#the second paragraph basically calls out the hypocrisy of some people | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomestfandoms-ocs · 3 years

Note

What’s Kirsty’s relationship with Jess like? (I know you touched on it a bit in the Yale ask but I wanna know more!)

Short answer: “true friends don’t judge each other, they judge other people together” meets “slow burn found family”

Long Answer: oh boy buckle up we’re getting an Outline™ bc I really don’t know how to sum it up bc it’s a lot of growth and shit! it’s like... many many paragraphs so I’m tossing this under a cut bc i don’t want to be murdered lmao

(I’m just... v proud of how much work went into planning out their whole arc and how the dynamic shifts and how certain plots play into things and I just wanted to share it all I couldn’t chill and I’m like half sorry but thank you for this ask I love them)

So when they first meet they don’t really get along because they’re just generally both kind of abrasive and shit, like it’s not personal on either end but they both generally push people away so that they don’t open themselves up to get hurt which makes their first couple of meetings kind of rough

but then there’s the dinner at Lorelai’s and Kirsty went outside because the whole vibe was just setting her on edge, and she hears the Lorelai rant bullshit (hi lorelai he’s seventeen and your an adult grow the fuck up) and as he leaves she goes after him — she tries to apologize for “my mom being... well, the way she is” and Jess immediately snaps back that he doesn’t want her pity, and Kirsty just shrugs and goes “nah dude I get it, parents suck. My dad is a piece of shit and my mom, well, you’ve met her... not to mention she named Rory after herself and me after my piece of shit dad so I’m sure you can guess who her favourite child is” and just keeps it very chill and Jess takes that a lot better than pity and they end up talking for a bit and are like “yeah okay I can get along with you” and like they aren’t close but they both like pissing Taylor off and giving Luke ulcers so it works well enough

Kirsty absolutely flips her shit when Taylor calls the town meeting about Jess like she tears into him more aggressively than anyone has seen before and basically tells them all to shut the fuck up and “let him at least settle in before you pull out the fucking pitchforks” and goes off on them all for trying to bully a seventeen year old kid out of a town he didn’t even choose to move to and like Luke still gets there and flips his shit too but Kirsty is completely feral calling out the hypocrisy and telling them to get off their high horses and pull their heads out of their asses — like they might not be close but Kirsty is so far beyond pissed at the idea of Taylor calling a meeting literally just to get everyone to hate Jess that she can’t just stand there quietly

Fast forward a bit and they’re getting along a bit better, Kirsty spends so much time at the diner that she and Jess have taken to talking during Jess’ shifts and Kirsty helps out when she can so they’re starting to actually get along, Kirsty has figured out the tells for when Jess just can’t deal with people anymore and will make up all sorts of excuses to get him a break (anything from ‘hey can you read over this essay’ to ‘hey did you remember to grab that book from upstairs’ to basically anything else that comes to mind) which he appreciates and when he’s on his breaks he sits at the counter to do homework with her

By the Bracebridge dinner they’re like actually friends, and when Jess meets Tristan for the first time he’s fully prepared to hate him but when he sees how shitty Lorelai is being about Tristan he’s just like “okay guess we’re in the same boat” so the three of them end up working together to stay as far away from Lorelai as possible for most of the night and Kirsty is just very grateful for the buffer because like she just can’t deal with Lorelai and Jess remembers her comment on the “you can guess who the favourite is” and starts to see how much Lorelai’s disapproval actually bothers Kirsty

fast forward even more to Christopher coming to town and with Sherry and all that and oof Kirsty is not okay like her relationship with Christopher is terrible and Jess kind of knows this already (based on the fact that Kirsty asked Luke to stand in for her dad at the debutante ball because she wanted nothing to do with Christopher; and he’s heard her bitch about him before) but when Christopher and Sherry come to the house, Kirsty excuses herself for “dance rehearsal” and runs over to the diner and Luke is out at the moment and Kirsty is Not Okay™ and Jess is the one who sees her just standing in the doorway shaking and clearly about to start crying and he just quietly leads her up to the apartment and sits down and lets her sort of collapse on the couch and she tells him about Christopher and about how unreliable and flakey he always was and how Luke has always been more her dad than him and he always shows up and tries to play happy family and then bails as soon as he gets bored or something comes up and about how now he’s apparently changing and becoming mr family man and why wasn’t she worth changing for

and jess has no idea how to handle this whole breakdown because he's a little bit emotionally stunted (which is fair and so is she) but it definitely resonates with him and he ends up sitting next to her and telling her that if Christopher wasn’t willing to change for she and Rory then it’s because of him not her and trying to comfort her even though he really doesn’t know how, and ends up opening up to her about Liz and his life before Stars Hollow too. It’s more than either of them have shared with anyone before and it’s very strange tbh — at this point they’re definitely veering into the friend category but neither of them would admit it, not to mention they don’t talk that often because neither of them wants to deal with a Lorelai Gilmore Hissy Fit, you know?

(also a sidenote, Tristan is completely chill about literally all of this like he and Kirsty are the healthiest relationship and have very good communication skills now and he's just like “hey I don’t live nearby and Kirsty hates cars, I’m just glad she has someone to talk to”)

and okay so now we’re at the episode where Lorelai accuses Jess of stealing the bracelet and this is just as Kirsty is getting home, and Lorelai is more of a bitch than in canon (but seriously Lorelai grow up and let Dean deal with his own relationship issues ugh) — as Jess is leaving, Kirsty turns around and calls Lorelai out on being an absolute bitch and on the fact that she’s an adult and Jess is seventeen and to grow the fuck up because she’s acting like her mother and believe it or not she doesn’t actually know everything. Kirsty then sort of storms off, and Jess ends up walking with her and just goes “hey, thanks for that” and Kirsty goes “don’t mention it” and they just sort of laugh and part ways so she can go to Miss Patty’s but anyways I’m soft for Kirsty fighting the entire town for him

then we have the hilarious scene of Kirsty looking Dean in the eye, knowing full well that he literally just saw her getting out of Tristan’s car, and going “yes I’m completely in love with jess is that a problem” and jess going “oh Kirsty I’m really flattered but while you were gone I started talking to Paris and I think I’m in love” and they’re just such little shits I love them

and okay now I promise we’re getting close to the speedrun part of this relationship lmaooo

so Kirsty is the one who ends up tutoring Jess and like he’s not on the verge of flunking because Kirsty has already been forcing him to do his homework semi regularly but he has trouble staying on task (he’s a mood) so Kirsty is basically there to make sure that he gets all of his final projects done — they take a break to go get ice cream and the car accident happens and Kirsty gets injured and she’s having a panic attack and she begs Jess to stay with her so he does, she lies to the hospital staff and tells them that he’s her step-brother so that he can stay with her because she’s afraid of hospitals and doesn’t want to be alone. He stays with her until they hear Lorelai and then sneaks out the window; at this point Kirsty has finally called him her friend — while high on painkillers and introducing him to Richard and Emily, who she had him call because she knew Lorelai wouldn’t (they like him much better in this !verse than canon because Kirsty knows how to play them lmao)

Lorelai still pitches a fit to Luke and Jess still leaves and jesus christ when Kirsty finds out about all of that she flips her shit even more than she did at the town meeting, calls Lorelai petty and selfish and a shit mother and tells her that she’s more like Emily than she wants to admit, and this is very possibly when Kirsty finally drops one of my favourite lines of hers — “you and Rory might be best friends first and mother daughter second but I never needed a best friend, I needed a mom. And now I don’t want either.” — and crashes at either Luke’s or Miss Patty’s (and is not thrilled when she finds out that Lorelai called Christopher and that he’s now back and awnting to play dad again)

fast forward and Kirsty knows Jess is in New York but they haven’t talked and Sookie’s wedding happens and Kirsty and Lorelai have their huge fight (this is the other point where that favourite line might happen, I’m torn) and Kirsty packs up and moves to New York for the summer to play Victoria in Cats on Broadway

She gets to New York and she’s staying at a hotel provided by the production company and she’s lonely and miserable and she’s never really been alone before and low and behold she stumbles into some diner on the verge of tears (just a bad day and everything is too much and she’s about to break) when all of a sudden she hears “wow, deja vu. Coffee?” and she turns around and low and behold it’s Jess Mariano. She accepts and sits at the diner until his shift is done and then they leave together and catch up and he offers to be her tour guide, and over the next week they become really close (all of both of their coworkers think that they’re siblings at this point) and blah blah lots of details I won’t get into bc seriously how many paragraphs is this thing, but Emily and Richard end up renting Kirsty this huge penthouse apartment and she manages to convince them to let Jess live with her and they become super close and kind of codependent and skip right over the friend stage to the “this is my brother, Jess” stage lmao and basically everyone in stars hollow except for lorelai and rory (bc kirsty and lorelai aren’t talking for most of the summer and rory is in dc so she and kirsty aren’t talking much either) know because they all came out for her opening weekend and everyone thinks it’s hilarious and their new york friends think Luke is their dad bc he called them “my kids” without thinking about it

also Tristan visits as much as he can get away with and seriously he and Jess become really good friends too and they’re just like, an iconic trio okay I love them

fast forward they go back to stars hollow together the day of the summer festival thing and that’s when Lorelai and Rory find out about their friendship and Lorelai is Not Happy and then Tristan shows up and the three of them are being adorable and having a great time and Lorelai flips out and there’s yet another fight (seriously Lorelai pls stop assuming you always know best, you don’t) and the fight is angsty but there’s the softness of jess finally really accepting that Kirsty meant it when she said that things weren’t going to change when they got back to stars hollow and they don’t and it’s just great

and in season 3 they’re just still all soft and codependent and Lorelai is forced to accept that Jess knows Kirsty better than she does and Rory has some really fun “what the actual fuck” moments watching Lorelai & Luke and Kirsty & Jess have the exact same arguments because Kirsty did inherit Lorelai’s ability to annoy people into doing things like participating in town events and season 3 is just very very soft and there are so many scenes/episodes that I’m so excited for

and anyways this was so long and I’m sorry but also I’m not because like i just really love this dynamic and I want to just like skip two seasons and just write new york & season three because i love them so muchhhhhhhh and anyways yeah

TLDR they’re a slowburn rivals to found family with a speedrun towards the end and i fucking love them so much

#ask #answered #papergirlverse #kirsty gilmore #about kirsty #kirsty x jess #but like platonic

10 notes · View notes

lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 9

• So in some ways this chapter is a refreshing change from the Walker Ranch, for the other...it does seem a little shoehorned-in and last minute to me. And...if the only chapter where Hana gets substantial content is one that sounds kinda last minute - that's usually not a good sign.

• Here is what you can block if you don't want to see this on your dash: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post.

• TW: Discussions on controlling parenting, brief mention of infertility, rambles about my visits to my therapist and what I learned there - also connected to controlling parenting.

• Screenshot Credits:

Hana: The Abhirio YouTube channel and @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal

Drake: The BizzysChoices YouTube channel

Maxwell: @itsbrindleybinch and @ladatheimpaler

Liam: @callmetippytumbles and me.

• I was happy to see Olivia but could the writers just...not make Hana sound so confused, to make Olivia's route look more appealing? Olivia may be more at home with some of these tactics but if Hana did as much research as her eloquent monologue on the Auvernese Hot Stones suggests she did, she wouldn't just be standing there going "me scared". I know logically Olivia's option needs to be the one having an edge, but there are ways you can work around that better.

• Title: Ladies' Night

Alternative Title: This is How Hana Does Her Research:

And This is How Isabella Does Her Research:

• "Just us girls", Isabella says. I'm going to get a headache from the number of times she says that while trying out new torture techniques on me.

• Liam warns the MC that this might be a test, Hana offers to come with the MC, and whoever her LI is, seems reluctant to send her off (though I have yet to see the Maxwell version of this, since in his friend route he seems encouraging of it once Hana steps up to be with us).

• Let's be honest, Hana is coming because she knows that more often than not her advice has been the only thing that had saved our asses. She KNOWS.

• Hana is also the genius who found the loophole in that message.

• DRAKE is the one suggesting Olivia as backup for our trip (I see a pattern here. Drake is the only one who recognized Olivia when she pranked him, now Drake is the first one recommending her name for this trip. What gives?).

• So I've played this chapter both with Olivia's diamond option, and without. Her duchy takes pride in its warriors and in shows of military strength, so she is more than used to their rhetoric. There is also an interesting juxtaposition given between fire (Auvernal) and ice (Lythikos), as one can see in the hot stones scene. The chapter is clearly set up in the expectation that you will buy this scene.

• Hana is fascinated by the architecture and modern glam of the place, but it is Olivia who hints that Auvernal may be facing financial difficulties, wondering what may be "hiding behind the glitter and polish".

• We finally meet Queen Isabella, and for a royal who wants to prove that they can do diplomacy as well as they can do blustering shows of machoism (like her husband), she seems to be failing big time.

• For all the "research" Isabella seems to have been doing on the ladies in the court, all she knows about Hana is that she has a penchant for horseriding, had a failed engagement, and wasn't chosen by Liam.

• What? Practically everyone has seen how well Hana performs at court. In my playthrough, her fighting skills both at the boutique before the wedding, and her role in defeating Anton, have become legendary. She became a Guardian of the Realm. If you're married to the MC she is a freaking duchess and I'm pretty sure the woman who married her would know deep down that Hana deserved that title more. Hana is a freaking fashion icon (as you can tell by what Ana says at her engagement photoshoot and when little Valerie from Lythikos tells her in Chapter 3). Like...like...this stuff is common knowledge. Isabella doesn't HAVE any other excuse besides "I suck so bad at reading up that my term paper would end in a single paragraph and be marked 'F'. Same goes for my pathetic excuse of a research team."

• Also why is Hana the only person getting dragged for not getting chosen? Even Madeleine and Olivia don't face this as much, and one of them was dumped twice by two Princes!

•

(Top three screenshots are mine, the second row is from @callmetippytumbles playthrough, and the third is from @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal Hana playthrough).

The first choice calmly has the MC list Hana's best qualities, while the other two clearly call out Isabella on her clear lack of respect for Hana, who is a guest in her home that she should have researched about properly. The last option not only speaks of her best traits but also of her being the MC's wife (and by extension, a prominent duchess).

• Isabella and her pathetic excuse for an "apology". "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that would be such a sore subject". That's a non-apology, a "sorry you're so thin-skinned" apology. She isn't even admitting she's clearly wrong and hasn't done her homework. She's still saying that Hana is merely all of the things she mentioned - just snidely placing the blame on them for being so sensitive instead. Like...fuck you Isabella.

•

I think Olivia should remember that she's lucky Hana "happens to be the forgiving sort" too, because that's how she got away with saying exactly the same thing last book. I like Olivia, but...hypocrisy much?

• LMAO @ Isabella when she says Olivia that she recognizes her because "might recognizes might", and Olivia is like "funny. I don't recognize you". THIS TEA IS SCALDING.

• "There's more to Auvernal than Bradshaw's blustering", she says...after she's left a less-than-favourable impression two minutes into our conversation. Even Theresa Sutton from D&D Book 1 would do this better than you did, and there was literally no filter between her mouth and her brain.

• Isabella presents an over-the-top, flashy silver gown for the MC to wear, stating that wearing a dress from an Auvernese designer, in a modern Auvernese style, would signal to people the beginning of their "alliance" (jumping the gun there a bit, aren't you, Isabella?)

• Gaww at the LI reactions!

(Screenshots: Drake's from BizzysChoices' Youtube channel, Maxwell's from @ladatheimpaler, and Hana's from Abhirio's YouTube channel)

• Olivia's best moment in the chapter comes when she has to complete the saying "when all you have is a hammer" ("smite them with the hammer!" Olivia offers enthusiastically). They're talking about Bradshaw, who Isabella's telling us would rather strong-arm people into doing his bidding. Babe you're not exactly very different in that respect 🙄

• Isabella lays two major tests to us - one is to have us give her military troops (who greet the guests with a parade) an impromptu rousing speech, and the second is to withstand the punishing heat of the famed Auvernese Hot Stones massage treatment. Of course, she hides her plans behind her "all shared between friends!" demeanor.

• What Olivia does throughout is draw upon her knowledge of warrior mentality, to explain what Isabella has in store for you. This meeting isn't just a message sent to the MC to remind her who she is dealing with - it's a way for Isabella to gauge whether the MC really will count as an ally in terms that they are familiar with. Remember - Auvernal who is perhaps in not as great a financial state as they lead us to believe - perhaps needs Cordonia more than Cordonia needs them - so in their eyes the alliance is falling through anyway, but Isabella is also going to figure out who she is dealing with.

Which is why Olivia - who lives and thrives in a similar type of community - is able to capture the pulse of what Isabella is doing to them.

(First four screenshots are from a playthrough where I chose Olivia's diamond option, and second from a playthrough where I didn't)

Hana's own mentality differs to a large extent from this. She is competitive, she has the ability to put up a good fight and defeat an opponent (esp one who underestimates her)...but her larger attitude doesn't exactly favour war. In a lot of ways both she and Liam operate on similar mindsets - yes war is necessary, yes when the situation calls for it we can put up a good fight...but at the end of the day both of their belief systems lie in a King Fabian outlook of "safety is important but a society thrives when there is space for art and culture to thrive".

In some of Olivia and Hana's exchanges you can see that Hana is the more artistic and whimsical of the two - which is why her ace move at the end involves both introducing Isabella into an aspect of their own culture, and on wine, which Hana is more than fairly familiar with. Her interests lie elsewhere and so she may not be able to get into their heads and suss out their motives as well as Olivia can, but I'm pretty sure if she's researched so much that she knows about their Hot Stone spa treatment, she would have at least a more generalized knowledge of this than the screenshots suggest.

• We're now at a plaza where Isabella has arranged for the Auvernese military troops to do a parade for the Cordonian guests. It's both a way of convincing the MC to pick them, and it's a veiled threat if she doesn't.

• My failplay of the speech brought up this gem:

Poor Hana, having to cheer for us even when we fail. She's the real MVP!

• So basically getting the speech right is simple, whatever is rabble-rousing and reminds the troops that the Cordonians also admire strength and valour and bravery, works for them. If you fail in this task, then Isabella takes over and rouses the troops on her own before dismissing them.

• Isabella FINALLY admitting that Hana's a skilled diplomat and does amazing research. LMAO bitch she even knows what your favourite fucking vintage is and all you know about her is her failed engagement? Admit it Izzy, you're a failure.

• The next is the traditional Auvernese Hot Stone spa treatment, which Hana tells us is tied to the geography of this country. There is a fair bit of natural volcanic activity in Auvernal itself (no wonder they're a people that operate in metaphors of heat and fire!) and the hot stones used in this therapeutic massage treatment come out from that. (they're most likely referring to basalt stones, which are used in hot stone therapy in a lot of different cultures. And it's true, the heat and the medicinal nature of heated basalt stones are supposed to relax muscles, help with pain management, stimulate the circulatory system, among other things. In Ayurveda, the treatment is called Shila Abhyanga and is done with circular stones of different sizes).

• There is nothing therapeutic about this trip, though, sadly. Very often this kind of treatment is used at particular spots on the body (most of the time I've seen these stones placed along the length of the back). It's not "grab someone's forearm and burn it with a stone". Isabella's attempt is clearly to expose us to pain and see how much of it we can take.

• Some of the MC's "stronger" responses are 🔥 🔥 🔥 lol, like "I've read Twitter takes hotter than this".

•

The MC and Olivia has come far enough in their relationship - either as friends or as people who grudgingly respect each other - that Olivia will stand up for her even when she shows weakness.

• Interestingly, if you do succeed in this "test", the narrative describes Isabella's face as lighting up with a "small smile...and she eyes you as if seeing you in a new light" (the fail option shows her looking smug). Which...given her behaviour in the wine scene, I think requires closer inspection!

• One of my favourite lines this chapter is when Olivia tells Isabella that she can endure hotter stones but chooses not to, because "Lythikos warriors prefer ice in their veins". I can of like the juxtaposition of geographies used in their language - Auvernal seems to have volcanic activity, so heat features more in their language, Lythikos is situated close to the Alps, so snow, ice and winter are their signs of endurance. Basically both communities operate based on the logic that endurance to pain is what heightens your strength. "If you can breathe you can stand, if you can stand you can fight".

• Hana struggles with the hot stones, in a scene that reminds me of Book 1 where she struggled with her first bite of a Cordonian apple. Hana tends to be quite open when she has a strong reaction to something, and is often not able to hide it even if she wants to. Which honestly I find quite refreshing about her.

• Isabella in a fail play can be a real asshole, making snide remarks and then flipping the blame onto the people who react to what she says. When she insults Hana and the MC reacts, she doesn't bother to admit she is wrong - instead flips the blame on them so that it seems more like they're the sensitive ones. If you don't succeed in the hot stones test, and Hana and Olivia respond to her jabs, she tells them "there's no need to get defensive. It's all in good humour, of course", and makes them seem like the thin-skinned ones. Honestly it's that part of her attitude that is a problem, rather than the actual snide remarks. That she will create a negative situation then act like you were the cause.

• Now apparently it's time for petit fours (and I'm a little sore they only describe the vanilla buttercream coz I would have totally loved to see descriptions of those Auvernese sweets in detail!) and casual chatting. Olivia cautions us to figure out what the catch is, and Isabella is mildly impressed by the MC's directness, but she tells us about her intentions (to make the alliance official - including the parts where our child must be promised to one of their twins) either way.

• Isabella eventually softens as the conversations go ahead, confiding in the group that before the twins were born, conceiving was difficult for her. The MC has the opportunity to share a secret of her own (either homesickness, or feeling pressured into becoming a parent, or tiring of the politics and the pretence). Hana - married or otherwise - isn't allowed to say much here, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

• Olivia distracts Isabella at some point with barbed compliments post this confession session, allowing Hana and the MC to plan their next move. Most of this day has gone into Isabella testing us, seeing if we measure up, her games. Hana now gives us an opportunity to turn the tables on her.

• This is where Hana has a clear advantage. Just as warrior communities, battle strategy and defence is Olivia's forte - culture, cuisine and the arts are clearly Hana's. She knows about the Hot Stones on a cultural and geographic level even though the mentality escapes her, she has even read up on Isabella's preference for wine and has observed her closely enough to understand Isabella's competitiveness, and suggest a tactic that could help us gain an edge over her.

• The scene begins with Hana charming Isabella into showing them her wine cellar and suggesting a drinking game. In a callback to the Madeleine drinking game scene in Book 3, Hana mentions Cordonia's Most (which was what they played with Madeleine), but zeroes in on "Two Truths and a Lie instead". Here is what you see from each of the women:

MC:

Two Truths -

Being in love with Liam even when he was engaged to Madeleine/Coming to Cordonia for Liam then falling for her LI.

Second truth is dialogue dependent (never regretted coming to Cordonia/fended off her kidnappers with her own hands/impressed by Isabella (no)

Lie -

Never been blackmailed. Isabella however believes this one is true and loses.

Olivia:

Two truths -

Greatest fear is failure to be perfect

Counted every exit before entering the cellar

Wanted to kill the MC when they first met (Isabella assumed this to be a lie)

Lie -

Came to Auvernal unarmed because she trusts Isabella (she clearly didn't do her research with Olivia either).

Hana:

Two truths -

Greatest fear is failure to be perfect (Isabella assumes this to be the lie).

Always envied the MC

Lie -

Dyed her hair pink as a teen.

Isabella has two rounds of this. This is what the first round is like:

Two truths 1.0 -

Never wanted children

Married Bradshaw for money

Lie 1.0 -

Dismissed a servant for over-steeping her tea (what did you do then, kill him? 😱)

Two Truths and a Lie 2.0

Now, we don't know for sure which one is the lie, since that game is never completed (I suspect it's the one about being born into the royal family?) but we do know now that Bradshaw never actually has seen or done combat firsthand, even though he can strategize and order troops and he's won several medals for "combat". This is the state secret that the scene promises, which will give us an advantage in the future chapters.

• Thoughts I had while reading this scene:

- The one from the MC about fighting her kidnappers is very much a callback to TCaTF. A major development for Kenna's character in Book 1 is to prove she is different from her ancestors - that she will fight alongside her people, not make them fight for her. The turning point of her story in Book 1 is when she tells Gabriel - her guard and guardian - that that instead of depending on him, she will fight the leader of the mercenaries herself.

- Also, LMAO @ Isabella believing our guards defeated Anton for us. Izzy my courtiers and I literally used scissors and shoes and clipboards to defeat assassins in a boutique. Mara and Bastien could never.

- As I mentioned before, the drinking game tradition is a callback to Madeleine's scene. But with less of forcing Hana to butter up to the woman who abused her for our convenience, and more space for her to actually talk.

- I'm going to take notes of those exits, thanks Olivia.

- There is a whole bunch you learn about Isabella here and there are hints that she feels stifled in this environment. Her first choices for the game revolve around truths about her married life: the fact that it was a political alliance and that she never actually wanted children (which adds another layer to the pain she speaks about when speaking of the struggle she had to conceive, because then it comes from a place of immense pressure and probably means that she felt extremely isolated and alone at the time). When Hana talks about how conflicted she is, it's Isabella who offers her ways to release that fury and energy (screaming, breaking glasses). Interestingly, she speaks of these things as what she does when she "feels the walls closing in".

- One thing to notice as well, is Isabella's reaction after she has realized she's spilled out the truth about Bradshaw's military merits. She shrewedly notes what our intentions must have been, and calls us out on them, but there is little to no anger involved in the moment. She only notes that "Cordonia gets more and more interesting", and while the game does not continue, Isabella does seem eerily calm in the aftermath. I don't have any concrete ideas yet what it must all mean, but there are a few ways it could go. She could either be pushing back in her own way against Bradshaw and the Auvernese royalty, or have another card up her sleeve that she knows we don't have a clue about yet.

- Hana gets to elaborate on her 'truths and lies' if the MC asks: she speaks about her envy for the MC emerging from the fact that the MC is confident, bold and questions her self-worth a lot less than Hana has learned to. The other two are tied to the aftermath of the controlling parenting she has grown up with. With the pink hair option, she speaks of her parents as if they are still there, still can control her choices, as if she cannot remove herself from the fear that she will disappoint them even if they are physically away from her.

Hana: Are you kidding? My parents will kill me!

MC: I think you're a little beyond their reach by now.

There's a lot said there in so little.

My favourite, though, is the one on 'perfection'.

I love the idea of perfection as being something to be frustrated by rather than something to aspire to. Hana speaks of this striving for perfection starting out as something she did to 'earn' Lorelai's love, and how that became something she kept doing over and over until it became her default - leading to the point where she can no longer be imperfect even though she has the opportunity and the support system (even if it's really not that great of a support system). And with a lot of kids who survive that kind of controlling, emotionally abusive parenting - that's normal. I guess I could simply sum it up as: You can take Hana out of Lorelai's home, but it won't be that easy to take Lorelai out of Hana.

I'll come back to this later, because there's some things I'd love to expand on with regards to this.

- Which Olivia opening up is promised if she is around, she doesn't really do that. Most of the stuff she says in this scene is pretty much standard for what she's shown so far. But I'm alright with that, because let's be honest the times when Hana is given even a scrap of space over Olivia, are rare. The writers will be only too happy to give her other opportunities.

- At the end of the scene, you get to address what Hana said earlier, while you are cleaning up the cellar. You either tell her you'd love to see an imperfect Hana (which is the lighter option, where they think of crazy things she can mess up, like burning toast, putting cutlery in reverse order, or playing every note on the piano wrong. Silly stuff. I know it's meant to be a joke...and maybe that's the root to why she doesn't get to actually be imperfect and affected and stuff. Because even in a scene about imperfections, it still feels like the writers won't take her actual conflicts and issues very seriously, and will not leave her the space to actually be a mess about things that would weigh down anyone).

The second option is more serious, and I really like it. The MC speaks about finding it harder to forgive Lorelai for everything Hana has gone through. Hana is still uncomfortable with the idea of resenting her mother, even though she's at the stage where she knows how wrong Lorelai is. She reasons it by speaking about how everything good came from Lorelai the same way everything bad came from the same mother. I'll be getting back to this bit soon as well.

- There is a tiny romantic scene following this if you're married to Hana, mostly kissing.

• Now that our work in Auvernal is over, it's time to get back to the ranch. BECAUSE MAXWELL BEAUMONT IS STRESS-DANCING AND THAT IS NEVER A GOOD SIGN.

(Screenshots: Drake's from BizzysChoices YouTube channel, Maxwell's from @itsbrindleybinch and Hana's from Abhirio YouTube channel)

- Alright so in Liam and Drake's playthroughs they talk to the MC directly. Maxwell's too, and he is panicking and speaking in capslock. In Hana's, Maxwell is still the one the MC is talking to, since he is the one in charge of this one thing.

- I love how Drake thinks Maxwell "stress dancing" means things must be better now but Liam knows it's a bad sign 😅

- BBBB. Maxwell could've just simplified things for himself and called it B-Quadrupled or B^4 or something. Be like Karan Johar, who saw three Ks and one G in his film title (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham)...and said "yeah. Let's call this K3G".

• So now I'm guessing the aim for the next chapter is to keep it a secret until the time Bertrand is expected to be at his party. Or something. Idk.

• We're going...from deep conversations and political maneuverings...to this. Okay. Okay 😐

• General Thoughts:

- Okay...so the thing Hana says about perfection and wanting to please her mother. Phew. That dialogue hit me. Pretty hard.

(Please don't take anything I say right here as hard scientific fact, I am merely saying this as a client to a therapist who learned something from her, and am applying something I've learned into this sequence solely because it speaks to me on a personal level)

I've been going to a new therapist this year. A very accomplished hypnotherapist, fantastic in her field. We've been doing a mixture of talk therapy and hypnotherapy because I have a LOT of issues and they're all tangled together and it's all a big mess at this point.

One of the things we talked about was how centered my entire concept of "worth" was around smartness. Intelligence. Intelligence the way my parents perceived it, the way I saw it in school. At some point I said something...something related to smartness and worth and how you couldn't be anything if you weren't smart idk...and she stopped. Stopped and said, "that sounds like a parent tape" (wish I remembered what my exact words were).

Now, this conversation happened around a month ago, and I'm no professional in this field, so I'm paraphrasing what she explained, but she did talk about how some things get embedded in your subconscious as "tapes" or "files", and how at some points they become essential beliefs. It could be a simple moment that was nonetheless important to the child, that crystallized into a life truth for them, even into adulthood. And that would go for things that you picked up or learned from your parents as well. Learned behaviours and mindsets...that you grow up to believe as fact - and to remove yourself from them would be to remove yourself from everything you have ever believed to be true. It would be a destruction of a belief system, and building yourself back from out of that rubble would be scary.

- I wound up seeing Hana's inability to turn off "Perfect Hana" through that lens. I feel like she grew up with that "parent tape": I must be perfect to be considered worthy. I must be perfect to be loved. The only way I can gain my mother's love is by being her perfect daughter. And part of why she can't switch it off is because it became an entire belief system, the foundation on which her parents build this personality she has. If that is destroyed, the Parent Tape must be saying, then what will be left of her?

- This may explain why she continues to explain, justify, make excuses for Lorelai. Lorelai is a HUGE part of her life. Was a HUGE influence on who she was and what she became. Even when she is going in a direction completely opposite to what Lorelai initially intended, Hana does it by overcompensating, by stressing over whether she is being controlling merely for planning the perfect wedding, by worrying about what kind of parent she will be to her own child. While she acknowledges freely that her mother was wrong and pushes back when she is able to, she is not really at the stage where she can fully accept the sheer levels of damage Lorelai (and by enabling and encouraging this type of parenting, Xinghai) has wrecked on her self.

- In a lot of ways, Hana is still that child. The one who craved her mother's love. The one who grew up constantly questioning her own worth. And learning to validate that child and give her a peaceful ending is going to be a long, arduous, painful process.

- You can bet I have been thinking about this more than Hana's own writers have. By now I just know it.

- There was a part of me that CHEERED when I saw the MC (finally!) stand up for Hana. There's a part of me that...honestly...just shrugged and said "too little too late".

- I'm tired at this point. Really, really sick and tired of how people in the books are allowed to underestimate Hana and talk shit about her, and how little space the narrative gives to letting her either push back against that, or to allowing us to stand up for her. This chapter is one of the rare times that happened without the focus being on how wonderful the MC is. And I mean very rare.

- Married to Hana or not, the MC is the woman who let Madeleine get away with her bullying. Who didn't bother to look out for Hana, and continuously used her. Who didn't bother to find out how Hana was in NY after Hana had fought with her own father and left his house for her. Who (optionally) allowed Olivia to get away with talking shit about her, and who didn't ask Hana if she was comfortable before including her in a conversation with her bully. Who (optionally) can cry about not getting pregnant soon enough (today of course, that role was filled up by Isabella)

- Also isn't it ironic how Isabella, the same woman who speaks about not being perfect and allowing yourself the space to let out your emotions...is the same woman who chooses to talk ONLY about Hana's failures? Who sounds A LOT like Hana's own mother? So while those words about imperfection are true, the person speaking them is a truckload of trash.

- When it comes to a foreigner insulting Hana, then somehow it becomes magically appropriate for the MC and Olivia to pretend to be offended. But at home? In their own court? Hana rarely gets that kind of support. And she rarely gets the chance to push back either. An Olivia can call her a failure and claim "Hana hasn't so much as touched the ladder while I'm at the very top", and all Hana is allowed to do is glower in fury and then it's conveniently forgotten. By the MC.

Like sure it's nice that the MC gets to treat Hana with respect this time around, and pay her some attention. But where was this protectiveness when Hana needed it the most?

I'd have liked a moment like this earlier, or if the narrative actually was fair in terms of their treatment of Hana. But her issues, her feelings, her pain, has always been on the backseat. I'm not going to be grateful for scraps like these.

- That's the other thing. This chapter...feels a little last-minute. Not only is the gown in this chapter a very, very recent one (an anon pointed out it was added only a week or two ago), the chapter itself is all over the place. Isabella claims to want to show the group that there is more to Auvernal than Bradshaw's blustering...but in essence what she's showing us is pretty much the same thing. She is still issuing us veiled threats, and strong-arming us into becoming allies. Her tactics are still scare tactics and they are not as subtle as she or the writers believe they are.

- Even in this chapter where another person is allowed to feel pain over her years of not conceiving, Hana is hardly given space. Think about that for a second.

To me...if this chapter was a recent addition - that means the only chapter where Hana actually gets a tiny amount of space to herself...is a last minute choice. And that's not a good thing. In fact it reminds me of Book 2, where Hana was given an AWFUL scene in Chapter 8 (the fashion show scene, which focused more on Penelope than on Hana) and no appearances in the chapter after, and then given two good scenes (patisserie scene and library scene). Those two good scenes...came before they virtually ignored Hana and her background to focus on literally anyone else (after which Hana was not even seen in NY). Just because Hana gets a decent scene (a scene that isn't even hers, actually, a lot of it is about Isabella) once in 9 (NINE) chapters, doesn't mean that she's going to get good development from now on. For all you know this could be a carrot conveniently dangled to keep people satisfied for another 5-6 chapters of the same ol' focus on the male LIs instead.

- Wonder what Olivia is upto and what Liam might know.

- Also wonder why we didn't get a lot of info on Eleanor in her own home.

- Also for a country that is the maternal home of Cordonia's king, there's precious little shown about their interactions with him. In fact there's very little space Liam gets to actually operate as a King - either in this series or the previous one.

- This week, I will not be doing my usual QT for Book 1. There's an essay I've been itching to do, about Kiara and Penelope, and I'm going to devote my weekend to diving into that! Would anyone like to be tagged??

- Anyway! Until the next chapter, guys.

#the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #long post #hana lee #olivia nevrakis #controlling parenting tw #infertility tw

61 notes · View notes

henrymidfields-blog · 6 years

Text

Review: Review: Persona 4 Dancing All Night - Atlus's MeToo response? - SPOILERS

Originally posted in Serenes Forest - Link

Last month saw the first anniversary of what marked the beginning of the MeToo movement, which were the sexual abuse accusations against Harvey Weinstein. From there, the #MeToo movement spread amongst women in showbiz across the United States and eventually other countries as well. Well, except Japan. Japan (my home country) did not see the same level of activity in the MeToo movement, where the wrong kind of conservatism prevails. However, there are three cases that spoke out against it (and possibly more that I am unaware about). The first, and ongoing one is a journalist named Shiori Ito who was raped by a senior journalist. The second, and more relevant to this, was Perfect Blue, an animated movie which is a story of an ex-idol's desparate attempt to further her career in showbiz, and discussed sexual exploitation in showbiz years before MeToo did. The third one, which basically dropped the same anvil as the second one was Persona 4: Dancing All Night.

The Gameplay

Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a rhythm and dancing game with a "Where are they now" story after the canon epilogue of Persona 4 Golden. As a persona who has only passing interest in dancing games, this was perhaps the only one that I actually was interested in, and played fairly extensively.

Considering that, the game was easy enough to get used to. The interface and controls were intiutive, with the notes spreading outwards, indicating which outer buttons on the PS Vita I need to press or hold down, and it was easy to follow the notes. You can play the various songs from various Persona 4 entries, with many remixed by various Japanese artists, in which they appear at certain points in Story Mode, or as a score attack in Free Mode. Bonuses for high scores and story mode progressions appear in the form of extra costumes which you can buy using in-game currency in this game's versions' Tanaka's Amazing Commodities, or pay and download via DLC.

As for the difficulty of this game, it is very easy to get used to (as mentioned before), yet very difficult to master. There are four modes in score attack, which are Easy, Normal, Hard, and All Night. Easy is very much for beginners to the genre, while Normal is also managable. The former two settings are also the modes available in Story Mode, which means that you can enjoy the story without having blisters on your fingers. On the other hand, Hard is quite challenging, while only the best rhythm gamers will be able to even have a go at All Night, let alone master this difficulty setting.

So far, this sounds like what a good rhythm game should be. So why did I pick up this game and not, say, Dance Dance Revolution, PaRappa the Rapper, or even Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight?

Story Part 1: Overview

What Persona 4: Dancing All Night had which others generally lacked is a story - while less substantial than the main game, was nevertheless a story very much worth watching, and was the main reason I got into this game.

So, Rise Kujikawa, the J-Pop idol who went back to the city (presumably Tokyo) after her adventures in Persona 4 (Golden), and was going to join an all-star concert with the upcoming Kanamin Kitchen as her comeback debut. And she wants Yu Narukami and his friends from their old school (who all solved the serial murders together) join in as backup dancers for her debut. However, the game soon takes a darker turn which focuses on the other idols gone missing, and it is up to the Yu and his Investigation Team to solve the case.

Yes, sure, there is quite a lot of fanservice in this game, but the story is much more than that; not only did its take on tatemae and honne resounded with my mind, it also helped me appreciate some of the basic aspects of the #MeToo movement. Zhiqing Wan has wrote a review that I almost wholeheartely agree with, so expect a number of quotes from her. (I strongly urge readers to read her review too.)

Story Part 2: Being ourseleves and acceptance

One of Dancing All Night's discussion is the dark side of people's true self versus people's perceptions. Wan wrote:

Dancing All Night follows a slightly different path and instead deals with issues like meeting the expectations of others, and putting on a façade or adopting an entirely different personality so as to be accepted by the majority. ... [omission]

[omission]...How many times have we felt unappreciated or unloved for being ourselves? And how often have we tried to change who we are just to fit societal expectations? Persona 4: Dancing All Night tackles these questions with finesse and, just like Persona 4, proves to be a very human game that we can latch onto easily.

I can very much relate to the above paragraph that Wan wrote, as I had a similar issue with my classmates. Back in 1997, my family and I returned to our hometown of Tokyo from San Francisco, where my dad worked as a bank's branch manager. And the conformist Japanese classroom was as such that I felt punished for acting assertive or even honest, whether it was through the regimented curriculum, or the bullying I experienced from my classmates. It felt like Atlus questioned the usage of tatemae (the veneer we all have in our lives) versus honne (our real opinions) in modern Japanese society, and how we should be not afraid to be more honest with ourselves.

Story Part 3: J-Pop Idols and sexual exploitation

The other, more timely, moral that Atlus explored was the lives of Japanese pop idols. This is the industry where older people (mainly men) are attracted to the idols, which we see has some of the strictest lifestyles of Japanese professionals (both private and public). Wan described it succinctly here:

...Dancing All Night doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to exploring the lives of Japanese pop idols either. There are a few narrative sequences in the game where we get to witness the emotional turmoil of the four Kanamin Kitchen girls, and the struggles they face within the industry. These sequences are all incredibly stylized within the game, of course, but just like in Perfect Blue, it’s shockingly easy to draw parallels between the in-game events and real life itself.

The story's critique got me curious and I had a look at some of the stuff that idols had to go through. Many of the idols have to follow codes of behaviour that demands a high level of politeness and purity: the extent that bans having boyfriends and requires prior permission to marry. One idol member from AKB48 shaved her head and made a public apology for going out with a boyfriend - something many of us do as part of our teenage lives. Even worse, unlike stars on the Disney Channel which at least has the justification that they are starring on a children's show, the situation surrounding the J-Pop idols are basically the hypocrisy of the managers and audiences alike. Hannah Lee, a Law/Asian Studies student from Australian National University writes, for example:

Most fans who follow groups like AKB48 are middle-aged men. The idols themselves are teenagers, who begin performing at around 13 years old. Idols are often presented in cute school outfits and perform in synchronised groups. Whilst sexualisation of women is not limited to Japan, Japanese idol groups specifically pander to a young girl fetish, which is encouraged for the sake of record sales.

But what young girl would ever consent to this? If consent is ‘free and informed’, there is simply is no way that a girl, at 12 years old, can knowingly consent to being sexualised by men four times her age.

Equally disturbing is the fact that this idol fad came as the counter-response to the first wave of Japanese feminism in the 1970s (referenced from the link). Japan Subculture Research Center describe's AKB48's founder, Yasushi Akimoto, as:

...a Zegen [sex merchant] with a vision – having never been popular in high school himself, he recognized the deep sexual frustration and vast need for sexual fantasies festering in the educated and dateless Japanese male. When he came out with “Onyanko Club” in the mid-1980s, people were blinded by the sheer genius of this man. Here he was, peddling quite ordinary high school girls on TV, who all got up on the studio stage to teasingly sing “oh please don’t take my school uniform off, no-no-no!” to an audience who could never hear such titillating pleas when they were 18 so was totally stoked to hear it now...

And the above mentioned are just the articles written in English - there are more on that on Japanese news sites. As for myself: While I enjoyed watching the so called gravure idols in their swimsuits (and to some extent still do), this has made me have second thoughts about the stuff they possibly have to go through. The game (and the subsequent research) was quite enough to make me feel uncomfortable about myself, and acknowledge that I have my fair share of misogyny that I may have contributed.

Story Part 4: Ashly Burch as a mature Rise Kujikawa

And my thoughts do not end here. I also noticed that this game was released a couple of years before the Weinstein scandal had its cover blown last year. Granted, it probably did not have the effect in kicking off the MeToo movement anywhere near the level of other factors, and it definitely has not in Japan, sadly. But I cannot help but think about how the release had such perfect timing.

The other thing is that the English localisation had a response in implying a possible reconstruction of the idol's role. While a lot of people seem to miss Laura Bailey as Rise's English VA, I actually welcome the more mature treatment of Rise by her new VA, Ashly Burch. It seems like Rise asked her agency for permission to assume a more mature persona for her new idol role, allowing her to shed her airhead-ish role of her old idol persona, and it seemed like she did so assertively too. It's a very good thing, considering how idols should be able to grow up and be more independent like the rest of us.

Conversely, it's to my high disappointment (and my only disappointment in this game) that the Japanese original of the game did not do so in the first place - either Rie Kugimiya (the Japanese VA) should have toned down the chipmunky voice Rise turned out as, or Atlus should have casted someone else to sound more in-line with Ashly Burch.

Story Part 5: Other comments

There are also some interesting tidbits to read from the characters speeches as well. The characters don't get much character development per se, partly because the story only takes 2-3 in-universe days at most, and also because I think, understandably, everyone in general wants to be more like silly, carefree teenagers after their harrowing work in solving the serial murders in the prequel. This particularly applies to Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko, as they are in their final year in high school and will be having their university/job entrance exams soon - this is their last opportunity before they need to get serious again.

However, there are many retrospective reflections that come into play when they interact with each others, and with the idols they are saving and befriending. Many are very heartwarming and awesome to see, precisely because of how they reflected upon their own issues, and how their generally honest interactions with each other over the past year in the prequel strengthened their friendships, and how they became more confident with each other.

The majority of the story piggybacks the prequel which is Persona 4 Golden (the main story) - as such everyone should play before this game, as they won't be able to appreciate Dancing All Night's story otherwise. (See here for my reviews of that game.) Both this and the prequel are on PS Vita, so if you can play this game, you practically have no excuse to not get Golden! Special props goes to Uncle Ryotaro and Nanako Dojima:

Back in Persona 4 Golden, Ryotaro was unable to come to terms with his late wife (killed in an hit-and-run accident) and how he has to raise his daughter Nanako on his own, therefore himself emotionally fleeing into his work as a detective. Nanako, on the other hand, was lonely at home, having to do many of the house chores by herself, until Yu and his friends started to befriend her. Here, Ryotaro does his detective work just as his duty, and yet still enjoys his time with Nanako. Nanako, on the other hand, fully trusts her father, and is even befriending Kanami the idol.

Conclusion

So there you have it. If there was a game that not only wrote a story worth reading, but highlights some of the social issues Japan's biggest fad has tucked away conveniently, this is the game. I encourage everyone to either borrow a friend's copy of Dancing All Night (or even better buy a copy, but not before understanding the story of Persona 4 Golden) and look up "the dark side of japanese idol industry" on Google. And maybe spread the word. I'm not sure how I myself can do to address the issue that Dancing All Night rightly raises apart from acknowledging my contribution to misogyny, but at least I can say that Atlus has done a great service in raising the social issue, and they should not be ashamed for it.

Verdict: Buy the game. (But play P4G first!) Other recommendations: Look up the info on the social issues.

#Persona 4 #Dancing All Night #MeToo #atlus #j-pop

1 note · View note

agathcn · 6 years

Note

Why don't you like anna and the french kiss?

My answer will be full of spoilers, so if you want to read the book and you don’t want to get spoiled, don’t continue reading.

Okay, when I first starting getting into reading, which was like two or three years ago, I watched a lot of booktube videos for recommendations and every single person I watched a video of raved about this book and the trilogy in general. They claimed that it was one of the cutest books they’ve read so I, a fluff enthusiast, decided to give it a shot. Instead of having a good time, though, and dying from all the cutesy content I was promised, I finished this book feeling extremely frustrated.

Now, when I first read that book I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads because I just wanted to move on with my life and forget about this book (and also, I might have been kind of afraid to express an unpopular opinion). But as the days went by, I couldn’t stop thinking about this book and how awful I thought it was and the more I thought about it, the more angry and frustrated I got with it. So I decided to drop the rating down to a 1 star, but if Goodreads had a “zero stars, made me want to scratch my eyes off” rating, that’s what its appropriate rating would be and that’s for the following reasons:

The characters. I’ll focus on the two main characters later, but for now let’s talk about the secondary and background characters. All of them, without exception, in my opinion were cardboard cutouts of people who had like, one defining personality trait and most of whom served only one purpose: making the main character look like she’s the best human being on earth. Now, you might be thinking that typically characters like that are pretty neutral or whatever but I hated every single one of them. Ten out of them, would stab all of them.

Anna. She is the typical innocent girl, who ,of course, is different from the rest of the girls, which she wants to remind us 24/7 by talking about how she wants to be the best female film critic and by telling us all the quirky things she does, like going to the cinema 10 times a week when she can’t really afford food. In my entire life, in all the books I’ve read, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more stupid and ignorant character. Like, bitch goes to France, the capital of all things art and especially film, which is supposedly her biggest passion, and she doesn’t think that they’d be cinemas there? And when she has this epiphany that places other than America have movie theaters, she decides to watch only American, modern films. Like, sure Jan, you’re going to be the best film critic. Also, this dumb bitch goes to an English speaking school and she’s too afraid to order from the cafeteria because she thinks that they only speak French there. As I said at the beginning of this paragraph, she’s supposed to be this innocent angel who does no wrong, but later on we see her hating on and badmouthing every single person she doesn’t like, betray her friends and describing beating her crush’s girldfriend in way too much detail.

Etienne. He’s supposed to be the local hottie, the best looking guy in the school and the guy that every girl with eyes wants to have. In reality, though, he’s the biggest fucking asshole you’ll ever meet. He is constantly flirting with Anna, even though he has a girlfriend. He is two timing Anna and his girlfriend, Ellie, for almost the entire book but nobody calls him out on his fucking bullshit because he’s such a cutie! Why are all the girls in love with such a fucking huge piece of shit? He is a pretentious douchebag who keeps seeing Anna even though he has no plans on breaking up with his girlfriend anytime soon.

Cheating. From what you’ve read above it is pretty clear that Etienne is emotionally (and I believe physically, too, because I think that him and Anna kiss while he’s still technically with Ellie, but I might be wrong) and nowhere in the book is there any conversation about this, except for when Anna thinks that what she’s doing is wrong from like two seconds, but then she continues doing it anyway.

Girls hating on other girls. This book, man. I am sick and tired of seeing this “trope” and this book is filled with nothing but. Anna, this pure sweet girl, is constantly putting down other girls, just because they’re interested on the same guy she likes or they’re dating her ex boyfriends. She doesn’t stop calling other girls slutty and skanky, she keeps criticizing what they’re wearing and that doesn’t stop to girls she doesn’t really know, but she feels the need to talk shit on Meredith, who is supposed to be her friend. Like, fuck off. She’s always badmouthing Ellie, even though she’s done nothing wrong to her? Oh yes, how dare the girlfriend of the guy I like be in a relationship with him????

The hypocrisy. As mentioned above, Anna always talks down on other girls because she’s much better than them, when in reality she does the exact same shit. She claims that all the girls who like Etienne push their boobs and butts out so he’d pay attention to them, when she, queen of hypocrisy, grinds on him, shares a bed with him three times and is constantly flirting and going on dates with him. Also, while she’s flirting hardcore with Etienne, Anna is supposed to be liking this Christopher guy, who she has barely spoken to since going to France, but she expects him to wait for her. She later on discovers that her bestie from back home is dating the guy she supposedly likes and gets very angry, and I’ll give her that because what her friend did was fucked, but then she proceeds to do the same to her friend Meredith, who she knows really likes Etienne. What an amazing friend.

The message. I am a firm believer that books don’t necessarily need to have a meaning or that they need to include a life lesson at the end. Some books exist just to be a fun read and I think that’s what this book was trying to do, but instead we got a message that was very wrong and fucked up. Basically, it’s okay to emotionally cheat on people, admit to the girl that you fancy that you prefer her more than your actual girlfriend and you’d much rather be with her, continue playing with people’s feelings, hurt others but at the end it’s all good because all of that doesn’t matter and you get to live happily ever after with the girl you cheated on your girlfriend with. A lot of people think that this is okay but it’s not because cheating is never excused, no matter how much of a bitch you think his girlfriend is, no matter how much you ship those people and how cute you think they are. Oh, and about Anna and Etienne’s relationship. The author is clearly using the entire cheating thing to give the whole situation an angsty vibe when in reality this entire relationship is tale and boring. Another message that this book puts out to the world is that it’s okay to hate on people because they stand in the way of what you want and it’s alright to be thinking about hurting and ridiculing them. The author, through this book, makes people stand by Anna and support her bad behavior, even though in the process many people are getting hurt.

#answered #neo rants #non hp #-long post #anonymous

7 notes · View notes

repmekevets · 7 years

Text

my response to some bullshit

first, here’s the original story that, i’m sure, many of your aunt’s & uncles have by now forwarded to your inbox...

An open letter to the NFL players (and other equally stupid pro athletes): You graduated high school in 2011. Your teenage years were a struggle. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate. Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best. The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football. Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football. Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonalds for minimum wage. You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best. They laid out the red carpet for you. Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s. College was not an option for him. On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter. You went to summer workouts. He went to basic training. You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans. Tutors attended to your every academic need. You attended class when you felt like it. Sure, you worked hard. You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country. Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice. He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19 year old soldiers who grew up just like he did. He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young Americans give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the USA. You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts. You hired an agent and waited for draft day. You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible. You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football. Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat-tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year. You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach. He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers. You will sleep at the Ritz. He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep. You will “make it rain” in the club. He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees. On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name. For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday and any other day of the week. There are no adoring fans. There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest. He might be lucky enough to catch an NFL game on TV. When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television. While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country. To the players of the NFL: We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys. We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism. Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us. You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you. We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth. We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right. But now you have gone too far. You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans. You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country. I am done with NFL football, the NBA, and Major League Baseball and encourage all likeminded Americans to boycott all pro sports until the light goes on for these crybabies and their rich owners who are afraid to speak up lest their spoiled brats (felons, wife-beaters) who are, in most cases, unable to even speak English in any understandable manner. Anyone who confuses respect for our Anthem and our flag with the right to support BLM and ANTIFA is just plain ignorant. Use your freedom of speech in the proper forum and stop trying to hide behind your freedoms to relieve your ignorance. BLM and ANTIFA are issues totally unrelated to respect for our flag and our anthem. Your claim to freedoms are bogus and you should ask yourselves what is it you have ever done to earn them. PS Trying to excuse your actions by highlighting the actions of our President on matters such as this is pure unadulterated BS. Whether he is right or wrong in his criticisms does not relieve you of your stupidity.

here are my thoughts, hastily typed during my lunch break at work, which were then sent right back to the person who sent this shit to me.

- you don't just become a professional athlete, regardless of your physical gifts. it takes just as much hard work & determination as any other profession.

- the picture this paints of collegiate athletes is extremely rare. this is like, a 1 in a million representation. most NCAA student athletes work extremely hard on & off the field & face a difficult challenge of balancing athletics with academics. the vast majority of them are not pampered like this story would suggest.

- only 3-4% of high school athletes make the jump from high school to college, many will never make it to a point where they are even draft eligible, & then only about 7% of eligible players will get drafted. of those ~250 players you get drafted in a given year, only 32 go in the first round. of those 32, only a couple will get a deal even resembling the one mentioned in this story, so.. clearly no research was done in this arena. fun fact: colin kaepernick was the 4th pick in the 2nd round of the 2011 draft.

- also, colin kaepernick had a 4.0 GPA in high school & graduated from the university of nevada. he's not in any way dumb or uneducated.

- the average salary for an NFL player is $1.9m/year. while that is definitely substantial, it's not insane. fun fact: although hard to estimate, glassdoor says the average CEO in this country makes $13.8m/year. that's far more egregious to me.

- as for adoring fans, most players in the NFL aren't recognizable by name or face, but are popular because of their team. sounds a lot like soldiers to me. in the U.S., what's more popular than the military?

- of course the incredibly small percentage of athletes that make it to the pros are fortunate to be able to do that - all of them say as much. they know how fortunate they are to be able to play a game for a living.

- as an aside, most professional athletes are very charitable, contributing time & money to various causes in which they believe. another fun fact: kaepernick has donated at least $900k.

this last paragraph really goes off the deep end so it's going to take a minute..

- there is an admission of hypocrisy right off the bat: "We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth." yeah, you have. not nearly enough outrage for any of these things, & not even a mention of a boycott. these are behaviors that have a direct human cost & yet.. silence.

- does anyone getting mad about kaepernick taking the knee even know how it started? i suggest you read this article. it was written by eric reid, one of colin's teammates.

^ everyone seems to gloss over the fact that it was a retired green beret (nate boyer) who suggested kaepernick & reid take a knee instead of sitting on the bench during the anthem. reid said, "I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy."

furthermore, "It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest."

- NO ONE is protesting the flag. NO ONE is protesting the national anthem. NO ONE is protesting the united states of america. example: no one thought rosa parks was protesting public transit. this is no different. the players are protesting the racism & oppression faced by black people & communities in this country & how it leads directly to a disproportionate number of black deaths. that's what it has always been about.

- also, the last sentence is pure, thinly-veiled racism. it literally calls NFL players felons & wife-beaters who are unable to speak english. come on, be better than that.

- the most important part of this story that requires addressing, comes right at the end, "Use your freedom of speech in the proper forum"

- where exactly is the proper forum for black (or others) people to protest?

the very nature of peaceful protest (like dr. king, rosa parks, & others in the 60s), requires visibility. it's aim is to draw attention to the issues, & guess what else.. make the people (especially the oppressors) feel uncomfortable!

this is the real problem. none of these people are upset about the flag. this is about a refusal to address white privilege & systemic racism in this country.

so yeah, i know there’s plenty more that could be added/modified/whatever, but it’s all i had time for this afternoon. comments welcome.

#text #story #nfl #colin kaepernick #take a knee #racism #bullshit

3 notes · View notes

fapangel · 7 years

Note

Thoughts on Antifa?

Antifa is just thetip of the iceberg.

I first got thisquestion in my inbox shortly after the first Antifa riot on the nightof Milo Yiannopoulos’s Berkeley speech, but I’ve been sitting on it for two reasons:one, to take time to formalize my thoughts better, and two, to avoida “rush to judgement.” You see, it’s not Antifa specifically wemust worry about, but rather how the left wing itself reacts to them.

In my multipleresponsesto my Friendly Local Antifa, I’ve been very clear that just becauseextremists exist (andthey will always exist -)doesn’t mean that they speak or act for any larger group. To claimthey do is a classic fascist tactic,as evidenced by Hitler’s exploitation of the Reichstagfire as a casus bellito round up his Communist political opponents. Lettingviolent radicals act without serious efforts to stymie or punishthem, or even praising and normalizing their motivations while weaklyimpugning their behavior, is also aclassic authoritarian tactic, something the left wing is quick tonote in the context of the Ku Klux Klan, but never apply to the likesof the Earth Liberation Front. That’s why I mention “IllinoisNazis” so much - the mere existence of some goose-steppingretards doesn’t even establish them as a threat in and of themselves,much less a movement with actual national political power.

Thisapplies to “Antifa” because what they really areis pro-Communist radicals.It’scurious that reporting on Antifa never, ever seems to mention it,even though tenseconds on Google turns up some damningimages pretty fast. These people have neverbeenshy about being Communist radicals, or advertising it to the world.Considered in a vacuum, then, they’re just Illinois Commies brawlingwith Illinois Nazis. As the Beatlesreminded us, just because they carry picturesof Chairman Mao doesn’t mean they’re gonna makeit with anyone, anyhow. SoI waited, and watched, to see if the larger wave of hysteria,obstructionism and outright violence would abate naturally as peoplewound down from the heightened passions of the election.

Theyhaven’t. On the 15thof April (two days ago,) yet another wave of mass protests werestaged across the country, with the theme being “Trump shouldrelease his tax returns.” The closest one to me was only twelvemiles distant, in Ann Arbor, MI. Home of the University of Michigan,the city’s small, wealthy, ultra-left and nestled in the middle of aconservative, rural area - and the protest’s highlight speakers(including a few Senators) delivered their speeches on theUniversity’s quad. (Thisis the exact kind of campus speaking event that Antifa used violenceand thuggery to silence at Berkeley when the speaker wasconservative.)Obama-appointed government officials have openly defied the lawfulorders of the sitting President, and been openly and loudly laudedfor it by the left wing. Members of our intelligence agencies havecommitted actual,unambiguous treason by leaking classified intelligence to acorporate media that writes every article with malice aforethought ina concerted and untiring effort to undermine the legitimacy of theoffice of the President of the United States. The left has proudlybragged of the multiplemunicipal governments - you know, cities - swearing to defyFederal law and law enforcement authorities, and some have evencalled for left-wing enclave California to secedefrom the Union. Theyhave scrambled to erect every possible barrier to the President’scabinet nominations, damn the consequences to effective governance,and the unfolding intelligence scandal is revealing how the power ofsecretive agencies was abused by Obama’s administration to undermineand slander his incoming successor. And of course, there’s thethuggery and violence on the street, waged by the likes of Antifa.

Theseare the tangible consequences ofthe left wing’s constant calls for “resistance” to the President- these are notjust words, but a national policy that’s been put into action. Thisisn’t justcute pins to show off to your lit club buddies how “woke” you are- it’s widespread, tangible popular support for the politicians,bureaucrats and businessmen working towards their ends. And thoughthey might call that end “resistance,” theyreally meanrevolution.

DanielGreenfield of Frontpage Magazine wrote a beautifullysuccinct summary that you should absolutelyread in full, but his mostcrucial paragraphs were these:

“There is no form of legal authority that the left acceptsas a permanent institution. It only utilizes forms of authorityselectively when it controls them. But when government officialsrefuse the orders of the duly elected government because theirallegiance is to an ideology whose agenda is in conflict with thePresident and Congress, that’s not activism, protest, politics orcivil disobedience; it’s treason.

After losing Congress, the left consolidated its authority inthe White House. After losing the White House, the left shifted itscenter of authority to Federal judges and unelected governmentofficials. Each defeat led the radicalized Democrats to relocate frommore democratic to less democratic institutions.

This isn’t just hypocrisy. That’s a common political sin.Hypocrites maneuver within the system. The left has no allegianceto the system. It accepts no laws other than those dictated by itsideology.

Democrats have become radicalized by the left. This doesn’tjust mean that they pursue all sorts of bad policies. It means thattheir first and foremost allegiance is to an ideology, not theConstitution, not our country or our system of government. All ofthose are only to be used as vehicles for their ideology.

That’s why compromise has become impossible.”

The ideological divide in the left wingis nothing new - it started in earnest in 1969, when thesocialist-communist bloc of the party first gained real tractionversus the “classic” New Deal progressive Democrats. The rift hasgrown steadily since then, culminating in the last election, when theNew Deal Democrats, the blue-collar union voters flipped the “bluewall” of the Rust Belt red for the first time since Reagan. Thedifference now is that the socialist-communist based branch ofthe party now control it, definitively. Their ideology andvalues are completely alien to the founding principles of America,the principles for which its laws were built to enshrine, nurture,and protect. This is why political compromise has grown more and moredifficult in America - the common ground between parties simplydoesn’t exist, and even if it did, socialist-communistideology has never been based on the concept of compromise orreconciliation.

Communist ideology is based onrevolution - in fact it’s a cornerstoneof the ideology. Revolution, by definition, is a complete andutter rejection of the legitimacy of the existing structure ofsociety. The left wing reveals their disdain for our society ineverything they say and do - their perennial crusade against everyaspect of capitalism, (“Big Whatever,” “Occupy Wall-Street,”)their endless trust in the sanctity and flawlessness of publicinstitutions versus “greedy” private enterprise and, above all,their unceasing devotion to righting the myriad “crimes” of“social injustice.” Hell, with “social injustice” it’s rightthere in the name. They reject, on every possible level, the mostbasic building blocks of Western society in general.

The true significance of Antifa is thewidespread popular support their thuggery has received from the leftwing - it indicates the final abandonment of any pretense todemocracy or fair dealing on their part. This is precisely why theirlanguage has taken on the tones of revolution and war as of late,dividing the populace into “us” versus “Nazis.” In oursecular society, Nazis are tantamount to demons; inhuman, beneathconsideration save through a rifle scope. The label’s a simple andeffective way to dehumanize people, and that’s the first step in theconditioning required to kill.

It’s already accelerating. After theBerkeley police made a point of confiscating weapons - and anythingusable as a weapon - from anyone converging on the park ahead of thelatest scuffle in Berkeley, Antifa took to reddit to argue foroutright arming themselves withfirearms. (Note how California’s ban on open carry, implementedby DemocraticGov. Jerry Brown in 2011 suddenly becomes Reagan’s fault.) Andother outlets are calling for leftists todegrade or destroy any government apparatus they do not control.

We have been down this roadbefore, more than once - the spate of anarchistbombings back in 1919, the radical left terrorist bombings by theWeathermanUnderground, and many others. But even at the height of anti-waractivism in the late 60s and early 70s, things were never thisbad. Much of it owes to new media - it’s atrophied theonce-ironfast stranglehold the corporate media had on politicaldiscourse in this nation, which has pushed the left wing to resort tomore brutish tactics to silence their opposition - doxxing, threats,intimidation and, of course, “de-platforming.” New media has alsoallowed the classic “grassroots” organizational tactics pioneeredby Chicago machine politics to go large-scale (moveon.org et al.) Theolder people, the wiser people, the experienced and the jaded - I’vetalked to them all, and they all agree that it has never been thisbad. The battle lines have been clearly drawn and the battles arebeing waged openly, vigorously and without apology.

Not every Democrat or liberal isa leftist - far, far from it, in fact. But I fear that the Democraticparty is far too gone for the sane people to reassert controlover it. As Greenfield points out, the left has retreated to“cultural urban and suburban enclaves where it has centralizedtremendous amounts of power while disregarding the interests andvalues of most of the country. If it considers them at all, it isconvinced that they will shortly disappear to be replaced bycompliant immigrants and college indoctrinated leftists who will forma permanent demographic majority for its agenda. But it couldn’twait that long because it is animated by the conviction thatenforcing its ideas is urgent and inevitable. And so it turned whathad been a hidden transition into an open break.” Thesepeople, long assured of their intrinsic superiority, are nowconfident in their eventual supremacy - and thus they are contestingthe legitimacy of the President of the United States, and indeed ourentire government, directly. We have been down this path before, too- it led to the Civil War.

That phrase - civil war- is the second reason I letthis post percolate for so long. I’m naturally antithetical tohysterical “sky is falling” arguments, as they’re invariably fullof shit and trying to sway people with fear and emotion, the facts beutterly damned. The current spate of gay,lesbian and transgender people buying guns for self-defenseagainst the imaginary hordes of Right-Wing Gestapo comes as nosurprise, because I’ve watched Conservatives panic-buying AR-15safter every shooting on the evening news for eight goddamn years. Andfor eight years I called them hooting morons becauseObama’s desire to “gitall yer gunz” far, far outstrippedhis ability to do so,legally and politically. Political vigilance against gun control isalways needed, yes, but people rushing to the stores and stockpiling(then-scarce) ammo in their basement were expecting a ban tomorrow,despite over a decade ofDemocrats losing ground on the national gun control debate, to saynothing of the Supreme Court rulings upholding - and incorporating -an individual right to keep and bear arms. Andthe ones I scorned and mocked the most were the ones insisting theymight need to use theirnew rifles in the not-so-distant future; that social unrest and evenviolence was just around the corner. I held these people to be theright-wing incarnation of the hysterical left-wing ninnies I soloathed and spared not my scorn, because being on myside of the fence didn’t make them any less an idiot.

Theday after the Berkeley riot, I decided it was about time I got off myass and purchased an AR-15.

For the first time in my life, Iam truly afraid for my country - and for my friends, my family, andmyself.

158 notes · View notes

shashamazing · 6 years

Text

The Melancholy: A View into the Crisis

Sleepless nights. Wild thoughts. Radical musings. Anxiety attacks. Borderline depression. All comprises a restless and reckless mind.

Might as well skip the pretense and be straightforward with the admission — that as human as we are — we all became mentally and emotionally unstable at one point in our lives. When life itself felt like it had stopped serving its purpose, leading one to be excruciated to function with the desire to live diminishing as each painful day went by.

It would indeed be a shame to be breathing the same air with people in a society that think of this idea as a taboo. In fact, it was never just an idea. Rather, it is a perpetual reality that most people refuse to confront. But based on social observation, this is more likely due to the scariness of being judged and maligned. With a world existing for 4.5 billion years, scientifically speaking, and currently living in the 21st century, the Millennial has partially come to a conclusion by closing out this particular subject matter at hand. Little do they know that instead of moving forward, they would be heading the opposite way should this kind of attitude persist. But who really is to blame when a long line of generations has already gone afar severely affected?

Concurrently, the results of this crisis are extreme as death is the most common denominator. Thus, given the situation, it is not one to be neglected. If ever, the suicidal death toll should be adequate enough to be used as the turning point of the said crisis. However, that is not the case. It appears that death is merely insufficient yet to stir a hyperactive global movement. Still, thousands of lives are being voluntarily ended almost every day when the causes are already scrutinized however to the stretch of oblivion.

Countless suicide awareness programs may have been launched for the very same reasons — showcasing a positive phenomenon taking effect so to speak — until an entire social embodiment renews its mindset, suicide ignorance would still be a problem.

Take for example the recent Logan Paul controversy. Logan Paul, a Youtube celebrity icon, has become infamous for cracking inappropriate jokes upon discovering a deceased body at Aokigahara suicide forest in Japan hence drawing worldwide criticism and violent reactions from millions of netizens from across the globe. Japan itself is one of the countries with the highest suicide rates with cultural pressures as primarily the cause.

It is noteworthy that the massive international outrage served as an eye-opener to millions of people, but we cannot impede the assumption that this may be due to Logan Paul's reputation as a relevant influencer and not the underlying issue.

Without patronizing Logan Paul's doing, however, an advantageous aspect can be extracted from this incident. If it were not for the mentioned incident, the need for further suicide attention would not likely have been raised. Hence, raising the bar for suicide awareness.

With that being said, it is also important to note the manifestations along with the urge to eliminate what causes these. So, we will name some for the sake of argument.

Bullying, usually, is the number one factor of these manifestations. Since bullying mainly occurs in schools, academic institutions need to properly construct a plan when it comes to solving the problem, and this ought to start with its educators. Educators should serve as the intermediary between the bully and the bullied as they are the firsthand witnesses in this circumstance. This can be achieved by incorporating the essence of anti-bullying into their training and instigating a drive for personality and character development for students into their own character. For this reason, student-teacher interaction should not be limited to academics only but also on the said personality and character development of the student. The generation today is highly in need of educators and elders that genuinely care for the youth’s well-being and welfare.

Family comes second to the list. Managing family expectations, especially parents', can be direly burdening to a child. Parental authority over a child’s decision-making and aspirations — even to adulthood — exists to this day. A common practice subconsciously sprouting from culture to culture therefore leading the child to pressure himself for fear of disappointment or worse — disownment. Changing this cultural mannerism would be the savory solution; considering parents send their children to school, the school needs to carry out the responsibility of orienting the parents that a skill set varies from child to child — meaning —one's capacity does not apply to the other. Notice the tremendous role schools have in society. It would not have been called "a second home" if it is not the bearer of our generation today. Apparently, schools should cultivate a higher regard for their students for they are technically impacting future leaders of society.

On top of family pressure lies peer pressure. Peer pressure nowadays, somehow, is being associated with an individual's basis for self-identity. The show-me-your-friends-and-I’ll-tell-you-who-you-are scenario justifies this reason. Society, being the nation's threshold, has a strong way of dictating standards that failure to meet them would imminently result to social banishment. Social media and trends, for instance, play a key role in this type of pressure. We now live in a world where information is instant and so is danger. If the previous paragraphs discuss the significance of schools and other academic institutions, this time, the significance of the family's role upon their child will be discussed. Parental supervision must be exercised on all children's activities including their social media whereabouts. Above all, parental support and guidance should be the family's priority. It is given that children are fragile and are in need of emotional security. Thus, constant words of praise and encouragement from the parents are a must. After all, there is not an opinion that sells more to a child than that of his family. If these are practiced at home, there is little to no chance for the child to succumb to peer pressure.

Ultimately, society is composed of individuals and these individuals include ourselves. In fact, there is basically no one to blame except us — the people. Unfortunately, society has gotten into the habit of establishing standards that even its very own establishers have difficulty of meeting. Failure in meeting these more often than not has resulted to crab mentality out of frustration. Thereby proposing that hypocrisy is one thing to be stopped and ignorance is another in order for the world to push forward. If the world has indeed developed a concern for the growing number of suicide among the youth today, then there should be a change in morality as well, which could be done by restoring what’s innate in us that made us all humans in the first place —sensitivity to each other’s feelings.

#blogticles #editorial #article #suicide awareness #suicide #essay #shashamusings

0 notes

pardontheglueman · 6 years

Text

Social Murder

In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Fire, a man-made tragedy for which the death toll presently stands at 80, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell took part in a debate at the Glastonbury Festival during the course of which he made the sensational claim that the victims of the fire were ‘murdered by political decisions’. Regardless of the fact that McDonnell was echoing views already expressed by some of the victims’ families and, indeed, by some of the survivors themselves, his comments were bound to spark outrage.

There is no doubt that by levelling the charge of murder directly at the political classes, McDonnell was leaving himself wide open to a barrage of criticism. Already a bogeyman of the right-wing press, the hired hacks of Murdoch and Dacre didn’t need to issue any ‘stop or I’ll shoot’ warnings before firing off both barrels in the general direction of Labour’s Marxist messenger. Nadine Dorries, Tory M.P for Mid-Bedfordshire, told the Daily Mail that “It would have been nice if he had let the dust settle, bodies be identified and given people time to grieve before he played politics with the lives of those who suffered”. Her colleague Andrew Bridgen, M.P for North West Leicestershire, was singing from the same hymn sheet (no doubt helpfully circulated by Conservative Central Office) when alleging “I wonder how the friends and relatives of the victims feel when their recently deceased loved ones are used as political pawns by the hard-left. With the hard-left, the end always justifies the means - no matter how much upset they cause”.

McDonnell stands accused, then, of using the horrific deaths of men, women, and children as a political football with which to gain a sordid electoral advantage. Leaving aside the fact that the accusations come directly from a party who cheered David Cameron to the rafters at the 2014 Welsh Conservative Conference when he launched his notorious attack on the Labour’s stewardship of the NHS in Wales-

“I tell you - when Offa’s Dyke becomes the line between life and death, we are witnessing a national scandal. There are people who have seen the ones they love waiting far, far too long for treatment, sometimes dying and these grieving families are in pain. It’s the same old socialist mantra: the system knows best”

Cameron is himself clearly guilty here of using the death of Welsh patients as a political football in order to score cheap party political points over an opponent; so having duly noted the hypocrisy of the Tory party’s response to McDonnell’s comments, let us examine the statement in closer detail. Here is the key sentence –"The decision not to build homes and to view housing as only for financial speculation rather than for meeting a basic human need made by politicians over decades murdered those families”.

It should be clear to anyone reading the above passage, that McDonnell isn’t attempting to pin the blame on any one political party, indeed the very opposite is true. He acknowledges Labour’s own culpability by recognising that ‘politicians over decades murdered those families’. McDonnell is attributing the blame, where it surely belongs, at the door of neo-liberalism, whether practised by Blair/Brown, Cameron/Osborne Clegg/Cable or May/Hammond. In a subsequent interview with Andrew Marr, McDonnell stood by his comments, drawing on Friedrich Engels 1845 treatise ‘The Conditions of the Working Class in England’ to amplify his argument. In the key passage below, Engel’s proposes his theory of ‘social murder’,

‘When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another, such injury that death results, we call that deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or the bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live - forces them to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence - knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual’.

Even as the Grenfell fire was still burning, a blog by the Grenfell Action Group, from November 2016, was heading T.V news bulletins. Its opening paragraph can’t but be compared to the conditions Engels was describing in his classic text,

‘It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders. We believe that the KCTMO are an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia who have no business to be charged with the responsibility of looking after the everyday management of large scale social housing estates and that their sordid collusion with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council is a recipe for a future major disaster.’

McDonnell was, of course, at the heart of Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for the Labour leadership in 2015, a campaign which was built around a principled and, as it turns out, remarkably prescient decision to turn Labour into an anti-austerity party. Labour members who had been uneasy with Ed Miliband’s decision to fight the general election of 2015 as an austerity-lite, lesser of two evils version of the Tories were ready to quit the party en-bloc when caretaker leader Harriet Harman instructed the parliamentary party to abstain on the second reading of the Tories’ Welfare Reform Bill, a bill that would have condemned the sick, the poor, the disabled and, particularly, disadvantaged children, to another package of brutal cuts running into the billions. Ordinary members couldn’t, in all conscience, continue to endorse those vicious policies. Had the Labour Party fought the 2017 general election on the bogus platform that one spoonful of austerity, not two, would secure the nation’s recovery it may well have been wiped out as a genuine political force in precisely the way that Scottish Labour was in the wake of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.

It is entirely plausible to argue, then, that McDonnell, as Corbyn’s chief lieutenant, and architect of the anti-austerity strategy, not only saved the Labour Party from a crippling defeat but also salvaged what remains of the welfare state too. May’s minority government will now have to scale back its onslaught on the public sector, while there is also a very real possibility of a Labour government being elected in the near future with a mandate to reverse austerity. Labour’s manifesto For the many, not the Few, inspired millions of young voters, outraged by the levels of inequality in the U.K, to participate in the political process for the first time. Try to imagine (remembering that the Liberal Party’s call for a second Brexit referendum led to an actual fall in their share of the vote), what else Labour could have run on in 2017, if not their anti-austerity programme. McDonnell has certainly earned the right to be heard with respect on the subject of austerity.

Austerity is a well-oiled killing machine and the Conservative Party knows it. There are countless government reports, House of Commons’ committee investigations and independent submissions from charitable organisations and pressure groups that testify to the many and varied ways in which the ideology of austerity kills British citizens. The Department of Work and Pensions, just to take one example, suppressed 49 internal peer reviews commissioned to look into the suicides of benefit claimants following their sanctioning by the department. It was only through a succession of Freedom of Information requests that the scandal of how the most vulnerable people in society were being driven to their deaths finally came to light.

The death toll resulting from a decade of austerity almost defies belief. It’s a painful task to reduce the individual lives of men, women, and children to a set of grim statistics in order to paint an exact picture of Britain in the summer of 2017:

The Health and Safety Executive has had its budget cut by 46%, leading to a drop in inspections of more than a third since 2011. https://www.healthandsafetyatwork.com/hse/business-plan-reveals-further-budget-cuts

Between 2003 and 2013 domestic energy prices increased by 150% (www.jrf.org.uk)

Since 2008 real wages have dropped by 10.4% in the U.K. compared to a 14% increase in Germany and an 11% increase in France. https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/labour-market/uk-workers-experienced-sharpest-wage-fall-any-leading-economy-tuc

Hate crimes against people with disabilities doubled between 2008 and 2014. https://hansard.parliament.uk/

Between 2009/10 and 2010/11 there was a 31% cut in Local Authority funding for domestic and sexual violence support. http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/measuring-the-impact-of-cuts-in-public-expenditure-on-the-provision-of-services-to-prevent-violence-against-women(dfd8ea40-b589-4f75

A study in 2015 found evidence that an additional 1,000 suicides had occurred in the U.K. between 2008 and 2010 as a result of the Global Financial Crash and the onset of austerity. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/12/austerity-a-factor-in-rising-suicide-rate-among-uk-men-study

According to the Office for National Statistics, in the winter of 2012/13, there was a 29% increase in deaths compared to a 15.5% rise the previous winter. The ONS report contradicted Public Health England’s claim that the rise was due to influenza. Danny Dorling, Professor of Geography at Oxford, attributed one of the largest increases in overall mortality since records began in the 1830’s to the fact that many pensioners were too poor to heat their homes. (’Austerity and Morality’, contributing essay to The Violence of Austerity edited by Vickie Cooper and David Whyte) https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/excesswintermortalityinenglandandwales/2013-11-26 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/excesswintermortalityinenglandandwales/201415provisional

A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that for every 10,000 Incapacity Benefit claimants reassessed between 2013 and 2015 there was an additional six suicides and 725,000 more prescriptions for anti-depressants.

Between October 2012 and the end of 2015, there were over 1.9 million decisions taken to sanction claimants. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dwp-statistical-summaries-2016

The U.K infant (0 to 1 years) mortality rate, at around four deaths per every 1,000 births, is higher than all but two of the nineteen Euro area member states. Half of these deaths are linked to short gestation and low birth weight, both of which are highly associated with deprivation. (Growing up in the UK 2013, pp 37-55) http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/search_auth=tZoMC4JS&p_p_id=estatsearchportlet_WAR_estatsearchportlet&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&_estatsearchportlet_WAR_e

An April 2016 House of Commons report on air quality estimated that up to 50,000 deaths every year are ‘brought forward’ by pollution. (House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee 2016 p.3)

In England and Wales, there were 42,000 evictions in the rented sector in 2015. A rise of 50% over the past four years and the highest level since records began in 2000. (Ministry of Justice: Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics Quarterly).

A Swedish study in 2015, found that tenants losing their home were up to nine times more likely to commit suicide, compared to the general population http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2015/11/04/jech-2015-206419

A study, Homelessness Kills: An Analysis of the Mortality of Homeless People in Early Twenty-First Century England, states the average age of death for a homeless person to be 47 years old.

In 2016, a total of 22 deaths of women in prison custody were recorded. This is the highest number on record. http://www.inquest.org.uk/statistics/deaths-of-women-in-prison

Rates of self-harm in prisons are running at record levels with 32,313 recorded attempts in 2015, a rise of nearly 40% in two years. (Prison Reform Trust, Prison: the Facts, Bromley Briefings 2016)

In the year to 2016, self-inflicted deaths in prison rose by 28%. (Ministry of Justice, Safety in Custody Statistical Bulletin England and Wales, 2016)

Austerity-driven cuts to the prison service budget between 2011 and 2015 amounted to £900 million, or 24% of the service’s overall budget. (Prison Service Journal November 2015)

Between 2010 and 2015 mental health trusts lost £598 million from their budgets each year. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31970871

These figures are just the tip of an austerity iceberg which threatens to sink the ship of the welfare state; how, for example, do you quantify the number of women who may have died as a result of the closure of domestic violence centres, or the tens of thousands who have surely died as the social care budget has been slashed and the NHS pared down and part-privatised?

Austerity, it is worth recalling, was always an ideological choice and not a political necessity. A global financial crash, caused by the greed of private sector banks, insurance companies and hedge funds (coincidentally, a roll call of donors to the Tory Party!) was used as camouflage by a Coalition government intent on dismembering the welfare state. As Sure Start centres, libraries and care homes were being closed down across the country, the rich continued to salt away their untaxed wealth in Panamanian tax havens; the wealthiest 1,000 in the U.K. population have, according to the Sunday Times rich list, doubled their wealth to more than half a trillion pounds. Although austerity is now disowned by former cheerleaders like the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there are still some members of the May cabinet, such as Michael Fallon, wedded to an utterly discredited method of stimulating economic growth. Austerity was only ever a ruse for systematically shifting wealth away from citizens and toward the corporate tax havens of the super-rich.

As Cooper and Whyte point out in their introduction to The Violence of Austerity, a compendium of true life horror stories that should be filed alongside your well-thumbed copy of The Complete Poe, ‘It is not normal to subject the most vulnerable sections of the population to such pain, humiliation and degradation’. The madness doesn’t end there, because, in addition to its policy of austerity, the Conservative Party’s deranged obsession with deregulation, together with their constant undermining of Health and Safety law in Britain endangers every one of us as we go about our daily business. No wonder, then, that former Trading Standards Supervisor Pippa Savage, while disputing McDonnell’s use of the word murder, felt able to declare in her column for The New European that McDonnell’s ‘sentiments ring true’.

As to whether McDonnell can be justified in his headline grabbing charge of murder, the law of joint enterprise has been used increasingly in recent years to secure convictions in murder cases. The controversial law does not require a member of the group accused to intend to kill or commit serious harm, simply requiring them to foresee that another member “might” kill, or at its lowest level of culpability, “might” inflict serious harm.

When the Conservative cabinet next assembles, to rubber stamp its latest tranche of welfare cuts (there are a projected 10bn of “savings” still in the pipeline), ministers will be aware, from all the evidence cited above, that the decisions they take that day will cause countless deaths. Of course, ministers won’t know which babies, which mentally-ill teenagers, which benefit claimants, which workers on building sites, which families trapped in blazing tower blocks, which pensioners on hospital trolley’s and which of the significantly disabled will die. Horrifyingly, the only conclusion it’s possible for us to reach is that they simply won’t care.

This piece can now be read at

https://www.facebook.com/RedLabour2016/

0 notes