#it's not without caveats and it's not without condemning a lot of the choices made

[narciso-anasui]

one thing I’ve noticed and kinda find fascinating (not rly in a “huh never seen this before” way bc I ABSOLUTELY have) is how drv3 fans seem to predominantly be fans of v3 over generally fans of the entire franchise, or at least only really actively engage with V3 characters/themes/ideas

[kanansdume]

The opening crawl of TPM literally says "the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights to settle the conflict." They're being sent by the Chancellor, but it is by no means official if he's doing it in secret. It IS all he can do because the Senate is being difficult, but that's why it's unofficial. With Padme, they are sent to negotiate initially, but it changes to "protect the Queen" REALLY QUICKLY, with the caveat that they are specifically trying to get Padme to Coruscant to try to ask for help more quickly. It's not an exact match in circumstances, but it's similar ENOUGH that I could maybe see how Satine would differentiate between the Jedi being sent to just keep her from getting killed and the Jedi becoming ranking military officers in a galactic civil war.

I'm not saying I AGREE with her, necessarily, but just that the situation is different ENOUGH that I could understand why she would be unwilling to compare the two and see the hypocrisy in it.

"While she may have said this in a fit of anger, it doesn’t seem far off from what she’s been shouting at him thus far. I concede that this may be a difference in our interpretation overall, but it seems to me that she’s critical of him using violence at all."

This is a fair accusation to make. You could definitely interpret her words to be critical of the Jedi's use of violence AT ALL, but I think I usually interpreted it more as her condemning Obi-Wan and the Jedi's more RECENT actions. He IS constantly in battle these days and DOES frequently have to use violence, in a way he would've been able to avoid before. But you're not wrong that he likely would've had to use violence in order to protect her, which makes the comment feel hypocritical, and I think that was the point you were initially making if I'm not wrong.

I would've LOVED for Obi-Wan to push back more against Satine's definition of a peacemaker, in particular. To defend the fact that sometimes KEEPING the peace does require more than pacifism. The Jedi didn't start the war, they didn't break the peace, and the Separatists aren't going to compromise in a way that the Republic or the Jedi can accept, which means the only option left is to defend the innocent people in the middle. This also would've obviously been a wonderful place to fully canonize the fact that the Jedi were DRAFTED, so they didn't truly get a choice in joining the war and no longer have the time or resources to try to reach out to the Separatists for peaceful negotiations and have to rely on the Senate to do that for them, something which has actually been forbidden by Palpatine. There were so many ways to present the Jedi BETTER in this arc, but because they took exactly none of them, Obi-Wan comes off like an idiot in order to make Satine look better. It's one of the many reasons I hate this arc.

"At some point concessions have to be made or we have to conclude that her ideas of peace were more important to her than her people were. It led to a lot of internal consequences that she didn’t want to see."

This is a VERY fair accusation to make of Satine, in my opinion. I think she was willing to see the consequences, she just was unwilling to concede that they were consequences of her neutrality. She blames pretty much everyone else for the supply problems from the dock workers and the school superintendents to her prime minister, and never once can admit that the reason the problem exists in the first place is because she made a choice that cut off trade to the planet entirely and never came up with a solution. The others DID make mistakes, the prime minister never ASKS Satine about the problem to try to come up with a solution, but even once Satine discovers it exists she doesn't take responsibility for her part in it and never offers up a solution aside from incarcerating the prime minister. And incarceration without negotiation seems to be a... popular choice for Satine given what we know of her history and the choices she makes during this episode.

She's trying to keep her people from literally destroying each other and everybody else, which is something no one else seems to have done really (except maybe Din's covert to some degree perhaps), and in a time when the rest of the galaxy is in relative peace, this is something she can maintain. The tragedy is that the Clone War gives Satine what feels like an impossible choice, the same choice offered to the Jedi and the Toydarians: she can give up her morals to join the Republic and potentially the war, regardless of the possible lethal consequences to her people, because they need the supplies; or she can keep her morals and stay neutral and just hope she can manage the consequences of that choice. She's placing the well-being of her people before the rest of the galaxy, but that choice puts her people at risk just as much as joining the war probably would have done, just in a very different way. The Jedi and the Toydarians make the opposite choice and decide to effectively sacrifice themselves for the galaxy even if it means giving up their morals, because they feel a need to help the rest of the galaxy.

"As you said, I think it is possible to sympathize with how she might feel with respect to her father and the trauma she faced during the civil war on her planet and also acknowledge that she isn’t right in the way she treats Obi-Wan or her criticisms of the Jedi."

Yes, exactly! I'm willing to accept that Satine is doing what she thinks is right for her people and feels, in some ways, betrayed by the choice Obi-Wan has made and where that feeling of betrayal might come from, but she's also INCREDIBLY judgmental and uncompromising and unwilling to be understanding towards Obi-Wan and the Jedi and I cannot condone that. Some of that is because the writing just won't LET HER be more understanding, but if we're going for a more Watsonian explanation of her, I think it's fair to argue that Satine has just learned to refuse to budge in her judgments after being judged herself for believing in peace and non-violence.

Of course, thinking about how Bo-Katan and Satine's father's treatment of them influenced Bo-Katan's terrible choices actually starts to shed some light on SATINE'S terrible choices, too.

Because as much as Bo-Katan would've dug her heels in and refused to compromise on her beliefs regarding traditional Mandalorian values and what their father would've wanted, Satine would've dug her heels in just the same and refused to compromise on her OWN opposite beliefs.

Which leads us to how Satine treats Obi-Wan and her disregard and dismissal of the Jedi and the situation they're in. There is nothing Obi-Wan could ever say that would convince Satine that the Jedi fighting in the war is a necessary evil. Nothing. He'll NEVER be able to convince her otherwise because Satine likely got completely dismissed by her father for her choice to be a pacifist or her arguments that Mandalorian infighting was supremely stupid. She was her father's EMBARRASSMENT and she likely knew it just as well as Bo-Katan did. I imagine she was asked to change her mind a lot or to just give up and compromise because she was the heir or something to that effect and she never ever allowed herself to because she knew that she was RIGHT.

But this leads to her refusing to see any kind of nuance in the Jedi's situation. It leads to a VERY limited definition of what it means to be a "peacekeeper" that doesn't take into account what you do what someone else attacks YOU. She claims she's not against the idea of defending herself, but cannot wrap her head around the idea that the Jedi fighting on behalf of the Republic IS them defending themselves and their people. Obi-Wan TRIES to argue his side of it, tries to make her see that refusing to fight would do nothing but allow the Separatists to kill and enslave and oppress everyone in the Republic, and Satine will hear NONE of it. She's completely and entirely convinced that she's right and refuses to budge on the topic to the point that she's willing to get into a screaming match with Obi-Wan about it in public.

This doesn't excuse or condone her arrogance and refusal to compromise or understand someone else's situation, but it at least adds some context to it to help make that unfortunate aspect of her personality make more SENSE. I know where it comes from now, and that lets me see it in a different light even if I still don't agree with her. Because while she was right about the Mandalorians (mostly), she was WRONG about the Jedi. She was wrong about the Separatists.

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Forged Through Fire (1/13)

Summary: Amestris. Once democratic, now a military dictatorship. Prohibition is strict; personal freedoms curtailed. All alchemists must be state-licensed or face imprisonment. Foreigners are met with suspicion. It’s a grim place and a grim time, but there are some people able to bring a little light to the world. Behind an innocent-looking bookshop, speakeasy proprietor Chris Mustang has formed an unlikely alliance with unlicensed alchemist Van Hohenheim to provide alcohol to those who want it and medical care to those who need it. When Riza’s newly complete tattoo becomes infected, Roy brings her into this underworld, little knowing the way it will change their lives in the future – uncovering the secrets of the mythical Philosopher’s Stone and the schemes of a Fuhrer hell-bent on achieving immortality, all whilst navigating what they mean to each other.

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Rated: T

[AO3]

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Content warning for this chapter: Domestic abuse – parent on child; parental neglect; mentions of abortion.

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Forged Through Fire

One

From the moment Riza woke up, she knew that it was going to be a bad day. Her back felt like it was on fire, and she wondered if this was how the mannequins that Roy used for target practice felt like once he’d finished with them.

If she was being completely honest with herself then she wasn’t even surprised that this had happened. She’d been expecting it at some point; she was lucky to have made it this far into the process before it had happened.

Or, of course, she was extremely unlucky.

She got out of bed, looking down at the damp patch of sweat staining the sheets. Laundry could wait until she’d assessed the damage. Her nightgown was sticking to her, and she winced as she inched it up over her head, craning over her shoulder to try and see what was going on in the mirror.

As expected, the tattoo was horrifically infected. Considering her father’s penchant for getting the array down on her skin without much thought for anything else, including the cleanliness of his needles, it was only a matter of time before it happened. She reached round and touched the worst-inflamed parts of her skin, the final pieces of the array that he’d added a couple of days ago. The pain brought tears to her eyes and she clamped her jaws tight shut to avoid crying out.

Maybe she could just let the infection run its course and it would be fine. Riza shook her head. She didn’t really have much choice in the matter. It wasn’t like she could go to a doctor. The minute anyone saw the tattoo she’d be thrown in front of a firing squad.

Sometimes she wondered if her father even realised what he’d been condemning her to when he’d started to etch his life’s work onto her so indelibly. She’d known. She’d always known. She’d just never been in a position to contradict him.

Somehow, Riza didn’t think that it had ever crossed his mind. The most important thing in Berthold Hawkeye’s life had always been his research, and he’d always walked the line between the legal and the forbidden, never trusting the government with the full extent of his work.

Like all licensed alchemists, he had dutifully submitted his arrays for recording at the central library and received permission to use them and teach them to others.

The array on Riza’s back, however, had been put there and not on paper for the precise reason that he did not want anyone else to get their hands on it. Never mind that creating arrays and not submitting them for governmental approval was illegal and could carry a death sentence depending on the potency of the alchemy involved. Never mind that even though Riza wasn’t the one to mark her skin and couldn’t see the array to use it, she’d be the one to suffer.

There wasn’t really a lot she could do about it.

Still trying not to cry with the pain, Riza made her way to the bathroom, scrambling through the cabinets for antiseptic. There wasn’t any. Why wasn’t she surprised? At least there were bandages; although she wasn’t sure how much good they would do, they’d be better than nothing.

She heard the knock on the door below her, and then Roy’s voice as her father let him in. Of course this would have to happen on one of the days that Roy was due to come for a session, because her skin couldn’t have seen fit to start trying to kill her on a day when she didn’t have to worry about strangers in the house potentially finding out about the elephant in the room and on her back.

Not that Roy was really a stranger, though. Riza reflected on their strange relationship as she cleaned up and bandaged her back as best she could. They’d been practically living in each other’s pockets for the last two years ever since her father had taken Roy on as an apprentice, begrudgingly accepting that caveat of keeping his state license and finally realising that all the research into flame alchemy in the world would be for nothing if he simply took it with him to his grave.

Riza still didn’t really know what that made them to each other, though. She liked to think that they were friends, although he spent most of his time these days holed up in the study. The more secretive her father had become about the full array, the less time the three of them had spent together in a more social setting; Roy was no longer welcome to stay for dinner, as much as Riza was ever desperate for a conversation partner and someone to deflect her father’s attention onto.

Her father was yelling at her to brew some tea and get breakfast ready, and Riza sighed, trying to adopt as normal a stance as possible, not letting show that something was wrong and that she was in pain. Not that her father would care (although perhaps he would – if her back got really bad then it might ruin his array, after all), but she didn’t want Roy to worry about her.

She downed a couple of painkillers – government issue and barely better than sugar pills but she could hope for a kind of placebo effect – and made her way downstairs to start the day. She could hear Roy and her father arguing over his decision to join the military academy. It was the same argument they had every time. Riza had never questioned Roy’s decision; his life was his own and in a place like a Amestris, the rigid life of the military was ironically the best place to gain a modicum of freedom. If you can’t beat them, join them and all that.

“Riza? Are you ok?”

She jumped at the voice and immediately spun round; she’d been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Roy follow her out of the study after she’d collected the tea things.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? There’s blood on your back.”

“What? Shit!” She tried to look over her shoulder, finally catching a glimpse in the shiny metal of the oven door. Sure enough, spots of blood and fluid were seeping through the bandage and onto the back of her shirt.

“Riza?”

For the first time in her life, Riza could only feel utter blind panic.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

“Riza, you look like you’re in pain. What happened?”

“Nothing!”

“Are you…”

“MUSTANG!”

Roy rolled his eyes at the summons. “You’re not fine,” he said, with a tone of stern finality that Riza had never heard in his voice before. He turned to leave the room and return to her father, and Riza felt herself sag, leaning back against the oven. Everything had just got so much worse.

Still, at least the cold metal was nice and numbing against her back.

She wasn’t really sure how long she stayed there, back pressed against the oven door and knowing she’d leave a wet smear there when she moved away. She should probably go and hide in her room so that Roy couldn’t question her again when he left, but at the same time, there was something in the back of her mind that wanted to speak to him again.

He was concerned about her. Riza couldn’t remember the last time that someone had been concerned about her, but now that she really thought about it, Roy had always looked out for her ever since he had first come into the house. The small part of her that had not completely given up all hope was nudging her to take the potential lifeline that might have been offered and cling to it. Surely Roy, of all people, would understand. He wouldn’t shop her to the military police if she told him about the tattoo. He knew her father, after all, knew what kind of a man he was even as he continued to learn under him.

She could trust Roy.

She hoped she could trust Roy. Roy trusted her, after all. She was pretty sure her father didn’t know that he’d grown up in a speakeasy and knew more about dodging the law than any nineteen-year-old should.

Perhaps that was part of the reason why he’d chosen to join the military. It was easier to protect the people you loved if you had inside knowledge of when the raids would be going on.

Roy trusted her. Roy knew all about living in less than legal circumstances beyond your control.

She could trust Roy.

Eventually, she could hear the sounds of the day’s session coming to a close, and her father yelling for her to show Roy out. She crept out into the hallway, waiting until he’d vanished back into his study before grabbing Roy and yanking him into the kitchen, barricading the door with a chair for good measure.

“Riza? What’s going on, are you ok?”

She shushed him.

“I need help,” she admitted. “I have no idea how you can help but I’m just hoping you might be able to give me some advice.”

“OK. You’re scaring me a little. And why is the door barricaded?”

“My father.”

“Right. Enough said, sorry. So, how can I help?”

Riza took a deep breath, turned her back and took her shirt off, crossing her arms over her chest even though she knew Roy couldn’t see anything. She heard his sharp intake of breath as he looked at the stark black ink and the wet and bloody bandages.

“Oh my God, Riza… How could he have done this to you?”

“What’s done is done.”

“Riza, I’m not a doctor but this is really bad, you need to see someone.”

“How can I, Roy? It’s an unregistered array, no doctor would touch it with a bargepole, they’ll just call the cops.”

There was silence for a long time, and Riza glanced over her shoulder at him. His brow was furrowed in deep thought, looking down at his spark gloves and the simplified flame array – the legal flame array – dyed into them.

“Please don’t kick up a fuss,” she begged. “If he knows you’ve seen the full array…”

“My lips are sealed, I promise. I think I know how to help you. Can you get out of the house tonight?”

He moved past her towards the fridge and Riza scrambled to put her shirt back on, ignoring the pain as the damp fabric brushed her inflamed skin.

“Have you got anything you can use as a cold compress until then?”

“No.”

“OK, well, try putting a couple of towels in the fridge or something to try and help keep any swelling down. If you can get out tonight, meet me by the phone booth in the park at nine o’clock, I should have got something organised by then.”

Riza nodded her understanding and removed the chair from under the door handle, letting Roy out of the house. Her father would probably have passed out by then, and it wasn’t the first time she’d snuck out after dark for a breath of fresh air and freedom.

She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against the front door with a sigh. If Roy couldn’t come through for her she didn’t know what she’d do, but she trusted that he’d think of something.

She trusted that he cared enough.

X

“Roy, this is your aunt’s speakeasy. When they said alcohol can be used as a disinfectant, I don’t think they were talking about bathtub moonshine.”

“Madam Christmas does not serve bathtub moonshine. I’ve never pried into where she gets it, but I know it’s not out of a bathtub. Anyway, we’re not here for the alcohol.”

Riza shivered in the cool night air, looking around at the deserted street. There were never many people around after dark. There wasn’t officially a curfew in Central City, but the police presence on the streets always doubled once the sun went down, and people weren’t inclined to hang around. Not that they were inclined to hang around much in the daytime, either. Even just going to the market to get groceries, everyone walked with purpose, eyes down.

“It’s a double front. Aunt Chris rents out a couple of the back rooms to an unlicensed medical alchemist. He’s not the cheapest, but he’s the safest. And he’s kind.”

“I know what that’s code for. Great. Now everyone’s going to think I’m here because I got myself in trouble.”

“Hohenheim does a lot more than that. Actually the thing he does most is stab wounds, as you do. But I won’t deny he does do a lot of that. Is that a problem?”

“Having my illegal alchemy tattoo treated by an illegal abortionist? No, Roy, that won’t be a problem.”

They entered into the quiet bookshop that served as a front for the speakeasy. Officially it was closed, although the lights were still on in the back and there was a girl sitting behind the counter, looking bored out of her mind by the pulp fiction romance novel she was reading. She just nodded at Roy, a regular visitor enough to be trusted without getting the third degree from the doorman, and he went through to the back room, opening the door to the basement and gesturing for Riza to go through.

“After you.”

She’d been in here once, a year ago now. It had been the middle of the day at the time and the bar hadn’t been properly open, just a few die-hard regulars in the corners. It had still been an experience though. Anything that wasn’t the four walls of her house was an experience. Her father had passed out and Roy had invited her to come for a walk with him, and they’d ended up in the speakeasy. She’d just turned seventeen and her father had just started to mark her back, and she’d been feeling rebellious – if I have a tattoo that might get me killed, might as well go to a place that might get me killed too.

Despite everything, including the undercurrent of fear at being caught either by the police or by her father, Riza still felt a certain warmth towards the place. It felt like more than just an illegal bar to her. It felt like a home. Maybe because it had been Roy’s home for so long, and he had seemed so at ease and alive in there.

He wasn’t quite as easy today, but he smiled at her when she looked back over her shoulder at him as they descended the stairs and entered the bar itself. It was busier tonight, in the height of its peak time, and Riza felt extremely self-conscious as Roy guided her through the room, bypassing the bar entirely and going towards the draped off area on the back wall.

He pulled back one of the curtains to reveal a suspiciously ordinary looking door. The door itself wasn’t suspicious, it was a normal wooden door, but there was something about it that made it look out of place, as if it shouldn’t have been there – like it hadn’t been there one moment and had mysteriously appeared the next. Maybe it had. Alchemy could do all kinds of things, after all.

Roy lifted his hand to knock but stopped short and turned to her. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

Riza shook her head. “No. I’ll be ok.” Honestly, she wanted nothing more than for Roy to come in with her, because whilst she definitely trusted him, she wasn’t entirely sure she trusted anyone else in the establishment; but since she was already paranoid about people getting the wrong impression as to why she was visiting an unregistered alchemist, she didn’t want them to think that Roy was the one who had potentially got her into that non-existent state.

That said, no one in the bar seemed to be paying them any mind, all too focussed on their drinks and on each other. They were in an illegal speakeasy after all, so they didn’t have all that much room to judge her.

“Ok. Well, Trisha can always come and grab me if you need me.”

Riza didn’t ask who Trisha was, and Roy left her alone, letting the curtain drop back down behind her and cutting her off from the heavy smell of alcohol and the muffled music.

She knocked timidly.

“Come in.”

Like most average, law-abiding citizens, Riza had never been to an unlicensed doctor or alchemist before, and from the gossip she’d heard flying around about them, she’d been expecting a scene from a horror film.

She was a little taken aback when she entered a clean, well-lit room with a couch covered in crisp white sheets, no sign of bloody surgical tools anywhere. The alchemist was washing his hands in the corner and he turned as she entered.

“Hello. Riza, is it? I’m Hohenheim, pleased to meet you. Roy said something about a skin problem, but he didn’t give me any details.”

Riza nodded. “I have a tattoo on my back, it’s infected.” She paused. “It’s an illegal alchemy array. My father is licensed, but he likes to experiment.”

Hohenheim’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “On you?”

“No. Well. Not exactly. I’m just the notebook. He needs to write it down and he figured this was more secure than putting it on paper.”

“Hmm.” Although he said nothing more on the subject, there was sympathy in his golden eyes as he gestured to the couch. “If you take your top off and lie down on your front on the couch, I’ll take a look. Are you all right on your own? My wife’s just next door in the dispensary; she’ll happily come in if you would be more comfortable having another lady with you.”

“No, it’s ok.”

He turned his back as she pulled her coat and shirt off, and she saw him twitch as she let out an involuntary hiss of pain.

“I’m ready.”

His hands were warm on her back as he removed the dressings; she’d changed the bandages twice throughout the day, but she didn’t think it had made all that much difference to the infection.

“You’re in a lot of pain.” It was a statement, not a question. “It’s not as bad as it could have been, you managed to catch it early. If you’d left it any longer it might have caused some real damage.”

He draped her coat back over her. “Sit up a moment, I’ll need to draw the array.”

Riza watched as he worked straight onto the sheets with blue tailor chalk, marking out an intricate circle.

“That doesn’t look like alchemy.”

“It’s Xingese alkahestry. Far more widely used for medical purposes than destructive ones and sadly far more illegal in Amestris.”

“You’re from Xing?”

Hohenheim laughed. “No. I just spent a lot of time there.”

He glanced sideways at her and Riza noticed the golden eyes again. He might not be from Xing, but she didn’t think that he was entirely from Amestris either. Eye colour was usually a good indicator.

“Where are you from?”

“Nowhere.” There was sadness in the eyes now. “Lie back down, this won’t take a minute. It might sting a little.”

It was more like an electric shock than a sting, the lightning crackle of alchemy dancing over her skin, but when it was over, there was just blissful, blessed relief.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Hohenheim went over to the door in the corner as Riza got dressed again, tapping lightly. “Is it ready, Trisha?”

“Yes, love.” The door opened to reveal a small room barely bigger than a closet, filled from floor to ceiling with shelves of jars and bottles. A young woman wearing an apron came out and pressed a small pot into Riza’s hand.

“It’s a tea-tree salve, a natural antiseptic,” she said. “Rub it in every night before bed for a couple of weeks and everything should clear right up.”

“Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?” She’d raided the housekeeping and the scant savings she kept under her bed; she knew how much medical treatment cost ordinarily, but this was very different.

Hohenheim shook his head. “Roy paid in advance; didn’t he say?”

“Oh. No. Oh. Well. Thank you.”

She left the room, fighting her way through the curtain and out into the main room again. Roy was sitting at the bar waiting for her.

“All sorted?”

Riza nodded. “Yes, thanks.”

“Great. Can I get you a drink to calm your nerves?”

“Roy, she’s only seventeen.” Behind the bar, Madam Christmas gave her nephew a pointed look, before heaving a long sigh. “I guess there’s no legal drinking age in a country where no one’s allowed to drink anyway. Pick your poison, hun, but I’m not serving you spirits.”

Riza shook her head. “If he smells it on me there’ll be hell to pay. I should probably be getting back before he realises I’m out.”

Roy nodded, and the brief flash of sorrowful sympathy in his face did not go unnoticed. He slid off his bar stool, walking through the bar with her.

“I’ll walk you home in case of patrols.”

They didn’t speak for a long time after they left the shop, both of them lost in their thoughts. It was only once they were nearing the Hawkeye home on the outskirts of the town that Riza remembered she hadn’t thanked Roy properly.

“Hohenheim said you paid for my treatment.”

“Yeah.” Roy’s smile was sheepish in the dim moonlight. “I figured it was only fair. It’s not your fault the tattoo you had no say in getting got infected. Why should you have to pay the price for it?”

“Thank you.”

“Any time.”

They stopped at the gate, and Riza knew that if this was a romance novel of the type that the bookshop front sold, now would be the point where they would kiss and declare their undying love for each other.

It wasn’t really undying love, per se, but there was definitely something there, something that Riza could not quite define yet.

Feeling emboldened now that she was no longer in pain, she darted in and pressed a peck to Roy’s cheek. Even in the darkness, she could see the beginnings of colour coming up in his face, and she could feel that hers was just the same.

“Good night, Roy.”

“Good night, Riza.”

[bigskydreaming]

A good description. For my part, I don't like talking about it because of my own experiences. I can, however, see Batman, a story where nearly every memorable villain and even the protagonist himself is a Svengali, could attract a disproportionate number of rape apologists, though fandom is full of them. (Oh, hey, that's the other thing with Jason. Talia.)

Ugh I’m so sorry to hear you can relate, and I totally understand not wanting to talk about it. I have no idea what your particular situation is, obviously, but I also want to reiterate since its been awhile since I’ve mentioned this part.....I don’t feel any like....basically, my choice to talk about this stuff is simply put, MY choice, made for my own reasons, that aren’t a reflection on any other survivor. There are a million and one reasons NOT to come forward, or to struggle with it or not to be open about what happened to us, and none of them are a reflection on any of us, but rather the position it puts us in.

Again, I don’t know your situation or what gender you might be or anything else, and this isn’t at all because your ask made me feel defensive or anything like that. This is just something I’ve wanted to put into words for awhile now seems relevant today, and here’s as good a place as any to put it down:

For myself, being a male survivor....like, there’s never really been any getting around the existence of that kinda, idk, caveat that not many male survivors come forward. Sure, we all see the posts and tweets reminding “remember, men can be raped too!” But that’s not the same thing as men sharing their stories and experiences the way far more women have come forward. And that’s why I ultimately began talking about my own experiences in order to express how I felt about my own positioning in society and how as a survivor I interact and am interacted with by others. Because frankly, there wasn’t anywhere else I could really look to in order to see others talking or sharing about similar things and see myself reflected in what they were saying or the experiences they were describing. So, if I couldn’t find what I felt I needed or could have benefited from, I figured at least I could put it out there in case anyone else who could relate could benefit from mine.

Except, ultimately I’ve come to feel that I honestly don’t believe its that men just flat out don’t come forward with their stories or experiences, its that even when we do, we’re rarely signal boosted - as you can kinda see from the fact that I can post the most inane shit and get it to a thousand notes, but in the five plus years I’ve been making posts about this subject, I’m lucky if I can get a single post on the topic to double digits as far as notes go.

People just flat out are a combination of uncomfortable with the novelty of actual discussions about and around male survivors as well as being not really sure how to talk about it because we’ve never really developed the tools for it.

And to be 100% clear, this has NOTHING to do with female survivors, as a point of comparison or ANYTHING else. It drives me up a fucking WALL when people try and compare and contrast even just how much men being raped is talked about vs women being raped, no matter WHAT their reasons are, because I promise people, I PROMISE - NO survivor, of any gender, has EVER benefitted from being pitted against other survivors to ANY degree. Its not a zero sum game and it doesn’t help male survivors to pull shit like “well at least female survivors are acknowledged” because a) eww, and b) nobody asked anyone to say that on our behalf, and c) hyper-visibility isn’t a privilege (or whatever the best parallel to that might be, I’m not trying to appropriate an anti-blackness specific term so much as its the closest comparison I have at the moment for something that isn’t even a matter of marginalized identities but rather marginalized experiences) and d) its COMPLETELY beside the point and actually misses the point by a WIDE margin.

Because what I’ve come to realize over the years, from my own experiences and talking and sharing with survivors of all genders and demographics and walks of life, is that first off....nobody really needs the reminder that hey, men can be raped too. We see it happen all throughout entertainment and other aspects of society, its not an experience that’s hidden away from the light, its just not ever really CALLED what it is, or followed up on, and talked about.

Like Dick Grayson isn’t a statistical outlier in media. Take Horrible Bosses, a summer blockbuster comedy a few years back with a cast of fairly big name comedians, and whose running B plot throughout the whole movie was Jennifer Aniston’s character wanting to rape her employee, Charlie Day’s character. Not only was this not objectionable to audiences in any sizable way, not only did this never really get called out as wtf by critics and reviews, the movie was successful enough to warrant a sequel with even BIGGER names in its cast, like Christopher Pine, and the continuation of the Aniston’s character trying to rape Charlie Day’s subplot. With zero awareness. And its not like that’s the only movie. There’s plenty more I could name.

Or then you’ve got television, where like, take Riverdale, a well-promoted, well known CW show....whose first few episodes featured the lead character Archie in a sexual relationship with his much older female teacher. Except not really a relationship, because that’s textbook, no debate, literal statutory rape.....that ended with Archie’s character being condemned for it as though he were on equal footing with the teacher, who ultimately left town, and it never really acknowledged that he was literally a victim of statutory rape, that any teacher who does that is not an equal partner but a predator. I stopped watching the show for a lot of reasons by like the fourth episode, but I see enough gifs on tumblr to know that several seasons later, this left little enough impact that some kind of Archie-goes-to-jail plotline has resulted in more memes and jokes about prison rape than I can count, and zero awareness that people are compounding jokes about a character who is literally already an unacknowledged survivor.

That’s one. Or you can take Once Upon A Time, a popular ABC show of multiple seasons, and the running subplot where Robin Hood’s character is raped by the Wicked Witch literally the same way Dick was by Mirage in the comics. She shapeshifts into Maid Marian, who ends up dead, and has ‘sex’ with Robin Hood (no, she rapes him) and ends up pregnant. Not only is this never really called what it is, later on, other characters LITERALLY CHEW HIM OUT for objecting to this baby being left in the care of her mother, aka his rapist, and for ‘not being willing to give her the benefit of the doubt/let her change’ as though him not wanting to co-parent with his rapist is no different from any of the show’s other dubious redemption storylines....except for the fact that this particular part of her redemption arc isn’t ever really one she actually needs redeeming for, because nobody ever fucking points out that she literally raped him and he was her victim. Fast forward to the end of the series, Robin Hood’s been dead for seasons, the Wicked Witch is happily redeemed and has a loving wholesome relationship with her daughter, named after Robin Hood like they were some kind of loving, happy family instead of a rapist, her victim, and the child that was born of it.

Or you can take Grimm, a fairly successful NBC show of multiple seasons WHICH LITERALLY DID THE EXACT SAME THING. The main character Nick was raped in season two by the antagonist of the time, who shape shifted into his wife and had ‘sex’ with him, with him not realizing the truth until later on, by which point she’s pregnant with his child. Fast forward to the end of the show, not only was this never really called what it was, his wife’s character was killed off seasons earlier and he is now, get this, ‘happily’ in a romantic and sexual longterm relationship with his rapist (who he by now knows exactly what she did do and what happened between them and just.....got over it without ever actually like, reacting to it)....and oh yeah, not only are they raising the child born of it together, they’ve had a second child since then.

Anyone ever hear much outcry about the male rapes in these shows? And again, like Horrible Bosses, tip of the iceberg. There’s a LOT more shows I could name, just like there are movies.

Or take comics. Its not even just Dick Grayson that’s a survivor. Or Bruce. Or Jason as you pointed out, which......I know a lot of people ignore both Morrison AND Winick’s take on Talia in order to not write her as the rapist she is in their stories, which I can totally understand as she was a well-established character of color for long before either of them got their hands on her and its perfectly valid for people not to want to have to write her as being tarnished as a rapist because two different writers wrote her that way....without.....either of them ever really acknowledging that was literally how they were writing her. I myself write her as a character of complicated and often dubious morality, but never a rapist, for that reason and many others, but its definitely there. And even in a fandom that has never lacked for acknowledgment of Dick being a survivor whose rapists were women.....a LOT of people still romanticize Jason’s ‘relationship’ with Talia as being something other than a grown woman taking advantage of a minor in an extremely vulnerable and compromised state.....with a TON of other takes out there about the two of them, in posts and fics alike, where its somehow danced around or outright called something other than “that time Talia raped Jason in the comics.”

But its not just the Batbooks. Its like how I’ve mentioned in the past, Garth Ennis wrote into one of his storylines that Kyle Rayner was raped when he went to Gotham one time.....not to make it a plot point, but to use it as a JOKE. Or take Marvel comics, Bobby Drake, one of my other all-time favorite characters....who is also a rape survivor of multiple occasions, without it ever acknowledged as such. Like, he was briefly in a relationship with Mystique, who turned out to have entered the relationship under false pretenses, shocking, and who used having sex with him to depower him and take him out of the upcoming fight between the X-Men and the Marauders, which...we don’t have time to unpack all that right now. But fast forward about a year later, and Bobby has since gotten back together with his ex-girlfriend Opal Tanaka.....who, it turns out, is actually just Mystique in disguise, having sex with him again without it ever being called rape since he was consenting to sex with Opal, not the woman who slept with him that one time just to make sure he was helpless to stop a whole lot of people from getting killed. But hey, forget about Mystique! How about that time Chuck Austen wrote him ‘having sex’ with an empath who was EXPLICITLY noted in the narrative as using her powers to manipulate his emotions to even WANT to have sex with her in the first place, and when an issue later it comes out she’s married and her husband starts beating up Bobby for ‘sleeping with his wife’ all the other characters present, all of them friends and teammates of his, condemn Bobby for this without it ever being acknowledged that he was literally manipulated into it by a superpower and he was the victim.

Again. Tip. Of. The. Iceberg.

But you see what I mean? Male rape isn’t an outlier and it isn’t an unknown....its everywhere! Its just.....never called that, really, and never really talked about, even by people who normally would, except for the fact that I don’t think we as a society have ever really forced ourselves to FIND a way to talk about it, because of the fact that like.....the very notion of it threatens and undermines the essence of the patriarchal beliefs that are hammered into us all from day one. Even when we know the patriarchy is crap, we still have so much ingrained in us from early childhood that stuff like this, which is a blatant symptom of it even if not one aimed primarily at disadvantaging women.....like, it slips under the radar because its never fully called out or spotlighted in loud enough or widely enough ways to keep us from overlooking how much its impacted our POVs.

Blatantly put, the patriarchy and sexism RELIES on the idea that men are somehow more powerful/stronger/whatthefuckever than women. And male victims - of abuse as well as rape, though definitely rape.....like, even just a widespread awareness of our existence is enough to kinda destabilize that belief that is so foundational to the patriarchy its DEPENDENT on it being upheld as unassailable truth.

Because if forced to acknowledge that men are just as vulnerable to even something like rape as anyone else in the ‘right’ situations or dynamics, it forces confrontation with the reality that no matter what the patriarchy has claimed for as long as its existed.....men aren’t inherently any more powerful, or stronger, or resistant to harm/humiliation/VICTIMIZATION as anyone else.

And the patriarchy flat out can’t afford that confrontation, so it can’t afford to acknowledge male survivors.

Again, just want to be beyond clear - nowhere here am I okay with making this about a compare and contrast between the experiences and interactions society has with male survivors and around male rape, and the same with female survivors and rape. Because I mean, we all should be more than aware that society as a whole sucks at the acknowledgment, addressing and handling of rape in any context, in any of the ways it comes up as a topic, in terms of any survivor who comes forward no matter who or when or how.....like. We suck at this topic, and at any and all discussions about this topic. Period. Flat out. So when I say the patriarchy can’t afford to acknowledge male survivors, I am in no way aiming to diminish the reality that it does just as fucking an abyssmal job at acknowledging and responding to female survivors....the point here is not the poor reception any and all survivors receive to disclosing their experiences in our society, but rather the specific why of this when it comes to male survivors just as the particular subject of focus here.

And again, like, my only credentials here are just like. My life experiences, lol. I’m not trying to claim anything more or other than that, make no mistake. I’m a literal college drop out, this is not the result of comprehensive studies or vetted by the scientific method. This is literally just “like, my opinion, man” and makes no pretenses at being other than that. Its just the conclusions I’ve formed over the years and why, completely anecdotal and not aiming to be any kind of authoritative or expert viewpoint with my personal take here. Largely because I haven’t really found anywhere that I feel the conversation has proceeded enough in earnest that its even at a point that would ALLOW for that yet. So this is all more just.....my feel of things, and why, as just kinda idk, hopefully a starting point for further ACTUAL exploration of all this. My attempts at starting the kind of conversation I feel we need to be having in order to be at all productive instead of just constantly spinning around in circles, which is what it so often feels like.

So when I say I think the patriarchy can’t honestly AFFORD to acknowledge male survivors specifically, I’m not positing some grand conspiracy or active cover-up.

Because nothing like that is even necessary.

Its built into the framework of the system itself. Its not that I believe anyone goes out of their way to “hide” male survivors from anyone, I’m saying there’s no need. Because its been so ingrained into us from such a young age and in so many ways, most of us never even think to question whether anything is even being hidden, or if its just as simple as, well men don’t really come forward, because their pride and self-esteem is so impacted by what happened to them, due to the expectations heaped on men by the patriarchy.

Its kinda stunning, actually. Even while ACKNOWLEDGING that the patriarchy does impact male survivors in ways as well, we’re kinda....led away from the ACTUAL ways and ACTUAL reasons why....because despite literally calling the patriarchy out as the bad guy in this way, it still manages to weasel itself out of this confrontation by virtue of the fact that you can’t ever really effectively address a problem when you’re being misdirected to a tangent that’s not really the REAL problem that needs addressing.

So personally, I’m of the belief that its not that men just don’t ever really come forward. Its that even when some do, like myself, we can scream our heads off for years and it just echoes into the void, because its not being heard in the ways we need to be heard in order to effectively....signalboost our stories and experiences and needs. Much like I just mentioned above, its misdirection......everybody’s too focused on addressing an issue that doesn’t actually NEED solving (ie, reminding everyone/promoting awareness that men too, CAN be raped), and thus at least feeling productive, feeling like they’re contributing to tackling the problem.....that meanwhile, the ACTUAL problem (men CAN be raped too, and are, and here are men talking about it only for the signal to get lost and fizzle out rather than get boosted)....it flies right under the radar.

Because in line with what I said earlier about how it does no good to compare our experiences, both in terms of assault and our lives in the aftermath, with women survivors - its because its apples and oranges.

Rape isn’t a gendered issue, because it can happen to anyone of any gender, at any time....its situational. Dependent on context. Rape culture, however, IS a gendered issue.

Because rape culture, how our society INTERACTS with the very idea of abuse and rape and its victims and perpetrators....spills out entirely from that core foundation of the patriarchy and sexism, and thus much like those things themselves, how it affects women survivors is always going to be totally different from how it affects men who are survivors. Our experiences are not interchangeable - that has nothing to do with being better or worse, more publicized or less, etc, etc. They just....manifest different ways. The cause of our trauma-related problems might be the same thing, but the problems it creates for us are not, and none of us can ever really benefit from it being treated as a one size fits all kinda deal, nor is it to our benefit to treat it like there’s only so much conversation about the topic available to go around.

What I mean here is, like I said, the patriarchy at the foundation of our society can’t afford for it to be widely acknowledged that men can be victimized too.

But it can’t actually stop this from happening, given that its basis for saying it never happens is an inherent uneven-ness that only exists because it made it exist, not because like....we’re innately born uneven.

So....it had to come up with a narrative, a response, for when men DID step forward and say hey, I too was abused. I was raped. Etc.

And it did.

As a result, a lot of women don’t come forward because they fear not being believed, with reason. And this is true for a lot of men as well, just as the following is true for a lot of women too....

Which is that IMO the bigger reason/more immediate reason a lot of men don’t come forward, is that our concern isn’t so much that we won’t be believed....

Its that we will be believed, but rather than this getting us the help we need or the justice we ask for, it only ever really creates more problems for us, due to the patriarchy’s go-to fix-it job for this situation:

Paint the male victim as being not so much a victim as a victimizer-in-training.

See, the lie that men are innately more powerful, stronger, more ‘deserving’ of being in charge can’t afford the admittance than men are also vulnerable, can be victimized, taken advantage of.....

But it CAN afford the idea that men can be abused/raped/etc with this going on to eventually result in us becoming abusers/rapists/victimizers ourselves in the future, as long as THIS is kept the clear focus and emphasis of the narrative.

Because after all, there’s nothing in the idea that we all inevitably take out our pain (whatever it may come from) on others that contradicts the idea that we’re stronger, more powerful, etc.

And its not like the patriarchy and its supporters give a shit if this throws even other men under the bus, because the only thing institutions and systems of power actually care about is POWER.

They’re not our friend, even if in a different life, we could have ended up wielding more of that power than we do in this one. Even if we do in other aspects of our lives gain social and other forms of power more easily/with less obstacles than other people.

They only care what we can do for them, to spread that power, perpetuate it, preserve it....so just like white supremacy will happily screw over poor white people and America doesn’t give a shit about its prison population and the LGBTQ+ community so often ignores the issues of its members of color and so on.....the patriarchy is more than willing to make male survivors from any and all groups and communities take the hit it has no intention of taking by letting it be confirmed its built on sand and bullshit.

So just as much as we’re ingrained from early childhood with the idea that men can’t be victimized the way others can, the linked lesson we’re taught is that men who have been hurt badly or in certain ways will almost certainly end up hurting others.....

With the implicit acknowledgment that there was just an admittance that we can be hurt badly/in certain ways ending up just swiftly glossed over. As the focus is instead kept on the harm done to our hypothetical future victims.

Because the easiest way to keep someone from being sympathetic, is to give people someone else to sympathize with MORE. To give people reason to feel a person doesn’t even deserve your sympathy in the first place.

And so now think about not how often we see men victimized by abuse and rape in media, or how often we see men portrayed as survivors and yes, victims of these things.....

Think instead of how often in media we see men who victimize others, who are the antagonists, the villains, the serial killer/rapist/abuser of the week.......and with it offhandedly being dropped into a scene and then never really focused on again, that these men were almost always said to have been abused or raped or victimized in the past....and this is the REASON for why they all ended up doing what they did.

Suddenly, the numbers go up, don’t they? The second you think about it from THAT angle?

Its just....the reason that angle literally exists to the extent it does in society and the messages we’re fed, the entertainment we’re given.....is because that’s the POINT.

Because its natural for us not to think of any of those men as victims when by the time we find that part out, we’ve already internalized our view of them as victimizers, and solidly put our sympathies with their victims in the present. Because what was done to them in the past doesn’t excuse what they do to others in the present. Being hurt doesn’t give you carte blanche to hurt others. We all know this. Hence....WHY IT WORKS.

Except, this isn’t actually a reflection of reality. The myth of the perpetual cycle of abuse is just that, a myth. Oh, it happens, certainly. With men, with women, quite probably more often with men than women, not much doubt about that....

But its not that it happens, we’re told. That’s not the issue here.

Its that we’re pretty much told it ALWAYS happens. Its always GOING to happen. That there’s no real point in sympathizing with a male victim who is most likely going to end up victimizing someone else in the future and thus he’s not really gonna deserve your sympathy at that point, will he? Which makes him not really worth wasting it on him in the first place. Makes it easy to come up with something to focus on more instead of his story or experiences, something just as deserving of your focus or sympathy, but that you’re less likely to end up regretting in the future like you would if a male survivor you sympathized with now ends up in the news five years down the line for having hurt someone else.

Because over centuries and generations the idea of male survivors at all has been cultivated into having this almost mythic quality, there’s just enough subtle feeling of wrongness around the very idea of it, like, that it just doesn’t quite make sense...that it ends up being almost a relief to give our minds a reason, an explanation for why they don’t have to come up with a way to adjust the paradigm there, to make room for that idea, realign a worldview into one where there’s a specific spot for male survivors much like any other subject that needs focusing on or evaluating for whatever reason.

And this point, this conclusion that no matter how tragic what happened to make a male survivor was, it will only ever ultimately end up in the same spot, with him later on passing along the harm, a warped kind of paying it forward....this is hammered home over and over. We see it everywhere, without even often realizing what it is we’re seeing and internalizing, like with the examples I cited of all the times men are raped in entertainment without it being called that. Its the flip side of that....the times that men are raped in entertainment with it being called that, but swiftly moved past that to introduce the reason not to care that that’s what it was we just saw.

And thus throughout several seasons of Law & Order: SVU we’ve had male survivors, usually teens, who at first seemed eminently sympathetic for what had been done to them.....but who by the end of the episodes, ended up becoming school shooters exacting revenge on their bullies. Or ended up killing the coach who raped them in high school and then went on to rape a dozen others. Or in the last scene of the episode is found kneeling over their abusive father’s corpse with blood on their hands and the detectives standing over them in sadness that now they had to take the boy they thought was the victim away to jail as the victimizer he didn’t have to end up becoming.

Except.....he only becomes that because they make the choice to write him becoming it! Every single time!

Like in 13 Reasons Why, where another male survivor ends up....another school shooter. Or in Criminal Minds, where pretty much every single killer throughout the series ended up with a backstory of abuse and rape and victimization as a child, making it ‘all the more tragic’ and with the protagonists often literally using the phrase “almost like the guy never had a chance.”

Well no, they didn’t. Not when it was written to BE that way.

And then we see the idea root and take hold in audiences. And spread and perpetuated. Validated.

Its why I hate the woobification thing in fandoms, where fans of (white) villain characters fill in their backstory for themselves with all the REASONS they are the way they are, and with the reasons never being that they’re just a sadistic entitled asshole, but because they were hurt. They were abused as a child, they were raped offscreen, the heroes said mean things about them in the burn book once and that’s why they just had to kill the hero’s whole family, see.

And everything comes full circle.....not only is it that all male victims are destined to end up victimizers....its equally true that all male victimizers must have once been male victims. Even if we didn’t see it onscreen or on the page.

Except, and why I loathe that fandom tendency.....

THAT NARRATIVE IS NOT AN INEVITABILITY AND NEVER WAS! The end point and point of origin presented there are NOT innately set in stone!

And all that does is just validate and accept as truth the LIE that patriarchal society puts forth in order to play smoke and mirrors with this one specific facet of human experiences that innately possesses the potential to destabilize the lie at the very rock bottom foundation of everything the patriarchy’s ever built at everyone else’s expense. The reason it offers up for why its not only allowable, its for the best that we look elsewhere from any male victims that actually step forward and say hey, can you all listen to me for a second, I want to tell you what happened to me.

And the fun irony of THIS aspect of things is if you think this woobification fandom thing benefits male survivors as a whole in some way or another, like the tendency of fans to find even villainous victimizers sympathetic means that they can and do sympathize just as much with actual male victims.....I’m fairly certain it doesn’t.

See, because with villains in fandom......this retroactive sympathy for imagined past traumas happens to only the characters that fandom has already decided they liked DESPITE the awful things they’ve done. Its made up to be used as an excuse instead of an explanation....

And like we all know damn well, even if we don’t always admit it or like to acknowledge it....

Explanations are not actually excuses. The harm you do can not be wiped away by the harm done to you.

So, because that’s still inside of us, our awareness of that, even if its ignored on the surface while defending hot white villains or whatever.....it doesn’t actually give anyone reason to ignore the narrative our society constructs around actual male survivors who it encourages people to condemn or ignore on the basis of purely hypothetical FUTURE abuses or wrongdoings.

And after all, you can’t actually decide you can look past the harms a person enacts and still view them as sympathetic if....you don’t actually know yet what those harms are going to end up being and thus whether you can make your peace with them, can you?

You just know that harms WILL be done, so....might as well err on the side of caution and assume they won’t be forgivable when deciding here and now to be thrifty with sympathies and spread any actionable effort taken on behalf of survivors in areas where those sympathies are more likely to be put to better use.

And yeah, all of this plays into why I focus so much on certain aspects of Dick’s narratives, and they usually AREN’T the rapes themselves.

Because for me, for many other male survivors I know......

Acknowledging those happened, examining how he felt when those happened....its not the biggest issue. Just like in our own lives, having it acknowledged or known what was done to us, having to face how it made us feel....that’s not really our primary concern.

Its what happens AFTER that.

How people view us and treat us AFTER their initial sympathies, whatever they are, dry up - which, we’re given reason to believe, they always inevitably will.

Because it isn’t all that different from what I frequently complain of happening with Dick in fandom, and hell, its WHY it bothers me so much, because its literally been a recurrent theme throughout my life:

The most widely acknowledged male survivor in comics, just also happens to coincidentally be....

The character most often spun as having a wicked temper, being almost irrationally angry at times, with his temper being likened to things like an eruption, an earthquake, a NATURAL DISASTER....something to be avoided at all costs, something the other characters fear, with good reason, but also impossible to avoid, because its too intrinsic to his nature. Its an inevitability. Dick Grayson WILL erupt or explode again at some point, and its going to be ugly. Like he’s a time bomb.

Even though....as I frequently go in depth on.....Dick’s never actually been shown as having particularly poor self-control either on just its own merits or specifically in comparison to others. He doesn’t really actually HAVE a track record of taking out his own hurts on others. On giving people REASON to be afraid of his temper even while they continue to take no responsibility for giving him reasons to be angry at all.

Its why I so often emphasize the discrepancy between the fact that whatever someone’s own personal character preferences, the FACT remains that Dick Grayson is the character in this family that most often bears the BRUNT of everyone ELSE’S anger.......just as the fact equally remains that Dick Grayson is still ultimately the character most often singled out in posts and headcanons and fanfics as unleashing his temper on others in unjustifable ways and usually without actual provocation.

None of this is a coincidence to me.

Its how we see over and over again that its okay for Dick Grayson to be angry FOR others, ON others’ behalf....its just when he’s angry FOR HIMSELF, for being taken advantage of, ignored, walked all over or mistreated....that’s when his anger is unjustified. Irrational.

Dangerous.

Or you guys know that one fanon about how Dick forces his hugs on his siblings, and his displays of physical affection are often unwanted, and thus violations?

Yeah, that one hits me right in the Issues too, because again, that’s not remotely supported by anything in canon....there has NEVER been an instance of Dick’s family asking him to cut it our or feeling like......IMPOSED upon because he likes to hug his family.

Its not to say people can’t feel that way about even well-meaning displays of physical affection that aren’t cleared with them first....

Its that this is something that people had to DECIDE to make a thing with Dick and his family. To actually craft the narrative that the many-times victim of unwanted touching was effectively violating his family’s wishes and boundaries every time he hugs them without being asked or invited to.

With that number being however many times a writer wants to write him doing when highlighting it as a violation.

And is this a thing we really see with any other character? Is my question there. How often do you see literally any other character being chewed out or resented for....hugging?

Just the one character most known for giving physical affection freely with his FAMILY and close friends.....

Who just so happens to also be the one character most often the guy who has his bodily autonomy violated.

The canon rape survivor has literally had HUGS weaponzed against him.

With the end result being.....every time he does it, every time this pings on a reader’s radar as Bad and Unwelcome....the linked takeaway is its one more reason for that reader to then ask themselves....well if he doesn’t care whether other people want him touching them, why should I care when he doesn’t want people touching him either?

Which ultimately just winds up another form of: why should I feel bad if bad things happened to someone who isn’t really that great of a person?

See what I mean?

Its all connected. Its not me getting frustrated with a bunch of different random things, its all the same thing at the end of the day, all so often traceable back to the same places.

I couldn’t untangle myself from so much of this and how it impacts me and my view of things even if I wanted to, to such an extent that in the end, want really has very little to do with it.

(And uh, you think those bug the shit out of me, let me tell you about just the very SIGHT of all those fics where Dick the widely acknowledged, perhaps best known male rape victim in comics.....is a rapist himself. Because yeah....even if people like to keep their incest light and fluffy or sweet instead of predatory, to someone who is y’know, personally familiar with all of this, Dick and ANY of his younger brothers is never going to appear as anything BUT predatory. As yet one more time where the linear journey of a male survivor all the way to the final evolution into male predator is born out and treated as so matter-of-fact, so inevitable, it hardly warrants noting as anything especially obscene or gross to write about a character famous for his survivor status. And its not like Dick is actually the only character in the franchise I like, so its not like its any better when its Jason painted as the aggressor in a fic, for instance....and while I will always be hugely critical of how Bruce is written as abusive in canon, that’s a wildly different thing from sexually preying on his sons so again, seeing him as his own sons’ rapists is yet again more upsetting than most people would think without connecting Bruce’s own status as a canon rape survivor, whether we like that story or not.....and plugging it into again, this pre-programmed route traveling from survivor to predator, over and over again. Victim to victimizer. Like clockwork.)

Anyway, my point is not to harp on this but rather to just lay it out there in this way. And how it plays into so much of my own personal approach to dealing with all of this when it comes up.......because the simple fact is I have to, there is no opt-out lol, and it comes up a lot, in large part because its so easy t reframe as being something else that most people who don’t have direct experience being directly impacted by all of this in its various myriad expressions are understandably not going to see it pinging on their radar and getting logged into their awareness the way it always does in mine.

*Shrugs* It is what it is. Its there. Avoiding it has never done me any favors, so.......as I so often demonstrate in a variety of degrees of Hmm Probably Coulda Done That Better, lol, I try and deal with things head-on and adjust as needed.

Easier said than done, not always pulled off, never any guarantee that I’m going about things the right way, just that like.....

There’s problems that need addressing that stem from all of this, and I know where mine lie and put a lot, a LOT of effort into addressing them and keeping an eye on them and not letting them get the better of me.

But the flipside of paying that close attention and that much means I’m also keenly aware of when and where I couldn’t take responsibility even if I wanted to, because the responsibility literally just isn’t mine to take....because yeah, I live in a society but guess what, so does everyone else, and its the same damn society, so  at the end of the day, no matter HOW well or not I go about handling the matter of my rapes and their overall impact and shaping of my life.....that’s just me handling the rape part of things.

The rape culture? And how THAT affects and informs every survivor’s life in whatever way it does going forward?

That’s kinda.....only ever going to be improved upon or not, on like....a cultural scale. That’s a society thing. Not a survivor thing.

Because we are all shaped by our cultures, every aspect of our cultures, and this one is unfortunately no different. But, its shaped by us too.

But to actually shape it INTO something, or more accurately, to shape it into LESS of what it is, blunt some of its edges, lessen some of its ability to do harm to survivors, to compound the harm already done.....

Something like THAT requires intent. Conscious effort.

And intent requires like....first being able to SEE what problems need addressing.

And that’s kiiiiinda the whole point of survivors coming forward when so rarely, so MINUTELY does it EVER result in actionable justice for that individual survivor.

And I don’t for a second believe a single one ever believes or assumes otherwise.

Cuz its super not fun. It never like......I don’t fucking know how it looks to other people, tbh, because I’ve literally been a survivor since before I even really knew that I was being abused or molested, that there was something I was surviving....but trust me, I’ve thought about it, I’ve wondered, and I don’t know if like, people think a survivor ‘telling their story’ is somehow an equivalent of like, getting a book deal or something, there’s the attention it brings after all, and isn’t there that saying that no publicity is bad publicity.....

LOL. Yeah. Umm. Just saying, if you don’t have personal experience as a survivor having come forward or shared openly about your experiences, let me refer you to another saying as counterpoint: Don’t believe everything you hear.

Cuz that’s definitely not one anyone else ever forgets when ‘listening’ to any of us.

Anyway, wrapping this up by bringing it back to like.....my extremely evident mood and irration of this past week.....this is ALL connected, this is ALL part and parcel of every single time this comes up as an issue for me and its never less of one at one time than it is at another, its never a little easier this time because this reason or that....its always the same damn frustration every single time. Stuff like this doesn’t get doled out in manageable portions, its all or nothing. Its either a problem right this current second or its not, and if its not, that’s only until the next time its a problem again, likely sooner rather than later.

And that’s the part that makes me talk about this as much as I do, and get as frustrated as I do when people just do not seem to get.....

I don’t have an off switch on this matter because there IS no off switch for me. The times I get frustrated and vent about this stuff are actually only at MOST a TENTH of how often it rears its head for me to deal with.....the times my reactions or responses boil over into public view, into something you guys see, or ‘have to deal with’ are literally just the times where there is no keeping a lid on it because the pot was already full to start with.

And so it really. Epically. Beyoooooond doesn’t help matters, when despite being the only male survivor I’m aware of being consistently vocal on the matter in the only fandom I know of where a prominant male character is almost universally acknowledged as a survivor....

I usually only ever hear the response:

“Mmmmmm, I’m not really sure what makes you think there’s a problem here and that it has anything to do with us, when see, I don’t agree, and I don’t really see why you think your opinion on the matter of how this particular character is written about and viewed and depicted interacting with others and how fandom interacts with him, is like.....of any kind of real relevance? This is just like....your opinion, man.”

Me: ........have I ever claimed for a second it wasn’t? Didn’t I use those exact words at least once in all of this already?

fahsklhfaklhflakfhalffha

Cuz for the record, ultimately, that’s what this all boils down to. I’ve wanted to post about this stuff for awhile now, but make no mistake:

It literally is all just my opinion? Formed of my own personal experiences and the conclusions I’ve taken away from them. Laid out as fully and extensively as I can manage, specifically SO people can take all of that into context when deciding for themselves how much weight or not to GIVE my opinion......

In which case, y’know, the experiences I have with this matter and how they correlate to these opinions, like, have contextual relevance and seem necessary to include.

Its NOT because I’m trying to use them to browbeat everyone into agreeing with me because I think I’m the only one whose opinion matters here, lol.

No. Just that like....it DOES matter? And its kinda exhausting when people act like all of this is arbitrary and abstract to me, that its some kind of superiority complex or me moralizing from a pulpit or some shit when I’m literally saying none of it is abstract or arbitrary to me, and the louder I say that, the more people THEN say “oh so basically your opinion is the only one that matters here unless we disclose the same kind of experiences or background huh?”

*headdesk*

I just.....it seems my stance is either born of self-righteousness and nothing personal whatsoever....unless I make enough of a fuss about how that’s NOT true, in which case my stance is that apparently I think I’m the only one who is allowed to have an opinion here because I’ve made such a point about it being personal.

But its definitely not that people are just determined to invalidate anything I have to say on this subject one way or another, right?

Anyway.

So all of that’s like...whatever that was. Make of it what you guys will, but I do hope that at least for some people whom it might be a new perspective or new information to, you’ll consider asking why is it that in a fandom that prominently features a canon male survivor whose survivorhood is so frequently denoted as a key and critical part of his character....someone like me, who is frequently cited as a resource on many, many other kinds of meta about Dick Grayson......seems to have more people interested in discouraging me from ever expounding on my own experiences in this matter and any correlations I see between those and Dick’s experiences and narratives, than there are people interested in like......utilizing me as the freaking resource on male survivor experiences and viewpoints that I’ve literally been out here offering to be from day one....specifically BECAUSE of how rarely men are viewed as coming forward and being open about our shit here.

*Shrugs*

Just food for thought.

[mensrazorreviews-blog]

The best mens razor

I’m fanatical about shaving and razors, both professionally and personally. I wrote Wirecutter’s original shaving guide, which appeared in 2015. And I’ve covered the shaving industry since the late 1980s.1 I’ve tried and loved shaving with everything from straight razors and old-school double edges to disposables to electric razors.

One thing I’ve learned about shaving is that every face is different. My personal recommendations mean little. Individual variables include skin sensitivity, ethnicity, hair growth rates, beard thickness and growth direction, and age (yours and your blades). So we enlisted a diverse crew of testers, including people of Hispanic, African American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and European descent, with various levels of beard growth, coarseness, and shaving frequency. The panel spent several months with our final group of test razors. We backed this up with research, looking , studies that looked at what makes certain blade and razor technologies work, and specific info about Who this is for

 There are lots of ways to get rid of a beard, and if you’re happy with your current method, stick with it. Here we are focusing on cartridge-based razor systems containing between three and six blades. This encompasses the vast majority of razor and blade choices you’ll find at retail stores, including most of Gillette’s offerings; the razors sold by shave subscription plans like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s; as well as the house brands sold at most chain stores.

We made this choice because we believe that most folks want to shave quickly, efficiently, and with the lowest possibility of nicks and cuts

As mentioned above, most cartridge razors have between three and six blades. But how many blades do you need? In a study funded and conducted by Gillette and published in the British  (PDF), Gillette discussed the process it calls the “hysteresis effect.” The term, borrowed from physics, means the action of multiple blades against your skin and hair; the first blade pulls the hair, and subsequent blades continue pulling and cutting the pulled hairs, theoretically resulting in a closer shave. In the study, Gillette’s researchers note: “Hair mobility can be exploited to provide a measurable improvement in closeness, and this has formed the basis for multi-blade razor strategies for many years.”

But there’s a caveat, the paper says. Blades have to be the proper thickness. They have to be spaced properly, so that they clear debris and prevent skin from bulging into the spaces between blades. Those two attributes can work against each other, and closely spaced blades can clog more easily, especially if you have coarse or close-growing hair—which is why five blade razors can be problematic for some and work magnificently for others.

If you have the time, or if you appreciate ritual and aesthetics, you should consider trying an old-school safety razor with a double-edged blade. These hefty, steel cutting tools and their ultrasharp, economical blades have a welcome learning curve and sit at the center of a shaving culture that turns the experience into something beyond a quick removal of facial hair. Old-school shavers reading this story are likely already outraged by our decision not to condemn cartridge shaving and fully embrace double-edged razors. We understand and profoundly apologize. If you’re interested in that kind of experience, turn to a website

On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve decided to eliminate disposable razors from our testing pool. In our 2015 guide, we wondered when disposable razor manufacturers would offer razor recycling in the US, as they’d begun to do overseas. We decided to eliminate disposables because no such programs had emerged, but just as I filed this story, Gillette announced that it was starting a nationwide razor recycling program that looks truly commendable: It will accept, either by mail or at drop-off points, all brands of razors, disposable or otherwise, and all packaging, for recycling. It's still less wasteful and more energy-efficient to use a reusable handle than to ship and recycle a disposable one, but that may lead us to return disposable razors to a future guide.

What about electric razors? They’re a perennial gift, are great for travelers or folks who want a quick shave anywhere, are more convenient than a traditional blade because they don’t require foam or gel, and are less likely to nick you. But they need power, are comparatively bulky, and at $200 a pop, they exceed the cost of two years of weekly blade replacements with the Mach3.

For travelers, or people who prize convenience

For this guide, we narrowed our testing pool down to cartridge razor systems—multi-blade units where you buy the handle once, then refill it with disposable cartridges. In recent years, shave subscription plans have given Gillette and Schick some competition. Dollar Shave Club—which rebrands razors made by Korean personal care giant Dorco—and Harry’s, which imports blades from a factory it owns in Germany—are the best known plans, and they’ve led Gillette and other razor makers to offer similar programs and even cut prices on their own cartridges. At the same time, the 

We primarily looked at razors with refills that run around $2 a cartridge, which we think is a fair price for most shavers—but a bargain is only a bargain if you get a good shave for your money, and two bucks can buy a good shave, but it can also buy a horrendous one. We compiled a list of the most important features of a good razor:

Comfort during and after use: This means that the razor feels good on your face—it glides well, cutting without pulling or tugging. If the razor has a lubricating strip, it shouldn’t turn into a slippery mess. Modern multi-blade razors rarely nick or cut, so any razor that consistently did was eliminated. And shavers should continue to feel comfortable after shaving, without redness, irritation, or ingrown hairs.

A handle that works: A handle should have a good grip—any razor that slipped when wet during our testing was instantly disqualified. A razor handle should maneuver around the contours of your face without you having to twist and angle it too much, and we believe a heavier handle is better, since it offers more control.

Multiple blades:  is certainly enough to get the job done, and . But we’ve done enough testing to believe that you get a quicker, smoother shave from three-blade razors. Some people will do better with five blades—but these more densely packed blades can clog more easily, and no matter how many blades are in the razor, it has to rinse well.

Closeness: Shaving enthusiasts look for a “BBS” shave—“baby’s butt smooth.” Having changed a lot of diapers in my day, I can tell you that that’s a somewhat spurious attribute, but we looked for a close shave without cuts and irritation.

While we considered blade durability, it ended up not being a deciding factor because it varies substantially from person to person. How long a blade lasts depends on your particular hair and shaving cadence: If you have very coarse whiskers, you’re going to wear out blades more quickly. Gillette claims its blades last up to a month, where Dollar Shave Club pushes subscribers to change blades weekly.

I personally purchased and tried more than 30 different cartridge systems, ranging from double-blade systems up to Dorco’s seven-bladed beast. It was fairly easy to eliminate some: cheaper store brands that, for example, used quick-rusting carbon steel blades, rather than stainless. Shaving with store-brand razors is generally a pretty poor experience, and I’m confident that your face will detect the difference pretty rapidly.

[nothingman]

>

Google has no plans to track users for advertising purposes once third-party cookies have been phased out, the company announced in a blog post this morning. It’s a bold statement from Google, which makes a massive amount of its profits through a personalized advertisement empire.

David Temkin, Director of Product Management, Ads Privacy and Trust, cites a staggering statistic: 72 percent of people feel that almost all of what they do online is being tracked online. “If digital advertising doesn’t evolve to address the growing concerns people have about their privacy and how their personal identity is being used, we risk the future of the free and open web,” Temkin writes.

Google’s decision has the potential to really shake up the online advertising industry. Individualized tracking is a god-tier revenue source for internet companies. As a leader in user-tracking technology — about 40 percent of all internet ads go through Google’s ad systems — Google’s decision will undoubtedly make waves across the entire industry.

But such an industry-shaking decision is not made without caveat. Google’s announcement only covers third-party tracking, which means any personalized tracking done by Google itself is still fair game. Yeah, Google is basically exempting itself from that idyllic vision where privacy is king.

Nice try, Google — Make no mistake: Google’s announcement is a big deal. Perhaps what’s most impressive about it is how successfully Google hides the exceptions to its new rules.

Temkin writes his blog post as if Google’s newfound commitment to privacy is now its most paramount priority. What he fails to mention is that this commitment only extends to third-party companies. Google’s own products like Maps, Search, Chrome, Gmail, Nest, Android, and Waze, just to name a few, will continue to gather information directly about users. And, in spite of this commitment, Google will still sell ad space for specific users for whom they already have contact information. This means you’ll still get hyper-targeted ads on YouTube, for example.

Essentially, Google will continue to do the very thing it is condemning. Sounds a lot like what Apple has been pulling with its own ad-tracking updates.

So what’s next? — When Google first announced its intentions to phase out third-party cookies over the next two years, the company alluded to the development of replacement technology. Now Google says explicitly that it has no plans to do so — which is going to leave third-party advertisers with lots of questions about the future of internet advertising.

There’s a very good chance other companies will step in to create similarly personal tracking technology, entirely separate from Google’s long-standing infrastructure. Google’s own ad-buying tools will focus on its Privacy Sandbox to deliver targeted ads to cohorts rather than individual users.

Meanwhile, Google will continue to profit off your personal web-browsing choices. That’s not going anywhere.

via: https://ift.tt/2MHm0C7

[itsfinancethings]

This Friday, the Nobel committee in Oslo, Norway will announce the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is awarded annually to the person or organization that has done the most to promote world peace.

Last year, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and human rights activist Nadia Murad jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

There are 301 nominees for this year’s prize, out of which 223 are individuals and 78 are organizations, according to the Nobel Institute. The official list of nominations remains a secret, but that hasn’t stopped a lot of speculation about who is in the running.

Here is a selection of oddsmakers’ favorites for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize — with the caveat that the Nobel committee is rarely predictable in its choice of winner:

Greta Thunberg

Jason DeCrow — APYouth activist Greta Thunberg addresses the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations on Sept. 23, 2019 in New York City.

Greta Thunberg is the clear favorite to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year, according to oddsmakers. Thunberg, who featured on a recent cover of TIME magazine, has become famous for her speeches and protests over climate inaction. At 15 years old, she began her school strike outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. Little more than a year later, an estimated four million people joined the teenager in a global strike on Sept. 20 — with activists, many of them schoolchildren, joining the protests from Thailand to Afghanistan to Haiti. A few days later, Thunberg gave an emotionally-charged speech at the Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23, where she condemned world leaders for their lack of action in halting climate change.

Despite her achievements, conservatives have criticized Thunberg and suggested that her win would be controversial. Some see her courage and drive to hold world leaders to account as confrontational, divisive and unhelpful. “The problem is that the principle of ‘flight shame’ brings her chances… down. Shame is not a constructive feeling to bring about change,” Sverre Lodgaard, a deputy member of the Nobel award committee from 2003 to 2011 told Reuters.

Even so, Thunberg remains the favorite to win. If she does, she would become the youngest person ever to be awarded a Nobel Prize — a title currently held by Malala Yousafzai, who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize aged 17.

Abiy Ahmed

Mulugeta Ayene — AP/ShutterstockEthiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomes an Eritrean delegation in Addis Ababa on June 26, ahead of a Summit where the leaders agreed to end the 20 year war.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made headlines in 2018 after instigating the end of 20 years of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. War between the two countries began over border disputes in 1998, five years after Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia. At least 70,000 people were killed before the two sides signed a peace deal in December 2000 — but tensions have remained high as Ethiopia refused to accept the border.

When Ahmed took office in April 2018, he freed political prisoners and went on to sign a peace agreement with his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki, indicating that Ethiopia would accept the border and he would hand over disputed land territories. Since taking power, Ahmed has also championed the role of women in politics — he appointed women to half of the government’s 20 ministerial posts, including the country’s first female defense minister. British oddsmaker Ladbrokes offers odds of 4/1 for the Ethiopian Prime Minister to win.

Jacinda Ardern

Hagen Hopkins—Getty ImagesNew Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hugs a worshipper at Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington on March 17, 2019, two days after the Christchurch attacks.

In the past year, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been a symbol of empathy, defiance, and strength in the face of tragic events.

The Christchurch attacks, where mass shootings at two mosques in March this year left 51 people dead and dozens injured, shocked and devastated the country. Arden has been swift to react — less than a month after the attacks, New Zealand’s parliament voted 119 to one to pass gun control legislation outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons as well as components that modify existing weapons. Arden, the world’s youngest female leader at 38 years old, has also been vocal in her determination to deny the gunman a platform to elevate his white supremacist views, famously saying: “You will never hear me speak his name.”

Her actions make Ardern a strong contender for the Prize, with Ladbrokes putting her chances at 8/1 — if she wins, she would be the first person from New Zealand to win the Peace Prize.

Raoni Metuktire

Eric Feferberg—AFPBrazil’s indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire looks on as he is welcomed by French Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition in Paris on May 13, 2019.

As a Brazilian indigenous chief, Raoni Metuktire has spent his life protecting his home, the Amazon rainforest. Metuktire, 89, traveled to the 2019 G7 Summit in August this year to discuss the Amazon with world leaders, after a surge in fires destroyed large parts of the rainforest. Metuktire has been critical of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and his exploitation of the Amazon. Since his inauguration in January this year, the rate of deforestation has soared by up to 92% according to satellite images.

Reporters Without Borders

Abdulhamid Hosbas—Anadolu AgencyMembers of Reporters Without Borders Organization stage a protest demanding justice for murdered Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 1, 2019.

Reporters Without Borders, an international watchdog group, is at the forefront of efforts to preserve media freedom and freedom of expression by protecting journalists across the world and highlighting injustices toward them. The organization has spoken out against Saudi Arabia after newspaper columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi operatives inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct., 2 last year. If Reporters Without Borders won, they would be the first organization promoting independent reporting and press freedom to win the Peace Prize.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Sakis Mitrolidis—AFP A refugee woman sits next to a tent in Nea Kavala camp, near the city of Kilkis, northern Greece, on September 3, 2019. Some 1000 refugees and migrants were transferred from the Greek island of Lesbos to the Nea Kavala camp in Sept. 2019.

The U.N.’s refugee agency, set up after the Second World War, aims to help displaced people fleeing war and persecution across the world. Its office has received two Nobel Peace Prizes in 1954 and 1984, and a prize now would be timely. In July this year, the UNHCR publicly stated its concern about the Trump administration’s new rule barring the majority of people crossing the southern U.S. land border from seeking asylum.

[pickshoeswithfafa-blog]

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[itsfinancethings]

October 07, 2019 at 10:17AM

This Friday, the Nobel committee in Oslo, Norway will announce the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is awarded annually to the person or organization that has done the most to promote world peace.

Last year, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and human rights activist Nadia Murad jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

There are 301 nominees for this year’s prize, out of which 223 are individuals and 78 are organizations, according to the Nobel Institute. The official list of nominations remains a secret, but that hasn’t stopped a lot of speculation about who is in the running.

Here is a selection of oddsmakers’ favorites for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize — with the caveat that the Nobel committee is rarely predictable in its choice of winner:

Greta Thunberg

Jason DeCrow — APYouth activist Greta Thunberg addresses the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations on Sept. 23, 2019 in New York City.

Greta Thunberg is the clear favorite to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year, according to oddsmakers. Thunberg, who featured on a recent cover of TIME magazine, has become famous for her speeches and protests over climate inaction. At 15 years old, she began her school strike outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. Little more than a year later, an estimated four million people joined the teenager in a global strike on Sept. 20 — with activists, many of them schoolchildren, joining the protests from Thailand to Afghanistan to Haiti. A few days later, Thunberg gave an emotionally-charged speech at the Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23, where she condemned world leaders for their lack of action in halting climate change.

Despite her achievements, conservatives have criticized Thunberg and suggested that her win would be controversial. Some see her courage and drive to hold world leaders to account as confrontational, divisive and unhelpful. “The problem is that the principle of ‘flight shame’ brings her chances… down. Shame is not a constructive feeling to bring about change,” Sverre Lodgaard, a deputy member of the Nobel award committee from 2003 to 2011 told Reuters.

Even so, Thunberg remains the favorite to win. If she does, she would become the youngest person ever to be awarded a Nobel Prize — a title currently held by Malala Yousafzai, who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize aged 17.

Abiy Ahmed

Mulugeta Ayene — AP/ShutterstockEthiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomes an Eritrean delegation in Addis Ababa on June 26, ahead of a Summit where the leaders agreed to end the 20 year war.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made headlines in 2018 after instigating the end of 20 years of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. War between the two countries began over border disputes in 1998, five years after Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia. At least 70,000 people were killed before the two sides signed a peace deal in December 2000 — but tensions have remained high as Ethiopia refused to accept the border.

When Ahmed took office in April 2018, he freed political prisoners and went on to sign a peace agreement with his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki, indicating that Ethiopia would accept the border and he would hand over disputed land territories. Since taking power, Ahmed has also championed the role of women in politics — he appointed women to half of the government’s 20 ministerial posts, including the country’s first female defense minister. British oddsmaker Ladbrokes offers odds of 4/1 for the Ethiopian Prime Minister to win.

Jacinda Ardern

Hagen Hopkins—Getty ImagesNew Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hugs a worshipper at Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington on March 17, 2019, two days after the Christchurch attacks.

In the past year, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been a symbol of empathy, defiance, and strength in the face of tragic events.

The Christchurch attacks, where mass shootings at two mosques in March this year left 51 people dead and dozens injured, shocked and devastated the country. Arden has been swift to react — less than a month after the attacks, New Zealand’s parliament voted 119 to one to pass gun control legislation outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons as well as components that modify existing weapons. Arden, the world’s youngest female leader at 38 years old, has also been vocal in her determination to deny the gunman a platform to elevate his white supremacist views, famously saying: “You will never hear me speak his name.”

Her actions make Ardern a strong contender for the Prize, with Ladbrokes putting her chances at 8/1 — if she wins, she would be the first person from New Zealand to win the Peace Prize.

Raoni Metuktire

Eric Feferberg—AFPBrazil’s indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire looks on as he is welcomed by French Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition in Paris on May 13, 2019.

As a Brazilian indigenous chief, Raoni Metuktire has spent his life protecting his home, the Amazon rainforest. Metuktire, 89, traveled to the 2019 G7 Summit in August this year to discuss the Amazon with world leaders, after a surge in fires destroyed large parts of the rainforest. Metuktire has been critical of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and his exploitation of the Amazon. Since his inauguration in January this year, the rate of deforestation has soared by up to 92% according to satellite images.

Reporters Without Borders

Abdulhamid Hosbas—Anadolu AgencyMembers of Reporters Without Borders Organization stage a protest demanding justice for murdered Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 1, 2019.

Reporters Without Borders, an international watchdog group, is at the forefront of efforts to preserve media freedom and freedom of expression by protecting journalists across the world and highlighting injustices toward them. The organization has spoken out against Saudi Arabia after newspaper columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi operatives inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct., 2 last year. If Reporters Without Borders won, they would be the first organization promoting independent reporting and press freedom to win the Peace Prize.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Sakis Mitrolidis—AFP A refugee woman sits next to a tent in Nea Kavala camp, near the city of Kilkis, northern Greece, on September 3, 2019. Some 1000 refugees and migrants were transferred from the Greek island of Lesbos to the Nea Kavala camp in Sept. 2019.

The U.N.’s refugee agency, set up after the Second World War, aims to help displaced people fleeing war and persecution across the world. Its office has received two Nobel Peace Prizes in 1954 and 1984, and a prize now would be timely. In July this year, the UNHCR publicly stated its concern about the Trump administration’s new rule barring the majority of people crossing the southern U.S. land border from seeking asylum.