#have the exact same standards as modern day america

[rohirric-hunter]

JRR Tolkien: This is my fantasy race that I invented

JRR Tolkien: They come of age at 33. I've made this a plot point

The fandom: Okay........ but......... obviously they're considered adults at 18-21.

JRR Tolkien: They come of age at 33. Hope this helps <3

The fandom: No, no, no, don't be silly. People become adults at 18-21

JRR Tolkien: In this fictional culture that I've invented people come of age at 33.

The fandom: Okay but clearly what you mean when you say that is something else. I don't know what you mean by it but obviously it's something other than coming of age. Something made up, probably. It's definitely not important.

JRR Tolkien: It's hugely important and I spend a whole chapter setting it up

The fandom: But an 18 year old is an adult, tho......

[centrally-unplanned]

Stumbled on this 1992 interview with Michael Crichton about his 90's Japan Scare novel Rising Sun, which is very fun. For one, Crichton is a Perotist!

Question: “Rising Sun” makes a strong argument that Japanese business is unfairly aggressive and Americans are foolish to have tolerated this unfairness for so long. Is that a decent synopsis? Answer: Not exactly. Let me just restate it. In the immortal words of my hero, Ross Perot: “It’s not a two-way street. It never has been a two-way street. It’s not their fault.” It’s our fault.

His 90's "Declinist America Needs Protectionism" vibe really comes through in the whole interview, you forget these days due to Trump how much of a Type of Guy that was and how intellectual-coded it could be in that era of dominant "unreflective" neoliberalism.

Anyway, we certainly did talk about race in the 90's!

Q: Do you consider the Japanese racist? A: [...] We’re talking about a historically inward-looking nation, an island nation, largely monoracial. That’s a good structure in which to have the rise of feelings of superiority about your own people as opposed to other people in the world. Of course, these broad statements can’t be applied to the individual Japanese person. One of the things that Americans, as a multiracial society, feel is a tremendous sensitivity to racial comments of all kinds. In the book, one of the things I tried to say to Americans was: Hey, while you’re tiptoeing around the race issue, your competitors are a monoracial country, very much aligned, and tend to hold in common beliefs that would astound you.

Narrator: America did not, in fact, "tiptoe" around the race issue.

But to be clear it isn't like this is super wrong or anything - 90's Japan absolutely was a "racist country" if such a thing is possible, most countries are, and its geographic isolation and relative lack of modern immigrants at that time certainly did contribute to that. What I instead find amusing is the idea that this is a threat to the US; the implication is that, because Japan is a racist country, when they rule the world economically they will in some way impose that racist worldview upon us. Which, I don't really think that is how free trade works? Might have watched too much Gunbuster on this one buddy.

We of course have the classics of Japan Scare:

Q: Has the continued decline in the Japanese stock market, their falling real-estate value and shrinking foreign investment caused you to rethink your views of Japanese-American business dealings? A: No, not at all. I’ve not seen figures on what the growth of the Japanese GNP will be this year. You hear stories about economic distress in Japan, but you see that the growth rate is going down to 4% from 5%. If this country had a 4% growth rate, we’d all feel like we were pumped full of testosterone.

-😬😬😬-

Narrator: it did not stop going down at 4%.

What i love most is how you see the same exact arguments about American "economic weakness" you see today, but with the dates/countries swapped around:

Q: What allowed us to contribute so willingly to our own weakening? Greed? Altruism? Shortsightedness? Arrogance? A: (following a large sigh) You have to look back at broad time periods. It’s possible now to argue that Americans have had no increase in real earnings power since 1962. Some economists would dispute that, and set the date at 1973. Either way, the country is in a steady, consistent and ongoing decline. Why? That’s an extended conversation. 

Obviously since then US living standards have gone up quite a lot! You definitely *cannot* argue that they did not go up since 1962, that is in fact an insane claim. You can't argue they haven't gone up since the 90's either. Even in Japan they have, they definitely have in Europe, economies grow in general. And of course the classic "American companies are all gambling now":

No one invests in a company anymore, in the way it was done in the ‘50s, say, because they believe the company is good. They buy because they think the price of the stock will rise or fall. What this means is that American managers are obliged to manage in the short term. There’s no incentive for an investor to hang on with a company for the long term. In Japan, savings--up to a certain point--are tax free. Why is that not also true in America? You want savings? Then don’t tax it as ordinary income.

I will leave posting a list of the most high-value companies over the past 30 years as an exercise for the reader; you don't need it, you already know them. But I certainly see versions of this dancing around today, and you definitely saw it in 2008 all over the place.

No real skin off Crichton's back, to be clear - prediction is hard, he isn't an economist, most will be wrong. Just funny how the ideological churn keeps spinning.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

The fandom is assuming that Lilia was in love with Levan (and also Meleanor)

But in my opinion I can't help but think that it is a more platonic love than something romantic 😅From how Lilia expressed herself in the previous parts, it feels as if they were siblings.

I also have to clarify that I do not deny that Lilia is bisexual, only that in this case I find it more like platonic love.

Postscript: I'm sorry for my lousy English, it's not my first language and I'm trying to improve. Greetings from Latin America!

[If you're looking for a summary of what goes down in book 7 part 5, check out this post!]

Hello to Latin America ^^

I did also find that most people reacting to book 7 part 5 thought that Lilia “loving” Meleanor and Raverne is in a romantic way. The frustration with this sentiment (ie the automatic assumption of romantic feelings) is actually something a few of my friends have expressed as well, so you’re not alone there!

Meleanor does explicitly say that Lilia once proposed to her. However, it should be noted that Lilia did this when they were kids a few hundred years ago. Therefore, it could be a crush that is no longer applicable to modern day Lilia (since feelings can change over time)! They also are shown to get along in a sort of “arguing siblings annoying each other” way. However, there is also the possibility that Lilia’s old feelings linger. We won’t know for sure unless he confirms.

For Raverne, it’s less clear what kind of “love” they mean. Meleanor simply says that Lilia also “loves” Raverne, so it should be possible for Lilia to (platonically) “love” Malleus/their egg too. Because Malleus is being referred to in a platonic sense but Meleanor (another comparison) was referred to in a romantic sense… yeah, we have two different “loves” and it isn’t an exact science which kind Lilia feels for Raverne. We do know that Lilia considers him a good friend and was distressed at the prospect of losing both him and his princess, but that’s not inherently romantic. You can be distressed at losing a good friend too. Meleanor also says that Lilia and Raverne spend more time together than a married couple/than he has been married to her—but again, that’s not explicitly romantic (at least not as an outright proposal), just a teasing figure of speech.

Who knows, maybe TWST had to be more lowkey with the bisexual subtext to bypass Disney’s standards 🤷‍♀️ It’s also entirely possible that Lilia’s relationship with Meleanor and/or Raverne is purely platonic now! It really depends on the eye of the beholder; I think either interpretation is totally valid. Just remember to be respectful to others that may not have the same headcanons as you!!

[jinxed-thylacine]

Genuinely every time I see people complain about how Sonic characters are characterized in the modern day I'm just like "okay and?"

Why is Amy mellowing out and focusing on things that aren't Sonic a bad thing

Why is Silver being nowhere near as aggressive as he was in 06 and the Rivals duology a bad thing

Why is Shadow not being hyperfocused on Maria (but still working to keep his promise to her mind you) a bad thing

Why is how Ian Flynn writes Sonic bad (and btw he essentially gets commissioned by Sega to write the games and comics. If Sega didn't like what he was doing they'd tell him and I know this because he's talked about it on Bumblekast and some of his interpretations of the characters do contradict stuff he's written)

There are probably others but I can't think of any off the top of my head. The only character I understand complaining about is Knuckles, and even then obviously he's going to be misinterpreted sometimes, that comes with the territory of him being gullible. And that's the thing, every writer who has worked on Sonic, currently works on Sonic, or will work on Sonic will have different interpretations of each character, and there's nothing wrong with that.

It ends up turning into a double-standard for fans vs the people working on the series (and it is worth noting there's significant overlap there, especially in America) where people love seeing different interpretations of Sonic characters from fans (and some of these interpretations are objectively inaccurate to the characters in official content; that doesn't make them wrong however) but if official content deviates even slightly from what people are used to seeing because the writers interpret the characters differently, it's treated like the official writers are committing a crime.

Writing is an art just as much as games are and everyone will interpret how characters have been written differently, including current writers' interpretations of past games. I might interpret Shadow's arc in the 2000s one way, while someone else might interpret it completely differently.

You can have intended readings of what you're writing, and most of the time the Sonic writers do extremely well getting that intended reading across, but that doesn't mean everyone reads it the exact same way. The easiest way to get my point across using Sonic specifically (in my opinion) is by using Team Chaotix. Is their dynamic a dad and his two sons, an older brother and his two younger brothers, or two dads and their son? I personally think their dynamic fits "a dad and his two sons" better, but none of the interpretations I presented are wrong.

I could not care less about how Sonic characters are officially written in games or the comics because everyone's going to have a different interpretation of the characters, and the writers have to work within Sega's guidelines for the characters. It will always be like this until Sega comes up with solid, strict guidelines for how characters should be written, which is harder than it sounds (and no, I don't count their mandates because obviously there are still different characterization interpretations)

TL;DR: Nobody's interpretations of Sonic characters are wrong, if you get so mad about an interpretation of a character you like that you resort to harassment just block people please

[winxwiki]

"My adventure with Winx" Corriere Adriatico 2014 interview with Iginio Straffi (translated)

(Original)

Iginio Straffi at the head of Rainbow is pleased: "This is a very important milestone. Since the first season came out ten years ago we have come a long way, much further than we thought. In a decade we have produced 150 episodes, two movies (a third is coming out after summer), two stage musicals and two on ice. Not to mention the many activities including a thriving merchandising business that adds, in addition to a plethora of gadgets, millions of books sold. We are now covering two generations of children, which gives us hope that Winx can become a cartoon classic."

Which of the Winx are you most fond of and why?

"As a dad I have to say all of them, but in truth I am most attached to Flora: she is perhaps the most "helpless" and has very sweet features that connote a more helpful and more open character. But at the same time I admire Bloom for the exact opposite: she is strong, decisive, with edgy features that make her a leader. And then there's Stella, Aisha, Musa and Tecna."

How does a cartoon figure come into being?

"After building the storybord draft, the character's character is outlined, and on these directions the figure is born."

It may not have been easy to carry on the same storyline for 150 episodes.

"Absolutely true. I had originally conceived a storybord with a maximum of 78 episodes and a film to deepen some issues left open. Then, the growing success led me to approach an evolution of the story to create new themes to develop. From a fantasy world we lowered our Winx into the earthly world by making them superheroines. In cartoon universes dedicated to boys there are a multitude of superheroes and it seemed right to find a counterbalance."

And what do the superheroines do?

"They tackle the Earth's ills, from pollution to deforestation. One of the characteristics of Winx is the strong educational message, so we made them guardians of our planet."

Which country has best received Winx?

"Italy first and foremost, but we are doing very well in Russia and Turkey. In steady growth phase Europe, America and South America."

So many initiatives underway at Rainbow…

"We are in full swing: the 7th season of Winx , the 2nd season of Prezzy, a third film about Winx is being prepared, also new characters are in the studio. Rainbow MagicLand, the amusement park near Rome, is doing well. And in these early days of the year we are strengthening our offices in Asia where we will soon concentrate our efforts."

Your mentor Fr. Lamberto Pigini (translator's note: yes, the business catholic priest) is turning 90, is the relationship always strong, and what is your wish for him?

"I hope he can continue to inspire all his collaborators so that we never stop. His message has always been clear: create jobs, turn the economy around by communicating positive values. Although he is no longer a partner in Rainbow, he remains the most listened-to friend. It is thanks to his stimulus that we have continued our efforts here in Villa Musone (Frazione di Loreto) and have built this ultra-modern company with very high standards of livability, so much so that visitors from all over the world compliment us and take us as an example."

[lafortis]

i'm a bit of a lights novice. are most of the lights you use LEDs? are incandescents still kicking around? is there some other tech in the lights world i don't know about?

this is actually a great question! the answer is, mostly LEDs but it depends! and now you've activated my trap card (low-level lights autism) and under the read more will be a more in-depth answer

from the pre-history of lights until, say, the late 2000s, every light pretty much had a high-intesnity discharge lamp in em, specifically (at least in america) starting with this guy:

basically, true "incandescents" only ever existed on big stages for performances in the form of PAR Cans,

and only for lower wattages, cus they're just inefficient and suck, basically. most PAR Cans are still tungsten halide or better, because they gotta be bright, and afaik there's never been a moving head incandescent, because things like heat and brightness are ever an more compounding concern in moving fixtures because every ounce of cooling is more weight on the motors.

so basically, if we consider high-intensity discharge lamps (more broadly shortened to "tungsten discharge" in the industry because all the electrodes are tungsten and who honestly cares what gas is in there anyway) to be the industry's definition of a "conventional" or "incandescent", then yeah, they're still used to this day, because while LEDs have been being broadly adopted since, say, 2007, it's only very recently that they've begun to truly compare with tungsten on every level.

until the last 5 or 10 years, it was still the case that if you wanted anything that needed to be really goddamn bright (for example, a blinder, which is what it sounds like, or a strobe, which needs to be as bright as possible because you're only seeing it for whatever percentage of a second at a time, or a skylight, which is for killing passing pilots and everyone on board), you'd still be using tungsten discharge, because they were the best and most efficient way to get THAT bright. they're still often referenced as a comparison point in new marketing for lumens/watt and maximum luminous output, and lots of modern fixtures have a tungsten emulation mode, which changes the way the LED dimmer/colour temperature responds as it dims up or down, to emulate the way that tungsten behaves (because we all just miss it so much, i guess).

basically, to give you a (slightly tilted) idea of the splay of lamp types throughout the industry, here's Robe's (pronounced Roh-bee, because they're misanthropic Czechs who just want to make us suffer) product lineup as of April 2024:

don't ask about the laser light source, those are new and very very cool and very very cutting edge. the digital source is basically just a moving projector, which is also very very cool but not what we're talking about here

but basically, "white source LED" is what I would think of as the "standard" model of moving head that's "not an LED" fixture, which is to say, there's only one LED (or one LED engine, i.e. multiple LEDs on a single board to get more brightness), and it's being used just like how a convetional lamp would be used, that is to say being used as a light source and nothing else.

multispectral LEDs are basically the same thing, but with the ability to control the colour temperature (i.e. how "white" the white is vs how "natural" it looks) with near-scientific precision, as compared to something like an RGB led, which will never really get you a good 5600K, it'll just be kinda piss yellow, or a white LED, which is just white and has to rely on colour filters put on top of it to filter out the light (which is fine but you only get a couple of those and they're never the ones you want). this is mostly for film or theatre applications, especially film, where the exact colour temperature of the light source is pretty much the number one concern.

multisource LEDs are basically a big fuckoff array of LEDs that can be controlled individually to make fun big stuff, e.g. the Robe Tarrantula

basically these exist on a sliding scale from "i can do some things to some of these LEDs in banks of 3, 5 etc" to "this might as well be pixel mappable," or in some cases actually is (flashing lights CW for this video, it's literally the product showcase for a strobe light, i tried to timestamp to not go directly to any flashing parts but nonetheless):

most often these are "wash" lights, i.e. lights with much bigger heads to fit much bigger and wider lenses, since it's utilizing many more lower power LEDs, and you need space for all those to fit.

finally, the discharge lamp section, while small, is mighty; the Robe Pointe series is one of the most common, most beloved high-end fixtures in the industry today. they're apparently mercury halide, not tungsten, so hey, the fuck do i know, but yeah. they're similar in a lot of ways to their white LED source compatriots, but i think brighter for the same price point (of course, the prices aren't actually on their website; at this price manufacturers are generally all b2b), and kinda just sexier in certain ways. i think. idk, i'm in the price point where i'm not super experienced with these fixtures lol, but that's my understanding

HENNYWAISE, there ya go :3

[newsource21]

Numbers Don’t Lie: Women Thrived Under Trump, Suffered Under Harris

COMMENTARY

By Elise Stefanik

Of the countless lies about Kamala Harris perpetuated by Democrats and their loyal stenographers in the mainstream media, one of the most egregious is that a Kamala Harris presidency will deliver historic economic opportunity for working women. Unfortunately for these desperate Democrats attempting to erase publicly available data, numbers tell the exact opposite story. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden saddled women with the largest pay cut, inflation crisis, tax hike, and economic crash so far this century, whereas President Trump delivered the greatest economic boost for American women of any modern day president. 

The median income for women increased every year during the Trump administration, reaching the highest on record in 2020. Real average weekly earnings increased 8.2% under President Trump yet decreased 3.9% under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  The unemployment rate for women overall and for black women in particular reached a record low during President Trump’s term. In 2019, the workforce participation gap between men and women shrank to the narrowest in history. President Trump’s economy made history with the most women in the workforce ever. 

This wasn’t by accident. Understanding that working women are also balancing families, President Trump delivered a pro-family economic agenda that included doubling the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child and expanding eligibility. Nearly 40 million families received an average benefit of $2,200 under his leadership, totaling credits of approximately $88 billion. 

He then created the first-ever paid family leave tax credit for employees earning $72,000 or less and signed into law 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers. He also signed the largest-ever increase in child care and development block grants – expanding access to quality, affordable childcare for more than 800,000 low-income families. President Trump signed into law a provision that enabled new parents to withdraw up to $5,000 from their retirement accounts without penalty when they give birth to or adopt a child.  

The oft-asked question about balancing work and family life is: Can women have it all? Under President Trump’s leadership, the answer was a resounding yes. 

Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, not so much. 

Biden and Harris’ failed economic policies hurt every American but hit women hardest of all. Women are bearing the brunt of Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote for Biden’s comically named “Inflation Reduction Act,” which turbocharged inflation with a glut of ridiculous climate spending. Women are working longer hours and delaying retirement as a result. 

Talk to any woman in America and there is no question that inflation is a women’s issue. Since Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president, prices have risen by 19.4% – making it increasingly difficult for women to provide for their families. Women are the majority of grocery shoppers, and grocery bills have skyrocketed, forcing many Americans to cut back on essentials. A single mother of two in Nevada had to sell her car to afford groceries under Biden. A mother of two in Michigan had “to think about putting gasoline prices before buying my kids clothes” because of Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote for Biden’s radical green energy agenda.

Families now need an extra $12,590 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed three years ago, according to Congress’ Joint Economic Committee—and 67% of parents say inflation has impacted their ability to pay for their children’s education, school supplies, and extracurricular activities this past school year. The cost of childcare has increased 32% for the average family since 2019, and nearly two-thirds are spending 20% or more of their annual income on childcare. The average price for a pack of disposable diapers has increased 32% since 2019, and 47% of families reported struggling to afford them. In 2022, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ incompetence created a baby formula shortage, causing the price to soar to an all-time high. Some 44 million people were living in food insecure households in 2022, a 31% annual increase and the largest one-year increase since 2008. 

Women make up the majority of voters in America, so it’s no wonder the Harris propaganda machine is in overdrive attempting to gaslight them into thinking they’ve never had it better. But as much as Democrats may lie, numbers never do. They show that President Trump not only cares deeply about women and all Americans but also knows what it takes to stimulate the economy to create historic opportunities on our behalf. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, sees women as a convenient voting block to pander to, deceive, and then abandon in favor of an economically poisonous, radically liberal agenda. 

To my fellow women voters: Don’t be fooled. 

Rep. Elise M. Stefanik represents New York’s 21st congressional district. She is the House Republican Conference chair, and chair of Women for Trump.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/08/19/numbers_dont_lie_women_thrived_under_trump_suffered_under_harris_151469.html

[thespanishgroup-eng]

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[tiesthatbind-tf]

I have two new questions: Wouldn't Onyx Prime be African because of Eukaris more closely related to African traditions? And what would your version of Cyclonus look like and what ethnicity he would be?

Nope! Because I'm not using the extremely convoluted history IDW has for the characters/world before the main story. Onyx here is not Shockwave in disguise, he's much closer to the Aligned/Fun Publications version of the character. Eukaris exists but it's sort of a central homeland state created specifically for Beast Men where all variants of them would receive equal treatment (This is due to the fact that even in places where some of them were well-accepted, others were not, as an example Bird-style beast men being revered in Japan as 'Tengu', while fox-style beastmen were always pegged as tricksters and bear-style Beastmen were outright demonised outside of Ainu culture).

Beast Men in Ties That Bind are also not associated with a single culture or people.

There's actually a whole page dedicated to the explanation for Beast Men and Eukaris in this AU, I'll include it under a cut since it's long (TW for mentions of Human Trafficking and general dehumanization).

I haven't as of yet decided anything on Cyclonus!

BEAST MEN

A new subset of humanity which occurred during the Quintesson Invasion, Beast Men (Homo Bestia) were the product of genetic experimentations on humans and animals alike by Quintesson scientists in the early days of the invasion.

The exact nature or reason behind these grotesque experiments have yet to be fully understood but from what little has been translated from salvaged texts, it is believed that they were conducted to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of earth’s indigenous lifeforms and to create a robust ‘working animal’ for strip-mining and slave labour purposes by combining traits between them.However much of the early experimentation yielded less than satisfactory results; The Beast Men despite their enhanced strength were often wilder in nature and even more defiant than standard humans, with some unable to adapt to their heightened senses causing them to lash out at all stimuli.

Many were terminated as failed experiments while others were kept incarcerated as stock to continue Quintesson research to fine-tune the process.However, many still managed to escape through concerted combined efforts between themselves or were liberated by rebels later on between 1930 and 1945. They took part in the Second Quintesson War under the leadership of Owais Naseem, one of the thirteen heroes of the war and a Horse-Man (Centaur).

The most populous subset of Beast Men comprises of Canids, which make up 20% of their entire demographic due to their purported usefulness as huntsmen, guardsmen and even ‘pets’ to the Quintessons.This is followed by felid (15%), ruminant (15%), avian (10%), rodentia (10%), oceanic (10%)  and others (17%).The rarest type of Beast Men are Insectoid (3%). They usually feel a strong affinity for nature and most commonly reside in South America, Africa, Asia and their established ‘homeland’ of Eukaris.  They are least found (outside of government-commissioned Cold Constructs)  in the USA, France and the UK.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF BEAST MEN

Beast Men are classified into three categories according to a worldwide government census, mostly based on the level of visible mutation.

Class A (‘Humanoid’) Accounts  for 15% of Beast Men.

Mutations are recessive/subtle, mostly centered around eyes, ears. Occasionally will sport claws.

Due to their mostly human appearance, they are better accepted by society with some reaching fame due to their perceived safe but ‘exotic’ looks.

Little to no limitations on personal rights. Mixed marriages with standard humans are allowed but heavily frowned upon due to presiding fear that, as they are still carriers of the animal gene, their mutations will pass down and could become more dominant in their children.

Little to no animal instincts.

Class B (‘Mix’) The most common class accounting for 50% of all Beast Men.

General public perception tends to vary from mild distaste to full on disdain.

Their physiology tends to be animal-like wrapped around a human frame. Anatomy remains mostly human (eg: Having paws or claws, but relegated to human-size and shaped hands or feet).

Allowances made for public transport/spaces with conditions.

Mixed marriages with standard humans banned in most countries.

Overlaps can occur with Class C.

Mild animal instincts.

Class C (‘Feral’) Accounts for 30% of Beast Men.

The class facing heaviest persecution due to their completely non-human appearance. Human traffickers have been documented selling them to hunting parties and reserves.

Full animal traits, including major to full coverage of fur/feathers/scales, tails, teeth, digitigrade legs, etc. Will occasionally sport ‘distorted’ anatomy (like elongated arms for flight or running on all fours) or missing anatomy altogether (legs for snake-men) to better support animal physiology.

Not allowed in public transport and spaces unless clearly designated.

Mixed marriages with standard humans banned in most countries.

Strong animal instincts, however level of intelligence/emotional empathy remains the same as standard humans.

Class D (‘Shifters’) The rarest class, accounts for 5% of Beast Men

Are an offshoot of Class B and C individuals who have the ability to fully shapeshift into animals.

The phenomenon is still being studied.

BEAST MEN IN SOCIETY

Despite their role in helping to win the war, the relationship between Beast Men and modern society is shaky, with a majority of them suffering some form of discrimination from governments and people unwilling to make concessions for them in modern living and personal engagements.

Like Cold Constructs, many of them are seen as second-class citizens who find it hard to rent property due to landlords who insist on a ‘no animals’ rule being applied to them (thus pushing most of them into redlined districts and neighborhoods). Most forms of public transport also bar them entry due to the ‘hassle’ that accommodating all subsets of them would invoke.

More so, the ‘non-domestic’ variants of them are often seen as dangerous or unpredictable due to their enhanced sensitivity to stimuli which would otherwise not affect a ‘normal’ person (and there have been cases of people deliberately overloading their senses to force them to react in a violent manner), and this limits the job market for them as well.

Metropolitan cities, particularly in western countries, place heavy restrictions on their movements in public; Establishments and businesses are allowed to refuse them service or bar them entry if they are seen to be a threat or if the facilities are (often deliberately) not built to accommodate them.

Violence against them is a regular occurrence despite laws being passed to combat the issue and most Beast-Men will only go out in public with a chaperone or in groups for protection from harassment.

Worse yet are the cases of illegal hunting of Beast Men, whether for game or their body parts, which sees a steady demand in the black market.

However, the case isn’t the same in all countries; In many areas of Africa and Asia, certain subsets of Beast Men are mostly accepted as members of modern society.

Snake-Men are a welcomed group in Thailand due to their resemblance to mythical Naga, while Tiger-Men are seen as protectors and a symbol of courage in Malaysia.

Bird-Men receive adulation in most South and South-East Asian countries due to their resemblance to the Garuda, while the same can be said for Japan which sees them as Tengu.

Lion, Leopard and Panther-Men find similar acceptance in African nations, which sees Lion-Men in particular to have been royalty in a past life.

Scotland stands out among western nations due to its granting of full-class citizen status to Wolf-men, affectionately known as ‘Wulvers’, particularly in the Shetland Islands which in turn sees a high population of them compared to other European nations.

That said, as not all Beast Men subsets are accepted to the same level even in countries that accept certain types, a Beast Men-centric state that levies the same rights and acceptance for all subsets, Eukaris, was established in 2004 via extensive terraforming on Queen Maud Land in Antartica.

[qqueenofhades]

Keeping my fingers crossed for that Black Widow meta

Aha, okay. As usual, I am ludicrously easy to enable, so let's take a crack at this. The ask obviously contains SPOILERS for the Black Widow film (and is also tagged "black widow spoilers" if you're planning to filter), and discussion/reference to other films/properties in the MCU, though I don't feel like any of those are still a secret.

Anyway, as I said in my earlier post, I can't believe I am actually still trying to critically analyse a Marvel production in the year of our Lord 2021, but then, I feel like we all have a complicated relationship with it. Likewise, the feeling of "oh wow NOW you're giving Natasha a solo movie after you killed her off in a cheap and fairly sexist way in Endgame?" If this film had come out ten or even five years ago, it would have been major, but holding it off until now seems to have left most of us justifiably unimpressed. Plus, as I am absolutely not the first person to point out, it renders Natasha's sacrifice in Endgame "because I don't have a family" even more narratively incoherent. I realize that this film was written after that one by totally different people, there's no point in expecting the MCU to make consistent canonical sense throughout its eighty billion different films/series, we were all stuck with a mess after the Whedonified Age of Ultron Nat, and so forth, but still. Natasha explicitly SAYS that she has two families (her wacky Russian found family of spies and the Avengers) and her decision to leap off the cliff in Endgame to save Clint and his retconned perfect white heterosexual nuclear family.... Hmmmm. To which I say to you, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I do bite my thumb at Male Writers, sir.

Likewise, while I am wildly attracted to Florence Pugh as Yelena and deeply desire to be wrapped between her thighs, the movie felt more like her story than Nat's. Yelena drove most of the plot and the action, while Nat was just kind of along for the ride. As a solo piece, we really didn't learn that much about Natasha aside from the opening scene (which felt like it was straight out of The Americans and probably worked the best of the whole film for the reason) with her childhood in America. But even the infamous "what happened in Budapest" backstory with her and Clint was quickly info-dumped rather than shown, and they could have taken more narrative risks or included more flashbacks or otherwise given us more NATASHA, y'know??? Instead of cramming the film into the small space between Civil War and Infinity War and making it even weirder that Nat seemingly has no memory or reference to these events when she returns to the team at that time. Why not show her looking for Yelena or her actual defection to the Avengers or anything else we might want from a film that purportedly exists entirely to provide backstory for a now-dead character? It felt like even in the film universe, the main quest was being repeated -- she tried to kill Baddie McSoviet once before and it didn't work out, so she has to do it again, something something. Okay.

As for that, good ol' Marvel and its American Superiority TM. The only actual Eastern European actress in this film about Eastern Europeans was Antonia/Taskmaster, played by the Ukrainian Olga Kurylenko (and I was very interested in her?? If she's supposed to be a narrative foil and a ghost of Nat's past and mark of her former sins, etc., why not develop her as an actual character?) Everyone else were Brits and Americans hamming it up with even more chew-the-scenery fake Russian accents than Elizabeth Olsen's "Sokovian" accent as Scarlet Witch. If it's established that they all have perfect American accents at the start of the movie, why is Nat the only American-accented character in the modern day if she had presumably the exact same childhood as Yelena? I know it's another way to set her apart, but that and Baddie McSoviet (the Russians are finding a way to steal free will from people's brains! Zomgz!!! Is this 2021 or 1981?) were straight out of the Cold War in terms of its not-so-veiled American Supremacy Message. Likewise, making modern!Natasha a former KGB agent never really made sense, since she says in Winter Soldier that she was born in 1984, and we see her in this film as an 11-year-old in 1995. But the USSR collapsed in 1991, when she was seven, and the Red Room appears to be an entirely unrelated flying....lab....thingy run by a generic evil Russian (Ray Winstone, likewise Hamming Up Accent). So like. What is she, guys?? Make up your minds!!!

Likewise, Baddie McSoviet/Dreykov as a villain obviously plays into the hoary old Hollywood "All Bad People Are Recognizable As Being Terrible Sexists and Also Probably Russians" trope, but aside from that, he doesn't make sense. He has this entire army of basically unstoppable Widows and he has just been.... waiting around and causing random explosions? Or was just waiting for Nat and company to return so he could Put His Evil Plan Into Motion? Are we really supposed to believe that this guy has just been sitting up in his flying saucer and essentially never doing anything this whole time? He had about a million chances to launch this take-over-the-world plan long before Natasha ever got there. Plus, I.... am.... not sure what to think (aside from /deep sigh/ MARVEL) about the fact that all the Widows we see dying/getting killed on screen are women of color. (Then the Black surgeon who was about to remove Yelena's brain in the Red Room and the only other Black guy being Natasha's errand boy, which just... in context... YIKES.) I think the fact that there are random Black background Widows are supposed to mean that they're inclusive and badass or something? Scarlett Johansson also has her own issues with White Feminism and all the other things we've critiqued her for before, so after TFATWS and the Flag Smashers, Marvel clearly has found its subtly racist sweet spot. As usual?

The end of the film also just basically turns into the standard Marvel empty-spectacle/cool-looking fights/people flying through the air thing, and I wanted a lot more focus on the wacky found-family Russian-spy hijinks (I did love them, for reasons) and character dynamics, rather than all of them separately fighting baddies in different places. I did obviously have feelings about Natasha putting the parachute on Yelena to save her life. But why were we then denied Nat/Gamora parallels/relationships/any character development or interaction at all in Infinity War/Endgame? Both of them are trained assassins adopted into a non-biological family that they have a complicated relationship with, but end up forging a strong bond with their sister (Yelena/Nebula) nonetheless. Of course, that would have required Endgame to put more effort into its female characters than what it did, which was one (1) Epic CGI Charge Scene at the very end, and literally nothing else. Not that I am still salty about this or anything.

Anyway. The movie was genuinely fun in places. The wacky Russian found family of spies was definitely the best part, even if it made Endgame even more nonsensical as a result. But I wanted this movie to be a lot better than it was overall, though I probably would have liked it more if it had actually come out in a timely fashion and wasn't only released after they killed her off. It just feels like there were so many possible threads of potential that could have been done with Natasha if they were actually interested in experimenting and exploring the character and not just coming up with new baddies and ways to go boom, and it unfortunately missed the mark with that.

[ljf613]

Colonization & Imperialism in ATLA

One of the things I’ve noticed in fandom complaints about the ATLA comics-- namely, “The Promise”-- and subsequently, LOK’s worldbuilding, is the way the narrative handles colonization. 

I see a lot about how what the Earth Kingdom chose to do with the former colonies is “none of Zuko’s (or Aang’s) business.” (I also see people talking about how Katara would never support colonialism, in any shape or form, no matter the circumstances.) 

And I just.... don’t vibe with those ideas? At all? 

Like, I definitely have problems with the comics-- especially “The Promise,” where all the drama centers around Miscommunications of Epic Proportions and could have been resolved in Part One if all the characters just sat down and listened to each other (not to mention that Aang would never have agreed to make that promise, nor would Zuko have asked it of him (Sokka would be a more obvious choice, but that’s a different discussion))-- but I never had any issues with their worldbuilding. 

I love the idea of Yu Dao, and the fact that the narrative acknowledges that a new kind of world has new kinds of problems. It makes sense to me that we can’t always just “give back the land we took.” And I found the idea of the end solution being  “give the people who live there their own country” really cool and empowering. 

So I want to talk about why I feel this way. About what kind of real-world parallels can be made here. About some little-known bits of world-history that compare. 

(Please note that for this meta I am only going to be discussing the relationship between Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. As far as I am aware-- and I could be wrong-- there is no real-world genocide quite comparible to what Sozin did to the Air Nomads, and most of the people alive in ATLA were not actually around for or involved in that. And the relationship the Fire Nation has with the Water Tribes-- and that the North and South have with each other-- is worth a whole separate analysis, and doesn’t deserve to just be shoved into this one.)

(Disclaimer: While this is in response to some of the interpretations I’ve seen on this site, it is not meant to discount or invalidate those fans’ views-- I’m just trying to show my take on it. I am a firm believer in the power of active discourse, and the value of looking at the same scenes through different lenses, rather than just getting one opinion and accepting it as Absolute Truth.) 

The main thing I notice in general ATLA discourse-- and not just on this topic, but in any sort of meta about the Fire Nation, colonization, and global impact-- is that the fandom mostly compares the war and its after-affects to real-world Imperialism, the Age of Imperialism, New Imperialism, and Colonization. 

And I understand why that is. In the grand scheme of world history, that era is still fairly recent, and we are still dealing with the afteraffects from it. It has shaped the Western World’s worldview on every level. (Not to mention that the Euro-centric way we’re taught history means that this piece of world history is the one we’re most exposed to, and so have the most understanding of and room to analyze/criticize.) 

However, there are a few issues with sticking only to this perspective. 

First off, the Age of Imperialism was a direct response to the Age of Exploration. This was the period of time when white Europeans sailed around the world acting as though they were discovering new places and pretending that there weren’t already existing civilizations there. 

[ID: Two dots meme, edited so that Guy A says “i’ve discovered a NEW WORLD,” Guy B replies “you didn’t discover ****,” and Guy A insists “i’ve discovered it” / End ID.] 

Now, I’ve mentioned this in passing, but the world of ATLA doesn’t appear to have had an Age of Exploration. There’s no vast “undiscovered” land masses, the four nations have always known about each other, and they all have a shared language. 

The whole foundation for the Age of Imperialism was “oh, look, there are all these ‘unexplored’ lands with resources ripe for the picking (who cares about the indigenous people, they’re just simplistic savages who don’t know what’s best for them), let’s see which European country can grab the most land first.” 

This was a race. This was sudden. This was Europeans coming in and taking over while viewing the natives as bothersome pests. This was about multiple major world powers competing over resources. 

This was not 100 years of active warfare between a single conquering country and the very people they were trying to conquer. 

The parallels don’t hold up. 

Secondly, by focussing only on this one kind of historical narrative, we ignore any others. 

I will admit that I have used the word “imperialism” in reference to the Fire Nation a time or two. However, upon further reflection, I realize I didn’t really mean imperialism, which is actually a fairly modern concept. What I feel the Fire Nation is really an example of is centralism and expansionism-- two ideaologies that have been a way of life for conquering empires throughout history. 

(I am in no way qualified to explain the differences between these concepts-- I recommend doing your own research if you’re curious.) 

The Persian Empire. The Greek Empire. The Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire. The Mongolian Empire. The Russian Empire. The First French Empire. 

You could take any of these (or numerous others) and make an interesting analysis between the similarities and differences between their behaviors and that of the Fire Nation. And maybe I’ll do that someday. 

However, I started this to talk about Yu Dao and all of the other so-called colonies (I really feel like territories would be a better word, but, again, that’s a whole ’nother discussion), and I’d like to focus on that. 

FYI, here’s a basic history refresher: If two countries are at war, and then they decide to end the war, neither country is required to return captured territories. They can make a treaty and agree to do so, but there is no obligation to. The Fire Nation didn’t just march in and say, “this is our land now”-- they fought for it. They captured that land. Just because the war is over doesn’t mean they need to just give it back. 

Like it or not, that is the way the world operated for thousands of years, and so that is the interpretation I’m working with here. 

In any case, “The Promise” actually presents this as a three-way conversation. There’s Zuko (and, by default, the Fire Nation), Kuei (and, by default, Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom), and the people of Yu Dao themselves. 

(My understanding of the Earth Kingdom’s style of government is that it’s made up of a large collection of different ethno-cultural regions who all answer to Ba Sing Se.) 

I’ll let Sokka explain it: 

[ID: Comic panel from Part Three of “The Promise.” Sokka and Katara are talking, both in obvious states of agitation, while Suki and Toph are looking at something in the background. Sokka is saying, “Let me see if I got this. The protestors and the Earth Kingdom Army want the colonials to go, the Fire Nation Army wants the colonials to stay, and the Yu Dao Resistance just want their city to be left alone?” Katara responds, “Yes!” / End ID.] 

The people of Yu Dao don’t care about the war. They don’t even really care who’s in charge. They just want to be left alone. 

This speaks to me on a very personal level, so I’m going to make another real-world comparison here: 

My ancestors first came to America to escape from the poverty and opression they were experiencing in a place known as “White Russia”-- that is, Belarus. To be clear, I am not talking about the country “Belarus,” but the region, which includes the modern-day countries of Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Moldova, as well as parts of Poland and Russia. 

I looked up White Russia, trying to find out how much information someone who didn’t grow up hearing stories about what it was like (that is, most of the people reading this,) might have. I didn’t find much. Most of what I found talked about political ideologies and such-- things that your average poor peasant, struggling just eke out a living, didn’t have much energy to care about. So let me paint a(n oversimplified) picture for you. 

Imagine you’re a poor shoemaker in a small town on the Russian border. You spend your days hard at work, trying to earn a living to support your wife and nine children. You’ve never left the town you were born in. One day you get the news: Russia and Poland are fighting again. Your two oldest sons (ages 15 and 17) are forcibly drafted off to fight in the Russian army; you never see them again and have no way of knowing if they’re dead or alive (they’re probably dead). Poland wins-- this time. Congratulations, your town is now part of Poland. 

Does suddenly being Polish make a difference to your life? Not in the slightest. Two or three years down the line, you’ll go back to being part of Russia again. This is the third or fourth time you’ve seen your town switch hands, and you can’t say you prefer one government over the other. It doesn’t really matter who’s in charge-- you’re still faced with crippling taxes, forced drafts, and various other forms of oppression. (It doesn’t help that you happen to be part of a persecuted minority.) 

(This is why I have many ancestors who may never have left the town they were born in, and yet records show that they were born in one country, got married in another, and died in a third.) 

This is the kind of worldview through which I am looking at Yu Dao. (Obviously, it’s not an exact parallel, but neither is the standard “colonizers vs oppressed natives” lens.) 

My ancestors eventually got fed up with the treatment they were receiving from their respective governments, and left to build a new life, in a new place. But the citizens of Yu Dao don’t have anywhere to go. The only two real world powers in this story are the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, neither of which has ever before expressed any true interest or concern in the actual people of Yu Dao. 

The Earth Kingdom didn’t really care about the city before the war-- they were just another poor, struggling town, whose citizens were barely able to make ends meet. And while the Fire Nation may have helped the place grow into a bustling town, they also established a hierarchy that did not serve in the citizens’ best interests. 

And so, in “The Promise,” these citizens’ frustrations come to a head. “Enough,” they say, “we don’t want to be used as a pawn in your games anymore.” 

And Zuko and Kuei (and Aang) actually listen. They say “we need to start thinking about these people as people, not as symbols of one side or the other. It’s time to give them a say in their future.” 

And a new country-- a new way of life-- is born. 

(Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But it is constantly evolving and changing, trying to do better, be better. And that’s more than you can say about most of the other countries in this world.)

[tragcdysewn]

fashion aesthetics - bellatrix black

describe your muse’s aesthetic in five words or less.

dark and witchy

does your muse spend a lot of time on their outfit and appearance? how long do they spend getting ready in the morning?

bella probably spends a decent amount of time getting ready in the morning, maybe 30 minutes to an hour? there’s a lot of layers to her outfits and they all need to match perfectly

does your muse consider the way they dress to be trendy? would other people agree

she thinks everything she does is the best way to do that thing, so yes. as for other people, probably? she dresses like someone off witchtok so like...

how often do they buy new clothes? are they the type to keep a outfit for years or replace it after one wear?

bella is rich, and definitely goes shopping decently often, though she also keeps outfits for a long time if she likes them

is your muse the type to accessorize? how much?

definitely. long necklaces, tons of rings, tights, the whole nine yards

how much time do they spend on skin care/makeup/grooming?

probably longer than she should, because now that she’s young and pretty again, she has a lot of vanity from when azkaban fucked up her face

if money and societal expectations were not a concern would your muse dress differently than they currently do? if so, how?

definitely not. bella has never really been one to care much, and only adhered to pureblood standards because of her family. but now her style is fairly accepted among most people, so it doesn’t matter

would your muse wear the same outfit two days in a row if they knew they wouldn’t run into any of the same people?

no lol. maybe months later she’d wear the exact same thing, but she won’t even repeat shoes or a shirt two days in a row

have they started dressing differently since arriving in washington? was the transition difficult? do they prefer the clothes here or back home? if your character is unaware feel free to answer as if they are aware.

a little bit? she isn’t bound by pureblood values anymore, so she shows a lot more skin than the full length dresses she wore back home, but the vibes are the same as they were in england, just updated for modern america

[spaceflower07]

Hetalia Phone headcanons

Alfred's phone: Most would think he would go for the newest iphone there is but they are wrong. Alfred's phone is a black iPhone X.The reason why this is because they have a bunch of cool superhero cases for that type of model and Alfred refuses to change it. Even if he broke his phone he would still get the exact same model. Alfred has many, many, many superhero cases for his phone, but his most used one is a Captain America case. Ivan's phone: He's not very picky about phones. If he can call, text, and play Tetris it's okay in his book. He used to have a Samsung flip phone. However Alfred refused to be seen with him if he had a flip phone (Samsung at that!) so Alfred dragged him down to the Apple store. Ivan didn't want to go, but there actually were a lot of good phones there, and he ended up buying an iPhone XR (By Alfred's recommendation). At first his case is just pitch black with a photo of him and Alfred slipped into it, but then he found a sunflower designed case and he never looked back. The photo is still in there of course, Alfred thinks it's adorable. Francis: He is by far the pickiest out of everyone else. He'll only buy from the top company of phones, which is Apple. He picked iPhone 11 cause he thought it looked the most beautiful. Arthur thought that was a bogus way of choosing a phone. Arthur doesn't like his phone very much because of the lack of actual buttons and he finds it very confusing. Francis taught him how to use it but he still thought it was stupid anyway. He has a rose designed case, it actually looks very aesthetic pleasing. Arthur: Arthur refuses to have a phone that doesn't have a physical button. It's complicated for him and sometimes he forgets how to even operate the phone without a button. At first he had a Galaxy s7 but Francis was so horrified and disgusted by the design that he dragged Arthur to go phone-shopping. Arthur was frustrated because every other phone company either didn't have phones with buttons or the design did have buttons but it was ugly. Only one company made good looking phones with buttons and that was Apple. Arthur was even more frustrated because Apple is an American brand and he didn't want to buy from an American brand. But after he laid eyes on a rose gold 7 iPhone he completely changed his mind.  Yao: He has one of those cheap knock-off brand phones that work just as good as the original. His phone is a fake Samsung s8, and people, especially Yung Soo tell him to get an actual none-knock off phone because it's not like he's poor. He can afford an actual phone, he's the second richest nation. But Yao refuses and says that his phone works just as well as the original and he doesn't need a real one. Because he's cheap and stingy and doesn't want to waste his money on a real phone when we can save his money buying a fake phone that works just as well. He has a cute panda case. Matthew: Used to have a Nokia flip phone, but Alfred felt embarrassed for him and took it upon himself to buy his twin brother an actual phone ("I refuse to be seen with you while you're holding that pathetic phone. Imagine the ridicule, Mattie, THE RIDICULE.") so now they have matching iPhone X phones. Matthew's case is pitch black though, he's not very big on cases and doesn't think buying a flashy one will do anything.  Ludwig: Another person who is yet again dragged into buying a modern phone. He had a flip phone just like Matthew. Gilbert and Feliciano were mortified that Ludwig had such a phone, especially during the 21st century cause that's just embarrassing. They bought him a Nokia 7 plus since it has to survive all of Ludwig's hardcore workouts. Once again his case is pitch black since he's not big on designs and thinks they're unnecessary. Feliciano: Has an LG v10 because he's clumsy and constantly falls and he needs a durable phone that can survive anything (liquid, concrete, etc.). Feliciano once had a regular Huawei 10 which Kiku gave him but he broke it in less than 4 hours. The phone also has a good camera and Feliciano loves taking pictures.

Kiku: Samsung Note cause the pen comes in handy. Yao dislikes it because his child just spent hundreds on a real phone when he could've bought a fake one instead. Mei and Leon aren't happy either because Yao makes them have fake OPPO phones but Kiku has a real phone? Not fair. Gilbert: Nokia 7 Plus as well. Gilbert also has the same hardcore workout as Ludwig, and does much more like parachuting, rock climbing, cliff diving, etc. so Gilbert's phone really has to be durable and be able survive anything or else Gilbert would have to constantly get a new phone every few months. His case is the Prussian flag, but he had to get it customized because they don't make Prussian merchandise anymore. Roderich: At first, had no phone. He didn't think it was necessary since he had an eagle to send messages already. Gilbert told him that wasn't how awesome people do things these days.  He was even more mortified to find out that Hubert, his and Roderich's 8 year old son, HUBERT, did not have a phone, he dragged them both down to the nearest phone store and got them both Samsung Note 10 phones since he knows the two of them love to have something like a pen or a paintbrush or a baton (for conducting) in their hand so he bought them the phone that had the pen. Roderich was against it but Hubert seemed to love it and was mesmerized by how the pen could operate the phone instead of a finger. Roderich gave in and bought the phone anyway. He said he wouldn't use it as much, but he was mistaken because Gilbert couldn't tear Roderich's eyes away from his phone for weeks. Roderich had to go to rehab. Lovino: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. He had refined tastes and high standards, and this phone meets it all. It's gorgeous, it's useful, it's practical, hell, this phone is like his best friend. He's just as obsessed with it as Roderich in which Gilbert said "Why am I always attracted to phone obsessed people"

[conza]

The False Mechanical Analogies of Scientism

The scientistic method in the study of man is almost wholly one of building on analogies from the physical sciences. Some of the common mechanistic analogies follow.

Man as Servomechanism: Just as Bertrand Russell, one of the leaders of scientism, reverses reality by attributing determinism to men, and free will to physical particles, so it has recently become the fashion to say that modern machines "think," while man is merely a complex form of machine, or "servomechanism."14 What is overlooked here is that machines, no matter how complex, are simply devices made by man to serve man's purposes and goals; their actions are preset by their creators, and the machines can never act in any other way or suddenly adopt new goals and act upon them. They cannot do so, finally, because the machines are not alive and are therefore certainly not conscious. If men are machines, on the other hand, then the determinists, in addition to meeting the above critique, must answer the question: Who created men and for what purpose? — a rather embarrassing question for materialists to answer.15

Social Engineering: This term implies that men are no different from stones or other physical objects, and therefore that they should be blueprinted and reshaped in the same way as objects by "social" engineers. When Rex Tugwell wrote in his famous poem during the flush days of the New Deal:

I have gathered my tools and my charts, My plans are finished and practical. I shall roll up my sleeves — make America over,

one wonders whether his admiring readers thought themselves to be among the directing engineers or among the raw material that would be "made over."16

Model-Building: Economics, and recently political science, have been beset by a plague of "model-building."17 People do not construct theories any more; they "build" models of the society or economy. Yet no one seems to notice the peculiar inaptness of the concept. An engineering model is an exact replica, in miniature, that is, in exact quantitative proportion, of the relationships existing in the given structure in the real world; but the "models" of economic and political theory are simply a few equations and concepts which, at very best, could only approximate a few of the numerous relations in the economy or society.

Measurement: The Econometric Society's original motto was "Science is measurement," this ideal having been transferred intact from the natural sciences. The frantic and vain attempts to measure intensive psychic magnitudes in psychology and in economics would disappear if it were realized that the very concept of measurement implies the necessity for an objective extensive unit to serve as a measure. But the magnitudes in consciousness are necessarily intensive and therefore not capable of measurement.18

The Mathematical Method: Not only measurement but the use of mathematics in general in the social sciences and philosophy today, is an illegitimate transfer from physics. In the first place, a mathematical equation implies the existence of quantities that can be equated, which in turn implies a unit of measurement for these quantities. Second, mathematical relations are functional; that is, variables are interdependent, and identifying the causal variable depends on which is held as given and which is changed. This methodology is appropriate in physics, where entities do not themselves provide the causes for their actions, but instead are determined by discoverable quantitative laws of their nature and the nature of the interacting entities. But in human action, the free-will choice of the human consciousness is the cause, and this cause generates certain effects. The mathematical concept of an interdetermining "function" is therefore inappropriate.

Indeed, the very concept of "variable" used so frequently in econometrics is illegitimate, for physics is able to arrive at laws only by discovering constants. The concept of "variable," only makes sense if there are some things that are not variable, but constant. Yet in human action, free will precludes any quantitative constants (including constant units of measurement). All attempts to discover such constants (such as the strict quantity theory of money or the Keynesian "consumption function") were inherently doomed to failure.

Finally such staples of mathematical economics as calculus are completely inappropriate for human action because they assume infinitely small continuity; while such concepts may legitimately describe the completely determined path of a physical particle, they are seriously misleading in describing the willed action of a human being. Such willed action can occur only in discrete, non-infinitely-small steps, steps large enough to be perceivable by a human consciousness. Hence the continuity assumptions of calculus are inappropriate for the study of man.

Other metaphors bodily and misleadingly transplanted from physics include: "equilibrium," "elasticity," "statics and dynamics," "velocity of circulation," and "friction." "Equilibrium" in physics is a state in which an entity remains; but in economics or politics there is never really such an equilibrium state existing; there is but a tendency in that direction. Moreover, the term "equilibrium" has emotional connotations, and so it was only a brief step to the further mischief of holding up equilibrium as not only possible, but as the ideal by which to gauge all existing institutions. But since man, by his very nature, must keep acting, he cannot be in equilibrium while he lives, and therefore the ideal, being impossible, is also inappropriate.

The concept of "friction" is used in a similar way. Some economists, for example, have assumed that men have "perfect knowledge," that the factors of production have "perfect mobility," and so on, and then have airily dismissed all difficulties in applying these absurdities to the real world as simple problems of "friction," just as the physical sciences bring in friction to add to their "perfect" framework. These assumptions in fact make omniscience the standard or ideal, and this cannot exist by the nature of man.

          — Murray Rothbard, The Mantle of Science

[qqueenofhades]

Some additional points about that grave find in Finland that you may or may not find interesting. And that may or may not be dated, because I studied history 20 years ago. That said, I'm not sure if 1000 years ago is firmly middle-ages in this context? At least back in my uni days, they told us that here middle ages got going slowly during 1100's and 1200's when Sweden started converting the population to Christianity and the prehistorical era gradually ended. Maybe they teach differently now.

More about the grave. I don't know why The Guardian would talk about Vikings in this context at all, because the erstwhile population of current day Finland is not considered to have been Vikings, afaik. They were similarly warlike, and the graves from that era have a lot of weapons, and they certainly encountered Vikings, but they never participated in the raiding, and isn't that what makes Vikings Vikings? Their language and religion was also different. But anyway. I don't mean to correct you because the larger point stands. When I saw the headline in a Finnish news paper about that grave and traditional gender roles my first thought was, well, maybe the gender roles hadn't become traditional then yet. Just some additional context, which could be illuminating or could be totally dated.

I did the stupid thing and sent you asks about the Suontaka burial before reading the Cambridge article about it: I'm reading it now, and my comments seem fairly useless. Feel free to ignore with extreme prejudice. We're in agreement on the guardian article.

Aha, well, we all make mistakes from time to time, so no worries! However, since you do touch on a few points that I would like to discuss, I'm going to go ahead and answer, whether for you or anyone else who might find it useful. (It's the teacher in me, I'm afraid.)

First, I have to say that I had a definite "eeegh" moment at the idea that the eleventh/twelfth century isn't "medieval" in Finland just because it (at least prior to the Baltic/Northern crusades, if we're considering them to begin with the Wendish Crusade in 1147) wasn't yet fully Christianized. Scholars pretty universally accept "medieval history" as referring to the time period between 500--1500 CE (the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance). These, of course, are horribly Eurocentric frames of reference, but there you have it. Any event or culture taking place within that span of dates, no matter where in the world it is or what its socio-political circumstances may be, is medieval. We have to call out the pernicious equivalence of "medieval" with "Western Christian European," since that seems to be the underlying assumption. This is also what makes people mistakenly think that the medieval world (which, y'know, was just as big as it is now) is exclusively about white Christian Europe, and that no other global regions have a medieval history. Either way, the eleventh/twelfth century is actually closer to the end of the medieval era than it is to the start. I'm certainly not suggesting that you were consciously implying this; I have no trouble believing that that is indeed how they taught it twenty years ago. But yeah, the idea that still-largely-pagan eleventh-century Finland couldn't be "medieval" until it's Christian is definitely not the case as understood now.

The idea that anywhere in eleventh-century Europe is still "prehistorical" in any sense of the word is likewise a little baffling, tbh. Once more, it associates "history" only with "Christianity," and that would get quite a bit of pushback if included in a paper on medieval studies today. That is what also annoys me deeply when I see people describing the pre-Columbian Americas as "prehistoric" (read: pre-white-people-historic). If the chief marker of "history" is "written history," sure, there is a very narrow pedagogical argument to be made that these societies don't have narratives or chronicles in the standard historiographical sense. But also, uh, European colonialism and conquest destroyed vast swathes of records that we have never been able to read, understand, or even access, because they're just not there anymore. There is ample evidence that the ancient (and I do mean ANCIENT, up to thousands of years BCE) and early-to-late-medieval Mesoamerican societies had complex systems of writing, astronomy, calendar-keeping, and other history-recording practices, right up until 1492. There are something like four (FOUR) pre-Columbian Mayan scrolls still in existence, out of probably thousands and thousands, because the Spanish destroyed the rest. So "prehistoric," unless you're literally referring to the Stone Age, is never a politically neutral word or a word to use uncritically...

...and speaking of the Stone Age, we actually have histories for that too! Or rather (iirc) the Ice Age, because for example, Aboriginal Australians transmit their history orally and require each new generation to memorize it, word for word, exactly as taught to them. Some of these histories stretch back over ten thousand years, which means that we actually have first-person accounts of life during the end of the Ice Age, and scientists recently discovered that these traditional narratives accurately reflected the archaeological and geological record of Australia during the time period in question. (Indigenous people know what they're talking about and should be listened to, example number 85,000.) Of course, the Western-white-supremacist model of historiography calls these just "legends" or "myths" or "folktales" rather than history, because I guess not writing it down in a chronicle as a monk in a European Christian monastery in the year 1015 or whatever doesn't qualify as history for some people. (I don't have strong opinions about this or anything. Welp.)

I likewise don't know why the Guardian article brought up the Vikings, aside from the fact that they were quoting someone who explicitly used the Vikings in a hypothetical scenario about "traditional gender roles." This person expressed surprise that an intersex person living in a medieval Scandinavian society could rise to a high social role, by citing the widespread belief that "Vikings" were all dedicated to being very manly at all times and nobody with feminine qualities/feminine-coded social power could rule over them. I don't know if this was just a bad phrasing (plus, it obviously overlooks the often-egalitarian nature of medieval Scandinavian societies and plays into the favored white supremacist stereotype of the Vikings as some Master Aryan Race Where Men Were Men, etc) or what, but yeah, it's wrong across the board. Viking is the name of an occupation, not an ethnicity. It comes from the word wicing, meaning "seafarer" or "sea raider," and referred only to those guys who went out on their longships and stole a lot of stuff from their neighbors, most notably in the eighth to eleventh centuries. Their families back at home were part of the exact same society and benefited from those raids, but strictly speaking, they weren't vikings. We use the word "Viking" to describe any member of a medieval Scandinavian society, but it's similar to describing everyone living in the eighteenth-century Caribbean, no matter who they were or their social status or ethnic background, as "pirates," which is obviously inaccurate.

As you correctly point out, the Finns aren't considered quite the same as the Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes (as anyone can tell from looking at their written language; N/D/S are mutually intelligible and derive from the same linguistic family, while Finnish is COMPLETELY different and comes from an altogether separate branch of the tree) and therefore it's even more baffling that the person quoted in the Guardian article would cite them as an example of a "Viking" society. Likewise as you note, the whole phrase "traditional gender roles" is intensely problematic in most contexts, and especially here. It assumes that modern Western ideals of sex and gender have been static and unchanging throughout history, and that means that we tend to read our own (biased) assumptions onto the historical record and then get surprised when, shock of shock, they don't fit. The burial at Suontaka seems to have been of a biologically intersex person (i.e. someone with Klinefelter syndrome), but this is also the case when it comes to people assigned the usual male or female at birth, without any complicating genetic conditions. I'm working on a book review for an entire edited volume that discusses the intense gender-fluidity and proto-transgenderism in some medieval saints' lives, and how obviously the fact that they have been held up as a holy example, while explicitly subverting the so-called Traditional Gender Roles of the Middle Ages, means that it was (and is) a lot more complicated than shallow stereotypes and Bad Medievalism would have it.

Anyway, this is long enough (especially considering that you graciously offered me the chance to ignore it) so I think we'll stop here for now. But yes, there you have it. :)

[fibula-rasa]

The Vamps Part 3: Pola Negri and Exoticism

CW: I will be referencing the Roma in this essay and the slur g*psy will pop up from historical sources.

In the first post of this series, I mentioned that modern critics draw a deeper connection between Vamps and bloodsucking vampires than existed in the teens. So, forgive me that this Vamps entry is going to focus on another trait often shared between Vamps and vampires: otherness. In the Bram Stoker tradition, the undead-other and the foreign-other coincide. Stoker didn’t invent the concept, but Dracula and its Eastern European evil infiltrating the west has informed most vampire stories since his novel was published.

Likewise, Vamps are often explicitly foreign or vaguely coded as such. Most often this foreignness is steeped in a stereotypical conception of the East. This East at the time was really anything east of Western Europe, from Slavs to East Asians. As you could probably surmise–it’s usually problematic and insulting. Although, since Vamps were an international phenomenon, this is by no means universal.

Enter Pola Negri.

Pola Negri was born Apolonia Chalupiec in Lipno (now Poland) in 1897 to a single mother. Her Slovak father was a resistance fighter sent to prison in Siberia when Negri was a small child. Now, according to Negri, her mother was from an impoverished line of Polish nobility and her father had “probably more than a touch of the bohemian gypsy in his blood.” This is probably made up. Negri averred these “biographical” details when building her image in America and reaffirmed them in her memoirs, published in 1970. It’s hard to put an exact date on when and where these fictions emerged in her life or in her career. I can speak from experience that Polish-Americans often love relating embellished tales of their ancestry, so this may have been Pola, the person, as much as it is Pola, the movie star. If it’s the latter, it would be very Pola. No one before or since has committed to a bit quite like her.

Pola started out as a successful ballet dancer in Warsaw and transitioned to acting after she fell ill with tuberculosis. She took on the name Negri after a favored Italian poet, Ada Negri. Pola found significant success on the Polish stage and she made the leap to the new medium of film in the presumed lost Slave of Sin / Niewolnica zmysłów (1914). (Yes, she did all that by 17.)

In Pola’s only surviving Polish film, The Polish Dancer / Bestia (1917), she’s an energetic young woman who stays out too late partying. After Pola flees her parents’ home, she becomes a cabaret dancer and manages to throw the lives of two men into chaos. So, Pola was cast in vampy roles from the very start. Bestia’s Vamp tale is a bit more sophisticated than a simple morality play though. Pola is a strong-willed and independent woman taking advantage of weaker men. But, Pola feels remorse. She’s a woman who carries trouble with her wherever she goes, but simply because she doesn’t hold with society’s standards and expectations for women. Whether or not Pola is the bestia (beast) referred to in the title is definitely up for debate. Pola is more a careless Vamp than a malicious one, as Theda Bara is in A Fool There Was (1914). This, of course, doesn’t save her characters from a tragic end. Pola’s Polish roles are very much akin to the types of vampy tragediennes Greta Garbo would soon stake her claim on in America.

Though Pola had played a few exotic roles in Poland, on stage and screen, it was moving to UFA in Germany that brought those roles in spades. Her success was middling in Germany until she met Ernst Lubitsch. I would liken the Negri-Lubitsch team up much like Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder. Lemmon and Negri are both quite good on their own, but pairing with Wilder and Lubitsch brought out the absolute best in the performers. For UFA, Pola’s vampy image began to crystalize and along with that came the exotic, ethnic bent. In films like Carmen (1918) and Sumurun (1920) she plays a Romani Vamp and and “Oriental” Vamp, respectively. These films distilled the image of Pola as an agent of havoc in weak-willed men’s lives that was introduced in some of her Polish films.

The embargo on German films to America was lifted in 1919, partly due to the huge popularity of Pola’s film Madame DuBarry (1919). Pola’s impact on the American movie market was instant and many of her German films were bought up for American distribution. After an unofficial endorsement from Charlie Chaplin, Pola was signed to a contract with Famous Players-Lasky (soon to be Paramount).

Despite Pola arriving hot on the scene, the studio struggled to build her image. Pola was a new quantity. She was Hollywood’s first explicitly foreign star. A lot of effort was put into assuaging the xenophobia of American movie fans, while also highlighting her exotic nature. (Yes. In 1921, Poles were exotic.) If you recall from the Theda Bara post, in the early days of the star system the performer’s star image tied directly into the roles they played. If Negri was going to play all these femmes fatales from “the East” they couldn’t couldn’t wholly whitewash her Slavic ancestry. She’s quoted as saying at the time:

“They do not understand me. I am a child of my race, a Slav. I have no the restraint of the Anglo-Saxon.”

Essentially, Hollywood worked out the kinks of developing foreign stars for the American market with Pola. Pola was out there paving the way for Garbo once again.

Of course, Pola’s American career wasn’t a complete mess. She still made popular films–notably blockbuster Hotel Imperial (1927), directed by Garbo’s first champion, Mauritz Stiller. Pola and Paramount struggled to manage her image regardless of box office successes. Finding the line between the dramatic emotionality of Pola’s characters and the dramatic emotionality of the actress herself was difficult. A series of missteps regarding her relationship with Rudolph Valentino and his untimely death and then her untimely marriage to an impoverished Russian prince put her in a tough spot. On top of all that, talking pictures were roaring into theaters and there was likely concern about Pola’s viability as a talkie star.

But, after her divorce from said prince, Pola faced the microphone and surprisingly it was her singing that revived her faltering career. With the success of the song “Paradise” from A Woman Commands (1932), Pola hopped back over to Europe where she resumed working for the studio that made her a star: UFA. If you know anything about Germany in the 1930s, you can probably predict that these years were complicated for Pola. Hitler was fond of her work, even though her Aryanness couldn’t be proven. Pola arranged to live in France while working for UFA, but it was an arrangement built to bust. In 1938, she returned to the US and chose semi-retirement from film. Pola was getting older and the Vamp archetype that was originally her bread and butter had gone stale. In the end, I feel that many of Pola’s Vamps are the branching off point for the femmes fatales we know and loves from films noir of the 1940s and 50s.

To me, it says so much about who Pola was that she was always so willing to walk away from film. She didn’t seem to have much invested in being a huge star. Not that there’s anything wrong with that drive, but it’s such a modern-seeming departure from how film stars were managed and presented by studios in early Hollywood. Pola’s star image may have been centered on her exoticism, but it’s her fierce independence that I find so compelling.

Learn How to Get the Look BELOW THE JUMP

The Costume

Number one most important thing with a Pola costume: do not dress up as a stereotypical representation of a Romani woman. Just don’t. There’s a lot more to pull from that isn’t insulting an entire ethnic group.

The Makeup

Pola’s trademark is her heavy lids. Carve out a distinct shape with your eyes and use a dark shade almost up to your eyebrows. Use colors by all means, especially a shade that might make your eyes look deeper. For me, that’s using another shade of green. For you, it might be a blue or brown or purple. Now Pola regularly sported a glossy eye, which absolutely adds to the heavy lid look. Glossy lids, regardless of which product you’re using, is not going to last long. If you’re going out in this costume, you might want to opt for a fine shimmer as I did. That way, you won’t have to worry about touch ups.

Pola’s eye makeup somehow looks both mournful and judgmental. She’s somehow always looking down her nose at you even if she’s looking out from under her eyebrows.

The eyebrows should be distinctly drawn in though not super thick and curved to match  Heavy lids, long curved eyebrows. Like Theda Bara, leave the blush behind. Pola also had a beauty mark under her left eye that she often drew in for high contrast. I drew one on using the same dark brown shade I used on my brows.

As for lips, go with a thin silhouette and focus more on a sharp shape than a soft pout. Pola often wears a gloss over her lipstick–likely almond oil or petroleum jelly.

The Hair

Pola most often stuck to curly or wavy bobs. In some films Pola leans more toward a lob, which is trendy today, so you very well might have the appropriate hair cut already! I think I would do a full wet set if I were to tackle this look again, but I think the curling wand did an okay job. How neat you want to make the waves or curls is totally dependent on which film you want to mimic. I was going for Die Bergkatze / The Wildcat (1920) so unruly was the way to go.

Of course, Pola was high-key into turbans and headscarves. So, that’s an option.

The Clothes

This is where Pola makes it easy on modern imitators. She has a great range of (non-appropriative) costumes to choose from. I tried to recreate her mountain-dwelling attire from The Wildcat. But if you go back and look at her dance costume from Bestia (seen above), she rocks a very modern-looking gothy look. So, I’d recommend checking out a few of her films (some of her work with Lubitsch is currently on Filmstruck *nudge* *nudge*) then look in your closet and make an adventure of it. And remember, nothing is too over the top for Pola.

Read Part Two