#I don’t think this counts as propaganda if I’m highlighting both of them and making no definitive statements on who you should vote for

[noodleblade]

A sad day has come with Knock Out and Breakdown going against each other in the robot husband polls. Who do you vote for?

Knock Out, who became a senator so his husband could live an easy life after being discriminated for his size and speed, who undeniably loves his partner so much he couldn't imagine living in a world without him?

or Breakdown, who fought to come back from a different dimension just to be with his partner again after his death and has demonstrated time and time again a willingness to dote and care for his partner?

Whichever you chose, we all know they are 100% voting for each other and isn't that beautiful?

Petition to make them a unit, get them that 50/50 split!!! Do Not Separate!!

Don’t forget to vote below!!:)

[florianwirtz]

2020 is coming to an end and honestly I don’t really believe it. I still feel like I’m processing events happening in May. But I wanna say that I’m proud that you made it through that year and hope many good things will come to you in 2021. It was an awful situation for all of us and I hope you are not too harsh on yourself if you didn’t achieve want you wanted due to what is going on right now.

I want to take the time and say thank you for making the majority of my time a good one. Regardless of what is going on sometimes, I’m glad I got to meet so many cool people here, friends I wanna keep for life and started to treasure. I’ve been keeping myself lowkey the past month but I hope you know that I still appreciate and love you.

now my list of special people in my heart. I hope we will see us in 2021 again and thank you for everything. ❤️

@modricmio - we haven’t been in much contact lately but I hope you are well! I know I can always count on you and I love you. After all these years, I’m still grateful that I get to call you my friend. <3

@trentalexanders - milaa! Although we’ve been knowing us for quite a long time already, I feel like this year we grew particularly close! I feel like we have the perfect banter rivalry friendship where we can have a mix of banter and serious talk! It’s always so fun to talk with you and push my James Justin propaganda (I’m sorry for being quiet for a while but I hope you know it’s always gonna be him) 😘 #teamjj 

@dancefaeries - I’m still mad that your first association with me is probably that Harvey Barnes pic 🙃 because I associate you with Boilerman and I think that’s waaaay cooler (we probably should do a rate the mascot list one day) Also your awfully bland taste in men. Regardless, it’s always good to see you on my dash even if most posts consists of complaining about how you’re much older than all of us and we’re all babies 😂

@footballffbarbiex - Amy, I hope you are well and didn’t forget me! It’s been an awfully long time since the last time we talked to each other but I haven’t forgotten you! I’m still sorry for never turning in my piece for the writing challenge (maybe one day I can make it up to you 😬) but I hope you know that you are still one of the most talented writers out there! I also enjoy our talks about how salad should be eaten and tomatoes shouldn’t exist. Because having good food opinions automatically makes you the best!

@stydiaherondale - Meliiii my love! Oder sollte ich sagen Jadon’s love? 😂 ich erinnere mich immer noch gern an den Moment zurück als du mich einfach mal angeschrieben hast und ich finde immer noch, dass es einer der besten Momente war. Weil wir zusammen gerade versuchen Erwachsensein zu meistern und beide iwie keinen Plan davon haben. Auch wenn du gefühlt 80.000 Clubs supportest, für mich bleibst du der einzige Dortmundfan den ich akzeptiere. 💕

@neckarinselstrand - es ist immer wieder schön dich hier wiederzusehen! Lia,  ich hoffe du hast 2020 gut überstanden und wir werden wieder tolle Konversationen in Spanisch haben nächstes Jahr 😁 Theoretisch sollte meins ja besser sein, aber ich muss sagen, ich kann immer noch nicht viel mehr 😂

@theweatha - we haven’t been much in contact lately but I hope you know that I still appreciate you! I’m proud of you going through with that idea of the podcast as it’s always a pleasure listening to you and Liz. I hope 2020 wasn’t too messed up for you and I hope you are well xo. May we talk more in 2021 again!

@julianbrandtrelated  - Ich weiß du nutzt kein tumblr mehr (ohne dich ists nicht dasselbe) aber ich will trotzdem sagen, dass du einer der coolsten Menschen bist, die ich hier getroffen haben (man findet echt selten Leute, die 100% immer das Gleiche fühlen wie man selbst haha). Ich hoffe, dir gehts gut und wir reden mal wieder öfter demnächst ❤️

@ehrenbrandt - was soll ich noch zu dir sagen haha? Mein Tag wär nicht mehr derselbe ohne den content den du mir jeden Tag schickst oder unsere täglichen Zusammenbrüche und Jubel über Leverkusen. Auch wie du immer wieder mein liveblogging über United tolerierst, ist einfach das Beste und ohne dich Fußball zu gucken, ist seltsam! Dass du mich am Anfang des Jahres noch besuchen konntest, war eines der besten Dinge in diesem Jahr ❤️ allein die unzähligen Insider, die währenddessen passiert sind, werd ich nie wieder vergessen hahaha!  auf das wir uns hoffentlich bald wiedersehen <3

@tottenhamsstuff  - you’re a weirdo. In a good way because so am I. Will I ever tolerate your taste in men? no - but if we’d agree on everything, it wouldn’t be the same between us, so I’m fine with that. I hope you are doing well with the situation going on at your country right now and I am sorry for not reaching out sooner. I’m glad I got to know you 🤍

@danieljamesmufc  - my favourite welsh ❤️ the reason why I always have an eye on the Welsh nt and I am an honorary fan! I’m glad I got to know you and although you rep a shit footballer, I think that’s fine. Also us sharing the same bland taste in men and knowing it never gets old. Grateful for our endless chats this year and hopefully one day we do will see each other, regardless if it’s in Germany or Wales. I hope you are doing well X

@zalimaaa - so actually I have no words for you because I feel like I’ve already said everything I ever wanted to say to you. But I will never stop saying how much I actually love you, the way you always care about me and help me out of every life situation, it’s hard to imagine what I would do without you. The first time we facetimed or when we rant about life or literally everything else, it feels like we’ve known each other for an eternity. I’m always here for you and the day we meet each other will be one of the best in my life. You always know how to make me the happiest, thank you for everything in 2020 <3

@emwritesfootball  - you know what you’re annoying but in a good way. Annoying because you will never stop to take that name from the chipmunk out of your mouth. Regardless of that, you made time during lockdown bearable and I will never forget the fun chats we used to have but also the rather serious ones! I’m grateful that I got to know you and hope 2021 has something better for you in mind! Also you’re one hell of a writer and thank you for dedicating so many pieces to me (even those with the wrong person 😘), I always feel honored to be a source of inspo haha.

@shockintha - Alice!! With you, everything is fun and positive and I feel like everyone needs a person like you in life. I feel like I already said what I always wanted to say to you on your birthday but I will say once again how much I appreciate you. I know I can always turn to you about literally every topic because we either absolutely agree with each other or have a vastly different opinion about it. And I feel like these dynamics are what makes our friendship so wonderful. Thanks for always seeing the positive things in life when no one else does. I love you and hopefully we will see each other soon! <3

@idiotsfc - Alicia!! Nothing will beat your weird taste in men but since it’s so amusing and making my day, I’m fine with it 😂 thank you for always sending me lovely messages in my inbox, I love and appreciate you so much and hope you are doing well 💕

@magicmartinelli  - I know you don’t like sappy texts so I will try to keep myself short. I think it’s super cool that you like my taste in music and literally every song I send to you and how you started liking CHVRCHES because of me ☺️ the way we are secretly both sore losers and get mad about our clubs is what connects us. See ya in 2021 and congrats for avoiding relegation so far!

@donnyvandered - I feel like I’m repeating myself but it’s true that getting to know you was one of my highlights this year too. I have so much love to you and I feel like we are always on the same wave length when talking. Together with Radia we just vibe so well and I feel like if we’d ever do a triple meeting we’d get along so well. Facetiming with you both was so fun and hopefully we can repeat this much more often next year. I love you and I hope you are doing well. Thank you for everything and see you in 2021 ❤️

@duckysweater - seeing you in my inbox every time I’m here, makes me so happy and I hope you know that I have so much love for you although I don’t say it very often! You deserve the world and more, with you it’s never a bad day here, thank you for everything you do! <3

@kingkepaff - Lily you are a very sweet person and I hope you know that you are loved! You are always brightening my day when I see you on my dash and it makes me happy that you’re always in my notifications and thoughts. Love you lots!

Other blogs I like a lot (give them a follow too):

@fredtheredsarmy @tierneystescobag @jackiexxgroenen @lucystani4th @giirlinterrupted @footballerimaginess @felltoabove @yonceutd @dioogoo @inlovewithamess @barkleysbabe @turtlelightwood @songofachillespdf @leahwilliamson @joytayloranya @danieljamesthighs @skb7 @lea-schuller @ansu--fatsi @elleeceunknown @ivanafuso @farmers-league​

I also wanna say thank you to those mutuals who unfortunately deactivated or are inactive. You are always in my thoughts and I hope you are doing well.

Another special shoutout to my arsenal anon and german learning anon. I don’t know what you are up to but I hope you’re having a great time, it’s always good to have you in my inbox!

Also any other reoccurring anon who is always making my day or simply needs to rant, you make it worth leaving the anon feature turned on!

In the end, I love all of you very much. Thanks for making my tumblr experience the way it is

over and out, Liv XO

[dotzines]

Artist Spotlights!

🎤 Penco 🥁 PikaPlushing 🎷 Pine

🎺 Pip 🎸 Primarinite 🎻 Propaganda101

Interview below the cut!

Introduce yourself

🎤 Hello hello! Penco here! I've been drawing ever since I was little but it's only been recently that I've started to take art a bit more seriously. I like digital art but traditional art has been my favourite form for years, particularly watercolour art. You can find me on Instagram and Tumblr as pencokun! 🥁 I'm a digital and traditional artist. I'm interested in video games, Japanese culture, Anime, Vocaloid, Cosplay, Sewing, etc. (its a longggg list www). I'm really quiet and awkward in person, but once I get to know you, I'm pretty much cursed trash. You can find my art accounts here: https://www.instagram.com/vladslab/ , https://twitter.com/vladslab98 , https://vladslab.tumblr.com/ 🎷 I recently turned 18 and reside in the chaotic state of Florida. A common theme in my drawings include clowns, angels and demons. I have a hard time finding interests but I like Demon Slayer and had a long addiction to Overwatch along with Osomatsu-san (which I don’t understand but glad I had fun hehe). I post art only on dA:@pinekun and iG:@pinefii :,D 🎺 I'm a being of chaos and insomnia, im both a traditional and digital artist as well as an aspiring animator you can find my art at my Instagram @jl_artsandcreations and Tumblr @jl-artsandcreations 🎸 I'm a 19 year old digital artist! My usual art has a very cartoon style, with my main drawing interests being furry oc's and Pokemon. My art blog is primarinite.tumblr.com and my art Twitter is twitter.com/primarinart. 🎻 Hey, the name's Wreath! I don't know how to write these types of things but i'll try! I like drawing, musical theater and fashion. I'm mainly a digital artist but I do traditional art on occasion. You can find me on Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/propaganda-101

Do you do commissions post? Where can we find the info?

🥁 https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17930193547305258/

🎷 https://www.instagram.com/p/B4wCeeWBUr_/

🎸 https://primarinite.tumblr.com/post/189367724219/ive-redone-my-commission-sheet-to-include-updated

Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing?

🎤 Mostly music but I also like to work in silence whenever I'm working on details. 🥁 Usually I'll have my headphones on and listen to different types of music depending on the feel of the piece I'm trying to make. 🎷 I like to listen to music or watch an anime while I draw! 🎺 Yes, I listen to music while drawing 🎸 I have a playlist full of my favourite songs and go to that when I want some music. 🎻 Yup! I find that I work better if i'm listening to music especially if the music fits with the theme/aesthetic. But if i'm bored I might watch youtube while drawing.

What’s your favorite music artist/band? If you could ask your favorite band/music artist one question, what would it be?

🎤 My number one is definitely ABBA! I grew up with their music, after all. 🥁 I love anything Vocaloid, but if I had to choose, my favorite producer would probably be Neru or Deco*27. As for bands, Autoheart, Three Days Grace, Mother Mother and Breaking Benjamin. One question I'd love to ask any of them would be what inspired them to start music and what keeps them going. 🎷 My current favorite artist is Conan Gray but I also really appreciate Hobo Johnson. Hm, what’re their favorite songs? :^0 🎺 I don't really have a favorite music type if I like it I like it but if i had to choose it would be the singer Nico Collins sice i love all his songs 🎸 My favourite band is either Deaf Havana or Wolf Alice. 🎻 Though they are technically a fictional band, my favourite band is Hello Happy World. Their music warms my cold dead heart. I don't actually know what i'd ask them, i'd probably ask them for a hug and to have a good day.

Do you play an instrument? If not would you like to play one? Which one?

🎤 I can play the melodica but I'd love to be able to play the piano and any of the string quartet. 🥁 I've played the piano for nearly my whole life. 🎷 I used to play violin in orchestra for one year, which my tiny hands do not cooperate with. I also had one year of guitar class. 🎺 I don't play an instrument now but I use to play the clarinet but now i would like to play the piano 🎸 I would really like to learn the guitar one day! 🎻 I mean, if your voice counts as an instrument then yes I do, but if not then i'd like to play drums.

Which song(s) are you going to draw?

🎤 I've drawn Lenka's "Trouble Is A Friend" for this zine and I'll also be drawing Cecile Corbel's "Bal de Chats". �� My main piece is Flower Tail feat. KAITO by yuukiss. 🎷 I think Conan Gray-Comfort Crowd, unless I have some big brain blast moment for another song. 🎺 Killing Butterflies by Lewis Blissett and if i finish this pices early i may do another using the song Lullaby by Ellise 

🎸 Free to Breathe by Cold War Kids 🎻 Revolting Children from Matilda the Musical, because it's been stuck in my head for a full month.

What do you expect from this zine?

🎤 I expect to see real cool stuff! 🥁 I can't wait to see the wide spread of different types of music as well as all the talent of all the different artists! 🎷 To learn about what a zine community is like and to face the deadlines, as well as learn the process of one. 🎺 To broaden my horizons and get more attention on my blogs and art work 🎸 I'm excited to see all of the wonderful art being put forward for this. It's great to see so many artists from different walks of life coming together. 🎻 I expect to get introduced to a bunch of new music and artists.

Anything else you want to add?

🎤 Good luck y'all! 🥁 I'm so happy and excited to be a part of this project and I hope the best to absolutely everyone involved! Much love and take care! Please stay hydrated and sleep! 🎷 Thank you for your hard work! :^D

[scripttorture]

Torture in Fiction: Black Butler, Season 1, Episode 20

My first impression of this anime was that uh- the writer has some odd ideas about Victorian England. It makes the show a little bit strange for me; there are so many things about the way the period is portrayed that are just… wrong. For me that made the episodes I watched very jarring and distracted from the carefully constructed undercurrent of menace that runs through most episodes.

I didn’t dislike it. But I love history. I know my history. And watching this felt a little like watching an updated period propaganda piece that wasn’t written by a Brit. It’s bizarre.

But I’m not here to talk about how other cultures are depicted in Japanese media. I’m rating the depiction and use of torture, not the anime itself. I’m trying to take into account realism (regardless of fantasy or sci fi elements), presence of any apologist arguments, stereotypes and the narrative treatment of victims and torturers.

The central idea in Black Butler is that the Earl of Phantonhime, a 12-13 year old boy called Ciel, has a contract with a demon, Sebastian, who acts as his butler. Sebastian has agreed to serve Ciel in any way he desires in exchange (eventually) for Ciel’s soul.

Ciel has used this power to fight crime in the Victorian underworld and try to protect the interests of the Queen as well as get revenge on the people who murdered his family.

I haven’t watched the whole series, so I might well miss some points as we go into this. The episode I’m focusing on is 20, which is close to the end of the first season. I’m aware that part of Ciel’s backstory is child abuse, but I couldn’t find a clear indication of which episodes actually covered this. So I choose to stick to the episode that inarguably depicts torture.

Ciel is being framed for drug smuggling. The officer arresting him states that a Lord can’t be tortured but no such rules apply to butlers. Ciel orders Sebastian to show no resistance but to reveal his power only when Ciel calls for him.

Ciel is taken to- what I presume is meant to be a police station it’s never made clear. Sebastian is taken to the Tower of London and a set up that looks like it predates the Tower. The camera pans over instruments from Anglo-Saxon times and the Tudor period.

The torturer (who also looks like he pre-dates the Tower) seems excited to have someone to hurt. He comments on Sebastian’s beauty and talks about cutting out Sebastian’s eyes as he judges these to be Sebastian’s best feature. He then decides to ‘save the best til last’ and approaches Sebastian with a set of metal pincers instead.

Up to this point the torture appears to be aimed at forcing a confession from Sebastian that will incriminate Ciel.

Some time later an angel (and recurring adversary for Ciel and Sebastian) comes into the cell. She comments on how humiliating this must be for Sebastian, dwelling on the fact he’s allowed himself to be injured in the course of fulfilling his contract. She then wonders how long it has been since Sebastian consumed a human soul and how long he’s waited to consume Ciel’s. She says he must be ‘starving’ and offers him all the souls he can eat if he surrenders Ciel’s to her.

Sebastian refuses and the angel whips him. She doesn’t question him or ask for a confession but spouts some very Spanish Inquisition-like guff about repentance and cleansing souls by fire.

In the mean time a police officer takes pity on Ciel. He thinks Ciel is being framed and seems to see Ciel as an innocent child in need of protection. He allows Ciel to escape.

Ciel finds one of the men responsible for framing him, breaks into the man’s carriage and holds a gun to his head. He demands to know the truth. The man he threatens tells him everything.

I was honestly unsure how to rate this because, while there are some elements of torture apologia here, the most unrealistic element throughout is historical: the portrayal of torture in these episodes does not match the era or the culture. I’m inclined to rate that as a ‘bad’ point, it’s unrealistic, but at the same time it’s nowhere near as serious as excusing or condoning torture.

Fiction shouldn’t have to be entirely historically accurate.

At the same time the way the author chose to use torture in this plot and the way in which she chose to divert from history don’t sit well with me. I’ve changed the review format slightly in order to accommodate some discussion of why that is.

In the end I decided to give it 2/10

Elements that are not Historically Accurate

The Tower of London was not used as a prison during the Victorian era. By this time most of the institutions the Tower had housed had been moved elsewhere and the building was in a state of disrepair. As far as I can tell for most of the Victorian period the Tower was being rebuilt.

Use of burning tortures, pincers and threats to remove eyes would all have been illegal for a few hundred years by this point. They were typical of Anglo-Saxon tortures but this pre-dates the Tower and regular use of the Tower as a prison. I’m unsure if any of these tortures were routinely carried out in the Tower but they certainly weren’t common practice anywhere in Britain during this era.

The visual choices for the depiction of the torture chamber and the torturer are- well to me they’re utterly ridiculous and out of the place. It’s a Tudor structure and stereotype, beside Anglo-Saxon instruments, menacing a Victorian butler.

The religious bent that the scenario takes when the angel starts torturing Sebastian is really not typical of torture in Britain at any period. The idea of torture cleansing souls and torture primarily motivated by religion owes more to the Spanish Inquisition then the Tower. Religious minorities were tortured and persecuted in Britain but as far as I can tell from the sources I have this was much more about prejudice and politics then religion. It wasn’t about ‘repenting’ and full confessions to save souls. Both of these ideas were rooted in Catholic Christianity and by the Victorian times Britain had been Protestant for a considerable period.

The ideas that Lords were, at any period of British history, exempt from torture is ludicrous. The titled gentry were tortured, both as punishment and to extract confessions. Sometimes they were tortured just because the current monarch didn’t like them that much. So far as I can tell the only punishment titled gentry were exempt from was hanging, drawing and quartering: the gentry were beheaded instead.

Underlying this there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the British class system functions. It stands out because the scenario is so focused on the divide between classes: the entire plot relies on toying with the unequal relationship between master and servant.

The Good

The artwork highlights a lot of Sebastian’s injuries, avoiding any suggestion that torture is harmless.

Sebastian doesn’t give either of his torturers what they want. He doesn’t incriminate Ciel, he doesn’t confess and he doesn’t repent.

The Bad

Ciel getting accurate, useful information from an enemy at gunpoint isn’t possible and it’s an idea that’s rooted in torture apologia. It suggests that if you make someone afraid or cause them pain they’ll be forced to tell the truth. That isn’t how the human brain works.

Torture doesn’t have a lasting impact on this story. It’s here to keep Sebastian away from Ciel for a narratively convenient period of time. It could be replaced with a huge range of things without having any impact on the plot.

The choice of older historical tortures in this context doesn’t sit well with me because it’s choosing to show scarring tortures instead of the clean ‘non-scarring’ tortures typical of the time. To me this suggests that the author only considers scarring tortures to be ‘proper’ tortures and believes the audience will feel the same.

Sebastian is unmoved by torture and doesn’t give in to his torturers’ demands. But the story leaves it ambiguous as to whether this is because torture doesn’t work or because as a demon Sebastian is immune. It’s very easy to watch this and walk away with the impression that Sebastian is the exception, not the rule.

Even without a clear idea what happened to Ciel he doesn’t really show any of the symptoms I’d expect from a survivor. Let alone a child survivor. There’s also no indication he’s been through any kind of recovery process and improved.

Miscellaneous

While I don’t think the story suggests torture is harmless Sebastian doesn’t really show pain. Usually I would put this down as a bad point because it downplays the damage torture does. But in this case it seems to be linked heavily to the fact Sebastian isn’t human, it’s linked to his supernatural abilities. And as a result I’m not sure how to categorise it because it’s not clear if is showing victims are unaffected by torture or that Sebastian as a demon isn’t.

Overall

While I don’t think this is a bad series, on balance I do think this is a bad use of torture.

There is some apologia here although unusually it isn’t the main focus and much of it is down to interpretation rather than what the narrative states or shows.

But the choice of anachronistic tortures isn’t neutral here. It’s feeding into a large popular misconception that the only abuses that ‘really’ cause pain also leave physical scars.

Most tortures now leave no obvious physical marks and this misconception puts survivors in a position where they’re asked to ‘prove’ they suffered enough to count.

On top of that the use of torture here seems unnecessary. The only function it’s serving is keeping Sebastian out of the main plot for a while. There’s no lasting impact on the plot or the characters and the result is that torture here is rather toothless.

Combined with the narrative use of threats to extract accurate information and Ciel’s lack of symptoms the result is a repeated suggestion that abuse doesn’t have a lasting impact and only scarring abuse ‘counts’.

That suggestion probably isn’t intentional but it comes from ignorance of the subject the author is trying to depict. It also comes from using abuse as a narrative short cut rather than trying to engage with the topic.

In the end I think the problem with Black Butler’s use of torture comes down to this: the author could easily have replaced it with something else. And when that’s the case the writer does both torture and the narrative a disservice.

Available on Wordpress.

Disclaimer

[asoue-sideblog]

Thoughts on the grim grotto?

I think it was my favorite of the S3 episodes. I really enjoyed it and there were a ton of things I was super happy to see adapted. There was a great moment where Olaf challenges the Baudelaires’ morality and says “I thought you Baudelaires always put your siblings first” which I especially want to highlight.

I thought Netflix Fiona was a much weaker character than the book version, but I liked her a lot.

In the context of S3, I think it contributed to absolutely gutting all of my favorite themes, motifs, and morals of ASOUE, so there’s a lot of relatively minor changes that in a larger context I find very frustrating. If what had happened in the rest of the season was more palatable, they wouldn’t be a big deal.

More detail under the readmore. Warning: pretty long. Also contains spoilers for episodes / book details beyond The Grim Grotto.

Fiona

I’m really glad they showed how the ways that Fiona acted like her stepfather were because of how he mistreated her and how she didn’t really understand what to do, rather than her simply being an obnoxious person who had decided on her own that that was a cool way to behave. That was exactly what I hoped for and I think that part of her characterization was done really well. However, unpleasable bitch that I am, I actually think they went too far in making Fiona sympathetic. To quote tumblr user atwq:

The overall theme of the show, however, seems to be that ‘when desperate, noble people can do things that look to others like wicked acts but are actually justified’ rather than the actual chef’s salad philosophy.

Book Fiona did seriously messed up things. She threw the Baudelaires in the brig for real and made them try to bribe or bargain their way out. Book Fernald wasn’t a reluctant villain who was with Olaf against his natural inclination to kindness - he was cruel and violent and had to be begged to spare a baby’s life and offered Count Olaf the Medusoid Mycelium for no reason with no hesitation - and that’s the brother Fiona was loyal to above all else. Klaus wasn’t just heartbroken because they had to part ways - she really did him wrong. Despite that, she wasn’t evil. As a reader, I could sympathize with her and forgive her for what she did. That made her a strong character and a great precedent to the Baudelaires sinking to similar depths in The Penultimate Peril.

I really like Netflix Fiona. Great acting, really fun character. Still weaker than book Fiona. Same with Netflix Fernald.

Also they simplified Captain Widdershins’ mistreatment of Fiona down to just him not telling her enough, lying about Fernald, and leaving for mysterious reasons, rather than like… him belittling her interests and making creepy statements about rewarding Klaus with her hand in marriage and leaving her in the middle of a life-and-death crisis without even a lie as an explanation. And then Fernald and Fiona reunite with Captain Widdershins happily ever after in The End - yeah, that doesn’t fix shit.

I didn’t like the direction Netflix went with Anwhistle Aquatics, but I loved how it contextualized Fiona offering the MM to Olaf as like… Fernald’s worst nightmare. I thought that was great.

I actually kinda liked Netflix Fiona/Klaus. The age gap doesn’t feel as present because Louis looks so much older than thirteen… of course, it still is present, so it’s still not really great. But Louis Hynes did a really, really good job playing Klaus as goofy and lovestruck. I think they had the most chemistry out of all the kid ships in Netflix.

I guess the rivalry between Fiona and Violet was okay-ish. The implication was reasonably clear that Violet thought Fiona’s mission was a bad idea (slash was trying to debunk Fiona’s mission so she could run off and meet Quigley instead) and Fiona didn’t want to admit that yes, it totally was. But it wasn’t really written great and it had a really strong vibe of “two similar strong-willed women will always fight at first” which is just such bullshit.

Weakening the themes of the book

In the book, Fiona and the Baudelaires did everything right. They found out where the Sugar Bowl would be. They went on a daring mission to risk their lives to recover it. It wasn’t there. Everything started going wrong and they never got to find out why. They never learned if their calculations had been wrong or if someone else had removed it. The reader learns it is the latter, but we never get to find out exactly who took the sugar bowl. The Baudelaires’ story fails to reward their effort with the expected result, because of the chaotic interference of the larger world outside of them, and not even the readers get to fully understand it. The world does not make sense; the world is not fair.

In Netflix, the Baudelaires see what happened to the sugar bowl, and it’s due to another important character. Both the Baudelaires and the readers understand everything that happened and it’s all part of the Baudelaires’ story. The feeling of cruel and incomprehensible randomness and complexity is gone.

(Although at least Kit sending Quigley was like… the one example of Netflix Kit showing the moral ambiguity and manipulation of book Kit. Sending a child after the sugar bowl, where he’d be trapped alone and helpless on the burned wreck of Anwhistle Aquatics - yikes, Kit.)

Likewise, the Anwhistle Aquatics story is stripped down to a basic version, which is explained in its entirety, and relates to characters that the Baudelaires and the readers know and care about. Burning AA is pinned entirely on the morally ambiguous Fernald, rather than casting doubt on ~super cool and noble~ Kit Snicket and a larger plot within VFD. We don’t get the implication that VFD was publishing propaganda stories to lie to the general public. And later, there’s no vague and concerning connection between the Baudelaire parents and Anwhistle Aquatics, because the planned tunnel in The End is not mentioned.

Furthermore, the villains are simply given a submarine by the gruesome twosome, rather than taking submarines that VFD had created. An extremely minor detail, but part of a larger trend of diminishing how VFD had created and empowered the firestarting side and all of their weapons.

Fernald’s statement about “there is no right side of the schism” comes across as one troubled man’s mistake rather than (as I interpret the book version of Fernald saying that, or whatever equivalent dialogue he’d said in the book) a terrible truth coming from a villain who’s right for all the wrong reasons.

[thebrewstorian]

Pop Culture Conference 2017: Beer Culture: Session 4: International brewing

The last session of day one in the beer culture track at the PCA/ACA 2017 conference was on international beer culture.

And yes, you’ll understand why I’ve included this picture if you keep reading... 

First up was Sam Goodman, who gave a paper entitled "Beerexit: politics, identity, and nation in British Beer Exit." It was fascinating on many levels, but the main one for me is the overlap in this sort of "political performance" I feel like we've been drowning in on our side of the pond.

I'm a bit obsessed with British mysteries, but am far from fluent in the nuances of British politics, but Goodman did a great job establishing the connections between beer, political/national identity, and pub space. He focused specifically on some main players in the Brexit vote last spring: Nigel Farage, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson. All wealthy elites who, as Goodman said "convinced poorer class they understood" through lies, some statistics, and beer. And interestingly they used bars as "impromptu" stages for political rallies

On a more general level it's easy to see how British beer brands and movements like CAMRA link to regionalism or national pride, but Goodman sees in this a tendency to lionize an imaginary British past, as well as justify an exclusionary or aggressive form of nationalism. We can understand this through what Raphael Samuel calls theaters of memory, which are seen at the end of empires when citizens are keen to remember and celebrate the past as a part of their desire to hold onto a disappearing world.

This is seen in many ways, but for the purposes of beer culture this harkening back to a time when Britain was pre-eminent is reflected in pub culture and consumers. Pubs in England have been seen as a "leveled" space, a third space where personal and professional lines blur. Historically, pubs have been a place for politics and a celebration of national mythos, this sense of living in an old country and having regular encounters with national history/heritage. And for consumers and politicians this has taken the shape of a "performative pint drinker," the man in the pub persona.

We looked at great pictures of these politicians drinking, with one of the best sites being the Tumblr blog "Pictures of Nigel Farage with a Pint." 

Apart from the very Britishness of their surroundings and their tweeds or hats, these men are also adhering to an unspoken (but maybe well understood) rule that they drink an IPA. This acts to call attention to a post-war heyday when you could celebrate Englishness -- and to them this is before the decline of all things traditional (read “good”) c/o the EU where the focus has been more on inter nation cooperation. But even if you don't actually understand the back story of the British pub culture or get the EU issues, it doesn't make a difference because you can still catch the broad English stereotypes.

Tim Martin, a known leave supporter, owns a pub chain that nicely illustrates this -- JD Wetherspoon. It opened in 1979, is known for being cheap with long open hours, for whimsy and eccentricity, for repurposed business or commercial buildings, and for its MANY locations. These spaces definitely play up the link to nostalgia and British history, but also offer an opportunity to think about issues such as an "Anglo-sphere" or history linked to empire building.

Interestingly, though Paul Nuttal has bemoaned the decline of British pubs and British life, this hazily defined traditionalism via British beer and pub rallies doesn't always come across to voters, and so he's now looking to move away from the pub thing. Though he probably won't move away from the "tweed."

Speaking of national identity, John Gillespie have a great talk called "The People’s Drink: The Politics of Beer in the German Democratic Republic." The post-WWII German state was shattered by the war and 1945 eradication of their entire government. Provisional governments were set up by the Allied Occupation, resulting in the east/west split we know about. This split solidified in the 1950s as the cold war heated up.

Obviously beer is an important part of German identity, linked with both material and traditional values. It was used as a sort of propaganda in the German Democratic Republic. Gillespie discussed how the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (and Soviets?) thought about when and where beer was appropriate in a socialist state, specifically how it could show shared values and be adapted to a larger socialist agenda.

East Germany couldn't keep up with the West Germans in production since they had less money and support for rebuilding their infrastructure. Though major manufacturing facilities weren't renovated or built right away, in the 1950s/1960s there was work done to reimagine and renovate drinking spaces, removing the dark pubs, focusing on avoiding abuse, increasing the production of bottled beer to break the link with social spaces (despite renovations), and how to be in line with the policy of "social engineering" championed by the Socialist Unity Party. Part of the regime's message was "we are in this together," and beer was one way to highlight a shared national identity. They wanted people to know that they were building German "Everyman."

Liquor was not part of this plan, but although beer and wine didn't face as much objection, any alcohol consumption was still complicated for socialists and communists. Drinking beer led to contentedness and leisure time. At the same time, it was a sort of social lubricant, and many workers saw pubs as a social space and a place for solidarity. So a total prohibition wasn't ever adopted, but a key point to alcohol related policies was to link to the "people, acknowledging the politics of consumption (whether they are good or bad) and see how beer could be seen as a cultural commodity in a system where socialism provides the same "comforts" as capitalism.

So in this new image of beer there was an inherent social message. You could consume it in modern cafe and restaurants, at home in leisure time, outside in sun, etc, etc. There were accepted spaces for alcohol consumption that were linked to healthy proletariat citizens.

Finally, because there was an understanding of how important beer was for the general world image, as well as their self image, you did see infrastructure improvements and solid course of growth for East German breweries.

One thing I am still curious about is the idea of opaque and transparent nationalism or coercion via a sort of celebration of national identity.  I will resist my urge to get very political right now, and will avoid commenting on the "America First" rhetoric by asking you to think on your own about whether the Englishness and socialist campaigns I've described in this post are honestly communicating with the general populace. Or are they counting on people to be swayed by soundbites, fun pictures, and fancy words?

[nacsygen]

speaking of fashion, i feel like rambling about my boobs, and this is my tumblr, so i will.  also bc this is tumblr, i will frame my rambling about my boobs in the context of my mental health journey.

over the past coming up on four years, my mental health has had a drastic (thought not constantly) upwards trajectory, from ‘’trembling waif unable to hold a conversation without wanting to literally run and hide and/or cry’’ to ‘’wow, i just realized it’s been like two years since i felt like absolute shit for no real reason for more than, like, a day at a time. is this like...is this what being happy is like? wow!*” *”oh shit, now i have to actually live past 25...” part of it was maturing yes, bc no matter what bullshit they tell you, you’re still growing and maturing in your 20s too - and after that, too, for your whole life, really.  the idea that you should have all your shit figured out by the time you’re 22 is some kind of implied propaganda we all internalized around when they were showing us the charts in middle school that showed the average incomes of people with different levels of degrees.  and if you’re not the kind of person to have your shit together by 22 - say, you’re not neurotypical, or you’ve got un-dealt-with-traumas, or you’re just not the kind of person or at the stage in your life where post-secondary is the right fit for you, or any combination of the above, or anything else - when you DON’T have your shit together by the time you’re “supposed” to, it just feels like salt in the wound, when you’re different.  it feels - no, it IS damaging, especially if you’ve never been able to really internalize the idea that it’s O K to be on a different life path than what you’re “supposed” to be.  that is, in fact, the very thing that culminated in the worst and last (and i sincerely hope it’s the LAST) depressive episode of my life, around my 25th birthday. i feel sorry for the girl who was me from 20 to 25.  poor thing hurt a lot, and too often. but the main part of my getting better was just getting help.  or rather, my mom reaching out to do the research for me, finally recognizing that i wasn’t going to magically get better on my own and that guilt tripping and anger were not helping my crippling depressive withdrawal (and while i know that the physically disabled tend to not care for the psychologically disabled using the term “crippling”, in my case it definitely extended to the physically disabling in several very literal ways that i won’t get into here).  my mom did the research and made me make the calls.  i was very lucky that there was a low-income mental health center 15 minutes down the road.  i was exceedingly lucky in that i got an incredible counselor who’d been through it herself, herself now (then) in her late 20s, early 30s, maybe one or two levels up from where i am now. my sessions with her literally changed and quite probably saved my life.  i went from crying in every session and her gently and considerately seeing me out the back door of the office to minimize the strangers who’d see my raw vulnerability, to the sessions being the highlights of my week, with me eager to share with her my progress - to delight in finally becoming my true self again, to be vibrant, to find joy in things, to have things i could be happy to share with a professional friend. because of her guidance i learned how to change the way my mind had wired itself in a negative way, and to love myself again.  because of her i was able to move on, move out, become self-sufficient - eventuallym because of how she taught me, to take care of myself and to keep growing, to love myself the way i love the world. to be happy, most of the time, when at the time we first met, i wasn’t sure i ever would be again. to take care of myself again but i was talking about boobs and fashion, right? the thing is, i’ve had essentially the same body type, my “adult” body, since i was 13.  this body has, no matter its weight fluctuations, had proportionately significant breasts.  (a blog post about afab body image and mental health would not be complete without at least one teenaged semi-traumatic anecdote - i once when i was in eighth grade got accosted by a group of older girls in the courtyard at school before class, demanding to know what i stuffed my bra with, and getting increasingly hostile and physically investigating said bra with harsh gropes when i said i didn’t stuff it at all. this was, needless to say, humiliating and traumatic, and i didn’t wear that tight turtleneck again for years.)   the thing is this body that contains me is also exceedingly small in all other directions (except my head, i’ve got an adult human-sized head) compared to normal humanity.  very short in height, narrow ribcage, ectothermic body structure, narrow limbs, narrow hips, child-sized hands and feet, etc.  even when i was at my lowest weights, which i will always associate more with my worst depressive episodes than any kind of diet-culture positive, even when they were to my eye as flattened pancakes, i still had pretty alright boobs that i liked. but then, once i got healthy again, i naturally gained healthy weight.  it came with eating more healthily, and eating with purpose, and not just because i would die if i didn’t, and even for a depressive starvation’s not a good way to go.  it came from caring for the human animal, from realizing that i could never live with myself if i neglected a pet the way i was treating my human animal, because if i didn’t care for it, who would? eating with structure, at set times every day, and maintaining at least a mininum amount of calories needed, necessarily entailed that i would gain weight. and i welcomed that! most of my body issues when i was younger stemmed from my skinniness - i hated my fragility. i longed for and desired (in the gay way too, and probably though i didn’t realize it yet the non-cis way) and wished to be like girls with weight and heft to them, girls with thick thighs and arms, girls with muscle, girls with softness and roundness, girls with strength and solidity of frame. in comparison i felt like a ghost close to being torn to pieces in the wind, a collection of fragile bone in the shape of a person.  but that’s not who i am anymore, and that’s no longer what i fear. but at least i always had my boobs, and with them, with being healthier mentally and physically going hand in hand, i was and have been able to measure my own healthiness by their size. by cupping them in my hands and counting how many fingers it takes to go from ribcage to the edge of areola, i can measure my own growth and well-being.  they’re most of where i gain weight, and i’ve gone from two fingers and change at the worst to all four fingers plus a spare inch, besides, now, at what is currently the best. despite my current stressful situation, i am ultimately at my healthiest physically and mentally i’ve been since i was like 11.  more, even, because i’m no longer anemic.  and accordingly, my breasts are the largest they’ve ever been (not counting that time i was on birth control for a couple months, and my least tactful roommate asked if i was pregnant, and i stopped taking it because i decided crying myself to sleep every night for no reason probably wasn’t worth it).   which brings me to fashion. and boobs. i’ve alluded to here and outright stated before that i identify as somewhere between nonbinary and bigender.  all i know, really, in our limited current vocabulary, is i’m not cis female. but you know? i like my boobs. i’m pan, i reserve the right to like boobs, even love them, even if they’re on my body, even if i’m not “female”.  i live in and love and feel at home in a climate, and otherwise a culture, where female-coded dress (tank tops and short-shorts, sundresses) are far, far more comfortable than male-coded dress (heavy thick shorts or jeans, a t-shirt with an undershirt for god knows what reason - they can’t know we have nipples!!).   i reserve the right as a non-binary/bigender person (yes i’m aware that’s a contradiction in terms, so am i) to reject the idea that my physical interpretation of my presentation as leaning femme means i’m female. fuck you. you ever wore a sundress in the florida summer? you ever wore heavy khaki knee-length cargo shorts paired with sneakers and socks and an undershirt and a t-shirt in the florida summer? which would you guess is more comfortable? i rest my case. oh, i almost forgot to get to the point, which is that as my breasts have gotten more prominent, some of my favorite comfy dresses have somehow become Problematic in Public.  they are now Too Booby.  larger breasts in and of themselves, even in the same dresses but instead of with smaller breasts (that’s Fashion tm), carry with them Implications of Sexiness. Luridness.  Provocativeness.  as someone who’s had both small boob privilege and big boob sexy, this is completely obnoxious and at the same time culturally unavoidable. in my current favorite dress, which fits me like it was tailored to me despite got from goodwill, it cups and supports my breasts lovingly in its bodice and flows beautifully asymetrically down from the high waist line that is also flattering to my body type.  i love it, i absolutely adore it, i love the way it makes me look, i love the way it fits me perfectly, i love the way it makes me feel.  but it is definitely a Boobs On Display dress.  it’s so low cut in the front of the neckline, and boosts my already large breasts enough, that you can see a significant curve of underboob. and they are objectively gorgeous breasts! but this dress, having them On Display, apparently, instead of my love of its supportive and flowing embrace of my body, indicates i’m On Display when i wear it.  that’s...a little dysphobic and dysmorphic. it means i can’t wear it in any situation where i want to appear Professional, bc boobs Aren’t Professional.  it means i have to think about what situations i can wear it in and how people will judge me for it, this my new favorite dress. it means people will think i’m Lurid and Sexual by virtue of having and showing so much cleavage, while in my mind i’m just delighting in how comfortable it is and how good i feel in it.. yeah, i’m not cis, yeah, i love looking pretty, fuck me, i guess.  my last girl told me once “holy shit, you’re like jessica rabbit” after i sent her some of my favorite chest-centric selfies. i’m not bad, i’m just drawn that way. i’m not a comic book heroine, i was just born that way. except also with a gut and no ass. life is full of compromise.