gdp's Comments

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E11 - Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:48:34 +0000

It's definitely a case of YMMV, and I think it's super-empowering for people to decide how they want to refer to their own condition/state of mind. Personally, I hate the term mental illness, both as a catch-all, and more specifically to refer to my own bipolar disorder/ADD. I don't know if anyone shares that sentiment? I personally refer to my own condition as a "mood disorder', but I'm still struggling to find a more encompassing term to replace "mental illness." My big beef is that the term "illness" feels temporary, like something you can "get over" if you find the right cure, and it's such a popular approach in self-help books, fix-it-quick therapy, etc. When in reality, it's something you live with, and learn to work with. It's part of my life, whether I think I'm 'cured' or not. I think there's also a lot of conflation between mental and emotional, and while they intersect and moods can affect your cognitive and mental capabilities, it's not the same thing. I've found the healthiest, and most empowering and accepting way for me to think about it is that I'm, overall, a healthy person with a disability, and I don't know how common that way of thinking is. But personally, that approach has resulted in soooo much less self-hatred, anger, and frustration for not being able to control my moods, and how that interferes with my ability to function, and that the coping mechanisms I've learned and the medication I take are what enable me to function, just like with any disability.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E11 - Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:08:35 +0000

I'm obviously not a mod, and can't offer official instructions or advice on how best to phrase things, but I think that it's a definite conundrum, because a lot of media (Buffy and Angel DEFINITELY included) portray a lot of characters as a generalized cultural construction of "crazy" without regard to how that term is applied neurological conditions (serotonin imbalances, mood disorders, anxiety, developmental or cognitive disabilities, etc.) and experiential conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. On one hand, it's tempting to pathologize what we see represented as a way to be "politically correct", but that often doesn't translate. And sometimes when forms of "crazy" are pathologized, that can be even more problematic. (Soooo much rage at how bipolar disorder was depicted in Six Feet Under, much as I love that show.) So when depictions of "insanity" aren't based on real-life conditions, and are usually generalized because, let's be honest, it's easier and lazier, and kind of a shortcut, it's hard to find a way to talk about it that veers away from the concept of "crazy" that we're trying to evade. Drusilla isn't depicted as behaving the way she does because of a certain condition; she's just depicted as being sort of "loopy" because, as Angel explained, he "made her crazy" before turning her. I think, if you want to pathologize, both Angel in "Birthday", and Drusilla in general are suffering from severe trauma, and Angel copes with his by withdrawing into his own head in anguish and delusion, while Drusilla seems to suppress it and act in ways that aren't commonly regarded as socially acceptable. And again, I don't know what the mods think, but I do think it's possible to talk about "crazy" as a problematic cultural construction AS reflected in what we're watching without using it in an oppressive fashion. The Buffyverse does often feature storylines where a character's mental state or coping capacity is deliberately altered or compromised through supernatural means, and like we saw in Season Five, it's completely different than diagnosed medical conditions, so there's no real way to compare it. Naq vg'f fbzrguvat jr'yy frr rfcrpvnyyl va na hcpbzvat Ohssl rcvfbqr, juvpu, BU ZL URNEG. Gung'f fhpu n shpxrq hc qrcvpgvba bs cflpubybtvpny urnygu pner, wrfhf shpxvat puevfg. V'z xvaq bs tynq gung V'yy or bhg bs gbja naq vagrearg-yrff sbe gung rcvfbqr.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E11 - Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:39:57 +0000

Ha, I totally posted the Mary Tyler Moore theme on MonkeyButter's comment down below! THROW ALL THE HATS!!

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E11 - Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:36:37 +0000

Mere Smith actually said in the commentary that Cordy was based on Mary Tyler Moore, because the producers thought Charisma Carpenter looked like her, and that in another life, she would have been a great sitcom actress.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E11 - Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:21:33 +0000

Cordy's gonna make it after all! [youtube oBTWF1bDPn0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBTWF1bDPn0 youtube]

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E11 - Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:15:24 +0000

omg the SHEEP. My grade ten math teacher used to use "sheep" as a variable because it was more fun than "x".

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E11 - Gone

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:21:38 +0000

I can't answer for J E, but from what I've seen, it's ridiculously common for lesbians to date "straight" girls, often to the point of fetishizing the straight girlfriend as a coup. It happens alllll the time on The L Word. I haven't done this personally, as my taste tends toward "really fucking dykey", but I've got a lot of friends who basically include "conversion" as an essential trait in potential girlfriends, buuuuut that can often go sideways and kick you in the shins. But yeah, dating someone closeted? NOT GOOD EVER. (Also, that link leads to one of my favourite blogs ever; Krista Burton is my hero.)

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E11 - Gone

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:03:57 +0000

V cerqvpg gung Znex jvyy sernx bhg bire Q.O. Jbbqfvqr. Rfcrpvnyyl uvf nezf. Yvxr, V'z abg va gung pnzc ng nyy, ohg V qrsvavgryl erpbtavmr gung gubfr ner tbbq nezf. V guvax ur'f nyfb gur bayl erny arj znyr punenpgre va gung frnfba. Jryy, gurer'f Pnyro, ohg V'q or fhcre fhecevfrq vs uvf punenpgre cebibxrq tebva-gvatyvat nzbatfg nalbar. Rirel gvzr V svavfu Frnfba 7, V arrq gb tb jngpu Sversyl gb pyrnafr zlfrys bs Pnyro naq er-yvxr Anguna Svyyvba ntnva.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E11 - Gone

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:56:02 +0000

On a similar note, but flip that, reverse it, I feel like this is an okay thread to tack on the slight, wavering sentiment that I wish either Willow or Tara had been on the butch side for my own selfish reasons of personal enjoyment. Like, I love both characters as they are, and the Willow/Tara storyline is still such a huge breakthrough, and the dynamic would probably change if it wasn't a femme/femme relationship but I kinda just want some eye candy. Like I wish it made me more giddy in special ways other than "yay, representation!" but I'm just not wired that way and the overwhelming majority of girl-on-girl relationships on mainstream TV tend to fall into that trope. It's basically why my heart explodes into mass amounts of squee and insatiable lust every time I see Brienne of Tarth.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E11 - Gone

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:50:09 +0000

Neil Gaiman, while not a bear of any sort, once said that the best advice another writer had given him was to put conditioner in his beard before shaving. "fifty shades of BUTTS" totally makes me think of Butt magazine, though, and their dedication to printing in at least fifty shades of PINK.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E11 - Gone

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:38:45 +0000

I would totally watch an entire show about Jonathan and Andrew.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E10 - Dad

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:52:52 +0000

I just read "real-life futa". what is wrong with people.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E10 - Wrecked

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:44:50 +0000

Ugh, i saw the gif before I saw second comment, and my brain actually went from, "Eeee, how adorable!" to "EW SPIDER GET OFF ME."

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E10 - Wrecked

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:40:21 +0000

Oh, diss Edward Cullen, but lavender is actually delicious and really good in shortbread and sugar cookies. It's super easy to bake with, but it makes people think you're really fancy. Rosewater is also a pretty good mild flavour.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E10 - Dad

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 04:49:12 +0000

Oh, STORY. I work at a bookstore, and this happened. "I'm looking for a book that will teach me how to do movies on the computer." "Like, editing? We have books on Final Cut Pro and iMovie." "No, like movies. Downloading them." "... you want a book on torrenting?" "Is that what it's called? Yeah, everyone knows how to get them and I don't." "Um, I'm pretty sure you can't publish a book on that - it's not exactly legal. Get a friend to teach you." And then he kept pressing to see if we could order something in, because he was too fucking embarrassed to ask someone to teach him how to use torrents.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E09 - Smashed

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 01:24:25 +0000

Ugh, it's soooo fucked up. There's a lot of debate on tumblr. Trigger warnings: discussion of transphobia, transmisogyny, and misgendering, as well as links to content including these topics The basic premise is biological determination, and that trans women are men trying to invade women's spaces by posing as women, and that trans men are self-loathing, have internalized misogyny, and seek male privilege through posing as men. There's also accusations of transitioning as self-mutilation. RadFeminist Scorpion is a pretty good blog that dissects and criticizes really fucked up "RadFem" logic, and bugbrennan's tumblr is widely regarded as one of the most problematic and vomit-inducing RadFem/anti-trans blogs on the internet. Julia Serano's Whipping Girl is also an amazing book on transmisogyny.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E10 - Dad

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 23:19:33 +0000

This was over ten years ago, so my memory isn't 100% clear, and I don't have any record of it that I can access. I do remember that it was bad enough to be frustrating. The tail end of my teenage anime obsession also coincided with becoming really involved with Unitarian Universalist anti-oppression conferences and youth leadership politics, so that had a huge influence on my mindset at the time. I'd just been made shockingly conscious of my own privilege and the existence of cultural appropriation, and I was carrying a lot of white guilt that I hadn't yet learned how to reconcile with. It wasn't in a way that was deliberately mocking or malicious, mostly just ignorant. I had friends who were posting in "wasian" communities. The term's also a racial slur used against biracial kids with one parent of Asian descent, but in this case it referred to "Wannabe-Asian", which is basically a wish to become a member of another ethnic or cultural group with no regard to racial politics or privilege. Basically, it was fetishizing Japanese culture as superior, based on cultural images shown in cartoons, and feeling like being born white made you disadvantaged because everything was better in Japan. There was also a lot of specifically seeking out and tokenizing Japanese friends as a cultural commodity the same way that people tokenize having a "gay friend" or a "black friend." The mindset was really similar to the same thought process which considers dressing up as "another culture"an appropriate Halloween costume. Not vicious, but still really problematic. There's nothing wrong with being interested in another culture and wanting to learn about it, but what I saw seemed really fetishistic, and it was almost like LARPing, but as another culture rather than like, an orc. And tbh, I was totally participating it as well on a minor level because I was a rabid fan and a naive, sheltered teen who thought being white made me boring and uncultured, up until the first anti-racism workshop I attended that addressed cultural appropriation and white privilege. (And I also didn't consider that Canada has a really fucked-up history with mistreating Japanese-Canadians.) I didn't lose interest in anime until later, but gaining that education gave me a really different perspective on what was happening, both online and with a lot of my real-life friends who were into anime. (This was back in the days of VHS fansubs, so anime fandom was just starting to be accessible on the internet, and I was mostly interested in a lot of the classic stuff from the mid-nineties.) I don't know if that still happens in anime fandom, but those were the communities that I was involved in when I was fifteen-ish. So a lot of that really disenchanted me, along with a tendency toward misogyny by a lot of male fans, and my interests gradually shifted elsewhere. And I'm definitely something of an anglophile right now, but I'm old enough and smart enough to know that culture isn't the same as pop culture, and that it's possible to appreciate media from a certain place or culture without fetishizing it or feeling like my life would be soooooo much better if I'd been born there. (And it's definitely not the same thing as being obsessed with Japan, because there's not the same racial dynamic, and I live in a commonwealth country and have a lot of family connections to the UK.) This is a long-ass explanation, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible as cultural appropriation is such a loaded topic.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Angel': S03E10 - Dad

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 22:17:53 +0000

This is the best. I love how Joss basically gets Jossed by a kid. DAVE FOLEY. I have such a deep abiding love for KITH. [youtube usgOFWMde4A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usgOFWMde4A youtube] He really didn't age well, though.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E10 - Wrecked

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 22:07:02 +0000

Lrnu, gurer'f n yvfg bs juvpu rcvfbqrf unir orra pynvzrq hc ba gur cebqhpg cntr sbe chepunfvat n ZQF ivqrb.

Naq V gbgnyyl frr jurer lbh'er pbzvat sebz. V pbhyqa'g jngpu gur ivqrb sbe Ovyyl. V pna'g rira unaqyr zl BJA ernpgvbaf gb gung rcvfbqr. V'z fgvyy va njr gung fbzrbar erdhrfgrq, orpnhfr gurer vf ABGUVAT TBBQ va gung rcvfbqr naq vg'f whfg 45 zvahgrf bs furre, zvfbtlavfg ubeebe.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S06E10 - Wrecked

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:40:21 +0000

That crossover sounds amazing. This is where I admit that once, at the age of thirteen, I published a crossover between the anime Fushigi Yuugi and Tamora Pierce's Tortall books on FF.N. It's probably still on there and it actually got a lot of positive feedback, but I am terrified to dig it up. I think that's even more embarrassing than all the horrible teen poetry I wrote. There's also some stuff I posted under my (rather unique) full name as a pre-teen, which still shows up in Google results. Ugh.