Finn is literally the most overt fuck you to toxic masculinity.
Like, here’s a soldier who’s literally known nothing else but his warrior training his whole life, who’s identity has been consumed to the point where he literally has a number instead of a name, seeing what’s expected of him and rejecting it utterly. He’s obviously physically strong and capable, but he finds his humanity in NOT using his strength, and his heroism in finding a reason to use his strength.
He’s afraid for most of the movie, conflicted and hesitant and still able to be brave and strong. In fact, his truest moments of bravery are also the ones where he is the most afraid and uncertain. And his fear is never shamed or set up as a weakness, but rather as a huge part of what makes him both human and heroic.
It’s so important to me to see men allowed to feel a full range of emotions including fear and doubt and sadness and still be seen as strong and valuable.
(I think there is an extra layer to this given that Finn is also a black man, but I’m going to stay in my lane and let PoC tackle that.)
as a POC lemme say that finn is extra wonderful because even when he’s fighting, he never looks scary. there’s always this theme that shows strong black men as intimidating and capable of harm but finn is the opposite of intimidating and from the very start you see that he doesnt want to hurt anyone and his strength is not associated with violence but with the ability to help others and he’s sweet and funny and real and no one would ever be afraid of him and both of the poc male leads are shown as caring and using their strength to protect and you’d never be afraid of either of them and there is no macho bullshit at all and it makes me so happy
And when you work at a movie theater, there’s a myriad of jobs you can be given. My favourite by far is running theater checks, which is basically following a list and making sure that all the screens are running A-okay the entire day, ducking in and out of theaters, and occasionally radioing in if something is wrong–I get paid to watch movie trailers for eight hours–and its glorious.
Then Star Wars comes out and everything is thrown into chaos. The AVX theaters are constantly packed, fans swirl around the lobby in their cloaks and robes, children have lightsaber duels in the arcade, and you have lines in the hall twenty-people-strong of guests trying to snag the perfect seats. To level with you, it’s pretty amazing and magical.
Naturally, any theater showing Star Wars gets put on priority for theater checks–God forbid something happen to mess up your perfect viewing experience, I understand.
When you do theater checks, you need to make sure that the picture is framed correctly, all the guests are quiet, and that the sound for the film is playing properly. You listen to a the first few notes of the opening logos and boom you’re free to move on.
The first bit of audio for The Force Awakens is the earth-shattering and iconic Theme that plays as the yellow text scrolls into its starry infinity.
After seeing the opening to the film for the up-teenth time, I could predict without fail exactly when the music would cue up, and I would often snap my fingers just for laughs, as if I were the one making the music play on command.
It’s my last Star Wars check of the day. I’m standing in the front, ready to go down the list.
In the aisle seat next to me is this kid, and I can see him staring at me behind his 3-D glasses, kids pack of popcorn clutched in his hands.
I give him a little wave, and he waves back. He won’t stop staring at me though, maybe because its just so scandalous to see someone stand in a movie theater.
The theater hushes. On-screen, the Lucasfilm logo glints–and here people clap, I’m still confused about that–fades, and is replaced by ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away’ in blue.
The kid is still staring, and I think, You know what, what the heck?
The blue text fades.
I count, “One Mississippi, two Missip–”
Right before the music blares, I thrust my hand out Force-wielder style, fingers splayed with effort, and the walls vibrate with the opening chords of the Theme.
The kid’s eyes go wide like saucers. Ignoring the opening scroll completely, he mouths to me, “You can Force?”
I nod at him. Hell yeah I can Force, kid. Hell fucking yeah
tldr: I used my intense movie theater knowledge to convince a kid I was a Jedi.
ok here we go pet peeve no. 45678: when girls are made fun of for behaviour that has literally been drilled into them by society. let’s go through some of these.
haha girls are all like “don’t look at me without makeup on!!!!”: maybe because we are taught from a very young age that we’re ugly without makeup. if we don’t wear it we’re asked why we look so tired, why we didn’t make an effort today, why we seem slobbish. as we grow older if we don’t wear makeup we’re seen as unprofessional and it can actually affect our careers but no yeah it definitely doesn’t make sense that we’re insecure about our naked faces whatever
man my gf always takes food from my plate so annoying lol #relatablecontent: probably because she’s fucking starving but it was instilled in her that cute girls eat like precious baby bunnies so she got a salad but all she fuCKING WANTS ARE FRIES. JUST GIVE HER THE FUCKING FRIES.
girls always go to the bathroom together haha lame and weird: mainly so we don’t get attacked asshole. also having a pee buddy is fun i pity you and your pee-buddy-less experience. when do your friends tell you how nice your hair is. oh that’s right they don’t because guys are the fucking worst
look at these drunk girls tottering around on high heels they look ridiculous: i will defend to the death women’s right to get just as completely shitfaced as men and don’t even ACT like it’s not practically fucking mandated that if a woman isn’t wearing high heels she isn’t dressed up. high heels LITERALLY GIVE ME BACK PROBLEMS but i have to wear them for work because if I don’t i’m not “””””professionally dressed”””””” give me a fucking break
WOMAN AND SHOPPING. OHOHOHO BOY.: yeah ok so we have to spend money you don’t on makeup products, skin products, hair removal products, pads and tampons, and on top of that we’re expected to change our clothes more often than you which means we need more of them, and also women’s clothing sizes are voodoo so every fitting session is a battle with your self confidence. AND we pay the gender tax. i fucking hate shopping. i do it because i have to, you buttnerd. and even if some women enjoy shopping im sure some men also enjoy shopping??? why must you gender??? activities??? why is this the world we live in????
girls on their periods are fucking psycho hahaha!!!: no we’re just in more or less constant pain so we have less patience to put up with your your bullshit. not to mention that a woman’s testosterone levels actually INCREASE on her period so GUESS WHO WE’RE MORE FUCKING LIKE, CHAD. GIVE A FUCKING GUESS.
lol girls spend forever in the bathroom lololol: all right first of all if we’re talking about say, a sporting event, and you’re complaining about all the women who are queueing to go to the bathroom, we have a COUPLE MORE STEPS INVOLVED THAN PEOPLE WHO CAN JUST WHIP IT OUT AND THEN TUCK IT AWAY. not to mention the fact that yeah we have to take a second to double check the paint smeared on our faces or the socially acceptable hairstyle we’re wearing. we’re not allowed have fucking buzzcuts chad. apparently having less than the requisite amount of dead protein on the top of our head makes us a target for verbal abuse on the street chad. how about ranting about the people who built the stadium or whatever who KNOW it takes women longer to go to the bathroom but normally lot the same amount of stalls to men and women?? AND IF WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PERSONAL MAINTENANCE yeah ok buddy and how long does it take you to shave your legs? you think I like spending SEVENTY TWO DAYS OUT OF MY LIFE accidentally cutting myself and pulling muscles in my thighs??? well. i dont. so that’s why i don’t do it mainly. but we probably spend the rest of the time slathering ourselves with anti-aging creams because everyone is falling over themselves to tells us that our sell-by date is 35 while George Clooney and RDJ will probably continue to play wry sexy playboys until their fucking hips fall off. go fuck yourself chad.
GOD. I CAN’T EVEN GO ON. ADD YOUR OWN IF YOU THINK OF MORE.
this post is gold
I hate you Chad
i was not expecting this to get popular at all but i will tell you one joyous thing: over 2,000 notes so far and not one single person has disagreed. WE ALL KNOW ITS BULLSHIT AND THAT IS SOMETHING AT LEAST.
Don’t forget:
what’s with the enormous purses women carry around?: you can fit a 10 year old child’s deluxe train set down any of the 14 different pockets in your cargo pants and I have a seam pretending to be a pocket sewn on to a blue compression bandage pretending to be jeans so don’t even
Leverage is one of the few shows that I was completely happy with the finale. It hit just the right notes and gave me exactly what I wanted to end this amazing show.
Tbh, the only complaint I have is that there’s no more Leverage.
I do not understand this “male privilege" bullshit.
What. Fucking. Privileges. Do. Men. Have.???????
Name them. I swear, I challenge you to name these “male privileges" and be able to prove them.
Come on, I fucking dare you.
Name them!
Oh boy. Well, as a man, I’ll tell you my male privilege.
My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.
I can be confident in the fact that my co-workers won’t think that I was hired/promoted because of my sex - despite the fact that it’s probably true.
If I ever am promoted when a woman of my peers is better suited for the job, it is because of my sex.
If i ever fail at my job or career, it won’t be seen as a blacklist against my sex’s capabilities.
I am far less likely to face sexual harassment than my female peers.
If I do the same task as a woman, and if the measurement is at all subjective, chances are people will think I did a better job.
If I am a teen or an adult, and I stay out of prison, my odds of getting raped are relatively low.
On average, I’m taught that walking alone after dark by myself is less than dangerous than it is for my female peers.
If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be questioned.
If I do have children but I do not provide primary care for them, my masculinity will not be questioned.
If I have children and I do care for them, I’ll be praised even if my care is only marginally competent.
If I have children and a career, no one will think I’m selfish for not staying at home.
If I seek political office, my relationship with my children or who I deem to take care of them will more often not be scrutinized by the press.
My elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious the position, the more this is true.
When i seek out “the person in charge", it is likely that they will be someone of my own sex. The higher the position, the more often this is true.
As a child, chances are I am encouraged to be more active and outgoing than my sisters.
As a child, I could choose from an almost infinite variety of children’s media featuring positive, active, non-stereotyped heroes of my own sex. I never had to look for it; male protagonists were (and are) the default.
As a child, chances are I got more teacher attention than girls who raised their hands just as often.
If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether or not it has sexist overtones. (Nobody’s going to ask if I’m upset because I’m menstruating.)
I can turn on the television or glance at the front page of the newspaper and see people of my own sex widely represented.
If I’m careless with my financial affairs it won’t be attributed to my sex.
If I’m careless with my driving it won’t be attributed to my sex.
I can speak in public to a large group without putting my sex on trial.
Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is little to no chance that I will be seriously labeled a “slut,” nor is there any male counterpart to “slut-bashing.”
I do not have to worry about the message my wardrobe sends about my sexual availability.
My clothing is typically less expensive and better-constructed than women’s clothing for the same social status. While I have fewer options, my clothes will probably fit better than a woman’s without tailoring.
The grooming regimen expected of me is relatively cheap and consumes little time.
If I buy a new car, chances are I’ll be offered a better price than a woman buying the same car. The same goes for other expensive merchandise.
If I’m not conventionally attractive, the disadvantages are relatively small and easy to ignore.
I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch.
I can ask for legal protection from violence that happens mostly to men without being seen as a selfish special interest, since that kind of violence is called “crime” and is a general social concern. (Violence that happens mostly to women is usually called “domestic violence” or “acquaintance rape,” and is seen as a special interest issue.)
I can be confident that the ordinary language of day-to-day existence will always include my sex. “All men are created equal,” mailman, chairman, freshman, he.
My ability to make important decisions and my capability in general will never be questioned depending on what time of the month it is.
I will never be expected to change my name upon marriage or questioned if I don’t change my name.
The decision to hire me will not be based on assumptions about whether or not I might choose to have a family sometime soon.
Every major religion in the world is led primarily by people of my own sex. Even God, in most major religions, is pictured as male.
Most major religions argue that I should be the head of my household, while my wife and children should be subservient to me.
If I have a wife or live-in girlfriend, chances are we’ll divide up household chores so that she does most of the labor, and in particular the most repetitive and unrewarding tasks.
If I have children with my girlfriend or wife, I can expect her to do most of the basic childcare such as changing diapers and feeding.
If I have children with my wife or girlfriend, and it turns out that one of us needs to make career sacrifices to raise the kids, chances are we’ll both assume the career sacrificed should be hers.
Assuming I am heterosexual, magazines, billboards, television, movies, pornography, and virtually all of media is filled with images of scantily-clad women intended to appeal to me sexually. Such images of men exist, but are rarer.
In general, I am under much less pressure to be thin than my female counterparts are. If I am over-weight, I probably suffer fewer social and economic consequences for being fat than over-weight women do.
If I am heterosexual, it’s incredibly unlikely that I’ll ever be beaten up by a spouse or lover.
Complete strangers generally do not walk up to me on the street and tell me to “smile.”
Sexual harassment on the street virtually never happens to me. I do not need to plot my movements through public space in order to avoid being sexually harassed, or to mitigate sexual harassment.
On average, I am not interrupted by women as often as women are interrupted by men.
On average, I will have the privilege of not knowing about my male privilege.
And lastly, I am taken as a more credible feminist than my female peers, despite the fact that the feminist movement is not liberating to my sex.
This is male privilege.
THIS. THIS IS HOW YOU BE A MALE FEMINIST.
This is a BEAUTIFUL breakdown of male privilege, and one that should be read to ANYONE who thinks that we are living in a post-sexist society.
And it’s good that the commenter uses phrases like “on average” and “it’s unlikely” on several of the points, thus preventing the automatic response of “NOT ALL MEN.” Because these things DO happen, but that’s a separate issue from male privilege and the need for feminism.
Honestly I feel sort of ridiculously lucky re: potential ships in the upcoming Star Wars movies, and I’m realizing that it’s possibly just me? But LET ME LAY THIS OUT FOR YOU.
MOST LIKELY: Finn/Rey. These two children are cute as shit. They’re just so damn excited about the world and the universe and green and the Force and each other. Finn is all star-eyes and bear hugs, and Rey is all toothy grins and fierce protection. It’s fucking precious. Sit with me and think about Rey coming back from Fuckety Nowhere to find Finn recovered from his injuries and learning how to be Resistance, and she bounces off the Falcon and runs up to him and throws her arms around his neck for a hug like they did in Starkiller, and when she pulls away she holds onto one of his hands and they smile at each other like the adorable little fucks they are. BONUS: interracial relationship between a white woman and a black man, which is still something that’s considered more than a little taboo. Racism is a thing guys, and it’s SO IMPORTANT that representation of this sort of relationship be in the media, especially in such a big-name franchise as Star Wars. Finn is affectionate, self-determining, and allowed to show emotions like fear and anxiety without any in-narrative penalties, and that is NOVEL, unfortunately. And Rey is…well, Rey. Come on, guys, I want to be Rey when I grow up and I’m sure you do too. She’s able to be the hero, and not in the sense a lot of us are familiar with: there’s no assault, no rape, nothing like that. She just finds a droid, and then she finds a lightsaber, and then she has the Force, and then she fights for the people she cares about, which is the same way that Luke became a hero. No one criticizes her for being female. THIS WOULD BE A GREAT COUPLE.
SECOND MOST LIKELY: Finn/Poe. The jaCKET? That is all? No, seriously, though, this would be a great ship: the dashing pilot and the rogue Stormtrooper. The entire base would ship it. Poe would shout down anyone who talked about Finn being a spy, and Finn would learn Droid to talk to BB-8, Poe’s best friend. This would be a ship with a lot of teasing smiles and laughing, arms around shoulders and warm support. It would be about Finn learning to be an independent person and Poe welcoming someone new into his family. BONUS: interracial gay relationship between a Guatemalan man and a black man, which is a little taboo in a different way. Homophobia is a thing guys, and it’s SO IMPORTANT that representation of this sort of relationship be in the media, especially in cuh a big-name franchise as Star Wars. Finn is everything I described above, and Poe is dashing, confident, intelligent, skilled…and caring toward his squadron, kind to a stranger, and respectful toward women, including those who have authority over him like Leia (insert battle hymn about the greatness of General Leia here). Poe is a whole other thing from the standard cocky bastard of a pilot we know from movies and TV. And please sign me right on up for this new type of dashing heroic gentleman, I am on this bullet train to a brighter future and you should be too. THIS WOULD ALSO BE A GREAT COUPLE.
OTHER MORE UNLIKELY COUPLES: The Damerons (Finn/Poe/Rey). It would be great for all of the reasons above, with the addition of the Poe-Rey dynamic of, I imagine, “Look at how beautiful and powerful and glorious this girl is” from Poe’s angle and “You are nice to me and handsome and I’m not sure what to do with any of that” from Rey’s. Technically the best of all worlds (interracial! everyone is bi except possibly Rey!), but unlikely because, well, it’s a threesome, and that renders it frankly improbable for Hollywood to make it a thing.
And of course, THE ONE PAIRING I’M NOT EXCITED ABOUT: Kylo/Rey. Um. No. Not least because things are looking like she’s going to be Rey Skywalker and that makes them EITHER first cousins OR siblings, depending on which twin is Rey’s parent, and yes, Luke and Leia were almost a thing, but let’s just take a hard line on No Incest this go-round, shall we? But also because that would, I think, be wildly unhealthy unless they pulled off some sort of miracle. And because honestly my main interest in a redemption arc for Kylo is the one that is Entirely For Leia’s Benefit, and I’ve read enough stories about poor damaged boys whose actions weren’t their fault at all being saved from themselves by the purity of love and…like…give the man the dignity of his own choices, okay? I can feel sorry for Kylo because of the way he’s so clearly been manipulated and groomed by Snoke, but unless there’s evidence of actual legitimate mind control it’s still his choice to side with the Dark. I have a lot of firm opinions about human dignity and free will and even though he’s currently a spectacular bastard, Kylo Ren still has free will and he has exercised it and as a human being he deserves to have his choices recognized as his own.
ANYWAY. My point here is that no matter what you ship hardest, it needs to be recognized that either of the two most likely ships to happen will be almost groundbreaking in the representation they’ll offer. I will make no judgements and fight no wars about what kind of representation is ‘most important’ because, you know what, it’s ALL important. It matters that kids see interracial relationships on the big screen, presented as grand sweeping romances rather than comedy or tragedy. It matters that kids see gay relationships that way. It is important that teenagers and adults and children look at the characters they love and see themselves there, see the people they love there, see their friendships and relationships there. Duking it out about who is more oppressed and therefore more deserving of that representation lessens us as people. You, as a person reading this, deserve to see yourself in a character, in a hero, and so do the other people on the street, friends, strangers, enemies.
I want us to have it all, guys. I want you to have everything: trans characters who are fierce and strong, women who can save galaxies, men who can be gentle and emotional and heroic, gay and lesbian romances full of light and laughter, racial diversity because, hey, when your copilot is covered in ten inches of hair what’s a little melanin between friends. I want you to have ace characters with adoring husbands and wives, nonbinary characters and genderfluid characters whose friends would die for them no matter what their pronouns are today and vice versa, aro characters with badass spaceships full of loyal crew they love, characters with ADHD and autism and schizophrenia and depression going out to save the world with the people who care about them, physically disabled characters with blasters concealed in their prosthetics or souped up hoverchairs. ALL OF IT. And this movie series isn’t going to give us all that, because all of that is…it’s a lot to ask, and I know it, but I want it anyway. But this movie is virtually guaranteed to give us something, some starting point, and you know what? I’m ready to take what I can get while I work on finding a way to give you guys everything.
Ok but why do men always talk to you like they’re trying to teach you something?
i learned about this in my comm theory class!!!
basically when men speak they tend to prove status/higher intelligence but when women speak we tend to seek connections! so like for example: when asking questions- women ask questions to know more about their conversation partner, while men see asking questions as showing no knowledge on the topic. So a man would rather talk about something that makes him more comfortable and makes him seem smarter rather than something that makes him look inferior.
ALSO!!! when women are communicating with each other, we often have cooperative/positive “interruptions” like asking questions or saying “oh yeah thats happened to me” or “i know how you feel” to show interest in the conversation/build a connection, but men see these kinds of “interruptions” as hijacking the conversation/making them lose their “status”
I sometimes have to pay for water, but with a phone and some wifi, I get to read whole novels about my favorite characters for exactly zero additional dollars
How goddamn rad is that
all the love to the fanfic authors who make this possible, y'all are the best
I am literally in love with the fact I get to see how my little cousins interact even with a language barrier. On my mom’s side, I have a 3 year old little cousin who only speaks French, and on my dad’s side I have a 2 year old cousin who only speaks Spanish. When they play together it is so funny to see them blabber on and on to each other until one of them hears a word that sounds familiar and then they just repeat that word and nod like they’re totally connecting. Like today the one that speaks Spanish said “Venga a poner los pantalones en la muneca!” and the other heard “pantalones” and was just like “Oui, pantalon!” They’re best friends and it’s the cutest and funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
Remember in 1993 when Jurassic Park was like…the end all, be all of special effects?
not gonna lie that still looks intimately real
I’m still somewhat convinced that someone sold their soul to create the special effects in Jurassic Park because that shit is over 20 years old and it still really, really holds up, better than the stuff in a lot of current movies, even.
Fucking witchcraft, man.
fucking look at this shit though
Literally see this post flying around with a few different responses added to the bottom each time so I’ll say it for this one myself:
THEY ACTUALLY BUILT A GIANT MASSIVELY DETAILED FUCKING ANIMATRONIC T-REX FOR ALL OF THIS THAT’S WHY THE EFFECTS ARE SO GOOD. CAUSE IT AIN’T CGI. AND IT AIN’T GUY IN A COSTUME. IT’S A BIG FUCKING ROBOT DINOSAUR. AND EVERY PART IS DESIGNED TO MOVE. IT COST LIKE HALF THE BUDGET OF THE FILM.
amazing
And they had the film it in small increments, especially in the outdoor scenes, because the rain fall kept soaking into the ‘skin’ of the rex and would slow down and mess up its movements. So they would stop filming and have a crew out there drying off this massive, fake dinosaur, and then they’d start filming again until it was too wet. Repeat until the end of the scene.
They used animatronics and detailed costumes for most if not all of the dinosaurs in the first movie.
The triceratops for instance, was also animatronic.
One of my favorite anecdotes I’ve read on tumblr is how the t-rex robot from Jurassic park would malfunction while it was drying out. How did it malfunction, you might wonder?
Motherfucker randomly started moving.
So apparently if you were on the jp set you would sometimes hear people screaming bloody murder even though they were all well aware that it was a giant animatronic puppet and wouldn’t actually, you know, eat them.
Did not know this, had to reblog for awesome movie history insights.
So, I knew about the animatronics bit but I did not know the raptors were guys in suits and the malfunctioning t-rex sounds terrifying.
And i just googled malfunctioning t-rexand was not disappointed. Apparently in order to put the skin on over the steel frame a guy had to crawl inside thet-rex while it was turned on and glue the skin down. And if somebody turned the t-rex off or the power went out the guy in the t-rex stood a very real chance of getting mangled and killed by the hydraulics.
So of course, the power goes out.
And this guy is still in there gluing the skin down.
Apparently the way to survive getting sheered to death by huge sheets of metal while you’re inside a giant t-rex robot is to curl into a ball and hope for the best.
And this guy hoped for the best and got it.
Some other people on stage pried open the t-rex jaws and glue guy crawled out of its mouth and was totally okay.
you know those people who are just luminous, like they’re so beautiful and everything they do is endearing and all you can do is stare and hope that some of their light hits you someday. maybe it’s not even romantic but they’re just such people, they’re humans, and they’re so beautiful that you cannot make yourself look away
are cafeterias a real thing like do those actually exist in america you just line up and get given gross food and then eat in the same room as your entire school??? if that happened at my school there’d be a riot imagine how loud that would be are cafeterias a myth
Me: *gets anxiety making a phone call*
Also me: *feels completely at ease and downright cheerful wandering around unfamiliar city with only vague knowledge of how to get to where I’m going*
my sister-in-law, who has no kids and does not spend time around children ever, decided she wanted to take my kids on an “outing” yesterday. (she sees them like 4 times a year usually). she took them to some weird historical u.s. military fort museum thing, it’s like a big compound with like 15 buildings enclosed by a fence. anyway my 5-yr-old saw one of those red metal fire alarm boxes on the wall and asked his aunt “what does that say?”
now the correct answer to this question, in my opinion, would be “that is a fire alarm. we only touch fire alarms if there is a fire. if there is a fire, you would pull the handle and it would make a very loud noise so that other people know to get out of the building.”
according to several reliable sources, my sister-in-law’s answer to the question was, “it says ‘pull.’”
so anyway that’s how they managed to evacuate all 15 buildings at the museum and why this is probably their last “outing” for a while.
Relationships are scary and complicated ONLY when you start thinking of your partner as some kind of adversary.
You know how to stop being scared of relationships? Remember that it’s got a goddamn buddy system *built in*. That’s all a relationship IS: “Let’s approach life with the buddy system.”
Check on your buddy. Make sure your buddy doesn’t forget their lunch box on the schoolbus. Hold hands with your buddy so you don’t get lost. If your buddy wants to look at the monkey cage, look at the goddamn monkey cage with them. If you are the one looking at the monkey cage, ask your buddy what they want to do next, and when they want to feed the giraffe, help them find a quarter for the little food dispenser. Be a good buddy, and if your buddy isn’t a good one too, tell the teacher and ask for a new one.
This isn’t fucking rocket science, people.
I have reblogged this before. I will reblog it again. And it’s not just romantic relationships: it’s family members and friends as well.
guys someone talk to me about poe dameron - best pilot in the resistance, top dog, guns-blazing male protagonist - and how he was so kind. how he took an ex storm trooper at face value and with unconditional, immediate trust and even a fierce kind of joy- yeah, you go buddy! fight the darkness. i’m here to help you. i’m here to work with you. i’m not here to take control- we won’t get out of this unless we work together.
how he didn’t treat him with suspicion or macho posturing despite the fact that he’s a top tier pilot and has probably been at war with people like FN 2187 for years. how the first thing he does once they’re out of immediate danger is give him a name, treating him like a person worthy of respect and not like another faceless white mask. how he is patient with a panicking Finn even under the incredible stress of a life or death situation, ensuring he knows what to do and being endlessly positive and encouraging instead of berating him when he falls short.
how he gets out of his jet at the end of the big firefight and sees BB8 and his whole face just lights up. how he unselfconsciously runs to BB8 like a kid, automatically lowering himself to BB8′s level.
how he doesn’t need to be the spotlight, the center of attention. when they gather around the hologram to strategize, star pilot and battle veteran poe dameron shuts up and listens.
how he never has a Trek-reboot Jim Kirk-style playboy sequence, no endless string of girls. not even a hint, and you know they could have stuck it in there if they wanted to. how we never see him treat another being, human or otherwise, with anything less than respect, optimism and good nature. i’m just. i mean. do you realize how significant this is?
you guys, if poe dameron is the future of male protagonists in big action movies, sign me the fuck up.
forreal though also: can we talk about the fact that finn spends so much of the movie being scared. he wants people to tell him what’s going on, he wants help, and at one point, he nearly runs away. but the movie really shows us him deciding to come back, to be brave. where poe shows incredible kindness and goofiness and joy (!), finn gives us an incredible amount of vulnerability and emotional open-ness.
this star wars is extraordinary because of the way it gives us such vivid and such different ways to access masculinity, and they are both established as valid and interesting and good.
ok but. leia knowing exactly who finn was the second poe came in all like “my friend needs to talk to you.” which means that poe TOLD her about finn. like EVERYTHING about finn. liKE
leia: poe! you’re alive! how did you escape the first order? poe: general this stormtrooper named FINN appeared like an angel and he SAVED ME and we flew a TIE FIGHTER together and he is SUCH A GOOD SHOT and he is the DREAMIEST AND THE CUTEST BOY IN THE WHOLE GALAXY and did i mention he SAVED ME leia: … leia [upon meeting finn]: it was incredibly brave what you did and i’m saying this because it’s true but also because poe won’t fucking shut up about it
So I found out this company is helping deaf people to find jobs.
There is an unemployment rate of 70% in the deaf and hard of hearing community. ( I know it might be a skewed figure). But this is just for your information to look up in.
i see so many girls and there’s so many different types of pretty… there’s like the honey, green tea pretty girls that like sitting outside and soaking up the sun…. the dark pretty with black eye make up and wild hair and piercings… the bad bitch pretty with killer highlight and striking style….. the lazy pretty girls with snapbacks and sneakers…. the bookish girls with glasses and sweaters that make your heart melt…. the soft Angel pretty girls who just look as sweet as a peach with soulful eyes…. the cute girls with chubby cheeks and messy hair and it seems like warmth emits from them… girls are so fucking beautiful
Tbh all of these fake stories going around and they’re so obvious but if any of them said “so I work in retail” id be “okay yeah” because the weirdest shit goes down when you work retail. It could say “so I work in retail and today Jesus came in and turned all our water bottles into wine” and I’d be like “shit that’s wild what’d your manager do”
Shout out to all the janitors that clean public bathrooms. Seriously thank you. You make going to public bathrooms a little more bearable when it’s clean. You’re all under appreciated heroes.
I've been trying to write a Deaf character but my dialogue is coming out kind of ... flat. Should I use "said" or "signed" when I'm attributing the dialogue to the Deaf character? How do you even describe someone's tone if they're not speaking? Do hands even have a tone? Help????
Hey anon! So, let’s go over some tips for writing Deaf and Hard of Hearing characters, shall we?
Said or Signed?
Either! “Said” is one of those words that readers don’t even notice, which is a good thing. You know when you’re reading and everything is “moaned Kate” “uttered Chance” “grumbled Lacie”? That’s annoying, and every writing blog will telly you to use those words sparingly. “Said” is just from the verb “to say,” which doesn’t specify whether you’re speaking or signing. Using “signed” can be really useful, especially when you have hearing characters along with the Deaf character. A hearing character may sign something when the Deaf person is in the room, but speak something when they leave, or the Deaf character may use spoken language primarily but sometimes sign. Don’t overuse “signed” though, because that can be just as distracting as “grumbled.” If your Deaf character is signing, you can just say “Alex said.”
ASL Tone
Yes, inflection and tone do exist in ASL! I love it so much it’s so awesome ok here we go.
Facial expressions are used for grammar in ASL for some signs, but are also used for tone. You can easily tell if someone’s angry by their facial expressions, and Deaf people are no exception.
Also, you’ll DEAFinitely (I’m so hilarious) be able to tell someone’s tone by their hand movements. I knew it was possible to yell in ASL, but I didn’t really know how until I was talking about an episode of Grey’s Anatomy with my ASL professor, and it went somewhat like this.
Me: Remember last class, when you told us about that Grey’s Anatomy episode with Deaf characters?
Shannon: Yeah, that was such a good episode! Did you watch it?
Me: I did, it was so good!
Shannon: IT WAS SO GOOD I WAS SO EXCITED APRIL PAYS SO MUCH ATTENTION TO WHAT THE DEAF COMMUNITY ACTUALLY WANTS AND JACKSON IS A JERK
Shannon really yelled, and there was no question about it. Her face absolutely lit up, eyes wide, beaming smile about to crack her face in half, and she actually leaned into her signing with her whole body. When she was praising April, she leaned forward. During the transition to her next point, she sort of returned to leaning back normally. When judging Jackson, she leaned forward again on the word “jerk.” Her signing was still very legible but it was forceful, flowing very smooth and fast. The stress was really put on “pays attention” because that was praise and it was very important, and she really snapped the sign “jerk” and gave it a negative, sharp tone.
In short: yes, signers do very much have tones and inflections – they’re just not communicated via voice. Actually, sometimes they are; my Deaf camp counselor vocalized some signs when she got really excited (which was all the time). She didn’t speak, but she did vocalize a bit.
Writing ASL Grammar
Please please please do not write in ASL gloss!!!!!!!! ASL gloss, if you don’t know, is pretty much a written English form of ASL. If I was to sign “I went to the store yesterday,” the gloss version would be YESTERDAY STORE I GO. That is not something you’re going to want your readers to sift through, as it is neither English nor ASL anymore. It’s jarring to read. Don’t use the grammar of ASL while you’re writing in English. Also, because ASL has expressions that English does not, people may get confused (I highly doubt a non-signer would understand when a Deaf character gets in a sticky situation and the dialog reads “DO-DO-DO”).
Writing A Non-Signer/Beginning Signer
If you’ve got a character who is hearing/raised orally/LDA (Late Deafened Adult) or for whatever other reason is learning ASL later in life and is trying to use it, they’re probably going to get a little stuck. It happens! But how do you write that?
The answer is still not to gloss it. You can use other tips and tricks to make the reader understand that this character is grasping for the right word or expression, or just has completely blanked out! Just remember not to overuse ellipses.
Writing Deaf Characters Interacting
Really, if you’re writing any Deaf/HoH character, it’s important that you are knowledgeable about Deaf culture, mannerisms, etc. Deaf culture is very different from hearing culture. For instance, Deaf people share a lot more information than hearing people do. If a hearing person is late to a meeting, they’ll just say “Sorry I’m late, car trouble.” A Deaf person will say “Sorry I’m late, my car made this weird knocking feeling and then totally died on the highway! I had to call Triple A – what a hassle with VRS, right? – and it took an hour for them to come!”
Another example is my relationship with one of my Deaf professors. Most hearing student/professor relationships are very professional with not a lot of (if any) friend elements. Our relationship is very professional, but she emails me links to articles she thinks I might like, rec’d me a movie about a transgender porn star, and told the entire class the story of her first period. Information sharing is very important in Deaf culture, and conversations within that culture will look different than similar conversations between members of hearing culture.
Also, be sure you’re not having Deaf characters facing away from each other when they’re chatting, or in different rooms. With hearing characters, they can chat while doing the dishes or shout from upstairs to someone downstairs. Deaf characters can still do the dishes and sign at the same time, but it just has different dynamics. Like hearing people can talk with their mouth full, it’s possible to multitask with hand use. Just remember what your characters are up to when it’s time for dialog; if someone’s still in the bathroom with the door shut, now is not the time to ask him where he wants to go to dinner tonight.
All in all, just remember that Deaf people have the same conversations hearing people do – we still talk about how shitty our jobs are and how hot it is outside. We just sign about it. And just like two hearing people are going to have difficulty having a spoken conversation from across a football field, two Deaf characters are going to have difficulty having a signed conversation if someone’s glasses are off or if someone’s juggling their coworkers’ coffees in one hand while fishing for their car keys in the other.
How badly do you think the First Order fears Finn? Do you think they put a hit out on him, because he shows that brainwashing isn’t destiny, that it can be broken, that you can break free, that given half an opportunity 90% of their ranks, the tools they need to maintain control, can–
–change their mind. Strive for something better?
Jedis are terrifying, but they’re born. You either have the force or you don’t. You can kill them and they go away.
But storm trooper with a conscience is a virus that can multiply too fast to stamp out. It makes Finn the biggest threat to the First Order than any Jedi could ever be.
So the thing about that moment near the beginning of Cap 2 where Natasha pulls up in a fucking sweet Corvette–
–well, first of all, I love that Natasha likes driving ridiculous dick cars, because she is clearly having fun with it.
But anyway, I love that the running scene ends with Steve climbing into a totally overkill Corvette driven by a girl who is five foot three inches of pure don’t-underestimate-me badass, because that is Steve. That’s what Steve is. That’s why Steve repeatedly lapping Sam and lampshading it is hilarious instead of mean.
Steve Rogers is a scrappy, sickly little runt behind the wheel of the world’s most souped-up muscle car, and he’s having fun with it, but he’s always uncomfortably aware of the distinction between people complimenting him and people admiring his sweet ride.
I LOVE THE COMPARISON BETWEEN STEVE’S NEW BODY AND NAT’S CAR, THIS IS EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I WANTED IN CA:TWS ANALYSIS
even if girls did have pillow fights @ sleep overs why do ppl assume they would be cute/sexy … If we’re pillow fighting it’s going to be a straight up brawl there will b no boundaries. I will try to pillow punt you into the next dimension. I didn’t come here to make friends I came here to win
I actually remember having a pillow fight at a sleepover. I wound up with a bloody nose, one of my friends had a black eye, another a split lip and we broke the clock.
Final damage toll for the two most destructive pillow fights I’ve ever been in.
ONE (me and my best friend, age seven): bruises all around, two black eyes between us, a bite mark (him), mildly sprained wrist (me), broken glasses (me), mild bloody/almost broken nose (him), split knuckles (me, from a run-in with a wall, not his face), and an almost broken stereo set (in need of repairs, so maybe ‘impermanently broken’ would be better).
TWO (around fifteen kids between ages 10 and 16, boys and girls): broken mirror, bruises, one bloody nose, bruised ribs, several sprained wrists and ankles, a broken couch (DO NOT ASK), at least two split lips, and what in retrospect was definitely a cracked femur (mine), among other injuries (none as serious as the femur).
i hate that liberal feminist ideology that if you’re faced w/ misogyny irl you have to say something and if you don’t you’re a Bad Feminist ™ as if talking back to men doesn’t get women attacked, raped, or murdered on a daily basis.
like: “if a man tells you to smile, tell him to fuck off!!” yeah, you know i fucking would kathy but i really don’t feel like getting killed today
And while I do partially mean it in a gratuitous “I want Oscar Isaac singing in Star Wars” king of way, I think there’s a lot to work with.
Poe singing playfully at BB-8, a loose rhythm as he makes up the words on the spot. BB8 beeps along happily.
Poe singing gently, like a whisper, by Finn’s bedside after the destruction of the Starkiller. Finn vaguely remembers the tune weeks later, after he’s woken up and hums it to himself. He doesn’t remember where he knows it from.
Sometimes he’ll sing without quite realizing it while he’s flying. He feels most free when flying, it’s something he can’t quite explain. So imagine that slow smile he has just for himself, and he sings a light melody, maybe something swinging. He only ever sings during non-stress situations, then he is too focused, calling out orders and evaluating the situation. But during drills he will without realizing the rest of his team can hear. Until Jessika starts singing along.
When Rey experiences her first rain on D’Qar, stands still for a moment, closing her eyes before racing out further to let the water soak her. Some of the others with the Resistance look at her strangely while going about their duties, shaking their heads at the girl who watches and waits and is hesitant to ask her many, many questions. Some who know more of where she came from look at her sadly for a lingering moment. Poe sees her and remembers the excitement he had as a small child during the downpours on Yavin 4. He says nothing but stands next to her and starts singing the simple rhymes his parents used to say to him so long ago. She looks confused for a moment, turning to face him and her eyes searching before her face slowly splits into a gentle and radiant smile in the pouring rain.
every time I see a video or gif of Kylo Ren in his mask all I can think of is that interview with Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac where Oscar says that their first day on set was Poe’s interrogation scene and Adam didn’t take the mask off in between takes and would lean in and be like “don’t worry I’m under here it’s me” and my heart fills with so much love
I saw an interview where John and Daisy said he even stayed in character the whole time he was on set, and sometimes you’d hear random shouting and screaming coming from somewhere, and people would just go “oh Adam must have a scene coming up soon”
Like…the actors playing the nopetroopers probably noped away from several of Adam’s rehersals irl before they filmed the scene for the movie.
I’m sorry, this is v serious, but all I took from that was the word ‘nopetroopers’ which I love and will use constantly from now on.
So this whole Rey Mary Sue thing just keeps twigging me (and not just because the whole bullshit, sexist concept of the Mary Sue knots my knickers like nothing else)
Because while this fuckboy opinion is probably motivated from dudes being, well, fuckboys, it may also be mired in them being MEN.
Because like, I and every single female friend I have walked out of Star Wars with absolutely zero doubts that Rey had earned every inch of her scrappy, badass survivor mantle. It wasn’t until dudes online started whinging about the “believability” of it that I even contemplated the issue.
So now, three viewings in, the second two spent ACTIVELY SEARCHING for signs that Rey may have suffered New Powers as the Plot Demands I have this to say:
The moment the film opened on Rey - a young woman living and operating ALONE on a world in which literal survival depends on who can scavenge AND EXCHANGE the most goods for food rations, I’d wager every single woman in the audience went, “Holy shit, this girl is capable as fuck.”
We didn’t even need to see her owning the thugs trying to steal BB-8 to know she could handle herself physically. We looked at her environment, her position in that environment, and we knew that to be where she was - just to have lived as long as she had - she had to know how to fight like whoa.
Because here’s the thing: woman don’t walk through life the way men do. Just living in our world is dangerous enough for a woman - to grow up young, alone and female on a world that would brawl over scraps and sell anything that wasn’t pinned down? That’s fucking terrifying.
Women look at Rey at the beginning of TFA and see every single hard-won year of survival. Every year of losing to fellow scavengers stealing her take before she could trade it. Every year she had to not become the very thing they were trading. Every year she was an easy target. And we see every year she had to fight to make sure she wasn’t one anymore.
That had to take guts, not to mention a healthy aptitude for combat and weapons training. The ability to pick up languages and social niceties on the fly would have been essential because my enemies enemy and all that.
Every single “unrealistic” ability these dudes are wanking on about was obvious as fuck to me within the first fifteen minutes of the movie.
So welcome to the party, boys - this is what it feels like to have to identify with someone outside of your own experience. And hey, who knows, if you take the time to ask why Rey was so capable instead of whining about it, you may just learn something.
I don’t doubt she could fight, speak droid, speak cookie, shoot, or use the force but how the hell does she know how to fix a fucking hyperdrive? I don’t think it makes her a Mary sue or whatever but it is bad writing. when characters have unexplainable abilities for the sake of making the film run more smoothly, it’s bad. I think it’s easy to go in the defensive when men criticise Rey because I do think a lot of it comes from a place of fear and sexism, but taking an unbiased, logical look at her abilities and realizing they may be slightly overblown isn’t sexist. It’s analytical. still, i’d rather see a female character whose overqualified as opposed to a weakling who needs a man to save her every 5 minutes.
How the hell does she know how to fix a fucking hyperdrive?
She… lives on a planet littered with the remains of the galactic war? Remains that include (as shown in the movie) Imperial Star Destroyers and other ships capable of hyperdrive? Remains that she has to scavenge for survival? Remains filled with parts that she’d have to know the function of in order to evaluate their trade worth?? And you don’t think she’s picked up any working knowledge of complex starship engineering in the years she’s done nothing but crawl around inside literal complex starship engineering???
?????????
Even my idiot brother picked up on the fact that Rey could fix ships because she dismantles them for a living. It’s… kind of obvious.
The only thing that gave me pause was how seemingly easy it was for Rey to use the force, having had no prior experience. Especially given that apparently it’s impossible for individuals to uncover latent abilities without training, going by the fact that if there are no active Jedi, everybody thinks the force is some kind of myth.
However, there are two points that can explain this. First, Rey was under extreme duress. Think of it like how mothers get super strength and are able to lift cars if their children are trapped underneath. The rush of adrenaline and self-preservation instincts allowed her to tap into this hidden ability.
Now maybe that alone isn’t enough. Surely Rey has been under extreme duress before, given her back story, and surely other individuals who are force sensitive have been in difficult situations without their powers manifesting. But my second, and most important, point is the fact that Rey had the force being used on her. She was on the receiving end and knew how it felt. From there, she just took what was being used on her, flipped it around and pushed it back.
So, in short, Rey’s prodigy-like manipulation of the force is not some Mary Sue special snowflake situation, it’s merely a demonstration of how humankind’s ability to dig deep and use everything available to them when their life is in danger is how they managed to survive this long in the first place.
Rey had way more training and prep than Luke did in A New Hope. I don’t see people calling him a Mary Sue.
Okay, first off: Anakin winning that race?? no humans ever did it before. He *was* using the force. Just not in a “levitating objects” way. But picking up how to fly complex engines quickly by using battle meditation? Anakin did it at the age of nine. Luke did it when he blew up the death star. It’s like in harry potter, guys. You can use the force subsconciously and not be aware, or rationalise it away. Leia has memories of her mother, even though she was a baby when padme died. In the “Princess Leia” comics, she has a brief force vision of Padme. It’s entirely possible that as a child, Leia had visions of her mother and later interpreted that as memories. Rey having used the force before? To, for exemple, feel opponent’s intentions a second before they hit her? not impossible. A ton of people probably use the force every day in the galaxy, having “bad feelings about this” and stuff.
My pet theory is also this:
Anakin grew up being told that using the force was hard and complex. He picked it up more quickly than other padawans, and even used it unconsciously before being trained, and definitely had to concentrate less than other people to use it, but he still lived in an environment that discouraged using it outside of actual need / battle, so he never developed it as being as much a part of him as, say, his hand. It was still a tool to him. Still something exterior, something hard and complex. Something you achieve, something you “master.”
Luke grew up thinking it was impossible. On Dagobah, Yoda had to show him that it was, indeed, possible to lift his ship before Luke could do it. The restriction on his powers? It was in his mind, people. That’s the key to all this! Luke could do anything that he put his mind to once he realised that it was all possible, and that the only limit was himself and his beliefs! Do or do not, there is no try: it’s literally the most important lesson that Yoda taught him.
Rey? Rey grew up believing it all real. She grew up on crazy stories about jedi doing all sort of cool stuff, probably most of it being grossly exagerated but absolutely awesome. Of course Jedis can mind-trick people into doing stuff! Of course they can call a saber to them and use the force on their ennemies and I don’t know what else! Of course you can just “use the force” to disable a shield, jedis can do anything! Disabling a shield is probably, like, the first thing you learn as a jedi!!!! (that’s not how the force works. But she doesn’t know that! Imagine the stories that get told! Old clone wars propaganda! The negociator and the hero with no fear!!!) so when Rey starts trying to do those things… well it’s like Harry Potter’s patronus in Prisoner of Azkaban. She’s got no mental block, no hesitation. Of course I can do those things, she thinks, I’ve got the force! ergo, it works. The limit is in your mind.
This is exactly what I assumed from minute one and I’m so relieved that it wasn’t just me.
okay but seriously: what if Finn is the revolution
what if the story gets around the barracks in whispers – you know a stormtrooper can’t scratch an itch without everyone knowing – and some of the whispers are horrified (treason, betrayal, a trooper gone rogue) but others are trembling with hope. he wouldn’t kill for them! he stole a ship and they couldn’t stop him and he’s free!
and suddenly the AWOL rate spikes as stormtroopers on assignment see their chance and slip away into the night. I could find my family. I could live a normal life. I never have to hurt anyone again.
but there are a few who stay, too. they cautiously seek out others like themselves. they work out codes and signals. at first it’s just the rank and file, but then a disaffected squad leader tells them about a conversation between officers that he wasn’t supposed to hear. and so the conspiracy spreads.
hardly anyone remembers Finn’s number, but every last one of them knows who he is. he’s the one who got out. he’s the one who wouldn’t kill for the Order.
two years later, when the conspirators seize a capital ship and deliver it to the Resistance, the captain asks if her crew can meet “the stormtrooper who made it out.” He was the first, she explains. We all should have known it was wrong, but he was the one who showed us.
General Organa smiles – it’s too rare a sight, these days – and thinks maybe now he’ll understand just what a miracle he is.
17% of cardiac surgeons are women, 17% of tenured professors are women. It just goes on and on. And isn’t that strange that that’s also the percentage of women in crowd scenes in movies? What if we’re actually training people to see that ratio as normal so that when you’re an adult, you don’t notice?
…We just heard a fascinating and disturbing study where they looked at the ratio of men and women in groups. And they found that if there’s 17% women, the men in the group think it’s 50-50. And if there’s 33% women, the men perceive that as there being more women in the room than men.
I sincerely believe that by 7th year Ravenclaws would just tell the door to their common room to fuck off and it would open for them
Q “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” A “You shouldn’t shove either up your arse.” “…Technically, yes.”
Imagine it, a poor First Year is waiting outside the common room, they can’t answer the riddle in a way to appease the eagle and must wait until someone else to answer it for them. It’s getting late, they’re starting to resign themselves to having to spend the night here.
Suddenly, their saviour comes! It’s a seventh year! Back from a night finishing off their Araithmancy essay in the Library. They look angry, but our poor little first year squares their shoulders, waiting to see what will happen, and hope that they’ll keep the door open for them.
The Seventh Year bangs the handle against the wall, and a slightly disgruntled voice asks the question again: “What is the truth?”
The Student Replies, “The Truth is that I am so fucking sick of all these mother fucking questions about stupid fucking topics like this you bloody fuck-witted bastard. Who in the name of Merlin’s saggy left testicle gives a fucking damn about all this shit anyway? I’ve been working my arse off in the library for the last seven hours now let me the fuck in or, truthfully, I’ll blast my way in and take you with me.”
The eagle knocker tutts, but allows the student entry anyway, and our little first year enters, eyes wide and in shock. They watch the seventh year go up to their bedroom, awe all over their face at their new hero. They did, indeed, learn something that day by waiting for someone to arrive, they learnt that swearing has a magic all of it’s fucking own, and that sometimes it is big and clever to use it.
The only head canon I will ever accept. Its both perfectly witty and fantastically assholish
witty and fantastically assholish… pretty much quintessential ravenclaw traits right there
