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feral-radfem · 2 years

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I'm reminded why I don't try to engage with any of y'all with any kind of genuine interest. It's because y'all are no different than any other online social movement. Dishonest. So let me make myself abundantly clear since @blkwmn and others want to continue to pretend like I was saying something I wasn't.

1) I was not saying that the dehumanization of young black girls and women is an a about all women, I'm saying that most women who use the non-binary identity are trying to 'reclaim their personhood' from their oppression, and I do understand that racism as an additional layer of dehumanization that pushes, and influences young black people to transition.

2) I hold all women accountable for the actions they do that her other women, which is a feminist principle. We should all be criticizing individualistic actions that cause damage to the communities we say we represent and care for. It's why I talked to the bimbo community about their choices, it's why I talked to Tifs, but it's why I talked to misogynistic lesbians about their actions. Because part of my duty as a feminist is to approach these topics with them and explain the damages they did.

3) Women of color have a unique relationship with racism. I'll never once denied this, I never once so that lesbians relationship to misogyny is exactly the same as theirs. I've said it multiple times, though they like to ignore it, that it was to show that I'm being ideologically consistent, that was the only point to it because we have a similar, not same, negative stereotype about us.

4) And this one I know she's being particularly dishonest about because she deleted my response, you should hold white women accountable for racism. There's no amount of minority groups a white woman can possess that excuses her racism or should shield her from our criticism of it. I don't think you even have to be particularly nice to them, because racism is obviously known to be bad in this day and age and there is no excuse. Where I understand that we need to have some compassion for the trans identified lot because of the social pressures they're under. I don't know why she thinks that my opinion would change there with my entire point this entire time is being that I will remain ideologically consistent. But it's most likely because she doesnt have anything she could screenshot that shows me being actually racist. This is a little more than a smear campaign.

If we all agreed that black women have a unique relationship to misogyny, and that you should be compassionate to the NBs that you're trying to talk to, the only disagreement I thought we had was that you should excuse this behavior and give them a "pass". If that's not the case you're a purposely defaming my character for literally nothing. I'm not being racist. I was literally saying that I cannot turn a blind eye to an entire demographic of women just so they don't have to hear the exact same feminist criticism I give other tifs.

Like I said, you're no different than any other political movement on here, disingenuous and just trying to cause drama for the clout.

It was a misinterpretation that multiple people came to the same conclusion of me as. Maybe you should write your post better, because a number of us misinterpreted it. I am in complete agreeance that we should talk about the push that racism has to get black women do not identify as women. I never a disagreed with any of that parts of those posts and I made sure to say so multiple places in my original post. I also preemptively apologize in my first posts tags in case I did misinterpret it stating that I was only replying to the interpretation that this meant that we need to let them continue this behavior.

I will try better in the future to ask before making assumptions on a topic but to continue to perpetuate the idea that my issue was anything to do with the actual context of the post when you know I misinterpreted it is disingenuous. This isn't coming from a place of racism, that's just your only defense against a perfectly fine critique of giving women a pass because of a minority status, which wasn't the point of your post. Why are you so mad I disagree with something you weren't saying when I do you agree with everything you were? It doesn't make any sense.

The least you could do is quit lying on my name. It's pathetic to continue to paint my intentions as anything other than what I explicitly said they were. If you actually had a fucking leg to stand on here you wouldn't have deleted my response that told you, yeah I expect you to hold everyone to the standard I'm holding every women to.

We should call out problematic behaviors in women. I stand by that, because that's how political/feminist critique gets out. I don't care, if you need to paint me as a racist, rather than a person who simply misinterpreted the intention of your post, then do what you want. I just think it shows more about your character than it does mine.

This is the last thing I'm doing in regards to this. I dealt with the absolute TRA level tactics all day yesterday and I'm not going to have a bunch of people personally insult me because I misinterpreted a post I apologized about the first time I reblogged it. Anything you pretend I'm saying that hasn't been explicitly stated by me you can honestly shove up your ass, I don't care. I'm disappointed this community has just as little principle and can't approach topics and (perceived) disagreements with honesty and instead have to make up fake narratives so that they can seem objectively right. It's pathetic.

#I don't know how much more explicitly and spelled out I can make my point. so at this point y'all are dedicated to misinterpreting me #you are a bunch of barely adults on the internet #and before anyone mistakes: 'this community' is referring to the redfem community #lily responds

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kurisus · 3 years

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Chapter 95-2 thoughts

I don’t have a whole lot in terms of speculation, mostly feelings, so here we go. Spoilers under the cut. Also, a content warning for discussions of child abuse.

So right off the bat we see that Haru’s father was delusional, or at the very least, insisting that he kicked his wife and daughter out rather than them choosing to leave. It makes me wonder if he really did later trick himself into thinking his son ran away, which makes him that much more pathetic as a person.

On an even unhappier note, I can’t help but wonder what kind of gaslighting his family was subject to, if he’s tricking HIMSELF into thinking outright lies.

The strikes don’t stop though because right after this we have Haru smiling and pretending to be happy with his father even though we know he was terrified of him. And wanting to escape has been a recurring character beat for Yukine since the start of the story, too. MAN. MAN. IT’S LIKE BEING PUNCHED IN THE FACE OVER AND OVER.

His father also teaching him to steal if he doesn’t have any money is a nice callback to Yukine stealing stuff at the beginning of the manga, too. He knows it’s wrong, but now that he’s dead he can steal without getting caught, and the very act of doing so is what was drilled in his head by his father.

On that note, I was trying to speculate how old he was when his mom and sister left, and the answer from the official translation is at least 9, going by the height marks left on the wall. Either way you slice it, he was alone with just his father for quite a long time.

Speaking of horrible fathers it really hurt to see Father just being outright abusive (rather than his usual brand of manipulative) by calling Hagusa stupid and slow and basically just forcing him to fight Yato when all he wants to do is find his sister. I think his real desire to escape and be with her got twisted up with his desire for revenge against his father, and that’s why he was blaming her for abandoning him a few chapters ago.

Hagusa’s divine net has also caught a few other gods in the meantime, and combined with Yato’s later statement about how Amaterasu will go after him for working with the sorcerer only increases my worry. I’ve been worried about that exact scenario for a while now, and Yato voicing it makes me suspicious.

For the record, I very much doubt Yukine will die. You can all come clown me if I turn out to be wrong but it doesn’t make sense to me that this character arc about an abused child getting a second chance to live and make things right (even in an unfair system) would end with him just dying again but for real this time. Plus, he and Yato are partners and killing both of them off would just be unwise too.

That doesn’t mean he can’t get boxed again though! I hate it here.

enough of that bad line of thought,,, I swear it’s like Adachitoka saw how much I’ve been suffering over Yato and Yukine’s relationship since my reread last month and threw me a bone--despite everything, despite all the measures he’s taken, Yato’s #1 goal is not killing his father, but saving Yukine. To him, violence has never been the end goal, but breaking the cycle of abuse. Hence why he didn’t kill people except for when Father made him.

And that’s why he’ll succeed with saving Yukine in the end. Since the beginning, Yato has always tried to be a better father than his was to him. He’s not perfect, but he’s always tried and made honest efforts to improve, whereas Father has only ever seen those around him as tools--Yato, Nora, Hiyori, and now Hagusa. They’re only a means to an end, and them having their own thoughts and feelings is an inconvenience unless he manipulates them back in the right direction.

This is also a fun observation I tweeted a few months back that devastated the Twitter side of the fandom so now I’m gonna torture you guys too--Yato has never gotten mad at Yukine, at most stern. Whereas both their fathers yelled at them, blamed them, and were generally just unapologetically mean. Because even though Yukine’s done some stuff, Yato is choosing not to follow the same path they’ve both already experienced.

Anyway, back to the chapter--Yukine’s desire for revenge on his father is just Father manipulating his anger and sadness for why he died and using it to help him in his fight against heaven. Yukine hasn’t killed anyone before now, and no matter how angry he is, even if his father is still alive I don’t think he will be able to kill him.

I’m sure Kazuma isn’t happy by this turn of events, though--he signed up to kill Father, and that’s what he’s going to do, regardless of Yukine’s role in all this. I guess we’ll see where his ideology being at odds with Yato’s will take them next, as Father escapes yet again and Amaterasu comes for them.

I already said this in my snaps but pray for an Amaterasu cover for volume 24! I’d love to see official colors for her.

#Noragami #Noragami spoilers #Noragami manga #live update

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transhawks · 3 years

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I got into dabi*hawks because of the potential of rivals/enemies-to-lovers and I thought they could have really interesting interactions and fics involving them could delve into some really interesting areas about morality and the grey areas (and the fact that they’re basically foils, a son of a villain who became a hero blinded to certain shortcomings and the son of a hero who became a villain because that was all he saw, yet they share similarities in their fucked up childhoods and the fact they’re basically going further down ‘bad’ paths in the current chapters, the fact they’re on different sides but in another life in another context in different events they may have been able to relate to each other..)..all to say I basically just started liking it because the idea of them interacting and their dynamic was interesting especially if they’re forced to consider the other’s views and work together (hawks in general I’m a big fan of vigilante or villain fics where he becomes more against how fucked hero society is and decides to take an alternate path to fix it) and I think hawks deciding to take more of the villains’ side is a more interesting plot line than if he ultimately dies trying to make up for his mistakes a hero, but..I feel like with how popular dabi*hawks got people think people only ship it because it’s hot or whatever and the view of it has significantly tipped down to where people get made fun of. (even though I feel hero/villain pairings are popular for a lot of these reasons in basically any media.) I have no idea where I was going with this when I started typing but I wanted to express my appreciation for finding a blog that can both like the content while neither pretending canon events didn’t happen/justifying bad things either one did nor acting like dabi*hawks fans are rabid yaoi fans who “ignore canon for their hot ship” or support abuse (I’ve never understood that one, they’re on opposite sides in canon and of course are going to fight, it’s not an interpersonal relationship in canon, so that’s basically saying all enemies to lovers is abuse regardless of context for no real reason, which is like of insulting as an abuse survivor)

One, the immense popularity, and subsequent lack of quality of shipping (as with everything, not everything made is good, and a lot of it isn't meant to be 'good' as you or I define it) does in fact give people the wrong perception or a very skewed one.

Additionally, some Dabihawks fans are in a bit of a tight spot where very hero-approving Hawks fans, the type who think he did nothing wrong, think the pairing is just a bunch of denial of little substance, meanwhile the other of the spectrum, a lot of hard-core villain stans hate it due to Hawks not living up to a lot of the 'promise' much of us saw early on.

And you talk about that promise; hit it dead on. Hawks's narrative is fascinating due to a lot of the could haves. It's why he is so richly paralleling most of the League. It's why his character is so goddamn complex.

Dabihawks started as a joke you know, I remember it. I was still new in the fandom and skipping ahead because I hate the overhaul arc when Hawks debuted. And at that point I hadn't really focused too much on the villains besides liking Dabi for being very obviously connected to Shouto, but Mirshroom kind of drew a "what if hawks and dabi went to hero school together and knew each other" thing even before we knew Hawks was a spy, and we all started calling it hotwings and thinking of the irony since Hawks was a walking icarus parallel to us...

And then.. The narrative happened.

Suddenly we were embroiled in a spy plot, and an intriguing story of a boy forced to become a hero who looked up to Endeavor, and Endeavor's likely son, born to be a hero but couldn't be one, so he became a villain. And Hawks had to work with him, pretend to be a villain.

It was beautiful.

It is beautiful.

It's gotten so much better: Hawks, the son of a villain, saved by Enji. Dabi, who has ruined Hawks's life, and yet, managed to free his shackles by destroying the cage, and yet Hawks will go back and defend the man he feels created him.

Even people who hate the pairing, and there are many good reasons I can list of stuff I don't care for in portrayals, might find it hard to deny; the setup reads like a Greek tragedy.

It reads like an epic romance novel.

And no one says those end happily, in fact, the appeal is, that they usually don't but so much of what affects us in the end is the knowledge it could have.

The clashing of two different ideologies, two perceptions of wrong and right, of justice.. One boy who was 'saved', one who wasn't.

There's so much richness that can be mined in the dynamic.

And, I guess, many are let down by canon not delivering. First off, clearly whatever this stuff between Hawks and Dabi is, it's still happening. There's unanswered questions and Horikoshi did not choose to end 299 and 300 in the exact same panel for both of them for nothing.

Whatever Hawks's fate is, it's tied to Dabi. It's tied to the Todoroki storyline. We don't know what will happen. There's been so many fics early on of us predicting one will try to kill the other - usually Dabi, and it's happened, but it might happen in reverse. That Hawks might try and kill Dabi.

The more optimistic among us, like me, can hope that Hawks somehow redeems himself by returning to his real origins - not of loving Endeavor, but being the boy who saved people he didn't know. By actually beinf a hero and saving someone who by all accounts shouldn't be saved, even if it means his life.

Even this far, through this much, can't you see how there's still so much ifs and can happens?

That's the beauty of it.

This is not a post, I think, saying other pairings are worse, or lack these qualities. Because that isn't true. But it is a post explaining why, even in the swamp of awful out of character portrayals, or people undervaluing the importance of the League, or ignorant inconvenient truths about Hawks's motivations and character, there is still so much promise and beauty in dabihawks. It's why I still ship it, and why I likely will until the end.

It's not happy. It's not neat. Like most enemies to lovers ships, there is messiness. But canon has provided a framework full of potential and exploration. And that's why it's still here as a ship.

Because we see the beauty in it.

#Dabihawks #Hot wings #Asks #Dabi #Hawks #The abuse stuff is asinine in my opinion #I can write a long post about dabihawks peeves if someone wants #But I guess this ask made me want to write a post about why I love dabihawks

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bigskydreaming · 3 years

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I love an absolutely unreasonable amount of things about Robin: Year One for something written by Chuck Dixon (and have decided to just go with the conclusion that well, even broken clocks are right twice a day, it is what it is).

But one of my favorite aspects about it is the little throwaway detail that Talia was the one ultimately behind Shrike’s little assassin finishing school for street kids, and my ensuing headcanon that this is the REAL source of conflict between her and Dick, assuming Dick also found out about her role at some point later on.

For Dick, its that like, wow, Vengeance Academy was reeeeeeeally not fun for me, thanks T, but also there’s the unsettling awareness that given where he was emotionally and mentally at the time, it came far closer to swaying his mindset to its way of thinking than he cares to admit. With this translating into his eternal grudge match against Talia.

Its 50% personal (he’s like hello, I was freaking TEN okay, I was kidnapped off the streets after running away and forcibly drafted into bootcamp for tween murderers-in-training, hi, yes, I would like to file a grievance complaint, why is that surprising) and 50% ideological in the sense that even all the way back then, it wasn’t like he was oblivious to the appeal Talia and the school’s way of thinking held, and the vehemence of his pushback against it and everything it represents and everyone involved in it is more than a little bit a forceful point to reject it in defiance of that very same appeal.

For Talia, its that she thinks Dick is an idiot and its a bit about wounded pride, for pretty much those exact same reasons. Talia is not her father, and is more than willing to approach things very differently than he does. Every operation she’s in charge of or AU where she runs the League, the result is a very different creature than what results of Ra’s being in charge. But despite those differences, it is important to note that Talia DOES in and of herself still believe most of the same ideology the League adopts and teaches in turn. She stays not because she HAS to but because she believes in its end goals, in its methodology. Their way of thinking is not without merit, in her eyes, and much of her worldview in terms of how she views power and what one does with it if one has it....she’s not just PRETENDING to think that way to play nice with the League.

Its what frustrates her so much about Bruce - that he can’t see the merits of her approaches, her own ideology, that he refuses to consider that there might be something to her way of things. Or more accurately, its not that he refuses to consider it, its that he DID consider it when he was younger, and discarded it as something not for him, a notion he rejected with deliberation. But as much as this is frustrating to Talia as it so often is what comes between them, she respects it because she respects HIM. She doesn’t like that he won’t bend on this subject, but she can’t precisely say she DISLIKES it either, because someone who could be made to give up his own ideals and accept hers simply because she wanted them to is not someone who would have ever captivated her interest as long as Bruce has.

But that rejection of her own worldview and methods is one thing to see coming from someone you respect and even admire for the steel of their own convictions, a peer, a rival....and another thing entirely to see coming from a ten year old brat that in Talia’s eyes, she was actually trying to HELP, in her own way, by taking this clearly vulnerable and unprotected child (given that there was no one to STOP Shrike from taking him off the streets) and giving him the tools he would need to not only survive in this world but even thrive. She, by way of Shrike, took a kid she saw as likely to just be swallowed whole by the streets and forgotten, and was trying to give him a way to make a difference, live a life of significance, from her POV....and Dick essentially spit on that and said no thanks and also fuck you.

From Bruce, she’ll take that, because she feels he’s earned that right of forceful defiance by way of the long, arduous journey he voluntarily took to become the man he is with intent.....a journey she’s been witness to more than a small part of. From Dick though, there was no way she was EVER going to see his rejection of what she and her perspective had to offer him as anything less than a slight she would not tolerate.....because she wasn’t about to view a ten year old as her peer, as an acknowledged rival the way she does Bruce.

So its that thing where you refuse to accept that a kid might have a point for thinking or wanting what he wants, because you’re the adult and you know better dammit, you have life experience and he still has baby teeth. Ungrateful, know-nothing little brat.

And the thing is, both Dick and Talia are just so freaking STUBBORN that they’ve refused to ever loosen the reins on their particular view of each other, cast eternally in amber from the second they were each respectively made aware of the other’s role or presence in that long ago aborted experiment known as Vengeance Academy.

They still view each other through that same lens, and likely always will, because its just a grudge match for the ages now, they’re each completely certain they were RIGHT to do what they did and feel what they felt about it, and they’re not budging on that. And nothing else about the other or how the other has changed or what they’ve become since that time, even though its been over fifteen years in comic book time since that happened, like....nothing else about the other, no new information or perspective on the other is even filtering through or getting past that initial formed response....because they’re not ALLOWING it to.

They’re both like.....yeah whatever, that’s cool and all, whenever the other does something new that contrasts with their view of them and the expectations they hold for how they’re likely to act at any given time based entirely on those events of fifteen years ago.....

But its in a distracted, offhanded sorta way like they’re not even paying attention to whatever that new action or behavior was, its not even really REGISTERING with them.....because they’re both just like, look, before we pay any attention to literally anything the other has done or accomplished in the last fifteen years, first we gotta settle up on this little matter of Vengeance Academy and the fact that I was RIGHT, and we’re not going ANYWHERE until they fucking admit it.

Bruce: Don’t you two think that maybe, just MAYBE, its time to let that go and perhaps form a new opinion of each other based on, oh, I don’t know....the present day?

Dick and Talia, still deadlocked in a glare: STAY OUT OF THIS BRUCE.

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constantlyunlightening · 4 years

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Glory

Day 8: Glory Hole w/ Enji Todoroki

Warnings/other kinks: anonymous sex (obvi), creampie, depression, a n g s t

Nobody asked for this. Nobody wanted me to write an angsty glory hole fic for a depressed, touch starved Endeavor but here it is anyway. Man, idk. Anyway, Endeavor is certainly having a redemption arch and is working on healing but I refuse to believe he ain’t depressed with the realization of his own actions. So. Have this.

Disclaimer: 18+ years or older to read. All characters are 20+ years. ALSO, sex work is sort of written as something shameful here but it’s not (just be safe ya’ll) but Enji is a very strict sort of guy and I was working in his voice a bit here.

What the hell was he doing here? Some hero he was.

Even with the baggy clothes, the mask and the hood dropped over his head, he felt like he stood out like a sore thumb. He was out of place - out of line. He was probably fine. Number one hero or not, under all the extra fabric, he’d be hard to pinpoint without the famous shroud of flames he always coated himself in. But, still, being at a seedy hook up place like this? It was so beneath him. It was so underneath the standards he usually held his pride and himself too. He was the very definition of a hero.

At least he used to think he was.

Nowadays he wasn’t so sure. He worked hard at his work - painfully and endlessly hard. And regardless if he had rightfully earned the spot or not, he was the top hero. But at what cost? A hero to the public but a villain to his own family.

Maybe a run down, shady place like this was exactly where he belongs.

Enji shifted his weight, feeling like he should back out now. This felt wrong. But his legs were heavy and refused to move. At least not until he heard the soft voice of a women who had slipped into the room, her face hidden by a white mask covering the bottom half of her face. “Your room is ready, sir. Remember, all of our girls are completely clean and anonymous, but if you have an issue with her, you’re more than welcome to ask to change,” she explained her voice a little too cotton candy sweet to be working in such hole in the wall place. Yet, here she was, leading Enji down the dimly lit hallway, the rooms filled with muffled moans and cries that made him question what he was really doing here.

Eventually the attendant brought him to a door at the end of the hallway and gestured for him to open the door as she gave an all too pleasant grin. “It’s all yours. Have fun.”

And with that, she was turning around and walking away as his eyes came to rest on the old silver knob of a door. What pathetic lengths he was stooping to. Maybe there wasn’t anything inherently bad about a place like this, a brothel didn’t necessarily scream heroic.

Although, he had been questioning what a hero actually was.

Sure, he saved lives day in and day out but what good was that when you couldn’t protect the ones you care about? When you realized you were the one who ruined the ones you care about?

With Allmight retiring and Enji’s long-consuming determination to best him ending with his hollowed victory, Enji was left with his thoughts more. No longer was he plagued by the desire to be number one, but instead he was haunted by the actions he had done to get there. And the fact that he had only became number one because Allmight had all but fallen was an even bigger kick in the gut. His rise was not one that felt like it was created by glory, but one that was shrouded with misdeeds and an empty win. He was trying to be better. He was trying to not just be the number one hero by title, but in his actions and ideology as well. He was trying to be a better person too.

No longer consumed with the drive to be the best, he now had the time to think about other things - feel other things than sheer determination. He felt regret. He realized he cared about something more than his work. He realized he cared more than he was used to. He wasn’t used to feeling so much. He wasn’t prepared to deal with the emotions he carried for his family- his kids - now that he could see them for more than just their power. He wasn’t prepared for the emotional weight of his damage to come crashing down on him.

If none of his children ever talked to him again, he was prepared to let them live on without him. He would face up to the consequences. But now with all that time to think, the mental toll was too much to bare. Regret, anger, depression, loneliness. He was dragged into the depths of it all, even as he kept the poker face facade as he went about his hero work.

He missed real human connection. He craved it.

But he had decided he didn’t actually deserve it.

That’s where this place came in. It was a physical reprieve at least. Here he could at least gain that human contact without the risk of creating another emotional burden on anyone else. It would serve as a stress relief as well as a point of contact in an attempt to regain a bit of the humanity in him - he felt like it had faded all to much.

He had steeled himself to work through it. But even the strongest man in the world had to bare with moments of weakness.

He would wake up with a sense of regret, he was certain, but for a brief moment, he would find temporary solace between the legs of a women he never met and would never meet.

So he opened the door revealing you.

Well, half of you anyway. You were halfway up the wall - hips and below only. You were pushed partly through a glory hole in the wall, your legs suspended by your ankles straight against the wall. You were a mounted animal - captured by a hunt and put on display. He almost felt bad for you. Did your legs hurt being in that position? Did you even want to be here? He was assured that all the women here were here of their own volition but he had a nagging sense of guilt lingered within his gut.

It was his chance to leave but… despite his guilt, a more selfish instinct overcame him. If it wasn’t him it would just be somebody else anyway.

So he walked in and shut the door behind him.

If you heard his heavy footsteps into the room, he couldn’t tell by the parts of you that were showing. He made his way up until he was right before your presentation and hesitantly, a large hand traced over the inside of a suspended leg. Maybe his brain was telling him this was wrong, but the second he felt how soft you were under his calloused hands, he knew he had lost the willpower to leave.

When was the last time he had even touched something so soft? An emotion he couldn’t quite place bubbled up inside of him. His heart panged and he felt like he was about to cry. Utterly ridiculous. But it was true all the same.

“Pretty,” a whisper escaped him, one he didn’t think you’d be able to hear through the walls, but your leg seemed to twitch under his touch all the same. He would have wondered what you were thinking about but he was too preoccupied with the urge to let his lips follow the path of his hand, starting at your calf with gentle kisses, relishing in the warmth radiating from you. His kisses moved lower, lower, and he felt like he could get lost in the physical feel of it. It felt insanely intimate but he knew it was an illusion brought on through the loneliness that had pitted into his stomach. Attachment grown from desperation. He was paying you. He didn’t know your name or who you were. He couldn’t even see you face. This wasn’t the time to be feeling intimate, this wasn’t the time to be feeling anything other than base urges.

He came to this exact place to keep himself separated - detached. Your plush skin may be sucking him in but he refused to forget himself. No matter what thoughts he had during the act.

He resteeled himself. Fuck, don’t feel. And with that, he was pulling his lips off and instead focused on drawing himself from his pants, wrapping his hand around the base of his erection. Apparently those simple touches and the sight of you splayed before him was enough to get his body craving more. And he acted on it.

The brothel you worked for already had you well lubed up for him - it was something about letting the customer get right down to buisness…..

However, when Enji finished prepping himself, he still heard the shocked yelp of a sound you produced from behind the wall as he pushed himself into you. The number one hero had the accommodations to match his size in any case, and he could tell you were feeling it, even without seeing your face. Your body clamped down on the intrusion so tightly he could have came on the spot. He couldn’t remember how this felt either. It was mind-numbingly good. It was good he couldn’t see your face because in his desperation and newly found emotions, he may have fallen for you on the spot.

Fuck, don’t feel. Fuck, don’t feel.

He wasn’t here to feed his emptiness. He was here to blow off steam. He needed to start acting like it or this whole endeavor would be pointless. It wasn’t mercy that kept him still inside you - he wasn’t letting you adjust. No, he was simply committing himself to a decision.

Fuck, don’t feel.

He felt you startle under the grip that wrapped around your calves, but he didn’t have time to give it much thought as he proceeded to wreck your insides. The feather soft kisses he had placed on your legs didn’t feel like they were from the same person who was now pounding into you like an animal, rattling the wall as your cries pierced through any sort of barriers between the two. He relished in each and every tremor you produced around his length as he sank himself into your velvety walls. So warm. He was the flame hero but you were the one burning him up as his hands bruised around your legs.

He ignored the way the voice screaming out made him want to see you even more. He could burn this wall down in a flash - finally have his moment of connection - but he forced himself to settle for pretending the cries you gave out were his name. No longer a scramble of whines and whimpers as he rutted into the wet body before him, but in his mind they were a chant of “Enji”.

The loneliness was going to drive him insane but for now he embraced the fantasy as his forehead pressed against the wall, taking in your echos as best as he could.

He was growling, straining his voice to not make a sound lest you recognize his voice. But he had to make some sort of noise. The way you wrapped around him was sinfully divine and his nerves were ignited with lust.

He was a more than a little twisted right now, but he was determined to leave a mark on you. He would never have to know what a monster he was, but he could still drive his imprint into you as if he were someone worth letting his impression linger.

Maybe he could make you feel a fraction of the stars he was feeling with your warmth. He could forget about his sins and focus on you, and the way you trembled and the way your voice peaked from behind the wall with a muffled - “more!” He would oblige. You could have asked the world of him and in this very moment, he may just try to fulfill it. More, he could do. More is what you got.

His hands danced lower, finally gripping at the center of open thighs as he hammered somehow faster still. The hero work, if anything, at least gave him a surpless of strength and stamina. The room appeared to be vibrating with the way the thin walls shook. And each time you seemed to tighten or squeeze around him, it just spurred him on, throwing his own senses into carnal lust. The sensation became to much for the woman in the wall to handle and Enji shuddered as he felt your orgasm strangle his cock and he couldn’t stop himself from forcing himself in deeper anyway until his balls were flush against your ass. He unloaded right into the heat he was holding tight against, letting you milk all he had to offer. Another point of connection, fluids mixing together and he felt a gross sense of satisfaction as he listened to the way you whimpered, felt your walls flutter against him in the afterwards.

He wasn’t here to make connections, but with the urge to hold close the woman he had shared his first contact with in how long- the urge to burn down this whole wall was even stronger now. He was going to have to leave to stop himself from making yet another mistake.

#enji todoroki #endeavor #bnha smut #bnha angst #kinktober #enji x reader

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bloodbenderz · 3 years

Note

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

#this is 2.1k words LMFAOO #asks #analysis #do i have an analysis tag?#crit #lok crit

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kendrixtermina · 3 years

Text

Appreciating the Range of Type 6, or, one stereotypical example, and three that aren’t.

I want to tell you about some type 6 ppl that I know in my personal life.

Exemplar #1: F. B.

Complete Stats

Wing: 5 p or cp: largely phobic – lots of safety worries, outright authoritarian follower personality Instinct: sp/soc Trifix: 613 - 6w5 1w2 3w2 (“The Taskmaster” or “The Middle Manager”) jungian: ISTJ / SLI-Te oldham: Conscientious & Aggressive Essence Type: Mars Temperament: Pure Choleric

What he’s like:

Not pleasant.

Every “strict conservative middle aged guy” stereotype in the book. Control freak, makes a mountain out of every molehill, sees the world as full of axe murderers, judgemental as fuck, horrible temper and yet completely impersonable, all his opinions are copypasted from right-wing news sites. When they say war is good he’s for war, and when they say war is bad he’ll be like “At least Trump did not start any more wars” without perceiving a contradiction. Despite this, he believes is very hot, principled and funny. He is none of these things. He puts people down nonstop. My knowledge of neurochemistry tells me that he must have emotions somewhere or he couldn’t function, but I ain’t ever seen a single one of those emotions. They’re all for his job and a few trusted mentor figures. And his mom. At least he loved her.

If you say anything he doesn’t like, he “throws the sofa out the window” as his wife once put it.

How he’s a Type 6:

Well, he’s pretty much every negative stereotype in a nutshell… other than distrusting his partner. But that might be cause hes sx blind, or cause the wife is big on monogamy & wouldn’t ever cheat.

The one positive trait of 6 that he has is that he does his research. Before moving anywhere he googles the crime rates and if you need a doctor he might find you the best one. But even that can be overriden by ideology (hydroxychloroquine!). And if you don’t take his exact advice, there goes the sofa out the window again…

And I guess the work ethic from all 3 parts of the trifix really comes through – he hasn’t had a single bad grade in his life and always keeps collecting new certifications, and will make sure you hear about it...

Exemplar #2: I.

Complete Stats

Wing: 5 P or cp: pretty much an even mix of phobic and counterphobic Instinct: sp/soc Trifix: 614 - 6w5 1w2 4w3 (Would prolly call herself “The Big Pain” rather than “The Philosopher” ^^°) jungian: INTJ / ILI-Ni oldham: Serious & Conscientious Essence Type: Saturn Temperament: Chlor-Mel

What she’s like:

I’d describe her as serious, mature, discerning, focused and passionate about her friendships, if perhaps somewhat forceful at times, with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor.

Comes across like someone who knows what she’s talking about, with well-articulated points.

Often the Responsible Sibling, Designated Sanity Checker or Bullshit Detector.

Prefers to plan everything in advance in typical Ni dom fashion, even amusement part trips. Gets somewhat anxious without a future plan or shedule.

Often mistaken for a whole lot more sociable and confident that she really feels inside. (even I kinda bought it and got her whole darn trifix wrong on my first typing attempt, though that was when I was new to typology) She can act the boss act temporarily to get the situation over with, but she actually hates making decisions.

She does however have the occasional cute/pure moment where that lower function block comes out.

How she’s a Type 6:

She has saved our family from many a terrible restaurant by making sure to check the reviews. The preparing for all possible dangers is very 6, the acting tough outwardly when youre inwardly anxious, the intellectual problem solving & some tendency towards organization/responsibility/ “logistic” intelligence.

One online test she took gave her 5w6 instead of 6w5 but that’s probably just the ITxx-ness leaking in. I remember this one time we were discussing this artsy-fartsy theater play to which we’d had fascinatingly different reactions, and at one point I half-jokingly said something like “But does anyone ever really feel connected to others, or is that a myth?” to which she wrote, “[Name], what the fuck? Yes I do.” and then immediately deleted it. That’s more of a 6 reaction innit?

Nonetheless the wing does feature in significantly – for example she got very well informed about a lot of topics because she researched them to assuage a random survival-related fear, like, “How to make sure I have enough retirement money”

Exemplar #3: M.

Complete Stats

Wing: 7 p or cp: largely phobic Instinct: sp/sx Trifix: 692 - 6w7 9w1 2w1 (Fortunately very much a “Good Samaritan” rather than “The Stockholm”) jungian: ISFP / SEI-Fi oldham: Sensitive & Devoted Essence Type: Lunar-Venus Temperament: Pure Supine

What she’s like:

Precious! Sweet, nice, good listener, friendly, gives all the best gifts. But also perceptive and good at understanding people, eg. mediating to the parents when one of the younger sisters is having An Emotion™ or winning the trust of problem children.

Unlike I. Who has some soc that helps her keep track of a larger circle of friends despite her introversion, M. tends to enjoy the closeness with her family and have just a few very close friends. Excellent friend material all around! The sx and Se also come out in enjoying art forms involving the body like theatre or dance.

She can be a bit shy, conflict-avoidant and occasionally a lil bit panicky though.

As a small kid she used to be super duper shy but then a wise english teacher encouraged her to play a big role in a play, and since then she’s a lot more confident and doesn’t let ppl push her around without limit, though she’s still a quiet, helpful person. There you see the difference that a good teacher can make.

How she’s a Type 6:

For one thing she moves and emotes faster than a core 9 would, and she fits the body language – big eyes that move around a lot, stands a bit lopsided, talks in a shrill voice on the rare occasions where we exhaust her patience etc. As a xSFx and a w7 she shows mostly the “warm, friendly, likeable” side of type 6. She also has a very 6-ish tendency to very frequently ask people’s opinions & feedback before making decisions. (the other fixes probably add to this)

Alas, she also has a little bit of of the fear/insecurity.

Also she has a social/care job which might be seen as 6-ish desire to serve the community.

Exemplar #4: J.

Complete Stats

Wing: 7 P or cp: largely counterphobic Instinct: sx/soc ?? definitely not sp first. Trifix: 638 - 6w7 3w4 8w9(?) (Shall she be a “Justice Fighter” or a “Kyle”? Only time will tell.) jungian: ISTP / LSI-Se ?? Oldham: ? some Dramatic & Serious, perhaps ? Essence Type: Definitely Mercury Temperament: San-Mel

What she’s like:

The first adjective that usually comes to my mind is ‘cool’. Sassy, energetic & a little bit tough, but also affectionate when she wants to be. (though in admiring way rather than a mushy one)

She says the coolest things, has a certain sly sort of cleverness, and an astonishly good poker face. Bit of an occasional prankster. Hilarious. Knows all sort of cool science facts. Avid gamer.

Not especially popular or over the top sociable, but she gets sad if no one pays attention to her a while. Will act visibly moody where ppl can see sad or worried and can catastrophize a bit in such situations.

How she’s a Type 6:

I first though we might be getting an ExxP type 7 since she was a pretty energetic child, but once puberty hit and independent thought manifested, she turned out a whole lot too reactive and ‘edgy’ for this, and more on the ‘moderate introvert’ side of things.

Since then the sisterly dynamic has been like one fluffy golden dog and 3 hissing black cats. Hissing Cats #1 and #2 are very proud of her, but cat #1 was forced to conclude that she’s probably not a positive outlook type.

Out of all the reactive types 6 fits best because she does broadcast group identity (like wearing merchandise of her favorite media and wearing buttons in solidarity with ppl she likes.) & has a big case of Big Sibling worship for M, I, and someone else who isn’t on this list due to being a 9. (a 4 or 8 might like their older siblings but probably wouldn’t constantly stress the admiration.), but she can also show lasting, pouty displeasure with authority figures who have slighted her. (Like that one time I went too far in teasing her...)

I’m just assuming the 8 fix because that tends to make 6s more bold, louder & more shameless.

Basically she is the “punk teen” type of 6. She can be a bit dramatic & over-the top but still come to her family on advice (even advice on pranks!) in ways that xSTPs of other enneagrams prolly wouldn’t.

She also tends to use self-deprecating humor in tough situations and deflects compliments to present herself as ‘ordinary’.

...

This may sound like I’m really getting down on my first example (I won’t pretend that I’m not) but the point in bringing him up is that the reason he’s like this is: He was subject to really bad parenting that put a lot of fear into him, there was no good parenting to teach him broader coping strategies, he lived in a crappy environment that crushed his dreams, in a sense ‘confirming’ those fears and making him double down, resulting in a person who is just always rigidly following the same predictable pattern or jumping from one automatic reaction to the next with very little pausing and thinking. That goes for the other types too: A ‘stereotypical’ person is a desperate person ruled by fear, who cant stop or soften up even for an instant cause they constantly feel this fire of threat under their arse.

A lot of descriptions say that 6s ‘Follow authority’ but most would balk at the notion – ‘I do the research!’ they might argue ‘I don’t just trust anyone’ or ‘I’m actually a rebel’. There is of course such a thing as denial that’s more like the extreme case.

But with a more average, functional 6 it’s not so much ‘obedience’ as that they just like to bounce their ideas off of others to get feedback, or that they feature in other’s viewpoints. So you might get someone who can naturally use feedback (something other ppl may have to learn first) or who is very considerate of others (which others might have to consciously remind themselves to do.)

Those are sometimes pretty good traits actually.

On the other hand this is probably part of what makes decisions hard cause they consider all these possible scenarios of how things might displease or cause harm to everyone involved.

Being able to naturally snap into Action Mode under stress looks a bit enviable from the outside, but I. assures me that it’s actually super stressful & exhausting, even for someone who doesn’t get to a point of just being unreasonably aggro at you.

Though even an extreme case like F.B. would probably claim that he ‘did the research’ even as he’s 1:1 quoting the Pope at you, and then saying that you ‘have to be respectful’ even if you don’t even believe in Christianity. Hence why you get a lot of authoritarians talking about “disrespect”. You didn’t “fail to obey”, you “disrespected the flag” or “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”. Because they’re still trying or inwardly thinking that they’re doing the consideritation & considering other’s PoV thing when they’ve long since crossed from respect and consideration into mindless obedience, all while still thinking that they’re very sceptical and discerning cause after all they really distrust the other political party or whatever.

In a way you get this obsession with ‘mind control’ cause they’re not unaware of & very much looking to guard the blind spot. They’re adults trying to do adult things.

For example, if I voiced an opinion to F. B. which he didn’t like, his reaction was often to ask “who told you that”

That’s just how he seems to think opinions work, somebody tells them to you.

Makes one wonder how he thinks new opinions start.

Yeah - Nobody told me that. I concocted it myself in some corner of my head. And in the interest of objectivity, I should stress that you can also end talking out of your ass that way, if you’re not basing it on enough outside data. Making up new shit has more of a quadratic than a linear learning curve – at least with copying you get something semi-useful right away. In making up your own you might be really off a long time before you stumble on something useful.

Also, I was young at the time and it’s not wholly unreasobale to think that an inexperienced person might be duped. I reacted really badly in part cause he hit my own ego buttons cause I was of course proud of this epiphany that I had concocted by myself, and now he says (or so I perceived it, being sensitive to accusations of incompetence) that I’m too dumb to form an opinion, so of course I launched into full Obnoxious Reddit Dude Mode.

In I. It manifests more on a reasonable useful level like “Oh wait, should [young cousin] be on TikTok? I don’t want him to get sucked into some cultish BS.” which is at least something the parents should have on the radar/ warn him about even if they do let him use TikTok, because for all that it is vital for him to get his experience with independent socializing & experimentig with sel-presentation, people do sometimes get suckered into cults or goaded into unsafe tests of courage.

And in a sense… maybe they overamphasize it but to some extent they’re also simply consciously aware/ mindful of it. The rest of us are not immune to propaganda after all, solong as it’s presented in a way pleasing to our egos. Any type structure can become a ‘hook’ if you’re not careful.

#enneagram #enneagram 6 #ennea 6 #6w5 #6w7

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dreamteamfanblog · 3 years

Text

Y'know, what I really like about c!Bad and c!Skeppy is that there's kinda never been any question about the fact that they're pretty bad people.

Like, the first plot relevant thing Skeppy ever did was hold the corpse of a mans beloved pet hostage in return for items with Sentimental Importance that he literally never had any stake in and only wanted for the sentimental value they held to other people (damn lowkey might have been the one who inspired dream's revelation regarding the value of sentimentality and that whole plan, good job skeppy, you're the reason the worst tyrant on the server is like that /hj) and while I obviously don't like Dream and literally never feel bad for him when bad things happen to him at this point, that was honestly still kinda ruthless, Skeppy.

The first time Bad ever bothered being plot relevant as well was because he heard about the Manburg-Pogtopia conflict brewing and basically went "Lmao they're ALL losers tho? Liiikkkeeee? Imma go help the Screeching British Toddlers? Or the one and only Alcoholism-Is-Fun dictator? C'mon. C'mon." (paraphrasing for comedic effect but that was kinda the gist and vibe anyway) up until the realization hit him that it'd be so fun to fuck with everyone and ran to go suggest they do just that to Skeppy who was literally just like "bet" instantly and that's how the plan to feed the flames of conflict was born, aka the formation (and naming, even) of The Badlands. Cause it'd be really fun to watch the world burn lmao, and "the most fun we can have here is the chaotic kinda fun~" (bads exact words), like, this is the first time Bad does anything plot relevant and the second time ever that Skeppy's important and they're already out here planning atrocities like it's a game to them.

They spend like the next few months hopping around from conflict to conflict and causing chaos and shit talking literally every other character behind their backs. Even their relationship with Sam and Ant is super dubious and they've been pretty deceptive and flippant with the others all things considered cause like who the fuck cares about....uh....anyone, basically? And like they had Tommy's disc for a WHILE after Tommy manipulated a man into giving it to him for like no reason by holding his pets corpse over his head, and they didn't really know what to do with it. Like. They were like "well we can't give it to Tommy cause that's be boring" and just kinda passed it back and forth in their ender chest and chatted about maybe burning it for the amusement they'd get out of seeing the pain it'd cause Tommy. At one point Dream tries very hard to get them to give it to him and they're like "Nah". They weren't using it for anything, they didn't like, have any plans with it, they just very firmly didn't want Dream to have it specifically because he wanted it and for no other reason, cause like, it's just so funny to see the sheer disappointment on people's faces as their sentimental items sit in your chest collecting dust and you still won't give it to them even tho you don't plan to use it for anything ever. Like. Why do they do this? Because they're John Mulaney kinnies and this is their equivalent of stealing family photos from house parties cause It's The One Thing They Can't Replace. I'm pretty sure they ended up tossing it at Ranboo in the end since the next time we see the Cat disc it's with him and like. One second it's in their enderchest and the next it's with him so i'm pretty sure they're responsible for the fact that he wound up with that actually (i know it's implied dream gave it to him but it was in skeppy and bad's possession and they were pretty apparent about not wanting to give it to tommy or dream at all so like...yeah no i think they knew it'd end up with ranboo when they parted with it, at least). And that raises the question. Why pass on the most important item on the server with sentimental value to many many people and a history of wars being fought over it......to a kid with memory problems and the moral backbone of a chocolate éclair who did not want the disc and was deeply disturbed about learning he had it? Well...probably the same reason they refused to give it to Tommy or Dream to begin with even though they didn't ever use it for anything. Same reason Skeppy went so out of his way to use dirty underhanded tactics to get it. Cause it's amusing.

Then Bad very eagerly agreed to commit atrocities for The Egg and Skeppy wasn't happy. I mean, he didn't have a problem with the atrocities, c'mon, this is Skeppy, but the fact that he was doing them for The Egg wasn't pog. Only Skeppy's allowed to be Bad's muse when he does horrible horrible things. So Skeppy pouted and threatened to leave Bad if Bad doesn't start doing war crimes for him instead of "some dumb egg" again and Bad's like "fiiiinnnneeeeeee" up until Skeppy gets himself infected at which point Bad freaks the fuck out and spirals into....pretty in character actually villainy but this time it's Significantly Less Fun then their earlier actions because this time his Skeppy's not with him. And like. This time Bad decided not to play around as he tortures his friends, tries to manipulate people, attempts to murder children, just full on decides he's cool with sacrificing everyone to the egg, y'know, the works, though in his defense, as I said before, this time he did do it so Skeppy would hang out with him again instead of for the lulz like before.

And like. They're actually fullstop some of my favourite characters in the whole server BECAUSE they're just very Blatantly not good people. They hardly even pretend to be or try to put on much of a show for other characters, honestly, they are just unapologetically Like That.

Of course, they're not completely lacking depth. Like, there's no way to make em' look good or justified or like they even THINK they're decent people. But that doesn't mean they don't have compelling and complicated motives/ideologies/personalities. I mean i'll be real their fixation with one another is absolutely fascinating. Like. A lot of the time they're so lacking in empathy and decency and morality overall but then they see each other and a flip is switched instantly. I mean don't get me wrong the unapologetically cold chaotic energy isn't lost when they're together (in fact it's often highlighted and fueled by the others presence) and they can be very bitchy and petty with each other. But there's never been a moment of doubt in my mind about how completely devoted to one another they are. Bad has stated in no uncertain terms that there's one side that matters to him and that side is Skeppy. Skeppy being consumed by the egg very much reads as a sacrifice as well and I guarantee he wasn't making that sacrifice for Puffy or Ant. Bad would later willingly follow The Egg all in a desperate attempt to get Skeppy back. They matter so much to each other, hell, maybe even more then is normal/healthy all things considered, as if all that empathy they're lacking towards everyone else somehow all went to the other. And I mean even beyond the depth of their relationship, their ideology itself is an interesting one. You don't really see many characters who very blatantly and openly are here to do bad things because it's fun for them. With most characters there's always some sob story. Some poor attempt at justification. Some insistence that they're totally doing the moral thing. Skeppy and Bad...don't do that? I mean, as I said before, they're incredibly unapologetic and unabashed and don't at all seem to think their behaviour is wrong most of the time. But they're lacking in that attempt at convincing the world they're really the heroes that most bad guys have. Their reasonings range from that they're having fun to that they're annoyed with the other characters to that they feel like the other wants/needs them to do whatever it is they're doing. But whatever it is they almost never seem like they feel the need to justify themselves to anyone unless it's a ploy to get the other person to do something for them. They know they're not Good Guys or saving the world or whatever else, they know they're selfishly motivated, and they....don't see the issue with that nor are they particularly interested if others do most of the time. They're self aware enough, they just don't give a shit. There are a few one off moments where this has slightly wavered but for the most part...not really? And that kind of ideology in of itself is really interesting.

Plus I mean stepping back from the Character Analysis intrigue, I just kinda lose my mind with excitement when they get particularly mean/devious because they're just really cool okay? Like i'm not actually rooting for them generally, but sometimes in the moment when they get particularly into the Watch The World Burn And Laugh attitude i'm like "oh, fuck, pop off i guess-". Something about the mixture of how competent they can be, how intensely they care about each other, how immoral/unempathetic they tend to be, and how little they care despite knowing about that last aspect, all end up being really cool to see and I just love these characters so much whether they're Committing Atrocities For Their Own/Each Others Amusement or Committing Different Atrocities Out Of Love For One Another; Angst Edition.

also the fact that their lives are linked is really interesting and like i kinda wanna know how/why that happened and if it's like something the characters chose to do or if they were born that way or if they were somehow connected some other way later in life or what cause like that's a really unique thing they did there and i feel like that doesn't just happen with people for no reason usually actually.

#dream smp

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commonwealthoccurences · 3 years

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Cheers (Elder Maxson)

Note: We’re assuming Sole is around the same age as Maxson in this; a middle-aged Sole with 19 year old Maxson is an iffy concept to me. Thank you to the Discord server for fixing my writers block! Also, weird analogies for 500, anyone? Mildly OOC Maxson.

CW: Potential death mention, abstract/rhetorical poisoning

It’s easy, Sole thinks at the end of the day, to drink poison. To tilt your head back and surrender to what may come, no matter what. It’s easy to allow yourself to be captured in the will of whatever's been mixed into your glass, slightly acidic, barely masked, and pretend to be unknowing. Knowing Elder Maxson has been like drinking poison, and so, they think it must be very easy to allow oneself to do so.

They’re staring into the wine that’s been handed to them, a deep plum color swirling in the foggy glass it’s been poured into. In another timeline, this wouldn’t be the last they’d share with him, and there was a much more content life waiting for them at the end of their internal battles. But they often told themself they weren’t one for wishful thinking, and with that, returned their attention to the man himself, who sat, quiet and contemplative, across from them.

On any other evening he’d be lounged across the plush cushions next to them, a sharp contrast to the usual appearance he showed every other member of the Brotherhood. There’d be a lazy grin on his face, a little too much wine wiping away the stern expression that’d been burned into the lines of his skin, and the two of them would be deep in the throws of a playful debate. Sole had lost that privilege, though.

Just as Maxson had lost the privilege of seeing them with their head tilted back, a laugh shaking their frame, delight taking over the weight of the world that they held between their strong shoulders. Two friends, or something more, turned strangers. What a twist. “Is this it?” Sole spoke up. Maxson had resumed his public facade, and they knew he wouldn’t be the one to break the silence.

“I suppose it is.”

The meeting of their gazes brought both of their internal battles to the forefront, images of warfields flashing between the pair. Sole clenched their jaw and tilted their head up, still trying to remain casual in the way they spun the wine in the glass. They didn’t dare take a sip; they wouldn’t put it past him to actually poison it, and as much as they cared for him, there was a reason the air was so tense.

Sole had made it into the Brotherhood a little shell shocked from their experiences with the Wasteland, looking for structure and someone to have their back as they fought to survive. Of course, the Brotherhood was much more than that, and didn’t hesitate to introduce their bigotry, disguised as defensive beliefs, as soon as Sole stepped through the doors to the Prydwen.

They were unsure at first of where they stood. Ever the scholar, they tried to remain neutral and stand back, observing, as they made their way through the beginnings of their Brotherhood experience. Other than Nick Valentine, they had never met a synth; maybe he was an exception, and the Brotherhood was right in the idea that they weren’t to be trusted. They’d found themself in the company of Elder Maxson more than once at this point, eager to look through the cracks of the mask he wore and get to know the man behind the ideology, the intense scowls, and the unwavering leadership. They’d begun to debate as a pastime, and slowly, as the tapestry of his beliefs came into full view, they found themself suffocated.

The threads were frayed, woven by generations beforehand. Maxson’s contributions were made for no reason other than that he was told it was right, to add strength to a fabric that only caused pain to those that were innocent. Sole found themself edging closer to the tapestry with a thread ripper and magnifying glass, wanting to take apart every argument and excuse and bring forward the man behind the brainwashing that the Brotherhood was so fond of, but it was too late. It seemed that the threads had been woven into his skin as well, leaving no person outside of his anti-synth ideology.

They needed time away, and after one particularly intense debate-turned-argument, they asked for it. Maxson knew what was happening as soon as they were hesitant to look him in the eye, and when they finally did, there was no vulnerability like he was once given access to. They were choking on the smell of his soap and aftershave, suffocating on the tenseness flooding the room, and needed to get away to think.

After a month in Sanctuary, listening to synths and humans alike recount their tales, their life experiences identical in the way that both types of people hurt and thrived, became overjoyed and mourned losses, Sole went to seek out answers. In the back alleys of Diamond City they heard whispers of an organization, and went to find the Railroad.

They had a long talk with Deacon, looking over his own tapestry with a magnifying glass, shielding their eyes from the reflective, joking threads, so they could see the life lessons hidden beneath. Despite how hard it was to access, they found his tapestry much warmer, if not a bit worn from how many had taken refuge under its fabric. Every time they dug in and pulled at the threads, trying to find a fatal flaw, it held together like no other. One month away and they knew what they had to do.

It was hard to return to the Brotherhood, knowing their days there were limited. They’d seen the people before the ideology, instead of the other way around, and once considered many of them friends. But at the end of the day, the ends of their tapestries were coming loose, and Sole could no longer justify sticking around. They were smarter than that.

Maybe it was obvious, and a little immature, but they avoided Maxson upon their return to the best of their abilities. He tried to reach out to them, calling them in for meetings, upon which they kept their answers short and didn’t give any information as to what they had been up to during their escapades away from the Prydwen. But at the end of his third try, when his expression changed from curious and a little hurt to hardened and stern, they knew he understood. They had their own tapestry now, and didn’t need the refuge of any others. Certainly not his.

So when he invited them to one last evening together, they accepted. There was nothing they weren’t prepared for as they walked through the doors to his quarters and settled down on the couch. It was easier than they expected it to be, but they supposed the time away had already given them the opportunity to sever any hesitancy they would’ve once held.

They found themself indifferent to the intense discomfort in the air that would’ve pinned them to their seat just a month ago. Their breath remained in their lungs, their hands didn’t shake. They tilted their glass and stared at the liquid inside before placing it on the table in front of them and folding their hands together in their lap. “I sincerely hope you don’t plan on doing anything stupid, Sole.” Maxson’s voice was harsh, biting. He sipped his own drink.

They found a small smile betraying their lack of fear of the man in front of them. With a light sigh they glanced out the window. “Arthur, please. Let’s not pretend you haven’t been picking apart my brain for the last few months in the name of getting to know each other. Do you really believe me to be stupid?”

“I didn’t. And then you left for a month and returned doubting Brotherhood ideals. It seems you still have time to prove me wrong.”

“I think we can both agree a resistance to brainwashing is the exact opposite of stupidity.”

Sole sighed and brushed the palms of their hands down their thighs. They stood with little hesitancy and made their way over to one of the windows that decorated the walls of Maxson’s quarters. The view was one of the few things they’d miss about the Prydwen.

Of course, they supposed they could understand how members of the Brotherhood became so out of touch with the Wasteland. Everything felt so untouchable from their perch in the sky, rocking gently in the light winds that flooded the ground with radiation. Staying, surrounded by the hivemind and far away from any contradicting opinions, would’ve been the death of any independent thought from Sole.

They would miss Arthur, not Maxson, and the way they thought they were two separate people just a few months ago. It was easy to pretend, when he had been less than sober and forgot everything he thought was his responsibility. His thoughts flowed more readily into speech; the first slip he had made was calling Sole beautiful as they leaned against that very window, looking up at the stars that almost appeared to be within reach from where they sat in the sky.

It had caught Sole by surprise, though they supposed it shouldn’t have. Yes, Arthur was in a position of power, arguably one of the highest in the Wasteland across the factions, but they had spent enough time with him at that point to know he fell victim to alcohol. Well, that’s what they pretended.

Arthur was no lightweight. They could see it in the way his movements still remained controlled in contrast to his words. It was an excuse, they’d realized, after just two nights, to say what was on his mind instead of what he had been taught to say.

Maybe that’s why they thought they could get to him at first. Unravel some of the tapestry that had dug deep into his skin and latched onto his mind. It seemed as if he wanted free of the Brotherhood mindset and the way everyone looked to him. It showed when they were together in the low lamplight of his quarters, alone in a space that didn’t allow for his facade, and he looked 19 again instead of aged beyond recognition.

His hand brushed across their cheek and they fought hard to keep their attention out the window; they wouldn’t let him exploit vulnerability that should’ve never been given in the first place. They were hyper aware of the placement of his hand, knowing that into two smooth motions they could be on the floor, dead. Instead, he hooked a finger under their chin, and they felt a kiss placed to their forehead. Then, he was out of their space and across the room, busying himself behind his desk with paperwork. They were dismissed, for the last time.

Just a week later, it was easier than expected for the words to spill out of their mouth and into Deacon’s ears. Descriptions of the Brotherhood’s guard shifts, the weakest point of their aircraft, protocols and every hidden weapon they knew about. They didn’t choke, didn’t waver. They had seen too much upon their return to the Railroad; synths injured from the hate the Brotherhood had spread, members fatally wounded when they jumped to defend. Sole had reveled too long in the privilege of ignorance and the company of a man who, despite being tragically indoctrinated, they could no longer lend sympathy to when they had to bear witness to the consequence of his actions.

Maxson’s last mistake was assuming that the silent goodbye they’d shared just one week earlier would be their last. Sole was ready to take a torch to his tapestry, and they were the last person he should’ve assumed was stupid enough to let him go easily.

#Potential part two?#Fallout 4 #Fo4 #Angst #Elder Maxson #Oneshot #Imagine #Fanfiction #FF #Drabble

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ljf613 · 3 years

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Colonization & Imperialism in ATLA

One of the things I’ve noticed in fandom complaints about the ATLA comics-- namely, “The Promise”-- and subsequently, LOK’s worldbuilding, is the way the narrative handles colonization.

I see a lot about how what the Earth Kingdom chose to do with the former colonies is “none of Zuko’s (or Aang’s) business.” (I also see people talking about how Katara would never support colonialism, in any shape or form, no matter the circumstances.)

And I just.... don’t vibe with those ideas? At all?

Like, I definitely have problems with the comics-- especially “The Promise,” where all the drama centers around Miscommunications of Epic Proportions and could have been resolved in Part One if all the characters just sat down and listened to each other (not to mention that Aang would never have agreed to make that promise, nor would Zuko have asked it of him (Sokka would be a more obvious choice, but that’s a different discussion))-- but I never had any issues with their worldbuilding.

I love the idea of Yu Dao, and the fact that the narrative acknowledges that a new kind of world has new kinds of problems. It makes sense to me that we can’t always just “give back the land we took.” And I found the idea of the end solution being “give the people who live there their own country” really cool and empowering.

So I want to talk about why I feel this way. About what kind of real-world parallels can be made here. About some little-known bits of world-history that compare.

(Please note that for this meta I am only going to be discussing the relationship between Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. As far as I am aware-- and I could be wrong-- there is no real-world genocide quite comparible to what Sozin did to the Air Nomads, and most of the people alive in ATLA were not actually around for or involved in that. And the relationship the Fire Nation has with the Water Tribes-- and that the North and South have with each other-- is worth a whole separate analysis, and doesn’t deserve to just be shoved into this one.)

(Disclaimer: While this is in response to some of the interpretations I’ve seen on this site, it is not meant to discount or invalidate those fans’ views-- I’m just trying to show my take on it. I am a firm believer in the power of active discourse, and the value of looking at the same scenes through different lenses, rather than just getting one opinion and accepting it as Absolute Truth.)

The main thing I notice in general ATLA discourse-- and not just on this topic, but in any sort of meta about the Fire Nation, colonization, and global impact-- is that the fandom mostly compares the war and its after-affects to real-world Imperialism, the Age of Imperialism, New Imperialism, and Colonization.

And I understand why that is. In the grand scheme of world history, that era is still fairly recent, and we are still dealing with the afteraffects from it. It has shaped the Western World’s worldview on every level. (Not to mention that the Euro-centric way we’re taught history means that this piece of world history is the one we’re most exposed to, and so have the most understanding of and room to analyze/criticize.)

However, there are a few issues with sticking only to this perspective.

First off, the Age of Imperialism was a direct response to the Age of Exploration. This was the period of time when white Europeans sailed around the world acting as though they were discovering new places and pretending that there weren’t already existing civilizations there.

[ID: Two dots meme, edited so that Guy A says “i’ve discovered a NEW WORLD,” Guy B replies “you didn’t discover ****,” and Guy A insists “i’ve discovered it” / End ID.]

Now, I’ve mentioned this in passing, but the world of ATLA doesn’t appear to have had an Age of Exploration. There’s no vast “undiscovered” land masses, the four nations have always known about each other, and they all have a shared language.

The whole foundation for the Age of Imperialism was “oh, look, there are all these ‘unexplored’ lands with resources ripe for the picking (who cares about the indigenous people, they’re just simplistic savages who don’t know what’s best for them), let’s see which European country can grab the most land first.”

This was a race. This was sudden. This was Europeans coming in and taking over while viewing the natives as bothersome pests. This was about multiple major world powers competing over resources.

This was not 100 years of active warfare between a single conquering country and the very people they were trying to conquer.

The parallels don’t hold up.

Secondly, by focussing only on this one kind of historical narrative, we ignore any others.

I will admit that I have used the word “imperialism” in reference to the Fire Nation a time or two. However, upon further reflection, I realize I didn’t really mean imperialism, which is actually a fairly modern concept. What I feel the Fire Nation is really an example of is centralism and expansionism-- two ideaologies that have been a way of life for conquering empires throughout history.

(I am in no way qualified to explain the differences between these concepts-- I recommend doing your own research if you’re curious.)

The Persian Empire. The Greek Empire. The Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire. The Mongolian Empire. The Russian Empire. The First French Empire.

You could take any of these (or numerous others) and make an interesting analysis between the similarities and differences between their behaviors and that of the Fire Nation. And maybe I’ll do that someday.

However, I started this to talk about Yu Dao and all of the other so-called colonies (I really feel like territories would be a better word, but, again, that’s a whole ’nother discussion), and I’d like to focus on that.

FYI, here’s a basic history refresher: If two countries are at war, and then they decide to end the war, neither country is required to return captured territories. They can make a treaty and agree to do so, but there is no obligation to. The Fire Nation didn’t just march in and say, “this is our land now”-- they fought for it. They captured that land. Just because the war is over doesn’t mean they need to just give it back.

Like it or not, that is the way the world operated for thousands of years, and so that is the interpretation I’m working with here.

In any case, “The Promise” actually presents this as a three-way conversation. There’s Zuko (and, by default, the Fire Nation), Kuei (and, by default, Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom), and the people of Yu Dao themselves.

(My understanding of the Earth Kingdom’s style of government is that it’s made up of a large collection of different ethno-cultural regions who all answer to Ba Sing Se.)

I’ll let Sokka explain it:

[ID: Comic panel from Part Three of “The Promise.” Sokka and Katara are talking, both in obvious states of agitation, while Suki and Toph are looking at something in the background. Sokka is saying, “Let me see if I got this. The protestors and the Earth Kingdom Army want the colonials to go, the Fire Nation Army wants the colonials to stay, and the Yu Dao Resistance just want their city to be left alone?” Katara responds, “Yes!” / End ID.]

The people of Yu Dao don’t care about the war. They don’t even really care who’s in charge. They just want to be left alone.

This speaks to me on a very personal level, so I’m going to make another real-world comparison here:

My ancestors first came to America to escape from the poverty and opression they were experiencing in a place known as “White Russia”-- that is, Belarus. To be clear, I am not talking about the country “Belarus,” but the region, which includes the modern-day countries of Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Moldova, as well as parts of Poland and Russia.

I looked up White Russia, trying to find out how much information someone who didn’t grow up hearing stories about what it was like (that is, most of the people reading this,) might have. I didn’t find much. Most of what I found talked about political ideologies and such-- things that your average poor peasant, struggling just eke out a living, didn’t have much energy to care about. So let me paint a(n oversimplified) picture for you.

Imagine you’re a poor shoemaker in a small town on the Russian border. You spend your days hard at work, trying to earn a living to support your wife and nine children. You’ve never left the town you were born in. One day you get the news: Russia and Poland are fighting again. Your two oldest sons (ages 15 and 17) are forcibly drafted off to fight in the Russian army; you never see them again and have no way of knowing if they’re dead or alive (they’re probably dead). Poland wins-- this time. Congratulations, your town is now part of Poland.

Does suddenly being Polish make a difference to your life? Not in the slightest. Two or three years down the line, you’ll go back to being part of Russia again. This is the third or fourth time you’ve seen your town switch hands, and you can’t say you prefer one government over the other. It doesn’t really matter who’s in charge-- you’re still faced with crippling taxes, forced drafts, and various other forms of oppression. (It doesn’t help that you happen to be part of a persecuted minority.)

(This is why I have many ancestors who may never have left the town they were born in, and yet records show that they were born in one country, got married in another, and died in a third.)

This is the kind of worldview through which I am looking at Yu Dao. (Obviously, it’s not an exact parallel, but neither is the standard “colonizers vs oppressed natives” lens.)

My ancestors eventually got fed up with the treatment they were receiving from their respective governments, and left to build a new life, in a new place. But the citizens of Yu Dao don’t have anywhere to go. The only two real world powers in this story are the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, neither of which has ever before expressed any true interest or concern in the actual people of Yu Dao.

The Earth Kingdom didn’t really care about the city before the war-- they were just another poor, struggling town, whose citizens were barely able to make ends meet. And while the Fire Nation may have helped the place grow into a bustling town, they also established a hierarchy that did not serve in the citizens’ best interests.

And so, in “The Promise,” these citizens’ frustrations come to a head. “Enough,” they say, “we don’t want to be used as a pawn in your games anymore.”

And Zuko and Kuei (and Aang) actually listen. They say “we need to start thinking about these people as people, not as symbols of one side or the other. It’s time to give them a say in their future.”

And a new country-- a new way of life-- is born.

(Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But it is constantly evolving and changing, trying to do better, be better. And that’s more than you can say about most of the other countries in this world.)

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demetriandelibinaryboyfriends · 3 years

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I loved your hc about how insecure demetri would be after everything that went down. He'd probably try to hide it but I don't think he'd ever quite shake the feeling that Eli is embarrassed of him.

RIGHT??? Like man...imagine your best friend of YEARS, who’s been the ONLY person basically your whole life to love and indulge your geeky interests equally as much as you and the only person who you can TALK to about the things you love and the only person your age who seems to actually like...enjoy your company at all, and then basically overnight they do a complete 180 and all the stuff you both used to love and have bonded over your whole lives is just “dumb nerd shit” to them now, and they’re constantly berating and mocking you for being a “wimpy pussy” just because...you’re not that physically strong??? You don’t like being slugged in the face and given a bloody nose by a grown man??? And you’re just like...since when did any of that matter to them??? Weren’t the “jock” types who are ripped and tough always the kinds of people you two hated, the types of people who shoved their weight around and bullied both of you for no reason? Why are they buying into the exact kind of ideology that got both of you abused by your classmates for no reason for years??? And all that stuff you used to both love, of course??? Now they gotta act like it’s stupid and below them, all to seem “cool.” All to fit into this mold of a person you BOTH once thought you’d feel nothing but hate and disdain for. But none of that matters anymore, now that they’re in with the very crowd that once made both of your lives hell.

And hell, even the genuine excitement you get to feel at making a brand new friend for the first time in years is short-lived, because fuck, he’s in this insane karate cult too, led by a psycho and bully who makes the same exact comments about your best friend’s lip as the school bullies said best friend wants so badly to fight back against. And he won’t outright say it, but maybe your new friend doesn’t think you have any value either if you’re not strong and badass, and maybe he regrets befriending you after he realized all you even are is just a wimpy nerd. You don’t know what it is that he and your best friend talk about in their karate cult--maybe how lame you are? Maybe how you’re utterly pathetic, and a waste of space? Maybe how now that they have tough fighter friends, they have no reason to put up with you anymore? And your new friend seems to have no problem with his concerning senseis and their aggravated assault tendencies--he certainly wasn’t a lot of help when you literally got assaulted by one. Honestly, you must just be an embarrassment to both of them at this point, but especially your best friend, a skilled fighter with cool spiky hair who’s got no reason to want to associate with a scrawny, wimpy weirdo nerd anymore.

(This is no actual shade at my boy Miguel btw!!! He had plenty of his own issues to deal with during the whole Demetri/Hawk falling out, and seemed like he was kind of left out of the loop as to how bad it was. But Demetri had no way of knowing that!!! Without Miguel saying otherwise, he probably assumed Miguel agreed with Hawk that he was lame and not worth their time :( )

Like honestly, screw the broken arm--I think what Hawk needs to really apologize and make up for in Season 4 is all his harassing and berating Demetri for being a “pussy” and a “nerd” because like...I’m betting that shit cut a lot deeper. Like here is the one person who never judged him for being scrawny and weak and geeky and uncool, the one person who was a safe space for Demetri to freely be the things that everyone else hated, and now that same person HATES him for these things. Demetri’s used to being hated and mocked for being weak and nerdy, but never by Eli. That was the one person who he felt he could have solidarity with--if they were suffering, they were always suffering together. And now not only is Eli gone, leaving him to suffer alone, Eli is the one dishing out the abuse. And Eli isn’t just mocking him for things he loves--Eli is using the knowledge of the things he loves against him and mocking him for things they both used to love. Eli is mocking him for things they both used to be--weak and unliked.

Like bruh. Having a close friend turn on me like that and not stop bashing me over all the very same things we bonded over for years??? That shit would fuck me up. Like...the psychological trauma would be unreal. I’d probably have some trust issues for a cool minute, like “does this person actually also like this thing I like, or are they pretending to like it so they can make fun of me about it and use it against me later???” And I think those kinds of mental scars are going to be a lot more rough for Demetri to deal with than having his arm in a cast for a few weeks. And Hawk has a LOT of atoning to do for that in particular, I think. I’m hoping we get to see him building Demetri up and encouraging him, both about his strength and his fighting skills and about how there’s nothing wrong with being into “nerd shit”!!!! I think Demetri needs some positive affirmation from Hawk more than anything, after so long of just being relentlessly torn down by him. Even if Hawk never outright apologizes for this specifically, I do still hope he’ll try to make it up to Demetri somehow. Because I’m honestly betting that at the end of the day, tearing Demetri apart verbally and using their joint past against him hurt a hell of a lot more than any beating Hawk ever gave to him. I think it’s going to be a long time yet before Demetri stops worrying that Hawk is still secretly embarrassed to have him around, and I can only hope Hawk can help soothe his fears about this as best he possibly can.

#hawk x demetri #demetri x eli #binary boyfriends #hawkmeat #eli x demetri #demetri x hawk #elimetri #demetri cobra kai #eli moskowitz #miguel diaz #cobra kai #cobra kai season 2 #cobra kai season 3 #cobra kai season 4 #hawk #demetri #eli #my askbox

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ablaske · 2 years

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Three of my extended family members decided to transition at the same time (they’re brother and sister, and then the sister’s husband) and I just don’t know how to cope with it. How can I be supportive? How can I be okay with this loss?

oh wow, that's.... A lot.

well, i don't think i'm the most suited person to have a say in this, because the experience i went through involving someone close transitioning was far different.

but, for starters, what i can say is that you have to stop seeing it as a loss, you're not losing anyone. they're the same exact person they were before, they are not a brand new stranger because they decided to change haircut and wants to be referred to by some other name.

yes, it feels like you're losing them little by little, because there are changes in how people behave when they decide to act out a gender identity, but not because they're not who they're anymore, because, for the most part, it's your idea of who they are that have suffered an abrupt shift, and that's not something easy to process, it's like you don't even know them anymore. but try remember that that's even harder for them to go through then it is for you to watch the process up close, specially for the girl.

unfortunately, all you can do is wait. wait and hope. wait and watch the process unfold, and hope that they'll come back. but if they decide not to, well, at least hope that they're happy.

the only way you can lose them really is if there happens to be any clash of ideologies, or, you know, the cognitive dissonance is too much, or either you decide you can't play pretend any longer or they decide that you're not going along with enough things to be "considered" supportive.

there are a lot of outcomes to this story, and what you can do best is just sit from afar, let them know you're there for them, but without being like a cheerleader waving the trans flag in the air, because you'll feel awful for having to force yourself to be supportive of something you aren't just so you can "be there for them". you can still be there for them, by caring for them, by respecting them, by loving them, but for the person that they're, and not for this new facade they decided to embrace.

i hope everything turns out well for you and your family, and i'm sorry i couldn't be of any help, but i do hope you'll find a way to sail as smoothly as possible while this little storm lasts :) And thank you for messaging me! If you ever need to talk, my DMs are open x

#asks #gc #gender critical #radfem

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janiedean · 4 years

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Isn't it funny how the whole "stop caring about those evuhl men in wigs and start caring for real wombyn problems more!"-crap comes from those who don't really care for women once they disagree with them. If they really did care for women, they'd not force them to "choose" the pseudo-freedom of having to agree with them. Being freed from one oppressor but then only having one option isn't what being liberated is.

^^^^^

no but like... the thing is: never mind the whole transexclusionary bullshit, these people are a menace for any kind of woman they don’t agree with anyway and are also in themselves exclusionary in general *and* actually perpetuating more patriarchal ideas than they think because sorry but:

the fixation they have on genitals defining you for them is basically penises = anathema vaginas = empowerment, but like.... wow as if societal sexism wasn’t based on the contrary presumption, so you’re basically saying that whatever’s between your legs determines your social status, which...... is exactly what patriarchal societies do so what the hell are we even discussing here

the fact that with the whole vagina = empowerment narrative they have going on they also move ahead the whole ‘having children is a fundamental part of your womanhood™’ which is meant to a) exclude trans women b) saying surrogacy should be illegal means that basically they’re not only discussing the basic principle of bodily autonomy (ie: surrogacy can be a goddamned choice and a woman should be able to do whatever the fuck she wants with her body that included so maybe work in order to legalize/normalize it so no one is forced to) but basically says that no one who can’t have children biologically or won’t have them is Not A True Woman, which excludes any sterile cis woman and any cis woman who doesn’t have children from Being A Proper Woman, which is fucking ridiculous, but like... who the fuck only sees women as good for having children/said that a woman’s #1 role in society has to be having children? wow, patriarchal societies :))))))

(btw: last time I was at a feminist march and a terf organization ended up giving me a flyer with the above bullshit printed on I went up and left and never attended that one march again because I don’t want to share space with anyone who thinks women who say that shit care about women’s rights period so like... sorry I don’t want to share spaces with terfs ever, bye)

this whole obsession with penis = anathema brings to political lesbianism ie faking being attracted to women while pushing the narrative that being attracted to men is bad/brainwashing which means invalidating the sexualities of any single category who’s into men which wow includes people who aren’t straight women (see the amazing ‘bi women into men are dirty with male residual’ takes) *and* at the same time pushes the idea that women’s sexuality has to be what they say it is which lmao

meaning that since most of these idiots aren’t actually attracted to women but fake it they most likely don’t have sex where they’re proactive but at the same time they keep on bitching about how kink and bdsm and so on are misogynist in nature because if it’s a straight relationship either the guy is abusing you or fetishizing you depending on your role and if it’s not then it’s wanting to relieve those roles and if there are dicks involved SHAME SHAME SHAME so like... who has always been on the forefront wanting to dictate what women should or shouldn’t enjoy in bed? ah right, patriarchal societies and various religions/religious cults that preach women’s submission and say that you shouldn’t have sex outside having children/masturbation is bad™/sex is bad™/kink is bad™, so excuse me if this shit isn’t imvho feminist since policing what women want or don’t want in bed is inherently misogynist

this also shows they have a rather phallocentric idea of sex since it’s all about dicks dicks and dicks...... ah, wait, same as your regular misogynist dude who thinks that he doesn’t owe you an orgasm when you fuck but okay then :)

never mind this idea that women are inherently superior to men which automatically brushes under the rug the fact that women can be abusive to everyone either other women or men, that internalized misogyny exists and all the crap that it entails and excludes criticism of what women have to say on account of just being woman, which is ridiculus bc if another woman is sprouting bullshit maybe I should be able to point it out

also again... yesterday I disagreed with them about the trans women issue? I got hours of rape threats and death threats, which is exactly what I’d have expected out of the worst kind of redpiller incel, so where’s the difference? ah right the redpiller doesn’t pretend to care about human rights

also their crusade against FINDING OUT WHERE ARE THE INFAMOUS TRANS WOMEN actually hurts gnc cis women lmao because they go look at ‘BUT DO YOU LOOK SUPPOSEDLY MANLY OR NOT THAT MEANS YOU’RE NOT A TRUE WOMAN’ with all the peace of gnc cis women who happen to be tall/with muscles/whatever and the peace of some of us with pcos and extra testosterone who most likely would not be women enough because of having too much body hair or whatever else *shrug* like.... sorry but that also means that to them womanhood = also presenting in a very specific certain way according to beauty standards/societal attractiveness standards which automatically excludes every single woman that doesn’t perform femininity according to those standards, so again, fuck them because it means you don’t care about women, you supposedly care about a very small number of cishet abled standard attractive non-kinky most likely rich women who agree with your worldview only and if that’s feminism miss me with that bullshit

and like... this isn’t probably 20% of the worst of terf ideology but tldr: those people are exactly as misogynist as the patriarchy they’re supposedly fighting and I don’t see why I should gaf about a group that pretends to care about all women and then actually doesn’t and as you said perpetrates the exact same rhetoric and societal bullshit that sexist/misogynist societies do. *shrug*

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #anti-terf #i can't even #yesterday's mess was Something #janie rants #misogyny cw #fuck theeeem #Anonymous #ask post

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rametarin · 3 years

Text

progress.

I’m very bitter about the miseducation I received on the subject as a child. It was early 90s/late 80s propaganda, and I am still so fucking mad about it. It scarred me.

This is why I like to point to just how much progress we’ve made and how we’re almost at the end game for cheap, endlessly repeatable solutions for big issues such as climate change and pollution. I was not told of these as a child. I was given doom and gloom by people trying to psyche me up to yes-man vote for every bit of legislation they wanted to pass in the name of ‘saving the earth from greedy white western industrialists’, no matter how vacuous or pointless or counterproductive it actually was when critically examined.

It’s not that I don’t take climate change or pollution seriously. I absolutely do. That’s why I’m practically a frothing vitriol pile when I meet supposed “ecologists” and environmentalists that pretend nuclear isn’t a thing worth investing into, or object to it on,.”moral grounds.” Then have the audacity to say shit like, “but nuclear doesn’t break up hegemonieeeees! :C we need to restructure society!” Like the energy crisis is just a weapon to wield for social change.

But the thing is?

I want them to get more extreme in this way.

These same people are the sort of disingenuous people that claimed to just hate general, universal wrongs like, “sexism,” and “racism.” But, they’re the exact sorts that talked a big game about it, but ONLY ever talked about sexism against women. Only ever talked about racism, from whites, to literally anyone else, and only sorta barely kinda begrudgingly acknowledged one non-white group could be racist to another non-white group. Because the label was made specifically to make a histrionic headfuck about how evil whites are and how white western society is.

But when people started using their stated logic and philosophy to go after sexism against men, racism against whites, suddenly they mysteriously had issues with it, or objected to anti-sexism or anti-racism laws or policies being used to punish or reprimend people that way.

“oH, i’M SoRrY, i JuSt HaTe RaCiSm So MuCh! I gUeSs yOu MuSt hAtE iT lEsS tHaN i Do!” And so that weapon was used to beat the shit out of any legislation or social policy that self-described “progressives” used to try and benefit minorities but detriment regular caucasoids, state-side.

It was enough to prompt them to put, in writing, unambiguously and into philosophical policy not as a voluntary position, but as default, with Privilege Theory. Now they refused to acknowledge any definition of racism that DIDN’T accommodate Privilege Theory and define racism as Privilege + Power. Of which, they argued, being white inherently gave you this third party proxy advantage called privilege, being black meant you had none, hence ideologically it became impossible in any context for black people to be racist to whites. Problem solved, riiiiiiight?

Except, no. Not at all. That just highlighted and put to paper that ghost that had been haunting racial equality discourse for decades, in the judicious enforcement of those anti-racist policies. And now, black&white, clear as crystal, that stigma will have to live with the Intersectional Feminists as they argue for policies based on it. Instead of make it operating moral policy that cannot be proven to guide them and only be accused, they now own it.

I want these social-environmentalists to own the avenue from which they argue, now. Being “for the environment” won’t just be enough anymore, when the capitalists and the industrialists are dancing to every seemingly reasonable, seemingly benign step and STILL turning a profit while NOT contributing either to the models of global climate change or polluting the environment.

And we started to see that when nuclear was getting touted again as a good solution to both CO2 producing climate changing aersols, and pollution, and the energy crisis.

“But.. but.. the problem with nuclear is it doesn’t overturn social hierarchies and enforces the current capitalist nationalist hegemonyyyyyyy!! :(((((((((”

Well shit, Moonunit, here I thought you just cared about some carbon-oxygen and cow farts making the climate unlivable. That’s sure a complaint horse of a different color, now isn’t it?

So I look forwards to these disingenuous fucks being forced to own their REAL gripe and put it to words. I look forwards to when the only gripe left about environmental issues is that they’re “too capitalist, despite working.” I want capitalist solutions to environmental problems that don’t hurt the environment, but help it. When the only avenue of capitalism they have left to attack, is corporatist attachment to government itself, causing these problems.

Because technologically, they’re running out of black boxes and immovable objects to argue for their preferred outcome. And they know it.

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