catboysooyoung

[catboysooyoung]

I can't stop thinking about the news out of Palestine. Israel is sieging al Shifa hospital. Videos of people's limbs being severed off are haunting (graphic video tw). The hospital has ran out of fuel and 39 babies in incubators are fending for their lives by themselves, because Israel has stationed snipers around the hospital and is shooting all medical crew that walks into their sight.

First, the narrative was Israel would never bomb hospitals. Now, the hospitals are Hamas bases. Then, we respect journalists. Now, we have a fucking kill list of journalists because they are Hamas collaborators. First, we are not letting fuel in until the hostages are released. Now, we are not accepting the hostages back because that would stop our ground invasion and let Hamas win. And I could go on about every single lie they're making up. If you look up "Hamas rape" on google, the first link leads to Times of Israel saying Israel has found no forensic evidence of sexual violence, and only one eyewitness testimony out of 3.5k people attending the rave. If you Google "Hamas beheaded babies" the top links say they have no evidence for the claim besides word of mouth from extremist soldiers. Israeli extremists think about the ugliest goriest scene they can make out in their sick heads, tell that to a international journalist and they run away with it like it's gospel.

And children are being killed in the name of these lies. Thousands are being displaced in images that remind me of the pictures of Tantura 75 years ago, with their hands up so the tanks don't shoot them. Amputees are leaving the hospitals in wheelchairs hours after their surgeries because they are being shot at. Elders who survived the Nakba on 48 are having to walk towards Southern Gaza on foot (imagine walking from one end of your city to the other on foot), displaced again. People are cheering for the haunting images of white phosphorus bombs being dropped over Gaza. Gazan workers who were arrested in the West Bank are being thrust back into the bombings wearing numbered labels.

This is not normal. We are seeing the early stages of the settler colonial genocide of an indigenous population. Native leaders who have visited Gaza say its refugee camps look eerily like reservations. We can stop this. For the first time we are able to see wide scale accounts from the hands of the people suffering the genocide, and Israel is so scared of it they have cut all communications in Gaza.

This is our litmus test. I think we have never seen more clearly, with Palestine, Armenia, Congo and Sudan how colonialism has made our world a rotten place to live in.

The South African apartheid collapsed due to boycotts. We have to do everything in our power to stop Israel's hegemony. Even talking to a group of friends about Palestine changes the status quo. There's no world where we can live peacefully if Israel accomplishes their goals.

Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.

Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.

Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.

Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe).

Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:

Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency, Mondoweiss

Boycott Divest Sanction Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing protests and direct action against weapons factories across the US

Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza.

Hind Khudary - reporting directly from Gaza. Her husband and daughter moved South to run from the tanks but she stayed behind to record the genocide. The least we can do is not let her calls fall on deaf ears.

You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. BDS explicitly targets only a few brands which have bigger impact. You can stop consuming from as many brands as you want, though, and by all means feel free to give a 1 star review to McDonalds, Papa John, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting the following:

Carrefour, HP, Puma, Sabra, Sodastream, Ahava cosmetics, Israeli fruits and vegetables

Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)

If you can, participate in direct action or donate.

Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London.Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing direct actions to stop the shipping of wars to Israel. Follow them.

Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.

Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.

Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.

Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe. If you still believe in the two states solution, this book by an Israeli professor debunks it).

Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls, here's a document that autosends emails to your representatives and here's a toolkit by Ceasefire in Gaza NOW!

FOR PEOPLE IN EUROPE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace targeting the European Parliament and one specific for almost all countries in Europe, including Germany, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Austria, Belgium Romania and Ukraine

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine

FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada

Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Global calendar

Another global calendar (go to the instragram of the organizers to confirm your protest)

USA calendar

Australia calendar

Feel free to add more.

#palestine #resources

[catboysooyoung]

hiiii !!! i read your writing for orv women zine and i want to say i really love it !!! i adore your depiction of hayoung <3 <3 such an enjoyable read. thank you for writing ^^

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for letting me know!! I'm glad you enjoyed it 🥺

#talk #asks

[catboysooyoung]

Twsb readers aren't even shy about their misogyny lmao like can u pls stfu about Christelle being "annoying" just say you hate women and go, bc ik you lot wouldn't even think of saying the same about Cédric.

A female character breathes and u ppl get on her ass like no tomorrow. A male character is a grade A asshole and he's a "tsundere" lmfao.

#like bffr #talk #christelle is literally extremely benign as a character. she's lovely even. fun even. but ofc yall hate her #and thinks shes annoying for doing typical main character things #acting as if shes a real person #just bc she gets in the way in the nonexistent BL. get a grip. #i hate reading webnovel comments sometimes like can you guys grow a brain cell or something

[catboysooyoung]

#orv #yoo joonghyuk #ohhhhhhh

[catboysooyoung]

!!

Preview of my piece for @orvwomenzine

Please support the zine when it comes out on October 20!

#my writing

[catboysooyoung]

ok so i wasnt planning to do a follow up to my last post but my friend requested i do the time prison one

#orv #OH ITS YOU.

[catboysooyoung]

some more orv doodles

#TOP SURGERY SCARS. OP YOU ARE A GENIUS CAN I SHAKE YOUR HAND #han sooyoung #yoo sangah #jung heewon #orv

[catboysooyoung]

yhk + disco elysium style portraits

#OUGHHHHHHH I LOVE HOW YOU DRAW HSY #orv #han sooyoung #yoo joonghyuk #kim dokja

[catboysooyoung]

weed jokes

#orv #han sooyoung #kim dokja #real #weed cw

[catboysooyoung]

1863

#orv #kim dokja #han sooyoung #yoo joonghyuk

[catboysooyoung]

band au bc ive been listening to pretty much only rock recently 🎸

#orv #kim dokja #yoo joonghyuk #han sooyoung

[catboysooyoung]

unpublished doodles

#orv #OUGHHH eats her alive

[catboysooyoung]

Hi

is there such a thing as a warm darkness?

It's green all around. The sun hangs overhead. Jihye shields her eyes.

She doesn't know where she is.

2k

Lee Jihye-centric

Jihye and the gang goes on a summer hiking trip

Read it here

This piece was originally published in Anchors Aweigh! a Lee Jihye fanzine (2023) hosted by @themazine

Please check it out! It's completely free and everyone's pieces are excellent!

#my writing #my fics

[catboysooyoung]

usopp's job on the crew is to be the favourite

#opla #real

[catboysooyoung]

Reblogging this because I apparently need to clarify that when I put things in quotation marks I do not mean it sarcastically at all.

I use quotation marks for things or concepts that are arbitrarily defined, either by societal standards (e.g. pretty/beautiful in a lot of places are often defined by thinness, lightness, facial symmetry, etc) or by differing personal contexts/interpretation (e.g. to be loved means different things to different people), or when I am trying to quote a bunch of people I've observed, but in a way that's not verbatim (e.g. "saw yourself in him" is just sth I paraphrase from a bunch of ppl I see here and there!).

English is my second language and I do realize my use of punctuations and such may be unconventional or odd, so I understand if people may misunderstand my intentions, but I assure you I did not mean to condescend when I use these quotation marks.

I'm also not saying it's in good faith when characters call him ugly/joke about that. Lookism is definitely a thing, but on the flip side, it's part of a larger issue. The problem wouldn't be solved by calling him beautiful, or insisting that he is, because often times people define it as like, "no really, he does fit these beauty standards."

He is not "ugly", because that is just how a human being looks, and if we go by these societal standards, a huge proportion of the population would be considered "ugly", because most people do not look polished in the way society demands them to.

But he's definitely not "beautiful" in the way society defines it. He does not look picture perfect, or like an idol or some magazine model. He just looks like any average guy you can find in his country.

The point is that:

It shouldn't matter how KDJ looks, he should still be loved regardless because anyone who exists ever is deserving of love.

So no, this post is not telling you to not call KDJ beautiful, just that thematically, and canonically that's not what he is considered to be, because this also affects how he is treated by society, by the narrative. That's why I keep putting beauty in quotation marks. Often times I see people make him out to be this dainty damsel in distress, and make this beauty the only thing about him, which imo just disregards his character and how it serves the story he is meant to tell.

You can certainly think and say that he is beautiful, I hope people don't misunderstand me. But again, if your definition of that beauty is solely constrained by the pre-existing societal standards, then it's just not correct, I'm sorry to say.

I think my point is best exemplified by the recent K-Drama, Mask Girl. The protagonist, Kim Momi, is a woman who is considered to be "ugly" by everyone around her – her mother, her coworkers, and even her supposed friend. We as the audience, can certainly disagree with this. A lot of people, myself included, would find her attractive, or consider her features to be appealing.

Though realistically, we can also see how she does not fit the conventional beauty standards dictated by the society she lives in. And it's also very important to consider how much this public perception of her factors into her character, drives her internal and external conflicts and consequently, her life story.

Had she been more accepted with her pre-existing features, or perhaps had she been born with a face that fits the conventional mold better, the story would be entirely different, the essence of her character would be different too.

This goes the same for KDJ, whom, since page one, defines himself as the epitome of averageness. Just a so-called ordinary guy. It's a very important part of him. His plain looks. His average academic history and job performance. This self + public perception of himself cements his role in the story, as the reader on the sidelines and not "the protagonist".

But of course, we then come to know that he's more than he's let on, that there's more to him than this self-limiting story he and society assigned him with.

But again, that's the entire point.

If KDJ was born "beautiful" in the way society defines it, if he had looked like a fashion model, or an idol who just looked a bit unpolished, and he was supposedly just unaware of it, in the You Don't Know You're Beautiful way like in that 1D song, he would be an entirely different character and ORV would have been an entirely different story. It would've been a d*sney fairytale. He would've been some sort of Cinderella, whom everyone just called ugly because they're jealous, when he's actually so so beautiful etc etc.

But this is not the case. Even KDJ himself asserts that his life's genre is realism. So certainly it follows the supposed rules established by reality. And when people call someone ugly in reality, most of the time it's not because they're evil stepsisters who want to get rid of them out of jealousy. It's usually because they just want to be mean and sometimes their friends think it's just a casual way of poking fun. And it's usually because the person just does not fit the conventional mold.

However, we as the audience, of course know that KDJ is a very unreliable narrator. And that reality is in fact not as gritty and terrible as he sees it. That it is in fact possible for people to be loved by others despite all their shortcomings or perceived flaws. That love is not something exclusively created for the elite and beautiful, but something that can also be experienced by the plain and mundane. Love is not to be won or earned by merit of appearance, but is something that can be forged beyond that. Kimcom's bonds are proof of that. And had KDJ been any other conventionally pretty/handsome male protagonist, we wouldn't have such a wonderful story.

; tldr you don't have to agree with the general assertions made by the other characters/star stream that kdj is ugly, you can consider him pretty and call him as such, but to go out of your way to insist that he's canonically considered to be beautiful or portray him in a way that makes it seem like he's actually always been conventionally pretty and act like that's all there is to his character would be a fundamental misreading of his character and of ORV.

It is your choice and freedom to want a character to be "pretty" or considered as such, but you gotta ask yourself why this is necessary...

The entire point of KDJ as a character is that he is exceedingly average in nearly every way, and that even if he doesn't have a super model's face, even if he seems like "a dough made by anyone", he still deserves to be happy! And to be loved!

There is no need to "defend" him when someone calls him average/plain looking/when he's not considered conventionally attractive. Because there is nothing to "defend". Not looking like a cover model isn't an insult. It is not a bad thing to just look like any other guy, like any other human being.

Ask yourself why you think he absolutely needs to be pretty. Ask yourself why you think that's necessary.

Does he have to be considered "beautiful" first, for the love that he receives to "make sense"? Does he have to be attractive to assure us, that he's definitely deserved/earn this? Because the good only belong to the beautiful?

Is love the prize he wins, earns, because he's some noble, innocent hero who is undoubtedly good, and for that, he must be beautiful?

If it's because you "saw yourself in him" and, want him to "feel beautiful", because that's what you want to feel, maybe reflect on that too, because you don't need to be "beautiful." It's not some standard you need to be achieving to be "loved".

#talk #orv

[catboysooyoung]

i finished one piece live action

#opla

[catboysooyoung]

It is your choice and freedom to want a character to be "pretty" or considered as such, but you gotta ask yourself why this is necessary...

The entire point of KDJ as a character is that he is exceedingly average in nearly every way, and that even if he doesn't have a super model's face, even if he seems like "a dough made by anyone", he still deserves to be happy! And to be loved!

There is no need to "defend" him when someone calls him average/plain looking/when he's not considered conventionally attractive. Because there is nothing to "defend". Not looking like a cover model isn't an insult. It is not a bad thing to just look like any other guy, like any other human being.

Ask yourself why you think he absolutely needs to be pretty. Ask yourself why you think that's necessary.

Does he have to be considered "beautiful" first, for the love that he receives to "make sense"? Does he have to be attractive to assure us, that he's definitely deserved/earn this? Because the good only belong to the beautiful?

Is love the prize he wins, earns, because he's some noble, innocent hero who is undoubtedly good, and for that, he must be beautiful?

If it's because you "saw yourself in him" and, want him to "feel beautiful", because that's what you want to feel, maybe reflect on that too, because you don't need to be "beautiful." It's not some standard you need to be achieving to be "loved".

#talk #thoughts #tag 1 // #tag 2 // #orv