#politics class my beloathed

[sunset-peril]

Dang The last chapter of The Sound of Our Silence was posted on April 15th Now that I have 0% possibility of failing a massive political report, I really should finish that second chapter

[triangle-dog]

New session of classes (and hopefully I won't forget to write about half of them this time).

Nova was surprisingly excited when we pulled in. Like, almost 'we've arrived at the park' level of excitement. I guess she missed having class during the break between sessions? She had been being happy to arrive at the building, but it wasn't this level of excited and ready to go.

It's a new area to train in and with new dogs so she was more distracted this time than she had been during the last few classes of last session, but still nothing like that first class where she was very confused and concerned about walking in circles and being followed. She was lagging in her heel - which is unusual because she's typically forging ahead. I think she was trying to take in the new sights/sounds/smells and if so that's a huge improvement in her comfort from trying to pull off to a corner to observe from. Some of it might have been a pacing issue, she kept her heel much better when we were going faster.

Since I mentioned Nova has a decent downstay we're up first to practice the supervised separation next week. Eep. So we'll be trying to practice that in more stressful situations beforehand. Nova will not willingly go with a stranger, but I'm hoping a downstay and just incidentally having a stranger holding the leash will be comfortable enough for her.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 9/3/2024

having a lot of fun with toddler enrichment activities in this household, until we bit through the bag and the foil and the water and hated that experience

listening

fun citypop version of Good Luck Babe! by Amandumb and Sakura Wine, “ganbatte” scans to “good luck babe” SCARY well. this is both off a tiktok my best friend sent me and the spotify recommended weekly

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reading

quite frankly this makes me nervous and i am backing up my blogs as we speak. i sort of believe them when they say that we won't see a difference on the front end, but this is a HUGE migration. SOMETHING is going to go not perfectly.

William Greenleaf's TIME JUMPER (1980, 224p) and Joe Millard (my beloathed)'s Blood For A Dirty Dollar (1980 European reprint of a 1973 American book, 156p). thank you philip. time jumper is from a thrift store somewhere (possibly from the free book shelf at the umass engineering library) and the cowboy book is from ebay. they lied about the condition and the heavy smoke smell so i ended up getting it for free :) in no world is that a Very Good condition book!!!

time jumper! i do not think the back cover blurb (below) is very accurate.

COMBINED DESTINIES! One Earth of the far future, city dwellers live in a technologically advanced environment, while bands of nomads barbarically hunt and farm the plains. Hidden within the city is Erin, a crazed scientist, who is constructing a timejumper. On the plains is a nomad boy who quests after the city's secrets. Unknown to both, an evil force works to keep them apart, for it knows that if they ever meet, a new Earth destiny would be inevitable!

i looooove a bubble city. i love long lingering shots of technology and city-scapes and city politics. i would not call the nomads barbarians, bc they are a trading society who set up crop irrigation in their seasonal fields and have a giant traveling library with card catalogue. i would also not call Erin crazed or hidden, bc he is the richest man in the city. reclusive, yes. single-minded, yes. pretty sane though. he is a little person and i think the book handled this fairly deftly for 1980? most of his obstacles are physical and not societal. finally, the evil force is not working to keep them apart bc it doesn't even know about the outside kid. they mostly just want to stop anyone from leaving.

now that we know the back blurb is lies, what's the deal with this book? mostly wrestling with how automation leads to a loss of purpose and flattening of culture, breaking cycles, cyclical natures of histories thereof, and repeating old sins. however, one of the more frustrating endings ive ever read with the very last paragraph containing the suicide of a minor character. we simply didn't fucking need that last paragraph.

i found the dialogue a little bland but book overall quite evocative. it felt like a sixties scifi show constructed from castoff theater sets. it felt like this screenshot from rollerball. a lot of shapes. a lot of giant gardens. a lot of flattened textures.

i also liveblogged the cowboy book here. we've previosuly looked at the one with the balloon and the jailbreak but this is the one with the mad englishman and the imported castle and the missing scientists. i love a description of Legally Not Lee van Cleef Because We Don't Have A Royalty Agreement

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watching

X-Men: First Class (2011, dir. Vaughn) was way more fun than i was expecting??? it's fun to watch these with my bestie's husband who is a fairly intense x-men fan and Will pause the movie for several minutes to explain why a specific character's death was fucking bullshit or answer one of my stupid costuming questions

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playing

the new mesoamerican fire-aligned nation of Natlan is out in genshin impact! VERY beautiful region even though i think it is a crime, to me personally, to show me a village of observation balloons and then tell me i can't actually go there for six weeks until the next patch.

this is a little bit more of a frustrating experience bc my tolerance for the least little thing going wrong is at record lows. once you hit 100% on a map region it feels more like a true 100% ing the area, which is a little scary bc this usually means you have anywhere from 10-20% more Stuff to do and find and collect. one quest is straight up bugged for me (very unusual) and i cannot get a specific mechanic (the yunkasaur, the little green pokemon lookin motherfucker above, flame spitting) to fire with any sort of accuracy. why have a sight and a center pip if you CANNOT aim it.

some parts of the map look a little more seussical than others.

to whoever made sure this observation balloon lined up with the window when you entered this waypoint building, i see you. thank you.

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making

fallow week.

[artsy-cactus]

the second stupidest comic i’ve made this week. wow

final for my (beloathed) polisci class! i refuse to draw in the “”political cartoon style”””!

(if u recognize some backgrounds NO YOU DONT)

[pfhwrittes]

what is the correct way to address a character going to the public bathroom for a fic set in England?

Is it retiring to the washroom, restroom, water closet, bathroom, loo or some mysterious other term I've yet to encounter. This is not a situation where 'going for a slash' would be appropriate to say or do. More along the lines of going to powder your nose. Is using 'loo' too 'low-brow' for an upscale setting? "Just going to nip into the loo" is giving me Bridget Jones being awkward around Dr. Darcy and using the colloquial terms he's unused to hearing in nicer company for some reason. Does that make sense? I'm Canadian if that clarifies why I'm so confused.

hello my canadian friend! thanks for asking!

you’re absolutely right, announcing that you’re “off for a slash” or “taking a piss” in a more upscale location would absolutely scandalise the shit out of whoever you’re with (which can be funny if the character refuses to play into class politics).

usual terms you’ll hear in polite company are:

“popping to the loo” - usually said by female company.

“off to powder my nose” - more likely to be said by female company.

“going to the gents/ladies” - in places with gendered bathrooms (gendered bathrooms my beloathed)

“nipping to the bathroom”

for what it’s worth, we don’t usually call bathrooms or toilets “washrooms” or “restrooms” in the uk so stick to bathroom or toilet/s when an english character is speaking (unless they’re using any of the euphemisms above).

[rouzys]

THE UNOFFICIAL ST. LOUIS BLUES PRIMER PART TWO: DEFENSEMEN

COLTON PARAYKO (A)

Info: #55, RD, STL 2012

Last season: 4 goals + 27 pts

History: He's actually pretty interesting and I would recommend just reading through his wikipedia for a more in-depth read. He went undrafted in the WHL, then got dropped by his AJHL team and had to pay to tryout with another team to become their 7th defenseman. After being drafted, he played at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for 3 years, then came up to play with the Blues and took several online classes during his rookie season in 15-16 to complete his degree (Business Admininstration)(he is so boring sometimes).

Profile: FAST when he wants to be, plays a ton of minutes on the first defensive pairing but isn't very physical despite being tall as hell (6'6). He's definitely improved from last season and has already nearly doubled his scoring in half the time. Usually on the first or second PP units.

NICK LEDDY

Info: #4, LD, MIN 2009

Last season: 2 goals + 23 pts

Info: From Minnesota and drafted by the Wild, went to college at the University of Minnesota, and by the time he left he had his rights traded to Chicago. He played there and won the cup in both 2013 and 2015, then played for the Islanders for a number of years. Traded to Detroit, then in the beloathed Sundqvist + Walman trade and has played with the Blues since the 21-22 season. Currently midway through a 4 year extension

Profile: VERY good puck protection and stickhandling, though it's not flashy. Great 200-foot player, can and will take the puck from one end straight to the other. Refreshing on a team that sucks ass at zone entries. Making $4 mil a year to be a top pairing defenseman which is damn good if you ask me

Other: My mom kept mixing up him and Bortuzzo. Unfortunately this won't be a problem anymore.

JUSTIN FAULK (A) (Faulker, Flack)

Info: #72, RD, CAR 2010

Last season: 11 goals + 50 pts (career high pts!)

History: Played in the USNTDP, then played at the University of Minnesota Duluth where he won a national championship and set a school record for most points by a defenseman. Played for the Hurricanes from 2011 through the 18-19 season, including being a co-captain and an alternate captain of the team. Traded to Blues and immediately signed a big 7 year contract. 23-24 season is his first as a Blues alternate captain :)

Profile: Solid two-way defenseman, plays a lot of minutes. Good a frequent shooter, a great blueline shot presence which allows lots of tipped goals a rebounds.

Other: Was in the top 20 for longest streak of consecutive NHL games played (17th??), but recently missed 5 games due to injury :( also he's my Favorite

TOREY KRUG

Info: #47, LD, undrafted

Last season: 7 goals + 32 pts

History: A rare undrafted veteran! He played for Michigan State University for 3 years, then signed with the Bruins and made it on the roster full-time by the 13-14 season. He graduated from Michigan State after doing online courses for over 5 years (Political Science, originally Finance but couldn't get credits online). Played with the Bruins in the 2019 SCF against the Blues, and his hit on Robert Thomas actually caused a new rule to be added! Signed a 7 year contract with the Blues as a free agent in 2020

Profile: Underized (5'9) but will throw around both his body and his hands. Decent offense and solid defense.

SCOTT PERUNOVICH (Scotty)

Info: #48, RD, STL 2018

Last season: 2 goals + 20 pts (AHL)

History: I've been very impatiently waiting for this guy's real rookie year for like four years now. He played for Minnesota Duluth (where he took the defenseman scoring title formerly held by Faulk), won the NCAA Frozen Four Championship, and won NCHC rookie of the year. He's a bit undersized (5'10, 175lb) and this has had him battling injuries for the last several seasons. He played 19 games with the Blues in the 21-22 season (including the winter classic!) but spent the entire 22-23 season on the Springfield Thunderbirds recovering from injuries.

Profile: has yet to score an NHL goal but has been a great scorer both in college and in the AHL. Physical player, not much NHL experience with under 50 games under his belt and no concrete defensive partner. Still finding his groove on a team that has struggled defensively

Other: Won the Hobey Baker award in his Junior year of college! Was originally ranked to be drafted around the fourth round, but due to his collegiate performance and Blues scout Keith Tkachuk (!!) he ended up being drafted much earlier

MARCO SCANDELLA

Info: #6, LD, MIN 2008

Last season: 1 goal + 2 pts

History: played his first several years in Minnesota, then in Buffalo, and was traded to both Montreal and then St. Louis in the 19-20 season. Only played 20 games of the 22-23 season due to an early season hip injury and surgery, and then another lower body injury in April that took him out for the rest of the season. He'll be a UFA at the end of the season.

Profile: Pretty run-of-the-mill third pairing defenseman, sometimes a healthy scratch. Blues have struggled defensively and are trying to develop younger defensemen, so he's often the one to be sidelined for them.

Other: his instagram username is @ scandeezy6 which is fucking awesome

TYLER TUCKER (Tucks)

Info: #75, LD, STL 2018

History: Technically in his sophomore season! Played 28 games last year, had his first goal and his first TWO fights. Played for both the San Antonio Rampage (RIP) and the Utica Comets (temporary affiliate) before debuting in Nov 2022. Not on the Blues roster at the moment but has played a non-insignificant amount of games with them!

Profile: A strong defenseman who is very physical. Hasn't had much of an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level, but has had good offensive seasons in the past. Currently taking a break from the press box for a conditioning stint in Springfield :)

[roachliquid]

I haven't posted much about Squid Game since I started really getting into it, because I was marathoning the whole show in a couple of days, and where would I even start? Every episode brings some fresh new hell, gradually ratcheting up the tension so that no matter what you saw in the last episode you're not going to be comfortable in the next one. Seong Gi-hun, my beloved, is a richly textured failson who has just enough resourcefulness to keep himself out of Death's jaws long enough for someone else to bail him out and I love that for him. I love how the show depicts, in more or less metaphorical terms, how the rich use the tantalizing prospect of class mobility to manipulate the poor into self-destruction, allowing just enough people to actually make it through that the rest willingly throw themselves into the machine that takes their lives.

I do got... some issues. I think it was pretty weak that the show just went ahead and depicted characters being sexist without addressing the problem in a meaningful way, and the way that Ali was depicted with practically childlike levels of daftitude felt like an insult to migrant workers.

The show also perpetuates the Bourgeoisie Degeneracy stereotype - the myth that the extremely wealthy are evil because their riches somehow cause them to become immensely bored, pushing them into increasingly depraved behaviors in pursuit of stimulation. For a brief rundown on why this myth is problematic, there's two main reasons. The first is that it's simply wrong; yes, wealth does create corruption, but in significantly subtler and more boring ways than this. The second is that the myth is constantly used by bigots in leftist circles to launder their bigotry under the guise of leftist theory - claiming that feminism, anti-racism, being LGBTQIA, whathaveyou, is an invention of Rich People With Too Much Time On Their Hands and not something that actually requires support or accommodation in their worldview.

(By the way, there's one character in Squid Game who displays sexual interest in other men. He's an immensely wealthy man who watches poor people kill themselves for fun. It really is a low point for the show.)

But with that being said, I did enjoy the show immensely. Emotionally, it's not exactly a rollercoaster, but it's definitely very intense. The acting was superb, particularly O Yeong-su's performance as an unsettlingly cheerful old man who has decided playing a terrible murder game beats waiting around to die of a brain tumor, but really everyone was great. And the story itself goes to so many places emotionally, keeping you invested in the characters even while they drop off like flies - a particularly impressive feat from my perspective, given that killing off 90% of the cast after I've already gotten attached to them is normally a dealbreaker for me. But damn if the show doesn't make every death count, bringing something new and meaningful to the table, even for characters we've only known for a short while.

So... yeah, that's my feelings on Squid Game in a nutshell. I could go into more detail (Oh Il-nam my... beloved? beloathed? all of the above?) but that would risk getting into spoiler territory, which I don't really want to cover in a post extolling the show's watchability. Because it is extremely watchable; it's no exaggeration to say that I'm really only into "murder game" stories when they double as biting political commentary, and Squid Game absolutely nails it. Though I don't know how they're going to make a second season work after killing off all those blorbos.

[thatndginger]

fun bits about Nathan Kraemer, my beloathed, from the groupchat~

“ I am fully prepared for there to be a dedicated Nate-fucker fandom and a Mari-Nate ship”

He’s a fascinating character. Like, I want his first impression to absolutely be that likable white guy who has some issues but generally tries to be a good dude. He’s chosen Mari - a lower class girl with an immigrant mother - as his best friend and will defend her ruthlessly. He is her ultimate hype man. Would pay for her entire education and get her a position at the University with daddy’s money in a heartbeat because he thinks she deserves it, but respects her boundaries and won’t do that (mostly). I want people to read about Nate in the beginning and be like

He’s the son of a Senator (think a mix of American senators and the British lords - inherited political position) and the same age as Mari. He comes from a world of privilege and abundance. He thinks he has a fairly broad worldview because of that, because of his access to the world at large and a wider array of experiences (but we all know that access doesn’t guarantee understanding) His worldview is very narrow due to his upbringing, lifestyle, and educational structures.

Nate’s downfall will always be his pride and ambition. He has a lot of pride - his family line is centuries old, used to be powerful sorcerers before magic died, and have always held important positions in court and government. His pride gets tempered a little by his friendship with Mari, but it can be his most obnoxious trait very easily. His ambition is much less obvious early on, but still there. He wants to be the one who brings magic back. He wants his name (and Mari’s, of course) to go down in history. And eventually, it stops mattering what it costs to get there.

He’s my little meow meow war criminal and I want to study him like a bug

[oldbookist]

“enjolras killed his friends and was also dumb and wrong”

The interpretation that Enjolras was a “naive little rich boy who got all his friends killed” is…certainly not new to this fandom, but it sometimes pops up in such an atrociously misinformed incarnation that I feel obliged to address it.

This interpretation itself is of course completely wrong, though perhaps encouraged by certain adaptations. But the idea that the rebellion failed because Enjolras “had no idea how to organize a revolt” and he just “ran around wearing a sash and shouting slogans at people”, and particularly that he “thought he could tell the working classes how to live better” is, frankly, appalling.

Enfranchisement during the July Monarchy was severely restricted, as voting rights were only given to males over 25 who paid 200 francs in direct taxes a year. So only about 1% of the population could vote—considerably less than even just the population of Paris alone. Since the voting pool was limited to wealthy, landowning men, elections swung conservative, and the regime supported policies intended to enrich the wealthiest bourgeoisie.

Not only were Enjolras and his friends disenfranchised, but they lived under an authoritarian regime and faced political repression and censorship. Do you have something called “freedom of speech” or “freedom of assembly”? Republican publications were routinely shut down by the government, and clubs and assemblies such as theirs were illegal. Members faced police raids, potentially large fines and months in prison.

Republicanism in the 1830s was a primarily working class movement. The majority of insurgents in the June Rebellion were working class. Enjolras, apart from also being a fictional character, is not a major player in the movement. He is the leader of a very small group that is affiliated with a few other groups in the area, and becomes the leader of a minor barricade during the June Rebellion. He is certainly not the orchestrator of the entire revolt, and it is ridiculous to suggest that, even fictiously, the reason for its failure is his own personal naivety.

You can debate the causes of the failure of the June Rebellion—of the insurgents to not march on the Hôtel de Ville or of the National Guard to not join the insurgents, or the brutality of the government’s reaction—it was not the failure of “the People” to rise, of whom an estimate of almost 400 were killed or wounded. Nor was the cause naive students running around inciting complacent workingmen to riot—rather a cholera epidemic that killed thousands, exacerbated poverty, and killed two prominent politicians.

If the failure of any people to rise is to be blamed, it might be the bourgeoisie, whom Hugo suggests were content with the gains of the liberal July Monarchy.

Enjolras is a highly effective leader. He’s a logical commander who takes care to not sacrifice more resources or men than necessary and is an exceptional (and most likely experienced) street fighter. His fictional barricade is inspired by the famous battle of the Cloître Saint-Merry in the same rebellion, which was used as symbol of republican martyrdom by later republicans. Hugo wrote it that way in order to illustrate what he saw as the sublimity of these men and the moment—he certainly did not see it as pointless or “ridiculous”.

Finally, the idea that Enjolras was responsible for the deaths of his friends or “dangerous to himself and his compatriots” is my most beloathed fandom invention. They were grown ass men who were just as devoted to the cause and just as willing to die for their ideals. Combeferre explicitly expresses his and the group’s willingness to die, and Grantaire obviously chooses to die with him. They were all capable of making their own decisions and it is weirdly infantilizing to suggest otherwise.

Why are people are so eager to make a mockery of Enjolras and his ideals?

Sources:

Ballots and Barricades, Aminzade

Barricades, Harsin

Proletarian Nights, Rancière

[kaykay-13]

OUGH OKAY BUT LIKE.... ABO MIXED WITH ANOTHER FLAVOR AU....... maybe nobility idk...

Alpha xingqiu whos been given chongyun to keep him calm and serve him as a personal attendant. Very close as kids and throughout the rest of their lives, growing up together thick as thieves.

Xingqiu who is very, very enamored with his sweet friend... he's not supposed to like him, a low class beta(?), but how can he resist? He remains very touchy and teasing and oh so fond despite how his family and fellows may see him.

You can also always add another smaller layer... chongyun who's actually an omega, just due to present very late. And won't that be a treat for xingqiu when it happens, huh?

Feel free to shove in your own brainrot

royal au my beloathed..... so hard to create a new AU with politics for them....... but i'll allow it this time..........

low class "beta" chongyun........... only to realise his emancipated ass was actually an omega..................... zamn. is this a ploy to climb the social hierarchy? chongyun goes into heat and seduces him so that his family can live better? he wants to feel angry and betrayed but chongyun is too kind and innocent, so what choice does xingqiu have if NOT to just kiss him stupid?

[terrible-leviathan]

2, 3, and 4, for the ask game?

2. What was the first story you've ever written?

Well first story I've ever written is actually a Homestuck fic of my friend's trollsona. The file is in my old laptop so it's lost forever but I still vividly remember writing it for some goddamn reason

But if it's first story I've ever actually published it's a merthur fic that was supposed to be for my creative writing class and decided to just post it on my ao3 cuz why not

3. What genres have you written for so far?

So far I have fantasy (one about mythological creatures, one just about gods, and another about royalty), time travel, dimension travel, but mostly it's just canon divergence since it's easier than having to do worlbuilding (my beloathed)

4. What is your favourite genre to write for?

Oh deffo fantasy. It's difficult at times (like c'mon how do u even describe doing magic and having powers) but I do want to improve my writing skills and it's actually been a blast writing that genre cuz there's just so much to do in that like kingdoms, dragons, wars, assassination, convoluted magic system, a pantheon of gods, politics, and just ajdjhjdjg I love this genre fr

[ask games]