#TY FOR ENABLING ME AGAIN I THINK ABT HIM . SO MUCH.

[trainingdummyrabbit]

✨ please tell me all of your thoughts on kaigaku talk like you will never have the chance to talk about him again

oh hell yeah i can do that. o7

first as a quick baseline though, ive actually spoken about him before a. fair amount. in this post [here]! which is to say im gonna try not t make the same points i did in that one! which! is going t be a lil hard actually. so instead of focusing mostly canon-textual angle with him (or about as much of it as you Can get for him..) we'll go hypothetical, aka: the inherent tragedy of being an antagonist with like two chapters of screentime.

like yeah, hes a self-centered piece of shit that exists just to kind of be a bastard for like two characters if you Squint, and thats definitely all well and good! characters can just be Awful because its Fun! but like... for a series like kny, i just cant help but wonder-- how accurate really is that? its the same series that said that Theres Only One True Demon-- The Rest Are Victims. so... really. is that all there is to him? play with me in this space a moment.

//

i do say it a lot, but i really do mean it when i consider him a tragic character. not just in regards to him and his dynamic with zenitsu, but just on the matter of... being Him. but the way that he carries himself is just. so painfully human, in a weird way. im not quite sure if i could explain it if i tried-- hes just an awful tangle of bad luck and bad decisions and even worse coping mechanisms that just makes a complete mess of who he is.

he does not have a character. which is to say, he is not a person. not narratively, at least. he's reactions to things around him, reactions to people around him-- everything about him is just completely detached from... Him. (walking tragedy, becoming a Role.) and, sure, a lot of it is that we just dont get the chance to see him due to the tight timing of those latter arcs, but it really does make you wonder... was he ever a person? did he ever get the chance? did he ever Live?

has he ever once really, truly smiled?

and. well. that's a complicated question, because the answer is. Maybe?

surprise! we have exactly One panel of him smiling as a kid! from one of the panels in gyomei's flashback. (hysterically, he only seems to have one bead on his necklace here, implying he got more somewhere, somehow, somewhen.) the question is just how genuine is this? how accurate? we just don't know. the mortifying ordeal of looking for character beats in. [ruffles pages around.] One panel of him smiling in the corner. sighs.

all that to say!! after all that, it really does feel like he just... hasn't been living. surviving, sure, but Living? everything we ever get to know of him is just, again, in response to something in an attempt to stay alive. and yeah, thats a good enough reason to live as any, but it really makes you wonder... what's he living for? what's he aiming for?

climbing the ranks to gain respect-- human and demon alike. but what then? is his reach for greater heights also just a response to protect himself? (nobody can take advantage of you if you take advantage of them first.) is this really what he wants? does he even know?

did he ever do anything other than try to get stronger? what is he like? does he have any hobbies? favorite places to be? friends? (ha.) who is he? has he ever once truly smiled? who is he?

maybe its that casting off of any of that that really marked his narrative descent into being a Demon.

and like. all that really does make me wonder: could it have been different? was this all inevitable from the start? was it just a series of bad decisions that lead to this? was he really as alone as he thought he was-- as alone as he tried to tell himself he was? did anyone notice? could anyone have noticed? a lot of people sure didn't-- in and out of canon.

he's a horrible person. there's really no way to think twice about it. the question is, could he have changed? (theres something to be said about him and inevitability.)

which isnt to say "maybe if someone was nice to him he would be nice back <:)"

it's to say "someone needs to shove him down several flights of stairs repeatedly until he gets the fucking hint."

the problem is that he's utterly incapable of taking accountability for his actions-- and responds to that by pinning the blame on others and completely alienating himself further in the process. he just refuses to acknowledge others as People-- they're either below him and not worth his time, or a threat he needs to one-up in any way possible. (Everything is some sort of conflict. he's always been alone, in his mind.)

what happens if something forces him to acknowledge others as People? breaks that view of the way things should be that he clings onto? that the people he's seen as "worthless" never really were? that those "threats" were often people just trying their best to make it-- and often trying to help Others make it as well? or in other cases... that they were often fearful people taking it out on others as an excuse to feel in control?

what happens if he understands what he's missing-- and where he's going?

would he be able to recognize that in himself? would he have it in him to overcome everything he is to turn away from the familiarity of how he thought the world worked and look to the unknown? does he think he deserves it? does he care? and crucially...

he's always been someone who had nothing to lose. what happens if, suddenly, he does?

[justablah56]

*sighs* tell me about your fursona /lh /pos

ok first off- Vik is that you 👁️👁️ you're the only one who I know has seen my fursona recently sbjsjdjs either that or it's rae who saw it on your blog and didn't interact w it so I wouldn't think it was him if they went on anon lmao- but methinks its vik

okay now I'm gonna actually answer- bUT INSERT THAT ONE ENTRAPTA MEME- THE "IVE WAITED Y E A R S FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ABOUT MY THEORIES" YEAH THATS ME RN- anon I am looking at you with my big ol autistic eyes that are sparkling with this 10 minute unstoppable rant that is about to occur (✧⁠ω⁠✧⁠)

SO ! ampen right ? my little guy ? my baby girl ? my beloved ? I'm gonna talk mostly abt their physical design than their other details bcs I have more notes abt their physical appearance than anything :]

I have no idea what they are, I kinda just started drawing her abhdjsjsj but I think the two most notable animals he could conceivably be are probably a fox and a dragon of some sort (original I know) however I do want to give an honorable mention to my first draft of them, bcs goddamn I changed a lot abt her bsjdhsjjs. at first he was just completely a dog but I decided to give them those 3 fingered claw/hoof things, here's the very sketchy guy herself who inspired Ampen:

yeah snndjsn basically the only thing that stayed the same was the vague color scheme and the "hooves" changed from the hands to the feet. a lot of ampens physical design was just cool things I saw in other fursuits that I thought would be cool, like I just loooove the hoof feet, they look v cool and I just like them a lot, so I included them ! (I didn't in my first real drawing of ampen but then I did on their character sheet) same with the tail, I'm p sure at the time of ampens actual creation I had recently seen a dragon fursuit with that kind of tail and was obsessed with it, I tried so many different tails for him and none of them were looking quite right until I tried their current tail, and I love it . the dragon bit also comes out in her muzzle, it's a bit more pointed and sharp than a canine muzzle would be, again mostly just bcs I think it looks neat :] and I knew I wanted my fursona to have big ol ears from the very beginning, I didn't put them on ampen-rough-draft bcs I didn't start with the intent for him to be my fursona sbjdjdjs but anyways- the fur pattern took me a while to come up with, I started with just vague splotches of color in random spots, messed around with specific colors, I don't think I decided on the pink stitch mark things until like- the very end dnjsjjd I have no idea where I came up with it , I was just trying random things and hoping they looked right lmao-

I gave them glasses bcs . I have glasses . and I think it's cute and there aren't enough furrys with glasses :3 then added the piercings bcs I think they look cool and that's really it bajshjejskwks

anyways , now for the couple things that aren't visible on a drawing, I imagine her being like 5'4 MAX , he's pretty short . mostly bcs I am v short and plan to actually make ampen, and that's a height I could realistically get to accounting for the ears hdjwjdjjejdke anyways, I don't really have many other little facts about them since they're basically just me personality-wise, so make of that what you will ! I will however GLADLY answer more specific questions if you (or anyone else 👀) have them bcs it will give me an excuse to come up with answers abhdjsjdjsjjd

anyways- this is all to say that I'm in love with Ampens design and I really should draw him more often and also probably just develop them more tbh- BUT ! ty v much anon for enabling me to ramble about Ampen, they're my most specialest little guy and I love her <33

[nulltune]

lynnnn will u tell us how u first got attached to hakuno and what u like the most about her <3 i want to hear it since i respect urs and ur appreciations for her sm

UBUBUBUBU THANK U FOR THIS ASK TSUN!!!! I LOVE TALKING ABT HAKUNO AT ANY CHANCE EVER (U KNOW DIS.. IM SURE!!!) SO TY FOR ENABLING ME HEHE ❤️ ofc i will tell u!!!! u could ask me for my credit card numbers and i'd give it 2 u.... 🥺 VDKCHS /J!!! BUT OKOK RAMBLE TIME 4 ME--

not to be dramatic but i remember the first time i saw hakuno so well..... i was scrolling thru instagram when i saw this fanart of sir gilbert gamesh with her (too lazy to search it up rn but it was him whispering sth to her and her laughing!) and no joke, my first thought was who is this mysmes mc looking girl- I WANT TO PUNCH MY PAST SELF SO HARD FOR THINKING THAT BTW. i had vvv limited of fate at the time and only watched the fate/zero anime but i knew gilgamesh is a hard person to get along with (putting it lightly) so i got intrigued at that point. i literally just looked thru her wiki tho ngl. it was when i read a transcript(?) of the fate/extra here and that's when i fell in so deep!!! literally read it all in one go aND BOYYYYY THE FRIKKIN ENDING MAN, THE ENDING!!!!! WHY DONT PPL TALK ABT IT MORE IT LEFT SUCH AN IMPRESSION ON MEEE I WAS IN SHAMBLES 😭😭 i wasn't even playing on getting into ccc but i was in Desperate Need of more hakuno content so.. i read it all the next day. and i loved it!! idk if i was full on Hakuno Luvr at that moment tho, but i liked her a lot 🥺 started actively looking for fanart and even read some fanfic of her too VSJFBSJFJJ (i proceed 2 realize that this is a hella long ramble that does not answer ur q) HMM I DON'T THINK THERE WAS A SPECIFIC MOMENT THAT WAS MY HAKUNO SIMP REALIZATION THO... i fell in love over time <3

but i will say, writing her def gave me a newfound appreciation for her!! i feel like i've 100% gotten a better understanding of her from writing her (tho that's also bc i do be writing her hc-based... ehe☆) and i feel like you could relate to this too tsunniepoo, which is how- you really come to appreciate them for what they Can be too, not just how they were in canon (US WITH YQ HAKUNO BOND TOO BTW 🥺🥺). rping her contributes to that too!!

WHAT I LIKE MOST ABT HER THO..... THATS A HELLA TOUGH QUESTION TSUN!!!! SGFJDHDH IT'D BE FASTER TO ASK ME WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABT HER NGL! skelly asked me this once too (before my thanos snap clean up 😳) and UUUUU THIS IS STILL SUCH A TOUGH Q!!!! i love her as a character so much..... she's so complex and unique, her character development is top notch and the way the cast and the story all play a role in it is just so -CHEF KISS- she is not a static character!!! so much development too, it makes me sad how extella pretty much forgets all of it 😭 but i'm gettin a lil sidetracked here!! i love her as a person toooo i love her personality!! she's so entertaining to follow, i love seeing how she responds to the situations she finds herself and i love!!! Her!!!! BUT IF FORCED 2 ANSWER...... i think my answer would be....

her heart 🥺 which you can really see in my portrayal, i hope!! her interactions with julius is one of my fav things in fate extra Ever, especially when the arena was all messed up and it was pretty much fuuuull of julius's hatred for hakuno but hakuno still kept going on and even tried to understand julius in spite of that!! i love how hakuno literally lost consciousness (even her servant got super worried!! it was That serious!!) just by being there but when she regains her consciousness, all she could focus on was julius's memory she'd just seen and how he seemed to be suffering. and then how the whole time she was just concerned abt julius.... says so much abt her character imo and i love it lots!!! really like how hakuno has been shown time and time again to knowingly risk herself for someone else's benefit and how a huuge thing in extra is always hakuno discovering those very compassionate and human values even when she starts out all hollow and empty :,)

the way she treats others and the morals and values she learns hits soo deep to me and personally really makes me feel some kinda way.. (a good way!) something something she was in a cruel and vicious environment and found out that her entire existence doesn't matter but still has a heart that's big enough to think of others and choose to hold onto kindness to the very end..... 😭😭❤️ veeery interesting too, because it's almost like a parallel to twice, who hakuno could've very much become if she didn't have a heart like hers! (that's a whole nother topic thooo <3) i feel like this trait of hers is soooo important, i really wish ppl noticed it more, it really sucks to not really see much (if not any) of it in extella </3 it's what makes her bonds and connections so realistic and unique imo, and that's my fav thing abt fate extra ;_; it's vvvv natural and not plot-contrived at all, really feels like two individuals developing a genuine bond. ofc it's not Just this character trait that makes me love hakuno...... there is sm to love abt her!!! there are many many little things that make hakuno hakuno that make me luvs her ❤️

[baeshijima]

in fucking tears rn.

[spoilers for artems second anniv story UTC !!]

[also, heres the link to the tl !! once again ty jin for ur services that make me sob every time ;w;]

I JUST READ THE SECOND ANNIV CARD FOR ARTEM AGAIN AND IM SOBBING ITS SO EMOTIONALLY TOUCHING AND HHFSDGFJLSKDFGADKJFSLKFJ 

THE FACT HE SAID HE STARTED BECOMING OBSESSED BC OF THE LACK OF REASSURANCE THAT MC HAS OTHER OPTIONS WHILE HE WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY CHOOSE HER EVERY SINGLE TIME WITHOUT FAIL AND THE FACT HE ENGRAVED THE GERMAN WORD FOR YEARNING - SENHSUCHT - ON THE ENGAGEMENT RING IS JUST SO???? SO !!!!! SO <3333333

ALSO LOOK HOW FUCKING STUNNING CELESTINE IS LIKE BRO IM SO HAPPY FOR HER AND JEREMY WTF IM CRYING EVEN MORE AGAINDHFDS 😭😭

AND PLS I LOVE THEIR INTERACTIONS SM

AND HERE !!

I SOBBED SO LOUD WHEN THIS CG POPPED UP LIKE HYV MY G WHAT DO U THINK UR DOING WITH THIS HE LOOKS SO GOODOJFDBHS 😭

AND THEN THEY PULL THIS

SIR I WOULD SAY YES IN A HEARTBEAT I HATE U

AND THIS PART IS WHAT I MEANT WITH THE OBSESSION

Artem: “Y/N, I am deeply certain that I will not love anyone else other than you. But in the depths of my heart, I would still subconsciously think, that you will always have a choice, and yet forever, I… will only choose you.”

Artem: “As this thought progress along time, it caused my... sense of reassurance to gradually decrease, and led into an obsession.”

Artem: “People are always very greedy, and upon confirming each other’s feelings, I wanted to be on a more intimate terms with you… So I was obsessed with the change in identities, it’s as though the change of way of addressing each other can allow us to become even closer.”

mc, literally after tugging on his tie to pull artem closer to her in the elevator: “Artem, you said earlier that you wanted us to be on an even more “intimate terms”... Then is the intimacy you wanted is just something of this extent? By merely a switch of identities?”

artem, after regaining his fucking composure: “No… How could it possibly be just these… What I wanted, is no longer just these since long ago.”

Artem: “I’ve said this in the past, that you’re someone I could encounter but could never ask for, and I will always be waiting for you just one step away [Artem mutters as he sticks close to me, that his scorching breaths pours onto me, causing a turmoil in my heart.] But I regret it now, I realized that rather than waiting passively, I wanted to proactively make you mine.”

Artem: “Y/N, I yearn for everything of yours.”

MC:”……”

 MC: “There's no need to stay somewhere a step away anymore… If there’s something that you want, just ask from me all you want.”

THE WAY SHES ENABLING HIM SMDBFDKJSDFL

Artem: “Can I push my greed a little further?”

sHUT UP. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

u little shit.

artem, right after biting her fucking neck: “Promise me, to only gaze at me from now on… Don’t let unimportant people be in your mind, I’ll be sad. Don’t leave me forever, and remain by my side.”

INCHORRENT SCREECHING I HATE HIM SO MUCH

also this is him talking abt the ring and why he designed it the way he did and !!!

Artem: “I've purposely designed the shape of this moon, it forms into a meaning where the sun and moon are in each other's company. It means... we are just like the sun and moon that rotates on our own, but we are also uncontrollably attracted towards each other.”

literally shut up u cant just switch like that after the evolved card cg and say cute shit like that. why are u so cute gdi i hate u sm /affectionate, unfortunately ;w;

ALSO THIS

Artem: “The size of the ring is something I've secretly measured while you were asleep. There were quite a few times I was worried that you would wake up halfway, it's even more thrilling than my first time in court.”

THIS WAS SO FUNNY TO ME I KEEP CRYING OVER THIS HES SODBFJDH ??!??!”£?£$”?£%

overall, 8-turned-ninety-degrees-so-its-infinity/10. i would pay for this card but unfortunately have to wait a year. revisiting youth temmie, ancient china temmie, android temmi and second anni temmie i will have u at any and all costs that dont require money bc i am broke hahahdghs <333

[catboysamatokiaohitsugi]

what if u told us abt ur hades s/i ... 😌💞 .... haha just kidding ,,, unless ? 😳👉🏽👈🏽

Oh I certaintly couldn’t do that!! It would be far too controversial,,,, I mean think of all the rumours !! 😳

OK FOR REAL I SAID THIS BEFORE I WILL SAY IT AGAIN TY FOR ALWAYS ENABLING ME FOR S/I STUFF ILY HAVE GOOD DAY N MY FIRST BORN AKA MY FIRST POKÉMON BABDBDNW

SO !! Their name is Macaria n like the actual goddess they are based off, they are also the sibling of Zagreus, child of Hades n the god of blessed death !! (Would put goddess but yknow-) they sometimes send off some souls for a more fortunate fate which is them sending the souls to a less torteous part of hell n basically in a sense a blessed death because hey less suffering? Or something fjnfnfnf (basically like if they were to be put in a more lower tier of hell Macaria is like ‘nah I like how you look imma put you to a higher tier n since i have no clue how the levels of hell work in the game I’m just gonna presume lower tiers = more suffering,,, kinda like the 10 courts of hell in Chinese folklore)

When they aren’t sending off these special souls to their ‘blessed’ death, they usually take care of the archives of hell n record important shit But that doesn’t happen very often cause besides the death there’s not much that goes on until their big bro decides to,, yknow leave n stuff. In terms of gameplay they give zagreus a boon to choose from at the start of every new stage n they also don’t have a boss battle with him !! You can also see them just kinda chilling in the lounge or playing with Cerberus (which is where you can talk to/gift them) n half of their dialogue is just them asking Zagreus if he’d like for them to take him nearer to the sorta surface of hell but he says no because if he did say yes there wouldn’t be a story-

Honestly as much as they are really upset over zagreus wanting to leave, a larger part of them is just fucking pissed that he didn’t want them to go along with him to escape to Olympus n stuff. The saltiness n sadness aside though they still on good terms with Zagreus which is good for both of them I think :’3

Also their hair is black just like Zagreus’ n Hades’ but theirs also blonde streaks in it too because of their lineage n stuff but that’s spoiler territory

[justsomeantifas]

its 11:59 its still technically tonight so

this is gonna be my reference point to questions abt venezuela, at least regarding things pre- May 19 2019. Its a bit scattered and it may get edited down along the road, but yeah.

short version that draws some similar conclusions: https://www.salon.com/2019/05/17/the-plot-to-kill-venezuela_partner/

one difference in scales that’s important to keep in mind: the lifespan of people is 2-7 decades. the lifespan of colonialism lasts centuries. the lifespan of media memory is a couple years, tops.

Most western narratives of venezuela start meaningfully at chavez, which is a mistake. The focus point in history around which the country flowed was the Caracazo. You probably already know about this, but a massive uprising took place in the heart of Caracas, against decades of dictatorship both formal and informal, after severe instability in the global oil market. The people were hungry, the riots were fiery, and the bullets bled. knows the death toll even now, but its estimated well into the thousands.  This happened pre-chavez, and started a cascade of events which brought him into limelight that you can read about here. not gonna go into more venezuelan history, but i talk a bit more here

chavez was democratically elected, multiple times.

   in 2002, after his first democratic election, he was kidnapped by US-backed troops and replaced by someone who threw out the 1999 constitution, which was as legitimate as any other made in venezuela’s colonial and violently capitalist history, seeing as it was the first (aka only, so far) of 26 constitutions actually approved by popular referendum. He was reinstated largely due to massive protests in support of him. Maduro however doesn’t really have as much of the charisma and support of chavez, which is creating problems - as well as exacerbating problems created by the economic crises ramping up just around chavez’s death. In 2015, there were elections to the National Assembly, which ended up with the Opposition winning a majority of the seats (which does show that there’s some degree of fairness in the elections, at least verifiably up til that point, yet that isnt rly accounted for when western media describes it as “undemocratic” - many of whom don’t apply the same scrutiny to their own country: such as this UN Human Rights councilor who also happens to be the crown prince of british-iraq, currently residing in the noted democracy of the Kingdom of Jordan, which has no vested interest or control over any particular export of Venezuela.).        

This turnout showed most of all that maduro had alienated as many as 2 million of his supporters, who didnt end up voting (though many also voted against him - trying to act on their feeling that whatever they want, its “not this”). This decreasing support also accelerates whats known as “Everyday Sabotage” - people not trusting in the government, and look out for their own interests contra everyone else. This is a danger inherent to tying “Socialism” to a primarily state project.       

However 1999 Constitution was never meant as an eternal document & it created mechanisms to call for new popular constitutional referendums to be held. That’s what the “Constituent Assembly” is about, which is what a lot of the western world is describing as him singlehandedly rewriting it (while also being “vague about its contents”), or “created by him”. Elections to the constituent assembly were boycotted by opposition, so that it would be government controlled & look like a sham in the eyes of the broader world. That being said, the assembly was called both as a reaction to losing election but also in response to intensifying crises - it was put forth (i don’t see any reason to believe in bad faith) as a way to come together and figure out how to address the needs that were driving people to protest - to address the desire for “not this”, but bc of the uncertainty, it was easily twistable by reactionaries by putting all emphasis on the former. Also timing corresponds with increasing fears of maduro straying from the path of chavez, the image of scrapping one of his strongest plays for smth unknown is risky - tho if there are other meaningful options given the situation im not sure. And the body’s got at least as much constitutional legitimacy as Guaido  (Chapter III)  

The 1999 constitution also enabled a recall election to be called against maduro in 2016, bc it was written with particular attention to holding public officials accountable - similar noble commitments helped to end the presidency of Rousseff & bring in Bolsonaro (who was also one of the people spurring on the investigations and whipping up a social base).

     (speaking of guaido & bolsonaro)

on Guaido:

part of student group in 2007 protesting against non-renewal of coup-assisting network, who the CFR (one of the major think tanks of the cold war still playing a big role in foreign policy today) considered “most important network”   

close friend of Leopoldo Lopez, the aforementioned coup plotter.

politician since 2010, won a couple small elections

Unknown to majority of general population until 2019, most venezuelans surveyed didnt know him   

Plan Pais       

plans to privatize state owned industry & allow investment from foreign oil companies       

center-right neoliberal draped in platitudes of “stability”, “revitalization”, “security”, and “rescue” - a message seemingly deliberately targeted to become more and more resonant with increased sanctions.

/on Guaido

governing is about the expression of power. I wanna live in a world where that power isn’t expressed, but as long as the exploitation of the global working class continues unabated, id prefer some of that power be put towards helping the poor.     

there is no such thing as a static state of affairs, there’s no “goldilocks zone” out in the political universe where we tweak things finely until we find whats best for everyone, only different rates of change in different dimensions. what we need to do is figure out how we can push that state of affairs in a direction so that everyday people have the power to take control of their lives. re

re: “constitutionality” - if the supreme court calls it constitutional then its constitutional. period. There’s no such thing as a supreme court as an “independent branch” of government, but there are different degrees of integration into the rest of it.       

The Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela has 32 members, (a bit more than a dozen put in by the national assembly, while the PSUV held it), and the opposition holds abt 3 away from a supermajority. Each member of the court holds their spot for 12 years. If that’s “The Most Corrupt In The World” according to Transparency International, i wonder what world the 9-person lifetime-appointed US Supreme Court (2 of which appointed by trump, and save for pulling a Weekend At Ginsbergs, likely 3) is on. In fact, one of the tactics that the more radical circles of democrat voters are putting forward is to pack the Supreme Court. Because thats how shit actually gets done, or at the least how shit is prevented from being committed w the stamp of legality. FDR learned that lesson too, in trying to pass what is today known as “The New Deal”

My comparisons to trump are for specific end: these actions are exerted on levers of liberal democracy, and every single liberal democracy is susceptible to them in some ways.

whats a “dictator”? if hes unelected, the millions of people who participated in the elections dont seem to think so. if maduro is a dictator, then what is donald trump? the majority of ppl didnt vote for him yet hes still governing. macron’s popularity has at several points been less than 1/3, and the yellow vest protestors have been violently attacked - why is he not “a violent dictator with only the support of the military”? These terms are not neutral.

“their elections are highly flawed” So What? show me a country whose elections arent.   

“opposition jailed” - ok but coup plotters don’t get off easy in any liberal democracy. If someone - say Bernie Sanders - said “enough is enough” and succeeded in overthrowing the current government with the help of a foreign government…. you think they’d let him go free? what if ten years later he was getting his supporters all riled up to do it again? how long you think he’d be in jail for (assuming he can survive well into his 100’s)? You think more than 13 years? Think he’d get house arrest? Some US states lock you up for posessing weed up to 10. If you stay long enough around this blog, youll find plenty of other examples of much more cruel and unusual punishments. Look at Chelsea Manning, look at Oscar Riviera…   look at the US protestors saying Guaido is illegitimate

 what we have to keep in mind most of all, is to show that the contradictions being exploited are inherent to Liberalism. Contradictions are just expressed most freely at the margins - the interstices

poor economic decisions happen everywhere - 2008/2009 still affecting the entire world there’s violence thats “natural”, and violence thats “intolerable”. The dividing line is whether we have anything to gain by changing things.

sanctions:    started under obama, originally targeted specific individuals, used as precedent for more generalized. They’re indirect - they have a “squeezing effect”, takes already-existing problems & just makes them markedly worse. also doesn’t necessarily correlate with emigration, bc it takes a lot of money to start a new life somewhere else, and sanctions disproportionately affect the poor.   

war wouldnt likely look like (many) US boots on the ground - we’ve got plenty of other places to be. It’d look like guns being smuggled to counter-protestors. It’d look like sending resources to neighboring countries like Colombia or Brazil who would then use their troops. Colombias ruling party is right wing populists - much of current president’s campaign was run on fearmongering abt venezuelan socialism - they’re raring to go. It’d look like drones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracas_drone_attack. Also means there likely won’t be a sudden trigger, its a gradually escalating stressful gradually-more-warlike situation.  

If war does break out - where would the refugees go?  In reality the majority would go to Colombia, but if anything significant breaks out there will be a stream of those looking to find shelter in the US, which has advertised itself as a beacon of hope - what would happen to them? some may get taken in as a gesture of showmanship, but nowhere close to the majority.   

speaking of the US - imagine if trump and bolton manage to actually plot a winning coup. Do you think that that wont be his main bullwark against ppl like Bernie? you think the media and rest of the democratic party wont jump on that narrative and “begrudgingly” support a fascist because the alternative might mean supporting single payer and not-having-good-for-ratings-climate-apocalypse?

another term thrown around without regard is “once vibrant” - for whom?

most articles ive seen just take this as an axiom, and dont find any cognitive dissonance when also saying chavez reduced poverty hugely.

 The answer to that rhetorical question: Citgo is venezuelan, before chavez none of the wealth went back to venezuela - thats what “vibrancy” means.  

     many similarities with BP (the-artist-formerly-known-as-the-anglo-iranian-oil-company)

in age of climate change & vocal ppl about phasing out oil, the more one’s livelihood is connected to oil, the more unstable ones country will be - either that, or the more instability ones country will cause.

“Oil exports fell by $2,200 per capita from 2012 to 2016, of which $1,500 was due to the decline in oil prices.”  

The drop in price that affected the venezuelan economy so much in 2014 was largely by US shale fracking

in 1970’s Chile, copper was the main product of Chile - allende nationalized the mines, and in return wall street dropped the

(also worth noting that venezuela’s got non-insignificant untapped shale basins)      

At least venezuela used the oil money to fund social programs instead of like, pad the pockets of Raytheon.

also oil price wars in africa highly correlated w oil (whose annual production doesn’t even combined total venezuelas)

a couple ppl have raised concerns abt my strong stance on equivocal dismissal - if there’s a difference, if there’s some way of reading your statement that says “X country that the State Dept wants to invade is an anomoly in the otherwise free world”, then that’s acting to push the discourse towards normalization & invasion. It’s not “whataboutism”, just basic consistency.   

now more than ever, narratives are affected by people. They may not be ones we had a hand in forging, but the way that we propagate them actually does have measurable effects on the larger-scale political outcomes. Always look for the base assumptions, as well as the direction   

sure denounce Chavez. sure denounce Maduro. denounce Kim, Xi, Castro, anyone. But if there’s no equally or proportionally loud denunciations of the horrors perpetrated by allies - the “assumed”, “natural” violence, then you’re acting to reinforce the narrative of exceptionalism.   

Just make sure after you take a breath, you denounce Saudi Arabia & Yemen, Israel for Palestine, the conditions which brought Argentinian/Brazillian, Brazilian coup, the US for Puerto Rico, the conditions which have murdered dozens of journalists in Mexico per year…  

what people want most of all is stability. “A debate over whether it is mismanagement and corruption by the Maduro government or the sanctions that are the author of the crisis is largely irrelevant. The point is that a combination of the reliance on oil revenues and the sanctions policy has crushed the policy space for any stability in the country.”

government’s errors and tensions   

fixed exchange rate -> black market      

took 5 years to address changing relation between dollar & BsF, all the room between those two curves left a huge room for intensifying crises, though since it also corresponds with the death of chavez, it sorta makes sense.   

antidemocratic actions and remarks by maduro  

scattered responses filled w half-solutions   

diversification needed, but how do you diversify an economy filled with rampant poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy… 

(nominally begrudging) support for mineral extraction 12.4% of territory opened to extraction - “Special Economic Zone” as a method of managing decay       

this is also what much of the reality of “economic diversification” looks like

not enough socialism. (even fox agrees!) Venezuela shows the limits of Social Democracy in countries living outside of the Imperial Core - esp the dangers if you’re in the crosshairs already bc of oil         

started out as populism, gradually grew as confronted more.            shows shaping influence on political organs from actions of foreign actors - if you’ve survived a coup before, you’re gonna become paranoid about any more of them - especially when the coup plotters say “hey lets do more coups”       

also shows the weakness of only having a small number of charasmatic faces representing the movement - if one dies and theres no clear and popular replacement, then you’ll lose ppl who were largely brought in by the charisma, weakening your political project, and creating cracks for reactionary forces to take advantage of - especially in times of transition.       

bourgeoisie still control a majority of the economy.            Capitalist businesses are internally unaccountable, and in this age of intensified global trade, one can punish countries for straying from the pack by moving business & focus away. If you’re looking for dictatorships, look at the thousands of private companies run as dictatorships daily       

capital flight is a real effect, precisely because socialism is fundamentally and irreconcilably against the self-interest of the bourgeoisie. not necessarily against the interest of the humans-who-are-also-bourgeois, but of the impersonal self-sustaining force of capital.           

Have you ever pulled something out of an electrical socket, and seen a quick spark? The reason that occurs is bc of what’s called an induction current, which is a fancy physics word for flowing electricity not liking to suddenly change its flow. If you accidentally touch that spark, you might feel it, but youll live to tell the tale. But if you only take the plug out halfway & touch it, that’s a different story.  Capital flows similarly.

   my country (lithuania) has been facing sky-high emigration since the collapse of the USSR (with an added boost after 08-09), we have also consistently had one of the highest suicide rates in the world (#7), a minimum wage of about 3 Euros an hour (after a recent increase), as well as one of the highest prison populations in Europe (discounting Russia & Belarus… which like….)   

when are we gonna be invaded? when will the US media talk about our pain?  

oh wait, they did. We cried all pretty for the TV cameras, then they got a bozo nobody really knew of to denounce the government, who they called dictatorial (though it was far from ideal, massive bureaucracies dont tend to mix well with single-person-decision-making). And to be fair, the fact that the government was unpopular wasnt entirely undeserved. But what was promised to us was the idea of “Freedom”, “Free Enterprise”; to “Get Rid of Corruption” and institute “Real” Democracy". They said we’d be integrated into the glorious capitalist west, and we understood that to mean that we’d be in the position of a Germany, or at least an Austria or smth. But they never meant to integrate us into the imperial Core, we have always been seen as part of the Periphery - the “assumed” violence that “naturally” happens.    

Then we got to where we our today. Some of the stuffs more available, but expensive. Most of the bureaucracy’s still around, it just helps fewer people. We stand as an example of what to expect, in one of the best case scenarios, you would join our emigrees now making up a significant percentage of underpaid house-servants aka maids across the EU.  

if we want the people of Venezuela to be healthy, safe, and fulfilled, then:

speak out and pointing to the effects of US sanctions is incredibly important. They’ve already killed 40,000 people in the last year, and 300,000 more are in extreme danger (and millions more in long-term risk).

what does it mean when you simultaneously sanction trade with a place but also demand they let you give them humanitarian aid?

if there is to be action taken by the international community, then the US has forfeited its right to speak. They threw it away once in 2002, and obama rhetorically picked it up and dusted it off so that trump could throw it in a bigger dumpster, thats also on fire. However we also still live in a world deeply shaped by US Hegemony, so the opinions of its close trade partners & closest-knit media buds should be seen as influenced as such. Doesn’t mean that theyre wrong on everything too, but they still feel the magnetic pull of the US economy and ecosystem (as well as their own potentially imperial interests) and the effect of that force cannot be discounted.

transitioning our economies away from oil & away from globalized neoliberalism which only values peripheral states by their exports - dissolves tensions of how to produce in unproductive terrain   

socialize medicine in the US, so that drug companies run by dictatorships can’t control their lives & ours. healthcare is especially reliant on imports, sanctions affect especially strongly.  

normalize the ideas of Socialism, without taking the easy way out of “oh no dont think of Venezuela, think of sweden or denmark”. None of them are Socialist, but to avoid the complexities of Venezuela is to imagine that US attempts at socialism wouldn’t involve significant capital flight. If we don’t consider that, if we don’t have solid actionable plans to deal with that, while also facing the inherent complexity of changing material conditions, then we’re gonna waste whatever shot we get.   

redirect conversation normally centered around government towards support of the tens of thousands of small business co-operatives, where people live their daily lives in a democratic manner.

on The Communes:

    “delegating responsibility throughout all members, and bringing important decisions to the whole to work through and find the best possible solution… They create “collective criteria” together; agreements stipulating whether individuals have power over certain decisions or whether it is up to the whole group. However, he assures that these “are not rigid, they can change at any moment.” The cooperative I lived with in Venezuela had regular organizational meetings where they informally came to agreement and were even able to come back to re-evaluate decisions that didn´t seem to be satisfactory for the whole group in this same way. Decisions and decision making, in this way, are viewed as a process not contained by meetings and discussions in board rooms, but are always being analyzed and made better by the process of putting them into action, and not only by thinking them out and writing them down.”

- the “Self Government of the Producers” - aka what it looks like for cooks to govern.   

they have communal councils as well - neighborhood councils in the same vein that so many (rightfully) find inspiring in Kurdistan . They preexisted chavez, but they were able to proliferate and be given legal recognition through him. I understand that legal recognition can act to ‘name’ a body & pin it to smth that doesn’t match its requisite variety - how dynamic it is, but imo as its currently legislated it recognizes a good amount of the autonomy that they had already been excersizing. - liable to change                                government recognition of co-ops has drawbacks too, and correlates negatively with that coop’s success           

           "A good example of this intention is the de-emphasis that cooperatives in Venezuela put on advertising or “marketing” products, and instead push to find more people to become part of the cooperative, and choose the services or products they provide based on community decisions about what is needed. A cooperative I worked in […] was originally a family owned and operated theater group that traveled around the country performing theater pieces that highlighted social and environmental issues. When they joined the […] cooperative, the larger co-op did an analysis and decided they wanted a natural fruit juice concentrate producer and gave the group a loan to acquire capital and start producing. They have been doing this for only a couple of years now but have already paid back the loan to the larger cooperative and are bringing extra money in to support themselves, better their services, and supply extra funds to the larger cooperative for community projects such as the recently [2012] built community health center…                  

The cooperative services I experienced and learned about in Venezuela were health, dental, food, and a separate example of trash services. A dental cooperative […] provides quality dental services (I know because I used them) almost every day for affordable prices. You don´t have to be a member of the cooperative, and you don´t have to make an appointment. It takes only a couple of hours, and emergency situations are treated with urgency. The health center, built with funds provided by all the associated cooperatives[…], works the same way. Anyone can go there, the services are subsidized by the cooperative so they are affordable, the clinic and workspaces are clean and well taken care of, and the quality of the service is great. Worker-members of the cooperative receive health care at the facility without charge except for the massage and acupuncture services that they also provide at a really low price.

           […] food services are priced to provide more access to food for the community in which it exists. The original and persistent intention is to make the best situation for people on all ends of the process. The producers are part of the cooperative and are part of the group that decides the prices that growers get, as well as the prices that the food is sold for. This means that both farmers and workers at the market decide what to charge a person, which ultimately affects how much money the growers receive, as well as if the food is affordable for the people who need to eat who live in the city. In a normal capitalist market system these parties are separated and put up against each other, raising prices for consumers and lowering them for small producers, excluding those people from getting enough money to afford all the necessities that are typically only provided at a high price.

           One communal council, a parallel governing organization of community members linked to investment funds from the national government, in the city of Merida, Venezuela organized themselves to get funds to buy a trash collection truck. The truck at the time was used for a specific waste removal project that removed waste from their community regularly but was not a traditional collection service. However, they did have plans to expand the project to start their own collection service, and this would be provided by the commal council, an anti-capitalist organization which does not require people to pay for the service. Although this is not a “co-operative” as some hardliner co-operative enthusiasts might point out, it is a horizontal anti-capitalist organization widening access of necessary services to the larger community run by community members; following cooperative values of equity, inclusion, and solidarity I believe this to be an example of cooperative economics and action. It appears to me that economic inclusion is much more likely to widen only when those who are being excluded are included in the process of organizing the services and are in control of the economy.“

until the communes, workers cooperatives, and the like are strong enough to rule themselves, having Maduro in power is the only option given to us which doesn’t trigger the control of reactionaries. People make their own history, but not in situations of their choosing - the exact outcome isn’t predetermined, but there’s only a limited number of poles - gravitational attractors - towards which that trajectory is heading at any particular time.   

if maduro acts to squash the power of the communes, then thats a different situation. but until that point, we outside of the country must work to center any discussion on these bodies - they are the heart of the country and of whatever social revolution has occurred/is further possible. They are filled with lessons for us to learn from, and show how rich and dynamic the organized populace can be if they are allowed to control their communities. (ex of dealing with gang violence from @ 22:50)       

This is all said with recognition that many chavistas have acted against communes, the bureaucratic machine acts to co-opt much of their energy, its linguistically obscured the concept of "ownership” with that of “control”, and that the state has changed its messages over time. But the heart of the communes is what’s a priority, and they have acted against the government overstepping its bounds & mis-identifying them. But whats important is that there’s a feedback process in the gvt to actually allow them to assert their autonomy. Liberals will do their utmost to close those channels.

   If Guaido and the Popular Will take control of power, be assured that whatever gains made in organizing the everyday people of Venezuela will be at the top of the chopping block. How effective that suppression turns out to be is undetermined - it might turn out to strengthen the communes, but that outcome would be damage control, not something to try and bullseye.

Effective Propaganda knows that its more effective to control what’s left out than control what’s put in. Keep that in mind, and study trajectories and forces.

other links:

https://next.podbay.fm/podcast/1363342644/e/1551711604

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voc08vh9cJY

https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/21/a-cowboy-in-caracas/

https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/the-tragedy-of-venezuela/

https://www.multpl.com/venezuela-gdp

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/04/fivethirtyeights-venezuela-problem

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-venezeulas-middle-class-is-taking-to-the-streets/

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/bjkmq8/fiery-protest-leader-leopoldo-lopez-faces-13-year-sentence-in-venezuela

https://potent.media/minimum-sentencing-for-marijuana-possession

https://www.thoughtco.com/core-and-periphery-1435410

https://popularresistance.org/building-the-commune-radical-democracy-in-venezuela/

http://www.antiwar.com/regions/regions.php?c=Venezuela

[heavenzdivide]

tagged by bell @tokayhk :>>> ily ty for enabling my procrastination <3

last:

drink: malk 

phone call: my lesbian friend 2 ask her abt her onion on ed sheeran (she passionately hates him lol)

text message: lol-ing at an anti ed sheeran meme my lesbian friend sent me LOL

song you listened to: i can do better frm avril lavigne’s 2007 album ..... u can tell i lost it vnjgbjdfk

time you cried: UUUUUUH last nite bc i went 2 bed at like 5am and i was alone w my thoughts rip 

have you ever:

dated someone twice: yeah i started falling out of love w pharah bt then i bought ovw, so i was morally obligated 2 feel for th characters again .

been cheated on: no lol 

kissed someone and regretted it: nah 

lost someone special: no lol 2x 

been depressed: LOL HOW DO I ANSWER THIS .. 

been drunk and thrown up: omg honey do u want 2 talk 

in the past year have you:

made a new friend: ive talked 2 more ppl bc of esp*rtz lol

fallen out of love: bye compulsory het fictional crushes

laughed until you cried: nah bt until it hurt 2 breathe 

met someone who changed you: nah all th ppl who have changed my life ive known for a while alr (ie bell for 2yrs x)

found out who your true friends are: sure lol

found out someone was talking about you: like? in good/neutral intentions? yeah 

general:

how many people on tumblr do you know in real life?: a lot of my irl friends have tmblrs bt i basically dont follow any of them lol 

do you have any pets?: no :(

do you want to change your name?: no, i like not having doubles 

what time did you wake up this morning: 6am?

what were you doing last night: discording one of my online friends ^^

name something you cannot wait for: to live w my bffl. and get a dog and tortoise

have you ever talked to a person named tom?: ya bt tht was like. eons ago in a phase i dont like thinking abt LMAO 

what’s getting on your nerves right now: im not doin my flashcards! BITCH!

blood type: red

nickname: myl/myles/lins

relationship status: i love sleeping 

zodiac sign: capricorn u__u unfortunate

pronouns: they/he :>

favorite show: HANNIBAL.... GOD IT WILL NEVER BE PICKED UP AGAIN LOL 

college: ???????????????????

hair color: green. like a pine green crayola pencil 

do you have a crush on someone: sleeping 

what do you like about yourself: ............ me when i feel like dressing up ig. my hairs cool ig tho someone called my ac character w green hair like me jared leto so im like . k

firsts:

first surgery: no 

first piercing: no im scared of piercings ;;

first sport you joined: no 

first vacation: ??? prob visiting arizona for family 

first pair of sneakers: im an unathletic gay, i have converse

right now:

eating: i wish cheesecake :(

drinking: my body constantly cries 2 save itself frm dehydration. bt no 

i’m about to: do my flashcards... HOPEFULLY 

listening to: harb streaming dark souls feelsgood

want kids: no, i dont feel like i have th right personality/stamina/patience for kids. theyre cool tho !

get married: sure, id use th wedding ceremony as an excuse 2 be festive and extra vngfjdvk

career: art? illustration? game design? ??????

which is better:

lips or eyes: lips are cute like..... they can have lipstick or gloss or chapstick or nothing idc ... im usually fine w eye contact bt sometimes its 2 much 

hugs or kisses: maybe hugs jst bc i feel comfortable hugging more ppl than kissing them 

shorter or taller: ........................ taller . which isnt 2 hard, im 5′2″ LOL

older or younger: ive dated both, idc. 

romantic or spontaneous: both are cute!

sensitive or loud: more sensitive, i get overloaded when things are loud smtimes. i feel talked over in a loud setting smtimes 2 

hookup or relationship: relationship, im th type 2 get attached lol 

troublemaker or hesitant: ............ idk bt no breaking th law

have you ever:

kissed a stranger: no !

drank hard liquor: whisky lemonade ?

lost contacts/glasses: i have both bt im only supposed 2 use my glasses as backup -_______- bt guess which bitch gets headaches all th time frm wearing them !

sex on first date: NOPE !

broken someone’s heart: oh my god yeah 

been arrested: for being 2 cute? bitch maybe 

turned someone down: no 

fallen for a friend: yeah lmao 

do you believe:

in yourself: no ! bitch 

miracles: maybe? ive done enough assignments down 2 th last minute and still get a decent grade 2 have some belief lol 

love at first sight: no! yes, only in cheesy lesbian ships! bt no!

[truebeats]

merry christmas i’m SOFT i love u all so much (& i’ve had tink on twitter fr over month months now thts so wild)

@knowrightnow  matty! i’m still super grateful that you dragged me into this show & told me that i should see it because? if i hadn’t had seen it, i don’t think we’d be as close friends as we are, and all of sloane is it my legs wouldn’t be a #squad so?? even just in THAT, you’ve done a lot for me. the way you write is honestly incredible and you put so much thought into all of the timelines & background research and you’ve developed sloane so much outside of what she was given. outside of rp though? you’re genuinely one of the nicest, kindest people i’ve ever been lucky enough to talk to & you’re always there for me (and all of us) whenever i need to rant & you’re always up to watch bad education at two in the morning (i’m making a bad education au as soon as i get on falco it’s the first thing that’s happening ty) & it was so GOOD to get to see you in october & i can’t wait to see u again in april hopefully!! ilysm <3 <3

@altarshine KITTY !! i’ve known you for almost? three years now which is so WILD (tbt when i was super intimidated by you)... you put so much into writing raven & i love her & you so much ... team falco siblings! i can’t wait to get to write with you again properly on tumblr (it’s what we Deserve) & honestly? without you and your muses so many of my muses would be nowhere NEAR as developed as they are (especially balaga, like at this point? without your fedya & your marya Who Is He), so i have to thank you for that !! i love u so much i’m so excited to get to write more with you & also? you’re one of the nicest people i have ever met..... i’m so glad we started talking again? i missed u SO much! team wingcats for LIFE <3 <3

@realdeadringer ari you’re a cursed goblin but i love you so much so it’s cool. you’ve probably spoken to me through close to every phase i’ve had since probably the end of 2014 (what’s time idk her) and you’ve ALWAYS let me rant abt it which is so so nice it means so much more than you know. also thank you!! for dragging me into die fledermaus... i love my girl adele thanks. i also love how much we’ve developed jag & tink... they’re so good they deserve the world i love Real Brothers thanks ! i also love u so much <3 <3 

@heartreveals  rob voice: canada  but seriously zo? i love u so much?? we actually enable each other so much it’s unreal (i still stand by me saying tht us actually meeting will kill one of us jst bc of the level of disaster tht would be in that room). i love all of ur muses SO MUCH & i’m so glad we dragged u into bat hell !! i love how much we’ve developed anya & heather’s friendship (i love my anastasia oc) ur always always there for me whenever i need you & i’m so so glad we started talking again bc i really missed you! i love u sm & i rly hope tht i get to see u in july !!! <3 <3

@istheeast  MARY i hope u see this bc i wasn’t sure what blog to tag you in but ?? ilysm !! I Love My Wine Mother Mary... i love all of ur muses & jules the honorary russian (pour one out for picasso). you do SO much research into ballet & dancing for meg & you always have the #facts (and sidenote?? i love sally i’m so excited for more of her tbqh). you’re cursed but i love u so much and i’m so glad ur now part of the booh squad

@ritahanson ellie!! you’re not part of booh bt i’m mentioning u anyway because a) it’s christmas & b) i can do what i want. i jst wanted to say that you’ve always been so so nice to me? & you always make the effort to reach out which i rly appreciate & also? ur totally willing to let me rant abt the west end which is... the best thing thank u (team still bitter abt the victoria palace Honestly)

& this is at ALL OF YOU about twitter really, but honestly? every time any of you mention gibson (especially in other threads which i’ve? just noticed?) i almost CRY i love how much u just accept him as being part of canon & how u have all jst let me shove my ideas @ u re: the explosions & Lost Science 

i love u all so much i hope u have a fantastic day & the rest of ur holidays are good !!! <3 <3