#fact that there are [number expunged] of you and in part bc i should be saying this to youper and not to real live people reading this so i

[pepprs]

it’s literally hilarious when i like… man i don’t understand it. when i say something either explicitly or indirectly (but like obviously) indicating that i am having a hard time and the response i get is all business without even a scrap of like.. are you ok or good luck or whatever. in THIS particular area of THIS particular institution? do i have the wrong number??????

[glittercracker]

Kingkiller Crap

So, I’ve never really posted much here that involves my own thoughts. There are a number of reasons why, but whatever. I feel the need NOW to post some thoughts, and having no working independent blog (yet!) I suppose this is the place to dump them. PSA: none of this is about anime. None of this is frivolous or fun. TW for sexual abuse. You have been warned! So. I’ve been rereading the Kingkiller Chronicles. aka “Name of the Wind” and “The Wise Man’s Fear” and “That Other One That Shall Not Be Named.” This reread was, at the beginning, almost an afterthought. A way to keep my 13 yo happy on a 7 hour car ride. Except, he could not have cared less, and I got sucked back into the story (and okay, if that is how all our audiobook car rides go, meh? At least it keeps me sharp!) I raced through book one, and bought book 2 on audible with an eye to my upcoming surgery and recooperation. Book one was problematic in the places I remembered, but also as generally engaging as I remembered. And then book 2 happened, and surgery happened, and I have had weeks to lie in bed listening to this bloody interminable sequel, and I find myself lost in a morass of, “WTF was I ever THINKING?” Namely, how did I ever love this book enough to pine for the next? It’s been hard to put a finger on exactly what is making this time through book 2 both a slog and also vaguely, creepily uncomfortable, but if you’re interested, my rather stream-of-consciousness ramble of thoughts ensues. First, the male gaze that rears its head at times in book 1 predominates here. But while I don’t love the way Kvothe describes women, I also have 2 degrees in literature, and I’m beyond that being a reason not to read an otherwise engaging book. Second, Kvothe is a Gary Stu, for all of Rothfuss’s protestations to the contrary. Again, so far, so much traditional high fantasy. But while, say, Aragorn is content to just quietly be Awesome At Everything, Kvothe is a braggy little shit of a Gary Stu: the person you hated for announcing their perfect scores in that hs class you could never quite master. I could fill several pages with examples, but for some reason what really made me want to kick him in the head was not Felurian’s disbelief of his virginity (though really, jfc, REALLY?) Nope, it was the end of his time w the Ademrae (sp may be off, remember, I’m listening not reading!) when he crows about having learned the history of his sword 2 days earlier than expected. Why does this stick out? Oh, idk. Maybe bc he sucks so hard he can’t even get past the first obstacle in his practical final exam? Yet he still has to tell us how fucking awesome he is for remembering 6000 names of previous owners.

I know, I’m supposed to forgive his teenage idiocy. The internet sympathists (no pun intended!) keep telling me this. And I suppose that I would, IF this were a simple first-person narrative - but it isn’t. Let’s repeat that, and really think about it. This story is being narrated by an older and presumably wiser Kvothe who has lost everything - whose abilities have been expunged to the extent that he can’t open his own chest of Cool Stuff. He shows humility in his actions, mostly. And yet when discussing his 16 yo self, the humility evaporates, and he speaks with no kind of perspective or lens of accrued wisdom. He still compares women to instruments waiting for the “right” player (i.e. him) and defends this choice of words by saying, essentially, “You aren’t a musician, you don’t know!”

Interesting assumption for an innkeeper in a medieval-esque world. Interesting assumption if this is in fact authorial interjection, too, because I suspect the majority of this book’s audience *are* musicians to at least an extent, and I also suspect that the majority of us (yes, us - I own several beloved instruments, including a harp custom made for me as a wedding present from my husband) would not equate a human lover to even the most beloved of instruments.

But all of this is well-trodden critical ground. As far as I can tell, though, my third issue isn’t: although it’s perhaps the most glaringly tone-deaf example of all of Rothfuss’s excruciatingly tone-deaf portrayal of his world’s women. Namely, the two girls kidnapped and gang-raped by the fake Ruh.

Almost all of the criticism I’ve read on this section of TWMF concentrates on Kvothe’s treatment of the girls’ abusers. What’s interesting is that no one ever seems to write about Kvothe’s treatment of the girls themselves. Yes, he treats them kindly. He tends their wounds, he feeds them, he tries (and succeeds, of course) to draw Ellie out of her shocked stupor. 

Yet what he never once does, from the moment he takes control of the situation, is ask their opinions on any of this, including what their next step should be. He just decides to bring them back to their families - families who, in this type of society, might well disown them for being “ruined”. And the girls themselves, namely the intelligent and savvy Krin, seem to go blindly along with what he says. Why? Would Krin at least not question this, or object to his making decisions for her, when a group of men had so recently and brutally taken away all of her agency? Would she not question whether being brought back to her family is the best thing for the catatonic Ellie?

Okay, apparently not. So they return to their apparently very forgiving town. Kvothe stands up for the girls against the village shithead: thank you, Kvothe, bc I’m sure Krin could not have said those words herself. He assures the reader that they are with people who will love and care for them despite what has happened to them: thank you, Kvothe, though it’s stretching my credulity a bit that you would assume that no one will take issue with their deflowering. But then he “gifts” the girls the spoils of his slaughter: the horses, the valuables, the wagons. And I was about to give him a (grudging) pass for being decent about this, EXCEPT: he goes on to say that these goods are meant for the girls’ dowries. Specifically, to make them worth enough financially for potential husbands to overlook their loss of virginity. He even tells Krin not to settle for a less-than-lucrative marriage.

And suddenly, I was outraged. Why? Because a man who had witnessed the full extend of these women’s abuse brought them back to a backwater town believing that he was being magnanimous both in doing so, and in giving up whatever share he might have taken of the spoils of the debacle to make them financially lucrative marriage prospects. Because he never asked these traumatized girls if they might rather cut and run with the money than use it to make some man overlook their abuse in order to make them his property. He never even questions the idea that they will be grateful to submit to marriage contracts that will no doubt require them to have sex with their husbands, even though these women have been abused to the extent that they cannot sit a horse for *two days* after being rescued. And the worst part is that 20-something frame-story Kvothe doesn’t question this either; he just goes on to gloat about people singing songs about his daring rescue. Maybe I was just ready for a straw to break my benefit of the doubt. Or maybe this really is as outrageous as it feels. Either way, I can’t help being angry at Rothfuss. As a writer, I am very well aware that character and author are not the same thing; that authorial intent is not the same as authorial beliefs. But there are moments in some books when I have to wonder if that line is blurring, and this is one of them. Kvothe has literally JUST left a female-dominated country full of independent women happily doing their own thing. He has given these girls the means to find themselves a situation that will never require them to be beholden to a man again - even houses ffs, in the shape of those 2 wagons, should they want them. There are so many options beyond marriage: I can’t, for instance, think of a medieval society that didn’t have its version of a convent. Or, for Krin at least, why not the University? For that matter, why not marry her himself, and then set her free to do as she likes under the awning of a respectable marriage? 

Instead he returns them to their fathers, and likewise gives their fathers the means to marry them off with no argument. Who, after all, holds the reins of the horses at the end? Why does Kvothe assume that these families will actually use the wealth even in the dubious way that he recommends?

And in this, I think, I am justified in giving Rothfuss the stink-eye. This is one more instance for Kvothe to play the hero with no real attention given to the consequences. Kvothe himself, I think, would be appalled. He has suffered so much deprivation in his life, so often been marginalized, scapegoated, powerless, how on earth could he so easily consign others to that fate? How could he think, loving Denna as he does, having heard her words to the beaten girl in Severin, that buying these girls husbands who will “overlook” their abuse for the sake of wealth is anything but a wretched life sentence for them?

Sigh. There was a time when I desperate awaited book three. Now, given the other women’s lives at stake in this series, I’m not so sure I want to know.

[savvyherb]

Seth Rogen Is Actually Doing Something About the War on Drugs

This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Anyone who is even tangentially familiar with Seth Rogen knows he loves weed.

As a fellow Vancouver native, I’ve come to think of him as an unofficial ambassador for both my hometown and cannabis—the two of which are very much intertwined. So I wasn’t surprised in the least when Rogen and his childhood friend/collaborator Evan Goldberg launched their weed line Houseplant, a Canopy Growth brand, earlier this year.

By that point, the trajectory of celebrities jumping into legal weed had become a cliche—even Martha fucking Stewart is in on it.

Houseplant’s first press release noted that the company is “aware of the racial injustices that exist” and will work closely to help those unjustly incarcerated. It’s a solid sentiment, but I was waiting for follow through.

So it was refreshing to catch up with Rogen and Goldberg as they were promoting National Expungement Week, which Houseplant and Canopy are sponsoring from September 21-28.

The initiative, spearheaded by an organization called Cage-Free Cannabis, takes place in cities across the U.S., featuring events that range from public information sessions to legal clinics where people with cannabis convictions can get their records cleared or sealed.

“There’s just millions and millions of people in America who can’t vote, who can’t get a job, who can’t do things that many, many people take for granted because they have been arrested for something that isn’t illegal anymore,” Rogen told VICE. “To us, that is just unacceptable. Weed should have never been illegal in the first place, that’s the premise that we operate under.”

Goldberg added that he and Rogen were lucky to grow up in Vancouver, where cannabis consumption was embraced long before legalization.

“We just were born in a place where weed was more accepted and some people were not and their lives have been fucked up because of it,” he said.

We also talked about the hypocrisy of the legal weed industry, the worst reefer madness myths, greening out, and why British Columbia sucks so badly at selling legal weed. (I've got to admit, I was impressed by the depth of their weed knowledge—I’m talking boring, provincial regulation-level stuff).

VICE: People of color account for a disproportionate number of cannabis arrests but the legal industry is largely made up of white dudes. What do you make of that and what responsibility does the industry have to change that? Seth Rogen: We can only talk for ourselves personally but we felt as though we had to acknowledge reality and it was not a tough pill to swallow in doing that. We are very aware that cannabis has been used to target marginalized groups of people and people who are not marginalized have not been targeted by it. In fact, many of them have been rewarded by being some of the first to flock to the industry and profit off it. We think it’s wildly important to understand the roots of the industry that you are trying to be a part of and to us there would be no way that we would even consider entering this space without really actively trying to rectify the issues that go along with being in the space, and one of the major ones is exactly what you’re saying. Weed should have never been illegal in the first place. If you go back, a large part of the reason it is illegal is literally racist and it’s very important to us to acknowledge that and not hide from that and try to help fix that in any way we can.

In places like LA they are giving out equity licenses to people harmed by the war on drugs so they can have a chance to get into the legal market. Canada has no such legislation, and no such initiatives are taking place. Do you think we should be looking into that? Rogen: Yes. In fact some provinces have gone so far as to disqualify you if you were involved in the gray market from now being in the industry, which is completely ridiculous and counterproductive. It’s rewarding people who have nothing to do with cannabis and have not dedicated their lives to trying to bring it to people in a safe, responsible way. It’s in fact punishing those people and rewarding people who literally entered a lottery to try to make some money, which to us is not the way we would have gone about it if we were in charge.

Evan Goldberg: Yeah, but now that they’re there they have a responsibility—lottery winners and every single person involved in this industry to just acknowledge that reality and work toward making it better.

Do you guys think that cops should be allowed to be in the legal weed game? So many former cops jumped into it right away. Rogen: [Laughs] I don’t know if they should or shouldn’t.

Goldberg: That’s a double-edged sword.

Rogen: I’d say as long as we’re in a climate where people's lives are being very negatively affected by convictions related to cannabis, it seems ridiculous that those who convicted them should be allowed to benefit.

Goldberg: But I guess it’s kind of a case-by-case basis. If those people are doing what they should be and helping people who were wronged and using their knowledge to better it, then perhaps.

Rogen: Then perhaps.

One of the stories I’ve been looking at is what’s happening at the border. Canadians who’ve admitted that they’ve smoked weed ever in their lives can be banned from the U.S. for life. Same goes if you’re living in the States but you’re not a U.S. citizen, you can potentially be deported. What do you guys make of that? Rogen: Again it is absolutely ridiculous and shows the odd climate you’re creating when something is federally illegal but legal on a state-to-state basis. And it’s one of the reasons that we’re so supportive of trying to set these laws back on the right path and why expungement to us specifically is very important.

Goldberg: People can get into trouble at the border still but the people who need expungement have gotten into issues and it is fucking up their lives and they need help.

Speaking of acceptance, growing up in Vancouver weed is just everywhere. What do you guys think is the biggest reefer madness myth that persists today? Rogen: That weed makes you lazy and unproductive and unmotivated or emotionally detached. I smoke weed all day everyday and I’m not lazy, I’m wildly productive. I have many deep emotional relationships with many people.

Goldberg: I am one of those people. We share our thoughts and emotions constantly and I can confirm he has deep emotions.

Rogen: To me it is no different from drinking coffee or wearing glasses or wearing shoes. We are physically not 100 percent cut out for the world we live in and as humans we’ve adopted many things to make that world more livable for us and to me and many, many, many millions of other people cannabis is one of those things that helps make day-to-day life more livable.

Would you guys say that cannabis is part of your creative process? Goldberg: Absolutely, yeah. But it helps in every facet of our lives, really.

Rogen: I would say my baseline level of functionality is intrinsically tied into cannabis.

Do you guys have hope for things changing in America at the federal level? Rogen: We do. Few things move the needle in America as much as money. And I think slowly now that it’s started the federal government will see how much money they’re missing out on by not legalizing it. I don’t think there’s any moral motivation for many things that happen on a government level in America, but there are many financial motivations so that to me is the hope I have. Is that someone will just realize that they’ll make more money if they make weed federally legal.

I’m going ask a hyper local B.C. question. Legal weed sales in BC are among the worst in the country; Alberta is kicking our ass. Does that surprise you given how much British Columbians love weed? Rogen: I actually think the reason is that just they’ve been much slower to roll out the number of dispensaries or they’ve been much slower to change over the grey market dispensaries than they predicted they would. I think we’ve seen it play out in America as well, when each province and each state get their own interpretation of the rules and their own way to enact the rules certain provinces like Alberta I believe made it much easier for people to open dispensaries. And therefore there’s more dispensaries and much more weed is getting sold. B.C. has made it much harder for people to open federally legal dispensaries and therefore there’s less of them and less weed is getting sold as a result of it.

We’re about to sell edibles in Canada and there’s a lot of hysteria about greening out. Have you guys ever greened out? Rogen: Edibles, it’s funny. Houseplant has a beverage we’ve been working on and a large part of our motivation was to create something that you didn’t have to wait 45 minutes to see how it was making you feel and instead maybe you felt it more as you were consuming it. That was very important to us and I think that’s some of the reason that we have negative experiences with edibles, is it’s hard to portion them because it takes so long for them to kick in and I think a lot of people have had that experience.

Have you guys greened out though? You must have. Rogen: In life? Yeah. In California when they first started selling edibles they were wildly unregulated and far too strong [laughs].

Goldberg: It was almost like how strong it could be was part of the game—that no one wanted to play.

*Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

More information on National Expungement Week is available here.

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source https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kz43b9/seth-rogen-is-actually-doing-something-about-the-war-on-drugs

The post Seth Rogen Is Actually Doing Something About the War on Drugs appeared first on Savvy Herb Mobile Cannabis Platform.

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