#hostile environment! evil country!

[squimbz]

it's slowly becoming illegal to be trans in the US & if I think too hard about that I get physically sick with anxiety & guess who has to go to the airport in less than 4 hours and is making themselves sick with anxiety about the MASSIVE WAVE OF ANTI TRANS LEGISLATION IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY!!!

#my mother was right when she helped me push for top surgery when i did bc she was certain theyd cut trans healthcare at any minute #hostile environment! evil country! #personal #anyways. who needs sleep when you can have transphobia induced insomnia.

[olderthannetfic]

fandom social justice history anon here - aaah, thank you, early fandom being dominated by academics definitely connected the dots I was missing, thank you! Yeah, now looking at it with this in mind, it's pretty obvious how the tone of the meta essays from that era, while often snarky or even outraged, definitely sounds more like the tone of people who are used to passionately arguing in a setting that doesn't allow you to just throw whatever ad hominem accusation at your opponent's head. In contrast, tumblr's (and as a result, twitter's and tiktok's) style of fandom drama now reads to me even more blatantly like a catfight between high schoolers who have just recently learned some Big Words they only care to use as ammunition. I've read multiple older fans (including your invaluably informative blog) talking about how tumblr definitely reshaped fandom and brought in a TON of new people, and how slash was far from the "mainstream" of fandom even in the livejournal-ffn.net days, and I'm having a feeling that, for all the imperfections of this first tumblr generation of fans' activism ("let my gays marry" etc etc) the thing that got slash to be "mainstreamed" within fandom the way it currently is, also has to do with this pretty sizeable influx of new fans being mostly teenagers. As in specifically, overwhelmingly teenage girls who were having their first sparks of interest in romance during the height of the "I'm not like other girls" era + everyone shitting on twilight & "girly" musicians, because if you look at the posts from that period, they often contrast being a slash reader with being the slutty partying "other girl" or annoying hipster & at my school too slash kind of spread as a "not like the other girls" alternative to mainstream romance. Yes, not the healthiest attitude either, and it's good we've mostly grown past that, but like I said, there's a good chance that was what buffed up the numbers of slash fans to the point where today people are surprised fandom ever even was hostile to it, and at least in my environment, fandom activism, for all its flaws, was most people's first exposure to any sort of "-rights" activism at all. But (as is probably obvious) I did not experience most of even that era personally (I joined tumblr fandom in 2014). Anyways, excuse the rambling, if you feel like adding anything to confirm or deny my hypothesis, I greatly appreciate it, and I hope you have a nice day/evening!

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M/M still isn't mainstream in plenty of fandom contexts, just not the ones I hang out in, and "not like the other girls" of the type you describe was already big in the 90s among people who'd heard of fanfic. It's just that fanfic was harder to stumble across overall.

I think the two biggest factors are the changing attitudes towards gayness in mainstream culture in a number of countries and... well... AO3 getting popular.

FFN was the big place in the past, though not for my crowd. Now, AO3 is taking a massive bite out of not only its market share but now, in the last few years, Wattpad's.

When the visible institution around which fanfic revolves puts filtering out het front and center, it sends a strong message that previous fandom platforms did not. You had your m/m-only archives and your f/f-only archives and your places that let you filter for those but that treated het as an unmarked default.

Look at early discussions of AO3. There's an undercurrent there that we all assumed it would be one of a number of archives and that we didn't expect it to get this big.

Nobody could have foreseen the Het-Is-Eternal-Default Wattpad crowd being forced by their own platform's suckitude to come camp on the thing built by slashers. Now, we are the admins and they are the also-tolerated. That never happened before.

The thing that makes people not report gay hand holding as evil porn that must be eradicated is simply AO3 putting its foot down.

Anyone who thinks that virulent slash hate is gone just hasn't looked at other spaces.

This is not about individual fans behaving better: it is about institutional power.

[qqueenofhades]

Ok I seriously hope you don’t take this as bad faith but I’d like to genuinely understand this, and I’m not even sure if I’m articulating this thought well, but I don’t understand why it’s not also considered inhumane to allow a ton more people into a system so broken that it can’t even support the poorest that are in that nation…? I understand it’s important to hella reform immigration and that’s in the works, and that these people are fleeing far worse conditions, but I also feel like the rich are just looking to make yet another slave class out of these desperate people. Is it yet again a case of multiple broken systems in a trench coat? If so, I’d like to know the most prominent areas so I can try to start fighting it (the rights abuses, not the immigration)

Okay, but I'm not entirely sure what your point here is. It sounds like "we shouldn't allow immigrants into America until we can help every American first," which is probably not what you mean, but still. Yes, America as a culture, society, and economy has many, MANY problems. Nobody is denying or disputing that. But it is also literally a nation built on immigrants, and why is it "inhumane" to let them come here when they are so desperate to reach it that they will risk their lives in any number of ways...? Is it just that you're afraid you aren't being Socially Aware Enough on any particular economic or social issue, and need to find something else to worry about?

People come to America, or want to come to America, for many reasons. They are being persecuted, or their country is politically unstable, or they have few job opportunities, or they have family here, or whatever. They are not coming here because they're being passively manipulated "by the rich to make another slave class." The way we treat them can often be disgraceful (see: Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott), but there are also many, many communities and resources for welcome and support. Immigrants can often get jobs and save money. They can build new lives. This is something we should welcome, and because the right wing in America, with all its racism and xenophobia, has so long dominated the immigration debate as "scary brown people," this is long, LONG overdue.

Any strategy that wants to reduce "illegal immigration" must offer valid and safe pathways for legal immigration. That's why the UK is in the middle of such a clusterfuck: the hardline Tories who want nobody to move to Britain ever are trying to stop the small boat crossings across the Channel by being even more cartoonishly evil and deliberately unhelpful to the poor souls who do make it. They feel that if they can make a "hostile environment" (their own words) for refugees and asylum-seekers, eventually none of those irritating brown people will ever bother to try again, problem solved. Which of course, hasn't worked, not least since Britain refuses to allow any pathways for safe and legal immigration/resettlement from unsettled and/or third world countries. Even highly skilled workers have lots of trouble getting a UK settlement visa these days, so your average refugee/economic migrant? Forget it.

Because Biden is allowing generous quotas of legal migrants, that cuts down on the chaos and brutality of people-traffickers and other criminal enterprises who make their money by extorting desperate people who have no other option. Also, lest we forget, we are less than four years removed from the Trump policy of tearing children away from their families and putting them in literal cages, under the same "make it so bad for them that they'll stop coming!" fetish for institutional cruelty that drives the Tories.

There is also an additional moral responsibility for former empires to be open to immigration, given that they built their political systems' wealth and power by moving to OTHER people's countries and invading, exploiting, and enslaving them. Now when the descendants of those people want to come to your country in turn, the racist white conservative pearl-clutching is both depressing and predictable. But yes, let's not read people making the choice to come to America, for one reason or another, as either an attempt to siphon overstretched resources from Real Americans, or as helpless dupes manipulated by the capitalist class to just live more lives of drudgery and misery. They are real people making real choices, and the fact that they're still so eager to come to America, even with all its problems, is something that should be supported, in a sustainable way, as much as possible.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

[cordeliaflyte]

my dream.... I was part of an army in an ambiguous, vaguely mediaeval time period but I wasn't really a soldier I was some kind of scout. I would walk ahead of the army and enter nearby villages, kingdoms, cities, to garner support for our cause and ascertain whether they would assist us, who they were allied with, etc. while also solving conflicts among them. it was almost a video game like mechanic - every time I would enter a dwelling, everyone would freeze, waiting for me to speak to them.

one of the places I entered was a small kingdom. they were all surprised to see me enter they were like "a female scout/messenger?!" and I was like "yes. women are entering male dominated professions now in the Kingdom of Kent" (I was from the Kingdom of Kent) and they were like "oh ok".

so there were really complicated dynamics going on in this kingdom I visited which I knew perfectly in the dream but can no longer remember. there was King Prospero, who was a good ruler, handsome, just, etc. but he wanted to resign from the throne and offer it to this guy named Rodrigo, who might have been his nephew? he also had an evil advisor who did NOT want Rodrigo to become king as he could not manipulate Rodrigo. also Rodrigo never actually appeared so I never spoke to him.

they also all had some insane love triangle going on?? in the dream, I drew a diagram showing who fancied whom. Rodrigo kind of fancied King Prospero, who may or may not have been his nephew, who vaguely fancied him, but also him and the evil advisor HATED each other but ALSO had a homoerotic thing going on. but also the evil advisor kept hitting on me but I didn't get it because I was an innocent medieval maiden.

I was like so guys I know you have your own things going on. but will you ally with The Kingdom of Kent. and they were like clearly this is a progressive, forward thinking country, since women can be anything they want.

(I don't think I particularly *wanted* to be a military scout/diplomat. like don't get me wrong it beat having sixteen children and being a farmer. but it also involved crossing impossible distances on foot, quicker than an army, in a very hostile environment - not only one filled with my countries enemies who would do everything in their power to kidnap and torture me for information, but also one where nature was very treacherous.

The Kingdom of Kent was stuck in a perpetual winter so the population was chronically malnourished. there was way more livestock than farm grounds, and hunting was common, but obviously the animals we killed for food also had to eat something. we had a strong military but collaboration with neighbouring kingdoms - which were still a LONG long way away - was vital because we simply *had* to import most of our food.

so I would be a malnourished young woman travelling alone ahead of an army, mostly having to hunt my own food first in places with relatively little food, and when I ventured farther from home I had to get food somehow knowing that hunting might be restricted to nobility and I could get in trouble or for accidentally stealing someone's food etc)

SO since this country was so progressive they were like take this traitor of ours and keep him hostage in your super progressive feminist country. since he will be treated well there. NOT that if we minded if he was to die of an accident wink wink nudge nudge. much like djem in S1 of the borgias. and I was like of course assignment understood 🫡

so I trudged all the way back to my homeland (The Kingdom of Kent) with my hostage, who was clearly unprepared for the climate and tried to run away a few times. he was very horrified when I said "oh yeah sometimes we cannibalise each other in The Kingdom of Kent. but only when we're *really* hungry. and since we are now allies with your kingdom who will supply us with grain in exchange for military aid you probably won't get eaten ^_^". this was at odds with what he had been told of our enlightened feminist country.

when we finally got here, I was like okay we are here ^_^ you definitely cannot escape now ^_^ showing him the castle that was the epicentre of this cold and wintry and snowy kingdom. he was like okayyyy. and I pointed to a feature of the castle and was like this is the window our king throws traitors out of ^_^ just for fun. if you survive he picks you up and throws you out again.

#d

[mysterycharacterflowers]

Round 1; Dandelions 1 Vs A bouquet of willows and chives

If you know who they are, or are pretty sure of it, please don't tell until this poll has ended!

First, let's talk about the Dandelions 1

Why this flower was chosen: Dandelions, bc they 1) are not native to where this character creator is from. This character grew up in a kingdom that wasn't too fond of half-elves, and never quite belonged with the rest bc of that. 2) Survive and thrive in extreme + hostile environments- again, she grew up with a lot of things stacked against her, but manages to stay happy and optimistic despite it all. 3) are really cute, and she is also really cute. 4) she's dandelion coded. Description: in another world, where she'd been born in a happier place, she would've been a scholar, studying ancient religions and magic. if she'd been born in a modern world, she'd be a gamer. unfortunately, neither of these are true, and instead she's a half-elf wizard who grew up in a very oppressive kingdom that hates pretty much everyone who isn't a high elf or a drow. she's bought fully into her country's propaganda, and struggles to be seen as "good enough." because she grew up an outsider due to being a half-elf, she didn't really have any friends, (especially since the wizard training school she went to was like. i cant even think of a fictional example bad enough. it had a fucking mortality rate, schools shouldnt really have those), other than her sentient spellbook (whose sentience she had to keep a secret from everyone for fear he'd be taken away and she'd be alone). she's an unpaid intern for one of the ruling council of the kingdom. she was sent on her current mission with the expectation that she wouldn't be coming back. she's sweet and helpful but doesn't really trust anybody except her spellbook. i love her

Check their post here

Now, let's talk about the bouquet of willows and chives:

Meaning: Willows for Sadness (because hes an emo lil man) and Chives for usefulness (*) Description: – (*)This bouquet is OBSESSED with being useful to others – Hes the trans aroace ghost of an overworked programmer 80s dudebro. – Hes also in a queerplatonic Poly relationship with ANOTHER 80s dudebro, a shadow guy who looks like Krobus and an evil ass robot whos only screen face is ':D' – Also hes also trying to get all these shapeshifting masks so that he can ascend into godhood and... idk form a cybercult maybe. – Hes PERSONAL enemies with the Council (and it was good) – His gender is 'whatever's funnyest' – He watches Soap Carving Videos to fall asleep to.

Check their post here

#round 1 #mysterious character 2: dandelions 1 #mysterious character 2: a bouquet of willows and chives

[gemsofgreece]

https://www.vimaorthodoxias.gr/nea/zitisan-apo-ellina-ithopoio-na-vgalei-ton-stayro-poy-foroyse-sta-gyrismata-sirial-poy-tha-paichtei-sto-netflix/

Sad and unacceptable that they asked this Greek actor while filming to remove his cross necklace. Like the disrespect 😔

The article is in Greek, so I am gonna explain what happened. A Greek actor participated in a Pakistani production prepared for Netflix. The actor says he was immediately met with a hostile environment on set, however all this became even clearer when the producer demanded of him to remove his cross because “the movie would be international”. The actor argued that exactly since the movie would be international and not specifically Pakistani, it made sense to be more tolerant of all expressions and faiths (and his character wasn’t a Pakistani anyway). The producer insisted and the actor then argued that the cross wouldn’t be visible since his clothing was layered all the way to the top. The producer ignored this and insisted. The actor didn’t press the situation, he got ready for the shoot, kept the cross under his layers of clothing and filmed the scene without issue.

I am personally told an even worse situation: a friend was working in a restaurant in Germany, a supposedly tolerant European country. He was wearing a cross under his shirt. The Turkish supervisor demanded of him to remove the cross. It’s been years so I don’t remember exactly how this unfolded, whether he complied or not. (He left at some point though.) The whole argument is that you force your religion to others which is laughable and for some reason only happens with Christianity?! Does that mean that if I see a woman with a hijab I am automatically forced to become a Muslim?!?! No it only happens with a Cross. You automatically get a first class ticket to Saint Peter’s gates upon looking at a cross. What a bunch of bullshit! The Turk obviously did not like a cross in the restaurant , even under her employee’s shirt, and Germany, like many other western countries, in the name of diversity and inclusion, selectively welcome the beliefs of some communities while butchering the right to self-expression of others. I find this situation worse because at least the Pakistanis are overwhelmingly and very passionately Muslim, you could expect some reaction like this one from them (not that it is justified). But Germany which constantly raves about equality and tolerance and diversity turns a blind eye towards such injustice. I have been told this happens in many of the northern countries - they are so scared that they maybe called backwards because they are/were mostly Christian-cultured, that they have ended up accepting and empowering everyone except their own Christians.

And people are taking advantage of this. What are the chances that this Turkish supervisor would also demand of a potential Muslim waitress with a hijab to remove it? Not nonexistent, but pretty slim anyway. The cross though? Toss it away, no problem.

And let me be clear, of course people of other faiths face numerous problems with their religious garb in a society with a different major religion, i.e Christianity. Of course it’s super common for Christian shop owners to not hire visibly non-Christian employees. I am just commenting on the hypocrisy that this happens only by evil Christians, maintained by the “woke culture”. This in fact happens by everyone in power unfortunately. A Greek in Pakistan is harassed because he is in a disadvantage. A Pakistani in Greece has no as many ways to practise their faith because they are in a disadvantage. No matter how much we try, we just hide behind our fingers, religious intolerance remains strong everywhere across the globe. But the ones who pretend to have figured out and fixed all the problems are the ones who anger me the most, because they are hypocrites who allow such shit to keep happening under their nose.

#tw religion talk #greek orthodox #anon #mail

[rhetoricandlogic]

The Helm of Midnight (The Five Penalties, 1) - Marina Lostetter

Reviewed by:  Mark Everett Stone

A world created by mysterious gods filled with a variety of fanged, winged, and clawed death. A great valley made to house the frail humans who cannot survive in the hostile environment beyond and a wall of magic surrounding the valley to keep the monsters out. The is the world of The Helm of Midnight and it is a firecracker.

Krona is a Regulator (a cross between a midlevel knight and a police detective), for the great city of Lutador in the country of Lutador. She is a conflicted woman who suffers from vargerangaphobia, a paralyzing fear of monsters called Varger, elemental bear/wolves that embody a particular emotion ranging from love to despair. On her watch a valuable, and horrible, relic is stolen, the Mayhem Mask of the famed serial killer, Louis Charbon.

Masks are magical items that house the knowledge/talents/skills or memories of the people society deems valuable. They do this so their talents are not tossed into the dustbin of history, preserving them so when a person wears mask, the wearer, for a time, are endowed with those talents. The mask of Louis Charbon, a dark and evil relic, was crafted in secret by an unethical Enchanter, and thus was held by the state as a cautionary item.

This is the world of The Helm of Midnight, where emotions can be infused into gems and even time can be collected like taxes and used as the coin of the realm. The gods are an ambiguous lot the with names like Zhe, She, Fey, He, and They and are the children of the first elemental god, the Thalo, who is often seen as a terrifying entity, if not downright evil, with little regard for human beings.

With this as a backdrop, Lostetter sends the reader right into the action, diving deep into a murder mystery as well as flashbacks into the emergence of Louis Charbon as a serial killer who crafts his victims’ corpses into a semblance of flowers. A gruesome touch to add to serial killer lore.

What makes this book a captivating read is not merely the tight prose and exquisite use of language to create tension, but the master craft level of world building that offers much more to the fantasy genre than the usual fare. Unlike Donaldson’s generic The Land, to the hyper-realized marvel of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the Valley, comprising the countries of Marrakev, Lutador, Asgar-Skan, Winsrouen and Xyopar, is a unique microcosm of humanity set in a wasteland of barely breathable air and ferocious monsters, protected by the magic wall. Every now and then one of the immortal vergers pierces the protective magic and rampages across the countryside until the Regulators can contain them.

The first of a series, The Helm of Midnight offers readers so much more than what is currently available, bringing a fresh voice to a genre that has become a little stale as of late. Don’t pass this one by, it’s too good.

#Marina Lostetter #The Helm of Midnight #mahreviews #long post

[nnn-lll-nnn]

how fares the xanxon army?

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION

XANXON MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, MOD, XANXON INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, XIA, XIEPHR, XZAN, &C &C &C.

PUBLICATION DATE

1RST OCT 16TH 1975 2 ARG

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BEGIN [RECORD]

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HAYL XANXONI [OBLIGATORY]!

AZUL XANXONI!

PRAIZ XANXONI!

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THE XANXON ARMY is a part of the larger Xanxon Military, specifically the ground forces. It is the greatest fighting force in the I.T.C.G.[A.]'s records and the largest, not only Intertimelinally but also proportionally speaking, relative to the Xanxon Military, it remains the largest branch.

The following is a list of all actions pertaining in relation to the Xanxon Army, as a service record and a log of all actions considered even remotely noteworthy, since January 1 1rst, 1975 2 ARG, from the Dayi Operation on Dazaan, to the present day [16OCT1-1975-2ARG].

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###KAZ--- [REDACTED]

###KZA--- [REDACTED]

###KHZ--- [REDACTED]

###DTL--- [On January 1 1rst,] Xanxon ambassadors meet with General Ryan Ponitownolskiy, of the pro-Xanxon forces, in Warsaw Poland, Dt.A.L..

###DZN--- Just a mere two or so weeks [13-14ds] prior to the Invasion of [REDACTED], Xanxon forces, some 36,000 elite troopers, assaulted the small town of Dayi during the identically named operation. In spite of being outnumbered by the roughly 155k Imperium troops, they were able to so nobly push the invaders out, however this would only be so long lived naturally, as by the 14th enemy reinforcements arrived and crushed the forces present with some over 300,000 hostile personnel piling onto the much smaller force of highly trained Xanxon troopers, who pulled back out of necessity.

###SDW--- On January 1 14th, the Xanxons commence their Invasion of [REDACTED], which seems some rather immediate success, however, after the cruel war crimes committed by the Imperium, and their overwhelming numbers, Xanxon forces were forced to fall back at and after the key and decisive battles, of Carcass Ridge and The Lublin District Pocket, see below comments upon this document for further clarification regarding this campaign. Afterwards, the Xanxon Army was forced to retreat off-world, having dealt heavy casualties, at least at a one to one ratio with the enemy, and unto him they struck.

###WRD--- (Various minor conflicts).

###DTL--- After repeated Imperium aggression, the cowardly evil of Markovich struck again, and this time during Operation Sodium, an Imperial plan to crush Xanxon and local resistance efforts by eliminating most of our leadership, and by capturing or killing General Relek, who, contrary to official Imperium statements, is not guilty of any such war crimes as he is currently being accused of.

###DTL--- On Nov. 16, 2009 D.t.A.L. Local Time, various Bari/Batti-Class Nation(alist) heroes in Europe launched a gracious military coup takeover against the decadent democracies in Britain, France etc., following Ivan Morozov's decision to side with the Xanxons, and save his country of Russia from the clutches of Imperium "freedom". Likewise, General Jeac Ben Venice of France had also decided he'd have had enough of the Imperium's false promises and lies and oppression.

###GSH--- Following this, the opening of the front in January, then by April of the 1rst ARG Cycle, and in April of the GSH's year 2020, our heroes successfully took Leyai City against the evil Soviet and American Imperialist forces. This grand, great and sweeping counteroffensive action had just coincided with many events on the rest of the Interntimelinal Plane.

###T71--- {{AZR-K-15.-8}} It was here that the Imperium failed to even begin occupied the Trinity Seven Dash One world, as we had just quite simply beaten them to it.

###T72--- Minor clashes and an alliance with the Triangleheads had just begun by this point in time.

###DNG--- Likewise, Dazaan had just completely fallen. The Xanxon Army had crushed the evil forces of the Imperium here as well. Predominantly in Asiatic environs.

###DTL--- It was around this point that a massive, full scale Invasion of the DTAL United States has begun, and they lost their capitol very rapidly.

###DTL--- Fortunes for the devilish continued, however, as an equally despicable Empire had just arrived, invading through Germany. What followed was a lengthy and costly struggle. From early to mid December, up until March 1rst of next year (2010), this Empire would fight, as they did in Germany, and in France, and in Poland, and in Berlin, and in Italy, and in Madrid, and in Vladivostok, and in Saint Petersburg, and as in Manchuria, and all before Markovich had committed serious and completely ignored by the community war crimes, achieving a rather speedy victory.

###GSH--- A long, lengthy and complex war had just begun. Following various actions, Interntimelinal World War One had just begun. And it would be bloody, as on the battlefield we had played honorably, and they had just returned that honorable nature with a show of barbaric force and pure malicious evil, trampling upon every single agreement they had signed, promised and had sworn upon. We had to eventually accept a negotiated settlement, which had granted us most of what we had wanted in exchange for peace, simply because we had just slaughtered that many. And it is this settlement that we can indeed consider a victory.

###KRG--- We had joined in upon the imperials in fighting for what they claim and what we prove to be our objective, and that is the rules by which we as responsible hlGl geostrategic citizens must indeed quite follow. And so he had joined upon even unto this dearest conflict.

###2BT--- After repeated attacks, our rather quite slightly troubled ally of Ner was just plain forced to invade Preska, an evil regime, however, by now after August and September, the war had mellowed out in Preska.

###WRD--- It was there, during the heroic and altogether futile fighting in Manchuria, that the enemy had unleashed such terrible weaponry systems and am entire race of such Insectoids as defined by Aichi. We had begun to secure victory by this point, however.

###WRD--- Various conflict, all minor, occured by this point.

###XXE--- And yet it was within our own Empire, that traitors have just tried to seize and secure their ill-gotten power. And yet it is the heroic and impossibly good Xanxon Army who had stopped these terrorists dead in there tracks.

Many conflict are still ongoing, and we are always innovating and improving.

We yet look forward even unto November.

HAYL XANXONI!

(Note, some materials contain the listing of '1975 1', and this is an error, and or indicates oversimplification. Presently, we are in DASH TWO, 1975 ARG time, or the SECOND repeat proper in the year. And it is of this year that we are currently in the Month of OCTOBER, 16th day, FIRST [MONTH] CYLCE OF OCTOBER. And it is of this that there are currently a remaining FOUR Cycles of the year before we enter DASH THREE, then all months repeat five times, before we enter DASH FOUR, and then all months repeat for the second last time, as we enter DASH FIVE, and one last cycle happens before we enter 1976 DASH ONE.).

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END

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#xanxon #unreal #unreality #Xanxon Empire #Xanxon Army #Xanxon.army #XXNXXN #Xanxoni #Imperium #Imperium Alliance #Novo Alliance

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

It was midnight on October 13, 2018. Pastor Andrew Brunson, a survivor of religious persecution in Turkey, was greeted with an American flag as he descended from an Air Force flight in Germany after a harrowing two-year imprisonment. Overwhelmed with joy, he buried his face in the star-spangled banner.

Back in 1993, Brunson had departed from the U.S. to serve as a pastor for the Izmir Dilrilis (Resurrection) Church in Turkey. For two decades he led the evangelical Presbyterian congregation. However, during the aftermath of a failed coup in 2016, Brunson was arrested on trumped-up terrorism and espionage charges. He spent the next two years in prison.

Throughout this time, Brunson maintained his innocence while Christians across America prayed and advocated for him. New York pastor Bill Devlin and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who was serving as a U.S. Commissioner on International Religious Freedom, attended his trial in 2018. Despite a guilty verdict from the court, the Turkish court allowed Brunson to return home due to good behavior and time already served. But the America he returned to was drastically different from the country he had left.

In a “Washington Watch” interview with Perkins, Brunson explained that in the nineties, Christianity was still largely viewed as a socially positive force in America.

“But in the last eight or ten years, there’s just this sudden acceleration away from this where being a Christian now is actually seen as a social negative,” shared the North Carolina native. “As I come back to the States and I see an environment that is becoming more hostile, I think [it] is going to become much more so in the near future. Many people aren’t prepared for the hardships that come with persecution.”

Brunson expressed that the ongoing cultural shift cannot be fixed by political victories but rather by Christians in diverse industries continuing to champion truth. But in a time when many are “under pressure” to conform, Brunson believes “purification requires fire.”

In response, Perkins shared that there is also an “eschatological explanation” for the rejection of Christian values.

“As we near the return of Christ, there is a refinement that is taking place in the church,” Perkins said. “Around the globe, people of different backgrounds are coming to Christ. There is a move of the Spirit in the world today, but also evil is on the march and we’re seeing it prominently here in our nation.”

The two discussed how when the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed in 1993, both sides of the aisle could agree on the matter, but those days are long gone. In recent weeks, multiple places of worship and pregnancy resource centers across the country have been attacked.

“The Supreme Court decision on Dobbs is being portrayed as a victory for Christians that is going to oppress people,” asserted Brunson. “And then you look at the Supreme Court decision on the football coach who was fired from his job for kneeling on the football field after games on his own. And the Supreme Court says, ‘No, we’re going to defend religious freedom. The state shouldn’t be intrusive in that way.’ This is being portrayed in media as, again, a victory for Christians that’s going to impose morality on people.”

Brunson, who also serves as FRC’s Special Advisor for Religious Freedom, feels an urgency for Christians in the West to prepare for a coming wave of hostility. “Jesus demands obedience from us in areas of sexual morality, gender identity, life, biblical justice,” he said. “And if we stand for those, then we’re going to come under pressure.”

Brunson has been criticized for being too political for a minister and for wading into polarizing issues. His response? “God isn’t Republican. He’s not a Democrat. He’s God. And he’s saying, get on my side. And so when we speak the truth about these issues, it’s not political, but people will interpret it that way. It’s simply a matter of truth.”

As a survivor of religious oppression in Turkey, Brunson anticipates that many Christians in America will soon experience persecution.

“Our country is entering a time of judgment. It’s inevitable. And so as our country is being judged, we ourselves as believers are not under judgment, but we are going through that with everyone else.”

To equip Christ-followers during this wave of hostility, Brunson recently launched an eight-part series titled “Prepare to Stand.” In it, he shares some of the lessons he learned on staying faithful during his imprisonment. Perkins closed the interview by asking him what Christians can do to be prepared for this time of hostility and judgment.

“How can we prepare ourselves … so that when we are afraid, we do not run but stand? There are things that we can do, mindsets that we can develop, disciplines that can prepare us for that,” Brunson shared. “And then when people persecute us, don’t say, ‘Well, God, how could you let this happen to me?’ Often he works in the midst of suffering.”

[zerogate]

Thus Egypt plays host equally to the extremes of the overflowing life of the oasis and the intractable hostility of the barren desert. There is such a concentration of life, and at the same time such an unequivocally sterile expanse surrounding it, that one wonders at the peculiar destiny of this landscape that has to bear within itself, in such extreme degrees, both fecundity and desolation. It is as if here, in this unique physical environment, one comes closer than anywhere else in the world to an experience of the universal forces of life and death, playing out their mutually antagonistic yet complementary roles. They vie with each other, they contend with each other, but there is also a kind of harmony in this perpetual tension and conflict of each within the other. Neither can drive the other one out, and so they exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium.

The ancient Egyptians called their country the Two Lands. This is usually taken at its face value to refer to the Delta region on the one hand, and the rest of the Nile valley on the other. But the broad and fertile plain of the Delta—Lower Egypt—and the long, confined valley of Upper Egypt were themselves a re-expression of a deeper, underlying polarity. From the beginning, the Delta was the domain of Horus while Upper Egypt was the province of Seth, the great opponent from whom the imperiled life and fecundity of the Nile valley had annually to be won. Seth ruled the desert; the desert was Seth’s land. And Seth was eternally opposed by Horus; eternally combated and defeated. As much as the Two Lands of Egypt are the North and the South, they are equally the fertile Black Lands of the Nile valley, and the barren Red Lands of the encompassing desert.

But the concept of Two Lands goes further than any merely geographical distinction. In Egypt, the physical landscape has a metaphysical resonance of which the ancient Egyptians were keenly aware: the Two Lands are the two contending yet mutually interpenetrating realms of life and death, of the spiritual or heavenly world on the one hand, and the world of lifeless matter on the other. It is not without significance that the name Horus—in Egyptian, Heru—meant “He who is Above.” Horus was representative of Heaven, while the domain of Seth was that of unspiritualized matter, chaos, and death. And so this landscape is both paradise and hell, at war with each other yet united in precarious balance and reciprocity.

The Egyptian sun, with its life-giving, translucent light and its searing desert heat contains the same polarity. The sun that shines benevolently upon the flourishing Nile valley is the same sun that scorches the desert. And so the deity whose visible manifestation is the sun, Ra, contains within himself all duality. He is source and progenitor both of the Above and the Below, of Heaven and Earth, and of Horus and Seth. Each night Ra acknowledges this by entering into, passing through, but finally overcoming, the domain in which the forces of Seth are rampant—the Underworld. Here Seth’s power manifests as a life-denying opposition to spirit, but—as such—it is also the necessary precondition of the renewal of life and spiritual rebirth. Even Seth, who in so many respects is the archetype of negativity, embodies a certain duality; he was never thought of as unequivocally bad or evil, but rather as a necessary component of the cosmos viewed as a totality.

In Egypt, one is constantly impressed by the balance and interplay of the opposites: life and death, abundance and barrenness, light and dark, day and night, society and solitude. Each is so clearly described that one sees that the ancient Egyptians could not but understand the world in dualistic terms. Their landscape teaches the metaphysics of the equilibrium of opposing principles. To maintain this balance of the Two Lands, of Horus and Seth, of the Above and the Below, was the central preoccupation of the Egyptian people, which devolved specifically upon the king. One of the titles of the king was “The Two Lords.” In the office of kingship, and thereby throughout the whole country, Horus and Seth were embodied and held in equilibrium.

--  Jeremy Naydler, Temple of the Cosmos: The Ancient Egyptian Experience of the Sacred

#quotes

[idv-ask-azrael]

[some random af Magnus Archives x IDV crossover ideas for the hunters]

[I will give a quick explanation of the basic concept of TMA. Thus this post will include spoilers from The Magnus Archives (world building) and the backstories of the Hunters of IDV as I have understood them]

[Also this is a Horror Game meeting a Horror Podcast. Even though I will not go into detail, please consider yourself warned.]

[In the world of TMA fears exist as a type of supernatural being/concept. They are not really intelligent; they just want to feed on people's fear from where ever they are outside this reality. They can mark people and those people either become victims (who are very likely to die) or start living with and nurturing the fear, thus becoming an avatar with an unique set of skills that fit the fear they are serving. While there is usually one "main" patron/fear, one can be marked by multiple fears and many statements/episodes mix fears.]

[I will not be going on about what fear does what (that'll take forever and you can read it up on the wiki) but I'll explain my choice]

~~

Hell Ember

The Desolation

The Desolation is primarily associated with fire, loss and destruction

Technically, Freddy would be the avatar and Hell Ember a victim but for the sake of this, we will ignore that fact

~

The Ripper

The Flesh, the Slaughter or The Hunt

Jack the Ripper murdered and mutilated people and if that doesn't scream The Flesh, then idk what does

Jacks "other personality" might just be The Slaughter hopping into his mind

Hunting, tracking prey is very Hunt-like

~

Smiley Face

The Desolation, (The Flesh, The Stranger)

He most likely burned down the circus and he himself is a victim of having his life destroyed

He is wearing someone's face.... Flesh and Stranger say hello

~

Gamekeeper

The Hunt

He is hunting down everyone who steps foot in his territory

~

Feaster

to be honest, I feel like this man is in his own league and cannot be categorized

~

If anything, it would probably be The Vast considering Hastur's head is a void with eyes

The ocean is often connected to the Vast as well

Geisha

The Lonely

With Miles gone, Michiko must have felt incredibly alone in this new country and hostile environment

considering we never really get detailed information, she could have cultivated her mark of The Lonely before she was killed

~

Soul Weaver

The Stranger or The Web

Circus, Freakshow, Prosthetics... Nikola, you forgot to pick up your spider friend

The Flesh would not fit, since she is getting prosthetics (non-biological). main story doesn't really deal with her body but rather what she makes of it

Spider mom. The Web primarily uses spiders.

~

Wu Chang

The Lonely and The Buried

Considering they seem to be very close (sworn brothers, almost identical design, they only exist together), Wujiu's death must have filled Bian with incredible loneliness

The Buried is also associated with "drowning" and "not being able to breathe", making it perfect for Wujiu

~

Photographer

The Eye, The Lonely, The End, (The Spiral)

Photography is a visual art, so The Eye is not far fetched

Conquering death and his obsession with it is a very good motive for The End

Joseph knows his brother is dead but still goes on and looks for a cure; it displays an obsession with a certain type of knowledge

Your twin dies. Loneliness here we come.

I only listed The Spiral because he is creating pathways to another place

~

Mad Eyes

The Hunt, (The Eye)

His fear of another attack would technically count as the fear of being hunted down. again, this would make him a victim, not an avatar but hey

tbh I just put down The Eye because his skills feature cameras

~

Dream Witch

The Web or the Vast

She is controlling a lot of followers... Web?

"There is something bigger out there" and Yhidra is right there with her followers

~

Evil Reptilian

The Flesh

His body was changed, thus The Flesh is a possible option

~

Axe Boy

The End

He certainly outlived his end

There is no special fear associated with nature and tbh I can't really find a theme for him

~

Bloody Queen

The End or The Slaughter

The End for living after being beheaded

The Slaughter is for going from Marie Antoinette to Bloody Mary

~

Guard 26

The Stranger, (the Hunt)

a machine becoming conscious and pretending to be human (or more) sounds very Stanger-like

Since Bonbon is used to keep people off the property, one could say he helps Bane hunt down intruders

~

Disciple

The Corruption

There is a lot of sickness and plague in her backstory; the corruption says hi (especially with the whole cat thing)

As tempting as Devil's Eyes sound, her story as nothing to do with The Eye besides the same symbol

~

Violinist

The Corruption or The Web

I mean he did get corrupted by the devil

His blood is "infected" by desire

His music seems to captivate others and it sounds almost as if it was addicting; he might be able to corrupt others

The Web usually controls people, so Antonio might fit there

~

Sculptor

The Spiral, The Stranger or The Flesh

The Spiral is often associated with madness or your mind lying to yourself. I think we can all agree she went mad enough to qualify

Creating very human-like sculptures sounds like a Stranger thing

Considering she most likely turned her caretaker into a sculpture, The Flesh might also be involved

~

Undead

The End

The End is all about death and this man is undead

There are avatars of The End who appear as "Death" until someone takes their place. They appear to be undead or immortal afterwards, so this is not a very far stretch

Reanimated Corpses/People are also marked by The End

~

The Breaking Wheel

The Slaughter or The Stranger?

From what I gathered they behaved just fine until one night, they suddenly started attacking people... so Slaughter?

Pretending to be one person or generally acting as a "family", the Stranger seems like a good choice

The Flesh doesn't qualify because while their "abnormal appearance" is mentioned, it is never really the main issue. acting is much more important to them.

The Lonely don't qualify because they still have each other

~

Naiad

The Buried

The Buried is also associated with "drowning" and "not being able to breathe"

One could also add in some Darkness or Vast for whatever turned her at the bottom of the lake

~

Wax Artist

The Flesh or The Stranger

His obsession with physical appearance and the fact he fused his sister to his shoulder makes it sound very Flesh-like

His sister still moves on his shoulder, so it might be Stranger related, especially with all those very human-looking sculptures

The End would not qualify since it was a one time event and not a long term obsession or issue

~

Nightmare

The Spiral or The Slaughter

With all the mind games, drugs and hallucinations, the spiral isn't far off

Another personality with violent tendencies! Slaughter, here we go again!

#just mun things:rambling #ha here we go again #fandoms got me

[bernardo1969]

The prophet Jeremiah preached in the Kingdom of Judah during the last years of its existence, during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah. Although King Josiah was a man faithful to the law of Moses, his premature death in the battle of Megiddo put Jeremiah's life in danger because the successors of this king were not people who feared God. Jeremiah found an extremely hostile environment, the entire nation had given itself over to idolatry, and the country's leadership was only interested in plundering and oppressing the common and simple people. Jeremiah among other things, prophesied the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, at the hands of the Babylonian empire, due to the sins committed, especially those of King Manasseh, who brought them to a climax. But with this, the prophet did not seek to condemn the Israelites but rather to teach them and give them important warnings to return to the path of God, because when men despise the fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion), men lose common sense, and give themselves over to madness and suffering. In this way, with an oracle, Jeremiah taught that men reap what they sow, and that there is no blessedness in those who practice evil and idolatry: "And if you ask yourself, ´Why has this happened to me?´— it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated. Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its sports? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil. ´I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,´ declares the LORD, ´because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.´" Jeremiah 13:22-25.

#wordofgod #bible scripture #dailydevotion

[wyvernwriterparttwo]

Azul, Bastion of Vanar

Azul grew up in the heart of Vanar, living peacefully during the country's glory days. He loved the place. He promised he would do anything for his people.

He decided to join an officer's academy when he was 19. His family was fairly well off, so that wasn't much of a problem.

His skills as a fighter and a leader proved useful, and he soon began to gain the attention of the nobility. This attention led to him getting lots of money and rewards, most of which he used to give to the people.

He couldn't give a noble title to the people, however. It was a minor one, but it helped him gain some insight into the high life.

Mostly, what he learned is that he didn't like it. Sure, it gave him and his family security, but most of the nobility was frustrating to deal with.

Except a woman named Selenas, who was rather nice to him. They liked each other, and eventually fell in love. She wasn't exactly a noble woman, more a knight.

The Landbreaker War started soon after he graduated the academy, and he joined the war effort. His strength continued to prove useful, as he was one of the strongest warriors in the army, and gathered himself more and more allies than he could count.

He didn't feel as accomplished. While his achievements were grand, he didn't like that he was killing people who probably sighed up for the same reason as him. Even those he faced who seemed evil had a reason. He just.

Eventually, once the war ended, Azul was asked to join the royal knights. But Selenas was pregnant. While the knights could support him and the family, the two didn't want to have their child grow up in such a hostile and odd environment. They both declined and left, eventually forming the Silver Lances, a Vanarian mercenary company.

Then they gave birth to Chris, a child who would soon grow into a hero.

#writblr #fantasy #my ocs #writeblr #srpg #hero forge #character bio #tathyliachronicles #wip intro #tellius inspired #unfortunately selenas suffered from fe parent disease and disappeared when Chris was ten because of a magical experiment gone wrong #she'll be back #azul however...

[michaelbellu]

An echo chamber so loud it pops a filter bubble

Blog 2/16

If someone yells into an echo chamber, but no one hears it, does it still create polarization?

The article “Filter bubble,” by Axel Bruns, claims that echo chambers and filter bubbles are not as significant in creating polarization as people think. “The myth of the filter bubble,” above all, “is one thing: a big misunderstanding.” Misunderstanding continues to circulate in public debate, and scholars push back against it by pointing to studies that claim to debunk it.

New media and communication technologies have always undergone a process of individual adaptation and social construction; while not neutral, the technologies and their providers are neither inherently good nor evil in this but can be employed by their users to serve socially and societally beneficial as well as disruptive ends.

The article “The echo chamber is overstated: the moderating effect of political interest and diverse media,” by Elizabeth Duboisa and Grant Blank, also focuses on echo chambers with a more specific focus on politics. They also claim not to find significance in echo chambers when looking at the entire multi-media environment. The studies show that partisan echo chambers among politically interested could contribute to a growing gap in knowledge between those who are politically interested and those who are not. Greater interest in politics and more media diversity reduces the likelihood of being in an echo chamber. However, the high-choice environment also allows individuals, including those who are politically interested, to consume a wide variety of media, which could lead them to more diverse content and perspectives.

The article “When Birds of a Feather Instagram Together: Debating the Image of Islam in Echo Chambers and Through Trench Warfare on Social Media,” by Zeynep Aydin, Albrecht Fuess, Marcel Förster, and Thijl Sunier, shows that echo chambers do exist and how they can impact large groups of people. This study proves that not only do echo chambers exist within the #CharlieHebdo discussion online, but they can transcend multiple countries.

While echo chambers are built based on political views or personal interest, it is trigger events such as terror attacks that reinforce these filter bubbles. Tweets and likes by “cybermobs,” boost negative sentiments like anti-Muslim hostility and can finally lead to real-life targeting of Muslims.

While it could be argued that the “dank memes” modularity class is relatively low, considering that one user has posted most of the posts, this might not qualify as echo chamber behavior. However, the fact that there are many posts with these specific hashtags and because the individual posts are findable and offer a place for comments to be made qualify this hub as an echo chamber behavior and perhaps an echo chamber in itself.

Despite what data has been shown in studies, I believe that echo chambers and filter bubbles are major reasons for increased polarization. I understand that people have to intentionally seek out information online and that algorithms are not responsible for what people put in them to how the end results. However, whether users intentionally try to see reflective content or not, applications will show them what they “like” to try to keep them on the platform longer.

Throughout the articles, the idea of people using social media and online technology to find differing opinions to learn new perspectives and see what people from the opposing side are saying is unrealistic. Most of the public does not want to see what the other side has to say unless it’s so they can criticize it and belittle it. Some people do that, especially highly educated technology and media-literate users. Outside of college classrooms and other scholarly uses, the majority of people use social media and the internet to confirm ideas they already have and give credibility to their opinions. These users mostly use the differing opinion’s media as ammunition for their arguments and talking points. This behavior promotes filter bubbles and creates echo chambers. In many cases, things may not rise to a full “echo chamber” but still trend in that direction enough to generate more polarization. The idea that the opposite happens and the public will use technology to understand and learn about opposing sides seems unrealistic and utopian.

#echochamber #filterbubble

[eaglesnick]

101 Things You Should Know About the UK Tory Government

Thing 81

Yesterday I accused Sunak’s government of lacking human decency, being devoid of human compassion and morality.  One of Sunak’s ministers highlighted was Suella Braverman and her seeming indifference to the plight of asylum seekers, citing the examples of outbreaks of disease in over-crowded migrant detention centres and the disappearance of over 200 migrant children supposedly in her care.

On the same day these fears about Braverman were reinforced by her decision to break promises made to the Windrush Generation.

 The Windrush Generation were named after the first ship to bring LEGAL immigrants to the UK from the Caribbean in  1948. The children of these immigrants were accepted under the passports of their parents and some of these children never registered for their own passports because they had no intension of travelling abroad. Essentially, this left hundreds of black individuals without official documentation proving their right to be in this country.

Pandering to the anti-immigration fever that was a major component of the  Brexit campaign, the Conservative party decided it needed to prove its “British”  credentials and decided it  needed to be seen to be doing something to address the immigration “problem”.

What followed was the Home Office “hostile environment policy”, whereby  illegal deportation of black British citizens, illegal detention and  the denial of legal rights became commonplace: the Windrush children had become the sacrificial lambs of a Conservative Party frightened by the rise of Nigel Farage and his Brexit and anti-immigration party.

In March 2020, a damning report exposed the deep injustices suffered by the Windrush Generation and 30 recommendations were set out, and the Tory government promised to act on all of them.

On the 6th January 2023 it was reported that “Suella Braverman plans to ditch key Windrush pledges.”  This provoked a huge backlash from leading politicians and members of the black community.

 “Prominent black Britons who have criticised the government include Ian Wright, who referred to the government as “evil” and “heartless”, as well as the MP David Lammy who told the home secretary: “Using the Windrush Generation as a political football is totally reprehensible. Backsliding on the recommendations after the scandalous way innocent black Britons were treated by the government is sick, cruel and debases the UK.” (Guardian: 07/01/23)

Yesterday, Braverman confirmed her decision to renege on former commitments made to the Windrush victims.

It is hard not to agree that this government truly is sick, cruel and debased.

#uk politic #rishi sunak #suella braverman #human rights #Windrush #illegal deportation #illegal detention #ian wright #david lammy #nigel farage

[ladymazzy]

Non-verbal black teenager who has never left UK detained at immigration centre

From the article (bold highlights mine):

'The boy – who is non-verbal – disappeared from a hospital in Kent, where he had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, on 7 April. Two days later, he was arrested by British Transport Police (BTP) at Euston on suspicion of fare evasion, before being detained by Immigration Enforcement near Gatwick, despite being British.

“It’s just horrific,” the boy’s mother said. “Because he’s black they just assumed ‘let’s pick him and put him in a deportation centre’.”

When the boy was returned to the hospital, his clothes contained Home Office documents that incorrectly stated his name and date of birth, and recorded his nationality as Nigerian.

“How do they know he’s from Nigeria, when he doesn’t even speak to them?” the woman said of her son.

When the hospital became aware of his disappearance, the family, local police and BTP were notified, the woman said, and he was listed as a missing person.

It is unclear where the boy went in the days before his arrest. He is understood to have travelled to Manchester, where the family had previously lived, before trying to return to London without a phone, money or identification.

On the morning of 9 April, BTP said they were notified of a fare evader on board a London-bound train from Manchester. In a statement, BTP said the male provided a false name and date of birth, stating he was 20.

At Euston, he was arrested on suspicion of fare evasion and taken to police custody in Islington, according to BTP, where “officers were unable to engage with the male or verify the details provided despite their efforts, which included attending the address provided”. The boy’s fingerprints were then taken and he was detained by Immigration Enforcement.

Documents apparently prepared at the detention centre, and seen by the Guardian, incorrectly state his name and date of birth, and record his nationality as Nigerian. They describe him as a person who requires leave to enter or remain in the country, which he does not have. On one document, it states his removal from the UK was “imminent” as he had failed to give “satisfactory or reliable answers” to immigration officers.

The boy is a British citizen and has never left the UK. His mother said he would not have been able to say his date of birth properly, and would never have said he was from Nigeria.

This week, a BTP commander told her that when they searched the Kent address the boy had provided, they discovered a Nigerian family living there. She was told that officers gathered the boy was from a Nigerian background as he had the same accent as the residents. She contested this statement, describing her son’s accent, when he does rarely speak, as Mancunian and London.

#uk racism #hostile environment #especially if you're Black #doesn't matter if you're a child who's never left the country; 'must be an illegal immigrant from nigeria' #ableism and racism galore #this country is evil but dares to dismiss us whe we talk about the racism here #telling us we're hijacking 'Anerican' issues #my good friend your ancestors invented racism and gifted it to the world #how's that for 'an achievement of empire'? #guardian articles