#Andrew can only sympathize

[ryokozawa]

Andrew: I have two theater tickets.

Neil: oh... such a good production that you decided to go to it twice?

Andrew: [silent scene]

[fuck-yeah-anarchy]

Just a reminder for my fellow white anarchists about how critical it is to explore the perspectives of people of color, both anarchist and non-anarchist alike as not only do experiences of common oppressions like the state and class rule differ depending on identity and conditions, but they also demonstrate how intersecting systems of oppression, such as white supremacy, permeate society as wide-reaching structures of oppression. It emphasizes the significance of dismantling these systems alongside the destruction of the state and the development of a free society.

Failure by white anarchists to comprehend white supremacy, its connection to other forms of oppression, and the experiences of people of color and their distinctive oppressions will not only significantly impede any endeavor towards building a freer society but also guarantee the perpetuation of these oppressions within the organizations/affinity groups they establish and the work they undertake. These groups typically fade away after alienating numerous potential nonwhite sympathizers to anarchism and its principles, all while merely paying lip service to Anti-Racist ideals and the movements led by people of color.

Only by actively listening to, reading, and reflecting upon the experiences of people of color, as well as engaging in introspection to comprehend the white supremacist mindset that persists even among white radicals like anarchists, can we initiate the dismantling of these oppressive systems and progress towards a genuinely free society.

Here is some content on the subject from some fantastic folks.

Videos:

Zoe Samudzi - On a Black Feminist Anarchism

Saint Andrewism - Landback

Saint Andrewism - What is Black Anarchism

Literature:

Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin - Anarchism and the Black Revolution

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - An indigenous peoples' history of the United States

Mariame Kaba, William C Anderson, Zoe Samudzi - As Black As Resistance

[cameronspecial]

Let Me Make This Clear, Angel

Pairing: Frat!Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings:  Swearing

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 0.5K

Summary: Rafe isn't the biggest fan of Y/N's lab partner.

Masterlist

Even though Rafe and Y/N have been dating for almost a year, they have never had their first real fight with each other. Rafe would rather do anything but fight with Y/N and she would rather talk things out with him before it got to a full-blown argument. However, one person who has been causing discourse between the couple is Andrew Jameson. He is Y/N’s lab partner, but Rafe can just tell that it isn’t all Andrew sees Y/N as. She always sees the best in people, refusing to listen to Rafe’s slander against her friend. This makes anger brew in Rafe’s stomach. He is a jealous and possessive man. It drives him crazy that Y/N won’t stop contact with Andrew. Rafe thinks she is too trusting of him. 

——

Y/N knows Rafe wouldn’t like her being in her dorm alone with Andrew, but every public place they looked for somewhere to work on their project was busy and they really needed to get started on the pre-lab. At least in her dorm, Rafe has easy access to it. She does sympathize with Rafe’s fears, yet she also knows he often overreacts when it comes to his jealousy and it’s too late for her to switch partners anyways. “Can you look over my hypothesis and tell me what you think?” she asks, turning her laptop in Andrew’s direction. He is looking over her work when the lock of her dorm room opens. Rafe shoves the door open with an angry look on his face. “Get out,” he roars, making Andrew scramble to pick up his stuff and leave. Y/N turns to her boyfriend in fury, “What the fuck was that for? We were working on something.” 

“How many times do I have to tell you that he wants to fuck you? That I don’t like him,” he questions in a low tone. Y/N shakes her head with a chuckle, “I know you don’t like him, Rafe. But I have told you so many times that nothing is going on between us and that I can’t change partners this late in the semester.” “I don’t care that you don’t think he wants to have sex with you. I know that he does. You shouldn’t be in the same room as him alone,” he yells, approaching her so he is now towering over her. 

“Really? Do you really trust me so little that you are acting this possessive? If you were alone with a girl that I knew wanted to have sex with you, I would still trust that you would be faithful to me.”

Rafe can see the frustration grow in Y/N and it only fuels his anger. He steps forward so their chests are pressed against each other, “Let me make this clear, Angel. You are going to stop seeing Andrew alone. You are going to hold the rest of your lab meetings online. Am I clear?” Her hands find his chest, “You’ve made it crystal clear. You don’t trust me. And if you don’t trust me, then maybe we shouldn’t be together.” With one final shove, he is out of the door and watches as she slams the door in his face. He can hear the deadbolt slide into place. He starts to feel panic creep into him. He may have just lost the most important person to him just because of his silly little jealousy. 

Taglist: @winterrrnight @loves0phelia

[luna-andra]

The Shadows Return | Simon 'Ghost' Riley x OC | Retired AU | Chapter 6: The Cage

Summary: Ghost and Andra's first not-date

Author's note: This chapter was so fun to research and write, I hope you guys enjoy! ✨️

Content Warning: slow burn, eventual smut, 18+, fluff, mentions of mental health

If this is the first time you're seeing this, Chapter 1 is here. You can find the rest on my masterlist! Next chapter is here!

Word count: ~6k

The ideal way to see Andra bright and early in the morning would be with a smile on her face for once. Ghost was just relieved that he wasn’t the cause of her anger this time. His truck rolled to a stop in front of her house, and he could see her pacing back and forth on her front porch, her phone pressed against her ear. He couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of her in black sportswear, her hair pulled up in a hair tie with spindles of curls flowing from the pony and two free curls framing each side of her face.

She noticed his arrival and gave him a subtle “please wait” gesture to him.

Ghost sat tight in the truck, tapping a finger against the steering wheel nonchalantly. He observed her body language as she strolled down the 3-step landing, taking slow steps to the front of the truck. He wasn’t that good at reading lips, but he didn’t have to be to know that she was saying ‘no’ venomously. Everything else was lost on him, and her voice grew loud enough for him to realize she was yelling in Spanish.

Andra approached the passenger door, her last words being “Good luck figuring it out” before hanging up and slamming the door behind her.

He took the risk of trying to lighten the mood. “Got a habit of slammin’ doors, do we?”

Andra groaned as she scrubbed her clean face with shaky hands. “Sorry, my mom knows how to push my buttons.”

This is the first time he’s heard her talk about her family since they met. “That bad?” He also realized since it’s crack-of-dawn early here for them, it was late over there in the states.

Andra set her phone to vibrate and shoved it into her back pocket. “She tried starting with the whole ‘hi, mija! How are you doing? We miss you!’” her voice went up a few pitches to reflect an imitation of her mother, “And here I am thinking ‘it’s eleven at night over there, why is she calling that late?’ so I let her play her little game until she finally came out with it.”

She took a breath along with a hand gesture as if she’s trying to compose herself in front of her face. “She asked me to help her bail out my cousin Andrew.”

Ghost, focusing on the road, felt hesitant to ask anything about the situation, but he took the bait. “Are you close with your cousin?”

“No!” Andra exclaimed. “I don’t talk to that side of the family because they deal – “ she interrupted herself to omit a bit of information. “They run the streets with the wrong people, and I told her several times before that I couldn’t care less about that side of the family.

“And does she ever bother my brothers with that bullshit? Oh no, never,” she sneered, “Not her precious mijitos.” Andra crossed her arms over her chest and let out a heavy sigh, followed by a sarcastic chuckle. “I’m only family when they need something.”

Ghost sympathized with her, but he didn’t know what to say. What was that part about them dealing? Dealing drugs?

Andra melted into the passenger seat and eyed him. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping this on you when we’re supposed to be having a nice day out.”

All he could do is play it off. “I think I have to draw the line at family baggage.”

A silent snicker had her shoulders bobbing. “That would be my hard limit, too. So tell me now if I have anything crazy to look forward to so we can call it quits now.”

He knew she was joking back, but he couldn’t help but think how she had no clue.

Her head relaxed against the headrest as she looked out the windshield to the morning sunrise melding with the skyline. “I guess I should be thankful that she bothered me early in the morning rather than in the middle of our not-date.”

Ghost shook his head at that with a hidden grin. “That’s one way to look at it.”

“Speaking of, where are we going?” Andra turned to him again.

The truck stopped at the next stop light and took a left, taking them away from Disley and the little civilization they lived nearby. “A park.”

“A park?” she questioned. “We passed up plenty of other parks.”

Ghost eyed her for a quick second before looking back to the road. “This one’s different.”

“Is this a park where notorious killers dump the bodies of their victims? Because that’s the vibe I’m getting.”

He rolled his eyes. “If I was a killer, don’t you think I would’ve done it a long time ago?”

Ghost could feel the grin she was trying to suppress. “That was honestly my first thought when we met.”

“Gee, thanks.”

With the sun only halfway peaked over the horizon, the truck drove down a narrow, one-lane road lined with beech trees shedding their red and yellow leaves. The wind was mild, and with each passing breeze the leaves were picked up in a wistful, arbitrary direction, creating flurries of autumn colors.

Andra looked out the window with a young, whimsy sparkle in her beautiful browns, and the sight of an ancient and well-maintained estate came into view. Ghost wasn’t sure if she even knew that she whispered a ‘whoa,’ but he wouldn’t ruin the moment.

The road split off into two directions, and Ghost made a right turn to the near-empty parking lot.

“The estate is closed until 0900, but the grounds are open to the public to roam about.” Ghost shifted the gear into park and killed the ignition. Behind him, he reached for a small pack that he prepared with a few water bottles and some protein bars in case they were peckish on the trail. “Ready?”

Andra was already opening the passenger door to hop out. “Absolutely.”

From the parking lot, they took the trail that would lead them directly to the front gates of the estate. The weather was mildly cool, but Ghost was wearing a jacket in case he found Andra feeling cold. Her skintight, long sleeve athletic zip up looked thin, but so far on the stroll she was managing.

The front gates to the estate were closed, but a quick cross over the road would lead them onto another trail. Andra observed the castle-like mansion. “Why does this place look familiar? I swear I’ve never been here before.”

Ghost stepped up to her side. “BBC’s Pride & Prejudice was filmed here.”

“No shit.” Her eyebrows shot up. “You watched it?”

He shook his head. “You?”

“Nah, just seen a few minutes here and there when friends would watch it.” Andra turned to continue the trudge along the trail lined with aged half-walls of cobblestone.

Ghost followed in tow. “I figured that would be your type of thing to watch.”

She snorted. “Why, because I read the occasional romance novel?”

“Romance? You read downright smut.”

Her face blazed crimson at his retort. “Jeez, thanks for saying it out into the wind.”

The wind was fresh and crisp every time it blew through the fabric of his balaclava. It had been a while since Ghost had been out on a nature hike, probably since the last time he and the lads went camping. This trumped staying home all day doing annual house upkeep or working out for a few hours.

The manor faded beyond the rolling hills, and further they followed the trail. Ghost knew exactly where this trail would lead them, high up on a hill overlooking Disley.

The silence between them was comfortable, Ghost didn’t feel the need to fill the time with talk. Andra was enthralled with the scenic tour of the countryside. Yet, Andra found herself being disrupted by the occasional vibration from her phone. Alerting her to unwanted messages by the expression darkening her eyes.

“Still getting loving messages from mother dearest?” Ghost assumed.

Her ponytail whipped around as she turned to look at him. “Yeah, at this point I’m realizing I should’ve left my phone in your truck.” Her finger held down the power button, and the phone’s screen went black.

“Did you leave the states to get away from them?” It was not like Ghost to go prying into people’s personal life, but he had always been curious about what brought her all the way over here in his own backyard. Or rather, next door down the road.

Andra slowed down to a sloth’s pace before she sat upon the cobble wall beside the path. “That’s not the entire reason, but it’s some of it.” She looked down at her dusty shoes. “I lost my scholarship. I had a four-year ride to Texas State, and a year in I blew it.

“My mother was pissed.” Andra’s gaze lifted to stare aimlessly amongst the fields of yellowing grass. “Not because I squandered my future, but because she thought she would never get rid of me. She didn’t want a daughter, just boys. And I worked my ass off all throughout school to make sure I had a way to leave home as soon as possible.

“So, when she found out that I was getting kicked out of the dorms, she told me I wasn’t welcome to come back.”

Ghost clenched his jaw. “And your dad? Was he present?”

Andra’s hands rubbed the tops of her thighs as she swung her feet. “He was, but he was completely oblivious to my mother’s vitriol.” Her eyes met his, that sadness he couldn’t bear to see swirling in the mocha of her irises. “My dad was at work the day I came back home, I’m sure if he was there, he would have opened the door for me and asked if I was hungry.”

A flash of his mother’s face manifested in his mind, her kind, ageing face opening the front door to his childhood home to greet him. He couldn’t fathom anything but love from his own mom.

Ghost had to look away from Andra and blew out a breath. “What happened after that?”

“I couch surfed while working multiple jobs.” Andra leaped off the cobble wall. “I got fed up one day, bought a world map, darts and a bottle of tequila,” Ghost shuddered at the mention of tequila, “Got piss drunk, and threw some darts at the map. That part was true, and that’s why I had lousy aim. The other two landed on Australia, and I wasn’t about to move there, scary ass bugs and all. And the other one landed on Russia, and I didn’t feel like learning a new language so Disley, England it was.”

Ghost couldn’t help but be amused by how cliché the decision was. “Safe to say you did good for yourself by moving.” The two of them continued their walk on the trail.

“Oh yeah,” she vehemently agreed. “I got a chance at life again and I don’t have to see my family? Win fucking win.” Her grin fell once more. “I miss my brothers and my dad. But I know Ivan is doing well for himself in the Marines, and Orion will be graduating high school next summer.” Andra’s eyes narrowed to the building in the distance. “What is that?”

Ghost looked at what Andra was questioning. “That’s The Cage.”

“The what now?”

The hill was getting steep, and Ghost noticed how Andra was struggling to trudge up the slope. He took her hand and led her to the smaller stone keep.

The Cage sat atop of the highest hill, looking over groves of shedding trees and endless, quiet pastures for kilometers. The closer they got to the Baroque-styled standalone structure, the louder the wind blistered all around them. A heavy, iron gate locked with chains and a padded lock restricted access to the three-story keep. Iron bars were installed on the first floor windows to keep visitors and vagrants out. And the windows on the floor above are too frosted with age to get a look of the interior of the building. Thin patches of moss speckles over the bricks and archway of the entrance, giving it color and character. The bricks have been discolored by centuries of rain running off its surface.

“It’s a historical landmark, built sometime in the 1500s.” Ghost assisted Andra as they reached a leveled out plain of gravel path, holding onto her hand even while they approached the keep. “It was originally a hunting lodge, and the wives or ladies of nobility would sit inside to watch and observe the hunters nearby.

“It was actually part of a larger structure, but they built this part of it a couple centuries after the original keep was demolished.”

Andra gave Ghost an astonished look. “I didn’t take you for a history buff.”

He laughed. “I took a field trip out here when I was still in primary school. I remember a few of the details from pamphlets we got. We were expected to take an exam on the history of the landmarks, and this one was the more interesting one to me.”

Andra pulled her hand away from Ghosts, leaving an absent sensation in his palm, to touch the withering stone. “1500s you said?” he hummed in response, and she was in awe in a way he wasn’t expecting. “Wholly shit, this might be the oldest piece of architecture I’ve ever seen in person.”

“This is nothing.” Ghost stepped closer until he was a step behind her.

She scoffed. “Yeah, that’s easy to say when your country is over a thousand years old.” Her surprised expression when she turned to face him, hand pressed firm on the wall, told Ghost that she didn’t know how close he was. She had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes.

Ghost fought the urge to place his brawny hand over hers. The air felt thicker than it has all day.

“Should we start heading back?” Ghost suggested. He figured by the time they got back, the estate and other shops were open to the public now; there was so much left he wanted to show her.

Andra nodded and followed Ghost carefully down the steep hill. “I realized something.”

Ghost hummed, “And what is that?”

“I don’t even know your last name.”

It was an innocent inquiry, one that Ghost felt comfortable sharing with her. “It’s Riley.”

Andra made an interested murmur. “Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley.”

She said his name like she it was an answer to one of life’s many questions. His name rolling off her lips made his knees weak. The way she held so much power over him should scare him. His feet began to carry him at a slower pace, walking a few meters behind that swaying ponytail, the breeze carrying the jasmine and vanilla essence that once haunted him.

-----

The estate had groups of people filing into the entrance, and the discomfort was apparent through Ghost’s body language. “It looks like the café is separate from the mansion, let’s hit it up first and get something.”

Andra’s suggestion was a relief. Ghost didn’t feel like bringing attention to the both of them and potentially ruin the experience for her. It would have been less packed if they had shown up on a weekday, but what could he do now?

The gravel crunched beneath their shoes as they approached the café. Andra hesitated, then turned to Ghost, blatantly looking at his masked face in concern.

Before she could say anything, he shook his head. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Are you sure- “

“What do you think I do when I gotta eat on my lunch breaks?” He opened the café’s door, the bell over the threshold chiming to announce their arrival.

Andra didn’t say anything else about it, yet Ghost was moved from her worrying about him. The café barista greeted them warmly, fighting the urge to give Ghost a questionable look. He let them know if they had any questions, they just needed to ask. Andra tilted her head up to look at the menu displayed on the wall. “What are you getting?”

“Just tea.” Ghost answered.

She scoffed. “Typical.” Before he could quip back, she started ordering for the both of them. “I’ll have a flat white and a tea.”

“Cream and sugar for the tea?” the barista asked politely.

Andra looked to Ghost for the answer, and he nodded. “Yes, please.” She chirped.

The barista announced the total, and before Andra could fish her wallet out of her pocket, Ghost handed payment over. He wasn’t about to let her pay for anything today.

A bashful grin crossed her mouth and she muttered a thanks.

With coffee and tea in hand, Ghost led Andra out of the café and chose a table with an opened umbrella shading them from the morning sunlight. Its vinyl material whipped and cracked with the wind. Ghost took the seat giving him the advantage to see anyone passing by and Andra sat directly across from him. She clasped the warm to-go cup in her hands, gauging the temp of the coffee with a gentle sip.

Ghost took the lid off his cup and dunk the tea bag a few times in the milky water and watched Andra’s satisfaction at her hot drink. “You cold?”

She waved her hand in a so-so gesture. “I’ll be fine after the coffee.”

“Here.” Ghost shucked off his jacket, leaving him in his black long sleeve shirt. Andra tried to protest, but stopped after he draped the jacket over her shoulders and returned to his seat. It was too big on her, but she didn’t complain.

Her cheeks went carnation pink. “Thank you.” Her attention turned to their surroundings, observing the other buildings nearby. Ghost took this as a chance to lift his mask up enough to drink his tea, gulping nearly half of the small cup. Shit, it burned going down.

With how Andra’s pupils flared, Ghost knew she was fighting the urge to look his way. Not that she had to; he made the choice to reveal a bit of his face, yet it was endearing. After concealing himself once more, Ghost broke the silence with more questions to ask her, such as what she was majoring in college, which led to her asking if he went to school before joining the military.

“No,” Ghost answered, “We were just required to have high marks on our assessments.”

“Oh.” Andra nodded; her eyes glanced down at her coffee. “In the US you have to complete college in order to be an officer.”

“Is that what you were trying to do?” He continued.

She glanced back up at him once more. “Yeah, I was in their ROTC program and was going to join the army after graduation.”

There was a thick energy around the topic. She was only giving out information that he directly asked her for. “Even though you lost your scholarship, you didn’t want to try enlisting afterwards?”

Her body went rigid, he didn’t know if it was from the cold wind blowing through or from his prodding. “I couldn’t.” A forced, halfhearted grin tried to conceal her sadness.

Ghost wanted to know more, but he was all too familiar with avoiding certain topics. And it probably had been years since she talked about this with anyone. He might be the wrong person to be asking forward questions about her past, but as much mystery as he gave off, so did she. And he wasn’t used to being in the dark about the people in his life.

With another lift of his mask, her eyes darted away, only to look back at him again as he finished off his tea. “There’s a second-hand bookstore nearby, wanna check it out?”

Andra’s eyes brightened. “For sure.”

-----

There was a particular smell about second-hand bookstores that Andra always enjoyed, a scent that she never gets anywhere else. It’s the telltale sign that these books were loved by all different kinds of people, and they were waiting to be taken home to its new owner to take them on a new adventure.

The bookstore was warm and inviting, and so was Ghost’s jacket. Andra had to fight the urge to lean her face into the lapels of the jacket to inhale his scent. Gods, she was a creep. She had done it once when he draped it over her and a second time when he walked ahead to open the door of the bookstore for her.

An orange tabby hopped down from its cat tree and approached the two of them as if to greet them, like it owned the bookstore instead of its owner. It chirped as Andra gave its back a gentle touch, earning her the honor of the cat rubbing itself against her leg. Sammy’s not gonna be happy about smelling cat on her when she gets home.

A woman in her late 30s peered her head from behind one of the many tall shelves with a smile. “Welcome, let me know if you need help finding anything particular.”

“Thank you.” Andra smiled back as she sauntered down the main corridor, scanning the aging labels for each genre.

Ghost followed closely behind her, hands at his sides. He stopped a few inches as he realized she had turned to face him. “I have an idea.”

An eyebrow disappeared beneath the fabric of his balaclava. “Should I be concerned?”

She grinned with an eye roll. “I promise, it’s not painful.”

Ghost stuffed a hand in his pocket. “Alright, I’m listening.”

“Pick a title that you would be interested in reading and I’ll have to read it, and I’ll do the same for your read. Nothing lengthy, something less than… let’s say three hundred pages.”

“That’s not lengthy to you?” Ghost retorted.

“I’ve read thousand-page books before, but I won’t make you endure that. You interested?” Andra rocked back and forth from her heels to her tip toes.

Ghost looked around and nodded his head. “Let’s see what we can find.”

“Great!” Andra left Ghost to search for his own book while she went scouring the store for some ideas.

From non-fiction to culinary, fiction to religion, the bookstore had variety. Andra went looking for the woman running the store, finding her behind the register counter. “Excuse me, do you have any American titles?”

The woman with blonde hair tied up in a bun looked at Andra with a friendly smile. “Yes, miss, it’ll be down that way.” She gestured down to the right of them. “On the lefthand side of the shelves.”

Andra thanked her and made her way to the section. From where she was at, she could see Ghost slowly stalking some shelves, his head was blocking the view of the sign that would have told her what genre he was browsing.

She didn’t know if it was the espresso in the coffee she had or excitement she felt from the day, but her heart warmed with joy. She didn’t expect the day to go the way it had. A walk on beautiful trails, sightseeing historical landmarks, coffee and books. Ghost was laying it thick, and she was eating it up.

It was enough to make her forget the morning call with her mom. Nearly enough. Andra knew she would have to call or message her brother to see if he got the same sob story from mom. It wasn’t a priority, but she hoped Ivan was smart enough not to lend the bail money.

Andra shook the thoughts away as she found the book she was looking for. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

“Find your book?” Ghost’s voice penetrated her focus.

She nearly jumped a few inches off the floor. “Aye dios mio.” Her hand pressed against her racing heart as she took a breath as he chuckled. “Yeah, I found something.”

“Me too.” The book hung at his side in his hand, she could see the title in bold, capitalized letters. The Operators. “Want to exchange now?”

“Sure.” They handed off each other’s book, both a mirroring image of inspecting the cover of the books. His illustrated a man in a ski mask aiming a pistol at an unknown target with a helicopter flying over his head. “The Operators: On the Streets with Britain’s Most Secret Service.” Of course he would pick a book like this.

“The Outsiders?” Ghost turned the book over to read the backside of the book. “Didn’t they make this into a movie?”

Andra nodded. “I’ve read and watched the movie.”

Ghost narrowed his eyes on her. “You chose a book you’ve already read? That’s hardly fair.”

“We’ll call it even since you probably know half of the knowledge in this book.” Andra strolled up to the counter and laid the book gently on the counter, Ghost placing his on top of hers. “And I’ll pick up the bill this time-“

Ghost laid out a twenty-pound banknote, maintaining eye contact with her. “I don’t think so, doll.”

She felt the heat rising in her face, again. “I’m gonna get you back.”

The nice lady witnessing what might be the second most sexual tension they have had between the two of them slid Ghost’s change across the counter and bagged up the books in silence.

“No you won’t.” Ghost picked up his change and the bag, thanking her as he headed towards the front door.

Andra and the woman exchanged glances, the woman telling her get it, girl without ever saying a word. After a polite goodbye, Andra caught up with Ghost.

He was looking at his phone that was blaring an emergency alert alarm quite obnoxiously, and he muttered a curse under his breath. “A severe flood warning has been posted for our area; we better get home before we can’t.”

“Oh shit, yeah let’s go.” Andra was on Ghost’s heel as they both picked up speed to head back to the truck. The clouds were noticeably darker off in the distance, in the direction that they had to go. Wind was blowing fiercer as well, the temperature dropped a couple of degrees during the time Ghost and Andra were inside the bookstore.

Her hair whipped around her face wildly, and Andra almost wished she had a balaclava to keep the chilly air from hitting her face. By the time they arrived at the truck, cold droplets were falling onto the windshield.

The two of them slid into their respective seats, and the engine roared to life as Ghost threw the gear into reverse. Andra was turning her phone back on to check the local weather app to see how close the rain was. Her knee bobbed impatiently as the phone took its sweet time booting back up.

For the first time, Ghost turned on the radio and immediately a broadcast played on the speakers inside the cabin.

“A flash flood warning has been issued in the following areas…” the spokeswoman rattled off several town names, including Disley. “This development is uncommon for this season; we advise our listeners to seek shelter and stay indoors until further notice.”

Once Ghost was out of the parking lot, he punched the gas pedal, sending the truck careening down the road. Andra could see other vehicles behind them; they must have gotten the message as well and are trying to get back home.

“Just our luck, huh.” Andra murmured as her phone completed its boot-up, and opened the weather app. The radar showed a huge wave of orange and red and a small outline of green making its way south to Disley. They were going to definitely be pelted with some heavy rain by the time they get back.

“We’ll get there.” Ghost assured her, taking a sharp right turn onto the main road.

Andra gripped onto the hand rail as her heart leaped into her throat. “Hopefully with all our limbs and blood inside us.”

Ghost shook his head. “You gotta stop listenin’ to Johnny, I’m a good driver.”

“I mean, tell that to the speed trap you busted some tires on but I wasn’t there…” Andra braced herself once more as Ghost braked hard at a stop light.

The rain was pelting the truck hard now, and she was starting to worry about hail coming along with the rain. Did I lock up the chicken coop? Andra started to worry for her animals, going over her morning routine in her head. Yeah, the chickens should be okay, she prepared to be out for a good portion of the day.

Lightning streaked across the sky, earning a gasp out of Andra. It was never the lightning that scared her, it was the boom of thunder afterwards that bothered her. Well, no, that was a lie. She remembered watching her dad take off for work one time in the early hours, the car took off just in time to miss a strike of lightning. It hit the asphalt with a crack, and the thunder was so loud it rocked the house. She could not possibly imagine what could have happened if her dad hadn’t started driving away at that very moment. So yeah, lightning bothered her, but the thunder was worse, even at her adult age.

Andra started to recognize where they were through the torrential downpour as the windshield wipers worked double time to keep the view clear for Ghost. He took the turn onto Middleton Lane, their shared street. A breath of relief left the both of them as they realized the road wasn’t flooded nor blocked off by any debris. Ghost turned into her driveway, and got as close as he could to the front of the house without ruining any of her flowers.

As Andra was taking off his jacket, Ghost stopped her. “Give it back to me the next time we see each other.”

Andra beamed a smile at him. “You’re already sure that there will be a next time?”

His eyes crinkled at the corners; a smile was beneath that skull pattern. “If you’ll allow me.”

Another flash of lightning had Andra flinching. She pulled the jacket back onto her and lifted the hood. “Shoot me a message or a call when you get inside.”

Ghost grunted in agreement before she opened the passenger door and made a run for the covered porch, making it inside with minimal moisture. She watched the truck reverse and turn around, driving down into the brutal rain.

Andra closed the door, and a boom louder than just the thunder rocked the house. She fell to her knees and covered her head with a scream. Sammy ran up to her and licked her hands covering her head in a frenzy; she was just as afraid of the unforgiving weather outside those walls.

Andra gave Sammy loving rubs. “Poor baby, I know you need to go outside.” Sammy licked her face before Andra got back up onto her feet, heading to the kitchen storage to see if she still had leftover puppy pads. Thank gods, she saved them. Andra put a few down by the back door, and Sammy whined. “It’s just in case if you can’t wait, once the rain lets up, I’ll let you out babygirl.”

A heavy knock at her front door made her want to jump out of her skin. She could see the top of Ghost’s masked head through the frosted glass of the door. Quickly, she went to go open it and let him in. “Everything okay?”

Ghost was soaked. His long-sleeve shirt clung to his skin, leaving nothing to the imagination, and a black backpack was slung over his shoulder. “That loud bang you heard was a tree falling in the middle of the road. I tried to see if I could hook it up to the truck, but there’s no getting it out of the way by myself.”

“Shit…” Andra closed the door. “Well, obviously I don’t mind you crashing for the night here.” Ghost didn’t respond to that, and the air grew thick. “I have a spare bedroom upstairs; the couch also has a pullout bed so you have options.”

“I’ll stay down here.” Ghost declared.

Andra realized she was making him stand there with dripping wet clothes. “Oh my gods! Y-you can go ahead and use the downstairs bathroom to dry off.” She led him to the bathroom, forgetting that he already knew where it was. “It’s stocked with towels and everything else.” She assumed his bag had clothes in them, like an emergency bag she had stashed in her truck as well. Great minds think alike.

“Thank you, I won’t be long.” Ghost shut the bathroom door behind him, and Andra darted upstairs to her own bedroom. With the door closed behind her, she felt her heart racing in her chest.

Ghost is staying overnight.

-----

Any interaction with my story is always appreciated! Thank you if you've made it to the end of this chapter 🖤

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

I am probably gonna unfollow and mute the 'W*tcher' tag this weekend while everyone is hashing their feelings out. I get it, I sympathize, I'm not thrilled by their decision either. It's just... collectively it's a lot right now and it's monopolizing my dash.

Anyway. Spouse has been up to his eyeballs on one particular school assignment for a solid week already and will be spending the weekend desperately trying to finish it before the deaadline. This is a little unusual for him, as he's really hardcore about time management. The fact that he's struggling with this one assignment makes me wonder how the other students in the class are doing with it.

He's had a lot on his plate this semester. I've been trying to throw out some ideas for us to get out and see the region this summer when he's not so utterly bogged down with school... so far the only one that has stuck is a vague plan to finally see Montreal. I would like us to also make it out to a Fort Ti event at some point--anyone got suggestions on which one we should try and see there this summer? (@iamthemaestro?) I wanted to do the F&I siege one but I don't think we can make that weekend.

Also, Andrew Appel just dropped a ton of videos on his channel and after all the Youtube discourse today my first instinct is to be like, "my dude, you can't just drop all your videos at once you have to space them out at regular intervals!" but I don't think he cares about playing the algorithm game, LOL.

[juniperkinglet]

Okay okay jumping off this great post from @neilsexy about Nicky hate to also talk about my Riko thoughts.

I find the treatment of Riko by the fandom fascinating. Calling it The Azula Effect cuz it's just like how a lot of Zuko fans treated Azula.

Riko is an antagonist, a villain, yes. He's literally there specifically for you to hate, so if you hate him, he's fulfilled his narrative purpose. BUT! There's this weird puritanical pathologizing of Riko and Riko fans that our protagonists don't receive, which I think points to modern fandom's whole "evangelical conservative beliefs with a gay coat of paint" thing.

Riko is a villain, but he's also an abuse victim whose only outlet is abusing others (and he is encouraged to do so by his environment). He holds a terrifying level of power over the protagonists, which masks how little power he has over his own life.

Riko isn't a sadist for just for the fuck of it. There is a meaning to his cruelty. When he abuses people, it's an attempt to keep his delicate social standing and illusion of power--which is all he has--by discouraging his peers from acting against him. There is a meaning to Andrew's cruelty as well, and fandom is totally fine with you sympathizing with that meaning and still loving Andrew despite his violence... but that same fandom will discourage you from having any sympathy for Riko's meaning and treat him as some special case of Inexcusable. Not to say Andrew's actions are on par with Riko's, or to discount all the work Andrew did to grow, but there is hypocrisy there.

Folks will designate Riko as evil from birth rather than circumstance, saying a lot of shit that sounds very "mentally ill people are inhuman monsters" and "sinners can never be forgiven and will burn in hell for eternity." This whole idea of "good person vs bad person" instead of "good actions vs bad actions" is just unhelpfully reductive.

Also, the very force driving Riko is the desire of a traumatized kid to be loved by his family. But because his family are cruel mob bosses, the only means to gaining love he sees are through enacting that same cruelty. And the great tragedy of Riko, and what makes him such a compelling character to me, is that all of that cruelty he used as a shield and a plea couldn't protect him or garner him love in the end.

Riko never had a Wymack (an "Uncle Iroh" so to speak). He never had someone who believed in him, which is what made all the difference in the lives of the Foxes. Because Riko was born a Moriyama, he never had an escape or a second chance, and his life was never going to end in anything but a bullet to the head when he became a nuisance. That's the difference between him and our protagonists. Not some special evil gene that made him incapable of humanity. He was a traumatized and flawed human being just like the protagonists, but unlike them, he never had an opportunity to grow. I know I'm overly optimistic, but I believe that everyone can change if they have the drive and resources to do so. It's come from a hard reworking of my beliefs to move away from punitive justice and towards restorative justice. And it's a theme I found prevalent in AFTG.

So why aren't fans allowed feel sympathy for Riko? It feels like wildly missing the point of the series to insist he is the one exception to its themes. You don't have to excuse any of a character's actions to sympathize with them or believe they deserve a second chance.

[ad-astra-per-aspera-1389]

I wouldn't be able to find the post about it now, but the Andrew and Eliza comparisons have some merit. But the contrasts have more.

Eliza and Andrew (and Frankie, but we're not there yet) have similar code. Eliza wasn't programmed not to lie, cheat, or steal. Andrew was programmed specifically to be able to do that.

Andrew was built into a home (heh, android puns) where his parental figure didn't really care about him. Dr. Peters looks at him like a machine, and he's only using him for revenge. Hell, he gave Andrew a different last name to avoid being found out.

Based on the way Eliza...is, we can kind of assume Sigourney is a lot more caring with Frankie than she was with Eliza. Frankie is almost like her daughter. Eliza was just a machine to her. (Sigourney gets better at it, but she likely wasn't very sentimental with Eliza.)

So, if they were built and raised so similarly, how did Andrew end up a protagonist, while Eliza doesn't step away from evil, even when given the choice?

Simple: Frankie.

Even before she discovers he's an android, Frankie is kind to him. After, she sympathizes with his situation, and, if I'm remembering right, she even lies for his sake...which messes up her functionality. Frankie puts effort into defending him, and Andrew recognizes this.

So, when Andrew goes against orders to protect her, it's not out of left field. Andrew knew Frankie was an android all along, and he had orders to get rid of her. But Frankie just cares so damn much about him, even after she knows Dr. Peters is behind all of this.

Eliza didn't have a community to turn to. Frankie is that community for Andrew. Even before Simone enters the picture.

Andrew, between seasons one and two, gains two sisters who have his back, but that's not all. His first positive interaction with a human was...Dayton. Dayton's kindness may have been forced at first, but it was there. She, Frankie, and even Cole, at times, were the reason he (and later Simone) only wanted to blend in with people, not hurt them like Eliza aimed to do.

Andrew defected to being good because Frankie loved him. Not even romantically, necessarily. Frankie saw humans in such a positive light that Andrew eventually saw it that way, too. By the time NAH was formed, Andrew looked surprised. He had developed a respect for humankind, but despite being borderline attacked for being who he was, he still believed some humans were good.

Eliza never had that opportunity. She was treated like an object, not a person. She was a machine, and no one looked at her and thought, "Maybe she has feelings, too." Eliza wasn't given a chance to respect or trust anyone before it was broken.

In the end, Andrew and Frankie are foils, but they're also, by android standards, half-siblings. Frankie loved Andrew so much that he believed in humanity. Eliza didn't have someone like Frankie.

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

WALL-E (2008, Andrew Stanton)

22/03/2024

WALL-E is a 2008 CGI animated film, directed by Andrew Stanton; produced by Pixar Animation Studios, in co-production with Walt Disney Pictures, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

The film, created and written by Stanton himself together with Pete Docter and Jim Reardon, is the ninth Pixar feature film and tells the story of the robot WALL-E, who in the distant future is the only inhabitant of the planet Earth, now abandoned by human beings due to excessive pollution and the continuous accumulation of waste.

The film was acclaimed by critics for the quality of the animation, the technology, the story and the soundtrack, obtaining numerous awards, including the 2009 Oscar for best animated film (out of 7 nominations), the Golden Globe and the BAFTA in the same category. It is dedicated to Justin Wright, a Pixar animator who died in the company's studios on March 18, 2008.

In 2105 the level of pollution on planet Earth is very high, with the Earth's surface now completely covered in garbage.

People on the Axiom move in floating seats through which they can also feed themselves drinks and communicate only by speaking through holographic screens.

WALL-E gives the planet to EVE, who closes it inside herself, after which the two sympathize, kiss and begin to fly in space, attracting the attention of two humans.

AUTO then uses his taser to melt the robot's central memory, which falls unconscious and with the plant inside it into the waste dump together with EVE, who is turned off.

In the meantime, the captain manages to stand up and grab AUTO, then deactivate it and take manual control of the spaceship, directing it towards Earth with a hyperjump.

WALL-E: is the protagonist of the film, he is similar to a cube equipped with two tracks moved by three gears each. He is equipped with two cameras as eyes, mechanical arms that allow him to grasp objects and a device that allows him to compact waste.

EVE outwardly resembles Jony Ive's designs for Apple, Inc. (owner of Pixar), in particular the iMac G3.

Upon the announcement of the discovery of the plant, the commander is initially scared because of the radical change that returning to Earth will entail, but thanks to the involuntary help of WALL-E he remains fascinated by the plant (using his time to research Earth on the computer of the spaceship) and will do anything to get home.

AUTO: is the main antagonist of the film, "voiced" in the original by the MacInTalk computer program (developed by Apple).

[skullchicken]

I see people say "boys and young men only gravitate towards guys like Andrew Tate because we don't have good role models nowadays" and I'm just... a bit flabbergasted?

Are we living in the same world? If you're a guy, there are heaps of important, powerful, compassionate, talented men from almost all walks of life, dead and alive, fictional and real you could choose from. Sometimes they are even all of these traits at once.

If you're a white center-leaning cis dude who is into mainstream pop culture you have literally the whole MCU with many different flavors of hero (yes I know it's become trendy to bash the MCU and I'm not saying I like it, I'm just saying you're not starved for choice as a young man if you're looking for a hero that appeals to your sensibilities and are at least categorically similar to you).

If you'd like to narrow it down to left-leaning men on social media specifically, there are still lots on youtubers who are great, if you need to look up to someone that badly. You can probably find someone no matter which walk of life you are from.

I'm also especially confused because growing up as a woman I just... didn't have female role models? Except for my mom, I guess. Mmmmmaybe Lisa Simpson? But she was, y'know, a child. Because women in media in the 2000s mostly were not allowed to be smart, capable and powerful - or if they were, then only as a secondary trait to being conventionally attractive (and we're not there yet, either, though it has gotten better). And there was no "women's history month" where I lived. There were no youtube personalities you could look up to, not really. (And there's the question of whether you should look up to them, but I'm working from the assumption that whether or not role models are a good idea, it's just a thing that happens so you might as well make sure they're good ones.) And I like to think I turned out okay.

I dunno, maybe I'm misunderstanding what ppl mean by "role model" but may I suggest that maybe these young men follow and idolize Andrew Tate for the same reason some white people sympathize with white supremacist sentiments? Because it's "fun" to feel special and better than others just for being something you were born as. Because it's "fun" to be "allowed" to be cruel and not having to be considerate and kind to people. I feel like we are deluding ourselves if we don't acknowledge that there is a demand for this kind of worldview (just to be clear, I'm not saying there being a demand for it justifies its existence. I'm saying that we can't be surprised that people who want to only eat high-fructose corn syrup can't be swayed to eat healthy by providing them with "better vegetables").

Yes sometimes innocent babes get drawn in by entertainment value and don't know any better. But maybe oftentimes shitty people will follow shitty people who validate their shitty beliefs, y'know?

[adamwatchesmovies]

Shrek the Third (2007)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

The drop in quality between Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third is so steep you'll wonder why anyone bothered. There’s nothing inspired here in terms of plot, character development, humour or even pop-culture references. It’s a devastating letdown that disappoints more the longer you watch.

King Harold (John Cleese) is dying and names Shrek (Mike Myers) and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) as his successors. Convinced an ogre will be unfit to rule the kingdom of Far Far Away, Shrek decides to track down her cousin, Arthur “Artie” Pendragon (Justin Timberlake). With the help of Donkey (Mike Myers) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), our swamp-loving hero is off, but not before Fiona reveals she is pregnant. Meanwhile, a washed-up Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) vows revenge.

The story by Andrew Adamson - adapted by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Chris Miller and Aron Warner - is so flawed I don’t know if there was any salvaging it. By and large, it’s really just the same plot as the original film. Shrek and Donkey - plus Puss - have to find a royal and bring them to a castle so Shrek can get his swamp back the way he wants it to be. Oh sure, there are slight differences. Obviously Artie doesn’t fall in love with the green meanie the way Fiona did but they do have that big “lover’s quarrel” scene once true intentions are revealed.

What you essentially get is Shrek but without anything that made it magical. The characters aren’t fresh the way they were before. Worse, the well of fairytale-based jokes has been drained dry, leaving this movie with few opportunities to make you laugh. I know you could argue whether Red Riding Hood or the Three Blind Mice really fit the fairy tales motif but King Arthur? Sans excalibur and with only a couple of lame scenes where an exaggerated, incompetent and loopy Merlin (Eric Idle) appears? It feels completely out of place.

Tonally, director Chris Miller misses the mark so thoroughly it's almost like it's on purpose. The first scene has a humiliated Prince Charming mourning his now-dead mother. Next a parade of scenes of Shrek grumbling about how much he hates Far Far Away and how much he doesn’t want to rule. He then finds an excuse to abandon his wife so he can pawn the kingdom off on some schmo he’s never met. In no time, you're sympathizing with the villain rather than the hero. Yes, Charming turns out to be malicious but it feels like the character was re-written to be the antagonist. From what we saw previously, there was nothing to indicate he had any volition of his own; he was just a mama’s boy raised to believe he should rule. Couldn’t Fiona wear the crown? How about the still-living Queen? What if Artie had been this megalomaniac who, after obtaining power, used it to get revenge on everyone who bullied him at high school? Shrek would’ve come off as an even bigger jerk than he already is.

Even the choice of songs doesn’t feel right. Whereas Livin’ La Vida Loca, I’m Holding out for a Hero and All-Star in Shreks 1 & 2 either subverted your expectations in a novel way, drove the story forward through non-litteral music, or both, there’s nothing about the short clip of Immigrant Song and the cover of Live of Let Die during the royal funeral that comes close. Where’s the wit? Where are the unusual choices that don't seem to fit on paper, but in execution work so well?

I doubt anyone who saw Shrek the Third upon its original release remembers it. They might remember some of what happens, but the way the movie made you feel? No way. That’s because this comedy has no heart. It’s diet water served after two classic animated comedies. I’d say I hated it, but that's incendiary, passionate - too good for Shrek The Third. The people behind the scenes knew this movie would be a hit so they rushed out a mediocre product because they knew they could. (On DVD, August 9, 2019)

[gunnerkriggcritical]

Pointing out Toms contempt for fan theories. I used to find the little jabs about readers funny, like people thought Jones was a robot and he actually had someone theorize it in canon as a joke. But now I feel like their almost vindictive. Like when people wondered if Tony had some sort of power that allowed him to come off as more charming, which would have explained why Kat was the only one who seemed to be calling out his abuse since she's not effected by ether in the same way. Then Get Lost happened and we literally had James accusing Tony of doing something to Surma like that. Once again using Eglamore as the unreasonable detractor...after he just got cheated on. I'm sorry I'm sorry if all these asks as encouraging this place into a tonyhateblog but words can not describe how much I loath Tom demanding I sympathize with this character and him ruining his decades long story to do it.

Don’t apologize. I love getting these asks, and if I’m honest this was already a Tony hate blog before I even started it, lol. And I agree completely. There’s times when I love it when creators interact with fandoms, but Tom seems to have taken multiple opportunities to use his comic to insult fans or directly tell them they’re wrong in how they feel about something, instead of just like… I dunno… letting the story speak for itself? Which seems to me to be the better option here?

I have a lot of problems with “Get Lost.” This was always a story of Eglamore getting hurt for reasons that weren’t his fault, but I wouldn’t have been averse to the cheating thing if it was presented more compellingly. Like, we always knew Surma is a morally ambiguous character who has no problem making selfish choices that hurt others, and I was fine with that - in fact, I liked her for it. But “Get Lost” is such a boring, weird chapter, which doesn’t really endear me to either Tony OR Surma, and at the end I get the strong impression we’re supposed to sympathize entirely with Surma and think Eglamore is just the crazy ex who deserved to be cheated on because he was never around. (Andrew has managed not to cheat on Parley, but okay.) I’ve never really liked that chapter, and I’ve always sort of hold onto hope that more will be revealed about it - like, maybe the story that Surma told Anja wasn’t the whole truth. But it’s been 5 years, so somehow I doubt it.

Honestly, I’m still kind of theorizing that there might be something supernatural about Tony. “Get Lost” is, in some ways, a pretty mysterious chapter. What was going on with the insects and slugs? When I first read it, I myself was convinced we were meant to interpret it as some sort of supernatural interference that made Surma more inclined to fall in love, but now I’m not so sure what to think. In any case, I think it’s pretty reasonable for fans to theorize that, and I don’t think it’s reasonable for Tom to use his comic to jab at them.

[burningtheroots]

We need to stop victimizing the fans of Andrew Tate — he‘s a symptom, not the disease itself

We need to stop victimizing the fans of Andrew Tate; it‘s not just about him.

We need to raise more awareness to the question why Andrew Tate could even reach such a level of popularity and praise.

So many people willingly underestimate the harm he has caused and don’t even recognize the evilness that already existed previously.

Misogyny is deeply ingrained in our society and culture, and Andrew Tate didn’t magically make boys & men (and also some girls & women) believe and invest in his views.

At the end of the day, he‘s merely a figurehead they can look up to above all else. The problem won‘t be solved once he‘s defeated.

People who look up to him, sympathize with or make excuses for him or his fans, condone any of it or "just don‘t see it as such a big deal" share inherent core values with him, and he simply had to prey on them to become a successful and popular misogynist.

Misogyny is generally not taken seriously enough, especially since "a little bit of it" is tolerated everywhere and in everyone.

It seems like it‘s heavily brushed aside by men who are either enjoying the benefits or show solidarity or indifference to men like that and also by women who try to be granted a little window in their prison and hence "play along".

If someone makes excuses for misogyny, doesn’t bother to stand up against it or plays the popular "whataboutism reverse card" (as in the patriarchy also affects men, YES, if you say so, yet these men strive to blame women for it instead and think it‘s fine when women have to take the brunt of what a male-led system has done to the world), they are NOT a victim, they are a perpetrator and need to be held accountable at all costs.

These "phenomena" we see regarding misogyny happen to other marginalized folks as well, but somehow it‘s tolerated and even encouraged the most when it’s misogyny, probably because it‘s aimed at women only.

Misogyny isn‘t a "joke" or "not that much of an issue", it‘s a reality of widely normalized injustice and suffering. And it‘s increasing once again.

Andrew Tate isn‘t their "hero" or the "creator" of their misogyny, he‘s their enabler.

He‘s someone who promotes rape, forced pregnancy/childbirth, physical abuse, emotional abuse, toxic male socialization, female obedience and (sexual) objectification, categorizing women/homosexual men as subhumans etc..

And you don’t condone or support something like this — partly even some of the worst crimes against humanity — unless you‘re privileged enough to be and are, in fact, a perpetrator.

Only total absence of misogyny is "good enough", and whilst this probably won‘t happen due to human nature, it should always remain everyone‘s goal so we never forget to strive for the better.

[lepartidelamort]

US Vetoes UN Attempt to Recognize Palestinian State

By Andrew Anglin

I don’t understand what so-called “normal people” think when they see the way America supports Israel. How does it make sense, unless America is run by the Jews? How is that not the only possible explanation?

At least with Russia, you can see that the US is trying to destroy a competitor nation. They want to break up Russia, turn it into a democracy, and suck out their resources. You can look at it and understand it.

That said, most “normal people” think the US is backing the Ukraine because… let me see if I can grasp the zeitgeist here… they think the US is fighting Russia in order to liberate the people of the Ukraine from a genocide. Or something. Frankly, I cannot grasp the zeitgeist.

The best way I understand the “normal people” view of the Ukraine war is Kamala Harris’ explanation of why America was going to dump billions into this war shortly after the invasion. She said: “Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine so, basically, that’s wrong.”

Regardless, the Ukraine is looked at by most “normal people” as some kind of morality crusade. Again, smarter “normal people” understand that the US views Russia as a competitor (in particular in light of their alliance with China) and is therefore trying to undermine it.

No such explanation exists for why the US government is so obsessed with Israel, despite the fact that only boomers care about Israel, and only 15% of Democrat voters sympathize with Israel – half that which sympathizes with Palestine.

This is from Pew.

America is on the verge of entering a major war, much bigger than anything else we’ve seen since World War II, and there is no explanation why – except “America is controlled by Jews.”

I guess the retards on college campuses would tell you Joe Biden is a white supremacist? Frankly, I don’t know what they would say. Do they talk about AIPAC and the amount of money Israel pours into American politics now? I don’t think they do. I would like to see someone serious do a poll of what the pro-Palestine protesters believe. Maybe go ahead and ask them about the Ukraine as well, lol. It is, hilariously and confoundingly, mostly the same people supporting the Ukraine war and opposing the Israel war.

Both American political parties are attempting to package these two wars together, framing them both as the moral responsibility of the American people. Tucker Carlson, very good on him, has actually been pretty vocal in opposing both. Most of the media supports both.

Obviously, anyone who understands anything is opposed to both wars, as they are exercises in slaughter for the financial and geopolitical benefit of a small minority of arms dealers, bankers, and globalists. But I can basically understand how “normal people” support both the Ukraine and the Palestinians, based on the framing of both as victims of evil white people. What I can’t understand is what these people think about the fact that the US is the big hero of the Ukraine and a genocidal maniac in Palestine.

And what do they think of the great warrior Zelensky offering unequivocal support for Israel?

Probably, the simple explanation is that this is all “vagina logic,” i.e., totally emotional nonsense devoid of reason. Joe Biden can be the hero and champion of the downtrodden and a genocidal maniac at the same time. Most of these “normal people” we’re discussing here are women or totally estrogenized men.

Nothing a woman thinks is really worth putting too much thought into, as a basic rule. But what we want to do is spread anti-Jewish propaganda, and take this sentiment against what Israel is doing, and turn it into a generalized opposition to international Jewry. To that end, it would be nice to understand how their thoughts work. However, I read reddits about support for Palestine, and I don’t understand it. It appears to be simply a very visceral opposition to Israel’s murder campaign. They do not seem to have a political framework beyond sheer emotionalism.

Still, they’re protesting Joe Biden everywhere he goes. They must be asking what is going on.

People should be going to these protests and handing out fliers about Jewish control of America. Just change “Jew” to “Zionist,” and show the Biden cabinet.

Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, Treasury Secretary – all Zionists.

The situation is so extreme.

Vetoing Palestinian statehood is madness in any normal paradigm of reality. The US, officially, is committed to a “two-state solution.” Now they want one state.

Frankly, there should be one state: Palestine. There is no benefit to anyone in the existence of an Israeli state.

Reuters:

The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body. It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership” of the U.N. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes. “The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council.

What?

Do you read the news, buddy? Netanyahu has officially ruled out any discussion of a Palestinian state.

Who the hell is Robert Wood?

Ah, okay. That explains it. He can’t read.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the U.S. veto in a statement as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified.” Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, at times emotional, told the council after the vote: “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort.”

The Palestinian push for full U.N. membership came six months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the U.N. considers to be illegal. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz commended the United States for casting a veto. Addressing the 12 council members who voted in favor of the draft resolution, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said: “It’s very sad because your vote will only embolden Palestinian rejectionism even more and make peace almost impossible.”

What does that mean?

Palestinian rejectionism doesn’t even exist anymore, save for among Hamas. Or, it didn’t before this genocide began. What he’s saying is the opposite of the truth: if the Palestinians believed they had a path to statehood, they would be much less inclined to fight.

[filthbear]

what makes me curious about neiderman’s take on the casteels specifically is it feels like he is trying so hard to replicate the dollanganger dynamic. like, the insistent relationship between luke and annie in gates of paradise is so pointless to the main conflict, not to mention the inexplicable grandmother-esque figure in mrs. broadfield, who just leaves? like, she leaves because annie screams at her but then there’s no consequences for her leaving and the antagonist is just tony being tony for the rest of the book.

the implications of web of dreams also makes all of tony’s storyline in gates pointless because it paints him as being a predator intentionally from the jump. it doesn’t fit in with, say, how andrews writes corrinne or even the grandmother— we sympathize with them because we realize this family is in a cycle.

his attempt to recreate that magic ultimately fails and prevents me from looking through others of his books under andrews’ name. i can only watch a teenage girl go through unspeakable torment so many unique times before we must admit there is a problem

[bllsbailey]

SHOCK: Majority of Americans Aged 18-24 Think Israel 'Should Be Ended,' Given to Hamas and Palestinians (SICK)

If you haven't been worried by the reactions of so many American students, professors, and university presidents over the Hamas terror attacks against Israel on October 7, then maybe you haven't been paying attention. 

Antisemitism has run rampant on many campuses, and when three top school heads appeared before Congress, they failed to condemn "protesters" who were harassing Jewish students, shouting "intifada revolution," and calling for the extermination of the entire country.

But the news about the poison being spread in our system of higher education just keeps getting more disturbing as a new Harvard-Harris poll shows that an astonishing 51 percent of American youth aged 18-24 indicated support "For Israel to be ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians."

Astonishing. 

Illustrating the huge opinion gap between different generations, only four percent of people over 65 agreed with wiping the entire country off the map.

Meanwhile, the youngsters think Israelis are the bad guys in their war against Hamas terrorists:

When you count people of every age, the number drops to 19 percent -- still almost a quarter of those polled -- who think Israel should be ended. There are many more questions in this survey, but there are some that truly stand out in their insane results: for instance, 24 percent of 18-24 years deny that Hamas committed rapes and other crimes against women. 

It's one thing to have an opinion, but these young people are flat-out denying proven facts.

Sec. of State Blinken: Hamas Sexual Violence ‘Beyond Anything That I’ve Seen’

Meanwhile, 76 percent in the younger age bracket believe Hamas "can be negotiated with to create peace," despite the fact that they're a governmental entity/terrorist group who have gone on record stating their main goal in life is to kill Israelis. Kind of hard to negotiate with folks like that.

Even more answers continued to show that the 18-24 generation has apparently lost their collective minds:

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) expressed his dismay:

These individuals siding with evil over democracy should be a wake-up call. Ideological rot among young Americans, driven by woke values and victim culture, has gotten so bad they’ve convinced themselves to sympathize with actual terrorists who hate America.

Pollster Mark Penn teamed up with former New York City Councilmember Andrew Stein to write an editorial saying that "our youth are misguided, not evil":

The truth is that false narratives have been allowed to fester and sink into large numbers of Generation Z students... What could possibly be driving this high level of support for Hamas?

These numbers are profoundly disturbing and show just how broken our educational system has become, and how many formerly venerable institutions are rife with poisonous ideology. We knew it was there, but the Hamas attacks exposed just how deeply infected college life has become. The pushback must start now, and it must be strong, or we are all going to be in big trouble. 

This generation is going to grow up, after all -- and many from its ranks will end up at the levers of power in education, government, and business. That is a truly terrifying thought.

See also-->

What the Heck Is With Higher Education? Myriad Student Groups Express Support for Hamas Terror Attacks

BREAKING: Hundreds of Pro-Hamas Protesters Ignite Smoke Bombs at UPenn, Chant 'Intifada Revolution'

[historyherstory]

You obviously put a lot of research in to your fic - it definitely shows - and you come across as pretty well read on the ww2 era. What are some of your favorite books dealing with the time period? I just finished reading "Traitor King" by Andrew Lownie, about Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson's shenanigans post-abdication, and I'm still pretty floored about what the ramifications would've been if that flagrant nazi sympathizer had stayed on the British throne.

Thank you very much for this lovely comment! I feel (and I suspect the same is true for many people!) that I could live 3 lifetimes and still not have enough time to read all of the books I'd like to read, and learn about all the things I know I want to know more about (and all the things I haven't discovered yet that future me will want to learn of!) 😅

Before I answer, a bit of an offshoot: I really struggle with how homogenous the storytellers are of WWII history. It's only really been in the last ten years or so that we see some serious proliferation of whose stories get told (and who is telling the stories). Clearly (*gestures at blog, at fanfic that is consuming my brain*) I adore those people and those histories so this isn't a slight on them - but I have always struggled with how little we hear in nonfiction about women, people of color, and other minorities. (And to be fair: this is not just a WWII history problem, this is a "the field of history has been dominated by white men for a really long time and that has created a hegemony that we're still struggling with".)

So! Disclaimer (? rant??? something??) aside:

Our Mothers' War by Emily Yellin is one that I really enjoy. I read it a few years ago and ended up buying a copy because I kept wanting to come back to it. Some of the author's commentary as she was researching the book really played into the creation of HHS.

It used to be a bit difficult to find (a big actor is named in a project based off the book so I think it's gotten more popular) but The War Magician (David Fisher) was really fascinating to me!

Fatal Crossroads deals with the Malmedy Massacre (Danny Parker) which I had never learned much about in school and I honestly tend to recommend it to anyone who is interested in WWII - it's easy to link to what people know (battle of the bulge) but involves a part of it that generally doesn't get a whole lot of attention.

Sisters in the Resistance has some first-hand recountings of women in the French Resistance and I think it's a good foil for people who may not underestimate just how much the French populace fought back (and how many women were involved, and exactly how significant their contributions were).

I have not read Traitor King - would you recommend? That said, I'm reasonably familiar with some of the attitudes espoused and 😬 can you imagine?? It's such a juxtaposition to what we recall as the royal family being during war (for example, future queen E's service with the ATS). I wonder how much more will come out in the next decade or two about Edward. I feel like oftentimes, it can take that long (or longer, tbh) for people to start sharing the (now, family heirlooms) artifacts like letters, conversations, that happened but were kept quiet/secret for decorum's sake for so many years.