#and part of this is also that he's not conforming to social norms and THATS WHAT MAKES HIM THE FANTASY MAN

[asimpleram]

The amount of Alec Scudder hate I've seen in just looking through the Maurice tags is insane. What makes you so sure Clive is better to love. I hate it here. I hate Clive.

I need to rewatch Maurice (1987). Well. I need to watch the second half of that movie. I miss you Alec Scudder

[soundbodys]

AMBROSE BASSFORD: autism?

hi!!!! welcome to part 1 of "i've got some thoughts on adamandi" >:) i have some other analysis that i do want to share about other things, not just randomly diagnosing fictional characters! but this post is about ambrose being on the autism spectrum <3

i'm not a medical professional by any means, but this is just coming from both my experience as an autistic person and the research i've been able to do about the disorder. and other people's experiences! please dont come for me if things are just a touch inaccurate. without further ado: lets fucking gooooooooo!

[ID: ambrose bassford with his hands on vincent lin's shoulders. he is looking into the distance with a determined look in his eye. vincent looks towards him with concern. end ID]

(please excuse my terrible quality screenshots. um. yeah.)

i'll also preface this by saying that yes, much of this is also informed by his status as a transgender student in the early-mid 1900s. i still think it's fun to analyze and compare my (and others') experiences to his!

THE MARMORIUS SOCIETY

[ID: preston monterey and adrian farthington (or miscellaneous marmorei) putting a letterman jacket on ambrose. ambrose is smiling. there is a caption at the bottom reading "rooftops that nobody frequents where secret societies meet" in all caps. end ID]

firstly, i will address the marmorius society. i'm fairly certain that the marmorei in "word to the wise" are meant more to represent the then-present-now-past members that welcomed ambrose freshman year rather than preston and adrian, but thats ok. what matters more is the subtext in word to the wise that we can glean from the choreography and interactions between ambrose and vincent. beginning the song, and similarly his freshman year, ambrose struggles to fit in like each of the other students entering ardess. he initially seems more comfortable interacting with vincent, but then gets taken in by the marmorei. this is exactly where his mannerism and attitude shift

here, we see ambrose fitting in (or, making an attempt to) with the other marmorei. from vincent's account, we know that ambrose's actions and behaviors almost completely changed after becoming part of the society. this is a really roundabout way of saying hey, ambrose found a place where he thinks he might belong! rather than learning and adapting to normal and regular social rules, he latches onto and mimics a very specific subset of people. to him, they know what they are doing and they have a way of being social that he can't understand so he mimics instead of just adjusting the way he already was. this mimicking makes a bit of sense in that he's not quite conforming to social cues (he still doesn't exactly fit in), but he's trying to. it feels to me a bit like how it is to feel alienated from your peers, even though you are trying your hardest to mask. of course, his "off"-ness is also contributed to by his transness so take that as you will.

2. WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?

[ID: ambrose is standing facing vincent. vincent is facing him with his hands to his back uncomfortably. the caption reads. "i've been looking to include more variations in body type." end ID]

this one is shorter than the marmorius society bulletpoint. actually, most of them are. that one is long winded. ANYWAY, ambrose is kind of... interesting when it comes to his interactions. specifically, he encourages vincent to join the marmorei by saying he's been "looking to include more variations in body type." to him, he's being completely honest and genuinely wants vincent to take interest in his phaethon project. unfortunately, to both vincent and much of the audience, this comes off as comically insensitive at best or offensive at worst. this comes from a lack of awareness of social cues, similar to the lack of knowledge of social norms from the previous bulletpoint. while he knows how to conform to the marmorei, there is still a lot of social cues he needs to work on. often, autistic people will speak bluntly and honestly in their communication. this is really not that far off, even if it was just a little gag!

3. OMG, SENSORY ISSUES!

[ID: caption reading, "he didn't eat the apple because he said he didn't like how its flesh felt on the skin of his thumbs." end ID]

kind of self explanatory. all metaphors aside, ambrose doesn't like the flesh of a peeled apple on his thumbs. i understand (<- i loooove peeled apples though)

4. BLACK AND WHITE THINKING: IF NOT ME, WHO?

[ID: lyrics reading, "if i was stronger i could fix this; / cut the bad and leave the good / be the marble and the sculptor / like my father says i should." end ID]

[ID: lyrics reading, "so my parents and my girlfriend / my closest friends and you / will know i deserve their love / once there's no more work to do / there are only three people who'll be perfect in their eyes / me, myself, and i" end ID]

two screenshots! often, autism causes what can be called "black and white" or polarized thinking. it's like, there's only one solution or there are only the extremes (although, this isn't to be confused with the black and white thinking associated with BPD. i don't have experience on that but ive heard quincy and vincent can fit the bill). for ambrose, there's only one solution to both his dysphoria and distorted self worth: becoming the perfect man by... becoming marble or whatever. as if there is only ONE way to do this, without alternative methods. i sometimes find myself in the same spiral, and have meltdowns either when it doesn't work out or if i'm offered an alternative solution that goes against what i thought might work. even in the second screenshot here, we see that he thinks the only way to earn love is through this specific task. he cannot be unconvinced, even if vincent tries to offer him an alternative solution.

5. WHY APOLLO, BOYS?

[ID: ambrose is hanging off a ladder, his hand out and mouth open singing. the caption reads, "apollo's look is yours: sound body, sound mind" in all caps. end ID]

this is where i dip more into the headcanon territory than i already have. i couldn't really include every screenshot where he talks about a) apollo, b) sculpture, or c) fitness. this is kind of part of his character in general but i like to think of it as his special interests. it's remarkable how many autistic people i know who have majored in something related to their spinterests (including myself! in a way)

6. DON'T FLATTER YOURSELF, LIN!

[ID: vincent awkwardly puts a hand on ambrose's arm, ambrose looks at him longingly. end ID]

ambrose... did not interpret the social cues correctly in the scene directly after "sound body, sound mind." it's really just written in the text, but just in case, i will remind you that vincent pretty much says "hey, i kind of strived to be like you because i had this incorrect assumption of who you were, sorry about that lol" and ambrose took it all wrong and thought this was a romantic advance. he just... didn't interpret it right. honest mistake, but a very common mistake among autistic people. and, unrelated to the autism thing, his comeback isn't smooth at all lmao

THERE YOU HAVE IT! i'm sure there could be more to be said, but my hands hurt (disability) and i can't think of any more off the top of my head. feel free to add on with anything you want to say!!!! thank you for reading!!!! here's the sillies for you, as a reward for getting this far :)

[ID: preston, ambrose, and adrian with their arms on each others' shoulders, stepping in sync. end ID]

[kelly-danger]

Just because you want to be a cis man dosnt mean you want to be a trans girl imo. Sometimes people see a guy whos like "sometimes i wish I was a girl" and theyre like YOURE TRANS! But like those are unfortunately two very different experiences and we're given the disservice of living in the real world. If they want to take hrt for dysphoria and live as a trans women thats chill, but my experience as a trans woman is that im only regarded as a women sometimes, usually when its convenient for people who want to exploit me sexually or to virtue signal. Usually im regarded as a freak, which is nice honestly, i like being a freak. This is all fine and good except when being a freak prevents me from getting hired at jobs associated with masculinity, and being not enough of a woman prevents me from getting hired at jobs associated with femininity.

I like my body now though and my existence was always at odds with society. Society dosnt reward males who arent interested in conforming to masculinity, it ostracisises them and subjects them to emotional and physical violence. A natural response to that experience is dysphoria. If all your life you're told youre not a man and punished for it, its easy to think that being a woman might be easier. But being a trans woman?

The most exhilarating part of it is the continued coersion into manhood that I experienced when I tried still being a man. Not being obsessed with patriarchal sexuality for instance meant I was not a man and I was told and shown that by other men. Robert jensen, prominent radical feminist himself said the goal of his essay Patriarchal sex was to encourage men to "stop being men". Now when someone tells me im not a man, I say yes. Theres something liberating about that.

Maybe in another life id see resisting patriarchy as something that makes me brave and strong, manly even, despite how other men and many women wouldnt view or treat me favorably for it. (Even now the ammount that I care about male aproval is miniscule if existent).. but that puts us all back at square one gender abolition wise dosnt it? And either way im going to not want a body that is perceived as male, im not going to be interested in engaging with romance or friendships or rhetoric in the ways i will be expected to as a man. I think I would resent the expectation to perform my role every step of the way.

So what im excited for is for society to create ways to overcome and escape these roles. I think this idea of a "fem boy" is going to be one such revolutionary subculture slash subcategory that could provide a socially sanctioned way of being that challenges patriarchal norms. But it could also be used to strengthen them, just like how transsexuality can he used to either strengthen or weaken patriarcy. So called alternatives to the more blatently patriarchal ways of being a man (being a gentleman for instance) usually get grafted right back into the whole.

Even transsexuality. The expectation to conform to patriarchal femininity in order to be accepted by others...to pass. Well, its never been aluring to me as an individual, despite the safety it might bring.

I dont really have a conclusion, essentially i feel that there is no escape from patriarchy. The for me thinking of myself as not a part of the binary, as not a man, is the most liberating way of going about things, but im still looking for other alternatives

[ithisatanytime]

gender norms were in part, adopted to prevent misgendering. sexual dimorphism is strong in humans, but theres a lot of variation on an individual level, so men and women will adopt obvious visible cues which denote their respective gender. its important to note, that these outward cultural cues, shift over time, for instance some cultures the men will keep their hair short, as an obvious visual cue, but this isnt the same everywhere, and even in the same culture it might change over time. who cares? we do, because in my opinion thats why sexual orientation isnt linked 100 percent with a “gay gene”, but neither is it a choice. our sexual orientaitons are somewhat malleable during early adolescents i believe, young boys are raised in a social environment, where any behavior outside the gender norm is likened with homosexuality in an effort to make you conform, but also to reinforce that homosexuality isnt acceptable, young men do this largely without prompting. 

  i use gender to mean sex because thats what it means, the definition was forcibely changed by one of the most notoriously deranged jewish psychologists of all time, i know that means very little coming from me, but hes the psychologist who studied the set of identical twins where one of the boys circumcision was botched so the (terrible) decision was made to raise him as a girl. for some weird reason the same psychologist also encouraged them to behave in physically sexual ways with each other, thats the guy who made gender synonymous with sex, look it up if im lying. the reason why you cant change the definition of gender so easily is because words are fucking tools, its mind blowing how few people seem to understand this, they are tools, period. and the word “sex” is a synonym with “gender” but also well... sex! in fact of the two uses for the word sex, one is clearly the more popular of the two, and the word sex comes with such a ridiculous amount of connotations that when the term sex was used to mean “gender” on for instance a drivers license, its the subject of jokes “sex? yes please!”. gender was a word with specificity, a precise tool for an incredibly common job. the word sex is a shitty tool for describing what gender accurately describes.

 oh i almost forgot, both of the twins in that psychologists experiments committed suicide

[ucmeteora]

Metonymy

Elizabeth and her architect

Act one: Limitation and Resistance

E: All the old houses crumble and new ones rise. (1) My potential Existence won’t be victim to decay. In the grid of infinite sameness, content must be constantly added to this stem space to give it meaning. (2)

A: Thats why you need this vessel for your brand.

“In a world that incessantly consumes images, in a constantly expanding metropolitan culture, in a universe whose buildings are no more than a few of the infinite number of figurative and informative dwellings that surround us, there nonetheless exists the architectonic event. This event is like an extended chord, like an intensity at an energetic crux of streams of communication, a subjective apprehension offered by the architect in the joy of producing a polyphonic instant in the heart of the chaotic metropolis.” The “radical desolation” of weak architecture, “a groundlessness emerging out of the singularity of an event,” has “nothing to do with a lack of ability to manifest the conditions of the contemporary culture. Quite the contrary. This weakness is precisely the architectonic manifestation of the condition of contemporary culture.” (3)

E: Thus you’re not saying that only the body explains what is obscure in the mind. To the contrary, the mind is obscure, the depths of the mind are dark, and this dark nature is what explains and requires a body. Nothing obscure lives in us because we have a body, but we must have a body because there is an obscure object in us. (4)

A: Exactly, The essence of an image (or a body) is that it should be taken for reality and equally reality can shape the image, and pass itself off as having the same substance and meaning. Without disturbance or rupture, perception can continue the dream and fill in the gaps, bringing confirmation to all  that is precarious in it and allowing it to accomplish its work. If illusions could appear as real as perception, then perception too could pass itself off as the truth, undeniable and visible. (5)

E: An image which must facilitate direct understandability! In this sense, this other architecture can be regarded as an architecture of resistance—resistance against the predictability of the traditional comprehension of architecture; resistance against the conformity supporting the status quo between institutions and the living environments; resistance against the cynical fear of imagining alternative possibilities in architecture and its visions of a better future; and resistance against the solely commodified and partial comprehension of architecture. (7)They don’t care for the world they enjoy. This situation, this state of affairs is grave and unbearable. We shall invent a new way of life; We shall have to construct another whole world from the ground up. It shall be built, it shall be created! (6)

A: I am willing to follow this peculiar thought line of yours for a while longer (8) as long as we can grab that beyond burger now.

Act two: Authority and Narcissism

E: I’m in love with myself. (I) regard narcissism as the central imaginary relation of human relationships. What crystallized analytic experience around this notion? Above all, its ambiguity. It is in fact an erotic relationship, all erotic identification, all seizing of the other in an image in a relationship of erotic captivation, occurs by way of the narcissitic relation and it is also the basis of aggressive tension. (9)

A: Who, with such instantaneous confidence, was recognised as mad? (10)

E: Don’t kid yourself, honey! You’re not building a house for a madwoman, what you’re building is me:

We speak of our 'self' only in virtue of these thousands of little witnesses which contemplate within us: it is always a third party who says 'me'. These contemplative souls must be assigned even to the rat in the labyrinth and to each muscle of the rat. Given that contemplation never appears at any moment during the action  since it is always hidden, and since it 'does' nothing (even though something is done through it, something completely novel)  it is easy to forget it and to interpret the entire process of excitation and reaction without any reference to repetition  the more so since this reference appears only in the relation in which both excitations and reactions stand to the contemplative souls.The role of the imagination, or the mind which contemplates in its multiple and fragmented states, is to draw something new from repetition, to draw difference from it. For that matter, repetition is itself in essence imaginary, since the imagination alone here forms the 'moment' of the vis repetitiva from the point of view of constitution: it makes that which it contracts appear as elements or cases of repetition. Imaginary repetition is not a false repetition which stands in for the absent true repetition: true repetition takes place in imagination. Between a repetition which never ceases to unravel itself and a repetition which is deployed and conserved for us in the space of representation there was difference, the for itself of repetition, the imaginary. (11)

A: It is necessary to be outside ideology … to say: I am in ideology’. In architecture, interpellations are being imposed at three different levels: firstly, through the disciplining process (institutions, boards, academia, publications, clients, the market, and so on); secondly, by the architectonic objects produced, which create a ritual, constantly reinforcing how architecture should be understood; and finally by the instruments that architects use, such as perspective or computational techniques, which both frame and produce facts. Architecture does not simply present ideologies as facts, as if it were lying; it actually transforms ideologies into social facts. The Prince complex (or, the architectural unconscious) the theory of history has only recently tried to overcome the chronicle of the princes by means of a history of the masses, the everyday life and the concrete conditions (not just what lies on the wave crest, but the enormous forces of movement in the depth of the sea). Nevertheless, architectural imagination is still trapped in narcissistic histories of ‘Princes’. Machiavelli’s book The Prince creates an intellectual device for political practice to counter ‘fortuna’ (the conjecture) in order to rule, thus demanding ‘negativity’ and ‘objectivity’ (virtú) to control the randomness of the future. By doing so, Machiavelli was not inventing the prince per se. What he revealed was the representational character of this practice. (12)

E: Rather, (my) meaning unfolds as (my) viewers participate in the social situation (I) ha(ve) orchestrated. (13)

A: The noblest are certainly those who are entrusted with the supreme Authority and Moderation in public Affairs. (14) For this Reason I would have the Temple made so beautiful, that the Imagination should not be able to form an Idea of any Place more so; and I would have every Part so contrived and adorned, as to fill the Beholders with Awe and Amazement, at the Consideration of so many noble and excellent Things, and almost force them to cry out with Astonishment: This Place is certainly worthy of God! (15) Thus the buildings design will have an attractive appearance, its unimpeded entrance, utility, and the walkway around the cella, authority. (16) And, in (my) opinion, age will give a temple as much authority, as ornament will give it dignity. (17)

Act three: Resurrection, Interaction

E: By slow degrees a special authority takes shape within the ego; this authority, which is able to confront the rest of the ego, performs the function of self observation and self criticism, exercises a kind of psychical censorship, and so becomes what we know as the ‘conscience’. The existence of such an authority, which can treat the rest of the ego as an object – the fact that, in other words, man is capable of self observation – makes it possible to imbue the old idea of the double with a new content and attribute a number of features to it – above all, those which, in the light of self criticism, seem to belong to the old, superannuated narcissism of primitive times. Yet it is not only this content – which is objectionable to self criticism – that can be embodied in the figure of the double: in addition there are all the possibilities which, had they been realized, might have shaped our destiny, and to which our imagination still clings, all the strivings of the ego that were frustrated by adverse circumstances, all the suppressed acts of volition that fostered the illusion of free will. (18)

A: Freedom is thus not freedom from a Master, but the replacement of one Master with another; the external Master is replaced with an internal one. (19) It acts as a (partially) autonomous, and spatially, structurally, programmatically, and visually homogeneous whole which is never completely autonomous due to its integration to a network system. (20) Mentalities of cooperation, social exchange, and interaction are, through the order of the urban, to be elicited and maintained. (21) The framing of communicative interaction is the societal function of both architecture and design. (22) But what about visual, sensory, and aesthetic interaction? (23)

E: The strategy seems, to “derive from the ‘organic’ demand for the integration of space and structure; and, as fulfilling this demand, the building becomes a single, complete, and self explanatory utterance.” (24) Freed of all normative impediments, of all questions of realization or production, the creative imagination can identify itself with global consciousness. Prospective aesthetics is the vehicle of man’s greatest hope: the collective liberation of humanity. The socialization of art represents the convergence of the forces of creation and production toward a goal of dynamic synthesis and technical metamorphosis: it is through such restructuring that man and reality find their true, modern face, that they become natural again, having overcome all alienation. Thus the circle closes. (25)

Together we will invent what I call the imagination without strings. (26)

A: How do you want to achieve that?

E: We should throw a ball.  Instances of this kind are so plentiful every where, that if I add one more, it is only for the pleasant oddness of it. Dance, and that to great Perfection! (27)

(1) Hugo, Les Miserables

(2) Sorkin, All Over the Map

(3)Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968

(4) Deleuze, The Fold

(5) Foucault, History of Madness

(6) Alberti, Momus

(7) Senk, Capsules Typology of Other Architecture

(8) Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

(9) Lacan, The Psychoses Seminars of JL

(10) Foucault, History of Madness

(11) Deleuze, Difference and Repetition

(12) Stoppani, This Thing Called Theory Critiques Critical Stud

(13) Bureaud, MetaLife Biotechnologies Synthetic Biology ALi

(14) Alberti, 10 books of architecture 1755

(15)Alberti, 10 books of architecture 1755

(16) Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture 1999

(17) Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books 1988

(18) Freud, The Uncanny

(19) Zitzen, Less than nothing

(20) Senk, Capsules Typology of Other Architecture

(21) Lahiji, Architecture Against the PostPolitical Essays

(22) Schumacher, The Autopoiesis of Architecture Vol1

(23) Doherty, Is Landscape Essays on the Identity of Landsc

(24) Hartoonian, Time History and Architecture Essays on Critical

(25) Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968

(26) Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968

(27) Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 1815

[norsesuggestions]

what is your opinion on gustav iii?

Hmmm well

With the disclaimer that this is just a personal opnion build on growing up in sweden, were we often talk about him, not like historian based opnion (although i a mix i opnions from being a gender studies student and undergrad ethnology student. But I have not read much about gustav iii at uni level is what I am trying to say)

Well I would say this:

First of all he was a tyrannt. He shut down the parliement, and took all the power himself (which was illegal. Like, he really did such a state coup, that would today be called a diktator overtake of the state).

Now the parliement of sweden during the 18th were in many ways corrupt, but it was still allowed a proto-demcracy rule, were elected represantives from the 4 stånden cooperated to rule sweden (nobility, priests, borgious, and peasants were the 4 stånden).

Because the parliement actually DID include peasants in sweden, and peasants of a certain status could vote in their represantives into the parliement, shutting it down is a massive step-back for the political influence majority of swedens population, who were peasants.

Gustav III talked about giving “the people the power” but with doing that, he actually takes away power from the people, from my non-historian understanding.

Anyway! I just can’t agree with shutting down the swedish parliement, which is the very parliement we still have in sweden (even if it ofcourse gone through 200 years of reform by now. The parliement of then was not identical etc etc. But it just… feels wrong haha)

Also! Gustav III had alot of ideas for sweden as a nation. But several of those ideas were totally dumb. Sweden was super much in debt when he ruled. But still he insisted on starting wars forexample.

In particular he started a war with russia that went VERY badly, and he is in the historical narrative of sweden, often blamed for sweden losing finland to russia (which happened after his death,so I am not sure how correct that is as a blame game, but he is often blamed for this in sweden. Although I think his son is the one that actually lost finland to russia. I don’t remember).

He ALSO wanted to be treated more like a living God, like the kings of France. Which we often ridicouly him for, both today in sweden and historically.

(Sweden royalty were you know, treated like very powerful people, not like worshipped. He wanted the court to compete to dress him in the morning etc. The population of sweden just laughed and laughed about this silly ideas. Competing about wiping the bottom of the king? Ridicolous!)

Gustav III also wanted sweden in general to became a great power of europe, which in 18th century europe is just… the worst idea. You know importing colonial methods etc etc (which he was not the first swedish monarch to do, but just think about what importing ideas from the other european nations means in the 18th century actually entails).

He also, as many swedens monarchs have, desperatly tried to create a regional swedish fine culture “market”. Like supporting the arts, and trying to make it possible for sweden to compete in the arts with other countries of the world. Thid helped sweden to be able to build up educations of art and academia, not always under his life time, and not all thanks to him. But it helped with injecting some life into the academia.

On the other hand lots of swedens academia has also been BAD, so thats not all positive *pointed look at the eugenics and race biology of which swedens academia was a breeding ground for, ever sense the 18th century*

But well. Gustav III tried to do something with sweden. Something different than what it was, which most of swedens population considered to be total shite.

He did forexample greatly help end the beastility panic i have spoken so much about. He declared that he refused signing papers for death punishment beastility. And lo, and behold, the problem of executing large parts if the healthy male population because of beastility charges, disappear if you do not execute them!

He also refuse to execute people for homosexuality, which I find a very good thing of him.

Now about gustav iii and homosexuality. Gustav iii is often described as some kind of mindless “sissy” tyrannt, because of homophobia. These describtions often, from what I learned in gender studies, actually steam from homophobic slander campaings against him during his life time, and also quickly after his death.

These views, where homosexuality, and just a general non-conformity to our gender norms, is potrayed as “evil” i am HEAVILY against.

Like make fun for Gustav III for all the awful things, and dumb decisions he did in life (like being a tyrannt, claiming that being a dictator was how to be “enlighted monarch”, starting point less wars in a country already in massive debt because of war etc) but I disapprove of making fun of him for his sexuality and gender expressions.

ALSO

With that being said, I also disapprove of all these cishet swedes who will go “he was not gay, that was just slander. He was totalt straight, soooo straight. And he was totally a paragorn of masculinity. And that was totally how all irl in the 18th century considered him”. Like…. He was gay. Pleaaaase. (And i know the difficulty with calling historical people gay. But ALSO. He was gay). And more important, the urgency among historian indicates a homophobic viewpoint among all the modern historians rushing to do so (and this i learned in some feminist articles somewhere haha).

Same with his gender expression. Its says more about the historian rushing to declare his gender expression the paragorn of 18th century manliness, and their modern anxiety about our gender binary, than it tells anything about how his gender expressions was percieved during his life time (I know I just lighty thouched this topics. There is lots intersting things to say about 18th century masculinity among swedish nobility, but I digress)

Anyway. He was gay. He also disliked his wife personally. And she disliked him. And he appeared to have a legit medical issuie with his penis, that prevented him from ejeculating enough sperm during intercourse with the queen. THAT, the inability to create a heir, is therefore not only a case of him being “too gay” (which is often how the homophobic take on him describe him. Like he brought “the end” of swedish rule over finland, by being too gay to create a proper heir….. yes its sound ridicolous, but this is often how gustav iii have been spoken about).

Tldr. I find him intersting. And enjoy joking about him. Gustav iii as a politican though i HEAVILY disaprove of, and I am glad the parliement killed him and reinstated the rule of the parliement.

I just can’t approve of his political actions, but as a historical phenomena he is intersting

(Also WHEN are we getting a proper show about him, which is not tainted by homophobia? LIKE. So sick about swedish historical docs, were all they talk about is about how he had problems to have sex with his wife, and spend all time speculating of thay is what brought the fall of some kind off imagned great epoch. Or something)

PS. All said here is from memory, i did not look anything up. Feel free to correct me if I got something totally wrong. I am no expert in monarchs of sweden and their history. I read ethnology for two terms, and they are not very interested in the history of 1 particular monarch. Much more entire social classes and stuff. And kinda same with the history focus when we have history at gender studies)

Apperntly i had much more opnions about gustav iii than i thought when I first started to type this answer. Ah well haha.

[uncrownedkings]

So...

ive been seeing a lot of rather cringy lgbt+-related rant videos and posts on tumblr. these kinds of thing has been going on for a while now. i think maybe its just totally inappropriate timing what with all the trump dilemma that made ppl become more triggered than usual, but its come to the point where i have to go out of my way to make both a rant and a psa out of this post.  or maybe ive been following the wrong ppl.

anyways, those cringy rant vids/posts. they are usually white teenage girls who go on and on about how someone called them “miss” when “excuse me????” *cough cough* “ACTUALLY, im genderfluid.” 

ok. howbout YOU excuse me. bc frankly, you look like a “miss”, so thats why i called you “miss”. i mean like i wont call you a bitch until you look like a female dog. OH MY!!!! im sorry!!! youre genderfluid. my bad. correction: a genderfluid dog. so yeah, dont you act all triggered just bc someone assumed your gender identity incorrectly. how could i tell when you have your boobs falling out of your shirt?? you dont exactly announce your gender to the world, do you??? its only fair that i would assume so. empathize with the ppl who arent exposed to the different lgbt spectrums. dont rant about it. TAKE ACTION and take the initiative to point out their mistake. youre genderfluid, fine with me. that is my mistake, sorry for being ignorant and not noticing. pls correct me. its simple as that. why dont you have the nerve to correct them when someone mistook your gender, but you have it in you to go to fucking tumblr to rant about it? the mistake isnt gonna fix itself when you do so. it only gets fixed when you point it out to the person who made that mistake. what is your purpose here???? are you trying to get sympathy or attention?? bc youre not getting any from me. i dont care and im sick of it. if you want someone who does, go tell your mother. 

yall lgbt ppl assumed this “dont assume” policy for yourselves. im willing to follow, but there will ofc be ppl out there who are not aware. dont blame them. from the moment any child is born, they are subjected to this hetero-normative view of how a person is identified as.  they are programmed from a young age that there is an order in which a person follows. if youre not female, youre male. there seems to be no other option. being lgbt creates the opportunity to be someone else. not all ppl are exposed to this. those who do take advantage of it. 

im part of the lgbt community myself (as i am bi), but im embarrassed for what some of you have done to demean the value of the lgbt community. its like how ppl seem to always be hating on feminists all over again, bc of some ppl taking it too far and dont fully understand what it means. just bc you dont conform to the norms of society when it comes to sexual orientation doesnt mean you get any special favour. my friends, even the gay ones, have been joking around about how “omg youre cant do _____ just bc im gay like thats not ok.” but i find the truth in what they joke around about. ppl from the lgbt seem to always be finding excuses to be offended when someone comments on their sexuality. 

take it from my experiences. i live near two schools, so there are lots of kids in my neighborhood. the school im going to is a very multicultural public school that has a lot of brown and asian kids (my squad), and the other school is a prestigious private school specializing in art that is predominantly white. both schools are very close, so we know the ins and outs of each other. admittedly, i have lots of friends from both of the schools: lgbt friends, non-lgbt friends, and friends who jokes/pretend that they are lgbt. my point is: i know this kid from the private school. there was a rumour that he is gay. i confronted to him and bluntly asked him if he is actually gay. he started yelling at me defensively, saying “do you have a problem??? you cant just hate me bc im gay.” I DID NOT DO ANYTHING. i didnt speak to him again. on the other hand, theres this muslim trangendered boy in my school. hes quite famous due to his gender identity. when i met him for the first time, i asked him if he is transgender. he was cool about it and just simply said “yeah. im pretty famous in this school arent i?” he didnt get offended. he didnt act defensively. we were off with a very good start. since our school are more multicultural than the private school, a lot of us coming from eastern countries. eastern countries are more conservative and they dont take kindly to “different” ppl. he worked hard to be who he wants to be, and he is confident with himself and his gender. 

not totally unrelated to this, but im a friend of a girl who goes to the private school. nice kid, very cute, great at dance. she usually dresses in pretty dresses and skirts. but one day, she came in with jeans, sweater, and short boyish hair. everyone was surprised. then she told everyone she is genderfluid. there were a lot of genderfluid ppl in the private school, not so much in my school. when i asked her how she knew, she said why not??

it seems like there is a trend on being lgbt+, especially in this demographic (white, female, teen). as soon as its openly accepted, ppl will conform to become a part of this new thing. even after joining tumblr and seeing all these new lgbt+ categories makes me question myself. i tried to fit myself into this label, and i feel that this is what is happening. before it is accepted in western countries, the idea was very hush hush. now that everyone is beginning to accept it, suddenly everyone is lgbt. not like “oh im closeted bc lgbt is not accepted and now im out bc its accepted.” no, its like “oh this lgbt thing is pretty new! lets see which category i THINK i fit in the best and squeeze myself into this label.” im sorry, if youre an actual lgbt veteran and you have been fighting all your life for acceptance and equal rights. but there are ppl who are trying to conform to this lgbt+ “thing” bc it seems like everyone is out as well. there are even some ppl who would go out of there way to make a point that they ARE indeed lgbt+. you cant just wake up one morning and decide that youre suddenly asexual, or pansexual (when you havent even had a sexual relationship) or genderfluid. its not fair to those who have worked so hard. but then again, im in no position to tell you who you are. you are the controller of your life. but dont act all defensive and go crying to your followers just bc someone makes a comment on your sexuality/gender but  youre not confident/sure enough about it to forget and forgive. if this is truly who you are, then TAKE ACTION. you dont need to prove to me that you are lgbt, just simply embrace it by expressing it. BELIEVE IN WHO YOU ARE. and dont be ashamed. you cant stop someone from assuming when you yourself dont accept that fact. who cares what others think.

ok so. after all that longass rant with the telling of my whole fucking life story, half-assed motivational quotes, and some rather rude use of language, the moral of the story is: i dont have a problem with your gender identification or sexual orientation, im actually fine with it. but i do have a problem with people using that as an excuse to act all disgusted and horrified and lash out on social media when someone may or may not have intentionally “offended” them. if its actually offensive, fine, you are free to make a point about it and shove it up their asses. but when someone asks you if youre gay, you DONT FUCKING GIVE THEM YOUR ATTITUDE. saying yes is enough. its up to their discretion to either shrug and move on (which i would do bc i dont care about your sexuality) or they can punch you in the face like a fucking trump supporter that they are. it is only when they punch you that you fight back. DONT FIGHT WHEN THERE IS NO REASON TO FIGHT AT ALL. 

i know that there will be ppl who would be displeased with me. nvm, i dont think there would be that much ppl reading it in the first place. oh well. just trying to make a point. im not sorry that i made this post on this particular topic, but im sorry for the incredibly coarse/rude language. i have said offensive things that is borne from my frustration. if there are ppl out there who sees mistruths or ignorance in my post, you are welcome to enlighten me. my views arent rigid and im not exactly knowledgeable in this topic, so i am willing to change them if your point is valid.  but ill only be accepting replies with point, proof, and analysis. also, you are welcome to block/unfollow me as well, but tbh, i wont be posting these kinds of thing again anytime soon. ill just be back to the cute, unassuming anime blog that silently supports the lgbt+ community and strongly opposes trump. thank you for your time, and have a nice day.

[g33khq]

New Post has been published on G33k-HQ

New Post has been published on http://www.g33k-hq.com/culture/artist-spotlight-sara-woolley/

Artist Spotlight: Sara Woolley

BODYMOD: Are you woman enough to survive Bitch Planet?

Imagine a world where women are subject to punishment for being “non-compliant” and sent away to prison, literally on another planet! That is the premise of the smash hit Sci-fi series “Bitch Planet.” In this dystopian universe, when women are seen as being defiant and resistant they are sent to The Auxiliary Compliance Outpost, aka “Bitch Planet.”

  Bitch Planet

I recently started reading the Image Comics series (Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Valentine De Landro) after first being introduced to Triple Feature issue #4 (contains 3 short stories in one book!) The short stories coexist in the Bitch Planet universe and you can read them without reading the bitch planet series and vice versa. However, it captivated my attention so I am now reading the initial BP series! Check them out Here: 

I’m going to focus on one of the mini stories from Triple Feature Issue #4: Body Mod written and illustrated by the super talented Sarah Woolley.

This original story is a perfect demonstration of an extreme sci-fi extension of today’s society.

Body Mod: Written and illustrated by: Sara Woolley

Triple Feature #4

Bitch Planet Triple Feature #4

RATED M

BodyMod is a sci-fi world where plastic surgery is a norm and done to the max. So extreme that there is literally a Build a Babe! Can you imagine, modifying bodies as a part of everyday life.

This mini story presents some touchy subject matter, heavy themes and can relate to society today, which is pretty disturbing. I think it’s alarming thinking of this world as a reality and potentially something that could be likely in the future when our youth is so heavily influenced by what’s trending in pop culture, social media, and “enhanced beauty”. Today’s beauty standards are already disturbing, and Body Mod demonstrates a perfect exaggeration of today’s society with a sci.-fi twist.

Here Sara takes us into the deranged world of BODY MOD.

1. How did you first get involved with the Bitch Planet series?

I met Kelly Sue DeConnick at Heroescon in Charlotte NC, 2 years ago.  She not only took the time to check out my work, but wrote to me after the fact to let me know she liked it so much she had passed Los Pirineos all around the Milkfed Criminals office.  I love work so needless to say I was totally floored.  It was really very cool of her. I sent her the 9th of april when it came out the next year and maybe a few months later we saw each other at ECCC in Seattle.  She was looking for contributors for the anthology, and asked if I would be interested.  HELL YES!

2. Congrats, as this is your first independent comic that you have both written and illustrated! How did you go about the process of accomplishing this?

When Kelly Sue asked if I wanted to be in the anthology she said “You do it all, right? Write and Draw?”  I said yes… and then panicked a little inside.  This story is my first professionally published solo work.  Up to this point I have always written with collaborators, for example the Los Pirineos Books which I coauthor with my mother.

3. Any issues, you faced or did you have the creative freedom to do you what you wanted with the story?

I definitely had a lot of freedom on Bodymod. Kelly Sue and the managing editor at Milkfed Criminals whom I worked with primarily, Lauren Sankovitch guided me through the pitching and writing process, but they gave me the space and encouragement to come up with and to pursue my own vision.  They had me come up with several different story ideas that would make sense in the context of the Bitch Planet Universe – but made me limit myself to very rough, brief ideas.  So I was able to really be broad about the story generation process without investing too much time into it.  My biggest issue was figuring out how to tell the story I wanted to in 8 pages.  I still feel like there was a 24 pages comic in there somewhere… but I tend to be long winded.  I learned a ton from Lauren and Kelly Sue working on this project.

4. You typically write children’s books, did you find it difficult working on this storyline, and how did it feel crossing over to more mature themes?

I felt absolutely fine with it.  I’m not a child, and I the work I generally read is not aimed at children.  To be honest, it actually felt very freeing.  However, the different content definitely confuses some people.  I’ve had fans of my previous books get a bit freaked out when they find out this is also my work.  I’ve been told that it doesn’t look like my work and seems like another artist did it.  I definitely don’t agree with that, but I can see where they are coming from.  I hate the idea of having to be pigeonholed into one genre of stories and one way of making art.  So… I’m just not allowing that to happen.

5. How did you come up with the premise for Bodymod?

The premise behind all the stories I came up with for the anthology came from the experiences of just being a woman navigating daily life. The premise behind Bodymod in particular comes from my feelings around the social pressures that are omnipresent in our lives every day asking that we conform to an idealized and unrealistic concept of feminine beauty.  Growing up I had my own struggles with body image. I’m 5’10 and just under 200 lbs, and I’ve been this size since High School.  Lets just say the 90’s were not kind to thick girls, and being strong was not thought of as sexy.  The anger and sarcasm present in the story is the current me, who feels great about who I am and what I look like, telling the world world just how little a fuck I give about fitting into a role and size I was never going to be anyway.    (steps off soapbox.)

6.  Although its sci fi, this subject matter touches some heavy themes pertaining to real life. How do some of the themes in the comic tie into issues our society faces today?

The whole premise of Bodymod comes from the idea of redesigning your body to be beautiful to the point of discomfort, in the story its taken to an extreme because the Bitch Planet, sci fi world allowed me to really push it.  However its important to understand that the cultural norms that Julie and Monica are assimilating to are not Sci Fi.  Whats the difference between lotus feet, stilettos that can only be worn in bed, or feet surgically altered to become mermaid fins?  Yes in my story the women essentially turn themselves into helpless pets, but all of them sexualize fettered women.

There’s a spread on pages 2-3 where Julie is on a bus and you see background advertisements behind her.  I had intended to make up some really jarringly misogynistic ones… until I looked them up. There is NOTHING I could come up with that was worse than reality.  ALL the ads on the page, including the magazine cover, are real.  I never stop hating this one ever time I see it:

7. Who has had the biggest influence on you in or outside of the comics industry, and how did they affect your life?

Ok now THATS hard.  I would say my mom has probably had the biggest influence on me, but I’m not sure if that is really what you meant.  She’s a feminist and raised me to be one too.  I wore overalls and did science experiments and was encouraged to be messy and do whatever I wanted to do better than the boys.  I am really very lucky.  She is a role model for me, but she’s also my inspiration, my writing partner and my biggest fan… which since we work on her memoir together maybe that also makes her, her own biggest fan?  hmmm…

8. What’s the most important “big idea” that you’ve learned in life – in or out of comics – and why is it important?

I’ve learned by watching the amazing comics pros that I am proud to call my friends that you must work hard, and I mean REALLY hard, to make comics.  That sounds obvious but its not.  There are a lot good creators out there who make very little work and just peter out.  But the truly brilliant ones work incessantly and when asked how they do it, discipline and tenacity is usually the common denominator.  I know an artist who told me he videos his comics commissions so he can see later where he is loosing time on them by “just fucking around”.  I know another who every time she is asked for advice says “Draw whether you are sick or well.  Draw whether to feel like it or not.”  Now, I’m not saying I’m like that, but I aspire to be.

Also what else can we look forward to from you in the near future?

I’m currently working on the next Los Pirineos book to follow up last year’s release of The 9th of April.

So hopefully by next year’s MOCCA I’ll have that one in hand.  FINGERS CROSSED.  I also have a book of watercolor sketch painting I did while traveling in Thailand for a month this winter.  I’m still trying to figure out the format of it.  Its a mixture of painting people and places on location… and all my meals!  I’m obsessed with food and theres no explaining just how good the food in Thailand is, so I painted it all to help mark it in my memory forever.  I might try including photos and recipes too… not sure yet.

To see more of Sara’s work visit: http://www.sarawoolley.com/  @saritajeanine

MOCCA ARTS FESTIVAL

Also catch Sara at Mocca Fest this Saturday & Sunday table A106

Society Of Illustrators

https://www.societyillustrators.org

http://www.sarawoolley.com/

https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/bitch-planet