#(love and compassion is always revolutionary!)

[just-a-ghost00]

Crush series : what would they tell you if they could?

I just couldn't wait to post this PAC lmao Mainly because I just thought the overall vibe was just so cute. I mean, look at these Jiji emojis <3 They're just purrfect. I found them on Pinterest. This site is just a gold mine for readers lmao

Group 1 - Intrigued Jiji

아직도 그 자리에 멈춰서 난 I'm not going, going, going, going (to) let you down 마음은 더 갈 곳을 잃어 떠나 다시 going, going, going, going let you down

The Revolutionary, The Weaver, The Observer, Power, The Warrior

Is your crush an Aries or a Taurus? Because you got yourself some stubborn AF lover here. They would tell you that no matter the circumstances, they are willing to fight for you and work hard for this connection to work out. They would do anything in their power to protect you and make the odds work in their favor. That they don't intend to run away and should you need them, all you have to do is to call them. They would tell you that no matter what you think of them, no matter what life has in store when it comes to your connection, they will always keep an eye on you and watch over you. That you lit a fire inside of them they didn't know they had. That ever since they met you, they've found a new purpose, a new source of motivation. That they're willing to play with the threads of fate if it means being victorious, getting closer to you. For some of you they would tell you they ask readers about you and your connection. That they ask the Universe for help in getting closer to you. Maybe you rejected this person at first, group 1. Or they feel like somehow you have no interest in them. Well, they're wrong lmao Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this post, would you? I asked for further information and you got Withdraw in reverse. They would tell you that they are done running away from you and/or that they wish you would pay more attention to them. That they are done acting like you don't mean the world to them when in reality they would be devastated if they ever lose you. Looking at the translation of Snooze, they would tell you that they wish you the best. That they hope all your dreams can come true and should you feel tired or in pain, they will always be there to support you and soothe you. That even if you hated them, they would never cease to love you. That they encourage you to live your life to the fullest and they have no doubt you will be succesful in whatever you do.

Group 2 - Dizzy Jiji

You're the coffee that I need in the morning You're my sunshine in the rain when it's pouring Won't you give yourself to me? Give it all, oh

Compassion, Get wild, Play, The Magi, Higher perspective, Reflect

They would litterally tell you that you make them dizzy by the amount of feelings you trigger in them. That they feel so touched by you that you give them wings. In your presence, they get nervous but also reckless. They want to do things they would never try in other circumstances. That they feel like there's magic in the air whenever you're around them, that your connection is special to them and they believe it was fate that brought you together. They would tell you that they see themselves in you, that you feel very familiar to them though they barely know you. They would tell you they want to get to know you better, have fun with you, explore this connection further. That they think you're their soulmate. They would tell you how good they feel in your presence. They would tell you how excited they are about whatever it is that they feel because to them it is the most beautiful feeling. That whatever the outcome may be, they're willing to wait for you. They would maybe ask you if you performed a spell on them because they can't seem to forget you. They would tell you though they're pinning for you they don't want you to feel sorry for them. That they can handle the rejection, should you not feel the same way. They would tell you that they feel like you're as interested in them as they are and that if that's the case, they would be very happy to investigate this connection further. That they wish you would feel comfortable enough with them to unleash and be your true self because they would never judge nor hurt you. That you can trust them and be assured that they would never play with your feelings, despite their flirty and lighthearted appearance. That the reason why they appear so light and playful is beacause you give them butterflies and make them so happy they feel like they're on cloud nine. They would want to let you know that their feelings are genuine.

Group 3 - Enamored Jiji

Now I'm shaking, drinking all this coffee This last few weeks have been exhausting I'm lost in my imagination And there's one thing that I need from you Can you come through?

The Pillar, Paradox, Trust rx, Versatility, The Revolutionary, Love

Before I even dive into the meaning of the cards, I want to point out that while I was shuffling a big amount of cards fell from the deck without turning over. So this person has a lot on their plate that they don't tell nor show you. This is something that would be difficult for them to say because it puts them in a very vulnerable position. They would tell you that they don't know what to think of this connection but they sure as hell know that you put their world upside down. That everything they thought they knew about love has been crushed ever since they met you. You uprooted any belief they had about falling in love, finding someone that they liked. Maybe you are very different from what this person deems as their type or thought that they would end up with. They would tell you that their heart has been a mess every since you last saw each other. That as much they love how you make them feel, it also scares them because they feel like things are spiraling out of control. You hold the key to their heart and they were not prepared for that. They would tell you that a part of them believes that this connection is too good to be true. That they fear your intentions and theirs aren't in alignment. That maybe you seek to take advantage of them or that you're only interested in their body and not their soul. They would tell you that they feel like they're under your spell. That they're confused because they're not the type to fall in love so easily. That they're fighting against these feelings but somehow they just can't make them stop, no matter how hard they try. I asked for clarification as to why they were repressing their feelings and got the Explorer card. On this card is drawn a compass without directions. The only two symbols are one eye on top and a heart at the bottom. The reason why they are repressing their feelings is because they don't know what they want. They are currently without direction, lost at sea. There's an inner struggle between what they envision for themselves and what their heart truly desires. Maybe you don't fit this person's plans of what their life should be. They might be the type of person that always had a vision of the job they wanted to do, where they wanted to live, with whom they were going to live their life and so on. Those ideas could have been influenced by their family. Yet, you don't seem to fit those dreams. So they are puzzled as to why they feel so strongly for you when you don't align with their course of action. They wonder whether they were lead astray or if this is actually their destiny.

[snowleopardcrk]

“What a sorrowful end for you…But, I can fix that. I’ll put you back together, crumb by crumb...”

“It’s so…Cold…So, cold…It’s so…Empty, and cold… Where am I…?”

Of the Dreams Beyond

A Revolutionary Garden rewrite

After her near death experience when attempting to flee, Moonflower Cookie found herself in a void where the ground was embedded in little stars. Each little star was a fragment of a forgotten memory, by the convincing of a serpentine creature, Moonflower Cookie traps herself in a time loop she believes to be real.

Characters - OCs

This is a list of the notable characters within this AU, these are the Cookies you can ask questions as well.

Moonflower Cookie: We follow the story of this AU through her eyes. She’s the daughter of Pure Vanilla Cookie and White Lily Cookie and was baked before the Dark Flour War, yet her constant illness along side stress and anxiety in her childhood would form the present distant and colder self. Yet, could this forefront of her be entirely caused by her childhood experiences or could there be other factors at play?

Sweet Dream Cookie: She’s the spouse of Golden Cheese Cookie and has been for a very long time. She holds many mysteries and unanswered questions about her origins and her long life span that seems to match Golden Cheeses (she might even be older than Golden Cheese). She is still unconditionally loving and caring towards GC and her Kingdom (taking great care to study the kingdom, history and current events).

Snow Leopard Cookie: She is the apprentice to Crunchy Chip Cookie himself, after finding the little Cookie in the snow he took it upon himself to raise and train her like his own. The apprentice is nothing but dedicated towards the Dark Cacao Kingdom, but also finds great joy in cramming herself into tight spaces like crates or empty cabinets when off duty.

Sea Bunny Cookie: Though a later addition to the story, they function as a buddy towards Moonflower Cookie. Taking it upon herself to aid Moony in the health department (mental health specifically), keeping a close eye on her and to ensure her safety when possible. Sea Bunny Cookie is an upbeat and cheerful fella with a bombastic amount of energy and compassion for whatever they may set their gaze upon.

Characters - OCs

These are other OCs that you cannot ask directly but appear in the story.

Cloudy Pyrite Cookie: She’s the youngest daughter of Golden Cheese and Sweet Dream, she is very hard to keep up with and is quite impulsive with a dash of brattiness. She is always scurrying about trying to always do something to the dismay of Sweet Dream who can have trouble finding her sometimes if she’s trying to multitask.

Overseer / the Thousand Eyes: The serpentine of the abyss, it is a creature that looms around Moonflower, it’s presence unknown to everyone else in Moonys life. It is a creature of many contradictions yet no clear story on its anything, it’s intentions still unknown.

"Everyone has described to me what kind of joy and warmth one feels when your child is in your arms... Why cannot I feel warm? Its just, cold...She's no stranger, she's supposed to be my child."

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Notes: Moonys voice claim comes from this video, both English and Japanese https://youtube.com/shorts/I6h-EmnqOps?si=dlHvkZmJJ_4OMXhb

(The girl in this video has an absolutely amazing voice) To be honest, I am excited for this rewrite <3 I've been working on it for a while (like, a month or two by now I've been planning).

Just to be warned, this stuff gets dark.

[thehappyvet]

Seeing Tigris' compassion for the tributes in TBOSAS made me realise something.

We know that Tigris is a stylist in the games from THG. So we know, for a period of time, she is a part of the hunger games. But in TBOSAS we know she sees Coryo for who he is, and knows who he will become. So why work for him in a system she is completely against?

We also know from THG that the stylists stay alongside their tribute and work hard to make them look and feel confident and supported during a terribly traumatic time. Cinna, the stylist for Katniss, is incredibly kind to her and empathetic for what she's going through. He supports her by making her memorable, giving her a chance of being loved by the capitol to gain sponsors.

He also, intentionally or unintentionally, moulds her into the mockingjay and a figurehead of the revolution.

What if that's Tigris' legacy?

What if Tigris realised by being a part of the games she could help tributes by making them memorable through their outfits and looks? What if she advocated for the stylists to form bonds with their tributes, provide support and to stay alongside them until the last moment?

What if she used her familial ties with Coryo to move up the ranks and ensure that stylists always provided this supportive role? She knew there was no changing who he would be, so what if she manipulated herself into a position where she could make a difference for the tributes?

Tigris knew how important fashion was to making impressions. Maybe she also knew how important it would be in starting a revolution.

We know from THG there are those in the capitol that are secretly supportive of the revolution. Cinna died for it. We know from the last book Tigris is one of the remaining supporters from within the capitol, and helps the rebels in their hour of need.

Maybe Tigris knew a tribute might come along one day that could be moulded into a revolutionary figure, using the close relationship between the stylist and the tribute and the cover of being impressionable to obtain sponsorship. Maybe she fostered a close group of pro-rebel stylists to watch and wait for the right tribute to come along that could make the capitol see the horrors of the games and advocate for them to end?

Maybe Tigris planted the seed in the core of the Hunger Games to see their eventual downfall.

[yallemagne]

The sexiest thing Jonathan did is when he said that Mina "is all perfection" after she declared herself unclean twice. To me. Her skin was stained with blood and then her face was scarred for all to see and he called her perfect. And it's no words of comfort it's his own private thoughts while watching her sleep (and she's pale and so thin her teeth are prominent and her scar blazing and he's saying that watching her sleep smiling is making him "as happy as I'll ever be"). I wish I had someone tell me this when I needed it so reading him call her perfect in the face of all evidence saying she's ruined and dirty and damned, that shit hit hard.

That quote fucks. My man said "My wife is perfect. Her assault does not dirty her. If God Himself would be so cruel and unloving as to cast out Mina, I will kill God."

And fuck! The fact that this is so revolutionary and extreme is ridiculous! This should be the default reaction. Kill the God that says victims are culpable in their own suffering! Overthrow the system that degrades victims and accuses them of worse evils than their abusers.

And he doesn't just love her "in spite of" it. There isn't a massive obstacle he must overcome to love her after her assault. His love for Mina is never in question, it is his love for God that is put on the line. He would never fucking abandon her. That mark on her forehead- the scar on her neck- they could remain for all eternity and he would never take back his love. His love would remain unchallenged.

Every goddamn adaptation and interpretation that casts Mina as unfaithful or Jonathan as unloving serves no one but the fucking shitass conceptual God who says victims are monsters who no one can love-- and remember-- we're killing that bastard.

It is just so damn important. His reaction is so fucking important to the story. It is so fucking important in general to see a man react this way to his wife's suffering: with compassion instead of shame. Never once is his anger directed at Mina, and never once does he assume she is lying about what happened. He is driven by the need for justice and he will not rest until justice is served and his wife can live unfettered.

No doubt, who wouldn't want someone so faithful in a time like that? Someone who never once views you as dirty and deplorable for something that was done against your will? Someone who will always defend you, come hell or high water?

And, of course, the other men don't disagree. But they are fuelled by guilt. Mina's suffering is their punishment for not doing their due diligence, and if not for Mina standing up for herself, Van Helsing would have left her behind in London without even speaking to her about it because he hadn't learned his lesson yet. Both he and Seward check constantly to see if Mina is too far gone yet, which, yes, is per her own request.

But Jonathan does not see it that way. She is never going to be a poor creature that needs to be put down in his eyes. He shall never feel threatened by her because they are married, and if she needs the very blood from his veins, he shall give it gladly. Not out of guilt, not out of obligation, but out of undying and unconditional love.

[angelmush]

one thing that has helped me w/r/t recovery and fatphobia is that even if i dont feel ready to address myself with compassion and kindness reminding myself that the way i treat myself because of my physical appearance will always inevitably carry over to how i treat and view others has honestly been so helpful realizing that getting over myself and my own fatphobia is a loving act and important socially not just internally. sometimes its easier to feel compassion towards others and then go, oh! i deserve the same thing. and by depriving myself of that i might make the mistake of judging and hurting others. anyways your recovery posts and food pictures are so wonderful and inspiring <3

1. thank u for taking the time to send such a vulnerable and honest message and 2. YES YES YES a billion times YES !!!

it’s a deeply loving and revolutionary act to address the beliefs that you consciously and unconsciously hold about fatness. as much as you might try, those conditioned feelings bleed into everything. they seep into our behaviors and in turn, wound us and the people around us.

you worded it beautifully. recovering and working hard on unlearning the ugly stuff undoubtedly makes us into kinder, gentler people. :-)

[xiphiaarts]

Still solidifying the relationship between Starscream and Megatron for my au

I don't know the fine details of it yet, But I know I don't want to go the 'Starscream gets pimpslapped for every small mistake' route

I rather go for like the corrupt military official route, who may very well be sabotaging his own affiliation in order to have it's people turn against their leader, and elect him, the one who supposedly knew Megatron didn't have to steel for leadership all along, as new ruler (Also known as Starscream talking sweet in Megatron's face and talking shit about him when he isn't around.)

Soundwave and his cassettes are spared Starscream backstabbing musings, his loyalty to Megatron and the decepticon cause poses a threat to Starscreams plans

I also like to think Starscream wants to lead based off of the idea of being loved/feared by all, being seen as a revolutionary like Megatron, untouchable like him too, though he usually lacks the compassion to be the kind of leader Megatron started out as, the compassion Megatron has slowly but surely lost.

I also like to think another part of it is the idea of 'if I can just get x thing I'll be good enough' or 'if I can just get x thing I'll be happy', he's tunnel visioned onto ruling the decepticons as his object of happiness, he assumes the role comes with power, respect, and safety, but never considers factors like maximizing your troops survival or an end goal *if* the decepticons ever manage to truly trump the autobots.

He wants the power, but he has no righteous goal he wishes to see through, he has no guilt for those weaker than him because he was never fighting for them, only for the chance of being the one on the throne and calling the shots, to be the one wearing the crown

I can't imagine if they (the cons) win Starscream will be satisfied, there will always be a bigger fish, such leadership won't make him happy so there will always be another 'x thing' for him to pursue, it will never end unless he changes his goals entirely.

He isn't in the cons to make a difference, he's there to highjack what power and notoriety Megatron has achieved with his own two hands by soaring straight to the top with little effort besides his manipulation. He works hard but he works hard for his own interests and nothing more, he figures he's done being used and he has the right to use everyone else, like some twisted sense of vengeance

I like to think only after Starscream manages to kill off most of the decepticon ranks does Megatron's trust in him waver, even if he doesn't say anything to Starscreams face, he knows of the whisperings Starscream spreads about him (he's been told many a time to ensure the loyalty of his second in command by other cons, hes not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is) But Megatron keeps him close to keep an eye on him, to keep him sharp in the face of fake friends, and to utilize what resourcefulness Starscream does posses.

This is why plans may be made or revised in the absence of Starscream, his second in command left out of the loop to make it more difficult for him to orchestrate decepticon failures. He knows of plan A, But not plan B Through Q, the backups Incase something interferes, autobot or traitor.

Though Megatron does bestow him with 'decepticon hospitality', the base layer of hostility all decepticons treat eachother with, he doesn't particularly aim his frustration at him, he more sees his disloyalty as a challenge, a way to keep his processor on its toes and to expect every bad thing.

His punishment may come in the forms of suicide missions, but the wonder that is Starscream always returns from them, bruised, beaten, maybe missing a few operatives assigned to him, maybe even dead. But he always returns

That's all for now, I'm still thinking about it, thanku for coming to my Ted talk

[alexa-fika]

Okay but platonic luffy with a younger sibling? (Okay it's kinda aased on my oc the younger sib) the younger sibling had been abandoned gray terminal(I think that's the name) and luffy kinda just adopts them and introduces them to ace and sabo? Of course after what happened to sabo, luffy and ace got a little more protective of the younger sibling. And skip forward to impel down. Luffy is so protective of yn? Sure he knows they can fight and all but he's just scared of losing them too?

Platonicish Doflamingo who takes in a kid (maybe they have a useful power or grew up to become some weapon or something) sure he's just using them. And maybe the kid reminds him of Cora with hoe clumsy they are. He's platonic is some twisted way. I mean he would kill to protect his family.

Maybe something with the Vinsmoke siblings? Judge getting a new kid and he wants to train them as soon as possible. Yeah their genes are strong and their fighting ability is there. The little kid makes games out of training and Judge can't really complain because their improving? Idk what would make the vinsmoke sibling start to soften up on the kid?? But I can totally see them turning yandere!!

You’re onto something here Anon, except Im not sure why you mentioned Luffy is scared of losing them ‘too’ wdym none of siblings have died 👁️ 👁️ None.

But Omg that is just huge, just a little girl following after the three, I can see Ace being the most protective of her during this stage, considering what his personality was like at the time. But we do have to be fair if we are talking about platonic yandere on all three, then They must have come to an agreeement on sharing Reader, like certain time they are in the strawhats the other in whitebeard and the other in the revolutionary army. And if those crews are also platonic yandere with Reader omg that’s a whole thing.

I don’t imagine them fighting over Reader however, I think they would be very good about that and keep up their word about the alloted time she has with them on their crews, the one thing they would argue about, argue not fight, would be in how to better protect her but eventually they come to an agreement as what is best for her.

Doflamingo huh? For him I can’t see it as taking in a child, more as they are taking in a prisioner, someone who will do as they are told or face the sequences and God forbid if they try to escape, if they try to scheme woth someone for the freedom Doflamingo will gladly bring the person and kill them right in front of them to kill that hope.

Somewhat similar for the Vinsmokes? Either taking someone in or a biological kid. In any case circumstances would lead the siblings to grow these yandere behavior for them, they would not allow the sibling to leave their sight, always encouraging to get better and showing them consequences when they don’t, but it’s all out of love they say, they want them to live to their full potential so it is necessary to push them in the right direction with these punishments. If they show mercy or compassion to one of the servants or someone they deem below them? A lesson must be taught as to where they stand and where those ‘below’ them stand, they can’t allow their sibling to be stepping down so low as to be helping people. Maybe if they are hood, finish their trainings and listen to their words they will allow the servants mercy as a reqard.

@quinloki Thoughts?

[radical-revolution]

“When I was about six years old I received the essential bodhichitta teaching from an old woman sitting in the sun. I was walking by her house one day feeling lonely, unloved, and mad, kicking anything I could find. Laughing, she said to me, ‘Little girl, don’t you go letting life harden your heart.’

Right there, I received this pith instruction: we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice.

If we were to ask the Buddha, ‘What is bodhichitta?’ he might tell us that this word is easier to understand than to translate. He might encourage us to seek out ways to find its meaning in our own lives. He might tantalize us by adding that it is only bodhichitta that heals, that bodhichitta is capable of transforming the hardest of hearts and the most prejudiced and fearful of minds.

Chitta means ‘mind’ and also ‘heart’ or ‘attitude.’ Bodhi means ‘awake,’ ‘enlightened,’ or ‘completely open.’ Sometimes the completely open heart and mind of bodhichitta is called the soft spot, a place as vulnerable and tender as an open wound. It is equated, in part, with our ability to love. Even the cruelest people have this soft spot. Even the most vicious animals love their offspring. As Trungpa Rinpoche put it, ‘Everybody loves something, even if it’s only tortillas. ’

Bodhichitta is also equated, in part, with compassion – our ability to feel the pain that we share with others. Without realizing it we continually shield ourselves from this pain because it scares us. We put up protective walls made of opinions, prejudices, and strategies, barriers that are built on a deep fear of being hurt. These walls are further fortified by emotions of all kinds: anger, craving, indifference, jealousy and envy, arrogance and pride. But fortunately for us, the soft spot – our innate ability to love and to care about things – is like a crack in these walls we erect. It’s a natural opening in the barriers we create when we’re afraid. With practice we can learn to find this opening. We can learn to seize that vulnerable moment – love, gratitude, loneliness, embarrassment, inadequacy – to awaken bodhichitta.

An analogy for bodhichitta is the rawness of a broken heart. Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment, and blame. But under the hardness of that armor there is the tenderness of genuine sadness. This is our link with all those who have ever loved. This genuine heart of sadness can teach us great compassion. It can humble us when we’re arrogant and soften us when we are unkind. It awakens us when we prefer to sleep and pierces through our indifference. This continual ache of the heart is a blessing that when accepted fully can be shared with all.

The Buddha said that we are never separated from enlightenment. Even at the times we feel most stuck, we are never alienated from the awakened state. This is a revolutionary assertion. Even ordinary people like us with hang-ups and confusion have this mind of enlightenment called bodhichitta. The openness and warmth of bodhichitta is in fact our true nature and condition. Even when our neurosis feels far more basic than our wisdom, even when we’re feeling most confused and hopeless, bodhichitta – like the open sky – is always here, undiminished by the clouds that temporarily cover it.

Given that we are so familiar with the clouds, of course, we may find the Buddha’s teaching hard to believe. Yet the truth is that in the midst of our suffering, in the hardest of times, we can contact this noble heart of bodhichitta. It is always available, in pain as well as in joy.”

Pema Chödrön - The Places that Scare You

[phasewashere]

okay but i just. love rdr1 dutch for some reason. theres something about the fact that everybody claims that he's "changed" or that he's "showing his true colors". i feel as if dutch is changing sure but he's still keeping up the spiel. he never backed down from his "revolutionary american dream" he just changed the game. he got violent. when the compassion and the kindness ended up "costing" him everything he simply moved onto the more direct approach. i think dutch is a man of logic but in the most delusional way possible. he makes everything he says makes sense, but is it true? just because it all adds up doesn't mean the concept is right. just because it's the most logical course does not mean it is the kindest. also the way he talks of the people working under him in rdr1. he's gone back to the "his boys". once again with the familial light of it all. they continue to be "dutchs boys". the way he talks about how they don't have families anymore. the way he takes advantage of this. he uses that righteuos anger and resentment as a weapon. the same way he uses eagle flies. he uses it because it gives him deniability if he wants it. he can simply push the blame and say that they did it all on their own. he was just a "distraction". the fact that his thinking never changes. the thing that shifts is what he's willing to do. that transformation from the heart to only the words. the way only in his dyng moments he says that it's all futile. that he's just pulling on the leash. the song and dance all narrowed down to the acceptance of defeat. he says all he's ever done is fight. it never really mattered what it was he was rallying against. he needed to fight because he's best at it. always biting at the hand that feeds. for better or for worse. i need to dissect him

[letters-to-rosie]

You said last month that it's not Ekko if he's not involved in activism, anarchism, just actively doing shit to make a change. I absolutely agree. But you also said you "come out of a particular background and that means [you] have certain thoughts and approaches to social change that leave out things that others do and are involved in". Would you please elaborate further on that? Not just for writing Ekko, but for the sake of knowing and maybe applying to real life. You made me curious.

So I sat on this for a while not because I didn't want to answer it but because I wanted to answer it thoughtfully, and I've typed out some things that didn't feel right, but I'm going to try again now.

I tried to find the exact context for where I said that and I failed lol so I am working off memory, but again I will try.

So in terms of background, I'm a Black American. When I was young, I pretty much assumed that my family history would be depressing and I didn't want to look into it. And some of that is there: family trees that get lost once you hit enslavement, dysfunction you can pretty much trace right back to that period, having to explain to people that your family is on the light side not because of consensual relationships but because you're from one of those states that exported slaves, you get the deal. A byproduct of this is that by the time I was an adult and wanted to dig into it and found that there was actually a lot to learn, many of the elders I wanted to learn from had passed on.

That, mixed in with me trying to understand my... financially turbulent?? life led me to engage with black radical thinkers as an adult. And that led into left-wing politics in general. So that's like half of it.

The other half is I've always been the type of person who likes a hands-on problem. My approach to social change has always just been "find a problem and throw myself at it." And that translated into a social service background. Even now, to pay for my classes, I work in social services at my university, still throwing myself at a problem that's sort of followed me around for a decade or so now. I'm not in love with the conditions of trying to fight a problem within the walls of an institution that helps perpetuate them, but for me, the immediacy of people's needs supersedes any need I feel for ideological consistency.

On top of that, I study race. And media. So imagine my excitement when I see Ekko!

I don't know that I've ever encountered a character who checked so many boxes. He sees problems and throws himself at them. He practices radical compassion with people struggling with substance use. AND their victims. And even though he's fighting Silco, he knows that the problems in the city go straight to the top (I oughta write a fic someday where he does make it across the bridge and gets to yell at the council because he so deserves that).

He grieves. I've said before that grief is the emotion that has most defined my adult life. I feel like I'm always grieving. And Ekko models how you do that and keep moving. Rather than giving into the hopelessness of the setting, he creates a place where people can heal and be their best selves. AND HE HAS NATURAL HAIR!!! My natural hair journey is another story but it's honestly tied up in all of this lol.

He's like a treasure trove of things that matter to me, honestly. I'm not even sure how much I realized it at first. But as time passed, I'd keep going back to this character and thinking. His revolutionary spirit is truly to be admired. And I think that evolution in how I've thought about him comes through pretty clearly in my writing, as I come to fully embrace a bottom-up style of conceptualizing revolutionary thought and practice. I know I'll grow and change as I get older, learn more, and do more, but at this particular moment, I think Ekko has a lot of value for me.

So what am I not interested in? Off the top of my head...

versions of the character that leave out that political dimension. I'm not inserting politics into the show. The division between what is political and isn't is a false one. If the politics aren't registering, that's because they're close to the politics of the status quo

which is not to say I think everybody has to write him with politics fully foregrounded, but I wish more people would, you know?

and speaking of the politics, not really interested in ones that aren't radical. Not trying to pass a certain purity test, but we can keep in mind that Misfit Toys shows Scar beating up a dummy Enforcer, in gear. Which they probably got by fighting them. Fun!

another thing I think is key and I would like to see engaged with more is that Ekko doesn't view people using shimmer as enemies. I honestly wonder whether the Firelights know as much as they do about Silco's stuff because they have members who formally worked in the syndicate.

and I bring that up because another thing that the show as a whole and Ekko's interactions with Jinx invite us to think about is not viewing anyone as too far gone. I think in the rush to clearly delineate good and evil, we make too many lines and ignore the material conditions that motivate and contextualize people's actions.

and on that note, I don't like to make Ekko a paragon. I think casting him as a pure soul who is working tirelessly for his people ignores his indignation at the situation around him and how he is actively choosing, every day to do the things he does. I like to keep agency foregrounded.

To close, I wanna share some quotes, because y'all know I love reading revolutionaries.

“It is necessary that the weakness of the powerless is transformed into a force capable of announcing justice. For this to happen, a total denouncement of fatalism is necessary. We are transformative beings and not beings for accommodation.” —Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

“We have chosen a different path to achieve better results. We have chosen to establish new techniques. We have chosen to seek forms of organization that are better adapted to our civilization, abruptly and once and for all rejecting all kinds of outside diktats, so that we can create the conditions for a dignity in keeping with our ambitions. We refuse simple survival. We want to ease the pressures, to free our countryside from medieval stagnation or regression. We want to democratize our society, to open up our minds to a universe of collective responsibility, so that we may be bold enough to invent the future. We want to change the administration and reconstruct it with a different kind of civil servant. We want to get our army involved with the people in productive work and remind it constantly that, without patriotic training, a soldier is only a criminal with power. That is our political programme.” —Thomas Sankara, Speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations

“Let me just say: Peace to you, if you're willing to fight for it.” —Fred Hampton

[aressida]

Old entry: "Christians have always been warriors." - Aressida. 12.12.19.

Love and forgiveness for the people, and zero tolerance for the behaviour. So here comes the Righteous anger.

People need to stop pretending Jesus was happy and forever forgiving because He was not. He did get in people’s faces and set boundaries.

Like one time, He scolded His disciples. He used a whip in the synagogue and turned over tables. He called people “vipers” and “hypocrites.”

As a Christian, I would have been right there with Him knocking shit over too. A Holy Rage, that’s for sure. But I have always known to hate sin and always love the sinner: “Discipline the action, not the person.”

Walking with Christ does not mean being a pushover. If people knew the truth. What it means, this is to show people the door. Showing someone the door is perfect compassion. And Jesus is the door.

Jesus stood up against the sin and called out the sin, as he was forgiving and kind to a repentant heart. He was a Revolutionary. I love Him.

I know He teaches us that we can be strong and confident, and fight for justice. Christians have always been warriors: Love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control are the fruits of the spirit itself.

[bellamyblcke]

god but bel x glawen is IT. bel is glawen’s commander, he’s his dead husband, he’s the best man he’s ever met, he’s a stranger, he’s a man who refuses to be a revolutionary and it’s breaking glawen’s heart, he’s the love of his life. glawen is bel’s soldier, he’s a man bel mourned for six years, he’s his weakness, he’s his moral compass, he’s the only thing that makes any of it worth it, he’s someone bel is always letting down. they’re brothers, they’re comrades in arms, they’re married, they know each other better than anyone and yet the versions of themselves they are now have barely met, they’ll go to the ends of the universe for each other. it will be their downfall (or maybe their salvation).

[plenaurum]

Even the follow up to that godforsaken "Gale was a revolutionary king! Prim's death was unnecessary!" post made no damn sense and missed the point of the series entirely:

“We didn’t need Prim’s death for us to know that Coin was bad and that war was bad! It was senseless!”

That’s the point. Her death was senseless. It had no meaning.

There was no reason for her to die, but these things happen in war. Suzanne Collins herself said that she always knew that Prim was going to die even when she started writing the books.

“Having Gale, an oppressed Brown person, be held responsible for Prim’s death (a White character constantly representing innocence), was ugly when he didn’t even kill her. It was a convenient way to end the love triangle and leaving Peeta (another White character constantly portrayed as good) as the only option .”

Now, here’s where my opinion will get controversial: read the books without the lens of identity politics and maybe you might understand the point. Now, I’m not saying to ignore the aspects of race completely (there’s a reason why District 11, a district full of Black people, was so heavily policed). But, notice how Collins intentionally never left the race of some characters like Rue and Thresh up for debate. She was explicit in her depictions of POC. While Gale and Katniss could be read as Native coded and therefore POC, Collins herself never made it clear just what their races might be. It was purposefully left ambiguous, left up to the reader’s interpretation.

But, even if we follow your interpretation, Peeta and Gale were never supposed to be “good vs bad”. Peeta, probably due to a life that was a bit more privileged than Katniss and Gale’s, represented diplomacy in the just-war debate. Gale, understandably due to his life experiences, tended toward violent remedies. A lot of us do not blame Gale for his rage nor his violence because, again, violence was necessary for revolution. The only thing that went wrong is that his rage began to know no bounds and he began to disregard the humanity of other people, which was exploited by Coin.

Gale had always had a tendency to dehumanize other people: in Book 1, when Katniss was expressing worries about killing people in the arena and he said “it’s just like killing animals, how different can it be, really?” All throughout Book 3 (and even in parts of Book 2),  he and Katniss experienced disagreements when it came to what was justifiable during war. Him having the idea to bury the people in the mines when that is the same thing that killed his father, him not understanding why Katniss would care about the fact that her prep team was being tortured for stealing food (when Gale was whipped for poaching), and him helping to develop a weapon that essentially weaponizes human compassion (one bomb that draws people to the wounded, another that kills them all). It is the idea behind the weapon that killed her sister. Of course she was going to connect Prim’s death to Gale even though it wasn’t his fault.

Katniss said herself that Gale’s anger was not what she needed to heal after the war because she had enough of it herself. 

And not every Brown man depicted in the series was “rageful and violent”. Katniss’ father, someone that could arguably be Brown, was a source of joy for Katniss, a source of life. It was through his teachings, through his musicality, that not only kept Katniss alive, but also aided Katniss in maintaining her humanity and connect with other people (singing for Rue, singing for Pollux, how Peeta ended up falling for Katniss.) 

"The books are about war blah blah blah but at the end of the day, the theme of Mockingjay was that the oppressed fighting back will be just as bad as the oppressors and blinded by rage and hatred! What type of message is that?"

Again, The Hunger Games was not meant to be a story on “how to lead a revolution”. It was a story about war: what consistutes a war, what is justifiable during war, how do we maintain our humanity during war, etc. Collins used the "oppressed vs the oppressor" to create a conflict that would require a revolution and then war. However, during this war, innocent men, women, and children on both sides of the war died senselessly. The message it was sending was not “both sides bad", but that even during a justified war, living in a world where war is necessary is not beneficial to anyone. It was anti-war, not anti-oppressed-fighting-back. That’s the message it was sending. 

Please critique the books for what they are and not what you wished them to be.

[protagonistkiller]

Hey hey hey hello!

Saw your recent post about red rising and was curious, which book are you on?

I need someone to rant about this series to desperately, it hurts.. oh god it hurts OH GOD AA-

-🧃

I am currently about a quarter of the way through Morning Star.

I think this trilogy is super interesting because it’s realistic depiction of a caste system empire, much like the one described in Plato’s Rebuplic, and also its depiction of revolution. It makes a very clear point that Darrow is not the “destined savior who crippled the empire all on his own and became the coolest man who ever was” no the truth was Darrow was more of a figure head who made occasional battle strategies. The most important thing he did for the revolution was kick off the civil war and serve as a magnet for Gold sympathizers. Ares and his rebellion did a whole lot more damage to the empire.

Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Darrow, he’s one of my favorite main characters in a long time. He’s shockingly human with deep nuances and complexities, he contradicts himself a lot and has a skewed view of himself and his actions. He has incredible rage and compassion inside of himself and at any given moment he can’t decide whether he wants to murder his enemies or turn them to his side through his bottomless forgiveness. And that’s really interesting considering he grew up in a very community based culture that also was enslaved and kept in the worst conditions.

Now, time to talk about my boy. Sevro. I love Sevro so much. The moment he was introduced in the first book I was like, “yes, this one” it took me a while to get through the first half of Golden Son because I didn’t want to face the possibility that he was a character only for the first book. He is less interesting than Darrow but also a lot more fun precisely because of that. While Darrow’s off having an existential crisis over the morality of overthrowing an entire empire when that’s certainly going to lead to a lot of innocent people getting killed Sevro is killing six people to steal a candy bar and cackling like a maniac the entire time. And that’s gorgeous character design.

I also really like how this book makes it a point that the revolutionaries and imperialists are ultimately pretty similar people:

Even though Darrow doesn’t realize it, he and Cassius are very similar, they both lost everything and continue to fight for their family who isn’t here any more. They both turn to diplomacy first despite being some of the best fighter in this world. They both have a pretty rock solid sense of morality that they can be persuaded to turn from but they always return to because it’s a crucial part of who they are, not because they were born that way but because these ethics are the only thing they have left of their fathers.

I find the parallels between the Jackal(Adrius) and Sevro the most interesting(especially after events in the very beginning of Morning Star that I will not spoil). Especially in the third book; Sevro and Adrius were both born outsiders to the Golds. They were both born a little small and not very physically impressive, however they were both very intelligent. They’re both scrappy and a little insane(or a lot in some cases). Neither of them got along with their fathers and felt they were always chasing approval. They both became leaders in powerful factions in the war due to inheritance from said fathers. The key difference comes in how the two of them chose to cope with their daddy issues. Sevro found a family who excepted and loved him for him which allowed him to forgive his father and eventually reconcile. Adrius let his murderous hate and desperation for affection drive him to further and further points of evil until he killed his father reaching the point of no return.

I find the similarities of Victra and Antonia both obvious and difficult to explain as in the beginning they’re both painted as femme fatales and eventually Victra splits from the role their mother gave her and finds her own path while Antonia allows herself to be molded by this mask until there’s nothing left under it. If that makes sense.

I will have to collect my thought on the similarities between Mustang and the Sovereign. As Virginia and Octavia are both omnipresent characters without a lot of screen time so I’ll make a post on them later. I know it’s a lot of words but the brain rot is so severe.

[quarantineddreamer]

RebelCaptain + 20 (for your drabble game)!

Hiya, Luce!! Thank you for this ask, love 💕

I'm gonna try this revolutionary thing where I just allow myself to write and not overthink so here's what I got! Free-flowing and unedited. Hope you enjoy! 🤞

things you said that i wasn’t meant to hear

The nightmare’s grasp on her slowly loosened–visions of fire and blood, feelings of fear and heartbreak–giving way to the sensation of a welcome, comforting weight around her shoulders, a steady, reassuring rhythm at her ear…

Jyn opened her eyes to a pitch black, staying perfectly still–as she might after a hard fall, catching her breath, running through a mental checklist of bones and muscles to gather what she needed to move forward. 

Cassian… As more and more of reality began to filter in, he was the first truth she recognized, the one she anchored herself too, the one that mattered most. 

He was safe. They were safe. 

They were in his room, in his bed, and it was his arms that were holding her, his scent she was inhaling, his fingers that were sliding a soft pattern, through her hair and down her shoulder, his…

 His voice, that had pulled her from the bad dream. ‘Shhh, Jyn, it’s okay. You’re okay.’ 

His voice that she became aware of now, still there in the dark, gentle and warm.

Except she could no longer recognize his words, and he had stopped speaking.

He was singing, in a language she didn’t understand, but could detect the meaning of in each careful note–the same way you didn’t always need speech to communicate emotions like joy, sadness, love…

He was very quiet, his tone more a humming whisper than anything, breathy and a little hesitant, but no less beautiful for it. 

She hadn’t known Cassian could sing, hadn’t expected anything like that from the hardened, rebel spy, the survivor. 

But then again, there were a lot of things she hadn’t expected with him…sleeping beside him being one of them.

She thought about saying something, thanking him, or asking him what he was singing, but somehow it felt like she would be breaking a spell, as though he had only intended for the song to be heard behind the curtain of her dreams, as a guide, a compass upon which her mind could steer her to peace. 

So instead Jyn simply closed her eyes, burrowed deeper into his embrace, and listened to the sound of home…

[arysthaeniru]

For the ask thing- Revolutionary Girl Utena- I saw you like it and I need more people to scream with lol

Yessss, Utena's a perfect media, haha!!!

Favourite Character

So difficult to decide! I think it has to be Anthy though. I love her, I love how vicious she is, I love how petty she is, and I love how funny she can be. I find myself always so excited by imagining the future, what Anthy's personality develops into when she leaves the garden.

Least Favourite Character

I mean. The correct answer is Akio, but actually, I think Ruka. Ruka is all of Akio's manipulation and lies, but he's stupid enough to actually lie to himself that the girl he tried to break for two episodes actually could fall in love with him. At least Akio never deludes himself into that.

5 Favourite Ships

Utena/Anthy - Duh. No notes, 10/10, liberatory lesbian love

Juri/Wakaba - I really like the idea of Juri finding real kindness and joy in Wakaba, and Wakaba finding somebody who thinks of her as her most special thing.

Juri/Anthy - Not as one of those ships that's cute and good, but one of those ships where they would be a destructively horrible trainwreck, but I find myself fascinated by it. My characterization of Juri is never good enough to do this, so the past three Yuletides, I've been trying to get my gifter to write me the year that Akio decided Juri would be the one who keeps Anthy as a Rose Bride? I think that would have been an unmitigated, fascinating disaster.

Saionji/Touga - Honestly, this one goes either way, in that I like the idea of them maybe leaving Ohtori themselves at one point, and learning how to have a non-toxic relationships to each other? But also, I LOVE the idea of them just stuck in Akio's nightmare play, getting worse and worse and being more and more horrible to each other.

Nanami/Freedom, get her out of there. Be free.

(bonus) Nanami/Kozue - Two things make me consider this intriguing pairing. One, the contrasted imagery they both have, where Kozue is the free bird, the wild animal snarling her way out of the cage, as Nanami as the cow, the domesticated. What does it mean for Nanami to encounter Kozue's philosophy? But also Nanami who drowns the kitten that draws Touga's attention, and Kozue as the one who saves the baby bird, even at her own expense. Something something, compassion, adoration, self-preservation. Fun contrasts! I feel like they would hate each other at first, but find something genuinely transformative in the other. Also they both love Miki.

Character I find most attractive

Juri. The long hair, the fencing, the way she can go both high-femme and pretty butch? Queen.

Character I would marry

Wakaba. I feel like she'd genuinely try to take care of me, and also I would fucking adore her. She's so cute. She's the sort of person you could hang out with for a really long time, and I value that in a person.

Character I Would Be Best Friends With

Tragically, probably Miki. Very similar interests, and as much as I would shake my head at the way he places the girls he likes on pedestals and then demonizes them if they ever tumble off that pedestal, he would also shake his head at my tendency to avoid all my problems like the plague.

(Canon OTP is obviously Utena/Anthy, and non canon is Nanami/Kozue.)

Pairing I Am Not a Fan Of

Obviously, all of the incest ones, but honestly, I'm pretty meh on Shiori/Juri. A fascinating dynamic when done correctly, but when people write stuff about them in the future where everything's fine and they don't have tension between them...IDK. I think it's important to me that even without the homophobic pressure of Ohtori trapping them both, that Juri has created this false image of Shiori in the same way that Miki does for Kozue, and that Juri doesn't really know Shiori very well, in the end, because of her inability to ever really recognize Shiori's jagged edges. I think that would haunt their relationships, even if they tried to be together, how much Juri doesn't actually see or understand Shiori's inner personality.

Most badass character

Anthy.

Character I feel the Writers Screwed Up

Mikage! While I LOVE the aesthetic and thematic focuses of the Black Rose Arc, I think they don't quite knock it out of the park with Mikage. I wish Mikage was a more interesting mirror to Utena, but his devotion to Mamiya just doesn't feel like it's in a strong conversation with Utena's relationship to Anthy, which I think was a missed opportunity! I would have loved to see more about Mikage's obliviousness, where he knows something is wrong but shrugs it off for one more day. Or I feel like pushing further into the idea of Mikage being a prodigy who is out of his depth as a parallel to Utena which doesn't get explored very much. Idk...after such an incredible slate of character episodes, I remember being pretty disappointed at the climax of Black Rose Arc!

Favourite Friendship

Miki&Nanami! I think they keep each other mostly in check! Miki can sometimes shame Nanami into not showing off her mean girl instincts, and Nanami's a lot more savvy and cunning than Miki is, which helps keep him away from self-loathing spirals, or being taken advantage of. They're fun together!