#excoriation meme

[hannaxjo]

[boredintjqueen]

[allthingskenobi]

This is honestly a beautiful love letter to the prequels AND Revenge of the Sith, and I encourage everyone to read it.

Some of the highlights for us:

In recent years, the slaughter of younglings and the ultimate efficacy of Order 66 may have become dank meme fodder to be filed alongside the droid attack on the Wookies and “Hello There!” But back in ‘05? That montage of Clones massacring Jedi across the galaxy, Anakin igniting his ‘saber at the Jedi temple, was a real watershed moment — a visceral evocation of the horrors of war and the sheer oppressive power of fascism. Thrilling and terrifying in equal measure, “Execute Order 66!” endures as a reminder of a more daring time in franchise filmmaking.

and

Even now, the emotional and technical craftsmanship of the duel is astonishing. Christensen and McGregor’s blistering choreography and the emotional intensity of their performances; thousands of man-hours’ worth of VFX blending large-scale soundstage work and real footage of Mount Etna erupting; Lucas going full Shakespeare with Anakin’s excoriating, “I hate you!”, and Obi-Wan’s anguished, “You were my brother Anakin… I loved you”; John Williams going God-mode once more with his cacophonous score. It’s an epic battle between the forces of good and evil, the culmination of two trilogies and almost thirty years of cinematic storytelling, painted on the largest canvas imaginable. Honestly, what more could you want from a Star War?

[incognitajones]

Fic recs ask meme

[I'm going through this list in random order]

16. femslash shoutout?

chaos, yet harmony by @rain-sleet-snow

I don't even go here (where "here" is Star Wars animated canon) so to be frank, I have no reason to care about Ahsoka Tano as a character, much less get invested in her relationship with Jyn. But this compelling epic AU of two "galactic drifters" slowly drawn to each other (it starts with Ahsoka encountering Jyn just after Saw abandons her) made me do both.

9. a fic that made you cry?

Asylum by @linearao3

I definitely had to swallow a lump in my throat while reading this excoriating character study of Leida Mothma and just how much she hates her mother. It's agonizing to read because Leida is so invested in lying to herself; it hit me in the tender, vulnerable spot of parenthood where you imagine awful things happening to your child that you're powerless to stop.

[a-for-alternative]

Were you an only child? What was it like?

I was.

It's a double edge sword, though you don't realize it until the time with your parents is tapering down to a point, then only you will be there to bear the brunt of it, especially if you don't walk the straight and narrow... you'll be the only scape goat or return on investment or sunk cost in their little venture.

You're never quite a person unto yourself.

They can't separate you from what you personify.

When you get out of turn, they reveal all the wounds left behind on them by those you're descended from. They will say you are demonstrating all the worst traits of someone that's been dead for decades, especially if you've never met, then they'll say you got that dreadful disposition from the other parent-- they'll tell you all the things they despise about each other, try to excoriate whatever traces of them they see blooming in you and leave you wondering,

'Is this what familial love amounts to?'

'Surviving each other long enough for one to drop dead?'

I was the product of a mistake made by two adults that knew better, but they warmed to the idea of mistaking me into existence anyway-- choosing not to terminate things before I could be burdened with the consequences of their actions.

... Even still... being the singular progeny, you are prized and venerated for the sake of saving face, if only because not doing so would communicate more that they were failed parents than you were a failed child-- ils pourraient vous dire que vous êtes un petit garnement, un bâtard ingrat, ... but they will refuse any such accusations from others,

. . . meme si elles sont vraies...

You're trapped under the subjugation of two people who do not sympathize with you and cannot empathize with you, see no value beyond your utility, see no intent beyond what they assign to your actions.

Solitude, through it's familiarity, becomes a comfort, you adapt but like trying to mature in a tight box, you will grow malformed and... that kind of isolation tends to engender some... eccentricities that are not compatible with social mores.

Fate relieved me of them, but I found adjusting very difficult. Misery and purposelessness replaced the familiarity of loneliness as I became another invisible blight of society, a faceless ward of the system that tucks away all these unsightly human tragedies like me.

I would be lying if I said being brought to this-- to our- institution wasn't a relief-- for a short time, I had returned to a position I felt most suited to; high pressure, high expectations, leniency for the sake of no one responsible for me wanting to admit they may have made a mistake...

Then, .... He came.

You see, they had decided I wasn't enough.

[leam1983]

On the Marketplace of Ideas

Watching ContraPoints before bed, and I'm thinking she might - unfortunately - be right about polarized reactions.

She opens with Anita Bryant, who went on an anti-LGBTQA campaign in the seventies, concerned as she was "for America's children". In interviews, she'd claim that she actually loved gays and lesbians - enough to try and "save" them from their supposedly mortiferous ways.

It's hatred, yes, but phrased in a grating, faux-gentle and caring sort of way that probably felt like nails on a chalkboard. Compare and contrast with the way the community responded.

We're talking protests, picketing events, novelty toilet paper with her face printed on it, rotten fruits, dead cockroaches and human feces being mailed to her, her entire campaign as a promoter of Florida's citrus exports ground to a screeching halt and becoming a meme before memes existed as we know them. Bars both hetero and gay-friendly stopped serving orange juice-based cocktails because their association with OJ and Bryant was too toxic for business.

Her career was torpedoed. The El Gee Bee Tea went nuclear, more or less, some three generations before we fine folks would pioneer the Kung Pow Penis meme on the Hellsite.

In terms of actions taken, the essayist argues, there's not much difference between pro-somethings and anti-somethings. It ultimately boils down to one group trying to harm another because tempers run too hot and either group is convinced words have run their course.

In the modern day, CP equates that to JK Rowling. She, too, has been torpedoed, excoriated, vilified, mocked, jeered at and summarily ridiculed - and she more than certainly aided and abetted groups that did the very same to the LGBTQA community.

If the only distinction between two groups is who targets who, seeing as both groups have their avenues of civil discourse, their academic studies, their trench warfare scenarios and their stated victory conditions - then how do we distinguish them based on their actions?

It really makes you think: LGBTQA rights are backpedaling across the US and far scarier people are actively trying to campaign against us across Canada and America.

What's Rowling done, in comparison? She's written some books, Tweeted some shit, donated some money to asshats that don't even have so much as have national support in her home turf of Great Britain, and, oh - had her period in the limelight where her stuff was perceived as just harmless enough to give Frodo Baggins, Gandalf and a couple Uruk-Hai a case of the cold sweats.

And that period has more than likely passed, judging by the middling reactions to HBO's announcement of a 10-season epic focused on everyone's formerly favorite Gentleman Scholar in-training.

I'm not criticizing, mind you; I'm genuinely asking: Is the whole kerfuffle around Rowling much ado about nothing, at the end of the day? Even recent book critics admit her stuff's lost her lustre! Why do you think Pottermore and the Wizarding World project leads are so eager to shove more Potter down our throats? It's her one calling card and her single strongest breadline, after all!

Plus, imagine a situation where everyone on our side of the controversy behaved as sedately as the figureheads calmly explaining they were fighting for human rights on Prime Time television. Would the gays and lesbians have had an easier time at acceptance if they'd let one-off and self-professed crusaders have their day while they focused on the battles needing to be fought in the halls of power or the minds of the many?

Later on, Natalie tracks down Noah, her fellow unfortunate cited opposing party in Megan Phelps-Roper's The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. Even he, as a trans man, admits that more good is concretely made in focusing on what can be done in order to offer shelter, protection and care to those in the community. Openly confronting TERFS, in a sense, is somewhat less productive, in his eyes, than regrouping and strengthening our efforts at acceptance.

You have to admit; watching the bigots flail and tear their shirts open when you're just - standing there is fairly satisfying a thing, in its own right...

The only winning move is not to play - and I sometimes wish my own peers would stop giving into bigots' games. Let them play on their own, hm?

[caiusmajor]

🌻 If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog 🌻

My left index fingernail is still kinda fucked up from catching that finger it in a car door in 2002. It's healed and all but the nail grows back in a weird ridge.

I have a master's in library science. I remember very little of it, but I did discover the Transformers kink meme that year (2009) and I remember a lot more of that.

My current icon is a headshot of an Excoriators space marine in the alternate actually-interesting color scheme.

[desireandduty]

meme, all the even numbers (:

Romance & Relationships Headcanons Meme | Accepting!

2. already answered!

4. does your muse find any specific features particularly attractive?

Yessss she likes tall men with dreamy eyes and longer dark(ish) hair. Bonus points if they have plush, very kissable lips.

6. would your muse kiss on the first date?

I MEAN.... it completely depends on the vibes of the date. Sometimes she kisses before a date is even had (looking at you AOTC Padmé.) ANYWAY, Padmé is a good judge of people's character, so she knows pretty early on if someone is a good match with her, personality-wise. She does like physical affection, but she's also a person who needs to have an emotional connection along with it. She's not going to kiss someone just because she wants a kiss.

8. is your muse a good kisser? are they experienced or inexperienced?

Mmmmm this is somewhat verse dependent. GFFA Padmé has had less experience in relationships than modern Padmé. Meaning, she's spent less time in a relationship, and thus has had less practice of someone to kiss. Modern Padmé, especially verses where she's starting her political career, has been in a couple of longterm relationships already and has more experience. So... as for her being a good kisser.... I mean.. she is a person who pays attention to her partner and notices what they like/respond favorably to. So even if her first kiss with someone wasn't the best ever, she'd put effort into learning what makes them feel good.

10. has your muse ever been cheated on? would they ever cheat on their partner(s)?

In her modern verse, I headcanon that her freshman year relationship with Clovis involves him cheating on her over spring break with his high school girlfriend. In GFFA, she has not been cheated on. And in no verse would she ever cheat on her partner. Loyalty is paramount to Padmé.

12. does your muse get flustered easily? how would they typically react to compliments from someone they are interested in/dating?

She does not get flustered like... ever, thanks to a lot of effort and practice in perfecting her Queen Amidala and then her Senator Amidala mask. However, she is also very used to being paid compliments from all manner of beings, whether they have romantic/sexual intentions or are buttering her up to curry political favor. She can spot smooth talking from miles away.

She does need verbal affirmation, though, because her career involves being excoriated in the press and taking verbal beatings or snide comments from political opponents on the regular. When she gets genuine compliments from someone who is interested in her (even if they are very badly delivered, here's lookin' at you, Anakin) it gives her that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. In any other verse besides GFFA, she would react with a happy smile. In GFFA, it would depend on whether or not he said something to her in private or in public.

14. what traits does your muse want to avoid when it comes to choosing a romantic partner?

Honestly? Girl knows her worth. She's not looking for a partner who sees her as subordinate or in any way beneath him. She doesn't want someone who talks down to or belittles her. And she doesn't want someone who lies or is disloyal.

16. what is/are your muse's love language(s)?

Physical touch and words of affirmation

18. how does your muse feel about marriage? would they ever want to get married?

Padmé has wanted to be married and have a family since she was 18. She grew up in a happy, warm, loving home, and she's something she always wanted for herself, as well as a successful career. In all her verses, Ruwee and Jobal both had careers, so she's seen that it can work.

20. how does your muse feel about public displays of affection? would they engage in them?

LMAO ok genuinely Padmé likes it. She would never be super in-your-face like... having her hand up his shirt (or Anakin's up her shirt) or her tongue down his throat in public. But, in general, she always prefers to have some kind of physical contact with him: holding hands, arm around the shoulder, etc. And when he makes her smile or she's particularly proud of him, grateful for him, what have you, her instinct is to give him a quick little kiss on the cheek, corner of his mouth, lips, etc. She's just... really happy and secure in and proud of their relationship.

OBVIOUSLY for GFFA verses, she has to keep those instincts in check for all verses except a happy AU where he leaves the Order and they can go public with their marriage. This is not easy for Padmé, and she definitely enjoys pushing the boundaries here. IE - renting a speeder for a date night so they can whizz around and then make out/have sex somewhere in an alleyway in the lower levels.

22. does your muse tend to take on a more dominant or submissive role in the relationship, or does it vary based on circumstance?

I mean this would vary based on her partner, but only in the sense of her being the dominant or just equal partners. She just doesn't have it in her to be submissive, nor does she think a dynamic like that is particularly healthy either. She wants an equal partner, someone she can depend on and who she can support in return. I think with Anakin specifically, especially GFFA Anakin and his background, their dynamic would tend towards her being dominant. But she is cognizant of this, and she tries very hard to not steamroll him, to ask for his opinion, etc. in hopes that he'll learn and grow in this area as their lives together progress.

24. is your muse proactive in communication with their partner(s), or is this something they need to work on?

For GFFA, this is something they need to work on. And part of that is because they're keeping it a secret. That necessitates all kinds of boundaries and code words and things like that, and I think that was a struggle for them early on. Another reason it's hard is that they spend so much time apart. Communicating with your partner is a learning process that you have to learn by doing, and since they don't have much opportunity to talk in GFFA, their communication I think takes longer to flow easily than it would have in a normal marriage where they live in the same house all the time.

For modern verses, I don't think this is as much of a struggle. Padmé values honesty in her personal relationships (and as a politician, but it's kind of inevitable that she has to hedge things.) She isn't one to lie, nor is she conflict avoidant. Honestly, she might be too okay with discussing problems or working through conflict for some more avoidant personality types.

26. is your muse more likely to be loud and proud about being in a relationship, or are they more quiet about it at first and open up about it over time?

In the very beginning stages, when she has first started dating someone, she would be more quiet about it, because she's trying to avoid a lot of press coverage along the lines of "heartbreaker padme amidala" etc. if she's seen going out with a lot of different people. But once she feels secure, like the relationship is going well and has good future potential (which happens very quickly with Anakin in any verse lol), she's loud and proud! Except obviously in GFFA for all the reasons.

28. would it bother your muse if they had differing interests from their partner(s), or would they delight in it?

No bother at all. She'd kind of expect it, because everyone's an individual who has different interests. She would try her best to learn about his different interests and participate in them if she can, but if there's something he likes that she just... doesn't, then she'd just be like "go have fun, Ani babe."

All that being said, she does need to have some mutual interests with her partner, because she'd want to have common ground to talk about/activities to do.

30. would your muse ever be in an open/non-exclusive relationship? would it make them insecure, or would they be open to trying it?

No way. PadBae is looking for her own BAE. It would definitely make her insecure being in an open or poly relationship.

32. does your muse have an ideal "type"?

Ummmmm I think she's looking for someone who's romantic at heart, who's loyal and devoted, tbh someone who will adore her. Not sure if that's a type/trope. She can get along with an awful lot of people. The one "type" she can't jive with is an alpha male or a bro type.

[dahlbrendan]

Josh Hawley, senator who ran from Capitol mob, mocked by home paper | January 6 hearings | The Guardian

[johnsheppard-assshaker]

Good morning to people with large moles, people with acne on their face chest back and ass cheeks, people with skin picking disorder, people with large and obvious birth marks, people with vitiligo, people with eczema, people who are covered in freckles, and people who have obvious acne scars or other types of scars. People with clear skin can fuck off.

[disabledandsogay]

[the-sauce-force]

Me and my dermatillomania would have survived the plague. RIP to all yall but I’m built different

[seasonofthebxtch]

Me: my scalp is so red and sore. Imma stop picking and buy a hat.

Anxiety: haha we sure like to have fun around here

[princesstigerbelle]

Me: Okay I’m feeling kind of down. Is there anything left that is good in this world????

*googles cats splooting*

Okay I am cured

[the-excoriator]

:/

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

You tend to post a lot about xtianity, Islam, and wokeism, though not without established and highly justified reason. But what do you think of other religions, such as Wicca, Hinduism, shintoism, etc? I can probably guess from your blog title, but I'm curious why you post mostly about abrahamic and woke religions.

These posts are probably the most useful.

https://religion-is-a-mental-illness.tumblr.com/post/180200447127

https://religion-is-a-mental-illness.tumblr.com/post/180434244937

https://religion-is-a-mental-illness.tumblr.com/post/185108049872

https://religion-is-a-mental-illness.tumblr.com/post/177232121982

The reasons are actually pretty straight forward. They’re the ones I run into the most, they have the most influence in/on my world, and they’re the ones I feel I have enough working knowledge to be able to justifiably criticize. For example, I’m happy to mock the Smurf God and Smurf Goddess of Hinduism for how absurd they are, but I don’t know enough to be able to really twist the knife.

For those I’m not so familiar with, I maintain a simpler principle: prove it, or I don’t have to worry about it, and the believer probably doesn’t have a good reason to believe it themselves.

One of the unique features of religious belief systems, compared to say a political ideology, is that there’s a mythology that claims to describe the world and how it came to be that way. Whether magicked from nothing by Yahweh, vomited into existence by Mbombo, or the result of the tyranny of Xenu. They contain reality-resistant ideas like divine entities, ghosts, “spirits” (whatever that means), talking animals, karma, reincarnation, spells, “energy” (whatever that means), telepathic communication (prayer), and uncorroborated mental processes. Whatever the religion, there’s something in there that defies the natural universe.

Probably one of the reasons Xtianity might get a bit of additional play on my blog is that sometimes I’m not talking specifically about Xtianity, but I can demonstrate something using Xtianity. Such as the uselessness of faith, the (im)morality of gods, that creation myths don’t actually explain anything, as well as general confirmation bias, sophistry, etc, etc. Even if I’m using a Xtianity-themed meme, if I’m not naming or tagging Xtianity specifically, I’m probably making a generalized statement. It can be interesting to see the reactions to these, as they function like a Rorschach test to see people leap to their own defence, or otherwise how people interpret them.

With Islam and Woke, these have self-declared their own unassailability, and they’ve somehow (intersectionality) made it socially troublesome to say anything negative about them. I want to break that bizarre taboo, remove the special privilege they’ve assigned themselves, and demonstrate that not only can you criticize them, but maybe you even should.

Which is also about demonstrating consistent values, consistent skepticism and consistent criticism. We don’t accept Xtian faith-based claims, crocodile tears about “dearly held” beliefs, accusations of bigotry for not giving them their way, nor hold back from excoriating the bible or the doctrine that encourages immorality and denies reality. These manipulations aren’t reasons to hold back from pointing out how false and dehumanizing these beliefs are. So we shouldn’t do that with Islamic or Woke beliefs either. It would be hypocritical to give them special treatment.

“Criticizing Islam - just as you would Christianity, Mormonism, or Scientology - doesn't make you a bigot. Singling it out for protection does.” - Ali A. Rizvi

I want to show that it’s okay to. That you can criticize them, withstand and stand up to the pushback, and not back away from your values.

“Faith” isn’t any more useful when it comes to believing unfalsifiable, unevidenced kafkatraps from a profoundly racist woman than it is to believe “if you deny your sin, it’s because you’re a sinner who wants to sin” from Xtians. “Faith” that Muhammad flew to heaven on Buraq isn’t any more useful than faith that a resurrected Jesus flew there under his own power; we can scoff at both consistently and without guilt, and we can shrug off someone’s accusation of bigotry for treating these beliefs the same.

So pointing out that, for example, Linda Sarsour is a liar and this is what the quran actually says, that hijab is not empowering for the women who don’t want to wear it but are forced to, or that Woke doctrine really does explicitly oppose Liberal values (equality, neutral principles of law, freedom of speech and individual rights) and deny science like any Xtian creationist... these become important to provide a counterweight to the spin that is often going on around them, to help you make up your own mind. Knowing the Bailey of what you’re getting into, not just the Motte. Which is the same purpose as “this is what the bible actually says.”

Disregarding and criticizing them as much as we do Xtianity needs to be normalized, as much as non-belief itself needs to be. Instead of preserving and tiptoeing around that self-declared unassailability, kicking them off their own pedestal and saying “back up your shit.” Prove that the flat-Earth, sun-setting-in-a-puddle-of-mud quran is the revealed word of a god. Present your evidence for your claim that every disparity is the result of an “-ism.”

I think these two, Islam and Woke, are those where we most need to break the back of this taboo. Because it then becomes easier to criticize any religion on the same terms.

We can - and I think, should - re-establish and reinforce the bulwark of secularism, freedom of/from religion. Be unapologetic for doing so. And do so consistently.

“I don’t believe what you believe, and I don’t have to. I defend your right to hold, express and live by your own belief system, but you have no right to impose any of it on me.“ (Source)

“Secularism means that no particular ideology is being forwarded and getting special treatment. And so the answer to an ideology getting special treatment is to make them prove their claims on a level playing field. To take away the special treatment. [..] Go have your belief. Believe what you want. Privately. You don't get special treatment because you believe this with tons of conviction. Secularism means that your belief in your faith covers none of the distance to proving that it's true.” (Source)

Believers need to get used to being told things like: No, I will not comply with your demands that I not post pictures of Muhammad. That’s your belief, not mine. No, I will not stand by while you corrupt science and math education. Those are your beliefs, and you’ve no right to teach your ideology to students as if it was real.

It just takes people having the courage to do so, as we did with Xtianity.

And I’m willing to.