#or the theory is low key racist

[confessionsofanarcheologist]

Something I’ve noticed about archeology in America is that the companies where I am at seem so desperate for workers.

You don’t even have to be qualified, they will train you. Even if you lie and say you’re qualified to do analysis sometimes they won’t check to ensure you are. It’s terrifying.

We only get one chance to record everything properly. Let’s get it done right. Hired qualified people please.

People are qualified through education, experience, or both.

[gigigazelleloves]

Ok now that I've had time to process the first episode and read some post-episode 1 articles, I have some theories about where the storyline is going for each character in season 8a.

Athena

I have a strong feeling that we're going to have a lot of Athena focus this season. I think it's going to contrast the heavy Bobby focus we got last season. I feel like this trial is going to not be just for the 3-parter premier but instead for the entire part of season 8a. We also have the great B plot of Bathena house hunting and seeing in this first episode how they have different tastes, I have a feeling we'll have some lighthearted moments for Bathena this whole season.

Bobby

Bobby is totally going to return as Gerrard might have kicked the bucket or gotten permanently injured. But I also have a feeling we will be seeing more of the "hotshots" actors appearing at Bathena's doorstep because Bobby can't help but adopt strays. I feel like Bobby is also going to feel some guilt about the whole fiasco that happened last season such as leaving the firehouse and also dealing with his house burning down as I feel like those things have still not been emotionally resolved. Overall though hoping that Bobby has a more lighthearted season.

Chim (and Maddie)

I know that everyone is manifesting that Chim and Maddie are going to decide to have another child but I have a feeling that Chim and Maddie might be forced to adopt Mara as I feel like something wonky is going to happen with Henren's trial. However I have a feeling they are not going to be a main focus until season 8b.

Hen (and Karen)

Basically the same thing I said for Chim and Maddie and that this who Mara and Councilwoman Ortiz. I also feel like that storyline will also transfer over into season 8b.

Buck (and Tommy)

Buck and Tommy is where I feel like we'll see the main plot come in for season 8a. From interviews Oliver has stated that Tommy and Buck are in the honeymoon of their new found relationship. But Oliver has stated that there are some uncomfortable truths they're going to have to face. I think from what he said it could be one of three things (realistically). 1. Tommy's racist past, as Chim is Buck's brother-in-law and Buck is going to maybe struggle to wrap his head around Tommy's past actions 2. It's going to be related to Tommy's father who if is anything like Gerrard is going to cause some havoc in the relationship directly or indirectly. I also think there could be a lot of insecurity with Buck feeling like Tommy is hiding things from him in the relationship which has happened before in his past relationships. 3. I think that Buck will have panic that he's doing something wrong and do a full Buck and avoid Tommy until he talks to someone about it (hopefully someone who is apart of the community like Hen or Josh). I feel like this could address the issue of maybe Buck feeling like he's late to the party when it comes to discovering his sexuality. I feel like it can also resolve the issue Buck has had when it comes to his relationship issues. I think overall this arc can show him becoming more comfortable and confident with his sexuality, solve his past relationship issues, and maybe establish him and Tommy as a solid couple.

Eddie (and Christopher)

All in going to say is I think Eddie is either going to find himself inside of a confession room or inside a therapy room. I hope they don't give him a new love interest as that would low key ruin his arc, I just want to see him become more secure with himself. I have my doubts though about him getting Chris back before the end of season 8a, but there is a slim chance it could happen. I just need him to figure himself out before he gets his kid back. I hope we see more Chris though in season 9, cause I doubt we will this season.

Overall I'm excited for all these arcs but honestly I'll be happy if there's just more Bathena 😝

[darkfire359]

Edward Teach and the Myth of the Perfect Victim

After writing my previous post, I realized that a bunch of the stuff I said applies to Ed too.

In particular, I saw a lot of takes (before many of the S2 spoilers started coming out) that said things like "Ed is not going to be uncontrollably angry and violent in the way some fans have theorized about" or "the theory that Ed will go off the rails and Izzy will be terrified of him is racist." I saw other takes that insisted on things like "Ed knows his limits (for drinking) and can handle the consequences of his actions." Basically, a lot of other Ed fans seemed to insist that S2 Ed would be behaving fairly reasonably, without being crazily violent and unhinged and self-destructive.

And I was kind of worried about these Ed fans. Because to me, it seemed like we totally were going to get a very off-the-rails Ed in S2... which, given the clip today and the reviews that got released, seems extremely likely. And if some of these people were insisting that portrayals of Ed like that were awful and unsupportable by them...

Well, the reality is that sometimes, your fav turns out to be the bad guy, at least situationally. And this is okay! Characters don't need to be morally pure for you to love them. They can have messy trauma responses and unhealthy habits, and they can just overall set a bad example for everyone. You can like them without endorsing their actions.

Ed is still traumatized by his childhood and crumbling under the expectations of people around him. He's still heartbroken, devastated, and low-key (or maybe high-key) suicidal. We'll probably still see him cry, and we'll certainly still see him feeling like an unlovable monster.

He still deserves sympathy for all that. Ed is clearly going to end up hurting Izzy and probably many other members of his crew, and that suffering is real and painful—but so is Ed's. You don't have to excuse Ed's actions to acknowledge that and feel for him. As someone who has previously celebrated Ed's moral grayness, I say that Edward Teach still deserves a hug!

[thisisyourprincipalspeaking]

I low key don’t want this to end. Don’t get me wrong but it allows to know how low he can go for racist people and it would show for those who are still fan of him the true character of him. I feel so sorry for the black women and plus size people who still keep a hope on him but behind the curtains he is probably talking shit about them like alba like Scott and company do. And is not that hard to believe or being a “theory”, he has shown where and who he likes to hag out with, and why he stopped playing certain character in the public and chose to reveal himself. I definitely don’t have that faith on him and would do better. This is who he is and people are going crazy because can’t accept it.

i do want this to end for the sake of those fans who are left and still enjoy his content. she and her friends are disgusting and put a real damper on anything to do with him, especially when mods turn everything on this site into being about her.

i do feel bad for his fans who his now wife and her friends have made fun of so often. he has seemingly rubber stamped those thoughts, feelings, 'jokes' by marrying her and that i think is the saddest part. he let down many people who supported him for years.

[gaywatch]

I'm a little hopeful

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-rev2&sca_esv=7f167d0aab507d88&sxsrf=ADLYWIIIRhzybBMuAdKtY7snH4RokBfkqg:1730792238584&q=selzer+polling&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjO-L3E18SJAxXIEFkFHY1rK6wQBSgAegQICRAB&biw=412&bih=726&dpr=2.63

I definitely have good reasons for cautious optimism, including the Iowa poll, but like everyone else who experienced 2016 up close polls will always be the very last thing we put any stock in. The good news is that in every major election since you can't escape the idea of not letting any polls lull you into complacency, which is another reason I'm cautiously optimistic. You could tell Democrats that Harris is winning by ten points in all fifty states and we'd still be like 'NO COMPLACENCY GO VOTE.' We got absolutely bitchslapped out of the idea that anything is a foregone conclusion, and anything that results in more engagement is a win for us.

Other reasons I'm cautiously optimistic:

-Record voter turnout in Texas. Not because I think Texas will flip this year (if it ever does I'll cry, it's my home state) but because any news of record voter turnout, especially after 2020 raised the bar, is a good sign.

-Donald has never won the popular vote, and repeating the run of swing state wins he pulled off to take the electoral college in 2016 would be extremely difficult (and partially dependent on low voter turnout).

-In 2016 Donald ran in opposition to a two term president, and neither party has won the White House three elections in a row in 74 years. That's not the case in this election.

-Yes, the idea that 'we couldn't even get a white woman into office, why would we think a woman of color was possible' holds some merit thanks to the double-barrel of sexism and racism. However, when times get this dire the odds of dramatic leaps forward aren't as low as you think. If anything it encourages them, imo.

-Donald has a choke hold on his base, but he hasn't exactly been winning new people over by leaps and bounds or wooing Democrats to his side. Each side is pretty galvanized, and we outnumber them.

-Meanwhile, the energy and excitement around Harris is visible, palpable, and shocked out of complacency. That's why attempts to discourage voting have been so aggressive--when we vote, we go blue, and overall turnout jumped like eight points from 2016 to 2020.

-Biden ran a very good campaign in 2020, they got the job done in a huge way and all of that support has been thrown behind Harris and then some.

-Certain key groups and figures have made their support for Harris known. Palestinians, Bernie Sanders (who still carries a lot of progressive sway), etc have all come out in support of Harris, which will speak to a lot of hesitant voters.

-To be honest--and yes I'm knocking on wood before and after I type this--the energy around Harris reminds me of the energy around Obama in '08 way more than the energy around Clinton in '16 or even Biden in '20. Do not forget the overwhelming shift Democrats felt the second Biden dropped out. That shit was magical.

-Donald's camp was dumb and racist enough to piss off Puerto Ricans mere days before the election which is like...lol.

-The pro-choice movement is no fucking joke.

And as a general reminder: A ton of very professional people are gonna talk about how close this race is all day today, and that's gonna be anxiety inducing. But it's all conjecture based on polling. It's all because they need something to talk about to fill the hours. It's all theory. The truth is nobody knows much of anything until the results come in. The phrase of the day is 'turnout, not polling.'

Turnout. Not polling.

[delta-queerdrant]

how do you solve a problem like Chakotay? (Tattoo, s2 e9)

I have been away from this space for a number of boring reasons (including, to be transparent, cheating on Janeway with my space cop boyfriend Odo. Why do the good girls go for the lawful neutral boys?)

But also, Tattoo! Yikes on bikes! When I first realized I’d be reviewing this episode, I felt a powerful impulse to back away slowly, as if from wasps. My aversion came from a place of contempt for this episode, probably the low point of the imaginative failure that is Chakotay. At the same time, I was not sure what to do with my anger. It’s easy for white people to become a little too enamored with our own hot takes; I am ill-equipped to speak to the impact of a narrative that’s racist, anti-Indigenous storytelling all the way down.

I imagined I’d compile a reading list by Indigenous writers who could talk with authority about “Tattoo.” The reading list has become a comfortable rhetorical move for white cultural critics, a stay in our lane impulse. A reading list attempts to re-center marginalized voices, though it’s rarely a call to action (unless that action is read books). In this case, the reading list was elusive. I couldn’t find much non-paywalled content discussing this episode at length, with the exception of this illuminating review by comics artist Rob Schmidt. 

What does it mean to do low stakes cultural criticism on Tumblr dot com? If this is a quiet space for playful self-reflection about my Television Feelings, then I think we can agree that nobody particularly needs my thoughts on the impact of “Tattoo,” or the Kazon, or any of the other ill-conceived ways that Star Trek has handled race. I will continue to get mad about these artistic choices, but my anger is not load-bearing. You can’t build anything with it.

The best I can probably do here, and throughout these reviews, is to excavate the contours of my own relationship with science fiction. I think white people have quite a lot we need to say about whiteness, and our penchant for racist science fiction, and how we could perhaps redirect our creative impulses elsewhere. 

To summarize the episode - Chakotay visits a Delta Quadrant moon and recognizes a symbol that reminds him of a childhood visit to his people’s ancestral home on Earth. As a young man, nonconformist Chakotay wasn’t much interested in his ancestors’ traditional lifeways, and even now, he’s agnostic about some of their religious beliefs. Nearby, a planet has flora and fauna similar to the Earth rainforest Chakotay remembers visiting. When he’s separated from the away team, he encounters aliens who can “control the elements of nature” and seem to share his tribe’s culture.

In a block of decidedly clunky exposition, we learn that these aliens visited hunter-gatherers on Earth millennia ago. The early humans are described as having “no spoken language, no culture, except the use of fire and stone weapons.” Okay then! The aliens gave them “an inheritance, a genetic bonding so they might thrive and protect your world.” The genes motivated the hunter gatherers to travel to the Americas, where they passed down memories of the aliens, who became key figures in Chakotay’s people’s religion. Chakotay now understands himself, his father, and the aliens as people called to “honor the land” and defend it.

(Meanwhile, the Doctor programs himself to experience a respiratory illness and proceeds to have what I believe is known in the vernacular as a “man-flu.” It’s very silly.)

If “Tattoo” was well received, I think it was because of the emotional heft of this episode, which figures Chakotay as the diaspora kid who rediscovers his roots and connects with his father’s memory. I would have liked an episode that fully explored what it means to be Indigenous and diasporic, and how Chakotay’s identity informed his decision to join the Maquis.

This is not really the episode we got. Instead “Tattoo,” in the vein of white supremacist conspiracy theory tome Chariot of the Gods, imagines that Indigenous people are magical space boys whose religion and culture are gifts from aliens. Now, Captain Planet-like, they have been tasked to protect their homelands, conveniently letting the rest of us off the hook. 

“Tattoo” erases the truth and specificity of Indigenous cultures and origins—of people who were and are energized by their own intelligence and agency, and who have actively maintained specific and rooted ways of being in the world despite 500 years of material and cultural genocide. It doesn’t help that the prehistory depicted in the episode is utterly confused. The ancestors described in this episode are apparently early humans, long before the migration into the Americas, but the timeline is so muddled that the episode resolves into a narrative of “Indigenous people require alien intervention in order to have a culture.”

I think “Tattoo” is really a white fantasy, because white people would like nothing better than to be magical racialized space boys. To be chosen, to be connected at once to a homeland and a cosmic other, satisfies a hunger born of our collective imaginations. White people don’t really care who built our sacred sites, if our culture heroes are exploded in favor of New Age nonsense, because our legitimacy as people with a history and a destiny is nevertheless secure. (Though there are probably limits to our popular embrace of the New Age - I can’t imagine a Star Trek where Jesus is the one receiving genetic messages from aliens.)

To complicate my analysis, I'll note that a white Jewish author wrote the teleplay for “Tattoo,” and in the episode’s Wikipedia page, Robert Beltran says “Tattoo” resonated with his experience of feeling disconnected from his Latino heritage. There is a story about diaspora here, however clumsily executed. As a person of Jewish ancestry, I’m not surprised that creators from diaspora communities turn to speculative fiction to recreate lost pasts for marginalized characters. It’s easy to lose your history, and this loss is compounded in a world where whiteness swallows difference.

Star Trek has always had a race problem. In my twenties, I began to learn about the antecedents of the science fiction and fantasy genres - adventure fiction and Westerns, genres steeped in ideologies of Rule Britannia and manifest destiny. If Star Trek was originally pitched as “Wagon Train to the Stars,” then perhaps the aliens have always been “Indians.” But Star Trek also has a progressive streak that has lent itself to diverse casting. What does it mean when the same universe contains allegories for minorities and real-world minorities?

I have to admit I'm a sucker for a good science fiction allegory. As a kid from a mixed-faith background, I loved watching Worf negotiate his Klingon ancestry and human upbringing. (I only realized as an adult that the Rozhenkos are Jewish coded!) I'm not saying that Worf is great or perfect representation of multicultural identity, but there is something about allegory that can powerfully voice our lived experiences. (The trans allegory in the recent Nimona film adaptation is an exceptional example of this.)

As best as I can tell, the trick to writing fictional "races" and real racialized characters is one and the same - handling the cultures you're depicting with care, eschewing biased stereotypes in favor of nuanced, complex, informed worldbuilding. The showrunners of Voyager did not exercise care.

I want a Star Trek in which the characters feel rooted in real cultures, whether they’re alien or human. I want Harry Kim to have a cultural identity, and I want Chakotay to belong to a real-world Indigenous community. If science fiction is about curiosity, then I want white writers and showrunners who are genuinely curious about the stories they don’t have the expertise to tell—and who are willing to give space to those who do.

1/5 prize Vulcan orchids.

[pynkhues]

In response to the post on ship popularity, as a devils minion fan who isn’t into a lot of the fandom takes and fanfic (not hating, it’s just not for me) I 100% agree these characters are constantly being defanged. The irony, for me, is the reason I like DM in the first place is the horror. It’s messy and problematic and, when all of that is leaned into, it’s so much fun. Armand is so engaging in the 70s flashback because he’s simultaneously incredibly powerful and incredibly insecure and he is very much making it everyone’s problem (but mostly Daniel’s haha). It’s just not as effective if he isn’t actually threatening when torturing this rando over whether or not he’s boring.

I think sometimes it’s hard for fandom to balance the idea that a character can be both a victim and an abuser across different relationships. Which is rough for this show because that’s at least half the characters lol.

I also have a private theory that Louis ships are just not super popular for some reason which kills me because I also love Loumand (extra toxic edition where everyone makes each other miserable but no one will ever leave) and DanLou (or whatever the ship name is), both past and present, because it’s entertaining as hell and low key kind of chill relative to other dynamics? Like it’s not a great big love affair or anything but they get each other, you know? Like it’s the same weird brand of humor.

(x)

I totally agree with you on all counts, especially the horror elements of Armand and Daniel being what makes them so appealing, haha.

And yeah, I mean, @hypermania actually touched on it in her reblog of my post, but I agree with her take that there's a racist sentiment in fandom that Blackness is harder for fan creators to ignore in both writing fic and meta than other races are (I mean, god, look at a cultural juggernaut like Bridgerton where there is almost five times as many Anthony x Kate fics as there are Daphne x Simon - - I think there are other elements at play there too [like, I've written Anthony x Kate, but probably wouldn't ever write Daphne x Simon], but the sheer difference in quantity especially given Daphne x Simon's initial popularity is....telling to me). I think that contributes to (white) people feeling Armand's easier to write (or even that they have more quote-unquote 'permission' to write him in whatever way they want to).

[gaykarstaagforever]

...Who the hell would the soft-conservative Democrats who control the party even replace Biden with, assuming they want to? What nationally-known "slightly left of center" political personality do they even have that doesn't immediately piss off at least half the country? I'll wait for someone to name one.

Trump appeals to bored independents if only because he's loud and is as stupid and angry about everything as many Americans are. He has enough draw to squeeze out at least an Electoral College victory.

Who do the Democrats have? Hillary Clinton? Kamala Harris? AOC? Biden's only strength was how inoffensive he was. Everyone else on that list draws ire, even if it's racist stupid ire based on conspiracy theories.

And name a Democrat governor or senator anyone would give a shit about, who hasn't alienated half of their own party with blanket support for Israel or being in favor of social media bans. Again, Biden has enough problems with this, but he is also very low-key about it so people can justify overlooking it.

Democrats would need a big personality with mass appeal for a hail-mary like this, like The Rock or Tom Hanks or Taylor Swift. And then whoever might agree knows they're going up against a screaming toddler who controls the judiciary. This is why no one substantial stepped up to take the job besides Sleepy Uncle Joe in the first place.

Joe sucks and he is literally the BEST candidate they have. It's a pretty hopeless situation.

[considerourknowledge]

GOP Celebrates Juneteenth by Not Recognizing Juneteenth

Americans have been celebrating Juneteenth this weekend, the third year since the holiday was given federal status by President Biden in 2021. The date commemorates the fall of slavery in Galveston, Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863 to free enslaved Black people held in the Confederacy. Major Republican leaders have been spending the past few days saying little to nothing about the holiday, including presidential candidates, Donald “Good People on Both Sides” Trump and Ron “No Critical Race Theory” DeSantis. Both men said nothing about the holiday in appearances or on social media, and instead focused on pandering to their white supremacist followers with their white grievance politics. The low-key approach to Juneteenth may reflect the fact that the holiday is somewhat controversial for the racists that now dominate the GOP voting bloc.

[hasufin]

Reconstruction

So apparently both likely republican candidates have - in likely a feat of pathetic dick-waving - vowed to end birthright citizenship in the USA.

Now.

Let’s be clear: this is a profoundly anti-immigrant stance. It’s a racist stance. And given that the USA is, in actual fact, a nation of immigrants, it’s a deeply anti-American stance.

If it were to go into effect - somehow - it would be absolutely catastrophic. That the USA does not have eternal migrant populations, generations of people born without a state, is one of our greatest strengths. It doesn’t happen fast enough for the racists, but everyone who comes to America becomes part of the country eventually. And no, I’m not offended that I might encounter someone who doesn’t speak English.

In practical effect, since the POTUS does not have the power to end birthright citizenship, it will be to make the country still more hostile to immigrants, legal and not. It will have a chilling effect on the tech industry which relies heavily on H1-b immigration (this is an issue on which I have mixed feelings: I have no problem at all with people who seek higher education and come here to get a better life; I loathe the companies who abuse this system to have a source of indentured servants; I abhor that we maintain the fiction we cannot fulfill these needs domestically but also do not want to keep this apparently irreplaceable talent. But I digress.)

Yet, I want to look briefly at why the POTUS cannot end birthright citizenship: it’s enshrined in the US Constitution.Which in theory means that not only is it impossible for the POTUS to end, it’s functionally impossible for Congress to do so;that would require a Constitutional Amendment, and the current political environment renders that, well, impossible.

And we should look at the text and context of the amendment. First, the text, being section 1 of the 14th amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Now, this is a Very Big Deal, as it’s one of the parts which guarantees due process, among other little things. It’s also one which assured black people have citizenship; it overrides the “grandfather clause” loophole some states were using (if you’re not familiar, this meant that if your grandfather was a citizen, you were a citizen or could vote, or some other privilege, without having to undergo onerous and often impossible tests. And it meant that former slaves weren’t simply “not slaves” but citizens.

So, undermining the 14th amendment would in fact be an important step in bringing back slavery - which, yes, the rightwing (and extremist libertarians) do low-key want. You know... “states rights”. And it would be an important step to strip citizenship from large swathes of the population.

But they can’t repeal it, right?

The thing about laws is, they’re just things people say. And they just have a meaning we agree on. And  they’re only important insofar as people care to follow and enforce them.

In this case, they like to use a novel (okay, batshit fucking insane) “interpretation” of “subject to the jurisdiction thereof, “ which it that only applies to people who are in the USA legally as permanent residents. So an asylum seeker, an illegal resident, someone on a visa.. they’re not, nor are their children. This is, as I’ve said, a completely ridiculous argument, but it’s one they’re making. It could also, in theory, be extended to anyone who is the child of someone like that, going back a long ways - in other words, since most black people in the USA are descended from slaves, they might be stripped of citizenship. Anyone descended from someone who didn’t get the right papers signed when they entered the USA (or, you know, lost those papers or had them destroyed) could face loss of citizenship. Granted, this will only happen if that person faces sufficient official scrutiny. You know, like if someone should be protesting or organizing.

Would the current SCOTUS endorse this theory? Well, one would think they would not - it’s destructive even to republicans - but Clarence Thomas is bought and paid for, and the rest of the republicans on the SCOTUS have not shown much of a relationship with ethics or concern for the country. So... yeah.

Is this alarmist? Maybe. But... gonna be honest, I don’t think so. This is American fascists trying to sculpt our country into a dystopia of their choosing.

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Red Scorpion (Zito, 1988)

This is probably most notable for being produced by right wing lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, with funding from a think tank run by the South African apartheid government. So obviously this is gonna have some pretty bad politics, and in depicting the Angolan Civil War, it conveniently leaves out the fact that the anticommunist rebels are backed by the apartheid regime. This probably makes it more palatable to watch now and may have made it less offensive as propaganda back in the day, but is also kind of a pussy ass move when it comes down to it. You can compare this to The Wild Geese, which was also produced in South Africa under the apartheid regime, and that movie at least owns up to having no morals, outside of one bizarre scene in which an inveterate racist is cured of his hatred. (It's a guilty pleasure, please don't judge. Hilariously, both actors in the aforementioned scene took their roles because they expected a serious message movie about conflict in the African continent.)

The movie's staunch anticommunist viewpoint is conveyed not just through Soviet atrocities committed against the rebels, but foregrounded by the reporter played by M. Emmet Walsh. Now, if I were an American journalist imprisoned while reporting from behind enemy lines, I would likely not call my captors a bunch of Commie pigs right to their faces. I would also likely not go up to the guy in the corner of the cell who was twice my size and call him a piece of shit with zero provocation. One can admire in theory that he has the courage of his convictions, but one would also find it hard to believe that a character this incapable of keeping his yap shut managed to survive this long in a war zone. Of course, Walsh is always fun to watch, even if he rattles off his lines at a rate that suggests he was trying to wrap up filming ahead of schedule. He provides the bulk of comic relief: examples include his attempt to spread American values to Angola by blasting Little Richard during a truck chase, and the bemused reaction that meets one of his many tirades. "He is a very emotional man."

That line is delivered in perfect deadpan by Dolph Lundgren, who plays a Rambo-like Spetznaz officer who defects to the rebels out of the goodness of his heart. The movie takes a good deal of inspiration from the Rambo series, particularly the early jail and truck chase scenes pulled from First Blood, but I think the movie makes a good case for Lundgren's particular brand of low key charisma. While cast for his He-Man stature, Lundgren manages to convey some level of vulnerability and uncertainty, and often relies on the help of his allies. So there is a level of challenge for him in the proceedings, meaning that this works better as an action movie than earlier Joseph Zito efforts like Missing in Action, where Chuck Norris sneaks up without cover on Viet Cong who never bother to turn their heads, and Invasion U.S.A., with its endless scenes of innocent civilians being gunned down and Norris blowing away hordes of Cuban invaders with ease. While both stars are low key, you can see how Lundgren invites some empathy while Norris remains completely wooden in these films. And while Lundgren's physique brings to mind certain other stars from the decade, he one ups them in one respect. Arnie and Sly usually showed off only their torsos. Dolph wears cutoffs, baring his well sculpted gams for the entire third act.

This also has the kind of clean, sturdy action that seemed so common in the '80s but is much rarer now, and benefits from the appealingly harsh African desert milieu. And the cinematography by Joao Fernandes finds moments of unexpected artfulness, like the abstracted searchlight of a helicopter scanning sand dunes in pitch black night, or the shot of an incoming helicopter framed through a burning bush, or the messianic encirclement of Lundgren's character as he returns to the rebels for the climax.

[sofakinghillarous]

I really need to share my horrendous dating story:

I'd been talking to this guy for about a week or so and we were getting on incredible well so, we decided to meet up. When we met it was really nice and we were playing some arcade games and then went onto play some pool. Everything was lovely and we met up a couple of times after which went really well and I was enjoying getting to know him. One night we were chatting on the phone.

Now to note this guy was Vegan, i am not Vegan, which I have no issue with but is key to the story.

So we started talking about conspiracy theories and laughing about how silly some of them are when he said he wouldn't let his daughter alone in a restroom with a trans person. I asked him why and he said that he didn't know what they would do to his daughter. (Not agreeing with his point here but was interested as to what his argument would be) I then asked if he would let his daughter alone in the bathroom with a man and he said no.

I thought this would be a good idea to bring up the man vs bear argument and ask if he would rather his daughter be alone in a woods with a man or with a bear and he said a man as a bear would kill her. I argued that the man could do alot worse to his daughter and still kill her than a bear and he completely disagreed and still picked the bear.

I said that he was contradicting himself as he wouldn't let his daughter alone in the bathroom with a man then why is the woods any different. He argued that it was a small percentage of men who were like that whereas it was a high percentage of bears so she would more likely get attack by the bear.

I then tried to explain to him that it was actually a low percentage of bears that would attack and that a higher percentage of men would actually try something with his daughter so she would probably be in more danger. I also tried to explain so other facts regarding men and the fact he was more likely to be attack by a man that a women and shared some quite personal stories regarding my life and what I had been through with men.

He then went into this 30 minute rant about how my opinion didn't actually matter as I ate meat and he didn't. He stated that I was so upset about what happened with women but was completely blind to the fact regarding what happens to meat in the meat industry. He then went on to say the BLM movement also didn't matter as they all ate meat and the worse thing you can be in this world is a heterosexual white man.

After he had finished ranting at me for what felt like eternity he put the phone down and I was physically shaking as I couldn't believe what had happen. This guy, who seemed like the most loveliest gentleman and I saw some potential in, completely switched and became a completely different person within the matter of seconds.

I wanted to share this as I believe I am probably not the only women who has been through this experience. It is okay to have opinions and different views than someone you are dating however if their views are sexist, homophonic or racist don't be afraid to walk away. You are worth so much more than that.

[xenofact]

Are They Even Trying Anymore?

After the Key Bridge Disaster and the April 8th 2024 eclipse, I listened to several podcasts on conspiracy theories. A strange consistency emerged that I had also witnessed - it seemed people weren’t really trying to craft conspiracy theories.

Oh there was the usual stuff. The rapture and chemtrails, cyberattacks and secret plots. But it was all things we’d heard before. Some of it, especially the eclipse conspiracy theories seemed laughable like some extremely predictable astronomical event was a magical/occult/divine arrangement that was important for some reason. It was lukewarm and recycled.

There was bigotry and biases, of course, especially in the Key Bridge Disaster. Plenty of racist crap was spewed online about various people and the city of Baltimore. It was no different than any of the racism and bigotry the day before, just shifted around a bit. It was racists being racists because of racism.

Finally, there was a lack of coherence to the conspiracy theories. There wasn’t any grand overarching plan or narrative - even “God” apparently didn’t have one. There was no chart with red string, no colorful complex graphic explaining it all circulating online. It was so low effort.

A lot of what I saw, and what the podcasts I followed saw, seemed to be people essentially tossing out old ideas and biases and calling it a day - or mentioning disconnected points and saying, essentially, “suspicious?” Maybe both if you got some really ambitious person with an online handle like “EagleFlightPatriotAlpha1776” and AN AI avatar with ten-pack abs and thirteen total fingers.

But man, the usual suspects and newcomers to stringing together bullshit weren’t trying. Maybe they were tired, maybe it was just the confluence of events and non-events, but I mean I had expectations. However I wonder.

Is conspiracy theory culture tapped out in America? I mean we’ve done it all, from space super-soldiers fighting reptoids (which are just anti-semetic tropes) to gigantic financial and political conspiracies (which are just anti-semetic tropes). Maybe people are out of ideas, maybe we’ve hit a kind of saturation.

Perhaps people are ALL trying to do the old trick of spewing random things and seeing what audiences want. Maybe everyone wants to get hits by low effort, give in to audience capture, and do whatever. Maybe we’re hitting even more widespread, but lazy grift.

Could it be that current news (Trump, Israel, and Ukraine as of this writing) has sucked all the oxygen out of the room? Has reality occupied too much time of people’s minds?

Were these events just too reality-based to get a good theory going?

Or maybe we’re all just worn out from continuous crap and it’s even hit people who are Too Online.

I mean I’d be glad if Conspiracy Culture is somehow worn out, winding down, and maybe falling apart. Maybe we can get some reality in there But I suppose I have to know what’s going on, just in case.

Which I guess makes me a bit like a Conspiracy Theorist.

- Xenofact

[uramitashi]

1. Peaked some months ago. Because of my upbringing, I have always been rad-leaning without knowing, but my political reality was totally different back then

2. The fact that the more I grew, the less people made sense: I grew up thinking that sex work is misogynistic, I met many people who didn't; I grew up rejecting hyperfemininity, then my peers started dolling themselves again; I thought sex positivity was the key for gender equality; then I made friends with men. I used to be a strong feminist all my life, until I realized that the problem is way, way deeper than we care to admit. Then I became a stronger feminist

3. I do not, stritcly speaking. Partly because I think the actual, liberal feminist gender theory is too much complex to be explored with strict categories. Mostly, though, because I am a radical feminist first and foremost. Trans issues are the last thing I care about, if I care about them at all. I care about sex work, I care much more about what "cis" men do to women. Still I do recognize a lot of problems of today gender ideology

4. No

5. I'm heterosexual and I do not date men

6. Makeup by itself does not have to be misogynistic but is, as of now, a tool of control. Still I prefer to judge the driving force between the actual reality of makeup, which is men. I don't use it because it is right now an oppressive tool

7. I have never done it and I think that prostitution (will not call it sex work) is the bigest problem women face. I do not give a fuck if some women like it - it's something morally deplorable and that is enough of a reason to dismantle it. Prostitution is misogyny full stop.

8. I did engage in porn but I hated it. I hate that it is considered a healthy sex ed. I wish we had healthier sex ed in the future so that we can start criticizing porn even more

9. I am not a muslim and I am strongly critical of Islam - mostly because of its women oppression. I think all patriarchal religion are bad for women but Islam is BY FAR the worse. I try to listen to muslim/ex-muslim feminists (and women in general) on the matter because I do not like that Islam criticism gets weaponized in order to push racist ideologies.

10. I still try to look "cute" from time to time. I hate to do so

11. Gender is a social construct that has developed over time that should either not exist, or be a silly little game people do to have fun. This does not include "being trans" - this means that if there is a general feminine beauty standard, I should be free to experiment with it, reject it, criticize it, mix it up with the masculine beauty standard etcetera. Nothing of this would make me more or less of a woman.

I would prefer if it did not exist because although I don't think it originally started as a tool of oppression it is now and it should be harshly eredicated.

12. Yes

13. Europe

14. How to actively strip men of their power. How to *actively* smash the patriarchy. How to destroy prostitution and the porn industry. How to dismantle religion.

Although it can be rarely important, I wish I saw less about trans ideology. Should be low priority.

15. Not yet, I am very afraid of letting people know

Questions for radblr / terfblr —

1. How long have y’all been radical feminists?

2. What ‘radicalized’ you?

3. Do you consider yourself a terf?

4. Have you ever (or currently) identified as transgender?

5. What is your sexuality? If attracted to males, do you consider yourself a separatist or are you still open to being with males (or do you have a boyfriend/husband currently)?

6. What is your opinion on makeup? Do you still wear it?

7. What is your opinion on ‘sex work’? Have you ever done ‘sex work’?

8. What is your opinion on pornography? Did you ever watch it in the past?

9. What is your opinion on the hijab? Are you a muslim/ex muslim?

10. Do you still do some of the things you criticize? (Shaving, makeup, etc)

11. What is your opinion on Gender vs. Sex?

12. Are you anti-capitalist?

13. What country (or continent) are you from?

14. What is a topic you wished more radfems would talk about?

15. Does anyone in your life know you’re a radfem?

Feel free to skip a question if it makes you uncomfortable!

[spookyjarchivist]

religion/mythology classes are so frustrating, not only are a lot of the classes based on outdated studies and theories by racists (literally the entirety of mythological study, at least in the west) but also bc they’re either low-key racist in and of themselves and the religious equivalent OR (and i have this problem with ethics and philosophy classes too) they’ll say some dumb shit about something being difficult to understand or define when they’re straight up ignoring the obvious answer

like AS AN AGNOSTIC who borders on atheism, please go out and talk or read things by people who actually experience and believe various different religions, stop reading textbooks for like an hour and allow yourself to experience the world, those questions you have about understanding religions are gone once you actually let yourself try and experience the world the way they do, it’s honestly beautiful

and you dont even have to go out your front door to do it!! we live in a global society with near instantaneous connection and social media with people willingly and actively educating people for free,, you can even watch a religious or traditional folklore heavy story like sister act or a wuxia or a ghibli film and then read up on the religious beliefs and values/folklore and then watch it again with those things in mind!! it’s remarkable how your understanding of not just the media but the people and culture change and how you feel connected in a way that feels like a religion in and of itself!!

[livininnovember]

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