#this is ramble central

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

they just met why is kara always going on about how lena needs to give her more and more? maybe that should be the end, they had a nice time , we got nice smut and they parted ways. i get why kara doesn't see them working but idg what lena is seeing in kara long term beyond her being 'normal' i guess that's enough with her life, even when kara was told that those pictures were from before they even met she still judged her and made all about how lena hurt her feelings, lena will have tabloids saying shit about her always and kara is right that they won't work long term, they don't work even now when they should be in the honeymoon period

Yall I'm writing this on my phone, my thumbs dont have that kind of stamina.

Also, as for what Lena sees in Kara... tbh I'm relying pre-exisiting chemistry that y'all know is there, even if I'm not the best at showing it here. I might embellish when I move it to ao3, but I might not.

But also part of things is that Kara doesn't really have room to shine, because Lena sucks all the air from the room. And with based looooooosely on the anne hathaway movie that sees them reuniting in like five years, I had to have them split in a relatively timely manner.

And also tbh, in case the "writing this in my phone notes" didn't convey this strongly enough-- I am pantsing this thing to the maxxxxxx. Not a single outline or bullet point in sight. Total stream of consciousness. As a rule, one can expect my tumblr stuff to be considered a stream of consciousness more than anything else. Do NOT expect it to be polished or free of plot holes.

Also also... it's a free story with our fave peeps? Didn't think it needed to be much deeper on this here tumblr dot com...

[aethersea]

I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.

it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"

plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.

anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.

[doomdoomofdoom]

With the ongoing investigation into the CEO Killer, it's interesting to see how little people know about police investigations. Which is funny, because most of that stems from Copaganda and is now kinda biting the cops in the ass.

Semi-Educated rambles about copaganda and real procedures below the cut

I say semi-educated because I am writing a thesis paper on copaganda, but much more about the brutality aspects and not the crime solving ones. I did write a much less intense paper on that almost ten years ago, and presumably some things have changed. Take my "expertise" with a grain of salt.

The Copaganda Thing

Copaganda (Cop Propaganda) is basically what the name suggests. Anything that makes police look good. Social media posts about community outreach, the adorable little K-9 units, kneeling next to a protestor that you brutalize after the camera turns off. But the massive elephant in the room here are Cop Shows. There are literally too many for me to name. NCIS, Blue Bloods, True Detective, any of those weird "live" police shows, and yes, Brooklyn 99, too. These shows (often produced in cooperation with the police btw) serve to humanize cops and portray them as good, honest people, who maybe have to cross the line sometimes but it's always for a good reason and they're always right and save the day! The other half of it is vastly misrepresenting how (and if) crimes get solved.

Reality

Ripping this band-aid off first: Police are dogshit at solving crimes. There are aspects technically outside their control, like that only about half of all crimes (excluding murder) actually get reported to the police. (Based on comparing the 'Uniform Crime Reports' and the 'National Criminal Victimization Survey') But this also means that the Police Clearance rates are only half of what they calculate. Numbers get further skewed by not accounting for a lot of online crimes because the system hasn't caught up with like, the 90s. Anyway, for reported crimes, investigations will lead to an arrest in about 20-25% of cases. Three out of Four cases die without ever apprehending a suspect. (While there are ways to deal with a case without an arrest, ask yourself if you think that's likely in a system that measures success by arrest numbers) Conviction rates (which vary massively depending on crime) even out to about 4%, or 2% of total known crimes. (x) Worth noting: Generally, violent crimes have higher clearance and conviction rates. For murder, the conviction rate is around 60% while larceny-theft can dip below 1% of reported crimes. (It's generally assumed that the number of known and reported murders is the same, as the NCVS doesn't track it. Because murder victims are bad at filling out surveys.) To recap: Police solve about 4% of crimes reported to them. Meanwhile in your average cop show, you've got a success rate of about 100%. That's a stark difference, even if you take only murder rates of 60%. If you're an average citizen who's the victim of a crime, the most helpful thing the cops will do is file a report you can submit to your insurance.

Forensics & Procedures

I've seen these float around a bit and it's mildly ridiculous. Supposedly they've found a bottle and a protein bar of our killer and will be testing fingerprints and DNA. If those worked flawlessly, they still would only bring up results if the killer has been detained before. Databases of random civilian fingerprints/DNA samples are not kept by law enforcement. These analyses only work by having a point of comparison (and even then fingerprint analysis remains subjective), so they won't actually help finding the culprit, but they would be relevant to confirm the identity of an apprehended suspect and as evidence in an eventual trial. (There is also something called familial DNA which would work if they had a couple of relatives in the system, but that's both a flawed and incredibly time intensive approach. We're talking months of drawing family trees.) Also your average DNA test takes like 24 hours and fingerprint analysis is algorithmically supported now, but still mostly done manually. And both require a clear sample, so good luck with that. Fingerprint might as well be the clerk who sold the bottle. There's an infamous case of a serial killer whose DNA kept being found on crime scenes all Central Europe with no connection to each other. Turned out the Swabs were contaminated during production. There was no serial killer. Quickfire round of unrelated notes: 1) Lie detectors don't detect lies, they detect stress, anyone can trick one with some practice. the guy who popularized their use thought they could detect stress in plants too and that the plants could read his mind. 2) We're not actually sure if all fingerprints are completely unique. 3) Bite mark analysis is a pseudoscience that needs to be removed from criminal and legal proceedings asap. 4) Any algorithmic detections inherit the flaws of their human predecessors. Those are their training data. (That's also how they keep turning up racist)

And as a final note, it's common for the police to not share details on their ongoing investigations. That's just common sense. The only details that get released to the public are ones that could lead to direct hints or vague ones if there's a lot of public attention, to assure everyone there is progress. For similar reasons, while everyone and their grandma has put together the motive from the bullet casings, cops can't actually go out and confirm that. It's like how Bulbapedia has to say Flamigo appears to be based on a flamingo. Contrary to the cops, Bulbapedia does not have to carefully watch what data they release that might elicit more sympathy for Flamigo.

Why tho

So after literal decades of copaganda brainwashing, the public perception of crime and punishment is heavily skewed. We've been told over and over that cops can catch any criminal in a matter of a 60 minute episode, max. And that's by design. Aside from the image polishing, copaganda is a deterrent. If you're convinced you'll be caught after committing a crime, you wouldn't commit it, right? You don't wanna go to jail. And the bad guys always get what they deserve on TV, no matter how smart they are. You're not gonna risk that, are you?

That's why we keep using lie detectors, that's why the news are full of arrests being made constantly, that's why cop shows get so much support from the police. That's also why we keep pouring money into policing. Part of it, at least. We've built a police force that isn't about solving crimes. If that was priority, we'd invest more into forensics and labs to keep up with the demand of samples that need to be analyzed. Instead, we built a police force that gets new tech gadgets and military gear. It's an arms race against the general public that isn't even running. We take cops and we give them paranoia, weapons, justifications for violence, and targets to brutalize. I don't have to remind you of the riot gear and responses to peaceful protests. The police isn't your friend and helper. You must fear them. Fear their superior intellect, fear their crime solving abilities, fear the high tech arsenal at their disposal. Fear them so much, you won't even think of doing a crime unless you're rotten to the core. And if someone's rotten to the core, then surely the violence is justified.

But that's also why this guy in particular is so dangerous. They've built up this image of being near infallible (to anyone who never actually interacted with police proceedings, at least) and being able to stop any threat, catch any criminal. And yet, this guy shot someone in broad daylight, in the juristiction of the country's largest police department, and he's currently getting away with it.

[rassebers]

Pull yourself TOGETHER man

[comfort-character-central]

Here's another selfship f/o ask game! Feel free to use for your own self ships (and feel free ask me any if desired, just let me know which f/o and question)! Have a great day everyone 🫶🏻

💥 1: What is something fun you and your f/o have done together? It can be an activity, a silly moment, a good memory, etc!

🫂 2: What is something your f/o does that makes you feel loved and supported?

❤️‍🔥 3: What's your f/o's favorite trait about you?

😌 4. What do you and your f/o do together to relax or unwind?

✨ 5. What hobby or activity do you and your f/o do the most together or tend to enjoy doing the most together?

🍰 6. What sort of fun or sweet nicknames do you and your f/o have for each other?

🔥 7: In what ways does your f/o make you feel excited, giggly, happy, or positive?

❤️‍🩹 8. What is a deep or special memory between you and your f/o that means a lot to you/them?

🧠 9. What is something you love listening to your f/o talk extensively about, and what do they love hearing you elaborate on?

🥹 10. What is your f/o's favorite thing about you?

💫 11. What is your favorite compliment that you've ever received from your f/o?

💌 12. What is your f/o's love language(s)? (Gift giving, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service.)

🌿 13. What's something that reminds you of your f/o? It can be a meme, a song, an aesthetic, anything that gives off their energy/vibe/reminds you of them!

☀️ 14. In what ways do you and your f/o make each other's lives more positive?

💬 15. Why are you so thankful for your f/o, and why are they so thankful for you?

[nyaskitten]

It's crazy I've never stopped interacting with a fandom as fast as Mouthwashing y'all can be annoying as fuck 😭😭😭

[nellasbookplanet]

I recently started reading (and ended up dropping partway through) an m/m retelling of an old legend, and it made me think of this reoccurring thing I've come across a handful of times now in m/m fiction and how they approach women, equality, and world-building.

Let's call it the omegaverse problem, because that's where it seems the most blatant (I've only come across it twice outside of fandom spaces that I can remember). Basically, it's when the writer looks at the unequal and sometimes oppressive roles women serve in society (today and historically), and goes 'this is a good basis for dark romance but there are too many women here' and then just. plops men into the roles traditionally served by women and recreates heteronormative tropes but They're All Men Now, none of those icky women.

Now, completely removing any and all gender based inequality isn't a bad basis for a queer-inclusive fantasy! But thing is, this type of narrative isn't interested in women, so they often read as if women have mysteriously disappeared from society (except for the occassional mom or sister). They don’t bother to include women in traditionally male areas (the book I dropped had plenty of male courtesans, with diplomats and bodyguards and advisors also being male) nor to create new roles for them.

They also generally don’t bother to look critically at the systemic and societal inequalities they're mimicking. The concept 'typically sexist society but they're all men (or all women)' could be used to alienate and deconstruct our ideas of what’s 'normal' and what’s oppressive, a way to compare the intersections of class and gender. Instead, this kind of story is only interested in using inequality as inter-character conflict and set-up for romance. And it sucks.

[lazylittledragon]

happy deathiversary to the queen. can we do the rest of the bastards now

[fishareglorious]

i do a light chuckle once i remember hofmann and semmelweis are friends but then i remember semmelweis and marcus' suitcase interaction where they talk about her and i am once again inconsolable about this old woman's death

[gaylactic-fire]

Actually what the hell is going on with the sword in EoW. Because I'm getting either "Link's soul has become bound to the sword and his body is an empty husk being used as a vessel" or "This sword is so powerful / magic it shapes the wielder in its image, which is Link."

[dreamingthroughwords]

thinking about how tgcf embodies so many themes: staying kind when the world is against you. never changing who you are despite everything pushing you back. passion, determination, hope. but at its core? love.

xie lian’s love for the world, even after everything that happened to him. he still cares for it. loves it. he passes it on to people he meets - returning a kindness that was almost fleeting, once. but it came around in the end.

xie lian’s love for hua cheng, that we get to see him fall in with him. that everything is so easy, and xie lian is in love with him and he doesn’t even realize that’s what he feels until that core moment where he finally, knows what those feelings he have means - and it’s a gentle and soft acceptance, and once xie lian shows through so many actions, words, everything, how much he loves him.

hua cheng’s love for xie lian: the driving force for hua every action, his every move, how he understands and knows xie lian, reminding him who he is even when xie lian doesn’t - never leaving. never giving up. after so many years, continuing to fight, to look for, to never waver - and to finally find him, again, and be able to be with him? hua cheng’s love is his driving force, and he embodies that love for xie lian in everything he does.

so much of tgcf, and hualian, is driven by love. and i think it’s so beautiful

[bananafire11]

What’s your favorite Piece of art you’ve ever made and why

(😺Genuinely curious)

It is impossible for me to narrow it down to one drawing so i've picked a few out. Old art warning

ARTISTIC NUDITY AHEAD.

^ even now im rlly proud of this one. This is over a year old, but i think the simpleness of the piece makes it very impactful

^ my first full piece on my new ipad(Which isnt new anymore but it was then)! This was my first time using a reliable pen and a device that wasnt laggy as all hell

^ still rlly proud of the posing on this one as well as all the smokey effects. This was my gateway to using tools more. Can u tell what my fav color is /silly

^ this one was a very out of the blue decision to try a background. Its not amazing but i remember being sooo proud of the glass shards and the characters themselves

^ my first artfight attack for last year!!! This was for my awesome friend @visarray because i wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. She was and still is a big inspiration for me, so ofc i had to hit her hardest (it's tradition /silly)

^ this was me going CRAZY with the watercolor brush. I also had fun with all the colors, a more monochromatic piece. Oh, and it's Daryl. I don't draw him much anymore :[

^ mooore painting! Im very happy with the glossy sheen on this one, and i was also testing out new brushes. This is my oc, Moonstone. I need to revisit her

^ its the boooy. I had a lot of fun with the background on this one, as well as the coloring in general. Played with filters a lot

^ first time trying artistic nudity! The pose and overall anatomy is something im still very proud of, as well as the colors and background. It itches my brain and was a fuck ton of fun to draw. Character belongs to Demonieux on instagram

^ and last but not least, this one. I saw the idea on twitter and ran with it, im rlly happy with the rendering and pose as well as the doodles in the background

[oobbbear]

I love when ppl outside of the DCA fandom see any DCA AU they go ‘……Holy shit that’s daycare guy from fnaf??????’ It’s so funny every time

[ettawritesnstudies]

What's the name of the game where one person is "IT" and counts to a number while everyone else hides and then has to find the other players?

Bonus: Tell me in the tags where you're from (OP is from the US)

My proofreader is correcting me and sure, I've heard both ways but I've never heard that my version is wrong, so I'm curious if this is a standard thing or a regional variation based on where I grew up.

[trainwreckgenerator]

ok i KNOW this is an insane topic to make a tierlist about but i was thinking about milsiril again so. dungeon meshi characters ranked by how pro-euthanasia i think they are

clarifications:

"pro-murder" here doesnt necessarily mean "likes killing". this chart is about how each character views the ethical ramifications of taking a human life, and some of the people in "pro-murder" are there because they would kill someone outside of a combat situation if they thought it would have a greater benefit, such as saving the lives of many others. the rest of them (like thistle, cithis, and the orcs) are there because they are ready to kill whenever to get whatever they want, which is a very different ethical stance but still fits in the same category for the purpose of the chart.

"pro-euthanasia" means having no qualms over killing something/someone if there is an absolute certainty that the individual will never be able to regain a livable quality of life. this is the only category outside of, uh, murder, that doesn't necessarily require consent for the euthanasia to be carried out.

"it's an option" characters would perform euthanasia if asked, or would otherwise condone consensual euthanasia.

"only in the most extreme" characters would only consider the option as an absolute last resort, once every other possibility had been exhausted. these characters would keep someone alive against their wishes to try to save them.

"absolutely against it" characters would never under any circumstances kill someone they didn't want dead. they would sooner let them bleed out or otherwise suffer against their wishes than perform requested euthanasia, and would protest the performance of consensual euthanasia by others.

[misteria247]

Linked universe x modern reader but the reader isn't into the whole adventure thing and instead only has one mission in mind.

Finding their beloved pet that they were separated from.

They search all throughout Hyrule, helping the boys along the way and keeping a sharp eye and keen ear out for their furry friend. It's basically their main quest and the actual adventure involving the shadow and the boys is like a side quest.