#how to conduct a job analysis

[thehrhelpboard]

The Essentials of Job Analysis: A Comprehensive Overview

Job analysis is a critical process in human resource management that involves systematically studying a job to determine its duties, responsibilities, necessary skills, and the environment in which it is performed. This analysis provides essential insights that help organizations optimize their workforce, improve recruitment strategies, and enhance employee satisfaction. In this article, we will explore the significance of job analysis, various methods used to conduct it, and the benefits it offers to both employees and organizations.

The Importance of Job Analysis

Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities Job analysis plays a vital role in clearly defining the expectations and responsibilities associated with a particular position. By outlining what a job entails, organizations help employees understand their roles better. This clarity reduces confusion and ensures that everyone is aligned on expectations, leading to improved job performance and satisfaction.

Enhancing Recruitment and Selection A well-executed job analysis provides the foundation for creating accurate job descriptions and specifications. These documents are crucial for attracting qualified candidates during the recruitment process. By identifying the essential skills and qualifications required for a job, organizations can tailor their recruitment strategies to find the best fit for each role.

Supporting Performance Management Job analysis contributes to effective performance management by establishing clear performance criteria. When performance appraisals are based on well-defined job responsibilities, it becomes easier to assess employee contributions objectively. This structured approach allows for more targeted feedback and development discussions, promoting continuous improvement.

Informing Training and Development Understanding the specific skills and competencies required for each job enables organizations to design targeted training programs. By identifying gaps in knowledge or skills, employers can provide employees with the resources they need to grow and excel in their roles. This targeted development enhances employee capabilities and, in turn, boosts overall organizational performance.

Establishing Compensation Structures Job analysis is crucial for developing fair and equitable compensation systems. By evaluating the responsibilities and requirements of each position, organizations can ensure that salaries are aligned with job complexity and market standards. This transparency in compensation can help attract and retain top talent while reducing the risk of internal inequities.

Methods of Job Analysis

Organizations can employ various methods to conduct job analysis, each with its own advantages:

Interviews One-on-one or group interviews with employees and supervisors can provide rich qualitative data about job responsibilities and functions. This method allows for in-depth discussions that can uncover nuances in job duties that may not be captured through other methods.

Questionnaires and Surveys Standardized questionnaires can be an efficient way to gather information from a larger group of employees. These surveys often include a mix of closed and open-ended questions, enabling both quantitative and qualitative analysis of job tasks and skills.

Observation Directly observing employees as they perform their tasks offers firsthand insights into job functions and workflows. This method can be particularly effective for jobs involving specific physical tasks or interactions, providing a clear view of the work environment.

Job Diaries Asking employees to maintain a log of their daily activities can yield detailed information about job responsibilities, time management, and the skills utilized throughout the day. This method captures a more accurate representation of the job over time.

Focus Groups Conducting focus groups with employees allows for collaborative discussions about job roles. This approach encourages dialogue and can help identify common challenges and insights that may not emerge from individual interviews.

Benefits of Job Analysis

The advantages of conducting a thorough job analysis extend to both employees and organizations:

Increased Job Satisfaction When employees have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, they tend to experience higher job satisfaction. Knowing what is expected fosters a sense of purpose and achievement.

Informed Decision-Making Accurate job analysis provides data-driven insights that support various HR decisions, from hiring to promotions and performance evaluations. Organizations can make better choices based on a thorough understanding of job requirements.

Enhanced Efficiency Clearly defined roles help reduce redundancy and improve team efficiency. When everyone understands their responsibilities, teams can collaborate more effectively, leading to increased productivity.

Effective Succession Planning Job analysis aids in identifying the skills and competencies needed for future leadership roles. This foresight allows organizations to develop talent internally, ensuring a pipeline of qualified candidates for critical positions.

Compliance and Risk Management A well-documented job analysis process can help organizations adhere to labor laws and regulations. By ensuring that job descriptions accurately reflect duties and qualifications, companies can mitigate legal risks associated with employment practices.

Conclusion

Job analysis is a foundational element of effective human resource management that influences various organizational functions. By systematically identifying job responsibilities and required competencies, organizations can enhance recruitment, performance management, training, and compensation strategies. As the workplace continues to evolve, maintaining a robust job analysis process is essential for ensuring that organizations are well-equipped to meet the changing demands of the workforce while maximizing employee engagement and productivity. Through thorough job analysis, organizations can create a work environment that fosters growth, clarity, and satisfaction for all employees.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

not me doomposting about l*ona again

I pointed out in an older post that Leona seems to demonstrate a unique ability to unite others under a common cause. This is in spite of the lore stating that it's very difficult to get different kinds of beastmen to see eye-to-eye, so much so that Sunset Savanna's acting king, his older brother, has yet to really unify their people.

WELL.

***Spoilers for Leona's Nightmare Suit vignettes below the cut!***

A central theme to Leona's Nightmare Suit vignettes is figuring out what makes someone worthy of being "king". At the start, everyone is reminded of Jack Skellington's status as the "King of Halloween, which makes him the most important person in town. However, Leona's quick to point out that the title isn't what's important, but what one achieves is. He then expresses interest in what it is exactly that Jack Skellington does around here to earn his crown. Jack describes his duties as making Halloween the scariest it can possibly be. He drives around in his buggy, walks his dog Zero through the local cemetery, studies and conducts experiments, and reviews the proposals from Halloween Town residents. An important part of his job is considering his people's ideas! But Leona thinks there could be a more efficient way to do this rather than having the king read the proposals one by one. We can see a divide between their ways of thinking; Jack is willing to hear individuals out whereas Leona is focused on efficiency. This is also reflected in how they assign tasks later in the vignettes. Jack has everyone going up one ladder to decorate, while Leona commands the witches to do this task, as its much faster for them to do on their brooms. I don't know if this was intentional, but the way Jack rules feels reminiscent to how Leona often describes his older brother, Farena/Falena. So often does Leona mention that Falena is too kind and cares too much for others, which impedes on the political and economic gains he could be making if he were just more focused on his goals. “[Falena] could just focus on the kingdom’s affairs–you know, his JOB–but nooo, he’s gotta be the caring big brother who’s nice to everybody." (If you want to read a more in-depth analysis of Falena vs Leona's priorities when it comes to ruling, please read this post.)

Leona claims that the qualifications for king around here are actually really simple--and yeah, maybe there's nothing more to his line than this, but considering that in his home country one's order of birth is also a strong determinant, a merit-based system like what's seen in Halloween Town probably is simpler to him. And that means it's his time to shine and be acknowledged when he wasn't successful at earning this recognition back home.

Now, what REALLY surprised me in these vignettes wasn't that Leona knows how to boss around his peers and put their strengths to use (for example, he tells Vil, who has an eye for detail, to look over the embroidery, and Idia, who is a science and math whiz, to handle difficult calculations). It's that Leona is also perfectly aware of the abilities of the Halloween Town residents--people he has only known for less than three days--and uses them and their skills well too. That's an insanely short amount of time to get to know an entire TOWN'S worth of people and what each of them are like... yet he just pulls it off effortlessly????? HUH... This earns him the praise of Dr. Finkelstein, the mayor, Jack, Sally, and Skully. Sally in particular highlights Leona's strengths very concisely, stating that he can accurately assess the situation and give appropriate directions on how to act in that situation. Skully adds that Leona technically doesn't move himself or do any of the dirty work, he's focused solely on giving orders. This makes him a "king" and a leader of equal standing as Jack Skellington. And then Skully--SKULLY, THE OBSESSED HALLOWEEN OTAKU THAT THINKS HALLOWEEN SHOULD BE A VERY SPECIFIC WAY--says that Halloween was made possible by not one, but two great kings this year. It just goes to show how much one can truly accomplish when not barred by a negative environment and a lack of social support.

One definition of "king" that is offered in these vignettes is "the one who can bring everyone together". That's certainly something that both Leona and Jack do, albeit in very different ways. But then, at the end of the Halloween Town segment of the vignettes, Leona acknowledges that "king" can be defined another way. He realizes that Jack is recognized as king not just because he's a leader, but because he's also needed and loved by the townspeople. This, too, is a "king". However, it seems that this is a definition that Leona somewhat looks down upon, as he basically apologizes to Jack for not thinking highly of him at first. Again, Leona prioritizes getting shit done, no matter what the cost of it may be--and even if it earns him the ire of others. This, as I said earlier, puts him in stark contrast to Jack, as well as his own older brother. But here and now, we have Leona finally seeing the strength that a different kind of ruling can have instead of always speaking so disparagingly about it. Even if it's just a little... it feels like he's growing and learning, doesn't it?

The vignettes end on flashing forward to Leona back at Savanaclaw dorm. A few of his freshmen students are goofing off right before magift/spelldrive practice is about to start. As soon as Leona shows up, the freshmen snap to attention and rush off to change for practice. Jack (Howl, not Skellington, lol) remarks that usually the other first years are so lazy, but their attitudes completely changed when their dorm leader appeared. Ruggie chimes in, saying that Leona keeps the entire dorm in line... THJBAEBVUFAEIYAFIOYBVADFILH ThEN HE CALLS THEIR KING THE BEST... AND JACK AGTREESS... WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHUT THE FUCK UPAS ALREADY STOP POGINTONG OUT HE'S A AGOODFK leADER DFOR YOUE AEPEOPLE YADFJKHAFLIYVDGVYUADGVUEGAVN

In response to the praise, Leona says that simply scolding misbehaving students doesn't make you a king. If it were as simple as that, it would be a pretty cheap throne build only on flattery. The vignettes end with him telling everyone to move their asses to practice. lh WDBHFAIYOEAIYEIYF BUT TAHAT'S PRETY YMASSIVE FOR HS CHARACTER... These vignettes demonstrate that Leona's not fixated on the title of king, but what it means to truly "be" a king and leader. He doesn't value being called a "king" if he feels it's easily earned, he wants to prove himself worthy of it and earn that title through his talents. This all circles back to a thought I had a while ago: that what Leona is after isn't the literal seat of king, but all the things that come with it but was denied of in his childhood. Respect, admiration, recognition for his abilities.

OOoogohoggoOGH... OTL I hate how well it comes together...

[communistkenobi]

I love finding new communists blogs because you immediately have to scroll through all the posts to see if you wanna follow them or block them lmao. Anyway from what I understand you work in western academia to some degree and as a student taking some classes in the social sciences it’s such a pain in the ass trying to even bring up a Marxist perspective. How do you deal with how much pushback socialism has in academia?

I’m doing a PhD in sociology ! And please feel free to block me, we are all annoying etc 

I would say that resistance to socialist ideas is a major source of frustration for me in academia - a learning curve for me has been gearing my writing & research to work around that type of institutional hostility. It depends on the discipline as well. Given that Marx is such a titanic figure in sociology I find it easier to engage with his work openly (although you will be mocked for it lol - it’s viewed as a dead-end project in the West since the USSR collapsed), whereas more history- or politics-based courses I’ve taken have been extremely hostile to even tepid Marxist analysis. I have friends to vent to and have found other people in my discipline who are like-minded, which has helped. You will need to do a lot of tactical retreats - I’ve found that tying your analysis to state policy helps a lot, it helps you get grants, and academics trade in policy-talk across disciplines so it will prepare you for that if you want to stay in academia.

I have also been making peace with the fact that academia is not really the place to “do” socialism - it is a deeply political job, and my ideological commitments motivate me to do work and research that I hope are beneficial to the world, but I think the authority and privileges afforded to academics, not academia itself, is the better avenue to conduct political activity - participating in student & left-wing actions, giving money and resources to activist groups, using your prestigious position to publicly speak on issues, sign important documents for vulnerable people (profs are counted as authorities to sign off on name change documents for trans people in Canada for example, as well as visa and citizenship proof I believe?), things like that. There was that Canadian doctor, Dr. Yipeng Ge, who was suspended from his university position for speaking out against Israel and went to Palestine on a medical mission, Engels used his family’s money to fund Marx & socialist actions, Lenin went to law school, etc (i am NOT remotely comparing myself to any of them to be clear lol, just demonstrating that there is historical precedent for this way of thinking). I’ve done a decent amount of union + community work and the reoccurring lesson I keep learning is that there are many little, vacant positions of power sprinkled throughout the world that will help you organize and agitate above and beyond your individual capabilities. And the right wing knows this! They take over local school board committees and town halls and run for office in their local neighbourhoods all the time, often unopposed, and use that to exert terrible political influence.

I try very much to resist the “one of the good ones” mindset re: my own career in academia and is one I struggle with pretty often. being pragmatic about what academic research actually does in the world is still something I’m grappling with. Academia has provided me with an incredibly prestigious education and a lot of social capital that I hope to use for some amount of good. I’m also betting on what is essentially a lottery ticket, given how rare tenure-track university positions are, so maybe all of this will be irrelevant anyway lol. I’m not sure if that’s helpful but it’s not a settled issue for me either, so if this reads as vague or wishy-washy that’s why!

[midnightfantasiez]

Watch It | Lee Sangyeon

SUMMARY: you were summoned to stop the crime spree of the renowned group The Boyz by hacking into one of the systems to retrieve information about a specified location before it's too late. what you did not expect was that their leader has been spying on every move you make from the shadows and eventually confronting you about it, which then turns into your biggest nightmare.

PAIRING: criminal Sangyeon x hacker f!reader

GENRE: smut (18+ MDNI!!)

WARNINGS: kissing, petnames (sweetheart, baby, princess), mentions about violence/illegal business (stealing), size kink, voyeurism, dirty talk, public sex, rough sex, fingering, handjob, p in v sex, unprotected sex, they went for rounds, mean dom! Sangyeon

WORD COUNT: 3,235

A/N: let me explain. it was the ✨stare✨ from the concept pic itself that gave me ideas for this fic 😭 huge thanks to my bubba @juyeonszn for beta reading this & convincing me to change my theme ily forever 🥺💜 also shoutout to @daisyvisions @snowflakewhispers for fueling me with ideas / validating my horniness oops— (but ily both so much 😘)

“Agent Y/N, are you in position?” 

“Yes, sir. I am waiting for the right moment to jump into the enemy’s territory.” 

With one click on the earpiece, you immediately turned off the buzzing sound from the headquarters as you needed to focus and ensure that you were all alone and secure as you entered the place of interest.

As you flung your backpack onto your back, you quietly peeked through the few trucks parked in the parking lot right outside the abandoned building. Given that your job was to hack into the system and you needed good internet service, conducting it outdoors would be much more ideal than inside the building itself. 

You and your team received a transmission hours ago about how this group of individuals has been conducting illegal business, such as stealing information from multiple laboratories—specifically ones located on the outskirts of Seoul to avoid detection and arrest. According to your team’s analysts, they have also discovered how they had been stealing chemical solutions that were pretty much hazardous to the public, and god knows whatever they will be using them for.

In other words, they are a pretty suspicious gang, and someone has to look into their spree of crimes before things get out of control. Being one of the best hackers on the team, you were sent to the actual location to hack into their system as best as you could. 

So here you were, in the depths of the night, staking out the parking lot alone, hoping that all goes well and that you can quickly do the job and get out of there as soon as possible. Frankly, it all felt super eerie, especially when it was this late at night, and there weren’t many street lamps to provide enough light to make you feel safe by yourself. 

After looking thoroughly and confirming with your eyes that you were alone, you slowly moved towards the multiple trucks parked in the middle of the parking lot. You managed to squeeze yourself through them and get to a well-lit area; that was when you finally took your laptop out of your backpack and started hacking away. 

To the best of your abilities, you were able to sneak into the laboratory’s system fairly quickly, and you ran over their live security camera footage to check if the criminals were within the building. Immediately, the security camera footage popped up on the screen, and you could quickly identify several men scattered throughout the different labs within the facility. 

“They were probably looking for the right chemical, " you thought, as they were all split up and divided into three groups in each laboratory. While they were trying to find the liquid, you had to quickly hack into the database to retrieve all of the information regarding the facility and the chemicals produced over the years and quickly send them back to your headquarters for analysis. 

After about 10 minutes of transferring all of the files, it was time for you to get out of there and return to let the other agents that were on their way to take over and confront the criminals themselves. You weren’t a field agent, so you couldn’t do much physical combat against the criminals themselves. As much as you wanted to, you weren’t ready for your title as an agent to be stripped off you anytime soon; hence respecting the laws and just doing as you were told would be the wisest decision for now.  

You quickly phoned the headquarters, letting them know you had retrieved all the necessary documents and would finally return to report. As you were permitted to do so, you got up and were going to keep all of your belongings back in your backpack until one of the security cameras began flashing. 

You quickly got back down again, trying to see what was happening. That was when you remembered a crucial detail. 

According to the information you guys have had so far, you knew that the group of criminals consisted of 11 members, so you decided to do a headcount one by one on the screen, starting from 1 to 11.

“8…9…and 10.”

10? 

Someone was missing, but who?

Just then, a deep husky voice broke you off from your attention on the screen, and you looked around to see where it was coming from. Finally, you landed your eyes towards one of the vehicles right across you, and there he was—one of the criminals sitting right on top of the truck with both his legs spread wide apart, looking down towards you. 

“Aren’t you pretty good at your job, sweetheart?” 

Oh no. You were busted. 

“U-umm…sorry…it’s just that…I was supposed to write a report regarding this facility, so I am here to look around.”

“At this hour? Close to midnight? I highly doubt that, princess.” 

Immediately, he hopped down from the vehicle in one swift movement and began approaching you slowly. You instinctively shut your laptop, hugged it close to your chest, and backed away. 

“I-I’m sorry! It seems I came at the wrong time! I will take my leave now, then. I’m sorry to have disrupted you!” You bowed down profusely before turning your heel and tried to run as quickly as you could until he grabbed your wrist and pulled it upwards, turning back in his direction. 

There was this smug yet dangerous look on his face, contradicting the pure and innocent look he had on before. That sent a chill up your spine, and you quickly gulped before he slowly pushed you till your back finally hit against one of the trucks. You closed your eyes upon the impact and elicited a quiet yelp with his movement. 

Suddenly, you felt his fingers lift your chin, and he commanded you to open your eyes to look straight at him. 

“Now sweetheart, we weren’t done having our little fun conversation yet, were we? It breaks my heart that you decided to take off running before we even started.” 

You were panicking as his grip slightly tightened around your wrist, pushing it back against the truck, signalling that you would be dead meat if you tried something funny again next time. You were stuck, and there was no way you could ring the headquarters as that would blow up your cover and the location of the base of operations. 

The only thing you could do was to pray that the field agents would make their way over to you soon until you heard a mild static and a voice calling through the earpiece.

“T-there isn’t much ser-service here, b-but we will be sli-slightly late d-due to the he-heavy traffic. H-hang in t-there, a-agent Y/N! W-we’ll surely be c-coming—” 

And then it all went silent. 

Your only hope was lost, as the enemy threatened and pinned you with little to no help coming your way anytime soon. You could use your physical combat skills to fight against the man before you, but something in your gut told you that it would be a horrible idea to try anything funny with him right now. 

With that, you could only take a deep breath and try to talk things out with him for a bit, stalling some time before help eventually arrived. 

“W-what…what do you want from me?” You questioned, or more like stammered. It was clear that you were trembling in your voice. 

The man chuckles slightly as he smiles back at you. “See, sweetheart. I’m afraid I can’t let you off that easily, knowing that you were spying on us and retrieving crucial evidence and information that would hinder our mission.”

This time, his fingers on your chin slowly travelled down to your neck and chest. It was the way he took his time gently sliding his finger down and touching your bare skin that made you let out a gasp. 

“I’d like to play a little game with you, princess.”

“W-what do you…” You were beginning to lose your mind as he brushed his fingers across your lips, smudging the lipstick that you’d put on prior. 

“I’d like to see how much you can handle, and trust me, we will have so much fun. I’ll make sure that you won’t be heading back to your headquarters anytime soon.”

Within seconds after that last sentence, he crashed his lips with yours and began savouring them as a tingling sensation ran through your body. He quickly deepened the kiss, his lips moving against yours with urgency. 

It was wrong. This was all so wrong.

You knew how bad this situation was because he was your enemy. But then, something about his lips made you crave more. His kisses tasted like honey, and the way he moved his lips against yours drove you insane. 

Without you knowing, your grip against the laptop slowly loosened, and eventually, he took it away from you and gently placed it on the ground, his hands quickly moving back up to your cargo pants, rubbing the spot in between your thighs, earning a gasp from you. 

He smiled as you gave him the reaction that he wanted, and he began to untie your pants before pulling them down, his fingers now brushing over your sensitive spot through the lace underwear that you were wearing. Slowly, he began to feel that you were starting to get wet, and that was his cue to hook his finger under the seam of your underwear before pulling them down, revealing your now wet clit all exposed. 

You hissed as the cold air from the atmosphere came in contact with your clit, and it took the enemy a moment to reconnect his fingers to your wet sensitive spot, rubbing it again before slowly inserting two fingers into you. 

“Aah…aaah…”

“I’ll be a dear and tell you my name, princess. Call me Sangyeon, moan for me,” he leaned towards you and whispered. 

“S-sangyeon….”

“That’s it, baby. You’re doing so good for me. I shall grant you your next reward now, hmm?” 

As he removed his fingers from your clit, he quickly moved them to his pants, unzipped and shoved them down rather hastily. It was the way you immediately noticed the erection through his boxers, and your eyes widened from just that alone. Sangyeon smirked at your reaction and reconnected his lips to yours to give you a few pecks. 

“Look at you already can’t stop staring at my big cock. Oh, baby. I’ll make sure that you won’t regret playing with it.” 

Immediately, he grabbed your free hand and guided you to touch his erection. You gasped from that alone while Sangyeon let out a soft groan. You couldn’t help but naturally start rubbing his tip, which made Sangyeon moan for you. 

“Touch me, baby.” He commanded. 

Guiding your hands again, he allowed you to pull his boxers down, and your mouth watered at the sight of his massive bulge. You wrapped your hands around his cock before you began gliding your hands up and down his member. In return, he inserted his fingers back into your clit once again, and the both of you were now a moaning mess.

“S-sangyeon…kiss me…please…” you whined, wanting to taste his sweet honey-like lips once again. 

“Oh, honey. You love the way my tongue twirls around yours?”

“Y-yes…very much…aaahh—” 

Just like that, he was now back to kissing you breathless. As his tongue slid into your mouth, he began sucking your tongue, and you shut your eyes tightly from the sensation. It made you forget entirely about how you were supposed to escape this guy as soon as possible, trying to find a potential hideout place to wait for your fellow agents. 

It seemed as if Sangyeon had wrapped you around his fingertips, just as he had planned to, and he would make sure that you wouldn’t be leaving this place anytime soon. He would proceed to the next step of his plan anytime now. 

He gently removed your hands away from his bulge as he took it himself to align the tip towards your entrance, and you knew that you were in big trouble. Now, you tried to move forward when his hand, still grabbing your wrist, tightened again and pushed it back towards the truck again. 

“Oh no, princess. We’re just getting started. Stay here with me, and I’ll give you the best fucking sex you’ll ever have.” 

As soon as those words slipped out of his mouth, he immediately slid himself into you, and you all but screamed, a teardrop falling from the corners of your eyes. Sangyeon didn’t even give you enough time to adjust to his huge size fully and eventually began slamming into you hard. 

“Fuck—fuck.” It was all that you could’ve said because you had already lost your mind ever since he kissed you for the first time. Now that he was within you? Oh, you were far, long gone from reality. 

Given the way he was fucking you so hard, even the truck that you were leaning against began rocking back and forth following your pace. 

Your eyes watered as he hit every single spot within you, causing you to cry out loud. If you were to be honest, it actually did hurt, especially which such a large and hard dick like his. But the pleasure far exceeded the pain, and you cried out for more. 

“Sangyeon…sangyeon…”

“Tell me what exactly you want, baby.”

“Keep it going…please…”

“Just like that? Are you sure that is enough?”

“I…want you to fuck me faster and harder—”

“Anything else?” He was now picking up the pace, and it was visible that his chest was rising up and down much quicker than before as he tried his best to catch his breath. 

“I…want you to fuck me till my legs feel numb, give me more and more…aaah—”

“That is what exactly I like to hear, sweetheart.” 

As he slammed into you hard, you felt a tight knot form around your stomach, signalling that you were about to reach your high and cum. Sangyeon noticed your demeanour as you buckled your hips and spread your legs wider for him to gain more access to you. 

“I’m cumming! I’m cumming!” You screamed.

“Do it, baby. Cum all over my cock, I want you to be dripping wet just for me.” He growled. 

With a few more pushes, you eventually released and spilled all of your juices all around his cock, so much so that it was oozing out of you, and it all splattered on the ground. 

You breathe in heavily before Sangyeon gives you a gentle kiss on the lips, reassuring you that you have done so well for him.

“That’s it, princess. What a good girl you’ve been. But unfortunately, there is more to come baby.” 

He grabbed both of your shoulders before turning you around rather aggressively, so now you were facing the truck instead. If you were to be honest, that rough act of his turned you on more than it was painful. It was a few seconds before you felt his grip return to you on both sides of your hips, as you felt his cock rubbing up and down once again on your dripping wet clit.

Sangyeon leaned forward to whisper in your ear, sending you a chill down your spine. “Give me some more, baby. You know you can do it.”

As he pushed his cock back into you, an immense moan spilt out from your mouth as he began pounding into you again. You had already had sex and felt his member all around you just a minute prior, yet you were still struggling to adjust to his bulge. 

“God, sweetheart. I’ve already fucked you hard, and yet you’re still so tight. I guess I wasn’t rough enough.” 

As he pounds into you, your hands that were pressed against the truck begin pushing the vehicle once again. If only there were someone around, you swear to god that the car's movement would be more than enough to prove that something wasn’t right and that there were people everywhere in the empty parking lot. 

But your comrades are still nowhere to be seen, and you were still bounded by the criminal himself, fucking you till you were sore to the point that you would not be able to walk on your own after this. 

“S-sangyeon…I-I wanna cum again for you so badly…” You whimpered. 

This time, he moved one of his hands up to grab a chunk of your hair and pulled it back; that firm sudden grip caused you to scream once again for him.

“Do it then. Cum with me this time.” He commanded, pulling your hair and pounding into you even harder. 

“Fuck—fuck—fuck—Sangyeon!! I’m cumming!!” 

With one final hard thrust, both of you released your liquids before slowing down the momentum and catching your breaths together. He removed his grip from your hair before he grabbed your chin and turned your head back for him to kiss you again. You snaked your hands up to his neck to return the favour. 

Just then, you heard sirens coming from afar, and you heard static in your earpiece again. 

“Agent Y/N, please respond! We’re finally here to infiltrate the facility; please head out, return to the back of our vehicle, and stay put!” 

It was your cue to leave now, and there was no more extended point in you staying here. 

You gulped before you pulled away from Sangyeon, mustering up the courage to reject him for good this time. 

“S-sangyeon…I have to go…I can’t stay here any more.” You stammered, hoping that he would finally let you leave this time, especially since he had already gotten what he wanted. 

But you should’ve known better because his familiar dark and dangerous look was plastered on his face again, and he pushed you back against the truck. 

“You know, now that your comrades are here, I’m afraid there’s more reason for me not to let you leave now, hmm? I’ve been stalling time for my boys to get what they want in the facility before your agents arrive to ruin our plan. While they were doing that, I was out here guarding the area, making sure nobody was to sabotage our plan.” 

So that was why he played this little dirty game with you.

“Knowing my boys, I’m pretty sure that they have gotten everything we need, and all they have to do is defeat your fellow agents, and then we will leave. And while they are doing that, you will keep me company until they’re done.” He threatened. 

This time, he grabbed your wrist and dragged you towards the front of the car, directly where you could see clearly how your fellow agents were confronting the criminals. Within seconds, a fight has broken out between them across the facility, and you have no choice but to stay here helplessly and be unable to provide them with any aid. 

Before you could say anything, Sangyeon yanked you down towards the hood of the car so that you were lying on top of it, and he prepared to go for a third round with you.

“I want you to watch closely with how you and your fellow agents are going to fail this mission terribly while I fuck you real good till you’re begging for more.”

masterlist

taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @flwoie @heemingyu @snowflakewhispers (join my permenant taglist here!)

[thepersonperson]

Thoughts on Sukuna and Kenjaku’s relationship as of JJK 258.

Before we start I want to clarify some things.

1) This analysis deals with topics of nonconsent and reproductive manipulation. 

2) I will be mainly using the TCB scans because of their accessibility. 

3) This analysis is based on Sukuna being aroace.

(Click pictures for captions/citations.)

On Sukuna being aroace...

There’s a strong case for this given how he responds to both sexual advances from Yorozu and romantic advances from Yorozu and Kashimo.

Rejecting Yorozu

Sukuna does not like Yorozu. This is rather obvious. His official updated character description states that he is "Turned off with Yorozu's excitement".

He dislikes her the most when she comes onto him romantically or sexually as shown by the panels below. Otherwise he regards her with a mild annoyance.

It should be noted that in the rules of Heian Era courtship, showing passive disinterest is how you properly turn someone down. Sukuna is someone who is a stickler for propriety when it comes to conduct associated with the upper class so this speaks volumes.

Rejecting Kashimo

Kashimo has much more tact when coming onto Sukuna but he's still pretty forward. He brings up love and laments how it's impossible for them to love people weaker than them. Sukuna is the first person Kashimo believes he is capable of loving. He even calls him beautiful.

Sukuna is not a fan of this. He straight up says he understands what love is, he simply does not care for it. Going onto express additional irritation at Yorozu while looking rather bored with the conversation.

Sukuna does go onto explain how the strong express love with their violence, but his entire demeanor mimics that of his one with Yorozu. If we go by the Heian Era courtship rules, this once again is Sukuna turning Kashimo down.

Sukuna also declares he does not need another person to satisfy himself directly to Kashimo. (And later internally.) This sounds rather silly given that he needs people to eat and fight, so we can infer he's speaking on relationships. Especially since this was a response to Kashimo talking about love.

What's fascinating about this declaration is that also notes most people do not understand him when it comes to love. Other people think he needs it, but he is content not having romantic or sexual relationships. This is a common problem aroace people experience.

His wording "never crossed my mind" also suggests he doesn't experience attraction outright instead of not having opportunities to act on it. (Yorozu has given him plenty of chances to do so.)

What's more is Gege stating Sukuna never had a wife or children via the official fanbook. Sukuna is strong enough to do whatever he wants and that includes forcing people to be with him. The fact he has no direct descendants and is not a rapist despite seeing humans as playthings really shows how uninterested in sex Sukuna is.

In conclusion? Sukuna is probably aroace.

Wait what about Gojo?

As an aside, I want to emphasize that out of the “fighting for love trio” Gojo is the only one who did not try to force love on Sukuna. (Which aligns with this character pretty well. He consistently respects boundaries when it comes to love.) These panels here are not Gojo. This is Sukuna recalling what Yorozu said to him and is projecting that onto Gojo. At no point did Gojo bring up love to Sukuna.

I think this is important to note because Gojo winds up being the only person Sukuna deeply respects by the end of the battle. He is also the only person who Sukuna consistently smiled at during the fight. There wasn't a single panel where Sukuna gave Gojo the passively irritated look. (Good job Gojo you did right by an aroace.)

What does this have to do with Kenjaku and Sukuna's relationship?

Bear with me this is going to be a lot.

On Kenjaku...

We know that Kenjaku has achieved semi-immortality with a Cursed Technique (CT) that involves corpse desecration. Though it’s a bit more severe than that. The brain transplant just doesn’t steal the body, it also steals their memories and their privacy. When most people die, they take their most personal secrets with them. Kenjaku’s CT takes away that last remaining bit of dignity. 

Kenjaku exists and survives by violating others physically and emotionally. The search for entertainment to relieve boredom comes at the cost of empathy for all other living things. Everyone is just a toy for Kenjaku to play with. (Not unlike Sukuna.)

We also know that Kenjaku wants to evolve humanity through cursed energy no matter what. Mainly for the lolz. It’s an interesting idea to Kenjaku so it’s being pursued to sate that curiosity. No more and no less.

Kenjaku is crafty and wise enough to have backup plans. The culling games can bring about this evolution, but so can Sukuna by merely existing. 

When Tengen is forcibly evolved because of these plans through cursed energy, they start looking more like Sukuna. Kenjaku explicitly makes this parallel. 

Kenjaku also raped a poor woman 9 times with a cursed spirit to experiment on how cursed energy could evolve humans. Though all her pregnancies were aborted, it is heavily implied she died from them.

What does this have to do with Sukuna?

We know that Sukuna’s body is perfect sorcery and cursed energy. He has 2 mouths and 4 arms. On top of that he learns and adapts to all things sorcery with scary speed. Sukuna is the pinnacle of human evolution through cursed energy. Tengen's evolution via cursed energy making them resemble Sukuna also indicates this.

In other words, Sukuna is Kenjaku’s ideal specimen for evolution via cursed energy. There’s just one problem. Sukuna is aroace and very fudging strong. Unlike Tengen or Choso’s mother, Kenjaku can’t force Sukuna to go along with these plans. Sukuna will simply kill whoever doesn’t respect his boundaries. So how do you work around this? You build a cage.

Yuji is the perfect cage for Sukuna and I’m pretty sure Kenjaku did that on purpose. As Sukuna stated, Kenjaku would not have a child for no reason. He also says that Jin is basically a fragment of himself. In JJK twin’s souls are treated as the same person. So in a way that makes Sukuna both Yuji’s uncle and his father. But that’s not the problem here.

(Please note that there are a lot of translations floating around because of how confusing this lore is. In every variation Sukuna seems to consider Jin a piece of himself.)

We know for a fact Kenjaku has been genetically manipulating people for a very long time and has found ways to capture souls and stuff them into an unwilling host. What this implies to me is that Kenjaku has been selectively breeding the Itadori family to get the perfect cage for Sukuna. (This could be as simple as manipulating who the Itadoris pair with or as gross as Kenjaku being the “mother” every step of the way. Which would make this particular panel insane foreshadowing.)

Wasuke says something a bit weird here when Kenjaku is in Kaori’s body that might make this the case.

How does he already know this? It feels like he has fallen victim to Kenjaku’s manipulations before and is trying to warn his son.

Now it’s not clear if Jin got turned into a cursed object and was reincarnated forcefully or if he naturally reincarnated. I lean towards the former because of how meticulous Kenjaku is with planning. The end result is the same though—Kenjaku created a version of Sukuna that was willing to have sex and children, despite Sukuna’s clear wishes not to.

Kenjaku has been a very rapey character from the start, but this takes it to another level for me. There are so many asexual individuals who are the targets of unwanted sexual desire. When discomfort is expressed, people take it as a challenge. There’s this kind of entitlement to our bodies and sometimes our refusal to bear children. 

As of chapter 257, people have started to read Kenjaku as someone in love/obsessed with Sukuna and not willing to give up on it. Those implications make me deeply uncomfortable, but they have merit to them.

(The link may die because Twitter but hopefully this credit is enough.)

Kenjaku seems to have spent centuries coming up with the perfect plan to trap Sukuna and keep him as a lab rat forever. Even going as far as to force a pregnancy on Sukuna after death with a binding vow.

Sukuna’s unyielding hatred of Yuji becomes something a little more than opposed ideals with Kenjaku’s involvement. Yuji is essentially a constant reminder that someone else has control over him and might force him to engage in things he really does not want to do. (And under this interpretation, Sukuna has been forced to coexist with what is his unwanted child. Which is honestly pretty fudged up.)

Sukuna seems to be rather neutral to disinterested in Kenjaku despite sharing similar ideas about other people, loneliness, and a desire for entertainment. But when he realizes how Yuji was made, he refers to the action as gross/twisted. Since Sukuna is ok with murder, cannibalism, and stealing people’s bodies, you can infer he’s referring to the sex and pregnancy.  (This might also explain why Sukuna tries to speak to Kenjaku as little as possible. Someone getting with your twin after you turn them down is weird behavior.)

I think Uraume’s hostility towards Kenjaku should also be noted because they’re the only person who seems to understand and respect Sukuna’s boundaries at all times. Sukuna likes keeping Uraume around for a reason. They have a knack for telling people to piss off when they’re encroaching on his space (See naked Yorozu and trying to shoo away Kenjaku when the yapping starts.)

Whatever the case, Kenjaku is someone who causes others to relive their traumas and violates their autonomy for entertainment. I think Sukuna is a victim of this too.

As for Yuji having Sukuna’s actual power? Maybe he inherited it. Maybe Jin was turned into a cursed object and fed to Yuji as a baby. We don’t know yet and I’m sure whatever it is will probably be gross.

[cheeekycharchar]

"Shame and guilt have followed humanity since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden."

Good Omens; a story of an Angel that can't accept love because of shame and a Demon that can't accept forgiveness because of guilt.

"It'd be funny if we both got it wrong, eh? If I did the good thing and you did the bad one."

An in-depth analysis of an Angel suffering from shame and a Demon wracked with guilt.

Let's dive deeper below the cut!

[Now I'm going to lay down a lot of facts, definitions and minimal psychological babble and I want you, as the reader, to view this through your GO nerd glasses. Also, I want to express that I am not a therapist or religious in any way- this was all done as academic research for the fandom's sake cause I can't shut my brain up. I tried to organize it the best I could. ..sorry it's so long but I swear it's worth the read through! ;)]

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• Shame is the painful emotion you have when you perceive that you are not good enough in some way. Entirely self imposed and only known to you, shame can be an unpleasant self-conscious feeling often associated with negative self-evaluation. When shame is chronic, it makes you believe that you are fundamentally flawed, defective, dishonorable, immoral, or improper.

• Guilt is a negative feeling of worry or unhappiness that you get because you have done something wrong. It's a moral emotion that occurs when a person believes or realizes- accurately or not- that they have compromised their own standards of conduct or have violated universal moral standards and bear significant responsibility for it. When guilt is chronic, it can be a toxic emotion that could cause a person to take on unjust responsibility if things around them go wrong. They are quick to accept that everything is their fault even though it isn't.

While guilt is about wrong actions, shame is about being wrong as a person.

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In academic psychology, shame is associated with avoiding failure and its consequences while guilt is connected with forgiving and improving one's self, along with making amends.

Guilt and Shame are often confused for each other but there’s a big difference between the two. Guilt can help you understand how your actions impact others, but shame is an inward-facing emotion that reflects how you feel about yourself. (And I do realize that Aziraphale may, at times, feel guilt and Crowley can also feel a sense of shame. But the main motivation behind majority of their characterizations and actions throughout the series are both coming from these two different feelings.)

Guilt can help you move forward while shame keeps you stuck in the past. [such as the "We could have been.. us." and "You go too fast for me." scenes] And the only way to rid themselves of these negative emotions is through recovery with unconditional love and forgiveness.

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• How Aziraphale represents the concept of shame •

Shame tricks you into believing that you aren't good. That you are worthless. Not that you've done something bad, but that you are bad. Ever since Aziraphale gave away his flaming sword, he started to question himself. But it wasn't until he outright lies to his fellow Angel's about the true fate of Job's children that he truly believes he has fallen- that he violated God's word and lied (again). He believes there must be something truly wrong with who he is as an Angel. He's a flawed creation of God and he feels a dreaded sense of deep shame from this.

Feelings of shame can also present itself in different types such as, Chronic Shame (negative emotions all the time that you aren't good enough), Performance Shame (feeling as though you are inferior compared to others) and Shame from Unrequited Love (this is a feeling of not being good enough for another person T^T).

Shame is a harmful, negative emotion that when internalized enough can result in an overly harsh evaluation of oneself.

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Next, let's take a closer look at what defines shame and how it operates through Aziraphale:

• Being Defensive is a way to avoid taking responsibility for our behavior.

"I don't need you." "And the feeling is mutual!"

• Perfectionism is the unrealistic desire to be perfect and is often a defense against shame. If we’re perfect, no one can criticize us; no one can shame us. We keep up a front that looks good to the world. We may spend a lot of time attending to our dress and looks.

"I do have standards."

• Apologizing constantly. Shame can prompt us to be overly apologetic and compliant.

"I did the 'I was wrong' dance in…"

• Procrastination can occur from a deep hidden shame. If we consider pursuing something and it doesn’t turn out well, we might be paralyzed by that feeling. If we never try, then we don’t have to face possible failure and subsequent shame.

"You go too fast for me, Crowley.."

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Next are the four category behaviors resulting from shame:

• The Hot Response These are things you do when you feel ashamed and defensive, such as lashing out in anger or attacking the other person to deflect attention from yourself.

"I don't even like you!" [always resorts to being defensive in any argument]

• Behaviors to Cope With or Conceal the Shame These behaviors include doing things to make yourself feel small, trying to avoid being the center of attention, or not sharing your thoughts or feelings. Concealing yourself is a method of self-protection.

[always awkward and can't speak openly around other Angels]

• Safety Behaviors to Avoid Shame or Being Discovered This category of shame behaviors might be things like apologizing, crying, or avoiding conflict. People who have a tendency toward being emotional or avoiding conflict may be more likely to engage in safety behaviors.

"Why? What's wrong? I mean.. if there is something wrong.."

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The Impact of Feeling Shame:

• Makes you feel like you are flawed or there is something wrong with you

"I'm like you now. A demon. I'm a fallen angel.." • Can lead to social withdrawal

[spends most of his time in the bookshop alone] • May cause you to become defensive and shame others in return "I'm an angel! And you're a demon!" • May cause you to inflate your ego to hide the belief that you don’t have value

"Well, I am a great deal holier than thou. That's the whole point." • May leave you feeling empty, lonely, or worn out

"But I thought you said it wasn't [lonely]?" • May lead to lowered self-esteem

"I'm.. soft." • May make it harder for you to trust other people

"Obviously, you're lying. You're a demon. That's what you do." • May lead to perfectionism or overachievement to try and counteract your feelings of shame

"If I can just reach the right people and resolve all of this-" "That's not going to happen! How could somebody as clever as you be so stupid!?" • May cause you to engage in people pleasing

"Doing good again, Angel? "Oh, hardly counts. Purely for selfish reasons." • May cause you to avoid talking because you are afraid to say the wrong thing

[trying to explain to Metatron in S1 without revealing too much] • May cause compulsive or excessive behaviors like overworking, excessive cleaning, or having too high of standards in general

[non stop research all day and night to look for the antichrist by himself]

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• How Crowley represents the concept of guilt •

Guilt is what you feel after committing a specified or perceived offence/crime/bad action.  It's typically attached to a feeling you experience when you do something wrong on purpose or accidentally and can regret that action. Guilt can be morally ambiguous.

"Well, maybe there is something to be said for.. shades of grey?" "..Shades of dark grey."

Signs of guilt are unique but these are the most common (again there are many but these I thought related to Crowley the best):

• Low self-esteem

*sighs* "Don't bother..."

• Excessive attempts at reparation [Crowley always trying to secretly help humanity when he can]

• Being unable to meet someone’s gaze

[Covering his eyes not only hides his snake eyes but also his guilty feelings]

• Anxiety "We are fucked!" [and we all know TV!Crowley is 100% more anxiety ridden than Book!Crowley is lol]

• Trouble sleeping [Sleeps too long (100 year nap from book). Or can't get comfortable sleeping (from S1 deleted scene)]

• Depressed mood

"What's even the point.. everything seems.. pointless.."

• Avoidance of people, places, or events linked to the cause of guilt "I'm not going to be joining their team and neither should you!" [doesn't want to return to Heaven or Hell and is "on his own side" to avoid them further] • Shifts in energy levels [can be giddy/jumpy one second to morose/moody the next, etc]

• Emotional outbursts

"I'm just so angry!"

• Appetite changes

[took up drinking alcohol even though its unnatural to]

• Making amends [spends every moment since Eden trying to secretly do good despite the hellish consequences]

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Defense mechanisms against feeling guilty can become an overriding aspect of one's personality. (These are also related to trauma response.)

• Displacement is a defensive tool that may take the form of blaming the victim or taking your feelings out on others.

"You know what you've done. You've disappointed me."

• Projection is sharing the unacceptable feelings/qualities onto others, thereby being less alone with it.

"But that sounds.." "Lonely?"

• Self-harm may be used as an alternative to compensating from one's past transgression. Not just physical self-harm but not allowing yourself to enjoy opportunities or benefits as a result of uncompensated guilty feelings.

[always holding himself back for 6k years from saying what he truly feels and won't allow himself to be with Aziraphale the way he really wants]

• Repression is subconsciously blocking or forgetting harmful/traumatic memories. "Right.. looking at where the furniture isn't.." [doesn't remember his time in Heaven in detail- whether from trauma response or just had his memory wiped]

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Behavioral responses to guilt can be associated with the moral of their character. Feelings of guilt can prompt virtuous behavior.

"You shouldn't test them to destruction.."

People who feel guilty may be more likely to: • Exercise restraint [holds his true feelings back for Aziraphale for centuries]

• Avoid self-indulgence [only really has his car and plants in the end]

• Exhibit less prejudice [is more open and accepting of other's sins - such as helping during the Scottish bodysnatching scenes]

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Guilt can prompt reparatory behaviors (actions to make amends) to help alleviate these negative emotions. People tend to engage in these reparatory behaviors toward the persons they wronged. Some religions theorize that forgiveness of sin (even those committed by accident or ignorance) is exclusively through repentance.

Crowley, being the wily serpent that tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple of knowledge and subsequently getting her and Adam kicked out of paradise on Earth- and thusly creating the first sin of humanity. Right away, Crowley feels guilt from this.

After all, he was just told to stir up some trouble and had no idea the consequences of his first temptation on the future generations of human existence. Ignorantly doing something considered wrong and getting exiled.. this mistake would forever haunt him. He knows the pain and trauma from unwittingly doing something insignificant and being punished severely for it (such as asking questions or eating an apple) yet he accidentally made the first of God's new creatures "fall" in their own way from Eden. It's because of this guilt that Crowley spends the next 6000 years secretly rebelling against Hell to help humanity in any way he can to redeem himself.

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That's why their first conversation (post Fall from Heaven) on the wall of Eden was SO important to their relationship with each other and themselves.

"Oh, I do hope I didn't do the wrong thing." "It'd be funny if we both got it wrong. If I did the good thing and you did the bad one." "No. No! It wouldn't be funny at all!"

I think the reason Crowley always seems to be one step ahead of Aziraphale (in more ways than one) is because, in a sense, guilt is easier to resolve from than shame.

If you acknowledge your mistake and the person chooses to take the steps to improve and change for the better, then they can recover from those negative feelings. They can work through the guilt by repairing the transgression or learning from it.

Whereas shame can only intensify inwardly and be harder to face because your mind is telling you that you are the bad thing, that you are the mistake. This makes it harder to overcome. And the only way to truly recover from shame is unconditional love and forgiveness- for yourself.

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“Instead of your shame, you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land, they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:7)

And in S2.. we can see they both hold regret for their actions at the end of episode 6. If you look at every choice, ever misstep, every argument and their occasional confusion in understanding one another, you can see how Aziraphale was written with shame as a main part of his personality and Crowley written with guilt.

Two feelings that are often confused for one another but differ slightly in their own ways. The motivation behind every word they utter and every action they make throughout the series is built on the foundation of these two fundamentally negative and often traumatizing feelings.

There is a possibility to recover from shame and guilt and I have a feeling that S3's plot line will be all about recovery.

And that's what the concept of that Second Coming storyline might be all about. The New Testament says, "In Jesus Christ, God took upon Himself the sins of the world and died on the cross to pay mankind's debt" (Rom 6:23). "Those who repent and accept Christ's sacrifice for their sins, will be redeemed by God and thus not guilty before Him. They will be granted eternal life which will take effect after the Second Coming of Christ" (1 Thess 4:13–18).

A second chance. Forgiveness and Recovery from Sin.

And what is the story of Adam and Eve if not about humanity's Original Sin?

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Remember, after all is said and done, the antidote for shame is love, and guilt is cured through forgiveness.

Two things a certain Angel and Demon struggle with accepting from each other but are more than willing to give to one another.

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[…There! I made myself sad again, lol. Thank you for reading this far! Sorry it was crazy long but I really enjoyed putting this all together into semi-comprehensible words (though stupid tumblr made me delete a bunch of pictures I had as examples…). Also, on a final side note- if you are ever experiencing overwhelming shame or guilt in anyway (which can result in depression or worse if not dealt with) please make sure you reach out to someone or seek professional help in some way. Take care, everyone! ^-^]

[haitang-blossoms]

On Differential Methods, Politics, & Intimacy for Early Novel!Cezhou (haitang-blossoms' Qiang Jin Jiu meta)

Note: This analysis goes up to Chapter 42 which is where I had read up to before Lianyin's fantranslation was taken down due to official English licensing by Seven Seas. This is also the source of my quoted screenshots of the novel.

The way both Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye weaponise perceived incompetence (through fabricated images of "grateful helplessness" and "devil-may-care hedonism" respectively) is so compelling and really serves to flesh out the realities of the environment they are forced to navigate.

It is a recurring narrative motif that both Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye are "beasts" trapped and restrained by the political system of Qudu. However, the difference in social position and status between them is key to why they choose the masks that they do.

Shen Zechuan, both as a by-proxy-traitor to the nation and as the son of a dancer, has always had to keep his head down and not act beyond his station. Thus, it is perfectly natural that he operates within this expected framework: both to survive in the hostile political landscape as well as to conceal his own intentions and moves within the shadows.

Xiao Chiye, on the other hand, was born into relative power. While the Xiao Clan of Libei was never in the favour of the Empress Dowager, they are nonetheless a reputable cavalry with a hereditary title. Xiao Chiye, as the second son, has both less direct political influence as well as responsibility than his father (the prince) or his elder brother (the next-in-line). This is how he is so easily made a "bargaining chip" and assigned to what seems to be a hopelessly dead-end job in order to keep a metaphorical "leash" on any rebellious intent that Libei may harbour. Given his wealth and inevitable position of being constantly in the public eye, the easiest way to cover up the target on Xiao Chiye's back is to present himself as a frivolous hedonist who is too busy chasing after liquor and bed-partners to pose a real threat to the established power dynamics of the capital.

The difference between their methods can also be observed in the way that their preferences are perceived by others:

Xiao Chiye presents himself as genial: he loves to drink, he is sociable enough to go out with friends frequently etc. However, as seen in the quote above, Xiao Chiye's "friendliness" is actually quite distant in that even the people who think they know him well are unaware of his true preferences. Yet he conducts himself in such a manner that they would not even think to ponder such things. It is a very effective approach for gathering intel: make the other party assume you are giving away much more about yourself than you are, opening the door for them to carelessly overshare from a sense of fabricated comradery.

Shen Zechuan is the opposite: going along with how he is forced to constantly humble himself and downplay his abilities, his preferences have to be presented as equally accommodating to the will of others. There are many instances where he seemingly goes along with others, secretly gritting his teeth the whole way, in order to "soften" them up to be played into his hand later.

And this goes into my next point:

Even though Shen Zechuan has an image of seductiveness, his entire method revolves around NOT having openly expressed desires because that would only serve as a vulnerability. Xiao Chiye, by contrast, predicates his mask around devil-may-care hedonism.

In this way, desire is both much more familiar to Xiao Chiye as well as easier to integrate into his established reputation than for Shen Zechuan. 

This is key to why Xiao Chiye is the first to accept his feelings and why he is much more comfortable with unabashedly expressing them. Thus, I think the differences in how Cezhou present themselves and the contrasting methods they use to stay ahead in their environment have bearing not only on the political games of their world but also on their relationship and how they relate themselves to each other.

[potato-frend-blog]

Different Types of Propaganda: Part 1

Hello chuckle fucks of Tumblr, it's clear to me that you no fucking clue what propaganda is or how to spot it.

So 1st is what is propaganda?

Definition of propaganda:

the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors to help or injure an institution, a cause, or a person ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one cause or to damage an opposing cause https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda

dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumors, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion. It is often conveyed through mass media. https://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda

information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread to influence people's opinions https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/propaganda

Propaganda Techniques Explained

This video does a good job of summarizing the different techniques

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sybo484veJY (you have to copy the link because the video doesn't allow playback.)

Agenda Setting:

Agenda: a secret aim or reason for doing something. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/agenda?q=Agenda)

A situation where critics perceive inexplicit political motives (or an institutional tendency to overlook underprivileged perspectives) to lie behind the choice of topics covered (e.g. in the news, current affairs, and documentaries), their relative importance (inferred from sequence and the relative amounts of space or time devoted to them), how they are presented, and what issues are backgrounded or excluded (see also selective representation). Media agendas are often set by ‘authoritative sources’ in government and industry upon which news organizations rely. The primary concern is that those in power thus call attention to issues that suit their agendas and distract attention from those that undermine them. It is usually argued that this influences or determines the terms and scope of public debate—not by telling people what to think but by telling them what to think about and controlling the salience for them of particular issues. (https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095355782)

Agenda setting means the "ability [of the news media] to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda". If a news item is covered frequently and prominently, the audience will regard the issue as more important. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)

(https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Agenda-Setting-Theory-Model_fig1_307536314)

Fear Appeal:

A psychological and rhetorical strategy in persuasive communication such as advertising that seeks to evoke a response of fear or anxiety in the audience by showing them an undesirable outcome that they can avoid by heeding the warning. This strategy is intended to increase the effectiveness of the message and it is commonly used in health and safety campaigns, such as those warning motorists not to drink and drive. (https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095812722?p=emailAWHA3YEy2eMug&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095812722)

For example, fear can be used to drive votes toward a particular candidate or party—a method that relies on our natural instinct to find safety in numbers. And, a meta-analysis conducted by Albarracin and her colleagues found that messages with fear are nearly twice as effective as messages without fear (Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 141, No. 6, 2015). (https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2020/fear-motivator-elections)

(https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/09/14/the-fear-appeal-advertising/)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreversible_Damage)

Appeal to Prejudice

Prejudice: an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/prejudice)

The one who makes the appeal to prejudice attempts to persuade you to act or feel in a certain way by associating his person, product or proposal with a certain one or more of your prejudices, positive or negative – a prejudice being a prejudgment wrapped in emotion and having a history. Not only does he rekindle your prejudice, he also arouses in you warm feelings toward the one (himself) who apparently shares your prejudice. And so it becomes much easier to make you believe or buy whatever he has to offer. (https://agloa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019PropGuidelinesSecD.pdf)

Using loaded or emotive terms to attach value or moral goodness to believing the proposition. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)

Der ewige Jude, a pseudo-documentary directed by Fritz Hippler and influenced by German Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, featured scenes of Jews in Warsaw and Lodz ghettos. The film was popular in Germany and occupied Europe, with notorious sequences comparing Jews to rats carrying contagion. The film also highlighted the alien nature of East European Jews, with "stereotypical" Polish Jews transformed into "western-looking" Jews. The film's crude characterizations and gruesome footage made it a hit with audiences, demonstrating that there was no difference between Jews in East European ghettos and those in German neighborhoods.( https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/der-ewige-jude)

Inevitable Victory + Bandwagon

Inevitable: certain to happen and unable to be avoided or prevented (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/inevitable?q=Inevitable) + Victory: an occasion when you win a game, competition, election, war, etc. or the fact that you have won. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/victory?q=Victory) = Certain to happen and cannot to be stopped or averted occasion when you win a game, competition, election, war, etc.

Bandwagon: an activity, group, movement, etc. that has become successful or fashionable and so attracts many new people. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/bandwagon)

An effort is made to influence you to act in a certain way by asserting or implying that that is what is popular or what the majority is doing (https://agloa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019PropGuidelinesSecD.pdf)

invites those not already on the bandwagon to join those already on the road to certain victory. Those already or at least partially on the bandwagon are reassured that staying aboard is their best course of action. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)

(https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-big-question-about-donald-trumps-rise-in-the-polls)

(https://x.com/AHA_tylersgap/status/734961473265373185/photo/1)

Beautiful People

The type of propaganda that deals with famous people or depicts attractive, happy people. This suggests if people buy a product or follow a certain ideology, they too will be happy or successful. (This is used more in advertising for products, instead of political reasons.) Usually for advertising rather than political purposes, sexual arousal may also be used. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)

depiction of attractive famous people or happy people to associate success or happiness with adherence to an idea or cause or purchase of a product. (https://www.dailywritingtips.com/50-types-of-propaganda/)

(https://quizlet.com/855901690/persuasive-techniques-flash-cards/)

Big lie

The repeated articulation of a complex of events that justify subsequent action. The descriptions of these events have elements of truth, and the "big lie" generalizations merge and eventually supplant the public's accurate perception of the underlying events. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)

A big lie (German: große Lüge) is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth primarily used as a political propaganda technique. The German expression was first used by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf (1925) to describe how people could be induced to believe so colossal a lie because they would not believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Hitler claimed that the technique had been used by Jews to blame Germany's loss in World War I on German general Erich Ludendorff, who was a prominent nationalist political leader in the Weimar Republic. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie)

A deliberate gross distortion of the truth is used especially as a propaganda tactic. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20lie)

(https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/big-lie-looms-over-nevadas-legislative-primaries)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Adolf_Hitler#Mein_Kampf)

Black-and-white fallacy

Presenting only two choices, with the product or idea being propagated as the better choice. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

type of cognitive distortion characterized by the tendency to see things in absolutes, with no shades of grey in between. This type of thinking can manifest in various aspects of life, from relationships to work to personal beliefs. (https://www.psychowellnesscenter.com/Blog/how-does-black-and-white-thinking-affects-your-mood-and-behavior)

only two choices are given. You are either for something or against it; there is no middle ground or shades of gray. It is used to polarize issues and negate all attempts to find a common ground. (https://www.cuesta.edu/student/resources/ssc/study_guides/critical_thinking/103_think_logic_errors.html#:~:text=This%20technique%20is%20also%20called,to%20find%20a%20common%20ground)

"“Globalize the Intifada” is a phrase used by pro-Palestinian activists that calls for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel. The most prominent expressions of intifada have been through violence so this phrase is often understood by those saying and hearing it as encouraging violence against Israelis, Jews, and institutions supporting Israel. While the intent of the person saying this phrase may be different, the impact on the Jewish community remains the same."

(https://www.ajc.org/news/what-does-globalize-the-intifada-mean-and-how-can-it-lead-to-targeting-jews-with-violence)

See when people say "Globalize the Intifada" it implies that there are only two choices in the conflict. One, is the pro-Palestine side, that the aggressive resistance against Israel, and those who support it, and the pro-Israel side is the ones they are against. Without realizing that there is a peaceful option. ( The one I do not know because, one I am not a politician, and international politics is a mess. And two I do not know enough about the conflict to support a peaceful end where everyone is satisfied. )

Cherry picking

suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data that may contradict that position. Cherry-picking may be committed intentionally or unintentionally. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking)

Present only evidence confirming your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=29&k=cherry+picking&p=propaganda.php)

Example : “CLAIM: Four recent shootings show there has been an “incredible rise” in transgender or nonbinary mass shooters in the past few years, making the group “by far the largest group committing as a percentage of the population.” Donald Trump Jr. spread the narrative widely on Twitter, claiming the supposed “incredible rise” and later saying there was a clear trend forming. Hundreds of other social media users amplified the idea. Trump Jr. did not respond to a request for comment.” THE FACTS: While specific data on transgender and nonbinary mass shooters can be hard to isolate, available information shows that the overwhelming majority of assailants in mass shootings are cisgender males. In making the claim, social media users are citing four examples over the past five years in which the assailant in a shooting identified as trans or nonbinary: the November killing of five at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a 2019 shooting at a Denver-area school by two shooters, one of them a trans man, that left one student dead and eight wounded; a 2018 shooting at a Maryland warehouse that left four dead, including the shooter; and the shooting Monday in Nashville. The number of mass shootings committed by those identifying as trans or nonbinary — and their ratio compared to mass shootings committed by other groups — is hard to quantify. It depends on the database used, how the act is defined, and how gender identity is recorded — for example, transgender males may statistically be counted as just men. But experts agree that the most reputable information still shows a clear pattern that cisgender males are the most likely to commit such an act of mass violence.” (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-transgender-nashville-shooting-misinformation-cd62492d066d41e820c138256570978c)

(02:15: cherry picking definition: Biden highlights only wage growth in "the bottom 40%," while not mentioning that, due to inflation, real wages actually declined for all other income groups.) (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=29&k=cherry+picking&p=propaganda.php)

Classical conditioning

That is, if A is always present when B is present and B causes a physical reaction (e.g. disgust, pleasure), then when presented with object A in the absence of B, that same reaction will be experienced. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

The behavioral psychological method that systematically transfers feelings, thoughts, or dispositions through relationships. It pairs an object, event, or variable that elicits a particular natural or reflexive response (unconditioned stimulus) with a neutral one to the point that only the presence of the latter is required to induce the originally impulsive and event-specific response. This time, it’s no longer neutral but a conditioned stimulus. (https://www.thecable.ng/classical-conditioning-potent-political-strategy/)

(https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychf19grp7/2019/11/15/classical-conditioning-puppy-training/)

As you can see, the food products in both these ads have been depicted as mouth-watering and delicious, and are designed to cause consumers to feel hungry. (https://www.advergize.com/marketing/classical-conditioning-examples-in-psychology/#Classical_Conditioning_in_Advertising_Examples)

Ad hominem

A Latin phrase that has come to mean attacking one's opponent, as opposed to attacking their arguments. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

attacking the character or motive of the person making an argument, rather than attacking the argument itself. (https://www.propwatch.org/term_results.php?cat_id=1&id=23&k=ad+hominem)

(https://thinkingispower.com/logical-fallacies/)

(35:19: ad hominem definition: Warnock attacks the character of Walker and his allies for making allegations against his church, without addressing any of the specific allegations against his church.) (https://www.propwatch.org/term_results.php?cat_id=1&id=23&k=ad+hominem)

Ad nauseam

This uses tireless repetition of an idea. An idea, especially a simple slogan, that is repeated enough times, may begin to be taken as the truth. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

repeating something over and over again, until it forms a mental association and/or becomes perceived as truth. Based on the "mere exposure effect," is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they're familiar to them, including things they don't like. This principle for example makes people more likely to prefer listening to a song they've heard before over a new song they've never heard and to believe something they hear repeatedly, even if they know it's untrue.(https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=24&k=ad+nauseum&p=propaganda.php)

"Make America Great Again"

(https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/donald-trump-dropped-378000-make-america-great-again-hats-2015s-final-quarter-msna786506)

Appeal to authority

Appeals to authority cite prominent figures to support a position, idea, argument, or course of action. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

(also known as an appeal to false or unqualified authority) plays on people’s feelings of respect or familiarity towards a famous person to bypass critical thinking. It’s like someone is telling us “accept this because some authority said it.” (https://www.scribbr.com/fallacies/appeal-to-authority-fallacy/#:~:text=An%20appeal%20to%20authority%20)

appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true because an unnamed expert, study, or generalized group (like 'scientists') says it's true (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=73&k=appeal+to+anonymous+authority&p=propaganda.php)

(09:56: appeal to anonymous authority see definition: There are "those that say" you can test too much, without identifying who those people are.) (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=73&k=appeal+to+anonymous+authority&p=propaganda.php)

Cognitive dissonance

People desire to be consistent. Suppose a pollster finds that a certain group of people hates his candidate for senator but loves actor A. They use actor A's endorsement of their candidate to change people's minds because people cannot tolerate inconsistency. They are forced to either dislike the actor or like the candidate. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

Creates a feeling of mental stress when we encounter ideas or beliefs that conflict with our own. (https://www.propwatch.org/term_results.php?id=99&k=cognitive%20dissonance)

Psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive%20dissonance)

Common man

The approach attempts to convince the audience that the propagandist's positions reflect the common sense of the people. It is designed to win the confidence of the audience by communicating in the common manner and style of the target audience. Propagandists use ordinary language and mannerisms (and clothe their message in face-to-face and audiovisual communications) in attempting to identify their point of view with that of the average person. A common example of this type of propaganda is a political figure, usually running for a placement, in a backyard or shop doing daily routine things. This image appeals to the common person. With the plain folk's device, the propagandist can win the confidence of persons who resent or distrust foreign-sounding, intellectual speech, words, or mannerisms. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

Establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and being able to empathize with their concerns. (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=30&k=common+folk&p=propaganda.php)

(04:53: common folk see definition) (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=30&k=common+folk&p=propaganda.php)

(https://movieposters.ha.com/itm/movie-posters/war/world-war-ii-propaganda-us-government-printing-office-1944-navy-poster-285-x-40-i-m-proud-of-you-folks-too-jo/a/7132-86871.s)

Cult of personality

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. The hero personality then advocates the positions that the propagandist desires to promote. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

A situation in which a public figure (such as a political leader) is deliberately presented to the people of a country as a great person who should be admired and loved. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult%20of%20personality)

“Nazi propaganda often focused on glorifying Adolf Hitler as Germany’s sole savior in order to inspire a sense of personal devotion to him. Many films, books, newspapers, magazines, and other items portrayed Hitler as a strong and self-sacrificing father figure who personally embodied the character traits of the “ideal Nazi.”” (https://perspectives.ushmm.org/tag/cult-of-personality)

(Recently appointed as German chancellor, Adolf Hitler greets President Paul von Hindenburg in Potsdam, Germany, on March 21, 1933. This pose was designed to project an image of Hitler as non-threatening to the established order. This particular image is from a popular postcard. The photo also appeared widely in both the German and international press. Hitler appears in civilian dress, bowing in deference to the heavily decorated von Hindenburg. The March 5, 1933, elections had conferred legitimacy on Hitler's leadership.) (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/making-a-leader)

(https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/30/washington-trump-and-cults-of-personality/)

Demonizing the enemy

Making individuals from the opposing nation, from a different ethnic group, or those who support the opposing viewpoint appear to be subhuman, worthless, or immoral, through suggestion or false accusations. Dehumanizing is also a term used synonymously with demonizing, the latter usually serves as an aspect of the former. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

Psychological process whereby opponents view each other as less than human and thus not deserving of moral consideration. Jews in the eyes of Nazis and Tutsis in the eyes of Hutus (in the Rwandan genocide) are but two examples. Protracted conflict strains relationships and makes it difficult for parties to recognize that they are part of a shared human community. Such conditions often lead to feelings of intense hatred and alienation among conflicting parties. The more severe the conflict, the more the psychological distance between groups will widen.

“During the protracted conflict, feelings of anger, fear, and distrust shape the way that the parties perceive each other. Adversarial attitudes and perceptions develop and parties begin to attribute negative traits to their opponent. They may come to view the opponent as an evil enemy, deficient in moral virtue, or as a dangerous, warlike monster. Such images can stem from a desire for group identity and a need to contrast the distinctive attributes and virtues of one's own group with the vices of the "outside" group…Enemy images are usually black and white. The negative actions of one's opponent are thought to reflect their fundamental evil nature, traits, or motives. One's own faults, as well as the values and motivations behind the actions of one's opponent, are usually discounted, denied, or ignored. It becomes difficult to empathize or see where one's opponent is coming from.”

“Once certain groups are stigmatized as evil, morally inferior, and not fully human, the persecution of those groups becomes more psychologically acceptable. Restraints against aggression and violence begin to disappear. Not surprisingly, dehumanization increases the likelihood of violence and may cause a conflict to escalate out of control. Once a violence break over has occurred, it may seem even more acceptable for people to do things that they would have regarded as morally unthinkable before.Parties may come to believe that destruction of the other side is necessary, and pursue an overwhelming victory that will cause one's opponent to simply disappear. This sort of into-the-sea framing can cause lasting damage to relationships between the conflicting parties, making it more difficult to solve their underlying problems and leading to the loss of more innocent lives."(https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/dehumanization)

“In Virginia, for example, we are witnessing the most anti-LGBT legislative session in the state’s history. So far, 9 anti-gay and anti-trans bills have been introduced. Some of the bills reveal a fixation with determining the “anatomical sex” of students to ensure that trans students are expelled from communal bathrooms. One goes so far as to impose a $50 civil penalty on any student who uses the “wrong” bathroom. Others seek to prevent trans people from updating their Virginia birth records to match their gender and limit nondiscrimination protections based on sex to people whose gender matches the gender assigned to them at birth.” (https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/legislators-across-country-set-their-sights-transgender-people)

(https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/defining-antisemitism-talking-about-israeli-policy-by-using-classical-antisemitic-tropes)

(https://www.tumblr.com/the-library-alcove/search/zionism)

(https://en.abna24.com/story/1410340)

Demoralization

Propaganda towards an adversary to erode fighting spirit, and encourage surrender or defection. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)

Propaganda in wartime must seek to demoralize enemy morale. A primary objective of propaganda aimed at enemy nations is to break down their will to fight. It seeks to lower the enemy’s will to resist and it does this in several ways. One is to picture the military successes on the propagandist’s side. Another is to picture the armed might and economic power that the enemy has to face. Yet another is to picture the moral superiority of the cause against which the enemy is fighting. It is part of a nation’s strategic plan to intimidate enemy leaders, to separate them from their people, and to break down resistance by producing evidence that the mass of the enemy people have been deceived and misled. (https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-2-what-is-propaganda-(1944)/war-propaganda)

(https://x.com/Cluffalo/status/1790011284471083192)

[legend-as-old-as-time]

Inspired by @muaka-safari's analysis of Vakama's relation to anger.

My hypothesis: Nokama, while stressed too about fulfilling her duty, has a different core issue in relation to it. Rather than the aspect of fulfilling a command by her leader, she constantly thinks of her behavior. For her, her conduct is part of her duty.

She has to act a certain way. She has to be in a certain way, or she is failing.

Which makes sense. She is a teacher, after all. She has to be a role model for her students. But what if it went deeper than that?

Nokama puts a lot of stock in order, reflecting her Metru and the vahki assigned to this metru: The bordakh. These vahki carry staffs of loyalty that instill uncompromising desire for social order.

Official material depicting in-universe information describes Ga-Metru in a very flattering light. It's the city's spiritual center and said to be favored by Mata Nui himself.

None of the Ga-Metru hold any jobs in terms of repair, manifacturing, or engineering. Matoran from other Metru do these jobs for them. Ga-Metru is privileged.

But like with everything in Metru Nui, this is only one side. The side most would think about first, whether as good or bad. The other one of this reputation means that all ga-matoran must be peaceful, right? They are orderly, spiritual, wise, etc. Otherwise Mata Nui wouldn't love their Metru as much.

Ooof. Of course, some would feel arrogant about that. But mostly, that'd be a lot of pressure. If you're the favorite of the city's most important person - your God - then you have to show it that you're showing reasons why you're the favorite? And keep it up all the time?

I doubt all ga-matoran took it that deeply to heart, but some of them likely did. They have to act responsibly. Among them is Nokama.

Remember what I said farther up in the post that she thinks she has to act in and be a certain way? We see it regularly.

Nokama in the movie and in the movie's novelization [[gave the Po-Matoran a sharp look. “Your negativity pollutes this sanctuary, builder.”]]

She snaps at Matau and tells him they have to take their duties as toa seriously.

She scolds herself after she argues with Vakama in the Archives. Never mind that it's a genuinely stressful situation and the others barely ever consider that they themselves need to make an effort to argue less. In my reading it felt like she deemed it more a moral failing of hers rather than a practical concern?

She tries to mentor Vakama and steer him into the direction of being leader. We're never given a concrete in-universe reason. (Out-of-universe, the writers clearly pushed the fire toa into the leader role.) But maybe Nokama saw it as her duty and responsibility to keep teaching in the one way she could, if she wouldn't teach matoran anymore? (Not to mention that's the only connection to her old life that she still has.)

She asserts that she's a toa in the comics when Nidhiki mocks her, Matau, and Vakama to be overgrown matoran.

Feeling rejected by the Great Temple when she enters it as Toa Hordika deals a heavy blow to her. She feels impure, as if she's longer fit as she is to serve the Great Spirit in his regard.

She has a rage breakdown, yelling that "She's still a toa!"

On the other end, Nokama notably has moments as Toa Hordika, while she's trying to calm down and find stability with Gaaki's help, where she doesn't seem to care about her previous high standards anymore. She feels tempted to give into her hordika side and is much more reckless, less thinking about how she acts as a toa.

She also makes an effective and chaotic team with Matau. As @crystaltoa pointed it out, they both are now "hold my beer" types, while they act about each other as "I can't take you anywhere with me!"

As if the transformation into a hordika beast, which looks nothing like a toa's supposed to, has freed Nokama from a great weight.

(@crystaltoa She might still think back on the Great Temple, however, and wonder if the stain on her from being transformed into a Toa Hordika remains.)

[anticapitalistclown]

Lookism Characters as Archaeologists pt.1

Jake, Eli, Johan, Samuel, Daniel, Yujin/Eugene

Jake

Specialization: Classical Archaeology

He romanticizes being an archaeologist, which makes working with him a dream job.

He knows all his workmates names and remembers all the students who spend a week on internship with his team.

He's straightforward and does what he thinks is more suitable on his research even if it means not keeping some strata in order to reach the most ancient one.

He does not teach, prefers to spend the day on the fields.

Has written some cool articles about remarkable warriors.

Didn't want to be an excavations' director but somehow ended up being a good one.

There's a rumor that he infiltrated in a black market in order to retrieve some stolen archaeological artifacts from smugglers.

Eli

Specialization: Forensic Archaeology

(Duties of archaeologists in this field of archaeology include collecting evidences like human burials, artifacts, footprints, tool-marks, etc., and trying to figure out the situation in which a particular crime might have happened; and to ascertain the influences on the remains of external factors that may have disturbed the crime scene).

His cold mindset made him the best on this field.

He teaches at the laboratories and side eyes the students who find gross touching real bones.

Keeps a file of plenty of different types of burials, sacrifices and traces of violence of the bones.

Shares laboratory with Johan.

He gets hyperfocused when a crime scene seems to be impossible to decipher.

He works more on the laboratory than the field.

When he was a student he destroyed a lot of evidence by mistake, improved trough practice.

Johan

Specialization: Zooarchaeology

(Also known as faunal analysis, is a branch of archaeology that studies remains of animals from archaeological sites).

There's a rumor that he cried when he found out a 4000-year-old dog died by a human weapon.

He's the best at his field but awful at tutoring, he doesn't have the patience to deal with students so Eli and other lab workers have to replace him on the teaching.

Has to be reminded once in a while that archaeology is a collaborative and multidisciplinary discipline.

Has made some internships cry.

He is the one who causes less damage to the bones making some restorers jealous.

Zack, Jake and Daniel forced him to participate on their excavations.

Samuel

Specialization: Prehistoric Archaeology

Joined this field because it was the hardest but the most well paid, doesn't mind the toxic ambience, he fuels it.

He is the strictest, never accepts he's wrong and avoids teaching newbies.

There's a rumor that he started a fistfight with Eli because of a debate about a burial ceremony.

He has good eye on the cutting techniques.

You have an only opportunity to make a good impression on him, if not you can say goodbye to work with him.

Talk about the survival methods and you have his attention.

Daniel

Specialization: Ethnoarchaeology

(Ethnoarchaeology is the science that deals with the ethnographic investigation of living communities in order to acquire knowledge of the past).

Joined motivated to understand the human conduct and because he was a fan of Indiana Jones since a kid.

His workplace is really tidy and organized, has a shelf with ceramics and fossils displayed on his office, so students can admire when tutoring.

None knows why, but he always ends up on the other archaeologists messes (infiltrated with Jake in a black market, got caught in the Samuel vs Eli fistfight, went to ask Gun for an artifact and ended up working with him).

A lot of students joined archaeology because had a crush on him.

He's a rookie yet has made a name for himself inside the community.

Eugene

Specialization: Quantitative Analysis Archaeology

None knows why there's this branch and why he does it, yet since he's the only one who knows how to use it, everyone depends on him.

Has never stepped in a field nor grabbed a shovel.

Loves to fail his students, says things like "you can try next year, if you succeed".

There's a rumor that his predecessor confused him for a student on his first day of teaching, and he cut his (the predecessor) car's brakes.

Only corrects his students essays so he can diss them.

[djarins-cyare]

✨Questions Tag Game✨

Thanks for tagging me @burntheedges 🩵

Of course I’m going to add GIFs and images. Did anyone really expect me to post something without visual aids??

[photos are my own (apart from the one immediately below, which is from here), and unless otherwise credited, GIFs were made by me during office hours when I was supposed to be working… 🤫]

Do you make your own bed?

Not in terms of making it look all neat and tucked in, no. But that’s because I’m a teensy bit of a germaphobe, and humans naturally sweat at night, which means you must leave your mattress uncovered for a while after you get up to ensure it airs. So, for most of the day (because I forget to straighten it up), my bed just looks like this:

(Just for fun, how many Mandalorians can you spot in the pic?)

Favourite number?

It’s always been 2, and my reasoning used to be that all good things come in pairs. But having discovered my autism in recent years, I’ve come to realise it probably more likely represents the maximum number of people I’m most comfortable interacting with at any one time. So it’s a manageable number. It’s also an even number. And it’s a prime number (in fact it's the only even prime number). It’s a pretty number – it has a nice curved top and a solid, sturdy base. It stops 1 from being lonely, so it’s a kind number.

Is this a weird answer? All of these are really logical reasons to me!

[GIF found here]

What’s your job?

It’s become so specialised that I no longer have a job title, but I started as a legal PA for one of the senior partners at a Legal 500 law firm in London. I flirted with the idea of qualifying as a solicitor but realised there was no way in hell I’d be comfortable standing up in court and speaking in front of lots of people (and I work in the criminal law department so not keen on casually chatting to criminals either). Instead, I decided to become The Person Who Knows Everything.

So now I write briefs to Counsel, proofs of evidence, funding applications; I analyse evidence, conduct legal research, advise the solicitors on their cases; I train paralegals and admin staff; I do a load of data analysis and make pretty spreadsheets for the bosses; and I manage the firm’s IT needs because I can do computer stuff too. I’m basically their go-to girl for anything that seems complicated or time-consuming… and I don’t have to wear a stupid wig in court.

And the best part is, during Covid lockdown, I demonstrated I can do 100% of my job from home, so I was allowed to move 150 miles away, and I now only have to visit my office two days a month! 🙌🏻

Downside: the arduous and random nature of the job means I’m never up to date and always very tired.

If you could go back to school, would you?

My original plan after getting my undergrad degree was to do a Masters and PhD and become an academic, but I put all that on hold for my (now ex) husband so he could finish his PhD and first postdoc. I’m very glad I never went back, though, because I realise that academia is not the place for me… see above comment about not being able to stand up and talk in court to understand why standing up and talking in a lecture hall would be equally nerve-wracking for me. So, no, I’m content with my current level of schooling.

Honestly, university was more about learning how to ‘adult’ properly than obtaining any useful knowledge on the course anyway (she says, routinely using concepts learnt on her fiction writing modules when crafting Mando fics).

Can you parallel park?

Yup. Narrow roads and a lack of parking spaces in the UK kind of make it a non-optional skill here.

That said, I do sometimes see people desperately trying to line themselves up to get into a space and making an absolute farce out of it, so I guess maybe some people here think it’s optional, but I’d rather not have that kind of stress, so I practised until I could do it easily.

[original GIF found here and then cropped]

Do you think aliens are real?

The way this is phrased… do I think they’re real? Like, do I think the grey ones with big black eyes are anally probing residents in certain sections of North America on a regular basis? Hmm, no. Too many episodes of The X-Files. I mean, Fox Mulder: yum, but I really Don’t Want To Believe, thanks.

But, I remain open to the idea that alien life has evolved elsewhere in the known universe. It’s inconceivably huge, after all. There’s nowhere near enough data to prove (or even speculate) either way – just look at the Drake equation, which has been used to both ‘prove’ and ‘disprove’ the possibility – so I’ll reserve any kind of judgment until some real evidence appears.

Can you drive a manual car?

Yeah, of course. It’s the standard driving test in the UK and allows you to drive both automatic and manual – you actually have to specifically ask to learn only automatic if you decide you can’t handle gears. And, like, it’s all muscle memory, so it’s really not as hard as people think once you’re used to it. I tried to drive an automatic a few years back and found myself involuntarily shadow-shifting the gears!

[original GIF found here and then trimmed for length]

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Mostly, I don’t feel guilty about indulging in pleasures these days. I used to be really affected by social pressures (back before I discovered my autism and still felt like I had to ‘mask’ and fit in), so I used to feel guilty talking about my hyperfixations, but now I couldn’t care less. I shall consume them endlessly and unselfconsciously. It’s very liberating.

Any phobias?

I suppose the answer is sharks, which has no sensible basis for being a phobia because I’ve never had any real encounters to make me fearful (thank fuck!). In fact, I walked through the shark tunnel at SeaWorld just fine as a 7-year-old. Unless that planted some kind of seed of terror, I don’t know. Not sure when it really took hold, but I can’t even look at photos these days. It’s their damn teeth. Someone’s going to have to give me a tooth report on Gladiator II before I can go see it.

The hell if I’m gonna put a photo (or God forbid a GIF) of a shark here, so, umm…

Favourite childhood sport?

Two answers: (1) Football (AKA soccer). I played for a girl’s team when I was about 11, but it was only because the boy I liked was into football. I couldn’t give a shit about it these days, and I don’t think I ever really liked it – I was just ‘masking’, as I did for most of my childhood, but I convinced myself I loved it.

(2) Karate, which I decided all by myself that I fancied doing, then found I was actually quite good at it and excelled at it for a while. But I was 9, and they decided I was so good that I should go and join the adult class (age 14 and up), which I hated, so I quit.

[GIF is one I already had saved from Reddit a while ago, but I can't find the source anymore, so sorry for not crediting the maker]

Do you talk to yourself?

Sometimes, but not often. I live alone, so I occasionally just need to exercise my vocal cords lol. It also depends on what mood I’m in. On an average day, no, I don’t really feel the need to fill the silence, but if I’m excited/animated/annoyed in some way, I might say stuff aloud. Basically, if I’m inclined to utter curse words for any reason, I’ll probably use other words aloud too.

[GIF found here]

Tattoos?

I only have one right now, but I plan to increase that number someday. See photo below; I used to have chameleons as pets and got this tattooed near my right hip when I turned thirty to commemorate them. It’s really small.

I would like to get a phrase in Mando’a inked on me somewhere, probably “Kaysh meg miit’gaana, oyacyi”, which means “she* who writes, remains” [*substitute chosen pronoun – Mando’a doesn’t distinguish genders], and is a Mandalorian proverb teaching that you can live forever if you leave behind written words. I have it engraved on my iPad.

Favourite colour?

Very much the blue (with a hint of green) end of the colour spectrum. For something soft, duck egg blue, or for something bold, teal. See the colour of the titles in this post.

I also like the colours of hyperspace and would happily snuggle up with Din in the cockpit.

Do you like puzzles?

Yeah, I guess. I don’t dislike them. But I don’t really do them much. In terms of the crossword/sodoku/brain teaser sort, I might choose to do them in specific settings, like on vacation when I inevitably need to offer my brain something different than whatever book I’m binge-reading.

In terms of the jigsaw type, I have short phases of thinking, “Ooh, that’ll be fun!”, trying to do one, getting bored, and then forcing myself to finish. Last time that happened was Covid lockdown. Took me a year! Though, to be fair, it was one of these bastards…

Okay, I’m done. I realise I’m very late to the party, and a lot of people have already done this one, so sorry if you’ve already participated. No pressure (and no need to illustrate with gifs and images, I just can’t help myself)… 🩵

@604to647 @beefrobeefcal @d4rm4nd4 @feral-ferrule @gracieheartspedro

@joelslegalwhre @littlemisspascal @magpiepills @penvisions @quicksilvermad

@secretelephanttattoo @studioghibelli @syd-djarin @the-mandawhor1an @zaddymandalorian

[paimonial-rage]

23 for heizou, albedo, xingqiu, and most importantly, KAEYA!! -- @milkstore

[Character Analysis Ask Meme]

Heizou Headcanons

Self-Focused

With a talent for deduction and an enthusiasm to match, Shikanoin Heizou is a whirlwind not to be messed with. However, it is often due to this unceasing drive that a few things often drop beneath his radar, one of which being his health. It’s not that he doesn’t take care of himself, he truly does. He makes sure to eat healthily and tries his best to keep to a set sleep schedule when not on duty. However, when he is sick, it’s difficult for him to truly realize just how sick he is. It often takes an irate Sango to force him to rest after being notified by his worried fellow doushin.

Relationship-Focused

As sweet as he is, don’t expect to not get roped into odd situations if you choose to date someone like Heizou. As a doushin, it is his job to crack even the toughest of cases. And how lucky he is to have you help with that! With a charming smile, don’t be surprised if he asks you to try to stab him with a rusty knife while wearing a kitsune mascot costume. The outcome will provide key evidence in solving this latest case, after all! With your help, you will be able to solve the puzzle together. Aren’t you lucky?

---

Albedo Headcanons

Self-Focused

When the Knights of Favonius are in need of something alchemy related, it is often that they will go to Sucrose or Timmaeus first. Not that they can be blamed, of course. For small and often weird requests, who would ever think about going to a captain for help? Little do they know is that Albedo is much less likely to turn down a request than the other two. While he will delegate if it does not fall within his realm of area of expertise, Albedo, at his core, is both helpful and curious. Therefore he sees no harm in helping if he has the time. 

Relationship Focused

It isn’t that you didn’t expect much when you first agreed to date Albedo, it’s just you didn’t expect… what exactly? The way he pauses his studies whenever you come by? The way he takes your hand so naturally without batting an eye? The way he weaves his plans to spend time with you so effortlessly in your conversations? He catches you off guard every time, and you know it’s on purpose. You hate how he is such an unassuming natural romantic.

---

Xingqiu Headcanons

Self-Focused

Though many people have heard of the second son of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, revitalizer of the famous Guhua Clan, most would not be able to point him out in a crowd. This is a conscious decision on Xingqiu’s part for two reasons. First, it is certainly not chivalrous to give into such boastful activities. Secondly, as a whole Xingqiu is happy the way he is. He does not want a prestigious position as the Guhua prodigy, nor does he need more duties to the guild. All that matters to him is to become a chivalrous hero like the stories he holds so dear. 

Relationship-Focused

Anyone that is close to Xingqiu knows that he loves to tease. One would think being in a relationship with him would make it easier, but it’s only made him worse. How he adores seeing your face heat up into a flustered blush. Really, he is the worse. So it’s safe to say you really did not expect the reaction you got upon giving him a taste of his own medicine. Not only did he turn away to hide his pinkened cheeks, but did he just stutter too? Hmm, perhaps he is as easy to tease as you. 

---

Kaeya Headcanons

Self-Focused

For someone as seemingly confident and laid-back as Captain Kaeya, many would not pin him for having weaknesses or insecurities. How could they? He is always giving of his time to patrol, assist Jean with her duties, play with Klee, conduct business trips… Even when not on duty, he can be found gathering intelligence at Angel’s Share, surveying possible abyssal hotspots, reporting his findings to the Dawn Winery… Kaeya always gives his time for others, but on his own, he will never take for himself. 

Relationship-Focused

Even if you are able to catch someone like Kaeya, do not be so foolish as to expect his heart will be yours. Try as you may, there will be a wall. You will not be able to trust the words that come from his lips, no matter how sweet. He will lie about his wants, needs, insecurities, troubles, and more. This isn’t because he hates you or wishes to play with your feelings. He doesn’t know how to open up. He doesn’t know how to be honest. You’ll have to prove yourself a person he can trust.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Myah Ward at Politico:

Donald Trump vowed to “rescue” the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, from the rapists, “blood thirsty criminals,” and “most violent people on earth” he insists are ruining the “fabric” of the country and its culture: immigrants. Trump’s message in Aurora, a city that has become a central part of his campaign speeches in the final stretch to Election Day, marks another example of how the former president has escalated his xenophobic and racist rhetoric against migrants and minority groups he says are genetically predisposed to commit crimes. The supposed threat migrants pose is the core part of the former president’s closing argument, as he promises his base that he’s the one who can save the country from a group of people he calls “animals,” “stone cold killers,” the “worst people,” and the “enemy from within.” He is no longer just talking about keeping immigrants out of the country, building a wall and banning Muslims from entering the United States. Trump now warns that migrants have already invaded, destroying the country from inside its borders, which he uses as a means to justify a second-term policy agenda that includes building massive detention camps and conducting mass deportations.

In his lengthy speech Friday, Trump delivered a broadside against the thousands of Venezuelan migrants in Aurora. And he declared that he would use the Alien Enemies Act, which allows a president to authorize rounding up or removing people who are from enemy countries in times of war, to pursue migrant gangs and criminal networks. “Kamala [Harris] has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world … from prisons and jails and insane asylums and mental institutions, and she has had them resettled beautifully into your community to prey upon innocent American citizens,” he said.

His rhetoric has veered more than ever into conspiracy theories and rumors, like when he amplified false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets. And Trump has demonized minority groups and used increasingly dark, graphic imagery to talk about migrants in every one of his speeches since the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to a POLITICO review of more than 20 campaign events. It’s a stark escalation over the last month of what some experts in political rhetoric, fascism, and immigration say is a strong echo of authoritarians and Nazi ideology. “He’s been taking Americans and his followers on a journey since really 2015 conditioning them … step by step instilling hatred in a group, and then escalating,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University who writes about authoritarianism and fascism and has been outspoken about the dangers of a second Trump administration.

“So immigrants are crime. Immigrants are anarchy. They’re taking their jobs, but now they’re also animals who are going to kill us or eat our pets or eat us,” she continued. “That’s how you get people to feel that whatever is done to them, as in mass deportation, rounding them up, putting them in camps, is OK.” The Trump campaign said while the “media obsesses over rhetoric,” the former president is responding to voters’ concerns. [...]

Trump has long deployed racist attacks for political gain, including spreading conspiracy theories about whether former President Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, was born in the United States. And when he launched his first campaign in 2015, Trump said Mexico was “not sending its best,” calling immigrants from the country “rapists” who are bringing in crime and drugs. He also promised that day to build a “great big wall.”

But times have changed, and so has he. The country has moved to the right on immigration — including the Democratic Party and Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants. Trump repeatedly bashed Harris as “dumb,” questioned her racial identity and has called her a “DEI” candidate — perpetuating the idea that women and people of color can only be in positions of power because of quotas and preferential treatment. Harris has touted her record prosecuting transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers and has promised strict enforcement at the Southern border — an effort to appease Americans’ concern about illegal migration. The vice president has vowed to go even further than the Biden administration’s crackdown on asylum. As the political conversation around immigration has shifted, Trump has not only intensified his rhetoric, but his policy plans.

He has increasingly targeted specific communities, including Springfield, Ohio, Charleroi, Pennsylvania and Aurora, arguing that immigrants are destroying American towns and cities across the country and using those examples to call for large-scale federal response. Trump has spent the last month on the trail elevating the claims about those communities — even as local officials have been denying these allegations and asking the Republican nominee to stand down. Trump on Friday used false stories about gang takeovers in Aurora as he announced he would remove migrants connected to gangs under an “Operation Aurora” based on presidential wartime powers under the Alien Enemies Act. (While police in Aurora have encountered some gang activity tied to a Venezuelan group, there has been no gang takeover in Colorado.)

Politico takes a look at how Donald Trump’s racist and anti-immigrant hatred-fueled messaging has gotten more dark, authoritarian, and apocalyptic in tone.

[transmutationisms]

Hey, can you elaborate on what you mean in your post about “positivist and non-materialist assumptions about the physical sciences”? Don’t know what that means but I’m interested to learn more. Thanks! ⚛️

"positivist" here meaning part of a larger set of narratives & interpretations of physics as a progressive accumulation of knowledge, gradually 'revealing' more about nature; the positivist interpretation is unable to account for any change in dominant ideas/theories that doesn't 'progress' the field linearly but may instead, for instance, propose a different epistemology through which to interpret the same facts, or may be able to account for a different set of facts. positivism also does a piss poor job of accounting for situations where scientists disagree with one another (many such cases) or where previously useful theories or epistemologies may become newly relevant again, etc

"non-materialist assumptions about [the value and values of] the physical sciences" meaning positivist and further idealist analyses of how science works, how scientific ideas are disseminated and adopted, and what interests science serves. analyses that see science as a disembodied accumulation of knowledge/'enlightenment' will always fail to interrogate material factors and processes like: who profits from scientific discovery? who is granted power by adopting scientific and medical gazes and views? how do scientists communicate with one another and what factors lead to them agreeing or disagreeing with one another's theories (this is a sociological analysis, because the 'rightness' of a theory is seldom the answer here)? what physical environments is science conducted in, why, and how do these material constraints shape the questions being asked and the knowledge being produced? etc

[sagan-starstuff]

Bad Days

Scully has an unexpectedly early period. Mulder and Scully talk about their lost sisters. Set some time in late season three. TW: Non-graphic discussion of menstruation.

Disclaimer: Contains brief discussion of femininity and menstruation, but obviously not all women menstruate and not all people who menstruate are women. Scully's comments reflect how I feel she would perceive her own personal relationship with femininity and her body as of 1996.

Edit: Friends, I made a dumb continuity error when it came to the timing of this fic. I fixed it. If only CC and the bunch had been as mindful of continuity then maybe we'd all be a little less insane today.

Dana Scully took pride in her ability to navigate the patriarchal landscapes of both law enforcement and medicine and retain a degree of femininity. She’d been keeping up with her brothers since birth - tomboy Dana shooting and cursing with the best of them when she wasn’t wiping the floor with them academically - but she was grateful to her mother and to Melissa for teaching her that masculinity was not the same as strength, power, or intelligence. It allowed her to deal with the idle comments during rounds from older physicians about how the female medical students were only going to get pregnant a few years into practice and go part time anyway. She was able to turn her frustration at being called “sweetheart” and “short stack” by the tactical defense instructors at Quantico into enough force to land them flat on their back in the next breath. There’s not a leer or a comment from any backwoods deputy that would ever, ever, keep her from conducting her work to the best of her abilities, even in three inch heels. She was woman, hear her roar.

Some days, however, she still felt like tearing out her uterus and throwing it into a garbage disposal.  Today was one of those days.  

She and Mulder had been called out to Weatherford, Oklahoma to investigate the deaths of three young men on the same day. All found in the middle of different fields with full-thickness burns over more than 95% of their bodies, severe lung damage, and no evidence for how they got there. No tracks, no disturbed vegetation - it was as if they’d fallen from the sky. Obviously, Mulder suspected UFO activity, but she was more intrigued by the whitish residue found on the burned young men. Three days of autopsies, interviews, and tromping around more dusty wheat fields than she’d care to count, and she’d found the connection - mass spectrometry analysis of the residue showed that it was primarily made of ammonia-heavy compounds. It turned out that the men had all served prior sentences for methamphetamine production. By all outward appearances they were walking the straight and narrow, but the residue was enough to link them to a series of thefts of agricultural anhydrous ammonia tanks. Apparently, their last job went horribly wrong - a tank ruptured and sprayed them all with concentrated ammonia. All it took was asking around the local hospitals if they’d recently treated anyone else for chemical burns to find two other members of the theft ring who admitted to panicking and dumping the bodies off of tractors driven along previously existing tracks.

Today had been the last day of the investigation, and she’d woken up with a familiar ache in her lower back and blood on her underwear a full week earlier than expected. Ever since her abduction her periods had been occasionally irregular. It was getting better with time, but she still cursed the fact that she hadn’t prepared for this when packing. They still faced a day of finalizing reports and statements before their flight home tomorrow, and if something could have gone wrong, it did. The stash of tampons and ibuprofen that lived in her overnight bag was dangerously low, and she’d had no time to stop into the town’s only drug store on the way to the sheriff's office. The office clerk had mislaid the original mass spectrometry analysis from the third victim, requiring a lengthy game of phone tag with the county lab. One of the suspects started making noise about revoking his statement culminating in a very frustrating conversation with him and his lawyer. All the while her cramps worsened as the day wore on. She tried to massage her low back when she thought no one was looking and masked the twinges of pain from surprise cramps. Mulder cast her a questioning look once or twice but she waved him off as they both tried to tie up the loose ends of the case. By the end of the day she was on both her last tampon and her last nerve. 

Finally they were finished and back at the motel. Scully set her briefcase down, shrugged off her coat and blazer, and flopped down face-first onto the bed. She heard the door connecting her room to Mulder’s unlock and crack open, followed by the sound of him dropping his own belongings. She really should get up and get the car keys from him to run to the drug store before it closes, she remembered thinking, but the bed was surprisingly soft and the pressure on her abdomen from lying prone felt so good that the next thing she knew she felt a warm hand gently rubbing her shoulder. 

“Scully, hey…”

She abruptly rolled over to see Mulder looking down at her from the edge of the bed with a crooked smile. She sat up and pushed the hair out of her face, embarrassed that she’d passed out without even taking off her shoes.

 “God…I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” She rubbed her face and checked her watch - eight-thirty PM, if she was lucky she could still get to a store before they closed for the night. 

She scooted to the foot of the bed and stood to grab her coat, “I needed to run an errand earlier - do you have the keys? I might have enough time before the stores close.” 

He rose and called after her, “Wait, before you go - when I saw you’d fallen asleep I went ahead and got dinner.” He gestured at the takeout boxes on the dinette set, which she could smell contained orange chicken and fried rice.

He paused and looked sheepish for a moment before holding out a white grocery bag to her. “I, uh…I picked up a couple other things, too. You might want to take a look before you bother going out.” 

She cocked an eyebrow at him, dropped her coat back on the chair and took it. Inside she found a box of tampons - not just any tampons, her preferred brand of tampons, as well as two Dove dark chocolate bars, a bottle of ibuprofen, and a travel-sized electric heating pad. Her first reaction was to raise her hackles, flashing back to the times Bill had teased her when he spied the wrappers from her pads sticking out of her backpack in middle school. But when she sharply met Mulder’s eyes she saw only innocent concern mixed with hesitation, like he was bracing for rebuke. 

Her face relaxed as she softened and she sat back down with his gifts. “Mulder…thank you.  But how did you know?”

His shoulders relaxed with a sigh and he sat down next to her, shoulder to shoulder. “You’ve looked uncomfortable all day, rubbing your back and stomach when you thought no one could see. You asked the precinct secretary if they had any Tylenol. You actually ate the chips that came with your sandwich for once.” He counted the tells off on his fingers as he spoke, and she couldn’t tell if she was more touched or annoyed by his perceptiveness. He continued on with a wry smile, “We’ve worked together for three years, and maybe you don’t remember but before I was a paranoid crackpot I was a pretty damned good profiler. I notice things, Scully.”

She chuckled, “Well then, I don’t know if I should be impressed or embarrassed. It’s not something a lot of women broadcast, especially in our line of work.” She thought back to boyfriends past who’d at best tried to ignore the fact that she menstruated or at worst treated it like an annoyance.  To the boys and men who joked about PMS and being ‘on the rag’ when women were rightfully angry about…well, about anything, at any time.

He shook his head gently, “No need to be embarrassed. I’m sorry you’re having a bad day.” His voice was gentle and earnest and pulled at her chest. Again and again, he humbled her with his capacity for kindness. 

She returned his smile and placed one petite hand over his large one on his knee. “Thank you. Really, this means a lot.”

“No problem. Do you still need to run out?”

She shook her head, “No, actually, you seem to have taken care of everything. Want to eat?”

“I’m starving. Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll make up some plates.”

She squeezed his hand and excused herself to the bathroom to change into an old t-shirt and leggings. When she emerged with a fresh round of NSAIDs on board he’d piled two plates with chicken, rice, and egg rolls and had pulled two beers frosted with condensation from the mini-fridge. He was in his dress shirt and slacks but had loosened the cuffs and unbuttoned the collar, tie, belt and shoes long since tossed aside into his room. Scully stole glances at him and tried to ignore his effortlessly handsome, boyish demeanor. That had been getting harder to do of late, and she pushed the thoughts aside for another time. She stacked some pillows against the headboard and plugged in the heating pad before settling back against it to wait for it to work its magic.  He handed her a plate and a beer and sat next to her against the headboard, the both of them balancing their food on their laps. 

He turned on the TV, flipped around until he found the opening scene of Ghostbusters, and glanced over at her for approval, which she gave with a wave of her beer. He grinned and clinked his bottle against hers, “Cheers.” 

They settled back and dug in. The combination of the salty-sweet chicken, the heat radiating into her lower back, and the companionship of the man next to her suffused her with warmth. They didn’t speak for a bit while they ate and watched the movie, and before long she was full, content, and feeling more comfortable than she had for days. Mulder took the paper plates and utensils and disposed of them, then settled back next to her cross-legged against the headboard.

He gestured at the TV with a wry look. “Hey Scully, if we ever get shut down again we could always start up our own paranormal investigation business. What do you think, should we order some personalized jumpsuits?”

“Have you seen DC real estate prices lately? No way could we ever pull together enough capital to buy a decrepit firehouse. I’m not opposed to the jumpsuits, though, as much as I spend on dry cleaning.” she smirked back.

“Maybe Skinner would invest if it meant getting me out of his hair.”

She shot him a catty look, “Or lack thereof.”

He chuckled and tipped his head back to finish off his beer while she shifted the heating pad from her back to lie low across her hips. The warmth against her cramping muscles felt amazing, and she sighed and let herself sink further into the pillows behind her. 

“Feeling any better?”

“Much,” she nodded, “Thank you, again.” She dug a chocolate bar out of the bag and unwrapped it, snapping off a few squares and passing them over to Mulder, who took them and smiled to himself. He looked almost proud. Loathe as she usually was to admit it, it felt good to be cared for. They’d both been brittle since the deaths of his father and her sister, leaning more on each other than even before. She had some of his spare clothes in her hall closet, he kept her favorite wine in his pantry. Sometimes it felt like they were the only two people in the world who really mattered. She knew that was patently false, that she had her family, but as the years went by and her friends had children or moved for their careers, she craved his company most of all. She thought of Melissa suddenly. 

She chewed thoughtfully before starting, “Missy - Melissa - and I used to do this. Takeout, junk food, cheap wine, a cheesy movie when one of us was having a bad day.” She swallowed more than just the chocolate and met his eyes. “I miss her. She liked you, you know.”

He nodded sadly and took her hand in his, rubbing slow circles with his thumb in silence for a few moments. “When you were returned after your abduction and in the hospital, I was so angry that I couldn’t help you. She gave me a hell of a dressing down. A couple of times, actually. I thought she was even more disconnected from reality than I am.” He swallowed hard, remembering a time they both spoke of so rarely. “She was right, I deserved it. You two were lucky to have each other.”

She nodded and blinked rapidly. His eyes were cast down at his lap, lost in what she was sure were thoughts of guilt and blame for their losses. He was so quick to flagellate himself over things beyond his control. She squeezed his hand. “Mulder, you did help me. You always do. Melissa thought we were lucky to have each other to look out for each other.”

He still wore a hangdog expression but the corners of his mouth twitched up and his eyebrows unknit a bit. 

She continued on, delicately, “You know what I think? I think Samantha was…is…lucky to have you. I think you would have done this for her, too, if you’d been allowed to. And I think one day you’ll get to hear it, one way or another. You’re a good brother.”

His breath caught and for a moment she thought she’d crossed a line but instead she found herself being pulled into a tight hug. She leaned into his shoulder and breathed in, relaxing into his embrace. He rubbed her back and kneaded for a moment before letting go, his expression now placid. “Thank…thank you, Scully. I hope you’re right.”

They hung in each other’s gaze for a moment before the bubble burst and she released his hand. She leaned her head against his shoulder to keep the connection going and they watched the movie in comfortable silence for a while. She considered the man by her side, so unlike any other man she’d ever known. What she didn’t tell him was that Melissa had also been ruthless about prying and prodding into her feelings for Mulder, and his for her. Maybe she was right about that, too, she thought, before chiding herself for dwelling on things that couldn’t be. 

By the time Dana Barrett had transformed into the Gatekeeper her eyes were heavy and her limbs grew slack. She had slipped further and further down the headboard until her head rested on the pillows at Mulder’s side. The last thing she was aware of was the high whine of the TV being switched off and Mulder drawing a blanket over her. She stirred slightly in protest but as she drifted off she felt the brush of his lips on her forehead before hearing the click of the door to his room. She slept, warm, content, and loved.

[sufferu]

Hello i saw that you read my analysis "someone just like her", i do appreciate the time to read it. Its important to remember my post is specifically talking about how rems views subaru compared to ram and how her love for him developed overtime. Theres an infinite number of things i can talk about. But only a certain number of them relate to the topic. In addition even if i did talk about your points they would be properly sourced with the full context of the scene. All of rems moments are great, when you read the whole text together. Rather then an isolated sentence or paragraph. Would be a Poor way to conduct an analysis.

Oh, hi!

Yeah, I thought it was a good analysis of part of their relationship, but I felt like it ignored other parts of their dynamic that I, personally, see as the most interesting facets of how they interact with one another, and so that was what I responded with when asked about my personal thoughts. If it was your intention to only analyze that singular part of their relationship, then I think you did a very good job.

Also — just, for the record: even if we DON’T have the same opinion on Rem, I’m not enough of an asshole to devalue the time you clearly spent on that analysis. It was made with love and care and I respect the amount of work you put into something that you obviously feel strongly about.