#its about the femininity is a prison & we bond over that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

comrade-meow · 3 years

Photo

[‘Assignment to Slave Labour’, Auschwitz, Poland, c.1940. US Holocaust Memorial Museum.]

Menstruation and the Holocaust

Periods are a fact of life, but little talked about. How did women in the concentration camps cope with the private being made public in the most dire and extreme circumstances?

Menstruation is rarely a topic that comes to mind when we think about the Holocaust and has been largely avoided as an area of historical research. This is regrettable, as periods are a central part of women’s experience. Oral testimonies and memoirs show that women felt ashamed discussing menstruation during their time in the concentration camps, but, at the same time, they kept bringing the subject up, overcoming the stigma that is attached to them.

Typically, menstruation has been seen as a medical problem to be overcome rather than as a natural occurrence and a part of life. Medical historians, for example, have explored the forced experiments in sterilisation that were conducted in Auschwitz. Sabine Hildebrandt examined the research of the pathologist Hermann Stieve, who experimented on female political prisoners awaiting execution in Plötzensee. Stieve looked at the effect stress had on the reproductive system. Similarly, Anna Hájková has written about the Jewish Theresienstadt prisoner and physician František Bass’ research on amenorrhoea, the loss of menstruation, which focused on how it was caused by the shock of incarceration. Interestingly, however, almost all this research discussed ovulation (and its lack) rather than menstruation, even though both are part of the same biological function.

Periods impacted on the lives of female Holocaust victims in a variety of ways: for many, menstruation was linked to the shame of bleeding in public and the discomfort of dealing with it. Periods also saved some women from being sexually assaulted. Equally, amenorrhoea could be a source of anxiety: about fertility, the implications for their lives after the camps and about having children in the future.

A much-cited argument in Holocaust scholarship, made by Hannah Arendt, is that the totalitarian regime of the camps broke human solidarity, making them a very isolating place to be. But, contrary to this view, periods could provide moments of bonding and solidarity among prisoners: many older women gave help to teenagers, who experienced their first period alone after their families had been murdered. When we look for it, many survivors talk with great openness about their periods. Having or not having a period could shape daily experience of the camps.

What is a woman?

After deportation to camps and ghettos, due to malnutrition and shock, a significant number of female Holocaust victims of reproductive age stopped menstruating. Many were afraid that they would be left infertile after their bodies were forced to their limits, making the intrinsic link between periods and fertility apparent and increasingly central to their lives. Gerda Weissman, originally from Bielsko in Poland and 15 years old during her incarceration, later reflected that a key reason she wanted to survive was because she wanted to have children. She described it as ‘an obsession’. Similarly, the French publicist, resistance fighter and Auschwitz survivor Charlotte Delbo mentions a discussion that took place among a room full of women:

“It’s upsetting not to go through those unclean period … You begin to feel like an old woman. Timidly, Big Irene asked: ‘And what if they never come back afterwards?’ At her words a ripple of horror swept over us … Catholics crossed over themselves, others recited the Shema; everyone tried to exorcise this curse the German were holding over us: sterility. How could one sleep after that?”

These reactions reflected both religious and cultural diversity, showing that regardless of faith, culture or nationality, it was a worry all could relate to. The historian of Holocaust literature S. Lillian Kremer argued that, in addition to the fear of becoming infertile, the prisoners’ uncertainty over whether their fertility would return if they survived made the loss of menstruation a ‘dual psychological assault’ on female identity.

Upon entry into the camp, prisoners were given shapeless clothing and had their heads shaved. They lost weight, including from their hips and breasts, two areas commonly associated with femininity. Oral testimonies and memoirs show that all of these changes compelled them to question their identities. When reflecting on her time in Auschwitz, Erna Rubinstein, a Polish Jew who was 17 when in the camps, asked in her memoir, The Survivor in Us All: Four Young Sisters in the Holocaust (1986): ‘What is a woman without her glory on her head, without hair? A woman who doesn’t menstruate?’

[Untitled drawing by Nina Jirsíková, 1941. Remembrance and Memorial Ravensbrück/SBG, V780 E1.]

It is only due to the commercialisation of a natural physical occurrence that we now have resources such as pads and tampons that are specifically geared towards easing the ‘inconvenience’ of menstruation. Terms such as ‘sanitary equipment’ show that menstruation is treated as a health and hygiene concern - something to be sanitised. The reality of the camps, however, meant that menstruation was hard to avoid or hide. Its suddenly public nature took many women by surprise and made them feel alienated. An additional obstacle was the lack of rags and the lack of opportunities to wash. Trude Levi, a Jewish-Hungarian nursery teacher, then aged 20, later recalled: ‘We had no water to wash ourselves, we had no underwear. We could go nowhere. Everything was sticking to us, and for me, that was perhaps the most dehumanising thing of everything.’ Many women have talked about how menstruating with no access to supplies made them feel subhuman. It is the specific ‘dirt’ of menstruation more than any other dirt, and the fact that their menstrual blood marked them as female, that made these women feel as though they were the lowest level of humanity.

The humiliation was furthered by the struggle of finding rags. Julia Lentini, a 17-year-old Romani from Biedenkopf in Germany, spent her summer months travelling through the country with her parents and 14 siblings. She was placed on kitchen detail during her time in Auschwitz-Birkenau and later Schlieben. She discusses in her testimony how women had to learn tricks for survival when it came to menstruation in the camps. ‘You took the undergarment slip they gave you, ripped it and made little rags, and guarded those little rags like they were gold … you rinsed them out a little bit, put them under the mattress and dried them, then nobody else could steal the little rags.’ Rags were precious and, being so, they were not immune to theft. Some people compensated by using other materials. Gerda Weissman recalls: ‘It was a hard thing because you had no supplies you know. You had to find little pieces of paper and some things from under the loos.’

Rags could almost be considered to have their own micro-economy. As well as being stolen, they were given away, borrowed and traded. Elizabeth Feldman de Jong’s testimony highlights the value of second-hand rags. Not long after she arrived at Auschwitz, her periods disappeared. Her sister, however, continued to menstruate every month. Experiments involving injections in the womb were common, but if a woman was on her period doctors often avoided operating, finding it too messy. One day, Elizabeth was called to have an operation. There were no clean clothes as opportunities to wash were limited, so Elizabeth put her sister’s underwear on and showed the doctor, telling him that she had her period. He refused to operate. Elizabeth realised she could use her sister’s situation to save herself from experimentation and did so another three times at Auschwitz.

Shame and salvation

Livia Jackson, barely old enough to menstruate, felt repulsion at seeing blood flowing down the legs of another girl during roll call: ‘I would rather die than have blood flowing down my legs.’ Her reaction conveys a common attitude: although the lack of access to supplies to stem their menstrual flow was not their fault, many women still felt ashamed.

Scholar Breanne Fahs argues that women’s bodies are viewed as ‘leaky and troublesome’ and their bodily functions are seen as inconvenient, distasteful and unhygienic. Men, on the other hand, tend to receive praise for their secretions: urine, flatulence and semen can be seen as humorous, even sexy. Yet the very notion that periods are repulsive could save women during the Holocaust from being raped. Doris Bergen’s classic discussion of sexual violence in the Holocaust includes an interesting example of two Polish-Jewish women assaulted by Wehrmacht soldiers:

On 18 February 1940 in Petrikau, two sentries … abducted the Jewess Machmanowic (age eighteen) and the Jewess Santowska (age seventeen) at gunpoint from their parents’ homes. The soldiers took the girls to the Polish cemetery; there they raped one of them. The other was having a period at the time. The men told her to come back in a few days and promised her five zlotys.

Similarly, Lucille Eichengreen, a young German-Jewish prisoner, recalled in her memoir that during her imprisonment in a Neuengamme satellite camp in the winter of 1944-5, she had found a scarf and was thrilled: she planned to use it to cover her shorn head. Worried that she would be punished for owning a prohibited object, Eichengreen hid the scarf between her legs. Later, a German guard took her aside and, while attempting to rape her, groped her between her legs and felt the scarf. The man exclaimed: ‘You dirty useless whore! Phooey! You’re bleeding!’ His error protected Lucille from rape. In discussing these stories, we must discern the irony at hand: it is rape that should be viewed as disgusting and menstruation as natural and acceptable.

Camp families

Some teenagers experienced their first period in the camps alone, separated from their families or orphaned. In such cases, older prisoners provided help and advice. Tania Kauppila, a Ukrainian in Mühldorf concentration camp, was 13 when she started her periods. She did not know what was happening and shed many tears. She was scared that she was going to die and did not know what to do. Older women in the camp taught her and others in the same position about periods. The girls were taught how to handle it and what they needed to do in order to cope with the blood flow. It was a different learning process than they would have had at home: ‘You tried to steal a piece of brown paper, you know, from the bags and do the best you can’, recalled Kauppila. This story reoccurs across numerous oral testimonies. Many orphaned survivors who had just started mentioned the help of older women, who took on both a sisterly and motherly role in helping these young girls, before they experienced potential amenorrhoea; older women usually lost their period within the first two or three months of imprisonment.

Feminist scholars such as Sibyl Milton have pointed out the female ‘camp families’ that formed. It is striking, however, that the sisterhood of menstruation has not been written about. As Lentini highlights, if a girl got her period and did not know who to talk to, an older woman would usually ‘explain it very simply’. Twenty-year-old Hungarian Vera Federman spent time in Auschwitz and the Allendorf. She and a friend were able to get work in the kitchen, a precious job. Eating extra potatoes caused their periods to come back and then both girls stole rags from the female guards. This theft, of course, put them in great danger (not to mention the threat of losing their job), but Federman stressed the solidarity with her friend as they teamed up to help each other. In the often violent world of the camps, older women were willing to help educate unknown young girls, expecting nothing in return.

Gendered social networks of support and help developed in the camps. Arendt wrote that ‘the camps are meant not only to exterminate people and degrade human beings, but also serve the ghastly experiment of eliminating, under scientifically controlled conditions, spontaneity itself as an expression of human behaviour’. The female solidarity brought about by the shared experience of menstruation, however, tells another story.

After the liberation, the majority of those who suffered amenorrhoea during their time in the concentration camps eventually started menstruating again. The return of periods was a joyous occasion for many. London-born Amy Zahl Gottlieb was, at 24, the youngest member of the first Jewish Relief Unit ever posted overseas. While discussing her work with liberated camp members in her interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gottlieb described how women began to lead normal lives and started to menstruate again; they were thrilled to be able to start having children. Menstruation became a symbol of their freedom. One survivor spoke of it as ‘my womanhood returning’.

The study of menstruation, a topic that has until now been perceived as irrelevant, or even disgusting, gives us a far more nuanced view of women’s experience of the Holocaust. We can see how notions of menstruation, rape, sterility and sisterhood changed in the camps. It seems that periods, a long-stigmatised topic, became, sometimes in the space of only months, a legitimate topic for women in camps.

Following the recent turns to cultural history, the history of the senses and the history of the body, we also need to recognise menstruation as valid and as defining victims’ experiences during the Holocaust.

(via)

European Network of Migrant Women

#Anglo.txt

21 notes · View notes

microsuedemouse · 4 years

Text

man it has been a MINUTE since I made my own post about anything fandom-related on this website but @suzirya is blogging about The Old Guard and I haven’t seen anyone else talking about it really and I’ve got. some thoughts

I had literally never heard of this movie at all until a few nights ago when we were eating dinner in the living room and my dad pulled it up and said ‘hey I want to watch this’ and played the trailer for my brother and me. We were pretty much like yeah, sure, we all enjoy a good action flick, and aside from my other brother (who was occupied with D&D) it ended up being the whole family watching it. and I enjoyed it WAY more than I’d anticipated, especially for something I’d never heard about.

if you don’t know what I’m talking about: drop what you’re doing and go watch The Old Guard on Netflix. (it’s a Netflix original so yes it will be there.) it’s a very fun and good action film based on a series of graphic novels about a small group of immortals trying to do what’s right. there are many selling points but one of them is that it will be very good for your little gay soul, bc Charlize Theron stars (in a character with no explicitly-stated romances but lots of relationships that will make you Feel Things) and two of the other main characters are two men who met during the Crusades and are just amazingly in love with each other. And not in a vague way that the straights can interpret as Powerful Friendship. They are explicitly in love with each other and so devoted and ugh.

ANYWAY. putting the rest of my chattering under a cut bc spoilers and also I’m a wordy piece of shit

1 - early in this movie I was thinking about how glad I am that Charlize Theron has stepped into this role of like... cool female action star, but also, her characters are never super sexed up. almost any female characters I can think of in action movies, if they’re part of the action rather than victims/bystanders, are always made sexy. even when they’re Strong sexy, they’re still... a lot sometimes? I was thinking especially of some Angelina Jolie stuff, Scarlett Johanssen, etc. there are probably lots of exceptions to this that I just don’t know but still - we’ve had Theron in several roles like this recently, and appearance-wise she’s treated with the same respect as her male counterparts, which is so fucking cool and also such a fucking relief. we all love beautiful ladies, obviously, but it’s so SO good to see our female heroes just doing their jobs, without us ever being made aware of their sexuality.

and as the movie went on this was hitting me more and more, and I was also thinking it about... everyone? like. the other female lead, played by KiKi Layne, was arguably more feminine than Theron but not any more sexualised. even once she’s out of her army fatigues she’s dressed with practicality in mind, and again, we never have her female-ness pointed out to us. and I was so about every bit of that. both objectively and as a person whose relationship to female-ness and femininity is kind of weird, it’s such a good thing to see leading women whose gender and appearances and bodies aren’t being focussed on that way.

and as a sidebar to that, while I wouldn’t describe any of the prominent male characters as unattractive by any means, none of them were like... Marvel-actor hot. and I just, idk, especially in action/superhero movies, that’s refreshing to me. a lot of them looked like Regular Dudes in a way that I find very appealing.

2 - can we TALK about Joe and Nicky. holy shit. my brother and I kept leaning over to each other to be like ‘if anything happens to either of them I’ll riot.’ I MEAN.

we got a genuine, explicit, on-screen established romance between these men. it was not implied, it was not just how the actors played it in the hopes that people would catch on - it was right there. they hold each other to sleep, they kiss each other with such love, they talk to other characters about how much they adore each other. they met during the Crusades. they’ve been in love for centuries! and they’re so sweet, so devoted, so adoring! and they never have any arguments or tension to further the plot (one of my personal most-hated plot devices in any story with an established relationship). they just spend this movie loving each other, protecting each other and their weird little family, doing anything they can for each other. they’re taken prisoner and spend their time awake joking and making each other smile. and the one singular bit of casual homophobia they encounter on-screen is met with a declaration of love so heartfelt and intense that the guy who made the shitty comment literally doesn’t know what to say - which is a brief but extremely good scene in the movie, imo.

oh, also worth noting: this romance is biracial and interfaith (inasmuch as either of them may be men of faith after being alive for centuries). just to add to how good this is to see on-screen. all of this on top of them being IMMORTAL AND UNKILLABLE. NO GAYS BURIED HERE

2.5 - can I talk for a second about how goddamn much I love seeing non-hetero romance in genre fiction!!! I know it’s getting easier to find, but still. genre fiction is very much my domain and I love seeing queer romance there, especially when it’s simply an accepted fact and the characters’ queerness isn’t central to the story. narratives about queerness are good and important and serve a function but most of them aren’t really my thing, personally. a story that’s about all kinds of other things but also has queer characters there, being themselves, being in love, is so 1000% my shit.

3 - also? Charlize Theron’s character, Andy?? fascinating from a queer perspective. she doesn’t have any explicitly-stated romance with anyone, but her relationships with other characters are so compelling and so interesting. The backstory about her and another immortal, Quynh, very very distinctly gives you the impression that they were women in love. everything about Andy’s guilt and bitterness over not having been able to find/save Quynh feels so much like there was a romance there. it could have been platonic or familial - they were together, without anyone else, for centuries at least, and therefore obviously developed a very deep love - but the way Andy talks about Quynh it feels so much like there was something left unsaid, or unresolved.

also, her scene with the clerk in the pharmacy. oh my god. this woman clearly recognises that whatever is going on with Andy, something is wrong, and she offers her help, no questions asked. she takes her into the back room and patches up her wound. this scene has such an inherent intimacy because of the close quarters and the privacy and the act taking place, but... there’s also this really interesting connection happening between them, where they recognise something in one another but don’t state it. (personally, I couldn’t help wondering if the clerk was a domestic abuse survivor, maybe? but there are so many ways you could interpret her character from her behaviour and dialogue in that scene, and I’d love to see other people’s takes.)

and then on the other hand you have her relationship with Booker, who’s been with her the longest out of any of the living immortals. they’re incredible. their relationship is so, so interesting and well-depicted! they have such chemistry, that you can easily read as romantic or platonic. they’ve been together for so many hundreds of years and they work together, trust each other, with such a deep understanding and love and respect. and it never quite tips over into the romance you kind of think it will, which imo only makes it that much more compelling - there are so many directions you could take that dynamic.

4 - and then on the topic of Booker: I am SO into the way his betrayal was handled.

he did, undeniably, betray the others. there’s no argument on that fact. his motivations were understandable (and heartbreaking), even to Andy, though certainly not an excuse. so yes, they were furious with him. reasonably so! but... that didn’t actually break their relationships with him. they didn’t leave him behind in the lab, even if in some ways they might have wanted to. and in the ensuing battle, they were still able to work together and trust each other as they always have. the damage done to their larger relationship was put aside to be dealt with after all of this, as it should be. and even when they did deal with it, what they agreed on was just a century of exile from their group. given the lives they’re all living, that seems like such a mild sentence.

but to me, it makes so much sense. again, these people have lived for centuries, and there are so few of them. they need each other. the bonds they’ve formed over all this time together - the trust, the love, the sense of family - would not only be vital to both their survival and their sanity, but also incredibly difficult to truly break. what he did would seem unforgivable from an outside perspective, and even after that century passed I’m certain he’d have to earn back their trust and respect, but it makes absolute sense that they’d be willing to take him back one day.

god. GOD. I’m sure there’s more I could talk about but this is what I can think of right now and I’ve been typing for like forty minutes probably so I’m done for now but.

god.

this movie and its characters GOT ME, guys. I’m really in it. ugh UGH

#the old guard #Courtney talks

76 notes · View notes

angoramon-breeder · 3 years

Text

Tales From The United/Not-so-United/Vaguely United Nations/States Southwestern Frontier ~ Origins

Transcript of Duncan Cariode’s Research Paper and Oral Recitement for the Averlante Bard Institute

Classroom Eyestone #9901

There’s a great many molds of men out there. You see, first came the original mold that wasn’t much of a mold at all, the gods. They came from nothing hitting nothing and bleeding all over the place, and they came in any form they damn well pleased. So. the gods all got along real well, until Mind came along. It took a form similar to that of a parasite cause it was born too weak to live by itself. It clung to as many gods as possible, spreading itself across the cosmosphere. All the sudden, most of the gods found a self. It had infected them with sentience by being in their presence, and they went from blobs no smarter than rocks to people.

Mind got along real well with a whole bunch of folks. It was real swell, helping everyone it could. It gave the gods purpose. Many gods didn’t really like having Mind over, but Mind understood. After all, with all the pleasure it brought, it also brought pain. Stone and Metal in particular preferred to be alone, and because of that, found a nice peaceful life together spread apart the universe. Another quaint couple was Water and Water. It was quite the narcissist. It often broke up, but it always got back together.

The coziest of couples were Mind and Reality. Reality hated Mind at first, but grew to love them eventually. Reality thought of Mind like a drunkard views whiskey. Reality was often brought down by itself, and speaking to someone who had such lofty ideals was as if it, just for a moment, was really like that. Mind and Reality had such a deep bond that they made the first child, Magic. Magic only followed it’s own rules, and it loved making friends. Magic made friends with even the most ornery of gods, and it changed them all for the better.

The only one Magic had yet to change was Death. Death hated itself with a passion. It ruined everything it touched. It tried making friends with anyone who would take it, but alas, Death was far too awkward to hold a conversation. It always unnerved Water, making it change shapes anxiously, a feature common among gods. Stone and Sand were lonesome folk, so whilst trying to befriend them, Death had taken up a quieter, more peaceful visage. However, Stone and Metal didn’t buy it and told it that they weren’t really looking to expand their social circle. Frustrated with itself, Death had taken to brooding in the corner of the universe.

Magic approached Death in the corner of the infinite expanse with a lively skip. By this time, most of the sentient gods had started taking humanoid forms, and Magic bore lanky, feminine proportions with hip-length, immensely curly, sunset-colored hair. Despite its feminine appearance, however, Magic was larger than all of the other gods, towering over both of it’s parents. As it skipped merrily, Magic shook the cosmosphere. With every bound Magic made, Death became more anxious, or at least it did initially. After watching Magic bounce toward it for a while, it started to smile. Magic eventually ended it’s trot with a pirouette, and then spun clockwise towards the ground, ending up in a cross-legged sitting position in the space in front of Death.

“Hi,” Magic said, as it rocked it’s head violently whilst staring gleefully at Death. “What is it? Come to finish me off? No need. There’s not much worse than this.” Death’s white, translucent, viscous form uttered. “No. Not at all. What is it that you want? Why are you so... sad?” inquired Magic with a solemnity previously unseen by Death.

“I don’t know. I just... want to be part of something. It might sound silly, but I want everyone to like me. I just want everyone to give me a chance.”

“And you really want this? More than anything?”

“More than the ooze that composes me. More than there are stars in the cosmosphere”

Magic pulled out a strand of it’s orange hair. “Here. And, small tip, maybe don’t talk in so creepily.” Magic said as it handed the strand to Death. That strand was a piece of Magic’s will. The first spell. For some reason or another, Magic was the first to discover the ability to make spells. Willpower, words, and feeling were given gravity and power. A part of oneself forcing others, at least for a moment, to take it seriously. Death had gained an uncanny ability that it had not realized until after The Great Pissing Contest.

The Great Pissing Contest, for those who aren’t in the know, was when all of us smaller beings were made. You see after Magic gave Death a strand of hair, a whole slew of gods wanted in. They didn’t know that they too had it’s abilities, and a relentless war for Magic’s attention ensued. Quite a few gods that didn’t become as iconic as Death, Magic, Stone, and Metal started having children in the hopes that their children would have such strength as well. Entire factions formed whilst trying to harvest the power of their descendants. They even invented the concept of money, just to facilitate the trade and harvest of children. Essentially, entire wars were fought to obtain powers that they already had. Several hundred gods died, and Magic found itself being held captive often.

Magic had been held in multiple different prisons, subconsciously made real by their desire to contain it. They had walls of greed and a deep lust for power whose urges moaned throughout the premises. Magic always managed to escape, with each prison having a deep flaw in the design. They were unconsciously made, and because of this, the prisons were made as poorly as, well, anything you might make without thinking about it. Eventually, Magic disappeared. Fortunately, before they could find Magic again, they had found bigger problems for themselves in the shapes of other gods. The Least Meaningful War had been started. Gods had begun killing gods with no abandon. At first, there was a reason. Most of the gods had a purpose and reason to gain this power. However, after eons, reasons waned. Warring had become the only way of life they knew. The only gods that hadn’t participated in this war were what we now call the Prime Gods, Reality, Mind, Metal, Stone, Death, and Magic as well as a few others.

Eventually, the vying for power got so destructive that a truce had to be made. More than half of the gods’ number had been killed in the capture of magic. Those who lived were more often worse for wear. They were subjugated, forced to make children, or at least attempt to, as that was the only lead they had as to how they could obtain Magic’s power. The kindness that Magic once saw in each of the non-Prime gods was diminished. They were phantoms of people. Humanity and humility were traded for dimes on the dollar. Mind called a meeting in what would eventually be the little speck of dirt called Earth, and as it had infected almost everyone with sentience by this point, they all agreed to at least hear Mind out. A sudden realization had dawned on all of the gods as they stood on the manifestation of Metal and Stone. As they listened to Mind, a deep self-hatred grew in many of them. They knew the horror of their crimes, and a vast majority of them weren’t prepared to deal with that. It didn’t take Mind telling them that the war was pointless to get them to stop. All it took was a moment of silence. Nobody even listened to Mind’s speech to the point where nobody even knows what Mind said to this day. They just stood around ashamed. It also helps that it suddenly dawned on them that they already had said powers when they saw Metal and Stone, guided by Magic, shape the planet they stood on before their eyes. While relations between the gods worsened, there weren’t any more wars or slaves or needless children being made. Luckily, few ever figured out how to make children, and despite it’s length, the war wasn’t long enough for children to be harvested or even born. They would grow up in a mostly normal way, much like how Magic grew up. Having been severely traumatized beforehand by war, most gods relegated their expressions of disdain to small pranks and words, and the biggest prank war of all was The Great Pissing Contest.

It all started when Thylat, decided to make a series of people, just like they did before with animals and plants. It saw the planet that Stone and Metal had made and decided to do something similar. It studied the work of Stone intensely, taking mental notes as to how they could make it as diverse and interesting as the Earth. Water, the only Prime God to really take interest in the relations of others, saw them and, like always, had to give it’s thoughts. Water had involved itself so deeply with this little project that the critter couldn’t live without it. Thylat didn’t even mind none, as, despite Water’s pretentious attitude, it actually had some good ideas. Together, they made Wildlings, a species of short, skinny, people with colors of hair much like Water’s rainbows, and pointy little ears and noses. Meant to just be a neat little side project, soon everyone had to outdo Thylat, as ever since they made fools of themselves in the war, many of the gods had been desperate to prove their worth. Aposet made Giants (self-explanatory) and was showered with praise for it’s “creativity”. Kypnessi made Jiragige, a race of people with crystals embedded in their skin and skin that came in the colors of different types of stone. While Thylat liked some of the designs, it knew what they were doing, and they’d done it every time it’d make anything. They’d done it with plants and animals, and sure as shootin’ they were ‘bout to do it with people as well.

Needless to say, Thylat was made the punching bag of the cosmosphere despite being the sweetest god there ever was, except maybe Magic. Most gods made Wildlings but slightly different and slightly better just to stir up Thylat,but it was just light teasing. Enoucco, however, was a no-count rascal. You see, during the war, Enoucco was the one who started it all, and that embarrassment stuck. Enoucco made Humans, a race that wasn’t inherently bad. They had a few key differences like smaller, rounded ears and smaller genitals, but the way Enoucco made them was sly. Nobody knew how bad they’d get until they got bad, as Enoucco gave them subtle little differences to make them more akin to violence. The biggest change was their sexes. He made the males slightly bigger, and the females slightly smaller and with larger breasts. Pair that with outright telling them to be violent, and you’ve got a warring race if I ever did see one. They took as much as they could, and not much could stop them, as none of the other races even thought of fighting before humans came. Unable to watch them suffer any longer, Magic went down on Earth and tried to sort it out. However, Enoucco prepared for this, and the humans tried to run Magic out. For one, the female humans were designed in Magic’s image, and they were taught and conditioned to basically enslave their women. And two, they immensely distrusted outsiders, as Enoucco had a crafty little religion made to keep them in line.

Magic, realizing that not much could be done on the human end, planted a strand of it’s hair in the ground, and only told the other races how to use it. They fought tooth and nail with their newfound powers and retook a lot of land. However, the damage was done, and despite the halting of the human race’s genocides, they had still spread their culture in such a way that couldn’t be repaired by one person alone, to the point where even many Wildling nations adopted a patriarchal institution. Well folks, you’ve been a good audience. I do thank you, Miss Everland, for this research paper has been most enlightening. [Duncan turns in his written paper as well as his sources. After a brief silence in the room, Everland grabs Duncan by the hand and leads him into the hallway. Muffled screaming can be heard from her, and she returns, slamming the door on him.]

[END OF TRANSCRIPT. FOR USE BY THE AVERLANTE BARD INSTITUTE DISCIPLINARY ACTION BOARD]

#cowboy #SouthwesternFrontierSeries #wizard #fantasy #gods #origin story #my writing #writing #fiction #short story

1 note · View note

princesssarisa · 4 years

Text

I always defend Disney from a feminist standpoint, but I have to admit that sometimes they unintentionally send some uncomfortable messages. Especially when the movies themselves don’t entirely match people’s hopes based on their marketing.

By all appearances, both Anna and Elsa’s arcs in Frozen II will revolve around their coming into their own individual power and realizing that while they’ll always love and appreciate each other, they don’t need each other as living emotional crutches. Elsa will finally discover her true purpose in the world and learn to fully love herself, while Anna will find the strength to carry on when she thinks Elsa is dead and come into her own as a leader.

For the most part, I think this is beautiful. It’s wonderfully healthy.

But I do understand why so many fans are upset by the whole scenario. The main selling point of the Frozen franchise and its main source of praise from feminists has always been the supreme importance of the two sisters’ bond. Traditional Western culture places male-female romantic relationships on so high a pedestal at the expense of all other relationships. One of Frozen’s main sources of appeal is the fact that it centers around a platonic two-female relationship and, of course, that theirs is the “true love” that saves both of their lives and their kingdom in the end. It’s no wonder that fans are upset by the idea that the sequel will portray that beautiful bond as “unhealthy and codependent” and portray the sisters as learning to “not need each other anymore.” Now obviously this is an extreme assumption and I seriously doubt the movie will go so far as to say that. But in a culture that already undervalues two-female bonds, and in a franchise that has always prided itself on subverting that norm, I understand the backlash.

I can’t help but be reminded of the often-cited problem with The Princess and the Frog. The fact that when Tiana rejects Facilier’s offer and chooses Naveen over becoming human again and gaining her restaurant, it arguably seems to say “Girls, always put your man before your career.” Now I don’t think that message was intended. Of course it’s important for Tiana to value people more than material goals and to balance work with a healthy personal life. It’s not shown in a gendered light either, since her role model in ultimately prioritizing love is her father. But at the same time, Disney had used Tiana’s career ambition as her main selling point as a feminist role model. I remember the media. “Look, the first career-woman Disney princess! She plans to open her own restaurant! She’s not just dreaming of love or adventure, she has a business goal and she’s working hard to achieve it!” The fact that the movie doesn’t actually have a simple, straightforward “Yay career!” message, and that whether or not it’s famed in a gendered way, Tiana is still a woman who chooses her man over her career (even if she does get both in the end), has naturally made some viewers feel cheated.

Maybe if the media didn’t promote each new Disney Princess movie as the ultimate progressive new twist on the formula, then it would be easier to enjoy all the movies on their own terms.

Goodness knows I’d be a bigger fan of Emma Watson’s Belle if the media in 2017 hadn’t gone on about her the way it did: “She’s so much better and more feminist than the original Belle because she’s an inventor! And she wears work boots and no corset! And she plots to escape instead of crying when she first becomes the Beast’s prisoner! Not like that sappy, do-nothing ‘91 Belle in her foo-foo dresses and impractical shoes!” Now I do like Watson’s Belle, I appreciate the stronger representation she gives to girls who don’t conform to traditional femininity, and I understand that they needed to change her because the standards of an “odd,” unconventional heroine have changed since 1991. But the original Belle is a fantastic character. If the media hadn’t been so eager to tear her down in order to celebrate 2017 Belle’s progressiveness, I’d definitely feel less annoyance surrounding 2017 Belle than I do.

If only these movies’ marketing didn’t so often center around their “wokeness,” then even if we still criticized aspects of them, we might not feel as betrayed by any perceived failure of feminism in them. It might also be easier to accept each new (or reinvented) heroine as an individual, not a symbol of “the right way to be a modern woman,” and easier to like them as a result. It would be interesting to see the difference in people’s feelings if only the marketing were different.

#disney #frozen #the princess and the frog #frozen 2 #beauty and the beast #marketing #media #feminism #ramblings

85 notes · View notes

howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 4 years

Text

Raising Hell: Growing up 2nd gen in the FFWPU

J. McKenna June 12, 2014

I believe most people I bonded with while growing up have also seen through a lot of the fucked up systems and teachings of the Unification Church. I hope I am able to express and share in this process with them (or you) and perhaps hope to lend in the processing of others who still may feel trapped or hesitant or unsure of their own feeling and conclusions. This article isn’t for people still interested in pursuing the ideals of the church. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything but rather hope to convey my experiences in a healing process. I encourage comments but it is not likely I will respond to any trolling or useless debate.

While some ex-Moonies may find exposing Reverend Moon or members of his family for their hypocrisy and scandals personally vindicating and supporting their decision to leave the church, I am most interested in elaborating on my personal experiences—experiences I now view as injustices and direct harm, that I had growing up as a member of the Unification Church.

Social alienation and censored upbringing: It taught youth that they were “different” “special” “purified” people of a different quality and type than people “outside” the church. This leads to an alienation with other people and a strange in-group out-group mentality that often lends to superiority-inferiority complexes and judgment of other people’s lives as not being as valuable as a “purified” person in the church.

Ex-post facto justifications: History is seen as god’s will as narrated through the teachings of the church, thus the genocide of native Americans, the holocaust, slavery, etc. are seen as the proper progression of history, and often is taught along with “moral justifications” for these events. The violence of Christianity is unexamined (mission system in the US, anyone?). Systems of oppression, sexism, racism, genocide are all normalized and rather than the movement being anything resembling a true critique or shift in these systems, they are replicated implicitly and explicitly in a myriad of ways.

Explicit homophobia: I heard people I otherwise respected give the slippery slope argument against gay marriage (what’s next, marrying animals?), heard Rev. Moon’s translator stumble over trying to edit homophobic remarks (homosexuals are worse than dogs). I was encouraged to read a book by Richard Cohen (a “cured” gay member) featuring pseudo-sciencey case studies pathologizing homosexuality.

Purity culture: Everything is about sex and the control of sexual desire. By mandating that we not be sexual, focus on purity, and talking about marriage we are constantly talking about sex and it is the central discourse of the movement. By teaching young people that their value is tied to their virginity, many people are put in harms way. Paired with purity culture was abstinence only sex education, slut-shaming, and rape culture (if she didn’t do something to deserve it [which she probably did], I bet her ancestors did).

Lineage teaching: The focus on a pure lineage and “2nd generation” did several harmful things. First, it gave parents a creepy entitlement to their children’s sexuality and sex lives, demanding that they follow a strict path of purity and ultimately end up in church sanctioned unions with a member of the opposite sex. Having premarital sex is then the dividing line between in-group and out-group, as once a person has sex, they are no longer a valued member of their community and no longer “purified” under the lineage requirements. This is then accounted for by other ritual and purification processes to allow for a continued membership, but as a second class or demoted status person within the organization. Those who had sex before the sanctioned marriage in the church were designated “special category” and were encouraged to renounce what they did and get back on a path to purity in the hopes of marrying someone in the church, now only eligible to marry other “special category” church members.

Consent: Teachings about relationships and consensual sex are not present. Sex is viewed as the ultimate payoff for purity and self-denial. Members are encouraged to forgo sex and follow a strict life of purity as a course to get to a state of sanctioned marriage with another person of equal purity and once that union is sanctioned and ritually complete, a relationship of “absolute sex” is permitted and ones partner’s genitals are seen as one’s own property. This is a problematic teaching as it lends to a sense of entitlement of another person and ignores issues of consent.

Dualism and Black/White binary thinking: Strict gender proscriptions and dualism teachings encourage black and white thinking and mentality about the world. Gender is viewed as inherent and of a specific type. There are specific ways that masculinity is to be embodied as well as femininity.

Racist essentializing: The “superiority” and “inherent purity” of Korean people plays into the myths around Asian women and supports racial superiority of Korean people. This is harmful to other races as well as Korean people, who are confined to boxes and put on pedestals within the movement. Other racist or nationalist caricatures are supported (black people are entertainers, American women are individualistic bitches) and a true examination of race and its constructions and meanings is not attempted or acknowledged. This leaves dominant-submissive racial and cultural differences between interracial marriages to be navigated in isolation and leaves children to operate in the world without any real discussions about race and its impacts.

Misogyny: Rev. Moon only sees women living in a way he condones to be worthy of respect and safety. He often compares women to cows, where every piece of her biology has a purpose to serve others. In one speech he suggests if a woman doesn’t want to use her breast to feed a baby it should be cut off. His abusive and withholding beginning of his marriage with Mrs. Moon is idealized, and she is put on a pedestal for her undying submission to him and for “proving herself” during the first seven years of their marriage. Strict gender roles are prescribed and their subordinate status to men is affirmed through the teachings that men are “subject” and women “object”.

This reflection has helped me express a fraction of the processing it has taken for me to shift from my upbringing, where I thought I was a part of a revolutionary group and something special and transformative to now, where I recognize the unification church as a fringe backlash movement of the 50’s and 60’s of women’s liberation. Far from being a liberating and uplifting movement, it offers very disturbing explicit messages about the natural order of male domination and female subservience, lack of autonomy and control of one’s body and consent, simplistic racial stereotypes, and explicit statements of violence toward women. These are all problematic and are not fringe statements of the movement, rather they are the core tenets of the doctrine that centers on prescriptions around sex.

This reflection is for me, but I am sharing it in hopes to allow others to process and share in their own transformations through their upbringing in the Unification Church. I know and respect many people who I know through the Unification Church, some of which are still practicing members and this is not meant as an attack on them or their beliefs (though, if this upsets you a lot, maybe look into some of those things and work through that). I opted out from the Unification Church and through that process experienced many shifts in myself. I write this in hope to give a voice to my experiences and articulate some of the problematic parts of growing up in the unification church that negatively impacted my life and put up roadblocks for my understandings of myself.

*this post is a part of a multigenre project for a class. Feel free to comment and share.

http://growingup2nd.blogspot.com/

_________________________________

Insights December 2014 by J. McKenna

Cult Indoctrination – and the Road to Recovery

My advice on leaving the FFWPU / Unification Church

Scared of Leaving?

Sun Myung Moon caused huge damage to many second gen children. There have been many suicides.

Writings of former FFWPU members Many recount their experiences in the organization or their journeys out of it

VIDEO: A Prison of Shame & Fear: Understanding the Role of Shame in Cult Indoctrination & Recovery with Dan Shaw, LCSW

#J. McKenna #Family Federation for World Peace and Unification #Unification Church #Sun Myung Moon

3 notes · View notes

frstbiitten · 4 years

Text

//Yesterday I mentioned that I would talk about Frost’s new gear, since I’ve analyzed it before and talked about it, the names chosen for her cosmetics have a lot of meaning when it comes to its cultural background or anything around it that could be related with Frost. Good thing is that since Aftermath came out, a lot of things for many characters did as well, and y’all know I love this cyborg’s design a lot, so let’s begin with her power arrays.

Cordelia:

The name itself doesn’t have a clear meaning, but surely the name rings a few bells if you’re familiar with ‘King Lear’ by Shakespeare (inspired by real events). Cordelia was one of the 3 King Lear’s daughters and his favorite. To know how to divide the lands, he asks the daughters which one loves him the most, which Cordelia says ‘according to my bond, no more nor less‘. But Lear is not someone who uses his head for good and is infuriated with the lack of commitment to show love from his favorite daughter, and makes her vanish from his kingdom, to which is the beginning of a time of chaos in the life of the king. Spoiler alert: both father and daughter are taken to prison by their enemies (also, she comes back to aid him in the middle of his madness), and she is hung and dies but her body is taken by Lear for others to see, and is grief the final cause for his death to which he dies next to her. Of course, there are common points and not so common, along with the belief that Cordelia was a tragic character (and Frost is a tragic villain) no less. If we take in consideration the different parallels between Cordelia and Lear with Frost and Kuai: being the favorite, pushed away by their actions and finally dying before the eyes of that one who loved them before (of course, a big thing to notice here is that Lear is more obscure than Sub-Zero all the way if we analyze his character more).

Qingniao:

There’s a lot of names in her power arrays related with mythological figures from different cultures, most of them related to either femininity, the moon or the ice itself. However, Qingniao is different since it is not related to a goddess but to a creature. The qingniaos according to Chinese mythology were these blue (or green) birds, some of them had even three legs or just one and they were the messengers of the Queen Mother of the West Xi Wangmu, a goddess that it was believed could provide long life and prosperity, even some religions in China consider her as their central deity. These birds to the goddess were of high importance since they not only allowed her to deliver messages across the lands but also retrieve food for her as well. It’s pretty obvious why this name fits so well and shows the high importance and relation between Frost and Kronika (Titan - Henchwoman).

Oreade:

This time, this power array has the name that was used in Greek Mythology to refer to the nymphs guarding and living around the forests close to the different mountains, each mountain had a group of specific nymphs that would protect it, in fact, the most known oreade is no other than Echo. She was the nymph who fell in love with Narcissus and her voice was taken away by Hera, only being capable of repeating the last word someone spoke to her. The name for this power array honestly doesn’t have too much relation with Frost, but we could say that she is, somehow, a protector of the Hourglass since without its control, Kronika (or herself in her tower ending) would never be able to bring the New Era.

Ice Demon:

This is by far my favorite along with Quaestor and Birka Viking. Demons in the universe of MK are pretty common (hell, there’s even a whole realm that they habit). Other ninjas in the game have demon themed gear, especially when it comes to their masks, but this time we have that influence in this power array. Perhaps, what is safe to say, that is heavily influenced by the Japanese Onis but also by the Yaoguais, monsters considered by the Chinese folklore as evil spirits of any kind searching for immortality and becoming deities themselves. This relates heavily to Frost since her form to attempt to achieve both was through cyberization, and considering her personality, she could be easily related to the temper of a demon like the Yaoguais, constantly searching to harm divine creatures and humans.

Arctika:

Geographically speaking and according to the lore of the game, Arctika is actually a place beneath the mountains in China were the Lin Kuei Temple resides and this place has never been peaceful since the very beginning. The name of this power array goes along with her mask ‘Daughter of Arctika’, let’s not forget the huge importance that those cold lands have for Frost as a cryomancer and considering her wishes to be the Grandmistress of the Lin Kuei (not taking in consideration the lengths she takes to do it). For both her and Sub-Zero these lands have a higher meaning in their souls, they are around their own vital element that is the ice, and is no coincidence that both have gear pieces named after this place, also is where they first meant when the tournament for the new recruits would take place. A thing to notice is it’s distinctive design since it looks less like the other power arrays and more like a jet pack.

Ice Fury:

It is not a casualty that most of her gear refers to her personality since it’s what stands out the most when it comes to her and the treatment to other people, Frost is known to not be the most chill person to be around and having issues with her rage. Not only that is a quality of her personality that stands out at first glance, but also her fighting style. If we compare her fighting style with Sub-Zero the first thing we would notice is how much chaotic she is and violent with her moves, I’m not saying that Sub-Zero’s fighting style is less lethal, but is much more collected than Frost’s, considering that she is a cyborg and this allows her much more possibilities for her powers and how to use them, her entire body is a weapon of destruction and when Frost uses her ice powers in combat, her abrasiveness goes along with her movements and passion for defeating her enemies.

Chosen by Kronika:

We know for a fact that Kronika, the Titan who is (was) in charge of the course of time since the very beginning of the universe and master of The Hourglass, was the one who gave Frost an important place to take by her side, her gift to the cryomancer for fighting by her side for the New Era was to be superior than any human since she could see the full potential that this woman had in her soul. Kronika cyberized Frost for proving her loyalty to the cause and also be the Grandmistress of the Lin Kuei once their plans succeded completely. We see that Frost is proud to work by her side, logically she’s given an armor that goes along with both Kronika and Geras, who’s also another important agent that helps Kronika to achieve her goals. The name for this mask says a lot about how Kronika perceived Frost, or at least how Frost perceived herself when it comes to decoding what place she takes part in all of this.

Slayer of Sektor:

This name is pretty clear and tells exactly how things worked between Frost and Sektor, even if she would the Grandmistress in the New Era, her compromise with the Cyber Initiative was shared with Sektor, the same Lin Kuei who cyberized a generation of his clan back in the 90′s. The name for this mask could give us a hint about the kind of roles they played when it came to cyberize this new generation of Lin Kueis, we could say that Sektor was the one who organized and made the initiative function considering that he was the one who started everything, and Frost would be mostly in charge of retrieving the subjects for the transformation or even working as his protector (is never favorable to lose the head who has thought about the whole initiative if you think about it).

Northern Lights:

Also known as Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights is simply an atmospheric phenomenon that happens commonly close to the north or south pole, to make things short, is what happens when particles of the sun that are electrically charged with energy collide with the atmosphere of the planet and since the air is full of different types of gasses, the colorful phenomenon happens. Also, to take things in consideration, ‘Northern Lights’ was the name of one of Frost’s moves back in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, it was only allowed to input while fighting with the Tong Bei style. If we notice the design of the mask, it might resemble the mouth of an Oni/Yaoguai but it could also resemble the mouth of a dragon, considering the high importance that these creatures have in Chinese Folkore and the fact that the Dragon Medallion was the object of desire for Frost in the Original Timeline.

Pure Ice:

The name is pretty descriptive already since it’s highly related to her ability, but what stands out the most is the Lin Kuei symbol on it, again, this mask is another that pays homage to her origins and how her destiny is tied with the clan she wants to rule over.

I would continue with her frozen cores but the issue is that the names they have are too specific and related with the origins of her technology so it is not exactly what I’m intended to talk about (and the names are also kinda confusing if you ask me).

#❄‖ ∵ ｈｏｗｗｉｎｔｅｒｆｉｌｌｓｍｙｂｏｎｅｓ∴ — headcanon.#((omg this got longer than expected))

4 notes · View notes

petri808 · 5 years

Note

Now post-curse Shigure/Akito drabble please? c:

Here you go anon UwU

A Walk in a Park

Post curse Shigure x Akiko

She’d been isolated for so long, that Shigure wanted to show Akito more of the world that she’s been hidden from all these years. The going had been slow at times, three steps forward, one step back, but those steps back were becoming fewer or far between. He had the patience to see it through, hell he’d waited twenty years, what’s a few more? So, he started off small. Day trips to neighboring towns. Small festivals or even the movie theaters to help her become accustomed to larger groups of strangers.

It was a genuine surprise to him one day, when Akito came into his office with a brochure.

“Look,” she showed him with a genuine smile, pointing to the picture, “Osaka Castle is so beautiful, it would be nice to see it in person.”

He turns and looks first at the brochure then up to Akito. “If that is what you want, I will make it happen.” Shigure takes her hand. “Shall we stay a few days and see more of Osaka’s sights as well?”

Akito blushes and nods her head.

“Then I will make the arrangements,” he kisses the back of her hand. “Cherry blossom season is right around the corner, that should make for an even better visit.”

The way her eyes lit up at the word cherry blossom made Shigure’s heart melt. It was nice seeing these more feminine attributes coming through on Akito. He chuckles in his head. She made for a much more beautiful raven-haired goddess than a surly and stressed out male. All those years of waiting for moments like this one were well worth it.

It took them just under two hours to reach the Chuo Ward of Osaka by car. Shigure drives them straight to the Dormy Inn Namba where he’s booked a room with a private onsen. Nothing was too good for his woman’s first trip to a big city and he plans to make the most out of it. Akito was a little nervous about the amount of people she was seeing everywhere they passed, but Shigure just smiled and held her hand to comfort and assure her it would be okay.

First thing was a visit to the castle where its sheer magnificence made Akito’s fears fade away. Walking along the bridge that spanned the moat, the castle appeared to rise high above the city atop its stone platform and surrounded by an imposing stone wall. It’s gleaming white walls, golden trim, and green tiled roof was like seeing Heaven shining down upon their lowly presence.

As they pass under the trees, a wind blows gently, loosening a few of the blossoms. Akito gasps, almost giggling, reaching out to try and catch one. Shigure chuckles at the sight of a grown woman acting like a child. He picks up one of the fallen cherry blossoms and places it in her ear. “There,” he smiles, “a pretty flower, for a beautiful woman.”

“Always the smooth talker,” she blushes, “but thank you.”

For the next couple of days, they visit other little places around the city. Sometimes they just walk around, touring shopping districts or eateries. Akito was excited to find something cute that she was sure Tohru would love. She didn’t get to see the girl much, now that her and Kyo had moved away to another city, but they spoke often by phone and came back to visit every few months. Now she would have a gift to give. Shigure had found it amusing though. Really, he had asked Akito, an ‘I love cats’ t-shirt that had, of all the types, an orange tabby on it. But even he couldn’t deny that Tohru would probably find it adorable.

This is where having the private onsen sure came in handy. All the walking would leave Shigure, but more so Akito with sore feet from not being used to doing so much of it back home. Besides, it was nice to have an excuse to hold and cuddle with her. The soothing heat of the water fading their aches and pains away while warming up their desires for one another. Their first trysts had been a little awkward, but over time, Akito had come to enjoy them. Shigure for his part was very gentle with her and very attentive to her needs. A stark contrast from the perverse nature he’d often portray to others.

On their final afternoon in Osaka, Shigure takes Akito to the Tennoji Zoo a few blocks away from the hotel. He thought that seeing all the exotic animals might be exciting to see, he knew he was. The last time he’d had to really deal with ‘wild’ creatures, was when Kyo and Yuki were living in his home and fighting all the time. At first Akito seemed to enjoy the zoo too. It was a very large park filled with many animals of both land and sea. Huge enclosures with amazing flora and landscapes as well.

But the longer they walked, Shigure begun to notice a shift in Akito’s demeanor. Once thrilled she was now a little distraught.

He finally pulls her aside. “What’s wrong Akito?” At first, she just shakes her head, not wanting to answer, but he prompts again and pulls her into an embrace. Shigure strokes her hair. “Please tell me what is bothering you.”

“I feel bad for them,” she whispers. “All these animals are locked up and forced to live in cages almost like you all had to.”

Wow, he hadn’t even made such a connection and yet obviously this was deeply affecting her. Unlike all of the others including Akito, Shigure had never truly felt like a prisoner to the curse. But as he thought about it more, he could understand how she made the correlation. Guilt over being the God who’d kept them trapped and confined to the Sohma legacy just like these poor animals was eating away at Akito.

“Akito, I want you to listen to me.” He holds her gaze. Even when she tries to turn away, Shigure tilts her chin back to face him. “It wasn’t all your fault. You were doing what had been drilled into your head since you were an infant. We all believed in the bond, that’s not something you created, just got stuck dealing with.”

“But it is my fault, I could have done better,” the tears trickle down. “I could have treated everyone better. I-I was so mean to everyone and forced you all to stay by my side even when I knew in my heart you were miserable.”

Shigure sighs and wipes away her tears. “Akito, my love, you were young and just wanted to be loved. That’s not a crime. These animals, they don’t hate their circumstances. I mean look,” he gestures to a lazily yawning monkey, “they’re fed, housed, no need to worry about predators. Think of it like a life-long hotel stay where they are pampered for the rest of their lives.”

She looks at the monkey, “I see your point…”

“And another thing. You aren’t that same person anymore. You’ll never be that lonely girl anymore because as far as I’m concerned, you’ll be the one in a life-long hotel stay being pampered for the rest of your life.”

Akito sniffles and gives him a half smile. “Thank you, Shigure, for being so kind to me.”

He kisses her forehead and smiles back, “the honor is all mine, my dearest one. Now I say, let’s go home…”

#shigure x akito #fruits basket #Shigure sohma #Akito sohma #fruits basket fan fic #fic request

30 notes · View notes

irrelevantwriter · 5 years

Text

Mates (Part 1)

Pairing: Negan x OFC

Rating: Explicit, NSFW (Ratings and Warnings for later parts)

Warnings: Language, A/B/O universe, smut, unprotected sex, knotting, mention of bodily fluids

Word Count: 2.6K

Summary: Camilla made a mistake by hiding her true nature. She got too close to an Alpha and set off a string of events that changed both of their lives forever.

A/N: You guys! What am I even doing? My muse is back in full force and I have you all to thank for that, and Jeffery because he’s all I can seem to write at the moment, lol. This started out as a one-shot that was pure filth but then took a left turn down plot street and then took a right at fluff avenue. It’s now divided up into about three or four parts. Moderation is not my strong point. Anyway, I wanted to get this out before the return of TWD this weekend. I’ll release a part every day so we’ll have it all up before then. First part doesn’t have any smut, but I’ll get the second part up quickly so you guys won’t be without for too long. I hope you guys like it! Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________

Part 1

Negan stared out the small window of his cell in Alexandria. He’d sensed a shift in the air…a scent. But as his eyes scanned the streets, he couldn’t pinpoint what had brought him to that certain spot. He instead watched as the residents moved about as they had been for the last three years. Three years of observing the same people do the same boring shit. Three years of being locked in a cinderblock cell with his only consistent visitors being a tough as nails six-year-old and a half-blind man of misplaced faith. It was a monotonous existence…but not one he altogether hated. It was only when things were brewing in the outside world that he missed riding into battle with his leather and barbed wire. It was only when he could feel the energy beyond his stone prison start to vibrate that he yearned to be on the frontlines.

He sniffed the air.

Rain.

Something was coming.

_______________________________________________________________________

It was nearly a week later when he finally figured out what the fuck had him so twisted up.

He’d gotten a nasty splinter from a wooden chair they’d let him keep in his cell. He’d broken the fucking thing into pieces; a sudden bout of rage hitting him out of nowhere the day before. It had been unexpected and quick. But the damage had been done. Father Gabe had tried to pester him about why he’d done it, but he didn’t have a fucking answer. The man was less than pleased. Negan could give fuck all. He felt like a caged animal.

The door to the room from the street above opened, the sunlight streaming in to taunt him. He stiffened, not entirely sure why he was having such an adverse reaction to a visitor. He usually lived for the days he could torture someone new with his incessant talking and taunting. But today was different. It’d been different for the past week.

A mixture of voices filled the space and Negan concentrated on appearing calm, even though his body was slowly shifting in the opposite direction. He stepped back towards his bed and waited as Dr. Siddiq entered with a woman he’d never seen before. She was attractive. And that was putting it mildly. She had dark hair that appeared to be tied back and away from her face. Her eyes were dark, the shape round and innocent. Her lips were full and pink, instantly taking his sex-starved mind to places they could touch him. She was dressed in dark jeans and a loose flannel, the clothing both accentuating and hiding her curves.

Negan could feel his body react to her. The strong effect confused him. He’d been around women since his imprisonment. He didn’t have an issue fucking controlling himself. But this woman forced his body to react in a way he hadn’t felt since...

Fuck.

A rut. He hadn’t felt this on edge since he’d been in a rut. And that was over twenty years ago.

Goddamn.

She was a fucking Omega. He thought the breed had been wiped off the face of the fucking earth with the outbreak. They were rare before the turn and they were sure as shit nonexistent since.

He could see the moment she realized he’d figured it out and her eyes got wide. He instantly picked up on her fear, but it wasn’t of him. At least not all him. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, slightly shaking her head. She was pleading with him not to say anything. Alexandria didn’t know they had an Omega on their hands. The place was full of Betas. And Betas weren’t privy to Omega and Alpha senses. They existed like average people. Alphas and Omegas had other needs that had to be tended to. Needs that could make for some dangerous situations.

“Negan, this is my newest colleague…Camilla.”

Siddiq’s voice brought him back to his current situation. Negan immediately plastered on a smile, one everyone in Alexandria had become accustomed to seeing him wear. He slipped easily into the persona of nonchalant, smart ass prisoner.

The man gestured to the woman and Negan grinned and nodded towards her, taking note of the way her body now faced him rather than being shielded by the doctor’s body.

“Hi there, doll.” He greeted smoothly. The flirty tone seeping into his words like liquid smoke.

The woman, Camilla, raised a hand in greeting and twitched her lips upwards into a hesitant smile. He could tell he’d made her nervous. He was glad for that. Her presence at Alexandria had disturbed his chemical balance.

“We came to check on that splinter you got yesterday.” Siddiq explained as he moved closer to the cell door. He handed Camilla the supplies he’d brought while he reached between the bars for Negan’s hand.

Negan moved forward and let Siddiq examine said hand, but his eyes were on Camilla the whole time. She moved to look over the man’s shoulder, watching with intense focus. Her face caught some of the sun streaming in from the window and he realized she had a small line of freckles under her left eye. Her skin was sun-kissed and golden, the hue reminding him of summer days on a beach. Something told him she kept that kind of tone all year round.

“Doesn’t appear to be infected. I’ll just remove it and disinfect. We can put a wrap around it too so it doesn’t get infected.”

“Nah…simple Band-Aid will do, Doc.”

The doctor nodded, accepting his request. He knew he would. They weren’t going to waste precious supplies on him if they didn’t have to.

He stood stock still as Siddiq worked on his hand. He sniffed the air, aware that his body was becoming more and more aroused and tense by the Omega’s presence. He could feel his skin starting to get clammy and his heart start to accelerate. Her scent was beginning to wash over him and he already felt like he was drowning in it. She smelled like rose petals and sugar. A soft and feminine scent that made his Alpha wild with some kind of primitive bond. His eyes shifted to her neck and took in the smooth, unbroken skin there. She’d never been claimed. The idea of her being a pure Omega made a rush of testosterone flood his system.

He growled.

Both Siddiq and Camilla heard it. Siddiq assumed he’d hurt Negan with the removal of the splinter. Camilla knew otherwise. He watched as her breathing picked up and her skin turned flush. He was having an effect on her too, though he didn’t think it was nearly as intense as what he was feeling.

He studied the way the pulse in her neck jumped in time with her rapidly beating heart. He could practically feel her pussy throbbing. His dick was starting to get hard just thinking about it. The need for a woman was certain. The need for an Omega was in his blood.

“Alright, all done. We’ll be back in a day or so to check on it.” Siddiq said as he finished placing the Band-Aid on his palm.

Negan nodded, pulling his hand back through the bars. “Thanks, Doc.” He’d spoken to the man, but he was eyeing the dark-haired woman the entire time.

They were gone seconds later. But her scent still lingered in the air. And it was going to send him spiraling.

_______________________________________________________________________

Camilla was doing inventory in the infirmary when Father Gabriel and Michonne busted in, eyes wild and searching the room. Siddiq quickly put down the medical text he was reading and got up to meet them.

“Who’s hurt?” The doctor asked frantically, ready for the worse.

“No one. Yet.” Michonne stated coldly.

“Its Negan…,” Father Gabriel said with a worried shake of his head. “He appears to be in a rut. He’s destroyed his cell. He’s refused any food or water. Threatening anyone who comes close.”

“He’s dangerous. Primitive.” Michonne intervened.

“Sounds like an Alpha rut from what I remember in medical school. But these kinds of things are usually brought on by an Omega. Not just out of the blue.”

Camilla felt her body freeze, her mind racing with the possibilities. It’d been four days since she’d seen Negan in his cell with Siddiq. And every day since, she’d noticed the signs of a heat coming on. Her body hadn’t had a proper heat since before the turn. She’d always been able to find a cocktail of suppressants to ward it and unwanted Alphas off. But it’d been months since she’d found any medication. And the Alexandria infirmary had little by way of Omega healthcare needs. As far as she knew, she was the only Omega here. And she’d been in hiding.

Was it possible that just their body chemistries had forced a rut and heat? She hadn’t even spoken to him. She’d barely looked at him. But something inside of her knew…knew what this would bring the moment she stepped in the room with him. Her Omega was immediately attracted to him. She wanted him. He’d triggered something in her. She’d dreamt of him every night since. When she woke in the mornings her legs were usually sticky from the flood of arousal produced overnight. But she’d ignored it because she didn’t know the man. And he was obviously someone who did something bad enough that he had to pay for his crimes by rotting in a jail cell.

It was the most inconvenient way for her body to let her know she needed to get laid.

“We can’t just kill him!” Camilla jumped at the loud tone Father Gabriel took with the other two. Michonne looked pissed while Siddiq looked confused.

“He’ll hurt someone. We can’t have that kind of blood on our hands.” Michonne insisted.

Father Gabriel looked to the doctor helplessly. “Isn’t there a way to treat this? To calm him until it’s over?”

Siddiq scratched his beard in thought. “It doesn’t sound like it’d be possible at this stage. The option of drugging him or knocking him out requires someone to get close. He’s very capable of killing someone.”

“Then the decision is made.” Michonne declared with all the air of a queen running her kingdom.

Camilla stood up abruptly, making her presence known for the first time to the other three. “You guys don’t have any other Omegas here?” She asked, her brain frantically searching for another solution.

“No. Omegas are basically extinct.” Siddiq supplied, his dark eyes watching Camilla closely.

“You can’t just kill a man because he’s gone into rut. That’s unethical.” She insisted, trying to get through to the woman who had so generously offered her a home behind these gates.

Michonne shook her head, a humorless laugh leaving her lips. “You don’t know the things he’s done in the past. He’s dangerous. Rut or not. He’s the only Alpha we have. If he really wanted to, he could take out every one of the men here.”

“Wait-,” Siddiq interrupted, his body now turning to face Camilla head on. “What did you mean when you said no other Omegas here?”

The room fell silent. All eyes were on her as she tried in vain to think of a good enough lie. None came to her.

“Are you an Omega?” Michonne stepped closer to her. Her eyes were fixated on Camilla as if she were a dead one. She looked disgusted. She looked infuriated.

“Yes.” She said simply, unable to refuse her biology anymore.

“Camilla, what were you thinking? You shouldn’t have even been in that room with Negan that day!” Siddiq admonished, his doctor voice in full effect.

She shook her head, unwilling to receive a lecture from Betas about her body. “I’ve been on suppressants since the start of all this. I recently ran out, but I haven’t had a heat since. I didn’t know he was an Alpha.” She explained, though she knew the effort was for naught. They all looked at her differently now. Whether because of her nature or her lying to them, or both…she just ostracized herself.

“What does this mean?” Father Gabriel asked dumbly, clearly unaware of how this new information changed things.

Siddiq eyed her cautiously and then turned to deliver the news to the man of God. “It means they are biologically made to mate with each other. Camilla’s presence has forced Negan into an Alpha rut. And it’s quite possible that she’ll be going into heat soon.” He looked to for confirmation and she nodded. “It could get bad for you too.”

“I know.”

“So they have to mate.” Michonne finished, filling in the blanks for Father Gabriel. The man had the audacity to look sheepish.

“Yes, they do.” Siddiq said with a nod.

Camilla sighed, annoyed and angry that strangers were deciding her fate. She may feel bad about Negan, but that didn’t mean she was going to be forced to sleep with an Alpha she didn’t know. Especially one in a rut.

“We’re not animals.” She protested, her hackles immediately raising at their absurdity and cluelessness.

“Do you have any better ideas then? Because you lied to us…to me. And now a man is a threat and a danger to himself and others.”

Michonne’s words ricocheted in Camilla’s ears. She was right. She knew she was. But it didn’t make the pill any easier to swallow.

“You said he was a bad man. I’m just supposed to jump into bed with him?” Camilla asked, her voice small and disbelieving.

The group said nothing.

“You can’t just keep him locked up?” She tried again. Desperate for any other way to right her wrong.

Michonne shook her head. “He’s being aggressive. He’s scaring everyone. Its gonna start a panic, make people feel unsafe.”

Camilla tried not to roll her eyes at the woman’s words. God forbid the residents of Alexandria are exposed to an Alpha in rut. It seems they quickly forget what kind of place lay beyond the high walls of their picturesque homes. The real threats that lurked beyond the trees.

Suddenly, a man burst through the door. He was breathing heavily, as if he’d run the whole way. He gestured behind him from the direction he came as he spoke. “The prisoner just tried to bite Danny!”

All four people, plus the newcomer ran towards the direction of the cell. A small crowd was gathered by the window, scared and angry faces watching the spectacle as if the Alpha was on display at a zoo. The sight made Camilla nauseous.

Michonne dispelled the group, shooing away the onlookers. They could hear the ruckus from below, but nobody made a move to enter. It was obvious what everyone felt needed to be done. Camilla could feel their insistence permeating the air between them. The situation opened her eyes to the same kind of prejudices Omegas faced before the turn. No one gave a fuck. They wanted Omegas to know their place and do their part. No questions asked. It seemed the dead walking had no effect on people’s tendencies to be assholes.

She couldn’t let that man suffer. And if she was being truly honest…now that she was nearer to him, her body was responding in kind. Signaling it was ready for the Alpha that was nearby. Ready for his knot. Ready for his seed. The haze that Camilla had come to associate with extreme arousal was seeping into her pores. A loud smash and grunt from the cell had her on the cusp of whimpering. A magnetic force pulled her in the direction of the locked door. The man behind it both terrifying and exciting her.

“I’ll do it.”

*Read Part 2 here

#twd #twd fanfiction #negan abo #negan #negan x ofc #abo #abo universe #negan fanfiction

114 notes · View notes

shannaraisles · 5 years

Text

Fair Knight

A commission fic for the absolutely fabulous @kagetsukai, who requested a fairytale moment for her Hannah and my Poppy.

***

The great chamber at the top of the tower was a scene of torment. The two knights stood together in the doorway, surveying the twisted remains of their former companions, raising their eyes to where the Dread Mage Uldred stood, hands still outstretched, drunk on his own display of power.

And behind him, struggling to be free of the bonds that held her to the wall, Princess Hannah herself, dark and beautiful, eyes flaming with righteous fury at the mage who had cut down so many as they rushed to her rescue.

The two knights spared a glance to one another, and the shorter nodded. They advanced slowly into the chamber, shields raised, relying on the enchantments laid upon those protective barriers to keep the worst of the mage's despicable blood magic from destroying them as they approached. Uldred's laughter echoed around the chamber as his mad gaze focused on them.

"Such courage, my brave knights," he crowed, even as they felt the power gathering within him once again. "So willing to walk to your own deaths. No man has ever touched me - I am invincible!"

"Idiot," the taller of the two knights - Alex - muttered, earning snort from his companion in agreement.

Fire blasted from the mage's hands; two shields rose, two heads ducked down, two bodies braced, and the enchantments did their work. There could be no more advance under the onslaught of magical flame, but that was its only effect. The runes set within the shields did their work, absorbing the flames that threatened to engulf them until the mage had no more flame to spit from his writhing fingers.

"Ah," Uldred declared, shaking out his hands as he gathered yet more magical energy to himself. "Worthy opponents at last. But not worthy in yourselves, I think. Bring me those runes."

This time, it was ice that spat from his fingers, ice that slicked the floor beneath their feet. But the knights had been prepared for this - the soles of their boots had been set with short spikes against just such an eventuality. And again, Uldred's attack failed to do more than still their approach for a brief moment before they advanced once more.

Anger erupted in the mad mage's eyes as he saw how little effect his magics had on these intrepid adventurers. He screamed as he raised his hands high, sweeping them down. Pure energy rushed the knights, and this time, Alex was not fast enough to bring his shield up in time. He flew back under the force of the blast, grunting as he hit the far wall in a clatter of armor and weaponry. His companion paused, teeth gritted against the force pushing against the shield.

"Alex?"

A groan sounded from behind as the magic faded for the third time.

"I'm good," Alex managed, though he sounded far from back on his feet. "Keep going."

For his companion's feet had found the steps up onto the dais where the mage stood, and now was the time for Uldred to panic. He threw fire, lightning, ice, air, fists of stone ... and all were absorbed into the rune that shone in the center of his attacker's shield. Yet he had one last trick up his sleeve. The knight let out a terrible rasping breath as the surrounding air seemed to close in, constricting until there was no chance for movement at all.

And Uldred gloated.

"Fool," he spat, seeing the knight's blue eyes fixed on the princess beyond him. "You'd risk your life for half a kingdom?"

Teeth gritted, the knight ground out a reply in a growl.

"I'd risk everything .. for her."

The mage threw his head back, maniacal laughter echoing around the chamber once more.

"Such a fool!" he exulted. "I shall keep you for a pet. I shall bleed her dry before you, and you will become my tool with her blood!"

The growl that rose from within the knight's helmet was pure fury. Despite the crushing prison of air, the sword moved in its scabbard, drawn by a fist made strong with incandescent rage. Uldred's laughter did not give up, this show of defiance delighting him more than ever.

"And still the hero tries in vain to save his lady love," he taunted. "You will fail. No man can kill me!"

"Yeah ..."

The drawling voice from the back of the room drew Uldred's attention to Alex as he struggled to his feet once again. The knight was bleeding and definitely battered, but an enormous shit-eating grin covered his face beneath the visor.

"I wouldn't call her a man if I were you."

Uldred's eyes snapped back to the knight before him, saw the lithe frame beneath the armor, the suggestion of feminine curves, the full lips curved in a vicious smirk as she drew her sword. He staggered back a step, throwing out his hands as though mere power could hold her back ... and fell heavily to the ground, stunned by the impact of an ornate chair-leg slamming into the back of his head.

Princess Hannah snarled down at her captor, one wrist still bound to the wall, her improvised weapon shaking in her grasp. Freed from the magic's grasp, the female knight sheathed her sword and drew instead her dagger, moving to free the princess from her bonds as Uldred spluttered, refusing to go down.

"I will kill you all," he was rasping, dragging himself up onto his knees. "I will lay waste to the land ... blood will spill over every street ... you will regret this moment for the rest of your -"

"And that's about enough out of you," the female knight said wearily.

She reached down, grasping what was left of his hair, and neatly cut his throat, letting the mage die in a pool of his own blood, since he liked the stuff so much. Wiping the blade clean, she finally reached up to remove her helmet, shaking out honey-brown hair that was mostly braided out of her face, and offered the princess an apologetic smile.

"Sorry I'm late, sweetheart," Poppy said, her tone cheerful despite everything. "We had to convince Sandal we needed more than one enchantment."

Princess Hannah let the chair-leg drop from her grasp, reaching out to cup her lover's cheeks in her hands and kiss her as though their lives fully depended upon it. Poppy grinned into the kiss, letting the shield and dagger drop to the stone floor as her arms wrapped about Hannah's waist, holding her close despite the grime and blood and sweat of her journey to reach this point.

"You came," Hannah was whispering as they finally surfaced for air. "I kept hoping, but -"

"I will never not come for you," Poppy promised her fervently, cupping her cheek in a gauntleted hand. "And this time, I don't care what the king says. We're not going through all this again."

They embraced then, holding tightly to one another for a long moment, until a familiar voice interrupted.

"Don't I get a kiss?"

Alex ducked as Hannah picked up her chair-leg and threw it at him, laughing at the response.

"Fine, fine. I'll just have to find my own princess, won't I?"

"Damn right," Poppy agreed, her arm wrapping possessively about the waist of the woman she would happily walk through the worst of the Fade for. "This one's mine."

#kagetsukai #commission fic #dragon age fanfic #fairytale au #knights and princesses #hannah fox - oc #poppy hawke - oc #alex hawke - oc #uldred #hannah x poppy #this was so much fun to write!

9 notes · View notes

lo-lynx · 4 years

Text

Power relations in His Dark Materials

TW: racism, eugenics, sexism, ableism

Spoiler warning: The main His Dark Materials novels, minor spoiler for La Belle Sauvage.

In the His Dark Materials novels power is a quite a central theme. Who has power, what do they do with that power, how can you fight power? This is of course also salient in our own world, which is why social theorists have been trying to explain power and power dynamics pretty much as long as social theory has existed. In this text I therefore want to look at some of these ways of explaining power and see if they can tell us anything about the universe of His Dark Materials (focusing on Lyra’s world). This will also dovetail with an analysis that I wrote a while back of the Nordic influences on His Dark Materials, especially regarding the history of racism and eugenics in Sweden and Scandinavia in general. Reading that text is not necessary to understand this one, but in the end of it I wrote:

Another thing I want to highlight is the comparison between the severing of children and dæmons, and sterilisation. In the books, children’s bond to their dæmons (their soul) are severed by the GOB [General Oblation Board] in order to prevent “Dust” settling on the children (Pullman 2007, 275). Dust is considered dangerous and sinful, something that according to the church started infecting humans after their fall from the garden of Eden. Sterilisation in our world, on the other hand, took place in order to make the population “cleaner” and of “better” stock. Groups who were in different ways considered degenerate were targeted, including women who were perceived as promiscuous/sexual transgressors. In Lyra’s world a spiritual connection is severed by the Church in order to curb sinfulness. In our world a biological connection is severed by “scientists” (in collaboration with the Church at times) to control sexuality and reproduction. There is a definite similarity here. (Lo-Lynx 2019)

In this text I want to further that argument by analysing the way sex, gender, sexuality and power functions in Lyra’s world. I want to thank the lovely gals over at Girls Gone Canon for helping inspire me to write both of these texts, and especially with this one because when Eliana mentioned Foucault in their latest episode a light went off in my head and I knew that I had to write this analysis (Girls Gone Canon 2019).

So, Foucault. Michel Foucault is perhaps one of the most influential theorists in contemporary social theory. His stuff props up everywhere. That unfortunately does not mean that it’s easy to understand. Here I want to explain some of his theories and concepts, and then apply them to the universe of His Dark Materials. One of the theoretical works that Foucault is most know for is his analysis of the history of sexuality (in the Western world) (2002). Foucault writes that contrary to the popular belief of sex being oppressed and tabu, people have always talked about sex, just not always outright. For instance, he writes about how admitting one’s sexual actions have become institutionalised first through confession (in church) and later by explaining ourselves to doctors/psychologists/scientists (Foucault 2002, 77). By confessing we feel that we become free, our secret truth has been let into the light. Foucault also claims that through these institutionalised confessions we contribute to the discourse about sex: “One pushes the sex into the light and forces it into discursive existence.” [my translation] (Foucault 2002, 56) Part of this discourse is that if we understand the “truth” about sex, we understand the truth about ourselves (Foucault 2002, 80). Sex is in this discourse considered a vital part of who we are. Now, what exactly does Foucault mean by discourse? Discourse, according to Foucault, describes the way society talks about a phenomenon but also how it does not talk about said phenomena (2008, 181). What is left unsaid. What is possible to say. Foucault also describes discourse analysis as a scientific method and claims that by analysing discourses one can understand why one statement was made in a situation, and not another one (2013, 31). He also claims that when we can see similarities between different statements, we can find a discursive formation (ibid, 40). Further he also writes that when analysing discourses, one should analyse who speaks (who has the authority to speak), from which institutions the discourse gains its legitimacy, and which subject positions individuals are placed in (ibid 55-57). Which position a subject is placed in effects their ability to inhabit different spaces (ibid, 58). Now, in his writing about discourses, Foucault mostly saw power as something unpersonal. Power existed in power relations between individuals in the discourse, and the discourse affected how individuals acted. Power as something unpersonal was a view that he kept, but in later writings he would analyse it further.

So, how does this apply to His Dark Materials? Like I explained previously, I see a definite parallel between how the Church/the Magisterium in Lyra’s world approach Dust, and how sex has been viewed in our world. The Church explains Dust by linking it to original sin. In their version of the Bible, when Adam and Eve eat from the apple of knowledge, they do not only become aware of their nakedness, their demons also settle (Pullman 2007, 358). And when demons settle (in puberty) Dust starts sticking to people. This can be compared to how the church of our world during the 5th century started propagating that the reason for human’s expulsion from the garden of Eden was because they had fallen prey to carnal desire (Mottier 2008, 19). Therefore, intercourse was tainted by original sin. In this way Dust is both linked to forbidden knowledge, sex, and sin. Like sex in our world, Dust is something that the Magisterium feel the need to investigate even though they find it dangerous and sinful (Pullman 2007, 361). If we use Foucault’s theory here, this is understandable. If Dust is a result of original sin, then it explains the inner nature of humans. Just as sex is considered to be a secret truth inside of us, Dust can be considered the same in Lyra’s world. Dust is something sinful, something that needs finding out, so it can be destroyed. But, when the scholars of Lyra’s world investigate Dust, they need to be careful to not commit heresy. I think heresy in this case could be considered to be the limit of the discourse. When scholars and others discuss matters of science and theology, they constantly need to act in relation to what would be considered heresy. Now, in our world the limits of discourse usually aren’t as overt, and at least in democratic countries you won’t be punished in the way the scholars risk being punished when they commit heresy. But in the way certain characters challenge the discourse around Dust, we can see what Foucault might call a discursive struggle. On one hand we have the discourse around Dust that gains its legitimacy from the Magisterium. On the other hand, we have challenges to this discourse from for instance Lord Asriel. He doesn’t have the same sort of legitimacy as the Magisterium of course, but in the beginning of The Golden Compass when he has his presentation at Jordan Collage, he tries to make his views legitimate by presenting scientific evidence (Pullman 2007, 26). Here one could say that he tries to appeal to the legitimacy of science, which seems appropriate when talking to scholars. Asriel here resist the power that be (the Magisterium), but he also resists the power in the discourse. Just as Foucault says, where there is power there is also resistance. It is through just these kinds of discursive struggles that Foucault sees society changing. Yet, the scholars of Jordan are notably scared of the Magisterium finding out about their part in this resistance. This leads us in to another theme in Foucault’s writings that I want to explain: surveillance.

One way that Foucault furthered his theoretical exploration of power was through did his writing on surveillance. He explains how surveillance works in modern society by likening it to a prison where one guard can observe all the prisoners from a guard tower, but where the prisoners can’t see the guard (Lindgren 2015, 357). Therefore they can never know when they are under surveillance. He calls this a panopticon, based on the description of such a prison by the philosopher Bentham. Foucault claims that the result of this is:

Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce the inmate in a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action; that the perfection in power should render its actual exercise unnecessary… (Foucault 2012/1975: 315)

That is to say, the prisoner feels like they are constantly under surveillance, even if this is not actually the case. In that way the prisoner will obey the powers in charge, so that practical/physical power is not necessary. Foucault claims that this is the case in society as a whole; we know that we could be under surveillance all of the time, and therefore we behave in accordance with that (Lindgren 2015: 359). This turns us into docile bodies that can be used productively in society, since we unconsciously behave like the power wants us to (even when the power isn’t a clear individual or group). Other writers have also used Foucault’s theory on surveillance and his concept of docile bodies to analyse how this affects the gendered body, specifically the feminine body (Bartky 2010).

In Lyra’s world this surveillance is perhaps even more overt than in our world. People are seemingly very aware that their every move could be watched by the Magisterium. This theme is even more present in Pullman’s novel La Belle Sauvage that also takes place in Lyra’s world (Pullman 2017). I won’t spoil that novel too much, so I won’t go into that theme further now, but parts of it very much paints society as a panopticon. Now, what consequences does this have? Well, it mostly makes most people in Lyra’s world just go along with what the power wants. Some does it because they are aware of the constant surveillance, others have internalised this surveillance and does it unconsciously. One aspect of this that I want to explore further is the way it effects gender and gender expression in Lyra’s world. In the chapter in The Golden Compass when Lyra first meets Mrs Coulter, she contrasts Mrs Coulter to other women academics that she has met (Pullman 2007, 69). In comparison to them Mrs Coulter seems refined, glamorous, precisely what a woman in Lyra’s world should be. Women should be pretty, and, tellingly Lyra thinks the female scholars are both boring and less fashionable. The materiality of the body is here connected to other assumptions of gender, such as women scholars being less accomplished than men. In the patriarchal world of His Dark Materials, women who try to integrate themselves in male institutions are very frowned upon. Later, in The Subtle Knife, when Lyra has learned that all that glitters isn’t gold (such as golden monkeys), she still has this internalised view of what a women’s body should be like. When she has to find new clothes to wear and Will suggests some pants she refuses, claiming that girls can’t wear pants (Pullman 2018, 56). Here she has internalised the surveillance of the power structure that effects how women will behave. No one from Lyra’s world is there to tell her that she, as a girl, can’t wear pants, she monitors her own behaviour. This is just one example of many where one can see how the constant surveillance makes people in Lyra’s world, just as our own, internalise that surveillance.

One final part of Foucault theories that I want to explain is the concepts of biopower and biopolitics. Foucault writes that while at previous times in history regents such as kings and queens have had the power over their subjects’ life or death directly (such as by capital punishment), today the state’s power more lies in the power to support lives or let them perish (Foucault 2002, 137 & 140). He describes our current time as one of biopower, where the state controls our bodies to make them as efficient/productive as possible for capitalism (ibid, 142). Foucault also writes that because of this, norms has in part replaced the law, or rather that the law has become the norm, and therefore people doesn’t always have to be threatened by legal consequences in order to behave (ibid, 144). A state that wants a productive population doesn’t want to have to threaten them with death every time it wants to control them. This can obviously also be thought of in terms of the panopticon and surveillance that I described above. But Foucault also writes that since sex is considered so important in society, that is also one of the most controlled things (ibid, 146). This control takes place both on a micro level by doctor’s appointments, psychosocial tests etc, and on a macro level by statistical measurements etc. If this sounds similar to the way eugenics tried to control the” health” of the population, that is no coincidence, Foucault cites this as the most extreme example of these biopolitics (ibid, 148). It might also be worth noting here how other theorists has expanded this by writing about for instance “the bio-necropolitical collaboration”, and how inclusion or exclusion of certain bodies/people in society indirectly produce life and death (Puar 2009). Certain bodies get support to live and thrive, while other bodies (such as disabled bodies or bodies from the global south) is not considered worth to invest in.

Now, if we have established the link between Dust, sex and sexuality, then we could apply Foucault’s analysis of biopolitics on the Magisterium’s attempt to control Dust. In the Golden Compass we can see this through the General Oblation Board’s work on severing children, to make them not infested with Dust (Pullman 2007, 275). Like I’ve previously mentioned, one can see a link here to sterilisations, one extreme form of biopolitics that are aimed at controlling the sexuality of the population. It is also interesting to note here which children, which bodies, are being experimented on. Like I established in my other analysis, this is mostly lower-class children and children of ethnic minorities. This seems like a clear example of how the bio-necropolitical collaboration that Puar writes about decides which bodies should be protected, and which are disposable. Another example of biopolitics can be found in The Amber Spyglass when The Magisterium tries to prevent Lyra from being an Eve 2.0. Like Mrs Coulter says:

My daughter is now twelve years old. Very soon she will approach the cusp of adolescence, and then it will be too late for any of us to prevent the catastrophe; nature and opportunity will come together like spark and tinder. (Pullman, 242)

They need to control Lyra’s blossoming sexuality in order to control Dust, and the possibilities of free thinking. Mrs Coulter prevents The Magisterium to take control over Lyra, because as she says:

If you thought for one moment that I would release my daughter into the care, the care! , of a body of men with a feverish obsession with sexuality, men with dirty fingernails, reeking of ancient sweat, men whose furtive imaginations would crawl over her body like cockroaches, if you thought I would expose my child to that, my Lord President, you are more stupid than you take me for. (Pullman, 243)

Here we again see the connection between controlling Dust and sexuality, specifically female sexuality. Such a focus on female sexuality often existed within our world’s eugenics as well, since women were often seen as the reproducers of the nation (Mottier 2008, 90). Statistics show that 90% of sterilisations being carried out was on women in both Switzerland and Sweden. As Mottier writes:

Female bodies were a particular source of eugenic anxiety, as indicated by the gender imbalance in the removal of reproductive capacities. Reflecting traditional associations of reproduction with the female body, women were also seen as particularly important targets for the eugenic education and state regulations that eugenicists called for. As sociologist Nira Yuval-Davis has pointed out, ideas of the ‘purity of the race’ tend to be crucially intertwined with the regulation of female sexuality. (Mottier 2008, 92)

That it is specifically a girl’s sexuality that the Magisterium wants to control seems depressingly fitting in this light.

So, in conclusion we can see that the Magisterium considers Dust to be something that needs to be controlled. This partly happens through discourse, partly through surveillance, and partly through biopolitics. In many ways we can see how this parallels the way sex/sexuality is conceived in our world. Now, I’m not sure how much of this was deliberately put there by Pullman. Perhaps he didn’t intentionally make Dust a metaphor for sex/sexuality. But the way he connects it to original sin, puberty, temptation etc, makes me think that at least some of it was on purpose. Lyra’s world is not that different from our own after all.

References

Bartky, Sandra Lee. (2010). “Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Pathriarcal Power.”, pp. 64-85 in Weitz, Rose & Samantha Kwan (eds). The Politics of Women's Bodies, New York: Oxford University Press.

Foucault, Michel. (2002/1976). Sexualitetens historia 1: Viljan att veta. Translated by Birgitta Gröndahl. Göteborg: Bokförlaget Daidalos AB [This is the Swedish translation of L'Histoire de la sexualité I : La volonté de savoir/ The History of Sexuality I: The Will to Knowledge]

Foucault, Michel. (2008). Diskursernas kamp. Eslöv: Brutus Östlings bokförlag Symposion.

Foucault, Michel. (2012/1975). ”Discipline and Punish”, pp. 314-321 in Calhoun, Craig, Josepth Gerteis, James Moody, Steven Pfaff & Indermohan Virk (eds), Contemporary Sociological Theory (3rd edition). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Foucault, Michel. (2013/1969). Archaeology of knowledge. New York: Routledge

Lindgren, S. (2015). ”Michel Foucault och sanningens historia”, pp. 347-372 in Månsson, Per. (eds.), Moderna samhällsteorier: Traditioner, riktningar, teoretiker (9th edition). Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Lo-lynx. (2019). “The Nordic influences in His Dark Materials” Accessed: December 1, 2019. https://lo-lynx.tumblr.com/post/189230180712/the-nordic-influences-in-his-dark-materials

Mottier, Véronique. (2008). Sexuality: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Puar, Jasbir K. (2009). “Prognosis time: Towards a geopolitics of affect, debility and capacity,” Women & Performance: a Journal of Feminist Theory, 19:2, 161-172

Pullman, Phillip. (2007/1995). Guldkompassen. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Natur och Kultur [this is the Swedish translation of The Golden compass]

Pullman, Philip. (2018/1997). The Subtle Knife. New York: Scholastic.

Pullman, Phillip. (2001). The Amber Spyglass. New York: Random House.

Pullman, Phillip. (2017). La Belle Sauvage. New York: Knopf.

#His Dark Materials #his dark materials spoilers #feminism #tw: sexism #tw: racism #tw: ableism

1 note · View note

widgenstain · 6 years

Note

i hope this doesnt sound creepy but what were your thoughts on submergence? I love reading movie reviews/rants about my faves (jamesy)

Lol, no,not creepy at all, I wanted write a few words after I saw it two weeks (?) agoanyway, but got distracted. I hope this doesn’t disappoint you though! Not so many positive opinions here!

(light spoilers under the cut)

The best word to sum up my feelings about this is“meh”. I expected the worst after reading some reviews but it wasn’tTHAT bad. It wasn’t good either though. I felt pretty vindicated in myassessment from January 2016 ; Submergence isn’t abook that translates well on screen. And they didn’t even try very hard. Boy, thatscript is bad…

Sceneslifted directly from the book that anyone with even the tiniest understandingof how good narratives work would have changed, or at least tried to make morefilmable. Instead we got this mess; long, clunky, scientific dialogue thatworks as a build-up in the book but needed to be cut short in the movie andmore importantly: focussed on the message and motives behind it! What does it mean to behuman, to live in certain social structures and how insignificant are we andthose social structures really in the big picture? You don’t have to explain the layers of the Ocean if you can’t get across how vast they really are and what that vastness is meant to symbolise!

Thedirection doesn’t clear anything up either. It’s so inconsistent in its levelsof subtlety. Especially in the parts that take place in France it needed to be waymore obvious; what attracts these two people to each other? THE importantquestion in a romance!

In the bookit’s intellectual understanding and fascination with the other person’sapproach to topics like love, death, religion etc.. I wasn’t kidding in my earlierpost when I said that in the book they aren’t really characters, but voices for differentworld views that somehow still see their similarities and learn from eachother. The whole thing is supported by their weirdly intertwining heritage andlife story; she’s a biracial cosmopolitan who explores the seas his ancestors sailed,before he became a spy in Africa, who’s deeply involved with Eastern Africanconflicts.

In the movie?Yeah, that first part doesn’t come across whatsoever. They try, but it’s fartoo subtle and the script doesn’t capture the differences/similarities at all. Theyprobably realised that, so they added a lot of sex scenes instead. I was veryworried for them but they’re actually fine.They’re notreally well-matched physically, James looks way older than Alicia (well, he is,widge) but they do have chemistry. Is it the chemistry the movie needs though? No,it’s not.

I totallycan see them as two people who met at a nice hotel on the Atlantic coast and thought“hey u cute!” “hey, u cute too, let’s have some really good sex since we’reboth people who are so good at sex.” And after the three days, they went their ways andmaybe thought of each other during a wank session or two.

It’s notthe chemistry of a couple where he thinks of her in the worst moments of his lifeand she in the most triumphant yet terrifying ones.

As for the intertwiningheritages? They actually wrote, shot, edited and left in a scene in which hetalks about her being such a “mongrel” of Swedish and Australian heritage. Noone in that whole process noticed the disconnect or the freaking white-washing!Wim Wenders deserves a few punches in the nuts for that.

As for theacting, yeah… I’m not a fan of Alicia, there I said it. I don’t subscribe tothe hate the Fassbender fans/haters/toxically obsessed creeps (who keeps upwith this these days?) throw at her but I sincerely do. not. understand. how shemade it as far as an actress as she has.

Still, she is ok in this, she showsmore than her usual three expressions and some actual emotions. That doesn’ttake away from the fact that she acts in scenes, not in movies. She’s onecharacter in one scene, another in the next. It - weirdly enough - works bestin the sex scenes where they allowed her to be an unusually tomboyish character,not the ultra-feminine seductress you’d expect in such context. She feels more or less natural and ok in them.

She’s farless believable as the career-driven and respected-by-her-peers scientist andit’s the absolute worst in the “phone” scenes. To be fair the script fucks herover in these as well, turning Danny, a stoic woman of science about to go onthe biggest adventure of her career, into a bawling teenage girl, who’s upsetthat the guy she had really good sex with doesn’t reply to her calls.

A betteractress than her would have struggled with that garbage too, but with her scene-actingit really feels like you’re watching someone completely different each time. Addthe gloomy goth girl rambling about suffocating in really inappropriate momentsand you’ve got your stitched together Frankenstein character.

James of course knows how to portray a coherent character, but he isn’tat the height of his game either in the beginning. He’s a bit stiff, the whole spy stuff is thankfully short because it feels like an artsy-fartsydirector trying and failing to do James Bond, and the scenes in captivity would have hit much harder if you’d gotten WHY he adores her so and whispers “OH DANNY” all so dramatically.

I mean, I get thatmovie!James is trying to hang on to his sanity as best as he can, but why think of that random girlhe had really good sex with in France? Why not his mother, his best friend or, ffs, his housekeeper in Nairobi he’s known for more than 3 days?! The film doesn’tget this across and it’s sad (I’m also convinced the editor hated them. Herflashbacks show him squinting unattractively and his flashbacks show her from areally unfortunate angle.)

However, hisacting is top notch in the pivotal scene when movie!James’ captors send him into thewater to shoot him. It starts out all dramatic but then he takes it and turnsit into this absolutely painful, human moment where he yanks the audience’sheart out and crushes it like he’s wont to do. Man is he good. From that on Ilike the movie.

The interactions with the doctor (helloooo Julian Bashir, didn’tknow you were in this!) are the best scenes in the book as well and they’reexcellent. Nothing is black and white, how different can the lessons differentpeople take from the same situations be, etc.? It’s great.

Except whenthe movie suddenly throws all subtlety overboard. There’s a scene where a womangets stoned and instead of focusing on the fucking amazing acting that goes on onJames’ and Alexander Siddig’s faces it has to ram the pointhome with the silliest effects. It’s such a waste of two excellent actors with an amazingly uncomfortable chemistry.

Still, the scenes with the extremists are awesome. Too short and I don’t think the movie audience really gets how intriguingReda Kateb’s character really is, but they’re part of a movie that could havebeen great. Pity that wasn’t the whole movie.

I was a bitconfused after Tiff last year where Wenders said that he changed the ending butI don’t think he really has? Both are open in ways, but not really. I liked theending in the book and I liked it in the movie, super kitschy lifetime movieshots of Danny aside.

Anotherpositive thing I noticed was the light. Whoever did that really understood whatto do with the beautiful people in front of the camera and how to tell thefreaking story. I swear, the light on her face as he leaves the hotel, in hisprison and in her sub does a far better job at connecting them and explainingthe motives than script and direction together! I hope that light person got paid a ridiculously high amount of money and gets to do more movies.The script person should find another day job though and Wenders should stick todocumentaries from now on.

In short:Meh. Not gonna buy the DVD but maybe will check it out another time when/if itcomes along on Netflix and see if my opinion changes.

#submergence #james mcavoy #reviews #more like rambling words #teehee #intowhiteness #we talked about this #rant rant rant #whitewashing

4 notes · View notes

tryingfeminism2019 · 6 years

Photo

America loves an underdog and a victim, which is exactly what Taylor Swift has been her whole career. Kanye West saying “I made that bitch famous” was a sexist remark allowing a man to take credit for all the demanding work Taylor has had to do to obtain her fame. However, she told him he could use the line in his song and it was wrong of her to call him misogynistic after she approved the comment. America love the victim and Taylor gave her fans what they wanted to hear by saying she would never allow a man to say those words about her. And had it not been for the Kardashian’s, America would have remained on the victim painted, white woman’s side instead of believing the black man, since he was in the threatening position in the narrative due to white patriarchal norms.

West and Taylor’s relationship began with a rocky start when he “stormed the stage, took the microphone from her, and announced that Beyoncé should’ve won instead” but due to closet racism the skinny white girl won (Woodward). West was attempting to shed light on the racism still present in this country but the world saw what it “has been conditioned to see: the “threat” of an “angry" black man terrorizing the “innocent" white woman” (Woodward). This view of the innocent white woman has stuck with Taylor throughout her career and makes her fans love her and forgive her after repeated offenses. From the start of her career she “adhered to the markers of white feminine fragility, presented as a modern-day ingénue figure” (Woodward). She had ball gowns, loose curls, sung of castles with a prince saving her, and experiencing rejection and heartbreak after the betrayal or breakup of her current celebrity boyfriend. Her story was “a more old-fashioned, pleasant story for the media to tell [and] for Swift, it translated into record sales” (Woodward). Swift was surrounded by women in the media being sentenced to prison, DUIs, and rehab. The love story victim is much easier for people to relate to, which is why her career continued to grow.

The she dated Harry Styles, One Direction’s womanizer, and claimed to fall victim to him in her song “I Knew You Were Trouble” but the song was written three months before she even met Styles. She used a guy with a look alike tattoo in the video allowing her fans to believe he is what inspired the lyrics and her to play victim, again. The Style’s incidence should have shown her fans how manipulative she is and that she was willing to rewrite her timelines to sell records. She utilized her relationship with Harry Styles to not only sell her album Red, but also her next album 1989. By teasing her fans and press, she “has been able to control the narrative around her relationships, ensure sustained media attention, and bolster record sales” (Woodward). She has taught the public to view her like a soap opera, always waiting for the next episode of her life update, but she overdid it with 1989. Just like any good soap opera, it went one season too long and her fans’ fascination began to wane. Therefore, she edited her brand into the hot issue at the time: sexism. Even though she publicly denounced feminism in her early career she turned to combating sexism because she was portrayed as clingy, insane, and the desperate girlfriend by the media. Taylor thought this portrayal was a little sexist. By turning to feminism, she could portray herself once again as the victim. This time it was the press who was portrayed as the villain for how they depicted her relationships.

Swift tries to become a feminist because it is mainstream. She calls herself a feminist because she supports other women and is friends with them. However, her crew is devoid of diversity and she begins to pick fights with other women to maintain her status as the victim. The Katy Perry feud and Nicki Minaj twitter feed allowed Taylor to continue being the victim while manipulating the media. Taylor says “I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your spot” (Woodward). Taylor criticizes women when they offend her, but she does not accept blame for chiming into arguments. Her feuds with other women are just a chance for Taylor to remain in the spotlight and relatable to her fans. Also, she utilizes her music to relate to her fans. She creates “Shake it Off” to bring awareness to bullying, which is an important topic but she does so in a way that fuels her fame, because “each time Swift bonded with fans through victimhood, it also resulted in a wealth of positive press attention” (Woodward). Swift recognizes the power her white womanhood affords her by allowing her to play victim and she continued to capitalize on it. However, like any persona it has its flaws and one day must come to an end, because she does not appeal to minorities. Also, she does not embark on the topic of intersectionality that a true feminist would embrace. Instead, Taylor choose to continue her image of “white feminine fragility to compound the well-worn narrative of her as victim and West as villain, while simultaneously imploring young women to work hard” (Woodward). Yet, she does not have a single woman on stage with her when she won her Grammy. She is now attempting to change her style and become more edgy; however, she played the victim for too long. Her recent music appears fake to me. I still like it and it’s catchy, but the old Taylor had my heart. The new Taylor reflects the loss of innocence we all experience when we grow up and I guess it was her time to grow up. While her songs appear to be more grown up, she has not taken responsibility for her actions and she still seems to be playing the victim by saying we made her change in “Look What You Made Me Do.” Taylor you seem to be spiraling and I hope you figure it out soon.

While, this article highlights how Taylor has manipulated us all into loving her, it only glazes over why we love her. It certainly does not commend her and her agency for their ingenious technique of utilizing patriarchal norms to love the victim to keep her in the spotlight and make money. Taylor betrays all of us and makes millions of dollars doing so. We criticize her because we feel like she has cheated us, but she does not owe us anything. Her job is to make people like her and that is what she has done as the victim, the mainstream feminist, and the grown-up edgier Taylor. I personally hate to know she deceived me, but she should be applauded for the show she has been putting on. Each of her moves is calculated and she controls how she is viewed even if it is as a victim. We praise Beyoncé for her agency, yet criticize Taylor for using hers to make money. Taylor is portraying herself within her role of the patriarchy, just as Beyoncé does. We give Beyoncé credit for re-claiming that role yet scoff at Taylor’s same attempt.

Original Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/elliewoodward/how-taylor-swift-played-the-victim-and-made-her-entire-caree?utm_term=.on1oVeyO8#.wxM8XwYN1

#how taylor swift played the victim for a decade and made her entire career #taylor swift #intersectionality

2 notes · View notes

pussiehands1 · 6 years

Text

meta #8 // ‘lets go rage, dee’ tw: sexism, misogyny, aids mention

One of the most underdeveloped relationship on the show has to be Mac and Dee, their relationship hinges purely on the fact that Mac, Charlie and Dennis are friends. Dee is an outcast amongst outcasts, struggling hard for nearly twelve seasons to garner enough of a voice that doesn’t render her as just ‘the background chick’. Arguably, however, Mac and Dee have the most unique of the gang member relationships and that’s because their development is barely seen on screen and when it is it’s not elaborated upon. Where other members of the gang will always pair off, Dee is usually there as a last resort. Even characters like Frank show some dynamic with Mac, Franks obvious discomfort coming from Frank’s views on Mac’s homosexuality (S11E6). This meta is going to attempt to give some insight into their relationship and give some (speculation based) background about their dynamic. To explain this completely I also need to give some idea about where Mac sits in terms of his issues with femininity.

IDEOLOGIES

So Mac wasn't introduced to femininity until high school but at that point he was already semi-invested in religion/masculinity so there’s this double standard about men and women already rooted in place. Mac's mother has short hair, she wears neutral clothing and she's not exactly stereotypical feminine ( though Mac does refer to her as beautiful regardless ). But then Mac begins feeling things for guys which he can calm to some extent, its the 80′s so being gay is not a thing you want people to think you are because of stuff like aids / lack of rights / understanding etc. It’s media hatred that pushes this idea so Mac oppresses it, he uses weed/alcohol/religion etc. to keep it down. But then there's these women who dressed freely, you have things like the feminist movement you have this move from the classic american family into a more modern way of living and its progression that he resents. This is an issue that he has with Dee specifically and it’s because she's sexually free, she dresses how she wants and she behaves how she wants to behave without restriction. How come she can live guilt free when I cant? Of course Mac’s big problem is himself, not her, but he refuses to acknowledge that because of his denial.

There's a few times in canon when he talks about making women feel small by calling them names (S12E6) ( cunt, bitch ) or by making them feel bad about themselves to make himself feel better (S12E4), and he’s so insecure and threatened by the idea of womanhood that he can't confront it. Mac expresses so many stereotypical feminine traits, he's sensitive, he's very fragile in how he needs to be handled, he responds to emotional and physical touch very easily. If Mac links that to womanhood then he, by his own logic, is admitting that he is weak because that's how he views women - as lesser, not as strong, not as dominant. Then you add Dee into that equation and it flips it. Dee is everything Mac’s version of a ‘classic woman isn’t’. She’s opinionated, she’s intelligent, she’s sexually active with multiple men, she has no problem in asserting authority over men, she drinks, swears and generally these are things Mac has never witnessed a woman do. Dee represents everything a 21st Century female is, she embodies the true meaning of freedom and that can’t be understood by a man like Mac who’s entire sense of self has to be based on toxic masculinity in order to live his life as a closeted gay man.

BACKGROUND

(S413) Mac was originally supposed to play the Dayman in Charlie’s original script and this character in turn would be the one to get with the ‘Princess’ (Dee), they then have a scene where they sing and then kiss. Charlie, at the end of the play, then inserts himself as the Dayman. Though this is yet another example of how Charlie projects himself onto Mac as you can read in my Mac x Charlie meta. The show places Mac and Dee in a position of a classic ‘Will they won’t they’ position that is then explored in a later episode (S9E3) when they try to reinvent a traditional sitcom type vibe. While they do mock this, the episode (S1E4) shows Dee going to kiss Mac underneath mistletoe that she’s carrying, shown in the same fashion that his girlfriend comes in to surprise him. With Dee wanting to annoy or anger her mom (interested in a lower class drug dealer), it’s very likely that at least early on Mac and Dee had some kind of romantic connection, at least from Dee’s point of view. As they grow older it distinguishes and after he rejects her (emotionally, physically) then things start to become stressed, they drift apart and they begin to loathe each other. Mac and Dee then become closer in S3 but then drift apart again, I don’t think anything character wise happened but I do think because of Rob and Kaitlin getting together around this time this then influenced their screen time somewhat from this season out.

ADULTHOOD

Mac and Dee team up only a handful of times, though there’s no specific reason as to why. Most often than not it’s because of their mutual understanding on topics but generally it’s out of convenience. Mac, as stated above, believes very much in the idea of a nuclear family as shown in (S3E1) stating that children should have a mother and a father. He then agrees to be, one, of the Dads of her baby (S6E12) later on in the show. The relationship with Dee is the closest Mac gets to having a relationship with a female (at least long term) and he has no foundation for that. Therefore no social boundaries are established, however, Dee does not conform to these regardless of any knowledge that he may have. Mac’s authority in his life has always been his father and after he went to prison it’s obvious that the relationship with his mother went downhill. Dee often expresses hatred towards Mac and insults him right out (S3E5, S7E11) and he does not react to either of these things, instead, he stands at the back and refuses to acknowledge the insults with anything more than a grumble. Paralleled to Dennis, or even Charlie, Mac has no issue in launching themselves at them (S9E3) in order to defend himself, he becomes almost reserved at Dee’s attacks.

After Mac is called out for being gay in S6, his relationships with the entire gang begin to change, especially as it moves into S7. From this point onward Mac and Dee start to become closer as a duo. Mac and Dee work together to find a guy online, even investigating different areas and going with each other (S7E8) Without the rest of the gang the two get along well, they barely argue and they’re even supportive. This continues as a theme (S7E10) where they try to find an avatar for Mac, Dee even raising a bro and asking ‘For You?’ when they’re checking out a guy together. These two being paired together for something as artificial as that is potentially showing parallel to what may happen later, with Mac accepting that he is gay and that (as shown times before) he and Dee are compatible when it comes to what they look for in a man. Dee, in fact, is the only member of the gang who doesn’t judge Mac for being gay and is the only member to be happy for him. In Hero or Hate crime, Dee is the only one that expresses joy to Mac coming out of the closet by smiling while the others look shocked. As Dennis and Charlie are closer to Mac than Dee, it gives a good indication of where they are. Dee has obviously had other struggles, ones she can relate to Mac with, and arguably she is the only one that accepts herself for what she is - for Mac to then join that group, it places them together.

As we move into S13 I believe that they will get closer, that they will begin to bond over certain things that will change their previous dynamic. Mac has already shown progression in this (S10E1) in showing worry for Dee and the amount she’s drinking. Earlier seasons may not have cared and would have probably encouraged her to drink more. They then team up to go drink and hang out with the locals (S11E3) while the gang goes off and does their own thing, separating them entirely. Mac and Dee also express interest in having a ‘favourite water ride’ (S12E2) that they’ve planned to go on before relaxing together at the pool for the rest of the day. As the season slips by in S12 Mac becomes less interested in Dennis (who in turns becomes more interested in Charlie), and therefore the dynamic to slip into is Mac / Dee. The two are very strong willed, very stubborn and very much alike when it comes to wanting acceptance and wanting love.

Where they differentiate is how they go about that. Mac is very open about wanting love and giving it and Dee is very sheltered in her affection, only doing so when she feels safe or a sense of place and yet they both have strong fears of abandonment or at least of being left by the people they love. Dee has never had somewhere to call her own, she was shunned out of her family as Dennis was favoured and then she was shunned out of the gang as he was favoured again. In her eyes Dennis then choosing Mac becomes a sore spot to take and it’s a clash of resentment that doesn’t really go away until they begin to spend time together. This distance is shown not just in the show but also surrounding implications from the show. (S2E4) Is aptly titled ‘Mac Bangs Dennis’ Mom’, not Dennis and Dee’s mom. Understandable given Dennis is the one this effects, however, Dee is not even considered. The episode could have easily been titled Mac Bangs Mrs Reynolds, but it isn’t. The disassociation with Mac and Dee has been long running, (S3E3) he admits to not having her phone number, (S6E7) he completely dehumanises her and presents her as an actual ostrich. Dee, who is probably used to this from her mother, reacts in a passive manner but treats him with the same amount of resentment that she had for Mom.

They’re both growing as people, both able to understand themselves and their feelings and what that means for other people. They’re beginning to show awareness especially about the people that they love (S12E8) and they most likely will grow with each other. Teamwork has been there in their relationship before (S3E14, S4E12) and will no doubt blossom. As Dee wants to get closer to Charlie the easiest way through that is with Mac, and for them to develop a bond that would give them both someone to rely on would be the healthiest thing Sunny could offer moving forward. With the amount of support Mac has to offer and the amount of support Dee needs to flourish, the two almost complete each other and with the potential for Dennis to be out of the picture it’d only encourage them.

#ᶜʰᵃˢᵉ ᵘᵗˡᵉʸ ᶠᵃᶰᶜˡᵘᵇ : mac x dee #{ fuck me this was SO fucking hard to write }#meta.#{ PLEASE - this is just #if not more important than my charlie one }#{ theyre such an underrated dynamic and dee herself is such an underrated sunny char - i adore her }#{ also this is shit sunny give me more contnet thanks }#{ this was poor if anybody has anything else send it my way! }

5 notes · View notes

badbunny-baby · 5 years

Text

Run Your Own Organisation By Marketing Wholesale Infant Clothing On Ebay.com

In order to speak about love and also still build a socially acceptable metropolitan identification, musicians tend to implement among the 5 successful love narrative forms. No person comprehends circumstances like that, individuals cant bargain with it, so they 'll speak about it for life. The lady attempting to offer me their most current phone plan bargain referred to a tv advert. She maintained me talking for approximately 10 mins throughout which time she referred me to this certain TELEVISION advert an additional 4 times, and also each time I guaranteed her I had not seen it due to the fact that I do not view tv. Knitting can be gotten throughout the adverts as well as worked at for 5 or 10 mins each time. New yarns and also trendy pattern styles make weaving fun and quickly, and I can weaved even if I am enjoying TV, albeit a rare occurence for me directly! With the internet, also if you live in a neighborhood that is little, you aren't restricted to your city, and also can locate individuals not simply around the UK, however across the globe as well! Then decorate with child images and also such, then take it to your neighborhood duplicate shop, like Kinkos, and also have them print the web page on pastel colored paper. Often weve occurred upon regional street fairs or windsurfing competitions or a version train gallery. Weve spoke about endometriosis, that which can be a cyst. So, you can have bleeding with a cyst yet many of the moment those are uncommon situations. The endometriomas, if they persist, and also theres continuous blood loss in the abdomen as well as the ovary that can trigger bonds. Any type of hemorrhaging cyst can be an issue. A maternity with a corpus luteum, the 2nd kind of useful cyst takes place to establish as the infant is growing. A lot of these, the larger blood materials, the bigger capillary on cysts are usually the corpus luteum cyst. A lot of ovary cysts in as well as of themselves are not mosting likely to be triggering a problem. However, the vital thing right here, is that cysts themselves, in as well as of themselves are not mosting likely to be an issue or life threatening issue. The nature of the party is possibly going to tend in the direction of the feminine side; if the coordinators of the party have an arrangement for this, after that welcoming males would be fine. Undoubtedly, there are countless males and females who are making great cash making use of the web organisation course. In this song, the poet uses the perceptual narrative to acknowledge that some males "dont be comin right ", but that he has a various understanding of ladies than these various other guys. Meant to assist with the pain, expected to assist me preserve In this song, Guru uses the contrasting story to share his view of what love ought to be. It is necessary for the clothes to be completely dry prior to they are put away or put on by a kid, and hanging the clothes on childrens garments hangers will certainly aid keep their kind. Nonetheless, aspartame was allowed on 1981 for dry products as well as 1983 for carbonated beverages.

free baby stuff expecting mother

People made use of to trade products and services for other goods and solutions prior to money was produced, and also some people still barter today to avoid using cash (mainly for tax reasons I am told). Some various other excellent services are a diaper solution for towel diapering mamas, or also a baby diaper distribution solution for disposables, and spend for the first 2 weeks or a month worth of diapering products. Even the colors utilized in the textile ought to be natural as well as non-toxic. You may be at first brought in by all the eye appealing colors as well as the fanciness of the outfits, yet if your kid is not going to like it, it is going to become worthless. Pyjamas and bodysuits for little child girls come in all various shades as well as styles, as well as are created all types of climate. One or 2 items would certainly do - a pair of babies suits, a set of t shirts, a pair of pyjamas. Alternately, you can place a Tees over their pyjamas. They will certainly guard as well as guarantee any type of loan you put right into an interest-bearing account and also pay you probably 3% annual interest on your down payment. They understand that if you're pleased with your example, more than most likely you be become a normal customer and also spend cash with them. There are actually a whole lot of giveaways available; you just need to know exactly how to browse for them. Or search by chemical ingredients (see listed here for some instances) and uncover what brand names have it. Next, you will come to your search results page web page; this is a listing of all products that fulfill your search criteria. Allow us take a peek into what makes these criteria a need to for those moms and dads buying baby garments. Additionally, allow your first couple of roadway journeys show you what you require to have along. There are countless very first time mommies around that have a whole lot of info to share with you as well as they do not want you to be without the info. They want to have gowns with breathable textile as well as very easy on the body. Is this what we have come to, - everybody in our area sees the exact same adverts, the very same programmes, the very same newspaper article every single day or night? Note: After attempting solitary foods, great combinations are potatoes and also carrots or carrots as well as peas. As well as not only will I assess it for him, Sickness make it seem like the Elvis of foods, due to the fact that Im currently quite certain that Sickness enjoy a hamdog. He also refers to his love passion as "this Ethiopian queen from Philly ", using the royal characterization so common in spiritual love stories. If you're actually strapped for money, after that you can possibly make do with using your bed as a changing table, however if you can, this is something I very suggest. Its much better to feed infant very first point in the morning, then enable some play or remainder time in between before giving child a bathroom. At a "Pamper Party," an idea progressively preferred for moms that already have numerous youngsters as well as for that reason many of right stuff they in fact need, they may take house health spa devices such as a loofah or bubble bathroom. A great bath-themed gift basket would certainly have some hypo-allergenic bathroom products, like baby baths, talcum powder, towels, as well as bathroom toys.

The significant and also is that the majority of, otherwise every one of these free items, are supplied right to the mother's house. And, with that, lets solve down to the core. Do you have the software application you need to obtain started? At some factor you are mosting likely to desire to transfer your infant, so you will certainly need to buy something. Unless you're intending to hang on to them for your next child, they're simply accumulating dust. With a couple of easy abilities, a convenient collection of "stuff, " and simply a bit of preparation and prep work, youll get on your means! There is an area for TV in our lives and it desires all the fastest method of soaking up information from around the globe. Taking classes abroad Right here, the poet uses the spiritual narrative to describe the moment, area as well as feelings that his love was established on, talking of them as if they were in some way indicated to occur. Possibly she thought that was her area in the world and no-one can fault her if she did her responsibilities to the utmost of her capacity. I when had a neighbor that educated the globe and it's mother she believed cleanliness was alongside Godliness and spent all the time everyday cleaning her house. It is thought that from this you actually have the choice to take a look at everything prior to you also need to acquire something. Tight neck lines would certainly problem you and also even the placement of buttons at weird positions would certainly cause you issues, so check these in advance. At the very same time the buttons and also other elements in the style ought to be very carefully stitched. Yet Betty had the money every time I went to prison This track even more highlights using contrasting stories to reveal love. This example better shows using introductory language in conversational stories. The poet feels it is undesirable for anybody to "call you out your name ", or simply put, utilize disparaging language toward his love. Many of the infant shower suggestions will help any place, indoors or out. Do you desire your infant to look adorable or trendy with baby clothing but you do not have suggestions on where to seek them? Expense is a significant thing you would certainly want to think about when acquiring baby clothing. It's simple, look at a child apparel shop. Clothes treatment plays a huge function in your infant's security. Hence, it is always suggested that you maintain the safety and security and also comfort element in mind also when you are purchasing occasion gowns for your kid. Also when you have actually bought a lacy shirt for your tiny woman, if you end up obtaining a dimension that takes place to be somewhat larger than her actual dimension, she will be comfortable in it. As well as, moms and dads will be likely to maintain purchasing clothes to stay on par with the changes in the child's development - dimension, weight, size, as well as shape. For this reason, getting clothes that are rather larger than the actual size of your babys body presents will be good as it guarantees optimal convenience for the kid.

Nonetheless, these booster shot processes will only make their systems strong however it doesn't offer a guarantee that germs can't penetrate their method. So why did she behave this way? The exact same point can be true with, definitely with tube pregnancies, thats why those 2 can be puzzled. Yes it holds true that infant garments do not last long with kids growing as quick as they do, however looking after a children garments is still equally as, otherwise more, crucial. Hip-Hop, you the love of my life and that's real This passage is one-of-a-kind because it utilizes both the metaphoric as well as contrasting narrative methods. The presentation of Hip-Hop enjoy stories is a very difficult task. And also that leads us to the most preferred metaphoric Hip-Hop love story of our time. Children will like this meal. Thick as well as fluffy clothing will certainly maintain the baby warm from head to toe. Below is a listing of prominent products that has actually been researched with several of the biggest online sellers of infant items. Right here are a few of the basic points you'll wish to have. Do you intend to provide a present to a brand-new mommy without spending a great deal of cash? They use it when cleaning to eliminate smells, soften the textiles, as well as provide your baby and young child apparel a fresh and also a lot more all-natural scent. When you are thinking of your youngsters convenience, its not only regarding the design of the garments youre acquiring it will certainly also be an issue of exactly how the item rests on your children body. Consider just how much you have into the item. The next time you are re-assembling your package, be sure to add that thing. I prefer to hang out with my family members as well as pals, chatting on the phone, going with long walks or dancing the evening away. With all that having been stated, Ive uncovered a brand-new food that I understand I'm going to enjoy. Quickly you'll discover that having only a couple of nice attire becomes impractical. I had an excellent free site a couple of years ago I visited on a daily basis. Use your Road Adventure logbook to tape-record every people remarks regarding the day. This will offer no good as buying child items indiscriminately will not simply be waste of money however also waste of time as well as energy which you can place for some useful use. If passing by vehicle you need to always use a safety seat and comply with the producer's directions for fitting. If your trip limitation is no more than a one-hour automobile trip one way, then look for places of rate of interest within regarding 40 miles of home. Which is not a trouble because simply like kidneys, much like testis, females with one ovary can have equally as many infants as a female with two ovaries as well as 2 tubes. Evidently it is a 2x matrix, indicating those initial 2 people you obtained to sign up with are on your initial level. You must always have 2 sets in the evening time, due to the fact that you never know when a baby is mosting likely to spit up or have a baby diaper leakage that can require a total garment adjustment.

youtube

#free #baby #stuff

0 notes