Spain Is The Country In The World With The Most Artists Sentenced To Jail (source: The State Of Artistic

I simply cannot feel sorry for multi-millionaire Scarlett Johansson only earning $20 million instead of $30 million or what the fuck ever because Disney recognised that large parts of the world still can't safely go to the cinema on account of the deadly pandemic and released Black Widow on Disney+ at the same time as in theatres. But then I also support anyone suing Disney for any reason, so you see my dilemma

Someone: Thank you!

Me: Of course!

(Not ‘you’re welcome’, not ‘no problem’, nope, I say ‘of course’. I can’t figure out if it sounds weird to people or not....)

I feel kind of bad for the new girl marrying into my family. not because there’s anything wrong with my family, to clarify, but just because there’s so many of us and even we have trouble keeping track of each other.

like, I met her and she was super sweet, and then she asked her fiancé how he was related to me, and he just kinda stared at me and said, “um... I’m not sure, actually. I don’t know. we’re... cousins?”

and then we started trying to remember how we were related. eventually I was like, “his mother and my grandmother - no, I mean, his grandmother and my great-grandmother were sisters. right?” I say to my cousin. he shrugs. “I don’t know,” he says. “You probably know better than me. that makes us, what, third cousins?” and I’m like, “I think it’s second cousins once removed...” (tbh, I’m not actually sure if my understanding of the family labeling system is correct.)

and this girl is just looking at us, a little nonplussed, because I’m at her bridal shower and her to-be husband isn’t even sure how he’s related to me, and there’s dozens of people at the party and not even all of us are there, and her wedding is literally next month and she is never going to remember all of us by then. if ever. (lol I still mix up some of my own cousins)

I almost scrolled past this; was not expecting it to be this funny oh my god

Captain Marvel Nothing to Prove Moment

So, watching Captain Marvel was awesome and made me feel super happy and strong!

The only bit I felt conflicted over was that part at the end where Yon Rogg was like, “I’m so proud of you! Fight me! Prove to me that you can win without powers!” and Carol just blasted him.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love that. It’s exactly what she should have done, and it’s a very satisfying moment for her character. But...

See, I didn’t feel conflicted about it because it was the wrong thing to do or it was emotionally unfulfilling or any of that nonsense. I felt conflicted about it because of how much I related to it. Because he started talking, and I had that moment of, what the hell do you mean you’re proud?! What kind of gaslighting, two-faced rubbish are you spewing now?!

And then he said “Prove to me,” and I was torn between laughing at his obvious, kind of pathetic attempt to make a more powerful foe deliberately handicap herself, the niggling irritation that comes with a man trying to convince you to prove yourself to him when you owe him nothing, and anger at the fact that some part of me felt like Carol had to. That some part of me felt it necessary for her to try and please him, prove herself to him, even though she owed him nothing and he was clearly trying to manipulate her into making herself less than she was again.

Because I know that feeling of constantly having to prove yourself when you’ve already done it a thousand times. That feeling of trying to get a man’s approval of your competence, that if you do more, prove you know more, do it faster, do it better, maybe you’ll finally feel like you belong, like you’re equal and you’ve finally, finally earned your place. 

And then she blasted him, and I was so proud of her for doing that, for not falling for his manipulative BS and for knowing her own worth and knowing that she had nothing to prove. But at the same time, I mourned the lack of gaining his approval. I didn’t want to, but I did.

We are so conditioned to need male approval in all aspects of our lives. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of falling head over heels to prove ourselves to some random jerk, of wasting our time and energy to show him that we deserve a place and that we deserve to be heard, sabotaging ourselves in a hopeless effort to get him to confer value upon us.

But the thing is, we already have that value. We deserve to have a place. We have nothing to prove.

And that’s why that moment at the end of Captain Marvel was so powerful, so satisfying. She knew her own worth and didn’t let a man talk her out of it.

Kinosaki, Japan | Nishimuraya Kinosaki Onsen

So I feel more or less the same way about Medusa and I wrote a little snippet reframing Medusa’s story. Athena didn’t turn her into a gorgon to punish her for defiling the temple. She did it to protect Medusa. Feedback would be appreciated!

*************************

His eyes sparkled green in the light. Her tears blurred the sight. It hurt. It hurt.

When he was done, Medusa still lay crumpled on the floor. She was silent now, but her face was wet with tears, and her thighs were slick with blood. He surveyed her with disinterest. “Maybe I’ll see you again, pretty. Or maybe not.”

And like the sea breeze, he was gone, as though he had never been.

Medusa sobbed once, loud and broken. She struggled to get up. The pain was too great to stand, but she pulled herself into a kneeling position. There was a strange silence in her mind, as pain and rage warred with disbelief. Rage won out.

Her voice was hoarse as she let out a ragged cry. She raised her fists and slammed them into the stone. The anger still burned within her, so she did it again. Tears ran down her cheeks. She felt useless and small. She had been nothing but a toy to him. How dare he?

“Athena,” she whispered. “Goddess, my goddess. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” She bowed her head and wept.

“Do not apologize, my child.”

Medusa looked up so fast the room spun. She focused on the figure standing in front of her. A woman, with a terrible, fearless kind of beauty, wearing a sword at her hip and a shield on her back. Athena knelt before Medusa and took her face in her hands. “You have done nothing wrong,” she said, lowly, fiercely. “I would have my vengeance upon Poseidon and the other gods for every woman they have hurt, but even I cannot challenge them so.”

Medusa drank in every word. “What am I to do, goddess? I can’t…I can’t bear to endure this again.”

Athena’s face was thoughtful, inscrutable. “The temple has been defiled. You cannot return to your old life.” Medusa bowed her head in sorrow.

Athena continued. “The punishment of Poseidon is beyond me. However, I can grant you a gift. I can give you the power to protect yourself and others. Your rage makes you strong. I can make you my weapon against every man who would bring a woman low. But the price will be high. Are you willing to pay it?”

Medusa hesitated, looking up. The eyes of mortal and goddess met in perfect understanding. Every woman, no matter how high or low, knew the sense of helplessness and rage that men engendered. Medusa would give anything to fight it. Her face hardened with resolve.

“Yes,” Medusa said, and her voice grew stronger. “I would pay any price. Never again.”

Athena’s face bore a sad kind of pride. “Never again,” she agreed.

She rose to her feet, and placed her hand on Medusa’s head.

“I gift you with the power to wreak vengeance. You will stop any man dead in his tracks. I name you Medusa, protectress of women, and executioner of justice.”

And as she lifted her hand from Medusa’s brow, Medusa began to change. Her beautiful red hair, the envy of Athens, morphed into dozens of wriggling snakes. Her nails grew into sharp metal claws.

Athena stepped back. “Rise, my daughter.”

And Medusa rose. She looked up. Her eyes were yellow, and slit like a snake’s. Her lips were red as blood.

“It will be a lonely path that you walk, Medusa. To the west, there is an island called Sarpedon. Make it your sanctuary. Remember that I am proud of you, and be brave, my child.”

She bent and kissed Medusa’s brow…and then she was gone.

There’s evidence that Medusa was actually worshiped in Ancient times as more or less the Patron Goddess of Rape Survivors and a protector of women and I vote we Reclaim The Fuck out of her story.

So a lot of people are rightfully unhappy about the possibility that Katara will be aged up in the new Netflix version of The Last Airbender. That has a lot of issues and I’m glad people are talking about it.

But truthfully, I’ve always had some issues with how Katara’s relationship with Aang was handled. Generally, ATLA did very well with its female characters and gave us a lot of strong girls and women to admire, but it still had its flaws.

Specifically, the thing that bothered me the most when I first saw it as a child was the scene in Day of Black Sun where Aang kisses Katara without warning and without permission. That always made me uncomfortable. 

There’s also the way the writers handled the development of their relationship. Throughout the series, it is made very obvious that Aang has a major crush on Katara. But while Katara cares deeply for Aang, she is pretty much never shown to have romantic interest in him - except for that time that the fortuneteller tells Katara that she will marry a powerful bender and Katara is reminded that Aang is a powerful bender, plus that time they dance together in the Headband. But honestly, neither of those carries a lot of weight, in my opinion, especially compared with other scenes. Katara explicitly has a pretty negative reaction to the idea of a relationship with Aang in the Ember Island Players episode - where, again, Aang kisses her without permission, right after she said she was confused. Again, she reacts negatively to the kiss, and to Aang’s pushiness regarding a relationship. It’s kind of hard to see how they could move from this point to a full blown romantic relationship over the next few episodes. (Honestly, I hate that scene for Aang. It’s a pretty negative characterization for him. This scene made me uncomfortable as a kid as well. Actually, I might have hated this scene more than the Day of Black Sun scene.)

Anyway, for most of the series, Katara acts more like an older sister or mother-figure to Aang. And then at the end of the series, Aang defeats the Firelord and suddenly Katara is all in for a relationship? I remember the first time I saw it, it seemed sudden within the context of the story. Outside of the context of the story, it pretty much looks like Katara was treated as a reward for Aang - the hero saves the day, gets the girl trope. I don’t think I need to explain why that’s bad. It was also weak within the story’s plot, because it’s not well-supported by Katara’s character arc.

So the two main problems with the Katara/Aang relationship, in my view, are  these: one, Aang’s treatment of Katara within the story; and two, the writers’ treatment of Katara from outside the story.

(Plus, a 12/13 year old dating a 14/15 year old comes off kinda weird to me. A couple years difference matters at that age.)

This is honestly my biggest criticism of the series. It was still a great show, and I loved it, but as iconic as it was, it wasn’t perfect.