#so ive been thinking about young frankenstein. for some reason.

[flufflecat]

(wip) why am i drawing this? well. i dont know.

[richmond-rex]

Royal Bastards: The Rise of the Tudors (a small review)

Let me preface this small review by saying I watched the three episodes in less than optimal conditions, so I couldn’t pause and take notes as I watched. Because of that, this review is based on what I remember and commented with my friends at the time. Many thanks to @lady-plantagenet​ who provided us with the streaming ♡ Review under the cut!

Game of Thrones has spoilt everything

My first step is to explain my subtitle. This docuseries was odd in a number of ways that I think were influenced by the now infamous HBO TV show. First, they showed high-ranking nobles with so few manners they were constantly swearing. I will say though, that the swearing got less bad as the events narrated in the show turned from full-fledged battles into behind-the-scenes scheming—all in all, it had less swearing than I expected. The costumes had a medieval feel to them but looked as though they belonged in a fantasy series—that does not mean they were ugly, sometimes they were just not like anything you’d see in 15th century England. Women’s headdresses, especially, were weird Frankenstein creations imitating hennins, and you see ladies wearing ‘gable hoods’ before they were ever invented. Jasper Tudor is shown dressed up all in furs à la Ned Stark for some reason (let me guess, because he was Welsh?). Margaret Beaufort is captured and walked to the chopping block as though she was about to be beheaded—not something that happened to noblewomen at that time. If anything, women’s punishment for treason was burning at the stake.

Characterisation-wise, Richard III in the last episode is at times unhinged, acting like Joffrey Baratheon for some reason—I mean, since they straight-up claim Richard III killed the princes (though I do think he did it, as do many academics who study Richard III, there are ways to say he was most likely guilty but that the crime cannot be proven), I suppose they tried to justify the assassination of two kids in-universe in this way. It’s obvious and less interesting storytelling, and for a show that has Margaret Beaufort as its heroine, the complicated ethics of politics should be more relevant in my opinion. Edward IV is described as a ‘brutal warrior' and whilst he was indeed a great warrior and could be ruthless to his enemies, any academic will tell you Edward IV was no great fan of battles and prefered to nope out of them whenever possible. Pollard has described him as a ‘knight of Venus’ and I think it’s an apt description. They gave Henry Tudor the full Pepé le Pew treatment by giving him an stylish moustache and a strong French accent (but a terrible haircut for some reason). Unironically, I would have loved to see him romancing Elizabeth of York with that accent. Hélas ! we didn’t get that scene.

Some other characterisation problems, I suppose, occurred because they wanted to girlbossify Margaret Beaufort beyond necessary. Stanley in this show is somehow commanded by his wife Margaret when all indicates that he only did what he thought was best for himself. It simplifies Margaret’s struggles to convince him to support her son’s cause, and the moment when Stanley does vacillate in committing his troops it comes out of nowhere because so far he had been doing everything his wife told him to do. Margaret, as a mere 14-year-old, is the one to choose her second husband Henry Stafford—keep it in mind she had not been introduced to politics by that time because all she had done was leaving her home to go live with Edmund Tudor, then staying in Pembroke to give birth to her child. In the show, there’s a scene where young Margaret refuses Jasper’s choice of husband, even though most likely it was Jasper who negotiated her second marriage. Henry Stafford was the Duke of Buckingham’s second son and Buckingham was a staunch (Lancastrian) royalist, and Jasper’s close ally at that time. Margaret Beaufort remains somehow an all-knowing entity that can predict the future throughout the show. 

Henry Tudor doesn’t do much in the show—I suppose it does makes sense in a series centred on Margaret Beaufort to only show Margaret scheming, but the narrators straight up said Henry Tudor didn’t do much besides going into battle, and that Bosworth Field was actually Margaret’s victory. This is a very simplistic view, and I don’t think you have to dumb down the men around Margaret to make her look smart—Margaret as a woman had different avenues of agency and power. Margaret could find English support for her son, but Henry was the one to convince Brittany and France to support his cause. Henry—somehow, for someone who is considered to have possessed zero charisma—behaved in a way that kept 400+ English exiles committed to his cause for almost two years. The show does comment on his use of the story of Cadwaladr and his dragon symbol to attract the Welsh to his cause but iirc, they don’t mention the Welsh prophecies (Y Mab Darogan being the most important of them) going around at that time, or how Henry branded himself as the Red Rose. His letters asking Welsh and English nobles to commit to his cause are non-existent.

Several minor and important details were simply wrong. They give absurd numbers for the Battle of Bosworth (they say Henry had 25,000 soldiers with him whilst Richard had 60,000—hello??), they say Margaret Beaufort was an ‘unimportant heiress’, which, as the direct descendant of the oldest Beaufort sibling, is simply not true. People were clearly aware that she had a claim to the throne as they tried to marry her to various nobles associated with Henry VI. Her son was kept by a Yorkist family and was dispossessed of all his estates. In the show, they say Henry Tudor was the son of a ‘minor noble’—whilst it might be true in terms of paternal dynastic claim, Edmund Tudor was the king’s brother, and the premier earl in the kingdom; only dukes were ahead of him in order of precedence. Do you know the various other earls that existed at the time? Edmund Tudor had precedence over all of them, even, for example, over the Duke of York’s son, Edward Earl of March (the future Edward IV).

Other problems had to do with a small budget I suppose, so they couldn’t hire too many different actors. Edward IV doesn’t look 18-19 when he takes the throne, Margaret Beaufort looks her son’s age when they reunite, as does Jasper Tudor. George of Clarence’s actor looks younger than his brother Richard. We get to see Elizabeth Woodville very briefly only during the last episode, meanwhile, Anne Neville and Elizabeth of York are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps because of a lack of filming locations, we see Margaret Beaufort scheming whilst going to the market to do her groceries twice. At least once we see Margaret on the battlefield for some reason.

But I want to finish this review by talking about the things I did like. I liked Margaret Beaufort’s actress, I liked how they made her a sympathetic and charismatic character. They even showed her flirting with Edward IV, which is a nice departure from the sour, overly pious Margaret Beaufort we are used to seeing depicted in media—that when they don’t completely make her a villain (even sometimes implying that being a CSA survivor makes you evil). I liked that they were sympathetic to Margaret of Anjou and her love for her son. I like that they showed Henry Tudor as a teenager being introduced to court and politics during the Readeption of Henry VI. I liked the background music and the graphics they chose to show when talking about each king and their advisors. I liked that they emphasised the importance of the 1st Battle of St Albans and the way that Margaret Beaufort reached out to London merchants when canvassing for her son—those facts are usually brushed aside.

Many people who sympathise with the Yorkist family complained about the series because it didn’t portray them in the best light. It is reasonable, and they have a legitimate right to complain. It’s time for us to overcome a simple ‘good vs bad’ mentality by now. In the great scheme of things, it’s just another reading of the Wars of the Roses, only so far popular media had been dominated by Yorkist-leaning shows and novels—the violent unhinged treatment was usually reserved for the Lancastrians. I will say, however, that all things considered, their treatment could have been worse. They weren’t ableist towards Richard III and, considering they made him straight up unhinged sometimes, it’s best that they didn’t associate disability with that type of behaviour. In the best-case scenario, they would have made him a complex character that has to deal with his chronicle pain, but not even the last Yorkist sympathetic show had Richard grappling with his disability. The series wasn’t fatphobic towards Edward IV either, which was kinder than what The White Queen and their fatsuit did to his character. In the end, I think we’re seeing a certain invented need to show Medieval nobles act all ruthless and gritty that, again, came with the hype surrounding Game of Thrones in the last decade. 

To sum up, if you are a Tudor/Lancastrian fan you might enjoy this show, though not without some caveats. As a Sky docuseries, I suppose their primary goal was to entertain, and they are successful in that. To all the people who said the show was ‘anti-Plantagenet propaganda’ though, somehow forgetting that the show’s heroine was a Plantagenet herself (Margaret was a direct descendant of Edward III on her father’s side), let me just say:

Or what have you 😂 I guess we should be confiscating the word ‘propaganda’ from people from now on. Sorry, this review turned out to be not so small, after all!

[brunhiddensmusings]

an issue i have with movies

or, rather, that the movie industry has and im calling them out on it that the movie industry makes stupid assumptions about what does or does not work while ignoring the real reasons why a movie succeeds or fails because that would take too much effort and thought despite ‘filmography’ being a legitimate course of study that i would really hope that people paid tens of millions of dollars to make movies have some understanding of and/or hire people with the relevant degrees because i KNOW when a movie like ‘midway’ flops hard  the reaction of the movie industry is ‘i guess people dont like historical war recreation dramas’ instead of looking a bit harder and realizing ‘i guess people dont like a movie with no main characters, nothing to tie the existing cardboard cutout characters together beyond a vague setting, and a strange inability to make anything its showing on screen relevant as a plot rather then just listing things that happened with no explanation, narrative, or point of reference character’..... although im okay with ‘WW2 movies’ being put back into dormancy because theres more then enough of those and they have kind of messed up how every other war movie made after saving private ryan functions ive seen this time and time again that a movie that is badly made flops because its badly made, and the film industry then acts like some other element is why people avoided it its kind of crazy to think now but before LOTR came out the film industry had considered fantasy movies to be toxic for years, despite the 80s and 90s having some very well loved fantasy movies like ‘willow’, ‘neverending story’, and ‘labyrinth’ because of the number of really shit fantasy movies produced in that time. or if not shit then at least movies that didnt do well until much later when people started enjoying it for different reasons like ‘legend’.... but the sheer number of fantasy movies at the time that were given mediocre budget, garbage writing, and the only saving graces were how much effort the lead actors tried to give their inarticulate screams as the stabbening commenced made the industry think ‘i guess people dont like fantasy movies’ instead of ‘i guess people are not impressed by corny stories with no setup and are ultimately destined to be reviewed by drunk youtubers who heckle B-movies’. yall remember ‘deathstalker’? cause there were like 40 of that movie, conan was a rare gem in a sea of halfassery and then AFTER lord of the rings they try a fit of fantasy movies trying to cash in on this ‘hip new trend’ and while a few of them are okay, most of them are pretty blatantly trying to copy what LOTR did by the numbers as shamelessly as possible, then theres also quite a few that limply flop over the line of mediocrity until movies like ‘your highness’ where the drunk prince wears a minotaur wang around his neck as a battle trophy and ignores sexual molestation by a wizard (ah yes, great comedy recounting those times a wizard touched you when you were a young boy, hilarious for the whole family) ultimately bring people back to square 1 instead of asking ‘maybe if we made a -good- fantasy movie again instead of throwing larger piles of money at bad ones’ and so have movie genres been thrown under the bus for the failings of individual film studios making openly shitty decisions instead of acnowleging that a movie lives or dies on if its GOOD rather then by ‘i guess people dont like full costume period movies anymore’ and its the death of so much potential on the example of costume period movies you may have heard Lindsay Ellis talk about pirates of the carribean on this exact kind of concept, if you hadnt i will gladly add a link to her video on it upon request, but the point is that the assumption at the time was ‘people dont like pirate movies anymore’ because of the dearth of mediocre low budget and shit writing pirate movies made in the 60s-80s, and building on that people kept assuming that what we today would consider the ‘interesting bits’ about pirates of the carribean such as the zombies and jack being a loon the filmmakers at the time were considering ‘ruining the movie’. now i have many complaints about the pirates of the carribean franchise but the first movie is a cinematic classic that fully stands on its own merits, yet i would have been bored to tears trying to watch the version that would have been made if the cut out the zombies, curses, crazy people, and.... really what would be left of that movie? and yet still it happens time and again like clockwork when a robin hood movie is made once a decade, its either only alright or a complete flop, and then nobody wants to make that movie again for eight years then they make another robin hood movie copy/paste that last paragraph but replace ‘robin hood’ with ‘king arthur’ because holy damn are there a lot of bad robin hood/king arthur movies out there. granted theyre public domain so nothing to stop them but when will people learn? literally only two king arthur movies were unanimously good and one of those was monty python and the other was a disney animated classic. literally only three robin hood movies were any good and again one was a disney animated classic and one of the others was Mel Brooks making fun of the Kevin Costner one if public domain was the key element there then you would expect them to keep pumping out..... oh yeah, i forgot the movie where the frankensteins monster does parkour in modern cities to kill gargoyles was a thing, and the beauty and the beast remake where ‘the beast’ is a rich kid in suburban america who is ripped but bald and covered in tattoos and theres some shit about prom.... uuuuuuuugh, theres actually a lot of these ‘reimaginings’ that while the idea of reimagining a timeless classic is cool, they ultimately handle like a steaming turd and then, again, claim its that it failed not because they made a moist cowpat but rather it failed because nobody today likes the frankenstein monster- i for one would argue that an audience today would LOVE a faithful reimagining of frankenstein that really digs into the meat of that premise instead of making him a large green zombie that goes ‘fire bad’ and lets people get dug into the byronic shenanigans of that time im losing my train of thought but moral of the story is that people who make movies will always blame them failing on the -type- of movie it is rather then that they made a bad movie or draged something on way longer then it should be (just because one well written gritty retelling of batman did well does not mean every superhero movie must be dark and gritty without the well written, just because some of the marvel movies put the ‘fun’ back into comic movies doesnt mean we need 34 of them) blegh, i should have used visual aids for this but its too late to figure out what to use now discussion encouraged

[thewritenerd]

Victor and Adam: NaNoWriMo Day 25

Victor

After updating Igor and Justine on the situation Victor made his way up to Adam’s room. Emptying out his school bag onto his bed he looked around for things he might need. The doctor said they would want to keep him in for a couple of days just to keep an eye on things. He’d need things to do. Books, that seemed a good place to start. Making his way over to the bookshelf he picked out a couple of things and put them in the bag. What else? His phone, but where was the charger? He eventually found it in the drawer of Adam’s bedside cabinet. Thinking what else to put in Victor spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Something light blue poking out from under the bedsheets. Reaching for it Victor grabbed hold of the material and pulled it out. It was a shirt, or what was left of one. One sleeve had been torn of and most of the buttons were missing. There were also several rips and tears. ‘What the? He thought. Then he remembered. That night he’d brought Adam to life as the boy had ran away he’d taken one of his shirts. And he kept it? Victor thought. Not just kept it, it seemed he was using it like some sort of comforter. Without a second thought he shoved the shirt into the bag and continued packing. He put in Adam’s notebook and a couple of pens, a puzzle toy which he could technically be done one handed, his headphones and his pills. Victor also decided to he’d let Adam borrow his tablet for a couple of days, as long as he was careful with it. He didn’t use it that often anyway. Making his way back down he saw Igor dusting the banister. ‘Ah Igor I didn’t want to say anything in front of Justine but I need to talk to you about this intruder of ours.’ Igor nodded.

‘Yes I’ve been thinking about that. Do you think they know about the tunnel?’ ‘They certainly know about the trapdoor.’ Victor said looking thoughtful. ‘Though there’s no way they can open it from the outside. Not unless they’re really strong. And if they were I don’t doubt they would have opened it by now.’ In fact the trapdoor could only really opened by a hidden mechanism that was operated by a remote Victor kept on him at all times. There was another way to the tunnels but the intruder would have to break in to the castle to find it. ‘Igor I want you to update security in here. I don’t care too much about this person skulking around outside. They’re not going to get anywhere anyway. But I can’t risk them breaking in.’ Igor nodded. ‘Good idea sir. I won’t be able to do anything today as you have the car. But tomorrow I can go into town and buy some security cameras.’ ‘Good. Now I’d better get going. I promised Adam I’d be back before he woke up.’ ***

When he first got back to the hospital Victor was informed Adam would be in surgery for a little longer. Sitting down he prepared himself for a long wait. Time crawled by but Victor stayed put in the waiting room, only leaving to grab something to eat from the hospital café. At one point a guy sat next to him. ‘Been here long?’ he asked. ‘Since six. More or less.’ Victor replied. ‘Ouch. So who you waiting on?’ Victor thought for a moment wondering how to answer. ‘My son.’ He replied. ‘Broken arm.’ ‘Must be a bad break if you’re here. Still kids are tough.’ He gave Victor a reassuring smile which he didn’t quite return. The man didn’t seem to upset though. ‘Can’t blame you for worrying though.’ Victor looked down at his hands. Truth was he was less worried about Adam’s physical wounds and more worried about him psychologically. His injury was very similar to William’s and though it didn’t seem he’d made the connection that very easily could have been down to shock. ‘So how old’s your son?’ ‘What? Oh he’s sixteen.’ ‘Any others?’ ‘No. It’s just him.’ ‘Got two myself. Ten and fourteen. Wanted to come with me to see their grandma but I said they couldn’t go skipping school.’ School? ‘Shit.’ Victor hissed. The man frowned at him. ‘Sorry. I forgot to call the school. Um excuse me.’ He stood up and headed outside. Once he was done explaining what had happened to the school receptionist, who seemed very understanding about the delay, he headed back in doors. ‘Ah Mr Frankenstein.’ The doctor who’d been treating Adam said as he approached him. ‘Your son’s out of surgery now. It all went well. He’ll probably be out until later this afternoon but you can see him now if you want.’ Victor simply nodded and after learning the room Adam had been moved to he headed there. He stopped in the doorway. Adam was in a bed much too short for him so they’d had to lay him on the bed sort of half sitting up. His head had fallen to one side so he was facing the door. In the bright hospital light Victor noticed the skin of his jaw didn’t quite match the skin on the rest of his head. Though the difference was subtle. Taking a deep breath Victor made his way over and sat down in the chair next to the bed. Almost without thinking he reached out and pushed a strand of Adam’s dark hair out of his eye. Adam didn’t stir, of course not he was drugged not just sleeping. As he watched him Victor couldn’t help but to think how much like a child he looked. Though Victor had set out to create a teenager and had used as many parts from people of the right age range, though that hadn’t been easy, but it was hard to see someone who towered over everyone as being so young. But now looking at him there was no doubt this was just a kid Victor was looking at. A kid you pushed away, he scolded himself. Because you couldn’t take responsibility. You were the only one to have had any say in his existence, yet you were the first to turn your back on him. ‘Great.’ He muttered. ‘My conscious is turning into Igor.’ He’d been hoping he’d have at least until the old man croaked before he started haunting him. No such luck it seemed. Turning his attention back to Adam he noticed a small birthmark on his earlobe he’d never noticed before.

***

When Adam finally woke up Victor was reading a paper he’d bought earlier that day. He didn’t notice he’d woken up at first. When he did look up he say Adam looking at him through half open eyes. ‘How are you?’ he asked folding up the paper. ‘Dunno. Can’t feel anything.’ Victor nodded. ‘Yes that’ll be the pian killers.’ Adam’s looked thoughtful. ‘How long have you been here?’ he asked. ‘Since you got out of surgery. Been a few hours.’ ‘You eaten?’ Victor laughed at this and shook his head. ‘Listen to you. Just out of surgery and you’re worrying about me.’ ‘Well if something happens to you I’m in trouble.’ Adam joked. For a moment the two just stayed looking at each other not speaking. ‘Oh I brought your stuff.’ Victor placed the bag on the bed. It should be enough to tide you over until you can come home. Adam nodded and began to pull on the zip with his good arm. He pulled out the tablet first. ‘You can borrow it. Just don’t go spending any money okay.’ Adam gave a small smile. ‘Yeah thanks.’ He then pulled out one of his books before putting it back. Then he frowned and reached in and pulled out the shirt. ‘I figured that was in your bed for a reason,’ Victor explained. Adam nodded. ‘I would have given it back. But I didn’t think anyone could repair it.’ Victor shook his head. ‘No it’s in a pretty bad state. But never mind, I have plenty of others.’ Adam let out a sigh of relief reached into the bag again the shirt still on his lap. Once he’d done checking the contents and confirming there was nothing else he wanted or needed he sat back again clutching the shirt in his good hand. ‘Ah I see we’re awake.’ Said a nurse as she stepped inside. ‘What’s this?’ she asked when she spotted the shirt. ‘I can’t sleep without it.’ Adam admitted his face turning red. ‘Oh don’t worry sweetie. You can keep your blanky.’ She turned to Victor. ‘So how is he?’ she asked. Victor frowned not sure why she was asking him. ‘Well the pain killers seem to be working.’ He said. The nurse nodded and made a note. ‘And do you have any questions.’ ‘Yeah how long do you think I’ll be in here?’ the nurse gave him a smile that people usually reserved for small children who wouldn’t shut up. ‘Oh sweetie you can’t go home just yet. You need to rest.’ ‘So how long will it be?’ Victor asked quickly noticing the growing anger in Adam’s eyes. ‘Oh a couple of days at least. Just to be sure. But we rarely keep anyone in longer. Not for a broken bone.’ She quickly checked the iv drip before leaving. ‘I don’t like her.’ Adam grumbled. ‘She doesn’t seem very professional.’ Victor agreed. ‘Do you want me to have a word with someone about that?’ Adam shook his head. ‘No I don’t want a fuss. I mean it’s just one nurse.’ Victor nodded. After sitting in silence for a moment Adam spoke again. ‘I’m really tired so if you want to go home and get something to eat I don’t mind.’ ‘Are you sure?’ Adam nodded his eyes closed. ‘Okay. I’ll be back to check up on you tomorrow. As soon as I can.’ He waited for Adam to respond but he was already asleep. Standing up he made his way out of the hospital to the car and drove back to the castle. It was well past dinner by the time he got home. Igor had something waiting for him in the oven. ‘I assumed you wouldn’t have eaten today.’ He said as he set the plate down. He went to pour the wine but Victor held out a hand to stop him. ‘Not tonight Igor.’ He tucked into the meal a little more eagerly than he usually would have, he really was starving, and finished without leaving a crumb. ‘So how is Adam?’ Igor asked as he took the plate. ‘Fine. The surgery went well. He was getting tired so I left him to get some reast.’ Igor nodded. ‘Anything for desert sir?’ Victor shook his head. ‘No I’m actually quite tired myself.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll be heading off to bed now.’ Igor nodded. ‘Well I’ll see you tomorrow sir. Sleep well.’ Victor nodded and headed out the door.

[him-e]

It bothers me people complaining about Luke in tlj, I know int the ot he's this hopeful hero and I know the character is iconic but you can't expect Luke to be the same before and after rotj, I mean, Vader death and redemption affected him, becoming a master affected him, Ben and the rise of the first order affected him. If they have put a Luke that was the same than in ep iv it wouldn't be realistic, Luke has grown, it's not the same 19 years old boy

Sometimes growth weighs you down, instead than lifting you up. Also, I feel like this sort of (not really) antiheroic-anticlimatic approach is just par for the course with the setup for this new trilogy. The OT’s curtains closed on such a finite, unequivocal happy ending that a sequel trilogy couldn’t be anything but disruptive of this happiness and fulfillment not only on a galactic scale, but on a personal level too. (after all, the “star wars” in star wars are all but a backdrop to this huge familial drama, aren’t they?)

You have what’s basically a carbon copy of the old Empire on the rise, and this happens despite the fact that our heroes have been in charge of the galaxy for all these years. So what went wrong this time? Because, obviously, something DID go wrong. And this time you no longer have the Jedi Order or the corrupted Republic of the prequels to blame. By signing up to the entire premise that kickstarts TFA, you must know you’re going to be faced with some hard truths, uncomfortable truths about your heroes, sooner or later.

and like, I’m a major Kylo/Ben stan and even I don’t think that Luke’s misstep destroys his characterization. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t devastating from Ben’s perspective, because it was—waking up to your uncle and most powerful jedi in the galaxy hovering on you with his lightsaber ignited because he’s afraid of you? TERRIFYING. Twice as traumatizing if you consider that Ben’s parents (from his perspective) gave up on him and passed him off to Luke, so the moment when Luke, the last person entrusted with his *soul*, no longer thinks he can be saved, is the moment when Ben just stops fighting and lets his shadow loose (and for god’s sake, I can’t stop thinking about this, it’s haunting me. when did this account become so deep).

But on Luke’s part, it’s just human. A human error. 

And to be clear I think there’s a fundamental difference between the joyous, abstract idea that “everyone can be saved”—and getting to actually save in a blaze of glory, age 24, your absentee murderous father whom you have never spent more than 3 hours in total with—versus living every day, every hour of your life with someone who is practically your own child and pouring in him all your love and your wisdom AND YET. The darkness continues to only grow and grow in this kid, and it seems that whatever worked on your father isn’t working on him for some reason and maybe you’ve grown old and the Light has dimmed in you and maybe you were wrong and some people are just too dark to be saved and maybe…. Luke doesn’t outright say it, but I think these thoughts were the dark side tugging at him without he realizing it. Not Snoke, just Luke’s own dark side that has always been there. It tugged and tugged until something snapped. And you know the rest.

So what is that destroys Luke’s character? This one moment in which he thought he could save a million lives by killing one à la Stannis (or, like any parent of a problematic child knows, has a fleeting “I wish you were never born” thought and instantly regrets it)? The fact that he didn’t try to fix it immediately later? The fact that maybe he felt so ashamed and guilty and devastated that he had to literally cancel himself from existence, not even telling Leia? (he still can’t tell the truth to Rey, a perfect stranger who has almost no dog in this fight, six years later, so it’s clearly something that ripped him apart)

Oh, okay, Luke isn’t hopeful anymore. And? I will always scoff at the idea that once people subscribe to a happy, bright, optimistic version of yourself, you are forever obligated to perform that character even if it doesn’t represent the real you anymore, and you’re not allowed to show your scars. Life has a tendency to break you. Especially as you grow old.

But what prevents it from being a bleak narrative is that Luke actually has his own [ redemption ] arc in this movie and reacts. He reacts because Rey makes him react, she violently calls him out on his apathetic bullshit and leaves with so much of his old stubborn hopefulness that it reminded of who he STILL is (so much for *Rey only revolves around Kylo*—Rey is MUCH more proactive and assertive of her own agency in this film than in TFA, where she just reacted to what happened to her. In this movie? She’s deliberately the catalyst for MANY things. She actively makes choices. On her own). 

It’s like he suddenly wakes up.And what he does is going to confront Kylo, who is entirely his demon, his own Frankenstein’s monster, created by his hubris (so much of TLJ is about hubris and its natural consequence, failure), and ask Ben forgiveness. This is truly the most heroic thing to do, for someone who spent years wrapped up in his own guilt and unable to process it and believing the only way to atone was to die like a hermit. I was actually surprised they gave the climatic Jedi vs Sith lightsaber battle to Luke (I was expecting Rey), and I’m still shaking for how beautiful and poignant that scene is. “See you around, kid”.

That’s a lot like Obi Wan in ANH but also… much more complex than Obi Wan in ANH. While Obi Wan was guilty of seeing the darkness too late, Luke is guilty of being hyperaware (perhaps, it’s precisely Anakin & Obi Wan’s cautionary tale that made him paranoid about Ben’s darkness, effectively turning his legitimate concerns into a self fulfilled prophecy). In the end, the stakes of Luke’s sacrifice are even higher than they were for Obi Wan in the OT, because a) that’s literally all that’s left of the Resistance that he’s dying to save, and b) we know that the root of Ben’s wrath is precisely his relationship with his family and specifically with Luke. Luke who failed Ben so BAD because it was a relationship that involved trust, parental care, and power imbalance. Luke who still loves Ben so much. Luke who was probably (at some point) Ben’s one true hero, even more than Han. We already have the backstory at this point in a way that we didn’t when we saw Vader strike Obi Wan down—but Ben/Luke is much more visceral, much more painfully the decisive factor in Kylo Ren’s villain origin story than Obikin ever was in the creation of Darth Vader. So the last duel is emotionally charged in a way that the OT’s Vader/Obi Wan one wasn’t, because we have taken young Luke’s place in watching his mentor (and hero) sacrifice himself for him (for us) and it’s much clearer that he’s also sacrificing himself for the villain, too.

[theboardwalkbody]

Penny Dreadful and the Modern Day Time-slip AU Headcanons/ficlets: Chapter 1 -  Caliban VS Bookstores (and also he discovers Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and decides Victor has some explaining to do). 

Summary: Somehow the main PD characters fall through a time-slip and end up in the Modern Day world. It’s loud and boisterous and abrasive. New technology, terms, fashion, and so much more is there for them to learn about. 

Caliban finds himself at a bookstore, looking for something to remind him of home; looking for something to comfort him. He stumbles across what is arguably the most frightening thing he never even imagined, however, and it leaves him wanting answers.

Bookstores have always been a place of comfort. Books of poetry piled to the ceilings offered solace and spoke to his sense of loneliness and isolation. But not these modern day bookstores. Shiny covers full of bright and colorful photographs seemed childish and gaudy. He knew he should never judge a book by it’s cover and yet he found himself doing it anyway. The flashy covers that gave away all the stories secrets weren’t even the worst of it. No, it was as if the book store went from a place for the lonely seeking thrill, adventure, and romance - a place where the scholarly and educated sought to connect to prose and perhaps another soul - and was now instead a place for children to socialize. Groups of teenagers hanging out drinking beverages that were supposed to be coffees and teas but had names quite unlike any coffee or tea he had ever heard of from the coffee shop located inside the shop (an idea that was incredible but one he felt didn’t have the charm he thought it would) were often loud and could, quite frankly, be rude. Too many times did he hear laughing and snickering from one particular group every time he passed by the shelves opposite them. It appeared to him they were not here at all for the books but simply for their coffee’s and for the status they felt it gave them. The children’s sections were endearing at first. A place for children to learn to read and have every story for every level of reading all in one convenient location but, and perhaps this was more so the fault of the parent rather than their own, they were often rowdy and uncontrolled. Crying, screaming, and tantrums were jarring to the ear and were too much distraction to allow for a pleasant reading or browsing experience. Made worse by the fact their cries could be heard across the store.

Still, his adoration for poetry and prose drove him to continue on rather than leave. He was determined to find something in which to pre-occupy his mind and soothe his soul with. Something for him to get lost in, or perhaps something to allow him the comfortable feeling of home in this new and frightening age. He stumbled among a discounted novel section - the books here had covers that were solid and plain and made of leather (well, okay, faux leather). They were new but tried to pass off as old. It was the closest thing he could get to what he was expecting so he lingered in the section. “Classics” the section was called and most of the stories were collections of works and discounted. The works of Charles Dickens were complied into one edition of a book, a selection of some of Shakespeare’s greats were bound together in a collection of their own, a collection of three works about vampires were in another. Shakespeare pulled at him and he picked up the thick book. It would offer him comfort and familiarity at least. But he found that behind it there was an entirely different book, misplaced by some careless patron or employee who perhaps wasn’t paying attention. Red faux leather with black font and trim, the title: Penny Dreadfuls. Always appreciative of macabre and horror he placed the works of Shakespeare down a moment so he could pick up this new book and see what it might contain. 

He carefully opened the cover and read from the table of contents; works by Poe, of course, The String of Pearls; a work he was familiar with as it had given rise to Sweeney Todd, the play production he had become fond of during his time as a stagehand; a few authors names he couldn’t quite place and one name and title that was so jarring he could have sworn his heart had stopped, though the concept was absolutely impossible: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Two name’s he was all too familiar with but which made no sense with their given context: Shelley and Frankenstein. He knew of a Percy Shelley, his works he was most fond of, but he had never heard of a Mary Shelley. He assumed it was a married name, but he was unaware Percy had married. Most shocking, of course, was the name Frankenstein - written there in ink clear as day on the page was a name he both loathed and knew with such intimacy. 

His hands trembled as he hastily turned to the page indicated to be the start of the work. He skimmed over the words, falling into a false sense of security as names, dates, and circumstance he did not recognize passed by his gaze. Something about a boat, a man near death, a sailor writing home to his wife - perhaps the names had been a coincidence and nothing more. However, he finished skimming the prologue and got to chapter one and began catching key terms and growing once again at the same time fearful, confused, and enraged with each familiar term. The narrative was told in first person and he was trying with all his might to forget about the coincidence of the locations, of the sequence of events, of their familiarity to what he knew about the man he knew as his creator until the moment when the narrator was named. Victor. He was reading the story of Victor Frankenstein. 

In his panic and rage he had forgotten completely about the safety and security of the works of Shakespeare. He tucked the hardcover anthology under his long coat and stormed out of the shop. On his walk back to the place they had managed to secure for themselves to get out of the cold he skimmed through the pages with anticipation and dread, hoping he wouldn’t find what he ultimately figured he would. And alas, he did. A creature. A creation. An abomination. All his names except for the one’s he chose for himself. He snapped the book shut just in time to look up and see he had almost collided with a man standing at the street corner waiting to cross the road. He stopped and waited to cross as well.

“Those are good stories,” the man standing there said when he saw the cover. “Barnes and Nobel, right? They’ve got good collections. I like the old-timey feel to those editions, though.” Caliban didn’t reply. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk. It didn’t seem to deter the young man, however, who kept on carrying the conversation. “Bram’s stories are cool, of course, I mean, Dracula and all. But, let’s be real, Frankenstein is the real reason for that collection. I’ve got like, three editions of it, the covers are cool.” Caliban glared at the man. “There’s more?” “Editions? Yeah of course,” the man laughed. “One of the one’s I also got at Barnes and Nobel has like lightning on the cover and the pages are colored silver, it’s pretty cool. Hey - have you read it yet or no? I guess I should have asked that first.” He wanted to laugh. Has he read it yet? He lived it. He shook his head, “I know it, lunatic playing with life and death as though he is a god, a creature neither living nor dead condemned to eternal suffering while his creator never once has to suffer like the thing he gave life to suffers.” The young man, not put off by the harshness of his voice, smiled, “yeah man! See you get it! So many people just see those old school black and white films or like hear about it from references in Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein and shit. Frankenweenie and like you know, the Halloween shit. Green dude with bolts in his neck - thinking that the monster is Frankenstein and shit and not realizing Frankenstein is the doctor. But you get it man! Yeah, you’ll love it. It’s such a great book!” Half the things the man said only furthered his confusion but he only added them to the ever growing list of questions he had that there would be hell to pay for should they not be answered and instead said, “No, Frankenstein is the true monster.” He had had enough of the conversation and was sick of waiting for the light to change, he turned and detoured around the block.

He reached the hole-in-the-wall room of the inn they’d managed to get and slammed the door open, startling those who chose to remain inside rather than explore their surroundings at that particular time. Among them was Victor, who’s head snapped up from it’s position cradled by his arms folded on top of the dresser he had propped a chair in front of, just the very person he wanted to unleash hell itself upon. Too bad he couldn’t. Sir Malcolm Murray and Ms. Vanessa Ives had also apparently chosen to stay in, or perhaps had gone out and already returned. 

Victor looked worse for wear. He was in the beginning phases of withdrawl and was currently in a situation where he was clueless and had no means of obtaining his next fix. Caliban felt no pity for him. He tossed the book at him, aiming for his head, and was disappointed when the heavy book collided with the wall just shy of his creators head instead. It left a hole behind where the corner had hit the drywall. If Victor hadn’t have moved it most likely would have broken his nose. 

“What the --” Victor began but Caliban cut him off. “What is that?” Caliban shouted. “A... book?” Victor answered like he had been asked the most stupid question in the world.

Caliban growled in response and made to cross the tiny room with the intent of wringing the wiry man’s neck but Vanessa sprung up from her seat on one of the beds and stood in his path. 

“Mr. Clare,” she said calmly, “what is wrong?” He didn’t cross the boundary line she’d created between him and Victor with her own body but he did look around her and direct his next instruction at the man who liked to pretend he had all the answers, “read it.”

Victor picked up the book and turned it right side up so he could read it. “Penny Dreadfuls,” he read out loud for the benefit of the other two occupants of the room who were, undoubtedly, just as confused as him. Sir Malcolm’s attention was on him but Vanessa held Caliban’s gaze steady, her presence seemed to calm him. 

“Open it!” Caliban growled, impatient. 

Victor opened it and turned to the table of contents. “Poe, Stoker, Doyle, Mary Shelley’s --” he cut himself off and the silence it left behind was almost tangible.

“Read. It. Aloud.” Caliban said.

Victor swallowed, his throat felt like it had closed off and he was having a hard time breathing. “Mary -- Mary Shelley’s... Frankenstein.” He whispered his own name as he couldn’t muster anything louder. He realized his body was shaking. He was thankful he was sitting down.

Vanessa had turned around to look at her friend. Caliban moved around her and loomed over Victor. Luckily Vanessa’s presence helped to dissipate some of his anger - certainly helped curb his murderous intent - but he still wanted answers. 

“How?” he asked. “I-I- I don’t know,” Victor stammered. “How can you not know?” Caliban asked. “I know just as much as you about this!” Victor yelled at him, then added, softer, “I don’t know what this is. I don’t know how... have you read it?” Caliban replied, “I skimmed it. It’s about us. You creating me. You creating a bride for me. It’s not all right. But it’s right enough.” “Anyone else?” Victor asked, as he looked up and saw Vanessa and Malcolm’s eyes focused intently on them.  “No,” Caliban answered, catching what he meant. “But there’s more.” “What do you mean?” Victor questioned. “I spoke to a man about it. He said there’s more editions. Something about films and chipmunks meeting you or me and something called Frankenweenie,” he answered. Victor looked as if Caliban may as well have been speaking a different language, “What?” Caliban shrugged, “Apparently most people think I’m you.”  Victor groaned.  “You’re not the only one who’s disgusted by the thought!” Caliban growled, his anger rising again.

“May I see it?” Vanessa spoke up to draw their attention away from each other.

Victor hesitated but Caliban ripped the book from his grasp and handed it gently to her. For some reason he felt more comfortable with it in her possession than in anyone else’s. 

“Do either of you mind if I read it?” she asked. Neither of them answered right away.  “Maybe it will give us answers,” she explained. “Unless one of you would like to read it instead?”

Victor felt the bile rise in his throat at the thought. He didn’t want to read about his life. It was either accurate or it wasn’t but one thing he knew: if it mentioned him piercing the veil that separated life from death and creating life anew than it told enough of his misdeeds and he was not keen on reading about all his errors in print. He knew them well enough.

Caliban considered it but ultimately decided it would be for the best if it was Vanessa who read it. He had no interest in knowing his creator any more than he already did. He had no interest in reading about some version of his birth. He lived what he lived and had no interest in the past. 

When neither of them answered in protest she concluded, “then it is settled. I’ll read it on your behalf.”

The tension in the room defused and the atmosphere began to calm down. 

“I am curious, however,” Sir Malcolm spoke up, “what the hell a Frankenweenie is.”

Vanessa smiled along with Sir Malcolm but Victor groaned again and hung his head, this time out of some sense of embarrassment. Caliban sneered and looked away but only because he was trying to hide his own smile creeping at the corners of his mouth. He was still confused and upset by his discovery but he decided he was going to have to look into the situation more closely some other time when he had more resources available to him.

[specialchan]

Halloween Holiday via /r/islam

Halloween Holiday

Halloween

Too often, we are in the dark about the background of occasions and holidays like Halloween, Easter, etc. Don’t think this is a trivial matter because once you find out why these are celebrated, you will think twice about getting yourself or your kids involved in it.

​

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain was a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped, and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops. Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween.

Roman and Christian influence:

By 43 AD, “Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory.” For the 400 years, they occupied Celtic lands, two Roman festivals, Feralia (the commemoration of the passing of the dead), and a day to honor Pomona (the Roman goddess of fruits and trees), were celebrated. The apple was served as a symbol for Pomona and might have been incorporated into Samhain by the practice of “bobbing for apples”.

When “local people converted to Christianity during the early Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church often incorporated modified versions of older religious traditions in order to win converts.” Pope Gregory IV wanted to substitute Samhain withAll Saints’ Day in 835, but All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2nd) which is closer in resemblance to Samhain and Halloween today, was “first instituted at a French monastery in 998 and quickly spread throughout Europe(1).” In the 16th century, “Christian village children celebrated the vigil of All Saints’ by doing the Danse Macabre. The Seven Brethren whose grisly death is described in the seventh chapter of the deuterocanonical book of Second Macabees” is also said to have resulted in children dressing up in grisly costumes to signify these deaths(2).

What is Halloween made of:

Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting “haunted houses” and carving jack-o-lanterns. Part of the history of Halloween is Halloween costumes. We find it innocent enough to let our children dress up as a Vampire or a Frankenstein at the parties held at a house or at the very least, attend the school functions because the teacher says “it’s mandatory.” But we forget or are oblivious to the fact that the practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and includes Christmas wassailing. This was done so that the spirits of the dead would not recognize people. The Druids would actually sacrifice animals and sometimes humans and dress in these animal skins. Wearing these clothes, they would engage in fortune-telling. Another explanation is that today, children who dress up, represent these spirits.

Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of “souling,” when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). Today, when kids are offered treats by neighbors, this goes back to the time people would offer food to appease the spirits.

Halloween can be a time for MAJOR SHIRK (making partners with Allah ). There are games and rituals which involve fortune-telling. Young people, for instance, try to see what their marriage prospects are by using omens like apple pairings that are thrown over their shoulders, or nuts being burned in a fire.

Jack-o’-lantern started off as a legend associated with a man of Irish origin named Jack who supposedly enjoyed playing pranks on the Devil. After his death, Jack did not go to Heaven or Hell and therefore, had to wander the earth carrying a lantern which gave him some light to see where he was going. Pumpkins that were hollowed out and had candles lighted inside did the job and they were also supposed to scare evil spirits away.

The Islamic stance is clear:

When you look a few of these evidences, (there are a whole lot of them), you get the clear Islamic stance towards Halloween:

“Say: ‘None in the heavens and the earth knows the ghayb (unseen) except Allah…" - Quran 27:65

This leaves no room for Halloween fortune-telling; and, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them(3)” puts an end to all the Halloween hype. In Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, it says:

“The clear evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah – on which there is consensus among the early generations of the ummah – that there are only two Eids or festivals in Islam:

Eid al-Fitr (Celebration after fasting for 30 days on the month of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha. Any festivals other than these, whether they are connected to a person, a group, an incident, or anything else, are innovated festivals and it is not permissible for the Muslims to celebrate them or approve of them, the express joy on them or help with them in any way because that is transgressing the sacred limits of Allah …” And to top it off, it becomes totally out of the league for us Muslims when it includes pagan-origins. It may seem very alluring to you with all the hype, and it may also be very difficult for you to stand apart from the mainstream crowd, but no matter how much fatwa shopping we do, how many ever “moderate” versions we try to seek, there is still just two words for it: not permissible.

And since it attracts children mostly, what with all the free candy, it becomes increasingly essential for parents to be proactive and handle the situation wisely.

Here are some handy tips for parents:

Be open and tell them the origin of Halloween and why our religion can’t allow it. Telling them the reason of banning it in the house will convince them more than any other lame excuse you could come up with.

Whenever you take away something from someone and leave a gap, never forget to provide them a suitable alternative. In this case, get your children to anticipate Eid more or get them involved into some other halal fun activities.

Another way is to keep them entertained on a daily basis. Sports, baking, hanging out with friends, and food of their choice should be a regular-fun-thing in their time table. This way, they will not be so keen to seek it elsewhere.

Last but not the least, keep them away from school when Halloween parties take place. Because no matter how many times you tell them it’s wrong, they are bound to get influenced to be a part of its festivities. Remember, what your children SEE influences them more than what they HEAR. Your advice will not affect them if their environment preaches otherwise.

Closing Thoughts:

The Halloween hoop-la is crazy and seems like it takes over everyone every year. But instead of going with the tide, we need to educate ourselves and especially our kids about it and tell them why we do not become a part of its festivities. It’s not a bad thing to be different. Our religion gives us fun-off times (Come on, you just celebrated two Eids!)

and-that should be enough for us. Having fun is absolutely permissible but going to extremes to have it and on the way trampling our beliefs is not only revolting but also implies our extreme lack of faith and lack of pride in our religion. Moreover, it can promote useless phantom fears in the minds of our children and affect their psychology by getting them desensitized to the idea of begging/asking people for things. Hopefully, trick or treat does not look so tempting now. It’s important to stay clear from these dangerous festivals because when we become a part of these things, we bear witness to that which is AGAINST our basic aqeedah (creed). Watch out.

Reference:

(1) MSN Learning & Research- Halloween

(2) Source: History of Halloween 29 Feb. 2001. Indiana University. 12 Oct. 2002

(3) Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4031 (classed as saheeh by al-Albaani)

Source: Islamic Online University Blog

Submitted September 10, 2020 at 02:02PM by KaitouDoraluxe via reddit https://ift.tt/32k4clL

[amazingviralinfo]

The acclaimed showrunner/director behind ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘The Avengers’ on his Save the Day PAC designed to get young people out to vote—against Trump. ">

Joss Whedon has always been with her, so to speak. On top of being raised by a hard-core feminist, he was bullied relentlessly during his formative yearsthe sorry plight of the androgynous ginger kidand thus identifies with the helpless, the disenfranchised.

He attended Wesleyan University, a bastion of feminism (Michael Bay be damned), and his first writing gig was for the woman-fronted sitcom Roseanne. Heck, his dad was a staff writer for The Golden Girls.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Whedon has long harbored a predilection for female protagonists, from the titular ass-kicker in Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Avengers Black Widow. And now, the filmmaker is doing everything in his power to help another intrepid, resilient woman triumph against the forces of toxic masculinity: Hillary Clinton.

Its fitting that instead of facing off against a man, she is facing off against maleness, says Whedon. She is campaigning against the male idall the worst of toxic masculinity in this country. This huge fart, this empty skin thats filled with gaseous hate, is a kind of Halloween monster of man.

The Halloween monster of a man hes describing is, of course, Donald J. Trumpa real-estate heir turned punchline-happy reality-show host turned Republican nominee for president of the United States. Whedon recently launched the super PAC Save the Day in order to encourage people, particularly the young and impressionable, to register to vote. And make no mistake about it: They want these registrants to vote against the orange guy with the tiny hands.

Save the Day kicked things off with a bang. Its first PSA featured stars like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo urging American citizens to register to vote, with wry self-deprecation and the promise of a nude Bruce Banner. Its since gone viral, garnering 7.5 million YouTube views and counting.

Whedon was inspired to start the anti-Trump PAC through a combination of what he calls angry writers syndrome and the Democratic National Convention, where, following the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails, many Bernie Sanders supporters believed the party conspired against their candidate.

They were so fractious, recalls Whedon. Before Michelle Obama spoke and made everybody feel better, the Bernie bros were yelling, Lock her up! and I thought, Oh my godwe could hand Trump this fucking election if we dont get our shit together. So I thought, well, Ive never had the means to do this and the time, but I do now, and therefore I have an obligation to. As late in the game as it is, Im just putting the pedal to the metal.

Since its Sept. 21 launch, Save the Day has produced eight shorts, the most recent of which is The Youth, a cheeky piece featuring comedians Bill Hader and Nicole Byer that pokes fun at how adults tend to pander to millennials by trying to speak their language. All it took for Whedon to secure all the stars for his PSAs was to askas well as a little help from his talent agency, CAA. Nobody said no, says Whedon. Everyone who we were able to get ahold of was game.

The 52-year-old filmmaker is not just an acclaimed TV showrunner and filmmaker, but also a total news junkie. Whedons first celebrity autograph came from John Chancellor, the longtime NBC Nightly News anchor. He and his mother watched him every night.

Trumps frequent criticisms of the mediathat its rigged against him and doesnt give him a fair shakeseem particularly ridiculous to Whedon, given that the blustering presidential candidate, who was caught on tape bragging about sexual assault (and was subsequently accused of sexual assault or harassment by 11 women), is best pals with CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who keeps a framed Trump tweet in his office, and has been propped up by the gossip rags and cable news channels for decades. This is a guy who used to masquerade as a publicist named John Miller in order to brag about his sexual conquests to the tabloids.

All his criticism of the media is incredibly hypocritical, self-serving, and unreal. He is a creation of the media, says Whedon. The only person whos ever really come out against him is him. All these mean ads hes complaining about from Hillary are just him talking. And they wouldnt put Bernie on the air, and they air him and his rallies for hours every day. The media has helped him at every step, and they let him play the part of the crass, lovable rich-guy figure. Well, it turns out hes not fucking lovable! And the person who revealed that was him. The least interesting thing about the rise of Donald Trump is Donald Trump, he continues. Whats great is, A) the hypocrisy that the GOP has descended into is being exposed by their Frankenstein creation, and B) conversations about race, immigration, sexism, and misogyny that were not taking place have begun to take place on a national scale, which is great.

One of the more prophetic Save the Day videos was Fraud Squad, a bit about a team of voter-fraud investigators (played by Minka Kelly and Anders Holm) who are left with nothing to do because, well, voter fraud is by and large a myth. A 2014 study found that out of approximately one billion ballots cast between 2000-2014, there were only 31 incidents of possible voter fraud. So Trumps incessant whining that the election is rigged against him due to widespread voter fraud is not only falseits dangerous.

That scares me honestly more than anything else hes ever said, claims Whedon. We made this video months ago, and the voter-fraud thing was very much about people paying attention to who was really trying to make voting difficult. We made this before Trump started saying, Lets monitor the polls and make sure no ones getting in who shouldnt. Thats terrifying as well. I almost changed the script to reflect that. But the fact of the matter is voter fraud is a GOP creationthat they can disenfranchise the poor and people of color.

Whedon is referring to North Carolinas Republican-pushed voter-ID laws, which were recently found by a federal appeals panel to be the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow that targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision who largely voted Democrat.

They say elections are rigged to distract people from the fact that theyre rigging them, says Whedon.

While Whedon acknowledges that the rise of Trump and his army of acolytes isnt due to just racism in people, and that theres a sense anger and fear about the economy and the way the world is changing, he also believes the GOP has been sowing these seeds for yearsfrom the Southern strategy all the way to the birther movement.

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Honestly, my favorite thing about all this was what they said on Saturday Night Live when they were doing Romney, says Whedon. He said, We in the GOP we do not say racist and sexist things; we imply them subtly over decades and decades of policy. So theyve been sowing these seeds, and then theyre like, Hey! Where did this guy come from?!

[Mike] Pence is just terrifying. I think Trump picked him because nobody would ever assassinate Trump. It would be the worst thing that could happen, he adds of Trumps incredibly homophobic running mate. People forget that the GOP fell out with Trump because he wasnt conservative enough. Forget the fact that hes just a racist, sexist horror whos trying to incite violence in order to clinch his bid for power, there are people here who are running for office who are worse. They really lost touch with their constituency. They went to the fringes and found the dreck of political humanity.

Whedon has been a Hillary Clinton supporter for quite some time, and thinks the unflappable former first lady, senator, and secretary of State is just the person to defeat Trump come Nov. 8.

Shes fought longer and harder against very unfair odds than anybody I have seen, he says. I do think she has a real chance of slaying what is an actual beastand then she can spend the next eight years dealing with amazing misogynist obstructionism, the way Obama got to do with eight years of amazing racist obstructionism.

[pninaharchive]

Just one number? What if you answered them all? It will take a while, but time is just an illusion.

LMAO luv a challenge thank u 💐 read more bc it got long obviously

1: Let’s start with a tricky one; what is the real reason you are confused right now?

ahh okay well i think about who i am as a person and whether im good or bad and recently in my reflections i realized that i have control issues?? and how to work with that is confusing to me but

2: Do you ever get “good morning” texts from anyone?

no lol

3: If your significant other smoked pot, would you care?

no unless it was interfering with our relationship somehow?

4: Do you find it easy to trust others?

yes and no?? i dont really trust a lot of people but im very optimistic and idealistic and so i never assume the worst of people. like if someone lied to me i prob wouldnt assume so unless it was glaringly obvious

5: What were you doing at 11PM last night?

sleeping lmao

6: You’re drunk and lost walking down the road; who is with you?

this would never happen in my life oh my god i plan too much to not have a dd and a charged phone w access to a gps 

7: What would you do if you found out you had been cheated on?

break up w the person and prob not talk to them again

8: Are you close with your dad?

no i dont talk to him

9: I bet you kissed someone last night, right?

i havent kissed anyone since 8th grade 

10: What are you listening to?

currently im watching ink master in the background but in terms of music ive been playing big thief’s masterpiece and diiv’s is the is are

11: You can only drink ONE liquid for the rest of your life - what is it?

water lmao

12: Do you like hickeys?

ive never had one so idk for sure but the idea of it isnt super appealing to me

13: What time do you go to bed?

anywhere between like 11 pm to????? 3 am but usually closer to 11 bc i cant sleep in 

14: Is there someone who continuously lets you down?

every man in my life

15: Can you text as quickly with one hand as you do both?

no not at all im so bad at 1 handed texting

16: Do you always answer your texts?

no LMAO unless its my mom or abby

17: Do you hate the person you fell the hardest for?

i dont know that ive ever fallen before

18: When was the last time you talked to one of your best friends?

an hour ago

19: Is there someone that makes you happy every time you see them?

abby and angel and my bunny

20: What was your last thought before you went to bed last night?

i dont remember i think i was thinking about tattoos

21: Is anyone else in the room with you?

my brother

22: Do you believe what goes around comes around?

no there are plenty of shitty people who are doing just fine

23: Were you happier four months ago than you are now?

noooooo way 

24: Is there someone you wish you could fix things with?

no im kinda fine with the people i choose not to speak to 

25: In the past week, have you cried?

no

26: What colour is the shirt you are wearing?

black

27: Do people ever call you by your last name?

my last name is 9 letters long absolutely not

28: Is anyone ignoring you right now?

no

29: Do you have a best friend?

ya abby lmao love that bitch

30: Would it be hard seeing someone else kiss the last person you kissed?

no. see #9

31: Who was your last call/text message from?

angel

32: Are you mad at anyone?

always

33: Have you ever kissed someone older than you?

see #30

34: How old will the last person you kissed be on his/her next birthday?

see #33. probably 19 or 20 idk

35: How many more days until your birthday?

345

36: Do you have any summer plans yet?

yes!!! im going to maine with my mom and her gf and abby soon and me and abby are gonna tear it up the rest of the summer.

37: Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex?

i have no male friends currently

38: Are you keeping anything from your best friend(s) now?

never

39: Do you have a secret that you’ve never told anyone?

i dont think so

40: Have you ever regretted kissing someone?

yes lmao see #34

41: Do you think age matters in relationships?

absolutely especially when either of the people is below 20 or so

42: Are you available?

emotionally, romantically, and sexually yes

43: How many people have you had real, strong feelings for since high school ended?

i feel like i feel strongly for most people i meet im not really a casual person

44: If you had to get a piercing (not ears), what would you get?

i kind of want to get my other nostril pierced??? other than that i think medusa piercings are really pretty

45: Do you believe exes can be friends?

if both of the people are emotionally mature enough definitely

46: Do you regret anything?

most things

47: Honestly, what’s on your mind right now?

um ive been thinking abt my chronic illness lol bc i dont think im actively bleeding internally anymore but wondering how much blood ive lost bc ive been really exhausted and i think it might be anemia

48: Did you ever lose a best friend?

every one except the ones i currently have

49: Was your last kiss a mistake?

yes like see #40

50: Why aren’t you pursuing the person you like?

i dont like anyone currently i wish i did

51: Has the last person you kissed ever seen you cry?

no

52: Do you still talk with the person you LAST kissed?

no oh my god see #49

53: What was the last thing you ate?

i just had some pasta

54: Did you get any compliments today?

i think someone said they liked my shoes

55: Where are you going on your next vacation?

maine!!!

56: Do you own anything from other countries?

probably but i couldnt tell u for sure my dude

57: Are most of your friend guys or girls?

girls

58: Where have you lived most of your life?

rhode island

59: When was the last time you took a long drive?

sunday

60: Have you ever played Spin the Bottle?

no has anybody

61: Have you ever TPd someone’s house?

no has anybody

62: Who do you text the most?

abby i guess?? i dont really text that much

63: What was the last movie you saw?

i watched young frankenstein but ive seen that before

64: What’s preventing your current boyfriend/girlfriend from going back to their ex?

dont have a gf

65: How many boyfriends/girlfriends did you have in 2011?

none lmao i was in like 7th grade

66: Is the last person you kissed younger than you?

idfk see #52

67: Do you curse around your parents?

yeah

68: Are you happy with where you live?

not really i wish i was on my own in like europe or some shit

69: Picture of yourself?

check out my insta boiii

70: Are you a monogamous person or do you believe in open-ended relationships?

i think it depends on the other person?? i could be open to either i think

71: Have you ever been dumped?

no

72: What do you most like about making out?

passion

73: Have you ever casually made out with someone who you weren’t seriously involved with?

lets play a game called how many ways can i say im a virgin

74: When you kiss someone for the first time, is it usually you who initiates it or the other? 

i feel like this set of questions has something against me

75: What part of a person’s body do you find most attractive?

i like!! tummies and legs

76: Who was the last person you talked to last night before you went to bed?

my mom probably

77: Had sex with someone you knew less than an hour?

gOD

78: Had sex with someone you didn’t know their name?

aoidsfkfkl

79: What makes your heart flutter and brings a big cheesy smile to your face?

ummmmmmmm honest compliments and affection 

80: Would you get involved with someone if they had a child already?

probably not right now bc im not ready or interested in kids but maybe someday 

81: Has someone who had a crush on you ever confessed to you?

a couple people 

82: Do you tell a lot of people when you have a crush?

not usually but i havent had a crush in a long time

83: Do you miss your last sweetie?

what the fuck

84: Last time you slow danced with someone?

prom last year

85: Have you ever ‘dated’ someone you’ve never met?

olive is my boo

86: How can I win your heart?

ugghgh idk openness and honesty, passion, similar interests, buying me flowers

87: What is your astrological sign?

gemini!!

88: What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

sleeping

89: Do you cook?

yes i love cooking!!

90: Have you ever gotten back in touch with an old flame after a time of more than 3 months of no communication?

no 

91: If you’re single right now, do you wish you were in a relationship?

yes im such a fucking romantic

92: Do you prefer to date various people or do you pretty much fall into monogamous relationships quickly?

i think im a monogamous person but im?? also really flexible depending on the other person

93: What physical traits do you look for in a potential interest?

idk im not picky ugh just 

cute

94: Name four things that you wish you had!

a new laptop and purse, money, cute gf 

95: Are you a player?

no im a pussy and also i love women

96: Have you ever kissed 2 people in one day?

no god 

97: Are you a tease?

no

98: Ever meet anyone you met on Tumblr?

yes

99: Have you ever been deeply in love with someone?

no

100: Anybody on Tumblr that you’d go on a date with?

yes omg definitely

101: Hugs or Kisses?

kisses!!!!

102: Are you too shy to ask someone out?

absolutely

103: The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?

gross

104: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you babe?

only if im interested in them tbh

105: If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was in relationship, would you go for it?

no this hypothetical person sounds like a dick

106: Do you flirt a lot?

no

107: Your last kiss?

see #66

108: Have you kissed more than 5 people since the start of 2012?

no its like every question is about kissing

109: Have you kissed anyone in the past month?

asdfghj

110: If you could kiss anyone who would it be?

barbie ferreira :(((((((((( 

111: Do you know who you’ll kiss next?

no that would be too convenient

112: Does someone like you currently?

not that i know of

113: Do you currently have feelings for anyone?

nope

114: Do you like to be in serious relationships or just flings?

serious relationships

115: Ever made out with just a friend?

no

116: Are you happier single or in a relationship?

who could say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!