#i am classist

[slacktivist]

New Zealand Fucking Sucks and Why I'm Leaving

Even though the entire political spectrum is trash, I'm at least glad for my UKers that Rishi Sunak and the UK conservatives won't spend another term in govt. I still find it weird that our news in NZ spent a considerable amount of time blaming Nigel and the far-right for the conservative loss. Clearly even with the conservative votes split, the UK labour party was still a clear majority. I can't say the same for my own country though.

Anyways, I'm moving to the UK in a few weeks from NZ and I'm excited even though I'm giving up my very small amount of life savings to do it. It's going to be a pretty big and busy world for a tiny island gyal like me. But New Zealand is honestly really affecting me negatively and I need to know what the fuck is going on in the western world. I have questions like 'what the hell did we get colonised with?' and 'what inspires count binface to do his job?'

My boyfriend also lives in the UK and I miss him so much. Long distance sucks really badly and I'm definitely not in a healthy, confident mindset to emotionally support the relationship long distance AND long term. I know that other-side-equals-greener-grass mentality is flawed and unrealistic. But take it from me as a second generation immigrator, the grass is greener where you feed it.

Take this from me also: NEW ZEALAND INFRASTRUCTURE SUCKS AND WE SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A DEVELOPED COUNTRY.

The least we can have are working busses, maybe even a train? No. We don't have them. 2024 NZ fucking sucks and I'm ashamed of my country as a nationalised concept. Im proud of tino rangatiratanga, I'm proud of pan-pacific and poly-pacific identity, I'm proud of my generation & the ones before that grew up in the hard neighbourhoods, us working class families, we got nothing in return for generations. So fuck you New Zealand government and middle+middle upper classes. Ya'll were truly the lazy, untalented & uninteresting ones who let the rest of us down 👍👍👍 I'll be back anyways and hopefully you sorted yourselves out when you're done mountain biking/freedom camping/soul searching. My extended family needs another scout, so they know that this place is merely an option when it's leaders overlook them.

[bijoumikhawal]

DS9 characters as Lingerie

(because I'm on vacation in NC and can)

Sisko- I like this set, though I could do without the writing. It's comfortable, but still... alluring. (Also I have pictured him in leather bottoms that lace up a few times but I don't consider that lingerie)

O'Brien - I do not think he wears lingerie of his own volition, but I do think Keiko has talked him into interestingly designed undies once or twice

Julian - something something that time he unzipped his uniform and had no undershirt on. Technically this is dance wear, but it's also literally a body suit. I definitely think simple, classy black is more his style- a contrast to his off duty tendency of dressing like a parrot externally

Garak - (honestly you can probably say a lot of Aint Born Typical's designs suit him. Also I really like them because all their designs are made to fit a range of bodies, not just skinny women) I really like the red suit he wears, and I think the slightly elevated but still subtle design this one has from the beaded drops would suit him.

Kira - (cut rant about how most lingerie is unimaginative and scared of androgyny) I chose this set because I don't think Kira would wear anything too fussy, and the herringbone detail reminds me of her uniform's undershirt and of Bajor's passion for crochet. I don't think she'd necessarily go for this color though- maybe more of a sage green. I could also see her wearing what Sisko does

Jadzia - the impression I get from her civvies is she likes things purple and drapey

Odo - the cheat answer is that Odo canonically doesn't even wear normal underwear and is going commando to an extreme we can only dream of. I feel like he would copy a dabo girl and end up with something like this if he had too though

Quark - bee2a (affectionate)

[castelled-away]

I love it whenever Arthur looks up annoyed from under his eyebrows bc I get immediately reminded of Gwen‘s up-beat sunshine personality and face. and I’m like. they balance each other out so nicely <3

[ribbittrobbit]

this is it, the wuvvy thoughts are here

ok to preface: i think that Rue is a very compelling flawed character, and i have lots of Rue feelings but I have more Wuvvy feelings.

Alright so Wuvvy is Rue's faithful right hand, she has shaped her life around Rue, following them and leaving her own court and giving up a position as a champion. Notably, Wuvvy has always willingly done everything Rue has asked, maybe even done more than that to the point of anticipating their needs, maybe that liberty will lead to her downfall. She repeatedly reassures Rue, of her love and support in pretty much anything and everything. The phrase "you know i love you, right?" is such a beautiful and tragic summary of her character.

Because she reassures them of her love by word and by action - and the rift is caused when Rue commands her. Up until that point Wuvvy was supportive of Rue's interest in Hobb, maybe not thinking too deeply about it, maybe just to validate Rue's feelings and make them feel good. But when she was made to burn the letter, something breaks. She would have done what was asked of her, but to be commanded at the slightest and maybe first hesitation Wuvvy has ever shown? and when Wuvvy's questions aren't even against Rue, she is deeply in favor of Rue chasing their happiness, she only expresses grief when they doubt themselves. That strikes me as deeply grave betrayal, to command a willing person whose only hesitation was fuelled by good intentions. And an argument can be made that maybe Wuvvy harbors jealousy but I think any of it comes after this moment, any doubt comes back to this command.

So she takes a liberty and acts in the name of Rue's honor, challenging Hobb to a duel for the offence of making them cry.

And Rue, Rue who believes in love and romance but is also volatile and confused and full of secrets and fear. Who is a master of weaving words and placating and putting on a show and putting the correct face on for whoever sees them. Rue chases romance, sheds their glamour, and still leans on Wuvvy for support in the midst of this rift: "but you'll stay by my side" and it's a statement, not a question. They remain assured of Wuvvy's support, why wouldn't they be? when they've been frequently reassured of Wuvvy's undying devotion and love. And what does Wuvvy say in return? "It's been very nice to walk beside you" and maybe that's the problem.

And we see the distance grow between them, they start to be out of sync. Rue says their thing about wanting Wuvvy to learn to exist, being worried that she is "bound by obligation and not love" and what does that even mean? what does that sound like to someone who has taken on obligation out of love? What does Rue expect Wuvvy to find by "existing", romance? why would they presume that?

And the final thing is "your contract is done, you are no longer bound by me". Oh to drop that on a person who does not view this as a contract. Imagine Wuvvy having the most important person in her life so solemnly say something that shows such a profound misunderstanding of her person.

Maybe they are both selfish and their relationship is needlesly complicated by unwavering devotion and inequality. In the end we see Rue chasing romance and the idea of love and being volatile and passionate. And Wuvvy loved a person or the idea of them, never making for a real understanding, never forming a true reciprocity.

tldr: a 10/10 tragedy of a person, wuvvy.

[agir1ukn0w]

bbc ghosts fans watching masters of the air ep 6:

[mangle-my-mind]

uh oh they're starting to make choices in an adaptation of a book that I am not agreeing with!

[crimeronan]

thinkin about camila. as i often do. it's been like over a year now so i think the fandom has cooled off enough for me to say this but. one of the Strangest discourses i've ever seen in any fandom Ever was. when ppl were passionately arguing about camila's finances circa thanks to them. it was Such a non-issue that it wrapped back around to me going ".....hm. might have some hurt feelings about this"

like. ok. she's a single-income earner with a daughter paying a mortgage on a house in a connecticut suburb, possibly with medical debt left over from manny's treatment, who is suddenly feeding and housing and clothing five extra teenagers. all of whom have Literally No Clothes Or Resources Whatsoever When They Arrive, who possibly have special dietary restrictions, and for whom she is not receiving Any government aid or fostering stipends because every single one of them is undocumented.

and yet. people were like. EARNESTLY going back-and-forth with LONG ESSAYS of Vicious discourse. asserting that the Only reason to think camila might struggle with money is........ because she's dominican.

and also. that her Literal Illustrated In Canon financial anxiety is just her.... being financially savvy. and showing that she's good at saving money. and that she's too smart and good at managing money to be poor.

like people broke down various vet salaries and connecticut mortgages on BOTH SIDES. to try to pretend this was a convo we even needed to be having.

and the whole time i was like.

i..... i honest to god can't tell, uh. if this is all coming from teens who completely misunderstand the material realities of the american economy (which would be reasonable, it's a show for teens)..... or.....

if you guys like. Actually Hate Poor People As Much As It Sounds Like You Do.

[pissmoon]

'U just need to discover ur feminity! If u dont get acrylic nails brows and lashes done every month and dont do 1 hour contouring routine everyday ur a poor self hating soul who wasnt shown proper feminity!!' is personally funny to me bc I had this 'wannabe makeup artist' phase like 4 years ago but got bored of it bc shits too money/time/energy consuming to be worth it? No thanks id rather smoke a blunt and go for a walk on my day off you know. Binge buying at sephora? Id rather spend it on cds or books or random flea market shit 🥰

[shallowrambles]

So I've been thinking. It's funny how enjoying meta is somewhat embedded with trust.

Like, if you're "friends" and have followed a person for a long time, you have more a sense of their values, and it's easier to read their difficult meta because you trust more that they're being charitable/nuanced.

If you don't know them, it's harder to trust that they're not funneling difficult topics into rationalization of liking/supporting gross shit.

[asmo-cosmetics]

yeah no i fucking hate dante lol as someone who has been homeless you can fuck all the way off if you think the reason people are poor is because they're not strong or skilled or intelligent enough to get by on their own and need "tough love" from rich people to learn discipline what the FUCK

[kwop-kilawtley]

Perhaps it’s because I dissect this saga & see all of Meyer’s HORRID choices, but I legitimately do not understand people can be so pro edward & anti Jacob. I also do not understand how it’s the majority of the fandom. Like, DID WE READ THE SAME BOOKS????

[pegasusrightsforall]

One of the beauties of Claude and Lorenz as a ship is the completely uneven stakes they’re perceiving in this.

Lorenz is living in a high stakes spy thriller where an Almyran subterfuge agent has infiltrated their government at its highest seat of power and garnered the affections of an heir to the one other seat of power that can keep the Almyran Menace(tm) at bay. He alone sees the threat this man poses to their country, nay, continent, and yet he finds himself growing feelings of affection for this man, and even some trust, despite his continued insistence upon lying to him at every turn.

Claude on the other hand is just like uh oh he’s activated my debate kink. At first I thought he was just an ugly annoying prudish nationalist but is it just me or is he kind of sexy? This game of chess is getting a little homoerotic. He’s a little pathetic. I can’t believe I’m going to fuck him.

[boyfridged]

Do you agree that Jason, as written by Winnick in UTRH and Lost Days, acts out of character post-resurrection if we take into account his post-crisis robin days? If yes, how would you have him act/react to stuff after he comes back from the dead?

tldr: i definitely agree. moreover, classism plays a huge role in it, and i don’t think that at this point the storyline could lose these implications, which makes trying to conceive what an “in character” (for robin jay) version of these events would be quite difficult. 

let’s just start from saying that i don't think it's a secret that i don't really like winick in general. despite his work being mad interesting on a conceptual level (and style-wise, genuinely well written!), he has no love for the characters he writes about. 

imo utrh shouldn't even ever make it into the mainstream batman timeline. i am aware that this is a radical opinion, but my take is that it would do best as an elseworld story (and in this version too it would need some tweaks here and there), because it made damage both to the mythos of batman and jason's legacy that can never be undone. the very premise of the story is so deeply disconnected from jay's original place in the narrative, and so classist at its roots, that there's not much room to truly fix it. 

(i want to say, preemptively, that i am aware that there are people who read utrh as a story of a revolutionary and a victim – and they have the right to do so, but ngl, my view has always been that it was never written as that. utrh reinforces so many stereotypes that it overshadows the revenge tragedy spirit of it all.) 

another disclaimer is that, to be honest, jay doesn't have a very consistent characterization even in his 80s run, and it also has some classist implications that ideally should be either erased or addressed in the text (that winick instead exaggerated and put at the very front of his storytelling.) starlin's writing is, at the end of the day and very much ironically, more sympathetic and gentler in evaluating jay (simply because at the time he would not get away with changes too blatant) but details such as jay saying that "all life is game" and his random nonchalant behaviour that has its origin in the very beginning of starlin’s run are already signs of it. some readers will trace jason's arrogance prevalent in his red hood era to these issues and say that his actions post-res are therefore a logical extension of his robin days, but i don't buy it. even if you want to lean into starlin-esque characterisation, if you consider the core problem of the garzonas plotline – which is power, jay shouldn’t look into the solution of anything in climbing to the top. and if he did, it would have to be written as a “becoming what you feared/hated most” kind of story, which i can see a certain appeal in (and which would at least acknowledge that it was not his initial personality), but which would go back to its classist assumption of cycles of violence and doomed fates.

so – how to make his post-res era more accurate to his post-crisis robin days (and least classist in the process)?

if we were to follow my fav iterations of his characterisation (barr’s detective comics and the ntt appearances) tbh I don’t think a lot would happen, because his personality is quite mild, and just so hopeful there that i wouldn’t expect any extreme actions from him – but then again, the circumstances that he finds himself in post-res, the trauma, and his sensitivity do warrant grief that should become a driving force in his life from now on. the question is, what to do with this grief as a plot device?

i know that plenty of jason fans hate this take but I actually think the concept of jason trying to be detached and cruel but being bad at it might be one of the least offensive to his 80s characterisation. it’s def not accurate to pre-52 canon (apart from countdown perhaps) but imo for jay to be authentic and nuanced he should be conflicted about his own actions. his overconfident behaviour should be a pose – just as his frantic acts in his origin story as robin were. (again, something that many readers don't take notice of – but reading the rest of collins' writing wherein jay quickly settles into being easy-going and even a bit shy is proof of it.)

these two points lead to the “no good deed” narrative that I often talk about - the reading that jason saw his intuitive and self-sacrificial kind tendencies as something that brought him pain and that never was quite efficient, and that post-res he intentionally tried training himself out of. there are some flashes of it here and there throughout the years of the red hood publishing history, but it never got a true spotlight. and if i were to write lost days, jason flinching at his own violence would be a focal point of the story. 

moving on to utrh; i have spoken about it at length before but I think if he were written 1. with more political sensitivity 2. to have retained the same maturity re: the social order 3. to have the same idea of morality, he should have followed more of actual revolutionary tracks and the whole “drug lord” authoritarian figure schtick along with the idiotic idea of “controlling crime” would have to be thrown out of the window. 

and, later on, forgiveness should play a big role in his story. he's so quick to forgive and justify everyone in his robin run – this is also why i reckon his team up with harvey in tfz was a wasted opportunity.

so, in conclusion – perhaps not that much would have to change re: his actions but definitely a lot should change regarding his emotional journey and his position. i would def throw out a lot of mindless violence and power posturing out of it though. and perhaps make him a bit more polite just for the sake of more consistency (this is not me taking a moral stance btw nor tone policing a fictional character. i just think it would be more faithful to his 80s writing unless you want to make him explicitly scared. and it would be funnier tbh.)

[statesidesnake]

ttyd (what is this acronym like what the fuck am i even supposed to say "titty woodie" fuck???)

my ass over here thinking vivian being trans was widespread knowledge but it turns out a spanish youtuber i watched when i was little just happened to be the holder of true knowledge my 7 year old brain needed i guess.

[apocalypsegay]

tbh there's something particularly detached from reality when sbdy goes "disney movies were boring bc the villains always lost" so in response instead of realizing disney villains are fun is bc they're gay and flamboyant instead of bland as hell for mass appeal they make an OC who's a flamboyant rapist because as we know rapists are the kinds of villains who need some Real justice and representation and "hes just a little guy having fun" in this world

[kirbye]

I hate art tiktok why did I just see the take that realism is an “art style for conservatives” and “devoid of depth and creativity”. You have to be joking.