#via: what women want (2000)

[ashleyjohnsonoftheday]

Day 588

[bengiyo]

Hi, i'm a newish bl drama watcher from thailand that just started watching thai bls. i'm a bit ashamed to say that for a long time as a gay man living here i've been avoiding bl shows like the plague cuz of both the fandom reputation and of misconception from my yaoi era which i leave far behind. i'm just want to ask how did you got into watching thai bls and what were you preconception before you got into it.

Welcome to the Tumblr side of BL fandom. I'd actually like to also hear more of your experience with yaoi and BL as a gay person growing up in Thailand if you're willing to share.

For me, I'm a Black American from the Gulf Coast (the South). I grew up in a Catholic city and spent my entire adolescence in the closet. Despite having a sense of who I was as early as 8 years old, I kept most of that to myself. Because I didn't talk about it much with people, I found out most information about queer media and queerness from the internet.

I entered BL via queer cinema. I think the first explicitly gay character that I remember from TV was Marco from Degrassi: The Next Generation. There were probably others, and definitely more subtle expressions, but when I think about the oldest gay character I remember and connect to, it's Marco. I don't like counting things like shipping Shawn and Corey on Boy Meets World or Tai and Matt on Digimon for oldest gay characters. Sailor Moon can't even count because we got a censored version of it in America.

I got access to satellite television away from observing eyes around age 16 and started watching content on Logo back when they aired gay content regularly. I watched basically whatever I could late at night. It's how I saw movies like Get Real (1998), Beautiful Thing (1996), and Bent (1997). It's also how I saw Queer as Folk (2000-2005) Noah's Arc (2005-06).

After hitting adulthood I mostly got lost in video games and standard American TV for a while, but I did basically show up to any Gay Event in TV. I appreciate that Stef and Lena from The Fosters (2013-2018) were some of the only TV lesbians to survive the horror of 2016.

I watched a bunch of movies in this time, many of which appear on the Queer Cinema Syllabus I made for a hypothetical Westerner new to BL and queer cinema, which @wen-kexing-apologist has decided to try to complete.

I got into Thai BL in 2018 accidentally. I started seeing gifsets of Kongpob telling Arthit he'll make him his wife passing around Tumblr and was basically like, "Right, what's all this then?"

I had watched a few Thai gay films, mostly notably Love of Siam (2007), Bangkok Love Story (2007), How to Win at Checkers Every Time (2015), and The Blue Hour (2015), but this was the first time I was seeing a long series made available so easily from any Asian country.

From there I got into Make It Right (2016-17) and Love Sick the series (2014). Once I realized that yaoi had moved beyond manga and a few anime adaptations, I went looking for a lot more. I basically haven't left since I started in about 2016 with SOTUS.

There's my basic entry into the genre. I don't think I was as worried about fandom and worries at the time because so much of being a fan of queer cinema was a mostly-private experience for me for so long. I didn't realize that BL fans active in the space would predominantly be women or queers figuring themselves out. It took a while to adjust to that, and also to adjust my expectations of the kinds of queer stories BL distributors were willing to fund.

That being said, I tend to agree with @absolutebl that BL has a useful role in normalization for non-queer audiences who encounter it. I like cheering BL when it does things I think work really well, and also deriding it when I think it does things that are offensive to help nudge the genre and offer my perspective as a gay man.

I like the place we're at right now where there's way too much to watch for any person with other hobbies and responsibilities because it means that people can pick and choose what's to their tastes.

More often than not, I'm probably most-invested in something airing from Japan because of my melancholy nature, but there's so much variety these days that it's okay if you don't like everything. I certainly don't!

I'm glad you joined us on Tumblr and look forward to your thoughts!

[pluckyredhead]

Can you please say more about the Lanterns' politics?

I am so glad you asked me about this because I've been thinking about it since I reblogged that post but also I'm definitely about to get yelled at lol. ANYWAY THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG.

Tl;dr: John is the only one with a coherent political position or an up-to-date voter registration.

Hal:

So something interesting about Hal is that his stories are often very political but his character is not. With one extremely obvious exception, he rarely talks about politics; rather, he serves as a means through which to tell political stories, usually unintentionally.

What do I mean by that? Well, for example, in the Silver Age, his love interest would occasionally be possessed by a misandrist space jewel that would force her to attack him, but always lose because women are inherently inferior to men and prefer to be subjugated by them anyway. That's the original Star Sapphire concept. It's wildly misogynistic, but it doesn't mean Hal the character is misogynistic. But it's also a very political story, even if I don't think the writer was deliberately trying to make a point so much as...being an average, thoughtlessly sexist guy living in the 60s. (Carol continues to be the subject of mindbogglingly sexist writing and art well into the 2000s. Fucking comics.)

And so you have Hal Jordan, whose love life was ruined by his girlfriend getting promoted above him and who called his best friend by a racist nickname for decades; Hal Jordan, poster boy for chest-thumping post-9/11 kneejerk patriotism; Hal Jordan, lightning rod for a certain kind of regressive bigoted fanboyism. Choosing Hal as the Lantern for a particular story over John or Kyle has come to signify something very specific, but none of that is necessarily reflective of what Hal himself believes.

So what about Hal himself? Well, when we first meet him, he's the epitome of privilege: a white, straight, cis, Christian (I know he's canonically half-Jewish now but that's only as of the past decade or so), ablebodied, upper middle class (Geoff Johns retconned him to have a working class background, but in the Silver Age, he had one uncle who was a millionaire, another who was a judge, and a successful politician brother) man with a flashy job. Privilege tends to lean Republican; even if he is from California, I suspect Hal voted for Eisenhower in 1956.

In GL/GA, the word "Republican" isn't used to my recollection, but Hal is definitely presented as...I'm going to say conservative by I mean lower-case C. He doesn't have deeply held political beliefs, but he's traditional. He doesn't question the system, because he's never had to. He resists things that challenge the way he's always understood the world works, and that's very relatable - most people do! And he will absolutely argue with Ollie, who certainly isn't always right about everything. But he's also willing to listen, and have his mind changed, and certainly reachable via appeals to compassion and fairness.

Once the "relevance" trend of the late 60s-early 70s was over, Hal's stories default back to ostensibly politically neutral, although obviously nothing is actually politically neutral. In the late 80s and early 90s he's the most unpleasant version of himself, and that has political manifestations, like when he allows John to be imprisoned in apartheid South Africa for a ridiculous and unnecessary crime Hal himself committed. It's extremely fucked up, but again, it's less because of Hal's actual opinions and more because Christopher Priest wanted to write about apartheid, even if it does make Hal look incredibly, horrifically racist.

Then jump to the mid-2000s and Green Lantern: Rebirth, and you might imagine that losing his hometown, getting possessed by a giant space bug, becoming a supervillain, dying, and becoming the embodiment of God's vengeance might have some effect on Hal's politics, but that is not what Geoff Johns is here to write. Johns is writing a Hal who teleported in from, like, 1967 - no nuance allowed. He's a summer blockbuster that walks like a man. He's a Baja Blast. He's never had a coherent political thought in his life. In his defense, he has had more and goofier concussions than any superhero I can think of and his brain is smooth like an egg. Still.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I think Hal tends to default to center right positions but can be easily coaxed over to center left. That said, he has never not once in his life had his shit together enough to vote in a single election, not even for his own brother.

Guy:

So Guy's deal is a little bit complicated because his most vocally political era was also in part due to severe and personality-altering brain damage.

When Guy was originally introduced in the 1960s, he had the pleasantly bland personality of all superheroes. Many years later, he suffered a series of major injuries, torture, and a lengthy coma, and he emerged from the coma in 1985 with the aggressive, abrasive personality he's best known for today. Justice League International took that even further, using him to parody the jingoistic, red-blooded American action hero of the 80s.

This version of Guy is a vocal fan of Ronald Reagan and despises the USSR. He's pro-war, proudly xenophobic, and treats women badly enough that it crosses the line into repeated sexual harassment, both physical and verbal. (To be fair...ish, this last also applies to Wally West and arguably a number of other men, and was always played for laughs. It was gross all around.)

Again, this is partially a manifestation of his brain damage. There's also a running gag in JLI where if he gets hit on the head, his personality changes to this cloying, timid, gentle one, sort of halfway between a child and a flamboyant gay stereotype. Hit him again and he goes back to Asshole Guy. I'm not going to pretend I don't find some of the gags funny, but it's obviously all highly problematic, and not just from a medical standpoint.

That said, I don't think we can dismiss Guy's politics or his usual personality as simply a manifestation of brain damage. We see in later flashbacks that he developed the abrasiveness as a defense mechanism from growing up in an abusive home, and as he matures through the 90s, he doesn't actually become a significantly different person, even after his Vuldarian healing factor kicks in and heals his brain. (It's a thing.) I think it's more accurate to say that the brain damage probably affected his impulse control, his filter, and arguably even his paranoia levels.

All of which is to say that as much as I would love to go "Guy's better now, so he's not a Republican!"...that dog won't hunt. I think a really good canon writer could make the case that Guy is pro-union-style working class and also a former teacher so he's at least center left, but as of now canon evidence is pretty firmly on the red side. It doesn't help that the GLC has been written as fetishistically pro-cop and pro-military since Johns got his grubby hands all over it. I will happily ignore the New 52 retcon that Guy was a cop, and you could even try to argue that he dislikes cops because his brother was a corrupt cop who became a supervillain, but I think it's much more likely that he identifies with cops as a Corps member. Although I don't think he would have any patience for killer cops. ("You were afraid for your life even though you were the only one with a weapon? Then fucking quit, coward.")

All of that said, I think Guy is similar to Hal: defaults to center right, can be talked into center left on certain issues but he's more stubborn about it. (They would also both be enraged by Jan 6 and disgusted by the current Republican party - I can't quite argue that Guy Gardner is a Democrat but Green Lanterns don't have any patience for traitors or cowards.) It's also kind of a moot point because he never knows what is happening on Earth and hasn't voted since his pre-coma days.

John:

Oh John Stewart, thank god for you.

John was introduced as an explicitly political character in an explicitly political story. The first time we see him, he's stepping in to defend Black men from a white cop, citing his own knowledge of the law to do so. He shows a much more perceptive and informed perspective on the issue's main plot (a racist senator running for president) than Hal does. Even in the little moment above, we see that he's sensitive to exactly what it means for him, a Black man, to be taking on this role.

None of this is a surprise, since we'll later learn that John's parents were civil rights activists. Not only would he not have had the privilege Hal and Guy did to assume his existence was politically neutral, he was explicitly educated about political realities and progressive advocacy from childhood. He's well-informed, he's passionate, and he's going to tell you when you are being fucking stupid.

John isn't immune from the GL cop/military...thing, although I can't blame Johns for that - it was the cartoon that made him a Marine, and the comics followed suit. But that's never outweighed his origin or his upbringing. Like, he's friends with the DCU's fictional version of Nelson Mandela.

This one is straightforward: John is a staunch progressive. He is, however, in outer space 90% of the time, so he's always at least a little bit out of date. I imagine every time he comes back to Earth he spends the first 24 hours watching the news in abject horror.

Kyle:

Kyle doesn't talk about politics a lot, but when he does, he lands pretty much where you'd expect a young California-born artist living in New York City to land: to the left. My read on Kyle is that he hasn't really thought any of his politics through, which makes sense - he's a character who is led by emotion over reason every time. He doesn't have John's carefully thought-through arguments or knowledge of the law behind him. I feel like when something political upsets him, he's more likely to splutter angrily than make a coherent argument (which: same). When he's given the time to think things through and speak from the heart, though, he can be very eloquent, like in his speech to Terry after Terry accidentally comes out to him.

It's also worth pointing out that his solo appearances were mostly in the 90s, which were prone to avoiding politics or only addressing them in a halfhearted both sides-y way like the story above.

That said, I don't think he ever actually does anything about his political opinions. He never votes in midterm or primary elections, and probably only voted in a presidential one because Alex dragged him along one time. I feel like Donna tried to do the same when they were dating and that was when Kyle realized he'd forgotten to change his voter registration from California to New York. Jennie wasn't responsible enough to Mom him into doing his civic duty, and he's been in space pretty much nonstop ever since, so...

Simon:

In that other post, I said Simon's experiences should have radicalized him, but instead he was created by Geoff Johns. Simon is a Muslim, Lebanese-American man who came of age in the post-9/11 era, and was wrongfully convicted of terrorism and waterboarded at Guantanamo Bay. His reaction to this was...to put on a ski mask and wave a gun around. Like, it's been a while since I've read these issues, but aside from the "ripped from the headlines!!!" of it all, I feel like Simon's experiences largely don't inform his actions or perspective except that he's super angry (fair enough).

The thing about Simon (and Jessica) is that he hasn't been around very long, and most comics don't have characters directly expressing political opinions. It's not a coincidence that these characters are in chronological order and each write-up is shorter than the last. I can think of about three times where Kyle has ever said anything I can interpret as political, and he's been around for 30 years. Simon only has a third of that history. So while one could certainly extrapolate what Simon's opinions are likely to be, I can't think of any canon where he actually says them.

Jessica:

Jessica has even less to go on in terms of explicitly political comics. You'd think she wouldn't like guns because of what happened to her friends, but she has one of her own and doesn't seem bothered by Simon's. I'd imagine she has opinions on immigration as someone whose family is from Mexico and Honduras, but it never comes up. If I were writing for DC, I'd make both Simon and Jess leftists, but as for actual canon proof? I got nothing.

I will say that she probably avoids political discussions because anxiety, and I bet she got really good at voting by mail during her years not leaving the house. She probably votes by mail from space. Maybe John's not the only one with an up-to-date voter registration.

Kilowog:

[imustbenuts]

im free from yakuza kiwami 2. fuck the writing in this one. this was a complete mess of pulling from the most popular generic east asian drama tropes at the time of 2006 and having it be handled by a super inexperienced writer at the helm.

i went from having no expectations, got somewhat surprised, only to end up downing alcohol and laughing hysterically before the credits rolled. so that should set the mood for how i feel about this one. thought vomit under the cut, a lot of info dump about culture incoming

yakuza kiwami 2 is pure heterosexual east asian romance bullshit.

im gonna just. describe as best as i can what i know and remember from the general media coming out from the 90s to the 2010s in around this part of the world before i just start explaining why i think this story is a mess.

so. 2 parts i swear is responsible for this rubbish.

1) East Asian Beauty Standard

the general consensus for a beautiful feminine woman AT THE TIME in this sphere is the following

be willowy thin (fat = lazy and ugly)

have black hair that ISNT short (dyed = too much individuality, too much WESTERN INDIVIDUALISM, gasp how dare!)

fair skinned (bc dark = she works in the fields and is from a lower class)

young. if you heard of the term "Christmas Cake" in japan context, yeah. (ie women over age of 25 are undesirable)

be educated and refined, bc that indicates class and femininity (failing this means shes vulgar and gasp like a barbarian)

be submissive to her male peers in the sense that her authority cannot override his at least in public (for the sake of his face)

dresses feminine and not like a man (trousers and jeans are man-ish. traditional clothing, skirts and dresses are preferred. the further back the stronger this sentiment is.)

incidentally, theres a lot of classism tied to this EABS due to sinocentric culture influences. it has to do with the chinese court system and how korea and japan copied it and a lot of the culture wholesale but. anyway. thats like over 1000 years of history in there thats not really worth detouring to rn.

and also, the worth of a man is sometimes (not always) upheld by how classy and feminine this wife of his is. as of 2024 though, this line of thought is still around in the more conservative pockets. also, the education might not matter as much these days as how deep her and her parents' pockets and wealth are.

moving on.

2) media tropes

so. off the top of my head.

if you wanted a popular romance drama in this time period, the popular offerings no matter where you looked tended to offer the same flavors of tropes.

the woman always has dark hair, is fair skinned, thin and younger than her male love interest. ive never seen this broken or subverted in my time absorbing via osmosis the dramas playing on local tv growing up in the early 2000s.

everything else about her can be subverted though. sometimes she can wear fancy pants or have short hair to indicate her strong individualism. BUT, her personality no matter how strong it begins, no matter how her intro begins will 99% of the time encounter an effect where catching feelings turns her into a meek loyal woman to her love interest.

bc she cant override his authority in this culture context.

at worst, she becomes highly irrational and even hysterical in the dramas when bad things happen. this includes things like love triangle, or a fallout of family business, drama, plot or whatever. she would cry and sometimes even die.

see: sawamura yumi. sayama kaoru.

meanwhile, the male love interest can be anything. ive seen middle aged guys to young good looking upcoming actors playing the lead, with looks varying from haggardly okay to young and handsome. it. really depends on the genre.

depending on what specific country it came from, the drama would have the male either grow, become manlier (by learning honor ig), become stupid in the name of love, but he rarely if ever actually dies. the woman effectively becomes yoshi for mario to lauch off on when they're crossing a chasm

the romance is forced. a lot of the BIG LOVE SPARK ie kissing happens in tense moments bc it builds drama, but in reality comes too fucking close to sexual assault (some of the old jackie chan movies does this iirc for slapstick even)

see: sayama getting kissed right after handling her biological father's ashes less than 24 hours ago and admitting to kiryu that shes scared. this scene right fucking here.

bc in general, the scriptwriters for popular dramas tended to be guys themselves and tended to write more human dudes. and the women in the stories are reflective of the ideal societal expectation at the time: being a Refined Housewife.

so her character development is often headed in the direction of marriage and being a stay at home mom.

if it sounds a little like tradwife bullshit, it is.

Refined Housewife

(i have massive negative thoughts about this which i KNOW for a fact is a thing bc a lot of these societal culture femininity was impressed on me as a kid in a world where it was already getting increasingly impossible to have 1 spouse be a SAHP. and also i hated the whole thing about giving face to the patriarch of the house when i personally saw so much ego dick measuring from my uncles. anyway understand that this is both a bias an a lived experience, so proceed with that in mind)

there is a problem with the Refined Housewife expectation: education.

in general, education has been a good metric to judge how classy or smart one is in asia's largely on-the-surface meritocracy based culture. people will look at each other's school first and then judge them from there, and pretty hard too.

so everyone regardless of gender will be expected to study super hard. and bc having good test scores and going to good schools looks good for the family's face, parents will often pile on tuition to the child to get them a leg up in life.

bc also no good degree from good school means no future.

but then... the woman is expected to be a housewife. 🙃 meaning... the education, her accomplishments, are kinda... tossed away in this context. put a pin in this.

it wont matter how much she studied or accomplished, bc the expectation is that the woman would marry and obey her husband, and give him face/honor that way. the kids will come eventually bc having kids = being filial to ones parents in this context.

also uh. no, having adopted kids is not thought of as being filial. continuing the bloodline is.

and if you've been paying attention, then yes, ive been skirting around the backbone of sayama kaoru's writing foundations this entire time.

Her story has been butchered so clumsily i cant even...

lets just. ugh.

she fits the EABS standard, her tropes are trying to subvert the expectations of a womanly woman in this context, she has IMPRESSIVE education and career achievements. she works in a male dominated field, and is keenly aware of sexism. she is strong, stronger than her male peers, at least we are told.

by 2006s standards, its still considered a fresh take with those alone in japan. sexism there is its own flavor of crap. (if you noticed ive not spoken about LGBTQ+ stuff at all, its bc how ridiculously BINARY the expectation is at that point in time. it still is today but less so)

however, the writing has this sense of trying to copy the popular tropes at the time while not fully understanding and dissecting them, and ends up butchering sayama's character before the romance even properly began.

i mean, for fucks sake even, sayama and kiryu has a whopping 14 year age gap. when im told these are supposed to be believable people living in japan, this is too big for me to just go 'oh ok!'. and remember the Christmas Cake thing? shes 25. (FUCKING--!!!! !!)

the problem here that i see is the writer trying to apply all of those while trying to play the tropes straight. trying to imitate. trying to make a statement but then finding out theres nothing within yourself to stand by what you want to say and backtracking.

we are told:

sayama is strong yet she goes down with 1 slap by random thugs and needing kiryu to come in and body them. because romance ig.

we are told shes a yakuza hunter but she doesnt scare a single one beyond her introductory scene.

she goes from defiant and bossing kiryu around to getting her actions overridden by kiryu and ryuji, both men, towards the end

her subtext is that shes not feminine and therefore conventionally undesirable, but then kiryu tells her shes actually feminine and therefore desired, as if its all that matters.

she becomes so stricken by grief and freaked out that she runs off solo to deal with ryuji in the most out of left pocket planning ive ever fucking seen.

and then yells as she takes out her police baton to take down the big yakuza dude, drawing attention and turning herself into a hostage.

i know the writing will fumble but i didnt expect it to fumble this bad.

for all the good the surface chemistry kiryu and sayama has, its being undermined by a fundamental failure to understand tropes and then using said tropes as a crutch so much that everything here has become a bloody mess.

this failure of over-relying on tropes without understanding them extends to yumi too. sawamura yumi was young and beautiful, and became the Refined Housewife to the Not-Male-MC and ends up regretting it, and gets killed for it.

her defining trait is that she is beautiful in subtext. thats. thats what the tattoo is. in a world where the tattoo makeths the person, thats what she is and all that she is.

dear lord.

ive read up a bit more on sayama and you know what. good that she chooses her career over kiryu. the romance would have caused both of their characters to explode with the trajectory this was heading in. ffs sayama could have had her own game. she has so MUCH potential.

and also GOOD that the writer is forced to think of kiryu in the position of the Stay At Home Parent for haruka and the orphanage down the line!!! subverting the fucking traditional BS expectation! yes!!!!!

all i got was sayama and kiryu making out before the bomb went off in front of my alcohol and salad while they're like 'eh, haruka will forgive us for dying :')'

and i ran out of alcohol.

sexism? maybe. incompetence? definitely.

hhgrhgrhrghrghrgrhgr wow this got long. ugh. guhhhhhh.

[arch-obsessed]

Inside the Barbie Dreamhouse, a Fuchsia Fantasy Inspired by Palm Springs

Barbie’s Dreamhouse is no place for the bashful. “There are no walls and no doors,” says Greta Gerwig via email. “Dreamhouses assume that you never have anything you wish was private—there is no place to hide.” That layered domestic metaphor has proved rich fodder for the filmmaker, whose live-action homage to the iconic Mattel doll hits theaters July 21.

To translate this panopticon play world to the screen, Gerwig enlisted production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, the London-based team behind such period realms as Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina. The two took inspiration from Palm Springs midcentury modernism, including Richard Neutra’s 1946 Kaufmann House and other icons photographed by Slim Aarons. “Everything about that era was spot-on,” says Greenwood, who strove “to make Barbie real through this unreal world.”

Neither she nor Spencer had ever owned a Barbie before, so they ordered a Dreamhouse off Amazon to study. “The scale was quite strange,” recalls Spencer, explaining how they adjusted its rooms’ quirky proportions to 23 percent smaller than human size for the set. Says Gerwig: “The ceiling is actually quite close to one’s head, and it only takes a few paces to cross the room. It has the odd effect of making the actors seem big in the space but small overall.”

Erected at the Warner Bros. Studios lot outside London, Barbie’s cinematic home reinterprets Neutra’s work as a three-story fuchsia fantasy, with a slide that coils into a kidney-shaped pool. “I wanted to capture what was so ridiculously fun about the Dreamhouses,” says Gerwig, alluding to past incarnations like the bohemian 1970s model (outfitted with trompe l’oeil Tiffany lamps) and the 2000 Queen Anne Victorian manse, complete with Philippe Starck lounge chairs. “Why walk down stairs when you can slide into your pool? Why trudge up stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress?” Her own references ranged from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure to Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings of pies to Gene Kelly’s tiny painter’s garret in An American in Paris.

For Barbie’s bedroom, the team paired a clamshell headboard upholstered in velvet with a sequined coverlet. Her closet, meanwhile, reveals coordinated outfits in toy-box vitrines. “It’s very definitely a house for a single woman,” says Greenwood, noting that when the first Dreamhouse (a cardboard foldout) was sold in 1962 it was rare for a woman to own her own home. Adds Spencer: “She is the ultimate feminist icon.”

In Barbie, as in previous films like Little Women and Lady Bird, Gerwig set out to realize a whole world. “We were literally creating the alternate universe of Barbie Land,” says the director, who aimed for “authentic artificiality” at every opportunity. As a case in point, she cites the use of a hand-painted backdrop rather than CGI to capture the sky and the San Jacinto Mountains. “Everything needed to be tactile, because toys are, above all, things you touch.”

Everything also needed to be pink. “Maintaining the ‘kid-ness’ was paramount,” Gerwig says. “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much.” In other words, she continues, she didn’t want to “forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.” Construction, Greenwood notes, caused an international run on the fluorescent shade of Rosco paint. “The world,” she laughs, “ran out of pink.”

[keplercryptids]

Queer Books for Spooky Season!

i have read and enjoyed all of these, and have organized them in such a way that makes sense to me and hopefully peaks your interest! most are straight-up horror, but some just have horror / spooky themes.

[please note, not all these books have overtly queer characters / relationships, but are included because they have queer authors and/or queer characters, plots or themes. don’t want people to go into any of these books expecting romance.]

Spooky & Sapphic

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. everyone on tumblr knows about this series. it’s a science-fantasy, it’s got lesbian necromancers in space, it’s got mysteries and intrigue, and i would describe it as a “fun” read but please know my idea of fun includes body horror, grief and spooky vibes.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling. the vibes of this one are off the charts. story is told from the perspective of a lone caver on a foreign planet, as she communicates with her dive suit’s handler. it’s tense and suspenseful, lots of survival-fiction vibes, and it’s exactly how i want characters to flirt: via coms only, as one fights for their life.

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling. this one’s a weird little gothic novella about a shipping magnate who’s confined to her creepy estate as a mysterious plague runs rampant through the city.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca. this novella is told via early-2000s chat logs and emails between two women as they develop one of the most unnerving relationships i’ve ever read. gross things happen! this one’s polarizing! but i loved it so much. absolutely unhinged vibes.

Parasites, but Goth

Leech by Hiron Ennes. most of this book is told from the POV of a parasitic hivemind called the Institute, which uses host bodies to act as physicians for the rest of society in a post-apocalyptic, gothic setting. and it gets weirder from there. it’s an honestly quite beautiful exploration of bodily autonomy, identity, and trauma.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. this is a retelling of the fall of the house of usher, and includes a spooky manor, fungal parasites, possessed wildlife, and the exact kind of unsettling atmosphere that i love in a horror book.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon. this story follows a teen mother who’s escaped from a cult and is now undergoing a fungal metamorphosis in the forest. big thriller/survival vibes and some truly excellent commentary about oppression, trauma and societal secrets.

Could Vampirism be Gayer? (yes, actually)

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson. "dracula’s polycule” is what sold me on this book, and while yes, it’s got polyamorous vampires, the heart of the story is about the dynamics of an abusive relationship, with a strong thread of hope throughout.

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, transl. by David Bowles. i’m not usually one to categorize a book as Important (TM) but this novella definitely is that. it was originally published in the 90s by a mexican author, and it’s a reimagining of dracula’s voyage to england from the POV of the captain, a closeted gay man full of queer yearning. this book is beautiful and painful and challenging and yes, important. it’s also horny as hell so like, you’ve been warned lol. only recently has it been made available in english, too!

Science as Horror

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. a short novel about a woman who’s recently separated from her husband, who in turn started a relationship with a clone of her. loved the character exploration in this, and it’s definitely got mystery/thriller vibes if you’re into that.

You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca. this is a vibe-heavy, kind of trippy novella which features a story-within-a-story. don’t want to give away too much of the plot here because it’s a wild ride.

and finally, here’s some honorable mentions, at the end here because i didn’t love them. but you might!

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey (haunted house personified, exploration of dysfunctional family)

The Seep by Chana Porter (post-apocalyptic quest)

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (killer mermaids)

Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw (creepy mansion, corpse bride)

[dykerory]

My 10ish Favorite Books I read This Year (In No Particular Order) (But Then I Did Put Them In Order)

10. Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

A really fun haunted house story about a woman who returns home decades after her father was caught torturing and killing young women. Whatever you think is happening is probably not. Absolutely adored the ending.

9. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

The highly anticipated follow up to the Priory of the Orange Tree did not disapoint! It's a doorstopper of a fantasy book that is about a) queer women b) dragons c) pretty compelling fantasy alchemical laws. This book, in my opinion, rectifies the imbalanced POV chapters that Priory struggled with and does an excellent job of weaving together its point of view characters.

8. "I Hate This Place Vol. 1" written by Kyle Starks, illustrated by Artyom Topilin and Lee Loughridge

A HYSTERICAL little horror comic about what if you inherited a farm that had absolutely everything wrong with it. I have vol. 2 locked and loaded once I get back from vacation

7. You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

A gorgeous, lush, romance book about how the heart wants what it wants, no matter how ill-advised it may be. I cannot over-emphasize the pervasive, sheer beauty of this book. The prose is sensual and exquisite, the world is stunning, and it has all the messy drama you could possibly want from a book like this.

6. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A Silvia Moreno-Garcia book that was made FOR me. It's got obscure, cult horror films, it's got complicated alchemy, it's got dark magic via movie, it's got two terrible bisexuals at the center of it all who cannot be normal about each other EVER. Perfect book. No notes.

5. Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej

Songsiridej absolutely ratfucked me to the docks and back with this little book. It's the story of a beautiful young woman falling in love with a hot older choreographer and getting into BDSM along the way. In many ways, tailor-made for my interests. It genuinely affected me in a really serious way and I eagerly await whatever Songsiridej writes next.

4. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

This might be my favorite Hendrix novel yet. After the sudden death of their parents, siblings Mark and Louise fight over their parent's house and the content therein- namely, hundred and hundreds of puppets. It's about as normal as you think. It has that trademark Hendrix grodyness and a good amount of grief, love, and hope in its pages.

3. The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

I read this book back in February and I haven't stopped thinking about it for one single second. It's the story of an online fetish chatroom for gay men in the early 2000s and it quickly devolves into a story of identity theft, sex, murder, and just the nastiest things done to an asshole you can imagine. It's dark, it's shockingly funny, it's everything you could want from a book called the sluts

2. The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty.

This is technically three books (four if you count the post-trilogy collection of short stories) but god I couldn't possibly choose just one of them to put on the list. This fantasy trilogy, inspired by islamic folklore, follows Nahri, a pickpocket living in French-occupied Cairo as she discovers a mystical world of djinn, magic, and danger. I can't sing this series' praises enough. The characters are so rich and compelling, the world is luscious and beautiful, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you hooked until the very last page.

1. Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Nightbitch owns so bad. I don't even really want to describe what it's about except that it's dogs. It's motherhood. It's art. It's nightbitch, bitch.

[chibivesicle]

Dunno why you're harping so hard on the "muh mystery" aspect. A feature literally only existent in the 98 anime, because they added a shit ton of filler to make up for so little manga material at the time. The actual source material tells us this is all Knives's fault volume ONE! We know super early on why they're stuck here and who is at fault. The actual mystery the manga and stampede are setting up is not "who did it" but "why did knives do it"

Hello hello,

Yes, I'm one of those people who isn't happy with Stampede revealing a lot of information out from the get go. I 100% admit it. I think that this is going to be an issue for a lot of viewers, especially for people who have a high fondness for Trigun.

I think this comes from a lot of different places and combines in the general feeling of 'meh I don't like this as much'.  I’m surprised how quickly I saw the new series and was like ‘Noooooo!’ but didn’t even know why my immediate reaction was like this. 

1.) What was available at the time you watched the anime. When I watched the anime, it was on a fansub. The DVDs were released between 2000-2001 and the box set at the end of 2001. Therefore, this was all you could go on. If you wanted the manga it wouldn't be out until 2003 via Darkhorse in North America. You could have bought the current tankobons and then found a website where there was a text based translation of the speech bubbles. This was before the common use of fan scan translations. The ability to find a manga before it gets an anime was really freakkin' hard in the 80s and 90s. It was almost the reverse - you'd see the anime and then quest for the manga and hope it got picked up by a publisher who'd then publish it over several years.  They’d only gamble on a title if it already had a strong anime fanbase.

2.) The unique nature of the source material lead to an unusual but clever adaptation of that limited material. Studio Madhouse didn't have enough material for a full 26 episode run. They were brilliant to focus on a new point of view to introduce the viewer to the world. There is nothing wrong with a show that can be episodic, sure, we want stories with a plot driving them forward but episodic shows allow for more character development. The same situation happens, but characters behave differently and Trigun does this well. Having Wolfwood show up and hang out with the group from episodes 9-11 gives him more time to get to know them. The manga has Wolfwood and Vash as close friends, but before the Fifth Moon Incident they only rode on the bus together. Episodes 9-11 gives us more time for them to be dorks together and makes for enjoyable antics. 3.) The air of mystery fits in perfectly with the 'Western' genre. In the classic American Western, you frequently have a drifter who comes into town. He's a skilled gunman who never stays in one place but tries to stand up against injustice against the locals. He might be genuinely good. He may be on a redemption arc. He might be doing this for penance due his past deeds. Hell, he might just be bored.  What he does have is a mysterious past.

Trigun used this concept its advantage for the slow reveal of events. It went for a stronger ‘show, don't tell’ than either the manga or Stampede. Vash looks like a goofball drifter, why isn't he? What type of pain has he been through? How has he survived? This also worked for Wolfwood who won't reveal his full mystery either and the bits here and there in 9-11 add to it.  What is this traveling clergyman doing with a giant 100kg cross that he literally carries? Why would he accept carrying such a cross?  Why would he lie about being able to shoot a gun when he’s excellent at it?

4.) Meryl and Milly vibed with a Western audience more. I'm appalled at how Roberto is currently treating Meryl in the anime. It is setting up a different trope that didn't exist in the original anime or manga. I think a lot of women will not like this as much, the manga didn't have romance since Yasuhiro Nightow said he couldn't write it. But it means that the anime easily passes the Bechdel test which is good for female representation and motivations. I agree with the idea that Meryl and Roberto are written to be a much more culturally Japanese dynamic.  It honestly would make a lot of sense if they are trying to make this more of a domestic success than the original.  We’ll give it the gritty realism of the Japanese office culture!  That will resonate with people!  Maybe this brings in more Japanese women who sympathize exactly with Meryl now? 

I had no idea that Badlands Rumble was released in the States months before Japan.  It seems Trigun is like Escaflowne.  Saw great success outside of Japan but locally was a bit of a flop.  23 year old Meryl is just starting her career, but remember, women over 25 are ‘Christmas Cake’.  Past their best buy date and should be married.  And this is a term that exists in the present, not the past in Japan. 

Other people have hypothesized that Milly was eliminated due to her rare role as a canonically large girl who could take you on.  Other than the fact that she uses a non-lethal weapon, is the youngest child of 10, and the sweetest person ever.  I always loved her dress shirt, tie and suspenders look but it isn’t very ‘cute’ in a moe sense.

5.) Having a fresh comparison of the anime and manga.  With the Stampede hype, I watched the anime.  And then binged the manga.  Overall, I like the anime better.  It is more character driven, the pacing is right and the twists and turns work well.  The only weakness is the manga background lore is lacking but they more than compensated for it for the most part. 

I don’t generalize that I like a series based on a manga that the manga is inherently better than the anime.  Golden Kamuy was an anime that would have benefited from more of the manga chapters included for the first three seasons.  Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood was better with the full background from the manga.  Gintama messed around with content all the time deciding to move plot vs comedy.  Honestly, it always just depends on which one you ultimately prefer.  And I make this on a series by series basis.

6.) The power of nostalgia and a less saturated anime environment of the past. Now, you can essentially watch anime every day or read current manga for an entire year and not overlap with series other people are reading.  The 80s, 90s and very early 2000s were a sparse anime/manga ecosystem.  The internet wasn’t quite at your fingertips.  This then resulted in a more cohesive fanbase.  You all saw the same things due to limited titles to choose from.  Distributors in the States leaned hard into releasing more obscure OVAs since they were cost effective.  OVAs had more adult content than conventional titles so a bunch of us were exposed to some rather mature things likely before we should have.  A lot of 90s anime had that gritty feeling which I don’t think was an accurate representation for it across the board in the 90s but what made it internationally.  The first con I went to was full of Deedlit cosplayers. Why?  You could rent Record of Lodoss War at Blockbuster and it was a well known fantasy anime with a hot elf chick.  The hardcore people were the Inuyasha and Utena cosplayers since they’d not had a domestic release yet and were fansub/text only translation at the time.

With less titles to choose from, you spent more time on the limited series and really dug into them.  Thus, to the western fanbase, Trigun has risen to an important point on a lot of people’s lists.  Or it was the introduction to anime for a lot of people when my introduction had been series like Macross/Voltron/Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2.  Were these ‘pure’ versions - nope but it was what slowly sucked me into more series. 

This also means that in this supersaturated environment, there is more competition for eyeballs.  Do you want to reboot a series that had modest niche success in Japan that was a blockbuster hit in the States?  You have the advantage of the series being complete now; you can draw from all the source material.  But it is a product of its time and the look can be easily dated to the mid-late 90s. 

There are two ways you go with this.  1.) The CLAMP approach - who cares about current styles and trends, we are gonna keep our chara design pretty standard for the original and that will give us our visual advantage.  2.) Adapt it to the current look - which I think is a gamble.  You lose your visual pop factor by making it look more current but it would appear how current series look so people might be willing to give it a shot not knowing the source material. 

With such high saturation, you end up with so many series with characters that all look similar.  I find this to make it hard to distinguish the isekai/fantasy/school set series and they just keep coming out.  I’ll watch a new anime and be like, ‘It was fine.’  but it will quickly blur into the next series that was just as ‘fine’ as that last one. 

In conclusion, I think all of these factors and likely more are why many fans who watched the original anime (and may have even read and enjoyed the manga as well) are so bummed out by this choice to put so many things up front.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that they will have time to fit in more characters and they may instead be swapping out characters for manga specific ones that weren’t written yet and dropping other manga and anime ones.  I have a gut feeling Midvalley will not appear.  If he does, I will be pleasantly surprised.

I think the reason why so many people love the slow reveal is that it rewards you for your time getting to know Vash.  And with other characters meeting him and wondering why he’s so weird it helps you to focus on it as well before the reveal of his origin.  From a narrative perspective it worked well and I think that contributed to why so many people love the anime and are fine with it if it was the only Trigun media they knew.

[goldrushreads]

My Favorite Books of 2023

It's been 2 months since 2023, but here are my favorite books of 2023. To be clear, these are the books I read in 2023, not books that were published in 2023. And the books are (in no particular order):

The Celebrants, by Seteven Rowley

Anyone who knows me knows how I’ve been obsessed with the idea of death. The last book by Steven Rowley that I read was The Guncle, and I loved how he tackled the idea of a loved one dying with this bittersweet angle - like the heart expands to make room for the grief in addition to all the love you have for this person. The Celebrants had the exact same effect on me. 

It’s a story about six friends who met in college and made a pact- to throw each other living funerals so that they don’t doubt how much value they each held in the world. I will think about this book (like I think about The Guncle) for a very long time.  

Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

This was my very first Ann Patchett (I know!) and I just know I’ll be reading so many more books from her. It’s about young love and the fresh and gutting memory of it. It’s about parenthood and how you will never truly know about your parents. It’s about (the complexities of?) family and of relationships that you are bound by whether it be via blood or via memory. Meryl Streep needs to do more audiobooks, that's for sure!

Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner

To call it a memoir about losing your mother is a disservice to the expansiveness of this book. I would call it a memoir about belonging, independence, and food. It’s also about the complicated feelings you have with your mother, especially when the mother’s worldview is very different from yours. It’s about how particular food brings out particular emotions and memories. It’s about hardship and reconciliation at a breakneck speed. What I’ll also say is: everyone was right about this book and it is truly what you should pick up if you want a good snotty cry. I should most definitely not have read it at the tail-end of my trip home. I think I’ll be haunted by the raw emotionality of this book for a long time.

Paris: The Memoir, by Paris Hilton

I don’t remember the early 2000s, and after reading this harrowing book, I am so glad I don’t remember. I also don’t remember Paris Hilton from that time and don’t know what she’s up to at any time. This is probably why I assumed it would be a pink frilly fun book, but it devastated me (girlhood!). There is a lot that needs to be said about how we treat girls and young women in our society, the expectations we have from them, and the sharpness of the steel of the knife we use to cut them open with. I thought this book is important and should be read by anyone who is fascinated by celebrity culture.    

All the Lovers in the Night, by Meiko Kawakami (translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd)

Meiko Kawakami’s books always have a way to uncannily linger long after I’ve finished reading them. All the Lovers… was no different. It is a poignant narrative written in masterful prose about a copywriter in her mid-thirties living in a city where it’s difficult to form new relationships. It’s a book about the unsettling comfort of loneliness, and about feeling like your life is slipping away from you so fast that you don’t recognize the person who is staring back at you in the mirror. But then again, to me, Kawakami has always painted a vivid picture of the yearning for connection and solitude and striving and failing to find the delicate balance between the two.    

Pyre, by Perumal Murugan (translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan)

This is a sobering novel about the harsh realities of intercaste marriages and how marriages are somehow everyone’s business in India, and how everyone somehow has an opinion about the people within them. Everyone at Kumaresan’s family and village have something biting to say about Kumaresan and Saroja’s marriage. You always think that the annoying little remarks and the constant nagging and scornful quips are trivial, but they simmer until they burn into a pyre. And that’s where Perumal Murugan’s excellent writing (and Aniruddhan Vasudevan’s seemingly-effortless translation) shines.  

Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors, by Aravind Jayan

This is a novel about the aftermath of an illegally-shot video of Sreenath and his girlfriend Anita posted on an adult website(s) and going viral. Where do you (and your families and friends) go from there? 

I’ll be quite honest, I initially did not think of this book as one of my absolute favorites from the year. But it seeped in slowly- I periodically kept thinking about the book. The author has somehow perfectly captured the sense of annoyance you feel when dealing with an arrogant young adult who thinks they know everything, the always-present tangible tension between siblings, and the absolutely wretched and unsympathetic allure of other people’s mistakes and misfortunes. 

Ducks, by Kate Beaton

I first read Ducks because I loved Kate Beaton’s hilarious comics about Jane Austen. I don’t think that prepared me, because Ducks is about Alberta’s oil rush. I don’t know how to talk about a graphic novel about what seemed to me the most boring thing on earth- working in your twenties in an oil sand. And yet, this one is gripping in a very bleak way. Beaton is one of the very few women in a freezing-cold and isolated camp. She has just graduated from college with an arts degree and massive debt. She comes from an area where people have to leave to other places in order to make a living. I don’t know how anyone can write about this experience, let alone draw and create a graphic memoir.   

Uncanny Valley, by Anna Weiner

At the height of the tech boom, Anna Weiner leaves a job in publishing for one in a big-data start-up. The bubble seems surreal and extravagant and abundant at first and from a distance. And then comes disillusionment. I’ll tell you it had me sat! I am always so fascinated by culture and tech, and this one scratched all my itches about a non-tech role in a tech space. As someone who grew up surrounded by tech people who love behaving like just studying engineering in some unknown college makes them god’s gift to earth, this book just felt oh-so-familiar. 

Palo Alto, by Malcom Harris

I just wanted a light book about California, but this was just the opposite of it, in an excellent way. (I am entirely at fault here; who reads the subtitle “A History of California, Capitalism, and the World” and thinks, oh yeah, light reading?). I came out enraged at everything and everyone. I wish there were more history books with this level of analysis and expertly-crafted narrative, because it was so gripping. I was not bored once, even though it was a 720-page tome. Riveting stuff.   

Shubeik Lubeik, by Deena Mohamed

Shubeik Lubeik is a gorgeous graphic novel with magical elements woven so effortlessly and seamlessly that I know I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about this book for a long time. In the novel’s world, wishes (like wishes from a genie in the bottle) are real. However, these wishes are monetized and commodified as a part of a quintillion-dollar industry. What happens when wishes can be licensed by world governments, have a frustrating bureaucratic process, and mirror the all-too-familiar prejudices ingrained in our society? What if you could pool your resources to buy a wish to use literal dragons as a war weapon? Shubeik Lubeik is exasperating and heartwarming- exactly what it sets out to be.  

Heartstopper: Volume 5, by Alice Oseman

What do I even say about Heartstopper that hasn’t been said a million times? I love this universe so much and I am so upset that it ends soon. What do you mean Heartstopper cannot go on and on indefinitely?! These books have been filling me with so much tenderness and joy since I’ve been seeing snippets of them back in the day. My heart is always brimming when I am reading these books- I want these characters to be so happy forever. The plotline in this book hit me a bit too hard that I wanted to sob, but Alice Oseman being Alice Oseman dealt with these themes with so much consideration and affection that I physically could not sob. Instead, I felt calm and affirmed. And that is a typical Heartbreaker reading experience for you.

Shout out to my local public library and the Libby app for making it available to me the day it was published! Lifesavers! I was in anguish thinking I’d have to wait the estimated 10 weeks!  

[thatseventiesbitch]

The Danny Masterson Trial and That ‘70s Show: An Overview

Below the cut, you’ll find information about Danny Masterson’s recent court case and how it relates to That ‘70s Show. Please be advised that much of the material is sensitive, and involves references to sexual assault.

I have been following a reporter on twitter for the last few months, Tony Ortega (@TonyOrtega94), who is doing a fantastic job of reporting on the Danny Masterson court proceedings. The trial is not public or streamed anywhere because of the sensitive nature of the crime, and to try to protect the victim’s identities. Various news outlets have released the women’s names, but Tony has always referred to them as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, and Jane Doe 3 and I will as well out of respect for their privacy.

Tony has been in the courtroom every day from the very beginning, and he transcribes everything that goes on each day of the trial. I’ve followed along and read each day of testimony via Tony’s transcription, and there were some details that came up relating to That ‘70s Show. That’s, of course, where my main interest lies. This post attempts to summarize the mentions of That ‘70s Show and/or its cast that came out during testimony, for posterity and others who might be interested in the information.

First, just a smidge of background.

WHAT is he accused of? Danny Masterson is accused of forcibly raping three different women. 

WHEN did the alleged assaults take place? The assaults took place in the early 2000′s. When Danny was working on T70S.

WHY is a 20-year-old SA case only now being brought to trial? Each of the three victims testified that they were members of the Church of Scientology at the time of their assault - Danny was also a member, and still is today. Each of the three victims testified that the Church of Scientology was the main reason they did not report the assault at the time, or why they didn’t process it as assault at the time. They reported the assault to members of the Church, and were dissuaded from going to the authorities because they feared being ex-communicated from their community for reporting a fellow Scientologist of a violent crime. Several of the women also testified to being told that what they experienced wasn’t rape or sexual assault by an authority figure in the Church. Each of the 3 women have left Scientology and no longer consider themselves Scientologists today. There were very strict limits on how much Scientology could be mentioned during the court case.

Onto the That ‘70s Show content from the testimony.

The first relevant tidbit came during Jane Doe 1′s testimony. JD1 states that a few days after her assault, Danny called her. He said he “fell off a raft and hit his butt on a rock on a trip with Ashton Kutcher, and he was sitting on a donut so now he knew what it felt like so we’re good now, right?”

The next incident is from Jane Doe 3′s testimony. She’s explaining that their relationship ended after she processed his assaults and some other concerning/abusive behavior in their relationship, but that she did have some contact with him after their break-up. One example was when, in the winter of 2002, she heard about a plane incident involving Masterson and other people on his show. She says she was concerned about him. DM said he wanted to see her, so JD3 says she went over to his house of her own accord.

Here is the word-for-word transcription from Tony: “He had called me and said he had almost died in a plane crash. They were with Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderrama filming some Girls Gone Wild thing and something went wrong and there was no oxygen in the cabin. I was very upset and I went over to see him and I noticed he had gotten a jacuzzi.”

Next. During Jane Doe 3′s cross-examination, she was asked if in 2001 she appeared in the show DM was on, and she says yes. [Now, like I said, the identity of these women has been made public by some publications and so I was able to find the episode she appeared in. It is S4xE4 “Hyde Gets The Girl.” Jane Doe 3 plays one of the women who is invited to the party by Hyde’s friends, as a potential girlfriend for Hyde.]

The final mention of That ‘70s Show and/or its cast that I remember from testimony is from Jane Doe 2. She describes her assault, and then says that afterwards she and Danny had some conversation. Here’s the relevant bit, from the transcription: “He just said, you're a very passionate person. And I was like, he also said I was neurotic. And both of those things are true. He said you're very passionate, and I said, so are you, look you work so hard and look at this beautiful home and these things. No, not like you, he said, you're a very passionate person I'm not like that. On the bed he also mentioned Mila Kunis.”

She was asked a follow-up question about that, but the defense raised an objection that the information was irrelevant and the judge agreed, so the objection was sustained.

How did the trial end?

Danny Masterson’s trial ended in a mistrial, declared by Judge Olmedo on November 30, 2022. The jury informed her that after deliberating for days, they were deadlocked on all three counts and did not think that more time or more information could help them reach a verdict. The splits were as follows:

Count 1 (Jane Doe 1): 2 for guilty, 10 for not guilty

Count 2 (Jane Doe 2): 4 for guilty, 8 for not guilty

Count 3 (Jane Doe 3): 5 for guilty, 7 for not guilty

A mistrial in this instance means that Danny is considered neither innocent, nor guilty. The jury could not decide.

A mistrial in this instance also means Danny can be tried again for the same crimes if the judge and the prosecutor think a different jury could reach a verdict - double jeopardy does not apply. Judge Olmedo has already set a tentative date for the retrial, which is March 27.

My commentary

First and foremost, sexual assault cases are very triggering for many people for many different reasons, and my heart goes out to anyone who feels that way. My heart goes out to anyone who wasn’t believed. My heart also goes out to the 4 Jane Does (an additional woman testified to being raped by Danny, but was not named as a plaintiff on the case) who bravely shared their stories with the court and the world, and are grappling with this non-verdict. If the case is brought again in March I will follow along once again, hoping for justice for these brave women.

Learning that one of the Jane Does was actually on

That ‘70s Show

is... I don’t know if I’ve fully processed how I feel about that yet, but it’s not good.

I think the mentions of the That ‘70s Show cast just confirm how close of friends they were with Danny - specifically Ashton and Wilmer. How close of friends they remain today is anyone’s guess. For what it’s worth, Ashton (and Debra Jo, Kurtwood, and Laura) currently follows Danny on twitter but Wilmer does not and neither does Mila (although she does not have twitter) or Topher. Mila and Ashton were still spending time with Danny in 2019, when photos of them together at a friend’s wedding were leaked (the allegations around this case became public in 2017). Who knows what any of that necessarily means today.

I have heard about the plane incident with Ashton, Wilmer, and Danny before. Something about, their cabin lost cabin pressure and Ashton actually performed CPR on Danny because he passed out and his oxygen mask was on wrong. Here’s a blurb about it from IMDb.

In terms of the outcome of the trial itself, I feel frustrated. I understand that real life is not like a TV show, and that real law is often confusing and sometimes kind of nuts. The jurors had to follow their jury instructions. They did the best they could. It’s still very frustrating.

Tony Ortega (@TonyOrtega94) did a wonderful job covering the trial every step of the way, and literally transcribing every word along the way. If the state decides to bring the case again in March, I know Tony will be covering it again just as thoroughly, and I will be following along too.

[ashleyjohnsonoftheday]

Day 74

[hungyhouse]

For those who don’t know, I am a big fan of stovetop coffee makers, specifically Bialetti Moka pots, of which I have several. I found a bunch of fun ones recently and thought I’d share them under the cut, along with some Moka history.

One of my daily used ones is the Bialetti Mini Xpress, which makes espresso-akin coffee (I say “akin” because this isn’t done under the same pressure most traditional espresso is made, and I don’t want the coffee nuts getting at me)

Here’s my Mini Express and the cute espresso cups I ordered off of Etsy

(Ignore how dirty it is and the slightly melted handle)

This works like a standard Bialetti Moka Pot, which if you’re unfamiliar, looks like this:

The Moka Pot was invented in 1933, by an italian man named Alfonso Bialetti. These work in an interesting way. The bottom section is filled with water, then ground coffee is loaded into a filter funnel, and when the water boils on the stove top it gets pushed up through the coffee and into the top chamber. Alfonso was inspired by watching laundry women who used a similar device to distribute hot water and soap to their clothes. Here’s a diagram from a different brand but the construction is the same.

My Mini Xpress does the same thing with the water and the filter, the coffee is just pressured to go through the looped spouts instead of to a second chamber, to make it more like traditional espresso.

And there are tons of really fun variations on this format, and I just wanted to share some of my favorites I’ve found!

Moka Alpina:

This is also by Bialetti and it was designed after the Italian Alpini, their mountain infantry, who used to wear these hats with feathers in them. (Side note: I do not support any kind of military, I just thought this was interesting!) I just love how whimsical this one is, how many other coffee makers come with their own hat?

Tea Themed:

I found each of these on Etsy, and I loved how charming they are. They don’t appear to be Bialetti but the teapot like design is so darling. The third one seems more akin to traditional chinese tea pot designs, and I think that’s really fun.

Espressonist:

This is definitely one of the weirder ones I’ve seen. The Etsy listing says it was made by the Bialetti brothers, but its stamped “Vesuviana.” It is a stove top/induction burner, but the espresso hopper implies it can make a more traditional espresso — interesting!

The Hydra:

This one is also on Etsy (noticing a theme here?) and does four shots at once! So I suppose if you’re having guests over, or are just supremely sleepy, this must be nice. I’ve seen a few other of these multi-spout ones, but they don’t seem to be as common as the two spouters.

The tube:

What a fun pop of yellow! This one seems to be by the brand Allegra, which I am unfamiliar with. It looks like instead of the water pushing through the filter and to the second chamber via an internal spout, it goes out through the side and through that proboscis looking spout. Very unique looking, and I wonder what the idea was behind that decision...

The robotos:

These ones remind me of what people in the ‘60s thought robots would look like in the 2000s. Brightly colored and very round. The top one is definitely my favorite, there is something about it that feels very childlike to me.

The trashcan:

I mean... that’s exactly what it looks like right? This one weirds me out because I am so certain that the top and bottom chambers are reversed here, making it upside down. Otherwise if you used the chamber with the spout as the boiling chamber, wouldn’t the water just go through the spout? And if the top chamber (with the upside down handle?) was the coffee chamber, how would you pour the coffee? I’m getting a headache looking at this!

Anyways, those were just a few I found that I thought were interesting, I might make more random long posts about design stuff I like, probably just for me idk who else would be reading these

[neptunesdyke]

hello! ✨i’m obsessed✨with your commentary on jennifer’s body. (is it out of line to ask to read it?? 👀 if so, please disregard.) you’re just so right about this! would love to hear more about your thoughts on the matter❣️

omg im so sorry this is MONTHS late i’ve just been extremely depressed this year and it’s been a bit. continuously overwhelming for me but i can’t explain how much i appreciated getting this ask!! i want to pursue a career in writing and teaching about horror and feminism so anyone showing interest just!! means the world to me!!

anyway,, long overdue analysis under cut….

TW: discussions of SA and murder/violence against women (lemme know to add anything else please)

the main points i was arguing were: the differences between the soundtrack and the original score for the film serve as tools to elevate the comedy and horror respectively while also subverting ideas of femininity, and how they interact with the actual narrative/narration itself.

(also there r many feminist readings of this film obviously so this isn’t going to look into that but it did serve as a basis for my paper/analysis)

the relationship music has with the film in general begins with the title coming from the Hole song of the same name. both the song and film are rape/murder allegories for a girl named jennifer, and anyone familiar with the song before seeing the film is given an indication into what is to happen to jennifer. the title itself centres the story on jennifer’s actual body, what it means to the plot, how it is viewed, by who, and the power jennifer has by wielding it. the title also removes a layer of personhood from her as this is not a story about jennifer, but her body, again relating back to the origin of the title which tell the viewer jennifer is bound to be another body, another victim, another girl to become just a body at the hands of men.

speaking of men, music is central to the plot as it’s a band who commits the act for fame and glory. they also sing to mock jennifer as they (attempt to) kill her and their song replays throughout the film, something jennifer cannot escape even after escaping them. and i think placing musicians as instigators tells the viewer like hey..maybe pay attention to the songs in this..they might tell u smth

and this idea is reinforced throughout the film so many times. a great and early example in the film is when I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You by Black Kids plays during needys introduction of her friendship with jennifer. the song is a one sided love song that has spanned since childhood, which begins hinting at needy and jennifer’s deeper relationship.

also fun to think like whose jealous of who and whose the friend left behind in the sandbox so to speak

this subtext found via the soundtrack is also used often for levity or humour. most of the soundtracked scenes are shot at school, often the brightest, and funniest compared to the dark homes and roads of devils kettle. scenes that are supposed to be scarier such as needys encounter with jennifer after the fire, and when she later jumps on needys car, have an original score. it lets the viewer know when the humour is being set aside in favour of horror, which helps balance the films tone and guide the viewer.

but also serves to trick the viewer. the scene that actually made me write the paper originally was when jennifer approaches jonas on the football field in her very 2000s mini skirt while Scared Heart by It Dies Today tracks over the scene. it made me like. cackle out loud but also had this moment of this is really smart. it’s playing off of megan fox’s sex symbol status with gratuitous camera work, playing into humour with the song choice to leave an image that’s funny bc it’s juxtaposes what people know. why is this pretty girl strutting to heavy metal? it’s l the deeper implication of what’s stored inside jennifer, not only hidden by her physically or by the narrative, but in the expectation of what the audience will take from this scene.

it banks on people finding it funny and maybe a bit strange so when she goes full cannibal on him in the woods it’s definitely a shock but..maybe not really! the story plays a lot with what ppl expect, something horror comedies are known to do obviously, but needys narration also does this too

the one time the viewer gets to hear jennifer’s side in all of this is when she explains what happened after the fire, how she was sacrificed and the powers she gained. yet needy constantly interrupts her—interjecting herself into the story as the true narrator but also removing a layer of Personhood from jennifer just as the title does.

she cannot even tell her own story without needy, the OST, soundtrack or narrative structure controlling her in some manor and i think that’s a rlly powerful use of sound on physical and thematic levels!

okay this is kinda a random point to end but i don’t wanna keep going forever so yeah this isn’t everything and tbh if i do end up editing my paper properly i’d b down to share!! and again tysm for sending this in and for ur patience omg <33

original post

[schooltrashers]

Why going Woke & voting Democrat is going backwards!

So Commies seem to beLIEve that they are fighting capitalism, Christianity, the patriarchy & heterosexuality. But they are mistaken because every time they destroy small businesses in riots, they are helping Big Businesses(Amazon, Walmart, etc) who profit(capitalism) by forcing people to rely on big businesses to supply them with what they need.

Everytime they call gay or lesbian people bigots for not dating trans people, they are attacking the gay & lesbian community, as well as trying to guilt trip them into a straight relationship (conversion therapy).

Anytime transwomen are allowed to take up women's spaces, compete in women's sports or get away with raping a teenage girl at a school restroom, you're not fighting the patriarchy or rape culture, you're allowing it. Anytime they refer to you as anything other than woman, whether it be "birthing persons", "cis-woman" or "people who menstrate", that's allowing the patriarchy to erase women.

Anytime they speak against sexualizing female video game characters, as well as promoting censorship of cleavage or nudity of female characters, they are helping the bible thumpers(mainly Catholic Democrats) who spoke out against this back in the 90's & early 2000's.

Sex strikes(promoted by Alyssa Milano) actually helps the Christian community since they promote abstinance. So if you're going to protest to protect abortion rights, you may want to think of another way to do it, as well as practicing safe sex.

So in a sense, you're supporting Christianity, straight conversion therapy(via trans relationships), & capitalism all at once. You played yourselves by being complete morons. No critical thinking skills whatsoever. If you're an idiot, you will not agree with me, you will block me & you will continue making stupid decisions.

[moonlight-fan2008]

Moonlight rewatch part 2 of 16

Season 1 episode 2 out of the past

Mick being angry

1970s!Mick “ I know who did this” 1970s!police officer “care to share with the rest of us?” Mick says nothing and walks away all broody like, gets me every time

Josef trying to be the voice of reason telling Mick to kill lee jay which would probably be a smart move but given how media attention the dude is getting would not be the wisest thing to do in the end but Mick ignoring him, shows how much Mick is trying to cling to his humanity and be as human as he can be. He doesn’t want to be the vampire people depict in movies

 though Josef and Mick both end up being right in the end. Lee jay does go all Van Hesling on Mick but Irene gets justice in the end when the truth about lee jay comes out

While I am a MickBeth shipper, Josh is very sweet and a nice guy. He does genuinely care about Beth and isn’t all that upset when Beth is saying Micks name in her sleep

Beth and her colleagues joking around with each other is cute and makes it believable that they actually people. Especially since it’s not anything mean spirited

I wonder if the gift of a 25 year old single malt was a deliberate attempt at getting information from Mick since the crime happened 25 years ago.

I still hate lee jay

Mick visiting his old cop buddy got me excited when I originally watched the show, I was like wow he has he has human friends who know the truth about him and then it turns out that the guy is blind and then it’s like oh 🙁

Mick is a nerd confirmed, one of the great things about technology he lists off is world of Warcraft and he is the most excited about that one. I’m head cannoning that he and Logan met via World of Warcraft and nothing can change my mind

Mick giving Beth evidence about Lee Jay at the dudes book release is not the smartest move

I still hate Lee Jay, the actor does a good job at being a smug asshole

Beth calling Mick out on what she thought was his problematic behavior and him desperately wanting her to believe him about Lee Jay not just because he doesn’t want her to look at him like he’s a monster but because Lee Jay is a massive piece of shit and doesn’t want him to hurt other women.

Beth uncovering Mick’s lies and getting worried about her new friendship

Micks house gets broken into a lot, this is the first of many episodes where being just make themselves at home.

Lee Jay @ Mick “you’re a bundle of nerves” yes yes he is

Josef’s sass strikes again “you made the news” and Mick’s “great”

I wonder why the cleaners didn’t pay Mick a visit, granted it could have been that it just looked like human on human crimes so they’re like it’s not really a problem yet and until it was becoming clear Mick was endangering vampires then he’d get himself a visit. Because cleaners are a thing at this point, they show up in the very next episode. So it’s not like it’s something that was thought up later on in the series.

Josef “you’re not worried about what some blonde reporter thinks?” It’s a little bit about that but I do think Mick mainly wants to right a wrong and give Irene some justice instead of people believing she killed herself.

Mick wants to tell Beth the truth so bad, he really doesn’t want to lie to her but the truth is so crazy that he doesn’t want to scare her. I think if Josh wasn’t at Beth’s apartment then Mick would’ve blurted out “because I’m a vampire” and probably would’ve told her everything.

Lee Jay continues to be a massive piece of shit and his friends who helped him kidnap Julia, Beth’s reporter friend are also pieces of shit.

Josh is still a nice and supportive boyfriend

Beth is a little too nonchalant about Mick tagging her friends car with a GPS tracking device.

Also Mick’s little flip phone like I know this is the mid-2000s but come on they had other more advanced phones like come on old man get with the 21st century

I wonder if Mick is immune to fire since Coraline and her brother Lance are immune to fire or if fire immunity is a side affect from the cure

Beth coming in to save the day

Also more scenes from the unaired pilot episode can be seen towards the end of the episode

Where did Mick get his blood bags from and why didn’t his friends help him home

Mick really should’ve shut his door but Beth probably would’ve just barged in anyway

Moonlight’s music choice is amazing, I think every episode had good music

I give this episode 8 of 10 wooden stakes, I like the story for the episode it raises the stakes (pun intended) for Mick and that they didn’t dance around and drag out Mick was a vampire for multiple episodes and have Beth find out in the middle or end of the season.

Again some things were a bit choppy nothing bad, all brand new shows have a episodes that are like but once Moonlight gets the ball rolling it gets good.

[bloodpen-to-paper]

In honor of Book Lovers Day, I shall rank the three books I’ve read so far this year, going from best to least favorite (its only three cause I’m a slow reader and just recently got back into reading)

1 - “1984″ - George Orwell: I’m big on philosophy, politics and history so this was #1 by a long shot; I personally loved the writing style, though it can be a bit dense with information (books written before the 2000s tend to be); I would note that Orwell was cringe when it came to writing about women (trigger warning for brief mentions of r*pe on pages 15 and 120), but I definitely recommend for anyone interested in those topics I listed

2 - “One Last Stop” - Casey McQuiston: I haven’t actually finished this one yet, but based on what I’ve read it starts off a bit slow but picks up as the story goes. The book is very modern and relies on pop-culture references more garnered towards millennials. More of a relaxed and very human writing style that fits what you as a person might think and say on a regular basis. The MC has yet to win me over but some of the one liners and great, and its a book with queer main characters/romances.

3 - “Coraline” - Neil Gaiman: If you’ve seen the Coraline movie but haven’t yet read the book, I’d definitely try not to compare the two too much or you might end up a bit disappointed. The movie is definitely more whimsical, and personally I found the writing style a bit dull and dreary; it has a lot of description on the environment but in a way that didn’t really interest me (might be different for you though); writing picks up more towards the second half, and its a short read so good for if you want a book that’s not too overwhelming

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus: Webtoon Edition 

(not ranking these since I haven’t finished any of them, just giving general reviews)

“Heartstopper” - Alice Oseman: very heartwarming romance that heavily revolves around queerness and homophobia; diverse in both racial and LGBT identities; can get very angsty as it addresses some depressing themes, but it represents those themes well and is mostly very sweet and wholesome (sidenote: Netflix has one season of a show adaption of Heartstopper that is pretty good if you’re interested!)

“Wayne Family Adventures” - DC Comics (via various artists/writers listed on the site): for all the Batfamily fans that want a break from the gritty and dark nature of the comics; slice-of-life that revolves around the members of the Batman franchise having light-hearted hijinks, with the occasional angst that delves into life lessons; love this one in particular cause it actually puts a spotlight on more than just the four most well-known “batbros” and gives some love to the others in the family; highly recommend for any Batman fans that come across this post (not because you’re a Batman fan, but because you’re on Tumblr)

“Get Schooled” - Yongtaek Chae, Garam Han: omfg I love this webtoon so much. Its literally about a guy who beats the shit out of high schoolers. That’s it. But its so funny (and surprisingly depthful); I could go on and on about how this comic is more comedic but tends to nail the more serious aspects of the story, as well as the politics; great world building, and one of the only pieces of media I’ve seen that addresses themes like child abuse the way it does; also if you’re interested in men and women that are scary and could beat the shit out of you in the way that makes you attracted to them, I’d give this a go ;) 

“Boyfriends” - refrainbow: episodic slice-of-life that is diverse in LGBT identities, as well as a great read for representation of healthy polyamorous relationships; mostly very light hearted and low stakes; its like when you get candy on Halloween and just keep eating it up without a care in the world

“Study Group” - Hyungwuk Shin, Seungyeon Ryu: very typical Korean “bullied guy fights bullies” comic; love the artstyle though, and it can be pretty funny (I am also in love with the teacher character, she is so fucking gender); its one of my guilty pleasures

“Coffin Jackson” - CTK: I LOVE THIS ONE; subverted my expectations of being a super serious and gritty comic by being quite comedic and light-hearted (mind you it is still gritty and dark, just not all the time). The main characters have my heart, and the artstyle is something I want to put under a microscope and study like some freaky little scientist trying to understand color theory

“Fictional Skin” - Kris Nguyen: the one I read through the least; seems pretty easy-going so far, and Vivi is a character I enjoy a lot; from what I’ve seen, the plot will pick up into more exciting themes as the story goes, but its mostly just really cute

“Everything Is Fine” - Mike Birchall: a very normal comic where everyone is perfectly happy and easy-going; the characters are all content; nothing bad ever happens; nothing is wrong in this world; Everything Is Fine :)

“Vibe Check!” - Ucheomaaa: I literally don’t even know how to explain this one just go read it if you wanna laugh at obscure and weird internet humor