#highly controversial opinion

[brltpop]

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[iamumbra195]

Not really in the DC fandom and I don't really read many comics but I've been seeing some videos and posts making headcanons about the Al-Ghul family being Muslim and it pisses me off so much.

This interpretation is deeply rooted in Islamophobia and the ignorant notion that every Arab is a Muslim and therefore a "terrorist". The Al-Ghuls are not and have never been Muslims and any parts of the religion found in their characters are likely due to the fact that Arab culture has a lot of aspects of Islam mixed into it and because again, people think that being Arab and being Muslim are the same thing and a lot of the comic writers are white Americans who commonly have this misconception about Arabs.

I'm not going to go into the specifics of everything because 1) I don't know all that much about canon and 2) this is a little hard to explain but I will give several examples that pretty much disprove that headcannon because The Al-Ghuls do things that are considered major sins in Islam on the daily.

Ra's runs an assassin league/cult and despite what many people think killing people is a major sin in Islam except in very specific scenarios where it may be excused like in self-defence or in war. And what the Al-Ghuls do? That isn't excusable in any way.

Ra's' name in and of itself is proof. His name means the Demon Head and I promise you a proper practicing Muslim would not call themself that or commit the atrocities he has on innocent people. I don't know if this is true but I saw on the wiki that apparently a character named Gerhardt asked him if he was a man or a fiend from hell and Ra's, said that he was both and neither and that he was "Ra's al-Ghul". A Muslim would not associate themself with Hell, a place where evildoers are punished in the afterlife.

Talia committed zina (fornication), yet another major sin, and wears extremely revealing clothing despite the fact that modesty is an integral part of the religion.

The Al-Ghuls drink wine, eat pork and apparently Damian was often fed ox blood soup as a child despite the fact that all these things are explicitly forbidden for Muslims to consume in verses of the Quran. (To clarify a bit, in case you're confused about the ox blood soup, Muslims are forbidden from consuming animal blood because it is considered filthy and harmful, much like pork and wine.)

Not to mention the whole thing about Ra's nearly being 500 years old and the Lazarus Pits apparently reviving him every time he dies... but that's a whole can of worms I don't know enough about to open

So yeah, the headcanon that the Al-Ghuls are Muslims perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Islam as a whole. There probably is more to be said about this topic but unfortunately, I haven't read many comics and have only watched a few of the DC animated movies so I can't say much more.

Feel free to correct me if I've said something incorrect or missed something important.

[kangals]

Tiger swallowtail butterfly, my best friend tiger swallowtail butterfly

[god-of-knk]

I'm feeling spicy today.

My hottest take is that no one is ever obliged to give a trigger warning for anything in any context ever.*

Trigger warnings are a nicety. A kindness. They are not required, they never have been. Filmmakers shouldn't get flack for not including a trigger warning in their film. Writers shouldn't get flack for not including a trigger warning in their book. I don't care what the trigger is, how serious it is.

If you need a trigger warning, I don't blame you. But there are sites for that. Places you can go to find those warnings. Does the Dog Die is a phenomenal site that's very thorough in its warnings. Common Sense Media is not trigger warning specific, but is good for general themes. Unconsenting Media is sexual violence specific. There's even a Tumblr blog dedicated to them (though it is currently dead, if there's a new one feel free to tell me lol).

*There is one single context where I will say they're required: When in a private space that has established rules about using trigger warnings. In that case, you have accepted that you need to use them and you should respect that.

**Wonderful addition from penpal: POSSIBLE SEIZURE TRIGGERS SHOULD ALSO ALWAYS BE TAGGED! That's literally a possible life or death situation and should ALWAYS be taken seriously.

[ravenkings]

tbh one of the issues i have with the whole idea of like censoring ~scawwy~ content for kids or trying to protect them from it, especially as someone who was scared of literally everything as a child, is that kids' fears all tend to be so specific, esoteric, and idiosyncratic that i think in many ways it's EXTREMELY difficult to know what is going to scare a child (not to mention the fact that many of those fears and phobias are ones they will eventually grow out of.)

like........... some of the things i was "scared" of as a child include: a specific scene in the sound of music (that did NOT involve nazis btw), a teddy bear my dad got me that made a weird sound if you turned it upside down, clowns (but not even just clowns in the flesh like for a lot of people. i mean EVEN THE MOST VAGUE REPRESENTATION OF A CLOWN like, for instance, a christmas ornament my parents had or like the illustration on a box of colored straws i saw in the supermarket once) as well as MULTIPLE animated disney movies.

the point i'm trying to make is that life is, more often than not, scary and uncomfortable, and beyond even the unfeasibility of trying to protect a child from all the things that could possibly scare them, i actually think you're doing them a HUGE disservice by not allowing them the chance to work through some of their own fears and anxieties in a supportive environment, since knowing how to deal with these things is necessary for being a fully functional adult.

[alter-koker]

Du you like north by northwest??? I saw it on new years 2015 and I was so snooze zzzzz snooze zzzz but then again my pallet for older movies wasn’t really developed yet so maybe it is good.

i watched it last year and id already seen most hitchcock movies by that point so i can affirm, snooze.

[tangledstarlight]

anyway i gotta know

[crplpunkklavier]

anon is back on btw

[mimidotcom]

Orange juice > apple juice

[chussyracing]

I think some people are criticizing it because he's only able to release his song on spotify because of his privilege, like most people just have hobbies, but since he is privileged and rich, he can release his song (his hobbie) on spotify. but honestly, this feels a little fake woke to me djdjsjakand like you're a fan of f1 drivers, their whole life is full of privilege, some of them wouldn't even have seats if it wasn't for the privilege and connections. but you're drawing the line at the piano song??

wait really? wait till people learn he's a young white man living in monaco, his job creates horrible carbon footprint and plays games on his computer in the free time as well as invests into fashion that's bot affordable to normal wage range people.

[pynkhues]

Hey Sophie, I've never seen a Wes Anderson movie! Any suggestions on what to start with?

Hey! Oooo, yeah, I think I'd say to start either with Fantastic Mr. Fox or The Royal Tenenbaums?

The latter was my entry point to Wes Anderson and is definitely the one of his I've rewatched the most. The cast is amazing, but I think it encapsulates a lot of what I love about his work at its purest which is stylisation and comedy for the sake of emphasising genuinely human moments, and emotional truths that just rip a hole in you. If I was to ever make a list of my top fifty movies, I think The Royal Tenanbaums would be on it (Ben Stiller's line deliver of I've had a rough year, dad is genuinely iconic to me).

Fantastic Mr. Fox I think though is just both good and pretty accessible? His style of writing/direction/filmmaking lends itself well to stop motion, and he's a bit of a dream match for Roald Dahl adaptations tbh. It's a great movie and a great story anyway, and particularly if you feel inclined / know you like animation, I think Fantastic Mr. Fox is a very good place to start.

[creative-person-1944]

Abortions and Birth Control

Where to start with this?

Firstly, men who say "Women who were irresponsible enough to be pregnant need to take responsibility." are idiots. A man helps to create a baby too. By that logic, a man should take responsibility for a baby too. If a woman is forced to raise a child that she doesn't want, then a man shouldn't be allowed to leave her while she's pregnant. And the quote "Women who were irresponsible enough to be pregnant need to take responsibility." doesn't even begin to touch on the topic of women who were raped, women who's partners slipped the condom out halfway through, women who's birth control failed. What if a woman's life is at risk with the pregnancy? Women have a heartbeat too. And people who say that women can just get their tubes tied are big fat uneducated morons.

Women have had experiences when they went to have their tube tied where their healthcare provider would ask things like "Oh, but what about your husband?" "Are you married?" "What if your husband wants kids?" "What if you regret it?" and are told things like "You're too young." "You'll regret it.". There are so many obstacles standing in the way of women trying to get their tubes tied compared to men getting a vasectomy. When women get their tubes tied, there are also hormonal side effects. When men get a vasectomy, there's NO hormonal side effects. But the hormones side of things is just basic biology, there's no arguing that. But, for whatever reason, birth control is pushed onto women. It only takes 24 hours to recover from a vasectomy whereas it takes 1 - 3 weeks to recover from getting your tubes tied. And yet, men will refuse vasectomies but pressure women to get their tubes tied or get a hysterectomy. And if a woman is pregnant, people only care while the baby is in her womb.

People don't care about the baby once a woman gives birth. A prime example of this is how pro lifers push for abortions to be banned because "A fetus is a human." And "Abortions are murder.". Like, bitch, a fetus is a ball of cells. They don't even have pain receptors until the fourth month of pregnancy. And how are abortions murder? And you only care about the baby while it's in the womb. Once it's out, you don't give a shit. If all lives matter, what about the black lives? What about the thousands of kids in foster care who are being raped and abused daily? No one bats an eye. If you really think all lives matter, then you should also help kids in foster care and homeless people. What about the people who can't afford a hospital or treatment for something such as cancer? What about them?

My opinion is: Abortions should be made widely accessible to women. It should be a woman's choice if she gets an abortion or not. She should not be denied basic healthcare.

What's your take on this? Do you think that they're murder? Do you think women should be allowed abortions? I want to know what you think. Tell me in the comments.

[clvrdvl]

ok this is my monster high oc so far: named Carrie-Anne Ghoulson she's literally a corpse eating ghoul lol her fashion style is sorta streatwear with feminine touches, signature color light purple, like lilac, and her pet would be either a hyena or a vulture. she wants to be a fashion blogger and makes videos on BooTube talking about costumes in movies, tv, fashion advice and opinons, etc. 😊💀💄

[broke-on-books]

 I WENT ONTO TUMBLR DESKTOP FOR A SPECIFIC REASON LMAO AND I GOT DISTRACTED AND CLOSED THE TAB WITHOUT DOING IT 3 SKULL EMOJIS

[mybrainproblems]

okay but you don't understaaaaaaaand. maul was so anticlimactic in phantom menace and it felt so fucking ridiculous to bring him back in the clone wars tv series and then he ends up being a genuine threat and sympathetic villain. he's the only one who actually knows what's up with the plot and just skdhjskgshakakjejwj

brilliant brilliant brilliant. i have never been so thrilled by them bringing back a dead character and it just seemed so stupid at first and then the writing and sam witwer's acting? oh my god.

two characters who have absolutely defined the franchise: darth maul and ahsoka tano, and i will hear no disagreement.

also holy balls props to matt lanter for making anakin a likeable and complex character who you actually believed had emotions.

[thebookwormdaydreamer]

Currently reading Mary Olivier: A Life. I genuinely think that it’s such a shame May Sinclair is a forgotten author because she’s the one who first coined the term stream-of-consciousness and what I’ve read of her, I just loved.

I first read The Life and Death of Harriet Frean which I highly recommend because it’s short and follows a woman from birth till death. She’s a conventional woman who lived adhering to societal norms and her parents’ expectations, never managing to break free and find happiness.

Mary Olivier: A Life follows Mary Olivier from birth to middle age. The prose is excellent as you can feel the writing style change from when Mary is a baby to when she’s an adult. I’m not done with it yet but I love the way it explores mother-daughter relationships. Like imagine living with a Victorian boymom.

Both books are also free on Project Gutenberg.