#that way we both can have left the same toxic workplace
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I love your Sultan AU so much, how it shows Jamil and Kalim 5 years into the future! How do you see the other NRC guys in the future after they graduate? I'm just curious
Thank you, Anon! <3 I am very happy you like it! I really hope we’ll have more content for this AU in the future, but then again, that’s me with every AU…
We haven’t thought about other students in this universe specifically, we might come up with stuff as we go, so nothing of what I’m about to say is concrete yet. I also won’t write about every single character, just about the ones that come to mind more easily…
First of all, when it comes to Octavinelle and Ignihyde guys, there might be a crossover situation lol, maybe the AzuIde marriage AU or the Mafia AU exist in the same universe at this one. Age-wise, the second option fits more, I guess, but I’m still thinking that it’s the first one. In any case, they are definitely up to no good with Azul working hard on his rapidly growing business, with the Tweels helping him out and Idia being forced to help out too in his own way. Ortho is always by Idia’s side, no matter the AU. But he also might pursue his passion for movie-making in some ways, as least as a hobby.
(Azul also definitely does business with the Asim family, so the Octa-trio and Kalim+Jamil are still in touch, even though they don’t talk on a regular basis)
Speaking of movies, Vil’s future is pretty easy to determine. He works harder than ever, and has his own set of problems: his perfectionism has never left him; he is a workaholic that finds it difficult to slow down and relax. The industry is also as toxic as ever, so with every big win he also gets a ton of new things to fight. But he’s doing his best, as always, even though this job quite literally drives him insane, despite how much he loves it, both acting and make-up production and other project he does.
Rook and Vil are still together, but Rook also pursuits his own thing, whatever it is. It’s hard to say what the hell Rook’s doing: he is still quite an enigma of a person; even Vil doesn’t know for sure (probably something shady, so Vil doesn’t really want to know). Rook also keeps hinting that Vil shouldy ditch all of his big projects and try directing an indie movie.
Riddle is also overworked and overstressed: despite the fact that he really wanted to become a lawyer when he was still at NRC, he did end up becoming a magical doctor like his parents wanted him to. He decided that it was the right thing to do, not only because of his parents, but also because this is such an important occupation only the most brilliant mages can handle. So right now he spends the majority of his time either studying medical literature or practicing at a very prestigious magical clinic, and he knows that he should be feeling proud of himself and satisfied because of doing something he was meant to do, but he can’t shake off this feeling of disappointment and emptiness. Thus, at some point he began to also study law whenever he has free time for that, and that makes him much happier. But the drawback of it is that he has literally no time to talk to any of his friends anymore, it’s like he defaulted to his pre-NRC situation. Trey (who is a pastry chef btw, we know he would be one) is very concerned but can’t do much about it, although he is one of the few people from the NRC Riddle still talks to occasionally.
Ironically, another person Riddle talks to from time to time is Floyd, because he accidentally found out where Riddle works and now visits him from time to time just to mess with him.
Deuce is also kind of disappointed in how things are going at his workplace (the Magical Police department): he realised that it’s much more corrupt than he expected it to be. He hangs out with Ace every day, and Ace always talks about how naive Deuce is and that no one is going to take him seriously if he keeps being so stupidly earnest and hardworking instead of just making “right” friends and bribing his way into the elite squad. It pisses Deuce off, because he knows that Ace is right, and also hearing that from someone who doesn’t really have a job is annoying.
Ace doesn’t have a job because he had a fight with his boss and left. So now he spends his days sleeping, providing hot takes for every situation, earning some money by doing magic tricks aaaand probably gambling.
Hmm, I also think all the first-year boys still talk to each other quite regularly even if they don’t live in the same area. Epel surely visits Deuce and Ace at least every couple of weeks, Jack probably does too. Sebek is less likely to do that though, he is way too busy.
It’s kind of difficult to say anything about Diasomnia, so I’ll leave them out for now. Leona is doing his Leona thing, probably still complaining about not being appreciated. I don’t know what Cater does, but I hope he is happy? He might be an influencer of sorts, but he’s usually a loner that becomes visibly animated when he reunites with his college friends. He is also definitely away from his family.
So yeah everyone has issues lol The only one who is 1000% thriving is Ruggie. Things are going well for Ruggie. Good for Ruggie! He deserved it.
Ehh, I think that’s all for now. It took so long to write this reply for some reason, but I hope reading it was somewhat fun.
Thank you for your question again <3
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A Game
Summary: Tony suggests a game that you, the unfortunate intern, get dragged right into the center of: who can make a woman cum the fastest?
Pairings: all dark!: Steve x Reader, Bucky x Reader, Thor x Reader, Sam Wilson x Reader, Tony x Reader, implied natasha x reader
Warnings: DUB-CON/NON-CON (oral: f-receiving, fingering, tiny smidge of analplay) VOYEURISM/EXHIBITIONISM, BLACKMAILING, OVERSTIMULATION. The characters in this story are NOT good people. After reading the warnings, your media consumption is your own responsibility!
As Stark’s party mellowed down and all the guests left, you, the unfortunate intern, were called over to the small group of five Avengers seated in a section of couches.
“Y/n, come!” Thor’s voice boomed.
“Y/n, come!” Sam mimicked, deepening his voice to make fun of Thor’s.
You approached them as the men snickered at Sam’s joke.
“What can I do for you?” you ask, a fake smile plastered on your face.
Stark cleared his throat and raised a brow at you; a silent command.
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“A round of drinks please, and add this to Sir Barnes, Sir Rogers, and I’s drinks.” Thor handed you the flask of his Asgardian liquor and you accepted it, hiding the slight nervous tremble of your hands.
“Of course, sir.”
“Someone’s been learning their manners,” Steve taunted, and it took all your restraint to not snarl at him.
“Easy there, Rogers,” Stark interjected, noticing how your fingers clenched Thor’s flask tighter. “Pretty sure Barnes fucked the brat outta her couple days ago when he came back from that shitshow of mission in Bosnia. Got a lot of pent up rage there, Buck?”
“Mission just put me in a bad mood,” Bucky shrugged. “Either way, I don’t think I fucked all the brat outta her. Got anything left for me, doll?”
“I have nothing for you, you self-righteous, ignorant prick,” you spat venomously.
“There she is. I always love a challenge.” Bucky smirked at how your knuckles were turning white around the flask. “Now didn’t Thor ask you to go fetch us some drinks?”
You huffed, opting to bite your tongue rather than lashing out, and spun on your heel toward the minibar.
Three-months ago, you would never have imagined your internship interview at S.H.I.E.L.D to bring you here. Your interview had been conducted by Captain America himself, and just as things began to look promising, it was interrupted by a sharp knock from Tony Stark. Tony had brought Steve into the hall, leaving the door to the conference room open, and you could only sneak glances through the window of the room, hearing Steve whisper about how it was “a question of morality” while they both kept looking back at you.
You got the position, and the next day, Tony sat you down and gave you an offer.
The Avengers needed to be ‘taken care of’, as he put it, and you being a ‘stress-reliever’ would boost morale around the team. Most of the them never had time for the outside world (apparently saving the world was a big commitment?) and were rarely ever able to make lasting relationships. You could accept the position, be compensated monthy, and get to live in the compound, or you could decline, and walk away with your mouth sealed by the confidentiality contract you signed before the interview. Something about S.H.I.E.L.D. work being linked to a lot of top secret information, meaning you weren’t allowed to speak any details of the job to outside parties unless you wanted to get sued for every penny you were worth.
You had been on the cusp of taking the second option before Tony mentioned your sister’s job as S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent. She was half the reason you’d interviewed for an internship. A couple words from Tony about her possibly falling into a fatal accident on a mission, and you took the position offer in a heartbeat.
You almost overfilled the glass while getting lost in your train of thought. Setting down the bottle of expensive whiskey, you placed the last glass next to the others on the silver tray, and picked it up, gracefully yet begrudgingly making your way back to the small gathering.
“Y/n, finally. We were just talking about who here can make a woman cum the fastest.”
The complete utter bluntness of Tony’s words caught you entirely off guard, and you tripped over your own feet, stumbling in your high heels to keep the tray of drinks from falling before Sam reached an arm out to catch the tray and another arm to hold your hip and steady you.
You ripped yourself from Sam’s touch without acknowledging or thanking him, to disturbed by Tony’s previous words to do so. You began passing out the glasses of dark liquid. “And you’re telling me this why?” Your voice was flat in hopes of showing Tony you were completely disinterested in any plans he might have.
“Why, we need your aid, Lady Y/n,” Thor answered a little too cheerfully for your taste.
“I won’t be partaking in your little immature competition of toxic masculinity.” You crossed your arms and continued. “It makes it seem that women are nothing but prizes. Games to be played by boys as they fight over the highscore. Toys.”
“Aren’t they?” Steve cocked his head, eyes glimmering with amusement while a smirk painted his face. The rest of the men chuckled at his reply.
“I think HR would be shocked to hear that Captain America is being a sexist dick to a woman in the workplace,” you bit back, but your threat was weak and they all knew it.
“I think HR would be to busy writing a condolence letter to your sisters family if, let’s say, on her mission with Sam tomorrow in Russia, a stray bullet hit her,” Steve replied. A quick reminder at the stakes.
Sam clicked his tongue and shook his head in mock sympathy. “Those darn Russians and their careless aim.”
He abruptly pushed himself off the couch and clapped his hands together. “I wanna go first,” he declared.
“Just remember, you can’t use your dick,” Tony added. “Some of us don’t have super soldier serum enhanced fuckwands.”
“Please never, ever say fuckwand again,” Bucky said, scrunching up his nose. “Besides, the hydra serum didn’t do anything down there.” He waggled his eyebrows while elbowing his enhanced counterpart. “Don’t think I could say the same for this punk here though.”
Steve muttered a ‘shut up’ while the group snickered.
All while they compared sizes like a bunch of teenagers, Sam manhandled you onto the coffee table in the center of the couches. You let out a grunt as you were shoved onto your front, stomach pressed into the tabletop while your pelvis was slammed into the edge.
Sam kneeled behind you and brought up two fingers to your mouth.
“Get ‘em nice and wet for me, baby.”
The men around you went quiet, entranced as you reluctantly took Sam’s fingers into your mouth, sucking on them and swirling your tongue around them.
When Sam finally pulled them out, he looked back at Tony.
“You ready?” Sam asked.
Sam hiked the flowy skirt of your dress up your legs causing you to squirm and pathetically thrash; a desperate attempt at putting an abrupt stop to this stupid game.
“You’re on the clock.”
At Tony’s words, Sam immediately stopped your desperate attempt at worming away from him by catching you by the back of your neck and slamming you back down hard on the coffee table. Much to your disdain, the rough treatment made you wet, and that was the last thing you wanted them to see.
But when Sam pulled your lacy panties down, you could tell it was the first thing he noticed.
“Fuck babygirl, I didn’t need you lubing up my fingers, you’re already drenched,” he noted.
You let out a soft moan as Sam worked two calloused fingers into your pussy. Although they’re thick and long, they were nowhere near the size of his dick and you silently thanked whatever was out there that he wasn’t splitting you in half with it at the moment. Sam released the grip on your neck, moving to settle the hand on your ass before giving it a light squeeze and a slap that elicited another moan from you. While Sam slowly began moving his fingers- twisting, curling, and pumping them- he leaned over you, caging your body under his broad chest, to speak dirty words into your ear.
“Baby, you’re so wet right now, I think you like having them watch you.” Your cheeks burned in shame while he picked up the pace. “You want them to see how well-behaved you are for me? Want them to see how you come on my hand like a good little slut?” he cooed.
Slow pumps now turned to quick thrusts from his skilled fingers and Sam groaned as you fluttered around him.
“That’s it. You’re taking me perfectly.”
Twisting his wrist so his thumb could also strum your clit, Sam was moving so fast you’d easily mistake him for a superhuman.
“Yes, Sam, please,” you cried out, eyes rolling into the back of your head.
“Uh-uh, babygirl. Wrong word,” he scolded, although his pace never slowed as his fingers brutally fucked into you.
“Daddy!” you screamed. “I’m cumming!”
You chanted those words, cunt clamping down on his merciless fingers. He gave you no reprieve, mercilessly thrusting into you, until you squirted, your release coating his hand and dripping down his forearm. Only when you were almost crying, did he finally remove his hand from your abused cunt.
“Now that-,” Sam stated, grinning while he stood. “-is how you make a girl come.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever Birdbrain.” You don’t have any strength to look at Tony as he speaks. “Give her a couple minutes before whoever’s next.”
Whatever the conversation was between them (you couldn’t hear it over the buzzing in your brain), it was much too short to your liking. The few minutes Tony gave you only felt like a few seconds before Bucky was getting up.
“Guess I’ll take a crack at it,” he announced, rolling his head from side to side.
“No one says “take a crack at it” anymore, old man.”
“Keep talking when your in last place, Sam,” Bucky quipped, however, his tone was still light.
You felt a metal hand on your hip before you were rolled over onto your back, now facing Bucky while your eyes pleaded with him.
“Please dont,” you croaked.
Bucky just scoffed, kneeling down between your legs and wrapping both arms around your thighs as he pulled you closer.
“Tony?” His hot breath fanned your pussy as he spoke and you inhaled sharply at the feeling.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Stark said.
Bucky wasted no time the moment the words left Tony’s mouth. He started by licking up from your hole to clit over and over, the lazy stripes already driving you wild. Letting go of one of your thighs to bring his flesh hand to your pussy, he pulled the hood of your clit back, pausing his licking to blow on your engorged bud.
“Such a pretty pussy, doll,” he murmured before turning his head around and speaking louder. “You guys seeing this?”
He moved his head out of the way to showcase your glistening folds. A couple groans from the men on the couches had you trying to close your legs, but Bucky’s grip was like steel (especially considering his hand was metal).
“Wasting time Buck,” Steve commented and Bucky just rolled his eyes.
“I’m pretty sure I can still beat Sam and have time left over,” he scoffed.
Bucky directed his attention back to your folds, this time, diving in right away. He still had the hood of your clit pulled back as he encased the bud with his lips causing you to writhe at the intense sensation. And yet, you were held down with practically no effort as he methodically played with you. Each time he groaned against you, you let out an embarrassingly loud moan, and by the time he started sucking on your clit, you were wrecked. Your hand found home in his brown locks of hair while he quickly moved his tongue back and forward on your sensitive nub that was trapped in the vacuum of his mouth. The coil inside you wound tighter and tighter, and suddenly, while Bucky began shaking his head from side to side, it snapped. Your clit pulsed rapidly while encased in his hot mouth, and you screamed, legs locking around his head while your hand held his head in place. He worked you while you rode out your orgasm on his face until you could barely move.
Bucky got up from his knees, grinning down at you, so weak, you couldn’t muster it in you to glare back.
“Now I think I really fucked the brat out of you,” he said. “What was that?” He cupped his ear. “Did I hear a thank you sir?”
“Thank you, sir,” you whimpered weakly.
You were so fucked out, all the next events were but a blur.
Thor had feasted between your thighs the same as Bucky but was more sloppy, although, your body seemed to love ‘sloppy’. His tongue was constantly lashing and worming around your clit, the wet muscle accompanied by lewd slurping sounds, and in record time, Thor’s suckling and licking had you tensing and building up so much that your orgasm felt like a waterfall crashing over your body.
Steve was just as methodical and precise as Bucky, also pumping his fingers slowly in and out of your pussy. He was sweetly slow, dragging out your pleasure to the point where you were begging him to come. His warm tongue dragged across your sensitive cunt, while another hand reached up to grab a breast and pinch a nipple. You felt like your body was on fire. It wasn’t until Steve had inserted a thumb into your ass that he finally allowed your body sweet sweet release.
Your head span as finally collapsing on Tony’s floor, listening to the muffled voices above you.
You didn’t even register Stark’s words as he announced Thor had won and Steve had come in last. You barely even heard Steve’s defense that he was just enjoying himself too much in the moment.
Although ten-minutes later you had a somewhat sense of clarity, after hearing their conversation, you wished you were just unconscious. Even better, dead.
“I’m tellin’ you man, I made her squirt. She definitely came the hardest with me.” Sam’s voice rang.
“Dude- she was literally grinding against my face and holding me in a headlock with her legs,” Bucky argued.
“I literally made the brat beg to cum,” Steve inserted.
“I’d say that by bringing her to release the fastest, it was most intense with me,” Thor declared, victoriously.
You were on the brink of tears as they talked about you. Until another voice cut into the room. A female voice.
“What do you boys think you’re doing?”
It was Natasha. Your head jolted up as you felt a glimmer of hope surge through you.
That glimmer of hope was quickly extinguished at her next words.
“Not inviting me to the boy’s party?” she scolded. “You think a girl might beat you by a landslide?”
Nat squatted down next to you, running a soft hand on your cheek.
“Well you’re right. I’ll beat Thor’s record and cut it in half.”
She began unbuttoning her pants.
“And I’ll do it while riding her face.”
#sam wilson x reader#bucky barnes x reader#thor x reader#steve rogers x reader#dark!sam wilson#dark!steve rogers#dark!bucky x reader#dark!tony stark#dark!natasha x reader#dark!sam wilson x reader#dark!thor#dark!steve smut
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coming back to this post i made again to elaborate - especially as the ted lasso fandom is discussing sam/rebecca and fandom racism in general. there are takes that are important to make that i had failed to previously, but there's also a growing amount of takes that i have to, As A Black Person™, respectfully disagree with.
tl;dr for the essay below sam being infantilized and the sam/rebecca relationship are not the same issue and discussing the former one doesn't mean excusing the latter. and we've reached the glen of the Dark Forest where we sit down and talk about fandom racism.
i should have elaborated this in my last post about sam/rebecca, but i didn't. i'll say it now - i personally don't support sam and rebecca getting together for real. i believe what people are saying is entirely correct, even though sam is an adult legally, he and rebecca are, at the very least, two wildly different stages of life. for americans, he's at the equivalent of being a junior in college. there are things he hasn't gotten the chance to experience and there are areas he needs to grow in. when i was younger, i didn't understand the significance of these age gaps, i just thought it would be fine if it was legal, but as someone who is now a little older than sam in universe, i understand fully. we can't downplay this. whether or not you think sam works for rebecca or not, even despite the gender inversion of the Older Man Younger Woman trope, whether or not he is a legal adult, i don't think at this point in time, their relationship would work. i think it's an interesting narrative device, but i don't want to see it play out in reality.
that being said!
what's worrying me is that two discussions are being conflated here that shouldn't be. sam having agency and being a little more grown™ than he's perceived to be does not suddenly make his relationship with rebecca justified. i had decided to bring it up because sam was being brought into the spotlight again and i was starting to realizing that his infantilization was more common than i felt comfortable with.
sam's infantilization (and i will continue to call it that), is a microaggression. it's is in the range of microaggressions that i would categorize as 'fandom overcompensation'. we have a prominent character of color that exhibits traits that aren't stereotypical, and we don't want to appear racist or stereotypical, so we lean hard in the other direction. they're not aggressive, they're a Sweet Baby, they're not world weary, they're now a little naive. they're not cold and distant, they're so nice and sweet that there's no one that wouldn't want approach them, and yeah, on their face, these new traits are a departure and, on their face, they seem they look really good.
but at a certain point, it reaches an inflection point, and, like the aftertaste of a diet coke, that alleged sweetness veers into something a lot less sweet. it veers into a lack of agency for the character. it veers into an innocence that appears to indicate that the person can't even take care of themselves. it veers into a one-dimensional characterization that doesn't allow for any depth or negative emotion.
it's not kind anymore. it's not a nice departure from negative stereotypes. it's not compensating for anything.
it's patronizing.
it is important that we emphasize that characters of color are more than the toxic stereotypes we lay on them, yes, but we make a mistake in thinking that the solution is overcorrection. for one thing, people of color can usually tell. don't get it twisted, it's actually pretty obvious. for another, it just shifts from one dimension to another. people of color are still supposed to be Only One Character Trait while white people can contain multitudes. ted, who is pretty much as pollyanna as they come, can be at once innocent and naive and deep and troubled and funny and scared. jamie can be a prick and sexy and also lonely and also a victim of abuse. sam, however, even though he was bullied (by jamie, no less), is thousands of miles away from home, and has led a protest on his team, is usually just characterized as human sunshine with much less acknowledgement of any other traits beyond that.
and that's why i cringe when fandom calls sam a Sweet Baby Boy without any sense of irony. is that all we're taking away? after all this time? even for a comedy, sam has received a substantive of screen time over two whole seasons, and we've seen a range of emotions from him. so as a black person it's hurtful that it's boiled down to Sweet Baby Boy.
that's the problem. we need to subvert stereotypes, but more importantly, we need to understand that people of color are not props, or pieces of cardboard for their white counterparts. they are full and actualized and have agency in their own right and they can have other emotions than Angry and Mean or Sweet and Bubbly without any nuance between the two. i think the show actually does a relatively good job of giving sam depth (relatively, always room for improvement, mind you), especially holding it in tension with his youth, but the fandom, i worry, does not.
it's the same reason why finn from star wars started out as the next male protagonist in the sequel trilogy but by the third movie was just running around yelling for REY!! it's the same reason why when people make Phase 4 Is the Phase For Therapy gifsets for the mcu and show wanda maximoff, loki, and bucky barnes crying and being sad but purposefully exclude sam wilson who had an entire show to tell us how difficult his life is, because people find out if pee oh sees are also complex, they'll tell the church.
and the reason why i picked up on this very early on is because i am an organic, certified fresh, 100% homegrown, non-gmo, a little ashy, indigenous sub saharan African black person. the ghanaian tribes i'm descended from have told me so, my black ass parents have told me so, and the nurses at the hospital in [insert asian country here] that started freaking out about how curly my hair was as my mother was mid pushing me out told me so!
and this stuff has real life implications. listen: being patronized as a black person sucks. do you know how many times i was patted on the back for doing quite honestly, the bare minimum in school? do you know how many times i was told how 'well spoken' or 'eloquent' i was because i just happen to have a white accent or use three syllable words? do you know how many times i've been cooed over by white women who couldn't get over how sweet i was just because i wasn't confrontational or rude like they wrongly expected me to be?
that's why they're called microaggressions. it's not a cross on your lawn or having the n-word spat in your face, but it cuts you down little by little until you're completely drained.
so that's the nuance. that's the subversion. the overcompensation is not a good thing. and people of color (and i suspect, even white people) have picked up on, in general, the different ways fandom treats sam and dani and even nate. what all of these discussions are converging on is fandom racism, which is not the diet form of racism, but another place for racism to reveal itself. and yeah, it's uncomfortable. it can seem out of left field. you may want to defend yourself. you may want to explain it away. but let me tap the sign on the proverbial bus:
if you are a white person, or a person of color who is not part of that racial group, even, you do not get to decide what is not racist for someone. full stop. there are no exceptions. there is no exit clause for you. there is no 'but, actually-'. that right wasn't even yours to cede or waive.
(it's also important to note that people of color also have the right to disagree on whether something is racist, but that doesn't necessarily negate the racism - it just means there's more to discuss and they can still leave with different interpretations)
people don't just whip out accusations of racism like a blue eyes white dragon in a yu-gi-oh duel. it's not fun for us. it's not something we like to do to muzzle people we don't want to engage with. and we're not concerned with making someone feel bad or ashamed. we're exposing something painful that we have to live with and, even worse, process literally everything we experience through. we can't turn it off. we can't be 'less sensitive' or 'less nitpicky'. we are literally the primary resources, we are the proverbial wikipedia articles with 3,000 sources when it comes to racism. who else would know more than us?
what 2020 has shown us very clearly is that racism is systemic. it's not always a bunch of Evil White Men rubbing their hands together in a dark room wondering how they're going to use the 'n-word' today. it's systemic. it's the way you call that one neighborhood 'sketchy'. it's how you use 'ratchet' and 'ghetto' when describing something bad. it's how you implicitly the assume the intelligence of your friend of color. it's the way you turned up your nose and your friend's food and bullied them for it in middle school but go to restaurants run by white people who have 'uplifted' it with inauthentic ingredients. it's telling someone how Well Spoken and Eloquent they are even though you've both gone to the same schools and work at the same workplace. it's the way you look down at some people of color for having a different body type than you because they've been redlined to neighborhoods where certain foods and resources are inaccessible, and yet mock up the racial features that appeal to you either through makeup or plastic surgery.
it's how when a person of color behaves badly, they're irredeemable, but a white person performing the same act or something similar is 'having a bad day' or 'isn't normally like this' or 'has room to grow' and we can't 'wait for their redemption arc', and yes, i'm not going to cover it in detail in this post but yes this is very much about nate. other people have also brought up the nuances in his arc and compared them to other white characters so i won't do it here.
these behaviors and reactions aren't planned. they aren't orchestrated. they're quite literally unconscious because they've been lovingly baked into western society for centuries. you can't wake up and be rid of it. whether you intended it or not, it can still be racist.
and it's actually quite hurtful and unfair to imply that concerns about racism in the TL fandom are unfounded or lacking any depth or simply meant to be sensational because you simply don't agree with it. i wish it was different, but it doesn't work that way. i'm not raising this up to 'call out' or shame people, but i'm adding to this discussion because, through how we talk about sam, and even dani and nate, i'm yet again seeing a pattern that has shortchanged people of color and made them feel unwelcome in fandom for far too long.
coach beard said it best: we need to do better.
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Savior
I'm not sure when this was supposed to be set but let's say it's 2 years after Tamaki graduated from UA (so Deku and the others are third-years rn) and ur the same age as him so like 21/22
By: J
Tamaki Amajiki x Fem!Reader
Wordcount: 1.6k
Quirk: Toxic (Adding any of your cells to water makes it very poisonous.)
Warnings: Kidnapping
Sometimes you wished you had a different quirk, or even no quirk at all. Your quirk was dangerous, but since it was pretty easily controlled, you weren't bullied as much as some people you knew. Of course, there were always people who seemed to be angry at you for simply existing, but they never bothered you too much because you knew that you would never hurt someone on purpose. You'd always admired heroes, but you knew there was no way you could be one with your quirk. It might have worked if you could control the toxicity of the poison created from your cells, but you couldn't. It was immediately fatal, and there was no cure.
Your mom was quirkless and you had the same quirk as your dad. Growing up, you and your dad had to be incredibly careful not to touch water, and clean it up as quickly as possible. The poison you made wasn't toxic to either of you but it would be to your mom. Thankfully, you had never killed anyone with your quirk. Your grandma on the other hand- she was the first one to be born with the quirk, then your dad, then you. Your grandma accidentally killed her dad when her quirk first manifested. She had to figure out how to keep everyone safe from her quirk on her own.
You were older now and you lived on your own. You were single and ready for a relationship, the only problem was that you were in love. 'How is that a problem if you want to be in a relationship with them?' you ask? Well, you were in love with the pro hero, Suneater. He had saved you when your workplace burned down, and ever since then you'd followed all his cases. Not in a stalker kind of way, but simply to learn about him. As soon as you first saw his face through the smoke, you knew you wouldn't be able to forget him. You knew you should move on because, 'Hey, he's a pro hero. He's famous. He probably doesn't even remember me anymore,' but you just could not get him out of your head.
~
Little did you know, Tamaki couldn't get you out of his head either. Why? It wasn't like he knew you well or anything. You had only talked briefly that day. Why couldn't he stop thinking about you? 'Should I try to find her somehow?' he asked himself. Even if he did manage to find you, would you think it was weird? Would you even remember him? He didn't know what to do.
~
You were walking home from work. It was dark outside, but you didn't live far. You passed by the same shops and the same houses as every other day. The same dark alleyways. However, one thing was different today. The person who'd been patiently watching and waiting was ready to make their move. You felt a hand on your shoulder and tried to cry out in surprise only to have your mouth covered by a cloth. You tried to hold your breath, but quickly failed and sucked in. Your vision was fading. Everything was going dark.
~
Tamaki flopped down on his bed still fully clothed in his hero costume. He'd just gotten off patrol. He rubbed his face, 'Ugh, I probably smell terrible. I should shower.' He lay there with his eyes closed for a moment. All of a sudden, his keen ears picked up what sounded like a woman's scream. His eyes flung open and he ran out the door. He reached the alley just in time to see a long, leather coat whip out of sight. He followed. It was a white-haired man carrying an unconscious, (h/c) woman. He followed close enough to keep sight of the man, but not so close that the man would be able to sense him. The man looked left and right, and Tamaki recognized him. It was Dabi from the League of Villains! 'What does the League want with that woman?' He asked himself. 'Whatever it is, it can't be good. I should let someone know where I'm going in case things go south.' He quickly texted Mirio the situation. Dabi stopped and entered a building. Tamaki pressed his ear to the door, it would be dangerous to barge in without knowing who or what was in there, so he waited, listening.
~
You started waking up. In your groggy and disoriented state you could feel cold metal around your arms and legs.
"What's happening? Where- where am I?" you asked.
"Ah, y/n! Finally awake are we?" you couldn't see anyone and you didn't recognize the voice. Who could've brought you here?
"Who are you? How do you know my name? Where am I?" you asked franticly. Dabi stepped out of the shadows, "Don't you know me? I think my group and I have become quite well known," you gasped. You did recognize him now. He was-
"Dabi?! From the League of Villains?!" He bowed, "The very one," you didn't know what to do. You were completely in shock.
"But- what does the League of Villains want with me? I don't have money or power or anything..."
"Oh, but you do have power, y/n. We've been watching you and we think you could be very useful to us. We could use your poison in many different ways, if you'll join us, of course?" This left you more shocked. The League of Villains wanted you to join them? What?
"I would never join you. I decided a long time ago to never use my quirk. It's too dangerous," you said.
"Too bad," he sighed, "We're going to have to keep you here until you change your mind," now you really didn't know what to do. Should you say you'll join them and then escape? Should you wait for help? You chose the latter. You stared determinedly into Dabi's blue eyes.
"I won't change my mind, you know,"
"I wouldn't be so sure. You might after you get to know us better," at that moment the door was blown in. A hero! You were saved! Then you saw which hero had come. Your heart started pounding until you could feel it in your fingertips. Suneater. He looked you in the face and you saw his eyes widen. Did he remember you? He shook his head and turned toward Dabi. "Let her go," came Tamaki's quiet voice. "You really think I'm gonna let her go just because you asked?" Dabi rolled his eyes,
"Get ready to fight, hero!" Dabi's hand lit up with his fire and Tamaki's fingers turned into tentacles. They started fighting fiercely. You knew that you should or be paying attention to the fight happening in front of you, but your thoughts were on Tamaki. How did he find me? Did he follow Dabi here? Was that look because he remembers me? What kind of look was that? Oh, no! What if it was bad! What if the look was because he does remember me but doesn't like me! Why would he not like me?! We only talked for a minute! Was my first impression really that bad? Thoughts like these swirled around in your head, making you dizzy. Or maybe that was the smoke and chloroform, you weren't sure. Eventually you felt a soft hand on your cheek.
"Hey. Hey! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Suneater was talking to you!
"You- you're here! I- I'm okay. He didn't hurt me just knocked me out with chloroform and brought me here," you said, rather breathlessly. "Where's Dabi?"
"He ran."
"O-oh,"
"Can I h-help you out of those chains?"
"Yes, please," he cut the chains with a crab claw, you tried to stand but your legs gave out. He caught you.
"W-woah, hey, take it easy. You're shaking,"
'That's because you're so close to me!' You thought. He was so close. He was holding you in his arms. You had dreamed about this. Even if this isn't exactly how you planned, you were so happy and excited to see him again.
"We should stop meeting like this," you heard him say.
"Huh?"
"Oh, I guess you don't remember. I saved you from a burning building before. About a year ago. I've been hoping to see you again but I didn't know-"
"Wait you remember me?"
"W-well yeah. If I'm being honest, I haven't been able to get you out of my head,"
"Really? I... well I haven't been able to stop thinking about you either," you were both blushing like crazy.
"Can I take you out?" He asked.
"YES! Uh-um I mean yes, I would like that very much," you beamed at him. He beamed right back. He was feeling very good. You both couldn't wait.
~Le time skip~
You and Tamaki have been married for a year now. You had never been happier. Everything was going great. You lived your life worrying about your husband but you were confident that he'd always come back to you. Everything was perfect. That's how it seemed anyway. Dabi was back. The League still wanted to use your quirk. Be careful.
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS I'M SO SORRY I kept forgetting about it and I finally finally finished it! I probably won't write a part 2 to this cause I'm lazy but I might. Thanks so much for the request :) (also I would've said u and Tamaki were gonna have kids but personally I want to adopt so I just didn't put it in there at all) I hope y'all like it! The end is maybe a little rushed but (as I've mentioned before) I'm too lazy to do anything about it.
#tamaki amakiji#tamaki amajiki x reader#tamaki#mha tamaki#mha#mha x y/n#bnha#bnha x y/n#bnha x reader#bnha x fem!reader#x reader#my hero academia#my hero x reader#anime#boku no hero academia
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One of the nice things about the way the TMA fandom has reached full large-fandom levels of toxicity is that I no longer care if people get mad at me for my opinions on characters! So, some Georgie meta.
(Because fandom is and always has been Like That, I do feel the need to clarify here that I love Georgie, she's one of my favorite characters, characters are more interesting because of their flaws, and I have no investment in the idea that women or female characters are inherently better or more emotionally competent than men or male characters. If I talk a lot about her relationship with Jon, it's because Jon is our point of view character and also the person she interacts with the most. Also, this rambles, sorry.)
I've been thinking about the Season 4 Jon Trauma post and how much I liked the way it talked about Georgie, and it's convinced me that if Georgie could feel fear, she's the one who'd be most afraid of Jon out of all of them. She's the one protagonist we have whose only interaction with the powers has been as a direct victim of them. She doesn't know what they feel like from the inside, like Jon and Melanie; she doesn't know what they're like when they're someone you love, like Basira; she doesn't even know what they're like as petty middle management, like Martin and Tim. What she knows is that one time a monster ate her (only) friend and traumatized her so badly she spent a year in a suicidal depression.
And now her ex - and yes, Jon and Georgie have a remarkably comfortable relationship in the beginning of season three, but they're still exes and they broke up for reasons, even if we don't know exactly what they are - has turned up on her doorstep, shaking and possibly bloody, with nowhere else to go and no access to his home. He's clearly lying about what's going on. He repeatedly violates her house rules. And then he tells her that he's turning into one of those same kinds of monsters that traumatized her and ate her friend. It's clearly enough to override any remaining affection she had for him, and by any definition he has now positioned himself as a trigger.
(Through no fault of his own: the only real response he has to Georgie's statement is "I can't believe you didn't tell me." She's the one who assumes that he Knew, somehow, that she also had a statement; she's the one who suggests he had alternatives. Both suggestions are plausible but we don't actually know for certain that either are true.)
But Georgie isn't afraid of Jon because Georgie can't be afraid -at least, according to her. I'm not sure how much I believe this in the grand scheme of things; it seems like an extremely unlikely mechanism for one of the fears to have. It seems much more likely to me that she's just never met anything as terrifying as that encounter was, and her subjective sense of fear has been massively recalibrated. In which case not only meeting but having hosted in your home another monster who self-describes as similar to the one that was so terrifying that literal threats to your life are no longer distressing would...probably ping. But she's conceptualized herself as a person who doesn't feel fear; it's even possible that was part of her recovery, identifying this as a possible benefit of what would otherwise have been a universally terrible, soul-breaking experience. She looked existential terror in the face and survived, and came out of it a person who cannot be afraid of anything left on this earth. That's kind of a superhero origin story, and I can't blame her for it. I think anyone with a mental illness has at least tried to find ways in which their suffering has made them a better, stronger person.
But whether she's suppressing and rationalizing away any fear she feels or she genuinely doesn't feel any of it, she does frequently behave as though her lack of fear gives her a more objective view of the situation than anyone else. I don't believe she actually uses the word "just," but it drips from her every interaction with Jon after Dead Woman Walking. Why doesn't he just stop reading the statements? Why doesn't he just quit? And, in Zombie, I honestly can't interpret her reaction to Jon when he wakes up from his coma as anything other than, Why doesn't he just die? If he hates being this so much, if he really doesn't want to be a monster, why doesn't he just die?
I really would like to think that it goes without saying that this is, at the very least, a massive failure of empathy, but she's so explicit about it and fandom spent so much time basically agreeing with her that apparently it doesn't. Not only is Georgie not afraid of the situation, but (and this is the part that makes me wonder if she's not rationalizing, rather than being supernaturally unable to feel fear) she can't possibly fathom how afraid everyone else is, and she never tries. She persists in treating the whole awful situation, as @findingfeather's post says, like this is a mundane problem with people who are refusing to help themselves, rather than a supernatural trap that has been specifically built to be inescapable.
Now, let me be clear, even if she were talking to, say, a drug addict who nearly killed themselves because they were in denial about how much of a problem they had, her attitude would be unforgivable. But in this case Jon had no choice in whether or not to become addicted to statements; it was done to him in such a way that he didn't notice it was happening until withdrawal was already incapacitating. He also didn't have the option to leave, as Tim's extended vacation made clear. And, on top of all of that, the whole reason he was in a coma in the first place was that he was trying to save the world. (Neither he nor she knows at this point that he was doing nothing of the kind, so that's really not relevant.) And - look, when Jon came to her after the end of season two, he was asking for help. When he rejected the kind of help that she offered it was because he knew it didn't apply to the problems he actually had, but she treats that like it's his problem, which is something like offering a leg splint to a person bleeding out from a gunshot wound and getting offended when they tell you that won't work. He was very clear that what was happening scared him and he didn't know what to do about it, and her only suggestion was "walk away," which he literally could not do, for multiple reasons.
She's lucky Jon has pretty much precisely zero self-worth at this point, because anyone else would have cut her off completely for behaving like a fucking asshole.
I say "she's lucky" because frankly, even though she says that she wants nothing more to do with him, she turns up at least twice in the Institute after that, with the excuse that she's picking up Melanie to take her to therapy. I don't know about you, but I have never once gone to someone's workplace to pick them up and gone snooping around inside, and no matter how fascinatingly weird that workplace is, I definitely can't imagine doing so when I know that workplace also contains a person I have definitely decided I never want to speak to again. She goes into the Archives, for Christ's sake, and she listens outside Jon's office door for long enough to catch a bit of the recording before letting herself in (so it's very clear she knows who's in there).
Now I'm not trying to paint her as a monster here; Georgie would hardly be the first person to have second thoughts about cutting off someone they still care about, or to break that boundary that they set themselves when they realize they do still want to know how that person is doing. But the fact is that she positions herself as having the moral high ground in every single discussion they have and that's just not true. She is not literally a supernatural monster, true, but if season four did anything with the concept of monsters it was breaking down the difference between "supernaturally driven no-longer-human" and "person capable of caring and empathy." (That's a whole different meta, though, one that I will get around to someday.) Not that Jon is any better, in that encounter specifically, at dealing with a complicated and contentious relationship - he deliberately goads her, even if he doesn't use compulsion. But that's the thing, they're both exes who have had a falling out and aren't handling it very well. Neither of them is in the right.
All of which makes me really wonder what her relationship with Melanie is actually like. We don't actually see hardly any of it directly, and of what we do, well, Melanie sounds like she's still high on painkillers, so it's hard to take that as an indication of anything. But given that people (who are not intentionally trying to manipulate those around them) tend to, y'know, be fundamentally the same person in their various relationships, though it may manifest in different ways, we can probably make some guesses.
I have always been bothered by, and I really can't ignore, the fact that they were getting together at the same time that Melanie was doing what Georgie has been demanding of Jon since season three: she did whatever it took to get out. I have to wonder if Georgie knows about the nonconsensual surgery part of Melanie's process of getting out, and if she does, if she understands how vital it was. I certainly wouldn't be surprised, if she does know, that she's managed to compartmentalize it: Jon inflicted this terrible trauma on Melanie, Melanie escaped the entity that took her over. (Subconscious implication: Jon is a monster; Melanie is better than him.) I would be very surprised if Georgie is interested at all in the fine distinctions between entities; she's shown no interest in learning what is actually happening to anyone in this situation beyond "it's bad and they should get out of it." But it's relevant, because by the time Melanie makes the decision to blind herself, she's in a much different position than Jon, enslaved by an entity but not consumed by one. She herself admitted to Jon that she would never have voluntarily escaped from the Slaughter.
And given how difficult Melanie finds it to talk about any of this - you can hear her dragging the words out from behind her teeth in her conversation with Jon in Flesh, truly incredible acting by Lydia Nicholas, my god - if Georgie doesn't want to hear it? I can't imagine Melanie insisting. Yes, Melanie is going to therapy, but let me tell you, I've been going to therapy for twelve years now and I have yet to have several of the important conversations my therapists have insisted I have. That shit is hard. But I can imagine a scenario where, having been told by her therapist (who, remember, doesn't have the first idea what Melanie is actually going through, because Melanie isn't telling her about the supernatural so she has to leave out a lot of really relevant details) that she ought to tell her friend/potential girlfriend/new girlfriend about these things, Melanie attempts to bring it up, Georgie says kind and reassuring things and refuses to let her clarify any of the details, and Melanie gives up in relief, thinking, well, I tried. Super valid all around, but it doesn't mean that Georgie has any clearer picture of what Melanie's traumas actually look like, never mind Jon's. There's no world in which I can imagine Georgie actually internalizing the idea that Melanie loved the Slaughter when it had her, and she would gladly have stayed with it if Jon and Basira hadn't intervened.
In Georgie's eyes, Melanie is being a Good Victim. She was hurt but she was strong; she fought it until she won; now she's going to therapy and setting boundaries and trying to heal. She got away.
(Except, of course, she didn't, because as of The Eye Opens no one has gotten away, because this is the entire world now. We have no idea how this has affected Melanie. Presumably she's out of reach of the Eye, given that Jon can't see her or Georgie (and there's some evidence on the side of Georgie's encounter genuinely having stripped her of fear, if she's also invisible to the Eye), but she spent a long time under the influence of the Slaughter. It had her firmly enough that her attacking Jon was enough to give him his Slaughter scar. If nothing else, Melanie certainly hasn't had her fear removed, and talk about a situation bound to retraumatize someone who had such a visceral revulsion to being trapped that Elias chose it as his mechanism of control over her. Melanie probably doesn't look like a Good Victim any more, and I'd bet her relationship with Georgie is suffering some serious strain because of it.)
We don't know when exactly Melanie and Georgie got together; the last time one of them mentions the other is, I'm pretty sure, when Georgie tells Jon that Melanie is back from India. So we know that Georgie and Melanie were friends; that's good, that's a good foundation for a romantic relationship. At the very least they know each other, they have some idea of what to expect. I'd be surprised if they were dating during that season 3/4 hiatus period, though, or frankly any time before Melanie's surgery, just because Melanie seems much too consumed with rage to have room for any other emotions, and I can't imagine Georgie putting up with that.
What seems way more likely to me is this: Melanie comes back from India, arranges to meet Georgie for drinks. Probably they don't talk about anything serious; possibly they talk about Jon, honestly, since we know Melanie was looking for him and Georgie talked to him about Melanie, but very likely in the same "stuck-up pompous ass" way that Melanie talks about Jon in early seasons. (I bet Melanie's roasts are amazing.) Shortly after that Melanie joins the Magnus Institute and then, very likely, either she never tells Georgie about it and therefore they don't talk much or she does tell Georgie about it and Georgie tells her that place is bad news and she won't have anything to do with it and they don't talk at all, until, whichever way that went, the Unknowing happens and Tim dies and Jon winds up in a coma and everything goes to shit. We know Georgie visits Jon in the hospital; we don't know if Melanie does, but frankly it seems unlikely. If they did cross paths during this time, it was probably very brief and superficial. Then: the surgery, and Melanie's recovery.
I'll be honest, I have a hard time imagining Melanie deciding on her own that she should go to therapy. It's possible Basira suggested it, but it really does sound like a Georgie thing to do. So I picture something like this: from the way Basira talks it sounds like they've all been pretty much living in the Archives for a while, and on top of that everyone in the Archives has just badly violated Melanie's trust, so Melanie pulls up her Facebook DMs and talks to the only other person she has. You were right, she says, this place is terrible, I can't handle it, there's no one here I can trust and I'm so alone. And Georgie, who is generous with help and advice (so long as it's accepted) and (like anyone) weak to being told she was right about something, starts talking to her. We know Georgie's got good boundaries, and we know she doesn't want to hear details about what's going on in the Institute, so I can see her saying, I can talk to you, I would love to talk to you, but not about this. For that you need a therapist.
So Melanie gets a therapist, and the prospect of going out amongst the monsters they know are stalking the Institute without that protective shield of rage (never mind the emotional vulnerability of going to therapy in the first place) makes public transit an unthinkable option, so she asks Georgie to take her, and she does, and she keeps taking her to therapy, which is, as far as we know, the only time Melanie leaves the Archives in season four, until she blinds herself and escapes it completely.
And so they have this relationship that's built up almost entirely around Melanie's trauma - with a foundation of friendship, certainly, so I do think that if they are willing to work through it they could make it a working, healthy relationship, but (and again this isn't stated in canon but is my speculation based on what we know about these characters) it is a romantic relationship that's built around the process of Melanie recovering from multiple traumas. Ones that we know that Georgie a) doesn't know many details about, and b) more importantly, refuses to know any details about. Now, I have no experience with romantic relationships and serious trauma; I might be wildly off base here. But. I know that boundaries are important and I know that trust is also important. And if Georgie is holding similar boundaries with Melanie that she has with Jon (and, as I went into excruciating detail about earlier, she has very solid emotional reasons to protect herself with those boundaries), that's drawing a hard line around what's basically the past two to three years of Melanie's life, and undeniably both the worst and most important things that have ever happened to her. That seems...difficult to manage in the long term.
(This is a bit more of a stretch, more of the germ of a fic idea than an argument I'm prepared to defend, but I also would not be surprised if Georgie told Melanie that she wouldn't date her while she was still working at the Institute. That's a very reasonable boundary, and it's good motivation - and probably healthy motivation, I do like the idea that Melanie had something to reach toward in escaping the Institute, not just the desperate flight from - but it's also something of an ultimatum. Which is not inherently bad, but it is the kind of thing that can fester, given other problems.)
Now it's entirely possible that Georgie isn't that internally consistent. People aren't! (See: Basira's attitude toward Daisy vs her attitude toward Jon in season four.) Maybe she's more flexible about being willing to listen to Melanie, maybe she's starting to understand some of what was happening and how genuinely impossible a situation it really was. But that has to be a struggle for her, too; it's not a perfect, sweet, unconditionally good situation that teaches you that you've been unfair to the point of cruelty to someone you used to care about. And by the time the apocalypse rolls around, Melanie is, if she's lucky, just barely able to say she's healed from the plain physical trauma of blinding, never mind all the other baggage. They've got to be having a rough fucking time of it, at the very least, even if you assume that they're suddenly both the kind of people who will sit still and listen supportively and talk honestly about their own messy and complicated emotions, when neither of them have been that kind of person before.
(Another disclaimer because Fandom Is Like That: This is in no way a condemnation of or argument against fluffy What the Girlfriends fic; fic is for making fluffy things that you want to happen to your faves, or building fluffy content that you desperately need for whatever reason. Gods know there are plenty of unhealthy parts of Jon and Martin's relationship that I ignore in most of my fluffy fic. This is me attempting to work through my thoughts and feelings about the relationship I see in canon in the hopes of actually being able to write some fic about these girls myself someday, because I personally can't write fic until I understand canon, and so much of them happens offscreen because they're not main characters, and they're written with such depth and complexity that you can't just slap a stereotype on them and call it good. Which is awesome! But it means I gotta do the work, and I post it because a) it's work, and this is fandom, and I want validation; and b) I'm hoping other people have insights that might also help me clarify my thinking.)
#the magnus archives#tma#georgie barker#jonathan sims#melanie king#long post#real fuckin' long post#sorry#it's a meta party#cw suicide#cw addiction
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Alive. Healthy. Chugging along. Still rubbish at communicating.
*
I spent the holiday season making approximately 20 different kinds of cookies. It was supposed to be more but I ran out of time and spoons. Some of them, like salted double chocolate cookies and plum slice (which turned out to be a. crabapple slice and b. wildly popular to the point where I didn’t get any) were very successful, and some, like rye flour wreaths and poppyseed sablés, were a bewildering waste of time. But I do have nice pictures of everything. And way too late for me to make anything to order, a couple of people got in touch asking for baking and goodies, and it was nice to have something to give them.
*
Highlights from last year’s books include Jordan Ifueko’s Raybearer, Aminatta Forna’s Happiness, and Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent.
Right now, among other things, I am reading and very much enjoying Paul Féval’s 1867 novel La Ville-Vampire. It is Ann Radcliffe RPF with all sorts of wry observations about the exotic and ever-so-slightly-wrongheaded character of the English people (you know, the way English gothic novels wrote about the rest of Europe), and it is a delight.
*
A few months into the pandemic, I got in touch with one of my best friends from Toronto, because she really needed to watch The Witcher. Since then, we get together on a phone call every Thursday or Friday and watch stuff. I turn off sound and put on subtitles, and hear her audio through the phone, so if it’s not perfectly synced it’s okay. We’ve also been through She-Ra, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, The Dragon Prince, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Adventure Zone: Hootenanny, a surprisingly good high school production of Phantom of the Opera, and we’re just starting Raising Dion.
Will and I loved the heck out of Lupin.
And the Roku Channel has Hunter, which I loved as a tween. I’ve been watching it for the nostalgia and because it’s a kind of show I don’t even think they make anymore, i.e. a show I can have on while doing something else and not worry about what I’m missing. But JEEZ. Every terrible (both narratively and morally) cop show trope you see being mocked, picked apart, critiqued, or lampooned? It’s here, and it’s so darned earnest, and it explains so darned much. Poke it a little and Reaganomics dribbles out (trickles down?).
Some enterprising soul also put the whole of Jul i Blodfjell (Christmas on Blood Mountain) on YouTube, and my soul sang. I’d heard bits and seen the odd clip, so I was keen to watch. Fellow North Americans, this is a genre I never even knew existed, even though I’d seen a previous example from Ylvis: the Julekalender. There’s an episode every day of December, until the 24th. And this is a slasher murder mystery comedy Julekalender. The episodes were about twelve minutes long, and when I was trying to decompress after a whole gruelling night of Christmas cookies, and just needed to sit down long enough to shove some bread and cheese in my mouth and chug a smoothie before going to bed, these were just the thing.
*
We’ve heard, not necessarily that vitamin D makes COVID better but that vitamin D deficiency makes it worse, so I asked Will if he wanted me to get him some, and he said sure.
“Do you want the grownup kind or the fun kind?” I asked, because I had been sharing my vitamin D gummies with him and he seemed to like them.
“The grownup kind,” he said, in a tone that suggested it was a silly question.
So I got him some of the flavourless kind you’re supposed to swallow. And when I brought it to him he was like, “Oh... I thought they’d be gummy.”
*
The community group is not feeling super great. The new chair has been micromanaging. After the second e-mail that left me so furious I couldn’t sleep, I replied to the effect of, “When you coach me on how to do work I did professionally for years, I feel like you’re sending the message that I’m not a good fit for this organization. I don’t disagree, but we can’t afford to lose members, so let me serve my term to the best of my abilities and I’ll be out of your hair.”
He apologized, said he definitely valued my skills, and told me that he was changing our procedures so that those skills would no longer be needed. When I said I’d like to see how the committee felt about changing those procedures, he brought it to a meeting, let two people speak in favour, and then was like, “Welp, everyone agrees with me, it’s a done deal!” No vote or anything. Just a decree.
THEN he got in touch to ask me if I would do THE SAME THING I’VE BEEN DOING ALL ALONG, THAT HE JUST HUMILIATED AND BULLIED ME OUT OF, but ONLY FOR HIM.
Virtually everyone who knows what happened thinks I should resign, and maybe I should. But we had been working for three years when this dude came on, and he does not get to own this project, and his bad behaviour does not get to take it down. And I mean, he’s been pretty consistent in underestimating me and minimizing my work, so he probably forgets that some of my previous experience comes from workplaces a lot more toxic than this one. I’m equipped to deal, and now that he’s flipped the bully switch, there are a bunch of friendly small-town softening behaviours that I’d adopted for meetings here, that I feel empowered to discontinue.
*
When I mentioned offhand to my dad that last Valentine’s Day Will and I had gone out for dinner, and this year it seemed unlikely, so I was gonna have to think of something, my dad said, “You two like mussels, right? Why don’t you invite him over here and we’ll have mussels? Your mom will eat some.”
So yeah. This Valentine’s Day we’re planning a super romantic dinner with my parents.
*
At 159 800 words on the new thing. Now all I need to do is research Viking legal codes. Good times!
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So how do the rest of us get the dirtbag left to piss off?
You are speaking my language. Its actually less hard than it should be, the dirtbag left isn’t that large it just seems larger because of how Twitter and Tumblr works. The big thing we need to do get ride of those fuckers is to tap into their recruitment which means we need to very publicly talk about their issues. THere are three main things we need to openly talk about, two of which are easy and one of which is...hard.
1) Making it clear from the start that leftism and progressivism go hand in hand, that both of them come from the same place, the belief in human equality and justice.
2) Make it clear that the so called “woke” values aren’t just good because they are morally good (though they are) but also because they are an objectively good idea and helps any real form of socialism. Because again, treating gay people better isn’t just the right thing to do, it helps the nation. Because having a large percentage of the population actually able to spend their time earning money, paying taxes, spending money and supporting social structures (to say nothing of their personal contributions to art/culture/science/entertainment ect) makes the society as a whole more healthy and productive. Just to give a few examples
Keeping qualified women from working jobs that they can do better hurts everybody
The sooner trans people can transition and get access to hormones and reach a state of emotional health the sooner they can actually live productive lives (constant misery does not make for a good citizen)
The fact that about 40% of the US population is constantly denied access to good jobs, wages, education, opportunities, and cultural employment due to racism means that the nation isn’t benefiting from their possible contributions
Making workplaces, even capitalist ones more gender neutral, racially/sexually diverse will produce better policies overall, because a lot of shitty elements of capitalism come from toxic masculinity, religious fundamentalisms and white supremacy as much as it does from a pure profit motive
And even beyond those issues, no socialist policies are ever going to be enacted as long as otherwise marginalized people aren’t able to benefit from it
Those are pretty easy arguments to make, we just need to make them loudly and do so even when the dirtbag left isn’t around. Like we need to just openly state why intersectionality is a practical policy not just a moral one. The last thing though...thats tricky because I think a lot of leftists don’t want to deal with it. Which is
3) We need to do a better job of understanding conservatives
See we tend to understand Rightist as...failed leftists. Like they just don’t know any better, if they weren’t so ignorant, they would accept our world view. We just need to find a better way to explain equality to them and suddenly they would magically be on board. And that ignores the biggest problem when you are dealing with a movement made up of bigots, fundamentalist's and conspiracy theorists, led by grifters and megalomaniacs...they like the policies that are enacted.
The left has long believed that poor white men are voting against their own interest when they support bigoted policies that hurt them economically, but in many ways they are voting for their own interests if they view the world through a tribality “us vs. them” mindset...which they do. ANd if they are a bunch of people who revel in the idea of hurting the weak and defining themselves as the sense of normal, and rejecting any notion of intellectualism. I think Trump’s election really eye opening because every single evil, cruel, stupid, incompetent, and absurd policy was...openly cheered on by his cultists. The notion that conservative voters are “misguided” or “misled” is hard to reconcile when you see how much they reveled in the images of immigrant children being taken away from their families, how much they delighted in Trump rejecting science and intellectualism, how they cheered him on every time he advocated torture, deportations, abuses', cruelty, and violating human rights, and finally how they were delighted when the police opened fire on unarmed protestors. The Dirtbag’s left argument is that the average MAGA voter is a good old boy who is really just a good person who disagrees with you and wants to be able to swear, and that image is one that leftists created because white people don’t want to acknowledge that their family members would have been little Nazis if they had been around in 30s Germany. And that is the big hurtle we have to address, that a about 60-74 million Americans are not just ok with but actively rooting for conspiracy theories, anti intellectualism, mass murder, torture, child abuse, dictatorship, racism, sexism, homophobia, and above all cruelty. And that they will do so at the expense of their own self interest, these people are letting themselves die of Covid in order to support a man who will hurt the people they hate.
And that is sort of the most difficult pill for the left to swallow, because the left still is in love with the Roussouian idea that most people are fundamentally good and its just systems that make them bad, and we don’t want to abandon that. And the dirtbag left takes advantage of that to provide a really comforting narrative to a lot of leftistst
“Oh Trump supporters aren’t really cruel selfish cultists who worship willing ignorance, they are just misunderstood, if we just use more slurs they will come around to our way of thinking”
The left really needs to understand that they really do believe what their actions indicate. Its the same problem we had with post war Germany, the whole idea that “oh only the leadership were evil, most Germans didn’t know anything” when in reality most Germans (and really most Europeans) were complicit in antisemitism and dictatorship long before Hitler came to power. The left never likes to believe the worse in people, the right is always too willing to do so.
#ask evilelitest#the left#dirtbag left#Cruelty is the point#Alt Right Playbook#Hobbes#jean jacques rousseau
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So this was sent to me by @atiredpan weeks ago when the White Jon conversation was very live and I'm posting it (belatedly) with their blessing (they didn't want to put it up publicly and have it seem like an attack which I really very much appreciate but wouldn't have minded) and I percolated for a few days and then got very busy for a few weeks. Response follows.
So I feel weird about how I'm responding to this stuff, I'm launching rapidly into taking about/explaining my own experience in a way I'm worried maybe comes across as a direct comparison. It kind of feels like I'm talking in a way that's like brushing off your experience and saying OK BUT HERE'S WHY I'M RIGHT and that's not what I'm trying to do, it's just that there's not much I can usefully add to what you've said - you know your experience better than I do, and I'm not gonna go around trying to read into it or reexplain it. So I'm going to talk about where I am/have been coming from, but not with the intention of countering your points, all of which I think really resonate.
First off, the post where I was like "Jon is white and if you disagree you're Wrong" was, unreservedly, just a shitty post and I'm not suprised it upset a lot of people. I'm really very sorry about that, it was thoughtlessly written and pretty stupidly posted.
I totally get that my whiteness has fed into how I hced Jon (and as I think I've said before I saw Jon a certain way well before I engaged with any fanworks, just as you did). There's a lot of reasons I imagined Jon as white from pretty early on, a non-negligible one of which was like...That's Jonny. This is a podcast by Jonny, about a character with the same name and mannerisms as Jonny, and Jonny is extremely white. It would have felt weird, when I was listening to TMA as a Friend Podcast, to stick a brown face onto what at least appeared at the time to basically be a self-insert character of my white friend. Now that's a really personal thing informed less by the story and more by the circumstances under which I've interacted with it, but it certainly laid a baseline. I didn't really have a clear mental picture of Jon (or most of the characters) for a looooooong time (for an artist I'm really not a very visual thinker) but I had a few sort of mental sketches (Jon is short white balding and awkward, Martin is tall biracial and scruffy Basira is fat and somali Melanie is my friend from work etc) which I developed a long time before I encountered fanworks.
I saw the alienation you mentioned and I connected it to class and gender, not race, because I’ve met a lot of cis men, white and otherwise, who interpolate trauma, class insecurity, insecurity about their own abilities, and so on into withdrawal, denial and snappiness. So for me I had an interpretation of that element of his personality which was pretty much race-neutral, and then I had these existing cues leading me to assuming he was white (largely that Jonny is white, but also wee stuff in the story that...it’s not like anything substantial enough to remember, let alone justify, but there were certainly interactions that pinged whiteness for me personally)
There are actually iirc a few throwaway references to Jon being promoted above more qualified candidates throughout (or at least I thought I knew that before s5), but the time I decided I thought White Jon was an obvious conclusion was of course the conversation where Sasha expresses frustration about it. and the context of that conclusion (at least as far as I can see) wasn't "people of colour can only exist in subservient positions/defined by oppression" but was informed by two things that were going on with my life around the time that episode aired
I had been having several conversations with friends of mine (and largely friends of Jonny's) who work in London in the museums/archiving sector and who are the only women of colour in whole departments or even whole museums, and who experience so little career mobility compared to their less-qualified white counterparts (we're talking about women graduating top of their class at Oxbridge with anthropology or library science masters and stellar original research, with a decade or more of impeccable work experience and acting up, being left in internship and low-grade positions, while white men who "fit the culture" but have 0 museums experience sail into upper management positions and then stay there until they retire). So I'd come almost directly from these conversations into what to me sounded like exactly the same gripe in TMA.
I'd been at that point working for about a year and a half on co-coordinating the anti-oppression committee in my workplace, which was a very Good Progressive Activist Charity with Good Lefty Principles, and over the course of experience sharing and discussions both with colleagues of colour and along lines of wealth, disability, class etc, I was very much confronted with the realisation of how much 'being adequately qualified' meant different things for middle-class good-university white men vs much more highly skilled and hardworking women of colour or people of different class and wealth backgrounds. Obviously I'd known that before in principle, but not really having been in Salaried Workplaces (as opposed to like. service and retail hourlies) I hadn’t got so up close and personal with it. So that was also very fresh in my mind, this like...big substantial experience of how Good, Well-Meaning, Caring, Thoughtful, Woke white men just........did not need to think about this. at all. and were startled and discomforted to face it. and that this was also true of most white middle-class women. and these conversations were really carved down the middle between white middle-class European women saying ‘this is such a surprise when we have such an equitable hiring policy and diverse staff, that there’s this gender gap’ and women of colour in the room wearily saying ‘yeah, there’s a gender gap, there’s always a gender gap and it is always a racialised gender gap’ so yeah I was definitely thinking about the intersection between being passed over at work because of gender and because of race.
The point about Tim is interesting because I think for me what’s getting lost is that I don’t think Jon is entitled as like...a Character Trait. He’s not like...Toxic Masculinity Man. He is very anxious about boundaries and about his own capacity to do harm. But it has to be pointed out to him where he’s doing harm. He doesn’t notice where he’s been unfairly advantaged, and that’s to me much more reflective of most people’s relationship to white or male entitlement.
As I say, that exchange with Tim and Sasha cemented the Jon Is White hc in my head specifically because it was so reflective of conversations I had had with women of colour working in similar workplaces, about white men, usually about white men they generally liked or at least didn’t have beef with beyond their unfair advantages.
It seems odd to me to frame ‘bitching about your boss on your friend’s behalf to make her feel better’ as more similar to white entitlement/white privilege than any of that tbh? That’s just...being friends with someone?
Anyway I recognise that it’s not white entitlement to accept a job. Obviously it’s not, it’s just sensible under the circumstances, you get lucky and you grab it. For me my sense of Jon as white-because-of-this is not “he took a job he shouldn’t have taken,” it’s more about his obliviousness to the impact he has on others, and also primarily how people react to him. The interaction between Sasha and Tim is saturated with the of course it would be him I mentioned above, but even before that he walks through the world not expecting to have to think about anything but his conscious decisions, and he’s caught aback when people see him as out of place or as having power above his station.
I think it’s impossible to extricate ‘this is where my head was at’ from that interpretation, and also like obviously my own whiteness is a big factor. And not just my own personal whiteness but the place I grew up (which was 98.3% white) and the world which reflects back whiteness. So this is in no way intended as a bolshy This Is The Correct Headcanon the way my Bad Post was bc examining it I’m like...yeah I mean this is about how I personally interpreted this based on where I was at at the time. But I do feel like there’s some communication gap in what it is about this unqualified promotion thing that pinged me - it’s not that All Bosses Must Be White And All Brown People Must Be Downtrod, it’s something quite specific about the tone and tenor of the interactions around the getting-a-job.
But also? Idk. Kind of unrelatedly, and people obviously should feel free to disagree with me on this, it feels kind of off to frame this as defaulting to a white Jon? I sort of think that my idea of Jon as white is very much not ‘white until proven otherwise’ - part of the reason for my original strident tone was that I felt that I was being expected to drop a headcanon I had for specific reasons and default to the fanon version of Jon without actually having any reason other than ‘this is how the community thinks he should look,’ and without really understanding anything about what that means, and while obviously defaulting to a non-white headcanon isn’t like...entrenched in the way that defaulting to a white headcanon is, it does seem to me like this is perhaps part of why white fans slap brown skin onto a character without thinking into what that means or why they’re doing it.
The thing I’m struggling with as regards my personal headcanon here is that I could decide to only ever draw Jon as Fanon Jon, but it wouldn’t be because I had strong reasons to see him that way, it wouldn’t be the same as why you see Jon as brown, or why I see like...Melanie as Indian, it would literally be Default To Standard in a way it isn’t for you. And I don’t feel that I have Defaulted To Whiteness, or where I have it is for reasons specifically to do with Jon (I visualised Jon as white because I visualised him as Jonny, who is white), not because I think every character is White Until Proven Otherwise. Like, my reasons for understanding Jon as white may be bad reasons, but they are reasons, not post-hoc excuses (I can’t like...prove that. but I know it to be true at least on a conscious level). I didn’t go Oh Jon Is White Because Everyone Is Unless I Have Reason To Think They Aren’t, Hooray, Here Is A Post-Hoc Justification For Why It Isn’t Racist To Think That. So while I am totally on board with the idea that it may be shitty, harmful or poorly thought through to hc Jon as white, I’m not sure I can fully see it in myself as being default. But I do understand that that isn’t necessarily what came across in my original short post.
Honestly, the reason I took issue with Fanon Jon and Fanon Martin in such a bolshy way in the first place was that I didn’t get why these characters were universally seen as Asian and white, respectively, and had such strong and consistent fanon images, when none of the other characters did, and when I was seeing people drawing people like Sasha and Melanie and Tim as white way more when in my mind there was no reason to assume they were white. On an emotional level I guess I think either there’s Fanon As Lore, or there’s no fanon (and I prefer the latter) and my discomfort came from the place that the one character I absolutely saw as coded as white in the core cast had this one really specific Ambiguously Brown Fanon Look (which from what I’d seen at the time didn’t seem to be like...backed with anything or coming from any personal interpretation for most of the white fans I was seeing on like Twitter and Tumblr) but white headcanons are everywhere for characters like Melanie or Sasha or Georgie, who seemed to me to be unambiguously people of colour, or characters like Tim or Martin (who could perfectly reasonably be people of colour and who I hc as Rroma and biracial respectively)? I don’t know, it’s difficult to express, but I find it frustrating.
#tma#White Jon#idk sorry to post this so separate from the rest of the conversation I have been Busy
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Hey so I’ve been seeing you post a lot about La Casa de Papel recently. What exactly is it? It looks kinda interesting.
Thank you so much for asking!
I am delighted beyond reason to have the opportunity to tell you - and by extension the entire world - why this show has cleared my skin, watered my crops, and legitimately healed my soul after this particularly soul-crushing season of Grimdark White Man Television almost broke me as a human being.
I will attempt to keep this as spoiler-free as I possibly can, because this is a show that should be experienced in the moment, but in a nutshell, La Casa de Papel is a heist show set in present-day Madrid which follows both a found family of thieves who rob the Royal Mint of Spain, and the law enforcement officials on the outside who are chasing them.
If that is enough for you, go right to your TV or computer, fire up the ol’ Netflix, and don’t waste any more time.
If, however, you need a little more, here are the top five things I flail about to every single person in my life to convince them they need to start watching this show like immediately and then come back and tell me all about it.
For visual flair, we’ll intersperse them with some gifs of ladies, because I know my audience.
5. character driving plot > plot driving character.
You know that infuriating thing lazy TV writers do where, in order to to hurry up and get to the big explosion or battle scene or dragon attack or whatever, which is the only bit they really care about, they handwave away the whole concept of motivation and make some character do something that any halfway-attentive viewer will immediately clock that they would never actually do?
There is none of that bullshit here.
In its simplest form, the plot of La Casa de Papel is as follows: a brilliant criminal mastermind devises a heist which cannot possibly go wrong, and then we proceed to watch all the ways in which it goes wrong.
This is a fantastic setup for an action story, made even more breathlessly exciting by strategic use of my favorite heist movie plot device (as perfected by Ocean’s Eleven): namely, “scene where it looks like our crime heroes have been outsmarted and are now threatened by a completely unforeseen disaster” immediately followed by “flashback to the team prepping for the heist where we learn that of course they prepared for this exact scenario.”
But from time to time, things do actually go wrong (as they must, or else there would be no story); and, when they do, it is never because you can tell a writer just wanted to write a scene where bullets go flying, and didn’t care how he got there. These characters are so clear, their behavior so consistent, that when gasp-worthy plot twists happen, they happen because of course that character, in this exact scenario, would do that exact thing.
I’m telling you, I came to this show for a ship (more on that in a minute) and I stayed for a swooning, heart-eyes writer crush on the impeccably-designed plot structure and characterization.
4. High stakes, low gore.
Tone-wise, on a sliding scale of Heist Film Intensity where a really fluffy episode of Leverage is a 1, Reservoir Dogs is a 10, and the Ocean’s franchise is somewhere in the 3-4 range, I would place La Casa at a 5 or a 6, which is perfect for me. I love action, suspense, drama and adventure, but I hate gratuitous violence (especially when it’s pointless and masturbatory and doesn’t contribute anything to the plot) and have a very low tolerance for blood and gore. So I kept waiting for the story to eventually take a hard left turn into Tarantino Land, until eventually it was all just one huge pile of dead bodies, and was genuinely surprised when it didn’t.
This is how I learned just how badly my brain has been fucked up by lazy showrunners who think shock deaths are the only way to raise stakes. During the first season of this show, before I had figured out that it was a Flawless Gem of Television Which So Far Has Not Once Disappointed Me, there were probably a dozen moments where I was absolutely convinced that some character was about to be gruesomely killed for shock value … and I was wrong every single time.
Reader, it was fucking wild.
Every single time I was convinced that person A was going to shoot person B in the head because blah blah maximum angst over here in this part of the story and then it will motivate person C to do this other thing, the show did the hard work of finding a smarter, more unexpected direction to take that character’s story. That means that when deaths do come along - and there are a couple - they feel genuinely earned, and they matter deeply to the story and to us.
3. I would die for these women.
This show loves women. Like it truly, authentically, uncompromisingly loves women in all our fucked-up messy glorious complexity. There are no “types” or cliches here; no one is forced to be only one thing. Fuck your one-dimensional Strong Female Characters, lazy writers.
For one thing, on many shows you might be lucky if you get maybe one mom who is given a personality and a story outside of motherhood. Often, on shows written by men, the fact of her motherhood diminishes her strength or her agency. On this show, nearly every one of the central female characters is both a mom and an action hero simultaneously. Seriously. By season 3 there are four different battle moms. They’re all different, they’re not all on the same side, they have different perspectives, and their role as mother impacts the story differently, but that’s the joy of having a whole lot of different kinds of women - no one has to be everything to everyone.
These women are complicated. They laugh, they cry, they crack dirty jokes, they get laid, they have babies, they fight, they make mistakes, they fall in love, they grow. Men pull sexist shit and they shut it the fuck down. Some of them have love stories, some of them don’t, but they are never defined by or triangulated around relationships with men. They get to have relationships with each other. All of them are excellent at their jobs.
Tokyo is the kind of hot mess antihero protagonist we’ve been watching middle-aged white men play for decades.
Allison is such a realistic teenage girl it’s genuinely painful to watch.
Monica has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen on television, this is not a drill.
Alicia is terrifying. (A pregnant black ops interrogator! ON WHAT OTHER FUCKING SHOW!?!??)
Nairobi is unlike any other character you’ve seen on TV before; she’s got a little bit of Parker from Leverage, a little bit of Raven Reyes from The 100, but she’s entirely her own creature and you will fall in love with her instantly.
And Raquel. Oh, my love, my angel, my hero, Inspector Raquel Murillo. Love of my goddamn life. A fierce, kickass hostage negotiator swimming upstream against a tide of workplace misogyny who sometimes has to make the frustrating little male-appeasing compromises we all have to make to get through the workday. A beautiful, sexy, powerful heroine over 40 whose femininity isn’t diminished based on some bullshit notion that, for example, pairing your tough-bitch suit and gun holster with red toenails and a lacy blouse detracts from your strength. A loving mom and daughter who has to juggle raising a small child and caring for an aging parent with the stress of, you know, trying to stop the biggest robbery in the history of Spain. A domestic violence survivor (TW for those who need it; nothing is ever shown onscreen, but it’s discussed several times) who is given the space to discuss the things that have happened to her and how she has worked through them with such dignity, accuracy and respect that you can tell the writers did their homework.
This is a show where you can tell there are women in the writers’ room.
2. The Professor and Raquel. I don’t want to spoil a single thing for you here except to say that I myself was lured into this show by the promise of electric sexual chemistry between a criminal mastermind and the police inspector hunting him down, and my God I was not disappointed.
1. Love.
This show came into my life at a period where I was so weary of cynicism on television - so fucking furious at showrunners who dangle hope in front of us and then crush it, who only care about building anything if they can tear it down later, who treat love and fun and joy and hope and family and happiness like they’re intellectually lesser than grimdark nihilism with no soul - that I was honestly kind of broken by it. I was just so. fucking. tired. Tired of “the way we show this heroine is strong is to kill off her love interest.” Tired of “sorry but all this rape and murder is NECESSARY because of REALISM” (particularly rich when coming from shows featuring evil A.I.’s or dragons and ice zombies). Tired of getting invested in relationships - whether ships or friends or found families - only to realize that the show I was watching was always going to sacrifice character to force plot mechanics into place, and those relationships were never going to get the kind of care and focus I wanted them to get.
But that is not this show.
The single most revolutionary thing, to me, about La Casa de Papel - the thing that sets it apart from every other rollercoaster action thrill ride on television - is that every single thread of the plot is tied to love.
Every.
Single.
One.
Love of all different shapes and sizes - parents and children, friendships, doomed crushes (straight and queer), toxic exes, blossoming romances, siblings - and over it all, a deep, deep love for humanity.
The thing I said before, about how when things go wrong they go wrong in character-driven ways? It’s this. Love is why everything on this show happens. Love is what makes children want to live up to their parents and what makes parents fight to leave a better world for their children. Love is why deaths have stakes. Love is why we spend so much screentime lingering on small moments another show might ignore, like all the thieves at heist camp sitting down every night to have dinner together and argue about paella techniques. Love is what causes chaos in the middle of the heist; when there’s one person in the room you care about more than the others, you can get distracted and take your eye off the ball. Love is how your enemies can get to you, by leveraging or blackmailing the people who matter most, knowing that you’ll crack if they’re in danger. Love, gone wrong, causes toxic men to develop possessive and controlling behavior towards women. Love is how the Professor gets the idea for the heist in the first place. The plan is flawless on paper, but it doesn’t account for the human variable, and over and over again we see that relationships and connection and sex and family and love cause people to behave in unpredictable ways and throw the whole plan into chaos, which is what makes for a dynamic and compelling story.
How refreshing to see a show simply refuse to grant the oft-repeated premise that a show cannot have both high-octane thrills, and a big soft squishy heart, at the same time.
ANYWAY, I’VE TAKEN UP ENOUGH OF YOUR VALUABLE TV-WATCHING TIME, GO JUMP ON BOARD THIS TRAIN AND COME SCREAM ABOUT IDEALISTIC SPANISH ROBIN HOODS WITH ME, AND LET THE GOOD SHIP SERQUEL INTO YOUR LIFE, YOU WON’T BE SORRY
THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK
#lannister-slings-and-arrows#la casa de papel#money heist#from the inbox#i have a lot of feelings about this show#is this entire post just one long subtweet of 'the 100'#listen#maybe#i'm still pissed about kabby and will be for awhile#but legit this show was HEALING and CATHARTIC in some unexpected ways#yes virginia you CAN have functional loving stable relationships and high-stakes drama at the same time
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2019′s Animation Hidden Gems
So, another year has come and gone. And, in regards to animated content, we had a sizable smorgasboard of offerings both on the mainstream end and the Indie scene.
I figured I would go over some of the ones that caught my eye that I don’t see many people talking about or, if they are talking about them, they’re focusing on shitty e-drama rather than the content in of itself.
So, let’s begin!
... Just going to use a ‘Read More’ break due to the length of this post as well as spoilers for certain things within.
Tuca and Bertie
So, we’re just going to acknowledge the fact that Netflix’s cancellation of this show before it even had the chance to hit its stride (which coincidentally timed in with the team behind it, the same team behind Bojack Horseman, getting the rights to unionize -- but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence~) was one of the shittiest things they did this year, right? Right.
Anyway, Tuca and Bertie was one of those shows that, while it took me a good few days to finally watch it (due mostly to Netflix burying this show underneath those damn Ted Bundy movies and that fucking Beyonce concert/documentary/what-the-fuck-ever), was definitely a front-runner for adult-centered animation this year.
While the wacky animation styles can sometimes throw initial viewers off, by the time the series is halfway through you’re fully engrossed in how it helps to tell the stories this show wants to focus on.
While, yes, the show was a little heavy-handed in one of the early episodes about women in the workplace (that whole scene of Tuca screaming obnoxiously in the board-meeting to signal that no woman had spoken in 30 minutes was kind of grating even though the message is sound), the series as a whole is a great change of pace in regards to having adult animation centered on/aimed towards women. The characters work great together, the sound design works wonders, and Netflix cancelling this show despite they themselves not promoting it is such a damn crime.
My personal favorite part/episode: While the episode “The Jelly Lakes” was a great, poignant display of showing Bertie opening up about her past trauma and sexual abuse, the episode that I always resonate with during rewatches of this series is “Plumage”. The way that it tackles not only reconciling with addiction but emotional/psychological abuse and how it often comes from sources that are on the outside beneficial hits so close to home. The fact that it was handled with tact and respect while still being in this wacky world of talking bird-people was amazing.
Sound and Fury
I... am just going to come out and admit it, my brain still hasn’t 100% wrapped around the ‘what does it MEAN?!?!’ aspect of this animated album but, damn it all, is it a feast for the ears and eyes.
I honestly can’t talk about it too much because half the enjoyment comes from watching it for yourself.
My personal favorite part/episode: I can’t quite remember what the song’s name was, but visually it was the section that focused on the homeless veteran basically being left outside to die while the city is about to be decimated by a nuclear bomb. The fact that the segment shows everything, right down to how the cat he tries to rescue agonizingly burns to death when the bomb hits, has stuck with me.
Love, Death + Robots
Well, you guys didn’t think I was going to let 2019 pass without me gushing about one of my favorite animation anthologies of the year, did you?
Seriously, I am so glad that Netflix has greenlit a second volume for this project because it really is the type of stuff I like to see: collections of vastly different stories using different mediums and styles.
While two of the entries aren’t as strong as the others (”The Witness” and “Ice Age” freaking suck, don’t @ me), the bulk of the anthology is immensely strong and well-executed and no amount of people whinging about ‘myeh, it’s too sex-filled and violent~’ is going to ruin that.
My personal favorite part/episode: The segment “Suits” still takes my award for best in show, but I still like the series potential of “Shapeshifters” and the attempt at cosmic horror in “Beyond the Aquila Rift”.
Satellite City
I hate, hate, HATE that my initial exposure to Sam Fennah’s creative world, much like other people’s first exposure, was via that DAMN Nostalgia Critic review for The Wall!
But, in all seriousness, Fennah’s web-series as well as the book that he’s been working on are so excellently crafted.
The character design: I’ve gushed so much about the character design that doing so again here would be a crime. But it really is wonderful seeing monster designs that think ‘monstrous’ first and ‘marketability’ second.
The voice acting: everyone in here does an exceptional job with their performances and giving life to not only the characters but the world surrounding them. Seriously, they’re all amazing and I can only hope that their talents are showcased in other projects.
The animation: the fact that it’s all done and rigged by one person is awe-inspiring enough but the way that Fennah works to make sure that the characters don’t stick out too much from their real-world sets is incredible.
The writing: It would be so easy for a series like this to stick to wacky hijinks, violence, and toilet-humor, but no. We have excellently crafted, mature dialogue, we have incorporated world-building that doesn’t rely on exposition dumps, we have diction that rivals some of the commercial hyper-hits of the current year.
Seriously, I wish that more people watched this series; it’s so good..!
My personal favorite part/episode: This relies on some spoilers, but I have to talk about what I think the highlight of the series. While the episode “Slice of Life” gives a good display of the core cast in a day-to-day setting with Lucy Lacemaker giving an incredible monologue about the nature of life and immortality at the end, no where else does the work behind the craft of Satellite City shine more...
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Than in Episode 20 - “The Order of Things”. Satellite City centers around the Kivouachians, a species of unworldly creatures who have been around for billions of years but, due to war and betrayal, lost their homeland and have been scattered across the Earth.
During this war, many died, many were punished, many were tortured, and many were left to deal with horrific trauma and PTSD.
While this episode has the connecting tissue of informing others that the series’ antagonist has escaped her prison, it also centers upon the heavy issue of destructive, toxic relationships and how people can let themselves waste away and decay just because they can’t find it in themselves to let go of something that may ‘make them happy’.
We also get a dialogue from Lucy Lacemaker about the nature of art and imitation, but it’s simply the cherry on top of the sundae that the prior themes build up.
... Seriously, j-just go watch the show; put has-been critics out of your minds and just go appreciate this series for what it is.
Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss/Holidaze
God, I can only be in awe of and respect Vivienne for getting to the point that she has gotten to. Two well-received animated pilots, an adorable holiday special, industry ties, and a portfolio that surely can fill two phone books at this point.
Seriously, though, Hazbin Hotel is great: an adult animated show with an interesting art style, engaging characters, and a world that I really want to see more of.
Helluva Boss is great too! That show has a more intimate cast and less insanity so if the barrage of visuals in the prior turned you off, then the latter would probably be more your cup of tea.
Finally, Holidaze is fucking adorable. It boggles my mind that people were getting upset at this special for coming out and doing something different when most complaints against HH and HB were ‘ugh, she really can’t do anything aside from “offensive people in hell are offensive because HELL, lol”’. Well, here you go! Something wholesome and cute and heartwarming!
Some people just want to bitch and moan, I swear...
My personal favorite part/episode: See, here’s where it gets tricky. I love the feeling I get from Holidaze. I love the characters from Hazbin Hotel. I love the setting/premise of Helluva Boss.
But I wouldn’t want all of those things crammed together.
So, all in all, VivziePop and her colleagues have done an amazing job with these shorts and I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for them.
Dororo (2019)
Look, man! I get it, okay?! When it comes to anime where the main character in a feudal-era Japan setting goes around killing demons, everyone and their grandma was gushing over Demon Slayer.
And, you know what? Demon Slayer is a good show; it has really good animation and Nezuko is best girl.
... But fuck ALL OF YOU who slept on Dororo (2019), man! I get it, Amazon having the streaming rights to it made it all sorts of awful to try and keep up with, but even so this show was way too ignored by people.
Which is a damn shame because in regards to revamping classic anime IPs, this is right up there in ‘damn, they actually did a good job’ along with Casshern Sins and Devilman Crybaby.
My personal favorite part/episode:
... Have I mentioned that the theme song for this show is an absolute BANGER?!
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That’s all I have for now. I still have yet to watch things like Klaus and I Lost My Body, and I was unfortunately unable to watch Promare due to not having the funds for it when it was in theaters, and -- Oh my fucking GOD, I’m just now finding out that Netflix has Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie after trying to find a way to legally watch it for ages.
But I hope that I was able to introduce some of you to some animated pieces that got a little overshadowed this year.
Here’s hoping for more amazing stuff to grace our eyes in 2020!
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Navigating the Storm: Challenges Faced by LGBTQ+ Individuals in Society and Politics
Introduction
The LGBTQ+ community has made significant strides towards achieving equality and acceptance over the past few decades. However, despite the progress, challenges persist in society and politics, manifesting in various forms such as recent backlash, opposition to gay rights, and discrimination in the workplace. This article explores some of the pressing issues that LGBTQ+ individuals continue to confront, shedding light on the urgent need for further advocacy and change.
- Recent Backlash Against LGBTQ+ People
In recent years, there has been a worrying surge in backlash against LGBTQ+ individuals in various parts of the world. Political polarization, religious conservatism, and misinterpretation of cultural values have contributed to this phenomenon. Backlash manifests through discriminatory laws, public hostility, and violent hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
In some cases, conservative political movements have deliberately used LGBTQ+ rights as a wedge issue to mobilize their base. This has resulted in attempts to roll back existing legal protections and policies aimed at supporting LGBTQ+ individuals. Furthermore, the misuse of social media platforms to propagate hate speech and misinformation has intensified the hostility faced by the community.
- Opposition to Gay Rights
Despite progress in legalizing same-sex marriage in many countries, opposition to gay rights remains a significant challenge. Certain religious institutions, conservative groups, and individuals still hold steadfast to beliefs that same-sex relationships are morally wrong, leading to discrimination and marginalization of LGBTQ+ individuals.
This opposition often leads to legal battles over LGBTQ+ rights, as seen in debates surrounding adoption rights, access to healthcare, and employment protections. The struggle for recognition and acceptance of diverse families and relationships continues to be met with resistance, hindering the establishment of a truly inclusive society.
- Discrimination in the Workplace
In the workplace, LGBTQ+ individuals frequently face discrimination and bias, impacting their career opportunities and overall well-being. Despite legal safeguards in some countries, workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity remains prevalent. Microaggressions, unequal pay, and lack of advancement opportunities are some of the ways in which this discrimination manifests.
Fear of discrimination also often leads LGBTQ+ individuals to hide their identities, creating a toxic environment where authenticity and self-expression are stifled. The resulting emotional toll can lead to mental health challenges and reduced job satisfaction among affected employees.
- Intersectionality and Compounding Challenges
It is essential to recognize that LGBTQ+ individuals can face compounded challenges due to intersectionality. For example, LGBTQ+ people of color, transgender individuals, and those with disabilities may experience unique forms of discrimination that require specific attention and support.
The intersectionality of identities underscores the importance of adopting an inclusive approach in both policy-making and social discourse to ensure that no one is left behind.
Conclusion
The challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in society and politics are deeply rooted and continue to evolve. The recent backlash against LGBTQ+ people, opposition to gay rights, and discrimination in the workplace remind us that progress towards equality and acceptance is not linear.
It is incumbent upon governments, organizations, and individuals to advocate for policies that protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, create safe spaces, and promote a culture of inclusivity. By fostering empathy, understanding, and allyship, we can collectively work towards a more equitable world where LGBTQ+ individuals are celebrated for their diversity and can fully participate in all aspects of society and politics.
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The Patriot Warrior Class
Its been awhile since I’ve posted on Tumblr. In fact I actually kind of forgot I had the account. I created this account a few years ago and I named it “the patriot place”. Pretty self explanatory.
Let me tell you about me. I am first and foremost a patriotic American. I have always called myself a patriot. I’ve been a libertarian party member for many years. I’ve voted in many POTUS general elections for the libertarian candidate (with the exception of 2x). I’ve always had a deep love for the US constitution have spoken out about the blatant corruption of the constitution that has been going on in America my whole life.
I also consider myself a warrior. Although I have never served in the military I was a police officer for 25 years and have since retired. My duties as a police officer included SWAT and emergency tactical medicine. I have been trained by the best warriors America has to offer.
Since the election of Donald Trump (who I didn’t vote for) I have seen the rapid decay of the Libertarian Party. It has become polluted with progressives, pedophiles and people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. My interactions with the neo-libertarians has been sad. Justin Amash has completely flipped in my view and I align more with Rand Paul than I do with Ron Paul. Jo Jorgesen who is the Libertarian’s Party POTUS candidate is and her public support of a Marxist organization was the last straw for me. I am no longer a member of the libertarian party.
I now consider myself a member of the patriot warrior class. I am prepared to fight and die for the Republic and its constitution. I took an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States and that doesn’t end when there is (Ret.) at the end of my name. There are many like me. Men and women who served and are currently serving to protect our Republic who believe in what I believe in are what will save this country from the Marxist insurrection, which is back politically by the Democrat Party and financed by the CCP and George Soros that is taking place within the US’s borders.
The neo-libertarians wont fight for the Republic. They are feckless and nothing more than internet bottle throwers and trolls. Their mentality is the same as the progressives, ‘Burn it down at all costs to get Trump out.”
The single most important event that turned the page in this chapter in my life had to be Trump’s speech at the National Archives Museum on Constitution Day. I have never heard a politician since Reagan deliver a speech more patriotic than this speech. I’ve included the transcript of that speech. So I will end this post with this.... In 2020 I will vote Vote Trump.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, Mike. A great Vice President. I am truly honored to be here at the very first White House Conference on American History. So important.
Our mission is to defend the legacy of America’s founding, the virtue of America’s heroes, and the nobility of the American character. We must clear away the twisted web of lies in our schools and classrooms, and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country. We want our sons and daughters to know that they are the citizens of the most exceptional nation in the history of the world. (Applause.)
To grow up in America is to live in a land where anything is possible, where anyone can rise, and where any dream can come true — all because of the immortal principles our nation’s founders inscribed nearly two and a half centuries ago.
That’s why we have come to the National Archives, the sacred home of our national memory. In this great chamber, we preserve our glorious inheritance: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights.
On this very day in 1787, our Founding Fathers signed the Constitution at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It was the fulfillment of a thousand years of Western civilization. Our Constitution was the product of centuries of tradition, wisdom, and experience. No political document has done more to advance the human condition or propel the engine of progress.
Yet, as we gather this afternoon, a radical movement is attempting to demolish this treasured and precious inheritance. We can’t let that happen. (Applause.) Left-wing mobs have torn down statues of our founders, desecrated our memorials, and carried out a campaign of violence and anarchy. Far-left demonstrators have chanted the words “America was never great.” The left has launched a vicious and violent assault on law enforcement — the universal symbol of the rule of law in America. These radicals have been aided and abetted by liberal politicians, establishment media, and even large corporations.
Whether it is the mob on the street, or the cancel culture in the boardroom, the goal is the same: to silence dissent, to scare you out of speaking the truth, and to bully Americans into abandoning their values, their heritage, and their very way of life.
We are here today to declare that we will never submit to tyranny. We will reclaim our history and our country for citizens of every race, color, religion, and creed.
The radicals burning American flags want to burn down the principles enshrined in our founding documents, including the bedrock principle of equal justice under law. In order to radically transform America, they must first cause Americans to lose confidence in who we are, where we came from, and what we believe. As I said at Mount Rushmore — which they would love to rip down and it rip it down fast, and that’s never going to happen — two months ago, the left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution.
As many of you testified today, the left-wing rioting and mayhem are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools. It’s gone on far too long. Our children are instructed from propaganda tracts, like those of Howard Zinn, that try to make students ashamed of their own history.
The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies. There is no better example than the New York Times’ totally discredited 1619 Project. This project rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom.
Nothing could be further from the truth. America’s founding set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism, and built the most fair, equal, and prosperous nation in human history. (Applause.)
The narratives about America being pushed by the far-left and being chanted in the streets bear a striking resemblance to the anti-American propaganda of our adversaries — because both groups want to see America weakened, derided, and totally diminished.
Students in our universities are inundated with critical race theory. This is a Marxist doctrine holding that America is a wicked and racist nation, that even young children are complicit in oppression, and that our entire society must be radically transformed. Critical race theory is being forced into our children’s schools, it’s being imposed into workplace trainings, and it’s being deployed to rip apart friends, neighbors, and families.
A perfect example of critical race theory was recently published by the Smithsonian Institution. This document alleged that concepts such as hard work, rational thinking, the nuclear family, and belief in God were not values that unite all Americans, but were instead aspects of “whiteness.” This is offensive and outrageous to Americans of every ethnicity, and it is especially harmful to children of minority backgrounds who should be uplifted, not disparaged.
Teaching this horrible doctrine to our children is a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words. For many years now, the radicals have mistaken Americans’ silence for weakness. But they’re wrong.
There is no more powerful force than a parent’s love for their children. And patriotic moms and dads are going to demand that their children are no longer fed hateful lies about this country. American parents are not going to accept indoctrination in our schools, cancel culture at our work, or the repression of traditional faith, culture, and values in the public square. Not anymore. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.
We embrace the vision of Martin Luther King, where children are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
The left is attempting to destroy that beautiful vision and divide Americans by race in the service of political power. By viewing every issue through the lens of race, they want to impose a new segregation, and we must not allow that to happen.
Critical race theory, the 1619 Project, and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, ideological poison that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together. It will destroy our country.
That is why I recently banned trainings in this prejudiced ideology from the federal government and banned it in the strongest manner possible. (Applause.)
The only path to national unity is through our shared identity as Americans. That is why it is so urgent that we finally restore patriotic education to our schools.
Under our leadership, the National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a grant to support the development of a pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth about our nation’s great history. (Applause.)
We are joined by some of the respected scholars involved in this project, including Professor Wilfred McClay. Wilfred, please. Thank you very much. Welcome. (Applause.) Thank you. Dr. Peter Wood of the National Association of Scholars. Dr. Peter. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. And Ted Rebarber. Thank you, Ted. (Applause.) Thank you very much, Ted.
Today, I am also pleased to announce that I will soon sign an Executive Order establishing a national commission to promote patriotic education. It will be called the “1776 Commission.” (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. It will encourage our educators to teach our children about the miracle of American history and make plans to honor the 250th anniversary of our founding. Think of that — 250 years.
Recently, I also signed an executive order to establish the National Garden of American Heroes, a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans who have ever lived.
Today, I am announcing a new name for inclusion.
One of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence was a patriot from Delaware. In July of 1776, the Continental Congress was deadlocked during the debate over independence. The delegation from Delaware was divided. Caesar Rodney was called upon to break the tie.
Even though he was suffering from very advanced cancer — he was deathly ill — Rodney rode 80 miles through the night, through a severe thunderstorm, from Dover to Philadelphia to cast his vote for independence.
For nearly a century, a statue of one of Delaware’s most beloved citizens stood in Rodney Square, right in the heart of Wilmington.
But this past June, Caesar Rodney’s statue was ordered removed by the mayor and local politicians as part of a radical purge of America’s founding generation.
Today, because of an order I signed, if you demolish a statue without permission, you immediately get 10 years in prison. (Applause.) And there have been no statues demolished for the last four months, incredibly, since the time I signed that act.
Joe Biden said nothing as to his home state’s history and the fact that it was dismantled and dismembered. And a Founding Father’s statue was removed.
Today, America will give this Founding Father, this very brave man, who was so horribly treated, the place of honor he deserves. I am announcing that a statue of Caesar Rodney will be added to the National Garden of American Heroes. (Applause.)
From Washington to Lincoln, from Jefferson to King, America has been home to some of the most incredible people who have ever lived. With the help of everyone here today, the legacy of 1776 will never be erased. Our heroes will never be forgotten. Our youth will be taught to love America with all of their heart and all of their soul.
We will save this cherished inheritance for our children, for their children, and for every generation to come. This is a very important day.
Thank you all once again for being here. Now I will sign the Constitution Day Proclamation. God Bless You. And God Bless America. Thank you very much.
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Treat me like garbage for 3+ years and try to deny me my unemployment? We'll see about that.
This is a bit of a long one, so strap in, grab some popcorn, and enjoy. Happened some years ago. If you find any spelling or grammar errors. Keep them and breed them, they make great pets. Tl;dr at the bottom.
So some background; due to some personal reasons, I needed a new start. Years ago, I moved cross country to a state famous for its mountains, colours, and legal drug use. Since I had some family that wanted me to drive some items they'd stored on the eastern coast of the US to the state. I agreed and decided on moving since I could easily transfer all of my schooling to another college in the area. My folks were abusive and I moved out about a week after getting a job, but this isn't about them.
Enter my old boss. They came from the kind of money that paid their way into an ivy league school and owns several properties around town. Their also the sort of person who stopped their birth control just to get pregnant and keep their equally douchey boyfriend around. Just some background and used to establish character.
The Details & Background
My new job was working as an assistant. I thought that it was odd that the interview was at a Starbucks, but I needed the job. I accepted minimum wage as a 1099 employee--yes I know I was dumb at the time, don't worry, I've learned better--and started. My new workplace was out of their basement. Odd, but I'm a good guy, so I roll with it.
Folks I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say I worked sometimes upwards of 70+ hours a week. This was a job that was pitched to me as "part-time." After months there, I did everything from answering phones, running social media and websites, drafting estimates, doing all IT work, some minor cleaning, and generally trying to help out this business in any way I could. I bent over backwards and then some more. Years later I realized I set an impossibly high standard for myself and others as the first employee of this business.
Fast forward to some years in the future. I had left due to some stress-related health concerns. Essentially, I had a small stroke because of the stress and berating. I later came back, as I was and still am a very "pay it forward" person. And felt that I owed the company for getting me a start in an industry that got me out of retail. I've since learned better in this respect too.
The work environment was never great. Any small mistake was treated as a large offense. Instead of this being a red flag to me; I doubled down. Did beyond my best to check all work and even taught myself some coding and server management that would help the business. Business started to pick up and we were soon busy enough to be able to afford a new location (I had suggested leasing a place near our primary clientele). We also needed to hire more staff since the workload was too much for two people.
Before I left the first time, I had trained two office personnel. The company had also promoted me. As anyone who has worked in a small business can tell you, you'll wear a lot of hats. So my job title was somewhere around Estimator/IT/Office Manager/Field Representative. The owner had also bought a house in a residential neighborhood with the intention of renovating it to be our new office.
Problems & Red Flags
Well... any business has it's problems, here's the ones for this company: -New office was a house. The lot was zoned for residential. This was apparent at the time of purchase. -While homeowners can pull permits, you have to actually pull the permit for the work. -We couldn't keep staff or subs to save our life. Turn over was ridiculous. -The owner was using the business accounts as their personal accounts. -Anytime the owner came back in; all staff were expected to drop what they were doing and listen to their tirade and demands. Gods help you if you forgot anything or didn't do it to their exact--sometimes incorrect--specifications. Or the specifications they came up with and didn't tell you about. -The owner would scream, shout, and fume with staff. -The owner dated subs. -The owner often requested that I forge or backdate paperwork. (I'm a notary, this is not only illegal, but I could lose that privilege.) -The owner and other workers would smoke pot on the premises. (I'm cool with recreational use, but don't partake myself.) -We would have to constantly juggle credit cards, accounts, and other funds, often begging the owner to be able to pay our supplier(s) to end the throng of endless, angry phone calls and emails asking for payment. -The owner was a serial appointment canceller. Often, I had appointments dropped into my lap past the time I would need to actually travel there and arrive on time.
After more than three combined years of verbal abuse, threats and demands for payment, dealing with a revolving door of angry staff, and having more than one occasion where subs threatened me and the office staff for not being paid; I was ready to leave. I put in my notice as I was having the same stress-related health issues.
The owner panicked and offered to sit down and talk things out. I had no intention of going back to working for $13/hr, with no benefits, and dealing with downright childish behaviour. I hadn't even been sat down for an interview, offered any sort of salary when I came back, and jumped in because they desperately needed the help. I knew that and got straight to work.
But here we were in a public shop, talking things over and I explained the issues in this toxic environment and how it was affecting me. Why I was leaving and that I was sorry things had turned out this way.
To my surprise, they came back with a counteroffer for a fair wage, praised my work, threw in some benefits, and offered to let me work from home for a large percentage of the week. I was still working on lining up a better job at the time and due to a series of equally bad employment situations before; don't work for a GC if you can help it, I needed to rebuild my savings. I agreed and had written proof of this agreement.
Three months go by and for nearly every week I've received multiple calls after my shift asking, why I haven't been doing (x, y, z) task. Why (insert insurance or customer name) hasn't paid up yet. And, of course, being called into the office more due to the "needs of the business." Anytime I'm in the office I'm putting out more fires than the New York Fire Department. Their bookkeeping assistant treats me like garbage. Anytime I had to teach them how to use a new system or even Excel, I'm met with opposition, stubbornness, and later would receive complaints about how I was "being condescending" to them. (In truth, they were very computer illiterate and unqualified for their position.) But they worked for next to nothing and would flatter the owner. They were generally two-faced and a brown-noser.
The company also had a new office manager since I was working on mostly estimates and negotiations. This was one of the two I had trained and they were a sweetheart. They deserved more than they got there and were days where I had found them breaking down crying. The owner treated them worse than they had treated me and so did their "bookkeeper." I felt sorry for them and eventually, they were fired. It's unfortunate, but they are doing better now from what I've heard.
Well, when the office manager was fired, bookkeeper and the owner drafted up a TON of fake write-ups. Backdating them, forging signatures, and generally trying to make them look like the worst worker to ever exist.
I was upset. This was someone who had been in a similar position that I had been in; saved from the world of retail and trying to gain experience to get a better job. They were a hard worker and set the standard impossibly high. The customers loved them and they ran the office like a well-oiled machine. I honestly think that they had done a better job than I had in some respects.
I brought up how the office manager as indicated by the write-up form was entitled to a copy of the form. That backdating and what was done here was not only inappropriate but illegal. Both bookkeeper and the owner brushed off what I said.
Big red flag.
At this point, I started looking for other work. I was in the office nearly every day and I had even gotten there early enough to open up on most days, then close. I was miserable and kept having chest pains due to the stress. During this time, I was trying to get approval to go on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) since I am trans. In order to qualify, you have to be of certain health requirements. Having a high BP will disqualify you for very valid health reasons.
Due to where I live, I had to drive over an hour away to be seen for these services. Bummer, but I do it anyway. It takes over six months to get an appointment, where I'm told that I need to lower my blood pressure, or I can't safely start HRT.
I'm devastated, I cried, I got seriously depressed, and it only made things worse. To the point that my toxic work environment had stressed me beyond stressed. I came home one day, walked past my roommate like a zombie, went into the shower in our bathroom fully clothed, turned on the cold water, and just... laid there for an hour.
My roommate had been urging me to quit. Seeing the employer abuse, how upset I was, and how my depression was starting to spiral out of control again. Instead of quitting, I put together a solid business plan, job descriptions, improved workflows, and really just a huge document on "How to Unfuck Your Business." Presented the product of several hours of my own time to the owner. Who dismissed it in a loud bar where we could barely hear each other.
After three more months of waiting and trying to prompt change that would never come, I quit.
The Revenge
Since I had left without lining up another, immediate job; and frankly, need therapy, I applied for unemployment benefits due to health reasons. In my country, you can be awarded benefits if you meet a set of strict criteria. Which, after a good day of research, I realized I did meet.
I had never applied for unemployment in my life and having grown up with family that were a mix of benefits fraud poster children and welfare queens; I never wanted to "use the system." But I had bills to pay and needed the time off to pick up my mental pieces after everything that had happened and I was going through. My roommate and I were running low on our savings, so I needed the unemployment.
Swallowing down my pride, I applied and after over a month of back and forth and paperwork; I received my unemployment award.
We breathed a sigh of relief as I continued to recover and look for work. Three months go by and we're past the period of an employer being able to dispute a claim. Again, sigh of relief. I was nearly certain that they were going to try and file against me.
Well, I was right. Turns out they had lied and gotten an extension, filed against my claim. Claiming that I was fired for poor performance.
I was livid.
How dare they insinuate that I did anything less than give 100% at that festering hole of toxicity they called an office! I worked well past my shifts, I had learned and set up the systems and documents they used for nearly everything, and I had treated their company as though it was my own. Sacrificing time, sanity, health, and even some of my own equipment to ensure it succeeded. I kept going when so many had walked away from the dumpster fire that was their business.
Fuck this.
Fuck the owner and fuck this. I immediately and angrily started my research to build my case.
I read the document and the "hearing" was scheduled as a phone hearing in front of a deputy representing the department. There's also a deadline to submit supporting documents. The very latest you could submit documentation for both the former employee and employer was within 24 hours before the scheduled hearing.
Over the next three or so weeks I gathered up years worth of notes from medical providers I had seen, statements from former employees, witnesses to both my mental state and the state of the office environment, etc.
When the office manager had left, they filed for unemployment (which they were justified in). The owner had laughed, drafted up false write-up forms, filed for an extension, and the office manager's claim was decided that the office manager didn't have enough proof and documentation--they hadn't bothered to turn in any--and lost their claim. Which means that the claimant has to pay back any money awarded. The owner and bookkeeper laughed and carried on, bragging about their "handiwork."
Now, I knew that there was going to be a fresh stack of fake write-up forms with my name all over them. I was the one who had authored the write-up forms. I've never once had a write-up form in any job I've worked. I waited until 10 minutes before the deadline, used an online faxing service, and faxed over copies of all of my supporting documents to both the former employer and the deputy for the hearing. Leaving the company no time to turn in any documentation. I kept copies of the faxes to both of them, along with the successful notification that they had been received by both parties.
If they had any documentation, they had to send it to both parties. Since I hadn't gotten anything from them or the deputy, I knew I was the only one walking in with ammo.
Upon further research, I discovered that I could attend the hearing in person. Which, I was more than happy too. Armed with a bulging folder full of evidence, collared shirt, tie, and a beaming smile on my face, I shook hands with the deputy and they called my former employer.
Bookkeeper answers the phone, we're sworn in, all documentation is listed and verified that it has been received, and they give the employer's side of the story.
My gods, to say that they bashed me would be an understatement. Speed bumps take less abuse. "I didn't work." "My work was sloppy." "I was rude to customers." "I refused to go into the office," and so on.
At this point, I'm honestly doing my best to keep quiet and not laugh. They even tried to say that because I was trans, I left because of that. Makes no sense, but ok. I give my statement; which I had written out and practiced several times before this hearing. All the while bookkeeper continually interrupts me and the deputy has to tell them to let me speak, as I did the same for them.
I finish and we start going through the evidence.
Of COURSE bookkeeper is waffling, saying they have evidence (emails and write-ups, both easy to fake since they controlled my employee email account) and starting to reference evidence that neither I or the deputy have received. The deputy has to interrupt them and state that anything they have is inadmissible since they didn't turn it in before the generous deadline.
They are livid and I can tell in the background that the owner is feeding them things to say. (Bookkeeper is not the sharpest spoon in the knife drawer.) Which was an old habit of theirs for anyone who answered the phone in the office.
I spend my sweet, sweet time going through the mountain of evidence I have. I'm interrupted several times and politely ask in my most honeyed of tones, "Bookkeeper, I let you speak freely, can you please do the same for me?"
They are livid. Both the deputy and I could hear the seething rage over the phone and the poor deputy just rolls their eyes over the course of the hour. Having to remind bookkeeper that they are under oath. As they made several contradicting statements. After hearing the evidence from both sides and several claims by bookkeeper of, "This is the owner's 'bread and butter,' you're taking food from their kid's mouths." To which, I calmly reply, "Oh! Excuse me bookkeeper, I'll keep that in mind during this hearing, and when I go to pay rent." The deputy got a chuckle out of that but had to ask me to "keep it civil."
To add to this buttery, decadent roll of sweet, sweet revenge; one of my witnesses was called who was a former employee. Not only did they back up my story, but they got to enjoy jabbing them back too.
Needless to say, a few weeks later I got the results of the hearing and the deputy had ruled in my favour. There was a period of time where both parties were welcome to repeal the decision and we would appear in another hearing. At that time, recordings of the exchange would be made available to both parties. They never repealed.
You would think this would be the end of my revenge. Admittedly, it's not bad, but not pro revenge material yet.
It Gets Better
Before I had left, one of the many bills that had been perpetually left unpaid were the insurances for the company. Which included their unemployment insurance. I smiled each time I deposited my check, knowing full well that there was a very real possibility that over 7k of my unemployment came directly from them.
But I wasn't done. My professionalism had been insulted and dragged through the mud.
You see, I knew nearly everything that was going on in that company. I had made their systems, documents, edited contracts, and was ingrained in nearly every aspect of their operation. I knew they were facing an audit by their former insurance provider.
I called their former insurer and spoke with the auditor. I detailed all of the OSHA, federal, and state violations. I also informed them of the paperwork forging that I had seen while I was there and of several unsafe practices. They thanked me for my time and I happily ended the call.
Next stop, the IRS. I made a report and gave detailed information in regards to their records and even provided why they were not able to file on time. Again thanked for my time and honesty.
Afterward, I decided to touch up with a few of my friends with the regional building department. They were more than happy to listen.
In the three years I had worked there, I had the opportunity to meet and get to know several local businesses and their assistants around town. I spent the next two weeks calling and emailing several key businesses in the area that were their suppliers, vendors, subs, and labour suppliers. I never said an untrue word, asked if they had time to talk, and summarily, was thanked for my time. Funny thing about their assistants too; they control scheduling and well, answer the phones. I'm on good terms with several of them and they backed my story.
Wouldn't you know it, their business address was mysteriously devoid of their trailer, equipment, and signs not long after. They still have an online presence and probably will as long as their family continues to bail them out.
I'm writing this after years because after working for several bad employers, I now have a good job with an amazing company that supports me. It's the result of my years of experience, credentials, and having to eat shit for all those years.
Tl;dr: Abusive employer abuses employees, tries to deny me unemployment, drags me through the mud during the hearing. I not only win my case, but report them enough to drive them out of their location and likely, business.
(source) story by (/u/27thFrequency)
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V thoughts
krazy06
replied to your photo
“I will not lose… Not to Dante… I need power… More power! I know… We...”
I love him so fucking much but this pic scares the shit out of me
Okay, Essay time. Thanks for opening the floodgates @krazy06. I guess this is my day now because IT IS LONG.
MASSIVE spoilers ahead for anyone that hasn’t played and beaten the games. But I mean, it’s been three months. I’ve hidden it behind the cut but consider yourself warned.
That picture is seconds before V rams his cane into Urizen.
I too was so disturbed in that moment. His terrifying lust for power came back for an instant like when he found Dante and the Sparda... And evidently, that moment sure as hell was intoxicating. I want to look at why.
This moment is scary because people expect Urizen to be the monster. It is scary because people expect Vergil to do horrible things. But V? Up until now he's mostly at a glance been a tragic, scared and frail guide, even recruiting the full Devil May Cry crew to begin with to aid him in defeating his unadmitted-other-self. To quote Urizen, as he says of Nero, he would most likely describe V as 'Useless and Human.'
V is holds the most understated power because of his duality. And that makes him terrifyingly disturbed in this moment.
V is more than just human. Don't get me wrong, his human qualities and desire to right his wrongs and work through his trauma is deserving of healing. I truly hope as Vergil he can get there. Canonically (as in the ‘DMC5: Before the Nightmare’ novel) after the team’s first attack on Urizen in the Prologue, when Nero left to prepare and figure out the whole Arm shindig with Nico, V chose to stay behind in Redgrave and do what he could to fight and save people.
For. A. Month. By himself. Out of guilt.
Not to get all Bible up in here but it came to my mind when reading so there’s that, but in a way it adheres to the concept to Matthew 6:3 - " When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." - He didn't stay for praise and heroics or as a cover story to make himself look good to Nero and everyone. He did it alone (well, alone as having Griffon Shadow and Nightmare is. But they certainly didn’t think it was a good idea on V’s part.) at risk to only himself. He does have morality but it was only brought to the fore at his most vulnerable as a side effect as a by-product.
Jump forwards.
It seems often missed in V's final scene because everyone shifts focus to Vergil:
V would have had this goal of re-merging/reconciling with himself the whole time. It doesn’t negate the humanity I mentioned before, but his goal has always been survival. Survival and Safety, or comfort so-have-you.
By his own admission, one I do believe is genuine, V (and Vergil) wanted to be protected and loved. And then, as an eight-year old, attacked on a playground alone by a horde of demons he was forced to fight for his life. Never seeing his parents again, only finding his brother years later and holding a grudge... (’If our positions were switched’) Stemming from trauma at such a young age it’s understandable he sought power to prevent ever being so helpless and alone again. His actions thereafter aren’t justified, but understandable. He didn’t have a chance to develop any healthy coping mechanisms.
Power is safety. No one else can hurt you. No one can touch you. Power means you can sleep despite the nightmares because you’re stronger than them. (The Nelo Angelo years.) Power is absolute. It’s anger, rage, lust, wild, hot, flaming. And when you’re colder than ice, isolated in depression it certainly sounds like a viable option.
If Vergil’s morality really were all V embodied and that alone, he could have stood there and let Dante finish Urizen off. He could have sacrificed himself in that way, crumbling away to dust the tragic hero. But V’s human. And in all seriousness with Millennial/Gen-Z whatever jokes aside, most of us don’t want to die.
In that moment, V reclaimed his power. Re-joining with his other half was his path to safety and survival and he had to take it.
Then mere moments later, in his final frames, he’s anguished and I’d dare say mourning himself still without choice. Same as when he was Eight. He was out of time and had to act.
That leads us to two ending conclusions:
The more tragic I imagine in honesty had Vergil defeated both Dante and Nero, gone on to conquer all of Hell and Earth, he would have naught left to do but cry. Deep down I think he (especially as V) knows it too, but until he got there he would be in denial of it.
But he didn’t defeat them. While admission will take time due to his pride in whole, part of him (V) is relieved. He’s clearly retained the memories of both sides. His defeat heartless and powerful to Dante, and the sobering emotional grounding reality brought from his experiences as V. Comradery no longer alone as he’d been growing up. And perhaps… He’d like more of that.
When someone first comes out of a toxic or dangerous position mentally they don’t know how to cope, and often if unsupported, return to negative coping mechanisms that land them right back where they started. (Toxic relationships, bad workplaces, etc.) Vergil offered to deal with the Qliphoth alone, but Dante’s lived with depression as well. He recognised it, and didn’t let Vergil go alone. Those Sparda boys are broken, but they’re making headway.
However this couldn’t have been a possibility without reconciling his two halves. V would have died. He actually puts a lot of trust in Dante really throughout DMC5: Getting him involved to start with, re merging, and then with his fate after the Qliphoth.
That’s my brief take on V anyhow. There’s a lot more moments and beats I’d love to break down. And my god, I'd love to have a conversation with Brian Hanford about acting V, his mind set and motivations for V overall and specifically going into acting these scenes. His performances the whole game are astounding.
TLDR ; This moment is terrifying because it’s Vergil at his best- V -succumbing to his worst- Urizen -for his overall goal: survival.
#krazy06#headcanons#V analysis#Deep Thoughts#text#replies#V#DMC V#Devil May Cry#DMC#DMC5#Devil May Cry 5#DMC5 Spoilers#Vergil#Vergil Sparda#Dante#Dante Sparda
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You know that feeling, when you think back to the first canon queer representation you were exposed to, and then just get so fucking mad that you write a 7 page list of all the ways that is was shitty and toxic and abusive?
#mine#long post#like really long#lol glee#lol klaine#lol blaine#lol blaine anderson#anti klaine#anti blaine anderson#anti glee#anti blaine#im not tagging with any of the actual tags because this is a very long and very bitter post#idk why but the rage over this has consumed me for like 2 weeks now#i really didnt even watch glee for that long#but it fucking haunts me apparently#bad queer representation#the young queers of my generation had this toxic mess to look up to#we deserved better
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American Feminism Was (Is) a Psy-Op. Western Medicine Shored up Male Power. Discuss.
This post is about American feminism specifically since that’s the brand I know the most about and the one that affects me every day of my life. I am not talking about other “feminisms” in other places but here in my own country where, after 100 years of feminist activating, including actual and/or perceived successes American women still face the following oppressive realities of living under American men’s particular brand of patriarchy:
1. We are removed from natural food and water sources and rely on necrophilic men to supply us and our dependents with the material necessities of life including food, water and plant-based medicine;
2. Our land including our soil, air, water and biomass (i.e. food, pets and ourselves) have been consistently poisoned since the 1940s (that we know about) with male-made nuclear radiation where this kind of ionizing radiation is known to be dangerous and not compatible with life or health;
3. Physical and mental “health” have been medicalized where “health problems” are synonymous with “medical problems” meaning that in America, health and Western (capitalistic patriarchal) medicine are the same thing;
4. All institutional power remains in men’s hands with only token female representation in positions of military, economic, academic, scientific, police, media, regulatory and all relevant political and social power in every area. This includes 100% male control over Western medicine and therefore over sick and dying bodies.
This is a partial list and a specific progression but it will do for now.
What is a psy-op? A psy-op or psychological operation appears to be a propaganda campaign including slogans aimed at a political enemy in order to get them to activate toward and achieve state interests. For our purposes “state” interests is interchangeable with patriarchal interests and refers to male interests and male power achieved at women’s expense while “propaganda” refers to American media including representations of so-called feminist speech. Working backwards, we can see that once feminists (of all people!) started activating towards and achieving patriarchal goals, there was indeed a propaganda/slogan campaign that preceded it. Also for our purposes, we can presume both causation and intent where the result of this propaganda campaign — women activating towards male interests — was completely foreseeable and besides, if men didn’t like the result of women activating towards male and against female interests men could’ve stopped or changed it at any time. Of course they never did.
After writing about my experience with Western (patriarchal) medicine for a year now, where I have been robbed of my health and then faced oppressive social and political consequences of my disease that have nothing to do with being sick and everything to do with being an oppressed person under capitalism and patriarchy, I can’t help but conclude that American feminism has failed us. It didn’t work. After 100 years of feminist activating in the West, American women are still fucked and being fucked (and fucked over) in every way imaginable and it’s not primarily about voting and husbands and money anymore if it ever was but about men having wrecked our entire country by now with male-made nuclear contamination > makes everyone sick > Western medicine is 100% under male and patriarchal control.*
That is the reality in which women and feminists find ourselves in 2019 and there is simply no way around it. While it is true that “if you don’t have your health you don’t have anything” and that therefore, in taking our health men have taken everything from us, the effect on American women of our lost health goes beyond even that: the full-scale contamination/unhealthfulness of our food, water and air means that no matter what we do or don’t we are likely to become ill and/or saddled with caring for ill dependents. And our rather unavoidable illness and that of our dependents will funnel us into men’s abusive Western medical machine that will chew us up forever and there is not a good goddamned thing we can do about it.
To wit, once we or one (or more) of our dependents become sick, as we are the caretakers of our own and our families’ health it is primarily women who will be subjected to medicalized patriarchal control including medical surveillance, i.e. required examinations, “check-ups” and the like. Likewise it is women who will face restrictions on our movement and speech including required regular contact we cannot opt-out of including on behalf of sick children and social taboos against criticising Western medicine and those in the medical profession generally including “heroic” and authoritative doctors, nurses, hospice workers and others.
And as it’s primarily women who suffer from confounding untreatable, incurable and progressive diseases such as autoimmune disease, primarily women will be forced to liquidate our assets (if we even have any) to pay for medical care for ourselves and others including so-called alternative medical care that is also under male control and is therefore fundamentally necrophilic and unlikely to heal us. Western medicine also notoriously causes iatrogenic illness and injury and makes us worse over time necessitating more interventions and so on. And if we have no assets, and most women don’t, we must submit to grueling, ineffective and even toxic and dangerous Western medical interventions in exchange for disability-based benefits if we are literally to survive. This medicalized patriarchal control over women and our dependents (and therefore over women in multiple ways) is overlapping and complete.
Get it? Despite decades of feminist activating, American women are now completely and demonstrably under male control via the Western medical machine that requires and enforces our submission/compliance on every level and which cannot be avoided once we become ill, and we are nearly assured of becoming ill due to men’s policy and practice of ongoing severe environmental pollution. For our generations of activating women have been granted unfreedom of thought, speech, privacy, movement and our material survival is left completely in the hands of our oppressors — men. That patriarchal control over women is now complete means that, despite superficial appearances, American women are now completely disenfranchised and that therefore, American women’s oppression is worse now than ever. Doesn’t it?
How and why did this happen despite women’s and feminists’ best efforts including generations of feminist activating? In hindsight, considering that women’s failing health is what seems to have finally, effectively shored up male power in the West, our so-called feminist movement seems to have played a significant part where feminist women were duped early on into trading our historical and indeed natural dominion over food, water and matters of the “home” (in other words, the literal necessities of life) in exchange for the money and consumerist power needed to buy those things from men. And when considering the elements of a psy-op, it would seem that any pro-woman intent of the American women’s liberation movement was thwarted when American feminism was reduced to a slogan — slogans being a tool of propaganda and psy-ops — in this case slogans of “equality” and specifically economic equality, where money, as I understand it, was only ever a scam designed to fool oppressed people into trading things that are inherently valuable (such as land and gynergy) for worthless paper. Think about what that means.
Money, and therefore economic justice and economic equality, is and always was a trick and we fell for it, where what women actually wanted — to survive and thrive on our own terms rather than being used and abused by men — was reduced to an equality sound-bite and one that actually defanged if not completely reversed the meaning and goals of feminism which was women’s liberation from male power. In short, women were duped via feminism into relinquishing our birthright of actual, meaningful control over the necessities of life — our natural right because we create life — in exchange for positions in the pubic workplace for which we were paid worthless paper. And that tradeoff was and still is what we and everyone thinks “feminism” is all about. As perhaps the final insult to our intelligence and our freedom, women were convinced by slogans to desire spending-power (consumerism) where the only thing worth buying is land, and where perhaps the original intent of the money-scam itself was trading worthless paper for inherently valuable real estate. Despite alleged economic/financial successes for women via feminism, land/real estate in particular remains so “expensive” (meaning that it takes so much economic and other power to purchase it) that it’s still out of most women’s and women’s collective reach.
Of course, land ownership is of particular import to women where large tracts of land are more or less required to grow food, and where ownership rights (at minimum) are needed to keep men out and to prevent them from poisoning the land, and by extension the food, water, the air and us. Women’s large-scale ownership (meaning control) of land is exactly what women do not have and it is unlikely at this point that we ever will. The modern trend of “independent” women purchasing tiny homes on tiny (or no) plots of land, where they still purchase contaminated food, water and the necessities of life from men and are still under the jurisdiction of Western medicine when we become ill from it seems to punctuate the feminist misstep and is where generations of the feminist psy-op has left us. Ironically, these relatively large (for women) tiny home or even flat/apartment purchases often strain women’s meager resources beyond the breaking point, leaving us even more vulnerable than we would’ve been had we saved our money and remained renters with a landlord to cover property taxes and expensive or unexpected repairs. And on it goes.
There is surely more to say about the feminist psy-op and about Western patriarchy’s final, successful domain over women via Western medicine and I have said quite a lot about that control in the articles on this blog. For now, as I am posting this on a symbolically relevant day, I will end this post with a thought on International Women’s Day. Considering our history and our failures, which include our apparently abject failure to liberate American women from male control, I really think Western and particularly American feminists should probably shut the fuck up about feminism already because we clearly have not a single clue what we are doing and that we have failed, where we have failed, and why. At this point, if other women around the world have managed to retain control over their own food, water and/or medical care they are doing much better than we are and it would probably behoove us to listen to those women, emulate them as much as we reasonably can, and to not pretend for one second that we are doing any better than they are, or that those women need our brand of “feminist” help. That’s just not the reality of our situation or theirs.
*I also blame GMO’s and their appearance in the American marketplace in the 1990s which more or less coincided with our nationwide epidemic of obesity and autism/ASD where both obesity and ASD are known to be inflammatory conditions and therefore autoimmunity related. And the epidemic of autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases has only worsened since then and affects primarily women. But for purposes of this post I think focusing on nuclear contamination will do. Nuclear contamination also causes genetic defects in plant- and animal-based foodstuffs — and in us.
#feminism#genetic modification#male bullshit#radical feminism#Female Liberation#Healthcare#diet#toxic patriarchy
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