#‘anti war protests’ my ass

[lem0nademouth]

if Jews don’t feel safe in the environment you’ve created, you’ve created an antisemitic environment. i don’t get why that’s a hard concept to internalize and comprehend.

[news4dzhozhar]

[dukeofdelirium]

This has to quite possibly be the dumbest Anti-Aang I’ve seen on Tumblr. “Aang didn’t go out of his way for anyone”. Like that’s objectively wrong, factually incorrect. Like saying The Earth is flat, you can think it all you want, but it ain’t true. I ask you, I genuinely ask you, how can someone call themselves a fan of this show when they completely misinterpret it and hate the main character this much? This person’s crazy.

Aang never went out of his way for anyone? My god, if this take were true, Zuko would have been dead at the end of season one. Everyone aside from Aang was fine with the idea of allowing Zuko to freeze to death, leaving him to die. Aang was the one that saved him.

Holy shit, the first thing Aang ever offered to do with no expectation of anything in return was to offer Sokka and Katara a ride home before they died themselves stranded in the tundra. He then offered to take Katara to the other side of the world to fulfill her dreams. When he was banished from her village, he left without protest and even said he didn’t want to come between Katara and her family. Even when he was sad to leave because he had just made a first friend in who knows how long (seeing as we know he was ostracized at the temple), he still left.

He then came back not to break the banishment but to save their lives. He offered himself up, LITERALLY sacrificed himself for them, with no expectation of anything in return.

Aang is an extremely compassionate, good natured person. He is the most “altruistic” character in the show, followed only by Katara who comes nearly as close (one of the reasons they are so good together).

He singlehandedly put the fires out on Kyoshi Island that ZUKO SETS, he protects the NWT from invasion in every possible way he can and singlehandedly wipes out their fleet when he gives himself over to the ocean spirit, he demands they search for Bumi NOT because he needs a teacher but because bumi is his FRIEND! He saves everyone in the cave by making sure they don’t get fucking crushed with its collapse, he is willing to sacrifice himself and force himself into the Avatar State to win the war because he is that guilt ridden even when the AS is extremely painful and traumatizing to him, he stops this only when it affects Katara because he loves her, he offers to let Toph run away with them not because he wants to use her as a teacher but because he listened to her life story and wishes to help her feel free, he fucking dies for Katara and sacrificed his own love for her to save her life

he tries to shoulder every burden he feels on his own as a means to protect the other characters

he supports Sokka when he voices insecurities, he is welcoming and friendly to Hakoda and even inquires about how Katara is feeling when he meets Hakoda, he sobs during the eclipse invasion because Katara and Sokka have to be separated from their father again and Aang blames himself for this defeat and is grief stricken because he is so upset they are losing their dad again (and he thinks it’s his fault)

Why the actual fuck would Katara ever “choose” Zuko over Aang?

Katara was never deeply tied to Zuko. She always saw him as an enemy trying to take away the boy she loved. This is why she threatened to fucking kill him.

Zuko helped his sister murder Aang right in front of Katara’s eyes. It was canonically the darkest period of her life.

Katara’s anger and hatred toward Zuko is 100% justified. Of course, Zuko is a self absorbed ass, so he claims her anger isn’t justified and that she’s just projecting. Her anger toward him specifically had far more to do with what he did to Aang and far less to do with what the Fire nation and Zuko’s family did to her mother. Even still, she’s right to be angry about her mother’s murder too, and Zuko’s piece of shit family is responsible.

Why the fuck would Katara magically drop to her knees and suck Zuko’s dick? He’s literally a colonizer for over 2/3 of the show. He didn’t just have a passive role, he was an active player in the war and invaded the NWT with the FN as a means to capture Aang and take him back to his daddy, where Aang would have undoubtedly been tortured mercilessly and kept on the brink of death. He assaulted Katara during this and knocked her unconscious, he taunted her with shitty words and undermined her bending ability and threw some racial/classist remarks as well as some misogynistic ones her way.

When he eventually did get his shit together and join the group, he just used her mother’s death against her and Sokka because that’s all he ever did in regards to Katara and Sokka’s mother. He learned how she died, then had Sokka divulge trauma to then use said trauma to try and force Katara to forgive him by persuading her to go on a suicide mission of revenge and bloodlust. He also literally mocked Aang’s culture and genocided people to his face, when his family committed the genocide. Oh, and he also mocked Aang’s forgiveness despite begging on his damn hands and knees for that very forgiveness like 3 episodes prior.

And then at the end of the episode, Zuko states himself that he legit doesn’t understand Katara or what she needs in life. Cuz of course he doesn’t. He isn’t a survivor of genocide, he hasn’t suffered ethnic cleansing, he isn’t oppressed. For fucks sake, his mother isn’t even dead and he gets reunited with her a few years after the canon shows timeline. Everything Zuko loses, he has returned to him. His honor, his right to the throne, his mother.

But tell me again how Katara and Aang are a bad match when they are the only two who will ever truly understand the other

[fairuzfan]

okay, so i know technically BDS hasn't called for folks to boycott PJO. but a LOT of Palestinians organizing anti-Israel protest have and I don't understand why so many people seem to think that doesn't count for anything bc it doesn't come from BDS?

i saw that post you reblogged on it and i'm so confused about the ppl complaining on it bc...boycottings not that hard and its a form of pressuring disney, which BDS HAS called for. is this just a case of ppl not understanding or just genuinely being so attached to their shows they don't give a fuck?

(i'm also palestinian btw and love your account.)

What sucks is I'm a PJO fan (or at least I used to be) but after Rick's stupid ass statement about "humans blaming each other" or whatever I can't even think of watching it without a sour taste in my mouth.

I am severely disinterested in what genocide apologists have to say, whether fictionalized or in actuality. I don't understand how anyone else can be interested in it at this point. Even Abbott elementary, I can't watch that shit even though I was excited for the next season knowing that people on there are genocide apologists and don't see Palestinians as people. They fully allied themselves with the imperial war machine and they're not shy about it.

If you wanna watch, fine, whatever, just don't give him the social capital by posting everywhere. Just out of respect at least.

[wathanism]

Your ideals are going to kill people. The only thing refusing to vote is going to do is ensure that the republicans win and their project 2025 gets enacted. This is not a conspiracy theory. They want a theocracy. They want authoritarianism. They want fascism. You and everyone you convince to not vote is letting that happen.

I don't know who convinced you that its impossible to care about two things at once, but abandoning the vulnerable here in the states because you care so deeply about the vulnerable on the other side of the world doesn't make you more righteous.

Refusing to vote for him is a foolish act that will do nothing to stop what is happening. Even if he finally pulls back all aid for Israel at the eleventh hour, no one will vote for him now, which means the vulnerable right here at home are fucked. Thanks.

i was really close to not answering you at all because i have a hard rule about not talking with selfish cunts who are commited to misunderstanding everything a non-white person says to them. but since you had the good sense to realize that you were being an ass right then, i'm going to assume that you're worth engaging with, and i'm going to hope you'll talk with me in good faith and read everything i have to say rather than blow up at me again. if nothing else, i'm going to use this as an opportunity to say all the things i've been wanting to say since i made that post. that said, i'm real pissed and i'm not gonna be all nice and palatable in my answer.

first of all, no i'm not a US citizen. i live in west asia. y'know, where all the wars are? gaza is five hours away from my hometown of damascus, which is also being bombed with your tax dollars, by the way! in fact, i grew up living under a textbook authoritarian theocracy. so don't sit there and talk to me like i don't know what it's like to be afraid of your own government. we're in this shithole world together, and you and i are a hell of a lot more like each other than the politicians putting our lives on the line.

second of all, i should have been more clear about what i actually would like for US voters to do. contrary to small-minded liberals' assumptions, i'm not republican nor am i anti-voting. i'm saying people should vote third party. i even have a preferred candidate in mind, jasmine sherman. they even have strict and well-defined policies to protect trans rights and provide universal healthcare that includes gender affirming care and reproductive care.

this is usually the point when usamericans talk down to me like it's my first day on earth, so let me be clear. i know about the electoral college. i know about the flaws of the first-past-the-post voting system. i know about ranked-choice voting and why that's a better system in almost every way. i know that until there's drastic changes to the US voting system, there is no chance a third party candidate could even win. i'm not delusional about that. and i'm asking you to protest-vote anyway. which, yes, i realize is a big ask, but consider that this is a big fucking problem that requires pretty drastic actions.

several absolute dumbasses who i refuse to engage with said some very interesting stuff that made me realize why so many people are quick to dismiss the idea of refusing to vote for either major party. some examples:

they describe the push to vote third party as us lashing out at biden. in their eyes, we're not politically aware adults with a righteous passion for justice. no, we're petulant children causing problems for everyone whose rights actually matter. maybe a nicer person than me can give them the benefit of the doubt, but i find it extremely suspect that they truly seem to believe that non-white people are irrational, easily-angered, thoughtless creatures with no understanding of the complexities of the situation. there's a complete refusal to consider that there might be an actual coherent strategy behind the activism of indigenous and black people.

and again, because this is not my first day on earth, i know about the "but trump!!" argument. i honestly am BAFFLED that liberals seem to genuinely believe they're offering anything novel or valuable to the discussion at hand when they parrot talking points that we've been hearing since 2016 with quite literally nothing to show for it.

but i digress. the important thing is: yes, i fucking know. i know trump would have a near identical policy on gaza. he'd also have an identical policy on the police, on covid, on immigration, and on most other issues. you worry about project 2025, and you're right to! but the thing is, and you'll forgive me for quoting imani here but she is the most correct person ever always, "everything in project 2025 relies on biden doing exactly what he's fucking doing right now. the more successful this genocide is, the more likely project 2025 is to happen." because at the end of the day, it doesn't require a republican president. it requires a CONSERVATIVE president. and that's what biden is.

i don't know if you're missing it or if you don't care, but democrats benefit from you being terrified, and that's exactly why they'll never keep you safe. you will always be one election away from being killed by the system because that's what keeps you complicit. democrats won't shoot the gun, but they will ALWAYS make sure it's loaded and that you're trapped in a room with the person who'll shoot you. don't forget that roe v. wade was overturned on biden's watch. trans rights were rolled back on biden's watch. covid deaths skyrocketed and protections were dismantled on biden's watch. he'll find every loophole in the book to funnel weapons to israel's military but he'll never lift a finger to fix the problems ruining your life, because he needs you to be as scared as you are. that's exactly what's keeping you from showing an ounce of compassion or solidarity to palestinians right now. and no, your fucking lip service and crocodile tears don't count as solidarity.

liberals have managed to completely forget the most important lesson about social justice: none of us are free until all of us are free. you've been so busy yelling at arabs to even realize that this moment in time is one of the greatest pushes against the two-party system. do you not get how important that is? right now, when damn near everyone who's even mildly left leaning (and many who are right leaning) is so deeply unsatisfied with both major candidates, is the perfect time to be thinking of ways to break out of this system. to organize, to advocate for your mystical fucking ranked choice voting!

palestinians aren't asking you to lay down your life and throw away your human rights so they can mildly spite joe biden. they're asking you to grow a fucking spine and stand on principle and god damn DO SOMETHING to tear apart the two-party system. make people realize that a third party candidate IS a viable one, so that one day they can be.

you're framing this as a matter of pitting palestinians versus americans, which couldn't be further from the truth. maybe instead of directing your hate towards palestinians and their allies, show some gratitude. palestinians are uncovering the veil of all the atrocities and all the corruption in the world, and they're giving the people of the earth a banner to unite under. there have never been so many people (afaik, at least) pushing against the systems of corruption in america. that kind of thing ripples out. standing with palestine isn't easy, but all of our lives will be better for it, including and especially the lives of minorities living in the US.

there is so, SO much more i can say about palestine, and it will inevitably turn into a very spiritual rant about the uniting force of the holy land. but i'm instead just gonna leave you with this tweet that i think sums up everything about this.

[kalisbaby]

The thing about that Motaz video is...not only do Afro Palestinians exist and are literally suffering along side him, but also, Black people globally, from what I have been seeing and, myself, saying and doing, have long been in support of a Free Palestine. So the only reason for that lil "joke" was pure cruelty. It was his anger showing up and instead of aiming at the correct target, he came after the Sudanese people, and, by extension, Black people globally.

Like, listen...I can understand and forgive many things from people who are suffering in a constant state of violence and survival, I really can. I don't ask for perfection at all, let alone from people suffering decades long violence where they are blamed for their own genocide, you know?

BUT looking at another suffering group and essentially saying that people ONLY care because they're Black, which in turn, again, implies that there are no Black Palestinians or Arabs in general, is the lowest rung of anti-blackness that you can grab on.

It's the shit that Black Americans have to countlessly hear from other people of color here in America. Erasing our struggles to pit us against each other when the real enemy is fucking clear.

I have not once heard a Sudanese person dismiss the Palestinian genocide to call attention to their own. It's fair to say there might be SOME, because people gon people, but from what I've seen, I've seen the exact opposite. In fact, I have seen other Palestinians take the time out, between their own protests and cries to call in their solidarity with Sudan. So this is just another slap against Motaz's "joke" in general.

Anti-blackness is a death cult and everyone would do well to rid themselves of it. Cuz once you do you'll see how strong solidarity is between races, ethnicities, nationalities, and identities; and we can stop these petty ass slap fights and go against our true common enemy: white supremacy and imperialism and the capitalist machine that enables and supports all these genocides in the first fucking place.

I absolutely do not and will not overlook this man's comment, but neither will I deter in my fight with Palestinians for their freedom and the destruction of the Israeli ethnostate. I can't attest to what anyone else does, but I know where I stand. When I said I wasn't gonna fight in any more diaspora wars I should've also included these bullshit "oppression olympics" typa shit as well. I know who my enemies are and it's never the people suffering alongside me.

Please don't let that video make you forget the plot.

[mewlabu]

I got back from Ukraine at the end of August after working with a humanitarian aid group there for a few months.

I don't know if I'll ever be ready to talk about my experience there.

So I'm sorry if seeing Russians mass protesting now that their asses are on the line brings me a certain sense of satisfaction and very little empathy.

Already see so called anti war Russians crying about the visa ban preventing Russians from fleeing. As if it isn't just a handful of countries in one part of the world only. Or as if the mostly poor and remote populace would benefit at all from lack of visa requirements. As if anyone outside of Moscow's circle or St.Peter has the resources to go anywhere.

I am not nor was I ever really in support of the visa ban thing. But that this is what they're throwing out right now as some grave injustice, even as Russian forces shell nuclear power plants, and attempt to destroy dams and flood entire towns, even as we are digging up a mass grave in liberated areas and confronting the torture chambers at Russian hands.....they want us to be understanding about how not nice the visa ban is because oops, now they too must face real consequences of their nations actions.

I know I sound malicious and mean. But I've seen first hand what Russia has done to my people. It is going to be a very very very long time if ever before I can even think about forgiving what they've done or scraping up even an ounce of sympathy.

I don't care if that makes me a bad person.

Masses stood and watched individuals with signs against the war dragged off by police and did nothing. Proclaimed proudly that they don't worry about the sanctions and the war. For 7 months they got to live like their sons, their brothers, their fathers and husband's weren't slaughtering and torturing and stealing and raping.

But now it's real for everyone of them and suddenly, suddenly they care.

This is why we have no faith in the so called Opposition in Russia. Navalny and everyone like him, who supported the 2014 invasion, who are using our suffering for their politics but in the end would have been happy to see Russia lay waste to another nation. They'd just wish it was with less corruption.

They don't care about genocide in their name. Only that they might have to stand in front of a bullet from someone who won't just sit down and die.

[comradepingu]

Something about how fucking useless and braindead white liberal queers are. You can literally see people talking about how some character from that shitty fnaf movie has "transmasc swag".

Bestie, you are literally willingly giving money to Scott Cawthon, someone who is known to donate large amounts of money to christofascist politicians. How stupid do you have to be to willingly fund legislation that will eventually strip you of your own rights. "Transmasc swag" my ass, the creator of your stupid franchise would send you to conversion therapy without even batting an eye and you're still willingly giving money to him.

No wonder no one has been able to get them to like, attend an anti-war protest in support of Gaza or something, when they're politically illiterate enough to willingly fund their own oppression.

[pacing-er]

The audacity that 20-30 year old non-Jews have when speaking on Judaism is fucking insane. I was sitting in the break room at work and my friend (?idk anymore) and the two vocally anti Israel girls were talking about what the "goal" of Judaism is. My friend is Catholic and knows a lot about a bunch of religions, and she said that the Jews strive to reestablish the nation of Israel. Upon seeing the girls grimace she corrected herself saying "Not like THAT..." which is already kinda fucked up. Then one of the girls went on to say "Don't Jews wait for the Messiah ☝️🤓" and my friend responded "yes, some Orthodox Jews do." These (white, American) girls then have the audacity to make the claim "Oh yeah, Orthodox Jews just want the Messiah they don't want a state. That's why they're the ones on the street protesting." Which like yes I'm sure that's true for some small sects of Orthodox Jews but I know damn well that you didn't mean it that way. You wanted to make the assertion that orthodox (real, good) Jews don't support Israel, that only fake (bad) Jews think that Israel should exist. They went on like that dictating what the true goal of Judaism "should" or "shouldn't" be, all the while sitting near me. Y'know. The only Jewish girl at our workplace who maybe... Just maybe... Has an opinion on the religion that I practice. But this was never about listening to Jews right? What's the fun in that when they can just intrude on intercommunity debates and make up their own meaning based on the few tidbits of information that they managed to pick up from social media?

I recently found out that one of the nice older male coworkers of mine was also Jewish and he's been so supportive of my interest in Judaism. He gave me a beautiful Torah as a gift to encourage my studies. He walked into the room as they were saying "MOST Jews don't see the state of Israel as legitimate" and he was like "Most Jews huh..." Of course now that the only Jew that they know (bc apparently they don't respect me enough to ask) was around they switched up and were like "Oh yeah (name) we shouldn't be the ones educating ourselves on Judaism! You should teach us about it." Which of course translates to "we are going to accept your opinion as a Jewish man only if you agree with us and if you don't we are gonna talk shit about you behind your back" so he just said "Nope! You don't want to know my opinion." Then one of them was like "Oh no I wanna know your opinion 🥺" in a sickly sweet voice and he just didn't respond and shut himself into the room he always hides in during lunch breaks lol I understand why now.

Tldr: If you're not Jewish DON'T make claims that the modern state of Israel is not legitimate to the Jewish religion. You don't get to say that. Also before anyone is like "but Palestine 🥺" this is not about whether or not the actions of Israel's government is okay. This is about non Jews constantly trying to speak over a global minority in discussions that should be kept within the Jewish community. Don't try to use your outsider understanding of the Jewish religion to justify your stance on the war. It is unbelievably ignorant and makes you look like a complete ass. You can and should criticize the Israeli government but I'm fucking begging you to stop overstepping boundaries like this.

[graylinesspam]

Glad you’re finally updating your ASOI series!! haven’t heard about it in a while

Speaking of… I had a thought the other day about the public’s view on the clones (and I had no one to share it with so I’ll just dump it in your ask box if you don’t mind)

Anyway, civilians in most of the clone centric fics I read are very hostile towards clones for some reason and I find it very implausible.

Just think of it, there are genetically modified soldiers who are badass, wear cool armor and are also extremely hot.

And now imagine if that happened in real life… I really think people would love them and also sympathize with them due to them technically being slaves. And Ahsoka’s interviews would only add fuel to the fire because now they have NAMES and can hear stories of their beloved heroes.

But what’s more important, everyone would be thirsting over them.

And what happens in real life when people unanimously thirst over someone? They make edits. They make edits and write fanfiction and create whole ass blogs dedicated to the object of their thirst.

I bet the boys constantly record holos of them being badasses on the frontlines and a lot of recordings would mysteriously end up leaked, so the editors would have more than enough material

I can imagine Ahsoka sending Rex some holo and it’s an edit of him to the most unholy track you’ve ever heard which has like a billion likes and WILDING comments (something among the lines of “he walks like it’s heavy” with the replies “I can hold it for him”). He honestly doesn’t know how to react to that, like he is mortified (and a bit flattered really).

And some parts of it might actually be cannon given how many girls hang out at 79’s, they definitely know where the good stuff is ;)

And then the fangirls become a big group of clone-sympathizers who go on strikes for for clones’ rights and it somehow leads to the discovery of the chips and somehow palpatine dies and order you-know-what never happens and the war ends and clones get refund for years of service and everyone lives happily ever after. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

No but this 1000% percent. You nailed it in one. Theres already a lot of bad feelings toward the jedi that Palpatine has been sowing the seeds for a long time. So I'd be hesitant to say that the citizens are immidietly chill with the clones. That's just not how the propaganda machine works. Especially since pretty much the only reactions the citizens have to the clones in cannon are negative. HOWEVER, firstly the anti-clone protests are primarily on Coruscant where the clones are not doing anything positive, they're acting as an unwelcome military police (which is literally always bad) or they're being drunk and disorderly in public (which is objectively funny).

But as for the rest of the galaxy? especially the planets where the clones are actively doing some good? GIRL. The republic is trying to portray the clones as a professional unified military force, but Ahsoka totally undermines all of that by bringing clone business to public attention. And as internet culture always does the citizens have a fucking field day with every scrap of information she gives up.

Like babes you have no idea how much of this AU is fueled by me joke watching clone thirst traps and thinking "I bet this would actually happen in SW" It starts with the public hounding her for details about Anakin cuz he's like a heart throb and she's all like "can we talk about anything other than how bad you all want to fuck him?" and she insists on talking about the clones instead, so all these thirsty ass hos who've hopped on the stream to hear some juicy Anakin content get introduced to a ROSTER of clones instead and some are like "y'know they are kinda cute" and then theres simps and people asking all kinds of questions about them and Ahsoka's doing shitty personality breakdowns.

I just don't know how to write that content in a way that's like Interesting. like just get on tiktok yourself i guess.

But like also Ahsoka reading the guys to filth too. Like she starts hyping them up then realizes that she's just fueling the simps so she just starts being painfully honest with the fangirls about their favorite clones.

like "wolffe girlies, I hate to tell you this, He does not give a fuck about you. He is not the grumpy to your sunshine. the man is a surely old bastard. He's like 6 I think? doesn't matter he was born a pissed off old man. He doesn't like you. He'll never like you. He likes exactly five people in the entire galaxy and I'm not even on that list anymore. And you don't even want to know what I had to do to get on it. Please realize that you are not special and he's not secretly soft and protective on the inside. He will hurt you're feelings."

And when I say that she is ALWAYS ragging on Fives. Every time she compliments him she has to pause and say "This is just gonna go to his head." And she takes every chance possible to humble him. "He might be one of my favorite brothers and one of the best men I've ever known but he's a fucking disaster. If it wasn't for my entire force ability and the best luck streak I've ever seen he'd be dead." She knows he thinks he's a hot shot ladie's man and she will NOT support his ego.

With Rex though? GIRL! Ahsoka shows such obvious favoritism for Rex. She shares the most information about him and his fandom absolutely pops off. He is that clone. footage of him and his easy-to-identify blonde hair absolutely flood the fan sites. THE EDITS??? THE COMMENT SECTIONS????? But Ahsoka's like nah that's MY Captain. (I don't ship them at all but I do think of Ahsoka as a very possessive person and Rex is literally her platonic soul mate) Like she's split between saying "Of course Rex has the biggest fanbase he's the single best man in the galaxy. literally, the only man who hasn't disappointed me. he's perfect of course they like him." but then also, "None of you are good enough for him. You should be honored if he shows interest in you on account of him being perfection incarnate"

The clone fandom in my Au mimics the actual one quite a lot including the small personality traits of the clones being way over exaggerated and then universally accepted. Like Kix gaining popularity bc Ahsoka still responds to all questions about her health and wellbeing with quips like "Of course I took my meds, wouldn't want an angry medic on me" and "Yes i disinfected the wound. If I didn't Kix might have a stroke" or one time she shook a vitimin bottle and said "See Kix, I'm responsible, I'm taking them."

I could seriously go on forever like this, I've practically written an essay already. But yeah. You get it.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

I'm so late for this but, how does Matthew scare Alfred with his Catholicness? My own personal experience is just seeing an altar at my friend's devoted Catholic household 😭

So this is a very large and very complicated topic but I'm giving it a go. It's something that's mostly historical, a good chunk of the US is Catholic now but even 100 years ago that was a lot more controversial and 200 years ago unthinkable

Catholic Canada to the north, Catholic Mexico to the south. Early British colonists feared encirclement. This is the period in Americans history where colonists hadn't yet made it across the Appalachians and New France technically does surround it, it's just not settled.

Early American colonists, especially extremists in New England who later became WASPs were regularly raided by French Canadian settlers or First Nations groups aligned with France. Those settlers were often hauled to Quebec City to be ransomed if they were important, often in retaliation for the British seizing French ships which could easily cause food shortages in Canada. I wrote this happening to Alfred once and Matt bailed his ass out. It was probably the first time Matt disobeyed Francis actually. Also racism, because the French had much higher intermarriage rates with First Nations than the British though rather lower than the Spanish.

The British in America framed the world as Britishness and protestantism against French Catholicism. The perpetual wars between France and England, The war of Three Kingdoms or the English Civil War resulted from religious strife and other factors. Puritan paranoia was fueled by the proximity to Catholic Canada. Alfred's own overly adorable eldritch strangeness that lead to his turn doing the witchcraft conga might have been fueled in a small part by too much contact with Matthew as it was very common for less whacko New Englanders to trade and interact with French Catholics on the frontier. Religious strife was very much a source of pain and trauma for Alfred. Later, The Quebec Act of 1774 which was very generous to the French settlers the British had conquered a decade earlier because they ran out of money to do anymore ethnic cleansing like they did to the Acadians. This was one of the intolerable Acts that led to the American Revolution. It was quite literally allowing the antichrist to live on their northern border. Alfred is just really uncomfortable Arthur isn't forcibly dunking Matt at least into the Church of England. He loves Matt and I can see him being one of those weirdos who go "I fear for your immortal soul burning in the hell of the heretics" earlier in life.

But protestants to this day will call Catholic apostates (I'm technically a Catholic and was called this last year) the pope is the anti-Christ, yadda yadda. This is pretty much a non-issue for Matt now, except he gives Alfred shit like "Still having nightmares about stained glass and joy?"

The Irish had more problems than French Canada ever did, largely because of the French Catholic help the Americans got in their Revolution. But it was still a very real factor of discrimination against Irish and Italian Americans, and still is today for Hispanic Americans and Filipino-Americans especially. French Catholic Canada was scary because French Catholic Canada was armed. The Canada of history, especially for New England was a shadowy entity that stalked settlers in the woods and hunted them, raided them, killed and terrified them. That is not the case today, to put it mildly. Alfred's image of his brother is very selective. Cute broken baby he was when he was conquered, sweet and snuggly baby with too big blue eyes. Alfred is powerful now, he doesn't like to think about when he wasn't and Matt didn't automatically come second. And he loves Matt dearly so letting the religious trauma of their childhood become a thing Matt gives him shit about and Alfred rolls his eyes at was the more appealing offer.

[macdennisofficial]

any big predictions for s16

Whole season analysis incoming!!! Big wrinkly brain predictions that WILL happen mark my fucking words below!

First episode: The Gang Does Edibles for the first time. "wait a minute macdennisofficial," you say, "they smoked weed before and also crack and sniff glue??" Exactly. They ain't done edibles before.

So you know Frank is like I did Columbian bam bam with Vietnamese sweatshop kids and Dee and Dennis are like "we were legit crackheads before" and Charlie is like "haha I do inhalants so much I built up a tolerance to mustard gas" and Mac is like I am a drug dealer hello ??? They are all like "we are not pussies when it comes to weed we have taken fat ass bong rips so many times" so they just. Dump. Like a whole gallon of weed in the brownie mix. And then between the five of them eat the whole fucking pan to prove how not pussy they are.

Anyway so two hours later Dee "these edibles ain't shit" Reynolds is screaming hysterically and shitting her pants while clinging to the rooftop and staring at the sky, Frank is furiously fucking a rotisserie chicken while listening to sixties war protest rock and seeing colours and having Rambo First Blood flashbacks, Charlie sees everything like a cartoon and is a Disney prince(ss?) who can control rats and pigeons with his singing voice and also hallucinates a musical with the Gang, Mac literally sees God and speaks to him and fucks him. He just fucks God. Full penetration. And God is gay btw and played by Ryan Reynolds. In real life Mac is actually just like lying on the pool table staring at the ceiling light. With this huge stoner boner. Dennis is like weeping in the bathroom because Rick Astley is playing on the jukebox and it's so fucking beautiful and decides he wants to become an artist because the yuck puddle is so beautiful and he wants to commemorate it and it is talking to him

They all manage to meet at some point and talk to each other and hallucinate Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-esque shit together. Oompa Loompas look like Frank's sweatshop children and they sing "oompa loompa doopity doo what the fuck is wrong with all of you"

Episode two: They are discussing Kanye and how they need to separate the art from the artist because they voted for him but they can't support him now that he says all this anti Semitic stuff lately because they might get cancelled for liking him so they just cut all the pictures of Kanye out of the albums and posters and stuff they own and replace it with pictures of Pepperjack. This is especially important they vocally distance themselves from Kanye because Wolf Cola has used him for promotional ads. So they also have to cut ties with him professionally. It's all very selfish because they're concerned about their image.

Episode three: They make fun of Dee for calling herself a feminist even though she never passes the Bechdel test and they argue about how to pronounce it properly. She says she will pass it by the end of the day and she fails constantly but at the end of the episode she finds the Waitress and they talk about something other than men. She is excited and then Charlie is like; "What's her name? It only counts if you know her name." She doesn't know her name. It is titled Dee Fails the Bechdel Test. It is a Chardee themed episode, but they don't kiss or anything.

Episode four: We see the Gang's exploits from someone else's perspective. It is their fucking stalker. They have a stalker and they dont even know it. I mean this is like Joe from You styled narration and everything. The stalker has like Pepe Sylvia style pics on their wall connecting them to various crimes and shit in Philly and it's all true btw but the stalker gets arrested for stalking and attempting assassination (yeah, like an actual attempt at murder) and the Gang is like; "Who the fuck even are you?" despite this stalker being in their bar every day for like years. It is a fun episode because we see them in many mid-scheme situations with like no context.

Episode five: They try to reboot The Nightman Cometh because the find out they have fans because Artemis posted it online and there is fanfic and meta. The reboot is complete and utter SHIT so the fans hate them now lmfao

Episode six: Someone approaches them to say "hey this bar should be a reality series" and they accept but they all agree they should be less problematic because they don't wanna piss off the producers and then the producers are like "actually Mac you're not gay you're bi because it's Not In to be monosexual anymore also uhm you can joke about being into men but you can only ever on screen be with a woman mmkay but lets queerbair you with Dennis." They like insist he hooks up with Dee lmfao and Mac and Dee are FURIOUS. This is like a total commentary on the way television and movies are produced now where the actual writers have little control and the company micromanages their entire lives all for ad revenue and product placement and tiktok soundbites. Anyway they try to go along with it and film thr Pilot just for the studio to say that it was all meant to be a tax write off so their show gets pulled before even being and blacklisted from Streaming Services despite all the work they did and there are jokes about shitty graphics and crap pay.

Episode seven is kind of a part two of the previous episode because Frank buys out the streaming service and calls it like Wolf Soda Streams. They can post all their shitty movies on it and their reality series and also The Nightman Cometh (the original and reboot). Frank accidentally uploads several sex tapes of him and Artemis instead so it crashes and burns and ends up being more lucrative as a tax write off. The employees of the company he bought out all lost their jobs and end up homeless in the alley with Cricket. They all say; "Those fuckers ruined my life!" and he just stares at them and goes; "First time?"

Episode eight: Dennis starts dating a woman who looks and acts exactly like Mac. And literally everybody sees it EXCEPT Mac and Dennis. She's even Mac's cousin. But Mac and Dennis are idiots. And just don't see it. And everybody is like wtf come on. In the end this woman leaves Dennis because she realizes she's a lesbian.

Episode nine: Finally Mac dates a man and Dennis is motherfucking livid. He assumes it's the envy of being single and being dumped a week prior but we all know the truth. Everyone knows the truth. Except Mac. This boyfriend is also played by Ryan Reynolds and as a callback to the season premiere someone says he has the body of God. Anyway the jealousy and envy is eating Dennis up inside until the episode ends with Dennis screaming like a psychopathic madman in the rain while staring at Mac and Ryan Reynolds through a window holding an axe.

Episode ten: This is shot like a horror movie a la The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre. It's like a typical slasher movie with Dennis as the bad guy and everyone hiding from him and he's going after Ryan Reynolds. It's terrifying and all that. Scary shit like wtf this might be too dark for an Always Sunny episode except they pull it off super well and there is humor and stuff. There are lots of Dennis screaming hilarious shit like I HAVE THE RAGE OF A THOUSAND SPURNED LOVERS SPILLING SEED OVER CIGARETTE BURNED PICTURES OF THEIR EXES! Just when he corners Ryan Reynolds and screams at him "MAC IS MINE" with the ax raised the scene cuts to them all still in the bar fucked up on edibles in the very first episode. They've finally sobered up and make a comment about how the past few hours seemed like weeks or whatever and how they hallucinated some crazy shit and then Dennis walks over to Mac and just fucking kisses him on the mouth, and Mac reciprocates and the rest of the gang make gagging noises and call them slurs. The end

[umflowers]

a chance to ramble about old protest songs we should bring back, you say, @itsconibees? 👀 (you don't have to pay any attention to this, i will just take literally any opportunity to infodump about music l o l)

anti-war: john prine - your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore country joe and the fish - feel-like-i'm-fixin-to-die rag country joe and the fish - kiss my ass creedence clearwater revival - fortunate son buffalo springfield - for what it's worth jimi hendrix - machine gun john prine - sam stone bob dylan - with god on our side bob dylan - masters of war tom paxton - lyndon johnson told the nation edwin starr - war simon & garfunkel - last night i had the strangest dream

anti-patriotism: country joe and the fish - feel-like-i'm-fixin-to-die rag country joe and the fish - kiss my ass bob dylan - with god on our side

classism/wealth disparity/poverty: creedence clearwater revival - fortunate son ten years after - i'd love to change the world bob dylan - the lonesome death of hattie carroll john prine - sam stone john lennon - working class hero tennessee ernie ford - sixteen tons woody guthrie - this land is your land

racism: neil young - southern man bob dylan - hurricane bob dylan - the lonesome death of hattie carroll joan baez - birmingham sunday james brown - say it loud, i'm black and i'm proud sam cooke - a change is gonna come bob dylan - blowin' in the wind marvin gaye - what's goin' on the temptations - ball of confusion simon & garfunkel - he was my brother bob marley - top rankin' leadbelly - bourgeois blues bob marley - get up, stand up simon & garfunkel - a church is burning bob dylan - only a pawn in their game nina simone - mississippi goddam

environmentalism: ten years after - i'd love to change the world

gun violence: jimi hendrix - machine gun lynyrd skynyrd - saturday night special

general state of the world: ten years after - i'd love to change the world simon & garfunkel - 7 o'clock news/silent night bob dylan - the times, they are a-changin' woody guthrie - this land is your land

labor disputes/mistreatment of workers/unions: the almanac singers - which side are you on? john lennon - working class hero tennessee ernie ford - sixteen tons

feminism: aretha franklin - respect loretta lynn - the pill kitty wells - it wasn't god who made honky tonk angels

religious hypocrisy/the religious right: john prine - your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore bob dylan - with god on our side kris kristofferson - jesus was a capricorn frank zappa - jesus thinks you're a jerk

specific events: - ohio by neil young is about the shooting of unarmed student protesters at kent state university in 1970, during which the national guard injured 9 and murdered 4. the students were protesting the expanding of the vietnam war into cambodia. - 7 o'clock news/silent night by simon and garfunkel is just them singing silent night repeatedly over a real news report encompassing mlk jr, threats against a racial equity march, a mass murder, the red scare, and the vietnam war. - hurricane by bob dylan is about professional boxer rubin 'hurricane' carter being found guilty of a triple murder, and then after the trial it coming out that there may have been fabricated evidence and a whole lot of racism on the part of the cops and investigators involved.

- the lonesome death of hattie carroll by bob dylan is about 51 year old black barmaid hattie carroll being murdered by a 20-something white heir to a cotton farming family because at a party he demanded a drink and she didn't bring it immediately. he beat her with a 25 cent toy cane, which he had already beaten employees with at a previous location, and also called her and several other employees racial slurs. he was unapologetic throughout and his well-connected parents got him bailed out and hired a team of five lawyers. his murder charge was reduced to manslaughter, of which he was found guilty, and was sentenced to six months and a $500 fine for killing a woman in cold blood. the start of his jail sentence was deferred to give him time to harvest his cotton crop. oh, and they handed down the sentence on the same day mlk jr delivered 'i have a dream.' - birmingham sunday by joan baez is about the bombing of the 16th street baptist church by the ku klux klan in 1963, which killed four little black girls in birmingham, alabama, a city so racist it stood out as pretty much the worst in all of the deep south during segregation. - a change is gonna come by sam cooke was written after he was turned away from a whites-only hotel in louisiana in 1963, and also his general experiences with racism. it's routinely voted among the best songs ever written and was preserved in the library of congress. cooke said he was inspired by hearing bob dylan's 'blowin in the wind' and realizing such a poignant song about racism in the u.s. was written by a white man, whereas he had refrained from writing something similar out of fear of pissing off his white fans, as well as mlk's 'i have a dream speech', and then the song had come to him in a dream.

- which side are you on? was written in 1931 by the wife of a union leader in the mining area of harlan county in kentucky after the police illegally entered her home, looking for her husband, and terrorized her and her children after realizing he had been tipped off and escaped. this was part of the harlan county war, during which the miners were bombed and executed by the police, on the orders of the mine owners, for demanding safety improvements. florence reece, the songwriter, became a lifelong activist for workers' rights. - he was my brother by simon & garfunkel is about the abduction and murder of three freedom riders by the ku klux klan during the freedom summer, an effort to register as many black people as possible to vote in mississippi in 1964. one of the three was andrew goodman, a jewish man who was friends with paul simon and art garfunkel, and they dedicated the song to him. - leadbelly wrote bourgeois blues after he went to washington, d.c. to record for alan lomax, for the library of congress, and was met with segregation and intense racism in the capitol of the country, including being unable to find a room to rent, lomax's landlord threatening to call the police when he and his wife tried to stay there, and the two couples being unable to get dinner together because of jim crow segregation laws.

- the pill by loretta lynn is pretty much autobiographical. she was raised, one of 8 kids, in a one-room cabin in butcher hollar, kentucky, by a miner and his wife in deep poverty, married at 15 to a 21 year old man, and a mother at 16. she went on to have 6 kids to an unfaithful husband. needless to say she would have been excited for birth control pills becoming available. an incredible movie about her life was made, starring sissy spacek, called coal miner's daughter. - kitty wells released it wasn't god who made honky tonk angels in 1952 as a direct response to an incredibly popular song at the time called the wild side of life, sung by hank thompson. the wild side of life was basically whining about 'honky tonk angels', aka disreputable women hanging around bars to hookup and wrecking their marriages. kitty wells' song was saying, no, men fuck around on their wives and that's how those women end up at those bars. the song became a mega hit and made her the first female star of country music, laying the path for patsy cline, loretta lynn, dolly parton, etc - sixteen tons by tennessee ernie ford is about company stores, which were a big problem at the time. before cars and before unions improved life for, for example, miners, 'company towns' would sprout up near the worksite and the company that owned the mines would own the housing as well as the store where you'd buy everything from food to clothes to household goods (because no car so no traveling elsewhere), and the company stores would accept vouchers from the company in lieu of cash so people could buy things before their very meager paydays. this resulted in a cycle of debt that made it so people couldn't leave and had no leverage to demand better wages or conditions. - only a pawn in their game by bob dylan is about the 1963 murder of medgar evers, a black civil rights activist and the naacp's first field secretary in mississippi. he dealt with such constant threats of violence from the klan that he and his wife had trained their kids what to do if there was an attack. he normally had an escort of 2-3 fbi and police cars upon returning home each day but didn't the day he was shot, which was never explained by the authorities, many of whom in the area were thought to be klansmen.

- nina simone wrote mississippi goddam about the deaths of both medgar evers and emmett till, as well as the 16th street church bombing in birmingham. emmett till was a 14 year old boy who was accused of flirting with a 21 year old white woman in 1955 in mississippi while at the grocery store, while visiting family. he lived in chicago, otherwise. a few days later her husband and brother-in-law abducted emmett and beat, tortured, and mutilated him before shooting him in the head and burying him in the river. his mother insisted on an open casket at his funeral to force the world to see the reality of racism and lynchings, after which he became one of the biggest symbols of the civil rights movement. his killers were found innocent by an all-white jury and, protected from double jeopardy, unapologetically admitted their guilt. they were paid $45,000 for that.

[mycomori]

the anti zionism = anti semitism laws just passed by the us house of reps is fuckin terrifying and i hate it so much and the worst part it is, aside from palestinian americans, if will overwhelmingly effect american jews protesting the use and equation of their religion to the war crimes of the zionist regime of israel. this law will put palestian americans and their allies protesting the genocide of their people at risk just as equally as the jews around the world protesting the zionist state of israel and their utter disgrace to the jewish faith. zionism is a disgrace; an utter spit in the face of the jewish faith, and yet they have the audacity to cry anti semitism when someone criticizes their over a half century of war crimes. when jewish people around the world from leaders to casual observers agree this is a fucking disgrace and it’s disgusting and anti semetic to equate the zionist state of israel w the jewish faith. that’s the kinda shit neo nazis want. they want to paint the jewish people as nothing it war criminals and use israel as a so called example. when really all israel is yet another demonstration of the united states control in other countries and purposefully keeping them unstable through consistent colonial expansion and us backed support of these so called governments. they’re scared of the internet, just like they’ve always been scared of knowledge. because knowledge is power and they rely on ignorance and desperation and keeping people in such poverty they don’t have the energy to focus on anything else. we’ve proven we can make a difference. that’s what scared so many people in the filling class about the pandemic. everyone was out of work so they actually had time to think as process and feel and act on their beliefs. it’s what they hate it’s what they do their god damn best to surprise and guess what thinking it at all is an affront to them. fuck them. i grew up in the catholic church. i know better than anyone how deeply the depravity runs. our country is brain washed so deeply we can’t even recognize it cause it’s been goin on for so many years. the world hates and laughs at us for fully understandable reason. we hate and laugh along too. except we’re stuck here. cause our parents or grandparents though the us was a place to prosper. a place they could escape their decades of poverty. but it didn’t turn out dod it? if i was my nonni id be a pissed ass ghost. all that work to give your kids a better life and it’s just more bullshit and suffering. fuck it am i right? if i could talk to nonno and nonni as teenagers now i would be lost forever speaking a them. i never even met nonno armando. but i wish i could. i’ve always wished i could. if i click ahve super power it would be to speak with the dead. nothing much else just sit down and converse w them and pass along messages between them and the living. i would hope someone would do that for me once im dead too. but its sad innit. we’re a sad sad sad family. we all suffered and continue to suffer so much. but the living of us push forward despite it all. hit it sucks. it fucking sucks. to mourn both the dead and the living. to mourn at all. it breaks my mind.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

On November 27, I'm appearing at the Toronto Metro Reference Library with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

On November 29, I'm at NYC's Strand Books with my novel The Lost Cause, a solarpunk tale of hope and danger that Rebecca Solnit called "completely delightful."

#15yrsago Bailout costs more than Marshall Plan, Louisiana Purchase, moonshot, S&L bailout, Korean War, New Deal, Iraq war, Vietnam war, and NASA’s lifetime budget — *combined*! https://memex.craphound.com/2008/11/24/bailout-costs-more-than-marshall-plan-louisiana-purchase-moonshot-sl-bailout-korean-war-new-deal-iraq-war-vietnam-war-and-nasas-lifetime-budget-combined/

#10yrsago Man convicted of urinating on hotel carpet while shouting racist abuse, while masturbating with a fire-extinguisher hose up his ass https://metro.co.uk/2013/11/12/premier-inn-guest-hurled-racist-abuse-with-fire-extinguisher-hose-up-his-bottom-4184507/

#10yrsago Miami Gardens police arrest Black man for trespassing 56 times — at the store where he works https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article1957716.html

#10yrsago Court rules that calling an MP “a coward” isn’t a crime https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/protester-cleared-of-threatening-behaviour-for-calling-hove-mp-a-coward-8937208.html

#10yrsago Rob Ford gets a New Yorker cartoon https://www.joeydevilla.com/2013/11/23/rob-fords-appearance-in-a-new-yorker-cartoon/

#5yrsago While serving, Trump’s comms director will get a $7M Fox News bonus for his mishandling of sexual abuse https://thinkprogress.org/bill-shine-fox-news-donald-trump-white-house-communications-director-severance-package-e24734b145c0/

#5yrsago On Thanksgiving Eve, Facebook quietly admitted to hiring dirty tricksters to publish an anti-Semitic Soros hoax smearing its critics https://web.archive.org/web/20181122231310/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/business/on-thanksgiving-eve-facebook-acknowledges-details-of-times-investigation.html

[ksenya-and-the-artistic-cucumber]

i had the weirdest dream last night where my friend introduced me to terraria so i started playing terraria but in first person n then gradually it became real life, n then i came across this big evil castle in the ocean n in the ocean there was the titanic but instead of it being shipped from england it was being shipped from russia. n on the side it said something to do w lgbt pride which makes NO SENSE cuz russia is like anti lgbt. so i decided to jump on the ship n murder all the security (BRUTALLY) before jumping off the ship n deciding to scratch the sides w the pride stuff on it which caused the ship to not sink but it like ??? crashed ??? into nothing ??? the passengers survived n stuff n also there were protestors in the ocean complaining abt how the ship was all pro-lgbt when russia was not so it was like,,, they’re protesting abt russia lying. n then it turns out the captain of the ship was the king of russia ??? for sum reason ??? n the princess of russia wanted me to come on the ship to have a chat n i was like “fuck nah i’m not getting my ass beat” n i swam away. n then i was all over the news as this like, criminal in russia n that if spotted i was 2 be taken to the king of russia or the princess of russia immediately. i was like a vigilante to the citizens but a war criminal to the royal family lol. anyway the next day in the dream i was strolling down this like, muddy medieval looking street which was right next to the ocean n all around me ppl were talking abt “the titanic event” n whatevs n also the titanic pulled up to the shore except it was all smokey n ruined n i found it rly funny lol. n then a carriage was coming down the street n it had the princess in except she was less mean n kinda nicer n whatever n she started chasing after me but she kinda let me go becuz i was fast af booiii. but then i blinked n i ended up in a castle which was probably the russia castle n i had 2 escape becuz the princess n king were looking for me. also there were other princesses in there like ??? the disney princesses. but there was jus the one prince LMAO. anyway uhhh i had several options on tryin to escape but they were 2 many close calls so eventually i decided to take the ariel way out. as in. ariel, the little mermaid. yea she jus lived in the castle for sum reason n also she was a lesbian n had a crush on the princess of russia which kinda makes sense as 2 y the princess wasn’t so bad i think she’s like. secretly pro-lgbt. anyway so ariel helped me escape n then i went n lived in a minecraft jungle n the princess n ariel joined me n then eventually u turned up n we created a society in the minecraft jungle the end.

Holy shit i wish i had these sorta dreams... anyway the closest to this dream is prolly the one where i somehow was batman/bbatman's right hand arm man and it was a dc/marvel/Danny Phantom crossover in some villain party dungeon infiltration. Dani spoke RSL for some reason