We protect the vulnerable

Side blog for Marvel's Moon Knight. Main is ratherdieasthedevil

[spectorofkhonshu]

Alright y'all, lemme be real fucking clear here

Jake Lockley is not evil, Jake Lockley is not "just a killer", Jake Lockley is not a bad person

Jake Lockley is a protector in a system that has been severely traumatized as a child and were not protected and taken care of like they should have been.

Yes, he seems more prone to violence than Marc or Steven, but that does not make him an evil, unfeeling person. He's doing what needs to be done to protect them. The times we know for absolute sure that he has shown up (episode 3 in Cairo, episode 6 in the final battle) have been times where the system was about to die. In episode 3, Marc had been knocked down/out by Harrow's followers, and when he comes back front they're on a cliff. It seems like Harrow's followers were about to throw the system off of a cliff, and Jake came front to protect them and keep them alive, and you'll notice that he left the teenager alive, and let Marc back front as soon as the immediate life-threatening danger had passed. In episode 6, Marc was again on the ground, after Harrow threw his worst trauma in his face, with his soul being pulled out of his body, and Layla was surrounded by Harrow's men. Again, Jake fronted to save their life, and then stepped back once the immediate threat to their life was handled

He is not a cold-blooded killer, he's a protector doing his best to keep their system alive when there are people actively trying to fucking murder them

Stop writing him as this cold, hard, unfeeling person. Stop writing him as participating in senseless violence just because he wants to

You are doing a disservice to Jake as a character, and you are waving a bright red flag over your head that tells systems "hey I don't know what I'm talking about but I'm going to perpetuate harmful stereotypes because it's fun for me!"

Fucking. Stop. It.

~Singlets (non-systems) can and should reblog but DO NOT speak over us~

[lunaresystem]

Hey! I didn’t want to get involved in that convo you had earlier, I just wish to encourage you and your opinion. I saw stuff like Split or Ratched that has a demonized depiction of DID and not one of them made me care as much as Moon Knight. The rep might has its problems, but this show made me want to learn more and it casts an entirely different light on this disorder. I learned a bunch of new stuff, had a chance to talk to systems online etc. Yep, I didn’t learn the terms from the show, but it was thanks to the show I finally cared enough to look into it more.

So if anything, this show is a step towards the right direction. It makes you care and urges you to learn and start the whole learning process from an entirely different angle. I cannot speak for everybody, but it helped me and I know it shaped others’ opinions on DID.

Exactly! We’ve used this term a million times but we call it “stepping stone representation”—it’s like Star Trek TOS for example. Was the poc rep not really great in retrospect? Sure, but for its time it was groundbreaking. It treated its poc characters like people, had the first interracial kiss, and I’m SURE it holds that importance to communities still. Moon Knight and plurality feels the same way. We’re not going to get perfect rep immediately, that’s unfortunately the way the world works. I think a lot of people that dislike Moon Knight feel it needs to be “perfect” when that’s… not how representation in media works unfortunately. Moon Knight isn’t great, but it’s better, and that’s why we love it.

[mikeluciraphgabe]

We may have talked about this but,,,

During the blip, did one of the moon alters fizzle?? (And/or anyone else who has DID in the universe)

[lunaresystem]

While definitely would be great angst, due to the logicstics of Thanos’s snap being to half the population, and sysmates only take up one physical body, it would probably be all or nothing.

[babyjakes]

okay now that anons are pissed at me i’m just gonna state my take (again) and tbh unless you’re a system who wants to discuss, it’s not up for discussion:

moon knight’s depiction and handling of dissociative disorders/did is problematic and harmful. because of this, it should not be supported. if you do not have a dissociative disorder/are not a system and you choose to support moon knight in spite of knowing it’s problematic and harmful, you are problematic and harmful.

the only people who have room to disagree here are other systems/people with dissociative disorders. if you’re a system and don’t agree with me, i support you and your opinions.

[lunaresystem]

I am quite curious on why you dislike it so much, especially when it is much better rep than such things like “Split” and “Sigil”, and many systems and ourselves love the support it is getting because of the more positive view on systemhood. We’re superheroes, no longer monsters. Why do you dislike it?

[babyjakes]

i have a few moments so i can briefly explain.

split and sigil and media of that type are absolutely harmful as well. i believe moon knight is harmful in a different way, and i don’t think we should have to pick between two kinds of bad.

i’m all for characters with did being superheroes, but i take issue with did being portrayed as a superpower (like the quote i originally reference suggested.) did is not a superpower. it’s a disorder caused by severe trauma during childhood. some systems are able to, through much hard work and effort, make the disorder work for them and live harmoniously with it which is awesome for them. but that is not the reality for many systems. systems as superheroes, awesome! but let them have superpowers that aren’t their debilitating mental illness they got from being hurt beyond repair as a child. did as a superpower opens doors for all sorts of misrepresentation, glorifying, romanticization, etc. (also i’m pretty sure there is/was confusion about how the character even got did? the show does seem to portray it stemmed from childhood trauma but between the show and the comics, somewhere it was suggested that he got his did from a god or an alien or something, can’t remember what but some sort of supernatural being. which is definitely not how systems form.)

there are also a lot of things that sit wrong with me from the show. like the entire “insane asylum” concept feels really disrespectful. having scenes shot with this stereotypical mental ward aesthetic, with padded walls and straight jackets and such, i just think that’s such a tasteless thing to include in a show about severe mental illness.

there are more things. i’m forgetting them. i’m thinking of at some point making a masterpost of all the problematic elements so i can reference it when discussing the topic.

as a final note, i’ll add (as i’ve discussed before) that the creators of the show said some pretty gross things about it in interviews. i’m paraphrasing, but it was something to the effect of: they said both “people are gonna learn a lot about did from this show” and also, simultaneously “yeah we overdramatized it for the sake of entertainment” and like. saying both of those things is them acknowledging they are actively participating in misinformation and stigma building around did.

[lunaresystem]

Steven is not legitimately Marc’s superpower. That was one off line referencing how the host was helped through harsh times because of his alter. Other than one singular line its NEVER portrayed as a superpower, it’s actively barrier that the characters have to get through. The show is not saying DID is a superpower, its saying the alter was like a superpower because it gave the host the strength to get through his trauma.

As for the confusion, I can’t argue with you there, many comic writers in the early 90s/2000s made ableist bullshit… but where’s a superhero that doesn’t have a run or two with ableist bullshit.

Mental ward… I can see where you’re going I just don’t have enough opinion on it, but the character suffers from internal ableism which created the asylum landscape and resonated with us during those episodes.

Also… some dramatization to see things in the show isn’t. Bad? I fail to see how that’s inherently gross. Many of the “dramatizations” were necessary to be able to visually understand the disorder. That’s the case with a lot of shows on mental health because it makes the storytelling easier and more understandable. (And tbh… its really Not That Overdramaticized at all.)

[ilya-roza]

One thing about Marc asking for help in the Chamber of Gods and if he's asked before is we tend to forget... he was in the Marines, and being born in '87 that means he is a war veteran. He's a veteran who was indoctrinated into the military, then sent to war and when they discovered he was mentally ill he got discharged--probably an Other Than Honorable discharge that doesn't give him benefits. He's been used up and thrown out by his own country and culture too. Which he had turned to AFTER...

This is everything to me because I feel like we so easily forget Marc's military service, the reasons he turned to it, why he was forced to leave it, and the effect it has that he carries with him into the rest of his life. It's that warped sense of obedience and authority, but on top of that, he's also constantly chasing a community and a purpose. And it's like he never quite fits, that something about him is always too jagged to slide into the puzzle.

He thinks of all the things that are wrong about him in every situation and he's constantly proved right by his circumstances. He's desperate for a solution, and he has such a strong determination to find one that it's what makes him keep going, despite it all. But the worst pattern I've found through all of it, every attempt, is this: through his desperation, Marc is constantly being used. By his family, his country, his culture, Bushman, Khonshu, and all he ever asks from them, however silently, is help.

[spectorofkhonshu]

Alright y'all, lemme be real fucking clear here

Jake Lockley is not evil, Jake Lockley is not "just a killer", Jake Lockley is not a bad person

Jake Lockley is a protector in a system that has been severely traumatized as a child and were not protected and taken care of like they should have been.

Yes, he seems more prone to violence than Marc or Steven, but that does not make him an evil, unfeeling person. He's doing what needs to be done to protect them. The times we know for absolute sure that he has shown up (episode 3 in Cairo, episode 6 in the final battle) have been times where the system was about to die. In episode 3, Marc had been knocked down/out by Harrow's followers, and when he comes back front they're on a cliff. It seems like Harrow's followers were about to throw the system off of a cliff, and Jake came front to protect them and keep them alive, and you'll notice that he left the teenager alive, and let Marc back front as soon as the immediate life-threatening danger had passed. In episode 6, Marc was again on the ground, after Harrow threw his worst trauma in his face, with his soul being pulled out of his body, and Layla was surrounded by Harrow's men. Again, Jake fronted to save their life, and then stepped back once the immediate threat to their life was handled

He is not a cold-blooded killer, he's a protector doing his best to keep their system alive when there are people actively trying to fucking murder them

Stop writing him as this cold, hard, unfeeling person. Stop writing him as participating in senseless violence just because he wants to

You are doing a disservice to Jake as a character, and you are waving a bright red flag over your head that tells systems "hey I don't know what I'm talking about but I'm going to perpetuate harmful stereotypes because it's fun for me!"

Fucking. Stop. It.

~Singlets (non-systems) can and should reblog but DO NOT speak over us~

[spectorofkhonshu]

I don't know what he did but I will also happily fist fight Jeremy Slater in a Walmart parking lot at 2 am on a Tuesday.

Mainstream media stop playing into the "evil alter" stereotype or I will go feral on your asses

[moonlayl]

IMPORTANT:

Layla El-Faouly is NOT a Muslimah. (Which means Muslim but for females, in case you’re unfamiliar with that term).

In fics and posts I’ve seen, many are making the assumption that she is, probably because she’s Arab, and even maybe due to her actress, May Calamawy, being one. 

Not only is it unlikely, but the headcanon itself is ignorant. 

Firstly, May Calamawy and the director of Moon Knight, Mohamed Diab, are both Muslim and Egyptian. They’ve been very outspoken about Egyptian culture, the importance of it, and how much effort was put in to not only respect Egyptian culture in the show, but to represent it properly. Yet, neither of them (As far as I’m aware, I could be wrong, but I do doubt that) have mentioned anything about Islam, or Layla specifically being a Muslimah. Wouldn’t it have been mentioned, if she was? 

Secondly, Marvel advertised Layla as the “First Egyptian Superhero” after the finale, yet the title for “First Muslim Superhero” goes to Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) despite her show coming out more than a month later. Marvel would have definitely said something about Layla’s religion beforehand. 

Now, why is it ignorant?

Because 1) Layla is an avatar of an Egyptian Deity. 

I’ve touched on this topic before here, but to reiterate, in Islam, we believe in ONE God only. To convert to Islam or be a Muslim/Muslimah, you literally have to make a declaration that translates to “I believe that there is no God, but Allah, and that Muhammad is His messenger and prophet” You CANNOT be a Muslim/Muslimah unless you believe in those two statements. 

Even if Layla doesn’t worship Khonshu or Tawaret, the fact that she sees them, interacts with them, and agreed to be one’s avatar makes it clear she believes they are real and do exist. That would be kufr if she was a Muslimah and deeply deeply offensive. 

(Also the implication that her father, who would most likely be a Muslim if she was, spending his whole life trying to find them, and passing through the Field of Reeds, when we have our own version of the afterlife that is definitely NOT like that, is also offensive.)

And 2) A Muslim woman (The reason I didn’t use Muslimah here, is because it wouldn’t grammatically be correct, I promise it’s less complicated in Arabic) does not and should not marry a non Muslim man. It’s against our religion. 

Marc is very clearly not Muslim. I cannot stress enough that it’s not because he’s Jewish specifically, it’s because he’s not a Muslim. There are reasons for this, I won’t get into them in this post, but that’s one of our rules. 

Making Layla a Muslimah directly goes against two important rules in our religion, and it definitely would have been mentioned before now. Please don’t make her a Muslimah in your fics, or headcanon her as such. Especially because the fics I have seen who do this, don’t even do a good job of writing her as a Muslim, and either it’s full of stereotypes, or everything they write about her directly contradicts the religion of Islam.  

[jakelcckley]

WEEK 5 OF NO MOON KNIGHT AND STILL NO NEWS ABOUT MOON KNIGHT SEASON 2

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE LAUGH AND LOVE IN THESE CONDITIONS

[mkboys]

some dickhead on twitter was complaining about the blackouts in moon knight, that we should see it from someone else’s perspective to fill in those blanks. motherfucker tell me you don’t understand DID and move on

[stevengrant-mybeloved]

Disclaimer as I don’t have DID personally but something I appreciate not seeing on tumblr (at least not nearly as much) that I tend to see on a bunch of other platforms like tiktok and Facebook are those Moon Knight memes that use the “that’s not true” and “I won’t do it” scenes or Marc’s DID/switching or trauma involving his mother as sounds or setups for jokes or meme videos, like my god, I know most of those people probably don’t have ill intentions in making them or are young or uninformed or whatever, but lack of harmful intent does not stop the fact that they can still have harmful effects. Making light of such a serious and stigmatized topic, turning a disorder that already has a history of not being taken seriously into a punchline, that’s the opposite of what people need right now from this representation. Because while Moon Knight is fictional, Dissociative Identity Disorder is real and there are real people out there who experience/have experienced these things and who don’t deserve to have those experiences or traumas be belittled, sidelined or clowned on.

I mean, this isn’t necessarily a callout or guilt trip post to make anyone feel bad if they did make these jokes before, like I said, the issue isn’t nearly as prevalent on tumblr from what I’ve seen anyway, but it is an invitation for some people to educate themselves and be a little more thoughtful and compassionate in the future, yeah? Love to see that growth.

[lunaresystem]

This IS, in fact, a callout to make people feel bad on our side. To the people that did those things, you did something harmful. We won’t placate our anger over that. Thank you OP for being respectful about it and bringing this to light, but know that many of us in the community don’t bend over backwards to be nice.

Don’t make fun of trauma, you are being a douche. Think before you do these things, and learn better. We will forgive, because people do stupid stuff. And they grow, and we hope anyone that does that sees this and changes their ways.

[stevengrant-mybeloved]

Thank you for this response and you’re right, I didn’t feel I had the right to get angry or raise tensions in case I was overstepping but you absolutely do have the right and I’ll stand by it through and through. Anger is a perfectly reasonable response to this and sometimes tensions need to be raised to point out the truth and make change. People need to learn, people will learn, but that is not an excuse for the present actions currently causing harm. You sum up the points well and I appreciate it.

[lunaresystem]

Absolutely! Your post was perfect you conveyed everything but was still respectful to not speak over the community, thank you so much for supporting us. We just wanted to throw a bit in that people need to accept that responses won’t always be polite from in community. But thank you so much for pointing out bs when you see it, have a wonderful day!

[paintpanic]

Send me a character and I’ll give you some of my thoughts on them!

[thebeastofblackmoor]

Clue Crew, let’s totally do this!

[papenniesandbentoboxes]

YEAH

[userdanewhitman]

Moon Knight 🌙🌕 

[moonlayl]

Important: Moon Knight and Arabic names

I know many might not be aware of the following few things, so this post is just to help people learn. 

Layla El-Faouly’s initials are L.E. They are not L.E.F. or L.F. 

“El” is not Layla’s middle name. It cannot be excluded from her last name. 

“El-Faouly” is only one word in Arabic, meaning it’s ONE name. 

Her name is Layla El-Faouly. 

There’s also a dash to keep her last name together, marvel chose to write it this way so please include it (tags are different, since the dash doesn’t matter there)

Many Arabs choose not to include the dash, it’s honestly a matter of preference for the parents or the person, but if it’s CHOSEN, then that’s part of their name and it should be respected.

The same respect should also be given for the vowels in her name. 

I’ve been seeing El-Faoly or El-Fouly or even Leyla. Those are wrong. It’s like writing Hailee as Hailey or Katelyn as Caitlin.  Yes those are pronounced the same way, but it’s not their actual name and it’s rude to misspell it once you’re told.  

The same applies to Layla’s father, Abdallah El-Faouly. His name is written as Abdallah. Not Abdalla or Abdullah. 

Hope this helps!

[spectorofkhonshu]

Alright y'all, lemme be real fucking clear here

Jake Lockley is not evil, Jake Lockley is not “just a killer”, Jake Lockley is not a bad person

Jake Lockley is a protector in a system that has been severely traumatized as a child and were not protected and taken care of like they should have been.

Yes, he seems more prone to violence than Marc or Steven, but that does not make him an evil, unfeeling person. He’s doing what needs to be done to protect them. The times we know for absolute sure that he has shown up (episode 3 in Cairo, episode 6 in the final battle) have been times where the system was about to die. In episode 3, Marc had been knocked down/out by Harrow’s followers, and when he comes back front they’re on a cliff. It seems like Harrow’s followers were about to throw the system off of a cliff, and Jake came front to protect them and keep them alive, and you’ll notice that he left the teenager alive, and let Marc back front as soon as the immediate life-threatening danger had passed. In episode 6, Marc was again on the ground, after Harrow threw his worst trauma in his face, with his soul being pulled out of his body, and Layla was surrounded by Harrow’s men. Again, Jake fronted to save their life, and then stepped back once the immediate threat to their life was handled

He is not a cold-blooded killer, he’s a protector doing his best to keep their system alive when there are people actively trying to fucking murder them

Stop writing him as this cold, hard, unfeeling person. Stop writing him as participating in senseless violence just because he wants to

You are doing a disservice to Jake as a character, and you are waving a bright red flag over your head that tells systems “hey I don’t know what I’m talking about but I’m going to perpetuate harmful stereotypes because it’s fun for me!”

Fucking. Stop. It.

~Singlets (non-systems) can and should reblog but DO NOT speak over us~

[marvel-m-lee]

^^^ (Not aimed at the people who don’t do this so keep up the good work you guys <333)

[giulscomix]

I don’t know kinda anything about Moon Knight’s character in the comics, the series was the only introduction to me about this great character, so I don’t have the right to judge Jake as third personality, but yes.. the series showed him at the end as the part of Marc that has no issue on doing the “dirty work”, but still he came up always ONLY in serious dangerous situation and then returning into the dark in silence, Jake never popped out in random moments and killing around just for fun, so yeah.. he pretty acts like an Immunitary System white cell that protects his body.

[spectorofkhonshu]

Just as a small note, "personality" is more of an outdated term when it comes to DID, "alter" or "headmate" are usually the preferred terms /info

[marvelgifs]

- The show didn’t start with the Scarlet Scarab, but seeing May and developing her as an Egyptian character, step by step, the idea came up. Let’s make her into a superhero. We zeroed in on an Egyptian superhero in the Marvel universe named the Scarlet Scarab. Marvel Studios Assembled | The Making of Moon Knight

[sofiaaaaaaaa03]

Okay no but seriously, Disney can’t show us the Taweret plushies and not monopolize on it. I just want a Taweret plush Disney.

[lunaresystem]

Broke: Steven needed to die to balance the hearts

Woke: The scales balanced because Steven sacrificed himself and that act of love broke down the last of their barriers and made them balance.

Bespoke: Steven died and the hearts balanced because Taweret why the FUCK WERE YOU WEIGHING TWO PEOPLE’S HEARTS AT ONCE. YOU EVEN THOUGHT THEY WERE TWINS. OF COURSE IT WAS UNBALANCED BECAUSE THATS TWO FUCKING PEOPLE. WEIGH THEM SEPARATELY.

[luxshine]

THIS! Of COURSE two hearts wouldn't balance. And lord help us if she had gotten Jake's heart too! That poor balance would've quit on the spot. It's ONE HEART PER WEIGHTING LADY, not ALL THE HEARTS IN THE SHIP! What if sixty people die in a tragedy? Does she just dumps everything in it and hopes for the best?

[lunaresystem]

(tattletail voice) this is why you don’t entrap your gods in stone Osiris they actually have important JOBS.

She literally needed notecards I’m convinced she’s filling in for Anubis who recently got stoned for some bs reason and has no clue what she’s doing. Don’t get me wrong she’s adorable and I love her but ma’am when your job is literally weighing SOULS OF PEOPLE you can’t fake it til you make it! Someone get some proper training for her my god.

[luxshine]

Anubis probably got trapped because he told Osiris that he was an idiot for not listening to Khonshu -as the god of the Dead, he probably was seeing the storm of evil coming long before the others. Either that or a game of fetch gone horribly, horribly wrong, because Anubis is a good doggo.

But yeah. In the job training can work at a Starbucks, but not when the literal final rest of someone is in the line! Sure, the mistake won the guys's time (Because duh, if Marc's heart balanced once Steven was out of the picture, then Steven's heart would've been balanced too on his own, and I am pretty sure JAke's too, as the weight of the heart is more about the moral bone of the person than about their actions, and then, no going back to the land of the living) but it was a huge mistake on the job!

[lunaresystem]

He chewed on Osiris’s sandals, he thought it was Horus’s. Immediate stone penalty. /j

But YEAH. Ma’am I will help you just please please do some more studying, you’re not ready for fieldwork.