Random thoughts and beautiful images

gailsimone:

…and what should be done about it?

The bigot group ONE MILLION MOMS is protesting Archie Comics for their positive and prominent portrayal of a gay male character, Kevin Keller, in their recent books. They are also protesting Toys R Us for displaying and selling these books.

These are the same awesome bigots (who, by the way, number in the tens of thousands, nowhere near a million) who tried to shame JC Penneys into dropping Ellen Degeneres as a company spokesperson because she was gay. They are the same philosophical type that successfully bullied Lowes and other companies to dropping commercial ads for a tv series about a Muslim family because the show didn’t present them as appropriately terrorist-y enough.

Simply put, they want to shame and bully companies into pretending gay people do not exist. The very idea of gay people being visible in the media upsets their delicate bigot brains.

Of all the mainstream comics companies, Archie is doing some of the most progressive and positive stuff out there right now. They have a book with a lead male character who is gay, and prominently did a story of him marrying another man. Without shame, without judgment, in a joyful spirit and in a very entertaining manner, at a time when a lot of lgbtq young people are hungry for positive messages. When some people asked if they were worried about controversy, Archie reps literally said, “We don’t care if bigots don’t read our comics.” I love them for that.

So of course, some small minded people want them to sit down, shut up, and pretend it’s 1950.

Here’s the story: http://www.comicsbeat.com/2012/02/29/it-had-to-happen-one-million-moms-targets-archies-gay-marriage-and-toys-r-us/#comment-177206

What I propose is this: even if you are not a regular Archie reader, when you go to the local comic store to get your books this week, pick up one or several Archie comics. Make your voice heard at the retail level. Same thing with Toys R Us, if you happen to be there.

Just as importantly, let the retailer know you support what Archie is doing. I’ve been kidding around, calling this Occupy Riverdale, but the message is serious. Pick up a couple or a few Archie books and let the retailer know why you support them (aside from the fact that their comics are always lots of fun and gorgeously drawn).

I would love to see the industry stand up to these bullying zealots for once instead of quietly hoping the little squalls don’t become a big storm. We all can help!

Please spread the word, buy Archie comics and make a bigot cry!

^ x 1000

robinless:

Random thoughts and beautiful images: No-Man’s Land: *splutter* WUT???

me-ya-ri:

I just got the NML trade in the mail (\o/) so I decided to start reading.

Page1: O.o;;;
P2: o.O
P3: Wat? No, seriously, WUT???

I ah, have been forcibly reminded why I never picked NML up before and generally excised it from my headcanon.

Suspension of disbelief should not die a loud, painful,…

As I understood it, they made it because the city had been destroyed to a point it’d cost them more money to rebuild it than to just forget about it. Before the earthquake, the city’s population had been greatly decimated by a plague (Contagion and its sequel), plus some pressure groups argued that the city was nothing but a nest for criminals and crazies, having the highest rates for violent crimes, murders and assaults. If I remember correctly, while Bruce was in Washington trying to gain supports for the city, some kind of famous guy with a messiah complex started a movement/sect that defended the city was a hell hole and so on, gaining support from a large part of the population.

I don’t know, it was a progression from previous events. I don’t think it requires more suspension of disbelief than say… The existence of Batman itself. He’s a paramilitar agent dressed as a giant bat, the police would shoot him and put him in jail, if he really was around. This is a world where entire cities had been destroyed because of superhero and criminal-related stuff (Blüdhaven, Star City…), where Lex Luthor, one of the more important criminals in the country, was elected president. I think it just fits with everything else, considering.

Ah, so there was a progression of events! That helps a lot. *sigh* This is what I get for reading the older comics piecemeal. I miss stuff and don’t realize it. I think I have to go back and do a bit of research on the lead up to NML so that I don’t have that total ‘WUT’ response.

Thanks for letting me know all of this!

I just got the NML trade in the mail (\o/) so I decided to start reading.

Page1: O.o;;;
P2: o.O
P3: Wat? No, seriously, WUT???

I ah, have been forcibly reminded why I never picked NML up before and generally excised it from my headcanon.

Suspension of disbelief should not die a loud, painful, ugly death on the first page. The first panel even.

Can someone give my a quick rundown on how DC managed to convince their readers that the USA would ever in a million years abandon and lock off miles upon miles of prime East Coast real estate?

There has to be some reason that this was believable to the readers but my logical, cause-and-effect loving mind utterly fails to see it. Like… at all. Does not compute.

*sigh*

Anyone?

findyouthere replied to your post: *shudder*

Sorry about posting pictures of the Walking Sticks! ^^;; Harmless as can be, but not for everybody.. ^^;

Oh, it’s okay, really. I just had to complain a little because someone’s been posting a lot of pics of bugs lately. It doesn’t set me off too badly, just an instantaneous ‘yeep!’ reaction. If it was in person I’d probably be up the wall or out the door, no matter how harmless they are. Being phobic of bugs kind of sucks.

kyrdwyn replied to your post: *shudder*

I’m right there with you on the being creeped out bit. gah!

*nods* I’ve spent a lot of effort on working the phobia over the years so I’m not that bad but they still creep me out pretty bad, especially when I’m surprised by them.

kestral replied to your post: *shudder*

i’m horribly phobic to spiders so much that pictures send me into panic attacks. and yet my friends find it fun to link me them and NOT warn me. so tumblr at times is a mine field when someone’s on a spider posting sprees. so i know how you feel

I’ve gotten much better over the years, though it’s taken a fair amount of work. Oh, now that’s just MEAN! When you know someone’s afraid of something, especially when they’re phobic, its just rude to knowingly set them off. That’s like deliberately triggering someone who went through a traumatic experience. *glares at your friends for you* *Big hug* I hope they stop doing that to you, sweetie!

jayeinacross replied to your post: *shudder*

I know how you feel…I have this awful phobia of slugs and I completely freak if I even see a photo of one.

*Rueful laugh* You would not want to live in the Pacific Northwest then. We have lots of them and they get several inches long. *hugs*

Oh man, sorry to those who love them but I really wish that people would put posts with bugs under a cut. I’m severely creeped out by them so seeing pictures of spiders and such freaks me out.

*sigh* Even when, yes, I can see that the bug in question is actually quite strikingly colored and even, objectively speaking, beautiful.

Irrational reaction is wholly and totally irrational. (Yes, I am phobic but really only in person and I have worked to control it.)

Really early post! *grin* Tim’s making progress in this one, which I think is a good thing. Hope everyone likes the new part!

Story:  The Collar: Part 5

Author: me_ya_ri

Rating:  NC-17
Configurations: Jason/Tim

Warning / Themes:  Dubcon, kink, collaring, food restriction for sexual purposes, involuntary sexual training, functional enslavement, bondage, forced feminization, Stockholm Syndrome issues all over the place, unreliable narrator, sparring, frottage, Dark Fic! 

Word Count:  Approx 2425 words

Summary:  After Bruce dies, Jason Todd, Red Hood, takes over Gotham’s underside. In the process he captures Tim Drake, formerly Red Robin, and drives the other Bats out of Gotham. Once Jason has a secure grip on Gotham, he turns his attention to ‘modifying’ Tim’s behavior to create the Tim he always wanted. While Tim isn’t sure at first that he wants anything like what’s happening to him, he comes to find that it’s not as bad as he would have expected belonging to Jason. At least he finally truly belongs somewhere.

Feedback:  Comments (even if it’s just that you read) are much loved and concrit is much appreciated!

Previous Parts:  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Find it here on LJ and here on DW.

I wonder that after answering a dozen or so comments, all of which made me grin and beam, a couple of which made me think and really ponder how I was writing The Collar and whether my plot will make everything make sense.

I suppose it’s because I’m seriously uncomfortable when people call me ‘honey’ because that’s too intimate in my mind. It’s something that’s reserved for people you’re very, very close to. Or it’s something that southern women call absolutely everyone and I’m equally uncomfortable with that. :|

But ‘sweetie’, in my squirrely little mind, means pretty much exactly what it says. The person is sweet and wonderful and I’m very happy with them.

Of course, I probably make other people uncomfortable using the term but hey, I gotta say something and ‘hey you’ just doesn’t have the same implications. *grins*

This thought brought to you by having finished the next part of The Collar, which should be posted tomorrow after a quick proof-read.

I do have to say that this is one of the hardest stories I’ve told in a long while. I usually avoid unreliable narrators because its so darn difficult to feed the reader just enough information that they know what’s going on without making it unbelievable that the narrator would find that out. I think it helps that Tim’s slowly getting better over the course of the story. Otherwise telling the story from his point of view would be absolutely impossible. *sighs*

Oh well, off to bath time to soak my cramping leg!

anexorcist replied to your link: The Collar: Part 4 (DCU AU BDSM Jason/Tim) - And here’s the link to LJ. I really hope Tumblr figures out its IE problems soon. I hate not making text posts for these. :|

Yeeess haha I was just reading your reply to my comment and hoping for an update

:D Yay for looking forward to it! Hee—I do seem to be unable to stop writing this one. Thanks for the comment!

avanalae replied to your link: The Collar: Part 4 (DCU AU BDSM Jason/Tim) - Got another part up but Tumblr still doesn’t like IE so have a link to DW instead of a proper post. *sigh!*

(It links to part three?) ;A; Timmersssssss… ubluubuuu ;3; So saaad. And omg. Jason. You are so… so awesome. ;u;

(Blarg! Fixed—thanks for letting me know, sweetie!) Poor Timmy’s gone through the wringer in this one, he really, really has. So much more that I have to get in too. *sighs* Jason is the awesome-est. He really, truly is. Thanks for the comment, sweetie!

masteroftherebels replied to your post: masteroftherebels replied to your chat: Good God,…

*_____* I wish I could have awesome dreams like that. *jealous*

*shivers* Personally, I’d rather never have dreams like that but to each their own. My husband likes dreams where he’s being hunted by aliens. ;) Thank you for the comment—so glad that you liked this one!

masteroftherebels replied to your chat: Good God, it’s eating my brain.

8D *pets collar story* I am so pleased with this bunny of yours. It makes me worlds of happy

*laughs* It’s a crazy-agressive bunny, that’s for sure. I keep thinking about it all day and last night dreamed about it. Thank you! I’m just glad that it’s being enjoyed, especially given how dark it started out. :D