#but only if we're allowed to treat not just one but two black women

[loveandlegacy]

if i leave off how barf-inducing the greater context of their love declaration is, i actually like that riot begrudgingly canonized jayce and viktor as being in love with one another but bc of the aforementioned barf-inducing greater context about soulmates and bullshit and jayce learning a Very Special Lesson about disability on the order of district 9 levels of stupid i think i have to stick to exclusively enjoying some horny fan art and memes about it because with a few exceptions notwithstanding every time i try to read anything from critical analysis to fanfiction about them/their relationship i feel like i'm having a fucking stroke

[blubushie]

i've seen some blogs i follow say that misandry isn't real and men aren't opressed for being men and honestly the former doesn't sit right with me. misandry is not systemic like misogyny but your answers about your experiences prove that it does indeed happen in queer spaces. masculine queer men have to prove that they aren't a threat by making themselves a walking gay caricature.

Hell men aren't just oppressed in female-dominant "cultures" (like queer spaces) but they're also oppressed by patriarchy and, in some ways, legally. They're just not oppressed in the same way women are.

Men are considered inherently stronger/better, which means women can't compete with us, which means any time a man is a victim of a woman it's automatically his fault for ALLOWING himself to be. How are you, a man, gonna let a woman hit you? (It's because even if you defend yourself, and you make the call the police, YOU'LL be arrested as the aggressor. It's your word against hers, and in domestic violence they will always favour hers.)

We are simultaneously shit on for defending ourselves, because how dare a man ever put his hands on a woman even in self defence, but at the same time if we DON'T do that, it's our fault for being abused because we didn't "resist" our abuser. This is the male version of being asked about what you were wearing when you were victimised. The only way men are ALLOWED to be recognised as victims is if you're a child and your abuser is an adult man. If it's an adult woman? Hell, kid, you're lucky.

A lot of people think men can't be raped—either because we "always want sex", or because we're expected to physically resist our rapist and win. Contrast this to women, who are told to piss themselves or scream, or just take it because maybe if you do your rapist won't kill you. (If you ask me a firearm makes a helluva equaliser, but that's a conversation for another day.) Legislation even reflects this—in the UK, for example, according to UK law, it isn't possible for a women to rape a man unless she penetrates him with an object. A woman violently raping a man, even a child, by restraining him or otherwise and forcing him into penetrating her, is merely considered sexual assault and carries a much lighter sentence than rape.

And that really sucks for someone like me, who was raped by two women while I was drunk. Who didn't even realise I was raped until a mate explained it to me, because it's normalised that women can have sex with a drunk man and that's not considered rape—not even if he blacks out and asks them to stop when he wakes up, and they keep going while he blacks out again. Like what happened to me. An even bigger kicker—a man is always considered responsible in sex. So if a drunk man and a drunk woman both agree to sex while both are intoxicated, legally HE is raping HER despite both being unable to actually consent.

This in addition to men being expected to be sole providers for a home by society—look at the current rise of women looking for a sugar daddy or red-flagging a man because he only has one car instead of two, or of men never being favoured in family court even when the mother is unable to care for the children or is abusive, or how women will weaponise visitation against fathers for spite because they know the court will side with her regardless of how good of a father he is, or the lack of men's shelters, or how DV shelters won't take women with minor children who are boys older than 12 so a woman has to either go back to her abuser with her children or leave her sons behind alone with an abusive father, of people laughing at the male loneliness epidemic and treating it like a good thing/deserved reckoning instead of recognising it as a warning sign for a flood of lost teens and young men drifting down the Andrew Tate or rapist incel misogyny pipeline, of people laughing at men's mental health month posts and outright encouraging men to commit suicide under them while men already statistically commit suicide at a higher rate than women...

Men are oppressed in some ways, I'd argue some of those ways are systemic, but no one talks or cares about it. There was a feminism wave in the 90s of "patriarchy harms everyone", which is true, but now we're on a different wave of "men are biologically evil", which is absolutely batshit fucking insane and helps no one. Bioessentialism helps no one. (Plus it's transphobic and intersexist.)

Anyway I'm gonna go back to working on my ute now.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Yeah this needs to be talked about more, the amount of articles, podcasts, youtube/tiktok videos or just online comments that I saw after season 1 came out that just assume the Bton books were diverse because the show is? And the fact the new marketing push around the books is not disabusing people about that notion, mainly through the new covers (both regular and the show tie-in ones).

It's a really complicated, thorny issue in some ways and very simple in others. If I look at Just Romance Novels (which is obviously a niche, just zeroing in a genre for the sake of discussion) the genre is still dominated by product from white authors, largely with characters written as white. While it's diversifying (far more slowly than it should be) a lot of the older "proven success" books are written by white people, about white people. I don't think it's wrong to cast diversely if you're adapting those books--and on a practical, "people putting food on the table" level, I want actors of color to have as many solid, well-paying opportunities as possible.

At the same time, there are still so many authors of color neglected. Not all of whom wrote people of color on the page, of course, especially in historical romance--Sherry Thomas and Stacy Reid are two historical romance novelists who write about white characters, and it's no surprise that the potential adaptation of Stacy's works would be cast more diversely. There's a level of tracking how expectations have changed when you look at how Sinful Wallflowers was presented as a book series, and how it could be presented as a show.

And like, I'll allow that we're in the midst of a sort of "boom" (who knows how long it'll last) of period pieces cast more diversely than they would've been even 15 years ago. The approaches are often different and individualized. The Great has people of color playing characters who'd be literal white Russians "in real life", and it's literally never commented on, which I think many would prefer for a show like Bton. BUT, most of the lead characters are white, with Orlo (who I think did not get the strongest writing from jump, though Sascha wanting to leave after s1 didn't help) and Arkady (who I think is hilarious and finally got more screentime in s3, but he could've gotten more from the beginning... so much Velementov screentime should be Arkady screentime) being two of the only truly prominent people of color onscreen.

Then you have something like Sanditon, where Georgiana gets better writing than many people on Bton, but the show obviously never knew how to really confront her background, made the racist old lady the peak comic relief, and never prioritized Georgiana the way her white counterpart Charlotte was prioritized. Georgiana got an afterthought of an ending after being humiliated by the narrative several times.

One of the shows that handled this best was Tom Jones--Sophia is treated as this gem of a girl whose grandfather and aunt love her, but clearly aren't fully sure about how to solidify her safety as a Black woman of means in England. There's a very tender scene where she discusses her father enslaving her and her mother with Tom, and the show doesn't shy away from Sophia's mixed feelings on the entire thing. There's a heavy implication re: her being made to perform whiteness with face powder, etc, but nonetheless this is not dominating Sophia's storyline. She gets to be the swooning girl who falls head over heels and is desired by a good man and upheld as his ideal in every way. She confronts conflict, but she does not SUFFER, and she is not MINIMIZED in favor of white women in the story--Sophia is really pretty explicitly like, The Woman of that piece. Presented as the most beautiful, as not flawless but good and deserving of love, as a true classical heroine whose personal narrative is actively expanded to match Tom's. The only thing I find prominently weird (after one viewing) is that she and Tom never had like, a sweet wedding night scene, as we saw Tom have sex with three different white women onscreen, of of which was like.... the core villain. I would've liked to have seen Sophia get the full physical adoration there, onscreen, and it did stand out a bit that she didn't.

So those are adaptations with growing pains, not getting everything right, but some being better than others (and Bton being the bottom of the barrel, there).

Then there are things that are unequivocally wrong, and not a part of growing pains as adaptations navigate between what sells and what diversifies and what works, and one of those unequivocally wrong things is selling the Bton books as diverse reads. Those books are some of the most conventional Regency romances out there; you don't even get a lot of economic or class diversity, let alone any racial diversity. Almost everyone in that series is upper class. Even Sophie is the daughter of a nobleman. And I'm not saying it's wrong to write about those people, but for the books to now be sold as something they're not, when the author didn't even think people of color could get HEAs in her Historically Accurate World... is the worst kind of capitalism.

That's part of the extra ugliness (on top of all the obvious ugliness) here. Julia Quinn was against what she's now profiting from. It's not just picking a white author's works to be emblematic of diversity they don't represent; it's THAT author's works. And I think that making Queen Charlotte from all this, putting Julia's name on the cover (I am.... 90% sure that book was ghostwritten, with input from Julia and Shonda, but go off) just adds to all of it.

[doctorkinktraveller]

[Black Archive]

CLARA: It's no good, Bonnie. You can't win.

CLARA-Z: I don't care.

DOCTOR: Hi! Hello! Hello!

(The two Zygons seize Clara.)

DOCTOR: Oh, hello! Hi. Hi. Stop this. Stop this, please. Let me take both of these boxes away. We'll forgive, we'll forget. And the ceasefire will stand.

CLARA-Z: No.

(Kate goes to the red box.)

KATE: Doctor, which of these buttons do I press? Doctor, which one? Truth or consequences?

(Bonnie aka Clara-Zygon stands at the blue box.)

CLARA-Z: Truth or consequences?

DOCTOR: This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Make your mind up time!

(He goes into American Game Show Host mode)

DOCTOR: : One of those buttons will destroy the Zygons, release the imbecile's gas. The other one detonates the nuclear warhead under the Black Archive. It'll destroy everyone in London. Bonnie. Bonnie, sweetheart! One of those buttons will unmask every Zygon in the world. The other one cancels their ability to change form. It'll make them human beings for ever. (normal) There are safeguards beyond safeguards. I did this on a very important day for me and this ceasefire will stand.

CLARA-Z: This is wrong.

DOCTOR: No, it's not.

CLARA-Z: You are responsible for all the violence. All of the suffering.

DOCTOR: No, I'm not.

CLARA-Z: Yes.

DOCTOR: No.

CLARA-Z: Yes. You engineered this situation, Doctor. This is your fault.

DOCTOR: No, it's not. It's your fault.

CLARA-Z: I had to do what I've done.

DOCTOR: So did I.

CLARA-Z: We've been treated like cattle.

DOCTOR: So what.

CLARA-Z: We've been left to fend for ourselves.

DOCTOR: So's everyone.

CLARA-Z: It's not fair.

DOCTOR: Oh, it's not fair! Oh, I didn't realise that it was not fair! Well, you know what? My Tardis doesn't work properly and I don't have my own personal tailor.

CLARA-Z: The things don't equate.

DOCTOR: These things have happened, Zygella. They are facts. You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you. You're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle?

CLARA-Z: Why should we?

DOCTOR: What is it that you actually want?

(A long pause.)

CLARA-Z: War.

DOCTOR: Ah. Ah, right. And when this war is over, when you have a homeland free from humans, what do you think it's going to be like? Do you know? Have you thought about it? Have you given it any consideration? Because you're very close to getting what you want. What's it going to be like? Paint me a picture. Are you going to live in houses? Do you want people to go to work? Will there be holidays? Oh! Will there be music? Do you think people will be allowed to play violins? Who's going to make the violins? Well? Oh, you don't actually know, do you? Because, like every other tantrumming child in history, Bonnie, you don't actually know what you want. So, let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?

CLARA-Z: We'll win.

DOCTOR: Oh, will you? Well, maybe, maybe you will win! But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning. So, come on. Break the cycle.

CLARA-Z: Why are you still talking?

DOCTOR: Because I want to get you to see, and I'm almost there!

CLARA-Z: Do you know what I see, Doctor? A box. A box with everything I need. A fifty percent chance.

KATE: For us, too.

(Both women have their hands poised over the buttons. The Doctor resumes Games Host mode.)

DOCTOR: And we're off! Fingers on buzzers! Are you feeling lucky? Are you ready to play the game? Who's going to be quickest? Who's going to be luckiest?

KATE: This is not a game!

DOCTOR: No, it's not a game, sweetheart, and I mean that most sincerely.

(Do a search on Hughie Green if you don't get the reference.)

CLARA-Z: Why are you doing this?

KATE: Yes, I'd quite like to know that, too. You set this up. Why?

DOCTOR: Because it's not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk! (sigh) Listen to me. Listen, I just, I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind.

CLARA-Z: I will not change my mind.

DOCTOR: Then you will die stupid. Alternatively, you could step away from that box, you can walk right out of that door and you could stand your revolution down.

CLARA-Z: No! I'm not stopping this, Doctor. I started it. I will not stop it. You think they'll let me go, after what I've done?

DOCTOR: You're all the same, you screaming kids. You know that? Look at me, I'm unforgivable. Well, here's the unforeseeable. I forgive you. After all you've done, I forgive you.

CLARA-Z: You don't understand. You will never understand.

DOCTOR: I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war? This funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine. And when I close my eyes I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight till it burns your hand, and you say this. No one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will have to feel this pain. Not on my watch!

(Kate closes the lid of the red box and steps back.)

DOCTOR: Thank you. Thank you.

KATE: I'm sorry.

DOCTOR: I know. I know. Thank you. (to Clara-Z) Well?

(Long, long pause.)

CLARA-Z: It's empty, isn't it? Both boxes. There's nothing in them. Just buttons.

DOCTOR: Of course. And do you know how you know that? Because you've started to think like me.

(Clara-Z drops her hand away from the buttons.)

DOCTOR: It's hell, isn't it? No one should have to think like that. And no one will. Not on our watch. (their eyes meet) Gotcha.

CLARA-Z: How can you be so sure?

DOCTOR: Because you have a disadvantage, Zygella. I know that face.

KATE: This is all very well, but we know the boxes are empty now. We can't forget that.

DOCTOR: No, well, er, you've said that the last fifteen times.

(He sonics the memory filter in the ceiling. Bang! Osgood leans an unconscious Kate against a rack of stuff. Clara-Z closes the blue box.)

CLARA-Z: You didn't wipe my memory.

DOCTOR: No. Just Kate's. Oh, and your little friend's here, of course. (the Zygons) When they wake up, they won't remember what you've done. It'll be our secret.

CLARA-Z: You're going to protect me?

OSGOOD: You're one of us now, whether you like it, or not.

CLARA-Z: I don't understand how you could just forgive me.

DOCTOR: Because I've been where you have. There was another box. I was going to press another button. I was going to wipe out all of my own kind, man, woman and child. I was so sure I was right.

CLARA-Z: What happened?

DOCTOR: The same thing that happened to you. I let Clara Oswald get inside my head. Trust me. She doesn't leave.

[3liza]

long post about puzzling manifestations of White Woman Hair Standards

ok so i realize this is firmly in the realm of White Girl Complaints and i apologize for that. everything i'm describing here is white-on-white friendly fire from the white policing of Black hair and Black people get way more shit about this than i ever will (the history of hair texture's association in white culture with race is extremely complicated and i dont have time rn, but it's really interesting, look up "circassian beauties" sometime). i have the standard 3b-c curl pattern. when my hair is wet it forms ringlets, and then dries into ringlets, the Merida hair if you will, its a pretty common scottish gene. when i brush it out when it's dry, it looks approximately like this pre-raphaelite painting of Elizabeth Siddel. this was a common and even desirable hair texture in the 19th century for white women, and was imitated with curling irons and perms and beer rinses. this state of affairs continued roughly until the 90s, when straight--or if textured, very obviously rollered or curled with tools, never natural--became not only on-trend, but the only permissible hair texture to have in a professional environment. and now, if i go outside on the West Coast of the USA with my hair in the Elizabeth Siddel condition, it is like people have spotted a plague victim. we're talking audible and visible pointing and laughing on many occasions even as an adult, asking me if im wearing a wig, and every single person i talk to will either treat me observably worse than when my hair is straight, and/or have Something to Say About It, ranging from unsolicited advice about "conditioner" to asking me if im "okay". any rude question or comment you can think of that i had to answer with "no, this is just my hair. this is my normal hair when i havent spent three hours on it" has been directed at me when my hair is like the painting, including asking me about my racial background, sometimes just assuming/telling me i'm mixed race (white people LOVE to do this to each other)

i'm not sure what to attribute this to, exactly. it's obviously based in American racism, i'm just not sure how the switch happened from curly/frizzy hair being considered an "exotic" thing that was observed by white culture to be more common outside the white race but still expected to show up on white people now and then, to something that was considered a symptom of freakishness or cause for alarm. it seems to have happened suddenly in the mid 90s, because before then, youd see celebrities with frizzy spiral perms all over the place. i dont think Nicole Kidman has shown her natural hair texture outside her house since the late 80s

she has the same hair texture gene as i do, white australians are mostly scots-irish convict phenotypes like mine. she will appear in public with curls, but not natural ones, always roller sets/curling iron/blowout curls.

Natasha Lyonne is another public example of some texture being allowed through but its because she is always playing characters who are insane, "quirky", lesbian, drug addicts, or just profoundly weird. and even then 1. her natural hair is wavy, not curly and 2. it's still styled to death even if the styling is to make it "look" unstyled. Carol Kane is another one, again, she used to play leading girls in the 70s and 80s and then became a "weird cat lady" character actor in the 90s,partially due to age sure, but even in Kimmy Schmidt when she was supposed to have crazy cat lady hair they were still roller setting or two-strand twist setting it. it was not natural curl pattern, they had to straighten it and then recurl it to make it screen acceptable. even though this is her natural texture (2c-3a and some mixed ringlet/wave pattern, im guessing):

backcombed and scrunched a bit on the left, brushed out dry on the right (possibly with extensions, hard to tell)

and here's how they're presenting "crazy cat lady" in Kimmy Schmidt:

it actually started out longer and frizzier in the early episodes and they made it way more conservative as the show went on

i've been puzzling over this for years. between 1993 and 2010 i just sort of assumed it was lingering Aniston Effect and eventually other white people would stop bothering me about my hair, but the longer it goes on the more puzzling it is.

theres no appreciation for white girls with fucked up puffy frizzy hair anymore. we just sort of lost our way in the 90s and never found our way back out of the jennifer aniston torment nexus

[cburambles]

Livid with the way the show treat the Velaryon family & Harwin as an afterthought just for the sake to rush to Daemon/ Rhaenyra, which also manages to bring a shit-ton of questions concerning character's decisions & how the writing room really need to have more BIPOCs aboard.

By skipping over the Daemon/ Laena's courtship, we have no idea why Corlys & Rhaenys would be ok with Laena taking off with Daemon knowing he's now a prince in exile. & Oh she was supposedly bethrohed to the sea lord of Braavos the episode prior, which you know could have been a potential political conflict but you tell me it got resolved offscreen. Ok then. & why Laena would be ok following Daemon around with their kids & being pregnant if they put out that she still cared about the importance of her noble & valyrians blood.

Apparently, monogamy culture, the idea you can have one true love when the average citizen might fall in love multiples times in their life & Rhaenyra being allowed to have only one female friend make it they had to put distance between her & Daemon/ Laena. And we're supposed to accept Daemon & Rhaenyra would be ok marrying together right after years where being far away from each other without bothering writing letters & after the many times he left Rhaenyra in vulnerable positions.

One thing that could have accentued the fact Alicent feels isolated at court was because despite the allegations of Viserys's grandchildren being illegitimate & everything, Rhaenyra, Harwin (who had the control of City Watch) the Velaryons & Daemon formed a constant & strong united front against her. Splitting the group like that, making Laenor an asshole who doesn't give a fuck about his kids but still get to name the newborn Joffrey without consulting Rhaenyra hurt the story & its characters. You tell me that he loves swordfighting but then wouln't at least bother to participate into the martial education of his sons ( & maybe would have helped Harwin to deck one or two on Criston for y'know, killing his lover 10 years ago & the unfair treatment of their kids) ?

Laenor & Laena are also the kids of Corlys & Rhaenys who are portrayed as politically savy & in an healthy relationship & you tell me that it wouldn't influence how their kids navigates court politics & how to conduct their relationships? Prior to marrying Rhaenyra, Laenor was Corlys's heir & he wanted for Laena to become queen. This episode should have been about how the factions started forming but instead everyone is isolated from each other so???

I can understand Daemon having an affinity with dragonriders but I don't think he would neglect Rhaena, knowing she could still potentially bond with an already living dragons like he did with Caraxes & Laena with Vhagar. Also if Daemon is away from court, how did he got the eggs for his daughters? Did Vhagar had a clutch with Caraxes? It also rid of one of the few of Daemon redeeming qualities that he cares fiercely about his family.

I need showrunners to understand death linked to childbirth also often happen after birth due to pulmonary embolism, hemorrhage etc... There was absolutely no need to repeat what happened to Aemma & knowing that Laena was portrayed by a black actress , she didn't need a " warrior" death to show of how much of a Strong black woman tm she is. She could still had have a peaceful dragon rider death by expending that detaillled book scene & having her ride Vhagar last one time if they just wanted & passing away with Daemon helping her instead of giving her a painful traumatic bbq death. Anyway I need for showrunners to understand that feminism for black women is different than for a white women, as our " strenght" is used as an excuse to abuse black women on a systemic level & thus deny the right to feel comforted, vulnerable, loved etc...

Also yikes to Laena accepting herself as a placeholder & fridging her because "Daemon deserved it" (when they didn't even took the effort to developp their relationship). Double-yikes.

How did Daemon suddendly manages to solves his problem of impotency?

Harwin last goodbye was sweet but also... don't do that when you're currently under suspicions of fucking a royal? Will Jace putting two & two about him being his father impact the story & his relationship to Rhaenyra or??

Beside that, Alicent, Larrys, Criston & Lyonel Strong moments were from great to OK. Larrys feels like what we should have got of Varys & Littlefinger. Alicent doesn't feel like they just made her into a Cerseï 2.0 while still retaining some of her book edge.

Also sad yeah for Heleana being neurodivergent into insects. Girl deserves going on bug catching trips instead of dealing with the shitshow that is KL & Aegon II who looks perfectly detestable in a fun way currently. Wasn't expecting Aemond being the one being bullied here at first & we can see Criston & Alicent will play a role into having the kids antagonizing the Strong boys afterwards.

But the quality of the story really dipped concerning the Blacks.

[thesociologicalcinema]

One of the most popular misconceptions about black history is that over time, America has gradually become less racist and more tolerant. That is not true. Since y'all want a BHM thread, here's a thread about the evolution of racism in America. First, let's dispel a few wrong beliefs. The first enslaved Africans did not arrive in 1619. They were just the first to arrive in the English colonies. Nearly a century earlier, in 1526, 600 Europeans founded the colony of San Miguel de Gualdape in what's now Georgetown, SC.

They brought enslaved Africans along with them too. But those slaves revolted damn near as soon as they arrived. That's right the first slave rebellion predates the Mayflower. Still, we must dispel another notion that American slavery was like British Slavery. Not quite. America's race-based slavery was different.

First of all, Great Britain never codified slavery into its laws. While it was never illegal, it was never illegal, it was never ensconced onto the Constitution like the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Secondly, the British slave trade wasn't exclusively race-based like America's. The British had enslaved people of every color, including buying slaves from the Barbary pirates, who enslaved people from Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa and even Asia. When the 20 & Odd Negroes arrived in America, there WERE some indentured servants already here.

But the TWICE-stolen Africans, who came here couldn't read, write or speak the language. So, instead of treating them like indentured servants who were providing free labor, these white Virginians changed the game. The African's didn't get contractual periods of servitude. This new brand of white people were like: "Freedom? Oh, we don't do that over here." Then in 1640, an enslaved African ran away, along with 2 European indentured servants. A Virginia court sentenced them to 30 lashes and extended the white dudes' period of servitude by 1 year.

But the black guy got a different sentence: "...and that the third being a negro named John Punch shall serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere." Remember, there were STILL more indentured white servants than enslaved blacks. In 1642 it got WORSE, not better, when the Virginia legislature declared that the children of enslaved black women would ALSO be enslaved. Then, those SC negroes made it even worse. In 1739, a group of enslaved Kongol soldiers formed their own army and started marching.One of the most popular misconceptions about black history is that over time, America has gradually become less racist and more tolerant. That is not true. Since y'all want a BHM thread, here's a thread about the evolution of racism in America. First, let's dispel a few wrong beliefs. The first enslaved Africans did not arrive in 1619. They were just the first to arrive in the English colonies. Nearly a century earlier, in 1526, 600 Europeans founded the colony of San Miguel de Gualdape in what's now Georgetown, SC.

They brought enslaved Africans along with them too. But those slaves revolted damn near as soon as they arrived. That's right the first slave rebellion predates the Mayflower. Still, we must dispel another notion that American slavery was like British Slavery. Not quite. America's race-based slavery was different.

First of all, Great Britain never codified slavery into its laws. While it was never illegal, it was never illegal, it was never ensconced onto the Constitution like the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Secondly, the British slave trade wasn't exclusively race-based like America's. The British had enslaved people of every color, including buying slaves from the Barbary pirates, who enslaved people from Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa and even Asia. When the 20 & Odd Negroes arrived in America, there WERE some indentured servants already here.

But the TWICE-stolen Africans, who came here couldn't read, write or speak the language. So, instead of treating them like indentured servants who were providing free labor, these white Virginians changed the game. The African's didn't get contractual periods of servitude. This new brand of white people were like: "Freedom? Oh, we don't do that over here." Then in 1640, an enslaved African ran away, along with 2 European indentured servants. A Virginia court sentenced them to 30 lashes and extended the white dudes' period of servitude by 1 year.

But the black guy got a different sentence: "...and that the third being a negro named John Punch shall serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere." Remember, there were STILL more indentured white servants than enslaved blacks. In 1642 it got WORSE, not better, when the Virginia legislature declared that the children of enslaved black women would ALSO be enslaved. Then, those SC negroes made it even worse. In 1739, a group of enslaved Kongol soldiers formed their own army and started marching.

As they marched, other enslaved Africans joined in. Led by a literate black man named Jemmy, they burned six plantations and killed two dozen white people. The Stono Rebellion scared so many white South Carolinians, they passed the Negro Act of 1740. It forbade slaves from gethering in one place, growing food and learning how to read. States across the South began passing similar laws. While outlawing reading and writing was significant, these laws had another provision.

They required communities to patrol for runaway slaves. SC had already created one of the nation's first slave patrols in 1704. But this time, they made it mandatory. In 1757, Georgia followed suit. In 1792, Ga even prohibited slaves from worshiping GOD. These slave patrol rolls were the bases of the state militias that fought in the Revolution. After America won the Revolutionary war, I'm sure slavery got better, right? As one well-known state senator from the great state of Maryland once said: "Sheeeeeit."

First, the states enshrined slavery into the Constitution. Many people point to the 3/5ths clause and forget about the FIRST restriction that the constitution placed on Congress in Article 1 Section 9: "We're gonna keep this slave trade thing going for at least 20 more years." This might not seem like a long time to you. But when the Constitution was ratified, the average life expectancy in the US was 38 years old. And, if you notice, the Constitution doesn't specifically mention the words "slavery" or "slave."

That's because the founders KNEW it was an evil institution. They KNEW it would eventually end. They just wanted to preserve it FOR THEM. Let's pause for a minute. Whenever we talk about black history and early America, we mention slavery. Some people will argue that America wasn't a white supremacist country. They'll even argue that slavery was a necessary evil. That should mean free black citizens had all the same rights as regular citizens, right? Hold up. Let me stop laughing.

This is the EXACT history that I'm talking about. The first free black people in the US had all the rights and privileges that were afforded everywhere else. There were places allowed black landowners to vote. By the Declaration of Independence, only white landowners could vote. Then the Constitution allowed states to choose, and most states allowed white landowners who owned a certain amount of property, but some, including NY, Penn and NJ, allowed free black property owners to vote. Then those states took THAT RIGHT away!

The 1790 Naturalization Act limited citizenship to any "free white person...of good character." By the time the Civil War rolled around, any white man could vote. SHOW ME WHERE WHITE SUPREMACY EVER DECREASED! At the end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment Abolished slavery, the 14th granted black people citizenship and the 15th guaranteed them the right to vote. A LOT of people believe this is when Jim Crow began. Those people are wrong. ~ @michaelharriot

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 4: elves!

everyone loves elves! they're a fantasy genre mainstay, archery is so sexy, and they have those E A R S. plus, they play a pretty important part in the witcher universe!

series masterpost

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

background

i'd recommend going through the last parts, or at least the tl;dr's first

elves arrived on the continent about 2000 years before humans, and are divided into 5 distinct cultures of varying importance: aen undod, aen elle, aen seidhe, black seidhe, and aen woedde

elves only came to the continent in one group, but not all of that group stayed. the different branches based on where they settled make up the different cultures

the main two languages in the witcher are common speech and elder speech (aka hen llinge), the former used by most humans and the latter used by the elder races

aen undod

the aen undod are the oldest elven culture, having existed years before the conjunction of spheres

their home world faced some huge catastrophe, so the aen undod left in search of new worlds, leaving their descendants to become all the future elven cultures.

the aen undod spoke the oldest dialect of elder speech, laith aen undod, or one speech

aen elle

the aen elle use a language derived from hen llinge called ellylon, in which their name means "of the alders"

they don't actually live on the continent, having abandoned it years ago for their own world.

however, when the aen elle arrived in this new world, it was already populated by humans and unicorns. unfortunately, these elves are notoriously ruthless and both the native species were eradicated.

the capital of the aen elle world is tir ná lia, and is described as stunningly beautiful, featuring open air buildings made of marble, alabaster, and malachite. here it is in the third witcher video game, by djkovrik on nexus. their screenshots are amazing btw.

[ID: screenshot from wild hunt showing tir ná lia. the city is built on cliffs above a sea, there are waterfalls falling from the cliffs and bridges connecting them. there are mountains in the background and the buildings are fairly small and out of focus, they seem to be in the gothic revival style with ornate windows and steeped roofs. end ID]

the ruler of the aen elle was auberon muircetach, king of the alders and aen saevherne (aen saevherne is the honorary title of an elven mage who has extensive knowledge of magic, geneology, history, and many other subjects). auberon was also ciri's 5 times great grandfather. this gwent card pretty much sums up his vibe: scary yet sexy.

[ID: illustration of elven man with long white hair on a brown horse. he has defined cheekbones and facial features and is wearing a gold crown and blue robes with a red sash, gold belt, and leather boots. he is holding a white unicorn head in one hand. the unicorn's horn is cut off, and is bloody around its neck and where its horn was. end ID]

auberon's consort was another aen elle named shiadhal, with whom he had one daughter, lara dorren. lara is so so so important for the witcher, as she is the beginning of the elder blood, or hen ichaer.

hen ichaer is a gene that carries incredibly powerful magic, and those who have it are usually sources. i talk more abt this in part 3.

for better or for worse, lara dorren fell in love with a human sorcerer, cregennan of lod, and left tir ná lia for him. auberon took this as cregennan "stealing" his daughter and therefore the hen ichaer, and developed a pretty hefty vengeance and dedication to "take back" what was his (yikes).

this also set a precedent of people "claiming" the lives of carriers of the hen ichaer

auberon also formed an elven cavalry known as the red riders or wild hunt (dearg ruadhri in ellylon) and he appointed eredin bréacc glas as their commander. the initial purpose of the wild hunt was to travel to different worlds and capture slaves for tir ná lia, although they later became auberon's tool to find and exploit carriers of hen ichaer.

the wild hunt also uses specially trained mages known as navigators to open portals to other worlds, the most notable of these navigators is caranthir ar-feiniel, who doubled as one of eredin's most trusted men.

the aen elle also live a pretty long time, average is around 650 years, so the timelines are kinda hard to keep track of.

notable aen elle include: auberon muircetach, shiadhal, lara dorren, eredin breácc glas, crevan espane aep caomhan macha (aka avallac'h, also an aen saevherne and lara dorren's ex), caranthir ar-feiniel (also avallac'h's foster son), ge'els (the viceroy of tir ná lia), and imlerith (general of the wild hunt)

aen seidhe

put simply, the aen seidhe are the elves that did not leave when the aen elle did

the aen seidhe don't really have a society like the aen elle, they're pretty dispersed across the world. but, there are certain areas the aen seidhe have claimed as their own.

one of these little civilizations is dol blathanna, also known as the valley of flowers. unfortunately, it's not an independent state, as it was conquered by aedirn in the 1150s. however, then-king baldwin thyssen did allow the elves to retain a lot of their cultural identity and live in peace.

dol blathanna includes the village posada and the capital silver towers, which is where filavandrel aén findháil is from. he's that sexy man right there

[ID: photo of white elf man with blonde hair going to his shoulders. he is wearing tattered green robes and is looking slightly to the side with his lips pursed. end ID]

not that anyone cares, but here's him in the hexer. it's not important to the lore or twn it's just fuckin funny

[ID: old man with white frizzy wig. he is wearing a headband that appears to be rocks on a string. he has what looks like a potato sack tied around his shoulders over a green tunic. he is scowling. end ID]

outside of dol blathanna, there aren't really any places where elves can live with minimal human interaction, although the blue mountains are home to a few incredibly powerful elves

side note: dol blathanna is technically part of the blue mountains, but is in the far southern foothills so they're usually treated as separate entities.

the blue mountains are also a natural border dividing the northern kingdoms from the far east, and where filavandrel went to live after he got fed up with dol blathanna.

they're also the home of ida emean aep sivney, who's also an aen saevherne and future member of the lodge of sorceresses.

next season, we're going to meet the beautiful elven sorceress francesca findabair, also known as enid an gleanna (hen llinge for daisy of the valley)

here she is with fringilla vigo (nilfgaardian sorceress) in twn season 2. note that enid is preggers! that's very odd and i will go into detail on it later

[ID: photo of two women walking side by side. the one on the left is black and has black hair in braids going over one shoulder. she is wearing a silver dress with a similarly coloured floor length coat. the one on the right is biracial and has strawberry blonde hair in a braided updo. she is wearing a floor length blue gown with gold embroidery and a metallic brown cloak. she is pregnant. end ID]

enid is crazy interesting and important for the story of the witcher (and confirmed for season two!), so i won't go too in depth about her now

as i mentioned in part 2, nilfgaard tends to favour elves, leading to a lot of militaristic forces allied with nilfgaard. most notably, the scoia'tael, or squirrels. the scoia'tael are an incredibly ruthless and effective nonhuman guerilla force, generally divided into commandos, units that patrol a given area and eliminate the northern (or simply human) threat.

there are a lot of scoia'tael, so i'll just give you the commanders for now: angus bri cri, coinneach dá reo, iorveth, isengrim faoiltiarna, riordain, and toruviel.

you might remember toruviel as this sexy angry lady from twn, and she is possibly going to get a much bigger role later... pay attention to toruviel.

[ID: young elf woman with white skin and red hair tied over her shoulder. she has a bloody nose and is wearing a light green top with a dark brown leather studded belt. her belt is also around an olive green coat. she looks quite angry. end ID]

the scoia'tael were very well organized, but also quite dispersed, so when nilfgaard needed more specific tasks done, they would assemble specific military units (usually led by some of our favourite squirrels)

the vrihedd brigade was the most important of these units. they were especially notorious for their cruelty in the second northern war, so i'm sure we'll meet at least a few members next season.

their leader was colonel isengrim faoiltiarna (aka the iron wolf), and his officers coinneach, iorveth, riordain, and angus.

francesca findabair is not directly involved with either the scoia'tael or the vrihedd brigade, but she does work quite closely with them very often.

also important to note that not all scoia'tael are aen seidhe elves, most (including all higher ranking commanders and officers) are, but there are a number of nonhumans including dwarves and halflings.

unfortunately, the aen seidhe are slowly going extinct, both from years of genocide from humans and their slow reproductive cycles (elves live a Long time, but can only have children towards the beginning of their lives)

that's why it's so surprising to me that enid is preggers! we don't exactly know her age, but by my calculations she was over 150 in twn (pretty far past the age elves can have children).

because of this, elves are pretty divided between fighting against human rule and seeking coexistence. there are arguments for both camps, mainly that humans are colonizers and should not be trusted for the former, and that elves are dying out already and need to live with humans to survive for the latter.

the most prominent stand for the fight was in the 1060s when an aen seidhe named aelireen led an uprising against humans. most of the elders told her that it wouldn't end well, but she didn't listen and led hundreds of young elves into battle. it was an utter massacre, and basically all elves who could have children died.

yikes

unfortunately, the movement for coexistence was just as unsuccessful. it was led by our man cregennan of lod, lara dorren's husband. the poor simp just wanted to live in peace with his wife, but a lot of humans thought he was a traitor because he married an elf, and he and lara were murdered in 1137 in redania.

the last real push for independence was with the formation of the scoia'tael in the 1260s. I say 1260s because the very beginnings of the scoia'tael were right around 1262-1236 (the start of ciri's timeline) but they became majorly important around 1267. although, even the scoia'tael realized they needed humans to survive and began working with nilfgaard.

however, some scoia'tael are less keen on being nilfgaard's attack dogs, leading to further division amongst the aen seidhe.

black seidhe

remember the elves i talked about in part 2 as being the ancestors of the albans? this is them!

the black seidhe are native to the south, more particularly the valley around the alba river. they are practically extinct, but the nilfgaardians carry a lot of their cultural identity in the nilfgaardian language, a variation of hen llinge.

aen woedde

the wood elves, or aen woedde, is the elven culture we know the least about, they primarily live in the areas around nilfgaardian forests and speak hen llinge.

the only notable wood elf is aenyeweddien, or iskra, a member of the rats, a gang of semi violent youths in the northern realms. we'll learn more about the rats in future seasons.

tl;dr: elves, especially the aen seidhe and aen elle cultures, make up a large part of witcher lore. they are most notable for their long lifespans, magical and historical knowledge, and militaristic alliances with nilfgaard.

[rockanroller]

gonna try and summarize my thoughts about this as best i can (they are not perfect thoughts by any means, more like thinking about my perceptions out loud, they may not be 100% correct.)

it's never quite surprised me that hazbin has attracted what seems to be a conservative (occasionally pro-cop) white crowd. idk how "big" that crowd really is within the fandom, but i've seen a fair handful of them online and irl.

the reason it never quite surprised me was that hazbin, despite being so self-insistently queer, still checks off a lot of conservative boxes. (everything i'm about to say is considering a conservative perspective, i'm not saying these things are true or viv's intent.)

there's the fact that, despite any attempt at coding, many of the characters are, or come off as, white, especially the ones that feel like we're supposed to sympathize with (Lucifer, Charlie, Angel Dust, even in Helluva Boss with characters like Stolas) or others that are simply fan-favorites like Alastor. or others still like Emily who we only know was supposed to be black from her audition sheet.

Alastor himself checks off several incel/insecure white man power-fantasy boxes that tend to overlap with conservatives. his 1920s/1940s aesthetic alone is something that insecure white men tend to adore (idk why but it should be studied lol), the fact he is a confident and powerful being that can seemingly do whatever he wants (such as slapping Vaggie on the ass in the pilot) just intensifies that adoration. (yes i'm aware he was "defeated" by Adam in the pilot, that was recent, i'm referring to the fandom that's grown since Hazbin's pilot release) which is largely why the image of the Alastor pin being on a Blue Lives Matter flag patch didn't shock me. he also hasn't been "held down" by any women (that we know of so far) and has no qualms pushing them around when he needs/wants to such as mocking both Vaggie and Charlie's misery in different episodes despite canonically being kinder to/preferring company of women. he's the "nice guy" but he still has and exercises power over others including women.

correct me if i forgot someone, but the fact just about every queer character we've seen so far is in hell. (Vaggie is from heaven yes, but wound up in hell, and her love for Charlie is called "vile and blasphemous" by Lute as well as sexualized by Adam's remark that their relationship is "hot as fuck.")

the fact that sexism is common in both Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, such as a hefty handful of "women are bitches" tropes, especially if the women are sexual, while male characters more often get their sexuality rewarded. women character plots tend to depend on male characters. Charlie gets saved by her dad not once, but twice, in her big battle with Heaven and barely does any fighting, only landing two actual hits on Adam, one being while she's literally being held by her father. Millie has very little faults or personality outside of her relationship with Moxxie. there's even instances of belittling and ignoring the feelings of men or treating the men as lesser for being weak or emotional, or that their issues are something they need to "suck up" or "get over themselves."

frequent recognition of gender roles (mlm couples with clear heteronormative roles; one is Top one is Bottom, one is The Masc and one is The Fem, etc.) and here's the thing--all of us that are queer can easily read past the gender roles and accept the queer characters as they are, but unless a series expresses its queerness openly and clearly, it leaves the audience with the freedom to interpret it however they want. and tbf that's what's allowed series to express queerness w/o homophobes fully noticing in the past (where writers had to rely on queer-coding.) but they can still feel like they have some "power" over queer people with that coding especially if it's an interpretation they feel they can sexualize or laugh at. (which they will generally try to do even if a series doesn't give them an "in" to do it.)

like, yes, we know Angel Dust is (assumedly) GNC (despite Viv saying she thought it meant something else when she labeled Angel as such in the past)--but to a conservative viewer, with how Angel is portrayed in the series itself, he's just an effeminate gay man, a cross-dresser, the exact type of stereotype they both understand and punish. they may even feel Angel's abuse is justified, and enjoy seeing him get told by Husk he's just a "whiny bitch" which is reminiscent of conservative "suck it up" and "bootstrap" mentality.

and perhaps the least likely but still notable to me, is the demonization of addicts (as lowlifes who "choose" their poison) while being seemingly fine with alcoholism. conservatives love their alcohol (look how they reacted to a trans person doing an ad campaign with their beloved Bud Light.) in the series Husk can drink regularly without a second glance, and "drinks with friends after a hard day" is something the series seems to say is good. but Husk, and others, fiercely judge Angel for using drugs and being "some crack whore" who "isn't special."

phew. that's the best theorizing i've got, again i'm not saying any of this is like...a perfect or exact analysis, nor viv's intent, nor necessarily "true" to the series, these have just been my thoughts of how a conservative might interpret it.

none of this is to say anyone has to try and conservative-proof their queer writing. conservative queers do exist. i'm only trying to explain why it doesn't surprise me that there are conservatives in the fandom of what is supposed to be an unapologetically "queer" series.

hell, i can tell you i once knew a conservative who was homophobic, but he was fine with the obvious wlw relationships in Steven Universe simply bc, by his definition, the gems were "all women", so it "made sense" to him since they had "no other choices" in their species.

About the pin of Alastor being right next to a pro cop flag.

I am confused????? The shows might be many things but I don't think it's pro-cop????? Wouldn't call it anti-cop either but I didn't even thing it would attract that kind of people.

Also, Alastor wouldn't like cops.

Search me. Nothing about it makes sense.

[yunho-es]

Member/s: Jongin(EXO)

Genre:NSFW, Vampire!Kai

Warnings: mentions of blood, swearing, NSFW content

Words: 2348

I made a little moodboard for this oneshot 😊

I could almost hear my blood flow through my veins as I moved through the dark hallways. I had taken my shoes off so I make less noise, so now I'm roaming the dark castle completely barefoot. An amateurish move, but that was the only thing I could think of. I stopped in my tracks when I felt a cold breeze on my left side.

My heart sunk in fear and I found myself gulping and getting ready to run. I was lost, so there was no way I was turning around: going forward was the only way. I had promised myself that if I got out alive, I'd kill my colleagues. I wasn't one of the best investigators like them, they had just transferred me last week to a higher level. They used me as a bait to see how safe the castle is.

When I felt the cold breeze on my right side, I dropped my sneakers on the floor and started running for life. He's here. He exists. And he may not be as merciful as his crazy fangirls describe him. I want to keep my blood inside me and my neck clean from any bites.

I sighed in relief when I found a stairway that led down to what seemed like the garden. Hopefully, it's not a graveyard. Just as my hand reached for the fence, a firm, cold hand grabbed my wrist and I found myself screaming uncontrollably. I closed my eyes almost shaking in fear. The cold breeze was everywhere around me and the hand was still on my wrist. Soon I feel the other one on my mouth, muffling my ear piercing screams.

"Quiet."

The voice was husky and made me obey him. Before I could say anything else, I felt a strong pain on the back of my head and I found myself falling into his cold arms.

***

I was awoken by a loud slamming that sounded like a window being shut. I could hear the wind, but I couldn't see anything. When I had troubles to open my eyes, I realised I was blindfolded. That son of a b*tch blindfolded me. I tried moving my arms, but they were tied by a soft, silky material. I couldn't feel any pain, so I guessed he hadn't done anything to me.

"Feeling comfortable?", the voice spoke.

"Untie me. Now.", I demanded.

"No.", I shivered as I felt a breath near my ear. "Who sent the little girl to a dangerous castle at night?"

"That's my job."

"Your job is to break into homes? What did you even plan to do, stupid girl? Go inside, check if I'm real, then quickly go outside? Maybe snap a few pictures?" The blindfold was roughly taken off of my eyes and I immediately closed them. I wasn't ready for whatever was in front of me. "You can't even look at me. I don't understand. Are you really stupid or did someone make you do this?"

"I'm not stupid. I'm just trying my best and-"

"Look at me.", the husky voice interrupted me. "Open your eyes, dolly. You came to play, now let's play. Open them."

He quickly went from playful to serious and it scared me to death. I was squirming on the soft mattress, as if I really had a way out of this. Then, I felt his cold fingers wrap around my neck and I gasped. That's it. I'm going to die.

"You smell very nice. You look enchanting, so ready to be my sweet treat. So ready to die."

For a second I thought I stopped breathing. His movements were slow and I knew I could expect anything from him. "No, please-"

"Quiet."

My soul almost left my body when I felt a warm, wet tongue brushing against my neck, from my collarbone to my jaw. I heard low humming as he pulled away and I finally allowed myself to open my eyes.

I was greeted with dark, red eyes and a smirk. I was laying on a big bed with red sheets and the man in front of me had both of his legs on my sides, trapping me between them. He was on his knees, his hands on the sides of my head. "Hello." I thought of screaming again, but it would just make him angry. Who knows where he'd tie me up next? A dungeon maybe?

My eyes were staring back at his as I tried to breathe as normal as I could. His body was almost pressing against mine, but he supported himself with his hands on the mattress. "Please, let me go.", I begged. The brown haired man smirked at my words and licked his lips slowly.

"I let go everyone who enters. It's no fun anymore, don't you think?", he whispered. His nose was almost touching mine and I could feel his soft hair brushing against my forehead. "I'm sorry to inform you, but you're staying here for now. I can't let go a prey like this. Unused. Fresh. Perfect."

I could almost feel my heart jumping out of my chest. This was too much for me. I could end up dead in a second, so I tried my best to be nice towards him. "What do you want from me?", I asked, trying to find a way to get out of here.

"I don't want anything from you, I want you. I want to use the best I can from you. It would be a tragedy to let you go, stupid girl."

I watched as he took the soft material in his hands again and put it back on my eyes. "What kind of sick games do you plan to play?"

"Do not worry. You're going to love it. But not now. Tomorrow, dolly."

The shadow above me disappeared, just like the coldness that followed him everywhere. "Where are you going?"

"Good night.", he didn't answer my question. The room went dark and the door shut behind him. And he left me there, on a big bed with soft sheets, tied up and blindfolded. It was going to be an amazing night.

***

I managed to fall asleep after what seemed like hours of squirming. The room was still dark, so I assumed he had kept his windows closed. I figured it was because of the fact that he was a vampire, but they had advanced and our recent studies showed that they aren't what they used to be. Except two things: manipulative and filthy rich. They kept their old way of living in castles and dressing in dark clothes. All I could see last night were his dark hair and dark red eyes. I couldn't find the strength to look away, his eyes were too mesmerizing. The bastard had locked me inside and God knew when he would let me go. If he ever planned on letting me go, of course.

I tried to free myself one more time, and to my surprise, my hands were untied. Hurriedly, I took off the blindfold from my eyes and gasped. The room was big, covered in paintings and wooden furniture. I was now sitting on a big bed, covered with black and red sheets. They were silky and soft and I had a feeling that I would slip on the floor any second.

"Good morning, little bird."

My head turned towards the door. He was slowly walking towards me with a smirk on his face. His lips were matching is red eyes and his hair was slicked up, a few strands falling in front of his eyes. "F*ck you.", I hissed at him. I couldn't find the strenght to move, so I just sat there, waiting for his next words.

"F*ck me? Is that what you want? I could make that wish come true."

His hand pressed against my chest and pushed me to lay back on the bed. I found myself in the same position as last night, with him above me again. "I-Is that blood?", I gulped staring down at the red liquid on his bottom lip. A laugh escapes his mouth and he slowly licks the remaining drops of blood from his lips.

"I guess I could say your colleagues were tasty.", he smirked.

I wasn't sad. That's what they deserved for letting the youngest one go. The way things went, I thought I might join them very soon. "So you had your breakfast. Why do you need me?" I couldn't help but admit that he was a big refreshing, compared to all the old vampires I've encountered until now. He was extremely good looking and his smirk, whether I liked it or not, shot me right in the stomach. I always pitied women who threw themselves on his kind, just because some of them were handsome and gave off a big dominant energy. But right now, I'm starting to question myself.

"Oh, we're going to have so much fun. I bet nobody ever pleased you they way they should have. Have you ever been pleased at all, dolly?", his hands reached towards the bedframe again and I mentally groaned when I saw the silk laces. I gulped as he took both of my hands and tied them up, completely leaving me in his hands again. "Have you?", he repeated.

"No.", I whispered. I had never been pleased by anyone, just myself a few times. It felt good, but my small hands couldn't do the perfect job.

"I will show you, little bird. As much as I want to watch your lips take in my c*ck, I think it's fair if I show you true pleasure this time. That's what you deserve after being trapped here all night, don't you think?"

I shivered as his cold fingers brushed against my skin while taking off my sweatshirt. He licked his lips one more time and looked at me. All my clothes were soon laying on the cold floor and all I could do was stare at him and his movements. I'd lie if I said that I didn't enjoy his next one: his hands unbuttoned his white, long sleeved shirt and revealed his muscular body. He rolled his sleeves up and placed his hands on my waist.

"Now, darling. I need to know how good I'm doing my job, alright? So you will say my name. Say it as loud as you want.", the brown haired boy brought his lips close to mine, almost touching them, "Kai. Say it."

His soft lips brushed against mine as he spoke, almost making me faint. "Kai.", I whispered into his mouth.

"Good girl."

His lips left mine and he pressed them on my neck. His tongue left a wet trace and he stopped when he reached my breasts. I let out a gasp when I felt a cold hand grabbing my breast, carefully playing with it, while the other one still layed on my waist. The pleasure was building up at the bottom of my stomach with every single movement he did on my breasts and I found myself sighing in pleasure. The pleasure stopped too soon. He brought his tongue back to my skin and left traces until he reached my lower stomach.

"Don't worry. You're going to beg for more.", as soon as he said that, Kai pressed his cold fingers on my warm sensitive skin, sliding them between my folds.

"Oh-"

"My name, little bird. Say my name.", he was enjoying every second of it. He kept rubbing my clit softly, earning quiet moans from me. "Or am I not doing a good job?"

His fingers sped up and now I found myself moaning louder, internally begging for more. The feeling was so much better than when I did it. He knew exactly what to do. "More, please.", I managed to beg.

I watched him as he lowered his head with a smirk and moved his fingers. He looked up at me once again, then spread my folds with his two fingers before sticking his tongue out. I tugged at the silk laces as he slowly licked me up and down, taking his time.

"Kai-", I breathed out and threw my head back. My body was completely relaxed in his hands and pleasure was starting to build up in my stomach again.

"Beautiful.", he whispered against my clit, then sped up his movements. His other hand joined his tongue, earning much louder moans and gasps from me. The ball of pleasure kept growing, and his tongue worked harder against me. Kai occasionally let out a few hums, pleased with my noises. "So wet and needy, stupid girl." At this point, I didn't mind him calling me that. It even made me whimper, causing him to laugh. The wet sounds he was making made everything hotter. I couldn't believe how good a person can feel. He looked so focused and pleased with his impact he had on me. "Come on, baby. Finish for me. Show me how good I make you feel."

He pulled away from me, but his fingers kept working. His pace got quicker and messier, showing no mercy to my sensitive clit. Luckily, my wetness made it easier for him to move and better for me to feel. Suddenly, a big wave of pleasure washed over my body. I let go of the laces gasping for air. My lips called out his name a few more times in a whisper.

"Good girl.", he repeated, untying my hands. My body was tired and helpless, so I just layed there in front of him, waiting for his next step. "If you wish to investigate again, I will be here. A rookie like you never gets enough of games like this."

He was right. Even though I layed there still tired, my mind was replaying all the moments which had happened just a few minutes ago. I knew I was going to come back again.

[a-womans-rhetoric]

Natalie Wynn's "J.K. Rowling" and Disruptive use of Women's Rhetorical Tropes: A Defiant Reply to Transmisogyny

ContraPoints, surrounded by an opulent, candle-lit set and adorned in witch's garb, leisurely pours champagne into her glass — she's ready to breach the internet's hottest topic of January, 2021: her childhood idol being outed as a transphobe (link here). The video itself being over an hour and a half long, I would be hard-pressed to claim that I could ever hope to cover its entirety, comprehensively, in a single post. So to save-face, I'll be dedicating this space only to breaking down her most frequently used rhetorical tropes, one by one.

Irreverence

"Joanne, I wanna talk to you, Joanne! [Fans herself with a rainbow paper fan with the word "BIOLOGICAL" written across it] What is it about Joannes? I can't catch a break from these people" (00:23-00:29, emphasis added).

Wynn's introductory lines immediately open a dialogue with J.K. Rowling — however, this invitation of discourse is defiantly "irreverent" (reminiscent of Nomy Lamm's punk-feminist style in "It’s a Big Fat Revolution” (1995)). Contrapoints, herself a transgender woman, is aware that her very existence is considered in opposition to the TERF-ideology that Rowling subscribes to. Thus, she's rather playful — even openly disrespectful — with her diction: calling the British author by her first name in a mocking-tone and flaunting her own trans identity to the camera (in a way that would likely offend the fragile sensibilities of a transphobe). Her personal tone (with ample use of the pronoun "I") servers a duplicitous purpose: a simultaneous message of "sit down and listen" and a fair degree of "I don't care if you can't accept me."

"So, now that 2020 is finally over, I think we can let the record conclusively show that it was a year whomst is bad. And on top of everything else going on, truly the last thing we needed was the author of Harry Potter coming forward to announce there's two things she can't stand: bigotry, and the transgenders. (00:31 - 00:50, emphasis added).

Finally broaching the subject at hand directly, Wynn employs kairos alongside her irreverence. Kairos, or the rhetorical use of an "opportune moment," holds incredible weight in the first month after 2020: the year in which the whole world fell into a stasis. Characterizing Rowling's transphobia as a collective "the last thing we needed," is also rather dismissive — she unites herself with her audience with the pronoun "we" and invites us all to groan at the exasperating nature of Rowling's bigotry.

Claiming the Right to Speak / Personal Experience

"This is a painful topic for me all around because, as a transgender woman, I am honestly really hurt by a lot of the things Joanne has said in the last year. But I also know what it's like to be the target of a Twitter mob" (01:36-01:47).

As she begins to touch on the topic, Natalie Wynn claims the right to speak on the issue of Rowling's transphobia — a type of bigotry that directly effects her. However, Wynn also situates herself partially with Rowling in her acknowledgement that receiving Twitter backlash is a terrifying experience (an experience, she argues, that the human brain is not prepared to handle the scale of, 01:49-02:39). In treating her subject with such dignity — and adding her own deeply personal account— ContraPoints creates a credible ethos in the beginning of her video essay. The audience is inclined to listen to someone who has been directly effected by the subject of Rowling's controversy (transphobia) and someone who is, rather compassionately, willing to empathize with those who would wish her harm. Although the generally sassy, glamorous, and irreverent tone of the video still appears soon after (see: the above image), her opening up for this somber moment garners a fair degree pathos in the viewer — we, as human beings, are inclined to sympathize with people who are open about being hurt.

Metis (Embodied Rhetoric)

[The following ContraPoints quote is addressing the above J.K. Rowling tweet, content warning for transmisogyny] "Transphobes love to play this game where they pretend that trans people just don't understand basic biology, that's our problem! As if I didn't start taking female hormones because I'm acutely aware that my body is not the same as a cis woman's body, that sex is real. "[Fictional TERF character] You will never be a woman, Nathan. Every cell in your body is male and has a Y chromosome." Really? That's crazy. How you'd you learn so much about science? You know I don't really feel the need to have a second X chromosome, I get by with only one, I make it work. I actually like the Y chromosome, I think it's a little more dainty, you know, it's little softer, a little more petite. The X chromosome has a lot of extra appendages, and don't you think? I don't need anymore of those, thanks. No trans person thinks it's possible to change chromosomal sex and to pretend otherwise is to argue in bad faith" (08:47-09:34).

If you can excuse my gargantuan quote, I hope you'll agree that the dialogue ContraPoints builds here was just too good to cut short. Within this excerpt, we see Wynn's use of irreverance and personal experience blended seamlessly together. For this YouTuber, the personal is perpetually political — especially when her own identity is constantly taken as an ideological stance. She uses her own expertise in trans issues to pick apart just how disingenuous Rowling's assertions are — even accusing her of "argue[ing] in bad faith" with her reductive claims (later, taking specific issue with how Rowling treats trans-ness as a costume). But, here, she also directly invokes another rhetorical trope: that of metis, or embodied rhetoric. Natalie Wynn specifically references her transgender body as a sort of counterpoint to the condescending "sex is real" claims by TERFs. She cites her intrinsic desire to pursue hormonal therapy as evidence that she — and other trans people like her — are all "acutely aware" that there are chromosomal differences between themselves and cis women. With this salient statement, she then follows with some humor: which, again, utilizes her trans body in her rhetoric. Her characterization of the Y chromosome as "more petite" and playful declaration of not needing "extra appendages" lightens up the often dark tone that arguing for trans rights and liberation can take. The clever points she makes are by no means weakened by her humor — if anything, the audience is more willing to listen to someone who can "joke about themselves" (so to speak) while still arguing an incredibly important message.

Naming and Defining Issues

"When I see Joanne tweeting about how trans people think sex isn't real and they're erasing same-sex attraction and they're silencing women, alarm bells are ringing because I recognize these as familiar transphobic talking points, specifically TERF talking points. "TERF" means trans exclusionary radical feminism. God are we still talking about this? I promise this is the last time. So TERFism is a hate movement that disguises transphobia as feminism. ... The fundamental problem with TERFs is not that they're mean. It's that they're politically reactionary, they want to reverse the progress of trans liberation." (14:05-16:02)

In her definition of TERF rhetoric, Natalie Wynn outlines some dog-whistles that are obvious to her, as a trans woman. She calmly explains to the viewer that, oftentimes in the present-day, rhetorics of exclusion are thoroughly disguised; TERFs, specifically, hide their rampant transphobia as a form of feminism. However, she further clarifies that the specific "danger" that TERFs pose is not from their cruelty — it's from their fervent dedication to strip away trans rights through political means. By specifying this danger, Natalie Wynn shifts the conversation away from empty discussion of offensiveness/terminology, to issues which directly affect the lives of trans people every day.

[This portion addresses the picture above] Also an act of naming and defining, ContraPoints makes a distinction between "Direct" and "Indirect Bigotry." She argues that many people envision bigotry as a festering, public, frothing-at-the-mouth hatred — a phenomenon she dubs "the Westboro Baptist Church theory of bigotry" (20:06). In bringing attention to the human tendency to think of people as exclusively practicing "direct bigotry" — envisioning them as a sort of delusional "other" — she then forces the audience to contemplate the relative omni-presence of the more covert (and possibly alluring) "indirect bigotry." This definition, crucially, requires introspection. By allowing ourselves to think of bigots not exclusively as "Westboros," we're made to adopt a much more nuanced view of subjects (most) generally prefer to keep black-and-white. Natalie Wynn uses her J.K. Rowling case study to complicate this 2D view of "The Bigot," inviting others to more carefully examine how politically reactionary views develop.

Phew, this was probably the longest post I've ever typed up on tumblr! Hopefully, I succeeded in demystifying (or at least adding clarity to) some of the specific tropes ContraPoints uses (that are common to women's rhetorics as a whole). Thanks for reading if you stuck around this long, and my ask box is always open!

[matt0044]

"(They especially can't write women)"

I know many women in this fandom who would sorely disagree. The least you can do is explain why you don't like how they write women. Am I to take your bold statement as fact?

"Turning ironwood into a dictator despite him never being shown as one before."

Of course, he wasn't one before. He did show signs of becoming sus such as bringing some of his army to Vale during a time of peace and going behind Ozpin's back in volume 2. Volume 3 showed that only he in Ozpin's circle was even aware of Penny.

Let's not forget his overstepping of boundaries with his Dust embargo. The one time Jacques was right, I swear.

"Completely missing the point when it came to suicide allegory."

Given this is a sensitive subject, I would prefer to hear you elaborate on how RWBY went about it. Even so, I felt that Ruby's arc in Volume 9 was cathartic to somebody like me who has trouble bottling things up. I loved the message of "You are just enough as you are." I'm willing to hear your dispute on its execution though.

"Turning Adam into a petty manipulative ex and just throwing out the fact he cared for his people. Also ignoring previous statements (IN THE SHOW) where it's stated he and blakes relationship was mentor and student."

A mentor can become a lover. It's one thing in an institutionalized environment but on the road, it's another.

That said, I made a post about it here: https://matt0044.tumblr.com/post/188310943613/the-discourse-around-adam-is-frustrating-yet

For the important bits:

"The claim goes that the character was “originally” a bad boy that Blake loves yet feels has fallen far and needs to one day save before Volume 3 “retconned” his “original” personality. Many better people have made metas that break down this fallacy far better, usually framing it through shipping. However,  I’ve been thinking about why many are still so attached to who Adam “was.” 

The fact is… we created Adam’s “original” character by ourselves.

Between the Black Trailer and Volume 3, we only had bits and pieces to go off of when trying to figure out who Adam was. He seemed intimate with Blake, had a brooding demeanor and had a ““by any means necessary” M.O. to his missions. He appeared as the anti-hero type that tended to be a fandom fave by default. Of course, appearances can be deceiving by it all that we had.

As the FNDM grew, so too did Adam’s fanon personality and the headcanons of what he was like in Blake’s relationships over the course of two whole Volumes as well as a bulk of Volume 3. The bad boy anti-hero characterization was taken as a given without considering what could he really be revealed as later. We all marinated in it without and evidence to the contrary until… Chapter 11 dropped.

Suddenly, the troubled bad boy was revealed an abusive bad boy who Blake left not just because he was bad for the White Fang but also bad for her. It cut through all of those headcanons and fanworks built around the personality we had invented for him. In a way, we had fallen in love with who we thought he was and didn’t see who he really was not unlike how Blake had with Adam."

"yet choosing to treat every straight white (or white presenting) male character as a piece of shit."

Oooookay. So we're just gonna ignore... Ren, Jaune (who GROWS outta being a dumb teen), Sun, Neptune and various others from the main show or spin-off material.

Also... what's the big deal? Media overall have plenty of upstanding white characters without it being an innate statement on their race or gender. Guys like me should be able to roll with the punches.

"Crwby has made it abundantly obviously they cannot write their characters, they cannot write their story, and they sure as the shit I left in my toilet, never should've be allowed to write for this show."

Well... alrighty then. Sound to me like RWBY just is not you think and that you should probably pick the more healthy object to find something that's more your speed.

Really though, have you ever asked why RWBY has lasted as long as it is? Like... the way you describe it, you would think this was something that bottomed out after two seasons but we got nine volumes out of this cockroach (affectionate) out of this series.

"RWBY is in a really shitty state and has been horribly mishandled by it's company and now has just been left to die alone."

We even have many vying for a Volume 10 post Rooster Teeth and official talks indicating that we haven't heard no bell. Check out the tag "greenlight volume 10" and "save RWBY" if you don't believe me.

So... yeah. I won't "crucify" you. I will however recommend that you maybe leave RWBY behind if it inspired this much discontent.

@citadelofmythoughts @tumblingxelian @aspiringwarriorlibrarian I think I may need your words on this. If you don't have the spoons for it at the moment, I completely understand.

Thank you.

Why does Indie Animation lend itself to such intense discourse?

If I had to speculate from my own observations (feel free to call me out on an overgeneralizations), it would be that the harsh turn against any given indie project would be akin to a mother scolding a child with, "I expected this from your sibling but you?!"

See also the "We were rooting for you" gif often tossed around.

Indie Animation be it from a small studio or crowdfunded is seen as bypassing the hoops and hurdles of getting your foot in the door of the highly corporatized entertainment industry. With the likes of Disney or Nick or any given streaming service, creator driven projects are subject to the whims of the company who holds the IP.

And those whims are often to said IP's detriment. It'll more often than not be willfully neglected at best or treated as just something to fill a time slot or shove onto a streaming platform as "content." Enough may be allowed to flourish but their either uncerimoniously cut short at best or being dragged out as a franchise at worst.

To keep from going on about the whole Legend of Korra vs. Spongebob thing (I was there people, there was an LoK fandom believe it or not), indie animation has often been seen as small scale but also within the creator's general control since they control how long it goes or how it's written.

Many cartoons like Gravity Falls, Owl House and Amphibia have talked about trying to get their vision across while contending with a lot of Standards and Practices. Their story which had a "kids and adults alike" target audience would have the top brass insist on something more just for the former category.

While they find work arounds, often to stick their tongue out at the FCC, this can be a hard reminder of who has the final say despite it being what you want. Indie animation is seen as an answer to "What if Alex Hirsch didn't have to comprimise elements of Gravity Falls for the FCC?" or "What if Dana Terrence could just blaze her own trail with The Owl House with little to no notes?"

Especially when it comes to animation with queer characters. Animation made to be "fit for kids" have it tough enough even today but adult animation has to "play it for laughs" since comedies have been the defacto standard for that type of cartoon.

However... a show being creator driven or creative team driven comes as a double edged sword for the fandoms they form. Not all stories that play out across multiple episodes of varying lengths are going in the direction YOU might want to.

Creators might tire of a certain direction or formula and mix things up with things that come to mind almost on the spot. Even with a solid plan, the status quo will get a shake up that can and will alienate those who fell in love from episode one.

Indie Pilots spark the imagination something fierce. There's theories as to what any little detail could mean going forward and speculation on what a character's arc could be. These go wild because Fandom is all about the hypothetical, the unknown, the what could've/should've/would've been. Whole phenomenon would be dead in the water otherwise.

Thing is that not all theories will be proven right if any at all. The creators aren't mind readers and even if it isn't a legality like in corporate, they don't read fanfics if only because they don't want their vision to be totally compromised. Any good creator knows not to just give fans what they want. However... trampling over all these fanfics and theories makes it feel like any given fan had their "child" dragged into the streets to be shot.

A harsh phrasing but that's how a lot of fans act when continuing episode bump up against initial impression of this character or that storyline. It was their creation but new lore, new backstory or what have you is liable to override them. It's been an occupational hazard of being a member of fandom for ages yet it's become the center of a lot of discourse now more than ever. Say thank you to social media for creating such a combative environment everybody.

It's this... feeling of ownership that has existed in fandoms of other shows owned by corporations but amplied by the smaller scale of it, how creators seem more... approachable. And THIS is how the YouTube "critic" scene comes in to capitalize.

So... yeah.

[lizzybeth1986]

I played the new chapter and they did Kiara dirty, as usual. I chanced upon the reddit just to see and people are hating and saying this betrayal was 'in character for her and she always went where the power went...' (???) Also, the flower competition sorta rubbed me the wrong way in that all the black women in Cordonia were fighting over flowers, and while there were some white women too, it still felt unequal in a way, like they even had one of the bw try to bribe MC and she gets called out.

I don't think I've said this to you before, Kiara anon, but thank you. Thank you for noticing, thank you for getting it, thank you for caring enough to observe all this and share it.

At this point...it's important to understand this. The writer's have a purpose for writing Kiara - and as you pointed out, the other, very few black characters they have in this book - the way they have done now.

PB wants you to dislike Kiara. They want you to feel contempt for her. They want to justify your hatred and vitriol and your double standards, if you have them. Or to convince you she isn't worthy of your time and thoughts and sympathies, if you like her. They want you to feel like her pain, her issues, her story do not matter. They want you to have every opportunity possible to value her white peers over her.

And if you - like most of fandom - already do all that...they want you to know that you're right for doing so. Coz they sure as hell want Kiara seen that way.

Look for instance at the way Kiara and Penelope's chapters are presented in the sneak peeks:

• Penelope is positioned as the victim, Kiara as a suspect

• "Poor Penelope" vs "what is Kiara hiding"?

• The two scenes they chose are a complete contrast to this. Penelope in this sequence backs out of helping because she doesn't want her wedding ruined, Kiara is now ready to give the group a chance in gratitude for their help towards her friend and brother.

• The group gives Landon himself the benefit of the doubt from the start. Kiara, who they have known for longer, gets this:

(Shoutout to Liam for refuting this asap)

(Irony of this dialogue is that Maxwell Beaumont, son of the man trying to take away our child and the person whose emotional blackmail of his brother made this whole thing possible...is the one suspecting Kiara, who has never been involved in anything nefarious or suspect thus far).

• The narrative uses Hana's plight to make us feel for Penelope, yet before they even meet with her, the group's first instinct is to view Kiara with suspicion.

Does this scenario sound familiar???

Ask yourselves this. Why is there a pattern of suspecting Kiara first, for no real reason, and then feeling no shame when we're proven wrong?

The fandom is livid at a choice that Kiara made based on (limited and flawed) evidence, yet I see none of this energy from you lot, whenever she was at the recieving end of these baseless suspicions from the group.

When she had to revisit her own trauma just to satisfy us, you were okay with it. When the MC claimed she had Kiara's back to Joelle, you were okay with it. When Hakim - an innocent man and a literal Duke - was written as "bending to his knees in front of the heir while Landon was not, you were okay with it. When Kiara wasn't allowed to hold that child even once while Penelope was out there treating the heir like one of her pet dogs, you were okay with it. And now, when the group suspects Kiara for what was eventually a very simple decision based on existing evidence....you were okay with that too. Don't pretend you weren't. Most posts on Kiara were bashing her for her reasoning but never once questioned why she was being viewed with suspicion again.

In fact, over the past few weeks, I've seen people claim that Kiara was a "weak example" of racism. Even though she was the only one among the courtly ladies who was placed in a painful, traumatic situation, then suspected for wanting to leave, the optionally had her trauma minimized....AND EVEN THEN WAS MADE TO SUPPORT US BY DEFAULT...we're supposed to believe there was no racism involved. Sure.

And this is exactly how the TRR got away with their writing of her so far. Because with her, the fandom doesn't ask questions, doesn't consider bad writing or bad intent - it's just convenient to place the blame on Kiara herself for her own portrayal.

--

But your ask wasn't just about Kiara. It was about her family. It was about Joelle being portrayed as OOC, about the family of diplomats not exactly having it together for their own festival. It was about the two black women, Lerato and Lesidi, who alongside Joelle recieved very bizarre portrayals.

And I have a bit of theory why the Therons are portrayed this way. I think it's because Kiara is always seen as a counterpoint to two people.

Emotionally, she is a counterpoint to Penelope - we pity Penelope and try to help her even though she has harmed us, we doubt Kiara and keep her at an arm's length even when she's innocent. Because emotionally, the narrative encourages us to feel more for Penelope's plight than for Kiara's. That is why Kiara could be stabbed and we would still only legitimize her pain by seeing her as a suspect first. And feel no remorse for doing so.

Ideologically, though, I've always felt like she was a counterpoint to Olivia. And you know how counterpoints to Olivia work - Olivia has to be the superior one.

This is where I feel the family portrayal also comes in. Kiara didn't develop her knack for diplomacy out of thin air, she honed her skills in a family environment that supported her and worked in that field itself. Kiara's family is as much as a mouthpiece for her (and Liam's, and Hana's) ideologies as Olivia is. Kiara and Liam represent the diplomatic end of Cordonia, and Olivia represents their more militaristic pursuits.

Nowhere is this contrast more obvious than in the Food and Art festival in TRR3. Here is Joelle's views, if you meet her approval:

They're positioned as noble, and equated to King Fabian, sure...but in a failplay, we have the opportunity to ridicule Joelle for her views in a way that we don't get to do for, say, Emmeline, the duchess we met before her. And the narrative in that playthrough, makes her petulant rather than logically school us on the importance of art and creative pursuits, the way she does over here.

In the same chapter, we get Olivia's views in a diamond scene:

I personally find Olivia narrowminded, and IMO were she an actual Queen she would cause more harm than help. But this is a view the narrative wants us to regard as superior, especially from TRH onwards.

A purely militaristic mindset is as harmful as one that doesn't consider this aspect at all, yet you wouldn't know that from the way PB has written Olivia, and allowed Olivia to look down on other characters who do not share her interests.

Notice how, even though the knife stuff is a running gag with Olivia, the narrative ensures we have an equal opportunity to respect her - successful play or failplay. No such luck for Joelle, even though she shares Liam's ideology (then again, the narrative has a hard time hiding their lack of care for Liam as well)

(Edit post the end of TRF: It must be noted that Kara Loo, one of the book leads, openly admitted in an interview to a fondness for rougher characters who "spoke their minds". In a livestream after TRF ended, members of the team also confirmed that she wanted a war plotline and darker stories where numerous characters could be killed off. It is clear from both their interviews and the way the "diplomacy-oriented" characters had been written that there was far less respect for that mindset than for the militaristic one that the likes of Olivia embodied)

So it isn't very surprising if Joelle will be written as this figure of ridicule, this book. It wouldn't be surprising if we're meant to view Kiara and her family with thinly veiled contempt. It wouldn't be surprising that the fire pit scene between Drake and Lerato is really a faded copy of a scene in TRR2 with Kiara, where he could mock her for liking wine. Because...y'know...the fandom will allow Drake his disdain against black women as much as they will coo over his savior complex with the white ones (I mean, was no one weirded out by how ODDLY INVESTED in the success of Penelope's wedding Drake was??). After all, if he could get away with minimizing a fellow survivor's trauma, I guess he can get away with anything, right?

It also isn't surprising that Kiara is continually placed in the role of a "black best friend", providing support and affection to the likes of Penelope without any hope of reciprocation, that we are allowed to judge her for one instant of doubt...whereas if she were to evaluate us the same way, she would have an entire country's worth of examples (of our selfishness and callousness). It isn't surprising that Kiara is meant to constantly perform loyalty to people who aren't worth that loyalty, and judged instantly if she toes one step out of that line. It isn't surprising that we can harm her and get away with it, but she can't. Ever.

But at this point it's a pattern really. It's a pattern that PB carved themselves. And it's a pattern that the fandom cultivated and allowed to exist, because it benefited their favourite characters. The sooner we understand that, the better.

As for me...I'm simply going to laugh every time someone talks of not forgiving Kiara. Because honestly? Kiara should have been saying that. To us.

[shi-daisy]

Snowed In

Well this it folks, my last Ulquihime Week entry for this year. As always it's been a joy to participate and see everything that all of the other users have created, and that those who host the event take such care to plan our ship week. I had a blast and I'm looking forward to doing this again next year. Till then however, let's all keep on making content for our otp!

Ok so onto the story, today's theme is Winter/Warmth and I really didn't know what to do, until I remembered I have a whole AU I could use and stuck with that. For those who haven't read my entries from previous years the Reunion AU basically had Ulquiorra and Orihime meet again after a few years, Orihime ran off from her wedding with Ichigo and Ulquiorra is now human(along with the other Arrancar). At this point in the time the two have been dating for a month. Hope you like!

@ulquihimeweek

Ulquihime Week- Day 6: Winter/Warmth

Snowed In

"For the last time Tia, I'll ask her but that dosen't mean she'll say yes." Ulquiorra repeated over the phone for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

His friends had all told him to invite Orihime over for Christmas dinner, and while he wasn't too keen on the holiday he knew his woman was. This would be the first time he would be asking her to spend an event with him and his 'family' and while he might deny it, Ulquiorra was nervous.

"Schiffer, of course she'll say yes. That girl is quite taken with you."

"I'd like to think so, but still, don't be disappointed if she declines."

"Yes, yes, I am ready to accept a negative answer. Still, I wanted some civilized company this year."

He could tell she directed her angry tone at Nnoitra. From over the phone Ulquiorra could hear them bickering.

"If ya don't want me to eat the cookies. Don't leave em on the table!"

"Those were freshly baked! How are you not burned?!"

"Cuz I still have Arrancar-like skin."

"Fool! Your hands are red! I have to go Ulquiorra. Our gigantic toddler has injured himself again."

"No surprise there. I shall see you later."

He arrived at the cafe soon after his call ended, yet he knew things weren't right. Orihime usually waited for him outside, but despite the closed sign in the door, she was nowhere to be seen. Ulquiorra rushed into the cafe, immediately upon entering he heard a loud noise.

"I know language was never your best subject but I think the sign on the door was pretty easy to read Kurosaki!"

"Inoue, just let me explain everything."

"I told you to fuck off!" Orihime angrily took off her arpon and walked away. Ulquiorra headed towards her. The second she saw him, her anger subsided.

He dared to look at Kurosaki. The redhead was no longer the headstrong teen he had met six years ago. His hair was shorter, and while he's grown taller, Ulquiorra thought he looked less intimidating.

"How- How are you here? You died."

"I got better." Ulquiorra answered sarcastically. "Now, I believe you heard the woman. She's not interested in speaking to you."

Ichigo didn't seem keen on backing down, his surprised stare turned into a glare. "You don't get to decide for her anymore, Ulquiorra."

"Oh just shut up already, Ichigo! I don't owe you shit! Tatsuki picked up my stuff a while ago, I've kept away from you and your kin, and paid back what I owed to you father. Aside from those unresolved matters we have nothing else to talk about!"

"I think leaving one's own wedding and then vanishing for two months is something to talk about! You never gave me an explanation for that."

He'd never seen Orihime so enraged, her pale face turned red and she was clenching her fist so hard her arms shook. "You want an explanation?! Fine! I left because just as I was going to get Kenpachi-san to walk me to the altar, I found you and Kuchiki-San! Then you kissed her! When we were young I thought you were in love with her, but since you proposed to me and made me feel as if I was the one you wanted, my worries faded. Imagine how I felt at that moment! I gave up NASA for you, scholarships, internships, my own damn college ambitions all went down the drain! All because I wanted to be with you, and look where the fuck that got me!

So there's your bloody explanation! Now scram!"

There was a small moment of silence before Kurosaki left. The second he was out the door, Ulquiorra hugged Orihime close. "Let it out."

Orihime didn't want to cry over it anymore, but her body betrayed her. She shook as she cried, her sobs echoed in the small cafe and the only solace she could find was the warmth Ulquiorra's hug provided.

As he held onto her, Ulquiorra checked an alert on his phone. There was a snow storm coming to Naruki.

"Woman, it's likely we won't be able to reach your apartment in time. Would you like to accompany me home?"

Orihime stopped crying after hearing that. "Yes. I'd love to go with you."

"Good, I've sent a message to Szayel, he should be coming to pick us up before the storm gets worse."

"Okay."

Orihime stared at Ulquiorra's face for a moment. When she first saw him again after all these years he looked just as he did the day he turned to ash under her touch. Now, he seemed so different. His hair was longer and styled, he often wore leather and dark make up, and even facial jewelery. She also noticed he began doing those things when the two began dating. Maybe it was an effort to become more human like for her.

"Ulqui, are you sure it's okay for me to come home with you? I don't want to bother the others."

"It's no bother, they were all hoping to see you again." Ulquiorra cleared his throat, as he often did when he was nervous. "Actually they were insistent that I brought you home for Christmas celebrations next week."

She blushed. "Really? I'd love to go! Spending Christmas alone is not much fun. I would be happy to spend it with your family."

He sighed in relief. "I'm glad."

"You sound nervous, did you think I'd decline?"

"Well, yes. But that's not why I was nerveous. It's just the others can be quite a handful. I don't want them to overwhelm you."

"I'll be fine, I love hyper groups of people. Besides you and I can have some alone time later."

"That I won't mind."

Szayel arrived at the cafe slightly later than expected. The sky was already darkening, and the road was icy. He drove slowly but made sure to calculate the time properly.

"Inoue-san, I hope you don't mind, Halibel has prepared a room for you, along with clothes. It's likely the snowstorm will keep you from going home tonight, perhaps even longer."

"That's fine. Thanks for telling me Szayel. I'll be sure to not cause any trouble."

"Oh sweetie it's no trouble at all, we are all looking forward to having you around. Ulquiorra has told us so much about you!"

Ulquiorra, Who had been dozing off in the front seat, was now wide awake and glaring at Szayel.

Orihime laughed at the scene before her. "Does he? What has he told you?"

"That he enjoys speaking to you, and that you have a lovely aura, and that you look very pretty in a sundress."

By now Ulquiorra was a blushing mess, he hid his face under the hoodie of his coat, but Orihime has already seen it. She smiled and blew a kiss in his direction. "Well I think he looks good in black clothes."

Ulquiorra caught the hint. Black was what he always wore, meaning Orihime always found him to be cute. He smiled, this time without covering his blush.

***

Her arrival had been met with hugs, greetings, an enthusiastic snuggle from the family's pet.

"Kukkapuro's no stranger to cuddling new people. He won't leave you alone for the rest of the night." Stark drowsily told her as he tried to get Kukkapuro to move. The hollow puppy ignored him.

"That's okay, Stark-san. I don't mind."

The sleepy man nodded and went back to his favorite spot, on the lap of his boyfriend. Szayel rolled his eyes and let him sleep.

She smiled at the scene, it reminded her of the times she'd act overly affectionate and Ulquiorra would be either unimpressed or dead quiet. Strangely enough she didn't mind.

"Orihime! Can you come to the kitchen? I need your help!"

She followed Halibel's voice to the kitchen. The older women had baked a new batch of cookies and wanted her opinion.

"You're the star baker after all." She told her.

The woman's tone was so sweet Orihime couldn't bear to tell her she hadn't finished culinary school.

She took a bite, savoring the sweet yet salty ginger cookie. "These are great! You're an incredible baker, Halibel-san."

"Thank you, it means a lot coming from a professional. There is something I'd like your help with."

"Anything."

***

"Are you going to chose a movie already?!"

Ulquiorra glared at Nnoitra, who had probably been banned from the kitchen.

"I am not choosing anything until the girls come back with the food. Have some patience Jiruga!"

"I am plenty patient!"

"I agree with Ulquiorra, you have a short fuse. Now be quiet." Szayel snapped.

"Tch. If I'd know you were going to be so moody I would've spent the week with Tesla and Cyan."

"Tesla might've been your fracción but I think even he knows you shouldn't be around a newborn." Stark mumbled in his drowsy state.

Ulquiorra chuckled, as he remembered the little bundle Cyan had given birth to a week ago. He didn't consider himself the baby type but that had been disproven the moment he was allowed to carry the tiny child.

"Maybe you and Inoue will produce a cute baby one day."

Ulquiorra almost fell off the sofa. "Nnoitra if you don't shut up I will disembowel you!"

Szayel shushed them both and pointed down to a sleeping Stark, but by then it was too late. The pair began bickering and Kukkapuro howled along.

***

"See? It's always like this. Can't get some quiet until bedtime."

"Don't worry. This'll warm them up!"

The girls walked out of the kitchen with cookies and hot chocolate. "Settle down! We're here with the treats! Ulquiorra you can pick a movie if you'd like."

He nodded and began browsing. Orihime gave everyone a cup of chocolate and cookies. Once her boyfriend had picked a movie, she sat down with him and their treats.

It didn't take long for the others to fall asleep. According to Ulquiorra this was a common occurrence. 'They'll be asleep before the second act ends.'

The couple was snuggling together covered by a thick blanket, they had finished their sweets and once the movie ended they would be going to bed.

"Hey Ulqui."

"Yes, love?"

"Thanks for tonight. I don't know how badly things would've gotten if I hadn't come with you."

Seeing Ichigo had soured her day greatly, and walking home alone in the freezing cold to cry herself to sleep would've been twice as hellish. Thankfully her boyfriend was there to dry her tears and make her smile again.

"You're welcome woman. I shall always be here for you, so whenever you feel like the world is falling apart remember to lean on me. It is now my eternal duty to keep you smiling."

She giggled and nuzzled close to him. "Thanks Ulqui. You're really sweet." The beating of his heart was lulling her to sleep, but Orihime resisted, she wanted to see the end of the movie. "I have to repay you one day for all the kindness you've given me. Feels like I'm only taking."

"No, you're mistaken. It is I who's repaying a debt to you. Back when I was a hollow you brought joy into my life again, and since then I've thought that one lifetime won't be enough to repay you."

"Then you better be with me in every other lifetime."

He wouldn't refuse such a request. Ulquiorra looked down at Orihime, their gazes met and he knew this was the perfect moment to do as he had planned for so long. He leaned down to press his lips against hers, a soft kiss which caused them both to blush. They both tasted of chocolate and ginger cookies, still it was perfect.

"I love you." He whispered only for her.

Orihime caressed his cheek and smiled. "I love you too."

They stayed like that for the rest of the night, tangled in a warm embrace as the snow continued to fall outside.

[starship-imzadi]

S5 E12 Violations

This opening immediately brings to mind the "repressed memories" craze in psychology in the 1980's and 1990's. The "fad" has since become regarded as incredibly harmful and dangerous as human memory can be quite malleable and undependable. A lot of people were treated to believe they had repressed memories of horrible abuse and sexual trauma in their childhoods, made horrible accusations, for events that never actually happened. Not only do these fabrication create real trauma and ruin relationships, they also delegitimize the actual trauma and abuse others have suffered and very much remembered from their childhoods.

Now, that isn't quite applicable to this episode, but this episode has some heavy moments and perhaps the worst abuse, out of all the abuse, Troi suffers through the series, and I want to address it the best I can.

"father, you know you're not supposed to probe someone's memory unless they've given you permission."

A.k.a. you have to get consent

"you are right, but sometimes with a beautiful woman I cannot help myself."

Red flag?! But not the red flag we're looking for. (Still: not appropriate) Beverly's laugh doesn't seem like acceptance to me, rather it's the socially acceptable way for women to cope with remarks that certain men think are flattering but are actually creepy. In a post #metoo world my hope is that as a society this is understood better than when this episode aired. I'm sure for many women it's just as evident as it ever was.

To be clear, this memory reading isn't sexual. What it is, is intimate. For whatever reason no other type of telepathy in Star Trek is depicted as a high form of intimacy, except for the now forgotten telepathic link that Troi and Riker have (which was formed because of the closeness of their relationship). But, to have access to someone's mind would be an incredible vulnerability, the sharing of one's mind a great intimacy, and the invasion of one's mind a great violation. A strong analogy for these is sexuality.

I want to make this distinction because there are violations and intimacies that are not sexual, and I think allowing for a broader analogy makes this a stronger story.

This conversation between Geordi and Data about memory feels like exposition to explain the concept to the audience. But, it seems to misrepresent some of the finer points, like how human recall and triggering recall actually works, how neurological structure and age factors in, how trauma effects memory, or in fact how humans encode specific memory or general concepts (like remembering the layout of your childhood home.)

"perhaps you would like to resurrect solve memories"

Is Beverly flirting with Picard? Or just teasing him

This scene with Troi brushing her hair and drinking hot chocolate is.... incredibly frustrating. Because of the "on again off again" or complete neglect of the story between Troi and Riker's relationship. Why have we never seen this part of their relationship before? Where does it fit it? I've seen people question at which point the memory becomes manipulated, wondering if Riker would ever force himself on Troi...which I would categorically say: no he would not.

"imzadi we can't, not when we're serving on the same ship"

"have you stopped thinking about us, just answer that" "I can't stop thinking about you"

They're clearly on the Enterprise, and Riker has a beard, and it could feasibly be somewhere in the past three and a half seasons. As the audience we are not privy to the original memory free of Jev's manipulations.

"Do you know what she was doing when this happened?" Riker's voice is so gentle.

Beverly's little smile as she walks in and sees Riker talking to Troi is exactly how I feel. "I miss you. Please don't stay away too long." Is so sweet and a bit heartbreaking.

Now, we see an apparent memory of Riker's. Troi's memory seemed to be hazy and pink like an old romance filter might be in black and white, but Riker's memory is distorted and stretched, and both have distorted and slowed audio. By contrast, Keiko's memory had no visual or audio distortion at all. Riker's apparent memory is feasible like Troi's.

Troi's assault is what almost everyone focuses on, because the "violation" of the episode is seen as an analogy to rape and because this element is inexplicably used again in the film Nemesis. However, I would like to point out that the two memories shown up until this point are both memories of vulnerability. The memory with Troi isn't just about sex, it's about the intimacy she has with Riker, a relationship they both want but don't feel like they're allowed to have. Riker's memory is of vulnerability of those under his command, as he has to actively make a choice that will kill a crew member to save the rest of the ship. His crew is ultimately his responsibility, their lives are in his hands, and he has to carry the responsibility of their deaths under his command.

Now we see Beverly's apparent memory. Her's is also a clear instance of vulnerability: seeing her dead husband's body. This memory is most likely of the three we see to have some reality to it. We do know that her husband died and Picard was the one to tell her and Wesley of his death. (It's mentioned in the pilot episode and in "The Bonding")

Rethinking the search parameters is incredibly clever on Geordi's part and he deserves more credit for it. It's almost... intellectually refreshing to see rather than a simple solution, and I applaud the writer who wrote this bit.

If Riker wasn't still in a coma he would be right by Troi's side.

"I'm remembering something from a few years ago" so, it is a memory, they're all actual memories, up until a point. "It's not Will, sombody's taken his place." when the person in her memory is hurting her the face isn't initially shown, we can't see who it is. But, before when the memory was safe and positive, we could see Will's face.

(the background soundtrack is a little too much and the whole sequence of Troi in pain makes me really uncomfortable.) And Worf and Picard.... don't react except Picard, very conservatively, places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Which fits with his decorum and all things considered is really, really sweet.

"A perverse source of pleasure perhaps. A need to exercise control over another." Even though Troi's memory was romantic or sexual in nature and through Jev's manipulation has the strongest direct parallel to literal sexual assault, rape is ultimately about power, the assertion of power, domination without consent. It is in direct opposition to intimacy, sexual or non sexual. intimacy is vulnerability plus trust and safety, regardless of what that vulnerability is.

I just realized the Ullian coats remind me of paper snow flakes.

I've seen some people confused that after everything that has happened why Jev would jeopardize himself by going to Troi. He seems to honestly like Troi, in whatever way he can, but at the same time is not in control of his impulses and desires, and whatever he likes about her is warped into his sick desire to overpower her. It's fantastic to see Troi fight back; Jev talks about how fragile she is, and it's important that we see that she is in fact NOT how he sees her.

"this form of rape" here is the first time the word is specifically used BUT I want to reiterate that Troi, Riker, and Beverly have all been subjected to this trauma.

It's good, and nice to know, that they will be getting counseling and help to process through what has happened. It's not always but on occasion TNG acknowledges that its characters have suffered with potential long term ramifications.

[mbti-notes]

Hi mbti-notes, I hope you're doing well. I am an INFP young black American and the past few weeks have been such a nightmare. I obviously support the protests that have been taking place but I feel so hopeless at the same time. I've never been a fan of this country but the past few weeks have at least provided me with more clarity and conviction that there is nothing to be salvaged here. I have a friend who's also black but lives in europe and even we're at a loss for what to say to each (con't)

[con’t: other. I feel so angry and disgusted. I remember learning that as a part of anti-US propaganda during the Cold War, they’d show how black people have been treated in America and be like “this is how they treat their own people”. I’m not saying I support the USSR of course but it surprised me to hear that in the eyes of other countries, we’re as American as anyone else. It never felt that way. People can’t even protest police brutality without being faced with more police brutality. I’ve donated to bail funds, signed petitions, contacted my representatives about a piece of legislation that would help combat the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women but...I think the closest thing there is to a solution is for another Great Migration but this time, we just leave America. I feel bad saying that because obviously so many people don’t have the means to do so and it shouldn’t have to come to this but nobody wants us here. If the black panthers...]

It seems that tumblr disappeared the rest of your message, but I've read enough to detect some problematic thinking. It’s not about whether you’re “wanted”, it’s about the fact that you have a right to exist and be treated as human, equal to every other human under the law. It is beyond the scope of this blog to address politics and write political commentary. This blog primarily addresses individuals and how they cope with their circumstances. I won’t be able to understand all the experiences that you’ve had as a black American given such a short message from you. All I can do is bring to light your attitude and beliefs and how they affect your ability to cope and thrive in life. 

Developmentally, irrational pessimism is always something that INFPs should be vigilant about due to Fi-Si loop and the struggle to develop Ne big-picture thinking skills. There is certainly lots of injustice in the world, but this doesn't mean that there isn't also a lot of good in the world. There are many good people out there doing good things, otherwise, you’d have nothing to donate money to. There are also a lot of decent people who understand that racism is a big problem but don’t know what to do about it. Yet your mind is only ever trained on the pain and suffering - this indicates Fi extremes. I have a longstanding habit of observing how different people respond to challenges in life. For example, I see some black Americans out there protesting, some are educating people, some are attacking people, some are sowing anarchy, some are running for office, some are giving up, some are hiding, some are writing, some are leading legislative initiatives. Black Americans as a group share the burden of racism, but each person handles it in their own way. What is your response and why?

You focus on the problems, drowning in negative feelings, and perhaps even look for evidence to reinforce the belief that everything is irredeemable (misuse of Si), which means that you lack a big picture perspective. For your own well-being, perhaps you need to make wiser decisions about how you spend your time, where you focus your energy, and with whom you associate. Otherwise, you are only ever a victim of circumstance, bending and breaking with every gust of wind. If there are things/people in your life that exacerbate your tendency to be negative, it's up to you to adjust your decision making so that you are not always surrounded by the negative. Just as you keep physically healthy by not eating crap food, you should keep mentally healthy by not feeding yourself a constant diet of emotional negativity. For example, people tend to be much more pessimistic when they spend too much time on social media or consuming political commentary that is designed to be emotionally provocative. Perhaps there are healthier ways to spend your time. Whether you followed this or that tweet is of little significance if it only ends up with you feeling miserable.

With respect to moving: There are a variety of methods to measure the health and well-being of a society, and it's natural to think about how your country stacks up against others. Different societies have their own character and excel at different things. However, it's important to remember that there is no society without problems. Some countries are better at hiding their problems than others. Europe is no paradise, as there have been long running problems with colonialist and xenophobic attitudes. American society tends to be very extraverted and media driven, so its problems are often hanging out there for all to see, which might make them seem a lot worse than they really are.

Each aspect of society, whether you think it is positive or negative, is the result of a trade-off. For example, people often respect the U.S. for its staunch commitment to free speech, which allows for marginalized voices to be heard. But the trade-off is that you may get a more noisy and toxic social environment, as all voices get elevated and amplified. The question for you, as an individual, is whether the trade-offs are worth it for the kind of life that you would like to live. With the example of free speech, I’d rather have free speech, so I’m willing to tolerate all the noise and accept it as the cost of doing business. Nobody can make these sorts of judgments for you, as you are the best person to decide what's best for you. Thus, I'm not sure what to tell you. I only remind people that the decision making process works best when you give proper consideration to EVERY side of an issue, as opposed to being myopic, extreme, or one-sided.

Right now, there is a lot of frustration and anger floating around. Being so emotional basically means being myopic, as you are hyperfocused on the things that make you sad or angry. This will blind you to everything else. When you lose sight of the positive, Ne might start to believe that the grass is greener elsewhere. There's no denying that the problem of racism against black people runs very deep in American society, all the way back to the founding of the nation on the backs of slaves. But are you denying that progress has been made?

When people use the word "progress" in relation to history, they mainly refer to how things changed for the better. I think people too often forget that progress almost always comes at a steep COST. Society doesn’t change because people miraculously get “enlightened” en mass. No. People suffer, things get mangled, blood is shed, and there is a period of intense pain and sacrifice - these details tend to get glossed over in history classes as hindsight and nostalgia take over. Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin. Thinking that you can create something new and better without destroying what is old and obsolete is wishful thinking. To be clear, I'm not advocating destruction; I'm only saying that, in reality, you cannot escape destruction, as it is a necessary stage in the process of creation. If you are unlucky, you get to live during "interesting" times. But, viewed from a bigger perspective, it also means that you get to live during a time when you have a chance to make a difference and what you do matters. From this perspective, being alive right now is better than living during a time of being forced into accepting the status quo, is it not?

What is society other than the people comprising it? Societal problems are analogous to psychological problems in that they are deep-seated, long-running, festering, recurring, and difficult to resolve. I believe that there is a qualitative shift in attitude right now. It doesn't mean that racism will suddenly get fixed once and for all, but I've not seen such widespread attention and commitment to the problem in a long time. It actually gives me hope. I have older friends who've remarked that they suddenly feel transported back to the unrest of the 1960s. IMO, it means that another period of progress is on the horizon, but it also means that a time of intense turmoil is here. It seems that you focus on the turmoil and miss seeing the openings and opportunities for change.

Another thing that INFPs should always be vigilant about is a shaky relationship to reality and/or being unable to tackle problems in a realistic way (i.e. poor Ne and Te development). Reality contains everything, including the good and the bad, so it’s no use to try to pretend that one or the other doesn’t exist. You will always make better decisions by taking BOTH the good and the bad into consideration. Some INFPs get stuck in trying to wish away the bad, and some drown in the bad and disconnect from everything good. 

Just as a child picks up a mix of psychological issues from their parents, as a member of society, your identity is forged through your relationship to your society's (problematic) history. I don't see how a "great migration" is any solution. Don’t forget that technology has made our world significantly smaller, so it’s a lot harder to distance from these problems. As long as you carry the scars of your home, no matter where you go, unresolved pain will continue to haunt you and hurt you. There is historical evidence that utopian thinking never leads to anything resembling a utopia. Utopian thinking is what people resort to when they are incapable of confronting the problems of reality. When it comes to human psychology, there is no way to wipe the slate completely clean without confronting and addressing the mistakes and sins of the past - this is what social unrest is meant to achieve. To believe that you can/should “start from scratch” is often a sign of Te grip in INFPs, as they want to violently wipe out the accumulated burdens of Si loop. 

Perhaps there are benefits for you, as an individual, to move away, as you might find happiness in a different sort of life. But what happens when the advocates give up and walk off? At the societal level, good people moving away only leaves the bad actors to wreak havoc on the poor and innocent. Certainly, some individuals do move away and successfully build a better life for themselves. However, some people move away only to discover that they miss home dearly, and they end up roaming aimlessly, lonely, miserable, bitter, or disappointed. What separates the two groups? You will find a better life when you know exactly what you're looking for and you're realistic about whether the new place will meet those terms and conditions. You will NOT find a better life if you're merely running away from unhappiness, fueled by wishful thinking that the grass is greener "anywhere but here". It's up to you to be honest about what's happening with you.