OMEGA DOWN 💔

Piano Worm from Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County

oo do you have examples of issues that very clearly show jokers avoidant attachment style? I would guess on some level the ending of death of the family?

Well, I said that both him and Bruce rather fit the disorganized attachment style, which is also known as fearful-avoidant-- but Bruce has more "fearful", Joker has more "avoidant".

Bruce, despite all his misgivings, has multiple long-term meaningful relationships. But in Joker's case... intimacy and affection are simply out of the question. Humanity is out of the question, like in the example you've given with Death of the Family. The only person we know for sure he cares about is Bruce, and even in Bruce's case he wildly fluctuates between declaring undying love and genuinely trying to murder him out of spite and resentment. The second closest person to him would be Harley Quinn, and I do think on some level he cared about her, but his relationship with her was manipulative and abusive-- and he tried to kill her too. All of his relationships, outside of the one with Batman, are shallow, and it's because he keeps them shallow. People are something to kill, use, or make fun of, not persons to connect with. If there's any sign of emotion, Joker considers it a weakness. Caring gets you broken above a vat of acid at ACE Chemical factory, with a bat from hell scaring you into committing suicide.

Though I don't think Joker started out so avoidant, much like Bruce... who also started out as something else. Personally I see Bruce as having had an anxious/fearful attachment style prior to his parents' death. But then the loss pushed him into avoidance, and ultimately resulted in him displaying a disorganized or fearful-avoidant attachment style as an adult. Joker might've been fearful-avoidant to begin with, if we go by the likeliest background for him: growing up with abusive parents, then living in orphanages and foster homes, etc. Even the one interaction (remembered reliably or unreliably) with Jeannie in The Killing Joke points to a fearful-avoidant attachment:

Batman: The Killing Joke

He's blowing up at Jeannie, projecting his own self-hatred on her, and then immediately swings into begging for forgiveness. In the end, the core thing about disorganized attachment is... instability. Growing up, the child does not feel like their caregiver is reliable, there to provide food or shelter or the most basic emotional validation. Parents who fluctuate between moments of love and affection and moments of violence and abuse teach their children that love is a minefield. One wrong step, and the landmine blows-- and you never know what sets it off, so you wildly overcompensate or avoid. And Jack acts more like this towards Jeannie: he explodes with anger, gets scared she'll react badly, and then begs for forgiveness. It's also clear that he thinks his value is based in what he can provide. If he doesn't have anything to give Jeannie, will she still love him?

But where Jack was more classically fearful-avoidant, Joker is a lot more avoidant. Even though his life-defining trauma happened as an adult, it profoundly affected his view on the world. As Joker, he still has a need for connection (otherwise we wouldn't have Batjokes)-- but he also hates it and is actively trying to snuff it out. It's a bit ironic that essentially, only with Bruce is where the fearful/anxious part of his attachment style still comes out. Just like with Jeannie in that example, we constantly see him go between "It's your fault I became a monster! I hate your guts and I want you dead!" and "I do all this because I love you! I'm the only one who understands you! Please don't leave me!"

"what if schizophrenics are the only ones seeing the real world and theyre kept medicated by the government so the rest of us dont know the truth" what if i beat you to death with a shovel

Quick Thoughts on Rent

It is simply very weird, as put by Lindsay Ellis in her video on Rent, that the machine which the characters are raging against in the midst of the AIDS crisis isn’t the pharmaceutical companies, healthcare system, select politicians, or hell, even the government itself, which failed especially the queer community but also all individuals in need at the time and deserved much raging against. Instead, the characters rage against their landlord. Jonathan Larson made most of the characters petty, artsy, and privileged, and selectively gave some of them AIDS for dramatic effect or to no avail. He also created two characters who (actually) suffer in poverty and are dying of AIDS (literally, one of them dies) and decided to instead center the story on a couple of the aforementioned privileged asshole artists. I find those creative choices quite weird as well.

It is functionally strange that this musical pays such little respect to poverty, queer identity, and illness, despite those being the central themes. A musical that would’ve handled those topics more appropriately obviously wouldn’t have changed the world or stopped the AIDS crisis – entertainment such as Broadway musicals mostly tries to appeal to mainstream audiences to garner more profit (which is why no mainstream show or movie is ever particularly politically radical!) – but that hypothetical musical might’ve raised awareness amongst the massive audience it did get. It might’ve shown a more real kind of suffering coming from poverty, instead of mostly showing characters that chose to live in poverty and complained about it. It could’ve offered a representation of a bisexual character who isn’t incredibly promiscuous and disloyal. Maybe it might’ve even encouraged some audience members to get mad at the horrible institutions that were letting a pandemic fly by for several years, and who knows, those audience members might’ve also joined an AIDS protest or two. Although any change from the actual reality of Rent would’ve been good.

I don’t really hate Rent, but I think that it’s good to recognize that despite the fact that it can be enjoyable, it’s not very good and extremely inappropriate for its time period. If you’re looking for a musical that has queer characters and actually gives a meaningful sociopolitical message, Falsettos talks about similar topics, and Cabaret is great as well!

Not my white ass locked in the duke’s dungeon again because I fucked his favorite jester 😩

I didn’t know he was so territorial over the silly little guy 🙄

First Joker appearance!

Batman #1 (Spring, 1940)

so real, when I was experiencing delusions being told I was wrong would've made me worse. Many people when they are delusional, especially in association to religious delusions, tend to believe that they've figured out some hidden truth to the world that nobody else knows and could even think that other people telling them they're wrong is natural.

TLDR reality checking delusions can reaffirm them, and otherwise that person might just double down on it or develop other delusions. Since psychosis can't be controlled.

Btw I just wanted to say if you see someone acting delusional (like. Legitimate delusions. Not being misinformed or wrong. Legitimate delusions.) then please mind your own business. It's not your job to reality check them and by doing so you can harm them even further. Unless the person has asked you to reality check them and you're doing what they ASKED you to do, butt out.

When I'm having a delusion about bugs under my skin or something stalking me or literally any other delusion, I don't need someone to tell me "it's not real". I don't care if it's real or not. It's still terrifying to me. Being told "it's not real" doesn't help me, and once the delusion has passed, it makes me feel bad- like I'm just crazy, like my fears and experiences don't matter because they could just be delusions and hallucinations.

This goes for any delusion by the way. You see someone who believes they're God? Cool. Mind your own fucking business. You see someone who believes they have super powers or are an important figure? Cool! Mind your own fucking business.

Now. You may be asking. "Alfie, what if it's my friend and the delusion is stressing them out?"

Comfort them. Treat it like any other problem- if the person prefers advice, give them advice that matches with the delusion. If they just need comfort, do exactly that- tell them you're there for them, etc etc. You're not feeding the delusion- you're comforting your friend when they're stressed and afraid over something.

Don't reality check a delusional person unless you have been asked to by the delusional person.

I know what you are.

me: it's wrong to assign children stigmatizing labels due to antisocial behavior implying they were born with some sort of evil condition when in reality these behaviors result from abuse, neglect, peer influence, or a combination and can be best resolved with proper support before the child reaches adulthood. instead these children are isolated and punished at school and have trouble seeking help later in life.

someone: op this is a lie I literally know a 5 year old who is actually a sociopathic narcissist

the current trend of "tumblr users embarrassing themselves by proudly announcing why they don't listen to any music made by black people" is really astounding.

i cannot help but think this is a direct result of liberal White Guilt and how people have interpreted "anti-racism" as form of cultural self-segregation - the kind of person who thinks trying to cook chicken curry is cultural appropriation, or sends white people anon hate for wearing a kimono (yes, this kind of discourse happened). like, "oh, no, i could never participate in this culture, i'd get my evil white hands all over it! it would be more Progressive if I only did White things."

if you're a poc you've seen this, i'm sure - this deer-in-the-headlights stare you can get from white people when you play music / show art / share a story / anything that is Racially Coded, this total refusal to actually engage with it out of fear that it is in some way Wrong for them to have any opinion on it. because they read somewhere that it's bad to use AAVE but the only lesson they actually learned from that is "gotcha, white people are not allowed to interact with other cultures as punishment for my White Crimes. this helps to fill up the gaping pit of my white guilt and makes me one of the Good People." this transforms their discomfort around non-white cultures (black culture, especially, i should add) into a kind of virtue

anyway if you are white and reading this. go listen to some fucking haliu mergia. ethiopian jazz. will knock your dick right off. go listen to rap or reggae or bollywood and have a genuine reaction to it - like, an actual, from-the-heart reaction. you are allowed to not like some of it. but you will definitely like at least a little. yes, you can compare it to lemon demon (or whatever) if that helps you get into it and that's your only point of reference. maybe don't say that part out loud. but don't, like, separate yourself from it, like you are seeing it in a museum and the only polite thing to do is go "ahh, huh, very interesting, so much culture here."