#I know it's a problem in the USA but it isn't where I live

[lazycats-stuff]

What about male reader being Alfred's nephew who came to live with him because his parents died or were just unfit parents? Alfred isn't all too happy that he's here, but not because he hates him, no, but because Gotham isn't the safest place and the fact that he's bow living with the vigilante family isn't the greatest fact. I feel like Alfred would be very overprotective of his nephew, and just the family's reaction to Alfred's nephew, i feel like the family didn't really ask Alfred about his family and such .

Oh yeah, some Alfred for the soul. That man needs more love. Also, this will be under Batfamily since I'm too lazy to put a new masterlist for Alfred.

Summary: Alfred's nephew comes to live with Bruce and the rest of the fam.

Warnings: child abuse, mentions, mentions of what happened, everyone trying to make sure that (Y/N) is comfortable, Alfred being protective.

Alfred left the UK and London behind a long time ago. He had his training and career as a soldier and then as a spy. Soon enough, his path led him to the USA, where he got a job as a butler for the Wayne family, even before Bruce was even in the picture. It wasn't really easy to leave his life behind, but Alfred knew it was for the better.

He needed a new beginning after everything he has witness over the years. Especially since his sister cut contact with him. Alfred, while said, he knew he couldn't change her mind in the slightest. But that didn't matter today. What mattered was his new family and his four grandsons and son.

Yes, he did consider Bruce to be his son. After all, he did raise him from when he was 7. And as his four grandsons came along, he was happy.

As far as his old family? Around 13 years ago, his sister had a baby. A boy named (Y/N). Yes, Alfred kept some tabs on his family, just to make sure that everything was like okay back there. Years went by and when (Y/N) was 13, Alfred got a call.

It wasn't a pleasant one.

Alfred sighed as he ended the call, rubbing his temples, muttering a lot of unpleasant things underneath his breath. His nephew (Y/N) was taken out of his sister's custody because she was abusive in every since of the word. And in every shape too.

Starving, beatings... Neglect...

Alfred was really mortified and he could barley speak as he remembered the conversation... He sighed and quickly made his way down to the kitchen opening up the cabinet where he held the strongest drinks in the manor. He poured himself a glass of scotch, since it was the first thing he could see.

I downed the scotch in one sip before pouring himself another one. He sighed yet again, leaning on the kitchen counter, trying not to snap.

" Something happened? " Bruce asked from behind him and Alfred sighed for the third time.

" Well master Bruce... Something did happen. " Alfred said, taking the glass and turning around to face Bruce. Alfred knew that (Y/N) had to come live here... But this family is full of vigilantes... But this is also a safe space too.

" What happened Alfred? " Bruce asked, worried for the man. Alfred is often composed and sarcastic, but now, he was shaken and just... Sad?

" My nephew is in the custody of CPS, well, at least the British version. " Alfred started and Bruce crossed his arms as he leaned on the doorway.

" I didn't know you had a nephew... " Bruce admitted softly and Alfred chuckled, sipping his scotch slowly.

" Yeah... My sister cut contact with me a long time ago master Bruce... " Alfred acknowledged and Bruce nodded, not knowing what to say.

" Either way... I'm the only family he has master Bruce, which means he will have to come here. " Alfred whispered, downing his scotch again.

" That's not a problem Alfred. I'll make space for (Y/N), clear out one room for him and talk to the boys. " Bruce responded and Alfred shook his head, making Bruce frown and tilt his head in confusion.

" That's something I know you would do master Bruce. " Alfred explained and poured himself more scotch. " It's... You are Batman and the danger that comes with that name... I can't bring my nephew into more danger. " Alfred finished explaining and downed the scotch once more.

" It will be different. We will be honest with him. " Bruce said and Alfred did have to agree, they had to be honest with him.

" He will flying here tomorrow master Bruce, so we will need to pick him up. But before hand, we need to talk to the boys. And it will need to be serious. "

" Of course it will be serious Alfred. (Y/N) will feel safe here. And if any boys are out of line, send them to me Alfred. I'll call them down now so we can talk about this. " Bruce said before he went upstairs.

Alfred just finished a bottle in the meantime.

Bruce sat his sons down, telling them that this is very serious.

" Now, listen to Alfred intently. He is officially a lead on this. " Bruce said and sat down. The four boys looked at Alfred, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

" Well... My nephew is coming here to live with us. His parents, my sister and her husband were abusive to him... Physically, verbally... They starved him too... Either way, he is in a bad mental place. Which means that you four better be on your best behavior. No fights in front of him, both verbal and physical. Don't force him to talk about it and try to befriend him. " Alfred finished, looking at his grandsons with a pointed look.

" Is that all you had to say? " Dick asked and Alfred nodded.

" You have a nephew?! " Jason exclaimed and Alfred nodded.

" Okay, that... I thought you had no family. " Tim said and Alfred sighed and Bruce smiled sadly.

" I thought you were an agent for the MI6 and had no family... Like killed off. " Damian said and Alfred sighed yet again.

" Okay boys, that's enough commentary. " Bruce said and they all grumbled. " It's important that (Y/N) feels safe here. And Alfred has my full permission to put you all back in line. "

" As if he ever needed permission. " Jason mumbled quietly and Dick smacked the back of his head.

" Thank you master Dick. "

" Everyone, this is (Y/N). " Alfred said, introducing his nephew to his grandsons. " (Y/N), these are the infamous Wayne kids. I don't think anymore introduction is needed. " Alfred said, glancing at his shy nephew.

" Now (Y/N), let me lead you to your room. " Alfred said and gently lead (Y/N) to his room. It was one of the bigger ones, with a lot of room and a comfortable bed.

" Now (Y/N), are you hungry? Because it's lunchtime in America at the moment. " Alfred said as (Y/N) put a small suitcase on the bed.

" I could eat something. " (Y/N) said and Alfred nodded, smiling at the fact that (Y/N) would eat something.

" I was thinking about some burgers actually. I can make a good one, with my awesome recipe. Do you want to come down or do you want to stay in your room? " Alfred asked softly.

" I would like to go down... This is a nice place... " (Y/N) said, still nervous.

" I agree it is nice, now come on mate, lets go down. " Alfred said and let (Y/N) go down. Alfred gently led him down to the kitchen and (Y/N) sat down, the boys all around him, keeping some distance, trying to not make him feel overwhelmed.

" So... Is it true that the Queen is a lizard? " Jason asked out of the blue and (Y/N) rolled his eyes at that, but with a smile.

" She passed away. " (Y/N) said and Jason raised his brow.

" No. "

" Yes. "

Jason scoffed with a smile and Alfred listened as he started making the meat mixture for the patties.

" Is it true that people from London speak the best English? " Dick asked and (Y/N) rolled his eyes.

" It's not true. It's so far from the truth... " (Y/N) said and Dick chuckled.

" Well, the royals are there and they must be educated... So how come? " Dick joked and (Y/N) shrugged his shoulders.

" Is it true that gun control is tighter? " Jason asked curiously and (Y/N) nodded.

" Damn... Well, welcome to the land of freedom. " Jason joked and (Y/N) smiled, but it was tiny. Tiny as hell.

" If you hear a bald eagle screeching it means you have reached the peak of staying here. " Tim stated and (Y/N) rolled his eyes a bit.

(Y/N) turned his head when he saw Titus, the Great Dane walking in with his head high and tail wagging at the sight of a newcomer. Damian was ready to intervene if necessary, but Titus was calm with people.

Damian watched as Titus sniffed (Y/N)'s hands, licking them softly and then (Y/N) hesitantly petting him.

" What's his name? " (Y/N) asked, not sure who to ask directly.

" His name is Titus. " Damian answered as he kept watching, tilting his head in wonder.

" Is he yours? " (Y/N) asked as he scratched Titus' ears.

" Yes he is. " Damian answered and (Y/N) moved down his hand to Titus' cheek. " He is huge... " (Y/N) mumbled as he kept patting Titus, who was wagging his tail.

" He is a Great Dane so he is big. " Damian explained and (Y/N) stopped petting him, making Titus whine.

" He is a big baby. " Jason chimed in and Damian nodded.

Alfred put the things he needed aside and checked on (Y/N) and the way he was handling the situation was great. The boys didn't push him, joked about something with him... And (Y/N) was comfortable. That was the most important thing here.

Thankfully, Alfred and Bruce both have experience with sort of traumatized children so (Y/N) will be able to heal properly. And the truth about them being vigilantes... Well, that can wait until (Y/N) is more stable.

[ladykailitha]

Sweet Home Indiana Part 1

Hello! And welcome to this fun little fusion that I came up with here. If anyone can find the post about gay legal troubles after gay marriage was legalized (I think was originally about polyamory divorces) let me know so I can link here, too.

Summary: Eddie is a successful tattoo artist in Seattle and is engaged to be married to Chrissy. Only there is one problem. Well, technically three. You see, back before the Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was a right and not a privilege Eddie had gotten married in a couple of different states to different people. But now that's it's legal, he's a bigamist and he has to get his exes to divorce him. Which is easy enough for two of the three, not so much for the third. You see the third just isn't just any ex, it's the ex. Steve Harrington. So now he has to go down to Hawkins and try to convince the person he thought he was going to spend his life with to divorce him. Something much easier said then done, especially when Eddie finds himself falling back in love.

EDDIE IS GAY IN THIS BUT THERE ARE REASONS OKAY!

****

Eddie’s life was good. Let it be said that it was really good. He knew that. But he had regrets. Didn’t everyone?

He regretted how his band broke up. It wasn’t his fault, but he hadn’t seen the cracks when they had started to show. He hadn’t seen how tired Jeff was getting or how fucked Gareth was. He hadn’t seen that Brian was only phoning it in every night.

So when it all fell apart after a concert in Seattle, he was left holding the pieces of his band and his broken heart. He had gotten a job as a tattoo apprentice and had worked really hard to get his own chair.

He had friends. Good ones. Jeff had stayed in Seattle, too. Gareth had gone into rehab and had moved to a small village in the south of France. Brian had gotten married and moved back to Indiana where he became a teacher and lived a quiet life. The life he had always wanted.

Then there was Chrissy. He loved her so much. They had met when she came into the tattoo parlor to get a tattoo covered. She wanted to cover the name of her ex-boyfriend with a purple violet. Eddie had smiled at her when she asked.

It was some of his best work, if he was honest.

She was a legal assistant that had just gotten her paralegal degree and was trying to get a work visa.

She had come over to the USA from Barbados. A little island country in the Caribbean.

He didn’t know how she could stand living in damp Seattle after being born on sun-soaked shores under glistening palm trees. But Chrissy was adamant that she loved being in Washington where it rained almost all the time.

Eddie was on a mission. One that he had sworn to Chrissy that he would do today.

He walked into the county clerk’s office and applied for a marriage license for him and Chrissy.

“I’m sorry Mr. Munson,” the clerk told him, “but our records show that you have not one, not two but three marriages in three different states.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide.

“What?” He would remember that, surely.

“To a William Hargrove in Hawaii, a Thomas M. Hagan in New York, and Steven J. Harrington in Massachusetts,” the woman said, holding up her reading glasses in front of her face to read off the list.

“But those were only legal in the state they were preformed in, right?” he asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

The woman shook her head. “Not since the Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for gays to get married. It’s cause a lot of trouble for a lot you people, let me tell you.”

Eddie knocked his knuckle on the counter and licked his lips. “Shit.”

She grimaced sympathetically. “I’m sorry, but before you can get a marriage license in the state of Washington, you’ll have to provide divorce decrees from all three of your exes.”

Eddie pounded on the counter this time with his open palm. “Thanks.”

He walked away and he heard her call out, “Next!”

Shit, shit, shit.

This was going to be hell, he could feel it.

****

Chrissy had fast food waiting for him when he got home from work.

“Did you get the license?” she asked, handing him his food and drink.

Eddie buried his head in his hands. “No, because stupid gay marriage legalization made all gay marriages legal, no matter what state you preformed them in.”

“Oh.”

She sat down hard. “So your three marriages suddenly count?”

“Yeah,” Eddie murmured. “I don’t even know where any of them are. Like I assume Steve’s still in Hawkins, because he’d never leave, but the other two? I have no fucking idea.”

She patted him on the shoulder and said, “We’ll find a way. The law firm has investigators on staff for this very reason. It might take a while, but we’ll find them.

Eddie nodded. “I’m sorry.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and sat down on his lap. “I’m not. You didn’t know. Otherwise you would have taken care of it when Obergefell v. Hodges went through the Supreme Court.”

Eddie nodded, but he pursed his lips, his hands up around her waist to hold her steady.

“Let’s just eat and I’ll start work on it tomorrow,” she murmured. “Okay?”

“Mmk,” he muttered.

****

Three weeks later, Eddie had in hand two of the three annulments. Billy had sent his back with a little note that said, “With pleasure.” Tommy had merely sent his back without comment.

That was a relief. He was no longer bound to either of those two assholes. He wasn’t even sure what possessed him to marry them in the first place.

Well, okay. He did. He was far away from home, lonely and willing to connect with anyone who would fuck him.

He was getting ready to call Chrissy to her the good news when the phone rang under his hand.

Eddie frowned at it for a moment, before he picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Eddie? Eddie Munson?” the familiar voice sounded through the cell phone.

“This is he,” he replied, still confused.

“If you want to divorce me, you asshole,” Steve spat, “then have the fucking courage to tell me to my face.”

“Steve?” Eddie asked, his confusion still there, but for a different reason now. How did he get his number?

“Yeah,” Steve hissed. “Remember me? The man you left for fame and fortune? How is that going, by the way?”

Eddie gritted his teeth. “You know full well we broke up, I know Dustin still talks to you.”

He could hear Steve snap his fingers. “That’s right. You broke up. And until you tell me to my face you want to do the same, you take your annulment and shove it up your ass.”

“Stevie...” Eddie pleaded.

“Don’t ‘Stevie’ me,” Steve growled. “Fuck you.”

And the phone went dead then Eddie turned his phone around to see that yes, Steve had disconnected the call.

“Fuck.”

****

Eddie called Chrissy with the news. Two yeses and a ‘fuck you’.

“All right, Ed,” she said. “There is more to this than you’ve been telling me, so you are coming over to my apartment with the annulments you got and you are going to spill. Capeesh?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” she huffed and then hung up.

Looked like today was hang up on Eddie day. He sat down at the table both annulments spread out in front of him and buried his head in his hands.

After a few minutes of allowing himself to break down, he picked up the papers and grabbed his keys, wallet, and cell phone.

Time to face the music.

****

Chrissy opened the door with a scowl, but softened when she saw how miserable Eddie looked.

He handed her the annulments and she put them her bag to take to work so that they could be filed with county clerk.

“Tell me about Steve Harrington.”

So Eddie did.

He told her about how they had bonded over a bunch of kids. Kids Steve had used to babysit, but once they got into high school came under Eddie’s wing as leader and DM of the D&D club called The Hellfire Club. How they had gotten together and when Massachusetts made it legal, him, Steve, Jeff, and Steve’s best friend Robin all drove out to Boston and Steve and he got married in a little court house.

“My Uncle Wayne was pissed he wasn’t there,” Eddie said. “But it was spur of the moment thing. We drove all night and got there that afternoon. We put on little suits and let the judge say his words.”

“That sounds sweet, so what happened?”

He let out a shuddering sigh. “Gareth graduated from high school and we got an offer to record an album in New York.”

“Why didn’t he go with you?” she asked gently.

Eddie rubbed his nose. “Because the kids still had two years left of school. He wanted to be there for them. A couple of them didn’t have good home lives and he wanted to make sure they had someone they could count on. We fought about it. Hard.”

“I’m sorry, cher,” she whispered giving his arm a squeeze.

“God,” Eddie said, his voice cracking. “The things we said to each other. It was bad, Chris.”

“And now he won’t sign the papers?” she asked.

He shook his head. “He told me the only way he’d sign anything is I came back to Hawkins and handed it to him myself.”

Chrissy nodded. “All right,” she said, “here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to get a proper divorce degree written up, making sure it’s worded so he knows you won’t be going after any assets he has and then you are taking a week off of work and going down there and facing him. Because holy fucking hell, Ed, he deserves some kind of closure as do you.”

Eddie let out a heartbreaking sigh. “I don’t know if I can face him, Chris. God, I put everything else before him and broke his heart. He always wanted this big wedding. A beautiful reception where all our friends and loved ones were there. A beautiful grey morning jacket with a proper boutonniere and saying his vows across from the one he loved. And instead he got an empty court house and broken promises from a screw up like me.”

She wrapped her arms around him and let him sob into her shoulder.

“Which is why you need to go down there and give him that closure,” she murmured, “so that he can have all that with someone else. Someone who isn’t afraid.”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, just let me know when it’s ready and I’ll take one of my vacation weeks to go to Hawkins, Indiana.”

Chrissy winced. “Maybe don’t sound like you’re going to your funeral, yeah?”

Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes. As far as he was concerned he was going to a funeral. Maybe not his own, but the death of the first real relationship he ever had and if somehow he made it out alive, he was never going to be the same again.

****

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

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[nthspecialll]

Javier pointed his gun up... but he also didn't

I have always been on the "Javier pointed his gun up" team, especially because there is an interview with Javier's va saying he did point it up, however after seeing all of the "he actually didn't" I decided to look into it and they are right, there is a short moment you can see him pointing the gun at John and Arthur.

I absolutely hate tumblr for not allowing more vids in a post but at 00.24 is the scene and at 00.34 it is pointed out.

However what does this mean? We have two contradictions, one being the literal game, the other being a voice actor coming out and saying that he actively fought for Javier to point his gun up, we cannot dismiss either. They both has meaning, the fact that he pointed it up and he pointed it at Arthur and John has a meaning and it makes the scene so much more heart breaking.

I think this scene really shows Javier's emotional conflict, because this was not a "slow draw" as I have also seen people say, Javier's va literally states it isn't, this is hesitation, this is conflict, this is discomfort, he does not want to point that gun at John and Arthur but he does it in the end either way because he also does not want to betray Dutch.

(More thoughts under the cut but they are more in dept for the nerds like myself)

The thing with Javier is that he can see things are going wrong, but unlike John and Arthur he doesn't experience it first hand. The two others were left to die by Dutch several times each meanwhile Javier wasn't, while Arthur saw Dutch killing an old lady and going against his principals, Javier saw Dutch coming to rescue him when he needed it the most. Dutch went out of his way to save Javier, meanwhile, Arthur was left even when Dutch could have saved him with minimal effort in the factory.

Dutch gave Javier a job, clothing, food and a family, he gave him everything that he could have hoped for, this was the best-case scenario for Javier when he crossed the border. Javier owes everything to Dutch, it is natural he wants to stick with him because Javier was in a special situation and Dutch was one of a kind. Javier spoke no English, he was in his twenties, he was weak, he was starving, he had nothing. Arthur and John on the other hand, though they owe Dutch a lot, they could have made it even without him (at least if John had made it out the gallows). They were young, they spoke english, they were harsh, and any idiot with a dream could see they had potential, Javier did not have that. It is a the young, influential puppy vs the old, rusty backyard dog.

Still Javier never saw Dutch as family, not in the sense that John and Arthur did, Dutch was never a father to him, Dutch was an employer, so he doesn't get to see Dutch making less and less sense.

That being said, while Javier trusts Dutch, he also trusts his friends, he respects Arthur and John, he knows they are smart, he knows that they believe in Dutch, so he knows that if they are acting out then there is a reason, the problem is he doesn't see the reason as justifiable. But then again, it could very well be because he has no choice but to deem it unjustifiable.

John and Arthur were born in USA, it is their country, they have the right to be there and they have the privilege of being white strong males in the land of dreams, Javier does not, he is strong, he is male, but he is not white, he is a man of color and he is hated for it, we see so many times people throw slurs at him. With the gang broken, Javier is back at where he was when he first to USA. He would struggle being able yo find another gang in the states that would accept him, he wouldn't be able to make a living on his own and he does not want to go back to Mexico because he knows it would put his family at risk, that was the whole reason he fled in the first place.

He believes in Dutch because he has no other choice, because he has nowhere to go with the gang broken up. After it happens we can read that in 1907 he is holed up in a mountain, he is staying away from the area his family is from because he doesn't want to put them in danger, he is not thriving or living his life.

Javier never saw John as a traitor, he never did, he is also the only person on "Dutch's side" to defend John when he is being accused of being the traitor, except when it is to Arthur, then he is okay kind of accusing John because he can't let it show that he is desperate.

He never stopped caring for John or Arthur though, he tells Arthur to worry about his cough, indirectly to take care of himself, and in 1911 Javier is stalling, he does not want to harm John, something very visible when he chooses to jump out the window even though he had every chance at shooting John and get it over with, ensure his own survival, not to mention, he knew about John's daughter, meaning he has been watching John.

"Oh but he shouted at John and called Abigail all sorts of things." This is a broken man we are talking about, a man who has lost everything, a man who has no legacy, a man who has no real life, a man who saw the one person he believed turn crazy, a man who has just realized he is about to die, a man who has most likely wished for death for a long time but doesn't know what to feel now it is coming, you would be desperate too, you would shout over the mountains because there are no consequences, because you will be dead anyways.

[basofy]

Hey like, ignorant USAmerican here. Im trying to understand the situation going on in Venezuela and since, well, you live there, I'd like to hear ur voice. The actions of Maduro seem really indefensible but I worry about the US governments involvement in the opposition. I can't exactly do anything but it seems like the Venezuelan people are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I pray for your safety and that your land doesn't become a vassal state for the USA.

hello, i appreciate you reaching out to me to know more. the issues we are going through now don't really have anything to do with the usa, or probably not at the extremely big scale that annoying people online are saying. the opposition candidates we are rooting for (María Corina and Edmundo) are simply trying to prove the legitimacy of the votes in which Edmundo ended up with 70% in favor in contrast to Maduro who got 30%, i think the number in favor of Edmundo has even been going higher now that they're registering more votes.

on the day of the elections, me and everyone i know were watching reports of how the elections were going in other states, we watched as all the votes were being counted and Edmundo was proclamed winner in every state. there are recordings of the government attempting to steal the boxes (some did get stolen) and mistreating and even killing civilians for it. María Corina stated that the priority right now is protecting the votes and that's all she's asked from the country as of now (aside from some peaceful concentrations in places where she's spoken). venezuelans of all areas, of all economic classes have been protesting agaisnt Maduro, which i think is really good to note because, we used to be extremely divided in between people who opposed chavismo and people who wanted it, but lately the number of people opposing it has been really high, to the point that symbols of chavismo like statues and posters have been getting ruined everywhere by the people. even people who used to depend on what the government gave them (because Maduro created a situation where many people of low resources had to either put their trust and love in Maduro waiting to get something good out of it (and not even that good) or starve) realized they didn't want to depend on him anymore. nobody wants to 'just survive' anymore. this has been going on for 25 years, my country and my people have been deeply hurt. people are tired. and Maduro's mandate didn't even start in a fair way either, he has been commiting fraud everytime, the difference being now that people are more united and also more tired than before.

as for what you might've heard regarding USA i think you might have been seeing the people who say that the opposition is a bunch of cia leaders led by the US who only want Venezuela's resources. look i'm not saying the USA doesn't suck or that our resources aren't very preyed on, but that isn't what is happening here. it's a problem inside our country, it's a problem of people wanting their vote to be respected, who have had to fight for it and oppose the regime and the police and the military and risk their life for it. people have been getting abused and even kidnapped and tortured for protesting.

i would like to mention that people with the ideology that the opposition is an us backed coup have been dehumanizing us venezuelans to no end and refuse to listen to us. they don't know the reality of venezuela as of now and don't want us to explain it to them and put every excuse possible for it. it's just a bunch of people who talk about politics like it's videogames. they talk like every person opposing Maduro is a privileged white person when most of the people fighting right now are from the poorer areas of the country, the people they are suppossedly 'defending'. they feel more betrayed than everybody else does.

if USA is only supporting us for our resources rn i'm honestly unaware and wouldn't be surprised but as i said that isn't the issue at hand rn, and chavismo and Maduro have been profiting off our resources all these years leaving the people with nothing so thats to keep in mind. the disaster you fear the usa might do has already been done by chavismo

i would also like to mention that the supposed numbers in favor of Maduro don't even match with the amount of people protesting. all the people protesting outside aren't in his favor, and he has been suppressing every demostration of opposition with police brutality.

as for María Corina i can't say i 100% trust her, for different reasons, but she seems more ready than past figures of the opposition have been and has managed to unite the country alongside Edmundo, the people have hope and are willing to give it their all and i don't want the rest of the world to ignore this.

we are indeed in between the sword and the wall here but it's because this is a chance that we really need, not because of the USA preying on us but because we just want to be free from chavismo and Maduro once and for all.

unfortunately it's hard to find good articles in english about this but i've found some trustworthy posts in instagram that very well summarize about what is going on, you might want to look at them

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[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTAH for sending my (21NB) SIL (20F) stuff to help with her pregnancy when her mom said she doesn't want us to?

✨️✨️✨️❣️✨️✨️✨️ <- so i can recognise the post

so for some context, SIL didn't tell us she was 2 months pregnant until last night. She'd been planning on moving across the country (we live in the USA so across country is 3000~ miles/4500~ km) to go live with her boyfriend (22M) for a while now. None of us wanted her to go regardless but now that we know she's pregnant we wish she were here even more so we could help with anything she needs. She left this morning for her flight across country with a guy our family barely knows - some of us only learned his name last night.

my MIL - her mom - says she was gonna send her a car before finding out about the pregnancy but since SIL said she's gonna go to school and work online cus she wants to stay home with the baby, the mom doesn't want to send her a car that the idiot who got her pregnant (and was the one who convinced her not to tell us about it) is gonna end up using instead of her.

so, i brought up sending her some stuff to show her that she has people here who will help her (even if she is across the country) and show she's not alone. MIL was worried it would convince her to stay there. My worry is that not giving her any help will push her to stay over there where she doesn't know anyone instead of staying with family or, at least, someone she knows better than her bf of a few months.

I know she doesn't like it here, and at first I supported her moving out before I found out it was across the country with a guy she met *This Year* (2023 when submitted - idk how long thisll take to post). I don't think she should have to stay in this house, I understand she has trauma here and I fully support her moving out but the thought of her alone and pregnant on the other side of the country where she has absolutely no one other than her bf (who doesnt seem to be taking this situation seriously At All) and his family - who none of us have ever met - is just terrifying.

I dont think what I want to send her is something that would end up being a present for the boyfriend instead of her like the car. I have a pregnancy pillow from a surgery I had last year and thought even if she ends up not wanting it, sending it to her would at least show her that she's not alone and we still love and care about her from all the way over here. It isn't much and I don't think it's anything that would convince her to stay over there so I don't see why it should be a problem.

For full transparency, I *do* hope sending her support might convince her to come back, even if she doesn't move back into the house, I hope she doesn't stay in a place with a guy who clearly isn't ready to help, people she doesn't know, new rules, new everything. It all just seems too stressful under regular circumstances, let alone during her first-ever pregnancy. That being said, her staying or going is her choice, all of us agreed that trying to force her to stay/come back would only stress her out more and would be bad for her and the baby.

for extra context- when i say we dont know the bf at all, i mean it. i met him yesterday, the rest of the family has met him 2, maybe 3 times. he made a speech last night at dinner that only made me worry more, "I may not be the best for her", "Yeah, I'm in school but I'm not studying anything right now" (wtf does that even mean????), apparently he wants to be a cop (which i dont like personally) but isnt doing anything to accomplish that? and when FIL asked if we could visit her, he completely waffled as if he had never thought of the fact that we would like to go see her?? and her child??? Everyone throughout dinner made it very clear to him that we Don't know him and we're entrusting the baby of the household, the Princess of the household, with him - all of this was before we even knew she was pregnant. He didn't even tell the dad about the pregnancy before they left, he made MIL do it.

tl;dr- SIL's bf convinced her not to tell her family she was pregnant until the night before she moves across the country to live with him. I want to send her stuff to help with her pregnancy & show her she's not alone & we're here to help with whatever she needs but MIL worries sending her things will convince her that she doesnt need to come back home, i worry that not sending her anything at all will make her not want to come back at all.

What are these acronyms?

[tocomplainfriend]

After seeing the whole val controversy, I'm started to feel guilty for liking villains. I like bad guys because they make stories entertaining even if val isn't my favorite at all. What's the line of liking villains? Should cosplaying them considered illegal now? Or we shouldn't enjoy villains anymore. I like villains because they challenge the protagonist's morality or in some case the protagonists themselves becoming villains. It's fun seeing characters becoming the worst version of themselves, a warning to audiences that anyone is capable of doing bad if put in the right situation. I'm not trying to defend any side btw.

TW: rape, pedophilia

That wasn't the point- There are people who should feel allowed to feel uncomfy cosplaying villains (specially a one that's an r-pist). -And those people should be allowed to voice in their opinion.

There are points where you can like a character in different ways

Many villains are written greatly and real charismatic. But you do need to understand that what they do is bad, and not romantize their actions.

Many of these Val fans (for what ever reason) tried too hard to defend the rights of real life r-pists. Or say "But you like (x character that isn't a r-pist)" which I think is dumb.

We get to distance certain things in media from reality, but the closest it gets to something like r-pe or P-dophilia alot of people back off. -and I think when it comes to something like that- people should be really careful and aware to not delete the forces of their actions. I mean, in HB all the main character kills a shit ton of humans in the series, but we don't care- we worry about their personal lives and emotions as if they didn't kill innocent humans in that Verosika episode (and others). The humans they kill in the bg don't matter and are not given emotions so we don't care about heir death- in real life we do value human life (or we should!) even if people we don't know to have a sad backstory. But in media, you need to approach things like r-pe or P-dophilia more carefully and seriously. The amount of normalization of r-pe culture in real life is really big. And yes, fictions does affect reality. I do think there are levels of people having less emotions of people dying by the normalization a dehumanization of certain groups of people irl. More people would care about injustices if the media and world didn't try to dehumanize the groups of people they attack irl. If the USA didn't try hard to spread racism, xenophobia to justify their actions, a lot more people would be speaking about it more.

People need to be more sensitive, is what I'm saying.

[skeletoninthemelonland]

First of all, so so sorry your situation. Im in a similar one actually so I really hope you're okay. Even though it's not dire, mine isn't either, it's very draining and can be super overwhelming since you dont have the support of your parents to guide you. People have already mentioned keeping documents in order. you mentioned commissions, time how long it takes you do to things and decided how you'd like to be paid based on the hour. Do Not undersell yourself. If you're uncomfortable with people maybe seeing your real name/using real info for payments, there are companies that work as your registered agent (at least that's what it's called in the usa) that you can use the address of for a yearly fee

You can also look into passive income things with art like making stickers for redbubble and Ive heard about artists making stock images before but I don't know how that really work tbh ^^;

-

here's a good post on general adult knowledge

here's a post on things to know once your out

Always Pay Rent First. Normally there's always some sort of way to get food, losing your apartment makes it super hard to keep a job

-

As for staying sane, people really help. Not necessarily even talking a whole ton.

Going and sitting at a cafe or park. wandering around a mall.

It's why I adore anime cons. You can look up board game or crafting groups in your area. If you're lgbtqia you can look for nearby queer centers, they're really helpful for advice and resources. Libraries are ridiculously useful. My nearby one hosts plenty of events and has a poster board for nearby event happening. You can just spend the afternoon there.

Journaling and deep breathing and calm music all really help me too.

Therapy has always been the most helpful but not everyone has access to that.

Also getting a good nights rest. So many of my problems have been helped a lot by getting better sleeping habits

-

As for where to move, think about things like climate, laws, how the people there act. My town is super queer friendly but two towns over they're very much not, so be careful. Normally a simple google search on the name of a town can tell you a lot about it.

When picking out apartments, things like if you have animals or a car are super important. I have a car so Im looking for somewhere that has dedicated parking cause I can't afford someone hitting it when it's parked on the side walk.

-

There are jobs that lead into other jobs. Knowing powered equipment, such as forklifts, can score you better paying jobs in the future.

If you're looking into something art wise, just focus on portfolio, no one cares if you went to college as long as you can do what they need.

There's also apps for things like setting up dog sitting. I've also heard of event staffing companies that'll give you jobs as they come, never done it though so look thoroughly into that.

you can look up the average rent/utilities and such of a town you want to live in to get an idea of what you'll be paying

-

Credit score is super important in the usa to renting, but I don't know if you have that or an equivalent. If there's is, there should be secured credit cards that help you start building credit if you have none.

-

Just remember that this won't last forever and you got this!! it's painful and scary but it's temporary.

Also remember that you still deserve better even though you're not being abused, it still hurts and that's vaild.

I dont know if any of this is helpful but I wish you the best and feel free to ask questions if you need anything :D

.

[gryficowa]

Can we say that Benjamin is more terrifying than Hitler? It's just that compared to Hitler, I target one group (Hitler targeted several, you know, Jews, Poles, Roma, LGBT+ people… while Benjamin only targets Palestinians/Muslims and sometimes also humanitarian aid, but you know what I mean…), what's more, he goes unpunished (Because even though the USA did shit towards Hitler, at least the world reacted more… There was no madness, but compared to Israel's crimes, it seems like doing nothing… Although Poland was left to itself anyway, but well… I don't know what to write more, it's just that even here there were attempts to do anything… They did it on their knees, but still… There was something…)

It's just that Benjamin scares me more because of the fact that he goes unpunished and people are silenced for the right reaction to his crimes, and as I mentioned, he also targets his genocide at specific ethnicities (When Hitler had several ethnicities, not one specific one, because he still killed people for many reasons, as I mentioned, he targeted many groups, and not one specific one)

Yes, he kept targeting more than one and that was scary, but Benjamin targeting a specific ethnicity, a group that isn't "White Enough" for people to care (Because the media has been dehumanizing them for decades), that's more scary because the world's passivity towards Israel's crimes, the fact that you can literally commit crimes worse than the holocaust and go unpunished is unthinkable, that's what makes Benjamin more terrifying than Hitler…

In addition, there are Israelis, because if during the Third Reich there were Germans opposed to Hitler's crimes, in the case of Israelis there is a problem that if they are, they still believe Israel to some extent about, for example, Hamas, a greater chance is in the case of Israelis living outside Israel, but in Israel itself? Well, that's a big problem many "Left Wing" Israelis support the government (Which shows they are not left wing…), so yes, an extra layer of scary thoughts…

Just the thought that people can without a second thought fight for the right to rape after IDF people have been convicted of crimes, or destroying humanitarian food and stopping food vans to make CHILDREN STARVIVE is this level of evil that you are holding your head…

It's not the government itself that's the problem, the whole fucking country is, the longer Israel exists the longer the genocide will last

"But where will the Israelis go?" preferably to prison for being war criminals… Well? Do you think I would want such evil people to live among other citizens? They're a fucking threat! I don't want Israelis to attack other Jews for not being bigots, or Muslims… They just can't be around other people, because they are fucking dangerous and they have proven it many times, prison is simply the perfect place for these people, because really, the further they are from other minorities, the fucking better

Well, I'm sorry, but I don't see them among other citizens after all the shit they've done this time, but back, Benjamin is terrifying because of the people he created…

[power-handmaiden]

Day 35: Angry Man Pounded By The Fear Of His Latent Gayness Over A Dinosaur Transitioning Into A Unicorn

I love how much contempt for its characters this tingler starts off with. We have the iconic man/woman couple who are always the subject of conservative boomer humor about relationships, the emotionally unavailable man and his overbearing shrill wife, who don't even like each other, let alone love or show any attraction to each other. It feels like a caricature but it actually makes more sense when the man turns out to not actually be attracted to women, honestly.

This tingler aged... interestingly. The protagonist's crisis of sexuality is brought on by his attraction to Bort Jenkins, a unicorn athlete and reality TV star who was born as a dinosaur and recently transitioned to a unicorn. Clearly a stand-in for Caitlyn Jenner. (If my rudimentary research is correct, Bort's resemblance to her deadname is because this was written in that specific time period where she had come out as trans, but not publicly revealed her name yet.) She's a controversial figure for many reasons that I'm not going to get into now, but this comes from a time when people were pretty much just laser-focused on the trans thing. Bort isn't really a character who does anything in this story anyway, more of a news item for characters to discuss.

Another present day context that really changes how I read this story is the conservative furry panic of the past few years. Yes, the "if people can identify as other genders, what if they start identifying as ANIMALS?" dumbfuck made-up problem is much older, but it's really having a moment now. This story was an absurd concept when it was written but now we have real elected officials in the USA freaking out over the idea of people "identifying as" different species, bringing this story a whole lot closer to realism than anyone would've expected in 2015. To me, the message of this one feels closer to the conservative furry strawman than it does to real trans issues, especially with the whole "you're gay regardless of whether you're into human, unicorn or dinosaur men" thing; we're dealing with an issue of species transition where gender is static. (Truth be told, I don't think it was the best move to make a comparison to a real-life trans woman and make this point in association because I've seen how people misinterpret such things... but I'm sure Tingler readers in particular understand the abstraction and that this isn't applicable directly to the real person) I feel like a version of this story could be written today with the message of "what if the conservative strawman version of the furry fandom was real and not just a way of targeting queer people without saying you're targeting queer people? Would it really be that bad or even different of a world to live in?"

I'm interested to see how Dr. Tingle tackles trans issues in the future. Despite a couple things that read as dated to me I see a good foundation here from someone who is still working through his own feelings about gender identity. I know that future tinglers will have explicitly trans characters and the perspective of a trans author who has explored and introspected on his own gender identity more thoroughly.

(Also there's a tingleverse connection in this one: mention of the "first human player in the UFL" refers to the events of "Pounded By The Gay Unicorn Football Squad")

[laurelindebear]

How is it that humans have such endless capacity for hatred, conflict, and war?

I'm not even talking about Ukraine or Israel/Palestine or Syria or Armenia or whatever the fuck. I'm talking about all of us.

When I was 19 and I had my first boyfriend I thought all the stupid rules around dating and courtship and all that would be gone in my lifetime. Why wouldn't more women ask out men (or other women)? Nothing wrong with it; I have done it myself. Why wouldn't everyone pay their own way on dates? Why would people assume the man would pay for everything or the woman would 'owe him' later? Everyone works now, so why not split it? If we want equality, why not act like it?

But clearly, I was fuckin' stupid, because it's not over. It's not even better - it's worse. Nobody talks to anyone. There's a loneliness epidemic (the discourse of which is focused on men, because men still aren't socialised to make friends or practice emotional intimacy with anyone but sexual partners or even recognise feelings, apparently, but it's not like it's peachy for women looking for relationships either). Patriarchy and toxic masculinity and toxic femininity are still killing everyone and now they have living embodiments all over everyone's life via the algorithms, all the time, telling women and girls they are subhuman garbage to be victimised and subservient and boys and men that women are their enemy to be destroyed, and that they need to be angry and violent to society.

Do you have any idea how fucking tired I am? Why the fuck do we 'need' a War of the Sexes? Why the fuck have we EVER needed it? (Not 'why did/do we need feminism.') Why the fuck are we supposed to be mortal enemies, trapped in endless battle, cursed to never understand or trust each other? WE'RE ALL JUST PEOPLE. It shouldn't be this hard.

And it's everything, everywhere, all the time. 'Hurhur Americans are stupid because they microwave water.' 'Ugh Europeans are rude and joyless and don't trust compliments.' 'Australians are -' 'Trans people are trying to destroy -' 'Queer people are so - ' 'Muslims need to -' 'Jews should -' 'Boomers are -' 'Millennials are-' 'Zoomers are-' 'Breeders' 'Childless people' 'Westerners' 'Atheists' 'Cishets' 'Leftists' 'Fascists' 'Tankies' 'Liberals' 'Anti' 'Pro'. Every person and every word must be taken in the worst possible light. Malice isn't just assumed, it's mandated. Everyone is responsible for countless sins: their own, their parents', their friends', and those of everyone they might share any kind of group or link with, living, dead, or yet to be born. Everything is a fight, always, forever, and if you're not fighting and hating and categorising and labelling and shunning, you're part of the problem.

I know cultural relativism has limits, and I know all things aren't equal, I'm not stupid, but come the fuck on.

The whole world is hurtling straight into an age of fascism and authoritarianism and autocracy. I'm at the point where I think the 'Great Experiment' (not of the USA, but of representative democracy and pluralism and tolerant societies all together) was always doomed. We'll never get past that wretched, pathetic need to name an 'other' that is our enemy to convince ourselves we're better, we're worthy, we're good. Not like them. And that will always lead to insular thinking and to actual war. We'll never outgrow might makes right. At least two of the major world deities rely on it as their source of authority, FFS.

Do people not get it yet? Your purity and your precious little groups are all a fucking lie. EXISTENCE IS HARM, EXISTENCE IS COMPLICITY IN EVERYTHING THAT HAS COME BEFORE US, THERE IS NO ERASING ANY OF IT. EVERY PHILOSOPHY AND EVERY SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM HAS DRAWBACKS AND MORAL COMPROMISES. THAT'S JUST LIFE. WE ARE NOT PURE AND WE NEVER WILL BE. JUST FUCKING COEXIST WITH PEOPLE EVEN IF YOU THINK THEY SUCK. WE ALL SUCK.

I love and treasure individual persons. People as a whole, I like about as much as I like mosquitoes.

[tuliptiger]

The problem with living, here in USA America, and maybe partly just being alive and human? But I sincerely hope it's relatively contained in capitalist and capitalist adjacent countries...

Is that you DO want more, you want more money, more experiences, more fulfillment, more life, more comfort, more time, more...More.

And the thing is I recognize there is a threshold somewhere of needs met. And if I'm looking at my life making $36,000 a year before taxes in Oregon... I'm maybe fine? I can buy food and gas money and have a car payment. I have a lot of things. I can meet a quality of life that can be better than most.

I live on my own I want to own a house, I want to bring my pets over by me and out of my moms house. I want extra money to do things go places and eat REALLY really nice food every once and a while. I want to travel and give money to my friends and family. I want to have hobbies. I want! I want things.

I want more. But like if I logic my way through everything I can't really own a house, I had to get my moms help doing that and do work myself. It's 800 sq ft and I didn't even want a house that big. I could use less. I'll probably have to have her help me make payments. I was forced to take another job that makes more money at $49,000 a year instead of $35,000. Which isn't a lot more but it might be life changing.

I'm trying to find the threshold. If I explain it out and say all the things I do have it's like. Hey you should be good right?

But I don't have a savings account I just have equity. "Just have equity" not everyone has this either. But I have no security if I get injured or if something catastrophic happens with my house or car. I don't feel safe I only have my youth for now which I'm relying on way too heavily to carry me into a place and time where my debts paid off and I can start saving. And my youth is running out.

I want. I want a nice home I want a savings account I want to do more things. I already have it well enough. I do. I have my freedom and the time and will to choose who I hang out with and where I go and how I spend my time. It just. It still feels like I'm in transition and it might until everything I have is paid off free and clear. If that happens.

I just hope I figure out when "it's" enough. I don't want to endlessly chase forever I don't want to live the American dream. I want to be thankful and grateful and I want to know when enough is enough and when it's not and not feel bad for wanting more. I want less but I want more. I want to feel...solid and firm. I'm tired, and tired of always feeling on the cusp of something, tired of feeling contradictory.

I want security and to feel safe and live well. Not at the cost of others and ideally not wholly at the cost of myself either. I want.

[thepoetrytheorist]

Wait you’re a Zionist?

Complicated answer: I'm Jewish, I believe Israel - or the area currently encompassed by Israel, as well as the surrounding regions- is the indigenous homeland of my people. This is supported by archaeology and historical documents. I'm not personally a zionist by its true meaning: That Jews should have an ethnostate in the historical Judea region, or that we should all have to return there. This was an idea created in the 1800s, when the concept of the Ethnostate was popular. [remember your POWDERKEG everybody, ethnostates historically lead to war].

I would prefer a world where we didn't feel the need for an ethnostate because antisemitism stopped being a problem. I don't agree with Israel's political actions 99% of the time, most Jews don't. But 80+% of us still support Israel's right to exist. Israel currently has the highest population of Jews, followed not even closely by the USA, and even combined those populations are nowhere close to pre-genocide counts. A lot of that support is reactionary from a population for which a genocide is in living memory. If that makes us all zionists, then sure, whatever.

This doesn't mean that Palestinians aren't also indigenous to the land nor that they don't have a right to live there, and they certainly don't deserve to be bombed on the daily--- seriously, theres a huge difference between retaliation and... this. There are several groups that are indigenous to that particular region because indigeneity doesn't know boundaries in the same way the Nation State makes boundaries- seriously, look up the historic boundaries of your local indigenous groups. While I personally will not be returning to Yisrael, I support Jews who feel or historically have felt that they didn't have much more of a choice... Or even Jews who just want to live there because its our historic homeland. That's not colonisation.

What is colonisation is the historic military+economic support states like the UK and America have had for indigenous groups to oppress other indigenous groups for their own economic or political benefit [which we have done time and time again especially in SWANA, SE Asia, Latin America, and Africa-- remember that "carving up the world" political cartoon from history class? This is part of the fallout from that ideology!]. And that's a big part of what's happening here. It's upsetting, theres no easy answer. Maybe a 2 state solution is the best, but that's not a perfect answer, and lets be honest, isn't going to happen any time soon. Not while Netyanahu is still in power, and not while the West gives his government support.

[elekid]

Feel free to ignore if youre not up to giving advice. I'm unemployed (working on getting a job via higher education) and live in seattle. Recently I applied for cash and food assistance, but the idea of the interview makes me nervous... I suddenly feel very guilty for trying to receive welfare, considering I had enough money saved to keep myself afloat for a bit thanks to nonstop working (min wage) for 7 years. But money doesnt last forever, especially here in the pnw where everything costs so stupid much, and I can't just keep putting the interview off.. ... So, I was curious from a human standpoint about what the interview entails? *Should* I be nervous? I'm trying not to bank on getting assistance to keep my expectations in check, it would just solve like. A ton of my current financial problems

nahh there isn't a need to nervous like all that

the person doing your interview is a person, so u might have an asshole or a chill person, but at the end of the day they aren't going to let their personal opinions get in the way of doing their jobs.

DSHS is not awful aside from waiting time. What'll happen is

you go inside to the first line, let them know what you came for

they send you to wait longer in a seat

they call your name, you go to whatever window you get called to

the interview consists of very dry yes or no questions about what resources/cash/assets you may or may not have, and then they give you a realistic answer on the spot about your options. the whole thing is really quite boring, which pisses a lot of people off and they leave disgruntled.

The belltown dshs on like 3rd ave iirc? nicest dshs i been to yet in this usa. not all of them are that way. but thats the situation in seattle rn.

I genuinely urge you to take any shot that may help, even when you get told "no" or "wait" or "go ask ____". its worth it, cause it could just save your life! Best of luck getting assistance. Please don't let your emotions trick you on money, cause it can be reprinted and you cannot. I really hope this answer helped.

[ahiddenpath]

Recently, I've been thinking about reading for pleasure and reading for challenge and I remembered your answer to that ask game where you mentioned your friend's list of literature. If you feel comfortable, could you share the list?

Sure thing! This is going to get really long so... List beneath the cut.

So my friend split these into two groups: authors you must read for a masters in literature (that you will actually enjoy bc they kick ass) and books you will enjoy that kick ass. Her recs were centered on fantasy and magical realism, at my request.

Magical realism you’d be forced to read in a masters program that’s also good actually (tm) Salman Rushdie

Morrison obviously

Louise Erdrich (tho she’d prolly object to being called magical realism)

Haruki Murakami

Stuff that is Not School Stuff but Actually Good (tm):

The Witcher novels

These are the Witcher novels in order:

blood of elves time of contempt baptism of fire the tower of the swallow lady of the lake

There are also two short stories.

Kingkiller chronicles (unfinished but worth it anyway)

The entire hainish cycle by Leguin

Michal moorecock’s elric saga (as or maybe more influential than Tolkien in pop culture fantasy, why D&D exists) read this before the Witcher books maybe

Pratchett obviously

Kelly Link’s stories (all over the genre map)

Gene Wolfe shadow and claw collection

Books to Grow By

This is a combination of recs from my friend and stuff I found myself, apologies for linking out but typing it again seems redundant.

-List 1

-More on the biographies of women mentioned at the bottom of the post linked above

-More on The Left Hand of Darkness, LeGuin

-More on Beloved, Morrison and how it impacted the writing I was doing at the time, although it's embarrassing to say that bc Beloved is an absolute master class in the novel and is incomparable and I feel almost blasphemous even talking about it, except that it might inspire other people to read it, so I will talk about it!!!! In the hopes that people read it!!!! Please read it.

I haven't spoken about it yet, but I really want to add Ducks, Kate Beaton to the list. It's an autobio graphic novel about Kate, a woman from Nova Scotia who took a job on the oil sands to pay off her history degree. It gets dark fast, I would check out trigger warnings first.

This book is so packed with... So many things that I... I hate that they exist, but I really want people to see them, to know about them. I grew up in a lower middle class family on the east coast of the USA. My parents spoke about money problems constantly, so I legit thought we were poor. We were not, although my parents struggled with money their whole lives and will likely never retire and will pass away in debt.

When I was in college, I made friends with my literature pal above online. We've been friends for... God, probably about 12 years now, chatting daily online. I don't want to get into her life too much on Tumblr.com, but she actually grew up in poverty, and graciously taught me what poverty actually is. That might sound sarcastic, but it isn't at all. Sharing your life experience like that takes a lot of trust, time, and emotional energy, and it isn't something we can just... expect to be given for the sake of our own growth (ick, right??).

Like Beaton, lots of people are born in places where comfortable and lucrative jobs are not readily available. Also like Beaton, many folks earn a college degree that will almost certainly not pay for itself in terms of securing gainful employment. People in those circumstances often end up in jobs that destroy their body, their mental health, and their dignity. Class status isn't only dependent on income; it's also dependent on the type of work a family unit does. Jobs that wreck your body can pay well, but at what price?

There are a million themes and glimpses of humanity and horror in this book, I wish everyone would read it. The book was a huge success, and most libraries carry it, so try to check it out!

[la-pheacienne]

For all that they talk about GRRM being anti-war, anti-monarchy and anti-feudalism, they love neglecting to mention that he’s anti-Catholicism.

Disclaimer: if in any way I come across as agressive, it's not at all directed at you anon, I'm speaking very generally here, thank you for your ask💖

Listen. The sheer notion of "anti-war" is the stupidest of the stupidest political/moral/ethical attitudes that someone could have. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but someone needs to say it. "Anti-war" doesn't mean ANYTHING. Anti-which war exactly? You need to be specific. Not all wars are the same, not all wars are created equal, there are some wars that need to happen, that are fair, and some wars that shouldn't happen. Yes of course, it depends on where you're standing. But it always does, that's life. And of course in every war there are people suffering, but that's life again. If the enemy comes at your doorstep and wants to destroy you and everything you love or if you have been violently evicted from your homeland, what will you say exactly? Hunie I ain't doin' anything about dat cause I'm anti-war? Lol. No. The "anti-war" agenda is only relevant for privileged, white Americans and Europeans thinking they are Americans, who haven't felt threatened once in their life, who haven't lost anything, who don't know anything about human history and think that the solution to every problem on planet earth is peace and love. No.

GRRM definitely isn't anti war. There is no way a person that dedicates decades of his life reading and writing about brave warriors is anti war. Sure he's "anti- war" in the sense that he doesn't particularly fancy going out with a sword decapitating people, but he's not anti war in any fundamental way. And newsflash, none of the fans of these shows/books are. We're literally dedicating years of our lives reading about war and watching war happen and supporting aristocrats that lead their people to war. That's literally the plot of the story. So no, in real life I'm not anti war, and in the ASOIAF universe I'm definitely not anti war. All of my favourite characters are warriors and/or leaders to battle, Jon, Jaime, Dany, Stanis, Brienne. It's exactly the same thing in any fantasy story. Watching a fantasy story about warriors and being anti war is the most idiotic thing you can do. Go watch Gilmore Girls. Unfortunately, people who should have stuck to Gilmore Girls ended up watching GoT because of its popularity, and that's the very reason we have the Anti-Targaryen phenomenon.

The same for anti monarchy. Like, I don't particularly approve of monarchy, my country has no monarchy because we literally chased the monarch away, thank god, and I don't think it's a good model of political structure in any country. That doesn't mean that I don't acknowledge that Europeans lived with that for centuries. Some monarchs/emperors literally changed history for the better. They conquered, they educated, they revolutionised, they made progress, they broke centuries of tradition. I don't see monarchy, again, through the lense of the privileged American who thinks their country discovered democracy and scorns any other political system because they just know better. No honey you don't, and you didn't discover shit. Magna Carta was created under Monarchy. The Catholicism received it's fatal blow because of a Monarch. Women and bastards gained power and legitimacy because one day a female bastard decided that she could be a better Queen than her brother or her perfect religious female cousin. Cities and schools were created by monarchs. Scientific progress that changed the world was funded by Monarchs. They also did terrible things, they are also responsible for destruction, slavery, misery. But perfectly democratic leaders side eyeing literally every single President of the USA ever also did all of the above. My whole point is, you can be "anti monarchy" if you don't like the way it works, that's fine, I am as well, but if you think that every single Monarch in history was just a "bad person" and you don't acknowledge the value and impact of certain rulers and certain periods of human history then you're simply illiterate. Again, people who think that way somehow ended up watching Game of Thrones, a show about Monarchs, and again, that explains the Targaryen hate. Watching a show that tells the story of Monarchs and Aristocrats doing vile and great/heroic deeds and being "Anti-monarchy"? Sure, you can be, but what is the point of that observation in that context exactly? It makes you look like a fool.

About anti Catholicism. Sure the faith of the seven has clear parallels to the Catholicism, the Great Sparrow was a character that came straight from the Inquisition, the Hightowers are pious little hypocrites that hate women and demonize sex and bastards. The parallel is there. In that particular aspect I do think GRRM consistently shows obsessing over religion as something inherently bad in his universe but it's really not that important because religion is not the focus of the story. Power is. The Hightowers' problem is not that they are religious, even though that makes them even more unlikeable. Their problem is that they are greedy MFs that started a war for nothing and they destroyed an entire realm because they preferred that than to see a ruler with a vagina on the Iron Throne. So it's not about religion exactly, it's about a unfair war (a war motivated by greed and treason) versus a fair war (a war motivated by the need to reclaim what has been taken from you by force and treachery). GRRM is definitely anti Catholicism though, that much is certain, but religion has a secondary role in his universe any way.

[gryficowa]

You know what pisses me off? My country and people have forgotten that Poland has always been diverse and they want it to be like the fucking USA, where all "Non-Americans" are a problem and should get out of the country, I am disgusted that Poland has become this

As a Kashubian, I hate Kashubians who think this way, because it shows that they forget that they themselves are a fucking national minority and they should leave because they are not Poles (They have citizenship, but Kashubians were not part of Poland until a certain year), I hate how the American way thinking got here

Poland/Kashubia without minorities is not Poland/Kashubia, it is an empty shell, it is minorities and immigrants who built this country, telling them that this country is not theirs, it is fucking disgusting

This land was for everyone, now you are carrying what the Nazis and the Third Reich sowed when they fucking invaded this country

The national identity of these lands has never existed, that this country is supposed to be only for Poles/Kashubians, this is Nazi rhetoric that still drives you and it is disgusting, yes, we are fucking traumatized by the crimes of the Third Reich and colonization, but this chain must be fucked break, because we will kill ourselves

I was raised to be a person that many people accept (as long as they are not bigoted trash) and the fact that you can hate someone just because of their origin will always be fucked up to me (I hate people for their actions, that's why I have a big problem with Israelis, because unfortunately, but chance, that you'll meet an Israeli who isn't a racist fucking bigot is downright impossible, and seriously, I'm one of those people who wants to believe that your background doesn't represent your entire personality)

That's why I can't hate all Russians (And those who say that I believe/spread propaganda about good Russians show that they are bigots, sorry, but not every Russian supports fucking Putin)

Your background doesn't define who the fuck you are, the bad people in your country are not you, the people hating you because you come from a country that is ruled by a bad person are the real fucking problem, not you

But coming back, this pisses me off in Poland (I'm speaking from a Kashubian perspective), I saw how Poles reacted to Ukrainians (I understand, they did a lot of bad things in the past, but fuck, these are new generations, so again, looking has an origin and treating it as if oh origin represented each of them…), I've seen a lot of shit in this world, especially in this country where I have lived since birth

Poland is home to Jews, Muslims, Roma, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, even if they are not that numerous, it doesn't fucking mean they don't exist and that's why it fucking disgusts me that people in this country want them to leave this country

The very thought that larger minorities than me have to see the love of Poles in the comments depresses me on many levels

Poland is only true Poland when it is full of minorities, because that is what it has always been…