Rather Unladylike

“This book should be taken off of shelves for featuring–” you are an anti-intellectual and functionally a conservative

“Schools shouldn’t teach this book in class because–” you are an anti-intellectual and functionally a conservative

“Nobody actually likes or wants to read classics because they’re–” you are an anti-intellectual and an idiot

Literally right after I saw this post, I saw another post in a discord chat for BOOK EDITORS in which an outspokenly liberal editor talked about how Nabokov should have never been published because he wrote about p*dophiles and described women's bodies in ways that made her uncomfortable. She described his writing as "objectively terrible" and said she wanted to burn his books. And other editors were bringing up classics they didn't like and talking about how they wanted to throw them in the trash. This wasn't like a light "unpopular opinion!" conversation. This was actual book editors talking about how books should be destroyed and censored.

There is something so scary and toxic in global culture right now. The revival of fascism is influencing everyone's mindset and approach to art, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.

I see far more books being censored today than when I was a kid. Librarians handed me The Catcher in the Rye, The Sexual Politics of Meat, and Animal Farm when I was literally 8-11. My mom would never have taken a book away from me. I read everything from the Tao Te Ching to the Qur'an to atheist texts under my desk at school. Teachers thought nothing of it or encouraged it. Books seemed universally acknowledged as sacrosanct to me.

Now I can't find any adults who don't hesitate or want to make exceptions when it comes to censorship. Even the most liberal social activist librarians I know go, "well except for book X..."

Actually, I did reports on book banning three separate times with three separate teachers, with three separate sets of parameters so I was able to write about the same topic in different ways, but this is specifically about the report I did in university. The actual specs for the report included that we were supposed to complete some kind of study or poll (this was not a science class). I put the questions out on a couple of forums I belonged to at the time and asked a few IRL friends as well. A lot of the questions were standard for this sort of thing, I think - were you ever assigned to read a banned book, did you ever read banned books on your own, did you read/were you assigned them BECAUSE they were banned or did you find out about them being banned later, what's your opinion on banning books, etc.

But there was one question I asked that ended up reshaping the entire thrust of my presentation: "Are there any books that you think SHOULD be banned, and if so, why?"

Here's the thing. Most of the forums I was posting on were fan spaces for a book series that, at the time, was one of the most banned/challenged books out there. It's a fandom that I have since entirely distanced myself from, that I one hundred percent do not recommend to anyone, that I will actively attempt to dissuade people from reading or talking about, and that I would like to not be popular anymore. I'm sure most of you reading this can guess which one I'm talking about (I won't name it or go into specifics because I don't want to trip any filters unnecessarily). But it was KNOWN that these books were banned in a lot of places. A lot of people wore the "I read banned books" badge with pride. I fully expected that the answer to that question would be a resounding "no" from the forums, and that I'd maybe get a few affirmative answers from one of the other spaces.

I was shocked. Not only did a lot of people come back with either "not exactly but I think we should keep [author] or [book] out of the hands of children" or "yes, [book]/anything by [author] should be banned because XYZPDQ", but not a single person who responded gave me the same answer. The only one I remember - keep in mind it's been almost twenty years - was that one person specifically said The Bone Collector, and for the "why do you think it should be banned" question, they only said, "No. I'm not explaining it. It's too horrible to even think about. Just believe me when I say nobody should ever be allowed to read this book."

I highlighted that last comment in my presentation, along with several other of my "favorite" official reasons for banning books - the Alabama school board that banned The Diary of Anne Frank in 1984 because it was "a real downer", the district that removed A Raisin in the Sun because it was "pornographic", the library that took Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out of circulation because it "might be hurtful to children without parents", and things of that nature - and pointed out that all of these were the same thing. This was somebody saying "I don't like this, therefore nobody should read it, and I shouldn't have to explain why." I also pointed out that if you can't give a good reason, the whole thing falls apart, and then I quoted "Smut" by Tom Lehrer:

All books can be indecent books, Though recent books are bolder, For filth, I'm glad to say, Is in the mind of the beholder. When correctly viewed, Everything is lewd. I can tell you things about Peter Pan And the Wizard of Oz - THERE'S a dirty old man...

Go back to that paragraph I mentioned earlier, about those books that I no longer recommend to anyone. Notice how I phrased that. I don't recommend them. I will tell you all the reasons why I don't think you should buy them. I will tell you all the problems with the author, with the franchise, with the writing. I wish they were out of print, I wish they were deeply unpopular, I wish nobody would ever read them again.

But I still won't advocate for banning them.

It's so easy to twist a justification. Look at what I quoted up there! A Raisin in the Sun was banned for being "pornographic". One of the websites I used as a source responded to that accusation with "Did they read the same play I did?" At the time, I thought the comment was funny. Now, twenty years later, I realize: It was a buzzword. It was a convenient label. At the time of the challenge, just saying "it's pornographic" was enough. Obviously you're not some kind of sicko who wants to hear about all the pornographic details, are you? Freak! That's pornography! And they're teaching it in schools! We should get rid of it!

A Raisin in the Sun, for anyone who didn't study it at any point or read it (or watch the movie, which was very good), is a play/movie about a black family in Chicago in the 1960s. The family matriarch has been in domestic service for years, but she's just received a very large insurance payment from her husband's death and is retiring. Wanting to give her family, especially her young grandson, a better life, she goes out and buys a house...in an otherwise exclusively white neighborhood. The head of the homeowner's association (essentially) comes to visit them and offers to pay them a substantial amount of money to not move into the neighborhood, because segregation isn't officially a thing and they can't legally stop them from moving in, but they don't want them there. There's a lot more that goes on in the play, and I highly recommend you go and read it, but the point is that there is nothing sexual or titillating in the entire thing. The closest we get is a scene where the daughter (Beneatha, a college student) is gifted a traditional African dress from her boyfriend, who's Nigerian, and he shows her how to put it on over the clothes she's already wearing, and maybe the scene where the daughter-in-law (Ruth, a laundress) accidentally reveals that, having found out she's pregnant, she's planning to have an abortion rather than bring another child into the world/have another mouth to feed.

It's not pornographic. But someone didn't want it taught in schools, so they called it that to get it banned.

It's so easy to twist labels. If you, a liberal, agree that books with X trait are okay to ban, the people who don't want books to exist will find a way to say they have X trait, and then what are you going to do, admit that you like that sort of thing? Sicko! Freak! Pervert!

That is, when an official told you, a rice farmer, that you owed more taxes than you really did, it was very useful if you were good enough at math to know he was lying (and could prove it) and if you were good enough at writing to write a letter to your government defending your case.

okay rq AF sidestep line up (thus far)

Once Upon A Witchligh comic adaption, beginning of Episode 26.

Aka, one of the very few times in the series Torbek has an ok time lol

Guess what I was working on for all of January. And part of February. And some of March. This was a ton of work and you will find me crumpled under a rock somewhere for a while because of it

There was something about this scene that was very visually vibrant to me, and I really enjoyed the way the information was revealed and played out, which is why I chose to adapt it! I started this purely as a way to practice thumbnailing and start my comics year of with something self indulgent and fun. However, I experienced so much genuine joy in the process (plus my discord friends dared me to finish it), it turned into an exploration of what a potential "publishing style" comic process might look like for me... I learned a ton from making this and will approach comics in a far better way in the future🤣 Like. I did this in the most complicated and time consuming way fr

Thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it ❤️

BONUS: (I decided to omit this moment even tho it's iconic because I didn't like the way it interrupted the flow 😭A pittance for thee)

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Lol. Lmao even. It is theoretically possible to get Tegan to cuddle but it requires very specific circumstances and probably the alignment of several planets.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

*gestures vaguely to the whole guy* Assuming the worst in others and assuming that he is always right are prob some of the worst tho. And smoking like a chimney.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Very, tho he'd never admit it. His dysmorphia makes him think he's a lot uglier than he is with a lot of concern about his height and his skin. He has no idea why anyone would find him attractive and assume they want something from him if they do. (Ortega's HG connection theory did nothing to help this). The fancy black suit he wears as his Retribution persona is as much armor as the actual suit Mortum built.

NSFT under cut

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Tegan - His shitty attitude usually botches most potential friendships but the ones who do manage to get close apricate his reliability. If he says he's going to do something, he does it. If he sees a problem, he tries to fix it. Despite how much he obscures through misdirection or omittance he can be painfully direct and honest. I think Ortega back in the day and his crew now both relied heavily on Tegan's ability to get shit done and see things trough.

Jamie - He doesn't do friends, they're too much of a liability and will mostly just disappoint or hurt you in the end. He is friendly, but that's not the same thing. There is always an angle. Noe is the closest thing he has to a friend but she's also everything to him. He cares about Jake, more than he's comfortable with if he's being honest but Jake is ultimately expendable, even if it would hurt.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Tegan - Historically just letting things take its course sdlka;lk he's has pseudo breakups with both Ortega and Mortum just by being the way he is. He's an adept heartbreaker, especially his own.

Jamie - They've never experienced a breakup in their life. Romantic or sexual attraction is so rare for him in the first place. If he had to he would probably just use his powers to make someone forget him and then have a good old fashioned pity party about it.

Cut for length

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

alphabet meme thing for Jamie please!

A and G

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Jamie is very affectionate but most people aren't getting the genuine version. A friendly handshake, a warm smile you'll soon forget, the charm and the flattery, those are all just tools of the trade when brutality or buying someone off doesn't cut it. Genuine affection from Jamie is rarely touch based given his powers, too easy to accidently give a command. it looks more like giving someone his undivided attention or anticipating ways to make their life a little easier, he's a very detail oriented person so he notices the small thing. He's also big on gift giving but it can be hard to parse if it's a bride or truly just a thoughtful gift sometimes.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Physically he's very gentle, his hands are soft and manicured and he's not particularly strong or known to raise his voice. He uses other people to enact violence for him. Emotionally....not so much. He's too nosy and its too easy to course correct wit his powers if he oversteps a boundary. He can be very blunt.

NSFT answers under the cut