The submersible’s disappearance has arguably been the biggest news story of the last 24 hours. That’s understandable in some ways. For one thing, it’s a mystery: No one knows where it is or what state its passengers are in. There is, moreover, a race against time, as the sub has enough oxygen to make it until early Thursday, according to the Coast Guard—if, that is, the passengers are even still alive. There is both the possibility of an improbably happy ending or of unspeakable tragedy—another element of a compelling news story. And then there’s everything about the janky sub and its rich passengers, who have risked their lives on what is essentially a novelty expedition. Without knowing their fate, it has the feeling of something out of a Ruben Östlund film: These people are so wealthy they can take dangerous chances in a vessel the size of a Honda Odyssey, just for thrills.  Coverage of the missing submersible unintentionally illustrates something even more tragic, however. On June 14, what was likely the second-deadliest refugee and migrant shipwreck on record occurred when a boat carrying as many as 800 migrants sank off the Greek coast. Greek authorities had tracked the vessel and early signs suggest the country’s coast guard was slow to act despite numerous warning signs. This is a huge news story, one that hits at both Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis and the callousness with which many European nations treat migrants who are desperately trying to reach their shores. Yet it has received scant attention in the American media—and the missing submersible story has dwarfed what coverage there has been. 

today my wisdom is: the ecological crisis of our planet is not a thing that will Suddenly destroy us sometime in the next century—it has taken decades of continuous work for our biosphere to be preserved thus far, and it will take decades more of continuous work to continue preserving it.

The apocalypse is not a single event hovering in the future bearing down on us while we sit helplessly. We are at least 150 years into an ongoing "apocalypse."

Things will continue to steadily get worse without steady action, but "augh! it's already too late to stop climate change and mass extinctions!" is specifically the worst response

some poor totk developer: oh boy, the game is finished! I can’t wait to see what fun and creative things the players will build :)

The players:

#putting the ‘insane’ in ‘insanely hot’

When Tenoch Huerta hugged and kissed a Latine reporter’s head after bringing them to welling emotions when he said:

“The only thing I want is the next time little boys and girls [in Latine countries] see themselves in the mirror, that they feel proud of that reflection. That they see that there was never anything wrong with them, but rather in the eyes of those who judged them.”

When Tenoch Huerta of Nahua and Purépecha Indigenous ancestry said this in a cast interview for Wakanda Forever:

“…We have in Latin America, two main roots: which is the Indigenous roots, of course, and African roots. The food, the customs, the music, even our way of life has a strong influence from African cultures. So for me it’s important to see it [in the movies]; I mean this character [Namor] comes from Meso-American inspiration, particularly Mayan and, of course, is an interpretation of those cultures. But at the same time, we can feel close [to it] because all the process to get us “mixed” is just a way to erase our Indigenous heritage and they taught us to feel ashamed of who we are. For 500 years!”

When long-time actor–since 2006–and advocate, Tenoch Huerta published a book (paperbacks set to release December 13 but digital copies available now!!!) titled Orgullo Prieto (Brown Pride) that is a reflection on racism and colorism in Mexico. He has also gifted his voice for the audibook narration of these books: La sombra de Miztlán [The Shadow of Miztlán]; Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina [The Open Veins of Latin America]; and Los Narcos Gringos [The Gringo Drug Traffickers] (Spanish Edition).

And when Tenoch reiterated:

“It’s not common in Mexico, in Latin America that a brown-skinned guy could be the main character and have a lead role in movies. And then I jumped to the U.S. and I did it here [with Wakanda Forever] and it’s powerful and deep, and I hope the kids in their homes can feel identified. And I’d just say to them never, never in the life was nothing wrong with you, it was in the eyes of the people who was looking at you. But not [as in nothing being wrong] in you, not in your skin, not in your roots, not in your blood, not in your history. So please, babies, feel proud.”

He is also a mental health advocate and champion for the sciences. He has said all the YouTube channels he follows are science, historian or philosophy-related. If this man didn’t already have me in a choke-hold I swear to fucking god-

I just want to thank wakanda forever for reigniting my violent hatred for the spanish empire.

and while we're on the subject of colonization: everyone's always talking about the british but let's not forget the spanish, french, portuguese, dutch, and belgians also fucked up multiple continents, wiped out multiple cultures and languages, and enslaved natives all over the world.

Shang Chi 🤝🏽 Black Panther

Having the best soundtracks in the MCU, they never disappoint and well, we all know why

In the final battle between namor and shuri, when namor is fighting to win and shuri is fighting to kill, she’s about to end it when she stops. When her all consuming quest for vengeance fueled by an anger that’s turned from inward to outward (anger at herself for not noticing her brother’s illness, for being too slow, for not making the heart shaped herb fast enough, for not being able to save him, for not being there when he died).

And the shots reverse. The destruction is undone, everything goes back to normal. But not because she kills namor, but because she doesn’t. Because she puts an end to the cycle of destruction, of colonialism turning peoples against each other, of generational trauma, of grief. Because Queen Ramonda speaks to her, and namor’s mother reaches out to him.

She demands he yield but it’s more than that. He yields but it’s more than that. It’s ending the ceaseless grief that’s been haunting them both for so long, it’s ending the violence that would’ve haunted their people for eternity. Stopping the violence the oppressors who seek to exploit them want to see, and the violence they themselves want to inflict. Namor adds a new painting to his wall, imoritalizing the end of something ancient. Shuri burns her funeral robes, marking the beginning of something new. And while they’ve both loved and lost and lost so much more, death is of course, not an end. It’s a stepping off point into something new. Beyond grief and rage. Into healing.

Or at least, the start of it.

Black Panther Wakanda Forever was a beautiful representation about how people of color are pit against each other because of hurt and pain caused by colonialism and the fear of it.

Too often we treat oppression as if it is a competition. Who has suffered more, whose history was the roughest, who receives more compassion or hate from the rest of the world. And even when we try to work together often we don’t want to bend in our ways or be open in order to understand another or communicate/listen effectively to come to an agreement on how we can stand together.

In this movie, the UN and the CIA were of course a threat to the protagonists, but they truly didn’t even have to intervene directly. The mere threat of exploitation and colonization was enough to nearly drive Talokan and Wakanda into a frenzy and start fighting one another and hurting each other. And sometimes we get so caught up in the hurt and the vengeance until we’re bleeding out with our hands around each other’s throats and we pause to think “why are we even doing this to each other?”

Ultimately it’s pointless, the endless cycle of pain and hurt and for what? That’s what the colonizers want. The UN/CIA knew nothing about Talokan, but if Wakanda and Talokan had wiped each other out, they would’ve loved nothing more than to sweep up and exploit the vibranium resources left behind without having to do any of the dirty work. Shuri realized that being consumed with vengeance wasn’t going to help anybody, and the fear/threat of losing more loved ones was only going to get more people hurt. It killed Killmonger and it was killing Shuri, Namor and their people. The very people they were trying to protect. They both saw the beauty in each other’s cultures, and they knew it was worth dying to protect, but not like this. Why should they tear each other down like this when they have both fought such hardship to thrive?

Originally Talokan saw Wakanda’s act of opening their borders as a threat against themselves, but it was the fear of what the colonizers would do, and yet Talokan attacked Wakanda for it. In the end, their perspective shifted, and Wakanda also chose to respect their decision to remain a closed culture.

We celebrate each other’s differences in their cultural uniqueness, and we come together to unite over our values to support one other.

The only way we stand a chance against the effects of colonization and the systems set in place today is if we continue to find ways to support one another and stand together, instead of doing the work for the oppressors and tearing each other down.

Me, a Filipino, watching Namor burn the Spanish colonizers to the ground:

X-Men is about civil rights. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get X-Men.

Black Panther is about civil rights. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Black Panther.

Captain America literally fought Nazis. He is the embodiment of fighting the alt-right. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Captain America.

The Empire in Star Wars is fascist. The Rebel alliance are Anti-Fascist. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Star Wars.

The Punisher isn’t meant to be a role model for police or armed forces. So much so that the writers of The Punisher made him actively speak out against it in a comic. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get The Punisher.

Deadpool is queer. He’s pansexual. Fact. If you didn’t get that you didn’t get Deadpool.

Star Trek is about equality for all genders, races and sexualities. As early as the mid-60s it was taking a pro-choice stance and defending women’s right to choose. One of its clearest themes is accepting different cultures and appearances and working together for peace. (It’s also anti-capitalist and pro-vegan). If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Star Trek.

Superman and Supergirl (and a whole host of other superheroes) are immigrants. The stance of those comics is pro-immigration and pro-equality and acceptance. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Superman or Supergirl.

Stan Lee said “Racism and bigotry are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.” If you’re bigoted or racist, you didn’t get any of the characters Stan Lee created.

The stories we grew up with all taught us to value other people and cultures and to treasure the differences between us. Only villains were xenophobic, or sexist, or racist, or totalitarian. I can’t understand how anyone can have missed that.

If you’re upset that there’s a black Spider-Man, or a black Captain America, or a female Thor, or that Ms Marvel is Muslim, or that Captain Marvel was pro-feminism, or any of the other things right wing “fans” say is “stealing their childhood” - you never got it in the first place. The things you claim are now “pandering to the lefties” were never on your side to begin with.

If you consider yourself a fan of these things, but you still think the LGBTQ+ community is too “in your face”, or have a problem with Black Lives Matter, or want to “take the country back from immigrants”, then you’re not really a fan at all.

Geek culture isn’t suddenly left wing... it always was. You just grew up to be intolerant. You became the villain in the stories you used to love.

****

Kenny Boyle - Actor and Playwright

07 June 2020

I have never heard a movie theater be so quiet as it was when Chadwick was on screen. And that’s how it should be. He was and is respected like no other to come from these movies.

Stan Lee’s tribute got applause to thank him. Chadwick’s memorial had respectful and honoring silence. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Okay but Namor and Shuri are the MCU's Hades and Persephone. Now I can't unsee it.

The definitive Sherlock Holmes alignment

i cant explain it but holmesbury is shirbert 2.0

I better not see any of you come for Wooyoung.

So, recently there's been a discussion on Pannchoa that talks about Wooyoung from Ateez calling out WeDemBoyz's Vata for stealing their legendary move from "Say My Name" and using it for a choreo he did for "New Thing" (OST for SMF) but not only that, he claimed it as his when it is not.

Wooyoung definitely saw this during a recent episode and when they went in Saudi Arabia for KCON he called Vata out on his plagiarism.

The sign he did at the start of the video is a move professional dancers uses when someone plagiarises them. It's called the "copy sign" and is done in a "=" shape to signal that what the other party did is basically the same thing.

It's explained in more details in this video by this dance teacher at minute 1:08.

While many Knetz has sided with Ateez, Kpop stans has said that Wooyoung overreacted and that he was being petty over a common dance move, which is something very ignorant to say (but Kpop stans will do anything to hate on Ateez so).

I side with Wooyoung

not cause he's my fave, but cause he's legally and morally right. Ateez got plagiarised 3 times only this year: once by Soyeon from G-Idle who stole the instrumental of their 2019 song "Wave" (and gave us an half-assed apology that everyone accepted just cause it's her, when it's not Kpop fans place to accept the apology but yeah 🤠), the second time by Jyp who stole material from Ateez's lore and placed it in their new gg M/V (this is in no way a reason to hate on the girls, complain to Jyp who's behind it all) and now this; if I was Wooyoung or any of the Teezers I would be pissed too, after this many time of being plagiarised.

Some Kpop fans also complained about Wooyoung calling Vata out cause "He isn't the one who choreographed the move", which is true but KQent bought that choreo/move (which is what occurs when groups get a choreography for their songs) from Anze Skrube and Josh Smith who are the original choreographers of the move and has worked with Ateez from debut until now.

Wooyoung didn't call Vata out for himself and Ateez alone, he called Vata out for Anze and Josh too.

Some time aback Anze had a collab with Steezy (a dance crew/academy) where he and a dancer reacts to Ateez choreos from debut until now and he talked about how they're close, how he admires Ateez as his juniors but also as dancers and performers and how they all respect each others, their relationship is pretty close so of course Wooyoung would call Vata out on Anze and Josh's stead too.

Anze himself talked about it today on his Instagram Stories siding with Wooyoung too, the original choreographer rightfully called Vata out too.

Also can't believe that Vata claims himself to be San's friend, only to go and steal his groups' move and claim it as his for clout and fame just like that... Ateez Deserves Better.

[id: screenshots of tiktok captions. the images say, “but the only reason we still love princess diana is because she did not have the time to disappoint us.”]

begging queer kids to read up on princess diana’s involvement with the community. yes, she was a rich, pretty monarch. yes, she died young.

but the reason why queer people love her is because she used her privilege during the aids crisis to advocate for sick queer men, when very few others would - much less someone of her status.

diana spent years advocating for the health and care of queer people with hiv/aids. in 1987, at the height of the epidemic, she opened the first specialist clinic dedicated to treating aids patients (the first clinic of it’s kind in the uk).

she also fought public hysteria by hugging and shaking bare hands with aids patients, at a time when aids was thought to be spread by skin to skin contact. not only that, she visited patients in the clinic regularly and even comforted them through their sickness.

and when queen elizabeth told her to try focusing on “something more pleasant”?

diana ignored her and kept fighting.

and this is only her work towards the aids crisis. she publicly called out the royal family, brought attention to numerous world issues, and was known as an advocate for empathy and kindness. she’s known and loved as the people’s princess for good reason