#and participate as enthusiastically as they can in their own exploitation because they think it gives them more control

[emberwritesinsight]

Touga and Kozue have maybe the most amicable relationship of any two characters with Parallels(TM) in Utena, and the entire cast (particularly Miki) is incredibly lucky that they only acted as partners in crime once.

[horizon-verizon]

How are we not supposed to root for the Targaryens when Daenerys performed a miracle of resurrection and is using her power to free enslaved people across Essos ? Even though we are told in the prologue of the first book that the true enemy is the cold and Daenerys is a dragon queen who birthed fire-breathing creatures ?

Daenerys is the ONLY character that is using her power to benefit more than just themselves or their family’s power. The emphasis on her fertility is not because the Targaryens are doomed to die, it’s just another aspect of the way she consistently defies reality and achieves the impossible, Mirri Maz Dur told her a flowery statement about the nihilistic situation Daenerys had been cast in but Daenerys rejected it, birthing dragons and healing herself.

Thank you, anon, for the Mirri thing, I esp appreciate this point bc I've last talked abt how Mirri attempts to deceive Dany concerning her son's death in the womb, how Mirri tries to "gaslight" & confuse her and very likely could have also tried to make sure she at least instills a seed of doubt in Dany even after death HERE.

And I agree, this is one of the early instances of Dany defying the expectations and machinations of both out-world and in-world; as the once-ozymalek/Phoenix-Ashes once said, in a conventionally written fantasy work, Dany would have been long-killed perhaps in her first married night or by Viserys or in childbirth. And despite her brother's and Illyrio Mopatis' and yes, even Mirri's, plotting and intentions for her, she manages to defy them all and survive but also work towards her people's wellbeing and safety anyway she can. Her brothers & husband die for her rise instead of the other way around. Through that fire that birthed her dragons, she is also passing through a inner transformation she herself triggered & orchestrated after doing away with her enemies, Mirri one of the first, turning Mirri's deception into something useful for herself even though it was never her intent to use her husband for said dragons. It's truly a beautiful and well written thing!

As for her ancestors, I favor them bc they simply are the more interesting party whoever you put beside them and that's because they are fleshed out for Dany's sake to contextualize her arc and character and role in Planetos history, past, present and future. While being very entertaining.

Truly, I think some people also hate the Targs as a group/collective bec EITHER bc:

they just cannot get behind who they see as enthusiastic/complacent participants of feudalism/exploitative structures when Dany is right there to be the opposer to any sort of exploitation, reevaluating and working against the legitimacy of absolute for its own sake

they hate how they make the injustices of Westerosi feudalism that much more obviously unjust in myriad of ways

Of course some Dany stans dislike or hate the Targs before her, and that makes sense precisely as you say abt her being the only one who is not trying for power either for themselves or for their house at the expense (or simply not centering) of lower classed people. Participating in their exploitation. I don't have anything to really say about that except for sometimes that comes at the expense of understanding the value of some Targs's stories--like with Rhaenyra's particular histiographical and personal experiences with sexism and how while she herself is nothing like her, her experiences and the themes there do connect with Daenerys and other F&B women [acertifiedmoron]:

within the culture of westeros all women are a commodity, valued entirely for their reproductive capabilities, exchanged by men to maintain the male line. this is the very basis of patriarchy. which is why the real evil here is the institution of marriage. yes, we've established that targaryen women are trapped within their endogamous marriages, but noblewomen in exogamous marriages also have very little hope for recourse. they don't have anywhere to go but pray for their family's aid (which happens rarely or never, as i've pointed out) or their husband's death. this is not me going to bat for incest, just that there really is no significant material difference between targaryen incestous marriages and other westerosi marriages. but to speak of the former as a unique kind of evil, one has to tacitly go to bat for normal westerosi marriages. and that obscures what the text is communicating. the targaryens are not an abberation. westerosi society as a whole is built on gendered violence perpetuating systems of gendered oppression. rarely is anyone not brutalising their daughters. the targaryens do it by keeping daughters within the family structure for consolidating dragon power and the other houses do it by trading their daughters for political power. both cases involve using young girls to bolster male power

[randomfoggytiger]

We will definitely have to agree to disagree, I don't think the writers are bad people but they do absolutely write misogynistic storylines not because of maliciousness but because a 99% male writers room will always have huge blindspots in certain areas (hello women's SA being taken as a joke in Small Potatoes and Post-Modern Prometheus), you can also still critique misogyny/patriarchy (even insightful critiques!) while having sexist tendencies in your own writing (Joss Whedon with Buffy), the reason I can't take this specific argument (it's the villains, not the writers) seriously in this case is that when you write these very 'gendered' storylines (pregnancy/reproductive horror/SA) as critiques, you have to actually give them their weight and examine them in thoughtful, interesting ways which is sth the txf writers definitely didn't do imo (but which other shows have absolutely done incredibly well like Evil cbs, hell I love Irresistible and Unruhe), but the txf writers kept putting Scully through this very gendered horror over and over not to emphasise any critique of the patriarchy or because they had anything more insightful to say about it which they barely did even back in Emily (i actually think this same storyline by different writers could be incredibly interesting but the tone would have to be completely different) but because it was the easiest way they could think of to turn up the stakes/drama with a female lead.. Malicious? No... Sexist ? Absolutely (basically imo if you use gendered horror - the best word I can think of for that mess- purely as a plot device and not actually in service of the female character you're inflicting it on, thats sexist)

Well, agree to disagree again, Anon. XDDD

I think anything can be done, even gendered horror, without sexism intended or invoked. Again, plenty of women have written or enthusiastically promoted projects that could easily fall into these parameters; so, when is it sexist and when is it not?

Furthermore, I do understand there are criticisms to be levied against the rug sweeping in Small Potatoes and The Postmodern Prometheus; yet in both cases, the villains are portrayed as what they were-- villains-- and even the sympathetic Mutato had to go to prison, despite Mulder's wish otherwise. Small Potatoes uses dark humor to highlight the absurdity in Blundht's character, and PMP is a tragic exploitation of the loyalty of a flyman who trusted and followed the only person who ever loved him. While the former is an indictment against Eddie, the latter is a lesson that we all, as humans, wish we could erase our mistakes with an empathetic plea, ordained forgiveness, and a happy, redeemable end.

On a sidenote, Mulder is also put through gendered violence-- mocked by various villains as not being "strong enough" and hit over the head by other men who are or were in his shoes but chose different actions or choices than he did-- and just because he was not stripped of his sperm does not mean he was not any less violated by the Syndicate or other shadowy men with power through various medical horrors (not to mention family abductions and murder.) The difference is Mulder packs his trauma away as quickly as possible whereas Scully's scars are given more screentime (her abduction trauma, Melissa's death, Emily's death, her therapy, etc. etc.)

If you really compare them, Scully's traumas are highlighted more than Mulder's-- which is not sexism, to me, as her personal struggles are given longer monologues and more plot-focus in mytharc and MOTW episodes despite the show's quest largely revolving around Mulder's childhood loss and trauma. It boils down to botched writing, to me.

Also: GA participated and seemed to enjoy the episodes you mentioned; and perhaps her memory gaps largely contribute to her softer recollections, but she also seemed enthusiastic about Small Potatoes and The Postmodern Prometheus when they were filmed and aired.

I'm all for more female writers in the writing room; but more than that, I'm all for great writers in the writing room that care about the details in their scripts. We got a ton of that in The X-Files; but there are flaws, of course. Sexism and misogyny, to me, are not part of them.

Those are my thoughts, anyway~.

[anthonybialy]

War on Sense

Learning why people don’t get along and how they get by are two crucial behavioral aspects to grasp, which is why liberals struggle with both. They don’t understand war or the economy. It’s nice to be predictable. But downsides can outweigh benefits of knowing what’s to come, as seen when conflict races for destitution to become the year’s top theme. The winner doesn’t matter when humanity’s doomed to lose.

It’s bad to fight and be poor. I think we’ve reached common ground. Figuring how to stop those things seems to constitute a decent cause. War’s self-professed biggest enemies think they’re the first and only humans to grasp the notion, which is especially daft considering their axis makes the possibility of rampant military maneuvering far likelier.

Accusing the attacked party of committing genocide would spur head-shaking laughter if not for the corpse count. The showiest defenders of the downtrodden side against a country minding its own business that was attacked without cause. But at least they possess no understanding of collateral damage in pursuit of a righteous cause. Today’s liberals would’ve demanded caution while invading Normandy.

You’d think professed opponents of bad things would pursue policies that would constrain meagerness and combat. But realizing they cause what they decry isn’t going to stop professional preeners. Their very non-self-righteous statements against things being bad merely seem even sillier.

Nobody enjoys conflict, we tell ourselves between UFC bouts. Yet there might be a legitimate reason to fight another party aside from wagering. Invaders who murdered all the babies they could find are begging you to fight back. Hamas villainy is biblical-level, which is fitting in its way. Don’t credit their diabolical nature. Their twisted allies are too focused on shrieking that Israel somehow stole land that’s been theirs since history’s start. Or maybe they thought Hamas was engaged in the right to choose.

Weakness in the face of wickedness is supposed to convince the latter they’re being so uncool. But they double down. You’re supposed to be impressed by their commitment to their idiotic cause. Hellions thriving is the one thing more constant in the 2020s than money being worthless.

There’s good news if you seek evidence of bad news. That’s the closest to optimism you’ll find. Fleeing from brutes is a common habit worldwide. Enablers tell us their charity cases are oppressed both in American cities and around a rather chaotically depressing globe. Reflexively thinking miscreants are underdogs worth supporting leads to the wrong kind of consistency. Participants blame law enforcement for violations as ardently as they do a republic hunting down marauders who committed a sin a bit worse than not paying admission while crashing a music festival.

Unchecked class warfare warriors have moved past simple demanding for disarming, which was at least charming in naïveté. Cheering for villains isn’t just for professional wrestling enthusiasts who cathartically cope with fantasies about being naughty by buying Ric Flair action figures. The reality isn’t faked, unlike all-time disgusting claims terror enthusiasts make about Israel resembling the Third Reich. Residents under the care of Hamas sure seem unhealthy for a place with more hospitals than American cities have Starbucks.

Pretending they’re on the side of the underprivileged leads to attacks against those who truly are. Irony doesn’t heal wounds. Hamas fiends attacking then hiding behind the innocent is curious behavior for a group allegedly fighting for the freedom of the downtrodden. Creating more people suffering doesn’t count. Excuses for attacking Israel are only partly about the most anciently abominable prejudice. One side having less surely happens because they were exploited and not because they rely on entitlements. Gaza is a Blue State.

There just needs to be a bit more seizing in order for everyone to profit, so don’t lose faith now. Taking money in order to make people richer doesn’t exactly appear to be self-sustaining. But that’s only because you’ve been brainwashed by manipulative amalgamations into thinking you have to exchange something to get something.

Money must be supervised. It could end up in the wrong hands. You see, seized funds are reassigned to the correct recipients, which is to say those who cruel corporate titans decided didn’t deserve it. Handouts seem even paltrier after the gangster takes his vig. Politicians don’t resemble mobsters in that they’re unable to preserve law and order.

Enemies of having war and not having money have gotten their way. The world is coincidentally broke in multiple senses under Joe Biden’s grandfatherly guidance. Acting as if everything was busted when they arrived is yet one more way liberals dodge consequences. Taping together glass they smashed is not as charmingly artistic as advertised on Etsy. Warmongers and profiteers are used to being blamed even though profiting has been a clear challenge since January 2021 while mongering war just happened to simultaneously spike.

Enthusiastic helpers might want to stop. Claiming to help while making life worse is a tradition as long and shameful as anti-Semitism. There’s a reason statist beliefs must be mandated. Conflict and penury that results from policies supposedly engineered to avoid them adds to already unhealthy levels of cognitive dissonance. Trying to keep themselves in business makes it tough for legitimate operations. Liberals love nothing more than to express outrage. As a result, nothing worthwhile moves quickly.

[lebibish]

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thank you for participating in this incredible event. I love Yuletide so much and I look forward to it throughout the year. I hope you have fun writing, I know I will enjoy reading whatever you put together!

In general, I love worldbuilding and cultural details, family relationships (I am especially all about the sibling feels—found family and family you were raised with equally), extremely competent characters, discovering secrets, mythology, and discovering/building competence. You know how training montages are common tropes for saving time in a series? I’d be a happy clam if those were expanded into entire series where I could watch people building their skills, connecting to the people around them, and learning more about the world. I adore fantasy world-building—the concept of everyday magic, for example, where everyone has their own little piece of the world (always knowing when the phone is about to ring or being able to call how many times a rock will skip on the water) or integrated magic systems where the society has been built around a magic system. I like stories about hope, about survivors who find joy and comfort together (not a request this year, but Kipo and the Wonderbeasts is a great example of the kind of “dystopia” I really love—where people are rediscovering how wonderful the world can be even when there are a lot of terrible things).

Anything from gen to smut is welcome, angst with a happy ending is fine but the happy ending is key, kidfic is lovely, all types of pairings or no pairings at all work. If you present me with a love triangle my go-to solution is always polyamory. I’m kink!positive.

DNW: Please no child death, death of pets, grim!dark, infidelity (polyamory requires enthusiastic consent from all parties). Specific DNW for Fear Street: I am completely uninterested in Nick Goode apologism or redemption.

Ideas are always suggestions, optional details are optional, tell me a story you enjoy telling!"

Optional Details are Optional. I provide prompts because I find them helpful as a write but feel free to write a story that is about what you love!

Fear Street Trilogy (Movies 2021)

• Character: Sarah Fier (Fear Street)

• Why I love this: It's mostly the queer women representation and characters of color surviving a horror film. A little bit the way it leans into how horror movies are an exploration of anxiety and social tension with the theme of rich white men exploiting poorer, browner communities. A little bit the hints of lore. Also, the strong friendships throughout as well as the sisterhood in 1978.

• Prompts: 1. Sarah Fier and Hannah Miller get a happy ending in 1666--running off into the woods together to be witchy women? Having lavender marriages with 2 guys who are either gay or asexual themselves? 2. Sarah Fier's ghost lingers after her death (think of Thackery Binx from Hocus Pocus), trying to help the Goode's victims. 3. Deepen the lore: How did Union end up split into Shadyside and Sunnyvale? Where did the old woman in the woods get that book in the first place? Specific DNW for Fear Street: I am completely uninterested in Nick Goode apologism or redemption.

쌍갑포차 | Mystic Pop-up Bar (TV)

- Character: Guibanjang | Crown Prince Yi Hon, Weol Jul

- Why I love this: I love the found family feel—sure, it turns out they were “real” family all along, but to me the “we found our way together and started healing” stands out more. I really enjoyed the episodes where we got to see more Guibanjang super!competent badass (and him settling into a life of adoring his wife, bantering, and cooking is really cute). I love Weol Ju’s determination and deep, deep love and the way she always tries to seem cool and unattached and uncaring but always being a deeply empathetic person. I really like the dreamworld aspect—we’re going to help you solve your emotions and mental blocks and empower you to solve your own real life issues yourself.

- Prompts: 1. Han Kang Bae gains some memories of the past events from (the tree? The child’s spirit?) but I’d love to see Weol Ju and Guibanjang telling their story to him from their own perspectives (maybe with some Rashomon Effect shenanigans). AND/OR Weol Ju and Guibanjang telling stories to Han Kang Bae of their “jobs” in the afterlife—maybe competing to seem cooler/more competent in front of their son, maybe bickering back and forth about “rumors they heard” about the other person. 2. Settling back into their old “jobs” but feeling out these relationships which aren’t new except that now everyone has the same amount of information which changes things in a myriad of different ways. Case!fic is always lovely.

Jeeves & Wooster

- Character: Wooster, Jeeves

- Why I love this: I enjoy the shenanigans. I greatly enjoy Jeeves’ competence and I find Bertie kind of sweet. Jeeves being oh so clever but also devoted to his rather ridiculous man is enjoyable, the relationship negotiations that constantly happen (Whether it’s a romantic or platonic relationship doesn’t matter—there’s a lot of interesting negotiations happening!

- Prompts: 1. I’m kind of fascinated by the idea of taking some of the female characters and exploring some WLW/MLM solidarity—in the form of a lavender marriage or just some friendship and support. 2. This is definitely a setting where I would be fascinated to see how the addition of some kind of magic did or did not change elements of the canon. Either a well-known magic system (like in the Sorcery and Cecelia books if you know those), or some of the Tumblr strings of thought where everyone has a small magic like the ability to always find your keys or knowing the weather without looking outside, or a hidden magic system that Bertie stumbles on. Or possibly one where Bertie has magic and he’s been keeping it hidden from Jeeves—I also greatly enjoy when someone has hidden depths and we get to discover the ways in which they’ve been underestimated.

Nimona (2023)

- Character: Gloreth

- Why I love this: The fairy tale atmosphere, the subversion of fairy tales asking what does it mean to be a villain, Nimona's whole everything. I do love Ballister/Ambrosius too.

- Prompts: 1. Five ways Gloreth could have made a different choice? Friendship or femslash. 2. Gloreth in the modern age reconnects with Nimona (reincarnation? Sleeping Beauty-style curse?) 3. Gloreth's line from the building of the wall to its destruction (Ambrosius basically represents the redemption of their line). What is outside the wall? How does a city sustain itself within a wall like that? How did Gloreth as hero become an idea that only nobles could be knights?

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

- Characters: Raya, Namaari

- Why I love this: Badass women. Also has a found family potential. Worldbuilding based on southeast Asian cultures.

- Prompts: 1. The missing time – Raya growing up. The fact that she and Namaari clearly have continued to run into each other as they grew up and what that looked like (and yes, I very much ship Raya/Namaari). 2. Or maybe the perspectives of Raya’s father and Namaari’s mother through the movie and after. 3. Maybe what it means to Kumandra that the dragons are back and how do you learn to trust people when that trust has been lost and broken for such a long time? 4. Or, hey, time travel fix it fic. Or lean into the cultural worldbuilding.

철인왕후 | Mr. Queen (TV)

- Jang Bong Hwan (Mr. Queen)

- Why I love this: Because every single moment of this show is Queer. Because several characters are living in completely different genres and the show manages to seamlessly tie them together into a story. Because the love story felt very real to me. Because Bong-hwan’s cooking was amazing and the fact that he kept retreating into a place where he felt comfortable and confident meant so much to me, because there were so many DETAILS they paid attention to including what modern convenience and global trade networks mean to ingredient sourcing and how ridiculous some of his demands were in the time period. Because so many relationships were important and interesting.

- Prompts: I pretty firmly believe that Jang Bong-hwan was Kim So-yong’s reincarnation, so anything incorporating that (like, I think that after her experiences of powerless as a woman, when she killed herself she insisted on being reborn as a man, and because she wasn’t supposed to die (or a lake spirit took pity on her? IDK), her future self was called back into her past self to fix things. I’d be interested to see the changes made in Korea, the butterfly effect of the past, and Jang Bong-hwan finding his own happy ending. I’d be interested to see Kim So-yong with both sets of memories, figuring out who she wants to be. I’m also a sucker for outsider pov—so the perspectives of other characters during or after the show.

May the Yuletide Goat bless you!

Lebibish

[starshipsofstarlord]

Hey!!! I'm so glad you liked the blurb night idea :) 💞 Can I request a blurb with Peter bumping into the reader while she's kinda lost at times square and he's dressed as spiderman so he tries to flirt with you, but it makes you laugh instead?

I loved the idea hun, thankyou sm for helping me with this idea xxx

“You’re a guy?”

Pairing | Peter Parker x reader

Summary | based on the request

Warnings | mentions of crime, brief mention of death and drugs, mention of sex

2K blurb masterlist

Quick link to my masterlist, if you’re interested in reading more of my crap 😬

“And there was this girl. She was really pretty, but-“ May quirked her head at her nephew, hardly understanding his blabber as he sped through his words like he was racing verbally against a cheetah, though, she was manage to uncover that particular sentence.

“Whoa, slow down kiddo.” His aunt laughed lightly, bracing her shoulders on his arms as he caught his overexcited breath. “How about you start from the beginning, and take a breath?” May had much practice with calming the boy down, she sincerely remembered how that night his parents had dropped him off, how worried he had been for them not to return. And they didn’t.

Peter bobbed his head in a eager nod, doing as he was recommended by his legal guardian, puffing the air in through his cheeks, as he inhaled and exhaled normally through his nose.“I was out patrolling the city, checking out for any bad guys, and then, I saw her...” her, the girl that had captured his attention, and distracted him from his friendly neighbourhood duties. She was much like a magnet, pulling his north face into her axis spinning world, distracting him from the things that he was actually meant to be ensuring did not happen on his watch.

“Weren’t you supposed to be patrolling?” The elder of the two quirked a brow, earning a splutter of a response from the teenager under her roof. She wasn’t a strict guardian concerning his heroic antics, though, she made sure to keep him on track for his own sake. Peter had quite the tendency to become overrun with stress from the amounts of responsibilities that he took on, and him being only young did not help the situation.

“I’m getting to that!” He was fast to defend himself, huffing his chest in as he prepared to tell May his story, from the beginning. It was quite the tale, he’d say, combined with the embarrassment of his own presence entangled in the random and friendly interaction that he had felt promiscuously lulled to create.

Queens, it was new to you. There were so many streets, filled to the brim with people that seemed to know where they were going. Unlike them, you didn’t, in fact, you’d go as far to admit that you were lost. Lost in a place that was known for the chaos that wrapped it off with a tarnished bow, and made the collateral practically fashion within its various newspapers that rounded every corner to divulge their companies’ obscure theories.

A panicked look struck your eyes, as you turned, shaking your head and pressing through the mass of citizens and finding an empty lot, scrolling through your phone, diverting your attention quickly towards google maps. It was the only thing that you could think of, it’d be a shame if you were to disturb one of the many passersby from their clearly packed schedule; you did not need that, nor berating them on your conscience.

“You lost or something?” A voice asked, making your shoulders jump as a figure, twisted in the colours red and blue, with a seam of black fell from the roofs above. Your heart rate imploded, more so when you realised who the mask wearing vigilante was. The wearer, although unknown, was infamous for the successions of saving lives that they had participated in, including defending the galaxy against outside threats.

It was Spiderman, the neighbourhood dubbed avenger, that tried their utmost to return stolen or lost bikes to their rightful owners, and protected banks from armed and overnight robberies. There was known to be something different about this particular hero, they were young and clearly had time to improve their skill set, for they were quite the clutz, and spoke significantly more to those he faced off against than what was necessary.

But this one hero, stood out amongst the rest. Not only was their suit designed by Stark technology, as you had written about in a work article, but it was far more concealing, and not to mention restricting, for the person beneath the red concoction to wear. Yes, you were in town for a new job, specifically to delve into the details that regards the world of heroes, and exploit all possible angles to how they deserved as much recognition for their stunts, as the president received for his noble speeches.

“I-“ you paused, think back over what you were preparing to say. It was without a doubt, that you had not expected the vigilante to appear in your spectacle gaze the first time that you stepped foot on the premises that he roamed, and protected. But here the spider enthusiast was, leaping down to stand beside you, burdening you with more knowledge that you could use, such as the person beneath was not as tall as you had expected, and there was definitely no way you could see their true eyes through the shallow white cases that covered them.

That was something you could write about, and make various descriptive theories about. ‘Seeing in white vision, sparked by the purity that glazed their unknown signature irises, Spider-Man halts all with the sparing of their true self. They may have reasons for shielding their eyes, much like Daredevil, not needing to see when they are overcome with various other senses that convulse their body into attentiveness,” -no, that sounded absolutely terrible.

And not to mention, if you spread that horrid writing about, Murdoc would be ashamed of ever deciding to get your aid in uncovering the route of the villainous underworld, that had take over Hell’s Kitchen and turned it into their own ring for drugs and more. The battle of New York had many repercussions, that being one, another influencing you into the career choice of being said reporter that you now proclaimed yourself as.

“Yeah, I am.” You responded with the company of a smile, and Peter swore he could feel his heart convulse beneath his suit. It’s pace was vaguely rapid, disheartening him from thinking of any more to say, he was practically speechless. “I’m looking for New York Times, you ever heard of it?” Yes, he most definitely had, it was the average run of the mill newspaper company, though, he did not know that you intended to change that into something much more.

“Funnily enough I have.” He scratched the back of his head, his arm subconsciously flexing as he did so, feeling like he had failed as your eyes remained focused on the wideness of his suit’s intense eyes. “It’s about three blocks from here, I could take you there if you want, I have nothing more to do.” From his proclamation you quirked a brow, crossing your arms amusedly.

“Don’t you have a city to watch over?” You asked, watching as Spider-Man’s false eyes widened, and he visibly panicked, realising that you had been right. “I’ll find my way, I’ve been to New York, many a time, Queens is bound to be a piece of cake. Also, a map is always handy.” A shrug rippled off your shoulders, Peter watching and walking closer as he thought of something more to add to the initial acquainting conversation.

“I’m Spider-Man.” Inwardly, and beneath his mask, Peter cringed noting how his voice rose, and it could be perceived as boasting. That though was definitely not his intent in the slightest, but he worried of how it may have come across to you. He wasn’t sure how you may have read it as, but a swarm of relief filled his lungs as he watched the corner of your eyes crinkle up, humoured by the tone of his that had significantly heightened. “Im a guy by the way.”

He felt the need to state that, especially considering people’s perceptions in the past. But instantly after saying it, he was regretful, through, he had to admit, he enjoyed listening to you laugh, it was like a melody that he wanted to listen to until the end of time. “You’re a guy?” You released a dramatic gasp, aiding your phoney response. “Yeah, no. I completely thought that you were a girl.” Sarcasm, he had well gotten used to frequency of it thanks to Mr Stark, who... well, he wasn’t around any more.

“You’re funny.” He smiled, shaking his head whence he realised that you could not see his hidden expression. “I don’t know, maybe, would you like to go to coffee with me, if you have time before you have to get to the news place? I mean, I don’t drink that much coffee, I get told that if I have too much caffeine that I get a little hyper, but I mean, I’m trying to ask you out and I have a really bad track record of-“

“Sure.” You spoke, ignoring the map that had finally loaded onto the screen of your phone. It was to your luck that you weren’t required to make your presence known at the business until tomorrow, and there was always time to kill, so you thought screw it, and decided to find it so that you didn’t get lost the approaching day. “Are you going to be wearing that, or you know, take it off?” You pointed at him, making peter surprised.

“It’s not that kind of date.” He quickly responded. “I meant just for a drink, not to hook up in the back of an a- oh, you meant the suit, didn’t you.” With a roll of your eyes, you nodded, pursing your lips together, as Peter felt the rain of relief once more. “Oh, that’s good, not that I wouldn’t want to, you’re gorgeous, that just wasn’t my intent and I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

“Basically.” You wrinkled your nose, with a laugh, the way you scrunched it up was adorable to Peter. “So I’ll meet you here in two hours, I’ll let you finish up your duties, and change into something that doesn’t make you look you’re wearing a thong, because I can tell you from experience that those things are not comfortable. That good for you Spidey?”

“That works.” He spoke, trying his best to contain his overflowing excitement, biting his lip to do so. “That definitely works.”

“Hi.” The familiar voice of Spider-Man spoke, and you turned around, watching as a young man, not much different in age from yourself rounded the corner. He was clothed in a blue and white chequered flannel, and grey jeans, and you had to say, that whilst the amazing Spider-Man was quite the sight, this was something else.

“Oh, I was waiting for a girl actually.” You informed him, clearly messing with him, as you walked closer, a stretching smile pinning up the corners of your lips. “But I guess you’ll do webslinger.” He could feel his heart racing, but he walked closer, watching as you eyed him, a stranger met with the sight of a vigilante unmasked. “Where to, red and blue?”

“There’s this really good place on main, they sell the best sandwiches. And trust me, once you buy from there, you won’t stop...” the two of you began to walk away together, and towards Peter’s secret destination, where the two of you learnt the others real name.

[lizbotw]

Karasuno popsicle eating competition? 👀👀👀 (i saw you were bored so-)

Karasuno Popsicle Eating Competition

choco omg i loved this concept even though i was definitely not expecting it in the middle of fall, but also, i absolutely get. i spent all night thinking about this so thank you, you successfully cured my boredom, and now here it is, i finally wrote out all of my ideas. please enjoy because i had way too many thoughts about this ♡

Karasuno

100% Nishinoya’s idea.

What? He literally adores Garigari-kun popsicles. A proper popsicle enthusiast and therefore of course it would be none other than him that would come up with such a plan.

You would probably be walking home with the second-years after practice after a quick stop into Coach Ukai’s store to pick up snacks on the way.

Classic meat buns and crinkly packs of chips that always felt like they contained more air than well... chips—that’s what most of you had gotten. But Nishinoya? It was him and his trusty popsicle (soda flavored of course).

You had to stop too many times to keep track of because he kept devouring them before you could even blink and somehow the lucky bastard kept getting the ones with the sticks that qualify you to get another popsicle for free. You best believe he was cashing those in instantly.

You bumped Tanaka with your shoulder to get his attention, not taking your eyes off of the back of Noya as he disappeared up the hill and back to the store. “Why doesn’t he just buy a whole box of them at this point?”

“Mmm,” Tanaka hummed in agreement, hand deep in his bag of potato chips. He stuffed a few more in his mouth, crunching in thought. “Good point.”

Noya was never gone more than a few seconds and you didn’t even get the chance to reply before he came barreling down the hill, blue wrapper in his hand—prize secured it seemed.

The group didn’t resume walking just yet, waiting to see if finally Noya’s reign of exploiting Ukai’s store for free frozen treats would come to an end. (You were hoping the stick at the center of the popsicle would turn out to be blank, not have another cheesy message about how “You won an extra popsicle! Take this stick to any participating retailer to cash it in.”)

“Aren’t you tired of running back and forth?” That was Ennoshita, chewing on his meat bun and looking like he very much wanted to go home.

Noya pulled the popsicle out of his mouth to reply, tongue already stained blue. “Nope! It’s good cardio, plus I get a reward at the end!” As if to prove his point, Noya punctuated the end of his sentence by shoving the popsicle back into his mouth. It wouldn’t be long until he reached the stick and you guys would (potentially) have to wait another five minutes for him to repeat the process all over again.

“It makes sense to buy more than one though. We’re never going to get home at this rate,” Ennoshita grumbled. He was clearly too tired to be dealing with this or he would have dragged Noya away from the store by his ear a long time ago.

Before Noya could bring up the benefits of running up and down a hill in the middle of the night (on a school night nonetheless) again, Tanaka cut in. “Yeah, why don’t you buy an extra one for me, dude. Then we’ll match!”

It was like a switch was flipped and Noya’s eyes lit up, widening. “Dude, great idea!”

“Right? It was (Y/N)’s idea actually.”

“Tanaka, that was not what I said.” You were quick to defend yourself, casting a nervous side glance at Ennoshita who was already glaring daggers at you.

“Either way, I still think it’s a good idea. I’ll be right back-”

“Oh no you don’t.” Ennoshita grabbed a hold of the back of Noya’s shirt to prevent him from running off (he’d already gotten in position to run up the hill—getting two steps in before he’d been stopped—and if Ennoshita had been a second slower Noya would have gotten away completely).

“Even if you did get one for Ryuu, I don’t know if it’d be very fair,” Narita cut in. Clearly he was just being nice and thinking about everyone, but words had a tendency to get twisted when it came to matters like this, especially when the other second-years were involved.

“Yeah, what are the rest of us, Yuu? Chopped liver?” Kinnoshita finished off his meat bun and crumpled the empty napkin he’d been holding it with into a small ball in his hand to throw away later. He was smirking mischievously and you could tell he wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of free popsicles.

“True. You really should be offering to get all of us one.” Of course Ennoshita was the one to deliver the final blow. The trio could be real menances when they wanted to be and judging by the look they all shared, they were clearly enjoying poking fun at Noya.

And of course Nishonya took their words seriously, a thoughtful expression taking over his features. Sarcasm? Not detachable when it came to popsicles. “You’re right.” Uh oh… Nishinoya having that faraway look in his eyes was never a good sign. “And if I get it for all of you then… I should just get for the entire team!” His voice increased in volume as he spoke until he had the sudden epiphany at the end that he shouted. Energized by the thought, he made to go run towards the store again but seemed to forget the vice grip Ennoshita still had on him.

Nishinoya struggling against the hold and Ennoshita trying to pull him back so you guys could finally go home and work on your excessive amount of homework quickly turned into a yelling match. You should have known it would turn out this way...

It looked like things were about to get messy, so you decided to intervene, speaking hurriedly before someone lost a limb in the scuffle. “I think it’s a good idea. Let’s just all go ask Ukai now if we can have popsicles tomorrow for practice and then we can go home.” You said the last part looking pointedly at Ennoshita—listen, you were also tired so you knew exactly how to get through to him. How Noya could keep going like this after a full day was beyond you.

There were a few more moments of grumbling and arguing but eventually everyone caved and agreed. And thus you six made the trek back up the small incline to the store perched off to the side. (“No, Nishinoya, we can’t ask him to bring only soda flavored ones. Where is the variety?”)

The jingle of the bell had Ukai looking up from the magazine he was reading and he fixed all of you with an exasperated stare. “You six again? Don’t you have homework or something?”

It didn’t take much convincing to get him on board and he waved a dismissive hand, leaning back in his chair, cigarette between his lips, and opening back up his magazine. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get home already. I don’t want to be responsible for you getting back so late.”

He for sure delivered on his promise because the next day at practice you found a cooler hidden away in the storage closet in the gym. About an hour into a grueling practice session, he called for a break and revealed the surprise (thank god because Nishinoya had been buzzing with anticipation all day, almost spilling the secret several times, and you were sick and tired of it, please send help).

To say the team was excited was an understatement. The sweltering heat of the gym wasn’t exactly ideal and everyone was dying to go out into the summer sun—at least in the outdoors you had the chance of a light breeze whispering across your neck and relieving some of the suffocating tension of the weather.

Moving everything outside, you helped set up the cooler in the nearby school field.

Takeda was surprised that Ukai even considered doing something like this out of the blue and you overheard Ukai admit that he had been working the team pretty hard for the past few days and that they deserved a break.

The atmosphere was relaxed as some of the team members took up residence on the grassy field, sitting among the bright green and running their hands over the cushiony ground as they got situated.

Leave up to Nishoinya to completely ruin that.

Parking himself right in front of the cooler near the top of the hill and thus preventing anyone from gaining access to the mouthwatering treats inside, he declared, hands on his hips for emphasis, “We should make this a competition!”

Daichi was not having it. “Nishinoya, get down from there, we are not-”

“Challenge accepted!” Hinata and Kageyama were already glaring at each other, determination written all over their faces. (You’re pretty sure either Tanaka or Nishinoya told him some lie before about how eating an ungodly amount of popsicles would make him better at volleyball.) At this point, they were simply waiting for Nishinoya’s signal to begin.

“Now that’s the spirit! Let’s start!” And with that Noya stepped away from the cooler with a dramatic sweep of his arm, bowing low. That’s all the confirmation Hinata and Kageyama needed before they made a beeline for the cooler—you should make sure not to get in their way during this part because they are taking this very seriously.

Tsukishima would just scoff at their childishness, telling them to hurry up and move because they’re hogging all the space.

Tsukishima would not participate in “stupid competitions” of any kind, although he would take a popsicle (begruidngly so after Yamaguchi kept pestering him to do so; secretly he really wanted one though).

You could probably find Tsukishima sitting on the gym steps, rolling his eyes at Hinata and Kageyama. He was also the perfect distance away to throw snide comments at them without risking his safety. Just adding fuel to the flames from the sidelines—that was his role.

Yamaguchi would be perched faithfully next to him eating his own popsicle and Yachi would be leaning up against the side of the gym building since there was no more space left on the steps, talking with him. She kept getting over excited or focusing too much on the conversation though, so the sticky juice of her melting popsicle would be trickling down her arm before you could warn her.

She gets very embarrassed over the whole thing once you point it out and then when she’s busy flailing her arms in apology, that just gets the juice everywhere and then she feels even worse about it, and it’s a whole cycle from there.

If you wanted to join the trio, Tsukishima would not be willing to give up his spot on the steps, but if you kept bothering him about it, he’ll probably give in eventually to get you to shut up or you could take your chances trying to shove him over.

Yamaguchi would take pity on you and squeeze over a bit so you would have room, even though he barely had any space for himself.

Or honestly just go stand next to Yachi, she would be more than happy to have someone else to talk to. The only thing is you have to keep an eye on her melting popsicle or else the above scenario will probably happen except you’ll be right next to her when it does. I sure hope you didn’t wear your favorite shirt today.

Kiyoko is the unofficial referee for the competition.

She was appointed after a unanimous vote was taken between Tanaka and Nishinoya—yes, only those two got a say in it—and technically she would be the official referee if not for the fact that the official default for Karasuno is always pure chaos. Rules? There were no rules. Was this even a competition anymore? Why is everyone taking this so seriously? Does no one have any ideas for a prize for the winner? Why is Asahi on the floor?

Speaking of Asahi, he’s in charge of giving out the popsicles and supervising them in the cooler.

Noya tried to get him to join in on the real action of competing, but Suga and Daichi were absolutely against it because Asahi just looks like he would win. To them, that was automatically cheating (poor Ashai).

Kiyoko helps him out because she doesn’t have much of a job if the boys are doing whatever the hell they want anyway.

Please go hang out with those two at the cooler. You’ll have direct access to all of the popsicles (you now hold all the power) and you can actually relax and have a calm conversation—perfect for some lounging around in the sun. And if you did want to witness the chaos of the competition? Well you also have a front row seat to that. It’s a win-win situation honestly.

Nishinoya and Tanaka were, of course, a part of the competition with Hinata and Kagayama. Now the debate of whether the challenge was to eat as many popsicles as possible or to just eat a certain amount as fast as possible was up in the air because by God, they were doing both. That couldn’t be healthy.

Daichi originally started off just watching from the sides, shaking his head in disapproval and barking reminders at them to slow down lest they choke while on his watch.

Suga was next to him of course, eating his own popsicle and telling him not to be such a stick in the mud. He was enjoying this a little too much and honestly was already hatching a mischievous plan to join in on the chaos himself. Definitely cheers for everyone in order to rile up the situation further and then elbows Daichi in the gut when he tells him to stop encouraging them.

On one such occasion, as he rubbed at the sore spot on his side that Suga kept hitting, Daichi narrowed his eyes at the popsicle in his friend’s hand, taking special notice of it now. “Suga… what flavor is that?”

“Cherry. Why?” He continued eating innocently, although he had an inkling of where this was going to go.

“Didn’t you have two cherry ones already?”

“...maybe.”

There was a gasp of betrayal. “You know those are my favorite! You’re trying to eat all of them before me aren’t you!”

The bold accusation leads to them sharing a look and a tense beat of silence passing before they both sprint to the cooler, digging among the other flavors for the highly coveted cherry.

“It’s mine!”

“No, you have to learn to share!”

They inadvertently end up in the competition through this alone, grabbing as many cherry popsicles as they can and piling their arms high.

You have to remind them that the popsicles are going to melt if they keep that up and then there will really be none left, which then sends them into a new flurry of ripping open the packages and chomping down on the glistening red treat inside.

If you join in on the competition, I hope you have a big appetite because everyone involved is not slowing down anytime soon. They’ve doubled over due to brain freeze a few times already but that doesn’t seem to be stopping any of them. If you chicken out at some point, you will be socially outcasted. You have been warned.

Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita are actually being normal and sitting a bit away on the grass, eating their popsicles at a normal rate (not scarfing them down like some people) and actually enjoying themselves.

Ideal group to join—lots of space to sit near them and stretch out on the field, good view of the uh… “competition” (can it really even be still considered that? what do you call the absolute chaos that’s going on there? honestly, why is no one stopping them? where are you, coach? isn’t this your job?) but still a safe distance away from the chaos, and lots of things to discuss. That’s right, these three know all the drama going on in school so sit back, eavesdrop on the gossip, and enjoy. You may or may not choke on your popsicles a few times because how do they even know these things.

Lean back on the grass and bask in the sunlight with these three—the good vibes are there. You’ll probably all end up laying down in the grass after you finish eating and just talking, poking fun at each other and rolling around in the grass in laughter at the latest antic or joke you’ve come up with.

Coach Ukai probably should have thought this over a bit more because it’s hard to get anyone back to practice after having this small taste of freedom (also tensions are still high after the competition so no one wants to work with each other anyway—let’s hope the grudges don’t last long), so he basically gives up for the day and dismisses “practice” early (it had already spiraled way past that at this point so the term was used loosely).

Everyone who was involved in the competition either never wants to hear the word popsicle ever again or they’re feral for more once the cooler is empty (Nishinoya).

Who would’ve thought a normal walk home would turn out like this?

[thedreadvampy]

Also like about your “don’t say you hate British people” post - whenever people say “British” I’m always a bit eh since it lumps Scotland and Wales fully in with England. And like yeah Scotland and Wales are not like innocent when it comes to the empire (and colonisation in general. Wales still has a colony of its own) but they were still basically just expendable soldiers to the english army. I mean the two countries were colonised by England, Wales being the first country to ever be colonised by England I think. Like they might have been more involved but that doesn’t stop them from being victims of England’s colonisation too. And like I know when people say Britain they usually just mean England but like,,, that’s not what we hear you know. Idk I’m not like trying to excuse bad actions but it’s just,,, there’s nuance that people outside the UK just don’t know because colonisation of the celtic countries isn’t much considered

Ehhhhhhh I somewhat agree and somewhat disagree, and I may get kicked out of Scotland for saying this, but honestly yes Scotland and Wales have been long-term colonised and their cultures actively and vindictively wiped out and yes I am a believer in the argument for Scottish independence but on the other hand I severely disagree with the idea that they have been “expendable foot soldiers” for England in the peak of empire. 

I want you to look at the wealth that came into Scotland through the Atlantic slave trade - look at Edinburgh New Town, and almost every historic building in Glasgow, of which there were many, and remember that the vast majority of wealth in Glasgow was built from profiteering on trading in human lives. The royal line which created the Empire was Scottish - the vast majority of colonial expansion took place under the Stuarts. So many majorly fucked military and political leaders have been born and educated in Scotland, from Gladstone to Haig to Blair, and that’s not to absolve England but one of the things that I find most objectionable about the tone of Scottish and Welsh nationalist discourse is the eagerness to push blame for imperial crimes as some uniquely English thing, as if the wealth of both countries hadn’t largely come from sea trade from the Empire, as if both countries weren’t also active, energetic participants in colonialism and racism - I spend a lot of time in lefty circles which obviously overlap a lot with scotnats and as I say I do believe in the future of an independent Scotland but I hate the idea that once Scotland throws off the shackles of Westminster it will hold no culpability for the ongoing legacy of colonialism, that Scotland and Wales don’t have a strong vested interest in continued imperialism, and that the work of Dealing With The Shadow Of Empire will be done. A country can be both historically colonised and fully and entirely complicit in the colonisation of others. Sorry bout it.

Sorry. I know you’re not trying to start something here and that you do recognise that Scotland and Wales outside the Union would not be some post-racial post-colonial wonderland. But. I’m not really reacting to you but to this consistent grating idea that independence is all it takes to make Scotland Not Colonisers.

Also I do have one other thought on the Union and that thought is: I grew up in the North East of England, in the highest area of rural deprivation in England and I think the second or third highest in the UK. I don’t feel that Durham is any more fairly represented in the Union than Dundee (and the North doesn’t have a devolved governance, despite facing many of the same policy mismatches with the reality of constituents’ lives as Scotland). The North, like Scotland or Wales, has been largely treated as disposable by the UK government, and the North, like Scotland and Wales, was substantially culturally separate from Southern England before being violently annexed and submitted to cultural and linguistic genocide (the Scouring of the North in 1067). Unlike Scotland, I don’t think there’s a strong argument for Northern independence, but I also don’t feel like Northern England is any more (or less) culpable for the ongoing colonial crimes of the United Kingdom than Scotland or Wales. Nor do I think London is. 

As I said in my post about Britishness as a whole - maybe the problem isn’t national borders or nationality but the actions and ideas of a) the ruling classes and b) the political system upheld through trying to atomise down which entire area/nation is to blame (oh, it’s the British, no, it’s the English, no, it’s the Southerners, no, it’s the Londoners) because until we get down to the level of ‘no, it’s Westminster, no, it’s the priorities of government, no, it’s an institutional unwillingness to apply critical thinking about our histories’ we are always lumping together those currently complicit in the system, those being shat on by it, those fighting against it and those actively profiting from it. What I don’t like about ‘it’s the British’ or ‘it’s the English’ or ‘it’s the Southerners’ isn’t just that it’s broad, it’s also externalising the problem. It isn’t a country! A country isn’t a real thing! It’s the people in the country, all of whom have different relationships to the history of imperialism and the present of colonialist exploitation which yes, are inevitably connected to our cultural and political surroundings and heritage but ugh, I’m not explaining this well. I just think that any attempt to say ‘the problem is inherent to [Britishness/Englishness/Londonness]’ both creates a blindness to the broader issue (see: why I take objection to people conflating colonialism and England while ignoring the crimes of France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Russia, the USA, Canada...) and sort of insists against a possibility for change from within. A lot of British people (including, and particularly, as you say, Scottish and Welsh and especially Northern Irish people, and I’m using the phrase British in the understanding that they probably shouldn’t be lumped in together but are, but also a lot of English people) are more harmed than helped by Britain’s continuing colonial legacy, and there is room for substantial grassroots resistance from the people being harmed. I think any citizen of the UK with any degree of historical and political consciousness must necessarily have a very complex relationship with Britishness, Englishness/Scottishness/Welshness, and the responsibility both for past crimes and future change.

it’s 1:30 AM I’m talking some crap and not expressing myself well. idk. I just think there’s a tension for me where I very strongly believe in independence but I also think framing British colonial history as purely the English forcing the Celtic nations into doing Bad Things is and unfortunately common and aggressively short-sighted issue which underpins a lot of people’s arguments for Scottish and Welsh nationalism and is simply not that easy. In 800 years of occupation for Wales and 300-400 years for Scotland (depending if you count from the Union of Crowns or the Acts of Union), with a Scottish royal line and a consistent if underrepresentative political and social presence in the Union, sorry, but Scotland can’t wash its hands of 300 years of active enthusiastic participation in the Empire any more than Yorkshire or Cornwall can. The boundaries are arbitrary, nations are invented, but history is real and present and so is the ongoing legacy of Empire in all countries of the Union (largely excepting Northern Ireland to my knowledge, but the very existence of Northern Ireland as a concept is a hangover of Empire)

[qqueenofhades]

“This is because poor white people have been systematically conditioned to support white supremacy at the direct expense of their own economic and social interests; it’s terrible, but that’s how it functions.” Do you think the rich white overlords have also been conditioned to support the system?

“while disdaining the government as tyrannical the rest of the time, unless it’s Trump’s actively tyrannical lot, but hey, we don’t have time to unpack all that)” Can you unpack some of that? I don’t understand. Thanks. Love your political posts. 

Sure!

(If anyone’s wondering, this is carrying on from/in reference to this ask from yesterday on how to dismantle arguments about “I’m white and my life has been hard therefore racism isn’t real.”)

The third part of the white supremacist equation in America, aside from racism and capitalism, is religion, especially fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity. We didn’t get to that in the last ask, but it’s an equally important factor in the social and cultural landscape of this particular demographic -- especially because the GOP has essentially become its political manifestation, and religious conservatism has become tied so deeply to a set of hot-button social issues (immigration, the gays, abortion, etc). As a lot of social scientists and lay observers have noted, religious belief in America remains staggeringly high relative to the rest of the industrialized Western world. Ever since the rise of religious conservatives as a mobilised political force in the 1980s, we have had to deal with their influence and the GOP’s willingness to function as an eager and uncritical vehicle for their social agenda. Fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity in America has also served as a powerful tool of promoting white supremacy. In fundamentalist religions, it’s a sin to question anything you’re told and you have to trust that a “higher authority” has your best interests at heart. This lends itself easily to personality cults: think the charismatic mega-preachers and other high-profile figures that exist in mainstream and fringe American evangelicalism alike, as well as the cult of Trump that now exists around the Orange Fuhrer.

Some books on this:

The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism, and Religious Diversity in America, by Jeannine Hill Fletcher

White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones (you can also read a Washington Post interview with him here, and his piece in The Atlantic here.)

The Cult of Trump by Steven Hassan

When you intertwine the moral imperatives of fundamentalist religion (if you don’t believe the right things, you’ll go to hell), with the centuries-old American system of prizing whiteness at the expense of everything else, with the belief that your rich white overlords are more “your people” than your differently-colored working-class peers, you get an incredibly powerful and coercive system of mental conditioning that works on multiple levels, constantly reinforces itself, and is very difficult to break away from. And frankly, it’s difficult to tell if the most high-profile mouthpieces of these views actually believe it (maybe to some degree) or if they just use it to obtain a comfortable life at the expense of vulnerable people. Honestly, I’m not sure if it matters whether or not the overlords believe everything they themselves teach (and I’m pretty certain that they don’t). They know that it ends up as a good deal for them, and so it’s in their interests to maintain the system as vigorously as possible.

You may have heard of “prosperity gospel” evangelists, who claim to their poor followers that if they give them, the evangelists, all their money as a demonstration of faith, God will automatically reward them/provide for their economic needs, and it’s a sign of too little faith if you don’t believe this, therefore you will stay poor. You may have also heard of the recent sex scandal involving Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the famous Jerry Falwell and current president (though he was forced to resign) of the ultra-fundamentalist Liberty University in Virginia. This, of course, goes up there with all the other hard-right politicians who preached family values and Moral Purity and then turned out to be hypocrites who were failing to live up to these ideas in private. American evangelicalism is a deeply weird and self-reinforcing universe that provides adherents with everything they need to live in a parallel version of reality and feel holier-than-thou about not interacting with “infidels,” and yes, a huge part of that, especially white Protestant evangelicalism, involves preaching the gospel of white supremacy, implicitly or explicitly.

So at the end of this, we have a system which orchestrates and indeed insists upon complete obedience to the overlords (be they economic, racial, or religious) by the underclass at every turn. As I noted above, the rich white overlords themselves know that they benefit immensely from this setup, so the question of whether or not they actually believe it is less important. As also noted, they sure don’t make any attempt to live up to it in private, or at least trust that they won’t be found out if they don’t. That’s because (at least in my opinion) they know perfectly well that it sucks. They don’t want to be poor either, but it’s useful for them if there are poor people. Fundamentalism is also deeply predicated on suffering: it’s holy to suffer, poverty is a virtue, you shouldn’t worry about this world so much as what you will get after you die, thinking about material things is Sinful, God will magically provide everything that you need, so on and so forth. So even if they’re voting against their own self-interests, white working class religious people have been assured that is a virtue anyway and they should keep doing it. Only heathens like socialism.

That also makes it harder to get any dialogue of social justice going in (white) churches. Black churches have obviously been at the forefront of social justice struggles in America for their entire history, but that’s because white and black American Christianity are often very different. There are overlaps in places, but the black church was founded in the slave tradition, rather than the slaveholder tradition, as the establishment church in the 19th century was often a zealous supporter of slavery for the “moral good” of the slaves -- hey, they might be in terrible bondage, but at least they had the chance to be saved by becoming Christians! White Americans tend to go to church to be reassured that what they’re doing is good and doesn’t need to change, or if it does need to be changed, it’s to outlaw abortion or gay marriage or whatever social issue is the order of the day. It’s founded on repression rather than liberation. This isn’t true of every church everywhere, of course, but the overall trend is one toward social and religious hyper-conservatism.

This ties into the “civic faith” of America, i.e. the sphere of cultural Christianity that everyone participates in whether they’re actively religious or not, and which has also been the subject of political studies as to how it has been twisted into an organ of feel-good jingoistic American nationalism with very little reference to what Jesus Christ is recorded as having actually taught. The point again is that this entire belief system prizes absolute obedience and adherence to a (white and male) Supreme Leader, which is really easy for a fascist to exploit with populist rhetoric draped in the shabbiest veneer of religious language. The enthusiastic evangelical support for Trump, and the way the religious right has bent over backward from trying to impeach Bill Clinton for a blowjob in the Oval Office to defending serial rapist Trump is... both enlightening and terribly depressing. (Not to say that Clinton isn’t gross, because he is, but that’s beside the point; the GOP went on a frothing-mouth moral crusade over his behavior and it’s absolute crickets over Trump.)

In the end, we have this entire subset of people who have argued that they need their guns and their paramilitary organizations to defend against a theoretical “tyrannical” (read: non-white, non-Christian) body politic or American government. That’s why we had constant claims that Obama was going to throw people into concentration camps or send federal agents to arrest people off the streets or turn America into a military dictatorship; these proud AR-15-waving nutcases were happy to inform us that they would rise up and prevent that from happening. Of course, Obama didn’t actually do any of that, but you know who did? Trump. And his supporters, of course, didn’t make any attempt to stop it from happening. Instead they actively went out to help it happen more. (Side note: a little racist shitstain literally named RITTENHOUSE being the face of armed and murderous white supremacy in the Kenosha protests is like... ridiculously on the nose, PAGING GARCIA FLYNN.)

So when I say they’re protesting “government tyranny,” we’ve already gotten a good look at what they imagine tyranny to be: i.e. anything except the actual tyranny we’re already enduring, because it’s coming from their orange messiah and it is the culmination of everything that their religious, political, social, and cultural values have taught them. They mean “tyranny” of anything that is not their extreme right-wing, white-supremacist, religious-fundamentalist fascist version of things, which means respect or tolerance or room for anyone who isn’t exactly like them, which they can’t abide. Totalitarianism never can.

Anyway, I hope that was helpful. Thanks for the question!

[floraone]

What do we mean when we say “sex positivity?”

With Smutember around the corner, and because this is SADLY nothing sex ed talks about consistently around the globe, I want to take a bit of time to about sex positivity if you’ll allow me. Specifically, what we mean when we use the term, and what it doesn’t. Does sex positivity mean you have to like having sex? (Spoiler, it doesn’t). Does sex positivity mean it’s wrong to not be open about doing certain practices? (Nope, it doesn’t either.) Does sex positivity mean I have to either love or hate porn, or erotic literature? (No, again.)

Since I’ll talk about this for a little longer, AND you because get to decide if you want this topic on your dash*, read ahead after the cut.  (*and, while we’re at that, with smutember coming: all posts on this blog will be tagged with the hashtag #smutember2020 henceforth. If you don’t want to see this content, please feel free to block the hashtag.)

Forthose who don’t want a long post, here is the TL;DR:

Sex positivity is defined in many, many different ways, but ultimately spans attitudes regarding how we perceive sex and sexual conduct both for ourselves and others. It sees sex as a healthy expression of ourselves in which all consensual expressions of it are valid. In which shaming each other for sex or sex practices or shaming each other for the lack of experiencing sexual desire and having healthy sexual boundaries is not sex-positive. Sex positivity is about embracing all expressions of sex and sexuality (as long as they are between consenting people) as something positive that embraces open communication about personal limits and desires, and encourages exploration. Consent here is the most important prerequisite requirement: That all people involved are of an age and state of mind and consciousness where they are able to willingly consent, as well as have the perceived power to willingly consent to participate in the action. 

So, to preface this shortly, this isn’t actually a term that is super easy to define. Which is why scholars (among them feminist, psychologist, social studies and sexual medicine scholars and many others) have not yet agreed on a universal definition. In fact, there are papers solely focusing on comparing definitions to find their common ground. It is, thus, definitely not something that goes without saying.

Before I can speak about what sex positivity is, we have to talk about the most important ingredient, though: Consent.

What is (and isn’t) consent?

Consent is the explicit agreement to participating in any action, and here, specificially, sex. It can be verbal and non-verbal, but it means everyone involved really wants to do all sexual actions that are being done, no exceptions. It means no one is being coerced against their will, no one’s concerns are being ignored, their desires and boundaries are known and being listened to and respected. It means no one is doing something they had no chance to reflect upon if they want it or not, and no one is doing something they don’t want out of obligation or a sense of duty. It means no one is having sexual contact with someone who isn’t able to consent in any form: be it because they can’t consent because of their age, or limited consciousness, or because of perceived verbal or nonverbal threats and/or consequences. The latter, in its most base terms, means (non-exhaustively) that people below the (culturally differing) ages of consent - meaning children and young teenagers - cannot consent, that people who are intoxicated, under the influence of drugs, asleep, in a state of trauma or shock, in a dissociated state of mind or any similar states cannot consent, and that people who feel they have no power to say no cannot conset - i.e. someone who fears consequences to their physical, social or psychological well-being (or those of others) if they say no, which can range from, say, an employee feeling like they can’t decline an employer’s physical advances that they don’t want without negative consequences in any form in their work-environment, or a person in a romantic relationship fearing a break-up if they don’t “deliver” sex even if they don’t want it, or a person who feels they have to “deliver” sex they don’t want in order to prove their personal worth or love or affection or to avoid ridicule. These are of course non-exhaustive. A person who says yes even though they don’t want to because they feel they can’t say no, as well as a person who is too young and/or unable to say no, isn’t consenting. 

And because this is so important, here, have that brilliant Tea of Consent by Emmeline May, quoted and photographed off my copy of “More Orgasms Please: Why Female Pleasure Matters” by the Hotbed Collective.

What Sex Positivity Is

Most of us are very intuitive about what sex positivity is, but the fewest of us have ever discussed it at length in any way or form, and thus the edges are very often hazy!

First and foremost, sex positivity is a set of attitudes that forms personal beliefs regarding sexuality, how we perceive collectively shared sexual norms, and how we view sexual autonomy and sexual expression both in ourselves and others. So what does that all entail, and how does that look?

A basic view of this is: sex is good! Sex is, as long as it’s consensual, something healthy, and a valid and enjoyable way to express intimacy, affection, love and desire. It’s not just a means to an end (satisfaction, babies, etc.) and it should not be shrouded in shame or pain or discomfort, and instead be communicated about openly and respectfully. This is of course, in direct answer to sex-negativity: The belief that sex is bad, shameful, sinful, and having it makes you just as sinful.

Here is one of many scientific definitions for the term:   “[Sex positivity is] the belief that all consensual expressions of sexuality are valid.” (p.289) 

That means if you’re, say, really into having sex while wearing stockings (actually something that comes up very often when you ask people of their fantasies in surveys!) or maybe wanting to be tied up for it (also a VERY frequent fantasy) and do it ONLY with people who are into it, too, and not against their will, then it’s a healthy expression of your desire and no one (no parents, no society, no church or institution or anyone) is entitled to shame or sanction you for it.

As Justin Lehmiller, a social psychologist and sex researcher says, society (including its medical and psychological history and authorities, sadly!) has had a very narrow and restrictive view of what is “ok” to be desirable when it comes to sex in the past and sadly sometimes still the present, and that “they’ve pretty much told us that we shoudn’t do anything other than put penises in vaginas and even that, ideally, should only take place within the confines of a heterosexual, monogamous marriage).” (p.vi) Bringing with it the dogma of immorality and crime, among else. 

Sex positivity aims to be the antithesis of this. It means all forms of consensual sexual expression are valid. Not one form is better than another. If you live and love monogamously or heteronormatively, it isn’t better or worse than living in any other form. From polyamory to kinks, or having any kind of consensual fetish that don’t hurt anyone else or their free sexual expression when sharing them with others, all of them are valid, none of them are better or worse than any other individual choice. It means celebrating and validating all forms of sexual expression (or lack thereof!) as well as all forms consensual practices, while having any form of sexual identity and any placement on the wide spectrum that is gender identity. 

What Sex Positivity Isn’t

Because sometimes it is easier to thoroughly understand something by outlining what it DOESN’T include, this is more imporant than many might think. And because I’m obviously not the first person to think about this, there is this really great article by Everyday Feminism about what sex positivity isn’t that is written in a very clear and straight-forward way, that I’ll urge everyone to check out, but I’ll also outline some select few of the (more numerous) basics they’ve described here:

🚫 Sex positivity means liking sex

No. Just because someone really, really enjoys sex, that does not mean at all they are sex-positive by default. Sex positivity isn’t synonym with being overly enthusiastic about having sex or surrounding yourself with it. It can! But that’s not at all the point in the slightest. Someone who really likes sex can still be disrespecful about someone else’s sexual expression, or feel entitled to someone else’s sexual acts or interest in sexuality, or that they can judge someone’s sexual identity or form of expression. Sex positivity is about respecting others in all their forms of sexual expression, even if those forms don’t represent your own. Likewise, someone who does not themselves like or enjoy sex can still be respectful of other’s expression of it in any form and with any other person or persons, and see sexuality as a healthy form of self-expression even when it is their choice to not engage in it for any span of time or reasons.

🚫 Sex positivity means everyone should have and like sex because it’s healthy

No. There are uncountably many reasons why someone might be repulsed by sex or simply not interested it. All of them are valid. None of them are to be shamed. Sexual trauma, sexual exploitation, a lack of feeling sexually empowered, pain during sexual intercourse, lack of desire, internalized shame that prevents sex from being enjoyable, the feeling of being in an environment where your sexuality is coerced or objectified and not feeling comfortable with it, being touch-repulsed or simply feeling no inkling of “lust”. All of this is valid. Sex positiy means respecting boundaries in consentual sex. It does not mean you have to have sex if it is unpleasant for you for any number of reasons. Of course, if you want sex and are suffering under any number of reasons that make you not enjoy it even though you would intrinsincally WANT to enjoy it (Anything from pain to sexual trauma to shame), then there are professionals out there qualified to help and counsel you. But they, too, are not entitled to dictate sexual action for you. Only you decide if you want to have sex or not. No one else. You are the master of your sexual expression in any form and are entitled to decide how, when and if you (and only you) want it, and no one else. That is an expression of sex positivity.

🚫 Sex positivity means being open to all forms of sex

No. Being sex positive means you respect the healthy expression of your own and someone else’s sexuality, and this includes their boundaries. You can believe that sex is healthy and enjoyable and should not be shamed in the least, and still not like anal. It does mean however that you still respect someone and their sexual expression when they do like the shit out of anal (pun intended lol, thank you very much.) This person is not entitled for YOU to like anal or to get it from you if you don’t enjoy it, and you are not entitled for them to not desire it. And this of course goes for any sexual practice. Judging and shaming someone for enjoying giving blowjobs is not sex-positive, just like it isn’t sex-positive to expect someone to inherently WANT to give blowjobs. Sexual boundaries are very healthy, and an important form of self-reflection and the root of true informed consent. Knowing what you like and don’t like and that these things will most likely differ from others in their unique expression is an important path to a most healthy sexual expression.

🚫 Sex positivity means always being ready, available, and interested in sex, with anyone.

No. Sexual expectations wear heavily on people from any gender or sexual identity. Many queer or nonbinary people suffer, among else, under sexualisation and being made the stuff of fetishes or being ascribed heavily sexualized attributions. Many men, among else, suffer under normative stereotypes, myths and sexual scripts that say they always want sex and are unmanly when they don’t feel desire 24/7, that they’re always up for sex and never not in the mood. Likewise, the 70s brought women and their sexual freedom into a position heavily reinforced by porn scripts in which they are expected as ‘sexually freed’ beings to be sexually available, ready, interested, and orgasmic at all times, and if you are not, you are a prude, and if you do it too much, you are a slut. These are all (non-exhaustive) forms of sexual shaming and dictated sexual expectations. If you are generally enthusiastic about sex and enjoying it, you are allowed to have phases where you feel less desire. And whether you are someone with a generally smaller libido that sometimes spikes, or you’re someone who has never felt any sexual desire at all, or someone who wants sex a lot, you are sex positive when you respect other’s free expression of it, and this includes the frequency in which they want it or with whom they have it. You get to pick what sex you have and with whom or how many you have it, no one else. Anyone who tells you otherwise under the mantle of ‘sex positivity’ is, as everyday feminism so eloquently put, employing “sexual coercion cloaked in faux-progressive language. If someone is calling you a prude or sex-negative for not having sex with them, they’re violating your consent and their opinion of you is invalid. And just because you want to create a world in which everyone is empowered to make the sexual choices they want doesn���t mean that you personally have to be interested in casual sex.”

🚫 Sex positivity means sex is healthy, so that means I am entitled to sex.

No. It means you are entitled to WANT to have it, but not to have it. In sex as in every other need involving other people (from receiving oral, to boardgames, to conversations, to a hug or affection): Just because you are entitled to want something or even very validly need something, that does not mean someone else is obligated to give it to you. Just because someone needs comfort and company, you are not obligated to give it. Just because someone wants and needs attention, it is not your job to give it. Just because someone wants sex and feels they need it, even if they are your partner, you are not obligated to give it. This can be frustrating, of course. But NO: Just because you want sex, you are not entitled to have it. Ever. From anyone. No one owes you sex, not even if you’re married to them. Everyone has their own sexual agency, and everyone needs to respect it. In fact, feeling entitled to sex lies at the base of sexual aggressive behavior of all kind, and the idea that your own desire for sexual activity rates higher in priority than the individual needs of the person you’re coercing it from. It’s at the root of rape culture, and something we must all internalize to overcome it: Despite you wanting something and it being healthy to have it or to get this something, no one owes it to us or is obligated to give it to us.

🚫 Sex positivity means you have no problems with sex.

No. The term positivity of course often brings overtly positive connotations with it: something easy and happy. Of course, sex positivity doesn’t require you to have an easy or happy relationship with sex and sexuality. Sex can be traumatising, uncomfortable, regrettable, awkward, unpleasant, confusing, or plain boring and uninteresting to you. Even if it isn’t traumatising or painful, it can still be hell of a lot frustrating navigating it and your own desires. Body image issues or and religious restrictions that can be important to you or not, never having orgasmed but really really wanting to, the feelings of not ever having encountered sex that’s truly fun for you, all of these and many, many more are the giant maze that can arise when navigating sexuality in our lives. None of these means you aren’t sex positive. It’s here for survivors of sexual violence and aggression and those who want to reclaim their sexual agency, sexual empowerment and self-expression, just as it is here for asexuals, demisexuals, aromantics, or anyone else. It’s the belief that we have a right to a healthy sexuality without being shamed, violated, sanctioned or discriminated for it, and that we have a right to our boundaries as well as our fantasies. 

So, I’m guessing most of you knew this intuitively all along. I’m preaching to the choir. However, seeing it written down often helps us in expressing ourselves, and in the way we confidently navigate our own sexual empowerment.

And, with smutember on the horizon again, when we once again try to incorporate sex positivity in our writing, too, it might serve as a good reminder that we help along the normalisation of sex positivity whenever we portray it in media in general, and fiction specifically! I hope one day we will take all this fully for granted, and everyone around us, too!

[enthusiasticsobrietyabuse]

Parent Manipulation Part 1 - Originally posted in 2005 OnTheEmmis.com, a Meehan Program Survivor Website and Discussion Forum. (ICECAP is the former incorporation of enthusiastic sobriety programs, it has since dissolved due to the effectiveness of OnTheEmmis.com)

Part of ICECAP’s selling point is just HOW unorthodox they are. Counselors are trained to peddle the ‘shock’ value of a non-traditional program. It makes sense to many parents, because they see the professional community pathetically limping in the dust of young drug addicts in America today. Then they see ICECAP. Within its walls are dozens of young souls who are just absolutely ecstatic about being there. Where else is this happening in the world of rehab? While I am sure these places exist, my experience has been that they are few and far between.

ICECAP milks that point to no end. On the surface, I can see it being very difficult to deny that any ICECAP facility is producing some kind of positive results. Desperate and nearly to the point of hopelessness, many parents are willing to cloud their better judgment for the sake of something…ANYTHING that will help their children recover from their current nightmares. To these parents, ICECAP is a godsend. They see something different…that is apparently working, and they submit to the fever of potential miracles.

Even the skeptical parent will have a hard time denying the lure of ICECAP. Eventually they become involved with the parent group, and there they meet average Joe Dad and Jane Mom, who are just like them and are saying all these wonderful things about ICECAP. All the red flags are carefully lowered and the cautious and suspicious parents are disarmed through a process that involves the meticulous coordination of staff/parent group/younger group/client and then finally parent…though not always in that order. They have an answer for everything…from the late nights and no school, to the smoking and irresponsible lifestyle. All the answers make sense and seem so logical…

If I may, I would like to take some (a lot of) posting space to poke some holes in this seemingly infallible construction of moral high ground and loving happiness that ICECAP claims to be delivering from.

To begin, ICECAP is in fact extremely attractive. Not just because of the reasons I pointed out above, but for many reasons. Walk down the hall and through the doors of an ICECAP meeting. What do you see? A bunch of cool guys wearing slick clothes, hot girls adorned in the latest fads that the mall has to offer, rock star counselors and smiling suburban parents. Wow.

What you don’t see is the ugly sight of a genuine crack head detoxing. You don’t see the sickness of heroin withdrawal, or the brutality of the world that real addiction and drug abuse/alcoholism has to reveal. Rarely, if ever, will you find in ICECAP the wild madness and insanity that drug addiction has to offer humanity. When these unfortunates do happen to stumble through ICECAP’s door, they almost invariably do not recover there. I know, because I have seen it, but more on that later.

I find it interesting that ICECAP targets white middle/upper middle class families almost exclusively. There is absolutely no effort by ICECAP to reach beyond this demographic at all. Why? When you think about it, wouldn’t someone who comes from the depraved background that Meehan claims to come from be at least slightly interested in helping those whose stories are more like his? How many ICECAP clients are repeated felons, heroin junkies, or murderers? Almost none of them are. In my opinion, this set up is the first element of being disarmed that a parent encounters.

What wealthy, or semi wealthy parent wants their kid in a place where a bunch of ex-violent criminals hang out at? My guess is that when presented with the ICECAP pitch, which at nearly every ICECAP facility includes the line about how they do not accept insurance; your average suburban upper tax-bracket parent takes a silent sigh of relief. If they don’t accept insurance, then they know that the place does not harbor certain ‘undesirables’, because those types of people would never be able to afford ICECAP treatment. In that there is a certain mutual agreement of ‘silence’ going on between the parent and ICECAP. ‘We won’t ask why this facility is full of white suburban kids as long as you keep my kid around safe white suburban kids’.

That would be fine except for one thing: the reason there are so many ‘attractive’ kids from well-off families in ICECAP is because ICECAP primarily does not target true drug addicts. If they did, you would certainly see more of those ‘ugly’ cases that I mentioned above. The truth is; ICECAP primarily targets kids who have quite commonly and naturally stumbled into experimentation with mind altering substances. Left to their own devices, I am of the opinion that most of the kids that become involved in ICECAP would have gone through their adolescence just fine, despite some dabbling in the drug and alcohol culture.

I realize that it may sound as though I am condoning the use of drugs and alcohol by adolescents to some extent. Believe me; I know there are kids out there, even particularly young ones; that need some sort of intervention and rehabilitation when it comes to drugs and alcohol. However, there are few of those kids in ICECAP.

To put what I am saying into perspective, let me share with you an experience I had when I was 15.

I was at a party full of teens from my high school. There were perhaps 50-60 kids at this get-together. Every one of them were drinking and/or smoking pot, many of them were participating in sexual activities, and every single one of them WANTED to and was trying to do all of the above. This was not a party exclusively for ‘dope fiends’ or ‘freaks’ or anything like that. Most of the kids at this shindig were truly just your average high school teens, and many of them were at an identical party just a week before. Many of them would be at an identical party the next week.

Tell me, what seems to make more sense to you: That EVERY ONE of these kids was in need of being yanked out of school and subjected to an outpatient rehabilitation facility, or that they were for the most part kids being kids? I can’t say that I’ve kept up with each of those teens at that party, but I find it really hard to believe that they are every one of them sitting in gutters right now with needles hanging out of their arms.

The truth is that almost NO PARENT likes the idea that THEIR kid is in fact one of those kids at that party. However unfortunate it may be, chances are your kid IS one of those kids. ICECAP knows this, and knows it well.

The truth is that as far as ICECAP is concerned, every single one of those kids at that party IS fit for and IN NEED of their $6,000 outpatient program.

Of the 50-60 kids that were at that particular party, each one of them has one of two kinds of parents that could potentially find themselves in an ICECAP intervention: The ‘worried sick and hopeless parent’, and the ‘clueless’ parent. ICECAP has a brilliant line for both of these types of encounters.

For the worried sick and hopeless parent, they are already full of fear; so that is one obstacle that the given ICECAP counselor does not have to overcome, and can proceed directly to its exploitation. After meeting for over an hour with their child, the counselor then asks the parent/parents to then sit down with him, without the child. They are usually first presented with the structure of ‘enthusiastic sobriety’, and then carefully guided through the counselor’s ‘diagnosis’ of the child, at which point the fear they walked in with is thoroughly taken advantage of. He tells them, ‘first of all, to what extent you THINK your child is using, you can safely double or triple that. Your son/daughter has been for quite some time falling into the pitfalls of a very attractive and powerful drug and alcohol counter culture. It is nearly impossible to wrench young people today from the grip of this diseased phenomenon once they are into it to the extent that your child is. I know this because…’ At which point the counselor shares a true or untrue account of his own experiences with drugs and the drug culture. By the time he is finished, thanks to all of that plus clever little catch-phrases such as ‘true, Billy/Jenny may not be shooting heroin today, but at his/her rate of progression, you can bet on that nightmare down the road’ the parent has gone from being terrified to utterly mortified. The hook has been cast at this point, and it is here that the counselor begins to discuss the ‘solution’.

A recap of how brilliantly ‘enthusiastic sobriety’ competes with this vaunted ‘counter culture’ is usually in order here, followed by a description of outpatient. Another testimony by the counselor involving his own experience with IOP is conveyed, and then the cost.

If the parent is reluctant, or can’t afford it, emotional blackmailing goes into overdrive here, and is perhaps the most insidious aspect of the ‘intervention’. The parent/parents is told in so many words that their son/daughter will DIE if they do not get the ‘intensive level’ of ‘necessary treatment’ that outpatient provides, that the support group alone cannot hope to accomplish.

If the parent continues to flounder after this underhanded attempt to ‘guilt’ them into paying for IOP, then the counselor will usually back down and explain that while he feels the support group (just meetings and functions) is at this point a ‘disservice’ to the child, if that is all they can do then that’s the route they’ll go. He convinces the parent to attend parent meetings and functions rigorously for at least 30 days (same commitment as the kid), and thanks them for their time.

None of this ends here, of course. After the parent has left, this is what a ‘good’ counselor does:

He offers the name of the parent to either the ‘parent coordinator’ or a trusted parent on steering committee. He tells them that he felt as though the kid really needed IOP, but Mom/Dad couldn’t afford it or was skeptical of the idea, and that he would like this ICECAP parent to ‘work on them’. As the ‘intervention’ parent continues to attend parent meetings, they are relentlessly pushed by other parents at the direction of the parent coordinator to figure out a way to get their son/daughter into IOP.

Meanwhile, the kid is going to meetings and being told by other kids that he/she should go into IOP…that it is the ‘coolest’, and you really get the ‘gnarly’ shit about the group in IOP. This will turn from innocent prodding to downright peer pressure very quickly, and eventually the kid is going home and asking, sometimes begging mom/dad to get them in IOP.

If by now the parent is still not willing to do the $6,000 dollar shuffle, what usually occurs is sad and much of what continues to anger me about ICECAP’s tactics. The counselor will keep tabs with the parent, keeping them updated and developing a ‘relationship’ with the parent. Often, this is what goes down: The kid feels so much pressure from both staff and peers to attend IOP that he/she will quickly realize (usually with the help of the counselor), the reasons why he/she cannot go. Kids aren’t stupid, and Billy knows that either mom doesn’t think his problem is serious enough, or she just isn’t willing to call up grandpa for the dough. So he goes out and gets high one night.

The counselor, of course is ALL OVER THIS ‘relapse’, and schedules an appointment immediately with the family. After 30 minutes of what pretty much amounts to ‘I told ya so’ from the counselor, the parent takes out a second mortgage or calls up grandpa or takes out a line of credit and coughs up the $6,000 for outpatient.

ICECAP staff would argue that these are merely ‘imperative measures’ to take in order to ‘help this kid get better’, to ‘save his/her life’. I argue that this is a carefully constructed sequence of manipulation to paint a false picture of a fairly normal kid as a ‘dope fiend’ in order to sucker well-off families out of six grand.

The ‘clueless’ parent is dealt with in almost the same way, except the counselor must first instill the fear into the parents who have ‘no idea’ that their kid is so ‘sucked in to the world of drug and alcohol abuse’.

I challenge anyone to tell me the story of the family who was told: ‘Your kid really doesn’t have much of an issue. He/she could probably be a bit wiser about what friends they choose, maybe come to some meetings and see a more positive lifestyle…but really they don’t need intensive treatment from us…’ by ICECAP.

The only instance that I can think of in the ten years I was involved with ICECAP, was that of a young man who convincingly conveyed to everyone that he truly was a non-abuser, and that he simply went to a meeting to see a friend. IOP was not pushed on to this kid or his family, but being on staff at the time, I can tell you that the idea to somehow worm this kid into treatment was definitely kicked around.

I went into this aspect of ICECAP as the first part to a series about the structure of ICECAP and its functions. The intent is to provide sound knowledge and information to potential or current clients of ICECAP. The reason I wanted to expose this particular area of ICECAP’s doctrine first is because I believe that there are more clients there who fall into this school of thought than any other. These are the kids who aren’t quite ‘non-abusers’ as ICECAP would like to call them, but certainly aren’t ‘dope fiends’ as ICECAP would have you believe.

Next I intend to focus on the consequences of these manipulative tactics. Where’s the harm? If they never are at one of those high school parties ever again and spend the next two to five years of their lives steeped in the principals of love, patience and understanding…then what’s so bad about it?

PLENTY.

To be continued…

[beautifully-tuan]

1 - sorry not sorry

Jinyoung x musical criticRreader idolverse, smut, angst, eventual fluff Warning: reader is  a kpop hater and a got7 anti at the beginning lol

requested by anon :)

Masterlist

a/n: hello and welcome to a brand new story with Jinyoung! i really really hope you’ll enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed my story with Mark that you can find here if you haven’t read it yet. also this chapter is kind short cause it’s a little bit of an introduction and like placing the context. i hope you’re looking forward to reading the rest :) enjoy!

 Music and writing were what you loved the most, and your job was a perfect combination of the two. You were paid to go to different places across South Korea, discover new music and write about it afterwards. You honestly couldn’t have dreamed of a better job, or so you thought.

 You had always made it clear that you only liked working in the underground and independent music field, but your boss had other plans for you. When he announced that you would have to write a series of articles about GOT7, JYP Entertainment’s top boy group, you wanted to refuse. Of all things, you avoided the K-Pop industry, with its almighty companies and untouchable idols. You didn’t want to work with your hands tied behind your back. Unfortunately, you weren’t really in a good place to refuse and not do your job. You sucked it up, repeating yourself that this would, at least, pay rent and afford food. Hopefully it would only happen once then never again.

 You were integrated into GOT7’s lifestyle after signing a bunch of privacy contracts. When you started “hanging out” with them, you were nothing more than the girl with the notebook in the corner of the room, trying to make yourself as small as possible so that the boys would forget even your very presence. Things went smoothly for the first few days, a little bit too smoothly for your liking, actually. They were in mid-preparation of their comeback, so all you had to do was go with them to the studio and watch them record and work on the tracks with their producers. You were impressed at how good they were, but you weren’t too surprised about it. GOT7’s success must’ve come from somewhere, anyways. So, you spent most of your time finding out things you already knew, not having much to work with.

 That was until, one day, the boys had a meeting with JYP himself to discuss the promotional part of the comeback. The overly commercial side of the K-Pop industry was what annoyed you the most, but you were ready to put your biased opinion aside and be professional about it. The meeting started out normally: the boys and their head producer listened to each track from the album, to which JYP made a few remarks and suggestions. When the last track titled ‘PAGE’ started playing, you saw the boys’ faces light up with pride at Jaebeom, their leader’s good work. Even you had to admit that the song was very well-written, had a good message, and the melody was catchy. The song itself had a fresh vibe to it that you particularly liked. After the song ended, BamBam whistled in admiration and said:

 - “Wow, that’s gonna make an amazing title track.”

 You had indeed heard the boys talk about ‘PAGE’ being their title track, mentioning that JYP had already let them promote songs they had produced themselves in the past. They were so confident about it that you only found it normal for BamBam to talk about ‘PAGE’ as if it was already the title track of the album.

 - “Umm... I don’t agree with that.”

 Silence fell upon the room as the head producer continued speaking.

 - “It’s a really nice song, right? Really nice. JB, you did really well.” He scrunched his nose before continuing: “But I don’t think it fits as the title track. It doesn’t have that thing, that specific GOT7 color that people enjoy. It’s not what people are used to hearing from you guys. I think we should leave ‘PAGE’ as a b-side track and promote ‘Eclipse’ instead, what do you think?”

 From the tone of his voice, you felt he was implicitly giving them a command rather than asking for their opinion. But apparently, you were the only one who seemed to notice, because everyone agreed quite enthusiastically. In the span of three minutes, while you were still processing what had just happened, ‘Eclipse’, the song that JYP himself had written and produced with JB’s participation, was definitively chosen as the title track of the album.

 You were extremely disappointed. Music was supposed to be done for the music, not for the people. Why should there be some sort of market research around it? That was the exact thing you couldn’t stand about K-Pop. It was only ever exploited to make profit. The public’s opinion matters so much to the sales that idols renounce their own identity, only to fit the image that everyone is expecting them to give out. Their creativity was limited, their freedom was almost nonexistent, everything they did was managed by their company. And the worst part of it was that the boys did not even try and protest, simply accepting their fate being thrown into other people’s hands, as if that was the most normal thing on earth.

 The only person who seemed a little upset about this situation was probably Jinyoung. After JYP spoke, he kept rubbing the back of his head every other minute. Maybe he was frustrated, maybe he was just tired, you didn’t know, and you didn’t need to know. He didn’t say anything against the company’s decision either. He was just as much of a puppet as the other members.

 That night, you submitted your first article to your editor to put it on standby for publication. What you wrote was harsh, you conceded. But you only said the truth, the unbiased, too often silenced truth. Before submitting the article, youyour thoughts drifted to Jinyoung and you wondered, one last time, if he was really okay with his situation. Were any of the boys, actually? But Jinyoung in particular, since he was visibly having trouble hiding his discomfort during the meeting. Could it be that he found this industry just as unfair as you did? What would he think of your article if he read it?

 You quickly brushed those thoughts off. You were internally convinced that Jinyoung and the boys didn’t even care about what you had to write about them. They were probably used to seeing people like you coming and going all the time and always saying different things. Little did you know that, soon enough, Jinyoung would become a way bigger part of your life... But most importantly, that article you wrote would come and resurface to turn everything upside down.

Part Two

[kuiperblog]

Awards that the Academy missed

Now that the Oscars are over, I thought I’d put out my own picks for several categories that didn’t receive proper recognition from the academy:

Best emotional scene where Scarlett Johansson ties someone’s shoes

Jojo Rabbit is an incredibly kind, sincere, and deeply funny movie. It’s hard to be a single mother. It’s even harder to be a single mother in Nazi Germany, especially when your son is enthusiastically pledging loyalty to the Party. Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) hates the Nazi Party, but she loves her son, and we see that no more clearly than in the scene where she squats down to tie Jojo’s shoes and explains the meaning of love. “You’ll know it when it happens. You’ll feel it. A pain. In your tummy. And in your heart.” It is a reminder of just how dependent and inexperienced and naive young Jojo is. In the lands of a lesser performer, this little speech about the meaning of love would have felt a bit too on the nose, but Scarlett Johansson delivers it in a way that makes you forget that she’s not a German mother in the year 1945.

It’s one of the best scenes of the year, almost as good as the Scarlett Johansson shoe-tying scene in Noah Baumbach’s movie about divorce. Winner: Marriage Story

Best movie where Adam Driver plays a character who loses his temper and shares a fraught romantic relationship with a woman who accuses him of being a villain

I don’t think that Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker is a good film. The sequel trilogy is fraught, and watching episode VIII followed by IX felt like watching two different writer/directors wrestle over the direction they wanted the series to take, kicking sand in the face of the audience in the process.  In Episode IX, the plot is barely coherent, the pacing is bizarre, and so many of the creative choices are baffling. Yet, the sequel trilogy has one through-line that constantly works, and continues to work in Episode IX: the relationship between Kylo Ren and Rey. By episode IX, it feels like Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley are carrying the whole weight of this franchise on their shoulders, and their relationship is one of the few things that gets better and more interesting over the course of the trilogy.  Is it love?  Is it hate?  It’s difficult to articulate, and yet they share a connection, bound by some tether of fate or compatibility or chemistry that makes a romance between the two of them seem both impossible and inevitable. Yes, Kylo Ren is a villain, but he also may be the man that Rey loves.

Adam Driver brings a truly excellent performance in Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker.  It’s the kind of performance that makes you wish he could be in a better film, with better material to work with. Fortunately, he got exactly that in one of 2019′s most dramatic scenes, in Noah Baumbach’s divorce movie where Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) screams at Charlie (Adam Driver), “You gaslighted me! You’re a fucking villain!” Winner: Marriage Story

Best movie about the culture of Hollywood and Los Angeles

Tarantino loves making movies that are about movies. He pays homage to so many classic film genres, and every bit of his love for cinema comes across in his movies. Inglorious Basterds was a film about the power of cinema, with a powerful scene coming at the film’s climax that literally takes place in a theater, as film itself is used by a Jewish filmmaker as a weapon against Nazis.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is more deeply concerned with the filmmaking process and the people who participate in it, and I really think that Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters) steals the show with her portrayal of a child actress who, in her own way, reacquaints our protagonist Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) with his love for acting. And the parts involving Sharon Tate are purely about the love of cinema, a throwback to a more innocent time as we watch someone who loved making movies get to see firsthand the joy that her performance has brought to an audience of moviegoers.

Of course, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood isn’t just about Hollywood; it’s about the city of Los Angeles. There’s a scene when night falls and all of the signs across the city light up, and I’m left with the feeling that Tarantino really just enjoys giving us a retrospective tour of Los Angeles. It’s a joy to behold, and the movie constantly reminds you of where you are and why it’s special. It’s a lot like the scenes in another movie from the same year, where a man of New York (Adam Driver) gradually becomes acquainted with the city of Los Angeles, a place where people spend their days in their cars instead of on their feet and people constantly feel the need to remark about how much space there is. Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) discovers that beyond her talents as an actress, she takes quite naturally to the director’s chair, as Los Angeles offers her opportunities that she never could have had in New York City. Winner: Marriage Story

Best movie where the “villain” is portrayed as German, but actually the real villain is the system

1917 is a movie about the brutality of war. It is also a hauntingly beautiful film.

There is a particular shot in the movie, the first scene that takes place after nightfall, where we see flares lighting up the night as a church burns. We see shadows dance across the ground, and the score swells in just the right way, and the scene was just so nightmarish yet so striking that I couldn’t help but have a physical reaction to it. It feels like we’ve stepped into hell on earth, and yet...

So many shots in this movie are simultaneously terrifying yet magnificent in a way that doesn’t undercut the terror of war, but rather, underscores it: these characters inhabit a beautiful world that is tainted by the scars of battle.

There is a moment about halfway through the movie when the main character is confronted with the grim reality of human mortality, and from that moment forward, the specter of death looms over him. Every gunshot he hears -- and that we hear -- is a reminder of his mortality. Every step that he takes, he is surrounded by death, often in the most literal way possible as he finds himself in various settings surrounded by the remains of the fallen.

As we gaze upon fields and rivers and earth littered with death, we are left with the impression that God has given us a beautiful world, and the things that make it ugly -- the machine guns and barbed wire, the crashed planes and mortar craters, the sound of gunfire and the agonized screams of injured soldiers -- are a pox upon that natural beauty, a sort of corruption that could only be wrought by the hands of men.

War is an ugly, wretched, terrible thing, not only because of what it is, but also because of what it robs us of. 1917′s hauntingly beautiful moments give us fleeting glimpses of that.

1917′s plot is fairly minimal, but its basic construction facilitates the anti-war message: the climax of this movie is not about a soldier attempting to win a battle or kill enemy combatants, but to call off an attack in order to prevent soldiers from marching into the maw of death. German soldiers stand in the way of our protagonist’s progress, and he must defeat them in order to carry out his mission, but the Germans are not the real villains here: the true villain of this movie is war itself.

I had similar thoughts watching Laura Dern’s performance in Noah Baumbach’s movie about divorce: true, she is an opportunistic divorce lawyer. She exploits Nicole and Charlie’s pain for her own benefit, and in the end we’re left to think that despite all her claims to feel compassion for Nicole, she was really in it to win to satisfy her own ego. And yet, can we really begrudge her for what she’s doing? She’s a divorce lawyer, and she’s good at her job. It’s hard not to admire her for her sheer competence and work ethic. She is responding to the incentives that the court system has put in place. The messiness of divorce court is not the fault of any single individual; it’s a system that forces good people to do bad things, including the divorce lawyer played by actress Laura Dern, whose German ancestry makes this movie a valid candidate for this category. Winner: Marriage Story

Best movie about human parasites

Bong Joon-ho makes films in a genre that I sometimes have difficulty describing, but maybe if I do a poor job of articulating it you’ll still get the idea of what I’m gesturing at: he makes movies that are about ideas. (As opposed to, say, movies that are about things, or people, or events, or places.)  There were some movies -- good movies, even -- that, when you leave the theater, make you say, “well, that sure was a bunch of stuff that just happened.” I don’t think Bong has ever made a film like that: his movies stay with you.

Every movie is informed by the worldviews of the people who created it, but it feels like Bong creates movies that are intended to specifically communicate a certain worldview -- and yet it never feels preachy, because the stories that he tells seem so real and genuine. Maybe it’s the performances that he’s able to get out of the actors he works with, maybe it’s the way he always seems to let the camera linger just a second longer than other filmmakers would in order to really let a specific emotion hit you.

It feels reductive to describe Parasite as a film about class. It certainly doesn’t seem like we’re meant to agree with the characterization of these members of the “underclass” as mere parasites: they’re clever. They exhibit wit, ingenuity, and if they behave dishonestly and selfishly, it’s only because they’re part of a system that has forced them to be this way. It’s similar to the dynamic presented in Noah Baumbach’s divorce movie, where Baumbach portrays divorce lawyers as parasites who are nonetheless human in a story that feels incredibly true-to-life without being vindictive. Winner: Marriage Story

Best scene (that has also become an internet meme) where a character explains who is winning 

Uncut Gems had me glued to my seat in the theater, and it feels like an incredible cinematic achievement. I felt thoroughly sucked into the world of this movie -- a pretty unpleasant sensation, all things considered. Many shots give an incredible sense of claustrophobia. The camera work gives off a constant sense of frenetic energy that just makes you feel tense. The characters are all incredibly abrasive, and the actors all deliver world-class performances that completely sell that abrasiveness, all while talking over each other: no piece of dialog feels like it has room to breathe. Everything about this movie feels incredibly and unpleasantly crowded. It’s kind of amazing. It’s artfully done and incredibly immersive, but the world that it immerses you in is so unpleasant that I’m not surprised it got a relatively poor Cinemascore: this movie does not scratch the itch that typical moviegoers are used to having scratched, and in fact the main level it operates on is by making you itchy and refusing to scratch that itch. The ending of this movie is perfect, but it’s definitely not a crowd-pleaser that is going to leave you with a grin on your face as you leave the theater. I want to make it clear: these are all things that I love about this movie.

Adding to the visceral sense of unpleasantness is the fact that the film not only immerses you in a specific place (the diamond district of New York), but the perspective of a character who is pretty twisted, and lives an adrenaline-fueled life where every hour day is spent performing the incredible balancing act of borrowing money from one party to pay off his debts to another: it’s enough to give you second-hand anxiety as he weaves his way through a mess of loan sharks, trying not to lose his skin in the process. It’s like watching someone sprinting on a tightrope while juggling knives.

Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is a deeply flawed man with practically zero admirable or redeeming qualities, and yet he’s rendered in such incredible fidelity that everything about him feels believable -- and being thoroughly immersed in his perspective makes him deeply fascinating. Throughout the movie, I felt myself wanting to understand this character and what made him tick, and the movie delivers that in its third act with a scene of the variety that I like to call “the scene in the movie where the main character explains what the movie’s themes are.” If that description sounds reductive and dismissive, it’s not because I mean it to be that way: I love this scene. Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) explains to Kevin Garnett (Kevin Garnett) what it is that makes him tick in a language that Garnett (and we, the audience) can understand: this anxiety-riddled thrill ride? This isn’t just the cost of doing business for him; he lives for this. “This is my fucking way. This is how I win.”

It’s a scene that’s almost as memorable as the line from Marriage Story where, in the midst of a fight between two people who are divorcing each other, Charlie (Adam Driver) punches the wall and screams, “you’re fucking insane! And you’re fucking winning!” It’s such a memorable moment that it’s no wonder that scene has become such an internet meme. Winner: Marriage Story

Best film of the year

It’s hard to overstate my love for Marriage Story. It’s one of those movies that just oozes competence from every pore, the kind of movie that makes me lean back in my chair and say, “This. This is how movies are supposed to be.” It’s so uniformly excellent that I hesitate to get specific with my praise, because while I can clearly put my finger on things that are great about it, the thing that I really love about it is all the things. I wouldn’t want to focus too hard on any one facet for fear of failing to recognize everything else about it that’s positively superb.

The set design is phenomenal. The film’s use of color is gorgeous. Noah Baumbach handles dialog in a way that makes you think “every movie should be like this.” Randy Newman’s score fits the film’s aesthetic to a T. And of course, the performances. Nearly every actor we see on screen delivers a performance that is Oscar-worthy: the array of character actors bat 1.000, and they’re not even the main event! Adam Driver gives the performance of a lifetime, and probably the only reason I’m not also saying the same thing about Scarlett Johansson is that she has to spend so much time sharing the screen with Laura Dern, who steals every scene that she’s in (based on Dern’s Best Supporting Actress award, it seems the Academy agrees).

Noah Baumbach gets great performances out of his actors, and he’s willing to frame the shot in a way that emphasizes the actor. There are so many shots that left me in awe of just how much confidence Baumbach has in his actors, his sheer willingness to just frame them in the middle of a shot and put the entire weight of a scene on their shoulders, only for them to deliver everything that’s expected of them and more. This film is beautiful from top to bottom, it has so much respect for its characters and it communicates all of that in a way that is just sublime.

Marriage Story is a movie about divorce. It has many incredibly emotional and contentious moments. If you have seen any part of this movie clipped or screenshotted on Twitter, it’s probably the scene of two characters shouting at each other, which really does feel like the performance of the year. I love everything about that scene. Two characters have reached a breaking point, and every bit of animus that has been stewing for the entire duration of their decade-long relationship comes to the surface all at once. It’s enough to make you terrified of what’s going to happen.

I like movies that make me uncomfortable. I like movies that are unsettling and sometimes almost anxiety-inducing, that have fully realized characters, even if those characters are abrasive. I love movies that are deeply immersive and pull me into their world, even if that world isn’t a place that is pleasant. For all of these reasons, if you’ve read this post this far, I think my pick for film of the year should be obvious. Winner: Uncut Gems

[anthonybialy]

No Competition with Competing

Enemies of trade don't just stop bitching about particular deals. We're informed capitalism is merely one choice among many, and a mean one at that. But economic freedom is a competition itself, not a competing system. Opponents of liberty use what they believe is a pejorative name for what's simply humans interacting. We can't have unregulated contact in these sophisticated times where the government efficiently and benevolently calculates value so we can focus on our art projects.

Free markets don't just make participants happy: they tick off central planners. Autonomy prevails without active maneuvering. A system that permits participation in trades is indifferent. It's simply a framework where humans are allowed to operate within. The limitless nature of playing in the sandbox frightens adult children who need more structured play.

Prosecute fraud and let us figure out the rest. The protection of natural rights is all that's needed to enable life as we choose. People are much less inclined to bash someone over the head to take their items if they're able to earn. There's your reduction of greed. Communal enthusiasts who want to take what you've earned by law also like explaining why you're selfish.

Contempt for negotiation is now bipartisan. Don't bother telling the president both participants can benefit from a trade. All-time best businessman Donald Trump never grasps mutual gains as he attempts to dominate everyone with whom he's ever interacting. The obsession with winning is as unseemly as it is transparent. We totally can't tell you're overcompensating, sir.

Getting to do as you wish with whoever consents is too scary to socialist squares. We're still arguing about the most basic results if you wonder why humanity never makes progress.

Alleged science fans who claim the Earth is heating because we can make it cool sure like heeding evidence. It just so happens that the solution to the crisis claimed by this globe-sized experiment is to collectivize property while inhibiting prosperity. Turn off lights as in Pyongyang to truly care about Mother Gaia. The light switch working every time decadently ruins the ecosystem.

There sure is lots of anger at exchange from useless people. Parties being able to make their case and reach a price is treated as exploitative. That's only if you’re useless or a sucker, which actually says a lot about its foes.

Perhaps it would be easier to get a raise if time were spent working instead of fuming with resentment. Grabby collectivists have yet to explain how a person can be underpaid who accepted an offer to do work for that rate. It's almost as if there's a wage people will agree to do just about any job. Both sides think they're getting ripped off in a true sign each got something good. Those who run businesses have some nerve making decisions.

Freedom doesn’t need to do anything active to win. I've got breaking news about the Cold War, and it's really going to upset Bernie Sanders. Presume he hasn't heard about the result just like he doesn't know everything he believes has led to a boggling corpse count every time it's been tried.

The side which attempted to control what things and rights people were allowed to have has been crushed every time not by tanks but with blue jeans. We can afford guns with what's left from our Chick-fil-A budget, as well. This may not be breaking news, which is promising, as it means paying attention to everything that's ever happened.

The smartest people have to relearn again and again that freaking socialism makes cash disappear as the corpse count skyrockets. Economic independence is a victim of its own success: it's not appreciated because markets make life so cushy that ingrates have ample time to look for offenses.

Communism got its gaunt hit whooped last time not by military outflanking but because Walkmans made it possible. A personal tunes machine evolved into music on miracle glowing screens, and not after a government agency proclaimed it should be.

Free dealing didn't even have to try to win. People just living their lives and trading what they have for what they want with others is always preferred once tried. Legalizing ingenuity while negotiating prevails in every instance.

This cruel system that lets billionaires exist goes beyond alleviating poverty to enabling everyone to own a television large enough to block out sunlight. The ability to get ahead is derailed by particularly pleasant humans envious that those who run companies get more than shelve stockers.

It's extra embarrassing to volunteer to be controlled. There are so many examples of why ceding authority to the sorts of dolts who work for government fails fundamentally that it's tough to organize them into a list. Alleged moderates claim to bring balance what is nothing more than buying what one wants and selling what one has.

Our advanced society scoffs at the ancients who turned what they had into what they wanted. Principles remain the same across time if anyone's tired of learning the state breaks those it doesn't make broke.

[lady-divine-writes]

Coldflash one-shot - “Afterglow” (Rated NC17)

After Barry's first time with his best friend, Len, the two boys realize that there is too much unsaid between them to leave things the way they are. But will talking about it bring them together ... or push them apart? (3669 words)

Notes: This is a re-write, but I think it works well here. :) Part two to my @coldflashweeks Bingo prompt story ‘Derailed”

Read on AO3.

Len’s fingers trail slowly up Barry’s sides, slipping underneath his t-shirt to slide the fabric up his body. Barry does the same to Len’s shirt, but with fingers that tremble as they go, unintentionally spreading goosebumps along Len’s skin. When Barry’s fingers reach the spot just below Len’s armpits where his ribs curl towards his pecs, his elbows clamp down tight to his sides.

“Op! I forgot you’re ticklish!” Barry says, juggling a giggle and a gasp as Len retaliates by lightly licking his neck. Barry squirms to get away, but Len puts a hand to his cheek and holds him in place.

“Yeah” - Len grins, sucking on the one spot he knows will make Barry squeal like a piglet - “but I didn’t …”

***

“What was your first time like?”

Len inhales deeply, then sighs into the air above him. This isn’t the conversation he was hoping they’d be having when they finished hugging and returned to Len’s bed. He’s not in the mood to talk about this, though he can see how the current atmosphere might have lead them in this direction. He’d wanted to talk about it when it happened, and definitely with Barry, but Barry made it clear that he wasn’t comfortable with the subject, and Len let it drop. He figured he’d shoot the shit with one of his other friends another time. But when it came up one afternoon after wrestling practice, strangely enough, it seemed too personal. As much as Len couldn’t care less about locker room talk when other guys did it, he didn’t want to participate. It seemed tacky and immature. As it turned out, people didn’t need to hear about his exploits from him. The gossip mill more than did the work for him, and he was fine with that, especially when that talk exaggerated details in his favor.

This isn’t going to be locker room talk. It’s a sore spot for the both of them.

At least they’re talking here and not over the phone.

At least Barry stayed.

“I thought you didn’t want to hear about it,” Len says in a wry rendition of his best friend’s voice.

“Yeah, well, I’ve come to the conclusion that that might have been a jerk move on my part.” Barry rolls his head to the side to look at Len, eyes full of regret. “You’re my best friend. That was a big step in your life, I assume. You should be able to talk to me about it.”

Len tightens his grip on Barry’s hand, partially for security, and partially so Barry doesn’t let go when he hears the answer. They’re about to enter touchy territory, even if it is ancient history as far as Len is concerned.

“It was okay, I guess.” He shrugs, then turns his head to meet Barry’s gaze. The two stare at one another in silent challenge - Len praying Barry will change the subject, Barry waiting patiently for more. Len blinks first. He sighs again. Here he is, stuck in another situation he sees no way out of. But if there was ever a time for him to bear his soul, now is that time. If he had told Barry originally how his reluctance to let Len confide in him had hurt him, they might not be in this position, good or bad. “Honestly, it was pretty awful.”

“How?”

“I met her outside Saints and Sinners. She was a professional, and I had no clue what I was doing. I screwed up trying to open the lube and made a huge mess all over her skirt. We were in an alley, upright against a wall. I scratched my calf on a piece of metal and had to get a tetanus shot.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. It cut pretty deep. I have a nasty scar.”

Barry knows that scar. He’s seen it plenty during P.E. He thought for sure it was something his father gave him. He’s relieved to discover it isn’t, regardless of its source.

“So, not someone from our school? And not a guy?”

“Nah.” Len looks sheepishly down at the comforter beneath them, eyes tracing a line of stitching close to his face. “She said she was twenty-one, but I don’t think she was. She seemed younger … closer to our age. I kept thinking that, if my dad had his way, then Lisa might be standing there, hitting guys up, people he works with even …” Len swallows hard, squeezes Barry’s hand tighter. “Anyway, she doesn’t go to school with us. I’ve never seen her again.”

Barry has to admit he’s relieved. He had thought all of Len’s sex partners were boys and girls from their school. Seeing their faces every day, how they watched Len in the hallway with wide, puppy-dog eyes, forever hoping he’d glance their way, stung. Barry didn’t know how he would handle finding out which one of those constantly pleading students was Len’s first.

Knowing that none of them were is a huge weight off Barry’s shoulders, but it’s in no way the better of two evils.

Casual sex is one thing, and yes, virginity is a stupid societal construct that shouldn’t amount for anything, so technically your first sexual experience shouldn’t hold any more weight than your last.

Call him a sentimental fool but, to Barry, in some ways it does.

In retrospect, the reason why Len never did look their way was usually because he and Barry were together, and Len was looking at him.

***

Len kisses Barry tenderly, urgently, possessively, passionately, each one translating want and longing and desire in ways words could never properly express. And between each kiss, he gazes into Barry’s eyes, brow pulled in the center as if he can’t believe that Barry is there. But he is there, and they’re together, making love on Len’s bed the way Len had dreamed of so many times. All he has to do is reach out and touch him - Barry’s soft skin beneath Len’s fingertips proof of his existence in this fantasy come to life. Now that he has Barry, there are no others. His past is just that – the past. And it’s gone, erased completely every time Barry kisses him back, looks him in the eyes, and smiles – blissful, bashful.

***

“Were you safe?” Barry asks, digging deeper for his own peace of mind. Maybe Barry should be a bit more sensitive considering they’re talking about the person Len lost his virginity to, but someone he met outside a bar? Barry can’t imagine Len, of all people, being so careless.

Len may be daring, but he’s not reckless.

Then again, there are days he comes to school with his eye black and blue, looking so done with life that Barry spends the whole day by his side, just to make sure he doesn’t do something reckless.

“Of course, we were,” Len admits with some embarrassment. He knew that Barry would scold him over this if he ever found out, but he was confident Barry never would. Besides, he’d shouldered that responsibility, berating himself plenty for losing his virginity to some rando on the street. But it had been a game to Len. His father was inside, settling up a score, and Len was trying his hand at acting tough out in the real world, where most people see his dad as the big bad and Len as his obedient lap dog. He didn’t have anything to sell, he wasn’t going to negotiate a heist. When it came down to it, propositioning a prostitute for sex was the only thing he could come up with at the time. He needed a way to raise his street cred. In a sick way, he thought it was something his dad might be proud of. “I swear. I made sure I took condoms with me when I went,” Len defends himself quickly, but his voice peters off when he realizes how bad that sounds, how it cements the idea that he’d gone to Saints and Sinners on the lookout for a fuck when that wasn’t actually the case “… you know … just in case ...”

Barry stops himself before he can huff or make some other judgmental noise. Barry started this. He’s clearing the air. It’s important to him. He doesn’t want there to be secrets between them. But honestly, Len isn’t required to answer him if he doesn’t want to. Barry should be grateful that Len is willing to give him a second chance at being the friend he should have been years ago.

“So, it sounds like you were on a mission,” Barry teases to break the tension.

“Yeah.” Len chuckles tensely. “I guess … I guess it does.”

“Mission accomplished?”

“No,” Len says, and it’s true. It was true then, and it’s doubly true now. “If I could take it back and replace it with what we just did, I would in a heartbeat.”

***

“Whoa … no-no-no … oh … whoops!”

Len over-enthusiastically rips open the condom wrapper, fumbles the lubricated disk, and sends it flying across the room. Both boys watch it, snickering as it disappears in a corner behind Len’s desk. Barry falls back on the pillows and snorts while Len, laughing just as hard, struggles to catch his breath.

“Well, that’s never happened before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” Barry reaches for Len’s stash of condoms that he keeps under his pillows. Barry had raised an eyebrow at that when he saw Len fish one out, and the sheepish expression returned to Len’s face.

“Uh … I keep them under there just in case,” Len had said, darting his eyes, unable to decide on a spot for them to settle.

“Who were you expecting?”

“No one! I swear! It’s been a few months and I … kind of forgot they were there.”

“Ugh!” Barry groaned.

“What?”

“How long has it been since you changed these sheets!?”

Len didn’t answer, but the conversation at large had been swept under the proverbial carpet when Len began rutting against Barry, convincing him with long sweeps of his tongue over the sensitive skin at the juncture of his neck to forget about it.

And Barry, melting into a potentially filthy comforter, did.

Len goes to take the condom from him, but Barry palms it.

“Can I?” Barry asks, gesturing towards Len cock. “Do you mind if I try …?”

“No.” Len gulps so hard he’s sure he’s shoved his heart down a foot. “Not at all. G-give it a try.” He kneels up, straddling Barry’s hips to give him space to work. He watches Barry pinch the tip the way their teacher showed them in health class, place it gently over the head of Len’s cock, and roll it down with excruciating slowness. He rolls it to the base of Len’s cock, then runs a hand over it to remove any air bubbles.

“There.” Barry looks up at Len for approval. “Is that … is that okay?”

“Okay?” Len winds his arms around Barry’s torso, squeezing him so hard he cracks his spine. “It’s more than okay! I think that’s the hottest thing I’ve ever fucking seen!”

***

“Wh--why did you do it?”

This is the question. The question. Len can tell by the sound of Barry’s voice when he asks it. This is the one he’s been waiting to ask, the one he’s probably been dreading. The one that had festered in the back of his mind every time Barry saw Len a morning after. It was on those mornings that Len should have realized how much he was hurting Barry. But sex doesn’t equal love … or maturity, and when it came to Barry and his feelings, Len had a tendency to be a little bit naïve.

He’d thought that, when it came to pining over Barry, the only person he was hurting was himself.

“A lot of reasons. I thought it would make me feel more adult. And I was curious. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And, kind of like you, I wanted to get it over with.”

Barry’s hand goes rigid in Len’s grasp and he can’t understand why until he remembers what Barry said to him in his car on the way over:

“I think … I kind of always knew that my first time would be with you anyway …”

What if that wasn’t resignation? What if Barry had been waiting for him? Subconsciously saving himself for him? Barry said that other kids don’t want him, but what if that isn’t entirely the truth? What if Barry can’t see the ones who do because he wanted Len first?

Len had wanted Barry, too. He just didn’t wait for him.

***

“Now, are you sure about this?”

“Are we going to go through this again? Because it was exhausting the first time.”

“Yes,” Len says. “I don’t want to hurt you. I mean, you just did it for the first time about fifteen minutes ago. You have to be sore.”

“Maybe a little …” Barry makes a face when he shifts to the side and a throb in his ass confirms that yes, he is sore. “But not too much. Just … go slow.”

“You know, we don’t have to have sex the way we did before.” Len bends low to Barry’s ear, whispering in that dark, seductive voice that was so startling to Barry when he first heard it, but which sends all sorts of delicious chills up his spine. “I can suck you off. It’ll be just as good. I promise.”

Barry bites his lower lip, tempted by the offer, but confused by the ball of hot and hurt that statement puts in his stomach. He shakes his head. It’s an answer, but it’s also an attempt to brush that ball aside.

“Maybe some other time? I really, really want this. Unless you … you don’t …”

Len rushes forward and collects the end of that sentence in a kiss. “Barry, there won’t ever be a day when I don’t want to make love to you.”

***

“Were any other times awful?” Barry asks while Len wrestles with his conscience.

“A lot of the times were. It’s just an act when you don’t feel anything for the person you’re with.” He raises Barry’s hand to his mouth and kisses it. “It’s better with feelings.”

Barry licks dry lips, chewing around a smile. “Then, why did you keep doing it?”

“Because, physically, it felt good. It’s great for stress relief. And besides, once you have sex, you kind of feel pressure to keep having it, whether you want to or not.”

“Was there ever anyone you were with that you liked? I mean, that you wanted to be boyfriends with?”

Regardless of what Len believes, this is actually the question. The one that fills Barry with fear. Len may have had sex with a lot of kids at Central City High and beyond, but there was one person in particular – Valerie. She was an upperclassman, cheerleader, gymnast, Prom Queen two years in a row, the girl that’s on everyone’s radar. To make matters worse, she wasn’t stuck-up or bitchy. Then Barry could hate her. She was a genuinely sweet girl, had her sites on becoming an investigative journalist, maybe even a D.A. Wanted to take a year off after high school to join the Peace Corps.

If Len could have hit the lottery hooking up with anyone at their school, it was her.

As far as Barry knows, Valerie was the ‘fuck buddy’ Len was with off and on the longest. He loathed the day he’d find out the two of them had decided to make their undercover relationship official. But Valerie graduated last year. They hadn’t heard from her since, and as far as Barry could tell, Len didn’t seem to mourn the loss.

Of course, Len is good at keeping his true feelings hidden, even from Barry.

Barry might be able to overlook the sex if Len didn’t like any of his partners enough to date them. God, that sounds awful, but some of the truest things in life do.

“No,” Len says in a tone that Barry has no reason to doubt. “No one.”

“Really?” Barry asks, because even if he doesn’t doubt him, he needs to make sure.

Len smiles suddenly, looking at Barry with a twinkle in his eyes. “Actually … uh … does today count?”

***

It’s easier entering Barry now that he’s open, that he’s comfortable with being touched. He knows Len’s fingers, knows what they’re going to do. It’s a touch he invites. It doesn’t feel awkward or unnatural now that he knows what to expect. Len uses twice as much lube as before. He knows that Barry’s sore, knows how sore he has to be, even if he’s good at not showing it. If there’s one thing Barry has always been expert at hiding, it’s pain. But now Len can give Barry the experience he’d wanted him to have.

He can look him in the eyes.

He can kiss him on the lips.

He can be face to face with him when he tells him he loves him.

***

“What makes me different?” Barry asks, figuring he’ll give Len a break in the form of an easy question to answer. They’re best friends, have been for close to a decade. They’re comfortable with one another. They’re compatible.

Isn’t there a saying about dating your best friend?

“The difference is …” Len runs a thumb over Barry’s knuckles. He has to keep touching him, has to keep reminding himself that what’s happening is real, that with every question he answers, he gets closer and closer to something he’s wanted for a long time “… I love you, Barry.”

“I love you, too.”

“No. I mean … I love you. I love you more than anyone I’ve ever met. And the idea that you’re going to find someone down the line and … and fall in love with them … make love to them …” Len turns his face to the ceiling, fighting a well of angry tears “… maybe it makes me a hypocrite but, it kills me. Every time I picture it, I want to burn my eyes out. You know?”

Barry could agree. He could admit he feels the same. He could lay on Len’s shoulders the depth of his despair since he began having sex. But he doesn’t want to guilt his best friend. He’s not about to shame him for his choices.

Len has nothing to be ashamed of.

Besides, had Barry been honest with Len earlier, maybe things would be different now.

“Actually, I’m already in love with someone,” Barry confesses. Len’s face falls, but only for a second before Barry scoots a little closer, and Len’s cheeks begin to burn. Barry isn’t used to seeing his best friend blush. He’s beginning to enjoy that shade on him. “I have been for a while now. I just … I never had the courage to tell him.”

“Do you think you might tell him soon?” Len asks, moving with Barry, curling in towards him and wrapping an arm around his waist.

“I think so,” Barry says. “Very, very soon.”

***

“I love you, Len. I … I love you. God!” There’s a freedom in Barry’s voice, a brand new lack of shame when he says, “I’m cumming … oh God …”

“I love you, too,” Len whimpers, speeding his hips to stay in sync with Barry so they can cum together. To think, this entire time, they’d been on basically the same page and never knew it. Well, that stops today. As far as Len is concerned, there isn’t a single thought he has about their relationship that he will keep to himself again.

He pauses to move an inch closer, his pounding having slid him too far down the mattress, to discover that Barry refuses to simply lay docile on the bed. He starts pushing back, meeting Len’s hips thrust for thrust, and that puts Len over the edge.

***

“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Barry asks. “I mean, we’re going to college next year. Everything could change for us.”

“You’re going to college next year,” Len says bitterly. “Me … I’m never gettin’ out of Central City.”

“You will. I have faith in you.”

“You’re gonna need to have faith for the both of us then.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Yeah? And you always keep your promises.”

“I try, at least.”

“I want to be your boyfriend,” Len admits. “I only want to be with you, but … we can’t be public about it. My dad, if he found out … he seemed fine with me foolin’ around, but if he found out I had someone on the steady, and that it was you … with Joe being a cop and all …”

“I understand.”

“But it shouldn’t have to be that way. You deserve more.”

“I’ll take what I can get. We only have the next few months together. I’m willing to give it a try if you are.”

“I am. And I want to, more than you’ll ever know.”

“Then can you do me a favor?” Barry asks, his stomach quivering like the first time he ever spoke in front of the Greater Minneapolis Science Symposium … or the times he told a disbelieving room full of police officers what really happened to his mother the night she died. But he’s ready to jump into this relationship with both feet, even if his stomach decides to leap out of his mouth and leave him entirely.

“What’s that?” Len asks, curious about Barry’s terms and conditions seeing as he’s outlined his own.

Barry puts a hand to Len’s cheek, pulling him closer, gaze flicking down to his lips, then back to his eyes. “Make love to me again?”

[korcounterprop]

Western Academia’s War Against Korea, Part 4: DePauw University’s Derek R. Ford

Introduction

“The day after Tillerson announced the #NorthKorea travel ban, I travelled to the country on a fact-finding delegation. I just got back. As soon as I arrived, the US govnt/media narrative about the [DPRK] began crumbling. I felt safe and welcomed the entire time.” - DePauw University Professor Derek R. Ford

Upon reading the above tweets, one might be tempted to see Derek R. Ford as an ally of the DPRK. However, Ford is, at best, a poser who is using his feigned interest in Korean anti-imperialist struggles in order to promote himself outside the academic circles that professors usually run in. Considering the extent of Ford’s inaccurate portrayals of Korea in general, which will be documented in this article, it may be more likely that Ford is using his trip to DPRK as a shield of authenticity from behind which he can issue Korea-focused disinformation.

Contradicting Kim Il Sung: Ford’s Plagiarized Account of the Minsaengdan Incident

The most egregious example of disinformation from Derek R. Ford is his retelling of the Minsaengdan incident, which is also recounted by Kim Il Sung in volume 4 of With the Century. Kim says the incident can give "a lesson about the establishment of Juche of the Korean revolution and about the national spirit of independence." However, Ford’s account of the incident is a plagiarized apologia for the Japanese Empire in Korea, in which Ford directly contradicts Kim Il Sung.

Ford issued his account of the Misaengdan incident via a podcast called “Groundings.” The description for the episode featuring Ford promises the following content:

Organizer and educator Derek Ford gives a historical context for the current imperialist aggression surrounding the DPRK, explains the 'Juche' ideology, and recounts some firsthand propaganda-shattering experiences from his travels inside the country.

In the first place, it’s inexplicable why anyone would invite Ford — who speaks no Korean and has no specific training or education related to Korea — to give a history of Juche, when DPRK’s own English-language texts chronicle the history of Juche in great detail. Furthermore, although Kim Il Sung himself presents a highly detailed account of the Minsaengdan incident in With the Century, Ford ignores Kim's account and relies solely on a revisionist text: Han Hongkoo's chapter from Suh Jae-jung's Origins of North Korea’s Juche. Proof of Ford's reliance on Han becomes evident when one examines five specific examples from Ford’s presentation in the podcast, in which Ford's retelling of the Minsaengdan incident diverges from Kim Il Sung's account and Ford's word choices are too similar to Han's to be coincidental.

Example 1: Kim Il Sung blames Japan for creating the Minsaengdan, while Derek Ford blames Koreans for creating the Minsaengdan.

Kim Il Sung squarely blames Japan for creating the Minsaengdan, which he calls "a spy organization ... manufactured by the Japanese imperialists to paralyse the anti-Japanese spirit of the Korean people." Kim cites US-trained Governor-General Saito Makoto as personally responsible. 

However, Ford contradicts Kim Il Sung, using Han's account to blame only Koreans. 

Ford: "In Feb of 1932 ... there were these pro-Japanese Koreans which organized a group called the Minsaengdan" (at 16:30 in the podcast)

Han: "Minsaengdan was formed by pro-Japanese Korean migrants to Manchuria in Feb 1932"

Example 2: Kim Il Sung’s indictment of Japan versus Derek Ford’s acquittal of Japan

Kim Il Sung writes that Japan intended the Minsaengdan to "isolat[e] Korean communists by harming them through trickery and disrupting the revolutionary ranks from within by driving a wedge between the Korean and Chinese peoples."

In Kim Il Sung's "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work" speech from 1955, he says the Minsaengdan was Japan's "vile trick of alienating the Koreans from the Chinese and inciting strife among the Koreans."

Ford mentions Kim Il Sung's 1955 speech in the podcast, but he ignores Kim's assertion that Japan intended to divide Koreans from Chinese. Instead, he chooses Han's benign view of the Japanese empire. Channeling Han, Ford absolves Japan of any intent to exploit racial divisions between Koreans and Chinese.

Ford: "Japan didn't endorse [Minsaengdan and] didn't want ethnic strife or national divisions."

Han: "Japanese authorities ... hoped to lessen inter-ethnic hostilities."

(The Han/Ford portrayal of Japan as an honest broker between races not only contradicts Kim Il Sung, but it also makes the absurd assumption that the Japanese empire would reject the material gains it could accrue from exploiting the racialization of its subjects.)

Example 3: Kim Il Sung and Derek Ford’s differing assessments of the Minsaengdan’s effectiveness

Kim Il Sung writes: "The Japanese imperialists had hardly managed to implant anything [from the Minsaengdan] into our ranks. ... There is a record in an enemy document stating there were only seven or eight 'Minsaengdan' members."

Again, Ford contradicts Kim: "It's generally agreed that there were sort of infiltrators [from Minsaengdan into the CCP]." In this regard, Ford actually goes farther than Han, who doesn't seem to say that there is a general consensus that the Minsaengdan successfully infiltrated the CCP.

Example 4: Derek Ford blames Koreans for initiating the Minsaengdan purges

Although Kim Il Sung unwaveringly blames Japan as the creator of the Minsaengdan, he doesn't actually single out any entity for initiating the violence of the anti-Minsaengdan purges. However, Ford blames Koreans for this.

Ford: "The Korean communists were enthusiastic initiators" of the Minsaengdan-related purges.

This contradicts Kim Il Sung and goes even farther than Han's assertion, "At first ... Koreans ... welcomed the Minsaengdan purge and actively participated."

Example 5: Other similarities between Ford’s and Han’s language

Ford: The Minsaengdan purge "quickly degenerated into an anti-Korean purge."

Han: "the Minsaengdan purge, which started out as a counterespionage struggle, degenerated into an anti-Korean persecution."

Ford’s inability to speak extemporaneously on DPRK

In addition to the similarities between Ford’s and Han’s accounts of the Minsaengdan incident and the similarities between Ford’s and Han's language, another factor makes it seem likely that Ford’s podcast presentation is based on plagiarized notes: When Ford is asked to speak extemporaneously about DPRK, he just can't do it.

In response to a question about the experiential learning he might have undergone from visiting DPRK and "seeing the Juche ideology firsthand," Ford seems completely maladroit at discussing DPRK without a prepared script. This is Ford’s answer to the question:

It's almost like a, this might seem strange, you know when you have an experience with a really, you know, unique experience with someone that you can't quite, like, articulate 100%, but you'll, like, look at each other and you know exactly what you're thinking? Okay, um, well, it's kind of like that, like, you'll ask a question, in the DPRK, and then you'll just be like, 'Oh, Juche.' Right? And it's like, that kind of, like, explains it all.

Ford’s False Claims about Koreans in the Chinese Communist Party

In case one needed more evidence that Derek R. Ford is a totally unreliable source on Korea (and other topics): He has falsely claimed, multiple times, that Koreans at one point composed the majority of the Chinese Communist Party, and he refuses to retract that claim.

At no point in history did Koreans compose 90% of the entire CCP. That statistic is laughable on its face, but it can also be disproven with evidence.

Koreans did compose 90% or more of the CCP in some parts of Manchuria in the early 1930s. "Between spring 1932 and spring 1934 ... in E. Manchuria, S. Manchuria, N. Manchuria, and Jidong ... Koreans constituted the majority, both in the Party and in the CCP armed forces."

However, considering that CCP membership was 40,000+ in 1928, and Koreans didn't join the CCP en masse until 1930, if 90% of the CCP were Korean, that would mean that there were at least 360,000 Koreans versus 40,000 Chinese in the CCP.

Presumably, the number of Koreans in the CCP would peak before the Minsaengdan purges of the mid-1930s. Given that most Koreans in China lived in Manchuria, Ford's statistic would mean that approximately 50% of Koreans in China were CCP members. Demographically, that's highly unlikely.

This error has been pointed out to Ford, but he refuses to acknowledge it. That's probably because he put the error in one of his books (which costs $141.98), and he wants to save face for his editor/publisher/etc.

Using Koreans as Props

Ford has a tendency to use Korean people and Korean aesthetics as brand-building accessories. For example, the below-pictured tweet contains no information about Ford’s "comrade" or her situation — not even her name!

Because Ford can’t read the below-pictured publication, he can only post a picture of its graphic for his followers to admire.

The tweets pictured below are really something. Ford claims that he has gone to the airport with RoK organizers who try to check in to their flights and discover that they can’t leave the country. Certainly, RoK does prohibit some of its citizens from leaving the country; for example, the kidnapped restaurant workers from DPRK have been unable to obtain passports. However, it’s completely implausible that US citizen Derek Ford would be in RoK, leaving that country while accompanied by RoK organizers who are left behind as Ford departs. The implausibility of this scenario is exemplified by Ford’s inability to share any details of the situation at all, other than, “I was there.”

Contrary to Ford’s assertion, the man in the below-pictured tweet (Seo Ok-ryeol) has been out of RoK prison for years. It seems that Ford wanted to use Seo’s plight as an excuse to write the word “Juche” on his timeline.

Conclusion: De-Emphasizing the Importance of DPRK Travel Narratives

It’s actually not difficult for USians to travel to DPRK. I haven’t been there myself, but it sounds much more convenient than many other travel destinations. In spite of the currently existing travel ban for US citizens, DPRK is still accepting visitors from the USA, although those visitors may need to exercise caution about publicizing their travels.

On the basis of how easily USians have been able to travel to DPRK, it is imperative that DPRK travel not be confused with DPRK solidarity. Note how Derek Ford refers to his DPRK travel entourage: “a fact-finding delegation.”

The implication in calling it a “fact-finding delegation” is that Ford may have actually believed imperialist myths about DPRK before he traveled there to “find” the “facts.” Now that he has obtained the facts, he presents himself as an arbiter of those facts based upon his own lived experience. Yet, Ford has repeatedly proven himself unable to present even the most basic facts about the DPRK and Korea at large. Ford’s voice should thus be excluded from any conversation regarding Korea.

Related

Western Academia’s War Against Korea, Part 1: Introduction, Stanford University, Gi-wook Shin

Western Academia’s War Against Korea, Part 2: Stanford University Attempts to Erase the Revolution from DPRK

Western Academia’s War Against Korea, Part 3: Stanford University Celebrates Washington Post Reporter Anna Fifield