#that reform rep is getting OWNED

[python-nebula]

As anxious as I am about Reform potentially winning, it's hilarious to watch the Labour rep completely obliterate the Reform rep

[blazeeblake]

Something mostly (?) unrelated to rancid fandom behavior that’s been stuck in my brain a bit:

I wholeheartedly agree that it’s important for fiction to show men/masc characters in emotionally vulnerable and supportive relationships with one another, while keeping it platonic. Absolutely. I do sometimes feel that this stance is a kissing cousin of the goofy rallying cry of “let men be just friends,” that gains traction anytime gay relationships are contemplated in media , albeit to a lesser degree. I also think that this sudden platonic representation is sometimes undertaken in a disingenuous way that allows people involved in the direction of a narrative (show runners, networks, etc) to hand wave away established romantic subtext and tropes being applied between two male characters. It just smacks of not understanding the difference between platonic and romantic love when you take the “default” pairings/dynamics away, and I think it’s a disservice to both instances. Again, this isn’t always the case, but I’ve seen it happen enough times for it to hit some stupid little nerve in me when I get a whiff of it.

I don’t know, maybe this should have stayed a draft but I kind of wanted to unburden my brain of it 🤷🏽‍♀️.

[zoe-oneesama]

I also think the recent ep where Mari is scolded for not improving Chloe's behavior as a class rep, is not fair. A class rep is there to be the voice for the students and act as a form of communication, not mentor or educate another child. Mari also became class rep to stop Chloe's bullying, not reform her or give her therapy. I can't believe they (the class) actually gave the class rep position to Lila, even Marinette has done so much for them, and little Miss Liar is only full of hot air. Side eye

The Class Rep thing in "Revelation" was so dumb in all aspects, like, FIRST of all-

Lila cannot seriously be bringing up that it's "undiplomatic" that they held elections without her when she wasn't even going to Francois Dupont yet, are you trying to look me in the face and tell me "Volpina" happened before FREAKING "Darkblade"?! (And obviously no one brings up this fact when she's talking nonsense)

WHY is Bustier even entertaining this garbage when there's two weeks of school left?! Like, sorry Lila, try again in high school if you can even get in with your attendance record. The only things left for the Class Rep to even do is the Student -Teacher Career Course planning which sounds super important and like a really dumb thing to suddenly hand over to two people who haven't been preparing for it in the slightest!

Marinette is running on the "Actually this is pointless, I've done great as a class president because it's actually not my job to change Chloe for the better, especially when Bustier, her parents, and Ladybug herself couldn't get her to pull her head out of her ass, so I'm going to spend my time on things that actually matter and will have results" and legit why does anyone care about "improving Chloe" when in TWO WEEKS they will be at TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCHOOLS and hopefully NEVER have to see her in person again?! Though realistically she should be running on the "we have two weeks left why are we even here" campaign.

And Lila is running on the "Chloe can change if someone just worked with her instead of spending all their time on their own romance like a selfish jerk" platform and the class eats this up just because Chloe is "willing" to be Lila's deputy. Except Lila has been hanging out with and being friends with Chloe since freaking "Penalteam"! And guess who's still an asshole despite your "influence" Lila?! OH RIGHT, YOUR NEW DEPUTY! Hell, "Adoration" JUST happened 3 episodes ago where Chloe was framing Marinette for theft! Your "influence" isn't worth SHIT to anyone paying attention!

Now, Lila's only going for the President role so she can fuck everyone over in "Confrontation", so obviously this stupid campaign was going to happen and Lila was going to win just to set up the Big Bang where Lila exposes herself. Who cares that it stretches suspension of belief past it's limits, that's just the Gold Standard when it comes to Lila schemes.

Anyway, can't wait for her grand plans as The Villain of the next arc. -_-

[modernelites-if]

Modern Elites is a 18+ raunchy slice-of-life IF that follows you, a young royal, navigating the world of the obscenely rich and immensely famous while trying to keep your elite, royal family together in the midst of drama and tabloids.

Setting: modern times, fictional tiny country of Selusa, New York, Paris and more.

Genre: slice-of-life, drama, romance

Celebrity. Pop Culture Icon. Heir.

Royal.

As the heir to the Selusan throne, you're known by many names. Growing under the spotlight hasn't been easy, especially since it seems the vultures all want a piece of your elusive family. Country clubs, yachts, parties, private jets, elite schools, you've had it all.

But is there something missing?

Customize your heir from appearance to gender identity to personality. Dictate what kind of person they are: rebellious, dutiful. Do they care about the royal line or are parties more on their mind? Will you keep a squeaky clean rep or ruin the family name?

Customize Salusa and cater the country to your taste.

Dictate what kind of leader you want to be, and how others percieve you.

Experience the life of the hidden .01% and the drama of the ultra wealthy.

Engage in fiery, dramatic romances that could either uplift or ruin you and your family.

and more to come.

THE ADVISOR

Imogen/Ian Lancaster [f/m]- your family's advisor and publicist. I has cleaned up every mess, every leak, every scandal and at this point, there are no secrets between your family and them. Coming from a well-off family themselves, they know exactly how this world works...and they navigate it with a steel will and a cold, detached demeanor. I has you handled like an adult with a child, trying (and probably failing) to keep you in line. Anything you do will go through them, so it's better to think twice.

THE BETROTHED

Everett/Eva St. Clare [m/f] - the eldest of one of the most influential businessmen on your side of the world, black sheep, and a source of gossip in polite society, there have been talks of a betrothal between you two since the partnership started. Because of that, you two are forced into a fake romance for the cameras. E is an arrogant and brash casanova, sex-obsessed, and is proudly noncommital with string of rumors that follow them like their own entourage. Unfortunately for you, E's exploits can damage the carefully constructed facade you two have built. Of course, E doesn't give a damn.

THE REBEL

Vince/Vivian De Grasso [m/f] - (secretly) fresh out of jail and newly reformed (not) V's politician of a mother has asked in a favor from your family: to reform them and stifle their rebellious ways by adding them to your security detail. Your father having a soft spot for the kid, brings them in as one of your guards. Hopefully V keeps in line...or not.

THE COMMONER

Cordelia/Corden Bowen [f/m]- an employee at the country club you frequent, someone less polite would call them a 'nobody.' C has a bit of an attitude, but that's expected from someone who is used to getting berated by rich people all day. There's not much else to say about them...or maybe there is?

THE JOURNALIST

Romi Marshall [m/f]- a famed journalist with contempt for royalty and elitism. Their newsletters frequently slam you and your family's every move, and they don't like you one bit. You can confidently say they're your biggest hater.

THE ROYAL BEST FRIEND

Oliver/Olivia Ames-Astor [m/f]- a fellow prince/princess from another country and your best friend, who is still hung up on their ex. Forced to betroth someone else, O has so many problems you can hardly sort through them. Still, they're kind and as polite as you'd expect from a person who has had etiquette lessons drilled into them since childhood. They're also your best friend, so there's that.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Elsa Lanchester (The Bride of Frankenstein, Bell Book & Candle)—we love cleft chin rep for women! gorgeous but in a way that made her stand out, and she should have been a leading lady much more than she ended up being. her turn in bride of frankenstein is iconic

Madge Evans (The Mayor of Hell, Lovers Courageous)— Because she's typically seen as "the nice girl" I think people tend to overlook her, but when I first saw her in The Mayor of Hell (1933) and thought she brought a lot of depth than that to her character. She plays a nurse who repeatedly stands up to the corrupt, bullying warden of a reform school. She's fierce, determined, and outspoken, even though she risks losing her job. While her character is essentially powerless to change things and turns to an outsider for aid, I could never think of her as weak or useless. Because really it's only because she's a woman that she doesn't get to be the hero of the piece (not for lack of trying, as it were).

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Elsa Lanchester:

The ultimate vintage weird girl crush!! Her performance in Bride of Frankenstein is captivating and iconic and mostly done with eyes (although she doubles as Mary Shelley at the start, which is also very sexy of her). Also she’s in a film where she tries to assassinate Hitler (it’s not great but she’s great in it, and that’s frankly iconic). Also the first few sentences of the ‘early life’ section of her Wikipedia are fascinating: Her parents were bohemian socialists who rejected traditional Edwardian marriage, and her brother owned a puppet company. Coming from that of course she was gonna be an icon.

“I found it rather glamorous to be a bastard.” -Elsa Lanchester

She is just so pretty??? Her eyes and face structure is both very beautiful, but also lends to her expressions

she's always so delightful and funny in every role she turns up in <3 I love her in witness for the prosecution, I love her in the inspector general, i love her in bride of frankenstein! funny astute adept always! (and neil gaiman's personal hot woman crush)

[tevanbuckley]

Do you think it's fair to say that Bi Buck was completely ruined by the fandom assholish strike of hating on every LI he gets? Pls don't get me wrong I still smile every time I remember we got Bi Buck but I feel like whenever I want to be happy about it I remember the complete bs people pulled to the point of trying to get the actor who plays Tommy fired. I feel so guilty because now I kinda wish it didn't happen at all. I am sad that this peice of representation turned into something void of joy because of how the majority of the fandom act (let's be real yes the show is popular with gp but the fandom consists mostly of buddies)

I think at the end of the day the people they’re most ruining the show for is themselves 🤷‍♀️

they’re the ones who’ve become so parasocially intertwined with a ship that they can’t see the forest through the trees. All whilst we’re getting to enjoy a queer storyline that’s not only good in its own right but genuinely has the potential to widen the boundaries of queer rep more broadly.

like we moved past just how monumentally insane it was for a network tv show to make their reformed fuckboy main character canonically bisexual 7 seasons in way too quickly imo.

and idk if it’s that the fandom is (at this point) mostly hardcore buddie shippers or if they’re just very very loud. The amount of bucktommy fanfic produced since 7.04 alone is crazy and speaks to their popularity.

I’d also recommend staying away from twitter/tiktok with a 10 foot pole. idk how it happened but tumblr really has become the most sane fandom space. It’s also fine to just not engage with the fandom side of the show at all. 911 has been my comfort re-watch show for years and it’s only in s7 that I really got into the fandom. If this isn’t improving the viewing experience for you anymore then it’s okay to step back for a bit and just watch the show for yourself.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

So you want to write about a Jewish Ed Teach - a quick guide to writing a Jewish man of color, by a Jewish moc

Given Taika Waititi is Jewish, I am always so happy when I see fanfic authors writing about Ed being Jewish! We need more Jewish poc rep and I'm always happy to see it. That being said, I've also seen a lot of misunderstandings, so I wanted to to write up a few quick guidelines.

Disclaimer: I'm just one Jew with an opinion, and this is based on my own experiences! I'd love if other Jews, especially other Jews of color, in the fandom would like to chime in with their thoughts as well!

It is possible to be a Jewish athiest! Judaism is membership in a people, and belief in g-d is not required (and, in my community, it's even considered a very personal question!). Some of the most observant Jews I know are athiests; belief in g-d and level of Jewish observance are not directly correlated. Cannot overstate how common it is for Jews to not believe in g-d or go back and forth on the question.

On that note, there are different levels of Jewish observance. Every individual is different, but in general there's Orthodox (very strict), and then, way on the other side, there's Reform and Conservative (Conservative does not equal politically Conservative). Conservative and Reform are very similar, except the Conservative movement tends to be more observant of traditional Jewish law and uses a lot more Hebrew. If you live in an area without a lot of Jews (like where I live!), it's very common for Reform and Conservative movements to have a lot of overlap and collaborate on a lot of stuff together.

Not every Jew keeps Kosher, or keeps Kosher to the same level of strictness.

Synagogue services are not like Christian services, especially outside of holiday services. Ordinary Saturday morning services are often more like a group conversation as we try to work new meaning out of the Torah. The B'Nei Mitzvah, the big ceremony that marks a kid being old enough to participate fully in Jewish life, is more like "baby's first thesis defense" than anything else! There have literally been pauses in services I've attended before as someone ran to the temple library to check their sources.

Not all Jews speak Hebrew. Some Jews might not know any, some might be able to stumble through the more important prayers, some might be able to sight-read okay, some might only know religious words but not modern words, some might be fluent! Just about any level of proficiency is believable.

Ed's got a lot of tattoos! Tattoos are a big traditional Jewish no-no, but (again!) different movements and different Jews have their own opinions. I know a Conservative tattoo artist! It's not something that other Jews would comment on (unless they're just assholes) and it wouldn't make anyone kick him out of synagogue services (no joke, I read that in a fic once).

Hannukah is not the only (or even the most important) Jewish holiday; it's just the one most non-Jews know about. The two biggest holidays are Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. I think Ed's favorite holidays would be Purim (you get to wear costumes and put on plays!) and Passover (retelling of a story along with a big meal!).

Depending on the area and the Jewish demographic, Jews of color can sometimes feel uncomfortable in our own community, especially when other Jews automatically assume we must be converts. While this is a real issue, it is not something I want to read authors who aren't themselves Jews of color write about because it is a deeply inter-Jewish issue.

Depending on the community you grow up in, religious trauma isn't as common with queer Jews as it is with queer Christians. The Reform movement has been advocating for queer Jews since the 1960s (you read that right, yes). I'm not saying there are no queer Jews who have religious trauma, I'm just saing it's a lot less common, and I have always felt immediately accepted as queer in Jewish spaces.

The inverse is not true. Queer spaces are not always accepting of Jews (or of people of color, a double whammy!).

A few stereotypes to avoid: Jews are often stereotyped as being greedy and corrupt. Jewish kids are bullied by Christian kids because "we killed Jesus," when I was ten I had another kid ask to "see my horns." Always avoid comparing Ed directly to animals, especially rodents.

If you're a non-Jew looking to write about a Jewish Ed, I recommend doing some research. MyJewishLearning is a great website that's very accessible.

Every Jew interacts with our Judaism differently, so if you're writing a Jewish Ed, please take a moment to think about what it means for him! Membership in a community? Calming traditions that remind him of home, family, and community? A point of pride - we're a resilient lot! Even just a note in his background that he's not as connected to as he might like to be?

[heartofhubris]

nah i'm in a bitchy mood

i literally risked being grounded - that is, wake up at 730, walk to school with no breakfast, get lunch if we were deemed good enough to get lunch money, get home, and get a portion of dinner and get sent to bed by 8 pm - to enjoy harry potter. I risked getting in severe trouble, physical abuse, to enjoy Harry potter. And you, random fandom blogger who thinks Snape's hot, do not get to tell me that you're just attached to it. It directly is related to why I even started getting into writing. Ms Nazi over there is why I got interested in creating my own fictional world, why I got attached to so many different characters who simply would whisk me away into a world where my issues could be solved by a flick of a wand and I could enjoy having friends with the same inherent interests s i have. I understand the power and the allure of Harry Potter.

And then I grew up.

And I realized this woman who I had looked up to for getting out of the poverty house and taking care of her children, who i saw as a role model and a fantastic woman, named a black character Kingsley Shacklebolt. I realized that this amazing woman had named an asian woman Cho Chang. The fourth book, where she barely changed the letters of two indian twin girls names from their last names, are you kidding me?

I understand the allure and the escapism. The first movie I ever, and actually the only movie premiere I have ever seen, was Harry Potter 8. It remains so to this day.

She might've won the cases against plagerism, but that makes it even worse that she made such a white hetrocentric story where anyone outside of the norm was treated worse than nothing. Even on a bare basic line, the names itself were boring and contrived.

But what's worse is that the older you get and the more critical thinking you can develop, the more clear it gets what your priorities are outside of whatever values you may claim to espouse. If you dare to have HP and BLM in your bio, the idiocy level matches the movie from 2006 with a plot line that most likely rhymes with your life.

You can enjoy whatever the fuck you want to. I don't care. That is your human right, to do what you want when you want But if you come up to me with Alan Rickman's best role defaulted to Wizard Nazi, you are weak. You are ridiculous, and I'd put down money you're actually a full adult and that's worse. If you dare to say that You ~loved~ Gary Oldman's best role of Sirius Black, you better be able to back your shit up with prison abolitionism and prisoner reform, and you better have fucking contacted whoever is your minister, rep, senator, whatever the name may be in your country (and yes, UK citizens, you are not exempt from prison reform. No, you are not exempt European citizens, from prison reform and rehabilitation) to do better for those incarcerated.

And god rest her recently departed soul, if you dare to tell me Maggie Smith's best role was McGonagal, you are an embarrassment. I swear to god I have met children who could insult you and you'd get mad or embarrassed, because your maturity level is on that same level as that child.

Enjoy what you want. But if a child who risked abuse can get over their escapism, maybe it's a little embarrassing for you to still be here.

[doomspiral]

do not spare us, what are your thoughts on ludwig

I laughed when i got this the second i turned anon back on, i understand you. Under a cut and not going in main tags bcs this IS me taking it seriously in the funny haha yaoi fandom.

Cw: nazism

There are two main factors I consider when characterizing anyone, which is nature and nurture. For ludwig, i go with the idea that gil raised him to be an empire. Pure and simple, the whole point was to take the failed project of the hre and turn it into something successful and grand. Ludwig takes to it like a sponge because bodysharing with the dead hre comes with "the flesh remembers" that organ transplant recipients speak about anecdotally.

So ludwig grows up believing he's owed the world not exactly because of blood, but because gil raised him, because hes been trained and taught and coached to be The Perfect Ruler, who else could be better? And theres no room for failure; no one else would raise an empire, no one else would gamble on something this destructively insane. It IS suicide for gil to do this, so ludwig better make him proud.

And then everything goes tits up. And then ww1 comes and goes. Gilbert’s completely different and ludwig doesnt understand. He doesnt understand whats happened on the world scale. He knows they should be rulers and theyre not. He looks for answers and is presented with a very simple, clean, vicious answer with targets that make sense to him. The uniform he wears in ww2 means he represents the working class volunteers for the fascist military who believed in the cause. Hes an immortal rep and yet hes a foot soldier, which means hes not high ranking which means... what? It means he's the useful idiot who doesnt see all the inner workings, but sees enough to sell his soul knowing the overall cruelty it entails.

Ludwig's problem is that he doesn't just get radicalized or drag his feet according to orders, he launches himself into it headlong without even the violent reprogramming gil got with the teutonic knights. Its not just his upbringing. He, like the example of calling post-ussr ivan a vatnik, holds fascist/supremacist ideals all on his own. I dont believe that goes away just because he lost the war and went through various reforms, which is also a discussion of current german(ic) people wrt white supremacy. Is it still gone if you view your way as the only way to move on and enact restorative justice?

This isnt the totality of my thoughts on this but these are what pertain to ludwig at least.

Tl,dr; Ludwig means well NOW, but his values are still built on the idea that he knows best, as the straightman of europe surrounded by fools, so how well can he really mean if he still views himself as morally above everyone else?

[tenebris-lux]

- chapter 26, Oathbringer

Oh, how the turn tables….

I mean, uniting the world is already practically impossible. Add Dalinar’s rep to it, is it any wonder no one trusts him? What he said to this guy years ago (shown above) is pretty much the same thing others are saying to him.

I sympathize with Dalinar in books 1 & 2, because he’s clearly a good guy trying to do a good thing. And I sympathize with him in this book, but I’m also getting the bigger picture. The guy changed radically over time, from one extreme to another. People that would’ve offered support to the previous Dalinar no longer respect the reformed guy, and those that might agree now aren’t sure he can be trusted. Even if he is genuine, who’s to say he won’t change again, now with yet more gained power?

Dalinar is what I consider a pretty good person now (not perfect tho), but he was also what I’d consider to be evil before. He loved killing people in battle, would even cut down his own in the pure ecstasy of it.

[jounosparticles]

what r ur thoughts on the guild

i like the guild a lot actually!! i’ll give a brief opinion on the members!

francis: i didn’t like him during the guild arc but anything after that has been great. the fitzgerald rising chapter/episode really made me love him

(maybe it’s just me being a bit of a capcom nerd but was this an ace attorney reference? the positioning and font makes me think it’s a tribute to phoenix wright)

mark: i just like him. his design is cool and his ability is sick!!

john: i actually can’t wait to see him again. i really really hope they touch on his reformed guild bit soon. him vs fitzgerald maybe to form the group? his ability is great and i love his "new" design. the more i think about him the more i like him. cool guy.

nathaniel: i love his design and his ability is cool but he annoys me a lot as a character sorry </3

poe: LOVE HIM!!! he used to be a top 5 character for me but i still adore him. he’s silly and i love his design and karl is awesome. really fun ability as well

louisa: i kinda feel bad for her. let’s get my girl some confidence please. she’s a cutie though

lovecraft: i think he’s neat. id like to know more about him. i seen a theory that said he was a cthulhu-type that can turn into a human, but stormbringer i believe states that only humans can develop abilities, so wtf is lovecraft? maybe he was some sort of creation? idk

lucy: LOVE HER!!! her design is so cute and her personality is great. i’m so glad she’s part of the main cast. the canadian rep for me

james: i wouldn’t even blame you if you didn’t know who this guy was. certified background character. he has like maybe two lines maximum. he may be the first bsd character that has zero fans. i’ll be his first fan. hi james from bsd. ur alright. he was given a name so hopefully he at least makes some sort of reappearance. update: nevermind i looked him up and he’s the guy the mafia killed after the whole anne’s room thing. i thought it was some random guy. he’s so nothing i forgot he died. sorry man

herman: he’s kind of handsome. a nobal man but i have nothing more to say. idk exactly what his ability is though (except that it’s a whale) so more clarification on that would be nice

margaret: yeah honestly nothing to say. she seems nice from now francis spoke of her. and her and nathanial are a funny duo but on their own i don’t really care much about either tbh

one thing that has annoyed me a lot lately is this picture of the guild from the anime:

characters in order from left to right: ??, herman, james, margaret, nathaniel, francis, louisa, john, lucy, mark, lovecraft , ??

my issue with that photo is that neither of the "??" characters look like poe. the one sitting on the far left kind of looks like another version of francis, but why would he be there twice? and where’s poe? and who’s the other guy on the far right? he kind of looks like atsushi but i don’t see why he would be there.

sorry that photo bothers me a ton, i’d like to know who the ?? people are.

anyways overall i like the guild a lot. i hope francis’s new guild and john’s reformed guild combat. i hope we get to see the characters more!

[beardedmrbean]

Black gun owners are helping to shape the gun debate in Massachusetts, with Boston-area legislators expressing surprise and maybe a little frustration over the fact that many of their constituents are telling them to back down from their efforts to add more restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. 

Bostonians, who have long faced tough hurdles to secure gun licenses compared to suburban peers, are pressing state lawmakers to ease those restrictions as new gun reform legislation advances on Beacon Hill this season. And, increasingly, the calls on behalf of expanding Second Amendment rights are coming from men and women of color who live in Dorchester and Mattapan. State Rep. Russell Holmes, who represents parts of both neighborhoods, says he is paying attention to their calls. “It’s a legal right they are asking for and I need to open my eyes to the fact that folks in my community feel their Second Amendment rights are being infringed upon,” said Holmes, who said he’s approached everywhere – even at church – about expanding gun rights. His colleague in the Fifth Suffolk district, Rep. Chris Worrell, said he’s been fielding similar calls from constituents in other parts of Dorchester and Roxbury that he represents. “Am I a gun person? No,” said Worrell. “I’m not a gun guy and don’t own a gun but there are a lot of people here in the neighborhood who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights and obtain a license and have not been able to.”

On today's Bearing Arms Cam & Co, newly-elected GOP committeewoman Dr. Elizabeth Hinds-Ferrick and Massachusetts firearms instructor Nolan Howard declared that it's getting harder for Democrats to ignore the pro-2A sentiment coming from a growing number of their constituents.

"Everyone's seeing what's going on around them. We've got immigrants coming in, and they're taking care of them instead of us, and a lot of people are feeling a little uneasy and thinking it's time to go get their license," Howard revealed, adding that he does see something of a generation split on the issue. 

"A lot of the older generation doesn't like it, including in my family, but I forced my sister to make my class. I told her 'hey, just get the license. You don't even need to get a gun right now, just get a license. God forbid something happens, you won't have to wait. You can just go to an FFL, wait for the background check, and there you go." 

Dr. Hinds-Ferrick is among the growing number of Bostonians who are applying for her LTC, which is required to both possess a gun in the home and carry in public. 

"My oldest son signed up the whole family," she shared. "We all went to the course on a Sunday. It's time for all of us to be responsible gun owners and get our license so we can protect ourselves and exercise our Second Amendment rights." 

 Hinds-Ferrick is hoping to use the Second Amendment as a means of Republican outreach to people of color, but both she and Nolan said they'd be thrilled to see Democrats embrace the right to keep and bear arms. They just don't see it happening anytime soon. 

"If you look at what's happening in Congress and around the country," Hinds-Ferrick said, "they're blaming the gun and not the person that is using the gun. The gun is an inanimate object, but they're trying to change the law to away our Second Amendment rights." 

Meanwhile, Hinds-Ferrick, Howard, and other Second Amendment supporters are trying to change the political environment in Massachusetts, and thanks to their efforts, Democrats are starting to feel the heat from their constituents. 

For lawmakers like Holmes, the incoming calls are ones he cannot ignore. “It’s an unusual request for me,” Holmes admits. “I’m saying, ‘When did this happen in the Black community because I have gun violence all up and down Blue Hill Avenue in my district.’ But these are friends and regular, real people, not crazy gun enthusiasts but real people that I know who say this is something they want to do…I’m not happy about it but I have to open my eyes to it.”

It remains to be seen if Holmes and other Democratic lawmakers will actually listen to what their constituents are saying. A conference committee is still working behind closed doors to craft a compromise gun control bill, and we have no idea when they'll have a draft that will be released to the public or what the bill will look like when it finally emerges from the committee room. 

Be sure to check out the entire conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Hinds-Ferrick and Nolan Howard in the video window below. I'm thrilled they could both join the show today, and I'm encouraged by their activism and outreach in one of the most hostile environments for our Second Amendment rights. Massachusetts has a long way to go before it's even close to truly recognizing the fundamental importance of our right to keep and bear arms, but Howard and Hinds-Ferrick are helping to move the needle in the right direction. 

[steampunkforever]

Were you to pitch me on a film about a dystopian government taking a bunch of youthful political rebels to the desert and hunting them in organized challenges as they try to earn their freedom, I would say that I'm too old for YA novels. Except Punishment Park is decidedly not this, instead presenting us with a documentary-style political commentary on America and the encroaching Fascism of the 1970s.

If you've been reading these filmposts, you know my dislike of the soapbox and the use of art as a pulpit, political and otherwise. That said, sometimes when you make movies about politics you have to actually talk about politics. This can also be well done, just like in the 1971 political commentary film Punishment Park.

Punishment Park is all in all a properly bleak film. Shot in documentary style, it tackles the hippy fears of Nixon-era internment camps for counterculture figures. This same cultural anxiety can be found in Thomas Pynchon's book Vineland, except this time it's Reagan-era internment camps, and the traces of this anxiety have trickled down all the way into the FEMA Camp conspiracies of the 90s and onward. For as outlandish as those conspiracies may seem, just a couple decades prior to the release of this film we'd seen the US Government legislate, build, and forcibly round up and imprison Japanese Americans regardless of their guilt or association.

Which is to say that as the hippies saw the iron-fisted crackdown against the excesses (civil rights protests) of the flower children at the same time as the ongoing military draft was dumping the country's young men directly into a meatgrinder shaped like a failing imperial war, the prospect of getting tossed into a desert prison for "thinking different" was less of a YA Novel premise than it sounds today coming from your weird aunt who stays on facebook groups too much. A lot of stuff was happening back then, and all at once. Punishment Park reflects this political turmoil, and makes no attempt to hide the politics of what is an explicitly political film.

SO, what about this film makes overt political commentary OK while leaving Adam McKay's attempts in baby jail for "being too self-righteous with it?" My answer to this lies in the combination of the documentary storytelling of the film and the movie's use of the Socratic Method.

See, one of the main gripes about soapboxing in films focuses on the strawmen this sort of script-as-pulpit storytelling generates. For the otherwise perfect film that is First Reformed, the youth group scene's handling of the opposing viewpoint is jarring when compared to the nuance the rest of the film exhibits. Punishment Park skirts the bad-faith readings of the opposing ideology, and harnesses the documentary style to do it.

The movie is set in two parts, exchanging points of view as it hops between them. The first part is the action of the film, showcasing hippies in the desert running for freedom as the cops hunt them down, all of the captured by a team of foreign documentary filmmakers. The second part showcases prisoners in a kangaroo court of sorts as they are questioned by a board of Union reps, draft board members, and other community administrators in something half trial half Hayes Commission pt. 2. Enter the Socratic Method.

The desert section of the film stands well on its own. A minimal dialogue documentary style depiction of police brutality in a bitter commentary on jackboots serving The Man in what's basically Cop City: California. The interspersed trial footage brings to bear the overt commentary of the film. Punishment Park Vs America, facilitated through the board's interrogations of various counterculture prisoners.

The inquests held before sentencing provide us with the push and pull of ideas (intercut between desert scenes showcasing the output of said ideas) much like Magneto and Prof. X debate over a game of chess, but with significantly more oppressive power dynamics. This allows the film to present both sides of the argument bare faced, free of subtext. Pure clash of ideas, presented in a way too interesting to be preachy. It's organic, and nobody feels like a strawman.

Punishment Park pulls it off. The tirades against American Imperialism and police brutality in the film feel natural, unforced. The bad guys are presented as intelligent, rational people who are in fact supporting a fascist regime, and that makes things much more powerful. The Union Rep. and the Draft Board member are ordinary people, and the questions they pose to the prisoners awaiting the judgement of a sham trial are very much in tune with the culture of the time, as are the responses of the counterculture prisoners. It's a human film, and the humanity reaches out to even the inhumane cops killing hippies in the desert.

The best thing the film does is present us with the exchange of ideas. There is no fear of the other guys being right. Because they aren't, and any good ideological position should hold up against them. And they do, it just doesn't matter, because the system is rigged against them from the start, and no matter how much they rail against it the panel of concerned citizens sitting in judgement, the court will never judge in their favor.

It was never intended to.

[salvagesmha]

Rappa should have joined the League of Villains

Something that was such a missed chance was that Rappa was such a natural fit for the League of Villains that it isn't funny.

Think about it!

For one, he shares their mutual dislike of Overhaul so already there's common ground for the other League and him to get along.

Two, he offers them something they never really lacked and that is 'reasonable close combat power' + likeability. Muscular had the baggage of murdering Kota's parents, and his Pump Up was way too strong to have in the story for too long as a reoccurring threat. Rappa cuts out the established character killing aspect and adds in a layer of honor in just wanting a fair fight. It would've meshed well with the current League being more humanized the more we got to know of them. Plus, in general, himbo that wants a good fight and is generally chill otherwise hits better than 'jerk jock that slaughters anyone for lolz'.

Three, class dynamics!! He would fit in, so, so, so easily as Kirishima's Villain that it HURTS they never saw each other again, even after Rappa claimed to want another shot (seriously what the fuck happened to the rest of the yakuza?!!) He and Kirishima could be like a good indicator of how far Red Riot has come since they last fought and give Rappa the dream match he desires (just, without the death aspect to it XD) Plus, thanks to Vigilantes, he has another dynamic with Mirko that could have easily lend itself to him having a fairer shot reforming in the epilogues.

Four, he could offer a nice look with the MLA/PLF concerning Quirk rights and syncs well with the League's reason for villainy. Rappa became a villain due to overbearing parents controlling his life, which can mirror both Toga and Shiggy's own parentage that affected them to become villains too. He can sympathize with both pretty easily and potentially could have been like another brother to them. On the MLA aspect, given that their whole deal is basically getting unrestricted Quirk access, and Rappa would know from experience the fighting rings he participated in they were created out of need to see some Quirk using fights without the law butting in. So he's probably agree/sympathetic to those who want to just cut loose....but also see if him 'testing' out said MLA soldiers to see how far that desire to rampage goes. Plus, he probably prefers a lax, casual way of getting to his dream rather than, at least initially, the MLA's stuffy, corprorate controlled hierarchy.

Five, I'll be honest, it's just nice to have someone from the Shie Hassaikai stick around as a main stay. I will forever be salty that, aside from a misused Overhaul, NO ONE ELSE was brought back for even the Second War. Whyyyyyy?!! Rappa at least allows them rep to still be in the story and actively doing stuff. (If it were up to me, I'd also allow Chronostasis to slip away to do his own thing, but that's just me XD)

But yeah, this is just me craving something that never happened, but I wish it did so much. Rappa would have been so good to have on-board that it hurts he was just left as a one-shot villain ;_;

[proosh]

In a previous post you said you don't talk about your 2p prussia because their fanon divergent but I really liked how they were.

The whole cool to Gilbert hot, character foil if I remember correctly was nice to hear because that's kinda just how I view the 2p's in general instead of being complete opposites!

Just wanted to see more about your 2p prussia!

<3

Ah, thank you anon for the kind words!! In case anyone missed it, I spoke about my 2P!Prussia a while ago in this post and mentioned that I didn't really like to talk about him too much because he's so fanon-divergent, and that still holds.

I find myself disagreeing with the very fandom-popular idea of 2Ps existing as polar inversions of the "original" reps because while it certainly is an easy route I... Look, no disrespect to the artists and writers who cut their teeth on establishing the fanon, but I find myself wanting more meat to sink my teeth into. The idea of nations having multiple "representations" is an existentially fascinating conceit and something that I tend to circle in my own writing.

August exists (hypothetically, in my own internal brain-canon that won't appear in fics, lmao) as an acknowledgement and ideological counterbalance to Gilbert's existence. Not an inversion or "opposite" because they Are the same entity, one way or another, but rather a representation of another slice of national identity. Putting more under the cut so this doesn't get too long <3

He started off as a Gil with his "heat" stripped away, and became his own monster from there. The same building blocks of martial authoritarianism and disciplinary efficiency but rendered into cold aristocracy rather than the broiling momentum of the upward-ascension of the Prussian soldier-class.

This is in itself an answer to the question that I've ended up wrestling with over the years: how to reconcile the Teutonic Order with the Old Prussians while acknowledging both as foundations to the state-building project. Some other artists and writers have approached it from a different direction (making Old Prussia a separate, distinct entity that was murdered by the Teutonic Knights) which is totally valid but not necessarily an interpretation I find myself ending up at.

Gilbert exists, metanarratively, as an Outsider, an unknown, a freak of nature raised up from the peasantry to duel with his betters. He should not exist and yet he continues to persist. This is a characterisation of Prussia that is historically validated, but runs counter to the characterisation of Prussia as entrenched in old hegemonic aristocrat knight-regime. Both of these things are true at the same time, but August exists to help ease the narrative-cognitive dissonance, at least in my head.

He's also just a very funny character, in my opinion, and I take a great amount of pleasure in tormenting him in various ways. He's a wretched barely-reformed fascist piece of shit, to be clear. He's operating on brainworms just as deranged but slightly more comprehensible than Gilbert's and he also does a much better job of pretending he's a normal person who can be trusted with executive authority.

He also gets to suffer while I continue to put him in increasingly stupid outfits because that really is one of the fundamental dynamics I have with him as my OC <3

Thank you anon for the question and kind words!!

[tieflingkisser]

Prosecute a Cop? You’ll Face Removal From Office

Reform-minded district attorneys like Minnesota’s Mary Moriarty are facing backlash for prosecuting police shootings and misconduct.

Two unions representing police and state troopers in Minnesota wrote a letter to Gov. Tim Walz last friday. An elected prosecutor in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, was prosecuting one of their own, and they wanted her removed from the case — immediately.  On Wednesday, four Republican members of U.S. Congress from Minnesota followed up in another letter to Walz expressing “outrage” in the same case. “It is time for us as a nation to stop demonizing law enforcement,” the Republican representatives wrote. They called for an investigation into Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. At least one of the four, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, has called on Moriarty to resign.  Only a few days earlier, Minnesota Republican state lawmakers called on Moriarty to resign and drop charges against the state trooper in the case. Lawmakers accused her of coddling criminals and targeting police in “politically-motivated prosecution.” The controversy erupted around the prosecution of a state trooper who shot and killed 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II, a Black man, during a traffic stop in July. Moriarty’s office said the trooper’s use of deadly force against Cobb was not justified. The pressure campaign against the prosecution seems, so far, to be working. Asked about the case during a press conference on Monday, Walz, a Democrat, questioned Moriarty’s handling of the charges and criticized her assessment of the use of force. The governor’s office, however, has not yet said whether Moriarty will be removed from the case. (Moriarty’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but in a previous statement she said the unions wanted Walz to “give special treatment to this case.” Walz’s office did not respond to a request for comment.) The attacks like those on Moriarty are not unique to Minnesota. Moriarty was among a clutch of reform-minded prosecutors who started winning elections in greater numbers in recent years. Constituents were increasingly casting their ballots for criminal justice reformers who ran on prosecuting police for misconduct and killing of civilians, ending cash bail, and curtailing the prosecution of nonviolent offenses.  In response, opponents of the reform push have been more and more explicit about why they want to remove elected attorneys like Moriarty: They’re prosecuting the police. “It’s clear this is not about safety,” said Jessica Brand, who founded the Wren Collective, a progressive consulting firm, and works with several reform prosecutors. “It’s about power — they don’t want prosecutors in office who will hold them accountable when they abuse their power. That’s the theme that is running through the backlash in every state.”

[keep reading]