#i’m just saying if the show actually wanted to talk about racism even the party would say micro aggression against lucas

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

I’ve seen someone else mention this, but I also wanted to talk about this

The erasure of queerness in the movie is something I definitely did not expect.

Sure, it’s a love story between two men, but grab Alex and Henry and make them a man and a woman, the movie doesn’t change much. Maybe monarchy instead of being homophobic and racist now it’s only racist, and they hate Alex not because he’s a man but because he’s brown. They kept it a secret because of monarchy’s racism, but love triumphs at the end. That’s why the movie didn’t hit as hard as the book. The movie is just some forbidden love movie, rwrb is a book where the main characters are in a forbidden relationship, but it’s not the whole point of the book.

Alex discovering his sexuality, Nora being bisexual, whatever Pez had going on, whatever June and Nora had going on, Alex learning about queer history, the historical lgbt love letters at the ends of their e-mails, all the references to queer history and literature, THE SHELTERS, monarchy’s homophobia (yes, it appears on the movie but it’s really glossed over. It doesn’t show just how homophobic they actually are in the book), Alex stating how he knows more about himself the more intimate (both in the sexual and non sexual sense) he is with Henry, Luna being gay and unapologetic about it and being exactly Alex’s queer role model, even before Alex knew he was queer himself, THE FUCKING SHELTERS

I’m so so mad about the shelters being missing.

Henry and Pez made shelters for lgbt youth, so they can never feel as alone as Henry once felt, so they can always have a safe space so they know there’s nothing wrong with them no matter what the adults in their life might say, no matter what the preacher or their classmates or the right wing politicians in their tv might say, where they can find hope, and friends, and a home if they never had one before, or at least, one where they could truly be themselves. The shelters are, I would say, crucial to Henry’s character development. He went from hiding, believing being gay was “the most unforgivable part of him”, not even trying to come out because he just succumbed to live an unhappy life in the closet, to someone who’s out, living with his boyfriend and running lgbt shelters with his best friend so young queer people can move past all the things he felt and believed time ago, so they know they are perfectly normal and loved and safe in there, as long as Henry and Pez are there they’re safe, they don’t have to hide anymore.

Henry became the queer elder he needed in his life when he was younger. The lgbt adult who could tell him than it would get better, no matter how bad it was at the moment, no matter if he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, because it was there, he just had to hold on a bit more. Than there was absolutely nothing wrong with him.

Another thing than I seen changed than a normal person might not notice, but I did, because im obsessed, is the karaoke scene.

In the book, it takes place in something resembling a gay bar (maybe not exactly, but it’s full of queer people), and look at this

Three rounds of shots appear —one from a drunk bachelorette party, one from a herd of surly butch chicks at the bar, and one from a table of drag queens. They raise a toast, and Alex feels more welcomed than he ever has before, even at his family’s victory rallies.

Look again

and Alex feels more welcomed than he ever has before, even at his family’s victory rallies.

This book is about about finding community, finding yourself, finding love and letting yourself accept that love.

Do you think Alex in the movie has felt “more welcomed than he ever has before, even at his family’s victory rallies” at any point? Has he been with another queer person in the whole movie, except Henry, at all?? Because Nora’ sexuality was not mentioned at all no references nothing and with the whole Pez thing everyone could see Nora as just straight

Henry and Alex in the movie are kind of without community, alienated from it, they are, in my personal opinion, the kind of gay people republicans would consider “good gay people” who “don’t shove it on everyone’s faces and just wanna be left alone” (in the rwrb universe where they exist and are real not actual republican people watching the movie). They don’t really take a role on the community, in the book, Alex and Henry being queer is an important part of themselves, again, Alex feeling like he knows himself better, Henry whole internalized homophobia, their shared interest for lgbt history and literature, Henry and Pez making the shelters, etc etc meanwhile in the movie Alex and Henry just happen to be gay and bisexual, but it’s no deeper than that.

And don’t get me started on creating Miguel, a queer character, and making him the one to leak the e-mails or smth instead of a republican candidate

[arizonaconservativegal]

If you’re a conservative with reasonable beliefs, more power to you, that’s great, we need more people like you.

But you’re doing yourself a major disservice if you take a post about anti-social behaviors from our party and showing you don’t socialize much and just stick your head in the sand and go “nuh uh that doesn’t happen!” Just leaves that avenue open to attack from Democrats.

Both my parents are registered republicans, and my mom has had to distance herself from fellow conserative friends specifically bc of that adrenochrome stuff. (Some of the friends were Korean btw, so i don’t wanna hear racism bs) My friend who isnt a republican but whose parents are both R has her mom sick of her dad bc of this stuff. Even at my job, the guys who talk about politics are work go to the exact topics mentioned in that post you said doesn’t happen. Democrats are just gonna pull up screenshots and use that to undermine everything else youre saying and say its fake and made up too.

Project2025, which I have read, wants to abolish overtime pay unless it interferes with the Sabbath - not religious stuff in general, only the Sabbath and only if you believe in the Sabbath for real. That’s literally only christians and jews. nobody else.

I’m not saying those are your beliefs, I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen if trump is elected president. But Project2025 is a really big thing and not just bc liberals keep on pointing to it to fearmonger. abortion is one thing but how are we gonna tell people “we dont want christianity to be the main thing we just have morals” if we’ve got big think tanks going “actually we wanna test people for their religon at work” ? radical conservatism is gonna kill moderate conservatism and make people vote dem. my dad even voted for biden last election and hes been a republican since before the 90s. the weird stuff is immature but the things they’re calling weird do happen

Okay look I fully understand that no one wants to believe me here so I'm shouting into the void expecting something to happen and that's ridiculous but I'm going to do it anyway because I still have a few minutes until my conference call starts.

I've been working in Republican politics professionally for ten years. A decade. I'm not talking out of my ass when I say no one is taking Project 2025 seriously. I actually do know that directly. When the Heritage Foundation is mentioned in conversation, people roll their eyes. The thing about think tanks like that is that they don't have to deal with the reality of what they're suggesting. They essentially throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. If something does - then they'll write an actual policy prescription or draft legislation so that lawmakers have something to start working on. I know you probably don't know what the difference is (which I don't mean as a knock on you, it's just not something most people know), but Project 2025 contains none of that. Until the conversations I hear at work start to shift or I see one of those ideas become a policy treatment or draft bill, I'm not going to worry about it. From a practical standpoint, all Project 2025 is today is a Democrat fundraising point.

To your other point, there are roughly 70 million registered Republicans in this country, not counting third party members or conservative leaning independents. Some of them suck. A lot. I'm really not trying to pretend that's not the case. But to write a post claiming that all conservatives are like that is absurd and shows that you don't spend time around us. The very vast majority of conservatives are just normal human beings who go to the grocery store and work boring jobs and take the kids to little league practice and hold extremely boring opinions on politics. Just like the very vast majority of liberals. It would be equally unreasonable of me to go around telling everyone that all Democrats are the equivalent of the Bernie bro who shot up a bunch of Republican members of Congress a few years ago or that they're all the like the people who send me rape threats here or call my old campaign office to say their going to firebomb us. It would be really easy for me to believe that if all I did was spend time around other conservatives and my only interactions with the left were with their raging nutcases. But I spend time around liberals so I know they're not like that any more than we are like that jackass last night.

It is so easy these days to put yourself in a little bubble of people who think like you and only ever see the worst of the people who don't. That used to be difficult for conservatives to do because media was all very left-leaning so even if we didn't personally know a lefty, we still saw them portrayed positively on tv, whereas the left didn't see that of us. With streaming and algorithms and alternate media these days, we are heading in that direction too. Very little scares me more about the future than that.

The only way to fix that is if we all start talking to normal people on the other side the aisle again. That's all I'm trying to get people do to. You don't even have to talk to them about politics. Talk to them about baseball or something, I don't care. Just something so that when you think of the other party, you think of the human beings you know instead of some boogeyman. There are nearly 12,000 people following this blog. That guy last night wasn't one of them - why does he get to represent them? They didn't do anything wrong and they outnumber him, literally almost 12,000 to 1. The only reason anyone listened to him was that he 'confirmed' their bias and they didn't think about it any more than that. They saw one example of what they already believed and let that give them a reason to ignore the mountain of things contradicting them. So I'm pissed at that guy for that and for generally being a shithead.

But I'm still going to say it because it's still true: if you think that's how all conservatives are, you obviously don't spend a lot of time around conservatives.

[sissa-arrows]

(Diff anon) Hi! I read your post about PoC being defensive about colonialism, and I'd like to know your opinion about the subject of your last paragraph

I know someone who is exactly like that, and I have noticed that white people love using them as tokens to justify their racists and anti lgbtq+ opinions, and when they use their "I'm not racist I have PoC friends" excuse, they actually mean PoC who act and think like them

PoC who live in the Global North (myself included) benefits from the imperialism, colonialism and neo colonialism of the countries where we live.

I’m an Algerian woman born and raised in France. France hates me. France spends its time saying that the colonisation of my people was a good thing. My little brothers are the ONLY people in their generation who have a lower life expectancy than their parent (a study made in France shows that the life expectancy grows in France EXCEPT for North African men who happen to be children of 1st gen immigrants parents because of all the racism). I live in a country where I cannot wear the hijab at my job, a country where one of the biggest party was created by people who tortured Algerians for fun and wanted all of us dead. I’m not even going to start on employment discrimination.

Guess what? I’m still privileged because I still benefit from French imperialism and neocolonialism. The reason I have a dentist is because France loots Africa to the point where African doctors come in France because they will have a better salary here. I probably wouldn’t have the job I have if France paid back for all its colonial crimes (but then if France did that I would have the money to leave the country forever also I am NOT a cop nor do I work with them or the military just to get things straight).

The problem is that too many PoC don’t realize that. The second you talk about their privilege they react like white people and take it as a personal attack. Just like white people go “I grew up poor I don’t have privileges” PoC in the west will go “Have you seen all the racism? I don’t have privileges.”

These same PoC especially Africans in France also internalized the racism so much that they convinced themselves that just because they studied in France they can fix their home country. The amount of times I see Africans (from North to South from East to West) saying shit “You don’t realize if we went back to our homeland we would fix everything”. I had a friend (one of the reasons we ain’t friend anymore) who told me that when I was a student and I was like “girl we’re studying Japanese and English what the hell do you think we’re going to do?! Our countries have engineers, doctors, scientists but sure we’re going to fix everything with our French degrees in English and Japanese.”

And these are not even the actual sell out foot soldiers of white supremacy these are often PoC who are on the left and are more of less anti racist. But they have a superiority complexe and internalized racism.

I have so many things to say but people get defensive over it the second you mention it. A woman who survived to the Bosnian Genocide made a comments about all Americans being privileged and she got so much hate especially from PoC and I’m like “BUT YOU FUCKING ARE PRIVILEGED WE LIVE IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST WE BENEFIT FROM IT” anyway I’ll stop here because I’ll get angry and I’ll insult people and anyway.

[lou-iz-stat]

We are now 6 weeks away from the iwtv s2 premiere! And I am back for a rewatch of episode 2 of s1 in preparation for s2. I’m not going to lie this is probably my least favorite episode of s1 but that still doesn’t mean I don’t like this episode. It’s still an important episode for the greater story, it just doesn’t quite excite me as much as the rest of the episodes. And I’ll mention again that this post will have spoilers for the rest of season 1 as well as the books.

Anyways let’s watch it again!

IWTV S1 E2: After the Phantoms of Your Former Self

We start this episode with Daniel looking at the painting that Marius painted! Woah first Marius mention. This should have been obvious to us that Rashid was actually Armand when he started talking about the painting. But I guess hindsight is 20 20. Also when he talks about ‘serving a god’ I still have no idea what he means here. I mean it’s supposed to imply that he is talking about Louis but now that we know he’s Armand he must be talking about something else so hopefully we’ll find out what he meant next season. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but when Daniel is about to sit down for dinner, in the background there seem to be lots of scratches on the wall in the very back of the room. So weird…

Ok so when Louis finally enters the room he apologizes for his outburst from before and I actually have a whole other post about why I think that's interesting so check it out here

Also first ‘Memory is a monster’ mention in this episode!

‘The Farm’? As in Blackwood Farm?

Now we are back in flashback territory and we get our first rule about not drinking ‘dead blood’ which actually doesn’t kill vamps in the books it’s just uncomfortable to do so.

And in Louis turning Lestat comments ‘there’s the spark’ which to my knowledge is when someone is turned depending on how bright their spark is, is how compatible the person is with vampirism. I could be wrong but I think that’s the reason Nicki went mad was because his spark was pretty dull so he wasn’t very compatible with vampirism.

I have to say after being exposed to the vampire chronicles vampire lore all other vampire lore is just not it for me. I am currently watching these guys react to the first season of the vampire diaries on YouTube right now and that vampire lore is nowhere near giving as much as Anne Rice vampires are. All other vamps are officially nothing burgers as of now. I can’t stand any of them to be honest. Even the look of the vampires in this show is just so much better than any other vampire ever.

When they go to Mama Du Lac’s house for that party, Jacob looks so good in those sun glasses. 😍

I really love how in his vampirism Louis now has the power to take out these racist men like the lawyer. When he was human he just had to take all of these aggressions towards him but now with this power he doesn’t necessarily have to take the racism all of the time. But as we find out later his race can still hold him back even with this vampiric power he has. The writers are really able to weave in Louis’s race so seamlessly into his character and story.

For the record I still do not think Louis ate his nephew.

‘The great convergence’ plot line is something that I do not know if I like yet. I guess we’ll see.

Say what you want about Louis and Lestat’s relationship but in the beginning, for the most part, they were really sweet together. 😭

And in the scene where they go to opera it makes me free such complex emotions. I feel for Louis because he still has to deal with being black in America. And when they are in their box and Lestat looks over at Louis and can tell he is upset, his eyes just soften because he feels bad. It’s just too much! I know Louis sees this as an opportunity to manipulate him more but I really feel that Lestat really just genuinely wants him to feel better. And the way Louis looks at Lestat when he’s excited about the opera is just so cute. And then the tenor had to go and ruin all of that. *sigh*

Finally we get to Daniel talking about his first wife Alice. Louis makes a comment that he is familiar with the place that Daniel proposed to her in Paris. Could this mean something? I originally believed the Alice is Armand theory but now I don’t. I do think Alice was a real person but Daniel and Armand were probably seeing each other at the same time he was seeing Alice. I’m so excited to see s2 so we can hopefully get the truth of Daniel’s past that he is unable to remember it at the moment.

If you are still reading this thank you for sticking with me. And hopefully you will see me next week as I rewatch s1 e3.

6 MORE WEEKS Plus a new trailer on 03/31/24

[bat-besties]

Your lili posts have me thinking a lot about Jade and her similarities with Rose. Both come from countries ravaged by war and colonialism and this shapes their childhood- and yet DC ignores it despite the potential for a poignant and meaningful story there.

Rose grew up in a determent camp. Jade’s father was a french colonialist and she was later sold into slavery(and when she escaped she was trained by a chinese freedom fighter). These are interesting stories not only in the way they uniquely affect cambodian and viet women but in the sense they just… are compelling?? Jade works well with Roy and her daughter DOES make her more interesting but her dynamic with her daughter and with MEN has an extra layer there that they just don’t care about.

Rose HAS this unqiue and formative trauma that’s never discussed. Despite who her mother was or the things she saw she is aggressive to other women constantly, she is centrally relevant for her daddy issues,which yea are important, are not the only thing to explore there! I hope this makes sense and I’m not just very tired

This does make sense!

That's a really interesting parallel - I didn't know about Jade's backstory! I assumed the man she was talking with was a fellow assassin and not someone who had such a formative impact on her life.

Yeah, I think it's very telling that DC does a relatively good job with Mia Dearden as a trafficked white girl (and even that has some misses) but when a women of colour has trafficking in her backstory it's not fully explored or explained. Especially when women of colour are more at risk of human trafficking than white women, but don't receive the same attention/horror at their situations.

In way too many DC comics, human trafficking victims are a blur of undifferentiated nonwhite and/or female characters freed from the back of a van by our hero and never seen again, used to show just how evil an organisation or villain is. So yeah, that makes it especially galling that Jade's escape from slavery isn't factored into her relationship to men and her daughter.

Like Jade, Lili escapes slavery and tries to give her daughter the best life possible, and like her, she's erased from her daughter's personality and life.

Intergenerational trauma specific to Cambodia (which was already being discussed in academia in the 90s!!) and Vietnam is completely ignored. The way both have to deal with their own trauma and break cycles of abuse to raise their daughters is never acknowledged, while any way they act on past traumas is heavily punished. [Lili not wanting Rose to know about Slade to protect her leaving Rose unprepared for him/Jade reacting violently to having her daughter taken away from her being portrayed as her being crazed]

And yeah, the Rose who initially protects a woman from an abusive husband as a fourteen year old and has tea parties with Dolphin and Lian is suddenly turned into a sexist.

(Rose not hearing out Jade about Lian because of her own trauma and need to protect a little girl from the assassin parent coming on the scene was so PAINFUL and I am curious if they've interacted since)

Rose's valid and actually nuanced debate with Cassie about morality, the nature of redemption, etc, is portrayed as a catfight. It devalues both characters' arguments, but the racism of making Rose an oversexed Asian girl who says sexist things is much more egregious.

I also hate any Rose line along the lines of "I was raised in a brothel" because it never leads to a nuanced discussion of sex work but always means "sex isn't a big deal", which (a) I don't think anyone on any side of arguments about sex work thinks and (b) frankly would not be said if her mother and her were white. And of course, I don't even need to mention how horrible the Tim scene was for her character and background.

Similarly, you're so right that Rose's problems with authority are often seen as "daddy issues" which is so offensive because firstly, responding to abuse by a parent by struggling with authority is a genuine trauma response many people have. Secondly, she grew up for five years in an environment where soldiers abused refugees, and then she spent the next nine at risk of police abusing her mother and the other women because they were sex workers, and majority women of colour. She has really valid reasons not to trust people in authority, and when Eddie's being manipulated by the Doom Patrol, she's the first member of the Teen Titans to call bullshit and protect him. It's especially interesting because the manipulated members of the Doom Patrol are strongly disability coded and Caulder mimics ableist rhetoric to control them. Eddie, coded as newly disabled and white, is not used to having someone use bigotry to manipulate and control him, and I find it so interesting that Rose as a woman of colour is the first to worry about him. In the right balance, her distrust of authority is useful and insightful.

I honestly don't know enough Jade yet to have similar insight into her but I want to read more!

Overall, the Asian women in DC are so frequently screwed over, and I really think, being white myself, that white people need to stop discussing treatment of women in comics as shorthand for treatment of white women. For example, it might be overdone to focus on a white woman being a mother, but Asian women like Lili, Jade, Talia and more have their motherhood devalued and relationship to their children discounted. There's way too much reading material out there about treatment of Asian women in media to not work towards intersectional discussions of characters like Rose and Jade. Trying to untangle these characters from DC's racism/sexism and discussing them in their historical and cultural contexts is really rewarding and interesting.

[shieldofiron]

I just… I cannot see these antis talk about Billy being racist any more. It is distressing to see people being so bad at trying to ape anti-racism.

“Billy never apologized.” No, the writers of stranger things have repeatedly heaped these storylines on Lucas and they have not once written an apology for the character. None of his friends have a talk with him about it, his girlfriend doesn’t condemn it either. Max doesn’t come to Lucas afterwards and say, “Hey that was really scary are you ok?” No, Lucas’ character is left to deal with repeated micro aggressions and continual racism ALONE. Did Billy apologize? No. Because the writers did not think it was worth writing.

Caleb has been killing the little material they give him, Lucas is one of the best fighters in the party, the best at thinking on his feet, and he’s the most level headed in crisis scenarios. In season one he takes on a demogorgon practically BY HIMSELF while Dustin and Mike hand him rocks and shout at him. In season four he has a gun pulled on him, attempts deescelation, and then defends himself handily against a guy two years older than him. When his friends see him, they don’t even ask about what happened to him.

Lucas is an important character and he DESERVES apologies, he DESERVES someone being on his side. But the writers do not want to do it. After four seasons they don’t do it.

Billy’s actions were racist. But if you know anything about racism you know that it isn’t just individual action. It is all around us, a smog that we all breathe in, that colors every system. And like all smogs, it was worse in the 80s. Billy being racist is a symptom of the writers room romanticizing, even fetishizing, the 80s, up to and including the racist attitudes. Billy being written that way is a symptom of a systemic problem on the show, which is that they heap these storylines on Lucas without giving him any meaningful catharsis for it, and without the other characters even recognizing it.

If antis cared, they would be lifting Lucas up, talking up Caleb in tweets, sending @ messages to the writers. But they aren’t. Because like the writers they want the appearance of being better than racists, without actually doing any of the work.

I guess what I’m saying is, racism can be un-learned with work and I wish some of these people would try. But I guess telling someone to kill themselves online is just a form of anti-racism I’ve never encountered before, huh?

[hmsharmony]

5. 10. 19.

Apologies in advance for this having nothing to do with Spider-Man until 19. 😬

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

Merlin/Arthur how I loathe thee. The racism and misogyny I had to witness (e.g., petition to replace Angel with Colin when she was scheduled to do an interview with Bradley). I began the show shipping everyone in the core four (although Arthur/Gwen was my OTP), but the treatment of Gwen by many Merthur shippers soured me on the ship. The final nail in the coffin was when a friend, an Arthur/Merlin shipper, found out I shipped Arthur/Gwen and expressed disgust. Fuck that.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

The one that immediately comes to mind (which will not come as a shock to anyone who was around in 2011/2012) is Merlin’s “Gwen is enchanted to kiss zombie!Lancelot the night of her wedding, Arthur finds them, and he banishes her from Camelot on pain of death because ‘I don’t want to see you dead but I don’t want to see you.’”

A few things that fill me with rage to this day:

zero agency for Gwen (who never finds out she was enchanted the actual fuck!!!);

Arthur using his power as king to deal with a personal issue;*

Gwen going through literal hell on her own (taken captive and visuals/language making clear her captor plans to sexually assault her; escaping when she discovers her captor is working with Morgana and they plan to harm Camelot so even though she can’t return ON PAIN OF DEATH she makes her way back anyway; almost freezing to death during said journey; getting chased down by Morgana, who knocks her out and turns her into a DEER while Arthur is going on a hunting party with a prospective bride; said woman SHOOTING DEER GWEN WITH AN ARROW)

Gwen saying she has what she deserves when she tells Merlin she can’t return to Camelot because she betrayed Arthur;

Arthur finding her ring in the middle of the forest and not wondering WHY it was there or if she’s okay; and

an underwhelming resolution where everything is swept under the rug and they IMMEDIATELY GET MARRIED DESPITE THERE CLEARLY BEING MAJOR TRUST ISSUES AND GWEN MOST DEFINITELY HAVING PTSD WHAT ARE YOU DOING

(Bonus Gwen saying she can’t forgive herself and Arthur saying he doesn’t care I am still livid and it has been more than a decade let Gwen have negative feelings!!!)

Took me literal years to love that ship again because of this storyline.

*It would have been much more interesting if it had been framed as “it’s either saving the woman you love or upholding the law” like they did in Camelot. The show (claimed) to be in large part about how Arthur would create a new, fair Camelot (lmao). They missed a perfect chance to have him wrestle with what that means and the sort of king he wanted to be. I kind of played with that in the spec fic I wrote for 4x09, but to this day I want so much more.

19. What is one thing you hate most about your fandom?

I want to preface this by saying that, because of previous fandom experiences (including the infamous Harry Potter ship wars during my formative years), I was careful to cultivate my Spider-Man fandom experience from the get-go. My first couple years I literally only talked to existing friends who also loved PeterMJ (save for one fanvid I made in late 2019, but really I was just thanking people for commenting). It’s only in the past ~year I started interacting with new people, and even then I’m still very careful about expanding my bubble. So I’ve insulated myself pretty well, and I mostly have only secondhand knowledge of the horrendous side of this fandom (versus my merlin days where I would explore outside my bubble and see so much fucked up shit, usually of the racism variety).

With that out of the way: this is so minor in the scheme of things, but whenever someone calls MCU PeterMJ a slow burn I want to rip my face off. I love these kids but what they had was the exact opposite of a slow burn. And it’s not because it was done in one movie—When Harry Met Sally is 100% a slow burn in my book, and yes, the focus is that relationship, but there WERE things homecoming or far from home could have done. Not putting in the work to establish an existing relationship and instead going straight to Peter liking her is not a slow burn. (Now the way they hinted at MJ’s feelings in Homecoming? That was slow burn potential. Would’ve killed for something similar for Peter. And I say this as someone who had the biggest goddamn smile on her face everything they interacted when I first saw Far From Home.)

Salty Ask Game

[mindastardust]

My thoughts regarding the esc 2023 final/results

Okay, I’ve had some time to think about this (and actually sleep a bit) and this is my (probably a bit disorganized) thoughts on the situation. (I’m from Sweden, so I’m a bit biased, but I’ve done my best to give a fair answer/judgment to everything that I’ve seen)

1. The blatant misogyny and racism

The amount of misogyny and racism directed toward Loreen that I’ve seen is truly disgusting. I’ve read things that seemed like direct quotes from the Swedish democratic party (aka the racist party) and that’s never, ever okay. It’s completely fine to dislike the song/the number/the singer we still need to treat them with the bare minimum of respect.

2. This is not the first time (and probably not the last)

This is not the first time a former winner is back. A recent example (that I also have seen other people talk about here) is Alexander Rybak who returned in 2018. I’m well aware that he didn’t win but he did win his semi-final and was, for a while, one of the favorites that year. And I don’t remember people campaigning against him for a whole week for that? I have seen some people talk about how his entry was fine since it was clear that he “didn’t even try to win and was just having fun”. I can’t find any source confirming this but I can find one interviewwith Loreen where she says that winning again wasn’t her main motivation for returning. And still, I see Loreen being accused of only caring about winning and being annoyingly “fake humble” (again, see 1).

Also, quite a few times in the past ten years, the televoting winner and the overall winner have not been the same. For example, the last time Sweden won, Måns only came third in the televoting category and this hate storm was mysteriously silent. Same thing 2016 and 2019, when Jamala/Duncan won in neither the televoting nor the jury votes but still won overall.

3. What is Eurovision about and who is it for?

Finland’s entry this year (and most years to be fair) is funnier than Sweden’s. Tattoo is not meant to be a funny song and Sweden generally sends more “normal” (or boring, if you prefer that word) pop songs rather than the more colorful, camp songs that most of us fans have come to associate with Eurovision. Do I think Esc would be more fun if we actually tried to send songs like that? Yeah, I do. I’d love for that to be a thing. Unfortunately, as esc works right now, it’s not the most “effective” thing to do if you want to win. As boring as it is, the more “normal” pop songs generally perform better than the more camp/crazy/creative ones.

We also need to remember that most of the 200 million viewers aren’t us. They are not live-blogging the whole show on Tumblr. They causally follow the show, most of them probably watching only the final. To call Tattoo “jury bait” is fine, cause it’s 100% true. To call it “normie bait” is less so. It implies that those more casual viewers (who might prefer music similar to “normal” pop rather than “classic esc camp”) don’t have the same right to an opinion as the “true esc fan” (whoever that might be). It also brings us to the question of how to identify that true fan. OGAE (the network of esc fan clubs) perhaps, who organizes the OGAE fan poll each year? But since Loreen won that one this year, I’m guessing that’s not a solution that’s good either.

Yes, Käärijä won the public vote (with quite a big margin) but Loreen came in second place and to act like everyone who voted for her doesn’t deserve to have an opinion is trying to silence quite a lot of people.

4. Was Eurovision rigged?

You all do realize that some of you sound a bit crazy, right? We clearly did not bribe the jury nor (do I believe at least) was this whole thing planned before the competition began. At best (if you want a conspiracy), Melfest (Sweden’s national competition) was rigged so that a “good artist” (in this case Loreen) would win with a very ESC-friendly song so that Sweden could have the highest chance possible of winning. Do I think this was the case? No. I don’t have any proof that our television network didn’t plan this. At the same time, no one else has any proof that they did.

5. So what now?

Loreen played by the rules and won. You are allowed to think the rules (the jury) suck (I can assure you that several Swedes hate the international jury we have at our Melfest each year). Should the rules change? I’m open to that. The rules have changed many times before and it might be high time for another change. There’s certainly much to gain in terms of goodwill by removing the jury right now. Also, kick out Israel while you’re at it. The fact that they’re still allowed to compete is disgusting.

TLDR; If you want to criticize Loreen (or anyone else), do it without being racist or misogynistic. Remember that former winners have been back before and that other entries than the televoting winner have won before. Realize that we Tumblre fans might not be the typical esc viewer. I personally don’t see how esc could have been rigged for Sweden to win and I do believe Loreen (and Sweden) played 100% by the rules, but I can agree that if those rules cause this much outrage, they might be due for a change.

[automatismoateo]

How do I stop a hardcore, homeschooled Christian from trying to convert me? via /r/atheism

How do I stop a hardcore, homeschooled Christian from trying to convert me?

I’m an atheist, and a boy in one of my classes is really, really trying to convert me in particular, and it’s gone from “sweet that you care, but no thanks” to “I am uncomfortable just being around you” in a matter of weeks. TL;DR at the bottom.

I met a guy, Adam, at the start of this year. He was homeschooled until college and is a hardcore Christian. Very extremist in terms of beliefs. It’s also important to note that he says God speaks to him personally. He’s a firm believer that it’s his duty to convert others in our immediate class circle (about 15 of us).

It’s pretty interesting to talk to him, so most of us indulge him, ask questions, and point out flaws in his reasoning. It’s usually civil but sometimes we get heated when he claims something too outrageous (like if you don’t believe in god, racism is ok actually). Most of our talks usually end with one party (usually not him) saying that we disagree, and neither of us are going to budge on our beliefs, so let’s shut up and get back to work.

One night a few weeks ago while it was just us working, I was upset about a fight I was having with a friend and ranted to him. Afterwards, Adam sent me a long message about how God told him after I left that “he cared about me and is waiting for his daughter to come home.” Weird, but I figured it was his weird Christian way of telling me he cared about me. I didn’t want to be an ass so I thanked him very very briefly in passing later that week. Bad decision, apparently.

While cleaning out my desk at the end of the year, I discovered a wrapped package with a letter. It was (surprise!) a bible. For me!Apparently his mom bought it, felt that it wasn’t for her, and heard my name (a typical Christian name) at church and mailed it to Adam to give to me. Adam wrote me a long letter. Some highlights:

“I know you may want me to stop expressing my beliefs about God, but I care about you too much to stop”

“I love you in a way that only God could show me how. He will not give up on you, so neither will I.”

“I will never stop trying to show you God’s love”

Adam KNOWS I will not be converted. I’ve told him to his face that “the only way I will believe in god is if he descends from heaven above and slaps me in the face.” I’m also bisexual, which is a big no no to Adam and something I’ve told him is a dealbreaker for me. Almost every time we talk, I tell him that it’s interesting to hear his beliefs, but I’m not going to convert. Apparently, that was not clear enough.

I didn’t know what to do and I the idea of talking to him freaked me out. I successfully avoided him for our last few days, ignored it, and figured it would blow over during the summer.

Nope! I received another long Instagram message yesterday. Lots of bible verses, a live worship link, and a YouTube video I haven’t even opened. Some more highlights:

“There are so many things, so many desires I wish God would take away. I was furious he didn’t. When I met you, they all made sense”

“If my life had no other purpose, no other achievement, no other reason than to show you God, it would be the most perfect life God could give me.”

“I attended church for the first time in a long time. You were the only person I could think of.”

We’ve gone far past what I am comfortable with. I don’t know why Adam is so focused on me, but I want him to stop and I worry he won’t. We’re in a very small major together and I will see him every single day in class for the next 4 years, so preferably this doesn’t blow up in my face.

Please help.

Edit: ok wow, this got way more traction than I expected. I sent him a message that simply said “I know you think you’re doing the right thing by trying to convert me, but the Bible and the messages are making me uncomfortable. Please stop.” He’s seen it but hasn’t replied.

I appreciate all the advice about how to escalate the situation, and if he continues to message me I will alert faculty. For now, I’ve documented everything, told my parents and friends in class with me, and am hoping for the best but bracing for the worst.

TL;DR Hardcore Christian believes God has personally given him a mission to convert me. I’m wildly uncomfortable and want him to stop.

Submitted May 15, 2023 at 11:25PM by consistentlycrying (From Reddit https://ift.tt/GY3ij6D)

[wixterirox]

I think it’s hilarious how antis think Billy could be the only racist character in Hawkins a town midwest in the 80’s

[luxurybrownbarbie]

Hey Barb, what’s your take on the will smith/Chris rock debacle?

Hmmm. Well. There are so many layers to this, you have to unpack it piece by piece. There’s the sexism, misogynoir, the racism, the class aspect, the patriarchy… the list goes on. But the respectability politics are truly sending me up the wall.

What really stands out to me though, is people’s unwillingness to acknowledge the violence and aggression laden in Chris Rock’s comments. The joke would never be okay in any circumstance, but if Jada had been there as a nominee or a presenter, there would have been more cause for her to come up in Chris Rock’s “jokes”. But Jada was there supporting her husband, and shouldn’t have been a target for an unscripted “joke” in the first place. Imagine you show up to your spouse’s work party for support and someone decides to attack you out of nowhere. I would flip the fuck out. I’m so heartbroken for Jada, and I’m sad she got lost in all of this.

The Smiths are notorious for laughing at themselves. They literally made a joke out of a “cheating scandal” that was anything but. They’re not sensitive people, at least not to the public. It should be ringing alarm bells for people that there was a line crossed here, one that was clearly unforgivable for the both of them. We don’t even have to get into the politics of talking about Black women’s hair, because we all know exactly how political it is. But the joke was also ableist. Jada has an autoimmune disorder. She spoke about how difficult it’s been for her to accept that she’s lost her hair. And Chris Rock, knowing both of those things, decided to tell a “joke” about her to a group of her peers, who all proceeded to laugh at her. They weren’t laughing at the “joke”. They were laughing at her. Of course her husband was pissed.

Chris Rock has been repeatedly attacking Jada in his “comedy”, there’s proof of that. It boiled over. There was no power imbalance at all, (quite frankly, Will was actually the one who had more to lose in that moment), and guess what? Now Chris knows not to speak about Jada anymore.

And here’s my thing, I hate roast “jokes”, so I know I’m biased. And if you Google “George Carlin” and “punching down” you’ll understand why. A white guy born in 1937 had a better understanding of society and what “jokes” are actually acceptable than the majority of people in 2022. Which is why he’s the only comedian I actually like. Comedians are not a protected class of people. They’re not immune to getting their shit rocked if they say something out of line. And the majority of comedians love to punch down.

Chris Rock punched down. And he got slapped for it.

Men love to couch their violence and aggression in “jokes”. Because they think “joking” absolves you of any consequences. But the “jokes” aren’t jokes. And men don’t listen to women. Men listen to other men.

(Also, people are just mad because it was at the Oscars. But I don’t really want to get into respectability politics right now.)

People truly believe they can say whatever they want, and I mean, you can! But, guess what? It comes with consequences!

[mooni-bunni]

AOT with a Black S/O

A/N: There are SO many characters I want to do so this is definitely going to be a part one. Please know that I’m going off of MY ✨black experience✨ so if I mention something that you don’t do or experience, then idk, write your own. 🤨

CW: Modern AU, Black!Reader, Reader is female oriented,

TW: some light racism mentions.

Eren Jaeger

I’m going to start this off by saying Eren is completely into ethnic women.

If it’s not the way your skin glows under the summer sun, it’s definitely the goddamn brown eyes that are just BEAUTIFUL MAN.

He won’t say it, but he is such a nerd for learning more about your culture. Learns a lot about black history and excitedly tells you the new stuff he learned. He gets so happy when he learns about inventions by black people too.

He gets really mad about a lot of social issues though. He’s a really good listener when it comes to you voicing your feelings about something that’s happened in the community. Definitely an unapologetic activist.

Take him to a predominantly black church, watch him be all awkward but tapping his toes. He’ll tell you after that he really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. He may not be feeling the Holy Ghost, but he is definitely going with you on sunday just to enjoy it with you

Over all, he just loves you so much, he gets to experience so,etching new every single day and he loves it. Especially when it comes to music, food, and clothing. Dress him up please, he likes it. Use him as a wig stand too.

Armin Arlert

Please, he was doing research on black culture before you were even dating. 🤨🖐🏾

When you started dating, you were definitely surprised by how much he actually knows about black culture. It’s all because he wanted to make sure he never says anything to you that makes you upset. If he has questions about something, he is going right to those books and the internet. He’s also not afraid to ask you questions but he would prefer to not burden you with the responsibility of educating him.

If you grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, he tries his best to make you feel comfortable about being your most authentic self and not washing yourself down for him. He doesn’t like it when you hold yourself back or fix your speech so that he can understand you better, he’ll fight you to be yourself. USE YOUR AAVE AND TEACH HIM.

He really likes the way you talk. He takes note of any little inflectional accented letters in the words you speak. He will use words like “bussin” and “Chile” in the wrong way, so please just… stop him, he’s trying his best.

He’s also really into African American protective hairstyles and why they are important

Definitely sits down with you and helps you with your hair. He’s not the best with it, but he is definitely helpful. Like he’ll at least hold stuff for you or let you use his hand as the pallet for the grease or gel. If you’re a wig wearer, he likes being the model while you shape it. If you’ve got an Afro, he’s buying you the cutest bonnets to wear at night.

Mikasa Ackerman

The thing she loves so much about you is how she’s able to swap cultural experiences with you. 🥺

She grew up in a half Asian household and has a lot of things to share. The fact that she gets to mix her culture with yours is incredible to her. Especially with food because traditional Japanese dishes with traditional African American foods is fun to combine

She is really into r&b music, too. Swapping music with her is so much fun because she finds some new artists she’s never heard of before. She really likes Destiny’s Child

Asks you a lot of questions, too. It’s always light hearted and she means so well. She wants to know more about your family, the dynamic, what kinds of struggles you went through, the celebrations.

Bring her to parties and family functions, she is a visual and hands on learner.

Calls you beautiful every single day. There’s not a single thing about you that she doesn’t love.

Jean Kirschtein

Jean definitely gets quite the culture shock when you first start living together.

Mainly because of the food. He is not used to any cuisine that as a little spice in it. The first time you cool all the fixings for him, he is overwhelmed. It smells so good and some is familiar, but he’s never had them in this way.

He’s eating all of it anyways honey. He’s telling you it’s BUSSIN. Every fuckin meal, bro, he is saying it. Y’all can’t even go to cookouts because he says it so loud, tell him to STOP. (But don’t because it sounds funny and he’s just trying to express his love for soul food.)

OH AND DANCING. BRO. He learns a lot about how dances were ripped off from black people and he asks you to teach him the correct way to do it, if you know how. If not, he’ll happily teach you. He loves the history of it, too.

He is very active as an ally and does a lot of work to make sure the community you guys live in is accepting and safe for you and everyone else.

It really does take him a minute to get into the swing of daily life, but he is so happy he met you and that you let him in.

Sasha Braus

You already know I’m going to say food with this girl.

The way she is tearing up a plate the first time you cook food for her is a little animalistic. She licks that shit CLEAN. Some soul food at a party is going to be nonexistent if you bring her.

She may not be the brightest girl, but movies are definitely her thing. She likes it when you show her some movies directed by black people like Jordan Peele or Tyler Perry. One of her favorite movies is Dream Girls.

She also asks a lot of questions. (Ahem, her with Onyankopon…) It’s always her trying to learn more but they sometimes come off as a little uhhhhh… you know…. Like that. Don’t worry though, explain things to her and she is immediately apologetic for even asking.

You might have to teach her a few things though, I’m not gonna lie.

Take her to a family reunion or a Juneteenth celebration party, trust me she’ll enjoy herself.

Levi Ackerman

Surprisingly the thing he enjoys the best is the music.

You’d think with his classical tea loving ass, he’d be a little weary with the music, but no! He actually really likes old hip hop and rap. New age is not his favorite, but he likes artist like Tupac, Biggie, Jay Z, Old Kanye. Don’t be surprised to see him rapping randomly. I’ll stand by this.

He’s also really good with hair. Like surprisingly good with it. Like, he could actually just do your hair and you will probably never have to go to a salon ever.

He saw you struggling with yours one morning and noticed how expensive it was for you to get yours done, so he literally went out to any black owned salon and asked if they could teach him how it’s done. For weeks he just spent his free time learning how to do textured hair, which products were good, which ones were harmful, how to style, all of it. He came home one day and saw you booking an appointment to get yours done and told you he could do it. Success.

He also learns your favorite soul food meals. Spends time with your family to learn how you like it.

Overall, Levi isn’t great with words but he shows you he loves you by doing these extravagant things for your that’s how you know he cares about you and how important your heritage is.

A/N: this was so cute wahhh. Idk why I’m worried about being canceled when I’m black- also sorry for any typos I miss.

[bottombaron]

the high school Winterbaron au that I'll never write~

Zemo transfers to an American school. his father caught him attending a protest and he can't have him undermining the Sokovian government so now Zemo is living at his estranged mother's house in America.

his mother, being American, means Zemo has dual citizenship. her and his father are separated but not divorced. (Zemo hadn't seen her since she left them when he was four so their relationship isn't great)

Bucky is part of the large friend group of avenger characters (Steve, Tony, Bruce, Thor etc.) but he feels left out. it used to be just him, Steve, Natasha, and then later Sam. but now Steve is being pulled away by friends like Tony and girlfriend Peggy. Bucky has Sam and Natasha, but Nat is closer with Clint and Sam is naturally more outgoing and popular than Bucky is, with his own friends.

basically Bucky is feeling lonely as fuck.

due to a complex powder-keg of racism, American ignorance (on the avenger's side), and an already deep-seated resentment of the Starks' and the American forces bombing Sokovia (on Zemo's side): him and the 'avengers group' do not get along and are instantly at each other's throats

Zemo is constantly causing mayhem at school and trying to get kicked out and sent back home. everyone pretty much hates him and he's fine with that.

*vague plot hand wave* something happens, a bet between Zemo and the 'avengers' ends up with Zemo getting to take one of them out on a date and they have do what he says for the day

he chooses Bucky and everyone is thrown

Bucky hardly knows this guy and Steve and Tony thought it would be one of them. they try to refuse on his behalf but Bucky's not that bothered, '*shrug* he's like, what? 5 even?? (he's not) I could just pick him up and throw him if he tried anything (he could do that tho), i'll be fine.'

Bucky feels weird about it more because he's not a part of this fucking drama and now he feels like he's been made the center of it

Steve and Tony are fighting over his involvement in this mess (Steve is protective, Tony is dismissive) and Bucky is just tiRED

Zemo had simply noticed Bucky was being abandoned by his friends and thought he looked lonely like him. but he's also a little shit and too busy playing the villain (and having a blast thank you very much) to drop the façade

so Bucky and Zemo agree to meet at a mall for a 'date'

the mall Zemo chooses is huge and luxurious and Bucky already feels uncomfortable in it. he sits and waits in the food court where there's at least a Hot Dog on a Stick he can feel a little within his financial comforts

Zemo finds him and they're off walking the mall

they bicker, they banter, and of course Zemo is fucking weird. he's acting like they've been friends for years and excitedly showing Bucky all the window displays like Bucky isn't (technically) there against his will. but it's not uncomfortable enough that he isn't starting to catch onto Zemo's chaotic rhythm and enjoy himself a little

they start to talk in that sarcastic playfully teasing way. Bucky's dry wit and Zemo's sharp flirty replies work really well together and they're actually kind of having a good time

until Zemo reminds Bucky he has to do what he says for the day and takes him to a really fancy boutique and informs Bucky that his task is to try on some clothes with Zemo

Bucky instantly feels panic when he's in the store, it's too big and too crowded and there's actual security guards in three piece suits giving him the most judgmental looks as if he's a criminal

everyone knows he doesn't belong there and that he's small and dirty

he starts to have a panic attack

Zemo notices and pulls Bucky into a corner of the store, hands him a bottle of water and instructs him to focus on drinking the bottle up to the label. every sip of water he must take a deep breath like he's coming up for air in a pool. let it out. and take another sip. and repeat.

Zemo tells Bucky he's going to be right back and leaves to talk to someone important

Bucky doesn't notice when everyone starts to leave the shop

the doors close, the lights dim, the music stops playing current pop and plays something soft and old. when Zemo comes back Bucky is feeling a lot better

Zemo says he talked with the manager and they told him he and Bucky could have the next couple of hours by themselves in the shop, if Bucky was still willing that is

Bucky feels embarrassed but Zemo starts ranting about everything that's triggering in the store, like it was everyone else's fault and not Buckys'. it makes him feel less ashamed. 'it's these florescent lights, the doormen were assholes, that music hurt my head too, etc'. like what Bucky had just went through was perfectly normal and not something bad Bucky did on purpose or for attention like people normally make him feel.

he doesn't question how Zemo got everyone to leave and the store to soften (he actually doesn't know Zemo is rich, he never bothered to know Zemo at all. he was just the guy everyone at school hated)

the two of them spend the time running around like children with the store all to themselves, the only other person a butler-like-attendant that serves them champaign and cashews.

Bucky braces for Zemo to dress him up like he promised he would. he's expecting a trim three piece suit that Zemo was eyeing earlier or something equally uncomfortable. but with how surprisingly well Zemo had been treating him Bucky feels like he can indulge a small dress up party for the guy

he's surprised again when Zemo's wardrobe choices for him are sinfully soft cotton jeans, t-shirts, and the sexiest leather jacket he's even seen

they're clothes Bucky would have picked for himself and he feels great in them

Zemo for his part steps out of the dressing room looking like Elton John meets Cruella DeVil

the ugliest purple fur coat, heels with gold accents, and a crop top that says 'break my hole not my heart' on it

Bucky: that is the ugliest fucking outfit I've ever seen

Zemo: thank you, I love it 😎

Bucky asks why he wasn't forced to wear something more high fashion, Zemo answers that, 'while I would love to see you in a suit I know you wouldn't be comfortable in one. attractiveness is about comfort. my style isn't yours. I'm comfortable in things that you would never be in which is why I make this look good. and you look exquisite in that.'

Bucky blushes but doesn't disagree. he does however tease Zemo about his outfit. 'are you sure you actually pull that off?'

Zemo: oh hunny, I'm fuckable in anything

Bucky switches into his old clothes and whistles when he sees the price tag. 'I could never afford this' Zemo looks, 'ah yes , that is quite the ridiculous mark up.'

Zemo: which is why I was planning on stealing it ;3

and then he runs out of the store with all the clothes he picked out for Bucky, still in his gaudy outfit

Bucky is dumbfounded but quickly runs after him and they stop only after they're at the other end of the mall, out of breath

Bucky: the actual fuck, Zemo!

Zemo: *is wearing his ~who me? I've never done anything wrong in my cute little life~ face* :3

Zemo explains shoplifting is good actually fuck capitalism

and doesn't explain that the reason why they had control of the store in the first place is because his father is an investor and everything they ran out with was technically already bought the moment they touched it

but he doesn't want Bucky to feel indebted for the clothes or make him feel like he needs charity. and rebellion (even pretend rebellion) is funner

Bucky suspects everything is fine anyway because he's not an idiot but it's funner to pretend for him too

the fantasy world that they've created outside of their actual lives and drama, in this mall, on this day, is freeing

Zemo releases Bucky of their deal, the time having been completed

Bucky, instead of leaving, takes Zemo's wrist and guides him to Hot Dog on a Stick at the food court

he treats him to a $5 dinner and watches, trying not to laugh, as Zemo attempts to eat a corndog with mustard in a pair of white Versace cashmere pants

it's the best date he's ever had

[nibeul]

Ok, I know this will take a great deal of your time, but I was startled to see that socialism wont be able to benefit POC like us. I dont want a capitalist society, and socialism sounded appealing, but it seems like that isnt the case. I would always like to learn and understand more. If it's ok with you, are there any sources or posts that discusses this?

alright, it’s early morning hours and I’m tired but I’m up working anyways so I might as well answer this. I don’t have any linked sources atm because it’s actually not a topic that’s talked about a lot, though I’ll be grabbing some basic definitions from the dictionary and such. for the most part, I’ll be running with my own thoughts.

socialism and communism are political and economic theories. communism is the ultimate goal for a lot of people while socialism is the stepping stone to get there (aka socialism is the halfway to communism, in a broad sense). Below are your definitions for easy access:

now I’m going to assume that we’re talking about the US specifically. As of now, we know that the US is a capitalist society, I.e., market is controlled by private owners for profit instead of by the state. Surprisingly, China is also technically a capitalist society that is controlled by the communist part just in the way that it functions market wise (this is a broad generalization however, it’s a bit more complicated than that), so the argument that communism is bad because of countries like China, or that socialism is bad because of unions like the USSR (which.. also isn’t really socialist? it’s run by a communist party similar to China but it’s honestly authoritarian under the veil of “socialism”) isn’t really founded in fact.

(I apologize if you already know this information, I’m trying to make this as informative as possible so please bear with me) Imperial powers have actually intentionally meddled with growing socialist countries—I believe Brazil and Cuba are two examples of this, though again, it’s harder to find discussions on this because the US does a lot more censoring of its history than we’re led to believe/it just isn’t talked about as much thanks to propaganda/intentional framing—which has resulted in destabilization and makes the argument that socialism is inherently bad easier to make. That being said, communism and socialism aren’t the miracle “fix it” for all the issues the US has right now.

Now, I’m not going to claim that I have the end all know all on political/economic theories. I haven’t done extensive reading on these topics/systems and I’ve made some broad generalizations in order to get my point across in an err.. digestible manner? I don’t mean that in a condescending way, more so that if I tried to get into the nuance of everything I would confuse myself and probably everyone else reading because there’s a lot. With that cleared, socialism and communism are going to sound a lot more appealing than what we have going now (which is valid). That being said, capitalism is heavily engrained in US American society, and it’s going to take years to move toward that, assuming that it even gets to a point of acknowledgement with the higher ups.

The thing is, that’s probably not going to happen anytime soon. Why’s that? Because the US political spectrum actually leans heavily right. The biggest lie of the two party system (which I do not like at all, and I think a lot of US Americans actually share that sentiment) is that it shows the full scope of political ideology when in fact we have one of the smallest political scopes in the world. Most countries have multiple parties (Ireland is a pretty good example, it has its own problems but it’s definitely more politically diverse) but the US is unique in the fact that we only have two, which forces you to mold yourself to its constraints (which is a whole other issue). I don’t want to get too far into that, but you might be familiar with this image:

which I won’t flat out say is a clear cut, accurate representation of the current spectrum, but it does give you the general idea (it should come up if you search on Google). We are nowhere near being able to convert to a socialist or communist system, much less function properly with one because of our current political spectrum. That is the first issue to kinda clear because a lot of people assume it is just a shift that will happen? Which is definitely not how it will work, sorry that it took me a bit to get here but I wanted to clear some background information before making conclusions.

Now to get at the core of your question, why doesn’t socialism and communism benefit us (in a broad sense)? The simple answer is racism functions separately from capitalism and can survive on its own, hence why converting to socialism or communism doesn’t actually address the problem. Here’s another issue: white leftists are just as racist as white conservatives, they’re literally just more deceitful with their racism. When a good chunk of the people backing the movement are ignorant of their own biases, you encounter yet another problem. Communism and socialism do not fix racism, as much as people want to believe it does, changing the political and economic system a country functions with does not address the core root of an already inherently racist system. My end goal is the dismantling of the current system of white supremacy, and communism/socialism are not going to suddenly get us there.

[azaleavi]

Woman Like Me Part 2 - Bucky Barnes

Summary: y/n gets to talk to the person who gave her the serum and the others learn more about her

Set in the second half of episode 3 of tfatws

Warning(s): a little violence nothing too strong

Word count: 2.5K

Author’s Note: Part 2 is finally here! Thank you so much for loving part 1, i didn’t expect so many people to like it! I’m actually pretty proud of this part and i would love to write a part 3 and actually make this a series if you like it so give me feedback or tell me what you would like to see in the next part. Thank you!

Part 1

“Okay I have clients coming in a few minutes so enjoy the party and stay out of trouble” Sharon stands up, walking out of the room.

“Trouble” Zemo holds up his glass of whiskey.

“I think we should change” y/n looks at the clothes hanging by the wall, noting that they are still wearing their combat clothes. She can see multiple dresses but there are men’s clothes as well.

They all change out of their older clothes, the men giving y/n space to do it. She chose a simple black dress, appropriate for a party and she looks mesmerising. Bucky couldn’t see with the tactical gear on but she has a really nice figure which makes him stare at her a little longer than he should. Sam notices and decides to speak up.

“You clean up nice y/n” he smiles at her. This shakes Bucky out of his staring, realising what he was doing.

“Thanks. I’ve never really wore something like this before… you know with the whole Harcos thing and all” she shows a small smile.

“By the way, what language is that? I’ve never heard it before” Sam furrows his eyebrows, confused.

“Oh, it’s Hungarian, it means warrior” she rolls her eyes, clearly not amused by the name “I’m hungarian so I guess they thought it was fitting”

“Ah Hungary, what a nice place” Zemo speaks up “nice people too”

“If misogyny, racism and homophobia is nice to you I guess you’re right” y/n sends a sarcastic smile to him.

“We should go up into the party” Bucky intervenes before the conversation can escalate.

“Won’t people recognise you?” Sam asks y/n.

“Nah, I had a mask when I was forced to do the things I did. Not many people got to see my face and lived to tell about it” Bucky shudders, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Sam nods, holding the door open for her “thank you Sam”

The party is already in full swing, groups of people dancing to the music and others looking at the artwork that is displayed across the room. The three men with y/n walk over to the bar, trying to not bring any attention to themselves. They order drinks while waiting for Sharon to get the information. Bucky catches y/n looking at him from where she is sitting. He lifts his eyebrows in question.

“What are you looking at?” he shouts over the loud music.

“You” she is teasing him. He knows it, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play along with her.

“And what about me is so interesting that it got you looking at me instead of the party that’s happening around you?” Bucky tilts his head.

”That will be my secret” she winks at him. Bucky feels like he can’t breath for a second. She suddenly drowns her drink in one swift motion and stands up “I’m assuming you don’t want to dance with me” she grins.

“How can you even dance to music like this?” he asks, genuinely confused. The music back in his days was much better and what they did was actually dancing and not this… thing they are doing now. She looks away laughing. Her eyes catch something that makes her laugh even more.

“I think you should ask Zemo about that” she points at the man showing rather questionable dance moves. Bucky looks at him barely being able to hold his own laughter “well I’ll go mingle with the prime citizens of Madripoor” she does a small wave with her hand, walking away. Bucky watches her leave and doesn’t take his eyes off of her until she disappears in the crowd.

“Does our cyborg man have a crush?” Sam speaks up, having watched the whole interaction between them. Bucky whips his head in his direction, just realising that the other man was there the whole time.

“Definitely not” he answers “we were just talking”

“Talking? Sounded awful lot like flirting to me” Sam grins, making fun of the older man.

“We were not flirting” Bucky shakes his head and looks away to watch the crowd again. Sam only smiles to himself and stops pushing because Sharon appears next to them.

Y/N walks through the dancing people, just looking around and trying to absorb everything. She has never been to a party before, at least not while she was in control of her actions. She caught sight of Zemo again, who was still dancing. It was weird to see the very dangerous criminal just tearing it up on the dance floor. Suddenly someone grabs her hand from behind and turns her around. She almost hits the stranger in the head, but she quickly realises that it’s Bucky holding her. The crowd around them continues dancing, not paying any mind to the two super-soldiers standing among them.

“Hi” she smiles at him. They are standing so close to each other that their chests are almost touching and he is still holding her hands to his chest. Y/n has to tilt her head up so she can look in his eyes. She’s never been this close to a man before that wasn’t during a fight or in a threatening situation. She decides she likes it. Y/n doesn’t know if it’s because it’s Bucky who’s here with her or she would feel like this with any man, but she suddenly gets the urge to stand on her tiptoes and press her lips to his “You came here to dance with me?” she jokingly asks to get the image out of her head.

“You will have to wait for another party for that, Sharon got the information we need so we have to go” Bucky looks into her eyes his pupils slightly dilated, almost as if he was thinking the same thing. He starts lightly pulling her along, out of the crowd.

The next morning they are walking through the containers looking for the one that has Dr. Nagel in it.

“Okay this is the one” Sharon stops them in front a container. She hands them earpieces. Y/n feels a little nervous about meeting the man who turned her into what she is today. Bucky notices her fidgeting and puts his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. She gives him a small smile, grateful that he is here for her. She is wearing the same tactical gear she did when they first met which, crazy enough, was only yesterday. They walk through the door only to find it completely empty. Sam asks Sharon if she is sure it’s the right one and she tells them that it has to be. Zemo walks to the end of it and pushes only to find a hidden door.

“Fancy” y/n remarks, walking through it after Sam. They walk up the stairs and find a lab with music playing from a record player. Sam takes the needle off the record. Nagel turns around, scared.

“Dr. Nagel? We know you created the super-soldier serum” Sam says calmly.

“Get out of my lab” Nagel starts walking towards the door, but then sees Y/n standing there with a gun in her hand. The anger in her eyes is enough to stop him “Harcos” he says and she grits her teeth together.

“Do not call me that” she tries to stay calm.

“Jelentsd a feladatod, Harcos” he starts talking in Hungarian. State your mission, Warrior. She falters for a second, not having heard her language in a while. Selby only talked to her in English. Bucky looks at her worried as she points her gun at Nagel and takes the safety off.

“Az nem fog megtörténni” she answers. Not gonna happen. Sam looks between them, also worried for her. He thinks they shouldn’t have brought her with them, they didn’t think this through. What if Nagel knows the words and uses her against them? “Now why don’t you tell us about the serum you’re working on?” she switches back to English and pushes him back into a chair, her gun still pointed at him.

“I was brought into Hydra’s Winger Soldier program to pick up their work” he starts talking “after that I was recruited by the CIA. They had a blood sample that had semi-stable traces of serum in it” he looks at y/n who is still pointing her gun at him but this time he doesn’t cower in fear “after much labour, I was able to isolate the necessary compounds in it and that’s when I made her. The only successful outcome from over 40 tries” he stops for a second and Bucky can see a hint of something in his eyes. Before he can pin point what it is Nagel speaks again “Tizenhét” he says suddenly and y/n is immediately in front of him with her gun under his chin. Seventeen. The look in her eyes show that she is ready to kill.

“Say another word and you get a bullet in your head” she says through her teeth trying really hard to not shoot him right then and there.

“What did he say?” Sam asks not understanding the reaction from her.

“What do you call it? Trigger word?” Nagel smiles at her even though his life is on the line. The three men tense at the mention of that. Bucky steps next to her and for a moment she thinks he is going to pull her away but instead he also points his gun at Nagel.

“I will not hesitate” he says gesturing towards his gun.

“Do not worry, I only know the first word” he says, amused, but his eyes seem honest. They think about it for a second but pull their guns away from his head. Bucky looks at her, trying to catch her eyes. She looks back with a very small hint of tears in her eyes. He gets the urge to hug her but he knows he can’t do that right here so he only shows her a small encouraging smile.

“As I said: you try to say something about this and you won’t have time to finish that word” she starts walking away from Nagel “And you didn’t make me”she says as she stands next to a table, referring to his earlier statement “Continue” she orders him. So he does. He tells them about Karli and the woman called Donya Madani. He finishes with details about his serum, how it’s not like the ones before.

“I was a god” Nagel smiles like the crazy person he is “before I turned to dust and then Karli stole it” Y/n feels her angel boil and she lets it loose again.

“You are not a god” she shouts and slams her fist down on the table, a few vials falling down and breaking on the ground. Nagel flinches and tries to make himself smaller in his chair, immediately sensing the danger he is in. She lifts up her hand, realising that the table is now bent and you can see her fist’s outline in it “You are not a god” she repeats a little more calmly, but the anger can still be seen in her eyes “You never were and never will be. You just took in children who had nothing and tried to turn them into your version of the Winter Soldier” Bucky can’t help but feel like it’s his fault that she is in this situation. If the Winter Soldier didn’t exist y/n wouldn’t have had to go through these horrible things. She walks closer to the doctor “We were never asked if we wanted this. You told us it was some vaccine you were giving us and not the serum” while she is talking none of them see Zemo go around and get a gun from under one of the tables.

“Guys we are seriously out of time here” Sharon comes in and as soon as the rest of them don’t pay attention to Nagel, Zemo shoots him. Sam immediately takes the gun from him but it’s too late.

“What did you do?” he shouts at the other man but before he can answer the place blows up sending all of them backwards to the floor. Their ears are ringing and they can barely breathe. Zemo is the first to get up and he leaves them behind. Bucky gets back his senses quickly and searches for the rest to see if they are okay. Y/n is next to him trying to make sense of what happened and being a super-soldier she gets up at the same time as Bucky and helps Sam up while Bucky helps Sharon. They run outside as quickly as they can and realise that they are surrounded by people who are ready to kill them.

“Alright wait for my signal” Bucky speaks up, ready to take lead. Sam doesn’t listen to him and just runs out to take shelter “damn it” they start shooting with their pistols that they got from Sharon. Bucky stands next to y/n as his gun runs out of bullets. The both of them retreat to where Sam and Sharon are with y/n protecting his back.

“I thought we were gonna go left?” Bucky shouts at Sam.

“You went the wrong way” Sam answers, also shouting.

“I was clearing the way”

“I came out first. You were supposed to follow me”

“And where are we now” they go back and forth in the middle of the fight, like an old married couple.

“Can we talk about this later? We are kind of in the middle of something here!” Y/n interrupts them, trying to get them to focus. She and Sharon are still shooting.

“It’s in every action movie” the two men don’t even acknowledge her. Zemo appears on the top of a container in a purple mask and shoots at a pipe that blows up, giving the others enough time to get away. There are still people shooting at them as they run through the alleys. A man appears behind them and y/n kicks him hard enough that he flies across the open space and hits one of the containers. He falls to the ground unconscious. Another woman is in front of them and Bucky rips one of the pipes from the door and impales her with it. Y/n looks at him, impressed.

“You’ll have to teach me that” she grins. Bucky rolls his eyes, grabs her waist and pulls her inside. They punch the door open on the other side and Zemo shows up in a very nice looking car. It’s supercharged he says. Sam is ready to send him back to jail but Bucky reminds him that they need him to find Karli. Y/n agrees so she goes and sits behind Zemo. Bucky gets in the passenger seat while Sam sits next to her. They say goodbye to Sharon and Sam promises her that pardon. Before Zemo starts driving Bucky turns to y/n.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah” she answers with a little smile.

[blunixfurtle]

I didn't want to get involved in the current issues in the fandom. The atmosphere felt so aggressive and as if I would get attacked if I said the wrong thing. I just wanted to enjoy being around fellow zutara shippers and talk about the two characters I loved. But this all had to turn into Twitter 2.0 and it's so hostile. But I realized that as an East Asian girl, I can and am allowed to say something for this issue.

I was born in Japan but grew up in a South Pacific country, the local population were mostly Pacific Islanders. This is a rare case I guess where even though I was the minority there, the majority were also POC.

Since I could remember, me and my community there have been shown micro and blatant racism. From seeing a bunch of adults pulling their eye corners at us when we were just casually driving by, to having a birthday party of one of the kids in my community get attacked by drunk locals who were passing by and I guess got offended of our existence? it got so bad that they hid me and the other kids in the basement and locked us in there because they were afraid they'd hurt us too. That hour in there being able to hear screaming and human bodies hitting against the walls and floor, I'll never forget. The police didn't respond immediately, I guess because it's us. When it was over, I had to see many of the adults in my community, including my dad, that day go to the hospital, bloodied and beaten.

I've had more individual experiences as well, like not being given awards and scholarships I earned, because I was asian, but what I'm trying to say is that I grew up in a place where my race was met with hostility, and hate.

The situation got a little better though when the country got ahold of anime and asian dramas. My aggressors now enjoyed media that primarily had Asians in it. So now instead of seeing me and my community, and feeling hostile, they now associated us to those shows they watched, which was positive to them in context.

We got less and less racist encounters and some people even started learning and saying japanese greeting phrases they learnt to us when they met us somewhere. My classmates back then would finally ask me about my home country, curious about Japan. For a few years now even, my dad would always be given a budget and begged to bring one of his signature japanese dishes to office parties. He would always return home with an empty platter and look very happy he was able to share our food with others.

Some people might call this fetishizing my people and culture, but me and my community saw this as breaking the ignorance they have of our people and cultural appreciation. Because they were exposed to media they enjoyed that had Asians. They began seeing us more as fellow humans who just happened to be from different countries.

My brothers had a lot of girls and guys liking them, but that was even before the asian media hit the country. Girls and guys liked them because of their personalities and how nice they were, and yeah according to them they were also handsome. These guys and girls however only felt more free to show their attraction to my brothers, after the media came and made it more okay for people to show positive reactions to my community. Not once though did they mention that they liked them because they were asian. And back when it was still the ignorant times against Asians there, one could even argue they liked them 'despite' being asian.

What I'm getting at is, the whole discourse going around about fetishizing east Asians, feels like a very American discourse to me. I don't know about east Asians from actual east Asia, but as an East Asian that lived in non america, as long as Zuko's east Asian features were not blatantly being the things mentioned that people found attractive, then I do not see it as fetishizing.

I've had my fair share of being fetishized myself. From people saying they want to have my eye shape to look more 'kawaii', to guys full on telling me they wanted to carry me around because I was petite and short like anime girls. This is when I think it's fetishizing asians. But when my boyfriend, who isn't japanese, tells me I'm hot in general, that's not fetishizing.

So far, those shirtless Zuko posts don't mention any east Asian features once. The character happens to be east Asian but the intent and the wording behind shirtless Zuko posts were not mentioning or fetishizing his east Asian-ness. Because a lot of people have abs. And so far, those that I've seen participating in shirtless Zuko, have also other posts that find other, non east Asians hot.

I sympathize with fellow east Asians that find those posts disturbing, uncomfortable and don't want to see them. Your feelings are very valid. But, the discourse around this has blown out of proportion, and so hostile that even I, a fellow east Asian, do not feel comfortable to disagree with the other east Asians talking about this, else I be labeled something I'm not. Or invalidated and ignored. Because living in the islands, I've had enough of that.

I'm all for having WoC voices heard, but when one side is making this discourse feel so hostile and 'twitter cancel culture like' it actually makes other WoC who disagree with their side, feel afraid and unable to voice out themselves.