#which includes not being raped and tortured and murdered for being a woman

[reignof-fyre]

"Rhaenyra was Maegor with Teats!"

"Daemon would be Maegor come again!"

Maegor's crimes:

Usurped the throne from the lawful, rightful heir

Murdered said rightful heir, committing Kinslaying

Rape, more than once

Killed every man, woman and child of House Harroway due to a rumor that his wife, Alys Harroway, had an affair

Ordered his nephew Viserys tortured, from which injuries he died

Put all the workers of the Red Keep's construction to death to keep the secret tunnels well, secret

Butchered 2,000 poor fellows who were, in actual fact, smallfolk at the wrong place at the wrong time

Raped an innkeeper's daughter

Murdered Lord Hayford, and many others

Ordered Rhaella, daughter of Aegon the Uncrowned and Rhaena the Black Bride, to be butchered

Rhaenyra's crimes

Being a woman in a man's world

Having the audacity to want to be heir and the power that comes with it

Allegedly sired bastards though there's no actual proof

Daemon's crimes

Despised the wife he was forced to marry at sixteen years old, who despised him just as much

Spent time with the smallfolk and drank and whored with them, treated them like people

Carried out lawful punishments as Lord Commander of the City Watch

Took a dragon egg without permission, which he returned when Viserys demanded it returned

Blood and Cheese

Aegon the Usurper's crimes

Usurped the lawful heir of the previous monarch

Demanded said heir and her whole family be killed when Rhaenyra wouldn't roll over and accept his "kind" terms

Slept with young girls, children really

Fondled any and every serving girl within reach, likely against their will

Bid in an auction for a young girl's maidenhead and won, siring children on her

Often found in Flea Bottom rat pits with young girls pleasuring him

Often watched "feral, starving children" fight one another for amusement

Threw a feast celebrating Prince Lucerys' cold blooded murder

Ordered every single ratcatcher in the city hanged, even those proven innocent

Allowed Cole to murder the Black supporters in the black cells, angering a great many lords of the realm

Murdered his own sister, committing Kinslaying

Murdered Maester Gerardys for no reason other than he "mistrusted" him

Aemond's crimes:

Used underhanded tactics to claim a dragon he knew his father would disapproved him trying to claim

Threatened the heirs heir and heir to driftmark with death

Committed treason by calling Jace and Luke bastards

Murdered Lucerys in cold blood, especially after he declared that "losing an eye was a fair trade for a dragon"

Is the reason the dance turned from a war of ravens to full on, bloody civil war

Butchered all of House Strong, men, women and children included

He took Alys Rivers as his spoils of war

Indiscriminately burned the Riverlands, murdering thousands of innocents

Daeron's crimes

Burned and entire town to the ground with his dragon, killing hundreds of innocent refugees

Ordered Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White murdered because they insulted him

Helaena's crimes

Supported her husband's usurpation of the throne, and being crowned queen herself

Not much else, but even if she declared herself neutral in the face of all of this, neutrality in the face of oppression means you side with the oppressor so...

[strawberrysugar71]

Hey! Pro-lifers! Read this please!

South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Idaho, and Indiana. The states where the state-level proposals to make abortion punishable by the death penalty have been brought in.

South Carolina: The Prenatal Equal Protection Act has been introduced, aiming to define abortion as “willful prenatal homicide.” This reclassification could make obtaining an abortion punishable by the death penalty, though the bill includes limited exceptions, such as when a woman is compelled to have an abortion due to the threat of imminent death or great bodily injury. Notably, the bill does not provide exceptions for cases of rape or incest. While the bill has garnered support from some lawmakers, including 21 co-sponsors, state GOP leaders have indicated that it is unlikely to become law.

If this does unfortunately become law, this means that RAPE and INCEST victims, no matter their age, will not be allowed abortions. RAPE AND INCEST VICTIMS. So, not only does your state law want WOMEN that have been through a TRAUMATIC experience such as that to give birth to their abuser’s baby like it’s nothing, they also want LITTLE GIRLS to do the same. Do you see how fucked up that is? Or are you one of those “why the fuck should I care, it doesn’t affect me” people.

Texas: The Republican Party’s 2024 platform proposed redefining abortion as homicide, which could expose abortion providers to the death penalty. This proposal aligns with the views of the “abortion abolitionist” movement, which equates abortion with murder. However, this platform is not a legislative bill and does not specify penalties for individuals seeking abortions.

There is no legal protection for anybody here. None more those who have suffered a miscarriage, unfortunately have an ectopic pregnancy (ectopic pregnancy: is a type of pregnancy where a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, most commonly in a fallopian tube. Ectopic pregnancies are not viable—they can’t result in a live birth—and prompt treatment is critical to protect the pregnant person’s life and future fertility.), those who are victims of rape, and those who are victims of incest. Don’t you think that’s also fucked up?

Idaho, Georgia, Indiana: Lawmakers in these 3 states, have introduced bills that could charge individuals seeking abortions with homicide. These proposals often use terms like “unborn child” or “preborn child” and aim to legally classify embryos and fetuses as potential homicide victims. While these bills are concerning, they are not yet law and do not uniformly propose the death penalty.

So, even if they don’t uniformly propose the death penalty, they could do other things such as torture, or 30+ years in prison. These three states don’t offer protection under any circumstances either.

Do you not feel bad for the women of the country? For the women your lawmakers aren’t protecting? 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 year old rape and incest victims being forced to carry their abuser’s babies to term and then give birth to them. If a woman gets pregnant before the age of 25, and after the age of 35, it’s classed as a ‘high-risk pregnancy’, meaning she has a higher chance of dying during childbirth. So not only was her life risked when she raped, (rape can kill by the way), it’s being risked again because the government is forcing her to have her abuser’s baby. Fucked up? 100%.

Do you not feel bad for the women suffering miscarriages, being denied healthcare whilst they’re bleeding out and grieving the loss of her baby? Fucked up? 100%.

Do you not feel bad for the women whose babies were conceived outside of the womb, not being allowed an abortion to save her own life? Fucked up? 100%.

And yes, “C-Sections and Adoption is an option”, but C-Sections is a surgeon cutting open 6 (sometimes 7) layers of skin just to pull a baby out of you, which is traumatic in itself, and it takes 1 hour to perform. Whereas, there are 3 types of abortion:

• Medication Abortion = 4-6 hours.

• Suction Aspiration = 5-10 minutes.

• Dilation and Evacuation = 1-2 days + 10-30 minutes.

Miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies need to be dealt with IMMEDIATELY, therefore, a suction aspiration is the quickest way out. But even then, that’s only used up until 14-16 weeks.

And for adoption, is still requires the baby to be given birth to, C-Section or not. Plus, a C-Section scars and a natural birth can tear. For rape victims, a natural birth will be EVEN WORSE for a rape victim, because she’ll have suffered vaginal trauma from having her vagina forced open when she was raped. 

I understand if you’re against abortion when a women doesn’t want a baby, and if she and her partner had consensual sex. I, personally, believe every woman should have the ability to say no to what happens to her body. If you’re against that in this case, okay. I doubt I’ll be able to change your mind on that. (However, if you think a woman shouldn’t have the right to say no to what happens to her body in any other case, you’re disgusting). But you have to realise that in cases of rape, incest, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages, it’s healthcare. You’re wrong if you don’t believe that.

Please, reblog this post to spread awareness. Riot in the streets, or shout it in the streets if you need to. Women and girls in America, you are so so so strong right now and I am SO proud of you all. Please don’t back down until everybody understands. Abortion is healthcare. I love you so much, and thank you for reading.

[racefortheironthrone]

Was the Comics Code as bad as the Hays Code?

That's a really good question!

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "as bad" - are we talking about the overall impact of the Code on American pop culture or are we talking about the actual content of the Code and what it banned and/or mandated in terms of artistic expression?

I've written a little bit about the Hays Code here, but my main focus was on subtextual judaism in Hollywood generally rather than what the Code was and what its impact on American cinema was.

So what did the Hays Code actually include?

One of the few positive things you can say about it is that the men who devised it were quite clear and forthright about what would and wouldn't be allowed, in comparison to the vagueness and inconsistency of the modern MPAA. So here's the list of what couldn't be shown:

Pointed profanity—by either title or lip—this includes the words God, Lord, Jesus, Christ (unless they be used reverently in connection with proper religious ceremonies), Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd, and every other profane and vulgar expression however it may be spelled; (You'll notice that the Code is very much a snapshot of the transition from silent movies to "talkies," with the discussion of how profanity is spelled as well as produced via "lip.")

Any licentious or suggestive nudity—in fact or in silhouette; and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture;

The illegal traffic in drugs;

Any inference of sex perversion; (i.e anything having to do with LGBT+ people and culture. For more on the impact of the Hays Code on the LGBT+ community, see the excellent documentary the Celluloid Closet.)

White slavery; (the 1920s version of sex trafficking, but with added racism!)

Miscegenation;

Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;

Scenes of actual childbirth—in fact or in silhouette;

Children's sex organs;

Ridicule of the clergy;

Willful offense to any nation, race or creed; and (this one was really honored in the breach more than the observance when it came to nations, races, and creeds of non-dominant groups in society.)

The following things could be shown, but "special care be exercised in the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the end that vulgarity and suggestiveness may be eliminated and that good taste may be emphasized:"

The use of the Flag;

International Relations (avoid picturizing in an unfavorable light another country's religion, history, institutions, prominent people and citizenry); (again, depended a lot on what country you're talking about.)

Arson;

The use of firearms;

Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, et cetera (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed description of these may have upon the moron); (I guess the idea was that the MPPDA believed very strongly in the idea that media could affect people's behavior through imitation, but the use of the word "moron" gives me eugenics vibes.)

Brutality and possible gruesomeness;

Technique of committing murder by whatever method;

Methods of smuggling;

Third-Degree methods; (i.e, torture)

Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for crime; Sympathy for criminals; (this was a big one; Hollywood had done very well from gangster films, so a lot of creators had to do some careful threading of the needle to keep the genre alive. One dodge that they came up with was that they would have a duplicate "final reel" in which the gangster would have their inevitable comeuppance, and then remove the final reel when the censors had left the theater. Very popular with white rural teens.) Attitude toward public characters and institutions; (again, Hollywood shifting from being anti- to pro-establishment.)

Sedition;

Apparent cruelty to children and animals;

Branding of people or animals;

The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;

Rape or attempted rape;

First-night scenes; (i.e, wedding nights)

Man and woman in bed together; (hence the eventual TV practice of showing married couples in separate beds in the 50s)

Deliberate seduction of girls;

The institution of marriage;

Surgical operations;

The use of drugs;

Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing officers;

Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or the other is a "heavy".

So in general, we can say that the Hays Code was extremely sex-negative, very concerned about crime and anti-establishment thinking, sexist, racist, and homophobic, and in general afraid of offending anybody.

So what about the Comics Code Authority?

So this is what the Comics Code looked like in 1954:

Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals. If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.

Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.

Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.

Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.

No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.

All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.

Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.

Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.

Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.

Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.

Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.

Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.

Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.[16]

You'll notice the similarities when it comes to the Codes' attitude to sex, sexuality, crime, and symbols of authority - so to answer the first part of your question, I would say the CCA was pretty similar to the Hays Code (in part because Charles F. Murphy, who drew it up, was deeply unoriginal and basically cribbed off the Hays Code throughout).

However, there are also some significant areas of difference that have a lot to do with the unique circumstances of the 1950s moral panic over comics. See, in the 1950s, superhero comics were considered deeply uncool and old hat - they had been huge in the 40s during the war, but by the 50s the biggest genre in comics were horror, crime, and romance comics (with cowboy comics bringing up the rear). To quote myself from another post:

"This gave rise to a moral panic in the 1950s, although more accurately it was part of the larger moral panic over juvenile delinquency. The U.S Senate established a Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee in 1953 to investigate the causes of juvenile delinquency and comics became a major target. While Wertham’s book is best known today for its assertions that Batman and Robin were teaching young boys to be gay and Wonder Woman was teaching young girls to be lesbians, the main focus of the Subcommittee [edit mine: and Wertham's academic work] was on horror and crime comics for their depiction of sex, violence, and “subversive” attitudes to law and order."

The CCA made it impossible to publish two of the most popular genres in the industry for a generation (the CCA relaxed its stance on horror stuff a bit in the 70s, which is why Marvel trend-chased werewolves and vampires the moment they could get away with it), which not only scrambled the medium (and potentially created space for the Silver Age of superhero comics to flourish) but drove the former titan EC Comics practically out of business. (Indeed, William Gaines of EC Comics believed that the CCA had been specifically worded to drive him out of business.)

So in some ways, the CCA was worse.

[ausetkmt]

When Sorry Isn't Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (Critical American Series)

When Sorry Isn't Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (Critical American Series)

Leading scholars, activists, and political leaders on being victim's of the world's worst atrocities "How much compensation ought to be paid to a woman who was raped 7,500 times? What would the members of the Commission want for their daughters if their daughters had been raped even once?"—Karen Parker, speaking before the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Seemingly every week, a new question arises relative to the current worldwide ferment over human injustices. Why does the U.S. offer $20,000 atonement money to Japanese Americans relocated to concentration camps during World War II, while not even apologizing to African Americans for 250 years of human bondage and another century of institutionalized discrimination? How can the U.S. and Canada best grapple with the genocidal campaigns against Native Americans on which their countries were founded? How should Japan make amends to Korean "comfort women" sexually enslaved during World War II? Why does South Africa deem it necessary to grant amnesty to whites who tortured and murdered blacks under apartheid? Is Germany's highly praised redress program, which has paid billions of dollars to Jews worldwide, a success, and, as such, an example for others?More generally, is compensation for a historical wrong dangerous "blood money" that allows a nation to wash its hands forever of its responsibility to those it has injured? A rich collection of essays from leading scholars, pundits, activists, and political leaders the world over, many written expressly for this volume, When Sorry Isn't Enough also includes the voices of the victims of some of the world's worst atrocities, thereby providing a panoramic perspective on an international controversy often marked more by heat than reason.

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Fantasy, Humor

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Content Warning: Violence, Death, Suicide, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Genocide           

Summary: From bestselling author Django Wexler comes a laugh-out-loud fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending humanity from the Dark Lord, decides maybe the Dark Lord doesn’t have it all wrong after all, perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and KJ Parker.

Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.

This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.

*Opinions*

I watch a lot of bookish content, which is why my TBR continues to grow and not shrink, but this is another read influenced by social media. It was a five-star read for the Booktalker (booksandlala) and the premise sounded interesting to me, so I requested it from the library. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was not what I got out of this novel. This was a satirical, fourth-wall-breaking romp through this fantasy world of Wexler’s creation. While I enjoyed my time in this world (though with a few critics) this novel will not be for everyone.

How to Become the Dark Lord or Die Trying follows Davi, a chosen one sent from Earth to a fantasy realm to save the Kingdom. The only problem? She keeps failing at this task and dying over and over and over again. The good news is that she always returns to where she started, a pool where she first emerged—the bad news, after a couple of thousand years that gets really old. Eventually, Davi decides that she wants to be on the winning team and tries not to save the kingdom, but become the Dark Lord that eventually destroys it. While there are a lot of false starts on this path as well, eventually Davi has a small horde of Wilders, and on her way to the meeting that will choose the next Dark Lord. However, without knowing how things work on this side of the world, Davi has to rely on her wits and a whole lot of luck to get the title she so dearly wants. Then again, if she dies, she can just try again, right?

The way that Wexler wrote this fantasy novel was reminiscent of a Mel Brooks movie, though I would not state that it is executed as well as one of those movies. Davi takes every well-worn fantasy trope and turns it on it’s head during her time attempting to become the Dark Lord, including murdering her quest giver multiple times. The issue I have is that near the end of the novel, is that Wexler attempts to go from a funny romp to serious questions about the world and Davi mentally manages the change in her understanding of how the world works. I understand that satirical novels need a plot, but the shift to serious lore and Davi losing her mind a little was a pretty serious shift, which is then forgotten after a couple of chapters.

The internal logic of this novel did not work at times well, which I didn’t get too hung up on given that this is a humorous novel, but I did catch it. The biggest one is that Davi does not remember anything about her life before coming to this fantasy world, she mentions this multiple times, yet she uses almost exclusively pop culture and known references from our world. You would think that after a couple of thousand years, she would forget movie lines along with what she used to do for a living. You would also think that she would catch on to the lore and myths of this world and use their slang. She is able to speak Wilder, but decides to confuse everyone around her constantly by continuing to talk in Earth references. I get that it is the humor of the novel, but it didn’t make sense within the logic of the world Wexler developed.

While I enjoyed my time with this novel, but most readers will know within the first twenty-five pages whether they like the narrative voice or if it is going to drive them insane. When describing the humor and overall narrative voice to a friend, I stated that it reminded me of Youtubers, especially in the gaming sphere, in the heyday of its popularity. Think like Smosh or early Markipler and Jacksepcticeye. If that is not the type of humor you enjoy, Davi is going to get on your nerves immediately. At times, I even found her a bit too much but I was enjoying the twist on a fantasy novel that I was able to push through those instances, which happened mostly at the beginning of the novel. Another writing aspect that did not really work for me was any time Davi was thinking about sex, which was a lot (see my comment about Youtuber humor). Now there were not the more egregious issues of a man writing a female main character, but there was something in the way that he wrote her horniess that made it clear the author was a man. I am not saying that women cannot be extremely horny, it is the way that it was written. I wish I had a better way to describe it. Again, I watched a lot of Youtube in my day so I was able to deal with it, but I can see it being an issue for other readers.

I personally did not like Davi a lot, but the surrounding characters were enough to push me through when she was extremely annoying. Still, even the primary romance didn’t hold my attention, mostly due to the issue I had with how Davi was written in terms of her thoughts on sex and her pursuing those needs. I did like her love interest, they were one of the few sincere characters in this novel.

I know this all makes it sound as if I didn’t enjoy the novel, but I had a good time while I was reading it. I just never found that I wanted to pick it back up. This is a story that I am interested in seeing where it is going, especially given the ending, but I will be picking it up from the library. This is a 3.5 read

[megamuscle885-blog]

My apologies to the Wormies following me, but I'm re-listening to the Wheel of Time audio book(s) and I just got to the Seanchan and I'm going to explode if I don't talk about how much I fucking hate them. Spoilers for Wheel of Time (but honestly it's 15 books I'm not going to force you to read all of them first.)

CW: Fascists. Sexual abuse/violence.

They're fascists. Unambiguously. They enslave just about everyone and everything they meet. They expect complete strangers to know their intricate ways under pain of death. Anyone they can't kill for convenience they torture in their every waking moment. They conquer people, then let them walk around armed because of their brutal arrogance that lets them murder anyone not cowed into submission.

Damane are enslaved, treated like animals, have their hands and tongues cut off if there is a risk to their owner's secrets, and despite the apparent Seanchan cultural shame of having sex with one, treated akin to bestiality, I seriously doubt that there aren't members of the Blood that have raped Damane. When women are under institutional power to the degree that the Seanchan have placed women who can channel under, women who are already treated like animals, or as it's said in the text; "Like a piece of furniture or a tool", women are victimized. Some of these women have been enslaved for hundreds of years, some have been captured as teenagers, and the ones holding their literal chains are also women who can channel that simply didn't have the initial spark that doomed the other women in the first place. By all technicality, each and every Suldam, including the Seanchan Heir apparent are Marath'damane themselves. The only fucking reason that Tuon doesn't get collared herself is because the text needs her to commit her forces to the Last Battle. It would only take a little thinking and her entire court could supplant her.

I hate every single facet of their existence. Their empire is under constant rebellion, but not a single fucking one of the Seanchan characters thinks it's at all odd that people are constantly rising up in defiance of a totalitarian state as merciless and cruel as theirs. It's treated as a bad thing that darkfriends cause the collapse of the mainland Seanchan Empire, the death of the Empress, and the complete anarchy that follows.

My sole consolation is the knowledge that every empire falls, that my headcanon for the aftermath of Wheel of Time means that the Seanchan collapse entirely. Their mainland is embroiled in a total civil war, armed with rampaging, angry magical nukes, scouring everything of life. Their new empire is headed by a woman who can channel, and every enslaved and conquered person in their invader empire can theoretically flee into the free lands of the east, including any women who can channel. If anyone figures out that the A'dam would work on Tuon, she's fucked and so is Matt and the Seanchan settler empire. There is no way that the Seanchan can keep hunting Marath'damane with the entire rest of the world has organizations of channelers that they can flee to, and the Dragon's Peace to keep the nations from killing each-other.

The worst part about listening to the Seanchan chapters is having to pause every ten minutes or so and get angry about something new being so cartoonishly evil, while the Seanchan shrug off criticism as if it's somehow natural to murder and enslave everything you can see and people who don't just don't understand their ways, which are better than everyone else.

And we're supposed to accept that Tuon is somehow gentler with her Damane. As if that's a fucking high bar to clear. Hypocritical bitch. Fuck you.

Maybe they'll tone it down for the TV show, but I already have so many problems with the show that I probably won't watch it. Amazon will not do the books justice, and they've abbreviated and changed so much it's barely the same tone or characters. That can be another rant for another day.

[bigskydreaming]

Hi, I read your post about the 10 misconceptions concerning Dick Grayson…if you don’t mind, who was the person who sexually assaulted him the “first” time? You said he worked with them in a superhero/crimefighting capacity…I’m just asking because I’ve never heard of that & sometimes I do want to know canon instead of just fanon. It’s cool if you want to answer this privately (in case others feel uncomfortable with the topic). I know you probably have more important stuff to do, so if you just want to give me the name of the character & the arc, I can look up the rest.

Anyway, thanks for the informative post. Hope you’re well.

No worries! The character/event I was referring to prior to Tarantula was Mirage, a teammate on the New Teen Titans briefly, and there's a looooooot of fanon to wade through about this, much of which I don't personally agree with. Including (and in some cases especially) in regards to a lot of the fanon that uses this to woobify Dick at the express expense of Kory, which I personally hate. (It really needs to be talked about more that Kory is a sexual assault survivor herself, IMO).

Furthermore, there's a tendency fandoms in general have - which I hate - that thinks anti-rape activism looks like focusing explicitly just on the rapists and vilifying them while leaving their actual survivors to be treated as focal afterthoughts, all of which I find to be SUPREMELY counter productive. And there's not a lot of nuance paid to how both Mirage & Tarantula - much like Morrison's take on Talia - feeds into & perpetuates racist tropes like 'the exoticized predatory woman of color,' which leads to a lot of pro-Dick Grayson/'men can be raped too' sentiments being used just as a justification for writers & readers to have an excuse to write characters like Jason torturing and murdering women of color in the name of defending Dick's honor or whatever. And I really can't express how much I hate that either.

All of this is just to say......be very careful with fanon takes & interactions with BOTH the Tarantula and Mirage storylines, and please always be mindful of the lens through which you scrutinize these stories and takes on these stories.

I've written about both storylines and my takes on fanon tropes about them many times over the years (full disclosure, I'm a male rape survivor so my stances on this subject are very much biased and not remotely inclined to pretend otherwise, lol) and you can probably find a lot of posts about them by searching my blog for the relevant character names, but here's my big go-to post on the Mirage situation and fallout, in which I tried to back up all my viewpoints with canon sourcing. Its definitely long, but aimed at being as thorough as I could make it.

[theory-of-art]

4.1 Gender Differences

Both Artemisia Gentileschi and Caravaggio created oil on canvas pieces depicting the moment when Judith assassinates Holofernes from the “Book of Judith,” a text included in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox bible, defined as apocryphal by Protestants, and excluded by the Hebrew canon. In the story, Judith uses her beauty and charm to kill the Assyrian general Holofernes who had besieged her city. The story is meant to represent the paradox of a “good” sin (murdering one man but saving an entire city). 

The obvious difference between Gentileschi and Caravaggio’s pieces are the orientation, Caravaggio’s piece is oriented horizontally which allows for a lot of negative space that emphasizes the chariscuro but doesn’t add to the portrayal of the scene. The horizontal orientation creates a clear delineation between the feminine “softness” of Judith and her maid and the masculine gore of Holofernes. Judith’s form is depicted as leaning away from Holofernes and the sword she is using to decapitate him. Her grip is partially obscured behind Holofernes’ head and it is angled in a way that would not have allowed a fraction of the strength she would have needed to sever his head from his body. She is also depicted as wearing a pure white bodice, unstained by the spurting blood which was so kind as to spray away from her form. Her expression shows a pitying practicality, knowing she must do this grizzly deed but seemingly contrite about the murder. By depicting Judith in this way, Caravaggio emphasizes the male gaze of the early modern period, the feminine daintiness necessitated by the patriarchal culture of the time. Despite Judith being forced to make this morally gray decision, she is visibly recoiling from the violence and thus unstained by its execution, remaining non-threatening to the established norms. 

In contrast, Gentileschi’s piece is oriented vertically and the scene fills the canvas not allowing for more than fifteen percent of the image to be negative space. In this piece, Holofernes is supine on a stack of mattresses, actively trying to fight off Judith’s maid servant who is pinning his arms to his chest. The maid servant is exerting obvious effort to pin Holofernes, it is clear she is using gravity and her body weight to give her that slight advantage to overpower him. Judith occupies the right of the frame, gripping Holofernes by the hair and forcing his face away from her with her left hand while her right hand holds the sword she is using to cut his head off of his body. Her face shows a calm practicality, similar to Caravaggio’s Judith, but Gentileschi’s Judith is depicted with straining muscles, tendons standing out on her arms as she clearly saws the sword through Holofernes’ neck. Below Holofernes’ head, the sheets are stained with blood and gore, depicted by a deeper red than Caravaggio’s vivid, unrealistic red. Ultimately, Gentileschi’s work depicts a harsher reality of early modern women, capable of seduction and femininity but also capable of taking care of problems by any means necessary. 

Understanding Gentileschi and Caravaggio’s biographies color the interpretation of both of their pieces. Caravaggio’s depiction of bloody gore is antithetical to the fact that he murdered a man in a brawl which caused him to flee from Rome to Naples. Knowing that he had first hand experience in violent, masculine struggles emphasizes the idea of femininity he is presenting in his work. Artemisia Gentileschi on the other hand, was the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, another baroque artist, and was the first woman accepted to the Florentine Academy. According to court records, around the time this piece was created Gentileschi was raped by one of her father’s assistants and her testimony in the court case was only admissable if given under torture. Knowing the reality of Gentileschi’s life around the time of creation, the vengeful practicality of the violence depicted against Holofernes can be seen as a cathartic expression for Gentileschi, though primary documentation is lacking to provide a full psychoanalytic analysis. Whether it was auto-biographical or not, Gentileschi allows her depiction of femininity to contain the typical signs associated with masculine rationality and violence, highlighting the nuance of gender. 

Pointon, Marcia. “Artemesia Gentileschi’s ‘The Murder of Holofernes.’” American Imago, vol. 38, no. 4, 1981, pp. 343–67. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26303770.

[kdnss77]

Girl Hell 1999/Shojo jigoku ichi kyu kyu kyu (1999)

basic info: directed and written by Daisuke Yamanouchi (also known as the executive of such titles as "Red Room" or "Celluloid Nightmares" from the same year). it's classified under the genre of horror, for the sake of including acts of slight gore, violence and a broad range of sexual abuse performances.

overall ratings: imdb: 5,1/10 letterboxd: 2,5/5

plot summary: the movie sets off with a melancholic shot featuring the protagonist, 17-year old Misaki, which turns out to be a leap into the future in the latter take (and, probably, captures the rather suicidal state of her mind - as the events unfold, we're gradually familiarized with all that the girl had dealt with and what has left her almost completely callous to the matter of her own existence). subsequently, we learn that Misaki actively supports a homeless woman living near the bridge in the town, bringing her leftover food and keeping her company. however, it turns out she's in the center of attention of both a young, although extremely short-tempered and abusive worker and an individual standing behind the repetitive thefts of her biking seat (which, to me, at first seemed more of a cruel joke made by her classmates, so as to bully her. but it comes down to a gross piss kink later on). its also revealed that the schoolgirl parts her daily life with an unpredictable father and a heavily wounded sister, who constantly needs to be taken care of. her sibling's immobility is unfortunately taken advantage of by the parent, him imposing becoming an object destined for rape only on her. more into the movie, when Misaki resigns on meeting the guy interested in her, he and his loyal friend run for a vigorous killing spree in revenge - first, they brutally deal with the oblivious woman from under the bridge, then knock Misaki's father off and end up torturing her sister until she's become completely lifeless. in the meantime, Misaki herself is captured by the pervert, who has been the initial cause for her bike seat to magically disappear (this sequence includes a picture of the man drinking her urine from a tube). then we're finally brought to the point, with which the whole movie began - Misaki's out of any emotions, becomes completely soulless and simply gives herself in to the two previously mentioned friends, who have just murdered her only family. the ending scene is rather unexpected - while walking off, the protagonist encounters the beaten up, homeless woman, holding a different doll (the previous one and therefore the one woman has been taking care of so thoroughly ever since - Haruko - had been destroyed by the workers). this sight causes the girl to snap and proceed to continuously hurt the terrified woman with a bat.

my thoughts: this one, no matter from what angle you look at it, is plainly pointless. just a story about a schoolgirl who somehow happens to have everything and everyone against her, suffering non-culpably for being too pure and kind-hearted for this world. having oversimplified what my reflections on this have morphed into so far, of course. nevertheless, the movie has some remarkable bits, that make it live up to my expectations in a way. in terms of the production it's, however, way below those - it's clearly a low-budget one, what emerges in inadequate cuts or sudden lightning changes (on the contrary, one could state that this was purely intentional - personally i liked the random alternations between first colored and then black-white canvas in the meantime of all the dramatic shots. it points to some further vision and potential, that - unfortunately - wasn't entirely fulfilled). what i find valuable about "Girl Hell" is the aftermath of its story. the plot alone is rather senseless, but taking into consideration the burden protagonist has to deal with, it makes her a pretty complex character. firstly, she seems to live in constant fear - the moments, in which she contemplates on entering her own house are filled with unspeakable tension. deep inside she'd rather be anywhere else, far away from the hell she has to deal with every day after school. she never knows what to expect from her perverted and aggressive father, of whom she's afraid of and can't do much to stop him from sexually abusing her disabled sibling. her sister on the other hand, loathes her, even though Misaki is the one to treat her unhealed wounds. what's more, she's convinced Misaki's glad she ended up like this, prompting her to spiral down her own helplessness even deeper. in a hazardous confrontation with her father, after pointing a knife at him, she's also obstinately defending her mother, who had abandoned their family some time ago. however, it seems that - somewhere, under the surface of self-indulged guilt - she pities her parent for leaving her, not receiving this motherly kind of love. this lack emerges, among others, in the scene where Misaki starts to drink milk from a breast of the homeless woman - sucking on it just like a newborn child, almost wistfully. then, again, in the ending scene of the movie - when Misako realizes, that a new doll has already found its place in the arms of the lady, she rages on her with a blood-covered bat, granting her with numerous hits. to me, it seems that she might have seen herself in this particular piece of plastic - she's been simply thrown away by her mother (who, taking into account the words of Misaki's father, has probably run away with an another man), despite being nothing more than a child. it's symbolic in a way - it's the first and only time in the whole movie that Misaki lets her frustrations out instead of obediently cramming them inside. this scene, in fact, literally rescues the production as a whole. but it still doesn't contribute to exceeding the norms of mediocre watch. i just wish Yamanouchi contented himself on releasing a rather poorly made, although self-sufficient movie. and not something aspiring to be a high-budget crap, screaming with potential yet too proudly exhibited. and it's exactly what killed it.

my rating: 2,5/5

favorite quote: "I bet you feel real good, now that i've ended up like this." (these words come from Misaki's sister. i find them crucial in a way, as the point of the protagonist's story is the exaggerated focus her inability to prove anyone or anything wrong - including the self-loathing she most probably experienced too in the face of it. her family life is a torture, she's surrounded by perverts and abusive individuals, basically drowning in all sorts of depravation. it seems as if she was sentenced for them, the one to be blamed for everything that ever happens. just like you could imagine the generalized perception of hell, a never ending torture).

the images were found by me on the internet, credit to their original uploaders.

[mightyflamethrower]

Hamas terrorists, father and son, admit raping before murdering women on Oct. 7 - Daily Mail

The father described how he raped a crying woman at gunpoint, and the son described how his father murdered the woman "after we finished raping her." The father admitted to raping multiple women.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMAY 23, 2024 17:49Updated: MAY 25, 2024 10:27

 

 

 

Two Hamas terrorists, a father and son, confessed to raping innocent Israeli civilians before killing them on October 7, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi, a 47-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, was described as shameless, and his 18-year-old son, Abdallah, was called evil in the report.

The report focused on a video in which the two terrorists described murdering civilians in their homes, kidnapping victims, and raping women before murdering them.

The report described how the two terrorists confessed to invading Israel and infiltrating Kibbutz Nir Oz, where “in each house where [they] found someone, [they] either killed them or kidnapped them.”

According to the son’s confession, however, his father did not provide the investigators with the entire truth. The son said his father had killed the woman after she was raped by multiple people, including himself, the report said.

“My father raped her, then I did, and then my cousin did, and then we left,” he was quoted as saying. “But my father killed the woman after we finished raping her.”

Another woman was raped by the two terrorists, as well as two more people who were raped by the father, the report said, saying he had confessed to having “raped another girl as well,” and that he “broke into five houses.”

Father and son are both in custody

According to the IDF, both the father and son are in custody in Israel and awaiting trial.

The testimonies arrived two months after a report concerning sexual-violence incidents on October 7 delivered by Pramila Patten, special representative of the UN secretary-general, the report said.

Patten’s report was based on interviews with multiple October 7 victims and survivors, as well as investigating the bodies of victims at different morgues.

“It was a catalog of the most extreme and inhumane forms of killing, torture, and other horrors,” the Daily Mail quoted Patten as saying.

Some women who were at the Supernova music festival on October 7 were also victims of Hamas’s use of sexual violence as a weapon, the report said.

The report ended with an IDF spokesperson being quoted as saying in a video: “Over the past months, we’ve seen countless evidence of the brutal violence used by Hamas on October 7, including harrowing acts of gender-based and sexual violence. These confessions further prove that any attempt to deny the horrors of October 7, and discredit the testimonies of witnesses, survivors, and freed hostages, is part of a campaign to delegitimize Israel and to promote the justification of terrorism.”

Wow....!!!! Such courage. (sarcasm) Gang raping a poor woman with her hands tied behind her back. You can't get any braver than that.

At this point anyone who supports the Hamas Terrorist has to admit they are as fascist as any SS trooper in 1941.

[scary-movies-on-netflix]

MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970)

This takes place in 18th century Austria, and it purports to be a series of true tales…of witchcraft!  We start off with Albino, the local witchfinder, as he has a wagon full of nuns captured so they can be sexually assaulted.  He then has a few people burned to death as witches.  Later at the inn, Christian arrives.  He is Udo Keir, in one of his earliest movies.  Christian summons Albino and tells him that one Lord Cumberland is coming to take over the local witchfinding operation.  (Christian is his assistant.) Albino runs to his partner, the Advocate, so they can fabricate enough evidence to support all their killing.

Still later, again at the inn, Albino attempts to sexually assault Vanessa.  She fights him off by slashing him across the face.  Albino promptly accuses her of witchcraft.  Vanessa cries out to everyone to help her, but the crowd just watches as Albino begins to torture Vanessa by stabbing her with his witch-pricking needle.  (Basically, the victims were poked with needles and if there was a spot that was less sensitive then that meant that Satan had touched the “witch” there.)  Luckily, Christian shows up and puts a stop to the torture.  He has Albino whipped.  Vanessa spends the night at a castle with Christian, and they seem to start to like each other!

Cumberland (Herbert Lom, another fine character actor who had a long career) finally arrives.  Turns out, while he puts on appearances of being more benevolent and understanding than Albino, he’s not!  He has a woman tortured for daring to say that the local bishop sexually assaulted her.  She’s then subjected to extended and gruesome tortures until she’s finally burned to death.  A local baron, who recently inherited his estate, is accused of being possessed by the devil!  If he dies then the Church can take the estate.  Cumberland tells the man to confess so that he can at least live, but the young man refuses.  He is tortured in various ways.  Albino has Vanessa arrested again!  Christian can’t do much to assist her, and Cumberland insists that she’s a witch.  (Her charges include rituals to make the men of the area impotent, which seems to hit with Cumberland.)

Albino and his goons are wandering through town when they see an attractive woman in a window.  They rush upstairs to sexually assault her and end up killing her husband.  The murderer is put to death, and Cumberland dismisses Albino as witchfinder.  Albino tells Cumberland that they should work together, dividing up the spoils of their work.  Cumberland says that he’ll have Albino arrested, and Albino says, “I’ll tell them you rape women, you burn innocent people, that you kill for money, that you’re impotent.”  That last bit enrages Cumberland, who chokes Albino to death!  Problem is, Christian sees him.

Then the Advocate and some goons are wandering through the town when they hear some kids talking about magic.  They chase the kids back to their house, where their parents are putting on a puppet show.  The puppets are talking about flying and witches and angels, and the Advocate accuses the parents of witchcraft.  He starts to torture Puppet Dad with his needle knife.  Puppet Mom attacks the Advocate and ends up poking out his eye!  Everyone is taken back to the castle, where Cumberland calls the men fools because these are obviously just puppets, but he refuses to release the couple.  They must burn as witches!  “But they’re innocent,” Christian says.  Cumberland says, “To release them now would only show weakness.  We must not show weakness.  They must die.”  If they’re innocent, they will be martyrs.  Christian says, “If they are Christian martyrs, what does that make you?”  Anyway, Puppet Dad is subjected to a water torture and goes mad.  Cumberland summons Puppet Mom and sexually assaults her, but it seems that he cannot penetrate her and leaves. 

Christian frees Vanessa, who runs back to town.  He then tries to free the young nobleman, but he is captured.

Finally, Vanessa reaches town and stirs up a mob to attack the castle.  The townspeople advance, even as Cumberland’s men are still executing people.  The young noble has his head lopped off, but the mob reaches them before they can kill Puppet Mom.  (She’ll eventually find her children and be okay.)  The mob hunts for Cumberland, but he escapes and rides away in a carriage.  The crowd has freed Christian, but then the Advocate arrives and says that Christian is Cumberland!  The mob drabs Christian away and torture him to death.  Vanessa arrives and sobs over his dead body.

This was ok.  It was obviously inspired by “Witchfinder General” (1968), but whereas that movie had at least a bit of restraint in the torture, this movie dials it up to exploitation levels.  The film lingers on these scenes.  The young woman who accused the bishop has her fingers crushed, is placed on the rack, and has her feet branded.  Cumberland demands more torture.  Her head is strapped in place and her mouth jammed open and her tongue is ripped out.  The violence is gory and crude.  The acting was fine even considering the dubbing.  The camera zoomed in often on faces and then on eyes, allowing the actors to convey their contempt or fear.  The plotting and pacing were competent. We have some nice shots of the Austrian countryside. There were a few weird scenes, such as one extended take of the children of the Puppet Parents alone in a cage.  That was poorly dubbed and went on for way too long.  Still, this movie definitely left an impression on me: seething in anger at a world that allows people like Cumberland to exist.

[saschaederer]

Threats (25. 2. 2025):

- Threats published recently, within the string of publications primarily surrounding (a) (former) front alter(s) of Taylor Swift, having potentially gotten tortured and/or murdered: In partial reference to Mikhaila Peterson (“(having potentially) gotten (“raped and/or”) tortured”, numerous times) and/or murdered (potentially, instead)

(Note: https://imgur.com/a/eEN4b18)

- “Emotion is the music of language” (and several other similar such variations of the quote I uploaded on X yesterday (https://imgur.com/a/go2e0KA)

- Pus smells (Threats in initial reference to (potentially, (a) (former) front alter(s) and/or (a) ‘Mother of Darkness’ alter(s) of) Taylor Swift (In initial reference to https://youtu.be/DwZMHkYTvhY) and/or me getting tortured (SRA, rape of gaping wounds) (potentially, for a lifetime))

- Mental image of a quantum computer with three lights in the middle arranged vertically, of which the bottom one pointing to my left (as my head was tilted) shone red (In initial reference to the ‘Red Light - Green Light’ scene in the TV show ‘Squid games’ (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid_Game) - “An machen” (Ger: ‘Turn on’) (A threat in initial reference to (potentially, (a) ‘Mother of Darkness’ alter(s) of) Taylor Swift getting prostituted to Jordan Peterson and/or a threat in partial reference to such alter(s) and/or me getting tortured and/or murdered (SRA, rape of gaping wounds) (potentially, for a lifetime)) - Mental image of a flash of light to the top-right of my mind, faintly reminiscent of https://x.com/amazlngnature/status/1886978134685200692?s=46&t=8BkusnIkW2uki99TqYWYEw (in initial reference to the system) - “and/or me” - “getting tortured” - “in partial reference” - My hair at the top left of my head, tingling - Pseudo hallucination (luminous, lucid colors) in my peripheral vision of a strand of light in my kitchen - My asshole making ominous sounds (in partial reference to ‘Steve Hauschildt - Strands’ (https://youtu.be/PxV8k7r9oPo), threats in initial reference to me getting tortured (SRA, rape of gaping wounds) (potentially, for a lifetime))

- Pseudo hallucination (luminous, lucid colors) in my peripheral vision, of the outlines of a squid reminiscent of a penis, projected unto the ceiling

- Pseudo hallucination (luminous, lucid colors) in my peripheral vision, of the outlines of a penis in a shape reminiscent of mine

- Various mental images and vocalizations alluding to the apparent or alleged being of ‘Mother of Darkness’ alters, including a luminous, dark blue arrow pointing upwards with some circles and shapes to its right + a vocalization mentioning ‘lifespan’ (A threat in initial reference to me), mental images of a woman breaking a block of Korean instant noodles into a bowl of soup (A threat in initial reference to me getting castrated, in partial reference to https://images.app.goo.gl/2bCHpGU17QqYM2uc9) - A few vocalizations mentioning “(Mother of) Darkness”

______________________________________________

Reports:

______________________________________________

How I handle threats I receive (Last Update: 22. 2. 2025):

[mariacallous]

A Greek court has ordered an Albanian man to pay 905,000 euros in compensation to relatives of Eleni Topaloudi, a student killed by him and a Greek man on the Greek island of Rhodes in November 2018.

The Court of First Instance of Rhodes ordered the payment in compensation for victim’s relatives’ mental anguish.

In November 2018, 21-year-old Greek national Manolis Koukouras and 19-year-old Albanian national Aleksander Luca, raped and tortured Topaloudi.

Then they took her to a deserted area where they threw her body off a cliff while she was still alive but in a semi-comatose state. She drowned in the sea.

The crime caused widespread revulsion in Greece and protesters demonstrated outside the court at the start of the two men’s trial.

They were sentenced in May 2022 by the Court of Appeal to life imprisonment and additional 15 years each for the murder and gang rape of the young student.

The court did not recognise any mitigating factors. The Court of Appeal’s verdict was the same as the first instance verdict in May 2020.

Local Rhodes media outlet dimokratiki.gr reported that the victim’s parents, Ioannis Topaloudis and Kyriaki Armoutidou, her brother, her grandmother and other relatives then filed a lawsuit in the civil court seeking compensation for the anguish they had suffered.

The lawsuit highlighted the perpetrators’ brutality as well as the deceit and methodical way in which they tried to conceal their crime. Topaloudi’s family also claimed that the perpetrators’ relatives were responsible for the lack of supervision of their children.

The lawsuit reportedly was not filed correctly against the Greek killer, however, which is why the compensation order applies only to one of the two.

Greece recorded 15 femicides in 2024. A 40-year-old woman was the first victim of 2025; she died on January 3 in a hospital, where she was transferred after being beaten by her partner at the end of October. The Greek penal code does not include the term femicide as a distinct form of crime.

[alix-relativity]

The Reign of Terror & The Last Monarchy

Louis XVI the King of France was murdered by guillotine the 21st of January, 1793 at the Place de la Concorde during a period of revolt and violent insurrection that in history is known as the French Revolution. Also known by many historians as The Reign of Terror.

He was accused of high treason and other crimes that included conspiring against the nation of France and conspiring to use military force against his own country. He was found guilty by an anonymous court and sentenced to die in the guillotine. Most of the accusations later on were debunked and found either be false or exaggerated. For instance, he never declared martial law against his people or tried to attack his own nation with the help of other countries. Most of the claims that he was using the country's money to support his family's extravaganzas and contributing to the financial crisis were lies exaggerated by his opponents and in fact the mishandling of the national's treasure was done by the government itself not the king.

Many charges were fabricated around the government's disapproval of his arranged marriage to Marie Antoinette; which was a symbolic diplomatic and defense alliance to bring France and Austria closer, known as the Franco-Austrian Alliance; who ended with the French revolution and assassination of both Louis and Marie Antoinette.

Unfortunately to add to the misfortune of the power couple, the grand majority of the French population really opposed the Franco-Austrian Alliance and they saw it as a betrayal from the King against his own country.

Marie Antoinette was murdered by guillotine the 16th of October, 1793. She had an unfair and gross trial that included charges of high treason, depletion of the state treasure, conspiring and spying against the nation of France. She was also accused of molesting her son Louis Charles or Louis XVII, the Dauphin of France and future king, who was abducted from her mother's arms at the Tuileries Palace by a mob of angry insurrectionists when he was only 8 years old.

The little boy was placed under the care of a cobbler then after the trial and execution of his mother he was sent to the Temple's fortress. He was just a child and based on historians' recollection of the events before her mother's trial, he was coerced and forced to confess he was sexually molested by his own mother in exchange for food. The boy was locked up, tortured, starved and beaten and used to build a case against the queen of France. They wanted them dead to put an end to the monarchy so they used the Dauphin to make her look like a monster and a cruel mother. When in reality he was probably molested and raped by his captors.

History has exonerated the former queen of France because there are a number of recollections of her life at the Palace of Versailles that indicates that she was a loving and protective mother to all of her children, not a child-molester. They wanted no traces of their bloodline to restore the monarchy so they killed the boy or let him die since he was the successor to the throne and the kingdom of France.

Marie Antoinette was tortured, terrorized and thrown in jail also. She had one of the most unfair trials of any monarch in history. She was the victim of radical cancel culture.

And to this day in time, she's still been demonized and hated by the people of France. We saw it at the Paris Olympics opening in 2024. It was just gross.

So what was Marie Antoinette's crime? born beautiful, born a woman, born into a privileged family, getting married to the King of France? Yes, the later one. Also they hated her because she was accused of being an extravagant spender (and that could be the case) but mostly they hated that she was a foreigner, an Austrian and because she wasn't born in France.

To make it clear, the events leading to the French Revolution were caused due to a severe winter that ended up destroying the grain crops and harvest, triggering a severe famine; people were really desperate because they couldn't make flour and bread. The situation was extreme and people were dying in the streets. And during that specific time in history, the queen was once again falsely accused of "ignoring" the starving people of France (an accusation that was later debunked) she never said, Let Them Eat Cake" in an act of dismissal against the poor and hungry; but instead she felt compelled and sad that the people in France were starving. And instead she said: "Let Them Eat Brioche". Which in fact its better than just plain bread.

In fact, King Louis XVI took action immediately, after a peaceful march around Versailles by women protesting the lack of bread, so the king ordered the food stores at Versailles to be opened to the protesters and anyone in need, so they could be served bread or brioche, per the correct translation.

Obviously people were furious and nothing could contain their anger. And they started organizing and arming themselves to attack the palace. They were after their heads. They were resentful that they were living in a luxurious palace with an abundance of food and wealth and they wanted the monarchy out, they wanted to punish them and suffer. So they overthrew the King and took everything from him and his family.

There is no doubt Marie Antoinette was an educated and cultured woman. A natural beauty, sophisticated and classic. She, beyond her physical attributes and education, was part of a political alliance and a woman that was sent to meddle the diplomatic difference between two countries and in the eyes of the country, her crime was to be married to the King of France.

Let's not forget also both, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were great friends of America. But that's outside the realms of this article but it's worth mentioning.

Marie Antoinette last words at the guillotine were: "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès (Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose)" after stepping on her executioner's foot. She probably did it on-purpose and that to me was perfectly fine. That's nothing in comparison to what they did to her and her family.

Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte was the only child survivor of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette that grew up into adulthood. She lived in exile from France after the Revolution. She married her cousin the Duke of Angoulême in Austria... She swore, to never return back to France. May They Rest in Peace.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (February 21)

Saint Robert Southwell, SJ (c. 1561 – 21 February 1595), an English Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, is one of the 40 martyrs of England & Wales murdered during the English anti-Catholic Reformation.

Robert was born in Norfolk, the youngest of eight children in a well-to-do family with Catholic sympathies in the midst of the anti-Catholic sentiment started by the Anglican reformation.

In 1576, he was sent to France to study with the Jesuits at the English college at Douai.

After completing his education, he requested to join the Society of Jesus but was rejected because he was too young.

Moreover, the Jesuit seminary was temporarily closed because of the growing confrontations between French and Spanish forces.

But in a show of his conviction, he set off on foot to Rome to make his case for becoming a Jesuit in 1578.

After being admitted to the probation house of Sant' Andrea on 17 October 1578, and after the completion of the novitiate, Southwell began studies in philosophy and theology at the Jesuit College in Rome.

He was then ordained in 1584.

That same year, Queen Elizabeth I had passed an edict establishing the death penalty for any British Catholic priest or religious who joined a religious order abroad to remain in England longer than forty days.

Two years later, Southwell requested to be sent back to England as a clandestine Jesuit missionary with Henry Garnet.

Southwell preached and ministered successfully for six years, publishing Catholic catechism and writing spiritual poetry that would make him one of the most important Baroque English poets.

But the Queen's chief priest-hunter, Richard Topcliffe, pressured a young Catholic woman he had raped to betray Southwell.

Once captured, he was initially jailed in Topcliffe's personal prison and tortured 13 different times, trying to get him to name Catholic families involved in the clandestine Catholic mission.

Fr. Robert did not betray a single name.

Transferred to the infamous Tower of London, Southwell endured cold and solitude for two and a half years, reading the Bible, the works of St. Bernard, and praying the Breviary.

During that time, he also wrote the most important portion of his poetry.

In 1595, Southwell was finally put on trial accused of treason.

During the trial, he admitted being a Jesuit to minister to Catholics but strongly denied ever being involved in “designs or plots against the queen or kingdom."

After the predictable guilty verdict, he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.

On 21 February 1595, in Tyburn, the Jesuit was allowed to address the crowd about his mission as a Catholic priest.

He pronounced the words of Psalm 30 prayed in Complines: in manus tuas commendabo spiritum meum (Into your hands i commend my spirit) and made the sign of the cross.

After he was hanged and his severed head presented to the crowd, the traditional shout of “traitor” was replaced by utter silence.

Soon after his martyrdom, his body of poetry started to circulate in manuscripts among Catholics.

In 1595, his “St. Peter's Complaint” and other poems were printed.

By 1636, 14 editions had been printed and other collections of poems, including “Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears” and "Maeoniae."

He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Many critics believe that the poem that expresses the best of his dramatic message to his fellow persecuted Catholics in England is “Life is But Losse,” which he wrote in prison:

By force I live, in will I wish to dye;

In playnte I passe the length of lingring dayes;

Free would my soule from mortall body flye,

And tredd the track of death's desyred waies:

Life is but losse where death is deemed gaine,

And loathed pleasures breed displeasinge payne.

.....

Come, cruell death, why lingrest thou so longe?

What doth withould thy dynte from fatall stroke?

Nowe prest I am, alas! thou dost me wronge,

To lett me live, more anger to provoke:

Thy right is had when thou hast stopt my breathe,

Why shouldst thoue stay to worke my dooble deathe?

.....

Avaunt, O viper! I thy spite defye:

There is a God that overrules thy force,

Who can thy weapons to His will applie,

And shorten or prolonge our brittle course.

I on His mercy, not thy might, relye;

To Him I live, for Him I hope to die.

—

Full version

[whileiamdying]

Film-maker Mehran Tamadon tells stories of torture in Iran, yesterday and today

With his new documentary “Where God is Not”, French-Iranian film-maker Mehran Tamadon hopes that the testimonies of former detainees who say they were tortured in Iran will “unsettle” some of their persecutors.

Thursday 20/04/2023

Iranian director Mehran Tamadon speaks during an interview during the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin. (Reuters)

PARIS –

One man mimes his bones being broken, a woman recounts her surrender to religious brainwashing, while a third man replicates his confinement in a tiny prison cell.

With his new documentary “Where God is Not”, French-Iranian film-maker Mehran Tamadon hopes that the testimonies of former detainees who say they were tortured in Iran will “unsettle” some of their persecutors.

All recount abuse that occurred before the protests that are now shaking Iran, from the brutal repression of the 1980s in the immediate aftermath of the revolution up until the last decade.

But “everything I am filming speaks of today,” said the director who was born to communist parents in Iran in 1972, but fled to France with his mother as a child.

“Right now, there are people being tortured in prison in Iran.”

Iranian authorities have arrested thousands since nationwide protests broke out following the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly breaching the country’s strict dress rules for women.

Security forces have also killed 537 people during the crackdown, Norway-based Iran Human Rights watchdog says.

“For 43 years,” since the 1979 revolution that installed an Islamic theocracy in the country, Iran has been in the grips of a “totalitarian system”, said Tamadon, an architect who turned to cinema in the first decade of the millennium when he lived in Tehran.

After 2009 documentary “Bassidji” (“Basij”) in which he interviewed members of the paramilitary volunteer force, the atheist engaged in conversation with four clerics for his 2014 work “Iranian”.

The authorities were so unhappy with him that they confiscated his passports.

‘Russian roulette’

After they returned them to him in 2012, he decided to leave Iran, where he says violence has become so ingrained that, “like a Russian roulette”, it can strike at any time.

In “Where God is Not”, which premiered at the Berlinale in February, 50-year-old Mazyar welds a metal bed frame like the one he was tortured on after being detained for alleged spying and murder.

It was there the once business manager was tied up and his torturers broke the bones of his feet with a metal rod, he says.

When he was no longer able to walk, he was dragged in front of a camera to confess to crimes he had never committed.

Also in the film, Homa, a Marxist woman who was detained in an overcrowded prison in the 1980s, breaks down in tears as she recounts being so blasted with endless religious chants that she woke up one day brainwashed and started to pray.

Taghi Rahmani, a political activist who was locked up for 15 years for his views, re-enacts his confinement in a tiny Parisian cellar.

“I spent six months like this,” he said, counting out the three steps between the two walls of a former cell.

Rights groups have long lambasted the use of torture in Iranian jails, with Amnesty International in a September 2020 report detailing methods including beatings, floggings, electric shocks, stress positions, mock executions, water-boarding and sexual violence.

The group said in March that in the crackdown on the protest movement child protesters as young as 12 were being subjected to torture that included electric shocks and rape.

‘A torturer’s conscience’

In a second film also due out this year, “Mon Pire Ennemi” (“My Worst Enemy”), Tamadon asks award-winning Iranian-French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi to step into the shoes of her interrogators.

Becoming her victim, the film-maker allows her to subject him to the same humiliation she says she endured at the hands of regime agents after a sex tape featuring her and her boyfriend was leaked online in 2006.

In one scene, she forces him to strip down to his underwear.

“I enjoyed destroying you with the words I said,” she says towards the end of the film.

Tamadon says he hopes both works will be enough to make some members of the regime in Iran re-examine their actions.

“Many of the questions I ask my characters about a torturer’s conscience are in fact directly aimed at them,” he said.

“Maybe this will plant a seed that will grow into something later on.”

Rahmani, the political activist who has lived in France for over a decade, does not believe either “Where God is Not” nor “My Worst Enemy” can bring about any redemption.

But everything in them “is happening at the moment in Iran. By speaking up, I’m trying to denounce it,” he said.

His own wife, prominent rights defender Narges Mohammadi, is jailed in Tehran’s Evin prison.

“As my wife is well known, she isn’t tortured physically. But she’s in solitary confinement,” he said.

“Whenever she suffers, I also suffer.”