#even though i try to be as broadly informed as i can im still gonna be biased

[nyancrimew]

also i ofc don't have the most informed opinion on the race part of the question (which is to say even less than on the general non western aspects of this) which is why i mostly did not talk about that in specifics, i am unfortunately not really aware of much writing on this topic even though it's incredibly interesting, and i'd absolutely read more from someone more qualified to speak on not just the hacktivism aspects of this if anyone knows of something or wants to take this upon themselves!

Do you think your race/nationality may influence on the consequences of hacking? Or like how far you can even get?

I'm asking because I very rarely see a "prominent" hackitvist that's not white European/USA

it is definitely a factor yes, especially with me, like the only reason im free rn is because switzerland doesn't extradite citizens. but another very big part of it is that to become a widely prominent hacktivist (and as with many other things) you either need to do things western media cares about or get in trouble with the law big time (in the west), which also usually implies being in a country that actively works together with primarily the US or other empires that actively and publicly work against hacking and hacktivists. there are lots of hacktivists in asia and latin america (specifically phineas fisher here also being a popular figure, who is believed to be in latam and has yet to be caught) as well especially (also elsewhere ofc but i dont know of as many), but they are either doing hacktivism within their communities which are usually not internationally that news worthy, or are out of reach enough for the US empire to never get unmasked.

in a lot of ways being a popular hacktivist as an individual is actually moreso a failing in staying safe from consequences by either you or people you work with (see in the history of lulzsec and most of the now well known anonymous figures in the US) or a conscious choice done out of the knowledge that you'll be relatively safe/recklessness. but i definitely feel like international (social) media bias towards western interests is also just a very big part of why you will mostly only ever hear of (assumed) white european/american hacktivists.

and also just as a quick closing note, i would not say that (even white) people in the US or the US sphere of influence are safe from consequences due to hacking in any way, the US is one of the strictest countries when it comes to persecuting hackers and goes to long ways to be as cruel as possible, and especially so with hacktivists. this goes so far that in the 2020 counterintel report the US government put hacktivists/leaktivists on the top 5 biggest threats to the US government, which is ofc both a honor (and shows it works and scares them) but is ofc also scary as fuck. it is this big spectacle they make out of persecuting hackers and making examples out of them that also leads to more of the very distorted prominence of western hackers.

[toxicsamruby]

what are your thoughts on sam as a man of color?

OKAY so i do sort of go into this in my fic but im not gonna make u sift thru it for my opinions cuz i like to hear myself talk :) also disclaimer im gonna be exclusively talking abt the early seasons cuz i dont know or understand whats going on post s4. also also disclaimer all the posts im making abt this r about john as a white man and maryam as an arab woman . OK lets get into it

so one of the big differences btwn sam and dean is a question of assimilation. and dont get me wrong both of them do it in different ways but the first information we get about sam is that he’s trying VERY hard to assimilate not into the hunter cowboy culture that dean is but into the PROTECTED lifestyle of middle/upper class normalcy and ivy leagues and a pretty blonde wife and a respectable job in tax law or whatever. like a lot of sam’s characterization in the early seasons is about striving not necessarily towards “Normalcy” (although thats an essential part of it) but, more broadly, towards the moral ideal that’s been set forth by the white supremacist christian hegemony of american culture. and this manifests in the way that he runs away to stanford and tries so so hard to fit in, and also in his self destructive devotion to the christian god. it’s almost entirely based in a feeling of being unclean or unholy, and he believes in god not as a comfort but as a desperation for salvation, or a purification of what he believes is dirty blood.

so sam is TRYING to assimilate into this mainstream moral ideal, we see that, and there are times where he actually almost succeeds! he got into stanford with a full ride on his own merit! he did really well all four years, and he ended up with friends and a white woman he wanted to marry and entrance into a career that would have marked him as a respectable and fairly well off man for the rest of his life. he is a faithful christian, he prays every day and he reads the bible and he genuinely believes. surface level, he might have been comfortable forgetting about his roots and assimilating successfully for the rest of his life. but, crucially, he DOESNT succeed. why?

there is something marking him as “different” the entire time, something inherent, something he can’t shake off no matter how hard he tries to repress it. at stanford, of course, its his childhood, the monster hunting, the fucked up family, the extreme poverty. with christianity, its the demon blood. he can pretend all his life to be a good christian middle class lawyer with a nice white wife and a nice picket fence, but at the end of the day that life was not built for somebody like sam, and to succeed in it he will have to repress parts of himself that will never go away.

put this into the context of race. i said that i think dean’s relationship with gender white supremacy americana etc becomes more interesting when he’s a brown skinned man of color. dean is unable to assimilate into the kind of life that sam aims for. he has a markedly more antagonistic relationship with cops, he couldn’t get through school even though he’s demonstrably very intelligent, and he just doesn’t make the kind of first impression that sam does; people see sam as sweeter, kinder, more trustworthy, somebody who can be reasoned with. dean, by contrast, is usually treated with more wariness, more distrust. it’s dean who’s the primary target of the manhunt (before they fucking dropped that plotline lmao). all of this evidence taken together, sam, i think, is noticeably lighter than dean, maybe even conditionally white passing.

and this is an important part of how he’s trying to assimilate. he can feel that he’s ALMOST there, that he can ALMOST be the american moral christian ideal he’s been taught is more important than anything, if he can just contort himself into something that closely resembles a middle class christian white man. but that’s all he can ever do, is RESEMBLE that, no matter how hard he works. so he might be a token diversity point at his workplace or his school: of course he earned his place there, but he’s still aware that his position doesn’t come with the same ease of the middle class christian white man sitting next to him. so sam tries to make himself smaller, keeps himself clean shaved, his hair neat, doesn’t let himself tan too much, speaks softly and eloquently, represses his anger, doesn’t talk about his family, dates white girls, has unthreatening career aspirations, tries so so so so so hard to be a good christian because maybe, he thinks, someday he’ll wake up and he won’t feel like he’s wrapped in cellophane, separated by something clear but strong from the culture he’s trying to earn a place in. maybe he’ll feel one day that he’s earned his place, that he’s just the same as everybody around him, that he won’t have this unspoken but obvious difference to him that follows him everywhere. he thinks maybe he’ll be able to separate himself entirely from monstrousness, that one day he’ll pray and it won’t feel like begging to be somebody else.

but when dean comes for him. slowly but surely, he starts to realize that there never has been and never will be a place for him in this american white supremacist christian culture, and the cracks start to appear. he realizes that he’s never really felt at home anywhere, that the roots he’d tried so hard to put down were all wrapped in cellophane too, and after jess’s death, its the easiest thing in the world to pull those roots up because he never belonged there anyway. he starts getting angrier, stops caring who hears him yell. he stops repressing the powers that he’s been hiding from himself for as long as he can remember. very slowly, he looks this fact straight in the face: he is a monstrous Other, and he will never be anything else. he’s always been more self aware than dean, but it doesn’t help him now. he becomes angrier and more desperate all at once, pushing dean away and pulling him closer at the same time, praying more vehemently and still using his powers more often, letting himself become scarier looking and still sweet talking cops. he’s in this permanent state of conflict, because it’s virtually impossible for him to realize that the value system he’s had such faith in his entire life is false and cruel, so when he finds that he’s permanently locked outside of it, it doesn’t help him, it only convinces him that he’s a monster.

[noblasse]

This is a little rewrite of this post here.

I had more I wanted to add, and I wanted to try and change it up just a smidge.

Regis x Ik-Han with barely there Shinwoo X Seira. Set after Rai and Raskreia’s date. Also, is the PC place a cafe? Because I can’t remember,but it’s late and I don’t wanna go digging through the book to find out lol

@foggymagic

~

Regis waited outside the school. The others were finishing up some things inside, but after five -ten -twenty minutes, Redis was about fed up.

“What on earth is taking them so long?” He turned to head back into the school, but stopped short when he saw Ik-han walking out of the front doors.

“Where’s everyone else?” He asked as the other approached.

“They aren’t walking with us today.”

Well, that was news to Regis.

“Why not?” 

They were with the Noblesse, so he wasn’t too concerned- however it was still their job to protect the children- and even the Noblesse if he was being honest with himself.

“Yuna went with Suyi to a last minute modeling gig.” He was doing something on his phone, not actually looking at Regis.

“Rai was called by the Chairman-”

“And Seira?”

He didn’t miss the smirk the other gave.

“She’s on a date with Shinwoo.”

There was a very long pause, and Ik-han looked up after a few seconds too long.

“It’s the fifteenth?”

There was another lengthy pause, before Ik-han broke it.

“Huh?”

“Today is the fifteenth. That is the date.”

“No, no- like a date. Like, they went out together alone- You do know what a date is, right?”Ik-han could not believe- no, no wait, he actually could.

“You Nobles are so sheltered. You’ve never been on a date before?”

“Considering I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about? No, I’d say not.”

Regis watched as the other seemed to think about something, his hands raising to his chin as he narrowed his eyes in thought.

“Alright then, let’s go on a date!” The other smiled broadly, as though Regis was supposed to understand. “Then, you can even brag to aaaall of your Noble friends that you’ve officially been on a date!”

Regis was above bragging (kinda) as it was undignified to do so, but he was curious as to what a date was.

He nodded.

“Great!” Ik-han stuffed his phone into his bag. “Why don’t we head to the park then! Since this is your first date, will make it a classic.”

“I shall follow your lead.”

The smile Regis was given made him look away.

As they walked towards the park, Ik-Han did most of the talking while Regis listened, acknowledging where necessary. Ik-Han was used to the silence though- it was just how the other was.

“Oh, ice cream!”

Regis was pulled out of the steady lull of conversation by the sudden exclamation.

“Ah-”

What the devil was-?

Ik-Han seemed to recognize his confusion.

“Have you never had ice cream before?” He asked, his expression scandalized.

“I have not.”

“Wow. You Nobles are so deprived.”

Ik-Han grabbed the others hand, and Regis nearly pulled back before relaxing and letting the other pull him toward the large red and green umbrella at the end of the park. A man was standing beneath at a food stand.

“Two vanilla waffle cones please.” Ik-han said as they approached the man.

Ik-han was bouncing on his heels, glancing over at Regis and grinning widely.

“I'm excited to see you try ice cream for the first time. There’s no doubt you’re gonna like it.”

The man turned back to them, and Regis took the food before holding out a cone to Regis, who simply stared at it.

“Just take it,” Ik-Han rolled his eyes.

Regis took it, jolting once again as his hand met the others very briefly.

"Come on! Quickly before they melt,” He grabbed Regis’ hand again, who was strangely beginning to get used to it, and pulled him over under a tree and into the shade.

“That is way better,” He sighed, leaning back on his free hand.

Regis hesitated, before finally taking a seat beside him.

Copying his friend, Regis licked the top of the cone, eyes widening in surprise.

It was sweet.

“It’s good isn’t it?” Ik-han asked.

“It is,” Regis seceded, “though hardly a dignified treat,” he remarked as a bit dripped onto his fingers, making them sticky.

“That’s why you hafta eat it fast, ” Ik-han nodded sagely.

“Well, not too fast or-”

Regis jolted and set a hand to his mouth, eyes narrowed.

“...You bit it didn’t you?”

He nodded, and Ik-Han couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sorry, I should have warned you. Most people’s teeth are too sensitive for that. Also, if you eat it too fast you might get a brain freeze. But, if that happens you juss ha’ta do dis!” He said, shoving his thumb in his mouth.

“If you press your thumb to the roof of your mouth it gets rid of the brain freeze!”

“Really?” Regis asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, but if you never have to try it out you’ll be lucky.”

Regis nodded, and went back to eating his ice cream, Ik-Han copying him and doing the same.

After a little while of silence, Ik-Han looked over at his friend. He took in his profile. He still very much had a regal air about him, but sitting in a park like this, eating ice cream and looking up at the trees, there was a serene feeling that came from the sight, and Ik-Han’s smile softened as he watched the other.

He wished he saw this side of him a little more often.

His free hand snaked to his pocket for his phone, but the movement didn’t go unnoticed by the other, who turned his gaze on Ik-Han.

Ik-Han held his breath for a beat.

Obviously, Regis was handsome. He, Seira, Rai, and Raskeria were all beautiful. But suddenly, Ik-Han became acutely aware of just how handsome the white haired boy sitting next to him was. Especially with his eyes trained on his own.

“What are you doing?” Regis asked.

“Uh, here,” Ik-Han pulled out his phone, and hid his face behind it, “Act candid while eating your ice cream.”

“Why?” The Nobel asked,even as he returned to his former position.

“So, I can get a picture to look back on. So, you can remember your first date!”

“Oh, alright.”

He licked his ice cream, looking through the sun lit trees, ignoring the phone a few inches from his face.

“There,” Ik-Han fiddled with the phone, “Damn, you don’t have a bad angle do you?”

Regis looked at him, head tilted slightly to the left as he licked his ice cream again.

Ik-han, blushed.

“N-nevermind.”He sat back down, and then leaned against the other, “Let’s get one together now!”

Ik-Han held up the phone, angled down at them and smiled, while Regis simply tilted his head to see the picture better and continued eating his ice cream.

“Perfect! I’ll send you the pictures!”

The two sat in silence, leaning back in the grass as they ate their ice cream, when Regis broke the silence.

“So this is what a date is?”

“Well, kind of, yeah. I guess it depends on the people involved. Sometimes people go shopping, sometimes they have dinner. You can go to the movies, an amusement park- you can do just about anything really. The point of the date is to have a good time.”

“So, it’s like when everyone goes to the PC Cafe?”

“Well, not exactly...” Ik-Han rubbed the back of his head nervously. “It’s usually between two people who like each other.”

“I see...”

“So, are you? Having a good time?” Ik-Han asked, looking at his almost-gone ice cream, and definitely not avoiding the others stare.

“...Yes,” His eyes snapped to the other, “Though it is rather undignified for me to eat such a thing, I am enjoying this ice cream. And this park is well-maintained and nice. And I am enjoying my company. So, I would say I am having a good time on this date.”

He turned to the other, and a small smile crossed his lips.

Ik-Han, looked down and tucked his head down into his arms.

“‘m glad,” He said into his arm.

“Ik-han are you-”

“Ahhh, brain freeze!” Ik-Han sat bolt upright, his hand holding his head.

Regis jumped before registering the others words.

“Oh, quick! Put your thumb in your mouth! If your brain freezes you could die, you have to use your thumb!”

Regis did as told, not because of his non-existant brain freeze, but one- to distract the other from his blush, and two- to stop himself from laughing at the others serious expression.

After a few moments, he pulled his hand away and smiled sheepishly at the other.

“Im, uh, all right now. Nothing to worry about.”

Regis nodded and sat back, suddenly aware of how close he was in the others personal space.

“It’s a good thing you taught me that trick, or I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what to do.”

Regis bit the last of his cone, and Ik-Han once again had to stop himself from laughing.

“You’re right.”

Regis phone (something Frankenstein had insisted on him and Seira having) went off then, and he checked it to see a message from Frankenstein. No, scratch that, it was signed his grandfather.

‘Regis. I have been informed that you and Seira have not arrived at the Noblesse’s home for the evening. I have already been informed of Seira’s whereabouts, so if you could contact me with yours that would be well.’

“Who is that- Ooooh, is it your grandfather! What’s he saying?”

“He wants to know my whereabouts.” Regis said as he stared at the phone. His hands were still sticky, and were already going to leave small amounts of residue on the phone.

“Here, that’s the headmaster’s number right? I’ll just text them from my phone.”

Regis nodded and leaned over the others shoulder to see what he was typing.

It was the picture of the two of them from earlier, and a small block of text.

“We’re on a date!”

Regis could swear only a few moments later he felt a large familiar power surge coming from the direction of the school.

[notatypicaldimension]

Tagged!

Thanks for tagging me @theragamuffininitiative ! 

I tag @hurtbyintensejourneys @thylovelylionheart @falconhawk9​ 

— what was your last…

1. drink: tea!

2. phone call: my mom.

3. text message: to a group chat with friends 

4. song you listened to: “Meltdown” by Lorde, Q-Tip, Push, HAIM, Stromae

5. time you cried: uuuhhh I think it was a couple of days ago, when I was just trying to get out of some pretty bad states and actually felt OK enough to cry so it was a good thing! 

— have you ever…

6. dated someone twice: No.

7. kissed someone and regretted it: No.

8. been cheated on: No.

9. lost someone special: Sorta....if the term is used quite broadly.

10. been depressed: Haha. Yes. Ofc. 

11. gotten drunk and thrown up: Niet. 

— fave colours

12. Purple, or gray/black scale probably. 

13. I actually quite like brown....so maybe that? 

14. Hm. Probably a deep navy? Like a sailor outfit blue? 

— in the last year have you…

15. made new friends: Yes. Absolutely. 

16. fallen out of love: No. 

17. laughed until you cried: lol yes (thank you to theinsanereader for your book wedding video)

18. found out someone was talking about you: Yes! 

19. met someone who changed you: Hahahahah...yeeeesss. Helped me a lot tbh. 

20. found out who your friends are: In a way. Like it’s not that I didn’t know before, it’s more like now I understand it better in terms of human leanings etc. 

21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list: Uuuhhhhh....no, not on the lips.

— general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl: Nearly everyone, there are a few I only know via the internet somehow, but I still know them from everyday things, or I have already met them.

23. do you have any pets: Nope!

24. do you want to change your name: No. 

25. what did you do for your last birthday: Oh boy. It was a weird day but good. I spent time with a cute lil kiddo, went on a walk and saw lots of flowers, watched an episode of doctor who, went out for starbucks with a friend, and got to hold a baby amongst some other more ritualistic things. 

26. what time did you wake up today: like, 10:30 or so. 

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: Probably just listening to music and...um...maybe writing down in my diary or something?? idek.

28. what is something you can’t wait for: Hmm...this is gonna sound lame but fr I have very little social life so seeing a couple of friends once their schooltime frees up a bit more or whatever....oh! and also my little sister is competing this weekend o I can’t wait to go and watch her and her team :)

30. what are you listening to right now: Static, for the most part, and in the muffled background, my family just doing everyday things (lil screeches, telling offs, whAT?! etc.) lol. 

31. have you ever talked to a person named tom: For sure. 

32. something that’s getting on your nerves: HA. The government, and some approaches that the American Evangelical Church seems to be oblivious to or non-sympathetic smh. 

33. most visited website: “Youtube and Tumblr are probably about equal.” (lol same)

34. hair colour: Brown. 

35. long or short hair: Long..

36. do you have a crush on someone: No... at least I don’t think so. Idek if I get crushes or whatever idek it’s confusing moving on

37. what do you like about yourself: Ooh. I like that the single most re-occuring obstacle in my life is that I’m so confusing to both myself (im still learning its ok to be me) and the entire world that it’s very, VERY conflicting in odd ways and that that is what makes everything mean things to me.....it’s like my essence etc. and I now know my main passion etc......tl;dr I like that I’ve figured out what the single epitome of most of what I am is and how its path has severely been distraught, and that though it’s going to take a lot of work to get back, it’s also just going to be the most incredible thing. 

38. want any piercings: nope.

39. blood type: sis, if y’all think I’m gonna put out vip information like that on this already crackhead-justice owned website by same-type  company like yahoo, y’all are w r o n g.  

40. nicknames: Uuuuhhhh. idk. @hurtbyintensejourneys​ , you should give me one. 

41. relationship status: Single. And probably most definitely not ready to mingle (but it’s ok! I’ll be someday, sometime soon...ish)

42. sign: Taurus. But I don’t follow horoscopes. 

43. pronouns: she/her

44. fave tv show: Idek anymore....I love Lie to me, and like rags said, Fringe (tho I am still on like s2 aahh), and maybe Doctor who? I actually love Granite flats and GMW/BMW as well tho. 

45. tattoos: Nope.

46. right or left handed: Right-handed. 

47. ever had surgery: Nope. 

48. piercings: No.

49. sport: Alrighty; look, I will watch just about anything even though I’m bad at it....I think it has something to do with an interest in developing my recognizing of stuff/talent???? also it’s v cool. 

50. vacation: uuuhhh????? Probably my last “”vacation”” was in California? idek. 

51. trainers: I think they’re Nike. 

— more general

52. eating: I just want some sushi right now. The good stuff tho. NOt the *shudders* doobly-tasting kind. I love Asian food that’s not spicy tho. That’s some real bod-foodspiration right there for me.

53. drinking: Water, tea, juice that’s actually juice...... fresh smoothies. 

54. I’m about to watch: probably just safe-feeling trailers for me, so like, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl or something. 

55. waiting for: My mental health/processing desire to buffen up a little so I can actually start doing things again maybe (that’d be nice). Perseverance, basically, I guess.

56. want: Soundproof area maybe, to record //things//? A small local group of friends. 

57. get married: At some point, maybe. I’d not be surprised if I end up single tho. BUt I feel like I won’t which is....honestly.....sorta scarier for me rn dfhbjdhsbjdf

58. career: lol. idk. God’s plan? 

— which is better

59. hugs or kisses: hugs

60. lips or eyes: eyes, I think.

61. shorter or taller: taller

62. older or younger: depends

63. nice arms or stomach: niCe ArmS oR SToMacH? (bruh idk)

64. hookup or relationships: relationships is the only way to go, and not only in romance my friends. 

65. troublemaker or hesitant: Uuuhhh....hesitant. but you know what...imma pretend I come off as, like, a fine brand so. Hésitante. 

— have you ever

66. kissed a stranger: No lol. 

67. drank hard liquor: No. Thank GOD. 

68. turned someone down: Only one (1) time. Sorta. 

69. sex on first date: N o. 

70: broken someone’s heart: I actually don’t know. I don’t think so. I hope not. 

71. had your heart broken: Not like that, but also yes. At least a little. It’s sorta like having to go back and unstitch a stitch of yourself that’s all messed up; you thought you’d be ok with moving on from it, except ways further along you realise that you can’t and then having to go undo everything and start back up but even then your thread is all folded up and a little extra rugged. 

72. been arrested: No. 

73. cried when someone died: I want to say yes. But I actually am not sure. For sure, in fictional chracters so....(dad from my big fat greek wedding voice) there you go

74. fallen for a friend: No....I don’t think so. 

— do you believe in

75. yourself: Sorta. But inherently? yes. 

76. miracles: !!!! yes! If y’all knew some of the stories I’ve known....I love God so much I can’t even. It’s so marvelous. I just....Ah!

77. love at first sight: Yes, but only because I think it’s like some weird intuitive thing that’s legitimate for some people. Or maybe even a spiritual thing sometimes? 

78. santa claus: “He exists in every way that counts.” 😂 looolll

79. angels: Yes. Again, if y’all knew...

— misc

80. eye colour: brown

81. best friend’s name: I don’t have a best friend rn. 

82. favourite movie: Idk. 

83. favourite actor: Idk!

84. favourite cartoon: *Idk intensifies*

85. favourite teacher’s name: Not gonna say any specific names, but probably my German teacher in middle school, or 5th grade teacher. Also, non-official teacher friend man who taught me abstract concepts way beyond my grade level. I love them so much and they continue to have a very important impact in my life voyage.