#by playing with the same roles and rules of repression!

[canisalbus]

To me, Machete kind of has the energy of a secondary villain/coldhearted side character in someone else's story that a lot of fans latch onto, moreso than the protagonist. Question is, would he be the villain in anyone's story?

Why, thank you! I'm actually glad to hear he gives off that vibe. I don't think he set out to become a villain but a lot of people certainly view him as one.

[fumifooms]

Kabushuro

Kabru can fix Shuro I think. It’s cute how surprisingly similar they are...

Okay so they're a "we have similar issues" type of duo and the key word is performance.

1) They both treat socializing as a battleground, as a scripted dance there are right and wrong ways to act in, Kabru uses words and social relations as his weapon, especially as someone who was always disempowered otherwise in his life, and Toshiro from his noble background was raised in a very strict stifling way where rules, hierarchy and the importance of social cues were drilled into him. To kabru, being liked was what got him and continues to get him shelter at the island (his landlord even cleans his room for him) and what got and continues to get people to listen to him. To Toshiro, a right conduct is what gets him approval and what upholds the honor of not only him but his entire family and household, it's not just pressure but also his way to feel loved- which never worked with his dad. Kabru's dad left his mother when Kabru was born and Toshiro's father would never take interest in his sons, nothing they could do was grand and impressive enough, preferring instead to travel and horse around despite being a man of great import and military achievements. Community & social success are very important to Kabru and duty and societal approval are very important to Toshiro. Toshiro wants to fit into the expectations placed upon him and Kabru wants to wield social approval to better turn around and change these expectations and that pressure, work towards a society with less need to conform where more people can come to and find a safe home. Toshiro almost dreads his future role, while power couldn't come to Kabru fast enough.

2) They both repress themselves. While Kabru is a malleable tool to even himself, Toshiro's identity and demeanor is rigid, it's just not his own- but something he thought he had to replicate. They both suppress their true selves and their feelings to be more pleasing to the people around them and society and leave very little time for self-care. Neither have people they can truly be themselves with, Kabru not wanting to be vulnerable with anyone even his childhood friend Rin who went through similar trauma, and Toshiro having to be the honorable heir with everyone he interacts with, even feeling like he was betrayed by his mother figure Maizuru he loved when it turned out she also bent her spine for his (in his opinion) good-for-nothing father- he's constantly shadowed by his bodyguards, constantly monitored!!

Like the thing that gives them stress and that gives them validation is sorta the same (achievements & family expectations, understanding and playing people to get to goals) and like……………. Idk

They’re like. Parrot vs parakeet… They share the same cage and Kabru parrot is singing and playing with the enrichment puzzle toys and doing little dances meanwhile Toshiro is huddled in the corner quiet in a ball. Birds are stressed smart animals lol this makes sense to me.

Sooo they're both repressed guys who approach social relationships with a facade and hold the community & world's wellbeing above their own. They do have a lot of differences as well though, like how Kabru is so much more active than passive and paves his own path, meanwhile Toshiro has a hard time leading and tries much more to stay confined in the rigid structure of his life- again being malleable and adaptable vs rigid to a fault. They're both STRESSED and they both hate OPENING UP!

We see Kabru get Toshiro out of his shell a bit :) Though pushing Toshiro to be more active is something we see a couple people do in general, like how Namari dragged him into the "Asivia is causing problems in the party" pre-canon Laios party conversation. But where does this even go from there I hear you ask.

Well thankfully for us, Kabru likes figuring out people and Toshiro does crave some connection, as seen with Falin. Toshiro meeting someone not from the East who is still familiar with eastern customs (okonomiyaki for example), not enough to criticize Toshiro for doing things wrong but enough that Toshiro can relax around him. Knowing his intents get across. It’d be relaxing for Toshiro for sure to be around someone who like, gets social cues almost effortlessly. Kabru would seem to always read him so well even when he can’t express how he’s feeling and, even though it’d also be a bit (lot) scary in a feeling naked and you can’t hide anything from him way, it’d be soothing to know that literally like, that he doesn’t have to put up a front yes (because it'd be useless, Kabru sees A L L)- but also that he doesn’t have to even really communicate verbally almost, which he finds somewhat hard to do. They do still communicate very easily together though! Toshiro is good at picking up on things so he's not oblivious to Kabru's scheming and shrewdness, which makes their relationship easier to both work and be healthy imo.

They gain a sense of complicity pretty quick in canon. Chapter 32 my beloved. I love how he implicitly answers Toshiro's "Is that all?" later with Namari. He borderline opens up more to Toshiro that he's known for a couple days at most than he has to his own party he's known for years.

They just hang out and they tune to each other’s moods and the worries of the rest of the world around them melts a bit... Eventually. When Toshiro starts to actively notice things about Kabru back is when shit gets real on his end like oh... Oh shit…….

Reciprocity is so so interesting to think about especially with Kabru, always. It’s easy when it’s kind of like a play and attending to the other's every need and want just the right way, but then they want you to be part of the equation, what they want is you and not just what you offer them and suddenly it’s…… Not safe, or easy.

Thinking again about my theory that Shuro’s nightmare is just a barely exaggerated day at his house… The dread and suffocation and exhaustion of having eyes and all the weight of honor and behavior constantly follow him wherever he goes, pick his every movement apart. Benichidori style... But like, and how kabru doesn’t need Toshiro to tell him about that nightmare in specific to pick up on his less than ideal childhood. And kabru was in kind of a similar situation of feeling trapped at home by his parent too. Bonding, slowly but surely...

Kabru pulling the same strings he did on Dia’s boyfriend until Shuro’s a tearful mess (still barely holding them back). I do think he’d be a harder challenge, he’s way more repressed, less social and open and in touch with himself, unlike Dia’s fiance who’s all fiery I bet and seemdd to know what was the real issue bothering him… I think it’d be like enrichment for Kabru. Someone to get to know and it’s a lot of back and forth and mutual effort- Kabru’s very used to just, either pushing or receiving a ton in relationships, having people load their feelings and expectations onto him, reserved Toshiro would be refreshing I think. Someone who's not particularly interested in Kabru, and someone who wants to be focused on and looked at just as little as he does. It’s not like Laios where he has important motives to crack his mystery, the stakes are low he can just chill and enjoy trying to figure him out for the sake of genuine curiosity and a lil something in the air whenever they interact. They’re intriguing.

King of staying in his lane looking like a kicked puppy in his noble suit vs king of putting his nose in everyone’s business everywhere for the greater good getting to just have this thing that’s unprofessional and has no reason to be yet feels nice.

They should have regular meetups at the ramen joint, okonomiyaki trio ftw. A mutual letting down of walls in their offwork hours <3 It helps that he's already seen Toshiro at his worst I think. Kabru could even just hit him up sitting with him with a drink for a bit at the ending feast or something and they form a lil friendship :>

In a kabushuro timeline that adheres to post-canon would Toshiro live in Merini or would they be long-distance… Courting through letters and diplomatic travels as ambassadors…… Timeline where Kabru doesn’t become advisor and instead lives as Toshiro’s husband & like second head of the family is interesting… Although Kabru cares about using his politician status for change & greater good. I also do love Toshiro giving up on the heirdom too lowkey. See though the thing is that toshiro is ALSO about greater good, what he & traditions say is anyways, and it's stated that when he becomes the new head of the family things improve in the household- he's a better, more conscientious leader. Advisor x family leader kabushuro where Toshiro pushes for good Wa-Melini relations and an alliance... Every which way is neat

I need a fic where they just self-care and have a slow day hanging out together is the thing. They need a day at the spa (Toshiro needs a day playing in the mud actually but idk they can go to camping spa). Shuro takes a mud bath and realizes he’s entertaining himself by letting the mud drip from his fingers into a little pile on the rim. Even for small habits and stim he'd be super repressed I feel but finding subtle ways to stim king... Would kabru be good at massages? He 1000% knows how to massage out a knot in shoulders, it's a good way to get into people’s good graces... Kabru "I could help you to relax :)" especially if early on and he wants info/to have Toshiro as an ally. Shuro just melts into a puddle because he *really needed* a massage from someone (outside of the family). Didn’t feel like he’d have to continue performing. He knows human anatomy real well and stuff I bet if he tried he could even do acupuncture… Toshiro prob needs to get half-naked which makes him all 😖 but he gets over it and gets comfier the longer it goes on. Kabru’s satisfied/proud when he notices Toshiro’s discomfort get worn down over the minutes until he’s fully relaxed. Thank you @/saccharineomens for the brainstorm <3 God you just know they’d be in a situation where they’re sitting next to each other, having a real heart to heart, and kabru gently puts a comforting hand on Shuro’s leg while nodding sympathetically at him, and Shuro gets a little flustered at what appears to him to be a rather forward move lol.

Kabushuro eventually having the meanest gossip like just absolutely unleashing their pettiness together, I’d love to see it. They've got it in them I know it

The planning plotters...

[heavens-secret]

🌹 IN DEFENSE OF TAI: A NOVEL🍷

So listen I get it, there’s the writing style to consider and the repetition of the detached, seemingly lifeless man in power being recycled that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I fully understand the people saying they want more passion from him, and I hope to see it fully awakened as we go further along. He’s seemingly got the same stoic facecard no matter what context, which can get frustrating because we want a certain degree of vulnerability from our LIs.

But to play devil’s advocate on the subject that is Tai, let me paint this portrait of how I hope to see his character being developed. Because I can’t help but think about the glimpse into that psychotic family we’ve been given in Episode 9 & feel that up to this point, Tai’s mannerisms and general demeanor actually make so much fucking sense.

Like Tiss, he’s essentially been primed for war from an early age. He was primed to rule, to make difficult decisions, to represent his house with pride, and to never show weakness. And yes, he’s undoubtedly enjoyed a certain degree of privilege due to his status. But while his sisters get to explore their interests and amuse themselves in court playing with people like their puppets, he’s tasked with the ultimate responsibility of a society’s future as the family heir. A task I don’t think he takes lightly, given how well read he is and how involved he is in political affairs. And unless there’s some mentor we haven’t learned about yet, Foelh seems to have been his only role model to imitate when it comes to being a man and being a leader. Imagine having that dude as a father figure. Whatever we’ve seen of Foelh so far, I assure you he’s a thousandfold worse. It sort of reminds me of learning about Lucifer’s background & how Satan raised him. There are more parallels to him and Satan than you’d originally think. Both are self-serving, sadistic narcissists with little empathy for others’ suffering. They make decisions not based on what’s best for the people or what is just, but based on what strengthens their authority or feeds their ego. Not to mention both would be willing give up their only son to a win a political chess match if it came down to it. When Tai was briefing him on the murder of the princess and told him he was prioritizing minimizing bloodshed over interrogating everyone, Foelh literally said that he would have executed him were it not for the fact that he was his only son. With a parental figure like that, it often feels like you’re walking on eggshells & consistently made to feel like you’re never good enough. It doesn’t necessarily justify the problematic aspects of their personality down the line, but it humanizes them and puts a lot of their actions in context. It’s also fertile ground for solid character development. Because imagine the sort of coping mechanisms you’d have to adapt to be molded by a sadist while enduring life-lasting fractures to your body and/or soul. Repression would be chief among them. And then imagine meeting someone who challenges everything you’ve ever known and done, who forces you to start feeling again.

It’s honestly nothing short of a miracle that compared to Foelh, Tai has been nothing but respectful towards Tiss up to this point. He doesn’t have an interest in blind subservience or abusing his power for an ego trip like his father does. His calm and reserved nature makes him a lot more open minded & reasonable. On the Falcon path, he likes her challenging him on matters others wouldn’t speak up about & even respects her more for it. These are all qualities that will help him create impactful change when the time comes for him to reign. It feels like she’s awakening sides to him that have long remained dormant, like she’s a literal breath of fresh air after he’s gotten so used to holding his breath entirely. At the same time, however, he knows how dangerous a personality like that is and worries for her. She was always under threat of death but I think he feels guilt and anger at himself that he’s put her in actual tangible danger, like he slipped up somewhere leading to Foelh using her as a manipulation tactic. Maybe he is remaining reserved because that is the best way to keep her safe, because showing passion will only prove that she is a point of vulnerability for Tai. And the more their feelings grow, the truer that becomes. And that will certainly lead to her death, unless Foelh is killed first. Tiss is feeling like a pawn right now, but I’m telling ya’ll she’s gonna checkmate the King.

[gael-garcia]

Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) is an ad hoc coalition committed to solidarity and the horizon of liberation for the Palestinian people. Drawing together writers, editors, and other culture workers, WAWOG hopes to provide ongoing infrastructure for cultural organizing in response to the war. This project is modeled on American Writers Against the War in Vietnam, an organization founded in 1965.

Statement of Solidarity

October 26, 2023

Israel’s war against Gaza is an attempt to conduct genocide against the Palestinian people. This war did not begin on October 7th. However, in the last 19 days, the Israeli military has killed over 6,500 Palestinians, including more than 2,500 children, and wounded over 17,000. Gaza is the world’s largest open-air prison: its 2 million residents—a majority of whom are refugees, descendants of those whose land was stolen in 1948—have been deprived of basic human rights since the blockade in 2006. We share the assertions of human rights groups, scholars, and, above all, everyday Palestinians: Israel is an apartheid state, designed to privilege Jewish citizens at the expense of Palestinians, heedless of the many Jewish people, both in Israel and across the diaspora, who oppose their own conscription in an ethno-nationalist project. 

We come together as writers, journalists, academics, artists, and other culture workers to express our solidarity with the people of Palestine. We stand with their anticolonial struggle for freedom and for self-determination, and with their right to resist occupation. We stand firmly by Gaza’s people, victims of a genocidal war the United States government continues to fund and arm with military aid—a crisis compounded by the illegal settlement and dispossession of the West Bank and the subjugation of Palestinians within the state of Israel.

We stand in opposition to the silencing of dissent and to racist and revisionist media cycles, further perpetuated by Israel’s attempts to bar reporting in Gaza, where journalists have been both denied entry and targeted by Israeli forces. At least 24 journalists in Gaza have now been killed. Internationally, writers and cultural workers have faced severe harassment, workplace retribution, and job loss for expressing solidarity with Palestine, whether by stating facts about their continued occupation, or for amplifying the voices of others. These are instances that mark severe incursions against supposed speech protections. Specious charges of antisemitism are leveled against Zionism’s critics; political repression has been particularly aggressive against the free speech of Muslim, Arab, and Black people living in the US and across the globe. As was the case following the September 11th attacks, Islamophobic political fervor and the widespread circulation of unsubstantiated claims has galvanized a US-led coalition of military support for a brutal campaign of violence.

What can we do to intervene against Israel’s eliminationist assault on the Palestinian people? Words alone cannot stop the onslaught of devastation of Palestinian homes and lives, backed shamelessly and without hesitation by the entire axis of Western power. At the same time, we must reckon with the role words and images play in the war on Gaza and the ferocious support they have engendered: Israel’s defense minister announced the siege as a fight against “human animals”; even as we learned that Israel had rained bombs down on densely populated urban neighborhoods and deployed white phosphorus in Gaza City, the New York Times editorial board wrote that “what Israel is fighting to defend is a society that values human life and the rule of law”; establishment media outlets continue to describe Hamas’s attack on Israel as “unprovoked.” Writers Against the War on Gaza rejects this perversion of meaning, wherein a nuclear state can declare itself a victim in perpetuity while openly enacting genocide. We condemn those in our industries who continue to enable apartheid and genocide. We cannot write a free Palestine into existence, buttogether we must do all we possibly can to reject narratives that soothe Western complicity in ethnic cleansing. 

We act alongside other writers, scholars, and artists who have expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause, drawing inspiration from the Palestinian spirit of sumud, steadfastness, and resistance. Since 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has advocated for organizations to join a boycott of institutions representing the Israeli state or cultural institutions complicit with its apartheid regime. We call on all our colleagues working in cultural institutions to endorse that boycott. And we invite writers, editors, journalists, scholars, artists, musicians, actors, and anyone in creative and academic work to sign this statement. Join us in building a new cultural front for a free Palestine.  

Signed,

WAWOG Interim Organizing Committee

Hannah Black

Ari Brostoff (Senior Editor, Jewish Currents)

Elena Comay del Junco

Kyle Dacuyan (Executive Director, Poetry Project)

Kay Gabriel (Editorial Director, Poetry Project)

Kaleem Hawa

E. Tammy Kim

Shiv Kotecha

Wendy Lotterman (Associate Editor, Parapraxis)

Muna Mire

Perwana Nazif

Brendan O'Connor

Alex Press (Staff Writer, Jacobin)

Sarah Nicole Prickett

Dylan Saba

Zoé Samudzi (Associate Editor, Parapraxis)

Jasmine Sanders

Claire Schwartz (Culture Editor, Jewish Currents)

Janique Vigier

Harron Walker

Chloe Watlington

Gabriel Winant (Department of History, University of Chicago)

Audrey Wollen

Hannah Zeavin (Founding Editor, Parapraxis)

Signed, In Solidarity

Fatimah Warner (Noname)

Saul Williams

Susan Sarandon

Janeane Garofalo

Gael García Bernal

Danez Smith

Ocean Vuong

Aria Aber

Saidiya Hartman

China Miéville

+ full list here

[opencommunion]

"The fact that independence movements are generally marked, even in their early stages, by an upsurge of cultural activity, has led to the view that such movements are preceded by a 'cultural renaissance' of the subject people. Some go as far as to suggest that culture is one means of collecting together a group, even a weapon in the struggle for independence. From the experience of our own struggle, and one might say that of the whole of Africa, we consider that there is a too limited, even a mistaken, idea of the vital role of culture in the development of the liberation movement. In our view, this arises from a fake generalization of a phenomenon that is real but limited, that is at a particular level in the vertical structure of colonized societies—at the level of the elite or the colonial diasporas. This generalization is unaware of or ignores the vital element of the problem: the indestructible character of the cultural resistance of the masses of the people when confronted with foreign domination. Certainly, imperialist domination calls for cultural oppression and attempts either directly or indirectly to do away with the most important elements of the culture of the subject people. But the people are only able to create and develop the liberation movement because they keep their culture alive despite continual and organized repression of their cultural life and because they continue to resist culturally, even when their politico-military resistance is destroyed. And it is cultural resistance that, at a given moment, can take on new forms, that is, political, economic, armed to fight foreign domination.

Repressed, persecuted, humiliated, betrayed by certain social groups that have compromised with the foreign power, culture takes refuge in the villages, in the forests, and in the spirit of the victims of domination. Culture survives all these challenges and, through the struggle for liberation, blossoms forth again. Thus, the question of a 'return to the source' or of a 'cultural renaissance' does not arise and could not arise for the masses of these people, for it is they who are the repository of the culture and at the same time the only social sector who can preserve and build it up and make history. Thus, in Africa at least, for a true idea of the real role that culture plays in the development of the liberation movement, a distinction must be made between the situation of the masses, who preserve their culture, and that of the social groups who are assimilated or partially so, who are cut off and culturally alienated. Even though the indigenous colonial elite who emerged during the process of colonization still continue to pass on some element of indigenous culture, they live both materially and spiritually according to the foreign colonial culture. ... Yet despite the apparent exceptions, they do not succeed in getting past the barriers thrown up by the system. They are prisoners of the cultural and social contradictions of their lives. They cannot escape from their role as a marginal class, or a 'marginalized' class.

... It is within the framework of this daily drama, against the backcloth of the usually violent confrontation between the mass of the people and the ruling colonial class, that a feeling of bitterness or a frustration complex is bred and develops among the indigenous petite bourgeoisie. At the same time, they are becoming more and more conscious of a compelling need to question their marginal status, and to rediscover an identity. Thus, they turn to the people around them, the people at the other extreme of the sociocultural conflict—the native masses. For this reason arises the problem of a 'return to the source,' which seems to be even more pressing, the greater is the isolation of the petite bourgeoisie (or native elites) and their acute feelings of frustration, as in the case of African diasporas living in the colonial or racist metropolis.

... But the 'return to the source' is not and cannot in itself be an act of struggle against foreign domination (colonialist and racist), and it no longer necessarily means a return to traditions. It is the denial, by the petite bourgeoisie, of the pretended supremacy of the culture of the dominant power over that of the dominated people with which it must identify itself. The 'return to the source' is therefore not a voluntary step, but the only possible reply to the demand of concrete need, historically determined, and enforced by the inescapable contradiction between the colonized society and the colonial power, the mass of the people exploited and the foreign exploitive class, a contradiction in the light of which each social stratum or indigenous class must define its position. When the 'return to the source' goes beyond the individual and is expressed through 'groups' or 'movements,' the contradiction is transformed into struggle (secret or overt) and is a prelude to the pre-independence movement or to the struggle for liberation from the foreign yoke. So the 'return to the source' is of no historical importance unless it brings not only real involvement in the struggle for independence, but also complete and absolute identification with the hopes of the mass of the people, who contest not only the foreign culture but also the foreign domination as a whole. Otherwise, the 'return to the source' is nothing more than an attempt to find short-term benefits—knowingly or unknowingly a kind of political opportunism."

Amílcar Cabral, "Identity and Dignity in the Context of the National Liberation Struggle" (1972)

[astrowithkaro]

❥ 𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝟏𝟎𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄

This post will explain what it means to have Lilith in the 10th house, I will be assuming that you know the basics of Lilith and won't go into details about her symbolism 🌹

(Black moon) Lilith is named after Adam’s first wife before Eve who was the outcast of the garden of Eden as a demon for asserting her sexuality and independence. Lilith represents our worst flaws, our unconscious mind and repressed desires as well as our hidden sexuality. This dark goddess symbolizes lust and carnal desire; she epitomizes all things taboo.

You can find your Lilith by creating a natal chart for yourself on Astro-seek.com and specify Lilith placement (PS: NOT ASTEROID LILITH 1181, it needs to be BLM/h12 that is usually an option in the extended chart settings).

All credits goes to the writer - @astrowithkaro. Do not steal or repost!

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

You guys are made to play out the Lilith in your lives. Lilith will point where your hidden powers lie. People with this placement often have the ever-lasting sense that they are meant for something big. They have a higher calling in life and are often determined. They have long-term goals that are bigger than usual. They posses a lucky-girl mentality, but it comes at a cost.

Since the 10th house rules the eye of the public, your hidden extremities might be an invitation for rumours and scandals. Therefore, this placement can often get caught in drama, both at a young age while being in school, and often tend to manifest into their work life as well. You might have people speaking about you behind your back, but these rumours don't always resemble who you really are. As teens, you might develop crushes on teachers, or anyone that you idolise. In order to get their attention, you might try to seduce them or make yourself look as appealing as possible to the other person's deepest fantasies/desires. You often compare yourself to the best students and look up to the most successful people in your life, and even copy those tactics in order to gain those same traits you lack in yourself. On a darker note, you could have issues with your father or have a father figure that is absent. You might be oblivious to the insecurities that other people reflect onto you, and feel like it burdens you without being able to recognise where it stems from. You might fall in love with difficult people, people that are narcissistic or possess antisocial traits. People who do not have clear motives for you, but still lead you on in ways that would trigger a trauma bond between you two - love bombing is a clear example of that.

You might be labeled as a difficult person to work with and have a lot of competition when it comes to job opportunities. The people who are responsible for your job role/recruiters might ask you for sexual favours in return for a better position or a raise. Refusing to do this might lead to people throwing dirt on your name, you have the choice to stand up for yourself and make authority figures responsible for their bullshit. Having this placement also has a higher chance of working job positions that involve anything sex-and identity related.

There will be a certain fixation on shaming your position, or having people try to barber that recognition out of you. You might feel self-conscious around people who are highly successful. Though, you are able to recognise manipulation tactics used and you are not afraid to use it against anyone else if it comes down to it. But this could be a dangerous move since you can sometimes be vulnerable to Machiavellism due to your emotional side. You might also be prone to sexual partners who toy with your emotions, and want to use you for sex, might even try to shame your sexuality. You have a lot of public influence no matter what you get recognised for, two famous examples are Albert Einstein and Vladimir Putin. Therefore, you need to utilise it carefully.

Since there is a certain fixation on the desire for authority, you may sometimes desire darker powers or leadership, especially for those who meet a lot of resistance that lead to social isolation. You are afraid of failure and might be very responsive to any sort of failure or to be seen as vulnerable. You might develop a hyper-independence complex or a play a damsel-in-distress for people of power. You need to put your feelings aside when it comes to business. Your test in life is connected to having a sense of responsibility. There will be a delay in finding your career path.

There might also be a period during which you feel the need to over-sexualise yourself or romanticise parts of your life that are difficult for you to handle. This is rooted in the need for control over something that seems difficult or hard to reach. You might find it difficult to connect to your own deeper goals and ambitions, often due to unresolved resentment towards certain people or situations. You might hold grudges towards people who did you dirty. The path to empowerment is self-acceptance and moderation. If your needs aren't met, you tend to be ice-cold and might even appeared detached and distant - sometimes even "head in the clouds". You need to draw a line between your emotions and have an endurance.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･

𝕿𝖍𝖆𝖙'𝖘 𝖎𝖙 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖋𝖎𝖓𝖉 𝖒𝖞 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊

[astroyongie]

Why Am I This Way - Psychology Answers

Note: Another one <3 we are almost done with the How Am I section !!

“How Am I” Section

“Am I Really A Good Person?”

What happens in the unconscious brain: 

To start off, it's important that we understand that being wrong and right are social constructs and they will depend on your cultural background, on you ethnic and the way you were born and social class.

Now these feelings of being a good person, of caring from the social norms and looks come from childhood where the family plays an essential role on how we want to be cared for and loved.

In a dysfunctional family they usually have a closed system. For any interest in these topics you can always check the works that are based on little information and the resources are shared between the family members (communication isn't used often). In this cases (these families) communication tend to be rare and the rules of the family are usually strict and not just, working in the favor of the parent authority 

In contrary, in a functional family, the system us open and the information and the ressources shred is shared through communication between the family 

Basically in dysfunctional families the rules are not said. They learn in silence. In function, the parent actually verbalizes the good and the wrong.

back on the dysfunctional family, the communication is so fragile and limited that the little things that are said are usually harsh, violent and painful to the child (for example the child is make a mistake, the parent will proceed with accusatory screaming or physical abuse)

Because of this, the children who got raised in such an environment learn to mold themselves to reach security. They are always weary of their environment and they tend to read people to accommodate and adapt their behaviors. 

Basically they learn to recognize a bad action and a good acio based on their parents' punishments and because of that they tend to always please others or provoke a better reaction in their counterpart to avoid the violence.

These children (from dysfunctional families) can develop four types of communication patterns when evolving with other people. Those are: 

“Appeased” : they are people pleasers and they will put a lot of effort in for that to happen during arguments. To be a good person they use extreme generosity by neglecting themselves and their needs (because their parents have neglected them so much so why shouldn't they do the same?)

“Accuser”: A mirroying of narcissistic parenting/ defensive category. People like that will try to manipulate the situation and turn the tables to avoid being on the receiving pain end. They try to be a good person by using reverse psychology 

“Congruent”: the person is aware of their surroundings, they are aware of signals that can be potentially triggering. These types of people when arguments happen tend to use verbal and non verbal communication at the same type to smooth the situation and avoid being hit. more of a “fight” response to avoid panic and be a good person.

“Evasive”: they are usually people that often retreat in arguments. They will keep themselves shut because they have learnt that speaking will bring them more pain so they usually try to keep themselves shut and repress emotions in order to be the good person. some of them can also use humor as a mechanism 

Usually people that are always questioning their worth as a good people come mostly from a dysfunctional family weather neglect and violence were the main resource and where the people had to learn strategies to survive in that environment

if you are interested in more of these topics you can check the works of Virginia Satir and Karen Horney

So what can we do?

We cannot allow the limited perceptions of others define us

You need to understand that you have lost touch with your inner self in order to avoid conflict. the important here is to learn that arguments and conflicts are often necessary to solve the issues and they are important to communicate feelings and that one should not stop putting their fears first and take time to open up

now this is hard but with therapy and the right relationship, this gets easier and those behavioral patterns can be changed

There’s also the need to stop blaming yourself for everything and prioritize your happiness. 

Learn to say no, learn to stand for yourself and believe that you are worth more than what the dysfunctional family provided. you are worth love

and no, you're not a bad person you are just hurt

Now, you know where to work to become a better version of yourself 

[moonshynecybin]

you had a fantasy au forever ago… how does marc find out vale loves him

i for one. always believe rosquez is just as horny as it is tortured and just as stupid as it is horny. i think it’s this fraught thing where after a LONG saga of trying to keep marc safe and worrying about him (marc is captain of the guard/general!!! it’s his whole job to keep VALE safe but vale thinks about any scenario where marc sacrifices his life to save him and it feels like open HEART SURGERY…) and after trying to ease him into a more bureaucratic role as “advisor” (luca voice comma dryly. pecco already does all that. you are teaching him things a consort knows. you do realize that. it’s important to me that you’ve realized that.) by involving him on strategy and policy he i think. entirely without thinking through the emotional implications wherein. decides marc needs to get married to him. truly the only way he can make marc safe the only way he can physically keep him off the battlefield the only way he can. marriage is a political and transactional enterprise to him and he SHANT fall in love anyways so whatever. get married to marc present his most cogent military mind as unequivocally allied with him and keep marc from killing himself 8000x problem solved. the small ruthless part of him also is like. marc cannot leave me and stage a coup with our neighbors to the west if he is legally bound to me :) forever :)

(i would say they have a break up in this universe because vale is a lil insecure about marc’s ability to rule slash uccio meddlings but. it all brings glory to vale here. it’s all under his banner. that’s part of what he liked about marc to begin with… now if marc came from another noble house?? late stage royal parentage reveal??? then shit would get cwazy)

and he lays this all out to our capricorn moon queen marc marquez who sees the logic here and despite KNOWING it’s a bad idea because he is ass over teakettle in love with vale he ALSO sees this as like. the ultimate way to keep vale safe. he can contribute the same way he does now and he knows he’ll never have all of vale but at least he’ll have SOME of him… be able to produce an heir… so he says yes and vale’s like cool. chill. married as work associates. cool.

it’s all this emotional distancing/repression/denial that plays out into what they THINK is a business transaction until it’s the NIGHT OF. and they have to go in there and consummate their MARRIAGE. and vale lays marc out on their fine silken marriage bed and kisses his scarred arm and asks him if it’s okay and watches the way marc’s eyes squeeze shut when he pushes inside of him and the way he shivers when vale’s presses his mouth to the junction of his shoulder and his neck. the flex of his stomach the splay of his thighs the way he’s looking at vale like he’s something new. something that no one has ever seen before… feeling things no one has ever felt before (marc marquez may very well believe valentino rossi invented the prostate orgasm here) and THATS when vale thinks. uh oh !

[meandmacats]

Some sides head cannons, but it’s super obvious who my favorite side is:

Both Remus and Roman glow, but Roman is more of a Disney fairy magic way and Remus is closer to bioluminescent like deep sea creatures

The imagination is not physically split into Remus’ and Roman’s sided, but rather just a collection of both of their creations in a space too big for either to largely effect the other

Remus is a big softie when he’s not being gross

Roman is asexual

Remus is aromantic

Roman and remus have literal twin telepathy

Roman has a black streak(mirroring Remus’ white steak)

Roman can get burnout, but Remus can’t despite them both being creativity(Roman is used as the main creativity)

When in burnout, Roman runs a fever and attempting to interact with any creative pursuits immediately chars it

Roman’s role of Ego is under the Sigmund Froid definition where it is a representation of the self rather than just self worth

Remus played Undertale and first played a true pacifist route where he attacked each monster until they were ready to spare(he loved the amalgamations)

Patton actually can’t cook(not for lack of effort)

Roman is trying to learn more Romance languages

Remus knows German

Janus knows ASL

Logan has always had issues with Pattons black and white thinking, but decided to ignore it

Remus is ferally protective

Janus can smell lies the same way snakes smell(sticking out tongue) so he doesn’t do it often

Repressing Remus is like punching an inflatable punching bag

Janus actually can’t think of lies. He encourages it, but he doesn’t actually come up with the excuses

Janus only knows psychology for lying, he doesn’t know any for the other sides

Intrusive thoughts warn the body of danger and can help keep the shot alert. When this is revealed to the other sides, Remus tries to be as obnoxious and aggressive with the intrusive thoughts as possible to try to convince them otherwise

There is actually a difference in abilities between dark and light sides

Dark sides abilities are:

see no evil-tunnel vision from Remus

hear no evil- Virgil’s voice thing(known to over rule all other sides in input)

speak no evil-Janus silence(literally hiding things from Thomas he doesn’t want to know)

Roman can speak to and understand animals in the Imagination like a Disney Prince

Remus is really good with animals

Roman and Logan bond over rhymes, poetry, and word-play

Logan can cook, but he can’t experiment with cooking

Roman can cook, but he struggles to actually follow the instructions

Remus can “cook,” but it’s not “food”

Janus can cook for himself and no one else

Virgil is to anxious to cook most days, occasionally finds baking relaxing

Patton can bake

Roman and Remus are closer than they present themselves to the others

Roman gets ego bruises

Remus gets antsy if he doesn’t harass Thomas

Roman is a much better actor than he lets on

Roman intentionally played characters badly in Can Lying be Good? because he knew that Thomas would not be able to handle true immersion into the scene

Logan is naturally ambidextrous

Roman learned to be ambidextrous

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Idk what to tell to the people who still don't get that although is okay to teach kids the rules to live in a society (like respect others or don't kill or whatever), Kotaro Shimura, Enji Todoroki and Toga's parents didn't care as much for society rules as they care for the rules that made them feel okay at home.

Which in the end caused the main villain trio to reject authority and society and turn into violence, since they did try to use words as kids and were royally ignored.

Tenko, Touya and Toga tried very hard to be good kids, but in their parents conception it was not enough 'cause they couldn't repress some of their needs: they wanted their dads and moms to accept them as they were, to accept who they wanted to be, to accept the way they expressed love and accept the way they interacted with their surroundings.

In Tenko's case, Kotaro was unable to accept his kid desire to become a hero. His could be the worst case in bnha, given the violence of his tragedy and how misfortune (maybe even something else) played on it ending so badly. Tomura himself said that house rejected his very identity, even tho Hana tried to support him in secret and Nao stood up for him, little too late. For what we saw of him as a child, his only defect as a son was wanting to be a pro-hero, dream that got him beaten up for, grounded in a rather cruelly manner. Kotaro's trauma turned him into an irrational man, his hatred for heroes was both the build up and the catalysis of the tragedy that ended the lives of the people he loved the most.

Tenko didn't become a villain because he was an evil kid. He became a villain because AFO wanting it so and because Kotaro inculcated in him such extreme hatred.

In Touya's case, it's a bit more complicated. I don't believe Enji's obsession was completely evil in nature, although his actions were truly selfish and it became later abusive, when his desperation blinded him to the point he was unable to understand how bad he has turned out to be. Like in Tenko's case, the mother is at fault only in yhe sense that their lack of intervention allowed the situation to escalate 'til they couldn't prevent it anymore. Touya's case differentiates itself in the fact that he was older than Tenko, his behavior declining over the years into extreme violence, unlike the way Tenko exploded in murder glee when Kotaro hit him one last time.

The lack of proper attention from both Enji and Rei allowed Touya's behavior to become a tragedy. Their negligence, Enji's focus on his work and Shouto (as a project not a son) and Rei's role of a caretaker yet not a mother, combined with the incapacity of Natsuo and Fuyumi to understand what Touya was going through (really, only Shouto could, but at that point Touya hated him too much and Shouto was way too young)... Well, it didn't end well for a kid that didn't want help anymore but attention on his own terms. He was tired of adapting, the same way Tenko rebelled in his insistence of acting the hero way.

The same house rule ( YOU CANNOT BE A HERO ) sent them both to AFO's hands, one way or another. They were kids who couldn't act the way their dads wanted, so fuck them I guess.

That part is compatible to Toga's case. Kinda.

Toga's parents are by far the most twisted of the bunch, which is a lot to say considering that Kotaro hit his kids and Enji even hit his wife. Yet, without having to touch a single hair of their little girl, they inflicted damage so deep she preferred to become a runaway criminal than to stay at home one more day.

At least Kotaro and Enji valued at some level Tenko and Touya's existence. Toga's parents didn't care about her at all. She was as good as a broken doll, an imperfect piece of their furniture, something they wish wasn't related to them at all. Enji was at least worry about his son and he loved him at some degree, the same way Kotaro worry over Tenko was born out of his fear of losing his family. Nothing of it excuses what they do and let it be said that Enji and Kotaro did saw Touya and Tenko as monsters at some point (when Touya tried to kill Shouto and on his Dabi era, when Tenko killed his family and turned to Kotaro). Yet it doesn't compare to the way Toga's parents immediately erased her from their lives, even denying any affiliation. They sent her to that therapy like a car needing to be repaired. She was a sign of status, she was an object that they failed to produce, she was an aberration and a freak, she deserved to be put down.

From the three od them, Toga was the one who struggled the most to fit in socially, not to society standards tho. To her parents.

If all these parents had cared for their kids more than they cared for his own stupid rules maybe things would have been different. But that's the core of their problems, they don't need the whole world to accept them, they need to treat the internalized traumas their parents left them with, the self-hatred and the feeling of inadequacy and the need for acceptance (of themselves) and recognition.

That's why Toga, Izuku and Shouto are the key for their recovery. Acting as mirrors, they are meant to provide the closure the villain trio desperately need. It's not just a sibling or a nemesis bond, but a recognition of the self through the other situation.

If they can accept themselves and correct their ways and get free from their parents absurd rules, if they can move past the child need for their parents validation, maybe they can finally exist in a less painful way.

[sanrielle]

I've been thinking a lot about Katara and her feminism vs. her desire to preserve her dying culture. Like I know that the SWT probably isn't as sexist as the NWT, but there are still a lot of enduring practices that have roots in patriarchy, as demonstrated by Sokka's earlier sexism.

So I think Katara would end up with an odd mix. She's obviously a staunch feminist who thinks girls and women should follow their own paths, regardless of what society in general thinks their roles should be. But at the same time, she can't escape from some of the subtler (and possibly more insidious) traditions of 'propriety' and the role of women as the homemakers.

[Obligatory disclaimer that I don't know that much about Inuit culture when it comes to these things. I'm purely basing this off of what is shown in the cartoon itself.]

Something that kinda goes along with this is Katara's necklace. To her, it's a symbol of her grandmother's struggle for independence, as well as a memento of her mother and the sacrificial love she displayed. In the NWT, it represented (at best) a romantic commitment and (at worst) a transfer of property. I don't think she'd associate hers with either, and she'd probably be insulted if Aang tried to give her a new one when proposing.

(I maintain that the necklace she wears as an old lady is the same one she had in childhood. The fact that it looks wonky in that one screenshot is nothing more than lackluster rendering.)

Anyway, I've gone a little off topic. I just think she's a really interesting study in how someone can rail against the negative parts of their culture that don't appeal to them, while also having an internalized fondness for some of those same traditions, simply because they are familiar and nostalgic.

Take Toph for contrast. I don't think she's the butch anti-feminine person a lot of people make her out to be. She just does what she wants. She's perfectly happy to go to the spa or wear dresses and makeup, but only if it's her choice to do so. She's railing against the repressive and oppressive culture of elite EK society simply because she previously had no agency over her life.

Meanwhile, Katara takes an active role in seeing to the physical and emotional needs of her brother/friends. And even though that 'motherly' role is largely a trauma response and something she deeply resents at times, I think it's also a source of comfort to her. Something about her culture that she desperately clings to.

I think a lot about her and Aang's life post-war. They would be very focused on reconstruction for years, most likely. Katara would have her own projects with the Water Tribes, but also spend a lot of time helping Aang. Some part of her craves the validation of appearing to be 'proper' concerning her relationship with him. Maybe she's a bit hypocritical about it: unwilling to wait until they've settled down to be intimate, but also reluctant to publicly break certain social 'rules'.

She keeps telling herself there's so much to do in the world, and maybe she feels this heavy burden to do as much good as she can before allowing herself to rest and slow down and create the family she's always wanted.

But then ten(ish) years have passed and suddenly! Baby on the way! Oops! Katara knows she's a public figure and cares a lot about how she's seen. She wants the respect of the people from her own culture. And so they stop. They get married. They settle down.

Katara becomes the wife and mother, which she definitely wants while also having some lingering regrets and conflicting feelings. She still wants to be a role model for other girls and women, but she likes not being constantly on the move and fighting people and playing politics. She likes getting up in the middle of the night to sing an old Water Tribe lullaby to her baby. She likes it the most when Aang is there because he's always seen her as an equal partner, not a piece of property.

Anyway, I didn't really have a point. Just rambling about my own headcanons. I've always put a lot more thought into Toph and Sokka's characters, but I guess Kataang has been on my mind lately. And tbh I never gave Katara the attention she deserved when writing fics, which is a travesty.

[mamawasatesttube]

When/how do you think Kon started like exploring his gender? Did having to change his look to fit in at smallville have smth to do with it?

you just walked into my askbox and went "i'm gonna activate tumblr user mamawasatesttube's trap card!" i hope you know this.

so YES, firstly. i do believe changing his look to fit in with everyone in smallville had something to do with it, BUT. it's not just a case of "oh small town = conservatism, homophobia, transphobia, etc". it has more to do with him having a civilian persona for the first time in his lifie, and not knowing how to do that. through all of his time in sb94, he's never really fit in with "normal people" - he was always held apart from his classmates in hawaii, then he simply never interacted with regular people while living at cadmus, and finally when he lived in metropolis in the suicide slum it was. well. not good.

so moving to smallville and having a secret identity to protect - not just his own but superman's secret identity - is a lot of pressure to perform a role he's never played before. it's not even so much about small town attitudes so much as it is just the contrast of what he's used to and the concept of "normalcy". superboy, the clone of superman who's a hero and a celebrity, has never had to worry about being normal and not drawing too much attention. conner kent, on the other hand, has to worry about that very much.

he takes out his earring. he cuts off the longer parts of his hair and lets the shaved part grow back in. he grows keenly self-conscious of being a "geek" and making too many references to this or that media. for the first time, he starts paying consistent attention to what other people think of him and how they talk about him. it's not the same as his identity crisis before, when he just was worried about being "cool" and got a makeover about it; this is about something bigger than him, something so much more important than just his reputation. he has to keep this secret. it's not freedom, at first; it's a burden he's trying to learn to carry.

that's part of why he resents smallville at first. it's a whole new set of rules and restrictions and boxes he needs to fit into. and he's used to rules and restrictions and fitting into boxes, but these ones are nothing like the ones he knew before, and the stakes feel so much higher. he misses his "freedom" from before, so he hates "conner kent" and what smallville represents.

at this point, he doesn't really know that his gender and sexuality are involved in this repression. he just knows the way he dressed before and the way he acted before get attention in a way he doesn't want now, and he assumes any feelings of ickiness and missing anything are just tied to his whole resentment of smallville. it doesn't click for a long time. he just straight up doesn't clock that he has any gender-related feelings outside the norm, and he doesn't register any of his attraction to guys as attraction. he's deeply in his "overinvested straight ally" phase (think of his interactions with hero cruz - defending him from sparx and telling her homophobia is Not Cool!!).

and then he dies.

to establish a core part of my feelings about smallville... as someone who grew up queer in small town america, i am Deeply critical of everyone who dismisses rural areas as entirely conservative, intolerant, and bigoted. these people definitely do exist in rural areas, sure, but they are by no means the only ones (and they also very much exist in urban areas, too). to that end, i don't think smallville is just a ~homophobic little town~ where kon is miserable in the closet because of external pressure.

i do think kon does languish miserably in the closet for a time. but it's a lot of internal pressure and identity issues at play, not just the worry of homophobia. he spends a lot of time introspecting after his resurrection, learning to love his life with ma; it's during this time that i think he starts to actually realize his feelings about himself are queer feelings.

one of my personal favorite headcanons is that the first person he ever admits any of this to (first that he thinks he's into guys, bc that's the first one that he actually puts together) is hero cruz. hero is definitely the friend who's been out the longest, and very possibly (though ofc this can depend on personal hcs!) his only friend who's out at this time, given that he and cassie Just broke up.

now a major reason he struggles in the closet here is the idea that being queer as conner kent would mean deviating from the "normal" as conner kent. and conner kent is supposed to be a very normal guy, to fit in and fade into the background, to not draw attention. and that's his major hangup. it's easier to consider if superboy could come out than for conner kent to come out, because superboy has never been normal. he's always been set apart. but conner kent? conner kent has a vital secret to keep. he doesn't want anyone looking at him.

he finds it harder to accept queerness as a civilian than as a hero bc as a hero he's already "weird" and "alien" (literally), right. he can be loud and proud and obnoxious there and it doesnt matter! but conner kent is supposed to be ~normal~ and not like kon-el. conner kent is keenly aware of everything that makes him not fit in, and for a long time those things bring him uncertainty and shame because he is still struggling to try and figure out how even being a civilian works, let alone living a civilian life that's """abnormal""". it takes him a hot minute to work through this.

and then senior year, there's rumors going through smallville high because this one guy wanted to bring his boyfriend to prom but the school prom committee head teacher wouldn't sell a couple's ticket to two boys who are known to be dating despite selling them to plenty of girls who say they're just going as friends, and now a bunch of students are protesting by getting same sex couple's tickets and insisting on going actually as couples, and of course kon has to join in on that, he will always stand up against injustice even as a civilian...

...and one thing leads to another, and conner kent finds himself making out with simon valentine in the back corner of the dance hall, and they crown him prom king despite it (or maybe because of it!) and he's stunned because he didn't know he was popular (because he's kind, and loved, and funny, and good) and he's still popular despite clearly being into men now, and it's not a bad thing in everyone else's eyes, and oh? that was allowed all along?

and it's freeing.

that's the first step to exploring gender. first he has to let himself admit to being queer at all, and admit to being okay with it rather than needing to repress it forever, and it's kon. of course that only happens once he can use "helping someone else" as the reason.

NOW back up a large step. there's a second component to all this i haven't dug into yet, and it's about fashion.

more to the point, it's about ttk. one of my Favorite hcs is that he practices it via fibercrafts, even before his death but especially after. first crochet, then knitting, then bobbin lace, slowly increasing the number of moving parts he's working with; he ends up making a lot of lace.

ma uses some of his little lace scraps as bookmarks. he makes a bunch of doilies and then table runners. it's genuinely great ttk practice, but really, they have a lot of lace. so kon starts learning to sew, so he can start making lace-embellished tablecloths and then some simple circle skirts and things for ma. they sell some of them at local farmers'/crafters' markets.

and kon starts wearing some of it himself. at first he's really self-conscious, but... it's something he made, and he's proud of it, and it does look really good, so. fuck it. he and ma can go to do groceries wearing matching skirts, right? (circle skirts are easier to sew than pants, okay. pants have so much more going on. he's still teaching himself, okay!!!)

it takes him a LONG minute to realize that maybe some of the "oh, i do look good in this!" feelings might, in fact, be gender euphoria. as in, he doesn't realize it until after he starts unpacking his sexuality feelings and going ohhhh. conner kent is actually allowed to be queer and that's okay. only then does he realize that uhm... maybe conner kent is, like, extra queer. like, turn up the dial and add more spice.

with time, support and encouragement from friends and family, and some exploration, he gains more confidence in exploring presentation and actually thinking about gender. he doesn't really care that much about pronouns, but he Does hate being confined to traditional masculinity - he does enjoy being masc sometimes, but he hates the idea of having to fit in it as a box. he's much happier getting to flit around from masc to femme to all sorts of places in between. he finds it freeing.

okay i have rambled so much. this is more or less my idea for how the overall arc of kon exploring queerness goes, but im sure ive forgotten bits and pieces and will remember them within like 5 minutes of hitting post. but here we are here it is ive been typing on and off for like an hour now so im cutting myself off. there it is. my kon gender and sexuality thesis.

oh one other thing. also he loves to be young justice's babygirl. okay im done now

[thegodshavehorns]

Guide to the Zodiac: The Bard of Rage

"Good people sometimes wish bad things. Good people try bad things, don't you? Good people even do bad things, Once in a while, we do.” - Fred Rogers

Names & Epithets:

The Mirthful One; The Bard of Many Colors; Lord of the Carnival, Our Lord of Detroit, The Ringmaster, He Who Looses the Wolf, The Laughing Messiah, The Old Goat (often but not always derogatory)

Symbolism:

The Symbol of the Bard of Rage, written instead of his name, is ♑, the sign of Capricorn. 

The Sigil of Rage is a stylized face with exaggerated eyebrows. 

The colors associated with the Bard of Rage are pink and purple, and his sacred color is indigo.

Other symbols associated with the Bard of Rage are circus tents, graffiti, sugary bubbling drinks (which are referred to as “Faygo” in this context regardless of brand), the masks of comedy and tragedy, mind-altering substances of all sorts, and above all, clowns.

Appearance/Portrayal:

The Bard of Rage is an inhumanly tall and lanky man, crowned with a wild mass of long hair and two long, twisting horns. He always paints his face, black outlining his eyes and mouth against a white background. He generally is said to keep a calm and laid-back, even lazy demeanor. In anger, the scleras of his eyes are said to turn orange, which is often depicted in art.

The Bard almost always wears his godhood or a variant thereof in purples, pinks, and blacks. His godhood is unique in that it includes a prominent codpiece, or sacred phallus, a symbol of both procreative power and of the wild Id.

Domain/Associations

The Bard is associated with many concepts, but all lead back to the idea of want . It is common to question how a god whose domain is dubbed Rage came to be more concerned with Desire, but this is because the Bard, like the Prince, sets himself against the Aspect of his domain, rather than aligning with it. In the Zodiac Cosmology, Rage is considered a form of inhibition, emotions repressed and bile bitten back, and the Bard’s role is to unleash it.

The Bard’s influence lies at the base of the spine and the seat of the brainstem, breaking down the higher, outer shell of the self and releasing whatever pains or pleasures lie within. The Bard sings to the dark recesses of the soul, and the soul answers.

The Bard is, naturally, a god of drama and theater, and stylized depictions of his smiling and frowning faces are mounted above stages large and small, worldwide. The earliest dramas of ancient history were said to be plays of catharsis, whereby the deepest desires of the audience were played out in a safe, controlled manner. This is a subtle influence of the Bard.

The Bard is a patron of addicts of all kinds, soothing pain under clouds of impulsive behaviors and mind-altering substances. He is the last resort of the ruined, the final salve of those with nowhere else to turn. 

The Bard is also associated with virility. This is self-explanatory and does not require elaboration.

Major Holiday(s): 

There are two main holidays associated with the Bard of Rage. Hallowhonk is the more widespread, celebrated throughout the world on the last day of Capricorn. On this holiday, children dress up as what they want to become or as what they wish to defeat (usually symbolically), then accost their adult neighbors for sweet treats. Refusing to give treats or decorate with intricately-carved and lit vegetables is often grounds for mild vandalism. In the upper midwest of North America, and in other Juggalist enclaves, Hallowhonk can even become violent, as children are allowed free rein to steal from and fight each other for treats, masked in anonymity. Rule of law is temporarily paused on these occasions. In some cultures, this same approach is extended to adults on Hallowhonk, though such practices are rare and becoming rarer, especially after the publication of exposé documentaries such as The Purge .

Another holiday is the Festival of Fools, primarily celebrated on the 4th of Capricorn in Ireland and in Irish-American communities. On this day, the “King of Fools” - usually a member of the lowest social class - is elected and crowned with a jester’s cockscomb. The city’s upper echelons (usually a mayor or governor, or the like) act for the day as the King’s servant. The King then makes decrees, and these decrees are, for the duration of the day, as law. This upending of the social order comes alongside much feasting and drinking and games.

Churches and Cults: 

The Congregation of the Dark Carnival - often referred to amongst layfolk as the Clown Church, or Clurch - is the central structure for Bard-focused worship throughout the known universe. Little in the Dark Carnival is standardized, except for the central tenet of radical and complete freedom. In many Carnivals, this shakes out in practice into a rule of “might makes right” that repulses some and attracts others. However, this is not universally the case. In particular, Carnivals that the Bard himself visits frequently become less dictatorial and adhere more closely to the ecstatic and hedonistic atmosphere that the Bard reportedly enjoys. Only the most devout usually stay in these Carnivals for more than a day or two.

Devotees of the Dark Carnival, often loosely defined as those who visit more than once, are called “Juggalos.” Proselytizers for the Dark Carnival, and those who spread its Mirthful word, are given the additional title of “Ninja.”

Earth’s permanent installation of the Dark Carnival proper is located in Detroit, and has, over time, metastasized over much of the city, but there are also smaller, traveling Carnivals that visit different cities for a period of days or weeks, then pack up and move on.

In many countries the Dark Carnival has a political tent called the Insane Clown Party. It is a notable third party in the United States, especially in the state of Michigan, where many members of the ICP have been elected to city- and state-level government, including several governors. On the national level, however, the ICP has not come close to major success since 1992, when Murderbitch Pierrot earned nearly 22% of the popular vote and won the state of Michigan. 

Prayer and Worship: 

When one prays to the Bard, it is traditional to do so in a tent, or at least a pitched blanket. It is commonly reported that one can gain a small favor from Bard with a novel joke, gift, song, or other form of entertainment, but there is little he has not yet seen.

Partaking of mind-altering substances is a sacred act of worshiping the Bard, and protected entheogens exist in most cultures. Faygo-branded drinks, referred to as “wicked elixir” by the Juggalos, are treated as a sacrament with or without psychoactive additions. 

Interestingly, cursing the Bard during prayer is not generally considered an insult to him.

Lore: 

The Bard is well known as one of the most wildly irregular of the gods, leading to the coining of the term “Capricious,” after his star sign. He can be friendly, even familiar, with his congregants, and generous with blessings and gifts. But he is also known to fly into terrible rages and monstrous fits of violence. It is reportedly very difficult to tell what offenses may provoke the Bard’s temper, and which he may simply shrug off. However, many agree that the worst thing one can be, in his eyes, is unfunny.

In the Zodiac cosmology, the Bard is a destroyer and an upsetter of plans, a wild card who may turn on his allies at the drop of a hat, but who also can turn the tide of a battle with a sweep of his arm.

It has not gone unnoticed that the Bard and the Maid are the only two of the gods to paint their faces in all public appearances, but the reasons behind this are unknown. Some stories portray them as friends, allies, or even lovers, but the nature of their relationship is unclear.

Just as many stories link the Bard and the Knight, positing that many of the Bard’s excesses are in fact attempts to tempt the Knight into releasing his bonds, but whether this is done out of an enmity towards the Knight or out of a genuine wish to see the Knight relax is unknown.

Public Relations: 

The Bard is a very public god, and unlike many of the gods, the Bard spends almost all his time on Earth. The reasons why are unknown. He is nearly always to be found at some Dark Carnival event, if not in Detroit itself then in one of the traveling Carnivals. He interacts with his Congregation in regular showings, accepting offerings, giving gifts, and eroding the inhibitions of every soul for miles around.

[mswyrr]

At no point is there a single shred of canon in s1 indicating Cooper sees Lucy as a child (he in fact sees her as his former adult self!) Or that she sees him as a father. None. Nada.

"i want to get back my actual Dad someone kidnapped" =/= "i need a father figure"

Especially since it's explicit in the text that, as much as Lucy loved/loves her Dad, she left for so many reasons - curiosity, dissatisfaction with her Vault's corporate cult she'd repressed so hard she didn't even know how to express it.

She's going through an extreme form of the kind of "realizing my parents are flawed" thing people usually do earlier - but 20s is an okay time to do that. Plenty of people do it then, when they're in college or freshly graduated etc. It's about becoming her own adult - sticking her back in a "child" role is revoking her character arc?

Lucy is *explicitly paralleled* in the text with past!Cooper - a grown ass adult man who was married with a child. She's never paralleled with Janey, a literal child, like Ellie and Sarah are in TLOU.

Unless people are going to say that Past!Cooper's naivete makes him a literal child who needed a parent...? actually i'd say one of the major marriage sins Barb committed was treating her husband like a child because he was naive and didn't want to see unpleasant things. An adult who behaves like that is still an adult. They do not, as a byproduct of that, somehow magically revert to being a literal child.

I don't even think C/L are going to get together in canon - but he's important to her arc, as her dark mirror/shadow/narrative foil. And casting her as a literal child rips her arc to shreds and for what? They're writing her with the same damn subtextually erotic bond a male protagonist would have with his dark mirror. And that allows fun room for fandom to do what it does and play with that fraught dynamic, which is actually great. Let people have fun?

In "golden rule, motherfucker" Lucy is, in fact, the *authoritative* one in their dynamic -- making the decisions and instructing him and challenging his worldview -- so are we going to call her Cooper's mother now?? No? Only adult female characters are perpetual children?

IMO, a heroine getting to have that kind of a fraught dynamic with her narrative foil is more fresh and interesting and feminist than "all 20something women are little girls who need a literal parent."

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Roots of the Problem

Since before the establishment of the Israeli state, Israel has been a racist, colonialist society, premised on the notion that Israelis are fundamentally superior to Palestinians. This is the mainstream of Israeli political thought on both its right and so-called left wings. This is the thinking that motivated the mass dispossession of Palestinians that preceded the formation of the state, the ethnic cleansing of the Nakba in 1948, and various forms of apartheid and military rule ever since. In fact, there has only been one year in the history of Israel—1966—in which it did not impose a regime of military dictatorship over at least some of its Palestinian population.

Since long before the current assault on Gaza, the day-to-day reality of Palestinian existence under Israeli rule has been a continuous, ongoing terror in the midst of violence and uncertainty. Being Palestinian means passing through a checkpoint not knowing if you’ll be pulled out and arrested; it means settler mob violence; it means being thrown in jail under administrative detention, not knowing what for or for how long; it means a military raid in the middle of the night. It is all these things and worse, day after day, across a lifetime, across generations. One of the many things that happened on October 7 was that for a brief time, Israelis, too, as a society, experienced that kind of existential terror, that unsettling uncertainty and lack of security.

The events of October 7 have had such an impact in Israeli society that even today, most Israelis continue to center themselves as the chief victims in the narrative. One effect of this is the Israeli obsession with contextualizing the genocide in Gaza in relation to the violence on October 7. A common complaint about the ICJ decision among Israelis is that the court did not mention October 7 in its decision (in fact, it did mention it). At the same time, this demand for context is intended to suppress the larger context. Many people, including on the so-called left, express outrage when the current situation is put in the context of the Nakba, the 1967 occupation, or the ongoing siege. According to this upside-down logic, providing that context is perceived as genocidal against Israelis.

Israeli racism was prevalent before, but since October 7, undisguised genocidal discourse and open calls for actual genocide have become the norm. Within Israeli society, there is no movement of any real significance against the genocide. The protest movements that do exist are of negligible size and influence, or are concerned mostly with demanding a hostage swap deal, or are focused on internal Israeli issues—remnants of the pro-judiciary movement from before October 7.

The tiny isolated islands of resistance to the assault on Gaza and to the broader aspects of Israeli rule are so small that they should be understood as a rounding error, not a real force. The idea that a movement against colonialism and for Palestinian liberation exists within Israeli society is an illusion. To play a role in carving a path towards a future of real freedom, those who come from within this settler society will have to reject Israeli colonialism root and branch. We must bear in mind that as much as we might wish to be part of the solution, we will inherently remain part of the problem, as well.

In approaching the post-genocide future, we must ask how egalitarian ideas will survive in a reality ravaged by war, death, and destruction. It is not clear how we can envision and create a future that can transcend the trauma of the recent past, especially considering that though ruin and violence might decrease once the assault has stopped, Israeli repression will continue.

Nothing about the post-genocide future is clear yet, including what turns the Palestinian movement for liberation will take. That is for Palestinians alone to decide. What is obvious—and should have been clear long before this—is that those who oppose colonialism must not bask in the privileges that it bestows. The exact details of the path towards liberation are uncertain, but it is undeniable that those who want to help pave it can only play a part in doing so within the Palestinian movement. The responsibility of finding ways to do so, to transgress the boundaries of forced national identity that are in place precisely to prevent that, falls upon those who wish to support Palestinians and break out of the confines of colonialism.

[eretzyisrael]

by Seth Mandel

There’s an iconic photo of the demonstrators marching through Sather Gate in November 1964. Ironically, they could not have done so in recent weeks: The antithesis of the Free Speech Movement, at the center of what is now the antithesis of Berkeley 1964, has had the gate blocked off. Pro-Hamas activists on campus have been blocking the gate and harassing any Jewish students in the vicinity. This comes on the heels of the same group’s violent and highly symbolic night of fascist role playing, in which they forced the cancellation of a Jewish speaker by physically assaulting a Jewish woman, spitting on others, smashing the venue’s window and hurling obscenities that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in The Zone of Interest.

It is appropriate, then, that the jackboot siege of Sather Gate was protested on Monday by a peaceful but determined march of Jews reprising their role as enemies of blood-and-soil racial hierarchies. “At noon,” an ABC affiliate reported that “the Jewish students marched onto Sproul Plaza and instead of passing through Sather Gate and past the banner, they avoided a confrontation by literally fording the creek to get to the other side on a foot path.” The report continues: “The crowd of 200 Jewish supporters ended up in front of California Hall where faculty members offered their support, commenting on the Feb. 26 disturbance that forced Jewish students to move off campus.”

That Feb. 26 incident was the breaking point. Anti-Semitic harassment and threats have been part of life for students there since Oct. 7. Other Jews have been assaulted on campus. A federal civil-rights complaint alleges that two-dozen law-school groups have anti-Jewish policies. Kosher restaurants have been targeted. It’s reached the point where one Jewish Berkeley professor is staging a live-in at his campus office.

Berkeley’s repression of Jewish civil rights won’t be solved by one march, but the change in posture to visible protest is welcome. The students and families tried working with the administration but have been ignored at every turn. A school spokesman even admitted the university would not be taking down the Palestine banner blocking part of campus because, although it clearly violates campus rules, “we assessed that using law-enforcement to clear it would create turmoil.” And God forbid there should be turmoil!