#i legitimately feel fucking sick how does that even happen

[lilgynt]

i want to die my mom shit on the toilet seat then called me annoying when i pointed it out to her

[heavenlyvixen]

Percy

I want to address the allegations and scandal that has engulfed Percy Hynes White. As a survivor of SA, I take all allegations seriously and give all accusers the benefit of the doubt. When I was first made aware of these allegations my heart dropped into my stomach, and I felt the first stirrings of panic rise. My own experiences make me specially sensitive when these things occur. You could say I’m triggered. I logged off for my own mental and emotional well being. Once I calmed down, I logged back on and went to read the allegations. I didn’t want to believe that Percy was capable of such a thing, but as someone who believes victims first, I was open to the possibility that this kid I thought was charming, funny and sweet was an illusion and the reality was that a monster lurked beneath the surface. However, as I began to read through the tweets and “evidence” against this man, something didn’t add up.

That’s when the anger kicked in. Do you know how insulting it is, as a survivor of rape, when girls make false allegations? Do you know the damage that it does to legitimate victims? The likely hood that they will receive justice falls even lower than it already was. It is a further violation committed against us. And there is no justification.

So over the last few days we have learned that Percy himself committed no crimes - he did not SA anyone. We’ve learned that at worst, while a teen, he was cavalier with a girl’s feelings. Not kind, but if we are to believe this is true, he also apologised when older and wiser. We have learned that when he learnt that a friend of his was capable of such horror, he ended the friendship and he was kind and compassionate to the victim.

When all that came to light, his accusers tried another avenue to smear him - they called him a racist. Their evidence? A video of a very young Percy quoting a tv show. The line happened to contain a slur. Stupid, but I think forgivable considering his age at the time. But that’s not all, according to the girls, they also offered instagram likes as proof. Problem is, the post they referenced, was not what they claimed. And don’t even get me started on his supposed twitter likes. He doesn’t even have a twitter account.

Then they tried another route - kink shaming. Again, they posted unverifiable “proof” that he liked some kinky stuff. Ok, that’s not a crime first of all. And second, fantasies and exploration of your sexuality is normal. There is nothing wrong with that except the fact that these girls violated Percy’s privacy by telling everyone.

Were they done? No. Not even. They released naked and risqué pictures of Percy that they claim he sent to them as proof of bad acts. We have a few problems with that. 1) they offer no proof that he sent them to them, just the pictures themselves, which begs the question “how did they really get them?”. 2) revenge porn is a crime, but sending the pics to them in and of itself is not. Especially if they had a sexual relationship with him at the time. 3) this is the really disgusting part. Percy appears to have been 13 years old when some of those pictures were taken. That classifies as child p*rnography and most certainly is a crime. A vile, horrific crime.

Throughout all of this, all anyone has proven is that one girl was possibly assaulted by someone that Percy knew. He reacted with shock but kindness when he found out. As to be expected. But most of all, we learned that Percy is the victim here. And we learned that there are many among us that are more vile than I ever feared.

He’s a victim of vindictive little girls who held on to images they never should have had to justify false allegations in an attempt to ruin his life because he didn’t reciprocate their affections.

This is fucking sick. It makes me sick, it pisses me off and makes my heart break for every true victim of SA, for Percy, and for his real friends and loved ones.

I hope that the people responsible face the consequences of their actions. And I finish with one final point. There is no justification in this world for spreading child p*rnography. None. There is no justification for falsely accusing an innocent person of vile crimes. None. Those involved should be ashamed of themselves.

I hope and pray that Percy is being taken care of, that he’s ok and that he is able to return to some semblance of normalcy when it all dies down and the air clears. The reality is he’ll be irrevocably changed by this. I just hope it doesn’t change him too much. I hope he emerges from this still kind, goofy and adorably weird. Take care, Percy and know that we are on your side.

[bonefall]

How are we feeling at the book finale? Because outside of the Sunbeam girlboss moment telling Berryheart just how bad of a family she was AND maybe possibly foreshadowing her rejecting Nightheart, I think we miiiight get some more Dark Forest cats than planned before :D (also I may be wrong but- didn't Podlight have children? Would he even be eligible as Medicine Cat in BB?)

Podlight's totally eligible in BB! He has no canon children and I didn't give him any. In BB there's also an interesting quirk in that Podlight is notoriously Mistystar's... not EXACTLY a good-for-nothing grandson, but a bit of a "fratboy" working through daddy issues. Is is extra funny for this cat to be a villain lmao.

Also: Better Bones RiverClan Family Tree

Anyway... my thoughts on the spoiler thread's ending. Mostly negative, unfortunately. I am really hoping that a lot of this is misrepresentation.

I've enjoyed every book of ASC that's come out so far, but if this thread is accurate, this is going to be the first one that I actively dislike. It sounds like there was a serious nosedive in quality.

ON THE ENDING; Park Cats, and The Berryheart Gathering.

Park Cats.

It is profoundly frustrating to me that we had TWO traveling books in this arc. Do they not know by now that traveling books are widely detested for a reason??

Frostpaw and Nightheart were AWAY FROM THE CONFLICT for most of this book, what the fuck?

The plot barely advanced at all. There's been one major conflict in this entire arc, the invasion of RiverClan, and we are 4/6ths of the way through without any other major battles. This is boring.

Riverstar is a major character through this bullshit, now with a magical perfect connection to Frostpaw through plot convenience so he can give her tutorial tips, because GOD FORBID we have a more grounded story for once. I'm so sick of DOTC fanservice. Was a super edition not enough?!

And speaking of Riverstar's Home, they pretty clearly ripped a lot of inspiration out of it. Frostpaw and Nightheart go on a journey with random human-related shenanigans before finding a cardboard cutout of a culture

I'm not gonna lie guys. I do not like the Park Cats. I HAVE TO SAY; It's a step in the right direction

They are not demonized. They are treated as good and legitimate. They are seen as having wisdom and living peacefully.

This is Good. This is Fine.

(im still kind of mad they needed riverstar to come save them back in riverstar's home, like every non-clan culture does apparently, but HOKAY fine ok it's fine)

.....butt.

They're boring. guys, they have one thing that is unique to them, and it's meditation. They live in perfect peace and harmony. there's nothing there.

It's easy to be a perfect, peaceful society if you have no conflict ever.

IF THE SPOILER THREAD IS ACCURATE, we don't see them address strife, how they DO handle disputes, what DOES happen when a cat engages in "criminality," or even really see what their spiritual beliefs are besides "meditating"

And that's why the idea of Frostpaw taking away a good lesson from living with them strikes me as so hollow. WHAT is she taking from them? JUST vague, quiet meditation?? Why couldn't Riverstar just magically teach her that?

It also bothers me that this culture is exactly the same as it was in Riverstar's Home. It's in stasis. Nothing has changed, nothing has grown, they haven't picked up new customs. They don't even seem to have their own history besides remembering that Riverstar showed up generations ago.

It's not a culture, it's a plot device.

I swear, I'm really trying to like them, but RH left this really sour taste in my mouth and them showing up again in this book has only made me more frustrated.

I AM happy that we're going to maybe start trying to address the violence of Clan Culture, but it is coming in the middle of a book where nothing fucking happens, and they're starting to fumble the bag on the xenophobic radicalization that I'd been praising in the past few books

And by that, I'm referring to...

Berryheart's Gathering

through the books so far, I've been praising the slow rise of tension coming from the radicalized members of ShadowClan.

I think the way that Berryheart and her little Concern Club had been slowly escalating in their bigotry and violence was (and remains) unironically fantastic.

We had started off with it just being a group to "discuss the issues," which evolved into active bullying and harassment, progressed into attempted murder, and we left off on the idea that Berryheart's Hate Group was planning something with RiverClan's murder party.

And we are reaching a turning point in that arc, the payoff of a long and well-laid escalation, with...

normal democracy.

berryheart and her supporters approach puddleshine reasonably with their concerns and intent to call for a vote to depose tigerheartstar. doing the thing the fucking code addition was made for

This comes AFTER Sunbeam has a Girlboss Moment telling off Berryheart for being a bad mom in front of the whole gathering and everyone claps, mind you, so this is clearly supposed to be the narrative's big "oooo consequences for Berryheart" moment

So anyway Berryheart brings up that they want tigerHeartstar deposed, and then Puddleshine's like "haHA THIS WAS A ROUSE"

"Actually I only told you i agree to point out how this code addition can be exploited over a disagreement with ONE issue!!!!1"

i just...

im......

would Brokenstar training babies be One Issue? Would Bramblefake being a bully to his entire clan be One Issue? Would Leopardstar allowing Tigerstar to take over RiverClan be One Issue?

One Issue....

And MIND YOU I'm Pro-tigerHeartstar, actually, but the WHOLE fucking point of the rule is that you can depose someone who is not acting in the best interest of the Clans. Fym ONE ISSUE??

IT'S A BIG ASS ISSUE!

So anyway Berryheart is embarrassed in front of everyone, tigerHeartstar tells the group, "You're going to support me or get out of my Clan"

All of her supporters fall in line, but Berryheart chooses exile.

So Berryheart and her group isn't punished for the hate crimes, it didn't lead to anyone getting actually hurt, this faction of cats just settled back down and Berryheart alone was exiled for political opposition to occupation.

not the hate crimes

GOTTA STRESS

The hate crimes did not cause lasting damage, the radicalized group did not cause any violence at this gathering

Berryheart is exiled for political opposition to occupation.

The consequence she faces for the hate crimes was simply not having her son Spireclaw back her up because she caused trouble for Fringewhisker. Like it's on the same level as being a bad in-law and not ATTEMPTED MURDER BASED ON BIGOTRY

And tigerHeartstar, jesus christ

His consistent trait has been becoming unreasonable WHEN HIS FAMILY IS THREATENED. WHY are we tossing this out the window now?

I REALLY REALLY hope that the spoiler thread is misrepresentation, and tigerHeartstar didn't ACTUALLY exile her but said something like, "this is what we're doing. don't like it, leave. you don't have the votes"

SO FOR NOW; I'm going to reserve judgement on what the writers are doing with tigerHeartstar.

This seems like the exact sort of thing that may be worded in an inaccurate way

But that said,

I'm beside myself with disappointment in this turn of events. Why is this about legitimate political proceedings? Why did they make the CULMINATION of this arc about bigoted violence and radicalization a legitimate, peaceful attempt to use the process THEY JUST ADDED, FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE?

Anyway, then it ends on a cliffhanger

Podlight claims to be the new medcat, pointed out as just being a political maneuver, to appoint Splashtail as the new leader.

Frostpaw watches on in shock and thinks about how bad it is that a murderer is now in charge of RiverClan, and how no one would believe her if she told them all now

I sure hope the next book contains something worth reading. like a fight or something. in the battle cat series. in the arc where theyre trying to say something about violence.

[rupertgayes]

How would you pitch watching Due South to someone who doesn't know it?

THE PREMISE: mountie from the northern reaches of canada goes to chicago to avenge dead dad (also a mountie), gets into buddy-cop shenanigans with a detective. said detective leaves the show in season 3 and gets replaced by another detective, shenanigans continue to ensue. there's also a dog. he's very cute.

THE PITCH: honestly, after being in the spn fandom and having most of popular culture awash with prestige shows (that are not spn, but like spn are typically dark and gritty and like killing characters off too) and having most of the popular media landscape try to cover their collective asses by having an aloof, 'you-can't-make-fun-of-this-because-we're-not-taking-it-seriously-ourselves' air, it was truly refreshing to sit down with a close friend of mine and check out this show.

i'm being completely serious when i say there's a certain je ne sais quoi about this show. is it because it's from the 90s? perhaps. is it because it's canadian? maybe. i wasn't even alive when this show first started airing and i'm not a media analyst. it basically takes the premise of the dudeley do-right cartoon and asks 'okay, but what if that was like, a real guy?' and fucking runs with it to the wildest heights. it's a comedy, but it's also so bizarre in some ways that it makes it a truly unique treat to watch. i love psych and brooklyn 99 for having a comedic procedural aspect, and neither of them are comparable in whatever it is that due south is doing.

there's honestly a lot of heart and soul in the entire show, and it has the ability to shift from just being comedic to having drama, mystery, and moments that pull at your heartstrings. it's a show that you can enjoy on the surface as a fun episodic show with fun characters and fun moments, but it also lends itself quite well to extrapolating on the characters, their motivations, etc. (and by etc i'm also including any shipping you might want to do).

i won't say it's a paragon of DEI, but again, i think it has a level of earnestness which makes any slip-ups it does have something i can kinda view with indulgence, versus shows that are making the same (or worse) mistakes 20+ years after this show already ended. these characters are treated with a level of dignity and respect, and i think overall the characterization is pretty consistent - there are some shifts happening between seasons 1-2 and 3-4, but i feel like it has more to do with budgets, a change in creative team, etc., versus writers not 'getting' certain characters.

there's also a lot of memorable episodes, scenes, bits. i think the latter seasons are more campy (my favorite) and some eps from s1 and 2 make for legitimately some great television. even the more mid episodes have something worthwhile, too. some of my fave moments in no order:

fraser (the mountie) saving and talking to? a rat in a strip club

also him going to a leather club

twice

and meeting a mountie in a latex version of his red serge uniform

using a tarp as a parachute

mafia egg conspiracy

aliens??

due south but make it silence of the lambs a little bit

performance arsonist

lake pirates? ghost ship?

also why are most of the major bad guys here doing some form of environmental crime? get your captain planet on ig, i'm into it

also fellow cops can also be bad guys. acab ig??

sick muscle cars eric kripke himself would've enjoyed. sometimes they get set on fire tho

due south but make it to wong foo thanks for everything

fraser running away from women so he doesn't have to kiss or interact with them

way too much time in closets, in general.

fellas is it gay to ask your new partner of one week maybe to pretend he's a woman so he can decide if he finds you attractive

there are red ships and green ships but no ships like partnerships :)

and to reiterate about the dog: there's a dog who's half wolf and all deaf and fraser can talk to him 'because he (the dog) reads lips'

his dead dad shows up too sometimes

anyway, it was really nice to watch this show for the first time, there are still moment i scream-laugh at because they're just so ridiculous and i'd never catch any other moments like that in any other show. i definitely see why there's still active fans for it thirty years later. there's also some wild shipping fodder here, which is at least partially why there are still fics getting written for these guys today. destiel if the cw weren't cowards etc etc. when i watched the finale, i cried tears of joy because while i'd miss the characters, they got an ending that actually seemed to fit, instead of it being a rush job, which is not unique to spn but, you know.

also you can watch it for free on youtube rn.

[thedreadvampy]

watched monkey man. Thoughts:

dev patel is a really good actor

it's a beautifully put together film visually, the action flows great and the close focus and different speeds are really engaging.

also really enjoyed the sound design for the most part although Roxanne was a pretty funny needle drop for the strip club scene

haha this film is not even in the vicinity of fucking around. not since del toro's peak has a film been so utterly resistant to subtlety when it comes to You Understanding What It Thinks Of Fascism. which I appreciate, to be clear. it is right and good to beat hindutva fascist murderers to death with a shoe.

I was legitimately really emotionally moved by the protagonist's character arc and I thought it handled the trauma and sexual violence elements in ways that were sensitive and not gratuitous

having said that I did feel like it dropped a lot of threads I would have liked to see carried through more fully, and I think that hurt its attempts to be sensitive about gendered violence.

outside of the protagonist there isn't really much of an arc to the female characters - other than the temple guardian, the hijras aren't really given any character or individuation other than as an en masse backdrop to dev patel's badassification, and although it's sick as hell to see them kick some ass at the end, they kind of fall into the background, without their actions or deaths being given much dramatic weight.

Similarly the sex worker character gets two moments of significant characterisation - when she talks to him outside early on and when she fucks up the hotel owner at the end - and that implies an arc of her moving from resignation to hope but imo a lot of what we actually see of her in between those moments is only through the lens of how her mistreatment triggers the protagonist into thinking about his mother's assault.

So I don't think it's intentional and it clearly reads as though we're meant to understand both the hijra community and the sex worker as the protagonist's allies and comrades, but because we only really see them through the lens of how they move his story forwards, it does at times feel like it falls back into a trope of 'women and marginalised people's abuse happens in order to motivate a man to do manly violence' and none of the women depicted as the subject of violence - not the hijras, not the sex worker, not his mother - are the focus of power and subjectivity in the story. The mother comes closest in that - she's clearly established as involved in resistance and she acts both to protect her child and defend herself, and is also humanised and characterised - whereas the present-day women are kind of instrumentalised - they don't have particularly defined personalities and they mostly exist to inspire the protagonist to act by their suffering, and to be inspired to act by his example.

Other than the gender/power aspect where it gets a bit male saviour-y, there were a few other characters I felt like I was expecting to come back or be expanded on that just didn't.

The dog was one element - it was very built up early on, obviously it plays a part in his first failed attempt, then it just falls off the film which is weird cause it felt like they were introducing a thematic throughline.

also the guy from the hotel - I was already kind of confused about his motivation for going with Dev Patel in the police chase, since I thought we'd established him as being profit motivated rather than having a significant relationship with the protagonist, and then we see him on and off throughout the second act, which feels like it's building to him having some significant part to play, and perhaps it's understanding why he chose to align with the terrorist against his employer. then after the Dev-Patel-Has-Leveled-Up ring fight scene, where he's Dev Patel's biggest fan, he fully vanishes from the film never to be seen again. I do not know what I'm meant to take from this character.

couple more thoughts

the priest character is a really strong villain and that final fight was really really good, it truly did keep me on the edge of my seat.

I'm a little bit in love with the mother

man he REALLY wanted to bite that guy's nose off in the brothel fight. he literally goes in to bite the nose off THREE SEPARATE TIMES before he successfully does it. there are other bits of him to attack, I just think.

based on the trailer and the marketing, I really expected it to be gorier I think? there are some conceptually gnarly injuries and kills but the camera speeds by then pretty fast and the bulk of the film is not about the spectacle of violence. this isn't a complaint but it wasn't what I anticipated.

for me I think actually the only thing that made me wince was the bleach thing. and also I'm no pharmacist but I feel like snorting bleach should have fucked singh up more than it did, he seemed surprisingly fine other than a mild nosebleed.

speaking of bleach - really enjoyed that setup and payoff and callback but like the bit where he bleached the mask was very cool and then he only wore it for like 1 minute of screen time then took it straight off again before even entering the hotel. I just feel like he's not fully committing to this Hanuman thing.

ooh I really liked the bit right before the final fight kicks off where Not-Modi is addressing the room full of donors and it's so full of references to the British Raj and highlighting Not-Modi's public school accent, I thought that made really good points about the commonality of oppression. I also appreciated the moment where Dev Patel chooses to let Not-Modi, the political outcrop, go, and instead go after the ideological heart of the movement.

look it's been said but the bit where he bounces off the window in the first act is such a good choice. it's funny and it's also tense. works well.

all told I had a good time, and I liked that it was as on the nose and specific about its goals as possible, although I did feel like it dropped some threads which made it feel weaker than it otherwise might - I think that while I liked the first act, some of it could have been trimmed back in favour of fleshing out some of the side characters in the back half of the film so that they felt a bit less instrumentalised and a bit more human, which was done really well with the mother imo. overall I reckon 8.5/10.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

There are two dorks within me:

(I am neither well rested nor sober, forgive this being messy af)

Dorkus Primus sees Gotham War's plotline as being critically about the fact that there are more lines to cross than just killing and that if you (as Batman has in many many renditions of him) treat killing as the ONLY line you will not cross (also like a lot of Cops and Coppaganda does) then you ain't a hero! You will treat criminals in monstrous ways if you are willing to do anything except kill!!

Hurting Jason was very clearly meant to be one of those lines! Feeling like Batman is the villain in this one is the point!!

And like the Zur thing seems to be about grappling with how Batman is fundamentally not an answer to the challenges that the criminals themselves are facing because 'fuck em up and let the hospital and justice systems sort em out' does not do anything to help the criminals!!!! The Distilled Essence of Batman's reaction to seeing a dead criminal was to go hurt other criminals just as our own criminal "justice" system has no answer other than to hurt other criminals or victim blame the dead criminals.

Bruce, the side of human compassion, was willing to consider Selina's plan after seeing results because no matter how realistic or unrealistic Catwoman's scheme might be in logistical terms, if you accept the comic's premise that it was working, then it is factually more compassionate! People who commit crimes deserve compassion! Even if, or especially if, they continue to need to operate outside the law in order to survive! Batman and Bruce being separated out is key.

It also makes a TON of sense to have Jason in the center because he has many times been used as the Bad Apple Cop who kills criminals and thus legitimizes Batman's justice as being repairative even though... it... it does not... uh... seem to have actually been repairative in any comic I've read. And yet! Due to Jason's history he has a rich potential to be someone who is far far more sympathetic to his fellow criminals. Arguably has been in several versions of him.

Sidenote: I would LOVE to see him take up 'controlling crime' in the direction of doing shit like making sure all dealers gave free clean needles to their customers or shit like that, not that I have any hope of that ever happening

Thus Dorkus Primus thinks that it is 10000000% utterly critical that no vigilante or villain kills anyone and that no one else dies for the rest of the story to keep it being about the other lines one should not cross and how criminals are entitled to way more human rights than just their lives!!!

Dorkus Secundus says that it would be off the chain sick-nasty (positive) if Bruce killed Jason again and the fact that he died at the end of Under the Red Hood (technically unconfirmed but like wow is the evidence real stronk) was finally addressed when Jason is inevitably resurrected and actually breaks down and/or slips up and admits that this was his FOURTH stint walking in the resurrection direction. Also any version of him getting declared Officially Immortal in the Jack Harkness way would be reaaaaally dope!

...Shit actually the Superboy Prime method of resurrection has a LOT in common with the Bad Wolf method... sleepy thoughts for a decidedly different day!

[winns-stuff]

LO RANT:

This is from the fastpass preview that I stumbled across but genuinely nobody gives a flying fuck about Hades. Out of everything that this comic has disrespected Leuce with the most insulting out of all of them has to be her lowering her standards for an absolute man child like Hades, there’s nothing inherently attractive about him and the only reason Persephone is so infatuated with him is because of the fact that she’s literally 19 FOREVER and her brain is too underdeveloped to get better taste. But to sit up here and say that Leuce is just so incredibly desperate for Hades of all people when she’s so desired and sought after that the king of all gods deemed her worthy of marrying his brother is absolutely incredibly insulting. If this was realistic no one would be scared of Persephone’s pick me ass, I’m so sick and tired of Lore Olympus making every woman make an absolute fool of themselves over someone as low as Hades, literally any guy would be more worthy than fucking Hades like come on man are you serious?

Anyways, I’m just so over the mistreatment of the nymphs and I’m over people calling this a girl boss move. The fans love to sit up here and say that this is women supporting women but brutalizing women of a lower class and making fun of their mistreatment isn’t something we should deem feminist worthy. Like genuinely why the fuck is anyone applauding this shit? The fact that nymphs are at the gods’ mercy and they’re constantly being degraded, insulted, and abused by the upper class just for existing is sick. I can’t even say that it’s because of greek mythology since the nymphs were at least respected, like you knew the difference between them and their power but they weren’t treated like disposable waste like the nymphs in LO are. The nymphs have to be the only characters in the comic who deserve nothing but love and support from everyone since every chapter seems like a dig at them and it’s getting really awful to watch.

Another thing is the title of the episode. Are you fucking delirious? Leuce is a homewrecker?? How?? Homewrecking is blaming someone for a breakup of either a marriage or relationship because they engaged into an AFFAIR or other things in that matter with the member of the relationship. Unless Rachel is saying that because of Leuce they’re finally breaking up I don’t ever wanna hear about homewrecking ever from Lore Olympus trying to describe a character like that. Quite literally the only legitimate homewrecker in this entire series is Persephone’s ass and no one gives a fuck because the way she did it was “cute” and “pure”, she’s your little cinnamon roll while everyone else who does the exact same thing are evil witches. Which brings up my main point, Leuce barely poses a damn threat this woman is as small as a mouse and not up to anything nefarious, instead of focusing on KRONOS possibly coming back and taking over your ENTIRE kingdom that you’ve only ruled over for a few days you’re worried about some poor confused woman who got led on by your cheating ass husband while you were away. The major reaction is cringe and laughable, you don’t feel angry towards people disrespecting you or stomping on your values but as soon as it’s something with Hades you’re suddenly the biggest bad guy ever, give me a damn tissue. It’s truly sad that this is giving me more of a reason to believe that Persephone has no personality outside of being a “soft wife”, like where are your morals? What the hell do you stand for if you allow shit like this to happen.

This is why I get so angry and upset with Lore Olympus as a whole it’s upsetting seeing this insufferable main character do the most hypocritical shit that another character got dragged through the mud over yet we’re all supposed to clap our hands and put them on the highest pedestals. The fans don’t make it any better either because they survive off of stuff like that, that’s quite literally all they do all the damn time. They just eat up every little thing Persephone or any of the main cast does and enables this shitty behavior to continue because I swear if there was a time where Rachel decided to do something in her story that a massive amount of the fans hated she would never implement it into her story again, but since everyone absolutely loves these two women idiotically fighting over a pathetic man she keeps this stereotype around every other season.

Moral of the story is stop taking the dignity of these women and stop using them as some sort of cover up for your main character being incredibly boring and bland because I know the only reason for Lore Olympus’ demonization of Leuce is because they needed to prove how “much better” Persephone is. How about Persephone takes her red eyes and shove it in the faces of those who actually fucking deserve it instead of acting cowardly and only using it against nymphs because “they’re beneath you” since I have yet to see her have an actual backbone towards anyone deserving of this shit.

[mintedwitcher]

I feel like the fandom leaves no space for criticising Eddie. The moment he does something questionable they're scrambling to find excuses and justifications. They ignore how he hurt others in the process and celebrate his wrongdoings because to them it's a passage to him being queer. I am not stupid I know some of it comes from a place of preventive measures to assure that some weirdos won't be racists, but I don't see why every little critic of him is treated as hate. Like I thought I was hating him because any critical thought I had of him (that I often don't voice out) is treated as if a crime. It wasn't until I saw the actual hate that Tommy got from the fandom that I realised that none of them was that bad. I like Eddie, in fact he was my second favourite this season. I don't know if I am crazy, do I sound crazy?

You're not crazy, nonnie. It's always either "he did nothing wrong" or "he's the worst person in the world and he should die" (a legitimate take I've seen this week about Eddie).

Criticism is not hate. Judgement is not hate. I'm so sick of this recent (and it IS recent) attitude shift in fandom spaces that claims criticising a character means you hate them.

Sometimes, our faves fuck up. It happens. They're telling a human story here and humans are not perfect. If Eddie was perfect - if any of them were perfect - he'd be boring. There'd be no story to tell. Because what can you really do with a "perfect" character? Speaking as a writer, nothing. You can't DO anything with a "perfect" character. There's no growth to be had, no conflict to overcome. It's boring.

But people have gotten too deep in their own feelings and ego to even consider that these very human characters in these very human stories are just... well... human.

Its black and white, good and evil, there's no grey area or nuance to media literacy on this site anymore and it's exhausting.

Eddie is not perfect. He's made a LOT of mistakes. So has Tommy. So has Bobby. So has Hen and Karen and Chim and Maddie and Ravi and Athena and yes, even Buck.

But how can we expect them to grow and change and be better, if we never allow them to graduate beyond their mistakes, to learn from their pasts and choose to do better in future? How can we hold up this expectation of perfection if we refuse to allow the missteps and backslides and growth it takes to get there?

Eddie fucked up. Eddie hurt his son. Eddie hurt himself. Eddie hurt Marisol and Kim. He hurt Shannon in the past too. He's hurt Buck before, he's hurt Bobby before. He has caused a lot of pain. But the important thing is that he chooses to make amends for that hurt, to try and do better so he doesn't hurt the people he cares about again. Acknowledging the bad does not dismiss the good, and vice versa. Eddie is a good dad, he is a steadfast friend, he is a GOOD firefighter. He can, at times, even be a good romantic partner. These things don't just disappear the moment we acknowledge his mistakes.

His storyline was drastic this season but it needed to be. He needed to break through that cycle he developed of comparing every relationship to Shannon. He needed to get out of the trap he laid for himself in trying to replicate what he had with her. And this was the most brutal slap in the face wakeup call of a plot that I have Ever witnessed, and it's exactly what was needed.

Now we get to see Eddie Diaz, the man, instead of Eddie Diaz, the father/husband/boyfriend. And I can't wait to see him finally step into his own shoes as his own independent person at last.

[sapphire-weapon]

was in the middle of putting on makeup and getting ready for work when i started thinking about how ashley probably went through a legitimate mourning period after leon cut her out of his life, cycling through the different stages of grief over and over and sometimes out of order

because, while he might still be alive, he’s basically dead as far as she’s concerned. he’s gone, and she can’t see him or talk to him and has no access to any information about his life. if she calls him, his phone just rings as though no one owns it anymore.

and how it’s probably real grief in every sense of the word due to the fact that it never truly goes away. it fades over time, and some days she doesn’t even think of him at all -- and when she does think of him, it’s as a distant memory like “oh, that happened.” but then every once in a while, she sees something, or hears something, or the wind blows just the right way, and she feels his absence hit her all over again. she just gets this feeling that this -- what she’s doing, where she is -- is wrong. this isn’t how her life is supposed to be, and there’s something missing.

and by the likely time of RE9, she’ll be 40, and will probably have never been married or really had any sort of successful relationship at all -- not just because anyone she meets isn’t him, but because no one she meets lives up to the unreachable standards that he set. no one else has ever made her feel as safe as he did. no one else has the perfect balance of kindness and strength and patience and confidence and tenderness and courage that he had. tough guys are always too aggressive and insecure, and sweet guys lack the hard edge. and even guys who do break through into having some kind of relationship with her eventually leave anyway, because none of them understand why she sometimes screams another man’s name in her sleep, because the only answer she ever gives to the question “who’s leon?” is “oh he worked for my dad when he was in office. he helped me out that one year that i got really, really sick and needed surgery.” because boy is that an obvious lie, but they can’t tell why and she won’t explain.

and all she wants to know is why. why he disappeared on her, what she did wrong. why did things turn out the way they did when it didn’t need to be like this -- what is he keeping from her, what doesn’t she know?

and the saddest part is that what she doesn’t know is that he’s really, truly 100% convinced that staying away from her is him doing right by her. that he’s doing her a favor by not being a part of her life. he assumes that she’s likely thriving due to his absence -- or, at least, is much better off now than she would have been if he’d stuck around.

and if he’d just answer her fucking calls or give in to his urge to call her himself, he’d know that that was bullshit and that she needs a support system just as badly as he does and doesn’t understand why they didn’t build one for each other after all they went through together -- because literally no one else could ever possibly understand what happened but them.

he doesn’t realize that just because she’s stronger than him doesn’t mean that she’s not invincible or doesn’t still need support. and his opinion of himself is too low to even consider the notion that he could be that for her. so they just live separate lives, cut off from one another, with both of them missing what was lost at the time of their split.

[iwritesickfic]

Any of your OCs terribly sick with a nasty stomach bug and after recovering spreads it to their caretaker partner so the roles get reversed

thanks for the prompt! I took "terribly sick" very seriously, lol

Theo’s very uncomfortable, and for once it isn’t because he’s sick. It’s because Seamus is. It’s a rare occurrence - it happens maybe once or twice a year, and it almost never last more than a day or two. Rarer still is something that legitimately makes him feel awful. And something Theo’s seen only once or twice before is an actual fever. 

It just so happens that they’ve hit the jackpot with whatever stomach bug he has, because he’s been vomiting for the last two days and they're going strong into day three. And he's miserable. And he's running a fever. 

Since he spiked the fever yesterday he's quarantined himself in the studio. It's on their third floor, and he's told Theo to not come up under any circumstances. Sure, there's a nice couch up there and a bathroom and everything, but it makes Theo feel like shit that Seamus is all alone. Especially because whenever he's sick, Seamus makes sure he's never all alone. Still, every time he's even suggested coming up, Seamus has shot him down vehemently.

Theo's been standing on the landing between the second and third floor for about five minutes, holding a mug of tea, debating whether to go up. Finally, he decides he will.

The minute Seamus sees him he sighs.

"Baby," he says, and he sounds so exhausted and sick that Theo's regretting that he didn't come up sooner. But he's not just exhausted, he sounds exasperated.

"I'm just supposed to leave you up here by yourself?" He asks, leaning on the stair railing.

"Yes," he says. He looks like he hasn't slept, his eyes rimmed in purple behind his glasses. He's shivering in his sweatshirt. He's so pale too, all the usual color in his face totally washed out. Theo takes a few steps closer and Seamus sighs. "You do not wanna catch this, love."

"What if I do?"

"You don't," he says, voice clipped and short. He's lying on the couch that's against the back wall of the studio, his laptop resting on an apple box, another apple box next to it holding an empty mug and a few different bottles of medication. His massive gallon water bottle is there too. There's a wastebasket sitting next to the whole setup, presumably for when Seamus can't make it to the bathroom. Theo keeps walking and Seamus actually groans. "Please, T, I can't do this right now. My head kills. Just go back downstairs."

"No." Theo crosses his arms. "You don't want me up here?" Seamus sighs and rubs his eyes. 

"I…" he trails off, swallowing hard. "It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, ok?"

"Well what if I wanna sacrifice too?"

"It's different." Seamus sounds so fed up, but Theo doesn't want to drop this.

"How?"

"Because I already feel really fucking bad and I know if you get it it's gonna be ten times worse." He has a point, but Theo can't make himself care enough to go back downstairs.

"Whatever." Theo crouches down so they're face to face, and lays his hand on Seamus's forehead. Seamus's eyes fall closed and he moans softly, low in the back of his throat. The heat of his skin is shocking. "You're on fire, Shay."

"I know," he mumbles, eyes still closed.

"Well I know you probably took Tylenol already, so-" Seamus shakes his head. "What? You're kidding." Usually Seamus is extremely on top of that kind of thing.

"Can't keep it down," he says, and Theo feels a pang of worry. "I told you baby, it's bad." His voice is hoarse.

"We should get you in a real bed," he says, and starts to run his hand through Seamus's hair. 

"It's not worth it to walk all the way there." It’s only a flight of stairs and a hallway, but Seamus is shaking just lying here.

"Sit up for a second," Theo says, and Seamus does. Theo settles himself down and when Seamus lays back, his head is in his lap. He sighs and curls closer to him, sighing when Theo strokes his hair. “Just let me be here,” he says softly, and Seamus sighs again, heavily, but nods.

Four days later, when Seamus is completely over his illness, Theo isn't surprised when he wakes up in the middle of the night with horrible stomach cramps. He curls closer into Seamus’s body. He's freezing, even under their heavy comforter.

Seamus stirs, his eyes cracking open.

"Mm?" He murmurs, and Theo buries his face in Seamus's t-shirt. "Shh, it's ok. You're ok," he mumbles, wrapping his arms around him and pressing a sleepy kiss to his head. He must think it's a nightmare. Theo gets them pretty regularly.

His whole body tenses and shivers when his stomach flips particularly harshly, and Seamus seems to wake up a little bit more. 

"Shh. Hey," he says, voice still quiet. When a moan slips out of Theo's mouth, he starts to rub his back. "What is it?"

"Stomach," he whispers back, and Seamus sighs. 

"Do you need me to get a bucket?" He asks, and Theo shakes his head. He doesn't want to throw up, even though part of him knows it's inevitable. But most of all he doesn't want Seamus to leave him. The only thing he ever wants when he's sick is Seamus's touch, Seamus's presence. He wonders if Seamus feels the same way. He should be regretting taking care of him, but it's only convincing him even more he made the right decision.

"I love you so much," he whispers, and Seamus keeps rubbing his back.

"I love you too."

He ends up needing the bucket. Multiple times. He hasn't been this sick to his stomach in years. The fever is bad too, hovering around 102 even after ice and the extra strength ibuprofen he may or may not have fully absorbed before throwing up again. They're up the rest of the night, then all through the next morning and afternoon.

He feels like death. His whole body is aching, he’s exhausted, and he’s so drained from the fever he can’t even stand. Even Seamus seems a little panicked, which is unusual considering that he’s seen Theo at his absolute worst. His instincts were right that Theo would be destroyed whatever virus this is, but still, Theo doesn’t regret it. 

Even if Seamus only felt a fraction of what he’s feeling right now, it would still be hell. And Theo wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he let him go through that by himself. 

Still, he’s so fucking sick. He clings to Seamus like a little kid, curled up almost all the way in his lap, shaking so hard that Seamus’s arms are the only thing keeping him from falling over. 

He doesn’t feel like he’s sleeping, but he must be, because he’s having fever dreams. Nightmares, more like. He’ll wake up sobbing into Seamus’s t-shirt, cloaked in cold sweat. Once, he wakes up in the bath, shivering in water that feels like ice with a thermometer under his tongue and Seamus stroking his hair. 

And of course, he’s vomiting. A lot. Anything that goes into his mouth is coming back out within the hour. Usually sooner. And it won’t stop once that mouthful of water or couple of pills is up. He’ll keep heaving until he has absolutely nothing left in his stomach. His cheeks are blotchy pink from burst blood vessels and all the muscles in his back and sides are sore.

They talk about it when he’s in the tub. It’s day two. Or three. It all runs together. 

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry,” Seamus whispers, and Theo shakes his head. “I am. It’s my fault. I should’ve gone to Zeke’s or gotten a hotel room or just-” His voice breaks and he stops. Theo can’t tell if there are tears in his eyes or if he’s just imagining it. “I don’t know. I should’ve…We should’ve just had a fight and maybe you wouldn’t be speaking to me but at least you wouldn’t…” He trails off.

“Don’t be sorry,” Theo says, even though his voice is so hoarse it’s more of a whisper. “I’ve gotten you sick a bunch of times.”

“Not 104-fever sick. Not…vomit-until-you-pass-out sick.”

“It’s temporary, Shay. It was worth it.”

“Don’t lie to make me feel better.”

“I’m not. I swear. You deserve…” a wave of lightheadedness washes over him and he stops, closing his eyes. “You deserve to be taken care of.” Seamus nods, but he doesn’t look convinced. “What if it was flipped? Would you just leave me?” Seamus bites his lip.

“No,” he says, voice clipped.

“Right. So shut up,” he whispers, and Seamus chokes out a laugh.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

leon's characterization in re4r strays too far away from the rest of his iterations- so much so that it no longer feels like this is the same leon

(IN MY OPINION lol)

i've had enough time to really soak in re4r, how the game is, how leon's characterized and how (i believe) this iteration of leon is fundamentally so different in comparison to re4 leon (and the rest of the iterations of leon.) to keep things simple, og re4 leon will be re4 leon and re4 remake leon will be 4R leon.

everyone knew going into 4R that it was going to be a grittier, darker version of re4. it wasn't going to be as campy and frankly- silly as the original. however they were able to keep a few of the one liners in. (the fact that they were going to cut out the bingo line is insane to me lol)

we have the obvious ptsd and the traumatic retellings of re2r as the beginning of 4r, giving us an indication of how this story is going to go. leon is ALREADY jaded, cold, angry, and feels as though his life isn't in his control. (it isn't)

with re4, we have this version of leon where he cracks jokes (a lot) and is generally aloof with most of his interactions with people. but he still harbours anger, he still gets angry when the time arises. ex when he faces krauser. but he's not just a cunt to everyone lol SURE he's silly and goofy, a bit too much even for my tastes. but campiness aside, he's still nice to ashley, gentle to her even. he knows that she's a young girl and is afraid. she is defenseless and can not take care of herself. the interactions between leon and luis are minimal in re4 in comparison to 4R so i won't go deep into it. and leon and Ada are seemingly fine as well. they go on as if nothing bad ever really happened between them (even though he knows she's working for someone else.) he just ends up trusting ada to do the right things (and even if she doesn't) he still lets her go on her merry way.

my biggest complaint has been his interactions with ashley actually. he (both re4 and 4R leon) may find ashley annoying, or find her teenage like personality a bit grating-

but he (re4 leon) is in no way ANGRY or resentful towards ashley-

WHICH 4R LEON IS. when he first finds ashley, his main reaction/response isn't relief or joy. it's annoyance when she decides to fight him back (RIGHTFULLY SO SINCE SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HE IS) and instead of immediately trying to comfort her, he gets annoyed- and for some reason ashley just relents (after leon says one time that her dad sent him there) and then she decides that leon is safe.

when i say 4R Leon is a cunt to everyone. I mean, he is uncharacteristically rude/curt to LITERALLY EVERYONE. he's rude to Ashley (for no reason, he should be nice(?), she's literally his employer's daughter), Luis (i don't really care, he can be rude I guess), Ada (his anger here is okay, but misplaced.)

he's consistently rude, and avoidant towards ashley. only when he realizes that she's legitimately scared does he try to comfort her. but it's in no way similar to re4 leon's "you did it!" and the casual banter between them. re4 ashley is ... sure, more "annoying" but i find her more endearing in a way. 4R ashley is also sick of leon's shit, trying to make light of the situation in most cases as leon walks around like there's a stick up his ass. (IT'S FAIR THAT HE'S TRAUMATIZED, but WHY is he taking it out on EVERYONE ELSE) it's clear that they are both stuck with each other, as opposed to leon's here to save ashley. ashley being- not able to save herself, and leon- probably losing his fucking job if he can't get ashley home.

now i would forgive his behaviour, but now it makes it harder to bridge the gaps. the closest piece of media in the timeline is infinite darkness. and he's resorted back to this "good, loyal, obedient, noble," character. we have a singular clip of him perhaps "in contemplation," of his career/life, but we don't have anywhere the amount of explanation of his life at the moment. and we still have a moment of defiance when he actively goes against claire's wishes because he KNOWS that what claire wants with the chip is dangerous and a death wish. he was willing to ruin a friendship because of his own morals. (this is fine though, his morals was always going to be, in whatever way to keep someone safe)

are we supposed to believe that in 1-2 years that leon just went to therapy or something?

further along in the game, 4R leon is sure, "nicer" to Ashley, but I still feel like it was a means of having her trust him, but also to make the mission go smoother. he can't have ashley freaking out all the time.

one of the consistent things i've said about re as a whole is that the writing is NOT GREAT. a lot of the plots don't go anywhere or don't affect anything majorly. i've argued for a long time, that i feel as though claire's characterization and storyline is so stagnant that it's really a stretch to call her a main character. (her addition to death island was also not important or necessary. if she was removed- nothing would've changed.)

leon's characterization gives me fucking whiplash.

he's either fine or his not fine. and SURE we have REASONS on why he's not fine. but the way that 4R leon had six years to potentially heal from re2r, it seems as though he's only gotten colder. colder so that it makes the whole "he's a hero" trope slip further and further away from him. but that's the thing isn't. it's still a part of his internal conflicts.

he WANTS to save people- so why is he reluctant to save ashley? he's SUPPOSED to want to help people- so why does he not give a shit about Luis? he KNOWS the truth about Ada, so is that why he's still saving her?

all the conflicts in him SURE MAKE SENSE, but the way they steer it in this cold gritty version of him makes sense in instances like vendetta. where after another mission has failed and he is forced to kill his entire unit- it's traumatizing, he wants to be out of it, he wants to be done.

but in 4R, he's forced into it, he does what he can. but is a shell of who he is. SURE, THIS STILL MAKES SENSE.

BUT THEN WHY THE FUCK IS HE FINE IN INFINITE DARKNESS. (this goes with my previous complaints about how he's just FINE in death island, which to be fair, even matt mercer has said essentially, "the power of friendship")

am i supposed to believe that in 6 years, he's been depressed, angry, resentful, and more??? he's still harbouring so much anger that he's fucking rude to everyone- and that in 1-2 years he's just oKAAY

SURE- he gets friendlier within the duration of 4R, and SURE he's polite and respectful when luis passes. and he even gets lured out to save ada when he sees that she's in danger. he's even about to go check on her before the bugs come to attack him >:( but even up to the very end, he's still mostly avoidant to ashley. (which is fair, and im so glad they removed the overtime line) saying, "you don't need me," which is a nice way to tie it back to her gaining some sense of agency. sure she's not taking on any ganados lol but she's come out of this better, stronger, SURE.

but leon? is he really okay? is it just another mission? he's not that excited to get back home, he's not that excited at all for much.

WAY too long; dr

leon was fundamentally changed so much in 4R and i feel as though the game didn't do enough of an arc to make it so that we can bridge the gaps between all the iterations of leon. i understand that he's suffering with ptsd and his own traumas, but his lashing out towards everyone else goes against his own moral principles. he's not a mean or rude person, at least not to people who don't deserve it. i find 4R leon different from his re4 counterpart, yes- but he's so different in ways that make it harder to sympathize with him and his actions.

OR I COULD BE WRONG. I DUNNO. THE WRITING OF RE IS SO POOR THAT SOMEONE COULD PROBABLY SAY IM WRONG AND FIND THINGS TO PROVE IT SJKBFSJKFSKJ

[ofcowardiceandkings]

unmedicated rambles;

honestly even if im NOT covid+ i might tell work i am lmfao

its not something that should be embarrassing but im much less comfortable telling my direct project managers that like ... "an admin issue means im off my meds which means im a fucking feral liability right now" than like .... talking to my normal ass coworkers or supervisors .......................

like its not remotely a joke or embarrassing or my fault whatsoever but it feels much less ... real ... yknow ,, even to me the walking advocate for speaking about mental health i uh dont have the mental bandwidth to do that at the moment i cant fathom it

i doubt theyd mind considering the pair of them both have legitimate Peak OCD so like they Know How It Be ??

idk im kinda scared they already think im a giant flake or im unreliable or yknow ... im off sick a lot compared to other people but im just not a healthy person lol that also cant be helped ,, this isnt the first time its happened either but as it is theres not a lot i can do when it does happen - its just stupid NHS admin errors. for someone with LESS of an anxiety problem it might be a bit more workable - it was for me actually last year with another project manager BUT ALSO im having A BIT OF A TIME OF IT right now compared to so im absolutely OFF the rails at the moment AND that project was so much more lowkey than a huge infrastructure project with active plant and asbestos removal the field over and big proceedurals and ... yeah

i would hope that comes across more as ... yknow being responsible than work dodging i guess, i don't wanna put anyone in danger ,,

IDK i dont dislike either of them at all i get along with everyone i work with but theyre much more standoffish and i rarely interact with them directly so ?? i feel guilty sometimes still when the brain acts up and i feel like they already have good reason not to like me lol :(

( that was the RAMPANT anxiety talking )

i dont like being reminded how bad it is without drugs

(( now ive upset myself im gonna go to bed ))

[loving-n0t-heyting]

Problematique thogts about gender/prison, prompted by the current onslaught of horrors re: somni

I am slowly reconciling myself to the fact that I do not understand the moderate left-lib trαns-positive position on gendered housing in prison. It just seems unprincipled and reflexive

I understand the tεrf/patriarchal/socon theory: females are more vulnerable and precious and pure than males, sex = gender, and therefore the men need to be isolated from convicted criminals ontologically incapable of harm even if it doesn’t fit with their genderfeels. I think the position is abhorrent, and it fills me with hunger for violence against the sick fucks who enforce it at gunpoint, but it at least makes sense

I can understand a view on which trαns women specifically—like many other prison demographics—are at elevated risk of violence , particularly sexual violence, in men’s prisons and therefore should be rehoused as a harm reduction measure. Again, it’s not my way of looking at things, but I can see how it could be someone’s

I understand a more moderate version of the first option, where the real danger from co-Ed housing is that babies can happen, and the imperative behind carceral gender segregation with troonish exceptions is ensuring no XY is allowed around the XX’s (or Vice versa) without sterilising cross-sex hormone therapy. I happen to think this is tantamount to endorsing state-coerced sterilisation and should be regarded with a similar degree of disdain, but I think this about a lot of positions some ppl support without thereby falling into immediate self-contradiction

I know the abolitionist view, that the whole question is moot bc we should just immediately dissolve carceral facilities en masse. This project faces… other obstacles, shall we say, but i don’t think questions about what to do with the <1% of the populations that rejects their birth sex when they are convicted of serious antisocial wrongdoing pose special difficulties for it

And I understand my own beliefs on the matter: that a Y chromosome is neither a disease requiring quarantine nor an offence deserving punishment; that its treatment as such by the carceral system is an outrage against reason and human dignity; that we should dismiss empirical or statistical arguments for the supposed benign extrinsic consequences of such a policy as summarily as we would similar arguments for the reintroduction of de jure racial segregation; and that we must embrace the most expansive, fraud-conducive trαnsgender rehousing policies in prison politically viable at any given moment as an instrument for defying these armed venerators of biological arbitrariness and retrograde social divisions. Fiat iustitia et pereat mundus

But none of these is the normie leftlib take. It obviously isn’t the socon one (the only alternative of which it seems conscious), and it most emphatically is not mine, since it countenances requiring some kind of proof that an inmate’s claim to gender identity is “legitimate” (which is anathema to my whole way of thinking). And ofc it isn’t abolitionist in any interesting sense.

Neither, however, does it fit easily with the other explanations i mentioned. If it were motivated principally by concerns about (sexual) violence, for one thing it would also apply to e.g. gay and physically weak men in equal (if not sometimes greater!) measure, and it would also seem asymmetrical as regards gender-direction, whereas normie libs generally seem to support both directions of gendered rehousing. And if the real concern were about fertility, there’d be no reason not to just offer chemical castration (cross-sex or otherwise) to any cis person who feels like hanging out with the other sex

My uncharitable read is that the lib view projects the contingent historical reality of pervasive gendered segregation onto the fundamental necessary structure of human society as an eternal truth, and thus understands an individual’s gender as a similarly transcendent ethereal fact, a holy beetle in a consecrated box, unmoored from the contingencies of their free choice or physical embodiment, accessible to him/her/them directly thru the deliverances of supersensuous intuition and (possibly) inferentially to shrinks and other fraud-detectors thru outward accidental signs of inward gendered Essence. In accord with the immutable divine zoning of Plato’s Heaven into the boy and girl districts, we should therefore guarantee that prisons (like all parts of society) are split up by gender while making sure that it is the True Deep Metaphysical Gender that determines an individual’s side of the split. Which is uhhhh. A useful delusion for them to have about the gender politics of the kingdom of heaven, ig, since decent ppl can use their faith in it to manipulate them to emancipatory ends. But not one with much rational weight behind it

Idk tho mb I am being overly cynical

[compacflt]

Watching battleship right now and it got me thinking about ur post wondering how maverick and ice would react to current recruitment methods like e-girls and I just have to wonder what their thoughts would have been about this movie. It's more focused on the ships and not so much the fighter jets, obviously, but still...just a giant ad for the Navy. Also Rihanna which is perhaps the most important part of it all.

im no whitemanologist but if ice & mav are anything like my dad theyd probably think it’s some pretty sick shit

full disclosure: had not seen battleship until just now, when i watched it so i could answer this ask. thoughts: man, what a waste of jesse plemons! actually the whole cast is kinda stacked: liam neeson COMPACFLT (fuck yeah), Rihanna, alexander skarsgard….. woof. and yeah, it’s a gigantic fuck-you ad for the navy, but even i got a freedom boner when they hopped on *that ship* at the very end (70-year-old ordnance notwithstanding). like, i get it. that kinda whipped ass actually.

as recruitment material it’s very interesting. *guy who has only ever seen top gun watching any other movie* WOW JUST LIKE TOP GUN!!! no, but seriously, all these pro-Navy pro-mil movies are pushing a characterization of the military & the people in it that is laughably absurd. Our main character is always some guy who’s quietly very talented but outwardly a huge asshole who never plays by the rules & stays in the institution that gives him power only by the skin of his teeth. These movies are about *belonging* and push a message that even the most screwy of screw-ups can find their place in the military with a little patriotism and perseverance (maverick voice: “just wanna serve my country and be the best fighter pilot in the Navy, SIR”)—when that’s clearly not true. so, yes, in Battleship hopper is our asshole persevering main character who does everything (EVERYTHING) wrong until he just happens to do one thing right (read sun tzu I guess?) & gets a command of his own. The message is, join the navy, doesn’t matter how much of a fuck-up you are in real life, you too can excel & be recognized & get the outrageously hot chick & lead other men & have immense power….

…when we get invaded by aliens. cause that’s always the other part of these movies that kinda confuses me: unless it’s a historical movie (black Hawk down, american sniper, SPR, hacksaw ridge etc) in the modern age of pro-mil movies we have to make up an enemy to propagandize. TGM’s “fifth-gen fighter” advanced nation, for instance. Not Russia and not Iran and not DPRK, some other shitholistan that isn’t made of real people so we can drop fictional bombs on them without feeling bad. And these fictional enemies are always more advanced than us, because we are perpetual underdogs (& have been since the AmRev war, it’s part of our historical DNA). But… that discrepancy doesn’t reflect reality, obvi. If Tom Cruise hadn’t wanted to film inside real planes, TGM could’ve been a 5-minute short film of an F-35 dropping a precision guided bunker buster from 40,000 feet. like, we have the logistical/materiel capability to execute pretty much any mission we want with little to no actual struggle. But that makes for poor propaganda storytelling. So… aliens it is

It is also worth engaging with Top Gun: Maverick as a recruitment text in and of itself, and I don’t mean like “oh planes cool = people want to join the navy” I mean, this is a movie where the CORE EMOTIONAL TENET is that a kid who wanted to be in the navy got shut out & is still pissed about it. The central emotional tenet of TGM is Rooster trying to finally prove to Maverick that he IS ready to join the Navy. The whole movie is built upon the assumption that the Navy is someplace You Want To Be. It’s not just a recruitment text, it’s a recruitment story. And again, it’s asshole-rule-breaker Maverick who juuuuust manages to stay in because he’s actually super talented all along and not actually a fuck-up, and the Navy legitimizes him as a person (in my reading, as a man) at the end… warlock voice: “You’re where you belong.” Is he, though? All the evidence seems to suggest otherwise!

[youngpettyqueen]

basically rewriting my own tags here but. AU where The Joker is Wild is a more serious character exploration of BJ set in season 4

this got quite away from me and also long so. under the cut to save ur dashes

the point of the episode here would be to establish BJ more as his own character early on, by directly dealing with the idea of him being jealous of Trapper, and resentful of being compared to him. it also makes for an isolated sort of feel with him- he hasn't built these connections with the rest of the cast yet, and this is a cast who knew Trapper and so far dont really know him. by taking this more seriously it allows for some exploration of BJ's character, some room for him to grow, an opportunity for him and Hawkeye to strengthen their bond, and even some room to drop hints for the anger the bubbles underneath the surface for him

it starts off fairly similarly- BJ pranking Hawkeye and Hawkeye not being particularly impressed, leading to him launching into reminiscing about the "golden days" of him and Trapper's schemes. its implied here that this is something Hawkeye does often; comparing BJ to Trapper, often unfavourably, often bringing up how Trapper did things better and how he misses that. Hawkeye doesnt mean any harm here, he's just trying to reminisce and handling his best friend's departure as best he can, but this understandably still gets under BJ's skin. BJ, clearly unhappy, promises to show Hawkeye he's just as good as Trapper was, maybe even better. Hawkeye, not seeing that BJ is legitimately upset here, doesnt take it too seriously and just wishes him luck

no bet element. nobody else is in on it. BJ is still new to the 4077 and hasn't quite found his footing yet, further cementing his insecurities related to where he stands with everyone. he starts off small, simple, harmless. gag cigars, swapping the salt and the sugar and the like. Hawkeye continues to be unimpressed, goading BJ on, not realizing BJ is genuinely getting more and more upset and therefore not taking him seriously. until finally BJ starts to get outright mean, lashing out more obviously, and Hawkeye realizes something might actually be wrong. still, he doesnt think much of it- he doesnt know BJ, he doesnt know him angry, and he decides to wait until he's cooled down to talk to him about it and see what's up

well, that doesnt happen. Potter sits BJ down in his office at one point and tells him he needs to knock off the childish tantrum and speak up if something's upsetting him. he points out BJ's been lashing out at everyone, acting uncharacteristically mean, and watching Hawkeye be bombarded with a bunch of pranks is exhausting. he warns BJ to stop now before he goes too far. BJ agrees, but then typical sort of TV show dialogue moment- leaves the office and says to himself "after I get him with this one"

one last prank and then he's done. its all harmless, after all, he'll just get this last one out of his system and then this all becomes a funny memory. except that's not what happens. something goes wrong. it was supposed to be harmless, of course it was supposed to be harmless, but something goes wrong and Hawkeye ends up hurt. he was told to stop, he didnt listen, and now his best friend is hurt and its all his fault. nobody will even let him help, and he cant even blame them

once things settle, thats when they lay into him. Potter is the most livid anyone's ever seen him, nearly rips his damn head off because he fucking told him so. Margaret is furious, demanding what the hell's wrong with him, and Mulcahy's right beside her. even Klinger and Radar look ready to kill, Klinger holding Radar by the shoulders while Radar demands how anyone could do something like that to someone like Hawkeye. and BJ's feeling so horrible, so guilty, so angry at himself, it all just rushes out of him. he's so sick of being compared to Trapper, so sick of everyone treating him like he's just Trapper's replacement, all he wanted was to show them that he isn't just a sub-par replacement. he just wanted to be respected as his own person, he just wanted the comparisons to stop, he just wanted to stop being stuck in the shadow of someone he never even met. at this point BJ storms off before they can say anything else, goes to the only place he can go; the Swamp

that doesnt make it right, of course. but that forces some reflection. it makes a bit more sense, now. and the others can reflect on that- its implied they've been doing it, too. comparing BJ to Trapper. they comment on it a bit- Margaret saying she sometimes does it without thinking in OR, Klinger agreeing that he's brought it up when BJ reacts to one of his outfits differently than Trapper did, etc. Potter understands BJ's anger, having struggled with slotting in himself, especially seeing as he's replacing a dead man. everyone's anger softens a bit

meanwhile, BJ finds Frank in the Swamp, the only one that didnt tear him a new one. Frank, for his part, is completely unbothered. says he's on BJ's side, actually. says Hawkeye needed to be humbled. BJ snaps back that that wasn't the point, and Frank asks him what the point of it all was, then. and BJ starts to explain like he did to the others, but it starts to fall apart. and he admits that maybe it became about just taking his anger out on Hawkeye, because he didnt want to talk about it, didnt want to admit how much it hurt. he knows Hawkeye misses Trapper, and he's not mad at him for that, he just wishes Hawkeye would see him for him, see him for a real friend, not just a cookie cutter replacement. Frank makes a remark about how he definitely did their friendship no favours by putting him in the infirmary. BJ, wallowing in his guilt, agrees and makes his exit. one of those instances where frank is unintentionally and obliviously kinda deep?

bit of a time jump. its been a few days. Hawkeye's fine, recovering without a problem- it wasn't anything serious. BJ hasn't gone by, though. things are tense between him and the others, and he feels way too guilty to see Hawkeye. finally, he's eating his lunch in the Swamp, really just avoiding everyone, when Hawkeye comes in with his own tray. he parks himself right beside BJ and asks if he plans on talking to him about it, or just avoiding him forever. BJ tries to say there's nothing to talk about, but Hawkeye doesnt let him off the hook

so, they have a heart to heart. BJ opens up, admits how he hates how much he's compared to Trapper, admits he feels this ridiculous jealousy towards him. explains that he just wants Hawkeye to see him as his own person, as a friend, but he feels like every time Hawkeye looks at him he's just seeing Trapper in his place. he says he's done a lousy job at being the friend he wants to be seen as, and that he's been fucking stupid, and apologizes

Hawkeye, for his part, agrees that BJ's acted stupid. but he goes on to say that he himself was acting stupid, because he didnt see how much he was hurting BJ by constantly comparing him to Trapper. he admits he's struggling with Trapper's departure, and that he misses him a lot, but he also knows thats no excuse for the comparisons. he apologizes for making BJ feel like he was nothing more than Trapper's replacement, and tells him in no uncertain terms that he does like him a lot for who he really is, and values him as a friend. he promises to stop comparing BJ to Trapper, so long as BJ promises to stop with the pranks- at least, the pranks on him. BJ agrees, and they shake on it, both of them smiling now

an undetermined amount of time later, Frank is the victim of a devastating prank by the both of them. while he rages on, Hawkeye and BJ fall into each other laughing hysterically. their friendship has come out of this stronger than ever, and we end on an optimistic note

[beeffilledshark]

WFM EPISODE 18 SPOILERS

ITS JUST ME RAMBLING

WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW GOING TO GO I LEGITIMATELY HAVE NO UTTER IDEA. FUCKING VINDICATION FOR CLONE THEORY BUT ALSO HOW RUTHLESS ERI WAS IN PUSHING SULETTA AWAY??? I THOUGHT SHE THOUGHT OF HER AS A SISTER FROM CRADLE PLANET BUT THAT WAS SO CRUEL. I GET SHE’S A FUCKING 25 YEAR OLD TODDLER BUT HOLY FUCK LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HER 

ALSO CHILDREN OF THE COVEN???????? WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN LIKE I KNOW ITS WITCH THEMED BUT???? Jesus Christ I feel like I ran a fucking marathon I stopped breathing as soon as Suletta put her normal suit on. I know the point of this three episode arc is to isolate Suletta from everyone who would give her a direction or reason to do something so that she chooses to return to Miorine on her own, but what the FUCK is she going to pilot the Demi Barding? I thought that was going to be Chuchu when she finally has to fight on Earth or in the final battle.

I don’t even know if I should hold out hope Suletta to reunite with Aerial. It’s approaching the endgame and the only way I can see this going wrong is if the Children of the Coven start fucking murdering people while they try to quell the riots on Earth. Alternatively, it all goes well and something catastrophic happens later on because of the Dawn Fold or Peil and Shaddiq and Suletta fucking pilots Schwarzette or something. FUCK SHE ACTUALLY SUFFERED A DATA STORM AERIAL SIMPLY CHOSE TO NOT AFFECT HER WHENEVER THEY INCREASED PERMET SCORES. SHE’S NOT LIKE ERI WHO COULD WITHSTAND IT SO I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON. I still hope Eri turns out to be the Ad Stella Newtype/Innovator since they had that kind of liminal space whenever Eri interacted with someone, but it’s weird that no one else has emerged in the same way. Maybe Suletta will unlock it when she pilots the Schwarzette? I don’t know I’m just rambling at this point this episode makes me fucking sick oh my god. CHRIST IF PRIME ELAN TURNS OUT TO BE ONE OF THE MAIN VILLAINS IM GONNA TWIST HIS HEAD LIKE A GODDAMN BOTTLE CAP