#in Trump periods disappeared

[artcalledcinema]

[dear-ao3]

I know you're probably going to be getting a lot of political asks these next few days, or atleast some. But I feel like I have to remind everyone DO NOT GIVE UP. A recount was called this morning at 9:00 AM Est, 20 million votes still haven't been counted, there has been evidence of Trump CHEATING in this election. Swing states were targeted in election bomb threats, so not everyone was able to vote yesterday. There's counties here in GA that never got their mail-ins and voting periods had to be extended.

THIS ISN'T THE END YET.

And even if it is, even if Trump wins, we need to keep living. Living out of spite is enough. Living for love is enough. Living because of a silly little fanart is enough. We need to prove that just because they don't want us, that it means we'll suddenly disappear. We won't. We'll always be here, they can't get rid of us no matter how much they want too. Keep living, show them that they can't make us disappear.

weirdly we have not gotten a lot of political asks but this is true! keep your heads up kids! reguardless of what happens! we have to keep living!

[creatingblackcharacters]

“The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth” - Violence, Violent Imagery & Black Horror

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of death, violence, blood, hate crimes, antiblackness, police violence, rape

Note! I am going to be speaking from a Black American point of view, as my identity informs my experience. That said, antiblackness itself is international. The idea of my Blackness as a threat, as a source of fear and violence to repress and to destroy, is something every Black person in the world that has ever dealt with white supremacy has experienced.

There are two things, I think, that are important to note as we start this conversation.

One: there is a long history of violence towards Black bodies that is due to our dehumanization. People do not care for the killing of a mouse in the way they care about a human. But if you think the people you are dealing with are not people, but animals- more particularly, pests, something distasteful- then you will be able to rationalize treating them as such.

Two: even though we live in a time period where that overt belief of Blackness as inhuman is less likely, we must recognize that there are centuries of belief behind this concept; centuries of arguments and actions that cement in our minds that a certain amount of violence towards Blackness is normal. That subconscious belief you may hold is steeped in centuries of effort to convince you of it without even questioning it. And because of this very real re-enforcement of desensitization, naturally another place this will manifest itself is in how we tell and comprehend stories.

There are also three points I'm about to make first- not the only three that can ever be made, but the ones that stand out the most to me when we talk about violence with Black characters:

One: Your Black readers may experience that scene you wrote differently than you meant anyone to, just because our history may change our perspective on what’s happening.

Two: The idea that Black characters and people deserve the pain they are experiencing.

Three: The disbelief or dismissal of the pain of Black characters and people.

You Better Start Believing In Ghost Stories- You’re In One

I don’t need to tell Black viewers scary fairytales of sadists, body snatchers and noncoincidental disappearances, cannibals, monsters appearing in the night, and dystopian, unjust systems that bury people alive- real life suffices! We recognize the symbolism because we’ve seen real demons.

Some real examples of familiar, terrifying stories that feel like drama, but are real experiences:

12 Years a Slave: “This is no fiction, no exaggeration. If I have failed in anything, it has been in presenting to the reader too prominently the bright side of the picture. I doubt not hundreds have been as unfortunate as myself; that hundreds of free citizens have been kidnapped and sold into slavery, and are at this moment wearing out their lives on plantations in Texas and Louisiana.” – Solomon Northup

When They See Us: I can’t get myself to watch When They See Us, because I learned about the actual trial of the Central Park Five- now the Exonerated Five- in my undergrad program. Five teen Black and brown boys, subjected to racist and cruel policing and vilification in the media- from Donald Trump calling for their deaths in the newspaper, to being imprisoned under what the Clintons deemed a generation of “superpredators” during a “tough on crime” administration. And as audacious as it is to say, as Solomon Northup explained, they were fortunate. The average Black person funneled into the prison system doesn’t get the opportunity to make it back out redeemed or exonerated, because the system is designed to capture and keep them there regardless of their innocence or guilt. Their lives are irreparably changed; they are forever trapped.

Jasper, Texas: Learning about the vicious, gruesome murder of James Byrd Jr, was horrific- and that was just the movie. No matter how “community comes together” everyone tells that story, the reality is that there are people who will beat you, drag you chained down a gravel road for three miles as your body shreds away until you are decapitated, and leave your mangled body in front of a Black church to send a message… Because you’re Black and they hate you. To date I am scared when I’m walking and I see trucks passing me, and don’t let them have the American or the Confederate flag on them. Even Ahmaud Arbery, all he was doing was jogging in his hometown, and white men from out of town decided he should be murdered for that.

Do you want to know what all of these men and boys, from 1841 to 2020, had in common? What they did to warrant what happened to them? Being outside while Black. Some might call it “wrong place wrong time”, but the reality is that there is no “right place”. Sonya Massey, Breonna Taylor- murdered inside their home. Where else can you be, if the danger has every right to barge inside? There is no “safe”.

It is already Frightening to live while Black- not because being Black is inherently frightening, but because our society has made it horrific to do so. But that leads into my next point:

“They Shouldn’t Have Resisted”

Think of all the videos of assaulted and murdered Black people from police violence. If you can stomach going into the comments- which I don’t, anymore- you’ll see this classic comment of hate in the thousands, twisting your stomach into knots:

“if they obeyed the officer, if they didn’t resist, this wouldn’t have happened”

Another way our punitive society normalizes itself is via the idea of respectability politics; the idea that “if you are Good, if you do what you are Supposed to do, you will not be hurt- I will not have to hurt you”. Therefore, if my people are always suffering violence, it must be because we are Bad. And in a society that is already less gracious to Black people, that is more likely to think we are less human, that we are innately bad and must earn the right to be exceptional… the use of excessive violence towards me must be the natural outcome. “If your people weren’t more likely to be criminals, there wouldn’t be the need to be suspicious of you”- that is the way our society has taught us to frame these interactions, placing the blame for our own victimization on us.

Sidebar: I would highly suggest reading The New Jim Crow, written in 2010 by Michelle Alexander, to see how this mentality helps tie into large scale criminalization and mass incarceration, and how the cycle is purposely perpetuated.

You have to constantly be aware of how you look, walk and talk- and even then, that won’t be enough to save you if the time comes. The turning point for me, personally, was the murder of Sandra Bland. If she could be educated, beautiful, a beacon of her community, be everything a “Good” Black person is supposed to be… and still be murdered via police violence, they can kill any of us. And that’s a very terrifying thought- that anything at any point can be the reason for your death, and it will be validated because someone thinks you shouldn’t have “been that way”. And that way has far less to do with what you did, than it does who you are. Being “that way” is Black.

My point is, if this belief is so normalized in real life about violence on Black bodies- that somehow, we must have done something to deserve this- what makes you think that this belief does not affect how you comprehend Black people suffering in stories?

Hippocratic Oath

Human experimentation? Vivisection? Organ stealing? Begging for medicine? Dramatically bleeding out? Not trusting just anyone to see that you are hurt, because they might take advantage? All very real fears. The idea that pain is normal for Black people is especially rampant in the healthcare field, where ideas like our melanin making our skin thick enough to feel less pain (no), an overblown fear of ‘drug misuse’, and believing we are overexaggerating our pain makes many Black people being unwilling to trust the healthcare system. And it comes down to this thought:

If you think that I feel less pain, you will allow me to suffer long before you believe that I am in pain.

I was psychologically spiraling I was in so much pain after my wisdom teeth removal, and my surgeon was more concerned about “addiction to the medication”. Only because Hot Chocolate’s mom is a nurse, did I get an effective medicine schedule. My mother ended up with jaw rot because her surgeon outright claimed that she didn’t believe that she was in more than the ‘healing’ pain after her wisdom teeth were removed. She also has a gigantic, macabre (and awesome fr) scar on her stomach from a c-section she received after four days of labor attempting to have me… all because she was too poor and too Black to afford better doctors who wouldn’t have dismissed her struggles to push.

As a major example of dismissed Black pain: let’s discuss the mortality rate of Black women during childbirth, as well as the likelihood of our children to die. When we say “they will let you bleed to death”, we mean it.

“Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States — 69.9 per 100,000 live births for 2021, almost three times the rate for white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black babies are more likely to die, and also far more likely to be born prematurely, setting the stage for health issues that could follow them through their lives.”

Even gynecology roots in dismissal (and taking brutal advantage of) Black women's pain:

“The history of this particular medical branch … it begins on a slave farm in Alabama,” Owens said. “The advancement of obstetrics and gynecology had such an intimate relationship with slavery, and was literally built on the wounds of Black women.” Reproductive surgeries that were experimental at the time, like cesarean sections, were commonly performed on enslaved Black women. Physicians like the once-heralded J. Marion Sims, an Alabama doctor many call the “father of gynecology,” performed torturous surgical experiments on enslaved Black women in the 1840s without anesthesia. And well after the abolition of slavery, hospitals performed unnecessary hysterectomies on Black women, and eugenics programs sterilized them.”

If you think Black characters are not in pain, or that they’re overexaggerating, you’re more likely to be okay with them suffering more in comparison to those whose pain you take more seriously- to those you believe.

What’s My Point?

My point is that whatever terrifying scene you think you’re writing, whatever violent whump scenario you think you’re about to put your Black characters through, there’s a chance it has probably happened and was treated as nonimportant (damn shame, right?) And when those terrifying scenes are both written and read, the way their suffering will be felt depends on how much you as a reader care, how much you believe they are suffering.

There’s a joke amongst readers of color that many dystopian tales are tales of “what happened if white people experienced things that the rest of us have already been put through?” Think concepts like alien invasion and mass eradication of the existing population- you may think of that as an action flick, meanwhile peoples globally have suffered colonization for centuries. The Handmaid’s Tale- forced birthing and raising of “someone else’s” children, always subject to sexual harassment by the Master while subject to hate from the Mistress- that’s just being a Mammy.

There’s nothing wrong with having Black characters be violent or deal with violence, especially in a story where every character is going through shit. That is not the problem! What I am trying to tell you, though, is to be aware that certain violent imagery is going to evoke familiarity in Black viewers. And if I as a Black viewer see my very real traumas treated as entertainment fodder- or worse, dismissed- by the narrative and other viewers, I will probably not want to consume that piece of media anymore. I will also question the intentions and the beliefs of the people who treat said traumas so callously. Now, if that’s not something you care about, that’s on you! But for people who do care, it is something we need to make sure we are catching before we do it.

“So I just can’t write anything?!”

Stop that. There are plenty of examples of stories containing horror and violence with Black characters. There’s an entire genre of us telling our own stories, using the same violence as symbolism. I’m not telling you “no” (least not always). I’m telling you to take some consideration when you write the things that you do. There’s nothing wrong about writing your Black characters being violent or experiencing violence. But there is a difference between making it narratively relevant, and thoughtlessly using them as a “spook”, a stereotypical scary Black person, or a punching bag, especially in a way that may invoke certain trauma.

The Black Guy Dies First

The joke is that we never survive these horror movies because we either wouldn’t be there to begin with, or because we would make better decisions and the narrative can’t have that. But the reality is just that a lot of writers find Black characters- Black people- expendable in comparison to their white counterparts, and it shows. More of a “here, damn” sort of character, not worth investment and easy to shrug off. The book itself I haven’t read, just because it’s pretty new, but I’m looking forward to doing so. But from the summaries, it goes into horror media history and how Black characters have fared in these stories, as well as how that connects to the society those characters were written in. I.e., a thorough version of this lesson.

Instead, I wrote an entire list of questions you could possibly ask yourself involving violence or villainy involving a Black character. Feel free to print it and put it on your wall where you write if you have to! I cannot stress enough that asking yourself questions like these are good both for your creation and just… being less antiblack in general when you consume media.

Black Horror/Black Thriller

We, too, have turned our violent experiences into stories. I continue to highly suggest watching our films and reading our stories to see how we convey our fear, our terror, our violence and our pain. There are plenty of stories that work- Get Out, The Angry Black Girl and her Monster, Candyman, Lovecraft Country, and Nanny are some examples. There’s even a blog by the co-writer of The Black Guy Dies First who runs BlackHorrorMovies where he reviews horror movies from throughout the decades.

Desiree Evans has a great essay, We Need Black Horror More Than Ever, that gets into why this genre is so creative and effective, that I think says what I have to say better than I could.

“Even before Peele, Black horror had a rich literary lineage going back to the folklore of Africa and its Diaspora. Stories of haints, witches, curses, and magic of all kinds can be found in the folktales collected by author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston and in the folktales retold by acclaimed children’s book author Virginia Hamilton. One of my earliest childhood literary memories is being entranced by Hamilton’s The House of Dies Drear and Patricia McKissack’s children’s book classic The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural, both examples of the ways Black authors have tapped into Black history along with our rich ghostlore.” “Black horror can be clever and subversive, allowing Black writers to move against racist tropes, to reconfigure who stands at the center of a story, and to shift the focus from the dominant narrative to that which is hidden, submerged. To ask: what happens when the group that was Othered, gets to tell their side of the story?”

For on the nose simplicity, I’m going to use hood classic Tales From The Hood (1994) as an example of how violence can be integrated into Black horror tales. Tales From The Hood is like… The Twilight Zone by Black people. Messages discussing issues in our community, done through a mystical twist. Free on Tubi! If you want to stop here before some spoilers, it’s an hour and a half. A great time!

In the first story, a Black political activist is murdered by the cops. The scene is reflective of the real-world efforts to discredit and even murder activists speaking out against police violence, as well as the types of things done to criminalize Black citizens for capture. The song Strange Fruit plays in the background, to drive the point home that this is a lynching.

The second story deals with a Black little boy experiencing abuse in the home, drawing a green monster to show his teacher why he’s covered in wounds and is lashing out at school.

The fourth story is about a gangbanger who undergoes “behavioral modification” to be released from prison early. Think of the classic scene from A Clockwork Orange. He must watch as imagery of the Klan and of happy whites lynching Black bodies (real-life pictures and video, mind you!) play into his mind alongside gang violence.

Isn’t Violence Stereotypical or antiblack?

That last story from Tales From The Hood leads into a good point. It can be! But it does not have to be! Violence is a human experience. By suggesting we don’t experience it or commit it, you would be denying everything I’ve just spoken about. We don’t have to be racist to write our Black characters in violent situations. We also don’t have to comprehend those situations through a racist lens.

Even experiences that seem “stereotypical” do not have to be comprehended that way. I get a LOT of questions about if something is stereotypical, and my response is always that it depends on the writing!!! You could give me a harmless prompt and it becomes the most racist story ever once you leave my inbox. But you could give me a “stereotypical” prompt and it be genuine writing.

Let’s take the movie Juice for example. Juice in my honest to God opinion becomes a thriller about halfway in. On its surface, Juice looks like bad Black boys shooting and cursing and doing things they aren’t supposed to be doing! Incredibly stereotypical- violent young thugs. You might think, “you shouldn’t write something like this- you’re telling everyone this is what your community is like”. First- there’s that respectability politics again! Just because something is not a “respectable” story does not mean it doesn’t need to be told!

But if we’re actually paying attention, what we’re looking at is four young boys dealing with their environment in different ways. All four of them originally stick together to feel power amongst their brotherhood as they all act tough and discover their own identities. They are not perfect, but they are still kids. In this environment, to be tough, to be strong, you do the things that they are doing. You run from cops, you steal from stores, you mess with all the girls and talk shit and wave weapons. That’s what makes you “big”. That’s what gives you the “juice”- and the “juice” can make you untouchable.

I want to focus particularly on Bishop, yes, played by Tupac. Bishop, the antagonist of Juice, is particularly powerless, angry, and scared of the world around him. He puts on a big front of bravado, yelling, cursing, and talking big because he’s tired of being afraid, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it otherwise. So when he gets access to a gun- to power- he quickly spirals out of control. His response to his fear is to wave around a tool that makes him feel stronger, that stops the things that scare him from scaring him.

Now, that is not a unique tale! That is a tale that any race could write about, particularly young white men with gun violence! If you ever cared for Fairuza Balk’s character in The Craft, it is a similar fall from grace. But because it is on a young, Black man in the hood, audiences are less likely to empathize with Bishop. And granted, Bishop is unhinged! But many a white character has been, and is not shoved into a stereotype that white people cannot escape from!

Now would I be comfortable if a nonblack person attempted to write a narrative like Juice? Yes, because I’d worry about the tendency to lose the messaging and just fall into stereotype outright. But it can be done! The story can be told!

“But if Black violence bad, why rap?”

The short answer:

“In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political, I must listen to the birds, and in order to hear the birds, the warplanes must be silent.”

Marwhan Makhoul, Palestinian Poet

First, rap is not “only violence and misogyny”. Step your understanding of the genre up; there are plenty of options outside of the mainstream that don’t discuss those things. Second, every genre of music has mainstream popular songs about vice and sin. The idea that Black rappers have to be held to a higher standard is yet another example of how we are seen as inherently bad and must prove ourselves good. We could speak about nothing but drugs and alcohol and 1) there would still be white artists who do the very same and 2) we would still deserve to be treated like humans.

That said, many- not all- rappers rap about violence for the same reason Billy Joel wrote We Didn’t Start the Fire, the same reason Homer first spoke The Iliad- because they have something to say about it! They stand in a long tradition of people using poetry and rhythm to tell stories. Rap is an art of storytelling!

Rap is often used as an expression of frustration and righteous anger against a system built to keep us trapped within it. I’m not allowed to be angry? Why wouldn’t I be angry? Anger is a protective emotion, often when one feels helpless. Young Black people also began to reclaim and glorify the violence they lived in within their music, to take pride in their survival and in their success in a world that otherwise wanted them to fail. If I think the world fights against me no matter what I do, I’d rather live in pride than in shame with a bent head. Is it right? Maybe, maybe not. But if you don’t want them to rap about violence, why not alleviate the things leading to the violence in their environment?

Whether you choose to listen to their words, because the delivery scares you- and trust, angry Black men scared the music industry and society- doesn’t make the story any less valid!

Conclusion

I am going to drop a classic by Slick Rick called Children’s Story. I think listening to it- and I mean genuinely listening- summarizes what I’ve said here about how Black creators can tell stories, even violent ones, and how even the delivery through Blackness can change how you perceive them. Please take the time to listen before continuing.

I’ve been alive for 28 years and have known this song my whole life, and it just hit me tonight: not once is the kid in this story identified as Black! My perception of this story was completely altered by my own experiences, who told the story, and how it was told.

That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You can tell stories of violence that involve Black characters. I love and adore a good hurt/comfort myself! But you need to be cognizant of your audience and how they’ll perceive the story you’re telling, and that includes the types of imagery you include. It’s not effective catharsis via hurt/comfort for the audience if your Black readers are being completely left out of the comfort. “I wrote this for myself” that’s cool, but… if you wrote racism for yourself, and you’re willing to admit that to yourself, that’s on you. I’d like to think that’s not your intention! You can write these stories of woe and pain without mistreating your Black characters- but that requires knowing and acknowledging when and how you’re doing that!

@afropiscesism makes a solid point in this post: our horror stories are not just fairytales full of amorphous boogiemen meant to teach lessons. Racial violence is very real, very alive, and we cannot act like the things we write can be dismissed outright as “oh well it’s not real”. Sure, those characters aren’t real. But the way you feel about Black bodies and violence is, and often it can slip into your writing as a pattern without you even realizing it. Be willing to get uncomfortable and check yourself on this as you write, as well as noticing it in other works!

If you’re constantly thinking “I would never do this”, you’ll never stop yourself when you inevitably do! If you know what violent imagery can be evoked, you can utilize it or avoid it altogether- but only if you’re willing to get honest about it. You might not intend to do any of this, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t change the pattern, because as always, it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

[full-of-terrors]

Letter from Dr. Stanley to Dr. Fergusson written on board HMS Erebus July 12, 1845- Awe of the Arctic Exhibit 2024 NYPL

Transcript: My Dear Fergusson, having a few moments to spare before the letter bag is finally closed, I hasten to drop you a line to say that, although within the Arctic Circle , I'm not yet frozen to death and therefore in the land of the living and very jolly. We had a fairish passage out here but had a mighty gale of Cape Farewell, which sent us flying with closed topsails and courses to Cape Desolation, where in spite of the dismal name we found comfort. There's smooth water and a moderate breeze. These islands, and in fact, the whole of this western coast of Greenland, is the most barren and uninviting I ever beheld.

Some of the land is very high and serrated and has the appearance of being volcanic. On the bare rocks, large quantities of tripe-de-roche may be gathered, but as we were not reduced like our excellent captain on a former occasion to such a means of subsistence, no one I could find tried its qualities as a nutrient. We are completely surrounded with icebergs, some of them upwards of 200 feet high. They are, however, from the extreme heat disappearing fast and by their constant disruption, almost frightening your very life out of you.

I and a boat crew had a very narrow escape the other day out shooting. I had just fired and killed an eider duck when I observed that we had drifted closer to an immense iceberg, which I had previously noticed a day or two before in a decayed condition. I said to an officer who was with me "What luck it should come down by the sun!" And then ordered the men to pull quickly from our dangerous neighbor when it fell with a crash. Most stunning and awful to witness. There never was so lucky an escape. The discharge of my two barrels had no doubt hastened its overthrow. And although we were at a distance upwards of 100 yards, quite near enough we were knocked and tossed about by its displacement in the sea in a most uncomfortable manner.

The island swarms with mosquitoes and they are now flying about the gun room in all directions. They are the largest I ever beheld but not the most stinging. We sailed tonight for Lancaster Sound and the transport to dear old England with a report of our proceedings up to this period. At this season of the year, in this latitude, as you are aware there is no darkness. The sun never dips below the horizon. The nights I have there for devoted to shooting and the day to skinning and preserving the specimens I have killed. Since our arrival I have not slept more than 2 or 3 hours in 24. Goodsir is working harder than medusas and desires kindly to be remembered to you.

We are all sanguine and getting through the barrier into Beechey straits this year. Every one of the native Eskimos say this is the most open season they ever remember. And on the strength of our prospects I and the other officers have ordered letters to be directed to us at Panama and Kotzebue. The latter place will, of course, be the first port we shall make when we get through.

I have not a single man on the list and I have not had for several days. Sir John Franklin is not like the same person. He is so much improved in appearance and energy. He is almost always the first on deck and the last to leave it in all weathers. I must conclude now, old fellow, with best wishes and kind regards to Mrs. F and the bairns.

And believe me, your very sincere friend, Stephen S. Stanley. I had intended to have written to Fortnum and Masons. Pray tell them like a good soul that we are delighted with everything they furnished us and the members of the mess unanimously declare them to be trumps and we should be sorry to return before we have consumed all their good things.

[odinsblog]

Since the founding of the United States, politicians and pundits have warned that partisanship is a danger to democracy. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, worried that political parties, or factions, could "allow cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men" to rise to power and subvert democracy. More recently, many political observers are concerned that increasing political polarization on left and right makes compromise impossible, and leads to the destruction of democratic norms and institutions.

A new study, however, suggests that the main threat to our democracy may not be the hardening of political ideology, but rather the hardening of one particular political ideology. Political scientists Steven V. Miller of Clemson and Nicholas T. Davis of Texas A&M have released a working paper titled "White Outgroup Intolerance and Declining Support for American Democracy." Their study finds a correlation between white American's intolerance, and support for authoritarian rule. In other words, when intolerant white people fear democracy may benefit marginalized people, they abandon their commitment to democracy.

The World Values Survey data used is from the period 1995 to 2011 — well before Donald Trump's 2016 run for president. It suggests, though, that Trump's bigotry and his authoritarianism are not separate problems, but are intertwined. When Trump calls Mexicans "rapists," and when he praises authoritarian leaders, he is appealing to the same voters.

Miller and Davis' paper quotes alt right, neo-fascist leader Richard Spencer, who in a 2013 speech declared: "We need an ethno-state so that our people can ‘come home again’… We must give up the false dreams of equality and democracy."

Ethnic cleansing is impossible as long as marginalized people have enough votes to stop it. But this roadblock disappears if you get rid of democracy. Spencer understands that white rule in the current era essentially requires totalitarianism. That's the logic of fascism.

(continue reading)

[liroutrozenberg]

Why is no one talking about a human!reader who tries on Na'vi clothes??? And Jake, who is watching!

God damn I need it

Jake Sully/Human! Reader

The air is good for both humans and Na'vi!

At first you were intrigued. It was Neiteri's idea, so you didn't think of turning down the opportunity given to you to try on something worn by the Na'vi, after all, when else could such a chance come? Although, you were well treated in the clan, mostly because of your merit, so it could help in case of need. Actually, thanks to this, you were asked to change your clothes to the one that Neyteri would bring. After your consent, she beamed as if she had a great chance, and you just had to wait.

And then Jake joined your waiting. Just seeing that you are waiting, sitting away from the rest of the group, I decided to brighten up your loneliness - sitting next to you, while touching your shoulder with his palm, making you smile. "What is the beauty doing here alone?" - His face broke into a satisfied smile, and the tip of his tail twitched from side to side, betraying his good mood from meeting you. "Waiting for Neyteri." - With chuckles, you answered, in one short movement approaching so that you could sit in tight to the Avatar enough to lean on his side. Immediately, a slightly warm hand ran down your back, almost immediately slipped to your waist, gently stroking the skin through the fabric of the T-shirt in a caressing gesture, warming you.

"Here's what I promised." - A self-satisfied woman appeared from somewhere on the side as unexpectedly as possible, tearing you out of calm bliss, because in that short period of time you managed to doze off, settling your head on Jake's shoulder, who, in general, did not think to object. He turned around to hug you for a more comfortable position. Stretching and stretching your limbs, you rose from your seat, feeling warm fingers running down your thigh. Taking the outstretched clothes, which even so it seemed not very much, you hurried to change clothes, under the approving words of your friend.

Not without problems, but you coped with the assigned task and were, to put it mildly, surprised by the result, but rather quickly it was replaced by all-consuming embarrassment. Because damn it -

Something suggested that the Na'vi still took pity on you, and did not immediately go with the trump cards.

"Y/n, how are you?" Neiteri asked courteously, but even so, there was a distinct chuckle in her voice, which she tried to suppress. Of course, these clothes could be too revealing compared to what you are used to walking around in, so yes, consider yourself lucky.

"Wonderful." - You parried, finally appearing and allowing yourself to be examined from head to toe, believe me, there was something to see there. Of course, all the most interesting was closed, but it seemed that one wrong step - and no fabric would save the body from complete exposure. The bandage on the hips, descending to the knees, was dark green with a similarity of a belt of small beads and the same color fabric covered the chest, tied in a knot between the shoulder blades on the back. The wicker decoration wrapped around your thigh.

"How do you walk in this?" - You asked directly, looking uncertainly at the Na'vi representative. But she just clapped her hands pretty. She definitely liked what she saw, judging by her emotions, which she did not think to hide, starting to coo something around your person.

And Jake… his reaction was much more entertaining. The avatar just stared at you without blinking and what exactly was spinning in his head was unrealistic to understand, and if you previously thought that he was overreacting to your person, well now is the time to reconsider your opinion on this matter. Naytiri left you safely, whispering something unintelligible approval before disappearing between dense branches.

Now you two are alone with each other.

Jake inhaled heavily, not even trying to hide it from you, and only when you shifted unsteadily from foot to foot, stepping closer, he hastened to lower his gaze to the ground, although he did not stay long to look at you again.

"You're so beautiful." - He gets close to you so quickly that there is no time for a reaction, but in general it is not required.

[spiderlegsmusic]

Future generations will look back on this time period like we do the dark ages. Religion, in its death throes, is fighting to make a comeback in relevance by banning women’s healthcare because they want more babies born whose health and well being they won’t contribute to.

And fuck you if you were raped and molested by a stranger or family member resulting in pregnancy. Even if you’re 12. You have to carry your rape baby, especially in Texas where we lead the nation in rape babies doubling the next highest state.

Like we view the dark ages

We have a depraved degenerate piece of shit subhuman claiming to be ordained by god, confirming that yes, religion is bullshit and just a way to control the superstitious masses. If god existed, it would in no way want to be associated with trump and would actively distance itself.

The fact that that traitor insurrectionist piece of shit is allowed to run for president after trying to overthrow the govt by force (jan6), bureaucratically(fake electors scam), and by extortion (the Georgia find me more votes scam), is beyond me.

The whole country saw what he did. It’s just that republicans have gotten sick of losing elections so now they embrace fascism. They will support trumps authoritarian autocratic dictatorship because it means they won’t lose anymore elections.

And we will just let him.

See, this election isn’t Trump vs Biden. The democratic challenger could be a flaming bag of shit, it wouldn’t change the stakes. Every year, people say this election is so important and they’ve been wrong. But this year they are correct. This isn’t Trump vs Biden. It’s dictatorship vs democracy. Trump wins and he’ll crown himself king for life. Anyone who opposes him will be thrown in prison. Listen to his speeches, he says the quiet part out loud. Everyone in his campaign is saying trump’s next term will be all about retribution. RETRIBUTION against those who wouldn’t allow him to steal the last election.

There is no love, no goodness in Trump. He’s an asshole to everyone. He quotes Hitler and counts Putin, Kim, and the Hungarian dictator Orbàn as friends. He’s a scumbag using religion to solidify his cult status over the simpleminded racists who support him. He’s not a christian, he’s not friendly and he thinks Hitler did good things

Even if you hate Biden, it’s not him you are voting for by voting for him. You’re voting for a continuation of democracy, which may be battered by things like horrible Supreme Court rulings (citizens united, repealing Roe v Wade, corporate personhood) but it’s better than a Trump led dictatorship. Once democracy is gone, it’s never coming back without war and death. Is this what you want? Do you think you will survive bombs hitting your neighborhood, your apartment building? Ask people in Ukraine what that’s like.

It’s not Biden vs Trump. It’s dictatorship vs democracy. It’s black and white, no shades of gray. If trump wins, you will never vote in a meaningful election again. And if you or anyone you know complains, they will disappear. Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it. And history is repeating itself. Hitler won by one vote. Trump won in 2016 despite getting fewer votes because of the electoral college. And if he loses again, he’ll pull the same shit as in 2020, but more forceful.

Keep trump out of the White House.

For fucks sake!

[queen-dahlia]

𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧

𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟭 + 𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

Note: Translation is not 100% accurate. Expect grammatical errors.

// : alternate translation | ⫘⫘ : flashback | 4:4 answer

The moon hides behind thick clouds, and the night swallows everything.

The sacred chapel, where no light shone, was also painted black, shadowing the figures who were there.

Gilbert: "—How's it going?"

???: "No problem. Everyone is waiting for your signal."

Gilbert: "Fufu, well done. But don't move yet, okay?"

Gilbert: "The final judgment has not yet been made."

???: "Are you going to take it down?" **

Gilbert: "Depends on my mood."

???: "You…"

Gilbert: "I will make a decision soon. That's why... okay?"

???: "… Huh."

Gilbert: "By the way, have you found your avenger?"

The moment he broaches the subject, the sacred air trembles violently in response to his passion.

Gilbert: "Can't you find them?"

???: "I'm looking through a lot of documents from that time period."

Gilbert: "You could have just asked me."

???: "What if someone hears about it, you idiot?"

Gilbert: "I think you worry too much."

???: "... And you know that in the first place, don't you?"

Gilbert: "Well, what do you think? Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

???: "Why?"

Gilbert: "Revenge must be taken with your own hands, right?"

Gilbert: "And even if I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me."

???: "…?"

Gilbert: "Hmmm, I could at least help you out."

Gilbert: "You did exactly what I wanted this time, so I should at least reward you."

???: ". . . . . ."

Gilbert: "Just be careful. Once you screw up, your "trump card" won't work."

???: "I'm not going to do that."

Gilbert: "I see what you mean. You're the child I trained, after all."

???: "… Oh. Absolutely…"

???: "Absolutely, I'm going to kill you."

Gilbert: "… Fufu. The little rabbit will cry."

Gilbert: "'Violence is what beasts do'. 一I'll just ask, but do you have any intention of having a communication?"

???: "Hey... If I can avenge my enemies, I will become a beast as much as I want."   //   "I'll be a beast for as long as it takes to avenge you."

He speaks as if to spit out his words, and his footsteps fade into the distance.

The doors of the chapel opened and closed, leaving a lone beast in silence.

Gilbert: ". . . . . ."

The refreshing smile disappeared, and—

His rough breathing was absorbed into the silence of the chapel.

══════════════════

Sariel: "We're in deep trouble."

When I headed to the lesson that day, I was greeted by Sariel, who grimaced.

Emma: "What happened?"

Gilbert: "Would you like me to counsel you?"

Sariel: "Oh, that is a very tempting proposition."

Sariel: "Well then, Prince Gilbert, I am very sorry, but could you please go somewhere for a while?"

Gilbert: "I'll think about it with the little rabbit."

Sariel: "There are some things I would like Emma to do…"

Gilbert: "Is she going to be busy? It must be hard work. As a friend, I have to help her."

Sariel: ". . . . . ."

Gilbert: "... Right?"

(The atmosphere is the worst...!)

Sariel's eyebrows furrowed, and Prince Gilbert met him with a refreshing smile that was as good as the blue sky.

Emma: "… W-What is it that you would like me to do?"

I let out a cheerful voice to blow away the tense atmosphere, and Sariel came to his senses.

Sariel: "Soon, the day will come when it will be important for our country."

Emma: "Important…"

Emma: "… Oh, it's that time of year already."

Gilbert: "What?"

Emma: "The White Rose Festival."

Emma: "Getting in touch with the memories of the deceased, including our ancestors…"

Emma: "It's an important festival for people living today to put their wishes into words."

On the night of the festival, numerous candles and decorated white roses create a magical spectacle, attracting many people.   //   On the night of the festival, numerous candles and decorated white roses create a fantastic scene that attracts many people.

It is a lively festival that has existed since ancient times, where everyone thinks of a wish and puts their feelings into a white rose.

(I've been participating every year since I was a kid…)

Gilbert: "Heh… I see you have the right festival at the right time of year."

(The way he put it, I think Prince Gilbert noticed it too.)

In recent years, the White Rose Festival has taken on a different meaning than in the past.

Sariel: "Can't you understand why I don't want Prince Gilbert to be involved?"

Ten years ago, Obsidian suddenly invaded Rhodolite and dyed the roses with blood,

It happens perfectly at the time of the White Rose Festival.

Due to the nature of the festival, "getting in touch with the memories of the dead, including ancestors",

Recent festivals are not just about offering wishes,

It has become common for people to mourn and grieve for the dead, a tendency that can now be seen.

Sariel: "This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event, so a memorial service will be held."

Sariel: "It is such an important day for us."

Gilbert: "Heh."

Sariel: "… The White Rose Festival will be a national event, and we need Emma's help…"

Gilbert: "Am I in the way?"

Sariel: "I am simply asking you to refrain from doing so."

Sariel: "The White Rose Festival and the Obsidian royalty just don't go together too well."

Sariel: "At any rate, we have yet to receive an apology from your country for the invasion of 10 years ago…"

Gilbert: "Oh, is that so? I thought we already paid for the redemption."

Sariel: "I see that the messenger has arrived. There was no sign of the royal family…"

Gilbert: "His Majesty the Emperor doesn't know how to bow his head. For him, even just paying the reparation is an apology."

Sariel: "It's a logic that doesn't work in our country."

Gilbert: "Then I guess we'll never understand each other."

(. . . . . .)

Sariel: "… Even so, the long stay of Prince Gilbert has caused anxiety among many citizens."

Sariel: "Please stay away from Emma until the festival is over."

Gilbert: "No way. Why should I take your situation into consideration?"

Sariel: "... Yeah, yeah. I knew you would say that."

(That leads to "we're in trouble.")

The White Rose Festival, which commemorates the dead on Blood-Stained Rose Day, involves the Obsidian royal family—

Its significance is so great that it deserves to be inscribed in history.

(… I'm sure we'll get more opposition than we've ever gotten before.)

Not only to Prince Gilbert, but even more so to the only young lady who is close to the Obsidian royal family,

There should be a lot of cold entanglements.

Gilbert: "There's nothing wrong with that, is there? There's no rule that says the Obsidian royalty can't participate."

Sariel: "Then will you pay your respects?"

Gilbert: "As long as it's just a heartless form."

Sariel: ". . . . . ."

Gilbert: "That's the kind of country Obsidian is in, ordering an invasion with words of memorial."

Sariel: "We are far from peace."

Gilbert: "Our emperor hates peace."

(In other words, you are going to help me, but the country has no intention of having you involved in the White Rose Festival.)

Prince Gilbert's decision may be an act of pouring oil on a fire that has been smoldering for a decade.

(But…)

Emma: "I would be reassured if Prince Gilbert could help me."

Sariel: "… You've got to be kidding. Far from helping you, it will put you on the edge of the needle, you know?"

Emma: "I'm prepared."

Emma: "In the eyes of those who know nothing about it, Prince Gilbert's assistance may appear to them as a symbol of peace."

The Obsidian royal family cooperates with the White Rose Festival—depending on how you look at it, it's a compromise.

For the past decade, Obsidian has remained silent.

Without an apology, we have to live in constant fear of invasion,

There may be a certain number of people who would be relieved if it were a fleeting illusion.

Gilbert: "Unlike some bureaucrats, Little Rabbit knows how to handle me, doesn't she?"

A cold hand is placed on my shoulder, and in response, a deep furrow is carved between Sariel's eyebrows.

(… He must be worried about me.)

As long as I am Belle, it is inevitable that I will help the princes who spend their time preparing for the White Rose Festival.

There is also no way to avoid Prince Gilbert, who naturally follows me.

(Then I have to think positively now.)

Emma: "I'm going to start off by saying that I'm going to work you hard, okay?"

Gilbert: "You're going to make me?"

Emma: "If you're going to help me out, it would be a shame to hold back!"

Gilbert: "Ahaha, my usage fee is expensive, you know?"

Emma: "I'd like a friendship price there, please."

Gilbert: "It can't be helped. Only Little Rabbit is special, right?"

Sariel: "... sigh, I understand."

Sariel's sigh was mixed with bitterness.

Sariel: "Emma, please do not overdo it. Report all problems, even the most trivial ones, to me."

Sariel: "Is that clear?"

Emma: "Yes! Leave Prince Gilbert to me."

══════════════════

(—And I responded with great vigor, but...)

As we walk side by side, I sneak a glance at Prince Gilbert.

His refreshing smile did not falter when we left Sariel's office.

(… I have no idea what you are thinking.)

Gilbert: "Hey, is there anything you want to ask me?"

As expected, Prince Gilbert stops in his tracks, perhaps because my gaze seems to distract him.

(Just in time. I just want to clarify one thing before the White Rose Festival.)

Emma: "Prince Gilbert…"

I was afraid to ask and hesitated for a moment, and then,

Emma: "… Were you standing on the battlefield 10 years ago on Blood-Stained Rose Day?"

(I have yet to hear about it.)

(... The "Blood-Stained Rose Day" that Prince Gilbert knows.)

Gilbert: "Did you know that they call me the "Ever-Victorious General"?"   //   "Do you know that I'm called 'The Marshal of Eternal Victory'?"

Emma: "I know."

Gilbert: "Then you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

("Ever Victorious" means always winning.)

(… But the Blood-Stained Rose Day ultimately ended in a victory for Rhodolite.)

That can mean only one thing.

Emma: "You weren't on the battlefield."

Gilbert: "If you have to ask me if I was there or not, I would say yes."

Gilbert: "But I was not in command. I was there for a private observation."

Emma: "… Private?"

Gilbert: "Yes. I have always planned to invade Rhodolite at some point, so this was a preview of what to expect."

(At times like this, I am reminded that Prince Gilbert is never a friend.)   //   (At times like this, I realize that Prince Gilbert is never an ally.)

Even though he looks friendly, he is absolutely evil.

My heart ached, even though the answer should have been obvious.

Gilbert: "At that time, it was the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces who was in command."

Emma: "Supreme Commander…"

Gilbert: "His Majesty the Emperor."

Emma: ". . . . . ."

Gilbert: "And then we lost, so it's almost embarrassing."

Gilbert: "And what he did was not a war; it was just a massacre with no outcome."

Gilbert: "It was repulsive to watch. Especially if you're from Rhodolite, right?"

(For Prince Gilbert, it seems the Blood-Stained Rose Day is never a good memory.)

Even if the event that happened doesn't change, it might be the only salvation.

Gilbert: "Oh, I'm telling you, I'm just as guilty as you are."

As if he could see right through me, he nailed it.

Gilbert: "Even though I knew about His Majesty the Emperor's invasion, I didn't stop it. I am on the perpetrator's side."

Gilbert: "I have no right to mourn the dead. The White Rose Festival is just a festival to me."

Emma: "… I understand."

Gilbert: "Really? You should have expected it by now."

Gilbert: "It would have been nice if I were a 'convenient existence' for you."

Emma: "That's not what I…"

Gilbert: "I hate lies."

(… I'm so stupid.)

(I hope Prince Gilbert had nothing to do with the "Blood-Stained Rose Day"...)

I would be lying if I said I didn't think so.

I didn't know why I had such strange expectations.

(Don't turn a blind eye to reality.)

Emma: "… I understand well that Prince Gilbert is Rhodolite's enemy."

Gilbert: "Fufu, great, great."

Emma: "Then why didn't the "Marshal of Eternal Victory" participate in the war?"   //   "So why didn't the "Ever-Victorious General" take part in the war?"

Gilbert: "Well… It's a nation's secret, but do you want to know?"

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Gilbert: "In Obsidian, there is an unspoken agreement that if anyone finds out your secret, you are to kill them without question…"

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Shaking my head, Prince Gilbert laughed, and his shoulders shook.

Gilbert: "But I think it was a blessing in disguise for Rhodolite."

Gilbert: "If I were on the battlefield, the map would have been rewritten by now."

Emma: "… Rhodolite is not a country that can be conquered so easily."

Gilbert: "Ahaha, you say that?"

Gilbert: "But it's a fair assessment. The Emperor has misjudged the underlying strength of a small country."

Gilbert: "I would be too embarrassed to return to my own country if I withdrew without gaining anything."   //   "I'd be too embarrassed to go back to my own country without gaining something."

Emma: ". . . . . ."

(Prince Gilbert seems to have the confidence of an "Ever-Victorious General.")

What if Prince Gilbert really shows his fangs against Rhodolite…

I didn't want to think beyond that.

(I wish you were on my side.)

Gilbert: "Rather than that, Little Rabbit, you needs to focus on the task at hand."

Gilbert: "Let's work together to prepare for the celebration, shall we?"

══════════════════

Leon, Yves & Licht: ". . . . . ."

Gilbert: ". . . . . ."

Jin: "… The atmosphere here is outrageous."

(Oh, I feel like I'm being crushed…)

The first thing I went to do to help with the White Rose Festival was,

A regular meeting of the executive committee, formed by the leading members of the domestic faction.

The situation was not what one would call a friendly atmosphere,

Everyone who was there was staring at Prince Gilbert, who was sitting in his seat with a casual face.

(There was a similar scene before, but when the person himself appears, the tension is different.)

Prince Gilbert doesn't care, even if he is skewered by sharp gazes that seem to pierce the enemy.

Gilbert: "Why don't you start the meeting? Or are we just a bunch of bored people here?"

Leon: "Lord Gilbert, you knew this was coming, didn't you?"

Gilbert: "I have no obligation to take your personal feelings into consideration."

Gilbert: "I just want to help the little rabbit."

Prince Gilbert smiled at me affectionately, and all at once the contradiction changed.

(Just looking at you, my heart is freezing.)

Gilbert: "Hey… Little Bunny, they don't seem to be welcoming you."

Gilbert: "I feel sorry for you. But don't worry, I'm on your side."

The more he speaks kindly to me, the more the temperature of the room drops.

As always, kindness cloaked in malice has repainted my world.

(… Don't give up now.)

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Emma: "I don't want to worry Rio and Luke, and I don't want to run away from Prince Gilbert."

Emma: "So... I will start by restoring the "cold world" created by Prince Gilbert."

Luke: "And how will you do it?"

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

All hostility is taken in, and fists are clenched.

I don't ever want to look down and run away from their gazes.

Emma: "Prince Gilbert will be assisting us with the White Rose Festival."

Yves: "I-I see…"

Licht: "He has nerves of steel."

Jin: "Hey, he's our guest of honor."

(The princes don't seem to agree either.)

(… It's only natural.)

Emma: "Of course, I know it's not easy."

Emma: "I know there are many of you who find it... unforgivable."

Emma: "I don't know about the Blood-Stained Rose Day, so I don't have the right to say anything."

Emma: "But this is the only thing."

I make eye contact with each one of them the whole way through without running away.

Emma: "I wish Rhodolite everlasting peace."

Emma: "For that reason, I would like to let Prince Gilbert know the pain through the festival…"

Emma: "I think it will be an important step that will lead to the future."

Leon & Yves: ". . . . . ."

Emma: "We can't build peace if we keep turning our backs on each other."

Emma: "I want to fill in the gaps, even if just a little."

Jin & Licht: ". . . . . ."

(… I don't feel a response.)

It seems that my honest feelings resounded as "beautiful words."

Bureaucrat: "... Prince Leon."

After a long silence, the first person to open his mouth was a man with a familiar face.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Bureaucrat: "Don't touch it!"

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Bureaucrat: "I'm sorry... but may I be excused for the rest of the day?"

Bureaucrat: "… I just can't stand it."

Bureaucrat: "I can't help... but think of my wife's face."

(. . . . . .)

Leon: "… Yes."

When Leon nods briefly, the man leaves the room without looking at him.

… He wasn't the only one.

Several other bureaucrats also leave their seats.

I could see swirling emotions there.

I can't hold them back or say a word to them.

(I knew that… but the gap is too deep.)

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Emma: "Originally, my daily life was full of people's kindness. Malice is nothing more than that."

Emma: "So I will change the current situation through communication, and this time I will drag Prince Gilbert into it first."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

(Can I really do that?)

Gilbert: "Hehe…"

In this situation, only Prince Gilbert laughs.

It was as if he knew this would happen from the beginning.

Gilbert: "Communication alone does not change people's values."

Gilbert: "Of course things could change, but that would be a huge, world-changing feat."

Gilbert: "You don't have the power to change the world. Don't be so cocky."

Emma: ". . . . . ."

Gilbert: "I wonder how long the little rabbit can keep dreaming…?"

𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿:

To the Mean Little Bunny:

I did read your response to me. Thank you.

However… I can't believe you want to know about my relationship with Yves Kloss...

I didn't expect you to ask me about another man, so I decided to be mean.

You deserve my help with the White Rose Festival, don't you...?   //   My help with the White Rose Festival is your own fault, you know…?

However, since you asked, I will tell you.

The Kloss family is my mother's family.

I'm sure you're guessing, but that guy you're good friends with is my cousin.

That lineage is genuinely a noble family.

Even in Obsidian, there were some high-ranking families, but as I said earlier, there were an overwhelming number of people who thought, "Those of higher status can do as they please with those of lower status."

That's why I hate those with that bloodline. Regardless of their character.

Now. Naughty baby rabbit. Next time, don't put the other man's name in your letter, okay?   //   Well. You mean little bunny. Next time, don't mention another man's name in your letter, okay? I'm the only one you should care about.

Gilbert von Obsidian

[azspot]

The problems of our time – and the problems of our youth – are without doubt tied to technology, but the connections are often indirect. Instagram is out of control and should be regulated, but it is not lead in the water. Haidt announces rhetorically that his is the only signal correlation: the time when most American children had smartphones, and when those smartphones included reverse cameras that allowed for flattering selfies, is the time when adolescent mental health plummeted. The period of which Haidt writes is also the time when, in the US, Trump began campaigning for the presidency and civility diminished. It is the time when the average sperm count was found to have declined by nearly half. It is the time when many toxins and microplastics proliferated in the food chain. In the same period the number of young people who identify as queer has escalated dramatically. So has the rate of autism diagnoses. Climate change has become increasingly evident and social mobility less accessible. Young people today are aware that whatever they are training for may well be taken over by AI. International travel has become increasingly commonplace. Guns have proliferated in North America. Gluten sensitivity and nut allergies have become astonishingly frequent. Cyberterrorism has set in; privacy has largely disappeared. The age of first sexual encounter has come down significantly. Some of these changes may be owed to social media, but others are not.

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Gideon Rachman: “I believe in America.” That phrase has rattled around my head, throughout the rise, fall and rise again of Donald Trump. Only belatedly did I recall that this comforting sentiment is the opening line of The Godfather. The words are uttered by Amerigo Bonasera: a man who has actually lost faith in America, and who is turning to a mafia don in search of vengeance. Trump is now telling American voters that “I am your retribution” — appealing to all those who have been “wronged and betrayed” by the system. It is all very Don Corleone. And it is working. Trump is generally ahead of Joe Biden in the polls for the 2024 presidential election. He is the bookmakers’ favourite, not just for the Republican nomination, but for the presidency.

So how can I keep the faith in America, when the voters seem poised to elect a man who faces trial for trying to overturn the last presidential election? “Believing in America” can mean two distinct things. First, you can believe in what America stands for. Second, you can believe that America will come good in the end. The two ideas are related — but they are not the same. My belief that America is a force for good in the world has led me, over the years, into some bitter arguments — even in Britain, which counts itself as America’s closest ally. Whether it was the Vietnam war, Ronald Reagan’s arms build-up, the Iraq war or gun violence, America’s passionate critics have always had plenty to point to. My usual response is that, like every great power in history, America has done terrible things. But in the three great global confrontations of the last century — the first world war, the second world war and the cold war — the US was on the right side. In fact, America was the decisive factor in those conflicts, ensuring that the democratic world prevailed over autocracy or outright dictatorship.

That is why so much rides on my second form of belief in America — the belief that the US will come through in the end. For the past 80 years, America really has been the “leader of the free world” — both an example of democracy in action and as the protector of its fellow democracies, through a network of alliances with other free countries in Europe and Asia. If democracy begins to crumble in America, then liberal democracies all over the world will be in trouble. It is reassuring that the world’s richest and most powerful country is a fellow democracy. In a second Trump term that sense of reassurance might disappear. Many Trump supporters will respond that, if their man wins the election, his victory would be an example of democracy in action, not of a slide into autocracy. But a Trump election victory could not scrub the record clean. We know the character of the man. Trump is somebody who has already demonstrated that he has no respect for the most basic of democratic procedures — a free election. His promise of “retribution” also involves repeated threats to put his political enemies on trial, ranging from Biden himself to Mark Milley, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Unlike the indictments against Trump, these would not be cases brought by independent prosecutors who have weighed the evidence. They would be political show-trials ordered by the country’s leader. That is the hallmark of an autocracy.

So how do I keep believing in America under those circumstances? First, and most obviously, nothing is foretold. There are still many months to go before the election in November.

Second, America’s period of greatness and global leadership has always involved turmoil and melodrama, from John F Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 to the ��war on terror” under George W Bush. In the end, the country always righted itself and its underlying dynamism and constitutional system reasserted themselves. So it seems unlikely that this latest melodrama — “America season nine”, as some call it — will bring the series to a definitive and tragic conclusion. The melodrama that America churns up — even the Trump melodrama — can be a sign of vitality as much as sickness. The US is a country with a rebellious, anti-establishment streak that allows it to shake things up and constantly reinvent itself. Voting for Trump is a sign that people are demanding fundamental change. And even if Trump is not the right answer, his emergence is a sign of that restlessness and refusal to settle for the status quo.

Trump’s enduring popularity may even belatedly be prompting some necessary self-examination by the American elite. Biden’s effort to put equality back at the centre of US economic policy is one example of that correction. So is the beginning of a backlash against “woke” thinking. As one Biden aide put it to me, in a moment of introspection: “We’ve realised that a lot of people are frightened of the American left.” Trump’s “retribution” against the left could take the US off in some new and frightening directions. But I believe in America enough to think that it would take more than one more term of Trump to destroy American democracy. The US is not Hungary. It is a big, complex country with many different sources of power and wealth. Trump and his acolytes could not bring them all to heel, in just four years. So you can still count me as somebody who “believes in America”. Me and Amerigo Bonasera.

[Financial Times]

[miraruinada]

"You can be smart and stupid. Take the smart person who does not grasp the situation at hand."

It bothered him that Granja had come to this time period only to intervene with history. It bothered him that Granja would attempt to change history at the cost of so many lives. It bothered him that everything Granja was doing here went against what Granja had taught him. It bothered him that Granja had sent him to stop Granja without telling him it's Granja.

"That's when I realized Granja is not Granja. Master Granja only told me a mage had appeared. So that must mean Granja didn't know he'd made an appearance here. You will take on Xochitl and try to increase the distance between the two of them. If Xochitl hesitates, then my speculation will be proven correct."

He wanted to prove to Granja he was not stupid. The only reason he chose to face Granja alone, because he believed his Master would not want this. He would not blindly accept everything at face value.

"What if you're wrong? What if Granja can still surpass my authority?"

"For that, I will give you a hint. What is left to rule over modern man? In other words, when the Name of the King is no longer relevant, what new authority arises?"

"The Name of the Father."

The authority previously granted by the gods to Ayalu as the first king to ever rule, in the first city ever established, had not died. Simply, it had been transformed. The Name (No) of the Father still shackled the modern subject. Authority had simply returned in its opposite guise. Ayalu's power beckoned to Xochitl's soul.

"Who is the master? Kneel."

This time, the call was answered. Xochitl kneeled down. Ayalu grinned. Stepped forward, kneeled in front of her and stroked her chin.

"Return from where you came, my beloved subject."

"Is it over so quickly?" Xochitl sighed, feeling her body being pulled across time and space. "Then here is one last test for you. Once Granja discovers what happened here, he will be angry. Whether he kills you or not will depend on whether his love for me is greater than his madness. If he does not kill you, well... Then love trumps madness. I will be so disappointed if that is the case." Xochitl disappeared.

"Ha... Haha..." Ayalu laughed to herself. Slowly at first, completely full of mirth, she exploded into a maddened glee. "THAT IGNACIO WAS RIGHT! I STILL HAVE AUTHORITY! I STILL COMMAND HUMANITY! THAT MEANS I...

"I don't have to kill...any of my precious subjects... I'm free..."

[dockofshame]

Maybe one day I’ll make a Carrd, but for now here’s a General BYF Pinned Post(TM). (Last updated: 07/05/2024)

Est. 1996 She/her pronouns

Polyflexible and bi

Neurodivergent

I write headcanons about a show that I watched in the 2000s-2010s that altered my brain chemistry

I tend to post a lot in a short period of time and then disappear for weeks/months… oops

DNI:

Basic DNI criteria (read: any kind of bigot or if you’re an adult attracted to minors)

ABDL/TBDL/DDLG/DDLB/MDLG/MDLB

If you support PETA, Autism Speaks, NAMBLA, Project 2025 or anything that might be condoned by Trump

OTHER:

I don’t condone it irl but I am into yandere fics and may or may not write some. I’ll do my best to tag them. If you don’t like yandere content, please scroll by/get off my lawn.

[disgracedmilfman]

Off the top of your head, how many people were deported under Trump and how many have been deported under Biden? Because Biden has deported more people. He is also continuing to build the fucking border wall. ICE facilities (concentration camps) continue to operate under Biden and force desperate people into barbaric conditions. People are routinely getting raped at ICE facilities. At least 6 people tried to kill themselves at the ICE facility closest to my city this year. Under Biden.

Which fucking trans rights were Biden upholding when he sponsored a bill that made testosterone a schedule III controlled substance? What concrete steps have been taken to protect abortion access in the past 4 years? Did Biden "advance racial equity" when he championed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994? Did Biden advance racial equity when he said, “We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”

Did Biden advance public health when the advised isolation periods for Covid got shorter and shorter and funding for testing disappeared?

Fuck

you

Don't tell me to vote for him

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

[eugenedebs1920]

Wow! That video says it all.

This election is so consequential…

There’s women’s right to reproductive healthcare, despite what the pro-fascism movement says, abortions are not simply to end an unwanted pregnancies. Many pregnancies will incur complications, ending the viability of the fetus and putting the woman’s ability to have a child again, and her very life at risk. The fact that, a majority male legislature, a majority male Supreme Court, NONE of them OBGYN’s or medical doctors, have ANY say is preposterous!

There’s the continuation of American democracy as it’s stood for nearly 250 years. This Christian nationalist, right wing slow moving coup. Drifting is closer and closer to fascism in their minoritarian rule they’ve co-opted. The dystopian future laid out for us to live in their manifesto, Project 2025

There’s the Supreme Court itself. The three MAGA justices installed by the Manderin Mussolini will be a thorn in the side for 30 year as is, denying us of any accountability from corporations and oligarchs. They have ripped more freedoms away than they have given or protected. A Trump win will be Sam Alito and Clearance Thomas’ inevitable retirement. Oh shoot! Did I say clearance, guess because he is for sale to whatever billionaire has interests coming before the court it must have autocorrected to that. These future installments of far right extremist will affect our lives, and our children’s lives for at least the next 30 years.

There’s the oligarchs too. Trump has over 60 billionaire donors to his reelection campaign. I doubt that’s due to his level headedness. Trump was caught on camera saying to oil executives, if you give my campaign a billion dollars, I will make it worth your while. Elon Douchebag Musk is one of these. His financial interests in federal dollars is a rampant conflict of interest.

Labor rights. More and more states are becoming “Right to Work” states. Which is a covert way of saying that employees can’t organize and labor unions are stripped of their power, leaving the fate of workers up to the generous (he said sarcastically) hands of corporations.

There’s LGBTQ rights. In America, you should be able to love whomever you want, however, and without shame. Period. As long as it’s consensual and statutorily legal, there shouldn’t be any limitations on loving who and how you want.

Then there’s this aspect known as the planet we live on. The GOP is notoriously anti-science. For years they have denied any climate science. With Ron DeSantis going so far as to ban the term in any Florida legislation. Trump, less than a month ago, was claiming it was just a hoax. When every year is the hottest year on record consecutively, when we see time lapse video of glacier melt, when species and coral wreaths are disappearing at an alarming rate, more and more extreme weather events, droughts, floods. The financial cost is staggering. The ecological cost is devastating.

This election, remember, it’s not just voting against the Cheeto Crusted Jesus, it’s not Dems vs GOP. It’s the future itself and how, or if we can exist in it. Please vote.

Vote Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the top, and blue down ballot. Because the Republicans don’t care about the climate crisis, or you. They want wealth from their oil tycoons, and power. Without a Democratic House and Senate there will be no advancement of protections.

May the sun shine on your face, and the wind be on your back. ☮️💟🇺🇸

[the-firebird69]

There are several things happening in Charlotte County florida in areas like Florida.

-- The clones are marching and it is a portion of what they plan to do they have withdrawn approximately 45% they are marching on the area say withdrew from to try and begin sabotage they are being eradicated fairly quickly and thanks for their time here screwing around with everything making stupid noises messing up everything they're trying to do making people sick and making them die and taking relatives and mutilating them and they're attacking them it's causing a rage and that rage has spread to the trumps and they are being obliterated for their atrocities and people want them up on war crimes it is going on right now and we anticipate they with will withdraw another 20% in the next couple hours from the areas like Florida. And yes by midnight they will be withdrawn and returning to strike and it is a military style attack they are being labeled enemy combatants by a formal armies where they're trying to attack we anticipate them being wiped out. After they're wiped out by tomorrow morning After they're wiped out by tomorrow morning they will begin a second wave of attacks and strikes and they're going to be held out and that might go on all week and they'll be trying to come into Charlotte County non stop and people will be up going after them after a period of about a week they will try and dissolve the circles in the Everglades and other places in Florida and the 21 or 25 areas like Florida and smaller ones they will do the same in order to weaken and also for their approach and they have not yet discovered that it is misery here in other places because the water is too shallow This is going to continue The Everglades and areas like it disappear in other areas like Florida And the ships will be pushed off most likely boarded and rated and destroyed and people will be returned And we feel that Dolores will be returned and healed and we're not sure why These stitches on bulge are so crude But that indicates that she was returned Andy election will still proceed and Dolores will be running because they will reassemble her and cast out Camilla And Dolores can look just like her And of course there is the second possibility that licia takes her place and holds boht bodies and both brains. and in suspended animation. and threatens her. to win. loses. nd is killed by her own father who finds the pair. and awakens nope chesmean does and watches them ruin trump. bolg ezcpes and dee is there in utah. and works no is ok nope. is placed n the tomb by trump. need t and to bait any clan. ken shows up and fires trump and becomes grant hits themall and to fruiton in the south adn east. pulls her out no the threaten her to get to our son. and over and over she is dee but they do it. they try to grab our son in utah. this is how it happens. shortly too

Thor Freya

Olympus

we watch in horror and disbelief no but horror at thiese and their way nasty shits

Hera

Zues

[gardenofbookworms]

week #20 recommendation: bee

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

▪︎ fantasy fiction/romance novel ▪︎

in moments of immeasurable grief, the soul can seem like such a small thing. an insignificant object you'd pawn to the devil for a different ending. a better ending. one that comes too soon, or not at all.

adeline larue is trapped in the boundaries of villon, france, three centuries in the past. but she is a dreamer, and she is not going to live the life pre-picked for her—marriage, a life indoors, her worth diminished to the amount of children she produces. in a desperate last chance, she makes a deal with one of the devils estele has always warned her about. in exchange for her freedom, “chivalrous” luc will claim her soul when she is done with it. but he didn't tell her that no one would remember. the marks she makes—drawings, broken figures, wine stains—they all disappear. it's like she doesn’t exist, until a boy comes along that is exactly everything she needs. he is enough.

▪︎

usually i don't like books that jump back and forth between time periods. but i got the hang of this one quickly, and it was sort of thrilling waiting for the past and present to catch up. without the restraint of time, addie is free to do whatever she likes—except she doesn’t exactly know how. so then it’s kind of a learning-the-turns situation for her as she gets used to not being able to hold onto anything. the one thing she does know how to do, make art, is actually the one thing she can’t. and even i felt the second-hand triumph when she figured out how to leave her mark. take that, luc. addie is going to trump you someday…muahaha…