Excelsior!

Do you think Clark Kent's first few major articles were about the continued presence of lead pipes in parts of Metropolis' water system

(Average Metropolis reader after investigative reporter C. Kent's 452nd article on yet another case of landlords/business owners/factories' continued use of lead pipes/paint/gas/glass knowingly exposing the public to dangerously toxic lead levels) what the fuck happened to this guy

One day Bruce Wayne mentions in an interview that heroes like Superman are overrated, as the most effective way to reduce crime is to provide public resources and improve local infrastructure, then cites how neighboring city Metropolis has effectively lowered their violent crime by 13% after addressing their outdated water system and investing low income housing. the reporter conducting the interview suddenly starts looking a little uncomfortable

To be clear, Clark is still a fantastic investigative reporter. He still has to track down the sources to prove all this shit

"Who, Clark Kent? Yeah, we're pretty sure he's a Meta. Is he a superhero? Like what, "Lead-detector guy"? "Captain pipes?" Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy and it's a handy trick, but it's lead detection, not laser vision. He's not about to go running around in tights any time soon."

"Sure, he's done a lot of good for the city, we love the guy don't get us wrong, but it's not like he's fuckin SUPERMAN or anything."

Look I know that “the Doctor can hear the soundtrack” is possibly pointing toward some big series-long arc.

But in the meantime, I like to imagine that the music represents the Doctor’s alien senses, with the translation matrix turning it into music to make it comprehensible to us, the human viewers. Like when we hear ominous music or a familiar motif, the Doctor is sensing bits of the web of time, or using some other wacky timelord(ish) sense that we don’t have. The Doctor isn’t exactly breaking the fourth wall, but that’s the closest thing the TARDIS can use to approximate it.

It reads as genre savviness because that’s what it would be like if you kind of know the future. Not necessarily in exact detail, not enough to pick the right action every time, since there are countless possible futures/pasts for any non-fixed point. But the Doctor still has way more information about any given time than a non-time traveller would — and seemingly more than a human time traveller would either.

First time I spoke to Joyce about the pale, Kim wasn't with me. I was like, damn, I'm missing out on Kim's commentary.

Second time around, I brought Kim with me. I was surprised that he refused to participate in the conversation. It's so cute that he was worried Harry would react badly to learning about the pale. LMAO when he came back and was like, "oh good you're still conscious."

DOCTOR WHO (2023-) The Church on Ruby Road // The Devil's Chord

When I was younger and more abled, I was so fucking on board with the fantasy genre’s subversion of traditional femininity. We weren’t just fainting maidens locked up in towers; we could do anything men could do, be as strong or as physical or as violent. I got into western martial arts and learned to fight with a rapier, fell in love with the longsword.

But since I’ve gotten too disabled to fight anymore, I… find myself coming back to that maiden in a tower. It’s that funny thing, where subverting femininity is powerful for the people who have always been forced into it… but for the people who have always been excluded, the powerful thing can be embracing it.

As I’m disabled, as I say to groups of friends, “I can’t walk that far,” as I’m in too much pain to keep partying, I find myself worrying: I’m boring, too quiet, too stationary, irrelevant. The message sent to the disabled is: You’re out of the narrative, you’re secondary, you’re a burden.

The remarkable thing about the maiden in her tower is not her immobility; it’s common for disabled people to be abandoned, set adrift, waiting at bus stops or watching out the windows, forgotten in institutions or stranded in our houses. The remarkable thing is that she’s like a beacon, turning her tower into a lighthouse; people want to come to her, she’s important, she inspires through her appearance and words and craftwork.  In medieval romances she gives gifts, write letters, sends messengers, and summons lovers; she plays chess, commissions ballads, composes music, commands knights. She is her household’s moral centre in a castle under siege. She is a castle unto herself, and the integrity of her body matters.

That can be so revolutionary to those of us stuck in our towers who fall prey to thinking: Nobody would want to visit; nobody would want to listen; nobody would want to stay.

#it’s so so important to remember that representation is not one-size-fits-all#what is empowering to one person might be exhausting and oppressive to someone else#some people need stories about having the strength to save themselves#some people need stories about being considered worthy of being saved#some people need inspiration for their independence while others need validation that they don’t have to be able to do everything themselves#before you lash out against something PLEASE stop to consider:#is this inadequate and/or damaging representation?#or is it just something I don’t personally relate to? [X]

It’s been half a decade and I still haven’t found an articulation of the complexity of “representation” as concisely and precisely mindblowing as @hungrylikethewolfie’s here.

#let her open mysterious boxes and have some fun

Doctor Who Space Babies

we’ll make you talk, pig

Doctor Who | 1.02 - "The End of the World"

today i’m sad about that one line from the creator’s commetary about how zuko is a tsungi horn prodigy and the little letter zuko, aged 7, sends iroh in “legacy of the fire nation” where he very politely requests that iroh come home and teach him pai sho tricks, because that casts such a different light on their interactions in book one.  it was never iroh trying to push his own favorite things - pai sho and music night - on an uninterested zuko, it was iroh desperately trying to reconnect with zuko by recreating the activities he knows zuko used to enjoy.  zuko, aged 7, once begged iroh to come home and play board games with him and now zuko wants nothing to do with him and you know that eats iroh up alive

it’s also noteworthy in that the things iroh tries to interest zuko in are specifically things that zuko enjoyed as a child.  

there is a reoccuring theme in atla of how war forces children to grow up too early.   aang, who is THE symbol of hope for the world, takes katara and sokka penguin-sledding and mailcart riding and to an illicit fire nation dance party just for the fun of it.  aang is a harbringer of not just peace but also a symbol of the lost innocence of the protagonists, reminding the audience that even these powerful, world-saving children are still children who need to experience fun and play.

and iroh serves that same role for zuko in books one and two, consistantly offering zuko opportunities for fun and play that zuko typically rebuffs.  it’s clear that zuko doesn’t think of himself as a child (like when he says “you’re just a child!” upon meeting aang but is surprised that aang sees him as “just a teenager”) and doesn’t see a purpose to play.  

one of the most heart-breaking parts of this show, for me, was that zuko never plays during the course of the show.  there are no moments when he is engaged in an activity for no purpose other than simply bringing him enjoyment.  every action he takes is related to his survival.  the closest he comes to playing is showing off his dao swords to lee, juggling (badly) for jin on their date (though he’s simply trying to continue a ruse that his survival depends on), and maaaybe exploring the ruins of the sun warriors.  zuko is the only one who doesn’t participate in the beach activities with the gaang in the first part of sozin’s comet.

so it’s not only that iroh is attempting to reconnect with zuko with acitivies they had once enjoyed together, he’s trying to offer zuko a chance to experience the childhood he lost at age thirteen.  

depression is over it’s done it is obliterated look at this fucking shirt i found at the thrift near my house

i need you guys to know that when i brought this home my mom was like WHAT is THAT. well i think you’re the only person on earth who would wear that, good that you found it

i show her this post every time it hits another thousand note milestone. she thinks we’re all ridiculous but no longer underestimates the Gay Desire For A Fun Shirt