#refuse wrong thought

[tonyjwash]

Take Back Your Energy!

This whole thing we call life is all about energy. Each of us have a certain energy we bring into situations. How about good vibes and bad vibes? Some people you meet carry a certain attractive energy that is appealing to us. Other folks have a negative energy that not only gives us bad vibes, but if persisted with brings down our energy level to match it. Even parts of the country have a vibe.…

[inkskinned]

"don't make it political!" .... what proportion of death and suffering must occur before politics are involved. if this isn't political, what is even the point of any politics, ever. of democracy. the words are "by the people for the people." if i am going to be left alone by my elected representatives to "figure it out" - to undergo damage, hardship, fear. what the fuck did i elect them for. what was their job. the entire point is that they handle this shit. this is why we were supposed to be electing leaders.

poverty is political. misogyny is political. gun control is political. climate change is political. how much aid a community gets is political. what the fuck are you talking about. it's been political this whole fucking time.

[rubyreadd]

Being a sports fan will have you doing crazy things like being superstitious for a man who doesn't know you exist

[burningparadiseduck]

Neuvillette is the greenest green flag to ever exist in this green world.

[jouxlskaard]

I like to think that Elias is boring on purpose. he spends his time and effort when he should be working on boring his employees instead. he's perfected it to an art. every day, he visits each department and tries to find the time to talk about spreadsheets whenever there's the most people in one room at a time. then he tallies up how many of them visibly and/or audibly react with some form of disgust, and compares it with other days. he'd have realised how sad that really is if he hadn't been found out, but at least now he gets to be as deranged as humanly possible. you go, Elias. I love you you stinky rat whore, can't wait for you to show up in the new protocol episode <3

[morsmortish]

i think we as a fandom need to stop villainising barty crouch senior. that man was put through HELL and back. imagine doing nothing wrong your whole life and then getting everything blown up by your sociopathic son. you lose your family, your career, then your life! poor, poor man.

it’s a common consensus within the fandom that barty senior was some sort of monster, controlling and abusing his son to the point of insanity, and whilst i acknowledge this is a compelling and accessible way of constructing barty as a morally good character who did Bad Things because of this traumatic childhood, i personally find it so much more interesting if bcj is just. a bad guy. there is equal amounts of canon evidence to the idea that that barty had a good childhood and that he had a bad one (none). sure, it’s easier to gravitate towards the latter, but for me, the idea of barty being raised in a loving??? environment makes his character so much more interesting. imagine these two well-to-do, respectable members of wizarding society who have followed all the rules, done everything ‘right’ their whole lives (including the way they raised their son), and yet. and yet they end up with this morally drained, completely unredeemable sociopath of a son. and it’s no one’s fault, he’s just Born That Way.

reducing a character down to their Trauma is such a limited way of thinking about it. saying that every evil character is actually inherently good, just desolated by circumstance, is not that interesting! humans are all flawed, and some more than others. thinking of barty as someone who is just a Bad Person, for me, makes him so much more powerful. and therefore, thinking of barty senior as less of the villain, and more of a victim, also makes him, and the father-son relationship, much more interesting. we know barty senior isn’t perfect- absent father is probably the most reasonable read of his parenting skills- but in my opinion, if there is any character in this dynamic who IS the inherently good one corrupted by circumstance, it’s not bcj, but his father. to me, it’s not plausible that the man who went against his entire belief system out of love for his wife (and to some extent, his son) is the same man who abused his kid. barty’s trial scene becomes so much less interesting if he had been harmed by his father prior- to give him a ‘reason’ for his actions, to say he was lashing out or rebelling against his abusive father, is changing the core of his character! he did it because he felt like it! he’s simply just Not A Good Guy!! and whilst barty senior might also not be a good guy, it makes much less narrative sense for him to be the one assigned the role of ‘villain’.

yeah, he kept his son under imperio control for years, but who can really blame him? the dude was an absolute menace. and even if we do acknowledge his actions as morally wrong, surely the logic that barty joined the death eaters and committed horrible crimes because of things that happened to him in childhood, surely that logic can also be applied to barty senior? let’s say he controlled his son BECAUSE of the things that happened to him- barty betrayed him, turned out to be a monster, destroyed absolutely everything in his life. the trauma of that is surely enough to justify imperio.

i’m rambling on now, and so. to conclude. barty crouch junior as a much more two dimensional Bad Guy, and his father as the unsuspecting victim of his son’s betrayal, reprehensible actions, and complete heartlessness, makes BOTH of them more interesting. argue with the wall!!

[seriousbrat]

What your opinion on all this talk of leaving the hp/marauder fandom because it directly/indirectly supports JKR? Do you have any desire to leave?

Well my opinion is that I can understand it completely if people choose to do so, but personally I have no desire to leave nor intention of leaving. I understand that it might bother individual people but I'm not asking anyone to look at this blog; in fact the reason I started to use this sideblog is so I could keep everything HP-related away from people who choose not to see it. While I think HP's cultural relevance today is such that it's impossible to avoid entirely, I do empathise with people who'd rather not see it. If someone wished to block me for continuing to blog about HP, I think that might be the healthiest option for everyone involved.

Anyway, I understand why this is happening and I think it's important to discuss. But that's the point. It's important to discuss, not stick our fingers in our ears.

I think this is a great post about it! Here are my own (long-winded) thoughts:

Personally I fundamentally disagree with the idea that we should stop reading and discussing works written by bad people. I don't believe that's a constructive or healthy way to engage with literature. If nobody's left to discuss something as culturally relevant as HP (or LotR, or whatever) critically, then what is the point of literature in the first place? Is it pure entertainment and therefore easily discarded? Ftr I'm also firmly against banning (even socially 'banning') literature of ANY sort, for ANY reason. "You shouldn't read X because it's morally wrong" is to me ultimately a conservative belief.

Anyway: I find it pretty obvious that JKR said 'if you like my books you agree with me' PURPOSEFULLY to cause this kind of a reaction, because she knew it would cause her detractors to become hyperfocused on pointing fingers at each other and thought policing each other over a kids book rather than focusing on what's actually going on. I don't think we should be playing into it, and I don't think even JKR believes it herself-- I think it was deliberate. And tbh from what I can see it has had the exact effect she intended.

The other thing I'll say is that (and tbf I can't say for sure) but I suspect that the online HP fandom might be exaggerating its own importance a little bit. Tbh I think that even if the online (and more liberal) fandom disappeared overnight there would still be tens of thousands of kids (the target audience, after all) discovering and reading Harry Potter for themselves across the globe. Scores of parents and aunts and grandparents who know nothing about JKR buying those books for the kids in their family. And that's not counting the people who actually do agree with JKR. Yes fandom disappearing might have some small impact, but tbh I think it would be all but insignificant. It would be much more, like infinitely more, materially significant for people in fandom to donate time and/or money to trans organisations in their own countries. ((I also think what would be somewhat helpful is for fandom to take responsibility in encouraging people not to watch the HBO series. The success of the series is imo more contingent on online opinion than the books.))

There are also millions of people still using twitter, instagram, and amazon, despite the very real material damage caused by Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos, and that's a MUCH more direct cause-and-effect than simply talking about Harry Potter because using those platforms LITERALLY lines the pockets of those individuals. I will say that if you're on twitter telling people they should stop talking about Harry Potter I simply will not take you seriously loll 😂

I guess there is probably some amount of people who discovered HP through, idk, Marauders tiktok and decided to read the series, but how significant is this number? It's incredibly difficult to grow up in most countries around the world and not come across Harry Potter in some way. For good or ill I do think HP is en route to becoming a children's classic. If tumblr goes down and my blog and all the blogs I interact with on here disappear, I don't think this would change.

On the other hand, simply for posterity I do think there's some value in continuing to discuss it-- all of it, including the reality of who the author is, the cultural relevance of HP, the text itself and what this all means given its significance in our culture. And it's important to discuss it critically, honestly, and constructively. It's remarkably easy with HP to avoid giving money to the author, which is something I believe to be worthwhile, so tbh I can't bring myself to agree with 'it would be better if we stopped talking about it' in a general sense. Personally I don't think the only people left discussing it should be right wing maniacs lol-- again, for posterity if nothing else.

Also I think there's a slightly worrying tendency on the liberal 'left' (which is typically the majority in most fandom spaces) to shut down conversation and discussion in general, particularly if those conversations are uncomfortable. You see thought-terminating clichés frequently deployed in such spaces and I think it's just not helpful. Seeing posts from supposed leftists trying to convince people that it's morally wrong to even THINK about Harry Potter is pretty wild to me, tbh. I think that for a while now there's been much more of a focus among the left on idealism over materialism, to the point where material reality is totally ignored in favour of, essentially, trying to get everyone to think the correct thoughts. To me this just isn't a productive or intellectually responsible approach.

What is the material benefit of all of us simply shutting up about Harry Potter forever? How does this actually help anyone beyond yourself and your own conscience? To me it seems like ultimately a performative and virtue signalling action that is pretty meaningless when you're not doing anything else, and is particularly meaningless when you're not applying this to literally anything else in your life. Fandom isn't activism, but by extension NOT-fandom also isn't activism haha. Personally I dislike Marvel films and think they're barely-disguised propaganda for the American military-industrial complex, but I don't think it's evil for people to write their Bucky/Steve fanfiction or whatever lmao. And I certainly don't think it's wrong to discuss Marvel films, the opposite in fact, I think they should be critically discussed.

So, basically, I think it's perfectly understandable that people would want to leave the fandom. But ultimately I think that's an action you're taking for yourself, and I don't think there's much to be gained from refusing to discuss things deemed 'morally wrong.' I think to a certain extent it's natural and probably healthy to feel some guilt about it all, but also perhaps it's worth questioning why we feel such extreme guilt about this, which is really just people talking to each other about books, and not about the 486948736 other much more unambiguously destructive things we do with our time and money on a daily basis.

As long as we're willing to discuss this topic honestly and constructively, to be conscious and empathetic towards others, and to refrain from spending any money on HP-related products, I don't think it's wrong to remain in the fandom tbh. To deny HP's impact on today's literary landscape would be, imo, dishonest, so therefore somebody has to discuss it. And I'd much rather there be a variety of opinions within that discussion.

[moeblob]

Shockingly I named some OCs recently and fleshed out the deity lore a bit for my "guess i'll marry the demon lord?" plot.

Solei has existed since near the start but Mehra and Valdas are new to the concept and all three? Petty. They're technically the Trio of Peace cause that's kinda their goal and duty to their world but really, Trio of Pettiness is suitable as well.

[boyrobott]

controversial opinion probably but the portrayal of astro as embittered, disillusioned and cynical due to his suffering in hamegg's circus is a really fantastic direction for his character actually. it's such a human response.

[tonyjwash]

What are You Thinking?

Did you know that the answer to the question above has a monumental impact concerning how your life turns out? Human beings live and die right between their ears. What you think about and consider the most is what gets into your heart and from your heart proceed the issues of your life. Your heart is the great citadel, the epicenter from which you believe and those things you believe are what…

[what-bot]

Kevin: Hey, grammar check *shows code*

Tron: What the hell does this mean? It’s complete gibberish, I don’t-

Kevin: Wait hold on. *Adds a bracket* There you go

Tron: Ohhhh. Now it makes sense.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

talking to my brother about quicksilver and i was like 'ik him and wanda are twins but he exudes little brother energy so much' and my bro Without Hesitation just went 'well thats what happens when you're the least favorite in the family' and he says this to me, the youngest in our family like 🧍‍♂️

[paperglader]

So… I did jingliu’s companion mission…

you’re telling me that the only thing that’s been keeping this woman alive is hatred and a promise she made to someone she loved like eons ago… and that the reincarnation of that same woman who she made the promise to told her that she could cure her mental turmoil if only she let herself rid of the torments of the past, and jingliu was like “nope, my pain is the only thing that’s keeping the memory of my loved one alive, so I shall bare it till the stars go dark” TO HER FACE. And then proceded to tell her that even though she couldn’t physically do anything to aid her illness, just by being near her once again, she healed more than any medicine could’ve ever done.

So, she’s doomed by immortality to live her life infinitely with the grief of the loss of the one she loved + the loss of her own sanity, and the guilt of the deeds made whilst she wasn’t lucid in her own body. Believing herself a sinner and a criminal, with no memories of the good times, all stolen by her own mind- with only hatred left towards the people that she once called her friends. A revenge that could never be fulfilled by her own blade. So, she seeks for one last final respite before being locked away at last, to serve her due. She tries one final time to draw blood, to diminish, to sever- to grant a favor, to end a life. And throughout that last display of violence she gets, once again, to see a flash of the face that she had missed so dearly, of a soul she once loved that until then had been stored amongst forgotten phantoms of what once was. In the end neither of them get what they sought. Either way, they are doomed to keep trying still, for eternity. To hate each other. To mourn. To hate themselves, to punish themselves, to punish each other. To kill. To die. To be reborn, yet again, with the same weight on their shoulders and a feeble mind that’s just on the verge of collapse. Sick and tired. Forever.

[sunnydreadfu11]

Cancel culture may not be “real” or lasting or whatever, but people DO need to be held accountable for the shitty things they’ve done or said. If you dig into anyone’s past you’re bound to find something you don’t like. It’s part of the human experience to learn and grow from past mistakes, to recognize when you’ve had a bad take that was based in ignorance or hatred. And although I myself have been struggling with forgiving people for things, I can at least appreciate when an artist calls themselves out or makes some type of apology in regards to the not great things they’ve done.

So please stop trying to “point out” things from Kendrick Lamar’s past as an example of why he should be canceled while completely ignoring the fact that his entire discography has been about his journey of healing and growth. I don’t care if you don’t listen to rap. If you bothered to go through his music you’d know that he’s mentioned time and time again that he’s not a perfect person, that he’s done bad things and that he’s put in the work to fix it. This man has rapped about being in therapy. He’s rapped about wanting to be a better role model for his children and community. He grappled with the guilt he felt for making music that contributed to stereotypes or lined the pockets of people who didn’t have his best interest in mind. He rapped about the pain he watched his mother go through, the pain he caused his wife by not being a better spouse. He rapped about the horrors he endured as a child and a teen and how much he’s grown from the dark place he was in bc of it.

If you want to get into his music and you don’t know where to start, just start at the beginning. Kendrick tells a story through his music. It’s a story of evolution and redemption that feels very, very genuine. And LISTEN to the lyrics. Actually try to understand what he’s saying bc even when you think it’s obvious what he’s talking about, I promise you it’s not. He won a Pulitzer for a reason. Another thing you have to understand is that he makes a lot of references to Black American culture, which is very widely copied, but rarely understood or acknowledged. And most of these references are made as a sort of protest.

I’m not here to make anyone feel bad about not knowing Black culture in America and how it differs from other American cultures, but it’s worth understanding, especially if you listen to rap, hip-hop, pop, country, jazz, rock, blues, etc. These are all genres that are rooted in Black American culture and most of them were made to protest oppressive systems. If you love Nirvana then you should understand where Kurt’s influence came from and how he was heavily against racism. If you like country music then you should know where it comes from. If you can listen to BTS and read all the translations of their songs, then you can at least try to understand rap lyrics on a deeper level.

There’s no shame in educating yourself.

[random-mdzs-thoughts-dumpster]

I'm 99.9% sure 'there was only one bed' trope is canon for Xiyao on the run. Just think about it, why would MY have an extra bed? Yeah, he'd offer to sleep on the floor being all 'Zewu-Jun can't sleep on the floor while this lowly one gets the bed' but LXC being LXC would be like 'you rescued me so I can't possibly allow you to do that'. Since they're both sensible and conflict averse they'd accept that the only possible resolution was sharing a bed.

[r-aindr0p]

Uncomfortable with dancing.

Ramshackle prefect felt a bit ridiculous crying while wearing cool clothes.

Based on a personal experience and a part of me really felt bad for Idia when he had to go dance and sing in front of people, would have been mortified as well.