#and that’s not to even touch the political or economic part of it

[padfootastic]

i just want to put it out there that sirius black is scary as fuck from a purely physical point of view.

he’s tall as shit, has been since fifth year when he got his growth spurt, and he has tendency to loom over most people.

there’s also the matter of his poker face—it’s impeccable, untouchable. can make anyone feel like him stuck to the bottom of his shoe. he learnt it from the best in house black and it’s his default. there’s a reason people are afraid of approaching him, and are slightly awed by james’ ability to unconditionally do so at all times.

his magic is ridiculously sentient. it swirls around him at all times, often feeling suffocating to those near him. he doesn’t even notice how it swells with his emotions, rising in his defence without him having to call it. at times, it can feel like a brick wall, that’s how powerful it is. and it’s cold. people have been known to shiver and turn into metaphorical icicles around him.

and he’s also just intimidating in a—social capital way ykno? so much money, training, and status. it shows. he could be dressed in a potato sack and he’d still reek of royalty. which is essentially what the blacks are.

and this is it u don’t take padfoot into account. this fuckoff huge Grim who’s literally an omen of death, easily twice the size of any human around him, just bounding around with sharp canines on display and malice in his eyes. it’s the easiest thing to piss ur pants when u come into contact w him.

[psychotrenny]

Many Left-Liberals have a very distorted view of "community" as a frame of reference for organisational efforts. And when Marxist-Leninist criticise these sorts of distortions, some people interpret this as MLs being opposed to the idea of "community" itself. Which very clearly isn't true; grassroots community organisation and various associated initiatives are a common feature Marxist-Leninist party agendas.

The agitation and organisation of the working class has to start somewhere, and even minor improvements in life brought about by collective effort can give people faith and confidence in their capacity to go even further. Even if the party itself is destroyed, these local efforts tend to leave an enduring legacy of benefit on the areas they touched; there's a reason people talk about the US Black Panther Party's Survival Programs (i.e. adult literacy classes, free breakfast for school children) to this day. These local grassroots efforts frequently persist or develop even further in a post-revolutionary context, involving themselves in an array of social, economic and political functions i.e. the Dynamising Groups of Mozambique in the 1970s, Peasant's Associations in China in the 1940s etc. The flexibility of such groups and their direct links to the people offer significant advantages when supported and overseen by a more central authority

But that's the key part; they need support. Like on a fundamental level, scale alone limits what these groups can possibly do even under the best of conditions and the areas most in need of organisation and development tend to also be the ones most lacking in the material means to actually do so by themselves. Community groups are also not magically perfect when it comes to ideology or procedure, and can easily make severe mistakes or devolve into petty tyrannies without external guidance and oversight. "Community" has its limits; it cannot be treated as a panacea for all social ills. Anyone who treats it as a magic buzzword to substitute for actual meaningful policies is not someone who should be taken seriously

[ladyannemarie5]

I finally got to watch “The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep” again, so here's the third part of:

Things we learned/confirmed about our bard in “The Witcher: Sirens of the deep”

Geralt is always ready to protect his bard on hunts.

He and Geralt share the coins from the hunts and his performances as a bard (awww like in the fanfics). 

He often suffers from financial problems thanks to sharing Geralt's coin and moral code (but he never leaves him alone)

Geralt lets Jaskier touch him as he pleases even though physically Jaskier couldn't move an inch of the witcher if Geralt didn't want to (you know, that scene at the beginning where they're in the tavern, Geralt gets up to leave and Jaskier with a firm hand on his shoulder puts him back in his sit)

He went to Bremervoord, his old town where no one appreciated him and he suffered from bullying and from which he fled so desperately to be himself, just because Geralt was avoiding you-know-who.

He never misses an opportunity to badmouth Yennefer LOL.

He was the driver of the carriage on Ellander's trip to Möen that Yennefer was talking about in S3E1 where she and Geralt did everything but talk (to be honest, I'm not really sure on this point but in the scene where the driver is seen steering the carriage you can see a blue doublet that may be Jaskier's trademark, but maybe I'm just projecting my bard on everything LOL)

It's Jaskier The Bard, The Song Don of Oxenfurt, The Crooner of the Continent

Essi “Little eye” is like Jaskier's little sister and the bard's #1 defender (Sooo cute and sad considering that probably, and following canon, that was the last time Jaskier saw Essi)

Geralt only learned that “Julian” was the bard's real name 20 years later. 

He used to say he was originally from Oxenfurt (considering this point, it makes me wonder at what point the Viscount of Lettenhove thing came in).

He was meant to be a man of the sea, but he was “creative and different and they treated him horrible because of that” (MY SHYLAAAAAA, I liked that they gave more lore to his past, is it better than what I've read in fanfics? I don't think so, but it's appreciated anyway)

He's a superstar, master of the scene (we already knew this but it never hurts to remember it).

Jaskier steals Geralt's beer 

Geralt is quite used to Jaskier's nonsense and dramatics (that scene where Jaskier spits out the beer, which he took from Geralt, for knowing that Essi is a bard and the witcher just shakes the drink off without blinking)

“If you know my name, it's because you know his songs” (What the hell???? Geralt was so ready to defend his bard's honor).

Jaskier is Geralt's official wingman (he just doesn't want him to be with Yennefer). 

Geralt hunts and cooks for him (awwww)

Jaskier doesn't like Geralt's cooking.

Jaskier knows that Geralt has a big heart and is a softie. 

And there was only one tent, Geralt sleeps outside the tent (probably to keep watch, but there's no way they haven't shared a tent at least once)

Jaskier is a very heavy sleeper

As a bard, he is aware of political, social and economic issues in many parts of the Continent (which helped Geralt to solve the Sirens' problem). 

He is the beauty and moral support in the team (he is gorgeous).

Geralt removes Jaskier from the path of danger (that scene where Melusina in the form of the princess goes for Geralt and he removes Jaskier)

No matter what anyone says, Jaskier solved the case. 

Moral support of Geralt when they call him “sewer cleaner”. 

“And yet, for all the talk of Witchers lacking emotions, I know how to hurt you *proceeds to order Jaskier's death.

Jaskier was already saying goodbye to Geralt and blaming himself for returning to Bremervoord.

Jaskier may always be the damsel in distress, but when the situation calls for it he knows how to use a sword and fight in spite of his fears (keep the swords away from the bard when he is shocked and scared)

Zelest, welcome to Jaskier's harem.

Despite all the drama and commotion in the fights, Geralt constantly checks that his bard is alive and well, always ready to drop everything and help if needed.

Jaskier is quite used to Geralt's favorite technique of being eaten.

Jaskier has been to many royal weddings 

Jaskier gave up his life and everything he knew in order to fulfill his dream of being a bard (and he made the right decision) 

“But for now, looks like Jaskier will have to do” (To be honest, I don't know how to take this lol).

Jaskier is the one who decides where to go in his adventures with Geralt. 

The whole Sirens of the deep is set immediately before the dragon hunt (and that breaks my heart)

And last but not least, Joey Batey is the love of my life (and I love that they respected his incredibly blue eyes). 

(I didn't think this would turn out to be so long but here we are, sorry for the verbal vomit).

You can check the previous parts here and here

[transmutationisms]

from a non-academic, i find parts of comphet to be useful (heterosexuality becomes compulsory when you’re raised in a heterosexual society) but the foundations . suck. what do we do with theories like this, that have touched on a truth but also carry a lot of garbage? can we separate the truth from the founder?

i have to be slightly pedantic and say that i don't think rich's essay is an example of this phenomenon. my central issue with her formulation is its bioessentialist assumptions about human sex and therefore also sexuality. if i say "capitalism includes economic mechanisms that enforce heterosexual behaviour and exclude other possibilities", then what i mean by "heterosexual" is plainly not the same as what rich means—and for this reason i would seldom formulate the statement this way, without clarifying that i am talking about the enforcement of heterosexuality as a part of the creation and defence of sex/gender categories themselves. so rich and i do not actually agree on the very fundamental premises of this paper! rich was not the first or only person to point out that economic mechanisms as well as resultant social norms enforce heterosexual pairings; i actually don't even think the essay does a very clear job of interrogating the relationship between labour, economy, and the creation of sex/gender; she means something different and essentialist to what i mean by sex and sexuality; and i think her proposed responses to the phenomenon she identifies as 'compulsory heterosexuality' are uninteresting because they mainly propose psychological answers to a problem arising from conditions of political economy. so, in regards to this specific paper, i am actually totally comfortable just saying that it's not a useful formulation, and i don't feel a need to rescue elements of it.

in general, i do know what you're talking about, and i think there's a false dichotomy here: as though we must either discard an idea entirely if it has elements we dislike, or we accept it on the condition that we can plausibly claim these elements and their author are irrelevant. these are not comprehensive options. instead, i would posit that every theory, hypothesis, or idea is laden with context, including values held and assumptions made by their progenitors. the point is not to find a mythical 'objective' truth unburdened by human bias or mistakes; this is impossible. instead, i think we need to take seriously the elements of an idea that we object to. why are they there? what sorts of assumptions or arguments motivate them, and are those actually separable from whatever we like in the idea? if so, can we be clear about which aspects of the theory are still useful or applicable, and where it is that the objectionable elements arise? and if we can identify these points, then what might we propose instead? this is all much more useful, imo, than either waiting for a perfect morally unimpeachable theory or trying to 'accept' a theory without grappling with its origins (political, social, intellectual).

a recent example that you might find interesting as a kind of case study is j lorand matory's book the fetish revisited, which argues that the 'fetish' concept in freud's and marx's work drew from their respective understandings of afro-atlantic gods. in other words, when marx said capitalists "fetishise" commodities or freud spoke about sexual "fetishism", they were each claiming that viewing an object as agentive, meaning-laden in itself (ie, devoid of the context of human meaning-making as a social and political activity) was comparable to 'primitive' and delusory religious practices.

matory's point here isn't that we should reject marx's entire contribution to political economy because he was racist, nor is it that we can somehow accept parts of what marx said by just excising any racist bits. rather, matory asks us to grapple seriously with the role that marx's anthropologically inflected racism plays in his ideas, and what limitations it imposes on them. why is it that marx could identify the commodity as being discursively abstracted and 'fetishised', but did not apply this understanding to other ideas and objects in a consistent way? and how is his understanding of this process of 'fetishisation' shaped by his beliefs about afro-atlantic peoples, and their 'intelligence' or civilisational achievements in comparison to northwestern europeans'? by this critique matory is able to nuance the fetish concept, and to argue that marx's formulation of it was both reductive and inconsistently applied (analogously to how freud viewed only some sexuality as 'fetishistic'). it is true in some sense that capital and the commodity are reified and abstracted in a manner comparable to the creation of a metaphysical entity, but what we get from matory is both a better, more nuanced understanding of this process of meaning-making (incl. a challenge to the racist idea of afro-atlantic gods as simply a result of inferior intelligence or cultural development), and the critical point that if this is fetishism, then we must understand a lot more human discourse and activity as hinging on fetishisation.

the answer of what we do with the shitty or poorly formulated parts of a theory won't always be the same, obviously; this is a dialogue we probably need to have (and then have again) every time we evaluate an idea or theory. but i hope this gives you some jumping-off points to consider, and an idea of what it might look like to grapple with ideas as things inherently shaped by people—and our biases and assumptions and failings—without assuming that means we can or should just discard them any time those failings show through. the point is not to waste time trying to find something objective, but to understand the subjective in its context and with its strengths and limitations, and then to decide from there what use we can or should make of it.

[corkinavoid]

Hogwarts??? So you hate trans people then, if your supporting jk

First of all, it's 'you're', not 'your'. If you want to accuse someone of something, then at least do it in a grammatically correct way.

Second, that's a lot of conclusions for no apparent reason.

Third, don't like - don't look, the 'block' button exists for a reason, and I'm not here to provide a comfortable experience for you. You're the one responsible for that part.

With that out of the way, let me rant about how much I fucking despise J.K. Rowling.

Let me get this straight, though, her stance on trans rights is not the first or the main reason for my dislike. In all honesty, I don't have enough care in myself to touch internet drama with a ten foot pole, so all I know about it is that apparently Rowling hates trans people, which, yeah, fuck her.

By the way, what do you even consider 'supporting an author'? Buying their books or merch? Liking their Twitter posts? Defending them on social media? Because I've done literally none of that. I haven't even watched the movies, and I've never read the last book, because at the time it wasn't published (or written yet), and by the time it was, I was already into Eragon series and didn't care about Harry Potter.

Now, to the important part.

I fucking hate J.K. Rowling because of her absolute lack of comprehensive worldbuilding. She sucks at creating a logical system of magic, at her own world's history, economics, and politics. Nothing in her books makes sense.

Why do the wizards need wands? Why do they write with quills on parchment when there's paper and notebooks and goddamn ink pens and color pencils? Why don't they teach math in Hogwarts? Why don't the teachers have, like, some introductory lessons or at least books for muggleborn or muggle-raised students? What the fuck was that 'power of mother's love' bullshit? Where did that story about Peverell Brothers and Death come from, and why didn't anyone think to mention it when Harry first got the Invisibility Cloak? Why in the world is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in the girl's bathrooms of all places? Why is there a subject for Ancient Runes but no one fucking uses runes? Why didn't Harry sign up for Muggle Studies, it would have been an easy grade? Why was Hermione the only one to have a time-turner in the whole school, she was fucking thirteen, what was McGonagall thinking? Where are any kind of PE lessons? Why the everloving fuck was Triwizard Tournament held at a school, with teenagers participating? What's more, why couldn't they choose the champions beforehand so the visiting schools didn't have to transport their whole student bodies over for a year? Why were they fighting dragons when it's common knowledge that no sane adult person would dare to do that alone by themselves? What was that arch in the Ministry where Sirius died? What the fuck was even going on for the most part of the series?

None of it makes an ounce of sense. Every fucking event in the books is a product of poor imagination and lack of logic. Rowling is fucking dumb as a brick. I've heard five-year-olds come up with stories that had more reason than the whole Harry Potter series.

Have you seen the 'map of wizarding schools' she came up with? That thing makes me feel the rage of a thousand men. One single school for the whole damn Africa? Bitch, there are over fifty countries there, each with their own language, how do you expect them to communicate? Not to mention India and China having one school for both of them, do you have any idea of the population of both of those countries? That school must be, like, a size of a city, not to mention culture differences and language barriers again.

Also, what was that fucking thing about kids flying on whole ass trees instead of brooms in Koldovstvorets, that one offends me personally. Not to mention the actual name of that school, because it translates to 'magic palace', are you kidding me?

I can keep ranting about this for hours, and never run out, but this is getting rather long, so I'm going to wrap this part up. Just know that the whole of Rowling's worldbuilding is a ton of bullshit that has no right to be as popular as it got.

Yet, I do like the general idea that she had. The magic world that is hidden inside the real one, the whole charms and spells aesthetic, a castle full of secret passages, and all that old classic English vibe to it. It could have been good. It could have been marvelous, if Rowling had, like, a few more braincells. Alas, she didn't, and here we are.

A few years ago, I've found a fic on ao3, 'survival is a talent' by ShanaStoryteller. It's a Series Retold, and it's incomplete. If you haven't read it, I really advise you to, it's perfect in a way the original will never be. Ever since I've read it, I decided that that fic is my canon version of Harry Potter.

On a different note, I think that at this point, HP fandom and J.K. Rowling exist in two different dimensions. That woman had created a world, yes, but it doesn't belong to her anymore, it belongs to everyone who enjoys it. She clearly doesn't, she only enjoys the profit she is making from it.

If you've made it this far through my Harry Potter related rant, thank you, and have a beautiful day <3

[aphrmoosun]

[No words]

NOMAE ; Two Shot!

• Pair.

Noa and Mae

• Movie.

Kingdom of the planet of the apes

• Tags.

NoaxMae, yes it is a ship, dont read if you dont ship them, smutt, au, future, humans and apes politics, ape and human relation, Noa is an inocent ape, twoshot, relationship, Interspecies, strong language, honour apes, writer is not English native speaker, if you see errors tell me, etc

• Other Nomae fic.

You and Me

• Part 1.

DO NOT COPY OR SHARE IT ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Yours [second part]

The ape and the human were forced to commit to each other. Not that they were really forced, since after their first physical encounter, both were in agreement that their lives were dedicated to each other.

Noa's father was the one who opposed it the most. It wasn't normal to see a formal wedding between an ape and a human, but the political pressure around him, along with his own son's, had been enough to convince him.

For Mae, her life was starting to sound different. No interested boy came near her again. In fact, no boy at all. Noa had promised his father that he wouldn't touch her until they were married, and Mae didn't agree with that at all.

After that night, with barely an hour together, she had already gotten used to his hands and the way he touched her. And he refused to do it. Mae always initiated the approach. First, silly kisses, then touches on his hairy chest, and when she tried to go lower, Noa would run away to the nearest bathroom.

But that had to end.

Their wedding was being prepared by professionals hired by their parents, with a formal and political theme that came with it, which meant that their wedding would take place within two months to give them time to prepare everything.

Mae was sure she could corrupt her fiancé. She just needed a moment alone with him, in an intimate setting, with no one around to listen.

To do that, she planned the ice cream plan. With the excuse of wanting him to try that human gastronomic wonder, Mae managed to convince him to let her visit him at his home.

She had already bought the ice cream, and her hand trembled with excitement as she knocked on Noa's door.

He was the one who received her with a tender look. Mae hugged him, leaving the ice cream aside. Although the ape only half-responded to the hug, she didn't let go.

"Come, let's go to the living room."

Mae observed the house with curiosity. Due to the clan leader being close to humans and having economic power, there was a lot of human technology in the house, from TVs to computers and even a roomba.

"Are we alone?" Mae tried not to sound too excited.

"Yes, my mom went shopping, and Dad is never home during the day."

Noa could be so innocent when he wanted to.

For a moment, she felt bad about her plan to seduce him, but then she thought that it wouldn't hurt him, she just wanted to do what engaged couples did.

Noa led her to the living room, offering her a seat next to him.

"Here, I brought two types of ice cream for us to eat together."

She handed him a chocolate ice cream and took a tutti-frutti one for herself.

She watched him sniffing the ice cream, analyzing it with his gaze, and that made her laugh.

"Go on, try it. It's good."

Noa took her advice, taking a spoonful to his mouth, and she imitated him with her ice cream.

That's when she started to put her plan into action.

She knew Noa loved to look at her, especially her eyes, and she would take advantage of that. She lowered her gaze to her ice cream and left the spoon in her mouth, playing with it with her tongue. She didn't need to look at him to know he was watching her.

"Mae..."

"Yes, Noa?"

She felt him move uncomfortably on the couch.

"Are you going to give me some of that?"

"Hmm, yes, of course."

She took another spoonful of ice cream and brought it close to the ape, but when he was about to try it, she dropped the spoon, making the contents spill all over Noa's chest and lap.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry, it was nothing."

He was going to clean himself with his hands, but she stopped him, grabbing them.

"Let me help you, it was my fault."

The human didn't think twice. She bent down to reach the ape's chest and started licking the ice cream. She knew how hairy apes could be, but it didn't bother her; on the contrary, that act had given her the opportunity to get close to his nipple, licking it in the process.

"Mae!"

Noa got up from the couch, leaving her leaning forward over it.

"We can't do that."

She couldn't respond because the ape was already heading towards another room in the house.

She assumed it was the bathroom, since he always did that every time she suggested something sexual. Mae suspected he was hiding his erection from her or going to relieve himself alone.

She wasn't going to let him do that this time.

She followed him closely, seeing that the room was his bedroom, with a door that he had closed behind him.

Mae tried to open the door, but Noa had locked it. So, surrendering, she sat on the ape's bed and was able to observe the room more closely.

There were posters of sci-fi movies featuring apes and humans. Others were of music groups.

But her gaze fell on the TV. The ape had a TV with a DVD player in it. And then it came to her mind. Noa had learned to touch her by watching a porn movie, which she assumed the ape still had.

She searched through the drawers of the nightstand, didn't find it. But she saw a box next to the closet, so she decided to look there.

Among music discs and Blu-ray movies, she managed to see a very graphic cover.

Happy, she jumped up and put it in the player.

In the movie, two humans could be seen. A boy on top of a girl. He was kissing her breasts and touching her while penetrating her with two fingers.

Mae felt a tingling sensation in her crotch and sat on Noa's bed. His bed. It was soft and smelled like him. She lay down on the bed, feeling his scent.

The room was filled with the girl's moans from the movie. And Mae couldn't resist anymore. She put a hand under her pants, moving her underwear aside, and started touching her clitoris. She caressed herself softly, feeling the wetness in her parts already.

She moved her head, resting her nose on Noa's pillow, and breathed in his scent. The movie faded into the background, her mind going back to the moment when Noa watched that movie, thinking of her. He must have masturbated watching it, thinking of how he would do all that to her.

"Noa, Noa."

She closed her eyes, letting go. Her free hand went up her jersey and bra, leaving one breast out, which she started to massage and touch with the rhythm of her other hand.

She was about to come. Her fingers moved faster, imagining they were Noa's. And with him in her mind, she came violently on his bed.

"Noa!"

That scream tore through her throat, unable to keep quiet.

The orgasm tensed her body, making her arch her back and close her legs abruptly due to the tension.

After a few seconds, she tried to calm her breathing. And when she could open her eyes, she found Noa in front of her.

"Noa." -she whispered, taking her hand out of her pants and trying to lower her bra.-

The ape was faster, sitting next to her and grabbing her hands, placing them above her head.

"Did you enjoy it?" -he asked, to which Mae only nodded, unable to speak.- "More than when I touched you?"

Mae could have denied it perfectly with her head, but she thought of having fun since he had found her like that. After all, that's what she wanted. For him to touch her again.

"More than when you touched me." -she found her voice, speaking softly.-

The ape didn't respond. He just got on top of her, looking into her eyes.

"I don't enjoy anything. Every time I go to the bathroom, I come back worse than before. My hands are so useless that I don't reach climax. The last time I did was because of your small and soft hands around my faro, and that's killing me. And on top of that, you come and touch yourself in front of my nose."

Noa didn't stop talking, and his hands accompanied everything he said. He started undressing her, taking off her jersey and finishing with her bra. He also pulled down her pants to her ankles, the same place where he put her underwear.

"I only think of your hands touching me, and that leaves me unsatisfied because I can't touch you. My hands burn, I touched myself thinking of you, and I don't reach climax because in reality, you're not touching me."

The ape started touching her, caressing her clitoris, sensitive from her previous orgasm.

"You can touch me, and I can touch you." -Mae tried to touch him, but the ape stopped her.- "Please, Noa. I'm yours. My body is mine, but it only responds like that because of you, because it's a traitor. I can't contain it every time I have you near. Neither my father nor yours can stop this."

Mae moved her hips, bringing her wet entrance to the ape's hard faro, and he sighed.

"Mae. I-I can't. If I can't live after letting you touch me with your hands, I don't want to imagine my life after being inside you."

"Please, Noa. In body and soul, I'm yours. If you take me today, I know it will be forever, just like if it's in two months. It doesn't matter when, but it's going to happen, and it doesn't matter if today or in two months. But it will happen, and it doesn't matter if you take me or not, I'm already yours."

Noa seemed moved by those words. The ape's eyes never left the human's.

Mae felt the tip of his virility in her already wet and ready entrance.

"Noa." -she grabbed his strong shoulders, arching her back.-

"Mae, my god, Mae."

The ape's words in her ear were enough to awaken the fire inside her.

He had stopped after inserting a few centimeters, and she needed him inside her completely.

Her hips moved forward, making him penetrate her more.

"Mae, Mae."

The ape of the eagle clan, known for his singing, was singing in her ear. Or at least that's what it seemed to her. A sweet melody that she was ready to enjoy.

Noa sank completely into her, making her scream his name. The ape didn't hold back and started moving inside her.

"Very... tight." -she heard him whisper.- "Please, Mae. I'm not going to last long!"

That information almost sounded like a plea to her. He was asking her to come before him so that he could finish inside her satisfied.

"Noa, Noa."

She squeezed his shoulders, moving her hips. There was no need for him to beg, since the moment he penetrated her, her vagina had started to contract. Each time with more intensity.

"Noa!"

She screamed his name and felt that electricity that only he produced in her again. Her orgasm hit her hard.

"Ah, Mae!"

Noa didn't take long to come inside her a second after she did. Mae felt the warm liquid inside her sliding out when he pulled away.

Both enjoyed the silence while trying to catch their breath.

Mae looked for Noa's gaze, finding his eyes looking at her. She smiled widely, laughing and lying down next to him to see him better.

"Now you're mine too." -she said.-

Noa imitated her, lying down next to her to see her.

"I were already yours. Since the first moment our gazes met."

Mae felt very grateful because her feelings were reciprocated.

. END!

[itzlazy9]

Some headcanons I have:

- Feyre carries a journal where she writes down what she has learned that day on how to be the High Lady of the Night Court (politics, economics, ...). She prefers visual notes, as in doodles or even sketches, to writing.

- Rhys teaches Feyre how to wrap and tug Nyx to sleep, so his wings that are still soft won't squeeze or deform. He learned this by watching her mother do it to her sister.

- Illyrian baby's sleep more than an average High Fae

- Elain uses baking as a way of relaxing herself when she has been overwhelmed, but when something goes wrong in the process she shuts down. Cerridwen and Nuala would clean the mess and lay down again all the ingredients so she could try again.

-Lucien loves to take a nap under a tree after lunch. He needs time alone in nature and sunlight. He couldn't enjoy this properly in the Human Lands, but now that he is back in the Spring Court, he goes to his favorite spot.

- Tamlin, in his beast form, would follow Lucien when he has his strolls, giving him space but just near enough to see him. He does it to assure himself that Lucien hasn't left and he is back "at home", after all, he misses him.

- Nyx loves playing with his father's power (night and stars) and Azriel's shadows

- When Gwyn successfully sleeps on those nights haunted by flashbacks or nightmares, she hugs tightly a pillow, imagining its Catrin as a way of comforting herself.

- Emerie is reluctant to physical affection after many years of abuse, but she does love it when Nesta touches her hair, showing her how she does her iconic hairstyle. It transports her to the moments she shared with her mum. She feels safe.

-Eris and Lady of Autumn have at least a weekly stroll outside The Forest House, sometimes just in silence (too many eyes watching them), and other times they have transcendental conversations. Eris hounds are always near.

- Eris has saved and secured Lucien's weapons, the ones he used to practice with before Beron had destroyed anything related to him. From time to time, Eris would clean and sharpen these weapons for him, waiting for the day his brother would use them again.

I have more... so part 1?

Part 2

[drizne]

Excerpt from the speech “Renouncing Sexual Equality”, from Andrea Dworkin’s “Our Blood”

"In 1970 Kate Millett published Sexual Politics. In that book she proved to many of us -who would have staked our lives on denying it- that sexual relations, the literature depicting those relations, the psychology posturing to explain those relations, the economic system that fix the necessities of those relations, the religious systems that seek to control those relations, are political. She showed us that everything that happens to a woman in her life, everything that touches or molds her, is political.

Women who are feminists, that is, women who grasped her analysis and saw that it explained much of their real existence in their real lives, have tried to understand, struggle against, and transform the political system called patriarchy which exploits our labor, predetermines the ownership of our bodies, and diminishes our selfhood from the day we are born. This struggle has no dimension to it which is abstract: it has touched us in every part of our lives. But nowhere has it touched us more vividly or painfully than in that part of our human lives which we call "love" and "sex". In the course of our struggle to free ourselves from systematic oppression, a serious argument has developed among us, and I want to bring that argument into this room.

Some of us have committed ourselves in all areas, including those called "love" and "sex", to the goal of equality, that is, to state of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, ability; uniform character, as of motion or surface. Other of us, and I stand on this side of the argument, do not see equality as a proper, or sufficient, or moral, or honorable final goal. We believe that to be equal where there is no universal justice, or where there is no universal freedom is, quite simply, to be the same as the oppressor. It is to have achieved "uniform character, as of motion or surface."

Nowhere is this clearer than in the area of sexuality. The male sexual model is based on a polarization of humankind into man/woman, master/slave, aggressor/victim, active/passive. This male sexual model is now many thousands of years old. The very identity of men, their civil and economic power, the forms of government that they have developed, the wars they wage, are tied irrevocably together. All forms of dominance and submission, whether it be man over woman, white over black, boss over worker, rich over poor, are tied irrevocably to the sexual identities of men and are derived from the male sexual model. Once we grasp this, it becomes clear that in fact men own the sex act, the language which describes sex, the women whom they objectify. Men have written the scenario for any sexual fantasy you have ever had or any sexual act you have ever engaged in.

There is no freedom or justice in exchanging the female role for the male role. There is, no doubt about it, equality. There is no freedom or justice in using male language, the language of your oppressor, to describe sexuality. There is no freedom or justice or even common sense in developing a male sexual sensibility -- a sexual sensibility which is aggressive, competitive, objectifying, quantity oriented. There is only equality. To believe that freedom or justice for women, can be found in mimicry of male sexuality is to delude oneself and to contribute to the oppression of one's sisters. [...] I want to suggest to you that a commitment to sexual equality with males, that is, to uniform character as of motion or surface, is a commitment to becoming the rich instead of the poor, the rapist instead of the raped, the murderer instead of the murdered. I want to ask you to make a different commitment -- a commitment to the abolition of poverty, rape, and murder; that is, a commitment to ending the system of oppression called patriarchy; to ending the male sexual model itself.

The real core of the feminist vision, its revolutionary kernel if you will, has to do with the abolition of all sex roles -- that is, an absolute transformation of human sexuality and the institutions derived from it. In this work, no part of the male sexual model can possibly apply. Equality within the framework of the male sexual model, however that model is reformed or modified, can only perpetuate the model itself and the injustice and bondage which are its intrinsic consequences."

[olderthannetfic]

I know this isn't usually your thing because its not about fandom really but politics. I'm scared how acceptable violent language against "bad people" is right now in left spaces and I'm worried it means I'm a centrist or something. I'm queer and life is scary rn so i know why people are hurt and afraid but I don't think saying wanting someone to be murdered is ok even if you think the person is truly horrible. But maybe I'm just being fragile? I don't have a lot of experience with this.

--

Unfortunately, this is absolutely a fandom thing and I rant about it often.

No, becoming the worst part of your fascist enemies will not protect you or make your political movement successful. Fandom puritywankers are generally also US-flavor fake Lefties who know nothing about economic theory but think authoritarianism is great.

Thinking that "bad people" is a real and immutable category is inherently politically dangerous. To get shit done, you need to be able to identify acceptable compromises and groups that are compatible but different vs. ones that are too toxic to touch.

The black and white thinking of a child will not effect political change.

It has nothing to do with being a centrist.

It also has nothing to do with fragility. You may be feeling fragile, and understandably so, but I am not. Seeing wishes for violence doesn't upset me: it bores me.

If people send stupidass death threats in my notes because ~ooh~ the issue is just ~that important~, they get blocked because toddlers have no place in a reasonable discussion between adults. This should be the norm in fandom spaces.

[stupidnicknamehere]

On Senna and the grooming allegations.

Half Brazilian here too! Although I have never been to Brazil, I am from another Latin American country. I find that many foreigners don't understand the Latin American context, especially in the 70s/80s.

It took a lot of courage to touch on this controversial topic. Please read at your own risk.

Our countries, to this day, are considered emerging zones. Poverty, violence, crisis and political instability are something we have had to learn to live with.

Sadly, age was not taken into account as much as convenience and economic security. Families, especially wealthy ones, sought to ensure economic well-being rather than healthy and happy relationships. Marriage is an agreement to protect the spouses, ignoring whether they were mentally or physically prepared for what it meant. These are practices that still continue to this day in some parts, therefore, the perception of moral standards was extremely different; this is told to you by someone whose grandmother married a man in his twenties at 14.

Was that wrong? Of course it was, many things were wrong at that time.

When Ayrton Senna mentioned in that interview for Playboy that he lost his virginity at 13 when his cousin took him to an adult prostitute (and as this was already considered late for his culture) it doesn't seem to have raised many outraged voices, not even to this day, which honestly worries me. Adriane Yamin was already 18 (legal age of consent in many countries) when she had intimacy with Senna, as told by herself. Senna was only 13, THIRTEEN, not even the age of consent in Brazil, which is 14. I don't think you understand how much this shit marks you, how much it traumatizes and affects your life.

The truth is, Senna's family was extremely controlling, and they needed to approve (choose) their girlfriends. Ayrton's marriage to Lilian was basically an arranged marriage. The same happened with Adriane Yamin, whose relationship was cultivated and strictly controlled by both families. An engagement was arranged for 1989, but Senna broke it off. He did not want to get married.

Perhaps this is, at least in part, the reason why this man was so keen to have control in his life as a public figure and as a driver, he wanted everything to go his way. It does not seem that many things in his early life were his decision, but it seems that deciding to return to England after announcing his retirement as a racing driver in 1981 was the incentive he needed. Well, here I am already falling into the territory of speculation, but I think I have made my point.

Say whatever about Ayton Senna, hate him or love him, the man is no longer with us to defend himself or speak for himself. However, I believe that judging him under current social values, ignoring the cultural and historical context in which he lived is unfair. It is unfair to all the people of Brazil and to the rest of Latin America. We're striving to change for the better.

[qqueenofhades]

Hi just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to these anon messages. I work in dc w a fairly wonky set and i cant overstate how haunted the DC Professional Thought Havers are by the spectre of the "low propensity voter." I think these ppl (myself included LOL) thought we had everything figured out ahead of the 2016 elections and then never recovered from the way it ended up going......i feel like in all the years that followed.....the liberal bubbles.....the coastal elites.......the hillbilly elegies......the real america....the ohio diners....the pennsylvania diners.......the polls......the 2020 horserace....while part of an earnest attempt to understand What Happened, were primarily self-indulgent, self-flagellation for being "out of touch" bc of a self-diagnosed "elite" status that then turned into ANOTHER myopic view of the world, just opposite, where the "libs" are hapless and everyone else remotely to the left are primarily victims to the unstoppable supernatural forces of the Right. Then in 2020 the narrative flipped AGAIN and once again, instead of taking the opportunity to expand a worldview and having the bravery to confront their own shortcomings, the opinion havers and wonks and beltway pressers have decided to groupthink their way into writing off democracy altogether. Its BEYOND frustrating to see! Like damn volunteer at a soup kitchen or smthn instead of being obsessed w the fact that i vote lol

Yes, and there are several reasons for that. First, despite all the factors that contributed to Trump's shock win in 2016 (anti-Clintonism, white backlash to Obama, general low voter enthusiasm, Russian disinformation, etc) we should never forget that until James Comey decided to announce 10 days before the election that he was reopening the EEEEEEEMAILS case, even though we all knew there was nothing there, she was leading fairly comfortably in the polls. And while we will never know how the 2016 election would have gone without that, which imho was one of the most unforgivable acts of blatant sabotage by a public official in American history, it's also true that we saw her poll averages start sliding almost in real time, as people who hadn't really been keen on voting for her anyway decided firmly not to and Trump was able to scrape out 16,000 votes across PA, MI, and WI to take the Electoral College. Which... we all remember how we felt that night, right? (Or in my case, early morning, since I was overseas?) We don't, we really, really don't want to feel that way again. Just saying.

As such, the media (which had already beat up Clinton nonstop during the BUT HER EEEEEMAILS saga) drastically overcorrected and as you say, began writing endless angsty handwringing pieces about Trump Voters in Rural Ohio Diners and giving endless sympathetic airtime to how "economically left behind" they felt, regardless of the fact that open racism, especially Obama backlash, was and remains the principal animating feature of Republican politics (since their only economic platform is that which makes very rich people even richer and Democratic economic policies are the only ones actually targeted at helping ordinary people). The hangover was so strong that even when Democrats had a massive 2018 midterm result and flipped the House blue for the first time since the post-ACA backlash lost it in 2010, the Conventional Wisdom was now beyond any doubt that Democrats were doomed for a generation or something, and not that Trump had squeaked out a fluky win (while losing the popular vote) due to endless Russian/Comey/third party-etc interference and wasn't actually that powerful. Even in 2020 when Biden was leading fairly steadily and things were going to hell with Covid, etc. etc. TRUMP IS UNSTOPPABLE, TRUMP IS GOING TO WIN.

(And now. Like. I know Trump thinks Trump won in 2020, as do a large majority of his cultists, but that doesn't mean he did.)

Even after that, when Roe went down in 2022, that made no difference to the RED WAVE COMING!!! narrative, and the amount of smug white male pundits insisting that abortion just wasn't very important and people weren't going to base their entire vote on it reached truly disgusting levels. We're now seeing the same thing with the constant "people won't vote for democracy and/or abortion rights" blast, when as you say, this narrative has just been completely made the fuck up by a lot of groupthinking DC media who are determined that this time, Trump really is going to win and then they get to be principled chroniclers in opposition or something. Not to mention, the basic principle of "democracy and abortion rights are good" do in fact win by thumping margins every time they're on the ballot, including in deep red states. But there is literally not a single piece of empirical evidence despite the massive amounts of it supporting the truth (i.e. that Democrats are doing historically well in competitive elections since 2018 and there's not really a major reason to think this will change in 2024) that will get the media to change the "Democrats in disarray and Biden Iz Doomed" horserace BS they so love. They don't like Biden because he's boring and competent and just does the job without being insane, because it's totally a great idea to treat American government like a reality show! (Recall the infamous comment by the CBS CEO who literally said that Trump was bad for America but great for CBS, because he pulled in high ratings and therefore lots of money and visibility for CBS. We live in the worst timeline.)

As such, the mainstream media has a vendetta against Biden, is determined that this time Trump is super definitely going to win and everyone will see how genius they are, and not-so-secretly wants Trump back because a) he's good for money and ratings, and b) because the media conglomerations are owned by oligarchs who have a vested interest in making sure that Democrats and their policies never get too popular. Notice how the once self-proclaimed centrist independent Elon Musk has turned into a rabidly alt-right fanboy ever since the Democrats really got serious about taxing billionaires as a key part of their platform. Likewise, insisting that Biden Iz Doomed makes Democrats nervous (and thus more likely to tune in) and Republicans gleeful (and thus more likely to tune in), so there's literally no incentive for the media to even try to report things accurately. You could create a very different narrative of the 2024 election if you just remotely bothered to write about things that have actually happened as they have actually taken place, rather than bending over backward to insist that Biden being four years older than Trump is a worse crime than 91 felony indictments, 2 impeachments, 1 insurrection, 450 million dollars and counting in punitive jury verdicts, more major criminal trials coming down the pipe, and just demonstrably being the worst human being alive in so many ways. I mean. Wow.

The good news, as I said in my other post, is that when people actually vote, these utter bullshit narratives get routinely blown out of the water, and that's a good thing. Because it turns out that unlike Super Smart Beltway Pundits' Super Smart Predictions, the average American does actually like democracy and freedom for women to make their own personal healthcare decisions, and they vote accordingly. So while yes, it's being made harrowingly much harder than it needs to be because of how much the media simply refuses to report that basic fact, and there is no amount of evidence that will convince them otherwise, at least we're trending in the right direction and, if we all pull our weight, can do it one more time. I realized the other day that I hadn't heard a fucking peep about Ron DeSantis in the last two months, and oh, how glorious it was. I yearn beyond words for the day (God willing, soon) when the same is true of Trump as well.

[max1461]

I think there are three large classes of socialist concern, which are not reducible to each other and which require different types of solutions. I would describe them as follows:

Distributional concerns — Markets tend towards inequality, and thus even in times of abundance fail to allocate resources to people who need them.

Concerns over autonomy — Private control of resources, especially when it is highly concentrated, comes at the cost of the autonomy of those who don't control the resources. As a significant special case of this, private control of the means of production deprives workers of autonomy over their own work, which constitutes most of their waking lives. Concentration of property in the hands of the few leaves most people with no choice but to sell their labor, turning them into workers deprived of autonomy in the above sense.

Humanistic concerns — Markets optimize for specific outcomes and, furthermore, the desirable properties of market economies are predicated on the existence of firms which optimize for profit. In both cases these optimization procedures are premature; they do not factor in the full human condition and thus come at the cost of many things which people find desirable.

In my view, a successful socialist program must at least attempt to address all three of these concerns. Often when debating other socialists, I feel that they err by focusing on some of these concerns to the exclusion of the others.

I have listed these concerns in order of how difficult I believe them to be to solve. Concern (1) can, in fact, be solved relatively easily even within a liberal economic system, by implementing massive redistributive taxes that equalize wealth. I want to stress that this proposal is still radical by the standards of any nation on earth today, but a solution is easy to imagine. And all these problems are interrelated; solving (1), for instance, would go a long way towards remedying (2).

Concern (2) can also, I think, be solved or at least greatly mitigated under a market framework, though not a classical liberal one. Replacing private firms wholesale with worker co-ops would go along way towards addressing (2), and in combination with the above solution for (1) provides I think the easiest to conceptualize vision of what a workable socialist (socialist enough) economy might look like.

Concern (3) is by far the hardest to address—it is in essence just the alignment problem as applied to economic systems. Suffice it to say, the problem remains open.

A common theme I see in debates between certain (usually more liberal-leaning) practically-minded socialists and certain (usually more radical) utopian-minded socialists is that the practical socialist will propose some solution that aims to address (1) and (2), and the more utopian-minded socialist will respond with vague and often not particularly coherent accusations of insufficient radicalism. The practical socialist will often then reply by dismissing the utopian's criticisms as nothing but hot air, as unserious radical posturing. But I think this represents an unfortunate misunderstanding. That utopian is often pointing at something real, even if it is articulated in a way that offends more pragmatic sensibilities. Concern (3) touches on every part of human life, I think it's fair to say, and though the habit of incoherently blaming everything that goes wrong on capitalism is not that useful, it doesn't point at nothing.

The alignment problem is not solved in the general case, but there are things we can change about a system to try and make it more aligned with specific, known goals. So the job of a good socialist (or really, anyone interested in any kind of political reform) should then be to listen to the ways in which people are dissatisfied with their lives, even when articulated poorly, and try to accrue an understanding of the most recurrent and significant ways in which the present system fails to satisfy people. Then you can look for specific tweaks that will more readily accommodate the things people in fact seem to want. But crucially, this task in empirical—you cannot come upon the most desirable tweaks rationally. It's also empirical in a way that is difficult to approach with any kind of scientific rigor. You have to listen to people, and try to understand them on their own terms. You have to try to understand where people are coming from even if they phrase things in a way that you very much dislike, a way that irritates you or makes you feel threatened.

As I've said before, "listen to marginalized voices" is oft-misused, but not actually incorrect as a description of the practical obligations of anyone who wants to consider themself a leftist.

[therotatingvillain]

Funny things in Baby Steps, my unfinished Pokevillain fanfic

Alright, after spending too long in a severe depression hole and also spending like way too much time at work, here I am again!

This is gonna be my first update on the Pokevillain fanfiction that my last post was about. What I’m doing is reading through those 43 pages and just get a base understanding of what the fuck I was even doing.

To have all of you be part of this, you’ll get my live thoughts about it! So be ready for some shitposting and a few sneak peeks at the story haha

Cyrus insisting on just being called ��Cyrus’ because ‘Mr. Akagi’ reminds him of his father is such a mood. Also, yeah, I use their japanese names as their last names, except Guzma, because Guzmas japanese name is Guzma lol So for him I just used his german name ‘Bromley’. Such an ass name

Having stayed in a hospital for the first time not too long ago, 2020 me was surprisingly accurate when it came to hospital food

“What do you think? Aren’t you supposed to be incredibly smart?” She kept smiling, but Cyrus knew it was fake. It had been ever since she entered. It was the same smile his mother always had when talking to guests or clients. God I hate Cyrus nurse, I made her such a bitch lmao

Forgot I made Cyrus lactose intolerant lol

That smile made Cyrus want to go back into the distortion world No comment needed

‘New Guy’ seemed like a major downgrade from ‘God of a new dimension’ but for now, having terribly failed the latter one, the first one was acceptable. 2020 me had banger humor

Guzma looking at Cyrus and just going “You’re my friend now” is how I make all of my friends

Ah yeah, Giovanni is there because of another failed attempt, except for Guzma the rest is there because of court mandation and Guzma is there because Nanu got him a spot.

almost like touching a Rotom that couldn’t quite control its energy. Foreshadowing? Maybe

Guzma immediately having Cyrus back even when Cyrus is clearly in the wrong is so funny to me

Aaaaaaaah gays bonding over piano music

Ah yes, Maxie and Archie are divorced husbands. Yes, they still love each other, yes, Maxie still actively wears his wedding ring while Archie always has it on him somehow

“Hey fuckers, time for lunch!” Mood Guz

Lysandre desperately trying to socialise with his roommate only to routinely be fucked over by his own shitty mental health and eating disorder is too real man

Dr. Roberts is such a kind soul, he’s the therapist OC I created specifically for this story and he’s just a sweetie who’s fantastic at his job and also, obviously, gay and married with a couple kids.

Cyrus went to college (duh) and majored in: Electrical Engineering, Economics, Computer Engineering, Political Science and Computer Science. And finished all his majors in 4 years. Yikes dude, my boy just wanted to study the stars but he was denied by his bullshit parents

Ah yes, Cyrus sister. Buckle in people, time for a bit of lore:

So we all remember the Old Chateau in Eterna Forrest back in gen 4, right? Right. For a long time there was a theory that perhaps Cyrus grew up in that house. How did we come to that conclusion? Basically, Cyrus in Platinum (and the USUM Rainbow Rocket episode) has a severe obsession with the Pokemon Rotom, supplying Charon with detailed notes and diaries all about it and in the Rainbow Rocket episode, he nearly has a breakdown upon seeing the Rotom dex. Now where do you find Rotom in Gen 4? Hiding in a TV in the Old Chateau. So, we theorized that Cyrus grew up there. What else do we find in the Old Chateau? The spirits of a butler and a small girl. So, the theory goes that Cyrus used to have a little sister, but she and a butler of the family were killed in an accident, probably involving the Rotom Cyrus kept, most likely hidden from his parents. Afterwards, his family moved to Sunyshore, leaving the Chateau, where Rotom was still hiding, possibly having come back in search of it’s friend (Cyrus) and then hiding in the TV because it was scared as it was alone, Cyrus nowhere to be found, and sought comfort in the electrical appliance. That’s how the theory goes. This theory is true in my story.

Maxie and Archie being extremely angry bordering on violent with each other makes me sad. And I wrote this shit!

The fact that Cyrus, on his first day there, immediately has a panic attack in the evening is relatable.

Also, Giovanni helps him through it and they start bonding and being cute hehe

For every scene involving stargazing, be aware that I have zero idea about stars. I grew up in the middle of fuck nowhere, so I can see them very clearly each night, but I still have little to no idea about how to read stars lol

Lysandre has anorexia and Cyrus is way too oblivious to understand that it’s ana so he’s just constantly like “wow youre thin” until it clicks lmao

Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Charon are just codenames and Cyrus never bothered to learn their actual names. Is this also foreshadowing? Maybe hehe

YES CYRUS STAND YOUR GROUND TO THAT PISS POOR EXCUSE OF A NURSE i hate her so much man

Cyrus is a deeply kind person. I will not elaborate yet

Yes, Maxie and Archie get over their shit and back together

Yes, it spirals Giovanni into another suicide attempt

No, I shall not elaborate how one leads to the other

But yeah, there’s a pretty intense part of this that deals with Giovannis shitty mental state and his active suicide attempt (that only barely failed) and Cyrus ends up having a severe breakdown because of it. Like I said in my last post, this story deals with some heavy topics.

Guz and Ly really take on the roles of dads to Cyrus, to help him be more open in his expression and just be who he is and I think that’s beautiful

His breath was caught in his throat, his chest and stomach spreading a comfortable warmth through his body.

What was this? A heart attack? 

No, those felt different. There was no stabbing pain. I love writing Cyrus

THERAPY POKEMON EVERYONE yes the leaders are getting therapy Pokemon

Here’s a list of who they get:

Giovanni: His Persian

Maxie: Toxel

Archie: Hypno

Cyrus: His Rotom

Ghetsis: Castform

Lysandre: Levanny

Guzma: His Golisopod

I’d love for yall to theorize on why each leader gets their respective Pokemon! I actually put some thought in all of them haha

Cyrus grandfather has a big role in Cyrus’ recovery, and it starts with a simple visit that is still one of my favorite parts of this story so far

Cyrus grandfather (Paul Akagi) is the polar opposite to his parents, Paul is kind, loving, supportive and really just wants Cyrus to be happy and their relationship???? it warms my heart

A big part of connection for all of the leaders, specifically everyone else and Ghetsis, is a broken piano in the common room that they all work together to fix and that piano really is a symbol for Cyrus’ recovery and especially his willingness to get better.

GUZMA IS TRANS and this is a fact because I am trans and I said so. Also Ghetsis is a bigot. End of sentence lol

Ghetsis saying some transphobic shit and Guzma then going to PULL HIS NON PARALYZED ARM OUT OF ITS SOCKET is such a girly pop move

Also yes everything I’ve written so far ends on Maxie and Archie remarrying and Dr. Roberts allowing everyone to drink alcohol in celebration and yes of course it escalates lol

Alright everyone, that’s it for now, I’m all caught up, hopefully I’ll get some time to actually write a bit more the next few days. 

As always, please please please interact with this, tell me your thoughts so far, ask questions, I NEED IT okay cool thank you.

I have work tomorrow so I shall go and kill myself lol

Have a great whenever you are! Stay hydrated

Love all of you.

[blackhairedjjun]

flowers of every color | 8. sweet peas

this blog, including this fic, will be deleted soon. to save this fic, read it on ao3.

overall summary: when your father is assigned as the new head gardener to the royal family, you are also tasked with helping him maintain the castle's many gardens and extensive floral arrangements. by chance you find yourself crossing paths with the "ice-cold" crown prince, choi yeonjun... who turns out to be not as ice-cold as everyone says he is.

chapter summary: yeonjun's engagement starts to speed up. despite the end of your friendship with him, you somehow make amends with the other two princes.

word count: 2.1k

warnings: none? less angst than the previous 2 chapters but still some of it

author's notes included at the end!

prev | masterlist | next

yeonjun hates how easy it is for him to act indifferent these days.

his tea has gone cold and queen hwayoung is blabbering away about some recent economic development in her kingdom, yet her words simply go in one ear and come out the other. her daughter, princess ajin, sits stiffly across him, the lemon tart on her plate barely touched. she’s hardly said a word all afternoon, offering only a few polite words when spoken to, and when she looks at yeonjun her face is a mask. these teatime sessions are supposed to be a way for him to get to know her, yet she remains as impenetrable as ever.

in response he offers little more than standard courtesy. if the princess is only interested in him as a political tool, then why even bother to open himself up to her?

“what do you think of the tarts, your majesty?” he says. “our kitchen makes fine pastries.”

“they’re delicious.” princess ajin’s voice doesn’t even change in tone.

queen hwayoung nods. “and what say you on the tea we brought? our farmers grow the finest tea leaves served in royal courts and noble houses all over. i like to think that whenever we serve our tea to distinguished guests such as yourself, you share in the privilege of being part of our heritage.”

“that’s... a lot of meaning to place on tea.”

the queen frowns. “it’s a meaning that brings us might. besides, it’s not any different from placing silly meanings in, say, flowers.”

yeonjun presses his lips together. he would argue that it isn’t silly, and in fact the meanings that placed on flowers have brought people together 一 he would know firsthand. but he thinks of you, of the vase sitting empty in his room for weeks, and of the striped carnations you ultimately filled it with as a final message, and he realizes that flowers are just as capable of separating people as they are of binding them.

“i guess you’re right, your majesty. and the tea is delicious.”

“and this was a good tea break,” princess ajin adds, as if reading from an invisible cue.

yeonjun nods. he glances at the half-eaten tart on his own plate and remembers the key lime pie he asked beomgyu to deliver to you. he realizes that he never found out if you liked it, or if it even reached you in the first place. tea with you was always more lively, even if you did nothing more than sit next to him, your side nestled against his, as you listen to him chatter about his day. an ache tugs at his heart at the memory.

perhaps those days with you were always meant to come to an end. they certainly would if he marries princess ajin, and they would too if he were married off to any other royal or aristocratic figure. perhaps you did him a small mercy by ending things quickly on your terms to save him from the heartache of being forced apart.

but even if it were a mercy, it certainly doesn’t feel like one.

queen hwayoung clears her throat and yeonjun is shaken out of his thoughts. “things are going smoothly, aren’t they? i haven’t heard any objections from you or my daughter, after all.” she is smiling but her eyes are narrowed. “i take this as a positive development. perhaps it is time to hasten preparations for a wedding?”

yeonjun’s eyes widen. he glances at princess ajin and her expression remains exactly the same.

“i don’t think being hasty is such a good idea, your majesty一”

the queen sighs. “i am not being too hasty, i believe. i am simply reading the signs of an advantageous marriage.” she glances down at her daughter. “don’t you think so, my dear?”

the princess nods and smiles. yeonjun can’t tell if it’s genuine or not.

“and your majesty, do remind me to place the rest of the house of choi on the guest list, yes? i hear that their delegates are leaving soon. i do not want them to miss out on a momentous occasion.”

一

while tending to the marigolds at the front entrance one day, you notice two carts parked to the side partially filled with suitcases. at first you don’t think much of it 一 guests come and go to the castle all the time 一 but when you pass them by on your way to the greenhouse, you notice that some of the suitcases in both carts are embossed with the house of choi insignia. your interest is piqued. when you walk up to the suitcases for a closer look, you see that the crests are not identical to the ones found around the castle; rather, they look like the alternate versions that soobin and beomgyu have on their coats.

ah, you realize. the members of the other branches are heading back home soon.

for the past few days you’ve felt numb, keeping to yourself and sticking to your daily tasks, but the sight of the crests causes a bit of sadness to hang over you. for the first time in weeks you think back on your time with the three princes. in your mind you still hear beomgyu’s raucuous laughter after scoring a point against soobin at football, or the light in soobin’s eyes as he rambles about his favorite adventure novels. you remember how kindly they treated you and how readily they welcomed you as one of their own friends.

you didn’t mean to push them away, but since they were always around yeonjun, the end of your friendship with him inadvertently meant the end of your friendship with them too. the guilt creeps at you as you head back to the greenhouse, your heart now heavy.

as the days pass, you see more and more signs of the other branches’ impending departure. you deliver some more herbs to the kitchen and spot the menu taped to one of the walls, recognizing some of the dishes as specialties from the central and eastern regions. you see more and more of the branches’ guest advisors roaming the hallways, idly chatting and laughing with court officials, catching up with old friends one last time. when you pass by the carriages again, you see even more luggage piled up.

you consider saying hello to soobin and beomgyu one last time and apologizing them for getting them into the mess that you made. you don’t want their last memories of you to be bittersweet, after all. yet when you imagine what the encounter might be like, you freeze; you don’t know if they will forgive you or accept your farewell. in the greenhouse you contemplate preparing two pots of sweet peas for them, flowers of goodbye to send them off and wish them well, and you get as far as setting aside two earthen pots and filling them with soil. but when the time comes to actually fill them with blooms, you hesitate.

despite your hesitation, you run into them anyway.

one afternoon, as you head back to the greenhouse, you pass by the open meadows and hear the familiar shouts of a badminton game in progress. you stop in your tracks to watch beomgyu pick up the shuttlecock and lob it at soobin, and for a while you smile to yourself as they hit it back and forth, back and forth, running and teasing each other the whole time. beomgyu tries his best to distract or startle soobin by making loud noises whenever the shuttlecock flies his way, yet soobin manages to keep his focus... until he misjudges his swing and the shuttlecock ends up bouncing off his nose.

you laugh at the sight and the game comes to a halt.

the shuttlecock is forgotten on the grass as both boys turn to you. soobin looks at you with narrowed eyes, as if watching a suspicious stranger instead of an old friend, and you want to crumple into yourself at his gaze. you remember the conversation you had with him: it’s been a really long time since yeonjun opened himself up to someone and it’s doing him good, so thanks for being there for him. 

you turn instead to beomgyu, whose gaze is more neutral but tinged with hesitation. still, the younger choi trudges through the meadow towards you, ignoring soobin’s look of scrutiny. he wrings his hands for a bit while saying nothing, but manages to pull himself together and look you in the eye.

“so, uh... we haven’t heard from you in a while,” he says.

again you feel like crumpling into yourself.

“yeah... i know.” you shift your weight from one foot to the other. “i’m really sor一”

“do you want to play with us?”

you blink. the last thing you expected was an invitation to join them, not after avoiding them and especially not after what you did to yeonjun. soobin seems to share your sentiment, his mouth agape as he shoots beomgyu a confused stare. but beomgyu glances back at him and nods, instantly communicating something; when soobin turns back to you, he looks a little less suspicious and gives you a nod too.

beomgyu turns to you again with a polite smile. “so, how about it?”

then it clicks in your head: this is a tentative truce. they want to test the waters with you, see if you can be trusted again, but first beomgyu needs everyone to calm down and put down their walls. when you realize this you stop shifting your weight as the energy in you changes. you’re being given a second chance, and you need to seize it.

“sure, i’ll join you,” you say.

you jog over to them and beomgyu hands you a spare racquet. soobin sits the game out 一 you can tell that he still feels uneasy about you, and you don’t blame him. you take your position as beomgyu picks up the shuttlecock and prepares to serve.

the game begins.

the first few points are short and uneventful, going back and forth between you and beomgyu without flair. but at 3-3, you somehow end up in a long rally — you try to smash, he nearly dives to send it back, you scramble to hit, he screams as he miraculously picks it up, you try to smash again, he screams even louder and lobs the shot, you send it back just in time, but it’s too high and he smashes it down on your side with an almighty yell.

���HAH! I’M WINNING!” he shouts as he waves his racquet above his head like a flag. you’re out of breath from the rally but you still find it in you to cheer.

even soobin is laughing and clapping. “you finally have a worthy opponent.”

“yeah! i never have long rallies with you, hyung!”

the rest of the game is just as exciting. you and beomgyu struggle for each point, chasing after the shuttlecock and screaming with each hit, and soobin gets on his feet to serve as referee. that turns out to be a good thing, because beomgyu starts to challenge all of your clean smashes as out of bounds just to mess with your head. but you don’t mind either way; you’re breathless and smiling and truly happy and it feels like old times all over again.

the two of you are in the middle of another long rally before beomgyu interrupts the point. “hyung! do you want to join us? yeonjun hyung!”

you turn around and see yeonjun for the first time since your argument. you’re far enough from him that you can see his whole posture and the way his shoulders are noticeably slumped. whatever lightness you felt starts to disappear as your chest tightens and the guilt floods back in.

but oh, something good still blooms in you at the sight of him.

he turns in your direction with an empty stare. “i can’t. i’m busy.”

with that, he marches off.

you open your mouth to call for him but all you do is choke back a sob. your racquet falls from your hand and, in a daze, you stare at the spot where yeonjun stood. you barely register beomgyu jogging over to you and talking.

“let’s stop the game for now, okay?”

you nod, not even moving to face him.

“i’ll go after hyung,” you hear soobin say as he starts to walk out of the meadow. he glances at beomgyu, then at you: “you really need to work things out.”

notes:

this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones, and actually this + chapter 9 were originally supposed to be one chapter. but since the second half was getting long i decided to make it into its own chapter instead.

at this point i've pretty much drafted the rest of the story, so the plan for the rest of the fic is this: there will be two more regular chapters, followed by the two alternate endings. since the story is ending soon i'm closing the taglist on wednesday, may 31, 12am utc+8. if you want to be added please send me an ask before then!

taglist (closes may 31 12am utc+8) @seosalad @lilplilplilp @yeonboy @pyuae @hyuneyeon @strawbrinkofdeath @yushiu @mazeinthemoon @banggyu0308 @shytubatu @kyaneosprincess @agustdiv1ne @whippedforbeomgyu @justineasian @skywithf1 @wrongbathroom

[centrally-unplanned]

Do you think there's something the Democrats could've done better to respond to the whole "vibecession" narrative?

Not directly too much. Like I can envision some radically different world where the education system somehow magically teaches people to value BLS reports and aggregate financial indicators and grok "loss aversion bias" over their instincts and their facebook feed? But that obviously isn't happening today, and I don't even think that is a fair point to make. People have told you, loud and clear, that they prefer unemployment to inflation. This makes sense, actually - during a recession the large majority of people don't lose their jobs. The large increase in wages for the bottom ~20% of Americans in the economic boom has meant large increases in the costs of services for wealthier Americans, and those wealthier Americans are the majority. People aren't solely self-interested when voting, not at all, but they absolutely partially are. I don't think in practice things could have been much better given realistic constraints, but I understand the ideal world of an economic recovery with no inflation that they wanted. Dems didn't deliver that, so they got punished.

That doesn't mean Dems could have done nothing ofc. One way is, of course, to just do better policy! I give them a C+/B- overall on the post-pandemic economic stuff, I have realistic expectations, but I could generate a gigantic list of policies that hurt the US economic that Dems either actively embraced or at least refused to touch. And additionally, there is the branding of it. I think it was good policy because I don't think temporary sub-10% inflation is that big of a deal, but in hindsight everyone should be really sus of the politics of having the signature Biden Administration policy agenda be about global warming. Voters don't care about climate change compared to the big stuff, and it plays into exactly that "out of touch elites" narrative. I don't think it hurt them very much, they did a decent job pairing it and branding it with more populist stuff? But you can see a world where they passed some big bill actually deserving of the name Inflation Reduction Act, and being able to say "we tried" even if it didn't work. I don't think anything short of actually making inflation lower would have helped this time around, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt.

The other way is to of course just run with it as part of an outsider's campaign. Hold a primary, the unpopular Biden loses, and the Dem Ticket explicitly embraces "the Biden Era mismanaged the economy, we will right the ship" as its agenda. Why this didn't happen and how effective if it could have been has been talked to death in other posts though, so I will leave it for now.

[insanescriptist]

Im so scared because of this election and what it means for my loved ones and I.

If you're a global nonnie,

I'm sorry; you believed in the intelligence and humanity of the average American voter and were denied both.

Obviously Trump being elected is going to embolden the worst politics; either to use or abuse or both, the world and it's peoples. Not just in the current warring areas, but all over the world.

And remember, Trump is currently 78; he could easily die of natural causes within the next four years. Without Trump's star power, a lot of that momentum will die fast.

If you're in the US nonnie,

If you live in a Blue state, your state's likely to stay Blue, with all that being a Blue state entails

If you live in a Red state, your state is likely to stay Red, with all that being a Red state entails

If you live in a Purple state, it's likely going to swing one way or another and I wish you the best in surviving the politics and the political ads

Further US specifics under the cut

Like I'll be real and say I'm disappointed my state's not more purple, which is the best color anyway (side effect of living in the South; it's very Red Republican politics) but it is what it is; we just gotta live with it or deal with it so... most posts I've seen going around have focused on the importance of letting yourself grieve, choosing an issue to focus on and avoiding burnout. I think I'll focus on awareness somewhat. Just things to watch out for. Because there's going to be all sorts of obnoxious crowing and cawing about everything. I'll touch on things and if I had the time and energy, I'd link to various stories and sites but most of what I'll say here is easy enough to verify in broad strokes with a couple of internet searches.

If you're worried about the economy... yeah that's a valid worry and probably not the way you're thinking. You're thinking another trade war (Mexico would love it if there is btw, they benefited off of the last one and the Farmers who had soy in their fields as part of that rotation lost so much money) which would be ow for the US again, but mostly survivable as trade wars only focus either a trade good or trade partnership. The lesser issue but more concerning, Trump will slash anything he wants (regulations mostly) to ensure an economic boon because that's what people want and will notice by year 2 and 3 of his second term. What they'll celebrate. That and cheap gas. What they won't notice for a couple years is the further loosening of food regs (see all the recent food recalls and outbreaks) and what people won't notice for decades is the infrastructure issues (building regs for housing and ofc infrastructure in general.) There's also the various other safety regs and requirements built into the laws, no matter how shitty it is ie workman's comp. Regs are built in blood but business don't care if their money is bloody. But yeah, these reg slashes are going to crop up with after effects for absolute decades afterwards. Don't believe me? You should watch more housing renovation programs; there's various types of plumbing and electrical regulations that can absolutely date your house. And yes, the housing insurance companies can spot them and also not tell you about them, but certainly charge you for the increased risk. That's just for the housing regs btw. Industrials regs concern entire industries, like how much carbon your car can emit to be considered eco-friendly to what sort of pipes can be laid out where. No one wants to be the next Flint, Michigan but it could easily happen and probably with something else. There's buildings made less than 50 years ago that are made with materials considered unsafe by standards now. There's also banking shit to consider with businesses and housing. The oodles of various office and retail space unused which um. The banks care a lot about unused office space that can't even be refit into human housing. Empty retail space can eventually be filled with another business. Empty offices less so now that more businesses are less tied to the office as a place. (Reduces other business' overhead.) Banks hate having empty unprofitable buildings in their portfolio, but at least the interest rates are back to "normal" percentages. Like I won't get into the the money generation/shuffle game that's going on with the US debt, other than 2.4% is sustainable for political purposes and not humanitarian purposes, because boy would it be nice to slash the national debt. Really make the dollar worth something that way. Sure, I'll take getting paid more, but I'd sure like to be able to also buy more with my pay. Because foodstuff is still going high because of various supply issues due to climate issues, the newest banana plague, in addition to many, many recalls. Like does no one remember the arson going around various meat farms several years ago? The various poultry farms ended because of avian flu? Long story short, the food prices are still so high because supply is pretty fucked up. Stores have been jumping through so many hoops to get supplied, that the logistics people are probably Olympic level rhythm dancers by now. Which is an additional complication to the whole ongoing recall issues whenever there's a bad batch of anything. They're a bit too busy ensuring supply to always have all the documentation in order. Which obviously, recalls work best when stores know which products to pull. More economic news though, Trump is going to be so good for businesses. And so bad for the people.

If you're worried about your medical health, that's also a valid worry. Especially with his comments on various known vaccines. Like the standard ones we've had for ages. Might wanna get those touched up. Medical red tape is annoying to wade through at the best of times but he's not in office yet, so plan accordingly. Make the most use of your health benefits this year and next year (they're already set for the year), since the year after will be once he's in office and things will obviously shift to some degree with whatever health insurance you've got, if any. A little medical debt in prevention is more than worth the expense of cure later. Get the cavities seen to. Get that pap smear. Refresh your vaccinations. Do your tests, get your bloodwork ran and go through it bit by bit. Take your damn vitamins. (And your meds.) Because again, those regulations? Those are going to get more loosey-goosey. In some things. More tight on some things than others. It's going to vary by state politics. Like my state for example does allow for birth control but not for abortion. Would I like abortion to be an option, yes, because my state is terrible about supporting families after the birth of a child beyond WIC and SNAP benefits. Daycare waiting lists can be over a year and maternity/paternity leave is something of a joke depending on what/who you work for. About the only solid boon I can think of would be Trump's loosening of the health regs, that might entice some nurses back to nursing, easing that lack of human resources in the health care system. As a red state, there were so so so many nurses I've talked to that quit/retired rather than take a booster shot for Covid or even the original Covid shot. Which is a whole different story, but not for here.

If you're worried about your public safety because you're part of a vulnerable/minority population? Yeah, be concerned. Trump's political leanings and what he says emboldens all kinds of impulses in the worst people. So they might actually go through with impulses they wouldn't otherwise act on. The KKK might try to recruit again. Which I wish was a joke, but they actually did try to have a public, local to Izzy, meet during Trump's previous term; they got scared off by the locals. So general advice Look at travel recommendations/warnings when going through parts of the US. Plan trips carefully. Consider moving to friendlier places if able, take precautions if unable or unwilling. Keep to a buddy system. Stay with friends in public. Make your plans for if the worst happens so you don't anxiety spiral. Know who to crash with in an emergency How to get copies of your important documents if they're all ash or being held by another party etc. I know no one really does this nowadays but know your emergency contact's phone number!!! Still very important information. Your phone can be dead, lost, stolen or confiscated and along with all the data on it and with it. (Those phone cases with the wallet attachment? How delightful, a lost phone that has a wallet attached, especially one with a photo ID of any kind is a golden goose for anyone looking to do a little identity theft. Because in order to call to put cancels/holds on all your cards, you've gotta have a phone.) Also as a reminder, your biggest and best shield is your confidence; the moment you act like prey, you'll be treated as such by those looking for targets. Do your murder strut and your main problem will be people asking you for directions and grannies trying to get you to go to church.