#morality is relative and challenging someone for being a Problem can look a lot of different ways

[undomesticated-animal]

I really think people who attach morality to their sexuality and sexual practice (willingly or not, good or bad) find it both freeing and scary to interact with me because there's basically nothing they can say or do that will make me treat them like a bad person but that doesn't mean I'll keep fucking them after either. Like accountability and negotiation without shame is apparently a rare thing in most people's sex lives. Which is fine but then like.

Sometimes.

They get judgey at ME when I don't shame the people they think I should or when they learn I'm someone who does things they think I should be ashamed of. Weird to watch someone go from "it's so attractive how welcoming you are" to "what do you mean you don't think that's disgusting behavior??"

Like bitch I don't think ANYTHING is disgusting behavior, I just think it's behavior, you liked that when it freed you from shame about things your into, don't bitch at me that it frees others from shame about things that squick you out.

[steveezekiel]

BEING GIVEN OVER TO A DEBASED MIND

"AND EVEN AS THEY DID NOT LIKE TO RETAIN GOD IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE, GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A DEBASED MIND, to do those things which are not fitting."

Romans 1:28 (NKJV)

If someone or a group of people would not want to retain God in their knowledge, He would definitely allow them to do whatever they have chosen and conceived in their minds to do—things that are not fitting.

God to some extent does not force things on people. If you would not want His way of life or His pattern of living, He would allow you to have your way, but surely not without serious consequences.

Man, human, was made a free moral being. Man, human, is given freedom of choice. You can choose to do or not. This is the reason why someone can wake up and say there is no God, that God does not exist (Psalm 14:1). That is his own opinion! No one will penalize him for it.

So If someone does not want to embrace God or His ways, he or she would be allowed to continue with their life. But such a person might be made to be willing in the process of time (Philippians 2:13).

Being made to be willing is when the person is allowed to be confronted with challenges, things or issues come their way, that he or she would need God's intervention or a supernatural help. Someone dying of terminal disease or sickness, vulnerable, and could not be helped medically, would not mind of being told about God and being prayed for, because such is in an agony and needed a succour at such a time.

There are number of things that could happen or come someone's way that would be beyond what the person can handle, things that could not be solved with money, position, power or influence, or whatever; which would require the intervention of God. At such a time, when God is introduced to the person who says there is no God, he or she may think otherwise, such might want to believe there is God.

A preacher was sharing about a woman who does not believe that the devil exists. She was hearing some mysterious voices in her house and was looking for help. The pastor told her that what she was experiencing is the work of the devil. She answered, Is the devil real? The pastor, taken aback, asked her, Is what you are experiencing, the strange voices you are hearing, real? She said It is real. If It was not real I would not be here looking for solutions. The preacher told her, If what you are experiencing is real, It means the devil is real.

God is real. The devil is real. The spiritual realm is real. In fact, the spiritual realm is more real than the physical realm. And the spiritual realm controls the physical realm. Life is spiritual!

It is the high time that you believe in God, embrace Him and let Him be in the driver's seat, commandership and directorship, of your life.

The idea of God does not exist is common in the western world because things are relatively easy, in terms of having basic necessities of life. The reason that they have food to eat and the opportunity to have their basic needs met, they want to believe If they could have their needs met, what is the need for God then?

But they have forgotten that there are things money cannot buy and many problems that could not be solved medically. It is like a lot are waking up since the time of COVID-19, they have seen and realized there are things that could not be solved by money or medication.

A debased mind is a corrupted or perverted mind. What led to such a mind is when someone refused to receive and retain the knowledge of God's Word. Whereas the knowledge of God should be the first and foremost priority of whoever claims to be of God, because you cannot walk or relate with Him without the knowledge of His Word. God is known primarily through the knowledge of His Word and the practice of it. Thus, work towards the increase of your Word intake and the practice of it.

Note:

a. Read, study, and live in line with the principles found in the Word of God, the Bible, daily (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; James 1:22-25).

b. Be prayerful. The knowledge of the Word of God will help you in praying aright (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

c. Walk and do things with the consciousness of God being with you by acknowledging Him in all you wanted to do (Proverbs 3:5,6).

d. Develop your perceptiveness, the keenness to hear from God and the promptness in the doing of whatever you heard from Him (Isaiah 30:21).

e. Be meek and humble yourself, let God be the One leading and directing your life (Psalm 25:9).

If you are reading this piece and you are yet to embrace God through Jesus Christ, now is the time to do that, tomorrow might be too late:

1 WE THEN, AS WORKERS TOGETHER WITH HIM ALSO PLEAD WITH YOU NOT TO RECEIVE THE GRACE OF GOD IN VAIN. 2 FOR HE SAYS: “IN AN ACCEPTABLE TIME I HAVE HEARD YOU, AND IN THE DAY OF SALVATION I HAVE HELPED YOU.” BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION" (2 Corinthians 6:1,2 NKJV).

Peace.

Note:

a. I want you to follow us for more edifying content.

b. Endeavour to share this message. God bless you.

[writingwithcolor]

Announcement: No Longer Answering Rubber Stamp Questions

Introduction

Here at Writing With Color, we’ve noticed a shift in the questions we are receiving. In the past, the majority of questions challenged the necessity of diversity in fiction or asked for assistance in making diversity seem more plausible in world-building. We also received many questions on how to describe and characterize people of color in respectful ways that didn’t demonize different races, ethnicities and religions.

By and large, we see that our followers understand why these concepts are important, and for that we congratulate you! This kind of progress takes real, long-term, internal work. Our team hopes that any advice or input you received from us over the years has helped you continue to develop as a writer. We hope you will continue to support us in the future and are especially pleased to hear from our non-white commenters who have let us know when our content has let them feel seen or heard.

However…

We have noticed a recent trend in asks that is discouraging. Many askers seem concerned with receiving our blanket approval of a particular concept or character. These asks often don’t provide us with the direction and context crucial to providing advice from a race or ethnicity-based perspective. Examples include:

“I’m writing a character from [insert background] who has [insert traits]. Is this ok?”

“I’m creating a world where I have made [insert concept] the basis of my world-building. Is this allowed?”

Hi, I’m a [insert identity]. Is it problematic to have [concept/ character] in my story?

“I’m creating a [Race A] character with [these] traits, a [Ethnicity 1] character with [those] traits, a [Race B] character with [some other traits] and a [sex/ gender minority] character with a [different set of traits]. Is this combination offensive?

We call these questions rubber stamp questions. If this describes your question, there’s no need to feel bad. We realize that there was never an explicit explanation of this concept. In addition, our team is mindful of the changing demographics of tumblr that might make it mean we are receiving questions from a younger user-base are not yet familiar with many of the principles we outline on this website. However, on that note…

What is Rubber Stamping?

Rubber stamping refers to the practice of seeking an endorsement without questioning or seeking to alter the status quo. The purpose of Writing With Color is to be a focal point for discussion about diversity in writing rather than simply prescribe a series of corrective measures. Without knowing the asker’s intent (Which we can’t, since we aren’t mind readers), our moderators are not in a position to provide you with carte blanche for your writing concept in the name of all other non-white people. Yes, we have a certain level of skill and expertise on many of these topics, but we are not here to take on the burden of all PoC to approve your writing choices. Nor would it be fair to other PoC if you took our response as a reason to dismiss the perspectives of other PoC (An unfortunately common phenomenon).  

Bluntly, on the moderator end, these asks are also incredibly frustrating because they are vague and thus:

Time consuming

Labor intensive (mentally and emotionally)

The last example from the previous section (AKA “Laundry lists”) is particularly time consuming because multiple moderators must collaborate to produce an answer that boils down to each moderator saying, “I guess it depends??? *shrug*” but in slightly different ways.

Perhaps the biggest problem with rubber stamp asks is they feel (to us) like they are more about the asker’s desire for closure/ approval/ virtue signaling than a willingness to participate in the kind of education and discussion on diversity we are trying to foster on this blog.

To that effect: We will no longer be answering such questions.

(If you sent in such ask before this goes up on November 15th, 2020, a moderator may reach out to you individually to better address your inquiry as submitted.)

However: Don’t worry! We also are here to teach you how to makes these questions better!

Fixing Rubber Stamp questions:

1. Be specific.

Instead of Can I/ May I, try “How can I” or “When can I” or “What can I”?

Thus instead of: “I’m Christian. May I create a Jewish character seeking to become an actress in 1920s Hollywood?” —> “How do I, as a Christian, create a compelling Jewish character while being mindful of the interplay between my own intrinsic bias and historical accounts of prominent Jewish figures in early Hollywood?”Or, instead of: “I want to write a story about a modern day piracy in the East Indian Ocean, but with magic. Is this problematic? —> “Given the continuation of modern day piracy in the East Indian Ocean, what are some tropes I should avoid if I decide to go with a modern fantasy set in this region?”

2. Remember: The goal is improved understanding, not approval. Sometimes, you really just want to know *why* you can’t use a particular concept, and that curiosity is good! Questions that ask “Why?” in good faith are often how you can learn a lot about your own intrinsic biases and the limits of your own knowledge.

Thus, instead of: If I write about [controversial topic], am I a bad person? —> Why is it better for someone like me to not write about [controversial topic]?

This approach has the bonus effect of making us feel like you actually care about what we think.

3. Write your question as a draft: Edit your ask at least once or twice to provide as much information as possible while being concise. I’ve told this to college students before, but I can tell when a person wrote their assignment by the quality of the writing. Writing done late at night, when sleep deprived and without at least one edit contains extraneous information while not having a clear point.

Going through your question (Preferably a day after you wrote it) will help you narrow down what you really want to know.

Remember: You all have free will and can write whatever you please. We presume that you seek WWC’s input because you wish to write on issues pertaining to people of color with greater levels of awareness. On a practical note, we recognize that social media, trolling, call-outs, doxxing and other dimensions of cyberbullying make writers online hesitant to do anything unless they think they have the majority of the public on their side. There are times when it is obvious that the asker is asking more because they need approval to feel less anxious when they share their work with others.

However, if the above is your worry, either you aren’t ready to write on this topic or you need to rethink the boundaries you set with the online communities/ individuals you interact with as well as how you manage your internet presence. With respect to personal anxieties when it comes to writing, morality, your conscience and so forth, we recommend turning to your own support systems IRL. As relative strangers on the internet, we are not well-qualified to allay personal concerns.

Remember: Writing with diversity is like training for a marathon. Give yourself permission to expand your comfort zone at the pace your research capabilities and experience allow!

We appreciate that you all trust us to provide helpful, well-thought out feedback for your ideas, and we also thank you for respecting our perspectives even if you may disagree. In the same vein, we request that you put the level of thought into your questions you think appropriate given that another human being is going to spend, at a minimum, several hours coming up with their response. We look forward to hearing from you! 

- The WWC Team

(A link to this article will be added to the pinned FAQ for everyone’s reference)

[yesterdayiwrote]

I know it’s a bit of a controversial take, but I think if someone from a minor team gets dropped, Mick would be up for the contest too.

I am basing this purely on the facts that:

1. He has a third driver seat just like Daniel, so their roles in RB and Mercedes are at the moment very very similar

2. Not sure how strong the ties with Mercedes are in Mick’s case (ie: if he can be a free agent and go to any spot that opens up, RB associated included) but if they are loose, he’d have a chance to look at the whole grid and not only at Mercedes related teams.

3. This is a bit of a grey zone: Many of the TPs seem to openly share the opinion he would’ve still been in f1 had Michael been by his side, which could mean they want him back but could also mean they are morally supportive and no more

4. There is some obscure hints Toto has dropped last year about being confident a seat option (for Mick) would eventually open up, maybe even sooner than next season. Thought he meant Williams back then because Logan’s hiring had been on the edge until the very end, and it might still be a possibility should Logan not deliver at all (James V said between the lines he considered him a pay driver until he actually started working with him at Williams) or should Alex move to another team. Alpha tauri could be a chance as well though, IF Mick hasn’t too strong ties with Mercedes that stops him from going to a RB associated seat.

Not touching the talent area but basing on the stats only, Mick and Daniel are one the menu should a seat open up and should that team look more for an already experience driver rather than a rookie.

There are of couse lots more stuff to consider like price of the driver (Daniel on paper is 1st on the line for a reserve pick up, his problem is more his price and if he consider the team worthy enough to move into) and talent in general, but yes, I would keep an eye on them both if a seat opens up in the middle of the season. I would go more for an experienced driver to fill in the gap until next season and then consider more options.

Should the seat open next year it would be more of a challenge because rookies would definitely be more on the plate, still quite an interesting gossip subject I want to see how it turns out to develop in the end 😂

There’s a real blind spot with Mick, because he was relatively poor in the Haas, but the Haas was a relatively poor car and so it’s kind of a chicken/egg scenario and it’s not clear which was contributing more to the issues, especially adding in what we know now about how Haas were perhaps not helping him in ‘22.

I actually think the whole ‘he’d be in f1 still if his dad was in the paddock’ line of thinking is actually…not a great point in his favour? He should be in the paddock because he deserves a seat there, not because of his dad. Yes, Michael could have given him advice but he had Seb doing that pretty intensively and that didn’t help much. And they’re right, if Michael was there then teams would have been clamouring to have Mick on their team, but it wouldn’t have been for Mick, it would have been for Michael and that’s entirely the wrong reason to have someone on your team. It’s actually not a compliment imho?

I think Toto says a lot of things that aren’t always accurate and I’m not sure of any team that would immediately be interested in taking on Mick. He would be an option for AT, but equally a risk. Whilst Guenther was needlessly vile in some of the things he’s said about Mick, not all of his criticisms were without merit and would definitely work as a black mark against his name in contrast to an untested rookie (which themselves bring their own risks).

It’s funny because the cost cap has now made it so older drivers who lost their seats are actually in better positions to get them back than rookies because they’re seen as ‘safer hands’

But with Mick, who lost his seat because his team felt he caused too much damage… if you’re a TP do you take a rookie who will potentially make a lot of mistakes while they get up to speed with the car, or the driver with F1 experience who made too many mistakes… I feel like you’d take the punt on the rookie??

[veliseraptor]

I wish you would write a fic where, somehow, it's Song Lan who gets wound up in Xue Yang's whole deal first, and has to convince an unimpressed Xiao Xingchen that he may have... some redeeming qualities. Potential for better. The capacity to refrain from murder.

oh mannn this would be a fun one, though also...kind of a challenge, at least from my perspective. which is not to say I couldn't figure out a way to do it, just that it would be hard! because I feel like the time when Xiao Xingchen is at his most...for lack of a better word, morally rigid (because he's most certain of himself and what he knows about the world and how it works) coincides with a period of time where I don't know that Song Lan would look at Xue Yang as he is then and feel like he'd want to take on that project; and if we push earlier (to, say, when Xue Yang is still pretty young, maybe yet in his teenage delinquent years but prior to when they cross paths in novel timeline) then there's less reason for Xiao Xingchen to be uninterested/uninvested...

basically it's the difficulty between Song Lan who I think is generally not going to look at a problem human (i.e. one who isn't directly in peril but is rather a problem themself) and think about reforming him (more likely to just want to go 'yeah not taking that on' and find someone else to help with his time), and Xiao Xingchen, who is more inclined in that direction generally speaking, having a more black-and-white perspective prior to his and Song Lan's very bad breakup.

so basically: if Xue Yang has done something that renders him morally suspect, then either Xiao Xingchen is going to be inclined to be sympathetic while Song Lan is less likely to be invested in doing that work (if the situation is such that the morally suspect is relatively mild), and if nothing has gone catastrophically wrong personally but Xue Yang has done something more seriously morally suspect then Xiao Xingchen is more likely to flip over to "Justice Must Be Done" and I don't know that Song Lan is likely to argue with him about it.

though I guess I can see a situation, maybe, where Xiao Xingchen flips over that line and Song Lan - who I think is generally speaking a little more moderate than Xiao Xingchen, at least prior to their very bad breakup - being more willing to look at mitigating circumstances? but I don't know. I feel like anything that would break Xiao Xingchen's hard line would also cross Song Lan's. they're vibing pretty well in moral terms, up until that big breakup.

(afterward, Xiao Xingchen's moral convictions are, I think, pretty badly shaken - his conviction in general is, such that he no longer trusts himself, has less faith in the world's system of justice, and has decided that his interfering in matters of justice only leads to horrible things - which informs a lot about how he approaches moral situations/dilemmas after that turning point.)

[SEND ME AN ASK ABOUT WHAT YOU WISH I WOULD WRITE]

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! So I'm writing this story where a cold, calculating Serial Killer-Killer adopts the baby of his last victim (who was a single father). But I'm kind of stuck on what difficulties my main character could face (he's VERY inexperienced when it comes to taking care of kids and he's trying to still do his "job" of hunting killers). Do you have any advice on what problems I could throw his way?

Serial Killer Becomes Adoptive Parent

There's a lot to unpack here...

1) Why does this man decide to adopt the baby? If he's "cold and calculating" it's not likely to be out of affection for the child, a desire to experience the joy of parenting, or a moral concern for the child's welfare. Pretty much all that leaves is self-serving reasons, and someone who becomes a parent entirely for self-serving reasons is going to face different challenges than someone who becomes a parent at least partly for selfless reasons.

2) People can't just point at an orphaned child and say "I adopt you," and off they go on their merry way together. The only way that could happen is if he kidnaps the baby after committing the crime, and takes it home to raise it in secret. Otherwise, the baby would presumably be found by whoever discovers the crime scene, taken into police custody and then custody of Child Protective Services. CPS would look for the victim's next of kin to find someone to take the baby. If no one could be found, the baby would go into the foster care system and eventually be adopted by certified parents who are already working with the system and are waiting to adopt a baby.

3) That said, the only way he could officially adopt the baby would be if none of the victim's family or friends came forward and the serial killer was able to successfully falsify records and pretend to be a close relative of the victim. In that case, if CPS evaluated him and felt that he was a safe and qualified person to take the child in, then they'd probably release the baby to him and put him on the path to adopting it (which is a lengthy and involved legal process.) So, at that point, I think you'd need to consider whether or not this "cold and calculating" serial killer could appear to be a loving, responsible, and capable parent with the means to adequately provide for the child financially.

4) Assuming that the serial killer kidnaps the child from the crime scene, before it's discovered by anyone else, the challenges he'd face in raising this child would be much greater than simply being inexperienced...

Does this man have friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, or service people that he interacts with even occasionally? If so, how will he explain the sudden appearance of this child?

The discovery of a murdered man whose baby has gone missing is going to be big news, and that baby's photo and details will be splayed across television screens, billboards, and social media feeds probably nationwide. That will make things mighty difficult for the serial killer when he suddenly has a baby in his care, especially when that baby's face is currently big news. How is that going to work?

Required immunizations, doctor and hospital visits, daycare, and school are just some of the things that will be tricky for the man to obtain for the baby without a birth certificate or other official government documents. These can be faked, certainly, but every use of fake documents puts the man at risk of being found out. And if he's found to be in possession of a child who was kidnapped from his parent's murder scene, it's a short leap for the police to realize the man is actually the killer.

5) Assuming you can figure out a way around all of that, or if you simply want the child in his care for some amount of time before he's discovered, here are some general "inexperienced parent" issues he might come up against:

Sleep Disruption - babies and small children rarely sleep through the night and to a decent hour of morning. They tend to wake up (babies will cry) multiple times throughout the night, and are often awake for the day as early as four or five a.m. This can be challenging for anyone who suddenly finds themselves taking care of a child.

Feeding Issues - babies and small children require a lot of nutrition, but sometimes feeding them properly can be a struggle. They may not want to eat or may not eat the amount they're supposed to. They can be picky, entirely refusing some foods. They can also be very messy eaters, requiring clothing changes, baths, and massive clean-up efforts after some meals.

Crankiness & Tantrums - Sometimes babies and small children scream and cry incessantly. They might be tired (but unwilling or unable to sleep), hungry, gassy, in pain, frustrated, need a diaper change, or not feeling well. Sometimes, even if you try everything you can to address and relieve potential issues, they just want to scream. This can be very frustrating, even for experienced parents.

Parental Exhaustion - Babies and small children are a lot of effort. Not only are you probably beginning your day on a sleep deficit, you're going to spend your day changing diapers (8-12 changes per day for 0-1 year olds), preparing and feeding meals (several times per day), bathing/cleaning up, soothing when crying or tantruming, playing with them/interacting with them (making sure baby gets "tummy time" and crawling/walking practice), taking them outside/going for walks, cleaning up after them... It may be rewarding for people who want a child, but it's still mentally and physically exhausting, especially without help. And, given this man's situation (and all the things addressed in #4), is it likely he would have any help?

Aging - This is a long-term one, but something to consider depending on the timeline of your story. Babies grow up, and eventually they need companions, need to go to school, require medical care, and start asking hard questions like "who is my mom" or "why don't I look like you?" What will the man do when this happens?

Hopefully that gets the ball rolling in the right direction for you! Good luck with your story!

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[mallowstep]

What are your opinions on forbidden relationships in Warriors? I've seen people label it as a "trope" because of how common this is. Some find the forbidden romance aspect intriguing, though others find it extremely repetitive and old

I'd like to know your thoughts!

hm. well, it is a trope. i mean, there's an average of one major one a series, right? greysilver, leafcrow (and others, but that's the big one), heatherlion (and implied others), tigerdove, idk i don't remember anything from avos but violetshine luv her but there's probably something, bristleroot. dotc doesn't count bc well it's dotc.

anyway.

definitely a trope.

but that's not a bad thing.

what i think people don't give warriors enough credit for is that these are not all the same forbidden romance. most of them are handled in different ways and bring up different conflicts. i understand why people are tired of them, but let's not discredit one of the only good things in warriors romance: that they make forbidden relationships different.

like, with grey and silver, it's about loyalty and responsibility. leafcrow is just bad idea central, both heatherlion and tigerdove are about responsibilities and young cats, and they have two different answers, and bristleroot is challenging the whole idea from the start.

so like. give credit where credit is due: we're not doing the same (forbidden) relationships again and again. i don't see enough people talk about that.

okay so it turns out i have um. a lot of thoughts about this. idk i just kept writing and now it's over 2k words. so you know. under the cut: matthew does half-baked media analysis to talk about why the code and cats' relationships to it are misunderstood. while actually staying on topic.

anyway from here on i'm just going to say relationship/romance, and understand that i'm generally talking about the forbidden kind. also i'm talking exclusively within the realm of warriors romance, which is, on average, bad. so when i say "X is good," i don't mean "X is good in general," i mean "given what we have, X is good." just to be clear.

right! basically, this is a tool. it creates tension and drama, and that's fine. warriors is a soap opera, remember. soap operas use secrets and relationships and all sorts of plot devices over and over again. warriors is not Serious. it can be dark. it has serious moments. but it is not a Serious Book Series for Serious Kids. it is a soap opera for Future Theatre Kids. yeah?

from that perspective, i'm a-ok with forbidden romance. (also, as a mini-aside, it creates some much-needed genetic diversity when kits are involved.) and again: all of the major relationships are different, so i think that's better than a lot of people give it credit for.

yeah, heatherlion and greysilver and tigerdove are all about the same general idea (loyalty and responsibility), but they all have different circumstances and different resolutions.

so like? yeah. sure. why not?

plus, like, who's reading warriors for the romance? i separate the concept of "romance" from a "relationship" here: i like the relationships in warriors (ivy and dove tension my beloved), but i'm not here to read about tigerheart wooing dovewing. (yes, i do love the tigerdove scenes in oots. no, that's not because i think they're very good at being romantic.)

but i digress.

if warriors was a Serious Book Series for Serious Kids, i'd have a different take here. having been in an IRL forbidden relationship, i have the Personal Insight and Experience to say they're this weird mash of "very much how it feels" and "not at all how it feels."

tigerdove is probably my favourite bc it's the closest to my circumstances, and i think dovewing is a good pov. i like how she breaks up with him because it's a bad idea, but that's not the same thing as not feeling for him.

(heh. twelve-year-old me reading oots like "this will never apply to my life" what did you know)

but to the point, if warriors was serious, i'd point out that the consequences always seem to be internal. we haven't seen characters be punished for their actions. and so on.

but warriors is a soap opera.

and here's my actual thesis: we haven't seen characters be punished for their actions, because "forbidden relationships" are a normal and expected part of clan society.

like no, fandom-at-large, you're kind of missing the point. okay, you know how like. people complain about. idk. ivypool and fernsong being distantly related?

(third aside/very long ivyfern rant, i put a nice big "rant over" after it if you want to skip past it: they're third cousins. they share, max, 2.2% of their genetics. they are fine. do you know your third cousins? do you? yeah. and like. they live in a closed society. there is no one new.

i've never seen someone complain about forbidden romance and ivyfern at the same time, and i do generally agree we should have more mystery fathers, altho for a different reason, but like. idk. this bothers me.

their last shared relative was nutmeg. that's so far back. god. i get it, there was a prophecy saying they're related, but if you remember my rant about how dovewing shouldn't be a part of the prophecy because of how distantly related to firestar is, you know how i feel about that already.

complaining they're related and that's a problem is. deep breath here. it requires demonstrating that warriors has kept track of kinship all the way back to firestar's mother. and even if you wave that requirement, you still have to convince me they would care about that. this isn't a "they're cats, harold" situation, this is a "you would not know your third cousin even if you lived in the same town" situation.

i mean maybe you would. some people do. but my hometown has generations of people who married within its borders. you get as far as "cousin," maybe "second cousin" if you're feeling fancy. i'm not trying to make an always true statement, i just. every time i see someone complain about ivyfern being related, it strikes me as not understanding how extended families work?

i know third cousins isn't technically classified as a distant relative, but you have, on average, 190 third cousins. i feel so strongly about this i looked it up.

like i'm not. okay if you say, "I don't ship ivyfern because they are third cousins and that makes me uncomfortable" you are Valid. in general, you are all valid. i do not think you have to, on a personal level, be okay with ivyfern. you are free to do as you wish.

but. if you want to argue "ivyfern is a Bad Ship because they are third cousins" you have a hell of a burden of proof. simply saying "they share a great-great-grandmother" does not meet that, because like. yeah. we're all pretty damn related.)

(ivyfern rant over)

IVYFERN RANT OVER

right so. anyway. if you remove forbidden romance? you're forcing a lot more of those situations.

i've been messing around with modelling some small-scale fan clan-adjacent stuff to double-check the ratios for wbcd, and it's. it quickly becomes a necessity, is what i'm saying.

but i got distracted like. researching how related third cousins are. my point is not about that, that's like. a different topic. that i crammed into here because i have no self-control.

no, no, what i was trying to get to is: oakheart straight up tells us that cats have half-clan kits all the time, it's not a problem, no one talks about it. and that? that is exactly what we see modelled by warriors.

the only reason greystripe and silverstream have a problem is that silverstream dies and greystripe claims the kits. i feel very strongly that if she had lived, the kits would have been born and raised riverclan kits, that might, maybe, one day, guess who their father is.

we haven't had any half clan kits in a while, which yes! i think is a problem, but like. the fact that the three are medicine cat kits seems to be a bigger issue. which feels right.

and i'm not trying to argue what i think should be, i legitimately believe the text of warriors defends this, even in newer books which throw out a lot of the older world building in favour of more human-like conflict.

as readers, we are naturally following protagonists. we are following the interesting story. but imagine you're just a background riverclan cat. minnowtail, if you will. do you think, do you honestly think, anyone cares about minnowtail?

not in a bad way, just. if she's meeting up with mousewhisker at night, do you think anyone cares? of course not! no one cares. she's not a Protagonist. her kits aren't going to be prophesized about.

heck, finleap switches clans! and it's barely a big deal. it feels like one, but when's the last time anyone bothered dealing with it? that's what i thought.

(also i forgot like all of avos so that very last point might be a bad one if it is my argument stands i just literally do not remember anything in avos but violetshine. none. zero.)

but it's easy to get caught up with characters like hollyleaf and bristlefrost and forget that like. not everyone cares about the code. most of our protagonists do, because it's become mostly equivalent with being moral. and i have an essay draft titled "the code as religion vs the code as law" where i want to expand on this more, but i think like. that idea, that we as readers should use the code as a way of evaluating cats' behaviour, is flawed.

like, i'm not talking about being inconsistent with how that is applied. if you want to say, "the trial leafpool goes through for having half-clan kits is legitimate because of the code," i still think your approach is flawed.

because the cats themselves don't seem to think that way.

the code doesn't, to me, feel like the ten commandments. it does not feel like "you must do this to be a good cat."

rather, it feels like aesop's parables. "here are mistakes cats made and what we do instead of that."

i don't think the cats know the code the way we do. i do not think they memorize a list of rules as kits. i think they know what is and is not part of it, but i imagine they know the stories far more than the rules.

(i'm working on my lore stories to replace code of the clans.)

and even if that's my thoughts, i do think this is supported by the text. no one ever teaches the warrior code, cats just learn it in pieces. "don't waste food because we don't have enough to spare" is taught, not "there's a rule about food and starclan on the code."

that's why the whole arc of the broken code even works: the reason the imposter is able to manipulate things is because cats don't treat the code as a rigid set of rules and commandments, but guiding principles.

the parts of the code that we tend to focus on the most are relationships, apprentices, and battle. or that's my perception. i didn't do a poll to obtain that. there's also the leader's word, but readers don't usually think of that as a good rule, so i'm not including it.

but the parts the cats focus on most are food, territory, and the leader's word. which makes sense: those are basic needs: food, security, and...i don't want to say authority so much as some kind of social system. explaining it would be a whole thing. just trust with me, if you don't mind.

i don't think we have any real reason to believe cats care about half-clan relationships half as much as we do. yes, apprentices are chastized about it, but that's not really the same thing as being punished.

and it's hard to tell, because apprentices being punished has really fallen off, and that's kind of the problem with any argument i try to make about warriors, but.

wow.

i'm actually still on topic? i'm 2k words in and i'm still on topic? a day i never thought would come.

let's wrap this up. cats seem to care about half clan relationships in that: a) they lead to conflicted loyalties, b) they mess with borders and prey, and c) they are in the code as bad. in that order.

and again, if the code was some high and holy religious doctrine, we couldn't have the broken code as an arc. it does not work if the cats are already following it to a t, and know it word for word, because it's signfiicantly harder to manipulate people if they do.

not to the level the imposter does, at the speed he does.

and yes, you could argue that it's more bad writing, but. i think that discredits warriors. yeah, it sure has its fair share of bad writing, but i don't think that's in the way the imposter works. instead, he seizes on a big important doctrine that's nebulous, and uses that to control people.

and that? that feels much more interesting.

so with that in mind, i don't think the cats would care about your typical, non-protagonist forbidden relationship, and i don't think we should, either.

as far as a plot device, i think we're okay with what we have. don't get me wrong, i understand why people are tired of it, but i think we also should remember that warriors is not repeating itself. having multiple forbidden relationships is not repetitive. now, if medicine cats were having half-clan kits every series, i'd make a different argument.

but all of the major forbidden relationships have different outcomes, lessons, and circumstances, and for me, i think that's signficantly interesting.

i didn't really check sources and quotes for this, so like, if you spotted something wrong, feel free to correct me. my overall point stands, but there's a lot of warriors and i have a bad memory, so i could have missed somthing major.

[notesbymari]

today i decided to start again a productivity challenge! this time i’m gonna attempt to do the 100 days of productivity challenge

---- rant ahead ----

due to being quarantined for 8 months, family issues, and the way bigger workload uni has imposed on us during online learning (like squishing a 22-week long subject in 10 weeks just because the professors want to, even though the online semester lasts around 14 weeks), i’ve been lacking motivation all year long. 

we finally have the keys to our new home, but it’s not legally ours yet, cause the current owner never finished the paperwork to register the house on the city hall’s records, and the city hall has been stalling to finish the paperwork for 5 months (the deadline was in 3 months) without any explanation.

plus, we discovered a lot of problems on the house, including on things that we had actually really liked and that contributed to us choosing this house - the bathrooms were good, there was wood-flooring, closets for everyone. now we’re gonna renovate 2 bathrooms (one by choice, the other by necessity), and we found out there are termites in the wood from a whole floor + a few doors and all the closets, so we’re gonna have to put new tiles all over one floor, the garage and the backyard, change a few doors, review all the windows, and build new closets...

so not only we have been waiting for 5 months to actually sign the papers for the house to be ours, but now we have 2-3 months of renovations ahead before we can move in, and we have to spend a ton of money fixing a house that is not even legally ours yet (that or wait for the paperwork and move in almost in 2022)

and, to top all of that, there is the living arrangments with my grandma. after 4, almost 5 months of sleeping in my grandma’s house every other day, alternating with my mom (which affected us greatly, cause our family time was always at night, and suddenly we stopped having time together at night for 4 months, the morale here at home was really low, and mom and dad fought all the time), my grandma accepted to sleep a few nights here at home. at first it was only one night, but now we have convinced her to stay 3 nights a week. it’s been around 4 months since she started to sleep here, she’s been staying in my room and i’ve been staying with my sister in hers. 

the thing is, now we know that we still have 2-3 months before we go to the new house, but my mom doesn’t thing my grandma will accept coming to sleep here everyday until then (she basically already lives here, we spend the whole day here, but mom has to go with her at night to sleep in her house and at each morning for her to shower there.

having to carry my stuff (sleeping stuff and study stuff) in and out of the room everyday was killing me emotionally, specially since i have online classes, i stay up until late doing stuff, and my grandma goes to sleep relatively early....so i was already willing to just move out of my room, even though having my own space is really important for my mental health....now i finally moved definitely to my sister’s room (my stuff is still in mine, but all the sleeping and studying stuff is in my sister’s), and i’ve been trying to have good days more often

---- end of rant ----

please ignore all of that if you want to, i just need to complain to someone and get it off my chest. this was all for me to list all the reasons i’ve been able to do nothing productive the past few weeks.

on a good note (and also a time-consuming one), i adopted a cat! it was kind of on impulse, cause on christmas my cousin suddenly appeared with a cat for her, and at that point i was in such a bad place emotionally and in my mental health, that seeing her with a cat (which has been my dream for a few years now) kind of broke me a little....

a week later my aunt said that the lady that gave her the cat had another female one, and i took her! totally on impulse, it was not the best time to adopt a cat (with all the house and living arrangments stuff), but she’s here already for a week and a half, and we’re loving it! this was the main reason for me to move out of my room to my sister’s, cause i’m raising her with me, and it would be too stressful for her and for me if we were to change rooms everyday (which would include move the cat’s stuff all the time, and that could confuse her) 

her name is Miso (as in the japanese fermented soy paste), and here she is in the photo! she’s almost 2 months and a half.

______________

january 12th 2021, tuesday - 1/100 days of productivity

now to the actual productivity challenge! today i:

studied one unit from an online course i’m taking on anemia

watched an episode of “legend of fei”

read 58 pages of “ink”, by amanda sun

studied a topic on week 3 of coursera’s “sistematic reviews and meta-analysis” course, by UNICAMP

did a sketch of what i want my closet to look like

[plagueamon]

Code Geass MBTI Challenge Turn 6: Rolo Lamperouge - ISTP

While he is commonly seen as a controversial character, Rolo Lamperouge has always been one of my personal favourites in the show because of the amount of development he makes as a person (much like Jeremiah) in the relatively short screen time given to him and the kind of life he was forced to lead. And while he still remains unhealthy in the end, I still think that his character arc is very interesting to explore and that it provides a fresh perspective on the otherwise heavily-stereotyped-to-be-a-craftsman ISTP type. Before I start explaining this character’s functions, please keep in mind, that this post will contain heavy Code Geass spoilers, so consider yourself warned. With that out of the way, let us analyse why Rolo Lamperouge is an ISTP.

Dominant Introverted Thinking/Ti

Considering that we just finished analysing Nina, this would be a good opportunity to compare the thinking mechanisms of INTP and ISTP, as both use Ti as their dominant, yet in slightly different ways due to their auxiliary and tertiary function influencing them. We can see that, much like with Nina, Rolo’s logic is very situational and based on experience: having been trained as an assassin and an assassin only since early childhood, he is an expert in his field of work and almost nothing else. He does not comprehend the aspects of life that have little to do with whatever his Ti is currently involved in. This is a bit of an extreme example of how dominant Ti works, but it’s also good at highlighting the kind of specialist mindset that comes with this function and how far it can go for underdeveloped Ti-doms.

We see that Rolo has a strong focus on whatever his current mission may be, approaching each assignment on a case-by-case basis - he basically adapts to the “logic” needed for every job he has to carry out without really relying on previously established logical systems, like a Te-dom would. The most noticeable example of this is how well he manages to play the part of Lelouch’s brother despite never having a family of his own and hence any experience at naturally acting as someone’s family member.

At the same time Rolo bases his judgements on personal experience and is most comfortable with sticking to the methods he’s more skilled in. Because he is a rather underdeveloped ISTP however, this often leads to him making harmful decisions, as his basic response to any potential threat is to murder it as quickly as possible, especially later on in the series when his motivation becomes the protection of his new brother. It is also important to note that Rolo only really starts to develop once his Ti is used in a way that is meaningful to him, which is exactly why it was so easy for him to defect to Lelouch’s side: using dominant Ti in favour of one’s passions or interests is key to using it healthily.

Auxiliary Extroverted Sensing/Se

Rolo is a very practically-minded person and deals only in what he considers to be observable or factually proven, showing early on that he doesn’t like to leave things up to chance, which is why he always tries to finish his missions as quickly and efficiently as possible, as seen by his reluctance to let Lelouch live after cornering him. Even with the possibility of Lelouch drawing out C.C. letting him go seems like too much of a gamble for him and it takes a lot of convincing on Lelouch’s part before Rolo decides to take his bait.

Rolo’s Se also contributes to how he treats his missions, preferring to be personally involved in all important matters (instead of relying on others) and to primarily focus on short-term concerns, making him good at improvising in unexpected situations (this kind of skill does not necessarily apply to all high Se users, however it can occur due to Se’s nature as a function with a focus on the present).

However, while Rolo uses his auxiliary function to aid him practically, he has not developed it in a way that would support his personal growth (the development of the auxiliary function is key to the maturity of a person of any type). Perhaps mostly due to his “upbringing” as an assassin he does not use it to see what kind of activities/sensory involvement he actually enjoys doing or finds meaning in, instead only applying it in a very limited way to accomplish goals, which he has no stake in, even considering his own life to be expendable and claiming that it does not need to contain any meaning. Only after he joins Lelouch does Rolo actually understand that protecting his brother is what gives his life purpose (a concept that is still flawed due to how unhealthy he is, but still better than what he started with), which fills him with motivation and loyalty and even allows him to die a happy, albeit delusional, death.

Tertiary Introverted Intuition/Ni

Throughout all of Code Geass Rolo can be seen having an unhealthy relationship with his tertiary Ni (although the views supporting that relationship and even its very nature change dramatically), which again can mostly be traced back to the kind of brainwashing he was probably subjected to as a child by the Geass Order. Ni is a function that deals with ideological organisation (as in organisation of ideas and not necessarily ideologies), introspection and meaning. The latter is especially important in Rolo’s case, as for most of his life he had been convinced that it doesn’t have any worth and doesn’t need to have any meaning. He believes that he can simply exist by blindly following orders without once asking himself why he does what he does, even comparing his assassination jobs to “brushing his teeth”. At that point he is effectively ignoring his Ni.

Lelouch, however, forces Rolo to confront his tertiary function, by promising him the purpose that he never knew he needed. When Lelouch “sacrifices” himself to save Rolo’s life, the boy doesn’t have a choice but to question where he belongs and whether he should start thinking for himself. We can actually see him panicking, because the simple life he was used to has essentially been exposed as a lie that is falling apart in front of his eyes, which leaves a permanent change in his personality.

But this kind of sudden burst of introspection soon backfires, as Rolo switches from underusing his Ni to overusing it (looping). Given that a tertiary function performs worse than, say, a dominant or auxiliary would, this kind of thinking leaves Rolo with a very simplified picture: his purpose in life now is being Lelouch’s little brother and he is willing to sacrifice anything to fulfil it, leading to several tragic mistake on his part (more about that below). Rolo’s transformation is a very good example of how easily ignoring your tertiary function can eventually result in looping and other kinds of unhealthy thinking.

Inferior Extroverted Feeling/Fe

Having been raised by the Geass Order, Rolo never had a family, and hence any kind of social values or needs in him have been repressed very early on in order to effectively create a perfect killing machine. However, Rolo is still a human, and this kind of severe social deprivation has neither left his mind in good health, nor has it erased his actual need for any kind of social interaction.

Before his change we see that Rolo heavily avoids any actions that would lead him to cooperate with others, sacrificing the people he works with for the good of the mission without thinking twice about it. He rationalises these kinds of actions as being the most efficient and reliable way to complete a task, but in actuality this gives away a hidden insecurity - Rolo simply does not know how to deal with other people or even try to convince them of anything and the possibility of doing so elicits fear in him. 

Because the inferior function is the one people have the least control over, having inferior Fe means that the user has low awareness and/or control over their social needs and that they may run into problems when dealing with societal norms and ethics (that’s not to say that Ti-doms are amoral, but a universal moral system can be difficult for them to deal with). Rolo checks all of these boxes, first convincing himself about not needing any kind of social aspect in his life and later, when he’s offered the opportunity to actually be part of a family, entering a Fe-grip and serving this new family unconditionally without understanding that his thinking is unhealthy for him. Even when he feels happy and is serving Lelouch, he’s constantly suspicious and afraid of losing his brother, which causes him to overreact on several occasions, causing the death of Shirley and almost killing Lelouch’s actual sister.

While he ends up dying with a smile on his face, Rolo was ultimately unhealthy for his entire life, following people who only looked to use him as a tool in their plans and never letting him grow as a person (both the Geass Order and Lelouch end up suffering for these decisions). In terms of MBTI his story is one that shows the importance of not neglecting one’s lower functions, as doing so will likely result in overindulging in them later.

However, please keep in mind that this is only my opinion on the matter and I will welcome any criticisms or alternative opinions to discuss them. If this article was interesting for you, stay prepared for next time, when I shall discuss the MBTI type of Kallen Kōzuki.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Avengers (2012)

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

No.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Three (23.07% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Ten.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Episode Quality:

It’s solid. Unpopular opinion? I don’t think it’s half as good as people made it out to be, back when it first hit cinemas and everyone was swooning. It’s solid, but that’s the best I’ve got for it.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

...

Female characters:

Maria Hill.

Natasha Romanov.

Pepper Potts.

Male characters:

Nick Fury.

Phil Coulson.

Erik Selvig.

Clint Barton.

Loki.

Bruce Banner.

Steve Rogers.

Tony Stark.

JARVIS.

Thor.

OTHER NOTES:

‘free from freedom’ is such a wanky piece of writing, man. It’s absolute nonsense, but it sounds vaguely profound if you don’t think about it at all. I thought about it. It’s idiotic. 

The very first thing we see of Black Widow in this movie is her being hit in the face, wearing a slinky little dress, tied to a chair being interrogated by a bunch of men. We’re supposed to indulge this excuse for hurting and objectifying a woman and then write it off as ‘empowering’ because she beats the Hell outta the dudes a couple of minutes later. That’s not a game I’m interested in playing. This is garbage.

The classical music over the beginnings of the Stuttgart attack is great.

All those German folks so confused by this Loki dude speaking English at them. What a tool.

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard ‘not today’ used as an effective badass declaration. It’s ALWAYS cheesy. Make it stop.

“There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” I don’t really like this line for Steve; he just doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would play the ‘one true God’ card, and there was nothing in his origin story which implied that he’s particularly attached to religion at all; plus, he already read the brief on Thor, he knows this is literally the old Norse deity, there’s no question of whether or not they’re dealing with a God here. To argue the point (because he’s not MY God!) is meaningless in context, and feels like a weak attempt to correlate (Christian) faith with being ‘old-fashioned’, like OF COURSE Steve would defend the idea of the ‘one true God’, he’s from the past, not a cool enlightened atheist/agnostic modern man like the rest of us, right?

Thor and Loki are using such archaic phrasing, when Tony makes his ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ joke, it’s...more an observation than a quip. The Asgardians were not half as stuffy in Thor. It makes it seem like someone didn’t bother to see that movie first before writing their version of the characters.

Thor has to fight with the others when he shows up. He’s just gotta.

Gotta give a nod to Mark Ruffalo’s work here; I feel like I can see the clear comparison between his version of the character and Edward Norton’s in The Incredible Hulk, but at the same time there’s no sense of this being a Norton’s-Banner impression. Ruffalo is doing a sweet job of making the character his own without totally overhauling the template Norton laid down, and I dig it.

Oh, here we are. Loki calls Black Widow a ‘mewling quim’, which is just a fancy way of calling her a whiny cunt. Your gendered slur is still a gendered slur, movie.

I know they’re playing the idea that the sceptre is causing the antagonism between the characters, but fuck, it’s tedious. It just feels like they’re all contrived petty versions of themselves, being shitty because it’s ~dramatic~ for them to not get along.

I didn’t see this movie until months after it was released, and people were raving about how crushed they were by the major character death in the film but they were doing a pretty good job of not spoiling it; good enough that for a moment, I really thought I’d get to enjoy the surprise/horror for myself. You know who spoiled it for me? In a tweet, no less? It was the 44th President of the United States. Thanks, Obama.

This guy is the MVP of this film:

You can chalk “Son, just don’t,” up on the list of Things Steve Rogers Would Not Say. Just because he’s technically in his nineties doesn’t mean he isn’t still in his twenties in his mind: I don’t buy that he’d go for a blithely patriarchal term like ‘son’, it seems like another poorly-considered attempt to make him sound old-fashioned. Juxtapose that with ‘just don’t’, which is very modern vernacular. It might seem clever to combine the two as a meta-expression of Steve belonging to two different times now, but in practical application it just sounds out-of-character, and there’s nothing clever about that.

I know I said after the last movie that I love it when someone gets hit and flies off-screen in an exaggerated fashion, but Hulk punching Thor off-screen after they finish working together to take down the big beastie is an exception, because there’s no reason for Hulk to decide to hit Thor in the first place, it’s just a gag for the sake of a gag. I can’t believe they messed up such a simple pleasure. 

I will forgive it, in return for Hulk smashing Loki all over the place. That was funny.

Back when this movie came out, before I saw it, I had people tell me - straight-faced, totally sincere - that it was one of the best movies they had ever seen. The internet was on fire with Avengers love. The film was rated in the IMDb Top 20. Admittedly, that all sets a pretty impossible standard for a movie to meet, and being at least a little disappointed in the result is probably a given. I was not particularly invested either way (I didn’t fall down the Marvel rabbit hole until later), so I didn’t allow myself to go in to my first viewing with such lofty expectations to be crushed, just the general assumption that this was gonna be good, it had to be good, at minimum. And it was that; it’s a good film. It’s entertaining. The plot makes basic essential sense. It’s easy to follow. There are some nice visuals, and most of the special effects are relatively clean, which can be a significant difficulty for big-budget extravaganzas that sometimes/often try to get way too much spectacle bang for their buck, so, a nice win. All in all, The Avengers is not a bad film. Sure is a bland one, though.

I know, I know, getting all these big-name characters from previous films together in one movie was a serious task and it’s hard to write a well-balanced script for so many leads, blah blah. Let’s put that whole equivocation to bed right now, because I honestly don’t think that balancing the big-name cast was the problem. All of the characters had something to do, no one felt like a random extra, I could quibble about certain places where I really wish things had been plumped up a bit (pretty much everywhere - the film is extremely low on meaningful character beats), but ultimately the characters are fairly evenly presented. What makes this movie bland to me is 1) the way that the personalities of the characters deviate from that established in their previous films, and 2) the simplicity of the story they inhabit. 

We’ll cover the Avengers themselves first: the good news is, Tony Stark is still Tony Stark. His personality is intact. Bruce Banner is, as noted, not exactly the Bruce Banner we met back in The Incredible Hulk, but that’s both a given and a good thing - the casting change is an improvement. Hawkeye was barely in the MCU previously, so we don’t really have enough to compare him against in order to make a judgment. Black Widow, however, is a bit of a mess; Joss Whedon’s special brand of misogyny is on display from moment one, as noted above (he LOVES writing women being brutalised because ‘how would we know/believe that they’re strong if we don’t get to see them overcoming mistreatment?’ - he tends not to feel the need to ‘prove’ his male characters’ strengths in this way), and Natasha’s personal story for the movie continues in a distinctly gendered vein: as is common for female characters being written by shitty dudes, her arc revolves predominantly around a man (Hawkeye), and she is ‘emotionally compromised’ by her attachment to him. She also zones out in the middle of an action scene and winds up in a corner shaking and traumatised (very out-of-character for a super spysassin), and particular emphasis is placed on all the bad things she’s done in the past and how she should feel bad about it, though no one does more than shrug their shoulders about Clint or Fury or any of the other SHIELD agents who are acknowledged as having dark and dirty pasts. Why is Natasha the one who is singled out to have her morality judged while her ‘arc’ focuses on her inconvenient emotional engagement? You know why. There’s no reason why this particular tack had to be taken in bringing her backstory into the film, and as a result of it we spend little time with Black Widow displaying the kind of cool professionalism and self-assurance she had in Iron Man 2. The inclusion of that vulnerability and backstory doesn’t make her feel more rounded or complicated because it is deconstructing the power and mastery of the character; rather than building upon the foundation set in her previous film visit, we’re questioning the stability of that foundation and seeing if we can get a few pieces of the structure to rattle loose. 

A big part of the trouble for Thor is that he gets saddled with that poxy Ye Olde Cliche dialogue, and there are few things worse for achieving character consistency than changing the way that they talk: no matter how hard the actor tries to play the character the same, they can’t compensate for the fact that the very structure of their sentences has been remodeled. They can improvise rephrasing the lines and/or argue the point if they want, but it’s hard to challenge every line, and if the director (who, oh look, is also the writer) insists you follow the script verbatim, there’s not a lot you can do with that. Poor Captain America suffers the same fate with the overt attempts to make him sound ‘old-fashioned’ by having him utter words and phrases that he never used in his origin movie. What’s worse is, this stilted dialogue is pretty much the sum total of the film’s acknowledgment of the fact that, oh yeah, Steve just recently woke up from the ice to find that seventy years has passed and nearly everyone and everything he used to know is gone. He has an exchange with Fury in his first scene, about ‘getting back in the world’, but there’s zero follow-up on how he’s handling it, what difficulties there might be, or even just how Steve is feeling about all of this on a basic emotional level. And yes, I am aware that there’s a deleted montage of Steve going about his day being isolated and out-of-touch, and it’s a travesty that they cut it because that’s essential character content, but it’s also a total bare minimum which has zero follow-up. Steve Rogers spends the whole film just being...there, speaking lines that don’t suit him or reflect the personality we just saw in The First Avenger, and not even in an understandable character-development ‘throwing myself into my work to hide from the pain’ kind of way. He’s kinda blandly self-righteous and all-business no-pleasure in exactly the way he was NOT in his origin movie; my impression is that Whedon doesn’t care for the character and wrote him off as the traditional patriotic cliche one might have expected him to be instead of the nuanced character that he actually is. As with Thor and Loki, it feels as if Whedon didn’t bother to watch the previous movies first in order to get a sense of the established characters.

Speaking of Loki: if there’s one character who really, REALLY suffered a personality change in this script, it’s him. None of what made Loki the highlight of Thor is in evidence here; where that character was a cunning plotter full to overflowing with complex and contradictory feelings for his family and driven to action by that same emotional cascade, this Loki...wants to rule the Earth. Because. He’s, like, crazy, the other characters all say so, even Thor - the only one who actually knows Loki and is fit to assess his mental state - says that his ‘mind is far astray’ (what Thor thinks of that, whether he’s surprised or concerned, whether he feels like he understands why this has happened to Loki or not, is unclear, because, I dunno, Thor having feelings is as inconvenient to the story as Steve having feelings - as Loki snarls derisively about ‘sentiment’, we must remember that being emotionally compromised is dumb and only for women? Hmm). Loki is just a placeholder villain in this film, driven to action by nothing in particular, it’s just a business arrangement with a mysterious third party that coincidentally happens to involve Earth. Loki prattles and hollers a lot about how ruling is his right and people want to be ruled and blah despot blah, and it’s both supremely uninspired, and not true to the character we met in Thor at all - the Loki we know was not obsessed with ruling, his motivations were all about his family standing and the things he was denied within those relationships and their implications. I remember fandom, back when this movie came out, scrambling with various headcanons about Loki losing his mind in the void or being brainwashed, ad nauseum, because no one really seemed to feel like they were watching a logical progression of the same character at all. 

Now, one of the main ways that the lack of character consistency contributes to narrative blandness is that it disrupts narrative immersion - we’re re-negotiating the way that we engage with the characters, and that distracts from engaging with the story itself. At worst, we may even find ourselves cynical about every decision that a character makes (whether it’s in-character or not), because we’re too aware of the man behind the curtain to buy the act. There are definite shades of that in this film, but the worst of it comes from the whole team-antagonism schtick that is vaguely blamed on ‘Loki’s manipulations’ and the sceptre. The thing is, this all requires the characters to behave out-of-character, and since they mostly already are out-of-character due to bad writing, the exacerbation of that by creating artificial conflict feels like more bad writing, not actual plot. Having the characters initially get along poorly before triumphantly uniting to win the day is such an overused device, it’s easy to construe the conflict as arbitrary, and as it turns out...it is. Loki/the sceptre causing the Avengers to argue doesn’t actually impact the narrative in any meaningful way, since they don’t start a fight or fracture over it, it doesn’t slow down Tony’s efforts to learn what Fury is really up to, nor does it prevent Steve from investigating the same thing in person. Them conflicting with Fury and questioning their decision to work with SHIELD, etc, is a normal thing to have an argument about, no magic-mind-stick required; the only mileage the movie really gets out of the forced-conflict ploy is that Steve and Tony keep pissing on each other, which is extremely OOC for nice-guy Steve and WOULD throw up a big red flag for mental manipulations if the movie weren’t already misrepresenting him as an insufferable stick in the mud anyway, and even for Tony it feels off - he’s generally a jerk as a rule, but he doesn’t pick unprovoked fights - but again, when the movie is already so left-of-centre on so many characters everyone feels off, so it’s easy to assume the characters are just falling victim to contrived drama, and not something in the actual story. As noted, it doesn’t end up mattering where the conflict comes from anyway; the bad news is, it takes until the halfway point of the Goddamn movie before the characters get their prescribed ‘rough patch’ out of the way. The fact that they were just being really annoying for no real reason and without narrative consequence kinda steps on the idea of it being ‘triumphant’ when they all come together at the end to fight Loki, because there was zero reason for the audience to ever legitimately doubt that it would happen, not even in a begrudging-putting-this-genuine-disagreement-aside-so-that-we-can-save-the-world kind of way. It’s just dead air with no weight behind it, and with characters reduced to such cliche versions of themselves that it’s hard to muster the will to care.

AND SO, we have a movie which, as previously noted, is awfully damn simplistic. That’s not a terrible thing, in and of itself - it’s all about what you do with an idea, and I would posit that a more complicated plot wouldn’t be a great idea here since there are so many primary moving parts in the form of characters to justify. But, the aforementioned griping about the skewy characterisation makes this film a bad candidate for character-over-plot, and if the shenanigans are falling flat, that’s when simplistic plotting becomes a problem. It goes like this: Loki shows up and steals the magic cube (action ensues). The avengers assemble to catch Loki (action ensues). The characters argue on a helicarrier until Loki’s goons show up to wreck shit (action ensues). Loki escapes and goes to New York to use the magic cube to portal an alien army to Earth. Action ensues until the portal is closed and Loki is defeated. The end. I’m not complaining about the action - it’s a standard facet of the genre, and most of it is entertaining enough (though the unnecessary Thor/Iron Man fight I coulda done without, and the battle of New York runs a bit long) - but the plot itself is pretty point-A-to-B-to-C without much in the way of surprises, and like I said, that’s fine so long as you’re delivering in another arena, i.e. STRONG CHARACTER NARRATIVES. And character is sooo far from being this film’s strong suit. The result? Is not very compelling.

It tends to wind up that, by the time I get to the end of explaining why I think a thing didn’t work (and this is...the abridged version), it maybe seems ridiculous that I’m also saying ‘this thing isn’t that bad’. The truth is, there’s nothing that I think this movie does impressively well, and there are a lot of pretty major things that I think were poorly handled. BUT, I still meant what I said: it’s entertaining. It makes at least basic sense, and flows easily enough. And while I have serious issues with a lot of the characterisation and feel that - though balanced(ish) in handling - the plot failed to take real advantage of any of the character resources at its disposal (except maybe Tony), the actors still brought the goods to the table, and those whom I enjoyed in their previous films (I mean you, Chris Evans) didn’t disappoint, even though the material they were handling did. It’s a solid film, it’s good fun, I don’t regret watching it, and while I am irritated by various aspects, I don’t feel the need to keep ranting about them. And hey; Mark Ruffalo is really very wonderful. They’ve got that going for them.

[alphabetaus]

How To: Write an Antagonist

Every superhero has it’s villain. That’s why its so important that each protagonist has their antagonist. Across all forms of storytelling you’ll find a protagonist with its antagonist counterpart; whether it be books, films, graphic novels, short films, or cartoons - there will always be an antagonist. An antagonist is a key part to any story but an underdeveloped and badly written antagonist is just seen as annoying and unnecessary to the audience. So, I’m going to take you through some exercises which can help you successfully create and write your antagonist. Let’s get started!

1) Who Is Your Antagonist?

This may seem like a very basic step but the first step in writing any character is having any idea who they are. When you first develop your story’s outline, you may already have an antagonist in mind or you may have no clue who your antagonist is going to be: either way, it’s no problem! 

Before you even think about the nitty-gritty details of your antagonist, I am going to pose this question to you. 

What is your antagonist?

Now, I’m not asking who your antagonist is - I’m asking what your antagonist is. Sometimes, the antagonist is not even a person but rather a challenge that the protagonist has to overcome. People are sometimes mistaken in thinking that antagonists have to be stereotypical villains in capes when in reality, they can be quite the opposite. I want to challenge that thinking and seriously consider the fact that your story may not even need a physical antagonist but perhaps a symbolic antagonist. 

Not only can your antagonist be symbolic but it’s also important to realise that because an antagonist doesn’t have to be physical, the protagonist will come across many different challenges that will also take the form of the antagonist due to the lack of a physical, constant antagonist in your novel.

For example:

If a character was trying to brain-cram for a test tomorrow but they were finding it hard to learn all of the information. The teacher had set the work a week prior to this incident.

It may not seem obvious but there are multiple antagonists in this scenario. There are both physical and symbolic antagonists. The physical antagonists in this scenario are quite obvious. The first antagonist is easy to identify and that is the teacher. The teacher is an antagonist as they were the one that forced this challenge onto the protagonist. However, the antagonist in this scenario could actually be themselves due to the fact that they did not approach the challenge early enough; resulting in the challenge being seemingly unapproachable. There are also some antagonists in this scenario that are not physical but instead symbolic. The information itself could be the antagonist due to the fact that it was a challenge that the protagonist could not conquer making it the obvious antagonist in this scenario.

So, its important to realise when deciding on an antagonist whether your antagonist will be physical or symbolic. Sometimes, the best antagonists are symbolic and the lack of a physical antagonist allows the reader to concentrate on the main characters. However, a physical antagonist also has its advantages as it creates tension in the story as the reader will find it harder to predict the actions of a physical antagonist as they can be much more unpredictable. 

2) How To Create Motives

Every character has their backstory. However, a villain’s backstory is probably the most important part of your novel! If your villain has no real motive, your story will seem hollow and the reader will finish your novel feeling unsatisfied. 

Most of the time, stories that involve villains; their lack of morality stems from some sort of childhood trauma. However, it can stem from other life changing experiences as well. There are three main ways your villain could have adapted their traits due to 

a) Lack of Guidance

The lack of a good role model can have a huge impact on a child’s development. If at a young age, the villain received no moral guidance on a particular situation; they may have been forced to decide what to do which could have resulted in them doing the wrong thing. However, their parents would have probably not condemned the child for these wrong actions - if fact, they could have even encouraged those actions. So, the villain could be doing these things simply because they have never been taught to do so otherwise and be unaware of the weight of their actions and the effect it had on others. In fact, if you would like to expand on this idea; villainy could even run in the family!

b) Anger

At first, this may seem like an obvious cause of villainy. But, if done correctly, it can actually be very complicated. This anger, once again, is most likely to stem from childhood. The experience which may have caused such an intense emotion from the villain can vary. 

For example, a close relative or friend to the villain could have died. However, this relative/friend was corrupt or perhaps in trouble with the police force; so, it resulted in people celebrating their death and saying ‘it was for the greater good.’ This could result in the villain turning against law enforcement and being frustrated at what people believed to be ‘the greater good.’ This is just an example of course but, there are lots of ways you could expand this backstory. 

However, the anger/intense emotion does not always have to apply to something that happened to someone else. It could include a traumatic experience they dealt with throughout their childhood; such as a bad divorce between parents and being caught in the crossfire. This could result in the villain seeing the worst out of the two people that were meant to provide them guidance and instead resulted in the villain being forced to be mature in the situation; basically, forcing the villain to mature quickly due to their parents’ irresponsibility. 

Basically, an easy way to summarise this motive would be; “I’m not the problem, everyone else is.”

c) Moral Obligation

Sometimes, a villain may be forced to behave in a certain way due to an outside factor that they cannot control their feelings over. For example, they may have a younger sibling that they feel obligated to protect from harm due to personal experiences in their childhood such as the death of a parent. They would not view this as a problem or issue though and in fact their behaviour may be a result of desperation. However, the villain does not always have to be obligated to protect another person but in fact themselves or their reputation. This all depends on what they truly value the most in life even if it goes against the obligations of their moral alignment; an exception to their true beliefs. They could value money, power, love, family, or friendship which could cloud their judgement as they believe it is morally right to pursue these interests and in turn do not care about what may happen to others in the process. 

3) Moral Alignment

This is a more in depth analysis of a villain’s motive. In case you are unaware of what moral alignment may be; have a look at this chart which explains the different alignments your villains may possess. However, it might be easier to have a brief overlook at everything on the moral alignment chart. Now, I am no expert on this subject, but I am going to summarise it. I’d really recommend doing more in depth research into moral alignment to truly understand your antagonist’s motives. 

(The website I used to write this section is linked here: http://easydamus.com/lawfulneutral.html#philosophy )

Lawful, neutral, and chaotic alignments all entail different moral obligations.

Lawful:

The lawful alignment entails that all moral actions should be based around the basis of law and order. 

Lawful Good: Those that follow the moral alignment of lawful good believe in ‘the greater good’ (ie. putting the needs of a group ahead of their own personal desires). The ideal situation for people that believe in this moral alignment support the idea of an authoritarian government in which radical egoism is punished and the actions of putting other peoples’ needs above their own is rewarded. 

Lawful Neutral: The belief of lawful neutral is that law and order are desirable ends in themselves. They will advance the aims of society and apply the law impartially to the people in question.  They will seek to ensure that people follow all laws and remain unbiased to promote equality and fairness. 

Lawful Evil: The lawful evil character will abuse their power over others to advance their own agenda using the government’s laws and regulations. To encourage others to follow laws, they severely punish criminals or those that they believe deserve justice; practically scaring others into following laws and regulations. 

Chaotic:

A chaotic character believes in the right in breaking laws and regulations to pursue their own desires or to achieve what is morally right in their moral judgement. 

Chaotic Good: This moral alignment believes in following their conscience and who believes in good but does not respect the use of laws and regulations. They tend to prioritise their own personal freedom and benefits above all else and seriously disagree with authority. However, they will never harm an armed innocent or those that are not worthy of punishment. They also believe in the aspect of pride and honour over all and to be causing harm to an essentially good being would be dishonourable. 

Chaotic Neutral: This alignment includes a character valuing their own liberty but does not go out of their way to protect others’ authority. A chaotic neutral’s character is likely to be unpredictable but not always. They firmly believe in not disrupting campaigns for anarchy but will not go out of their way to promote good or go against the idea of anarchy. 

Chaotic Evil: A chaotic evil character does what their desires to drive them to do in terms of greed, hatred, and lust. However, this character lacks organisation. They tend to be impulsive and act upon their sudden desire so, they can easily be defeated. However, their impulsive behaviour and desire for destruction encourages them to pursue another goal or attempt at what they believe in; which is normally complete anarchy. They have no moral restrictions on murder or exploitation of those in a vulnerable position. 

Neutral:

A neutral character believes in the rational of a situation and will create their judgement depending on the situation and consequences at the time. 

Neutral Good: A neutral good character will complete good actions without bias or moral judgement and is devoted to others and pursuing the obligations of those with a good moral obligation. They believe that good shall be pursued no matter what means necessary that provide benefit for the greater good. 

True Neutral: A neutral character does what it feels to be the right thing to do in a situation. They do not have any strong feelings towards good or evil or lawful. They lack a clear obligation for commitment or bias towards a situation. They believe in a moral alignment that balances the need of the government and the individual equally. 

Neutral Evil:  A neutral evil villain does whatever they can do without consequence. They believe that they are the most important person in any situation and put their needs above all else. Neutral evil beings will try to secure their own goals in the form of power or status. 

What I really advise is that you do an in depth research into what you believe your villain’s moral obligations may be, the best way to do this is to research moral alignment. There’s a lot you can read about it and I’ve briefly summarised it here but, with a deeper understanding of your villain’s moral obligations it may prove easier to write their behaviour or actions in a certain situation. 

4) Female Villains

Female villains deserve as much development as your male villains; perhaps even more so because without such development they can be viewed as hollow and without any real desire to perform such evil actions in your novel. 

A key thing to remember when writing your female villains is too not refrain from making them do anything. Make your female villain the most horrible and nasty person you could ever imagine because, in the end, their only role in your novel is to be a villain! Nothing should come before that. If you consider showing a soft side to your villain, it could prevent your reader from believing that your villain possesses any threat against your protagonist. 

However, do not give your villain false obligations. What I mean by this is do not excuse your villain’s actions. You may not even realise you are doing it at first, but by blaming your villain’s actions on anything else other than a childhood trauma or incorrect moral alignment will result in your villain having less of an impact on your reader. I would advise that you avoid making your female psychopathic as it results in your villain resulting in becoming cliched. 

It’s important to remember that your villain must also have core values and aspirations; they could be hollow or sickening to your reader but by allowing your reader to sympathise with them makes them a lot more realistic. Your reader can then compare your villain to a mistaken human being instead of a psychopath without any moral obligations or drive to do what they do. 

Overall, it’s important that you really try and get inside your villain’s head. By becoming your villain, you can fully develop them and understand everything they do. This will evidently show your reader that your villain is not just hollow actions without thoughts or just a desire to destroy everything without rhyme or reason. No, instead your reader could possibly relate to your villain - and that truly is what makes a villain so terrifying. 

send me requests for writing advice or prompt lists here !! (or drop me an ask in my inbox!)

check out the other ‘How To’ posts I’ve done!

Happy Writing!

- Jess

[hows-a-robin-like-a-writing-desk]

Tim Drake Luthor Verse

super long headcannon meme for Tim-Rose-Artemis sibling shit under the cut

Light sleeper; all of them. Rose is the lightest sleeper and Tim the heaviest (on the occasion he sleeps), but it's relative really. they all have scarily light sleep. 

Has non stop puns; Tim. It's his go-to to diffuse hostile situations, picked up from Dick. 

Will cut you if you hurt their loved ones; Arty. Tim will ruin you, and Rose and will just kill you. 

Has a dysfunctional family; all of them. get these kids some therapy Christ. 

Likes rock music; Arty. Jade was going through a Rock Phase a bit before she left, and she got Arty into it. It was a very tame and teenager-y way to rebel Tim listens to it the most though, because it keeps him from falling asleep. 

Will give you the middle finger; Rose. It's her go-to non-lethal solution to hostile situations. Tim and Arty are Proud of her. 

Is a sweet angel; oh my Christ, none of them. Arty, If I had to pick one. at least she's reforming. 

Can kill you with a pencil; all of them. Tim pretends he can't, but out of them he learned when he was the youngest, surprisingly. Janet Drake is Not To Be Fucked With. 

 Looks sweet but will murder you in cold blood; Tim. He is deceptive as hell. Thanks Mother. And Alexander. And Ra’s. And Shiva. And- 

Looks like they will murder you but is a sweetheart; Arty, and Rose on a good day, if you aren't her target and somehow get on her good side.

Will eat everything if they could; Rose. Feed This Girl. Superpowers and murder make you hungry 

Wants to run away from everything; Tim, if we're talking actual physical threats. Like, sure, he can kick ass, but why give that away when he could..not. make someone else. Sounds like work, and he has enough work. 

Knows random facts about everything; Tim. By extension, the other two know random shit about things. 

Owns a motorcycle; Rose and Arty both got motorcycles from Tim. Tim prefers Limos. 

Is book smart; Tim. Rose is a close second. Laurence barely let Arty stay in school, but Winterfield tutored Rose. 

Is naive; None of them. their innocence died with their childhood. 

Would steal a penguin from the zoo; Tim and Rose would team up and do it for the challenge. Now I have to write this, fuck.

Has very exaggerated facial expressions; Rose, because she has a lot of emotions and exactly zero fucks to give about hiding her emotions. Tim, cause he's a lying and deceitful asshole. 

Likes Harry Potter; Artemis loves harry potter. She made Tim and Rose watch all the movies. Tim refused to watch the movies until he read the books. He likes it now, and all three of them make jokes finding Janet's horcruxes. 

To solve other peoples problems, they say to murder the problem; Rose, every time, dead serious. Tim will say it on accident if you surprise him with emotion talk, cause he's bad at it. By extension, Artemis sometimes responds with this out of habit. It’s slightly concerning to The Team

Is a nervous wreck; Artemis. She is super insecure about her place on the team, and nervous about them finding things out about her life and past. Tim and Rose can be sometimes, but they hide it well. 

Likes dragons; Tim is such a fucking nerd for Dragons. its one of is his only childish intrests that Alexander and Janet let him have, because he's Tim Drake. Rose think's they're really cool, but prefers eastern dragons.

Will laugh as they kill you; None of them. They're professionals. Rose. obviously. if you're an ass. 

Would bake a cake for a friend who is sad; Artemis. she's also the only one that can bake. and the only one that would talk to a friend who is sad. 

Is the comforting one; ...what is your definiton of comforting? Rose is the intimidating kind of comforting where you know you're safe with her because no one will fuck with her. Tim has that logical comforting where he talks you through the facts of the matter and gives you a hundred bucks before shooing you. Artemis, bless her, will be awkward but is the only one who can try for emotional comforting. 

Acts like they don’t care, but do; all of them. please get these kids therapy 

Loves children; Rose likes kids, but pretends not to. Artemis doesn't like kids, but isn't an asshole and therefore will still be nice to them. Tim hates kids and ignores most of them, even though he's like 10. when he gets older its the same, but for some reason kids adore him and don't leave him alone. 

Gets lost easily; Tim, but you'd never know. He'll forget where he is and get lost, and then figure out where he is and act like he was never lost. 

Likes to work out; Rose. She'll have occasional 'work out sessions' with the other two, that leaves Tim begging for death and Arty sore for days. Super Serum Bullshit.

Will sends meme in the group chat; Tim, but only when he has to remind them he's alive and is too tired to trust himself to text a coherent sentence. 

Knows every song ever; Rose. Arty and Tim have competitions where they take turns singing songs and trying to find one Rose doesn't know, and have never succeeded. 

 Likes socks; none of them like socks. Rose never wears them, because she wears solely combat boots so no one can tell. Arty and Tim still wear them because they aren't animals, but Tim wears exclusively silky and/or dress socks. 

Can’t sleep without something special; ...does having to sleep with a weapon nearby count? Because all of them. 

Has a sweet tooth; Rose, but she's too stubborn to admit it. Arty and Tim prefer sour candies, and only eat sweet things in front of Rose to spite her. 

Has amazing hair; Tim. He's the only one with enough money to have amazing hair.

Most common argument; most common joke argument is 'who has the worst parents'. most common actual serious argument is about morality and murder mostly, nowadays, but the 'is water wet' debate was a real Issue for a while. 

Do they share any hobbies; they all share a lot of hobbies. They do most of their non-family/team/work related activities together, so they share hobbies cause they mostly only get the chance to do hobbies with each other. 

Who's better at cooking; none of them can cook. Artemis can make some Vietnamese dishes, but beside that they're all useless. Artemis accidentally can't because she doesn't always wake up for school, and Rose just can't really care. 

Who'd hog the blanket; Rose is the biggest damn blanket hog. Tim crawls under the blanket. Artemis kicks it off. 

 Who would be the most desperate to get a pet; Timothy, still being like 10, needs a cat please. 

Do they have any nicknames for one another; probably. I'll come back to this. 

What would be their theme song; off the top of my head? Natives for Tim, Kiss It for Rose, and Demons for Artemis. 

Who's more likely to carry the other; Rose. Superstrength and overwhelming urges to pick up Timmy and make him eat food. 

Who worries the most; Tim. He worries about everything and plans for more then everything.

Which one would spin in a squeaky office chair and which one would glare at them until they stopped; they all spin in chairs, and they all have too adept hearing to let themselves get caught. 

Who's the optimist and who's the pessimist; Rose is a true pessimist. while Tim and Arty have at least one optimistic bone left between them. 

Who'd be more likely to cry over a sad book or movie; Rose. She's very emotional. 

Who would ask weird philosophical questions in the middle of the night; any of them. 

 Who's the better singer; Artemis. Tim can't sing at all. No one knows about Rose, she refuses to sing. 

Who would make the other wear ugly holiday sweaters; Tim, if he has the time, purely to Spite Them.

[syncogon]

I'm interested what you have to say about Tang Rou and the 1v3 incident so let's have this ask sit here waiting for you :3

hmmm here are some thoughts:

- I’m already not a huge fan of Tang Rou because, despite her prominence to the story, she’s a pretty unsympathetic character. She gets practically no development (”pretty stubborn girl” into “secretly rich pretty stubborn girl”?), no POVs, and she’s not really facing any struggles that would make us want to root for her (like Wei Chen (and Ye Xiu) with aging, Fang Rui and Qiao Yifan (and Su Mucheng) with the teams that don’t want them, An Wenyi and Luo Ji trying to not be the team’s weak points, Mo Fan discovering the magic of teamwork, etc…). (I’m also personally not a huge fan of the stubborn-bruteforce-notbackingdown character trope, but that’s just a personal subjective thing.)

- No, Tang Rou just wants to be strong / beat Ye Xiu, which, sure, join the crowd, I guess. I could be more invested in her if we saw how her privileged upbringing shaped her, or why she’s so aggressive, but no, we just get her flat character presented to us like this. And this would be fine, but she’s one of the main characters of this series! One of the first four characters that BB created! It’s not really excusable.

- Her initial promise of the 1v3 was incredibly selfish and inconsiderate. An Wenyi was absolutely right to call her out on it as “irresponsible.” In her personal pursuit of a challenge, she completely ignored any of the side effects or ramifications it could have for her teammates or the team.

- It showed a total disregard for those around her. Did she consider or care about the effect this would have on Happy? Sure, she asks afterward that everyone blame her, but does that fix anything? Sure, she apologizes to Happy, but does she even actually mean it? Show any remorse? Try to make amends? There’s no sign that she actually cares.

- Then there’s her behavior after she failed, and how she decided to break her word just like that. Integrity is important, part of the basis of being a decent person! But Tang Rou just comes off as ridiculously privileged with how she acts like the rules don’t apply to her, like she’s above them, and above silly things like public opinion. Even when she is very clearly in the wrong with how she broke her word. 

- It’s one thing to not let your worth be determined by others and be strong in the face of criticism, but it’s another to just… disregard everyone’s opinions. If someone hates you, it might be their problem. If a whole lot of people hate you and bring up valid and logical reasons, then you should probably reconsider what you’re doing (psst, people tend not to like people with no moral integrity). But does Tang Rou show any sign of self-reflection? 

- We love watching Ye Xiu and Happy being shameless - it’s funny, we admire their cleverness and boldness. But Ye Xiu, it’s pointed out multiple times in the novel, never actually goes back on his word. He’s straightforward and fair and relatively trustworthy - if he says he does something, he’ll do it. Even Blue River, amidst all his suffering, will admit that. We even see Ye Xiu using this very fact to be “shameless” at All-Star S10! But what Tang Rou did doesn’t fall under this. To borrow the words of a friend, “It wasn’t clever. She didn’t succeed. She didn’t have a loophole, or some other way of dealing with the consequences.”

- What bothers me the most about all this is how BB handles it. If she weren’t a main character, we would all hate the arrogant way she acted. But because she’s Tang Rou, we’re all just like “oh lol happy being shameless again haha troll those reporters.” Although we see there are some real consequences, none of them seem to have any real weight - the fine is brushed off, Tang Rou shows no real remorse or learning, no one important (ie anyone aside from the media, whose opinion she can just brush off) calls her out on her shitty actions, not even a little, and the other pro players, with whom we’re supposed to sympathize more than the “ordinary” people, support her. If anything, the whole thing is just used as another way to show how resilient Happy is to such things. True, the reporters were definitely in the wrong for forcing her into this situation in the first place, but the narrative doesn’t properly condemn Tang Rou for her role in the matter either. 

- There’s also the gross fact that of *course* they’re targeting a female for being so bold, forcing her to submit, which is a whole set of other problems that I don’t want to get into right now aside from a reiteration that I’m disappointed in the gender ratio and female portrayals in QZGS. 

- And what was the point of having this whole arc anyway? To borrow the words of another friend, “it doesn’t tell us anything that hasn’t already been hammered in over and over again, it just shows it at an even bigger scale that makes her look somewhat unreasonable. TR’s characterization is largely focused upon exactly this for 1000 chapters or so already.” What significance did this whole thing have on the story as a whole? Not only do we not really gain any new insight into her (aside from her relationship with her dad, which although appreciated is mostly played as a joke anyway), Tang Rou didn’t change or grow as a result, nor did any of the other characters, and there’s no lingering plot significance either. True, after this round, Happy began its win streak, but there’s no correlation shown. So, why was this arc even necessary? 

Basically she just kind of comes off as entitled and selfish yet the narrative doesn’t really condemn her for it, nor does she grow/change/learn as a result, nor is there greater significance. That’s what bothers me about the whole thing.

[lindbergh-baby]

TRUISMS (1978-1983) JENNY HOLZER

A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE CAN GO A LONG WAY A LOT OF PROFESSIONALS ARE CRACKPOTS A MAN CAN'T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE A MOTHER A NAME MEANS A LOT JUST BY ITSELF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE MEANS ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD A RELAXED MAN IS NOT NECESSARILY A BETTER MAN A SENSE OF TIMING IS THE MARK OF GENIUS A SINCERE EFFORT IS ALL YOU CAN ASK A SINGLE EVENT CAN HAVE INFINITELY MANY INTERPRETATIONS A SOLID HOME BASE BUILDS A SENSE OF SELF A STRONG SENSE OF DUTY IMPRISONS YOU ABSOLUTE SUBMISSION CAN BE A FORM OF FREEDOM ABSTRACTION IS A TYPE OF DECADENCE ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE ACTION CAUSES MORE TROUBLE THAN THOUGHT ALIENATION PRODUCES ECCENTRICS OR REVOLUTIONARIES ALL THINGS ARE DELICATELY INTERCONNECTED AMBITION IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AS COMPLACENCY AMBIVALENCE CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE AN ELITE IS INEVITABLE ANGER OR HATE CAN BE A USEFUL MOTIVATING FORCE ANIMALISM IS PERFECTLY HEALTHY ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL ANYTHING IS A LEGITIMATE AREA OF INVESTIGATION ARTIFICIAL DESIRES ARE DESPOILING THE EARTH AT TIMES INACTIVITY IS PREFERABLE TO MINDLESS FUNCTIONING AT TIMES YOUR UNCONSCIOUSNESS IS TRUER THAN YOUR CONSCIOUS MIND AUTOMATION IS DEADLY AWFUL PUNISHMENT AWAITS REALLY BAD PEOPLE BAD INTENTIONS CAN YIELD GOOD RESULTS BEING ALONE WITH YOURSELF IS INCREASINGLY UNPOPULAR BEING HAPPY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE BEING JUDGMENTAL IS A SIGN OF LIFE BEING SURE OF YOURSELF MEANS YOU'RE A FOOL BELIEVING IN REBIRTH IS THE SAME AS ADMITTING DEFEAT BOREDOM MAKES YOU DO CRAZY THINGS CALM IS MORE CONDUCTIVE TO CREATIVITY THAN IS ANXIETY CATEGORIZING FEAR IS CALMING CHANGE IS VALUABLE WHEN THE OPPRESSED BECOME TYRANTS CHASING THE NEW IS DANGEROUS TO SOCIETY CHILDREN ARE THE MOST CRUEL OF ALL CHILDREN ARE THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE CLASS ACTION IS A NICE IDEA WITH NO SUBSTANCE CLASS STRUCTURE IS AS ARTIFICIAL AS PLASTIC CONFUSING YOURSELF IS A WAY TO STAY HONEST CRIME AGAINST PROPERTY IS RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT DECADENCE CAN BE AN END IN ITSELF DECENCY IS A RELATIVE THING DEPENDENCE CAN BE A MEAL TICKET DESCRIPTION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN METAPHOR DEVIANTS ARE SACRIFICED TO INCREASE GROUP SOLIDARITY DISGUST IS THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO MOST SITUATIONS DISORGANIZATION IS A KIND OF ANESTHESIA DON'T PLACE TO MUCH TRUST IN EXPERTS DRAMA OFTEN OBSCURES THE REAL ISSUES DREAMING WHILE AWAKE IS A FRIGHTENING CONTRADICTION DYING AND COMING BACK GIVES YOU CONSIDERABLE PERSPECTIVE DYING SHOULD BE AS EASY AS FALLING OFF A LOG EATING TOO MUCH IS CRIMINAL ELABORATION IS A FORM OF POLLUTION EMOTIONAL RESPONSES AR AS VALUABLE AS INTELLECTUAL RESPONSES ENJOY YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING ANYWAY ENSURE THAT YOUR LIFE STAYS IN FLUX EVEN YOUR FAMILY CAN BETRAY YOU EVERY ACHIEVEMENT REQUIRES A SACRIFICE EVERYONE'S WORK IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT EVERYTHING THAT'S INTERESTING IS NEW EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE DESERVE SPECIAL CONCESSIONS EXPIRING FOR LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL BUT STUPID EXPRESSING ANGER IS NECESSARY EXTREME BEHAVIOR HAS ITS BASIS IN PATHOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY EXTREME SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS LEADS TO PERVERSION FAITHFULNESS IS A SOCIAL NOT A BIOLOGICAL LAW FAKE OR REAL INDIFFERENCE IS A POWERFUL PERSONAL WEAPON FATHERS OFTEN USE TOO MUCH FORCE FEAR IS THE GREATEST INCAPACITATOR FREEDOM IS A LUXURY NOT A NECESSITY GIVING FREE REIN TO YOUR EMOTIONS IS AN HONEST WAY TO LIVE GO ALL OUT IN ROMANCE AND LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY GOING WITH THE FLOW IS SOOTHING BUT RISKY GOOD DEEDS EVENTUALLY ARE REWARDED GOVERNMENT IS A BURDEN ON THE PEOPLE GRASS ROOTS AGITATION IS THE ONLY HOPE GUILT AND SELF-LACERATION ARE INDULGENCES HABITUAL CONTEMPT DOESN'T REFLECT A FINER SENSIBILITY HIDING YOUR EMOTIONS IS DESPICABLE HOLDING BACK PROTECTS YOUR VITAL ENERGIES HUMANISM IS OBSOLETE HUMOR IS A RELEASE IDEALS ARE REPLACED BY CONVENTIONAL GOALS AT A CERTAIN AGE IF YOU AREN'T POLITICAL YOUR PERSONAL LIFE SHOULD BE EXEMPLARY IF YOU CAN'T LEAVE YOUR MARK GIVE UP IF YOU HAVE MANY DESIRES YOUR LIFE WILL BE INTERESTING IF YOU LIVE SIMPLY THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT IGNORING ENEMIES IS THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT ILLNESS IS A STATE OF MIND IMPOSING ORDER IS MAN'S VOCATION FOR CHAOS IS HELL IN SOME INSTANCES IT'S BETTER TO DIE THAN TO CONTINUE INHERITANCE MUST BE ABOLISHED IT CAN BE HELPFUL TO KEEP GOING NO MATTER WHAT IT IS HEROIC TO TRY TO STOP TIME IT IS MAN'S FATE TO OUTSMART HIMSELF IT IS A GIFT TO THE WORLD NOT TO HAVE BABIES IT'S BETTER TO BE A GOOD PERSON THAN A FAMOUS PERSON IT'S BETTER TO BE LONELY THAN TO BE WITH INFERIOR PEOPLE IT'S BETTER TO BE NAIVE THAN JADED IT'S BETTER TO STUDY THE LIVING FACT THAN TO ANALYZE HISTORY IT'S CRUCIAL TO HAVE AN ACTIVE FANTASY LIFE IT'S GOOD TO GIVE EXTRA MONEY TO CHARITY IT'S IMPORTANT TO STAY CLEAN ON ALL LEVELS IT'S JUST AN ACCIDENT THAT YOUR PARENTS ARE YOUR PARENTS IT'S NOT GOOD TO HOLD TOO MANY ABSOLUTES IT'S NOT GOOD TO OPERATE ON CREDIT IT'S VITAL TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH NATURE JUST BELIEVING SOMETHING CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN KEEP SOMETHING IN RESERVE FOR EMERGENCIES KILLING IS UNAVOIDABLE BUT NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF KNOWING YOURSELF LETS YOU UNDERSTAND OTHERS KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE ADVANCED AT ALL COSTS LABOR IS A LIFE-DESTROYING ACTIVITY LACK OF CHARISMA CAN BE FATAL LEISURE TIME IS A GIGANTIC SMOKE SCREEN LISTEN WHEN YOUR BODY TALKS LOOKING BACK IS THE FIRST SIGN OF AGING AND DECAY LOVING ANIMALS IS A SUBSTITUTE ACTIVITY LOW EXPECTATIONS ARE GOOD PROTECTION MANUAL LABOR CAN BE REFRESHING AND WHOLESOME MEN ARE NOT MONOGAMOUS BY NATURE MODERATION KILLS THE SPIRIT MONEY CREATES TASTE MONOMANIA IS A PREREQUISITE OF SUCCESS MORALS ARE FOR LITTLE PEOPLE MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT FIT TO RULE THEMSELVES MOSTLY YOU SHOULD MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS MOTHERS SHOULDN'T MAKE TOO MANY SACRIFICES MUCH WAS DECIDED BEFORE YOU WERE BORN MURDER HAS ITS SEXUAL SIDE MYTH CAN MAKE REALITY MORE INTELLIGIBLE NOISE CAN BE HOSTILE NOTHING UPSETS THE BALANCE OF GOOD AND EVIL OCCASIONALLY PRINCIPLES ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN PEOPLE OFFER VERY LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF OFTEN YOU SHOULD ACT LIKE YOU ARE SEXLESS OLD FRIENDS ARE BETTER LEFT IN THE PAST OPACITY IS AN IRRESISTIBLE CHALLENGE PAIN CAN BE A VERY POSITIVE THING PEOPLE ARE BORING UNLESS THEY ARE EXTREMISTS PEOPLE ARE NUTS IF THEY THINK THEY ARE IMPORTANT PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT THEY DO UNLESS THEY ARE INSANE PEOPLE WHO DON'T WORK WITH THEIR HANDS ARE PARASITES PEOPLE WHO GO CRAZY ARE TOO SENSITIVE PEOPLE WON'T BEHAVE IF THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE PHYSICAL CULTURE IS SECOND BEST PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE IS ESCAPISM PLAYING IT SAFE CAN CAUSE A LOT OF DAMAGE IN THE LONG RUN POLITICS IS USED FOR PERSONAL GAIN POTENTIAL COUNTS FOR NOTHING UNTIL IT'S REALIZED PRIVATE PROPERTY CREATED CRIME PURSUING PLEASURE FOR THE SAKE OF PLEASURE WILL RUIN YOU PUSH YOURSELF TO THE LIMIT AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE RAISE BOYS AND GIRLS THE SAME WAY RANDOM MATING IS GOOD FOR DEBUNKING SEX MYTHS RECHANNELING DESTRUCTIVE IMPULSES IS A SIGN OF MATURITY RECLUSES ALWAYS GET WEAK REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH IS IMPERATIVE RELATIVITY IS NO BOON TO MANKIND RELIGION CAUSES AS MANY PROBLEMS AS IT SOLVES REMEMBER YOU ALWAYS HAVE FREEDOM OF CHOICE REPETITION IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN RESOLUTIONS SERVE TO EASE OUR CONSCIENCE REVOLUTION BEGINS WITH CHANGES IN THE INDIVIDUAL ROMANTIC LOVE WAS INVENTED TO MANIPULATE WOMEN ROUTINE IS A LINK WITH THE PAST ROUTINE SMALL EXCESSES ARE WORSE THAN THEN THE OCCASIONAL DEBAUCH SACRIFICING YOURSELF FOR A BAD CAUSE IS NOT A MORAL ACT SALVATION CAN'T BE BOUGHT AND SOLD SELF-AWARENESS CAN BE CRIPPLING SELF-CONTEMPT CAN DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD SELFISHNESS IS THE MOST BASIC MOTIVATION SELFLESSNESS IS THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT SEPARATISM IS THE WAY TO A NEW BEGINNING SEX DIFFERENCES ARE HERE TO STAY SIN IS A MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL SLIPPING INTO MADNESS IS GOOD FOR THE SAKE OF COMPARISON SLOPPY THINKING GETS WORSE OVER TIME SOLITUDE IS ENRICHING SOMETIMES SCIENCE ADVANCES FASTER THAN IT SHOULD SOMETIMES THINGS SEEM TO HAPPEN OF THEIR OWN ACCORD SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON SELF-IMPROVEMENT IS ANTISOCIAL STARVATION IS NATURE'S WAY STASIS IS A DREAM STATE STERILIZATION IS A WEAPON OF THE RULERS STRONG EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT STEMS FROM BASIC INSECURITY STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BREED SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST APPLIES TO MEN AND ANIMALS SYMBOLS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN THINGS THEMSELVES TAKING A STRONG STAND PUBLICIZES THE OPPOSITE POSITION TALKING IS USED TO HIDE ONE'S INABILITY TO ACT TEASING PEOPLE SEXUALLY CAN HAVE UGLY CONSEQUENCES TECHNOLOGY WILL MAKE OR BREAK US THE CRUELEST DISAPPOINTMENT IS WHEN YOU LET YOURSELF DOWN THE DESIRE TO REPRODUCE IS A DEATH WISH THE FAMILY IS LIVING ON BORROWED TIME THE IDEA OF REVOLUTION IS AN ADOLESCENT FANTASY THE IDEA OF TRANSCENDENCE IS USED TO OBSCURE OPPRESSION THE IDIOSYNCRATIC HAS LOST ITS AUTHORITY THE MOST PROFOUND THINGS ARE INEXPRESSIBLE THE MUNDANE IS TO BE CHERISHED THE NEW IS NOTHING BUT A RESTATEMENT OF THE OLD THE ONLY WAY TO BE PURE IS TO STAY BY YOURSELF THE SUM OF YOUR ACTIONS DETERMINES WHAT YOU ARE THE UNATTAINABLE IS INVARIABLE ATTRACTIVE THE WORLD OPERATES ACCORDING TO DISCOVERABLE LAWS THERE ARE TOO FEW IMMUTABLE TRUTHS TODAY THERE'S NOTHING EXCEPT WHAT YOU SENSE THERE'S NOTHING REDEEMING IN TOIL THINKING TOO MUCH CAN ONLY CAUSE PROBLEMS THREATENING SOMEONE SEXUALLY IS A HORRIBLE ACT TIMIDITY IS LAUGHABLE TO DISAGREE PRESUPPOSES MORAL INTEGRITY TO VOLUNTEER IS REACTIONARY TORTURE IS BARBARIC TRADING A LIFE FOR A LIFE IS FAIR ENOUGH TRUE FREEDOM IS FRIGHTFUL UNIQUE THINGS MUST BE THE MOST VALUABLE UNQUESTIONING LOVE DEMONSTRATES LARGESSE OF SPIRIT USING FORCE TO STOP FORCE IS ABSURD VIOLENCE IS PERMISSIBLE EVEN DESIRABLE OCCASIONALLY WAR IS A PURIFICATION RITE WE MUST MAKE SACRIFICES TO MAINTAIN OUR QUALITY OF LIFE WHEN SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENS PEOPLE WAKE UP WISHING THINGS AWAY IS NOT EFFECTIVE WITH PERSEVERANCE YOU CAN DISCOVER ANY TRUTH WORDS TEND TO BE INADEQUATE WORRYING CAN HELP YOU PREPARE YOU ARE A VICTIM OF THE RULES YOU LIVE BY YOU ARE GUILELESS IN YOUR DREAMS YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONSTITUTING THE MEANING OF THINGS YOU ARE THE PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE YOU CAN LIVE ON THROUGH YOUR DESCENDANTS YOU CAN'T EXPECT PEOPLE TO BE SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT YOU CAN'T FOOL OTHERS IF YOU'RE FOOLING YOURSELF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WHAT UNTIL YOU SUPPORT YOURSELF YOU HAVE TO HURT OTHERS TO BE EXTRAORDINARY YOU MUST BE INTIMATE WITH A TOKEN FEW YOU MUST DISAGREE WITH AUTHORITY FIGURES YOU MUST HAVE ONE GRAND PASSION YOU MUST KNOW WHERE YOU STOP AND THE WORLD BEGINS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND SOMEONE OF YOUR SEX ONLY YOU OWE THE WORLD NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND YOU SHOULD STUDY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE YOUR ACTIONS AE POINTLESS IF NO ONE NOTICES YOUR OLDEST FEARS ARE THE WORST ONES

[nothingman]

In June, a crowd of over 400 sex workers, activists, organizers and allies convened across from the Stonewall Inn to celebrate International Whore’s Day. Sex workers, who belong to a criminalized and marginalized community, gathered in celebration and in protest. Their demonstration made a statement—that, even in the face of ever-present policing and a new wave of harmful legislation, sex workers can and will gather out in the open to flex their political muscle. This was best articulated in a chant, near the end of the protest, for congressional candidate Suraj Patel.

Patel is challenging Carolyn Maloney for her 12th District seat in the upcoming New York Democratic primary. In addition to being a 25-year incumbent, Maloney is also a co-sponsor of FOSTA. FOSTA and its sister Senate bill, SESTA, were ostensibly designed to fight sex trafficking. Already, the legislation has resulted in numerous websites self-censoring, for fear that they will be held liable for “facilitating prostitution.” Rather than, say, providing resources to trafficking survivors, community organizers and sex workers report that FOSTA-SESTA has served to shut down platforms for advertising and screening clients, pushing sex workers into the streets and halting online communication and harm reduction.

Standing in the crowd of protest signs and red parasols, Patel got to hear hundreds of community members and allies screaming his name, as an organizer urged protestors to “show up for someone who stands up for us.” She continued, “Let’s show the nation you don’t need to throw sex workers under the bus to win an election.”

In a courtyard outside of his campaign offices, Patel described being completely overwhelmed by the crowd’s support. “I’m just a first-time candidate, I’m 34 years old—eight months ago I was a completely private citizen,” he told The Daily Beast. “So it’s strange to be honest with you, and a little overwhelming. A lot of people are counting on this campaign to win.”

While the hotel executive and NYU business ethics professor has gotten a good deal of press exposure for being the rare anti-FOSTA-SESTA candidate, he didn’t initially aim to align his campaign with sex workers’ rights. In fact, Patel says that he had no idea what FOSTA-SESTA was when he started out. He was quickly inundated with messages from constituents, asking him what he planned to do about his opponent’s pet bill. “Honest to God, the first few days we just ignored it,” Patel admitted. “We Googled it and were like whoa, probably don’t want to touch that, kept moving.” But as time went on, and the messages kept coming, he decided to revisit it, thinking, “Maloney’s a big champion of this thing, let’s at least look at it and see what it is.” His campaign spent two months working with various organizations, talking to sex workers and trafficking survivors, people who opposed FOSTA-SESTA and people who championed it.

“Not only are people being hurt by this, trans women especially, but it’s actually become harder to prosecute trafficking.”

“We realized there are a lot of people being hurt out there,” Patel recalled, adding, “Harm reduction is the number one principle that I want to start this campaign with. Legislating morality is way above my pay grade, and I do not plan to do it. Ever. But we have caused harm, by our own doing, and we have not solved the trafficking problem. Not only are people being hurt by this, trans women especially, but it’s actually become harder to prosecute trafficking.”

“Clearly this is like a Mike Pence-y, moralizing bill because sex trafficking isn’t even the largest form of trafficking!” Patel offered. “If we cared about trafficking, we’d talk more broadly about labor trafficking—and of course undocumented immigrants, who don’t have any recourse in the police and the criminal justice system. But we didn’t. And so clearly the motives were skewed, and Democrats fell for the trap, as they tend to often do.”

He continued, “So I think that it’s important that we offer an alternative to the actual problem they were saying they were going to solve, and then say, what you really were trying to do is moralize around sex work and stigmatize it further.”

Patel conceptualizes his fight against FOSTA-SESTA within a larger framework. He emphasized that the legislation affects “the most marginalized among us,” including but not limited to trans folks, people of color, and undocumented people. Talking about FOSTA-SESTA lends itself to a conversation about mass incarceration and harmful policing—and it is Patel’s belief that the diverse, educated, extremely liberal district he seeks to represent ought to be at the forefront of these debates. Or as he puts it, “If we don’t look at prevention instead of punishment here, across all kinds of criminal justice issues, not just SESTA-FOSTA, then who will?”

As a candidate who “plans to win,” Patel aspires to raise up the sex-worker community that has literally rallied behind him. “I get to move in places and hallways that sex workers don’t get to yet. And therefore, my allyship is one to elevate their voices, and destigmatize sex work.”

A day later, on a scorching-hot New York City Saturday, Patel was in Ridgewood trying to do just that. With Survivors Against SESTA, Patel’s campaign organized a town hall for sex workers and allies. It was billed as an opportunity for the community to ask Patel questions, share experiences and concerns, and generally hold space.

Two hundred people packed into The Dreamhouse, a DIY venue draped in chandeliers and gilded mirrors. For the event, the club was filled with chairs circling a makeshift stage. Lola, an organizer with Survivors Against SESTA, welcomed the crowd.

Thank You!

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On the phone a few days before the town hall, Lola stressed that Patel was a singular candidate. “We have a lot of conversations with various elected officials at various levels of office where they will seem to understand the issues that we talk about, and then just feel like they don’t have the political cover to support us publicly,” she explained. “And so that I think is what’s really different about Suraj, is that he’s not ashamed, and he’s actually actively and explicitly supporting the safety of sex workers.” In speaking up for sex workers, Patel has gained some vocal supporters. According to Lola, “We know a lot of sex workers who’ve canvassed for the campaign because of his positions on sex work. People have done a ton of spreading word about it on social media. I know people who registered to vote who were not previously registered to vote in Democratic primaries, just so they could vote for Suraj.”

While sex workers are still very much reeling from FOSTA-SESTA, Lola posited that the “devastating” legislation has also managed to catalyze the community: “Because of how swift that devastation was, it politicized a lot of people who weren’t previously politicized, and media also began covering the harm in such a way that in previous times sex workers weren’t really covered. So it sort of gave people more room to think about this issue critically instead of just having that immediate response of, ‘Oh, sex work is trafficking, all women are exploited, etc.’”

“Obviously we really hope that Suraj will win, we hope that he’ll be an advocate for us in Congress,” Lola concluded. “But at the end of the day, even if he doesn’t, this is a really big step in the right direction for us, because the entire campaign shows that you can support sex workers and still do OK, and actually get a really positive community response from it.”

Ceyenne Doroshow, the Founder and Director of the advocacy organization GLITS (Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society), explained why so many people were sacrificing a day at the beach to sit in a dark room in Ridgewood. “Our community is getting raped, beaten, murdered, and we have no way to defend ourselves,” she said, introducing Patel to the crowd. “Suraj, you’re our way.”

Doroshow joined Cecilia Gentili of GMHC and Womankind’s Aya Tasaki in a panel discussion that hit on the aftermath of FOSTA-SESTA and potential next steps. Gentili, who’s the Director of Policy at GMHC, “the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy,” spoke candidly about what she’s been seeing in the community: “Specifically right now in Jackson Heights, there’s been a tremendous number of violence against sex workers that identify as trans and are undocumented. And because they are sex workers, because they are undocumented, and because they are trans, these people are not comfortable with coming out in any kind of way.” She added that, “These people were doing sex work in their houses, in their places, and it was relatively safe for them. But because they are unable to advertise online, they have been forced to go back to the streets, where all these predators are going to them and stealing their money, violently approach them, rape them.”

“There was this girl last week that was stabbed five times. Five fucking times,” Gentili said, visibly emotional. “That’s how bad it is. That’s what SESTA and FOSTA is doing to the community.” As a transgender woman who was formerly undocumented, Gentili spoke on undocumented trans people who do sex work “because they make the decision to do, or because it’s the only thing that we can do. Because realistically, nobody offers many jobs to trans people, and there are not many jobs that a person without documented status can do here.” Trans people disproportionately engage in sex work, and are disproportionately targeted and policed for doing so. FOSTA-SESTA has only increased the danger. “I’m tired of us being stabbed, beaten, robbed, chased,” Doroshow offered. “And then we wind up being criminalized.” 

Still, Gentili offered a note of hope: “I dreamt years ago of the days when a politician was going to be with me, talking about what sex work looks like for an undocumented trans woman. And check this out: it’s happening now, and it’s happening out of struggle.”

Tasaki, Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Womankind, formerly the New York Asian Women’s Center, echoed Doroshow and Gentili’s testimonies while also offering a tip to outsiders attempting to catalogue community harm. “What we are demanded by all of these funders and politicians is like, give us numbers,” Tasaki said. “Give us all of the proof. And it’s like, just trust us. Just listen to our stories. It doesn’t seem to be enough for leaders like Ceyenne and Cecilia to be like, this is happening in my community! Somehow still, the system is requiring us to bulk that up with numbers…These are the deaths. How many more do you need for you to believe us?”

During his remarks, Patel spoke out against Congress for failing to “talk to the people who are going to be most affected by that law,” and against FOSTA-SESTA, calling it “a charade of a bill.”

“Every small-thinking politician that wants to take a bipartisan victory back home,” he continued, “can stand around Donald Trump in the Oval Office and pat themselves on the back for coming out against trafficking when all they really did was make it very difficult for lots of people in this country to survive, and made it much more likely that they would be exploited.”

But Patel urged the attendees not to be discouraged by the massive number of votes in support. If he were to defeat a 25-year-incumbent, he wagered, politicians’ sense of self-preservation would probably kick in. “If we terrify folks by saying, we’re going to vote, and we’re going to vote in large numbers, and we’re gonna organize, and we’re gonna out-organize, you’ll be surprised to see how many more doors and conference rooms start opening up to working on repealing this, or coming up with a way to dramatically restructure it so that it exempts voluntary, consensual sex work,” he said.

He went on to push back against the idea that sex work is a niche issue, or one that wouldn’t appeal to the majority of voters. Instead of “otherizing” the issue, he suggested broadening the conversation to talk about mass incarceration, and labor rights, as well as humanizing the sex workers who have been negatively affected: “Putting faces to the violence and showing that these are real people is one huge component.” Plus, he added, “There’s an estimated 10 to 20,000 sex workers in this district. Which means that there’s, who knows how many hundreds of thousands of clients in this district.”

While Patel received a lot of applause on his vision and allyship, he also got pushback. During the Q&A portion of the event, a self-identified organizer questioned if the candidate’s support of the sex-worker community would extend beyond the campaign—even if he loses. As one of the first and few politicians to come out against the legislation, would he continue to be a face of the anti-FOSTA-SESTA movement? While Patel joked that, if things didn’t go his way, he would start by engaging in a lot of “self-care,” he continued, “I’m 34 years old, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“For me this isn’t work anymore, this is just what I like to do. And because of it, I’ll be right here with you guys all the way through. That’s a promise.”

The fact that Patel, who maintains that he wants to keep hearing from the community and evolving his positions, has yet to come out in support of full decriminalization, remained a point of frustration. One attendee explained, “What you’re saying right now, it’s great, and it’s awesome, and it’s just not enough. So I need to know that you’re going to keep listening to us, and continue that learning that you’re doing.” While she thanked Patel for coming and speaking with the community, and for opposing FOSTA-SESTA, she continued, “I need to say that I am really tired of being grateful for so little.”

The event ended with another chant, something Patel’s probably gotten a little more used to by now.

“Sex workers vote,” the crowd screamed. “And we’re voting Suraj in.”

via The Daily Beast Latest Articles

[tiaraofsapphires]

So I kinda updated my Rydaal Royalty AU...

Sara made a beeline to the training grounds as soon as Alec dismissed her, whipping off her jacket and shirt until she only in her pants and thin tank top.

She really needed to hit something.

It wasn’t in anger, not truly. She couldn’t be angry with Jaal—only the abstract idea of him because she didn’t really know who he was—after her father broke the news to her. Jaal likely didn’t want to be a part of this either and it wasn’t his fault.

It didn’t matter.

She was getting almost certainly going to be married to him, an angara of royal blood. Unlike her, Jaal wasn’t the heir to the throne of his respective kingdom. According to Alec and the file he had on the angara prince, Jaal was the third-born child and, therefore, third in line to the throne.

Jaal was older than her, the equivalent of 27 years to 22 of hers. There was some consolation to be had there. At least he wasn’t twice or three times her age or something outrageous for an angara who would likely live to be as long as she would.

Sara twirled an omniblade in her hand, easy as breathing.

From a young age, Alec demanded that his children be skilled in combat, along with book-learning and being a ruler. They had their bodyguards whenever they left the palace, sure, but it wasn’t satisfactory for the king.

“You need to know how to defend yourselves,” Alec had said.

Sure, it served her when smugglers and pirates tried poking holes into her. They landed their hits, but it was rare.

But now it would serve her in another way.

The angara were a warrior race, above all. They had to be, after centuries of skirmishes with the Nexus races and now this decades-long war with the kett. It made them suspicious of outsiders, clinging to those who looked like them. Outside of relatively few cases, they interacted with Nexus out of necessity, nothing more.

Sara couldn’t blame them.

But now, that was changing.

Not only was the Prince coming, but he was bringing various representatives from Heleus to strengthen and renegotiate military and economic ties.

It wasn’t just about the engagement and wedding. But a lot of it was about this unconventional event. It would serve as a distraction for the average citizen to ogle and gossip about while leaders and politicians haggled and bartered behind closed doors.

Who cares about a potential economy-altering deal when there’s Sara’s dress to be whispered about?

Her omniblade tore out some of the stuffing, making the soft stuff smoke and burn.

Sara supposed this training would make her pleasing to her likely-future husband.

The thought of it made her feel a bit ill. They hadn’t even met yet, the engagement not even finalized, and it felt like she was waiting at the gallows.

She jumped into this without really thinking.

Lunge forward, stab, twist.

Time seemed to blur, as she made mincemeat of the target dummies. Sweat beaded at her temples and dampened her shirt.

When something large moved into her periphery, she jumped, whipping towards the source of the movement with a gasp.

Drack held up his hands in a sarcastically placating gesture, bowing in mocking supplication. It was more for her benefit than his. It wasn’t like she could really do anything to him.

Sure, an omniblade to the gut would hurt just about anyone, but Drack would easily shrug it off and knock her flat on her ass.

“Something’s got you pissed off, kid,” Drack grumbled.

Sara huffed and turned back to her unmoving victim. She liked Drack. He treated her like a normal person, if not with a slight bit more respect. It was refreshing.

“Did you hear?” Sara asked.

It was probably hours since she talked to Alec. After that, there was no reason why this engagement would remain hidden.

This union would be milked for all its worth to drum up morale and feelings of camaraderie between the two planets. The word would be put out as soon as possible and not even the malcontents in the Citadel would dare come out too loudly against it.

She could only imagine the amount of emails she was going to return to.

Drack leaned up against the nearby wall and crossed his arms. “About that angara prince that’s coming in a couple days? Yeah.”

Sara’s lip curled. “My fiancé, Prince Jaal Ama Darav.”

No, she wasn’t angry with him. She just needed to keep reminding herself of that fact.

“That’s if he actually proposes,” Drack huffed.

“If he does, I will accept. For the good of our peoples.”

She glanced over at Drack, who grunted disbelievingly.

It wasn’t like he had much faith in this sort of thing. After the genophage millennia ago, the objectively tyrannical and self-destructive krogan government dissolved as the birthrate was reduced to almost nothing, breaking up into municipalities absorbed by the human, turian, asari, and salarian kingdoms.

The genophage had been a disgusting thing, an ugly stain in the history books. Something that Heleus politicians liked to throw in the Nexus’s face whenever it came to making treaties and agreements.

‘Look at how you treat your own people. Why should we deal with you?’

Perhaps this marriage would help the Nexus’s image.

“I suppose you’re doing a brave thing,” Drack relented, “Damn foolish, in my opinion, but brave. I don’t trust those Heleus types.”

“Why?”

Drack grunted. “They’re cagey and isolated. That makes them dangerous.”

Sara shot back, “Like you?”

That drew a chuckle out of the krogan.

“Yeah, a bit. At least you probably ticked off a bunch of idiots at the Citadel with this. Makes it worth it in my book.”

Drack hauled up a fresh dummy for her to dismember and she murmured her thanks.

Lunge forward, stab, twist.

“Have you ever been to Heleus?” Sara asked. The exertion was getting her, raising her heartrate, making it a little harder to talk.

Drack nodded.

“Yeah, on a few—ahem—less-than-legal supply runs back in the day. Lots of fun critters to kill. Angara also make some damn good weapons.”

Okay, not exactly what Sara wanted to hear if someone was going to sell a trip to Heleus.

“Nice scenery?” she suggested.

“I wasn’t looking. But yeah. Nature, ruins, all that shit. I’m sure Your Braininess will love it.”

She smirked at the nickname.

“Thanks for stellar review of Heleus, Drack.”

“No problem, kid.”

Yeah, she really liked Drack. She was glad he was in Hyperion. He was more than happy to come with her when she went on Prothean digs.

To make sure some asshole assassin doesn’t get any ideas, was his official excuse.

But, she knew it was out of friendship. And Alec wasn’t going to protest to the idea of an experienced krogan warrior like Drack ‘looking after her’.

Clan Nakmor didn’t particularly like the idea of one of their own kowtowing to the human crown. But Drack didn’t give a shit.

“I wonder if I’ll be able to go on digs after I’m married.”

“Maybe, kid. And maybe you’ll get to dig some holes in Heleus. Find some nice shiny things that you’ve never seen before.”

He stopped and winked conspiratorially.

“And we can sneak you out if we have to,” Drack continued.

That was one way to think about it.

“I like the sound of that,” Sara murmured.

Despite the tempting possibility of new discovery, she still didn’t like the idea of her ability to study Prothean sites being in jeopardy. It was less her hobby and more like her life.

Dammit, stabbing things wasn’t enough. Maybe she would need to take a trip to the shooting range and put some bullets in things.

She could challenge Drack into a contest that she would definitely lose.

“Sara!” a shout echoed through the space.

Sara sheathed her omniblade at the sound of her brother’s voice. Before she knew it, Scott was in her arms, hugging her. Almost crushing her, in fact.

“Ah, Drack, do you mind?” Sara gasped.

The krogan didn’t protest.

“I’ll leave you, Your Highnesses.”

Drack nodded and retreated. As soon as he was gone, Scott pulled away and looked her up and down, like he was expecting her to be wounded.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he said.

Yeah, he received word. And he didn’t take it well, if the hard line in his brow told Sara anything. What a surprise.

“Trust me, neither can I. But, if you think about it, it makes sense.”

Scott shook his head vehemently.

“No. No, no, don’t you go defend this. Don’t defend our father’s asinine schemes.”

Oh, boy. Here we go.

Alec never really treated them like a father ought to treat his children, even less so after their mother died, and both of them resented him to some degree. Of the two of them, Sara had the better relationship with Alec. It wasn’t by much.

Whether it was because she was the elder, because she was heir, or just because Scott was the more rebellious and blustery of the two of them, she didn’t know. All she knew was that Scott and Alec’s relationship was strained, and that was putting it in the best of terms.

“But it does make sense,” Sara sighed, “The asari have refused and I’m the only one in this family who can have children with Jaal.”

Scott sneered, “Jaal? Already calling him by his first name?”

Sara bristled.

Fucking hell, Scott seemed to be angrier about this than she was and he wasn’t the one being married off.

“Don’t be childish. The angara have been suffering since before we were born. This marriage could help them, maybe help end this war.”

An arranged marriage to a man she didn’t know, a member of a species that wasn’t her own. A union to bridge two planets in something deeper than a military treaty or trade negotiation.

Something bigger than simply a husband and wife.

It was terrifying.

Scott sighed, “Come on, let’s get out of the sun. You’re sweating like crazy.”

He punctuated the comment with an offer of his elbow.

The sudden change in mood should’ve given her whiplash, but she knew her brother and she knew this conversation wasn’t over. Scott was reining in his anger so there wasn’t a public shouting match.

They would continue this in private. And then start shouting at each other.

“It’s called exercise,” Sara said primly, taking his arm and letting him lead her back inside.

There were more whispers as they walked than usual. Still the respectful bows and nods. They were still prince and princess regardless the gossip.

Anticipation of visitors and an arranged marriage would definitely be major sources of gossip.

She glanced over at Scott as they walked.

His clothing—combat boots, t-shirt, cargo pants—told her he had just been hanging around the barracks. Scott found his niche, his place in the world, in the military. And he was good at it, probably one of the best human soldiers in Nexus.

Sara worried about him, of course. But he had friends to watch his back. And Sara wasn’t bad with a knife and a gun. She had plenty of scraps with pirates and smugglers who tried infiltrating her digs. So, she’d be able to run to her brother’s rescue if need be.

Scott nudged her when they got close to her quarters.

“You shower and stuff. I’ll get some food made for us.”

Sara didn’t want to think about what kind of fuss her brother’s presence in the kitchen would cause. It would be mostly because the prince just waltzed in asking for something and probably throwing everyone off of schedule.

“Alright, Scott. See you in a bit.”

Sara shut the door behind her and leaned against it.

Shit. Well, this was happening. Scott was going to hound her about this until he gave his piece on why he thought this was a terrible idea.

He was always stubborn, hell, it was a family trait. The word could be emblazoned on the fucking family crest. House Ryder: Stubborn and Impulsive.

She would only delay the inevitable by telling him to go away.

The only consolation was that he was going to provide food while he railed on and on about the injustices that their king-father was putting them through.

Hooray.

Sara stripped with tired hands, shuffling to her bathroom. She was sweaty and sticky, Scott was right about that. Totally princess-like.

The blast of hot water relaxed her tense muscles. She would boil herself in the water if she could. Just dissolve and disappear.

No, no, bad thoughts. She was doing something in service of her people. She couldn’t be so selfish and run.

She washed her hair, scrubbing suds into brown locks with more force than probably necessary. Her nails scratched at her scalp, a bad habit that stuck since she was a child.

And it hurt when she did it, soreness curling around her knuckles. She must have been holding her omniblade too tightly. Out of anger for a situation she had no control over. She had a feeling she would see a lot of the training grounds between then and when Jaal arrived.

Let off steam and let the world pass her by as her inevitable fate got closer and closer.

Languid hands cleaned the rest of her body, not rushed. She imagined she could take her time. Scott would need some time to arrange whatever food he was planning on bringing.

The bathroom was full of steam and her skin was blushed from the heat by the time she turned off the water.

More time drying off and putting on some pajamas.

It was a stark, unpleasant realization that soon her privacy was going to be a rare thing.

She would likely have to share quarters with her new husband. When he was visiting, before the wedding, he would likely stay in the guest rooms. But, still.

She supposed her quarters were big enough for two. Enough living space, enough closet space, a big enough bathroom. The bed was certainly big enough for two.

Oh, no, she shouldn’t think about that sort of thing.

Marriage leads to sex which leads to babies. That was how it worked.

With a sigh, she flopped on her bed.

Yeah, this was going to suck. Her life wasn’t hers. Not that it was anything new.

“Yo, sis!” Scott shouted, thumping at the door, shaking Sara out of her reverie.

“Let yourself in,” Sara called back, unwilling to get up from where she lay on her bed.

She glanced over at the sound of the door opening. Scott had changed from fatigues to loose pants and shirt. And he was carrying…

She was expecting two plates of actual food. Instead, Scott had a tray with two bottles of wine and a large plate of little cakes.

“Come on, time to eat and drink our feelings.”

He toed off his shoes and sat on her bed next to her, setting the tray between them

“Our feelings?” Sara asked.

“Hey, I have feelings too. Besides, I’ve been hoarding these bottles for a special occasion. And what better occasion than learning my twin sister is being married off to a random dude from another planet?”

Sara bit back a comment as he uncorked the first bottle and poured two glasses.

She took a sip—damn, it was really good wine—and crammed one of the cakes in her mouth to delay the inevitable conversation with Scott.

This was nice, the two of them sitting on her bed, sharing wine and cake like they were children having a picnic.

“It might not be so bad.”

Scott glanced over incredulously at the statement.

She took a gulp of wine and shrugged.

“He might be so busy with his own business that he will leave me alone entirely except for when we need to be together for…procreation,” she suggested.

Scott made a disgusted noise at that.

“I really don’t want to think about you having sex, thank you very much.”

She glanced over at Scott.

“Like the three or six times I’ve walked into you having sex?”

He reddened.

“Point.”

Silence fell again.

Sara’s thoughts still swirled.

She never held any serious illusions that she would get to marry someone of her choosing. She had her flings here and there before this, carefully chosen so she didn’t cause a scandal by choosing a gossipy partner.

She blinked, telling herself that something was in her eye. She wasn’t crying. She couldn’t cry.

This was an honor. Marriages between Nexus and Heleus peoples were few and far between, but usually happy in their small numbers.

“I don’t know a lot about the angara. I wish I had at least visited Heleus once before this.”

Scott shrugged. “Heleus has their anti-Nexus groups. The Roekaar is the biggest one. I don’t think Dad would’ve let us go for a flimsy reason.”

Sara tried not to let fear knot up her stomach.

She hadn’t really taken into account how unpopular this marriage would be in some groups. The conservative politicians, isolationists and species purists on both Nexus and Heleus would not be happy about this at all.

Of course, Alec did not and never had given a damn about the opinions who were resistant to progress. So, it was clear he didn’t take those possible opinions into account before agreeing to Queen Sahuna’s offer.

Sara forced some humor into her voice. “I bet the Roekaar all had a collective stroke at the news of the marriage.”

Scott snickered, topping off his glass.

“A politically-sanctioned marriage between a human and an angara? Oh, I bet they’re burning effigies of you and Prince Jaal as we speak. Ugly ones.”

It was meant to be a joke, but the mirth of it all evaporated very quickly. Scott opened the second bottle in silence.

“Dad wouldn’t have approved of this if I was in danger, like if Jaal was a member of the Roekaar or something,” she murmured, “You know that.”

Sara knew she had a point there and Scott knew it too. For all his faults, Alec would never directly cause his children harm.

“It’s still bullshit,” Scott said into his glass. To her relief, he sounded a bit more resigned. At least he wasn’t spitting venom about Alec anymore.

“How could Dad do this to you?”

Oops, spoke too soon.

“He’s a leader first, Scott,” Sara mused. “It’s not like this a brand-new side of him. It’s for the good of the people.”

That was what she kept reminding herself.

For the good of the people. That was what mattered.

“You’re not suited for martyrdom, Sara. Just saying.”

“I don’t plan on being a martyr.”

“Does anyone? No, don’t answer that. I’m sure you have an example in that nerd brain of yours and I don’t want to hear it.”

She rolled her eyes. She really didn’t have an example on-hand and was too close to getting buzzed for wracking her brain to find one.

They finished the bottle—Scott taking the lion’s share as usual—and the cakes in relative silence until Scott broke it with another quip.

“If this Jaal hates you, it certainly won’t be because you’re ugly.”

Sara rolled her eyes at that, really wishing she had saved another cake just to cram in his face.

Sure, she wasn’t unattractive. She was sun-kissed and freckled, wiry from training and digging. And in preparation for events that required Sara actually sit down with her attendants to work their magic with makeup and hair and clothes, she could even be beautiful.

But being attractive to humans wasn’t the same as being attractive to angara. She was almost sure of it, at least.

“Yep, I’m a catch,” Sara deadpanned.

“A heartthrob,” Scott drawled. “And, who knows? Maybe you just bagged yourself a fucking dreamboat and he’s everything a princess could ever desire.”

“Wow, somebody is suddenly keen to this idea.”

“I’m a little drunk, sis. I’m sure once I’m sober I’ll take it all back.”

Sara sighed, resigned. She really hoped he wasn’t serious. If there was one person she wanted to have on her team, it was Scott.