#shadradraws

[fdelopera]

I need to finish reading your essays (haven't had the mental bandwidth for it) but broadly speaking, I do want to know your take on the "quality" of Jewish representation in MCU Moon Knight, because I continue to see self-described "prominent" fans imply or straight up demand to be "reached out to" for future iterations of the show to "fix" the bad representation. I already went off on twitter about it (shad woke up mad), but thus far your essays have been the most well-supported critical analysis I've seen.

Thank you so much for your Ask @shadradraws . Okay, so here’s my take on this “discourse.” This will be a long one (I seem to be incapable of writing anything under 1500 words lol), so buckle up.

Season 1 of Moon Knight is a Jewish show that explores Jewish themes. It explores those themes in a way that Jewish audiences can see and understand them, but the themes are also broad enough that a general audience can appreciate them.

Here’s why this is important. Marc’s relationship to his Judaism is CANONICALLY strained. A general, non-Jewish audience seeing a Jewish person struggle with their faith could potentially extend this to seeing Judaism as “bad.” This could then trigger antisemitic sentiments. And yes, Marc’s struggles with his faith are explored EXTENSIVELY in the comics. However, the comics readership is relatively small and self-selecting. Disney Plus is a massive, international platform. There are a lot of EYES watching this Jewish, neurodivergent system live their life.

This is what differentiates Moon Knight from Daredevil. I’ve seen some discourse around, “Daredevil gets to explore heavy themes in terms of Catholicism. Why can’t Moon Knight explore Judaism in the same way?” Yes, both Marc and Matt struggle with their faith, but Catholics are not a marginalized minority. We have to be much more careful, much more responsible, when we depict Judaism on screen. Showing a Catholic struggling with their faith in a way that potentially puts Catholicism in a bad light doesn’t increase the likelihood of Nazis making a plan to storm a Catholic church and start shooting. I lived in Pittsburgh. I know this firsthand…

As I have written about in my post on Judaism in Moon Knight, the show extensively explores Jewish themes. It explores the theme of free will versus determinism, which is an important aspect of Judaism. Life is for living. There is always room for growth, for change. There is not some grand, Calvinistic plan that determines whether or not a person is one of God’s worthy faithful. Judaism understands that we are each a collection of the decisions we have made, and in every moment, we can choose a different path.

Moon Knight Season 1 is also a show about eugenics. AMMIT is a force of eugenics. She is not eliminating the “bad” people of society. She is eliminating the “undesirables.” That is why her “selection” process seems so arbitrary. It’s because it IS arbitrary. SHE is deciding who is “worthy” and “unworthy.” She, and she alone, is deciding who is “desirable” and “undesirable.”

Harrow used the “if you could go back and kill baby Hitler” argument with Steven in Episodes 1 and 2 to throw us off the trail of Ammit’s true designs. But the theme of weeding out the undesirables from society is EXACTLY what Hitler used to build support for his Final Solution. And among the first “undesirables” that Hitler weeded out, in addition to the Jews, were the mentally ill and neurodivergent.

Now, in terms of Moon Knight’s next appearance. I know that there are a lot of Jewish people who want to see the MK System doing more “Jewish” things. To be more identifiably “Jewish.”

I agree. We absolutely want that. BUT it has to be done responsibly. Because, let’s think about how that would go down. And LET’S THINK ABOUT IT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WORLD WATCHING.

Because the MK System’s Jewish experience is by definition traumatic, and the message this could send to the world (which is predominantly NOT Jewish and has NO knowledge of Jewish life) would be that Judaism is a traumatizing religion. Which of course, it is not. No more than any other. ANY religion can be traumatizing if it is associated with abuse. And of course, the MK System’s experience of Judaism is inextricably connected to their experience of abuse. Even for Steven, who was shielded from their specific memories of childhood abuse, now has a connection to Marc, and there are going to be some Jewish-specific trauma memories that will filter through.

So, for instance, let’s say that Steven takes them to the Synagogue he attends for Shabbat services. In the middle of the service, Marc starts having a flashback to when Wendy used to drag them to Shabbat as a kid so that she could keep up the pretext of “performative” Judaism. To try to convince the community that everything was fine at home. Then Steven starts to hyperventilate at Marc’s memory, and he gets up and runs out of there while the rest of the congregation stares at them with alarm and incredulity.

Is this really the depiction of Judaism that we want to see on screen? Cause this is what it realistically would be. And while writers like Jed MacKay handle this type of discourse BEAUTIFULLY in the comics, I don’t really want a mass audience of mostly non-Jews watching these specific and personal Jewish pain points. I don’t want non-Jews having an OPINION on this. Because these pain points are SO personal.

Then there are other Jewish people who want to see “acts of antisemitism” depicted on screen.

I will tell you right now, that this is a TERRIBLE idea. Here are three reasons why:

Reason #1:

Showing acts of antisemitism is like showing acts of homophobia. It’s like the obligatory “gay bashing” that used to be part of nearly every depiction of queer characters in media. It paints an already marginalized group as victims. And it uses the real pain points of that marginalized group to drum up viewership and “watercooler talk” from people who are outside of the group. I for one do NOT want to see antisemitism on screen. I recently lived through the fallout from an act of antisemitic terror, and watching the MK System experience something similar would not be cathartic; it would only be traumatizing. Which brings me to my next point.

Reason #2:

Depicting acts of antisemitism on screen only emboldens antisemites. It doesn’t make them sympathetic to Jews; it just makes them more eager to hurt and kill Jewish people. This has real world consequences. I used to live in Pittsburgh, PA. I moved away because of the pandemic, but back in 2018, I lived about a 5 minute drive away from Or L'Simcha Congregation — the Tree of Life Synagogue. You may remember it from the news. A Nazi terrorist came into the congregation on Saturday, October 27, 2018 and murdered eleven Jewish people who were there for Shabbat morning services. It was the deadliest single attack on the American Jewish community in US history. This Nazi scum believed in the “great replacement.” Simply put, Nazis believe that Jewish people are secretly plotting to replace white people with black and brown people (like, I wish this were true, but it’s not guys). These Nazis believe that the “white race” is “under attack” and that white people will soon go extinct. So this fucker plotted with other Nazis in the Pittsburgh area to plan the murders. And you know that he is a white man, because the police did nothing. They let him live. He is still breathing air.

The eleven Jewish people who were murdered were:

May their memory be for a blessing. At my old Temple in Pittsburgh, as well as the other congregations, their names are always said every time the Mourner’s Kaddish is recited. They will be remembered.

Joyce Fienberg

Richard Gottfried

Rose Mallinger

Jerry Rabinowitz

Cecil Rosenthal

David Rosenthal

Bernice Simon

Sylvan Simon

Daniel Stein

Melvin Wax

Irving Younger

Reason #3:

The comics storyline that some people want to see depicted is the Bemis run. However, what he wrote was incredibly irresponsible. Yes, yes, I know. Bemis himself is Jewish. But that doesn’t absolve him from criticism. He didn’t consider how what he wrote could actually EMBOLDEN antisemites. Having a storyline in which a Jewish congregation is unknowingly harboring a dangerous person is EXACTLY the kind of conspiracy theory bullshit that antisemites eat up. It doesn’t matter that the dangerous person in question is a Nazi. Newsflash, but antisemites aren’t that smart. They won’t recognize the irony there. Jewish people harboring “dangerous people” is the narrative that the Nazi terrorist used when he murdered the eleven Jewish people at Tree of Life.

The only really responsible way to depict Nazis in media is as buffoons. Examples of this are The Producers and Jojo Rabbit. In Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi went the extra mile and portrayed Hitler himself, because he knew that it would be disempowering for Nazis to see their great leader portrayed by a Jewish Māori man. It was Taika giving them a great big ol middle finger. “The Boys” television show also got around this issue by casting Aya Cash, a Jewish actress, to play Stormfront. You see, Nazis can’t CLAIM any of these Nazi characters. They are buffoons; they are women; they are played by Jews. But Nazis can and DO claim dangerous, unhinged Nazi characters. They CLAIM characters that we look at and feel disgusted by. Because deep down, Nazis FEEL disgusting. They FEEL like maggots. And when they can see a character who is disgusting AND powerful, they feel represented. They feel like there is hope for them. They feel emboldened. And when they feel that way, they sometimes take a gun and go to their nearest Synagogue.

So how do we proceed? How do we move forward?

I would propose that we continue to explore Jewish themes. When the MK System next appears on screen, whether that screen be small or large, we will most likely be seeing things from Jake’s POV. An example of a Jewish theme that could be explored through Jake’s experience is the story of the Golem — the man of clay who was created as a protector, as a tool, but who became a weapon. This Jewish theme is BRILLIANTLY explored in The Narrow Hidden Tracks by @love-r-boy . I encourage you ALL to read it. Jake Lockley has a JOB to do, and that job is to protect the System, even at the expense of his own connection with them. And yet, he fights tirelessly for his own personhood. He fights to be SEEN, as I have explored in my post on Jake Lockley’s Judaism, and in my post on the way that Jake wrestles with God and with authority. Again, an approach like this would allow Moon Knight to explore Judaism in a way that would be meaningful for Jewish people, but that would allow a general audience to see us in a way that is safe for us. Without scrutinizing us. Without dissecting us. Without plotting an attack on us…

[marcspectrr]

Okay @shadradraws I loved your replies so much I went through my episode notes to gather a list of the books I spotted throughout Steven's flat lol

a LOT of books on Ancient Egypt (goes without say)

a book on the Silk Road

a book on Greece

a book on Neanderthals

Papers on NASA (I know this isn't a book but I still found it interesting it was on his desk)

some book on Area 51

a World Mythology book

What's Old is New Again: Asgard

History of Wakanda

Rome and her Empire, David Shotter

Free-Born John, Pauline Gregg

Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, Heiko Oberman

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King, Antonia Fraser

The Revolution of the Dons, Sheldon Rothblatt

The Church and the Age of Reason, Gerald R. Cragg

a book on Everest

Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Scott Anderson

Revealer of Secrets, Joseph Perl (this is an epistolary styled novel that was considered to be the first modern novel in Hebrew, by Jewish educator, writer and central figure in the Haskalah)

The Man in the Ice, Konrad Spindler

Les Pleurs, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (*infinite heart eyes*)

The Lost Explorer, Conrad Anker

People and Places of the World: In Search of Australia and the South Pacific

Mr. Foreigner, Matthew Kneale

The Lost World of Pompeii, Colin Amery

Cities of Destiny, Arnold J. Toynbee

This is just a growing-list I keep for fic reference so feel free to use it and add onto it if you want :)

[xenonmoon]

Since it's on sale at only 10€ I've got Rebelle 5 Pro (thanks @shadradraws for the suggestion!) and I feel like doodling something with it in the next days.

Drop any suggestion in my asks!

[forfansbyfans]

NEW Tenno-designed merch is available NOW at bit.ly/FFBF_Warframe6Yrs !

Save 15% off all WARFRAME gear with the code 6YEARS through March 31, 2019.

And any WARFRAME order now through March 31 is entered for a chance to win Mesa Prime Access!

Featured artists:

Debbysheen | Sweven Fox | @ironical-ghosty | kedemel | @shadradraws | Daniel Tran | @ctrlkun-i-raduga | kindred | @quietarcher | Anna Luayon | Deeless | @artevalentinapaz | Volhaiksong | @taphcreates | Soratern | Giovanna Uyeda | @undergroundwubwubmaster | Steve Furgusson | Abirdeer | @kyledesmond | Petra Michael | Operator Devavani (Viquey) | Skyeraikes | 

[wakaart]

Commission for the brilliant @shadradraws 

Loving both her OCs and the Norg.

my commission info can be find here >>  http://wakaart.tumblr.com/commission

[niechys]

in the first one. I wrote “even tho I look like this. I’m a teacher (university instructor)”

tagging @shadradraws @sweetcrescent

[feralknights]

Christmas gift art of Skye from Paladins: Champions of the Realm by @shadradraws and signed by the Paladins art team from Hi-Rez Studios.

Screamed, squealed, and still flapping hands.  It’s going in a frame ASAP.

[dduane]

Ms. Duane: So here I am in Dublin for my summer internship! I've been here just over a week now, and I've seen a good bit of the City Center, and I'm starting to get interested in places that might be further out from the hubbub of the inner city. I'm also wondering if could recommend a place to find woolen goods and other crafts (I'm also planning to head to Galway, Cork, Westport, Connemara, and Belfast). Else, do you know any good resource websites for this information?

I’m so sorry for the delay in getting back to you on this – things been a little crazy around here the past week.

Getting out of Dublin is always a good thing. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the stuff going on in the capital. (Not that I’m not partial to the city myself, but there’s a lot more to see.)

You should definitely make use of the DART and local rail system to get out and about a little bit. And don’t despise Bus Eireann, because it will go a lot of places that the trains can’t take you. (The buses have been improving steadily over recent years to the point where many of them, especially on the longer-distance routes, have wifi.)

(Oh yeah… get yourself a Leap card. This is the local equivalent of London’s Oyster card: it will save you money on public transport fares across the board.)

(more advice follows…)

First of all, I would strongly suggest that you take the DART down at least as far as Bray, as the run down the rail line along the Irish Sea coast has long been rated by the Thomas Cook rail guides as among the ten most scenic rail journeys in Europe, if not the world. The Bray DART station is about a block from the walk along the beach, so this is a good trip for a day when the weather’s nice. in the same vein, take the dart North to Malahide and Howth; both very nice towns, and Howth (pronounce it to rhyme with “both”) still has its fishing-village end pretty much intact. For someplace so close to Dublin, that’s really nice.

A little further afield, you might want to look into bus services south to Powerscourt in County Wicklow — an old estate recently refurbished after fire — and I would definitely think about making time to go up to the ancient monument complex at Newgrange,  which if I have my stats right is the oldest building on earth that is still being used for its original purpose.

You should also get down to Cork if you can. It’s about a three-hour-or-so run on the train from Dublin: some of the newest rail stock is running on that line, and it’s a nice trip. (Grab a bottle of wine and some bread and cheese and have yourself a picnic on the train, as Irish Rail food is limited — earnest, but not very inspired.) Cork city is extremely beautiful and very walkable and worth the visit.

As regards woolens: Avoca Handweavers is probably where you want to go. While they are pitched towards the tourists, the selection of stuff they have is tremendous. (Also, their cafés are very good.) Generally I would advise you to avoid other specialist places in center city Dublin, as (again, with their eyes on the tourist trade) they tend to be insanely overpriced. Kilkenny and the Irish Woollen Company, I think that’s its name, would be prime offenders in this regard. strangely enough, a good way to go is to seek out smaller Irish companies on the web, and then hunt them down physically while you’re here.

The other thing Ireland is great for, obviously, is linen. For this you want to head up north. There will be a ton of linen in Belfast — it was once the major center for Irish linen manufacturing and export and that tradition is now reviving. Grab the Enterprise “fast train” from Connolly Station — it gets to Belfast in sort of two hours.  Also: while in Belfast do NOT miss the Crown Liquor Saloon (pub) across from the Europa Hotel: it is a National Trust property of great beauty. Amazing tile work, carved and cast ceramic tile, hammered tin ceiling, vintage mirroring, carved snugs, etc etc…

"Crafts" is kind of a tricky designation: again, it’s strang to say, but your best bet is to Google on "Irish crafts" and see what comes up that you like the look of… then go there. Local markets are a good source for the work of local craftspeople (this is another tradition that’s getting restarted). Also with an eye to this, do NOT miss the Saturday Temple Bar farmer’s market in Meeting House Square. This is the one where you hope it rains so you can watch the magic giant rain-sensing umbrellas deploy themselves. (YouTube video here. It’s a Ballygowan commercial, but it’ll hold the space until I can find something better. )

I have to stop for the moment but I’ll add some more links to this later, OK? Sorry again for the delay.

[carrionbeast]

shadradraws replied to your post:It’s too bad True Detective did not actually have...

I hear marble hornets is pretty good, though it’s clearly not a TV show. also i’m absolutely too scared to watch it.

I actually used to watch it and that fitness spinoff with The Rake but the problem is, for me, with Slenderman is I keep thinking

"where did you get that suit? did you need to go to the mr big and tall"

so it kind of gets ruined

[shad-the-rad]

shadradraws replied to your post “After waffling about it for over a year, I finally changed my name...”

YEAAAHH SHAD TO THE RAD

Except now we are now longer inter-dimensional twinsies! :C

[drawingeisu]

Commission I finished for Shadra D of her Original Characters. Check out her blog for more drawings from her of these characters.

Interested in commissioning me? Click the link yo!

[theartofknightjj]

commission for shadradraws!

these guys were a lot of fun to draw :)

[chaemera]

shadradraws replied to your post: Possibly Inflammatory Statements

Actually, the system works that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The noisier your constituents, the more media gives them attention and will tear you to pieces if you ignore it. Plus, you get voted out of office next cycle.

Yes, but that's every voting cycle. The constant whinging about stuff that 1) has been in effect for years and 2) cannot be just switched on and off like a lightbulb is what gets to me, because the complaints largely take the structure of "the president should get rid of that/change that/cater to my whims" as if he has any direct and immediate power to do so.

[momochanners]

Aimoooo, I've found I really struggle lately to stay 'on model' with some character designs. Are there any techniques or practice exercises I can do to help me avoid proportion-creep?

Oooooh man, I have problems staying on-model at times too, even with my own characters (see the everchanging little bits of costume in Fox & Willow >3>).

I think, for me, the only clear way to stay consistent in rendering characters is to draw them as often as possible, be it in actual ‘serious’ pieces or rough sketches, to train my eye to specific details of such and such character. If I draw certain character designs repeatedly, I tend to actually commit them to muscle memory.

Sorry that I can’t offer other tips on this ;_;

[momochanners]

Aimo, I am trying to figure out a way to make Curry Laksa/Curry Mee here in the US at home, because I can't afford to keep buying it from the Singaporian restaurant every week! I found one recipe that makes the broth seem really complicated (how do you liquify prawn heads?!), but since you do so much amazing looking home cooking, maybe you have some suggestions for making a close-enough broth? ;_;

Hey Shadra! My speciality is more on the continental side of cuisine, so I’m not really well-versed dealing with complex ingredients in the more advanced local recipes ;3; But FORTUNATELY I found a food blog that has step-by-step instructions with photos on how to make the broth (it’s actually for Hokkien noodles, but the method is applicable for other prawn broth-based recipes); You can check it out here.

My mother is visiting at the moment, so I asked her about how she prepares the broth for her cooking. Her more advanced method is the same as the blog’s (just subbing the pork bones with chicken carcass instead during the boiling), but you can also just boil the prawn heads & skin without blending them in the final stages if doing that squicks you out, so you just sieve and separate them from the clearer broth. But admittedly liquifying the prawn heads makes the broth taste a lot better.

Hope this helps!

[momochanners]

shadradraws asked for: Simon/Betty