me parse my own emotions, which I struggled so much with during my childhood. I lacked the proper interoception to properly understand what I was feeling at any given time - and Digimon, a show that ran on 200% emotions all of the time, really, really helped me with figuring that out. Just as it helped learning some basic social scripts that I was lacking at that point in time.

And I think funnily enough, there is also something to be said about the value of sincerity in storytelling through this. Because this aspect of sincerity I am talking about - letting emotions in the story just happen and flow - might in fact be the reason for why folks love Digimon Adventure so much.

See, it is something I never really got behind, because just from an analytical standpoint... That show is not very well written. It simply is not. But holy shit, it is super raw and super sincere in a lot of regards. And I do think... more than anything that resonated with a lot of people watching the show. And really, none of the other seasons does have this sincerity to that degree.

Which is... Absolutely interesting, I gotta say.

[yujeong]

For all the time I've been losing my mind over Pete's tattoo (to the point of getting it tattooed on my own fucking body), I've never really talked about it here, have I? Well. Let me do it now I guess.

The first thing I would like to present here is the origins of Pete's tattoo from the novels. I know, I know, the novels suck and I wasn't proud of including it in Trust is a fragile thing but it was compelling enough that it fit Pete's characterization. A broken clock shows the correct time twice a day or however the phrase goes. Apparently, Tankhun forced all his bodyguards to get tattoos at some point, and Pete got that one for reasons I'm not aware of. I've heard people say that Daemi found the phrase nice and tbh, I believe those people. The purpose of its usage becomes clear in this snippet taken directly from the novels:

(I can go on a whole ass rant about what we're witnessing here, but I'll spare you the headache.) So, what is the actual origin of the phrase? For the people who don't already know, it's from "All's Well that Ends Well", a play written by Shakespeare. It's about a woman who's given in marriage to the man she longs for, but, because she is of lower rank, he refuses to accept the marriage. The phrase, as always with Shakespeare, has more than one meaning and shouldn't be taken at face value. I had found a wonderful analysis about it here:

I find it fascinating how it works with Pete so well, despite Daemi being oblivious to its true meaning. I also find the fact that it works for Pete no matter how you interpret the phrase, equally fascinating. You can take it literally and connect it with Pete's job; how he's honest about the violence he inflicts, the activity he's enacting for the Theerapanyakuls, how he's accepted the nature of it, how "there are no heroes or villains in this world" and so on. You can add his loyalty in there too and make it even juicier. You can also take it ironically and connect it with Pete as a person; how he's not actually honest - he's not open about himself, his desires, his feelings - so with this, it's like he's admitting that he has no legacy. It encapsulates his lack of personhood and it's fucking brilliant. Him sneering at Vegas slightly when he told him "There's no such thing as honesty in this world" after seeing the tattoo on Pete still gives me brainworms, because both of them are thinking of different things here. To me, Pete is thinking of the literal sense which I described above, while Vegas is talking about how people are deceitful and will just lie through their teeth to get what they want (like him). I don't know if that's what the intention was, but them having completely different concepts in mind is something I believe strongly. Now, one very, very important aspect of Pete's tattoo is its position. In the novels, it's on his chest, more specifically on his left side, where his heart is:

Not so subtle, Daemi, huh? The show changed that, as we all saw, and ooohhh what a glorious choice, I love it so much. For a couple of reasons:

The position is more sexual, which contradicts Pete's seeming naivety in regards to sex and romance in the show (proof being, every interaction he had with Porsche, plus the infamous "Kissing is for people we like only"), making everything he and Vegas did in ep12 not come out of nowhere.

It's super fucking low. Obviously it is, given it's his hip but I implore you to look more carefully at the screenshot I shared above, because the distance between his belly button and his tattoo rivals Kinn's open shirts. Istg you can see faint hints of pubic hair right below "No legacy", I swear I see it I'm not insane.

The tattoo being so low means Pete will only be able to see it when naked. I say only naked because even with only his underwear on, it's still hidden. Almost like it's something he'd want to hide even from himself, hmmm curious.

Another fun thing about the tattoo, which kind of applies to both the novel and the show, is the fact that, since it's a phrase, Pete will not be able to read it unless he looks in a mirror and sees the reflection (something I realized by wanting to read my own lol). Alas, another barrier Pete puts on himself to prevent introspection. (I will not touch upon mirrors here, but Pete and mirrors oooohh, what a concept I would love to explore one day.) I could talk about this all day, but I think I got the main points across. I lovelovelove this so much and I'd love to see if there are more analyses of Pete's tattoo out there. Please bring them to my attention if you have them.

[lillified]

is there a name for the fan continuity you’re making? (ie transformers earthspark, transformers prime something like that) also you probably get tons of people telling you this constantly but i really like how you portray megastar in your work, they are so messy and i love it, it’s fresh and new compared to. well. tfp and idw as the main offenders cough cough

anyways also want you to know you’re super cool and i love your artstyle its like the feeling of running your hands on smooth metal if that makes sense

hi!! tbh im not sure if ive ever properly said it, but the working title is The Decepticons! might be subject to change, but it works for now lol

as for the art style thing--I'm glad you mentioned it, because that is kind of what I'm going for! I love the blocky and geometric angles of things like gundams, but the thing that got me interested in robots was transformers prime, and I'll always be a fan of the sleek, modern, and organic appearance of the characters in that... I wanted to bring those together for my own art, because I think both of those are true to the spirit of TF :)

as for your second point--you should know that i will never pass up an opportunity to talk about my thoughts on writing and characterization and stuff, so forgive me preemptively for the long post, lol

thank you for the kind words! I agree that there are a lot of issues with how certain characters have been portrayed... while the comics were great for fleshing out certain classic characters, they also seriously flattened many others. These characters have decades and series long histories of exploration and experimentation that feels like it's been completely restricted to one of only a few avenues lately, and that bothers me a little bit. like, when was the last time we've seen a piece of transformers media where they have inventive takes on character relationships in the same way as Animated? what's the point of rebooting and refreshing if nothing new happens??

Megatron and Starscream are a great indicator of that for me--their relationship in G1 is bombastic, but also complicated and interesting. they're the most important decepticons by far and their characteristics are integral to the functioning and philosophy of the entire group, to the point that, for example, removing Starscream from the equation of the Decepticons, I'd argue, makes Megatron an entirely different character. They're necessary to eachother, but it really feels like (with very few exceptions) their relationship has only gotten flatter and flatter over time. Even Prime, which I'd argue has the most textually interesting and deep take on their relationship, is, very obviously, held back by an overture of cheap, aesthetic violence. I firmly believe you could rewrite TFP without any of the violence and none of the character arcs would have to change at all, because, at the end of the day, it's purely superficial--it has nothing to say, and exists only as a way to bolster Megatron's dominant image, and to satisfy the audience's assumed disdain for Starscream.

while obviously it is transformers, and nobody is required to think that deeply about it, I'm a dork and it's always bothered me specifically, because, outside of that, there IS a lot of complexity to the stuff that happens!! I like this series specifically because there is so much variation and so many perspectives that have touched this franchise, and, in the best cases, we get the underlying character arc in Prime, where Megatron and Starscream's relationship is a case of two people who respect eachother more than anyone else and can't quite find equal footing about it.

going the IDW route and turning their interactions into constant hostility is the easy way out because it adds the aesthetic of "maturity" via shock value without having anything to say; however, the actual most thoughtful variations on the characters can communicate that both of them are inherently flawed without any of that, and that's what I want to do. this is my writing exercise, in essence... I'm not trying to make the decepticons "good" and just show them frolicking about all the time, I'm trying to make a properly "adult" spin on the formula that actually treats the audience like adults instead of trying to shock them. I'm a nerd about this already so I'm not going to shy away from the intense relationship these characters have because it's too complicated and messily homoerotic to unpack. if I've got the liberty to, why not?

anyway. thanks for reading once again! i can never make these short and succinct haha. i feel like i repeat myself all the time but also I never run out of things to say about them. as always, I'm really grateful that other people are interested in these things--I know none of it is really super important and it's probably something only I ever think about, but I feel like I owe it to the people who have contributed their perspectives and artistic ability to this thing to care at least a little, lol.

[baizhoobies]

Kunikida x gn!Reader Headcanons

A/N: so me and my girlfriend broke up recently and I’ve been super down and in desperate need of some fluff to feel better. So whilst I catch back up on finishing requests, have some wholesome Kunikida headcanons - he’d make the best boyfriend. I’m very sorry for being slow, just life hiccups, thank you for your patience! N E ways, enjoy this short little thing!

Warnings: none!

- Kunikida is the type of man who values quality time together; as someone who is super busy with work, any time off the clock and with you is treasured and cherished greatly.

- If you work at the ADA, its obvious to say that he won’t act super coupley with you; he will however, glance over at you a lot (to check if you’re working pfffttt) - though he finds himself staring at you for longer than intended (this man is in love love okay?)

- He will occasionally drop a forehead kiss when he is passing by, or instead of holding hands, he will link your pinky fingers together when no one is looking.

- If you work at the same desk as him, either side of him or opposite, please please play footsies with him; he may scold you but he secretly loves it when you affectionately kick him or rub your leg against him.

- Kunikida will bring you coffee, or tea, or something caffeinated, especially if you had a bad night sleep - but rest assured, he will also scold you if you have too much caffeine because “its not good for you” smh

- oh yeah, get used to getting scolded - but I guess you could call it a love language of his

- If you don’t work at the ADA, Kunikida makes a special note that he is to come straight home to see you immediately after work. With the exception of emergencies, (like idk the ADA being threatened by an enemy organisation every other week) he will make sure that absolutely everything is done at work so that he can put it behind him and focus on you.

- After work, if you ask him to pick up some milk from the store, he’s on it, it’s written in his notebook and he will absolutely not forget; also, I just know that he would pick up some flowers for you whilst there’s are the store

- He gives me househusband vibes honestly, he shares the load of housework (if not takes on majority of the responsibility, not that you wouldn’t do it, but he has a system). If he comes home from work before you, expect the place to be spotless, not only for his wellbeing, but he likes seeing your face light up in surprise.

- I mentioned that he isn’t into PDA at work, but its totally opposite outside of hours. In fact, I believe he is quite clingy. Constantly touching you kind of clingy. If you are cooking, his arms are around your waist, head in the nook of your neck and he just holds you for a long while

“Darling, I’m trying to cook”

“Hmm” *hugs tighter*

- Speaking of cooking, he would also be a fantastic chef. He would scope out the best recipes and follow each instruction to a tee. Though, as much as he enjoys cooking, his favourite meals are the ones you make, because they come from you.

- Kunikida’s love language is definitely more physical than it is in words. Don’t get me wrong, he would tell you he loves you, but he’s not exactly versed in romance. That being said, if you want cuddles and/or kisses? You got it on TAP. Any moment, at any time, BOOM its yours - if you catch him in a good mood, he may also be generous with his hugs and kisses at work - but don’t push your luck.

- If you ever so much as compliment him, he will explode. Bright red, a little speechless (or at least incoherent) and will mumble something about how lovely you are - trying his best to return the compliment.

- As per his notebook, he will have his nightly routine to the exact second, its very important for him, and you, to have a schedule that ensures you both get the best rest possible to work efficiently the next day.

- What he always fails to take in account when writing his schedule is the extra 10 minutes the two of you share just holding each other in the morning. He knows he should get out of bed 8am sharp, but there’s something about you holding him, your head against his chest, your legs entwined with each other, and the way you softly breath in your sleep is what convinces him to stay in just a little longer. - he may even stay 20 minutes longer in bed if you are big spoon, its harder for him to pull away.

- Needless to say, he has a lot of quirks which I will go into in future posts but…his love for you is genuine and he’d never want you to doubt it for even a minute.

[vincent-marie]

Hot Take: "Equal Fights" Predicted Online Faketivism

In some ways "Equal Fights" hasn't aged well in its effort to teach about feminism, that the execution wasn't handled as well as it could have been & that it wound up painting the feminists as straw men stereotypes. Rumor has it that even Lauren Faust, who did storyboards on the episode, isn't a fan of it in hindsight.

However this episode feels a lot more relevant to me now in our current age of online purity culture.

We live in an age of social media where young people, who had little to no power before, now have a tool at their fingertips to signal boost for those who need help the most. Teenagers can be everyday heroes in their own right. Frankly I respect you kids for being motivated in your sense of kindness & nobility.

However the problem is that unfortunately what good that can actually be done gets drowned out by a lot of harassment & bullying in the name of social justice. Especially if these young people's sources are very dubious & self-serving.

That's basically what Femme Fatale is as a character. She's a grifter who uses a progressive movement, feminism in this case, as her means for her own gain. Namely, robbing banks.

It's understandable that every super villain has a gimmick. Two-Face has the Number 2 & duality, FF could've just been a devious collector of currency with women imprinted on them. (I myself wish they would discontinue the bulky, useless penny & bring back the Sacagawea dollar.) But beyond that, she uses it as an excuse to get out of getting arrested, to claim that what she's doing is good for society at large, & above all to manipulate & influence the young & impressionable Powerpuff Girls.

The girls, being literal children, take her words to heart & implement them in ways that do more harm than good. From bullying boys in the schoolyard to letting Femme Fatale get away with her crimes.

Reminds me an awful lot of kids & young people on Tumblr & Twitter who get riled up by the words of self-proclaimed progressives who turn out to be TERFs, grifters, or members of the Leopards Eating My Face Party. Namely, the people who use progressivism & online activism to their own end.

And it's not just the Youtubers with the large subscriber base. It's also the individuals who reblog, retweet & bully even on a small scale to make themselves look good or feel like they're making a difference. Not to mention the burner & bot accounts being used to fan the flames of discord within progressive circles.

But what I find the most telling is that FF claims to be a feminist, she collects Susan B. Anthony coins, but she doesn't even know who Susan B. even was & why she was so important to American history.

Reminds me an awful lot of certain gay or trans Youtubers who would try to have you believe that "queer" is a slur, when in reality we not only reclaimed it as an umbrella term to include bisexual, trans, intersex, asexual, etc. people, but is an important part of our very history.

The slogan chanted demanding our basic human rights:

"We're here, we're queer

Get used to it."

It makes me sick that there are multiple generations of people who don't understand our own history. That there are people within our community who would promote & capitalize on that ignorance.

That's who Femme Fatale is. Willingly ignorant herself, selfish, manipulative, & would promote such lack of values to the next generation for her own gain.

And that's why she deserves to serve time in prison, while online faketivist grifters deserve to lose followers, go broke, & disappear into obscurity so they can't do any more damage.

[shannankle]

Art in Shadow the Series

So as I was watching episodes 1-7, one thing that stood out to me was how Brother Anurak asks Dan to keep a dream journal. Now the idea I have in my head of a dream journal is that it is written, but interestingly when Dan does choose to record his dreams he does so through art.

I think there’s something interesting going on here with narrative and Anurak pressuring Dan to narrativize his dreams, but I’m planning to cover that in another post. For now I wanted to focus first on how art comes up in the show. I’m sure there are folks more versed in this but here’s some things I noticed.

Surrealism

I want to start with surrealism because as a style that is directly mentioned in the show by Dan and Cha-aim. As a style and movement it seems to both aesthetically and thematically align well with the show. Even with a cursory knowledge of surrealism, it’s easy to see why the style would work well in a horror piece that is trying to bend one’s sense of reality and realism. But I want to unpack this a bit more. 

Surrealism cropped up after WWI in Europe and it was very much a response to the trauma of large scale war. Surrealists attributed the war to an over emphasis on rationality and bourgeois values that dominated prior to the war. Their response was to turn to methods of creating art, writing, and media that would allow them to access the things that realism suppressed. The goal was to find ways of producing art that allowed the unconscious to be expressed so that both dream and reality could co-exist in a “super reality” or “surreality.” 

So how might this resonate with Shadow?

Well first off, trauma. Dan and Cha-aim discuss art and surrealism in the theater. This happens just after Dan has told her about his parents and as we begin the storyline of Dan’s past. It’s entirely possible that surrealism is something Dan is fond of because it resonates with his experiences with trauma. Perhaps in this light we can also think about how he turns to art more frequently as he starts to get control over his dreams and develop a more intimate relationship with the shadow. 

Then there’s the idea of surreality. This of course fits well with what the show is attempting to do with Dan’s experience. He is not just dreaming about the shadow, but it is coming to be intertwined (literally and figuratively if you catch my drift) with reality in the same space. This notion of co-existing, I’d argue feels apt for a story exploring the ways that queerness and disability are rejected by society. Instead, through haunting they sit on the border of rejection and co-existence.

And of course this ties in well with the ideas of rationality and suppression. Brother Anurak tells Dan that if he stops believing in the shadow, it’ll lose its power. Mind over matter–rationality over the subconscious and that which society tries to suppress. Perhaps Anurak’s role here is to take on the suppressive role of rationality? After all he does claim that "Your mind is of the most importance." The monk Dan and Nai visit certainly is placed in opposition to this, offering a more supernatural explanation and solution for what’s occurring. Correct me if I’m remembering wrong, but we also see Dan start to draw his dreams for the first time after he is given the ring. 

We can also perhaps see a critique of hyper-rationality in how Dan confronts his father. Notice how their dream encounter is framed around a chess board (a game his father loves and plays even in the hospital). His father is quick to turn away from the idea of emotional vulnerability. When Dan asks if he ever loved him, he responds in logical terms: "That's a stupid question." He can’t recognize how he harms others and rejects the idea that men should express love, care, and intimacy. This rejection of emotion allows him to justify and perpetuate abuse. Not entirely dissimilar to the claim by surrealists that hyper-rationality led to the violence of WWI. Through Dan’s resistance to his father, the show is perhaps trying on one level to present us with a critique of how rationality comes to be tied to structures of violence. 

These structures go beyond the family unit in Shadow, much like Surrealists were concerned with bourgeois values. Notice how most of the teachers at the school push for a particular set of social norms, suppressing threats to current values. From the librarian telling Dan and Nai to hide their queerness to the head of the school resisting Trin’s attempts at change. And this ties really well to Surrealism as a movement which was, with some exceptions, tied to communism and anarchism. Surrealists were often thinking in revolutionary terms. 

Salvador Dalí and The Persistence of Memory

Before moving on I think I should briefly talk about Salvador Dalí. Dan mentions Dalí specifically and Cha-aim specifically refers to his piece “The Persistence of Memory.” Dalí and this art piece are probably the most well known touchpoints for surrealism nowadays. Though it does bear keeping in mind that Dalí, unlike many other surrealists, had fascist leanings (or at the very least he refused to denounce it). Something I can’t ignore if we’re going to accept my above claim that the show could be dialoguing with the revolutionary values of the movement. My guess is that the show isn’t wanting us to think too hard about Dalí and is using these as a recognizable gesture to surrealism for the audience. But it’s something to chew on as the rest of the show plays out. 

Dalí, however, is an interesting figure to think about in terms of themes on madness. Madness and mental illness are certainly aspects Shadow is playing with, and I’m hoping to also write a future post on how horror and madness intersect around disability. The theme is also central to Hamlet, our play within a show. I’m sure there are folks who know more than I do on how Dalí spoke about madness over the years.

However, what I have found is that Dalí wrote about madness in a piece titled, “Declaration of the Independence of the Imagination and the Rights of Man to His Own Madness.” In it he writes “we announce these truths: that all men are equal in their madness, and that madness (visceral cosmos of the subconscious) constitutes the common base of the human spirit.” This wasn’t exactly a call to accept mental illness but the quirky, strange, and illogical.

In response to attempts to alter his art and make it more palatable, he wrote “It is man’s right to love women with the ecstatic heads of fish.” His take on art and pushing boundaries was something he framed as “apolitical” and did end in troubling places at times. Still the idea of claiming madness feels appropriate to a show that is so interested in alterity (queerness, mental illness, etc) and madness as a lens to explore this.   

Dalí’s piece, “The Persistence of Memory” is also a compelling reference for the show to use. The MoMA describes it this way: “Those limp watches are as soft as overripe cheese…Here time loses all meaning. Permanence goes with it: ants…represent decay.” The way that the piece hauntingly captures decay and the failure of time speaks well to the show’s focus on death, haunting, and the breakdown of time. On a very related note, I talk about the way these themes manifest in the show through cultural anxieties around the death drive and queer time in this post here. “The Persistence of Memory” is another great example of this dynamic in Shadow. 

The Bust

We’re presented with at least one other form of formal art in the show during the art class where Dan sees his classmates dead. Here they’re presented with a classical bust and asked to draw it how they see fit. Despite the fact that they are told to do what they want, there are still rules here. Nai tells Dan (in the waking dream timeline) that as a kid he was told to draw whatever he wanted, but was then required to take supplemental exam. While it’s presented humorously, there’s an interesting tension brought up between freedom of expression and unspoken rules. Draw what you want, but not like that. Be yourself, but not that way or we’ll have to give you supplemental lessons. It’s notable that of all the art in the show this is the only one happening in a class setting, once again bringing us back to the ways the teachers often push social norms on the students.

The assignment itself is interesting in so much as drawing a bust, like still-life drawing, requires the artist to focus on a model and draw something in the real world. Compare this to surrealism which rejects pure realism. Or to the drawings Dan does. Correct me if I’m missing anything, but when Dan draws he never works off a model or at least not a real-world reference. He draws cartoons, he draws what he saw in his dreams.

I think it’s striking that the bust falling is what marks a perceived shift from reality to waking dream for Dan. When he goes back to pure reality, we find out this switch happened before he even talked to Nai (making that conversation all the more important). Still the statue falling marks the moment of perception changing. And notice how it is the bust’s head that is shattered, a common symbol for rationalism. The head bursts and the dominance of reality and rationality fall away to a surreal waking dream.    

A few other thoughts:

-Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the first time we see Dan sketch his dreams is after he’s given the ring by the monk. And he does so more as he starts to become more intertwined with his dreams. Suggesting that art and drawing are an alternative way of engaging with the shadow than what brother Anurak has been offering.

-Dan and Nai first meet when Dan gives him the journal full of pictures. The use of art marks the start of their friendship, and could even be symbolic of their shared supernatural abilities and their social alterity.

-While not fine art, theater as a performing art is also influential and a space where our other character Trin is framed as we learn of his queerness and mental illness