#but he actively DOES like the all-american rejects

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

okay so steph is definitely a music purist?

we can all agree on that right? like she's a 'said she was born in the wrong generation in middle school' fleetwood mac, david bowie, the mamas & the papas, niche modern indie artists and also chappell roan kind of music listener. obviously. but.... i dont think we've really considered pete's music taste?

pete, who is a science, left-brained kind of kid, so he probably does not actively go out to look for music and is instead just provided music by the people around him?

pete whose older brother is theodore spankoffski and so his earliest and most fond and nostalgic music influences from his childhood would have come directly from ted's cd collection???

basically what im saying is peter spankoffski has the most trashy, early 00's ke$ha, black eyed peas my humps era, all american rejects ass music taste in the world

that boy had bowling for soup's 1985 memorized at age four, his guilty pleasure music is hollywood undead's everywhere i go, ted did his first decent person move in years when pete came out as trans as a kid and stopped listening to grow a pear by ke$ha and pete forcibly made him play it because it's a bop

and then his only friends are a weeb and a theatre kid.

steph gives him the aux cord on a date to be nice, as a sign of trust, and is blasted in the face with the most uncurated mess of j-pop, sondheim, weezer, and like... owl city's fireflies and that's just a fact

#I must clarify this isn’t a dig at any of these songs they all fuck #my source is im a youngest child with a decently older brother and all of my nostalgic music is literally this #my mom had to force my brother to limit what songs he played around me because I was six years old and started saying the word hoe a lot #peter spankoffski #also my hc is Pete is teds full brother so their parents are just Old and Pete stood NO chance #he grew up around Dickhead Era Ted and a dad who forced him to name classic rock bands when they came on the radio #and also my source is my music taste is also the peoples around me because im bad at finding music #nerdy prudes must die #stephanie lauter #starkid #lautski #he also probably really likes train

[valeskafics]

"Dance Of The Dragons" Chapter Seven: Gives You Hell - Modern!Aemond Targaryen x Reader (Rocker AU)

a/n: sorry about the short chapter guys, next chapter will be longer. only 2 parts left!! 🥰🩷

Catch Up On This Series HERE.

Summary: You run into someone unexpected in Winterfell. And you and Aemond engage in some less than legal activities the night before the finals.

TW: profanity, innuendo, afab reader, she/her pronouns, mentions of infidelity, oral f receiving, p in v sex, unprotected sex, face sitting, stealing

Word Count: 1,650 words

Rating: 18+, MDNI

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST HERE 💕

Songs Used In This Chapter: "Gives You Hell" (Originally by The All American Rejects, here written by Reader and Aemond)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon/Fire & Blood characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the songs listed in this chapter nor do I claim to own them.

Comments, likes, and reblogs are never required but are immensely appreciated 🩷

The next day, you join both the members of your band and Aemond’s for the complimentary breakfast the hotel provides. Aemond moves his combat boot clad feet off of the chair beside him the moment he sees you, giving you a quick smile.

Does… Does he want you to sit with him?

You walk over to him hesitantly, ignoring the inquiring eyes of the others and take the seat, smiling to yourself as he rests his arm across the back of your chair, much like he did at the diner. You don’t know what it is that changed between the two of you last night, but you like it.

A lot.

Breakfast is going really well, all of you joking and having a good time, discussing what songs your respective bands are going to play during their sets. You and Baela try to figure out what your closing song is going to be, wanting to do a new one to make a good impression on the judges, while Aegon says they’re going to add a cover to their setlist, a risky choice for the finals but one that could definitely pay off if executed properly. Aegon is a risk-taker, and you look up to him for that.

Everything is going great as you all leave the breakfast table, that is, until you see him.

The lead singer of Razing the Riverlands. Your ex boyfriend, Robin Tully.

You immediately move to hide behind Aemond, surprising him. Then, Helaena mumbles to him that your ex is right there. The group forms a little circle around you, protecting you from him, and you almost want to cry at how sweet everyone is being to you during this awkward time, especially Aemond, who’s holding your hand and squeezing it lightly.

But, unfortunately, Robin does indeed see you. And he has that smug, sanctimonious fucking look on his face when he sees you and your friends.

You grit your teeth and give him what you hope to be an insincere looking smile, “Robin. Thought you were leaving the scene. Said that this wasn’t good enough for you anymore.”

“Aww, baby, you been thinking about me?” Robin taunts, walking over toward you, “That’s so sweet-”

“She’s been thinking about how she’s fucking thriving and your band is a flop,” Baela snaps, stepping between the two of you, his bandmates, all stepping up as well, “You talk to her again, I’m going to kick your fucking-”

“I got this, B,” you say firmly, gently pushing her aside and stepping forward to glare up at Robin, “How’s your job, working at Daddy’s office?” Robin visibly winces at your words, “9 to 5? Gods, I wonder how fucking bad that stings, running to him and sucking his dick for every dollar you need to tour-”

Before Robin can say anything, RtR’s manager comes down the stairs, and you recognize her as the girl Robin was cheating on you with, Jenna Blackwood. You let out a bark of a laugh.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me! That’s your manager! Amazing! This is just fucking hilarious,” Aemond rests a hand on your shoulder, realizing that this is the cheating ex you’d been referring to with the whole Alys situation, “No, no, Aemond, you know what? I’m glad they’re both here because,” you glance between the two of them, “I hope seeing me here, fucking thriving with my band, having a good time with my friends, while you assholes are going to lose miserably gives you fucking hell. Also.”

You turn and slam your mouth on Aemond’s, prompting his good eye to go wide before he relaxes into the kiss, grinning as he deepens it, the two of you ignoring Robin’s protests.

After you break apart, you turn on your heel, storming over to the elevators, knowing that Robin, pathetic bastard that he is, is staring at you, checking you out.

There’s a knock at your hotel room door less than an hour later and you’re unsurprised to see that it’s Aemond. He gives you a smirk, stepping inside when he sees that the girls are nowhere around and it’s just you, messing with your guitar.

“Has my favorite songbird been inspired to write a revenge hit?”

You give him a wry grin before playing him the melody in your head, “When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell.”

Aemond chuckles, taking a seat beside you at the foot of the bed, adding some lyrics of his own, “When you hear this song and you sing along but you never tell.”

“Then you’re the fool, I’m just as well, hope it gives you hell,” you smirk at him, the two of you working on the new tune together, seated side by side, your thigh pressed up against his.

After a while, Aemond turns to you, “Did that kiss mean more to you than just pissing him off?”

You freeze for a moment, meeting his gaze before nodding, “Yeah.”

Within moments, Aemond’s lips are on yours again. You carefully set your guitar to the side, your hands moving up to tug at his gorgeous long hair, nails raking along his scalp as the two of you fight for dominance, you winning in the end as you move to lay on top of him. Your lips move to his throat, nipping and sucking at his exposed skin, loving the way he moans your name, the way his hands rest on your hips to steady you, the way he stares at you like you’re the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. You move off of him, shimmying out of your skinny jeans and your Cobain shirt, watching as he sheds his leather jacket and Metallica tee, his own jeans being tossed to the side, leaving both of you in only your underwear. You make quick work of your bra and panties too, giving him a coy little smirk as he stares you down while you undress, his lips quirked upwards. He definitely is enjoying what you’re showing him. When you straddle him again, moving to get rid of his boxers, he gently pushes your hand away, dragging you up by the hips.

You throw your head back, grabbing at the bedpost as he fucks you with his tongue, forcing you to sit on his face, that fucking nose of his rubbing against your clit in the most delicious of ways. Aemond’s tongue laps at your folds, his low moans making you feel like a fucking goddess as you grind your hips against his mouth. His hands hold onto the flesh of your ass, squeezing, kneading at it, his tongue moving faster and faster, delving deep inside of you. And all the while he gazes up at you, never once breaking eye contact, watching as you come undone at his touch.

“Do you have a condom?” Aemond asks, “Or do you want me to fuck you raw?”

You think for a moment before answering, “Raw.”

Aemond nods, giving you a smug smile, “Good choice.”

You pull his boxers down his legs, admiring his long, thick cock, the tip already leaking pre cum, evidence of just how fucking bad he wants you, how he’s wanted you ever since the two of you met and he saw you for the first time. When you took his breath away. And when you sink down on his cock, your cunt squeezing him like a fucking vice, it’s almost like he can’t breathe again. He bucks his hips up against yours, groaning your name, almost like it’s a prayer, watching the subtle bounce of your breasts in time with your hips. It was never like this with Alys. You? You seem so focused on him, so in the moment as you gaze down at him, ruby red lips meeting his.

Aemond feels himself getting closer and closer, feeling your walls clamping down on him, your body moving against his as if this is what the two of you were always meant to do. Your lips meet in a languid, sensuous kiss, tongues moving against each other as the roll of your hips slows, his cock brushing against that rough patch inside you that has you moaning his name. You feel his thumb rubbing against your pearl, realizing he wants you to reach your peak first, which you do with a loud cry of his name, feeling him spill himself inside you moments later.

The two of you lay like that, naked and sated, for a moment before Aemond whispers in your ear, “How opposed are you to doing something that might not exactly be legal?”

You turn, propping your arm up to hold your head, “I need a bit more information than that, blondie.”

Aemond smirks, “Well, the thing is, I saw your ex park the most gorgeous Harley in the hotel parking lot. And I was thinking that it’s such a shame that a piece of shit like him gets to enjoy that fine piece of machinery.”

Twenty minutes later, you’re seated behind Aemond, your arms wrapped around his waist as you take Robbie’s gorgeous bike for a joyride. You can hear the asshole screaming, threatening to call the cops on the two of you, but you just raise your middle finger in the air, the engine revving as you drive off into the cold winter air.

The Battle of the Bands finals may be tomorrow, your ex boyfriend might be the biggest pile of shit you’ve met in your entire life, and there’s a chance neither you nor Aemond might get to tour with the Direwolves, but here? In this moment, your cheek resting against his back, the two of you going off on an adventure?

Nothing matters but you and him.

You’re lost in him.

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen #aemond x reader #aemond targaryen x you #aemond x you #aemond fic #aemond x fem!reader #aemond targaryen x y/n #prince aemond #prince aemond targaryen #prince aemond x reader #my writing #dotd fic

[realbeefman]

i think about this scene constantly. this is probably the only time they’ve both been totally genuine and honest with each other ever. and they still don’t understand each other.

charlie has always loved the idea of her more than her. arguably their most romantic moment before this occurs in jersey shore, when she’s very literally not herself.

to the waitress, charlie isn’t just saying “i love you.” he’s said that he loves her thousands of times before. to her it’s deeper than that. to her he’s saying, “i love you (for the person that you are. i know your flaws and i love you in spite of them. i always will, no matter what you do, no matter how badly you fuck up)” and to a person as chronically lonely as the waitress is, who has been rejected and humiliated by her lovers time and time again, that’s everything she needs to hear.

and of course, on some level, this is what charlie thinks he means as well. but his “i love you” carries no more weight than the other thousands of times he’s said it to her. in saves the day, charlie’s ideal world is a satirized version of the stereotypical nuclear family, because charlie genuinely believes that that’s the life he wants.

like most of the gang, charlie’s adherence to social roles and expectations are inconsistent, even as he professes to believe strongly in their value. he is a proud american when it suits him, he is willing to be a father when it benefits him, and he is interested in the waitress only when it suits him to be interested in her. the waitress isn’t anybody special; she’s an attractive woman that charlie has decided is the epitome of everything he should be.

this is why jersey shore is the peak of their romantic relationship. because ultimately, while charlie is willing to and, at times, actively wants to love her, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that he doesn’t even like her.

he puts vitamins in her shampoo. he gets her fired from jobs he doesn’t like, and protects her on jobs he approves of (most blatant example of this is when he barks at a passing stranger who might steal her bike when she’s delivering indian food vs literally trying to have her stabbed at the fair). he is constantly trying to make her into somebody he likes being around.

to charlie, this “i love you” is just a statement of fact. loving her is something he should do, so he does. it’s yet another frivolous idea that has passed through his imagination, of no more real significance to charlie’s core identity than being a patriot is. to the waitress, this “i love you” is the only one that has ever mattered, to her, this is a breakthrough moment in which she finally, finally understands and connects with this man who has been stalking her for more than a decade.

it makes it hit all the harder when she realizes, when all is said and done, that she still doesn’t understand him at all.

#the subtext behind their entire relationship is just that charlie wishes she was frank #but thats too controversial im not writing old man x peepaw yaoi meta #not today at least… #anyways this episode is fundamentally about miscommunication and i love it #double life i love you even if u are just an excuse to let glenn howerton fuck off to do a different show ❤️ #chartress #charlie kelly #the waitress #dennis’s double life #its always sunny in philadelphia #its always sunny #iasip #do i tag this as meta? #iasip meta #charlie x the waitress

[yandereworlds]

Meet Dae-Hyun! He’s Korean American and works as a local butcher. He's typically very quiet, usually not speaking unless spoken to. He has this very intimidating demeanor, which makes people usually too scared to even approach him, let alone ask him for something or want to hang around him longer than they need to. He's lived a pretty lonely life, not many people wanting to be his friend due to his scary appearance, but he's never actually done anything monstrous. For the most part he doesn't mind being on his own, but he can't deny that the isolation can be miserable. He keeps to his own, and basically just does what he needs to for survival, making him feel like his life is kind of pointless. Just rinse and repeat. 

The reason y/n becomes to special to him, is because they're not scared of him. They treat him like any other person, like he's someone to talk to. Though he's not great at social situations, he feels so giddy when they actively try to include him and let him feel like his voice matters. They're exciting, always trying new things, always on the move, something he's never really been. It gives him a feeling of balance, a little flavor in his otherwise tame lifestyle. Having y/n actually become his 'friend' is something he treasures, he never realized how impactful their presence would be in his life. Instead of walking into his empty apartment alone with a miserable tone, he can't help but smile to himself. Anticipating when he'd see them again. He wants to confess, but he's too scared of ruining what they have. He's scared they're not into some scary, boring man like him, and that if they rejected him, he'd be all alone again. He couldn't risk their relationship until he knew for sure they liked him back.

Though, whenever anybody comes to threaten his chances of becoming something more with y/n, he can't help but feel this rippling pain and disgust spread throughout his body. He never has really 'hated' anything, or anyone, so this new feeling is a bit overwhelming for him. He never had experienced jealousy, because he never was given the chance to develop feelings for anyone, but now that he's got a taste of what that feels like, he hates it. He doesn't understand how normal people feel this emotion all the time, how they're not exhausted from it. He can't risk losing y/n, he can't. He can't lose his only chance at something more. He can't lose his only chance. He can't do it. He won't do it. Though he's not necessarily wanting to do anything nasty, and irredeemable, he has to. He feels selfish, but he can't help himself. He can't let the only thing in his life go, at least without a fight.

We hope you’ll come to like Dae-Hyun and feel free to ask any questions about him! We’re always excited to share information about our characters.

#//Mun kiki #My art #Yandere #Yandere x reader #Yandere scenarios #Yandere oc #Yandere imagines #Yandere drabble #headcanons #Yanderecore #male yandere #oc #Dae-Hyun #yancore #obsession

[sgiandubh]

When you do not know a thing about the issue at stake...

...perhaps it's better to remain silent.

Some of you know, others don't - and that's fine - but my main field of expertise is labor law.

I just read this in anger and disbelief:

Look, lady. I don't care who the hell you are, what you do for a living or why you felt entitled to answer those insistent questions on your side of the fandom. I suppose you are North American and have no idea of how things work on this side of the pond. It is fine: I might know what a Congress filibuster is, for example, but I'd be severely unable to judge the finer points of competence sharing between Fed and state level.

The difference between you and me?

I keep my mouth shut and/or do my own research before opening it in public.

Have you no shame to write things like: 'It was discovered clothing factories in Bulgaria and Portugal made it and how workers were exploited, mostly women, because these factories were in special economic zones in these countries exempt from EU employee rights and regulations.'

HOW DARE YOU? What strange form of illiterate entitlement possessed you to utter such things with confidence, comfortably hidden behind a passive voice ('it was discovered')?

Portugal joined the EU in 1986. Bulgaria (and my country) joined the EU in 2007. I have given 5 relentless years of my life to make this collective political project a reality, along with hundreds of other people my age who chose to come back home from the West and put their skills to good use for their country. In doing so, I rejected more than 10 excellent corporate job offers in France and China. To see you come along and write such enormities is like having you spit in my face.

Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (aka The Treaty of Rome) is formal and clear, as far as competence sharing between the EU and its Member States goes (the UK was still, back then, a full member of the EU - it quit on February 1st 2020):

That means that ALL the EU regulations are being integrated into the national legislation of the Member States. This is not a copy/paste process, however. And because it is a shared competence area, the Member States have a larger margin of appreciation into making the EU rules a part of their own. While exceptions or delays in this process can be and are negotiated, the core principles are NEVER touched.

Read it one hundred times, madam, maybe you'll learn something today:

THERE ARE NO SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE WHOLE FUCKING EUROPEAN UNION IS A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, THIS IS WHY IT IS CALLED THE SINGLE MARKET.

What the fuck do you think we are, Guangzhou? We'd wish, seeing the growth statistics!

Now, for the textile industry sector and particularly with regard to the Bulgarian market, a case very similar to my own country. Starting around 1965, many big European textile players realized the competitive advantage of using the lower paid, readily available Eastern European workforce. In order to be able to do business with all those dour Communist regimes, the solution was simple and easy to find: toll manufacturing.

It worked (and still does!) like this:

The foreign partner brings its own designs, textiles and know-how into the mix - or more simply put, it outsources all these activities. The locals transform it into the finished product, using their own workforce. The result is then re-exported to the foreign partner, who labels it and sells it. In doing so, he has the legal obligation to include provenance on the label ('made in Romania', 'made in Indonesia', 'made in Bulgaria' - you name it).

The reason you might find less and less of those 'made in ' labels nowadays at Primark and more and more at Barbour, Moncler and the such is the constant raise of the workers' wages in Eastern Europe since 1990 (things happened there, in 1989, maybe you remember?). We are not competitive anymore for midrange prêt-à-porter - China (Shein, anyone?), Cambodia and Mexico do come to mind as better suppliers. To speak about 'exploited female labourers in rickety old factories' is an insult and a lie. They weren't exploited back in the Eighties, as they are not now (workers in those factories were and still are easily paid about 50% more than all the rest) and the factories being modernized and constantly updated was always a mandatory clause in any contract of the sort. Normal people in our countries rarely or ever saw those clothes. You had to either be lucky enough for a semi-confidential store release or bribe someone working there and willing to take the risk, in order to be able to buy the rejected models on the local market.

If I understood correctly, you place this critical episode at the launch of the limited SRH & Barbour collection, for the fall of 2018. How convenient for you, who (I am told by trusted people) were one of the most vocal critics of S during Hawaii 2.0!

And as far as Barbour goes, it never pretended to manufacture everything in the UK only:

This information is absolutely true. You can read the whole statement, signed in October 2017 by one of their Directors, Ian Sime, here: https://www.barbour.com/us/media/wysiwyg/PDF/Ethical_Statement_October_2017.pdf

And a snapshot for you:

Oh, and: SEDEX is a behemoth in its world, with more than 75.000 companies joining as a member (https://www.sedex.com/become-a-member/meet-our-customers/). Big corporations like TESCO, Dupont, Nestle, Sainsbury's or Unilever included.

I am not Bulgarian, but I know all of this way better than you'll probably ever do. The same type of contracts were common all over Eastern Europe: Romania, Poland, the GDR (that's East Berlin and co, for you) and even the Soviet Union. I am also sure your Portuguese readers will be thrilled to see themselves qualified by a patronizing North American as labor exploiters living in a third-world country with rickety factories.

You people have no shame and never did. But you just proved with trooping colors you also have no culture and no integrity. More reasons to not regret my unapologetic fandom choice.

I expect an angry and very, very vulgar answer to this, even if I chose to not include your name/handle. The stench of your irrelevance crossed an ocean.

#fandom #shitshow

[dukeofriven]

A couple days ago that post was going around about that scene in TOS where Spock breaks down and cries after being hit with a virus that limits his ability to control his emotions in The Naked Time. It's a famous performance, one that I think works even better on a rewatch with a stronger understanding of Spock's character (or, rather, what his character will become). The rarity of those tears, the rawness of the performance, the power of it all makes it stand out as something really powerful. I cordially dislike many of the choices Strange New Worlds makes for a variety of reasons, but perhaps one of the most potent is how often Spock cries, how often Spock is emotional, and more than anything its unspoken belief that the human side of Spock is the only valid side. This has long been a tension in Trek: more than any other race besides the Borg, Vulcans are often presented not as different but wrong. Humans needle Vulcans to' be emotional' in a way they don't, say, needle Klingons to be pacifists, or needle Benzites to breathe oxygen. Star Trek Enterprise was really the original sinner here, especially given that—due to clumsy writing and a particular beefy American arrogance on the part of one J. Archer—the Vulcans are repeatedly shown to be completely correct that humans are not ready for space travel. And yet their entire philosophy is sneered at, treated as an aberration of values. The Abrams movies picked up this baton: Spock could only show he loved Kirk by screaming with rage and trying to beat a man to death with his bare hands. Vulcans as Vulcans, as an alexithymia-adjacent species, were always in the wrong, always assholes, the very idea of being un- or under- emotional presented as contemptuous. Freakish. Discovery continued this trend: raised-by-Vulacans Michael Burnham is unrecognizable within a few seasons as she has seemly disposed of the entirety of any Vulcan nature she once possessed. Discovery has to do this because much (not all, but much) of modern Trek relies heavily on pure, unrestrained emotional catharsis for its story beats. Many episodes lack much internal logic or clever plotting:the act breaks all lead to emotive moments and then swing to the next, so that by the end of an episode you're ready to tweet about all the emotions you and the character had—regardless of whether or not those emotions made any sense, or actively undermined the characterization. Perhaps no one is more damaged by this in modern Trek than Spock, who—like my anxious cat—is permanently a single overheard harsh syllable away from some kind of openly emotive reaction. Vulcans have emotions, Spock has emotions, but their central conceit is the way in which they are not ruled by them. In a storytelling world, however, in which being ruled by emotion is equated with being relatable to an audience, Vulcans aren't just different from humans, they're wrong. And so Spock's Vulcan side must constantly be rejected, first Discovery and then SNW: if he's not emoting, then he's not relatable, then he's being wrong, so Spock must sigh, Spock must cry, Spock must constantly wander around looking like a kicked puppy. It doesn't drain the power of Nimoy and that scene for the Naked Time. But it does fail, utterly, to comprehend it.

#Spock #Leonard Nimoy #Strange New Worlds #Vulcans #alexithymia #STD #Star Trek Discovery #michael burnham #SNW #Star Trek

[morlock-holmes]

Richard Hanania is still bugging me.

He is a right-wing intellectual who recently wrote a book called "The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics".

The Amazon blurb says,

"For those angry about wokeness and what it has done to American institutions, this book offers concrete suggestions regarding policies that can move us back to being a country that emphasizes merit, individual liberty, and color-blind governance."

Anyway, in August of 2023, the Huffington Post broke the story that in the teens, he wrote online under the pen name "Richard Host"

Richard Hanania, a visiting scholar at the University of Texas, used the pen name “Richard Hoste” in the early 2010s to write articles where he identified himself as a “race realist.” He expressed support for eugenics and the forced sterilization of “low IQ” people, who he argued were most often Black. He opposed “miscegenation” and “race-mixing.” And once, while arguing that Black people cannot govern themselves, he cited the neo-Nazi author of “The Turner Diaries,” the infamous novel that celebrates a future race war.

Hanania has admitted that the Huffpost story is correct.

Even five years ago, the media could set the narrative, tell people what was important, and how they should react to any particular story. We appear to be moving past the worst of the cancellation trend. Most outside of a certain echo chamber realize this kind of reporting is contemptible. The goal is not to engage with ideas, but to simply silence a person and remove them from polite company. To not have to discuss their ideas on account of other ideas they put forward at a different time of their life and which they may no longer even believe in.

Man, good thing cancel culture has been rejected, so that saying,

“We’ve known for a while through neuroscience and cross-adoption studies... that individuals differ in their inherent capabilities. The races do, too, with whites and Asians on the top and blacks at the bottom,” Hoste wrote in the 2010 essay, titled “Why An Alternative Right Is Necessary.” “If the races are equal,” Hoste wrote, “why do whites always end up near the top and blacks at the bottom, everywhere and always?”

Is absolutely no obstacle to becoming a respected scholar of civil rights.

Wait a second... I'm not sure we've landed at the correct equilibrium.

Hanania is not a guy who makes TikTok videos about fancy cakes but said some unrelated objectionable things 15 years ago.

He is an author and the founder of a right-wing think tank who hopes to, and probably does, have significant influence on the direction of conservative ideas about civil rights law. His views on civil rights are directly related to his job.

Especially if, like, he was just actively lying to people about how he came to his conclusions as recently as may of this year

Here's an excerpt from a speech Hanania gave to the Yale Federalist Society on April 3 of 2023:

I’m glad to be here talking about woke institutions and civil rights law. I have to say, I was ahead of the curve on this issue. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since I was in law school. I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2013, and my 1L summer I worked for an organization called the Center for Individual Rights, which argued the Gratz and Grutter cases. And I learned a lot while working there about how government forces institutions to be conscious of race and sex. So, for the last decade, from 2011 on, as I was doing other things in life, I would talk to people about all these things government did to discriminate against whites and men, remove standards, get rid of standardized tests, etc. And one reason I was so passionate about this is that a lot of the fixes did not require legislation. Executive orders and judicial decisions are enough. But the Trump administration came and went, the Supreme Court got more conservative, and still nobody was listening to me. So finally I started writing on this topic myself, and now that I’m writing for the public instead of just trying to convince people one-on-one, I’m getting a better return on my efforts. Another reason what I’ve been arguing has caught on is that we saw the transformation in how institutions talk about race- and sex-related issues over the last decade. A lot of people are looking for answers. Who are these diversity bureaucrats saying all these crazy things? How did we end up with so many of them and where did they come from? And all this stuff that was more latent, of interest to legal nerds only in 2011, became much more part of the culture.

In 2010 Hanania wrote:

“The biggest enemies of the Black Man are not Klansmen or multinational corporations, but the liberals who have prevented an honest appraisal of his abilities and filled his head with myths about equality and national autarky,”

I'm not just trying to gratuitously point out how awful the things Hanania said were: I am pointing out that he just lied, blatantly, about the very field he is supposed to be an expert in.

And that's not something that happened years ago when he was just a law student, that's something he did this year.

Hanania knows that this stuff was not "latent, of interest only to legal nerds" back in 2011, because by then he had already spent years embedded in a subculture that was deeply concerned about this kind of thing. Nor, for that matter, was he simply, "trying to convince people one-on-one". He was writing under a pseudonym for numerous far-right websites.

And honestly, at this point the question is just "How much of this speech is a lie" but if less of it is a lie, than it looks way worse for Hanania.

When he joined the Center for Individual Rights he wasn't 15 years out from writing all that racist stuff, he was 3 years out. How much of it did he still believe? When he was an active racist back in law school, was he still planning on joining the Center for Individual Rights?

If the answer is yes, and the actions of a blatant racist and the "classical liberal" he has now become are essentially identical, then, uh, I'm sorry, but that seems like the kind of thing that might be a pretty important part of the story of wokeness.

If the answer is "No" then, well, we're still left with the fact that he just blatantly lied about how and why he reached his current conclusions. This story of someone who had a vague, wonkish interest in something obscure but just had to speak up when he realized it was getting out of control in the teens is an utter lie.

This is a man who has told very self-serving lies about how and why he has reached the conclusions that he has, lies that are designed to leave out crucial parts of any honest appraisal of wokeness, and who kept telling those lies until he was unable to get away with it, up to this year.

I think his willingness to lie about his own supposed field of expertise in order to sell books is pretty damning in itself, and that didn't happen 15 years ago, that happened this year.

#politics #discourse #richard hanania #richard hoste

[decolonize-the-left]

I haven't found the original post about whiteness yet. However about "void where culture should be" I can sum up what's there trying and failing the fill the void.

Primarily, religion, specifically Western Evangelical Christianity. Purity culture, heaven and hell, the idea of sin, the idea of God.

Family is family and we must be true to that first and foremost. Following from this it's also marriage and the CisHet norms and as an extension of that having kids. (Which ties back to 1. in many ways.)

Being morally superior in every way we can. Totally not because white people are better, but we're the good normal CisHet Christians and we set the standards. (Sarcasm there.)

Exploitation of natural resources, especially those of non American countries. Vacations and Cruises. Going out into nature verg disrespectfully. Having the biggest life possible and having as much excess as possible. So, so many educational field trips where colonization was evident looking back. Never visiting pr disturbing a settler graveyard, but native burial mounds were fair game and not even in a respectful manner.

Nationalism. Military and Cops being the best thing ever. Just everything associated with American nationalism.

Food, the only not terrible thing on this list. Even that though is really a mix of so many cultures and honestly there's probably something fucked up if I looked into it deeper.

TLDR: Christian Nationalism. Which I am working to reject now. I definitely ain't perfect but I'm gonna work on it til I die.

Unfortunately though, that does leave me with very little culture. There's nothing to even try to fill that void anymore. I have to try and create it for myself. Just like I have to create family for myself. Sorry for the rambling I just had some thoughts.

I agree and think some other things should be there but yes.

And I mean as long as you're growing, that's all I care about ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ we love to see it 💖🌿

•°•°•

And maybe it's very rainbows and unicorns of me but we should be creating an American identity we can all share. Reject the current reliance on race all together.

Because there Should be more than christian ideology, white supremacy fascism, and capitalism.

Russel Means said it best when he said "Caucasians have a more positive vision to offer humanity than European culture. I believe this. But in order to attain this vision it is necessary for Caucasians to step outside European culture—alongside the rest of humanity—to see Europe for what it is and what it does."

Yes you have to create your own but it can be shared too. Community is crucial to any culture and people at all. Because there is so much more than what you've been given, you can create too just like your long ago ancestors before you.

And on a real note that needs to be the first step like yesterday (provided you want my opinion lol):

If white people ever want to belong here and feel like they're a part of everyone else; like we all share an identity then you have to start being more active allies to all the communities here.

You need to act like it, you know? Start actively being a part of dismantling the systems that the many diverse communities here have been critiquing for decades and centuries. Enough conditional support.

Show that you're Truly with us, thick or thin. That you wont fall back to supporting state violence because you think we misstepped in our fight for human rights and more human treatment.

Show us that you think our futures are worth fighting for. That they're a priority and the bigger picture is worth a few property damages that can/will be repaired anyway.

That you stand with us first, not the police or buildings or your political leanings. With us. With the human people that are your neighbors and bakers and bus drivers and business owners. That our human lives matter more than your politics or ideologies. That you stand for the rights of your neighbors and community like we have stood for each other.

We'd be way more of a melting pot if white ppl collectively stopped constantly looking for people to pick out of the pot. Because idk about other people, but that's how I feel as a native when liberals are trying to pick apart Landback or abolishing police or protesters causing damages for pride and ending police brutality but won't question a white imperialist for president because it's a "lesser evil" than the progressive who'd help me.

Way more of a community if other white people collectively stepped up came and stopped those kind of people from spreading their nonsense. Collectively don't take that bullshit.

Consider it your first community value. Solidarity with Everyone, not the whiteness that protects/benefits you.

And I don't mean you personally, but on a grander scale you know? Y'all should be doing whatever you can in that regard. Prove you mean it. That you want that future of belonging here and feeling safe and having an identity as much as we do.

Cuz we've Always been the first to fight, you know? With slow and conditional support...if any. But white people have the power of privilege that people in power pay attention to. More than ours. They try to suppress and repress ours systematically like we're seeing in Florida and across the country with book bans, banning CRT, and passing don't say gay bills.

We need support and it needs to be loud and visible and everywhere all the time. It can be.

The rest of us know what white people as a collective are capable of and what solidarity with one another can do.

The people in charge need to know the time for racism and fascism and individualism is behind us. That it's no longer a value that Us-Americans put up with. That you stand with us, not them.

I think we have a long way to go before the trauma of our shared history can be completely forgiven but I think unconditional allyship and support in the name of human rights and ending war crimes against marginalized communities would be a good first step at attempting to repair trust.

If you want unity we need to know you wont keep aligning with our oppressors first and foremost, you know?

#asked #answered #sorry for ranting on your ask 💀

[torukamacktoyu]

Recom Headcanons 4

Brown and Prager

Quaritch & Lyle • Zdinarsik & Walker • Ja & Lopez

Brown

Full Name: Alex Rafael Torres Brown

He/Him

Goes by Rafael or Raf.

Ecuadorian.

Best friend is Prager.

Keeps fucking up his back because he always forgets to lift with his knees.

A bit of a scaredy cat when he finds something gross. Mainly bugs with many legs and stuff that oozes.

First language is Spanish.

Tries to help when Lopez forgets what a word is in english, but struggles because Ecuadorian spanish is not the same as Mexican spanish. 

Tactile, takes it out on Prager because he knows that he doesn't mind.

Really likes dancing and is pretty good at it, but can only dance like dollar bills are being thrown.

Absolutely Loves getting his head scratched.

He and Prager accidentally made a secret handshake, as their greeting dap up just kept getting more and more convoluted.

Can play the guitar. 

An okay singer, but can never remember the full lyrics.

Would name his Ikran Dulzura(f), because she's a sweetie.

Dulzura, or Zuri as the Deja Blu nicknamed her, is absolutely a sweetie… for Brown. For everyone else she's a jealous, picky, bitey, hissing brat, that demands everyone stays at least two wing spans away from her and gets especially upset if another Ikran gets too close to Brown. 

Prager

Full Name: James Prager

He/Him

Goes by Jamie.

American.

Best friend is Brown

Likes asking absurd questions, weird hypotheticals, and impossible would you rathers. 

Does Yoga, regularly drags Ja into doing it with him. The other Recoms don't make fun of it, cause they got hassled into doing a routine with him one time and he absolutely kicked their asses.

Was very displeased with how stiff he was straight out of the Amino-tank. Being curled up in the foetal position while your muscles are artificially stimulated for muscle tone doesn't leave one feeling the most lithe or limber, who woulda guessed.

Amazing singer, doesn't often sing.

Was the eldest brother of eight and was very surprised by how directly the ability to corral rowdy kids translated to keeping tabs on his Squad and stopping them from burning their base down.

If it's nothing official and they're not on a mission, Quaritch has always told the squad that Prager is in charge when he leaves. The squad never fails to find Wainfleet's following pouting-session hilarious.

Knows how to massage, frequently massages Brown into a purring puddle.

Neutrally tactile. Only actively seeks it sometimes, but never turns away or rejects anyone else that comes to him for cuddles, friendly, reassuring, or comfortable touch.

Named his Ikran Nova(f)

Babies the heck out of Nova. Scritches and praise are available 24/7 for 'the most perfect Ikran in the galaxy'. Would also like to baby the other Recom's Ikrans, but not all of them enjoy it.

Really likes animals and animals really like him. Would pet a Palulukan, 70% chance the Palulukan would let him.

#recom prager #recom brown #recom squad #deja blu #atwow #avatar headcanons #toruktalks #recombinant #recoms #avatar the way of water

[superheroesofbothuniverses]

Soulmates and Cheese Fries (Shieldshock)

Steve was spending a lot of time at the gym, partly because he was bored in his retirement, and partly because of her. He’d nearly fallen off the treadmill the first time the curvy brunette hopped up on the machine two down from him. He’d not been so bowled over by a woman in decades and it freaked him out. She’d winked at him, and he’d nodded dumbly back, forcing himself to return to his running with intense concentration.

She’d appeared regularly after that and though they’d shared several nods, smiles, and stares (the ogling was mutual, he’d found out, when he’d caught her staring at him lifting weights) neither had said a word yet and he was deeply invested in this interesting game.

Darcy had been in a bit of a slump since Jane’s death and had made a New Year’s Resolution to get active again, hoping that a regular routine plus endorphins would help. It had to be just her luck that she happened to pick the same gym frequented by the All American hunk, Steve Rogers.

She’d frozen for a second when she’d recognized him on the treadmill, but sternly put her inner fangirl in check and got to jogging, unable to help but admire the way his muscles moved when he ran. When they moved to the weight machines, she was too busy trying to not die of exertion (being this out of shape was no fun) to really notice anything around her, but as she was wiping down the leg press bench, she looked up and accidentally met his gaze as he was lifting an ungodly amount of weight. He smiled at her and she felt warm all over.

She spent a long time thinking (and dreaming) about said smile, but never struck up a conversation with her silent gym buddy. Darcy was pretty sure Natasha would have been deeply disappointed in her, but she was reluctant to risk her little private fantasy being destroyed.

Their silent interactions continued over the next several weeks and Darcy started winking back at Steve’s little smiles. She may or may not have googled his relationship status. Then one day, he didn’t show up and didn’t return all that week. Darcy felt strangely bereft and kicked herself over the missed opportunity. She spent Valentine’s Day working, then took the next day off to revel in National Single’s Awareness day, capped off by a trip to her favorite pub for a celebratory drink.

She was sipping and chatting to Gary the awesome bartender, when she heard someone slide onto a nearby stool.

“Hey, Steve. The usual?” Gary greeted and Darcy almost did a spit take at the sight of her gym crush, looking unfairly good in semi casual attire,

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish a few times and then she blurted: “Hey, gym buddy, here to celebrate National Single’s Awareness day? You have to try the cheese fries.”

Steve turned to her, looking so shocked she was wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, but then he grinned at her.

“I was hoping it would be you. I was kinda bummed you didn’t show today.”

They stared at each other and Gary looked back and forth between them.”

“You guys okay?” he asked.

Darcy turned her hand palm up to show them her words.

Gary’s eyebrows raised and he beamed proudly at them.

“Well, congrats! Should I put in an order of cheese fries?” he asked, winking at Steve, who nodded without taking his eyes off of his soulmate. Her eyes were so blue, he could drown in them.

She hopped off her stool and took the one next to him, looking him up and down with great excitement.

“I took today off for some self care, but the universe found a way. I’m Darcy Lewis, by the way: astrophysicist and friend of Thor.”

“And I’m Steve Rogers, cheese fries devotee and gym rat.” He shook her hand and she felt downright giddy. “You wouldn’t believe how many different places I’ve gone for cheese fries on February 15.”

Darcy laughed. “While I definitely wished mine were more specific, they were comforting. I knew I Wasn't going to be rejected by my Soulmate. Believe it or not, it does happen.”

“I’ve heard the stories,” Steve sighed. “But seeing my soulmark stay steady the last few years gave me hope when I didn’t have much. I kept expecting it to fade, but it didn’t.”

“I’m too stubborn to die,” Darcy shrugged. “Just like you.”

There was much flirting over the cheese fries and sharing of stories involving their mutual friends. Talking to Steve turned out to be much easier than Darcy had imagined. He was funny, sarcastic, and showed genuine interest when she was talking, which was incredibly refreshing.

“I was kind of afraid you weren’t coming back to the gym,” Darcy admitted. “I didn’t know it was possible to miss someone I hadn’t spoken to before.”

“Me neither,” Steve agreed, rooting for the cheesiest fry he could find. “But I did. I was visiting Sam and Bucky last week and kept thinking about you. I took the red eye back to get back here for the 15th, just so I could finally say something and find out where it went.”

“Awww,” Darcy crooned, giving him her best heart eye look as she grabbed a fry. “That’s so fluffy!!” She finished off the last of her drink then turned back to Steve.

“A couple more questions, Mr. America.”

“Fire away.”

“First one, where are your Words? Second, would it be way too forward of me to kiss you?”

She spun around on her stool and he caught her hands as she stopped, laughing dizzily.

“I can’t believe Captain Cutie is my soulmate!”

“You’re adorable,” Steve chuckled, beaming down at her. He hadn’t smiled this much in years and it was a glorious feeling.

“But to answer your questions, my Words are right here,” he pulled up his shirt briefly to show the loopy scrawl trailing down his left side.

“Also,” Steve tugged her closer, so their knees were touching, “I’m up for a kiss if you are, Dr. Lewis.”

She was, indeed, very up for it.

#shieldshock #soulmates au #post endgame #darcy lewis #steve rogers

[baradorable]

Name: Rift (Raymond Cruz) Age: Thirties Gender: Male Species: Human (Mutant) Occupation: Freelancer/Mercenary Allegiance: Krakoa (Former), Orchis (Former)

Art done by GeckoBara

This is my X-Men OC. Rift, AKA Raymond Cruz, is a mutant with the power to create portals. His abilities have made him a top asset for many groups. 

Personality

Rift is the "love 'em and leave 'em" type. Since he can always just use portals to leave any situation he wants, he's quick to ditch relationships and situations when things hit a rough patch. He does that with most situations, really. He's a mercenary, though he won't do anything he deems too evil, like kidnapping or murder. He's still willing to commit other crimes if they pay well. And given how useful his powers are, he makes sure to charge a lot for his services.

He's smart, charismatic, and able to analyze situations well. He's strategic. Which makes him dangerous. He has a competitive side, which can sometimes slip out on the field. If you're able to get him in the right mindset, you can get him to forget his carefully-crafted plans and possibly mess up.

Because he invested a lot of time in developing his powers, he's come up with a lot of strategies to fully exploit them. He knows his limits and potential well. He takes pride in his abilities and the need people have for them. So he gets jealous interacting with someone more powerful than him. His worst trait is that he'll try to one-up these people. In extreme cases, he might even try to sabotage them to bring them down. He's backstabbed some of his fellow mercs to ensure he comes out on top.

Part of this is a desire to be liked. He grew up in a very anti-mutant world, so he's used to being disliked for who he is. He secretly craves validation. Since he abandons people quickly, he struggles to form strong bonds. On the rare occasions he finds a serious relationship with someone, his jealousy and competitive often lead him to sabotaging anyone he sees as a threat to the relationship.

When he’s off-duty and walking around in his normal life, he takes on the persona of a shallow himbo.  He speaks in a flighty tone, seemingly misses big social cues, and freely speaks his mind in a way that can inadvertently hurt someone's feelings. He's cultivated the image of a in idiot for his own gain. It's a persona that allows him to have fun and avoid showing his true self; someone who strives to be perfect and beloved. After all, it hurts when people reject the real you. But if they reject the mask you put on - the act that doesn't represent the real you - then there's no harm done.

TL;DR: He's smart and hot. He's flaky and possessive. But he's hot, so it's okay. He's a good guy. He's just not a nice guy.

Backstory

Rift is American. His mother immigrated from Ireland in the mid or late '80's. His dad was born in America, but I haven't decided where his family is from. I'm thinking Portuguese, just for some self-indulgence. But also because Marvel doesn't have any Portuguese heroes at the moment.

His powers activated when he was 14, and he would spend the next several years working on developing his powers. He'd frequently ditch school or home, due to anti-mutant sentiment held by the people around him. He ended up developing some prejudices towards humans.

He ended up making a business out of transporting people around. Think Uber, but faster and with more range. Once word of his powers got around, various organizations began to seek him out. Rift would eventually parlay into full freelance mercenary and spy work.

Here's my idea of how he fits into the Marvel universe. You can ignore this if you don’t follow X-Men continuity.

He was one of the mutants depowered by M-Day, but came to Krakoa and got resurrected to get this powers back. His natural prejudice towards humans made him predisposed to liking the nation, and he was willing to lend his services to X-Force in order to help mutants.

However, the Five were very hesitant to remove his secondary, eye-based mutation; one he always kept hidden out of resentment and disgust. Many other mutants insisted the should keep his extra eyes and take pride in being different. Empty platitudes that he found patronizing. So he left and continued his work as a freelancer.

He ended up coming across Orchis, who would hire him on to spy on Krakoans and allow them to move around the world without notice. Orchis is an organization made up of people from several groups (S.H.I.E.L.D., A.I.M., HYDRA, etc.) to deal with the threat of humans becoming extinct and supplanted by mutants. 

While he knew they were anti-mutant, He was unaware just how anti-mutant they actually are. They paid well, so he could stand to put up with them if he got something out of it. And it put him in conflict with other mutants, so he'd always have the opportunity to test his powers. 

Of course, come Fall of X, they inevitably betrayed him and every other mutant. He was on a mission to Arakko during the third Hellfire Gala, thus avoiding most of the chaos. Once he heard about how Orchis attacked Krakoa, he fled to deep space and stayed there for a few months.

After Fall of X, he returned to Earth. He hated humans even more after they supported Orchis’ anti-mutant tactics. But he also hated the X-Men, since they and the leaders of Krakoa let the only sanctuary for mutants fall.

Job

He's a "freelancer" (read: mercenary) who works with various groups. His official codename is Rift, but for various business-related reasons, he's also known by several aliases: Bluebird, Luscinia, Luzon, Cardinal, Ripple, and Thrush.

He'll use a different name to obscure his identity, or know what kind of group is hiring him. For example, one criminal organization calls him Cardinal. Anyone who calls him by that name is likely associated with that organization. The NYPD know him as Luscinia.

He has different ways for people to contact him, and the type of name they use for him tells him what kind of work they have in mind, or who's hiring him. The goal is to keep everything separate, & being able to filter what kind of job he chooses to accept. (It's actually a lot more complex than having different phone numbers, but I'm giving you the simplified take.)

He doesn't kill, and he avoids directly harming innocent people. Spying, stealing information and theft are okay though.

Portal Power

Rift’s main power is to create portals, which he uses to spy on others, transport people, smuggle things, or create diversions. He rarely fights people directly; instead, he uses his powers to mess with the field. When creating a portal, one will open up close to him, and will connect to a portal that will appear at his desired location. His range is about 15,000 km. He can't access other dimensions through his power, but he can teleport around a dimension he's currently in.

His powers require him to see a location in front of him, or to have been there before. Otherwise, his powers "guess" the location, and open a portal to a completely random location on the planet, usually within two thousand miles of his current location. His power is also location-based, not person-based; he can't specifically try to find a person unless he knows their exact location. So no thinking of Spider-Man and trying to catch him at home.

These portals, once opened, can exist independently of Rift. He usually wills them to close instantly after he uses them, and can choose for how long they remain open Otherwise, they close after about two minutes, regardless if they're used. The portals can be any size, as long as they fall under 24 feet in diameter; they can't grow beyond that to accommodate travel for larger opens or things. There are no limits as to how many people can go through.

The number of portals active depend on their size. So he can create a lot of small, hand-sized portals at once, but only two 12 foot portals. Distance has no affect on his ability to make portals, though firing off too many portals in rapid succession will tire him out.

A cool side-effect of his portals is they won't bring anyone to a place that's impossible to visit. You can't be brought to the inside of a solid object, or in an area too small for one to logically fit. The powers can drop you into the ocean, but they won't place you inside a whale or trap you halfway through a statue. Because of this limitation, Rift can't open up a portal inside your guts, or force you through a portal into a chest at the bottom of the sea.

Other Notable Techniques

Moo-neuver: He opens a portal and lets stampeding cattle run over his opponents.

Torrent: Opens a portal to somewhere in the ocean, shooting forth a torrent of water at a target.

Smokescreen: By opening a portal above a factory chimney, he blasts his opponent with smoke.

Perfect Aim: If he has a firearm, he can open up one portal at the top of his gun, and and another in front of the target. By sending the projectile through the portal, he’s almost guaranteed to hit his target and avoid anything getting in the crossfire.

Black Hole: A theory, one he hasn’t tested out. What happens if you open a portal inside another portal? Or if two portals open into each other? Can two locations exist in the same place, at the same time? This results in neutron degeneracy pressure, where the rifts collapse in on each other to create a black hole. 

Scatter Slap: A secret technique he hasn’t discovered yet. He can touch something and open up countless tiny portals on a molecular level, getting in-between a person’s molecules/atoms/whatever the hell. This would let him instantly scatter someone or something across the world with his powers. Instant vaporization.

Secondary Mutation

He has another mutation: red eyes that grow on his arms. They're basically like tattoos, but become actual eyes when exposed to enough direct sunlight. The more sunlight his body gets, the more eyes appear. His skin will also turn red, and the eyes on his face will turn red, and gain black sclera. They can blink and look around independently, but he currently has no control over them, nor can he see through them.  Without sunlight, he begins to revert to his usual state. 

He's ashamed of this mutation, so he always covers up. 

He doesn't know it, but should he let his second mutation run its course, he'll be able to see from all of these eyes at once. If someone makes eye contact with them, the eyes can temporarily "steal" their sight, giving Rift the ability to see through that person's eyes. Meanwhile, that person now sees from one of the eyes on Rift's body. It's a very disorienting power.

His primary power is about escaping and providing his own personal freedom. His secondary power is about trapping others and taking things away from them. I feel like it's a good metaphor for his personality: he's flexible and living his best life, but has a sinister, controlling side that even he isn't fully aware of.

Trivia

Time for some fun

He’s bisexual. He leans more towards women, romantically. He leans towards men, sexually.

Claims to be a top, since one-upping and dominating others is his thing. But he’s actually verse top.

Has used his powers during sex.

He’s definitely a dom in bed. Very kinky, very in control. But sometimes, with the right partner, he’s can turn into the biggest sub you can imagine.

He used to have casual sex with a human friend who admired his eye-based mutation. That something Rift hated about himself was beautiful to him. This friend took Mothervine to try and force a mutation in himself, but would end up dying from the result. As he was dying, Rift broke him out of the hospital so they could spend their final moments at their favorite beach.  

Expert frotter.

He’s a quarter fairy. He has the potential to learn magic, but doesn’t know it. I like to imagine this magic would let him access Otherworld, or other dimensions.

#barannoying

[bigfan-fanfic]

Also since you know about Percy Jackson, what do you think about Piper McLean? Every person I ask this question, they all said they hated Piper. I am the only one who actually likes her? And thinks she misunderstood? Is this how it feel to like a character everyone hates? Granted she’s not perfect I’m fully aware of her flaws but I still like her. What’s your thoughts about the daughter of Aphrodite?

Buckle up, buddy, I'm writing another essay.

First off, I'm gonna say I do like Piper. I think, however, she suffers from both a lack of research and many missed opportunities. Let's get the valid criticism out of the way, then address the hate, and finish with what I like!

So, Piper suffers from some egregious missteps when it comes to writing a Native American character. Not having grown up in Native culture myself, please take my criticism with a grain of salt and listen to actual Native fans who can more accurately explain and describe their grievances. I can only point to what I've heard, such as her being pointed out to wear an eagle feather accessory, which feels like commodifying her heritage, since that culture places a huge importance on eagle's feathers and even had Piper earned them from a tribe, they'd only be worn ceremonially. There are a number of notes about her "kaleidoscope eyes" which are rather pointedly not the brown you'd see from most people with Native heritage, along with the issues related to having her not only be in a boarding school but also be in there for kleptomania??? It's kinda stereotype city. This also includes her sexualization (which I will talk about too but this is in the Native lens of having a female Native character being sexualized) in her descriptions and her claiming. Her and her father also are written with largely ambivalent attitudes towards their Native heritage, with Tristan outright not wanting to be seen as Cherokee. Not that this can't inform her character in an interesting way, but it was mishandled, and maybe an excuse for Riordan not to have to write or research Cherokee concepts. It's not his story to really tell, if you wanna have a Native girl reconnecting with her heritage even through her father's disillusionment.

So, let's talk about the hate. People complain alternately that Piper is either OP or damsel in distress. Piper is not like the other demigods, who have been training for years to fight. In fact, Leo is similarly sidelined in combat because his skills take precedence in other ways, like hers - but nobody complains that Leo is a damsel. So yeah, Piper who's only been training with a dagger for four months or so is gonna be less useful in combat than literal Roman legionnaires. And her abilities are not OP. She has clear limitations, and people that are not effected. And I absolutely love her arc of learning to use her power creatively like Hazel does. AND she in fact does this because she's been so insecure about her lack of combat use. She actively seeks improvement and trains, so of course she gets better over the series! Piper also gets hate for what I can best describe as being pretty. My whole take on Piper as a child of Aphrodite is that she's meant to reject toxic femininity (the rite of passage, forced beauty, etc.) But like, just because she chooses to accessorize or dress more feminine, or even focus more on her hair isn't against that. She's choosing to in order to express herself. She starts off as kind of that "not like other girls" mentality and then comes to discover that inner beauty is what counts, so she doesn't have to feel like she needs to reject femininity altogether, you know? Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

I like Piper, although she has flaws in her writing and creation. She's got a vulnerability to her that I like, especially because she makes that her strength. She's willing to be emotional and help the group actually process things. She's making sure people are coming together cohesively. Which some people may say is locking her into traditional gender roles of emotional labor, but personally, I don't think so. Even if the fans don't, the rest of the team does value Piper, and in turn they try to help her realize how strong she is, and once that breaks through her insecurities, she goes from being one of the least powerful to one of the most useful of the seven. My personal gripe is that way back in the first book, they mention her powerful singing voice and how she'll learn the songs of her tribe, and then they talk about the snake song, and when she meets the Kerkopes she... doesn't sing the snake song??? Like, that could have been a moment where she asserts her identity and full power, and instead it's kind of a missed opportunity. But oh well.

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

To Wake, Perchance to Dream - The Symbiotic Nature of Waking and Dreaming in The Unsleeping City

One of the central themes of the first season of Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City is the idea of false dichotomy, specifically between the Waking World (our world) and the Dreaming World (a mysterious world of magic) and the rejection of that false dichotomy. Both of these worlds have their own chosen champion - Kingston Brown is the Vox Populi, the representative of the Waking World, acting as its voice in the goings-on of New York City's magical side and Pete Conlan as the Vox Phantasma, the representative of Dreaming. As the series progresses, it becomes obvious that the natural state of the two realms is not adversarial, but symbiotic, protecting and looking out for one another while depending on each other.

From bits of information Brennan drops throughout the seasons, it's fair to say that Dreaming could not exist without the Waking World. It poses some danger to the Waking World, sure, but it also acts to protect Waking from those threats, as well as other things that might threaten its host. It does this through the Vox Phantasma, a sort of magical antibody.

But without the Dreaming, Waking would not be complete. The ability to dream, to aspire, is inherent in mankind, and Dreaming is that ability. It nurtures Dream, offering it a host. Waking isn't without its own antibody in the form of the Vox Populi. As Kingston comes to discover, it's the duty of the Vox Populi to care for Nod, the Sixth Borough (and the Lovecraftian creature that presents themself as a small child), as much as the rest of the city.

Kingston and Pete's relationship is very much emblematic of this. Kingston certainly looks out for Pete, literally giving him shelter, acting as a mentor and by sticking up for him in season two, wherein he says that Pete is a citizen of New York, and therefore under his protection. In return, Pete uses his abilities to fight for New York, deal the killing blow to Robert Moses' nightmarish American Dream and give Kingston his first Dream since he became Vox Populi.

Then, in the final fight of season 2, we see what Waking and Dreaming can really do if they work together, with the absolutely insane Divine Intervention the pair pull off, which wouldn't have been possible without both of them working together.

Finally, in season two, we find out that Vox Phantasma are prone to self destruction, be it by wandering out into Deep Dreaming or by killing themselves through substance abuse, the latter of which is something Pete is actively dealing with. Pete, however, avoids this fate, in large part due to his friendship with Kingston, the latter acting as a sort of anchor to the former, and in the final fight, Brennan remarks that Kingston's life was changed for the better by the introduction of Pete into The Unsleeping City.

(Side note - season two constantly teases telling us about previous Vox Populi, and my main complaint with season two is that it doesn't.)

So, yeah. Thanks for reading this essay. Like, reblog, comment, whatever. I'd like to hear the thoughts all of you have on this topic.

#dimension 20 essay #dimension 20 the unsleeping city #pete conlan #pete the plug #kingston brown #vox phantasma #vox populi dimension 20

[noirapocalypto]

stature, roots and change 🖤

Thank you so much!! 🥺💕

[ oc asks: character design ]

stature: What's your OC's body type? How tall are they? Do they wear clothing to accentuate their look or do they try to mask it?

Salem is 6'2" (188cm, I hope I converted that correctly, I'm a silly American), so he's a tall boy. He's broad shouldered and a bit on the stocky side. There's some natural thickness to him, especially around the arms, thigh and ass. He's thicc, juicy and bitable in all the right places. At his healthiest, he looks strong and in pretty good shape. He's the only OC of mine who's body type drastically changes throughout his story. In his very early 20s, he was a bit on the softer side. Not much muscle definition. During his bad years, when his mental health and drug addiction were at their worst, he was much more underweight. He looked a bit gaunt, and it obvious he was skipping meals or just not eating enough/properly for someone his size. Post rehab and during his recovery (at the start of 2077 and forward), he starts gaining his weight back after he begins to eat regularly again. He also begins to work out a bit more, so his muscles started developing some definition and he starts to tone up. He's not super defined and cut, and he likely won't ever be. But he is healthy and his more active lifestyle starts to show. While he does wear clothes that often show off his body (form fitting jeans, tank tops, etc), he doesn't really do it with the intention of accentuating his physique. He never really cared much to hide his looks, even when he was at his unhealthiest.

change: Has your OC ever drastically changed their appearance? Significant haircuts, big tattoos, complete wardrobe swap, etc? Why? How do they feel about the change?

Most of Salem's drastic modifications started around his early 20s. Salem's is very into self-expression and thinks the way he looks is an expression of who he is and what he's about. Plus, I think Salem's always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder since his youth, he was always made to feel like he was strange and was a bit of a reject growing up. So he decided, 'If you think I'm weird now, just wait.' It started with little things here and there--the tattoos were the first time come. Then the scarification (for no other reason than he thought they looked cool), then the eyes. The facial cyberware and cyberarm were probably results of injuries from 'accidents' he's caused during his bad years. His wardrobe has more or less stayed the same. In his later years, he's more open to wearing some color: such as darker shades of reds/blues/greens. But for the most part, he's always going to be a dark palette kind of guy with his attires. Though he has been known to clean up very well when he wants to--especially when the situation calls for a more formal look. A huge contrast from the baby faced kid he was in those early years. But he's happy with how he looks. It feels like him, no one else looks like him. And people can either love it or leave it--because he's not one to change for anyone.

roots: Is your OC's look inspired by any specific style of clothing or fashion trend? What are the roots and/or inspiration for their look?

Answering this one last and putting it under a read-more since it's pic heavy. 🖤

Salem has a very specific style that I can't really recreate in game, sadly. 😭So I depend a lot on inspo pics, since I'm also not good at describing fashion. 😅 His main source of inspiration is rapper Ghostemane. He's the reason Salem exists, so I wanted to borrow from his aesthetics.

Just grungy and distressed. Oversized tanks, covered in tattoos, all that good stuff. Then he started taking on some of $uicideboy$ aesthetics too. Just gives me Salem vibes, with the face tattoos and just the whole look.

The rest is just a mishmash of grungy and urban style. So it's basically a giant mixing pot of these specific styles/looks dkjfghlsjddfg

#cyberpunk 2077 #i'm so sorry if this is formatted weird #especially the pictures #it looks fine on mobile but screwed on browser #ʟᴏʀᴇ ⋆┊ꜱᴠʟᴇᴍ #ᴏᴄ ⋆┊ꜱᴠʟᴇᴍ

[donnerpartyofone]

It has been a little more than a year since I started going to St. Mary Star of the Sea. Since I moved it hasn't been as easy to roll out of bed, get something to chew on there, and start my day, and the ladies are a little mad at me. I know it's just how they show their concern, but I'm tempted to explain that demanding my attention is a great way to make sure you don't get it! I find attention-seeking extremely unattractive and I have complicated feelings about my own exhibitionism vs. my constant need for solitude. This topic has been a central part of many relationships; insofar as a lot of human interactions are driven by the subconscious urge to play out the individual's unresolved psychodramas, people who crave validation love to start shit with me because they sense that it's not easy to get my approval. Over the course of years of friendship or even just one night at a party, I seem to become symbolic of their problems with rejection and they'll try to bait me into reenacting their personal narrative with them--and it kinda works because I will instinctively slam the door on anyone who acts entitled to my attention, or who enjoys testing my loyalty. But uuuhhh that's kind of a different story, I go to the church for reasons that are private and hard to explain and I just cannot take it personally if I seem to disappoint anyone.

On Tuesday the brilliant monsignor I'm obsessed with spoke about scandal and hypocrisy, and I thought he kind of soft-pedaled it (he usually doesn't) but it's probably still good for people to be reminded of church failings by their priest instead of their perceived enemies. He said everyone needs reconciliation including the clergy: "My priest is the Virgin Mary, that's where I go." I really liked that, I had never heard it before; Mary the priest. I like the hint of gender confusion ("priestess" would be an intense word to hear in a church I guess) and the reminder that she is an authority and not just a nurturing repository for complaints. It got me thinking about the coronation, Mary as the Queen of Heaven. What does it mean to be the Queen of Heaven? Isn't everything both perfect and eternal in Heaven? In that kind of stasis there would be no need for authority, everything would be sort of a foregone conclusion. It's strange to think of being an administrator in Heaven, to have to litigate things that go on there. But a Queen isn't always an active ruler, a Queen is maybe more often a figurehead, a sort of living template, an example.

Today the brilliant priest I'm obsessed with spoke about how you neglect your own potential when you model your whole persona on the expectations of your demographic. He talked about the role he is expected to fulfill during Black History Month as one of two Black priests in the whole diocese, and the experience of growing up with certain protocols of what Blackness is within his community, indicating that while that all is a part of him, it sort of distracts from his individuality and all the other things that he is--and then he turned this around on the pews full of old white Italian- and Irish Americans. His point was that everyone is susceptible to performing a certain fixed identity informed by their statistical profile, and that this can radically limit your potential and your understanding of yourself as a person. He then extended this to God: "God is not that guy with the big beard who always looks like he smells something bad." He said God is both a man and a woman, and also more than that. He isn't really a "He", we only personify "Him" as an unavoidable convenience so we can talk about Him.

That priest always has very cosmic, borderline psychedelic things to say that are very exciting to me, and both he and the monsignor regularly challenge their majority old, white parishioners to check their prejudices and not let their sense of religion become this dead, rote thing that they never examine. Setting aside my very esoteric reasons for being there, it's helpful to me to know that there are more provocative things going on in some churches than what I would expect if I never visited one.

I always try to listen for at least one part of the readings that I find piquant, and today it was Jeremiah 17:9:

"More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?"

In 17:10 God answers that, of course, only He can understand it, but I find it more powerful to leave this as a question.

#star of the sea

[stillness-in-green]

On Riots and Resolutions (Part Two)

The remaining ask round-up portion, building on the answers from last night's post.

Content Warnings: Discussion of real-life hate groups; one ask conflates mental illness with radicalism and makes some bald statements that there can only be one correct opinion about the canonical material in question.

This post has its usual share of footnotes, but I’ve put them at the end of their associated ask reply rather than all at the end like usual.

Two thoughts: Firstly, Japan’s extremists, as I understand them, tend to be either rampantly nationalistic—war crime deniers, people who hate Japanese residents who don’t match up to what the nationalists see as really Japanese (*waves to Part One*), sometimes they like the U.S. but they don’t want to be seen as being submissive towards it, that sort of thing—or outright cultists.

Using the nationalists as a model is tricky because, as so many have said, heteromorphs aren’t of a different ethnicity/nationality, so they nominally shouldn’t be objectionable to those whose chief issue is people/influence from other countries.  (Nominally.  *waves to Part One again*)  They’re also a very fraught group to parody, given Japan’s to-say-the-least unresolved issues with exactly those nationalistic sentiments, historically speaking.

As to the cultists?  Well, Japan has piles and piles of those.  Indeed, the country has so many that one of the most common terms for alternative spirituality groups, new religious movements (NRMs), is actually a direct translation of the term Japan itself uses, shinshūkyō.  So far as I’ve been able to gather, the proliferation is a result of the country having been loosed from the mandate of following the state religion (Shinto) just as a huge influx of Western theology came flowing in after World War II.  That developed further in the 60s and 70s—indeed, it’s quite easy to see Western ideas of what religion is and how it looks coming to Japan in the same general period as New Age spirituality in the West forming with elements borrowed ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions.

While Japan has hundreds and hundreds of NRMs—over 2000, according to one op-ed I read—the country also has a sizeable suspicion of them, for one big, glaring reason: the sarin gas attacks carried out on the Tokyo subway in 1995 by Aum Shinrikyo.  Those attacks led to a huge backlash against new religious movements in the country, including the passing of some very targeted laws.

Obviously, with so many of them around, I can’t say for sure whether or not Horikoshi based the Creature Rejection Clan on any of them in particular, but Twice does point out that they have some religious elements, and certainly there are plenty of NRMs in Japan that hew to the arch ethnonationalism of the country’s extreme right.  The kegare thing, too, can hardly be called secular; it stems directly from Shinto belief.  There aren’t any NRMs I’m personally aware of that use gothic trappings and skull masks, but then, neither did the KKK.[1]

That all leads into my second thought, which is, “Well, is the CRC based on the KKK?  Or is that just us assuming because it’s what we relate them to?”  As I said a few times in Part One, I can’t read Horikoshi’s mind—but I have reservations about just assuming that some random Japanese guy is that familiar with a U.S.-based hate group that has never been active in his country.

Horikoshi is a noted fan of American comics, so I suppose it’s possible he’s heard that anecdote about Superman taking on the KKK, but if I were reading an American comic with a plot about a doomsday cult planning an attack on a public transit system, I wouldn’t assume it was a reference to Aum Shinrikyo just because I knew the author liked anime, you know?

For another example of Western fans projecting their own concerns onto a non-Western work, it was widely assumed among American readers that the Ishvalan plot in Full Metal Alchemist was a comment on the Iraq War. However, when asked about it, Arakawa actually said she based it on the way Japan treated the Ainu.  That desert setting completely fooled people!

So, even if the CRC feel a little too on the nose to not be based on the KKK, it’s worth considering that Horikoshi could have any number of inspirations there.  He may well have been just picking and choosing the visual indicators he liked to get the point across, and the ones he landed on say “KKK” to a U.S. reader without them having been an intentional model.

-- 1:  The Nazis, now, they used skull trappings, and are of course much more known for black uniforms, too. --

Would that such were more normalized!  But even if it were, the time crunch on Shonen Jump publication is such that I doubt most of its authors would have the leisure to do a bunch of back and forth with sensitivity readers anyway.  I imagine a lot of those authors have pretty limited hours and energy to spend all week working on their manga to also add a bunch of supplemental reading that also basically counts as “work for the manga” as opposed to literally any other kind of media intake that would let them turn off for a while.

I’m not going to say readers shouldn’t ask for better, or should just shut up or go read something else if they have problems with what an author is writing.  Obviously!  That would be massively hypocritical of me, given all the time I’ve spent complaining about this very issue, or the mass arrests, or whatever-all else.  But then, I’ve always approached the issues Hori raises with his villains with the view that they’d fall flat eventually.  Shonen Jump is just too mainstream an environment for me to think that Horikoshi would be allowed to say anything truly radical, if he even wanted to to begin with.

And maybe he’ll get feedback on this aspect of the story from readers and reviews and rethink some of it.  I’ll always remember this article about an interview with the author of Sword Art Online, Kawahara Reki, in which he talked about how visiting American conventions had inspired him to try to do better by his heroines.

Of course, some people double down instead, like One Piece’s Oda Eiichirou, or reflexively lash out when criticized, like Vanillaware’s George Kamitani.  Maybe Horokoshi will just go on thinking like he does because he doesn’t work in an environment that’s going to challenge him on his views; maybe he’ll seek out more mature environments to tell the more mature stories he clearly wants to tell.

In the meantime, though, it’s not as though he’s the only game in town.  There are other manga out there, ones that have lists upon lists at the back of their volume compilations detailing the resources and contacts the authors used as they were writing their stories.

Just of what I read or have read, Blue Period, Golden Kamuy, Ancient Magus’s Bride, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, and any of Mori Kaoru’s historical works, like Victorian Romance Emma or Otoyomegatari, come to mind.  Shonen Jump stories can be fun, but I don’t exactly read them expecting the manga equivalent of high literature, you know?

…On the other hand, even fellow Shonen Jump series Akane Banashi credits a rakugo supervisor every week.  I suspect this speaks to a certain uncomfortable truth that many authors are going to be a lot more aware of their own ignorance—and, crucially, far less defensive about accusations of being hurtful, irresponsible, or discriminatory—when it comes to portraying things like art, specialist hobbies, historical periods or foreign countries: subjects that are legitimately distant from their day to day lives.  That, in turn, may make them more willing to do the research with an open mind, as opposed to just winging it on things they believe they already understand well enough or have already formed opinions on, like the lived experience of minorities or how the legal system treats (or should treat) people who break the law.

The fact that lazy or offensive portrayals might come out of privileged ignorance rather than maliciousness doesn’t make them less lazy or offensive, of course, especially if an author chooses to double down after criticism!  But I’ll get into that more in the last ask in this post.

--

H’ooookay, I’m going to lead with saying that, while I agree with your broad point that this resolution is messy and disappointing, I have some significant issues with your points here, things that I cannot just let stand in good faith.

Firstly, as far as comparing heteromorphs to burakumin goes, I have not and would never say that they’re only an analogue to burakumin because I don’t think heterophobia is a 1:1 analogue for any kind of discrimination.  It takes elements from a lot of different things: anti-burakumin sentiment, racism, ableism, ethnocentrism, and so on.

I talked about burakumin discrimination in the post you’re responding to because the kegare thing is burakumin-specific.  While I’m sure you could find individuals willing to level that word at groups they don’t like, I’m not aware of any other groups that have had kegare weaponized against them on such a widespread, systemic, legally codified level; therefore, burakumin are the reference I used to talk about kegare as it’s used against heteromorphs to police their movements/contact with others.

Secondly, saying burakumin have “the benefit” of looking like everyone else unless they’re outed feels insensitive to me.  It’s the same thing as mixing up genuine privilege with being in the closet.  Yes, burakumin lineage is something that’s not immediately visible right on their faces,[1] but that’s not the same thing as them being able to live openly without fear of discrimination, especially when there are still resources on the internet that purport to list burakumin neighborhoods, resources that are easily findable on a web search for e.g. the company hiring director vetting job applicants or the paranoid parent who wants to make sure their daughter isn’t getting involved with someone Undesirable.

Thirdly, conflating Qanon extremists with mental illness is a big, wholehearted NOPE for me, especially in saying only individuals who are mentally ill would attack innocent people.  I’m certainly not going to say that no one who has ever carried out a mass attack was mentally ill, but it’s absolutely not an identical vector as radicalized resentment.

Fourthly, “making up a massacre” is, I suppose, true in that we’ve never heard of the incidents Scarecrow cites before now, but it’s not as though it’s completely out of the realm of the possible based on what we knew before this arc.  We knew law and order broke down around the time of the advent of quirks; we knew there were (and still are!) groups that committed hate crimes against heteromorphs; we knew there had been bloody conflict for years upon years by the time things finally started to settle down circa Destro and the legalization of Pro Heroes.

Hell, the longer I gather evidence and mull it over, the more it seems likely to me that Horikoshi was aware of heteromorph discrimination from almost the very beginning.  Shouji’s character profile, in which he pointedly did not have a face reveal and Horikoshi dropped hints about “Shouji’s episode,” came out in Volume 3.  Ultra Archive, which talked about how Shouji was told he had a scary face since he was young, was released in 2016; Ultra Analysis, which first raised the crying little girl angle, in 2019.  We’ve known for ages that Horikoshi likes to think about the stories of background characters, even if he can’t find room to show them.

Historical massacres?  We may not have heard about them specifically before now, but it’s not like it’s a big reach.  The CRC really ought to have clued everyone in that heteromorphic discrimination is much worse than Deku, the viewpoint character, ever knew, so I remain aggressively baffled at the constant accusations that all this is “coming out of nowhere.”  Yes, I think it could have been more thoroughly developed in advance, but I really do think it’s not that Horikoshi didn’t know, or that he “made it up”; it’s just that he failed to incorporate it organically.

If the story were still the elegantly constructed narrative we were enjoying up through the Endeavor Agency Arc and the early stages of the war, I’d be more skeptical, because Horikoshi back then really was much better at those early hints and teases.  But everyone can tell that the story has been a garbled, rushed mess since then, so it’s no big surprise to me that a better-paced exploration of heteromorphic discrimination was a victim of whatever kind of compressed timeline Horikoshi’s now operating under.

Finally, I broadly agree that the portrayal of this conflict was a damn mess on both sides—I particularly share your frustration that fifteen thousand members of an oppressed minority would be willing to attack a hospital under the direction of a known villain yet have given the optics of that attack so little thought that one (1) high-schooler and the sight of a handful of hospital employees standing well away from their line of advance could change their minds—but I’m wholly uncomfortable with your intimation that anyone who doesn’t agree with your specific read on the sides involved doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  If you didn’t mean it that way, that’s cool, but I don’t see much other way to parse, “People who empathize more with one side or the other are either uneducated or don’t have discrimination in their daily reality/family history.”

“If anyone disagrees with me, either they’re white people whose opinions don’t count because they’re white or they’re people of color whose opinions don’t count because they’re ignorant,” is just not an opinion I’m going to back up.  I saw plenty of POC on twitter and tumblr both who definitely did sympathize more with one side or another and had perfectly cogent, self-aware articulations as to why; declaring their opinions de facto invalid is no way to engage in media criticism OR fandom discourse.

-- 1:  Though back in the days when burakumin were legally required to dress and style their hair in certain ways to make themselves obvious to those around them, you would have been able to tell they were burakumin just by looking at them, unless they were actively breaking the law and thus subject to punishment if they were discovered. --

Everyone is, of course, going to have their own read on this, but for my part, I’d rather see people try and fail than just never try at all.  That’s assuming, anyway, that the attempt is made in good faith, which I think this plot was—at the very least, it never felt malicious towards the crowd of heteromorphs themselves,[1] though I am still squinting distastefully at the whole Outside Bad Actor element AFO/Skeptic/Scarecrow/Spinner present.

Of course, it’d be nice to know whether Horikoshi’s going to learn anything from this portrayal or whether it’ll just be a full round of backpats for a job halfway done, but saying he should just never have tried at all—well, it’s the same with his writing of women, really.  There are some enormous problems, but I’d still rather read the version with all the flaws than the version without all the women.

That’s the long-time fandom participant in me, I’m sure; my stance will always be to take what works and jettison what doesn’t.  For all that this resolution desperately does not work, all the reasons that it was something worth looking forward to and getting invested in are still there, too!

But again, that’s something everyone has to draw their own lines on, and I have nothing but sympathy for the frustration of those who, like myself, would never have believed such a facile resolution could be offered to such a fascinating set-up.

-- 1:  I’d be more willing to assume malice if the heteromorphs were the only civilians in the story portrayed as so desperately gullible and impulsive, but Horikoshi’s been writing civilians that same way from the beginning. --

-----------------------------------------

That wraps up the asks in my inbox about this plot, at least the ones that were expressing specific anger with Horikoshi or fellow fandom members. I have one or two left that are more directly about the material, which I'll be getting to in the order in which I received them soonish.

I do apologize if these posts came off as preachy in that, "I am allowed to complain, but suddenly when I have anons in my inbox complaining, it's time to talk about nuance and context," kind of way. I do, perhaps, have a certain feeling that I can and will complain about the material to my heart's content, but I don't want to get too pulled into spiraling bitterness about Horikoshi personally because he didn't deliver the challenging resolution I never really believed his editors would let him deliver to begin with.

I promise I still hate the way the arc fell out! And I appreciate you all sharing your thoughts with me. 'Til next time, everyone.

#bnha #heteromorph discrimination plot #bnha culture gap #cw: hate groups #stillness answers