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soullessdianthus · 10 months

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𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 | 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 (𝐱 𝐊ö𝐧𝐢𝐠)

Summary: During the mission somewhere in Austria, König takes an interest in TF 141 medic. Little did he know, she's Lieutenants Riley's girlfriend.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐

A/N: Possessive/Protective boyfriend Ghost? Yes, double and give to the next person. Also inserted Hank/Connor "lieutenant" reference, I just find it funny. Y/C ━ Your Codename (have fun, pick something babes) Poorly translated German ━ correct me if needed!

Warnings: nothing, reader is eastern european coded (we deserve more recognition as reader inserts ꃋᴖꃋ )

Word count: 1.8k

The tree line of the thick forest melted into the base of the rocky mountains. Your gaze traveled across its pointy shapes and up higher - there hadn’t been a single cloud on the sky that day, causing a slight heatwave.

You let your body slightly wag as the car passed over surface bumps on the earthen road. The dry lump grew in your throat as the dust hovered all over the convoy and all you could think of was a sip of cold, mineral water.

Soon, you reached the small town in Austria, secluded from the ring roads. The cars were parked near the surrounding forest at the entrance of the village. Lieutenant Riley's sight crossed with yours as he helped you get out of the truck.

He could be such a gentleman sometimes.

A handful of soldiers gathered near the vehicles - some of them wearing a KorTac patch on their shoulders, the other ones (from your unit) a Task Force 141 badge. But besides those sigils, none of them were wearing full battle gear.

There was no active fighting against the enemy at the moment. It was just a careful chase after the terrorists - following their footsteps, interviewing associates, gathering proof. Because at the end of the day, the military (or army related organization) cannot shed blood over a defamation.

But KorTac and TF 141? Quite an unusual partnership between the two groups, right?

━ Ghost, Y/C you’re goin’ with me ━ Captain Price announced, adjusting his hat as he closed the car’s doors behind him. ━ Gaz, you’ll stay here, is that clear?

Captain heard a firm ‘yes, sir’ from your teammate Kyle who was to stay at the parking spot. Meanwhile the KorTac colonel gave an order to his soldiers in German. “Such a tough language” you thought to yourself. Only two of his people went along the wood road with the rest of you.

The Colonel.

Exceptionally tall, Austrian man who served many years for his country. The one you found yourself in on the latest mission.

Each time you wanted to look at him while Colonel König was speaking, you had to chin up. And even though, a black hood with a red paint on it covered his whole face besides his cold, blue eyes. He was lowkey intimidating with his massive size, but just like your captain, the Austrian’s rough looks didn’t reflect his character. At least to you and your comrades he was quite nice.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t say the same about his teammates.

You didn’t have to walk for long as the isolated, one floor house emerged behind a hill. By the quick peek at that building and the noises coming from the inside you knew, it felt like a warm home.

As you approached the building, you heard a child’s cry.

Price knocked at the front door and soon after a man with dark bags under his eyes opened them slightly. He was peeking through the crack.

━ Jakob Hausner? ━ The Captain asked with a playful smile under his mustache, his thumbs interlocked with the gear straps over his chest.

━ Ja, wie kann ich helfen? [ger.: Yes, how can I help?]

━ Can you ask him if he speaks english? ━ John looked over his shoulder towards König, asking for a favor.

━ Yes, I speak english ━ master of the house answered with a thick accent, before colonel could translate. ━ What do you want?

He wasn’t trusting at all, well, how could he? You were all strangers at his doorsteps, two of your partners wearing scary looking masks. But it all had a purpose - they were supposed to look… intimidating, yes?

A loud wailing made their ears hurt, it was that damn baby again. Jakob sighed loudly, his shoulder collapsing as he opened the doors a little bit more.

━ We just want to talk about the company you were working for. ━ Price continued talking.

━ About them again? ━ Mr. Hausner frowned his eyebrows and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Poor man was exhausted apparently. ━ Okay, okay, ja, come in.

The man let you all inside, however König told his soldiers to have a look outside the plot - to make sure it’s safe here and you’re not being watched. Poor Jakob wasn’t even fully aware (because of his state) that he let in a group of military people inside of his home.

As soon as you crossed the hallway into the dining room with a big, wooden table, you noticed a struggling toddler in a children’s chair. The girl was crying, her face red from the tantrum.

━ I’m sorry, it’s just my daughter, she… she doesn’t want to eat her–. Lina, bitte. [ger.: Lina, please.]

Being a parent. Must be tough, huh?

Not when you were forced to babysit your siblings or cousins since you were a teenager.

━ She’s not hungry. ━ You noticed the way the little girl pushed her plate away and how she tried to climb out of the seat. Christ, that man really had to be exhausted. ━ Can I?

You took a few slow and calm steps towards the sitting child - a warm smile painted over your face. Even your boyfriend Ghost was slightly… surprised? Seeing you drop the apathetic shell, then becoming more warm and gentle towards the little girl.

━ She’s our medic ━ your Captain explained to the worried father ━ let her take the kid and we’ll have a talk. In peace.

Mr. Hausner let you take care of his unsettled daughter, so they could have a conversation about his former employers. You took the girl out of her chair and placed her over your left hip, pushing it outward.

━ Come, Lina ━ you addressed the girl by her name, even though she probably couldn’t understand what you were saying ━ let’s leave the stinky men alone, ja?

You left the dining room and entered the seemingly endless garden behind the house. Since you took that girl in your hands she already began to calm down, perhaps a woman's touch was all she needed?

“Where was your mother? Was she at work working a long shift? Did something happen to her? Did the bad men–” your thoughts seemed to take a rather pessimistic route, so you had to quickly change it.

You didn’t know much German. Well, you didn’t know any at all.

Fuck.

But at that moment you were thanking the heavens that your father watched movies about Hans Kloss or war on a regular basis. You were happy that your father was taught some phrases and somewhere in your subconsciousness he passed them to you.

You sat on the wooden bench somewhere in the garden not far from the building. Then, you placed the child on your lap and began talking to her - mostly in your mother tongue. Then you added some words in German that you knew, like:

━ Schau, schmetterling! [ger.: Look, a butterfly!]

Soon you grew more comfortable around the girl named Lina, even though there was a language barrier. Without your knowledge, your legs began to bounce her, pretending she was riding a horse.

If anyone would point that out later, you would certainly deny it. You, getting soft for a child? No, no, no.

You were so occupied with entertaining her that you didn’t even notice a looming, black figure in the corner of your eye. Watching the scene from somewhere nearby.

König was standing just next to the doors, leaving against the white plaster on the outside walls. He listened to your attempts to speak German, finding it… adorable?

Never did he meet a woman in his profession so empathetic and gentle. Especially the one who managed to catch his attention. Let’s be honest, most of them were cold blood murderers and he was a colonel - he couldn’t let himself have such a luxury of having a family.

Until now.

His imagination began to play a nasty and stupid trick on him - just because he saw you speaking German with a kid. What if it was you to take care of his children? Were your hands usually this delicate? Would you care for him as much?

The tall soldier was intrigued by you and his dreamy stare exposed him for it.

━ Don’t even think about it. ━ Ghost voice snapped him back to the reality. The British soldier emerged from the building the same way the colonel did after the conversation came to an end with Mr. Hausner.

Simon Riley wasn’t a fool. He noticed all the little peaks at his girlfriend other soldiers usually would take, she was in fact a pretty thing. So it didn’t take much to notice that the tall guy from KorTac took a liking of you. Too much liking in Ghost’s opinion.

━ Verzeihung [ger.: Excuse me] ━ König apologized, flustered slightly by obviousness of the situation. He instantly understood the reference. ━ didn’t know she was… taken.

━ Yeah ━ British lieutenant scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. His dark irises didn’t even dare to stare at him. His eyes were on you ━ she’s very much taken.

There was a dead silence between the two of them - for a short moment, before Ghost gave you a heads up.

━ Y/C, we’re moving.

The rough and firm tone of Ghost’s voice made you snap back into reality. You were in the middle of something, right? Yet, you almost jumped on that little bench painted in floral patterns.

━ Coming, lieutenant. ━ You declared quickly, before putting the little girl over your hip again and heading inside of her home.

Ghost was a few steps ahead and so you had to pass the massive figure of König to go inside again. You pressed the child’s head into your cleavage as she was a little scared of colonel’s hood.

Well, you would be too, if you saw his cold stare in the middle of the night from under that veil, right?

━ Don’t worry, he just looks scary. He won’t bite. Isn’t that right, sir? ━ You sent him a polite smile as you tried to comfort the petrified girl. Your hand caressing her golden locks.

But he was speechless at the moment. He couldn’t form a simple sentence. A fucking grown ass man. “So fucking pathetic”, he thought to himself. Your lips twisting into a wide smile for him. It wouldn’t be easy for him to erase that sight from his memory. König would have trouble falling asleep that night, thinking of you.

A/N: ♪ Two big guys and they grab on my thighs ♪

#reader insert #cod mw2 #cod mwii #simon riley x reader #simon riley #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley #ghost x reader #ghost cod #ghost mw2 #konig #konig mw2 #konig cod #könig #könig cod #könig mw2 #könig x reader #konig x reader

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edenfenixblogs · 6 months

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I don’t think most non-Jews understand how disappointed we are in the left right now. How completely abandoned we’ve become. How our contributions to progress for other groups have been erased or disavowed or hidden. How the actual tangible things that Jews have contributed to black rights and civil rights are being ignored. How we’re being told we contribute and have contributed nothing.

How we are being told that the world has been kind to us when it never has. As if my mom didn’t grow up getting called a Kike and getting beat up for being Jewish. How I thought I had friends until I caught them saying “xyz was beautiful until Jews showed up.” How people told me I was pretty “for a Jew.” How I grew up hearing stories about bombs being set off in Israel in buses and markets. How I couldn’t even go two weeks without hearing that and how nobody cared and somehow, every time that happened, the whole world became more hostile to me for some reason.

I just don’t understand. I don’t understand what leftists are doing. Or why. I hate that I have to say—of course, I support a free and self determined Palestine (which I truly do)—in order for you to decide I’m worthy of care and support.

We showed up for you. All of you. And the entire movement is abandoning us at best or targeting us at worst. Celebrating our deaths. Saying we deserved it. How are we supposed to trust you ever again? How are we supposed to feel safe ever again?

A very few select people who are in my life have taken the chance to actually learn about and dismantle their own unconscious antisemitism during this time. And I’m eternally grateful for them. But most people haven’t reached out at all. Most people are still sharing hateful things that could get me hurt and they don’t care. Most people Reblogging my posts are still Jews. Because we are alone. And it sucks. You need to be as loud about antisemitism as you are about Palestine or you’re an antisemite (unless you’re Arab/Muslim/Palestinian—I totally get that these groups are also doing damage control in their own communities just like Jews are).

But we are all in tremendous pain right now.

This moment will pass. And when it does, I will remember how many people let me down. I will remember that when I needed support more than I’ve ever needed it in my life, people fucking vanished. They pretended violence against my people wasn’t happening. They ignored and rewrote the history of Israel to suit their own narratives.

You don’t know what it feels like to be hated this much for opposite things. PoC hate us for being too white. White supremacists hate us for not being white enough. Europeans hate us for being middle eastern. Middle easterners hate us for being western/European. Everyone hates us for being settlers but continually kicks us out of their countries so that we have to settle somewhere else.

I saw a post going around from a Black person who said that the reason he and his fellow black activists go protest for Palestinians instead of fighting antisemitism (as if it’s a binary, which it’s not) is that Jews don’t show up. Muslims and Palestinians do. And honestly? Fuck that guy. Heather Heyer died standing shoulder to shoulder against racism in 2017. [CORRECTION: When I first wrote this post I was under the impression that Heather Heyer was Jewish. I want to correct to avoid spreading misinfo. She was just the first (and incorrect) Jewish civil rights activist I thought of. However there are plenty of other actual Jewish civil rights activists to choose from. If you have reblogged this post from me, please feel free to add a link to the permalink version of this post with my correction to your reblog.]I have devoted substantial time and effort and money that I don’t even get paid a lot of because I don’t get paid a living wage. I have continually reached out to PoC people in my life of all religions to ask how they are doing and what I could be doing to help more—both for them personally and how they would best like me to help their community. I have elevated their voices at every opportunity. And not one person I checked in with has done the same for me or for my community.

And it’s bone chilling. It’s awful. And it’s even worse knowing that when it’s over, people will want to go back to normal. They won’t apologize. They won’t self reflect. They’ll just live their lives, maybe a little more aware of how much they hate us and completely indifferent to the harm they’ve caused us. How disposable they made us feel. And the thing is…it’s not hard for you to know. You just have to ask.

Too many people are cowards. Too many people care about looking good than actually learning something or making the world better. And to those people: you should be ashamed of yourself.

I don’t have any hate in my heart. Truly. Not a drop for any group of people. But I have a tremendous lack of trust that anyone would actually lift a finger to keep me safe.

#antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #anti zionisim #I dare a goy to republic this challenge #goyim ID yourself in the tags if you reblog this #cuz i straight up don’t believe goyisch activists give a shit unless they straight up say they do #i’m not okay #honestly #this is the Nazi stuff I am most scared of #sure the Nazis rounded us up #but you fuckers were the ones who watched and did nothing #you’re the ones who voted the Nazis in #you’re the ones who didn’t stop them #fuck all y’all for real #i/p #israel #palestine #correction issued

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didalexiabreakupwitholgayet · 1 month

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super random but is laia codina like super catalan or smth😭😭? i keep seeing so much abt it (aitana as well?)

haha absolutely. if you think alexia is a proud catalana, then laia and aitana are next level, super catalan.

starting with laia, she is the stereotypical, country bumpkin catalan. 😂 she's from a small village near girona and grew up on a farm (her dad and uncle are farmers). in fact, her ex-barça teammates often joke around with her about all her family's cows. plus, if you compare the way laia speaks catalan to the way alexia speaks catalan, it's like alexia has the urban/city barcelona accent and demeanor, and laia has the whole folksy, rural vibe going on. let's just say if you are trying to learn catalan, don't start by listening to laia! 🙈 (also, here's jenni hermoso saying she wants to hug one of her cows 😂)

but no one, and i mean no one, is as proudly catalan as aitana bonmati. first of all, her parents are professors of catalan language and literature. but more interestingly, they are catalan independence and marxist leaning activists. her father was even arrested and accused of being a member of a catalan paramilitary group. (he was later acquitted). her family's history is super interesting and it's common knowledge by now that this activism extends into gender equality and she took her mother's surname (bonmatí) first, followed by her father's, which is quite rare in spain. and we know speaking spanish annoys her. 😂

and finally, aitana is been a very vocal member of the recent movement to add catalan as one of the official languages of the EU.

“I wanted to give value to Catalan. It is my language, with which I express myself every day and with which I do it best. I ask that it be recognized at the European level. It's my language and I have every right in the world to do it." - Aitana Bonmatí

#aitana bonmati #laia codina #fcb femení #barca femeni #barca women #arsenal women #futfem #woso #catalan #spanish history is fun #arsenal wfc

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hjellacott · 1 year

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The US component in the TRA fight

Seeing what's happening with Hogwarts Legacy, I've noticed that many of the ignorant people saying goblins repressent Jews have to be non-European (and I'm mainly looking at United States tbh).

For us Europeans, goblins are our folklore, our ancient culture, our history. We've had goblins, ghosts, witches, meigas, wizards, elves, giants, mermaids... Since ALWAYS. Like, have you read Ulysses' adventures? Tolkien? German fairy tales? Celtic tales? These stories have been amongst us for 3000+ years. They're part of our history, our culture... And not really US culture, for example, nor US history, nor US mythology. And it's obvious in the way some of you speak, that you really have not grown-up in this world and had this folklore be part of your blood.

What Hitler did was take goblins, steal this ancient being (which is actually an umbrella term for 20+ types of goblins across Europe, including the famous leprechaum), and turn it into a Nazi tool for anti-Semitism. And we're reclaiming our culture. We're not letting Nazis take that way from us, like they took so much more from us. The previous four generations in my family have all lived wars, I'm literally the first war-free. My parents grew-up in times of conscription and fighting Fascism. My grandparents only ever knew World War II. Another, older set of grandparents, was born in the middle of World War I. All of them here in Europe, my Dad, Granddad and Great-grandfathers all having been forced to fight here and there.

So don't talk to me about anti-Semitism, war, prosecution, Nazism... I know. I've grown up in the ruins and scars left by the war. I'm still trying to help my country recover from the war. My birthplace. And part of the fight is try to undo the damage done by the Nazis, where possible, and you know where it IS possible? recclaiming my culture, my history, my folklore. I can't bring people back from the death, but I can fucking do that.

#goblins #folklore #mythology #war #anti-semitism #hogwarts legacy

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wonwoosthetic · 3 months

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AllKpop 240210 🌷 Minnie

< series masterlist

Carats were surprised with SEVENTEEN’s Minnie’s sudden appearance at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Tokyo, February 9th. The idol had expressed her love and appreciation for the pop singer multiple times before, yet fans were shocked when she attended the concert 700 miles away from Seoul with no other member in sight.

Minnie seemed to have enjoyed her time during the concert, singing along to the songs by the American musician, making Carats turn to Social Media almost instantly, updating other fans about her whereabouts and well-being. Yet, some netizens were left unamused, disappointed and angry by the idol’s spirit.

“Singing during a concert is one thing, but the way she shouted out certain words seemed almost disrespectful.“

“Taylor Swift is known for her misandrist songs. No idol, especially not someone with a popularity like Minnie, should even think to sing those lyrics so passionately.”

“I don’t care if she likes her music, to be honest, but she doesn’t have to be so open about it.”

“I wonder what her members are thinking about her singing songs belittling men…”

“This is what happens when you let her go out without the other members”

“She knows how famous she is, she must know there are hundreds of cameras on her and still, she decided to scream such disgusting words out loud”

“I want to like Seventeen but she is making it very hard.”

“I really hope Seungcheol will lecture her about this”

“This is so embarrassing for her omg”

“Her European friends have always been a bad influence on her, this is your proof”

Social Media users spread videos of Minnie singing along to songs like “The Man” and “Ready For It…?”, as well as “champagne problems”, where the K-Pop singer can be seen “passionately” shouting out curse words - “Bitch” and “fucked” being only a few of them. The critique of enjoying feminist songs followed quickly after.

Carats did not hold back as they came to defend the only female member of the widely popular idol group.

“She’s 26 years old, you don’t expect her to curse?!”

“I remember when Vernon said ‘shibal’ by accident and Carats found it funny. Here is Minnie singing along to lyrics, that she didn’t write, that hold the word ‘fuck’ and she gets criticised for it…”

“And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we need to sing The Man even louder.”

“Minnie is finally able to go out of the country and enjoy her free time, seeing her biggest idol and you guys aren’t letting her have a good time while I bet you’re throwing around even worse curse words every day”

“I bet she’ll come home and laugh her ass off reading all the hate comments.”

“She grew up around multiple dudes in their teenage years, I promise you, bitch and fuck are the softest curse words to come out of her mouth hahaha”

“Just wait until they find out all of the members of Seventeen hate men😂”

“You can’t be serious about this…”

“You guys are calling her bitch, whore, and what not on the internet, but as soon as she says it, it becomes a problem? Lock yourself into a basement pls”

“Oh sorry, I forgot, you guys don’t curse?”

“I can hear the guys clapping and supporting her from here haha”

Swift, who is an advocate Democrat and open Feminist, has been a big inspiration for the female idol, as she has often mentioned in the past, explaining why she would be enjoying finally getting to sing along to the Pop singer’s songs. Minnie has yet to respond to the hateful comments, but Carats are positive that she won’t address this issue and continue enjoying her life as a happy “Swiftie”.

#minnie 🌷#seventeen #seventeen oc #seventeen 14th member #articles #scandal

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licorice-lips · 20 days

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Okay, so I was thinking about Snape and although I'm avoiding like hell speaking online about Harry Potter, I think it needs to be said because it falls onto the rest of fantastical literature as well, especially those stories that have parallels to fascism/nazism/colonialism in their magical world.

I'd like to start by saying I don't like Snape for a variety of reasons, some of them because of Rowling, others because of the character himself, and others because of his fans, but today I'd like to talk about how Snape's Redemption Arc actually sucks and why, and also about how we're treating redemption arcs as a whole.

Okay, so let's begin by making a sort of timeline on Snape's life: he grew up in an abusive household, suffered bullying by the Marauders through school years, bullied other students as well, called his best friend a slur, "apologized", joined a fascist hate group that actively persecuted and hurt people for things they had no control of, acted on behalf of this group for years, turned against the hate group not out of morals but because their actions began to threaten the people he cared about (like they always said they would, how shocking), bullied his teenage students as a grown adult, acted as a spy against the hate group when it came back, died.

Right, so before I dive into all those things, what we also have to add is that Art isn't made in a vacuum. Just like science can never be done by a completely neutral party, our productions of art are completely based off of our views, especially when we're talking about writing. As a writer myself, I can see exactly how my experiences as a person in the context I was born and grew up in affect my writing and my production of art.

For example, it's very common that I find enemies calling themselves by their last names in American/European fiction but in Brasil, we don't normally call people by their last names unless it's very unique and as a nickname. So when I write enemies, they always call each other by their first names, simply because it doesn't feel right to me any other way. On a more serious example, most of the countries in my fantasy books have some history of colonization or dictatorship because it's a part of my history and I feel it's impacts to this day, so it's something that reflects my own thoughts and ideas in politics.

So when we talk about Snape as a character, we cannot escape the fact that Rowling created him. And as a European author, it's more than clear —and that's especially obvious to people who suffer under colonization to this day— that Rowling has a deeply ingrained colonizer mentality. The goblins in Gringots are a clear and problematic representation of Jewish people, the domestic elves LIKING being enslaved and not changing the status quo by the end of the books, and even Hermione being ridiculed for her militancy on it — these are all representative of how Rowling views the world.

Although there's more, all of those examples make it clear that, when she looks at fascist ideology as a whole, Rowling doesn't think the ideology itself is the problem: the ending is the depiction of them getting rid of the "bad apples" instead of making the "roots of the tree" healthy again is parallel to blaming bad individuals for a system that is corrupted and therefore corrupts. So basically, what the Harry Potter books tell us by the end is that it's okay for you to perpetuate a racist system, just don't do it so openly. The problem for her is not the system, but these people she considers "bad apples" which is basically right-wing ideology.

And my problem with Snape starts here: because Rowling sees purist views as an acceptable way of thinking as long as you don't kill people because of it (because for some reason that's a step too far — but when the system oppresses, beat down, and hates on marginalized people, that's okay) — in her mind and in her writing, Snape's ideological affiliation earlier on in his life is not that big of a problem, especially when he "changes sides".

Snape's active participation in a hate group is dangerously and irresponsibly downplayed both by Rowling and by Snape's apologists and fans when this is, in reality, one of the two greatest offenses his character has to compensate for in his "Redemption Arc". So when he hesitates at nine yo to say to Lily that being a Muggleborn doesn't make a difference (even when he knows it does in a practical sense of what's happening in the Wizarding World), when he despises Petuney for being a Muggle, when he says to Lily that what he, Mulciber and their "death eaters" friends did to Mary McDonald was "just a laugh (btw, I'm sure the Marauders also think what they did was "just a laugh" as well), all of this is not only extremely reprehensible, it's the kind of thing that makes a fascist, a fascist.

And it's not that I don't believe teenagers cannot change their minds and grow with more ease than adults, it's just that this alone would've been enough grounds to understand why Snape's redemption arc sucks. His beliefs from early on, even before he goes to Hogwarts, are extremely problematic and hateful, and they uphold the very corrupted system that is perpetuated against Muggle-borns in the Wizarding World.

Then we reach the point I wanted to make: it's very clear throughout the books that child and teenager Snape struggles with feelings of deep hatred against his parents (especially his father, who's a Muggle), inadequacy in social life even among his peers (wizards and witches) and isolation, all of which make a person undeniably vulnerable to extremist ideology.

And here's my first issue with Snape and his Redemption Arc: his trauma and feelings should not be an excuse for his bad choices and yet, they are used exactly as such. Yes, Snape was an impressionable teenager and yes, he was influenced by an ideology in his desperation to fit in and find solace in a community, but that doesn't matter.

None of it matters because, at the end of the day, his actions for this ideology are just as harmful, just as awful, just as cruel, as the actions of someone who joined the Death Eaters for thoroughly believing Muggleborns were scum. He harmed people just as much as Yaxley, Mulciber, or any other Death Eater who joined Voldemort for their hatred just for his support alone.

And more than that, even if Snape was in a vulnerable state and impressionable, he was still receiving other kinds of influences, influences that were contrary to the bigotry and cruelty of Voldemort — and he still chose to ignore those influences. There was still a level of choice to what he became as a young adult.

But even if there wasn't, Snape is —or at least he should be— responsible for his own choices regardless of influence. As they say in the Kingdom of Heaven film, when you're before God and he asks you why you did something, you won't be able to say that others told you to do so or that it wasn't convenient to do the right thing — it'll not be enough. And it's not enough because your actions matter more than your intentions. Your actions will be the thing that will determine what happens next, not your intentions. It'll be actions that will shape your path and influence or directly impact the path of others around you, not your intentions.

The older I get, the more I understand the power of action and how it says more than any intention or feeling ever will. At the end of it, Snape's actions are what matters, not his feelings or intentions. But as humans, we're so prone to empathize with others that we actually believe that, because someone feels guilty or regrets the things they did, that's enough to forgive them.

We forget that it's not.

Earning forgiveness must come with 5 major steps —

Accountability — do they acknowledge the way their actions hurt us? Do they acknowledge the way they hurt us? Do they acknowledge their role in our pain?

Apologies — do they apologize? Is their apology sincere? Do they hold themselves accountable in their apologies?

Acceptance — do they feel entitled to forgiveness? Do they accept the consequences of their actions? Do they accept the boundaries you impose on the path to forgiveness?

Amends — Did they take steps to mend what's broken? Do they make choices to prevent them from doing this again? Do they try to help without crossing your boundaries?

Alteration — Did they change the behavior that hurt you? Did they take steps to improve themselves?

Those steps are fundamental in a Redemption Arc because it'll exemplify to the (young) readers what is forgivable and how forgiveness is earned, not deserved. That's what grits me the most about Snape's "Redemption Arc":

There is no accountability, at least not for joining and upholding a hate group, and we kinda get accountability for what he did in his friendship with Lily, but in a fucked up way, let's see:

It was nighttime. Lily, who was wearing a dressing gown, stood with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. “I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here.” “I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just – ” “Slipped out?” There was no pity in Lily’s voice. “It’s too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?” He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking. “I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way, I’ve chosen mine.” “No – listen, I didn’t mean – ” “ – to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?”

It's very important to me that we dissect this piece of dialog because it shows a lot about Snape and how every time he's tried to apologize, there's no accountability.

He didn't say he's sorry he said that slur (to LILY and only Lily, might I add, when at all would've been ideal but I'll have some leniency because of the situation) — he's said he's sorry, but not for what he has done, just for Lily. He didn't take responsibility for his words as he should — he says it 'slipped out' or that 'he didn't mean, again just to LIly.

He accepted no boundaries Lily tried to impose — sleeping outside Gryffindor? Really?

Most importantly of all, he took absolutely ZERO steps to alter his behavior so that he could never harm someone again like he harmed Lily. And that's very important, I cannot begin to explain how: when we regret doing something, the most fundamental step to take in change.

Change is fundamental to forgiveness but it shouldn't be conditioned by it. If we regret doing something harmful, the first thing to do is to change our behavior. Instead, Snape not only doesn't change his problematic behavior, he doubles down on it, joining the hate group Lily pointed out as one of the main problems in why their relationship couldn't continue, acting in the name of said group for years and only backing down on it when Lily is threatened.

And that reveals something about Snape's worldview: for him, since that day he called Lily a slur, the problem wasn't that he was a bigoted piece of shit (like Lily said it was), the problem, in his head, was that he hurt Lily. And that's not true. The problem is, one hundred percent, his bigoted behavior, and Lily says as much, more than one time. He just does not listen to it. He doesn't listen to her.

More than that, though, you can try to point out that he redeems himself by acting against Voldemort but I'm sorry: what Snape did is not enough. He was part — and believed in — a hate group, it's not enough that he changes sides not because of values, but because one person who is being threatened is dear to him (which was the whole prerogative anyway so I failed to see how he's even surprised by this). You can say that this is good or honorable or "love" but it's not cute to base your entire life around one person.

It's not honorable to prioritize one person over a whole world he was threatening before and not caring at all about them. Disregarding other human beings in favor of one is not as pretty as people think it is and Snape represents this very well: it makes you bitter, it makes you become abusive, cruel, a bully to everyone else. It's not pretty, it's not understandable. Be a fucking decent human being, it's actually not that hard.

But I digress again: my point is, that just because Snape regrets the things he has done for Voldemort (not even out of morals, which drives me mad) it doesn't mean he deserves forgiveness. He doesn't and he hasn't earned it, he didn't even try. Actually, he's so stuck in his regret, he's harmful because of it: guilt is a trap, babes. It sucks you in if you let it and makes you miserable as well as anyone around you. You'll be so remorseful and yet you'll hurt people because of it.

And it's the same thing I've been saying since the beginning: we need to stop associating feelings with deserving forgiveness because you don't deserve forgiveness, you earn it. Either you earn it from someone else, from yourself, or from both, but either way, it's earned, not deserved. If I were to excuse my harmful behavior every time just because I regretted doing something instead of earning their forgiveness by taking steps to apologize to the people I've hurt, I would be compared to my father all the time. And THAT would've been an insult.

Anyway, let's just stop feeling sorry for characters, especially fascists, just because they regret something. Please, let us hold our characters accountable for the shit they've done adequately and make our writers actually put in the work to make them earn the forgiveness they crave instead of just wallowing in their own misery, stuck forever in a vortex of hurting and being hurt that sucks people in. It's not a good example for us readers, it's not a good example of behavior, it's not what a good person who did shitty things should strive to be and we shouldn't think it is.

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lost-walmartbag · 8 months

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First impressions pt 2

Song

Warning: Swearing

Background: You finally meet Eric's mom

Status: ongoing

Previous part

Next part

Potato salad

"Y/N, calm down. It's ok. You don't have to stress so much." Eric said, reaching for your shoulder as you frantically ran around the kitchen.

"No! I'm meeting your mom. This has to be perfect!" You said as you looked around the kitchen cabinets.

Eric drew his hand back and stared at you. "I just- You don't have to be so nervous. My mom isn't some fancy queen of some European country neither of us can pronounce. She's just a normal person."

"Eric! Please. I don't care if you think she's normal. She's your mom. She birthed you. Raised you. I want to be on her good side." You said pulling a large glass tupperware dish from the fridge.

"Is that.." Eric started as he stared at the dish.

"Potato salad. My great grandma's recipe. I need to make an impression." You said looking up at him. "Why? Oh my god is your mom allergic to potatoes?"

"What? No." He said taking a deep breath as he thought about his next words. "Look. Y/N I love that you care so much. Really I do. But my mom is going to love you. I promise."

Eric's words made you calm down a bit. Eric smiled softly when he saw you finally take a breath, but he couldn't ignore the fact that he knew he was lying to you.

"Ok. Ok. I'll calm down. I'm gonna go get dressed, and we can head out." You said putting the Tupperware in an ice chest.

"I'll get everything in the car. Just take your time." He said, kissing your forehead and cracking a small smile. "Now go get dressed, beautiful."

As you made your way out, he gave a quick slap to your ass that was way too hard. You yelp and shoot him a glare, which he just looked away from to hide his smirk.

"Sadist." You mutter before leaving the room to get dressed.

Eric chuckled and let out a sigh. "You have no idea."

-♡-

The drive to South Park was long. Emphasis on long. It took a few hours of just driving. It was nice at first, but after a while, Eric got irritated. It was mostly from hunger. You had packed a few things but not enough to replace a whole meal.

"I'm sorry I didn't pack more." You said with a small frown.

"No no no. I should have packed something. I knew this drive was gonna be long. I'm not mad at you I just wish...I should have packed that was my bad."

"Still I'm sorry I've just been so all over the place but I should have packed food for us. I'm so stupid." You said bringing the heel of your palms to your eyes.

"Hey. None of that." He said putting his hand on your head as he focused on the road.

You put your hands down and looked at him. He smiled without facing you, but his hand moved down under your chin making you laugh softly.

"There she is. Now give me an apple. I can at least survive off that for a few more hours."

"Why don't we stop at a gas station?"

"Ya know. I um. I didn't think of that."

-♡-

After a few more hours you eventually made it to South Park and holy fuck was it snowy. You looked out the window and looked around. Not that there was much to look at.

"It's pretty."

"It's lame and small."

"A little but it's where you grew up so it can't be that bad."

"You have no idea how wrong you are." He muttered under his breath.

He drove up to a decently sized green house. The color was admittedly not very pretty but you didn't want to say that. As Eric parked in the driveway he stayed seated and let out a shaky breath.

"Hey, you ok? I kinda should be the only one nervous here." You said with a small laugh which Eric cracked a smile at but he still seemed...scared?

"I know I just...being here again. It's...fuck Y/N I don't wanna take you in there." He said looking over at you and putting his hand on your thigh.

You put your hand over his and looked into his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"There's something I didn't tell you. I'm so fucking scared to but Y/N I-"

"Eric is that you?" A woman called out from the front door.

You couldn't really see her from where you were but you could see Eric physically cringe the minute he heard her voice.

"Fuck.." He muttered before pulling away and opening his car door. You did the same and stepped out.

The woman ran over and hugged Eric. She practically jumped in his arms, but Eric stayed stiff.

"H-hey mom." He said in a shaky voice that she didn't seem to notice.

You walked over to his side and looked at them with a nervous smile. Ok Y/N this is your chance time to make a good impression.

You put out your hand and put on your warmest smile. "H-Hi I'm-"

"Who are you?" She said switching from her once sweet motherly voice to one of pure ice.

She was glaring at you with a frown and you just knew it was gonna be a long night.

Fuck how did you already fuck up?

A/N: BOOM! Double upload on your forehead! I have so many plans for this series so I'm very happy I get to post a new chapter of this. Hope you guys like this and stay with me for this story. Thank ya'll for reading I love love love you 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

#south park #south park x reader #fanfic #south park x you #x reader #eric cartman x reader #eric cartman #sp cartman #south park cartman

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chaosandthe-deadblog · 11 months

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okay lets see if i can put this into words

it matters that miles is latino

it matters that miles is a latinamerican kid that grew up in new york city with a usamerican father, it matters that he barely speaks spanish

it matters because his entire story is about not being able to find a place where he fits in. a community. a family

miles feels disconnected from the other spideys.

miles is not a "canon" spiderman. he wasnt *supposed* to be spiderman. but he is anyways. he cant relate to the othet spidermans because of the nature of how he became spiderman. by almost every sense of the word, he is an anomaly.

however... hes not an anomaly either. he lost his uncle like every other spidey. he went through the insecurity and problems every other spidey went through. he IS spiderman and no one can take that away from him

it reminds me so much of what it feels to be latinamerican in eurocentric spaces. like a lot.

the opening to miles' situation basically spells it out. "you're a struggling immigrant family" and only his mother is an immigrant. theyre not even struggling. he doesnt even speak spanish. hes not usamerican either. yet he's being forced into boxes. forced into either turning into a usamerican kid completely disregarding his heritage, or make said heritage the only thing thats important about himself

in the same way that he either has to be a spiderman or a civilian

miles is neither. he cant relate to his mother because he barely speaks spanish, he cant relate to the other spidermans because he's not supposed to be there. they shut him out because he's spiderman in a different way than they are.

i cannot stress enough that its his mom the one who tells him that he shouldnt let anyone define him. because people will try to force him into a box no matter what he does. embrace his heritage? he'll just be latino. not do that? he'll lose touch with it. get into the spider-society? he'll lose touch with his own experience as spiderman. not do that? he'll be alone

it MATTERS that this movie puts emphasis on him being latino. it MATTERS that his mom has more relevance.

not to get personal, but i understand the feeling miles has. by almost every definition i am white -- skin color, european heritage, all that. but i am also latinamerican. i grew up in argentina... in one of the more usamericanized cities. in one of the more eurocentric spaces. my id says im argentinian and spanish, but i was never able to identify with the latter. ive never been in touch with the non-european side of my heritage, ive never related to it. ive never related to the european side either

does any of this make sense? for so many latinos its impossible for us to fit into the boxes europeans and usamericans want us to fit into. for so many of us we're just.... a third thing. at least i grew up in my home country, at least i speak my own language; miles doesnt, miles didnt.

for so many of us we either have to live disconnected from our culture in order to be "accepted" by europeans or usamericans, or just be "latino" (which, by the way, is not even a race, yet its treated as one)

also.... isnt it interesting how miguel is mexican? bye bye

#red.txt #atsv spoilers #atsv #spiderman: across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse #media analysis #IM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND #AT HOW MILES' STORY IS SO SIMILAR TO BEING AMERICANIZED DESPITE NOT BEING AMERICAN #AAAAAAAAAAAA #i felt the 'dont let anyone define you' in my fucking soul man

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shivology · 1 year

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ok so re: logan and racism (and marcia) because i’ve been having Thoughts TM rotating in my mind for a day or two but like. logan, obviously, is a very racist individual, but i think mostly in the sense that he perpetuates and weaponizes racism rather than actively, like, unironically having said bigoted beliefs (for the most part of course lmao)

in the sense that, like, he does not believe that, say, white people are inherently superior, and he knows and acknowledges that they have a leg up in the world because he’s many things but he’s not stupid. but to him, that’s not a bad thing. it’s not a good thing either. it’s just .. a Thing. it’s the way the world works. (same with misogyny and other forms of oppression. “i didn’t make the world,” he says to shiv after saying her being a woman was a minus.)

he’s got a, like, might makes right natural selection type proto-fascistic sense of morality that prioritizes power and strength above all else. rather than condemning systemic bigotry that he is very very very aware is real and exists, it’s like -- it is what it is. the world isn’t fair, tough luck. he’s aware that spreading racism, islamophobia, antisemitism, etc is profitable for him and therefore he will do it and he won’t feel bad because he didn’t create the world and it’s not his fault that that’s the way things are. racism and bigotry are tools and he won’t hesitate to use them if it’ll serve his interests. it’s all part of the game.

like he’s one of those people who would look at african and asian countries who have had their resources fucked to hell by colonialism and capitalism and imperialism and white supremacy, like iraq, egypt, iran, ethiopia, etc, and he wouldn’t try to downplay how much they contributed to humanity or whitewash them the way your run-of-the-mill old racist man would, but he’d also have no sympathy for their current suffering. he’d think well it’s their fault they let themselves get lazy and soft. that’s what you get. he wouldn’t downplay the crimes europeans have committed against native americans but he’d say that “they were conquered” and that’s the way the world works. oops sorry tough luck you lost.

which brings me to: he respects people of color who, to him, “rise above” racism -- like marcia. because to him, human rights aren’t inalienable. you have to claw your way through the world to be respected and perceived as a human being but if you DO manage to do that -- then you’re one of the good ones. you deserve respect. (romanticizing suffering like a good old catholic lol) i think he feels like him and marcia are similar in the sense that they both rose above hardship -- in the sense that they’re both immigrants (obviously with VERY different experiences) who made something of themselves.

so he respects marcia in a way he doesn’t respect anyone else in the show, in a way. he doesn’t respect his kids or the pierces because they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and he doesn’t respect poor people either because he grew up poor too and he still made something of himself so fuck that everything’s an excuse. he’s like the poster-child of someone who has personally experienced injustice (being abused as a child, living in poverty, etc) and rather than not wanting anyone else to experience these things, you’d rather everyone else did because that’s only fair. like why do YOU get to have a safe space when I didn’t? no fuck that

so like i think if one of the kids were to say something bigoted or micro-aggressive to marcia in his presence he’d be quick to be like, okay, well what do YOU do successfully. quickly. however. he wouldn’t of course actively make the environment they live in safe for her, and he WILL actively promote racism against her people because that’s what works for him, just like he didn’t take measures to keep his kids safe from the people he associates himself with.

#this turned out longer than i thought it would be lmao #does this make sense...#anyway #logan roy #marcia roy #many loganmarcia thoughts their dynamic is insane to me #also i do love marcia howeverrrr. she is very much a race traitor #obviously that doesn't mean she deserves to be subjected to bigotry #but she's a brown woman who actively chose to marry a man who literally owns fox news to serve her own personal interests #to ignore that would be reductive imo

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frostyyyroyalmilktea · 1 year

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Why Vesna’s “My sister’s crown” in no feminist anthem but a Trojan horse filled with pro-russian messaging

My thoughts as a Ukrainian with a poli-sci degree.

I was debating whether to write this post but as the discourse around this song grows, I want to give people from other countries some context on the messaging used in the song and why Ukrainians are grossed out by it.

While I was writing it this post grew a mind of its own and I even ended up adding pictures so I'll fold the post here in case you don't care and just want to scroll through quickly.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that this song attracted so much attention from Ukrainians because they use UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE in the chorus. It’s an important detail seeing how one of the singers is russian. A lot of Ukrainians share the opinion that letting a russian woman sing in our language is a completely vile thing to do to our culture. I agree with it too. But the abuse of our culture doesn’t stop there.

See this shot? This is supposed to be Borsch, a traditional Ukrainian dish. It’s worth mentioning that russia tried to appropriate this dish and in 2022 we fought tooth and nail to have UNESCO protect it as part of Ukrainian heritage. But back to the shot. The letters around it are supposed to symbolize russian propaganda. Great start🙄

But it gets better, lads. They start “feeding the propaganda” to the girl that —judging by stylistic choices as well as matryoshka makeup— is supposed to represent russian people.

Right, so they *checks notes* use Ukrainian cultural dish —that russians almost succeeded in stealing from us— to show… what exactly? “Poor russians🥺 uwu” getting brainwashed? Oh, then let me grab my handkerchief. This is so so sad I think I’m about to cry😶😶😶

I mean, just a thought but if they wanted to show how shitty russian government treats its people, they could’ve recreated the historically accurate moment when russian tzar Ivan the Terrible shoved his underling’s face into a boiling soup. What does Ukraine and our long-suffering dish has to do with all this bs???

Now let’s talk about that “Crown”, that is supposed to belong to the sister (aka Ukraine). To me, as a poli-sci major, this is so stupid I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry. From the words of the band themself, where they explain —quite poorly might I say— the meaning of their song, we learn that “Crown” symbolizes the sovereignty of the 13 Eastern-European countries. Sounds perfectly valid. Here's a few random countries that I can remember from the top of my head in no particular order that have crowns in their symbols:

Coat of arms of the Czech Republic, Coat of arms of Serbia, Flag of Poland and Flag of Croatia

I actually decided that I don't want to have russian flag and emblem in this post because I don't want to look at it every time I scroll through, but you can go google it if you want, they have not one but two crowns on their emblem actually.

So what am I leading up to with all this flag-talk, you might ask. Well, the kicker is that THIS ⬇️ is Ukrainian emblem:

Not a crown in sight as you can see. I guess as a nation that was constantly fighting against imperial colonisation we’re not very fond of those. Who could’ve guessed🤷‍♀️

But the aforementioned two points are pretty circumstantial and in the grand scheme of things are not particularly significant. I felt compelled to point them out first to give people from other countries a bit of insight into the music video's visual. You are free to disagree with me on those. The main problem that triggers the majority of Ukrainians is the use of the word "sister". Listen, I know you don’t want to read a lecture on the nuance of Slav politics and I don’t really want to write it, I know you know how to google. So here’s the gist:

One of the BIGGEST narratives that russia is pushing in its export propaganda (aside from their go-to claim that all ukrainians are nazis) is that Slavs are all a family. Talk about shitty relatives, eh? But basically, it’s a lingering thing from USSR where russia exploited a bunch of neighboring countries and called this shit a “Union” (while convincing the rest of the world that those countries entered that union willingly and not under threats —or as a result of— hostile invasions, but I digress). So the way russia frames it is that russia is this big brother that "takes care of other little siblings”. Even writing it down made me want to barf🤢🤢🤢. This narrative was specifically very actively weaponized against Ukraine before the 2022 invasion. Its goal is to infantilize Ukraine as if we're not a whole-ass independent country, but a little sibling that doesn't know how to wipe their own ass. And that we just need good ol’ russia to come and save us from our own stupidity. I hope I shed some light on why this word specifically triggers us so much and why I think that this song has 0 to do with solidarity and overall is complete populistic bs with a generous dash of russian propaganda.

I want to emphasize that I didn’t make this post to fight or argue with anyone but to give people another perspective if you’re interested in it from my pov as a Ukrainian. If you have other takes on it, I’d love to read them in the comments. Just please be respectful or I won’t interact.

This is all I have to say for today. Love, love, peace, peace, my dudes.

#eurovision #eurovision 2023 #czechia #vesna #ukraine #esc #esc 2023

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alpaca-clouds · 3 months

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DnD's World Problem - It's a bit of a waste

Okay, let me talk about the main world of DnD: Toril. And about the thing that it mostly gets reduced to Faerûn - which is in fact a continent - and specifically the Sword Coast, so the western coast of Faerûn.

And that is exactly what I want to talk about: There is an entire world there - but DnD has barely done anything with it in 4th edition and nothing with it in 5th edition. And I absolutely understand why, but I also think that ignoring these parts of the world is not the best way to go about it.

A World filled with Clichés

Now, anyone who knows a bit about the worldbuilding of DnD, will be able to tell you that this worldbuilding is not exactly creatives in the regard of the different continents. We basically have the following:

Faerûn = Fantasy-Europe

Anchorome = Fantasy-North America

Maztika = Fantasy-Meso America

Katashaka = Fantasy-Africa

Zakhara = Fantasy-Arabia

Kara-Tur = Fantasy-Asia (let's face it: Mostly Fantasy-China and Fantasy-Japan)

Osse = Fantasy-Australia

Faerûn has a lot more worldbuilding to it than any of the other continents. More than that: Faerûn is the one continent that is not based mostly on (racist) clichés of some non-white culture. Duh. Because Faerûn is obviously the European part of the world, and the mostly white people constructing this world were able to imagine a "European world" with a lot more details than they were able to imagine any non-white fantasy world.

And let's make this pretty darn clear: These other continents are not only fairly loose in terms of worldbuilding - a lot of it really is just "this is Fantasy-China, so just... uhm, imagine China but as fantasy!!!" Anchorome and Osse are probably the parts of the world that are most underdeveloped, with nearly no information available that goes past "Oh, this is pre-columbian North America with tribes living on the land" and "Yeah, Australia, uhm, yeah, that's it!"

And yes, this is very much "these parts of the world as imagined by white people in the 90s", as the 80s and 90s were the time when most of this was being created. And yes, that means all the problematic stuff that you imagine now about it... Yeah, that's true.

Let me tell you...

Racist Stereotypes

Okay, fellow white person. When I say "Africa", what do you imagine? I will take a guess: Savana, animals like lions and elephants, people living in mud huts and dressing in like, animal pelts or something. The typical racist "Africa is a country" thing that we saw in a lot of media and still see today, even though recently it has gotten a bit better with some own voices getting to create this media.

Meanwhile Kara-Tur is basically the boiled down version of the China and Japan popularized in Western Kung Fu movies - with maybe a bit of the Jackie Chan stuff thrown into it. It is really just the kind of western stuff, that if you grew up with Marvel comics for example you can find there, too.

Like, Katashaka is basically that Africa that some of the older Black Panther stuff displayed. And Kara-Tur is the kind of Asia that once upon a time Dr. Strange travelled to - and that the Mandarin came from. Like, it really is that bad.

Which probably is why they have not used any of these settings outside of Faerûn since 2000 with very few exceptions. Because by now people actually interacting with this, would rightfully call them out for the racism in it.

So, basically what they are doing right now is, to just act as if those settings do not exist. But... I actually do think that is in a way a bad thing for several reasons.

First and foremost it is obviously a bit iffy that the world got now reduced onto only the "European" part of the world. And sure, Faerûn is supposed to be quite diverse ethnically diverse, but that does not change the fact that it is "medieval Europe, with some Rennaissance stuff thrown in" for the most part.

Because it basically also implies that any non-white cultures are... unimportant for the world.

WotC, take a page out of Marvel's book

Okay, so, what should WotC/Hasbro do, if they actually cared about the franchise (which they clearly do not do, but that's beside the point)?

Well, simple: Do, what Marvel at some point did.

There is a reason I took the Marvel stuff as a reference above, because Marvel at some point realized that what they had done in the way they depicted basically anything that was not mainstream western culture was not okay. So... They hired people from the respective cultures to write about these non-western cultures, do the art and so on.

With all the criticism I have on the MCU, this did show there as well. With Black Panther being the most obvious example of course. A movie that went ahead to actually honor and even celebrate different African cultures.

And... well, DnD could do the same thing. It could not only help to actually worldbuild the entire world of Toril some more, but it also would create super interesting campaign settings for it as well.

Because I could absolutely imagine some interesting campaigns that could take place within an Africa-inspired setting, or some Indigenous-American-inspired setting. That could be very, very fun to play in, if the cultures were created by people from the real-world equivalent of those cultures.

And yes, this brings us back to the issue of: "For fuck's sake, let's just do a bit more with the lore?! Please!"

*sighs* Of course I know that this will probably not happen under Hasbro, because Hasbro mostly thinks about how to implement micro transactions into DnD... Yeah...

#dungeons & dragons #dnd #dnd lore #faerûn #90s racism #racism #worldbuilding #lore #marvel comics #black panther #fantasy #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #hasbro #wizards of the coast #wotc

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plusvanity · 3 months

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What's your favorite part about where you live?

Well, there are a few really nice aspects about it like..

-nature and animals. Transylvania is one of the richest regions from Europe in biodiversity, with Romania having the biggest population of wolves, brown bears, lynxes, deer, etc. The land is dominated by the great Carpathian Mountains, hundreds of hectares of wild forests and hills. It's basically the best place to explore, hike and camp if you're into these kinds of activities. I walk almost daily through the forest near my place and I've seen wildlife that some people would only see on TV.

I absolutely love nature.

-culture around mysticism. Amazing folklore, creepy stories, superstitious, tradition and things like that.

I grew up in a semi-rural place, so listening to legends about bloodthirsty vampires, strigoi, witches and things like that was the usual, and I'm glad for that. I wouldn't have it any other way.

-life is cheap here compared to other countries. There's nothing better than being paid a salary higher than European standards while living in a cheap, 'out in the country' place. If I were to live in a big city, I wouldn't be able to save shit and build my way in reaching my ultimate goals.

So, for example. Working in IT for an American or a Switzerland wage while living in Romania is financial heaven.

-some political aspects. I am not gonna talk politics on tumblr for obvious reasons, but let's say that although corruption still runs high here, this country's (post communism) mentality favours some of my 'radical' beliefs.

Overall, it's a nice place to visit if you're a nature lover, a vampire enthusiast and wanna live on a relatively 'safe' land.

#ask response

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llynwen · 1 month

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hi you're European right? I'm curious to know your thoughts about how the American south is portrayed in true detective bc I've been there and yes it's exactly like that but even moreso. Haunted ass beautiful country

Thank You So Much for such an interesting ask!

In the case of many europeans who were born before the Internet was such a big thing, we mostly learned about the us from films and shows. my childhood experience was watching reruns of spaghetti westerns and early 2000s rom coms, family comedies and kids movies, and feeling that the technicolor reality of america was somehow so much better than the Gray of eastern europe. the discrepancy isn't as noticeable now as it used to be when i was a kid, but you could Smell the post-sovietness some days. the life i saw in the movies was anything But the bleak, overwhelming reality of the early 2000s in my country that just made you feel nauseous and gave you a migraine. like i remember being Shocked at the technology of CDs and MP3 players. it was 2007.

the consensus was always that america was somewhere where everything was better. bigger. brighter. america was where you went to be happy. where you could breathe.

then, as i grew up, i obviously realized that this was a load of bullshit. i don't remember when the shift took place, but sometime in my teenage years, i suppose. by that time, my english has gotten good enough to actually participate in social media (that are predominantly american, like tumblr for example. i've been here for a decade) and actually engage in discourse. to learn about the Real america and what life looked like for the average person. and it wasn't great. guns, systemic oppression, privatized healthcare, the capitalist rot. none of that was present in the movies of my childhood.

now, in true detective, the south reminds me so much of how eastern europe felt in my childhood. it's nowhere near similar to it visually, the nature and architecture and people are all different, but it is Stifling, Suffocating, like the sky is gonna come down on your head. the ash and aluminum line actually describes it so good. what i was most surprised by, though, was the people. starting from marty (let's not focus on rusty here as we can all agree he doesn't really belong with the rest of the characters), he is a perfect example of the average family man. i love his character Because he's a shit and a cringeass loser, but in the scenes of him interacting with his daughters in '02, the feeling that he evokes in me is Disgust. and i feel like that's a common archetype of the father-provider that thinks his role in the house ends with making money. he sits in his chair, makes everybody miserable with his very presence, and expects the food to be brought to him. that man has never scrubbed a toilet in his life. i know men like him. i've met them, talked to them. i'm related to them. they're everywhere. that disgust feels intimate. now, the other characters that surprised me were the side characters, the people rust and marty go to question. tyrone's mother, the prostitutes, dora's friend at the scrap yard - they remind me of my people. now, i really don't want to come off as classist or some shit like that - but in both the show And my reality, the divide between the working class and the educated crowd is Stark. that is not to say that one is better than the other (i firmly believe that a lack of education can make you happier, if you think about it. content with a simple life, happy to work in a mine your whole life, live in a wielka płyta apartment and go to the sea once a year. if that. this is very specific to my region, sorry). the way those side characters talk, behave, even look - that is Nothing like the movies. they're not the flashy main characters, they're imperfect in every sense - they Look like people, have flaws, crooked teeth, they don't dress like supermodels, they can be stupid, they drink and smoke and cheat and lie. they're Human, not movie protagonists. and i love that reality in the show. makes it feel that much more authentic.

i don't know how specific that is to the south; are the people like that in other places? are the fishermen in luisiana the same as in minessota? is the suffocating feeling specific to the iberia parish, or is that just how it is in small town america? i dont know. the problem is, i wanna find out.

see, i never lost that childhood wonder. call me naive, but i still wanna Go. i still want to see the american dream with my own two eyes, even if it means i'm gonna watch it shatter in real time. i graduate college in a little over a year with a masters degree, and for right now my plan is to find a way to go work at a ranch in montana or wyoming. that's all i want. my favorite thing about america is not the culture, not the people, not the Possibility, but the Space. ironically, the stolen land is what compels me most. i want to experience that open space, to Breathe, and for the first time in my life feel my lungs filling up fully. i will be disappointed, full stop, but i want to have that experience.

the american south is a fascinating place to me, always has. the specific mix of cultures, the tradition and lack of it, even the bigotry and hate, it's all endlessly interesting. as you said, haunted but oh so beautiful. it scares the shit out of me. i need to go and feel it bite me.

#sorry for going off like that lmao #but yeah. thats them thoughts #if you wanna talk about it more PLEASE LEAVE ME ANOTHER ASK/RESPOND TO THIS/DM ME #thank you again for this ask #love you mwah mwah mwah #ask #true detective

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mi-spark · 2 months

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started this shiny hunt in pokemon Y a lil while ago in light of the recent plza announcement :] i’m gonna play with the same team i originally played this game with, so froakie is my target :D

not super far in bc these resets are slowww, for those who haven’t done this hunt you have a whole conversation with the friend group which includes getting 2 key items and choosing your nickname, and i insist on typing in mine each time LOL (it’s just “mimi” so it’s quick n easy to type, but if i have to type it in over 4096 times then so be it)

also!! i’m gonna dump my thoughts i had jotted down last week about plza below the cut. i’m excited for it!

i am mostly very happy for the xy freaks and those who grew up with the games. this is exactly how i felt about dppt and sinnoh getting attention with pla + bdsp a couple years ago! sinnoh is my baby and legends arceus has become one of my favorite pkmn games ever!! i’ve had my moment with its resurgence, and now the kalos people get to have this and IT’S REALLY NICE TO SEE :”)

my personal feelings about xy are that while they rank pretty low in my list of favorite core games, i do Not think they are bad— in fact, i liked them a lot (i am very easy to please when it comes to pokemon lol, but i still think they are solid games)! so i am looking forward to z-a too!!

i’m a little torn about the possible types of gameplay we’ll get. the fact that it’s set in one large city is an interesting choice but one that doesn’t worry me (i will say that it reminds me of detective pikachu in that way LOL). i have no doubts it’ll be a fun experience, but i just. REALLY love the gameplay of arceus dkjgdjfj i enjoy how it’s a nice mix of the usual pokemon strategy and action rpg, it scratches my brain. SO i can’t decide if i like the possibility of it being Just like pla, or something completely different. i guess i’ll be expecting a middle ground of those options as of now? not concerned, but interested ^_^

please. let the graphics be better. we love to see the 2025 release, it gives me hope for improved rendering and set design! arceus was kinda slacking on those fronts

i’m excited for another story and cast of characters to be Normal about… especially looking forward to anything they may do with my stupid idiot divorced french dads Sycamore and Lysandre

i’m definitely not the only one getting fullmetal alchemist vibes from the aerial drawing of lumiose + the prospect of underground catacombs, and the fact that Amestris is based off european countries hello? maybe i’ll have to do an fmab rewatch soon idk 👀

okay this has gotten off track lol the tl;dr is that I LOVE TO SEE NEW CONTENT ABOUT THE EXISTING REGIONS because there is!! so much to work with!!! and i’d genuinely be okay with not getting a brand new generation for another 7 years. THX FOR READING have a good day :D

#i came across a thought dump i made on my sideblog that i had completely forgotten about #it was about the announcements of pla and bdsp at the time #so i figured i’d ramble about plza this time! i have some (positive!) Thoughts

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hoursofreading · 5 months

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COWEN: But how does art protect them? How does that explain wonderful art in Florence? PALMER: Imagine for a moment that you are the French ambassador, and you’re on your way to Rome to meet with the pope because the French king always needs this. Now, if you’re an ambassador, you’re, at minimum, the son of a count because only aristocracy can be ambassadors. On your way south, you’re stopping off in different cities, including Florence. Now, you already have a terrible opinion of Florence because Florence is a pit of merchants, scum, and villainy. Florence, in order to prevent noblemen from taking over the republic, literally executed everyone in this city who had a drop of royal blood or noble blood. So, it’s just commoners. There’s not a single person in this city who is of sufficient right to be worthy to talk to you. In addition, Florence has such a terrible reputation for sodomy, homosexuality, and perversion that the verb to Florentine is literally the word for anal sex in five different European countries, including in France. So, you’re on your way to this city, and it’s full of merchant scum and they’re all perverts and there isn’t even anyone there who’s worthy to host you on the way. You’re going to stay with your dad’s banker because he’s the only Florentine whose address you’ve got. You show up in the city, and you reach the city, and suddenly, wait a minute, it’s full of these gorgeous ancient Roman bronzes. Wait a minute, they can’t be ancient Roman bronzes. They look like they’re new, but that technology doesn’t exist. That technology was lost centuries ago. Then you go to the banker’s house, and he greets you humbly at the door saying, “I’m sorry, my house is unworthy to host your excellency,” and he invites you inside, and you look around the courtyard, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before, with these round circular arches that let enormous amounts of light shine in on the gardens and the statues. You’ve never seen this before. Wait, you have seen this before. It looks like the ruins of the Roman villa in the backyard of your father’s castle where you grew up, but that doesn’t exist anymore. Those arts were lost. In the middle of the courtyard, there’s a gorgeous statue, an ancient Roman statue of Bacchus or Dionysius, and next to it, there’s a brand-new statue that’s obviously new because it hasn’t even turned green yet. The bronze is still ruddy. But that technology, you know, doesn’t exist. In the corner, there are some men dressed in strange robes speaking a language you’ve never heard, and you say, “What language are they speaking?” The banker says, “Oh, they’re speaking Ancient Greek. They’re Plato scholars.” And you say, “But Ancient Greek is lost, and Plato is lost. How do you have this?” “Oh, we have lots of Ancient Greek here. Look, here’s my grandson, Lorenzo. He’s just written a sonnet in Ancient Greek about the three parts of the soul.” And then, here’s a little boy reciting a sonnet to you about the nature of the soul in Ancient Greek. You’re like, “Where am I? All of this stuff is impossible.” And that’s the moment that your host, Cosimo de’ Medici, turns to you and says, “Would France like to make an alliance with Florence?” You could say no, right? You could say, “No, we’re going to come here, we’re going to bring our army. We’re going to mop the floor with you because you’re helpless compared to our giant forces, and we’re going to burn this down and take the gold, and all of this will be gone, and we’ll be rich.” Or you could say, “Yes. Let’s make an alliance. Send me a bronzesmith and an architect and a Greek tutor and a Plato scholar, and we’re going to bring them to the court in France, and the king is going to do his court like this. Then, when the envoys from England show up, they’re going to feel like uncultured country bumpkins, just like I feel now.” That’s how it’s a defense mechanism, because they are helpless on the military game, but they are so ahead on the culture game that you don’t want to hurt them. You want to befriend them so that you can have the art.

#quote

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