#old feminism: we would like to have basic human rights :)

[choatic-bumblebee-agenda]

Yesterday my religion teacher asked me if I thought it was okay, morally, to be a homemaker, and it's making me wonder what kind of people he's had the misfortune of conversing with lately

[aftonfamilyvalues]

I have a sort of conspiracy theory about liberal feminism that I need to get off my chest. The whole "pick me vs girls girl" culture is actively creating TiFs.

Women who don't fit into certain standards society holds have been shamed for it since the beginning of time, but now rejecting femininity is being seen as anti feminist. Girls who aren't even putting down other women are called nlogs and pick me's just because they're awkward and kind of tomboyish.

Look at Jlaw. She was shamed out of the public eye for acting like an actual human and not a walking caricature of womanhood (eating pizza and falling down on the red carpet). There's an audio going around being mocked on tiktok where a woman rightfully says "I don't like makeup. I think it's bad for women". I've seen nasty comments under Korean feminist insta posts where the women in question are smashing their makeup or wearing comfortable clothing and talking openly about it.

I genuinely think this is the reason why a lot of girls believe themselves not to be female. Since it's shameful and cringy to not be feminine as a woman in the year of our Lord 2024, it would logically be better to think of yourself as a man or some in between thing. Tomboys are basically an endangered species at this point and it's really really sad. Little girls aren't climbing trees or playing in the mud. They're playing with skincare and makeup. I truly feel like I'm living in a black mirror episode and it's scary.

Sorry for the long winded rant. I'm semi crypto on main and wanted to put this out there. I dunno why I sent this to the "I want to make a milkshake out of copia's cum" account but I don't really know anyone else who gets insane anons like you do. x

i think youre right though, there is definitely a backlash against feminism right now that comes in the form of hyper femininity and capitalism.

if you dont wear makeup, youre a childish loser who needs to learn how to put on eyeliner. if you dont shave, encourage other women to not shave, youre bombarded with women with "sensory issuee" and are just as bad as a patriarchal man. if you dont like pink, you have internalized misogyny. if you say anything about how high heels damage your feet, youre shaming women. if you talk about how womens clothes are made worse than mens, just go shop in the mens section! stop doing anything, stop going against the quo, let women do what they want! dont question anything!

and in more recent years, ive been seeing the evidence of this seeping into girls younger and younger. we now have little girls begging for drunk elephant and sephora items, to shop where the adult women shop. honestly i didnt even know what drunk elephant was until i saw a girls christmas list on here. theyre spending adult with a job money on products, whether it be from saved allowances and or from their parents. i just saw a video about a 9 year old girl getting bullied for having a tumbler from walmart and not one of the expensive trendy stanley cups. there was always an issue with bullying over not having name brand but i feel like its gotten so much worse. and thats not even talking about the "skincare" aspect of it.

theres so much to say about this but they really did rebrand capitalism as being woman positive though.

[bellaaldamas]

Back when I was active on my old accounts here (before deleting them all and vowing to never come back but the joke's on me) I knew Tumblr was a heinously ableist site (as was it's girlboss idea of "feminism", only accessible for women and girls with physical, mental, learning and neurological ability privilege). I accepted it because we do not live in a perfect world, people will be misguided and uninformed, some of said people are not incurable, devil incarnate bigots but simply ignorant; and it is your responsibility to curate your social media experience and surround yourself with intelligent individuals. If you depend on social media OR mainstream media for representation you're in for stress and disappointment and that's exactly why one has to always maintain a healthy distance from it.

However, it is almost fascinating to see how pseudo-progressive culture on here has not changed one bit. It is still the modern Disney-esque "feminism" about how it is woman's job to not be a "hormonal moron" who dares to exercise her romantic and sexual agency by expressing her feelings and acting on them (according to said Disney/Frozen-esque feminism, she is making a "perfect victim" out of herself and allows more intellectual and creative men than her shallow and airheaded self to easily take advantage of her "desperation for love"). Tumblr is also still disgustingly ableist, with new disability erasing trends becoming prevalent here.

One of the newer "feminist" trends is the "get a hobby" one, delivered in a condescending, holier than thou manner and completely removing disabled and/or neurodivergent women from the equation.

It is the good old "not like other girls" misogyny but in a "progressive" form. To be worthy of being acknowledged as a human being deserving of basic respect a woman HAS to be writing a novel, painting daily, studying programming and coding, making sculptures that could rival the immortal classics - and that's called a "feminist" alternative to "bimbos who do nothing all day, binge shows and only care about make up".

Needless to say, the people who subscribe to this trend know they are excluding disabled women entirely. They know that for women with physical, mental and learning disabilities most of the "popular/acceptable" hobbies like novel writing and content creation are simply either inaccessible or not rewarding enough to produce the necessary dopamine and energy to keep on with them. But progressives still find brand new "feminist" ways to dehumanize us because "progressive culture" enables it.

Speaking as someone who used to write novels and poems and draw in the past: I, as a disabled woman, have exactly zero hobbies right now. All the writing and drawing are yesterday's news for me and will remain there until the day I die. I've gotten older, my disabilities became worse and more energy consuming and I have neither time nor emotional/mental resource to practice activities that, no matter how much effort I dedicate to them, I will never excel at.

The harsh truth is that if you have limitations or lack a natural talent you will end up with a burn out and with modest or even outright terrible results.

The "progressives" will use a classic bigoted rhetoric of "if X famous disabled person could do it and become a worldwide sensation there is no excuse for you to not try" in order to shame you. But, young ones, don't fall for that. It's just a "progressive" version of "marginalized people only have themselves to blame for not being successful".

Because the fact is that the overwhelming majority of us will never excel or succeed at writing, drawing or learning graphic and other programs to a degree that would allow us to compete with able minded and able bodied people. Some, as mentioned above, do have a natural talent (and a high functioning form of disability) which would make them an exception that only proves the rule. But most of us will invest ten or even thousand times more time and energy into learning than able people would, only to get little to no pay off. And it is perfectly fine if you say "to hell with it, I'm just going to watch movies all day instead".

It does not make one less valid (regardless of gender) to give up on a hobby or activity because it no longer brings them the satisfaction of achievement (especially when there has been no achievement to beging with). Go ahead and do that make up because you'll look in the mirror and smile when you see your face. Go ahead and flirt with that person you think is hot because you only live once. Go ahead and binge watch Sailor Moon and love Usagi for her love of sweets and refusal to conform to the idea she has to sacrifice herself for the Greater Good TM in order to "grow up" and hate the narrative for constantly shaming her for that because media hates women and will always hate women.

Go and do what makes you feel good and if you ever consider coming back to your hobby/hobbies, do it not at the expense of your mental or physical health but because you want it.

[female-malice]

can you explain post-natalism?

Well, some of the ideas that come from anti-natalist feminism are useful. But I find certain anti-natalist feminist discourse unproductive.

It's true that in our current socioeconomic system, reproduction is used as a tool of women's oppression. Right now, reproduction does not benefit women at all. And anti-natalism is the idea that women should stop reproducing because it's not helping us. And I don't disagree with that idea. I just don't think ending reproduction would give us total female liberation. Female liberation would come from a brand new socioeconomic system specifically designed to concentrate power with women. And in human society, power comes from reproduction. We would need a new cultural perspective on reproduction that primarily benefits women. And that new cultural perspective would come with new cultural norms. Maybe those new cultural norms would look something like this:

-Choosing not to have children at all would have no taboo

-Abortion and birth control would have no taboo

-Children would have matrilineal surnames

-Female embryo selection would have no taboo and would be made accessible to all women

-Male embryo selection would be extremely taboo and illegal. If you want a son, you have to leave it to chance

-It would be taboo to have more than two sons. If you actually want a large family, that family should be mostly daughters. And no one should be trying to have more than 5 kids

-No more old sperm. Men should be sterilized at 40. Or if a man is the biological father to 5 kids, he should be sterilized

-Sperm banks should be more regulated, logical, and accessible

-Lesbian families should be celebrated by society in some way

-Straight women should have the option to coparent with other women if they want. Straight women could use the title "aunt" for the friend they're coparenting with. Only lesbian families would actually have two moms

-Women's reproductive health research would be prioritized by society and this research would be led by women

These are just things I imagine would become norms if reproductive culture was specifically designed to benefit women. This wouldn't radically change much for the straight nuclear families who represent our current status quo. The average family with a mom, dad, and two kids would be exactly the same on the surface. But the family name would belong to the mother.

Post-natalism is basically imaging how women would change reproduction if we actually did control it

[sweaterkittensahoy]

hi i just want to say i love love love ur blog and thank u for all the info on “rad feminism”. although i very much believe in / support / LOVE feminism (of course!!!!) i wasnt really aware of the term but i do hear it thrown around a lot so i’m shocked to hear that this type of “feminism” is discriminatory towards transgender people. feminism should be the complete OPPOSITE of that. calling urself a feminist and forcing ppl into boxes is CRAZY.

So, here's a post I reblogged today that looks at how radfems and TERFs are doing shit on tumblr to try and indoctrinate people, and I just want to share that because there's further good information about their tactics.

The history of radfems is 100% wrapped in gatekeeping and control tactics. Very short history: Radfems were birthed out of second wave feminism. Up until that point, feminism was something pursued in the public sector most often by women who had the means and time to focus fully on activism. So, upper middle-class white women. There were BIPOC women in every aspect of feminism from the beginning, but due to socioeconomic factors and just plain old racism, those women were rarely listened to outside their own sphere of influence.

In second wave, BIPOC women had finally gained some upward mobility economically and socially that opened the doors to do more in the wider world of the feminist movement. When they went to the white women in charge of the movement and said, "Hey, we have supported and worked for your concerns for decades. Here are things that are especially affecting BIPOC women, and we would greatly appreciate the reciprocation of everything we've put into the movement.

To which the upper middle-class white women who had the power in the movement basically said, "No, those things don't affect us, so we don't care."

Out of this schism came a lot of white women who couldn't believe other women were "betraying" them by putting the needs of their communities ahead of what white women wanted. And that was the birth of radical feminism, the idea that anyone who called themself "feminist" disagreeing with these women were the enemy and had to be silence and stopped.

Several decades later, third wave feminism was able to really start discussing intersectional feminism where even if your concerns aren't mine, they are valid because you are speaking from an experience and a community I don't have. But we are all striving for human rights, dignity, and respect, so fighting for the rights of one woman is fighting for rights for all of us. Third wave isn't (wasn't? I'm not sure if we've actually rolled into fourth wave at this point) perfect. White Feminism is still an issue. Getting people who say they believe in the rights of all women to realize that means women they find fundamentally terrible deserve the same human rights is a problem. People wanting to put Western Feminism Ideals onto other cultures like Japan and the Middle East is a problem.

Meanwhile, Radical Feminists have built a walled-off city where they can all yell about how they're the truest and purest feminists and anyone who disagrees with them is mentally ill, or hates women, or is an abuse apologist. Amongst many other claims.

The difference between Radfems and Feminists is that Radfems don't want to bring in anyone who doesn't absolutely agree with them on every point. Feminists want to open the doors and welcome anyone trying to genuinely help all women achieve human dignity. It's not a perfect system. As listed above, there are issues in the movement to this day that will likely persist until the universe ends, but at the core of it, Radfems want total agreement and loyalty, and Feminists are seeking to build a community where we understand one another and support one another even if my problem isn't your problem.

The most important thing to remember, I think, is this: The number of radfems is actually pretty small. They're just fucking loud. And I think the reason they've gotten so loud is that more and more people are realizing their goals aren't to educate or help but to shame and control, and so they're getting louder about how they're the real victims and MUST fight back against people who disagree with them, whether directly or not because they're trying to "save" the "real" feminists. They're not trying to save anyone except themselves and the rest of their cult, and to hell with the rest of us. But, there's more of us seeking real community and care than radfems, so I think we'll win in the end. We just have to remember that we're in this together, and that keeping the door open to new ideas and information is a very powerful tool.

[youremyheaven]

Dear non 🍑 eater anon.

No one asked. Your tone isn't giving the kindness and love a feminist should have (& do have) for women enjoying themselves when repression is the norm in many societies still. She'll handle her chakras and followers as she sees fit. You go have a wonderful aligned life. She and us will be fine. Thank you & Bye~

Also pookie what sorta crowd attracts when the label is used, wanna know your experience as someone on tumblr with a thriving blog (idk if you'd call your blog women and the feminine oriented, I would) and moots. You know now a days people use the word like they are spitting galiya, so I avoid the topic and also try not to bring up anything that seems feminist-aligned (which is most things around me it seems. Like: Oh, you think men are given leeway for eve-teasing because of the attitude ‘men just be like that’ and reflects a flaw in society? Yah okay feminazi manhating jobstealing alimonytaking whore who doesn't take responsibility!)

AJJAJSJS u tell em!!!!

Yeah I hate how "feminist" has basically become a cuss word in India 😭

On my old blog (it was a kpop tarot blog 😮‍💨😮‍💨) I got into several arguments simply bc I said I don't think it's right to ask if an idol's FS is a virgin when they meet 💀🙄 bc it was kinda sexist??? Like not all people in Asia are waiting for marriage and the odds of a kpop idol marrying a virgin who has never been touched is so 🙂🙂 and the anons popped off and said it's bc I'm a "feminist" that I respect a "ran through woman with a high body count" over someone who's "pure" 💀💀💀💀 and lots of other arguments too about random shit 😤😤 simply bc I had mentioned I was a feminist.

Funny thing is, back then I felt like all those anons were definitely Indian 😭😭😭😭from the way they text or reference things 😤😤 and the deep rooted misogyny that Indians, esp Indian women have is 🤮🤮🤮🤮

Everybody's a feminist so long as the woman's making choices that align with their values and principles. The minute a woman does what she wants to do (which is what feminism should be) she's suddenly not worthy of equality or respect 😞

If only we subjected men to the same standards that we subject women too 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

Like why do we only encourage and support women who are fighting battles and trying to climb the economic ladder or whatever 😔 where's the harm in a woman having fun 🥹 life is long, not every day is going to be about conventional feminist struggles, because life isn't a struggle??? it's okay to enjoy yourself and it's okay to not feel shame for it 🫶

I don't use the word feminist as much anymore simply because it has kinda lost all meaning to me rn. I went to a veryyy political college where absolutely everybody man and woman called themselves a feminist and yet treated other women horribly for making certain choices that didn't align with them or slut shaming them at the drop of a hat as a comeback rhetoric 🙄🙄🙄

Actions matter more than words. If you can be a respectful, tolerant, kind human being, that's more important that name dropping labels to fit into some woke liberal agenda ESP since identifying as one clearly makes absolutely no difference in how u actually treat women 🤐🤐🤐

[fiftysevenacademics]

Television producer Norman Lear died today, which prompted me to put into words something I've had rattling around in my head for a long time now. I grew up in a very Republican family in the 70s-- communism = bad, welfare = bad, everyone but white people = lazy, hippies = bad, non-European immigrants = bad, you don't deserve anything if you can't work for it, etc. etc. I've often wondered how my sister and I turned far away from those views and became the bleeding heart liberals we are (and brought our mother along with us, thankfully). In an extended family that moved into crackpot conspiracy theory Reaganism (later, Trumpism) and/or morally bankrupt "libertarianism," we are the only ones who have moved farther to the left as they've moved farther right.

Speaking for myself (can't speak for my sis!), I can think of quite a few experiences I've had combined with a natural curiosity and sense of fairness but I've always felt like Norman Lear shows played some important, invisible part in this process.

My family watched All In The Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, the Jeffersons, and One Day At a Time religiously. Surrounded by conservative white people in the small, rural logging towns we lived in and in my own family, these shows were the main exposure I had to people who lived very different lives than my own: urban, multigenerational households, single women and single mothers, people of different races, different social classes, and so on. Just seeing someone live in an apartment in a city felt almost like seeing aliens on another planet!

On these shows I saw the kinds of people who were routinely referred to as "problems" or mentioned disparagingly in my little world, portrayed as interesting, full people with feelings and problems that from my sheltered perspective seemed strange and exotic but also, very human. They were cranky or funny or goofy or sassy, but all the characters on these shows were fun to watch and their struggles placed me in the midst of a world I knew reflected how people elsewhere must live. It allowed me to imagine myself as a person living in a world filled with racial, class, gender, and political diversity that was very different from how such a world was portrayed in my Cold War Era conservative family. 

How would I live in that kind of world? What kind of person would, or should, I be? Definitely not one like Archie Bunker.

All In The Family probably had the most influence. My grandfather adored Archie Bunker because, as the family joke went, they were basically the same person. By allowing me to see our family patriarch in this awful character who cannot accept how the world is changing, it gave me the critical distance to see myself as part of that changing world. I definitely know that this show also gave me my first inkling of what patriarchy was, though it would be a long time before I knew that word.

I was embarrassed to watch Sanford and Son with my grandpa because he watched it like he probably watched old timey minstrel shows back in the day: Sanford was an object of ridicule, entertaining because my grandpa could scorn him. Though it was obvious to everyone in my family but him, Sanford and Archie were similar characters and it was clear he loved the white one and looked down on the Black one solely because of their race. I remember him also refusing to even watch The Jeffersons, as if the existence of a Black man wealthier than him (he was a plumber) was a sheer impossibility. It's kind of funny how much he hated George Jefferson.

Then there was Maude and One Day At A Time. In my world, where women were primarily housewives, married mothers, still living a 1950s version of femininity, these shows were truly formative for me. I've always held, and still hold, Maude as a kind of role model for an older woman (even though she couldn't have been nearly as old as she seemed to me at the time). She was the only feminst I "knew!" She made feminism look so cool and I knew I was a feminist. Divorce was still kind of exotic and scary back then-- I didn't know anyone in a divorced family and certainly knew no single mothers. One Day At A Time normalized the single mom family just at a time when women were becoming more independent, and I thought about the show often, many years later, when I got divorced and became a single mom myself.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Norman Lear's shows made me turn out as I am. But they did offer a liberal interpretation of the changing world I was living in, and gave me the space to imagine possibilities, relationships, and ways of being in the world that were simply not present or actively despised in my everyday surroundings. 

Maybe these TV shows created a little empathetic space that grew as I continued to engage with new people, places, and ideas throughout adolescence until there was no room left for the stinginess, bigotry, cruelty, and paranoia of Republicans.

[sunlightandsuffering]

OHH I SEE! Yes tbh maybe I’ll ad him in a little more I’ve been looking to beef up that part of the chapter before the porn ahahah I think I need some more drama content HAHAHAH like maybe Eren’s POV right before 👀👀 I kinda like that bc it’ll show all his drama

Yesss you get it! eren needs some competition who wants mikasa as a mate rather than a whore since my girl is that perfect. Like she should have at least one option instead of letting eren think that she would be used goods if it wasn’t for him it would make him more riled up

Okay but i'm sorry mon ami it's still gonna be whore. We needn't fear the whore label y'all, it invites a certain kind of danger and edge that we don't have if it's just a mate. And like even in Eren's reactions, the whole fic is almost like more feral that way or something, more primal is probably more accurate. Yes, it's like primal, like everything is stripped right down to the instincts. GOTTA THROW IT BACK TO THIS PARAGRAPH!

At heart, Mikasa is an omega, a sweet thing, she simply wants to be loved, fucked, dominated by an alpha, told what to do, where to go, owned, allowed to simply sit pretty, full and pregnant, a gentle hand on her stomach, a large palm at her back, carrying her inside, willing her to rest. 'Mikasa longs to be taken care of. 

In most werewolf packs the old ways have been lost, traditions falling to the wayside in favour of things like feminism, bodily autonomy, basic human rights. 

These are all good things of course, but they clash strongly with werewolf values and to be blunt, her very DNA, their instincts.  And her instincts demand that she submit, give in to her omega will, and a large part of her revels in it. It’s exactly what she wants in life because it’s everything she’s never had before.

But so help her god, she will, she will have it all, Eren just has to realize it.'

[theserpentsadvocate]

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately as I slowly transition out of the industry (at least temporarily) is just how much working in fast food will show this to you.

Admittedly, I've only worked at the one restaurant, albeit for four years, so this is a personal observation, not a sociological study, but for what it's worth - I really thought I was doing well on this score, when I started working at McDonald's. And in a lot of ways I probably was: I had what I still consider to be the 'right' opinions on things like fatphobia and the pretty-is-not-a-tax-etc aspect of feminism and disability and had reconsidered some beauty standards and opinions I didn't know I had after exposure to a larger (in-person) social group with a lot of trans people and fat people in it. I was definitely doing better than twenty-year-old me on a lot of those scores, and it was because I'd worked at being a good person and I think it's right to be proud of that even as I don't stop doing that work, and so on and so forth.

But. Working fast food will take all the sneaky little nonsense prejudices you have about people's appearance and rub your face in them, because we serve everybody. The first time I got a customer in the drive-through with massively noticeable burn scarring (his face was affected and one ear at least was basically missing), I was shaken. I felt bad for being shaken, but I was. I served him like I would anyone else, and desperately hoped I hadn't had any noticeable outward reaction, and felt guilty for caring and even guiltier on the off-chance I'd made him feel bad.

This guy turned out to be a semi-regular (and very polite and friendly, since I'm mentioning him), and within a month or so the scarring became something I no longer had to work not to notice, but more importantly, after him, and a couple customers with similarly noticeable skin condition, I mostly stopped having that shock reaction the first time I saw someone. Not never; I'm still human, and when you're not expecting it, some things can be kind of shocking if they're different from what you're used to. But having no choice but to see everyone who comes through will sure break you of your weird, internal ideas of what a person is or isn't 'supposed' to look like.

We get a lot of homeless, or homeless-adjacent customers. A lot of them smell. Some of them have weird growths on their hands - one guy in particular has some kind of almost backwards claw growing up from the base knuckle of one of his fingers. I have to take their order, and their money, the same as anybody's. And yes, I wash my hands after a little more eagerly, but having to work a little harder to keep the customer service face on also usually makes me think about why I'm having to work a little harder. And I'm not just criticizing here; I think it is perfectly legitimate to dislike having to smell something unpleasant, for instance - and while a lot of these people are sweet, not all of them are, and one specifically has made my list of Top Five Worst Customers. But I also think it probably made me a better person, and definitely made me a more aware person, to have to interrogate my discomfort on a regular basis.

(There's something similar to be said about people with mental health issues or learning disabilities, but I think that would be getting off topic.)

We have a lot of customers who are just kind of ugly, or who don't have all their teeth (something I always notice, because it bothers me but also because it makes me worry about the unfortunate shape of my own teeth), or who are fat, or who have various things that read as abnormalities, like the lady with the random bald spot on the back of her head (who is always very nice, for the record). My experience has been that it sure will smack you upside the head with the knowledge that people look like anything and everything, and they're all people, and you are forced to treat them that way. Not that I needed force, exactly, but it changes the dynamic in a way that I've found really enlightening.

We also get, for instance, a lot of people with accents*, and while that's never been an issue for me (I pride myself at being Very Good At Interpreting The Speaker, although I can only do so much when my coworkers are talking on the headset), I'm sure there are people for whom that was a similar experience to mine with regard to skin conditions/pronounced scarring - not necessarily because they're bad people, but because they haven't had that exposure. Or maybe it was disabled customers - again, not anything I found jarring, because I have disabled friends and family members and have done a lot of reading about activism and disability rights and just exposing myself to various ways of normalizing disability, but not everyone has had that.

I don't have a wrap-up for this or anything, but... it felt relevant. I got a lot from doing four years in customer service (confidence and pride in my people skills, an ability to list off many post-tax prices without looking, good references, etc.) but this is maybe the most valuable to me as a person, even though it's really hard to quantify.

*this doesn't just mean a lot of immigrants/tourists (although, yes); this is a city with a prominent university, but on top of the student population we're also near a military base, so we get a.) lots of New Zealand military personnel who are visiting or coordinating or whatever it's called when two countries have friendly militaries, and b.) lots of people from Quebec who are stationed here currently

a lot of it just boils down to "as you move through the world sometimes you will see ugly people, and that's not a problem that needs solving"

you will see people who are old. you will see people who are fat. you will see people who are disabled. you will see people who are not making an effort to keep up with their hygiene or their hair or their clothes. you will see people wearing clothes and makeup and jewelry of a subculture you find disturbing and offputting. this is all fine. this does not need to be solved.

the offered solution has often been to say "oh no, don't say ugly, they're all beautiful in their way!" but that's not the point. nobody has to be beautiful just to exist, to be in public, to be in your view. that road leads to dudebros saying that women they don't consider sufficiently fuckable should wear bags over their heads. to HOAs urging residents to call the cops on homeless encampments being an 'eyesore' on their beautiful streets. to people pushing for institutionalization so that they don't have to share a public with neurodivergent people. to people demanding that physically divergent people trigger tag photos of themselves.

"everyone is beautiful" works up until you find someone you can't see the beauty in. but it doesn't matter. nobody is entitled to a world populated exclusively by beautiful people. no matter what tv and the internet may have led you to believe.

[perfect-homemade-chili]

357 “Some Heat.”

The consensus of both Montaigne and Whitman—that is, opinions of a most rational skeptic (loved by even Shakespeare) and a most frenzied poet alike, suggest that the youth of man, when properly employed, can extend until the age of 50. (For this reason, Montaigne actually suggests men not to have children until then… anyway). I suspect life after 50, however young one may actually feel, is merely a necessary karmic transition to a new season. This is why we see some people in their 80s as sprightly as if they’re 60, or a 60-year-old as warped or bent as a centennial. What is old age, after all, but stubborn stupidity? It is remarkable to me that long ago, the wisest man I’ve ever known had already postulated that, after the millennial generation, life expectancy of humans will begin to shrink again; I did not consider it fully at that time, but I have now come across this observation in modern scientific literature. So while I still feel young and can afford to make some heated social remarks, I’ll add some real-life flavoring to this stew. At the apex of material physical comfort, we have sacrificed too much our spiritual health—we have basically lost our minds. Many of us I suspect do not even know virtue is: integrity, honesty, basic civil decency and respect—subscribing instead to such trendy platitudes and foolish fads, that now people can actually talk about ‘men having rectal births’ or forcing videogame mascots to be transgendered with a straightface. The people who espouse these things are the real lower class—not the actual poverty-stricken people of society. These are the same people who yell feminism, but ostracize and demonize men; who proclaim mental health issues, but refuse to see how their own textbook narcissism or self-indulgent phoniness is cause to emotional pain or disturbance and precedents all around them; those who chant the name of god, but lack basic goodwill or good faith and, not just unable to distinguish between criticism or insult, would rather dig deeper into their own false convictions to spread their poison to rest of society. In my private experience, having contracted dozens of freelance individuals, the most glaring predominant trend is that men are more likely to butt heads with my vision, at least initially, but they will see through a terms of service most honorably; women, though easier to work with at first, are most prone (though of course with exceptions) to either welch on commitments with basically zero sense of honor or responsibility, or take up the most petty or punitive stances, never logically, but always emotionally and under some false guise of reason—the type we see caught cheating, speeding or shoplifting, then play and act the emotional victim. It is an unpopular opinion these days, but someone should say it: why do you think every serious sage of antiquity who founded a monastic community, from Pythagoras to Jesus to Buddha, was reluctant to initiate women into the spiritual fellowship? (Buddha proclaimed it would bring ruin to Buddhism earlier by tens of thousands of years.)

Most idiots, both men and women alike, who want to think themselves modern or sophisticated, are really just superficial and unnatural—which, in the classical sense, is the basis of wrongness. Modern feminism, dei etc is clownpaint that smears the best of industry, culture and legislation, and hurts those it proclaims to protect the most in longrun, by ignorance. Instead of being truly independent, you know, like conscientious human beings who weigh the right action to god or to their neighbor at every instance, they choose sweeping indoctrinations like mindless chattel or puppets. They say Eve was made from a rib of man; does that not mean she is made to guard and protect the heart and hearth, instead of acting the prick to it? I know saying such things today is wildly unpopular but, more importantly, it is not my inclination to antagonize any person or party… whatever these people wish to prove, they have succeeded. Let us simply concede each to meet karma and circumstances exactly commensurate to the substance and deliberation of their own actions. My chili may not bring all the girls, soft-serves or smooth-brains to the yard, but in its quest may it at least warm my heart and keep my spirit young, even if my body should perish and crumble.

—-sandwich 003—breakfast burrito. Once upon a time, there lived a respected Egyptologist (lol) who was digging around the pyramids and the sphinx, trying to uncover how chili made these early architectural feats of wonder possible. He grew hungry and began digging into a breakfast burrito instead—you know, with eggs, beans, avocado, pickled onions, tomato relish and maybe some cheese or sausage and ham when, all of a sudden, he spilled some chili from his breakfast mug (because why not) unto his burrito… “Burrito, with chili inside?… that’s almost too good to be true.” And it was. Because the secret service got wind of it, decided that such invention would disrupt too many food industries, ruin too many restaurants, upset the balance of world’s structures of food too much (are we still using ‘food pyramids?’) that they poisoned the poor Egyptologist that very night, burned all his research, filed all burritos under the misleading inventory of sandwiches and, for good measure, discredited all Egyptologists for rest of eternity so that this secret will never surface or be taken seriously ever again. The end.

[dinaive]

The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought (1992)

by Sachiko Murata

The Feminist Critique of Islam

This is not the place to review the feminist critique of Islamic society and thought found in the writings of many contemporary authors, since I am not concerned directly with the same issues. But I would like to make as explicit as possible why I think that the present book has something to say to this critique.

It seems to me that feminists who have criticized various aspects of Islam or Islamic society base their positions upon a worldview radically alien to the Islamic worldview. Their critique typically takes a moral stance. They ask for reform, whether explicitly or implicitly. The reform they have in view is of the standard modern Western type. Among other things, this means that there is an abstract ideal, thought up by us or by our leader, which has to be imposed by overthrowing the old order. This reform is of the same lineage as the Western imperialism that originally appeared in the East as Christian missionary activity. The white man's burden gradually expanded its horizons__or reduced them, depending on how you look at it. Salvation was no longer touted as present in Christianity, but in science and progress. The "orientalist" perspective fits nicely, as many scholars have shown, into this blatantly triumphalistic approach to non-Western societies. Here we have the masculine impulse toward domination run wild, with catastrophic results for the world. Remember that unbridled technological expansion with its concordant ecological ills__the rape of the earth__grew up directly out of this same impulse.

Many other reformist currents in Western thought have been infused with the same will to do good for others, even if the others do not realize that good is being done for them. Certain forms of feminism seem to fit into the same line of thinking. We see new variants on the old, domineering, and negatively masculine attitude known as proselytism. In the Islamic world__or, in the Japanese world, for that matter__its appeal has been heard only by those who have lost touch with their own intellectual and spiritual universe. The spokespeople for the movement tell us that the rest will follow, as soon as their consciousness is raised. But here we certainly cannot be blamed for asking how we can tell the difference between up and down.

It is precisely at this point__in discerning the difference between up and down, right and left, backward and forward, good and evil__that Islam has the right and even the duty to call its own intellectual authorities to witness. And those of us living in the West and concerned with the issues have the duty to ask the right questions. For these are profound issues, having the most intimate bearing on what it means to be human. And that is the fundamental concern of the Islamic tradition: What is a human being? Once that is established, we can ask why there are two basic kinds of human being, male and female, and how the two interrelate. At this point, we have the right to ask if the mode of their interrelationship in any given situation is a correct one. And most importantly, we have to ask about the normative principles in terms of which we can judge the correctness of the relationship.

[stackthedeck]

if you created your own original superhero story, what tropes and dynamics would it to have?

Oh, anon this ask is a gift! I said a couple months ago on TikTok that I want to write shitty romance novels, just shelves full of my paperbacks in the back of book stores and libraries. I want to churn out a pulp novel every six months with oil painting covers with impossibly perfect people in ridiculous poses, that kind of shitty romance novel. I can explain why, but I guarantee that superheroes will be the next prominent subgenre of romance novels within a decade or two. Basically what I'm saying is that when I do publish my own stuff, it'll be in a novel format, not a comic because I can't draw or work collaboratively although marvel if you need a token lesbian writer next June, call me I've got some ideas.

Okay, so I've got two halfway fleshed-out concepts. 1. the Catwoman archetype. 2. street hero v government-sanctioned hero.

Okay, so you have the Catwoman archetype. The femme fatale in leather doing crime, but nothing that hurts people only property. She's always slim, sexy, femme, and bi but rarely has lasting relationships with women and never dates women that aren't also slim, sexy, and femme. Examples include Catwoman (dud), Black Cat, Poison Ivy, Mystique, etc. She's doing crime because of sympathetic backstory and motivation and the right dick persuades her to the good side, but she's always back to her old tricks and women while she's at it. This is a harmful way to portray bi women and is only there for male titillation. I hate it despite the fact that I love these characters.

So how would I do it? So how I envision this trope is from the perspective of the Catwoman. This gives her more humanity, the audience can see her sympathetic backstory and motivation from her perspective, we get to see her outside the leather suit, we see her revel in crime and in her own skill, see her choose to manipulate men with her body and laugh when they fall for it, choose to not manipulate men and earnestly fall in love with them and be crushed when they assume she's just using them, see her get used by men because this is what she's been told she's good for. I want a Catwoman that is jaded and the charm is all fake. And I want a butch superhero to fall in love with her. Like seriously I could name twenty sapphic comic characters and not a single one is butch (like they got so close with the cw batwoman). When I say butch, I don't just mean masc, I mean butch. Sure her hair is short and she dresses in men's clothing and she's got a sensible pair of combat boots, but she acts butch. Being butch isn't just about style, it's behaviors, it's anticipating your partner's needs, being chivalrous, and flirting gently in a way that constantly ensures she's into you and your whole thing. It's masculinity that is built for feminity. Like if you're butch, you get it

okay, so we have the catwoman and the hero. The hero needs the catwoman for a job, stealing something from the bad guys to save the world or something, and at first, the hero is hesitant. she's heard bad things about the cat, she's not trustworthy, and she'll betray you for the money in a heartbeat, but the hero is desperate so she asks the cat for help. the cat doesn't trust the hero, she's seen a million heroes and they all want her for her skills and her body but they don't respect her, but whatever she'll betray this one for the money as soon as the moment is right. The hero is new to the super thing, still wide-eyed, earnest, and far too serious. The cat makes some quip that makes it seem like she doesn't want the job and the hero immediately is like okay I'll find someone else and the cat is like I'm just joking obvi and the hero is like well I don't want to pressure you into anything you don't want to do. and the cat is like huh that's new. while preparing for the heist, they get closer. Cat likes that the hero doesn't try to make a pass at her, that she sees her as more than a pretty face and clever hands. The hero respects her, even if she doesn't agree with her methods, but she doesn't treat her like an object or a tool like other heroes. She doesn't try to get the cat to join the good guys, but leaves the door open anyway because there's always time to change. The hero recognizes that the leather catsuit is a performance and she can respect that, her super suit is the same performance, her men's shirts are the same as the cat's full face of make-up. They're different kinds of armor, but armor nonetheless. They do the heist and fall in love, maybe they have the third act break down about what cat does with the money. but once they are together, cat doesn't change. Both she and the hero are criminals, who is the hero to challenge her for breaking the law? But as the hero grows closer to cat, she sees that the money is to support her family, her community, etc. They're both people going outside the law because the law was not built for them or their people.

so yeah, I want a deconstruction of the Catwoman femme fatale but I also want it to be a butch4femme romance

okay, vigilante v government soldier superheroes. So comics do this a lot and I hate it because the government heroes are always framed as the right ones in the narrative unless the government is evil and you know it's evil because idk lex luther runs it and I just think it's boring and doesn't ask the right questions. Comics have always been a tool of propaganda, but after the United States entered WWII, they stopped questioning the government, at least not in a radical way. I would love to see a street-level hero that hates the police and fights against them. And you might be thinking isn't that the punisher or any corrupt cop storyline? And yeah, but that is tied up in an honor code system of justice and the idea of police reform. I want a hero that is seeking restorative justice. Technically Matt Murdock is this, but he still believes in the prison system so it's still retributive justice. Like seriously for a guy that is interested in the law and the deeper philosophy, he never stops to ask if prison and redemption are the same things. I want a street-level hero that knows that the police don't protect them and their community, the police are just guards of private property. I want a superhero that doesn't kill and doesn't turn people into the police, but seeks to solve crime at its source, not just punish the people that do it. I want a hero that understands why crime happens because people are desperate and they have to do something. I want the vigilante to come into conflict with the government soldier and the soldier to realize that they don't know how to make things better because they don't understand the people.

but like I said, pulp romance. I love the dynamic of normal guy x superhuman. I love the way the superhuman gets so protective of the non-powered one because they're so fragile. Love that the non-powered one is filled with so much spite and compassion that they simply have to be a hero no matter how much of their own blood they spill. Okay so, vigilante is the non-powered one, just some poor kid with some fighting skills and maybe a few homemade gadgets. government soldier has superpowers, got them through experimentation or something. They both want to do good and they both come from poor backgrounds. Vigilante sees that the system was not built for them and decides to work against it, super soldier thinks they can change it from within. super soldier is sent to handle the vigilante because the government has deemed them a threat because they're beating up cops and stealing shit. Super soldier gets to the city, tries to take down the vigilante, fails (obviously) eventually comes to the conclusion that the vigilante has skills so they try to recruit them to the government's side, fails (obviously). Eventually, super soldier tries to handle crime in the city and the vigilante regularly stops them from stopping crime. and the super soldier is like "there's good in you, why are you protecting these low lives?" and vigilante is like "they're not low lives dumbass, they're trying to pay for insulin, please don't punch them out." Vigilante starts using the super soldier to help them fight crime because god fucking damn it, they just won't leave. They're kinda friends?? coworkers with begrudging respect is the better word for it. And they sleep together because again, pulp romance. As they hang out more, they exchange tragic backstories and world views slowly over time. super soldier is from a poor rural area, they needed a way out, a way to provide for their family so they volunteered for the super soldier program (yes this is a metaphor for how the military preys on poverty). Vigilante shows super soldier the lives of people in the city, how everyone is just doing what they can to get by, and that those in power use the police to keep their wealth to themselves and that is by design. Super soldier gets kinda defensive about this, "well, I'm employed by those in power. Surely it's just the bad ones that are hurting people." and vigilante is like "sorry dude, you're just a mega cop. remember how you were sent here to deal with me even though you know I'm good? Yeah, that's because I'm a threat to their vision of power, a threat to their private property." and super soldier is like, huh. Eventually, super soldier leaves or challenges the government, and only then is the vigilante interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with them, only then do they consider calling them a hero. In this story, I'd also want to have more superheroes/vigilantes running around aside from the leads. Like with non-government heroes, there's this lone wolf/bad boy that doesn't play by anyone's rules thing. That's not what I'm advocating for, the main character vigilante gets their power, their sense of authority, their heroism from the people, and the fact that they are serving their community. They seek to bring justice that heals, not punishes. Like there could be another vigilante that is going too far and the people of the city reject them, and fights them their own way. MC vigilante gets help from the people (see spider-man train scene).

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. I kinda hate how Hades has only had 2 relationships before Persephone and one being his brother’s brother and the other being toxic on both ends. I sorta wish Leuce was in there as like an ex with no drama like the two just didnt work out or something chill (break ups are hard but there’s less dramatic break ups). Idk I just feel like a little internal conflict like that would have some spice to the story but also make me root for the couple a bit more.

Going deeper into it, as a reader we know Minthe as his evil gf whose never gonna work out and Hera and Hades are toxic secret affair, but what if Hades did have a functional relationship with someone who wasn’t toxic but they didn’t work out and she didn’t want to stay in the underworld/be queen. I just feel like that would add a complex layer to the story, not making it all black and white.

With Persephone having more dating experience it’s kinda hard because everyone wants her BUT they aren’t allowed to date her to keep her pure/her mother would kill them/TOGEM. But if RS ever wrote more Persphone and Hermes I’d just want them together like forget hades. 

2. Ive seen some LO fans say "NOW the actual myth will begin" and it's like??? Wasn't that already done in the first three episodes? Why would you RESTART IT? More so, it is objectively awful writing to publish nearly every week for FOUR YEARS to actually get to the main point of the story, which even then will probably take month at best to even start. This is just such a train-wreck in terms of planning, writing, development, and even basic story creation yet the fan will insist it's genius!

3. What I find so aggravating about LO and its fans is they are convinced it's the most unique, groundbreaking work ever, when it's anything but that. Modern settings, Technicolor skintones, "humanizing" the gods, etc have all been a Thing for decades, sometimes even centuries before LO even existed. Even the idea it "deals with heavy topics' is false since the original myths already did so and didn't treat it as haphazardly like Rachel does. They want it to be anything but what it really is.

4. I see so many of the fans excuse Rachel making it just modern NYC as "it's a fictional world so she can do what she wants"  begs the question: do they think Ancient Greece is a fantasy land that never existed? It very much did, and had cultural and social differences from modern day. Even modern Greece is different from America. She does't even try to keep any of it intact despite it being set in that exact time and place. At some point we have to admit the "Greek" part is lip service at best.

5. the "anti" community for LO is overwhelmingly queer, BIPOC women and NBs who used to like the series who where in turn forced out of the fandom because of the almost entirely cishet, white fanbase who refused to even court the idea of differing opinions. The idea all of us marginalized people are "oppressing" a privileged white woman and her entitled fanbase because we critique how she' butchered countless real issue and a real country's stories for her white "feminism" fantasy is laughable.

6. i do not get why all the new book covers we're getting for lo are so boring?? like at least the first normal cover was visually grabbing (even if just lie about what the comic is actually about and has some questionable symbolism in it) but the newer ones are so boring. they don't even have backgrounds now and the logo is so randomly placed and I don't get why. they have book cover artists on staff surely they could help her do it? or work off her sketches and make something better?

7. rachel retweeting a single old picture from cyprus: see! i can about greece! anyway let's ignore that while I retweet 20 pictures in a row about how eris is literally an apple and how hades just needs so many babies RIGHT NOW.

8. rachel spends more time posting about her nails on twitter than even bothering to retweet even one post from her co-workers to give them a needed promo to her massive audience. it's just off putting to me how every other webtoons creators minus her, mongie, and snailords will do anything to support and promo each other while they refuse to do the bare minimum even as the webtoon company bends over backwards to make sure they get them everything they want while ignoring the rest.

9. Even ignoring the issues Rachel added into the story for her own weird reasons, how naive are her and her fans to think whitewashing and romanticizing perhaps the most infamous of all Greek myths into an idealized romance aimed towards pre-teens at the youngest wouldn't come with built in criticism? Like there's a reason the myth is so hotly debated, and it's not because of "misogyny", it's because of how misogyny is used to demonize a mother for the sake of a romanticizing a male abuser..

10. I love how LO fans say "hera only cheated with one person! so that's different from zeus's many affairs!" like no it's not lmao. a person who killed one person and serial killer both get life in prison regardless of how many victims they have. rachel also seems to be implying hera is having an emotional affair with echo which by her own in comic logic is just as bad as a physical affair, so wouldn't that be at least two people? regardless two wrongs do not make a right, hera is also bad here.

[n1kolaiz]

"You want to know what death is? I'll tell you. Death is the loss of life. Despite everything doctors like me attempt... a patient's life can still fall through our fingers. You think death lies in the apex of science? Anyone with such little regard for life will die by my hand."

Character Analysis: Yosano Akiko

Age: 25 || Ability: Thou Shalt Not Die

BSD CHAPTER CHAPTER 65-66 SPOILERS

table of contents:

1. Author counterpart.

2. Yosano's history.

3. 'Angel of Death' defined.

4. Yosano and Atsushi.

YOSANO BRAINROT!*(#&!*@#($

1. Author counterpart.

Having been given the “Sho Ho” at birth, Yosano Akiko’s counterpart—the real-life author—was known for her zealous take on both feminism and pacifism.

Side note: Once again, to avoid confusion, I will use the name Sho Ho in reference to the real-life author, and Yosano in reference to the BSD character.

Sho Ho's writings were pretty much out-of-the-ordinary in her time, and despite being suppressed by the social norms of gender hierarchy, she sought to reform society’s view on the cultural perspectives of women and their sexuality (She expressed her love for a woman in one of her poems, but many still argued on whether she identified herself as queer or not.)

"Thou Shalt Not Die," Yosano's ability, is actually named after one of Sho Ho's most famous, controversial poems. She wrote it for her brother, who was a soldier in the war between Russia and Japan (1904-1905). In her poem, she expressed her general distaste for war and how her brother was a part of it.

O my young brother, I cry for you Don't you understand you must not die! You who were born the last of all Command a special store of parents' love

Would parents place a blade in children's hands

Teaching them to murder other men Teaching them to kill and then to die? Have you so learned and grown to twenty-four?

- excerpt from Sho Ho's poem, "Kimi Shinitamou Koto Nakare"

Her words were blunt enough to inflict guilt on her brother's conscience, as she wasn't afraid to express her disapproval over how her brother took part in the typical violent bloodshed and manslaughter of war. Such opinions perturbed the authorities, and her work was eventually banned from the public for a period of time. Later on, it was used as an anti-war statement.

2. Yosano's history.

Now, as for the character in BSD, Yosano is seen to be generally strong-willed, and later on, we see that she is terrifyingly compassionately ambitious in the way she treats her patients. She treasured life itself, and hated the thought of losing a patient.

Yosano had developed her relations with Mori Ougai back in the Great War, when she was just 11 years old. Her ability was a great benefactor in saving lives. Realistically speaking, she was used for her ability to heal injured soldiers and diminish the effect of any casualty acquired.

Initially, she wasn't aware of this, until one of her close friends pointed it out by subtly accusing Mori of manipulating her to participate in the War under the close-to false pretence of 'saving lives.'

As much as her ability did save lives, it also forced soldiers to return to the frontlines and suffer injuries over and over again. The soldiers were never given the opportunity to return to their families because of her ability. This obliged them to carry on in the war without any excuse, inserting them into a vicious cycle they had no escape out of.

Metaphorically speaking, Yosano's hatred for Mori sort of mirrors Sho Ho's disdain for war and fighting, don't you think? The way Kafka materialised Yosano's past was quite interesting because he used chapters 65 and 66 to explain Yosano's dislike for Mori, reflecting how Sho Ho used her poem to explain why she condemned the idea of war and how her brother was part of it.

Before the effect of her ability was fully understood, however, every soldier praised and thanked her for what an angel she was. One of the soldiers she had befriended and gotten close to even kept a tally of the number of times she had saved him. He was the one who gifted her the butterfly hairpin she wore all the time.

The weight of the truth that her ability was a curse rather than a blessing fully dawned on her when her soldier friend ultimately committed suicide, because the fact of being indefinitely trapped in the throes of war agonised him until his spirit gave out. This drove Yosano to loathe her ability, or rather, how it was used.

In the time she participated in the War, Yosano was given the alias 'angel of death' due to the control she retained over the battlefield, but I thought that perhaps Kafka had a reason behind giving her this title, so I did my research.

3. 'Angel of Death' defined.

Side note: I wouldn't want to disrespect any culture or religion, so if my citations are inaccurate and/or disrespectful, do feel free to correct me/let me know! I did research out of pure curiosity, and I don't intend to twist the significance of any of the interpretations.

I had to grow up learning about the basics of religious stuff, so it's kind of nice to study something out of the box, and very much against my father's rigid belief system :D

ARCHANGEL ARIEL

(archangel: an angel of higher rank)

I came across the few characteristics of angels/goddesses and their roles, and the one which really caught my attention was the female archangel, Ariel, the angel of nature.

[ source ]

In Hebrew, the name Ariel means 'altar' or 'lioness of God,' and her role is to heal. In addition to that, she is also recognised as a helper to another one of the seven main archangels, Raphael, whose role is to provide physical and emotional healing, too.

She is the protecter of the environment and the animals therein, and is bestowed with the duty to oversee the order of heavenly bodies as well as earth's natural resources. She assures the sustenance of food, water, shelter, and supplies of human beings, much like how a nurse is to a patient I suppose.

In relation to Yosano, I think this part is pretty self-explanatory, or perhaps this is blown out of proportion HA, so take this as a suggestion rather than a fact, because I'd like to believe that Kafka had a reason for giving Yosano a title as such.

In the past, I've come across the angel of death only to perceive it as a female grim reaper of some sort, so it was pretty cool to find that the word 'angel' and 'death' made up a title of a someone like Ariel, one of the purest forms of humility and compassion.

GREEK GODDESS PANAKEIA

For my beloved (wannabe/or not) students of Greek mythology (much like myself, let's make a cult!), you've probably heard of Panakeia, the goddess of healing. Medicine finds most of its vital significance in Greek history, and in its mythology, Panakeia is actually known for her ability to heal any kind of sickness.

[ source ]

Her name means 'panacea,' which is actually defined as a remedy for all diseases. Terminal diseases and injuries lead to death, right? This would bring us back to Yosano's ability to nullify any injury's effects on a person, keeping them from death itself.

Now, we know that in order for Yosano's ability to work, her patient, or victim, has to be in a near-death condition in order for her treatment to take effect. This can't exactly fit into the description of resurrection, but it can be described as some sort of rebirth.

GREEK GODDESS PERSEPHONE

So another goddess which reminds me of Sho Ho/Yosano, is Persephone, the goddess of spring and rebirth. Before Hades, the god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone to take her to live with him, Persephone lived a happy life.

Hades, with his nature of darkness and the like, was captivated by how pure Persephone was, and stole her away from her former life to live in an environment which differed sharply from her natural aura of purity.

[ source ]

Remember when Yosano's friend left a note behind before he killed himself? The note said nothing except for, "You are too righteous." Take that as you will, but figuratively speaking, you could say Mori takes the role of Hades in the story, while Yosano can be portrayed as Persephone.

Sho Ho can also be a parallel of Persephone, in that she had to adapt to the realities of war and disharmony, while Persephone had to adapt to the raw darkness of the underworld with Hades.

Sho Ho stood against society's norms and decided to reform it, making her one of the most well-known feministic pacifist in history, while Persephone managed to escape from the underworld to return to her former position, earning the title the 'Bringer of Life,' or the 'Destroyer of Death.'

Furthermore, the way Sho Ho's anti-war poem took its effect later on, reflects the way Persephone restored balance in the world after returning from the underworld.

4. Yosano and Atsushi.

chapter 66; Yosano: "It's my fault that those close to me died... Is there some place where it's okay for me to live?"

chapter 8; Atsushi: "If I have any chance of saving them all, of returning them home safely, would that mean it's okay for me to keep on living?"

I couldn't help but think of Dazai and Atsushi back when I was reading through these panels. Ranpo (my beloved), along with Fukuzawa, accepted Yosano as she was, despite how her ability was a cause of despair and misfortune.

Ranpo looked past her mistakes and the entirety of how dark her past was to welcome her into the Armed Detective Agency. Dazai, on the other hand, knew who Atsushi was and what his ability had made him do before anyone else, and still decided to provide a safe place for Atsushi to find his sense of belonging, journeying with him as he learned to use his ability properly.

For more info about Dazai and Atsushi's dynamic, you can check out the analysis I did for Dazai :D

Atsushi desired to save people to prove his right to live, while Yosano made her wish to achieve the recovery of all her patients the reason for her existence.

Others would prefer to accuse both Yosano and Atsushi of having a saviour complex, but the reason why they pursued to save people with utmost dedication, stems from the nature of what their past was like. You know the saying 'from broken to beautiful?' Yeah, it's something like that.

The way their pasts were written out gave them a desire to change, which was, I daresay, initiated by the people who took them in: Ranpo and Dazai. Their abilities were demonised because of how they were used, but once they broke from their abilities' effect over their lives, they honed their skills to control them for the right cause instead.

In a less cynical point of view, I believe both Yosano and Atsushi stood for what was right, and wanted nothing but to achieve peace and harmony in whatever way they could, even if it meant risking their own lives to save others.

So yeah, that's it for my rants today. Thank you for reading, and if you have anything to add, go ahead! I'm open to discussions ;)

[bumblee-stumblee]

Men are petty, backstabbing, man hating and overly dramatic on their own, they didn't lift these behaviors from anyone. These traits aren't specific to any one sex. That you would associate these traits to women only is sexist and misogynistic. If you're thinking that men simply do not participate in being petty, back stabbing, man-hating, and overly dramatic that's because you seem to view those actions as normal when men do them and objectionable when women do them.

>people who I deem unfuckable aren't people and don't deserve basic human rights.

Male socialization moment. This is literally the only way males see any movement. This isn't anything that radfems would believe or say, trying to frame it as such is just absolutely male of you.

The only way I can see how you came to that conclusion outside of male moment is the fact that radfem lesbians and many other lesbians outside of radical feminism have said that they don't want to have sex with transgendered individuals as negating their basic human rights. Which is just absolutely fucking wild. Disgusting even. You're so porn brain that you can only think in these terms.

Women saying they don't want men in their sex segregated spaces isn't negating these men of basic human rights, you fucking weirdo.

And yeah, men are more likely to commit crimes, that's not because society and culture as a whole believe women can do no wrong, cos women are more likely to get convicted of non violent crimes and be incarcerated of them because that's stepping out of line and they must be punished, Men are more likely to commit violent crimes against both women and men and that's where the 90 comes from, not because you think women just get thought of as innocent beings incapable of committing a crime worldwide.

Also men being stronger than women on average and then you attempting to use the exception against the rule is pretty funny. Most women aren't Olympic female deadlifters, and 5 year old boys aren't men. But a grown man claiming to be a woman in a sex segregated space is more likely to be stronger than the women in the same space.

But if you want to use real world examples there's always Fallon Fox and Tamika Brent

Or maybe we can post about women feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable in a space that was meant to be for them and suddenly find a man there.

So it's not just a strength thing.

We shouldn't have to accommodate men's desires to act out their fantasies and disrupt our(womens) spaces. We have reasonable expectations of our sex segregated spaces, man or transwomen as you want to call them have no right to feel as though they are owed these spaces, they have no right to feel entitled to the women's bathroom or changing area.

Ah yes, JK Rowling and Chaya Raichik somehow have pull with Egyptian authorities. It's not like Egypt is known as an extremely homophobic country.

Yes, clearly Jk Rowling and Libs of Tiktok Chaya Raichik are to blame for this.

[nevermindirah]

Dorothy Freeman facts

By facts I of course mean headcanons, because Nile's mom doesn't get a first name in canon (or even confirmation that her last name is Freeman). All we know about her is the picture on Nile's phone lock screen (which is Kiki Layne's real-life mom and brother!) and a few lines that Nile tells Andy about her. I’ve been collecting my Dorothy headcanons for a while now to eventually make a post, and @mprosperossprite​‘s excellent post giving non-Americans context for what it means that Nile is from the South Side of Chicago prompted me to go ahead and share this. Disclaimer that I’m white and I will absolutely make corrections if it’s pointed out that I’ve caused harm with any of this.

So here have some fun facts about the version of Mama Freeman who lives in my head rent-free:

Her family and growing up:

she was born in the mid-'60s and named after Dorothy Dandridge

I can’t decide whether she was born in Chicago or moved there later on (maybe with Nile’s dad?) and when in the waves of the Great Migration her family left the South

she came of age in the "post"-Civil Rights movement and went to college in the mid-80s when a lot of what are now the foundational classics of Black feminism were being written

she was a young adult when Anita Hill risked so much to report that a Supreme Court nominee had sexually harassed her, and as a result she HATES Joe Biden

Marriage and babies:

she met Nile's father — I can’t decide how they met and I have two competing headcanons for his name, either Gideon for the hefty Biblical masculinity vibes (Giddy for short among family, that man loved to laugh) or Carl, which started out as a shitty Carl’s Jr burger chain joke that turns out to be perfect (it means free man!), and @knoepfchen​ used it in the sequel to if you do take a thief where Carl is alive!! — and Dorothy was a little skeptical of his near-religious devotion to the military but he was really hot and really devoted to her and they made it work

she's a little pissed that she was right but it's unbearable if she thinks about it too often

it's going to be a long, long time before she can look back on pictures of Baby Nile stomping around the house in her dad's combat boots (this is a Gina Prince Bythewood headcanon, whyyyyyyyy can I not find a link to where she said this)

she named their second baby Indus, Indy for short (this is nearly as established fanon in Book of Nile circles as how much Booker loves eating pussy, and Indy Freeman as a young adult is portrayed by either Aldis Hodge or John Boyega I don’t make the rules)

Work:

Dorothy did some office jobs but nothing really grabbed her, and she was probably gonna have to move for her husband's career, so she decided on teaching — high school humanities

she’s been active in CTU (one of the strongest teacher’s unions in the US) her whole career and one year she was on the bargaining committee and her babies know damn well never to trust a boss, not even one who says all the right things — if she ever finds out the way Nile said "like Quynh?" when Andy promised to protect her, she will lose her mind with pride

(Nile was 18 and freshly graduated from high school in 2012 when CTU went on strike for the first time in a generation and she brought her mom snacks on the picket line)

one of her very favorite things is getting her students to laugh despite themselves at her "oh my GOD you're so EMBARRASSING" old-people jokes

she's one of those teachers who can get 30+ teenagers to go dead silent with judicious application of body language

she's known to occasionally go easy on grading subjective things like essays when she knows students are having a particularly rough time at home, but the second she gets the feeling they're taking advantage and not trying their best that shit is over and they better mind their Ps & Qs

she's the kind of person who says old-people shit like that

she gives her students assignments like "help 5 neighbors register to vote" and "write a compare/contrast table about the candidates in this local election" and "research 5 different ways you could get grant money to do X" and other practical civic-minded shit

standardized testing is her supervillain origin story, just kidding it’s Rahm Emanuel, why the fuck did Obama trust that asshole

After her husband died:

she would have lost her goddamn mind if it weren't for her church friends after her husband died, people from the church raised money so they could make ends meet while his pension paperwork was taking forever, church friends watched Indy so Nile could go out for the soccer team, etc etc

she sold her and her late husband's house and moved to a 3-bedroom co-op unit when Nile started high school, it's more affordable and it meant she didn't have to worry about household repairs in the same way, she can use a wrench if she needs to but she doesn't have time and it just makes her grief flare up (co-op housing has a long history in Chicago and other US cities (like Washington DC where I live) as a way for Black people to access decent, affordable housing in the face of entrenched discrimination)

the move meant putting a longer commute between her and church, but she didn't even bother looking for a church closer to their new home, she loaded the kids into the car on the weekends, parking is hell in their new neighborhood but it's worth giving up a hard-won parking spot to not have to wait so long for the L on Sunday mornings

Indy lived with her through college and he was gearing up to get his own place when Nile died, Dorothy was planning to move into a one-bedroom in the co-op building because she doesn't need so much space anymore, Indy took a day off from his new job (not so new anymore, her baby's so grown!) to help her sort things to donate when those dress-uniform Marines came to their door

part of her wishes she could've been home more and not had to rely on Nile so much for help with Indy, but he's turned out such a kind young man, and he's a much better cook than his sister is (was, oh God — no wait, is! she’s alive! what do you mean you’ve been alive all this time??)

some of the girls from church are encouraging her to check out this social dancing thing, nobody's pressuring her to date but there's definitely been some ribbing, and with Indy out of the house... maybe? probably not, but maybe

Her feelings and beliefs and likes and dislikes:

she's an absolute badass and also she's a soft human woman with lots of feelings

she's very, very traditional in some ways, and part of her mixed feelings about Nile following in her dad's footsteps is gender stuff, she's proud of her daughter and would never stand in the way of what Nile wants to do with her life, and if Nile came home and told her she's a lesbian she would never reject her, but if Nile came home and told her she's bisexual maybe she can just try focusing on men? “I love you sweetheart and I want you to be happy I just know how hard it is already for us in this world” type shit

she has been on team natural hair basically her entire life and one of the worst fights she and Nile ever had was over Nile wanting to straighten her hair as a pre-teen

Indy takes more after her and Nile takes more after their dad, she's so proud of both of them, but Dorothy's activism was mostly wearing her natural hair to work and daring bosses to give her shit, Indy's out there marching in the streets like her parents had and she WORRIES

she teases Indy for going to so many protests like he's using it as an excuse to meet girls, but she WORRIES

when she turns 60, she gets box braids with streaks of dark purple, subtle enough that it's still work-appropriate but it makes her smile, she may be old now but damnit she’s still pretty!

she loves Grey's Anatomy and Star Trek and she watched Bridgerton all in one day

she has a dirty-old-lady celebrity crush on Chris Hemsworth

if she's ever masturbated thinking about Donna Summer, well, that's nobody's business but her own (do non-Americans know about the queen of disco??)

If you want to read fic featuring Dorothy:

I won't have to leave alone, 1000 words, Nile has a nightmare and decides to go tell her family she's immortal

I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore, 65k, Nile adjusts to immortality and does a lot of soul searching about what it means to "do what we think is right", Booker goes to grad school for trauma studies, the working title of this fic was Booker Reads Edward Said and Gloria Anzaldúa and Goes Down on Nile and the final product has an annotated bibliography in the author's notes if you’re into that kind of thing, a lot of my Dorothy Freeman headcanons were born of my process writing this

Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat, 2279 words, college AU, Nile brings her Jewish boyfriend home for Christmas

a contribution I made to Shitty Old Guard Deaths: (Booker, USA, 2025, cause of death: a mother’s righteous wrath)