#btw i'm trying to read more things about colonialism but

[serpentandthreads]

So, I wanna give y'all a bit of a life update and the future of this account. If that doesn't interest you, keep scrolling. If it does, read under the cut. Feel free to voice your thoughts in the notes.

The past five months have been a lot, in simple terms. I had to leave my previous job significantly earlier than I wanted to, move to a different state significantly earlier than I wanted to, figure out how to manage off-grid living, adjust to a new job that I must admit I'm not really satisfied with, and I've adopted a kitten that came from a cat colony (she's doing amazing, btw). There's more to it, but that's most of what's been going on.

As a result, I've had to press pause on writing more personal and informative posts. It's not something I wanted to do. I just haven't really had a lot of time to spare. I'm not kidding when I say my drafts list is long. I'm the type of person who writes better on a computer instead of a phone, so I have to hold off on writing this stuff for when I get to visit a local cafe that has wifi.

It's unfortunate. But that's just how things are right now.

So, that being said... I'm in a spot where I'm more comfortable with evaluating where to go from here. I still want to post about folk magic and my personal practice. I'm just not sure tumblr is the platform to do it on. I haven't really decided if I am going to move to a different platform or not. I was looking into making a website at one point but that's a lot of work, and I'm not tech savvy. If anybody has any suggestions on this I'm open to them.

Furthermore, it's officially been a year since I was formally diagnosed with autism. It's been a rough adjustment. It's not like things really changed, because the struggles I've had pre-diagnosis are still present. The new struggles have been trying to redirect my mum away from ableist organizations and trying to explain to people that my brain isn't wired like a neurotypical person's.

I've also been able to address some internalized ableism and have been working on being less hard on myself. Which isn't easy. I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that my limits are more narrow than what I'd like.

Things have been rough. I'm okay though.

[lord-squiggletits]

Fandom posts about Megatron's trial/him being put on the Lost Light that frame Optimus as the bad guy are always so fucking funny to me. And it's almost never "Optimus putting Megatron on the Lost Light was an abuse of authority and unfair to Rodimus and everyone else on the ship" which is an actually valid critique, but I often see it from Megatron fans who are somehow convinced that Optimus was like.............unfair to him?????? By "making" Megatron join the Lost Light? Or by "forcing" him into doing things he didn't want to do?

There's the people who think that being put on the LL was a punishment for Megatron where they were constantly putting him through moral tests designed to make him fail which is.... literally where, where did you get that. The LL was just a random cruiseship of misfits who didn't even ask for Megatron to be on the ship with them, where are ppl getting this idea that Optimus/the LL crew were in some sort of Machiavellan plot to torment Megatron and rub in how he's so evil he'll never be accepted?

Or like the fact that wanting to join the LL in search of the Knights of Cybertron was literally Megatron's own idea and the whole "only the Knights of Cybertron can judge me" thing was a legal loophole that he only pulled out bc he was mad about Starscream publicly humiliating him during his trial? And that if Megatron really didn't want to agree to the terms of his parole, Optimus was just going to keep him in prison until the LL came back with the Knights rather than immediately executing him?

Oh but Optimus made Megatron drink Fool's Energon. Ah yes, it's so evil and unfair of Optimus to make Megatron (one of the deadliest fighters of their entire race) drink a substance to make him weaker due to the fact that in far space, there's no one to enforce Megatron's parole or to stop him if he was lying and really just wanted to kill everyone. And btw Fool's Energon was a placebo the whole time, so Optimus' gay ass couldn't even poison Megatron properly. It was entirely a token gesture made for appearances only.

What about the part where Optimus made Megatron denounce the Decepticons, you cry? Well if one were to actually read the entire speech instead of taking screenshots out of context (something this fandom loves to do), the "we were wrong to assert ourselves" comes directly after a statement about technoism and subjugating organics; in other words, "we were wrong" is referring to the whole colonialism and genocide thing, not saying "we were wrong to rise up against Functionism." (Which btw Optimus was literally a fanboy of Megatron's and agreed with his writings, and pre-war OP did his own undercover work to foil the Senate's plans, and they overthrew the previous Prime Zeta together, so idk where people are getting this idea that Optimus hates Megatron for being a meanie revolutionary that didn't play nice >:((( ).

And given that the Decepticons attacked Megatron's trial to try and break him out, and that there was a splinter faction of Deceptions under Galvatron that were trying to invade Earth again, I think it's pretty fucking reasonable that Optimus would go "So before I very indulgently grant you the rank of captain and let you go on a random cruise ship for your journey of self-actualization, would you mind making a speech to deradicalize the Decepticons? I'm trying to keep society from not descending into another civil war and you helping by telling the Decepticons to Fucking Stop is the least you can do in exchange." I mean if Megatron cared so much about the Decepticons he could've said "No, I'm not going to give that speech, in fact I'm going to stay on Cybertron and speak to the Decepticons my way" but he didn't bc he decided that going on his personal quest was more important than sticking around to integrate the Decepticons back into society.

But somehow, Megatron choosing to make that speech so that he'd be allowed on a ridiculously lenient parole is the big, evil Optimus' fault, and Megatron has nothing to do with how poorly the Decepticons are treated post war, he had no power to stop that apparently.

Like it's just so incredibly weird to me that Megatron fans villainize Optimus for, of all things, letting Megatron join the journey for the Knights of Cybertron. Optimus' decisions were almost entirely driven by personal bias towards Megatron where he abused his authority as Prime to defy what quite literally everyone on Cybertron (and possibly the whole galaxy) wanted, which was Megatron's immediate execution for his crimes. He lets Megatron free of prison with almost no oversight, grants him captaincy of an Autobot ship, gives him a freaking placebo instead of actual weakening energon, and the only thing he demands from Megatron in return is a speech to make the remaining Decepticons who were still fighting (which wasn't even all of them) understand that the war is over. And Megatron accepts all of these terms because the whole thing was his idea that he wanted to be allowed to do. The only reason Optimus' indulgence didn't go badly is bc Megatron wasn't lying and actually meant his heel-face turn.

But somehow all of this makes Optimus the bad guy who's being unfair to Megatron???? Never mind Optimus' flagrant disregard of the law in favor of granting Megatron's personal wish??? Never mind the fact that the conditions for Megatron's parole were incredibly lenient to the point that one of them was a placebo and not hurting Megatron in any way??? Never mind that the speech Optimus made Megatron make was entirely for political reasons to try to stabilize society again and not bc he wanted to humiliate Megatron or something ridiculous like that???

What I mean to say is it's very confusing to me why the discussion of Megatron's trial is "Optimus is so mean/bigoted for making Megatron do what he did and forcing him to live under such strict conditions" and not, idk, "Megatron chose to abandon the Decepticons and publicly denounce their cause for the sake of getting to go on his own personal journey" or even "Megatron was initially going to just submit to trial, and the Knights of Cybertron excuse was something he pulled at the last minute because Starscream made Megatron look like an idiot and Megatron decided he wanted a more Grand and Important legacy than that." Or even "If Megatron cared about the Decepticon,s he would've just refused Optimus' deal and stayed in prison on Cybertron rather than trade the dignity of their cause for his own freedom." Nope. It's all Optimus' fault. Poor Megatron was forced onto the Lost Light and this is such a horrible and unfair punishment for him.

People want Megatron to be a poor downtrodden victim of the Ebul Autobots so bad, when the reality is that post-war/early MTMTE Megatron is nothing more than a dethroned tyrant, severely in denial of of his own shittiness, going on a journey solely to benefit his own ego, and all of MTMTE/LL is about him trying to get better from his stupid pride and self-centered behavior.

#squiggposting #one must wonder if we read the same comics #ppl want OP to be evil soooooo badly it makes them silly #dunno how else you could turn OP's insane favoritism and emotionally compromised relationship w/ M into him being mean to him??? #there has never been an OP more blindly gay and biased towards M than in idw1. this dude so gay he made a war criminal into a ship captain #but somehow everything bad that M did is OP's fault and not M's own fault for agreeing to it #god forbid OP-- who is staying on cybertron/earth to try and keep society from imploding-- #ask M for some diplomatic/political concessions in exchange for his freedom. that's just mean

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Don't you think there's better ways of showing support for Palestinians/Israeli Christians than by perpetuating the "Jesus was Palestinian" myth that people constantly try and use to deny Jewish indigeneity. Allegory or not, it's not a great look for someone who purports to be against that kind of erasure and supercessionism. Also, having 1 line about how his death was the Empire's fault so don't blame the Jews is meaningless when in this allegory, the Empire (Israeli government) *is* Jewish

(anyone curious about what anon's referring to, I believe it's my poem here)

Hey there anon, thank you for your feedback. In this situation where various marginalized peoples are being pitted against each other (and/or conflated with political groups), I've been struggling to make sure my words don't add to the misinformation and harm. So whenever someone takes the time to remind me of that danger, I'll take the time to re-examine my words — even if I end up standing by them, as I mostly do in this case.

I can't promise to say and do all the perfect things, because there isn't time to waste getting my words just right before saying something — people are dying right now (and yes, anon, that includes those Israelis who are still hostages of Hamas, who are also endangered by Israel's continued attacks.)

I have been spending much of my free time these past few months learning more about Israel and Palestine, and I still don't feel I'm even close to knowing enough! But I've listened to those who are actually in the midst of the violence who say that all of us across the world must join their cry now, not letting our ignorance be an excuse. That means there have been a few things I've said that I then had to re-consider after learning more.

...

Just a few days ago, I was actually trying to look into the origins of the statement that "Jesus was a Palestinian Jew." (Btw if anyone knows the origins of this statement, please hit me up!)

Arguments against it note that the term "Palestinian" didn't exist in Jesus' day. Looking into the accuracy of that statement is still on my to-do list; I did skim over this article calling it a myth but yeah, still digging. Regardless, sure, I don't think Jesus called himself a Palestinian in his lifetime.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the statement is useless, however. I do very much believe that if Jesus were born today, in the same place, he'd be born to a Jewish Palestinian family, not an Israeli one.

That does not erase his Jewishness; it confirms God's "preferential option for the poor," God's choice to side with and become one with the most oppressed and discarded. It also does not assert that Jewish persons don't "belong" in the region — only that the modern nation/colony Israel isn't necessary for them to live and thrive there.

All that said, if anyone has more info on the statement that "Jesus was a Palestinian" — its origins, how it's been used over the years — I would absolutely like to examine it further. For now, I stand by the phrase, with an openness to re-considering that with further education.

...

I feel more confident in talking about Empire — how I used it in my poem, versus how you've interpreted it. I'm genuinely grateful to you for bringing your reading of it to my attention, because it's shown me that my words weren't clear enough there!

In these verses from my poem:

"...And now, as then, some may blame Jesus’s death on his own Jewish people — but resist this lie! Now as then the crime is Empire’s and those of us who would cast stones should ponder first what our nations gain from genocide. ..."

You interpret Empire as being Israel.

My intention was that Empire with a capital E is a much larger network of all imperial forces on earth. Israel is entangled in that, and directly backed and funded by those forces. My own country, the United States, is one of the nations at the helm of Empire.

So when I talk of Empire being to blame, I'm not saying just Israel — honestly, I'm personally more concerned with the US's complicity, because I feel as a US citizen I can help demand they stop.

So I'm going to rework that bit to better express what I mean by Empire, so it doesn't sound like I'm focusing only on Israel. Empire is so much bigger than any one state, colony, or government.

...

Okay, I'm out of steam. I'm going to link a few pieces that have been helping me frame all that's going on right now to resist pitting marginalized groups against each other:

This art piece naming "contradicting truths"

This article by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg also naming seemingly contradictory truths

Since I didn't really get deep into this part of your ask, I also appreciate this article discussing the question of indigeneity. It discards the "need" to figure out "who was there first" in favor of exploring intersecting histories.

Oh also, because you claim that the Israeli government "is Jewish," I think discussions on how Israel isn't actually a safe haven for all Jews, only those that fit into their goals, are vital.

#chatting tag #idk how to word this but. like. #what's happening right now is both NOT complex: we MUST side with Palestine. #and also very very complex with a need for nuance and context. #both and not either or #does that make sense?....

[somerabbitholes]

Hello! I'm in dire need of an unbiased opinion. Considering the newer books coming out on history, there's more unknown facts and stories from our history becoming mainstream or rather, easily accessible. I thought that was a good thing. But the recent divide in how it is being labelled as propoganda in the left vs right debate seems to be an insult to the main crux i.e. the events and people of the past. Am I crazy or are people being absurd with the ideologies? Like history is history, how are people trying to impose labels? I think I lost a friend over this debate and hence, I need an unbiased opinion. Thank you for your time! Love your blog btw, I'm new to Tumblr and seeing your blog was a delight.

People are being a little absurd with ideology, you're right there. It's strange to me that history is quite possibly having its best, most flourishing popular life in India at the same time as it is also arguably in crisis of sorts. I do think it's a good thing that newer histories, newer sources are being written about, that older sources are being reinterpreted. I stand by that: there is so much room to do history creatively, and extremely luckily, there is also now the audience.

Here's the thing though, history isn't a blank or static canvas. It's not the past, it's how we make sense of the past, and us in India have had a very flawed reckoning with our history, both because of colonialism and simply how post-independence historical writing worked, ideologically and institutionally speaking. So while it is currently chaos and also a landmine — and no one knows this better than us whose business is history — I don't think we could've avoided this. Like it had to come one day, and now it has. I like to think it's history breaking out of a very Delhi-centred academia and in many ways, it's jarring and it's context collapse, but again, it had to happen.

The whole thing with calling books a "new" or "untold" history is very annoying to me but that's a separate conversation. As to your question about labelling things as propaganda: a simple rule for me has been to read something and find out why it's being called what it's being called. For what it's worth, I do have hope. There is room for research the way there hasn't been for a very long time in the country, and there's enough to do if you'd like to.

I don't know if that helps, but I hope it does.

#answered #anonymous #historyblr #india

[prumanoenjoyer]

Doing this thing because I got blorbos on my mind

A - Current OTPs/OT3s etc.

It may not come as a surprise but I am absolutely rotting on PruMano at all times and have been doing so for basically a year now. It's beginning to melt into my personality and nothing can be done about it. Whenever I'm released from the iron grip of PruMano rotting I enjoy GerIta and FrUk like the normie that I am. The BTT are definitely getting together for threesomes when they're all single and I like them as well.

B - Pairing I initially didn't consider

This might shock you after reading the first bit but. PruMano. See I'm not new to this circus, I first watched Hetalia in 2015 but focused mostly on the Nordic 5 with SuFin and DenNor. This was before PruAus 9/11 (Hima suddenly announcing they're cousins) so I think I was on the PruAus rot.

Other than that I got a friend who I dragged into this hellhole (you know who you are) who has infected me with Frain and TurFra. I have some Thoughts about TurPru but uhh. let's leave that for now.

C - Ships I never liked and never will like

All the ones where there is an unbalanced power dynamic (age gaps, having interacted when one was a child and the other way older etc, former colonies and oppressive states, having a relationship that implies being related etc). I am a seasoned hater of these and I do my best to block anyone who as much as reblogs it. I do not care if it's "just fiction" you guys are weird and not in a good way xoxo

D - Ships I just can't get myself to like

Due to the aforementioned PruMano rot I just don't feel seriously interested in any other pairings I fear. Nothing against PruCan or LietPru for example, I am just so rotted on PruMano that it doesn't make me feel anything lol

E - My crack contributions

I may just be the only person who has even considered TurPru and I have done it in the most unbearable fujoshi way possible </3

Other than that I'm helping out with spreading unrequited GerFra, Frain and TurFra which I do also enjoy on the side.

F - Longest I've been in a fandom

I wanna say this one?? Not actively so, I jumped ship to other things such as Love Live and JJBA in early 2019ish (Love Live even earlier in 2017), but even during my longer breaks from Hetalia I've always ended up rewatching it at some point or posting about it.

G - First OTP

For Hetalia it's definitely been GerIta from day one. Do I even need to say anything? To me they're canon.

H - Favorite way of consuming fandom stuff

It's mostly anime series and TV shows I'd say, I do sometimes read but am a bit too busy to properly sit down and do so.

I - Has Tumblr made me dislike fandoms

I think it would take less time to list the fandoms Tumblr HASN'T made me dislike tbh. I try to keep a tight knit circle for my own sanity and rarely interact with the fandom part of stuff apart from my own and my friend's contributions. Highly recommended btw.

J - Fandoms I didn't notice until Tumblr

To be honest I'm not really browsing Tumblr at all. I like to upload here because the image quality is way better than on Instagram. I suppose I highly associate some fandoms with this site (Undertale for example)?

K - Say something nice about someone

You should all go like and subscribe to fruktual on Instagram for more FrUk and Frainposting

L - Say something nice about a mid character

Lithuania I'm sure you are way more interesting than I give you credit for and I care about you the most out of the Baltic Trio (which I honestly forget exists at times)

M - Something nice about a ship I don't like

I'd honestly rather pull a tooth out than say a single word of praise for things such as UsUk or Spamano 🤢🤢🤢🤢 And that's on periodt!

N - Things I wish to see more of in the fandom

More PruMano please please please please please pl

O - Song that reminds me of a ship

Til There Was You by The Beatles makes me think of GerIta, as well as Kingdom Come by Red Velvet

As for PruMano it would be Tales Of Great Ulysses by Cream because I had that on repeat writing my Ancient Rome PruMano AU lol

P - New AU

I'm working on/will be working on a Frankenstein PruMano AU where Gilbert is a much more empathic Victor Frankenstein and Lovino is too traumatized from dying and being resurrected to be out killing people. Look forward to that...

Q - Ship I've abandoned and why

PruAus because Hima came in with a warhammer and bludgeoned it to the cousinzone R.I.P </3

R - Pairing I think no one else ships

Again with TurPru, I seriously wonder whether it's been considered at all. Most likely not.

S - Personal headcanon

Okay more or less true I guess if you bother to read the source material but Gilbert is just a silly loser guy. Like, he's a total himbo. I love him and need to gnaw on him.

T - Headcanons I'll die defending

That Gilbert and Lovino who share a passion for chivalry and knights would definitely go visit museums and LARPing events such as medieval weeks and whatnot. Just warms my cold little heart <3

U - 5 faves from 5 different fandoms

Oh boy. Forgive me for what I'm about to share.

(Hetalia) Gilbert Beilschmidt

(JJBA) Dio Brando

(Madoka) Kyouko Sakura

(Love Live) Yoshiko Tsushima

(Gakkou Gurashi or School Live) Kurumi Ebisuzawa

V - 3 OTPs from different fandoms

(Hetalia) PruMano (shocker, I know)

(Madoka) HomuMado

(Love Live) YohaRiko

W - 5 ships ft 5 kinks for said ship

So obviously gonna skip over the ones featuring minors.

PruMano - Verbal degradation, sadism, masochism, somewhat fear aspect, leaving marks

I do also just think they love each other and have normal sex and that's fine too, but I did write a fanfic where the abovementioned happens

X - My top 5 babygirls

1. Gilbert, I bully him a lot but don't you ever seriously say something mean about him because I will be so sad </3

2. Lovino, he's a flawed man and some of you are MEAN to him for having it rough

3. Rome, some people who haven't read source material claim there's some favoritism going on, he does visit Lovino as well okay? The allegations are canonically false!

4. Ludwig, I think most of us agree he's a good person but for the rare few who claim he's "verbally abusive". Go outside and touch grass no he isn't. GerIta has always been them antagonizing one another, the battlefield is even or perhaps even in Feliciano's favor. Ludwig will never be able to escape the nightmare and I don't think Feli wants him to. They're bound together forever and love it.

5. Roderich, gets slack for various Chibitalia related things, does not deserve it at all, it's all whining and he and Feli are on good terms in modern times. Relax.

Y - Fandoms in-law

My current close friends are into Baldurs Gate 3, Watch Dogs, Dishonored, Evillous Chronicles (Vocaloid), Utena and more. But these are the primary blorbo shows in-law.

Z - Rambling time

Okay if you've gotten this far down I admire your attention span lol thanks. I don't really have all that much to say that is concrete and comprehensible but I am thinking of PruMano and of warm days by the Mediterranean Sea and skies later lit in vivid shades of red and orange as the hot sun sets and the cities come to life. I am also thinking about them cuddling, which I do quite a lot.

Anyway that was all for me bye

#hetalia #hetalia axis powers #prumano #aph romano #aph south italy #aph prussia #gilbert beilschmidt #lovino vargas #francis bonnefoy #aph france #fruk #aph fruk #gerita #aph germany #ludwig beilschmidt #aph north italy #feliciano vargas #gerfra #turfra #frain #bad touch trio #rambles #ramblings #aph turkey #sadik adnan

[the--highlanders]

choose violence ask game (loving the name of that btw) - 8, 16, & 23?

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

(this fandom is so small that I don't want to sound like I'm vagueblogging or @-ing someone or anything so I'm just gonna preface this by saying this also goes for plenty of licensed media)

oh man ok. at risk of sounding like a total killjoy who takes everything too seriously & looks too much into stuff. I'm pretty sensitive about. primitivism in the way jamie gets portrayed?? is the best way I can think to describe it?? anything that implies that where & when he comes from means that he's inherently less intelligent, or equates his lack of knowledge on some things with him being stupid. can't stand him being reduced to dumb guy who hits stuff. idiot who has no critical thinking skills or reasoning.

and like, I get that it's a fairly common assumption, the idea that people from the past weren't as smart because they didn't know as much (even setting aside the devaluing of /different/ ways of knowing & understanding) - but, say, victoria never gets this treatment. despite also being from the past. which then leads you to think, hey, why would people make that assumption about jamie and not about victoria?

and then you get to a bunch of ideas which have been kicking around since. before jamie's time, real-world-historically speaking. which depict the highlands as savage, as populated by 'wild' people, by - well - 'primitives'. speakers of a primitive language. violent, at worst, strong, at best, but never intelligent. & this is all starting to sound a lot like the ideas that buttress colonialism and biological determinism, isn't it?

idk. this is a silly 60s family tv show & a very very small online fandom. it's kind of not that deep. but any time jamie gets written off as being inherently stupid (often /because/ of where he comes from), and any time that idea is the foundation of a joke, it rubs me the wrong way, and this is why.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

gfdhkjsg once again this is a v small fandom so 'so many people' is kinda like..... 2 people max probably. & also I've been sort of keeping more or less to myself for a couple years now in terms of actually discussing thoughts & headcanons (except you obviously and also @ettelwenailinon who is always right about everything despite not being super active in dr who fandom on tumblr anymore <3)

gonna go with shipping jamie and victoria tbh. absolutely no hate if you do bc I can definitely see where it comes from in canon/behind the scenes stuff but it is just,,, not for me at all, and so antithecal to how I write/interpret their characters.

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

tenrose?? weirdly?? not that I'd say I actively ship it (there is one (1) tenrose fic in my ao3 bookmarks but it's really there bc it's a pretty charming magical realism au and the voices of all the characters are just so spot on rather than bc I ever crave reading about the ship) but. when I got into dr who in 2013 there felt like there was a pretty solid line between rtd fans and moffat fans. & I have always vibed with moffat's era more (neither of them are above criticism obviously, the scifi fairytale aesthetic/tone of moffat's era is just so so so so tailor-made for me personally).

and for some reason tenrose and elevenriver were kind of. bundled into that opposition?? not sure if that was just in my head or something other people noticed/experienced but I felt like if you were a moffat fan you had to ship elevenriver & if you were an rtd fan you had to ship tenrose, and they were like. rivals. (yes I did try very half-heartedly to enjoy elevenriver. no I never succeeded). so I always had this thing of like, I don't like ten, I don't like tenrose.

like I said I still don't actively ship it, I don't get any warm fuzzy feelings from their relationship, but I did go back into rtd's era looking to actively enjoy stuff (after being tired of really not enjoying uh. recent seasons ajhksglf) and found that I didn't hate the concept of tenrose as much as I used to. I genuinely believed they liked each other, I felt the hubris of their relationship worked and built well narratively. never thought that ship would get a redemption arc in my head but I've definitely gained more appreciation for its role in the narrative.

#replies #galacticlamps #oughfkdj the first answer here is like #something that's been simmering away in my head for literal years #& i don't think i've ever actually posted #just whined to bára about repeatedly fhjkdslgjhdkg

[grandmasickomode]

OC ask time! Who are your most active or developed OCs at the moment? And how would you describe their aesthetics?

OH GOD HELLO.

So basically, I have a handful of ocs that I'm like always chewing on. I will put them under the cut becausw this is gonna get LONG.

Spoilers for Library of Ruina ahoy btw. Also CW: gore I guess in the latter half.

First we have Kep'cho, who has been mentioned before, and he is part Mime on his mothers side. His mom was in fact a mime by birth and his dad was the leader of what amounts to a criminal organization obsessed with rules and pecking orders. (For the library or ruina fans in the audience, this is the Thumb).

His Mime-ish nature made shit hard, though he was often sullen and unwilling to speak to anyone anyway. The excessive structure was too much pressure for him, and so he did what any reasonable teen would do: fake his death and run away to work elsewhere.

His heavy involvment in the Lobotomy Corp/Library of Ruina universe makes it difficult for me to go into edtail about his adventures w/o spoilers. But hes a very calm, sullen man who has grown to learn to be more happy, and accept the idea that its ok to just be a lil silly and goofy.

He absolutely also has a clown bf now, a specific clown from Library of ruina.

Heres what he looks like:

And here he is with his Clown bf

I deew dis :>

anyway. There is also Tusya.

Tusya. Well shes kinda fucked up.

Less a girl and more a flesh polyp with a girl exterior, Tusya was born in the Outskirts of the Ruina universe. Taken in by R corp employee Lamarcus when he was on an expedition with the Rhinos, she was raised in the city, where thankfully she grew up okay despite everything.

Because as it turns out, being a fucked up little flesh eater/cannibal isnt the worst thing to be in this universe.

Tusya eventually grew up and started to work at Lobotomy corporation. She was INTENDED to be enrichment for Nothing There (read: he would tear her insides out and use her body as a shell to go walkabout) but that did not come to pass.

It turns out she has an affinity with Nothing there, as he does not see her as a human and as such, has no desire to kill her. Unlike other ocs who have an affinity with Nothing There, this isn't so much a friendship as it is "enrichment for two similar but different freaks".

At best, he tolerates and interacts with her because HEY. HEY HOW DID YOU GET YOUR SHELL LIKE THAT. HEY WHATS YOUR SECRET WHY ARE YOU ALLOWES TO WANDER WHEN I CANT??? At worst, he will try and eat her because she tastes good. He loves chewing on her hair, which is actually more like fleshy string cheese that looks like hair.

(Here we have Tusya modeling Lobotomy Corporation's attempt at making a clothing line. Its pretty fucking amazing to look at).

Tusya herself is somewhat unhinged, but not malevolent. She's arguably friendlier than most of her coworkers, but she also just. Does her own thing. She doesnt much care for right or wrong, just sees a goal and goes to get said goal by any means.

But how did she get this way?

To be honest Tumblr doesnt like links. So Im going to have to ask you listen to the following songs to help showcase tusya coming into being (dont worry its only 2 songs):

Kiss me, Kill me by Jerryterry

Lusus naturae by Jeff Williams

For those who want the tl;dr version, Tusya's parents (who are unknown to her) wandered into the wrong parts of the outskirts. Tusya's mother was devoured and absorbed by a flesh colony and was dispatched by well meaning membera of the town they belonged to.

After a year of dormancy, the flesh colony came back to life and spat out a now human shaped Polyp that now goes by Tusya.

Tusya is one of my most prolific ocs, being able to be found in many other universes, including but not limited to twisted wonderland, monster high, and dead by daylight.

#Oc posting #Lobotomy corporation #Library of ruina #Thank u for the ask and sorry for the delay in my reply. I didnt have time to jist sit and write this

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Frenchie army here. about that anon asking about racism/kpop in France, honestly I don’t have much to add I share your thoughts BMT.does racism play a part in kpop not being more popular here?Probably. is that the main reason? No, don’t think so. I think it’s much more complex than that and i am personal.there’s an important asian community in France (mostly chinese), the Korean community is tiny and concentrated in the capital city. The average French person doesn’t know much about Asia and Asian cultures in general and even less about SK. Sometimes it just boils down to a very simple reason imo:it’s far away, we don’t have much connections/a shared history, our cultures are extremely different, the language is also very different etc also I guess most people aren’t really interested in getting to know more nor have the time/the ressources to dive into a whole new culture, as sad as it is. I’ve got many friends who aren’t interested in kpop because of its reputation, they don’t know much but are influenced by stereotypes, think it’s too heavily manufactured, and that’s it. Or some just don’t vibe with it, same way I have no interest in latin music for ex because it’s just not my thing in general. Also, to me it doesn’t seem like the kpop industry makes much efforts to develop in Europe. It’s still very much a niche thing here as BMT explained. Outside of East Asia, the big kpop labels seem to focus primarily on the US market- understandably, it’s the biggest and most influential one. As BMT said it’s also closely correlated to your age range and the platforms you’re engaging with.so if racism might play a part in why it’s not popular over there, it’s probably not the main reason imo. (Sorry for my crappy English btw! typical frenchie lmao)

Hey anon, thanks for coming back and bringing some more background info on the general audience and the communities. I think your point about not having a connection to it is important. Not the main reason, but it's one relevant aspect. And it's not like France doesn't welcome K-Pop. As PPTM said in her reblog, a lot of events and concerts were held in France, but it's also true that Europe at large is not a big market for this genre. And you're also right, because K-Pop does focus more on the US-market. In the case of France or other countries, this is a topic that would be better understood from a historical point of view and it would take a lot of time and work for me to bring that background, especially since my history knowledge of France hasn't been polished in a while. Yes, racism is a part of how white French people look at other cultures. And not just France. I'm not telling this for you anon because I'm sure you know this better than me, but the history of colonialism and subsequently post-colonialism, plays a big part here. And France colonized some parts of Africa and Asia as well - what was called Indochina. And in the postcolonialist era and due to migration, other cultures were beginning a quite difficult process of integration that ended up being reflected in art as well and what became mainstream and what not. In film studies, I read about Beur Cinema, especially the movement that started in the 80s - film about shared colonial experiences and cultures.

What I'm trying to say in very simplistic terms (if anyone wants to know more, you can do a little research about it), is that France is not a white homogenous country in which the citizens are mostly racist towards an East Asian country and that's why K-Pop didn't reach there as well. The issue is way more complicated and nuanced and I bet there are some studies and research articles on the K-Pop scene in France for those who are interested in this topic.

*For the original asker who wanted my opinion and that of anon, I hope this helps. And for you, Frenchie anon, please forgive me for my bad, under researched attempt at talking about French culture and colonialism. I mostly used some left over information in my brain from some other areas of research.

#bmt asks #frenchie anon #kpop #kpop in France

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

I hate U.S. politics. I literally just want to fucking scream.

(And scream, I will. Below.)

I'm listening to Haaland v. Brackeen (the ICWA case) and way to go SCJs and attorney dude for admitting that the U.S. government inherently has control over SUPPOSED tribal sovereign nations. (Fuck you colonial pine needles! If Native nations were actually sovereign and you, the U.S. government and its citizens, ACTUALLY RECOGNIZED Native nations' sovereignty, you would not exercise, practice, or even SUGGEST that you have control over those nations!) And I haven't listened far enough yet but I read that the attorney suggested that ICWA is "to treat Native children, parents, and potential adoptive families differently from non-Natives in order to shore up tribes' numbers" and I WANT TO FUCKING SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like: DUH they're treated differently; because THE STANDARD/THE NORM is CONTINUOUSLY WHITE (and white supremacist)! Call me crazy but I don't think these people realize that everything and everyone is measured (in the U.S., in this case) on how white, cishet, patriarchal, able-bodied, and rich they are, so if they don't fit one or more or all of those categories, THEY WILL BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY NO MATTER WHAT! It's about giving those 'differently treated' people the CHANCE, the CHOICE, to create and control their own narrative, and to maintain their communities and have a say in what happens in those communities. Those who can and will be actually responsible (read: ACCOUNTABLE TO) for protecting those 'differently treated' folks who will and CAN do so with unique views and, most importantly, with genuine lived experience and understanding DESERVE TO DO SO - THEY SHOULD HAVE THAT RIGHT. WHY IS THAT SO FUCKING CONTROVERSIAL!?!?! I'M DEAD. Oh also, "to shore up tribes' numbers" L-M-A-O AND WHOSE FUCKING FAULT IS IT THAT THEIR NUMBERS ARE SO DIMINISHED IN THE FIRST PLACE OH WAIT- IT'S BEEN 530 YEARS AND YOU'RE STILL NOT READY TO TALK ABOUT THAT, 🎉 COLUMBUS DAY 🎉 ! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!

So overall is the answer to my question because of white fragility and inherent racism? Why yes, Lily, of course it is. Right, right. My bad for thinking most, let alone a few, white people ever actually think about those things and actively try to undo them.

Btw if there are any white American women following me who vote or recently voted Republican, BLOCK ME. I don't want to be bothered by your existence, unless you ever endeavor to actually analyze your biases, and by "ever" I mean *checks imaginary watch* right now.

#me *on my hands and knees*: I am begging you to give a shit about people who don't fit 'the norm' & how they're treated #jesus fucking 530 years in christ LET'S BURN DOWN THE NORM AND CREATE SOME NEW STANDARDS #WOULDN'T THAT BE FUN? IT WOULD BE FUN. come on say it with me: IT WOULD BE FUN #(...I'm going insane here. and I am privileged enough to do so! I am deeply sorry to those who must remain stoic/unfeeling about all this #in order to be taken seriously. that is THE MOST undeserved and the most bullshit standard. let's burn that down too)

[mayfriend-archive]

Totally understand if you're not up for it and fully recognize the ronald mcdonald dom/sub anon vibes which is an AMAZING post btw but like...now i'm curious, what the hell did Lord of the Flies anon DO that got him blocked for the discourse? like...i just can't wrap my head around high school lit being...uh...that inflammatory i guess?

Okay so, I'll start by saying I've had a new anon from apparently the same anon saying they are NOT the person I blocked, just a rando making the same points, but I'll answer your question anyway just to set out why this person in particular got blocked, out of the several thousand who reblogged/commented on that very successful addition to the LoTF post I made.

First off, I added the 'real life Lord of the Flies' story because I thought it was a good story. I had read about it only a couple days beforehand in Humankind and, after reading out the entire chapter to my parents who weren't very interested, I was excited that there was not only a post where it would be relevant to post, but that I wouldn't be hijacking it, as it was already rejecting the widespread interpretation taught in many schools, that humanity is inherently savage.

When making the addition, I a) did not think it would get more than a couple reblogs, because the post was already at 50k notes and I figured anyone that might be interested would already have seen it, and b) I did not know the very specific context that prompted William Golding to write the book; all I knew was that he had been a teacher at a public school (basically, the poshest schools in the country - think Eton, Harrow, very 'old money' places that pump out Conservative politicians by the bucket-load 🤢) who hated his job and the boys he taught (which, valid), and new information I'd been given in Humankind - that Golding had said to his wife one day, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to write a story about some boys on an island, showing how they would really behave?" - which had no mention of The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, which I have since learned was the text that Golding loathed enough to write an entire novel in refutation of - and included what I considered a very telling letter from Golding to his publisher, in which Golding wrote of his belief that 'even if we start with a clean slate, our nature compels us to make a muck of it.' Another Golding quote that I believe portrays his belief in humanity's 'innate savagery' is that "man produces evil as a bee produces honey."

Obviously, the author of a book putting forward the case for humanity's inherent goodness was going to oppose Golding's hypothesis; Bregman not only noted Golding's literary accomplishments and beliefs, but his personal life.

When I began delving into the author's life, I learned what an unhappy individual he'd been. An alcoholic. Prone to depression. A man who, as a teacher, once divided his pupils into gangs and encouraged them to attack each other. "I have always understood the Nazis," Golding confessed, "because I am of that sort by nature." (Humankind by Rutger Bregman, p. 24-25)

I have bolded the part about him as a teacher, because it is incredibly relevant to the original post that I commented on, which begins with a comic of a teacher locking her class in to see them 'recreate' Lord of the Flies, something which the follow up comments before mine staunchly reject as both misunderstanding the point of the book, and the fact that it took the kids in Lord of the Flies a significant amount of time without adult supervision to go 'savage'. This misreading of the text is widespread enough that when Golding won the Nobel Prize for Lord of the Flies, the Swedish Nobel committee wrote that his book 'illuminate[s] the human condition in the world of today'. Whether or not they misread it is beyond my expertise - they do at least mention the factors of the outside world neglected by many when analysing the book, but still seem to believe it says something about human nature as a whole rather than just, to quote thedarkbutbeige 'British kids being rat bastards' - but Golding quite happily took his Nobel prize on this basis. Which, in fairness, I would too. It's a fucking Nobel prize.

It was with this knowledge, and this knowledge alone, that I stated in my now very, very widely read comment that Golding 'wrote the book to be a dick', in response to the tags of the person I reblogged from. As I said, I now know that Golding did not write the book (solely) because he hated the kids he taught, but as a response to The Coral Island and the general idea that clearly the British were inherently civilsed, whilst the people they colonised and enslaved were inherently savage. So. That's the background.

The anon - or rather, the person I thought was anon - was the sole exception out of dozens of replies, who instead of telling me about The Coral Island politely decided it was time to go ALL CAPS and regurgitate points already made by thespaceshipoftheseus, and implied that the only reason that the real life Tongan castaways didn't go all Lord of the Flies was because they weren't British. Not because they weren't surrounded by violence like the boys in Lord of the Flies, or there wasn't a World War ongoing, or that they weren't the upper, upper, upper crust of a class-obsessed society like Britain - but because they weren't British. A complete inversion of the concept that Golding was trying to get across - now, instead of all of humanity being equally prone to savagery in the right conditions, it was solely nationality that determined it. As in, the British were inherently savage, but nobody else was.

I, trying for humour, made the terrible mistake of replying to them.

I won't lie, I was absolutely blown away that this was real life. What I think they were trying to do was be that Cool Tumblr Person who, after somebody's been shitty on a post, goes to their blog and sees something Damning in their about/description. In an ideal world, I imagine I'd have gone nuts or done something Unforgiveable. In what I can only call the rant that followed, they stated several times that I needed to go back to high school to get some 'proper literary analysis' skills and that the story of the Tongan castaways was completely unrelated to the point at hand which. I mean, I disagree, considering that I made the addition, but I couldn't get my head around how commenting on a post that was already rejecting the thesis that the 'point' of Lord of the Flies was that humanity was inherently savage and was, in fact, about how kids - British or otherwise - learn how to function from the adults around them, and that traumatised, terrified children aren't going to create a mini-Utopia, and put forward a real life example of how without the key additions of an ongoing world war, a colonial Empire and the subsequent mindset of thinking you are 'inherently civilised' and therefore can't do anything wrong, actually, people just want to take care of each other.

A friend has since asked me why I even have 'england' in my description. To be honest, it's a timezone thing - I talk to a lot of people online who don't share my timezone, and it generally makes me feel like if I don't reply immediately because it's 3am, they have the tools to see that I'm not in their timezone and not just ignoring them. I did consider changing it to 'british' or 'uk' after it was... 'used against me', I guess, simply because I didn't want to deal with it, but you know what. No. Not gonna do that. I am from England, and I have never hid that fact. I have a tag called 'uk politics', during Eurovision I refer to the UK's act as 'us' (even if I really, really don't want to. Because James Newman slaughtered that song and it was downright embarrassing), I regularly post stuff in my personal tag about where I live (and mostly complain about this piece of shit government). If people really think my nationality makes every point I make null and void, then they don't have to follow me or interact with my posts; tumblr is big, and I am one medium-small blog very easily passed over.

I did reply to them, trying to explain the above, but their next response really just doubled down. Because I used the word British instead of English - foolishly because the posts above mine focused on Britishness, and also because although Golding was English and taught English kids, the pro-Imperialism author of The Coral Island, R. M. Bannatyne was actually Scottish so, ding ding ding, falls into the 'British' category - they then decided that I was somehow trying to pretend I wasn't English and made all the same points, before ending with this doozy:

At this point, I knew there was nothing to be gained from replying, because if we're whipping out conditions like they're pokemon cards then there's no actual conversation anymore, and I'm not going to start mudslinging like an identity politician. They made up their mind, and I figured there could be no harm in letting them think that they 'won' by blocking them instead of replying.

Until the ask. INNATE ENGLISH SAVAGERY did, I'll admit, make me think it was them, back again. I even thought up a really good response approximately 12 hours after I replied, I was that sure. Until the second message came in, and said they were just someone who came from the post and made the same point by chance. So the saga draws to a close... for now.

It may have been them, it may not have been - the anon feature makes it impossible to be sure, but as the second message I got said, we're in a heatwave. It's too hot to argue. And I've just written a goddamn essay about a book I dislike anyway.

My pasty English ass is going to go melt. If there's Disk Horse, do not tell me. I am Done™

#emily speaks #asks #anon #lord of the flies #this is long. this is so long. why is this so long #i literally got out humankind so i could quote directly. how is this my life

[emsartwork]

this might be kind of a long ask I'm sorry! (I really love your work btw) but you know how you did the personality run down for the winx girls as well as their negative traits, I was wondering if you could do that for the specialists? (I really love your versions of them — their personalities are so nonexistent in canon)

Sure! I love giving the boys more personality lol i kind of ended up talking about their mental state as opposed to their flaws but like. ur flaws are reflective of ur mental state so. idk.

 long post sry

SKY: Sky didn’t have a good sense of how the world works before going to Red Fountain (to be fair he was aware of this which is partly why he wanted to go in the first place). His childhood was strict but coddling, he wasn’t allowed to make his own choices but he had everything he could ever need provided for him. So adjusting to real life that first year in school was ROUGH. He had his ass handed to him several times for being a royal prick and couldn’t even really do anything about it because of the identity swap. Fortunately, this did nip the worst of his ego in the bud. He has a tendency to exert his control over others as a way to sooth his own anxiety/bitterness about being controlled himself. He did this especially with Bloom in the beginning of their relationship, but got a talking to from both Stella and Brandon and knocked that shit off (with the help of therapy) This issue came up again after the season 3 disaster with Diaspro and he spends a lot of secret of the lost kingdom and magical adventure working through that before season 4 puts them on earth.

BRANDON: tbh Brandon is one of the most well adjusted characters here. He has a good relationship with his parents and a strong sense of self. It helped that he had the freedom to pursue his own interests in a safe and stable environment and that his parents feel strongly about mental health issues, having first hand experience dealing with trauma in themselves and others. Brandon is the mom friend and sometimes takes on too much responsibility for his friends’ emotional states and becomes preoccupied with fixing their problems for them. In the process of officially becoming Sky’s guard/companion in his late teens he was forced to learn to set boundaries a little better. Brandon is literally always trying to get the other guys to take advantage of the fact that Red Fountain has an on campus counseling office but they’re like “nooooooo my unheathy coping mechanisms are fine” meanwhile after every winx mission Brandon roller blades into the office with an ice coffee like “what is UP I have new trauma”

TIMMY: so Timmy was raised on an asteroid colony, and had a fairly unstable childhood just because of that environment, his mom loves and provides for him as much as humanly possible so his emotional attachments are pretty secure, but he does have issues with permanence. if something is lasting a long time (whether good or bad) he starts to get antsy and suspicious, and sometimes ends up self sabotaging by poking at the thing when he should just leave it alone. He also has some hoarding tendencies due to his childhood. Timmy also hates feeling like a burden, and doesn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities ( at Red Fountain because he feels like he doesn’t deserve them. 

HELIA: helia baby stop repressing your emotions and desires to fit into other people’s definition of success its not good for u. So Helia is a quiet person by nature, but also struggles with dissociating in order to avoid anything unpleasant or difficult. This is mostly seen by pursuing both magic and warrior training for his dads’ sake, even though all he wants to do is paint shit and write poetry. His dads would ultimately be supportive but Helia is terrified of failure lmao, and lacks the confidence to actually express his needs but also can’t pursue what he really wants because WHAT IF IT DOESN’T WORK OUT. he will also use the silent treatment/cold shoulder as a way to hurt people if he’s mad at them.  

NABU: ok like on the surface Nabu is doing pretty well. He’s got his shit together. He knows exactly what to say and how to say it. But the boy is also a mess. He does repair some of his relationship with his parents after he and Aisha officially get together, but is still super angry at them for treating him like an achievement/trophy and then essentially tossing him away when he became inconvenient. Nabu also has a tendency to be secretive and a little manipulative, secretive because it was a way to get back at his parents as a child and manipulative because he was raised to basically be a politician and doesn’t like conflict so he’ll just mess with situations and people until it’s what he wants. These aren’t big problems while he’s doing his own solo thing but Aisha is not down with this and is basically like “take steps to fix it or leave” and joining as an unofficial member of the specialist’s rescue team forces him to do some self evaluation and improvement. 

NEX: Nex is another one with good parental relationships, his issues primarily stem from his competitiveness and impulsiveness. He also holds grudges pretty badly, Thoren is helping him to work through stuff like that internally instead of taking it out on the target. His impulsiveness has gotten him into A LOT of trouble, he basically has no filter which can be fine but also he needs to shut tf  and read the room sometimes. He really wants to do a good job as a paladin but does worry he’s not gonna succeed (mostly because he’s comparing himself to Thoren which really isn’t fair lol). He and Aisha are both impulsive, and try really hard to keep each other in check(as a mutual thing) but sometimes they just end up bouncing off each other until its complete chaos. (ok my version of Nex is basically just a himbo i honestly don’t know how this happened help)  

RIVEN: yikes, ok riven has issues. At his core, Riven is terrified of abandonment, and deals with this by keeping everyone around him at arms(or farther) length so they CAN’T abandon him. This can include, ignoring, insulting, avoiding, and flat out rejecting any offer of friendship or affection. He’s also fairly defensive, and is constantly trying to “prove himself”, which great, push yourself and improve, but also you have an ideal you can never actually live up to which just leaves you feeling shittier than before so stop that. Riven also has... some ptsd? trauma. And has some trigger phrases based on the spells Darcy used to control him. In season 1 Brandon had almost convinced him to go to therapy just for his attitude and to mesh with the team better, but the whole thing with Darcy happened and he shut himself off to any perceived outside threats until around the beginning of season 3 when he started attending sessions with the Red Fountain counselor.  

#winxems #winx #anonymous #winx specialists #specialists #winx sky #winx brandon #winx timmy #winx nabu #winx helia #winx nex #winx riven #winx thoren #kinda #character development #i need to make the red fountain therapist now lmao they gotta deal with so much shit but at least they aint the ALFEA therapist asdfghjklohq #askems

[felassan]

I'm curious as to what choices Roo made throughout MEA. Was it a science or military colony on Eos? Did she keep the Kett facility or blow it up? Did she side with Sloan or Charlatan on Kadara? Who are the other Pathfinders in her universe? What did her psychological profile read as? What was her relationship like with the Tempest crew members?

ooh! (sorry btw Nonnie, I’ve had this ask for a long time). thanks for the question friend! cut for length

I went into her relationship with the Tempest squad and crew here today (q12)

her psych profile essentially says she uses the Logical and Casual dialogue options, and takes narrative interrupts in the field:

I’ve observed that you display a tendency towards analytical thinking and intellectual curiosity. when interacting with others, even difficult personalities, you consider the more grounded and non emotional response.

however, I would say that this is at odds with your tendency to act impulsively in many situations. you go with your gut rather than pause and wait for more information. 

(perhaps I should note that you are more impulsive in the field than you are with your affection. whatever that means, we can keep it between us)

I would add - you’re quick to use warmth and humor in many situations. your casual and open nature is welcome by much of the team. I would note, however, that your tendency towards sarcasm has been mentioned to me by Initiative hierarchy and Director Tann in particular. this shouldn’t be seen as a problem but rather as an unique take on survival and success.

a military outpost on Eos. the 2 previous outposts were wiped out. at this point in the storyline, the AI (and Roo) are still flying desperately by the seat of their pants, trying to build a new outpost on the metaphorical boneheaps of 2 complete failures, Alec is fucking dead and the kett kill people and Roo’s head is everywhere, and there’s a hostile alien threat they know next to nothing about. research doesn’t help dead people, andeven though APEX is a thing, Roo doesn’t want ‘sole’ (or sole-feeling) responsibility for settlement defense, or to be personally responsible for another camp-full of dead scientists. security is an immediate and pragmatic concern. send the message to these douchebag kett walnut goblins.

aaah… she thought Reyes was fun and they would have worked well together, but Sloane. Roo doesnt care about Reyes fighting dirty with a sniper or being slippery etc. but Sloane has a kingpin-like role/powerbase - has control and power over Kadara’s drug supply it seems like. and Roo likes those.

saved the angara and shot the cardinal. she retroactively regretted not blowing the place to hell.

the other Pathfinders are: 1) Avitus Rix. he’s a loner/solitary sort, doesn’t want to do it, doesn’t know how to lead people, and Macen’s dead. Roo thinks a combination of well shit bro/lol same/tough shit, the same traits apply to her and Alec’s dead. if she’s got to do this then so does he. she’s keen to offload some of the burden of responsibility for Pathfinding onto someone else. I don’t think she actually believes the encouraging shit she tells him in order to persuade him to step up. ironically, Avitus’s “not persuaded” fate (hands washed of the Pathfinding business, drinking in a shitey pit somewhere on Kadara, shooting, freelancing, not making plans) is what she wants for herself. well if she cant have it, neither can you Avitus. 2) Sarissa Theris. Vederia had little combat experience and her training was incomplete. Roo figures they already have one green freewheeling Pathfinder whose training is incomplete (Roo), they dont need another noob. Vederia can still help out/be there as a second. Sarissa, in terms of skill and prowess, was like an asari Alec. the dodgy decisions and secret-keeping on her part also remind Roo of Alec, and Roo thinks that Alec-esque hiding/deception shit stinks, but she doesn’t really give a crap about what Sarissa’s done. she tells people about what Sarissa did though. let the asari stew over that and be taken down a peg. 3) Raeka. she was an original pathfinder and is extremely capable and competent. Roo felt like she needed her guidance, experience and help. this is one decision Roo felt really conflicted about and had a lot of guilt over afterwards. she tells herself the salarians Raeka went to rescue were civilians while the scouts were military, and military folk know the risks; but ultimately she saved Raeka for her own selfish reasons. she reaaally didnt like angering drack and disappointing ‘Dad’. particularly since krogan get the short end of the stick a lot of the time in both the MW and the new galaxy. drank her feelings away. but her and Drack did work through it. she got him his seed vault and gave the krogan the drive core and their relationship was back to normal in the end.

#bioware #mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #mj replies #roo ryder #anonymous #video games #spoilers #spoiler #mea spoilers #mea spoiler #andromeda spoilers #andromeda spoiler #mass effect: andromeda spoilers #mass effect: andromeda spoiler #mass effect andromeda spoilers #mass effect andromeda spoiler

[pocinperioddramas]

Some of the things you said in reference to Wonder Woman - Gal Godot specifically - really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not Jewish, but it's my understanding - re a post by a Jewish person on the way antisemitism crops up in discussions of Israel and how to avoid it - that 'Zionism' is just the belief that Israel should EXIST, not something that has any connection to support/lack thereof of Israeli politics/military action. (1/2)

Unless you really do think Israel shouldn’t exist - in which case, please be clear on that so I can unfollow. If it was a case of mistaken terminology (I’ve been there too!) please clarify or edit. I’d be happy to send you a link to the post in the messaging or something if you’re interested, or reblog it and tag you! (Also, it might be good to look into the Godot thing a little - she may be problematic, but a lot of the criticism I’ve seen of her is actually anti-Semetic dogwhistling.) (2/2)

Hello there! I am finally getting around to answering your question, after around 2 weeks of being absent from this blog. As you said that you don’t mind me posting my response publicly, I will do so in order for people to be clarified about my views regarding the issues on the table.

I understand your reservations. You linked me to the post you were referring to in your response to my own ask to you (the link did go through BTW). I actually saw that post a few years ago, I believe, and while the OP’s concerns about anti-Semitism cropping up in the process of defending Palestine are definitely valid (and they have every right to be concerned, as there have been some infamous figures who were pro-Palestine but also turned to be very anti-Semitic - there were at least 2 people I remember reading about, but I can’t remember their names at the moment), not every Jewish person shares their particular view about Israel/Zionism. There is, in fact, a website known as the New Jewish Resistance founded and run by anti-Zionist Jews (and they explicitly identify as such) through whom I learned a lot about anti-Semitism and Zionism and how to fight both forms of oppression (in this article, they discuss about what they stand for and in this other article, they tackle about how being anti-Zionist isn’t equivalent to being anti-Semitic). But understand that this definitely shouldn’t excuse from any possible anti-Semitism (as citing that could make me sound like one of those “I’m not racist, I have [insert race/ethnicity being discussed] friends” or in this case, “I’m not anti-Semitic, I have Jewish friends” and I definitely don’t want to be like that), so please do call me out if I have been anti-Semitic, whether subtle or explicit.

But you do bring up the issue of whether Zionism can be considered a legitimate ideology that started out with good intentions (a la how communism and socialism can be interpreted by many people too), which is the view held by the OP of the post you shared, or if it is an inherently flawed or oppressive ideology. To be honest, I’m still very conflicted about that. The important thing here has always been to center both Jewish and Palestinian voices speaking out on the issue, and while most Palestinians identify as anti-Zionist and anti-Israel, Jewish people are divided on it. Of course I definitely think that people who actively support the policies and actions of the Israeli government and Israel Defense Forces are reinforcing oppression, but Jewish people who bring up the point about Zionism being interpreted as an ideology with good intentions should be taken into account too, as people do think that Jewish people, despite centuries and even millennia of being in the diaspora, have an ancestral claim to their homeland in the Middle East.

But that also begs the question: if you support the ideology of Zionism while opposing the oppression of Palestine, do you think the two can be brought to life (i.e. Israel - or at least a Jewish state - and Palestine coexisting peacefully) in a way that do not contradict each other? Because as far as I know, Zionism is founded on the belief that the Jewish people have the right to a state of their own in the region of Palestine, where millions of Palestinians have lived for centuries too. Could a Jewish state exist where it does not have to oust these Palestinians from their own lands and it does not have to be a colonizer, and how can it be (realistically) put into practice? Or does Zionism and the right of Palestine to exist as a state directly contradict each other and thus you cannot actually support both? I would in fact hope for a two-state solution, but I do not know how it could be truly brought to life without involving any oppression or bloodshed. (Most of these questions are actually brought up too in the post you shared, but I am still curious about them and now that you asked me about it, it’s made me realize how sorely lacking my knowledge is on the issues and has made me want to learn more now actually. This is actually a good wake-up call for me, so I thank you for that, as your criticism has made me realize it’s important to evaluate my knowledge about issues in social justice - Zionism included - before speaking out.)

Now, with regards to Gal Gadot, most of the criticism I’ve read about her - from the people I follow on social media who have been vocal about being anti-Gal - with regards to her support of the IDF seems valid to me, but as it is said, anti-Semitism can still insidiously seep into conversations where people are defending Palestine, so maybe there truly was anti-Semitism there but I didn’t notice it. I did recently read an article from a Palestinian woman that discussed Gal’s Zionism/support of the IDF that might have had anti-Semitic undertones, though the author did make very good points about other aspects like the cruelties inflicted by the Israeli government and the IDF and the oppression that the Palestinians face from them, so maybe that’s an example of criticism that has anti-Semitic dog-whistling. What other examples have you seen of such criticism with anti-Semitic undertones?

But my point about Gal still stands: she may be a good actress and apparently progressive in other aspects, but her active support of the IDF and her praise of Shimon Peres alone are enough for me not to want to support her in any of her work, even “Wonder Woman”, despite my admiration of the character, her importance as a strong female superhero presence in pop culture and media, and the appeal of the movie due to the rave reviews it received, and I firmly believe that she wasn’t the one best suited to the role as there are plenty of other female actors who are even more progressive and whose personality, behavior, and views embody Wonder Woman and what she stands for more than someone who is an IDF supporter. I hope you understand.

Maybe you know more about these subjects, so if you have any more information, you can share with me so that I can learn too and if I am wrong in my views, I can rectify them and become more understanding and careful on these topics.

I am in no way an expert on Zionism, Israel’s oppression of Palestine, anti-Semitism, and Jewish and Palestinian experiences, as I am neither Jewish nor Palestinian. In fact, I only heard about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict relatively recently (I might have heard about it earlier had I been living in the West, but I don’t and I learned about it entirely through social media - that’s no excuse for me though, and I’m trying to catch up). I have conflicted feelings about Zionism and Israel in general, as I am not always certain about all the information I learn about these topics. But in recent years, I have tended to think along the lines of ‘Zionism is oppressive’ and ‘Israel (at least the way it was created and the state in its present form) is a colonizer/colonial state’, thanks to the articles I have been reading and whose views make sense to me. However I do get that I may have unconsciously appeared to be making assumptions with regards to the issues of Zionism and Israel, despite not being super knowledgeable about it as I’d want to be (although I definitely do think that what the Israeli government is doing to Palestinians is wrong). So I apologize for that, and please do not be afraid to criticize me for any faulty information or stances that I hold, when I air such information and stances. I actually encourage my followers and even non-followers to do so, so that I may continue to learn too (but that doesn’t mean I should rely entirely on other people to call me out - I am trying to educate myself as well by reading up on more articles, thinkpieces, and books discussing such issues as well as listening to the voices of the people at the center of such issues - I’m simply saying that it’s perfectly fine to call me out too in addition to me calling out myself while I am learning in my own way).

(Now, I will tread more carefully and be more specific when referring to Zionism and Israeli colonialism and make less assumptions as well.)

You are still free to unfollow me if you want, of course. I do hope we can reach an understanding, and thank you once again for your thoughtful ask. I really appreciate it.

-Admin Dawn

#theserpentsadvocate #answered ask

[warsofasoiaf]

Sometimes it sucks for me to study for history tests because I never feel I've studied enough. Like, they say "England has said interest on some colony", but the state itself doesn't have an interest, WHO actually has an interest? But then I know not everyone would want to study history more detailed, and also I'm not sure I'd score as well if the content wouldn't have been as simplified and I should just deal with it. But then I read ASOIAF stuff and it feels so...

… much more complete (specially thanks to those essays)… Do you think it’s easier to study ASOIAF history rather than actual world history? I’m asking this because, as I said, I don’t feel I’m studying all there is to study (of course I’m not, I’m in high school btw), and if I’d look out for more books, could it make it harder, since I’m not sure I’d even memorize all the details (I don’t/can’t memorize all high school history book details, so…)? At least w/ ASOIAF you manage…            

… to read all the sources there are to read, and even memorize its facts better. Do you feel that way? If so or if not, can you give me some advice?    

Well, I can only speak for myself, but I always think of history as the lives of countless peoples and ideas, and I think we do a disservice to the learning experience when we reduce history to names, dates, facts, and figures. While learning important things is important, recall is less important in an era with smartphones and wireless signals than being able to understand a concept. I always tried to remember ideas rather than dates, which is why I always liked the essay segment of tests. I personally think history class needs to be more essay-based and discuss people, events, and ideas.

But I’m not your teacher and I have no control over your curriculum. I’d recommend using recall techniques that can help you remember important facts. When it comes to recalling simple facts like this, I’d recommend trying to associate the facts with a funny quip or rhyme in the style of “Fourteen Ninety-Two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

If you’re having trouble understanding geopolitics like “why would England have an interest in some colony,” I’d think about it in terms of resources and pride. So British commercial interests would be interested for access to a resource while nationalist impulses ride high on a wave of pride for expanding the reach of the Crown. Always ask why something was the way it was, and the reasoning behind it might stick in your head a bit more.

Other than that, you might want to look into a tutor, some students respond better to one-on-one instruction rather than classroom lecture style. For a while, one of the many jobs I had was tutoring math, science, and history, and I still teach my nieces on occasion when they struggle in those fields. If there are any educators out there with tips for this swell high schooler, please add on.

Thanks for the question, Anon, and good luck.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#education