#poor man is a victim of capitalism

[yuamin]

ORORUN REDRAW GUIDE !

i think we’ve all seen the atrocity that is genshin’s unreleased character, ororun. the entirety of natlan is a mess really, but as a yoruba person myself i CANNOT keep quiet about ororun specifically.

outside yoruba mythology, in yoruba, ‘Olorun’ (the name ororun is based on, pronounced o-law-roon , with o pronounced as in orange and the ‘roon’ pronounced shortly, not dragged on at all) is actually the same word we often use to refer to God in Christianity. Christianity is the primary religion among us yorubas so honestly, i was kinda glad they misspelled his name. it would feel SO disrespectful referring to whatever that thing is with the same word we use to refer to God who we actually worship. religion aside, genshin’s depiction of Olorun (cultural god, not Christian one) is downright disgusting. i’d never paid too much attention to genshin and its poor representation, but now that my culture has fallen victim to it, i completely understand all the outrage.

edit: please note that while we use ‘Olorun’ to refer to the Christian God, Olorun is just a general word for ‘god’ itself ! for example if i say “God in heaven” and “god of thunder” we know i’m referring to two different beings, in yoruba it’s the kind of the same—the same word is used to refer to both the Christian and other gods, but we know it’s different, even though olorun can be capitalized regardless of what god we’re talking about (unlike english where the Christian God is capitalized and other gods aren’t) at the end of the day though, when we say “olorun” even without context, we are usually referring to the christian God !

1. PLEASE DO NOT DRAW HIM WITH ANIMAL EARS !

i’ve noticed that hoyoverse has this nasty habit of portraying every dark skinned character as wild or animal-esque. kaeya seems to be the only exception to this. even xinyan, though lacking any animal features, has this wild energy to her. some might call it a stretch, but i feel like her features are pretty feline in comparison to other liyue characters.

Olorun in our culture is the supreme god of the heavens. In my opinion, it is disrespectful to liken him to something akin to an animal. normally i wouldn’t even mind that much, but with how hoyo makes its few dark characters more and more like animals, i can’t help but feel weird about it. its really off putting.

2. HIS HAIR WOULD NOT BE CURLY !

majority of nigerians have 4C HAIR. not wavy hair or loose curls. some have 4B, but 4C is the usual here, that is, kinky or coily hair. Olorun is often portrayed as bald in traditional art, but trust me if he had hair his hair would resemble his people’s, not Tyla’s.

DREADLOCKS ARE A YES ! outside nigeria, locking hair is pretty common, but in nigeria a lot of people have locks naturally. our hair sometimes just grows out that way, no treatment no nothing. dreads are 100% an appropriate style, they look good asf too.

3. PLEASE USE CULTURAL FABRICS IN YOUR DESIGNS !

when i saw ororun’s outfit, i almost started crying. they couldn’t even bother to dress him up a little. they really dressed my brother in a scarf and cape and called it a day 😭 upon how fashionable we nigerians are know to be, hoyoverse still made it their mission to embarrass us stylistically. God knows my people have suffered man 😭

ankara is a traditional nigerian fabric that features bright colors and lots of patterned designs. see below:

here in 9ja, we love our ankara. it’s a big part of our fashion here and trust me it would look excellent in your designs. it’s perfectly fine to draw ororun in normal fabrics since he’s a deity and it’s not like ankara existed back then, but if you really want to represent nigeria, ankara is a must 🙏

i’m going to address another fashion piece because if you search up nigerian fashion you’ll see it a lot: beads.

these orange beads are igbo (another tribe here in nigeria) NOT yoruba. does this mean you can’t use it in olorun’s design ? no ! let me explain. tbh, here in nigeria there’s a bit of...tension between clans. it’s not that common, but older people are definitely a lot more tribalist. as a yoruba i love my igbo brothers and sisters, i truly believe they’re the most fashionable clan and i adore their festivities, they always go over the top. please, just look at them:

(only one image because of image caps, ugh)

anyway, we yorubas wear beads too. but the specific way the beads are worn around the head and in multiple layers round the neck is igbo, not yoruba. though i personally wouldn’t care too much if i saw olorun with igbo beads since all i want is for him to at least look nigerian, at the end of the day he is a yoruba deity. it might be disrespectful to dress the god of one clan as if he belongs to another, especially since there is so much historical ( and very slight but uncommon present ) day tension between both clans.

here’s a more yoruba outfit. sorry yall, it might be hard for you to distinguish if you’re not yoruba or igbo, but a lot of nigerians can tell the difference at a glance. ( actually nowadays, there is so much overlap between yoruba and igbo fashion, but there are many specific styles that may be associated with one tribe and not the other, for example how beads are worn in the above paragraph ) please do your research, he’s not only a nigerian god, but a yoruba one.

one more thing, because i know it will start discourse : skin tone.

nigerians have a very diverse range of skin tones. some of us are so pale, if not for our afrocentric features we could maybe pass for another race. however, ororun is yoruba.

light skinned nigerians are usually igbo. not to say that yorubas can’t be light skin, but here in nigeria if you saw a light skinned person, we’d automatically assume they were igbo. igbo people usually have lighter skin tones. majority of yorubas fall on the more milk to dark chocolate end of the skin tone spectrum. i’m saying this now because i know a lot of people are going to start arguments over ororun being redrawn as ‘too light’ or ‘too dark.’ i don’t really care about complexion, but i thought i’d help you all get your facts right.

that’s it ! if you read all this i’m super thankful. i don’t usually post about this kind of stuff but i honestly love my country and could go on about it for days. nigeria is such a beautiful place with a diverse range of cultures— from hausas to fulanis to so many more. natlan was supposed to be Africa’s time to shine, as well as latin americans, but hoyoverse said fuck you and your people. they did this to an extent with sumeru but natlan was done straight up dirty—not a single melanated character in sight, and the only one who does have melanin, iansan, looks so desaturated you might as well call her grey. i saw someone on tiktok call mualani a dark skinned character—it was at that point that i knew genshin was done for.

please REBLOG this post so it reaches more people and artists in the fandom !! this is literally the third time i’m making this post because tumblr refuses to show it in the tags for some reason 😭 i encourage other cultures who feel misrepresented to make posts like this too. it’s a perfect opportunity to educate and inform people about the diverse cultures genshin has once again failed to represent properly.

Hoyo has never been one to make customer satisfaction their top priority, but we’ve been able to call them out before and i truly believe we can do it again. Natlan is not poor design choice. it is blatant racism, a nation based on POC ethnicities with not a single colored character insight. Hoyoverse has been able to escape racism accusations for as long as i can remember, but natlan is the icing on the cake. we CANNOT allow hoyo to proceed as planned without giving them the appropriate backlash.

Also, if you redraw ororun using this guide, make sure to tag me here or on my main blog, @heartkaji !! i’d love to see all your redesigns. once again, thank you all for reading and have an amazing day !!

[sapphsorrows]

leftist youtubers responding to actual fascists: omg nooo you poor thing <3 you poor misguided lost little lamb. you are just a victim in all this. all of your problems don't come from minorities they come from capitalism you silly billy <3 oh you sweet little baby boy. we need to convert you to Our Side so that way you can be angry at the right people.

leftist youtubers responding to the concerns of feminists: OH MY GOD shut up you stupid bitch! women, amiright? UGH if you don't want to have to share a bathroom with a man just go pee in the woods you stupid terf. this is why women shouldn't be allowed to vote.

[dressed2k1ll]

I’m giving up on men because

1. The fact that they all assume they’re experts in everything

2. The fact that they all assume they’re smarter than me immediately

3. The fact that they allow and use slurs to divide women like Karen, Pick Me, Terf, The Main Character, SWERF, prude, slut bitch

4. The only slur they have is incel which relies on the premise that they’re entitled to sex

5. Moms are expected to be perfect and if she makes a mistake she’s a bad mom. Dads are considered perfect despite their mistakes and even being a poor parent

6. They think sex is a service

7. They cannot have a magic sexual moral barrier that divides children from teens from women. I refuse to believe it. And the media sexualizes kids and infantilizes female sexuality… so what now?

8. That porn is so normalized and teen is a category and yet we can’t check a man’s porn viewing history before allowing them to coach, treat, or be alone with vulnerable people.

9. That some will and can and do have sex with corpses. That deadness is sexualized in fashion photography as arousing

10. That choking has become normalized in porn

11. That we know porn becomes increasingly more extreme through algorithm and capitalism

12. That they hide behind plausible deniability and think we are too stupid to see it - like the devils advocate position

13. That they convince themselves their plausible deniability is a moral standard

14. That even the normal married ones with little girls for kids are shitty

15. That they think their pleasure overrides the civil rights of a person

16. That they believe consent magically changes abuse into kink

17. That they don’t even know what misogyny is

18. That they think misandry is somehow comparable

19. That they think my hurting their feelings or making them feel uncomfortable is a violent act. That pointing out violence makes me the violent one.

20. That they defend Johnny Depp

21. That they’re afraid of false accusations

22. That they defend the reputations of men they haven’t met more than the reality of the women who report them lmao

23. They don’t take care of themselves physically

24. They can choose to be civilized but use animal evo psychology to defend subhuman actions

25. They believe that women’s sexuality is an economy for them

26. They created religion to usurp creative power from women

27. They convinced other men that humans came from a man’s rib, from a patriarchal god, when literally no man has NOT come through and from a woman.

28. They have sexualized every aspect of women’s existence including pain and crying

29. They’ve convinced women that empowerment is a feeling and not a change in power position

30. They blame their antisocial loneliness epidemic on us

31. The tried to use the Love Languages on us

32. They created psychiatry as a way to at least in part control women just as they created medicine to control and destroy midwives

33. They place the locus of responsibility outside themselves which makes them perpetual victims

34. They created purity culture

35. They created porn culture

36. They buy and use and masturbate to trafficked and vulnerable women and it doesn’t matter to them

37. They corner me in the workplace

38. They are always looking at us - I want to not be perceived sexually at all

39. They use women for all of their emotional dumping and we aren’t certified to handle it

40. They resent our happiness (shaming it)

41. We had to create laws to keep them from marrying and having sex with kids. Like, everywhere. We haven’t even succeeded globally

42. They hold women in power to an entirely separate standard than men

43. They’re lazy

44. They can solve complex problems and be incentive and self-improving at work, but are seemingly really incapable of doing this for relationships

45. They won’t see something unless it directly impacts them personally

46. They are emotionally unintelligent

47. They are violent

48. They are wilfully ignorant of the constant threat of sexual violence women face

49. They are making and using technology to get past consent

50. They believe women have a use value

51. They’re lying when they say they can’t show emotions : art, culture, music, etc belie this. And this is aside from the fact that we acknowledge their pride, nationalism, anger, boorishness, sulkishness, entitlement, jealousy, etc. these are emotions too.

52. They use power to get or pressure or coerce sex

53. They don’t mentor women professionally unless they’re sexually attracted to them physically

54. They’re bad and aggressive drivers

55. They’re predatory and some don’t know it ???????

56. They play dumb

57. They owe us reparations and refuse to even consider this - we were left out of Das Kapital

58. They try to turn their wives into their mothers

59. They moderate men and women differently in social media spaces

60. We can’t trust them as soldiers or peace corps

61. We can’t trust them alone with kids period - who do we tell kids to go to if they’re lost?!!

62. That they’ve turned violence into sex “body count” “fuck the shit out of you”

63. We can’t be honest with them - we have to tiptoe around them

64. I’m pissed more men aren’t speaking out about the obvious loss of civil rights of women globally - what the hell! It makes me believe that they kinda want it to happen (plausible deniability of course) because like it’s not gonna hurt them right?

65. At any given time I could pull up incidents where instead of intervening while a woman is being assaulted, the assault is filmed by other men. The reverse simply doesn’t happen.

66. They love borrowed authority

67. I hate them because when they ask “what do you want me to do about it?” And you say the most slacktivist thing, they won’t even do that. They’ll do NOTHING.

68. Because the most unsafe place for a woman in the world is the home

69. Because a woman is killed by an intimate partner globally every 11 minutes

70. Because the number one cause of death for pregnant women in the states is murder

71. Because they believe their morals are their best intentions. It’s like they all think they’re brave but he’s anyone done anything brave ?

72. They use weaponized incompetence to control people and be lazy

73. They believe sexism is benevolence

74. Because someone taught them that it’s the thought that counts and it almost never is the thought that counts

75. That gang rape is a thing

76. Because only a handful of men have most of the global wealth

77. They move goalposts: you can say what your experience is but they’ll discount it as one. You can say it’s others that have experienced the same thing and they’ll discount it as over represented.

78. There’s no acceptable way to be really angry with them, and express that, as a woman

79. They feel comfortable making comments about women’s physical appearance, touching us without our consent and bank on us not rocking the boat.

80. They refuse to believe in the wage gap

81. We could have child care as being mandated but because women are primary childcare givers, we don’t have this.

82. Medicine was only tested on both genders recently because it was too difficult to do apparently

83. Our medical issues aren’t taken seriously

84. Mass shooters are almost exclusively men

85. Because they moan about suicide rates and forget to mention all the women and kids and sometimes strangers that suicidal men take with them

86. They believe they’re entitled to sex - through payment guilt or force

87. They rarely care about what girls think unless they have a daughter

88. Cultures abort girl babies and before they just exposed them to the elements. As a result there’s India and China and the Middle East Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan Vietnam etc there are more men than women

89. They don’t stop female genital mutilation. And they could if they wanted to.

90. More than 100 million women are missing - the shortfall of the number of women in the world we would expect in the absence of sex discrimination

91. They desire us to be dependent on them. Independence terrifies them.

92. They let women leave the workforce during the pandemic.

93. They see male history, male writing, male law as standard and they aren’t. They’d freak out if the USA had 9 woman Supreme Court justices

94. They are more sexist than even racist

95. Male over female Domination is the first and most primal form of oppression

96. Prostitution is the first form of trafficking not the worlds oldest profession

97. They can compartmentalize the pain of others - especially if it doesn’t impact them or their family (their own private kingdom)

98. Every man assumes he’s the king and grows up taught that they deserve to own things, people and property

99. They see women as girls all as potential sexual objects. Especially if they’re mad.

100. They treat sex workers as a different class

101. Women don’t keep men as sex slaves

102. They’ve made the law such that women cannot logistically perform murder in self defence

103. They say porn is free speech and that it’s not real when it’s convenient

104. Despite all of this: all of the proof and every experience logged and litigated… that they don’t believe that women still are being oppressed under male supremacy.

105. Because someone has said it’s okay for drag queens to use “bitch serving cunt” as an expression of femininity- and claim it’s not misogynistic

106. Because of the so-called “husband stitch”

#misandry #misogyny #feminism #feminist

[romanceyourdemons]

i’m sorry i’m still hung up on “which jigsaw victims deserved to survive.” almost without exception the people jigsaw kidnaps and tortures are obvious victims of their city’s economic depression and urban decay—they’re sex workers, addicts, poor people, unemployed people, people with depression, people who were incarcerated in the past, and they are fairly explicitly being punished for these very things. john kramer, a well-off college-educated white man, is treating the victims of economic depression like vermin who must be punished into productivity, a fallacy frequently held by the wealthy when regarding the poor. because these so-called tests uniformly force these people to kill or grievously injure themselves, things that do not teach anyone anything, and because john kramer is an established voyeur of the spectacle, i do not consider them anything but punishments for john’s own gratification. the only person i can think of might have learned something in his “test” is lawrence gordon, a doctor who has no compassion for his patients and who experiences true helplessness and mortal peril for the first time at john’s hands, but even this was just a case of personal vengeance for john. every jigsaw victim deserved to survive. none of them deserved to be murdered. of course it is tempting to view victims of the economy as vermin just like john does, but an old rich white man being kind of grossed out by you is not a capital crime, and we are not meant be on jigsaw’s side

[quitblamingnarcissism]

"You shouldn't criticize how abuse victims talk about the abuse they suffered."

If they're promoting bigotry, then I will absolutely criticize them.

In fact, a lot of bigotry is caused by someone being a victim of an injustice or an act of violence and blaming an oppressed group that the offender is part of.

There are people who hate Muslim people and believe they're victims of "Islamic terrorism" because someone they love died on 9/11, even though there are plenty of Muslim people who died on 9/11 and there are plenty of non-Muslim people who commit similarly heinous acts of violence.

There are people who hate black people and believe they're victims of "ghetto thuggery" because a black person mugged them, even though there are plenty of black people who have been mugged and there are plenty of non-black muggers.

There are people who hate LGBT people and believe they're victims of "the gay agenda" because their son was raped by a gay man, even though there are plenty of LGBT people who are victims of childhood sexual assault and there are plenty of non-LGBT child sexual predators.

There are people who hate Jewish people and believe they're victims of "Jewish greed" because their Jewish landlord raised their rent, even though there are plenty of poor Jewish people who are suffering under capitalism and there are plenty of non-Jewish people who are exploiting others for profit.

If you believe in "narcissistic abuse", you have the exact same pattern as those other bigots. You hate narcissists and believe that you're a victim of "narcissistic abuse" because a narcissist (or maybe just a self centered asshole who's not a narcissist) abused you, even though there are plenty of narcissists who are victims of abuse and there are plenty of non-narcissists who abuse people in the exact same ways.

Just say you're a victim of mass terrorism. Just say you're a victim of childhood sexual abuse. Just say you're a victim of mugging. Just say you're a victim of corporate greed. Just say you're a victim of physical or emotional abuse. There's no need to specify what oppressed groups the offender is part of.

[fatehbaz]

Various different ways of effectively legalizing slavery. All on display in different regions colonized by England. Including the formal system of chattel slavery at plantations in the United States; the criminalization of poverty and enforced labor regimes of urban factories in the British metropole in London; and the prison labor of penal colonies in Australia.

Reading about how some people were victims of all of these ways of de facto enslavement. For example, all of these conditions of imprisonment were experienced by one man named John Moseley.

Around the year 1800, this forced labor existed across the British Empire. At the time of the American Revolution, Moseley had been enslaved in tobacco fields under the chattel slavery system in the Tidewater region of colonial Virginia. When Britain offered emancipation to slaves willing to join the military campaign against the Americans, Moseley joined the British forces. When Britain conceded and surrendered, Moseley feared that he would be re-enslaved in the United States, where chattel slavery remained legal, so he fled to London. However, around this same time, in England, rural livelihoods were being made more difficult; during this so-called Industrial Revolution, many were forced to move to cities or accept manufacturing jobs. And authorities were beginning the tradition of criminalizing poverty, rounding up “vagrants and vagabonds” in urban areas, as debt and poverty were forcing people to work in brutal labor conditions in factories. So Moseley sought income through criminal fraud. Moseley was arrested. He was sentenced to death. However, a death sentence could be commuted if the prisoner submitted to “transportation” and labor. And thus Moseley was once again imprisoned in chains, once again forced to work, and shipped to the convict colonies of Australia.

As Jeff Sparrow puts it: 

To control the desperate and the jobless, the authorities passed harsh new laws, a legislative program designed to quell disorder and ensure a pliant workforce for the factories. The Riot Act banned public disorder; the Combination Act made trade unions illegal; the Workhouse Act forced the poor to work; the Vagrancy Act turned joblessness into a crime. Eventually, over 220 offences could attract capital punishment - or, indeed, transportation. [...] [C]onvict transportation - a system in which prisoners toiled without pay under military discipline - replicated many of the worst cruelties of slavery. [...] Middle-class anti-slavery activists expressed little sympathy for Britain’s ragged and desperate, holding [...] [them] responsible for their own misery. The men and women of London’s slums weren’t slaves. They were free individuals – and if they chose criminality, [...] they brought their punishment on themselves. That was how Phillip [commander of the British First Fleet settlement in Australia] could decry chattel slavery while simultaneously relying on unfree labour from convicts. The experience of John Moseley, one of the eleven people of colour on the First Fleet, illustrates how, in the Australian settlement, a rhetoric of liberty accompanied a new kind of bondage. [...] The eventual commutation of a capital sentence to transportation meant that armed guards marched a black ex-slave, chained once more by the neck and ankles, to the Scarborough, on which he sailed to New South Wales. [...] For John Moseley, the “free land” of New South Wales brought only a replication of that captivity he’d endured in Virginia. His experience was not unique. [...] [T]hroughout the settlement, the old strode in, disguised as the new. [End quote. Text by Jeff Sparrow. “Friday essay: a slave state - how blackbirding in colonial Australia created a legacy of racism.” The Conversation. 4 August 2022.]

[eastgaysian]

Sorry this is a dumb question but can you explain why tomshiv is not abusive? Shiv seems to hit a lot of textbook behaviours of emotional abusers

thank you for your follow up clarifying this was in good faith bc i checked my inbox yesterday right after getting high and was like man come on. don't do this to me. but yeah i can talk about it, it's obviously something i have a fair amount of thoughts on

on a fundamental level, i take issue with the assertion that there are 'textbook behaviors of emotional abusers' in the first place. distilling abuse down to a set of behaviors is, imo, effectively meaningless and totally unproductive. it's not the behavior of an individual that defines abuse, it's a specific and intentionally cultivated imbalance of power and control within a relationship. victims of abuse can and do resort to survival mechanisms that could be considered in isolation as 'abusive behavior', the point is that you can't consider them in isolation. there's a gulf of difference between the same actions when they're coming from a person in a position of significant financial or physical or social power over someone else, or when they're coming from the person at a disadvantage.

i think viewing abuse as a set of behaviors also encourages you to treat interpersonal abuse as if it's discontinuous with systemic abuse, which is inaccurate and unproductive. a key part of succession's premise is that, because the family is literally the business, the familial abuse within the roy family is inextricable from the broader systems of capitalism, patriarchy, and the sexual violence and abuse endemic to them. with regards to how the show satirizes and critiques these systems, i think it's very telling that all of the characters are to some degree complicit and/or participants in abuse, but logan is the only one i'd say is unambiguously and intentionally presented as 'an abuser' (whose abuse is not an isolated product of him as a person, but integrated into/inseparable from the capitalist system which persists after his death). still, logan isn't reduced to a one-dimensional angry, abusive dad, he's given depth and complexity. his continued insistence that he loves his children isn't treated as something that's untrue, but that doesn't make it inherently good, and it certainly isn't incompatible with him abusing them.

circling back to tom and shiv. their relationship is unhealthy, it's not good for either of them to be married, shiv does fucking awful things to tom and tom does awful things right back, i'm not questioning any of that. but at my most cynical and bitchy, what it comes down to is quite simply: shiv doesn't have enough power over tom to be abusive, systemically or personally.

the thing is sometimes you see people say 'wow, if the genders were reversed people would say tom and shiv's relationship is unambiguously abusive!' which... hrm, but really the issue is that. the genders are the way they are, that's for a reason, and yes, that does make a significant difference in how we perceive their relationship and power dynamics. tom holds very real and present power over shiv as a man and as her husband, proposing to her when she was vulnerable in a way that placed huge pressure on her to accept and then trying to get her to have his baby so he can become patriarch. shiv's the heiress with the legitimacy of her family name and generational wealth but she is continuously, unavoidably subjected to gendered discrimination and violence. she's never allowed direct access to real power - she has to rely on the men around her, her husband or her brothers, and if they don't feel like humoring her she's shit out of luck.

this doesn't cancel out like a math equation, but it definitely makes things much more complicated than shiv being an Evil Bitch Wife to her Poor Pitiful Husband. when shiv finally does push tom too far, he immediately, successfully, goes over her head to her abusive father to fuck her over. maybe shiv wants to be her father in her relationships and exert the same kind of control he does. but she doesn't and she can't! she does not have that power! she cannot stop tom from kicking back and his hits are significant. as much as she might like to pretend otherwise, tom not only has always had the power to leave in a way shiv doesn't, he had and has the power to fuck her up badly, and he's used that power. that is simply not the power dynamic between abuser and victim to me.

i also have to say that abuse is not always going to be definitive black and white. in real life there are plenty of unambiguous situations but there are also plenty of complicated situations, and applying judgments to fiction is not always straightforward. i can't exactly call someone 'wrong' for personally being uncomfortable with tom and shiv's relationship or believing shiv is abusive, but i'm very skeptical of the viewpoint and the motivations or assumptions that are often contained within. if shiv is abusive, she definitely isn't uniquely so among the cast, so you had better be applying that label and any associated moral judgments equally across the board.

[thelovelymissbigbadwolf]

I guess some of you must've heard about what's happening on Rio Grande do Sul. Or if not, I wanted to try to spread awareness.

Basically in the last week or so, we've been hit by a intense flooding that not only flooded everywhere, but destroyed entire cities in the process.

Eldorado do Sul is underwater. An entire city UNDERWATER.

Half of Canoas is flooded, covering entire buildings.

I live in the capital, Porto Alegre. I'm one of the lucky few to not have been affected by the rain, we just don't have clean water here.

But entire districts are flooded, Sarandi had to be evacuated due to the rising waters.

The measurement system we use to measure Rio Guaíba is a physical one, a vertical ruler that goes up to 3 meters. It's underwater, as the waters are about 5 meters.

We have so far about 78 deaths confirmed, though I doubt this is the total amount. There's over 60 people disappeared. Over 5000 affected by the rains. But honestly, I just know it's a much higher number in reality.

I don't know any donation links nor do I even know how international donations work, if anyone knows, please reblog and spread awareness of what's happening.

Our governor had a year to prepare and he did nothing.

If you need more to sympathize with this post, I'll share stories I heard on TikTok from people on the front line, both volunteers and victims.

A man was rescuing three children and one of them asked him to retrieve a floating doll they saw. When the man retrieved said doll... It wasn't a doll, but a baby. A baby that had died on the flood.

There's an audio of a family screaming desperately for help, quote: "The smell is too strong", a young voice said, "It's leaking gas," an adult added.

A woman waited for rescue for over 40 hours for someone that could rescue not only her, but her many pets. Around 27 cats and dogs, I'm not sure if she had other pets.

Close friends woke up late in the night to go to Eldorado do Sul to rescue family members before ir flooded entirely, they are currently doing fine as far as I know.

A man had found his best friend's dog and can be heard sending an audio to his wife, saying he found the dog... But lies the question of where his friend is.

A mother cried saying "My daughters are stuck there, I gotta get them out of there" while being interviewed.

Those are the ones I could quote from memory, I'm sleep deprived at the moment.

The airport of Salgado Filho here in Porto Alegre is flooded.

One of the biggest supermarkets here is called Havan and it's a massive one... Water is reaching the rooftops.

A hospital had to be evacuated, saving about 240 patients, doctors and nurses on shift had to be taken to work on a military car.

This Sunday, Brasil's president came to talk of the situation, promising to help.

Even with the disaster happening, the news still make sure to give space for Madonna's concert, while Rio Grande do Sul suffered with its most historical flood since 1941. It's not Madonna's fault by a mile, but the problem is that they basically said "it's very sad, but we can't forget about Madonna", though they could've mentioned before the tragedy, as it seemed a very poor choice of placing of news.

Madonna donated 10 million reais to help Rio Grande do Sul.

99Pop is giving free rides for the blood donation bank.

One of my boyfriend's coworkers won't be able to get to work due to roads outside of Porto Alegre being blocked, one even was destroyed.

People who have beach houses were instructed to go there and take refuge for a while, as there are many beaches such as Cidreira and Xangrilá that are salt water, but Tapes is a river beach, according to my cousin it wasn't so bad, but we're still keeping an eye for news as her grandmother lives there.

I have relatives in Barra do Ribeiro, but haven't heard from them, but the city is said to have been flooded as well, though I don't know to what levels.

Cars have been entirely swallowed by water and a school bus WITH STUDENTS was seen afloat.

Many animals have been affected as well, one case that infuriated everyone was of a dog that was left behind by its owner, not only on a leash but with TWO padlocks in it. One on the collar and one to the wall. The animal did not survive, the poor thing.

Civil defense and others are working hard on rescuing victims along with volunteers of all places, other states are helping as well, I think it was Minas Gerais who was said to have sent professional firemen trained to deal with catastrophes to come and help.

Water advanced to Menino Deus a few hours ago, though I haven't seen reports on it other than a warning from a official page.

Remembering, I'm from Porto Alegre, I don't have many info on other cities other than the most spread news and reports from victims and volunteers. Though I'm trying to keep up to as many as I can.

Finally rain has stopped, but we don't know for how long and neither do we know for how long Guaíba will stay like this and even if it'll go down anytime soon. I fear it going to connecting rivers, since there's a large watershed I think it's the term.

I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject, I just hope to help with what I have. Here's a map of the flooding so far in my town.

It's zoomed out to get the full extent, but you can see entire districts flooded.

My English isn't perfect, but I hope I could explain it well enough. Send prayers for everyone who suffered with this. Feel free to reblog if you have more info.

[zorotlekuykauo]

W.E.B. Du Bois, “On Stalin”

Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature. He was simple, calm and courageous. He seldom lost his poise; pondered his problems slowly, made his decisions clearly and firmly; never yielded to ostentation nor coyly refrained from holding his rightful place with dignity. He was the son of a serf but stood calmly before the great without hesitation or nerves. But also—and this was the highest proof of his greatness—he knew the common man, felt his problems, followed his fate.

Stalin was not a man of conventional learning; he was much more than that: he was a man who thought deeply, read understandingly and listened to wisdom, no matter whence it came. He was attacked and slandered as few men of power have been; yet he seldom lost his courtesy and balance; nor did he let attack drive him from his convictions nor induce him to surrender positions which he knew were correct. As one of the despised minorities of man, he first set Russia on the road to conquer race prejudice and make one nation out of its 140 groups without destroying their individuality.

His judgment of men was profound. He early saw through the flamboyance and exhibitionism of Trotsky, who fooled the world, and especially America. The whole ill-bred and insulting attitude of Liberals in the U.S. today began with our naive acceptance of Trotsky’s magnificent lying propaganda, which he carried around the world. Against it, Stalin stood like a rock and moved neither right nor left, as he continued to advance toward a real socialism instead of the sham Trotsky offered.

Three great decisions faced Stalin in power and he met them magnificently: first, the problem of the peasants, then the West European attack, and last the Second World War. The poor Russian peasant was the lowest victim of tsarism, capitalism and the Orthodox Church. He surrendered the Little White Father easily; he turned less readily but perceptibly from his ikons; but his kulaks clung tenaciously to capitalism and were near wrecking the revolution when Stalin risked a second revolution and drove out the rural bloodsuckers.

Then came intervention, the continuing threat of attack by all nations, halted by the Depression, only to be re-opened by Hitlerism. It was Stalin who steered the Soviet Union between Scylla and Charybdis: Western Europe and the U.S. were willing to betray her to fascism, and then had to beg her aid in the Second World War. A lesser man than Stalin would have demanded vengeance for Munich, but he had the wisdom to ask only justice for his fatherland. This Roosevelt granted but Churchill held back. The British Empire proposed first to save itself in Africa and southern Europe, while Hitler smashed the Soviets.

The Second Front dawdled, but Stalin pressed unfalteringly ahead. He risked the utter ruin of socialism in order to smash the dictatorship of Hitler and Mussolini. After Stalingrad the Western World did not know whether to weep or applaud. The cost of victory to the Soviet Union was frightful. To this day the outside world has no dream of the hurt, the loss and the sacrifices. For his calm, stern leadership here, if nowhere else, arises the deep worship of Stalin by the people of all the Russias.

Then came the problem of Peace. Hard as this was to Europe and America, it was far harder to Stalin and the Soviets. The conventional rulers of the world hated and feared them and would have been only too willing to see the utter failure of this attempt at socialism. At the same time the fear of Japan and Asia was also real. Diplomacy therefore took hold and Stalin was picked as the victim. He was called in conference with British imperialism represented by its trained and well-fed aristocracy; and with the vast wealth and potential power of America represented by its most liberal leader in half a century.

Here Stalin showed his real greatness. He neither cringed nor strutted. He never presumed, he never surrendered. He gained the friendship of Roosevelt and the respect of Churchill. He asked neither adulation nor vengeance. He was reasonable and conciliatory. But on what he deemed essential, he was inflexible. He was willing to resurrect the League of Nations, which had insulted the Soviets. He was willing to fight Japan, even though Japan was then no menace to the Soviet Union, and might be death to the British Empire and to American trade. But on two points Stalin was adamant: Clemenceau’s “Cordon Sanitaire” must be returned to the Soviets, whence it had been stolen as a threat. The Balkans were not to be left helpless before Western exploitation for the benefit of land monopoly. The workers and peasants there must have their say.

Such was the man who lies dead, still the butt of noisy jackals and of the ill-bred men of some parts of the distempered West. In life he suffered under continuous and studied insult; he was forced to make bitter decisions on his own lone responsibility. His reward comes as the common man stands in solemn acclaim.

[4pmbookstacks]

✩ You can't escape! (the Music of the Night) PROLOUGE, CHPTR 0

(- summary: "have you heard? . . ." )

"IN WHICH THE AUTHOR OF THIS SINGULAR WORK" SPOILS THE ENDING BEFORE THE STORY EVEN BEGAN; THAT IS, IF YOU TRUST ME.

“There was an Opera House that sat in Flower Capital, which at its prime, housed the rich and wealthy for nights of ballet and song with a flowing, compelling, storyline that would create entertainment; the opera of the rich, being worked by the poor. It was one of the most popular Opera Houses on the Northside of Japan, bringing an audience from far and wide, drawing them in like moths to a flame. Bringing patronage as well as secrets that lurked in the shadows and murk. It’s widely known that the Opera house had burnt down, the chandelier having came crashing down for the final time during an Opera; Setting the place ablaze, burning with both passion and hatred for all those who had walked, dance, sang, worked, played, sewed, built, and lived within the Opera walls. Though many knew of the burning, many did not know the cause: An asunder between the Phantom of the Opera and his beloved.” “. . . The Phantom of the Opera?. . .” “Such a curious tone you use to describe something that was no less of a Phantom as he was a Man, but yes, the Phantom of the Opera. A mysterious creature who worked in the dark of the Opera house, who lived deep down, so close to hell as the light of heaven burnt his fragile, paper-skin. And properly too, it’s said his face was as horrid as that of the devil himself and the deals he would create with the workers of the Opera House, mostly singers that had piqued his interest, even more monstrous. He acted more like a monster than a Phantom or a Man! At least, that’s what one man had cried, More monster than man! More monster than man, he’s dragged the poor singer down to his lair! He’ll burn them alive, toast and eat them for breakfast. More monster than Phantom! More monster than Man! Though he would never truly do that to his victims, at least not that we know. Much of the Phantom’s life is a mystery, strung in the air for all to guess and wonder at, for as we know he’s dead and buried beneath the rubble of the Opera house. . . though his body was never recovered.” “How. . . does a Phantom even die?” “A broken heart, at least, that’s what the Daroga claimed after receiving several letters between the Phantom and the singer he held captive, bondaged in the ropes of misleading love. Though if we had heard from the Viscount, the Patronage of the Opera House, that would very much be a different story.” “The Viscount?. . . Viscount Minamoto, for the Minamoto clan?-” “Yes, the same Minamoto clan who happened to own a haunted Opera house! It is always amusing to read the manager’s letters when he figured out that he had bought a haunted building. After all, they are exorcists, and well respected ones at that.” “. . . dare I ask what ever happened to the Viscount?” “It was a terrible accident.”

— home ; masterlist ; next chapter

© 4pmbookstacks, teeful-corner, March 2024. do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or copy my works without permission asked beforehand.

[f1xwers]

Okay but wat if i propose you even better loscar dynamic

What if they BOTH insane and infuriatingly in love with eachother but they don't understand that the other one is also insane so they do all that manipulative bullshit only for one of them to get caught and the other beings like "wait you too????"

And they realise that all that wasn't necessary bc they a literally the same in all of their shenanigans so they redirect all that energy to just manipulate the world or grid idk

ANON YOU UNDERSTAND THE VISION!

The main reason I suggested a Logan version was because I haven't seen any versions (although if anyone has any recs 👀) where Logan is the one victimizing (he's always the one being victimized my poor pookie 😔), which is fine and all but I think we as a society don't capitalize on the sheer insane, raw Florida man energy Logan can bring to the table

BUT BUT BUT

Equally insane, off-the-rails loscar who think they're successfully manipulating each other but then the other is trying to one-up the unhinged shenanigans only for them to realize "Oh wait we're both disgustingly in love with each other there's really no need for us to be doing this" and then they kiss and redirect their insane manipulative bullshit to everyone else is PEAK loscar I AM OBSESSED

[aldi-spice]

So, I finished the first few chapters of my Eiland fic. For now, it's more of a novelization of the events with some backstory for the mysterious farmer, but once I'm done with the tutorial mode (whenever Eiland is mentioned), I'll start writing some cute ideas I might have (hopefully by then I'll have some good ones).

Anyways, here's chapter 1 and 2 (which I'll also post on AO3)

Chapter 1

The rain was pouring as I stumbled through the streets after another unsuccessful venture into the outskirts of the town, known for its filth and grime, the only thing worthwhile over there was the nice stack of coins, waiting on my guild master's desk. The smell of wet soil and other unidentified substances hit my nostrils as I ran past the now empty streets, no one would be outside in this weather, which made it all the more convenient to sneak into dark alleys and poke my little head through unsupervised windows and “borrowing” whatever my sticky hands could reach. Sure, it was dirty money, but it was money nonetheless, and life in the capital was far from easy.

And it seems like my luck just ran out, as I ran aimlessly around, looking for a place to hide from the angry butcher whose wife woke up screaming bloody murder as my hand unfortunately landed right on her face while I was looking for some easy loot. How could I have known their bed is right under the window? That was fully their own fault for keeping it wide open during a storm, and she didn’t have to scream so loud, it’s not like I was trying to harm this poor pregnant woman taking a midday nap. But now was not the time to argue with an angry man who had more experience skillfully taking apart cows and pigs than I could ever imagine, and his knife collection was also something to consider when trying to have a civil discussion. I ran and ran, tripping over my own two feet as I made a sharp turn and ran straight into what looked like an old and run down tavern, making an abrupt halt as I ran straight into another drunk patron. No time for apologies, I could feel the butcher's angry stare scan the tavern. I ducked quickly, crawling on muddy, slippery floors in between drunken feet. I feel a few of them kick me and trip, I feel a sharp pain in my left hand and notice a long, red streak running down the palm of my hand. Great, must have cut it on a nail or something, as if I needed tetanus on top of all my other problems. I crawl for what feels like an eternity, finally I see the crowd thin out, and I can feel a breeze of fresh air hit me in the face, with new-found energy I manage to sneak out the back, finally able to catch my breath for the first time in what feels like forever. I sigh.

As my eyes scan the dimly lit, stormy sky, I quickly remember why I was here in the first place. In a panic, I grab the satchel attached to my belt, feeling for its contents, and I find nothing. Empty, and sporting a big hole.

“Shit!”, I spat out. It must have ripped on the dodgy tavern floor. Too dangerous to go back inside however, I’ve already suspicious from barging in like I was trying to escape a crazed murderer, which isn't far from the truth, but I’m not exactly the victim in this situation. Besides, the bar is way too crowded to start looking for a few loose coins now. I sighed again.

My eyes begin to burn as I hold back tears that threaten to spill at any moment. The boss will be furious if I come back empty-handed, just remembering what happened to a few of my friends sends a shiver down my spine. As I try to collect myself, I look at my surroundings, dirty, rundown houses, everywhere I look. My breath hitches and I start to sweat again as I realize what just had happened. I’m stealing from these people.

A sudden feeling of disgust overtakes me, and my bloodied hand clutches my stomach as I hunch over and empty my breakfast on the cobblestone pavement. The burning sensation in my throat is only overshadowed by the ache in my chest, realizing what I’ve been doing all these years in the guild. I start heaving again, remembering how many of those households must have suffered hardships because of my actions. I knew it was wrong deep down, but seeing a poor pregnant woman scream in terror made me realize just how wrong my actions were.

Having managed to mostly calm down, I wipe my mouth with my healthy hand, not wanting to risk another infection, and wipe the remnants of my breakfast on my mud-covered pants. This has to end now, I think to myself, and I pick myself up again, a little wobbly on my feet from all the running I’ve been doing today. The rain is still drumming on my head, hardly covered by a dirty and soaked hood.

I take a step and feel something soft and squishy by my feet. It doesn’t feel like the usual mud and waste, intrigued, I look down.

“Looking for adventures to move to Mistria!”

“Mistria?”, I think out loud. I’ve never heard of that town before, but starting life anew far away from the capital sounds very tempting. The advert is soaked in dirty water and barely legible, but the promise of free farm land and a town where no one knows my name is more than enough to make up my mind. I grab the already disintegrating flyer and head to my small rental, right above a pub.

My feet start to ache again when I reach the steps to my small home, but now is not the time to rest, I have to get out of this town, I have to pack my things and head to the adventures guild and volunteer before anyone else can. I need this more than anyone, it’s not safe here for me anymore. I pack hastily whatever my hands can reach. Grabbing a handful of warm winter clothes and a straw hat from my near empty closet, I stuff them all in an almost never used backpack, finally its time to shine, I think to myself.

Again, I sigh. Just like that, my life is about to change forever. I lay out the soggy flyer on my table, attempting to decipher whatever is written on it.

“... Capable adventurer… farmland…”, I read out loud, it’s not like anyone can hear me talk to myself anyway, the patrons downstairs are too busy getting drunk on cheap booze to care, I can hear them shout and laugh loudly. I roll my eyes and grind my teeth, how did I manage to tolerate this for so long? Now is not the time to reflect on the past, however, I'm leaving this place for the better. I sling the backpack over my shoulder and almost come flying down the stairs, with the advert clung tightly against my chest, I hastily make my way to the adventures guild to start my new life. Finally, things are finally looking up.

I’m moving to Mistria.

—

Chapter 2

I’m exhausted from the journey, my feet ache for a rest and my mouth feels drier than the desert, but I must persist, wouldn't want to disappoint my new landlord on the first day, would I, now? I drag my feet along the dirt path, towards a sign pointing west at Mistria.

Finally, I see a clearing in the distance, and with a new pep in my step, I start trotting towards the light, the sky finally being visible through the leaves, and I realize how late it has gotten already. I hope my landlord will be understanding of my tardiness, it’s not easy finding a small town in the middle of nowhere.

My walking speed picks up again as I see a figure in the distance. I stop just on the other side of the river, double-checking if my directions were correct, just as the mystery man approaches me.

“Hello there!”, I hear a deep voice coming from his direction. I look over to see him leaning against a lamppost, he looks up and our eyes meet. He’s rather tall and wears a dark cloak, a fellow adventurer maybe? Before I have time to respond, he’s already jumping on the broken bridge separating the two of us with ease.

“Didn’t expect to see anyone else out this way.”, he said to me, finally standing directly in front of me.

“The roads have been a real mess since the earthquake.”, he informs me. That would explain the broken bridge. I simply nod at his statement. He proceeds to introduce himself.

His name is Balor, he’s a traveling merchant, running his shop in this city. Not an adventurer, then, even though he looks like he knows how to pick a lock or two. But let’s not get too hasty on the judgment, yet, I barely know the person, and it seems he’s asked me a question.

“You’re here at Lady Adeline’s request? She mentioned someone had taken her up on her offer.”, he smirked, noticing my absent-minded state. I shake myself out of my thoughts in an attempt to save face.

“She said she was looking for a capable adventurer!”, I said, hoping he could help me find this lady Adeline he mentioned. Was she going to be my new landlady?

“We sure could use one!”, he said with a smile, as he suggested bringing me to my new farmland. I quickly agreed, not fond of the idea of getting lost again, after all the trouble I went through just having to find my way here.

“Let’s go.”, he said and hopped on a big fallen slab of stone, which I can only presume to be the remains of this broken bridge. He mentioned an earthquake before, could this have been the act of the earthquake? I’m pulled out of my thoughts when he calls for me from the other side, beckoning me to follow suit, and for some reason, I trust him and jump over the gaps, while almost slipping and tumbling backwards into the water, however. He didn’t notice, good. He exhaled sharply after making it to the other side.

“We should be able to make it before it gets dark. Come on, we’ll head straight to your new farmstead!” he said, looking at me, expecting me to follow. He’s already started walking ahead, when I had to jog after him to keep up. Does he not realize I’ve been traveling all day and might need a breather? “Bastard.”, I thought, shooting an evil glance in his direction, and he was none the wiser. Finally, I reached another, this time intact, bridge and shortly after I saw a field, overrun with trees, weeds and rocks. In a poor attempt to hide my disappointment, I direct my attention to the cottage, at least I get a roof over my head. I hear Balor speak up again.

“Lord Eiland, look who I found out at the edge of the forest!”, he said excitedly, as if he just found a rare treasure in the depths of the mines. My eyes scan the darkness, looking for the new face whose name I now also need to memorize.

“Ah, the new farmer, I presume!”, he came running over, seemingly equally excited as Barol, but his enthusiasm seemed more innocent in nature. His pale pink hair and gold-laced clothes looked completely out of place, he must not be familiar with farming wearing pastel colors. Then, it struck me, Balor did just call him “Lord Eiland”... These aren’t landlords but lord lords, royal, monarchs, rich and probably ignorant to the real world. As he proceeds to greet me and formally introduce himself, I swallow hard. I had no intention of meeting Lords and Ladies today, I barely know what the protocol is, shifting uncomfortably, he notices my uncertainty and speaks up again.

“So, what do you think? Nice, isn’t it? You’re right outside of town, great soil for farming.”

I silently follow him to the small cottage, illuminated by a small lantern. It looks cozy, I think to myself. I nod in agreement.

Looking closer at the cottage, the walls are made of rustic looking bricks, logs on the side and a small planter in front of the window. It’s not bad, considering I'm getting this for free, I can’t help but smile, I feel serene, finally. I feel like I can relax. No more thieving and scamming unsuspecting victims out of their hard-earned money, I can start over again.

I can feel Eiland glancing at me, I must look insane, staring at this run down shed like it’s heaven sent. The lights inside the house are on, and I can see the shadow of a figure move inside. Might that be this Lady Adeline that Balor mentioned before?

“Let’s go inside, shall we?”, a sudden voice said, I've been completely absorbed in my own thoughts I forgot he was here. Eiland smiles at me and I return the polite gesture in turn. I let him take the lead and follow him inside.

“Ah-”, is all he says. There’s a woman standing in the middle of the barely furnished room, a bed to my right with no bedding, a rug to my left… it will do, I tell myself.

“Just a minute!”, the woman said, blushing. It seems we caught her in the middle of something. Before either of us gets the chance to say something, she pushes us out the door, and we’re left outside in the quiet, cold embrace of the night. That went well, I cuss quietly under my breath. Eiland must have noticed it, to my annoyance, and tries to settle my nerves.

“It, er, appears we’re not quite ready for you.”, he said apologetically. He looks at me sheepishly, and I feel immediately regret my little outburst. His face is flushed in a light pink, only illuminated by the old lantern nearby and the small amount of light flowing through the tiny window from the inside of the cottage. I gulp down my pride and apologize quietly.

“Should we go in and help?”, I said, trying to ease the tension I created.

“No need!”, the woman said, as she darted outside to shut the idea down before it could get in motion. She disappeared as soon as she appeared, and was inside again.

We look at each other befuddled, he chuckles awkwardly, and we settle into another round of uncomfortable silence.

Finally, after what felt like and eternity, the woman steps outside again to address the both of us.

“You must be the new farmer! I’m Adeline, thank you so much for answering my request!”, she said, slightly out of breath and a little to fast, it’s clear she’s been working hard on something inside the cottage. I just nod and smile at her, worried I'll let my bad mood show again, I press my lips together into a thin smile. She beams at me, everyone seems particularly excited about my arrival, I wonder why?

“My brother and I are so excited to have a real adventurer here to help the town”, she said, smiling brightly at me. Her enthusiasm is contagions and I can’t help my smile back at her, she seems to down to earth, not what I expected a Lady of this town to act like. She seems so down to earth. Curious. In the capital, everyone always shunned the monarchy, but they don’t seem like bad people.

“Why don’t you come inside?”, she said, not waiting for a response and heading back inside again. Eiland and I followed her and I now got a better look at the cozy inside.

It’s a lot cleaner than it was just a few minutes ago, she must have dusted and swept the floor in record time, it’s almost impressive. The bed, now adorned with a fluffy green and yellow quilt, has been moved to the other side of the room, it looks old and heavy, making me wonder how strong she really was. After taking the interior in, she welcomed me to my new home.

Eiland proudly showed off sparse furniture of the cottage, and Adeline gives me a bowl of vegetable soup as a welcoming gift before they both bid farewell and leave me up to my own devices.

As soon as they’re both out of earshot, and we'll past the premises of my farm, I finally let out a heavy sigh. This journey has been a long one, but I'm finally here, in a new town away from the loud street vendors and the annoying drunken patrons partying until the sun rises again, hardly able to get any shut-eye in the meantime. I let my backpack fall on the hardwood floor and throw myself into the feathery pillows of the bed, burying my face in the freshly washed linen. Fancy, I think to myself smiling, as my eyes feel heavy, and I drift into a deep slumber for the first time in what feels like forever.

[drdemonprince]

oh my god can i get trans masc self infantilization for 500 alex

Quick hate read of this piece:

my relationship to gender was mediated (isn’t it always) by capitalism. I could not meet another trans man who could tell me how to behave, but I could shop for one. I could buy distilled trans expertise, and tell myself I was putting money back into “the community;” I was engaged in political action, redistributing my middle-class cash to support people I had never met, but whose welfare was, nonetheless, my business.

oh my fucking god Jude buying a huge crop of trans books at the local indie bookshop is not political action. I know booksellers who work at beloved indie-progressive bookstores quite intimately so if you haven't heard yet, I'll be the first to tell you: no matter their feminist branding, these places treat their workers like shit and pay them minimum wage. And often these stores are hell to be in for trans femme people.

edit: whoops he didnt even claim to support indie bookstores, it was a chain in a mall wtf

Also, it's baffling to me that a published author like Doyle can claim buying books is somehow redistributing wealth to poor, trans authors. First, wealthy people are widely overrepresented in publishing, and two, the vast majority of published authors never see a single cent of royalites. Over 90% of books never "earn out". You'd be kicking them about $2.50 of a $25 hardcover sale even if they did. stop making your consumption seem righteous dude.

These authors didn’t hate people like me; they didn’t disagree with me or dislike my general aesthetic. These authors literally hated me, me personally, the dude who had recently given them money. 

the ENTITLEMENT!!! How dare these trans authors post openly that they disagree with you and your tepid liberal politics, you bought one of their books and (maybe, but probably not) gave them $3 !!!!

To a shy eleven-year-old boy on his first day of school, which is what I was emotionally and even hormonally at the time, it was devastating. I cried for days. I was on vacation.

a middle aged incredibly well connected man in publishing is pulling "im a little birthday boy -- hormonally" shenanigans. I get that reading critical comments about yourself hurts. I have been there buddy. I've received repeated misgendering, misogynistic criticisms and insults while I was newly on HRT and not even out to anyone! I was also a 30 year old adult man with a career and coping tools. I was not an eleven year old boy. I was not the victim of anything, really, except for my own lack of comment moderation habits at the time.

the amount of real life transphobia i have since lived looms so much larger that little petty online slights doesnt even rank. we're not talking about threats or doxxing here. we're talking people on twitter thinking he shouldnt be the face of trans politics.

because I know who this author is and move in the same circles, I have seen the message of hate that he's talking about. People mostly talk about him sardonically and insult his worst opinions and most hastily-written pieces. That's not even hate. That's just begging him to be responsible in his work and to maybe not write apologia for trans cops (one of the bad takes he was most openly criticized for at the time).

Those guys were my heroes, was the thing. They were the ones I had wanted to teach me how to act. I used to imagine conversations with them, think about what I would ask if I got the chance.

Buddy, you said you literally just discovered these authors mere weeks or months prior, having bought up every book published by a trans guy that you could find. It's not like you had posters of them hanging up on your bedroom wall as a child. And even if you did, youre a grown man in your forties who writes very inane takes. Some critique from your contemporaries comes with the territory and is in fact a compliment. it means people recognize youre a significant cultural voice and they want you to do better!

When I get into conflict with another trans person, when I stumble on the thread where my elders are shit-talking me, I am not looking at my computer. I’m in my math class, after lunch period, hearing the squeak of metal on linoleum as someone drags their desk a few inches away.

your elders??? are you talking about people who are like, three years older than you Jude .I understand that hostile middle and high school experiences bring massive trauma, but holding adults who are intellectually critiquing you, a fellow adult, responsible for the trauma you endured as a teen is so wildly inappropriate and immature that i cant stand it.

It would be one thing if Doyle showed any self-awareness of the disjoint here, and was just talking about being triggered, but he doesnt, not anywhere in the piece. he implies throughout that it's people being mean to him on twitter who are really at fault.

oh my god he likens himself to Isabell Fall later on in this piece i cant

i just cant with this dude hes always taking so many unnecessary Ls and gets hired so fucking much to write about trans experiences when he clearly has next to zero community connections and sense of scale when it comes to the issues we face. its so annoying!!!

[psalm22-6]

The Australian Worker, 17 February 1921

Just on sixty years ago, Victor Hugo, penning his introduction to that immortal classic, 'Les Miserables,' reminded the world that the three great problems of the age — 'the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of women by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual right'— still remained unsolved. The world has seen many changes since Hugo reminded us of civilisation's failure to deal with these three all-important problems. Empires have ceased to exist, monarchial tyrants have bowed their exit from the world's stage, dynasties have vanished into the limbo of forgetfulness, wars have swept the world from end to end, governments have become democratised, common peoples have won the franchise and taken a hand in the legislation of their countries, and here and there Socialism has raised the Red Flag of Liberty. But these three great problems are as real to-day as they were on that day away back in 1862, when Hugo's pen committed them to paper. Man is still haunted, and pursued by the dread ghost of poverty. At every turn the grinning spectre still lurks in the shadow, pointing its bony finger to the uncertainty of to-morrow. 'The flower of womanhood is still crushed in Capitalism's mills of prostitution and starvation. Our sisters are still robbed of their honor, still seared with the cursed brand of slavery, and still forced to bruise, their souls on the thornstrewn highways of life. Our children are still denied their primal rights. For them — poor innocents— bitter cold, starvation, rags, scorn, neglect, and want are still their daily lot in life. Not a day passes but some tiny victim drops fragments of its frail life by the wayside. This is the age of enlightenment. Yes, 'tis true. But the system which condemns men to slavery, women to starvation, and babes to poverty stills remains with us. The three great problems of the age, so clearly enunciated by Hugo during the middle of last century, are yet unsolved. ~V.F.A. .

[joshuadunshua]

[Image ID: a cropped image of an excerpt from “The Will to Change” by bell hooks. Various spots are highlighted in different colors. Beginning from the first full sentence, the paragraph reads, “He was not interested in forgiving him or understanding the circumstances that had shaped and influenced his dad’s life, either in his childhood or in his working life as a military man.” The following paragraph reads, “In the early years of our relationship he was extremely critical of male domination of women and children. Although he did not use the word ‘patriarchy,’ he understood its meaning and he opposed it. His gentle, quiet manner often led folks to ignore him, counting him among the weak and the powerless. By the age of thirty he began to assume a more macho persona, embracing the dominator model that he had once critiqued. Donning the mantle of patriarch, he gained greater respect and visibility. More women were drawn to him. He was noticed more in public spheres. His criticism of male domination ceased. And indeed he begin to mouth patriarchal rhetoric, saying the kind of sexist stuff that would have appalled him in the past.” The last paragraph is cut off, the top which is visible reads, “These changes in his thinking and behavior were triggered by his desire to be accepted and affirmed in a patriarchal workplace and rationalized by his desire to get ahead. His story is not unusual.” End image ID]

Trans mascs that “speak out” against transandrophobia/anti-transmasculinity/transmisandry/antimasculism/whatever word of the month they’ve forced us to coin, I need you to see yourself in this. This is you. This is you leaning into the patriarchal role of “protectors of the poor weak permanently victimized women,” this is you leaning into the patriarchal role of “ignore your pain, ignore your emotional distress, ignore your psychological needs, stuff it deep down inside and suck it up.” This is you enforcing patriarchal (and therefore also white supremacist) attitudes about gender. This is you learning to shift how you operate under the “logic” of a white supremacist, capitalist patriarchal system so that you can get and maintain access to what little scraps of privilege the system will give you for your conformity.

You cannot apply “logic” to oppressions—it is not a math equation you can solve for. It is not internally consistent.

(And when I say logic, I mean formal logic, I mean mathematical logic, I mean specifically Western conceptualizations of logic.)

You can’t simply state that “men don’t face oppression for being men because that then logically means [something untrue about women’s oppression] would be the case and it’s not.” Oppression is inherently illogical. To assume it operates on a truly definable and fully understandable logic is to suggest there’s a “good” reason for its existence. Which if you examine that for just a moment, you find it also then suggests that there is truth behind how oppression works. Or rather, that oppressed people did some thing or are some way that deserves oppression in response.

White supremacy doesn’t operate on any logical basis. Patriarchy doesn’t operate on any logical basis. They weren’t constructed to be logical, they were hardly “constructed” at all. They came about specifically to uphold and maintain powerful people’s access to power. To call the systems “constructed” is almost to give people too much credit.

Perhaps at one point “white supremacy” was a very specific spark in the mind of quite a number of powerful fair skinned Western Europeans, (though many would understandably point out that white supremacy existed well before it was made explicit), but to suggest that white supremacy as it exists now, as a self-perpetuating system that is able to chug away, an engine for capitalism built and sustained on the exploitation and slaveability of Black bodies, was consciously and carefully designed to operate only within specific bounds that we can define and uncover? That’s trying to use the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house.

Trying to equate the operation of white supremacy with patriarchy, or any system of oppression with any other system of oppression (though you really do see this most often with people equating racism with sexism) similarly does not work because they are not organized logically. They are not separable entities, either. It is true that there are common elements to different oppressions (see: Suzanne Pharr, bell hooks, Paulo Freire) and it is true that the different systems are interlocked and work together to hold it all up (see: Audre Lorde, Patricia Hill Collins, Andrea Smith) and it is true that they impact people at different intersections of oppressive systems uniquely and dynamically (see: Kimberlé Crenshaw, Jennifer Nash, Bonnie Thornton Dill & Ruth Enid Zambrana) and the systems themselves intersect and interact in different ways to produce unique effects which are dynamic across time and space and context (see: Cathy J. Cohen, Patricia Hill Collins, Rita Kaur Dhamoon).

At the end of the day, too, this whole conversation is also excruciatingly Western-centric, and most often Americentric. The white trans mascs (and any other white queers) decrying the concept that men could ever be oppressed for their being men, that men’s experiences of oppression could ever be shaped by their manhood (or their proximity to it), betray their ignorance to men’s experiences outside of their specific version of Western patriarchy. It betrays their understanding of patriarchy, white supremacy, and feminism as having been wholly informed by white radical feminists who appropriate the language of Black feminism while maintaining essentialist perspectives that reify and protect the same patriarchy they want to critique. As though patriarchy is just about men holding power over women and not also about men holding power over other men, not also about women’s complicity in maintaining and perpetuating it, not also about Western nations holding power over the Global South, not also about kinship organization, not about nationalism, not about colonialism, not about international and transnational politics, not about capitalist globalization.

I suppose this turned into something much bigger than it was originally meant to be, but I have fucking had it. I am fed up with white trans mascs from Western countries whose understanding of feminism is stalled at the stage where they’ve learned that white neoliberal feminism is bad because it’s not anticapitalist or intersectional enough but they haven’t actually learned what the fuck that criticism means because they think or behave as though “intersectional” is just another word for “diverse,” which they also maintain a neoliberal understanding of. I am also fucking heartbroken for all the trans mascs who are willing to lean into this patriarchal role where they close off their own emotions and dismiss their own problems and downplay the reality of being a transgender person at their particular intersection all because they’ve been convinced that men’s problems aren’t real problems, that the oppression they experience because they are transmasculine people is nothing to do with their masculinity or association with or proximity to (and subsequent distance from) manhood.

To claim that there is nothing unique about transmasculine experiences of oppression at the intersection of trans identity and gender is to willfully ignore reality in quite the same way that transphobes do when what they protest is “trans ideology.” Trans people will exist whether you personally believe our gender claims or not, right? So to fail to incorporate us into your reality is to have the temper tantrum of a toddler all because the world and its people aren’t as simple and uniform as you wanted them to be. Similarly, transmasculine people will experience oppression at this intersection regardless of what you want to call it, but to demand that we capitulate to language that flattens our experiences along the lines of either being transgender (it’s literally just transphobia) or our proximity to womanhood (it’s literally just misogyny), or even the two together but-not-really (it’s transphobia and misogyny but it’s not because of your proximity to manhood), is to suggest that there is nothing unique about our experiences of transphobia and misogyny as transmasculine people. Is to suggest that unless and until we are perceived as men by society, our experiences with oppression and penalization (and privilege by this logic, but notably not in practice) are indistinguishable from those of cisgender women and there is no value in discussing, dissecting, naming, or otherwise acknowledging anything transmasculine people experience—and then on the flip side, when society does perceive us as men, suddenly our experiences with oppression and penalization (and privilege by this logic, but notably not in practice) are indistinguishable from those of cisgender men, and so there is no value in discussing, dissecting, naming, or otherwise acknowledging anything transmasculine people experience.

We’re either basically cis women or basically cis men, whichever is more convenient and makes it easier to disregard us in the moment.

[marzipanandminutiae]

*I* want to hear everything you know about the Chocolate Cream Killer!

Many many people asked, so here we go!

Q: How do you get a man to leave his wife for you?

A: Mass poisoning, apparently.

At least, that's the answer if you're Christiana Edmunds.

Born in 1828 in Kent, England, she was highly educated and had apparently been diagnosed with "hysteria" in her early 20s. Given that this diagnosis was frequently a catchall term for "Woman Behaving In Unexpected Way," it's uncertain whether she suffered from an actual mental illness. But her behavior in her 40s, when she was living with her widowed mother in Brighton, would suggest that she may have been.

Around this time she became close to a married doctor, Charles Beard. Their exact relationship has never been worked out, but she tried to kill his wife in 1870 by giving her a poisoned chocolate truffle.

You know.

As one does.

It didn't work and, incredibly, despite strong suspicions that she was the culprit behind his wife's illness, Dr. Beard did absolutely nothing about this.

So she decided to poison. Um. Everybody.

Essentially, she bought boxes of fancy chocolates from some poor local confectioner, injected strychnine into them at home, and then returned them. Apparently returning fully opened packages of food was just Okay in 1871- one really begins to see how modern regulations on these things came about. The chocolates would then be put out for sale again, because I guess nobody saw anything wrong with that either as long as there were no visible bite marks. #capitalism or something

she hired local boys to buy the poison for her after the first few times, in an attempt to allay the suspicion that would doubtless arise if she were seen buying vast quantities of strychnine

(apparently the possibility that they would compare notes and be like "that Miss Edmunds keeps asking me to buy her poison for stray cats 'round her house [yes that was her actual excuse]. she asked you, too? seems a mite rum to me!" did not occur to her. I never said this was a smart Take Out Lover's Wife scheme)

meanwhile, large numbers of randos were getting sick all over Brighton, mostly visitors as it's a seaside resort town. nobody connected these illnesses to the chocolates until- and this part is not funny -4-year-old Sidney Barker, vacationing there with his parents, died from the poison.

that was the only death, and again, it's. not funny. a little boy died because this woman (maybe not fully rational, probably not intending anyone but her target to die, but still) wanted her crush/possible lover's wife out of the way and didn't care about the collateral damage. I will go back to the Ha Ha Funney Weird Inept Mass Poisoning tone in a moment, but...I don't know. take a moment of seriousness for this poor child

everyone good? okay. let's move on.

realizing that putting out poisoned chocolates into the world willy-nilly and hoping Mrs. Beard would buy some wasn't working, Edmunds escalated to just sending boxes of strychnine sweets directly to people- including her intended victim. I assume the rest were mere decoys to throw investigators off the scent, since she sent some to herself to allay suspicion. and pin the crime on the poor confectioner, to boot

but this time, Dr. Beard decided to get off his ass and actually Tell Someone that his possible ex-mistress had a murderous streak. thanks, Charlie. thanks for divulging that little fact

Edmunds was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder and attempted murder. though initially sentenced to hang, she was granted a reprieve due to apparent mental instability and lived out her days in the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum [their wording, not mine]. she died in 1907

so that concludes our brief foray into True Crime, folks. remember, inspect your kids' Halloween chocolates! Someone might have [checks notes]:

bought a bag of Fun-Sized Snickers

opened the packaging

injected poison into the candy

returned them fully opened

counted upon them being placed back out for sale on the off chance that this person's crush's spouse might eat some

(dear sensational news outlets- THAT IS SARCASM)