#entirely about ridding every injustice in the world

[flukewarm]

still on black paladin allura

and also i will never leave her behind. i know the production timeline of this show was a mess and whatever but it still annoys me that a show with 70% poc in the main cast managed to be. That Way.

you are going to look me in the eyes, and tell me that this character, whose father poured his soul into building these machines, whose father was taken advantage of by someone he trusted, whose people were exploited and wiped out because of the Big Bad’s Greed, DOESN’T get to take the lead on taking the oppressor down?

was there no greater message in allura inheriting zarkon’s old lion, inheriting her father’s title, his creations and his fight to reclaim and/or revenge literally everything else that once belonged to her, that some asshole who Thought He Had The Right took away. to stop that from happening to anyone else. over “hmm big brother told me i was destined for More”

the shows over now yeah but my point is (for me and everyone who didn’t like how it went) fiction is important, especially if it tackles the topic of rebellion, ESPECIALLY if that rebellion is against an Empire. regardless of whether it is a children’s show, you AS SOMEONE TELLING A STORY, should be aware of how these narratives can unavoidably be contextualised in real life. you Are making a statement, whether you think anyone will catch it or not.

having a story about an oppressive empire featuring characters who are explicitly from REAL cultures that are still dealing with colonialism, white supremacy and their effects, and then shunting them off to the side in favour of their lighter counterparts’ stories Says Something. in voltron’s case, they (at best) didn’t have time to properly say anything worthwile about any of these topics or, (at worst) were too scared to do so.

if you (as an audience, or as a creator) are going to engage with fictional narratives of decolonisation, narratives of fighting the oppressor, don’t be scared to Apply the story, that’s what its there for. fiction is an escape from reality. it can be gripe water, it can be a tool to send messages under the guise of make-believe.

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

I just watched this video by Pop Culture Detective about how the heroes we see in Marvel (and a lot of media let’s be real) are all about defending the status quo without trying to proactively change society into a better, fairer place. And the message behind this is often that the status quo is better than whatever alternatives that await, so despite all the problems with it, it must be defended. The video also notes that often, the only ones who seem interested in changing the status quo are the villains or antagonists. 

I’m not going to go over the entire thing, but suffice to say that it did end up reminding me why Dany is so close to my heart and such a unique character not just in fantasy, but honestly in fiction, period. She is a protagonist in and one of the central heroes of the story, but she is proactive, and she does aim to change the status quo, to tear down the injustices that the world she lives in is rife with. She does not look at the problem of slavery in front of her and go, “well, this is bad but if I try to fix it, worse things will happen so I’ll just stick to this.” She actually goes about trying to rectify the issue because she has experienced what slavery is, and she knows down to her bones how horrible and wrong it is. And she does run into complicated dilemmas, she does face the problems that come with tearing down a current oppressive power structure to create something better, because a process like that will never go smoothly when that oppression is the backbone of its society. The economy and way of life in Slaver’s Bay is built on slavery; removing it means removing the fundamental base that holds up everything else. And because it’s so ingrained, getting rid of slavery can’t be accomplished by just beating up a few people at the top who are the sole cause of every bit of injustice. It gets messy, it gets convoluted, it requires treading new grounds, and we see Dany having to deal with those consequences: the issue of carving out a place for the freedmen, the issue of preventing the slavers from taking back power, the issue of establishing a new economy. And yet, despite all of those struggles, slavery is something that simply shouldn’t exist, and Dany knows that. She is not wrong for striving to eradicate it completely from Slaver’s Bay, and it will never be a bad thing that she does so. And I just adore her and her arc for portraying that.

[agentoffangirling]

Apartheid is defined as “a particularly severe form of institutional discrimination and systematic oppression based on race or ethnicity.” Nowhere within Israeli borders do Palestinians face institutional discrimination. They have representation in government, access to jobs and living, and are well represented culturally and religiously. The occupied territories is a different story, but the only reason those territories are occupied in the first place is because of terror groups threatening Israeli lives. I’m not saying that this is okay, and ideally, there would be no occupation AND no terror groups but that’s not the world we live in. Security matters. That’s not Israel’s fault. It’s Hamas’ and Hezbollah and every other group that wants Israel dead.

Many of the actions of the Israeli government are atrocious and it is ignorance to pretend otherwise. But as I’ve stated before, the actions of the current government do not reflect the goals of Zionism or Israel as an idea. 

I read the sources from Human Rights Org and Amnesty International. The former talks entirely about occupied territories, specifically the West Bank (because, if you recall, Israel left the Gaza strip entirely). And while occupying a territory is not good, it’s not part of the structure of Israel’s political system. Within the state of Israel itself, there is no apartheid. Palestinians have the same rights as Israelis. 

And one could make the same case for Gaza: it is an apartheid state. There are exactly 0 Jewish people in Gaza yet nobody seems to be troubled by that and instead are so quick to point out the supposed apartheid in Israel. [1/?]

Apologies for answering so late. Just as before, I'll lump in your other responses with this one for simplicity

The West Bank and surrounding areas aren't occupied due to "security", they're occupied because Israel can. Because they want to claim the land, they want to take over and strip away any bit of Palestinian sovereignty. And Israel is apartheid. It isn't this paradise they want you to believe it is, Palestinians have to go through checkpoint through checkpoint through checkpoint and are constantly denied the same liberties an Israeli would have. There are roads specifically for Israelis that Palestinians are barred from using. Actually listen to them, don't let Israel try and convince you that everything is perfectly fine and that there is no injustice, because there is

The Israeli government is exactly what Zionism is. They don't hide it. It's not a bid to keep people safe, as there's been report after report that they knew about the attacks beforehand and didn't do anything to stop it. The true goal of Zionism is to get rid of Palestinians under the guise of "safety" for the Jewish people. That is what they're doing right now, that is what they've always been doing. It has always been political

Israel "left" the Gaza Strip, but they just replaced the more obvious occupation with policing everything that comes in or out. They burn the native olive trees and heavily tax outside goods, if there are any, to make them entirely reliant on Israeli goods. Just because a place is void of somewhere does not make it apartheid. Gaza is not apartheid because no Jewish people reside there and you are fully aware of this. There is no evidence to your claim that due to the majority of the population being Palestinian makes it apartheid. You know this

There is little evidence that suggests Hamas uses civilian shields. This is an Israeli lie used to justify the bombing of hospitals and homes and schools. The IDF is fully complicit in carrying out these orders and they are also not a source you should be using. "They warn them 24 hours in advance" and they still murder civilians. 24 hours to leave their homes, their entire livelihoods for "safe zones" that just end up being raided days later

Decolonizing Palestine means giving the land back to Palestinians. It means dismantling the state of Israel. As I've said, there is nothing about safety and peace about Zionism and is entirely about taking Palestine. When you look at DNA tests of Ashkenazi people, much of it lands in Europe. I'm not saying that you are entirely European, I'm saying that you cannot claim a place is your home when the closest tie you have to it is from thousands of years ago

How exactly do you free them? Is it by funding a terrorist group so no actual authority can be created in Palestine? Is it by murdering women, children, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and so on? If you want to talk about October 7 so bad, let's talk about 1948. Israel will not stop at a two-state solution, they will continue taking land. Why would they stop at something that benefits them so much and no one is saying anything against them? That is why I am against a two-state solution, because history has shown that Israel will not stop. That is wishful thinking

Israel is the "only democracy in the Middle East" because the West has destroyed any chances for democracy to take root in other countries. Every single time, the United States interferes. Many times Israel has interfered so they can continue keeping power. Palestine doesn't need to "exist as a nation" in order to be considered one. They are a people with their own culture that has existed through thousands of years. The culture Israel wants to destroy. Israel cannot be a legitimate state while they are occupying the land, and it is only through giving the land back to the Palestinians can they actually be left alone in peace without a certain something creeping on their borders

Oh, you mean the hostages that were gifted birthday cakes? The hostages who talked about the kindness they were dealt? The hostages who were prevented about speaking about their experiences because they weren't deemed bad enough? The hostages who were bullied by their peers for that very reason? The hostages Israel killed in their own missions? The hostages who were waving white flags yet were gunned down by their own people anyway? We can talk about them all you like. Shall we consider the thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel as well?

[mywavesyourshore]

Red White and Sexy Blue

From the premise, this appears to be a modern day romance akin to Disney fairytales designed to make readers swoon. And while it partially delivered on that front, cheeky fluffy romance and all, what happened in between never went in any directions l had expected. By the time I finished the book, I was left with a sense of uncertainty and raised eyebrows, in the end, what was all that about?

Was it a fairytale? maybe. Was it an advocate for social injustice? Maybe. Was it about bisexual inclusivity and representations? Maybe that also. The book bears an incredibly intriguing and sexy premise, but Casey Mcquinton's attempt to tackle every social justice issues under the sun sometimes bogged the central love affair . At times, it can seem as though the entire book is being used as a platform to make political statements rather than to tell a compelling not-your-everyday romance between a prince and first son of the president.

But amidst the political noise, the books maintain and delivered its romanticism. The novel's most quiet and vulnerable moment comes in when Henry sneaked Alex into the Victoria and Albert Museum, which reminded me of the Planetarium scene from La La Land, in timely pauses like this that the book finds itself right back where it started, as a love story between two confusing teenagers trying to find their place in the big big world.

The characters are well-rounded and complex, and their humors as well as struggles feel genuine and relatable enough (even if our protagonist comes off as unbearable sometimes). The novel (while briefly) explores themes of bisexuality identity, family in a way that feels fresh and engaging, also addresses issues like homophobia and racism, making it a timely and relevant read. There's lot to redeem if we leave out the political ranting.

Overall it still it serves its purpose of being a young adults novel that intend for you to swoon over. Though hardcore "enemy to lovers" fan might feel underwhelmed, as tension was laid out but never pushed to its full potential. The build-up between Alex and Henry lacked the necessary intensity to create friction between them. (spoilers: it took them about 100 pages to get to sex). Personally the book doesn't owe anyone to adhere to the typical enemy-to-lover formula, but in settings like these, smart exposition will go a long way in crafting timeless chemistry.

At it's best it's a sexy, fluffy contemporary romance, that (occasionally) nails teen-angst, witty coming-of-age humor, and the crisis of being in love and confused in your 20s. At it's worst it's a predictable rose-colored view of society infused with on-the-nose political propaganda. Final Rating: B-

____________________________________________________________

(Spoilers ahead)

What I like The humor (Henry trying to hum God Save the Queen to get rid of a boner was hysterical) The witty bantering, not just Henry and Alex, but also June, Nora and Ellen create fantastic chemistry, and really portrays politicians as comical and troubled as all of us normies are.

My favorite characters undoubtedly Henry, but what's attractive, beyond his intelligence and wit, is our insight into his complex personality. There is certain endearment in seeing the depth that someone kept hidden behind their reserve and guarded public appeal, a kind of wonderfully earned intimacy, the more sexier when its the prince of England.

What put me off Given the context that Casey McQuiston was motivated to created this perfect liberal world (according to the book' note, she felt hopeless after the 2016 election's results) it makes sense that she would draw up this magical rose-colored political landscape as a way to cope with the situation. It is undoubtedly the world we all hope to live in, but the overall execution felt forceful, even for someone who isn't well-versed in American politics like I am. Even I can tell, some of the UK's representation sounds rather stereotypical and misleading.

It would be better if had it been a piece about the cultural clash between American and English's culture. Both Alex and Henry have very rich and fascinated background, they are both knowledgeable in their respective nationality and heritage. It's gonna be fascinating to see to see these two banter on their differences.

Would I read it again? Yes, the book is generally quite entertaining and Henry and Alex have impeccable chemistry, the overall premise is simple enough to get me off my reading slump (if you only include the spicy parts and exclude whatever migraine-inducing politics there was in between)

This is perfect for when you need to pick up a hopeful, lighthearted and enemy-to-lovers story that will make you inevitably blush not recommended for Republican, conservatives, or someone who hates getting involved in politics at all.

[bethleeham]

Death Note Anime/Manga Compared to the Death Note Netflix Adaptation

Part 1

Death Note is one of the best crime mangas to ever exist, in my incredibly biased opinion. It does a brilliant job of making the protagonist and antagonist have reversed roles. It has one of the greatest arcs of all time with the cat and mouse game between Light and L and works to make a brilliant and nuanced story. The Netflix movie saw this absolute masterpiece and decided to make it more “American”, that was their first mistake.

Part of Death Notes nuances is it’s setting. More specifically, Japan. Japan has a very complicated past with legal issues but I’ll try to summarise it. Japan has a 99% conviction rate and therefore pretty much every person taken to trial is convicted of the crime. This is a major issue as it’s rather rare for the first person taken to court to be guilty. So therefore a large amount of the people in Japanese prisons are guilty. This is an important part in Light’s determination for justice, as a child of a police officer he is fully aware of the injustice in the court system. This rather important setting information is lost in their American version. America has far more legal justice and therefore has far more guilty people in jail. While there is still quite a lot of injustice in American courts, it is no where near as ever present and rampant as Japan’s. Something as simply as changing the setting can take away a decent chunk of brilliance to the story.

Then come Light’s home life. The original wanted to show that anyone could be a serial killer and you would have no idea. Light is a brilliant student, adored by everyone in his school and out of it. He has loving parents who care about him and a sister who cares deeply about him. He was a normal person. It was his own god complex and the influence of the notebook that drove him to serial killer status. In the American version, they decided to make him a stereotypical sad boy with a tragic backstory that gets bullied and is annoying enough that you think he deserves it. Light Yagami would never do someone else’s homework for them, he probably wouldn’t even help much. But Light Turner does it willingly and for money. But changing the entire centre of Light’s character they’ve taken away a lot of the intrigue in following him. We know Turner’s Light is going to go down a dark party and can immediately see how and why, we don’t have that for Yagami. Yagami is a complex and compelling character that keeps the reader interested in what he’s going to do next and how. They got rid of all his compelling traits to make him a stereotypical American boy main character.

Staying on the topic of Light, they ruined his genius personality. Light was an absolute master of what he does and every plan he makes is ingenius and near flawless. He keeps the readers hooked because they know he’s smart, they know he’s fighting a well thought out, neck and neck, cat and mouse game with L. They want to see if he’ll make it out alive or not, they want to see his plans come to fruition, they want to see him win or lose. Then we have Light Turner. When Yagami Light got his Death Note he made an intricate system to blow up anyone who tried to get it within his desk drawer. Turner Light put it in his school locker. Yagami Light never told anyone about his notebook and Misa Misa only found out because she has her own (and is criminally underrated). Turner Light told Mia because he has a crush on her. Yagami Light wants to fix all that’s wrong with the world by killing all the criminals and bringing true justice to the world and will do it alone if he has too. Turner Light is dragged along by a pretty girl who just wants to murder anyone she sees fit and only puts up a fight when it’s his father on the line. Yagami Light is a genius who planned every step and only lost due to another person’s mistake, not his own. Turner Light won through an absolute horrible plan that makes all of zero sense and comes out of nowhere as we have never seen him show anywhere near that level of intellect anywhere else in the movie. Earlier in the movie he purposefully indirectly tells L he is Kira. Yagami only did that on L’s deathbed. Light Turner is not a compelling main character.

This is a smaller complaint but in the original, Light didn’t name himself. Yagami just performed his perverted sense of justice and the people of Japan, those grateful for him and those not, named him. He was named Kira as a play on the Japanese pronunciation of killer. He became a god of the people’s making. Turner and Mia chose their name. They say Kira is Japanese for killer which is entirely incorrect and Kira is Japanese for “glittery”. They then put their moniker over every crime scene they make. These scenes are a direct contradiction to the Death Note rules. “The conditions of death will not be realized unless they are physically possible for that human or could be reasonably assumed to be carried out by that human.” aka when Turner makes these monolingual Japanese men write is flawless English he is breaking a rule of the Death Note and therefore it shouldn’t be possible. Staying in this paragraph, another complaint I have is the deaths. The only time Yagami ever does complicated or different then normal deaths is when he’s convering his tracks. He doesn’t want them to be linked to him so he makes them look coincidental or completely unrelated. Turner seems to have a gore kink. When he writes his first death he write “decapitation”. Whose first thought is that when you could just right a name and have them have a heart attack? His fancy death methods makes deaths he’s trying to cover up far more conspicuous.

On the topic of the notebook. Yagami found it falling from the sky and slowly and logically planned his next move. He took it home so he could have privacy and then decided to use a crime livestream to make the criminal kill himself by walking in front of a car. However Yagami knew once could just be a coincidence so he tried again on a different livestream. When the same outcome occurred he knew it wasn’t a coincidence. One moment of hesitation and motorcyclist murder later he’s on a role. He fills up multiple pages in a week with hundreds if not thousands of names before he even meets Ryuk. Then comes Turner. He gets the book and doesn’t really care at all. In detention we meet Ryuk - I will complain about Ryuk in the next paragraph. Ryuk has to hold Turner’s hand throughout the whole process and teach him the rules of the Death Note and how to use it. He chooses to decapitate the school bully and when that happens in the most unnecessarily gory way he is horrified and runs away to wallow in self pity. Turner is a side character in his own story.

On the topic of Ryuk, he is hideously mishandled in the American movie. The main horror of the original Death Note IS the Death Note. The idea that one human has the ability to kill whoever he wants with just a name and face. The horror is psychological. Ryuk is only ever slightly scary appearance wise and at the end, when he kills Light. Ryuk is the comedic character and just there to be entertaining and to explain the Death Note more. The movie however decided that the psychological horror of being murdered by a flick of a pen wasn’t enough. They took the, rather beloved, comedic relief and turned him into a horrifying monster. They did a great job with the practical effects and William DaFoe nailed the voice, they just wrote a different character. That is not Ryuk. It is an American supernatural monster. They took away the main horror just to make Ryuk scary, they barely even brought up his apple addiction.

Then comes the case of Mia and Misa Misa. Now Misa Misa isn’t the greatest female character ever written, while I love Death Note I can acknowledge the fact that the author isn’t very good at writing female characters. However Misa Misa is still a unique and interesting character the way she is. She’s a Japanese pop star who has an incredibly long lifespan due to the fact that a shinigami fell in love with her and saved her life, therefore killing him and transferring his life span to her. When her parents were murdered she thought that the killer would get away scot free, but Kira killed him. She then became obsessed with finding Kira and when a Death Note fell into her hands by a new shinigami, Rem (our lesbian icon), she used the shinigami eyes to her advantage. Due to her long lifespan, her cutting her life in two for the shinigami eyes had no effect on her as it was still incredibly long. She hunted Light down with genuine intelligence and became his second Kira. She’s dumbed down a lot and treated badly by everyone around her but she is a genuinely compelling character that just didn’t get the treatment she truly deserved. Mia on the other hand is an edgy e-girl whose only true motivation is her psychotic desire to murder people. She “falls in love” with Turner. More accurately she falls in lust with him and falls in love with the Death Note. In a monumental feat, she manages to be a worst written female character than Misa Misa. Her death is even more stupid and she dies in a beautiful burst of flowers when literally every other death is a parade of blood and gore. It to mention she died in Light Turner’s horrible, rule-breaking final plan.

[selinascatnip]

Thank you so much for the tag, @altinyns-multimedia-museblog!!!

Tragic

"You look like hell," she informed him almost gleefully, a hand over her small baby bump.

"Thanks,” Dick said fighting to not roll his eyes at the gratuitous meanness, “I'm going to bed."

Kory snorted.

"Not to my bed, you’re not. Go take a shower first."

He took a long-suffering breath and took his mask off, this was the first night he went to patrol alone in a very long time, and it showed. He wasn’t hurt more than sore muscles it just happened to be all of them muscles that were sore. He was getting old.

"Okay,” he breathed and approached her, one hand covering hers over their growing baby and reason why she was being so mean (they had a fight earlier because she didn’t like him going out alone but couldn’t follow him into the night because the pregnancy was making her powers unpredictable, she sneezed and set a rug on fire). His other hand cupped her face, thumb caressing her cheek as he looked into her beautiful eyes, “but if I pass out and drown, that's on you. Good luck explaining my tragic demise to our children."

Injustice

I’m have to skip over this one because I need to go to sleep and my brain is barren.

Pain

Dick had been stabbed, shot at, broken every single bone he could break, had been choked, water boarded, tortured and all sort of horrors of the vigilante life.

But he found out the truly knew pain and despair when he held the limp body of his baby daughter.

“She’s not crying,” Kory’s tired and terrified voice pierced through the suffocating stillness. “Dick, why is our daughter not crying!”

His body shook violently with a visceral sob. Wailing like a child. Crying like he haven't since he was twelve and saw his whole world fall from the trapeze. How could he do it? How could he tell the mother of the dead child in his arms that all those beautiful visions of the future would never come.

Sick

Dick was no stranger from the awful ordeal that was spitting blood.

But it usually came after a punch, a bad landing, an injury gained through the path he had taken as a vigilant.

The copperish taste in his mouth had been followed by acid bitter bile, never by the sweet, smooth taste of flowers.

“This kind of shit could only happen to you,” said Donna when he showed to her the blooded periwinkle petals. “Do have any idea of how rare hanahaki is? I thought it was bullshit when I read about it back home.”

“Rachel couldn’t cure me either. How do I get rid of it?”

“She couldn’t? Dammit, Grayson. I know we are twin flames or some shit but you don’t have to copy everything.”

“I don’t understand. What you have to do with anything? Are you sick too?”

“I wasn’t so lucky,” she deadpanned and then took a long suffering breath. “If Rachel tried to cure you and couldn’t... Listen, this hanahaki thing... You get it when you are hooked to some unrequired feelings and looking by the outworldlyness of these,” she gestured toward the flowers, “I have some idea of what’s going on...”

“But if it’s disease, why Rachel can’t just cure me?”

“Because you don’t want to be cured.”

“Donna why would-”

“Because to get cured you have to stop loving her.”

The sympathetic expression on Donna’s usual cynical face provided no comfort as the meaning of each of her words fell on him like an avalanche.

Another fit of violent coughing shook his entire body, Dick bended forward, his knees betrayed him and he would have smashed his face on a puddle of bloody petals if it wasn’t for Donna’s arms sustaining his weight.

He would die. Not in battle, not for lack of preparation, not betrayed, not saving someone he cared about, not as a hero.

He would die because once upon a time an alien princess stole his car, adopted his kid, turned his entire world view askew then flew away back to the stars.

I'll tag @escapism-through-imagination @ambeauty @meetmeunderthestarrynight @meerakory @gothamstreetcat and whoever wants to do it too

Your words are: Simulation, Salt, Negligence and Eternity.

Find the Word Tag

Thank you for the tag @kaiusvnoir !!

My words are comfort, idle, close, and solid

Comfort:

She hated the way she melted into his touch. The way his warm skin on hers made her feel comfortable. Made her feel safe. When Red leaned back against the headboard, she followed, resting her head in the crook of his neck. His fingers found their way to her hair, brushing the damp strands that stuck awkwardly to her face behind her ear. 

Idle:

don't have one surprisingly

Close:

They kissed with such a fiery passion, that he could not think of words to describe it. When she finally pulled away, her lips curled into the softest of smiles, and her hands still gripping his coat collar like it was a lifeline, she whispered to him, so close that he could feel her breath on his skin, “I love you too.”

Solid:

don't have this one either. weird.

Tagging (with no pressure): @anyablackwood , @r4ch3lm0g4n , @alnaperera , @thearchangelwrites

your words are: Far, Water, Bad, and Wall

[mediicusvitae]

send me a ship and I’ll reply with... { Accepting! }

@ikkaku-of-heart​ said: SaboLamy ;)

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn (hot damn!) / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

{ When you are sheltered growing up, and when you meet somebody that opens up the world to you and gives you back your freedom, expanding your narrow vision of what the world could be like? Giving you the freedom to reach for your goals in life? You become pretty attached to that person. Even if that person runs ahead and tries hitting people with a steel pipe.

I'm certainly no expert, but if two people tend to save each others lives a few times, you usually tend to like that person a little bit :^))) And Sabo has quite literally given Lamy back the world she was robbed of. He snapped the Government chains around her wrists and helped to get rid of the poison she was burdened with for her entire life.

They are so many similarities between the Gray Terminal and White City, and they both carry deep scars from these incidents. They understand each other so intimately because of it and allow each other the vulnerability this world didn't grant them. I figure neither of them expected it in their particular line of work, but they've been hurt so much that they're ready to just treasure something or someone, and then comes that soft 'oh' moment. My hopeless romantic heart can only take so much. They just deserve all the comfort and softness after the bullshit that life has put them through.

You just know these two would never shut up about their brothers. Apart from that, they both have that yellow/blue aesthetic going on that just fits so so well together. Semi-feral gremlins who are going to burn your flag to the ground and look good while doing it.

They are filled to the brim with hatred for the nobility, government and injustice in this world. Both Sabo and Lamy are putting their lives on the line for their shared dream of revolution. They'd give each other endless support for their ambitions but would still badger each other to rest every once in a while because they care and want to see their partner succeed.

But between the playful banter, the mutual respect, the jokes and theatrics, the male brain thoughts ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), there would also be the guilt of not being able to be there for their brothers, the amnesia and nightmares and PTSD, the fear and uncertainty if they will both make it to the next dawn together. The potential for comfort/fluff and hurt/angst is endless with this ship, and I am so looking forward to exploring it further.

They haven't even said I love you yet, because Lamy thinks that he’s got more important stuff to think about than relationships and love, and Sabo on the other hand similarly assumes Lamy has bigger aspirations than romantic and doesn't want to ever seem like he might hold her back. All the revolutionaries are so tired. Oh my god, they groan in harmony, as yet another day goes by of them fluttering their eyelashes at each other without confessing. Dragon just grunts and shakes his head. It'll take some ass-kicking from Koala to actually get them to admit the depths of their feelings to one another, but after that—it's ride or die, baby.

To sum it up, this ship is very, very good for my brain and heart and I'm so happy that I can develop it with a rp partner as creative and amazing as @regensia​ ♡✧( •⌄• ) }

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Conservatism in Brandon Sanderson’s Writings; or, Reflections on Revolution in the Cosmere

I’ve only read The Stormlight Archive and Warbreaker, so this is based on an incomplete picture, but the combination of those two have given me an impression of Sanderson’s ideas on social structures, appropriate and inappropriate responses to institutional injustice, and revolution. These ideas strike me as being essentially conservative; I’m tempted to say Burkean (hence my alternate title), but I don’t know Burke’s writings well enough to be sure if that’s correct.

To be clear: this is not a ‘call-out’ post. I personally disagree with some of Sanderson’s themes, but I’m trying to understand, engage with, and debate them, not flatly condemn them.

My interpretations here are primarily based on two storylines: Warbreaker, and Kaladin and Moash’s arcs in Words of Radiance. Both of these two storylines, and their resolutions, seem grounded in the following political ideas:

1) Injustice and cruelty are the result of bad, or flawed, people; not of bad systems. And people can change. The solution to a system that seems unjust is to improve the people within it, not to tear it down.

2) Those who seek revolution are basically self-serving and vengeful, not interested in the good of others or that of society.

3) Radicals and those who seek revolution have a blinkered political perspective, flattening societies and people into stereotypes rather than acknowledging their complexity.

1. People, not systems

For the first point: both Alethkar and the world of Warbreaker have systems that are fundamentally founded on entrenched and institutionalized inequality. In Alethkar it is the division between lighteyes and darkeyes (and the different ranks thereof). In Warbreaker it is the position of Returned, who can only exist by daily taking life-force/spirit from others - typically from the poor. Nonetheless, the narrative justifies the maintenance of both systems, primarily on the basis that the ruling classes contain good people (e.g. Dalinar, Adolin; Siri, Susebron, Lightsong); one of the major themes in TWOK and WOR revolves around forcing Kaladin to recognize that some lighteyes are good, and others, like Elhokar, have the desire and capacity to improve.

The basic political conflict is, to me, expressed by two lines following Kaladin’s (second) defeat of a Shardbearer. The first is Dalinar’s, when he states what Kaladin should do about institutionalized discrimination against darkeyes: “You want to change that?...Be the kind of man that others admire, whether they be lighteyed or dark...That will change the world.” This fundamentally rubs me the wrong way - it’s the Booker T. Washington theory of how to address racial inequality, and history has proven time and time and time again that it doesn’t work. If Kaladin did that, people would say, “Wow, that Kaladin, what an unusually exceptional darkeyes!” and continue to treat the rest of darkeyes just the same.

The second line is Kaladin’s when he refuses the shardblade that would make him lighteyed: “I don’t want my life to change because I’ve become a lighteyes. I want the lives of people like me...like I am now...to change.” This, I completely agree with - but later events would suggest the narrative may not. (And the fact that Kaladin doesn’t used his increased status in later books to push for change on this front frustrates me.)

To give another example: when Sadeas treats bridgemen as cannon fodder and their lives as utterly disposable, the problem is treated as being that Sadeas is a bad person (and facing certai. tactical constraints) - not the fact that Sadeas and the other brightlords has the power to treat darkeyes’ lives as disposable in the first place. When Kaladin is imprisoned for challenging Amaram to a duel - in effect, imprisoned for being darkeyed, since a high-nahn lighteyes would not have been punished for issuing such a challenge - this is treated as Kaladin’s fault, not the fault of a system that treats him as having fundamentally less worth than Amaram.

There’s no focus in the books on getting rid of the unjust system - by any means, violent or non-violent, bottom-up or top-down - just on having the ruling class become better people, which is expected to alleviate some problems without fundamentally altering the social structure.

2. Revolutionaries are selfish

The most open expression of this idea is in TWOK, where Moash says outright that he’d like to keep the same system but flipped, with darkeyes on the top and lighteyes on the bottom. Vivenna’s endeavours towards revolution are also portrayed as driven by bigotry against Hallandran culture. And Kalladin’s desire to remove Elhokar is shown as driven by a desire for revenge, with any larger goals or motives being mere rationalization. Likewise, the main antagonist of Warbreaker is shown as having destructive, not constructive goals.

While this is ceratinly true of some revolutionary movements, in Sanderson’s works it is shown as invariably true, with no revolutionary characters being driven by genuine justice or the desire to improve people’s lives. This provides a stark contrast with the number of virtuous characters who are shown depicting or upholding the existing social systems.

3. Radicals see society in shallow and stereotypical terms

This is a big part of the characterization of both Vivenna and Kaladin. For Vivenna, the main example is that she initially sees her people - from a largely rural nation - as fundamentally virtuous, and is horrified by the ‘criminals’ they have to live among in the slum. When she’s made to see that those ‘criminals’ are in fact members of her people, she sees them as victims tragically corrupted by the terrible (urban) culture they’ve immigrated to. She generalizes; she doesn’t want to recognize the fact that some of her people prefer life in the city - despite marginalization and poverty - to life in their country of birth, and wouldn’t want to return. She spends most of the book being gradually forced to break down her stereotypes of her culture as good and Hallandran society as corrupt.

Kaladin, for his part, continually stereotypes lighteyes. In his youth, it’s a kind of internalized caste-ism - he’s constantly disappointed and mistreated by the lighteyes around him, and he keeps on thinking that the people doing it aren’t ‘real’ lighteyes, ‘real’ lighteyes are noble and honorable and he’ll get to fight for one someday. After being betrayed one too many times, he switches to thinking that all lighteyes, invariably, are corrupt, exploitative and evil; it takes a lot to get him to trust Dalinar, and for well after that he continues stereotyping every lighteyes he meets (Adolin, Renarin, Shallan) as spoiled and uncaring even after evidence to the contrary. Even in Oathbringer stereotypes are his default reaction to lighteyes he doesn’t know. He also tends to ignore the fact of major differences in variations in status and life with the two main castes, by nahn and dahn. It’s treated as one of his more persistent character flaws, and contrasted with the more open and merit-based attitudes of the main lighteyed characters.

I’m not really comfortable with this portrayal. Kaladin’s entire life, and everything he’s suffered, have been defined and determined by being lighteyes. He doesn’t have the luxury of being ‘eye-colour-blind’ . Does he make invalid assumptions? Yes, especially about Shallan. But Kaladin thinking of Adolin as a spoiled brat and Adolin calling Kaladin ‘bridgeboy’ are not the same kind of thing; calling someone from a discriminated-against group (who is an adult of about your age) ‘boy’ has implications that both the author and reader are aware of; it is, intentionally or not, an expression of power and superiority, and it is quite justified that it would guve Kaladin a negative impression of Adolin! More broadly, mistrusting lighteyes is basically a trauma-induced defense mechanism for Kaladin, and understandable given what he’s been through. Adolin’s thinking, early in Words of Radiance, that “he was all for treating men with respect and honor regardless of eye shade, but the Almighty had put some men in command and others beneath them; it was simply the natural order of things” is to my mind far more offensive than Kaladin’s personality hostility to lighteyes, but the only main character who the narrative treats/criticizes as being bigoted on the basis of eye color is Kaladin. Adolin’s treated by the narrative as a great person who Kaladin needs to be nicer to, and the aforementioned attitude is never addressed again; it’s not part of his character arc like Kaladin’s view of lighteyes is.

In short, Sanderson’s works are strongly grounded in the idea that the quality of a society is grounded in the personal goodness of its people (including the goodness of its ruling class) more than in the creation of just and equal social structures; and that attributting a society’s problems to structures that create and perpetuate injustice rather than to the choices of individuals is basically wrongheaded. I agree with him on the importance of individual goodness and choices; I disagree with his minimization of the need to dismantle unjust social structures.

[thatfanficstuff]

Need You - Geralt of Rivia

Pairing: Geralt x reader

Warnings: just canon typical monster fights and stuff

A/N: I don’t know what this is. Enjoy!

***

You stepped into the Rotten Pig and ran your gaze over the patrons. It was a horrible name for a pub but setting eyes on the cliental told you how they may have arrived upon it. No witcher. Damn it. You’d been trying to find Geralt for weeks. Every time you thought you’d caught up to him, you’d discover he’d left days before.

A familiar tune caught your ear and you followed it across the room. You grinned when Jaskier came into view behind a rather rowdy group. If anyone knew where Geralt was, it would be the bard. You leaned against a pole, arms crossed over your chest as you listened to him perform.

“Nicely done, bard,” you called as he finished.

He turned with wide eyes and grinned when he saw it was you. A moment later he was in front of you shaking your hand enthusiastically. “Y/N! I haven’t seen you in an age. How are you? Any tales you’d care to share with your favorite bard?”

“What do you need my tales for? Geralt is far more interesting than me.”

Jaskier’s smile fell into a sour look. “Yes, well Geralt doesn’t appreciate me like you do.”

You huffed and sat at a nearby table. He took the seat across from you. “He likes you. He’s just grumpy.”

“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. He’s worse since you left. Downright miserable he is.”

Part of you was happy to hear it. After all, Geralt had been the one to declare that he didn’t need your help after you saved him from a particularly nasty clawing. You weren’t about to stick around where you weren’t wanted. Even if you did make more money with him at your side. For some reason people hesitated to hire a lone female to rid them of their monster problem. It didn’t help that your gear had you looking like anything but a witch.

“Where is he, Jaskier?”

“In the swamp. Bloedzuiger keeps attacking people traveling on the road.”

You curled your lip. Bloedzuigers were basically giant leeches that spat acid. “Well, that won’t make a very pretty ballad will it?”

The bard tilted his head from side to side as if he was considering it. Before he could say anything, the door slammed open. Geralt filled the opening. He was dirty and bloody but appeared mostly unharmed. Your gaze trailed him as he walked over to the man sitting at the end of the bar. A merchant if you’d tagged him right. A merchant who suddenly looked very nervous.

“Bloedzuiger’s dead. So are the drowners. I’ll take the rest of my pay now.” Geralt’s deep, rough voice sent a chill through you. Gods, you’d missed that voice.

“I paid you up front, Witcher. Even made a point of telling people that I’d done so. You aren’t getting more out of me now.” Sweat beaded on the lying man’s brow as his gaze darted around the room. Probably looking for someone to back him up.

Geralt hummed. “I wouldn’t kill a ghoul for what you gave me up front.”

“That’s not my problem. I paid and you did the work. It’s not like you can bring the creature back to life.” The merchant seemed very proud of himself. As if he’d pulled some great trick on the witcher.

You sighed and stood. Geralt didn’t need your help. He had his own ways to get his payment, but none of them would endear him to the townspeople. “He might not be able to, but I can.” You couldn’t actually, but they didn’t know that.

Geralt turned with a lifted brow. He ran his eyes over your length and back up. The corner of his mouth kicked up ever so slightly. “Y/N.”

“Geralt,” you responded with your own twitch of the lips. Your gaze shifted back to the man at his side. “Now, about that payment.”

“You’re Y/N? The mistress of night and slayer of injustice?”

What fresh misery was this? You turned your head to look at Jaskier who gave you a sheepish smile and a little wave. Damn bard. Geralt’s smile grew a bit wider.

“Yes, that’s me apparently. Money? Or would you prefer to be in a ballad yourself? Strictly in a slain enemy capacity of course.”

He tossed a bag of coins on the bar. “I don’t want no trouble. Times is tough, that’s all. You can’t blame me for trying to save some coin.”

Geralt hummed again and snatched the bag from the counter. As he ambled to the table, you motioned the barkeep for food and drink for the three of you. The witcher sat beside Jaskier and you took the spot directly across from him. Neither of you spoke as you just looked each other over.

When your ales were placed on the table, Geralt broke the silence. “It’s been awhile. You look…good.”

“You look filthy. How was the swamp?”

“Damp.”

“Of course, it was.” You rolled your eyes at his simple answer. Jaskier’s gaze kept darting between the two of you as if waiting for something monumental to happen.

Three bowls of stew were placed on the table and Geralt lost his patience with you. “What are you doing here, Y/N?”

You arched a brow as you took a bite of your food. “Maybe I was just passing through.”

The look he gave you said he didn’t believe that for a moment.

“Fine. I need a favor.”

He paused with the spoon partway to his mouth. “What sort of favor?”

“Striga.”

He grunted. “That’s not a favor. That’s a job. A big one.”

You grimaced. “For what they’re paying, it’s definitely more like a favor.”

His amber eyes studied you. “Then the answer’s no. Besides, I’m in the middle of something.”

“You’re still looking for Yennefer.” Your heart twinged as you said the name. No matter how many times you warmed Geralt’s bed he always went back to Yen. And it hurt every single time.

The silence stretched. Finally, Geralt tore his gaze from you. “I haven’t found her yet.”

You pushed yourself to your feet. “Well then, I guess there’s no reason for me stay. Jaskier, good to see you again.”

Geralt grabbed your wrist as you passed him. “Sit. Down.”

With a sigh you took the seat beside him. “What?”

His gaze locked on yours again and his grip didn’t loosen. “You won’t go after the striga on your own. Promise me.”

When you didn’t answer, his hold tightened. “Swear it.”

“You won’t hear a word about me fighting a striga. I promise.”

He held you a moment longer, his thumb running along your pulse point. “Be careful.”

***

The thing about strigas is they were fueled by a need to feed. They didn’t care who they killed only that they got to eat. They were also strong and vicious. This particular beast was tormenting a poor village. The money they’d managed to get together wasn’t much, but it was everything they had. You needed to kill the beast to spare them any further suffering.

You checked the potions on your belt and your weapons one last time. The men standing in front of you shuffled their feet nervously. “Remember, no one goes out tonight. No matter what you hear. And if anyone asks—”

“Your name is Yvetta of Nilfgaard,” recited one of the men.

“Very good. Now go.” You watched them hurry off to lock themselves in their homes. You had promised Geralt he wouldn’t hear word of you hunting the striga. Yvetta was another matter entirely.

The cemetery that spawned the creature sat at the foot of some nearby ruins. As far as you’d been able to tell, that was where the striga stayed when she wasn’t hunting. As the sun dropped to the horizon you opened the jar of pig’s blood you’d brought with you and splashed it around one section of the ruins. This was the area you had prepared earlier. An intricate trap ready to be sprung with a touch and the whisper of a word.

A scrambling of claws came with full dark and you drew your dagger. Taking a vial from your waist, you dumped the contents on your blade all the while hoping the creature wouldn’t get close enough for you to have to use it. After all, you were no witcher, just a witch that tried to right some of the wrongs in your world.

You strained your ears, but the sounds seemed to have stopped as suddenly as they started. You sucked in a breath and pushed all your senses to their limit trying to locate the creature. The searing pain at your back came with an unearthly shriek. It had snuck up behind you. There was nothing worse than a smart monster. Thankfully, your armor had blocked most of the impact. You’d be bruised for sure, but that was better than dead.

You fell forward and scrambled away before turning over. The circle was a short distance away waiting for you to finish the spell and you backed toward it as quickly as you could. The striga tilted her head as she looked you over and you got the feeling she was trying to figure out what you were up to. Your hands slid in the dirt and you curled your lip. Fantastic.

Finally, the power in your circle buzzed along your skin. You slapped your palm down and recited your word of power. A blue glow surrounded the area you were in and the striga immediately howled in panic. She lunged for the nearest opening in the wall and was bounced back. You kept your eyes on her while you withdrew another vial. If you timed things right you could take her down without her getting near you again.

Another word and a toss of the vial had a burst of flame shooting up from the floor and burning the beast. It screamed in outrage and pain. And then it turned those angry, beady eyes on you. Well, fuck. You tried to get to your feet, but the striga was too fast. She lunged, pinning you to the ground. You plunged your dagger into her side and she lifted her arm as she screamed. One swipe of those claws across your throat and you were done.

You grasped desperately at your waist trying to draw another vial but the beast was too heavy and had you pinned too thoroughly. You closed your eyes and braced for the impact. Instead, warm liquid covered you followed by another screech from the striga.

The weight was suddenly gone and you opened your eyes. Realizing you were covered in blood that was not your own, you wiped a hand down your face and pushed yourself up. There, at the other end of the small room you’d blocked off was Geralt fighting the striga who was now missing part of her arm. It laid a short distance away from you where he must have severed it to keep her from clawing you.

You got to your feet quickly, weaving slightly from the pain in your back. Geralt fought the beast, his eyes black from some potion he’d consumed before the battle. Your fingers found the vial you’d been searching for earlier and you launched it at creature. It exploded across the striga’s back and you yelled the elder word for stop. The creature immediately froze and Geralt took full advantage to end the beast. The striga was no more.

You looked between it and Geralt who stood over it panting. You wondered briefly if you could sneak away without him noticing. He was going to be pissed. After a moment, he put his sword away and turned to face you. You expected him to yell at you. To tell you that you were an idiot and he was never helping you again.

What you did not expect was for him to eat the ground up between you with several long strides. Before you could even think of reacting, his hand wrapped around the back of your neck and he pulled you forward. His lips slammed into yours and tension flowed from your body as your hands found his chest. The kiss was long and needy. When he finally pulled back, his jaw was still tight. 

“You lied.” His already deep voice had dropped even lower. Yeah, he was pissed.

“Technically, I said you wouldn’t hear about me fighting a striga. I’m fairly certain you didn’t, so no lie.”

“Y/N.” That was nothing more than a growl. He released you and paced away from you. “Why would you go after the striga alone? You know how dangerous they are. Were you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Geralt, these people have nothing. Less than nothing. Do you really expect me to stand aside and let them lose their lives as well? I had to try.”

He spun to face you, hands clenched at his sides. “And if you failed?”

“Well, then they at least would know someone cared enough about their fate to try to change it.” This all seemed perfectly reasonable to you, but every word you spoke seemed to make Geralt angrier.

“And what was I to do if you died?”

You sighed. “You would find another witch, Geralt. As memory serves you were on your way to find one the last time I saw you, so why are you here?”

He licked his lips. “Because I need you.”

You lifted your brows but said nothing. He didn’t need you. He needed Yennefer. You were just a convenient substitute for when she wasn’t around.

He sighed and tore his gaze from yours. “Yennefer hasn’t been in my bed since White Hall. No one has other than you.”

That was the first time the two of you slept together. “Don’t lie to me, Geralt. It doesn’t suit you.” It would take both hands for you to count the number of times he’d left you somewhere to run after Yennefer.

“I never lie.”

It was true that you’d never known him to lie before but if what he said was true, you’d suffered so much heartbreak for nothing. You shook your head, not even wanting to discuss this right then. “Let’s go back to the village. I need to get cleaned up.”

He grasped your arm and turned you back to face him. His hand cradled the side of your face. “Why are you crying?”

“Am I?” You moved to wipe the tears away, but he beat you to it. You licked your lips. “I’m not a fool, Geralt. I know where I stand in importance to you. And I tried to be okay with it because I love you. But I can’t do this anymore.” You took a step back. ���So, thank you for your help and maybe I’ll see you around someday.”

“No,” he growled as he grabbed you and pulled you back to him. “You are not saying goodbye.” His lips slammed into yours and you couldn’t resist kissing him back. He tangled his fingers in your hair and held you in place as he pulled away and pressed his forehead to yours. “I don’t deserve you. I told myself to keep my distance, but fuck it. I don’t care anymore. I need you, Y/N. No one else just you.”

“What about me?” came from the darkness, startling a laugh out of you.

Geralt growled. “Jaskier, if this ends up in one of your songs you’ll wish that drowner had eaten you.”

“But what an epic tale it would be. The white wolf and the mistress of night.”

You shook your head and looped your arms around your witcher’s neck. “No. This one’s about Geralt and Y/N.” And his lips found yours again.

[sepublic]

You know, I've seen plenty of great ideas for Amphibia x TOH swaps, but there's one thing I haven't seen anyone point out yet. If Luz takes Anne's place and goes to Amphibia, then she gets something she's always wanted at the start of TOH: Being part of a prophecy.

           …That is, a VERY interesting concept, not gonna lie!

           The thing about Luz’s fundamental issues prior to meeting Eda was… She really had a problem with distinguishing fantasy from reality, learning to set the boundaries between the two, and fully respect said boundaries. She wasn’t malicious of course, but regardless…

           This is an interesting ask because we don’t know yet how the prophecy will unfold and be revealed within the show, or even its exact nature! But regardless, this is making me imagine Luz meeting the Plantars, and… Really, I can see Hop Pop’s more down-to-earth nature helping Luz learn to distinguish fantasy from reality, to an extent. Especially since Hop Pop himself is lowkey like Luz in that they’re very unorthodox heroes who don’t quite save the day the way they expected to; But their methods are –usually- valid. Such as Hop Pop accidentally inspiring a revolution among the Frogs, or that time he served as a martyr for those tiny frogs, with his mistreatment by the Hasslebacks being the final injustice that pushes them to fight back and defend themselves, without having to rely on any outsiders to do the work for them. Then there’s him projecting a Noir Film onto his search for Sal, to the point where he straight-up kills an innocent man…

           And, that’s making me imagine Luz and Hop Pop kind of bonding over this (not the murder though), especially with Hop Pop’s failed dreams of becoming an actor. I can see Luz being pretty sympathetic and a lot more involved in Hop Pop’s stint with Renee Frodgers, a lot more than Anne did- And considering we see her try out for Romeo and Juliet at one point, maybe she also has a taste for theater herself! Not to mention, all of this discussion of confusing fantasy with reality is just reminding me of Marcy… Specifically, the speculation of Marcy low-key seeing her time in Amphibia as more like a videogame with its tropes, to a potentially harmful extent as she might not treat this situation as a very real one with actual stakes and living, breathing people.

           Of course, the thing to remember is- Luz takes a lot of initiative in her own character development, too! She’s a receptive person and self-reflects. I feel like even if she never met Eda, it wouldn’t have been out of the question for Luz to still resolve her own issues… It’d have just been a much more difficult and tedious journey, especially if Luz had to go through that Reality Camp. But regardless, when you remember that Hop Pop also goes through similar character development, albeit more around the Season 2 timeframe… With Hop Pop making the conscious decision on his own to call out Renee on her thievery, without Anne nor any circumstances goading him into it, because he’s a very moral character at heart…

           Maybe Luz could have issues like Marcy. It’s worth considering if Andrias is manipulating and feeding into Marcy’s dreams. But regardless, I see Luz and Hop Pop working together, mutually, to get past their own issues, well before the prophecy is revealed- And we still don’t know when that’s going to happen! Maybe Luz and Hop Pop could be a duo reminiscent to Luz and King during Sense and Insensitivity. I can’t say for sure if Luz’s character development will be as potent by the prophecy’s reveal, as she is as of the Season Finale in HER show… I think Eda is ultimately a wiser character than Hop Pop, and characters like Willow and Amity serve as neat narrative contrasts/foils to Luz’s own antics. Though, I can imagine Luz getting caught up in shipping Sprig and Ivy, and possibly the fallout of this leading to a lesson or two…

           But in the end, as I said- Luz has a good heart, and she goes around to do the right thing, in the end. She’s like Hop Pop in that regard, and of course there’s also the existence of Sprig and Polly, not to mention what a fellow weirdo like One-Eyed Wally might have to say, here or there. I guess a lot of it depends on the exact context of how this prophecy is revealed, and how it even works… But I see Luz as being grounded by the more down-to-earth Wartwood, well before she gets to Newtopia. This does raise the interesting idea of her possibly backtracking on her character development, especially with Marcy’s influence and Andrias’ potential manipulations…

           And yet, I can see Luz still turning around to do the right in the end, just as Hop Pop did; Even when his dreams DID come true, and he became a renowned actor! I think Luz would come to the conclusion that even being ‘chosen’ by some divine force doesn’t really make her any better than anyone else… Not to mention that the people and world she’s saving is still very much its own thing, not beholden to her. So I see Luz accepting the mantle of being a hero, if only because she’s a good person and of course she’s not going to let something bad happen… And I can imagine the Plantars helping to gently nudge and remind Luz of her past lessons, to not get confused with fantasy and reality again. The prophecy would definitely be a twist antithetical and contradictory to Luz’s character development, given how she’s being transplanted into a different show with different themes, originally intended for a different protagonist…

           But, if Marcy is going to learn her lesson and get past her own issues –assuming those specific issues ARE a thing of course- then I can see Luz being a guiding light and force for her… Maybe the two mutually navigate past potential delusions together, who knows? I’ve speculated in the past how Luz would handle the revelation of having powerful magical heritage... How Luz would truly show off her character development by rejecting even this seemingly objective, tangible cosmic reason for her being special, and still asserting her equal standing with everyone else. Even when placed on top of the hierarchy, Luz rejects it, showing how much her lessons mean to her. I can see Andrias trying to set Luz up to agree with his hierarchy under that concept of divinely-ordained ‘specialness’, and how it’d all just tie into Luz working to abolish the caste system with Hop Pop.

           I can see it being a contrast to Sasha and Grime, who want to topple the current Newt Hierarchy… More than likely, so they can switch it around with Toads on the top. Not exactly the most helpful change, in the end… Luz decides that instead of reversing the roles, it’s best to just get rid of the roles entirely. It could play into a discussion of privilege, and it’d be interesting to see how Luz, Marcy, and Sasha would all bounce off of one another- Sasha low-key has her issues with dismissing the people of Amphibia, and once talked about ‘having fun’ there. Obviously her respect for Grime has changed this a lot… But there’s still that willingness to conquer what she fully recognizes now as an actual civilization of people. She would certainly take the revelation of a prophecy as full justification that she was never wrong about anything, and that Sasha is of course entitled to taking over Amphibia- Especially if Grime feeds into this both out of genuine support and his own desires.

           Then there’s that idea of Sasha and Grime enabling one another to be worse, even if they also still go through a little bit of positive character development… And as for Marcy and Andrias, I can’t quite say because the latter is still quite the enigma. Either way, Luz has to serve as a grounding force for the other girls with Hop Pop’s help… And really, it sounds like the set-up for total chaos, a battle royal, a complete free-for-all with every Amphibian and Human for themselves as they navigate one another amidst the backdrop of this prophecy. If we want to apply Luz’s motif and themes of being a guiding light for other characters in her own show, I can see her forcing Sasha and Marcy to confront the reality of what they’re doing… And I think interactions between her and Grime would be fascinating, as she’d be VERY much in favor of toppling the monarchy- But specifically to undo the hierarchy entirely, instead of switching it around to the Toads’ favor. If Sasha and Grime enable one another, perhaps Luz will have to act as a voice of reason and buffer between the two- And again, it depends on how Sasha and Grime’s character development goes.

           Overall, this sounds like QUITE the debacle, and I’m kind of fascinated, imagining how these different characters with different motifs, meant to be compatible with narrative parallels and contrasts, amidst the themes of their particular show; And how they’d adapt and fit into another show’s cast and themes! Anne taking Luz’s place in the Boiling Isles would be interesting, given how Anne has clearly internalized Sasha’s idea of ‘knowing what’s best for someone you care about’, and how this seems to be a recurring trend amongst people like Emira and Edric toward Amity, Lilith with Eda, etc. And, I guess I could go into a whole ‘nother discussion of how Eda has to help Anne recover from this low-key abuse and toxicity, and Anne having a similar moment of standing up to Sasha with those characters, possibly citing her own experiences… But, that’s probably a discussion for another time, I think. I guess it depends if I have the time and energy for it, and my cyclical focus aligns just right…

[maybe-a-little-wicked]

I’m way too invested in Legacies considering how much I loathe Julie plec, Matt Davis, and the writers of the show.

I can’t help it. I stan Hope, Lizzie, and Josie. Hope especially. 

That said, the show’s writers and Julie Plec drive me batty with their terrible storytelling. Here’s what I want to happen: 

1. Hope and Landon break up. It’s not that I don’t like Handon; I do. It’s very innocent and pure. The problem is that Hope Mikaelson is MORE than landon. When I say this, I don’t mean it in an insulting way to Landon’s character. I think he’s great. but Hope is the tribrid. She’s the daughter of Klaus Mikaleson and Hayley Marshall. And like it was noted in season 2, Hope is always going to have to put something or someone else first before Landon and Hope also can’t do that because Landon is weaker than her and more vulnerable and Hope is too protective of him. Their power dynamic and stories diverge too much. Landon needs someone who doesn’t see him as a weakness or a liability; Hope needs someone who she doesn’t have to constantly worry about and protect. 

    a. On this note, the show focuses way too much on their relationship. Hope is so much more than a romance and they are really doing her dirty by making her story entirely about Landon. 

2. Stop being scared of Hope’s power. I have no doubt in my mind that the reason Hope’s true power has been downplayed for so long is because the show doesn’t want us criticizing them for making her op or a mary-sue. But power has nothing to do with being a mary-sue. A mary-sue is about having no flaws or weaknesses, not about being powerless. Hope can be the powerful, epic tribrid she is while still having flaws and weaknesses. Stop hiding from her power and let her be great, because she is. 

    a. I also think the show is drawing this out for dramatic purposes. They want to have an epic moment of Hope’s power being shown off in a dramatic moment. But we already know Hope’s powerful, and they do the story injustice by hiding it. 

3. Stop the queer baiting. Seriously guys. I’m not even LGBTQ+ and I’m annoyed at how progressive this show thinks it is because “oh well Josie is pan and Hope is sexually fluid.” except, they don’t show it off? They give little snippets and hints and then return to their hetero romances. That’s not being progressive, it’s pretending to be progressive so your audience won’t call you out. It’s bullshit and we all see through it. 

4. I understand why the audience is upset at Rafael’s departure. I also understand why they got rid of the character. Rafael from the very beginning was only a catalyst to bring Landon to the school, and quickly lost his own storyline after that became established. But every tv show should show some more hesitance about writing out and killing off poc characters considering how little representation they get and just how tone deaf it is. Rafael didn’t need to be written out; he just needed a new storyline. It honestly seems like they didn’t even try to keep the character. 

5. Just get rid of Malivore already. Personally I love all of the new creatures we see, so I don’t want the show to get rid of that; I also think it’s a very big talking point for the series, because it’s clear that malivore deeply changed the world. The world probably would’ve been overflowing with magical creatures like some fantasy novel were it not for Malivore, and I like the idea of exploring that coming back fully. But Malivore is a one-dimmensional, uninteresting villain that’s barely even seen and mostly just talked about. Destroy Malivore and watch the whole world descend into chaos as the world has to remake room for a bunch of supernatural creatures like dragons and fairies. That’s more interesting. 

6. I want a dark Hope plot. I want Hope to go full Klaus Mikaelson. 

7. I want Hope to have to deal with consequences of Klaus’ actions. I want good people to go after Hope for revenge or justice thinking that she must be evil because of who her dad is. I want a clashing of right and wrong and moral complexity. The originals had some of that. Legacies seems to have completely abandoned it. 

[0aurelion-sol0]

SNK 134: Why we need to move forward.

Well...

That's horrifying...

Oh but whatever they are probably bad people in there. Thieves, greedy people, hateful mothers, men who beat their wives , liars, bullies, killers, murderers, rapist, child rapist and racist babies.

Yeah...

This is a rhetoric that has been used for ages and is currently being used in this fandom especially on reddit and 4chan.

The justification of injustice.

When George Floyd was slammed on the ground and died because he couldn't breathe anymore, conservatives and republicans at large ignored the police brutaliy leading up to that.

He was just a cocaine or drug addict who one day pointed a gun at a pregnant lady. So he was a criminal and deserved that.

Of course ignoring the racial segregation that happened from the very legalized slavery hundreds of years ago and how poor and racially stigmatized black people are being in America right now.

When the Uyghurs are being genocided by China, the world blinds itself because China is one the worlds necessary assets in economy as it basically produces a good chunk of what is being used in the world. Most made by children, " but it makes us live "... Apparently that's the only logical reason...

When Palestinians and Israelis are literally killing each other over some complicated non sense that no one ever really understands and also Israël basically doing Apartheid at this point,

When the totality of the Middle East has turned into a warzone because of the United States's violent imperialism,

When most far right or extremist group decided that Islam and Islamic terrorism are the same thing,

When xenophobes and racist always attack immigration,

"If she wasn't wearing that skirt, she probably wouldn't have been raped",

When we have homophobes, transphobes, LGBTphobes, telling us what's natural and always bragging about "\___-_-___/ God, Holy Jesus",

When you have people who tells you that poor people chose their way of living when there are a small percent of billionaires and soon to be trillionaires having such a gigantic amount of wealth,

When 6 millions Jews were genocided which was 40% of Jewish people at the time and 2/3 of European Jews,

When the prime minister of Israël is saying that the Holocaust wasn't Hitler's Idea but Haj Amin al-Husseini, (who was extremely anti semitic, don't get me wrong)who suggested it to him maiking the prime minister a revisionist but at the same time making his actions against Palestinians justified,

When around the world Christianic places of worship are being vandalized,

When entire SYSTEMS of segregations have made societies work,

When the South American continent has been attacked by the United States because of different political beliefs,

When people use their rape as a way to attack other communities of a specific religion or color,

When Black Panthers uses racism against White people because of the story of USA and are being anti semitic but essentializing a whole group,

When Nationalistic Israelis tells you what is a good Jew and what isn't a good Jew,

When dozens of groups have been forced to extinction,

Natives who were being murdered, yeah? YOU DON'T SEE THAT A LOT IN YOUR COWBOY MOVIES ?

When literal "feminist" calls for the destruction of men while they can't educate the kids about what to do and what not to do, OH, can also be transphobic apparently,

When you have entire websites who encourages pedophilia,

And pedophiles killed, left alone and live a life of endless torment while no one does nothing to help them and fight those who encourages it even in the highest places of our society,

Oh and Hollywood, that's all I need to say.

And let's not even talk about animal brutality and the destruction of ecosystems.

And there is more and more and more and more and more and FUCKING MORE,

All that because of reasons, reasons, reasons, reasons,

All stuck in a cycle of hate, violence and discrimination that just never ends.

The selfishness,

The greed,

And at end, everything is meaningless. There is just blood.

This is what this chapter represent the meaningless of it all. How everything goes to shit...

How everyone, whether it's the oppresor or the oppresed, will justify the violence, the injustice.

Society does nothing cause society right now runs for the entitled and the entitled only and creates it's own monsters.

I want to ask those people who defend the rumbling.

After everything we saw in this manga, after what the real world has commited, after how much these real events have inspired this story, how can you say it was the only way ?

After everyone hided Hange valuable informations including Eren who had information about KRUGER who was a spy in MARLEY. Who has created a civil war in Eldia and activated the rumbling while killing Eldian civilians in the way.

After seeing the mental breakdown of Bertolt, who we don't hear about anymore, Annie and Reiner's mental breakdown over GENOCIDING AN ENTIRE GROUP OF PEOPLE, by the way Reiner totally didn't develop another persona at that time to cope with what he was doing, HUH ?

After all the deaths, Carla, Grisha, Dina, Faye Marco, Levi's squad, Ymir, Erwin, Sasha, Hange, Hannes, Floch and many others, how can you go and be like "CHAD EREN, BEING DADDY, FUCKING HIS MEAT WAIFU, PHILOSOPHER FREEDOM SEEKER"

"104th crybabies... xDdDDDD Prfrpfr"

Come on...

This isn't serious at this point.

And for the H character, we're gonna come back for her but...

GODDAMNIT!

THANK YOU, DEATH.

This has sparked debates.

Some are thankful for this speech by the commander.

Others are finding it disingenous.

Others think it's too on the nose and not natural.

Others don't care.

On my part, I enjoy it but I take it with the context. Most of their airships have been destroyed and they are facing their doom upfront right now. It's more of a death plea at this point. Just like in the cave with Histor... GOD IT'S SO HARD SAYING HER NAME... with Historia who said truly horrible things at the point of an imminent death. At that moment, words like this can tell what you really are inside but even that is not enough to have a full picture.

It did have some interesting elements.

It is true, using, raising, breeding hate and shoving problems upon a group will always come bite you up the ass someday.

Marley in their extensive and violent coloniaslistic, imperialiatic behavior towards Eldia creates only weaknesses for them on an international field and create this monstruosity that is right now Eren.

Eren, a soldier who suffer from trauma and PTSD, who has terrible insecurities and everything to lose after losing so much and possibly in my book being influenced by another entity decides to kill them all.

But...

In no way does that justify Eren's actions, in fact it goes against it.

He is just as angry and hateful as they were back then but instead of destroying the system, he decides to genocide.

Essentializing the whole world as your ennemy and problem, and deciding to get rid of it is just continuing what has been started and continued for hundreds of years before.

No one ever thinks about the simple families, the innocent children, the homeless...

What about them Eren ?

What about the people who faced discrimination like Ramzi ?

What about the other groups that are almost extinct just like yours ?

What about the groups that tried to support the Eldians but were considered freaks ? HUH ?

What about the babies and innocent children ?

Isayama is even spelling it out for you this chapter.

Is he not worth it ? To stop all this ?

He was born into this world just like every other baby.

Look at that while everyone, is trying to jump off, their trying to save the baby. Even if it's probably impossible. That's humanity right there.

And... jesus christ...

I literally saw people who said that the mother was dumb to give it to the people because titans were behind them.

I can't even...

Imagine if Eren is the daddy of H's Baby and that he completes the genocide, killing his friends or even persuading them and at the end he is saying you are free to this baby.

So this baby is worth more than this baby ?

He is more legitimate to live than him.

I can't even imagine what the arguments would be like with the Eren stans:

"He's protecting his friends."

While literally challenging them to fight and right now trying to kill them.

"Well, you know the Rumbling is horrible but they got what was coming for them. They did nothing to help Paradise."

While forgetting the complexity of human nature, how banalization of these acts of violence have come to be BECAUSE...

These just like me and you are just simple people. With simple lives and not too much power who can't do anything about it.

Most of the people today sees all the suffering in the world, they just don't have the power, nor the will to go against such complex geo-political conflicts.

Would you be able to just resolve the Israelo-Palestinian conflict ? I don't think so, so shut your ass down with this argument.

These people can't change the world with power that they have and the one that has the power to change that, is killing them right now. BRAVO.

" Well, uh, the child is a child, parents might be racist and uh... child maybe is racist or will become racist..."

God...

Just because someone has done horrible shits or is an horrible shit doesn't mean he should die like this.

Here it is people, how we work as human :

Fuck redemption and possible solutions, let's kill everyone who did something bad.

Y'all would have been perfect during monarchies time.

And like... having an argument on a baby should face genocide is just fucking disgusting.

AND DON'T GIVE ME THE BULLCRAP OF FICTION DOESN'T EQUAL REALITY!

That you are interested into what could bring the Rumbling in terms of thematics and story is fine.

BUT ENDORSING IT ?

Do y'all even hear yourselves sometimes ?

You just sound like every racist, bigoted, fascist and violent person that has ever existed.

You're just excited to see someone die because he commited something wrong, sadistic pricks.

You're no different. Perhaps the guy who was talking to Grisha in chapter 97, who was a Marleyan and gave serums to Eldian is right. When he was talking to Grisha, Isayama use it to break the fourth wall and talk to the readers.

Why do we watch this, all this violence ?

" Because it's fun!"

" People take peace for granted!"

" Of course we're abnormal in society's eyes."

" We wish to exterminate all eldians!"

" Your sister did nothing wrong. Shame she was an Eldian!"

The fun fact is that this guy is a racist fuck but he dies pushed by Kruger and killed by his very own creation: a titan.

Why do people endorse genocide ?

" Because it's justice!"

" They got what was coming for them!"

" Isayama is just showing us that genocide is not really wrong if you just understand the concept of morals. Puritans."

" Humanity can die, they deserve it!"

" I'm sad for Ramzi, he didn't do nothing wrong but you know... maybe he didn't have good ideas about Eldians."

While also saying why children could deserve genocide. \____@-@____/

Of course I found most of these on Reddit and 4chan, the nazi propaganda website. Tumblr is a little free of it.

Babies....

Literally babies...

That remind me of somethin'...

OH YEAH!

QUEER NO MORE.

*put gloves on*

PUUUUUUUSSHH!!! COOOOOOOMMEEE OOONN!!!!

Breathe...

I SEEEEE THE HEAAADDD, IT'S HEREEEEEE!!!!

Natalie, bring the bucket, quick!

Of fuck she shitted on herself a little bit!

_________________________________________

So ?

Y'all like my fanfic ?

It's about how Erehisu is canon and how Historia is actually thinking about Eren right now because she is blushing.

But also about how Historia actually looks good and sexy while being pregnant and how she looks so happy!

She also is a lesbian that turned straight.

I'm so proud of my work.

_________________________________________

In all honesty...

This is... dissapointing and an insult to Historia fans. Why ? What is the purpose or the reason ? Being tragic ? To show how far Historia can go to protect her loved ones ? A female Eren so ?

I always leaned towards the fake pregnancy even if I don't know how something like that could be really pulled. I didn't understand this choice for his storytelling. The others I understand but this one...

O_o

What the fuck ?

So she really is pregnant ? But nothing leading up to it makes sense.

The character whose thematics still rings too much true for this arc is put in the background and as a breeding farm on top of that.

It even came to a point I started people to stop asking about her.

I had faith in her presence in the final arc. That she would have a role play.

But now ?

/\/\/\

For people who don't understand why this aspect of story is wrong, we have to break it down.

First off, Historia one of the first queer characters with Ymir in SNK. Others are suspected but these two are the few that holds a definitive representation as queer.

Most often in media or in real life, LGBT people have been forced into a situation that requires them to fall under heterosexuals lives. Here Historia is forced to be pregnant, yes in a way she agreed because of her people, but at the same time she didn't really want it.

For queer people, like me, this still rings true. Too much true. People literally forces you to go for your opposite sex everytime, to have a family.

No, stop forcing your view of your own life or desire of life on other people.

The fact that the fandom rationalizes that and says that she is happy and in love with Eren is just so fucking weird.

It either is blind ship following, heteronormativity or not understanding the story.

And I saw people saying she might be bisexual. This doesn't change anything. Also ignoring the fact that she hasn't shown any attraction to men other than women in the story.

If she is bisexual, it doesn't change anything, she is still queer. Not semi-straight AND EVEN IF SHE WAS A WOMAN WHO HAPPENED TO BE STRAIGHT, SHE IS STILL FORCED INTO SOMETHING SHE DID NOT WANT.

Bisexual is not semi-straight, semi-gay.

It's bisexual.

Bisexual, Straight and Homosexuality are not the same thing.

And if she was straight, that doesn't make it acceptable. It's just sick.

Just because you're a straight woman doesn't mean you are going to be more happy or have god like duty to have kids.

I just don't understand it...

A manga who was so progressive with his female characters reduces Historia to this.

Imagine...

Just imagine...

Eren is the father. I would shoot myself in the face. A forced straight relationship at the end for the pleasure of shonen readers and heteronormative readers.

" What if I have baby, Eren ?"

" Only if it is from me. I want him to live and have FREEDOM!"

" It's open bar, honey." *saying this after hearing the guy says he's going to genocide which goes against her own values and actions as queen*

Ew... Just ew...

And even worse she wasn't supposed to give birth right now, she was supposed to give birth in a few months.

She could DIE. SHE IS 19. This is dangerous.

Everyone is like this is normal.

THIS IS NOT NORMAL. *sigh*

This goes against what she is supposed to have as a character development.

The fact that she would be okay for genocide while as a queen she reached out to the most weak and in need is fucking incoherent.

No. This doesn't make sense. Even Eren said that Historia's action as a queen were to help others. How could she be okay sitting at her house ? Telling no one about what Eren was going to do ? And becoming a breeding farm ? What is the logic in that ?

Why make it suspicious than ?

The only thing that was able to make any logical sense to me was that the person we are seeing here isn't Historia.

I know if my theory is right, it's sick, even more sick.

The only times we saw Historia after the timeskip was during flashbacks, the reveal at 107 and possibly at the end of 123.

If this is her at the end of 123, I want to ask you why is she all prepared, why is she all dressed up and why is she wearing the same clothes in 134 that she is wearing 107. Something doesn't add up.

She is young, small-petite, blonde and her belly and face are hidden.

I was only able to go through the theory that this is a fake Historia. Than who it is than ?

Well, I searched for female characters who look like her or who could look like Historia right now. From all the characters that we haven't seen coming coming back and that has interacted with Historia, there is only one.

Rico Brzenska.

For those, who don't remember her : She was a Garrison Member who helped Mikasa and Eren during the Trost Arc and also helped Historia while she was exhausted during the Clash of the Titans Arc.

She hasn't appeared ever since the start of the Return to Shiganshina Arc unlike many of the older characters.

She is the only one I see who could pass as Historia I think.

I know this is still sick. But this is the only way I would be able to make Historia get out of this crappy storyline and play some relevance in the story. And if we look at Rico and Historia in 107, they kinda look the same. They have the heart shaped face, they are both small and they both have this sort of closed eyelids.

One line that just stuck with me of Rico was:

"Hiding/Lying about Eren's rampage in the report wouldn't have benefited humanity. "

This was during Eren's trial before joining the Survey Corps. What was discused was when Eren lost control of himself during the Trost Arc and attacked Mikasa.

The second line that struck was the one where she holds Historia who is exhausted in her arms:

"Wow! Who is this girl, is she okay ?"

I don't know why it just pushed that theory. And I kinda believe it now, because no one can make me believe that there is something satisfying coming out of this. Why would she sacrifice herself for Historia ? Well, I don't really know but Rico was always a little wary of Eren, even after the Trost Arc but yeah ultimately for Rico being able to give her own life for Historia. I don't know about that. But with this manga you never now. It is a very dark and twisted theory but this is the only logical thing I can see right now since no answers have been provided.

Monkey is BACK

Zeke is back and like most of us predicted, Eren dragged him with him. And I'm not gonna lie, the way he was attached to the spine was pretty badass.

He is used as a puppet which reinforces the theory for me that all three of them: Eren, Ymir and Zeke are being used by the Attack Titan.

I cannot understand Eren's illogical behavior especially after seeing the train scene where he says he wants them to live long happy lives and than having him kill his friends.

Ymir the first being free and having eyes to returning to having no eyes just like before and Eren.

And Zeke would have never agreed to the Rumbling. And we can't see his eyes either.

And...

Thank you, 104th for existing.

Because...

After how much shit they have gone through and after how much the fandom, not just the Eren stans, have mocked them. Like the fandom has been the biggest asshole to the the Alliance while they were the ones who were able to survive through the sentence " Genocide is wrong!" that so many people seems to find to be so hard to say.

I will root for them until the bitter end, I don't care. They are the one who are fighting. You can call Cringevengers all you want but I am glad they are winning.

They all suffered like Eren but they didn't prioritize their own and only feelings above everything else and they stood by for the values they fought for since they joined the Survey Corps. Even if I have to admit they have, for most of them, conflicted feelings with what they were doing and have done things like trying to talk to Eren while it's obvious he wasn't going to talk and that in a situation like this I don't think someone would try to stop Eren by just talking.

Levi, and it would be foolish to not recognize it, is being consumed by his promise but he is restraining it and still is able to think about the bigger picture.

There's one thing I really like about this is Armin asking Eren:

"Eren... I'll ask you one last time... "What part of you is free" after we rip you out from there... "

Hehe... yes... what part of you is free ?

To be honest, there's many things I don't want for the ending.

A Lelouch Ending, it was all Eren's plan. Literally wouldn't make sense. No one would be questionning his free will and he wouldn't have these weird shits happening to him.

A Code Geass ending, why would Mikasa have to kill Eren, what does that add to her as a character ? More tragedy ? No she doesn't have the scarf, it's pretty telling what place she's at right now.

Eren being the daddy. NO, JUST NO.

Everyone dies, genocide is the right thing. You know all the worst shit that can happen.

But most of all I want important plot points to be explored and moved over because ever since the timeskip, there has been no important plot points out the way. Eren's behavior, Ackertalk, Bertolttalk, Historia's Condition, Paths stuffs, answers!

Whatever... Trust me Peace is not something I take for granted. Being proud of myself and having a life with the least conflict and problem is something you fight for. Having rights, being recognized as a human.

Never lose that, fight for it. But never with injustice, be smarter and stronger. Cause at the end what unites us is not only what we have in common but what the perspective of what we have not in common can make a bigger picture of what we are as humans. We all are different and have a different story with similarities but in the end, we are human and born into this world. And in that, we must move forward. In the present, because of the past and for the future.

We all wish for the problems to go away but if it's for the solutions to be rigged with injustice, it will not work. No one has acheived with genocide and never will.

It's kinda sad that this long of a post has to say this. Did y'all see that ? Pretty inspiring what I wrote. Oh well you know what ? If they can be bigoted why can't I myself.

Here's a song I wrote:

(Fuck everyone and you.

We hate women

There are only 2 genders, the breeder and the breeded.

Everything is degenerate.

We hate brown, Arab and Muslim people.

Genocide is cool

And Hitler was too.)

I know but you know what, at least if they want a spy for Nazi Germany someday. They'll know not to give it to me because I'd laugh at the stupidity of the people just like you and I are doing with the rest of world cause for all the shits it gives us, it's entertaining.

[borathae]

I am so late to the party but I found Sonata Cantabile yesterday. And I just binged it because I loved it so much. Why did I find this gem so late? I really want to review every chapter but I sadly don't have the time for it. One long ask will have to do it😚

Let's start with the setting. I fell deep into this world. I could clearly imagine this private school. And the references to the musicians and the austrian flair.

And I have to say this Yoongi is so precious. Please protect him at all cost. He went through hell and back just because of his ex and Jimin. It was so cruel to see him suffer so much. No wonder that he developed anxiety. And again the way you portrait mental health issues is just so realistic. You are one of the few writers who are able to really make people feel understood while also not making their anxiety their whole personality. A person is more than their problems and mistakes. I am so so impressed by you.

And your oc's please they are so unique. Everyone has their flaws and their strengths. They are so lovable. This one is another great one. She is herself and you can really feel this throughout the whole series. She always wants to make her own decisions. And she just trusts her own judgment so much. She never cares about others. I find that so admirable. She stands up for injustice and she gets the most adorable bean as a boyfriend. And the way she treats Yoongi just speaks volumes. She always makes sure he is comfortable. She is the person everyone wants in their lifes. I am gonna cry.

And the slow burn. I love it so much. The transition for strangers to friends to lovers is just chef's kiss. Not the head over heals love story but the slow and steady love story where you slowly fall into the other person. Is there anything you can't write. You are surely a woman of many talents.

The way you described Yonngi's ability to make music emotional has amazed me. The piece at the competition and the first one are my favs. I could feel the emotions.

And I really didn't expect the betrayal of Jungkook and especially Jimin. I really thought they changed. At least Kook redeemed himself at the end. But for 5 chapters I thought Kook was the main main manipulator. You really had me fooled with this one.

This special story was so beautiful. I am sad to move on tbh. But I had a blast. Thank you so much for it💜

I wish you the best for the upcoming week. Take care of yourself. Love you❤️

🌟

Öomfg you found Sonata Cantabile aka my comfort stories of all the comfort stories :( pleasee I am going to sob :(

I don't even know where to start because I just want to quote your whole asks jajfjds like everything you said makes me heart go all "omg 🥺" like hOLY MOLY I ADORE YOU!!!

I mean it, Sonata Cantabile is such a comfort story of mine. Not only because I wrote it at a time where I was struggling a lot but because Yoongi's stories always develop the tendency to become one of my comfort stories. He has that effect on me HAHAHAH.

And like, you saying that you enjoy the way I portrayed his social anxiety without making it his entire personality and also that you loved the OC really brightens up my world! ALSO OMFG THAT YOU LOVED THE WAY I DESCRIBED HIS MUSIC!! I worked so hard on those things and to see them be appreciated means the world to me!! 😔💜

Thank you so much for reading my lil gem of a story and for sending me this amazing ask! I truly appreciate you!!

ps: i am also currently re-editing it to get rid of a few mistakes and errors, which back then I didn't know where wrong but now that I have become a lil more educated make me cringe whenever I look at them. so look forward to a freshly edited Sonata Cantabile in the next few weeks jsjsjs!

[serendipitous-magic]

Why Don’t We Read: An Impromptu Essay By Me Because I’m Mad

You know how everyone is always saying “oh, I was such a big reader when I was a kid but I just don’t read books anymore, I don’t know what happened”? And how old people are always griping about “This is called a BOOK, it has no commercials and no loading screens, hardy har har har snorf har”?

What if it’s because we just don’t have time anymore?

Think about it. More and more and more of our time on earth is eaten up at our jobs just trying to survive in an economy where “minimum wage” covers maybe 1/3 of bare minimum expenses. And not only that, but we’re expected to juggle more and more and more things every single day. Long, uninterrupted hours simply... do not exist anymore.

Every day you have to not only commute to work, and then work, and then commute back, plus all the little chores and mundanities that make up every day life, cooking food and then eating food and folding laundry and cleaning and putting gas in the car and don’t forget that dentist appointment and better call Mom and if you have a lawn you have to water it and weed it and you have to figure out if you have enough to pay rent this month and you still have to call FedEx about that missing package and now you have to cook again and now there’s more laundry and so many emails to respond to and it’s been months since you washed your sheets hasn’t it and

BUT THEN

You are expected to do and be and keep up with so many things.

You’re supposed to work out, or jog, or do yoga, and you’re supposed to meditate or do a breathing exercise daily because it’s good for you, and while you’re at it, make sure that your living space looks like a magazine or an Instagram post, you need X minutes of sunshine a day to be healthy and Y minutes of exercise and Z number of steps, and you need to be an environmentalist and make sure you’re doing your part to save the planet, and you need to be constantly self improving, you need to be learning a language on Duolingo and doing projects like crocheting or writing or antiquing, you have to be completely unproblematic and constantly monitor everything you do and say and post because one tiny little thing can have the internet jumping down your throat, you’re supposed to be a nutritionist and a fitness nut and an expert on everything you talk about because society has become so black and white that saying “I don’t know” or “I didn’t know that before” is looked on as unacceptable,  you’re supposed to know what’s in your coffee and where it came from, you’re supposed to be a son a daughter a sibling a parent a student a mentor but also you’re supposed to be an interior designer, a small business owner (if you do any kind of Etsy or commission thing), a revolutionary (you’d better care about every overwhelming, exhausting injustice in the world and you’d better take action against it - see below), a curator (if only of your own blog), a rhetor (you’d better damn well know how to argue or you’re screwed in this society), a teacher (because school districts don’t teach anyone shit), a negotiation expert because it is car salesmen and insurance agencies’ job to fuck you over as hard as they possibly can.

Oh and don’t forget, you’re supposed to simplify your life and live in the moment. That one’s very important.

All of this is most likely while you’re already working anywhere from 20-40+ hours per week.

Keep up with your friends on Facebook, spend time to see what they’ve been up to, spend time posting your own pictures, catch up with your Instagram and Twitter and Tumblr feed, and for fuck’s sake you’d better make sure you’re reblogging all the right things about current social events, and you’d better also be caught up on the news, which all happens and changes so fast now that communication is instantaneous, keep up with all the politics, know every new outrage and be outraged about it, keep up with the politicians, the scientists begging us to listen, the latest news about the celebrity outed as a bigot, the latest shooting, the latest bombing, the latest protest, you’d better keep up with all of that and know what’s happening in the world, every minute of every day, and oh don’t worry about having to seek the news out, it comes to you. Every little ping on your phone is a new piece of news.

And you’d better care about it all. You’d better have enough energy in your body and mind to care about all the politics and all the injustice, and be rightly outraged every single day by the state of the world and every new horror, but you’d better also care about the dying planet and the burning rainforests, the oil spill, the glacial melt, you’d better be outraged about that too and you’d better be able to act on that outrage because those are all so important, and they are, but then you also have to care about insurance companies ruining people’s lives by making it impossible to afford healthcare, and you have to care about how agricultural companies have made cruel and byzantine webs of laws to drive farms out of business and make food, a basic necessity of life, a business, and one that’s designed not to feed and nurture people but to make money. And then while we’re on the topic of money you’d better care that the top 10 richest companies in the world create 70% of the world’s pollution, and you’d better care about how billionaires could fix most of the world’s biggest problems and they simply choose not to, and how Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and everyone like them have an amount of money and resources that no single person could ever come close to earning, and how if that wealth was fairly redistributed and recirculated into the economy then maybe minimum wage would actually earn you a living and that’s not even to mention the other systems of brutality and cruelty and injustice in society, the racism, the homophobia, the ableism, the ageism, the sexism, the -ism -ism -ism on for infinity

So you’d better buy and use reusable straws and reusable coffee cups, you’d better cut down on your CO2 emissions, you’d better take shorter showers, you’d better recycle your plastics and spend time at the store thinking about how you can buy things with less plastic wrapping, while you’re also thinking about those big agriculture companies, oh and by the way your eggs? The chickens they came from live in cages, barely being allowed to move for their entire lives, and you’d better be outraged about that too. Where do you think that milk came from? What does that cow look like? How about those peas, were they picked by someone being paid $1 an hour? Every single item on the shelf has some deep horror woven into its backstory. 

You’d better sign every petition you can and you’d better reblog the right things about taking action against injustice and you’d better be vocal about it, you’d better buy your soap and your clothes from small businesses instead of supporting the big evil ones that are much easier to access and much, much cheaper (because somebody suffered, somewhere along the line, to make it that cheap), you’d better remember to save your pasta water to water your plants with instead of wasting it, you’d better make your gifts by hand (if you have the time, which you don’t), and 

And then there’s the beauty industry.

You cannot go a single day without seeing something about “lose weight fast!” or “The Skinny Girl Cookbook!” or “This Weird Thing Burns Belly Fat!”, and everyone you see on screen is twig-thin or muscled, and don’t forget that you’re supposed to take the time to love yourself and practice body positivity too, oh wait no it’s too late, now body neutrality is the right thing to say and think. Every part of your face and body has some malady and you can buy a cure! Spend this much to get rid of acne, spend this much to wax your legs, buy this for wrinkles and that for stretch marks, this cream smooths out your skin to look like an eggshell instead of human flesh, that cream “fixes” those bumps on your arms that apparently aren’t allowed to exist, a basic face of makeup is at least 5 products if not 10, there are countless tutorials on how to make yourself better, because you aren’t okay as you are and you never will be as long as somebody can sell  you something to “fix” yourself. 

Oh, and that’s more time spent, too. Take the time to shave, to moisturize, to do your 3-step skincare routine, to slather all different kinds of goops and goos on various parts of you, take the time to pluck your eyebrows and exfoliate your feet and

Everything wants your attention, every second of every day. Because attention is money. Netflix Hulu Youtube watch this ad look at this ad Twitter Disney+ Twitter again Facebook more ads look at this ad sign up for this subscription package watch this new season of this show, watch this new movie, watch this watch this watch this watch look at this this watch this watch this look at this look at this look at this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this look over here look at this look at this look over here watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this look at this

And then at the end of the day you still have to reserve time for the people in your life that are important to you, and leave time for those long conversations with your sister or time to bond with your kid or time to go on dates with your S.O.

And then you’re supposed to take time for yourself. Self care. Like social media is always saying to do. Take a bath, drink some tea, relax. If you have time.

And all of that. ALL of that. Most likely happens in the small slivers of time before and after your work day, or on the weekend in the small sliver of time before or after you fold that laundry and cook dinner and attend to your personal matters and maybe hang out with a friend if you’re lucky.

And I just described a fairly privileged, not-on-the-brink-of-poverty, not-in-and-out-of-the-hospital, not-constantly-targeted-by-violence-or-oppression life. I just described a cushy life.

Is it any fucking wonder that we all feel shattered? Like our time, even on free days with absolutely nothing scheduled, is made up of tiny pieces? Is it any wonder that it seems like nobody can sit down with a book anymore?

I’m so fucking tired.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

all i know is gone (but i am not alone)

summary: “I want you to make me a promise, Avatar Aang,” Katara whispered. This time, when she placed her hand on top of his, he didn’t pull away. “When this is all over, when the war is won… Promise me that you’ll grieve.”

(alternatively: grieving is hard. aang’s friends work harder. a series of missing/expanded scenes from a:tla exploring aang’s grief through his friends’ eyes.)

i’ve been wanting to write an atla fic for a while now because there is not enough aang-centric content in the fandom and i am determined to fill that void (by myself if i must!!). if the read-more doesn’t work, please let me know!

~*~

1. katara: the world should have protected him… instead he has been asked to protect it. what an honor. no… what an injustice. (kids shouldn’t be fighting wars.)

It wasn’t fair was Katara’s immediate thought as she stared up at the starry night sky. If she was being honest with herself, ‘it wasn’t fair’ was often Katara’s constant thought, cruel proof of their painful reality that forever lingered in the back of her mind. A thought she wasn’t sure she’d ever be rid of. Her people hadn’t been free of it for a hundred years.

It wasn’t fair that her and Sokka’s dad had left to fight in an unwinnable war, that he’d abandoned them when they were only kids. It wasn’t fair that she’d had to be the one to find her mother’s brutally slain body, her mother who’d sacrificed her life to protect her. It wasn’t fair that she and Sokka had been forced to grow up before they had a chance to be young, that they’d been robbed of their childhood before they’d had time to be a child.

And Aang… Well, the world was cruelest to the kindest, wasn’t it?

It wasn’t fair that Aang had been the one to discover Monk Gyatso’s skeleton. It wasn’t fair that his entire people, every Air Nomad had been slaughtered a century ago and that he’d been forced to experience such an incomprehensible loss all at once. It wasn’t even fair that he was the Avatar, that the responsibility of stopping the war and saving the world was solely his to bear.

And even if that responsibility didn’t have to be his and his alone, Katara could tell Aang would make it so. Because that was simply how he was. He was hope incarnate, kind, unabashedly good - and Katara prayed the war wouldn’t strip him to the bone.

Waterbenders rose with the moon, hence why Katara was awake in the dead of night when she knew she should have been sleeping. The sky was clear. She couldn’t say the same for her mind.

Sokka had wrapped himself tightly in his sleeping bag, his lips parting ever so often to release a quiet snore, a sound that was usually annoying but now provided her at least a semblance of normalcy to life in the South Pole. The lemur - Momo, she was pretty sure he’d been dubbed - was curled up at Aang’s feet, while Aang himself lay snuggled into Appa’s side. His eyebrows were furrowed with an odd intensity that she wasn’t used to seeing on his face, and she absentmindedly wondered what he might be dreaming about.

Of course, just because she wondered didn’t mean she would die if she didn’t know, but the universe had a funny way of thrusting things upon her.

“No,” Aang murmured, rolling flat onto his back, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. “No. Gyatso…”

Katara noticed a slight breeze picking up through their makeshift campsite, and she pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders.

“Gyatso… I’m sorry. No - please, no!”

Katara’s eyes widened as she realized the wind was only getting stronger - and that its gradual increase seemed to be in perfect synchronization with Aang’s distressed mumbling. Was he going to enter the Avatar state?! Spirits, she didn’t know.

Okay. She needed to think rationally. She - She could do her best to calm him down and make sure their camp didn’t get blown away by Aang’s dream-induced bending. Yes, that was her plan. And hopefully she’d avoid waking Sokka up in the process.

“Aang?” she whispered, crawling over to him and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Aang, you need to wake up.”

He didn’t seem to hear her, his eyes still stiffly clenched shut. Momo had moved, too, having been woken up by the newfound breeze stirring around the camp. He was chittering next to Aang’s head, though the additional noise again seemed ineffective as the wind only picked up further. It was amazing how Sokka was sleeping through it all.

“Aang!” Katara tried again, raising her voice and trying to lightly shake his shoulder. “Aang, you’re going to blow away the camp! Wake up!” She was exaggerating, maybe, though the wind had increased to the point where her braid was starting to whip around over her shoulder. “Aang, please!”

“I’m sorry,” Aang whispered, and Katara’s heart skipped a beat before she realized he hadn’t been speaking to her. “It’s my fault, Gyatso. They’re all gone.”

Katara’s heart proceeded to drop into her stomach as what he was dreaming about finally clicked in her mind. “Oh, no,” she breathed. She redoubled her efforts to wake him, no longer caring if Sokka accidentally woke up, too, in the process. “It’s just a dream, Aang! It’s not” - spirits, it was real, she couldn’t lie to him - “You’re with Sokka and I now! We aren’t at the air temple anymore. Please, wake up!”

With one final shake, Aang sat bolt upright, and the wind that had been swirling around him like the beginnings of a tornado was suddenly blasted outwards, and Katara couldn’t stop the yelp that escaped her lips as she found herself literally being blown violently across the camp.

“Katara!” Aang cried, his eyes still hazy with sleep but rapidly clearing. He jumped to his feet, reaching out before pulling his hands back towards him. The air obeyed, and Katara breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she was slowly lowered back to the ground in front of Aang.

For a moment, neither spoke, both simply staring at the other as they tried to get a grasp on everything that had transpired in the last minute and a half. At least that was what Katara found herself doing. Maybe Aang was still trying to fully wake up.

Then Sokka let out a particularly loud snore, and the quiet moment was shattered.

“I’m so, so sorry, Katara!” Aang apologized, his words tumbling out of him like a waterfall. “I haven’t - I haven’t bended in my sleep like that since I was - maybe five? I don’t know what happened!” He hesitated, then looked up at her with wide, concerned eyes. “Are you okay?”

And if Katara’s heart fluttered, she ignored it.

“I’m fine,” she reassured him, sitting next to Appa’s leg and taking one of her friend’s hands to gently pull him down to the ground beside her. “I’m more worried about you, Aang.” She released his hand, placing both of hers in her lap. “Do you want to talk about your dream?”

The color drained from Aang’s face. “What?”

This was harder than Katara thought it was going to be. “You were having some kind of nightmare,” she pressed on. “About Gyatso, and… the other Air Nomads?”

Aang stiffened at her words, breaking eye contact. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aang…” She gave him as soft of a smile as she could muster. “You are incredibly talented at many things, but I don’t think lying is one of them.” She reached out to place her hand on top of his, wincing slightly as he pulled away. “It’s… It’s okay to feel sad, Aang. Today has been really hard and confusing for you” - her descriptions didn’t even begin to cover it, she knew - “and if you want to talk about it, then I’m here to listen.”

At first, Aang said nothing. Then he sighed. “I… can’t believe it’s been a hundred years.”

Katara couldn’t either, if she was honest. The idea of him surviving in an iceberg for a century was impossible for her to wrap her mind around.

“And… And now I’m the last airbender in the whole world,” he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. “All of the other Air Nomads are gone because I wasn’t there to protect them when the Fire Nation kil-” He took a shuddering breath, cutting himself off. “I’m the Avatar. I should have been able to do something, saved someone -”

“Aang, no,” Katara said, horrified by the thought that he’d blame himself for the death of the Air Nomads. “The Fire Nation, Fire Lord Sozin - they’re the ones to blame for…” Spirits, she couldn’t even bring herself to articulate the atrocity that had been committed. “For what happened to the Air Nomads. Not you. There was nothing you could have done, Aang, except…” Except die with them, she realized. And then… there would have been no hope at all.

She would never have met him, either.

“It’s not your fault, okay?” she finished. “And - And maybe there are still airbenders left!” Even if they hadn’t been seen in over a hundred years, who was to say that they hadn’t gone into hiding? Blending in among other nations? She herself still held out hope that waterbenders besides her from the Southern Water Tribe were still alive, maybe in the Earth Kingdom or even with the Northern Tribe.

There was a heaviness to Aang’s shoulders that told her he didn’t believe her words, but he didn’t argue, either. “The monks taught me that happiness is a choice,” he finally said, his fists clenching in his lap as his expression grew steely. “I’m the Avatar. That means I can’t let myself be weighed down by what happened a hundred years ago. I have to master the other three elements so I can end this war and save everyone, but I - I can choose to seek joy during my journey, too.”

Although he sounded almost as if he was reciting a creed or a mantra, Katara knew his words were sincere. Just from his one assertion she couldn’t help but be reminded of how the Air Nomads were the most enlightened of the four nations, or so Gran Gran had told her when she was little. Of all people, Aang deserved to feel devastated. He had suffered a loss greater than the world could comprehend. He should have been the angriest, bitter and driven for revenge more than anyone else - and yet here he was, still determined to choose forgiveness, to seek happiness from it all. Even so…

“The monks were very wise,” Katara mused after a pause. “But… I don’t think there’s any shame in feeling grief, either.” When her mother had died… sometimes Katara felt like the worst thing she’d done to herself was immediately stepping into her mother’s shoes. Maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so much if she’d given herself more time to breathe. To mourn. To feel.

Aang’s gaze hardened. “I’m the Avatar,” he repeated. “My duty is first and foremost to the world. I’m not letting anyone else down.”

And if Katara’s heart shattered, she ignored it.

What could she say? How could she possibly remind him that he didn’t have to bear that burden alone? That she and Sokka were his family now? How could she help lift a century-old weight from his shoulders, a weight equivalent to tens of thousands of lives?

How could she comfort her new friend?

“I want you to make me a promise, Avatar Aang,” Katara whispered. This time, when she placed her hand on top of his, he didn’t pull away. “When this is all over, when the war is won… Promise me that you’ll grieve.” He needed to let himself feel - grief, anger, pain, relief. Whatever emotions he needed to process, she wanted to be certain that he wouldn’t bottle them up for the rest of his life.

It was undoubtedly advice she needed to take for herself, too.

Aang hesitated, then gave her a small smile. “Okay. I promise.”

Katara breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Good.” She let go of his hand. “Now, I think we both need to get some rest. We have a long day of travelling ahead of us tomorrow.”

Aang laughed, and spirits if Katara wasn’t relieved to hear that sound. “Yeah. You’re right.” He snuggled back up against Appa, but not before giving her another grateful smile. “Thank you, Katara.”

She could do nothing but return his smile with one of her own. “You’re welcome, Aang.”

And while he drifted off into a more peaceful slumber than before, Katara remained awake, still energized by the bright glow of the moon. Perhaps when Aang mastered waterbending he’d be able to join her.

Spirits, it wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair that Aang had been given no time to grieve. It wasn’t fair that his mourning was ancient history for everyone else. It wasn’t fair that no one else could ever come close to understanding his loss, because spirits knew all she wanted to do was help ease his pain.

Aang was so, so strong. And she desperately wished he didn’t have to be.

They were just kids. All of them. Even Sokka could hardly be considered an adult. No, it wasn’t fair, it never had been and never would be, but… It was reality.

The word left a bitter taste in her mouth. 

At the same time… Katara believed Aang could save the world. It was a conviction stronger than anything she’d ever felt before, and she was determined to do everything in her power to make sure he was given the chance. As long as Aang was there… The future looked bright - didn’t it?

~*~

continue reading on AO3 for bumi’s, sokka’s, toph’s, zuko’s, suki’s, and katara’s (again!) povs :D this bitch is 14k and i didn’t want to kill anyone’s dash lmao hence why i’ve only put katara’s first pov here.

[tzifron]

The creation and rise of ecofascism actually began in the early 1900s, peaked in the 1970s during the birth of the modern environmental movement, and is now rising again with the current administration’s stance on immigration, environmental policy, and the ever-present effects of climate change. The founder of California’s first redwood and wild buffalo conservation organizations was also the founder of ecofascism (Darby, 2019). He was the president of the Bronx Zoo and responsible for kidnapping a Mbuti man and putting him on display in the zoo with apes. This white man, Madison Grant, believed the Nordic race was in decline and that his generation had the authority to decide which lives should be preserved and others discarded. In 1906 he authored The Passing of the Great Race, or The Racial Basis of European History , which would later become Hitler’s personal bible. He advocated for the incredibly racist Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Restriction Act of 1924 (Sparrow, 2019). Madison Grant introduced eugenics as central to the environmental movement, and the rise of ecofascism continued to grow. He is still so influential today that Anders Breivik, the Norwegian extremist who massacred 69 youth at a Labor Party Camp, made a tribute to Grant’s racial theory in his manifesto (Purdy, 2015).

In 1968, Paul Eirich, an entomologist at Stanford, published Population Bomb, in which he argued that ecological destruction and the majority of social problems on earth could be attributed to overpopulation and sterilization as the solution (Mann, 2018). Eirich’s publication and the growing environmental movement of the 1970s led to the first Earth Day in which 20 million people attended (Sparrow, 2019). Today, his theory has lost some of its stranglehold mainly due to slowed population growth, but his influence is still felt.

Modern ecofascists today draw on Eirich’s theory of overpopulation and believe that it puts a strain on natural resources and that, post-climate change, masses of people will be a threat to social stability (Darby, 2019). The only way to prevent this from happening in the future is to dramatically reduce the human population. As Pentti Linkola, a radical ecologist and ecofascist puts it: “When the lifeboat is full, those who hate life will try to load it with more people and sink the lot. Those who love and respect life will take the ship’s axe and sever the extra hands that cling to the sides of the boat” (Linkola, 1989). Today, this looks like white nationalism and xenophobia. Climate change is already one of the biggest drivers of immigration. Some climate change researchers argue that climate change has had a part in wars like the civil war in Syria, leading to mass migrations of people (Darby, 2019). Like many white nationalists, ecofascists believe that allowing immigrants into the United States is suicide. A popular meme among the far right is “save trees, not refugees” (Stern, 2019). Ecofascist beliefs like these are a major part of why Patrick Crusius murdered 22 people and injured more than a dozen in El Paso, Texas, in August 2019. Before the massacre, Crusius posted to Facebook the attack was “in response to a Hispanic invasion of Texas.” An entire page of Crusius’ manifesto is dedicated to theories originally founded by Eirich, discussing demographic shift and overpopulation. In his manifesto, “An Inconvenient Truth,” he wrote, “If we can get rid of enough people, then our way of life can be more sustainable.” Crusiusalso discussed the “decimation of the environment” and corporations contributions to overharvesting. Crusius was inspired by the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque shooter, Brenton Harrison Tarrant (Darby, 2019). Tarrant is a self-proclaimed ecofasisct who, in his own manifesto, stated that “there is no nationalism without environmentalism.” He massacred 51 people in May 2019 (Barton, Smee, 2019).

White supremacy is clearly not new to the environmental movement. When we promote the idea that social tragedies are a must in order to save the environment, we repeat a dangerous trope that has and will continue to cost many lives, many of whom are minorities. When one decides that population reduction is the most beneficial way to save the planet and minimize our impact, one has to choose who needs to be reduced – and it has consistently been minorities, immigrants, and marginalized peoples. It may not seem harmful to post misleading pictures of swans in Italy or call COVID-19 earth’s ‘vaccine’, but it contains an underlying tone very reminiscent of a devastating, racist, and violent sector of environmentalism.

We have already seen the consequences of scapegoating certain racial groups during COVID-19. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have now averaged to about 100 per day across the United States. Over 1,000 hate crimes have been reported since the start of the pandemic (Rep. Judy Chu, 2020). Labeling coronavirus a “Chinese virus” reinforces xenophobia and racism towards Asian people. When Patrick Crusius referred to “our way of life” in the El Paso shooting, he was referring to an all-white way of life, a way that would diminish multiculturalism and stop the demographic shift that has supposedly expedited the environmental crisis (Klee, 2020).

On top of the violence and genocide associated with ecofacsism, ecofascist tropes routinely disregard who is really at fault for the environmental crisis. Since 1988, only 100 companies have been responsible for 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and more than half of these can be traced to just 25 companies, including Exxon, Shell, BP, and Chevron (Riley, 2017). These companies are and will be responsible for catastrophic species extinction and global food scarcity over the next 30 years. Several billion people will have to and are already paying the price for a small number of state and private corporations to make record-breaking profits off oil. What’s even worse is that these corporations knew their potential impact on the global environment as far back as 1965, before the climate crisis (Taylor and Watts, 2019). Ecofasicists place the blame for climate change on population demographics rather than corporate groups and capitalism. Ecofasicists ignore the intertwining relationship between capitalist profits and environmental devastation. In a capitalist society, the consumption of goods is the center of everything (Reyes, 2019). The irrationality of it all is that it comes even at the expense of the state’s people and their wellbeing. Capitalism uses resources until it must transition or find new sources. From an environmentalist perspective, the resources are fossil fuels, and the consequence is environmental devastation and climate change. Ecofascism places this blame on the individual rather than the system as a whole. There are grave flaws with mindsets like this. Ecofascism has no place within the environmental movement. It is harmful and destructive to all human beings with an emphasis on those who identify as marginalized and non-white.

Now, this isn’t to say that every person who tweets or minimizes the impact of COVID-19 has the intention of being an ecofascist and is aware of the history and serious flaws within this mindset. It’s just to say that where there are unfathomable human tragedies, a dark, ecofascist side of environmentalism has always coexisted with it that ignores the overarching systemic issues that play a role. Until we call out the injustices in attributing environmental benefits to mass human loss, ecofascist tropes, unknowingly or not, are bound to rise and resurface in the midst of human calamities. The next time you see a post or tweet about the environmental benefits of shelter-in-place mandates, be careful and think about the potential and underlying repercussions of views like these on a broader, global, scale. Ecofascism does not have a place in the environmental movement, and well-meaning or not, articles and tweets with underlying ecofascist tropes should be scrutinized and called out.