#((after years and years of systematic abuse))

[celestial-narwhal]

On Stereotypes and Aventurine

Gotta get this out of the way before I start using my Aventurine more because it is an important part of how I will play his character.

Aventurine is rarely ever genuine. He plays to the role people expect him to be, or to the role that will get him the best cards in the deck. If people expect him to be a flirt, he will flirt. If people expect him to be frail and naive, he will be frail and naive. If people expect him to be intimidating and a threat, he will be a threat.

He is a social chameleon, and no, it is not because he is Sigonian, but because he grew up in an environment that forced him to be like this.

Stereotyping will always have a profound effect on a developing person, and when a child grows up hearing that they are scheming, untrustworthy, and manipulative without any other lens to say otherwise, it is highly likely that they will grow into said lens. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There must be a reason people look at them and assume so, after all. Their words must be true. Why would the majority say so otherwise?

So, just as a child who's been reminded constantly that they are bad, Aventurine became "bad".

It's tiring to a waste your breath and prove otherwise. Especially without a community left to uplift and support you. To remind you that you are more that what people assume you to be. A person. A person who's culture is fated to be written over by the winners of a war, and those who held grudges against them.

"Aventurine" plays up to stereotypes, because that is what got him to where he is now, and is what everyone told him he had to be. It keeps people at arm's length, keeping them far, far away from █████████.

█████████ can't be hurt anymore if he doesn't come up to the surface, after all.

#AventurescentReflections (Aventurine HCs) #InclusionsofGold (Aventurine) #((me ringing my thematic racism in Aventurine's story bell)) #((They write it well and it hits a lot of personal notes for me as someone who has been at the receiving end of many many stereotypes)) #((If anyone calls Aventurine weak for not standing up for himself when such shit happens i will smite you)) #((imagine being the only person left of your entire culture and having to defend it on your own)) #((after years and years of systematic abuse)) #((It's not as simple as you would think)) #((especially when you were conditioned for a majority of your life to hate yourself)) #((survival's guilt is a nasty disease and Aventurine is barely keeping himself above the surface))

[heritageposts]

Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in October, Israeli soldiers have been posting what can only be described as snuff videos on social media platforms. In the videos, soldiers can be seen – often gleefully – committing war crimes against Palestinians. In one video, an Israeli soldier dressed in a dinosaur costume loads artillery shells into a tank and dances as the shells are fired in the direction of Gaza. In another video, a soldier is filmed dedicating an explosion to his two-year-old daughter for her birthday. Seconds later, a Palestinian residential building behind him is blown up. Other videos show Israeli soldiers setting alight Palestinian food supplies during a starvation campaign and mocking stripped, rounded-up and blindfolded Palestinian civilians. [...] And there is another aspect of Israeli impunity that is often overlooked: Israeli soldiers routinely admit to horrific crimes they commit against the Palestinians to clear their conscience and absolve themselves of personal responsibility but never face any accountability. Israelis themselves describe the practice as “yorim ve bochim”, which translates from Hebrew as “shooting and crying”. A favourite pastime of the Zionist left, it takes centre stage in dozens of Israeli films and documentaries. Take the widely celebrated film Tantura, named after a Palestinian fishing village that was subjected to a massacre in 1948. In this film, several Israeli veterans talk with ease about the fact that they killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. Others openly admit to participating in ethnic cleansing, yet all are portrayed as complicated individuals who are traumatised by the trauma they inflicted on Palestinians. “Yorim ve bochim” is also epitomised in the work of the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence. A darling of the liberal West, the organisation of Israeli army veterans tries to expose the reality of the “Occupied Territories” by providing a space to Israeli soldiers to confidentially recount their experiences in the Israeli army and at times admit to taking part in systematic abuse and destruction. The testimonies on its website make for incredibly difficult reading, particularly in this moment when we are seeing what is happening in Gaza. And yet nowhere does this organisation call for accountability or address what justice might look like for the Palestinians whom the soldiers they work with have systematically abused over decades. The reality is that over the last seven and a half decades, there has been complete impunity for brutalising and slaughtering Palestinians. The ongoing genocide in Gaza and the way in which it is being so brazenly shared on social media by the perpetrators is a manifestation of that impunity. The only way to make sure that it stops and never happens again is to hold not only those who have taken part in the genocide accountable but also those who are complicit.

. . . continues on al jazeera (24 Jan, 2024)

#palestine #israel #gaza #''shooting and crying'' very american of them

[sophia-zofia]

Here’s a personal story about Palestinian child prisoners: - In 2012, I was arrested in Hebron while participating in a march to open Shuhada street, which was a main market street for Palestinians until the Israeli military shut it down, and made it for Israeli settlers only. It’s part of the area @JamaalBowmanNY visited. - Handcuffed and blinded by pepper spray, and thrown in the back of an Israeli humvee after my head was slammed against it, the soldiers drive off. They suddenly stop, run out, and all I hear is a child screaming and crying. - This child is then thrown on top of me, and is handcuffed. I ask him his age, he said 13. I asked him what happened, he says he was walking to his sister’s house and they just stopped and picked him up. He’s in panic mode crying “my sister cooked lunch for me, she’ll be terrified if I’m lost”. I tell him not to worry, we’ll make it out and give him the basic tips: You have a right to remain silent, don’t say anything without a lawyer…etc. - We get to the Israeli military outpost, we’re dragged out of the humvee. The kid’s terrified, telling them not to blind him (He thought I was blinded because of the pepper spray, I couldn’t open my eyes). - The smack the kid around and tell him to shut up. - We wait a bit, then kid is called in for interrogation. - The Israeli military interrogator literally tells him: I’ll let you go home, you just need to confirm the guy with you led the protest and told you to throw the stones at us. - Kid says I want to call my family/lawyer. Interrogator says ok: Picks up mobile and gives it to kid. Kid puts in his mother’s number. Soldier snatches mobile. The mother answers. Soldier says: Your son is going to go to jail and if he doesn’t talk I’ll come and arrest you too. Puts it on speaker, mother is panicking. Kid starts to panic. Soldier hangs up in her face. - Soldier tells kid: I can make your family’s life hell. But if you say what I told you to say, everything will be ok. - Kid starts sobbing and says: But I don’t know this guy I just met him in the humvee when you picked me up. Sitting outside the room, I yell: Kid, stay strong, say your truth and don’t fall into his lies.

- They come and take me away. Thirty minutes later kid comes out of interrogation shaken. He says the soldier told him he’d shoot his mother. The poor child told me not to worry though, he only said the truth 🥺. - The case brought against this poor kid was stone throwing, with two soldiers “testifying” they saw him throw a stone. - He spent 3 months in prison as court hearings kept getting delayed, eventually he was advised by his lawyer to “admit” to stone throwing because that way he’d spend less time in prison because the lawyer could be able to negotiate his release in 4 months, while waiting for a ruling from Israel’s military courts could take a year. - In short, working on this issue in Palestine for 12 years, I can tell you the majority of child arrests in Palestine follow this exact pattern: - Israel wants to teach a Palestinian community a lesson, deterring people from protesting its oppression. - It targets the kids, arresting dozens - up to 700 a year. - Majority of kids get abused and interrogated. - Lawyers and kids know it’s better to “confess” even if they didn’t do the crime, as waiting for a ruling and being in uncertainty/limbo is hell. That’s why you have a 95% conviction rate. - Then the Israeli government, when challenged for the systematic abuse, comes out and says: “These kids are terrorists - they attacked our soldiers and admitted to it.” - And because the lives of Palestinian children don’t matter, the world turns a blind eye again and again and again and again.

#palistine #free palestine #israel #west bank

[sunshine-zenith]

A thought — Ballister and Ambrosius’s relationship probably wasn’t public in the movie until the end. They probably weren’t secretive about it, given how Todd (someone neither of them like or would confide in) was clearly antagonistic to Ambrosius after Ballister’s jailbreak, but even then that just might be because their connection was well known — they liked each other more than any of the knights liked them, most being neutral overall to Ambrosius and outright bullies to Ballister. No one in the public seems to know about them

Media perception is a reoccurring factor in the movie, with the opening scene giving exposition in the form of a news cast. During it, Ballister is shown to be controversial, with a there being a few comments questioning the Queen’s choices related to him. Ambrosius is also brought up as someone everyone’s looking forward to seeing officially knighted, with no one questioning his relationship with Ballister or even bringing it up

While everyone is fearing and hating Ballister after the Queen dies, Ambrosius is still popular among the masses — people stop him in the streets to get his autograph. Nimona, who admittedly probably didn’t do much digging into Ballister beyond the initial news reports on the Queen’s deaths, seemed surprised that Ballister and Ambrosius had a connection. She even had an “ohhhhhh” moment after picking up on their vibe the first time they saw each other post-arm chop (and yeah she initially calls Ambrosius Ballister’s nemesis, but she clearly clocks that something romantic was going on given the “arm chopping is not a love language!” comment). She also asks if he wants to die in a (literal) closet, which like. Y’all.

Before the Queen’s death, all their PDA is in private (on the catwalk) or subtly around other knights (helping each other put on their armor with lots of heart eyes and lingering hands). Otherwise, their interactions are those of Two People Who Are Close but aren’t necessarily explicitly romantic (Ambrosius wanting to throw hands on Ballister’s behalf, teasing each other, Ambrosius cheering with the crowd). Granted, there wasn’t a lot of screen time for them to just be happy before Everything Went Wrong.

We can’t really judge whether they were private from their interactions after the Queen’s death, since most are focused on a “so this traumatic thing happened and I don’t know where we stands right now” vibe or have them just fighting. The three times Ambrosius says he loves Ballister, one was just the two of them on the catwalk, one was in a mental rant and not actually out loud, and one was while they were trying to hide their identities. Ballister continues to defend Ambrosius, saying he’d believe them if they could just talk and that the arm thing is just “complicated,” “part of their training, up until Ambrosius outright tries to arrest them (which might as well be a breakup without saying “we’re breaking up”).

In the comic, the Director says she knew about their relationship and that she disapproved. Given how much she manipulates things, it wouldn’t surprise me if she knew in the movie, and encouraged them to downplay things at least — “you should keep your private lives private so you don’t taint your public images/yes we support you, obviously, but you’re here to protect the people, not show off to them/you don’t want to overshadow things with more controversy, wait a few years until after you’re knighted/what if this is just a phase, it would be a mess to clean up if you go public now/people will talk if they hear Gloreth’s only current descendant, a promising young man, is being courted by someone they aren’t certain about who comes from nothing and can’t pass your genes on/you have each other, shouldn’t that be enough?/etc.”

We don’t see them be in a relationship publicly until after the wall — the symbol of fear of the unknown, systematic abuse and oppression, refusal to learn and grow, and let’s be real homophobia/transphobia — comes down and the Director — the one going to murderous extremes out of fear of change — is dead

I dunno. This movie is a large celebration of being queer, but it’s also about how queer people are demonized by society to the point of everyone suffering. Ambrosius is the model minority everyone loves but no one knows because all eyes are on him; Ballister is both tokenized and targeted from the moment the public meets him, having to prove himself over and over until the public unquestionably turns on him entirely; and Nimona is called a monster for just being herself. All three already had to hide who they really were. I’m not 100% sure if Ballister and Ambrosius were out or not about being together, but it’s not a stretch to see, and it fits in with the themes/arcs of this movie

#this is a mess #nimona #nimona movie #spoilers #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #ballister x ambrosius #ambrosius goldenloin #the sun shines #meta #cy meta #long post #broke 100 #broke 500 #broke 1000

[vague-humanoid]

MOBILE, Ala. – On July 21, 2023, Agolia Moore was already in bed when the chaplain at the Limestone Correctional Facility in Harvest called to inform her that her youngest son, Kelvin Moore, had died from a fentanyl overdose. He was 43.

Agolia Moore was devastated by the news. She had spoken with her son that evening and couldn’t believe he died just 90 minutes after they’d gotten off the phone. Then, the chaplain asked her a question that made her even more suspicious about her son’s death.

“He said, ‘Who’s over him?’ ” Agolia Moore, 82, said when I met with her in Mobile. “I said, ‘I am. I’m his mother.’ I said, ‘He has no wife. No kids. I am over him.’ ”

Six days later, Moore’s body was delivered to his hometown, which is about 350 miles from the prison. Because he died while in custody, Moore’s body was first sent to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which conducts autopsies for the Alabama Department of Corrections.

But when Moore’s remains arrived in Mobile, the family’s mortician discovered that someone had taken out most of his internal organs.

@chrisdornerfanclub prisons are dealing inmate organs now, again

“It’s a systematic abuse situation,” Faraino said. “UAB has been taking the organs of incarcerated people without family consent for years now, and we have a handful of families that have come forward who discovered that their loved ones were returned without their organs.

[matan4il]

To the Nonnie who asked me about the mass grave in Gaza, you're pretty close to the truth of it rather than the anti-Israel propaganda.

First of all, the mass grave next to the hospital in Gaza has been shown already to have been dug before Israel got there.

Now, it wasn't untouched by the Israeli army, but that is a result of two contributing factors, both of which linked to Hamas.

One is because of the bodies of terrorists, who were using the hospital, and were killed during the fighting. They had to be buried somewhere. This is the Nasser hospital, the biggest medical center which was still active in Gaza after the very biggest, the Shifa hospital, had to be raided twice, because Hamas terrorists returned and re-took it, after the IDF evacuated it to allow the place to function as normal. If during the second operation in the Shifa hospital, there were 200 terrorists killed there, and at least 900 more suspects arrested, of which at least 500 were confirmed terrorists as of the end of the operation on April 1, how many terrorists were fighting against the IDF from Nasser, the last big medical complex they could use, when we know the abuse of Gaza hospitals for murderous purposes by terrorists is systematic? (I'm not accepting any numbers claimed by "Gaza's health officials," where no terrorists are mentioned at all, because that's Hamas speaking) Where do people think all those terrorists went to, those who did not surrender? Do people think this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and if you stake a villain through the heart, then their body just goes "poof" into thin air, and there's no need to bury it?

The second factor is that Israel did exhume corpses that had been previously buried on the Nasser hospital grounds, to test them for DNA, in case they were what was left of murdered Israeli hostages, still held captive.

This has been done for a while, before this mass grave by the Nasser hospital started making the social media "headlines," so no one can claim this is an excuse made up now, because of this, and in fact, several bodies of Israeli hostages were returned to Israel thanks to the IDF's work, and the first one that comes to mind is that of 19 years old Noa Marziano, because her body was exhumed from the Shifa hospital grounds. She was held hostage in an apartment near the hospital, then moved into Shifa itself, and murdered in its basement. So yeah, guess where they buried her... Together with Noa, Yehudit Weiss' body was also recovered from the Shifa hospital grounds, and returned to her family in Israel.

If people don't like that the Israeli army has had to check bodies buried on hospital grounds for DNA, and then re-bury them together in a mass grave in the same place, then they should take it up with Hamas for murdering people on hospital grounds and for holding corpses as hostages in the first place. We're all living in the twisted reality created by Hamas.

And you know how we can tell that this part, about the bodies being exhumed to check for DNA isn't made up? Because we have regular Palestinians themselves admitting the bodies they're currently looking for in the mass grave are of their loved ones who were already dead by the time Israel got there.

Just to summarize this lunacy, we are being accused of massacring terrorists (who are legitimate targets, killing them was not a massacre, even if we were really successful at it) and already dead people. Make it make sense.

As for the added accusations that Israel skinned the Gazans and stole their organs... The anti-Israel crowd literally claims Israel stole organs in Haiti, when all we did was to send our military emergency medical staff to set up a field hospital there (to help the victims of the earthquake in 2010), and these lies are currently being repeated in print by The Palestine Telegraph (which is based in Gaza. You know, the place where nothing is published if it goes against Hamas interests). If that act of kindness and help could be turned into something sinister and monstrous just because the Jewish state was involved, it's almost a given the same would happen when Israel is at present dragged against its will into a defensive war. It's a recycling of the age old antisemitic blood libels, portraying the Jews as bloodthirsty and capable of any monstrosity. It's antisemitism, pure and simple. THAT is why the Jewish state has to be "comically evil in every way imaginable," like you said. Remember how for centuries in Europe, the 'bloodthirsty Jew' trope served to lie that we kill Christians to use their blood when baking our Passover matzahs? The following cartoon isn't from the Middle Ages, it's from 2018, and depicts Gazans, not European Christians (see the tire in one Palestinian man's hand? In Hamas-organized violent riots that aimed to breach Israel's border in 2018, as they succeeded in doing on Oct 7, many participants burned tires to create a screen of black smoke that would impair IDF soldiers' vision):

Meanwhile, the Islamist terrorist organization and Hamas' buddy, Hezbollah (which has been intentionally firing at civilian communities in northern Israel for months), has killed yet another Israeli civilian overnight, Sharif Suad, an Israeli Arab Muslim Bedouin. Watch the anti-Israel crowd ignore his murder, just like they erase all Israeli civilians victimized. Arab deaths don't count if they can't be used against the Jewish state.

I hope this helped! Take care. xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #resources #ask #anon ask

[tikkunolamresistance]

The thing is, the Western superpowers NEED the people divided. Division leads war, displacement, economic collapse, forced assimilation— repercussions that generate income for the overarching hegemony. Division is their backbone. This is why any act of unity in history has been retroactively distorted to brainwash us into thinking there is no alternative to Capitalism. The United States attempted to physically divide Vietnam in the US attempted- intervention on Vietnam, and successfully divided Korea shortly after the nation’s liberation from brutal Japanese occupation.

You can read about the ongoing Korean War here, and see a timeline here.

North Korea has been systematically demonised for being one of the few successful modern Socialist states; for the crime of liberation. They are a demonstration of what anti-Capitalism looks like, and yet we are barred from witnessing that with our own eyes. The Western propaganda machine works at maximum capacity to ensure the masses are deluded into believing North Korea is an evil, oppressive regime, a corrupt government that abuses and oppresses its people— whilst homelessness is at an all time high in the United States and Western nations, with an extortionate cost of living, inaccessible health care and rampant medical negligence, Not to mention, police brutality, Neo-Nazism (like, Western-funded Ukraine’s historic complicity with Nazism) anti-Trans laws that lead to murders of Trans people, and the Western Israeli Regime’s support in multiple genocides across the globe (Mayan, Tamil, Rwanda and of course, Palestine). Not to mention, North Korea has had unwavering support for Palestine

The West has been lying to us for years about China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Palestine, Iran and so many more nations to mask their deadly Imperial ambitions, money-hungry forceful acquisition of oil and resources, and further imposition of globalised White Supremacy. We, the people, suffer at the hands of our very nations that copiously delude us into thinking there’s no way out, there’s no alternative, there’s no hope.

We implore you learn more about North Korea, and will be adding more resources to our Drive, linked in our link tree. Here’s some more resources on Korea:

Nodutdol 노둣돌 is an excellent pro-Palestinian organisation of diasporic Koreans organising for a world free of Imperialism, and for the reunification of Korea. Check out their page, and website, to keep up to date on their events, organising and get more information on what the West try to hide.

We also recommend this excellent documentary:

#korea #north korea #western propaganda #anti imperialism #anti capitalism #anti west #free palestine #palestine #jumblr #israel #resources #north korea has never been the enemy #korean unification now #Youtube #dprk

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Whenever I remember that Tenya almost went full vigilante mode for Tensei I want to scream so bad like it's not even funny.

Bnha somersaults its way into saying "maybe heroes are just good citizens with the power to do good things" and "maybe heroism is not in the big notorious acts but in being kind and fair in the day to day details" AND THAT'S ALL TENSEI.

AND THAT'S WHAT MOTIVATES TENYA TO GO FULL BLOODHOUND ON STAIN.

I'm not denying that the world needs the big ass heroism acts like defeating AFO or saving a city or all those flashy notorious feats. All Might is very needed, because there are threats that are too old and developed and have accumulated too much hatred and damage over the years. You cannot always prevent those things from happening and to believe so would be naive, right?

What I'm saying is that those big events are the lowest percentage. They are the consequences of a systematic failure.

Take two of the biggest evil plots in the manga: AFO planning to still OFA and Overhaul with his quirk-erasure bullets. Both plans depended on an abused child being used as objects, Eri because her quirk was the base of the bullet working and Tomura because he was just meant to be AFO's new body in the future. In both cases, AFO and Overhaul were cornered after losing the child they were using for their plots. In fact it was the kids resisting the abuse that contributed the most to their failure: Eri prevented Overhaul from hurting Deku and Tomura prevented AFO from escaping his decaying body.

In that sense, the little unknown pro-heroes taking care of their neighborhood's children do a lot to prevent cases like Tomura or Eri from happening. Hell, AFO and Overhaul were also kids who went the violent route to survive.

Ingenium's silent heroism is probably the best example of what a hero looks like. They don't seek fame or glory. They regard heroism as their duty, their responsibility. No matter how little the act is, it's still important to do it.

At this point, we must admit the Tenya's crisis over what happened to Tensei is not only about their bond as brothers. Yeah, that was Tenya's big bro, but it is no less than when Deku and Bakugo saw All Might fighting AFO for the last time— the last moments of their role models.

The Iida brothers' crisis was deep rooted in the main issues of the story, so I'm still baffled at how people just tend to ignore it.

Before Stain, the "League of Villains" was just a minor threat. Dabi was a nobody with no real crimes to his name. Toga was just a lost little girl trying to survive the streets. Spinner didn't even think about being a villain. Before Stain, things were bad, but no one really thought they could change the status quo, you know?

The USJ incident was not the big deal because 1) how was attacking kids the answer? and 2) going for All Might was expected, since he was almost invincible and the biggest hero in the world and blah blah blah.

When Stain started attacking minor pro-heroes...

Stain was the opposite of Tomura. He admired All Might and saved those kids, but went after the pro-heroes with less powerful quirks. He gave the population a sense of control. It's like he said "hey, you don't have to go after All Might to change the system and why would you? The real problem are the ones on the lowest part of the pro-hero chain".

Suddenly, they could go against pro-heroes and win. Divide and conquer. Suddenly, there was a ladder to climb. Suddenly, you could target not the institutions responsible for the rotten ideology of your society, but the people who enforced the ideology with their daily work.

Stain defended his posture by saying that those people didn't want to be real heroes. They just wanted the money, the fame, they were not really committed to their duty.

And then attacked Tensei, of all people.

If big crimes are built from little crimes that are accumulated over time, what would happen if you decided to eliminate the people taking care of the little crimes?

The crisis of belief in pro-heroes was triggered by Stain. When Stain pointed out at Ingenium (the one in the suit was Tensei) and accused him of false heroism, it's when shit started to go south. He created the idea that pro-heroes should be punished if they don't perform correctly and that they deserve to die if they don't have pure ideas of their job— or whatever.

Tensei being the victim is supposed to show how hypocritical Stain is. Tensei is probably one of the only pro-heroes that never did anything wrong in the manga and one of the best family men to be presented. A man who was loved by everyone for being good in every sense of the word.

Stain projected his own fantasies on Tensei in order to accomplish his witch hunt, not truly caring to figure out who the person was. He just attacked for the sake of attacking, which explains why he was so popular: anyone could do the same and project their issues on him, fighting different battles disguised as just one cause.

When Tenya went after him, it could only make sense. The little of the Iidas is too righteous and noble, quick to judge and act, prone to making mistakes and getting carried away by the looks of it all. So easily his justice turns into revenge and he falls into the trap Stain set. Who knows what a hero student killing Stain would have caused...

At this point it's obvious I'm just ranting for the sake of ranting but 😭😭😭 give the Iidas the respect they deserve please.

#bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #league of villains #lov #shan's bnha rants #shan's mha rants #iida tenya #iida tensei #Ingenium #pro-hero ingenium

[graveyard-cuddles]

I'm thinking about Astarion again and how actually amazing it is that he managed to hold onto as much of himself as he did after having had everything about his identity and sense of self systematically stripped away from him. And how it's even more incredible he managed to do so without even getting to look at himself at all in all that time.

We know his trauma cut him off from his ability to trance and therefore his ability to recall memories from before he was turned. What must it be like to have nothing? Not even happy memories to look back on? A spawn. A dead thing to be used as his master sees fit. Tortured by Cazador and Godey. Starved to the point of constant hunger pain. Forced to use his body and sexuality to seduce people who sometimes not only disgusted him but who would sometimes even hurt him...AND through all of this, this whole nightmare, he can't even see his own face. Even his own perception of himself is stolen from him.

I've gone through some horribly low points in life. Points where I've felt like I was literally losing my mind or about to end it all. And sometimes in those moments, I just had to stare at myself in the mirror, look myself in the eye and literally talk myself down. There have been times where my mental state was so bad and my perception of reality so warped I HAD to look at my own reflection in the mirror to remind myself I was still real.

Astarion remembers so little of his face that he can't remember if he ever had a mole on his cheek or not. He can't remember the color of his own EYES. For as much as fans talk about the angst of him not being able to remember his own eyes I don't know if any of us could even imagine forgetting oneself so completely that such a defining physical characteristic is lost to memory. It's difficult to imagine as beings with limited lifespans. And imagine the added torment of being forced to use your looks to survive all while never being able to actually see yourself. (This is why I can't help but feel a bit annoyed when people say things like "Well it's a GOOD thing he can't see himself, can you imagine how annoying he would be?" Like sorry you find 'petty vanity' annoying, it still doesn't mean he deserved to have his sense of self-perception stripped away).

So much of him was killed in the process over those two hundred years of abuse and neglect in order to survive. I think it's fair to say Astarion likely wasn't a saint before he was turned by Cazador but we do know at one point there WAS a kind, sympathetic part of himself that took pity on that young man he spared. A part that I'm sure had to be killed in order for Astarion to survive and remain sane. And in ALL that time there was never once any moment where he could look at himself in the mirror and tell himself that he was still himself.

He lost everything, even the memory of his own eye color. But he wouldn't allow himself to be lost completely. He still talked back. Still screamed the loudest when tortured. Still held onto his anger, his rage his burning desire for revenge. And when he gets the opportunity to take his freedom he fucking LEAPS for it. He is so bound and determined to STAY free once he is free he would literally rather die than go back to Cazador. He's a survivor above all else and I love him so much.

#bg3 #astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion meta

[batrachised]

An Exploration of Anakin Skywalker and Miss Piggy

(do NOT judge me)

Anakin Skywalker holds the unique position of being one of the most famous fictional characters of all time. Instantly recognizable, the epitome of iconic villainy, he goes beyond beloved character to join the ranks of cultural icons.

Over the past 50 years, countless analyses have been written on Anakin Skywalker and his hero's journey. While virtually every aspect of the character has been explored, one remains critically unexamined: his similarity to another cultural icon, Miss Piggy from the Muppets. While both of their presences in pop culture are nearly ubiquitous, the two have curiously never been associated with each other in the cultural lexicon.

This paper aims to explore Anakin Skywalker's and Miss Piggy's similarities through the lens of their background, their general characteristics, and their relationships. In doing so, it argues that Anakin Skywalker and Miss Piggy share a common basis as people shaped by their rage and their love in equal measure.

Background

When examining Anakin Skywalker and Miss Piggy's backgrounds, the author finds that they share several common beats. Anakin Skywalker grew up on a backwater planet, abused and a victim of a violent system from birth. Irrevocably shaping him forever, it formed the backdrop for his complicated relationship with his mother and his eventual fall into deep evil. Miss Piggy's journey neatly parallels this, as demonstrated in the following quote from Frank Oz:

"She grew up in a small town; her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar"

Both Anakin Skywalker and Miss Piggy had troubled childhoods; both grew up in backwater towns; both had complex relationships with their parents, whether through absent fathers or painful memories of their mother. Both had to use their bodies to survive. In Anakin's case, living as a piece of property who did not own his own body; in Miss Piggy's, falling back on her beauty to participate in systematic objectification. Anakin risks his life in podraces; Miss Piggy stalwartly appears in bacon commercials. Both suffered insecurities as a result of their upbringing: Anakin, forever unsure of his personhood, and Miss Piggy, tied to a mother who never wanted her. Forged in similar fires, Anakin and Miss Piggy's lives show two beings sharpened by their experiences, made especially clear in their characteristics.

Characteristics

Anakin Skywalker and Miss Piggy are primarily defined by need to respond with violence. Miss Piggy is described as conveying a feminine charm - then suddenly flying into violent rages when thwarted. In the Star Wars trilogy, Anakin Skywalker is famed as the dashing Hero with No Fear, while savagely violent when it suits his purposes. Capricious, arrogant, and convinced that they're destined for greatness, both Anakin and Miss Piggy bear the marks of their childhood. After years of being treated as worthless, neither can handle critiques gracefully, although notably Miss Piggy shows herself to be more violent than Anakin in this regard. Pre-Vader Anakin complains; Miss Piggy goes for the kill. Regardless of response, both are convinced nothing will stand in their way.

Additionally, Miss Piggy and Anakin even share a few physical characteristics. Both are burly and physically intimidating compared to the others around them. Both wear gloves that are symbolic; Miss Piggy's, of the image she wants to convey to the world, and Anakin's, of risking being more machine than man. They also both are martial artists. Anakin Skywalker is frequently described as one of the most powerful and dangerous Jedi of his generation, a formidable and cunning warrior; Miss Piggy is famed for her karate chop that sends its target flying across the room.

Most essentially, both are figures of puppetry who still retain their agency. Anakin Skywalker is a victim of forces larger than himself, groomed to be a Sith Lord since childhood, and yet the inevitability of his fall is disproven by his own kindness and heroism preceding it. As with all muppets, Miss Piggy is a puppet but one who, within the story, has a will of her own. She, much like Anakin, makes her choices in the end.

Relationships

Lastly, Anakin Skywalker's and Miss Piggy's relationships mirror each other with similar dimensions. Their relationships are characterized by intensity and undertones of violence. Anakin Skywalker consistently shows an interest in Padme, pursuing her only to be rebuffed; Miss Piggy consistently shows an interest in Kermit, pursuing him only to be rebuffed. After a rocky road in the beginning, both experience rejection until they are rejected in no longer in a whirlwind romance - Anakin, after a respectful acceptance of Padme's wishes, and Miss Piggy, after a dogged pursuit. Once together, the relationships are unstable and dysfunctional. Anakin beats another man in a jealous rage, while Miss Piggy, "when not smothering [Kermit] in kisses...is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop." Both are on and off again with their partners; both are truly in love but struggle to form healthy connections after a childhood of trauma.

Conclusion

As seen above, Miss Piggy and Anakin Skywalker share similarities in background, characteristics, and relationships. While this paper attempts to begin an exploration into these similarities, future work is still needed to fully flesh out their radical extent. This paper did not cover issues such as the two both being incredibly melodramatic, among others, nor how both suffer the consequences of their rage. The author would like to close with a cautionary quote from Friedrich Nietzsche:

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

#when i read sw discourse this is what its like #same level of logic being used #star wars #anakin skywalker #miss piggy #does the ending quote make sense? with one eye squinted #long post

[opencommunion]

"The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Club revealed that 'Israel' is detaining 142 female prisoners from Gaza, including infant girls and elderly women, in 'Israeli' prisons. These detentions occurred during the ground invasion of Gaza.

The prisoners are held in several prisons, including 'Damon' and 'Hasharon,' according to the available data.

The prisoners' institutions previously issued a statement stating that the 'Israeli' occupation commits horrendous and terrible crimes against the detainees from Gaza, in addition to refusing to disclose their fate in terms of their numbers, places of detention, and health conditions.

In light of the shocking and horrifying pictures and testimonies that emerged from citizens recently arrested from Gaza, concerns about their fate are escalating day by day. The institutions do not rule out the possibility of the occupation carrying out field executions against detainees from Gaza.

The occupation's prison administration announced at the end of November that there are 260 detainees from Gaza, categorized as 'illegal fighters.'

The fascist minister Ben-Gvir, as part of systematic torture and abuse, requested the prison administration to transfer detainees from Gaza to the 'Rikuvit' section, located under the 'Nitzan Ramla' prison, known for being one of the worst and oldest prisons." 10 Dec 23 via RNN Prisoners

More on Nitzan Ramla prison:

#palestine

[lakesbian]

i love when taylor rationalizes walking away from mr. gladly in the leviathan fight by talking to herself abt how he turned his back on her when she was being bullied. like the difference there is that 1. leaving someone to get leviathan’d is not even remotely the same situation as leaving someone to get school bullied and 2. the difference is that mr. gladly could have helped her, whereas there’s no universe where she could have feasibly helped him. but she’s running on the assumptions that have been pounded into her after years of experiencing blatant abuse & watching systematic failures for anyone else to address it: that she’s only as valuable as she is useful, that she can’t be a bystander like everyone else was to her, that she can only trust herself, that she has to take the weight of the world onto her own shoulders because the systems, because everyone else, will always fail to do the right thing. and so her cognitive process immediately goes to “rationalize to justify walking away” instead of “understand and accept that i’m walking away because i can’t actually do anything.” in her mind, it has to be morally justifiable to leave him to die, because if it’s not, then she has to admit that she’s only leaving because she can’t really carry the weight of the world like she’s trying to.

#parahumans #taylor hebert

[800-dick-pics]

Praying for a Better New Year!!!

Im a Black disabled 2S and my girlfriend a reconnecting Indigenous trans woman have been struggling almost continuously throughout the pandemic. We have gone thru lots of physical, emotional and systematic state violence and We both are at our breaking points.

And before i get deeper into this im genuinely asking yall DO NOT TRIGGER TAG this post as it will basically get minimal traction, because this is a donation post!

Many things have increased my/our financial load and stress in the past 6 months, my (still abusive) mother had a series of mini strokes/1 heart attack which led to me taking care of her, more bills and all the house work. Due to her still being abusive Ive chosen to start helping her from a far, because my mental stability has been worn thin and constantly on the back burner.

My partner @grumblybutch this year has gone through a lot of family abuse, transmisogyny, housing and food insecurity, which has really broken their spirit. With all thats going on in our lives as well as personal, cultural and spirtual reasons my girlfriend really wants to get dual citizenship and be able to live/work on their land again.

We have been cfunding already to make this happen but recently we have a had 3 major set backs to getting my partner dual citizenship.

1. We have found mold INSIDE the walls which we cant fix until the pnw rain stops, we need to buy 2 HEPA air filters for the rooms until we can fix the whole walls, because my mother and I have breathing issues, approx $300-$350

2. My ex boss literally stole $455 from under me right before the holiday break, hasn't paid me for a very long time, so until I get that money we have had to dip into the flight/citizenship fund, but even then we havent been able to get much in the mean of groceries or necessities

3. A few days ago my partner attempted suicide due to all the stressors life has put them through this year, and while this isnt an initial monetary set back, we are going to prioritize our mental health as much as possible, esp my girlfriends after this. We are looking for treatment options for them atm but since theyre out of state we have to pay out of pocket for the treatment they need.

Our original goal to get the funds for tickets/citizenship was January 7th but Its clear that with 7 days left, and 3 major set backs we will not be meeting our goals by then

We are going to use what funds we have left to get some necessities and basics for the house. And hope to re raise the money for tickets and for the HEPA filters and mental healthcare my girlfriend really needs.

our new goal is $1,800, due to the various setbacks, but when I get paid Ill be saving some to go toward our goal as well.

I truly just want to be able to breath, eat and keep us safe before I leave with my lover back to her land, This is all very important to us, thank you for reading.

CA: $sleepyhen or $grumblybear

VN: wildwotko or XochiRose

DM @grumblybutch for PP

#twoc #land back #community care #two spirit #lgbt crowdfund #mutual aid #please dont dm me or my girlfriend abt shit rn #were both mentall fragile

[kamariya]

i know the fandom loves to pretend that xie lian doesn't take care of himself but let's really think about it for a second. he doesn't have a penny to his name, he has no luck, no spiritual powers and no friends and family left in the mortal realm. how exactly should he take care of himself?

he eats food off the floor because it's better than going hungry. that's how many people in poverty live. he doesn't think twice before touching something that might poison him because when you don't receive medical attention for centuries, you're naturally going to adopt an "it is what it is" mentality about your health. he probably didn't get treated by a healer the first few times he got corpse poisoning because he didn't have enough (or any) money to pay them with. he's humble and ignores however which way he's slandered because what can he do? he's heard things like that and worse before.

800 years of poverty will teach anyone humility as well as strip them of it. 800 years of poverty and solitude can make anyone into a complete cynic, an abuser and/or worse.

but xie lian didnt break, not permanently. what jun wu put him through is nothing compared to what the world put him through. tell me this: is jun wu truly the real villain of the story? or is he a micro manifestation of all the other systematic issues in the TGCF universe, wrapped up into a shiny, evil package that's easier to hate, easier to digest and easier to fall for?

know that even though jun wu "set up" the fall of xianle, it was corruption and imperialism that truly brought the kingdom to its knees. know that teen xie lian truly fought for his people, be they patriots or rebels, and that the reason his efforts could never come to fruition was the corruption of the royals and the nobles.

in a world as systematically corrupt as that (much like our own), how easy do you think it would have been for a poor, homeless and friendless man to live a happy, fulfilling life (which he never lived)? and how much easier would it have been for him to gradually give away his morals and principles in favour of a better meal for once, for a better bed for the night? considering his martial skills and vast knowledge of cultivation, would it not have been easy for him to take a path like jun wu himself? like xue yang, even?

and do you think that xie lian did *not* do all these things just because he had "self-sacrificial" tendencies? after centuries of being only a little better than a beggar, do you think the reason he wants to help the common people is because he feels Rich Prince Guilt?

don't you think that the act of preserving oneself here, the act of not sacrificing onself for a cause, is actually whenever xie lian decides to keep following the path of justice, his Third Path? does self preservation only count when it's your body you're preserving, or your material wealth, or your name? surely your own principles matter more. surely you mean more than a fancy title on a tyrant's mouth.

place yourself in xie lian's shoes, and answer this: if you were to go through all that, even if you were to not become a horrible person, would have found and maintained the courage, time and time again, to keep being kind, to keep taking care of yourself, to not become heedlessly reckless, to not become a walking corpse with a noose (ruoye) wrapped around your neck?

in my opinion, xie lian is a hell of a lot positive for a man who's been through so much and never heard a "it's okay, you can rest now" once (until hua cheng came along, at least).

do you think xie lian doesn't feel bitterness towards lang qianqiu, who buried him with a stake through his heart for gods know how many years, because he just... hates himself? or do you think it's because he helped raise lang qianqiu since childhood and earned real respect and admiration from him, after so many years of being spat on, cursed and ultimately turned invisible? do you think he begged to be banished once again only because he felt guilty (although yes, he did feel very guilty) for the terrible fate that befell lqq's family, or because he also genuinely cares about what happens to his people --- he protected the xianle remnants by setting himself up as a cold-hearted murderer, and he protected lqq by refusing to fight him.

do you think that being so old and having seen so much, xie Lian can't tell danger when it's looking him in the eye? he's not stupid. he doesn't neglect his safety until and unless it's to protect someone he cares about. e.g., when he tried his level best to protect shi qingxuan during the Blackwater arc, knowing that he's fighting things and people beyond his control. my point: it didn't matter if he failed. he had to try, just like he tried with his kingdom, and the kingdom that came next. sqx was the first person after hua cheng to befriend and defend him in a long time, and he wanted to show him the same courtesy. can this be reduced to "self-sacrificing" tendencies or "playing the hero", too?

when xie lian stepped out of that bridal sedan, he knew he was playing with fire, but he's not stupid. if he hadn't stepped out, who is to say that crimson rain sought flower wouldn't have entered on his own, or dragged him out forcefully? xie lian isn't a "you only live once, let's make bad decisions" person. xie lian is a "no matter how many lives i live, i will not change" person.

#why do so many people think that xie lian is stupid or just trying to die when he does Literally Anything? #like i promise you people like him have existed and do exist IRL #real people do fight for humanity real people do fight for their loved ones #real people do fight for their fellow citizens ... people are capable of doing Good Things #without just being “people pleasers” #xie lian couldn't be further from a people pleaser ... that guy practises radical love and acceptance #that's the point !! that he cares for humanity in all its forms !! #and no I'm not saying that he doesn't struggle with guilt and self-acceptance at all #he def does!! we see him do that !! #but i dont think it's fair to reduce every good thing he does to him “compensating” for when he couldn't save his falling kingdom #tgcf #mxtx meta #tgcf meta #heaven official's blessing #天官赐福 #swan stuff #tian guan ci fu #xie lian #long post

[the-fluff-piece]

"He did WHAT?" - one piece guys dealing with your toxic asshole ex - headcanon

Summary: lots of people have one - the toxic asshole ex boyfriend that did some horrible stuff to you. You told your new OP bf about what your previous relationship was like after some time to explain some of your more unusual behaviours. What might happen when they get the chance to serve that dick some revenge?

A fluff collection of headcanons about Law, Sanji, Zoro and Luffy giving that bastard what he deserves.

And check out my headcanon masterlist

Cw: mentions of unspecific abusive behaviours and trauma responses, and of course, comic violence like it happens in the show.

That said...Enjoy some revenge fantasies! Share in the comments what you want them to do to your asshole ex!

Disclaimer, I feel I need to say this) : I am no psychiatrist! This is just some silly headcanons and in no way a real help. If you feel that things people did to you years ago still haunt you, get professional help, it's really good!

Law

When he first hears the story about how you have been treated, his expression darkens. "I am here now, he's gone" is what he tells you - and himself, too. But it gnaws at him. He hates manipulators that put people in literal or psychological cages. And he hates that it happened to you.

When they meet in person, Law will rearrange your ex's body and is open for your suggestions. Why not replace his head with a cannonball and take his dick as a trophy? He doesn't need to spew abusive bullshit anymore and no one needs his sexual attention anyways.

Law will sleep better, knowing that he did to him what you wouldn't have because you are too good a person

He is not one for elaborate compliments and he is no therapist, but he will try to help healing the wounds you sustained by being the most supportive and positive boyfriend you ever had. If you need his shoulder, he is there. If you feel bad, he will do anything to make you feel better. He will not make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with.

Sanji

As you casually tell him about your past relationship he catches fire and has to run around the ship a few times to cool down. He switches between pampering you extra, extra EXTRA nice and angry mutterings to himself. He promises you if he ever meets that guy, he is going to kick him through all the grand line and back again

When the moment comes, Sanji switches into total ruffian mode. You have never heard that string of merciless trash talk from anyone before and it doesn't take long until he has totally set off your ex, luring him into throwing the first punch. It is, of course, futile, but Sanji takes his time to finish him off. He should, after all, learn that no one should hurt his lady.

He is visibly relieved to have finally gotten revenge for the unacceptable things that guy did to you. He is awaiting your praise eagerly.

Since he knows what it feels like first hand, he feels even closer to you and tells you his stories if you want to hear them. You will heal together, in time. The memories will fade and be replaced with better ones you make together. You support each other in breaking through the self harming behaviour you developed.

Zoro

His initial reaction to your explanations about why you still feel uncomfortable doing certain things is total helplessness. He cannot fathom that someone would ever take the time and effort to systematically destroy their partner. He believes you, but it is so far out of his own experience that it is hard to grasp for him.

It makes him angry, however. Because that dickhead insulted you you feel insecure? What can be broken can be fixed is Zoro's motto, so he will comment positively on everything every time. Even though he is not very creative, his compliments come from the heart, and you feel it.

When he finally meets the guy he is a bit disappointed. That is no worthy opponent. He doesn't honor him with the use of his swords. Zoro will grab him by the collar and throw him off the next cliff. "For what you did to y/n, you coward."

The job is finished, no need to talk about it anymore and forget the bastard ever existed.

Luffy

When you merely tell him about it he will think you got over it just like he doesn't stay angry for long. But when you cry the first time or refuse to do something fun because of him he realises that you are still affected by what happened to you. He will not have it.

When they meet and your shitty ex makes a mean comment? Luffy gets his murder expression and punches that guy to the other side if the city.

You get luffys hat whenever you need emotional support. No questions asked. You get to sit in his favourite spot whenever you want to. You even get the last bite of delicious food if it's what you need.

#i am a bad person and very petty and i wish my ex all the worst #one piece fanfiction #one piece x you #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law x y/n #trafalgar law #trafalgar one piece #zoro x reader #law x reader #law x y/n #trafalgardwaterlaw #sanji headcanons #trafalgar law headcanons #one piece headcanons #law headcanons #zoro headcanons #one piece #vinsmoke sanji #roronoa zoro #zoro roronoa #zoro x you #zoro x y/n #op zoro #op sanji

[ohnoitstbskyen]

One Piece's most forgotten villain, and why he matters

One Piece has become, in my opinion, a genuine great work of literature of the 21st century - not in the sense that I want to hold it up against Nobel Prize winners and rank them, but in the sense that literature can contain both Very Serious Real Literature™ and adventure stories for the young at heart and those things can be great without interfering with each other.

That said, One Piece has had over 25 years to get rolling, and those 25 years have not been without roadbumps. Plenty of them, in fact.

One of the very early story arcs, Syrup Village, has at times rather scuffed art, poorly paced exposition and storytelling, and a villain so forgettable that not even a manga author who is notorious for bringing back every seemingly inconsequential side-character for a big payoff has bothered to remember him.

But in that story arc, when you read it through the context of everything that's come after, you can find the seeds being sown of all of One Piece's most important themes and ideas: the use and abuse of power on both the personal and systematic level, warnings against the dangers of trusting those who cloak themselves in Respectability, and the conflict between manufactured history that serves the powerful and true history that empowers the weak.

Also, there's genuinely fantastic use of character design as a storytelling feature. Let's discuss.

#tbskyen #one piece #captain kuro #monkey d. luffy #usopp #roronoa zoro #one piece nami #syrup village #one piece kaya #donquixote doflamingo #video essay #Youtube