#despot despair

[talentlesshuman]

my OC Ivy Yin :)

[wulfhalls]

king of self awareness <3

[boinin]

I didn't want to give too much weight to Hiiragi's tarot reading schtick. Yet, it's an author insert moment, and Kaneshiro loves foreshadowing. I have a worrying feeling that these fortunes may hold true for Chigiri, Barou and Nagi.

Full disclosure: I know very little about tarot, but did some high level reading through Wikipedia and other sources.

Chigiri gets the 15th card of the Major Arcana, the Devil. In the official translation, Hiiragi notes this to represent seduction, betrayal and ruin. Oof.

The obvious connection is to Chigiri's leg—the fortune could be tied to how he was seduced by football, became addicted to it, but will subsequently be betrayed by his leg... leading to ruin.

The Devil tarot card doesn't normally show a bomb, so this is for dramatic effect. Thematically, it implies that Chigiri should find purpose (or know where to seek it) beyond football, ahead of the day his luck runs out. 🥺 Not the outcome I want for our princess, but a second ACL injury has long been speculated by fans. Chigiri himself is aware that it's a risk when playing at this level.

Barou chooses number 12, the Hanged Man. Hiiragi cherry-picks his interpretation; in addition, this card is associated with motifs of self-sacrifice, learning, and change in perspective. It can also be interpreted as a voluntary state, rather than something that befalls a person.

It's a good fit for Barou, who doesn't double down on his ego so much as grow to show why he's deserving of his nickname in the first place. Barou is a king on the pitch, and expects a level of servitude from his teammates, but not without constantly improving his own skills and talent. He's no lazy despot, though despot he may be.

The Hanged Man fortunes supports his emotional outburst during the Ubers match. Barou remarks that he needs the challenge of despair to grow. As such, the trials he puts on himself are deliberate, much like the tarot reading suggests.

Nagi gets #13, Death (because of course he does). This fortune seems to be the most thoughtful of the bunch, unsurprisingly. Hiiragi's interpretation, while intended to provoke Nagi above all, holds up well against what little I've read on tarot.

The Wikipedia page for the Death arcana had some additional nuggets of insight, or rather further ammunition for those of us manifesting a second NagiReo divorce:

Reo is frequently referred to as princely and compared to royalty in the series, with his superfluous wealth and the way he confidently takes on leadership roles among teams. His signature colour, purple, has monarchial associations due to how rare and expensive purple pigments are in nature (prior to the invention of synthetic dyes).

Of course Reo, this royal youth, opposes Nagi's desire to change... seemingly at every hurdle.

It's not deliberate sabotage though, more that they're hamstrung by their co-dependency. Unlike almost every other relationship in Blue Lock, which arose from rivalry or a shared desire to improve, Nagi and Reo's friendship is rooted in the naive promises they made before entering the programme. @thyandrawrites had a great post exploring this recently, which I recommend if you want to delve deeper into the reasons for their underperformance in the Neo Egoist league.

My take is, in essence, if these two could agree to remain friends while moving away from being inseperable on the pitch, they'd both flourish.

Back to tarot: Wikipedia also has a tidbit on reversed cards, which I understand aren't a hardwired aspect of reading tarot (it refers to physical cards that are revealed upside down after being shuffled and dealt). The interpretation Wikipedia gives of an inverted Death card is reminiscent of Nagi's status after he plays against Isagi and Bastard München.

In short: Nagireo bad for one another, and Nagi will undergo quite the metamorphosis in his journey through Blue Lock, if this fortune holds.

---

Analysis aside, I wouldn't put too much faith into what these fortunes mean for the characters. Tarot itself isn't immutable, and for every motif listed above, the characters also have other tropes influencing the paths they take. For example, Chigiri shares the whole hero/princess trope with Kunigami, which has more plot significance than his leg injury at present. Nagi embodies the role of a natural prodigy who has neither the knowledge or experience to deploy his talents consistently. Barou embodies an villain or anti-hero archetype, when juxtaposed with Isagi. Each character has more to the eye than a simple playing card can reveal which is why I'm here yapping at length about them during my lunch break

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

“The philosophers say that the passions are too lively, too fiery; in truth they are weak and languid. All around one sees the mass of men endure the persecution of a few masters and the despotism of prejudices without offering the slightest resistance… their passions are too weak to permit them to derive audacity from despair.” ― Charles Fourier

[time-travelling-chaos]

There is a nice parallel to be made between the good omens kiss and the in stars and time one. (And also I've you've only seen/played one of them, go have a look at the other, it's worth it, both are really great and with great queer reps)

Ok so first of all, the obvious one (except for the fact that it is a queer kiss), the posture, with one of the characters grabbing the other one to kiss him. And along with it the fact that it wasn't fully consensual for any of these for the character being kissed. (And of course, both of them broke my heart)

The character dynamic here is interesting as well. In this context I find Crowley and Siffrin to be quite similar (while in other circumstances I could find more similarities between Siffrin and Aziraphale). They are both desperate, and lost, and they both struggle to express their feelings.

But also they are both the one to have more freedom than their partner. It is quite obvious between Isabeau and Siffrin. Siffrin is the only one aware of the time loop, Isabeau is... repeating. He has no awarness of the situation and doesn't have any power over it. On the other hand, Aziraphale's situation is not that desperate. He knows what is happening, and he has some power over it (how much, we don't know yet) but je doesn't have a choice either. He cannot tell no to Heaven, not without putting himself and Crowley in danger. So this leaves Crowley and Siffrin the only ones able to (relatively) act freely, even if they don't have much control either.

And both of them are terrified and confused, and sad.

Because of that, the kiss is done for the bad reason, it is not a kiss of love (not that love is not present but it is not the main purpose of the kiss). Here, the kiss is a desperate one, tant is made in a tentative to change thing, to get control over the situation. Siffrin is desperate for a change, to experience something new, and to stop repeating the same things again and again. Crowley is desperate to not lose Aziraphale once more. And none of them have been able to express their feelings fully before, despote trying. So it is an awful kiss, showing despair and the characters losing hope and trying to regain control over circumstances that are starting to escape them.

But also, I think the most important point here, is that whether we are talking about Aziraphale/Crowley or Isabeau/Siffrin, they love each other. And that is not enough at the moment. Love cannot fix everything. And it isn't the good time for any of them. Before they are able to develop their relationship, they need to solve the things going on in the world, because otherwise they won't be able to be together safely (for A/C) or at all (for I/S and maybe A/C as well).

And of course, it doesn't end well. With the 'I forgive you' from Aziraphale and Isabeau pushing Siffrin away (which is a normal reaction here for both of them, even if it hurts them). Then, the characters go their separate way, with Crowley leaving the bookshop and Aziraphale going to Heaven, and Siffrin looping back.

But if love cannot fix everything, this kiss doesn't destroy every chance of a relation either. Isabeau and Siffrin are able to heal, and to end up in a situation where they are safe, and finally able to express their feelings for each other and to forgive each other.

And it will be the same for Aziraphale and Crowley, given a little more time.

[averseunhinged]

wip wednesday let's goooooooooooo

one of the things i've been working on lately is stitching together the various versions of i never said i had the answer, which i completely fucked up and have had to cut over 80k words. this is sort of the new rough version of a thing i already posted with added other stuff. i'm gonna try to link to the previous bits that are still part of it. if you're confused, don't worry. i'm confused too.

24/7 sylvia plath

snippet 1 of insihta

snippet 2 of insihta

snippet 3 of insihta

snippet 4 of insihta

very short snippet 5 of insihta

He'd thought, if he was the one to do it, it would bring him some measure of relief. She would be gone, excised like necrotic tissue, and he would be free to return to his previous state. But he realized, hunched in on himself with his brother's corpse and the rapidly deteriorating girl, he would never escape them. Another brother whose death he'd caused. Another woman who would be better off without him.

He could not murder someone else he loved.

She wasn't gentle. Not even on her deathbed. She would never beg him to save her. Not the way Tyler had. Klaus had been reminded then of the first time he'd had any real contact with her. She'd been a snarling, spitting, hissing creature, ordering Tyler not to take the doppelganger's blood, even though it was his only chance to live. And he almost hadn't. Klaus had seen the hesitation in the boy, his desire to follow his girlfriend's orders, even if it meant his own death. He'd trusted her, her passion and guidance. 

The only thought he'd had of her then was how he might use the couple against each other. She'd been nothing, a pretty face in a town full of pretty faces, until he'd begun investigating her utility and realized she'd positioned herself as Tyler's alpha without meaning to. Klaus had barely needed the sire bond to nudge Tyler into revealing everything. He'd been eager to tell of her virtues. How she'd taken control of him when he couldn't do it himself. Explained the little she'd known, despite being ordered to the contrary by the Salvatores. She'd stayed by his side throughout the agony of his first full moon, in spite of the danger to herself. Wept for him and held him while he writhed, the only succor throughout hours of cursed torment. 

The more he'd learned of her, the more his thoughts turned to her potentiality. His first turned hybrid, formed and shaped by a vampire lover who was precisely the correct combination of compassionate and despotic. If he could have swayed her, appealed to her natural inclination to both protect and control, he'd have had the perfect captain for his army.

Of course, he'd then gone head-to-head with Stefan and lost his temper. Thought himself so far above his old friend, whose heart bled him of his sanity. What a fool Klaus had been, thinking himself immune. Perhaps, it had been self-preservation, even more than he'd realized, when he'd ordered Tyler to bite her. 

"So, you–what? You can't promise that. You have whims! And the worst temper ever."

"Because I can't!" He set the cup in his hand down before he could give into the urge to throw it. To cause some manner of satisfying destruction. "Once. In over a thousand years, I have turned off my humanity one time, when Katerina escaped and I failed to break my curse. Do you understand that?"

By the frown on her face and the furrow in her brow, he knew she did not. "But I thought only younger vampires could turn it off."

"Yes," he agreed. "Typically. The older the vampire, the more difficult the process, buried as the original superego becomes under time. It requires an extraordinary set of circumstances. Despair beyond reckoning. A near complete loss of hope. Of self, even."

"No," she denied, shaking her head. "You wouldn't have."

There were moments when he cursed her cleverness, her unwitting insightfulness. Even when he led her there, her knowing of him was still an uncomfortable ache. 

"I would have."

"You wouldn't! Not over me."

"Yes," he insisted. "I would. It was already coming. I could feel it. A creeping chill of the spirit. As you faded, the numbness spread. Like hypothermia. I've nothing left to look forward to. That's the truth. For a thousand years, I had a mission. Protect my family. Break my curse. Build my army. Kill my father. Straightforward, really, for all its complications. And now I'm done. It's all resolved itself one way or another, for good or ill. What else is there for me?"

"You can't make me your only reason to go on." Her hands flexed between them, as though she wanted to grab him and shake the foolishness out of him. "People can't be that for each other. I'm just me! I'm not– it's not supposed to work like that."

"Why shouldn't it? We're not people, Caroline. We're monsters carved from our mortality. In time, I will find new endeavors. There will be more threats, more enemies to sink my teeth into. But for now?" Klaus leaned towards her, looming despite their similar heights. Her eyes were wide, reflexive breaths coming shorter in her agitation, but he did not stop, as merciless in this as she had ever been with him. "You wanted to understand why you no longer fear for yourself. Instinct. It's as simple as that. The monster inside knows there is an even more terrible creature here to protect you, even from itself." He lifted his hand to her face and hovered above her temple, wanting to memorize her--the shape of her eyes, the line of her delicate nose, the cut of her stubborn chin--with his fingertips, and when she did not flinch away, let himself have the pleasure of touching her hair and brushing his thumb along her cheekbone. "You will not end. I will not allow it."

She took his wrist and squeezed it hard enough to grind the bones together, the pain a distant thing, an anchor well below the waves, tying him to her, to there and then. Rested her opposite hand on his chest, over his heart, where it ran with a wolf's blood, digging like she might reach in and touch it, grip it in her strong, capable fingers.

If she wanted his heart, she could have it. She could take it, if that was what she needed. He would let her try.

"They forget," she whispered, a secret between them, "how old you are. They see this face and it makes them forget. Even Stefan does and he should know better by now.”

He told her they were the same, had known it since she told him to go to hell, as much as she could manage, anyway, and sank her teeth into his arm. He hadn't dripped imperious blood into her mouth as he stood above her. Hadn't even looked for a glass. The second time she needed his blood, the sheer perversion of the act was compounded by an added element of narcissism he hadn't quite noticed the first time. It was there, though. Would she think him mad if he told her killing her felt like killing himself? Her murder was his suicide.

"I don't,” she continued. “I never have. Not once. I always remember. Even when I'm playing everyone's favorite distraction. Even when you're playing awkward and charming.” She leaned in even closer, still holding him against her cheek, the palm between them trapped by their combined weight, her searchlight eyes so near his own, but infinitely more brilliant. “But I really need you to stop being so weird about this.”

[howieabel]

“The philosophers say that the passions are too lively, too fiery; in truth they are weak and languid. All around one sees the mass of men endure the persecution of a few masters and the despotism of prejudices without offering the slightest resistance... their passions are too weak to permit them to derive audacity from despair.” ― Charles Fourier

[ogradyfilm]

Andor: The Terrible Mundanity of Evil

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

How does a totalitarian regime solidify its reign? Through fear and intimidation? Although the Star Wars saga’s nefarious Empire is no stranger to flashy shock and awe tactics (as evidenced by their propensity for planet-obliterating super weapons like the Death Star), Andor—the franchise’s most recent Disney+ series—reexamines this brute force strategy. Tyranny, writer Tony Gilroy argues, is at its most insidious when it subtly permeates all aspects of everyday life, desensitizing the populace to its presence; the machinery of subjugation becomes normal, mundane, inevitable. Indeed, the inherent inefficiency of the bloated, underfunded bureaucracy—the false promises, the inconsequential concessions, the tangled web of red tape—becomes so utterly boring that it’s almost a comfort.

The show’s prison arc—which finds our protagonist incarcerated (without trial) on a remote penal island—explores this theme in miniature. The facility’s security staff is surprisingly minimal; instead of being locked behind iron bars and beaten with truncheons, inmates are forced to perform monotonous menial labor on an assembly line—twelve-hour shifts every day until their sentences expire. The work is as competitive as it is repetitive: the most productive teams are granted insubstantial “rewards” (food that tastes marginally better than their usual flavorless nutrient paste), while those that “neglect their duties” are severely punished (remote electroshock torture). Additionally, certain trusties—such as Andy Serkis’ Kino Loy—wield a modicum of authority, acting as overseers and enforcing the guards’ stringent quotas. These methods serve to dehumanize and isolate the victims, reducing them to individual cogs in a much vaster mechanism: by exhausting them with tedious tasks, making them resent one another, and convincing them that they pose no significant threat, their jailers ensure that they become too resigned to the abusive treatment to deviate from the routine, much less rebel.

Fortunately, the Imperials fail to account for one crucial factor: compassion. Despite his stern exterior, Kino legitimately cares about the men under his supervision, encouraging them to endure their fatigue and despair because he genuinely believes that silent, submissive obedience will guarantee their survival. Thus, when he discovers that their toil is for naught—that the calendar counting down to their scheduled release date is a total fabrication, and they will merely be transferred from factory to factory for the remainder of their natural lifespans—he immediately joins Cassian’s uprising, using the skills that he’s acquired as a foreman to inspire cooperation and unity among his former subordinates:

There is one way out. Right now, the building is ours. You need to run, climb, kill! You need to help each other. You see someone who is confused, someone who is lost, you get them moving and you keep them moving until we put this place behind us. There are 5,000 of us. If we can fight half as hard as we've been working, we will be home in no time. One way out! One way out! One way out!

Once they finally breach the exterior doors, however, Kino reveals that he can go no further: the final stretch of their escape requires them to paddle across turbulent waters, and he never learned to swim. He knew from the beginning that he wouldn’t be able to reach freedom, participating in the revolt solely for the benefit of his comrades—a sacrifice that perfectly mirrors the iconic monologue delivered by Rebel spymaster Luthen Rael during the episode's conclusion:

I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.

When confronted with such altruism, despotism wilts and decays—as all systems of oppression should.

[beevean]

WIP Saturday

(supposed to be Wednesday but you know)

I was tagged by @monochromatictoad! I do have a WIP, several in fact :D and I tag @the-crow-binary and @viralvava, if you guys are willing to share!

Since I'm stuck here, I'll get the chance to post the most complete part :P

~

On Walter’s throne, Joachim was bored.

And he was so sick of being bored.

Oh sure, at first he was delighted to see the throne room from that new perspective – no longer on his knees kissing Walter’s ridiculously ornamented boots, but sitting where the wretched despot used to sit, looking down at the pathetic creatures crawling in and out the hall.

(he could still smell his stench on his throne, fresh blood and meat and polished metal Joachim couldn’t stand it he hated it hated it hated him him him)

He had been weak and helpless for so long, that he didn’t know what to do with his newfound power: it was a liberation and a burden at the same time.

At first, he passed the time killing some of the monsters that bowed down to him, shaking like rippling water. Some of the uglier ones, the slimy ones, the mermen who still dared to show their faces around him as if he didn’t have enough of them and their blood that stank of rotten fish; it was easy, to decapitate them with his swords, or cut off their limbs to leave them to bleed out, or exert more of his power to crush their windpipes and lungs. They made funny noises when dying: they made for lovely music. And it felt so, so good to do so not because his body cried out for nourishment, seized by despair and the primal need for survival: but because he could, and there was nothing who could stop him, not anymore.

But even that grew stale. Death had no gravitas, for someone who had transcended it.

So Joachim spent some more years exploring what he used to call his home, to refresh his memory.

(Not all of it: he gave the watery caves a wide berth. He’d rather descend into Hell and break his legs there: it was bound to be a more pleasant stay. The sound of falling rain still made him jolt on the throne. He could kill any eventual witness to that sorry spectacle, but not the shame burning in his dead guts.)

(One day, he finally sealed the entrance for good measure, and his cackling resonated up to the surface.)

The new enormous chapel, polished to a shine and bathed in the silver moonlight, only made him scoff. He could stare at the giant crucifixes and the statues of holy women without his eyes melting: they were mere counterfeits, bait for the knights’ hope and faith. How like Walter, to meticulously create something so ostentatious as a form of mockery. Joachim had no affection for the Christian God he was forced to worship in his life, so no emotions ever stirred him – he counted it as a victory against his dead master, who used to drink Joachim’s anger like distilled blood.

He’d visit the abandoned theatre quite often, force the vain succubi to give him a show, to transform into Joachim and Walter and reenact the moment he had slayed the former Lord, perhaps with a little embellishment for his amusement. And Joachim clapped, clapped hard enough that the sound of his joy echoed into the empty hallways! If they were creative enough, he’d even spare them.

He didn’t understand why the inhabitants of the castle were so terrified of him. So maybe he had a little too much fun cleaning up the place, but he had no intention of imprisoning anyone, so they should be grateful that their new Lord was much more merciful. Not that he cared about the opinion of lurid creatures who enjoyed their useless freedom when he rotted in the bowels of the castle, forgotten by everything, lower than the maggots that squirmed in decayed corpses.

The alchemy laboratory brought back memories that Joachim could have done without. Walter had taught him the basics of alchemy, in that place, he had told him about the Ebony and the Crimson Stone, the greatest treasures for a vampire to hold. And Joachim looked up to him, to his knowledge, and he had allowed him to fill his head with his obnoxious voice, and allowed him to touch him with those filthy paws of his, and…

Well, Walter was dead, and Joachim still remembered how to read, albeit slowly. He could soak in the rest of Walter’s knowledge by himself. And curse him for even thinking of appreciating one thing about that bastard, but his wealth of knowledge was immense, and a more than fulfilling pastime.

But the gardens were by far his favorite wing of the castle. Air, fresh air, for him and only him to feel on his skin! He even breathed it, as if to replace the stagnant humidity that had become part of his body. And oh, how he had missed the night sky, the stars spreading over his head rather than those stalactites he had watched grow, waiting for them to impale him. He enjoyed laying on the damp grass, drawing in the air with his swords, and stare at the immense, red moon shining upon him, a benefactor he had forgotten about.

Soon, the castle became tight on him. Another cell, just bigger than the one he had called his home for… he was afraid of knowing how much time had passed ever since that fateful day, when he tried to show Walter that he was no mere toy, that he deserved the throne more than he did.

Never. Never again. Never again will he be stuck!

He hadn’t realized that Walter was his reason of living. Not just because he had gifted him with eternal life; the reason he never melted himself away under a waterfall was because for countless time, he had anticipated the sweet taste of revenge.

He feasted on that revenge. And then what?

Joachim had wasted enough of his immortality.

[theuntamedangel]

First question i'll ever make you.

¿What do you think would have happened if shigaraki tought for himself, at the end of MVA "all this destruction, all these deaths feels just so...empty"?

Like begining to question if he actually became a villain out of his own volition, or out of the will of AFO. although i've been thinking that this kind of setting could work out better in the scenario of all for one dying in kamino, for shiggy to start straying away from his influence.

Like, give him that flashback of his family and think "i remember... at that moment, i only had confusion... fear... sadness... despair... and the anger, that was followed by... nothing"

Now, I like this whole idea of Shiggy being a simple minded yet an angry man child at the beginning. It was a good premise for laying the groundwork for his future development. And AFO completely grooming and brain washing him to be the way he is is also fine.

Skip a few arcs and episodes, I'd have both AFO and OFA killing each other but AFO will reveal his color to Shiagraki and why he was taken under his wing. That would be the turning point for Shigaraki to have his moment. Have him realize that AFO is no different from the rest of this rotten world. Drive him insane with this reality all while having his flashbacks of abusive childhood flood his memory. This would remind why Shigaraki is such a spiteful and destructive creature. This is where he would have a more sinister goal than just destroying for the sake of destroying.

From here on, Shigaraki would view his own destructive actions as some sort of spiritual cleansing performance. Get rid/destroy the existing hero society infested with indifference, set up his own definition of New World and become a true face of evil, a downright despotic dictator who rules with an iron fist who doesn't mind killing anyone he sees as an opposition or a threat, instead of wanting to ''do whatever they like.'' And also, make him take unhinged advantage of his position as the Grand Commander to use media as means to brainwash people and spread his twisted propaganda. Now he won't be left with a feeling of despair despite succeeding in destroying because he will be having a new set of goals and visions to work on. Thus becoming the true ruler of hell

This is what I'd have done if I were the author of the series. You can make changes to what I've said or have your own version as well. I'm totally cool with everything with the exception of what's happening in the canon plot line.

@amethystoceandespiser

@mikeellee

@theloganator101

[the-bibrarian]

[…] From 1967, and with mounting urgency and passion as the years passed, Edward Said was also an eloquent, ubiquitous commentator on the crisis in the Middle East and an advocate for the cause of the Palestinians. […]

Said was an unabashedly traditional humanist, “despite the scornful dismissal of the term by sophisticated post-modern critics.”

[…] This same deeply felt humanistic impulse put Said at odds with another occasional tic of engaged intellectuals, the enthusiastic endorsement of violence–usually at a safe distance and always at someone else’s expense. The “Professor of Terror,” as his enemies were wont to characterize Said, was in fact a consistent critic of political violence in all its forms. […] The weak, he wrote, should use means that render their oppressors uncomfortable–something that indiscriminate murder of civilians can never achieve.

[…] But attention, of course, is now being paid. An overwhelming majority of world opinion outside the United States sees the Palestinian tragedy today much as the Palestinians themselves see it. They are the natives of Israel, an indigenous community excluded from nationhood in its own homeland: dispossessed and expelled, illegally expropriated, confined to “bantustans,” denied many fundamental rights and exposed on a daily basis to injustice and violence. Today there is no longer the slightest pretense by well-informed Israelis that the Arabs left in 1948 of their own free will or at the behest of foreign despots, as we were once taught. Benny Morris, one of the leading Israeli scholars on the subject, recently reminded readers of the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz that Israeli soldiers did not merely expel Palestinians in 1948-49, in an early, incomplete attempt at ethnic cleansing; they committed war crimes along the way, including the rape and murder of women and children. […]

Israel is utterly dependent on the United States for money, arms and diplomatic support. One or two states share common enemies with Israel; a handful of countries buy its weapons; a few others are its de facto accomplices in ignoring international treaties and secretly manufacturing nuclear weapons. But outside Washington, Israel has no friends–at the United Nations it cannot even count on the support of America’s staunchest allies. Despite the political and diplomatic incompetence of the PLO (well documented in Said’s writings); despite the manifest shortcomings of the Arab world at large (“lingering outside the main march of humanity”); despite Israel’s own sophisticated efforts to publicize its case, the Jewish state today is widely regarded as a–the–leading threat to world peace. After thirty-seven years of military occupation, Israel has gained nothing in security. It has lost everything in domestic civility and international respectability, and it has forfeited the moral high ground forever. […]

The real impediment to new thinking in the Middle East, in Edward Said’s view, was not Arafat, or Sharon, or even the suicide bombers or the ultras of the settlements. It was the United States. The one place where official Israeli propaganda has succeeded beyond measure, and where Palestinian propaganda has utterly failed, is in America. […]

That is why Said insists in these essays upon the need for Palestinians to bring their case to the American public rather than just, as he puts it, imploring the American President to “give” them a state. American public opinion matters, and Said despaired of the uninformed anti-Americanism of Arab intellectuals and students: “It is not acceptable to sit in Beirut or Cairo meeting halls and denounce American imperialism (or Zionist colonialism for that matter) without a whit of understanding that these are complex societies not always truly represented by their governments’ stupid or cruel policies.” But as an American he was frustrated above all at his own country’s political myopia: Only America can break the murderous deadlock in the Middle East, but “what the U.S. refuses to see clearly it can hardly hope to remedy.”

Whether the United States will awaken to its responsibilities and opportunities remains unclear. It will certainly not do so unless we engage a debate about Israel and the Palestinians that many people would prefer to avoid, even at the cost of isolating America–with Israel–from the rest of the world.

— Tony Judt, The Rootless Cosmopolitan, 2004

(I really recommend reading the whole article)

[thomaspaine1737]

Burke Call Out Post (& my opinion)

I get that everyone likes to goad each other right now but @burkedmond has gone too far. Literally not a single French person cared about the English parliament, yet Burke attacked France unprovoked anyway. The fact that he did so publicly and online is the first reason why I can’t forgive him for his lack of manners and misunderstanding of policy.

The first receipt is how Burke describes the French. He wrote with literally nothing but rancor, prejudice, and ignorance. He may have well gone on for 1000 pages for the way he wrote in incomprehensible passion. Thankfully ranters can only write with that level of emotion for so long. But Burke is wrong in his opinions about France, but I guess that shows the creativeness of his hope (or the nastiness of his despair) that he will just make things up as he goes on.

There was a time when it was impossible to make Burke believe there would be any revolution in France. His opinion was that the French didn’t have the “spirit” to start or the strength to continue. Now that they’ve proven they can do both, he is trying to backtrack by condemning the revolution itself.

And because he interjected, so will I.

Every age and generation are free to act as they wish—in all cases, exactly like the generations before them. The vanity and audacity of governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and disrespectful tyranny. No one should own each other—no generation owns the next. Every generation must make the decisions which affect them in that moment. It is the living, not the dead, that should be thought of. When you die, that’s it! You don’t get to direct the world, who should/shouldn’t be governor, how the laws are enforced, or government as a whole.

I’m not specifically writing about any government or party in general. When a whole nation decides to do something, they can do it. Of course, Burke says no to that. But where, then, does that right exist? All I’m arguing for is the rights of the living and that no one should be spoken for by the so-called dead. Meanwhile, Burke wants the dead to have power over the rights and freedoms of the living!

My second receipt is Burke’s statement: “we see the French rebel against a mild and lawful monarch. They’ve done so with more insult than any rebellion before them.”

This is one among a thousand instances where Burke shows that he is ignorant of what is happening in France.

It’s not Louis XVI that they’re rebelling against, but the tyranny which he represents. The oppression didn’t start with him, but from the original government however many centuries ago. They are too deeply routed to be removed by anything short of a complete and universal revolution. When it becomes necessary to do a thing, the whole heart and soul should go into it, or why even try? Hence, when the crisis arrived, there was no choice but to act, or to not act at all.

Sure, the King was known to be a friend of the nation. Even though he was raised to be an absolute power, he may be the only monarch who didn’t wield it. Even so, the principles of the government are still the same. The monarch and monarchy are separated. It’s not because of the King, but the system, that this revolution started.

But…Burke doesn’t see any difference between principles and people, apparently. If Burke can’t grasp this separation, he is not qualified to judge. It takes in a field too large for his views and is too reasonable for him to understand.

So let me spell it out for him: the abuse of power in the system is everywhere. Every office and department have its despotism ingrained through custom and habit. The original oppression may have started with a King, but it has divided and subdivided into a thousand shapes and forms until they all act as a single group. There is no single source and no single solution. It’s strengthened through the myth of “duty” and tyrannizes under the idea of “obeying.” Between the monarchy, parliament, and church there is practically a rivalry of despotism.

Yet, Burke still sees the King as the only reason to revolt. He acts like France is a village, like every decision will pass by the King and there could be no oppression outside his choices. But Burke could be a Frenchman in his or his father’s time, living on the steps of the palace itself and they would have never known he existed.

What Burke thinks is an insult to the French revolution is actually a compliment. While other revolts start with hatred, the French revolution began with rational contemplation of the rights of men and can actually tell the difference between principles and people.

But Burke seems to have no idea about principles when he talks about government. He wrote, “ten years ago I could have congratulated France on having a government without asking what the government was or how it was applied.”

Is this the language of a rational person? Is this the language of a heart feeling as it should for the rights and happiness of humanity? By Burke’s logic, he should compliment every government in the world while the victims who suffer under them, sold into slavery or tortured out of existence, are entirely forgotten. It’s power not principles that Burke worships. And as such, he is not qualified to judge the French.

As for the tragic picture that Burke pulls from his imagination to sway his readers: they are well constructed theatrical representations created to make people feel bad for the monarchs. But perhaps I should remind Burke that he is writing history and not Plays. His readers deserve truth.

We see a man dramatically lamenting in a space designed for serious discussion. He says that “The age of chivalry is gone!” that “the glory of Europe is extinguished forever” that “the unbought grace of life” (if anyone knows what that means) “the cheap defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone!” And all this because the mindless era of chivalry is gone. What opinion can we really form of his judgement? When we see this, what can we think of his facts?

In his imagination, he has discovered a world of orcs, and his only sadness is that there are no little hobbits to attack them. If aristocracy and chivalry fall, and they had some connection originally, then Burke may continue his parody to the end, claiming that life is over.

Burke’s fairy tales aside, when the French revolution is compared to other revolutions, it will surprise everyone at how few sacrifices were made. And perhaps the surprise will end when we think principles and not people were what caused all this destruction. The mind of France was pushed to rebellion not by any person, and they went for a goal so great that it could not be achieved by the downfall of a single enemy.

[mermaidsirennikita]

The Great season 3 review?

I loved it, first off! It was one of the best seasons of TV I've seen, full stop. And I'm gonna be real: if you hate the season simply because Peter died and give absolutely zero thought to anything else in a show this packed to the brim with talent and things... I don't know, man. I feel like there's a subset of people for whom the Point of the show sailed overhead.

I love Catherine and Peter. One of the best love stories I've seen onscreen. I love Elle and Nick together; I would watch them in anything. I even tried to watch the other movie they did together. But I think the show has always been very clear, from day one, in the fucking title even, that we were watching a journey of a woman going from girlhood to despotic "greatness". It has been, and always will be, Catherine's story first and foremost.

"It wasn't historically accurate, why is it now???" Lmao it isn't? Him dying does not make the show accurate. He died falling through ice after falling in love with Catherine, when in real life he died, most likely by her order, imprisoned by Catherine. Peter did not die because Tony McNamara suddenly decided to go with an accurate story. He died because it was time in the narrative.

All that aside, I just thought the first half gave us more of this super compelling relationship while also making it clear that there was no way for Catherine to become who she needed to be with him alive. It's not because she didn't love him; it was because she did, too much. The love was all-consuming, and if she had a choice she would've probably chosen to skip greatness and be with him. I mean, she kind of tried to--she was playing Russian roulette in a bid to "be" with him, never mind the arsenic thing. And that depiction of grief, of it never being something she'll "move past", but will simply become more used to and more able to deal with... So good.

This is the version of Catherine that she needed to be in order to have an iron rule over Russia, and I think she could not have become that version without the trauma she endured. Peter dying was what took her to another level of unhinged, of brutality. I mean, listen--is it a good thing for her? Not necessarily. But the show doesn't really pass judgment on what's good or bad, but rather what is. The fact that we ended on a Catherine who had random sex with random people just to satisfy herself, who was like "I did this, not destiny", who sent Archie to die without blinking... It's more reminiscent of the real woman, and it's who she had to be. That last dance was catharsis and a bit of madness and despair but also, I think, acceptance that she has gotten what she wanted, she is who she was always meant to be, and it hurts.

I also find it ludicrous that people think Peter should've died in a nobler way? First off, the tone of this show has never been Like That, and second, Peter is not noble. He's progressed, sure, but he was never a fully actualized, individualized person, and that's part of his tragedy. He died because he couldn't ultimately resist the pull of his insecurity and the weight of his father's expectations. He couldn't compartmentalize his trauma enough to survive, which isn't good or bad, it just is, and it's a tragedy. Catherine ultimately had to do what he couldn't in order to survive. Peter can be a man who grew, but him growing does not mean he grew *enough*.

(Also ludicrous: people acting like Peter dying betrayed the show as a romcom? He fucked and killed her mom, never mind him killing her previous lover, this was not a romcom lol.)

Elizabeth--love her journey. The place we saw her get to with Peter the Great is the place Peter wasn't able to get to. Moving on, recognizing that she could take it but ultimately didn't need to. Maybe finding love again? (Tbh tho, I shipped her more with Petrov.) Such an incredible performance from Belinda across seasons. Her line about crying until her ribs break and that being okay because she would never take another unpained breath... Jesus, that was well-written and visceral.

I love Archie because he's just a wonderful antagonist, well-acted, and a great sense of dark comic relief. Like, unlike characters I found sanctimonious and self-serving at the same time, Archie was just committed to his endgame. I'm glad he's still alive.

The Swedes!!! I've been a longtime Swede Stan, ever since season 1. I know that some critics didn't like how much time they took up, but fuck that. I love their relationship, I think the guy playing Hugo deserves an Emmy because he had some of the best line deliveries of the fucking season, I love their funhouse Peter and Catherine-style relationship. The only thing I didn't love was Agnes's subplot with Velementov, but more on that in a minute.

I enjoyed Petrov as a new addition. If the show were to continue (again, more on that later) I could see him with Elizabeth, but also probably hooking up with Catherine because... In real life, Catherine did love a man in uniform and I think Tony would take inspo from that. Not saying it would be a long term thing, but I imagine that in the future if the show went on, we'd see a Catherine with many partners. I mean, she had sex with two different people in the finale alone, slept with the American ambassador this season, etc. Her body count would for sure rise. But yeah, I liked his efficiency and love of cannonballs.

Stan Maxim forever, we love a young king who's ready to murder.

George was a huge turnaround for me. I think part of it was in seeing Marial become so vile. George's cheerful amorality mixed with, I think, real feeling for Peter, Grigor, and even Catherine was really compelling. I used to hate her, but now I love her and I hope she keeps doing what she needs to do. She deserves. I also found that her scene with Catherine, recognizing that they both loved Peter, that Catherine did take him from George--it was one of the most emotionally touching of the season, for me. George understood Catherine's grief in a way others couldn't, and I loved their odd relationship.

Grigor... Love him forever, like him for always, he's a favorite forever. I want him to want better for himself. His relationship with Paul, his intense grief for Peter, it just got me. I could absolutely see him having an affair with Catherine in the future; they were already giving me big "comforting the widow" vibes.

I loved Tatyana and Arkady. Such good comic relief, and I enjoyed them both kind of seeking recognition from Pugachev that they never received from Peter.

Speaking of Pugachev--masterclass from Nick. The fact that he had a Peter voice, a Pugachev voice, and a Pugachev pretending to be Peter voice? MY GOD. Also, the way Pugachev was like... bad, sure, but had some solid points out Peter and Catherine's callousness, especially in that fabulous last scene with Catherine.

I know Orlo's death was controversial, but Sascha wanted to leave and I figure why not make his death both ridiculous and emblematic of Catherine becoming more of like. A casually violent leader.

Disliked:

Marial. Horrible character. Like Phoebe, hate Marial. I just don't get the hypocrisy of saying she wants to be Catherine's friend FOR REALZ while also lying about the Pugachev involvement and also like... Celebrating the death of her husband? Marial doesn't have to like Peter, but being best friends with his widow and in love with his best friend............ Like, pick a lane, girl. Also, no idea why Grigor was so in love with her when she honestly didn't treat him well and seemed to fundamentally not understand him.

Velementov. Never got him. He's always seemed like, kind of pathetic and a father figure... while also making pervy comments about Catherine. I didn't see why he didn't just die this season. Make room for Petrov and Maxim, asshole. He took up so much unnecessary time.

But yeah, I think that if they end up getting renewed they have loose threads they can play with, but if not I'm totally happy. I feel like I understand where the story went. I understand what the message was. I feel like Catherine has had a total transformation, one the show has been leading towards since it began. Her dance at the end was such a triumph to, in a devastating way. Her monologue about things to say to Peter to keep him from leaving; her face when she was given the dessert and realized fully he was dead. That level of acting Elle gave was just incredible. The way I felt this woman's pain, the way I understood her evolution... It was something else.

And brushing all that aside because your ship wasn't "endgame" seems super shallow, but that's just me.

The only thing I'd love to see Tony take a stab at with Elle is his version of Potemkin because that guy was a CHARACTER lol, but I mean. The Helen Mirren mini covers that affair very well. And I'm good with this show ending where it has, if that was it.

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Speech held by Claire Lacombe at the National Assembly [sic] July 25 1792

Legislators,

French, artist and without a place, that is who I am. However, legislators, what should be the object of my despair fills my soul with the purest joy. Unable to come to the aid of my country, which you have declared in danger, by pecuniary sacrifices, I come to pay homage to it in person. Born with the courage of a Roman and the hatred of tyrants, I would be happy to contribute to their destruction. Perish to the last despot! Intrigans, vile slaves of Nero and Caligula, may I annihilate you all! and you mothers of families whom I would blame for leaving your children to follow my example, while I do my duty by fighting the enemies of the fatherland, fulfill yours by inculcating in your children the feelings that every Frenchman must have at birth, the love of freedom and the horror of despots. Never lose sight of the fact that without the virtues of Veturia, Rome would have been deprived of the great Coriolanus.

Legislators, you have declared the fatherland in danger, but that is not enough: dismiss from their powers those who alone have given rise to this danger and have sworn the destruction of France. Can you leave at the head of our armies this perfidious Catiline, excusable only in the eyes of those whose infamous projects he wanted to serve? What are you waiting for to launch the decree of indictment against him? Will you wait for the enemies, to whom he daily delivers our towns, to arrive in the senate to destroy it with ax and fire? You have only to keep a culpable silence for a few more days, and soon you will see them in your enclosure. There is still time, legislators, raise yourselves to the height which belongs to you; appoint leaders in whom we can give our confidence; say one word, one word and the enemies will disappear.

Signed. F. Lacombe

Response from the president: Madame, more made to soften tyrants than to fight them, you offer to bear arms for freedom. The National Assembly applauds your patriotism, and grants you the honors of its session.

Source: Discours prononcé à la barre de l’Assemblée nationale [sic], par Madame Lacombe, le 25 juillet 1792, l’an 4 de la liberté

[sofarfarout]

G1 Grogar sweeps G4 "Grogar"

Grogar is a brilliant conjurer and sorcerer, giving life to the most terrible beasts to walk the earth, from manticores to ophiotaurus and all manner of odious ogres in between. He is most known for his tyrannical rule over the land that would become Equestria, but Grogar is a bit more than a bully or a power-hungry despot. In truth, the Father of Monsters is rather meticulous, reclusive and taciturn, preferring to reside alone in a sanctuary unknown to the world. He is insightful and extremely intelligent but devoid of compassion and sympathy. He has no patience for arrogance or childishness and especially loathes being disrespected. While the likes of King Sombra or Tirek can be likened to a raging, brilliant fire, consuming their opposition with reckless abandon and leaving nothing but despair in their wake, Grogar is an unforgiving, biting cold. He is equally patient and heartless, carefully strategizing and descending upon his foes only after thorough consideration of their weaknesses. Grogar loathes ponykind for their careless, irrational and juvenile attitudes. When the mysterious ram came to the land, the early unicorn ponies welcomed him, hoping they could coexist as magical horned beings. Grogar did not share this view, for he saw foolish beasts unfit to rule themselves. He noted the animosity and lack of unity between the three races and before long he would rise to pin the puny, puerile ponies under his hoof.

Grogar believed a force as powerful and sophisticated as magic was wasted on the ponies, but they were not entirely useless to the new emperor. From his prisoners, Grogar would twist them into foul monsters, magically tearing them apart and sewing them back together. At first, his creations were crude amalgamations of flesh, blood and malice, but with so many suitable test subjects, the Father of Monsters would quickly improve, cataloguing his discoveries along the way. Though he is most commonly associated with conjurers, Grogar would also be the first known user of hemomancy, bonding his creations to himself with his blood so they would obey him and him alone. Bugbears, chimerae, cockatrices, maulwurfs, timberwolves, all made by his hooves to be unleashed on the world.

The rest is history, legend even. Gusty the Great stole his Bewitching Bell and sealed it in a cavern upon Mt. Everhoof, stripping him of much of his power and allowing for the ponies to overthrow the first emperor and banish him from the land. The story has been told again and again over thousands of years. It's been so long since that many don't believe Grogar was ever real and the tale is merely an old story told to foals before bedtime. Some still believe Grogar is out there, waiting for his opportunity to reclaim his bell and his empire.

[ravenloftian]

Strahd von Zarovich: Hero or Despot?

In the wake of a harrowing conflict that engulfed the realm, a sense of relief swept through the land of Barovia. The victorious culmination of the war with the Tergs marked a turning point for the kingdom, yet it seems that victory has come at a steep and mysterious cost. Like a haunting melody, whispers of a curse now permeates the air, leaving the once-proud land cast in a pall of uncertainty and dread.

At the heart of this enigma stands Prince Strahd von Zarovich, a figure of both renown and intrigue. His valor and leadership during the tumultuous days of battle had earned him the title of a liberator, a beacon of hope that guided Barovia through the darkest of times. The tides of fate, however, bestowed upon Strahd not only triumph but a fateful curse, a prophecy whispered by the defeated Terg Goblyn King himself.

"You will rule in darkness, unloved, reviled, and alone!"

As the echoes of war subsided and the land sighed in relief, a transformation of unparalleled proportions began to unfurl. The very fabric of reality seemed to unravel, allowing the mists of time and malevolence to shroud the once-glorious Barovia. The thickened veil between the mortal realm and the realm of nightmares grew porous, permitting the tendrils of evil and dread to slither into the very heart of the land.

Like ethereal phantoms, whispers began to intertwine with the fabric of everyday life. From the humblest of cottages to the opulent halls of court, tales of Strahd's fate wove an intricate tapestry of speculation and intrigue. Some spoke of a sinister pact, an unholy alliance between Strahd and an otherworldly fiend. This association was said to herald the dawn of an era steeped in shadow and malevolence.

Others, their voices trembling with uncertainty, shared the haunting tale of a once-celebrated wedding turned into a tableau of unspeakable horror. The joyous occasion, meant to unite hearts and usher in an era of unity, instead spiraled into a blood-soaked nightmare. Strahd's own family members, his brother, his bride, and the very guests who had gathered to partake in the festivities, all found themselves swallowed by tragedy.

Amidst these whispers of doom, one name cast a lingering pall over the realm—Leo Dilisnya. Accusations and insinuations abounded, painting a grim picture of assassins who orchestrated the wedding tragedy, plunging Barovia into a maelstrom of chaos and despair. The weight of their actions, whether fact or fiction, hung heavy upon the land, leaving seeds of doubt and mistrust in its wake.

Yet, despite the shroud of mystery and darkness, Strahd's past glimmers with valor and heroism. His role in repelling the Terg invasion cannot be denied; his deeds are immortalized in the annals of history. However, a darker chapter has emerged, where draconian policies loom. Rumors of stiff taxation upon churches and dissenters cast a shadow upon his legacy, painting a complex portrait of a ruler balancing on the precipice of both reverence and fear.

As the land of Barovia grapples with its newfound reality, the tale of Strahd von Zarovich continues to unfurl—a narrative of shadows and transformation, power, and despair. The nature of the curse that clings to him like a relentless specter remains veiled, shrouded in the mists that now envelop the realm.

In this land of enigma and intrigue, where rumors weave a tapestry of uncertainty, only the brave and the bold dare to venture forth. As Barovia stands at the crossroads of light and shadow, the future remains uncertain, beckoning to those willing to unveil the truth beneath the surface—a fact that may hold the key to the salvation of a realm ensnared in the clutches of darkness.