#fuck every last western politician

[hussyknee]

Remember "Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" at Linden Johnson during the Vietnam war?

Y'all need something of that nature for Genocide Joe. He should not be allowed to show his face to his own constituency without being reminded that he's a war criminal and genocide supporter.

Thanks to Genocide Joe downplaying the numbers, Human Rights Watch had to vouch for the Ministry of Health regarding their death toll figures

[hussyknee]

Trying to explain what the fuck just happened in Lankan politics today.

The leftist party has won 159 seats out of 218 in the Parliamentary elections. The single biggest landslide win since we broke from the British and achieved universal franchise in 1948.

Any party achieving a super majority in the executive and legislative is, objectively speaking, bad. It disables checks and balances, which is a catastrophic thing for any democracy, and the only two other times it's happened for us has irrevocably eroded the fabric of civic rights and democratic freedom. Also, the reason the NPP won the North and East is that the colonized, genocided and subjugated people there have no faith in electoralism anymore. The way this government has engaged minority issues has been utterly abysmal and now they've been rewarded for it.

On the other hand:

The winners. Are all. Grassroots. Candidates.¹

We have voted out every single career criminal that's been barnacled into the Lankan political arena since before I've been alive. The fascist party has only three seats.² The other fascists didn't win a single seat. The neoliberal legacy party won none. There are only forty people in Parliament that represent any sort of dynastic political legacy. After 76 solid years of nothing but political dynasties.

This is barely five years after the Rajapaksas swept in and absolutely glutted the Parliament with their family members and cronies end to end.

This is the illegitimate interim government we had for most of the last 18 months. We literally, physically, chased the Rajapaksas out of the country and this fucking demon set up a puppet government just so he could finally sit in that goddamn chair and be the despot he'd always dreamed of in exchange for letting them all come back. He's now gone. His entire circle is gone.

THEY ARE ALL FUCKING GONE.

In US terms, just imagine that, five years from now, when Trump's GOP has control of everything, the entire GOP and the worst of the Dems are all purged from Congress and Senate, the Green Party in control of all three branches of government under a pro-union left-wing President and an unmarried female LGBT rights activist Vice President, and the Dems reduced to barely 20% of the House.

This is my anthropology professor. She joined politics from the small nascent leftist coalition to help keep the government accountable. She's now the Prime Minister and the most popular Parliamentary candidate in the nation's history. (Edit: She was knocked off first place by a dude in the final result. Boo.)

(On the other hand— the woman who helped make me a radical anarchist and literally helped write a book on political dissent and resistance...now is the state. Uh.)

But there are so many women in Parliament! We had the lowest female representation in a South Asian Parliament and some of them were from the list of seats reserved for parties rather than elected ones. Most were either anti-feminist conservative embarrassments, widows and daughters of elite politicians and neoliberal shills. It's still only an increase of a few percentage points (Edit: from the previous 5% to 10% in the final result!) but now we have elected academics, feminist advocates, activists! There Is a representative for Malaiyaha Tamils in the Central Province for the first time in history and it's a young woman! (Edit: now it's two female Malaiyaha MPS!!) This is the plantation community that still live in conditions closest to the slavery the British forced upon them two hundred years ago!

I'm like. Completely mindfucked. To be very very clear, the NPP coalition formed around the nucleus of the JVP that used to be communist but haven't been in 30 years, they're now just social democrats who are left of places like the US and UK, whose "left" is now center-right. They're only threatening to the Western mainstream media for some reason who can't stop bleating about how we have a "Marxist" government now. In reality, the actual chances for radical reform are still quite low, and the opportunity for further erosion is quite high with a super majority government regardless of affiliation.

On the other hand:

What the fuck.

Sometimes living through historical events is really damn amazing.

---

¹ Well, nearly. There are a few career politicians and a nepo baby but they aren't so bad either.

² Goddamn it, Baby Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka's answer to JD Vance have wormed their way in using the list of Constitutionally reserved party seats for non-elected members. FUCK the National List.

[valtsv]

lmao people in your inbox acting like all Britain is a homogenous place where all white people are rich and happy is so weird. this is a pretty fucked up country where xenophobia is rampant and classism is so deeply ingrained in the political structure that even the labour party is fiscally conservative. like they hate Britain but also think it’s a really good place to be somehow. ffs it’s one of the last european monarchy it’s Not a good place to live without generational wealth.

it’s so much more complex than white people vs everyone else when britain is notorioue for colonizing other whites they deem inferior like uhhh the rest of the UK. like @anon I assure you the crown and the politicians coming from outrageous generation wealth don’t give a fuck about the poor people living in uninsulated government housing near charcoal burning plants. you’re delusional if you genuinely believe such a system doesn’t replicate extreme inequalities at home too. the working class never saw a penny for the colonization of other countries. yeah the country as a whole now benefits from ex-colonies being poorer and less stable cause capitalism, but let’s not pretend every white in britain actually benefits from capitalism.

white brits can be aware of the privilege of being white in a western country and also know that the system doesn’t give a fuck about them. white immigrants in britain know they’re white and also that tories would rather they be locked in company towns while the posh billionaires reap the benefits.

it’s not about defending white people it’s about how useless and counterproductive it is to target the people who are in no way responsible for your oppression when the real culprits are right there. jokes about tasteless pub food doesn’t do shit for the rich sons of white women dressed in blood diamonds. they also think it’s funny to degrade working class food.

yep! and those jokes affect EVERYONE who they apply to regardless of whether they're white or nonwhite, cisgender or trans, born in the country or an immigrant, etc. so it's completely pointless trying to justify your mockery by saying you're "only" targeting the "bad people" because that's just not how it works. it's so exhausting trying to explain that and being told you're just "making excuses for white/ablebodied/cis/etc. people".

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

“What’s happening in Gaza is bad, but….”

But nothing!

The entire world spent the last ten months watching one of the most horrific genocides in human history play out in real time. All the while every western government offical tried their hardest to normalize literal war crimes.

Tensions in The Middle East were never this high, the fact that the entire region is on the brink of total collapse because Israel’s unquenchable bloodlust will never be satisfied is all kinds of fucked up.

The fact that Joe Biden, a man who spent most of his political career being an unremarkable politician turned out to be more hawkish on Palestine than any of his predecessors is pretty wild.

And what��s even worse is that the US government is well aware of how fucked up everything is right now, but instead of putting in the effort to fix everything, they’re just going to keep sending Israel weapons and hoping that the problem will “fix itself.”

[cantcompetewhereudontcompare]

This got long so for the sake of the tags I'm adding, to not clog people's timelines in case they happen upon it, I'm adding a cut off. But this message is diabolically wrong, and I'm here to prove it word for word.

1- I haven't talked about morals in terms of Louis, and all I said about Zayn is that he's a domestic abuser. You sure are very sensitive about someone just repeating facts, huh?

2- Real people can't queerbait. Wearing quirky clothes wouldn't even qualify as queerbaiting anyway. This argument against him got stale in 2020. Keep up.

3- He hasn't said a single thing in support of Israel's government. All he said, 10+ years ago, mind you, was that he wanted to perform there. That's raging zionism to you? Are we not in the year 2024 seeing the damage and destruction of Israel in real time? And what actual raging zionists condone and how they behave?

And what if I told you that Harry was courted by Israel to perform there for Love On Tour, by literal Israeli politicians like Idan Roll, mind you, and Live Nation Israel was DESPERATE to get him to perform there, offering him millions and he flat out refused. Because he said in 2013 that he wanted to perform there but it is now 2024, he has toured the world as a solo act twice now, in very lengthy tours, and he has yet to perform there. And his last tour ended months before October 7th too. So the single thing he has said that could be interpreted as supporting Israel (Israel fans, mind you, not their government or their actions) 11 years ago didn't even end up happening when he was offered millions.

The tweet supporting Israel is debunked. This is the only screenshot of it that exists, and it was fabricated by the same person that fabricated this, the same exact day:

Unless you want to believe that both of them tweeted the same exact thing on the same day and somehow not one single screenshot exists? Not a single article by western media?

The picture of him holding the Israeli flag is him actually holding the Spanish flag:

"He did a power fist when a reporter at a press conference said she was from Israel" he did that with like, every reporter:

When he "signed an Israel flag" it was for a dying fan who got to the 1D concert through Make A Wish. "Zayn refused" no it was after March 2015, so he wasn't in the band anymore. I guess he shouldn't sign a flag if a fan who has cancer and is dying asks him to?

"He followed a zionist journalist" no, he didn't. He followed Lliana Bird, the co-founder of Choose Love, formerly known as "Help Refugees"

Which is an organization that has raised $2 million for Gaza

and has been calling for a ceasefire, consistently, since last year. Like, here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Choose Love (@chooselove)

"Oh but she wrote a zionist article" except she didn't, she bothsided things like hell, for sure, but she was incredibly kumbaya about the whole thing (like I presume Harry and his friends are, because they're libs at the end of the day). This is the article, from 2014, btw. Here's an excerpt:

Do I personally agree with it? No fucking chance, but this is what most pro-Palestinian people will agree with lmfao. Like, it's an incredibly radical position that you can only find being massively supported online to be fully pro Palestinian and understand that while you can't condone extreme acts done on civilians by Hamas, at some point radicalization is impossible to avoid and a logical conclusion of the heartbreak and pain Palestinian people have been subjected to for decades. Like, it's NOT a popular opinion. Lliana IS the mainstream opinion for pro Palestinian people. And this was her opinion 10 years ago, considering her organization is fully supportive of Palestine (and Lebanon) now, I presume she has inched more towards the "other side" than in the past.

And Harry supports her organization!!

He has for several years now:

Like, this was for his first solo tour:

"But he raised a hammer" he grabbed a toy from the audience and waved it around, like he does with multiple things at almost every single show. Maybe he saw the Israel flag, maybe he didn't, going from that to "oh he supports the slaughtering of children" is fucking ridiculous and no one outside of stan twitter would even entertain shit like that. Once again, that was 10 years ago.

He was 20, and he probably had as much information on the war between Israel and Palestine as the average person: ie, almost nothing. It wasn't until recently that we started getting more information from social media that people learned of what truly was happening and had been happening for 75 years. Mainstream media is STILL lying about it, hiding facts, to our faces, even though it slips through the cracks thanks to social media.

People didn't massively support Palestine or even know about what was happening until AFTER October 7. A lot of people still don't know!!

"He could've educated himself" sure. And we all should educate ourselves on this sort of thing. I still have a lot of blind spots about a lot of terrible situations happening all around the world, and I'd like to believe I'm fairly radicalized and informed. That does not make someone a genocide supporter. Ger your head out of your ass.

"But he dropped a Palestinian flag" no, first of all it was a scarf with a tiny Palestinian flag on it. The idea that he managed to see it in a split second with literally no lights whatsoever is laughable. You think this man is superhuman. The amount of times he has grabbed and dropped things quickly is astronomical. You know why? For this very reason. To avoid controversy if he happens to be thrown something unsavory. He doesn't grab things he can't recognize, as much as he checks things before waving them (ever since he was tricked into waving a flag with a Larry message on it, back in 2015). There's so many videos of him doing the exact same thing with multiple stuff, just watch him interact at any given show.

The only other argument for his supposed "zionism" is that zionists have spread rumors of him supporting them, like a fan claiming that he saw her from across an arena holding an Israel flag and idk waved at her? Or a comedian claiming he said he wanted to go to Israel in like, 2017 (why hasn't he gone then? lol he's saying he wants to go to random people but he doesn't just go? when begged by their own politicians to go? How does it work?) It's just zionists doing typical hasbara, where they act like everyone supports them. The ridiculousness of him specifically seeing this fan (who had to use someone else's video in which it just looks like he just waves in the general direction she was in) and waving at her because of her Israel flag, which was covered by the people in front of her, mind you, shouldn't even have to be explained, but alas.

They do this with lots of celebs. It's typical for them. And most of the time it isn't real. Israeli fans were celebrating that Harry was finally going to Israel last year because Live Nation Israel was desperate to secure the deal and spreading it all over the internet in Hebrew, only for him to decline (and he flat out declined and said he was never gonna perform there, btw, I know this for a fact, but can't exactly divulge how I know, the fact that he... well, didn't, should be enough, I suppose).

Do I wish he would speak up? Absolutely. Do I think he's a terrible person for not speaking up? No. He's just a white lib.

4- His friends are not him. He's friends with people who are morally questionable, like literally most people on planet earth who have friends. I would personally disavow people who are pro Israel, no matter how little or big their support is, because I'm informed on the subject and care a lot about it. I don't actually talk to my irl friends about this, tho. It's not exactly a subject that comes up unless you're prone to discussing politics, and a lot of people aren't, and I respect that. So I could very well be friends with people who ignorantly (or assholently) support Israel, without me knowing. I don't expect that Harry is as informed on the subject as me, and least of all, that he's sitting down with Ben Winston and having heated debates about the Israel Palestine situation.

Ben Winston took Harry in when he was 18, alone in London and away from his family. He was a friend when he wasn't even famous. He and his wife supported him and gave him the consistency he yearned for in crucial years of his life. I despise the man, but Harry is never gonna drop him.

It's an immensely privileged situation, for sure, but that is reality for most celebrities, especially white male celebrities. And truth of the matter is that 99.99% of celebrities have zionists in their circles, because it's incredibly prevalent in positions of power in America (it's by design, and no it's not because they're Jewish, most zionists in America are actually evangelical. It's for the same reason scientology is so prevalent in Hollywood. It's a very large discussion that we can have some other day). I don't personally condone it but to act like it somehow translates into their own personal beliefs is absurd.

If Harry had expressed an ounce of sympathy for the government of Israel, or chosen to perform there despite everything, or signed a pro Israel petition, or literally any other form of support for Israel, then MAYBE I could entertain this criticism. But what he's guilty of:

Playing with a toy with the Israel flag in 2014, like he played with a bunch of other toys with flags of a lot of other countries, including American flags (and boy, we need to have that argument at some point)

Saying he'd love to perform in Israel in 2013, and then never performing there even though he was offered millions and begged to do so

???? existing in Hollywood?

Stan twitter has been trying to twist itself into knots into him being a zionist ever since he became massively successful as a solo act. Literally grabbing randomly photoshopped tweets and pictures, twisting him following Lliana, photoshopping an Israel flag onto a picture of him, twisting him signing a flag for a fucking DYING FAN. Like, man, if you have to do allat then maybe he just ain't a zionist?

And lastly about the subject, his family (mon and sister) and plenty of his very close friends (like Molly and Tomo) have been calling for a ceasefire and being openly pro Palestine on socials ever since last year. But of course, Ben Winston being a dick overwrites all of them, right?

5- There's no indication that Harry has ever cheated on anyone. It's possible he did, but not a single one of his exes has claimed so. Taylor openly admitted that while he was hooking up with other people so was she, and she repeatedly said that they were friends, even right after they broke up. Going to LENGTHS about it too, btw

Camille has been supportive os him even years after breaking up. Like, this is her interaction on a photo of him performing a song he wrote about her at the Grammys, after he won a fucking Grammy for it. She seems really cut up about it...

Do I need to mention Kendall?

Or Olivia?

His exes have literally NOTHING but good things to say about him. All of them!!! No exceptions. Even Caroline Flack, who he briefly dated (ew) when he was 17 had nothing but positivity to say about him. Even girls like Georgia Fowler, who he was seen with once, were positive about him years later.

I fear you're alone on this "cheating" thing. If he did, we don't know, and his exes don't seem to gaf, so why do you?

6- Homewrecker is such a ridiculous thing to say. You can't wreck a home as an outsider. He's never been married and he doesn't have children, so he couldn't have wrecked any homes. If you mean Olivia Wilde, chances are she did cheat on her ex with him, but where exactly do you get that Harry knew?

Mind you, Olivia's nanny came out with a tell all about the cheating, with text messages to boot, and she herself said Harry had no idea. This is from the "tell all" article:

It's likely Harry ended things with Olivia because of this article, finding out that she had lied to him lmfao. So how exactly was he a homewrecker? If he didn't know and was actively lied to by his girlfriend for two years, and ended things after he found out? (Mind you, look up the dates for this article, for the canceled Chicago show, for Olivia showing up in Chicago out of nowhere, then leaving, for his mom and sister showing up in Chicago out of nowhere, how many times they were seen together and what their faces looked like after the article, etc).

Unless you mean when he was groomed by 32 year old Lucy Horobin when he was 17, who also lied to a 20 year old member of another boyband, back in 2011, who explicitly said he didn't know Lucy was married lol

So, are you calling a 17 year old being groomed by a 32 year old married woman, who likely lied to him, "a home wrecker"?

Don't bother replying because you're blocked. But thank you for the list of things to debunk. And have a taste of Zayn being a cheater and a home wrecker (his own home! btw!)

Like this, when he was engaged to Perrie Edwards and was completely unapologetic about it, until he was caught. Then went on to twitter to say it wasn't what it looked like, but the girl has explicitly said that it definitely was lol (she went to a reality show later that year)

Or what about this?

When the whole Cristabel Riley thing happened, remember? Harry was involved too. But he was an 18 year old single boy, seeking consensual sex with girls who were of age and weren't even fans, but groupies. Zayn? Zayn was with Perrie (they'd been dating since early 2012, this happened over the summer of that year while they were touring America)

Remember when he was caught over Skype with the Riach brothers, talking to girls? They were in a hotel in New York after 1D's MSG show. The MSG show Perrie attended.

The article and the video about it have suspiciously been deleted off the internet, but here are the old links to the article and the video

But here's a post about it on a pop culture forum (it does not pre-date Perrie, as I said, this was late 2012 in New York while 1D was performing at MSG. Perrie literally attended the show).

Here's a Ziam blog (lmfao) talking about the timing going by the hotel in the background, just in case. It's pretty irefutable.

There's that infamous video that I can't find now, taken from a peephole, where Zayn sneaks a girl into a hotel room, and you can see it clearly. Also dating Perrie. The other phone call that was recorded, also dating Perrie. The groupies who have posted pictures from his house on their public social media as he was dating both Gigi and Perrie, which I won't link out of an abundance of caution (does the name Christina ring a bell?)

There's this with TOWIE's Abigail Clarke while he was with Gigi

There's Gigi filing a harassment report and Perrie being very open about her issues with him.

I don't give a fuck if he fucks every single woman in Pennsylvania. More power to him. There's nothing wrong with sex, but to have his fans (because you are his fan) come here and call someone else a cheater and a homewrecker is certainly ironic.

Zayn has cheated on every partner he's ever had multiple times. It is heavily documented and one of his exes has made it extremely clear. So I would look inwards if I were you.

Celebrities are problematic just like the rest of us. Nobody is perfect or has perfect friends. I strongly disagree with pointing out moral issues with celebrities to justify not liking them. I actively encourage people to embrace their inner hater without feeling the need to find morality issues for it. Just hate for the sake of hating otherwise you'll be a hypocrite.

But there are lines that you shouldn't cross. Violence, particularly violence against women and children. Sexual misconduct. Those things I don't play about (and nobody should) and I WILL call them out. So Zayn and Liam are fair game for me to bring up their moral issues. I don't dislike them because of them. Trust me I disliked them way before, and I don't need a reason for it, but I sure as hell will call them out on that as well.

I dislike Louis as well, but I'm not gonna make his dubious morality a focal point of this blog because he's a flawed human being like the rest of us. He has not had any accusations of violence or assault or sexual misconduct, so I don't feel the need to question his morality.

I'll talk about his homophobia not because I want to "cancel him" but because he has built his fanbase around a conspiracy theory that hinges on him being gay and oppressed because of it. Don't get it twisted. I'm here to expose his fanbase first and foremost, and that sadly for him, will decant on exposing him. Because that's the only way there is.

What he does with his life is none of my business otherwise, as long as it doesn't cross that very obvious line (and so far it hasn't)|

[nozunhinged]

Love In The Big City reviews are raging everywhere - now what?

Or: why I think a 8.7 rating on MDL won't help anyone

If you're less of a reading person and prefer watching/listening, I made a post with various videos that are easily digestable.

disclaimer: this post is mainly an expression of my frustration over this crushing feeling of helplessness and the general fucked up political climate all over the world but also about how I truly believe that the most important thing is to think critical and never stop learning. Also I'm not south korean, but spent the majority of my academic studies on the topic of the post-imperial developments of Japan and Korea. And because I'm fundamentally tired of academia I will not proofread this for grammatical errors sorry - this is mainly a stream of consciousness.

Let's get this party started.

Because this is such a deep rooted issue, we need to do a teeny tiny, very brief excurse into korean history to properly explain my thoughts.

South Korea is a very young country

Before the republic of south korea we know today, Korea (North included) was ruled by one of the longest standing empires, the Joseon dynasty. The South Korea we know today is one of the youngest developed countries in modern history, first (brutally) colonialized by Japan and then taken over by the US.

The official end of the Joseon dynasty was in 1910. Thats a little bit over a hundred years ago, which is nothing if you think about how the Industrial Revolution was only 250 years ago and Korea has already overtaken many, many benchmarks the west set in the beginning in only less than half the time. The official founding of South Korea was even later, in 1948.

But that's only one important part about Joseon - this dynasty was also one of the most peaceful and stable empires as well. And how was that achieved? Well, confucianism and its very rigid patriarchal structures.

Joseon lasted over 500 years.

South Korea is only about 80 years old.

Their economic rise only took about 50 years.

Please remember those numbers for the next chapter.

I like to call it "The Patriarchy on Steroids"

Why am I throwing all those numbers around? Well first of all I suck at keeping it short but most importantly, I want to highlight how a country was turned upside down within the mere timeline of a few generations.

The South Koreans who spent their childhood in the Joseon empire, were teens during Japans brutal annexation, were adults when Samsung Electronics was founded and grew old with the first financial cracks of the democratic reforms, they raised the generations we have today. Let that sink in for a moment.

Central part of Confucianism is "Samjongjido", the expected devotion of the woman to her father first, then her husband and later her son(s), which exists in various forms in every asian country that was influenced by Confucianism. Essentially, women were expected to be nothing more than caretakers while the men were left with the "big pants" stuff.

Those structures can't be erased overnight.

But the bigger problem is when capitalism and "western culture" comes into play. In my opinion, it's a very deadly mix and there are countless examples of this.

You see all those "funny" conflicts in K-Drama and wonder "why is she expected to stop working after marriage", "why do they care so much about the family status of their spouse", well, that's how it worked for many, many generations prior.

The 4B-Movement (not dating men, not getting married, not having sex with men, not have children) is not just a dumb little feminist movement happening online, it's a literal, very real threat to South Koreas entire economy. It's not just a protest, women have literally given up on fighting these steroid patriachy structures that were only reinforced even more by capitalism.

And do you know what South Koreas solution to that problem is? Backing a right wing-conservative president who wants to get rid of any progress of equality politicians made in the last decades.

I repeat: You cannot erase 500 years of Confucian Patriarchy overnight. There's a reason so many historic k-dramas exist (sorry).

Fun fact: South Koreas economic rise made child mortality decline by almost 60% in only 18 years only to now have the lowest birthrate in the whole world of 0,7 children per 100 women.

Well done men, well done.

So what the heck does that have to do with that one gay show?!

Well, the backlash about LITBC shouldn't have come as a surprise. This show - openly and unapologetically queer - is attacking everything the steroid patriarchy in Korea represents. It hits exactly where it hurts the most. It's authentic, it depicts men not fucking women but other multiple men without the goal of having kids but oh - without just any goal that contributes to The Prosperity Of The Republic Of Korea. /s

The BL shows we got from Korea so far were all pretty tame and probably "tolerated" like the filthy smut that is BL manwha. That's easy to ignore and hide behind dark curtains, but a show that is distributed internationally with a famous actor in it??? That's going too far! /s

The most important point I want to make is that we need to think about the big difference between a countries culture and the economic interests they export. We all heard of the word "soft power".

But we often forget that what we see as international audiences is what they want us to see. We can't read Hangul, we don't speak Korean, so every translated article will always be lost in translation and not transport important nuances that make a culture their own.

K-Pop was made palpable for international audiences, as well as K-Drama and also - ultimately - Korean BL. Of course all of them play a big role in Korea as well, but what we get to see is only exported because it is made suitable for international audiences.

And I don't mean to diminish the work all the companies, writers, producers and actors put into these shows - they are all part of an important change that is absolutely necessary. But that's not the point here.

Big platforms like Viki, IQIYI, Gaga - they're not Korean, they're platforms from various asian countries with the goal of exporting media to international audiences. Shows are produced with that goal in mind. If it wasn't, none of the shows you can watch would be available without a VPN. They want to cater to international markets, that is literally their business model.

And they all know their domestic markets as well, which is why IQIYI is regularly pulling chinese BL - they can live very comfortably without the numbers from other countries but they definitely cannot ignore their domestic political climate.

And the same goes for LITBC. And many, many countless other examples like the one k-pop boy who was forced to leave his group due to massive backlash inside south korea.

And now what, smartass?

Like I said in the beginning - never stop learning. Start by reading Korean history 101 (or watch all the videos I compiled here). Learn and tell others about the horrible things happening - especially to women - in south korea. Unfortunately it's not all just fun and comfort shows/music. The 4B-Movement is still standing firm thanks to more and more education on it. (sorry not sorry men, get your fucking shit together)

Try to understand where the protesters are coming from, that's the only way to find a middle ground. But as long as the political climate in korea is getting worse and not better, hyping the show with huge numbers and raving ratings will not only have positive effects. It even has the potential to make it worse for south korean women and queer people as its success will only result in even more hardened fronts.

But at the end of the day, we have nothing to do with South Korean politics. We should also all be a little more humble, respect differences and not put our views on opinions on issues that we have nothing to do with. All we can do to help - again - is to never stop learning and never getting rid of your critical lens.

[kuronekonerochan]

The whole fucking world stood by and watched as millions were spent in rescue efforts for half a dozen millionaires with a real countdown clock on their lives a few months ago.

We now witness a countdown clock in the fuel left in the generators of all the hospitals providing medical aid to an entire people while under constant bombings. A countdown to when every injured individual will become a casualty in a slow agonizing way because there will be no medical aid possible and the world does nothing. Nothing at all. If you can't reason with a genocidal state to let in water, food, medicine and fuel for the hospitals to keep running, maybe it's time to do it by force. Blue helmets, whatever is needed to rescue innocent civilians. But not even an economic sanction. The European Union (from where I'm from) is giving carte blanche to ethnic cleansing and genocide, while managing to lose all legitimacy to condemn Russia in the same stead (the part they did right). Having 2 criteria for war crimes makes the EU feel like a joke. We are in a fucking alliance for cooperation and peace and the Head Representative personally goes to Israel to give her support for genocide. I think every decent human being has lost any faith left in politics and politicians over the last few days. Scandals and corruption seem insignificant compared to this.

No, I don't trust our politicians, no they definitely are not representing me.

And they definitely do not work for the people when they agree to exterminate an entire people.

This is Nazism. Ethnic cleansing check. Collective punishment check. Confining millions in a war camp with no way to leave and committing genocide check.

And don't you dare call me antisemitic. I was not the one who chose to compare this to the Holocaust. The atrocities being committed by the Zionist State of Israel are the ones mirroring it. Do we have to wait until the body count is over the million mark to finally start calling it out?

Watching this happen live until there is no power left on the cameras and phones to keep recording what's happening is agonizing. But it feels as if people and politicians mostly are eagerly waiting for the eventual shutdown of coverage to put it all past them and move on as if nothing's happening. People will keep dying in the dark.

What is happening just shattered the fake mask of this "modern civilized world with human rights of 2023". Humans still have no rights apparently and I cannot fathom how people in conflict free zones are comfortable, compliant and complacent to this. How idiotfully jolly it must be to keep thinking that you will never in your lifetime have the tiniest chance of being treated like this in your western corner of the world. I for one can't live in that fantasy anymore. However improbable it seems now, I now know that there's a chance I will someday be denied water, food, medicine and shelter, isolated with no means of escape while missiles (or whatever future horror the warlords conjure) rain down on me and if I get injured there will be no medical aid and I might be left for dead in agony....and I now also now that while this happens free thinking first world democracies might be nodding along or purposefully looking away but none will help.

[prettykikimora]

Everyday I gotta hear about whatever nasty racist thing pissant france wants to do every since those cartoon guys got shot up thus forming the first of many undeserved international tributes (they're in hell rn btw fuck em) and this is who we hitch our wagon to like this is the western civilization. subjugation, imperialism, race science, mocking the orphans they leave behind, all around creating every problem they've ever had in the last couple centuries and acting like they're "just defending themselves" that conflict exists in a vacuum and that theyre ontologically good when they ramp up their fascist police state. History comes back to bite you can't escape it, you have to reconcile with it or you're fucked to keep repeating it. Fascism is imperialism turned inwards, all the horrific violence enacted on colonized people is a tell of what their policies at home will look like soon as the liberal democratic facade drops. I base my leftism un a hatred of colonization that's where I started, this viewpoint comes natural to me and more leftists need to be serious abiut our intentions.

We see obviously germany has not actually reconciled with anything as it elects far right politicians and locks up jewish people for protesting the genocide, you ask me germany should still be balkanized but that's another thing. Theyve opted instead for its performative cynical attempt at curtailing antisemitism while its foundation is west germany, an almost equally conservative and familiar place for former nazi war criminals where its little military alliance everyone makes those disgusting unironic rainbow flag edits for was made from nazi generals running around living full happy lives after because as a very famous American once said "we defeated the wrong enemy." Inguess all that to say why I don't give a fuck about settler civilians in a war of national liberation this is history and no amount of American bombs and weapons will cover it up when the chickens come home to roost. It's either hell or communism and you are my enemy at tye end of the day if you conscientiously disagree.

[eradicatetehnormal]

Terminally Online, Pseudo-politcal Rant.

I was watching a video essay the other day about how right-wing talking points are bad. Its conclusion was that they don't have to be good or compelling arguments because they're appealing to people who already agree with them. To a certain extent, they're correct. It does seem that as of late, the right-wing has resorted less to debating people on the street or on college campuses and more to circling their hatred for trans people and other "degenerate" groups.

In a way, that might signal a good thing. A party that's increasingly incapable of defending itself? Doesn't seem very strong to me. They're still pretty being, of course, if MAGA and Project 2025 are to indicate anything (for fucks sake, give me money for a passport). I do wonder where they'll be in the next 10 years or when Donald Trump dies. A lot of Republican politicians have been having "negative rizz" as of late. I'm side-tracking, though.

The problem I have with that essayist leaving the conversation there is that it might perpetuate this very Twitter, lazy leftist idea that there's no point in refuting bad talking points or educating people about a subject. That's likely not what that person meant, but it's where that idea could lead.

I'm not saying that people should just go around, looking for right-wingers to debunk and dunk on. That carries its own set of problems by making the left wing look catty and disingenuous. People can use their own platforms to talk about various issues and the right lens to see something. The thing is, not engaging and just yelling in an echo chamber, over time can make the left wing look incoherent and nonsensical.

Imagine you're just a normal, center-leaning person logging into Twitter to keep up with your favorite celebrity, and you see a right winger being like, "Western society won't be fixed until the perversion or trans ideology and crt is pushed out of our schools." To which that centrist might think "What the fuck is crt and trans ideology? This person sounds outlandish." Then they see a left-winger all like, "The rates of women who have reported being SA'd are abysmal, but let's not forget about our black and indigenous sisters who were trafficked and never had a search done for them." To which the centrist might say, "Why is this person centering black and native women on an issue that affects all women? This person also sounds outlandish." From their perspective, there's not just one dumbass in an echo chamber, but two dumbasses in an echo chamber, since they didn't grow up around an outwardly conservative community and don't listen to enough of those people to flat out being transphobic or racist, nor do they have an understanding of intersectional politics.

Some might say, "Well this post is just making people engage with optics and identity politics. We have nothing to prove!" I get where this is coming from. A lot of great people and activists were pushed out of communities or silenced because people felt that they optically made them look bad. To the person who says this, though, have you ever supported the de-platforming of a leftist or liberal because of their bad takes or terrible behavior? Guess what? You care about optics. Part of the reason you wanted them gone was because, they were toxic and annoying to deal with, but another part of that reason was likely because they were garnering an audience who may go around acting like them or using their arguments, which could lead to a large group of people misrepresenting and hurting a movement.

We need to get better at distinguishing people who are trying to insult or belittle us from people who are asking questions in good faith. We also need to learn when to end a conversation. Having the last word does not always make you look good. If you get frustrated easily or you get nervous, you don't have to engage. It's just worth explaining what you mean, on occasion. Throwing in a statistic every now and then (rarely ever personal life experience, because not only is it not the best evidence, but people will try to belittle it).

[allamericansbitch]

See, the thing is even if the music industry or any 'celeb' churning industry be it film and entertainment and stuff like that seems sooooooo big to us, most of the biggish~ names always know each other threw the years. You can't possibly flat out voice hate cuz then you're creating unwanted negative space for yourself and your work. Ofc you can voice you cancelling someone if they've something shitty like be it abuse and stuff like that but dating choices and such mean more to us than to them. With Hayley, she's been very vocal of her opinions so has Halsey and even Gracie and so many people. SNTV was produced possibly last year or even before that so what we know now never happened before and there's a lot of contractual obligations as well as marketing when collabs happen. So let's not pull her down when she's actively been very vocal of where she stands. This isn't about that at all. Not every artist who ever interacts with Taylor is a bad person, it's a small industry when it comes to western music and stuff happens and bridges can't be burnt cuz that'll only backfire.

literally exactly. taylor is way worse off because it's a first person connection and she hasnt spoken up about literally anything involving race, antisemitism, ableism, etc so when she is with someone who is on the wrong side of those issues it's not a good look and we dont know where she stands. hayley is very different, she's known taylor long before any of this happened and the collab was last year. shes has spoken up about the issues taylor hasnt (and does so consistently- not when it's just convenient for her) and isnt the one dating a bad person. she's telling politicians to fuck off on stage and is very vocal, we know where she stands. this is yet another reason why being vocally about your views is good.

[tleeaves]

alright had to ask, what is it about australia or living here that you don’t like?

Okay, I apologise but this might be nonsensical (and totally political). Also, I get pretty heated in some of my discussion. Please know that it is not directed toward you, this turned into something of a vent/rant.

I point out the obvious right now based on current events, how Australia failed our Indigenous population by the "No" votes succeeding in the referendum for the Voice, and how disappointing that is. Let me paint a quick picture of what it looked like the day I voted: outside the town hall, there were three elderly folks holding signs and loudly telling my father and myself to vote no right on the steps of the entry. We walked straight past them to the one lone old woman who had pamphlets for the yes vote in hand, heads held high, and took two pamphlets with grateful smiles. I come from an immigrant family on both sides. This land was never ours. At least half of my heritage is made up of people and cultures that my British ancestry have historically oppressed too. The Indigenous peoples of this land are the rightful caretakers of it and always will be, no matter the people that come here. I gladly voted "Yes" and would have done it hundreds of times over if I could.

Unfortunately, it seems my long-standing suspicions have come true: many Aussies can be some of the most ignorant, lazy bunch of tall poppy syndrome mob-followers I have ever had the displeasure to know. Many voted against the referendum simply because they were uninformed and misinformed about it. I'm sure there's a great number that just did not care, because "what's it got to do with me? What if it affects my life negatively? Just say no to change to be safe and be done with it." It is appalling to me that apparently so many people are willing to just bury their heads in the sand and call it a day; not doing the research, not inquiring, not even appropriately weighing up multiple reliable sources to determine how best to vote. This is not their country. If I could, I'd tell those who voted "No" to leave it. Just leave. "Go back to your country" and I don't give a fuck if they were born here since this is the kind of argument white as hell ignorants tell every one who doesn't fit their picket-fenced lives.

Because that's what Australia feels like to me. Just another version of that illusory "American dream". We follow the footsteps of America in a lot of things, I've noticed, particularly in politics and media. We have more freedoms, yes, but how long will that last? I do not trust this country, especially now. We cannot seem to escape the ghosts of British colonisation either.

And do you know what I have also learned while researching Britain for many years (primarily for writing purposes and settings)? Australia is pretty much a watered down version of it, from our houses to our laws. It makes sense. But we are a pale, ugly shadow. Australia was built on by and for the convicts, not European elegance. I keep seeing in my mind the country town I used to live in. Those houses are uniform, old things commissioned for the immigrants and whatnot that came to work at the power station and mines. You can see echoes of English culture. But that's just it. Only echoes. That is Australia. I do not see anything recommending this place even aesthetically, anything particularly unique. In Victoria it's dark and rainy and can get icy, and you're basically in Britain. Melbourne is New York, as @faithfromanewperspective has pointed out, and so we are also American-influenced. Queensland has been referred to as "the Florida of Australia" by Americans and Canadians I've met. Everything contemporary Australia seems to be, is just a melting pot of Western culture. Our own politicians laud that we have so many different cultures from all across the globe, but I do not think some people realise that Aussies are not an accepting people historically, and many of those who were around when immigrants from Southern Europe and the Middle East first came here for work in the decades that followed the world wars are still alive and still allowed to vote and campaign.

And look, I'm almost definitely not the first person to point any of this out. But it's all this knowledge that's been a thorn in my side for a great deal of time. I cannot truly like or love Australia, not when there is also all of this.

Onto more minor things: the public transportation? Pretty good, I can't really complain, and it's especially good in Victoria. The weather? Can be really nice in certain parts of the country. We so far have not reached the insanity that is America, and we fortunately have no border-neighbours to war with (though I admit we are neglecting our Islanders and their well-being in at least a few ways, and I think we may be able to expect rising tensions after the "No" votes won). Personally? I prefer colder weather and would move from here if I could -- maybe in future -- back down south or overseas. Our environment can be beautiful, thoroughly enjoyable and peaceful, but the bush and even rainforests are not exactly my favourite. There's something so dry and alien, even about the plants here. And the rainforest/tropical areas here are good for carnivorous plants, which I tend, but the constant weather changes haven't been very kind to my bones (or to my plants, actually, and I have to wonder about the role climate change is playing in making the environment increasingly harsh, even for Australia). Also, I hate humidity. The air? In summer, it makes you wonder if there is air. I've had panic attacks because I feel like I can't breathe, that everything is too thick, too close, too everywhere, if that makes sense (keeping in mind I have water-related trauma). I don't like that places outside of the cities have such small Balkan populations and so I struggle to meet many people with the same life experiences and culture that I do, which makes carrying on language and traditions passed down in my family feel like a losing fight. Really, I just do not want to live here in Australia. It is both home and not. If I have to stay here, I'll go back to Victoria or might even try out Tasmania (gone on trips there, but have not lived there before). But that's if I truly have no capability of leaving the country.

One more thing: something about the places I seem to live in this country is very anti-knowledge and learning. Especially Queensland when compared with Victoria. Everything is so fitness and sports heavy, there is simply a general lack of respect for education. I'd talk more on this but I've run out of brain juice.

Anyway, that was my long-winded, rambly rant of things I don't like about Australia and living here. I'm pretty sure I have more to add but this is mainly the stuff at the forefront of my mind currently.

[error404vnotfound]

the book's explanation of the Dictatorship that followed the Civil War is very brief (one page). this is a for the funs history book and we all know what happend here.

but you don't, so armed with my history notes I'll explain it to you

Franco's dictatorship lasted 35 YEARS (1939 - 1975)

this man had total control and power over the country. his whims became laws. he was an egocentric fascist that fucked up the country almost beyond repair

everyone and everything he didn't like was persecuted. lots of people died by firing squad because of this (communists, liberals, nationalists)

a cultural genocide happened: catalan and other regional languages got persecuted. their cultures too. you could get beat up if you talked in catalan on the street. it's a miracle the language survived, but we are stubborn if nothing else.

most Catalan politicians fled abroad, but they got hunted down and we're brought back to face the firing squad. artist fled too. everyone who could flee did.

those who couldn't lived hungry and afraid. because the country had been destroyed by the war the food was rationed with papers called Cartillas (each family had one and it dictated how much food they got from the government every few days). it was not much

those who could hunted and gathered their own food, but they still starved.

education was largely ignored. most rural towns didn't even have schools. kids had to work to feed their families.

some republicans that stayed still fought. they hid in the mountains and caused as much problems as they could. once caught, well, firing squad.

after WWII Spain was alone. Franco's allies were dead. there was an attempt at making Spain more palatable to the western world standards.

some improvements were made in agriculture and other industries, people moved into the city, a middle class appeared, etc

in the 60s shit got better. Spain had beaches and the Europeans wanted sun, so turism was now a thing

El franquisme (the ideology of the Dictatorship) was established at large by then. new laws were made, the most relevant the one that stated that after Franco's death the son of the exiled king would become head of estate.

the end of the Dictatorship was full of scandals and crisis. Franco's second died after a terrorist attack from ETA (helped by IRA). it's also important to not forget that THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE DYING BY FIRING SQUAD THEN. IN 1974.

on the 20th of November of 1975 Franco dies of old age on his bed

"Españoles, Franco ha muerto" we all know this sentence. it's how it got announced around Spain.

[provendermalkin]

Carried far enough, the idea that men and women have NO overlapping traits EVER under ANY circumstances gets extended to everything from the words you use, to the way you stand or walk, to the symmetry of your body, the way you age... It gets escalated rapidly into transphobia, then full-blown world conspiracy.

There are people who believe that every famous person in the last 150 years has been trans, and that all politicians, celebrities, world leaders and artists are part of a secret trans cabal, and indeed that perhaps the MAJORITY of the entire world is secretly trans. This is because of their "obvious traits" that don't match an extremely narrow and 100% exclusive notion of male/female bodies based on-- drum roll-- literal phrenology.

That includes people like MLK, Margaret Thatcher, Muhammad Ali, Clint Eastwood, Jack Black, Vladimir Putin, Elvis, Trump Jr...

These people unironically believe that DeSantis and his wife are both trans and that the increasingly violent anti-LGBT rhetoric being pushed by them is a smokescreen.

only WOMEN ever have subcutaneous fat!

only WOMEN ever develop pectoral fat for ANY REASON at ANY AGE!!!

Is your spine, uh, curved? TRANS!!!! only WOMEN have spines that curve!

Did your legs part at any time for any reason in any position at any moment??? Only WOMEN ever ever EVER open their legs! There are hundreds of this one. They especially like to use any man going down the stairs; if his legs part for any reason instead of staying rigidly together somehow, he's trans. If a woman keeps her legs together for any reason in any position, she's trans.

The lines never even match up to what they're supposedly pointing out. It's completely incoherent.

It goes on forever. If you have any traits that differ from absolutely rigid, 100% perpetual adherence to an imaginary (white, heterosexual, western) ideal of male/female, you're trans. Did you sit weird once? You're trans (and therefore evil.)

They call any sign of aging in a woman proof that she's trans, too. Did your skin tone slacken? Boobs sagging? Thicker neck? Facial hair? You're a man! They finally caught you!

All celebrity pregnancies are faked, they steal the babies from "real" women.

Rather than seeing that the majority of people don't fit into rigid gender standards and concluding that the gender standards are flawed, they've concluded that everyone in the world who doesn't 100% fit is a "freak" intentionally going against nature because they believe gender is immutable and identical across all cultures and situations. They don't believe ANYONE is born not already adhering perfectly to binary gender standards.

I can't stress enough: THIS IS THE END RESULT OF GENDER ESSENTIALISM. You poison your brain enough on this shit, you literally start to perceive everyone in the fucking world as a secret gender enemy out to get you.

I do wish that "oppositional sexism" was a more commonly known term. It was coined as part of transmisogyny theory, and is defined as the belief that men and women, are distinct, non-overlapping categories that do not share any traits. If gender was a venn diagram, people who believe in oppositional sexism think that "men" and "women" are separate circles that never touch.

The reason I think that it's a useful term is that it helps a lot with articulating exactly why a lot of transphobic people will call a cis man a girl for wearing nail polish, then turn around and call a trans woman a man. Both of those are enforcement of man and woman as non-overlapping social categories. It's also a huge part of homophobia, with many homophobes considering gay people to no longer really belong to their gender because they aren't performing it to their satisfaction.

It's a large part of the reason behind arguments that men and women can't understand each other or be friends, and/or that either men or women are monoliths. If men and women have nothing in common at all, it would be difficult for them to understand each other, and if all men are alike or all women are alike, then it makes sense to treat them all the same. Enforcing this rift is particularly miserable for women and men in close relationships with each other, but is often continued on the basis that "If I'm not a real man/woman, they won't love me anymore."

One common "progressive" form of oppositional sexism is an idea often put as the "divine feminine", that women are special in a way that men will never understand. It's meant to uplift women, but does so in ways that reinforce the idea that men and women are fundamentally different in ways that can never be reconciled or transcended. There's a reason this rhetoric is hugely popular among both tradwifes and radical feminists. It argues that there is something about women that men will never have or know, which is appealing when you are trying to define womanhood in a way that means no man is or ever has been a part of it.

You'll notice that nonbinary people are sharply excluded from the definition. This doesn't mean it doesn't apply to them, it means that oppositional sexism doesn't believe nonbinary people of any kind exist. It's especially rough on multigender people who are both men and women, because the whole idea of it is that men and women are two circles that don't overlap. The idea of them overlapping in one person is fundamentally rejected.

I think it's a very useful term for talking about a lot of the problems that a lot of queer people face when it comes to trying to carve out a place for ourselves in a society that views any deviation from rigid, binary categories as a failure to perform them correctly.

[plantdad-dante]

Book #151 - In Memoriam by Alice Winn

(I think the only way I could really express my emotions about this book is to just openly weep for a good thirty minutes, but I suppose that's not really transferable to written text.)

... the thing is, I've only just purchased a copy of All Quiet On The Western Front a few weeks back. Halfway through, I was itching to read it right afterwards. At the end I was thoroughly cured of that. We had watched the 1930 movie in history class. I only remember single images from it. I had spent the lesson writing down the text of a German version of Green Fields Of France from memory, because I couldn't look at the screen.

The last page made me revisit the English version of it.

Did they really believe that this war would end wars? Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain The killing and dying were all done in vain For young Willie McBride, it all happened again And again, and again, and again, and again...

"Let us [...] have our century of peace and prosperity, for we have payed for it in blood." This last line is just a very tight incapsulation of why the First World War is such a compelling, miserable subject. Because this did not happen. Because in the end, this is what Europe decided to take away from it. 'We have suffered and survived, so now we are owed mercy, we are owed a reward, and we are again free to do as we please. Let us drink deeply from our cups and forget tomorrow.'

Which is, emotionally, an understandable conclusion to reach. Doesn't change that it was the wrong one.

Because peace requires effort. Peace requires commitment, courage, compromise, a spine. And constant, vigilant, active attention. Most importantly, peace requires willingness, it requires wanting peace. And I think it is the last thing that can most often be found lacking in those that actually make the decision, those that start a war. And I am put in mind of the chorus of that German version ("Es ist an der Zeit")...

Ja auch dich haben sie schon genauso belogen, So wie sie es mit uns heute immer noch tun Und du hast ihnen alles gegeben Deine Kraft, deine Jugend, dein Leben

... I've been to a peace protest over Easter. What struck me was how all, every last one, of the speeches were given by such old, angry, exhausted looking people. And their speeches all flowed together, because their demand is so simple. It is one of the simplest demands to make, because yes, all that I said about how it is hard and requires effort - yes, fine, but Jesus fucking Christ: Peace is not hard. It literally just requires to not do the thing. And because it is such a simple demand, so universal and quickly brought across, most of the speeches were just... lists. Lists of headlines, politicians, officials that had ignored the cry for peace, just in the last month. In a staggering array of contexts. And it all flowed together, until we were standing in an ocean of frustration and incomprehension at being ignored, with not a single sign of land, or even a dove with an olive branch. I don't know if I'm ashamed for getting bored three minutes into the first speech. Because the depressing thing is, I knew all of this already. I wasn't there to be told something new. I was there because I am twenty-three years old - older than most of the characters in this novel ever had a chance to be - but just like those old people at the podium, I am angry, and exhausted.

Henry and Sidney are safe, and Sidney quoted King Lear. I will hold on to that. I will need to, cause fuck, did this book make me sad.

[officialtayley]

Ash, you got a long ask earlier that bothered me when I read it. To the anon who wrote that, I am begging you to learn more about this occupation because calling it a “conflict” clearly means you’ve only consumed Western media’s coverage of it. 

Saying “it's sooo fucking easy to keep tagging paramore saying that they totally should speak up while what does it ACTUALLY change?? nothing.” is just wrong cause it won’t be nothing.

paramore speaking up and amplifying Palestinian’s voice would not stop this genocide but it will create a much safer community in this fandom for our fellow muslim and Arab friends. There’s a reason why this fandom got more diverse over the years and that’s cause the band made it clear where they stand when talking about racial justice. You can’t deny that the majority of paramore fans get influenced by a lot of the stuff the band shares. I’ve seen fans attend shows from artists that the band recommends, I know fans who bought the same instruments as Taylor and zac and this is the fandom that tolerated and bought expensive ugly merch for a long time cause it had the paramore brand attached to it. Imagine if they share info on how to call congressmen to demand a ceasefire, you don’t think more fans would be more motivated to do it? Imagine if they share a donation link or team up with an organization like they have done in the past. You don’t think it will have an impact? 

Saying “I’m so sick of this narrative that paramore created expectations of them ALWAYS speaking up in EVERY injustice or tragic, y'all created this expectation. every activism is a selective activism. they never pretended they were gonna to speak up about everything.” Is just tone-deaf anon, I’m sorry to be blunt but the wording on this is insensitive.

This is the biggest thing happening in the world right now and US citizens specifically are all complicit in this cause their tax dollars are funding the IDF that is massacring innocent civilians. No one is asking them to speak about everything but how are they just gonna ignore a genocide? When the Ukraine war started, they didn’t ignore it, they even wrote a song about it because the coverage was everywhere and you couldn’t ignore it and move on with your life. Now it’s happening again but at a larger scale, Israel has now killed more civilians in Gaza in 30 days than Russia has in its entire war in Ukraine, which began over 600 days ago (this is the number from an NPR article published on nov 6 2023). How are you just gonna ignore this, how’s the band gonna make speeches about taking care of each other when they have ignored Palestinians? 

Out of all of the things Palestinians could have asked all of us, they just asked us to spread the word and share the things they posted because they know that the Western media are all on Israel's side. I’m not only mad at paramore, I’m mad at every single artist that was fine with calling out loud loud racist like Trump but now are silent when POTUS is hugging and offering billion of dollars of aid to a dictator and war criminal. Where’s billie eillish and taylor swift too? They were both proud at calling out politicians and now it’s silent too. 

Maybe it’s cause I grew up in a colonized country and I see the effects it has on its people every day here and I’m more sensitive to it but how do you look at those numerous videos of Palestinians crying over dead family members and destroyed homes and lands and not have the urge to speak up about the injustice? How do people look at that and just move on 

👏👏👏 this this this! thank you for picking it apart cause so much of it bothered me but i just didn't have the energy to go through it.

the last paragraph though, i feel like i'm sensitive to death, especially when it involves children and babies due to losing my baby sister in 2007. watching your own parents go through that pain and then also i was going through it myself, when i see those videos it's extremely heartbreaking because it's like no one cares. these families are losing each other, losing entire bloodlines, and people are somehow able to just keep scrolling without a word? it's different obviously if the content is triggering, but many of us are still able to share other things and use our voices, but outside of that, i have no idea how people can just move on with their day.

[ackermental]

That's because Disney Star Wars isn't happening long time ago in a Galaxy far far away (im not even sure when was the last time I've seen this Introduction). No, instead its happening in modern day America. So people's behavior is very twenty first century and western oriented.

Im repeating myself but oh well, ill say it again: we were never supposed to see ourselves in Jedi. And Sith as well, unless a person watching is a total psychopath (which maybe is a problem with Disney nowadays, huh). Jedi weren't thinking like a modern person. Not just because of their moral code that seems so strict, but because those people could literally bring a warship from the orbit back to earth with a twist of their hand and not break a sweat.

Obviously with this amount of power, which is unbelieveble to us, their way of living will be bizarre for the audience. Its part of the fun. The worldbuilding, you know? Something that fantasy and sci-fi is all about.

Although a point of view also matters, for example ill never not laugh at westernies being incapable of understanding that Jedi don't fuck. You're doing wonderful, sweeties, one day you'll get it.

Anyway, what im saying is that you shouldn't be trying to insert yourself as a Jedi, because you will fail every time. And that's a good thing, because if you succeed, it means the writers aren't doing their job. You think Han and Leia were written just for kicks and giggles? Think again. Even ordinary people that exist in that Universe can never actually understand Jedi. That's why they are so 'legendary' even in their own Galaxy. That is also why Sith are so terrifying. No ordinary bitch dictator can hold a candle next to an actual Sith lord, those guys would eat them for breakfast.

And shit I've been hearing about grayness hurr durr in the interviews for this shit show. Yeah? Jedi were never fucking around. Jedi ain't Aang from Avatar, worrying if killing a bad guy is morally justified.

If they decide that some shit must be stopped? Heads are going to be rolling down. That's what made them so bad ass back in the day. No second thoughts and no remorse after the deed is done. Because in real Star Wars normal people are playing in politics, they are cheating, they are balancing between good and evil to move things forward, they are playing with 'sometimes to do good, you have to do something a little bad'.

Jedi though are concerned with bigger issues. Jedi are there keeping in check the forces that literally create and destroy life in that Universe. Of course their rules aren't gonna be the same as ours. It doesn't mean that they are not the personification of Goodness. Because they are and always have been, even in the prequels. Its so strange that prequels are often brought up as an example of Jedi not being perfect. Yeah? Sure they weren't? The first trilogy tells us that they've failed. Still it doesn't mean that they were corrupted. If anything prequels should teach you what the Galaxy would look like without Jedi in it. An entire war was organized in hope of killing as many of them as possible before the coup. Jedi were literally the only thing standing between ordinary people and catastrophy. Because mundane bitches with their morality and rules have nothing on Siths in the long run. We could watch in full view what the Order was always fighting against all this time: a pure evil force, just as powerful, but more cunning and ruthless.

Ohhh Jedi never did anything, they just be sitting around in their pretty temple, when slavery still exists in the outer rim!!!

Bitch, they are literally spending their whole lives trying to keep all of the people alive. They are plenty busy and still are sometimes getting involved in other peoples business. You know, as a side quest to saving some nation this Friday, that's just how they roll.

Actually, they are already doing more just by existing than any politician ever could.

That's just how it works in a Galaxy far far away, and I wish that Disney's weird jediphobia would pass. They obviously don't understand them, and some directors stright out hate them, which, you know, tells me all I have to know about them and their products. Because I refuse to call it art.

Surprising no one, the acolyte seems to go for a "the Jedi are a domineering force upon the galaxy" take

Now even setting aside how this ignores that the Jedi are Diplomat-Peacekeepers, how ridiculous it is that an organization that has only ever numbered in the thousands would be able to do so, or that such is entirely contrary to everything we know of the Jedi morally (oh how ironic it is, the show and director is clearly trying to go for a "this is how the Jedi used to be before they got bad and became the prequels', but they're actually making these high republic Jedi seem worse)

This also doesn't gel with the fundamental fact that the Jedi are servant-protectors of the democratic Republic, and that they answer to the senate-its representative body of the people

How exactly is a peaceful organization which serves under a democratic institution a force of domination?