#but demanding they achieve that by abandoning their goals

[trans-xianxian]

saw a post about how jiang cheng isn't selfish because he's done all of this stuff for his loved ones and it's like yeah. jiang cheng loves very deeply and that's. exactly why he's selfish. jiang cheng being selfish doesn't equal jiang cheng being heartless or unloving. his goals are to selfishly keep his loved ones, most notably wei wuxian, to himself at the expense of their own personal autonomy. when jiang cheng goes to the burial mounds and begs wei wuxian to give the wen remnants up and come home, he does it because he loves him, but he also does it because he's a selfish coward who puts his own wants for wei wuxians safety and companionship above wei wuxians personal wishes and the lives of the wens. these things are not mutually exclusive in fact they are intricately connected

[otkuhotgirl]

─── 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓 .

# with eustass kid.

kid knew you were oftentimes untamable — he had never been one to shy away from a challenge.

⎰ & KINKTOBER, (late) day six. smut (mdni!). dacryphilia. orgasm denial. mentions of blood. sadistic!kid. slight degradation kink. afab!reader. no y/n used.

WC: 2k.

eustass kid was far from the definition of kindness. brash, ruthless; a force to be reckoned with. those who dared to present a bother were to be annihilated, the merest glance enough to ignite the inexistent temper. kid was but the precise definition of the color who had become his since birth — dangerous, courageous, dominant. above it all withstood his drive and persistence, the unmovable obstinance used to fuel the achievement of his goal. he was a man that wanted — a famished hand outstretched and demanding, striving to steal from the world if the object of his desire was not willingly given.

your adhesion to his crew was a product of such a thing. a capable individual — whose abilities would be far more useful to his crew — trapped in the command of an incompetent captain. his intervention was but a blessing, for now you could revel in a life where stronger crewmates — him, as per usual — had the means to protect you from powerful foes. and it was clear that you had fitted right in; a perfect addition, made to be his. kid fell for what was diligent and strong; he had no time to waste with weaklings. and you were a force to be reckoned with.

unfortunately, as any storm, you were oftentimes impossible to tame. eustass kid adored a challenge whatsoever.

it didn’t matter the amount of times his cock left you wrecked and limp, unable to take yet another step. the tameness in the aftermath of his punishments was short-lived. he had but an hour or two until you regained enough strength to pull at his strings, and to poke his temper until it exploded. you were a devil, lurking, teasing and coercing; coaxing him to fall straight into a well-placed trap. regardless, he’d follow — and he’d wreck you.

the weather was hot; the waters were calm. dive had managed to convince half the crew to scavenge the town for some ice cream, whereas those who remained opted for a swimming session near the shore. you were sprawled on a resting-chair, sunbathing with a stolen lollipop inside your mouth. the sweet was round; red. your tongue made circular movements before you sucked on it, hollowing your cheeks, well-aware of his persistent glare. a few droplets of crimson sugar coated in saliva stained your cleavage, and your thighs rubbed together; legs crossed as you pretended to care for a tan.

kid’s cock twitched at the glinting of sweat on your bare stomach and shoulders, and he abandoned the pretense of being busy with his tools. driven steps guided him towards you, and he hovered above your frame with maddened eyes.

“you’re blocking the sun,” you pointed out, frame engulfed in his shadow. kid all but grunted in response, taking his time to unravel the sight you posed.

at last, sensing the approach of yet another set of unwanted words, he snapped. “i’ll block whatever the hell i want.”

“is that so?” you hummed, placing your sunglasses on your head. he was given the entire grace of your uncovered eyes, piercing through his own with growing amusement.

“you’re bolder today,” kid noted, leaning forward until his weight threatened to overpower you. “think you need a reminder of how i deal with disobedience.”

you grinned — all teeth and delight —, sitting up with crystal clear excitement. challenge dripped down your sweet-coated tongue, sentences half-understandable through the lollipop wrapped around your lips. kid tugged at the plastic stick with enough strength to have your teeth colliding against one another, a clinking sound at the action. you sent an annoyed glance his way, and kid shoved the lollipop into his mouth, biting on it; sharp fragments flew past his lips and settled themselves on inches of your face and breasts, and before you could complain of the theft, kid threw you over his shoulder as though you were but a sack of potatoes. he could have fucked you — then and there at the deck — bare and whimpering for the crew to see. it would serve as a delicious punishment, to have you reduced to a mere puddle of lust; the force and reputation you were known to have, crumbling into a thousand pieces. yet kid was as vengeful as he was jealous, and the thought of his crewmates, having the sight of your naked figure etched into their memories, had him reeling in anger.

boisterous, heavy steps guided him to the captain’s quarters. he kicked the door open, falling hinges causing it to pend sideways. kid threw you on his bed and spat the lollipop stick on the ground, gripping your ankles and dragging you through the mattress. your feet grew free of his grasp and you teased his clothed erection, weight supported by your elbows. kid grunted — a warning. one thoroughly ignored, for your ministrations continued. at last, he snapped, wrapping a metallic hand around your neck, towering over your lying figure. you gasped once he rubbed his erection against your thigh, pre-cum staining the light fabric of his pants. his eyes had a glint of a challenge within them, daring you to retreat; to fear his size and what was to come due to the lack of proper moisture. the intensity explicit in your eyes mirrored his own, reciprocal desire and impatience pouring through every pore.

“what, captain?” you taunted, wrapping your legs around his waist. “lost your touch?”

kid wiped the fragments of the lollipop from your face, his large tongue swiping over your cleavage. his palms spread your legs, and his chest pressed against your own; forced your back deeper into the mattress. your feet slipped inside his pants, teasing the surface of his ass. kid clicked his tongue, annoyed at the coverage as his hand moved swiftly to remove them both, swollen cock pressed against his abdomen. his fingers curled around the waistband of your bikini bottom, and he tore it in half.

“will have to teach you a lesson or two, won’t i, brat?” he snarled, his tip slipping through your folds. you gripped his shoulders, breathing heavily in anticipation. kid grinned, gripping both of your wrists and pinning them to the bed, leaving you but prone to concede to his every wish; a cornered prey.

his cock did not slip inside, rather split your walls. you shouted, arching your back as the pain overcame the previous pleasure. he was embraced by the warmth of your intimacy, leaking head presenting a ruthless press to your spongy spot. kid did not bother to spare you a second to adapt, moving right thereafter. his shaft invaded you — base-to-tip; base-to-tip — balls smacking against the flesh of your ass, leaving it sore and sensitive.

“kid!” you pleaded, fighting against his grip.

“no captain?” he taunted, shoving himself inside yet again. “you’ll take what i give you, brat. and you will enjoy it.”

his cock twitched at the sight of your tear-stricken cheeks; fat droplets escaping past your hooded eyes. kid grunted, forcing his chest to brush against your own, his entire weight pressed onto your figure. you sobbed as he hammered his cock inside, stretching your walls; inflicting pain as his tip maintained a ruthless pace, an aggressive brushing on your cervix. kid groaned, reaching deeper into you the second your legs tightened its grip on his waist.

your once half-moist cunt grew damp, essence dripping down your entrance and being shoved inside yet again with his every thrust. the pain made you twice as excited, walls squeezing his cock in a manner that had his eyes rolling back ever-so-slightly. the metallic grip on your wrists maimed the bare flesh; left it aching, although not quite as much as your sensible, abused cunt. kid felt the creation of small fissures, thin trails of blood smearing both metal and flesh. you whimpered, trashing under the pressure of his weight.

“lost your words, brat?” kid taunted, grunting right thereafter. a pointed snap of his hips had his girth shoved deeper as he bottomed out, ripping a loud moan from your throat.

you squirmed, legs falling limp on the mattress. kid felt every stretch; the pleasure that made you soak his erection. his lips latched on your face, tongue swirling and swallowing the tears. you were crumbling, desperate. your lips were parted open, and drool trailed down your chin. he could see his tip through your stomach, the blood that smeared your forearms. you were close. kid’s cock was dismantling your insides, invading the past dried cunt. the pain you were submitted to had been equal to that of being torn in half, yet, you were close. ache and devastation mingled with the pleasure imposed by ruthless thrusts that had the large bed complaining; headboard meeting the wall. regardless, you were close. he could sense it through the squeezing of your cunt; the roll of your eyes.

he stopped moving. your head snapped at him, mouth agape; shock-etched expression. kid laughed, ignoring the painful twitch of his cock, still secured inside.

“what?” he mocked, using his other hand to twitch your hardened nipple.

“kid,” you sobbed, failing to roll your hips; to feel his cock deeper into your walls. “i’m close.”

he raised his head, angling it in a manner to catch a glimpse of your pitiful face. you were trembling, desperate. your cunt gripped his erection, threatening to milk him dry. your lips were scarred from the constant biting, your eyes were filled with unshed tears. marvelous — the prettiest —, and his altogether, body and soul.

“and what do you expect me to do?” kid inquired, snapping his hips; a violent thrust that stole the breath from your lungs.

“m-more!” you begged, trashing the second he stopped his movements yet again.

he smirked, clicking his tongue. “but do you deserve it, brat?”

“yes?” you tried out, unsure, observing him through the tears.

“pathetic,” he taunted, twisting your nipple with further strength. you mewled when he tugged at it, behaving as though he planned on ripping it off. “don’t even know what you want, do you, slut?”

you clenched tighter around his cock at the degradation. he barked out a laugh — loud enough to be felt through the walls. the pressure applied on your wrists increased; another violent shove of his cock. he stopped altogether right thereafter, pleasure from your desperation.

“what do you want?” he demanded. four, spacious and violent thrusts pointing out every word, at every breath given. you bit down your lips, scratching against the metal of his hand; drawing blood from your nails.

“i want to cum!” you screamed, moving your head in utter desperation.

kid clicked his tongue in annoyance, hips unmoving. his lips quirked up to form a wretched smile, cock aching amidst your walls, his balls growing heavier at the lack of further contact. yet, the pleasure came from your desperation; your lack of words; the inability to produce proper words. he could drag that moment for a while longer.

“and?” kid proceeded, daring to sound bored. you seemed frustrated; confused. “you’re not stupid. i’d not—ngh, fuck a stupid cunt.”

“kid,” you started, words retreating once you caught on the sight of his disappointment. “captain, please!”

“please,” he mocked, copying your strangled intonation.

“captain, let me cum,” you sobbed, biting your lower lip. “please, p-please!”

kid smirked. “no.”

you gasped, frustration overcoming your will to obey him. kid snapped his hips, abusing your cunt with a violent pace. he could sense your willingness to shelter his size, a never-ending shouting at the unstoppable hammering of his erection inside of you. he was taken — inch by inch — at each particular thrust. kid grunted at the sight of his tip — swollen, leaking, in-and-out — a crown of white around it. fresh, fat tears rolled down your cheeks and kid all but laughed, pouding into you without an ounce of regret.

you were moaning; desperate; clinging to him as though he was the anchor that tethered you to the earth. the knot was close to unraveling, the orgasm nearing its arrival, when kid stopped. you tried kicking him; fighting against his grasp. all but feeble attempts that made him twice as aroused.

“again,” he demanded, controlling the tide of his own high that threatened to burst.

“captain,” you sobbed, words but a half-understandable croak. “make me cum, please, i want to cum.”

“again,” kid stated, scratching your stomach. you whimpered — though he knew you’d rather snarl at him.

“captain,” you weeped, choking on your tears.

“that’s it, slut,” he encouraged, regaining the snap of his hips, thrusting his aching shaft inside. “again.”

“captain, captain, captain,” you kept begging; drooling. your words became slurred right thereafter, your mind embracing a haze of nonsense led by the ministrations of his cock.

kid dug his knees deeper into the mattress, snarling as his pace quickened, growing sloppier. he spat on your opened mouth, his tip hammering against your g-stop, gummy walls smeared with his essence. this time, when your orgasm neared, his hand gripped your chin to force your face to meet his own. your tears wetted the tip of his index, and he all but snarled, shoving himself deeper, a particular snap sending his load straight into your awaiting cunt. you crumbled underneath him, your own orgasm washing over you; tides coating his leaking cock as he persevered.

kid let go of your wrists to roll over and press his back on the mattress, the limp side of your body placed on his chest. he wrapped an arm around your waist, cursing under his breath when you tried to move.

“it’s warm and i’m sweaty,” you complained, hugging him closer in shock at the sound of undoing metal; pieces of his faux arm thrown all over the room.

“and i’m tired,” he rebuked, cuddling you closer. “shut it and rest.”

you cursed him, figure growing rigid at the movement of his chest underneath — for he had heard your every word.

“you’re a tough learner, aren’t you, slut? guess i’ll have to teach you again.”

— 🐈‍⬛ : bumpin’ that bumpin’ that bumpin’ that

[sir-adamus]

One thing I love about RWBY is how it manages to thread that needle of, "That's a person" & "They have a reason for being this fucked up" without forgetting or failing to convey, "Doesn't mean they aren't still being bastard!"

See Adam, Ironwood, Salem, Mercury, hell even Jac got some of that treatment, as much as his narrative role needed and more than someone like him would usually be given.

In that regard though, it does always leave me vexed and confounded that people act like the Brothers will be some big exception. As though their issue is just that they are a little confused and don't understand some things, but once its explained and or they go home, it'll all be chill.

Like, sorry but if the woman they tortured for potentially millions of years still gets the "She's still being a bastard" treatment I cannot envision why the Brothers genocide would avoid being framed or treated as such.

yeah it's kind of weird how people have a blindspot for the gods being petty, arrogant assholes in the backstory; like it's been a weirdly common trend to see people making posts claiming it's fine for the gods to be assholes because they're gods (and therefore shouldn't be held to any kind of moral standard whatsoever), or thinking that post-volume 9, now the goal of the show is RWBY reuniting the relics to summon the gods because "the world is united" and the gods will deal with Salem.

like, the terms of Salem's immortality are made very clear, and these jackasses aren't gonna rescind on their punishment of her (which i need to point out was immensely disproportionate even before the mass genocide. "you need to learn a lesson, so now you can't die until you do" is fucked up) just because everyone else is on the same side.

and on top of that, the gods returning only means hanging a Sword of Damocles over humanity's head, because if they don't stay united, then it's just gonna lead to another disproportionate tantrum and Remnant getting the full scorched earth treatment. not to mention the gods dealing with Salem would ultimately prove her right and be immensely unsatisfying narratively (it would literally be a deus ex machina)

RWBY borrows heavily from Final Fantasy and other JRPGs, and a major recurring element in those sorts of games is that defeating the present big bad in the narrative is never the end of the story, there's always a greater scope threat that's usually either your dad or god or both. coupled with how Light and Dark are heavily influenced by mythological gods and how those are often petty, short-sighted and abusive bastards who cause more problems than they solve, and we've recently been outright told that the Brothers have completely misunderstood what 'balance' is and how that's factored into their conflicts and decision making, and how that then filters down to their treatment of Salem, demanding she understand something they don't and expecting her to learn it through the punishment they inflicted on her only ended up causing more damage

Salem's defeat has to be factored into ending her curse, and the end of volume 9 makes heavy implication that it's RWBY, not the Brothers, who are going to achieve that. but even with Salem then out of the picture, the Brothers are still a threat, they still wiped out the population of an entire planet for childish reasons and routinely abandon their creations; someone else could go for the relics to try and summon them, so there's the potential damage they could do to Remnant again, and who knows what same horrors and punishments the Brothers are inflicting on the worlds they've gone on to make and abandon since?

[mithliya]

the idea that jewish people have no other homes and have only israel to back them serves (& served) antisemites quite a lot. it plays into the idea that hitler was right, german jewish ppl did not belong in germany and were from some other foreign land, that theyre outsiders to germany. this isn't true. german jewish people have every right, the same as any german, to be in their home (germany). it plays into the idea that all jewish people worldwide actually do not have the right to their homelands nor the right to demand a place within their homelands, because their real homeland is israel (historically known as palestine).

when zionism first came to exist as an ideology, it was a fringe ideology that most jewish people opposed for this exact reason: because it hinges on the idea that jewish people do not belong in their home countries, but rather are eternal immigrants or some sort of invaders. from 1882, georg jellinek:

The Jews have sent out their best men to fight for their recognition and equality in the European states and they have marshalled their intellectual resources in numerous writings, on the speaker's platform and in the pulpit for the lofty goal of emancipation. Have they done all this in order to abandon, in this year of 1882, everything they have achieved, to give up all they have fought for and won, to declare that they are aliens, people without a homeland or a fatherland - or, as you put it, vagrants - and, the wanderer's staff in hand, to set out for an uncertain new fatherland? No! That would mean to accept the view of our implacable foes who deny that we have any true patriotic feelings for Europe. In fact, we are not even capable of doing this. We are at home in Europe and regard ourselves as children of the lands in which we were born and raised, whose languages we speak, and whose cultures make up our intellectual substance. We are Germans, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Magyars, Italians and so forth, with every fiber of our being. We have long ceased to be true, thoroughbred Semites, and we have long ago lost the sense of Hebrew nationality.

edwin montagu in 1917, calling the balfour declaration & zionism antisemitic:

I wish to place on record my view that the policy of His Majesty's Government is anti-Semitic in result will prove a rallying ground for Anti-Semites in every country in the world... it seems to be inconceivable that Zionism should be officially recognised by the British Government, and that Mr. Balfour should be authorized to say that Palestine was to be reconstituted as the "national home of the Jewish people". I do not know what this involves, but I assume that it means... that Turks and other Mahommedans in Palestine will be regarded as foreigners, just in the same way as Jews will hereafter be treated as foreigners in every country but Palestine... I assert that there is not a Jewish nation... It is no more true to say that a Jewish Englishman and a Jewish Moor are of the same nation than it is to say that a Christian Englishman and a Christian Frenchman are of the same nation: of the same race, perhaps, traced back through the centuries - through centuries of the history of a peculiarly adaptable race... When the Jews are told that Palestine is their national home, every country will immediately desire to get rid of its Jewish citizens... I claim that the lives that British Jews have led, that the aims that they have had before them, that the part that they have played in our public life and our public institutions, have entitled them to be regarded, not as British Jews, but as Jewish Britons. I would willingly disfranchise every Zionist. I would be almost tempted to proscribe the Zionist organisation as illegal and against the national interest. But I would ask of a British Government sufficient tolerance to refuse a conclusion which makes aliens and foreigners by implication, if not at once by law, of all their Jewish fellow-citizens.... I feel that the Government are asked to be the instrument for carrying out the wishes of a Zionist organisation largely run, as my information goes, at any rate in the past, by men of enemy descent or birth, and by this means have dealt a severe blow to the liberties, position and opportunities of service of their Jewish fellow-countrymen.

balfour himself said in 1919 that zionism is

"a serious endeavor to mitigate the age-long miseries created for Western civilization by the presence in its midst of a Body [Jewish people] which it too long regarded as alien and even hostile, but which it was equally unable to expel or to absorb."

and therefore even the justification for zionism in the west was about the desire to get rid of their jewish populations, and to have a place to expel their jewish populations to.

robert gessner in 1935 even went as far as equating prominent zionists to nazis & hitler:

The Nationalist Socialists on the other hand are the Revisionists, or the Brown Nazis of Palestine. They believe in the Jewish State 100 percent, with their own Jewish army and even, I might add, a Jewish navy on the Dead Sea! The Fuehrer of the Brown Nazis in Palestine is Vladimir Jabotinsky... Today the young, sternfaced legionnaires of Jabotinsky march through the streets and wear shirts, like their nordic brothers in Germany. In Poland I had seen them marching through the streets (side streets in the ghettoes) singing "Poland for Pilsudski, Germany for Hitler. Palestine for Jews-" The Fuehrer of the Brown Shirted Legions of Judaism is in America because "Revisionism is the genuinest proletarian movement in the world in that it is the poorest." In America about one percent of the Jews are Zionists. What fraction of another one percent will donate money to the Jewish Hitler?

rabbi elmer berger in 1943:

I oppose Zionism because I deny that Jews are a nation …since the Dispersion we have not been a nation. We have belonged to every nation in the world. We have mixed our blood with all peoples. Jewish nationalism is a fabrication woven from the thinnest kinds of threads and strengthened only in those eras of human history in which reaction has been dominant and anti-Semitism in full cry.

rabbi elmer berger also outlined in his work “the jewish dilemma” how zionists held quite antisemitic views.

bevin, another british politician, said in 1946:

"There has been agitation in the United States, and particularly in New York, for 100,000 Jews to be put in Palestine. I hope I will not be misunderstood in America if I say that this was proposed by the purest of motives. They did not want too many Jews in New York."

zionism was also specifically a european, right-wing ideology. left-wing european jews did not believe in it and vehemently opposed it.

so basically, historically, zionism was a far-right ideology that was deemed antisemitic and was equatable to nazism to many jewish people, particularly leftist & communist jewish people. jewish people and non-jewish zionists alike viewed zionism as a means of removing jewish people from their countries.

its baffling that today, the argument is that opposing zionism is hating jewish people, because jewish people themselves overwhelmingly opposed zionism and saw it as antisemitic. to this day jewish anti-zionists continue to exist, yet they face extreme hatred for being against zionism, treated as self-hating traitors.

[nayatarot777]

who’s mad at you + why?

• pile one •

who’s mad?

cards: the tower, page of swords. 9 of swords

this is someone who has a lot of fears and anxieties for some reason. perhaps due to something that they’ve said/gossiped about that proved to be quite destructive. they’re someone who you had a tower moment with, and perhaps someone who doesn’t know how to communicate properly. they could talk about struggles with anxiety, and maybe they’re someone who is constantly in crisis mode. to the point that their life is always in shambles and they never know how to help themselves out of it. this person might regret something that they’ve said because of the destruction that they’ve caused, but this person is also very two-faced it seems. i’m seeing gemini, and feeling the energy of the 7 of swords (although it hasn’t come out). you could feel like this person was side-eyeing you, evil-eyeing you, or judging you in some way. but again, they could regret doing that now.

why?

cards: king of wands, justice, 4 of swords

they’re mad because you seem to be going after your own personal goals and achievements, meaning that you have to balance out your life in order to keep a clear mind. you may have realised that this person was not reciprocating your energy or that you deserve better treatment than whatever this person was giving you. they’re mad about your own self-governance. you seem to be prioritising yourself and demanding fairness in your connections and general life. you could have focused on them and invested too much energy into helping them, which resulted in you realising that you need to put a lot of that energy back into yourself. this person knew that they were taking advantage of you in some way, and they’re just mad that you’re more aware of what’s fair and what’s not now. meaning that they can’t use your energy for their own benefit.

if you’d like a private reading, please check out my pinned post ✨💞

• pile two •

who’s mad?

cards: 8 of cups, 3 of swords, the devil

wtf is going on here, pile two? this person is someone who definitely isn’t in your life anymore. this person was emotionally overwhelming and maybe even manipulative, so you walked away for the sake of healing. but i feel like this is someone who’s still trying to manipulate your energy or bind themselves to you continuously. even after walking away from them. the devil shows that this person is possessive. they have some weird ass obsession with you and it’s almost like they feel as though they need to still have a say in your life. this could be a capricorn or scorpio placement. if you haven’t walked away from them fully, then this is someone who you experienced some type of transformation with. a permanent change to the connection that you have with them. they may be responsible for inflicting pain that deeply affected you, or maybe even trauma/triggers. i feel like this is someone who’s mad that you’ve managed to drag your issues through the mud and use them for self improvement or self discovery. this person is someone who could have abandoned you multiple times in the past, but it seems like you’ve abandoned them this time around. and they’re mad about it. while also feeling powerless.

why?

cards: 3 of cups, 2 of pentacles, the wheel of fortune

your life seems to have done a complete 180 (or it seems like it’s on the trajectory to that) because things are turning in your favour. they’re mad because of your connections with other people too (maybe they’re evil eyeing your friendships). and this is because you’re now very selective with who you invest emotional and physical energy into. there’s an energy of exclusion too, so perhaps this person also doesn’t actually know what’s going on in your life because they’re disconnected from it. there’s also something about other people “singing your praises”. if you have mutual connections with this person, there are multiple people who talk very positively about you. that makes this person big mad 😂. i’m hearing that it seems like you’ve effortlessly won a situation (particularly a social situation) too. without even trying. i heard that this person feels like you have the upper-hand constantly. and like everything constantly works in your favour.

if you’d like a private reading, please check out my pinned post ✨💞

• pile three •

who’s mad?

cards: 6 of pentacles, the hermit, knight of swords

this is someone who you spoke a lot of truth to about their expectations or their codependency on you. they may be someone who almost begs for help or attention constantly (similar to pile one), and they’re usually not willing to do some soul searching and focus on realising what they need to learn in certain aspects of life. it’s like they expected you to direct them and tell them what to do. to give them the wisdom that they felt like you held. this is someone who could be quite isolated and lonely, focused on pessimism more than anything. either pessimism or maybe they’re depressed. i’m also seeing that they could be someone who uses materialism and money as a way to avoid loneliness. they could be a giver themselves in some way, but they definitely feel quite alone and maybe even lost and in need of help.

why?

cards: king of cups, 2 of cups, judgement

this person is mad because of some type of awareness about a particular connection that you have with someone. maybe you’re someone who isn’t very emotionally expressive, but you’ve found a reciprocal connection with someone else. this person also may feel like they were judged by you in some way, or perhaps that they were discarded for someone else. this person could also be upset about your connection to a king of cups (a masculine water sign or a masculine, emotionally stable person in your life. this could be a partner or a brother). idk what that’s about. this person is definitely mad about some type of connection that you have with another person though. and also they’re upset about your ability to realise something on your own. your insight triggers them for some reason. also how you can “rise from the ashes”. you seem to know how to rebirth yourself and close out cycles in your life for the sake of protecting your peace - as well as someone else’s.

if you’d like a private reading, please check out my pinned post ✨💞

[kattythingz]

This is not a one-to-one au, edling are NOT related.

One of these days, I'll work on my actual main au. This is not that day. Kill La Kill au, anyone?

This is another collab with the brilliant, incredible, show-stopping @ilovepannacotta!! See his Ling (+Greed) design here, because it turned out SOOOO GOOD, GOD. Everyone praise him NOW!!!

Further au details under the cut!! TW for discussions of SA (iykyk)

Introducing our cast:

Satsuki - Ed

Ryuko - Ling

Ragyo - Dante

Nui - Envy

Mako & co. - Lan Fan & Fu

Soroi - Rose & Noah (twins)

Elite Four - Winry, Mei, Russel, & Lust

Mikisugi - Mustang

Dante took in Ed and Al right after Hohenheim mysteriously abandoned them at the same time. Without their mother, Dante promises that she was their father's friend and that she'll care for them now. Ed is around six when this happens, Al one; he was even younger a couple months ago when Hohenheim revealed to Ed the truth of his research: life fibers.

Ed doesn't trust Dante's convenient timing one bit, but he can't raise his baby brother alone, and they need a stable home. So he accepts her help, thinking he can handle whatever she wants to use them for.

The years prove him dead wrong. Hohenheim, Ed learns, was a being perfectly merged with the life fibers, and he and Al inherited some of that constitution. Al has the greater life fibers between them, 80% to Ed's mere 50%. Dante, too, is an incomplete being—but she aims to change that very soon, with the help of Hohenheim's boys.

Ed's a smart boy. He catches on quickly what she wants from them, and demands that she leave Al alone. Anything she needs, she can take from Ed. Anything.

The years pass. Ed sets out to build his steel castle from the ground up behind Dante's back, doing her bidding like the good little soldier she wants him to be while recruiting allies he can trust in the Elite Four. He meets Mustang as well, the leader of Nudist Beach, and they strike a deal to work together in secret and play enemies in daylight.

Cruelty and ruling with fear are not in Ed's nature, and he does his best to make Honnouji's system as kind as possible while applying Dante's "feedback". But there's also nothing he won't do for his baby brother, and if he has to pick that one life over the masses... he will.

His plans are coming along smoothly until the transfer student's arrival. Ling Yao.

Ling arrives at Honnouji Academy with one goal in mind: to gather as much information on the woman named Dante as possible, and report back to his father. Ling, of course, has no plans on reporting so dutifully—but he is intrigued by what he's heard. The secrets to immortality... If he achieves it for himself, then he can free his clan from his father's "empire".

He quickly hears about Dante's "favorite", the Student Council President and "prince" of Honnouji, Edward Elric. That makes things much easier than Ling anticipated. All he has to do is get close to Edward to get closer to Dante. It helps that Edward is beautiful, and that there's more to him than meets the eye.

Ling is intrigued. And then he falls.

Literally, too, where he meets Greed in the basement of a ruined mansion (the Elrics', unbeknownst to him). Greed is absolutely not Ling's style, and he's never been more uncomfortable in his life. But as he and Greed learn to get along, so too does he warm up to Greed's "awful style".

Ed, in the meanwhile, knows Ling is conniving behind his back. He also knows that Mustang is in on it, but for some infuriating reason, he won't share anything with Ed. Which serves Ed just fine; he doesn't need Ling Yao meddling in his plans, he's more than happy to ignore him.

Only, Ling makes himself impossible to ignore. To the point that Ed makes the chief decision of keeping him secret from Dante, because surely she doesn't need to concern herself with one annoying fuck (that Ed does not like, nor care about, nor wants to see smiling).

But then... there's still Envy. Ed's so-called half-sibling.

In a fit of what has to be pure, malicious spite, Envy casually asks Ed about "how things are going with that other kamui brat", right in front of Dante. The jig is up, and Dante... is not amused.

She's never punished Ed as hard as she had that day. Ed limps out of her office unable to take one more step, and he's lucky that Rose and Noah—his loyal aides and closest companions—waited for him the entire time (despite Envy mockingly telling them "the runt will be a while"). They help him the rest of the way back to his quarters, and for once, Ed lets them fuss freely. He curls up on the couch with Noah's tea in his hand and nuzzles into Rose's warmth on one side, Noah at his other. And he pretends he doesn't fall apart when he whispers, "Thank you, Sister."

The night doesn't end there, however.

Envy deigns to make a visit to Honnouji that same week, claiming they were curious about "the brat to catch the runt's eyes so much". At Ling's disgruntlement, they eagerly spill the beans about what happened. Ed's punishment, at Ling's expense.

Ling... is horrified.

He's horrified, and enraged.

He's not proud of how he loses control. Greed warns him that his blood is getting too hot, but Envy's laughter is even louder over Greed's voice and Ling can't hear a single other thing. He doesn't even realize Ed was forced to intervene and fight him until Lan Fan's hugging Ling on the ground, and Ed's standing over them solemnly.

Ling shouldn't, but all his broken voice can think to ask in that moment is whether Envy was telling the truth.

That Ed wasn't really—raped because of Ling. Please.

Ed's answering silence is damning.

The following weeks are... weary. Ling loses Greed, the Raid Trip happens, and everything inevitably comes to a head when Ed triggers the rebellion against Dante.

Ed's plan fails. Rose, Noah, the Elite Four, and Mustang & co. escape the chaos along with Ling, and Ling swears that he'll go back for Ed, no matter what. The rescue doesn't go according to plan, however, and Ed begs Ling to escape with Al instead while he had the chance, because Ed knows Dante has further use for him but Al isn't guaranteed, please, Ling.

Ling agrees, but that's a decision he comes to regret when their next opponent winds up being... Ed. By Envy's touch, Pride had been "tightened", to affect Ed's mind as well now, where it didn't before.

It's an awful battle. Ling's heart screams and aches when he's forced to rip Pride from Ed's body. It... it feels like he's violating Ed, even though he knows he's not, and this is for Ed's own good—

But the pain ends. Pride is ripped off, and Ed is left kneeling in the blood. He looks up, startled by Ling's warmth when he wordlessly smiles and places a coat over Ed, and Ed's eyes burn. He hasn't let himself cry in so long—and when Rose and Noah immediately group-hug him, followed by the Elite Four & Al, that no-crying sentiment is rendered moot.

Ling stands aside, and his heart must grow six sizes from the sight.

Finally, things are looking up.

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is an important article by Linda Greenhouse, writing in The New York Times. Therefore, the link above is a gift 🎁 link, so anyone can read the article, even if they don't subscribe to the Times.

Below are some excerpts from the article:

To understand today’s Supreme Court, to see it whole, demands a longer timeline. To show why, I offer a thought experiment. Suppose a modern Rip Van Winkle went to sleep in September 2005 and didn’t wake up until last week. Such a person would awaken in a profoundly different constitutional world, a world transformed, term by term and case by case, at the Supreme Court’s hand. To appreciate that transformation’s full dimension, consider the robust conservative wish list that greeted the new chief justice 18 years ago: Overturn Roe v. Wade. Reinterpret the Second Amendment to make private gun ownership a constitutional right. Eliminate race-based affirmative action in university admissions. Elevate the place of religion across the legal landscape. Curb the regulatory power of federal agencies. [...} That was how the world looked on Sept. 29, 2005, when Chief Justice Roberts took the oath of office, less than a month after the death of his mentor, Chief Justice Rehnquist. And this year? By the time the sun set on June 30, the term’s final day, every goal on the conservative wish list had been achieved. All of it. To miss that remarkable fact is to miss the story of the Roberts court. It’s worth reviewing how the court accomplished each of the goals. It deployed a variety of tools and strategies. Precedents that stood in the way were either repudiated outright, as the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision did last year to Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, or were simply rendered irrelevant — abandoned, in the odd euphemism the court has taken to using. In its affirmative action decision declaring race-conscious university admissions to be unconstitutional, Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion did not overturn the 2003 Grutter decision explicitly. But Justice Thomas was certainly correct in his concurring opinion when he wrote that it was “clear that Grutter is, for all intents and purposes, overruled.” Likewise, the court has not formally overruled its Chevron decision. Its administrative-law decisions have just stopped citing that 1984 precedent as authority. The justices have simply replaced Chevron’s rule of judicial deference with its polar opposite, a new rule that goes by the name of the major questions doctrine. Under this doctrine, the court will uphold an agency’s regulatory action on a major question only if Congress’s grant of authority to the agency on the particular issue was explicit. Deference, in other words, is now the exception, no longer the rule. But how to tell a major question from an ordinary one? No surprise there: The court itself will decide. [...] My focus here on what these past 18 years have achieved has been on the court itself. But of course, the Supreme Court doesn’t stand alone. Powerful social and political movements swirl around it, carefully cultivating cases and serving them up to justices who themselves were propelled to their positions of great power by those movements. The Supreme Court now is this country’s ultimate political prize. That may not be apparent on a day-to-day or even a term-by-term basis. But from the perspective of 18 years, that conclusion is as unavoidable as it is frightening.

[laidback-thrills]

EDIT: THIS IS SLIGHTLY OUTDATED. More coming soon.

Hello all!

I've been meaning to talk more in depth about this!!! I put a "read more" bc this is a little long and I don't wanna clog up the tag.

BUT

DSAF CULT AU!!!

My DSAF Cult AU is very canon divergent.

Dave Miller is a fledgeling demon who was once a young nephilim. He remembers very little about his past, but something horrible has made him what he is now.

He has a full, actual Enochian name, but people tend to throw up and shit and die when they hear it, so he chose to go by "Dave" because "It's common! I'm a normal, common guy!", but also because he trusted and loved someone like a father.

His demonic sigil and general telltale symbol is the extremely long sacrificial dagger driven into his skull. No matter what form he takes, he will have it. It can be taken out for a short period of time before Dave begins to have trouble staying corporeal.

Now literally borne with a total inability to feel remorse for his actions, he is a sick and twisted monster that does not know how to control his own extremely horrifying powers. He requires a conduit to channel them, lest he explode.

He was all alone in the world. A freak, even when "disguised" as a human. (He's purple for fuck's sake, he smells like rot and he's scaring people!). Connection eluded him, although it was all he ever wanted, even as a horrifyingly malicious entity. It's very much a similar situation to regular DSAF - he was "abandoned", and now forever seeks

Until some idiot.

Jack Kennedy was a desperate man with a missing family and no future. He was addicted to every kind of substance, heavily in debt, and crushingly isolated.

After uncovering some interesting literature from his shitty Fazbender's Pepperonerie job, he decided that he was desperate enough to follow the instructions in the grimoire. Nothing to lose anymore, and a big goal to achieve. A skeptic as he was, he did not expect the ritual to work, but when it did, it completely changed his world.

Jack did not immediately make a contract with Dave, out of pure shock and wariness, but the fucker stuck around anyway. He was offered a deal and spent a while debating it.

Eventually, it went through.

Jack was granted a demonic boon. Power, money, pleasures of the world, and a chance to put them back together. In return, he traded his body and soul for Dave's services.

The process was painful.

An agonizing death, and a transformation. Dave's sigil burned into his back, and all at once, he was rotten and orange.

Then, the demon ate his soul.

Dave benefits greatly from the exchange too (baby's first contract). He gets a lot of power from it. It keeps him anchored. Gives him something to do. Someone interesting to play with. Company at last, and it's someone that can't run away from him!

Jack is Dave's saint. They are intrinsically bound. Jack is the first person to ever form a contract with Dave— Blackjack is caged inside of Dave, alive and warm, providing him with abilities and power he didn't have before. The Black Dog is loyal to its original master, however, and attempts to return to him. As a result, the soul more or less keeps them tethered. They physically cannot stray too far from eachother.

Post-contract, now armed with the knowledge that more souls = more power, and wanting to actually put a use to their power, they get to work!

With supernatural persuasion and a great gambling streak, Jack gets his start in Nevada. There, they build their empire off of the backs of desperate gamblers who put their soul on the line. Hungry, lonely men, hookers, the desperate and the naïve...all are errant souls that Father Jack will lead right on home.

Dave requires fresh blood for any spell, but demands child sacrifices to perform large spells, but that is quite alright. With the influx of followers, children are not too hard to come by. The death of a toddler, and an unholy miracle is performed— Jack's precious little flock has a home, a commune tucked into the desert.

(It isn't DSAF without a little toddler stranglin'!)

Jack and Dave- they get them good. Victims, converts- they're promised security, "God is dead, but we've got the power to help you!" Father Jack's a friendly and convincing fella, it seems, and after all...his Gospel is very legitimate- why have just faith when you can see your new God? When that doesn't work, there's always fear. Don't believe his word? Why, they'll show you horrors of which you've never seen! Father Kennedy's fun loving, but he's a soulless bastard, and he's not shy about putting the fear of all things unholy into his flock.

Of course, once the sinners are deep enough, it's too late to escape. Father Kennedy has some dirt on them. This lovely community is built on violence, after all, and Father knows exactly what they did to get here, and exactly what they've said at confessional. That, and...who does not fear the erratic demon?

At the commune, the "church" is hidden away in the labyrinthine basement of an invaded Freddy's location. (The management seems...more than willing...) The Pepperonerie is a front, concealing profits and deaths from the government. The Priest and the Demon wash their money, wash their hands, and serve unsuspecting guests pizza with a healthy dollop of propaganda.

When they aren't terrorizing their followers, however, Dave and Jack spend their time together. It is with mixed enjoyment. They find new purpose in each other. Commit horrible atrocities and live it up in V E G A S, baby! They're...gasp...starting to crush on each other? They're also sexily trying to kill each other just a little bit.

"I hate this purple motherfucker...but I want to kiss him on his hot mouth..."

Important note shoehorned in—

Jack does not worship Dave traditionally, the way the other followers do. He does not fear him at all. He recognizes Dave for what he is- a lonely, desperate fool. As far as they go, the demon is on his leash, not the other way around. He only prays when he needs something, in the very beginning. As their relationship advances however, and they commit atrocities that would make mankind pale, Jack becomes a very religious man. Not because he is afraid or respects him as any kind of authority (he does not respect him period), but because he is Really Gay. The way he prays is devout and hungry. Only in prayer can Jack manage to say what he means.

Actually, Dave ends up more worshipping *Jack* more than Jack worships him. It's turned on its head. Dave is sooo down bad and in love, he'll do anything. Anything at all for his priest, his clementine. His obsession is very much comparable to canon. He haunts Jack and everything that he does. Jack is never alone, never truly, because a dark looming purple shadow will always follow him. He steals his things and vies for his attention at all times of the day, because he is so wrapped around Jack's orange finger it's stupid...

"Jump." "How high?!"

Peace, quiet and privacy is an extinct concept to Jack, unfortunately.

TLDR; They're horrible to eachother but are in love and their hands are drenched in the blood of children (as usual) but now it has a gay worshipping undertone.

This is not everything, of course. Next time I talk, i'll delve more into the serious and rather toxic side of their relationship but this is just some stuff i've managed to crank out! Sorry if it's all over the place! I have one billion thoughts. Feel free to ask any questions, too, I'll do my best to answer. There will be more soon.

[stellar-wing]

Dune 2 Paul is such a tragic figure - not in a poor meow meow way but in a ‘you didn’t change the system even though you could have because it was easier to achieve an approximation of the freedom and your revenge by playing with the system’s rules’. Wiiiiiild

And like… he demands to marry the princess, signalling he wants to integrate into the imperial system - which intensifies his distance from Chani who knows that he has not only abandoned her, but the Fremen’s full freedom - like Paul has rejected Chani, symbol of the Fremen (in the way women usually r symbols in nationalism) and gone for the princess, but Chani still lives and chooses to operate away from him, continuing to fulfil her goal of freeing the Fremen that she held dear long before Paul arrived

[aihoshiino]

Was talking about this in passing to my friend Isa (@astrabysm) the other day but the more I engage with Oshi no Ko & the side stories, the more I come away feeling like centering lies and lying as the driving core of Ai's character really misses the forest for the trees.

Lying is, of course, extremely important to Ai as a character but I think it functions more as a thematic umbrella which can be used to unify a lot of the disparate elements that inform her characterization - idol culture, purity culture, commodification and infantalization, etc. The themes of deception/masking/falsehood are important to understanding Ai bit infinitely more important - and imo, more core to her character - is WHY she feels she has to lie and what motivates it; her self hate and fear, her history of abuse and abandonment by people she should otherwise have been able to unconditionally rely on, her despairing loneliness and her absolutely desperate desire to form real, genuine connections and companionship with other human beings.

To paraphrase Isa more directly, because I think they really hit the nail on the head with this: "Ai is someone who tells lies but she's not A Liar". Deception in of itself is not her end goal in any respect; it's a survival tactic that she internalised at a formative age and never had the opportunity to unlearn - and even then, Ai is honest and sincere just as often as she lies.

Really, the biggest "lie" Ai is telling is the one people have demanded she tell: the illusion of an eternally pure and cheerful idol. But being an idol has become so forcibly entangled in Ai's personhood at the expense of allowing her to just be a human that of course she thinks of herself as a liar for being unable to live up to that image.

She wants to, though! Ai herself says it in Viewpoint B that her "Ai of B-Komachi" persona is just an idealised self that she desperately wants to become: a kind, invincible girl who loves other people. And the horrible irony of it is that Ai IS that girl already; she's so kind and warm and desperate to connect with other people; even though she struggles to understand them she fights with all her might to close that gap. When she falls short, it's HERSELF she blames for not being good enough. She has never once expressed any bitterness or anger towards the people who've mistreated her, however much they might deserve it.

The real "lie" of Hoshino Ai are these twin, opposing perceptions of her as a pure and perfect idol and a scheming, manipulative liar. They're both wrong. The unvarnished truth is simply that Ai was a normal girl doing everything she could to achieve normal happiness in the midst of an abnormally cruel and lonely life - and in the very end, she was even punished for that.

[kemetic-dreams]

The Invention of Hispanics: What It Says About the Politics of Race

America’s surging politics of victimhood and identitarian division did not emerge organically or inevitably, as many believe. Nor are these practices the result of irrepressible demands by minorities for recognition, or for redress of past wrongs, as we are constantly told. Those explanations are myths, spread by the activists, intellectuals, and philanthropists who set out deliberately, beginning at mid-century, to redefine our country. Their goal was mass mobilization for political ends, and one of their earliest targets was the Mexican-American community.

These activists strived purposefully to turn Americans of this community (who mostly resided in the Southwestern states) against their countrymen, teaching them first to see themselves as a racial minority and then to think of themselves as the core of a pan-ethnic victim group of “Hispanics”—a fabricated term with no basis in ethnicity, culture, or race.

This transformation took effort—because many Mexican Americans had traditionally seen themselves as white. When the 1930 Census classified “Mexican American” as a race, leaders of the community protested vehemently and had the classification changed back to white in the very next census. The most prominent Mexican-American organization at the time—the patriotic, pro-assimilationist League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)—complained that declassifying Mexicans as white had been an attempt to “discriminate between the Mexicans themselves and other members of the white race, when in truth and fact we are not only a part and parcel but as well the sum and substance of the white race.”

Tracing their ancestry in part to the Spanish who conquered South and Central America, they regarded themselves as offshoots of white Europeans.

Such views may surprise readers today, but this was the way many Mexican Americans saw their race until mid-century. They had the law on their side: a federal district court ruled in In Re Ricardo Rodríguez (1896) that Mexican Americans were to be considered white for the purposes of citizenship concerns. And so as late as 1947, the judge in another federal case (Mendez v. Westminster) ruled that segregating Mexican-American students in remedial schools in Orange County was unconstitutional because it represented social disadvantage, not racial discrimination.

At that time Mexican Americans were as white before the law as they were in their own estimation.

The process would only work if Mexican Americans “accepted a disadvantaged minority status,” as sociologist G. Cristina Mora of U.C. Berkeley put it in her study, Making Hispanics (2014). But Mexican Americans themselves left no doubt that they did not feel like members of a collectively oppressed minority at all. As Skerry noted, “[the] race idea is somewhat at odds with the experience of Mexican Americans, over half of whom designate themselves racially as white.” Even in the early 1970s, according to Mora, many Mexican-American leaders retained the view that “persons of Latin American descent were quite diverse and would eventually assimilate and identify as white.” And yet “Spanish/Hispanic/Latino” is now a well-established ethnic category in the U.S. Census, and many who select it have been taught to see themselves as a victmized underclass. How did this happen?

In other words, a distinctive set of beliefs, customs, and habits supported the American political system. If the Cajun, the Dutch, the Spanish—and the Mexicans—were to be allowed into the councils of government, they would have to adopt these mores and abandon some of their own. It is hard to argue that this formula has failed. Writing in 2004, political scientist Samuel Huntington reminded us that

“Millions of immigrants and their children achieved wealth, power, and status in American society precisely because they assimilated themselves into the prevailing culture.”

Indeed, merely calling Mexican-Americans a ‘minority’ and implying that the population is the victim of prejudice and discrimination has caused irritation among many who prefer to believe themselves indistinguishable [from] white Americans…. [T]here are light-skinned Mexican-Americans who have never experienced the faintest…discrimination in public facilities, and many with ambiguous surnames have also escaped the experiences of the more conspicuous members of the group.”

Even worse, there was also “the inescapable fact that…even comparatively dark-skinned Mexicans…could get service even in the most discriminatory parts of Texas,” according to the report. These experiences, so different from those of Africans in the South or even parts of the North, had produced

a long and bitter controversy among middle-class Mexican Americans about defining the ethnic group as disadvantaged by any other criterion than individual failures. The recurring evidence that well-groomed and well-spoken Mexican Americans can receive normal treatment has continuously undermined either group or individual definition of the situation as one entailing discrimination.

It is incumbent on us to pause and note exactly what these UCLA researchers were bemoaning. Their own survey was revealing that Mexican-Americans’ lived experiences did not square with their being passive victims of invidious, structural discrimination, much less racial animus. They owned their own failures, which—their experience told them—were remediable through individual conduct, not mass mobilization. Their touchstones were individualism, personal responsibility, family, solidarity, and independence—all cherished by most Americans at the time, but anathema to the activists.

The study openly admitted that reclassification as a collective entity serves the “purposes of enabling one to see the group’s problems in the perspective of the problems of other groups.” The aim was to show “that Mexican Americans share with Negroes the disadvantages of poverty, economic insecurity and discrimination.” The same thing, however, could have been said in the late 1960s of the Scots-Irish in Appalachia or Italian Americans in the Bronx. But these experiences were not on the same level as the crushing and legal discrimination that African Americans had faced on a daily basis. That is why the survey respondents emphasized “the distinctiveness of Mexican Americans” from Africans and “the difference in the problems faced by the two groups.” The UCLA researchers came out pessimistic: Mexican Americans were “not yet easy to merge with the other large minorities in political coalition.”

Thereafter, militants from La Raza, MALDEF, and other organizations put pressure on the Census Bureau to create a Hispanic identity for the 1980 Census—in order, as Mora puts it, “to persuade them to classify ‘Hispanics’ as distinct from whites.”

The Hispanic category was a Frankenstein’s monster, an amalgam of disparate ethnic groups with precious little in common.

The 1970 Census had included an option to indicate that the respondent was “Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, [or] Other Spanish.” But re-categorizing Mexican Americans and lumping them in with other residents of Latin American descent under a “Hispanic American” umbrella was a necessary move, Mora writes, because “this would best convey their national minority group status.”

The law states that “a large number of Americans of Spanish origin or descent suffer from racial, social, economic, and political discrimination and are denied the basic opportunities that they deserve as American citizens.” The very thing that defined Hispanics was victimhood.

IT IS SHOWN THAT THE HUMAN CATEGORY "WHITE" WAS BUILT UPON THE IDEA OF THAT BRITISH AS WHITE, CHRISTIAN, OF THEIR ESSENCE FREE,AND DESERVING OF RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES FROM WHICH THOSE INSUFFICIENTLY BRITISH -LIKE COULD BE DENIED. JACQUELINE BATTALORA "BIRTH OF A WHITE NATION.

[tanadrin]

TBH, in a lot of cases wrt infighting, I think the near group is afraid because of experience with being pushed away from their original goal due to that sort of pressure to self-moderate, where they end up losing because the Moderates won, and I think that's the case with leftists here too.

Like, both in terms of the historical narratives of leftists who "sold out" in the name of realpolitik being the reason why leftists lost, and the visible rage that (at least in their view) following the "vote for the lesser evil" argument is being used to exploit us by a party that has active contempt for leftists that wants to keep us ineffective and trapped with them, if that makes sense?

I think it comes from a deep feeling of helplessness at being electorally trapped the Dems , and I feel like saying "vote against Trump" isn't going to break through to them until folks come up with a genuinely good response as to how they can break out of said trap.

Gotta be clear about terminology here: in the leftist example, the in-group is whatever actual leftist group we're talking about; the near group are people more proximate to them on the ideological spectrum than the far group, but who are definitely not members of the in-group. They are part of the out-group, and thus get treated as opponents. The far group is also part of the out=group, but frequently gets ignored in favor of contests with the near group. Near group and far group were coined as terms to explain why battles between an in-group and out-group often focus heavily on only one subsection of the out-group, even when that subsection in theory might be allies (if not actual members of the in-group) in contests against the other.

I think this fear of losing out to the moderates is very much the in-group perspective, and I think it's wrong. If we're talking about, say, the labor struggles in the US at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the "moderates win" scenario (which is ultimately what happened with the New Deal) is a way better deal for labor than the "reactionaries win" scenario. Was it full-on communism? Of course not. But full-on communists never constituted an effective political majority in the United States, and full-on communism was never in the cards as a result; the choice then, as now, is often between "a moderate--even pretty good--outcome, if we play our cards right" and "demanding metaphysical purity to the point that we are politically irrelevant."

Plenty of organizations are happy to maintain metaphysical purity, and to succumb to political irrelevance--it's a surprisingly durable mode of operation if your goal is survival of the organization above all else. But nominally political organizations exist to pursue political goals, and I'm not in favor of strategies that amount to functionally abandoning those goals, in order to maintain in-group cohesion.

Example: the Democratic party is the way it is--i.e., like most political parties, but even more so--because it is a sprawling and often uneasy coalition--broadly speaking between liberals, progressives, and leftists, but each of course can itself be broken down further. The thing with these sprawling and uneasy coalitions is that they often leave everybody mad, because nobody gets everything they want. But also, they work. They are tatical creatures that exist for tactical reasons: I don't expect anybody to look at the Democratic Party platform and go "Yes, this is the One True Good Ideology." And I expect some people will look at the platform they produce and go, "this isn't enough of what I want to justify me supporting this coalition."

But if somebody's problem isn't that they disagree about tactical goals or tactical methods--if their problem is that they reject coalition fundamentally as compromising their ideology--then I do not believe they sincerely want to achieve anything. Because whether it's by electoralism or direct action or violent revolution or civil war, every political struggle in history requires some form of coalition-building. And the guys that build the bigger coalition usually win!

[angelsandemons]

I want to talk a little bit about the idea of Adam as someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, or NPD, because I've been thinking about it a lot.

I won't go into too much detail of the "is he actually NPD-coded and why might be like that?" question because that's already been pretty well explored in Georgia's Hazbin Hotel Therapist Analysis: Adam the Narcissist! video.

But if you're not in the mood to watch that, here are the nine clinical features mentioned in the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for NPD, only five of which actually have to be present with an onset in early adulthood for the diagnosis:

Having a grandiose sense of self-importance, such as exaggerating achievements and talents, expecting to be recognized as superior even without commensurate achievements

Preoccupation with fantasies of success, power, beauty, and idealization

Belief in being "special" and that they can only be understood by or associated with other high-status people (or institutions)

Demanding excessive admiration

Sense of entitlement

Exploitation behaviors

Lack of empathy

Envy towards others or belief that others are envious of them

Arrogant, haughty behaviors and attitudes 

Goergia's video talks about how NPD is ultimately a trauma response, if an extremely maladaptive one, and feelings of abandonment can be a possible contributor to development of this disorder. And considering the situation with Lilith and Eve...yeah, that tracks.

So I think the next question is: how does that factor in to Adam's potential redemption arc, whether that exists in the canon show or just in fanfic/roleplay? The things that worked for Sir Pentious absolutely are not going to work for Adam because the root issues are completely different.

I think for Adam, the trick is not going to be trying to get him to feel remorseful for his actions but to try and get him to feel like improving his behavior would be a benefit to him personally. This isn't to say that he can't feel remorse mind you; I'm just saying that making that the goal, the focus....you're more prone to setting up that effort for failure when dealing with someone that has NPD.

And the process of making sustainable changes to maladaptive behaviors can often require the person to unpack parts of themselves that aren't nice or pretty, and I think that will definitely be the case with Adam. Because you can't really create an action plan if you don't have all the pieces laid out in front of you; you can't monitor yourself for triggers or harmful behaviors if you don't know more about how you tick.

[ukrainenews]

Update June 26, 2023

Under the cut:

The Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin has reappeared for the first time since abandoning his armed mutiny on Saturday evening, issuing a defiant 11-minute statement in which he defended the Wagner uprising and said that “society demanded it”. In the statement, Prigozhin denied that Wagner sought to topple Putin and said that the uprising had shown that there were “serious problems with security on the whole territory of our country”.

The US is expected to announce another military aid package to Ukraine totaling approximately $500 million, a US official told CNN.

Ukraine's military intelligence chief accused Russia on Tuesday of "mining" the cooling pond used to keep the reactors cool at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine's south.

EU countries on Monday agreed to increase the maximum size of a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine by 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) to 12 billion.

Russian intelligence services are investigating whether Western spy agencies played a role in the aborted mutiny by Wagner mercenary fighters on Saturday, the TASS news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Monday.

Frontlines across Ukraine have seen heavy combat over the past two days, with more than 20 engagements occurring in areas in the Donetsk region – chiefly Lyman, Marinka and Bakhmut, according to the Ukrainian military.

The Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin has reappeared for the first time since abandoning his armed mutiny on Saturday evening, issuing a defiant 11-minute statement in which he defended the Wagner uprising and said that “society demanded it”.

In the statement, Prigozhin denied that Wagner sought to topple Putin and said that the uprising had shown that there were “serious problems with security on the whole territory of our country”.

“It was not our goal to overthrow the regime,” Prigozhin said in the voice memo, which was uploaded to his Concord Group’s Telegram page.

“We stopped at that moment, when it became clear that much blood would be spilled,” he continued, describing the progress of a military convoy that reached striking distance of Moscow. “That’s why we believe that the demonstration of what we were planning to do was enough. Our decision to turn back had two factors: we didn’t want to spill Russian blood. Secondly, we marched as a demonstration of our protest.”

He once again accused the Russian defence ministry of targeting his troops with artillery fire, calling it the “trigger for us to move out immediately”.

“The goal of the march was to not allow the destruction of the Wagner private military company and hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors. Society demanded it.”

Prigozhin acknowledged that his troops had killed Russian airmen during their uprising, saying they “regretted that they were required to carry out strikes against aircraft but they were hitting our forces with bombs and rocket strikes”.

He also claimed that the troops movement into Russia was a “masterclass” in how Russia should have carried out its 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which failed to achieve its goal of taking Kyiv.

-The Guardian

~

The US is expected to announce another military aid package to Ukraine totaling approximately $500 million, a US official told CNN.

The aid, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday, will include additional Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles, the official said, and will be provided to Ukraine via Presidential Drawdown Authority. Ukraine lost several armored vehicles in the early days of its counteroffensive, which US officials believe Ukrainian forces launched earlier this month.

The package comes as US officials continue to assess what impact the Wagner rebellion inside Russia will have on Russia’s war in Ukraine. US and western officials told CNN last week that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has not been meeting expectations, with Russian lines of defense proving well-fortified. Russian forces have also had success bogging down Ukrainian armor with missile attacks and mines and have been deploying air power more effectively.

The last package, announced earlier this month, was valued at about $325 million and included new air defense and rocket systems for Ukraine.

The US has provided more than $39 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022, including $22 billion in presidential drawdowns.

-CNN

~

Ukraine's military intelligence chief accused Russia on Tuesday of "mining" the cooling pond used to keep the reactors cool at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine's south.

The six-reactor complex, Europe's biggest nuclear plant, has been under occupation since shortly after Moscow's forces invaded in February last year.

"...Most terrifying is that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was additionally mined during that time... namely the cooling pond was mined," Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR agency, said on television, without providing evidence for his assertion.

Reuters requested comment from the Russian defence ministry.

The two sides have accused each other of shelling the plant and its environs, and international efforts to establish a demilitarised zone around the complex have failed so far.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, dismissed as "null and void" a Russian suggestion that it could be building a "dirty bomb".

The ministry said the suggestion, made on Monday by Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, was first advanced by Moscow last year.

The move was, a ministry statement said, aimed at "diverting attention from the clear defeats by occupation forces at the front and sowing distrust among Ukraine's Western allies".

"If Russia is talking about a 'dirty bomb', its use by Russia could be a real threat," the ministry said.

Naryshkin had called on the U.N. nuclear watchdog and the European Union to investigate the dispatch of "irradiated fuel" from the Rivne nuclear plant in western Ukraine for disposal at a spent fuel storage facility in Chornobyl.

The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had reported this month on the transfer of spent fuel from Rivne to Chornobyl and taken full account of the material.

-Reuters

~

EU countries on Monday agreed to increase the maximum size of a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine by 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) to 12 billion.

The European Peace Facility (EPF), which EU countries contribute to according to the size of their economies, has already allocated some 4.6 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine. It is separate from the EU's budget, which is not allowed to finance military operations.

"Today's decision will again ensure that we have the funding to continue delivering concrete military support to our partners' armed forces," the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell, who had requested the increase, said in a statement.

"The facility has proven its worth. It has completely changed the way we support our partners on defence. It makes the EU and its partners stronger," he said.

Hungary on Monday said it would not lift a block on a 500 million euro tranche of the existing fund until Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP (OTPB.BU) from a list of companies it deems "international sponsors" of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Hungary has branded the bank's inclusion "scandalous".

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, speaking in Luxembourg, said that Budapest was ready to change its mind if Ukraine dropped the blacklisting.

The EPF, established in 2021, was conceived for the EU to help developing countries buy military equipment. But the 27-member union quickly decided to use it also to get weapons to Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February last year.

The fund allows EU countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and claim back a portion of the cost.

-Reuters

~

Russian intelligence services are investigating whether Western spy agencies played a role in the aborted mutiny by Wagner mercenary fighters on Saturday, the TASS news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Monday.

In an interview with Russian RT television, Lavrov said U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy had spoken to Russian representatives on Sunday and given "signals" that the United States was not involved in the mutiny and that Washington hoped that Russia's nuclear arsenal would be kept safe, TASS said.

Lavrov also quoted Tracy as saying the mutiny was Russia's internal affair.

Several Western leaders have said the incident shows that instability is growing in Russia as a result of President Vladimir Putin's decision to send his armed forces into Ukraine early last year.

Asked whether there was any evidence that neither Ukrainian nor Western intelligence services were involved in the mutiny, Lavrov replied:

"I work in a department that does not collect evidence about illegal actions, but we have such structures, and I assure you, they already understand this."

Doubts over Wagner's future have raised questions about whether it will continue its operations in African countries such as Mali and the Central African Republic, where its forces have played a big role in long-running internal conflicts.

Since the war in Ukraine undermined Russia's ties and trade with the West, the Kremlin has also been underlining its commitment to Africa.

Lavrov told RT that Mali and CAR both maintained official contacts with Moscow alongside their relations with Wagner, adding: "Several hundred servicemen are working in the CAR as instructors; this work, of course, will be continued".

A presidential advisor for CAR's president told Reuters on Monday that nothing had changed since the weekend events in Russia.

Fidele Gouandjika said Wagner was not officially established in the country, and that the military cooperation agreement they signed was with the Russian Federation, which deploys contingents of its choice.

"The first one (is) made of Russian instructors to train our security forces … the second contingent are soldiers that the West calls Wagner," he said.

"Russia sent us Wagner but we signed with Russia and so if they sent us private militias that's their choice. We keep working with the soldiers that Russia sent," he said.

Lavrov also said Ukrainian allegations that Russia plans to stage an attack involving a release of radiation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine were "nonsense", TASS reported.

-Reuters

~

Frontlines across Ukraine have seen heavy combat over the past two days, with more than 20 engagements occurring in areas in the Donetsk region – chiefly Lyman, Marinka and Bakhmut, according to the Ukrainian military.

In its operational update, the General Staff said the Russians also carried out 25 air strikes over the past day.

There had been heavy Russian artillery and mortar fire in the Kupyansk area of Kharkiv, where the Russians have been trying to break through for over a month, the Ukrainians said.

The General Staff insisted all Russian efforts to take territory had been foiled. Across the Donetsk frontlines, the fighting was characterized by exchanges of indirect fire, but with little movement.

However, the Ukrainians say they are on the front foot around Bakhmut.

“(Troops) hold the initiative, continue assault operations and push the enemy back. Over the last day, the Ukrainian forces advanced 600 to 1,000 meters on the southern and northern flanks around Bakhmut,” said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Armed Forces. Nearly 200 Russian soldiers had been killed in the last day, and a variety of Russian equipment had been destroyed, according to Cherevatyi.

CNN cannot verify Ukrainian claims of battlefield gains, or casualties.

In the south, where Ukrainian forces have attempted to break through Russian lines, the General Staff said a Russian effort to regain lost positions in the area of Novodarivka had also failed.

Russian artillery continued to strike about 30 settlements along the frontlines in the Zaporizhzhia region, it said.

In Kherson, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces in the south, said the Russians struggled to regain positions on the east bank of the river Dnipro, which was flooded by the recent damage to the dam at Nova Kakhovka.

“Their work is complicated by the spread of intestinal infections,” Humenyuk said.

-CNN

[scorchieart]

His Desire, His Fear, His Misbelief

A Character Study - Part II: Yves, Licht, Nokto, Luke

The continuation of the "Desire, Fear, Misbelief" Ikemen Prince character study. Jin, Chevalier, Clavis, and Leon are here. For a refresher:

Their desire, or the nonnegotiable goal they are trying to accomplish.

Their fear, or the person/thing/idea that’s preventing them from achieving their goal.

Their misbelief, or the “bubble” they crafted around their world for the purpose of achieving their goal while avoiding their fear at all costs.

The life-changing event that lined these three up, typically occurring in childhood.

Same setup, same content disclaimers, same spoiler warnings for all the routes. Hope you enjoy.

Yves Kloss

His Desire?

To bring honor to both his kingdoms and unite them as allies.

His Fear?

That his existence is a curse; abandoned by Obsidian and can only bring shame to Rhodolite.

His Misbelief?

In order to protect his people and the kingdom he loves, he must stay out of sight and work in the shadows.

His Life-changing Event?

The death of his wet nurse/nanny.

What does he do to achieve his goal while avoiding his fear?

Heavy expectations were set upon Yves before his birth in bridging the divide between the quarreling nations of Rhodolite and Obsidian, and while he understands it was impossible to alter the course of history, he still places blame on himself for every misfortune that followed his birth: his mother’s death, the break down of the peace negotiations, etc. Despite his best intentions, this and the Rhodolitians’ treatment lead him to truly believe he is a cursed prince undeserving of love, and Yves becomes the conventional prince who grew up watching his kingdoms from his room out of fear of ruining the happinesses of the citizens he loves but never met.

Licht Klein

His Desire?

To punish himself for his crime, and for Nokto to live a happy life. 

His Fear?

That he will never atone for his sin.

His Misbelief?

That he doesn't deserve kindness or empathy or light, and he must punish himself even if no one else will hold him accountable. 

His Life-changing Event?

His mother’s murder. 

What does he do to achieve his goal while avoiding his fear?

Licht’s personality shifted the most drastically of all the princes before and after his life-changing event to the point where his perceptions of reward and punishment swapped. He becomes incredibly uncomfortable when people praise him for his skills and his kindness, and he consciously puts himself in situations where he knows he will get hurt (mentally and physically). Even though his intentions the night his mother died were to save his broken family, he believes he failed everyone and is no longer worthy of living the innocent life he always dreamed of, least of all with Nokto, which developed into his solitary lifestyle and self-harming tendencies.

Nokto Klein

His Desire?

To provide value to the kingdom with pride as a prince, and for Licht to live a happy life.

His Fear?

That he is the weak link; a burden others always have to pick up the slack for.

His Misbelief?

To stay afloat he must take on more responsibility and keep up with the increasing demand, even if that means forfeiting his body and sanity.

His Life-changing Event?

His mother’s murder.

What does he do to achieve his goal while avoiding his fear?

Nokto and Licht grew up believing they perfectly completed one another; where one struggles the other lends a helping hand. Even through the trials their mother subjected them to, they never once questioned that one might be better than the other. However, watching Licht sacrifice his “humanity” to protect him the night of their mother’s death was the wakeup call that he is the inferior twin, and he pushes himself to never fall in a situation where he is so useless to the ones he loves ever again. He recognizes that he cannot match the other princes on the battlefield, so he focuses his efforts on battles of the mind. While this settles his political and bodily desires, it breeds loneliness and manifests a manipulated psyche where he can no longer communicate his true feelings even to himself.

Luke Randolph

His Desire?

To avenge his sister and bring down the Rhodolitian royal family.

His Fear?

That he’d grow to care for someone more than his sister, thus forsaking her death.

His Misbelief?

To live his life through apathy. He mustn’t grow attached to anything or anyone.

His Life-changing Event?

His sister’s death at the hands of his brother.

What does he do to achieve his goal while avoiding his fear?

Young Luke was plucked from the horrors of Bloodstained Rose Day with nothing except an inextinguishable craving to take revenge on his sister’s killer. This made him ripe for manipulation by Gilbert, charting the course for the next ten years of his life hellbent on destroying the Rhodolitian royal family. This included feeding him thoughts of mistrust in the government, his association with the anti-monarchy faction, and him joining the ranks as a low-level soldier at the capitol without a care for what happens after he fulfills his purpose. However, the years of exploitation finally crumbled at his discovery that the princes are not like his “friends” described (save for Chevalier), and it all comes to a head when he finds himself caring for Belle and discovering his target was Jin all along.

**Final notes: This batch was more difficult, and I think a large part of it was because Licht and Nokto's goals and fears are the only ones that are intertwined with one another, which was interesting to decipher, and because Luke's goal is very concrete with no clear ambition after he achieves it. Interesting to consider.

As always, you are free to agree/disagree. These are merely my interpretations of these characters and a lot of nuance is left out.

Many thanks to @batteryrose and @aquagirl1978 for helping me dissect the twins!

[kilfeur]

Voilà enfin fini mon nouveau comic Rayllum avec cette fois ci, un cauchemar de Rayla mais Callum est là pour veiller sur elle. A la base il y avait deux scènes que j'ai pas mit au final, la première est pendant la crise de panique de Rayla, Callum fait toujours le truc avec le pouls mais descend sa main vers sa coeur. Pour qu'elle puisse sentir ses battements puis l'allonger en lui demandant de se concentrer sur lui et sur sa voix. Au final j'ai opté pour autre chose qui on va dire plus réaliste même si je pourrais toujours placer ça ailleurs. La deuxième scène c'est qu'après la discussion du duo, Callum était censé jeter un coup d'oeil à l'arc de Rayla. Pensant aux dernières paroles de Claudia jusqu'à ce qu'il sente la main de Rayla et lui dise qu'il aime quand elle le touche s'en suit Rayla qui l'entoure dans ses bras pour se réchauffer. Je trouvais déjà que ça traînait en longueur et même si j'ai pu mettre le câlin, j'espère que je pourrais mettre la scène de l'arc sur un autre dessin ou bien un one shot par exemple.

At last I've finished my new Rayllum comic, this time featuring Rayla's nightmare, but Callum is there to watch over her. The first is during Rayla's panic attack. Callum still does the pulse thing, but lowers his hand to his heart. So she can feel his heartbeat, then lay her down and ask her to concentrate on him and his voice. In the end, I opted for something more realistic, even if I could always place it elsewhere. The second scene is that, after the duo's discussion, Callum was supposed to take a look at Rayla's bow. Thinking about Claudia's last words until he felt Rayla's hand and told her he liked it when she touched him, followed by Rayla wrapping her arms around him for warmth. I already felt it was dragging on and even though I was able to put in the hug, I hope I could put the bow scene in another drawing or a one-shot for example.

________________________

Page 1 and 2

Rayla : Where I am ?

Claudia : You're selfish, tell me why I don't have the right! All I want is to keep my father alive?! Everything I've done is for my family! To keep him with me! So why am I being robbed of what is rightfully mine?! So tell me you elf… Why should you be allowed to have yours back?

Rayla : Your father wanted to invade Xadia. He allowed a kingdom to be corrupted for his downfall. And you helped him, turning your back on your brother

Claudia : You know nothing! He did it for the good of mankind! Don't try to blame me for anything! When you've abandoned and hurt your loved ones. You came back like a flower, thinking you'd be welcomed. Nothing was going your way. You're no saint! So don't accuse me and see your own mistakes

Page 3

Viren : Tell me, elf, was my hunt really worth it?

Rayla : Ca... Callum. No... I beg you... Don't look at me. Outside, we'll be attacked! I've got to go! Otherwise we'll never reach the tower! Getting Nova's blade is the priority, we can't take a detour! I must protect you!

Page 4 and 5

Callum : Rayla, it's okay, you're not alone. You're here with me and Stella, remember. Can you feel my pulse and my touch? Rayla, relax. There you go, breathe just like me. Good again. We've eliminated the creatures that attacked us. And we've surveyed the area, haven't we?

Rayla : Yes, I remember.

Callum : That's good, Rayla, keep going.

Rayla : And the air dome you created at Umber Torr. You remade it for this cave.

Callum : See? Then breathe again. We're safe, you have nothing to fear. Do you want to talk about it ?

Claudia : You're selfish.

Rayla : Before that, I'd like to know… Why are you so intent on saving my family?

Callum : Eh… Well, why not? Recovering Nova's blade and saving them is like killing two birds with one stone!

Rayla : But...

Page 6

Callum : Rayla, in those two years, we created our own path. We've moved forward and sometimes lost our way, but we keep going. Because we want to achieve our goals. And we've done things for ourselves. Because we thought it was the right thing to do. But also for others, so that they can live in a better day. And finally, so that we can grieve properly. But you have the choice of reuniting with them. You shouldn't waste it when the opportunity is there. You could have continued your hunt. And yet you've come back to us.

Rayla : There are so many things I could have done better. So many things I haven't told you about my two years without you all. Even with Stella, I felt so alone. I was so cold and had nothing. I wish I could have stayed with all of you for those two years. I regret it but I'm here now and I want to stay by your side.

Callum : Rayla, you've always had a place with us. Even when you're reunited with them, that won't change. I promise!

Rayla : You always find the words to soothe me. They are magic! They make me feel able to face anything. You bewitched me and I've always been under your spell. So I can only love you more.

Rayla : I had a nightmare I thought I was going to die.

Callum : Really? And now you're thinking about it?

Rayla : Not so much now that you're here. Of course you do, Stella