#the main difference is that in capitalism you don’t always see the people who are suffering the most

[celestemona]

WHERE YOU’RE HIS BELOVED S/O

but you don’t respect the law

pairing: neuvillette x fem former gang leader! reader

reblogs and comments are appreciated ♡

when you first started dating Neuvillette, the looks you both got on the street were pure admiration and a touch of envy. after all, it was no wonder why when the two of you exuded an unshakable elegance and the stares you exchanged with each other drew long sighs from even the most unromantic person.

wherever you went together people would whisper in delight, gossiping about your last date and pointing out on how you filled in what the other lacked. from your charming, mysterious personality to Neuvillette's seriousness and honesty, you and him were considered the most famous, beautiful and powerful couple in Fontaine — the definition of perfect for each other.

but many still wondered how the Chief Justice got his heart stole after spending the last few years rejecting any potential partners, because even the most senior citizens of the capital remember only seeing the iudex accompanied only by the eccentric hydro archon, to whom he served more as a responsible guardian than a right hand.

the truth was that for nearly a decade you had been in Neuvillette's crosshairs. or rather, in the crosshairs of the law.

what the hydro nation’s population didn’t imagine was that behind your sweet smiles and kind words was hiding an ambitious, astute woman and former head of one of the most famous illegal organizations in Fontaine with connections throughout Teyvat. and for years you managed to manage and expand your business without the goddess herself being suspicious of all the illegal activities that went on under her nose.

at that time, you didn't know which of the fontanian authorities to watch out for and so you loosened the reins. unfortunately or not, that was your downfall so you couldn't hide from the Chief Justice for very long — in fact, you actually did.

the only relationship that Neuvillette had for all the decades (centuries) he was alive was with his responsibility, therefore, it wasn’t difficult for you to use the art of persuasion and seduction to get rid of the main objectives of the man who was to take you to court and condemn you for your crimes.

for months you've been successful in your escapes, using your wiles, wits and contacts to hide any evidence that could land you in trial.

however, it wasn't until you ended up stumbling into your own trap that you found yourself willingly surrendering to the dragon-man.

it was only when you partially abandoned the illegal business that you then started dating, though. Neuvillette might love you irrevocably but he wouldn't date someone who was involved in fraud or smuggling — besides, you too were tired of your old life and so left your leader's chair to your most faithful and trusted friend.

although you now had a good business as a florist in the hydro capital, you still pulled strings to smuggle some rare flowers from Sumeru or seeds only found in the heart of Natlan to your shop. Neuvillette would usually stare at you in disapproval, but then forget to give you a lecture for the way you managed to distract him with kisses and sweet talk.

“last time this month, my love. i promise."

“ma chérie, you said that last week.”

“i know i know! but do you know Colette? that kind lady who always offers us the freshest macarons from her thursday batches? she loved the popularity of Kalpalatas in her bakery and made me an order of sixty of them, can you believe that? Kalpalatas are not easy to find, mon amour. no no.”

Neuvillette could only sigh in weariness, the silver engagement ring on his right ring finger glinting as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“make sure the goods arrive before dawn on tuesday.”

smiling mischievously you declared “i love you.”

even if this new life was quite different from your original character, no one could dispute how it fit you so well. even your former subordinates had only positive comments to make about how the domestic routine suited you. and you really wouldn't change a thing about it because you were never as happy as you were with the man who lay down beside you every night, and dawned with his arms tightly around you.

if anything, you wouldn't change anything in your life because that way you would never meet Neuvillette.

even if there was still so much difference between the two of you, there couldn't be a better relationship of companionship and understanding than that.

that must be the reason why that instead of running away again, you preferred to be caught.

[secret77778888]

Lukolaland: What would it take to pull me away?

DISCLAIMER: This is LUKOLALAND only. Do not read if you're not a shipper. This is PURE SPECULATION. No harm intended.

Once again, Lukolaland finds itself in disarray, with many shippers feeling disheartened and disappointed after Tifaine.red’s recent TikTok live. While this may have come as a shock to some, we must remember that much of this is not new, and it doesn't negate what we’ve witnessed over the years, particularly during the press tour. We know what we saw, and we can't unsee it.

The adjacent presence has lingered for nearly a year, yet it hasn’t changed much. It's clear that she isn’t the biggest threat, she's a young woman in love with someone who doesn’t seem to reciprocate those feelings. It’s not her fault; she didn’t realize what she was stepping into. While her insecurities and attempts to capitalize on the situation are frustrating, she’s not the main player here, the clock is ticking.

So why should we stay and wait for them to sort things out? Because what speaks volumes in the Luke and Nicola saga is everything that isn’t happening, everything that remains unsaid.

This situation could have been managed differently from the start. There were multiple opportunities for clear communication and professional handling, yet these were not taken. Nicola and Luke never said that they didn't love each other in a romantic way, they have said that they're friends in a complicated and very special way that blur the lines and is not easy for us to comprehend, they have acted all the time as lovers even when we couldn'ts see them and behind the scenes. This is confusing for who pays attention and we do. Luke could have introduced A as his girlfriend before the tour, during the tour or after the papgate, establishing the relationship publicly. He didn’t do it maybe because he doesn’t consider her as his girlfriend. He doesn’t have to discuss his private matters with the public, but a simple acknowledgement would have decrease passion and expectations. the initial shock to the fandom would have subsided over time, allowing everything to proceed with less speculation. The lack of these actions, combined with what has been done under apparent pressure, speaks volumes about the true nature of the situation. His adjacent has a small but public presence and she seems eager to be claimed and shared with the world as she is doing the most to make it known. It could have been less drama induced episode.

Luke and Nicola could have clearly stated that their relationship was strictly platonic, curbing the growing Lukola frenzy, they were always elusive or evasive on the subject leaving space for doubt and ambiguity. Their professional teams could have made clear statements to put an end to the speculation.

Many great creators in this fandom have faced criticism this week for their Lukola content. I understand that, to outsiders, it might seem strange for grown people to dedicate so much time to shipping people they don't personally know. I used to think the same way and never imagined I'd care so deeply about celebrities' love stories. However, not understanding something shouldn’t lead to attacks. If you believe we’re delusional, allow us to be so in our own corner of the internet. We aren’t harming anyone; we’ve simply built a community that celebrates real love. Those who don’t believe Lukola Love have no need to be here.

It might seem ridiculous to some, and they are free to think so, but it's unfair to create spaces just to mock us. This community has brought light, laughter, and joy to many of us. The only people who have the right to ask us to stop are Nicola and Luke themselves, and they haven’t done so, stating multiple times that they find it sweet, because the majority of this community is neither harmful nor toxic. We genuinely love and support them. We condemn harassment and attacks on them and strive to be respectful by staying in our own space and respecting their boundaries. If Nicola or Luke ever express discomfort or a desire to reassess those boundaries, most of us would comply or,would stop because, contrary to popular belief, we are functioning adults with full lives.

I might not have understood this before, but now that I'm part of it, I see why so many are touched by what we've witnessed, I feel the love, it’s rare, pure, and incredibly beautiful. I always liked Nicola, I always had a soft spot for Luke, but seeing them together has enhanced that feeling. I truly believe they’re better together as they love and help each other in many ways. Most of us recognize that having something so special is a blessing, almost miraculous. It's because we value love, especially in a world where it's often missing, that we feel compelled to celebrate, encourage, and nurture it whenever we see it.

I will only leave this ship if their relationship becomes toxic or if something truly inexcusable happens. As long as they maintain their bond, I’ll support them silently, even through other relationships, marriages, or kids. If they appear to be single and uncommitted, I will continue to support them openly in Lukolaland. Why? Because I want to believe in real love, it makes the world better.

[imakatperson22]

I’m back with more thoughts:

(It’s long but I put a lot of effort into it so please read!):

I’m seeing a lot of concern for buddie’s canon potential from a network/business standpoint. People are worried it will be too much of a gamble for the network to go all in on buddie. Let’s break that gamble down:

(This is considering the sole factor of network strategy and not whether the actors are willing to do it or if the writer’s choose to go down that road. For the sake of argument, let’s say everyone is on board except network execs.)

Let’s start by looking at the environment of the television industry. Back in ye olden days, at the dawn of modern fandom, queer ships were not ever expected to be canon. Those who shipped them had this understanding and shipping largely remained a thought experiment or creative inspiration. It was always JUST FOR FUN because there were no meaningful consequences to it. In this era, it probably would’ve been a bad bet to introduce a queer love story because we hadn’t reached a place in society where it was not only tolerated but rooted for by a meaningful amount of a show’s audience.

Today is an entirely different ball game. Today queer people have gained enough power in society and proven they will consume media involving queer romance enough to make it profitable to include these plots. Today, we as a community have enough allies who also have a desire to see our stories told. Coupled with internet fanfiction and social media platforms, we now have the opportunity to engage in a pseudo dialogue with those who produce content. Now, shipping and fandoms have reached a point where our voices and our opinions do actually have weight to them. Now, we have the opportunity to affect change to a piece of media. We have somewhat of a say. There are now consequences to our actions.

It’s a risk, yes, to get the two (until recently, presumably heterosexual) main macho male leads together because of homophobia. But this show already has a lesbian couple. The viewers who will leave if buddie gets together because “the writer’s turned them gay” are probably not the same fans who are tuning in every week without fail to watch their favorite characters. They’re more likely casual viewers. They come and go, drifting in and out because it’s something to put on in the background or because the rescues are interesting. So yes, it’s quite possible viewers abandon the show due to buddie canon, but these fans were likely not a solid, dependable group in the first place.

On the other hand, it IS also a gamble to NOT make Buddie canon. This is the (flag)ship (flagship ship?) of the show. Not every loyal viewer ships them, but probably most do, and they do so strongly. If they shut the door on Buddie becoming canon, this will absolutely alienate a hefty chunk of the shows viewers as well. If they don’t walk the line close enough on the “will they, won’t they”, these fans will get frustrated with the lack of payoff and leave. Gone are the days where fandoms stay satisfied if the show tosses them a crumb, a wink in their direction, for their ship because now the option for more is on the table. We know the network knows what we want. We know they see us asking for it. Ignoring it in and of itself is a decision. Competition is stiff and if you decide not to capitalize on fans’ desire for queer romance, they have other options. If they choose to not make buddie canon, many of these viewers will also abandon the show. The difference is this group is the one who’s coming back every week for their love of the characters. This group is the one generating the hype on social media and flooding the internet with fan edits. This group also attracts viewers.

So. Here we are. Two decisions. Both will cost fans. How many fans? Who knows. But only one will also attract them. And that’s the thing. Keeping the status quo isn’t going to generate hype around the show. Only one decision will bring new viewers in. How many people have we seen online say “I’ve never watched this show before, but now that I’ve heard about it, I’m curious.” How many of you reading this came to this show for that reason? We’ve already seen this happen with the bisexual Buck storyline. The ratings for that episode are the highest in the season. The internet is abuzz about it.

Another unique position the show finds itself in is that all the groundwork for a Buddie storyline has already been laid. They could easily avoid falling into the trap of shameless bad fan service because the ball is already tee’d up. They just need to knock it out of the park.

I firmly believe that making buddie canon, if the story is told with skill and care, is the right bet. I believe that not making buddie canon is a greater risk to the show’s revenue. From a business standpoint, buddie canon is the better choice. Whether or not the network execs choose to do so remains to be seen, but I have hope.

If you’re still here, thank you for reading. Here’s a cookie as your reward 🍪.

[inkyarcturus]

For my contribution for pride month I’d like to share my personal head canons for Harry Potter characters!!!

Harry Potter: I’m gonna be honest I project on this man far too unhealthily to NOT be biased (I’ve been going by the name Harry in IRLfor 3 and a half years now I think? Bc of this man /srs) but that man’s bi with a capital B 💕💜💙 personally I enjoy seeing trans man Harry as well but unfortunately I don’t see as many fanfics of him as such :,) shoutout to all the fanfic creators I see making Harry a trans woman tho!!! I’d also love to see a genderfluid/nonbinary Harry or two!!!

Hermione Granger: trans woman!!! 🏳️‍⚧️ *crowd cheers* as for sexuality wise? I’ve seen her depicted as straight, bisexual and lesbian- and honestly I think I can see her fitting all of these!!!

Ronald Weasley: I always struggle to pinpoint what I headcanon Ron to be. I have seen a couple of people headcannoning him as a trans man 🏳️‍⚧️- referencing Molly continuing to have children until she had a girl creates perfect levels of angst for this- but I wouldn’t say it’s a permanent aspect of him inside my head. Now that I think about him a little more- I think I might headcanon him as unlabeled more than anything sexuality wise. I think he’s into women but he wouldn’t be opposed or too surprised if he developed a crush on a guy.

Luna Lovegood: She’s a lesbian 🏳️‍🌈💕 (I will occasionally accept fanfics where she is pan and is with Neville but her being a lesbian is the main headcanon) also a little gender queer in whichever way you choose 🏳️‍⚧️ sometimes I see her as genderfluid, bigender and just generally nonbinary

Ginny Weasley: bi- so so bi 💕💜💙

Draco Malfoy: Gayest motherfucker in town I’m sorry- Mr. Tells his father literally everything about Harry 💚🤍💙

Remus Lupin: bi 💕💜💙 there’s no question about that in my mind, I think he has a small preference for men but that’s it!!!

Sirius Black: He switches between using the labels queer and gay but you know that man kisses other men!!! 💚🤍💙 I know a lot of people tend to headcanon him as genderfluid which I enjoy seeing but it’s never been a main stay headcanon for me :,)

Tonks: (She/they) Lesbian and Intersex 🏳️‍🌈💕💛🟣. I’m sorry but the age gap between Remus and her in the original books make me uncomfortable- as for being intersex, I think most ppl believe being a metamorphmagus means she is automatically genderfluid, while I like seeing genderfluid representation, I think ppl often fail to acknowledge the difference between sex and gender. As a metamorphmagus, she transforms her body, her gender doesn’t seem to change w it in the books. While I like the headcanons of them being genderfluid I wish more people explored that specific idea.

Severus Snape: queer? Queer. In every sense of the word. I think most people view him as bi 💕🟣💙 which I agree with (Lily and Mulciber, also absolutely headcanon him having a crush on both Lucius AND Narcissa) but also I think he’s a little bit gender funky- I mean just look at him- no one who stands like that isn’t just cis /ref. Sev absolutely painted his nails and did eyeliner, he absolutely wore a floor length black skirt and absolutely had days where mister hit wrong in all the right places and everyone in her group helped by doing tiny things like braiding her hair and putting bat clips in it for fun 🏳️‍⚧️

Anyways speed run round 🏃

💕🟣💙: Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang (has the fandom chosen a new name for her yet?) Bill Weasley

🧡💛🤍🩵💙: Charlie Weasley, Neville? (Didn’t think of this until just now but it’s growing on me?-)

🏳️‍🌈💚🤍💙: Dean thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Dumbledore (I may not like him that much but he is gay)

🏳️‍🌈💕: Minerva Mcgonagall, Poppy Pomfrey

If I missed anyone I’m sorry :,)

Anyways!!! Join if you’d like with your own headcanons!!!

@pottistic @marriso1 (If you guys don’t wanna join w ur own headcanons that’s okay! I thought this would just be fun :P)

[thechanelmuse]

How genealogy is used to track Black family histories

Our names are important to us. They tell us who we are and often, who we come from. So imagine suddenly discovering the last name you’ve always carried… might not actually be the name you should have. 

Alex Neason began looking into her family’s history after discovering her great grandfather’s name was different from what she believed for her whole life. In her search to discover the story of that last name, she enlisted genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith.

For Black Americans, genealogy can fill in the blanks left by the legacy of slavery and racism in the U.S. Services like the Freedmen’s Bureau and Slave Voyages provide free access to records and documents to help with that search. We talk about the power of genealogy in fostering knowledge and connection for Black Americans.

Source

If you click on the word “source,” it’ll take you to the article where you’ll see a LISTEN button. It’s a 30-minute audio that discusses the info provided in the article even further. Y’all know I’m big on getting people to trace their lineage. All that “we don’t know where we come from.” Who told you that? Everything in the US is in plain sight. Everything.

Discover your fam. 

I assist others when they reach a roadblock, like getting past the “1870 wall.” But you can’t beat the feeling of you discovering them on your own. Unearthing your history, seeing photos, reading stories that were stored, and saying their names that haven’t been said for centuries. I’ve been tracing mine (scanning, logging) since my family reunion in 2005 through oral family history and obituaries (those are records), and since 2011 through databases of US archived records like ancestry.com (purchased by BlackStone) and familysearch.org (free database owned by the Latter-day Saints Church). There are others, but those are the main two I use for comparative results.  

Archiving Centers, Census Records & Other Records

There are archiving centers in every state and DC that also keep records for those particular states and the federal capital. There’s a footnote on all records that tells you where they are housed. And please...Don’t just do a simple pedigree chart of your family tree. Get to know your great-aunts, great-uncles and cousins. It’s also helpful for seeing who lived around who (fam often lived next door to each other) and puts more of the pieces together of your complete family story. You can see the land and acres they owned or your fam today still owns, as well as if that land was stolen from them.

US census records go back to year 1790. Depending on when or if your ancestors were enslaved or free: you’ll find them attached to slave logs that have been made available online or kept in archiving centers (you go there), or or they’ll be listed on census records as free persons (1790-1710), free colored male/female (1820-1840), Black (1850-1920), Mulatto (1850-1890, 1910-1920) or Negro (1900, 1930-1950). “New” census documents are put on sites, like ancestry.com, every 10 years. As of 2023, you can only trace from 1950 to 1790. The 1960 census will be out in 2030. How to trace from 1950 to today, birth, death and residential records. So again, depending on the census year, you’ll notice your ancestors racial classification change throughout documents for obvious reasons. 

Keep in mind that the the largest slave trade for the United States was the domestic slave trade. In house human trafficking and selling (in addition to property insurance of enslaved people and the selling of enslaved people as the building block of Wall Street’s stock exchange) is how US capitalism was built. So just because you know a lot of your people are from Tennessee, for example, it doesn't mean that’s where that line stayed. I’ve found my ancestors throughout 7 states (so far). Another example, people with Louisiana roots damn near always have ancestors who were trafficked from early Virginia. Going beyond year 1790, records were kept in Christian and Catholic churches and old family history books so most of those documents are scanned online and/or still kept in the churches. I’m talking books books. 

If your ancestors walked the Trail of Tears, or were caught as prisoners of war or trafficked to Indian Nations to be enslaved, you’ll find an Oklahoma Indian Territory and Oklahoma Freedmen Rolls section on ancestry.com. You can discover more info on sites, like the Oklahoma Historical Society. (Every state has its own historical society for archived genealogical records.) 

Here’s the National Archives.

Also for Oklahoma, you may also find your ancestors in Indian Census Rolls (1855-1940) as [insert tribe] Freedmen, depending if they weren’t rejected through the “blood quantum” Dawes Rolls for not being the new light to white status. You’ll see their application and the listed questions & answers with or without a big void stamp. And on the census, you’ll even see the letter I (pronounced like eye) changed to the letter B. This is also for those in Louisiana.

Freedmen’s Bureau & Bank Records 

There were Freedmen’s Bureau records and Freedman’s Savings Bank records in other states. To see if your ancestors had their records in those systems, you can search by their name. The state and age will pop up with people having that name. It’ll give you a wealth of other info, like all of the kids and other fam if they were present or mentioned to the person who logged that info in. With the Freedmen Bank records, you can see how much money your ancestors put in there (that was later stolen from them by way of the United States government), which is still there today. It’s the biggest bank heist in US history (that they try to keep hush hush) with the equivalence of more than $80 million in today’s value stored in there today. Back then, it was valued almost close to $4 million. Stolen wealth met with bootstrap lectures. 

Here’s a short video on that heist:

Today the bank is called the Freedman's Bank Building, located right on Pennsylvania Ave. Plain sight. 

Trace your lineage. 

There’s a lot more that I can list. But this is just the basics. Like I said before, it’s a more rewarding feeling when you discover your ancestors by yourself. You may reach roadblocks. Take a break. Try going the “Card Catalog” route on ancestry.com’s search engine. Don’t skip the small details. 

SN: Slave Voyages isn’t a genealogical site, but rather a database for slave ship logs and the estimates of purchased Africans who became human cargo to be enslaved by country like USA, or by colonizers like Spain, Great Britain, etc.

[13thdoctorposts]

Picture me holding myself back from being pissy on main, as I see the 100th post about how "doctor who is just a silly campy show people don't love fun anymore" and the 50th post of "doctor who is always a little bit shit but we love it anymore its part of the charm". 13 era got ripped for every light joke and silly thing and its perceived flaws are evil and show destroying. Funny how that becomes "part of the show guyz" as soon as its any other era though.

Oh yeah there’s definitely a complete double standard that’s insane.

I never see the fandom dissecting previous Doctors episodes that haven’t aged well, yet 5 years later we’re still hearing about how 13 is a capitalist… even though if you listen to the Kerblam speech she actually says the ‘automation system’ she’s never talking about the capitalist system… so even though Charlie is talking about capitalism and blames technology… when capitalism is the problem… the Doctor is actually correct in her speech because it’s people exploiting the automation system that’s the problem in the episode. But no they need to hate on 13 and twist things.

And the CGI talk is the funniest thing I think that gets complained about…

For 13

13 era CGI is so bad…

Also for every other Doctor

Doctor Who CGI is meant to be bad that’s the charm of the show it shouldn’t look too polished. I hope it doesn’t become too good now with all the Disney money.

Honestly considering the ridiculously large budget they have now, and the fact that they said they have access to Marvels CGI tech I didn’t see much of a difference in the CGI then what we got in 13 era and what we got in the last 4 eps. I don’t see where that money and tech went.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

just finish hunger games movie series & screaming at songbirds n snakes bc it not just a prequel just to be prequel just for money just to put series name into people mouth again. or separate story that happen in same universe with mild connections but can be see as separate. but prequel that add so much extra depth n meaning to original. read live comments as watch & many posts by others, all help explain things to me n here some thoughts after

only watched 1 & 2 when younger n didn’t understand A Thing n it amazing rewatching n see how much missed n see how it. all not that hidden

all parallels…. obvious one be katniss/lucy gray but also, peeta/lucy gray, katniss/S (snow’s “friend” from school forgot spelling), katniss’ prim/tigress’ snow, katniss/snow, how songbirds n snakes plural n now snow n lucy gray both at same time, etc etc

end of movie lucy gray escape n snow can’t find, n go back to capital, n then line from old/original/“present day” snow.

n then IMMEDIATELY song from lucy gray to snow

imagine it as something song to snow, ringing around his ears his head, during katniss era, end of his presidency during rebel revolution, from full start of it at beginning of mockingjay where still think can win, to slowly, clearly him losing.

really. really want re-boot of original 3 but through snow perspective because. truly want see his reaction to all lucy gray parallels. n parallels with younger him… “similar situation but produce vastly different result”. see katniss first volunteered, see her name. what went on mind when first saw her mockingjay pin. when katniss mention places at 12 he went to with lucy gray. when mockingjay became full rebel symbol. when katniss sing lucy gray song (n not knowing who it from but song survives).

n. if lucy gray able see it. her reaction to katniss & to snow’s reaction to katniss.

“Oh, you think I'm gone 'cause I left / But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze” n it so true n that song absolute perfect (always heard this line as “you think i’m gone because i *lived*” n honestly like that better)

don’t find it as “corruption arc” or story about how snow turn evil from good to evil because circumstances but more of. it in snow all along & he actively chose all choices that lead him to this, when given choice he chose self over others all along (like him help lucy gray in game doing that whole time because for himself for his benefit). n movie show him amateur school boy do that -> grow into him professionally doing that. as game master (think it implied at end he become one?). n as president

mockingjay (entire main series but especially out in open in mockingjay) not meant to be just another action based movie with hero leader in charge inspire all & defeat bad guys n how good will beat evil in end. n if go into it expect it be another one of those going be disappointed n find boring. katniss from very beginning been victim & child who pushed to be this “hero” be seen as one unwillingly & not realize it & not want it. didn’t enjoy some mockingjay film choices & it confusing & find pacing weird (find most films split into parts have weird pacing) but ultimate story think it way it meant to be

what typically would expect is after katniss go to 13, would be hail as hero by crowd put in leadership position & all respect from coin & coin willingly step down n say how been waiting reserving this for katniss all along hope she come to. n katniss willingly naturally get into that lead role n lead resistance n ultimately win n capture bad guy n now new era of totally completely different… except it none of that. subversion of trope absolute perfect

instead all that, instead at front of line of fire. katniss be front of camera.

n how even more real it is… wondering how much… (not much) would be different after “revolution” from snow to coin.

coin proposing new hunger games… all while pretending choose word so carefully so delicately. revolution in truest sense—revo-, around, 360 degree, back where started.

really think snow’s reaction at end of mockingjay well done. his conversation with katniss in plant place. him bursting out laughing when katniss shot coin instead of him.

n now after watch songbirds & snakes. double think so.

[undergroundbillions]

Reblogged the post again about people wanting to make a new Raggedy Ann show, and boy do I have more thoughts!

I will. I admit. Sort of vague posting about specific ideas I've heard but at the same time I mean this to be a general statement and not criticism of anything in particular. It's just a trend that frustrates me.

What I see in a lot of suggested adaptations is a wide departure from not only superficial ideas of the characters and plot, but core themes that made up the very idea of the franchise. They were always, from the beginning, a little girl's toys brought to life with the imagination of her and her father, and when I see many concepts removing Marcella or any form of family from the story altogether, it makes me sad.

Because it marks the shift from the Raggedies as dolls who are alive, to the Raggedies as characters who also happen to be dolls.

In my personal opinion, that is one of the main issues plaguing the raggedy media that released post-70’s. People saw the two siblings themselves as the marketable entities, and the rest didn’t matter. It contributes to the flanderization of the characters and the stories as a whole, each generation of media getting us farther and farther away from the original concept as they pick only the most marketable bits. Natural selection via capitalism. Diluted into abstraction. Raggedy Ann is a franchise running on fumes at this point, all it has is that vague sense of nostalgia that gets fainter and fainter each passing generation.

It’s a similar thing to what has happened to the Winnie the Pooh franchise, they completely removed Christopher Robbin and most portrayals of the characters don’t go to any lengths to show that they were originally stuffed animals. But at least Pooh and his friends live in their own little fantasy world where removing the humans doesn’t make much of a difference. Raggedy Ann lives in our world.

And I’m not someone who thinks things always have to be exactly the same, I’d love to see new adaptations that play around with the setting!!! And the characters!!! And designs!!! And sure, the later books are more fantastical and usually take place outside in the Deep Deep Woods. But most people don’t even consider them in their plans.

It's clear many people's idea of the franchise is based on the movie, which is fair!!! The movie is in my opinion one of the better adaptations which manages to get the feel and charm of the characters being dolls and follow the themes of Camel With the Wrinkled Knees while still being it's own thing. Just like Gruelle's book it's wandering and nonsensical and goofy and the siblings get thrown from one wacky interaction to the next. It's a piece of raggedy media through and through, but I don't see much attention towards what makes it that way.

And I have to say, unfortunately, that many of these proposals remind me of one infamous piece of raggedy media, the 80's CBS cartoon. And I know the CBS series is bad for other reasons, of course. The writing sucks, the animation is worse, and the voice acting is grating. But. On top of all that, it doesn’t feel like a piece of Raggedy Ann media to anyone familiar with Gruelle’s work. There’s nothing that connects it to any of the franchise besides the existence of these characters, you could just swap them right out and it wouldn’t make any difference.

Same with the Chuck Jones specials. Sure, there are personality traits that follow, but they aren’t anything unique. You could put any characters in there.

Making a piece of raggedy media with no knowledge of what made the original books so timeless, I feel at best, you're going to make something like the Chuck Jones specials, and at worst, the CBS animated series. And to quote mod wowf: "and you're not Chuck Jones".

So. Idk. If you're going to make a proposal for a new piece of Raggedy Ann media, I think one should ask themselves why Raggedy Ann. We've had plenty of adaptations where the answer to that question was "they're popular", and I don't put much more trust in "I like them". It's not a criticism of anyone's specific ideas, I just don't think anyone is going to bother if the thing you're giving them is what they've already grown tired of. The siblings go on silly adventures, sure, but wasn't this originally about a little girl and her poppa who loved making up stories about her dolls? Is that not compelling anymore?

-𝕸𝖔𝖉 𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝕯.

P.S. I say this out of affection. I want people's projects to succeed and I want them to be well appreciated by people outside the fandom and I want them to change the public perception of Raggedy Ann for the better! And that's why I have Opinions.

P.P.S. This is about efforts to make an honest-to-goodness licensed Raggedy Ann TV show or similar media. Not fanworks. Make more fanworks always and regardless and don't listen to me.

[atopvisenyashill]

I seriously don’t get people who cling to the key fiver argument . It’s cringe to me actually. I keep coming across random posts on Twitter about how “sAnSa iSnT iMpOrTaNt bEcAusE sHe IsNt aPaRt oF tHe kEy fIvE HAHAH sHe’s IrReLeVaNt!!” Meanwhile grrm has stated he was mostly making shit up through that outline and that characters have “changed along the way; + he’s since named sansa as a main POV and central to the story in various interviews but weirdos still cling to Sansa not bearing any actual importance to the narrative and uhhh only exisiting as a foil to Arya or something ?? And the tumblr blogs dedicated to the key fives as well 💀when Sansa is mentioned in a gifset she’s almost always a handmaiden to Dany or Arya or something . It’s just frustrating that a lot of certain (not all) stans continue to understate Sansa’s importance to the story . It’s tough constantly having to defend Sansa online!!

Yeah what’s frustrating about that is that it’s often used to dismiss WOMEN but never MEN (which like,,,,, to be fair I also find it deeply annoying when people say that like, Theon isn't important to the story and is going to die immediately in TWOW, but that's a different convo than the Key Five bullshit. No one is out here going "well theon isn't key five so he's going to die sorry" ya know). Sansa specifically, but I have on occasion seen it towards Brienne, Catelyn, and Arianne - oh they’re “not important” so they’re going to die unceremoniously in the next book, all four of them. And never mind that when you look at The Most Chapters, Sansa and Catelyn are number five and six?? AHEAD OF NED??? Are we aruging Ned isn't important simply because he's not "key five" and has less chapters than some of his kids? Especially because Bran is part of the "key five" but he has less chapters than Sansa! Like, are we saying her entire story in the capital is "unimportant" even though she gives us great insight into politics happening here? Are we saying the Vale isn't important??

"oh well they can be important and not Key Five" the thing is George himself has gone on record saying he doesn't like outlines because he prefers to just see where the story takes him, that he was just making shit up for that outline, because it was about getting the contract and not about actually outlining the story! he straight up says he's basically disregarded the outline! So while it's certainly an interesting peek into how the story came into being, it's not a road map!!! It shouldn't be taken as gospel!!!! Yeah, he's said he's known the details since the 90s, but I think it's more that once he actually started to write the book he had an idea of where he was going to go, aka after he moved past the outline. I mean hell, look at some of the early outlining and drafts for like, lord of the rings - there are some similarities but there are major changes in plot, in names, because sometimes you're just not sure where you're going until you're on that road so to speak. I know it's crazy to say, but I think all of the POV characters are important...that's why they have a PoV! I know!!! Mind blown!!!!!

[h-ayata]

𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚

In addition to my recent little doodle of Francis on the balcony.

@alodospos was a main writer of this piece, she's amazing give her some love😭❤

ᵀʰᶦˢ ᶦˢ ʰᵘᵐᵃⁿ ᵃᵘ ᶠʳᵃⁿᶜᶦˢ ˣ ⱽᶦᵒˡᵉᵗ (ᵐʸ ᵒᶜ), ˢʰᵒʳᵗ ˢˡᶦᶜᵉ ᵒᶠ ˡᶦᶠᵉ.

Summer in the heart of the French capital can squeeze the life of its citizens like wringing out a wet cloth. Intense heat leaves people dry and lifeless at best. Everyone has their own way of coping with it, but the higher you live the harder it becomes to bear the scorching weather. The pair of our blond haired people have completely different approach to sun and temperatures, Violet is definitely more sustainable than her neighbor. This day was particularly annoying with its heat but when the day was finally setting to rest, and evening air filled out the Paris, it was finally the time for long awaited cigarette. First, wearing only shorts, the Frenchman settled on the balcony, bringing out the lighter and starting his little ritual. For him it was almost spiritual, to inhale the cancerous substances like they’re exquisite perfumeries and swallow he smoke like his lover’s aftertaste. Living in this brief moment he zoned out so much that he almost overlooked sudden movements on the balcony next to him. This is when a female voice pierced the air and sweetened the bitterness of cigarette

—Oh, myy, do my eyes deceive me? — She asked playfully, taking her first breath into the cig —I thought you died — Small smirk composed with clever eyes, so well integrated with her bright but tired face of a worker. She scanned his half bare body, no surprise in this weather, however she never saw this boy like that, and the growth on his face? That’s also new. It's been a while, even if their doors were next to each other.

— Good afternoon, and yeah, almost, I’m currently dying— He laughed softly while turning his body to face his neighbor. Correct, this man absolutely hates weather like that, so they hardly ever see each other in summer. His heat tolerance is basically non existent. So ironic.

—Yeah I can see that — She nodded while scanning his pretty body with her weary eyes. She had a fondness for everything that's beautiful, so looking was one way to appreciate it. They weren't close, but she wasn't blind. Even if her smile was full of tease.

—Careful, don’t fall in love — Francis joked when he saw how piercing those eyes can really be, not that he’s complaining. Starved for attention as always, but only a fool wouldn't take advantage of it.

—Sorry, I have someone else on my mind already - She smiled and approached him by standing closer to man’s balcony.— but speaking of the weather, I 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 go out every now and then, you really need a special temperature.

He only rolled his eyes and once again turned to face the Eiffel’s tower. —You really notice things like that, huh?

—Pfh, hard not to! You’re always complaining when I ask where have you been. „Ah it was too hot!”, „it was sooo cold”, „you didn’t see how windy it was?”

—Okay, you got me there - He admitted reluctantly, chuckling softly, learning how easily others could read things about him. Interesting, really. Hands rose in the act of giving up and more smoke poisoned those two - What can I say? I’m a bit picky.

—My condolences to anyone who asks you on a date. I hope they are lucky with the weather - Violet laughed softly, biting the white end of the cigarette, when her attention caught poor, dried out flowers in the flower pot on his balcony. Almost completely fried by the sun. Her plant loving heart just got punched —You should really pick some flowers, so the new ones could grow. And maybe water them more. Poor things are almost dead..

—That’s why I’m the one asking on them— He joked back and looked on sad bushes. Oh yes, he always forgets to water them, poor little plants.. He got them as a gift and still couldn’t care for them properly. Francis starts to feel like it’s some sort of a curse on him. It's was a bit irritating to see how creatures he adored so much were dying on him like flies.—Oh, yeah.. Thanks for the advice.

He smiled softly and she replied with the same. The rest of the conversation was little useless chitchat about work and their plans for the heatwaves. Finally Francis squished his addiction on the ashtray and both said their goodbyes. Meetings like this are happening once in a while. There was a time when he spotted his neighbor laying on the sunbed tanning her skin on her balcony. Is this woman made of fire?

"You'll get cancer because of this sun." He joked.

"And you'll die because of the cigarettes." She said with a smile, not even flinching.

"Touché."

Who knows how much time is going to pass until they meet again? How many sunsets and sunshines will pass, how many boiling summer days? Weeks? So close to each other but it sometimes feels like they are on two different planets. They'll finally collide due to some unfortunate events in Violet’s life. Will they put their differences aside and communicate? Or will lion swallow a little pigeon?

Who knows, those summer nights still hide many secrets.

[roo-bastmoon]

The Final Word on This, Please

To the person in my inbox who keeps using a throw-away account to send me variations on the theme that Tae has been pushing Taekook since LA Live because he has to be the main character and can’t stand to share the spotlight with Jikook…

Please slow your roll. I’m not going to publish any of your asks.

*Sigh* You are really moving like a troll, but because I believe there’s a human being behind every screen, and you seem really emotional right now, I will try to answer some of your questions with as much patience, logic, and compassion as I can muster—once.

Then I am sending you on your way, because this conversation ultimately cannot lead to any conclusions and it is so draining.

I appreciate that because Taehyung is mentioning hanging out with JK a lot, you are upset on Jimin’s behalf—but have you seen Jimin upset about any of this? (I mean, there was a small moment in the Chuseok live, when Tae was stroking JK’s hair, and Jimin gave him a bit of LOOK, and Tae stopped.)

But Jimin has never once looked super pressed or jealous or sad or sulky about Tae and JK’s bond. He was sitting right there when Tae rested his head on JK’s leg during Busan rehearsals, totally unbothered by the intimacy of that gesture. If anything, he seems very relaxed and super adoring of both Jungkook and Taehyung.

Maybe it’s because he’s not online much to see what all is happening as a result. Maybe he just doesn’t care what other people think because Tae has proven himself trustworthy no matter what. (For all we know, Vminkook could have a pact to feed all ships a little bit to keep suspicion off actual relationships. Or they just do whatever they feel like and don’t care a fig about ships. We don’t know. We don’t actually know these guys and it’s so easy to forget that.)

Consider what we DO know about Kim Taehyung:

--He went to Big Hit to encourage a friend at his audition and ended up getting the role. That suggests he’s opportunistic, but maybe the friend was totally fine with it? I think we can all agree that in any case, all 7 members are absolutely essential for BTS to work. It’s almost like it was destiny.

--He pranks ARMY all the time, with that sharpie marker tattoo and such. I know it can feel like he’s making fools of us… But that could just be his sense of humor?

--He shares snippets of recordings or Insta posts and then deletes it, and has said he feels “like a different person” every few moments, so he doesn’t like what he was a few moments ago and then gets rid of it. Maybe he’s still finding his way as a person or an artist? Maybe he’s feeling a bit insecure about being judged?

--He mentions JK very frequently these days. So maybe he’s feeding Taekookers. I suspect he knows his impact even if that's not his intention. But maybe he’s just happy to share something he knows ARMY will want to hear about?

Consider that he also shares Christmas songs and New Year’s wishes and pics of Yeontan and food and photoshoots and other stuff too. He hyped up Jimin’s VIBE. I think he’s using social media the way most twenty-somethings do. He tells us a bit about his day, a bit about his work, and throws in a random song he likes or whatever. But being in BTS means everything gets super analyzed.

So yeah, he’s named dropped JK like 6 or 7 times in the last few months—and I suspect it has to do with some insecurity around the dating scandal and others being in the news, because he doesn’t namedrop Jimin or Hobi, but we know he hangs out with them, too—but I cannot say for sure what’s really going on. He could just be talking about whatever is top of mind, and that happens to be JK. They ARE close. They have a valid bond. They always have. None of this hanging out stuff is remotely new.

--Another possibility is that it’s time for some contract negotiations, and having plenty of social media engagement is the best capital to leverage getting your way. Maybe he wants a Taekook subunit. Maybe he wants to collab with “controversial” artists of other companies. Maybe he wants to do more film work than just guest star on cooking shows and Squid Game. Maybe he’s trying to get a better monetary deal, or convince the company to actually step up its promo efforts and shipping schedules, which impact charts. Maybe this is a purely business calculation. So he's posting a lot of things he think will get people to engage. (Maybe it’s a really genuine friendship that has been through the ringer the last few years, and he’s eager to show they’ve repaired things and are now close again.)

--Please do not lose sight of the fact that over the years, he’s consistently shown us that he really loves Jimin. I don’t know if he loves Jimin more than he loves himself, per se, but… I think he DOES love Jimin (or else he deserves an Oscar for the longest, bestest con of all time).

He flat-out said he likes Jimin the most. He wrote Jimin the most beautiful and vulnerable letter in which he apologized that Jimin was always the one who gave the most. He bought Jimin his first designer gift. He was the only one to update us when Jimin was in the hospital for a week. He follows Jimin to the goddamn bathroom. He unreservedly wrote to Jimin he loved him on his birthday. Kim Taehyung loves Park Jimin. Count on it.

Now, I’m not saying you can’t hurt the ones you love—of course you can. But you keep coming to my inbox, stating his motives like you know it for a fact. And he could very well totally ignore the insane I-ARMY cult that drags Jimin and just think he’s giving the normal fans something they enjoy by updating them about a member who has been practically MIA since the White House. *shrug*

Whatever it is that is going on, Tae has the most followers online. He’s got global recognition. He’s got excellent taste in music and fashion. He has a solid industry network and fanbase. He’s set. He could drop an album that consists solely of him humming and playing the kazoo with his left nostril, and the majority of ARMY will get behind it.

But I suspect right now, for him, sitting in the chair and banging out the work is a real struggle for him. He may be choking on indecision. He may feel overwhelmed with pressure. He may be scared of criticism. He may be burnt out because let’s face it, BTS has been in a nonstop whirlwind even during the pandemic.

So what does he do? He games, and goes bowling, and jet-sets around the world on side projects with friends, and whatever else… and sometimes Jungkook joins in (probably mostly online, or in groups—but maybe also sometimes just the two of them, like with Minimoni or Jihope). I'm sure he'll get back to his album as soon as he's creatively restored.

Hanging out doesn’t mean either Tae or JK are disloyal or hurting Jimin. You cannot know this for a fact.

All it means is that the cult has fodder to bark and act a fool. But they do that regardless, so don’t pay them your energy; don’t give them real estate in your mind.

Listen, 27 is a trying time for any young person. But for a global super star under a microscope? He’s probably under the kinds of stress we will never begin to understand. He probably feels like he can never please everyone, so he might as well please himself. And if he sometimes stirs up a little chaos, that may be how he releases some of that internalized pressure.

Am I THRILLED he comes online almost every time Jimin or JK are in the spotlight and implies Taekook is real? Nope. Honestly, nope, I don’t like it. Especially not when Dispatch feels the need to write an article about it. I’m human and I have my limits. So I admit, it doesn’t feel great. Just like with the trumpet, or temporary tattoo, or fake names he’s given to strangers in the past, I think he’s pulling our legs off. And I personally could easily interpret that as disdain for his fans. That’s how I, Roo, 43-year-old American female, feel about it.

Doesn’t make it the reality, nor his intent.

We could be way overthinking here.

At the end of the day, we only see a tiny, tiny, TINY fraction of these guys’ real lives. But from all that we DO see, there’s no bad blood, no weird tension. The maknae climb all over each other like puppies still. The hyungs are all super protective and fond still. BTS tells us over and over they want to be together for as long as they can. Jikook is still Jikook, even if they aren’t sharing any personal info these days.

So whatever is going on in fandom when Taekook starts to trend, I don’t think we can say that Tae is having a negative impact on Jikook or BTS in real life. I just don’t think we’ve got evidence of that. From what we can see, the guys all seem fine.

What we do have evidence of is the ruiners feeling like they have a greenlight to keep on ruining things for everyone who doesn’t see things their way. IT SUCKS. Guard your energy, that’s all I can tell you. Because even if JK popped online right now and looked right in the camera and said, “Taekook is a friendship only. Please stop seeing signs and wonders everywhere. Tae and I are just friends.”

The cult would still never believe his own words. They’d say the company forced him. That he’s being blackmailed. That it’s a prank. That they have to be closeted because of the military. That he’s foregoing his relationship in order to make deals to launch his solo career. That he’s been brainwashed. God only knows what excuses they would make. But he can't win, here.

The nutters won’t take him at his word, because they’ve never really cared what any of these boys has said or done in the past, either. They only take in whatever supports their theory, and they abandon any evidence that does not.

Jikook could come out right now and it wouldn’t stop the ruiners—but it would ruin things for them, their members, their company and staff, plus their military experiences.

Which is why, as a Jikooker (I assume you are one), it’s really crucial for you to take in all possible content and evidence WITHIN CONTEXT, run things by older ARMY, and check yourself when you’re being emotional. This is a good thing to discuss with your friends in a private group chat, not rant about in inboxes or on public blogs.

But whatever you do, please DON’T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. You are welcome to your thoughts and your feelings, but anyone who states things like they KNOW what is really happening under the surface is lying (to themselves, at best).

Ultimately you will make yourself crazy. (I do not mean this as a jibe, but you sound a bit unhinged in your messages. I didn’t delete this last one because I’m genuinely starting to worry for you, here. You’re too close to this. You are having a disproportionate response to the situation. It’s BTS, not a cancer diagnosis.)

Please, PLEASE shift your focus to what brings you joy, okay?

For me, I like to remember JK whispering nonsense in Jimin’s ear in the Seoul concert, or his hand seeking Jimin’s hip under his shirt or lifting him up in Memories 2021, or the way he and Jimin sometimes wear each other’s sweaty hats. I love that he only posted for Jimin’s birthday, and a thirst trap at that! I like to remember him calling Jimin “genius-Min” or his robot-cat ears perking up when Jimin danced, or singing and clapping with pure joy when it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Jimin at the Busan Concert. I like to recall how eager he was to let everyone know he had seaweed soup on Jimin’s day, too.

I like to remember that all three of these boys share a bowl of ramen, a sofa, and information about each other’s farts—and they do it without so much as a flinch.

There’s real love there. Bonds that will last a lifetime.

No matter WHAT the relationship statuses are. Maybe no ships are real. Maybe ships have shifted. Maybe Jikook are just being quiet because they are real and have a shit-ton to lose before military service, whereas Taekook is being loud because there’s no there, there. Maybe the polyshippers are right and Bangtan gets together once a full moon to indulge in a giant orgy (JK is in charge of the mood lighting and music.)

*stares off into the distance, imagining it*

Look, my dear. The truth is, they cannot tell us everything that goes on. But if we can trust them when they do tell us, that would be good.

I trust that JK and Tae are close and do hang out (as friends).

I trust that Jungkook will keep holding Jiminie.

I trust that the best part of Jimin’s day is waking up to see Jungkookie.

What else really matters?

Please be kind, to yourself, to others who aren’t comfortable speculating about this, and to all the members. They are human. They are gonna make mistakes, be selfish sometimes, act out of anxiety or stress other times. But they are all good people who love each other.

Please trust in that.

And now get out of my inbox and go do something that brings you a sense of peace and bliss. Okay? *hugs* I mean it, I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. Please appreciate the boundary I’m setting, and go in peace.

Yours,

Roo

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

Solarpunk Naiveté?

Solarpunk opts for optimism—and action—over despair, but sometimes I wonder if we are just being naïve. It’s not just that most people don’t want what we want, which is a change on par with the Industrial Revolution, but for the sustainable, livable, and socially just, including the extinction of capitalism, patriarchy, and gender essentialism. We think that all we have to do is show how fun! (etc) the future could be to win over hearts and minds of the close minded and fearful who want to anchor us in the status quo or even drag us back into the past. But it’s not the poor (at least if we get our way), it’s the difficult, selfish, and sociopathic who will always be with us. These are the people that our currently crumbling democracies have failed to remain eternally vigilant against. These are the people who are the main obstacle to progress toward that beautiful future we’re dreaming of. But what do we do about them? What strategies do we have to take the sting out of the people whose sole intentions are to disrupt, destroy, seize power, and sow misery?

These people are rare and yet legion. We all know at least one. I mean, show me a family—or a workplace—that doesn’t contain at least one psychopath gleefully and intentionally capable of causing chaos and pain. A lot of us have had our lives upended by such people and/or carry deep wounds. I would definitely be a different, stronger person than I am now if it wasn’t for the things such people have done to me and to members of my family, even several generations in the past.

You’d think that would have armed me against such people. But over and over again I have found that if you’re not Machiavellian yourself, it’s all but impossible to counteract the willfully, savagely destructive. I don’t know about you, but I suspect, like me, you are just not devious enough to block, dodge, or defang their schemes. Which is the better way to be! But it means that we always think we’ve seen the worst these people can do and that there are no further horrors to come. Of course, we’re almost always wrong, at least until, having shattered us badly enough, they drop us as a plaything. Then, such is our propensity for amnesia and our belief in the goodness of the human heart, we forget that there are countless others like these people out there. And although we know that they blow through norms and fail to negotiate in good faith, our pitifully normal little brains will never really get our heads around what that means, except in hindsight… every time.

Or maybe I am a particularly lacking in guile.

So, anyway, here I have been, despite all my bad experiences with bullies and psychopaths, dreaming my cheerful little solarpunk dreams where everyone can just see how good it would be to be excellent to each other and stop fucking up the environment. I talk to people I like talking to—meaning people who see the world very much the way I do—and my social media encounters are largely confined to a hopelessly progressive Instagram feed and the soft, rolling hills of Mastodon, where everyone is so earnestly woke. So I forgot we’re not all in this together.

My rude reawakening came after I happened to stumble across the farmers’ huge protest here in Germany that happened the other week. As one does with impressive events, I shot a short video and posted it to YouTube. (You are subscribed to our new channel, right?) Thus was I slapped back into reality. By trolls, of course. Not even many and not even particularly ferocious ones. Just a couple of them making some run of the mill disparaging comments designed to sow discord and undermine my credulousness, rather than start actual discussions.

Yes, particularly guileless little fluffball that I am, I was shocked by this. My video was pretty neutral... and less than a minute long. I pointed out that the way farmers are farming is ruining the environment, but I also pointed out that it’s wrong that they’re not being paid a fair price for the food they produce for us. If I was criticizing anything, it was the whole messed up system that so grossly underpays farmers it pushes them to overproduce food by pumping the soils full of pesticides and fertilizers and housing inhumane ghettos of livestock that only sees the light of day on the way to the slaughterhouse. But I got savaged for being a hypocrite... for eating food. And that’s when you remember that there are so many people out there who aren’t interested in solving problems. They’re in it to win, or to bully people, or—in the case of, say, Russian trolls—to destabilize the society of their self-identified enemies (in this case, Germany and the rest of the democratic world). Dividing and conquering, right?

So, dear solarpunks and everyone else who’d like to avoid a dystopian very near future, how do we neutralize the destructive effects of people like this? Especially when the “fight” is asymmetric, because we can’t resort to Machiavellianism, bullying, or steamrolling over norms in return?

Comment below... I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! Provided, of course, that you’re not just in it to troll.

[sociallyanxious-eros]

The Inevitable Entrance of Bigots into the Pagan Community

Did you know that one of the philosophical basis of Fascism is the idealization of the past and the rejection of anything considered modern?

Before explaining and showing all of that, I want to make clear my intentions with this post. I was doing small research about what the witch community was up to these days, the discussions being made, the conflict of ideas, and stuff like that, so I ended in a text explaining the differences between Revivalists, Neopagans, and Reconstructionists. I won’t be explaining each one here, I will focus more on Reconstructionists because this one is where things can get tricky. For instance, reconstructionists try to revive and bring back ancient religions as closely as possible and emulate them as close as possible. 

When I read about this I thought to myself “Wait, why does it look like Fascism?”, but, as always with that stuff, we need to check the context, so I went after and discover that: it is Fascism, except when it isn’t. So I’m writing this to help people identify when it is Fascism and when it isn’t, and also to people be careful when they’re writing about these topics.

So let's start with the more obvious things, why the eagerness to bring back ancient religion could be a Fascist sign? To answer that I’ll bring some historical facts.

First of all, I’m talking about Fascism as an ideology, as a movement, I’m not referring to types of fascism here, like Italian fascism, nazi fascism (German), or Integralismo (Brazil), each fascism has its types of characteristics because of the country and political scenario it was trying to be applied, however, Fascism (with capital F) has its own basis, 2 of these are:

Chauvinism - the belief that your nation/race is superior and/or more virtuous and, therefore, should be the only one to exist

Conservatism - a political philosophy that seeks to preserve and promote traditional values

I only mentioned the 2 that are important to what I’m talking about here, but know that there is more, also, Conservatism wasn’t a main topic of Fascism until the 20th Century, which means, is a Neo-Fascist thing, however, Conservatism is exactly what attracts so many bigots to ancient religions.

Also, there are people who are conservatives but aren’t fascists, however, they’re both bigots so doesn’t really matter here. 

But, let me make this very clear, enjoying and/or liking ancient religions does not mean someone is a fascist, so let me talk about the context and other signs:

Someone is spreading fascist/conservative ideology if:

They say modern society has degenerated

They say ancient culture/values/religion are the truthful Western culture

They idealize the past and call it “golden times”

They’ll say ancient art was beautiful and compromised with beauty, while modern art is ugly and/or disgusting

They’ll say they came to help restore good Western Culture

They talk a lot about Western culture and how it has lost its meaning

They love to hate modern art and call it degenerate

They’ll use the word “degenerate”

Someone just like ancient history/culture and is not a bigot if:

They have no problem with any modern religions/cultures

They’ll talk about other cultures without criticizing them to value the “golden ancient time”

They don’t idealize the past as a peak of society's values

They don’t try forcibly to bring back the past to the detriment of existing cultures

They don’t call modern art/culture degenerate just because they think ancient art it’s really the valuable one

You must have noticed that I used the term “ancient culture” or even “the past”, but didn’t specify which one. This is because each Fascism movement and even each conservative has a different ancient culture/religion to idealize. Neo-nazis, for example, have already appropriated Vikings runes, and celtic symbols, like the Black Sun, it’s common to see nazis create this idealization of the Viking man as if it was the best and only example of true masculinity. Here in Brazil, fascist movements like Bolsonarismo, idealized the period of 1964 to 1985, the period of the military dictatorship.

However, is important to say, that when a bigot is just conservative they’ll probably idealize Christianity and/or the crusades, if they’re fascist, but don’t rely on a specific segment, they’ll probably idealize ancient Roman and/or Greek mythology.

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Now I’ll bring some examples of clear Fascist ideology being spread that sometimes people won’t notice:

These types of profiles:

These types of posts: (notice the way of saying that “art used to be good”)

The vaporwave aesthetic as a whole:

These types of memes:

The idea that Western society has lost its meaning and “degenerated” because of [insert oppressed group here] is Fascism 101, babes.

The rejection of Modern Art

I’ll open this last topic just to talk about art a little bit more because one of the best examples of fascism rejecting “modernity” is the demonization of modern art. In 1937 the nazi party organized in Germany the exhibition “Degenerate Art Exhibition”, just by the name I think you know what it’s about. It was just pieces of art considered “degenerated” or “garbage”. Some of the works there, as expected, were just pieces made by jewish, roma artists, or anyone that was being killed by this disgusting government. Others were just Expressionism art, or any other piece that didn’t fit the “beauty” criteria this absurd ideology was so obsessed about.

Conclusions

As I said at the beginning of this post, my intention with this isn't to point fingers or to call anyone a fascist/conservative, I want people to easily identify when the text they’re reading is just conservative/fascist garbage, and be careful to not spread this discourse even more.

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Resources

Wikipedia Pages:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_Art_exhibition Degenerate Art Exhibition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism Conservatism

Documents/Texts:

https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/ADL%20Hate%20on%20Display%20Printable_0.pdf Hate on Display: Hate Symbols Database (notice how many occult runes and sigils were appropriated from ancient religions)

Videos:

https://youtu.be/Sx4BVGPkdzk How to Recognize a Fascist by ContraPoints

https://youtu.be/v5DqmTtCPiQ Who’s Afraid of Modern Art: Vandalism, Video Games and Fascism by Jacob Geller

https://youtu.be/T6EOVCYx7mY Is Art Meaningless? by Philosophy Tube (if you want to know some fun things about art)

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Special Section to Brazilians

https://youtu.be/3qNmIXaFSr8 Integralismo, estudo de caso sobre o fenômeno fascista por História Pública (tenho algumas discordâncias com ele, mas esse vídeo é bom)

[annonniiiiieeeee]

ann you don’t understand, i live for a leo and mona friendship, hunger games au or not

Oh then your going to love them in my main story line. I don’t have time right now for Lisa’s story but I got a lot of it planned out.

I love Leo and Lisa as friends.

I love the idea of Leo being Raph’s biggest supporter when it comes to his girlfriend. He and Lisa get on like a house fire.

Leo gives her hints on things Raph likes and then turns around and gives Raph date ideas.

Like I adore Leo and Lisa friendship.

Like I said I got a whole friendship arch planned for them in the future.

I’m also having a lot of fun with the two of them being big supporters of each other in the hunger game au.

Leo is her mentor there. He might be a year younger but he helps her a lot.

She really appreciates him. It would have been easy for him to ignore her and just focus on being his brother home, but he gave her the same amount of help. He secured her sponsor and gifts in the arena. Most people would have left her to her own devices and worked to save their family member.

Once Raph admits his crush she thinks maybe that’s why Leo helped her. And it is a little bit but it’s also because Leo couldn’t abandon anyone.

I think after the games. After this star crossed lovers story line saved their lives. After she and Raph are together (I think she always noticed him but didn’t realize what she was feeling till he said something. Then she was like oh no I like him to but we’re about to go into the arena :( ) her and Leo start hanging out.

She is the only other person besides their family living in victor village and Leo definitely spends time with her. Beside Raph they are the only ones in town who understand each others trauma.

Leo defiantly goes with them on their victory tour. Mona really appreciates him being there as he’s great at couching them through interviews and makes sure the speech cards Big Mama writes for them aren’t to horrible.

She might also notice a certain bunny victor that greats them at one of the districts who is

Very different from his public image. He’s suppose to be the capital city heart throb. And while he is being a perfect gentleman, if a little flirty, he is also very sweet to Leo.

Leo is also acting like the two are old friends

This is her first suspension that Leo and Usagi could be a couple (they aren’t yet. Usagi is head over heels for Leo but Leo’s still to wrapped up in getting Raph and Mona through to unpack his own feelings.

After Mona’s hijacking Leo brings her immense comfort. She wasn’t turned against him as the capital never wanted Leo catching on to their plan. They would let Leo see her as a reward of sorts and it wouldn’t do for him to realize what they were doing to her.

He becomes the person she trust most once they’re rescued and Leo has never lead her wrong. While she hates Raph, Leo doesn’t. Leo can tell her what’s real and what’s not.

Eventually Raph can step into that role. Once she’s doing a bit better and doesn’t try to stab him in sight.

But her and Leo will have a special bond for life. They both survived horrific torture, and have become a symbol of stability and safety to each other.

[moviemunchies]

I admit that I have a lot of nostalgic attachment to this movie. Going to see it is one of my fond memories from my senior year of high school, and one of the few of those that I feel hasn’t been poisoned by later events in life.

Anyway, here’s Zombieland.

Meet Columbus! (The characters go by the name of their home city or where they’re trying to get back to, as they avoid using real names to avoid getting attached.) He’s a timid shut-in college student who somehow survived the zombie apocalypse thus far, in part because he’s created a strict list of survival rules that he follows religiously. He meets up with Tallahassee, a violent survivalist who loves killing zombies, and they decide to ride together. They are shortly after joined by Wichita and Little Rock, a duo of two sisters who have made it by betraying others. This unlikely group travels west to find the fabled Pacific Playland, a park supposedly without zombies, while trying to not die or not kill each other.

I think that this movie succeeds for three main reasons:

ONE: This movie hit during the zombie craze. Really, there was this time in pop culture when everyone would not shut up about zombies. They were everywhere, and this movie was able to capitalize on that pop culture obsession.

[I want to be clear that this movie doesn’t pull too many punches with the way zombies look. These are not clean zombies! They are scarred, wounded, bloody, and very often vomiting goop. It’s downright gross. So even though it’s mostly lighthearted, it’s not as if you think that the apocalypse depicted is pleasant in the slightest.]

TWO: This movie released during a time when R-rated comedies were still big. They still exist now, yeah, but mostly stick to streaming releases. Joy Ride came out in theaters this year, and look how it did. But over a decade ago, it seemed like these movies were always coming out.

THREE: It’s a darn good movie!

This movie is everything it sets out to be, I think. It’s a hilarious action comedy, while also being a post-apocalyptic drama with good action sequences, and also has great performances, AND well-written character development. That’s a tall order for a movie, and a lot wouldn’t be able to pull it off. But Zombieland did it! By gosh, they did it! 

I mean no, not everything hits perfectly. There’s a montage of the group driving which pretty much is the movie’s way of saying “They are bonding now!” which seems an awkward way to skip over development. But there are also scenes of them bonding, in ways that actually make a difference to the characters (Tallahassee teaching Little Rock to shoot comes to mind). So yes, it DID do the work to develop these characters, and I’m glad to see that it pays off in a satisfying way.

Amber Heard is in this movie. This isn’t really part of my review, but I didn’t realize this until fairly recently and thought it was an interesting tidbit.

Columbus is sort of the “Nerd Hero” that we saw a lot for a while in pop culture fiction, especially back when it was still assumed (by Hollywood, anyway) that nerds were all losers who had trouble talking to other people and played World of Warcraft all day. But I don’t know, this never really bothered me much with Columbus in this movie, because, well, he did survive the zombie apocalypse, didn’t he? He may be a shut-in, but his methods work because he’s approaching things logically. He’s not brave, he’s careful, and it works. It’s when he’s with other people that he has to push past those boundaries, but in a way that doesn’t require him to be completely stupid, just rethink his approach to things.

Worth noting: there’s a joke where Columbus says the best thing about the apocalypse is no Facebook? A couple of years later, the actor played Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Thought it was a bit amusing.

Do you remember back when Emma Stone was in everything? It was a bit weird; not bad, because she’s a good actress, but weird. Her role in this movie in particular is tricky, because it’s a character who keeps double-crossing our hero, and yet we’re still meant to like her in the end. That’s a hard balance to pull off! And yet she does it.

And of course, Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee. He’s kind of what makes this movie. He’s the character everyone I knew got attached to as they watched the film. He’s the most quotable, the most capable, and in a weird way the most sympathetic. Harrelson does a fantastic job with this role, and to me it’s one of the most memorable.

[Side note: there’s a line where Columbus says that Tallahassee looks like Yosemite Sam, and, uh… not really? Was this line written when the character was expected to be played by someone else?]

So see this movie! If you’re okay with watching our characters whaling on undead abominations, you’ll have great fun seeing Zombieland. I think it’s mostly aged well, and it’s great to see a movie that’s just allowed to be fun, not part of some larger universe or series. It’s just Zombieland, and that’s fine, and that’s great.

Though there was an attempt to make a TV series out of it, that never got past the pilot…

[purrincess-chat]

So I have three criticisms about the fandom:

1. Why tf do people call Marinette a creepy stalker? They do realize she’s 14 right? She’s a young girl with a crush, not some s*x offender.

2. I don’t get why there are fights over the Lovesquare when it’s literally the same two people. At the end of the day, it’s the same fucking dynamic.

3. The way this fandom treats the creator like he owes them something is absolutely disgusting. They act like a bunch of self-important, entitled karens.

1. People forget what it's like to be a teenager with a crush. That and there is a trend in fandoms as of late that exercises this black and white thinking pattern. Either something is so morally pure and devoid of any wrongdoing or it's completely problematic and anyone that enjoys or consumes it is just enabling harmful narratives. There's no room for nuance. ML is written by someone who grew up watching old, old superhero cartoons and watching old, old superhero comics. That's evident in a lot of jokes and references and tropes that they use. The creator himself worked on several shows in the early 2000s, and you can see evidence of that time period in ML. While that objectively wasn't that long ago, the early 2000s were a much different time on TV. The teen girl practically basing her whole identity around being in love with her crush was a common trope around that time (see: Helga from Hey Arnold. Seriously yall Marinette ain't got nothing on Helga and her motherfucking chewed gum shrine shaped like Arnold's head). A lot of her behavior is meant to be exaggerated for the joke (as was Helga's). That's just how things were. 🤷‍♀️ But some people, especially if they didn't grow up in that era watching those types of shows or if they're not as socially competent and can't understand hyperbole, then that's likely where the Marinette is a stalker thing comes from. Also can have a lot to do with mob mentality. Someone people deem cool or smart says it once, so a bunch of underlings follow without actually thinking about whether it's objectively true or bothering to question it. It's a problem in society at large (I mean look at the American political system, or any political system rn honestly)

2. You and me both, nonny. Yet every time I go into the ladrien tag to find content to queue for ladrien Wednesday, I scroll past at least 3 "ranking the love square sides" posts and ladrien is always at the bottom because of some arbitrary, made up, noncanon reason that they've convinced themselves is true. I've said for years people just need to watch the show with their eyes open and employ at least a single brain cell, maybe go outside and touch some grass, talk to real people. Just as a start. 🤷‍♀️

3. That's not exclusive to ML sadly. People have been harassing creators and musicians for years. Not to be a Swiftie on main, but Taylor has put out 5 albums since 2020. And that's still not enough for some of her fans. People are still demanding she announce her next rerecord rather than just sitting and enjoying all of the shit she's already given us. Entitlement has become a societal problem that bleeds into fandom. Everyone wants things bigger, better, faster. Capitalism really did a number on humanity.

Anyway, that's just my take on things. I've been here a long time, and just because I don't always point things out or say anything as of late doesn't mean I don't still notice it. I've just gotten jaded I think. It is what it is, so I stay in my corner with my friends and just have as good of a time as we can. 🤷‍♀️