#for my 3 30 am rant about this but its just... its so vile and im not sure how people can not see her as INCREDIBLY racist and many other

[volfoss]

like heres the thing- at surface level, you can really be impressed with rices inclusivity. like in a world where things were not horrible, to have a prominent black vampire in merrick, have an intersex genderfluid character in blackwood farm, billions of bisexuals etc, it all seems really nice. and then you look more into it and find that the way she writes anyone who doesnt fit a very specific mold is written horribly. merrick is treated as a sex object and a temptress as early as.. age 14 or so. she is never given the pov during the entire book that is TITLED AFTER HER because its all from a white guy who's been objectifying her forever. petronia (the character in blackwood) is misgendered often and treated as inhuman often in a very jarring way. her way of "inclusivity" with sexuality often includes very large age gaps between adults and minors treated completely normally and never really unpacking the damage that does to the victims, as well as incestuous relationships that if anything are fetishized to the point where i am positive she had a kink for it. her idea of representation is so incredibly surface level and doesn't really seem to examine many viewpoints outside of her own, nor take any care to handle any topic with any sensitivity. do i need to bring up the gay disabled vampire who is the only disabled vampire ever and is greatly treated with mass amounts of ableism from the woman who supposedly cares about him (if we are to believe rice's narrative that every slave owner just lovesss their slaves and wants the best for them and its GOOD for them to be enslaved). we are supposed to believe an author with this bad of a track record actually cares?

[marengogo]

came across this thread today, the op was saying how Army don’t stream for the members equally, and that we all should love all their music.

I’m lucky I do, and I don’t agree necessarily with the thread, but is there some truth to it? Have the company sabotaged the members? Do they care about their solo careers?

I get the feeling they do and don’t. As in, they respected the decision for them to go solo but only to a degree, bc I can see there was some errors, or fumbles along the way, and each solo fan base that’s come along be it Army or vile solos, has a gripe.

Is it bc the members just want to be in the group? To me they keep saying it, Jimin said it to Yoongi, so you have him being so successful in his solo debut, and gaining awards and records left and right, but to Yoongi he says the group comes first. Obviously solos ignore this, are demanding pjm 3 already, think he’s going to act next, and want a world tour next year. Are they going to be disappointed? Or will Army?

How do you think this will look next year and beyond?

The one thing I do agree with the person about it getting them to do weird things when the come back, maybe not Run but kinda, the childish things surely should be left at the door? Not bc they weren’t good, but they are all nearly 30 plus.

Dear Anon,

Thank you for stopping by with this Ask 🙏🏾. There’s actually been many, very interesting Asks that have been sent, which deserve an answer but this one has topics I’ve been meaning to talk about since June but business and laziness have been reigning supreme in my neck of the woods so … with regards to; How I view Chapter 1.5. Cause you see, we call it Chapter 2, for obvious reasons, but I am almost certain that on an episode of Suchwita one of the boys mentioned how their coming back together as a band would be what they consider Chapter 2, which you could be thinking “Tomatoh, Tomahto”, but I think it is a very distinctive chapter in the story of their lives, which deserves its proper nomenclature.

So, thanks to you, I am basically going to be ranting, educatedly as always, and because I have been seriously frustrated about many points within your Ask, I will be probably be at an all time sarcasm, but I want to say this now, please rest assured, it is not directed at you at all mainly at majority of the people on the blue Bird App 🤡. I will do my best to obviously answer all your questions in the process, however, if I were to fail in doing so, please feel free to write back and say “Yo, you pansy-ass Marengo, you did everything but answer my questions, where my answers at?!” 🫰🏾💜. 

And that’s it for my preface disclaimer, now, may the rant commence!

CHAPTER 1.5 WAS MEANT FOR ARMY

There is a disconnect. 

There is a massive disconnect between the Tannies and many ARMY, which was created due to our future’s uncertainty, mixed with dreadful tales from the past. One thing we tend to forget, sometimes, is that these boys are de facto from South Korea. In the past couple of years, no matter how global they get, the way the Western Music Industry has been “dealing” with them nominating them for grammys, but never winning, not wanting them to be on radio, etc, added to the way they are treated in their very own home worse than criminals upon making mistakes, only good for trophies and tourism, etc has heavily emphasised this fact for me.

And then the biggest one of all; SK’s Conscription aka Compulsory Military Service. Few have been given exemptions, based on having done waaaay less than our boys many a politician son is within this as well …, and there was a period between 2020 and 2021 where I wished they could be exempted. My opinion changed since then, but in all honesty, regardless of what the government would decide, or what Koreans felt about it, deep down, both them, as well as ourselves, knew that they would be going. That being understood, it was now a case to be confronted with the sad history that idols who go for their service tend to be forgotten and can never really make a successful comeback. Hence, as Korean men, they must have worried about this like crazy, 18 months are, after all, a lot of days to ask for someone to wait in their case it was a total of almost 3 years.

Blue Bird ARMY: B1tch! I’d wait even 10 years for the boys, what the hell are you on about?! … Yeah well, it wasn’t just waiting for us though, was it? hyb3 is going through its fair amount of sh1t, and random nugus and their mamas keep trying to smear the boys’ name every other business day. It’s been hard AF for us going through it, and I am sure for them as well, not being able to be here with us while we go through it. Missing each other has been a major issue as well, but, speaking about missing, let’s go back to the disconnect I was talking about. Here is the situation:

Tannies - “I don’t want to leave ARMY, I’m so scared they will forget me, but at the same time, I need some time alone, so perhaps this is a good time as any to wander alone, for a bit, while providing ARMY with something they can remember me by, hopefully appreciate, and mostly enjoying, just while we are apart for a while. Basically, I get to explore and have new goals, before having to serve but all the while I’ll keep my lovely ARMY entertained: WIN-WIN!”.

ARMY - “I don’t want the Tannies to leave but they have to, so, somehow, I have to show how much I appreciate them and how there is no way in hell I could ever forget them- BUT HOLD ON … he got a concert, but my bias didn’t … global superstar? What is my fav then? Chopped liver? … Jazz?? Why the hell should I listen to that, when we have a great pop song … The company doesn’t care about my fav, why are they even here, they should leave! … Family? What family, they never wanted to be together to begin with, as soon as the military is over, each one will go their separate way, mark my words … 🤡.

We are on completely different mental and emotional planes.

I am sure the boys are super happy with all the goals and achievements they made while being away, and I am positive they didn’t think any of this was possible while they were not around, but if even it were to happen, they probably thought ARMY would do it like they always have, together. Instead, forget about antis and boycotters for a second, we presently have to deal with solos and shippers within our fandoms, who have taken it into their own hands to redefine this chapter as a time of belligerent independence, instead of creative, and peaceful, waiting. 

I think the boys didn’t want us to try and free them from the very environment they are basically responsible for creating, I think they wanted us to still be here united in said environment, while enjoying 7 different trips along the way, but yeah, some of us completely misread the map, some of us are lost as hell within one of the 7 trips, and some other just didn’t go on the journey waiting for the boys to be back on the “initial” path.  

IT’S NOT ABOUT LIKING, IT’S ABOUT SUPPORTING

If rap is not your cup of tea, it would be ludicrous to ask you to suddenly become an aficionado. Nobody is asking that. Take for example a close friend of mine. They are an OT7 who didn’t like one of the solo albums that were released this year, regardless, they streamed it so hard you’d think the person was their fav. They might have put extra emphasis on their bias, but they were never below par when it came to all other 6 members, because they understood the assignment, and they respected the “teachers”. 

875 is a group composed of 3 rappers and 4 vocalists. Within this subdivision there are pop lovers, jazz lovers, dance lovers, alternative & indie lovers and epic production lovers. This isn’t a novelty, it’s always been like this. They’ve never hid it, it was always all out in the open, so what’s different now? Why are people acting surprised at Jin choosing the happy route or Hobi focusing on dancing? Blue Bird ARMY: “But they are also individuals, they deserve to shine in their individuality” Well, yes. But if all we do is being too busy fvcking up the only environment that allows them to freely be said individuals, where the fvck else are they going to do that?! I mean HYB3 may be the devil incarnate, but it is always better the devil you know the world out there is seriously fvcked up; SERIOUSLY FVCKED UP. 

Furthermore, let me tell you another giant problem about being a solo, shipper, or one eyed fan; you can’t see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is not important because just because it is pretty, like sure, trophies and accolades are great and all, but we are here supposedly for the music, but also because we think these 7 young men are just exquisite. Blue Bird ARMY: “And what if you think that only 1 is and the others should disappear?” And this is the part I’m gonna "spell out":

That 👏🏾, my blue birded ARMY friend, is 👏🏾 exclusively 👏🏾 your 👏🏾own 👏🏾 fvcking 👏🏾 problem 👏🏾.

Not everything is a fvcking conspiracy, the Tannies have said time and time and time again how they want to be together on stage, so what’s with all the forced narratives, uh? And you see, people who didn’t watch Suchwita wouldn’t know it, people who didn’t watch Are You Sure wouldn’t know it, people who don’t watch Run Jin wouldn’t know it, heck people who only watch their fave WEVERSE live wouldn’t know it. No matter how much you want to surround yourself of just your fave, it is fundamental to understand that this boys are surrounded by each other, because in reality, they can truly only trust the 7 of them. Period.  

So when you are blocking out Tae, because you are a jkker, know that you are also blocking out a part of jkk. When you are ignoring the rapline, because you like the maknae line only, know that you are also ignoring a part of the maknae line. When you are disrespecting 6 members because you are just a JK solo, know that you are also disrespecting JK. This is a paramount concept to understand, for real, we should never be forced to like, but we need to learn to respect and properly support, because supporting each member makes it easier to help each of them reach their goals, as they won’t have to worry about one another.

OF BEERS, LEGOS AND WHATEVER TF YOU WANT!

Now, I'm not sure what Era ARMY people are nowadays, I was today years old when I found out that there are Yoongi Incident Era ARMY like damn fam! But if you were a 2022 Festa ARMY you probably watched a WEVERSE live or two. The most memorable, to me, are probably Jungkook basically staycationing, with drinks at all, and Jimin making things out of LEGO. 

JK is the type who has nothing to hide, but at the same time will not tell you things he doesn’t want to talk about. Period. He drank in his house in front of us, did laundry in his house in front of us, watched movies in his house, cooked in his house, had guests in his house, showed us said house itself, but you know one thing he’s never shown us? Jimin in his house, yet we know for a fact JM was in his house at least twice. And it definitely wasn’t for lack of trying! The hyung line, minus Joonie, also did several lives, all very informative, some playful and carefree and then there is Joonie. His were emotionally all over the place, and we couldn’t quite understand, at the time.

What I’m trying to say here is that in everything, from their lives, to their private time, to their projects, the boys seemed to have absolute freedom in the actions and choices they made: THEY ARE BTS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! If they can’t, in SK’s entertainment who can? You see, hyb3/BH/g3ffen etc all messed up, a lot, for all of the members and that’s a fact. Some g3ffen really have no clue what the fvck they are doing, some others hyb3/BH have had a lot of other fish to fry mhj, k-media, and company, but I do believe that there never was any real malicious intent why shit where you eat??? I do think though that there was real disorganization. Why? because our boys are unprecedented.

The steps they take, the records they break, the achievements they make are all unprecedented in their environment. There is no blueprint as to how to handle a band like 875, because they are the blueprint. Hyb3 artists have much more freedom than any of the artists in the big 3 could ever wish for, or even comprehend, and this notion is completely lost with the likes of a certain girl group 🙄, like, the very fact that they can go around blabbering the way they are, is a result of the fact that they are part of a company whose environment was mostly moulded by our boys and hence allows that.

All of this is to say that if JK was drinking live, it isn’t because the managers told him to, it is because he wanted to. If JM was building lego live, it isn’t because the managers told him to, it is because he wanted to. If Jin started asking ARMY directly what they wanted him to do, it isn’t because the managers told him to, but it is because he wanted to. The most managers can currently ever wish to obtain from these boys is to please please please not spoil sh1t 🥹even that, some of our boys, struggle with, sometimes … okay, many a time 😬.

ARMY have certain expectations from the Tannies. Some Tannies do as well, and some others have no idea what to think and, once again, here is indeed where the problem lies. For example, Blue Bird ARMY: “Jin, I want you to be an actor” but Jin doesn’t want to, he’s said it so many times; so where do we go from there? You think doing PG-13 rated things is not good for JM’s image but he was comfortable only doing that at the time, because maybe he was going through he’s own private issues; so where do we go from there? And by all means I would like him to feel comfortable to express mature concept in ways other than dancing, but that would depend on him or us asking in a no-pressure, mature, manner.

I think there has to be a conversation between ARMY and the Tannies, kinda like what Jin suggested when he asked us what we wanted from us, and then it was up to him to decide, because, as the own person that he is, there are some things he doesn’t want to do acting in a k-drama and sometimes he was very happy to do participate in variety shows. It has always been about the two of us, Tannies & ARMY. It was always a love and respectful bond between the 7 of them and our fandom. But now it feels like solos and shippers are about to run a platform we never subscribed to. 

I know that Red is such a passionate color and Orange is playful as hell, Yellow is such a happy colour to me like it can do no harm! Green is so calming and pretty, Blue has depth and can be a bit scary at times, Indigo is dreamy and promising, and Violet, well violet is sexy AF. But aren’t Rainbows simply amazing? I think they are, and you can only have rainbows with all 7 colours.

Each color can exist on its own in nature, but rainbows need a space and light to be reflected on, the sky's the biggest area where you can reflect a rainbow, and just because we know the sky is not a limit for us, it doesn’t mean we are okay to ruin it. Let’s have a perfect sky ready for the boys when they come back. ARMY is the name they gave us to support and protect all 7 of them, let's find a way to unite each other again and find a new plane where we can both, Tannies & ARMY, meet once again 🙏🏾.

Always respectfully yours 💜,

Marengo.

PS - I apologies to all the other great asks as well, the cold weather makes me lazier than usual 🙇🏾‍♀️

[quranreadalong]

#129, Surah 24

THE QURAN READ-ALONG: DAY 129

We’re gonna finish off the Great Slander of Aisha mess from last time, then move onto sunnier pastures. 27:18 is our starting point. Allah reveals to everyone yet again that those who spread the “slander” against Aisha would have been severely punished, were it not for Allah’s mercy. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s exactly what he said four lines ago in 27:14. Mohammed Allah was just really upset about all this, okay? Anger was clouding his divine mind. Mohammed reminds everyone not to follow the ways of Shaytan, then says this, which is actually good:

let not those who possess dignity and ease among you swear not to give to the near of kin and to the needy, and to fugitives for the cause of Allah. Let them forgive and show indulgence. 

This was addressed to Abu Bakr, and it was mentioned in that long-ass hadith we read yesterday.

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, who used to provide for Mistah bin Uthatha because of the latter's kinship to him and his poverty, said, "By Allah, I will never provide for Mistah anything after what he has said about Aisha". So Allah revealed: [24:22]

I mentioned yesterday that one of the guys spreading the rumor about Aisha and Safwan was one of Aisha’s own relatives, and that was this guy, Mistah. He was Abu Bakr’s cousin. Abu Bakr was very wealthy and his cousin Mistah seems to have been, to be blunt, a bit of a loser, so Abu Bakr helped him out sometimes. After The Incident, Abu Bakr vowed to stop giving him money, but Mohammed told him to keep providing for him.

Anyway, Mohammed finishes up his rant by saying yet again that those who slander “virtuous women” such as Aisha will be judged by Allah and forced to tell him about their “crimes”, and will then go to hell. Then he repeats 24:3, saying that “vile women” are for “vile men” whereas “good” women are for “good” men. Gross then and now tbh. You’ll see that a couple of the translators translate this instead as “vile words for vile men” etc, instead of vile women, because the “vile” things in question aren’t specified. But the context here is clearly about people (Pickthall’s translation, “...good women; such are innocent of that which people say” makes far more sense than the “good words” variant, as you can see). The real meaning is bad, but I’ll be nice as I always am and put it down as neutral due to the (non-)confusion over the wording.

And... look, Mohammed was being overdramatic but I’m gonna put all of the above down as neutral.... doin my best 2 ignore that all of this is related to his child bride tbh!! Now let’s move onto another topic, for the love of Allah.

How about... houses? Sure, whatever. Houses. If you enter a house, say “hi how y’all doin today” and wait for permission to enter. If you are denied or no one’s home, leave and try again later. This does not apply to houses you know are uninhabited, inns, etc. Um. I guess those first two are good-ish? It’s at least encouraging politeness!

Now we come to another topic that requires a lengthy explainer. 24:30 instructs men to “lower their gaze and be modest” ie to not stare at women. The next ayah:

And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment.

In addition to “lowering their gaze and being modest”, women must abide by several other requirements when they are around men who are neither their slaves nor people they can lawfully marry (called non-mahram men--brothers, fathers, etc are mahram men. But cousins are not!). This is one of two ayat in the Quran that explicitly tell women to dress a certain way. There are other verses about “hijab”, but in those ayat the word is used in its literal form--a barrier between people (including between women and men). Not related to clothing.

So let’s take a look at what this one says in more complete detail. It tells women to guard their chastity (translated as “be modest” here) then to not display their adornments (zinatahunna) save that which is apparent when they are around non-mahram/non-servile men. Then, women are instructed to draw their bikhumurihinna over their chests, and to not stamp their feet to reveal their zinatahunna.

What are these two words, zinatahunna and bikhumurihinna, and what is this ayah actually saying?

I’ll start with the latter. Bikhumurihinna means the khimar of the women. As far as anyone can tell, a khimar in pre-Islamic times was simply a loose head covering that shielded people from the sun. It did not cover the neck; it hung straight down the back. It seems the word was used in a general sense, not in a gendered way. “Khimar” appears to have referred to the object itself, a rectangular piece of fabric, and does not seem to have had any religious significance. It may have had a class component, in the sense that richer women were more likely to wear it, but even that is uncertain.

Islam turned this garment into something tied specifically to women, and also turned it into a requirement for women. This ayah is telling women to drape the head coverings across their neck and chest, as these areas appear to have been uncovered in pre-Islamic times. (By “chest” I mean like the collarbone area, not the tiddies.) A sahih hadith states that women must wear a khimar if they want Allah to listen to their prayers, which is not something required of men. 🤷🏾

So okay, women were told to wear a khimar and drape it in such a way as to cover their neck/chest... and to cover zinatahunna “beyond that which is apparent” and to not stamp their feet to reveal zinatahunna. What does that mean? The Quran does not elaborate, so we have to do some investigation here.

Well, let’s start with this: the literal definition of “zinatahunna” is “their adornments”, as it was translated above. The question is more what Mohammed meant by ��adornments” and what counts as an “apparent adornment”. Most early scholars interpreted this as women’s beauty in general or things that enhance their beauty--henna, jewelry, or things of that nature. So the “don’t stamp your feet” part would be in reference to jewelry that makes noise when you move, presumably. In terms of a woman’s body itself, the area that must be covered is called the awrah.

Whether a woman’s (bare) face is included in her awrah is a matter of debate, and the Quran does not really say one way or the other. Some ahadith indicate that it is not.

[Mohammed says] when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to his face and hands.

The collector of this hadith points out that it is a mursal tradition, meaning the chain of transmission is missing a link. This does not mean that it is false (and most scholars think it’s fine as long as the person narrating it is trustworthy), but it is something to keep in mind. Regardless, if true, this means that covering the face was not considered necessary. Some women did cover their faces, but it seems it was not obligatory.

But the concept of niqab is more relevant to the other hijab ayah, so we’ll look more at this topic and the strange circumstances surrounding why women were commanded to cover themselves then. But for now I’ll leave it at this: 24:31 tells women use their headscarves to cover their neck and upper chest area, in addition to their jewelry and anything else construed as “attention-getting”. Also that’s bad, men be out here wearing long shorts and saying their awrah is covered (men’s awrah goes from below their bellybutton to above their knees) while women gotta put up with this nonsense in the desert heat smh!!

Let’s leave it there for today. There will be more hijab stuff in surah 33.

NEXT TIME: We can actually get more than 15 ayat in, inshallah!!

The Quran Read-Along: Day 129

Ayat: 14

Good: 3 (24:22, 24:27-28)

Neutral: 9 (24:18-21, 24:23-26, 24:29-30)

Bad: 1 (24:31)

Kuffar hell counter: 0

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