#stuff to talk about at rallies

[hey-its-sybarite]

1. Why is Donald Trump talking about Hannibal Lecter?

2. Why does Donald Trump think Hannibal Lecter is dead?

3. Is the fact that Donald Trump seems fond of Hannibal Lecter the most human thing about him?

Liking Hannibal Lecter is relatable. Thinking he’s dead kind of implies Trump believes he was once alive and therefore real. Which is unhinged.

The Lithuanian Count Hannibal “the cannibal” Lecter is the LEAST believable fictional character EVER. Glowing maroon eyes? Widows peak? RAREST form of polydactyly on his LEFT hand? Rich and cultured. Gifted artist, composer, musician, chef, surgeon, psychiatrist, MURDERER and polyglot? Does complex equations? Eats the rude? So perceptive he comes across as a mind reader? THAT GUY? Trump thinks THAT GUY was REAL??? Hannibal is so deliberately gothic main character he is inconceivable as a real person. I, for one, would like to cut to a live Thomas Harris reaction. Whatever the writer’s intention, it could never have been this.

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

At this point if I were Taylor and her team I’d be looking at why people want her to speak out about Palestine rather than trying to avoid it. A simple post/story/tweet acknowledging what’s happening, why her silence wasn’t a good thing and a link to provide aid would suffice. She had no problem sharing links and speaking out during the height of Covid so why should this be any different? If she’s worried about alienating/losing fans, her silence might cause more fans to leave/unstan/whatever you want to call it than her speaking out would.

[the-travelling-witch]

so as some of you may or may not know, the idea of hosting a discord server has been on my mind for quite a while now; now i just want to check on the general mood, are people interested? are there perhaps already established servers (e.g for this specific fandom) that i’m not aware of etc

if i were to host a fandom-specific server, it would most likely be a twisted wonderland one, but that wouldn’t mean you couldn’t talk about anything else on there ofc

the server would be 18+ most likely, since that’s just what i’m comfortable with; i’d get into more details once there is some feedback on existing interest :]

i’m plopping this in the twst tags for visibility since it’s the idea that’s at the forefront of my mind atm; reblogging so it reaches more people would be appreciated, other feedback like comments and asks ofc too <3

[the-world-annealing]

Aside from all the obvious takeaways as regards predstrogen (it should be allowed to make cartoony hardly-even death threats, ban processes should be more transparent, mass reporting is too easy, the ban system punishes long-running popular blogs specifically, it's just stupid to imply that Every Single Picture on a banned blog ran afoul of community guidelines), I think there's two actually interesting takes to make.

You can have perfectly unbiased and objective standards that will still end up disproportionally targeting oppressed people, simply because stress of online harassment + frustration with moderation for not fixing the online harassment leads to exactly the sort of situation we saw here.

Expecting more moderation, or better moderation, or more transparent moderation to fix harassment slash Get The Nazis Off The Site was never really a reasonable hope (and definitely isn't now). Tumblr lets you make infinite accounts, automated flags don't work, there's no business model that can fund a huge reviewer team, at some point you just have to bite the demoderation bullet and go 'alright, what do we at minimum need to keep the app listed and the gore avoidable'.

Anyway I made a post with a general gist of "either make a site text-only or make it impossible to see things you did not specifically ask for" a bit ago, that feels like it holds up.

[panicroomsammy]

Have you ever gone outside and interacted with normal people for more than an hour. If you did you would feel less threatend by "antis"

Great question I have spoken to the person who wrote the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in real life I can guarantee that pro-censorship people are in fact a genuine existential threat to my daily existence. I am friends with librarians and teachers who are being forced to take books that deal with racism, queerness, rape, and other unpalatable themes off of their shelves. Yes “antis” on the internet are dumb compared to this but you can see why I would find it upsetting when queer people like censorship when I deal with the results of pro-censorship attitudes in my daily life. Anyway to answer your question I “feel threatened” by antis because I go outside and talk to people so I know that advocating for censorship is a threat.

[knifearo]

I've been enjoying all your posts lately, especially all the community engagement. It makes me think about posting more personal aroace content instead of just reblogging.

I'm full of feelings but not sure what I really have to contribute to the conversation. Aro-identified people skew young and I feel like nobody's going to care what a middle aged aroace has to say but now I'm like hang on, maybe all aro content is good content, I don't know, I'm thinking about it.

i am absolutely of the opinion that all aro content is good content! especially because a lot of us skew young, i think it's so important to have (first of all just aro content in General. there's always a lack of that. but especially) aro content from people who don't usually have their perspectives talked about. if you've got nothing to contribute to the conversation that's fine :) more than half the time i do not either, i just make a silly happy little lah di dah i love aromanticism post and chit chat with all the little aromantic people who live on my laptop. if you're aromantic and you're engaging with the community then everybody should be more than happy to have you there :) just like you said. all aro content is good content. your opinion is valuable and your presence is treasured <2

[unrelatabledude]

sorry if i seem incredibly reclusive and not very talkative im trying to be a bigger and louder fan of things i enjoy and not feel like my only worth is in the stuff i make

[wolves-etc]

there's something I'm noticing in this read-through of Lord of the Rings that's really intriguing me, and it's how many times the characters (aragorn, so far, while he's leading the party) say things like "we must make do without hope."

I guess because to the reader - especially the rereader, or someone who's familiar with the films - it's so clear it's going to be okay, you know? tolkien drops these bits in the middle of danger, like that merry has a scar on his forehead for the rest of his life, that nod towards the characters' futures. there's this implication of fate or a higher power steering things towards good. and maybe it's partly the genre, the age, the language, but the story feels like a myth that was already finished long ago.

and I really took to heart this years-old post describing the story as hopepunk, even if - looking back - I think I misremembered the why.

thing is, so far, "hope is a skill you can practise" thinking doesn't really work for me. It Gets Better kinds of reassurance, while probably a force for good and maybe objectively necessary, leave me shirty.

but an honest and exhausted portrayal of how sometimes you have to and can keep going with or without hope? that works. that's a thing that feels real to me. that's a thing that's good to see.

and y'know, maybe there's something to the idea of hope as an action rather than a feeling. hope as we must make do without hope for now, as pulling oneself out of the hole which is not the grave.

it's kinda touching to recognise that here.

[zevranunderstander]

i love watching youtube analyses of movies and shows and i love when the person explaining something is totally wrong about the thing theyre talking about

[moonstandardtime]

love my digital art class but god it is filling me with rage and hatred for adobe.

[iammissingautumn]

Everyone loves to support victims until they’re uncomfortable by their road to recovery.

[fingertipsmp3]

I am once again sad that a person I bonded with in a dream is not real

[saspitite]

okay look. i do get not wanting to participate in a system as fucked as this. i absolutely want things to change as well. it's just that... every time i find people who plan to abstain from voting, they don't really explain how it's gonna benefit us or how we can topple this system in time before the next election. like, especially that second part. i really just want to know how people plan on dismantling this system before then, because it feels a bit impossible with the time we have left before the next election, and people not really explaining what we should do instead of voting seriously just doesn't help.

like. this is a genuine question. i don't wanna be dogpiled or be accused that i'm "upholding the system", i'm just questioning HOW this could be feasible because i haven't seen any explanations so far and want to know

[xineohps-nonsense]

I love jeopardizing my college career by angrily responding to the school board president every time she sends out an email about my school's pro-palestine rally last week!!

[akoichoi]

I have so much to say about this

P: If you're just here to stand around, go home already. E: Yes, well I was feeling parched. P: This isn't some sort of cafe. You too, Maya, don't just serve him tea either! M: Why not? Nick's being a cheapskate...

i have to talk about Phoenix being the actual busy one of the two

Meanwhile Edgeworth having no business using Wright and Co as a secondary lounge spot because why are you here?? (you know Edgeworth has a rally of interns that do his post-trial paperwork)

Maya routinely serving Edgeworth his usual tea (and ofc it's european tea, the kind of stuff nobody but him drinks)

Phoenix patting Pearl's head even though he's annoyed at everyone else in the room. She probably flips the pages for him because she likes to be helpful. And she is.

Nick's entire look

[david-talks-sw]

Dooku didn't leave because of the Jedi.

At least, if you're going by George Lucas' word.

In deleted scenes of Attack of the Clones, when we learn about Dooku's departure and his values, there's no mention of the Jedi or "the Jedi Order as an institution".

And every time Lucas refers to Dooku's disenchantment and reason for falling, he doesn't mention the Jedi.

"When you realize that Dooku is Darth Tyranus, it explains what Darth Sidious did after Darth Maul was killed: he seduced a Jedi who had become disenchanted with the Republic. He preyed on that disenchantment and converted him to the dark side, which is also a setup for what happens with Anakin." - Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones, 2002

"[Dooku is] one of the few Jedi who became disenchanted with the Republic and left the order and he is leading a separatist movement." - Vanity Fair, 2002

"I wanted a more sophisticated kind of villain. Dooku’s disenchantment with the corruption in the Empire is actually valid. It’s all valid.  So, Chris plays it as, 'Is he really a villain or is he just someone who is disenchanted and trying to make things right?'" - Starlog Magazine #300, 2002

He probably meant the Republic/Senate in that last one, but you get the point. And you're seeing the pattern, right?

Dooku's problem isn't the Jedi, it's the Republic.

He's become disenchanted with a system that - according to Lucas' prologue in the 2004 book Shatterpoint - worked for 1,000 years...

"For a thousand years, the Old Republic prospered and grew under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the venerable Jedi Knights."

... but has been rendered ineffective because of 1) senators becoming corrupt and 2) corporations gaining political power.

"But as often happens when wealth and power grow beyond all reasonable proportion, an evil fueled by greed arose. The massive organs of commerce mushroomed in power, the Senate became corrupt, and an ambitious named Palpatine was voted Supreme Chancellor."

That's the message Dooku runs on, when he rallies the systems to form the Separatist Alliance.

"By promising an alternative to the corruption and greed that was rotting the Republic from within, Dooku was able to persuade thousands of star systems to secede from the Republic."

The Jedi aren't really a factor in his decision to leave.

Why would they be? Their political status isn't very high, they're virtually powerless, as illustrated by the film's narrative and stated repeatedly by Lucas.

On the contrary, as we already established in this post, Lucas full-on confirmed that Dooku actually carries the sympathies of most of the Jedi. Again:

Most Jedi agree with Dooku, ideologically.

As far as the Jedi are concerned, the politicians are effing up the Republic, and it sucks because the Jedi see this but aren't allowed to interfere in the political process. They have to resort to looking for loopholes in their mandates to actually get stuff done.

That's what that whole "she's a politician" scene is meant to hint at. In the commentary of Attack of the Clones, Lucas uses a similar turn of phrase as he does with Dooku.

"[This scene gives us] a chance to talk a little bit about politics and the Jedi’s disenchantment with the political process, due to the corruption and the ineffectiveness of the Senate." - Attack of the Clones, Director’s Commentary, 2002

Considering all this, it becomes clear that the intended narrative surrounding Dooku's decision to leave the Order is not:

"The Jedi are dogmatic and asleep at the wheel except for Dooku, who is ahead of the curb and sees the system is flawed, so he left."

It's actually:

"ALL Jedi see the system is flawed, Dooku's the only Jedi who decided to take it a step further and leave the Order so he can try to get into politics himself and change things."

That's why they hesitate to accuse him of murder.

That's why in an earlier draft of the Attack of the Clones script, by the end of the second act, Mace STILL has his doubts that Dooku would sign a treaty with the Trade Federation to attack the Republic.

As far as the Jedi are concerned, Dooku is out there fighting the good fight, making noise because whenever they try to protest it falls on deaf ears... until his betrayal on Geonosis.

After all, let's not get it twisted: the Dooku we're introduced to in the films and The Clone Wars, isn't really just Dooku anymore.

He's Darth Tyranus.

A point Lucas makes sure to highlight in his Shatterpoint prologue:

"Unbeknownst to most of his followers, Dooku was himself a Dark Lord of the Sith, acting in collusion with his master, Darth Sidious, who, over the years, had struck an unholy alliance with the greater forces of commerce and their private droid armies."

It's not about doing the selfless thing for Dooku, anymore. He's knowingly part of the problem.

He's all about ambition, now. His personal goals are things like overthrowing Sidious and becoming the most powerful Jedi.

"[Anakin's] ambition and his dialogue here is the same as Dooku’s. He says “I will become more powerful than every Jedi.” And you’ll hear later on Dooku will say “I have become more powerful than any Jedi.” [...] It is possible for a Jedi to want to become more powerful, and control things." - Attack of the Clones, Director’s Commentary, 2002

"If you put two Sith together, they try to get others to join them to get rid of the other Sith. [When revealing the truth to Obi-Wan], Dooku's ambition is really to get rid of Darth Sidious. He's trying to get Obi-Wan's assistance in that and help in that, so that he and Obi-Wan could overthrow Sidious and take over." - Attack of the Clones, Commentary Track 2, 2002

Y'know? Selfish things.

Dooku - like all other Sith, and like the very corporations and Senators he had sworn to destroy - is consumed by his own greed.