#just less obviously fascist

[the-clock-of-the-time-dragon]

[Wicked Act II spoilers]

[edited for tone and clarity of purpose, apologies for initial crudeness and frustration]

Okay, obviously I'm biased, but I'm gonna need the Fiyeraba shippers to please set a lot of your people straight about some things. I've seen way too many people trying to say that Glinda is just a selfish bimbo and that Fiyero is a virtuous and selfless figure more worthy of Elphaba's love. I'll set aside for now the idea of "worthiness" in this context. But let's start off with Fiyero joining the Wizard. Hoo boy...

Yes, he was initially somewhat less tolerant of the propaganda against Elphaba than Glinda was; yes, he was secretly trying to find her so he could run away with her or whatever. But honey: those facts DO NOT fully absolve his actions as the Wizard's top officer, or selfish recklessness throughout Act II. I see so many popular threads and posts romanticizing and whitewashing with "oh but he didn't REALLY join the Wizard, he just pretended so he could try to get to Elphie! It's all for love, and he sacrificed everything for her!" As if the literal captain of the literally fascist forces responsible for the oppression of Animals wasn't equally responsible for said oppression?? Hello? Fiyero really didn't think of seeking out Elphaba in ANY other way that DIDN'T involve becoming *checks notes*... the trusted leader of the troops committing all the abuses she's fighting against in the first place???? Like it's cool and all that he helped with Brrr, and it's all well and good that he planned on betraying the Wizard as soon as he found Elphaba (which took literal years, so I guess we're left to assume he was prepared to just keep doing fascism indefinitely if she didn't show up????), but uh... it's kind of concerning to how eager some of you are to make excuses for this dude volunteering as the head of the Ozian Gestapo??? smdh

He didn't accomplish anything from it either, by the way — like yeah, we get it, he did everything he did whilst silently fantasizing about running away with the Witch he was being paid to hunt. Fine. But I can't be the only one who doesn't buy that as an actual excuse???? Like, guys: nobody forced him to join the fascist army — even with crazy ulterior motives. He wasn't coerced into it; it wasn't his only choice or anything. Searching for Elphaba did not somehow compel him to go and volunteer to follow (or to give!) orders in the name of the dictator who was trying to have her assassinated the entire time. He could have just not done all that. (Genuinely so curious how the second film plans on covering that material tbh)

Glinda made several questionable decisions that can be (and have been) debated, but she is still very unambiguously a victim. Her position in the Wizard's regime was foisted upon her. There are things we can discuss, but I find that many folks need reminding that Glinda would undoubtedly have been disposed of (or worse) if she failed to make herself useful. I mean hell: she wasn't even supposed to meet the Wizard in the first place — she was only there because of Elphie. If she'd tried to resist, it would have immediately gotten her labeled the Witch's accomplice. As soon as she'd chosen not to get on the broom, her fate was out of her hands, and all available options were varying degrees of horrible.

That's not the case with Fiyero. He went to the Wizard all on his own; no one ever cornered or forced him into it. Thinking Animals are people, and having a crush on Elphaba, simply did not stop him from carrying out the regime's orders — for years. It's not clear exactly how long he's been captain at the start of Act II, but the clear implication is that he's been a soldier for most of the time skip. I've seen Fiyeraba accounts with headcanons about him acting as a double agent, secretly doing stuff to help Animals — and that's a great idea, it would indeed serve to make a lot of his actions way more palatable — but until we actually get to SEE some of that (maybe they'll add it for the movie version of Act II; we'll have to see), there is nothing in the story to suggest that. He certainly didn't do a damn thing for all those Animals who were enslaved and caged in the Wizard's palace — and we don't see a single other Animal outside of there in Act II, so as far as we know Fiyero has participated over those years in the near-total removal of Animals from Ozian society. In the name of "finding Elphaba". Not fighting for her cause. Just finding HER. For HIMSELF.

It's fine to have a ship you like, obviously — and there is genuinely a lot to like about Fiyeraba, I don't dislike the idea of them as a couple or as friends — but come on guys: please stop those out there idealizing Fiyero as somehow a clear "morally-superior" alternative to Glinda, lol. The dude had power, access, and opportunities, for years, that he could have wielded in any number of really selfless, revolutionary ways. He didn't. And I propose (apparently controversially): he simply didn't want to. And that — at the end of the day — is (much as some would like to deny it) true to his character. He always WANTED to be self-absorbed and shallow, and all his actions are consistent with that. Elphaba saw depth and discontentment in him, yes: but (and I cannot stress this enough) when given the chance, he channeled that in the wrong direction. He didn't confront that and become a better person — for the most part he just displaced and projected it onto Elphaba as an object of obsession, and put on an even thicker pretense than before.

All his actions — regardless of the complexity he has deep down — are those of a man who never gives one fuck about anything or anyone, except (kinda sorta) Elphaba. But even then: at no time does the care he has for her seem to extend to caring about any of her wants or needs outside of sexual validation from him, or how she might feel about his actions, or indeed the impacts of those actions upon her, her cause, or anyone or anything else. I don't think it should be all that controversial to say: he doesn't think through the wider repercussions of anything he does — thoughtlessness is just one of his core character traits. He doesn't think ahead or see meaning in anything outside of what can temporarily excite him, in the moment. I think people place a little too much weight on Elphaba clocking him with regard to his internal pain, and seem to expect (understandably of course) that she is not only right, but moreover that he will grow from that in a positive direction, based on her influence.

But he doesn't. If anything, we get a surprising inverse: he pretty much proves her wrong. Not to say he didn't have hidden depth and all that, like she said: but his hypothetical heart of gold proves not to really amount to much in practice. He doesn't grow out of his shallowness and his self-centeredness: he grows into it in a way that he hadn't quite yet in school. Where once he was only masking an internal listlessness, after he's been cracked open by Elphaba he decides to be genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow, not just coasting by. He performs in new ways — as a soldier, eventually as a "fiancé", etc. — but by Act II we meet a Fiyero who has staked the last remaining shred of humanity in him on the vain pursuit of the only object of his desire that has ever been unavailable to him, and firmly chosen to say to hell with everyone and everything else.

When put to the test, Fiyero sacrifices Glinda, the Animals, and all else that Elphaba actually cared about, to pursue his own unresolved crush from college. Mostly to get in her pants, really — as harsh as I'm sure that sounds. But let me be frank: that is literally all he ever accomplishes in the show. He gives her dick one time, and one of his castles, and that's it. That's the culmination of his years trying to find her — years in which he actively worked as one of the stormtroopers (or even the one commanding them) committing untold crimes against Animalkind (who, again, it seems have been all but erased from Oz by Act II): y'know, the very crimes Elphaba sacrificed her life to try and stop????? He spent the most important time of his life — of his own free will — being a fascist soldier, but he "did it for her" somehow, so according to some, it's perfectly fine. Heroic, even. Yikes??

But let's make something very clear (since my original version of this post caught a lot of flak, including slurs and other rudeness):

I like Fiyero. I find his role extremely interesting (I could do a whole dissertation on him, but I'm especially a fan of the way his proving Elphaba's assessment of him wrong presents a fascinating parallel and contrast with Glinda, which I think is lost on a lot of people). But PLEASE stop with all the misguided Glinda slander and idealization of Fiyero. By all means, thirst! But don't give me all this bullshit about him deserving Elphaba more, or being super deep, or being really principled or noble or whatever else. He does have layers, and quite intriguing ones, but his insides are straw — he isn't meant to have some deep, overwrought emotional core or motivations; he has passions that he acts upon when given the chance. That's it. And that's fine. Actually kind of refreshing in a story rooted in simple children's fantasy but rife with intensely complicated personalities. Fiyero makes it his mission to represent denial of depth and embrace of raw, spontaneous desire — and I for one love that, and wish others appreciated it.

And in all seriousness, shipping wars aside: by the end of the story, it's Glinda who is ultimately vindicated, and has — for all her faults — made the necessary choices to fulfill Elphaba's wishes, bring down the regime, etc. And all that despite herself. She's miserable: not just because of the mistakes she made, but because of her correct moves as well. Fiyero is simply not — and could never be — that person. And that's okay! Like I said: I am not anti-Fiyero. Fiyero's willingness to throw it all away for the sake of sheer, overriding passion is a huge part of what people like about him, of course — and it's an obvious factor in the attraction between him and Elphaba, because she has her own flavor of that impulse as well — but I'd actually argue that it's not romantic, it's his fatal flaw. And thematically that's fantastic! But I just don't believe that it somehow means he "deserves Elphaba more" because he "gave up his life for her" or whatever. In part because NOBODY truly "deserves" Elphie tbh, not 100% (and I question anybody who claims otherwise), but ultimately because I don't accept the idea that his fleeting acts of passion make up for all the shit leading up to them (or even proceeding after them tbh). At least Glinda managed to do what Elphaba always wanted in the end — but I would die on this hill even if Gelphie didn't exist.

You don't have to agree with my analysis of Fiyero and his choices, relationships, etc. — that's fine. What isn't fine is trying to portray Glinda as some kind of spineless traitor whore for the Wizard and Fiyero as a conscientious hero who earned Elphie through self-sacrifice. That's just not the story that was written. It's WAY messier and more interesting than that.

[gelphielover69]

I shouldn’t get so worked up about this because it’s something that was written in 2003 but it’s been 21 years and people still praise it so. Elphaba’s ending in the musical is a disservice to her character.

Before I go on with this I have to say I obviously love musical!elphie with all my heart even in act 2 but I think the writing for her during the entirety of it was AWFUL and out of character and I need to sit down with Winnie holzman and Stephen Schwartz and ask them what was up wirh that.

Anyways, the big moment of the whole show is defying gravity. It is a big moment to watch. It is a big moment for the story. It is a big moment for Elphaba. Dg is the moment on the story where she decides that she has to give up her desire of being liked and accepted for the sake of doing the greater good. It is not an easy choice to make, but it’s one that she knows she’s gonna have to own and live by for the rest of her life.

And then comes Wonderful (which I love as a song btw), where Elphaba more or less goes “Geez, I guess fighting against fascism does get pretty tiring? Doesn’t it? I will give up on my fight and join the fascist wizard then! Because I want to be liked and accepted. It’s almost like I didn’t give all of that up for the sake of doing the right thing five years ago!” And only comes back to her senses once it gets personal to her again with Dr Dillamond.

Then, comes the second offender, which is arguably the least worse one but still one that bothers me anyways. The cornfield scene. Not the fighting with Glinda over fiyero, because as much as I hate it, it’s not the worst thing in the world, I guess. It’s the fact that she stands there and lets her new boytoy point a GUN at Glinda and does nothing??? I get they were fighting but that’s still her best friend??? WHY WOULD SHE JUST STAND THERE???

And the worst of all: the end. The fact that she dedicated YEARS to the cause and trying to seek justice for the Animals only to go “Gee whiz I guess I’ve done my time now! I guess now I should just surrender and run away with fiyero and have my happily ever after!” WHY. WOULD. SHE. EVER. DO. THAT.

The beginning of that scene being her begging Chistery to at least try to continue speaking is probably what makes it all worse to me like.. you can see how much she cares. You can see why she’s so dedicated to her cause. And then two minutes later suddenly she’s changed her mind and gives up? To run away with FIYERO?

And I find that argument that she only did that because she somehow knew Glinda would take over so stupid. Glinda hadn’t defeated the wizard yet. She only managed to after Elphaba’s “death” because she realized Elphaba was his daughter. There was no way for Elphaba to know what was actually going to happen once she was gone.

And those shippers will insist that’s a good ending and a happily ever after and that he gets her more than anyone else THE JOKES WRITE THEMSELVES

[whatbigotspost]

Our 2 party system is corrupt and upsetting. I get that the democrat party stays trash AND I’m fucking thrilled and shocked they’re actually shaking things up like never before.

I know Biden has done horrific things AND he actually is commendable for EVENTUALLY listening and making this choice (at the last minute.) Who has ever done similar (hint: no one.)

I understand Kamala is a cop AND I’m still voting for her, no question. Not even flinching.

I understand she is too like Genocide Joe on many many issues that I deeply disagree with AND I’m fucking delighted the republicans entire 2024 election playbook (“our guy is LESS demented and decrepit!!!!”) is now embarrassing irrelevant and easily weaponizable back at them.

I wasn’t gonna watch any fucking debates or really any election anythings, bc what would I possibly learn that would be of any value?

But now I’m absolutely giddy to watch someone who is (no matter what you think of her politics) CLEARLY at the top of her “talking off the cuff” game and she will run verbal circles around the lumbering fool the Christo fascists are propping up as their meat puppet Trojan horse for Project 2025.

I was always going to vote blue nose-hold bc I understand that is one of the very very few levers that is clearly, obviously in front of me that I have within my personal power to pull against fascism.

I’d like elections to still exist. And our elections aren’t perfect, our systems are fucked, I hate parties, I hate the electoral college, I hate SCOTUS and honestly I hate 99% of politicians writ large AND the demoralizing experience that is voting as a leftist in Texas sure just got a lot less deflating and empty feeling.

The republicans really were gonna ride the boost off of a fucking an assassination attempt to the White House and the dems looked like they were really gonna let them…

AND THEN THEY DIDN’T.

It doesn’t change everything but it changes SOMETHING. Everyone else has already said all the great analogies about voting in the US…it’s choosing a bus ticket, not marrying the candidate, yadda yadda yadda. My bigger point here is that things at least are more interesting and less “over before it’s over.”

Abandon all or nothing thinking in your politics. It will serve you very little.

If you’re curious about a very good review of what has happened (as of Sunday), how it’s possible in US electoral structures that the dem nominee can switch like this, this is a helpful, fact-based non-partisan overview.

[visenyaism]

can you give an example of fascism in an interesting way in literature that you talked about in the tags against mishima’s work? I don’t mean it in a sarcastic way btw I’m genuinely interested in what you meant

ok so my least favorite book we ever had to read in high school was the sound of waves by known tortured gay japanese fascist yukio mishima.

i described it as “fascist in a boring way,” which i stand by. down on his luck (because the americans bombed his fishing boat) fisherman kid Shinji meets beautiful traditional virginal pearl diver Hatsue, but must compete for her affection with gigachad caricature Yasuo with his digital wristwatch terrible work ethic and general enmity for nature standing in for the concept of modernity. meanwhile evil jealous bitch Chiyoko spreads rumors that Shinji is a rapist because she’s jealous that Shinji does not return her affections (meanwhile Yasuo actually is an attempted rapist but gets thwarted because he gets stung like on the dick by a hornet in the attempt. nature does not like him.) It all comes to a head when Shinji and Yasuo are both working together on a fishing boat but Shinji works harder and is more willing to brave the typhoon that hits them. Then he marries Hatsue after proving his worth, they both pray that things will stay the same forever at the local shrine, the fish return to the sea, and her rich and powerful father adopts Shinji as his own son, which is what he’s always wanted since his father died in the war.

We were supposed to like death of the author it as far as I can remember, but to me the book is really only interesting with the added personal and historical context of the author. like this is a desperate childish dream of a Japan that cannot exist and probably never really existed. it will never be the same after the war and there is no going back. Mishima’s personal angst about being unable to participate in the heteropatriarchal institution of the military is very clear.

books about fascism tend to be about 2 things before anything else: power and masculinity. obviously there’s plenty of interesting ways to write about this. I think that books about fascism get waaaaay more interesting the second that they acknowledge that there is any amount of cognitive dissonance happening in the minds of people who are all-in true believers because there are many irreconcilable worldviews within the fascist narrative that just cannot coexist. Sound of Waves as I remember it was way more prescriptive just like this is how the world should be and that’s just less compelling than unpacking why anyone would think like that.

[hilacopter]

IDF graves are gender neutral bathrooms💖 bite the curb fascist cunt

guessing this is about that comic so taking this opportunity to mention this for the third time, this time out of the tags:

this is the original comic. say what you will about it's statement but the drawing depicts the graves of October 7th victims, not IDF soldiers. why else would the cartoonist make the deliberate choice to write the date on the graves?

the judenhass spammer that is this account (and I feel confident in calling them that since they've literally spammed Jewish tags with gore videos and blood libel, especially the am yisrael chai tag which they also tagged that post with) took the comic, didn't even write over the preexisting speech bubble they just obviously slapped another one on it, and pretended those were the graves of IDF soldiers like a child making up what happened to make their argument seem less petty. their account in general is just one of those youcantconvinceme types, arguably worse since they post literal gore instead of spamming the same image over and over again. sorry I'm using your ragebait ask as an excuse for this post anon, but it's not like there's a better use for it.

[theroundbartable]

My position on the war in Israel/ Palestine

Below the cut, because this is my opinion, and you are, of course, not expected to share it, or even care about my position at all. You might not even like what I have to say.

This is for myself and for the people who decide whom to follow based on the flags I raise in my bio (which is none).

It's a bit long, sorry.

The war in Israel/Palestine has now been going on for over a year and I keep seeing blogs that are entirely pro palestine, and then others who are entirely Israeli, accusing each other of rape and murder and genocide, of antisemitism and zionism, etc. etc. Most of these accusations were fact checked and true. Some arguments I heard of people were quite obviously formed through what their government told them, might even lied to them about. I cannot blame these people for clinging to faith, to clinging to the vague idea that there is a sense to their suffering, or who are trying to deflect of their own guilt.

I am German. I know the arguments. I know why they exist and I cannot blame people who's life might be depending on that hope, who's sanity might depend on that faith.

So far, I have not really posted my own opinion on it and I understand that my position on this is not a common one. Nor is it one that many people will accept or find satisfying. Never the less, this is my point.

Under normal circumstances, I would never have made a post and I already am very late to the debate, but since elections in the US are up and more dangerous than ever, since the debates and the war lead to attacks on people online and world wide, since all this enables the same fascistic views that once dominated my country and are threatening to dominate the field once again, I think I should at least say something.

I need to, in order to make up the the past my grandfather took part in as a German soldier, to honor my grandmother's memory who welcomed refugees of war and "war criminals" who were stationed in the neighboring Arbeitslager in her home; in her home where she was all alone with her sick father and waited for the news of her brothers falling in the war while the polish captive cooked them dinner and taught her to read. I need to, as someone who's ancestors were both shooting and housing their enemies. As someone who carries both the guilt and the pride into the next generation.

This is not a football game.

I can't go and pick a side and root for their win. I can't go out on the street with other students and hold up "free palestine" signs, when I know that the words are war propaganda from a group of terrorists. I can't go and side with Israel and justify a genocide by telling people they are being antisemitic if they criticise the Israeli government.

It is the Israeli government under Netanjahu, it is the Hamas who are fighting this war, and to say that the people under their leadership aren't in on it is naive to a degree.

We are not talking about winning and losing here. Because there are no winners in war. I CANNOT debate on who's human rights are worth more than the other. I CANNOT ignore that the Hamas started the war, I cannot ignore that they abuse their captives, I cannot excuse that the Israeli government shoots back at hospitals and abuses their own captives as well.

I can't choose between the grays, because to me, they are the same shade.

But to say they are all supporting those leaderships, to say that not most of them are just trying to survive is terrifyingly cold. That would be like saying they deserve what is happening to them and that can never be the truth.

This doesn't mean I'm not judging between the two. I judge the obvious violence on both sides, I fear for the victims on both accounts, I hate the idea that categorises who is allowed to live where in the country, I despise the idea that Israel alone is to blame.

"You can't not pick a side."

I did. Because there is not just two sides to this war. There is three or four, perhaps even more than that.

There is the terror organisation, there is the government, and then there is the people stuck in the crossfire. I refuse to side with the criminals. I refuse to side with the abusers. They are both wrong, they are both murderous and violent, and siding with one would be - for me - like pointing the gun at the other.

That said, I do not believe that people who raise the palestine flags are wrong, neither do I judge the Israel one. Both sides deserve justice for what happend and what continues to happen. But to a German who only raises the flag once every four yeara at soccer games, worshipping the government that is doing all this, that feels wrong. I know that my view is distorted because of my family's Nazi history, but I can't help feeling that way.

If we're talking about violence, justice would mean that more violence is the answer. An eye for an eye is justice too, but this will never result in peace.

Quite honestly, I don't even think a two state solution would be the answer either. It could be, if Hamas and Israel wanted peace. If Natanjahus war wasn't a ploy to keep himself in power. As it is right now, with the war expanding, even if they managed to somewhat put down their weapons, they will continue to be neighboring enemies, they will continue to hate each other and they will continue to never forgive, to never forget, justifying future reasons to war.

Honestly, I'm not arrogant enough to say I know the solution. All I know is that I know where I stand. And I will never, under any circumstances, judge you if you live in Isreal or in palestine. Nor will I judge you for fighting for each of their rights. Because unless you wish for the complete destruction of the other, unless you justify a genocide, then I am on your side. Because you are, in this war, on your own. And I don't want to see you there alone.

And I will not raise your flag, I will not raise the flag of your enemy, I don't even raise my own flags because I'm honestly not that much into soccer. Because I separate you and your life from the system you live in.

All I can do is tell you that if you flee to Germany, I will be one of the people voting for your safety, for your right to stay, and for being properly integrated. I will not side with the right wing fascists that dominate this country. I will not side with people who simply picked their favorite oppressor. It's not enough to save you. But I'm not a hero. I can only refuse to be the villain.

This makes my position obviously debatable, to some even unacceptable, and I understand that it's not very satisfying to read this from someone who is lucky and priviledged enough to watch from the sidelines.

But I simply cannot support either of these systems. Because neither of them value human life, let alone human rights.

[jedi-enthusiast]

Yk one thing I barely see talked abt is the fact that Mace Windu's lineage and thus legacy is one of the longest Order 66 surviving ones in Star Wars WHO STAYED TRUE TO THE JEDI ORDER'S PRINCIPLES.

Like damn, Mace rly managed to establish a liniage of highly competent and compasionate Jedi. The Shatterpoint Lineage either outlasted or survived for nearly as long as the Disaster Liniage who pretty obviously stopped truly representing Jedi with Obi-Wan (only rly returninh to the true jedi way with Luke if ya see him as part of that lineage)

Like- who do we have in the Shatterpoint lineage ?

-Master of the Jedi Order , died trying to save the galaxy from the Sith

-Former council member, died saving her padawan from her brainwashed men

-Rebel Jedi training a student despite everything that went down , died saving his padawan & loved ones from a giant explosion

-THE GUY LITTERALY ABLE TO GET THE CHANCE TO FORCE TIME-TRAVEL WHO SEND HIMSELF INTO EXILE TO PROTECT THOSE HE LOVES & THE GALAXY

And who do we have in the Disaster Lineage :

-Guy with questionable methods who did his best

-OBI-WAN who rly doesn't need any explanation (who's also the last true Jedi with expection of Luke (if you counf him) to come out of this lineage)

-a genocial manbaby with an alergy for any sort of moral code or basic logic

-a pick me shitting on her own adoptive family, who isn't even a Jedi if we are being honest (sry Ahsoka, but your character to assasinated to a point where I just can't anymore)

And honestly ? It says a LOT that Mace Windu's lineage stands as pretty much last bastion of a true Jedi Lineage from the old Order.

Agreed 100%

And ngl I find it so funny that people constantly praise the Shatterpoint lineage- (Depa, Kanan, Ezra) -and then shit on Mace like, my dude, WHO DO YOU THINK TAUGHT DEPA AND PASSED ON THOSE VALUES TO HER AND THEREFORE HIS LINEAGE???

But no, Mace's lineage is by far the best imo---I love Obi-Wan and Luke and Yoda, but they get negative points for having not one but TWO genocidal fascists in the lineage- (Dooku and Anakin) -and then someone who thinks the Jedi brought on their own genocide- (Ahsoka) -and then someone who decided that the fate of the galaxy was less important than her feelings and probably kickstarted another war- (Sabine, apparently, since Felony shoe-horned her into the lineage).

Meanwhile the Shatterpoint lineage has the head of the Order who almost won the Clone Wars and stopped the Empire from being created, who only failed because he was betrayed- (Mace) -then an amazing and empathetic general who was literally so selfless that she sacrificed herself to save her padawan- (Depa) -then someone who fought against the Empire, successfully overcame his own issues to both train a padawan and then forgive those who he thought willingly murdered his family, and then sacrificed himself to save his family and give the Rebellion a leg up on the Empire for the Battle of Lothal- (Kanan) -and finally someone who let go of all his grief, rejected the Dark Side SEVERAL TIMES, and then sentenced himself to a life in exile to protect the galaxy from a genocidal fascist- (Ezra).

Like...there's really no competition here.

In the Imperial Era, Mace was probably sitting back as a Force-ghost, watching the Disaster lineage fuck up the galaxy and then have to fix it all over again, smugly staring down Obi-Wan and Yoda like-

Mace, smugly: Hm, did you know that today Kanan taught Ezra how to connect with animals? I'm so proud of them.

Obi-Wan, watching Anakin commit even more mass murder and Ahsoka blame the Jedi for Anakin's actions: Must be nice.

Yoda, staring down Dooku, who literally tried to take over the whole galaxy with a fascist regime: Yes. Nice, it must be.

[intheholler]

On Appalachian and Southern Stereotypes

After seeing some people leap at the opportunity to insult and further harm us under my posts, even by obviously leftist accounts, I wanted to address some of the most popular stereotypes of our region.

Not as an excuse. There are many negative, violent and otherwise harmful features of the American South. We have a horrific history especially in terms of the violence we inflicted and continue to inflict upon the Black community that cannot be forgotten, and, as a culture, we do need to pay our dues.

But maybe this will help y’all apply some nuance to the situation and understand that we aren’t all your enemy.

Stereotype 1: Everyone is a Republican Racist

Absolute horse shit, my friends. There are people like me all over the south and in the hollers. We just get drowned out by the fascists, and it is all by design. 

In my home state of North Carolina alone, they are working tirelessly to make it impossible for young, often liberal (if not outright leftist) voices to be heard. They specifically target regions with heavy POC populations.

As recently as May of this year, the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned their own previous ruling which once made gerrymandering illegal. This allows Republicans free range to draw their congressional lines wherever benefits them most. 

Meanwhile, Roy Cooper, our Democratic governor, has been in office since 2017.

Gerrymandering is a real problem, and it reflects the worst of us. But it does not reflect all of us.

We are a working class, pro-union people.

We are coal miners and mill workers and farmers.

We took up arms against the government and fought for our labor rights during the Coal Wars as recently as the 1920s.

We bled for labor rights at the Battle of Blair Mountain.

It’s a myth that you keep perpetuating that we are all closed minded, bigoted regressionists. It diminishes the efforts of everyone from the coal miners to people like me while we try to make the region a better place.

It actually only worsens what you say that you wish you could “saw off into the ocean.” 

That's my home you're talking about.

Stereotype 2: Everyone is Obese

36.3% of the overall population of the Southeast is obese. This is true.

Have you considered why that may be? For starters, Southerners are more likely to be uninsured compared to individuals living in the rest of the country.

"Among the total nonelderly population, 15% of individuals in the South are uninsured compared to 10% of individuals in the rest of the country."

Partially because they didn't even expand the same Medicaid benefits to us. and partially because we are just so fucking poor. 

17% of the American South is below the poverty line, compared to 13% in the Midwest, 13% in the West, and 13% in the Northeast.

Percentages under 5% may not seem like much, but when you consider 1% of the total United States population is around 3,140,000 people, yeah, that adds up real quick.

How does this relate? Well...

Mississippi has 19.58% of its residents below the poverty line, and a 39.1% obesity rate.

West Virginia has 17.10% of its residents below the poverty line, and a 40.6 % obesity rate.

Kentucky has 16.61% of its residents below the poverty line, and a 40.4% obesity rate.

Are you seeing the trend?

We, generally speaking, are more likely to be unable to afford to feed ourselves wholesome foods, and we are less likely to be able to afford medical insurance--two things that are obviously important to maintaing good health and a "healthy" weight.

By the same token... 

Stereotype #3: We're All Uneducated 

The South and Appalachia are some of the lowest ranked in terms of educational funding and spending per pupil in the entire country. We don't even break the top 30 on the list, y'all.

49. Tennessee at $8,324 per pupil 47. Mississippi at $8,919 per pupil 45. Alabama at $9,636 per pupil 42. Kentucky at $10,010 per pupil 36. North Carolina at $10,613 per pupil 35. South Carolina at  $10,719 per pupil 33. Georgia at $10,893 per pupil 32. West Virginia at $10,984 per pupil

The top three best-funded states, by comparison, receive between $18k and $20k per pupil.

In terms of higher education, student loans are a death sentence for everyone but especially impoverished kids just looking for a way out. It just isn't feasible for most of us. And that's if we even tested well after going to shitty schools our whole lives. If we had better education, we'd have better literacy in all things, including critical thinking, allowing us to better see through the bullshit we are taught. But we don't. And you aren't helping the ones who are trying in spite of that.

Stereotype 4: Bad Teeth

Quickly going to touch on this one--when we consider a lack of access to affordable, healthy food, shitty medical insurance in general and our poverty rate, this one is kind of obvious. Even so:

“Dental coverage was significantly lower than the national average in the South Atlantic (45.6%), East South Central (45.6%), West South Central (45.9%), and Pacific (48.0%) regions.”

Every time you make a toothless hillbilly joke, ask if poverty is really the butt of the joke you want to be making.

These are just the most pervasive of them, imo. And they can all be underlined by extreme poverty which is absolutely by design.

It also contributes to why it isn’t so easy to “just leave” as we are so often dismissively told to do. Moving is expensive.

And why should we have to, anyway? Why should we have to flee our homes?

Why, for those who feel safe enough and/or have no other choice, should we not stay and fight to better the region?

And why can’t you other leftists get behind us and help us in our fight instead of perpetuating harmful stereotypes? We're your people, too.

Just some food for thought. And I hope some of y’all take a big ol bite.

[brazenautomaton]

and yeah I will admit this is probably succumbing to outgroup homogeneity bias more than I should, but a major reason I view the "Musk is a Nazi" accusations with such despair and disdain is

you're not an Actual Literal Nazi unless you hate Jews and want to kill them, which Musk clearly and obviously doesn't.

There are questions about AfD, and if they're antisemitic, or just have a rate of antisemitism higher than the base rate but not significantly more than leftist causes and not likely to cause them to take antisemitic actions in material reality. They seem bad to me, but they seem pretty well focused on Muslims and the number of people who have antisemitic beliefs is only a bit higher than the Lizardman's Constant. I don't think the rate at which their former members turn out to be fucking wacko antisemites is higher than, say, any given leftist cause or group, but the base rate of that in Germany is much lower, so does that mean something? It... might?

How much of Musk endorsing them is endorsing their actual stated platform and how much is endorsing every single thing every one of them believe? How much does Musk not caring about being tarred by association indicate he doesn't care about the things he'd be tarred for supporting, vs how much he doesn't care about the opinions of those doing the tarring? How fair is it to say "I don't think we should be defined by racial guilt any more" when said source of racial guilt is within living memory and you know a few of the guys who support you do so because they think the thing you're supposed to feel guilt over was Cool And Good, Actually? There's a lot of questions where the answer is "more than 0 and less than 1" and I don't know where they lie and the whole thing is really murky and discomfiting.

Do people who were just tonguing Hamas's asshole get to say AfD is antisemitic? No they don't. Do people who were just lauding student protests and excusing the antisemitism therein get to say Elon Musk is an antisemite for addressing AfD? No they don't. Do people who were just celebrating someone getting murdered because they believe that murdering that type of person is inherently good and improves the world get to say that someone else is an evil fascist? No they don't.

[babydrummer]

the point of caitlyn’s character is not “a good person doing bad things because of their grief/trauma,” and it is also not “a bad person who thought they were good because they had an underprivileged girlfriend and a white knight savior passion project.”

the point is “a good person reverting to base fascistic instincts because they have not truly internalized their own attempts to become a less bigoted person.”

caitlyn is a good person. she want(ed) to help the undercity, and she love(d) vi. she believed she was rising above the privileged status she was born in because she recognized zaunites as people. however, as i’ve said, hatred is a natural force, and bigotry starts in the gut. it takes just one major life-changing event to dismantle a privileged person’s belief that they can help the underprivileged.

it’s why, in real life, people become more and more right-leaning after big life changes. it’s much harder to feel sympathy for people who have it worse than you when you’re currently undergoing something difficult.

does this make caitlyn’s actions excusable? obviously fucking not, she’s gassing civilians. but we know this isn’t coming from a place of conscious hatred— she’s justifying her actions to herself because she subconsciously believes she’s more important than the zaunites, as she’s been taught. this is fascistic thought/rhetoric, obviously, but she don’t got a clue in the damn world. she’s scared and hurting, and scared people are easily radicalized.

the point isn’t the grief she’s going thru, specifically. the point is— everyone can be a fascist. anyone could be a dictator. it takes one wrong event to solidify some old bias you thought you had moved past. you cannot rely on the thought that you are a good person, and that you would never do something like that.

your fear towards people who are not like you is a gut instinct. it was seeded into you thousands upon thousands of years ago, and it is natural to fall back upon it at the slightest misfortune. it takes a conscious effort to dismantle this fear; one that caitlyn is failing.

[anarchotolkienist]

Also this might get a lot of shit but by conclusion from spending years reading about fascism and its history is that the world is really very complex and it's unfortunately very difficult to find a modern ideology that doesn't have some kind of a relationship with Fascism either one way or another. Anarchism has a lot of influence from Nietzsche, whos project is central to Nazism when it rises, and the revolutionary cult of action of parts of the anarchist movement influenced more grassroots elements of the Fascist movement through Sorel, National Syndicalism, and the Cercle Proudhon. Marxism influenced classical (especially Italian) Fascism - Mussolini was after all one of the most influential Italian Marxists in his day - through its materialism, progressivism, and thorough its modernism. That liberalism influenced Fascism, most prominently through inventing the Nation, the necessary organising principle of it, I feel like I don't have to explain on here. The relationship between conservativism and Fascism should also be obvious (although it should be said that a lot of religious conservatives deeply opposed Fascism on those grounds - the Confessional Church in Germany, more or less the only significant public dissent from the Nazis, was made up of committed theologically and usually politically conservative Protestants, for example - at the same time as many others enthusiastically collaborated or willingly presented more fascist versions of their politics to try and broaden their appeal). Reactionary Monarchist forces who had no ideology save the interests of the most reactionary landowning class did similarly - and a lot of them genuinely "converted" to become convinced fascists, too. Liberatory minority nationalisms were just as likely to collaborate as were majority national movements - fascism could present itself both in Imperialist forms and in anti-Imperialist ones, sometimes even the same Fascist party at different times and different places. And on and on.

Fascism is not unique in this, obviously. There are lines of influence between all of the above ideologies with one another in a similar way to what I have just sketched here. The political spectrum is a lie; Fascism is a poison that can emerge from almost any tradition and we must all, no matter how ideologically pure, be on guard against it in our own systems of thought.

[macaronirats]

Honestly it’s so interesting to me that the secretary has become this kind of symbol of trans power among mcr fans. Obviously I see why this is, because it’s gerard way wearing a skirt and saying things like “in the face of extermination say fuck you,” but I feel like its strange because of how dissonant that interpretation of the character is from the more plot-relevant version of her that we’re seeing in the trailers and stuff. Like, I get the sense that the secretary is actually the one controlling the dictator. She seems less like a symbol of resistance and more like this merciless, calculated businesswoman that has power over the entire system. I also don’t think that’s a shocking evaluation, considering the multitude of scary, powerful female characters that mcr has written in the past. I just think it’s funny because if that’s the case, this character that basically represents a fascist system is also simultaneously regarded as a symbol of resistance. Idk just some thoughts maybe I’m completely wrong

[beatricebat]

Ah, Floch. My best worst boy is divisive, to say the least. However, one thing most people can agree on is that the little coward was brave and badass in his last stand at the dock.

However, after watching that bit closely, I can confidently report that he gets way too much credit for that bit.

I mapped out what Floch clearly intended to do here, and it was a pretty simple plan: dodge Falco, run across the roof, dodge Pieck, shoot boat.

He had to travel in more or less a straight line. Avoiding getting killed by the Titan Shifters wasn’t nothing, but it also didn’t necessarily need him to grit his teeth and hype himself up the way he did. Our boy’s just a drama queen. A few episodes earlier, the cadets that Shadis rescued flew across a whole city luring Titans behind them, and none of them made half the fuss about it that Floch does here.

Now, obviously, the best laid plans gang aft agley. What Floch didn’t expect was a surprise attack from Hange, and despite making this face when he saw them coming:

Floch actually fought Hange off pretty well. It was pretty badass of him to defend himself from Hange’s sword swing by blocking it with the freaking explosive thunderspear strapped to his arm. The way Hange’s sword sparked up the metal casing, Floch was lucky they didn’t shear it off his arm completely.

The next thing that happened was so perfectly Floch. Part of what makes Floch such an excellent representation of a fascist is how he really only valued traditional strength and masculinity, but the things he was good at were not that at all.

Floch performed a perfect pirouette.

He stopped mid-run and span around on one foot while sending Hange flying with the other, and then set off running again.

Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous little bit of ballet from Ymir’s favourite theatre kid.

For the record, I am firmly in favour of male dancers and I can fully appreciate the strength and grace it would take to pull off a move like this. I just also think Floch would be homophobic if he saw anyone else doing this.

ANYWAY, let’s move on as quickly as Floch did to get past Pieck, which should leave him with a clear shot at the boat, except …

Yeah. About that.

I will admit, it took me forever to work out what happened here. The animation is kind of confusing, and Floch flips around so much in this split second that I had trouble understanding where he was oriented in any given frame. As far as I can tell though, the thunderspear just…falls off his arm.

He definitely didn’t aim it, because it isn’t pointing at Pieck. If there’s a way to deliberately quick release a thunderspear, I don’t think we ever see it. Plus, Floch is clearly surprised by it, which I’ll get to in a second. The best explanation I can come up with is that Hange partially sheared the thunderspear off Floch’s arm when he used it as a shield, and then the air resistance on it as Floch span away from Pieck put enough stress on it to finish the job. Either that, or the thunderspear caught on Pieck’s finger as Floch zipped past.

So, how do I know Floch was surprised by the thunderspear falling off?

Motherfucker dropped his trigger.

This is such an incredible detail to include, because there are a LOT of budget saving frames across this little scene. They recycle pictures of Floch across frames, they draw hilariously spiky backgrounds to indicate movement, and it’s such a tiny little thing. Floch’s trigger is shown flying away a few frames later, and it would have been perfectly understandable to infer it had just been blown out of his hand in the explosion. But no. whoever drew Floch loved and hated him as much as me, and they needed us to know Floch dropped his trigger. I don’t think anyone else ever dropped their equipment, did they?

Oh…yeah…

Anyway, the explosion sends Floch hurtling into the air like a piece of confetti, completely losing his trigger in the process.

🎵Cool guys don’t look at explosions/they close their eyes and they scream in fear���

***

Part two coming shortly, because tumblr mobile will only let me add ten photos per post. :(

[hunxi-after-hours]

"From books to film to theatre, writers have always been inspired by the stories that came before them. As artists, what are we if not the sum of all we’ve seen and absorbed and alchemised into our own voice? The history of oral storytelling is a history of retelling; the art of storytelling is almost always an act of retelling in some way."

—Wen-yi Lee, "The Comfort (and Discomfort) of Retellings"

"BIPOC retellings are often about demanding a place. Otherwise or at the same time they can critique the rosy nostalgia of fairytale worlds (or the usually-fascist leaning that comes with hyper-defence of Classics and Canon and Civilisation). Queer retellings of great love stories are often claims less to the characters and more to that great love in itself. Retellings are often saying: we, too, claim crowns and prophecies, great loves and romantic tragedies. If these stories have been impressed on everyone as the epitome of human storytelling and mythology, then everyone has equal rights to them."

[...]

"At the same time, there is also a power in simply letting ahistoricity exist, and deliberately not acknowledging oppressive structures at all. Regencies without racism; queer-norm historical settings. Sometimes people are just allowed to imagine themselves in nice things.  "Whether it’s interrogating or (re)claiming the original, I think these retellings are most powerful when they have something to say—when they step into the ring with a conversation in mind."

[...]

"The swell of Chinese fantasy has made more mainstream both mythological elements as well as direct retellings: Shelley Parker-Chan’s genderbent Ming Emperor in She Who Became the Sun and Xiran Jay Zhao’s mecha-pilot Wu Zetian in Iron Widow; Ann Liang’s A Song To Drown Rivers, a romantic retelling of one of China’s Four Beauties; Sister Snake, Amanda Lee Koe’s modernised take on the Legend of the White Snake’s monstrous snake women; S.L. Huang’s The Water Outlaws, a queer spin on other Chinese classic Water Margin; Sue Lynn Tan and Emily XR Pan’s reimaginings of the legend of Chang’e (Daughter of the Moon Goddess and An Arrow to the Moon, respectively) and Van Hoang and C.B. Lee’s versions of Sun Wukong (Girl Giant and the Monkey King and The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, respectively)... "We’re somewhere. The next step is obviously okay, good, now more.    "I think about non-Western retellings that bear the weight of also being tellings, of being the first time these characters and symbols and histories have ever been presented in the Western or English-language literary scene. What retellings are received as comfortable, and which are received as exotic? ...But I can’t nowadays think about books without also thinking of the social and financial factors affecting their writing, publishing, marketing, distribution, and translation. There are ranges everywhere. So it’s retold once. Will it be retold in different languages, in different countries, in all the bookstores? Even after 'Are we able to tell it?' it’s 'Are we able to sell it?'"

[artbyblastweave]

Let’s get some abandoned effortposts on disco Elysium in the list. Liked what analysis on it you had, would be great to see more, or fail to see as the case may be

Here’s one of the last insights on Disco Elysium I care to put to paper for a good long while; I really enjoy the nested futility and self-defeat of the central murder mystery, the way it structured to constantly raise the question of how anyone could possibly benefit from what you’re doing.

I mean off the bat the murder victim is a fascist stormtrooper, so there’s that. I personally maintain that it’s still good in a general sense to investigate murders regardless of the moral standing of the victim, but to get real, it’s a very convenient time for me to embrace universalist rhetoric given how little support the neighborhood receives with problems that don’t involve someone well connected. And then, over the course of the game, you can kill all four people left on the planet to whom the initial victim actually mattered on a personal level. Three in clear-cut self-defense, the fourth as an optional casualty to the same mindless, trusting proceduralism that’s admittedly and unfortunately intertwined with my “ no murder left unsolved” stance.

And then! You finally run down the murderer, and from a public safety perspective it turns out that if you’d just gone home after the mercenary tribunal, nothing would have changed; Dros is on his last legs, the odds he’s gonna kill anyone else are very very low.

The last redoubt is the ideological angle- there could be a narrative here about how you’re crushing the last vestige of the revolution, how the killing and the subsequent investigation was the last theatre of the old war- but I think the narrative resists even this attempt to read meaning into it. From an ideological perspective Dros committed the killing off the clock. It was spite, not praxis- informed in the moment by his misanthropy, his neuroses about women, and his obsession with Klaasje more than it was about striking a blow for communism. He killed Lely while Lely was doing probably the least objectionable thing he ever did. Obviously Dros’s neuroses and living situation were downstream of ideology, of material circumstances, in the way everything else is- but to try and elevate the killing by making it about that feels disingenuous.

And this is great, because Disco Elysium isn’t really about the murder mystery in the same way that Fallout: New Vegas isn’t really about finding the guy who shot you in the head-it’s an injection point, it’s a thread you pull for guidance, but the real meat is all the other stuff and people you encounter while poking around. The killing isn’t unimportant, per se, but the mystery surrounding it kinda is! Given the repeated anti-climax, it’s definitely *less* important than the harm you can cause to people in order to push the investigation forward, or the good you can do for the community by going off-script and helping people out with random bullshit. It’s neat!

[johannestevans]

TeratoCon 2025 Write-up

Had a spectacular time talking monsters at the very first special convention!

Yesterday, I had the delightful privilege of attending the very first TeratoCon at the Future Inn in Bristol, an 18+ convention for monster lovers with a special focus on all things monstrous, especially on monsterfucking and monstrous romance! 

I had an initially bumpy journey getting there, entirely as a result of my own silliness — I came down south from Bradford to stay with my family in Chepstow the day before yesterday on the train, which came with its own issues (no seat on the entire train between Bradford and Derby, meaning my body was fucked the rest of the day, I fell asleep and passed by Chepstow Station, had to get off at Newport and then go back towards Chepstow, etc), got the bus into Bristol from Chepstow the following morning… Whereupon I promptly got a bus in the wrong direction, went to the wrong hotel, then had to get an Uber literally to right beside the bus station, where the convention was being held at the Future Inn! 

I was unfortunately only a minute or two late to the opening ceremony and was able to see Zoey Burgess-Foreman and Tim Mendees introduce the convention, and then we were able to jump into things!

I can’t name a literary convention I’ve actually had a bad time at, they’re normally very warm and welcoming environments and it’s great to be around other people who share a particular passion enough to want to travel across the country and chat about it, but there was an extra pleasure and ability to relax at this convention because it was 18+ and explicitly was intended to allow and center adult discussions, especially when it comes to sex, desire, and kink. 

On the one hand, it’s great that many conventions allow for teenage self-exploration and for people to be able to decide their own comfort level and opt into adult themes, but many cons end up shoving a lot of adult events and stalls in dark shadowy corners and corridors, or we end up doing our panels in smaller out-of-the-way rooms after dark with less advertisement and publicity, and especially as a creator who centers many adult themes — not just in terms of erotica, but also in terms of trauma, chronic pain and disability, marginalisation, homophobia, and other themes that I explore using sex and sexuality, or intimate forms of violence, as vessels, you end up feeling more than a bit hemmed in!

I was obviously especially grumpy about this issue having been grappling with Patreon’s seemingly random approaches of recent to banning and hiding my own work (this week was censoring a fully consensual erotic novella for “glorifying” sexual abuse and rape by… including a single criticism of rape culture within the British police forces), thus why I recently set up my new website, albeit with all the technical difficulties that came with for me. 

With rising censorship online and cultural changes toward sex and sexuality in public spaces — explicitly fascist government in the USA and rising queerphobia everywhere, including the UK, has already caused many pride flags to quietly disappear from shop fronts and businesses all around us, a real canary in the coal mine — it was such a relief to be at a professional event for creators and enthusiasts that not only didn’t give into those attitudes, but pointedly stood in opposition to them. 

The Future Inn decided to euphemistically label our little gathering Literature Convention on their posters and signage, but other than that, once we went up in the lift to the sixth floor where the conference center was, liberty reigned!

Read more here!