#faatima

[curls-cat]

i love watching my mutuals have deeply nuanced takes about things i know nothing about. i don't go here and have no idea what's happening but i trust you

[boyfridged]

please do(about marvelposting)

i specifically said i was not going to do marvelposting because frankly speaking, i know very little about marvel apart from "venom" ( and whatever i remember from a ahort time when i read lots of marvel comics, in middle school. then i completely lost any interest in it.)

but! i decided i do want to talk about "spider-verse," both to criticize it a bit and on some level defend it...

the copaganda is unreal and i don't know how people can ignore it. and i don't think the flow of the narration was all that smooth and well executed. that's the 2 main issues i have with it.

now, to where i want to defend the movie, or rather what i think the *next* movie will be about (i might be wrong): utilitarianism sucks.

lots of meta repeatedly states that well, miguel is right given all we (and he) know. but i think (or maybe just hope) that the next movie will go for the most obvious criticism of the trolley problem, which "across the spider-verse" seems to mimic with the whole 2 cakes metaphor: that it doesn't exist. i think perhaps we will find out that the whole algorithm doesn't matter, or it was wrong, or it was a manipulation. and you might think it's a cliche – but i don't think it is. i think it's a good message for our times.

this is a controversial opinion both in this context and in academia, mind you, but i will die on this hill: utilitarianism does not work for ethics. there's no way of calculating a moral decision. there's no way to predict all the facts. and very rarely will you be in a situation of the trolley problem; which essentially means that taking it beyond the thought experiment takes a logic of an exception and applies it to every possible other issue, often assuming scarcity of resources and even encouraging taking life and death decisions where it could be avoided. (think of refugees or the poor, for example: a never-ending political game of assigning arbitrary numbers when talking of the cost and resources, with no genuine source for them, causing an unprecedented amount of death, and all of that assumed as the only right "reality" and a "sacrifice" for the stability.) it's the myth of scarcity, essentially, an excuse not to share the social wealth, here applied to the concept of general ontological goodness. an idea that you cannot afford to be kind because of the bigger picture.

caring about one person, the monologue of peter b. from the previous movie (or was it a cut scene? i don't remember) does not encourage miles to fuck everyone else and leave them to die. it does not promote individualism. it sets a realistic goal and it says that caring for people close to you is the best you can do at times. and there is, of course, the conflict there when you're a vigilante, since vigilantes are put in positions where they have to look at a bigger picture than a normal human would; but a fact remains that coming from a place of genuine love and devotion even to one person/your family/a small community is what sets a precedent for how you treat other people. what builds your character. it's what makes you human and anchors your moral instincts in compassion, what stops you from premature prosecution of other people, what makes you more mindful of intricate social nuance also on a larger scale. so this is what a message of "thinking of one person" is about. it's about a starting point that opens a gateway for considering more.

needless to say, if you're a utilitarian or a strict deontologist, you will not see it my way. but i'm an ethicist of care at heart and i presume this is the direction that the series will be going on. i might be wrong irt the writers' plan but if it is what i described, i believe it's a completely plausible message. morality starts somewhere and it's not algorithms.

[roobylavender]

like bc could be so good but if this is what it amounts to i'm sorry it's terrible

[perenians]

mutuals tags

[houseofpurplestars]

"I learned from that experience that I could rely on asking for help and conducting research to counteract internalized shame. Now, anytime I find myself ashamed of something due to a gap in knowledge, I do this same practice. I ask for help and resources, do extensive research, and then apply what I’ve learned.

To this day, I’m confused as to why it seems so many adults don’t have the same capacity as I did as an Autistic child–the self-awareness that shame denotes a lack of knowledge."

Comrade Faati writing on disability activism!

[carm3n-carm3n]

[delulugirlys-fairytale]

[infatuate]

9 book recs meme! tagged by @roobylavender; ty faatima <3333. this ended up being longer than i wanted it to be but oh well

the bloody chamber & other stories - angela carter

angela carter quotes get circulated out of context on this site every 2-3 business days but i really do think everyone should tap into the bloody chamber at least once. i have written many a paper on this book & each time i uncovered some new aspect i had previously overlooked but which carter hadn't. i'm not sure what i could say about it that hasn't already been said; this is one of the best fairytale anthologies out there, period. not to mention, those quotes are so much better in context.

decreation: poetry, essays, opera - anne carson

the first book of carson's essays/poetry i ever read cover to cover after crashing against plainwater hard when i was like 16. decreation is very aptly named - it's disjointed & deconstructed & more than a little strange, moving from subject to subject, essay to poem to play to opera and back again, but it managed to capture my attention the way none of carson's other works did. decreation is a journey through the self (through sleep & the subconscious, the spirit & God) that doesn't really arrive anywhere but is worth reading for the journey. aside from showing me just what could be done with form, it also introduced to me to marguerite porete, who became my own personal medieval mystic-martyr special interest. i've since read a lot of carson, but i still think decreation is her most interesting (& maybe underrated?) work.

violence & the sacred - rene girard

a solid 75% of my essays in my last two years of undergrad used this text as scaffolding of some sort. even when i wasn't writing about violence, sacrifice, or mimesis, i was thinking about it. this is a dense book of theory that flies by because everything girard is saying is simultaneously insane & so so compelling. other people have if you're interested in rituals, the societal function of violence, the origins of the word scapegoat, or you just want to find a new jumping off point for your own thoughts on any of these topics, i think you would find violence & the sacred a really fascinating text.

the children of húrin - j.r.r. tolkien

i read the children of húrin directly after reading the hobbit at age 14; i wanted another 'short' 'standalone' tolkien book to read before diving into the lord of the rings or the silmarillion. (i clearly did not know anything about tolkien at this point in my life.) but i don't regret it at all, because it's probably the best thing he's ever written. CoH is, for the most part, about the tragic life of túrin son of húrin & how the curse on his family dooms him & everyone he crosses paths with. the tighter focus on túrin's various fuck-ups and miseries is more intimate, more detailed, and more character-driven unlike a lot of tolkien's first age work. it's also the darkest thing tolkien's written, in my opinion; this is his longest most extended greek tragedy moment & he leans into it 100%. hubris, unintentional incest, accidental murder, suicide - the children of húrin has it all. túrin turambar you will always be famous!

a master of djinn - p. djeli clark

this is my favorite new fantasy read of the last couple of years. i went into thinking i wouldn't like it at all—it's set in an edwardian-era alternate history magical steampunk cairo, for one—but clark's writing is incredibly immersive. he's very skilled at reimagining history in a way that both makes perfect sense & is wildly inventive. i thought some of its critiques of colonialism were a little shallow but otherwise it was fun. and lesbian! the main character is a dapper muslim butch, and while i'm not usually a 'representation for its own sake' kind of person, i couldn't help but be obsessed with fatma. it helps that it has a more refined perspective on islam compared to virtually any other muslim/arab fantasy novel i've ever read (this is not a high bar). a master of djinn comes with not one, but two short stories set in the same universe, so you can check out clark's writing for free & see how you like it.

as meat loves salt - maria mccann

this one was recommended to me by a twitter mutual almost 2 years ago and i haven't reread it since, but i think about it frequently anyways. it's a historical fiction novel set during the english civil war, following jacob cullen, a man initially of gentle birth who becomes a servant who becomes a soldier in the parliamentary army. characterizing it beyond that gets tricky; how do you properly describe the completely insane depths of rage, lust, love, & obsession that mccann plumbs? as meat loves salt is for the hannigram girls, the heathcliff/cathy girls, the girls who enjoy devotion & obsession going hand in unlovable hand. major tws for rape & violence, & i don't think i could read it again unless i was in the right headspace, but this one is really good.

ship of magic - robin hobb

i could have put any robin hobb book here, because i do think everyone should read robin hobb at least once. especially if you have even a passing interest in fantasy. ship of magic made the final cut because it's the perfect beginning for anyone who might be turned off by the slow character study that is the farseer trilogy. liveship traders is more fast-paced with a rotating cast of v unique characters and the best villain she's ever put to paper. it has talking ships, terrible parenting even for a fantasy book, representation for awful horrible teenage girls with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, & a truly original take on dragons.

beowulf: a new verse translation - seamus heaney

when i decided to minor in medieval studies, beowulf was at least 60% of the reason. i read the r.m. liuzza broadview translation for class (which i love, to be clear), but my prof recommended that we go read heaney's translation anyways, because it's both a good translation of beowulf & an exercise in poetic brilliance. to me, heaney's beowulf feels less like a translation & more like a free-verse poem he wrote while possessed by the spirit of a 7th century scop. i know there are better, more accurate/faithful translations, but this one has a spirit to it that's difficult to find elsewhere. honestly it's worth reading for the introduction alone.

the fortune men - nadifa mohamed

my token contemporary non-fiction fiction novel of the past couple of years. i'm always rooting for everyone somali but also? nadifa mohamed is just a great writer. this novel is set in 1950s cardiff, wales, and dramatizes the true story of mahmood hussein mattan, a somali man who was wrongfully executed for the murder of lily volpert. mohamed approaches the events with so much empathy for both victims and the extensive research she did shines through at every moment. the consistency and conviction and clarity of her writing will convince you that, even if you don't know anything about the city or the time period or the events unfolding, she definitely does. she was kinda robbed for the booker but that's just my opinion.

tagging @derelictship; @misericordae; @hesitationss; @yevrosima-the-third; @gawayne; @butchniqabi & anyone else who wants to do it!

[coke-inmyblood]

[flint-locked]

Do with this what you will (I don’t know how I know this but I just do, I promise I’m not a fan)

[early-grape]

[roobylavender]

Faatima, pardon me if you’ve already posted/been asked this before, and I know you’ve already answer this in part when talking to me before, but I’d love to hear what ur top fave Pakistani dramas are, with as much or as little detail as you’d like! 🩷🫶🏽📜

i don't think i've ever gone into detail with specific recs so this is a good opportunity to do so omg ty hiba 🥺

daam (2010) - two women from starkly different class backgrounds are friends and attend medical school together. maleeha (upper class) takes on an almost paternalistic role with zara (lower class) by handing her down clothes, incorporating her into her friend group, etc., despite zara's own self sufficiency outside of her financial situation. the role maleeha plays in zara's life is one zara is eternally grateful for, but maleeha never seems to move past a recognition of her own self-importance. so much so, that when maleeha learns zara may have feelings for her brother, junaid, she feels used and threatens to revoke all of the assistance she has been giving zara's family for years. it's a hard-hitting exploration into the impact of class stratification on friendship and the inherent biases that color upper class pakistanis' interactions with lower class pakistanis. and i enjoy the realism of forgiving people for their transgressions but not necessarily moving backwards in time to reforge the bonds you once used to have (no eng sub)

jackson heights (2014) - an ensemble focused drama set in jackson heights, new york. it's a wonderfully vivid depiction of a variety of working class pakistanis and one that manages to remain down to earth while nonetheless highlighting hard hitting issues, particularly emotional, financial, and physical abuse. it's hard to describe but one thing the drama does really well is not valorize its abuse victims. they aren't saints for riding out the horrors of the violence enacted against them. they're only people moving through the world like anyone else. there was a tendency in pakistani dramas of this era to dramatize the idolization of the west via the lens of unattainable romance, but this drama is far more successful in portraying the realities you have to come to terms with when you uproot yourself from your homeland and start from scratch and work a menial job. in that sense i think it's a triggering drama in a lot of ways, but never gratuitous, and very thoughtful as to its themes and conclusions (no eng sub)

raqeeb se (2021) - this play is very cryptic in a lot of ways (standard fare for screenwriter bee gul) but it does a great job at adhering to realities without necessarily fetishizing them. the storyline focuses exclusively on the intergenerational trauma of two pairs of women connected by one man. maqsood is from a gaon and once tried to run away with sakina, only for someone else to be killed in the process. as a result, sakina had to stay behind and raised a daughter ameera with an abusive husband, while maqsood was married to hajra and moved to the city where they had their daughter insha. years later sakina flees from her husband's abuse and takes her daughter to the only place she knows: maqsood's. but what's interesting about this setup is that maqsood and sakina's love story is so well known in the former's household that maqsood's wife hajra bears sakina and her daughter no ill will. she takes them in, cares for them, and shoulders their grief, all while her daughter insha watches in bewilderment. it's an incredibly captivating story in the face of so many others that would rather use love and men to sew seeds of revenge and malice between women. ultimately, ameera and insha are used to explore how women can forge their own histories and choices despite the duties and blame their mothers were bounded to by tradition (no eng sub)

sar e rah (2023) - most pak dramas in the past decade have been unforgivably long (a below-thirty episode run is unheard of now even though we used to wrap up stories in little more than twenty episodes pre-2014ish) but we're slowly seeing the rise of the miniseries, and this drama is a stellar recent example. each episode centers on a different character struggling with a societal issue. rania takes over her father's taxi driving business when he gets sick despite concerns that it is no job for a woman. dr. muzna adopts a child but subsequently deals with her husband's rejection bc he sees it as an exposure of his impotence that he has not divulged to his own mother. rameen faces familial accusations of shamelessness bc she is a tik tok star and fights to maintain her right to an inheritance when her brother seeks to disown her. sarim is a trans man brought up with love and acceptance from his father but rejection and bigotry from his step mother and step brother. and maryam is a working woman forced to take a stand for herself when constantly underestimated and even falsely accused due to workplace misogyny. it's altogether not a perfect but nonetheless significantly forward thinking drama despite societal standards, and saba qamar (rania) connects all of these characters together masterfully in a major call to action (full eng sub)

dil na umeed to hani (2021) - the central focus of this drama is human trafficking and child labor. allah rakhi and jamshed are childhood friends from the same village who are quickly made to part ways due to extenuating circumstances. allah rakhi is married off to an older man who sells her into prostitution, while jamshed runs away from home after suffering abuse from the adults in his life. the drama mainly follows both characters in their adult years, when allah rakhi finally attempts to escape the prison of the brothel, while jamshed works at a shelter for sex trafficking victims. there's also another younger character, naseem, who dreams of becoming a national women's cricketer despite being faced with her father's misogyny and the threat of human trafficking herself. this is overall an incredibly raw and painful story so novel in its attempt to highlight certain societal issues that it was nearly banned from broadcast in the country. yumna zaidi and wahaj ali are breathtaking in roles that are essentially the culmination of all of their years of hard work on more niche indie projects, and their characters' reunion towards the end of the drama will send any viewer into tears (partially eng sub)

these are probably the most well-rounded dramas that i feel really proud of recommending. while romance is a present element in some of them it's never the central element and i don't feel unnecessarily harsh in saying that our portrayals of romance still have a really long way to go to the point that i wouldn't necessarily rec any drama where romance was the focus lmao.. like i have my guilty pleasures (i rewatch humsafar often for mahira khan and fawad khan's chemistry alone despite its severe issues) but they're mostly me being willing to indulge in garbage for the sake of a) an actor's skill; b) a lead couple's chemistry; or c) a female character whom i would protect with my life despite her being trapped in the shittiest narrative imaginable

that being said, some other dramas i have also enjoyed over the years:

kuch ankahi (ongoing) -> great ensemble cast and exploration of several issues with a balance of comedy and subtlety. sajal aly and bilal abbas khan are also phenomenal in the lead roles and probably share the best on-screen chemistry of any of their peers at the moment

yunhi (ongoing) -> the set-up is a bit cringe, but the ideas it's ultimately exploring about hypocritical perceptions both diaspora and homeland pakistanis have of each other is really interesting and the tone of the drama is very calm and down to earth rather than overly dramatic or melancholic

fairy tale (2023) -> this is the only ramadan drama i'm going to put on here lmao but it's recently gone viral bc frankly despite all of its flaws (not owing to any weird societal views, only investment in plot points and side characters who are frankly uninteresting) the chemistry and comedic timing between the two leads is genuinely insane. it's a bit cliched from time to time but they really do have me smiling silly every day even though the drama's over like look at them look at them look at theeeeem

chauraha (2022) -> it's very common in pakistani media that a girl is either kidnapped or stockholm syndromed into loving a man so i really love this one bc it shows a girl get kidnapped and refuse to romanticize the situation while also remaining adamant as to her own independence rather than allowing societal pressure to force her into marrying someone to save her image

jo bichar gaye (2022) -> period drama about the events that set the stage for bangladesh's separation from pakistan. largely applauded for not romanticizing or skirting over pakistan's transgressions in alienating and harming east pakistanis/bangladeshis

dastaan (2010) -> period drama about a woman's experience before, during, and after partition. noted for its commentary on women in this era and how they faced resounding sexual violence, whether from hindu, sikh, or muslim men

o rangreza (2019) -> the pak drama version of that one essay excerpt about how the daughter ridicules her mother by establishing camaraderie with her father. a really interesting insight into how pakistani daughters can sometimes be so disgusted with their mothers' culturally curated subservience that their attempts to gain independence are also built on internalized misogyny

durr e shehwar (2012) -> a bit of a dated drama in that it recounts the experience of a woman through the early years of her marriage and the patience it took for her to win over her husband and his family. i'm sure there would be complaints now about how this drama romanticized that patience despite all of the pain and isolation the female lead suffered but i also think it's largely cathartic bc it doesn't chastise women in similar circumstances

badshah begum (2022) -> is this drama good? no. does it have anything productive to say about mob mentality and tribalism in rural pakistani villages? no. are any of the female characters truly independent and strong in the best sense of the word? maybe only one. but the ost is a banger and the performances by everyone are genuinely phenomenal so i'm putting it here anyway lmao

yaqeen ka safar (2017) -> this drama shot sajal aly and ahad raza mir to superstardom and marriage which has now unfortunately ended in divorce. but at the time their chemistry was phenomenal so while i have nitpicky issues with the plot i do enjoy the drama for the development of their relationship alone like it was pretty sweet

humsafar (2011) -> obv i said above that it's garbage and i stand by that but the chemistry between the leads here really was unprecedented for its time and has remained largely unrivaled in the industry. i also am able to rewatch for mahira khan's portrayal of khirad alone and some of the dialogues are so [clenches fist]

zindagi gulzar hai (2012) -> another super flawed drama but i really enjoy the portrayal of a female lead who struggles with coming around to the idea of marriage and baring herself to someone else bc of the trauma of growing up with a severely neglectful father. it's just real to see a girl freak out about her agency and about admitting to feelings she may have bc she is terrified at the thought of being vulnerable and weak. like that's literally me

[futuretrain]

#jason todd should get good writing instead of random weird love interests but go off but what if we could do both!!

[ravenkinnie]

omG thEy'Re So RIghT oH mY GoD

b&r had it's moments ngl I like grumpy robin and fun batman

[chaisexuality-archive]

oochihas replied to your post “i should probably watch the defenders but i havent watched DD JJ LC or...”

tbh the only show you really need to watch for context is daredevil 1&2 otherwise the other ones you can get by by wikiing

im on like 1x03 of DD enwjfnwjfew im seeing gifs of TD and it looks good i guess im just here for elektra imo

[amillionsmiles]

ok so finally thought of someone ! ingrid michaelson ayyy

AHH GOODY

started listening to her in 2011!  The first song I heard by her was “Turn to Stone” because I used to watch So You Think You Can Dance all the time and it got used in this choreo.  Favorite song would have to be “Sort Of,” favorite album is probably Lights Out.  I’m terrible at picking “least favorite” because generally if I don’t like a song it’s just extremely forgettable to me, lol (unless it gets really annoying) so I’ll pass on that…

don’t have any merch and never seen her in concert, favorite MV is “Maybe” :D

send me a band or solo artist!