#calling us your oppressors wtf

[king-killaway]

Oh don't you just love transwomen getting perma banned off this site and transmen's voices being silenced every damn day on here

Only for the explosion of extremely bigoted terf rhetoric to be spewed left and right everywhere on this damn platform?

Its so fun isn't it

[casually-slips-into-coma]

the carl gallagher cop storyline in s11 sends me into a fucking rage whenever i think about it and i have to vent

i know its been years but im genuinely still so upset that towards the end shameless tried to take a dumbass middle ground approach to the topic of corruption within police force. they spent the whole season with carl slowly realizing that systemic racism and classism is an essential pillar of the police force and that whenever he tried to help out his community or go after the rich gentrifiers in his neighborhood who seem above the law he is continuously punished to the point of demoting him to parking duty.

and then they end the season with him being like “welp,, it is what it is ig🤷” and keeping his job as a cop.

and what really pisses me off is when he decides he wants to turn the alibi into a cop bar?!? so that the low income and over policed neighborhood that we just spent the season establishing suffers at the hands of the prejudice police force can have an even more suffocating cop presence?!?!? especially since the alibi was an iconic staple of the show and the neighborhood. its a disservice to the past decade of shameless. wtf were the writers smoking,,that shit was so ass.

you cant try to push this “woke” and topical ACAB ideal at the height of the extremely real and important BLM movement to score some good lib points and then turn around and support the oppressor. if youre gonna make a point fucking make it. dont half ass it because youre too chicken shit to call out cops.

AND LEST WE FORGET THE INCREDIBLY TONE DEAF DECISION TO USE AN OPENING SHOT OF A REAL CHICAGO MURAL OF MARTYRED BLACK MAN GEORGE FLOYD WHO WAS MURDERED AT THE HANDS OF A COP TO SET THE TONE OF THIS DUMBASS SEASON THAT DOESNT ACTUALLY FOLLOW THRU ON HOLDING THAT RACIST SYSTEM ACCOUNTABLE

that is so unbelievably disrespectful. fuck the writers and fuck that season

[transmascaraa]

🍉FREE PALESTINE🇵🇸

❗reblog this. or just like it. boost it in any way. boost any post about the situation in Palestine. this is serious.

"from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"

just a random something i made because this week i'm not posting anything except about Palestine(as you should too.)

i don't get how people can still stand with isnotreal.

IT'S LITERALLY G3N0C1DE WTF.

i'm glad my country stands with Palestine tho.

it went through g3n0c1de too like 2 decades ago so it's only fair<3

still i hope this g3n0c1de ends asap and that people stop dying because it's so tragic.

so many of them have lost their homes, parents, siblings, their own LIVES.

yet people still stand with the oppressor.

literally more than 25k of them were killed SINCE 0CT 7TH.

just imagine how many of them have died from 1948(i think) till now.

and yet they still call all the proof "lies".

sick people.

THEY'RE CONSTANTLY GETTING KILLED AND WOUNDED.

OLD PEOPLE, PARENTS, CHILDREN, EVERYONE.

we must save Palestine.

the least you can do is like Palestine posts and post about Palestine.

there's not "bad" or "bad-looking" art in this situation.

or anything.

writing poems and stuff.

what matters is the meaning.

i have so much more to rant about but right now i'm just gonna say that the people NEED us.

imagine yourself in their shoes.

no water, no food, no electricity, your loved ones dying, everyone around you constantly dying, blood everywhere.

educate yourselves.

they NEED us.

[beta-adjacent]

i humbly volunteer to listen to you speak for hours about it *sits listening like that one spiderverse meme*

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO FIRST ASK EVER!!!!!!!!! >:D Strap in, motherfucker, because I don't know when I'm getting this chance again, I'm going to be summarizing a lot, and I'm going to do it within 30 minutes because if I don't, it'll end up in my drafts for literally a week.

Ok so!! I don't actually know how much you know about the franchise, but Zombies (probably known as 'Z-O-M-B-I-E-S' but that's way too tedious to write more than once) is a very basic, "new age", "anti-ism" story that tries to say like, "we all should love each other!" but ends up Actually saying "every racial ideology you've ever held onto is going to be reinforced!" Here are some brief things that show this:

Zombies in general! Much like Zootopia, Zombies argue zombies AKA our minority are genuine threats who eat brains. There is a biological, predatory difference between them. Also, they use Electroshock Therapy as treatment and it Works and No One Questions It Morally Until I Think Movie 3??????

Zed, our main character who is an ostracized zombie, is only given worth when he himself exploits his electroshock treatment so he can be a football star (CLASSIC myth that if you work hard enough, you'll make it, but probably as an entertainer). And then in following movies, he is given an impossible standard as The Representative of All Zombies Ever; he runs for president even when other characters (COUGH COUGH FUCKING ELIZA WTF DISNEY YOU COWARDS) are FAR MORE capable AND persuasive

Eliza, another zombie, representing the "violent, angry revolutionaries" of the ostracized group. She is shut down time and time again because violence or force doesn't work. Which. Ok, I don't like violence either, but you're riding upon the context of fucking racial tension IRL, Disney.

Bonzo. A zombie named Bonzo. I love him bc he's a multi-lingual king but also you called him FUCKING BONZO STOP PLEASE

ADDISON. I hate this character so much as-is in the franchise because she tries again and again and again to "belong" because she has white hair. But???? It literally just looks like regular human hair so????? ALSO WHITE HAIR WAS REALLY IN FOR GEN Z. And she does this to not only the zombies but the wolves and the aliens. MOST IMPORTANTLY she represents white privilege, that oppressor guilt (specifically that kind that still makes it about the oppressor somehow instead of just. Supporting the oppressed). And she is praised EVERY FUCKING TIME for it. There are no consequences for her actions.

Movie 2, Yes I am grouping this entire thing into one cluster even though it deserves an entire Powerpoint and then some. Tl;dr the werewolves who were the original inhabitants of Seabrooke (ok so the indigenous people) want to take their land back (a little on the nose Disney) so the newly acclimated zombies try to teach them to succeed in the environment. Any of the messages in these movies are like... not good (like movie 1 was teach your children to be better but also exploit the minority, movie 2 is we should all share the land AKA you can get your piece back but Only Your One Piece Motherfucker), but the execution of movie 2 is particularly bad because I ARGUE! The zombies have the duality of Asian Americans with the model minority versus yellow threat. They are still absolutely feared but they have "proven" themselves so they are the "ideal" minority to look up to, but also Because of their proven worth, the oppressors feel threatened. But also, movie 2 has the best music in that 1) they have the meme wolf songs and 2) . ALSO ADDISON HAS VERY UGLY WIGS IN THIS MOVIE

Movie 3, I barely remember, which is ironic bc I watched it the most recently! Very forgettable; I think it took a more action-y approach bc it knew it fucked up. It had its first nonbinary actor so... that's cool? We learn that Addison's grandma loved Addison (her grandaughter) more than her own daughter which.... fucking What. Justice for Addison's mom hello?? OH AND THE ALPHA WEREWOLF WILLA AND ASPEN THE ENBY ALIEN ARE IN LOVE THAT'S CANON. Anyways hopefully you get the idea that this movie was made to respond to the backlash of the first 2 movies and make it "actually diverse" with a "wholesome simple" message

Now listen. I have 5 minutes left. And with this last five minutes (really 3 because I'm writing the tags/editing in the last 2) I'm going to entrust you with the most valuable bullshit hc I've ever created SPECIFICALLY for my ideal write of the franchize.....

Addison has autism.

STOP I KNOW LISTEN!! IF SHE *WANTS* TO BE FUCKING DIFFERENT THEN WE SHOULDN"T RELY ON THIS FUCKING ALIEN SHIT. OR WE JUST MAKE THE ALIEN SHIT BETTER THAN WHITE HAIR. I KNOW THE IMPLICATION OF HER BEING AN ALIEN AND BEING AUTISTIC IS BAD BUT I LOVE THE IDEA THAT THE ALIENS ARE NEUROTYPICAL TOO AND SHE HAS JUST HAD TO MASK ALL HER LIFE. Addison SHOULD learn that doing everything her parents want is not fucking ideal and getting a boyfriend should not be the extent of those attempts!!! And she Needs to understand that being the white fucking savior for all these monsters gains her no fucking sympathy. Also, if she was autistic-coded in the original Disney franchize because of the alien shit, Disney would so not be afraid to do it; they'd say autistics are akin to otherwordly creatures negatively (THEY SHOULDN"T BUT YOU KNOW THEY FUCKING WOULD WITH THIS TRACK RECORD)

[m3l4nch0ly-h1ll]

Sorry to drag out drama that's probably old as hell, but I was looking through the trans tag, and I just can't believe that person acted like such a dick towards you!

"You're being too sensitive; you're 15, don't you have homework to do??" <<< Homie, wtf? Given how this person seemed to speak as though they were older than you, why weren't they acting like it?

Just because you're younger than someone doesn't mean you can't offer knowledge and a new perspective! Like, you tried your best to be as level-headed as possible and this schmuck comes up, acting as sensitive as they claimed YOU were lol!

Also vent or not, it's completely understandable to critique someone for spouting off shit that's clearly wrong. Transmascs/Trans men DO struggle. They DO struggle with gender based standards. They DO struggle with the effects of an E-based puberty, especially if they're older. They DO struggle with how their voice, mannerisms, clothing, height, and body type are perceived by others. A binder alone WILL NOT grant safety for many people and getting carded IS NOT the only issue here!

This is super long and ranty but my god, we need to stay in each other's corners here! The world already gives every LGBT+ person some form of hell, why should we in the community do the same to each other? :(

They're like 7 years older than be. It isn't worth it getting upset over them as that would tick them off more and make them try convincing themselves they're any better. They claimed I was arguing with people who disagreed when they were the only person seen disagreeing with me and initiated argument. I don't attack people for venting, I call out wrongful and harmful information they spread to gain pity. Them and someone else got upset over me putting transfem tags. I didn't put transfem tags to cause conflict and upset people and argue. It's not to upset transfems. It's to call out toxic trans people harming their own community and tag appropriately with who's part of the topic- which is transmascs AND transfems. Any non-toxic transfem would agree with me that the person I posted about is being harmful. I'd do the same post over a toxic transmasc. I'm not looking for arguments but I already know people will bring arguments, especially with the way my post is getting attention. I'm still glad to make the post anyway and get out and express the words needed to be said. Our oppressors want us to pit against each other and toxic trans people are doing just that.

[f0xd13-blog]

The mafias are there right?studied ... shared online... jews are there representing basketball althought theyaree goats at the samw timebut theyaplaude our killers and oppressors because yah both sides of thenarrative is controlledby them right... the "goats" and the disney is still there tho don forgt that they can remember how to use.. look how your auudrey and marilyns live to this day why you calling us italian mafia, latino because of spaniards, being gypsy goats from esmeralda and don even WTF HAT MEANS ETC

[mossadspypigeon]

oh honey. i genuinely feel so bad for you. i hope some day you'll move beyond your fear and pathological need to be liked and follow a trend so jew haters won't hurt you and actually learn wtf zionism even is in the first place.

it's sad that you think the people who want us eradicated and say (both vocally and in writing) the eradication of JEWS is their main goal are going to pick you. hamas isn't going to choose you because you call the one jewish state, our indigenous land, the "zionist entity," and think it should be abolished.

spoiler alert: they never do. the germans didn't pick us. the spanish didn't. the arabs didn't when we lived as third class citizens under them. no one did.

maybe consider this instead: israel and judea never should have been colonized by oppressive forces. a chunk of our population (not all of us btw, many of us stayed in israel and judea and also made aliyah back to our land over the centuries) should never have been FORCIBLY DISPLACED IN CHAINS AND DISPERSED.

please, learn your history. read about your people. maybe look up what ussr antizionism and antisemitism are and learn that they are the same thing. the antizionism you have been brainwashed by is a ussr and arab oppressor invention.

"as a jew" jews are tragic.

"I don't think any state should exist"

*proceeds to exclusively target one specific state*

Yeah, I don't believe "Anarchism" is your primary position.

[rexeipts]

Monday Morning Rewatch Thoughts

This episode was disappointing. I think the last episode would have served as a better mid-season finale personally. Thoughts below:

Annie

- The plot of, “I wasn’t Ben,” and Annie being motivated to keep Ben in his current school for that reason is amazing. That is the kind of plot I want, and care about, for Annie. I love that they have included Ben’s transition into the story line in a way that it isn’t the main focus and that Ben has other pieces of characterization and other challenges/points of conflict than just his transition, but that they haven’t shied away from it when it makes sense.

- The financial aid lady is a down.ass.bitch. for telling Annie to just go find some guy she’s slept with the put down on the paperwork. I’m sorry, but that was great of her to be like listen here’s a loophole so you can help your kid and I will not ask questions. 

- I did not like the Kevin (name?) storyline at first because it just didn’t make sense? And I did not like his characterization at the auction of being the “trashy homeless guy” who eats way too much food and steals dogs. I felt like he had more to him when he told Annie that he doesn’t want to be a favor to her. I think she has more chemistry with him than any other guy we have seen her with (including Greg, sue me) and I’m actually looking forward to a possible storyline of her and him falling in love via being awkward roommates. I am hoping it has a current of don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and that Kevin is someone who is a good person and has an interesting story that brings Annie to some sort of realization about herself.

Ruby/Stan

- I HATED... yes... HATED Beth in the scene where Stan was going over the game plan. She was so damn condescending. Stan was biting his tongue and being as polite as he could be, but she was fucking rude. Point blank. Rude. 

- Because of that, I loved the scene where he called Beth out. And he is fucking right. And you know what? He even threw her a bone that she was ignored in her home for so many years. Which is fucking true, and made the conversation SO much more nuanced than just Stan calling her out. It made it sooo much more complex that he mentions her motivations. He has known this woman like a family member to his own family for decades. It makes sense he would see and understand the nuances of why she is doing what she’s doing. I hope it is foreshadowing for something more to come. 

- Sarah and Ruby have the best chemistry of any parent/child relationship in my opinion. I love watching them on screen even for just a few moments. 

- Ruby’s, “I did it for me,” at the end was remniscient of Beth telling Dean, “I wanted to,”. Yes, thank you. Ruby is not a yes man. She did this shit for her family, for her kids, for herself. As much as I think Beth might try to be in charge and often is, it was a good reminder that Ruby is still in there and still has a backbone. She has called Beth out with stealing the Tesla, with the sex tape, etc. before and I want that energy back.

- Annie and Ruby having a sweet moment together on the bench was great, I love them together. They’re so fun but also so so sweet.

Beth/Dean

- She’s with fricken Dean again this week.

- Beth’s eyebrows and wig are fucking terrible. Someone CHILL with the eyebrow filler.

- Was Rio just watching Dean and Beth? Like hanging out waiting? He was like RIGHT THERE when Dean got up. Was he behind a tree watching Dean with his arm around Beth just boiling? 

- Dean being pitied by the guy he was trying to sell product to was great. He has been knocked down so many pegs. But also, it was a waste of fucking screen time.

- Not so easy to get out from under someone’s thumb, huh Deansie? How’s it feel to be a dumb ass yet again? A year’s supply of skin care? Guessing Beth is gonna have to bail him out which is again a waste of screen time and something no one gives a shit about seeing.

-  The fact that Dean thinks he was good at selling cars is just... sad.

- Beth being a “bad bitch” and selling purses to the husbands who went to see strippers is completely undermined by her being a doormat for Dean who is a sexist, condescending pig who cheated, lied about cancer, and has not shown a single ounce of respect for her as a woman outside of her ability to raise children and make cookies.

- I do not want to see a storyline of Beth trying to get money to leave and go to Nevada or wherever. I know the show runners have said Beth will realize she can’t escape Rio if they’re in the same town, so that is what this storyline is going to be. Her trying to escape Rio yet again. This has been drawn out long enough now. This episode was so confusing and weird. Like her and Rio got the trust of the SS just so the agents could leave? Their relationship advancement, her making this choice of him or SS, etc. was for... what? The drama of the last episode was because of... what exactly? What was the entire point of the SS storyline if it literally put us no where? I’m asking sincerely if anyone has thoughts.

- I don’t want to see Beth and Dean anymore. I am fucking exhausted of seeing Beth and Dean. I am over it. I spent almost this entire episode on my phone because I was bored. The Beth being sweet to Dean storyline is so so so far past where it made any logical sense to the plot. There has been no advancement or progress. She’s supposed to be in a love triangle? We have seven episodes left and there has been absolutely zero progress in her and Dean’s situation. I will be looking for some fucking conflict in this next episode with Dean seeing Rio otherwise I have little to no hope for the Brio ship going forward.

Rio/Nick

-  Rio is the spider that Dave talked about right? That he couldn’t get and so he never went back in the bed?

- Nick is a pathetic pussy, and so is his bodyguard. Mick is the only ‘muscle’ I want on my screen. Thanks.

- The bullet wounds not being there is unacceptable. Not just because it completely minimizes the fact that this man was shot in the chest three times and left to die, but also just from a plot standpoint. Like this was the entire storyline of season 3. Wtf. I understand Dean’s not being there, because that was treated as a minimal storyline. But Beth shooting Rio was the entire basis of season 3′s conflict. It’s bizarre and completely unacceptable.

- I posted a little while back about stereotypes, guessing that Nick was going to push Rio and Beth together by stereotyping them both and not seeing the deeper connection between them. Tooting my own horn because this is exactly what Nick did. Beth is the soccer mom, Rio the “gangster”.

- Nick and Dean are the same force for Rio and Beth, respectively. They’re both oppressors. They both don’t get it, the draw between the two. Beth and Rio both try to minimize their relationship, admitting only to sex and nothing more, to their oppressors. Beth used to want to get out from Dean’s grasp and Rio currently does with Nick. Both Dean and Nick have put this other person in a box, minimized them to nothing more than a stereotype, taken away their choices, taken away their power and control. How Beth does not realize Dean is her oppressor and not Rio is fucking beyond me.

- Nick doesn't have kids, so who was the kid referring to Rio as his uncle? The female cousin’s child? Let’s see more of her and less of Dean please.

- Rio literally couldn’t cope the second Nick brought up Beth. He walked away like a love-struck teenage idiot not wanting to admit that he made a bad decision over a girl. I’m curious about this. I hope we find out more of why Rio did it. Did he do it just to scare Beth into submission because he knew he couldn’t hurt her? Or was there a layer of thinking Lucy was a threat to Beth? Because Lucy was pissed at Beth. Or a layer of trying to feign still having power in front of his boys but not being able to hurt Beth? 

- Rio’s voice is so raspy at the end, he’s so tired and beaten down, literally and figuratively. And I cannot catch the meaning behind “sometimes it’s worth it”, to be yourself? He sounded so... just sad and down when he said it. It sounded so vulnerable. 

- It is not, I repeat, not a storyline they should go down of thinking it is cool/fun/sexy/empowering/feminist for this “gangbanger” to be in love with the housewife and for her to not reciprocate and then torment him. It’s not. 

Promo/Going Forward:

- I think we have seen confirmation that Rio will lie/keep things from Nick. I think Rio gave Beth the plates, and they will be working together going forward. I hope.

- Rio chilling in the backroom of PP with Beth, so chill, so nonchalant, put me in the ground.

- In the below shot, you can see Rio still sitting there with his hand on his chin as Beth talks to Dean. This scene better be LOADED. Go ahead and mention them banging, Dean. That will be fun. But also I want to see Beth try to talk her way out of it. Go ahead and try to tell Dean you didn’t have a choice Elizabeth. Go ahead and try to minimize what this is when Rio is sitting there listening. That will be golden conflict. I want to see Rio realize the dynamic between Beth and Dean, see him see how submissive and pathetic she is when Dean is around, see how Dean belittles her, and then use that against her to pull her out of her shell. I want to see Beth try to minimize her relationship with Rio, see him call her out on that too. Idk. This scene has been four seasons coming so it better not be a disappointment.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Fandom racism anon here and yeah absolutely (I didn't realise I had anon on lol)

Because while LOTR has problems within its themes (ie the orcs can be seen as to be coded as people of colour, especially since they ride elephants) the explicit message of the book is evil bad

Because the only people who work for sauron are evil. There are no morally grey people, they aren't misguided or tricked they just are evil and want to take over the world

And yeah I totally agree that this is more of a literal take on like empirical war (is that the word) and that makes total sense considering Tolkiens history

Whereas I would say that the allegories in shaowhunters is way more based on racial conflict within a country itself especially slavery, I can't remember if this is show Canon but is it that they have the warlock tropheys? I remember that in the books magnus talks about shadowhunters hanging warlock marks on their walls? (sorry to bring the books up)

Idk it's very hollow to me, unlike with LOTR though it's a different allegory it's totally irritating to show many of these supremecists as morally misled. LOTR says bad guys are bad guys, shadowhunters says well yeah they did follow a guy which thinks that downworlders are subhuman and should be eradicated but they just made a mistake

I want to compare this to tfatws which while it isn't really fantasy I just feel like it shows how the priorities of the writer can impact the message of the show so powerfully (I know u aren't up to date so I'm gonna be pretty vague)

There's a scene in tfatws where the new white perfect captain America does something bad and doesn't pay for the consequences - done to comment on white privelege and how America condones white supremacy and how Sam is in comparison to that

Mayrse and Robert revealed to be part of the circle! And paid no consequences Shock horror my parents were the bad guys (even rho they were either implicitly or explicitly extremely racist the entire time) also I haven't finished the seires but do the lightwoods ever try to get their parents to face the consequences?)

Only one actual really critiques the situation and the reality behind it whereas the other one is just to centre the white characters once again and present them in a further sympathetic light

AND ANOTHER THING! I was mostly talking about show Canon here and I'm sorry to bring up the books but I literally can't believe I hadn't picked up in this before.

So like downworlders = people of colour, Simon is a vampire so is coded as a person of colour. However in the books in the last one he stops being a vampire and becomes a shadowhunters instead, coincidentally that's also when he starts dating Izzy HOW IS THIS ABLE TO HAPPEN!!????

I mean I know cassandra clare is lazy right? The original seires is by far the worst of all her writings but come ON!!!!! By the allegory has he become the white man!????? These books made no fuckin sense when I read them at 15 and they make no sense now I'm digressing anyways

I don't know man I wrote this ask because I was trying to find some fantasy book recommendations on booktube and SO MANY of them were about slavery or general ly extrême préjudice with à White protagonist to save this 'poor souls'.

Also I was watching guardians of the galexy the other day and realised nearly every movie set in space is just bigger stakes imperialism - planets instead of countries. Literally star wars, star trek, guardians of the galexy 2, avengers infinity war - all are facing genocidal imperialistic villains without actually paying much, if any attention to those effected

Just writing this ask made me exhausted I'm so tired of lazy writing and exploiting other people's struggle. I'm white and I'm trying to be more critical about the movies, shows and books I watch and read but let me know if I said something off here❤️❤️ you gotta get up to date with tfatws man, Sambucky nation is THRIVING!!!!

i'm not sure i agree that the whole "the evil people are evil" thing is a good thing, because i feel like more often than not making the bad characters just like... unidimensionally evil just means that the reader will be like "lol i could NEVER be that guy" and when it comes to racism that is a dangerous road to take because white people already believe that racism is something that Only The Most Evil People, Ergo, Not Me, Can Do, which makes discussions of stuff like subconscious racial bias and active antiracist work become more difficult because people don't believe they CAN be racist unless they're like, Lord Voldemort

which is not to say that racism should be treated as morally ambiguous, just that the workings of racism should be represented as something that is not done only by the Most Hardcore And Evil, but rather as a part of a system of oppression that affects the way everyone sees the world and interacts with it and lives in it

yes the warlock trophies are mentioned in the show, albeit very quickly (there is a circle member who tells magnus that his cat eyes will make "a nice addition to his collection" and then it's never mentioned again because this is sh and we love using racism for shock value but then not actually treating it as a serious plot point or something that affects oppressed ppl). and you are absolutely right, shadowhunters (and hp, and most fantasy books) has genocide as its core conflict and treats it, like you said, in a very hollow way, treating racism as both not a big deal and not something that is part of a system of oppression, but really the actions of a few Very Bad People. it's almost impressive how they manage to do both at the same time tbh

i think you hit the nail right on the head with this comment, actually. for most of these works, racism is SHOCK VALUE. it's just like "lol isn't it bad that this bad guy wants to kill a gazillion people just because they are muggles? now that is fucked up" but it's not actually an issue. in fact, when this guy is defeated, the whole problem is over! racism is not something that is embedded into that world, it's not a systemic issue, it's not even actually part of what drives the plot. the things that led to this person not only existing but rising to power and gathering enough followers to be a real threat to the whole world are never mentioned. it's like racists are born out of thin air, which is dangerously close to implying that racism is just a natural part of life, tbh

anyway my point is, it is never supposed to be questioned, it is never part of a deeper plot or story, its implications are barely addressed except for a few fleeting comments them and there; so, it's not a critique, it's shock value, even though it is frequently disguised as a critique (which is always empty and shallow anyway. like what is the REAL critique in works like hp or sh/tsc other than "genocide is bad"? wow such a groundbreaking take evelyn)

about simon and the book thing: i actually knew about this and the weird thing about this is that, like... simon is jewish, and he's implied to be ashkenazi (calls his grandma bubbe which is yiddish, which is a language spoken by the ashkenazi ppl), and it seems like cc is always toeing the line between him being accepted by shadowhunters and then not accepted by them, which sounds a lot like antisemitic tropes and history of swinging between (ashkenazi) jewish ppl being seen as the model minority myth and thus used as an example by white christians, and being hated and persecuted. i'm not super qualified to talk about this since i'm not jewish and i'm still learning about/unlearning antisemitism and its tropes, and i don't really have a fully formed thought on that, tbh; it just reminds me of the whole "model minority" swinging, where one second simon is part of the majority, the other he's not, but always he is supposed to give up a part of himself and his identity in other to be "assimilated" by shadowhunter culture. this article (link) covers a book on jewish people and assimilationism into USan culture, this article (link) covers british jews' relationship with being considered an ethnic group, and this article (link) talks a bit about the model minority myth from the perspective of an asian jewish woman

it just really calls to my attention that cc chose to make her ashkenazi jewish character start off as a downworlder and then become a shadowhunter. i don't think she made that decision as a conscious nod to this history, because it would require being informed on antisemitism lol but it's incredible how you can always see bigoted stereotypes shining through her narrative choices completely by accident. it just really shows how ingrained it is in our collective minds and culture

and anyway, making a character go from the oppressed group to just suddenly become the oppressor is just. wtf. not how oppression works, but most of all, really disrespectful, especially because she clearly treats it as an "upgrade"/"glowup" that earns him the Love Of His Life

also, out of curiosity, are you french? it seems like your autocorrect changed a few words and i'm pretty sure extrême and préjudice are the french versions of these words, and since u said ur white, that's where my money would be lol

[lesbianazuna]

Considering the Mixed thoughts on the 2nd Half BMA, how would you have written it?

im gonna put this under a read more bc i have a lot of thoughts on this and ive never talked abt them before so i have a lot to say.

tbh the problem i have with the 2nd half of bna is that it doesn’t really do any of the things the 1st half set up for it to do? idk, like, i know a lot of people say it feels rushed, but i think it only feels rushed because (rather than complete the plot points they established in eps 1-6) the 2nd half of the show introduces an entirely different unrelated plot that really needed an entire season rather than half of one.

(bc there’s been no announcement for s2 and we have no reason to believe there’ll be one, im critiquing this as though the show’s over btw. also i’ll be calling the 1st half of the season “pt.1″ and the 2nd “pt.2″ from here on, just bc it’s easier).

one of the worst parts about pt.2 is definitely the entire alan situation. the big reveal that he’s a beastman was awful: most of pt.1 had been about how beastmen were being oppressed by humans and pt.2 completely dropping that plot line then going on to make the main oppressor in the show a member of the minority he was oppressing was... not a great look. it’s complicated, because there definitely is something to be said about “pick me” minorities, who would rather fit in with their oppressors than stand up for the people in their own community, but bna wasn’t trying to do that. even if they were trying to do that, because alan is the only villain (except maybe boris?), it creates a narrative that minorities are responsible for their own oppression. which is obviously not correct and could have been avoided if a) alan was a human or b) there were other human villains (and if they went down that route, i’d probably do it where alan is working with/for the humans and think’s because of that he’ll be safe, but they end of betraying him and treating him like they do the other beastmen when they don’t need him anymore). 

and it wasn’t even good storytelling, the reveal came out of nowhere, there was no buildup or foreshadowing or anything (there’s a difference between an unexpected plot twist and something that just doesn’t make sense) and it ruined all the “humans vs beastmen” conflict that pt.1 had set up without solving it or even acknowledging it at all. also, i didn’t think this had to be said, but introducing blood purity in the last 5 minutes of your show as a “funky little plot twist” is the worst thing ever??? wtf?????

also this post talks abt alan being in a giant robotic wolf for his fight with shirou which i think is a really cool idea.

honestly, the main plot point that gets dropped after pt.1 is the “human vs beastmen” thing (which is especially weird considering it’s like the whole focus of the first 4 or 5 episodes??? like. the entire show happens because of it? michiru goes to anima city bc of it, michiru meets shirou because of it, she befriends nina because of it, nazuna and the church of the silver wolf go to anima city because of it. like.. for all of pt.1, the entire plot revolves around the oppression of beastmen by humans then in pt.2 it’s only mentioned like once??). the only time it’s mentioned in pt.2 is when mayor rose gets trapped by the humans (and even that is brushed off as nothing). 

i think there should’ve been more time spent with humans: in ep1 they’re literally trying to kill michiru, in ep4 they lock nina in a fish tank and almost drown her, in ep1 they show clips of anti-beastmen riots and even the fact that anima city exists? obviously it’s supposed to be a safe place for beastmen but a) just separating humans and beastmen isn’t going to solve the problem and b) 😐 u know the humans’ probably only agreed to that so they wouldn’t have to interact with beastmen anymore. we’re shown beastmen being murdered and abused by humans on multiple occasions and the only “solution” we’re given in the end is nazuna becoming an idol and? ending violence against minorities by singing songs? (not even political songs). it just feels really disjointed that pt.1 is all about racism then in pt.2 it’s completely forgotten about for the sake of nirvasyl syndrome.

to be honest, i’d like to get rid of nirvasyl syndrome all together but it’s pretty important to most of pt.2, so i’d probably just change the way it’s executed. rather than give the minority characters a gene that turns them into bloodthirsty killing machines, i’d have sylvasta pharmaceuticals be involved with it. maybe when beastmen go to their hospital (considering it’s the biggest one in anime city, it’s safe to assume most if not all beastmen have been to it at least once), they’re given an injection that gives them nirvasyl syndrome (the capability to have it - they’d still have to get really angry or upset for it to kick in like in canon). or maybe the human government are involved with it somehow? idrk

tbh, i’d leave everything up until episode 9 the same, then i’d change nirvasyl syndrome to be a disease beastmen were unknowingly given by sylvasta pharmaceuticals (so everything with nazuna’s concert and shirou’s howl could still happen) and i’d make alan a human and give him a giant robot for his fight with shirou.

i’d also continue the humans mistreating beastmen plotline past episode 6 (human alan/sylvasta being responsible for nirvasyl obviously ties into that). becuase it’s only 12 episodes it would probably have to end in a “things are just starting to get better but we have hope for the future” type thing - maybe with getting rid of anima city?

i’d change it so anima city is marketed as a euptopia for beastmen to convince them to go, but once they get there they realise it isn’t as great as they thought (which is kinda canon already). although they’re safe from humans, they can’t leave and they’re not even completely safe (like in ep1 when those beastmen working for humans destroy the festival) (and the way they can’t even use phones to contact the rest of the world? u wouldn’t have to do much to make it feel like a prison).

near the end of the show, the human government starts betraying mayor rose and, even before that, it hasn’t been helping anima city out (sylvasta gives the city enough money to run), so i’d end the show with the beastmen breaking out of anima city to confront the humans and demand they be allowed back into the rest of society (which even adds the opportunity for a second season).

after sylvasta gave the beastmen nirvasyl, mayor rose realised that if they aren’t even safe in anima city, there’s no point being trapped in there (i’d probably add an episode or have the nirvasyl incident happen a little earlier/end faster tho, so there’s time for them leaving anima city to not be rushed)

[conservativetradlife]

I saw your less white post about coca cola and thought, wouldn't being 'less white' be cultural appropriation or something bad like that? Like wtf are they thinking? Smh.

I’ve decided to go in depth with my thoughts on this, but its a bit of a book. If you want to read the details you’ll find them under the cut, but I thought I’d give my two cents at the chance that someone might agree or see where the problems lie with this situation as a whole. That being said, I presume I’ll end up having people attack me about this post, so know I’m just a random person on the internet with opinions which might vary from your own. Please be respectful.

If the logic here is ‘if you’re not as white, you’re something else’ then I can agree with that to some degree, but I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘cultural appropriation.’ 

Cultural Appropriation is defined by Wikipedia (so take this with a grain of salt) as adopting elements or identities of a culture which is not your own. (As cited from the page) This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures. In the case of what Coca Cola is requesting, this would be “White People”, taking on manners or elements of an identity which is not their own by shedding their identity (as ‘white) and adjusting it to whatever is requested of them (acting not white) 

The problem therein lies when what is asked of someone is not the way they act naturally (or as expected) simply due to their racial identity. This would be similar to lumping together a majority of people, over the actions or behaviors of a minority of that particular race (to generalize this is stereotyping.)

To say ‘Every white person is racist and thusly they need to stop being racist by doing ‘A B & C’’ (in this case, Coca Cola hosted an online training program for their employees, which included slides that say “Understand what it means to be white” along with a list of personal traits to adopt which explain how to be less white.) This in itself is stereotyping a particular race of people by actions which can’t be justifiably lumped together as a guarantee of the thoughts and opinions of all people who fall under the term ‘Caucasian’/’White’. To do so with other races would result in a backlash being labelled as racist to that particular race. 

This list that was provided in the slide (unless my link is removed because said tweet is deleted in the interim) include things like ‘be less oppressive’ ‘be less arrogant’ ‘be less ignorant’ ‘break with apathy’ ‘break with white solidarity’. 

What I have found that most Caucasian people I have met feel as though they cannot defend themselves or their values without being labelled as racist or objective to change in themselves. The idea that ‘White People’ are racist has become what a majority of people (including other Caucasian folks) believe. To object to changing oneself to match what people believe to be coincided with White Behavior, is to offer allowance to racism and bigotry toward POC.

The behavior changes which were cited in the slide are generalizing to what they (being those who created the slideshow in the first place) believe all Caucasian people to be. The Coca Cola company is saying, that White People are oppressive, we are arrogant, we are defensive, we are ignorant. These are things they (the Coca Cola company) believe should be changed about their White employees and say these are things that all their White Employees have in common and thusly they should be made to acknowledge and change.

If the shoe was on the other foot (if for example, they used Native American folks or other People of Color) and there were demands in place that their generalized behaviour was offensive enough to warrant a slideshow to expect change to act ‘Less ___’ any whistleblowers who chose to react to said behavior would demand that the company be ‘cancelled’ and all product cease purchase in solidarity to those who were wronged by said offensive/abusive content.

People have just begun to accept that White Guilt is an acceptable way to live. That those who have been wronged in the past, those who have been discriminated in the past have the right to repeat the behavior now to all of those who share similar traits to their historical oppressors. I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist. I am saying that most people I know aren’t racist. 

As a conservative I can say all of the people I have met have been uniquely opinionated and racism in general isn’t tolerated amongst a great deal of us. This includes racism towards white people as well. I personally believe that most people are guilty until proven innocent. I never assume that someone is racist before meeting them, but allow their actions to speak for them. This might sound preachy, but I generally expect similar treatment in return. When someone calls me racist as a call to win an argument (example, having a conversation with a customer while I was working in which an item could not be returned and was referred to as racist when I told the customer I could not help them with a return as I wasn’t in the returns area of the store, but rather, front end.)

I am defensive because I am not a racist person, and calling someone something doesn’t make it true. I’m not racist for denying the customers return. It wasn’t an issue about race, it was an issue about my checkout counter not allowing me to make returns in the Front End. When everything becomes a race issue, the world proves its general intolerance to one another.

I don’t need to change myself as I don’t view myself as a racist nor do I feel prejudice towards people who have different skin tones, ethnicities or cultures than my own. I am not threatened by other races. I am not hateful towards people of different races, cultures or ethnicities to myself because that isn’t the kind of person I am. Coca-Cola chose to generalize people and attempt to rob them of their own right to their autonomy simply because of a generalized coloring of their skin. There is no other race which would tolerate such a display of blatant racism, nor be as well received by apologists than White people. 

We can’t be anything but who we are. Until someone shows their inner thoughts about race issues, which can be honestly deemed as racist (general intolerance, name calling, denial of rights and freedoms or belief that ones race determines ones superiority over another) then one should be presumed to be not racist. 

That’s just my two cents on the matter.

[blackcatanna]

OKITA PART 4 BECAUSE I RAN OUT OF SPACE ON THE LAST POST X_X

In which my tired brain doesn’t know whether to be happy, cry or scream :) :) :)

"You are asking me to continue living my life in shame and fear, in desolate oppression?" Didn't you already murder your oppressors, Kaoru? But you're holding on to every evil that's been done to you and it's fuelling your misery. Until you let it go, you will never be free. Even if you kill every human on the planet.

AAAAH! I LOVE THAT CHIZURU'S RESPONSE IS THAT HE NEEDS A GIRL/BOYFRIEND XD XD XD

"Kaoru, of course, continued his tirade." XD Of course.

"Kaoru, do you want to create more orphans like us...?" RIGHT?!? WTF KAORU!?

Kodo seems somewhat less crazy than usual... Maybe he hasn't drunk the serum yet...

I feel like Okita's the person who could maybe reason with Kaoru, since he also had a similarly rough childhood.

Okita looks EXTREMELY anime, with his white hair and red eyes, in his attack stance right now...

WHAT THE JESUS FUCK IS KAORU'S FACE RIGHT NOW?!!!!! O_e

"Bring it on, fucker." :') Okita is pretty great sometimes, ngl X_X

Oooooh! Sparkly glitter slices :D

Oooh! O: Sparkly glitter slices be painful >_<

:O Don't you dare murder Okita, you creepy gremlin child!

WHAAAAT!!! KODO USED HIMSELF AS A HUMAN SHIELD TO DEFEND ME!?!!? That's.... Different D':

Kodo, y u can't be like this in other routes? :'(

WE COULD HAVE HAD IT AAAAAAAA-AAA-AAALLL

I thought that Okita's bloody fist was Kaoru's skewered heart for a second there...

Welp... He dead. Damn.

"This regret would come to haunt me, I imagined," Yeeeeeaah... :'(

KODO! He's still alive O:

"Forgive me, for you are so near... And yet, I cannot see your face..." :'(

"There was a bond between us that was unbreakable" Cleeeeearly, you haven't played the other routes X_X

"I started bawling madly" D'X

Final Chapter:

Happy peaceful times :)

(Uh, Okita's still dying of TB) YES, I KNOW. >:( LET'S NOT DWELL ON THAT, OKAY!?!?

"All that changed is our aptitude for naps" I'm glad that these creatures have their priorities straight >:)

"My love for you shines more than the sunlight tickling those little cheeks of yours." XD OMG Please stop immediately XD

"You love me too, right?" Hmmmm.... Nah! ;P

"He craved my validation" No need to call him out like this X_X

"His words were like honey --soft and gooey" Too right X_X

"Even if one day they tear me away from you, my heart belongs to you, eternally." O': D'X Ah, how does this fricking game take me from cringing to crying in one sentence?!

"If he were to wake up," WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "IF"!?!!?? HE'S OKAY, RIGHT!?!? RIGHT!?!!?? O_O

"Sleep well, my love." UH... SLEEP, YES! O_O

He is just asleep, right X_X

This route was so entirely unconcerned with the fate of the rest of the Shinsengumi and I resent that a bit. Aren't they the closest thing to family that Okita and Chizuru have at this point?! Does Okita not care about any of his former comrades at all?!

[withallthingslove]

the handmaid’s tale s3ep4 thoughts

spoilers under the cut

it’s always really interesting to see the vastness of gilead... all the different factions of marthas, handmaids, and commanders and wives

im curious about june’s new shopping partner... she does seem super pious but acting choice wise there is definitely something underneath. and I know they wouldnt be putting a focus on that if she wasnt important

aunt lydia’s dynamic with janine is just so.... weird yet cool. she’s SO cruel but at the same time she has a very motherly bond with janine, and janine has total stockholm syndrome with her. i remember reading an interview that aunt lydia favors janine because she regrets being so harsh at the beginning and taking out her eye

idk if anyone watches superstore but watching fred during the baptism reminded me of jeff pretending to have friends at the managers conference. he’s not only been demoted but he’s also lost his place in the friend group of commanders

june’s line about not hating fred... im pretty sure its from the book. but i totally think that what she narrates is represented in this episode. she doesn’t hate fred, but she doesn’t love him either. but there is such a familiarity with him and a comfort, and at times they have protected each other so there is an almost loyalty between them

and we’re back to the waterford dynamic.... honestly i didnt hate it but i didnt love it either. I’m still not sure how I feel about commander lawrence and i just overall don’t really like the vibe of his house so it was nice to be in the putnam’s house instead

but no nick (sigh)... i know we’re gonna have limited nick this season which sucks

but on the bright side.... luke is FINALLY getting a worthwhile story line. 

it’s interesting how much naomi’s character has softened... she’s gone from being one of the coldest characters to being an actual caring “mother” and then kind to janine and june

is june just allowed to like not follow orders now? wouldnt it be noticed she hung back to talk to serena... this plot armor is strong... and annoying

ughhhhhhh serena.... idk if anyone else feels the same but I think the writing for the serena/june dynamic has gone so down hill. their relationship as fucked up as it was used to be so complex and now it is so dull to me. I will never feel bad for serena and I HATE that serena is getting to mourn holly (yes I’m back to calling her holly because fuck serena’s name) more than june. Why does serena get to mope around depressed and keep bringing her up as if june didn’t make the same goddamn sacrifice. Obviously june is happy holly is safe, and we get to see her satisfaction at that but we also dont get to see her miss holly at all. But we see serena miss holly. ugh

basically they’re acting like hannah is june’s only child and holly is serena’s and i dont like it

fred still acting as if he has any sort of power.... okay fred

but again his scene with june in the kitchen... I think the waterfords and june almost definitely have a codependency on each other. you can almost feel their relief when they see each other. the waterfords are treating june almost like a child in the middle of a divorce between them, and they are both using her as a confidant which makes me lol because they are so fucking lonely and messed up they essentially treat their old handmaid like a friend. and june is so comfortable with them because she knows exactly how to “play” them

that scene with serena and june by the pool.... again is june just allowed to do whatever she wants?? and i dont like this “friendship” because i think its blatantly obvious serena is going to backslide and june acting kind to her literal oppressor just doesnt sit right

i was happy naomi let janine hold charlotte. she really has softened a lot and part of me thinks she could end up being part of the resistance down the line. moreso than serena. naomi doesnt act like she loves gilead she has made so many wtf faces during all the different rituals and ceremonies

aunt lydia clearly has ptsd and then also feels the need to prove her strength but do i feel bad for her?? NOPE

and all the appalled faces as she beat janine.... it wasn’t because all the commanders and wives dont approve of torturing handmaids they just dont want to be confronted with it at their party

and june somehow is just able to interfere with no consequences? i know aunt lydia was super in the wrong so thats probably why but it still seems like plot armor

okay that ending... BABY HOLLY IS SO FUCKING CUTE. how did they get a baby that looks like nick and june?? also seeing luke with her... also fucking cute. I’m happy luke is getting a real storyline. I always wondered if june purposely had holly be called nichole so gilead would be able to find her, and it seems my prediction about holly being an international story is going to come true

also... i think that was june’s first time seeing luke in over 3 years. I can’t imagine the emotions going through her and thank god the writers let her go off and joyfully cry

and then we get serena going “she’s gotten so big” *cue eye roll* SERENA ISNT HER MOM. ughhhhh and serena is definitely going to want her back so get ready for that

once again emily has all the best scenes of the episode. I cried multiple times

her reunion with her wife... the fact there was this realistic awkwardness because they have been separated for so long

im just happy that it showed her wife was still wearing her ring and it looks like she hasn’t moved on with someone else. that was one of my fears for emily

“that’s you fighting your way back home” CRIES INTO AN ABYSS

AND THEN THE BEDTIME STORY SCENE UGHH

i wish emily had more screen time. i feel like it should be 50% her and 50% june to show the differences of emily acclimating and june’s decision to stay

and holly being baptized, and luke and moira are her surrogate parents. i love

predictions for next episode:

luke is obvi getting some more screen time but it looks like serena is going to visit nichole and im gonna assume she is gonna want her back

and then that will lead into the washington dc episode

[yelloskello]

i fucking hate the stag/doe - butch/femme thing. I hate it. I hate that we are explicitly told that we’re not allowed to use these terms, and for what? I went a’googling to see what lesbians were actually saying in regards to why they’re lesbian-exclusive, read the arguments straight from the horse’s mouth, and it amounts to this:

TERFs (and no, I do not mean lesbians = terfs, I mean it is TERFS who came up with this) straight-up believe that bi women and trans women just weren’t there in our history. They say that butch and femme carry the weight of a painful history and fighting for our rights in the words, and that when anybody but lesbians use the terms, they’re putting it on like a fancy dress and calling it an aesthetic.

As if bi women and trans women just straight-up weren’t there for that history, too.

They argue that ‘nobody fights men to use phrases like bear/otter/twink!’ and quite frankly, i’m pretty fuckin’ sure bisexual men and/or trans men can happily use those terms, too, so shitty argument there pal. 

So they kick us out of a history that we were actively a part of, and younger lesbians who want to do the right thing but don’t know the history of this argument latch onto it, and bisexual people... Within the last year... Create the terms stag/doe, since it’s evidently morally wrong to use terms that are part of our own history, but since we can experience the same kind of dynamics in our relationships, we need SOMETHING to describe them. And what do people say?

‘wtf this is so dumb/fucked up, this is just watered/down butch and femme, they’re literally the same thing, why would you make up new words to mean the same thing?’

because we experience the same goddamn thing, just because we like multiple genders doesn’t mean we always hop on “opposite” genders, we can have relationships with similar-gendered/nonbinary people, even outside of a relationship we are still part of the community, we still experience Gay Attraction, and it can still be part of our identity because we’re still LGBT+, but we’re not allowed to use those terms! We’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t.

I hate the wave of separatism that we’ve gone through. I hate the idea that everything has to have shit exclusively for them, even if it has a history of being used by multiple sexualities. I hate that people think No Experiences Overlap Ever, when in truth, marginalized people (and I don’t mean just queer/LGBT+ people - I mean PoC, disabled folks, etc) have SO much more in common than anyone might ever think. Yes, some groups do have things that exclusively happen to them, as a white person i’m NEVER going to fully understand the struggle that brown and black people go through, there’s SO much i’m still ignorant to concerning that, i’ll never pretend all our experiences are exactly the same, but there are also at least some issues that I can strongly empathize with because I hear what they go through and can see similarities in the way i’m treated as an AFAB person or as a bi person or as a nonbinary person. A microaggression because you’re gay and a microaggression because you’re brown are both microaggressions, even if they’re presented in different ways, over different issues. Multiple groups are denied housing and jobs for their identities, even if it’s done quietly behind closed doors so the law doesn’t crack down on peoples’ bigotry. As a trans person I can feel the personal pain of my people being accosted in bathrooms by bigots, and I can look at how black people are assumed to be criminals by virtue of simply walking around in a store, and even though the issues are very different, I can see the similarities - we both are mistrusted by “””normal””” society based on hideous stereotypes - and I can feel for them, even if I don’t experience being assumed to be a criminal personally. I listen to them and I believe them not just because they’re fucking people who deserved to be listened to and believed, but because I have seen how general society treats people like me, so why should it be so hard to believe they could be treated like shit, too?

People think that our struggles are so fucking exclusive that they lose all empathy for other groups, thinking that the only people who have ever suffered are themselves. It’s always baffled me that LGBT+ people can be so fucking ignorant and racist and hateful when you think they’d be able to tap into their own hurt and understand that other people are being treated in similar ways because they’re ‘different’, too. But then again, LGBT+ people can barely understand how other subsets of LGBT+ people have struggled, so I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising. I think of how ace people can write a laundry list of things they personally experience, and other subsets will scoff and say ‘yeah as if we don’t go through that too’, completely fucking ignoring what that overlap means. Thinking that since they go through that, anybody else who reports that they might, too, are just Faking, or trying to steal the spotlight. How can people so completely lack empathy? Why are we not there for each other? Why do we not care about anybody else? Why can’t we recognize the same fucking pain we’re all going through, even if that same pain comes in different flavors, and try to be there for each other because nobody��should have to go through what we’re going through?

Like, it’s a complicated issue. Like I said, yeah, groups do have stuff that effects them exclusively, and it can be frustrating to express unhappiness with something exclusive to your group and have people who clearly aren’t actually understanding what you’re going through say they can relate. But denying that there are any similarities at all just drives us farther apart when right now marginalized people desperately need the support of one-another. 

(I was gonna give bi people’s Double Discrimination as an example of that exclusivity, unwanted by communities on either side of the fence, since obviously lesbians and gays don’t experience that... But y’know who probably can empathize? Mixed race folks. Or folks with invisible disabilities. Or ANYONE who’s caught between both communities, not x enough for one and not y enough for the other.)

Speaking only of communities that I am personally in: in LGBT+ circles, separatism breaks up the subsets and causes infighting. In circles concerning disability and mental/physical illness, it isolates its members, denies them support, makes them feel like nobody truly understands, even people dealing with the exact same disability or illness, because symptoms can be so widespread and varied. Hell, even when dealing with our oppressors, separatism fails to actually try and change the views of the people oppressing us: i’d much rather have narratives where men are gentle, kind, feminine, loving, supporting, open to their emotions, and respectful permeating our culture, teaching young boys how to be as they grow, than narratives where men are just evil.

There’s a lot of gray area. There are people who have been so hurt by oppression that I do not blame them one bit for prescribing to a separatist narrative. But I mean in a general sense... I don’t want separatism to be pervasive. I don’t want it to be the mindset people automatically turn to regardless of what they’ve gone through. I want sympathy and support for the people who have been hurt, and I want the groups that have been doing the hurting to change. I want people to recognize the similarities between each other and be unafraid of empathizing and sharing.

The butch/femme and doe/stag thing is a result of separatism, and I can see where they get the idea for it - basically pulling the ideas of appropriation from communities of PoC telling white people not to appropriate their stuff - but they’re lashing out at the wrong people. When a white person appropriates locs, they’re seen by the public eye as being carefree, trendy, and cool, while black folks are still punished for wearing the same look that occurs naturally for them. When a white person puts on a war bonnet, they’re seen as being high-fashion and ‘exotic~~~’, while literally desecrating a sacred part of a culture they don’t belong to in any way, shape, or form. When a bi person calls themselves butch, they’re a part of the community that shares the exact same history, their histories are literally interwoven, and experiences extremely similar dynamics, at the very least, as lesbians. These are two very different things. Tell cis/straight people not to appropriate the terms, but remember, other LGBT+/queer people aren’t fucking cis/straight.

anyways this got way longer than I was expecting but shit, I got like 60 followers, who gives a damn what I say, right? peace.

[ajw720]

To M and Darren’s team: hi wyd with your “piano baby”? Celebrating a pride party when you’re CLEARLY don’t support it , is embarrassing and just not appropriate. Oh now queer cabaret is back? YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. You’re doing this because you want people to think you support it while clearly your “fiancé” is closeted is so uncalled for. OH PLEASE, stop it. For fuck sake, just stick w your so called burlesque 🙄 I hope that your “baby piano” shuts down.

After the pride parade, come celebrate with us,.  $5 Cover. 

Honestly, WTF are they thinking?  As if that they are doing isn’t BAD enough, making person’t life hell because of the simple fact that he is queer, they are CONTINUING to profit off the LGBTQ+ Community. 

Simply, this is not acceptable. They have absolutely no right to advertise anything to this community. They are the direct oppressors of a member of the LGBTQ+ community and are the primary reason D remains closeted.  They have tortured him for over SEVEN YEARS.  

And then they have the nerve to want to celebrate pride all week culminating with a Pride Party where they are seeking to profit.

It is disgusting. At least for the post parade party, D cannot possibly be involved in any manner.

Sadly, that does not save him from Monday night. The PRIDE Edition of Queer Cabaret.  That I am sure D will be dragged to after flying back to LA and performing a completely unnecessary show that is likely only to market the bar.

I am just failing to see where they even think they can use the word Pride to capitalize on anything because we know through their actions that they have NO PRIDE and NO RESPECT for members of the Queer Community.

If they wanted to maybe try to do something good for once in their despicable lives, as someone suggested to me privately, make a donation. But to attempt to PROFIT from a community when they are actively engaging in homophobic behavior through severe emotional abuse of a member of said community, is truly a complete and utter disgrace.

People get angry when I all these idiots out on their behavior, but simply, this is not acceptable.  And they have earned every word.  They completely lack morals and I hope everyone of them pays dearly when this is over.  

[agameforgoodchristians]

Death by lion for not punching a prophet (1 Kings 20:35-36)

Note: This card was previously discussed by one of our guest bloggers. We wanted to nerd out about this card and do a deep dive from another perspective. This will include addressing why Card Talks like this one result in us having to read hate mail. Regardless, no prophets were killed in the making of this Card Talk (as far as you know).

Punch or Die

At the command of the Lord a certain member of a company of prophets said to another, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill you.” And when he had left him, a lion met him and killed him. (1 Kings 20:35-36)

This is all seems pretty straightforward. Prophet 1 (P1) tells prophet 2 (P2) to hit him. P2 says no and promptly gets attacked by a lion. However, the story continues.

P1 finds another prophet (P3) and makes the same request. P3, possibly knowing what happened to P2, acquiesced and beat the crap out of P1. But this is where things get interesting. Prophet 1 covered some of his wounds with bandages, and disguised himself as a solider coming back from the war that was raging in the area. He then waited for Ahab, the king of Israel, to come along the road. When king Ahab arrived, the prophet told him a story:

In the midst of the battle, an officer told him to guard a prisoner. If the prisoner escaped “the solider” would either be killed, or forced to pay a fine of a talent of silver, which is over 100 times the average cost of slave (c.f. Exodus 21:32). In other words, the fine was tantamount to a death sentence. As with all battles, crap happens and the prisoner escaped. “The solider” asks the king what he should do. King Ahab has no pity on “the solider” and says, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it” (vs 40) (i.e. “you’re screwed”). At this point, “the solider” drops his disguise and Ahab, recognizing him as a prophet, knows he’s in deep trouble. The prophet condemns king Ahab, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let the man go whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people’” (vs 42). King Ahab then returned home thoroughly shaken, waiting for the judgment of God to fall.

The end.

Okay, but none of that explains the deal with P2 and the lion attack. But yes, it really does. Ultimately, this is a story about two people “getting what they deserve” for not listening to the voice of God.

King Ahab Gets What He Deserves

A little background might help. Chapter 20 of 1 Kings tells the story of king Ben-Haddad of Aram waging war against the northern kingdom of Israel.

In (brief) summary:

(vs 1-6) Ben-Haddad gathers a huge army, besieges Samaria (the capital of Israel), and tells Ahab “your silver and gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine.” To which Ahab responds, “cool.”

(vs 7-12) The elders/nobles of Israel, not okay with this arrangement, tell Ahab to grow a backbone. So he does, telling Ben-Haddad he politely declines. Ben-Hadad’s reply can be translated to mean either, “I swear by god, my army is so vast, that there will not be enough ground to stand on when we come to level this city!” OR “I swear by god, my army is so vast, that when we finish leveling this city, there will not be enough dust left to fill the hands of my men if they wanted to take home souvenirs!” (#TrashTalking). Ahab swings back with, “one who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off” (vs 11). In other words, “run your mouth after you win!” So Ben-Haddad, who is drunk when he gets this message, screams for his men to get into fighting position.

(vs 13-22) A prophet of God gives Ahab a battle strategy involving a lightly armored, special-forces unit. They attack in the middle of the day and catch Ben-Haddad off-guard because he’s still drunk. God leads the Israelites to victory, routing the superior force and their heavy weapons, and lifting the siege. They pursue Ben-Haddad, but he is able to escape. Though victorious, through the prophet, God warns of the another attack.

(vs 23-27) Sure enough, Ben-Haddad has a new battle plan: fight at a new location with more troops.

(vs 28-34) But God is ready for the forces of Aram and says, “wipe them out.” And they do. Mostly. Ben-Haddad gets away again and goes into hiding. His servants convince him to attempt to make a peace treaty. They contact Ahab for parley and make terms for a ceasefire. Ahab accepts. And that’s the problem.

God felt that Ben-Haddad was an evil to be eradicated, not an ally to make a treaty with.

This brings us back to the confrontation and the prophet’s words to king Ahab:

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let the man go whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” (vs 42)

Ahab went against God’s long-standing commandments about not working with his oppressors, and he is getting what he deserves.

And while we could spend time arguing about what to do with the Bible’s use of God-directed violence in this text (as we do with some others), the lesson of this passage is wrapped up in the biblical assertion that you do what God tells you to do: if God says, “kill them all,” you kill them all. It’s a lesson Ahab should have already learned from history. Ask King Saul: he pissed off God doing pretty much the exact same thing (1 Samuel 15).

What’s more, the prophet gave Ahab a scenario which exposed him as a hypocrite: he was condemning a man while not living up to the same standard. This is exactly what Nathan did to David in regards to his treatment of Bathsheba and Uriah. And is is also the same standard that Jesus holds us to, and says we should hold others to (regardless of how horribly He is misquoted).

And while all of this is well and good, you’re probably (still) asking, “but WTF does this have to do with the death by lion part?!”

Glad you asked. But first, you should know that the lion probably didn’t kill him.

Just messed him up a bit. Maybe a whole lot.

The Prophet (P2) Getting What He Deserved

Let’s start with the job of a prophet: one who presents the word/vision of God to the people. The prophet bears the weight of divine command and responsibility. So when one prophet gives another prophet a divine command, that second prophet knows the authority under which the first prophet is operating. Denying the words of the prophet is denying God.

(Read that again.)

In this story, P2 refused to heed the call of God. Just like Ahab refused his instructions. But, as with most things biblical, things get more interesting (and complicated) when we dive into the diction and definitions of the words employed.

Below we’ve parsed the Hebrew in the passage; notice the highlighted words. Hebrew readers: you’ll see where we are going pretty quickly. Non-Hebrew readers: be patient, we’ll explain.

At the command of the Lord a certain member of a company of prophets said to another, “Strike {נָכָה nakah - hiphil imperative} me!” But the man refused to strike {נָכָה nakah - hiphil infinitive} him.

Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill {נָכָה nakah - hiphil perfect} you.”

And when he had left him, a lion met him and killed {נָכָה nakah - hiphil imperfect} him.

Then he found another man and said, “Strike {נָכָה nakah - hiphil imperative} me!”

So the man hit {נָכָה nakah - hiphil imperfect} him, striking {נָכָה nakah - hiphil infinitive} and wounding him.

~ 1 Kings 20:35-37

In case you missed it, “strike,” “striking,””hit,” and “kill”are all the same word in this passage {נָכָה nakah}, but with different parsing of the verb (Non-Hebrew readers: think of all that “hiphil,” “imperative,” “infinitive” stuff as different ways to conjugate the verb).

The Hebrew word nakah means to “hit” or “strike,” but the hiphil imperative in vs 35 and 37 is referring to a very serious blow/attack. This could also be rendered, “beat the ever-living crap out of me!” Which makes sense: the prophet’s disguise only works if he looked like he got wreaked on the battlefield. So props to the prophet for being willing to take a beating for his mission.

This is a form of the prophetic “sign-act”— a physical parable, the action of the prophet is symbolic of a deeper truth. They are common in the Bible and include Jeremiah breaking pottery in front of religious leaders (Jeremiah 19:1–13), walking around wearing a yoke for oxen (Jeremiah 27–28), and offering wine to prohibitionists (Jeremiah 35:1–19), Isaiah walking around naked for three years (Isaiah 20:2), and Ezekiel cooking food over human excrement (Ezekiel 4:9-15).

However, this unnamed prophet was performing a “sign-act” with higher stakes. He will bear the marks of his commitment to God’s message in his very flesh. And maybe that’s part of the point: if he could take the beating, why can’t the other prophet give it? But don’t be too worried about the second prophet: like we said, chances are that he wasn’t killed by that lion.

Notice that in verse 36, the Hebrew for “slew him” is nakah again, however, this time it is the Hiphil perfect. Meaning, we was probably just mauled by the lion, not killed. Which, while not great, is certainly better. But also consider the balance of the image presented by a mauling: because he didn’t do God’s will, he was made to suffer the same injuries as the other prophet. He shared in the first prophet’s pain.

You Don’t Have to Like it to Understand the Message (or Keep your misinformed hate mail to yourself)

The Bible is an ancient text filled with stories that, on first (or second, or third) pass can seem very nasty, brutish, and short. But there is generally an underlying morality that makes perfect sense in an Ancient Near East context. Read that last part again: it fits into the ANE context.

Every once in a while we get hate mail, not because we said something blasphemous and some SOLIDER OF THE LORD has to point out our evil ways, but because someone who was burned by Christianity (or a Christian, or a “christian”) wants to rant about how the passage we’ve explained is proof positive that the God they don’t believe in is evil and not worthy of worship. Generally it’s because of Card Talks like this one, where we explain something that does not fit into our modern sensibilities. So we’ll say it again:

The Bible is an ancient text filled with stories that, on first (or second, or third) pass can seem very nasty, brutish, and short. But there is generally an underlying morality that makes perfect sense in an Ancient Near East context.

However, while this is true, there are often still lesson that can be applied to our lives today (otherwise, what the Hell are all those clergy people doing every week…other than ignoring passages like this one?).

Perhaps we should think about our own hypocrisy: the times we hold others to a standard we do not uphold ourselves.

Perhaps we should think about the ways we do not live up to the calling on our lives, not doing the things what we know we’ve been told to do. Perhaps the resulting consequences, the punishments, actually do fit the crime.

Perhaps we should think about what we are willing to do, the sacrifices we are willing to make, in order to bring the Word of God, a vision of God, to others, remembering that word, that vision, can be a blessing, a hug, a kind word, a song, an encouragement, or countless other positive, life-affirming realities we often makes excuses instead of bringing into the lives of others.

But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we’re going to Hell.