#angela i would commit so many crimes for you

[sowedspicebush]

Blackbird singing in the dead of night.

[thirstyforbettertwilight]

i just finished midnight sun. some thoughts:

definitely watching the movies next

i might read the rest of the books after twilight but that depends on how much i like the audiobook narrator lol

edward is annoying and a loser but i love him in an exasperated but fond way

bella swan is my girl. you can never make me hate her. never!!!!

bella and edward, as dramatic and annoying as they are most times, are so so cute together actually. i'm eating it up. i'm sold. i'm buying it.

i'm now haunted by the potential of a angela-edward friendship. like PLEASE it would be so good for edward to actually have a friend who's not his family or his girlfriend. by extension it would be so good for bella too

i wish bella and edward had more time to be happy together before it all went to shit :( they had like two chapters of bliss and it was AMAZING. when they kiss ugggghhh sooo good. peak romance

a baseball game can change your life forever

the cullens are menaces. they shouldn't be allowed to participate in society actually (see: the many crimes they committed in arizona including but not limited to TRANQUILIZING A WOMAN TO STEAL HER CAR AND CAUSING A PILEUP)

even though i have my qualms about bella becoming a vampire so young, at the end of the day i'm still on her side. turn that girl into a vampire eddie boy

[jesncin]

I’d really like to hear your thoughts on MAWS characters alongside Lois, if you want to do that of that’s entirely up to you but it would be really interesting ^_^

I've written about maws a fair bit on this blog! You can find my general thoughts on the jesncin talks maws tag and my massive maws Lois essay here for my thoughts on her. Suffice to say I'm not a fan of this show, lol. I haven't been able to stomach watching season 2 so my entire knowledge is limited to season 1. With that said, roundup of my thoughts on maws characters:

Clark Kent: boring. Vanilla. Critical lack of hero motivation and idealism outside of "people are getting hurt!" as a platitude. Just some guy who does chores because that's the nice thing to do. Not defeating the Superman Is Boring allegations- just has an uwu cute cinnamon roll himbo filter on it.

Lois Lane: xenophobic asian lois lane is the worst crime ever committed to me. A historically jaded, award winning, accomplished career woman fighting against work place misogyny is now a cutesty uwu girl-failure who needs the help of two men to get hired. Barf.

Jimmy Olsen: I get the attempt at making him a conspiracy theorist as a means of tapping into Jimmy's wacky silver age antics and to bounce off of Clark for shenanigans, but it doesn't meaningfully interrogate how that is at odds with his job as a journalist. Also he was sidelined hard in S1- more than he was in CW Supergirl.

Perry White: I was hoping that unlike STAS and if MAWS was going to pull from anime, that this meant strong relationships with Superman's cast system. But nope. Perry is just a running gag. I was hoping for a Snapper and Kara dynamic like in CW Supergirl.

Scoop troop (Cat Grant, Ronnie Troupe, Steve Lombard): Superfluous characters, easily delete-able. All of which have been reinterpreted as anime stereotypes. Yawn.

Newskid Legion: Also delete-able and a waste of my time. They should be called newsies. They make no sense as outdated characters placed in a futuristic setting. What is child labor doing this late in the game. Be more creative with modernizing outdated characters.

Pa and Ma Kent: Boring. The biggest problem you can have with the Kents is making them generic supportive parents like they're sentient Hallmark cards. Pa Kent got the bad end of the stick as the clueless parent, while Ma Kent was pushed as the heart of the family to Clark. Not that she did much.

Vicki Vale: Absolutely insane of this show to add another Asian xenophobe woman journalist. The MAWS crew love gloating about how they're not going to include Batman in MAWS, but they can't resist putting a Gothamite in their show and stealing rogues from other heroes. Could've brought Angela Chen (a canonically asian Metropolis reporter) from STAS but I guess she's not as big a name as a Gotham character, eh?

Livewire: the glowdown of a century. DCSHG continues to outperform every modern version of this character. Why make her a generic smuggler when her original job as a shock jokey is far more interesting?? Podcaster or influencer was right there. Her motives make no sense too.

Intergang crew: Why. Did they consolidate. Banshee with two random rogues (Mist & Roughouse) and call them Intergang. That's so many glowdowns at once. I've never seen someone look at a hero's diverse rogues gallery and say "let's consolidate all these characters so we have less material to work with in the future". I hate how the rogues are all tech based, and share the same origin. These baddies kickstarted the show's "villains with petty crime motivations": no ideological or thematic draw to them.

Ivo/Parasite: Another villain with nonsensical motivations. His business is going bankrupt so he sets up an investor event party to show off his Black Panther Lexo suit (which was apparently a response to Superman! A stranger that we can't trust! And somehow these expensive suits are more trustworthy) only to attack his investors and get owned by Superman. Then he just has a hateful vendetta against Superman. People who think this is a good Parasite interpretation because they projected vague Elon Musk are kidding themselves. I could clown on MAWS' Ivo all day. He is so badly written.

Heatwave: Why genderbend a Flash villain when Superman already has a Fire Woman in his rogues gallery? Volcana? Remember her? She's from the same show yall got Livewire from? Praise this show all you want for "reigniting interest in Superman", it's clear they're willing to toss away actual Superman cast characters for more popular characters from other heroes when it suits them. What's Heatwave's motivations? Petty crime.

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke: Imagine building this character up to be a big threat only to do nothing with him lol. I can't take him seriously, his voice acting is the worst and I hate his design. This show is so desperate to make attractive villains for fangirls it's frankly pathetic. How did people even mistaken him for Superman? He doesn't FLY.

Mallah and The Brain: This is what happens when you revive gay villains and put them through the HarlIvy Respectability Beam on fast forward. The gay villains aren't villains anymore! Because that would be bad representation! They're now cute cuddly domestic dads who want to raise robot children and run away together!! How TRITE. Mallah has "american faking a french accent" syndrome but bad voice acting is the norm in this show.

Mxy: The one time they include a villain that Lois and Jimmy could easily help Superman defeat (Mxy's whole deal is that you can send him to his dimension by tricking him to spell or say his name backwards) they opt to make it even dumber by just "removing his hat". Because the MAWS crew aren't smart enough to think of ways Superman and his pals can trick Mxy. For the record, CW Supergirl got this right in comparison.

Legion of Loises: It's the way this show can't write competent women even when that's the goal. All the characters act so stupid and that includes the Legion of Loises. At least MAWS!Lois learns the important lesson that even though she's not as accomplished as these career focused versions of her, at least she can keep her man. Misogyny in a cute package.

Alex/Lex Luthor: Go away. Ugly design I can't stand him. Miserable voice acting as usual.

Amanda Waller: She's pretty generic here. Playing second fiddle to Sam Lane for the most part, but this show has a problem with fleshing out Black characters in general so.

Sam Lane: We now have up to THREE asian xenophobes in MAWS season 1. The crew did not think their diversity through because at the end of the day S1 was really about a White Guy Alien getting oppressed by mostly people of color. Without a hint of irony.

Jor-El: I thought the language barrier between him and Clark was an inspired choice and clever as a means of postponing Clark learning about his heritage. But nope. Jor-El just starts magically talking in English later on. Otherwise boring and generic!

Brainy: I know he's prominent in S2 so I can't speak much for his character from the small impression I got of him in S1, but I can say that he looks mad ugly <3 truly horrible rogues designs in this show.

PHEW!! That's my roundup of MAWS character opinions! Wild how I can't even pinpoint a character I like on this show, lol. I know Kara's in S2 as well, and what I've seen of her sounds awful. Her design is bad too. I'm just not ready for the heartbreak of meeting that version of her because I love Supergirl so much :((

[sealnoodlesoup]

My stupid opinion that will get me killed by the entire She-Ra fandom

Shadow Weaver had a better redemption arc than C4tra

Yes, I know that Shadow wasn't fully redeemed, was terrible, and never apologized for her actions. But at least she was useful and helped the rebellion, unlike C4tra who was just getting in everyone's way. Shadow had many chances to betray the rebellion but she didn't meanwhile C4tra (who committed more and worse crimes than Shadow) would probably betray them all if someone offered her greater power because she only joined the rebellion when it was her only chance of survival despite being offered to join them many times before. And while C4tra did say she was sorry she never properly apologized for everything she did (like killing Angela and almost destroying the universe) and her apology always felt like she was just trying to earn sympathy from others. And she continued treating everyone horribly even after that. Shadow Weaver stayed loyal to the rebellion until the very end and even died for them, I know many people say that she only killed herself to traumatize C4tra, but the only proof of that they have is the "You're welcome" and it still can be argued what she meant by that (In my opinion it was "You're Welcome, now that I'm dead I won't bother you anymore" I'm not gonna explain why I think that here because this post is not about that). Shadow was the one who found a way to stop Horde Prime and did everything to make sure it worked, meanwhile, C4tra was being a nuisance and a distraction just so she could be with Adora and didn't care that the world might get destroyed because of it. She tried to stop Adora from taking the failsafe even though Adora was the only person who could survive it and got angry when Adora chose to save the world first instead of making out with her. Just to be clear I'm not talking about who was a morally better person, but who made up for their actions more.

In conclusion: Actions speak louder than words, Shadow Weaver was useful to the rebellion while C4tra was not.

[biotic-raptorian-angel]

50 Questions - Moira

Decided to do the 50 questions to get to know the character, at least how I write her.

What does your character do when they think no one’s looking?

Air play her violin, or dance. This nerd used to go to cyber raves back in her younger days and she’s still got the moves.

Checks her puppy cam to check in on Maddox at home.

What’s the one thing your character would save in a fire (beyond the necessities)?

Her favorite rabbit, Bonnie. It’s her control test subject for all of her experiments and unfortunately she’s grown rather fond of the little furball.

Her Doberman, named Maddox. He is best boy and the only thing to unconditionally love her.

Who’s on speed dial?

Angela

Gabriel(Reaper), if someone needs reaping lol

Your character gets turned down for their dream job. What’s their second choice?

She would’ve become a basement made geneticist whether Overwatch gave her the job or not.

But a professional violinist would be a close second.

What would they tell their ten-year-old self?

Stay weird kid. The strangest people oftentimes are the best people.

Where would they want to go on a first date?

Moira loves to cook, like obsessively loves to cook. So she would make dinner or would appreciate it if her date cooked for her as well. Someone’s cooking says alot about a person.

What’s the best advice they’ve ever received?

No one cares. Not in a sadistic way, but in the, be weird and do your own thing kinda way. Because no one cares about it as much as you do and most people aren’t even paying attention to notice the weird.

What’s the worst advice they’ve ever received?

“Just find that part of your brain and switch it on/off.”

What’s one physical detail they’d change about themselves?

Pre-serum incident, nothing. Moira revels in her genetic mutations, such as her heterochromia.

Post-serum, the damned cursed arm.

When was the last time they were held? By who?

When she last fell asleep on the couch next to Angela, nodding off and Angela just tugs her to rest against her warmth. 

What’s their favorite thing about their favorite season?

Summer back home is her favorite season. But specifically how the wildlife and vegetation just become so vibrant for those two short months where the sky isn’t as grey as usual. She takes Maddox on many hikes in the Irish countryside.

Their wallet gets stolen. What do they do?

Activates the tracking chip in it, hunts down who stole it and might or might not teach that person a lesson.

Prioritize: Love, money, power, knowledge?

Knowledge, its limitless and vast. Like a drug to Moira.

Money, for her research 

Love, she’s become sentimental over the years

Power, now this one might surprise you, but Moira isn’t the woman on the throne kind of person when it comes to power. She’s the one who does so from the backlines waiting for her efforts to come to fruition. 

What’s something nobody knows about them?

She is an avid appreciator of fine clothing and arts. A collector of fine artwork.

That she has her dog, Maddox.

What’s in their fridge?

Fresh ingredients for cooking meals. Her favorite time of day is when she can come home and be at peace cooking a good meal for herself.

What (creature, object, substance) are they most disgusted by?

Humanity. Humans, more so men, have been the single most detrimental beings on the face of this Earth in all its years. 

What’s their second worst habit?

It’s a toss up between whiskey and smoking.

What are the victory conditions for their life?

To solve the full mystery of genetics and how to prevent genetic deterioration, regeneration is the key to immortality. 

In the end, your character fails to save the day. Assuming they survive, what do they do?

Shut down. Isolate and end up drunk locked up in her apartment. Most likely spending alone time with Maddox. 

Your character is charged with a crime they didn’t commit. What do they do?

She either calls Angela to bail her out, or decides to absolutely verbally tear into the officers who are accusing her of a crime.

Your character is charged with a crime they did commit. What was the crime?

Probably either assault or murder. Let’s be real, someone tries to start something with her, she’s gonna finish it decisively. 

How would you describe your character’s life in one sentence?

All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please others, my work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it.

What important statistic would they want displayed above them?

Lives saved thanks to her research. For gloating purposes solely lol

What’s the first thing they would buy if they won the lottery?

All of the money would go back into funding her research. No question.

What profession do they most respect?

Anything with manual labor. She recognizes how spoiled medical professionals are with not having physically demanding jobs positions, and just how much the laborers make the world go round.

What childhood injustice did they never get over?

Being bullied for being the ‘nerdy’ kiddo. She still to this day tries to prove to herself that she’s ‘cool’, aka sophisticated in her older years.

How would they handle having a panic attack?

She wouldn’t know what in the hell was happening. Moira doesn’t strike me as someone who would have to deal with them ever, so for something to have brought her to that point, it’d be a full meltdown.

Your character is burdened with an inconvenient superpower. What is it?

I think unfortunately for post serum Moira, it’d be the uncontrollable biotic energy her arm produces. Imagine being in the middle of trying to delicately use a piece of equipment and suddenly the energy just destroys it. 

If they died and could come back as any person, animal, or object, what would they be?

She wouldn’t want to come back to this world. She’d want resolution and an end to be final. 

What’s the best meal they’ve ever had?

Her self made recipe for barmbrack.

Where would they stand at a dinner party?

If not trying to impress a particular lady, or trying to humiliate some power hungry and cocky man, she’d be on the edges of the party people watching and sipping her wine or whiskey.

Who would they invite to the dinner party?

Angela would be first and foremost.

What makes a perfect day for your character?

Waking up a bit later than normal, cuddling in the late morning with Maddox, then taking him for a long hike in the Irish highlands.

If given the opportunity, would they want to know how and when they died?

She wouldn’t care either way. She’s accepted that death is all a part of life, and being up in her years, she knows that at any point today can be her last.

What’s the one thing they’ve always wanted to do? Why haven’t they done it yet?

Perform professionally with her violin. It started out as a thinking habit, to help distract her mind when she was stumped with an experiment. But turned into a true love for the instrument. Unfortunately, she’s been told she plays too clinically and without a soul, which had deterred her from pursuing it as a career option.

What do they tend to joke about?

Life and death. 

The inadequacies of men.

What’s off limits?

Touching Maddox without permission.

Tampering with her data.

Whose wedding would they cross the world to attend? Whose funeral?

She’s not close enough with others around her to warrant that extreme.

What impossible choice did they make that turned out to be the right one? The wrong one?

Right choice: To introduce herself intimately with Angela.

Wrong choice: The desperate need for a human test subject, so deciding to use herself. Aka the serum incident.

Your character has someone to hype them up. What would they say to get everyone excited about your character?

Angela of course would state how compassionate Moira actually is. She would try to make sure they weren’t either scared or annoyed with her. 

What recurring dream does your character have?

Receiving the award for finishing her life’s work. Finding the true cure for degenerative cells, infinite cell regeneration and immortality. 

What is the meaning of life to your character?

The meaning of her life is to crack the genetic sequence to immortality. 

What book does your character pretend to have read?

Any publication her ‘colleagues’ claim.

Someone takes undeserved credit for your character’s work. What do they do?

Moira wouldn’t stand by and allow them to take the credit. She would systematically disprove their involvement and humiliate their reputation for the foreseeable future. 

What controversial belief or view does your character hold? Why? Do they hide it?

Humans are no different than the animals they try to dominate. Just because we have a higher evolutionary intelligence, doesn’t put us as the apex predator or in our own category from animals. She states this many times with regards to when men try peacock. 

Your character is at a theme park. Where do they go first?

The central annex to park herself and people watch. Observing social dynamics and interactions in larger data pools.

What’s your character’s favorite name?

diabhal ann an clisgeadh (her mother called her this when she became obsessed with genetic sciences.)

Teufel in Verkleidung (by Angela when she;s being a brat)

What’s the biggest compliment they’d give themselves?

That she is truly at the height of her field, outmatching and dominating everyone else in it.

How does your character feel about bugs?

She LOVES them. Their genetic diversity is mystifying.

If your character could hit a reset button on their life, would they?

Not a chance. She’d be right back to where she is now.

Maybe the only moment would be to choose NOT to leave Overwatch and Angela.

[fxiled-fxithful]

Previous Cycle. . . . Year - 1925

Angela steps out of a ballroom in Heaven, a crystal staircase causes her light steps to echo for a moment until she finds herself near a transparent fountain that allows any who gazes into the depths to see into the mortal realm and a few choice places in the Pride Ring.

She took a deep breath as she rested a hand over her chest. Being surrounded by so many angels in one place was far too much for one who was far too used to working on her own. The energy in the room was overwhelming; especially knowing what tomorrow would bring.

She needed to center herself. Tomorrow was a big day and her attention required her to be focused at all times. "You know, there's no shame in enjoying the company of one's peers.."

A soft and welcoming male voice sounded behind her. She knew that voice anywhere, no matter the cycle.

The corner of her lips curved for just a moment, but she didn't bother to turn her head as his visage appeared beside her in the reflection of the fountain.

"Hmn..and I suppose you consider yourself among them, Uriel?" A soft chuckle slips from her lips, "You know as well as I do what happens tomorrow. Every angel and demon will be turned to dust. Neither have proven to be worthy of saving in this cycle."

There was a visible roll of the eyes from the other, scoffing at Angela's words.

"You're still on about that, are you? You don't truly think Father would purposely harm his own creations, do you? We are beings of the Light and Righteous. We have committed no fault and shall forever remain as a monument of prosperity."

Her cold icy gaze turned to him,"If that is how you truly feel then this cycle is done for. I have no pity for those who will not listen to reason. For all your knowledge and wisdom, you refuse to see the truth. War will be at your doorstep at dawn. I pray that you will learn the error of your ways..old friend."

The blond angel narrowed his own eyes at Angela. He didn't quite like where this conversation was going, if a conversation is what you would call it. He reached out for her left forearm, "Hold it. When we were first introduced two months ago, you claimed to be God's Messenger. Are you telling me that you weren't lying back then?"

Angela looked away from him as she secretly used her ice and snow to cool her self until the touch of her own skin would burn his hand with frostbite.

"I have taken an oath to never speak a lie upon my duty to serve God. I would certainly never lie about being his messenger."

She closed her eyes," Do you recall that battle that took place two weeks ago? You should consider yourself lucky for having so few casualties. At least Hell is taking this business seriously...but it will not be enough. Both Heaven and Hell must express unity. Yet the High Heavens will only acknowledge a threat if it is spelled out in front of them." Uriel then quickly pulled back his hand from her arm, feeling the bite of her frozen skin.

"What's new? Hell is always preparing for war. Be it with us or themselves. We pay them little mind, except for Charlie. I don't know why she thought it was a brilliant idea to come here and try to arrange a meeting with Sera. She's right where she belongs, behind bars."

A tired sigh leaves Angela's lips, "..and that is how Heaven will fall. Being reminded of it's own foundations is seen as a crime and none will thank you for it. Charlie is a key of unity. She sought out an audience with Sera to bring the powers of Heaven and Hell together. Yet, she is met with bars and chains. You lot must be ashamed of yourselves. Her purpose is greater than your own." She takes a moment to remove a promise ring off of her left hand and carefully takes his right to place the ring inside his palm.

"I had hoped that my influence towards you would allow this cycle a chance. Your voice speaks louder than mine, dearest Uriel. However, that power has gone to your head and you ignore the danger before you. I cannot find peace with one who does not listen. There is a smoke among your bright flame. Though I had hoped to settle in this time, I see now that there is no place for me here. This is goodbye, Uriel. I pray that that you make amends with God before your final hour."

Before she could allow him to say another word, she disappears in white flash with only a few white feathers left in her wake where she once stood.

Angela reappeared before the jail in Heaven, but paused in her steps as she felt a familiar shadow near by.

"You know, it's rude to eavesdrop."

A shadowed figure steps to her side, a small smile given from under a black cloak from a dark feminine figure. It was none other than Lady Death herself. Azrael.

"You know me, Angela. I like to be well informed." The smile she wore died, glancing towards the jail, "So..we really are going to have a war then? So much for having a vacation."

"You can always flee. I know you're wonderful at doing that."

"Hardy har har..very funny. I didn't flee, I left due to a need to mend my wings." She gave Angela a light nudge, "Are you sure you want to do this? Heaven won't forgive you if you try to release one of their prisoners, especially one who's a Princess of Hell."

"The only Heaven I cared about is long gone, turned to ash within the flames of judgement. I am but a messenger and thus, I must ensure that the key of unity is free. Follow if you wish, but do not stand in my way."

With that, she steps inside, freezing every guard she comes in contact with, always checking for keys - but none carried any, not even the Captain of the Prison Guard.

She did, however, find Charlie's cell. There was a singular chair she was strapped into with a pair of black glasses over her eyes. Angela's heart sank. Strapped in to face a faux paradise so she would forget to go home or worry about why she came to plead her case to Heaven to begin with.

But the bars for Charlie's cell were tough to move on her.

"Stand back!"

Angela quickly stands to the side and allows Azrael to use her scythe to cut through the bars for the door. Metal bars fell as she held a hand out for Angela to walk in. Smiling a little, she walks into Charlie's cell. Kneeling before the child, she carefully pulls the rose colored shades off of her eyes.

"Hello Charlie..I'm here to get you back home. Just remain still for a moment."

As expected, the Princess was disoriented and her eyes remained cloudy. Something she would take advantage of as she removed the bindings around Charlie's legs and arms. Once off, Angela carried the young demon and teleported herself to Hell, just outside of her father's home. Angela took a moment to help Charlie stand upright before knocking on the door.

Thankfully, a maid answered the door, who immediately sent word to Lucifer of her return while helping Angela bring her inside. In a matter of seconds, Lucifer was at his daughter's side. Seeing the family, or what was left of it, together again, was heartwarming.

Just as Angela was about to leave, Lucifer left his daughter's side for a moment to have a word with the angel. He thanked her for bringing his daughter home. After losing his beloved Lilith in a battle two weeks ago in Heaven to aid them in a fight - only to be shot down by angelic by standards and have his daughter imprisoned for seeking out peace not long after watching her own mother fall at their hands, he felt lost. With Charlie back, he finally felt as if he had a semi sense of normalcy.

Angela could only smile as she gave him a blessing for protection and true strike for the start of his battle come morning.

Their cycle may be doomed to fail, but there was no harm in offering a glimmer of hope for the future.

With a final farewell, Angela made her way back to God's side.

No feathers of aid were offered, no mutterings of prayer to summon her. No, she would like to see if Heaven and Hell could look past their differences to work together as one - complete unity.

Unfortunately, Heaven was too proud to accept any help from those from Hell, despite how much they were willing to look past their differences.

This cycle deserved to crumble and burn to ash. There were so few sympathies for any, leaving no soul for herself to mourn over.

Not Uriel, Charlie, Lucifer or even Lady Death...

[ahmedmootaz]

Good evening! I've been pondering over a question about AiP since before my first ask, and have finally decided to ask! Throughout the story, the topic of "was it all worth it" seems to be a big question that Ayin continues to evade with "I don't know." (Classic Ayin) for a more straightforward question: If there was no other way to release the light, would Ayin still do LobCorp today, even if it meant hurting Angela? Also, what would Carmen's EGO be if she had one?

Dear hncdhnmfr,

Very, very interesting question. I suppose I could tell you to wait and see in AiP, but that simply won't do now. I'd be committing the same mistakes Ayin commits on a daily basis, heheh.

Well, put simply, the answer is: Yes.

But to see the circumstances of that yes, we need to delve a bit deeper into how it'll work. You see, Ayin was always a practical man, and he was less emotionally attached than most. If he were to choose between the lives of many and the lives of few, the needs of many would trump the needs of the few, and even with everything he learnt and went through, he would still consider that saving everyone else would be a worthwhile effort to sacrifice so much for.

Of course, this begs the question: What are the needs of the many? In my humble opinion, it's Carmen's message to the City, or at least the pre-corrupted version of it. For example, he wouldn't ever make Angela and the Librarians go through the pain they had to endure solely for saving Carmen, but if it meant releasing a pure version of the Light that had no side effects like the Distortion, then he would carefully consider the situation and see if there are no other options before searching for all the ways he can make such a plan less harmful to its participants.

But there's one very important aspect of that question: How he goes about implementing his plans. An important part of why Ayin's crimes are so striking isn't the plan itself. It's that the participants are, for the most part, unwilling or unaware. Sure, there's a case to be made about them becoming aware after recovering their memories post-Meltdown, but he still forced them all into the Script and its horrors, with Angela specifically suffering from the biggest burden amongst her peers with no love, encouragement, thanks, or even recognition. That's part of why Angela languished and suffered for so long; she gained not one shred of goodwill throughout her suffering in the Corporation. Ayin's misdeeds went further than the Script itself; he was too traumatised himself to recall that no everyone else was as traumatised as him. This led to him creating the Script as both a plan and a punishment to himself, although he also punished Angela, the Sephirahs and the Agents with it, even if inadvertently.

Hence, post-AiP Ayin would go through with the Seed of Light if there was no other plan to release the Light if, and only if, Angela and the Librarians agree to such a plan after thoroughly discussing it with them. In addition, it's entirely possible that he decides to modify the Script to avoid needless suffering and would inform everyone of the plan's minute details beforehand to avoid another cycle where the Manager has to navigate blindly without any help from those around him.

There's, of course, a point to be made about whether or not it'd be possible to consider it the same plan as the Seed of Light seeing how it'd be devoid of the torment and suffering that made it so iconic, and how it'd doubtlessly be finished much, much quicker given the better conditions it'd be in...but I'll leave that question for you, to answer.

Still, it's worth it to say that to Ayin, knowing that the original Seed of Light could've been done with so much less suffering had he not devised that plan when he was quite literally at the lowest point he could've ever been at during his life, would consider that any plan similar to it would simply not be worth it given that he would be able to create something much kinder with the people he cares about around him this time.

But for the original Seed of Light...I'd say he could consider that it was...mixed. He cannot say it was wholly worth it because of the inane and senseless costs of it and the subsequent formation of the Library and the trauma sustained by Carmen which led to her becoming the Distortion, but he cannot denounce it wholly, either, given that it did work as a last-ditch plan he formulated when, as said, he devised it the very bottom of the neigh-bottomless pit that had been his life at that point.

If you really pressed it, he'd have to begrudgingly say: "It was worth it solely, and only solely, because I could not formulate or devise any other plans at that time to germinate the Seed of Light."

As for the question about Carmen's potential E.G.O., well, here's my reasoning: Carmen's roles were never offensive, mostly supportive. Her original plan was never to attack the City and force it to reform, it was to help it bloom a better future for it and its denizens. Carmen's plans always revolved around letting people dream again and giving the people equal grounds to fight for their dreams and aspirations, which she intended to accomplish through E.G.O.

If she had an E.G.O., I'd say it'd be mostly centred around supporting those around her by preserving other E.G.O. and making sure it does not undergo corrosion of any sort, healing surrounding allies, and perhaps disabling any non-E.G.O. related enhancements like the ones Fixers use in order to 'even' the playing field. And just like her Distorted self Distorts people and lets their emotions consume them, her E.G.O. could help the Cityfolk attain their E.G.O.s while controlling their emotions and allowing them to become more selfless instead of selfish, like she currently does in LoR/Limbus.

Again, I deeply apologise for the delay in the answer! I know you told me you don't mind long delays, but even so, this one was TOO long. As always, it was a delight to see your ask, hncdhnmfr, and until the next time, be well, take care, and see ya'!

[daniclaytcn]

AFIKQUWXY

A — answered here!

F — What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

the 911 fandom for sure! i don't think i've ever stuck around in a fandom as long as this one and continued to make content for it as well :)

I — Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

the marvel fandom...not that i ever even liked it to begin with, but the terrible media literacy, bigotry, etc finally caused me to break and call it quits

K — What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

eddie diaz from 911, and also emma swan from ouat

Q — A fandom you’ve abandoned and why

i feel like i kinda abandoned the nancy drew fandom 😔 i was disappointed with some of the stuff they did in s4 and i haven't gotten around to finishing the rest of the season yet

U — Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

eddie diaz from 911 — he's had one of the best character arcs i've ever seen and there are so many interesting layers to him angela lopez from the rookie — she's soo. badass and interesting and so underrated emma swan from ouat — she's the original blorbo for me tbh, she's suffered more than jesus and she deserved to go evil. as a treat. no character has deserved to break and commit war crimes more than her

W — A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

i don't know if you would call it a trope but i really hate it when in fanfics the main pair gets together and the other characters 'threaten' or try to give the shovel talk to one half of the ship. it's such an old and tired trope and the 911 fandom is particularly bad with it imo

X — A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

i love a good childhood friends AU!

Y — What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

merlin! though it might not be secondhand for long because everyday i am more tempted to start the show

ship/character/trope ask game

[ctlightner]

REVIEW: Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms by Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law

Overview

5/5 Stars. Very engaging, especially for people who have an intermediate knowledge and interest in this subject. Makes a good companion to Danielle Sered’s Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and A Road to Repair and Angela Davis’ Are Prisons Obsolete? I listened on audiobook from Hoopla, and while the narrator is a little dry, the lack of flourishes to the narration helped me retain the information better. I will be buying a physical copy to annotate early next year.

Full Review

One subject I’ve really been getting into lately is prison abolition/reform. It’s a very wide, radical topic that I think a lot of people in my similar spaces and circles know about and agree with to some extent. Last year I read Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and A Road to Repair by Danielle Sered which really got me thinking about this subject, especially beyond the thought terminating cliché of “But what about the murderers and rapists?!” I don’t necessarily think that’s an unfair question, but it is one trotted out very easily by people who want a quick “gotcha” to win (and end) the conversation.

Until We Reckon dealt with the ideas of restorative and transformative justice and how they can be effectively applied even to people who have committed such mortal sins as, yes, murder, assault and battery, and property destruction. Sered came at it from an angle of someone who worked in a transformative/restorative justice organization for people who committed violent crimes, which helped make it more convincing than if she was merely reporting on it as an outsider. I would highly recommend that book if you’ve heard of prison abolition, agree that the current system cannot continue as is, and want a practical breakdown of what a different system could look like.

As a chaser, I would recommend the book I just finished: Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms by Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law. This book is a rebuttal to several suggested and currently implemented reforms, such as more mental institutionalization, more electronic monitoring/house arrest, and more policing. Schenwar and Law go point by point, deconstructing what each reform’s stated goal is and what its actual consequences are.

One of the main points Schenwar and Law keep tying back to is the idea of “somewhere else,” like the Patrick Star meme: “We should take the prisoners and put them Somewhere Else!” That elsewhere, more often than not, turns out to be another form of incarceration. House arrest sounds like a huge step up from imprisonment, until you realize how small of an area you have to actually move through. This book was published in mid-2020, so it wasn’t written in the wake of the quarantines, but if it had come out even a year later, I bet the authors would have appealed to people’s own trauma of how maddening home confinement is.

I already knew about most of these in theory, but it was very powerful to hear it all put together, especially with the various anecdotes and cases the authors used to illustrate their point. Out of all their examples the one I’ve had the most trouble understanding over the last few years is how abusive institutionalization is. But as they recounted the strict schedules, the loss of bodily autonomy, and the outright physical abuse patients suffer at so-called healers’ hands, it finally clicked for me why people would be hesitant to seek mental help for their loved ones who need it or for themselves.

Despite going over so many bleak subjects, the book ends in hope. Not for a utopia to spring up in the next decade, or even within our lifetimes, but for a stronger push toward better, non-carceral solutions. Ones that can actually help those who break one of the social contracts not break it again, for their victims to regain control over their life, and for society as a whole not to fall into the widening panopticon net these reforms throw over it.

[anothersebastianblog]

And if everyone does the work they are supposed to, maybe that bridge can be mended in the future. / Sebastian needs to work on himself as well, not just the fans. Not all criticism he received was invalid and not everything was presented in a hate form. In fact, most of the hate actually comes from the people who’ve despised him for years. His fans are too afraid to even say anything and that’s why his pedo likes pretty much went under the radar. He wasn’t well known at the time and besides a few comments here and there, his fans let it slide. Even in the last years, his fans remained publicly silent on all the shit he and people he chose to associate himself with did, instead opting for letting it all out in private. They are too afraid to say anything, living in fear of losing him/his online presence forever, because they know that even the valid criticism expressed in a polite manner (the way it happened with Ale in the beginning) by fans won’t go over well with him. He doesn’t see anything wrong with anything he or his associates do or say. It’s genius the way he was able to pull the victim card that now even if something actually valid is said, it gets treated like hate and a bunch of crying fans start screaming “that’s why he left us! if you don’t stop he won’t come back!”. I know he’s gotten a lot of actual unfair shit (not by his actual fans tho), but amongst all the shit there were important issues that got brought up but got dismissed in the process. He should learn to separate these things. He’s not the only celebrity to get under fire for something they did or said. He needs to learn to own his mistakes and set boundaries with his acknowledgment. I don’t think he wants to even try to do that, so it’s probably best that he quit the app. /

not all criticism was hate but the loudest was pure hate. what HE saw was hate and more hate and more hate. people using the "calling him out" shit as an umbrella to be hateful. the very first person who discovered Alejandra's CA, didn't go to Alejandra's page to tell HER about it, the decided to go to Sebastian's post and make a mess out of it. I remember that person so perfectly, Angela 😒, their intentions has never been to educate others or whatever, it's always been getting people to hate him. period. "his pedo likes" one you mean... it was one. and no, people called him out back then just like they do every year, the same thing every single year and in 2017/2018 it was pretty much every month. "things he and people he chooses to associate with did" lol, it sounds like they all committed a crime, be serious 🤨. you're lying if you think people were polite at the beginning of the ale thing. I literally spoke with that Angela girl, the one who started it all, and told her to be nice about it and to tell to Alejandra mainly, Sebastian never had to answer for her. would you answer for something someone you know did before you met them? no, you wouldn't. nobody would, the fuck. I don't think he pulled the victim card. may i remind you he was doxxed? no, I don't care if some/few people knew about it before that, the day that happened many of us found out where he lived. there were people outside his apartment taking pictures with the fucking door 💀. His friends, his poc friends, were harassed non-stop, they were tagging the people he works with hoping he'd be fired from his projects. do not pretend he wasn't a victim of harassment. and yes, it is best he quit the app, so so many of you stop being annoying

Just using this to also reply to all the questions about the “pedo likes”: he liked a fan made memes about jeff’s moustache (i tonya) and some of them were pedo jokes. It wasn’t a good look at all but it was clearly just bad taste, of course no one is implying something more. He was called out and at times now this episode resurfaces.

I am sure if that happened in more recent times (2020>) he would have been eaten alive

[thislittlekumquat]

I was gonna comment in the replies but I realized I have a few too many words lol. I tend to stick pretty firmly to the 1799 anchor date of Thomas Wallis' death/Grelliam's finishing training school, only because Yana was involved enough in the production of s2 that the date would have likely had to be approved by her. The comment about "weren't you here 70 years ago" strikes me as a possible bit of misdirection (perhaps Grell was just Not Paying Attention, #bimborights, or perhaps she was already finding crimes to commit in the mortal realm), but honestly it could be meant to be taken as canon over the OVA timeline. However, as someone who has been in this fandom since 2009, I can tell you that I tend to take seemingly random things in the anime-only content as VERY strong possibilities for future manga developments. A non-exhaustive list of things that were in the anime months or years before the manga:

-The entire character of Paula, Lizzy's maid

-Queen Victoria being interested in reviving the dead

-The motif of twin servants in white to the queen (ash and angela versus double charles)

-Undertaker being a reaper

-Druitt being the uncle to a blonde boy roughly Ciel's age who Ciel has to investigate

-Drocell and the puppets made of the bones of kidnapped children preceded Joker and Noah's arc circus

None of this is actually to argue with anything you said in your post, because in reality I tend to work off of the same rough timeline assumptions as you for Grell's time as an alive mortal. But I just wanted to throw in some extra food for thought since I think for newer fans it's not super apparent just how weirdly intertwined the anime only content is with later manga developments. For example, when the Noah's Ark storyline started in the manga, everyone was like "DROCELL?!?! DROCELL IS THAT YOU???" In retrospect more of us should have seen the children's bones plot twist coming LOLOL

As to my own thoughts about Grell's life, I often think it was a broken heart. It's not clear in the manga if reapers remember their human lives, so it would be really interesting character-wise if the reason Grell is constantly making off-color remarks about killing herself and finding dying for love as star-crossed soulmates romantic is that it has echoes of her own life, even if she doesn't remember that. And I FIRMLY agree that Grell was probably like 25 when she killed herself.

"Just When Was Grell Sutcliff Alive?" Part 1: Establishing a Timeline

So as many of you know, I recently got into Black Butler (I know, about 17 years too late), and I'm almost caught up. However, I want to talk about how I'm still thinking about Vol 29 and some of the lore dropping Othello does at the beginning there.

Namely I'm fixated on possibly having a timeline for Grell's human life and death.

This wasn't intended to be a proper meta. It's been too long since I've written one, and there's probably important stuff I'm forgetting or don't know. But I wanted to write all of this down to get it out on the page, for posterity. Then it accidentally became a meta. Oops. Mild BB spoilers up to Vol 29, and heads up for some discussion of historical homophobia, transphobia, and state violence at the end. As well as a canon-typical suicide mention. I use she/her pronouns for Grell, but broadly interpret her as queer and transfeminine given the complexity of talking about identity in the time periods I'll be referencing (I use "queer" as a reclaimed, academic, blanket term). I'm also largely taking a Watsonian approach (Grell's experiences from her perspective), although a Doylist approach to Grell (as in relating to the author's intent and cultural context rather than the character's) is also really interesting one, but feels like more well trodden territory. With that out of the way, let's begin.

The info we have So. Something really interesting happened in Vol 29. We got a lot of great Undertaker backstory, but Othello said something relating to Grell that made me eyes emoji.

"Weren't you around 70 years ago?"

So, she never replies to this. But it seems highly plausible this means Grell was not a reaper 70 years before the current date in the manga. We don't quite know what the lag time is between someone dying and becoming a reaper, but I'm taking this to mean she had not died yet, as I assume she would have remembered an event like the one Othello describes. I believe this is the implication. Now, I am making some assumptions:

- To clarify, I know this is all guesswork. I'm just having fun with different possibilities. - Like I said, we don't know what the lag time is between someone dying and becoming a reaper (as in, the new state of being, not the job), and we don't know how long it takes to go from trainee to collections to senior. - That Grell was around 25 when she died. It's hard to tell anime character ages from 20-40 at a glance, but her design seems similar to me to characters that are in their 20s in other series. She could be older or younger, but I'm using that in lieu of a better option. It's not precise, but it'll get us in the ballpark anyway - Black Butler has a lot of anachronisms. However, Toboso is known to research things heavily and her changes are typically very purposeful (the purpose is usually "Rule of cool" and that's why we stan). I'm assuming historical events happening in BB to mirror the real world except where indicated otherwise. - I'm also assuming she's English. The names Grell and Grelle are both German in origin, but there are a lot of Germanic names in English and Sutcliff as a surname originated in Yorkshire. This is only based on a quick Google search--I could do more later, but this seems in line with Grell not being presented as "foreign" to England in any way in the series making her stand out in the same way her flamboyance or flirtation with men does. Establishing a range

The series takes place in 1888 and 1889. 70 years ago would put Undertaker's defection at 1818. If what Othello says is true, this means Grell became a reaper sometime after that date.

Let's establish the outlier possibilities first (again, assuming a pretty rapid transition from human death to becoming a reaper).

The earliest possible date Grell could have become a reaper: sometime in the following year, around 1819. This would put her birth at around 1794, and her death that year in 1819. This feels unlikely because it seems like she would have been exposed to people talking about Undertaker defecting since it was such a catastrophe, but who knows.

The latest possible date Grell could have become a reaper is 1887, which would place her birth at around 1862. This is massively improbable to the point of being impossible since she's a senior in collections and I assume that didn't happen in a year, but again, it's important for establishing a range. Basically, tldr, according to this framework, Grell became a reaper sometime between 1819 and 1887, which puts her human life (and death) in that timeframe as well. This would place her in the Georgian-Victorian eras, or possibly even the 8 year Regency period.

Will the Reaper OVA I've only talked about the manga so far since the 1st anime canon is wildly divergent in a number of ways, but if we include the Will the Reaper OVA, this would push things towards the earlier end of that timeline. I don't know much about the history of fashion (especially not middle and lower class dress), but it seems distinctly late 1700s/maybe early 1800s to me. Which if I'm reading right, would actually push Grell becoming a reaper back as far as the 1790s or 1810s, and would dispute the 1819 date implied by Vol 29. IF ANYONE KNOWS MORE ABOUT THE FASHION REFERENCES HERE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TELL ME. I WANT TO KNOW.

(Baby....Grell...furious and stark raving mad recently dead stray cat making it everyone's problem. I'm fine) This is subverted a little bit by the reaper outfits appearing more like Victorian businesswear, but Reapers always seem to be a few decades ahead of the world in terms of fashion and technology. My personal assessment is that the fashion in this is to make it immediately, visually clear that the OVA takes place in the Georgian rather than Victorian period, however that forces me to break my largely Watsonian approach for a Doylist one ("the animators perhaps decided it was necessary to show that time had passed since the events of the OVA"), but considering it came out so long before the lore drop in Vol 29, who knows.

I'm not inclined to take it as gospel truth for the manga canon, but considering Toboso did collaborate on that one, I think it at least worth talking about and considering as supplemental information.

I personally take this to support (but not solely uphold) the idea that "Grell became a reaper sometime during the Georgian period (1713-1837)", but again, grain of salt.

What would it mean for Grell to be a queer person in England in the 1700s and 1800s?

As far as I'm aware, we don't know anything about what Grell's life might have been like before becoming a reaper. Unless I'm missing something, that's a black box until Toboso reveals more.

But establishing this timeline gives us a great opportunity to consider the circumstances she would have lived under.

Understand that I'm not speaking in absolutes here, more "here are some interesting things I like to think about when considering why this character might be the way she is". I'm also not saying Toboso intended any of this to be read into Grell, but as readers I believe it's reasonable to assume Grell may have encountered these events or they might have impacted her unless stated otherwise. A brief list of things Grell would have been living under or around or could have been aware of. I want to do a part 2 talking about how these things might relate to someone like Grell, as well as talking about other major historical events not directly related to queer people (like, you know, the Napoleonic Wars), but this post is already feeling long enough: - The Buggery Act and the Offenses Against the Person Act, which made a variety of sexual acts punishable by death, including acts like anal sex. These laws were used to persecute people, usually queer men (although people who would today be called trans women and nonbinary people were also certainly prosecuted as well*), particularly in the 1700s and 1800s. I believe as of 1862 it was no longer punishable by death, but people still lived in fear of prison and hard labor (Oscar Wilde going to prison in 1895 being a famous later example). Here's an article about the men killed under the Buggery Act. *Trans men were not exempt from this, even if the specific legal and social threat was likely different. If memory serves, Dr. James Barry was jeopardized by rumors that he may have been Too Close to one of his cis male friends. - Molly houses. Generally considered places in the 1700s and 1800s where queer men gathered to socialize and find sexual partners. There was a lot of gender divergence in these spaces, and it's widely believed they were frequented by people who, again, today, could have a variety of gender identities. This article about molly houses and gender is really interesting. This article specifically talks about one in Whitechapel. - The Chevalier d'Eon. This one is just really interesting. While the Chevalier d'Eon was likely one of the first examples of legally recognized gender transition, this person was very famous and wealthy and the circumstances are buckwild. This video is highly watchable and informative. Grell

As a queer person and someone who likes history (I don't have any specific training, I just like learning about it), I already think a lot about what it must have been like to live during this specific time period, and Grell slots into that pretty well as a character to fixate on, since she dovetails with the other existing hyperfixation. By extension, I like using this information to think about what Grell's human life might have been like, and how those experiences could be aligned to explain a lot of her behavior, and seems especially poignant to me in light of all reapers having been people who committed suicide, another recent lore reveal in the manga. Maybe she lived closeted and lived in fear of discovery. Maybe she wasn't afraid! Maybe she was impulsive and endangered herself and others! Maybe she got blackmailed. What if she experienced her first taste of femininity at a molly house? Does she only go after men who reject her because she lived during a time where her affections being returned was intensely dangerous? Did she care about anyone? Is anyone she knew still alive? Thank you so much to everyone who read to the end! If I'm able to rally, I do want there to be a part 2 to this going more into detail about how it makes sense to me that these homophobic and transphobic societal pressures could have created a character like Grell.

[useless-englandfacts]

I don’t know if you’ll be able to help out, but I support BLM and want to learn more about black people in the UK but most of the stuff out there is about America. Do you have any recommendations about British black people? Books or documentaries or resources?

I'd be happy to help out! I agree the US tends to dominate conversations about race, but happily there are quite a few British books out there too! Disclaimer that these are just off the top of my head so if anyone wants to add more then please go ahead!

Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga! He's a prominent Black historian and has also done multiple documentaries which aim to expand traditional narratives of British history to include people of colour who are so often written out. You can find a full list on his Wikipedia page of course, though I'm unsure as to how many are on iPlayer and such! There's a child-friendly version of Black and British here too for any parents/teachers who are interested!

Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch is a more autobiographical book about Hirsch's experiences growing up as a mixed race woman in Britain. Hirsch attended Oxford University and works at the BBC, so it’s offers a good insight into what it's like for POC to exist in spaces that have traditionally been saved for rich white people. She's a journalist too so there are various articles of hers floating about covering a range of issues, some of which relate to race. She's also done a few documentaries that are worth checking out, including The Battle for Britain's Heroes which questions whether some of our 'heroes' (e.g. Churchill, Nelson) should really be honoured, and (not British but) African Renaissance which looks at Black culture in Ethiopia, Senegal and Kenya - maybe the first time I've seen African culture shown on its own terms.

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala is another half autobiographical work, covering stuff like the far right in Britain, policing and education. It does a great job of cutting through the squeamishness I think Brits often have when talking about race.

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge has become a sort of classic of its genre but I think it's totally worthy of all the praise it's received! It looks at how lots of white people in Britain (and more generally) equate racism with full-on hate crimes, meaning they don't consider themselves racist despite regularly committing micro-aggressions/other unintentional acts. Also an absolutely stellar insight into intersectionality throughout the book! Cannot recommend enough!

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power by Lola Olufemi is a must-read for feminists! It discusses modern-day feminism and how it needs to remove itself from that girlboss capitalist yuckiness, and should instead focus on marginalised issues within feminism such as transmisogyny, sex work, and - of course - racism. Has been praised by Angela Davis so that's a huge plus!

The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla is a collection of essays by POC from across Britain sharing experiences of racism and immigration, and what it feels like to be constantly regarded as an 'other' or as an ambassador for your race.

Literally anything by Paul Gilroy! His work is slightly older and some of it is very ~academic~ but I don't want to suggest that it's therefore totally inaccessible. He talks a lot more about British national identity and our role in the world and how that has affected views on race and immigration. He's written lots (I recommend Googling him and having a better look yourself!) but There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack and After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture are both fab.

If you're feeling brave then you could look at anything by Marxist darling Stuart Hall? Some of his writing is very difficult to penetrate imo, but it's worth it if you can. He's written a lot so I would recommend browsing his Wikipedia page first and seeing if there's anything that grabs you. Even if you don't feel up to reading his stuff cover to cover, he's still someone who every antiracist in Britain should know!

Honourary mention to Thinking Black: Britain, 1964-1985 by Rob Waters just because he taught me at university hehe! Obviously more of an academic history book, but again pretty accessible and a good insight into more radical Black politics in Britain in the era.

I haven't read it myself as I believe it's only just come out but David Harewood has a book called Maybe I Don't Belong Here: A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery which looks worth checking out! Foreword by our beloved David Olusoga too!

If you're still looking for more then a good tip with any of the academic books listed here is that you can browse the footnotes and/or bibliography to find further reading there!

If you're looking for documentaries then on the BBC you can browse for Black History Month stuff, (fictional) shows that centre Black British characters and narratives, and documentaries that do the same. There has been quite a lot done in the past year about all sorts of stuff - from Black people in the NHS, what it's like being Black in the church, more specific stuff on Stephen Lawrence, Windrush, the Newcross Fire, and even specials on Black celebrities such as Lenny Henry. There's also a Black and Proud section on Channel 4's website that does something similar (side note: cannot believe they've put Hollyoaks on there that's so funny).

I don't read much fiction myself, but it is important not just to see Black Britons as victims of racism, but also as… you know… complicated and fully rounded human beings who are able to experience the full spectrum of human emotion like everyone else. Like black people just… existing. Looking to others who do read fiction to help flesh out this section in particular but a couple again off the top of my head:

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola (I know this isn’t about Britain per se, but she's a Black British writer so I think it counts).

This is probably more than you asked for and you can likely tell that my academic background is in history so it is skewed towards that but I hope this helps! And again, if anyone wants to add anything then feel free!

- Dominique

[unofficialadamtaurus]

if anyone wants an example of just how much disabled people are painted as more violent, more inherently dangerous, that we need to be locked up despite most violent crime coming from ablebodied, neurotypical people — look no further than the horror genre. i love horror but it has come out with some of the worst misconceptions of people with mental disorders — white single female & bpd, split & did, etc — & people who are not ablebodied / are disfigured — horror villains like leatherface, jason, freddy, etc.

this isn't even just singling out disabled people; trans people had to content with the likes of buffalo bill or angela in sleepaway camp. queerphobia is rampant in the genre & these films, especially the mainstream ones; push stereotypes.

sure you could say ablebodied / nt people are most likely to commit violent crime & you would be statistically right to do so. but not many ablebodied / nt people will believe you because of these stereotypes & preconceptions.

same difference for shows like rwby that misappropriate social justice topics only to end up reinforcing harmful ideals over & over & over.

Exactly. When the majority demonizes the minority in real life, they do so when it's not based on fact and they have to ignore the actual statistics to perpetuate their beliefs. Meanwhile in fiction, the author often roots the majority's discrimination in some objective danger they craft for the minority, i.e. transforming into murder demons that spew fire everywhere or, to give some random example, people with benign animal traits always descending into terrorism the moment they decide that maybe being enslaved kinda sucks and that begging their oppressors for some rights isn't the only way to affect change.

Just like there's such a thing as bad press, there's such a thing as bad representation. The media listed above are all examples that, while they may not have been made with malicious intent, have had negative consequences for marginalized groups - just like RWBY.

[oswincoleman]

Some pictures of Jenna Coleman in The Serpent episode 5

Once again, I will list my thoughts on the episode below. SPOILERS!

You can tell that there was a change of directors between the first 4 episodes and this one. It’s rather different from the first four episodes in numerous ways, and I think it generally makes sense to consider there to be two parts to the show. Though I haven’t seen episodes 6-8 yet, I do generally know what happens in them. Episodes 1-4 are all about Charles and accomplices commiting various crimes, and how Herman starts his investigation into the murders, and starts unravelling this web of crime piece by piece, many months later. 

The two narrative strands; the one following Charles, Marie, Ajay, and the people they meet, drug, steal from, and murder, and the second one featuring Herman, Paul, Angela, and their investigation of the the murder of a Dutch couple, finally come together at the start of episode 5. 

Herman had acquired so much evidence already, that once the police arrive to arrest Charles, Marie, and Ajay, one would expect that the story would be over already. But it’s not, as Herman and the others did not count on the way in which Charles managed to anticipate, and plan ahead of the arrest, forge a believable new identity, bribe the police, and hide the incriminating evidence that should be found in his safe, but wasn’t. It’s very tense to watch how the evidence is insufficient because “Alain” is now using a different name, so cannot be convicted of crimes that a different person committed. 

The flashbacks are once again expertly done to unravel the story in a captivating narrative, showing the arrest, and then piece by piece revealing just how they managed to escape. 

Everything you expect this episode to be, it is not. In many ways, the situation at the end of the episode is almost entirely different to what the start of the episode seems like. It starts off with a carefully planned and executed arrest, with the police doing everything right, but it ends with the failure of the police to keep their prisoners locked up, inability to find incriminating evidence in Charles’ safe, and Herman having to start from square one, having no clue of Charles’ whereabouts, or what name he was currently using while travelling elsewhere. 

For Marie, you can see almost the exact reverse transition that she had undergone in the previous episode. In episode 4, she had gained a lot of confidence, and acceptance of her role as Charles’ accomplice, playing a much more direct role than ever before. We see her fully commit to playing the part of Monique, a stylish character she dreams to be. 

But with the arrest and the stay in prison, this confidence breaks down, and we see her start to question who she really is, and what she is done. She repeats that she is not a criminal; she has fully committed to the delusion of what was happening, and doesn’t want to accept the reality and consequences of it. But still she is terrified, and is unsure of how to procede. She is once more confronted with a test in which she could choose to say the truth, and get Charles’ murders to stop. She is interrogated by an American diplomat, who asks her a simple question of whether she ever met Teresa before she disappeared. In Jenna’s vibrant expressions, you can see Marie considering her options, remembering Teresa, and horified at the thought of what had happened to her, burdened with the knowledge that she had tried to ignore, that Charles and Ajay murdered her, but finally deciding to stick to her devotion for Charles, and the persona he has given her to play. 

It is obvious that Marie does know more than she admits, she is not someone who lies easily, but she does lie, and in doing so binds herself even closer to Charles, proving her loyalty to him despite everything once more. 

I really enjoyed this episode, it was thrilling to watch. This episode,more than any previous episode, is what gives the show it’s name. 

[upslapmeal]

Revolution of the Daleks

Can you believe Spyfall was just one year ago? Yeah neither.

a long time ago in a galaxy far far away....

ok Chibbs no need to remind us how long ago 2019 feels we know

ah glad to see the Big Onscreen Place Names haven’t gone anywhere

and now I wish I’d actually rewatched Resolution

you should have gone to a service station for your tea mate

how did they know he would stop at the lone tea and burgers stall anyway

eyy it’s Misfits guy

(who I’m sure has been in many other things)

water pistol dalek

well I guess even daleks have to face being replaced by a robot one day

“You built this yourself?” “Yes well I was inspired by all the times daleks have invaded London”

Chibbs’ DW is definitely a Serious Drama™️ in the way that RTD’s was soap and Moffat’s was......Moffat

I do genuinely wonder if kids enjoy/follow the more Serious Drama™️ bits

but come on Chibbs give us FUN give us RIDICULOUS

FINALLY the Doctor

hi Angela the weeping angel

I would have expected Angela to be imprisoned with some sort of watching eye to stop her moving

OH WHY

IT’S BEEN TOO LONG SINCE A WEEPING ANGEL JUMPSCARE I SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING

I wonder what that specific weeping angel did to make it worse than all the other weeping angels and deserving of space jail

yikes what happened to the peaceful ood

I see that the pting is in jail to atone for war crimes

The Doctor in jail feels a week bit ~when will my prince rescue me~

idk I feel as though I would have expected the Doctor to be trying to get out

I guess she’s using it as thinking time re: the whole timeless child jazz

did nobody ever notice the TARDIS house magically appearing on top of what I presume must have been some park overnight?

Detective Yaz

spider guy spider guy commits crimes a spider can

which unsurprisingly include tax fraud

Jack!

hiding things up his arse again, good to see nothing’s changed

THIRTEEN GOT A HUG

FINALLY

“we live in uncertain times” oh boy did Chibbs not know how hard that would hit when he wrote it

ey back with the human dalek puppets

“I had a suite with a cocktail lounge” I love knowing that this must have been during Nine’s time

“they took 7000 other offences into consideration” you were saying about Jack committing crimes to break you out, Doc?

“it’s been a tough few decades” yeah I know we’ve all had a rough 2020 you ain’t special

warm greeting from Graham - “you what?”

confrontational Yaz!

man genuine companion/Doctor conflict is something that has really been missing during Chibbs’ era

shame about the costume change though, Jack was right about it suiting her

Rose mention <3 </3

though Jack I think you’re giving the Doctor a wee bit too much credit with the whole immortality thing

interesting seeing Yaz choose to follow the investigation with Jack over sticking with the Doctor

“Being with the Doctor you don’t get to choose when it stops” unless you are absolute legend Martha Jones

I’m really enjoying this Yaz/Jack conversation

the sonic blaster!

.....when did that one dalek get a chance to start a clone farm in Japan???

loving Ryan and the Doc getting a proper conversation and how it differs from Yaz’s with Jack in how the 10 months has affected them

though let’s be honest 10 months is far from the worst the Doctor has done

“same Doctor, same Ryan, nothing’s changed” something something Ryan should have had a better arc something

this speech about change feels like something the Doctor would usually give to a companion

tbh Ryan things like purchase order numbers were bugging me too so I gotta side with knockoff Trump here

Doc if they managed to build a giant cloning facility from across the world then I’m sure they are very capable of getting to their casings

man I must have missed the daleks when I went through passport control this morning

“first the cyberdudes, now the daleks, no alien ship is safe from us two bad boys” 🤜🏻 “stop taking weird Graham” 👍🏿

Gwen Cooper <3

Ryan :’(

hug twooo

Graham :’(

hug threee

a bit of a weird exit since I’m sad to see them go but still feel as though I barely know them

especially Ryan

idk for their last episode I feel as though though the two of them should have had a lot more focus in the plot

got to do something big

hopefully we’ll still see them around, even if they’re not travelling

the benefit of this is we get more time rounding out Yaz as a character

Ryan and Graham, off you go to save the world

Grace :’(

Well as an episode this was perfectly enjoyable and it was good fun having Jack back but MAN if those two exits didn’t hit home how there’s just been something missing with the companions this era - let’s see how it goes next series when it’s just Thirteen and Yaz...and Dan Dan Companion Man.

[banhchao]

ooh can you tell us a little bit of what's it's like to study criminology?

hi love! 💧🔮💿💜🦋 sorry I’m a lil late to the party (was tired after work yesterday and was in the office today) but I would love to fill you in on it! maybe you are considering on studying it which honestly, I would recommend not even just for jobs but also for the knowledge!

I feel that criminology programs differ from school to school so what I say may not apply to other curriculums. I actually enjoyed studying criminology at my university and can confidently say I gained a lot of knowledge that has really helped shaped my perspective and understanding of society. Criminology is said to be the study of “crime” and “deviant behaviours” and my school’s program really focused on dissecting what crime is, the factors that lead to ppl committing it and how it comes to be and understanding those who commit crime. I feel that this is the difference between criminology and criminal justice; criminology focuses more on how crime has come to be in society, who it affects, and how we can dissect it to gain a better understanding of society and improve it and criminal justice is moreso about well... bringing criminals to justice. I had many criminology courses that focused on counseling, rehabilitation and mental health of incarcerated people, community intervention to help prevent crime and even a law class that focused on due process and the development of case law. I also had research methods classes and theory classes (not the most exciting but definitely helped with my understanding of why certain narratives around crime run about and how harmful they can be). And throughout my courses specifically I learned extensively about the war on drugs and how the CJS (criminal justice system) disproportionately incarcerates marginalized communities (ex. Black and Indigenous people), learned about the criminalization of mental health, learned about the war on terror and how national security surveils and violates the rights of Muslim people, read feminist abolitionist perspectives from thinkers such as Angela Davis, learned about the prison industrial complex and capitalism and truly gained a very nuanced perspective of laws, crimes, the penal system and the CJS. Something unique about my university’s crim program was that Prison Abolition was a mandatory 4th year course and when I tell you that it completely changed the way I thought about the prison system! it was a very abstract class built on theories and concepts but so applicable to not only the prison system but even just life in general. It truly opened my mind into seeing a world without the prison system and dissecting how the the oppressive nature of the carceral is not only embedded into prisons but has leaked into various daily institutions as well.

I chose crim as originally I was interested in criminal law. As I started working at my current job, however, I gained more interest in immigration issues, specifically in refugees and asylum seekers. I’m not sure if I wanna go into immigration law (as well... I’m still cherishing being out of school lol) but I took some crim elective courses that talked about immigration law, the violence of borders, the criminalization of migrants and critiques of national security and that’s where that interest started to really build and blossom.

Contrary to popular belief, crim can stem into many careers; law, enforcement, corrections, counseling, research. Crim (at least in my perspective) is about unlearning the idea that all crime are objectively bad actions and people that commit crime are objectively bad people and instead understanding societal factors and issues that push both crime and ppl that commit it into existence. it’s about gaining a fully nuanced set of knowledge and perspective of how crime comes to exist, who gets labelled as criminal and who doesn’t and how it has manifested as a tool of oppression by the rich and powerful. It looks into rehabilitation over retribution, into community led action, into studying crime in society and dismantling harmful narratives surrounding it to gain a fuller understanding as to why it exists and what approaches we can take to improve society in regards to it.

From a more practical standpoint lol, it’s a LOT of long readings (the majority of them I admittedly did not do lol), a lot of essays (the majority of them done last minute), essay questions and multiple choice in exams, a lot of theories and concepts to understand, a lot of both unlearning and learning. But I’ve learned a lot from my university’s program so I would say it’s been a great learning experience. Tho I still think uni is a scam lol... why do they make us pay that much ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Anyways this was more of a tangent than helpful in any kinda way lol but I hope this gave a bit of insight hehe 💗💿🔮✨🦋