#and how it’s especially hypocritical when you are a person of color and/or an immigrant

[calsvoid]

i wanna cry i just finished the last episode of one day at a time and god it fucking hurts how relevant it is

[olderthannetfic]

I always see people who have never been antis, talking about/questioning how some antis even ARE antis when you look at their taste in media - ie the ever famous joke of "Hannigram is #problematique" "but it's a show where he eats people" or whatever.

I thought I'd weigh in as someone who could, hypothetically, be called an ex-anti (which, thankfully, nothing ever really came out of it - it was just very 2014 keyboardwarrior-esque behavior of me being a chronically online young adult who would share posts in a group chat making fun of certain shippers, or reblog posts about how 50shades is The Most Problematic Media Ever to exist -- basically I was an anti with anti-lines of thoughts, but i never, like, a ran a Shipping Discourse Blog or whatever)

For me, personally, it was a few different things. I can now see how it's incredibly hypocritical that teenaged me shipped Light/L, while still thinking that Dramione was Bad And Abusive. It ultimately boiled down to a) being pretentious, and b) just not understanding media or what proshippers REALLY believed, with a side of c) not realizing that nuance exists. like i was pretty late to join tumblr, I think I immigrated here during PEAK "yourfaveisproblematic" era which definitely did have an impact on my opinions and my tastes.

to elaborate, a.) being pretentious. i mean this one just kinda goes without saying. "I engage in media in a way more intellectual way than you do, don't you know that? You're a filthy and disgusting person who writes Snape/Hermione because you're an actually disgusting pedophile IRL who would probably date your own student that you're abusing if you could. Meanwhile, I'm a very smart, good, and pure person. When I read Uncle Vernon/Harry, I'm doing it in a G-d honoring whump way that clearly condemns abuse, incest, and rape. Unlike YOU who only writes harmful stuff as a way to get people off :/"

(as an aside, i think this line of thinking will ALWAYS be present in fandom and popculture in some way, sadly. ie the recent trend of people hating on booktok bc the books are 'trashy' and how these porn addicts should read real classic literature instead.)

as for b.), not understanding media - i cannot emphasize enough that i was GENUINELY stupid and disconnected enough to think that proshippers REALLY WERE pro-All Of The Degenerate Dead Doves That They Wrote.

why did i feel this way? why did i understand that Lolita clearly isnt pro-pedophilia, but for some reason i thought that someone shipping weecest was? well, first of all, i think that fanfiction is (generally) seen as Less Serious than classic literature, and fandom is a fun place, so i guess i somehow thought that every fanfic/fanartist who wrote Problematic Things, especially Problematic Things that they portrayed as Sexy, really DID enjoy the thought of that Actually Happening To Real People.

and i think THIS is the bulk of why antis ARE antis. i'm not calling them all stupid - i do think BEING an anti is stupid, but at the same time, there are people who are truly smart and good-intended people who just have some really off color opinions about, like, homestuck ships or whatever. Lawlight is okay because notebooks that kill people don't exist so it's IMPOSSIBLE for the Harmful Aspects of Light/L to be romanticized! but schoolyard prejudiced bullies DO exist and are a REAL problem so Drarry is BAD (*truly completely unaware of the fact that there's 'realistic' aspects of the Light/L dynamic and 'unrealistic' aspects of Drarry - such as, for example, Hogwarts arguably being even MORE of a fantasy setting than DN is.*) I know that media literacy is the hot buzzword of the year to throw around in 2024, but, like, i really did not have media literacy.

as for c.), not realizing nuance exists - ok "nuance" might not be the best word here, but i dont know how else to describe it. like, each time ive typed the word "problematic" out in this ask, i've done so in a very tongue in cheek/ironic/retroactive way, but, like, those posts about how Everything Is Problematic, Including Your Fave ARE true. and i didn't like the fact that my favorite media or favorite person might've Made A Mistake! i need to Talk About Its Issues Because I'm So Betrayed That My Dear Sweet Comfort Media Would Do This To Me. I Need To Prove I Clearly Condemn It.

like, i legit morally could not justify reblogging a twilight post without adding in the tags '#this is my guilty pleasure it sucks that the books were so racist though' or whatever. Most people were lucky enough to avoid that line of thinking, but there was an actual group of people who felt a genuine need to virtue signal all the time, partly bc, hey, they WERE passionate about talking abt #issues in media, but also bc of a subconscious fear of If You Reblog A Singular Piece Of Hetalia Fanart, You're Literally A Nazi And Will Get A Callout Post Written About You.

and during all of this i was at the tail end of my high school experience (yes i know im younger than most of your audience, ha). i was going through A Lot emotionally, going through a lot of life changes, and lived in a very . . . interesting household/place where i couldn't do ACTUAL good in the world that i was passionate about. so to make up for the fact that i was genuinely in no place to do legit activism, clearly i had to save the gay community by arguing about johnlock queerbaiting or whatever.

^ and honestly i do think that is the position of most antis. theyre isolated and cant seem to do Enough in the Real Scary World so they have to resort to talking about how bad of a person someone is for "shipping abuse", bc theyre not in a situation where they could, for example, ACTUALLY fight the good fight to end abuse or raise awareness for it.

There was way more to it and way more that I could say, if I wanted to, but this post is long enough as it is and probably doesn't make much sense.

I feel bad for antis, honestly, or at least the ones who are antis in the way I used to be.

--

Oh yes, passionate young fools who think they can at least fix the internet if not their lives make up most of the cannon fodder. Some of the ringleaders are just mini dictators and wannabe cult leaders, but most anti-leaning types are just traumatized or clueless, even a lot of the ones who do serious damage and don't just mock shit in private with their friends.

[drwcn]

Hello~ may i ask you something about Chinese culture? i'm a white person and i know that wearing traditional clothes from other cultures (for example as a street wear) simply because it's beautiful is disrespectful because it's also a form of cultural appropriation. A few months ago one of my friends and i were talking and exchanging facts about our cultures and lifestyles and i made a comment about how stunning some hanfu she showed me were and her first reaction was " oh you like it? what's your favorite color i can buy you that one! " and she was quite gleeful and seemed to be unaware of the ethical problem behind me wearing these clothes.. i kindly refused but it's been puzzling me for some time now and so I'd like to know a bit more about it so i can maybe educate myself on this matter and explain my position better next time such as why I can't wear these clothes. i'm really sorry to drop this important and not so simple ask on you but i actually don't know anyone else i could ask, also know that you don't need to answer this if you're uncomfortable or anything tho! it's such a long text omg again sorry for taking up so much of your time aldhsks i hope your day will be great 💝

Hi friend! 

From where I stand if you want one, you should get one, especially if your friend is willing to help you pick a nice one. :) 

Here’s the thing about culture appropriation - everyone has a different opinion on it, so even if I say something, another Chinese person can disagree and that’s valid. 

I have a feeling, just a feeing, that if you go to China and buy a hanfu and put it on and walk around in it, most Chinese people aren’t gonna come up to you and say hey! this is cultural appropriation! In fact they might ask to take pictures with you.

That’s gonna be different if you did the same thing in New York, or Montreal, or Sydney, or London. 

I’m not a sociologist or anthropologist or political scientist, but I am a young person who has a lot of incongruous feelings towards cultural appropriation. There are obvious answers. Any action whereby an item/accessory from a certain culture is used in a mocking or offensive way, or is used as a costume or a gimmick, is of course entirely inappropriate. This is the obvious answer. But, the question that is often asked, and the exactly thing you are getting, is: what if I’m not intending to be offensive? What if I just like it? What if I want to honour it and support it? 

And the answer to that is complicated. 

I am a CN diaspora, and from what I’m seen and experienced, the term “cultural appropriate” comes from a place of fear and feeling of threat. For countries like the US where the population is very diverse and there’s a pressure to assimilate and fit in, there used to be a time when immigrants felt they had to do everything in their power to be more integrated into the new community they landed in and that meant turning their backs on the culture that they’ve left behind. 

The movement we see more and more nowadays is the reclaiming of some of that lost culture and the embracing of every aspect of one’s identity. However, the part of us that’s not quite “white enough”, that we’re just starting to build up the courage to be proud of, is still so tender, so raw, so vulnerable to any kind of assault from outside forces. The fear that we used to feel, the fear of being completely ourselves, it never truly goes away. It’s in the memory of being embarrassed to bring cultural food to lunch at school and wishing your mom could just pack you pizza. It’s the awkward moments when you can’t wear the shorts you want like the other girls in your class because your immigrant mother/father says it’s not appropriate. It’s loving a wuxia story and having no one to share it with because all your friends are non-cn and you’re 14 and everything is embarrassing. Imagine carrying that your entire life, that heavy mixture of shame and fear, and waking up one day and suddenly some pop artist is using aspects of your culture in their music video. Just for the aesthetics. And for that they’re getting millions of hits on youtube and making a fuckton of money. 

The very thing that had caused you so much grief, so much mockery and stress, is being used and monetized. How could you be okay with it? Especially when commercialization often comes with sexualization and objectification as well.  Now what if it’s not some famous person, what if it’s just a random citizen who wants to put on a kimono or a hanfu? Is that okay? Then it really depends on who you’re asking and what their relationship is with their cultural identity. Personally, I don’t really care because the community that I grew up in was very accepting of my culture. I never experienced as much cultural threat as other cn disasporas in other communities. So, like your friend who is CN (I’m assuming), I don’t feel as though my own identity is being infringed upon if you were to wear hanfu. In fact, I would take it as you being interested in my culture.  But imagine someone who comes from a community where they weren’t allowed to freely express their unique cultural idiosyncracies, where they felt much more pressured to assimilate and fit in. I would think that you wearing hanfu would be absolutely seen as cultural appropriation in that case. Because the bottom line is, if they wore hanfu in their community, they would’ve probably been mocked for it, and so a person who is non-cn wearing hanfu just for fun, cheapens the struggles and the pain that they must’ve experienced ongoingly in their life. In simple words: imagine an unpopular kid at school had a mole on their face, a mole which earned them constant mockery from the popular kids. One day, however, one of the popular kids decided having a mole is “cool” and “sexy”, and drew one on their face and began sporting it around. Suddenly everyone is doing it. That kid with the mole is probably thinking having a mole is my thing, it’s part of who I am, I can’t change it, and you made my life hell because of it. Now, not only are you being a complete hypocrite, you’re also taking away a part of my identity. You’re removing the mole from it’s origin, from its context, and you’re drawing it on your face just because you like the look of it. 

There’s a reason why Chinese people from China don’t care if you go to and buy all the hanfu you want. A) it’s generating business, but more importantly B) Chinese people in China are secure in their cultural identity. Being Chinese is their every day life, it’s their norm, their background, their default. By you wishing to try Chinese clothes, eating Chinese food, to them you’re simply going with the flow of their society. Diasporas on the other hand have a completely different relationship with our culture. We’ve had to fight to carve out a space that’s just for ourselves, and no diaspora’s experience is going to be the same as another. Therefore, our relationship with our culture, and with the term “cultural appropriation” is going to be very different. 

[nolabballgirl]

can I just say that while I get feeling the need to give the cashqueens a break from drama i just feel like...despite all of that if ismail gets S7 I'm just going to get the impression that Ava's character exists solely for everyone else's character development. like how are we going to hear the BULLY'S side(whom ppl already sympathise w more than the victim...bec yk why) before the victim. each time Ava got to talk about her own experiences it was overshadowed by her reacting "harshly" to something the main does so that there's some level of friendship conflict in the season, and most of the non Tumblr audience already hates her for being that plot device. i get why the network would want to do an ismail szn bec no doubt a pale, skinny and queer person would get them more of the gen z views (something I wish ppl would realise is that while yes, them being Turkish and Muslim will come into play,,, white German audience atm sees someone that looks like them!!! Ava doesn't look like them, it absolutely contributes to the vitriol she recieves everywhere else) but idk if that S8 isn't guaranteed i won't really feel good about how they utilised ava.

hi, Anon! thanks for your ask! and before i respond, i do want to acknowledge that s7 hasn't been 100% confirmed nor has it been confirmed as an ismail season (although sooooo many crumbs point in that direction). now, disclaimer aside, let's get into your ask.

if i had my way, s7 would be ava's and ava's alone. i feel like the writers have given her so much backstory that we could really have a rich season exploring everything from the bullying to family separation dynamics to racism/colorism, and that's just skimming the surface. how i feel about pushing ava to s8 is basically how i feel about the sanas getting the "last" season in a remake, and certainly how i felt druck treated amira m. in s4. it's like she's an afterthought, that she's made a main character because she has to be and not because the writers really care about her, and that she has to close out a "generation," so of course, we have to sacrifice her story and plot to satisfy loose ends for everyone else/submit to fan service. and if we even get a s8, that's what i fear will happen again.

but also, i love the girl squads! they are the heart and soul of these shows. in fact, i thought one of the best decisions in a remake was when skam españa made cris the isak and we had 4 continuous seasons with girl squad dynamics (including the drama!) - to me, that's the true "love story" of the series. so when people say they are sick of the cashqueens or tired of the drama, i just hold a different opinion. i feel like there's so much more the cashqueens have left to give us, and we're only starting to get to know them. and i would love to see them through ava's eyes.

and look, if you follow my blog, you know that i have been extremely critical of skam france s7 and the decision to elevate another bully, tiff, to main character without any earned redemption arc prior to or during the season itself. so i think it would be hypocritical if i don't also question druck's decision to do the same with ismail.

finally, your ask hits upon a topic that at a minimum i want to see explored during ismail's season and that's colorism/white passing among immigrant and minority groups in a white-majority nation. oh, and if we do get into religion and islam once again (but please skip the old "muslims are intolerant" schtick a la skam OG/italia/españa🙄), let's hope druck doesn't miss this time around...especially when this is happening on the regular.

[starsbegantofall]

just thoughts, no judgement

I have been clicking through several twitter/tumblr accounts from English-speaking but non-Western users about various topics after the pandemic/protests/general 2020 disasters began that I personally have found to be a clear and humbling reminder of what the world is like outside of my country (America). The strongest condemnations I’ve seen are passed on young-ish Westerners who try to spread activism through social media and fandom but are (rightfully sometimes) being met with resistance from non-Western cultures.

First of all, I am not equating these as equally important as basic human rights for all, I’m just paraphrasing a few easy to parse examples for my reference and hopefully to help enlighten others (?)

1. cultural appropriation of indigenous/native cultures - not just in America but around the world, in which people who are not native speak on what counts as appropriation or appreciation on behalf of the native cultures. They mean well!  They did their research!  But logically, only an indigenous person can really tell you how they feel regarding outsider approach on their culture, and that is just one person out of many different perspectives.

2. patronizing people in “poorer” countries, expecting them to stay on top of US-centric issues while acting condescending towards their culture/lifestyles/food whatever, essentially modern-day colonizing. Some Westerners even mean well out of honest ignorance. But a lot of countries have been colonized for the worse, and their current situation that seems bad to you is oftena direct result of Western war and invasion and interference. Better to know your own country’s history before you try to fix another country’s history, that doesn’t even need that much “fixing” or is being worked on from within where you can’t see because guess what, you didn’t bother to learn their language but hahah, they know yours. And as BLM has shown, a whole lotta Americans don’t even know basic events in their own history. Glass house!

3. subset of 2, the assumption that media in other countries aren’t as “progressive” as America’s, which is a laughably hypocritical thought as many LGBT and other minorities live in dread all their lives in America, but is held up as irrefutable proof that the country is backwards and needs Western activism to save their souls. Yaoi/BL in Japan is the most popular example, because it’s so “tropey” and “cringey” that clearly means Asians need white ppl to explain to them about homophobia and activism and such... When many Asian cultures already have a diverse and tolerant history, much more so than any European nation, and often only recently became intolerant to fall in line with Western superpowers. Also, perhaps due to their government, family lives or various other factors, they can only work on their activism underground, away from Western gaze. To them, yaoi/bl is a source of comfort and motivation, despite its alleged lack of progressiveness in Western eyes.

4. the use of Western values on Eastern cultures for just about anything. Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, a lot of Western cultures could use Eastern values, like ahem, wearing a mask to protect others from your diseased saliva and snot!!!!  Another one I’ve seen is how Filipinos do not agree to use Filipinx as a gender neutral term when their own language is already gender neutral, they don’t make that sound in their language, and they’re trying to distance themselves from their Spanish and American colonizers. So many things that seem valuable to the American citizen are actually symbols of oppression to people outside, vice versa.

Again, we in America tend to believe that after all of our oppression Olympics regarding race and gender and sexuality and immigration and religion and disability and so on and so forth, we must surely have gotten it right by now. But just because it suits Americans doesn’t mean it works for other people, and trying to push our extremely specific values while steamrolling over easy-to-google circumstances within different countries should be avoided. I hope everyone in western cultures (namely America, Canada, Australia, England) take a moment to think before lauding themselves as examples of activism and enlightenment all while at the same time screaming at people in other countries for not being aware of the latest race-related petitions or not working harder for gay rights or not speaking up loudly on cultural oppression and colorism and sexism.

Especially when we clearly have so far to go in achieving equality for everyone in our own so-called enlightened countries.

Just be logical and respectful. Do your research, actually talk to people from other countries, read articles or watch media from outside of the US with both a critical and appreciative heart. If you don’t have time, then don’t say anything disparaging in public, as much as you want to.  Work on your own self first, there’s always work to be done there, and be open to change. If someone asks you, then feel free to offer your perspective and advice. But until then, listen.

[aridara]

Soo, apparently there’s a new asshole in Tumbrtown. dev2c4u has been sending me a lot of hateful messages through the chat in the last couple of days. They reached the point where they openly advocate in favor of shooting me.

Fun times.

Here’s the complete transcript. TW for transphobia, misogyny, homophobia, racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and pretty much every form of bigotry.

DEV2C4U: You stupid cunt!  Thats rich that you say "Nazis" make things up!   That must mean the "progressive left" are the new Nazis!   You grotesque imbeciles tell more lies in a day than a "Nazi" will in 10 years!

  Are you a fat cunt too?  That's more blood you filthy pigs will have on your hands trying to say "fat is ok"  it definitely fucking isnt ok!  You can add this blood to the blood already on the lefts hands from promoting :

Transsexual/Transgenderism

Filthy faggotry

Letting subhuman "immigrants" in so they can kill more Americans and leech off of them! Abortion:  learn to keep your legs closed you filthy twats!  If you want to murder babies that is on you---but as a taxpayer i will not pay for your irresponsibility

And  slutty ways!  God you lot are a bunch of filthy diseased (I would say animals but you are beneath animals) so I will call you turds!

  Promoting pedophilia----I hope you empty headed cunts burn in hell for this fucking sickos (it almost makes me wish i believed in heaven/hell)

  In short, the "progressive" left in the nations of the West are a lower than the hemorrhoids on Hillary Clintons asshole!

  I hope you all die of something like lung or pancreatic cancer ---IOW ---I hope you dirty subanimals die in horrible pain and regret-'-fuck you all!

ARIDARA: That's funny. I, instead, hope that you live.

Because living as a hateful, violent bigot like you is punishment enough.

DEV2C4U: Say what you will you whore!   But I'm not a bigot in the least!  I just wish each race would deny political power to their dumbest losers and then the world would know peace---on this list --faggots, niggers and those who enable them ---like why the fuck hasnt disgusting queer nigger, Jussie Smollett admitted to his horrible racist hate crime of bearing false witness been made to apologize for his story which anyone with an IQ above 80 could tell was a lie from the start??!! Islamic cunts like ilhan Omar

Pedophilic cunts like most gay democrats and Roman Polanski

Feminazi whores like Cameltoe Harris

----I could go on and on and on---sadly!

Every now and then there is a bright spot like Gov Northsm hanging on to his seat in Va ----Haha Haha and the other Va democratic polisluts--suck it dems!

And there was a delightful "rainbow" in the news today with some WVa pol. Calling LGBTQ people "terrorists" like the KKK----which is true beyond a shadow of a doubt

I wouldn't expect a filthy commie fatass dyke like you to understand---after all a whore is a whore and a lady is a lady forever! But I do want people to know how much you silly twats on the left are hated! BTW ---great job with your phoney Indian Veteran ---that piece of shit needs to face charges as much as Jussie. Fuck You and have a shitty life!

ARIDARA: "I'm not a bigot" (uses a ton of slurs, falsely claims that LGBT+ people are pedophiles).

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not your father, and you aren't impressing me.

DEV2C4U: How come every two-bit faggot, dyke, transcum, nigger, cameljockey, beaner and white trash liberal feels that it is their business to get in everyone else's business?

Fuck each and every one of you freaks in your self-righteous assholes!   Except for fags of course, since youd enjoy it too much!

  This nation not only needs to be disinfected--it needs a fucking exorcism! Where are our modern Torquemadas and Savonarolas?!

ARIDARA: ...Says the one who thinks that it's their business to get into the business of leftists, fat people, LGBT+ people, migrants, pro-choicers, women, people of color, Muslims, Latino people, and allies to any of the above.

In fact, you think that it's SO MUCH your business, that you openly advocate in favor of GENOCIDE.

Here's a question for you: if leftists, fat people, LGBT+ people, migrants, pro-choicers, women, people of color, Muslims, and Latino people are genociding your precious nation just by existing...

...doesn't that mean that your nation is incredibly weak?

I mean, WE live with leftists, fat people etc., and we survive just fine. Maybe it's YOUR people who has some evolutionary problems.

DEV2C4U: Ooooooohhh Score one for Mega-Twat! I admit I come on strong But i dont get why this dyke----this cunt----Ellen Page. Whoever the fuck she is---- has any fucking right to question Chris Pratts (whoever the fuck he is) where he goes to church?  Where she gets that I have no idea---

I would much rather NOT be around any shitstabbers, carpetmunchers, Alabama porch monkeys, spics, or tranny cunts

Because i think most of you are filthy diseased trash

But as much as I dislike some of you ---I would never get in any of your faces and say lose some weight and stop carpet carpetmunching or stop fucking camels---or get some of dat goddamn melanin out of your skin. Or stop smoking poles

You know why fat cunt? Because Momma raised a gentleman!

And i wont get in any of your worthless, trashy faces as long as you stay out of mine!

But you fucking hypocrites better stay the fuck out of my very happy, proud, white life!

Fuck you again Ellen Page ---Whoever or more appropriately whatever you are!?

Keep your warped baby murdering opinions to yourselves!

ARIDARA: Man, your mum will be SO HAPPY to know how much you hate marginalized people. Or how you think that your own mum should have less rights than a corpse.

DEV2C4U: Anyone who feels "marginalized" in the USA is a fucking loser!  I'd like to see any of you pigs try to pull this shit in a non-white majority/ non Western country!

Especially fucking trannies, faggots and dykes!  Go to Saudi or Zimbabwe (at least Robert Mugabe was right when he said gay people are lower than dogs and pigs!)  For any other people of different races---if you don't fucking like it here--then dont be such losers---put your goddamn cards on the table and go to a black or brown majority nation where you will not be a minority anymore---of course I know that most if these nations are disgusting shitholes---but that just means you belong there even more!!

To baby murdering sluts---I do think you should be able to get an abortion---with a goddamn clothes hanger you fucking whores!

You are just as bad as the faggots in the 1980s blaming Reagan for AIDS---it wasn't Reagan forcing you to put your schlongs in each others assholes!

IOW---try to take some personal responsibility for once in your silly fucked up lives!

I bet some faggots would be hard pressed to thank any of the STRAIGHT, WHITE, MALE researchers who saved their worthless lives by finding anti hiv drugs??   Well fuck you then!

This world would be no more than a fucking garbage dump without white people (and Asians)! Nigras and spics---ask yourselves why other pocs/ethnicities such as East Indians, Asians and conservative Persians (people who fled the Khomeini regime) can come to this nation and be enormously successful ?? You dont hear these people bitch and bawl 24/7/365 about how put upon they are!  They just get to work, stay out if trouble and become great citizens!

If all this horse shit about "white privilege" and racism were true why are many of these other ethnicities more successful than many whites?

One last thing ---I so wish with all my might that the police could open fire on any traitors that say things like "No borders, no walls, no USA at all"

ARIDARA: Yyyep, we've got threats of violence alright.

Thanks for violating Tumblr's Terms of Service. You'll hear from the staff shortly.

[sini-sterility]

LARK. ALL of them. ALL the questions. (or feel free to pick out the ones you like best)

HNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG GAEA I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCHALLOFTHEMBITCHS >:D1. What do they smell like?Lark smells mainly like sweat and a little bit nice, though when she’s out on a mission, as a sharpshooter she tries to have as little of a scent as possible.2. What is their voice like?Lark’s voice is similar to FemShep’s, but a bit lighter and less deep.3. What is their biggest motivator?Doing the right thing by the people of the Commonwealth. Now, if she’d realized that the BoS was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, she proooobably wouldn’t have joined up. So now she tries to use her... *ahem* Sway on Maxson to influence more positive choices. 4. What is their most embarrassing memory?When she was twelve she took a nap in the loft of their barn and had a romantic dream about one of their farmhands. He was within earshot, and she never lived it down.5. How do they deal with/react to pain?Physical pain, she takes with as little a reaction as possible. She tends to curse. Emotional pain, she gets pretty quiet. She’ll attempt to talk it out if someone she trusts emotionally is around. Usually a member of her squad, an expert scout and laser-weilder named June Spalding, aka Senior Knight Spalding.6. What do they like to wear? When she’s on duty, she wears her uniform of course. Normally with the top unzipped and wrapped around her waist, with a tank top/sports bra, and her hair in a braid or ponytail. Off duty, she’ll wear whatever she can get her hands on, though she has a particular love for gingham, plaid, and light linen shirts and shirtdresses.7. Which of their relationships have impacted them most positively?Wendel is a bit of a commitaphobe, so she’s never really been in an actual relationship (how ironic that the very first one she’s ever had is one she has to keep secret lol). I suppose it’d be more along the lines of her first crush. The same farmhand as before, a ghoul named Beau who’d come up from New Orleans about 20 years after the bombs fell. She was maybe 16 when she started rollin’ around in the hay with him (He was 19 when he was ghoulified), and she adored his Mirelurk gumbo. When they decided to stop seeing each other, they talked it out for hours. He’d been in tons of relationships before, and he felt obligated to pass his knowledge along. Including his technique for cunni... ;D8. What’s the weirdest thing they’ve ever eaten?Gatorclaw jerky, compliments of Beau.9. Describe the way that they sleep.Lark tries to curl herself up into as small of a space as possible, though when she gets to chance to cuddle she is happy as either spoon, and especially likes when Maxson puts his arm around her and her head is on his chest.10. What is their favorite food/kind of food?M E A T S T E A K D E A D A N I M AL S11. What do they feel most insecure about?She can’t save everybody. Friends have died under her charge, innocents have been hurt. She hates that.12. How do they like to dress?If she could dress however she wanted, she’d go for boots, jeans, and a button up shirt with a tanktop underneath, with her hair down and long.13. How do they react to feelings of guilt?She tries to swallow it, but also hold it in her heart as a reminder and a reason to push forward.14. How do they react to/deal with betrayal?Yeah... She may be named after a bird, but she will fuck shit up. She absolutely 100% hates betrayl... Just as long as it’s someone who is NOT on her side, however hypocritical that is. Spalding dealing with betraying her mother/family? Lark tries to help her through it. Someone she rubbed elbows with betraying her/the brotherhood? TABLES WILL BE THROWN.15. What is their greatest achievement?Before she got together with Maxson, she felt her greatest achievement was being a neutral voice for the Commonwealth when she joined the BoS (and before that, when she was 12 she had a Brahmin hefer that won first place in the post-apocalyptic 4H Fair.), and after it was bringing a man who was famous for his temper and stubbornness down to reason and attempted understanding. She even got him to put stock in mental help for his soldiers.16. What are they like when they’ve gotten too little sleep?You mean fuCKING ALWAYSA little bit more snippy than normal. 17. What are they like when they’re drunk?She does not get drunk easily, but she is a giddy drunk. While her younger sister AND her younger brother are both lecherous drunks, she’s more likely to pounce you and make you dance with her than pounce you and seduce.18. What kind of music do they enjoy?She honestly really really loves Celtic Folk. She grew up on old Irish, Scottish, and Welsh melodies (her family was a couple who had immigrated from Ireland and Scotland respectively - Siobhan Clifford and Geoff MacLeod - because of the ammount of grief the Bride’s family had given them over her husband being Scottish while she was Irish. Lots of kids. Irish Catholics, y’know?). Hell, she ever learned to play a couple on the fiddle as a kid.19. Are they right or left handed?Right.20. Fears?Being shunned by her family, or losing her husband/her children (John, Adam, and Dana).21. Favorite kind of weather?Sunny fall days!22. Favorite color?Either red or orange.23. Do they collect anything?I mean… She’ll pick up the casings from all her high-profile shots and label them. Kinda morbid, but beats getting a tattoo every single kill.24. Do they prefer either hot or cold weather more?Hot, because then she has an excuse not to wear the stupid sweltering leather jumpsuit.25. What is their eye color?Grey.26. What is their race/ethnicity?Irish + Scottish and 1/8th Mexican. Has a decent tan, the color of walnut wood on the inside.27. Hair color?Dark brown.28. Are they happy where they are currently?Yep!29. Are they a morning person?Kind of has to be considering she’s in a military :/30. Sunrise or sunset?Sunset <331. Are they more messy or more organized?She seldom has enough things to even be considered messy, but she likes to decorate. So organized I guess.32. Pet peeves?When her friends/mentors tease her about her “mystery lover”, especially when they say it’s Maxson (they act like they legitimately hate each other in public).33. Do they own any objects of significant personal importance?I know it’s an ancient trope, but there’s a locket passed down through her family for generations. 34. Least favorite food?Insta-Mash.35. Least favorite color?The color of the water around Boston.36. Least favorite smell?Again. Boston water.37. When was the last time they cried?See 38.38. Were they with anybody the last time they cried?Yes, Spalding when consoling her about her mother.39. Tell us about one of the times they got injured?I haven’t written it yet, but I’ve got this one thing that I really love where she convinces Maxson to take shore leave and they meet up at an old cabin in the forest. When it’s time for them to go back, they make their way through the city of rubble, and have a run in with an overly armed Raider gang. She gets shot in the stomach, but takes two of the Raiders down a few seconds later, and Maxson takes the other three, cutting the throat of one of them and shooting the other two. 40. Do they have any scars?FUCKTONS OF THEM.41. Do they struggle with any mental health issues?None in particular, aside from some mild PTSD.42. Do they have any bad habits?She chews her nails :/43. Why might someone dislike them?Insubordinate, strongly opinionated, very based, infuriatingly calm and cool in the face of danger/anger.44. Why might someone love them?Very based, cocky but not in a stupid way, kind, friendly, extremely loyal.45. Do they believe in ghosts?She doesn’t really have an opinion about ghosts. She doesn’t believe in them, but she doesn’t NOT believe in them.46. Is there anyone they would trust with their lives?Her whole team, save for Marshall. Fuck Marshall man.47. Are they romantically interested in anyone?Eyep! Elder Arthur Maxson.48. Are they dating/married to anyone?Again, eyep! This point in what I’ve written so far, they’re not married yet, but they eventually will be. Fairly soon, actually.49. Do they like surprises?She’s a sniper. So no. 50. When is their birthday?December 14th51. How do they usually celebrate their birthday?Honestly? She doesn’t really. Maybe a bit of alone time with a special someone, but otherwise nothing.52. Do they have any family?She has TONS. Her father, step-mother, and three younger siblings.53. Are they close to their family?VERY.54. What is their MBTI type?Bruh I don’t fuckin know.55. What is their zodiac sign?Saggitarius, and IDK about the Chinese Zodiac.56. What Hogwarts House would they be in?Probably Gryffendor.57. What D&D alignment are they?Hmmm… Either Lawful Neutral, or Lawful Good.58. Do they ever have nightmares? If so, what about?Usually about people she couldn’t help, or her family either shunning her or dying.59. What are their views on death?She likes to think there’s a heaven. But if God let things become so horrible down here, then what if there isn’t one? She’s mostly agnostic, but she considers herself a Lutheran.60. What is something that they’re sure to laugh at?You know that thing where you draw a face on your tummy? THAT. Anything funny and innocent or dark and fucked up. Basically it’s either “How many tickles does it take to make a squid laugh? TEN tickles!” or “How do you get a baby to cry? Shake it. How do you get a baby to stop crying? Shake it again”. There is not inbetween. Also she has in at least one incidence literally shot someone for making a really bad pun. 61. When bored, how do they pass time?Hangman and tic-tac-toe. Generally just games for passing the time on long car trips; the alphabet game, geography, I Spy, that stuff.62. Do they enjoy being outside?She LOVES it! Especially in the wild. 63. Do they have an accent?A minor Bostonian twinge.64. Upon seeing a slice of chocolate cake, what is their first reaction?*mouth waters*65. If they knew they were going to die, what would they do/say?Depends on where she is and who she’s with. If with Maxson, “I love you”, if her kids “You have made us so proud”, if anyone else, probably “Make me proud to have known you”.66. How do they feel about sex?Sex is fun af, do that shit whenever the mood strikes you. ESPECIALLY when you’re in the military, so your aim is truer and you’re more relaxed.67. What is their sexuality?She is bi, though she usually goes for dudes more than chicks. She’s more attracted to muscles and strength/courage than genders.68. Do they become squeamish at the sight of blood?PFFFFFFFFT.69. Is there anything that they find really gross?When people eat radroach mush. She’s got no problems with eating the meat, but thinks that eating the organs of an animal (except with chickens) is fucking disgusting. ESPECIALLY when they use it as a dip...70. Which TV Trope(s) best describes them?Fearless leader, the Cool Military Wife ™, and Sweet n’ Strong71. Do they enjoy helping people?It’s her life’s second greatest pleasure!72. Are they allergic to anything?Not that she’d ever find out, but I like to think that she’s allergic to vanilla.73. Do they have a pet?She had a favorite barn cat back on the farm. She even considers - and then does - bring one of that cat’s kittens to the Prydwen. Maxson is enamored, and the cat ends up liking HIM better than LARK. People quickly got over the novelty of Maxson constantly being followed/being kept company by a kitty cat, and the cat eventually becomes the unofficial mascot of the Prydwen.74. Are they quick to anger? What are they like when they loose their temper?Not really, but when she DOES? She gets violent.75. How patient are they?Very, which is great considering how angry she gets.76. Are they good at cooking?Yes! Her specialty is fried fish.77. Favorite insult? Do they insult people often?Usually demasculating stuff like “Princess” and “Buttercup”. She will not hesitate to insult them on stupidity though.78. How do they act when they’re particularly happy?She humms and sings quietly, which Maxson thinks is fucking adorable. It makes him extra glad he has a beard, because it hides how intensely he blushes at the cuteness.79. What do they do when they learn about other people’s fears?She tries to be understanding and help in any way.80. Are they trustworthy?Absolutely 100%.81. Do they try to hide their emotions? Are they good at it?She’s usually pretty happy-go-lucky, but when she’s not she doesn’t hide it very well at ALL.82. Do they exercise regularly?Yes! BoS! A LOT!83. Are they comfortable with the way they look?She feels the same way every woman does about her looks. If only her hair was longer/curlier/less curly/darker, if only her hips were wider, her breasts a little bigger, etc. But overall Maxson alleviates those concerns.84. What are some physical features that they find attractive on people?M U S C L E S 85. What kind of personalities do they find attractive?A strong sense of good and bad, and a strong belief in their morals and 86. Do they like sweet foods? She likes it well enough, she just prefers bitter foods and drinks.87. What is their age?Lark is 21 at the time of the current chapter.88. Are they tall or short or somewhere in between?She’s about average for a woman, 5’6”.89. Do they wear glasses or contacts?Nope.90. Do they consider themselves attractive?Attractive enough. 91. What is their sense of humor like?Pretty good sense of humor! She can definitely take - and make - a joke.92. What mood are they most often in?Tends to be happy.93. What kinds of things anger them?Hypocrisy, entitlement, self-righteousness, that sort of thing. Also creepy people who can’t take no for an answer.94. Outlook on life? “Be the change you want to see”95. What kind of things make them sad/depressed?Roadkill, settlements and people getting hurt/murdered/destroyed, abandoned families and children, those sorts of things.96. What is their greatest weakness?Her outspokenness. She would suck if she ever went undercover.97. What is the greatest strength?Utter belief that humanity is primarily good. She doesn’t just believe it. She knows it.98. Something that they regret?Not spending more time with the people she loves. That her being a career Sister of Steel cut into that time.99. Biggest accomplishment?OKAY HER BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT IS PRETTY FUCKING HUGE BUT IT’S AT THE END OF THE STORY AND I DON’T WANNA RUIN IT BUT IF YOU ABSOLUTELY 100% MUST KNOW NOW, THEN MESSAGE ME.100. Create your own!If she were alive before the fall, her favorite kind of show would probably be cop serials.

[rfhusnik]

Let's Really Care About The Americans Of Tomorrow

                                     Written By:  Steven Fillmore

                Before I begin here, I want to admit that the current situation concerning illegal immigration into the United States was certainly what prompted me to write this. I’m sure you noticed that during the recent national elections, candidates for representative, senator, and governor all stressed what they would do to help America’s youth. Yes, they all had a lot of nice promises to make to the Americans of tomorrow; but they neglected to address one key issue:  Who’s going to support thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants in the years to come? Surely as mechanization progresses, the signs point toward less unskilled labor being necessary in the future. Will employed Americans of the future need to support massive amounts of people who shouldn’t have been allowed to resettle here?

            When I submitted this piece to our city’s leader Ralph Hawk, he and I argued concerning its content. He told me he felt it was borderline racist; but I said, “At my age, I’m too old to be concerned with the names various groups call one another. All I care about now (unlike many politicians who preach their caring of American youth while they don’t really practice it) is what life on this planet, but especially in this nation, will be like in the years to come.”

            Thus, over the objection of Ralph, I’m going to take a chance here. I’m going to write something which may be objectionable to some, but which I feel is very sincere – and not racist!  

            I’ll say today that for over four decades I worked at a manual labor job in this city. And it was a good job, and the owner of the factory at which I toiled was a good man. He passed away about two years ago, and as soon as his death was made known, our leftist media descended upon his legacy and recast it portraying Mr. Havess as having been a miserly monster, instead of what he really was, an unpretentious kind hearted man.

            And personally, although I never achieved any special status in my life, I also lived with the stigma of guilt hanging over my head. I tried to do what was right, but of course I could never be completely innocent of blame because, as liberals told me, all those minorities had life so much worse than me, and I didn’t care enough about that fact.

            But now, as my final years near, I can’t help but think about the Americans of tomorrow. And I know that changes will come to the U.S.A. in years to come. Still, I fear the young people of today are too centered in the present. When I was their age, there was a great concern in this nation about pollution, manmade changes to the environment, and the one that we were told lay at the root of all newly realized (at that time) twentieth century problems – over population.

            Yet today, as I look at the societal landscape of the U.S.A., I still see and hear many liberal based individuals talking about environmental concerns, but now with what I feel is a hypocritical addendum. These people now want the U.S.A. to allow mass immigration. They apparently want the American nation flooded with people from south of its border. And how, I ask you, will bringing tens, and probably hundreds of thousands of such people into this land, do anything to reverse environmental problems here? In fact, won’t it exacerbate such concerns?

            If I were a young American today, I’d give a second thought to the mass immigration of Hispanics into the U.S.A. I’d ask myself how this trend of an ever increasing Hispanic population is impacting my homeland, and how it will impact it (and me) in years to come. And though it may not be politically correct to do so, I’d admit that many who are trying to enter my native land have no basic skills to support themselves should they enter here. And I’d recognize that many are criminals, or would become criminals after they’d been here awhile. And I’d also accept the fact that, thus far at least, these peoples have shown a tendency toward having large families. Thus, I’d ask myself, what will a greatly expanding Hispanic population mean for non-Hispanic Americans in the years to come?  

            But yes, I know that according to some I’m probably a near-racist. Yet, I’d be considered that no matter what I had to say. Simply, in the minds of leftists, because I was born without a skin color,  I’ll be forever abusing other races and other Americans who practice what I’ll term “non-traditional lifestyles”.

            And, what does it matter if my thoughts sometimes stray to the stereotyped white Americans of the future? What will life be like in The United States Of America when Hispanics are the majority ethnic group? Will they care about the minorities of tomorrow as much as those who are the majority today care about them? Will a “melding” of Hispanics and “the old white race” produce a new type of majority white race in years to come? And, what will the reaction of America’s black race be to these developments?

            I wonder how many of those crossing our border illegally ever stop to think about how they’re altering the lives of true Americans by doing what they’re doing? Very few I’d suspect. In fact, it could be said that these are very selfish people. They apparently care only about themselves; otherwise they’d remain in their own native lands and try to improve life there. And I don’t accept the argument that they’re so poor and abused that there’s nothing they can do but try to escape. If they have the gumption and means to leave, then they also have those same abilities to stay where they are and improve life there. Remember, during times of peril in the U.S.A., the civilian population here didn’t simply give up and run away to Canada or Mexico.  

            Long ago is when America should have begun a serious and dedicated crackdown on illegal immigration. And yes, your children and grandchildren will pay a price for uncontrolled illegal immigration. They’ll pay it in dollars subtracted from their paychecks (or however they’ll be paid in years to come) to support people who don’t belong here, as those people languish on welfare or in prisons.

            And it won’t be long before Americans of all ages realize that already today the so-called “American dream” lifestyle has been replaced by the “American do what you need to do to get by” way of life. And yet, though that may have changed, one thing that’s remained constant is that, in the eyes of liberals, anyone born of the white race is automatically a racist, and if he’s a male, nine chances out of ten are that he’s a misogynist as well.

            Yet, over the years (but never more than the present time) we’ve heard liberal types tell us that they alone are the only people who really care about America’s future and, future Americans! And now, with the American nation at a point of division it’s probably not experienced since the last years before the outbreak of its bloody civil war, these liberal types put future Americans at risk by refusing to take whatever steps they possibly could take (and the building of a strong wall along our southern border would be the most effective one) to avoid an ultimate confrontation between Hispanics and Americans, which will be our children’s birthright, given to them by us their elders, because of the obstinance of liberals amongst us.

            Now, there is no doubt that minority groups have been victimized in the United States over the years. And, there also is no doubt that much has been done to attempt to change racial biases and discrimination in this nation. However, now a new phenomenon apparently lurks on the horizon. It’s estimated that by somewhere around the year 2040, Hispanics will be the majority ethnic group in the U.S.. But what does the American media say about that? Little if anything. I guess media types are simply going to let the American populace hope and pray that the good of the two possible scenarios concerning the saturation of America by Hispanics will be the one which someday occurs. Oh, and what are those two scenarios? First, that a successful “amalgamation” of numerous ethnic groups would produce a strong and proud people such as the combining of Saxons, Angles, Normans, Danes, and several other groups led to today’s English population; or second, that diverse ethnic groups would someday be a major factor in the demise of the entire nation, such as happened in The Roman empire.

            So, given what I’ve just written, I’ve wondered often what “little people” (and in American life today “little people” are usually all such types as are not involved in national politics, national media, professional sports, or the leftist portion of America’s entertainment sector) can do to keep America well and vibrant during the inevitable years of change which loom ahead. I’ll now mention the nine I believe to be the most important, and then I’ll “sign off”. Thank you, Steven F.

            Number One:  Build the wall along the southern border. This will greatly reduce the amount of illegal immigration into the nation. Number Two:  Achieve a strong immigration policy for the future, and adhere to it! And, that policy should be based upon allowing entry into America of such people as will actually help America, rather than become a burden to it continually, or at least for a number of years. Number Three:  Deport people who are now in our nation illegally, unless they can prove a reason constructive to America as to why they should remain here, and achieve legal citizenship here. Number Four:  Stop promoting the United States of America as some sort of panacea in which all people automatically live the good life just due to their presence here. Number Five:  Develop a new strategy for dealing with all nations directly south of the U.S., whether they be in Latin or South America. Try to help those nations improve their living standards, so that not so many of their people will wish to enter the United States. Number Six:  Develop a comprehensive plan concerning world population. But remember, simply saying that those with more should sacrifice more will get no one anywhere in regard to this topic in the years to come. One thing that will always remain the same (and regardless of what type of economic system any nation may have)   is that some mortals will not wish to labor so that the fruits of their labor can be given to other mortals who’d rather take life easy. Number Seven:  If you are someone who has the valid opinion that life’s sacredness renders abortion a non-option, remember that you also must work to thwart uncontrolled world population growth. Many people may believe strongly that abortion is wrong, but all people should believe easily that starvation is as well. Number Eight:  If you are a black American, remember that you are a proud and necessary part of an America which will probably change because of Hispanic immigration in the years to come. Try to adapt to that change in such a fashion as will help your race, and the other races and ethnic groups which will constitute the future population of the United States of America. You’ve always been told that America is a “melding pot”. And in the years to come, I believe your importance in American life will greatly increase, no matter what may befall any other race or ethnic group in the U.S.A. And Number Nine:  Lately, through various sources, a number of left-wing policy advocates have been posturing for an end to all borders worldwide. The lunacy of this wish should be apparent, but in case it’s not, remember again, as stated in this piece previously, some people need to do the physical work which keeps societies functioning. And left-wing writers and policy advisors don’t (and won’t) picture themselves as doing the agricultural, factory, construction, and various other labor intensive type jobs whose performance will be necessary in the future no matter if nations have borders or not. No, those liberal types see themselves as being above manual labor tasks. Jobs such as those need to be done by peasants. Thus, what would happen in a world without borders? The answer is one of two possible scenarios:  Either a grounded workforce would do society’s necessary tasks while various other people who would rather live off the labors of those workers traveled about worldwide or, numerous, or perhaps only one powerful centralized governments or government would ensure that all people would do their fair share of society’s work by imposing either numerous or one worldwide left or right wing regimes or regime across the world, which would then, by necessity curtail most or all the freedoms now enjoyed by the various nations who today function with a democratic republic as their economic system.      

[maneaterwithtail]

Why the resistance to "fan girl" Ms. Marvel?

highlights of the discussion

Popesize1 day ago (edited)

For me, i guess it was the overexposure, and you must like her-attitude, that made me say no. Same with Captain Marvel as the new flagship. Her origin and faith never really mattered to me. I remember finding Dust in one of the young x-team (was it Hellions?) interesting. The obsessive nerd and fan-girling was a bit annoying, i can agree on that. Mostly because the fans i have come to know, never really behaved like that. But it might be more common with girls. What do i know? -But never the big tick-off

Dakina Demino1 day ago

I don't think its the character itself, but rather the relentless media worship of her as some kind of new age comic book Jesus that really took off five years ago. If you said anything that the pros and the media took as negative, you'd get called the usual things like nazi, racist and so on. You'd also get bot blocked on twitter and smeared in a closed community chat room. This has the side effect of reflecting back on Kamala who gets the reputation of being a progressive garbage character. A second point is that less than a year ago, the pros and media were still running smear campaigns against their own consumer bases, painting them as some vast army of zombie nazi kkk Trump voting hate mob made up of Russian cyber bots that wants to gun down immigrants. Kamala is polarizing in that game as she represents two things a lot of Marvel fans hate. One they got attacked by people claiming they are evil, anti minority, gate keeping old white fans and two, the character represents the catalyst of Marvel telling its own consumer base to f**k off in more of less that precise wording. As for me, I'm not angry at Kamala. I'm pissed off that an awesome cyperpunk game series like Dues Ex got axed so the studio could make a game that seems designed from the ground up to start shit and trigger outrage.

Nioh Arcadia1 day ago

As the Target Audience for Kamala I want to like her but (as of right now) I really fucking hate her 😡 She feels like the living embodiment of a subreddit and after G Willow she's Only written as a hyper Melenial 😒. Also like you said she feels like "hey you can see yourself can't you nerd?" It's pretty insulting and lazy. Also her being a mage fan of other Superheros makes her character less interesting because she lacks her own Agency. Now-a-days she's pretty boring and I or anyone else really couldn't give a shit

Raheil Rahman1 day ago

As a Muslim, the comic was groundbreaking. Grant Morrison's "Vinamarama" was the first book that spoke to my experience in my lifetime, but this was a pop extension of that. Her family life, her need to hide her identity from her conservative family, was a great update on Peter Parker. She was a nerdy fangirl, which was fun, and she was a very bubbly and enthusiastic character, which I found entertaining. For a time.

 I was turned off by the comic due to the very decompressed pace (obviously to pad a story and sell more issues) and the constant reboots. I haven't read the issues later when she was pushed into Avengers, but that's because all Marvel and DC comics are wearing thin with me. It's all reboots and re-mixes of familiar characters to push some marketing that has nothing to do with comics. I agree with [Comics, by Perch] on this.

 Kamala Khan was forced down the fans throats, but there were many fans of her that have nothing to do with her comics (which is the future of all IPs in this business, I think). The market isn't for comics, which I get is your focus, but she was made to be bigger than comics, like or not. 

 But I don't care, because Kamala Khan has allowed all of us to know and discuss things and issues that we have never done before. Particularly, the arc where they discuss Partition, the division of India into Pakistan and Bangledesh, a tragic event that my father experienced personally, was worth all the over-exposure of this character alone. This was a huge historical event that almost no one has heard of, and this book put a focus on it even among older people of the sub-continent who had never read a comic in their lives, the pages were being shared by email and on Facebook by people my father and mother's age.

Did it sell the comic? Hell no.

 But it was a good thing for the comic world, for the Pakistani world, for the American fans, on a whole.

 And to be honest Perch, I love your channel, but this very rant plays into the idea OG fans will reject this new character based on her background. Many people say her powers are boring, her character is mediocre, and they're all right, but they, and you, miss the point. I get she's been pushed down our throats and I agree that she isn't the best, but the fact that you relate to the kid who acts like a jerk, saying he represents the average comic fan (I don't relate to him, I relate to her, which might be the point of what I'm saying), while that scene is an over-exaggeration, like all superhero melodrama is, I have experienced exactly that kind of situation, being talked down to, and I've seen this happen a lot when it is a young girl and especially if it is a person of color. The fact this irks you is acceptable, but I see a lot of truth in it, even if it is over the top soap opera dialogue.

 I know you are going to say that you were only discussing how the industry, the fans of comics themselves reacted to it and her forcibly increased profile in the universe of comics, and as a fan of comics for almost 30 years, I see all your points. But I think you're reaction is an over-reaction, Kamala Khan is a small part of the Marvel universe, and if she is being artificially being pushed to the top, I personally, have no problem with that. I don't buy the comics, and no one else has to either. And if her inclusion in comics causes people to stop buying the comic, well, I have no problem with that either. Honestly, a lot of those books were never going to be bought no matter which version of Captain Marvel or Spider-Man you put into the book. 

you know nothing jon snowden1 day ago (edited)

It is somewhat insulting the bullying of her as some sort of crucial element of her origin. “What’s her pathos?” “Oppression from comicbook nerds.”

Eric D.1 day ago

Two of the best marvel titles - Daredevil and Immortal Hulk - have one very important thing in common. Consistent creative teams that are telling good stories within a larger story arc that is being told simultaneously. The issue with Kamala Khan is the same issue that Marvel has with a lot of their characters - creative teams on a revolving door and overuse of cross over events. In that shuffle, the core of a character gets lost and we end up with flat, uninteresting characters exactly like the version of Ms. Marvel that's presented in the new Avengers game. A lot of the "problems" in comics could be corrected if the industry returned to a consistent creative team model instead of this six-issue-expiration-date on creative teams and constant title cancelations and reboots that we see now.

KelpieTales1 day ago

Pretty much what others have said before: Kamala has/had potential, her concept is solid and has been done elsewhere so it can work, her early series wasn't bad but come Civil War II things started going downhill for her sadly especially with politics becoming all the more obvious of a driving force.

 What didn't also help was overexposure and the "You must love her or else!" Mentality behind her marketing and some fans as well being directly tied into two other franchises with the same problem: Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel and the Inhumans being made into knock-off X-Men. Since Disney got the rights to X-Men and shelves the Inhumans after the damage done to them I can see why they're quiet on Kamala being one. You also got a point on her surface traits being over exaggerated by other writers most specifically her being a Muslim and a Fangirl, with the rest kind of varying. One example is Waid's version of her is known for being so upset with how the Avengers wouldn't personally rebuild buildings destroyed in battle she left to form the Champions. First issue of her new series by Ahmed had her accidentally destroy a store and came off bratty to the justifiably angry owner. Some will see it as writers not doing their research which sadly happens quite a bit or worst case the character seen as  a hypocrite to some especially if they're a fairly new characters with other factors going against them. One thing that personally bothers me about her is how Marvel and certain media praise her as their "best thing since Spider-Man" when she hasn't really done much to earn that title in terms of personal accomplishments. She's made from a similar mold as Peter and there's nothing wrong with doing that kind of "ordinary kid becomes a superhero" with a different cultural twist to it but it felt like they handled Kamala (and other modern hyped, young characters) with kid gloves compared to their predecessors. I don't think she should see all her loved ones murdered in front of her but maybe at least building a rogues gallery that challenges her more other than simply "fascism" and "Islamaphobia" or something. Then again, this could be because her writers are afraid of getting called "bigots" if something bad happens to her even if it's something white guys routinely deal with I.e. recent Star Wars comic had Boba Fett kill a black woman, just like he killed so many others before, and suddenly SWHatesWomen is a trending tag. Kamala's books also seem more geared to a YA for nerd girls and maybe younger like other books out there like Squirrel Girl so I can see that as a rift between her series and the usual comic fanbase that tends to be teen boys and men. 

 Also, no qualms about the costume but I get how stretchy powers can be a little weird for some to get over or have a character be fun and creative with it.

 Also, that scene with the "real fans" bullies was eye roll worthy. I'm not denying fan elitism exists and I've seen it first hand from people of all walks of life. However, here it feels like it plays into the narrative of "fanboys are bigots who hate sharing their hobbies with girls/PoC/LGBT+" and of course, if you don't like characters like Kamala for any reason you're just like them. There's also how a lot of comic fans tend to just be super awkward, or even autistic, and just get carried away talking about their hobby while unintentionally coming off rude. I'll admit I've been there trying to talk to someone who acted like an authority on the comics when they didn't seem to ever read them and seemed to just watch the shows (while ironically talking down about others who watch superhero shows and don't read the books). Not to mention, the concern of hobbies being re-tooled to be more "inclusive" for people who never cared about them before while alienating the older fanbase.

Gabriel Hernandez1 day ago

Here's an anecdote that somewhat backs up your theory. Disney XD came out with Black Panther's Quest just after the release of the film. I remember hearing about it and thought it would be some light, fun entertainment. When the first episode came out (you can legit watch it here: https://youtu.be/0B9JOAX99pc), Ms. Marvel had as much dialog as Black Panther, certainly more than any other Avenger, and she was at the front of the team during the big fight scene in the first 5 minutes. I remember thinking "Why is this person here? Why is she getting so much attention in a Black Panther cartoon? Where's the Hulk? Why is Ms Marvel doing so much of the talking and in the same timeframe you have nothing from either Capt. America or Black Widow? What is this?" In other words, Ms Marvel was being shoved to the front and treated as a co-leader of the Avengers when - and here's the key - her canon and her powers weren't established enough to earn that spot. That's the difference. She didn't earn her place at the table, and it just comes off as forced and fake. Just my opinion.

Cole1 day ago

When I was in Washington DC last summer we visited American History Smithsonian and they unexpectedly had an exhibit on superheroes where they had some comics in a case and there was a Kamala khan Ms Marvel #1 next to a bunch of classic issues and first appearances. It puts things into perspective beyond a small internet troll bubble. That clip was kinda lame lol but the character has a large audience.

Ibena8271 day ago (edited)

I do disagree on the idea that people weren't ranting about her character when she first debut because they're were literal blogs and videos dedicated to bashing her character and her faith, and even those people who claim her comic was failing always forget to mention that while single issues weren't selling alot, her first volume actually sold remarkably well, making it the best selling series in that year. Although her character came from the all new and all different line-up there is a reason why unlike others like Riri Williams, America Chavez or even Nova she was able to go into other media so easily and it's simply because her character was able to appeal to new readers of comics with a young protagonist who held a more optimistic outlook on the Marvel universe as it was going into so much change at the time, it also helped that her story focus less on action and more on her daily life and how it involves into her heroic life. I could understand if people just don't like Ms. Marvel because she's just not their favorite type of hero but it would be weird to criticize the character for being comparable to her multiple relaunches "mentor" or with her being responsible for the decline of Marvel comics

Comics, by Perch1 day ago

I didn't say there were none... but if you look at the volume it was easily 1/20th of the volume of what occurred later in her run. For a period of time there were more articles condemning the insults than the insults themselves. Of course, that did change.

Horizon Brave1 day ago (edited)

I despise...DESPISE the fandom at times... This shouldn't even be a thing... I can guarantee you...promise you.... if Captain Marvel was not a teen girl, this conversation, this "agenda" that everyone spouts, this constant push back of anything about this character would not exist. Find it funny that all of the characters that create controversy and and bring out the cliche descriptors like SJW and MarySue are all women.  I have yet to hear anyone whine and bitch about male characters 'ruining' the story or pushing politics etc

inotaishu11 day ago

Ms. Marvel wasn't even the first muslim girl in the Marvel Universe. DUST came years before her. I think the problem with the character is that she was so long connected to something that looks like an agenda instead of having the character stand on her own.

Me

Once upon a time there was a online conflict called gamergate

 it was an outgrowth of the increased mainstreamification with it greater demographic Alteration of fandom. Where they were a vehicle for major studios putting things out as well as trying to chase different demographics and markets. 

alongside this is in fact a long-term attempt to make fandom much more female friendly. with, yes, pre-existing issues of sexism. With the sudden influx of this social capital some factions happily hook their train up either for validation, advancement, but especially social power. This all comes to a head through three major actions.

 you probably heard names like Zoe Quinn or Anita Sarkeesian.  needless to say fandom isn't just one thing. 

Stuff that happens in the game sphere creates an attitude because there are members who share multiple hobbies but especially with comics people wanted to act like they were social activists and one way they did that was by creating the bunch of traits that they knew what piss people off and then attack a group that they knew had less social capital.

 so in order to combat what was perceived as negative feelings for Muslims and girls with interest in geeky hobbies and or science fiction they created the polemic fangirl. Especially to the counter the nasty statements against then popular brown hair girls such as Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen.

This was addressing a very real issue, much as was pointed out in the book Lovecraft Country

We had genre fiction that had, on its basis, racist assumptions ideas and so on whether that was Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and yes Lovecraft. but much like the creation of Miles Morales and several other characters you couldn't help but feel, much as you noted with this latest version, that the point of the character wasn't to be a character to celebrate and build a relationship with audience and this genre, but to brow beat the audience. 

 This is especially with fangirl interests being lionized as a social good even when in many ways just as venal Petty and low-key  messed up. Something that nobody would own up to until it was socially advantaged to do so.  

As an example people constantly pointing out how mean male nerds are to female or anything that's associated with female or progressive or gay  fashions. Until suddenly they want to beat on those people then suddenly they can acknowledge the exact same traits those accused bigots with people were mad about as existing let alone allowing to be judged as flawed It's hilarious because I can point to things like people flipping out about the last Jedi and how people jump the gun on a character like admiral holdo. But then turn around and prosecute the in their name reylo fandom because they're all fighting against patriarchy. In short it's very clear when someone makes a character and they're meant to be a learning lesson for the audience

. And very deliberately from conception that was the point of Miles Morales and Kamala Khan. The only positive thing you could say at least with KK is that she was deliberately meant to be empathetic to that kind of girl. the problem is much like [Perch] said when they start saying she was the future it very much came with an implicit “you guys are the past and you guys sucked until we came here”

 It's with this attitude along with that, even though I don't have a problem reading the first three or so  of her trade, she's associated with the push of the inhumans which was very much more mandated by the fox marvel Disney pissing match; To the fact that she has Loki guest star along with agents of shield thus meaning that she was very much part of the then media tie in and fangirl gasm of pushing Loki which also fed into the idea of Loki as the best queer boyfriend; and they made it clear that this was going to be the future. basically they were going to be as Petty as they always were just aiming towards fangirl. as opposed to males’ preference  

 and then they were going to tell us how we were monsters for not going along with it. 

 And again those first three trades pretty well written and okay ish. They're all about character. which makes them kind of interesting but that doesn't change the fact that you can easily see what they're trying to do with having the literal villain called the inventor who's also Thomas Edison who's all about demoralizing and exploiting the younger generation, who all turn out to be super geniuses anyway,  All this and a wolverine cameo.

Added in like [Perch] noted that people who were not about comics couldn't shut up about praising her as the future of comics as if everything was crap until she showed up and it just hurt a lot. especially as you noted it was all this other mess going on but she was part of the initiative of streamlining marvel towards the media Disney push. and very deliberately made in order to push out everybody who would come before even down to the likes of the audience to push for a different audience who they said was a more moral audience 

So whether she was a hit outside of the morass of Marvel determined whether she’d be the new centralizing focus for it.

[anghe10-blog]

Letter for Donald Trump

To every single Trump supporter trying to say that voting for Trump does not mean that you are racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, assholes… that you just like the way he didn't really care what people thought and just said whatever he wanted… that he wasn't a politician, so he wasn't part of the establishment and didn't have corrupt money backing him…

This is for you:

Your words are worthless, because your actions have led to the single-handed destruction of all the progress we've made socially as a nation. You have, with your pure ignorance and refusal to understand the way the government and the world works, allowed a power-hungry business tycoon to take over the United States of America. "The land of the free, the home of the brave, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL."

You are HYPOCRITES.

Restoring the America-that-was is only stagnating the progression of our consciousness. You voted for a person who built an 18-month campaign off the back of your hatred. He manipulated ALL of you with such ease by speaking to the darker parts of you that had started to feel ashamed about the way you viewed the "politically correct" world. He became your champion, because he spoke to the parts of you that think you are superior to the rest of us (just like Hitler did in Germany before the Holocaust! Just read his autobiography: Mein Kampf).

This politically correct world we've created, which is really just a world with social etiquette, where we have weeded out the language of racism and explained why, where we have established feminism as a growing notion of making women realize their validity and right to be treated as the full complex beings they are and men the same (which clearly needs A LOT of work considering how women across America, especially white women, voted for this man who insulted your very existence every time he opened his mouth or disrespected Hillary during his campaign), where we have had to create numerous labels to help queer people who didn't fit the cis heterosexual mold feel valid and identified in a world where narrow-minded consciousness has made them feel invalid and invisible for so long. That's the "politically correct" behavior you wanna get rid of? You wanna restore America to a world where the human beings around you feel scared to be themselves and live and love freely?

Apart from how selfish that is, it is so very un-CHRIST-like, because your God is watching and He knows your hearts and He is aware of the true reason you chose such a human to run the most powerful country in the world, and I promise you the God that I have come to know and love is intolerant of judgment and hatred. And I know this, because I was raised Roman Catholic in a Latin household and went to private Catholic school my whole life so I have studied WAY more than most of you have studied the religion or the Bible for that matter. The ONLY reason is your inability to accept the growing world around you. You chose hatred. Your heart chose to separate yourself as a superior when the only superior in existence in this entire universe is SO much greater than you.

Our "political correctness" that your champion, Donald Trump, so pointedly disregarded throughout his entire campaign and now with the appointment of his advisors and other government officials, is the language we have worked tirelessly to establish to feel safe in a world that never stops reminding us we are minorities. I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman and I am so proud of it. I am proud to be part of a community that only projects love and education and the support of one another. I am proud to be the granddaughter and daughter of immigrants who were brave enough to leave their homes and come to a whole new world with a different language and culture and immerse themselves fearlessly to start a better life for themselves and their families.

I am proud to be a woman. Proud that the sex between my thighs provides a strength and resilience in me that only other women can feel, that my body curves in ways that allow me to create life within me, that my entire life is filled with adversity and doubt and people questioning my intelligence and my artistic potential and my expression of myself and my virtue and honor because I am too much woman. I am proud that I get to prove them all wrong. I am proud that I have to work even harder for it. I was raised to feel that I can do ANYTHING, and I will always believe that. I am proud to feel the whole spectrum of my feelings and I will gladly take the label of "bitch" and "problematic" for speaking my mind the same way any man would be admired and respected for doing. But, I will also extend the fullest hand of compassion and empathy for anyone labeling me as such.

I also know that in my struggle of being a woman I am so very privileged. I was born with a lighter complexion and green eyes (thanks genetics) so from that narrow-minded perspective, I'm white. I have experienced the privilege those genes have granted me, and I am grateful and will continue to speak on behalf of the women around the world and in our very own country who do not experience a fraction of that respect because of the color of their skin or what they choose to wear, or how their hair looks, or how much makeup they have on or any other absurdity that we women are reduced to.

It's truly disheartening to me to see so many beautiful women who have no idea what their potential is. This election made it blatantly obvious just how many women can't see it. We have failed ourselves as a nation. We are the example for the world, and we have failed our fellow humans who were watching us with hope that we would not allow hatred to prevail. I have had the privilege of being in a band that has allowed me to travel all over the world. I cannot express the gratitude I have for this experience because it opened my eyes to so many things and has allowed me to view the world from such a simple perspective, a perspective that I understand not very many people have the opportunity to experience.

If I could tell every Trump supporter two things, it would be to travel and read a history book. Look beyond yourselves, look at how petty the morals you uphold seem when you realize we are not the only ones. Realize that your white skin is the result of immigration from Europe, that the only true "Americans" are Native Americans, who are indigenous people that inhabited this land before these conquerors from other countries (England, France, Italy, Spain) wiped them out almost entirely. None of us belong here but all of us deserve the right to feel safe and live our lives in peace. To not have to worry about potentially dying, or being electro-shocked, or beaten, or raped, or emotionally abused because our existence and/or choices for ourselves upset someone else. This is the world Trump is fostering. This is the division that has risen since the beginning of the campaign. We are not America indivisible any longer, we are united on two separate sides; Love and Hatred. We are not "whining" about our presidential choice losing, we are screaming battle cries against those whose political and personal agendas threaten our lives and sanity. We are making sure you hear us, no matter how much it bothers you, we EXIST.

[adambstingus]

The 5 Oddest American Trends That Other Countries Stole

America is the great melting pot. Generations upon generations of disparate cultures, all just stewing together in the tasty broth of freedom. That’s what made the country what it is today: A barren hellscape patrolled by Corporate Overbots, murderous brand-enforcement drones whose every thundering step sends fear into- Oh, sorry, that’s tomorrow. We skipped ahead a bit in the chronology. We meant to say, “That’s what made the country what it is today: a cultural powerhouse.” In fact, America Americas so hard that even other, less-American countries have to get in on this All-American action. Like …

5

North Koreans Hate America (But Love American Brands)

North Koreans are taught that everything wrong with the world — and especially everything wrong with North Korea — is solely the fault of America and the evils of capitalism. That’s why it’s so odd that, when French photographer Eric Lafforgue toured the country to capture a photographic essay of its people, he came back with pics like these:

Eric Lafforgue “Just Do It … Or You Go To Gulag.”

All across Pyongyang, Lafforgue encountered people sporting distinctly American corporate logos: Nike, McDonald’s, Mickey Mouse, and … Bart Simpson?

Eric Lafforgue Better to eat shorts than to eat nothing at all.

When asked about the products, citizens didn’t see any problem: They told Lafforgue that they were Chinese in origin. And that’s not entirely wrong — the vast majority of North Korea’s goods are imported from China, aka “America’s sweatshop.”

It doesn’t end at clothing: Here’s an obvious rip-off of America’s favorite soda, creatively relabeled “Cocoa Crabonated [sic] Drink.”

Eric Lafforgue GET CRABS.

After six successful trips to North Korea, and smuggling out hundreds of photos, Lafforgue was eventually banned from the country — whether for exposing its rampant poverty, its hypocritical love of Western products, or just to keep Coke from sending Copyright lawyers to Pyongyang, we simply do not know.

4

American Subcultures Never Die; They Just Retire To Japan

Japan has no shortage of unique subcultures, ranging from people who dress like dolls, all the way to people who dress like other, more disturbing dolls. But there’s plenty of America in that mix: Take, for example, Chicano Rap, coming at you straight from Tokyo (by way of East L.A., by way of Mexico). It all started when record label owner Shin Miyata became fascinated with everyone’s sixth favorite ’70s cop show, CHiPs, and the Chicano culture depicted therein. The subculture has since grown into a veritable phenomenon, complete with lowriders, black-and-white tattoos, and seriously on-point makeup.

They’re repping Eastside. No, farther east. Farther still …

Performers in the genre don’t mimic cholo lifestyle lightly — they full-on embody it, adopting entirely new identities like MoNa aka Sad Girl, El Latino, and GARCiA. But even Tokyo’s Cholos aren’t as dedicated as Tokyo’s Rockabillies.

This is revenge for Elvis’ “kimono” period.

Unlike America, where Rockabilly has been largely forgotten, the genre saw a huge resurgence in ’80s Japan, and it only grew in the ’90s. Now, on any given Sunday, you can find the Tokyo Rockabilly Club in Yoyogi park. Don’t worry, you can’t miss them: They’ll be the ones decked out in full leather, rocking out to the finest of the ’50s, and sporting duck’s ass hairdos you could — nay, should — ramp a DeSoto off of.

The line between “pompadour” and “anime lightning hair” is a fine one.

3

European “American Parties” Feature Red Solo Cups And A Million Calories

If Instagram is any indication, “American Parties” have taken Europe by storm, presumably landing at Normandy before sweeping south and to the east.

And you thought they hated us!

Everyone knows the only thing Americans love more than Old Glory and casual racism is fueling their ever-growing waistlines, so one of the most important aspects of an American party is the food: Sloppy Joes, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, donuts, popcorn, French fries, soda, and anything else with at least a 500:1 calorie-to-nutrient ratio. But the single most important element of any American Party is, of course, the humble red Solo cup.

And their version of beer pong is somehow more American than ours.

As any ’90s teen comedy film can tell you, it is literally impossible to throw a party in the U.S.A. without red Solo cups. They’re so crucial to the experience that Europeans have taken to begging their U.S.-bound friends and relatives to bring back as many packs of them as their luggage can handle.

That’s presumably also how they smuggle in their party attire, because there’s simply no other way to dress so authentically American:

That cop is missing, like, three layers of riot gear.

Of course, there’s a thin line between authenticity and “wildly offensive.”

Actually, this is pretty authentic too.

2

Germans Have A Strange Obsession With Playing Indian

Adult Germans have an inexplicable obsession with playing Cowboys and Indians. Well, with the “Indians” part, anyway.

Hey, if your most memorable cultural stereotype was the Nazis, you might widen your net, too.

Actually, digging into it a bit, it may be more explicable than we first thought: When American soldiers liberated Berlin at the end of World War II, they were surprised to find that, just like the kids back home, German children loved to play at a romanticized version of the American Old West. This was largely due to the work of German author Karl May, who drew upon his vast experience of having once read The Last Of The Mohicans to pen a series of novels recounting the thrilling adventures of Old Shatterhand, a German immigrant to America who travels the plains with an Apache leader known as Winnetou.

Those books, in turn, inspired an immensely popular series of 1960s films, and that’s how you wind up with countless Germans — who already have a “thing” for nudity — citing authenticity as an excuse to barely cover their dongs with miniscule strips of leather.

“Hey, baby. Wanna help me use every part of the buffalo?”

Germany is host to hundreds of hobbyist clubs in which “thousands of Germans with an American Indian fetish drink firewater, wear turquoise jewelry and run around places like Baden-Wurttemberg or Schleswig-Holstein dressed as Comanches and Apaches.” These enthusiasts spend their weekends camping out in teepees, reenacting battles between tribes, giving themselves native-sounding names like “White Wolf” and “Great Eagle (but not the Nazi kind),” and just generally doing lots of things involving feathers.

“THIS IS SHAWNEE!”

1

Brazil Has An Annual Festival Honoring The American Confederacy

If you’re a shitty person looking to flee the consequences of your own shittiness, look no further than South America. You might think we’re referring to its notorious infestation of Nazi war criminals, but they were just following in the grand tradition of defeated racists before them …

Eighty years before the Nazis fled to the sun and fun of Brazil, at least 10,000 Civil War Confederates did the same. Today, their descendants, known as the Confederados, honor their Southern American roots every April at the Festa Confederada in — no shit — Americana, Brazil.

In direct contrast to literally everything you’d rightfully assume about it, the “Confederate Party” is actually a multi-ethnic celebration, where people of every skin color gather to eat fried chicken, dress in period-appropriate clothing, square dance, and remain entirely oblivious to the bigoted roots of the culture they’re celebrating.

“We were told it was about states’ rights and nothing else, yes?”

If anything, the celebration is actively anti-hate, with festival organizers instituting a gate check where burly bouncers filter out anyone displaying the SS, the swastika, the KKK insignia, or any other imagery commonly associated with white supremacy … the obvious exception being, you know, all the rebel flags.

Follow Alyssa on Twitter.

Also check out 5 Bizarre Subcultures Way Crazier Than Anything From Japan and 5 Insane Subcultures That Might Become The Next Hipster.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out Why Americans Suck At Partying, and other videos you won’t see on the site!

Follow us on Facebook, and we’ll follow you everywhere.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/12/21/the-5-oddest-american-trends-that-other-countries-stole/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/168769089737

[samanthasroberts]

The 5 Oddest American Trends That Other Countries Stole

America is the great melting pot. Generations upon generations of disparate cultures, all just stewing together in the tasty broth of freedom. That’s what made the country what it is today: A barren hellscape patrolled by Corporate Overbots, murderous brand-enforcement drones whose every thundering step sends fear into- Oh, sorry, that’s tomorrow. We skipped ahead a bit in the chronology. We meant to say, “That’s what made the country what it is today: a cultural powerhouse.” In fact, America Americas so hard that even other, less-American countries have to get in on this All-American action. Like …

5

North Koreans Hate America (But Love American Brands)

North Koreans are taught that everything wrong with the world — and especially everything wrong with North Korea — is solely the fault of America and the evils of capitalism. That’s why it’s so odd that, when French photographer Eric Lafforgue toured the country to capture a photographic essay of its people, he came back with pics like these:

Eric Lafforgue “Just Do It … Or You Go To Gulag.”

All across Pyongyang, Lafforgue encountered people sporting distinctly American corporate logos: Nike, McDonald’s, Mickey Mouse, and … Bart Simpson?

Eric Lafforgue Better to eat shorts than to eat nothing at all.

When asked about the products, citizens didn’t see any problem: They told Lafforgue that they were Chinese in origin. And that’s not entirely wrong — the vast majority of North Korea’s goods are imported from China, aka “America’s sweatshop.”

It doesn’t end at clothing: Here’s an obvious rip-off of America’s favorite soda, creatively relabeled “Cocoa Crabonated [sic] Drink.”

Eric Lafforgue GET CRABS.

After six successful trips to North Korea, and smuggling out hundreds of photos, Lafforgue was eventually banned from the country — whether for exposing its rampant poverty, its hypocritical love of Western products, or just to keep Coke from sending Copyright lawyers to Pyongyang, we simply do not know.

4

American Subcultures Never Die; They Just Retire To Japan

Japan has no shortage of unique subcultures, ranging from people who dress like dolls, all the way to people who dress like other, more disturbing dolls. But there’s plenty of America in that mix: Take, for example, Chicano Rap, coming at you straight from Tokyo (by way of East L.A., by way of Mexico). It all started when record label owner Shin Miyata became fascinated with everyone’s sixth favorite ’70s cop show, CHiPs, and the Chicano culture depicted therein. The subculture has since grown into a veritable phenomenon, complete with lowriders, black-and-white tattoos, and seriously on-point makeup.

They’re repping Eastside. No, farther east. Farther still …

Performers in the genre don’t mimic cholo lifestyle lightly — they full-on embody it, adopting entirely new identities like MoNa aka Sad Girl, El Latino, and GARCiA. But even Tokyo’s Cholos aren’t as dedicated as Tokyo’s Rockabillies.

This is revenge for Elvis’ “kimono” period.

Unlike America, where Rockabilly has been largely forgotten, the genre saw a huge resurgence in ’80s Japan, and it only grew in the ’90s. Now, on any given Sunday, you can find the Tokyo Rockabilly Club in Yoyogi park. Don’t worry, you can’t miss them: They’ll be the ones decked out in full leather, rocking out to the finest of the ’50s, and sporting duck’s ass hairdos you could — nay, should — ramp a DeSoto off of.

The line between “pompadour” and “anime lightning hair” is a fine one.

3

European “American Parties” Feature Red Solo Cups And A Million Calories

If Instagram is any indication, “American Parties” have taken Europe by storm, presumably landing at Normandy before sweeping south and to the east.

And you thought they hated us!

Everyone knows the only thing Americans love more than Old Glory and casual racism is fueling their ever-growing waistlines, so one of the most important aspects of an American party is the food: Sloppy Joes, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, donuts, popcorn, French fries, soda, and anything else with at least a 500:1 calorie-to-nutrient ratio. But the single most important element of any American Party is, of course, the humble red Solo cup.

And their version of beer pong is somehow more American than ours.

As any ’90s teen comedy film can tell you, it is literally impossible to throw a party in the U.S.A. without red Solo cups. They’re so crucial to the experience that Europeans have taken to begging their U.S.-bound friends and relatives to bring back as many packs of them as their luggage can handle.

That’s presumably also how they smuggle in their party attire, because there’s simply no other way to dress so authentically American:

That cop is missing, like, three layers of riot gear.

Of course, there’s a thin line between authenticity and “wildly offensive.”

Actually, this is pretty authentic too.

2

Germans Have A Strange Obsession With Playing Indian

Adult Germans have an inexplicable obsession with playing Cowboys and Indians. Well, with the “Indians” part, anyway.

Hey, if your most memorable cultural stereotype was the Nazis, you might widen your net, too.

Actually, digging into it a bit, it may be more explicable than we first thought: When American soldiers liberated Berlin at the end of World War II, they were surprised to find that, just like the kids back home, German children loved to play at a romanticized version of the American Old West. This was largely due to the work of German author Karl May, who drew upon his vast experience of having once read The Last Of The Mohicans to pen a series of novels recounting the thrilling adventures of Old Shatterhand, a German immigrant to America who travels the plains with an Apache leader known as Winnetou.

Those books, in turn, inspired an immensely popular series of 1960s films, and that’s how you wind up with countless Germans — who already have a “thing” for nudity — citing authenticity as an excuse to barely cover their dongs with miniscule strips of leather.

“Hey, baby. Wanna help me use every part of the buffalo?”

Germany is host to hundreds of hobbyist clubs in which “thousands of Germans with an American Indian fetish drink firewater, wear turquoise jewelry and run around places like Baden-Wurttemberg or Schleswig-Holstein dressed as Comanches and Apaches.” These enthusiasts spend their weekends camping out in teepees, reenacting battles between tribes, giving themselves native-sounding names like “White Wolf” and “Great Eagle (but not the Nazi kind),” and just generally doing lots of things involving feathers.

“THIS IS SHAWNEE!”

1

Brazil Has An Annual Festival Honoring The American Confederacy

If you’re a shitty person looking to flee the consequences of your own shittiness, look no further than South America. You might think we’re referring to its notorious infestation of Nazi war criminals, but they were just following in the grand tradition of defeated racists before them …

Eighty years before the Nazis fled to the sun and fun of Brazil, at least 10,000 Civil War Confederates did the same. Today, their descendants, known as the Confederados, honor their Southern American roots every April at the Festa Confederada in — no shit — Americana, Brazil.

In direct contrast to literally everything you’d rightfully assume about it, the “Confederate Party” is actually a multi-ethnic celebration, where people of every skin color gather to eat fried chicken, dress in period-appropriate clothing, square dance, and remain entirely oblivious to the bigoted roots of the culture they’re celebrating.

“We were told it was about states’ rights and nothing else, yes?”

If anything, the celebration is actively anti-hate, with festival organizers instituting a gate check where burly bouncers filter out anyone displaying the SS, the swastika, the KKK insignia, or any other imagery commonly associated with white supremacy … the obvious exception being, you know, all the rebel flags.

Follow Alyssa on Twitter.

Also check out 5 Bizarre Subcultures Way Crazier Than Anything From Japan and 5 Insane Subcultures That Might Become The Next Hipster.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out Why Americans Suck At Partying, and other videos you won’t see on the site!

Follow us on Facebook, and we’ll follow you everywhere.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/12/21/the-5-oddest-american-trends-that-other-countries-stole/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/12/21/the-5-oddest-american-trends-that-other-countries-stole/

[allofbeercom]

The 5 Oddest American Trends That Other Countries Stole

America is the great melting pot. Generations upon generations of disparate cultures, all just stewing together in the tasty broth of freedom. That’s what made the country what it is today: A barren hellscape patrolled by Corporate Overbots, murderous brand-enforcement drones whose every thundering step sends fear into- Oh, sorry, that’s tomorrow. We skipped ahead a bit in the chronology. We meant to say, “That’s what made the country what it is today: a cultural powerhouse.” In fact, America Americas so hard that even other, less-American countries have to get in on this All-American action. Like …

5

North Koreans Hate America (But Love American Brands)

North Koreans are taught that everything wrong with the world — and especially everything wrong with North Korea — is solely the fault of America and the evils of capitalism. That’s why it’s so odd that, when French photographer Eric Lafforgue toured the country to capture a photographic essay of its people, he came back with pics like these:

Eric Lafforgue “Just Do It … Or You Go To Gulag.”

All across Pyongyang, Lafforgue encountered people sporting distinctly American corporate logos: Nike, McDonald’s, Mickey Mouse, and … Bart Simpson?

Eric Lafforgue Better to eat shorts than to eat nothing at all.

When asked about the products, citizens didn’t see any problem: They told Lafforgue that they were Chinese in origin. And that’s not entirely wrong — the vast majority of North Korea’s goods are imported from China, aka “America’s sweatshop.”

It doesn’t end at clothing: Here’s an obvious rip-off of America’s favorite soda, creatively relabeled “Cocoa Crabonated [sic] Drink.”

Eric Lafforgue GET CRABS.

After six successful trips to North Korea, and smuggling out hundreds of photos, Lafforgue was eventually banned from the country — whether for exposing its rampant poverty, its hypocritical love of Western products, or just to keep Coke from sending Copyright lawyers to Pyongyang, we simply do not know.

4

American Subcultures Never Die; They Just Retire To Japan

Japan has no shortage of unique subcultures, ranging from people who dress like dolls, all the way to people who dress like other, more disturbing dolls. But there’s plenty of America in that mix: Take, for example, Chicano Rap, coming at you straight from Tokyo (by way of East L.A., by way of Mexico). It all started when record label owner Shin Miyata became fascinated with everyone’s sixth favorite ’70s cop show, CHiPs, and the Chicano culture depicted therein. The subculture has since grown into a veritable phenomenon, complete with lowriders, black-and-white tattoos, and seriously on-point makeup.

They’re repping Eastside. No, farther east. Farther still …

Performers in the genre don’t mimic cholo lifestyle lightly — they full-on embody it, adopting entirely new identities like MoNa aka Sad Girl, El Latino, and GARCiA. But even Tokyo’s Cholos aren’t as dedicated as Tokyo’s Rockabillies.

This is revenge for Elvis’ “kimono” period.

Unlike America, where Rockabilly has been largely forgotten, the genre saw a huge resurgence in ’80s Japan, and it only grew in the ’90s. Now, on any given Sunday, you can find the Tokyo Rockabilly Club in Yoyogi park. Don’t worry, you can’t miss them: They’ll be the ones decked out in full leather, rocking out to the finest of the ’50s, and sporting duck’s ass hairdos you could — nay, should — ramp a DeSoto off of.

The line between “pompadour” and “anime lightning hair” is a fine one.

3

European “American Parties” Feature Red Solo Cups And A Million Calories

If Instagram is any indication, “American Parties” have taken Europe by storm, presumably landing at Normandy before sweeping south and to the east.

And you thought they hated us!

Everyone knows the only thing Americans love more than Old Glory and casual racism is fueling their ever-growing waistlines, so one of the most important aspects of an American party is the food: Sloppy Joes, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, donuts, popcorn, French fries, soda, and anything else with at least a 500:1 calorie-to-nutrient ratio. But the single most important element of any American Party is, of course, the humble red Solo cup.

And their version of beer pong is somehow more American than ours.

As any ’90s teen comedy film can tell you, it is literally impossible to throw a party in the U.S.A. without red Solo cups. They’re so crucial to the experience that Europeans have taken to begging their U.S.-bound friends and relatives to bring back as many packs of them as their luggage can handle.

That’s presumably also how they smuggle in their party attire, because there’s simply no other way to dress so authentically American:

That cop is missing, like, three layers of riot gear.

Of course, there’s a thin line between authenticity and “wildly offensive.”

Actually, this is pretty authentic too.

2

Germans Have A Strange Obsession With Playing Indian

Adult Germans have an inexplicable obsession with playing Cowboys and Indians. Well, with the “Indians” part, anyway.

Hey, if your most memorable cultural stereotype was the Nazis, you might widen your net, too.

Actually, digging into it a bit, it may be more explicable than we first thought: When American soldiers liberated Berlin at the end of World War II, they were surprised to find that, just like the kids back home, German children loved to play at a romanticized version of the American Old West. This was largely due to the work of German author Karl May, who drew upon his vast experience of having once read The Last Of The Mohicans to pen a series of novels recounting the thrilling adventures of Old Shatterhand, a German immigrant to America who travels the plains with an Apache leader known as Winnetou.

Those books, in turn, inspired an immensely popular series of 1960s films, and that’s how you wind up with countless Germans — who already have a “thing” for nudity — citing authenticity as an excuse to barely cover their dongs with miniscule strips of leather.

“Hey, baby. Wanna help me use every part of the buffalo?”

Germany is host to hundreds of hobbyist clubs in which “thousands of Germans with an American Indian fetish drink firewater, wear turquoise jewelry and run around places like Baden-Wurttemberg or Schleswig-Holstein dressed as Comanches and Apaches.” These enthusiasts spend their weekends camping out in teepees, reenacting battles between tribes, giving themselves native-sounding names like “White Wolf” and “Great Eagle (but not the Nazi kind),” and just generally doing lots of things involving feathers.

“THIS IS SHAWNEE!”

1

Brazil Has An Annual Festival Honoring The American Confederacy

If you’re a shitty person looking to flee the consequences of your own shittiness, look no further than South America. You might think we’re referring to its notorious infestation of Nazi war criminals, but they were just following in the grand tradition of defeated racists before them …

Eighty years before the Nazis fled to the sun and fun of Brazil, at least 10,000 Civil War Confederates did the same. Today, their descendants, known as the Confederados, honor their Southern American roots every April at the Festa Confederada in — no shit — Americana, Brazil.

In direct contrast to literally everything you’d rightfully assume about it, the “Confederate Party” is actually a multi-ethnic celebration, where people of every skin color gather to eat fried chicken, dress in period-appropriate clothing, square dance, and remain entirely oblivious to the bigoted roots of the culture they’re celebrating.

“We were told it was about states’ rights and nothing else, yes?”

If anything, the celebration is actively anti-hate, with festival organizers instituting a gate check where burly bouncers filter out anyone displaying the SS, the swastika, the KKK insignia, or any other imagery commonly associated with white supremacy … the obvious exception being, you know, all the rebel flags.

Follow Alyssa on Twitter.

Also check out 5 Bizarre Subcultures Way Crazier Than Anything From Japan and 5 Insane Subcultures That Might Become The Next Hipster.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out Why Americans Suck At Partying, and other videos you won’t see on the site!

Follow us on Facebook, and we’ll follow you everywhere.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/12/21/the-5-oddest-american-trends-that-other-countries-stole/

[hellofastestnewsfan]

The Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci was born in 1929, before the outbreak of World War II, and died in 2006, after 9/11. These two horrifying events shaped her writing and worldview. Traveling the world, she covered some of its worst conflicts as a war reporter, with a tone fans would call incisive and critics would call caustic. In the process, she developed a deep fear of Islam’s influence in Europe.

She is most remembered—and often reviled—for the views informed by this fear. Fallaci believed that the Western world was in danger of being engulfed by radical Islam and, toward the end of her career, she wrote three books advancing this argument. She claimed that Muslims were colonizing Europe through immigration and high fertility, and that the passivity of the European left to the dangers she saw would soon turn Europe into a “colony of Islam,” a place she called “Eurabia.”

Her views have led her to posthumously develop a reputation as a darling of the far right—a dubious honor that would have troubled the woman who was in life an anti-fascist activist. A new biography, Oriana Fallaci: The Journalist, the Agitator, the Legend, emphasizes the diversity of Fallaci’s colorful career, and makes the case that her critics are mistaken in judging her based on her writings about Islam.

Fallaci was, for one thing, an interviewer of great men and women. She was wary of power, having grown up under authoritarian rule, and she took pleasure in challenging it. In one of the most famous examples, while she was interviewing Ayatollah Khomeini before the Iranian Revolution of 1979, she so irritated him with questions about women’s rights that Khomeini exclaimed, “If you do not like Islamic dress you are not obliged to follow it. The chador is only for young and respectable women.” Fallaci then tore the chador off her head, saying, “I’m going to take off this stupid, medieval rag right now.”

For a public figure and provocateur, she could be a private person, which makes the publication of her first authorized biography especially noteworthy. Her biographer, Cristina De Stefano, drew on unprecedented access to the journalist’s personal records. I spoke with De Stefano about Fallaci’s legacy, the manipulation of her memory, and what she got right—and wrong—about Islam in Europe. Below is a condensed and edited transcript of our conversation.

Annabelle Timsit: How did Oriana’s views on Islamism in Europe affect her career?

Cristina De Stefano: Oriana’s last trilogy almost destroyed her career, so she took a great risk in publishing it. She went from being a respected left-wing intellectual to being considered an Islamophobic icon of the far-right.

But Oriana Fallaci was not a political commentator—she was a novelist, she was a writer. I think that, in talking about politics, she often asked the right questions, like: What is Europe’s position toward Islamic culture within its borders? Is Europe ready to stand up for its values? How can two such different cultures meet?

But I am not sure she provided the right answers. She made often-simplistic accusations against European Muslims; she was violent in her expressions and negative in her view of the future. She was more a prophetess of catastrophe—a Cassandra, as she used to say—than a provider of concrete suggestions. Let’s keep in mind that we are talking about an artist here, someone who was, first of all, inhabited by her creativity.

Timsit: Can you tell me about her identity as a feminist and her views about Muslim women?

De Stefano: Oriana had a first-hand experience of Islam. She was a war reporter and covered a lot of conflicts in the Middle East. She was one of the first to understand that the Iranian Revolution of 1979 marked the return of political Islam on the world scene.

She [witnessed] the condition of women in Islam very early, in the ’60s, while traveling across the world for her book, The Useless Sex. In it, she wrote that Islamic countries were prisons for women. At the same time, she was never in a position of proselytism, she never tried to bring equality to these countries—she just said she didn’t like it, but if they wanted to live like this, in their own countries, it was fine by her.

The problem she pointed out was the danger of these different values coming to [Europe] through immigration. She stressed that we have to stand up for our values, and we have to say very clearly that immigrants have to accept our rules.

Timsit: But did she really think Islamic values were an existential threat to Europe? Do you?

De Stefano: I don’t believe that [Islamic values] are incompatible [with European values]. There are difficulties with integrating highly-religious immigrants into secular societies, and that can create problems. We need time to find a way to coexist. In the long run, I am optimistic. On this matter, I am in a completely different position than Oriana [who], on the contrary, was very pessimistic. She was particularly worried about the role of religion in society and about the condition of women.

Her declarations and writings after 9/11 were not the fruit of a mature political reasoning, but of a mix of rage, solitude, and illness. She was dying of cancer, alone, struggling with time and writing her last book. She was at the end of her life and she considered the attack on America, and then on Europe, as the end of the world.

Was she Islamophobic? Yes. Do I agree with her? No. But are the last words of a person a good reason to [negate] their whole life? Also no. That’s why I wrote the book and that’s why I hope people will read it: I wanted to show that there was another Oriana before, a person who accomplished great things, and was an inspiration for many women.

Timsit: Can she really be considered feminist, if she excludes Muslim women from her views?

De Stefano: Oriana’s position as a feminist was very interesting, because she was not a part of the movement of feminism, and she was often critical [of it]. She pointed out the contradiction within feminism. For example, after the [2015] New Year’s Eve sexual attacks in Cologne, many feminists in Europe were afraid to encourage xenophobia, so they kept silent. If Oriana was there she would have been furious at this silence. She would have considered it a lack of courage—and she praised courage above all.

She never took a stand for Muslim women, but she never did for Italian women either. She wasn't an activist. I would say she was a feminist in her actions, in her own life.

Timsit: What was it about her actions that was feminist?

De Stefano: Her [feminist] legacy is her story as a woman who was able to become a world-renowned journalist during a time when journalism was a man’s profession; it is her invention of a new and personal way of doing political interviews; and it is the millions of novels she sold all over the world.

Timsit: What can her writings teach us about the resurgence of the far right in Europe?

De Stefano: When we think about Oriana and politics, we tend to think about Islam. But in fact, the center of her political ideas and her obsession was not Islam—it was fascism. For her, the first stage of fascism is to silence people; and for her, political Islam is another form of fascism.

[She] would be very shocked by what is happening in Europe today. She would have said that we have to be vigilant, because the freedom we have can be taken back from us.

Timsit: Doesn’t this fail to take into account the different ways in which political Islam expresses itself across the Muslim world?

De Stefano: She did not explore the whole range of today’s Islam. She underlined the extremes [because] she considered herself in a battle for civilization, and for this reason she was often too extreme herself, [hence] the accusations of Islamophobia. The central focus of her writing wasn’t against a race or a religion, but rather an attitude. She claimed that political Islam is aggressive, while Europe is too shy to react to it. She was worried that Islamic culture isn’t afraid to claim its own cultural and religious superiority, while European culture is uncomfortable about defending its own values and achievements.

I think there are a lot of attacks on Oriana that are hypocritical, in the sense that they focus on the form but they don’t discuss what she said. Of course, you can be opposed to what she said, but you can’t deny that she asked some very important, uncomfortable questions that still need to be answered today. That was the main point of her trilogy, [to ask]: Europe, are you ready to fight for your values? And Europe has no answer to this question.

You can love or hate what she wrote, but she was quite right in pointing out what the future would bring. Today, Europe is facing a real crisis from migrants and she saw this coming.

Timsit: So, for her, immigration was a tool of invasion?

De Stefano: Yes. She wrote the famous, awful phrase, “The sons of Allah breed like rats.” Of course, it’s awful. But she was saying that Muslims don’t need to kill [non-Muslims]—they will just outnumber [non-Muslims].

The problem with Oriana, and the reason why a lot of readers don’t like her, is that she said a lot of uneasy things. [After World War II] the continent decided that war was over and that we would never fight again. Oriana told Europe that, in fact, war was not over; that political Islam is bringing war back to the continent.

Timsit: What is the most striking thing that you learned about Oriana in writing her biography?

De Stefano: Oriana made a feminist out of me. I was born in 1967, and I was convinced that feminists were old and out of fashion. Writing about her life, I realized how much women before me had to fight to work and live like men did, to be accepted and recognized. And through her writings, she convinced me that the rights that women [achieved] in the past can be taken away from them—so we have to be vigilant all the time. I am a different person now.

from The Atlantic http://ift.tt/2Ch9pLg

[elandole]

short introduction + actual blog

Hello there! I'm Ally, and I'm currently in the freshman year of high school. I might post more of my writing sooner or later, but here's my CNF piece: the actual reason why I created this blog in the first place. — "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." might be one of my favorite quotes today. It encapsulates the importance of having an opinion on current issues and the danger of neutrality. In seventh grade, we were told that one cannot always stay in the gray area. This came with no explanation, but I think I “understood” it. Focus on the quotation marks of “understood”. I like believing that fully understanding one thing involves applying said thing. I’ve only applied aforementioned wisdom in the summer preceding the succeeding grade. However, let's somehow get back to the original topic, if we’d left it in the first place. I hate cliches and the sounds of broken records slowly but surely deafening me, but let me be a hypocrite for a while and be those two things to prove a point. Speaking up is needed in this day and age, for there are a plethora of things going on with the world that need your action—or your attention, at the very least. As young women, we may not be able to financially support the things we believe in, but we need to know that our knowledge and passion to make this world slightly a better place will go a long way. Neutrality, on the other hand, is dangerous; I believe that it's the step before apathy, which is something that deserves a separate rant. All the catastrophes taking place in the world may desensitize us because we've gotten used to them, but being neutral or apathetic towards them won't do any of us good. November 8 & 9 may have been days you’ve lost your faith in humanity and hope for people valuing human rights (and democracy), but don't worry! I did too. In case you don't remember (who’d want to, actually?), on November 8, the Supreme Court decided that a selfish dictator, more commonly known as Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was deserving of being buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, or Heroes’ Cemetery in English. Let’s just collectively forget the 70,000 incarcerated for their political dissent, approximately 34,000 tortured by rape, electric shock, confinement, beating, etc., the billions in government debt, and the 3,240 murdered, right? No! Another interesting thing to know is that on the same day three years before, Supertyphoon Yolanda made landfall in the Philippines, more specifically the central regions. The eighth day of November is quite a tragic one for the Filipinos. Moving on to the latter day, November 9 was when America decided that a belligerent, bigoted businessman, also called as Donald Trump would be the 45th president of the United States of America. His term has been ongoing for 6 months and in this amount of time, he has: - banned transgender people from serving in the military - fired the FBI director for his lack of loyalty to him - praised Duterte’s administration (something I can go on and on about for days) for his “unbelievable and great job on the drug problem” (read: extrajudicial killings) - supported a point-based plan (modeled after Australia’s) that seeks to cut legal immigration - had supporters (and has been) carriers of bigotry and fake news In April, my family and I went to the USA for a vacation, and though it was a pleasure to be sponsored by family friends, I couldn't help but feel sad when they started talking about their political opinions. How people support this kind of person will forever baffle me, but it slowly ceases to be surprising. Another thing you might want to know is that 11/9 (the day Trump won the elections) is 9/11 reversed, a series of coordinated attacks that brought an end to many lives in 2001. Maybe this is history’s way of telling us that it is not on our side and that we should try to learn from the mistakes that have been made. At present, though we have been taught how to be more sensitive, it's inevitable that people will continue to cross boundaries through their words and actions, and get away with it by dismissing their ignorance as mere jokes. This is prevalent in pop culture, local and international. Examples of these would be our very own It Girls’ cultural insensitivities (who wears communist hats in Tiananmen Square?) that need no further explanation, and famous (white) YouTubers (or Internet personalities) who use their fame and platforms to take advantage of unaware people for attention (Jake Paul is ap-PAUL-ing. Please laugh.) This may make you feel and think that inoffensive comedy (or pop culture) in general ceases to exist, but thankfully, there are still some gems out there. Brooklyn Nine Nine, for example, is a comedy show that never fails to make me laugh hysterically, but at the same time, tackles social issues and gives good and realistic representation for women and men of color. Throughout the flow of the show, you’ll be able to see the strength and determination of the characters, but the creators of the show won't let you forget that they’re people who screw up, too, and will humbly accept their faults and shortcomings. It's pretty refreshing and reassuring to see this, especially when our society never fails to be the complete opposite. You’ve come this far! Yay? You might be thinking that I won't be able to wrap this up and connect everything I’ve written to each other, but you’re not alone there! Maybe I can end this with some profound quote I picked up from god-knows-where. I could also conclude with a realization I’ve formulated after vomiting all these words out. Or maybe, if I’m that sinister, I’d just end it—with no explanation whatsoever (but I won’t because I can’t bear to write things I’d hate too) Here goes nothing. The world today either loves or despises activism (read: dissent or nuance) of any kind. I like to believe that we humans are always hungry for something to put our hearts and minds into. And maybe others would find endlessly hoping for good things in a (seemingly) hopeless world absurd (and would rather just exist ‘peacefully’), but we can't blame them (because we all lose hope at one point.) Though, I want to think that we are meant to do more than merely exist. We’re all citizens of the world, and one way or another, we're responsible for caring about it and each other. For me, simply being aware of the world we live in—though probably mundane in others’ bigger pictures—is our obligation to Earth. We need to learn how to encourage the things we feel and think because as idealistic (read: cliche) as it may sound, the next revolution is in us, and we’re inherently liable for its release. Let your voice for change overpower your fears of daring to break the status quo because evil will surely defeat us if we sit around and warm up to it.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

Lauren Jauregui Open Letter To every single Trump supporter trying to say that voting for Trump does not mean that you are racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, assholes… that you just like the way he didn't really care what people thought and just said whatever he wanted… that he wasn't a politician, so he wasn't part of the establishment and didn't have corrupt money backing him… This is for you: Your words are worthless, because your actions have led to the single-handed destruction of all the progress we've made socially as a nation. You have, with your pure ignorance and refusal to understand the way the government and the world works, allowed a power-hungry business tycoon to take over the United States of America. "The land of the free, the home of the brave, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL." You are HYPOCRITES. Restoring the America-that-was is only stagnating the progression of our consciousness. You voted for a person who built an 18-month campaign off the back of your hatred. He manipulated ALL of you with such ease by speaking to the darker parts of you that had started to feel ashamed about the way you viewed the "politically correct" world. He became your champion, because he spoke to the parts of you that think you are superior to the rest of us (just like Hitler did in Germany before the Holocaust! Just read his autobiography: Mein Kampf). This politically correct world we've created, which is really just a world with social etiquette, where we have weeded out the language of racism and explained why, where we have established feminism as a growing notion of making women realize their validity and right to be treated as the full complex beings they are and men the same (which clearly needs A LOT of work considering how women across America, especially white women, voted for this man who insulted your very existence every time he opened his mouth or disrespected Hillary during his campaign), where we have had to create numerous labels to help queer people who didn't fit the cis heterosexual mold feel valid and identified in a world where narrow-minded consciousness has made them feel invalid and invisible for so long. That's the "politically correct" behavior you wanna get rid of? You wanna restore America to a world where the human beings around you feel scared to be themselves and live and love freely? Apart from how selfish that is, it is so very un-CHRIST-like, because your God is watching and He knows your hearts and He is aware of the true reason you chose such a human to run the most powerful country in the world, and I promise you the God that I have come to know and love is intolerant of judgment and hatred. And I know this, because I was raised Roman Catholic in a Latin household and went to private Catholic school my whole life so I have studied WAY more than most of you have studied the religion or the Bible for that matter. The ONLY reason is your inability to accept the growing world around you. You chose hatred. Your heart chose to separate yourself as a superior when the only superior in existence in this entire universe is SO much greater than you. Our "political correctness" that your champion, Donald Trump, so pointedly disregarded throughout his entire campaign and now with the appointment of his advisors and other government officials, is the language we have worked tirelessly to establish to feel safe in a world that never stops reminding us we are minorities. I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman and I am so proud of it. I am proud to be part of a community that only projects love and education and the support of one another. I am proud to be the granddaughter and daughter of immigrants who were brave enough to leave their homes and come to a whole new world with a different language and culture and immerse themselves fearlessly to start a better life for themselves and their families. I am proud to be a woman. Proud that the sex between my thighs provides a strength and resilience in me that only other women can feel, that my body curves in ways that allow me to create life within me, that my entire life is filled with adversity and doubt and people questioning my intelligence and my artistic potential and my expression of myself and my virtue and honor because I am too much woman. I am proud that I get to prove them all wrong. I am proud that I have to work even harder for it. I was raised to feel that I can do ANYTHING, and I will always believe that. I am proud to feel the whole spectrum of my feelings and I will gladly take the label of "bitch" and "problematic" for speaking my mind the same way any man would be admired and respected for doing. But, I will also extend the fullest hand of compassion and empathy for anyone labeling me as such. I also know that in my struggle of being a woman I am so very privileged. I was born with a lighter complexion and green eyes (thanks genetics) so from that narrow-minded perspective, I'm white. I have experienced the privilege those genes have granted me, and I am grateful and will continue to speak on behalf of the women around the world and in our very own country who do not experience a fraction of that respect because of the color of their skin or what they choose to wear, or how their hair looks, or how much makeup they have on or any other absurdity that we women are reduced to. It's truly disheartening to me to see so many beautiful women who have no idea what their potential is. This election made it blatantly obvious just how many women can't see it. We have failed ourselves as a nation. We are the example for the world, and we have failed our fellow humans who were watching us with hope that we would not allow hatred to prevail. I have had the privilege of being in a band that has allowed me to travel all over the world. I cannot express the gratitude I have for this experience because it opened my eyes to so many things and has allowed me to view the world from such a simple perspective, a perspective that I understand not very many people have the opportunity to experience. If I could tell every Trump supporter two things, it would be to travel and read a history book. Look beyond yourselves, look at how petty the morals you uphold seem when you realize we are not the only ones. Realize that your white skin is the result of immigration from Europe, that the only true "Americans" are Native Americans, who are indigenous people that inhabited this land before these conquerors from other countries (England, France, Italy, Spain) wiped them out almost entirely. None of us belong here but all of us deserve the right to feel safe and live our lives in peace. To not have to worry about potentially dying, or being electro-shocked, or beaten, or raped, or emotionally abused because our existence and/or choices for ourselves upset someone else. This is the world Trump is fostering. This is the division that has risen since the beginning of the campaign. We are not America indivisible any longer, we are united on two separate sides; Love and Hatred. We are not "whining" about our presidential choice losing, we are screaming battle cries against those whose political and personal agendas threaten our lives and sanity. We are making sure you hear us, no matter how much it bothers you, we EXIST.