If you think I'm Mad, you should see them. @truly-cani - Tumblr Blog

Please remember to VOTE tomorrow!

You can register to vote on Election Day in the following states:

Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.!

Vote like this country depends on it, because it does!

source: @votesaveamerica

shubbabang

Happy Halloween

kaz-of-ketterdamn

new member of the dregs: why do you have a cane?

Kaz: because my back hurts from carrying this gang

bigleoenergy

ileolai

Remember when Ursula K. Le Guin called JK Rowling a nasty basic bitch back in like, 2004? We should have listened

legok9

“This last is the situation, as I see it, between my A Wizard of Earthsea and J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter. I didn’t originate the idea of a school for wizards — if anybody did it was T.H.White, though he did it in single throwaway line and didn’t develop it. I was the first to do that. Years later, Rowling took the idea and developed it along other lines. She didn’t plagiarize. She didn’t copy anything. Her book, in fact, could hardly be more different from mine, in style, spirit, everything. The only thing that rankles me is her apparent reluctance to admit that she ever learned anything from other writers. When ignorant critics praised her wonderful originality in inventing the idea of a wizards’ school, and some of them even seemed to believe that she had invented fantasy, she let them do so. This, I think, was ungenerous, and in the long run unwise.“

ileolai

i found the specific quote i was thinking of x

Q: Nicholas Lezard has written ‘Rowling can type, but Le Guin can write.’ What do you make of this comment in the light of the phenomenal success of the Potter books? I’d like to hear your opinion of JK Rowling’s writing style

UKL: I have no great opinion of it. When so many adult critics were carrying on about the “incredible originality” of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid’s fantasy crossed with a “school novel”, good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited.

damn gurl :’]

toofemmetofunction

tv-nerd-aus

Akilah Green on Chelsea

atribeonaquest

SAY THAT SHIT ! They love to invoke his name as if he were JESUS HIMSELF.

booksmoviesandanimals

They murdered MLK for his peaceful protest

aroloverboy

This Pride, don’t forget about us

mandaloriandy

The city of Somerville has broadened the definition of domestic partnership to include relationships between three or more adults, expanding access to health care.

Oh my g-d??!!!!!!

libelula202

@thebibliosphere

thebibliosphere

Oh wow! That’s awesome!

arovaricious

It also recognizes domestic partnerships that aren’t romantic!!!

erudipitous

@aroacepagans

enbees-and-aros

Recognizing and extending rights to people with multiple partners is wonderful news, and its not too long of an article so I definitely reccomend the read!

But if you’re curious, the end of the article is where it talks about recognizing non-romantic partnerships:

“Under the ordinance, domestic partners, whether in groupings of two or more, would not necessarily be romantic partners.

Miles Bratton, 47, said she would consider forming a domestic partnership with Anne-Marie Taylor, 43, whom she called her “platonic lifemate.”

The status would allow them to buy a house together and share benefits, like health insurance, but also to have outside romantic partners, or add a third “nesting partner” if they wished. Ms. Taylor said they had long held back from registering as domestic partners because the language her workplace used seemed to require that they be romantic partners.

“That has not felt right, so we haven’t done it,” she said. “Somerville is coming out and saying, ‘Hey, family can be a lot of other things, other than just two people.’”

violetemerald

This seems like huge news!

( @nextstepcake ;) )

justsomeantifas

ogrishpuntocom

-“mommy, the kids at school are mean to me!”

-“OH, WHAT, ARE U #TRIGGERED???, LIFE ISNT UR #SAFE SPACE LMAO”

Stay away from children for the rest of your lives please

thinster13

The people who hate this are probably the ones traumatizing their children

lesbiangender-deactivated201908

this is a show for 3 - 6 year olds what is WRONG with these monsters???

lesbiangender-deactivated201908

Fun fact, sesame street was created to fill the gap in education for children whose families could not afford to send them to preschool. Sesame street taught basic math and phonics as well as interpersonal skills so that children below the poverty line weren’t starting elementary school behind their more privileged classmates.

Here sesame street is trying to fill a gap where supportive adults should be. Where there should be a teacher or a family member or a counselor to help, for whatever reason, there isn’t, so Sesame Street is stepping in.

This breed of person has always hated Sesame Street. They hated it for showing black and white children playing together. They hated it for giving children of color the head start that rich white families were paying for. They hated it for Bert and Ernie for showing two MEN who LIVED TOGETHER, for the married black nurse who lived on sesame street when it was first released, and for them explaining death. I feel like there was a pregnancy at some point in its early days and they would have REALLY hated that.

These days they don’t (usually) say “I’m not letting my kid watch anything with black kids in it” but they sure throw a tantrum in the youtube comments when Sesame Street DARES to show an autistic girl playing with non-autistic children and being treated like shes anyone else. They lose their shit when Sesame Street has to explain incarceration to 5 year olds. And the muppet in south africa with HIV? Hoo boy.

They hate everything Sesame Street stands for and tries to provide. They always have. We just have to ignore them and keep supporting the show. Or tell them to shut the fuck up and keep supporting the show. Either way Sesame Street will outlive them.

reverseracism

Sesame Street will outlive them.

woodle-dee-doodle-deactivated20

Elmo is eternal

daethnotes

Incredibles 2 (2018) dir. Brad Bird

occasionaloranges

Incredibles 2 did not have to go this hard but it did

occasionaloranges

They really just went and DID THAT

(gifs from @baawri)

yuyukami

deactivated-blog

Us by the end of 2020:

iridescentides

the lea michele situation is actually a prime example of why we should be wary of performative activism right now. if you are supporting the cause by protesting, donating, posting your support, etc. that’s great! but this problem goes so much deeper than just police brutality.

every single non-black person who has posted #blacklivesmatter this week needs to take a step back and analyze whether or not their actions (not just their words) have shown that they truly believe that statement. it’s a clear and obvious choice to speak out against the brutal murder of an innocent man. however, if you are not making the obvious choice every day to speak up for us when your friends/relatives make racist jokes, if you are not listening to and respecting the black people you know in real life, if you have not sat down to analyze the ways you actively benefit from this system, if you have not worked to start unlearning the biases you were raised with, or if you thought “black lives matter” was a controversial statement until this week, do not pretend to care just because everyone is talking about it right now.

when these protests are over, there will still be many battles to fight. this is not a game, and this is not something you post about just for likes and clicks. if you are resting easy right now thinking that you’re “one of the good ones” for showing public outrage over a situation that should anger any reasonable person, you need to do more. racism is not something you can pick and choose when to be against. we don’t get to pick and choose when we experience racism. so if you’re going to get involved with this situation right here, right now, then you need to be ready to hold yourself and others accountable for anti-blackness in all other areas of your life.

iridescentides

white people can and SHOULD reblog!

that-bookworm-guy

24 LGBT+ Books by Black Authors

I’m seeing a lot of the same books on my dash, so I spent a few hours researching some lesser-known books. These books fall across a variety of genres and age group.

Ways you can help

harringtown

not to be emo on main but the reason Steve Harrington has such an amazing arc is because he, arguably, doesn’t gain much from becoming a better person. he loses his friend group. ends up picking up a bat to fight a monster because nancy and jonathan are in danger. and when he gets dumped? well, might as well help this random kid that i sort of know fight another monster. oh, there’s a secret base? let me get tortured so my friends don’t. when he and the others escape the mall, it’s Steve who leads the charge from weathertop and goes back to save his ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend and helps fight a massive monster solely because it’s the right thing to do. homeboy risks his life over and over for a group of kids and doesn’t expect anything in return. like at all. he doesn’t get the girl, he certainly loses his job, and he regularly gets the crap beaten out of him. but he does it anyway.

gahdamnpunk

When Zuko apologized to uncle Iroh in the tent cause he was so ashamed of his actions and what he’d done to the only person who unconditionally believed in his ability to do good >>>>>

opinions-about-tiaras

So okay, I’ve given this rant before but this is another good time for it.

Structurally speaking, ATLA did something important with Zuko that, in a purely mechanistic sense of narrative development, I think a lot of people don’t notice immediately, and that even fewer people who want to emulate what was done with him get.

Which is Zuko is made a protagonist VERY early, and the show goes out of its way to continually place Zuko into situations where the audience empathizes and roots for him.

This happens in literally the second episode of the series, if we count the two-part premiere as a single episode, which I think we should. The A-plot of that episode, “The Southern Air Temple,” is Aang reckoning with the genocide of his people… but the B-plot?

The B-plot is the introduction of Zhao, and more specifically, his introduction in a way that is calculate to shift the audience, whose introduction to Zuko did NOT engender a ton of sympathy to him, directly and forcefully onto his side. They want Zuko to kick Zhao’s ass.

This continues all through book one and book two. Remember, Zuko is never, ever the main villain of this series. That’s initially Zhao, followed by Azula and Ozai. (Plus various temporary players like Long Feng.) Whenever Zuko isn’t placed into direct conflict with the other protagonists, he’s always written and presented in a way that is careful, VERY VERY careful, not to make him too monstrous, and to make us root for him. He’s placed right next to Iroh, who is designed for people to like, and that reflects back onto Zuko; we want Zuko to be better than he is because we want Iroh to have good things.

Put aside for the moment whether any specific character, including Zuko, deserves their redemption. If you’ve decided you’re going to do that, you have to erect the proper narrative scaffolding around them, and it extends to far more things than “did this person not do things that were too horrible” and “is this person genuinely sorry and is working really hard to atone.” There’s a difference between protagonist and white hat, but if you want someone to eventually wear that white hat, you REALLY need to establish them as a plausible protagonist early on.

helly-watermelonsmellinfellon

Yeah, it was made obvious from the get go that Zuko is definitely nowhere near Zhao’s level of nasty, which in turn means he’s nowhere near Azula’s and nowhere in the scope of Ozai’s.

1.)

He made a deal with Aang to leave the Southern Water Tribe alone if Aang went with him. When Aang escaped with help from two of those tribe members, Zuko didn’t demand they go back and destroy what was left of the tribe as revenge. He didn’t even think of it as an option. There was no split second where he went, should I/shouldn’t I?

2.)

This is repeated. He corners the Avatar somewhere, causes some damage to the area in the ensuing fight, but does not stick around to raze the village/monastery to the ground and kill the people when he doesn’t get what he wants. Doesn’t consider this a necessary action even once.

3.)

The Iroh&Zuko relationship is juxtaposed with the Zhao&Zuko relationship. Both older men have more power over him. Iroh is a retired War General and Prince who is not banished. Zhao is a Commander in favor of the Firelord, who is also not banished. We could tell early on that Iroh is wise and despite being on the bad side, seems to be pretty chill. We took a liking to him immediately. Zhao is the opposite. He is very much like early!Zuko. Impulsive, rude, loud, cocky, etc… But why is he more annoying? Why do we root for Zuko as opposed to him?

Because we see what Zuko is like with his Uncle Iroh. Iroh does not rub in the fact that he’s banished. He doesn’t use that when reprimanding him for his attitude or his failings. That is a hot iron and he knows it. It’s to the point where Iroh can bend fire in Zuko’s face and Zuko is perfectly relaxed over it and doesn’t once believe his uncle will hurt him. There is a lot of faith in Iroh, from this angsty teenager, and it’s very obvious with their interactions.

Zhao is not trustworthy from the start. We’re shown this by how both Zuko and Iroh are hesitant to interact with him and don’t want to linger in areas he has control over, for too long. They even lie to him despite him obviously having more favor in the Firelord’s eyes than either of them do. Zhao’s personality opposes both Zuko and Iroh. And as we like Iroh, we want him to win and have nice things, as stated above. But Zuko&Iroh is a package deal. And as Zhao reveals himself more and more to be nasty even if it’s subtle, we want Zuko to win even harder.

And even when Zuko wins and he’s in the prime position to do to Zhao what Ozai did to Zuko for also ‘speaking out of turn’… he doesn’t do it. He walks away. He is the bigger man in that scenario. And Iroh further puts shame onto Zhao when he goes against the sacred rules of the Agni Kai because he can’t handle a loss to a banished teen. We are shown that Zuko follows rules and has honor, which is reinforced by Iroh’s, ‘even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you’. Iroh’s Word is basically Law at this point. Sf he says it is so, then he must be right and the audience accepts that. He knows Zuko better than us and hopefully we’ll get to understand more as the story progresses.

Already by the 3rd episode, we’re shown that Zuko is in no way the worst person from the Fire Nation. In fact, we’re given a sort of scale now from the four major Fire Nation people we know of. Iroh–Zuko——-Zhao–Firelord.

We’re also hoping that Iroh rubs off on Zuko enough for him to also become wise and learn to chill out.

4.)

When “The Storm” finally rolls around, we’re pretty invested by then in the Iroh&Zuko relationship and that episode gives us so much more info into Zuko’s character and we are shown that Iroh is right. He has honor and he cares for others. And yet it’s obvious the Firelord doesn’t because we see Zuko do the right thing(protesting the plan to treat new recruits as cannon fodder) in the wrong place, and then his face gets burned off by his father because of it. And further, he’s banished for refusing to fight his own father. What sane parent wants to do battle with their own child? What sane parent banishes their child for speaking out of turn at the defense of their own peoples’ lives? What the fuck is wrong with the Firelord?

Zuko was punished severely for showing compassion and having a kind heart. And Iroh(and the ship crew even) is properly mortified by the punishments his nephew received for it, which in turn affects the audience’s perception of this situation. Iroh doesn’t like it, it’s especially bad then.

Now we start wondering why does Zuko wants to go back to the guy who burned his face off?! Iroh, talk some sense into him! PLEASE!

Halfway through S1, they got us to the point of wanting Zuko to have a redemption arc.

Making the audience want a character to be redeemed is also very important in this. We were shown he has redeemable qualities. We want that pay off! Do it justice!