Man I wish the White Fang had numerous community programs like the BPP did. It would've been super cool to see Adam and Blake interact with other faunus outside of missions and the WF. I like to imagine Adam volunteering to teach people self defense while Blake spends some down time teaching people how to read and maybe they're both banned from the kitchens because they accidentally started a small grease fire because they're used to cooking on the road and not with fancy dancy equipment

I am a proud hindu so i was angry about what happened to kashmiri hindus. but after reading up on it and the history of kashmir in general, one thing is really obvious: india failed kashmir (all of them not just hindus). It’s why I support their right to self-determination. I am based in America and I know several punjabis here who don’t consider themselves indian because their family/community was directly impacted by the 1984 anti sikh pogroms. ig i’m saying india has failed a lot of people (esp minorities) so if we are not from their ethnic group, we don’t get to selfishly claim them or impose our will on them. like i’m a kannadiga and i hate the imposition of hindi in my home state and while this is not even slightly comparable to the violence and trauma faced by kashmiris, punjabis and other groups, i would hate for a non-kannadiga (esp a hindi speaker) telling me how to feel and having the final say in the matter so kashmiri self determination just makes sense to me.

this just my two cents hope this didn’t sound rude because that’s not my intention.

I know you didn't mean to be rude here, but what you're saying is actually really out of touch.

I hope you're aware of what happened in Kashmir to Kashmiri pandits. Pakistan has dreamed of Kashmir since it was formed. That's why they wrongfully attacked India the first time, securing only POK which sadly was due to the UN, and weak Indian political power. Since then, they have infiltrated our country, and approximately 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits are reported to have left the region due to constant persecution from the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and other militant groups, like Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM). In 1989, radical Islamists initiated an insurgency, fueled by covert support from Pakistan.

The party at the time did its best to hide this, and stifle it as much as possible, this got an ounce of coverage and light when The Kashmir Files was released

Hindus have 5000 years of recorded history with the land, that Islamists claim has “always been Muslim land”. "Kashmir" is literally named after Rishi Kashyap, if you're aware. On 19, January 1990 mosques blared out the infamous "convert leave or die" and finished their mission of converting the entirety of Kashmir to an Islamic state. Our pandits were told to leave their wives and daughters behind if they wanted to escape alive.

They're still living like refugees in their country, and now thanks to the scrapping of sec 370, things have taken a turn for the better.

Many Muslims of Kashmir still retain their Hindu surname. It was a deliberate attempt to wipe Hindus out that Islamists achieved and now THAT'S the free Kashmir they want, this slogan isn't promising actual Kashmiris that were displaced from their homes back, this slogan is furthering the agenda to chew Kashmir off India's map - the one true dream.

A similar approach is taken by Khalistanis, they aren't asking for Lahore, you know, the capital of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, they're demanding INDIA to give Punjab away. They are funded by Pakistan as well that's why they can't say anything about Sikh treatment in Pakistan. That's why they can't say anything about Gurudwaras converted to garbage bins. You obviously, being far away, aren't aware of what's going beneath the surface, they have vandalized various Hindu Temples.

They take the name of their Guru who sacrificed his life for India, while they stomp on the flag of India.

In theory, I guess it sounds easy to say "Well, disagreements are flaring up, so let's just split and give them their own thing". But this isn't how it works. Compromise and collaboration is how decisions are made in a democracy. This is our motherland, the last time we split was painful as fuck. The only reason India didn't fall apart after Independence is because of the formation of linguistic states.

I lived in Bangalore for the majority of my childhood, and I left 2 years before the entire language debacle began. I don't know if you know, but now Kannadigas are getting violent if anyone speaks Hindi. They demand you to speak in Kannada even if you don't know how.

You're based in America, so I'm not holding this against you, but I'm begging you, please do more research.

[Exhibit 82]

for anyone who types out ofmd characters' accents in their fanfic

when you phonetically type out someone's accent in a piece of prose or fiction, i need you to understand that what you are saying, what you are showing in your work, is that:

this person's way of speaking is strange, unusual, and/or funny

this person's way of speaking is uniquely strange, unusual, and/or funny compared to the rest of the cast of characters

that you can't imagine someone speaking "with an accent" unless you're typing it out sound-by-sound

if you have a cast of characters, all of whom with their own unique accents and inflections in the way you speak, which characters do you pick to spell out their speech phonetically, and why them? why is that character The Other?

if you're doing it because you think it's funny, why is it funny? what's funny about that person's accent versus the other characters?

and to bring this back to OFMD, like

if you write Ed and/or Fang's Kiwi accents out phonetically, but you don't write out Stede's, why?

what is it about Stede's Kiwi accent that is less unusual or funny to you? bc Stede does have a posher accent than Ed and Fang, but he still has many of the same Kiwi inflections when speaking English.

think specifically about the fact that Taika Waititi and Dave Fane are Māori and Samoan, and the distinction between rural and more metropolitan NZ accents, and how race and class intersect here

when it comes to Buttons and the distinction between Scots dialect and writing an "accent", just think about what that means - are you actually using different verb and word forms (eg how Buttons uses the pronoun "ye", which is pretty common in a lot of Scottish-English and Irish-English, but isn't so common elsewhere), or are you just sounding out the words you think are funniest to imagine him saying?

do you sound out Buttons' accent, but not Wee John's? why, why not? when you listen to Wee John's accent, do you know where in Ireland he's from?

have you perhaps searched the history of Ireland, and why Ulster accents, especially Northern Irish accents, are mocked and othered in the ways that they are? especially thinking about the typical differences between how Catholic and Protestant northerners talk, and why they're mocked in very different ways? all the class and sectarian implications of that?

if you're taking the piss out of Izzy's accent, do you know literally anything about the North of England and the historical implications of that?

do you know that accents like con o'neill's, let alone ewen bremner's and kristian nairn's, are still looked poorly on by a lot of posh people and english people, to the extent that broadcasters and presenters are pressured to present themselves with more "neutral", "easier to understand", and generally "less poor", "less regional" voices?

i haven't seen anyone take the piss out of Oluwande's london accent or Frenchie's west country one, and none of Jim's, either, which is good, but like, here. ask yourself this.

when you're about to phonetically write out someone's accent, what is the history of the accent that you're pointing out as unusual or funny?

how do race and ethnicity come into it?

how does class come into it?

how does religion come into it? (i don't care if you're an atheist: religious sectarianism is a huge part of class perception, and of how people talk and their accents)

are you mocking the character's perceived lack of education? do you assume any of the characters in the show are poorly educated because of their lower class or regional accent?

are you mocking character's disabilities or signs of neurodivergence? (eg with Pete's lisp)

this applies to basically everything but like, esp in ofmd where we are blessed to see this gorgeous array of accents and styles of speaking, and then i read fic where it's like "Oh well some of these people just talk funny and i'm gonna make the whole thing about that" is uncomfortable

there's nothing wrong with commenting on accent, comparing accents and speaking styles, or having characters tease and comment on each other, etc! there's also nothing wrong with specifically phonetically spelling out one or two words when a character is commenting on it, or having certain characters notice inflections and stuff

but when you write out someone's whole accent, you're basically saying "this person just talks sooo weird compared to everyone else i have to make a whole thing" about it and. feels bad, man

This whole thread is so....

https://twitter.com/orikkunn/status/1754831427903074488?t=WbVE9Fu585pxZFXPbr_JlQ&s=19

It's pissing me off actually and I search the word hijab on their account and in one of their tweets they said "I think hijab is a bad thing" ??? I need non-muslims who speak on Islam without any knowledge to stfu

i'm going to apologize beforehand if this is upsetting in any way bc i'm sure you were expecting a different response but while i feel like op's wording could have been better in this thread specifically—i like their wording in this thread more—i do generally agree with them. i definitely understand there's a gut reaction to any critique of islamic practices esp in the context of modern orientalism and islamophobic sentiment, but i also think that muslims (and people of any religious faith, really) can simultaneously acknowledge that some criticisms of faith, while driven by racism and/or xenophobia, are also validly driven by a worthwhile contention with women's material circumstances over the course of history. in the other thread i linked above i think op is very much correct in that it's not constructive nor useful to criticize individual people. many individuals do choose to dress more modestly of their own volition and are privileged enough to have that available to them as a choice and nothing more bc of the environment they grow up in and the familial interpretation of religious tenets they're taught. but i don't think people are wrong when they acknowledge the larger context within which women are advised to dress modestly and how those standards of modest dress compare with those imposed on men in comparison. there's an undeniable dichotomy there and at least in my islamic upbringing i've been taught that the way some of these things diverge along the lines of gender is preordained and not meant to be perceived as inherently oppressive towards one gender or the other. a thing is simply bc it is. but religion isn't really something you can view within a vacuum much as that would be ideal. it is connected to the material circumstances of women in the real world and i do allow myself to sit with that reality even if it's weird to process at times bc i still consider myself a muslim and have no plans on ex-communicating myself

personally i like to dress modestly in the sense that i don't wear very exposing clothing. i've grown up wearing pants for my entire life. my parents are lax enough that i'm allowed to wear t-shirts but i can't wear anything where my armpits are directly exposed so that means no sleeveless tops. i can't wear anything with a deep neckline either unless i have a higher positioned undershirt on underneath. and again, i'm not particularly bothered by any of that. i do toe the line on a few occasions but generally i'm ok with how i dress bc by now i'm used to it. that being said, i know the reason i've come to be okay with dressing this way is bc it's how i was taught to dress, and towards the specific end of maintaining modesty and emphasizing on the shape of my figure as minimally as is possible without having to outright wear a bag lol. that is at large a structural reality of muslim practice towards women, regardless of what individual women choose to do in their own homes where they have the liberty to choose. and as i mentioned above, i do think we have to sit with that reality even if we acknowledge it opens us up to abuse by other people who may not have the best intentions. this is why, for example, i've really come to frown upon the way ex-muslims (esp when they're women) are almost mocked by the extant muslim community for logically reacting to patriarchal oppression under the guise of religion. bc at the outset, materially, there is no choice presented to these people. and even if there is ideologically a choice within the tenets of the religion itself, with respect to women in particular, there is still a defined gender dichotomy and hierarchy that cannot be denied and that is quite regularly used to perpetuate the oppression that many of them try to escape

what's hard to do and what requires a knowledgeable, concerted effort on our part as muslims is trying to balance the nuance of the oppression we are accessory to against the nuance of our own oppression for who we are. it's certainly cruel that we have to do so much to parse all of this because racist, xenophobic imperialists are incorrigible people who will co-opt anything if it's beneficial to them. but all the same, we do have that responsibility at minimum. we have to learn to sit in the uncomfortable reality that while many of us as individuals may choose to practice the way we do, that choice may yet be colored by how we grew up within organized religion, and it obscures our ability to recognize that while we think it's a choice for us as individuals, it's certainly not a choice on a structural level, and that's something we should vehemently argue against maintaining the status quo of

why do you think alicent is afraid of aemond? i didn't get this vibe from their interactions so far, but after the storms end i expect her to say I raised you better than that. i think she will wonder where aemond got this bloodthirstness from because neither she nor viserys were like this. listen, i love alicent but she has misconceptions about her children. just like dumbledore said to snape regarding harry. you see what you want to see. the thing is alicent overlooks aegon good traits like cunning (he convinced people living for years at dragonstone to follow him without bloodshed so itmeans he convinced them. My headcanon is: aegon is far more diplomatic than aemond even though aemond brags about studying history and philosophy so one can expect aemond to be more polished, diplomatic, but guess what all his knowledge goes out of the window when he's angry) and resourceful while she is too preoccupied with aemond not causing problems compared to aegon that she paints aemond as some sort of golden child. this, and aemond actually never comes back. aegon does. alicent was so wrong about both of her children. had alicent really understood aemond she would have never loved him because he represents everything she despises thirst for blood, war, violence. had she really understood aegon she would have truly loved him because they are very similar doing their duty and fighting till the end. alicent never understood her children. that's all. she was stuck up in childlish fantasies about both of them

why is alicent afraid of aemond? i agree this is not the vibe of their interactions but olivia cooke has a good nose on this characterization. the thing is, the studious, quiet, dutiful aemond is a cover for the real aemond, this is how he wants people to see him, esp how he wants his mother to see him because it means he gets recognized above his siblings, esp aegon. but he's not like this at all lol and i think in some level alicent understands this and it's afraid of this unleashed self (like she is of herself!). we saw a little bit of this dynamic in ep 8 when she tries to stop aemond from hitting jace and he snaps and snatches his arm from her. it's the moment she realizes she can't stop aemond anymore and it frightens her. and it's funny because she more or less makes aegon keep peace with rhaenyra on eps 9/10 by sending terms instead of an army but her favorite son is going too out of her reach. i don't think it's necessarily the violence but the lack of control she fears, esp when aemond is such a dangerous weapon.

i agree alicent overlooks aegon's good traits but only because aegon was uncontrollable since the beginning. what good is aegon's charm and charisma if he's not doing what alicent and otto tell him to? he's worthless because he can't follow instructions or at least pretend to, to me aegon has always been an honest kind of character and that kind of....let's say transparency is what disgusts alicent because she herself has learnt to suppress her own. the fantasy of difference is very strong with these two.

not loving her sons is something that was never in alicent's cards, i don't agree with what you say about that if she knew the real aemond she wouldn't love him or that she's "stuck up in childlish fantasies about both of them". she does love aemond knowing it! he razes the riverlands and executes the strongs and she's still wishing he was back in KL; she loves otto in spite of all the things he's done to her and the same happens with aegon. it's not a childish fantasy, i think alicent is just maybe too well versed in loving this sort of men, she does see them but wishes she didn't and wishes they were different.

tbh. I feel like framing is the issue. You hc China AND other non-Asian characters as gnc? That's really cool. Great. I feel like the main issue arises when people make China (and even Japan) effeminate and submissive or in a subservient position compared to the white male characters, which happens A LOT in my experience.

While I'm not Chinese myself, I am 100% east Asian, and growing up in a predominantly white community I was subjected to anti-Asian racism including the feminization of Asian men compared to other non-Asian men. Which is the reason why I'm personally uncomfortable whenever people portray Yao as a "cute little uke" to mostly if not all white characters, because it's kind of a reflection to the racism I experienced growing up.

Hi there anon! I feel it's important to contextualize and bring back up some things about my prior post to properly answer your question-

I myself am also a full East Asian who grew up in a predominantly white community, and am very aware of the issues of the feminization and demasculinization of Asian men, esp easian men, in the western mainstream.

In fact, I actually strong dislike most depictions of gnc/feminine Japan partly for this reason, and partly because it and the wider "woobification of Japan" plays into Japan's own rewriting of its role and history on the global stage and erasure of its darkest deeds.

(also, though androgynous/gnc china is something near and dear to me i dont like it when that's paired with a more masc white partner 🤢)

(Also if you make all of the Easian countries gnc/feminized......🤨)

Additionally, I do touch on in my post about how a lot of popular fandom depictions of China fall into the Orientalist tropes of feminizing the colonized man, I make the point that in the effort to reject femmephobic masculinizations of China (Tianshii brought up a great point I wish I remembered to bring up about how a lot of these "masculinizations" make China adhere to Western standards of masculinity) people uncritically embrace Himaryu's feminine/gnc China as some progressive inclusive depiction of China, when... it's a product of orientalism too, albeit from another perspective.

The main point of my post was advocating foreigners to be careful not to lean into either side of this too hard, because even though Chinese people can really do whatever they want with their country, foreigners can inadvertently end up reproducing these pernicious Orientalist tropes (whether they be by trying to make China fit western standards of masculinity bc "Chinese standards arent masculine enough" or by uncritically replicating orientalist depictions, whether it's by Himaryu or the western mainstream) by their very nature as outsiders.

About this post: https://www.tumblr.com/my-name-is-bunnyfoxy/729290480682172416/whats-your-favorite-iteration-of-raph-mine-is?source=share

Where would u place Rise Raph? Lke, 4th maybe? I know u did a list ranking Raphs (and Leos too), but I don't know remember where you placed him.

Also, what ask were u talking about that u sent Pumpkinpie that talked about IDW Raph, and/or IDW Raph x Alopex? I tried to find it, but I didn't.

I do admit I still love IDW Raph, IDW Alopex and that ship (I also love IDW Casey still, I know pumpkinpie doesn't like him as much anymore), but I get why people may not like them and/or that ship anymore. Tbh, I actually (probably) like Leo with Alopex more. Not nesscarily shipping them, but just them together. Because I love both characters, and they got an interesting and tragic history together (i.e.; both of being traumitized by Shredder and/or Kitsune), and so I really like stuff with them. And I am still hoping we get more good canon IDW stuff with them. As well; as more fan stuff w/ them. Raph with Alopex and/or x Alopex is still fine and/or cool though.

Poor IDW Raph being placed last by u now. I do prefer IDW Leo and Mikey myself too. Like, Leo is my favorite, then Mikey is up there too. And Donnie and Raph were basically tied for me (though sometimes one would be over the other), and sometimes tied with Mikey. Anyways, I love all of them. But IDW Leo; wow. And IDW Mikey. I have other favorites/loves in IDW too. Like Karai, Koya, Jennika, Venus, etc., etc. But among the main 4 turtles it is Leo. Then Mikey. And just in general, Leo is my top favorite (yes, I am biased for Leo, I won't deny this. So ofc I love him so much. But Leo is geninuely so great in IDW). And Mikey (Mikey is also so good too) is also still really up there too. In that case. But I do still love IDW; he is a complicated boi (too/as well). And I don't think I would place IDW Raph in my top 3 or at least Top 2 for Raphs, but I don't think I would place him low, and defin. not last. However; if you do, that is totally fine though. DIfferent opinoins and stuff. I am curious to understand a bit more why u decided to put him in dead last for ur ranking of Raphs.

(Also; thank you for answering my ships question(s)! I am happy u love 2012 Leopril and Caseynardo so much too! And that u are liking MM Leopril so far. I hadn't really thought about Rise Cass x Leo that much. Though yesssss, I think they would/could have been really close in the Bad Future Timeline. Romanctically or not. And I think they could have/can have some fun, interesting potential in the present too. Just generally. Not just romantically. I was surprised to see u talk about Rise Leo x April too. Honestly, I think that relationship is very underrated. Both as a ship or not. Like, I love Rise April x Donnie too and their relationship in general, but I really do like Rise Leo and April and/or Rise Leo x April (I am putting both for these things, because sometimes I just like their relationship in general. And it doesn't have to be romantic. Or it could be romantic and/or become romantic), and I think it is really underrated. Esp./Even more compared with Rise April and Donnie and/or Rise Apriltello (I still love them too though).

Also; yes, yes I love Caprilnardo. I love both April x Leo x Casey and April x Casey x Donnie myself. :)

First of all: I LITERALLY GOT EXCITED WHEN I FOUND YET ANOTHER CAPRITELLO I ALMOST SCREAMED REEEE- I'M NOT ALONE!!!

Now to everything else:

The Raph ranking

Honestly those two ranking lists I did I consider them outdated. Because I'm gonna admit with full shame that uhhhhhh- I didn't watch ALL of the TMNTs and there are some TMNTs I still haven't finished. So I find my old post more based on things I heard, red or the clips I saw. I will remake them when I see a good handful of TMNT.

Now onto Rise Raph, possibly 4th or 5th. Like said, 90s Raph is coming up. Plus as much as I love Rise Raph and how much focus he got, I really wish we saw more of him having like emotional damage or something and the reason why he is struggling being the leader is because he is incapable of controlling his emotions and there are many things that he lacks. I still love him in the finale and his character development and what we got from him. I just wish we got more but oh well, I'll take what we have gotten and what we will get later if the show comes back.

About the ask and IDW Raph

Sadly I'm having a hard time finding the ask. BUT. I have a big reason I dislike Raph x Alopex and why I no longer like IDW Raph. For the longest time I thought she was 2 years or so older then him and they met when she was at least an adult and Raph was also close to being an adult.

BUT THEN I FOUND OUT ALOPEX WAS 12 WHEN SHE MET RAPH WHO WAS 16 AT THAT TIME.

I did a bit of research and it's illegal and weird for a 16 year old to date a 12 year old. I wouldn't have cared if they had that age gap as adults but knowing that that is not the case makes me feel gross. I thought Next Mutation Raph sucked but now they share the same spot. Also Emily mentioned how Raph gets worse as the comics go on.

I don't know much about IDW so this opinion of mine comes from what I have learned and found out about.

Now to a bit more light hearted. I do enjoy and love IDW, even though I haven't red any of the actual comics or got them. I know quite some stuff like for example the things you mentioned.

I LOVE Leo and Mikey. My favorite ones! Leo's brainwashing was upsetting and blatant emotional damage, and Mikey MAN. He's my 2nd favorite Mikey right next to Ronnin Mikey. Just DAMN. He wasn't a coward and stood up to Splinter and basically told him to shut his mouth. MIKEY!! MY MAN IS AMAZING!

Also I will forever love Jennika and Venus. This comic series gave justice to Venus and brought back a character that deserved better. I will forever love both of these beautiful gals. Jenny is awesome and so is Vee Vee.

Now onto that last part, No problem! :3 Also I kind of decided that after I posted my answer I changed my mind. Rise Aprilnardo gets a 9/10 for me. It's close to 10 very close. AND YES IT'S UNDERRATED!!! Also i'm surprised to find a Rise Apritello shipper awh man.

Also like mentioned at the start, ANOTHER CAPRITELLO AND CAPRILANRDO SHIPPER YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Okay that's all. This post is very rushed since I have a whole ton of studying to do this week.

I want to talk about some of my feelings about John Seward. I tried writing a post about it before and deleted it after giving it some more thought, but I’m going to try again.

Background: I’ve worked in group homes with people with various combinations of neurodivergence, mental illness and disability for 10 years and am ND, disabled and mentally ill myself.

CW: Modern Institutions, institutionalization of Autistic people, abuse of disabled children mentioned briefly.

Seward as autistic is a really hard headcannon for me to grapple with because autistic people have been institutionalized at high rates for as long as asylums existed.

Is it possible an autistic guy with fewer needs could run an asylum that likely held at least some autistic people who are high needs/have behaviors? Sure, I guess but we never see Seward doing anything but perpetrate the problems in that system.

This is not going to be the first time we see him go out of his way to trigger and escalate Renfield. I’m not going to give any major spoilers here, but this isn’t an isolated incident.

It’s also hard for me to grapple with “compared to the practices of the time, he’s progressive,” because these were not just the standards of his time. These are standards that have stretched right through the present day. This is stuff that still goes on.

I’ve been in direct care for 10 years and I work for an agency that formed when whistleblowers started opening about about what was going on in Massachusetts’ institutions in the 80s. A lot of these whistleblowers and people who formerly worked in institutions now the company and they have shared some absolute horror stories about things that were standard practices.

I teach self-advocacy curriculum that focuses on the history of the disability rights movement and we talk about this a lot. We go into the history of institutions and the people I’m educating are always shocked to hear just how recent this stuff is. It’s all within their lifetime.

We still have the Judge Rottenberg center in MA that uses things like electric shock adversives to punish autistic kids (and the most horrific thing is that many of these kids’ own parents have gone to court to defend that practice).

This is my third time reading through Dracula. And I’m not going to expect people who haven’t read the book to take my word for why you shouldn’t like Seward or why he is bad or any of that. You’re along for the ride and you get to enjoy these characters however you want. You aren’t problematic or bad for having your own take, you’re just doing your own literary interpretation and that’s cool.

But I’m always going to empathize more with the actual disabled and mentally ill patients (esp, here Renfield) in the institution than I am the asylum guy. This includes people (again, like Renfield in this book) with challenging behaviors or the rare few who have physical aggression (this is the population I worked with in group homes for years and they are no less deserving of proper, compassionate care, dignity and autonomy than anyone else).

But I like… I can’t help but wonder what the Seward fans would think about the practices at the now shuttered Danvers State Mental Hospital (where some of my coworkers came from and where several of the individuals we serve once lived) or even the notorious Willowbrook Institutions. Those were “the standards of the 1980s”.

I don’t mean that in an accusatory way. Most people straight up do not know about this stuff. I just think it shifts the perspective to know the history of all this is a lot more recent . But I also think it’s strange that we would judge people in the 1980s a lot more harshly than they would people doing the exact same thing in the 1890s, and we might want to examine why that is.

We expect things in the Victorian Era to be bad because we have the idea that time is a steady march toward progress and that people in the past were always more ignorant than we are, so we kind of hand wave things. That breaks down when we actually look at our recent history.

The disabled and mentally ill people of the Victorian Era knew just how horrible life in asylums were. Restrictive environments where you had no personal autonomy, no consent of consent, where adversives were used on the regular (and I haven’t even touched on conversion therapy and the roles institutions played there) —these environments were hell. When you say “people didn’t understand back then,” that’s not true. Disabled and mentally ill people knew. It was just a matter of people not listening.

And that was not just true back then. It’s true today.

So yeah, I come at Seward with a lot of biases. I’m writing a book right now with him as the secondary villain so clearly I do not love the guy.

I respect everyone’s right to head-cannon what they want and make him your eeby-deeby and all. This is a fun internet book club and we’re all just here to have a good time.

But I just kind of had to respond to some of those takes because I think a lot of them come from a place of little understanding of the role of institutions played in the struggle for disability rights, especially for autistic people and I think it’s an important part of the conversation.

Edit:

I wanted to clarify something because it is coming up in people’s responses to this. “Seward is Autistic” is absolutely a valid take and I’m not saying it isn’t possible for an autistic guy to run an asylum, or that it would automatically mean he couldn’t be ableist if he did.

My personal discomfort with that head cannon is that I don’t really like storylines where a marginalized person is blamed for their oppression of their group (ex: the homophone is secretly gay). This is purely down to personal preference.

I think a lot of autistic, anxious and general ND people are claiming him as one of their own because he is presented as one of the stories heroes and they like seeing themselves in that. And that’s kind of the point of fandom.

Everybody’s going to filter him through the lens of their own experiences. This is just mine.

Speaking of taking it to 11, I'm glad Glenn stood up for not throwing away stereotypes entirely just to be subversive. Ofc it's valuable that Mac's not a gay man stereotype, but as a queer Asian who fits stereotypes, it's sad when tv goes TOTALLY in the opposite direction because they're worried they'll "do a stereotype" (obv there's good, nuanced and bad, harmful versions). There's proud defiance in leaning in sometimes. Do you think RCG worry about "bi Dennis" bc of evil bi stereotypes?

YES, i totally agree!! And it makes perfect sense that he feels that way, cuz Dennis does tend to embody a lot of common queer stereotypes from s1 all the way to s15... Way moreso than Mac ever has, imo. But its not so much that he felt like a plain caricature of those stereotypes (though obviously im not gonna act like in a lot of moments he's not being played up that way lol... 'boys are out tonight huh!?' but even Glenn admitted that was something he didn't want to be included in the episode as his character cuz it was "too broad" LMAO). He still feels like a character that has depth and is well-rounded, including those 'stereotypical' queer traits. So even before Glenn outright said that, it did feel like he had that mentality and I think that's also probably something that's gotten better with maturity lollll. But I was also rlly glad to hear him outright say that too, cuz it is, as you said, commonplace now for writers to keep trying to be "subversive" of stereotypes but that can backfire horribly and just make a lot of characters feel flat or inauthentic. So yeah it was rlly nice to hear that, and esp on the podcast which gets a lot of viewers.

And I do think that RCG are aware that there is a line they have to be be mindful of when it comes to how these characters' overall deviant nature might be perceived as being related to their queerness... Esp in the case of Dennis, and Mac as well. I think this concern was actually somewhat acknowledged in "The Janitor Always Mops Twice" (and tbh I'm surprised I haven't seen more analysis on this?? tho it definitely could've come up and just been purged at some point as a lot of s14 shit ended up being loll) because the way that episode framed not only Dennis, but Mac too, to fit into the "queer-coded villains" noir trope was--again, imo-- an acknowledgment of that. Like, they see the history of that trope in tv/film and how reductive it is. I think that the narrative is deeming that kind of characterization reductive because that episode is not told thru an objective POV, but it's filtered through Charlie's POV, and he clearly has some uh... complex feelings about his best friends' relationship and their respectively ambiguous and not-so-ambiguous sexualities LOL. But also in the past whenever a scene was through Charlie's POV (i.e. his flashback sequence in "Who Got Dee Pregnant?") it's been shown that he has pretty reductive views of the people in his life. Typically narrowing them down to a few traits, or saying shit that is very uh "ooc" (i.e. "yeah. dee inspired me. she said, "you're an awesome janitor, charlie. you can make this whole school slippery." I said, "sure, I'll give it my best shot." then she's, like, "let's be best friends." and I was, like, "sure, I'll give that my best shot, too." so we're best friends now.)... so... yeah. Plus, when you compare that episode's framing to the rest of s14 and that season's overall "oh god we're so afraid of fucking this all up" subtext (Thunder Gun 4, Right to Chop, Big Mo, etc.)... I definitely do think that's definitely a concern of theirs when it comes to that aspect of Dennis' writing as well LOL. and I think even they even sorta admitted to that dragging their feet on addressing Dennis' sexuality/his relationship with Mac as it has been the past couple of seasons in the s15 finale in a very on-the-nose way... ("oh, my god. It looks like he was dragging his feet back here. were you hanging on it?") lmaooo..

although i would assume Sydney congratulated her privately, bt doing so publically (esp wit her being a fellow nominee and Z making history with her emmy nominations) wouldv been nice. once Z WINS thats wen im actually going to b lookin at folks tbh.

i think Z being a producer on the show (having a higher position than her fellow actors/actresses and possibly directing in s3 euphoria), her emmy win, her getting the most consistent n best storylines in euphoria and working closely wit Sam, there may be a intimidation factor to her wen compared to her euphoria colleagues n i wouldnt b suprised if there is a little bit of jealousy on their ends (with some of them). ik somebody used to send you (fake lol) updates on the euphoria set, n one of them was about jacob e being jealous on Z n Hunter for getting better storylines n although it was debunked i wouldnt b shocked if that were true for him n some other actors n actresses

Oh yea, that Anon was a fake 🙄🙄

I always take certain claims on set with a grain of salt, because ppl can always make up stuff just for kicks smh.

But yea, while I'm sure the cast gets along and stuff, smthg just felt a bit "off" this season for some reason (compared to Euphoria S1 filming), so maybe your suspicion might be right? I have no clue 🤷🏾‍♀️

I feel like during S1 the closeness of the cast was genuine, but S2, it felt a bit forced, or like some weren't as close as before (which, is understandable given the breakup of Z and JE 👀). So, who knows? Maybe some ppl took sides. Or maybe they weren't really as close as we thought, and the pandemic kind of made ppl grow a little further apart?

All I know is that Z and Hunter seem genuinely close like sisters, and you can always tell when Z is GENUINELY close friends with her cast mates and not just "acquaintances" with them, because she will spend time with them OUTSIDE of filming, and usually on a consistent basis.

Filming is like doing a temp job. You're working with ppl for a few months, and then that's it. You leave lol. 😂 Maybe you might see those ppl again if you have to film sequels or multiple seasons with them, but otherwise, you may get close to some, or you may not. 🤷🏾‍♀️

It's not a big deal imo.

I'm not close to EVERY single person I work with either. I'm friendly with ALL people, but some I'm more close with than others. And I've been working at my job for years. I can't even imagine how short it might feel just working for a few MONTHS with people lol. 😂

Some ppl you just instantly click with, and others... maybe not? Again, no big deal imo. As long as everyone is respectful of others on set, and you work well together, that's all that matters imo.

Most don't work on films or TV shows to become everyone's best friend lol 😆 It's great if you DO make friends, but that's not what happens all the time. Even Tom has talked about how he hasn't always felt like he clicked with ppl on some film sets.... and that's okay!

sorry this is so out of the blue but it’s so so nice seeing other SEA trans people!!! i feel like i never come across people like me online (esp. in nsfw spaces) so this blog genuinely came as a really pleasant surprise <3 also ur outfit in that bunny post is SO cute

okay this probably wont make sense to people who arent poc but this actually means so much to me. i have a really big history on having internalized racism and feeling like im "lesser than" white people. to be honest, it still effects me to this day in small ways, but thats another topic for another day- there are so many layers that influence how i see my race that connects with my sexuality and gender identity that you cant really explain to others, they just have to experience it themself.

(im gonna put the rest under the cut because this is probably gonna be long and i dont wanna clog your dashboard/screen)

another thing is that ive felt like i was a "lesser" asian as well. im not chinese, japanese, or korean so my entire identity of being asian is constantly being questioned and pushed aside because im not one of the pretty, well known asians. it made me feel inferior for so long and took me years to get over, and honestly im not sure if im over it yet, but its definitely died down more.

this ask means so much to me because it makes me feel like just by existing as a south east asian, (a group of people that are often ignored and doubted as to whether or not theyre the race they are) and being proud of it, im helping my people not be ashamed of it too. because the sad reality is that almost every single one of my fellow south east asian friends have wished they were white when they were younger.

i wouldve done anything to get younger me to be proud of his color, rather than trying to whiten it whenever he drew himself, rather than wishing he were american, and rather than despising his own country and people for 12 years. he was blinded by inferiority to the point were it became a mindset that we were lesser. that white people are cooler and more advanced, that my countrys history was boring, and that my culture could never compare.

when i was 13 i finally got out of that mindset, but little bits and pieces linger around that i try my best to ignore. now iam an adult man that is proud of my countrys culture, music, fool and people. it makes me happy that i made someone go "oh i found someone else like me!" because yes! we are like each other! and im so glad you feel proud of that, since i am too!!! surprisingly, we arent that uncommon, i have a whole friend group of south east asians that are also trans, you just have to look closely to find us hehe

theres a whole other topic about how me being poc (that isnt all that common or well known) affects my experience being queer but honestly thats a suuuuper long topic i could talk about for hours, so i wont get in to that here. anon, if youre still reading this because i know this is long as hell, please feel free to dm me so we can talk!! i wanna get to know a fellow trans south east asian, and who knows, we might even be from the same country!

last thing, im happy you guys like my outfit in the bunny posts, will post more pictures of me in it i swear! 💜 thats all i can fit in to one post, again, thank you so much anon. i hope you have a great day 😊

I love reading.

I frequently select novels which are just So Long it takes me weeks to months to finish them. Making speed reading through a couple a week (my dream) unobtainable. I mean, I like reading nonfiction too, and maybe because of old college cramming skills I can read 2-4 400 page nonfiction books a week if Im okay with feeling tired all week.

Which, I have some niche recs if you're into non fiction: Stalking the Wild Pendulum by Bentov, When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate, Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn, The Reality of ESP by Russel Targ if youre into remote viewing history, Psychic Discoveries beyond the Iron Curtain by Ostrander and Schroeder on archive.org if youre into parapsychology and looking for other names to look into further since tbh this book is more journalism-entertainment than nonfiction reference also this books fairly old now, Immortal Remains - from a philosophy angle it was okay but frustrating to me except i got some good sources for further reading mentoned... but I prefer the UVA youtube lectures and the research they do since i just tend to prefer reading collected information myself, The Emotion Code - not necessarily informational in a verified sense but if youve ever considered paying money for an emotion code practitioner i liked the book cause i could just Learn the method and try it myself... free... and test and decide for myself regardless of if ifs placebo if its actually helpful to me or not, The Ancient Science and Art of Pranic Healing - this book doesnt have studies sourced as its more about teach The technique but i like that it lists sources for further reading - and its another case of "well i can just learn, test it on myself, see if its helpful or not" also im an absolute nerd about older books and the considerations that went into X book at Their time compared to now... if you ever saw my language learning textbooks collection from 1800s books to 2023 books youd know.

Speaking of here are some Fascinating Language Learning books. If youre curious about the Nature Method as in learn a language IN the lamguage by comprehensible context I recommend Ayan Academy playlists on youtube and the books: English by the Nature Method, Lingua Latina, La Francais Par Le Methode Nature, L'Italiano Secondo il Metodo Natura, Poco a Poco. (I also have many a youtube channel lessons recommendation for this learning method as I prefer it). For textbooks to learn primarily with graded reading materials Ive got: Beginning Chinese, Intermediate Chinese, and Advanced Chinese by John DeFrancis, Spanish for beginners by Charles Duff, French for Beginners Charles Duff, A Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons for Mastering the Written Language by Roy Miller (steep learning curve but decent preparation for reading actual novels and news which is great because i find a lot of japanese textbooks hover at beginner-intermediate but dont bridge all the way to necessary skills to understand complex texts). Cool books: Chinese Self Taught by The Natural Method by John Darroch (old af and some information is outdated and the pinyin system Hurts so focus on actual hanzi - but the grammar explanations are the easiest ive read and enjoyed reading), Japanese in 30 Hours (its basic japanese but it explains basic grammar understandably and helps you get a basic mental framework for the language making further study, i felt, much easier to adjust to, and its a short quick Study Up Basics book - id especially recommend it to people planning to learn using immersion/comprehensible input asap as it will give them a little bit of a skeleton to lean on), japaneseaudiolessons.com is an interesting introduction to audio flashcard lessons (fun fact glossika is just an expensive version of audio flashcard study which are just... audio in target language then a language you understand so you comprehend the sentence meaning and can learn new words/grammar from it by listening) and the site has a free grammar book to accompany it AND the site makers made kanji teaching books that come the closest to providing prewritten mnemonics for meaning AND pronunciation of japanese kanji in book study form. Something i appreciate since heisig books make you Make Up Your Own mnemonics so i find his books useless, and many japanese kanji teaching books that use mnemonics focus on meaning and skip teaching pronunciations since its harder to include multiple pronunciations in a mnemonic. For Chinese hanzi study, my favorite book is Tuttle's Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters, the book provides mnemonic stories for pronunciation including tone, and meaning, and example words. Its the backbone of how i learned the first few hundred hanzi and Learned How to personally remember more which made continuing to learn hanzi much easier. Since that Hanzi book, ive been desperate for a similarly written book for japanese kanji and... japaneseaudiolessons.com has the most similar kind of kanji books, but theirs is a drier and therefore harder read.

Anyway wow I got lost ToT back to my older point ayy. I have no time to read these fucking long ass fiction books I keep wanting to read ;-; my focus can resolve to read a nonfiction book in a frantic 6 hours of Research Mode then burn out and lose focus until im up for the next book. But i pick these long ass fiction books, and oddly i seem to read fiction slower so maybe im like savoring it idk. But i took like 2 months to finish Silent Reading by priest so. Yeah i WISH i was getring through these novels a touch faster ;-; i have so many i wanna read. Perplexingly i also read manga super slow, so i guess any fiction i slow down and savor or something

Books im trying desperately to read, to finish, or to get to after finishing my current books: Observations by janon (a fanfic but a great one and im only 30% done after 1 week intensively reading), kamikaze girls (1/3 done then i forgot the book so its been a few months), Old Fashion Cupcake (1/4 thru and the single volume is LONG), Devilman (1/8 through maybe), Sudden Silence (this book is like 200 pages frankly i have no idea why i didnt manage to finish it in a few days), Game of Thrones book 1 (in my defense its an audiobook so im only in like chapter 3 theres a cool youtube guy who does different voices and music for the chapters), The Expanse (i just started), The Dark Forest (book 2 of three body problem series im half done then i forgot it), In The Dark book 1 (1/3 done and its just... not quite getting my attention as well as other stuff i recently read), Little Mushroom (likely to start more solidly once i finish Observations), 2ha (i got volume 4 babey!!), Can Ci Pin (id like to restart and read in earnest im in a sci fi mood lately so i think ill get obsessed with this once i start), Breaking Through the Clouds (my instincts tell me this is most likely the only crime mystery novel thats going to manage to catch my attention after Silent Reading by priest impressed me so damn much its like in my top 5 books i ever read now), discworld (im just reading little snippets as i have time), Final Girl Support Group (1/4 done then i got busy and forgot it - this is by Grady Hendrix and so far ive loved everything they write, I highly recommend My Best Friends Exorcism it was great), Guardian (i have the english translation but im... eternally chugging away at the chinese and at the end of the First Arc which ive reread in chinese like 4 times now i need to just GET PAST THAT PART TO NEW PARTS and i dont really wanna read the english translation until ive read the original so i can compare), so many fucking novels by priest in my to read list... sha po lang, jinse, huai dao, guomen, lord seventh, faraway wanderers, the blue seal, tai sui, liu yao, lhjc, and again Can Ci Pin... then I have Peach Blossom Debt and Imperial Uncle, and Golden Stage on the to read list too... and Thousand Autumns, Peerless. And Wu Chang Jie, and Nightfall (evernight). Oh I also started reading Vampire Hunter D omnibus and that fucker is like 800 pages. Frankly most books i buy are 400-1200 pages. Usually 600 at minimum. Oh i also started reading One Piece manga, got to Sanji's introduction arc, then like most things... i forgot i was reading it and havent picked it back up for weeks. Basically... i try to get through a book but if it takes me more than 3 days (nonfiction usually takes me 1-2 days) then i risk forgetting i was reading it, forgetting for months, picking it back up and having to start over cause i forgot it for too long -.-;

Anyway my point

Album Showcase: Dog Police - Dog Police

Okay so with some of the music posts there will be two different types I do. The first type which is this one is more of an overlook to a review of sorts on an album. The format will go in the order of how I found the album/band, a little bit of history of said band/musician/album, talking about the album cover, talking about the tracks on the cover, and then more of an overview of what songs I recommend to if I recommend the whole album. All right lets go.

So how I found out about Dog Police was back in 2016 when Todd in the Shadows reviewed Wall of Voodoo’s song Mexican Radio. In the video he mentioned Dog Police and showed a bit of the music video. I was fascinated and checked it out. I tried looking on info about the band at the time but the information was barely anything. Except I found their album and bought it.

So at the time when I found the song info on the band was scarce. The most I was able to find was they had a music video on MTV in 1983, it was a three member band, and the Amazon listing of their album states the album Dog Police was released in 2009. But this was back in 2016, over time info on said band has increased but is still limited. The band Dog Police was a side project of the Tony Thomas Trio. In 1982 is when they published the album Dog Police though in 2019 the album was re-released on vinyl and digitally which included two bonus tracks. I will go a bit further on other info on the band later when we get to the tracks.

Sorry for the quality of the picture of the album cover but this was the best I could find. I will say the cover art is quaint. I do like the toon style of the anthro dogs. It is a nice touch the titular dog police look different to one another compared to the music video. The cover is really emphasizing on the whole Dog Police part of the album while it hints at the last track outside the doorway, Our Bomb. The picture of the live action Dog Police with kiss marks is based on the actual album cover of the 1982 album under the same name (minus the kisses). I don’t have really much else to say on the album cover so we’ll move onto the music

Track 1: Dog Police

The first track of the album which is the hit song itself. Interesting thing is that the album version of the song is slightly different than the music video one. In the music video there is a build up which sets up for an odd atmosphere before the barking starts. While the album just starts straight away to the song. I wished the album did have the small instrumental build up since I felt like that really added to the song. The plot of the song is simple of a guy goes on a date with a dog lady and during said date she gets arrested by said dog police. That’s it really. However the common lyrics in the song is about the dog police themselves and how no one knows who they are. Which yeah, years ago when I found out about the song there was little to no info on the band itself and further there was even less info on the characters. Only more recently did I find out that in 1990 there was an 8 minute pilot shot for Dog Police where it is revealed that they are from outer space. Oh and  they have ESP, can run 50 miles an hour, and they can hear conversations from two miles away. Which okay sure why not. The pilot was never aired nor picked up which is sad to here. I would have loved to watch this even if it wasn’t going to be great. But anyway back to the song, the song itself is super catchy and has a fun energy to it. Though it being the first song on the album is concerning since I have heard music people talk about that you don’t want the first song of the album to be the hit one since that can make people disappointed to the rest of the album if it doesn’t live up to the first song. But hey, I want to keep an open mind so what are the rest of their songs like?

Track 2: Are You Middle Class Enough?

Uh okay, so this song is about well...being middle class. Such as having designer jeans, a water bed, having a swimming pool, and basically having a mostly easy life. The song doesn’t stick much out to me on its own. The only reason I remember it is because it comes RIGHT AFTER Dog Police which is such a genuine jam. So the transition to that to this is just bizarre. I guess it is an okay song. But again, doesn’t stick out.

Track 3: In the Studio

This song is more instrumental focused and doesn’t really have much going for it lyrics wise. Well besides saying “In the Studio” here and there. The song does have a nice sound but I don’t have strong feelings for it.

Track 4: Hamburgers

I am genuinely baffled by this song. This weird dream-feel circus sounding song about ordering hamburgers. It is just bizarre. I can’t pin down how I feel about this song besides it purely exists.

Track 5: I’m Butch

Okay, so when I first listened to this song some years back I was trying to pick apart the tone of this. Like “Is this lesbophobic? Is this transphobic?” because the lyrics is about this butch woman being masculine. But one of the lyrics is “ Saving my money for my operation (operation!)” So...like the implication of a woman being so manly she must secretly desire to be a man?? Look, I don’t know. Even now I don’t fully know the intent behind the song. Like, I know it was made in the early 80s so it being not 100% positive* (*???) about queer people isn’t shocking. But I guess because it just...being there. Not overt nor subtle, just plopped in front of me I am just not sure how to really take the song. Though I will say it is my least favorite song on the album. If it wasn’t for that, I would still rank it low for the instrumentals not being great either.

Track 6: Positive Reinforcement

Uh, this is a track. I get it is meant to be a joke that the lyrics are sad while the title is ironic but it just kind of there. The instrumentals are there and the lyrics are sparse. I would not listen to it regularly but I don’t mind it.

Track 7:  Happy

A simple song but I do like the robotic voice they use and how they do the lyric formatting with trying to start a sentence but repeating the sentence each time while adding another word. As I stated, it is simple but it at least has something going for it.

Track 8: Music

A song about music. I have even less to say about this besides that uh...it sounds okay? Like it isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. I am noticing a lot of their songs on the album just don’t stick to me since afterwards I just forget a lot of these songs exist.

Track 9: 1-800

FINALLY, another good song on this album. Now yes I still prefer Dog Police BUT this song has something the other songs don’t really have which is a fun energy. The song is about ordering a bunch of shit you don’t need and how “great” it is. This song is actually better with music video because you see the lead singer having so much fun with all the objects he orders and the use of visuals with calling the 1-800 numbers. I really dig how they used the dial number noises for the song to make a fun rhythm. This song has weirdly aged well with how the 1-800 culture has evolved to online shopping with ads for items that claim you need when in actuality it is not worth getting.

Track 10: Reproduce

Okay, the instrumentals and rhythm in this song is energetic which I really like. Took like what? Past halfway through the album to get some more fun songs again after Dog Police? Anyway, this song is about sex. Asking what our purpose is and just going “Well to reproduce I guess”. But I think my absolute favorite part of the song is the ending where the last lyric is asking about “who are the dog police?” A nice little call back to the first song. Okay so we got two other great songs on here. Hopefully the next is pretty good as well

Track 11: Doggie Fashion

I get this feeling this song is in some way connected to the first song, Dog Police, or at the very least the world of Dog Police where there are weird humanoid anthro dog alien people living alongside humans. It is a fine song I guess. The instrumentals are soft but a bit groovy. It does stand out better than the other songs I considered okay but that is it.

Track 12: F & B Man

Okay, this is a fun little funky song. It is about this F & B Man who...I don’t fully know what he does actually. He works at a restaurant? Maybe unless that is a metaphor. I don’t know. But basing on these lines,

“He's cracking that whip night and day Makes no difference straight or gay Got those waiters on their toes”

I’ll let you guys decide what this song is about.

Track 13: Our Bomb

The last song of the album. It is about the nuclear bombs the US have and how our government is willing to use it on anyone no matter who they are. I guess would could take it as a critique of nuclear bombs which like I would hope it is a more dark humor critique of such. But that is the best I can take from it. I will say I really like the instrumentals of the song a lot and how it fits with the darker subject.

Listening to the whole album I have mixed emotions about it. On the one hand there are some really good songs on here such as Dog Police, Happy, 1-800, Reproduce, Doggie Fashion, F & B Man, and Our Bomb. But the rest of the songs are just okay to I don’t really get much out of. That and the rest of the good songs come near the end of the album which if one was listening to the whole album isn’t the most fun experience. I find it so weird that Dog Police, one of their best songs, is first and they didn’t just put the rest of the better songs after Dog Police and have the later half be their not so great songs. That are spread it out better. Do I recommend this album? Well the songs I said are good I do recommend but I am not sure if I can really say that I recommend buying the whole album. I mean, you can if you want to but if I knew at the time what most of the songs would be like, I would have just gotten the select songs I liked and leave the rest behind.

theres been a discussion of reeves vs nolan take on selina recently. someone said the nolan one was better and theyre currently getting dogpiled.. what is your take on whos better?

nolan unequivocally. i feel like people get caught up in nolan selina’s occasional sexy lines (which are cringe and i do dislike, to be clear) as a means to discredit the character altogether despite the fact that there’s so much emphasis put on selina having agency and liberty to do as she chooses, which is a quintessential aspect of her dynamic with bruce. he disapproves of her actions and methods at times but he respects her personhood and he doesn’t make choices for her bc obv he doesn’t have a right to but she would also never allow him to. their dynamic in the dark knight rises is great bc it is holistically predicated on a respect for her decisions, her bitterness, and her compassion. i do think there are other criticisms you can make as to how nolan selina sort of subtly reinforces the propaganda of the trilogy; i do not have the link at the moment but when reeves’s batman came out there was a youtuber who made a video comparing reeves selina to nolan selina and talked about how the latter’s whiteness did play into her ability to escape confinement and consequences easily, which when you juxtapose against the racism driving nolan’s casting and the recent shift to acknowledge selina as a potentially biracial character, can spark valid concerns as to limiting the potential class commentary she was actually capable of as a character (and i will address this later with respect to reeves selina). but that valid criticism aside my preference for nolan selina has to do with maintaining her character and relationship integrity, which to me is the most impt thing you can do in an adaptation. if the plot and circumstances will change, what you should at least try to do is maintain the core of the character, and nolan does that marvelously with selina and bruce (likely bc dixon, whose work the nolan movies are largely adapted from, actually tended to write these two well)

now, obv with reeves selina a huge reason for supporting her in comparison is the racial visibility, esp when you, again, consider why nolan originally rejected zoe for the role in his movies. and i do think that’s highly valid and frankly i want non-white selina, bc it makes her contentions with and distrust of the state as established in catwoman (1989) that much more palpable and worthwhile to explore. but a racebended casting doesn’t automatically do the work for you and there’s still a character integrity you have to maintain. and i think this is something not only reeves but dc writers at large tend to understand poorly. there’s so much racebending happening in comics these days and i do think it’s a useful vehicle but not as it’s actually used in practice. the changes are superficial rather than going to the root of the character. so i personally find reeves selina to be a huge insult to the character, bc rather than use that racebending as an opportunity to expand on selina and her hardline opposition to bruce and the state, it’s not really used to do much at all (which honestly can likely be attributed to the fact that everyone involved in making this script and plot was white!) and selina is instead regressed from what she was in the comic that reeves’s take on her was based on. catwoman (1989) and catwoman (1993) for that matter are huge novelties in selina’s history bc they are near insularly focused on her. we play by her rules and everyone else in the picture is a reactionary. the reeves movie turns this on its head bc now selina is subservient to bruce’s arc and to his decisions. he dictates what she does until she’s finally fed up with it, which we’re supposed to applaud despite the fact that bruce does nothing short of condescend to her and victim-blame a sex worker, and bc he ultimately saves her from her anger in the end so it’s romantic. the romance is the priority throughout the entire movie. there are brief moments of selina’s rebellion but as a whole she has no control over her arc bc bruce’s arc comes first. i also think the final scene where she says “the bat and the cat. has a nice ring to it” (or whatever it was, close enough) to be a complete misunderstanding of their dynamic at its inception. this movie purportedly based its selina on mindy newell’s work but somehow fails to recognize that mindy newell’s selina expressly disdained the idea of being associated with batman bc her independence and defiance was the entire point. even if you want to argue their dynamic in the movie is a reflection of what it has become in the comics now, those are depicting bruce and selina’s relationship with each other more than twenty years after they first met. it makes no sense to make selina so amenable to bruce in the beginning bc it completely undercuts the fact that she’s right in her class stance from the start. and it also seems to reiterate the prevalent misconception that for a romance to work between bruce and selina she has to soften her edges and anger, despite those being the exact things that made bruce attracted to and sympathetic of her

4,16, 23 & 26!

ash!!! hello <33

4. Link your 3 favorite fics right now.

: o

lemme go into my bookmarks real quick.

The onyx in radiance—look, look, i know. but give it a chance ok? it’s not age gap or predatory or whatever people have in mind about unconventional ships,,,it’s actually very very fluffy and fun and the way harry smacks riddle around is a thing of beauty. (if u do read it, make sure to read the oneshot before it too!)

Parents sitting—it’s this wip that for updated after like,,,half a decade when i’d almost given up hope but god, it’s wonderful. i love it. it’s basically deaged!hinny and the next gen kids scrambling to take care of their baby parents while finding out some rough truths about their childhoods.

Gems of great price—ok so i’m technically cheating bc this is a series of 3 fics but like. they’re short. and nice. and very very sweet. it’s harry/marcus and another lomonaaeren work (clearly i’m in a Mood these days) but i promise you’ll love it. the dynamic these two share is v v fun and i don’t think i’ve ever seen it before.

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

oof yes, so so much. arguably one of my fav parts about the whole experience. since i mostly write slice-of-life one shots, there’s not a lot of opportunities for it but i do fall into rabbit holes ab british culture/geography/food quite a lot. i think the deepest possibly might be going right back to like,,,anglo-saxon history and the vikings and all the invasions bc i was trying to figure out some cultural quirk lol (those r my fav kind tho)

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

oh man oh man. this is—a tough one. i think outsider pov, definitely. also gen tropes usually come easier to me! found family, ‘x is a good parent’, hurt/comfort etc etc. one hyper specific trope would be ‘dominant older one submits to a younger one’ esp when the former is like,,,super accomplished & intimidating compared to the latter. subversion, my beloved <3

but like. if w’re talking nsfw,,,i’m absolutely in love with writing cockwarming and blowjobs in particular.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

myself, lmao. i have terrible executive dysfunction and the attention span of a goldfish so i find it v hard to concentrate on one thing. there’s also this whole concept of the internet at the fingertips that makes things v v hard bc i keep remembering little things i wanna do or look up and then bam, distracted. like,,.someone tell me why i need to look up the difference between medieval and victorian fashions or the balkanisation of the east while trying to write sirius and harry binding?????

From this ask game

@centrally-unplanned said: As someone who doesn't follow law too closely I individually hear a lot about his decisions being unsupported and ill-considered, sort of a "just isn't that good at the law" compared to Alito's "he sure has some hot takes", but as someone who only reads opinions as-needed for other non-legal topics I ofc don't hold that opinion myself, just things you hear. I see the distinction you are drawing, which makes sense!

first of all, i am, how you say, crossfaded right now, second of all, i have barely read any of his opinions, third of all, i am extremely not a lawyer, fourth of all i am a known ~will baude simp and he might be characterized as such wrt thomas tho i would not say so. furthermore, some qualifications i would like to make: I am not trying to defend his opinions in the criminal justice sphere, I think he's overreacting to a trend among the Dems that was dead for 20-30 years, was temporarily resurrected, and appears to have been quashed (see: "victimology"); this especially goes for capital cases, I disagree with him on the necessary and proper marijuana case Randy Barnett argued, I also think that he overreaches when he posits the powers of the Presidency (esp the exclusive and *non-overridable* powers of the Presidency) via Article II and welcome much more scholarship on this before various aspects of this are set in stone (see state secrets cases and many many others), as well as the qualifications on the other post, and so many more and yet furthermore, I reject argumentum ad Bostock, textualism before original public meaning and original legal meaning before "original public meaning", and I'm anti-Borkian on the 9th amendment, and probably so many other things AND YET.

i think that he has done a real service to law by demonstrating how one can try to struggle and do originalism. if it had been just him, or just scalia, people would have dismissed it as eccentrism, an odd quirk. but with *both* of them on the court, duelling and concurring to their heart's content, people took it seriously! and now we see gorsuch, kavanaugh, and barrett are each trying to show to the country that *we can do it*. we can *actually* live under constitutional government. i especially appreciate him disagreeing very publicly with the supposedly settled precedent of the Slaughterhouse Cases. i also think that contrasting New York etc. v. Bruen (authored by Thomas) with Dobbs (Alito), one sees a much sharper view of how to provide a determinate view of ascertaining rights, rights supported by text and the history of the founding etc., and less susceptible to the critique by libs that originalism is just "yadda yadda i got five votes, here's some bullshit that's sorta related that happened in the past, here's some social conservative moralizing, fuck you!". There's some more that I could go on, but I'm not sure what would be relevant to you (or any readers of this blog).

If I could offer some hypotheses as to why I think such a belief may have been propagated (and may Allah forgive me for attempting "realism" and possible assertions of bad faith), although this is a bit before my time, I believe a lot of people who are more Democrat inclined were burned hard by Bush v. Gore, and the concurrence by Rehnquist, joined by Scalia and Thomas only rubbed salt on that by suggesting (quite rightfully imo, but thankfully cabined in Moore v. Harper (2023)) that a state legislature could declare by law how that state shall delegate its electors to the Electoral College before the election, superseding the voters, and *possibly* (but now no longer as per Moore v Harper) superseding a state's constitution and the state courts (I shall refrain from speaking as to whether there could be any such emotion from the confirmation hearing and Anita Bryant). Also, I don't think that people really "got" what Alito's deal was like at his confirmation, or until possibly even a decade later when it became so obvious that Alito wasn't just a wingnut libertarian, he was a cranky sonofabitch much further to the right than John Roberts, who I have heard the media focused their fire on much more, allegedly (source: insinuations on FedSoc podcasts) because of his view on the amendments to the Voting RIghts Act during his time in the Reagan admin (I personally think there's a quite humorous analogy between the initial reactions to Gorsuch vs Kavanaugh, Josh Blackman iirc has said that Kav probably wouldn't have gotten in had not the Senate majority leadership felt it had to go "nuclear" for Gorsuch). Also, a lot of my evidence for my respect for Justice Thomas comes from the questions that he would ask during oral arguments, which he only began doing recently, because of, I believe, first the change in argumentative procedure during the remote COVID days, and then the outcry from the general listening public that his questions were much more than welcome -- and I separately respect him for his reason why he didn't ask questions much before: he didn't like interrupting people for his own purposes.

Even beyond this, I have *much* hatred for Alito, who I have never seen an opinion I've liked from, and from listening to 2+ years of oral arguments, I have *very rarely* heard an argument where Alito asked better questions/made better use of his time than Thomas, and based on a frankly very limited sample of opinions and shadow docket stuff, I don't think I've ever found Thomas saying something or agreeing with something that Alito didn't also agree with, when I found it outrageous. Also, Alito just generally strikes me as at least a bit of a political hack (a very broad umbrella that also covers Kagan, Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and maybe Thomas, Jackson, and Sotomayor, and maybe maybe Gorsuch). Also also, he seems to have very little to say about abstract issues that aren't also political (this being something I quite respect the *actual* originalists, such as they are (Thomas and Gorsuch imo), for), see the previously referred to opinion about the govt acq'd entity that is Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac as a point for Thomas. Also also also, as sort of argued above, his opinion in Dobbs is just so *meh* if not straightforwardly disappointing in Dobbs compared to Bruen. Alsox3.5, I think that he brings "turnabout is fair play" to a harmful level of "tu quoque -- it seems that if you've ever been a hypocrite in a way that he disagrees with, you may be forced, just for that reason, to suffer his wrath! But *really*, putting aside my terrible fears that eventually Alito & Barrett can get the votes endorsing *truly* theocratic rule (and putting aside as well that I think that this has a 0.25-1%ish likelihood of happening, maybe up to 5% if strategical political assassinations are normalized), my vociferous objection to Alito comes from a comment of his during oral argument in either SEC v Cochran or Axon v FTC, where he suggested that the eventual winner, trying to get the ability to challenge the constitutionality of the administrative so-called "judge" (if i'm remembering the cases right) via their allegedly unconstitutional removal restrictions in a federal district court before submitting to/requiring finalization of possibly interminable agency process, could have gotten what they were looking for via a writ of mandamus, which is supposed to be *extraordinary relief* to correct an injury under *clearly established law* (the supposed "clearly established law" that Alito suggested was Seila Law, which was itself suggested as being a drasting break from how things have been, and I think, having not read that opinion, it was not necessarily settled how the decision should impact the SEC and FTC esp given Humphrey's Executor). I could dismiss this as a one-off comment, were he not also similarly arguing on the shadow docket (stays, injunctions, etc.) in either motions granted or the newly-so-called "dissentals" (dissents from denials of X where X may be an injunction, a grant of certiorari, etc.), in a similar way, for such hasty new application of very strong changes to the law, and i have not heard a good theory or explanation for this -- in fact, when i've heard will baude forced to take a position on these things, iirc he has described it as "not great", and I have heard very little/no discussion of this from my feed of FedSoc's YT channel!

To prevent it very simply, I think that Thomas offers a vision of judging that, while ofc susceptible to critique and improvement (like all human reasoning), in my view, offers analytical tools that can be used regardless of partisanship and my main issue with him is that I don't think he goes far enough -- I really cannot wait to hear his ideas on the original meaning of the 14th amendment. Alito, however, what does he have to offer? Fear of being a chump? Advanced game theory? I do not expect to weep if he is easily forgotten.