#they're ordinary middle-class people!

[eyrieofsynapses]

hey, Leverage peeps, I've got a thought. I've seen a lot of posts and memes joking about Nate's inability to understand that his clients do not want money, they want revenge. I also find this funny. but I was thinking about it and I realized something: there's a personal reason behind it. there is a very, very good reason why Nate doesn't get that.

Nate's drive to lead Leverage, outside of the crew, originated from his son's death due to his insurance company's refusal to cover the bill for the required treatment. we all know this. if his company had paid for Sam's treatment, everything would've been fine.

…or, if Nate had been a little wealthier, had a little more change to spend… maybe he could've paid for it. maybe Blackpool never would've had a say in any of it. maybe Nate would've had everything under control from the start.

we've discussed at length in the fandom how money equals safety for some of the others in the crew (Parker and Hardison grew up with little to none and know its importance to survival, Eliot needs it to stay ahead of his old enemies, etc.), but I don't know that I've seen any discussion on how it's relevant to Nate. for him, however, money equals security in healthcare and in housing (he lost the house, remember?). Nate's older than the others. he remained in the same place for much longer, and he had a stable life for a while. the others haven't been in that position before. many of their clients, however, are at that place in life.

yes, for the others, money keeps them ahead of the game and it keeps them secure. but none of them ever lost a kid because they couldn't pay for healthcare. none of them risk losing the life of someone who is completely dependent on them when they don't have enough.

(Hardison, perhaps, has the closest understanding, considering he hacked a bank to pay for his Nana's healthcare. but he never lost her.)

Nate thinks ahead, you know? he has a long-term view of things. I imagine that for him, when clients refuse the money, they're not just refusing a month's worth of groceries, or a place to stay the night, or the ability to keep running. for him, they're refusing control over their hard-earned, stable, long-term living situation. they're refusing the potential to save a family member's life.

I dunno, guys. I think that's a pretty good reason to not understand why people don't want the money.

[marzipanandminutiae]

thinking about the infantiliztation and/or formalization of 19th-century women's clothing to modern audiences

like

our entire reference point for "wearing long skirts and outfits with decoration like lace, embroidery, appliques, etc." is either formalwear or fictional characters in children's media like Disney princesses. women's clothing is just so radically different now- not that those elements don't exist, but they're much less common in everyday clothing than they once were. some form of simple trousers and an equally simple top are de rigeur for everyday attire, and anything else is Fancy

combined with the fact- which is true! -that a lot of what survives to end up in big museums belonged to wealthy people, this ends up in wild assumptions like "basically our entire idea of what the Victorians dressed like is just Rich People Clothes really"

which has led to the eternal cry of "but what did NORMAL people wear?!?!?!" that will not be satisfied with real examples of middle or even working-class everyday clothing because it still looks too "fancy" to modern eyes

not Victorian, but a great example of this is what Abby Cox wore to portray a milliner (hatmaker) in Colonial Williamsburg. a working, middle-class woman:

(ignore the facial expression there)

this is the exact outfit she sported in a video that apparently got responses like "but that's just what rich women wore!" and it is, in fact, everyday attire for a working person. a person who worked in the fashion industry, it's true, but still

I had someone ask me about how to find examples of casual Victorian clothing because they were at their wits' end trying to research it. and I had to tell them that...what they were looking at WAS casual. in the sense of Clothing For Everyday Wear That's Not Especially Formal. there's nothing inherently formal, or exclusive to the wealthy, about a matched bodice-and-skirt dress, instep-length, with some trim. or even a trimmed blouse and skirt. obviously women working the absolute hardest outdoor, physical jobs might have adopted occupational trousers or similar, but we don't all dress like construction or farm workers all the time nowadays. why would they have back then?

Laundresses, probably 1850s or early 60s. Note that I can STILL date the picture based on their outfits and hair, and these are the furthest things from wealthy socialites.

Maid scrubbing steps, probably 1870s or 1880s. Note pleated trim on her skirt and what appears to be a peplum at the back of her bodice.

also, not all working women worked physical jobs any more than we do today. here is a teacher around the turn of the 20th century:

Teachers, 1887

"Breton Seamstresses," 1845, by Jules Trayer

were there differences in quality, type and quantity of trim, fit, etc? obviously. but some people are convinced that the basic outfit format can't POSSIBLY have been something ordinary women wore, because it looks formal and/or princess-y in a modern context

[hanadulsetaad]

RICH KIDS OF SK ( HYUNJIN X READER (Y/N) X BANG CHAN

TAGS: LOVE TRIANGLE, ANGST, BREAKUP, BETRAYAL

PART 2 PART 3 PART FOUR part 5 PART 6

SYNOPSIS:

Y/N Seo's life gets turned upside down when her crush, Hyunjin, starts dating her old friend turned enemy, Yeji. Suddenly, Yeji is part of their rich kid's group, even though y/n and Yeji can't stand each other. They pretend to be friends, but it's all fake.

Things get super messy when old secrets spill out, and new faces join the gang. Rumors fly, and trust crumbles as people in the group start leaking secrets, trying to wreck everyone's reputations. With newbies entering the scene, will the schemers in the group get busted for their sneaky plots?

Y/N's in the middle of it all, trying to figure out who's real and who's fake. Will she stick around with the rich kids, or will she find her own way? And what about Hyunjin? Will Y/N win his heart, or will she find love in an unexpected place?

PROFILE ONE

"THE RICH KIDS"

Y/N Seo: Y/N is the brainy YouTuber daughter of a business tycoon, alongside her dropout-turned-millionaire brother, Changbin. Together, they're the dynamic duo of South Korea, known for brains and business smarts. Plus, she's also a college student, balancing academics with her online presence.

Changbin Seo: College dropout turned startup sensation, Changbin is the brother of Y/N and the mastermind behind his own wealth. In a secret relationship with Lee Felix.

Hwang Hyunjin: Hyunjin is the prince of South Korea's elite circle. Son of the third richest man, he's not just a pretty face but a model and dancer extraordinaire.

Yeji Hwang: Yeji is the princess beside Hyunjin's prince. A rising star in modeling and dancing, she's the perfect match for her wealthy beau, Hyunjin.

Lee Felix: Son of a fashion mogul, Felix struts his stuff on runways and social media alike.

I.N: Son of a top doctor and lawyer. Despite his privileged background, he's all about hard work and making his own mark.

Wooyoung: Changbin's business partner in their gym startup, Wooyoung is a college buddy and y/n's roommate.

"THE NEWBIES"

Bang Chan: Born in Australia but moved to Korea at 13 due to his parents' separation, Bang Chan is anything but ordinary. Despite not being from a wealthy family, he's a genius who aced the Korean college exams. On top of that, he's a part-time composer for big idol companies, showcasing his incredible talent.

Kim Seungmin: From a regular middle-class family, Seungmin is Bang Chan's buddy, and he's a riot! He never thought he'd crack the college exams, but guess what? He did, landing at the 200th spot. Even he is surprised.

(more characters will be introduced)

HE IS DATING WHO?

[shhroomer]

Which canon character respects your OC most? What gained that respect?

LORE TIME !!! (sorry this took a while to answer too, i've still got the school debuff </3)

going to once again preemptively cut because i ALSO expect this one to be a long one. Also, just a heads up that while I try to be canon-compliant as much possible, a lot of the lore for this AU I have with my oc has some canon rewritten to better fit with my vision of the story/make for better character dynamics !

So I don't think there's necessarily one single character that respects Hanh the most. If I really had to try and narrow it down, it would probably be Kyle. I talk about it more in detail in here but to make a long story short (oh uh let's hope I don't turn like those people in the zipline episode), they're both very responsible, have strong moral compasses, and they're both basically the "moms" of the group. Hanh would specifically be kind of the "last line of defense" and voice of reason if even Kyle ends up falling victim to the whims of South Park shenanigans.

Though in a more general case, there are two events that caused Hanh to gain respect from most of the kids at school.

The first one was when Hanh first moved to South Park and was considered the New Kid. In typical new kid in South Park fashion, she'd probably gain a little bit of attention seeing as no one ever moves there (I'm imagining this takes place before the town becomes super gentrified and a lot of people start moving in). But other than the usual whispers and gossip, nothing really out of the ordinary happens, and life goes on. That is until the M4 get an idea (wuh oh).

Something, something, Cartman finds out that Hanh is Vietnamese (and not actually Chinese) and decides to formulate a plan where they use Hanh to help write their Vietnam War paper (this is actually entirely based Season 2 episode 6, the one where the M4 ask Ned and Jimbo about their experience in the Vietnam War).

So, once again, in typical South Park fashion, the boys go to pester and bother her about questions on the Vietnam War. To which, y'know, the 9 year old has no clue how to answer because she was born in the US and knows nothing about the war, lol.

For the most part, she just politely tells them she doesn't know anything. This of course completely infuriates Cartman, maybe he even goes on to believe it's some kind of conspiracy by the Chinese to stop them from getting an easy A on their report.

It all culminates into one boiling point where Cartman goes to confront her in the middle of the school yard. He starts throwing accusations and racist remarks while Hanh just kind of. Stands there. Not really knowing what to do. Stan and Kenny kind of stand just as awkwardly as her, while Kyle's yelling at Cartman for him to stop.

Up until Cartman decides to grab part of Hanh's hair and pulls on it. For a second, time slows down, and a little voice in the form of her mom rings in Hanh's head: "If anyone ever tries to bother you at this new school, you need to defend yourself. And if that means punching someone, you do it. What do you think we enrolled you in all of those karate classes for?"

And so, she does. She punches Cartman square in the face, practically instinctively, and he stumbles back. A thin line of blood starts streaming down his nose, staining the pristine snow underneath his feet, and Hanh's just about to shit her pants.

She runs off, utterly terrified at what kind of trouble she's going to get into, while the boys and anyone who had the fortune of seeing the scene unfold laugh at Cartman for getting his ass handed to him by a girl. For the rest of the day, Hanh just actively avoids the M4 as much as she could, thinking they're going to beat her up for punching one of their friends. So imagine how funny it is when they finally catch up to her and tell her "Dude, anyone who punches Cartman is cool in our books." To which she responds with "ISN'T HE YOUR FRIEND???"

So yea! It's both the catalyst for Hanh's friendship with the M4 and how she gained their respect (save for maybe Cartman).

The second event is also pretty similar to the first one, which is also based on another episode! Specifically, Season 8 Episode 10, the one with Trent Boyett.

In this one, instead of going to Shelley for protection against Trent Boyett, they go to Hanh (much to Cartman's dismay) because they remember an offhanded comment she made about taking martial arts classes and being a red belt. They were initially going to go ask Shelley first, before remembering she'd probably kill them anyway after protecting them from Trent.

When they come to her begging and pleading to Hanh, she's initially completely against the idea. She's especially appalled at Kyle, considering he's usually the one to take the moral high ground. Though, after a lot of convincing and tearful sobs, she finally concedes, only on the condition that they would own up to their mistake to everyone and give a heartfelt apology to Trent Boyett (in this universe they'd still get Trent sent to juvie, but probably not due to burning Ms. Claridge). Though, before they get the chance to agree to her terms, lo and behold: Trent Boyett shows up.

With nowhere left to go, the M4 hide behind Hanh, which Trent Boyett makes a comment on how of course they'd be cowardly enough to hide behind someone again instead of owning up to their mistake. Hanh (once again, shitting her pants) would try to reason with Trent by telling him the guys have changed and are willing to apologize and make up for everything they did. There's a moment of hesitation from him as he sees Hanh put her arms up, almost as if to shield her friends. But he dismisses this and just goes straight for them.

She uses herself to basically block Trent's way, following his every movement. After a bit of back and forth, he tries to push past her but she just pushes back, until he finally has enough and he just goes for it and beelines to them. This causes him to suffer the same fate as Cartman: with her fist connecting with his teeth. If she wasn't pissing herself before, she certainly is now, LOL

Everyone's reeling back from the shock and realization that Hanh's just punched the meanest, nastiest, cruelest kid in school (and also praying for her soul to rest in peace because only God can help her now), and there's a thick silence in the air. Mr. Mackey thankfully comes in before anything further happens, and seeing Trent Boyett at the scene already makes him think the worst. Mackey starts his spiel on how "fighting's bad, m'kay" and is about to take Trent away to presumably give him another suspension. Before he could do anything though, Hanh speaks up and takes the blame for starting the fight. Pretty much everyone is shocked, especially Trent (and also the M4 because if Hanh gets suspended over this, who's going to protect them now???). She goes on to recount what happened (albeit with a very shaky voice), and explains that she's the one who landed the first punch. Hesitantly, Mackey explains that she would likely have to face some kind of punishment, and maybe even suspension if this turns out to be true. She just nods.

But to everyone's surprise, Trent sighs butts in, retracting Hanh's statement by admitting to Mackey that he was in fact the one that started the fight, and that Hanh's just trying to cover for him. She tries to convince him that this isn't something he needs to do, but he just shrugs and says that "a few days of suspension isn't going to kill me."

Before he gets taken away, however, he turns to the M4 to give them a piece of advice: “You’re lucky you’ve got a good friend. I have no idea why someone like her would hang out with the likes of you, but right now it’s the only thing stopping from beating you guys to a bloody pulp right here and now, so take my advice: don’t fuck this up.” 

(she later gave them a good smack to the head to each boy for putting her in this heart-attack inducing situation)

And that's how Hanh managed to not only gain the respect of Trent Boyett, but also scare pretty much anyone (even her own friends) who ever thought about crossing her!

There's a lot of details and dialogue I omitted from the second part since I was worried I wouldn't be able to convey my thoughts well in writing. I've actually been wanting to make a mini-comic of this scenario someday!! so hopefully once the semester's over and I have some time i can finally put it to paper <3

[youremyheaven]

there’s a super rich indian couple that is going to get married or maybe they already did, cus it’s been 2 weeks ppl are talking about it 😭😭😭😭

i have no idea who they are but i don’t think they’re celebrities…they are heirs of something🫢

👀👀👀what does the indian media say about them?

it’s anant ambani and radhika merchant 👀👀👀👀

Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in Asia with a net worth of $113 billion 💀

Anant Ambani is his youngest child

Obviously the whole family is famous for being rich but in the last decade or so, they've attracted more attention in the media for their extravagant parties, weddings etc and their tendency to bring out celebrities from India and abroad for these things (Beyonce performed at his daughter's wedding, Rihanna at his son's pre wedding ceremony etc)

Nita Ambani, Mukesh Ambani's wife is thought to be the mastermind behind this (she's Swati Moon and def lovesssss to be immersed in the material world). She was an ordinary school teacher when she married Mukesh in the 80s. The Ambanis are kinda like the Rockefellers of India but they weren't as rich in the 80s as they are today, with major stakes in every industry (esp telecom). Nita was strictly middle class and unused to living a life of luxury. Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani, who at the time was more successful and married to a Bollywood actress, Tina Munim (now Tina Ambani) would throw these parties with Tina and invite all these celebrities since those were Tina's friends and colleagues and Nita (according to popular lore) would get very jealous because she wasn't as glamorous as Tina and being a school teacher, she felt out of place etc at these functions. Moreover being the elder daughter in law meant she had more responsibilities esp since her marriage was an arranged one and Tina & Anil had a love marriage.

Cut to a few decades later. Her father in law passed away. Anil Ambani went bankrupt and Mukesh got richer and richer 🤑🤑🤑and finally Nita could shine. There began all this tacky extravaganza. She's just making up in old age for all the partying and celebrity shoulder brushing that she didn't get to do when she was younger. She was once an out of place school teacher but now she's the wife of the richest man in Asia, so she can pull her weight differently.

All of these media shenanigans are said to be her idea as Mukesh is known for being a very simple guy (he's Ashwini Moon) who's obsessed with his wife and will do anything for her.

Since this is the last Ambani wedding of this generation, they're kinda going all out for it. For the last 6 months they've been hosting various "pre-wedding rituals" and now last week, they finally got married.

The name Ambani in India is synonymous with wealth, we just think they're crazy rich people with nothing better to do than hire celebs as their show monkeys lol

[words-and-threads]

I'm having some complicated feelings about Old Gods of Appalachia rn....

So...in two different stories, groups of societal outcasts, many of then racialized (as well as an openly genderfluid/trans person), have gotten involved with Bad powers and the good witches (usually with the white land-owning Walker family in the center) have intervened because the wrong people (in their opinion) are getting killed, or are getting killed too publicly. Basically, upsetting the status quo where only the isolated, poor, and criminalized get murdered.

The Walkers help, sure. They'll even kill. Quietly, when they're sure the consequences won't hurt too much.

Good Mother Ministries begins represented by the poor and the rejected, but the only one present for the Big Fight is just a venomous vengeful bitch. The rest of them, judging from the wiki, just disappear from the story. They're sympathetic...but wrong, misled, naive. And ultimately forgotten.

No, they should listen to powerful women from families which pass down that power, and only from the right families which are established and respected. If ordinary people or even other magic workers without the authority of a respected family try to do something the Walkers would disapprove of, it turns out they're wrong and a danger to themselves and others.

But like...are the Walkers braving transient camps to bring food? Are they challenging the wealthy families that use and discard poor women? They help the women of the Clutch to get a girl out of danger, but they don't even visit the place until a few too many men die in animal attacks. They leave that commmunity alone on its poisoned land, no idea what's going on, and they only even look closer because the problem got too big to ignore. But the story proves them right, moral, clear-headed unlike the poor people on the sharp end of society who keep getting carried away.

Oh, but in the second season it's a middle class white girl who's the problem! Except that the whole Good Mother group was quite keen on the whole vengeance and revolution thing, but they will never be seen or heard from again. Let's not discuss their grievances, legitimate or otherwise. Let's not question why so many people were so desperate they turned to a zombie queen and a horde of undead animals for help.

It's so frustrating for a story that touches on mining strikes, fighting off the Klan, the theft of land from indigenous people...to keep shying away from the actual messy edge of systemic change and taking refuge in safe unproblematic heroes who prioritize order over justice.

[seishirology]

KARASU TABITO + BOYFRIEND HEADCANONS

hey guys i'm back. i hate physics yeah. anywys today i provide u with karasu hcs

includes : karasu

A/N : my opinions only!! i haven't really been keeping up with blue lock as much lately bc school. tomorrow is our last day before spring break i can't wait. also i won't be able to update much bc my tumblr is having issues w/posting so i'm gonna have to figure it out soon. might be a little shorter

KARASU TABITO

first and very much foremost karasu is a cutie <333 but he has retained his fourteen year old mid-puberty humor that he had back when he was a senior in middle school.

he loves nicknames and will call you anything, he somehow gets away with it even if it's something very out of the ordinary and stuff. he mainly just calls you your name with '-chan' after it or shortens your name.

a big sap, and sometimes when he's in the mood he'll refer to you as sweetheart, or even honey, kinda like an old man. his whole switch just fuckin' flips it's adorable.

likes to do what he enjoys with you. especially if you are willing to play soccer with him, his heart just does flips the whole time. he teaches you how to dribble and stuff, if you already play soccer he'll challenge you to a match.

if you play another sport he'll take time to learn about it and pretend to know nothing and have you teach him. he'll practice in secret before you even show him anything so that you think he's a genius. but sometimes he'll slip up and say things before you teach him and he has to admit it that he has been searching shit up

tweets about you all the DAMN TIME. like literally it blows up his follower's phones. especially on his spam account for you, which has only you and eita on it. so like during class eita's phone is just vibrating while karasu types away on his phone

isn't really a pda guy. prefers to keep physical affection to a minimum in public, unless of course there's not a lot of people. it's not because he's ashamed of you but rather he gets shy when doing that stuff in front of people who aren't eita. also because he knows some people don't want to see it.

likes to send you good morning and good night texts. and they're always small paragraphs, sometimes they're about how much he appreciates you, or about his day, something he's looking forward to or something he wishes didn't happen. he's quite open with you.

loves going on simple dates, like walking in the park, hiking, just driving around or going shopping together. it gives him some sort of butterflies that just don't calm down, they give him a taste of the married life.

loves napping/sleeping with you. loves that when he wakes up you're the first thing he sees in the morning, and it makes him want to marry you even more. so when he had to go to blue lock he was very disappointed, but he face times you every moment he gets so it isn't too bad.

knows that communication is key and will try to fix misunderstandings. he doesn't like it when things aren't right. he especially hates it when you get mad at him or if you think he did something wrong.

isn't afraid of breaking up with you, but while you guys are dating he'll treat you very well. lowkey he's the type to switch around his lovers once he gets bored ngl.

doesn't know how to fucking comfort u at all when you're sad. so he either just holds you or ignores you until you "feel better". so that means you have to pull yourself together sometimes.

fighting with him is a pain because he doesn’t like to make you cry, but he also hates losing and it doesn’t matter who he’s fighting with he has to win. So that means he will fight with you as if you were just another girl and not his girlfriend

all in all he’s an okay boyfriend, nothing too outstanding besides his looks 6/10

[oodaon]

hi all! cherry (she/her, 25)🍒 here to present the resident of 2a, nam daon! overall he's a neat/calm guy who really needs to stand up for himself but more under the cut. i don't mind either discord or ims for plotting, let me know what works best for you!

an #oopsie baby to parents in their early 40s. food is present on the table, he's wearing his sister's hand-me-downs until he's like nine. all in all, an ordinary family. a little bit of 'as long as we love each other we will make it' mentality.

family death tw within bullet point. old age takes a toll and daon's father passes after battling an illness. two long weeks later, his mother passes too, struck by severe grief over her late husband. given that he's sixteen, his sister dami becomes his guardian and he moves in with her, into an one bedroom apartment that's closer to her university.

for the most part, he's a quiet kid who tries avoiding situations that would trouble his sister. despite his (young) age he realizes that she's not his mom, she has her own life and that he doesn't want to be an additional burden to her; expenses are little, and daon spends most of his time either studying, reading or being on the 'puter. the type who'd lay on his futon and watch documentaries about a subject they're covering at school at the time... #nerd

university rolls around and unlike his sister who's a law girlie, he decides to go down the path of krn lang and literature! but his grades kinda suffer bc he also starts the employment era so the academically gifted teen turns into a mediocre man! skips out on classes a lot and fails to ✨network✨ though he graduates on time

for what.. employment era 2.0 but with a degree except it's the wrong degree in most people's opinions. works in some firm as proofreader . they move to a two bedroom apt and things are looking a little better!!! woah

but then his sister is like well my dearest bro... my boyf finally proposed and we got a bread in the oven... sry daon :/ and like the good brother he is, he again chooses to not be a burden n moves out. and he always has to get slapped twice so! he's also laid off. AI took his job </3

repeatedly down-scaling places he lives at until he's channeling yoon jongwoo and looking at a cheap goshiown, two steps away from a mental breakdown.

rental agency he's looking through, however, tells him they have an opening at the loop. the studio is rather nice for the money asked and he doesn't risk it, immediately signing the lease without a second thought. i imagine he tried to reach out for the person again but the agency was like what are u talking about. mysterious type of beat where he's confused but chooses not to question i, they will appear again sooner or later?? except they don!t

currently! been at the loop for a year. works as a teacher at a "nearby" hagwon (the teens present are just above middle class but not enough that they're rich; still, it doesn't stop them from channeling the same mean energy. and the pay is. well. not enough to warrant their meanness. yes he's getting mildly bullied by 17 year olds), probably on the 'puter as well trying to find some fiverr-type gigs for extra cash. jumpscared by reoccurring dreams from ten years ago, but also from his 'you're fired!' moments. blames it on working too much. thinks he should get a therapist or smth if only it wasn't so expensive. tripping out and popping paracetamols daily. he has absolutely nooo idea what's cooking up for him!!!

personality wise he's. well. timid. not soft spoken per se but you can tell there was never an angry man in the house with him. tries to avoid any kind of altercation, even when he knows he's in the right, because he doesn't want to deal with the consequences; physical, mental or financial. time is money type of mentality, hates sudden and out-of-nowhere plans because of budgeting; however, if you need a quick loan for something he will try and see what he can borrow. overall reliable and kind, mostly influenced by his sister raising him basically? unfortunately gets jealous of others easily, be it over their relationships or material possessions. internalizes literally everything possible and impossible. cancer sun cancer moon so. good luck

other tidbits is that his unit is literally constantly a mess from paperwork and other teaching material he prepares... please don't enter x needs glasses 24/7 because if you stand like ten meters away from him you're a blurry blob and he's squinting. v neat handwriting. can tie a cherry with his mouth. enjoys that indie type of movies that are like two hours and nothing happens but it's ✨aesthetic✨. will borrow you flour/eggs/milk if you knock and ask, even if it's like 3am. always says (an awkward) hi in the hallways even if there's no response. his everyday wear consists literally of just sweatpants and sweatshirts/oversized tees; if u look at him ud never guess he's a TEACHER... has multiple notebooks filled with poetry hidden somewhere around his unit back from hs/uni + bare bones book concepts he writes down and then grows to either hate or doesn't have the time to even give it a second glance :+) his creativity juice pitcher is empty and has been for yearss

plots wise i prefer to brainstorm or fill up your wanted connections bc i can fit him into pretty much anything so i don't have much to offer here </3

[notsuch]

@alfajorconnoisseur TY! That is good to know!

I can actually explain the knowledge that it's hilariously, not that strange for it to happen!

Let's talk education in Junkertown for a minute bc I think between Junker Queen and Junkrat's dialogue we probably have something like the truth, found in the middle. ("that's a knock against the Junkertown Education system!" "We've got an education system?!") There is probably nothing you could point to and go 'that's an education system' from a colonial-European schooling mindset that would be recognised beyond themselves as having gone to 'school'. But there are children in Junkertown and parents who potentially have to leave for many hours a day, if not weeks, depending on who they are and what they do. Single parents and orphans as well, would also become common and ordinary. That means like any burgeoning community, there is a need for child care. Whiiiich given that shot of Odessa playing with the kids and them being in a group, yeah there seems to be something.

So then let's talk about potential Junker-population types. Saying that everyone is ex-military is probably very broad, this is a world-war situation for a country that was invaded and decimated, MOST people probably ended up signing up, so most people probably have military structure backgrounds, now. Of those, half of them might have been full-time military personal before the war (I say under only because again, most of the army was probably killed in the war), and many probably had jobs before that in civilian life in yes, dozens of fields. Which between potential military training structure, actual ex-teachers and child care workers, and people who just, you know, like working with kids there are enough people to form through either being told to do it, or volunteering, something of an early stages tutoring system to teach Junker children the basics of literacy, numeracy and practical survivor skills for their new world. (always remember education is relative to the society in which we live, and there is probably as much emphasis on reading and math, as there is on identifying finding water in the desert and so on).

So now we've got a baby Junker, ready to graduate Junker Primary School of Swearing and Knife Throwing and knowing enough English to read the "hazardous chemical, do not eat" sign and how to count their treasure effectively. They're now ready to graduate to join Junker Society with further education! Their childhoods probably end young, similar to pre-industrial societies, by 14-15, kids are probably expected to have their shit together and be providing for themselves.

This is where it probably completely dissolves past any 'classes' and becomes what you might roughly call apprenticeships. Whereas a young Junker gets roped into existing work their parents or elder siblings might be doing, or finds someone willing to let them hang around to teach them the ins and outs of certain skill sets they are already showing an aptitude for. There is time and interest in non-survival skills, of course, creativity is the baseline of humanity.

But what are the chances of a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Jamieson Fawkes finding someone to teach him shit like bomb-making and periodic tables?

Funny that, not only is it possible but he has potential options!

Option 1: Sappers. Aka the most likely option. Otherwise known as Combat Engineers, or yes, Sappers as they are called in the Army (it's a term dating back to the 1700s from tunnel diggers in England during whatever war was happening this week, that has been kept since then), are highly specialised in well, a damn lot of things, but amongst them are construction (bridges, roads, fortifications, etc), demolition (of all those same things), and bomb placing and clearing. Their motto is informally here known as: First in, Last Out and they are incredibly important to any military, and especially ours.

As you can imagine, that's a lot of chemistry (periodic table knowledge, and yes, his bomb construction) and mathematics (zeno's paradox is a calculus problem that actually comes up in understanding bridge building n shit, apparently, source: my housemate is an engineer whose favourite math joke is about this paradox and the difference between engineers and mathematicians lmao, he also said, that once you are already in this field, it's actually not considered super advanced or anything, necessarily, to be taught specifically, but it's something that gets passed around to remember in the back, so it falls into 'general math nerd knowledge'). The Combat Engineers of the Australian Army is the fourth-ranked corp of the army, with 15 regiments and an entire dedicated school to it alone, called the School of Military Engineering. An entire separate education option JUST for the men and women in this field (it's not uncommon either, btw, many armies worldwide have it). Which, I just need to throw away a certain concept: getting into our military is actually really hard. They do not just accept any 18-year-old who has no idea what else to do with their life straight out of the gate. They want life experience on them, and a degree if possible.

In fact, they will pay for your university, if it's a military desirable education, in exchange for three years of service when you finish it. The reason why is basically that we do not have the numbers of other armies, so we best make every single member of the armed forces is damn good at what they do and is efficient and sensible about their job as possible. Also to be clear: I do not say this to glorify our armed forces or the things our armed forces have done and continue participating in, but to understand that we fundamentally treat it with a process of education mattering a great deal and prize knowledge whether it's life experience or university education and a high desire to work in a team, over brute strength glory. Bright-eyed 18-year-olds with nothing in their heads is not the preference in the modern day, and people that age with no further education plans can and will be turned away many times before acceptance into our military - most people I know that tried at that age got rejected three, four times before being accepted. So it's actually not impossible to find officers and commanders in our armed forces, across the board, with everything from bachelor degrees to full-blown PHDs in their fields. (I remember meeting a recruiter from the navy for instance, who was Captain of one of a ship, she - SHE, BTW - told us how everyone on the ship, from cook to captain, were trained in star navigation. That is, how to navigate without equipment, completely, just looking at the night sky, in the case of emergencies. )

And I'd say there is some merit to this. Blowing up a WHOLE OMNIC CORE that APPARENTLY HAS NUCLEAR POWER? Is actually not done easily. That requires an advanced understanding of nuclear reactors. Those things are obviously made HYPER STABLE, it's actually hard to just destabilize them unless a lot of things go wrong.

AND WHAT WAS ALF AND JUNKERTOWN FOUNDED BY? A bunch of veterans. The likelihood of running into one of these guys is pretty damn high given how many there are in the army, and oh, this is just the Sappers, who are Combat Ranks, there is a whole SEPERATE group for logistic support to the army, which does all this stuff in variation as well. So yeah. This is by far the most likely.

Option 2: Farmers. Wait, what? Yeah. Seriously. Outside of people who actually work in agriculture, they never realise how crucial chemical knowledge is to these guys. Not only is agricultural chemistry its own field, but there is also an everyday importance to it. For different reasons, of course. Pesticides, Herbicides, Fertilisers, Worming treatments and their effective application of them all can have serious consequences if it fucks up. If a farmer does it wrong, he can risk killing whole crops or all his livestock, and potentially his neighbours too, if he poisons the water in the process. Also yes, there is a hell of a lot of shit in everything I just mentioned, that can explode it stored improperly and cause fires. Or if it's mixed the wrong way. It only takes bleach and vinegar to make damn chlorine gas, and fertiliser is actually a key part of rudimentary bomb-making. Guess who often has a lot of that shit for various reasons? There is often a lot of mechanical knowledge needed as well on those huge pieces of equipment, from tractors to irrigation and yes, in turn, math is needed in high amounts. Then there is also, just because you're country, doesn't mean you don't have access to university, btw, we have what is called Agricultural College, or Agg College as we call it. They offer courses in yeah, Agricultural Chemistry, and Agricultural-needed Engineering. I've met as many cattle hands in the process of this education as not. Hell, fucking Mako might have hung around the same kind, before the war.

Option 3: Miners! As we've gone over, mining is a huge industry in Australia, and we have a lot of kinds! You know what you use in mining a lot??? EXPLOSIVES! Not to mention a hell of a lot of people that know certain elements on sight, to know what they're digging up. Not to mention, once again, ENGINEERING! Those tunnels need to be safe! Can't send people into them and have them collapse so once again we are needing maths and chemical knowledge of many kinds!

Option 4: this is the one I understand people will squint at but I am putting my foot down as an aussie, to say again: this place is our home that we like and as many non-military, non-country people, would fight and die for it just the same. Many university-educated in niche areas people would want to go out there and fight for that scrap of memory, even knowing the risks, as the people who used to live out there. From pub owners to PHDs in astrophysics. We are a modern, multicultural country, whose history dates back 60,000 years, we have a high rate of education, and many of those people would fight and resettle in that area. There would be a wide variance in reality of Junkertown that reflects modern Australia. Finding an advance teacher of calculus whose job it was that week to mind some kids? Not unlikely as it seems on paper. That he or she is a little bemused that this teenager will sit there and learn calculus theories from them? Must be nice to be able to talk about it again.

In reality, I think it's possible it's all four, in regards to Junkrat, assuming he's the same friendly bugger in childhood as he is now, and followed all sorts of people around, accumulating knowledge as he went.

[wisteria-project-archives]

T!Wis's story - the long version ❤️

[MTAS and MTAP spoilers below]

🪙 Childhood

When they married, Viktor Willows and Sophia Willows brought together two heads of the biggest industries in the Alliance: Viktor, banking and finances, and Sophia, the railroad. Obviously, to preserve their fortunes and their names, they wished to have children who would grow up to prosperous futures. Outside all the material needs for their children (a life of comfort, the best education money could buy, the smartest and most resourceful people in the Alliance mere handshakes away), they wanted to truly cover all of their bases. That included on a spiritual front, despite neither having really grown up with particularly superstitious beliefs.

And so they paid a visit to the most famous soothsayer in the world, in the capital of Seesai, who read the stars and their energies and compatibilities and all sorts to determine the best way to go about the future, including how many children to have. Three, the soothsayer said. Three children, no more, no less, and their business and family would be prosperous and well.

Viktor and Sophia were able to have two children themselves; first their son Diamantis, then their daughter Chrysanthi. But they sadly found themselves unable to produce another child, so in a panic, they turned to adoption.

Meanwhile, V5!Wis and her father were still in the process of adopting out the other clones. Vega 5 was their facilitator, helping them seek out potential good families. Once they got word that the wealthy Willows family was looking to adopt a child, they pressured the Lins to let them adopt the next clone. Not only would it be a boost for their reputations, but help Vega 5 score a potential private funding partner. The Lins weren't entirely sold on the Willows' potential to be a good family for a clone; their fame and prominent standing in society was actually the exact opposite of what they wanted. They aimed for more ordinary people, focused on making the best for themselves and those around them, not entirely clouded by external ambition. But as time passed, Vega 5's pressure only grew, and they were all but forced to let the Willows take the next clone in.

T!Wis's childhood wasn't entirely bad. Her parents doted on all of their children, fostering their interests. While her siblings took interest in the family business and the cutthroat world of politics, Wis was intrigued by the relatively humble occupation of building. A highly-respected profession across the world, essential for the continued well-being of every society, but comparatively...low class. At first, Wis's parents thought her interest in it was merely a phase. But when she was in middle school, she expressed interest in becoming a builder for a living. And that was when things started taking a turn for the worse.

While her siblings shot to the top of their school rankings with nearly every honor and award under the sun, Wis was more focused on shop classes and practical science and engineering classes. Her parents tried to dissuade her from her path, but when you tell a teenager that they're wrong and wasting their potential, they naturally only want to double down. The parental comparisons began, both among her siblings and with her classmates (which, of course, they knew all the families of). Why couldn't Wis be more like her brother and sister? Doesn't she know that building's a saturated market in Atara? She'd be a lot more secure if she goes for something better. It wasn't too late to change courses. They could get tutors. Have her shadow within the Willows' company. Her brother's the heir to the big man's chair, but certainly with enough effort they could at least get her into the C-suite...

The more time passed, the less and less Wis wanted to listen to the grumbling of her parents. Her relationship with her siblings strained as she tried to get them to realize that something was wrong. They admitted that they weren't entirely comfortable with all the things they were saying, and tried to dissuade their parents' remarks a little bit, but they ultimately still felt too intimidated to do anything drastic, fearing that displeasing them would lead to the loss of their support and their home. Far easier to lie and save face to keep the household together.

☁️ Tallsky

Wis began applying to builder academies in late high school, and her parents finally relented a little once she had received an offer from Tallsky's academy. Tallsky was known as the "City of Builders," having originated the profession as we know it today, and only continuing to foster a community of incredibly skilled builders, even entire lineages dedicated to the craft and passing techniques down through the ages. Wis's parents figured that as long as she was at the top of the building industry, maybe it'd be okay.

Wis's time at academy was a breath of fresh air. A solid 4 years away from the pressures of her family (though people did recognize her as being a Willows, which was always awkward at best), surrounded by people and a culture that was driven so much by what she was passionate about. She always dreaded going home during breaks and vacations.

After she graduated, she was to immediately start a workshop in Atara, hopefully to climb the ranks and build herself a good enough reputation there. After a year, though, whatever results she got weren't enough to satisfy her parents, once again comparing her to her older siblings, primed to take over the Willows' company at a moment's notice and freshly elected to the Alliance Counsel (the youngest member in history, no less).

At her wit's end and just a hair's breadth away from exploding entirely, Wis managed to finagle a deal out of her parents. One last chance. She'd move back to Tallsky instead and build her career there. It wasn't Atara, but for builders, it was definitely the next best thing.

And so she got herself a fresh start, but unlike her time in the academy, she wasn't terribly interested in being agreeable. She had to prove herself, and with what she experienced in Atara, she had to be able to do anything to get ahead. So while her rankings were unmatched, she quickly garnered another reputation: for being the most ruthless and deceptive builder anyone had the displeasure of working with. Don't take her offers of collaboration, she'll write you a contract to screw you out of the profits and rep points. Snatch commissions up while you can, because we're pretty sure she's exploiting legal loopholes to get more. She's not technically doing anything illegal, so we can't bring the Commerce Guild down on her. Her clients don't complain, because her work is legitimately incredibly skilled. Everyone was at a deadlock when it came to Wis.

🪻 Another her...?

One day, at a meeting with a supplier in Walnut Groove, Wis was wandering down a street filled with happy, passionate artisans, all going about their day. She didn't think very much of them. The whole culture of Walnut Groove was kind of laughable to her. So lackadaisical. No ambition. So imagine her displeasure when she suddenly sees her own face...happily throwing lopsided pots on a wheel, in a workshop on the side of a street. This was Wisteria Lark.

As it turns out....Wis's parents neglected to tell her that how she got adopted...and the fact that she was a clone. This other clone, Walnut Groove!Wis, was delighted to meet another one of them for the first time, but was immediately put off a little by her new clone sister's rather unpleasant disposition. T!Wis saw WG!Wis as everything she couldn't be. Middle of the road. Making mistakes. Happy with mediocrity. Despite that, she was convinced to give WG!Wis her address, if only to send her letters every once in a while to gloat.

Things only escalated from there, because only a few weeks later, she saw her face again. This time on every newspaper in the news stand. The Hero of Sandrock. Wisteria Cyprens. And then again just a few days later. Also in the papers, posing tranquilly next to in progress repairs in Portia, which was just devastated by the attack by the Rogue Knight. Wisteria Birck.

Her own face, elsewhere in the world, being happy and finding fame and caring people by the circumstances dropping them into their laps. While she toils around in the dust, everything she wants constantly evading her.

She angrily reached out to S!Wis and P!Wis, sending them letters and telegrams to challenge them to build-offs, demanding that they square off in order prove her superiority. Both of them, exhausted and not up for another hostile threat, especially from another clone, refused and told her to back down. Undeterred, she ventured out to Sandrock herself to give S!Wis a piece of her mind. Luckily (though it would soon be unluckily), not only was S!Wis there, but so were P!Wis and D!Wis. D!Wis happened to be traveling the world at the time and arrived in Sandrock after the invasion, and both she and P!Wis were there to see S!Wis and aid in her recovery from the invasion.

Naturally, none of them were pleased to meet the very annoyed T!Wis, and while they harshly told her to stand down, after doing some digging, they approached her again with the worst thing imaginable: pity. It seems like they managed to figure things out from what WG!Wis told them, and from news in Tallsky and what they knew about the Willows family. It doesn't have to be like this, they said. Who was T!Wis even trying to prove herself to?

❌ The Breaking Point

T!Wis abruptly left Sandrock once her sisters started trying to sympathize with her. This was even worse than dealing with her family. Or so she thought.

All the pent up resentment, combined the all the new anger towards her clone sisters, finally came crashing down the next Winter Solstice, when she returned to Atara for the holidays, and what would be the last time.

What started as an ordinary New Year's feast turned sour once Wis's career was mentioned, along with the other clones. Things escalated quickly, ending explosively as Wis screamed out all her true feelings towards her parents' treatment throughout the years, before rifling through the estate, grabbing as any valuables and her things as she could carry, and leaving for good, catching the next train to Tallsky just a few hours later.

She couldn't work for a week solid after that. Rumors quickly started churning, and Wis started feeling the walls closing in on her. She couldn't do this anymore. She had to run away. Someone where no one would talk about her, no one would recognize her, nothing.

In a desperate measure, she vented to WG!Wis in a letter, not expecting anything to come out of it. She was the only one left who she hadn't completely infuriated. To her surprise, WG!Wis offered her a place at her workshop in Walnut Groove. Being such a carefree place that hardly paid attention to rankings and things like that over the love and passion of individual craft, it was the perfect place to get away and lie low. Her name wasn't anywhere near as big there.

So T!Wis pulled some strings, striking her name from the Atara and Tallsky resident records, and set her old workshop alight. And then she saddled up a horse and made her way to Walnut Groove, to hopefully live a calmer, more fulfilled life.

💅 What's next?

T!Wis's biggest goal from here on out will be to relearn her true passion for her craft, which she lost when it got swallowed by her need to prove herself. And more importantly, how to calm tf down 💀 WG!Wis will help her accomplish that with her incredibly contrasting nature, being a serial hobbyist that chases the high of finding new passions, and T!Wis will gradually help her in turn by teaching her how to bite the bullet and strive for mastery in a craft, which requires dealing with the frustration plateaus and blocks.

Eventually she'll reconcile with her other clone sisters, and come to see them as her true family. Their eccentricities and their different approaches to life, despite them all having the same face, voice, and name, become a source of comfort for her. She doesn't have to be the one disgraced Willows, the tumor on their perfect nuclear family. She's a Wisteria. Doing her own thing like all the others.

...Perhaps until MTAE, though. Given how the background of the story is about the ever increasing tensions with Duvos, I think that a wealthy family like the Willows would start getting involved...and maybe not in good ways. We'll have to see how T!Wis manages to handle her old parents and brother potentially trying to fund war efforts along the border and in Evershine...she might have to head on over there to try and persuade P!Wis not to take their sponsorships...

Perhaps she may even try to reconcile with the Willows siblings and have them finally resolve their family conflicts for the better? 👀 Have her brother start running the business in more ethical ways and for better reasons? Maybe her sister gets voted out of office when she doesn't take the more extreme platform to bolster efforts towards all out war and T!Wis helps her to advocate for more beneficial policies at a local level? Who knows...

[gruesella]

I don't know when it became a common misconception that the Munsters are a bunch of sad conformists trying desperately to fit in bc they're ashamed of their monstrous nature while the Addams are not only aware of how different they are, they are proud of it. Which is really just Addams stans' way of going "neener neener, our fav is better than yours" but misses wholly that the entire joke of both shows was that neither family actually knew they freaked people out; both thought they were normal and kindly treated outsiders like friends. (tho the comics were more satirizing blueblood aristocrats and how creepy the rich are, a point they also miss.)

Under the cut for length and some possibly unpopular takes that need to be said about privilege.

Yes, including the Addams. Gomez as much in the very first episode of the series:

Truant Officer: Mr. Addams, surely you want your children to be like other children? Gomez: But they are!

Just as few people can actually explain how TAF is aware they're not normal, even less can tell me how the Munsters worry about fitting in. Especially because in my experience, people who drag the Munsters have not usually seen many of the episodes, making this claim even more confusing to me. At best I can only guess they mean that episode where everyone but Grandpa is excited to be named "America's Average Family", but that's more because they're hyped to be on a nationally recognized magazine than anything else. Who wouldn't be? There is no evidence the Munsters ever try to fit in with their white picket fence neighbors; they believe THEY are the white picket fence neighbors and do not understand why their friendliness and- in their eyes- harmless customs and hobbies bring out the rudeness in guests or neighbors. Being ordinary is not something they TRY to do; it's something they already think they are. That. Is. The. Joke! They're horror icons but want their kids to get a good education and have nice family dinners every evening! They SHOULD be disturbing and disgusting, but they're nice people with reasonable values!

But the humor in TAF comes from how confident they are that they are THE norm. They are the true Americans and assume everyone must think the way they do. This was and is an accurate attitude from the wealthy elite and even just financially well-off middle class families unaware of life outside their sheltered bubble. This doesn't make the Addams bad people btw, it just means they're naive (and in fairness, so are the Munsters, just for different reasons).

Related to that, I'm going to say something that a lot of people won't agree with but it's true. The Munsters do not "try to be normal" or are "ashamed" of their heritage; what they DO is try to assimilate. I think this is lost on many viewers but the Munsters are a working class immigrant family; frightening appearances aside, they do not meet the status quo. Millions of immigrants, since America was founded, have assimilated. Americans themselves will generally assimilate when they move. This is just a thing those living in a different culture do because it's not seen as correct or considerate to ignore cultural norms of the place you are staying in. More to the point, the Munsters very obviously represent what real life minorities went through in the very racist and xenophobic mid-20th century. They would try to balance their own culture while following what the majority (white, middle or upper class people) or adapt entirely to it... and STILL faced prejudice.

The part you won't like: the Addams meet the status quo FAR more than the Munsters. They are rich, white, straight, closer to their aristocratic status (the Munsters technically have nobility but seemingly left it behind when they immigrated, with Herman dismissing it outright as unimportant in the US), and above all, are normal-looking. Add that to their somewhat condescending pity (and Gomez' disgust) for Aunt Ophelia, who is the black sheep of the family, showing that they DO value some sense of normalcy; it's just different from an average person's. Even thinking the Addams were this edgy, rebellious goth family a lot of their fans think they are, they can afford to be quirky because of their privilege. It is not necessarily bold to "be yourself" when "yourself" is already closer to what society says you should be. I am not saying they don't do anything progressive, they are in ways of course; I'm saying this is a very tone-deaf, first-world outlook that takes for granted the fact that the Munsters as both foreigners and minorities and don't get the luxury of flaunting their MUCH MORE ATYPICAL appearances and culture to WASP America. To say they as a marginalized group are just sad conformists compared to the brave and self-loving Addams who are by contrast easier to swallow with their normal appearances and attractive wealth is... naive to say the least, and an offensive disregard to how privilege works IRL, at worst.

But it's not founded in any of the source material. In truth both families are happy the way they are; that's what makes them funny, because they enjoy abnormal things and don't see that this disturbs their neighbors and ultimately their odd ways aren't harming anyone (usually). IDK how this got lost on so many people's heads but I largely blame the fact that viewers (mainly millennials and zoomers) were weaned on the "I'm not like other girls"-y 1990s Addams remakes without ever seeing the Munsters, and as some of them have based their identity too much on the former and see the latter as a "rival" or "other", they assume the Munsters must operate on the opposite end of the scale, I guess? If that makes sense.

I personally think all of this just boils down to classism and (some) Addams fans- mainly those who are most familiar with the edgy 90s films- having this deep individuality complex which comes out not only in their resentful takes and spiteful jokes about the Munsters, but many other franchises and characters too. Like. there's a reason there's a million Addams memes on r/notlikeothergirls and maybe 2 of Lily. There's a reason most of their insults towards the Munsters are about how "trashy" and "poor" they are (NM that these are counts & countesses living in a freaking mansion in one of the richest states in America with 2 expensive custom made cars, ijbol) and much praise for TAF seems to come from how much cool stuff they have or their old family name. There is obviously a need with a good chunk of their fanbase for the characters they identify way too much with to be more special and cool than any others and I've said for awhile that some fans of the 90s version def have this rich, beautiful goth fantasy projected onto TAF, as seen quite grossly by the racist and body-shaming hate Luis Guzman received for daring to be a pudgy brown guy playing... a pudgy tanned guy.

And as someone who greatly enjoys deep dive analyses on seemingly simple fiction like these shows, I won't begrudge anyone for taking their fav fiction seriously... but if you're going to try to act like the Addams are a complex and philosophically deep franchise who did more for fiction than Munsters and then tell Munster fans "bro it's not that deep" when we point out the Addams' absurd socioeconomic/racial status protecting them from societal judgment or how it's much easier to digest nonconformit with when it's coming from a group who is already Have some perspective is all I am asking and stop being so "how very dare you" with angry blocking/downvoting when you face people who appreciate the Munsters as much as you appreciate the Addams. Like... I enjoy both but I am tired of seeing baseless criticism of the Munsters from people who never analyze TAF to that same degree and NO nuanced takes about either side, or being gaslit when I complain about that hate. (Yes, I've been told it's not a big deal and I am basically the real problem to shoot back against people who have harassed or bullied me or my moots for defending the show... seriously.)

Also, I'm putting this in the Addams' tag and I don't want to hear any griping about how I'm "tagging hate" from fans because I'm not; this is not hating them at all, this is a fandom problem with Addams fans that has gone on way too long and I want people to see it (and there is constantly negative stuff put in the Munsters' tags or spaces as well). If you're just gonna do what I said in the above paragraph, please DNI; I am venting but open to good-faith responses.

[betterbemeta]

A huge component of injustice in the modern world is flattening image and reality.

That has always been sort of timeless, and it's sort of part of how societies that skew heavily towards hierarchies use aesthetics as the means to clock the 'place' of a person, environment, or object. But given that many more people see... stuff, every day, thanks to the internet and advertisements the effect is not local to what you personally witness, it's extremely widespread.

Don't get me wrong-- the power to spread imagery has also had positive impacts. Modern anti-war protests wouldn't be the same without photojournalism that spread witness of war realities to the greater world. Images that depict ordinary people, and especially marginalized people in daily life are self-evident proofs of humanity and existence when art can be skewed by wealth towards being a self-portrait of the rich and powerful. Stuff like that.

But the structure of our world and how it thinks and breathes now is still very powerful and all tools will reinforce that first unless purposefully turned against that structure. The power to assert reality is also the power to create alternate reality and you can see it every day today. Entertainment and news are blended together in new ways. "Lifestyle" content depicts curated imagery as a form of reality, often imagery that reinforces what a successful person looks like, what a rich person looks like. Or the ideals people with that wealth would prefer others hold.

I challenge anyone to find an 'aesthetic' or 'curated imagery', 'a look that invokes emotions or a sense of intuition' that 1) isn't just a form of discrimination like racism or sexism or ageism, or bias against fat or disabled bodies, and 2) can't be achieved by borrowing items, cooperation, paying artists as you have ability to, collecting secondhand things, travel to another location, and a time investment (something that our modern world blames working-class and poor people for having if they don't have money, tries to eliminate.)

'You actually CAN'T tell anything from the image' is the core of many seemingly baseless freakouts by hierarchical conservative mindsets. In fact, it's the most effective way to sell those mindsets to people who don't have any wealth at stake: fear that they can't discern actual reality, a need to control the images around them instead. Transphobia and also control of gender expression in all people. Bias against those who don't have or don't publicly display markers of hitting certain life goals like marriage or householding. The need for poor people to 'look poor,' the insecurity of the middle class in physical space and the resulting surveillance culture in many neighborhoods, the hatred of any marginalized classes enjoying luxuries as 'tacky', or even just seeing them in public. Hatred of seeing children they do not control in public. Thin people of the majority race in plain clothes as 'a fit' but fat people and people who aren't the majority race in plain clothes as 'not caring enough,' and more.

Hell, even the whole 'hatred of piercings dyed hair tattoos' thing plays in. It wraps 'the bliss of the Other being easily identified by Shibboleths, even when they're my same race' and 'I need others to look the same around me, I don't want to stick out as living incorrectly,' in a neat little burrito. Both of which easily are gateways to, 'Support for Austerity: Poors Don't Get Nice Things, 'How To Clock Queers,' and finally 'Nazi Phrenology.'

Caring so much about imagery seems like a vanity thing. But the anxiety is actually about 'reality' and seeing conflicting images that 'compromise it.' Flattening complex reality into imagery that can be sorted without fail onto a hierarchy has always been a part of top-down, oppressive structures. Think like, feudal systems where the only art or imagery that has power 'belongs' to the church, to magistrates, or to nobility. But now with the ability to broadcast images to the entire world, hierarchy's alternate reality can feel like it envelops the globe.

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week (#180):

Harakiri - Surprising First Watch, and my first by Masaki Kobayashi. The highest-rated film on Letterbox (4.69/5.00 score based on 109,000 reviews), and 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes. An exploration of the Bushido code of honor, told in a spartan style and stark formalism. (Photo Above).

🍿

"Oh, how I'd like to own a fish store..."

King of Jazz is a strange pre-code potpourri of spectacular musical numbers and mad-cap revue bits - all in early (1930) magnificent Technicolor. Experimental in parts and irreverent in others, its an old-fashioned Hollywood extravaganza and vaudeville-hall silliness mixed into an incoherent string of unrelated numbers. There's a sadomasochistic spanking number, a surrealist 'Happy Feet' number decades before Steve Martin, A Mexican band with giant sombreros, contortionists, bizarre chorus girls, red-cheeked Bing Crosby, a sudden appearance of a black baby caressed by the band leader. It's really weird.

🍿

My favorite kind of discovery in the course of this project is the random movie I never heard of and which comes from some far-flung cinematic corner. Better still if they don't even have a Wikipedia page, and best is if they're really good.

The Finnish parody A patriotic man (2013) fits the bill. It's about the unexpected adventures of one ungainly middle-age man with somehow unusual blood type. Like many other Finnish dramas, it's dour, unsexy, seemingly-simple, and it's full of smoking, drinking, and people speaking Finnish. It doesn't have a strong dramatic 'center', but I am still going to look for the other films by director Arto Halonen.

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Hit man, the latest (and most commercial?) popcorn fluff piece from Richard Linklater. A nerd teacher by day and fake hit man by night falls for a dame who wants to kill her abusive husband. Netflix chum. 6/10.

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3 more Danish films, 2 scripted by Anders Thomas Jensen:

🍿 At World's End (2006), a completely unexpected action-comedy in the Indonesian rain forest, in search of the white lotus of eternal life. Strange fun with an likely hero, an uptight psychiatrist who is sent to the jungle to examine Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, a Ex-Danish hermit charged of a lethal attack on a David Attenborough-type TV-crew.

Anders Thomas Jensen had written numerous stories where ordinary Danes find themselves in peril in exotic lands, but this is the wildest of them. If he was also the director here, this would have been an even funnier & more successful film. 7/10.

🍿 Clash of egos (2006), written by ATJ. The conflict here is between a short-triggered guy with some serious angry management issues, and a passive-aggressive film-director who make pretentious, art-house garbage, a-la Lars von Trier. It ends up as a parody on the small Danish film world. Mildly funny.

🍿 What a life - What a night - What a beautiful, beautiful ride...

Another re-watch of Another round ♻️. The experiment of staying buzzed all day is the hook, but the story is more about a midlife crisis, with the quiet desperation of Danish middle class men, than about alcohol and drinking. It would be nice if Mads Mikkelsen were to dance more in his movies. 9/10.

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"Love isn't easy. That's why they call it love..."

Because of the 'We lost 19 of our best guys' clip, I watched The big sick again, for the 3rd or 4th time. Is this one of the greatest modern rom-coms? I feel that I've said exactly that last time too. Their romance and relationship are just so cute. 9/10. ♻️.

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"...Wait, wait! You don't have to do this! I have kids at home! ....

Not with that ass, lady, you don't...."

And another frequent re-watch: Game Night ♻️, the only good film that Rachel McAdams played in since 'Spotlight'.

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6 documentaries:

🍿 Very much like the German documentary 'Into Great Silence', Athos (2016) intimately describes the spiritual life of an ascetic monastery. This 'Holy Mountain' religious community is an autonomic government in Northern Greece. 2000 monks lives on a beautiful isolated area, and no women are allowed to set foot there - It's the ultimate patriarchy!

For people who love Gregorian chants, Vermeer lightening, Orthodox ossuaries, and the idea of resigning for this world, it's a slow, comforting glide, with all-natural sound and no talk-overs. 9/10.

🍿 Another of Ken Burns' American sagas, The dust bowl (2012), again narrated by Peter Coyote’s soothing voice. I was not aware that it was partially a man-made catastrophe, caused by the irresponsible farm practice of overproduction of wheat on land better suited to grazing. Also about photographer Arthur Rothstein. At 4 hours, it was a bit long, but oh well...

🍿 ...The Godfather, The Conversation, Godfather II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter...

I knew it was you: Rediscovering John Cazale (2009) is a fawning assessment of the guy who starred in only 5 films, but they were all masterpieces. He was very special, but this Talking Heads approach was off-putting.

🍿 Paragraph 175, a moving story of the persecution of homosexuals by the Nazi regime. It is told via interviews with some older gay survivors, which in 2000 were among the only 10 known still-living ex-victims.

🍿 “Hey. How about we order some Chinese? - Order some Chinese to do what?…”

Grass is a 1999 Canadian documentary about the American government war on marijuana. What horrendous crimes were committed during the sickening century of the "war on drugs"! And what do you know, all along it was just another part of a racist policy against blacks and Mexicans. Fuck Harry J. Anslinger, Edgar Hoover, Nixon, Reagan and Bush Sr. And also fuck Bill Clinton et. al. Narrated by pothead Woody Harrelson.

🍿 How Chris Silverman Makes Art In the iOS Notes App - more of a YouTube interview about my favorite digital illustrator. I posted quiet a few of his illustrations before.

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A different experience? Darren Aronofsky's latest Postcard from Earth. A science fiction fantasy which was created for display at the $2 billion Las Vegas 'Sphere'. Part tourist postcard from 2001 Space Odyssey, but mostly a National Geography / BBC Earth nature doc, done with the biggest, most immersive camera and display systems. Latest drone work, IMAX Super and highest resolution "available today".

Obviously I saw it on Youtube, not "Live". But, it looks like what 'Koyaanisqatsi' did better 40 years earlier.

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3 Shorts:

🍿 ‘E’ (1981), my second by Czech puppeteer Břetislav Pojar. Not everybody reads an E-sculpture as 'E'. Some see it as 'B'.

🍿 Peter and Ben (2007), a sweet story about two loners: A guy who lives in a beautiful, empty valley in Wales and a lamb who bonds with him, and won't leave.

🍿 The swearer (2017), made by an Israeli youngster, as part of film studies at some high school. They posted 98 entries on their YouTube channel, and this was the most popular with 1.3M views. But it was very juvenile. 2/10.

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Because Françoise Hardy died today (at the age of 80!), I watched one of her movies. Sadly, I picked What's new, pussycat?, Woody Allen's first produced play. A terrible, disgusting "comedy" about 3 lecherous cads, proudly sex-crazed misogynists in Paris, who try to fuck anything that move. It's hard to look back and imagine there was a time when the promiscuous Woody Allen character was acceptable as the ideal of a sexy lover. Here he modeled himself after Groucho Marx, and even copied 'The stateroom scene' from a 'Night in the opera' during the final orgy scene. I would have quit this piece of shit many times, but I waited to see 21-year-old Françoise Hardy. Unfortunately, she appeared in the very last scene! 1/10.

RIP, Françoise Hardy! (I'll always play your Tous les garçons et les filles with Léa Seydoux. Or La Question...)

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I only saw one movie by M. Night Shyamalan before ('Old'), so I tried another. The Happening sounded okay, because 'Hey, a thriller about mass suicide'. But it was unwatchable from the very first scenes: Atrocious script, horrible acting, poor mise-en-scene, just a bunch of 'odd, inexplicable things happening' one after the other. I forced myself to stay awake for 25 minutes, but any longer, I would have committed suicide too.

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"Today I learnt that" on September 10, 2001, resident curmudgeon George Carlin recorded an album called I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die. In the set's 10-minute maniacal closer, "Uncle Dave", Carlin explains why he likes "big, fatal disasters with lots of dead people". It also involves references to Osama bin Laden and an exploding airplane.

Needless to say, this ornery tirade was shelved in the afternoon of the very next day. The posthumously-released album included a very weak rant from 1957 and interviews with some friends. The second best joke was about the guy who invented the first enema.

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(My complete movie list is here).

[irondad-defensesquad]

just some thoughts i have on (mcu) toomes.

i saw a video of a channel i really admire pointing out that most mcu antagonists genuinely want to make the world a better place, mostly in terms of oppression like racism and social inequality. but suddenly the villains act completely out of character, usually by killing a lot of people or causing unnecessary destruction and chaos. and all of that is likely done on purpose because you're supposed to side with the characters who defend the system, who defend the status quo, so the antagonists who actually want to change things are seen as evil for it.

i can agree with all of these points. but then the video showed toomes' speech and basically said that he's right. and this isn't the first time i've seen folks agree with toomes, because he criticizes the powerful rich people that exploit the small ones like peter and himself. but since peter is close to tony stark, everyone claims that mcu peter has "betrayed" his own social class.

okay. my thoughts.

toomes is a family man, an ordinary worker, true. but from the very beginning, he's completely on board with selling alien weapons that are incredibly lethal. dare i say, toomes is a lot similar to walter white: two white, middle class family men that resort to the criminal world so they can provide for their wives and children. however, their gigantic ego is what drives them further and further into crime, so they no longer hesitate to commit atrocities such as killing people who get in their way. in the end, walter admits that he did all that for himself, not for his family. i know toomes is not as awful as walter, of course, but they're very alike in terms of backstory and motivations.

to emphasize: toomes does not hesitate to kill people. he killed one of his own crewmates, but even if he claims he thought the weapon wouldn't actually vaporize the guy, toomes doesn't feel one smidge of regret. he just shrugs and moves on (the moment is played for laughs even).

but most importantly, toomes tried to kill a fifteen-year-old teenager. his whole dad speech wasn't actually genuine, toomes was just preparing to drop the entire warehouse on peter. also, do people forget the scene where he talks to peter in the car while holding a fucking gun? he uses the whole family speech here, too. "nothing is more important than family". he lets peter go, but he also threatens to kill him and everyone he loves in case peter tries to stop him.

that's toomes' entire character! at no point in the movie does he act out of character; he's always been an egocentric dick that uses his family as an excuse, even if he does love them. he's not a good guy, he has never been a good guy.

but the issue here is that people take toomes' speech out of context to prove that he's correct and that peter is an idiot or a bootlicker for not siding with him. except peter doesn't fight toomes because of tony, he fights toomes because that's the right thing to do. because toomes is a criminal that is willing to do anything for his own benefit, not caring at all about any lives lost to him and his weapons.

again, i agree that the mcu is a huge police and military propaganda that demonizes activists who fight against them. i agree that most mcu antagonists deserve better. but toomes is not the case here. his speech isn't genuine. he's willing to kill a teenager and everyone else to keep his business up. you guys take out the context to make him look great, and to hate on mcu peter.

you can have your grievances with the mcu, like i do myself. still, toomes is not a guy to look up to, and peter is not a bootlicker. you can stop distorting the whole movie now.

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

 "I was really surprised, Alexander, to be honest... I thought that middle class people had something wrong with them, you know?... But they're just ordinary, aren't they?" - Tom Hardy to Benedict Cumberbatch in Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007).

[ilikereadingactually]

Paper Planes

Paper Planes by Jennie Wood and Dozerdraws, lettering by Micah Myers

there are so many things to like about this graphic novel! the art is very charming and clear--i especially love the way flashbacks have a slightly muted color palette--and the story really embraces complications of modern queer adolescence that i feel like i wasn't seeing in comics for kids back when i was bookselling 10-ish years ago. (the publisher rates this one as for "all audiences," and it definitely has enough substance for grownup readers, but personally i would shelve it with middle grade.) i love the way we get so much story through interspersed flashbacks, doling out information and building up to how these two characters ended up in the present being awkward around each other at camp they don't seem to have chosen. there's a little bit of mystery, interpersonal drama, and the really lovely throughline of the paper planes connecting Dylan and Leighton and then further connecting them to the people around them.

also it's great to see so much ordinary diversity! queer diversity for sure, but also diversity of bodies, of class, and of race, all in that perfect space between "looking diverse without addressing any issue directly" and "addressing every possible issue with the most fraught language and anxiety possible." the characters and their lives and identities feel real and specific, and it pleases me to no end that though Dylan and Leighton each struggle with how their queer identities (nonbinary and asexual, respectively) are received or suppressed by others, they have very few qualms about these identities within themselves--they're both frank and sure about who they are and what they feel.

and that's something else i loved about this book: nobody is only one thing. nobody makes only bad choices or good choices, is only accepting or only biased, and in the end every relationship is in a place of tenuous connection that feels very true to how people grow, and how relationships shift and change. all in all, this was a great read!

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley! i think this is the first time i've read a graphic novel galley, and though digital is not my preferred mode for art-heavy things, it worked well enough. i will likely pick up a physical copy when it comes out!

try this if you: like a good queer bildungsroman, appreciate non-chronological storytelling, dig a nuanced look at that weird summer between middle school and high school, or ever got in big trouble with your best friend.

a panel i really liked: this first one has real Somewhere Out There energy to me

bonus: i love this background kid at camp who looks like me and also hates math, i see you honey

pub date: July 18, 2023!