#anti far right

[ultraericthered]

What I say:

What I mean:

[agentfascinateur]

Hope 🕊️

Standing Together 👏🏼👏🏼💜

#not in their name

[ultraericthered]

Pegasus addresses his home nation. He is greatly disappointed.

[ultraericthered]

Encountered a "Queers For Palestine" post on my dashboard 'cause it's pride month so of course I would, and I just...

You guys do realize that Hamas hates the whole lot of you and would put you to death if they saw you down there in Gaza? And so if we want to see things made better for queers in Palestine, the total destruction of Hamas and removal of such extreme far right islamic theocrats from power over Gaza would be the natural first step to it?

Just figured that should be every bit as important to the cause as supporting victims of the bombings, protesting against the reckless warfare on innocent civilians, and advocating for a ceasefire, thus every bit as clearly communicated as an objective for Palestine's future. Otherwise you end up like the "useful idiots" described here:

[ultraericthered]

[ultraericthered]

I've been very familiar with Wicked for several years now. I read the novel that the musical was based on (which mostly kind of sucked), knew the story of the musical, and have listened to the soundtrack. But it alway sat just okay with me. In particular, the character of Elphaba Thropp, I felt, was a very interesting concept - what if the Wicked Witch of the West was a layered, sympathetic, relatable person whose whole deal was so much more complex than simply being "wicked" for no reason, and that popular image of her as the cruel, nasty, fearsome hag we're all familar with was a myth based in a propagandized narrative spun to turn people against her? With Glinda the Good Witch, the Wizard of Oz, and the land of Oz itself all being deeper and darker than they appeared at a glance? That is fantastic on an imagination level, though it took the musical to fully realize the idea, and we got a great take on the Oz lore and great iteration of the Wicked Witch as a result. But I still didn't feel Elphie was anything too much greater than the character who sourced her (Margaret Hamilton's Witch in particular is a great villain on her own merits), and she sort of started a trend in both parodies and legit works of going for the lazy "they're not truly evil, they're just misunderstood!" villain revisionism, particularly when coupled with the equally lazy "and the people you thought were good guys were actually the real villains!" Count Dracula, Captain Hook, Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, the Grinch, Carmen Sandiego, Lex Luthor, Light/Kira and even other lesser villains like the fucking Beanstalk Giant got this treatment over time. It's like Wicked made what was done as a joke with the Big Bad Wolf way back when acceptable to play straight, so it was a sore spot on Elphaba's legacy for me.

But let me tell you...watching Wicked Part 1 in theaters in the year 2024 the other day made something go off in my head. Elphaba's story through just Act 1 alone struck a chord with me that it hadn't before, to the point where I had to hold back tears towards the very end. Suddenly not only was all the political commentary in the story so much clearer and more relevant than it had ever been, but I got Elphie's character arc and a core piece of it that ties directly into that political commentary after it had gone over my head for years.

SPOILERS FOR WICKED PART ONE WILL FOLLOW

So the part of Elphaba's story that got me was her "relationship" with the Wizard of Oz. How she lived her life since childhood idolizing this man, absolutely loving the idea of the Wizard, being thankful to him for every blessing she and the land of Oz had, and dreaming of a day where she'd one day meet him, be apprenticed by him, and become like family with him because if he, the Great and Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself, could accept her, then the entire rest of Oz would have no choice but to accept her too. She'd finally have the mass acceptance, validation, and care from others she'd always yearned for. And yeah, that has to do with her self worth issues and yearning to belong somewhere with someone, and I always got that well before seeing the movie. Struggling with your self esteem and feeling ostracized from the world around you due to having been born different from others with whom you share that world was always the relatable aspect for Elphie for me, 'cause I've been there.

But the stuff with the Wizard once she's actually met him took on a whole new meaning for me now. It's been said ad nauseum now that the idea of some carnival barker huckster fraudster simpleton being put into a position of political power and leadership despite having no actual power and next to no merits to him all while others around him with their own sinister agendas look to curry favor with him in order to use him to their advantage and reap benefits from his position, and these people creating a scapegoat out of whoever can serve as a "common enemy" to unite people in fear, anger, hatred, grievance, prejudice and opposition to, is more timely, hard-hitting and realistic now than ever before, drawing parallel to the rise of our incoming First Felon President and the MAGA nightmare we cannot seem to awaken from. All of it said, all of it true. However, it cuts way deeper for me. In my scenario, the Wizard of Oz isn't the Felon, as I never had any faith or loving for that man and all he did was exceed my reservations about him. The Wizard of Oz is my country, the (former) United States of America itself. Just like Elphaba in Emerald City, on the days following November 5 2024, I had to look at something I'd been taught was Great And Wonderful since childhood, something I'd loved and gone on believing truly was Great And Wonderful for years, and reckon with the harsh truth that I'd learned about, loved, and had wanted to serve something that never actually existed. And the fault doesn't lie with the Founding Fathers and the fundamental creed that America was built upon, which is as Great And Wonderful now as it was all those centuries ago. The fault is with the sad reality that, due to people, ideas, beliefs, systems, institutions, traditional practices, holes and vices in government, and the corrosion of democracy, the nation we've had since the founding, the nation I've lived in from the day I was born, has constantly failed to live up to its own core ideals. People in power still can and do take away "certain inallieable rights" that all humans are born with from the humans born with them, all citizens are not treated with equality, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is continously impeded, we are not "indivisible" no matter how fragile the states hold together, there is not "liberty and justice for all", there exists a certain class of people who are, in fact, above the law, the three branches of governments seldom function the way they were made to, and the melting pot isn't "melting" people the right way as much since we've become more exclusionary than inclusive. As with the Wizard and the Grimmerie, this country is run by weak, stupid, mediocre men who are either unable to read the Constitution, or they can but just do not feel inclined to actually follow and respect it in letter and spirit. The only truly good, fair and just thing for a long while was the "self-governing" nature of the populace's participation in democracy and the self-corrections that would be made from it... but that ended up exploited in order to become the very thing that sealed its damnation. My nation was never evil, but at the same time, it has never been great, as it's so often failed to do good. It's a nation of moral goodness in perpetual bondage by the not-so-good that wants to exploit all the good it's capable of for them and their interests alone. "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave?" Sure, but only because the Free and the Brave who've lived here are all far better than it deserves.

And then we reach "Defying Gravity." I always linked the title of this song to Elphaba taking flight on her broomstick. But only now do I grasp the full meaning of that title, and the weight the term holds in its proper context. Elphaba is making a choice to defy Oz. To rebel against a corrupt system by a corrupt government that is corrupting the land and harming vulnerable others. She makes this choice even when what she's rebelling against holds the advantage in all power sans magical and possesses the resources and means to turn the ignorant masses against her and ensure they remain on their side. From the offset, she is very unlikely to prevail. That's why it's like struggling against a greater force that is trying to push you down and can normally easily do so - a force like gravity. And yet Elphie fights. She defies. She does so even if it means she has to make herself look like a villain, reasoning that even if her enemy is great and powerful, and the odds of defeating it seem impossible, it's not more powerful than her skills, her gifts, her convictions and her willpower. And so long as she has those, it can and will never bring her down.

I'd say the lesson here is "domestic terrorism in defiance of your government is good, actually", but it's a little bit more complicated.

So yeah, Wicked Part 1 is a masterpiece and Elphaba Thropp is an inspiration. If what she does is "wicked", then let us all aspire to be as wicked as her as the fight to rejuvinate the soul of our decayed republic and lay claim to a better future for all people in it goes on.

[sleeppaw]

Interesting

This means that people like J.K Rowling, Posie Parker and Andrew Tate can be classified as terrorists.

[ultraericthered]

Hamas: Goes into Israel for a terror attack, commits worst mass slaughter of Jews since Nazi Germany's Holocaust where they rape several Israeli girls and women, abuse and/or kill elderly Israelis, take many from their homes as hostages, even gleefully butcher, burn, and behead children, infants even. They show off many of these atrocities on social media uploads and parade dead or abducted Israelis through the streets of Gaza to the cheers of their supporters.

Also Hamas: Builds their bases nearby or underneath essential work buildings used by civillians such as offices, schools, and hospitals so that their Israeli enemies would be hesitant to strike there or if they do strike, the loss of innocent life can be blamed entirely on Israel. Keep the streets of Gaza full of civillians, most of whom are literal children, and hide amongst them to use them as human shields, and when Israel threatens Gaza with air strikes and calls for mass civillian evacuations, Hamas sets up road blocks and commands the people to not evacuate from their homes. The warfare would cease if Hamas were to simply release all their hostages back to Israel, but they refuse to do so because they're intent on piling up as many dead bodies as it might take to delegitimize, destabilize, and destroy Israel.

ALSO Hamas:

#FreePalestineFromHamas

[nando161mando]

‘You don’t have to enjoy your life. That’s a privilege reserved for the rich.’

[ultraericthered]

Late for the occasion, but it still satisfies me greatly!

GUILTY ON ALL 34 COUNTS

[ultraericthered]

Injecting this scene into everyone rn.

[ultraericthered]

Another Star Wars meme, now that the USA's a Nazi country.

[iseathegalaxy]

finding out your white and white male friends voted for the ultra right hurts but most of all it angers you

it angers you because they're your friends, have been your friends for over a decade, you grew up with them, you thought you shared the same values and it fucking sucks when politics finally becomes a topic of conversation, because you're grown now, and find out you don't really know these people, and it angers you because you've shared so much with them, with people you now realise are the exact same as people you've always despised and spoken up against

finding out your white and white male friends voted for the ultra right hurts and most of all it angers you but you ultimately see how it was always there

but finding out your queer friends, your immigrant friends, you neurodivergent friends, your barely-lower-middle class friends voted for the ultra right? friends you've seen go through struggles and discrimination and lack of possibilities? that shit cuts you like a knife to the fucking heart because you don't get it, you don't understand how they could listen to people that outwardly, blatantly and unapologetically hate them for who they are and are outright fascists and go "that's who I'm voting for, that's who represents me"

you don't get it and it angers you, it really does, but most of all it saddens you, it saddens you because they're dooming not just everyone else but themselves, too, either because they don't know or they don't care, and you don't know which one is worse

[ultraericthered]

In fairness, life did not exactly imitate the art here. It would've had Palpatine resurfaced immediately after his death, was right out there in the open rather than in the shadows during the rise of Snoke and the First Order, but the New Republic just....did nothing about him because the former supreme chancellor/galactic emperor is above all laws, and then everyone's still totally shocked when the Final Order makes itself known and Palps "somehow" returns to being a threat.

Which would be a stupider storyline than anything JJ Abrams or Rian Johnson could cook up, but it's the stupid storyline we're living now.

Ok this is the best one i've seen.

[ultraericthered]

To enjoy the misery of others, actively relish their suffering, and root for their complete collapse is normally against my character. It's behavior that is incompatible with my spirituality and my values.

So it really says something about what has happened in my country that I am very, very, very much anticipating getting to watch as the MAGA Party regime, the MAGA cult, their media enablers, and all of the traitorous fucks in this country who voted them back into power get swept up in a raging torrent of carnage, dysfunction, unease, unrest, poverty, violence, hurting, degradation and absolute flaming self-destruction next year as the consequences of their own actions.

The thing that separates me from them in that regard is that I can admit that's not right of me to do and also still have some pity for them. But then again, if ever any life claimed by the coming plague upon the nation is confirmed one of them, I won't shed a single tear.