#and all because society is still scared of the cold war

[rainbowgod666]

First off: youre right, the oly use for terfs and other assorted bigots is to sacrifice them to the crocs in the river like they did in egypt

Secondly: they could have at least LET YOU DECIDE the gender? Like i undersrand that pronouns are complex, theyre your identity and you should have decided them

Thirdly: theres this channel called Azeal that interviews people and one time they interviewed an intersex person that had chimeric genes (yes they did fullmetal alchemist jokes on that, cause laughing through the pain is the only thing to do until help comes along)

Fourthly: i HOPE i didnt sound uneducated (thats because i basically dumped all data on intersex people i have, which is basically NONE) and genuinely WHY. Such a wonder of the human body treated like a mistake to fix? Yeah sure, next youre gonna tell me that trump wanst impeached and all amazon workers are treated above averagely

I'm both trans and intersex. Not just intersex by technicality either.

I was born with both male and female primary sexual characteristics, it affects me every day. Chronic pain, discrimination from doctors, you name it. My life is a constant attempt at convincing the world that my body genuinely does not fit the binary of male and female.

I was still assigned male despite this, so most of my life has been shaped by that, most of my trauma around my gender comes from being trans. But still despite that, I identify closer with my intersex identity.

I do that because even within the trans community there is little understanding or respect for intersex people, we're often made to fit a perisex trans understanding of sex and gender, and that's frustrating.

This means that I primarily fight for intersex rights, even more so with how most of the world refuses to acknowledge our existence even in this age of better understanding of trans people.

I simply have to with how the world works.

But...

The fight for intersex rights and the fight for trans rights is essentially the same. It's a fight to not be limited by the majority, a fight not to be forced to conform to the status quo rejecting out nature.

It's as unnatural to force a trans person to comform to their AGAB as it is to force an intersex person to undergo surgery or forced HRT.

Both are violations of our individuality and our bodily autonomy, both are entirely fueled by a refusal to understand or adapt to reality.

The reality is that trans people are the gender they claim to be, and that intersex people don't have to be clearly male or female to be complete people.

This is why transphobes will ALWAYS be at odds with intersex people

To any terf or otherwise transphobe out there:

You're not our friend, you're not on our side. And you'll never be speaking for us when you try to put down trans people.

You'll always be our enemy, you'll always be our oppressor, and ultimately, you'll be left in the dust. Being nothing nothing but a villain in the grand scheme of human history, just like all other bigots before you. You can claim to be right all you want, but in the end. Life proves you wrong. You can't fight that forever.

[phant0mth1ef]

you wanna be one of them? yeah.

-

being born with a villainous quirk wasn’t for the weak, after all quirks were just something that couldn’t be changed. nor could parents, and that’s how you found yourself running around with all for one at the young age of 4. because by 4, society had already turned its’ back on you.

the ability to destroy anything you touched was something that all for one knew he could use in his quest to turn shigaraki into the perfect fighting machine. and you, you were just so gullible.

the first time you’d watched a ua sports’ festival was when you were 15, and you were in awe as you watched what everyone could do. everyone who didn’t have villainous quirks.

it made you angry. because why were they accepted by society and you weren’t?

so there you sat, angry as you got to the fighting portion of the sports’ festival. you’d clicked the tv off with an annoyed push onto the little button, nearly destroying the remote in the process.

when you’d been face to face with them for the first time, some green haired kid looked at you with pity in his eyes, as if he believed you could be saved.

you’d wanted to kill him right then and there, wanted to make him eat his words as you nearly destroyed the ground beneath him.

during the attack on the training camp, you’d found yourself standing in front of some blonde kid with anger issues. he’d just looked at you, rage in his eyes.

“the hell are you doing?! with a quirk like that, you’d be great.” oh he was just so condescending it irked you.

“shut up. you know people used to look at me funny? i was 4, getting looked at funny by grown adults because of how destructive my quirk was. you’re looking at me funny right now. tenko was right, you’re all just so… lame.” the way you spoke, it was just so evident that you’d been under his control for so long. too long.

after he’d been captured, he couldn’t take his eyes off you as you sat down with the league, you were the youngest member of such a monstrous organization. and yet, you were shigaraki’s right hand man. well. woman.

come to think of it, you and shigaraki didn’t look all that different. no, you had his blue hair and his red eyes.

once he’d been rescued, he hadn’t seen you again until you found yourself being teleported into coffin in the sky, shigaraki right by your side as you fought to the very end.

“you won’t be leaving here, shigaraki family. we won’t allow it!” best jeanist spoke.

“tenko, i’m scared.” shigaraki looked over at you, tears brimming in your eyes as your core begun to shake your entire body, you were frozen in fear.

when they looked at you, all they saw was a war criminal and a cold blooded murderer.

and when tenko looked at you, he saw his 4 year old sister, crying because nobody liked her.

shigaraki went down on one condition, you were to live. because you still had so much more that you had to do.

the first people to have a conversation with you were the students of class 1a of all people, who sat across you.

your arms and legs were bound by handcuffs as you scowled.

“i just wanna know one thing, why?” bakugou asked, sincerity in his voice as he looked at you. he knew what it was like to be messed up and he wanted to fix you.

“i don’t know why. honestly, the last few years have been a blur. i just went whenever tenko went. i dunno. i wanted to be one of you guys. with the hero like quirks that’ll get you all far in the world. wish i could’ve gotten that opportunity.” you smiled, the bags under your eyes were ironically bright.

“so you don’t remember killing all those people?” mineta snapped at you.

“no, i don’t. i just remember watching your sports’ festival and being amazed. made me mad that you guys got to live good lives like that. especially you two.” you pointed two fingers at bakugou and midoriya.

“you. you’re destined for greatness.” you pointed to bakugou.

“unfortunately, i wasn’t.” you frowned as the cops picked you up from where you sat, leading you out.

[scribiel]

NIGHTIANGLES

Jujutsu Kaisen! Satoru Gojo x fem! reader

tags: Satoru Gojo x fem! reader, angst, illicit affairs, forbidden relationship, cheating, reader and satoru had a forbidden relationship, set up in a higher society, written in letter form/epistolary

To you, who sat beneath the gleaming golden sunlight; 

Implicit because it was all nothing but illicit.

To you, my other half,

I always thought living in lowkey was never the key. I loved writing in capital letters, shouting and screaming, declaring in high volumes, painting with bright colors. I loved the spotlight. But everything changed once I met you at the auction. It was supposed to stop there. Right after I won it. But we met again at the charity event, and all I knew was your parents had set you up with someone else. Same with mine. A typical thing that happened in an elite society.  

And then at the masquerade. Beautiful room colliding with those beautiful blue horizon wide glassy eyes of yours was something I wasn’t prepared for. It all began again with a simple dance and small talk; coffee or tea; hot or cold turned into a cascade of events. Including the ‘I didn’t know my soon-to-be-fiance-picked-by-my-parents would be there too’ event. I ran outside because he was calling me a whore for dancing with you (even though he called me in private, it still broke my heart). Then, fate arranged for us to meet at the garden. How you gave me your tux because it was cold, I was cold. You threw these stupid jokes about how ugly his nose was, how bad his tux was, how I could’ve had someone better than him. And I laughed.

You made me laugh.

We met again. Un or fortunately, we met too many times. We got too comfortable with each other.  How your hands sent me condolences because I was stupidly fighting with my boyfriend, turned into the hands who gave me affection, scrutiny to check all my underlying injuries, and the hands that should’ve never held me. 

The night you made me yours, marked me permanently, was also the night I hoped time could’ve stood still. I hoped the comfort you gave me wouldn’t be washed away in the morning. You should know, when you spinned me around in your apartment, and then you pressed the longest kiss into my temples, whispered, “I wanna marry you.”

It was also the moment you lit up all my hopes, built my dreams, and started a war between love and duty. So I laughed. “Do you think it will be possible?”

And you said it, certainly, “I’d give anything in my power to make you mine. I swear this to you.”

Oh Satoru, that moment made me sure that I could give everything up for you, for us. I could’ve ripped my heart out and put it in your hands as an evidence of love. But we kept going in spite of the disagreement from everyone. Threats after threats, we kept knitting our threads of love in the dark. Where no one could see, could notice. But for once, I was okay to live in a lowkey, write in lowercase, whisper as declaration, and paint with pale colors. I hated the spotlight, because that was the only place I shouldn’t be seen with you. Every glance we made in between the crowds, every time our hands brushed against each other, every casual ‘oh-I-ran-into-you-at-the-parking-lot’ … they were all implicit silent forms of affection. I hoped the crowds, the mass, my and your parents wouldn’t notice the sparkles in the air, and the moment our eyes lit up each time they met. 

Terrifying, how I wanted to reach someone who bathed under such beautiful light, but the world had forbidden me to reach it. To reach you. So in the end, my hands were tied. I was so scared that what if I couldn't have done anything but watched love slip beyond our reach. I watched you, love, and us slipped away. But you firmly said, “That’s not gonna happen, I won’t let it.”

My fears turned into nightmares. I had nightmares about losing you, so I prayed. All the sacred prayers only because I was scared to lose you, to lose all my sweet dreams. But I forgot that nightmares were dreams as well. All my sacred prayers brought me nothing but nightmares turned into realities. And my hopes were burned, turned into ashes. 

I grasped everything that was left (I would never return your sweater that you left in my apartment), I wanted to hold it for the rest of my life. I held it every night, searching and reminiscing about you. 

Losing my chances, all my dreams and hopes were buried deep by the avalanche the moment I heard you got married. So then I sat on the floor, and came to realize that all those hopes, those fairytales that kept me awake at night with shimmering hopes upon my eyes were sung by the nightingales. They would never be heard when the sun came up, only meant to be a folktale to nobody but us, the lovers in the night. 

Even now, your sweater is the only thing that gets me through the night, the thing that I keep like a sacred oath. 

P.s. Do memories flow into your brain each time you call your daughter? If they do, then you are forever cursed for naming your only daughter after me.

From me, who wanted to bath beneath the gleaming golden sunlight with you; 

From me, your other half

[the-way-astray]

what are your thoughts on the Vackers?

you know, i really do have too many thoughts on them. that's why this is like. months late. this has been stewing in my drafts for so long, it's about time i released it. also, this is more of a headcanons list than an analysis. sorry, anon

i won't talk about aldella here because i already have way too many posts about them. as for everything else . . .

general vacker stuff:

they are all so tired from the pressure but they hide it well

more than a few vackers are pressured into doing the elite levels and joining the nobility even when they don't want to

vacker family gatherings are like "so, what did you get on your level seven midterms? do you want to be a mentor or regent? do you want to be a councillor or just an emissary, which is also fine because then you can have kids! more vackers, yippee. oh, what's that? you want to do art? and stay single? oh."

there have definitely been vacker twins and triplets, their parents just hide it the way tam and linh's parents tried to, except successfully

there has been one (1) pyrokinetic vacker. one. they were wiped from the history books and nobody remembers them. they're ancient now, so they barely leave the home, so that helps them fly under the radar, as well. even most other vackers don't know of their existence

being a vacker is like. i was born with a crown on my head. but it forced me down a path that i may or may not want. while everyone looks on in jealousy because they think i have it easy. but it's not

the vacker accent isn't natural. it's taught and learned from a very young age. fallon vacker started the trend when he was a councillor, and ever since then vackers have mimicked it because they're scared of seeming fake, and because it makes them feel more close to their family, or rather, the glaring spotlight their family's under (this is sort of canon-compliant: della has a hint of the accent, even though she's not a vacker by birth)

marrying a vacker is giving up your privacy forever and ever. you will never not be talked about again (think what happened at alden and della's wedding. that was over thirty years ago. imagine if i was still gossiping about the end of the cold war to this day)

once you "become" a vacker through marriage, you're held to a strict, somewhat arbitrary standard, where it's just like. nothing is ever enough. ever. you have to be an emissary or a mentor. if you get there, then you have to be the best emissary or mentor. being married to a vacker is arguably worse than growing up a vacker in that regard

many a vacker have wanted to be in a relationship that would be considered a bad match. but they don't do it. they stay officially single, but they do continue to date the person behind society's back. this is not uncommon, regardless of what the general public wants to believe

(i have three vacker ocs. not going to talk about them here. if you want additional details, ask me)

some thoughts on the main vacker family:

alden manifested late. like really late. like sixteen. and he was terrified that he would end up not manifesting at all and kids were whispering about him and he had like. daily panic attacks

when he finally manifested, he swore that he would be better than everyone else, so he trained twice as hard and kept it up through adulthood, which is the real reason he's such a good telepath

his mom always told him that his ability manifested late because it was twice as powerful, which he tried to believe

he met quinlin on a noble assignment

della definitely has days where she feels weird about being a century younger than alden

also she felt like she had to "prove" that she was worthy of marrying a vacker, which is why she knows so much random trivia about them

also she constantly refers to herself as a vacker because she feels like it needs to be advertised. like she doesn't belong enough if she doesn't make it twice as clear. but in reality she feels insecure about it

once she started dating alden, she felt like she couldn't stop because then there would be gossip about them

biana always felt like she'd never match up to fitz because he was the perfect child

so when she manifested before him and also got her nexus off before him, it felt like a reminder that she was worthy, which is why she talked about it so much

alden and della are actually good parents despite their own crumbling relationship

they act more like co-parents than partners

before fitz manifested, when he was the weird kid, it bothered him so much because he was a vacker and he felt he should be better than that

so he tried hard to be cool. but it never really worked until he manifested. then suddenly everyone loved him. because of that, he clung to his early manifesting as a sign of his worth, which is why he talked about it so much

he met keefe when they were both ditching (shut up. fitz definitely ditched a few times. i know it in my soul)

he thought keefe was weird so they weren't immediately friends but they kept running into each other so it was like. oh, well

(MY OWN PERSONAL HEADCANON, NOT CANON) while fitz's crush on sophie was real and sweet, it was at least partly subconsciously because he felt like he could only have interest in girls with powerful abilities, not because he was ever explicitly told that but because the society he was raised in told him he was only good for making kids with powerful abilities

this wreaked havoc on his self-esteem and he went into a spiral at around age 11/12 where he tried to find a life for himself as a sort of childlike way of "proving" to himself that he was someone even without an ability (this was before he manifested)

this is when he started to bake. which he was taught by alvar. which is how they ended up so close

he loved baking and surprising absolutely nobody, it became his emotional crutch because whenever he went into a negative spiral, he remembered how when he was 11/12, his way of furiously proving he had worth was to bake. so he did

then he manifested at thirteen and he clung to it. because it proved he did have worth. so that's the other reason

biana and stina used to be friends. like, really, really close friends

this is why biana isn't weird about being a bad match. because she (and stina) knew deep down that stina should be the kid of a bad match, but they never talked about it

they fell out because biana didn't like the way stina took out her frustration on other bad match kids

this is why maruca went to stina after falling out with biana. it made the hurt double

that's it for now. may come back with a part two

[the-derpy-duck]

Orko not needing to be “useful” to be loved and valued is a thing that I think about often.

My knowledge of He Man is very limited and I only really watched any of the shows for Orko. But like he used to be really great at magic but because of circumstances that were mostly out of his control he can’t really do magic anymore. His abilities are severely stunted for basically his entire time on Eternia. He saves Adam and that wins him favor with the king and queen and he gets to be a court jester. He tries to use magic to do his job and he fails a lot. When he messes up he always works to fix his mistakes and he wants to help. He’s doing his best and the people around him love him for who he is.

He-Man was made and aired during the 1980s. The Cold War had begun to sort of wind down (as in the hostility between the USA and USSR) before this point because Carter (who was president from 1976 to 1980) was actively worked to be less involved in conflicts. Dumbasses who say trump was the first president to not have the USA participate in war during his presidency either ignore or are unaware of Carter until they need to bring up the Iran Hostage Crisis. Reagan, who proceeded Carter, immediately started working on undoing everything Carter worked to do. He removed solar panels from the White House that Jimmy Carter installed and also made the AIDs Crisis a lot worse than it needed to be (Jimmy lead the eradication effort of guinea worm because he saw a woman suffering and decided to do something about it). Regan also deregulated some aspects of the TV industry which allowed for the 30 minute toy commercials that started many beloved franchise. The Regan administration sort of revived the Cold War. Although the red scare had already happened and communists weren’t well liked during Carter’s presidency tensions were still dying down. But when He-Man was airing tensions had begun to rise again.

I don’t know how long production for He-Man was but if it was less than three years than it is safe to say that the writers were at least aware of the political climate. He-Man is not political commentary. Although cartoons at the time definitely did reflect current issues and some of those issue would be political (such as The Transformers clearly commenting on the energy crisis and also just in general being pretty anti war), He-Man and all of these other shows existed to sell toys to children. That is why a good portion of children’s entertainment exists. The capitalist society we live in requires everything to make money, I promise you this will be important in just a second. But the historical context for He-Man was that the Cold War was getting warmer. So the Capitalist v Communist narrative had started up again. I need you to keep this idea in mind or at least entertain it: Orko is, in one way or another, disabled or able to represent disability. He needs to use magic in his everyday life and he now has a significantly harder time using magic. His entire life and world was magic and his role, both on Trolla and on Eternia, requires him to use magic. And because he looses his magic wand he also looses the ability to preform magic at the capacity that he used to. And I know it would be easier for him to preform magic on Trolla but he’s not on Trolla for most of the show so that’s kind of irrelevant. What’s relevant is that he is a magician, he performs magic on Trolla and on Enternia and he is now less able to do his job on Enternia, and he sort of can’t go back to Trolla. Please keep this idea in mind.

We live in a capitalistic society that demands everyone to contribute and if you can’t contribute then you die. Systems exist to help people who are unable to work. I don’t know a lot about those systems and from what little I understand they aren’t that good. Because the foundations of our society relies on people believing that they need to be “useful” to be “valuable” or just worthy of living and not starving on the streets I’ve found that it leads to attitudes that people who can’t work are leaching off of others. However time stops for no one and eventually your body will start to deteriorate and you won’t be as capable of working or preforming tasks as before. And that’s fine. We are valuable because we exist and we are people. No one needs to prove that they are a person and no one has to earn the right to exist and be happy. That is a person’s birth right. I think our society’s obsession with working is partly why aging is seen as negative. Another reason is definitely that death is scary and not being able to do everything you used to isn’t great but part of that being seen as not great isn’t just not being able to do certain things you liked to do (like running or playing a sport) but rather because you can’t contribute as much/work as much as before.

And there’s other factors to this besides capitalism but ultimately it’s the foundation of our modern world and getting rid of it wouldn’t solve everything as the other issues would still exist but it would make things better. Capitalism leads us to be more individualistic and cruel. If you ask most people “hey should our neighbor Bob die because he can’t afford healthcare or his medication” they will say no, but they will also say no to universal healthcare because taxes will increase. Money is absolutely useless. It has no value. Gold is pretty, but ultimately a weak (and also heavy) metal. Money is only valuable because we think it is and gold is/was so valuable because we said it was and because we think it’s pretty (it is). If the world was to collapse tomorrow and everything shut down (like nuclear fallout or a zombie apocalypse), money would be worthless. You can’t eat it, it won’t build you a shelter, it cannot heal you, it cannot protect you. At some point we decided that a piece of paper was more valuable and important than actual human lives.

I’m under no delusion that I am the first person to realize this or that this is a new thing. By ‘we’ I mean humans in general but also at some point every person decides when they are willing to sacrifice the lives and wellbeing of others for their financial gain. And that’s not an entirely bad thing. I believe that being “selfish” is, to an extent, good. This guy named Maslow came up with a hierarchy of needs. It’s not perfect and some levels can be fulfilled before others can but the basic idea is that certain needs must be fulfilled and satisfied before others can be. You can’t be in a relationship or employed if you can’t breath. You MUST look out for yourself and keep yourself alive before you can help others. You need to put on your air mask before attempting to assist others. And if or not that should be considered “selfish” is arguable. Humans are social creatures, so it is generally frowned upon to not look out for others. We would not be where we are today as a species if we followed an “Everyman for themselves” type of philosophy. But capitalism demands that we do. But even without capitalism you still need to be a little selfish to survive. And at some point being unselfish becomes selfish when you are in charge of the care of others. If a person has kids then they must provide and care for those kids and so they would have the interest of their family unit in the forefront of their mind. And it would be fucking insane if they didn’t and if someone looked down on them for that. Drowning yourself won’t help others who are drowning.

We are expected to contribute and to view people who don’t contribute as less than. Orko as a character stands in direct opposition to this idea. He isn’t seen as inherently less than because he isn’t as good at performing magic as he was before. He does his best at his job and he is still treated as a person despite him not being a great magician. He doesn’t need to be great, or good, or even ok at magic because he is good enough. He is a person and that is enough. He tries everyday and that is enough. He is kind and trusting and a little guy and that is enough. Orko is enough and he will always be enough. He isn’t a failure and he is not treated as such. He might be insecure at times but that’s just a part of being alive. He makes mistakes and messes up and can be annoying (to some people) sometimes but that doesn’t make him less worthy of anything. It doesn’t make him less of person. People, disabled or not, do not “loose value” because they are “annoying” or because they make a mistake. Placing superhuman expectations on humans is inherently unfair. You cannot expect (yourself, your neighbors, your family, random people on the street) to be perfect. Humans are flawed and we will all make mistakes. We are all going to age and we will die at some point and that’s ok. If everyone will eventually end up dead then we should spend the time we have being compassionate towards each other. There’s limits of course, and people don’t need to be happy or nice all of the time but I think avoiding being overtly cruel is a good thing.

Orko doesn’t need to be “fixed”. He is loved as he is and the people around him don’t force him to be a thing that he is not. He is loved, and I know I keep saying that but it’s really important to me. He’s silly. He’s an inherently goofy character and he’s a character that means a lot to me personally. I really like him. I like that the people around him love him and care about him. He’s not perfect. He’s a very flawed character but he ultimately wants to do good and be good. He’s not perfect and he never needed to be perfect. He is treated as equal by the people around him and he is treated like a person. Yeah the bar is in hell but a lot of people think that the bar is just a little bit too high for them. Even if Orko isn’t disabled, him not needing to prove that he deserves love is very important to me. He can just be a person who is flawed and just kind of normal.

I know he’s just a silly little guy. I know whoever was writing the he-man episodes wasn’t thinking about this. Or maybe they were, I was actually lying about knowing. But they probably weren’t. He’s a goofy guy. His goofiness and the thoughts I have about him are why I love him so much. And it’s mostly the silliness, but my thoughts are all that I have and they are what makes me myself.

Anyway live laugh love Orko

[thesakuragarnet]

We Were Just Kids

Summary: After the events of the Paranormal Liberation War, Dabi gets a call.

Tags: Post-Breakup, Post- Paranornmal Liberation War Arc, angst, DabiHawks angst, swearing, Hurt/No Comfort, blood (see GIF)

Word Count: 823 words

AO3 link

Toya blinks when he sees the familiar number on his phone screen. He feels so fucking numb at this point; he barely even  knows how he should feel anymore. So much had happened in the past forty-eight hours. Everyone else has gone to bed or is busy in the medical ward; Dabi, however, can’t sleep at all. He’s lying back on the couch, staring at the ceiling, examining his extended scars. 

“Well. Let’s see if you got anything interesting to say, Birdie,” He sighs before clicking the button. 

“Before you even try, this call can’t be traced,” Dabi snaps into the phone. His answer is silence…followed by faint, strained sniffs. Dabi sits up, eyebrows furrowing. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Keigo Takami’s voice comes soft and shattered through the speaker. The villain blinks. 

“Tell you what? What the fuck do I owe you? You fucking backstabbing murderer,” Dabi growls through gritted teeth. To Hell with how much he once loved Hawks, he’d murdered Twice in cold blood. Twice was his friend. Twice also thought Hawks was his friend. Dabi is answered with more silence and sniffs, as if Hawks is trying to compose himself on the other end of the line. 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone ?” Hawks shudders through the phone, and Dabi balls his hands up into fists. 

“You know, you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific. I said a lot during my little speech,” He snaps. 

“Toya…”

Dabi’s heart clenches at the mention of his real name. At Keigo ’s voice calling him by his real name. Growing up, Keigo was his only friend. He was the only kid who gave him the time of day at school. Hawks didn’t recognize him years later when they reconnected as villain and hero…before becoming something more…that is…until war broke out. 

“Why didn’t you tell me what he did to you? You let me talk about how he was my hero. My idol . And you just. You just let me keep believing,” Hawks mutters. 

“Would you have even believed me if I’d told you?!” Toya growls, pissed that Hawks is making him feel guilty for simply being an abused kid who was too scared to say anything. 

“It’s ME! I thought you knew me better than that!” Keigo exclaims, frustrated. 

“I WAS A CHILD , KEIGO! I WAS A GODDAMN CHILD! SO WERE YOU! WITH YOUR DUMB CHILDISH FANTASIES ABOUT HERO SOCIETY THAT WERE ALL BULLSHIT! NONE OF IT IS WHAT WE WANTED! AND YET YOU STILL PLAY THEIR FUCKING GAME!” Dabi shouts furiously, smoke curling out of his new scars. 

“AT LEAST I DON’T KIL-”

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE SAY WHAT I THINK YOU’RE GONNA SAY, KEIGO TAKAMI!” Dabi cuts him off, practically foaming at the mouth. He hears a sharp intake of breath through the speaker. 

“I…did…what I had to do. I had no choice,” Hawks says slowly, almost as if there’s a hint of regret in his voice. 

“There’s always a choice,” Dabi retorts coldly. He brings his hand to his temple, anger bubbling up in his chest. 

“Was any of it real? Any of it at all? Any of us ?” Dabi blurts, waiting desperately for a response. He hears Hawks sigh. 

“Don’t you fucking lie to me,” The villain seethes, feeling a painful warm sting beneath his eyes; he’s going to start bleeding soon if he gets any more worked up. 

“Toya, I-”

“Is it so fucking hard for you to believe that I loved you? That a villain could actually love someone? Because I loved you long before I started going by Dabi. Bet you didn’t fucking know that, hero ,” Toya says through gritted teeth. 

“Toya…I want …I want to love you. I really, really do. But I can’t . I just can’t,” Hawks stammers, choking on tears. 

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Dabi whispers with venom in his voice as blood trickles from beneath his eye scars, “ There’s always a choice .” 

“You know this call is recorded,” Keigo mutters, “You know I can’t say everything I want to say.”

“You know where to find me, Takami. Come fucking say it, then,” Dabi hisses before being met with more tense silence. He slowly reclines back on the couch, wiping the blood off of his face with his thumb. 

“Y’know, maybe I should’ve asked you to come to Sekoto with me instead of Dad. Perhaps you’d be one of us instead of the Commission's perfect soldier boy,” Dabi spits, cursing his burned tear ducts. 

“Goodbye, Dabi.”

Click. 

The phone turns to ashes in Toya’s hand, and he sticks his hand up under the couch cushion before pulling out a red feather. He knows Hawks can still hear him through it. 

“It’s your fault that it has to be this way. You better hope I never see you again,” He whispers directly into the vane before incinerating the red plume.

[alvie-pines]

transformers as cold war era media: an analysis written at 1 am, based on things me & my friends talk about in my tf server

Okay, so, G1 Transformers was made in the 1980s, which is the late Cold War era. I think that laid the foundations for the traces of pro-capitalist Americana we see throughout the franchise even in the modern day.

In G1, Megatron’s main ideological ‘catchphrase’ is “peace through tyranny.” To me, this is a pretty good representation of how many anti-communism Americans viewed and still do view communism; I’ve seen a lot of this idea that the evil communists are going to come take away your money and your rights for the sake of building a better world, and they’re not even gonna be good at it. Sure, they say they want to create a peaceful world free of inequality, but they’ll have to take away your rights to exploit others to do it! And communism in the US was largely colored by the Soviet Union and their authoritarianism.

It’s peace (economic equality) through tyranny (authoritarianism).

Also notable is the fact that the entire war in G1 seems to be focused on a race for resources, which is very similar to how the Cold War played out! Rather than being a war of physical battles, it was largely a war of economics, ideology, and resources. Anyways, nearly every episode is about the Decepticons finding some new energy source, and the Autobots having to stop them from taking advantage of it, because then they will use that energy source to power their weapons and vehicles, and spread their evil "peace through tyranny" throughout the galaxy. It’s very reminiscent of the Cold War and the development of nuclear weapons and power, and the ways nuclear power was treated as being very entwined with the advancement of capitalist and communist ideologies.

Another thing is that the Autobots worked openly and often with the US government in G1, and the government was portrayed as the good guys who only wanted to develop new power sources for good—but those nasty Decepticons want to steal it for evil purposes! I vividly remember an episode where the US government developed a new, novel, and extremely powerful energy source, and had to do everything in their power to keep it away from the ‘Cons. One of the protagonists of that episode was a human scientist working for the government, who was kidnapped by the ‘Cons, but never gave up their secrets.

Another thing I noticed is the language at play in Megatron and Optimus’ character designs, and the designs of their respective faction members. Optimus is very clearly the colors of the American flag, and Megatron's construction reminds me of stereotypical Soviet bloc architecture—big, grey, rectangular, heavy, utilitarian. Ruth pointed out that the Autobots are mainly consumer vehicles like cars and vans, while the ‘Cons are mostly military and industrial builds, which plays into the narrative about Evil Commies Coming For Your Consumer Products With Their Weapons. Also notable is the Decepticons’ association with red (a VERY popular stand-in for communism—it wasn’t called the Red Scare for nothing). On the other side, the Autobots all have blue eyes, which to me is reminiscent of the Stereotypical Good, Strong, Blonde-Haired Blue-Eyed All American Man. Certainly, some of this is coincidental, but I still enjoy pointing it out and pointing out the associations these character design choices would have had at the time they were made, and even today.

So that's just G1. But later on I think we see echoes of that original Cold War era signaling throughout the franchise, even in media made after the War ended. For example, in Aligned; Megatron wants to force economic equality on the populace. He does this in a violent way that threatens both Cybertron’s way of life, and the rich and middle class bots of the planet. Megatron is a scary, violent communist rising up from the working class to wreak havoc on Good, Polite Society with his Radical Ideas. What I find interesting is that this version begins to lean more into the fear of American communists, with Megatron being a disenfranchised member of the community & building up his own army of rebels who commit acts of domestic terrorism, rather than being an outside force. And in Aligned, in response to the Decepticon uprising, we see Optimus Bravely Defending the American Capitalist Upper Class From Robot Antifa, Who Tried To Blow Them Up, How Nasty! Aligned really espouses the idea that “sure, economic equality sounds great and all, but these people really want to blow up rich people’s houses and amusement parks and destroy our government entirely! Is it really worth it?”

And finally, Ruth suggested that there’s something in the way the G1 Autobots and Decepticons teamed up to fight a mutual threat (the Quintessons) and then the Decepticons turned on them because they were too “war hungry” to settle, so the Autobots have to continue fighting them to keep their evil ideology and empire from expanding. It all screams “metaphor for American capitalism and Soviet communism.”

I think this could have easily been unintentional, and probably was. A lot of it is just the public perception of what "evil" looked like during the Cold War Era. The thing about creative media is that it’s always coloured by the assumptions and stereotypes of the time. Even if an author didn’t mean to create a commentary on something, you can still observe how certain pervasive ideas of the time made their way into the work. This is especially true of villains (what does “evil” look like to them?). Look at Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The character of the Count plays on fears of immigrants from southeastern Europe “corrupting” England. Any shorthand for “evil” will be STEEPED in the era and location’s politics. Since Transformers is meant to be a kids’ show with very clear cut heroes and villains, it makes it especially easy to locate these biases and discuss them.

[fantasyinvader]

Current Status: Mindfucked.

I finished reading The Man in the High Castle today and that endings was wow. It's almost like the I Ching is alive in it, trying to guide people into realizing the truth about their world.

It was consulted to write The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, and Julianna's readings of it led to her saving the life of it's author. With Frank Frink leads to him creating jewellery that allows people to see another world, one where the Axis powers didn't win. But first it led him to going to Childan's shop, revealing one of his artifacts is a forgery (possibly made by Frink himself) which causes Childan to have a crisis which leads to him deciding to move towards selling handmade American trinkets rather than (possibly forged) antiques. Childan sells it to Tagomi, who ends up seeing the other world with it while his own readings led him to killing some supposedly German officers. Tagomi then stops the Jewish Frink from being sent to Germany to be exterminated, allowing Frink to make more of these pieces.

The novel talks a lot about real versus fake. We can say something is real because it has some form of documentation saying it is real, like a slip of paper saying that a lighter was in FDR's pocket when he was assassinated. But that paper itself could be a forgery. The guys Tagomi killed had papers that said they weren't SD officers, but they were sent by the SD to kill Baynes. Julianna kills the assassin, who initially presented himself as a dark-haired Italian rather than a blonde German, and the papers say she was his wife (she is, in fact Frank's estranged wife). We're told things like the Nazis drained the Mediterranean sea, a SALT sea, to create fertile farmland, wiped out the native African populations and have sent people to Mars and Venus... but they can't figure out how to make a color TV. And this is all by 1962. Or that Japan could take over the West coast, Germany the East, yet the middle of America and Canada were not conquered. Everyone knows that Hitler is a sick man, currently living in a hospital with syphillis, but no one wants to think about how the world was shaped by a madman.

The I Ching said that the truth is that the Axis powers lost the war. The author of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is scared of that revelation. Does this mean that the entire cast was simply led to believe that was the case, and that Tagomi didn't really travel to our world but saw the world for what it was? But then again, Grasshopper doesn't follow how things played out in our world either.

In a world plagued with misinformation spread through the internet and media, Man in the High Castle is still relevant.

But then you remember how Dick's research for this novel also led him to writing Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The novel Blade Runner is based off of, and how mankind can justify it's treatment of a synthetic slave race by saying “they aren't human, they don't have empathy”. All this while people use machines to give themselves specific emotions or take care of animals as a status symbol (with others taking care of fake animals and pretending they're real). Ebert described the film version of Deckerd as “a Nazi measuring noses” as part of why he didn't like the film version, but that was a point in the novel. Electric Sheep ultimately said that life is life, regardless of it being natural, synthetic or even mechanical, so long as you believe it's life.

So if we take that sort of mindset, what is High Castle saying about our world? I mean, considering the current spike of antisemitism, the increase of authoritarianism in elections, as well as society's history of racial discrimination... It makes you question the world we're living in to say the least. Maybe it's just trying to urge us to see such problems, rather than just listening to what our governments have to say. Because let's not forget, Man in the High Castle was written during the Cold War with it's threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction, and part of it's ending is ruminating on the fact that the Nazi's are supposedly planning on nuking Japan and may end up destroying the world through such warfare. Even today, the threat of nukes is still out there.

It's stuff like this that makes me love PKD's writings. That literary contact high that makes you paranoid and question reality. Have to find a copy of A Scanner Darkly someday, though maybe will watch the movie tomorrow night.

[grandhotelabyss]

After doing the Joker 2 review, guess I'll do one for Megalopolis too. So watched a camrip of it, cause after the reception all my friends where scared going too the theather lol, but still: In short, I didn't like it as much as Joker 2 - but that probably means little to most, cause Iliked that one quite a lot.

But Megalopolis was interesting too - but one has to get the mood and tone of it - hence why it's called "a fable" on the title screen - it kinda is a farce on porpuse - many scenes, many of the best ones, are super over the top, just parodying the ridicolousness of the US's real life "new rome" wants - from virginal pop stars that get rebranded as hellish rebels after getting exposed in all ways of the word, to transvestite presidential candidates and other funny shit, like literal wrestling, both greek and american. Yet I'm not saying all of the farce works - cause the one that doesn't is the one which is not trying to be it - the whole "megalopolis", this city that is a metaphor for humanitys worth and potential - sadly fails the most - because it is supposed to be brillian, inspiring and groundbreaking, yet all the visualisations fail, on some level. One of the worst examples of that, is when the city is shown in full cgi "glory" - the lacking and video gamey looking special effects are only made worse by the total lack of originality in art direction or just any novelty - the city of the future might as well be from "meet the robinsosn" or any generic "this is what society if X happened" meme -

But those can work as either being kitch, or because they are jokes, yet in Megalopolis, everything depends on this one thing being real and aspirational - it could fail to being too ambigious, that would still work, but it looking like out of a toothpaste commercial is just...eh Yet maybe I'm too harsh - maybe it is supposed to look retrofuturistic, to even remind us to Copolas friends cgi worlds from the star wars prequels, which now often mocked, where something new - and which have been abandoned for nostalgia and screams for "real effects like when I was a kid in the 80s" More realistically, it could be that Copola is just old, and I dont say that with any malice, but that he just thinks it looks a lot cooler and original than it is - like my grandpa being amazed by a VR headset while I think its an embarassing waste of time. But still, even with this seemingly giant blunder - I think I am selling the movie short, because I don't regret watching it, even as a camrip where I could see a sudden shadow lifting up and walking out lol:

Yet that segways me into an interesting visual choice - a 9/11 esque tragedy being depicted by having the shadowws of the people be seen on the building walls - one of many great and interesting visual scenes. But it wasn't even just empty spectacle, the threat of a "broken Soviet Satelite" did obviously hint to Americas own fears of living in the shadow of the cold war, and it's new enemies emmerging literally from the sky 9/11 style. So I hope I didn't just shit talk the movie cause it was enjoyable in the end, even if it kinda felt a bit naively optimistic with the evil trump guy getting mussolini lynched and all the good guys making up and going to tommorow after giving a cartoon level good guy speech lol. But speaking of animation - I think this movie would have been praised to high heavens if it was made into an anime or something lol - then all the absurdity, the camp and the alternate history stuff would have been accepted without question and praised as "daring" - (or maybe not because a obviously satirical netflix pseuod anime "neo yokio" got mocked as "so bad it's good" for obvious humor and commentary because it was too strange and too disimilar from family guy or pokemon at the same time) Another simmilarity one could see is with Kurosawas "Dreams" - because that one was also a highly visually orientaited movie which was dragged down by a naive old man vision of the world "we just need live with nature in peace" "we just need to work together" - but do to my own biases I agree with Copolas childish "love will save the world message" more so it is what it is. And hey, Kurosawas real final film was his best and most interesting one, so maybe Copola will do the same. I dunno, I cant control time that much to see into the future for sure.

Agreed about the anime. I agree on the CGI but I thought the style itself was interesting, Art Nouveau replacing Art Deco as I said in my piece!

[goldentemplariumcrow]

Because I miss my Voltron verse for Dio...

Isu Dio who survived the war that made the Isu come to Earth; who fought, died and was brought back to life for his value as a weapon of mass destruction; who couldn't find a place for himself in the new society the Isu created on Earth, because he just couldn't get past the horrors of his actions and became afraid of his own abilities; who saw the crumbling of the Isu Civilization as corruption seeped through the cracks of their laws and systems; who watched the destruction and end of their time when the first Solar Flare, the cataclysm that followed it and sweeped the proof of their existence from the face of the Earth; who had to decide what to do to protect his little brother and himself in the wake and rise of humankind; who deemed it fair to put himself and his little brother into deep stasis and hidden in order to keep themselves safe; who woke up milenia later and tried to assimilate himself into the new world again by concealing every last bit of his true self to look as close to human as possible, down to the point where he locked away his own memories of the time before his awake; who found himself pulled into another war despite all his efforts to avoid it; who was forced into killing again; who is exhausted and still scared of himself, of the weapon he's become, but sees no other use or way for himself, because being a weapon is all he's ever been good at.

Isu Dio who doesn't see any value in himself and has a hard time accepting love and help even though he gives his own freely; who has learned through his own experiences that he's meant to he unlovable, but craves it more than the life force that sustains him; who misses knowing what touching another being without fearing that he might kill them feels like; who wants to be seen as a living being with wants, needs and dreams rather than a stoic, distant creature beyond any comprehension in his thoughts; who wants to love and be loved in return without fear of being used for ulterior motives.

Isu Dio, a monster, a killer, a cold blooded bastard who should never be trusted... A mask that he put on once and was never able to take off, because his whole existence became part of it as a way to get by. A survivor of wars and disasters. A lost lover in forever mourning for what could've been. A soul just trying to find his other half.

[mythvoiced]

@voxvulgi | ♥

It crawls up into his chest with the speed of his own attack.

Ever inhaled so sharply you could see your chest heave with it from your peripheral? The corner of the eye can be the lower one as well. The heart stutters, and it doesn't hurt, it's barely even worth the mention, but it feels cold, and it feels like exactly the kind of incentive your body wants to give you.

No. This is bad for us. Do something about it.

This is where fight or flight usually come into play, gear up and crawl into your body to urge you to choose either. Freeze and fawn play along too, and the four war until your oldest favourite sits on the throne of your consciousness and moves you to act.

Cesare's hand is wrapped around the officer's wrist before he knows what he's doing.

He doesn't pull at the arm to get her to stop talking into that stupid device, he doesn't even squeeze as tightly as he could - could snap her bones with eerie ease, the blood proves it well enough - but he holds it with the desperation of a boy grabbing a ledge it had not wanted to jump off of.

Even if that realization had come last minute.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Cesare's tight voice reveals his youth better than even his features would. Even if he likes to look at the world with the exhaustion of someone who's been through more than his age would warrant admission of in the eyes of society, he's still young enough to look like a child when scared just right.

She's scared, too.

He can tell.

Can almost smell it on her.

Why does she have to be so... lawful?! Wouldn't it be easier for her as well, to not deal with this? To walk away? Come up with something else, a better lie, any lie at all?

Or was this the easiest option for her?

Sell him out.

They've never met before this, right, it's easier to throw him under the bus meant for him than keep him safe, even though that's what he'd done... right?

Why does he keep meeting...-

He steps closer.

"Are you insane?! Am I supposed to wait here now, or what?! How are you going to explain this, because I'm sure not fucking staying here to help you out of it- why did you do that?!"

[tieflingkisser]

What it’s like to be used as a human shield by the Israeli army

Israeli soldiers rounded up Ahmad Safi and his male family members in Khan Younis and made them stand atop a sand dune for 12 hours as the soldiers took cover behind them during a firefight with Palestinian resistance fighters. This is their story.

Surrounded by dozens of soldiers, tanks, armored cars, buzzing drones, and army dogs, Ahmad Safi found himself looking at a massive hole in the ground. “Of all the death scenarios I have imagined myself in since the beginning of the war, I never suspected I would see my own grave,” the 26-year-old Khan Younis resident told Mondoweiss. Ahmad and his male relatives had been detained by the Israeli army and forcibly conscripted to stand in front of a resistance military base as the Israeli soldiers took cover behind them. They were caught in the middle of an exchange of fire between the soldiers and the resistance. On the night of January 22, the Israeli army launched a sudden attack on western Khan Younis, where five shelters for displaced people were located. In the middle of the night, the Israeli troops advanced towards the Tiba buildings, where Ahmad and his family had taken refuge in the middle of the Israeli-designated “safe zone.” These buildings were surrounded by al-Aqsa University, the al-Khair Hospital, the Industrial College, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Center, and the al-Mawasi coastal area, all housing tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians.

[...]

“It was the first time I had seen an Israeli soldier in real life,” Ahmad told Mondoweiss. The army separated the women from the men and forced the women to flee south to Rafah. The men were kept zip-tied and would remain in the army’s custody. An Israeli commander ordered Ahmad and the men of his family to move downstairs in single file. He then ordered them to kneel against the southern wall inside their apartment, which faces a resistance military base. Ahmad’s body was shaking uncontrollably. His lips were trembling and his breathing was heavy. “I tried to pull myself together,” Ahmad recounted. “But when I heard my mother say goodbye to us as she was dragged outside by the Israeli soldiers, I couldn’t hold back my tears.” The next morning on January 23, the Israeli soldiers ordered Ahmad, his father, his brother, and the rest of his cousins to move outdoors and instructed them to move horizontally in front of the armored military cars. “As they ordered us to stop and stand still, I found myself again a few meters away from the resistance military base,” Ahmad said. “That was the moment I realized that we were being used as human shields.” Soldiers forced them to kneel in the middle of the street as they took cover behind Ahmad and his male relatives. They were forced to wear thin clothes in the winter cold, and their hands were zip-tied so tightly that they couldn’t feel their fingers. The soldiers at several points fired bullets next to their feet in an effort to terrorize them, perhaps to make them amenable to following orders. “Every time they shot at us, I instantly poked my back to check if I was still alive,” said Ahmad, recalling the soldiers’ giggles at how scared he and his family were. At other times, a tank would rapidly move towards them, then drift back, less than a meter away from them. Ahmad realized the soldiers were toying with them.   At one point, soldiers picked Ahmad’s brother, Saeed, and tortured him, breaking his jaw. They kicked him in his genitals like they were “hitting a football,” according to Saeed. They beat him so severely that he blacked out at one point. “They suspected him of being a resistance fighter because of how he looked. For Israeli soldiers, any man with a beard who has the mark of sujoud on his forehead is a Hamas member,” Ahmad explained (many devout Muslims who touch their foreheads to the ground when kneeling in prostration during prayer will develop marks on their foreheads from the repeated friction with the prayer rug). Moments later, an intensified exchange if gunfire broke out while Ahmad and his family were in between the Israeli soldiers and the resistance fighters, with no shelter. They stretched their bodies on the ground, in a helpless attempt to take cover. “We kept screaming in Arabic, ‘stop shooting,’ and a few moments later the shooting stopped,” Ammar, another one of Ahmad’s cousins, told Mondoweiss. They were forced to remain there for over 12 hours, conscripted by the Israeli soldiers as unwilling human shields. By the end of it, they were dehydrated and could barely stand on their feet.

[keep reading]

[sassypotatoe1]

You know what screw nihilism I think if something cataclysmic happens to the whole world and there are only a few survivors I think we'll be fine, actually.

If you're thinking about a skills issue, I think you're underestimating how many people know strange things and can do things to help us rebuild. Do you have any idea how many manual laborers, builders, plumbers, electricians there are? There's bound to be enough left to at lest teach their skills to the remaining people to rebuild, at most rebuild themselves. People learn book binding, paper making, candle making, soap recipes, sewing, fabric weaving, yarn spinning, knitting crochet, churning butter, baking bread, milling flour, starting sourdough, canning, gardening for fun.

Even if the internet goes kaput in a cataclysmic event, there are thousands and thousands of books that teach these skills all over the place, but also humans learned these skills without prior knowledge before we can relearn them again.

If you're thinking about the psychological impact you don't need to look any further than the world wars and cold war, and how much in two generations humanity recovered from the humongous loss and fear of them. The first generation after a cataclysm will be traumatized and grieving, but they'll keep going. One thing about humanity is that we always keep going.

If you're worried about an increase in violence and murder after a cataclysm, unless whatever cataclysm it was completely destroyed the ecosystem so badly that the entire earth ends up arid, there will be less people, no capitalism, no central governments and no cities. Resources likely at first won't be as restricted as it is now. Humanity will be too focused on feeding and housing themselves to worry about stealing and murdering in a society that no longer is restricted by private property.

If you're worried about disabled people dying, those that survived the cataclysm or was disabled by the cataclysm will be cared for. Recently it was found that homo naledi had burial rites as early as 300 000 years ago, and a child was buried with a tool to aid them in the afterlife. Neanderthals with missing limbs show healing on the bones, meaning they not only had amputated limbs, they lived long enough and well enough for the bone to completely heal.

Humans have always cared about their weak, ill and disabled, and we may have stumbled the last century or so, but we always will care about and for our weak, ill and disabled. The loudest minority are cruel, and their willingness to exploit people in a system built to allow it put them in power. They do not represent the majority, and if a cataclysm takes out a huge chunk of humanity and we have to start over there won't be room for those kinds of people. The system that allows them to exploit and oppress and hoard wealth for themselves and control the means of production won't exist anymore.

Am I being idealistic? Maybe, but my idealism is based on history. I sincerely believe that if global society completely collapses in the event of a global cataclysm, the survivors will be good, and compassionate, because for the biggest part of human history I think we were good and compassionate, and I think we still are as much as the current system allows. We'll be fine. We'll be grieving and we'll be scared but we'll be fine.

[cookiepotofchaos]

There was so much happening around 1954 that that comes through not just in the parts they explicitly mention in Rise of the Pink Ladies, but as overarching themes and small moments as well.

(CW: discussion of homophobia, racism, sexism, and aversion therapy beneath the read more)

The Civil Rights Movement started in 1954. Segregation in education was deemed unconstitutional by the supreme court the same year. Executive Order 10450 was announced in 1953 and the Lavender Scare was well underway with LGBT+ government employees being actively searched for and fired. The second Red Scare was reaching its peak with the ongoing Cold War.

The gasp when Hazel kissed Buddy during Romeo and Julie? This was 1954, Loving v Virginia wasn't going to happen for 13 more years, 31 states forbid interracial marriage, and public opinion from a Gallup survey in the 50s had 95% of those surveyed disapproving of interracial marriage. A Black Juliet kissing a white Romeo in a school production would have been a huge deal. They don't ever say all of that explicitly, but the gasp and the uncomfortable glances between the white parents says it in a few moments.

I'm glad it wasn't more than that, because more than that would have stolen the joy from Hazel's storyline which was the focus of those scenes. That gasp and those glances were all that were needed, and Hazel's scene was about Hazel, as it should have been.

Cynthia being so terrified of her attraction to Lydia? Not only was this right in the height of the Lavender Scare, but aversion therapy, including electric shock treatment was still used as "treatment" for homosexuality and the police were actively surveilling and targeting LGBT communities. Arrests and blackmail were common. No-one ever talks about it in the show, but knowing this is the societal backdrop for both Lydia and Cynthia? Damn right they're scared.

The principal's comment about girls going to college for the M.R.S? The entire Girl Gang song where they're basically saying premarital sex is as bad as robbing banks and calling the Pink Ladies communists? There was a massive push towards the nuclear family, reinforcing gender roles, and trying to reinforce that perceived "normality" after World War II. Domesticity was particularly idealised in the media and pushed on young women across the country, leading to a growing discontent with the status quo that only grew heading into the 60s. Of course groups like the Pink Ladies and T-Birds would be forged during that time, they are the representation of that growing discontent.

I like that they don't spell everything out, but knowing this was the backdrop to the characters' stories means their reactions to things make so much sense.

I am also enjoying the growing number of stories where characters, especially those from marginalised communities, get happy endings and positive stories set during these historic periods while the reality of the time is acknowledged. I hope this will be something RotPL is allowed to pursue in its storylines into a second season.

History is a lot more diverse than we've been led to believe and there have always been people marginalised by society who found happiness and led full and happy lives.

[amodernpersephone]

ANYWAYS hi now i have both free times and spoons. let me introduce you to Florina and Ninian because um....... Ninian in particular drives me insane

Florina is the one on the left and Ninian is on the right (with her younger brother Nils in the background, the little bard <3)!

They come from the land of Ilia, an icy territory where nothing grows. Gender roles are also swapped there, with women being the moneymakers by becoming mercenaries and men expected to stay home and (GAME'S WORDS NOT MINE) clean pegasus dung. This leads to lesbianism too actually as you can see. This actually is a result of pegasus only allowing women to ride them (and one gnc singing man, but that happens way later in the series) so Ilian women become pegasus knights! They are well respected across the land and are quite reliable

Florina comes from a very poor family of three pegasus knights, with her being the youngest sister. Ninian, however, is the eldest sister out of her and Nils. They're both known for being very shy and formal, and overly cautious around almost everyone (but both for very different reasons).

Florina has youngest sibling syndrome (tm) where she's constantly feeling like she's in the shadow of her siblings. Her oldest sister Fiora is the commander of the 5th Wing of the Pegasus Knights while the middle sister, Farina, is a famous member of the 3rd Wing and um. also picks on Florina a lot. Florina suffers from massive social anxiety and cried herself to sleep every night, with Farina picking on her often. Even as she's almost an adult, she still picks on her to "test her limits". With this, Florina became scared of everything and everyone, and lived to prove herself to her sisters.

Ninian, is one of the few remaining Dragons on Elibe, after the great war between humans and dragons. Shortly after her younger brother, Nils, was born, her mother was kidnapped, leading to her father to wander through um. an interdimensional portal to find her. But he couldn't bring literal children with him so he left them outside and said if he wasn't back in 10 days, they could also enter to find their parents. Well dad didn't return so the siblings went in. None of them were able to find their mother, resulting in the children and their father coming back to Elibe. The siblings lost most of their powers while their father, due to being human, lost his memory.

This leads him to essentially snap. He doesn't remember his children or wife. He ends up seeing his children as pawns and after a while, starts to hunt them down. Ninian and Nils try to integrate themselves with human society but are too afraid of humans as most of them still see dragons as man-eating monsters. Except for Florina.

Florina grew up with the tale of a kind ice dragon living atop the highest mountain in Ilia, that helped out the humans around her. One day, during the war (keep in mind that this happened 1000 years ago, way before Florina was born) , the dragon went off to a faraway place. Every year, the people of the nearby village would make an offering to the dragon. One year, Florina ran away from home for this. She slept outside in the cold and waited all night and day, only for the dragon to never come and she caught a cold, causing Farina to scold her.

Years later, Florina and Ninian meet. They start off very formal, with Ninian referring to Florina as "Dame Florina". They start to talk about their birthplace and bond over it, promising to talk more about each other next time. Next conversation, Florina talks to Ninian about her inability to talk to men.

Which leads to um 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Next conversation is where Florina gives the story of her leaving home to meet the Ice Dragon, who lives in the very mountain Ninian was born in. Ninian stays silent for most of it, mainly to not reveal too much about herself.

and boom. more sapphicism.

ok im typing this WHILE i read the ask so its bound to be messy as fuck so. FIRST OF ALL THATS SO FUCKING FUNNY lady mercs owuauauuuauauuauaua i can feel the lesbianismmsmsmsmsnsmsm coursing through my bones . OMG THE PEGASI LORE THING IS ACTUALLY RLY COOL. women win . and. YOU NEED TO TELL ME ABT THE GNC SINGING MAN ASAP . i need to give florina a hug. STAT. OUAOAUOAUAOYAOYA NOOOOOOOO NILS AND NINIAN UEUEUEUEUE . oh. that. took a turn. pat pat pat pattinh them both OMG SAPPHICISM.

STARRY EYES STARRY EYES. IM GOINH TO EXPLODE. ladies i think yall got something very lesbian goinh on in there <- INTEENALLING EXPLODING WE GET ALONG DONT WE. DAMN. do we ever find out abt the actual ice dragon. OUAOUAUA anyway. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS R FIRE. i am LOVING them its taking so much self control not to edit for them right now THEY LOOK SO FUCKING PRETTY WTF A. anyway. that ends my explosion THANM YOU AMBROSE

[ffroppydisk]

I will pretend people asked, so here is my analysis of this song for aftg:

Ti prego, non cominciare Sai che per me è già difficile credere a quanto mi facevi male Ma, se me l'avessi chiesto, avrei scalato l'Everest a mani nude Anche se odio il freddo e soffro pure di vertigini, io me ne frego Quando menti, io ti credo

(Please, don't even start it/ you know it's already hard for me to believe how much you hurt me/ But had you asked, I would have climbed the Everest with my bare hands/ Even if I hate the cold and I am scared of hights, I wouldn't care / When you lie, I believe you)

CLEARLY Jean talking to Kevin. I would say even Riko, but he *would* care, had it been riko. So no. Moving on.

So che sono più di mille quelle cose di me che non tolleravi (I know there's more than a thousand things about me you couldn't stand) Parlare con te è come cercare di afferrare il vento con le mani (Talking to you it's like trying to grab the wind with my hands) Se avevo un problema, mi dicevi di parlarne con chi se ne intende (When I had a problem, you'd tell me to talk to [specialists])

Jean to Kevin? to Riko? I GUESS WHY NOT BOTH. The last sentence is not really kevjean coded because they would help each other but now? Post AFTG is it still so or would Kevin suggest Bee as well?

Guardavo cadere tutto a pezzi come fosse l'11 settembre (I looked at everything crumbling down as if it was 9/11) Dimmi ancora una bugia, poi una bugia, poi la verità (Tell me another lie, then a lie, then the truth) Era tutto una follia, però una follia per te non si fa (It was all madmen's doing, but that's not something you'd do/we could do for you [tn: it could be both]) Non ero più a casa mia, neanche a casa mia, solo mille guai (I wasn't at home anymore, not even when I was at my house, only a thousand messes) Penso a Davide e Golia, io sarò Golia, tu mi ucciderai (I think about David and Goliath, I will be Goliath, you'll kill me) E te l'avrei lasciato fare, perché ero fuori di testa (And I would have let you, because I was out of my mind) Dimmi, quando ci si perde, a cosa serve fare festa? (Tell me, when you're lost, what's the point of partying?) Fumo 'sti fiori del male, tutto quello che mi resta (I smoke those flowers of evil [weed?], everything that I have left) Ora che mi sento inerme come un verme in fondo al mezcal (Now that I feel powerless as a worm at the bottom of a mezcal)

I just think Kevjean. Okay? Okay. Like some parts are more from Jean to Kev and some others the opposite but!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'LL KILL ME AND I WOULD HAVE LET YOU???????????? i know its prob more jean to riko, if we take it physically. But on a personal level??? When Kev left "sliding his throat"????????????????? IDK IM SCREAMING. Also the fleurs du mal, the weed thing... it is obviously deeper even for Lazza but at the same time... if it were alcohol, it could be Kevin. Or it could be Jean if we talk about the "spleen", the solitude???, the feeling removed from the rest of society?????????? That's all he has left now that he's changed everything and i just aaaa

Scordati che mi conosci, ora è tardi anche se piangi (Forget you know me, now it's too late even if you cry) È inutile che mi angosci, mi mandi cento messaggi (It's useless that you bother me, send me 100 texts) A cui non risponderò, non ne sono più capace (To which I won't reply, I can't anymore) Sono diventato tutto ciò che odiavo e ti assicuro non mi piace (I have become everything I hated and I assure you I don't like it) Dimmelo se te ne accorgi, siamo diventati grandi (Tell me if you realise, we've grown up) Anche se ho dieci orologi, non recupererò gli anni (Even if I wear 10 clocks, I won't get those years back) Scusa se non tornerò, non sai quanto mi dispiace (I'm sorry that I won't come back, you have no idea how much I am) Che abbiamo fatto la guerra, ma non sapevamo come fare pace ([Because] we've waged war, but had no idea how to make ammend)

I just TT. It's so kevjean??? I guess first 4 is jean talking, second 4 is Kevin but TT I just TT Since TSC came out, with all of Jean's inner monologue giving more and more deets about what they have been like... I just can't listen to this song and think about anything else.

Now there's a part in the song that it's just about a breakup. I do think Kevin/Riko might fit, but it's unimportant.

Until this:

'Sto mondo a misura d'uomo mi fa sentire in castigo (This man-shaped world feels like some retribution)

Tell me you guys on tumblr see it as well and I've not gone crazy. Please.

wait omg apparently you are Italian/know Italian (anche ioooo) so I need to share something that has been rotting my brain for like at least a week and a half.

This song is so Kevjean coded. Sometimes it even includes KevinxRiko but it's minor.

Do you agree? have I gone crazy? is it just my brainrot making me see aftg wherever? (I mean probs but at this point I'm too far gone)

PLS oddio non ascolto musica italiana quindi non ho mai cagato Lazza o altri artisti ma mo che l'ho sentita e provato a immaginare I CAN SAY CHE IT ACTUALLY HAS A KIND OF KEVJEAN VIBES🫠🫠🫠