#it is neither hate nor endorsment

[erinwantstowrite]

okay i'm finally making this post because both sides of the tim drake war are reading my fic, and i can't keep my silence.

1) for the Tim stands that make him the "oh woe is me, no one gets me, they all hate me", Tim is fine. that one chapter where Peter was messing with him with the detonator, i got a couple people who were like "why is Peter being so mean to him" like literally he is fine. he has gone through worse than Peter playing keep away with a detonator

2) for my Tim haters who read Tim being insecure with his family and believe i "woe is me'd" him: i do believe Tim is insecure in his place in the family, but he is a biased narrator. this comes from one chapter where he talks about his perspective on the Bats and how they met each other/felt about each other is biased (more recent, i think, after Black Spider?). like i'm pretty sure he said Bruce didn't like him for a good portion of his tenure as Robin and they got closer towards the end, and something of the sort with Dick warming up after a couple months. that is just how Tim felt. Bruce was pretty much "that's my son" and Dick with "that's my little brother" immediately but we know how Bruce is with emotions and saying he feels that way, so yeah. the same with Jason being a biased narrator in that one chapter. they're literally ALL biased. that's how a perspective works

i tried to find a balance but i got an ask that reminded me to just go ahead and make the post (they weren't rude, it just reminded me)

[the-everqueen]

re: WIPs, i have several sandman fics i'm working on and i'd like to finish. these are informed as much by (my opinions on) the spinoff comix and the actors' choices in the tv series as the original comix. also the neilman doesn't get any money from me having better opinions about the Corinthian and Rose Walker than he did back in the 90s (or now tbh). regarding the allegations - i believe the victims, i'm disinterested in any discourse that dismisses them or other women as liars in order to preserve this one man's fragile ego, and i don't want to materially support him via books or events or streaming. but i understand that some of my mutuals need to totally disengage from anything related to him. i'm fairly religious about my tags, so moots feel free to blacklist as needed and/or request specialized tags to avoid potential triggers. (this also extends to other things: if you need accommodations for specific tws, please ask.)

[ladybracknellssherry]

Neil Gaiman is an abuser and disgusting and no one should still be trying to defend this man. I hope his victims heal and can move forward and I hope they get to see some form of justice. I hope he never gets to abuse anyone again. I hope no one wants to work with him ever again. I hope his son is safe and someone gets him out of that environment.

I already said a lot about this last summer when the tortoise podcast first came out. But since everyone on tumblr has to have an opinion, I have a few to add.

"He wrote Calliope! Why are you surprised?" "He's a Zionist! Why are you surprised?" "He was raised in the Scientology cult! Why are you surprised?" "He-"

No.

The majority of fiction about sensitive / problematic / harmful topics is neither an endorsement nor a confession.

Being terrible in one way doesn't always/necessarily mean you're going be terrible in other ways. This mindset gives "you should have seen the signs" which is kind of a lot reductive and is within spitting distance of the victim blaming county line.

After an SA, someone in my social circle said to my face as ... a joke?... "what did you expect? dude listened to dave matthews band."

???

The signs are always there. Clear as day in the rearview mirror. And those signs can vary greatly. Anything can be a sign if you want it to be, I guess.

Remember when that guy Ted Bundy worked at a Suicide Hotline? The scariest thing to me is that a common sign of violent abusers seems to be an involvement in the causes to HELP victims.

I think we go looking for flashing neon signs like this because, simply, a wolf in sheep's clothing is far more terrifying than a regular ole straightforward wolf.

And this JKR vs. NG discourse? Who is making this a "which terrible person is the more terrible person?" contest? And what the fuck is wrong with you? Hate the artist, love the media. You do you. If you want to denounce great things created by terrible people, put down the phone, tablet, or computer you're reading this on because the guy who invented the transistor was a eugenicist and a racist.

NG acted this progressive, feminist ally type persona in all kinds of ways. And meanwhile was doing terrible shit, abusing and grooming and controlling and manipulating, and ultimately causing a lot of first direct harm, and now that the truth has come out, a huge blast radius of (indirect?) harm.

JKR continues to espouse and encourage vile discourse that fans the flames of transmisia/transphobia, putting trans lives in danger. Joanne spends so much time trying to police and influence the definition of "woman" that she attacks cis women - thus further endangering BOTH trans people and cis women in her crusade to...protect...women.

They've both done horrible things. DIFFERENT HORRIBLE THINGS.

There's nuance, of course. It would be great if we stopped giving these people money. My Good Omens fandom family - I know we're hurting. I really hope you plan on pirating any of the related media you would otherwise stream, going forward. Don't worry about David and Michael, the rest of the cast and crew. They'll be fine.

Fuck all of this "it's not about you." How in the hell? This man is a public figure. The reason we make a big deal about it when public figures abuse their power is BECAUSE THIS IS ABOUT ALL OF US. The world shifts when something like this comes out - AS IT SHOULD. Feeling discomfort or rage or sadness right now is normal. Channel those intense emotions. Figure out how to make constructive use of those emotions to try to help create a safer more nurturing world. And remember why you were forced to face these feelings this time - because Neil Gaiman abused women and those women went through absolute hell but were brave enough and strong enough to come out against such a beloved famous man because they wanted to make him be held accountable. Because they don't want him to get away with this. Because no one else should ever have to go through what they went through. Honor that. Honor what they went through. In NG's case, being such a public figure, the absolute scale of coverage with these allegations and accounts, we can only hope he never gets to victimize anyone else again.

That should be the focus. Not this noise of tangential discourse, not the autistic kid who has a special interest who wants to keep posting fan art on tumblr. That kid hates him too and has already said so.

I get it that when the news first broke in July a lot of folks didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe it. There was a lot of rationalizing about the media outlet. Look, denial is one of the stages of grief. Fans were shocked and grieving the death of a figure they respected and looked up to. You don't have to have an unhealthy parasocial relationship with someone to feel betrayed when they do terrible things. And, my god, the time we live in. Misinformation and disinformation is rampant. Wanting more information, wanting to take some time to investigate something you've heard is actually responsible, generally speaking. But a week after that news? Two weeks? A month? 3 months? If you're still defending him, denying these allegations, and wanting more "proof" at this point? Fuck right off, you need psychological help. That's not an insult, that is concern, from a fellow human being. You are unwell. I hope you get better.

Good Omens gave me my joy back after years in abusive relationships, multiple SA's, death after death of people I loved, fucking cancer, medical hell. I can't just turn off the love of this media or the love of this fandom I've connected with. I don't want to turn that off.

I'm not going to say "Neil is an abuser - BUT he helped create my special interest." Because that ain't it. "Neil is an abuser - AND he helped create my special interest." No justifying, no waffling, no moral superiority, no flagellation. These are just two facts.

Believe the victims. Tell everyone you'll ever meet that this guy is scum. Throwing away that book you bought 10 years ago won't fix anything. Believe victims. Donate to or volunteer with DV orgs and shelters. Set and respect boundaries in your lives and fucking check in about consent. Believe victims! Don't be silent when someone you know is being "kinda creepy." Believe victims. And take care of yourselves!

x

[hrizantemy]

What do you think of Lord Delvon aura?

Do you think he is an ass or that it's all for show?

Do you think he cares for his people in Illyria?

Why do you think he hates the Inner Circle so much and why does he hate them so much?

Do you think he knows about Velaris- or that the other Lords of Illyria knows that Velaris exists?

Does Hewn City know about the Illyrians & if so are the Darkbringers the same species as Delvon and Rhysand?

Do you sense a Hewn city and Illyria teaming up and rebelling against Rhysand and IC?

Do you ever see any peace for night court as a whole outside of the great Velaris?

I have sent this to my top 3 favorite Tumblr followers that I follow and live for their responses. I always need to get a better understanding of how each person minds work.

First of all—thank you for including me in your top 3! This is such an interesting set of questions, and I’m excited to break this down because Lord Devlon, Illyria, and the Night Court’s internal politics are criminally underexplored in canon.

Lord Devlon: Asshole or Performance?

Let’s be real—Lord Devlon is absolutely an ass. But is it all genuine malice, or part of a survivalist performance in a deeply entrenched patriarchal, militaristic society like Illyria?

I think Devlon is a product and enforcer of Illyria’s toxic traditions. His authority is tied to maintaining the rigid, oppressive structure that defines Illyrian culture—especially towards women and anyone who challenges the status quo. So while he may personally believe in those values, I also think there’s a performative aspect to his cruelty. In a society like Illyria, to appear weak is to lose power. If Devlon showed empathy or reformist ideas, he’d likely be overthrown by other war-hardened Illyrians who see tradition as survival.

That said—he still chooses to perpetuate abuse, like endorsing wing-clipping, and clearly despises outsiders meddling in “his” affairs. So no, I don’t think he’s secretly a misunderstood hero. He’s very much complicit.

Does Devlon Care About His People?

I think Devlon “cares” about his people in the way a warlord cares about maintaining a strong army. His concern isn’t for individual lives or welfare, but for the preservation of Illyrian strength, tradition, and dominance.

He likely believes that harsh discipline, suppression of women, and brutal training is necessary to keep Illyria from falling apart or being dominated by other fae. So in his mind, yes—he’s doing what’s “best” for Illyria. But that care is conditional, cold, and utilitarian. He doesn’t care about bettering their lives—only keeping them hard, obedient, and battle-ready.

Why Does Devlon Hate the Inner Circle?

Devlon’s hatred of the Inner Circle comes from three core reasons:

They Undermine His Authority: Rhysand and his Inner Circle constantly interfere in Illyrian affairs. Cassian, especially, pushes for reforms like ending wing-clipping. From Devlon’s perspective, they’re outsiders forcing change upon a society they neither respect nor understand.

Velaris Hypocrisy: Devlon isn’t stupid. He sees that Rhysand protects Velaris while letting Illyria rot. The IC preaches values of freedom and equality, but only within their chosen bubble. To Devlon, they’re hypocrites who only swoop in when it suits them politically.

Class Divide & Contempt: The IC represents elitism. Velaris is wealthy, beautiful, and privileged, while Illyrians are treated like disposable soldiers. Devlon’s hatred is fueled by resentment—they send Illyrians to die, but look down on them while drinking wine in Velaris.

Does Devlon Know About Velaris? Do the Other Lords?

I 100% believe that Devlon and the Illyrians know about Velaris. You can’t command armies for centuries and not be aware of your High Lord’s prized city.

Do Hewn City and Illyria Know About Each Other? Are Darkbringers the Same Species?

Yes, I believe Hewn City and Illyria are very aware of each other. They are two oppressed factions under Rhysand’s rule, though they represent different forms of subjugation—Illyria through militaristic brutality, Hewn City through political and social decadence wrapped in misogyny and fear.

As for the Darkbringers, canon is vague, but I personally don’t think they’re the same “species” as Illyrians. Illyrians seem to be a distinct warrior race within the Night Court, while Darkbringers are fae gifted (or cursed) with specific shadows and powers tied to the Court of Nightmares. There could be overlap, but culturally and magically, they seem separate.

Could Hewn City and Illyria Rebel Together?

This is SUCH a fascinating idea, and honestly? It’s plausible.

Both Hewn City and Illyria are kept in line through fear and neglect. Rhysand rules by offering crumbs—he lets Keir play king in Hewn City and lets Devlon run Illyria unchecked, so long as they don’t threaten Velaris.

But oppression breeds rebellion. If a charismatic leader—say, Eris, or even a disillusioned Illyrian like Emerie or someone from Hewn City—managed to unite their resentment, a joint uprising could be devastating.

However, their cultures are so different (decadence vs. militarism) that cooperation would be fragile at best. But with the right push? Absolutely possible.

Will There Ever Be Peace in the Night Court Beyond Velaris?

No. Not under Rhysand’s rule.

Velaris is the Night Court, in Rhysand’s eyes. The rest—Illyria, Hewn City—are tools or burdens. There can’t be peace when two-thirds of the court are left to suffer while a select few live in utopia.

Real peace would require:

Dismantling Illyrian traditions

Reforming Hewn City’s hierarchy

Ending the elitism of Velaris

But Rhysand isn’t willing to sacrifice Velaris’ perfection to uplift the rest of his court. So long as that imbalance exists, unrest will always simmer beneath the surface.

Final Thoughts

Devlon isn’t a secret hero—he’s an oppressive figure—but his hatred for the IC is justified. The true villain here is the system Rhysand maintains: one that prioritizes image over justice, Velaris over its people, and silence over reform.

Thank you again for sending this incredible ask! These are the conversations I live for.

[zot3-flopped]

Two months prior to its release, would-be doyens of Swift’s Tortured Poets Department have taken its barbed track listing very literally, leading to intense, often nefarious speculation regarding Swift’s six-year relationship with the British actor Joe Alwyn, which seemingly ended in early 2023.

The album’s title, revealed onstage at the Grammy awards, was quickly linked to a December, 2022 interview with Alwyn and Paul Mescal in which they revealed that Andrew Scott started their group chat, the Tortured Man Club. (“It hasn’t had much use recently,” Alwyn said: you wonder if it’s undergone a recent revival.) Swift revealed the leading track list a day later: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys, So Long, London, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, to name a few, sending fans wild with speculation.

Swift, obviously, has every right to sing about her relationships however she wants to (no apologies to Eamonn Holmes). But in the absence of any music, some fans have spread baseless, dangerous and even libellous allegations about Alwyn’s conduct (which, for obvious reasons, I can’t repeat).

Last month, a brief fan-shot video of them dining in a New Orleans restaurant in December, 2022 was recirculated online with AI-doctored audio that made it sound as though Alwyn is saying “you don’t get to tell me about sad,” a line printed on the back of one of the new album’s four physical editions.

When Swift recently told a crowd that she was “lonely” when writing her 2020 album Folklore – some of which was co-written with Alwyn during the pandemic, a lonely time for most – fans took that as further confirmation of their theories. A live medley of three songs that all appear to reference cheating threw petrol on the fire.

Swift could make this stop. She is no stranger to airing her displeasure with the likes of Ticketmaster, Scooter Braun, Spotify and Apple Music, and, occasionally, politicians. Before she released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) last year, she gave a veiled speech at one Eras tour date effectively asking fans not to go after John Mayer, whom she dated when she was 19 and he was 32 and is understood to be the subject of that album’s Dear John.

“I am not putting this album out so you should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I wrote a song about 14m years ago when I was 19,” she said in Minneapolis.

But for whatever reason – and obviously, no member of the public has any idea what transpired between her and Alwyn so far – this time she has opted to stay quiet.

Establishing a baseline for conduct is neither commercially risky nor unprecedented: just last week, Ariana Grande said, after the release of her post-divorce album Eternal Sunshine: “Anyone that is sending hateful messages to the people in my life based on your interpretation of this album is not supporting me and is absolutely doing the polar opposite of what I would ever encourage”.

It feels like the endgame of a cat-and-mouse act that’s gone too far. Swift’s gestures towards meaning have led every single thing she does to be considered a kind of marketing, a clue to be solved. It leaves a superstar who’s usually hot on her messaging open to misinterpretation: hints about her personal life are turned by some fans into witch-hunts for anyone perceived to have wronged her; her current silence on politics allows politicians to invoke her name, from the New South Wales police commissioner quoting Swift’s anti-haters lines while defending police to Joe Biden joking that the matter of her apparently much sought-after endorsement is “classified” on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

When Swift made a blandly neutral handwritten post encouraging US citizens to register to vote on Super Tuesday, some fans speculated that her unusual left-leaning handwriting was the real indication of her loyalties – suggesting they’re so starved of substance that they’re reading into empty messages because of this dynamic she has established. (The more likely explanation is the insane way she holds a pen.)

For Swift to only direct fans as to her wishes when it suits her, it weakens her status as a truth-teller. If the comparisons with Dickinson mean anything, she might remember that nothing in the world has as much power as a word feels like the endgame of a cat-and-mouse act that’s gone too far.

[mywitchyblog]

Can someone please explain to me who the hell is so upset with me that they’ve resorted to going into other shifters' ask boxes as an anonymous user and started bullying them in my name? It honestly baffles me that someone would stoop so low. If you have an issue with me or something I’ve said, be direct. I’m not one to hide behind anonymity or drag innocent people into something they have nothing to do with. If I had a problem with you, trust me, I’d say it to your face. I don’t need to hide in the shadows.

Now, there are only two possibilities for what’s going on here, and neither of them reflect well on the person responsible:

The first possibility is that this person is intentionally creating drama by sending themselves an anonymous ask. Maybe they’re looking for attention or trying to stir up conflict where there is none. It's sad, honestly, if that’s what’s happening because it just shows how far some people are willing to go to manufacture chaos.

The second possibility is that I’ve managed to piss someone off to the point where they’re now impersonating me, using my name to spread hate and start fights in spaces where I’m not even involved. If this is the case, I can’t say I’m surprised that someone would go this route rather than confront me directly, but it’s still frustrating. I don’t hide from criticism, and I won’t shy away from addressing issues head-on. But to use my identity in such a toxic way? That’s crossing a line.

To the person this happened to (I found out about this through a mutual, and I want you to know that I’m aware), I am truly sorry. I hate that this situation has dragged you into something you didn’t ask for, and I genuinely wish it hadn’t happened. But let me be absolutely clear: it wasn’t me. I did not send those messages, and I would never engage in that kind of behavior. It’s not how I handle things, and it’s certainly not how I treat others.

You are fully entitled to your own opinion, just like I’m entitled to mine. I’ve never denied that right to anyone, and I wouldn’t start now. We don’t have to agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to attack you for your perspective or allow someone else to use my name to do so. That’s not how this works.

And just to set the record straight for the final time: I am not a pedophile, nor do I endorse, encourage, or support anything related to that disgusting behavior. It’s beyond insulting that I even have to keep repeating this, but here we are. In fact, I went out of my way to age myself up by a few years or to completely discard the DRs that felt problematic or uncomfortable. I’ve always been mindful of the spaces I navigate, especially when it comes to shifting, and I’ve made conscious decisions about what I’m comfortable with.

If you’re unhappy or confused about something I’ve said or done, talk to me like a human being. Bring it to me, and let’s figure it out. Don’t jump to conclusions or, worse, involve other people who aren’t even a part of the conversation. It’s cowardly and completely unnecessary. This whole thing could’ve been avoided with a little bit of maturity and honest communication.

At the end of the day, it’s honestly pathetic to bully other people just because they happen to have a different opinion than yours. Why are you so bothered by someone else’s perspective that you’d go out of your way to hurt them or cause unnecessary drama? We’re all individuals here, and our experiences with shifting, our journeys, and our beliefs are going to vary. No two people will see everything the same way, and that’s okay. It’s actually something to be embraced. What’s not okay is tearing each other down because of those differences. That only reflects poorly on you and shows how little respect you have for other people’s paths.

So, let’s try a little harder to be civil and respectful. You don’t have to agree with me, and I don’t have to agree with you, but at the very least, we can treat each other with decency.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Meghan Blonder

New York Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman is touting an endorsement from a left-wing group that denounced a resolution commemorating "End Jew Hatred Day" in New York City. That resolution was "dangerous" and "a farce," the group said.

In a Monday tweet, Bowman heaped praise on Indivisible Brooklyn, calling their work "crucial in ensuring that everyday people are actually represented in our democracy."

"I am honored to have their endorsement and continue working with them," Bowman said.

Roughly one year prior, in June 2023, Indivisible Brooklyn blasted a bipartisan New York City Council resolution that established an "End Jew Hatred Day" in an attempt to combat rising anti-Semitism in the city. "That 'End Jew Hatred' bill was a total farce and is dangerous," the group said, adding that one of the two Brooklyn Democrats who voted against the resolution "was right to oppose it." The resolution passed with 41 yes votes.

Bowman's praise for Indivisible Brooklyn comes as the lawmaker faces a difficult primary challenge from Westchester County executive George Latimer, a pro-Israel Democrat whom local rabbis encouraged to run, citing Bowman's hostility toward the Jewish state. In the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, the two-term congressman has accused Israel of "mass murder," "genocide," and "ethnic cleansing."

"Many of us tried to engage the congressman early in his term, seeking constructive dialogue about the damaging positions he took—especially on matters related to America's relationship with Israel," the rabbis wrote in an October letter. "Regrettably, Congressman Bowman disregarded our outreach and doubled down on his anti-Israel policy positions and messaging."

Neither Bowman nor Indivisible Brooklyn responded to requests for comment.

The "End Jew Hatred Day" resolution, which was sponsored by Republican councilwoman Inna Vernikov, came as New York led the nation in anti-Semitic incidents and experienced a record number of anti-Semitic assaults, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League. In 2022, 72 anti-Semitic assaults were reported in the state, the highest on record at the time. That number represented 65 percent of all anti-Semitic assaults reported in the United States.

Vernikov's resolution aimed to "acknowledge this reality and to express support for this historically victimized community," according to New York GOP chair Ed Cox. Still, in addition to the two Democrats who voted against it, four others voted to abstain. One of those four, Charles Barron, said he did so because the "Jewish community … supported apartheid in racist South Africa and said nothing about African people dying."

A bipartisan group of lawmakers denounced the New York City Democrats who refused to back the bill.

"Antisemitism has a long and ugly history. It has seen a resurgence in NYC with a record number of hate crimes," Rep. Ritchie Torres (D., N.Y.) said at the time. "How can anyone vote against a resolution to end antisemitism?"

Since Latimer's entry into the race in December, Bowman has done little to improve his relationship with his district's Jewish leaders.

During a January panel discussion titled, "Palestine Oct. 7th and After," Bowman glowingly introduced anti-Israel author Norman Finkelstein, who celebrated Hamas's massacre as a "heroic resistance" that "warm[ed] every fiber" of his soul.

"I'm also a bit starstruck, because I watch them all the time on YouTube," Bowman said of Finkelstein and two other anti-Israel panelists. "You have given me the knowledge on YouTube even before coming here."

One month later, Bowman teamed up with fellow anti-Israel House member Cori Bush (D., Mo.) to hold a joint fundraiser in Los Angeles. That fundraiser was hosted by a number of activists who defended Hamas's attack, including one who called it "a desperate act of self-defense," the Washington Free Beacon reported. Bowman also held a joint fundraiser with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), during which the lawmakers filmed themselves leading a "Free Palestine" chant.

In addition to Indivisible Brooklyn, Bowman in January touted an endorsement from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, a left-wing nonprofit that blamed Israel for provoking Hamas's attack. The group has also argued against sending anti-Semitic hate criminals to jail, saying those criminals should be met with "restorative, community-based education and healing," not "a police-driven response with criminal penalties."

[falleri-salvatore]

RWBY AU Prompt:

--There are Four Foundational Families (one in each: Vale, Mistral, Mantle/Atlas and Vacuo) that can be considered Primarchical Royal Families (that is to say: they are Ozlem descendants. This fact is VERY hidden knowledge; so hidden in fact that neither Salem nor Ozpin knew until later on). --The Four Foundational Families share the following characteristics: Incredibly powerful and versatile (as well as hereditary) Semblances, immensely potent and dense Aura (not always vast, this depends on the individual), incredible life force (that is to say, they age slowly, seldom get ill and have much larger than average lifespan), and recessive yet highly persistent Silver Eyes AND Black Blood genes (rarely, some descendants are born with either one or both of these traits being dominant at random). The Schnee and Pendragon (now Arc) families are two confirmed families out of the four. --The Schnee and the Arc families have a longtime friendship with each other (which leads to the Schneeblings and the Arc Siblings being childhood friends). --Cinder was found and adopted by Qrow. Because of the series of events that unfolded prior to this, Qrow was ALMOST persona-non-grata in Atlas (Ironwood, Willow and Ozpin had to call in on a LOT of favors for the "Almost" part). --Weiss (and by extension Winter and Whitley) are childhood friends with Jaune (and his sisters). However, whereas Weiss enrolled in Atlas Prep to follow her sister's footsteps, Jaune studied in Shade Academy, where he met and befriended Pyrrha Nikos (and became her first and best friend, as well as her first love and her friendliest rival). --Saphron, Winter, Cinder and Terra studied in Beacon (Saphron, Winter and Terra came from Atlas Prep, where as Cinder came from Signal) and were on the same team (Team ASBT/Asbestos). Saphron was the leader, Saphron and Terra were partners while Winter and Cinder were partnered. --Winter and Cinder got along like cat-and-dog/ice-and-fire, with Cinder goading and taunting Winter every chance she could and Winter inevitably losing her temper (think of Qrow and Winter's canon dynamic). Cinder disdained Winter (at first) because she thought of her as a spoiled Atlesian princess (and Cinder hated anything to do with Atlas) while Winter detested being compared to a vapid socialite that was common for an Atlesian lady of her age (it was the reason she chose to come to Beacon after all, with Ironwood's endorsement no less, to get away from it all).

--Saphron Arc was pretty much the "Summer Rose/Glynda Goodwitch/Pyrrha Nikos" of her generation; that is to say, she was an unparalleled prodigy among her peers (shame that she, along with Terra, retire from being huntsmen early on). --Because of the different circumstances, Cinder Branwen was made the Fall Maiden instead of Amber (originally, Saphron was the one planned to be made the maiden; however, she declined). Amber, instead, is one of Cinder's bodyguards. --During their time in Beacon: Weiss and Pyrrha are fierce rivals in both love (over Jaune) and combat, and every time they fight, they never fail to destroy the arena. It has gotten to the point that Glynda prohibits them from fighting each other during Combat Class because she dreads having to clean up the mess. --Ozpin and Qrow can't help but reminisce over the fact that Pyrrha's and Weiss' rivalry was like a mix between Summer's and Raven's (fighting over Tai), and Winter's and Cinder's (fundamentally so very very similar that they can't help BUT clash).

[maspers]

Ranking the Miracucast by how much Adrien: The Fragrance they own

Marinette: Do you even have to ask? She has gallons. 10/10

Alya: She has more than the average girl her age, but that's mostly because it was on sale and she felt like supporting Adrien in a way that was pretty easy. 5/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: Has gotten at least 1 bottle as a joke. Adrien was not amused. 1/10

Chloe: She has a significantly large amount of Adrien, and she says that she wears it all the time, but her collection isn't decreasing as much as she says it is. Sus. 8/10

Sabrina: Unlike Chloe, Sabrina actually likes this perfume. Main reason Chloe's collection is decreasing is because Sabrina uses it. 8/10 by proxy

Mylene: Had some, but then she learned about some of the stuff that Gabriel puts in his perfumes. Then she set all her bottles on fire. At once. In the classroom. They had to have a fire drill. Maybe it wasn't her smartest idea. But she was tired. 3/10

Ivan: Everyone assumed he was the one who set the fire, and he is doing nothing to dissuade them of that notion. 2/10

Rose: This girl knows her perfume. She sorts it alphabetically. She may or may not make her own, by performing unethical experiments on the perfumes she already owns. The Adrien is no exception, she has more types of it than legally exist on the market. 6/10

Juleka: Actually wears it quite a bit, since A) She kinda likes the smell, B) It's cheap, and C) Adrien uses it as proof that he is in fact endorsing her as a model. The only thing holding her career back is her self-confidence. You can do it Juleka! We believe in you! 7/10

Kim: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. 9/10

Max: Absolutely not. 0/10

Alix: She actually has a pretty sizable collection of the stuff in the Burrow. But none of it seems to be stuff that's currently on the market, it's all weird future versions of the stuff with odd scents, unreleased prototypes that put you at risk of setting it on fire if you use it, or bottles from alternate timelines that somehow survived whatever apocalypse was going on there. It's complicated. But since they're all weird versions of it, she has a nice excuse to not use it. Ever. Alix/10

Nathaniel: Bought a whole bunch and used it to create an art piece for Adrien's birthday. Adrien was extremely amused and gave the artwork a special spot in the corner of his room. It still smells like the fragrance (and bottles) used to make it, which is very good for disguising the scent of Plagg's camembert. 4/10

Lila: Is contractually forced to wear the stuff due to legal shenanigans. She hates it. She hates it so much. But if any of the Agreste Household realize that she isn't wearing it then things will get more ComplicatedTM for her so she just has to deal. 9/10

Luka: Borrows Juleka's sometimes. If it works, it works! The twins already share a lot of stuff anyway, she doesn't mind. Sometimes it leads to Luka getting weird looks from other people, but Luka has never really been one to care about that. 5/10

Kagami: Like Lila, she's basically contractually obligated to wear it. unlike Lila, she doesn't own a single bottle of the stuff. Neither Gabriel nor Tomoe care about it enough to force her, so she will take what she can get. 0/10

Marc: He adamantly refuses to disclose how much of the stuff he has, if any. It's probably one of the best-kept secrets in the entire school. I have no clue either, so I'm just going to give him the average score and you all can try and come up with your own guess. 5/10

Ondine: Kim once bought her some perfume in bulk as a gift (oh, THAT's why his own score was so high, I get it now) but unfortunately perfume is not really practical for a girl who spends a significant amount of her time swimming and showering. She appreciated the gift, though, and wears it when she feels like being fancy! 3/10

Aurore: She's an Adrien fangirl. 'Nuff said. 8/10

Felix: He hates this stuff with a burning passion. Everyone sees him and goes "hey aren't you that guy on the perfume ads?" and he despises it. He actively goes out of his way to tear down posters and deface advertisements, even going to such great lengths as to create sentimonsters with the explicit purpose of reducing sales of Adrien. Felix will do everything in his power to decrease the amount of this stuff in the world. -5/10

Zoe: She arrived after the craze was over and has no context for anything. So she also borrows from Chloe's stash on occasion, but she doesn't really much care for the smell. 4/10

[aspens-dragons]

OOC Post.

I put a section about this under the cut of a post, but I'm putting an extended version in this post.

OK, I get this was barely funny at first, but whoever you are, you're sending asks about my character to people I've never interacted with before. I understand that I really should've nipped this in the bud and said something OOC when you said you'd do this to Maple, but I shouldn't have HAD to.

You did not ask my permission. You did not ask permission from any other blogs. This isn't okay.

I never reblogged anything saying it's okay to send my character anon hate.

You are ACTIVELY spreading misinformation about my character when I and other muns aren't okay with it.

It's literally just mean? Fuck you??

I'm not okay with this. Fuck you.

If you got an ask like this, I seriously apologize, I never intended for this kind of thing to happen.

TLDR: If you're sending those asks saying my character called somebody else a "hairy butt," stop. I don't condone or endorse this. Neither me, nor any of my friends sent those ask. Whoever you are, you suck.

[originalleftist]

A Reminder:

This blog opposes collective guilt or punishment based on race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or national origin.

Accordingly, it opposes vilification, conspiracy theories, threats of violence, violent attacks, and other forms of collective punishment directed Israelis or Jews, including calls for the destruction of Israel. It also acknowledges that Jews are indigenous to the Levant, based on overwhelming historical, cultural, archaeological, and genetic evidence, and basic fucking sense.

This DOES NOT mean that this blog endorses collective guilt or punishment of Palestinians, denying that Palestinians are a "real" people or nationality*, attempts to portray all Palestinians, Muslims, or Arabs as terrorists, or advocating their destruction or expulsion from any territory.

In particular, any comments or reblog advocating or excusing the destruction or expulsion of any group of people based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or national self-identification WILL be reported for violating Tumblr's policies against hate speech, and WILL result in a block, regardless of who does it or who it is directed at.

*I am aware that "Palestinian" as a national identity is fairly recent. However, new nations and national identities have formed throughout history. As far as a claim to being indigenous to the Levant is concerned, I am of the view that a land can have more than one indigenous group, that neither Jewish nor Palestinian indigenousness inherently invalidates the other. And while it is correctly pointed out that neither Arabic nor Islam nor the name "Palestine" originated from the Levant (Arabia, Arabia, and Rome, respectively), genetic studies trace Palestinians' ancestry back to the Canaanites, along with other groups.

[bonyfish]

Hey do you guys want to hear the pawn shop story I don't tell because it sounds so fuckin fake? It is, regrettably, the season for it and I've been thinking of it again.

To preface this story with a defense of my honor, this is neither the weirdest nor the most upsetting thing to happen to me while working at the pawn shop. (The clown mask fake robbery probably takes the cake on both counts.) That is to say that in isolation, all elements of this tale are quite mundane to the reality of working at a pawn shop in southern Indiana.

Anyway.

CW: antisemitism, the 2016 election, customer service work

The year is 2016. I'm a couple years out of art school and have been working at a pawn shop in my small city for most of that time. I am a few months out from the event that will mark, in addition to calamity on a national and global scale, the beginning of the dissolution of my relationship with my parents: the election of Donald Trump. I am also beginning to suspect my new coworker Brian (not his real name) might be kind of a sleeper asshole.

Brian and I were at the jewelry counter this day, when this German couple in maybe their mid-40s walked in. They were friendly and in good spirits, and we chatted a bit while they tried on rings. My grandfather was German, and between that and growing up on Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, German and Austrian accents kind of put me at ease. So I liked these two, up until the fellow tried to negotiate the price of a ring down and the lady said, "He's not Jewish, if that's what you're thinking!"

Now this was far from the first time I'd encountered the greedy/thrifty Jew stereotype while working at the pawn shop. As with many unpleasant interactions, my default reaction was to pretend I hadn't noticed the negativity and forge on ahead. So I said something like, "That's too bad, since I'm Jewish and we would've had that in common."

To which the woman replied, laughing, "See, the joke is you're all greedy!"

Typically when I responded to this sort of thing by revealing that I'm Jewish, the other person would become embarrassed and apologize or otherwise end the interaction. Once or twice someone had covered up the awkwardness of the moment by making as many offensive jokes as possible before one of my coworkers took over, but this blithe statement of perceived fact was new. I did not know how to deal with this.

I said, "That is the stereotype, yes."

I'm not sure how she did it conversationally, but from there she segued quite abruptly into talking about how she really likes that Trump fellow, because he "tells it like it is." My coworker was just nodding along, agreeing with her and chatting, while I stood there wondering how I had ended up in this situation and how quickly I could exit it. Even at the time I was marveling at how hamfisted the moment would have been from a narrative perspective, were this a story and not my own wretched weekday morning. I mean, they were even German, for fuckssake. I hate the punchline/stereotype of all Germans being Nazis because, as I mentioned, my grandfather and his family were German Jews, and I feel like that stereotype erases those people while simultaneously letting actual Nazi Germans off the hook for their own choices. But here I am listening to this conversation and realizing that now I have this story I can't tell because it's too damn stupid.

Presently they left, and I tried to see if Brian had made any sort of connection between these people insulting me to my face and then endorsing this particular candidate, but of course he saw nothing wrong with the interaction. This marked the decline of any fellow-feeling I had towards him as a coworker. Another coworker later told me that Brian "didnt believe" in gay people, which explained why he couldn't work the register-- I trained him, and since I don't actually exist, there's no way he could've learned to do his job properly.

Anyway that's my story. A year or so later I quit with no prospects because having to play nice with people who I knew voted for Trump was making me crazy. Next time I'll tell a more fun story, like the one about all the cockroaches, or the other one about all the cockroaches.

[communist-manifesto-daily]

The Communist Manifesto - Part 14

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III. Socialist and Communist Literature

1. Reactionary Socialism

A. Feudal Socialism

Owing to their historical position, it became the vocation of the aristocracies of France and England to write pamphlets against modern bourgeois society. In the French Revolution of July 1830, and in the English reform agitation‡, these aristocracies again succumbed to the hateful upstart. Thenceforth, a serious political struggle was altogether out of the question. A literary battle alone remained possible. But even in the domain of literature the old cries of the restoration period had become impossible.*

‡ A reference to the movement for an electoral reform which, under the pressure of the working class, was passed by the British House of Commons in 1831 and finally endorsed by the House of Lords in June, 1832. The reform was directed against monopoly rule of the landed and finance aristocracy and opened the way to Parliament for the representatives of the industrial bourgeoisie. Neither workers nor the petty-bourgeois were allowed electoral rights, despite assurances they would.

* Not the English Restoration (1660-1689), but the French Restoration (1814-1830). [Note by Engels to the English edition of 1888.]

In order to arouse sympathy, the aristocracy was obliged to lose sight, apparently, of its own interests, and to formulate their indictment against the bourgeoisie in the interest of the exploited working class alone. Thus, the aristocracy took their revenge by singing lampoons on their new masters and whispering in his ears sinister prophesies of coming catastrophe.

In this way arose feudal Socialism: half lamentation, half lampoon; half an echo of the past, half menace of the future; at times, by its bitter, witty and incisive criticism, striking the bourgeoisie to the very heart’s core; but always ludicrous in its effect, through total incapacity to comprehend the march of modern history.

The aristocracy, in order to rally the people to them, waved the proletarian alms-bag in front for a banner. But the people, so often as it joined them, saw on their hindquarters the old feudal coats of arms, and deserted with loud and irreverent laughter.

One section of the French Legitimists and “Young England” exhibited this spectacle.

In pointing out that their mode of exploitation was different to that of the bourgeoisie, the feudalists forget that they exploited under circumstances and conditions that were quite different and that are now antiquated. In showing that, under their rule, the modern proletariat never existed, they forget that the modern bourgeoisie is the necessary offspring of their own form of society.

For the rest, so little do they conceal the reactionary character of their criticism that their chief accusation against the bourgeois amounts to this, that under the bourgeois régime a class is being developed which is destined to cut up root and branch the old order of society.

What they upbraid the bourgeoisie with is not so much that it creates a proletariat as that it creates a revolutionary proletariat.

In political practice, therefore, they join in all coercive measures against the working class; and in ordinary life, despite their high-falutin phrases, they stoop to pick up the golden apples dropped from the tree of industry, and to barter truth, love, and honour, for traffic in wool, beetroot-sugar, and potato spirits.†

† This applies chiefly to Germany, where the landed aristocracy and squirearchy have large portions of their estates cultivated for their own account by stewards, and are, moreover, extensive beetroot-sugar manufacturers and distillers of potato spirits. The wealthier British aristocracy are, as yet, rather above that; but they, too, know how to make up for declining rents by lending their names to floaters or more or less shady joint-stock companies. [Note by Engels to the English edition of 1888.]

As the parson has ever gone hand in hand with the landlord, so has Clerical Socialism with Feudal Socialism.

Nothing is easier than to give Christian asceticism a Socialist tinge. Has not Christianity declaimed against private property, against marriage, against the State? Has it not preached in the place of these, charity and poverty, celibacy and mortification of the flesh, monastic life and Mother Church? Christian Socialism is but the holy water with which the priest consecrates the heart-burnings of the aristocrat.

[ ◁ First | ◃Prev | Table of Contents | Next ▹ ]

[readingsquotes]

We can diagnose this voter shift as being a result of the Democrats being a hollow corporate shell that doesn’t fight for leftist policies, and we can point out that Kamala Harris’s brother in law is Uber’s top lawyer, which is a job that surely destines you for hell. I am not going to get into this sort of diagnosis today, though. It’s important to recognize the difference between “The Democrats should do leftist policy because it is good for humanity” and “The Democrats should do leftist policy because that is a winning electoral strategy.” These two separate arguments get conflated on both ends, and mixed together, and it makes the discussion hard to parse because even the honest people start talking past each other, and the majority of people are just arguing for their own personal policy preferences rather than being honest anyhow. This is why these arguments generally break down into either “I am a centrist and the Democrats lost because voters hate their leftist policies” or “I am a leftist and the Democrats lost because voters hate their centrist policies.”

...

And indeed, guess which segment of the working class stuck with the Democrats in 2024? Union voters. NBC and CNN exit polls say that Harris won union voters by 8 points, even as Republicans won voters with incomes under $50k and under $100k. For all of the ink that got spilled in the past year about who the Teamsters would endorse and whether there really is such a thing as a “working class Republican,” the numbers show that actual members of unions remained a solid Democratic demographic even as the working class at large drifted to the right.

Here is the most important point I will make in this column: “Union members” and “the working class” are not synonyms. Ten percent of American workers today are union members, meaning that 90% of “the working class” are not union members. Joe Biden did a lot of good things for union members. So union members backed the Democrats. What does all of that mean to the other 90% of working people? Nothing. So the working class at large drifts away.

Do you want to make the working class vote Democratic? You need to make more of the working class union members.

This is pretty straightforward. Yet we are awash in hazy and misguided punditry because being “pro-union” so often gets conflated with being pro-working-class. (I hope that it goes without saying that Trump is neither pro-union nor pro-working class and his appeal is pure bullshit. Yet it is the fact that so many voters don’t understand the benefit of Democratic policies on their own lives that they become susceptible to Trump’s lies.) Biden spent a lot of political capital helping unions and their members. That did not accrue to the Democrats in the form of a bazillion votes and sky high approval ratings, and so some political analysts concluded that spending political capital to help unions is not worth it, electorally speaking. Well. That is not true. The conclusion to draw here is not that Democrats should abandon unions. It is that Democrats need more people to be union members.

[jimpagne]

Not a single person had been vile to taehyung, stop telling jkkrs they can’t react while being borderline complicit in the hate jimin has received from them since the beginning of BTS

Not really what I’m saying but it’s super brave to say “not a single person” when I’ve had to block multiple people on Twitter bc of it 😭

Not saying people can’t be a tad bit disappointed, but being aggressive toward Taehyung is not it. I have never agreed nor liked the philosophy of “well other people have done [blank], so I can do [blank].”

The problem with this line of thinking is that these people are like “taekookers have been aggressive toward jimin so it’s fine for jikookers to be aggressive toward Taehyung as some type of karma”… what a load of BS. If Jimin is being cyberbullied by people who are NOT Taehyung, why should we then cyberbully Taehyung too 😭 it doesn’t make any sense.

Neither Jimin or Taehyung are directly involved in the cyberbullying of one another, so why on earth would I endorse or simply allow for people to justify it??

[eretzyisrael]

by Zach Kessel

Last week, I wrote about the upcoming Palestine Writes Literature Festival, to be held at the University of Pennsylvania from September 22 to 24. Featuring as speakers noted antisemites, running the gamut from Marc Lamont Hill to Roger Waters, the festival promises to be a veritable cornucopia of hatred of Jews: calls for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the land of Israel, accusations of Jews being subhuman, insinuations that a Jewish cabal controls American media, you name it. If it’s a form of antisemitism, it’s sure to be found on Penn’s campus this weekend. I hope it’s a coincidence that the festival’s last day coincides with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism.

There’s an update to this story, and for those familiar with the rising tide of antisemitism on college campuses across the country, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Since the festival began drawing attention over the past week or so, there have been strident responses from the university’s Jewish alumni and supporters. More than 2,000 such concerned individuals signed an open letter sent to the university’s president, Liz Magill, urging her to issue a statement — without equivocating or falling into both-sides-ism, as higher-education administrators often do when they lack the courage to condemn antisemitism — “specifically denouncing the event’s platforming of known antisemitic speakers.” The letter’s authors noted that, had a university department sponsored a festival promoting anti-black or anti-Asian racism, homophobia, or any other kind of bigotry, there’s no question that Penn would immediately distance itself from and condemn the event. Of course, within the academy and progressive intelligentsia more broadly, Jews are themselves oppressors, and antisemitism isn’t a legitimate form of hatred deserving of attention.

Though the University of Pennsylvania does and should aim to foster an environment of free expression, the letter notes, “neither academic freedom nor freedom-of-speech principles prevent the university from using its own voice to speak out against antisemitism wherever and whenever it occurs, especially on campus.” The Palestine Writes organizers have a right to voice their opinions, but they do not have the right to do so on Penn’s land.

It turns out that’s too much to ask of Magill. In a statement obtained by Jewish Insider, she made perfunctory comments about how the university opposes all forms of hate including antisemitism, how Waters has been roundly condemned for his past words and actions, and how she is “personally committed more than ever to addressing antisemitism in all forms.” You’d think part of that commitment might entail disallowing such vile displays from taking place on the campus she runs. Apparently, at least in Magill’s eyes, it doesn’t. She invoked the university’s “responsibility to foster open dialogue and cultural diversity on campus.” But there’s a massive difference between open dialogue and cultural diversity and tacitly endorsing speakers who traffic in this kind of antisemitism.

And then, Thursday morning, something at once entirely predictable and yet bone-chilling for Penn’s Jewish students happened: A student at the university vandalized the school’s Hillel building. As the Daily Pennsylvanian reported, “a regular attendee” opened the building’s doors for a morning service, and the culprit entered:

“When I walked into Hillel, I noticed that the lobby was completely trashed — one of the podiums was smashed, one of the tables was smashed. There was stuff everywhere,” [University of Pennsylvania student Marc] Fishkind said. . . . “He immediately started smashing things, yelling ‘F**k the Jews’ and ‘They killed JC,’” Fishkind recounted from what he was told by someone who was there, adding that eventually, the perpetrator ran out of Hillel as the police arrived.

Make no mistake: As university president, Magill bears responsibility. By allowing the Palestine Writes Literature Festival to take place on her campus, and by allowing multiple academic departments to co-sponsor the event, she has helped foster an environment of antisemitism at Penn that empowers people like the student who vandalized the Hillel building. Magill doesn’t seem to understand that her inaction has consequences and that by building a permission structure for antisemitism, she has allowed antisemitic acts to occur.

It’s insane that we have to keep writing about events such as these. From my May 2022 piece in National Review:

Last month, several student groups signed a statement written by NYU School of Law’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter defending terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and accusing Zionists of controlling the media, a well-worn antisemitic canard. On April 26, Georgetown Law School’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter hosted Mohammed El-Kurd, an activist who has accused Israelis of harvesting the organs of dead Palestinians and of having “an unquenchable thirst for Palestinian blood & land.” In recent weeks, the Rutgers chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi — a historically Jewish fraternity — faced multiple incidents of antisemitic harassment. First, activists waving Palestinian flags yelled antisemitic slurs and spat at fraternity brothers. A few days later, vandals threw eggs at AEPi’s house during the fraternity’s Holocaust Remembrance Day proceedings — the second year in a row the house was egged during Yom HaShoah. On Saturday, April 23, at Northwestern, where I am an undergraduate, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter organized a candlelight vigil and painted messages across Northwestern’s “Rock,” a boulder on campus that student organizations paint for various promotional purposes. By Tuesday morning, alongside the SJP chapter’s Instagram username, the rock bore the slogan “From the River to the Sea.”

Hatred of Jews on campus, of course, didn’t end in May 2022. Antisemitic attacks at American universities have nearly doubled in 2023, and almost 60 percent of Jewish college students in the United States have either experienced or witnessed antisemitism at their places of learning, according to an Ipsos poll. Another Ivy League school, Princeton University, has included on a humanities course syllabus the book The Right to Maim, which claims that Israelis harvest Palestinians’ organs, a variant on the time-worn “blood libel” canard.

The longer academic institutions take to actually address antisemitism on their campuses, the longer they’re allowing it to flourish. By hiding behind rote affirmations of a school’s commitment to diversity, to equity, to whatever progressive buzzwords they like to emblazon on their overpaid and underworked administrators’ doors — and by refusing to act when the time comes, like right now — university presidents like Liz Magill create the conditions in which, for instance, Hillel buildings are vandalized. I’m left with only one question: What did she think was going to happen?