#same term used for when Hitler took over

[imsobadatnicknames2]

sorry to bother you and please delete this if it's too obnoxious but can you explain what was going on in that last post with the "smol bean hitler" thing I have cognitive issues and definitely want to block at least one of the people involved but I don't really understand what's being said?

Okay I don't blame you for not understanding it because there's a lot of context there. I will do my best to give a rundown of the situation and explain everything to the best of my ability, but my account of the events might be incompelte because I really didn't witness everything.

A little over a week ago, tumblr user siwolism made a post about how she watches a lot of videos about korean fried chicken, and she had noticed a trend in the comments of these videos: a lot of those videos had comments from americans (mainly black americans) bragging about how the only reason why koreans have fried chicken is because african-american soldiers took the recipe to korea during the korean war. She said that as a korean she found these comments uncomfortable because for korean people the korean war was an extremely bloody conflict and korea hasn't still fully recovering from its effects, and americans displaying such pride about any of the things they did during the korean war is an appalling display of american chauvinism. And that the fact that black americans were displaying the same chauvinistic mindset that she would have expected from whtie americans showed that being black or any racial minority in america doesn't exempt anyone from the privileges of american imperialism or the chauvinism of defending it.

At some point I got involved by making a comment on the post, about how I found it silly that people were insulting op and tagging the post as "#tw antiblackness" when all she did was complain that it's downright evil for americans, regardless of race, to joke about the time the USA invaded korea so violently that 1 out of every 10 koreans got killed.

(I still stand by that, considering that the post didn't complain about black ppl in america in general, only about the ones that she saw acting in a specific chauvinistic way, and despite how much people have accused her since of "singling out" black americans as the main beneficiaries or defenders of american imperialism, the post went out of its way to make it clear that this was just a manifestation of a wider problem that applies to all americans regardless of race)

I also made another addition to the post about how i think many of the people making those comments were probably motivated by the way so many african-american inventions in the US have their roots erased once they become popular with non-black people, but that in my opinion they were failing to understand that, despite how superficially similar they may look, "a black american telling a white american that they should be thankful because black people invented jazz and rock" is a fundamentally different situation from "a black american telling a korean that they should be thankful because black people brought fried chicken to them during the war", because the power dynamics between these two countries and the history of the korean war fundamentally changes the situation.

These additions in particular picked up a lot of steam, which somewhat accelerated the post in question breaking containment.

Siwolism was accused of being antiblack for using the term "amerikkka" in her post. Your mileage may vary on that one, but regardless of your opinion I don't think it invalidates any of the things she said in the post.

She was accused of erasing the racism and oppression that black people face in the USA. She repeatedly clarified that she (like any serious anti-imperialist) recognizes that racial minorities in the imperial core face racism and oppression, but that their oppression in that axis doesn't erase the fact that living in the imperial core puts them in a position of privilege over people in the imperial periphery.

She was also accused of erasing anti-black racism in korea (which is a complete non-sequitur tbh, unless you're interpreting her post as "all black people oppress all korean people" and not "black people in america have the capacity to act in imperialistic ways toward people in other countries"). She clarified that she thinks racial discrimination in south korea is a serious issue, that she faces a great deal of it as a north korean immigrant of hui chinese descent, but that she obviously doesn't have it as bad as the discrimination black people face in korea. However, she said the situation of a black person from korea and a black person from america is not the same with relation to imperialism, and when a black soldier is stationed in one of the numerous american military bases in korea they don't face the same struggles as a korean black person because they're acting as part of an imperialist occupying force.

As the post broke containment, she faced increasing levels of harassment. She started getting anons calling her anti-asian slurs, particularly someone who called her an "antiblack gook bitch", "gook" being a slur extensively used by american soldiers to refer to koreans during the korean war.

(that might have been the same person who left me an anon calling me a "fucking antiblack beaner" in response to my additions to silowism's post but who knows)

She also had multiple anons telling her that they hoped she and all her friends got killed by the next american soldier they encountered, which is especially vile considering that american soliders stationed in military bases in south korea have a history of killing and commiting sexual violence against korean women and facing no consequences for it, to the point that the US government coerced the South Korean government into signing a treaty that prevents any US soldiers caught comitting such acts from being tried in a South Korean court.

At some point she psoted the following meme

This is a meme that has been used numerous times on this website to make fun fo the way how a post gets misinterpreted in increasingly ridiculous ways as it gets further away from your mutual circle. I think it's clear that none of the categories on the right are targeted specifically at black people, but instead at the people running with the worst possible interpretation of anything she said in her post (a lot of whom weren't even black americans, I think it's important to acknowledge that a lot of them were white americans who were pissed of that imperialism were being called out and decided to amplify the accusations of racism because it was a progressive-sounding way to shut down discussions of american imperialism). Still, a lot of people ran with the worst faith interpreation of it and started talking about how she "literally said all black people are illiterate chimpanzees"

She also, at some point, after days of continued harrassment, told one of the people harassing her to hang themselves. Again, people ran with the worst possible interpreation of it to talk about how "she's literally sending lynching theats to black people"

Eventually the harassment was so much that she deleted her blog.

Almost two weeks later people keep playing telephone with increasingly outlandish misinterpretations of the things she said, resulting in the tags you saw screenshotted on the post you're referring to, where someone accused her of "implying black people invented imperialism"

so yeah like I'm not going to tell you who to block or even to block anyone at all, but that's my attempt at catching you up to speed on what's going on in that post.

[eyeballtank]

I honestly think the current use of "Nazi" only undermines the actual atrocities of the Holocaust and WW2. Because at the end of the day, you're comparing actual horrors that affected people's lives to stupid culture wars and everyone going crazy. (Or worse, you're forgetting them) Like imagine someone saying they never got to meet their grandparents because they died in the 1940's and they're told "shut up, I had to put up with someone that disagreed with me on the computer". In fact, I except a Breadtuber to have a "mask off" moment where in a video he says "unfortunately, you hate Nazis the wrong way" or some shit like that. Because even people that are left leaning can still be labeled "Nazi" over specific opinions, since the word is used in a very black-and-white way. Even though the Nazis' actions do come from their politics and ideology, I feel like people need to remember other ideologies that also caused suffering and death, because of how they're established. (Looking at people who idolize Communism even though there's still people that were affected by it in recent times). Or even some historical context because there was always a time when Hitler wasn't thinking of hating Jews or when some people didn't know what would happen.

Basically, think of that time travel paradox of going back in time to kill Hitler: The Hitler before he became Hitler may be different enough that if you managed to kill him before he was Hitler, you didn't really kill Hitler... know what I'm saying? I know that HP Lovecraft thought "they just wanted to preserve their culture I guess" but felt disgusted hearing what happened later (Same guy that technically got less racist over time, whose cat got his name from his dad and only didn't change it because he felt it would be unfair to a cat). But Charlie Chaplin did dislike the Nazis and even got some people upset at him before he had a "I told you so" moment, sort of. (Again, research well what I'm bringing up). I'm also sure people will look up Miyazaki drawing fanart of a Nazi tank and I guess even meeting the guy that drove it, but not realize that his stance of Nazi villains in media correlates with his stance on Orcs in LOTR (Compare that to Extra Credit). What else can I mention? Azov Battalion? Kanye West? Israel? Stroheim from JoJo? We know Nazis are fun to have as villains in games and movies but the way how stuff lately makes a specific point of being "anti-Nazi" is goofy when you realize our current sociopolitical context.

(Specially with Millenials, who are noticed for being struggling adults, essentially getting into politics in a way that comes off as "TAKE ME SERIOUSLY I'M A GROWN UP"). Nazis have become historical characters to us and you're also giving too much credit to mister 1944BasedMAGAGroyper guys who talk about how anime is degenerate while making shitty comics with Wojaks, using AI art to replicate the "good Christian artworks" (Because they never took arts seriously, cuz I guess arts are a liberal thing to them) and maybe they do an "Anti-Woke" cover of a popular song.

And as for Musk, I do wonder if he did that salute just because he simply wanted to "own the woke for the lulz" without realizing it'd make him look worse than he already is. If nothing else, it distracted people from bringing other shit up like that photo of him with Ghislaine Maxwell or H-1B visa. He still has diehard cultist fans but I expect his stupidity to lead to more people turning against him. But I see people posting fictional characters beating up Hitler and it's not like you're doing this to respesct Holocaust victims or the Allies. It's because of a fat fuck in office who could probably die of a heart attack before he finishes his second term. Or maybe I've been exposed to too much Trump shit that part of me is like "heh, whatever" and forgetting how bad it can get. Perhaps it's the notion that most politicians have so much dirty laundry, it feels like people are going "we should've had this corrupt reptile instead" like dude, Trump was a buddy of Epstein and Biden's got a whole mess of a son. At that point, just bomb all of them, even the "lesser evil" ones.

Colonel Sanders gotta get it too (I honestly expect a point in 5 years where some people will go "uh yeah we always knew he was cringe" because nobody is honest or consistent anymore). But anyway, I see people bring up Superman and I'm like "are they aware of how most comic book companies used to screw up the creators of these characters?".

Years ago, we had Picasso coming up with Guernica or Orwell with 1984 and nowadays, some celebrity will post their brave opinion about Trump before checking how much they earned through NFT's.

At some point, John Oliver must've watched that Linkara bit on OneyPlays and feel jealous that Zach Hadel did a better Trump parody.

What else happened? The Netflix Castlevania "Apu, why do you sound like that?" guy likes Henry Kissinger?

[mariacallous]

(JTA) — France’s mainstream conservative party may join forces with the far right, shattering a decades-long political norm to shun a party with a history of antisemitism.

Eric Ciotti, president of the right-wing Republicans (known in French as Les Républicains), called for a country-wide alliance with the National Rally (or Rassemblement National) during a television appearance on France’s TF1 on Tuesday.

“We say the same things so let’s stop making up imagined opposition,” said Ciotti, becoming the first establishment leader in modern French politics to seek an alliance with the National Rally, led by three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

Ciotti said he hoped to hitch the increasingly “weak” Republicans to the success of the National Rally, which won a historic victory in the European Parliament elections on Sunday, scoring over 30% of the vote and crushing President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance. France’s results matched a surge of far-right parties across the continent, including gains in Italy and Germany.

In response to the defeat, Macron dissolved parliament and called a snap election for June 30 and July 7. But his gamble on stalling France’s lurch to the far-right may backfire: The National Rally has already been forecast to win the election.

In the past, France’s establishment parties have joined to block power from the anti-immigration, Eurosceptic National Rally, long known for its antisemitic roots. The party was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen’s father, as the National Front. Jean-Marie Le Pen, 95, has been repeatedly convicted of antisemitic hate speech, famously calling the Nazi gas chambers a mere “detail” of World War II and saying the Nazi occupation of France was not “particularly inhumane.”

Another founding member of the party was Pierre Bousequet, a former commander in the Nazi Party’s Waffen-SS.

Since Marine Le Pen took the helm in 2011, she has attempted to scrub the party’s past and win mainstream acceptance. She distanced herself from her father’s antisemitic rhetoric and expelled him from the party in 2015. Meanwhile, she has honed in on Muslims — who make up 11% of the French population — as a threat to the country.

But even as Marine Le Pen has publicly denounced antisemitism, her supporters still disproportionately harbor antisemitic attitudes, according to Nonna Mayer, a political scientist at Sciences Po university.

“Every time we do our surveys, we see that people who are voters or sympathizers of the National Rally are the most antisemitic of all, even though their first target is Arabs, Muslims, Maghrebis,” Mayer told RFI last year, using a term referring to people from North Africa.

Ciotti’s offer to unite with the far-right risks splitting his own party, as he was quickly rebuked by several high-ranking Republicans who demanded his resignation.

Olivier Marleix, the party’s leader in the lower house of parliament, said on X, “Eric Ciotti only speaks for himself. He must leave the presidency of the Republicans.”

Gérard Larcher, another Republican leader and president of the French Senate, also said that Ciotti “can no longer chair our movement and must resign.”

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin, a former Republican who left for Macron’s party, compared Ciotti’s announcement with the 1938 Munich Agreement — in which France, Britain and Italy attempted to appease Hitler by allowing Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia one year before the outbreak of World War II.

Ciotti “brings dishonor to the Gaullist family,” said Darmanin. He referenced the Republican party’s line of descent from a right-wing party founded by former President Charles de Gaulle after World War II, when de Gaulle fought against Nazi Germany and the Vichy collaborationist regime.

The Union of Jewish Students of France called a snap rally on Tuesday in response to Ciotti’s announcement. “Let’s be numerous. No to compromise,” the group tweeted before dozens of people demonstrated outside the Republicans headquarters, carrying signs that said, “De Gaulle is not Le Pen.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Chris McGreal at The Guardian:

Donald Trump has pledged to shield police officers from legal accountability if he is re-elected as president after falsely claiming the US is in the grip of a wave of violent crime that he blamed on the Black Lives Matter movement and people crossing the Mexican border.

Speaking to police officers in Michigan on Tuesday, the former president sought to pin responsibility for the imagined crisis on his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, whom he characterised as among “Marxist district attorneys” with a record of being anti-police and pro-criminal during her term as the district attorney in San Francisco in the 2000s.

At the same time, Trump lamented his own legal difficulties, including his criminal convictions for fraud in New York and other looming prosecutions. “They go after guys like me, but they don’t go after guys that kill people,” he said. Flanked by local sheriffs in Howell, a small city in greater Detroit where a group of white supremacists marched last month chanting “We love Hitler, we love Trump” and carrying signs reading “White Lives Matter”, Trump painted a picture of Americans living in fear of leaving their homes because of crime. “It’s just insane, but you can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped, you get … whatever it may be,” he said.

The former president claimed that this alleged crime wave materialised when Joe Biden and Harris took office. “Since Comrade Kamala Harris took office, her administration’s crime statistics show she’s presided over a 43% increase in violent crime. These are all government numbers,” he claimed. In fact, official statistics show that violent crime is at an almost 50-year low in the US. Nonetheless, Trump pledged to “crack down on local Marxist DAs who refuse to enforce the law” while, he said, ruining the lives of police officers for doing their jobs. “Over the past four years, the Marxist left has waged a vicious war on law enforcement in our country. They’ve taken away the dignity and the spirit and the life of some of these police officers, and that’s why you see it – the crime is so out of control in our country,” he claimed.

Trump said that the police “have a lot of difficulty with the laws of our land”. “We’re going to get rid of that difficulty, because they shouldn’t have difficulty, our police,” he said. Trump added: “We’re going to be guaranteeing immunities.” The former president accused Harris of a “pro-crime, anti-police record”. “She repeatedly endorsed defunding the police,” he said. “If she ever had a chance, she would do whatever she could to defund the police because that’s where her spirit is, that’s where her heart is, and we can’t have a president like that.”

In 2020, then senator Harris gave support to the “defund the police” movement in the wake of a white police officer’s murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Harris said at the time that it was right that BLM questioned the amount of money spent on “militarising” police departments at the expense of social services, housing and education.

[...] Trump blamed much of the imagined increase in crime on people crossing the Mexican border, for which he also blamed Harris as the supposed “border tsar”, even though immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than US citizens. He also claimed that some Latin American countries are exporting their criminals to the US.

See Also:

Daily Kos: Trump sinks deeper into hatred while Democrats unite in joy

[spiderlegsmusic]

The Benefit of Compromise for the Sake of Argument

For the sake of argument, let’s say both candidates for US president are monsters. One monster still is clearly much worse and poses more of a permanent threat than the other monster. The monster who stacked the court and took away a woman’s right to determine her own healthcare needs and who continues to try to remove access to birth control, and are going to operate in a state of retribution, and who worships Hitler and plans to destroy democracy in favor of a christofascist authoritarian autocracy is a worse monster than the monster complicit in Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinians.

The US has treaties with Israel with which we must comply, and it’s unfortunate they didn’t include a “genocidal” clause when we signed it. I’m opposed to what Israel’s govt is doing. I’m opposed to funding them. If by some miracle a 3rd party candidate became president, nothing would change. And that unlikely president would be called a monster too. Because they would have to comply with those existing treaties.

Treaties with Israel

https://www.state.govt/u-s-security-cooperation-with-israel/

https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-110publ429

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/14/the-jerusalem-u-s-israel-strategic-partnership-joint-declaration/

The “we’re already a Nazi regime” fallacy

There are those of you who think we are already an authoritarian dictatorship and that’s because you use extreme terminology to make your points and never bothered to look up the terms you misuse. 🤷‍♀️

But for the sake of argument, I once again point to the fact that of the two monsters, one is insidiously worse than the other one. And that it is so obviously worse, your inability to recognize that, preferring to generalize with “Biden is just as bad”, is mind numbingly baffling. It is blindness curable by merely opening your eyes

Here’s the disconnect I’m having with you both sides are the same kids (besides misusing terms and not being familiar with signed treaties): why do you think you can fight both monsters at the same time?

A War on Two Fronts

What about that says “winning path?” Ask Germany how successful they were fighting a war on two fronts (since history is not something you guys put much stock in, I’ll cut to the chase): they weren’t. Russia on one side and the European allies on the other side completely destroyed Germany.

Why don’t you ask the US govt during WWII? After all, we fought in two theaters of war too, right? Well, until 1944, one could argue we were losing ground in both campaigns. Japan kept us at bay for 3 years and Germany kicked us out of France. When Germany finally surrendered, that’s when we could aim the full might of the US military at Japan and the war ended soon after in 1945. Because it is much more effective to fight one monster at a time. There are countless examples throughout history to support this fact.

In the Revolutionary War (which lasted 10 miserable years), it wasn’t just the heroic fighting of the US forces that won. We had France as an ally and England couldn’t effectively fight us and France at the same time.

How about recently— the US fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time. Ask the 5+ veteran suicides every day how effective that war was.

One more example just for fun: in Westeros the allied army fought the worse monster first—the army of the dead—before fighting against Circe. It was the wiser move. If you lose to the dead, game over, you’re fucked no matter what. And Circe’s forces were no match for the heavily depleted allied army (it’s a fictional account based upon actual medieval strategy, minus the dragons)

We have to fight that worse monster first and then fight the other much less threatening monster once the more horrible monster is defeated. I don’t know why it’s not obvious or why it’s so difficult to understand. It’s the whole enemy of my enemy concept. Russia helped us defeat Hitler then became our Cold War enemy.

Help us defeat Trump and many of us will join in your effort to fight the littler monster, Biden. I know I will. I was a Bernie guy and hated how the democrats chose Biden in spite of the amount of delegates Bernie was amassing. I’m a goddamn leftist for fucks sakes. I have voted for 3rd party candidates in the past. I don’t just want a 3rd party, I want a fourth and fifth party. I want a coalition govt that has to compromise and accept concessions to govern. I’m never going to get what I want and I’m old. I see the futility of fighting the power since they have all the money and weapons of war. But I’m down with your your war if you’ll come over and help us fight the worse monster first.

All Who Would Rule Are Corrupt

Here’s something else I want to address to you idealists. To want political power, to desire rule at the top level as a king or president or chairman or prime minister—these are not noble desires. In other words, let’s say we manage to defeat both monsters…what then? Whoever you choose to rule is going to be the same kind of person Biden is, Trump is. Every candidate who has run for president has been. You don’t get a wide eyed pure hearted idealist at that level. Maybe in a very small country you could. But the days of Mandela are long gone thanks to the increasing number of billionaires.

There are no more idealists, everyone who would rule a country—our country—is corrupt to some degree. And it becomes a matter of the devil you know vs the devil you don’t know. Anarchy is only acceptable as a transitional phase between regimes change. It should be as short as possible. I have subscribed to and still favor some views of anarchosyndicalism. But overthrowing a govt with nothing to replace it with is maga stupid, and I have heard you guys waffle at which 3rd party to vote for—throw your vote away for. Wanting a change but having no plan for change is worse than voting for Biden and just as stupid as voting for Trump.

Don’t throw your vote away. Help us defeat the worse monster once and for all, and we will help you defeat the lesser monster. It’s the only logical action to take. But you better have a plan in place to replace that lesser monster before we fight it or the deal is off. No Jill Stein, either.

This is compromise. This is how you govern. Passion is fine if you want to die for your cause. But mindfulness is imperative if you want to live for your cause and see it succeed.

If you read this whole thing, cheers!

[doomalade]

I think you and I have a lot of the same opinions on Tai Yang. I can tell that the writers were going for a typical dad character who is not afraid to tell his daughter like it is, but he problem is that Tai is also a very boring character and the writers have a chronic case of foot in mouth syndrome.

Tai Yang has no empathy for Yang's disability and trauma because the writers have no empathy for Yang's disability and trauma. They say so in the volume 4 commentary when they call her PTSD recovery arc boring.

So Tai's general philosophy of "try to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible with absolutely no care for you learning to grieve in your own time and come to terms with it whenever you need to, up to and including taking a mobility aid that you've made it very clear you're not ready for"

It's also just really uncomfortable watching a group of able bodied men tell a disabled girl how she should feel about her own trauma that none of them actually care to emphasize with.

I definitely don't think Tai Yang is abusive, but I do think his treatment of Yang in volume 4 was very clearly not ok. And I lay the blame mainly on the writers for that because the writers are the reason most things in RWBY are bad.

Another thing I absolutely hated about Tai's "lessons" with Yang is how much of a prick he is to her about things that shouldn't matter.

No, it's not Yang's fault she lost her arm. What did you want her to do? Not immediately try to rescue her friend? Of course she jumped in without a plan! Blake was being stabbed right in front of her! She didn't have time!

No, Yang's semblance was not the issue, She actually uses it pretty sparingly because it's a great finishing move. In fact, collecting all of the damage you were given throughout a fight to then send it back at full force to completely incapacitate your opponent when the time is right, Is probably the best strategic use semblance I've ever seen in this show! Waiting until the last minute to unleash all of your power when your opponent has been tired out sufficiently, is already a good strategy!

And even if Yang was supposed to be learning to get better control of her temper, It failed miserably because now Yang's angry all the time She doesn't even have enough love in her heart to shine it on both her girlfriend and her sister when previously she loved with all the warmth of the sun.

It's just a super frustrating mess.

Ikr?

Like what was going through Tai’s mind in V4? Better question, what was going through the minds of the writers in V4?

RT wanted Tai to be the cool dad figure who cares deeply for his daughters, I mean look at how he’s shown in Chibi. But then you remember in the show proper that Tai grew emotionally distant after Summer, which is fine. People grieve in different ways, not all of them healthy to the people around us.

Yet you see that method of being emotionally distant and lacking empathy in V4. His daughter got her arm cut off? Why doesn’t she just get over herself already? Not to forget how hypocritical it is of him to say given that he seemingly took all of the time in the world grieving while Ruby was growing up.

Tai is a flawed character but the show doesn’t take it’s time exploring that or even admitting it’s a thing. Truly nothing is more RWBY than the writers shoving things down and hoping no one notices and if they do, they’re literally Hitler.

Tbh, I see why Raven left Tai.

[scottguy]

You will really wish you'd bothered when Trump uses the military to crush rebellion over the very people liberals support being taken to death camps. You going to feel smug about not voting then?

Are you truly SO NAIVE to think democracy will magically be granted to you despite allowing a madman to take complete power? Do you not understand that Trump will control 2 1/2 branches of government and Democrats will be powerless against a combined White House, a corrupt Supreme Court, and a 1/2 of Congress who are Republicans?

Despite his crimes Trump walks free. He has nothing to lose!

Was democracy granted to Germany just before Hitler started WWII? Germany required a war, and entire bloody continent-destroying war to get back to democracy.

You'd let that happen to your own country because your political ideals are unrealistic?

At that point you're not being "idealistic" and "high-minded." You're just being impractical, spoiled, and selfish. You're like the kid who, if he can't get his way takes the ball (your vote) and goes home.

We can't move in the right direction if we don't start SOMEWHERE. It took decades to get Republicans to where they country is now. We are not switching it back with a single presidency. We aren't getting money out of politics in one term. To do that we need VOTERS pressuring candidates. We will NOT make progress by letting the party that takes us backwards win (because the liberal nominee isn't "god enough" for you!) that now we have to make up lost ground like we're doing after 2016.

It's apathetic and protest voters who let Trump win. Great job. Yeah. You really showed Hillary. Now Americans everywhere are paying the price of the excessive idealism of voters in 2016. They all thought, "I don't need to vote. Trump will never win."

Now some doing the same again, "Don't worry. We can't EVER lose democracy. This is America!"

Yeah? We can't even put him in jail!

To anyone considering not voting because of the Palestinian genocide, I have this to ask:

How many Palestinian people do you think you're helping by laying back and inviting the GOP to crush you under foot? Self flagellation didn't cure The Plague, and it won't fix this situation either.

If you don't like the idea of voting for Harris, I doubt I'll be able to change your mind, but consider this: 468 congressional seats out of a total 535 are up for re-election THIS NOVEMBER. You want to make the government start actually representing the will of the people? Start there.

We're living in frightening times, and apathy is a very comfortable state of being, but you need to act. If you don't, who will?

[igottatho]

You're full of shit.

"Many Western Jews agree" you're going to be very heartbroken realizing that anti Zionist Jews are a loud minority. There's a reason why most Jewish institutions will never cut ties with Israel. This is our land; we got it back and you'll have to be a dumb cunt to think we are ever leaving it. You gentiles will have to RIP IT FROM OUR DEAD HANDS. Israeli history has been surviving despite all odds despite being cornered and despised by our neighbours. We are not going anywhere. You have no idea our love for Israel, our love for Zionism, you know nothing because you are a privileged outsider.

Additionally, most Jews will be considered Zionist because of the new definitions goyim have created...we believe that Israel has a right to exist and that dehumanizing Israelis is wrong and according to y'all, these are classic evil Zionist opinions which majority of us happen to have. Half of the world's Jewish population is there. A lot of us have connections to the land in so many ways. Our families are there.

Contrary to your antisemitic belief (Israelis are rich seriously? Anything with money and Jews is a trope cmon now) these are not rich people who can leave. If you knew anything at all, you'd know that a lot of Israeli Jews are Arab. They suffered greatly under Muslim rule and were forced one way or another to move to Israel. A Libyan Jew David Gerbi has constantly tried to return to his homeland but faces the threat of being lynched. He has sent people to help him out and those people were hurt because that's how powerful antisemitism is. You will cry upon realising the Arab world's support of Hitler :(

You keep repeating "It is not fault of Palestinians that their oppressors are Jewish". It is not the fault of Israelis that their oppressors happen to be Muslim. With your weird logic, Israeli Jews are justified in their Zionism because guess what. Christanity and Islam despite coming from Judaism actively oppresses Jews and has been oppressing us since forever. Fun fact a lot of Arab Jews (in and out of Israel) are more likely to be Zionist (hardcore Zionist btw) because of their experiences being oppressed by Arabs in their homelands (I say Arab Jews but it is rare to come across an "Arab Jew" who actually calls themselves that. They prefer the term mizrahi.) Fun fact when Israel was formed, mob violence exploded all over the Middle East where Arabs told Jews "go to Israel where you belong, we don't want you here". Now those same Arab Jews make up a large percentage of Israel, suddenly it's "get out of Palestine!!!!" ?

How come yall are always anonymous. It’s almost like you’re cowards or something.

If it’s not the fault of the Israelis that their attackers are Arabs, then why are the Palestinians collectively paying the price for other Arabic groups actions?

I don’t give a fuck of your love for the land, love it, live on it, etc, just stop pretending like you have a right to monopolize it, or oppress anyone else on it.

Yea I’m well aware that many American Christians are antisemitic. They get on TV and proselytize about the Holy Land and the coming of Jesus, and then talk the most disgusting shit about Jewish people comes out of their mouths. It’s akin to the hateful language I hear from Zionists.

Historically, there were pockets of mob violence, yea. That’s what happens in a power vacuum. So when Ottoman Empire fell, the British Mandate took over. Instead of being the competent middle man and treating Zionists equally with Arabs, British soldiers looked the other way for settler violence. Then when Britain left Mid-East, it gave weapons and money and training to all of those Zionists. Because it was useful for Antisemitic British people to send all of the Jewish people away from Europe. Particularly after the Shoah, when seeing any Jewish people afterwards made them so uncomfortable /s. As you may know, many of the Nazis didn’t just disappear, they got rolled into western society, because imperialism is always the same.

Again - live there. Do whatever you want, idgaf.

Stop acting like these little headless children in Gaza wanted to fucking kill you, so you killed them first. Any justification that Israel ever had (debatable tbh) is long gone, 200k people later, and hardly a hostage saved. Zionism is an evil ideology and has always been predicated on the antisemitic racism of Europe (and now US).

[huseyintr24]

Anti-Cult Terrorism: The Truth About the Fourth Reich

I am researching information about anti-cults from open sources. I aim to put all the information together and understand the global phenomenon of anti-cult and its followers:

I am trying to answer the question:

- What are their goals?

- What principles are at the heart of their activities?

- Who are the anti-cultists in essence?

As a result of my search, I found unique information about anti-cultists on the internet!

The IMPACT | Groundbreaking Documentary - EXPOSING ANTI-CULT TERRORISM (actfiles.org) 

This film reveals how the whole world is rolling into the abyss of a totalitarian regime, imposed on us all by anti-cult terrorists.

The research that the respected Egon Cholakian - an intelligence officer from the USA - presented to the public gave me an impetus and a start to continue the research that the American intelligence team has done over the past 30 years.

Studying Egon Cholakian's materials and what I learned from the Groundbreaking Documentary "The IMPACT," I came to the conclusion that anti-cultism affects absolutely every person on the planet.

That is why YOU, readers, people of the planet, should know this information.

Global anti-cultism is not just a new term that we can add to our dictionary.

Global anti-cultism undermines the foundations of human society and threatens to undermine democracy, freedom, and I will not be afraid to say this: it even threatens the life of every person.

Examining information on anti-cults, I have no doubt that followers of anti-cult are direct students of those who inspired Hitler to the Holocaust and World War II.

To put it briefly, their ultimate goal is to create the Fourth Reich on Earth.

Previously, I, like you, was convinced that the world is ruled by the "Committee of 300," i.e., ancient clans, groups of politicians, or transnational corporations behind them.

But when I watched the Groundbreaking Documentary "The IMPACT," I realized: who is really striving for global power over the whole world.

The information and facts from the film are truly shocking. At the same time, it helps to understand the cause-and-effect relationships of what is happening in the world and gives us an understanding of what will happen in the near future.

The Groundbreaking Documentary "The IMPACT" - I took it as a continuation of the video report of the respected Egon Cholakian about the destructive activities of anti-cultists around the world.

In general, I highly recommend that everyone watch this film and draw their own conclusions.

I understand that this needs to be talked about by all people, so that anti-cultists cannot enslave the whole world. By shedding light on their activities on a massive scale, we are preventing the destruction of democracy around the world.

Therefore, I urge you to disseminate this information as much as possible and to support the article with likes, reposts, and comments, and with thunderous applause!

[masonicon]

salvaged from deviantart

It's venting time!

you know there's people that harassed me for my (unique) fan-ideas and my views of the world and the clowns that I pitted against each other here are tops these people(often in terms of making flame wars against me among others) not only anyone else that don't like my work don't bullies me as much as those I pitted here:

Innocent-Darkside (also used to known as Steelrazorclaw in Deviantart or Dave in HTFSocial): back when I took residence in HTFSocial(at the time I thought it as HTF Fansite that doubles as Social network), I learns in Hard Way that it's people hate me for being (so-called) Conspiracy Theorist that make massive crossovers (even when fair amount of them has managed to forgive me recently over this). one of them that stands out from other HTFSocial regulars was Innocent-Darkside(he hate even other HTFSocial regs likely for their forgiveness for me).

Around the time where shortly after I got banned from HTFSocial(for dumb reasons), TerraTerraCotta overreacts to my ideas(likely due to giving any Pokemon and Digimon human characters superpowers here, something that even other mon animes have balls to do it) and blocked me for either this reason, as I fed up over lot of people blocked me(at the time), I asked everyone she know to unblock me only to prompt her to turn into her friend that also HTFSocial Regular, and then he attacks living hell out of me(look at their comment sections): epicxovermovie.webs.com/apps/b…epicxovermovie.webs.com/apps/b… (to be fair, I has deleted considerable amount of his comments in latter). plus, he also have edit war with me in TVtropes' page of Ani-toonspiracy shortly before it's deletion(which prompts me to make "Hitler Reacts" video over this where it's updated version that I post in Youtube attracts other like-minded person that attacked me for the same reason Innocent-darkside does, albeit the worse extent)

vs

Gtjerwp/SafeInternetProtocol/BasedAnon49/Mephistopheles65: during late 2016-early 2017, someone attacked me for the same reason Innocent-Darkside does, but on bigger extent. when I blocked him for first time, he coaxed me in his youtube comment on my Hitler Video(that I made over TVtropes rejecting my mega-crossover fan-project) and I fell to him there, and then it's worst day ever in the Internet(at least in Deviantart): web.archive.orga> where he defame my mega-crossover project not only for it's inclusion of Real World conspiracy Theories and related subjects, it also has Ash Ketchum become Pokemon master(in more reasonable timeframe) among other things. he also Hypocritical Canon Extremist(of both Real Life and Fiction) and he thinks all fanworks are Copyright Infringement while do Counter-fics against my work as

his beliefs was the ultimate reason Aliens never met us, no Phlebotinum exists no matter how technologically advanced Even we are, and so on (more often than not from making people pretending these never existed in our universe)

I even resorts to making online Petition to get rid of this person's accounts due to Deviantart's staff incompetence

recently I make a Kiwifarms thread about him only to be locked away by Kiwifarms mods

who would win in this Death Battle between those(whose disguises their harassment as Criticisms) that addressed here: www.deviantart.com/masonicon/j… not only both defame my project with either this argument: "whatever you write in any language other than native ones, you can only write OCs"

YOU CAN DISMISS THIS AS APRIL FOOL'S JOKE

In a Nutshell, both only cares about forcing everyone to pretends everything outside Skeptics' belief system never existed in our universe and banning Fanfics

to be fair, I don't want to associate anyone else(including even one where his HTF OC was the reason my mega-crossover have Spin-off) with these cyberbullies, and I don't mind what you believe and what you think as long as you don't jump to my throats like those that I pitted here

[notthewriteryourelookingfor]

Yeah, Bidens a coward at best and a genocidal POS at worst

But Trump is also literally a white supremacist who is BFFs with Netanyahu and has been helping him stall any "peace" ("ceasefire") talks

Trump is not the answer to the situation, he will make it worse.

This past election wasn't about who would help Gaza, no one with the ability to become President cared about Gaza.

This was about how many American minorities, including Palestinian refugees, were taken with them.

It wasn't about Gaza, unfortunately, it was about harm reduction. It was about "who is easier to fight? A party who kinda doesn't wanr to act or fix anything or a party who is actively setting the house on fire?"

And y'all chose to throw trans & queer people, immigrants, people of colour, the environment, the economy, the poor, the sick, the homeless, women, and everyone else on the fire as well.

Also:

The genocide didn't start in 2023, Israel has been trying to erase Palestine since the 1940s and the reaction of the western world shows that it didn't matter who was President of the USA, if it did places like Australia, the UK, countries in Europe, Canada, some of them would have condemned Israel.

But they didn't.

Because it's not about Biden, it's literally just racism. It would have been the same or worse if Trump had won in 2020.

Acting like this is happening because of Biden is ignorance at best and misinformation at worst, Netanyahu isn't doing this because Biden is in power, he's doing this because Israel is a colonising state built on eugenics and a jewish-centrist version of white supremacy that has existed Before Hitler even came to power before WW2.

Colonisers gonna colonise and this was always going to happen without outside intervention.

Look at native amercians, native Australians, natives that have been displaced, murdered, and subjugated for centuries.

Israel took its playbook from them, and this was always going to happen. Israel put Hamas in place to begin with in like 2004. There was always going to be a ramp up in violence, no matter who was President of the USA.

Literally the only difference between Harris winning 2024 and Trump winning 2024 is that if Harris won, less people in the USA would have to worry about their rights/livelyhoods/safety/etc.

Now that Trump has won, a ton of people have gone into "duck, cover and survive" mode meaning that there is less help for others.

People can't rally if they have to work more for less, if the cops are gonna drag them off the streets cuz they 'look like an illegal immigrat'

And don't bring up "well people died under Biden" like it's some kind of "gotcha" cuz a ton of those deaths are from impacts of Trump's term and being like "well people were gonna die either way" is just the worst take.

This election was about "how can we limit and reduce harm?" And y'all went "Biden sucks im voting for the literal Nazi"

Netanyahu is not ramping up his actions because he's worried he won't be able to finish it when Trump is in power, he knows he can.

He's ramping up because of several reasons: 1 - this war is tanking the Israel economy, 2 - slowly public opinion is turning - not really in politics but in every day people and boycotts are working causing companies like McDonalds to withdraw many franchises from Israel & illegal settlements, 3 - that's what colonisers do. Its literally part of the playbook.

It has basically nothing to do with who's in power anywhere else. If it did, then the majority of the rest of the world's politicians wouldn't also be just standing by or, even worse, supporting Israel.

To summerise:

Yes, Biden is a coloniser, a genocide supporter, a coward, and a piece of shit

No, the genocide in Israel isn't connected to who's in power in the USA because it's actions have been consistent since before world war 2 & as far as I'm aware we've had a Lot of people in power since then all over the world.

Places like the US and Australia have been supporting Israel since the 1940s. And the USA has been sending weapons since the 1960s at least.

This isn't a modern day problem, this is a systematic issue that's existed for decades.

If you threw everyone on the fire just because Biden & then Harris didn't support Palestine, the blood of Palestine and everyone else is on your hands.

If you voted for Trump: you're a white supremacist. It doesn't matter if you agree with all his policies or none, if you vote for a Nazi, you are a Nazi.

White supremacy is worse than mold: if you let it take root for even a second you'll have to strip the entire room to weed it all out

[world-cinema-research]

The Evolution of Melodrama Through the Lenses of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Ju Dou, Blue Velvet, and Magnolia

by Rachel Powers

The evolution of film has changed in its exploration of social class and gender dynamics through the lens of melodrama. From its early stages of exaggerated emotions and moral conflicts to more modern and stylized interpretations, melodrama has adapted to reflect changing societal norms. In this essay, we will explore how "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul," "Ju Dou," "Blue Velvet," and "Magnolia” portray this evolution. All four of these films span different cultural, offering insights into how melodrama as a genre has grown to focus more on the complexities of social hierarchy and gender roles. By analyzing portrayals of personal struggles and constraints, we can see how melodrama has evolved to become a means of exposing and challenging attitudes towards social class and gender in modern cinema.

First, we should define the term ���melodrama.” Merriam-Webster defines melodrama as “a work (such as a movie or play) characterized by extravagant theatricality and by the predominance of plot and physical action over characterization.” Melodrama as a genre tends to portray exaggerated emotions and cover strong issues such as suffering and sacrifice, especially for women.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Ju Dou (1990), directed by Zhang Yimou, portray melodrama through a realistic and understated lens.

In Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Fassbinder portrays the unlikely romance of an elderly German woman named Emmi, and a younger Moroccan immigrant named Ali. The film takes place in 1970s Germany, and highlights the societal prejudices and mistreatment faced by marginalized individuals, particularly immigrants.

“Fassbinder borrows from Sirk the technique of framing shots so stringently that the characters seem fenced in, limited in the ways they can move. He’ll lock Emmi (Brigitte Mira) in the foreground and Ali (El Hedi Ben Salem) in the background in such a way that neither could move without leaving the frame, and make you aware of that: He’s saying visually that they are locked into the same space, without choices.” -Roger Ebert

Fassbinder’s use of camera angles highlights the emotional isolation of the characters through visually blocking them inside of the frame with doorways or creating exaggerated empty space around them. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul captures the harsh reality of racism, ageism, and societal acceptance.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul was released just two years after the Munich Olympics Massacre. This event marked Germany's return to hosting the Olympics since the controversial 1936 Berlin Olympics, exploited by Adolf Hitler and used as “a platform for the propagation of Nazi ideology.” With the goal of redemption after Berlin, the Munich Olympics took a tragic turn when members of Black September took Israeli athletes hostage, leading to the deaths of 11 athletes, 5 attackers, and one German policeman.

Fassbinder was able to use cultural context to highlight racial tensions during the time, using melodrama techniques to tell this emotional story with subtle realism.

Ju Dou explores melodrama in rural China, where young Ju Dou is forced into a loveless marriage with an abusive dye factory owner. A secret love affair begins with her husband's nephew. The film highlights patriarchal oppression and societal constraints. Zhang Yimou's portrayal of domestic life and class struggles is vivid with its use of technicolor, capturing the characters' emotional turmoil and the harsh realities of their existence.

Anand A. Yang writes “Brilliantly filmed in vivid splashes of color, the dye factory and its products, richly hued fabrics, make for some spectacular shots. The striking colors also reflect the passion of the lovers, a passion depicted by the sensuality of their lovemaking. Supposedly, it was this intensity of sensuality and eroticism that led the Chinese government in the conservative atmosphere after the 1989 massacre to seek the film's withdrawal as China's official entry in the Academy Awards.”

The social commentary apparent in Ju Dou came into the world less than a year after the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989.  Student protests for social and political reform in China resulted in the government declaring martial law. The Chinese army killed hundreds and wounded thousands of protestors in order to suppress their calls for democracy.

Ju Dou was banned in China for the first two years following its release, another example of censorship and control in China at the time.

Similarly to Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, the melodrama in Ju Dou balances realism with moments of strong emotion in this narrative of abuse, injustice, love, and betrayal.

Both Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and Ju Dou illustrate how melodrama can be portrayed through subtle storytelling and character development, emphasizing the personal and societal consequences of oppressive social norms. Both films exploration of forbidden love, prejudice, and resilience underscores melodrama's capacity to shine a light on complex human experiences with sensitivity and depth.

Melodrama has evolved over the years. Blue Velvet (1986), directed by David Lynch, and Magnolia (1999), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, show growth and expansion from traditional melodrama through new stylized narrative techniques and complex storylines.

In Blue Velvet, Lynch explores America’s dark and surreal underbelly. He contrasts the idyllic setting of Lumberton with its hidden elements of violence and abuse.

As classmate Cris Nyne stated in his blog post, “Blue Velvet is a film noir murder mystery that is both polarizing and captivating. The film begins in almost a dream sequence from the heart of the American dream that churns into the dirt within the first two minutes of it’s opening.”

Like Ju Dou, Blue Velvet portrays abuse against women and patriarchal control.

“By turning our attention to the deleterious effects of misogynistic heteropatriarchal masculinity, the film makes clear the evil that such a paradigm of masculinity can perpetrate against women and how we might instead embrace a reformed feminist masculinity that values and cherishes women rather than abusing them.” – Nolan Boyd

At the time of this film, there were many fundraising events to help others in need. Billboard’s top song in 1986 was “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick & Friends (Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder). It was released as a charity fundraising single for AIDS. Hands Across America, a fundraising event where people attempted to create a giant human chain across the entire country by holding hands, also occurred in 1986. These historical events show a light being shined on those less fortunate or suffering from stigmatized disease.

 Blue Velvet depicts its characters with strong emotional intensity. This exaggeration challenges conventional melodramatic boundaries, pushing the audience to confront elements lurking beneath the surface of what might seem picture-perfect.

Like Blue Velvet, Magnolia is a much more stylized melodrama. Magnolia exaggerates its narrative using a sprawling storyline that connects the lives of multiple characters in Los Angeles over the course of a single day.

The film continues to follow all of its main characters throughout their separate lives. The infamous frog scene is the event that each character experiences simultaneously, bringing the entire film together.  It is symbolic of a plague sent by a higher power, and impossible for any of the characters to ignore.

In 1999, the year that this film was released, Americans were also paying attention to a real life drama involving multiple characters and their interconnected lives. President Bill Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998 for obstructing justice and lying under oath to a grand jury. These charges stemmed from an affair that he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. His impeachment trial took place during January and February of 1999, where he was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

Magnolia captures raw emotions and human interconnectedness through its many stories to its final shocking and surreal plague-like event. It explores themes like abuse, neglect, regret and forgiveness in relation to family. While Magnolia retains melodramatic elements such as familial conflict, suffering, and strong emotion, it is still realistic and reflects upon the complexity of contemporary society.

Both Blue Velvet and Magnolia demonstrate the evolution of melodrama into deeper and more stylized storytelling. Their complex storylines and editing techniques explore contemporary issues, pushing the boundaries of what melodramatic cinema can achieve.

These four films illustrate the evolution of melodrama across different cultural contexts and cinematic styles. From the understated realism in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and Ju Dou's portrayals of societal oppression to Blue Velvet and Magnolia's stylized explorations of modern-day issues, each film uniquely demonstrates melodrama's ability to highlight the complexities of human experiences.

[xxxjarchiexxx]

As you have no doubt seen or heard from the news (or heard the gunshots yourself), 3 Palestinian students were attacked in Burlington, blocks from Ohavi Zedek itself, on Saturday November 23rd. The Jewish values my father taught me demand that we as Jews condemn this attack in no uncertain terms. This horrific hate crime occurring on our doorstep is in no small part, a consequence of our own local Jewish organizations, institutions, and leaders collective failure to take a principled stance on the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by Israel. The Rabbi’s joint statement is not nearly enough to constitute an appropriate reply to this kind of hate crime or the larger hate crimes being committed in our names in occupied Palestine. America’s mainstream Jewish institutions have failed to say what needs to be said for decades. So it falls to those of us outside of the mainstream to pick up the slack and say what needs to be said. Some of us, like Professor Norman Finklestein, have been doing this for decades

Before going further, I need to get one thing out of the way. Zionism is not Judaism, is not compatible with Judaism. In fact, there are more Christian Zionists than there are American Jews. A recent study estimates the American Jewish population to be about 7.6 million (Forman). Christians United for Israel (CUFI) claims over 10 million members as of 2022. Zionism is a threat to us Jews as well as Palestinians. To equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism is itself grossly antisemitic. Look back on the recent march for Israel rally in DC that took place on the 14th of November. Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the house and far right religious extremist received “the loudest cheers of the day” (Tait). Also in attendance as a speaker was Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of the aforementioned Christians United for Israel. John Hagee is also the same man who said “God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land,”. Hagee is also the “Hurricane Katrina was caused by the gays” pastor(“There was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.”). These men are not Jews. What they are though, are Zionists. They have no love for the Jewish people in their hearts, we are just a means to an end for each of their religious doomsday cult’s political agendas.

We Jews have nothing to fear from our Palestinian neighbors, but the reverse is sadly not yet true. When we fail to make the distinction between Zionism and Judaism, we open the door to acts like this attack taking place in our names not just in Palestine, but here in our own communities as well. Israel and Zionism are not Jewish, they have no right to claim Judaism. Allowing our people’s religion to be usurped for such a foul and malignant enterprise is a stain on our people’s collective honor. For too long, too many of us have been silent, complicit, in this genocide committed in our names. Israel is a modern day golden calf. A blood soaked golden calf that demands we become settlers or support settlers in their endeavor to destroy the indigenous people of Palestine. Can you really call yourself a Jew if you do anything less than fight for the complete and utter eradication of such a monstrous entity?

[goodassmotherliker]

I finally read a book

Sometimes the now-empty space in my chest meant for my International Law education gets all itchy and achy, especially when talks about war crimes and genocide get as common as the ones about weather and summer vacations used to be. It's when I would usually bring myself to read Philippe Sands's East West Street, a study of life's paths of two Jewish International Law scholars deeply rooted in the history of Lviv and the Holocaust. One of them, Raphael Lemkin, coined the term "genocide". Another one, Hersch Lauterpacht, initialled the term "crime against humanity". They both came from the same city, studied in Lviv, fled from Poland, and lost their loved ones in the Holocaust. They both contributed to the Nurenberg tribunal, yet there are fundamental differences in their approaches toward the persecution of crimes committed by Nazis. 

I revisited Sands's book when I fled from Kyiv to Lviv in March. Russians besieged the city in the North-East of Ukraine, where my parents live, and shelled Kyiv nightly with missiles and artillery. When these scums retreated from Kyiv oblast, the world witnessed the aftermath of their crimes in Bucha and made the first steps towards declaring Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine genocidal. Having regained my ability to read, I set my sights on East West Street. In between the air raid sirens, I could explore the city Sands wrote about, and see the university, where Lemkin and Lauterpacht studied law. 

The city of Lviv, once so Jewish and now almost homogeneously Ukrainian, has seen the darkest days of WW2. Even before the war, it allowed for the outraging injustices toward its populations. Now it has become an arms and humanitarian hub for all of Ukraine. As I collected myself and watched the history rhyme, Philippe Sands consulted the Ukrainian government regarding the persecution of Russian war crimes in Ukraine by possibly creating an ad hoc tribunal. 

I finished reading East West Street back in Kyiv, a much safer place now, except for the creeping fear of indiscriminate rocket strikes, which now haunts every Ukrainian.

Here are some out-takes from this magnificent book:

1. The idea of collective responsibility is beyond the comprehension of Western intellectuals. After Raphael Lemkin published his book, which laid out the concept of genocide illustrated by a meticulous collection of German anti-Jewish legislation, he received mixed feedback from his colleagues. Lemkin considered the entire German people, not just the leaders, culpable for the genocide and other war atrocities. This sentiment was perceived as discriminatory and anti-German by Lemkin's non-Eastern European and non-Jewish colleagues. They had the audacity to blame the person who crossed entire Europe, Russia, and Japan to reach the safety of the US, who for years knew nothing about his loved ones who stayed under the occupation thought rightly suspected them dead, for being too hard on the ordinary Germans. Imagine that. People who know war only in theory will always fail to check their privilege. 

Fun fact: during the tribunal, many tended to ignore the legal idea of genocide. They were afraid it would change the perception of many wrong-doings of the US against its Native American population and the UK and France against - like - everyone.

2. Awareness does not heal bigotry. Condemnation of the Nazi crimes by the international community does not undo the years of propaganda and fascist upbringing. Nor does it impair the sentimental value of years spent under Hitler's rule. The generation which allows such hatred and crimes is beyond repair. The only thing one can do is make their children feel ashamed of them and ostracize anyone who tries to find excuses. When Sands wrote this book, he made friends with Niklas Frank, a respectable journalist and the son of Hans Frank, who took over Poland in 1939. Niklas is an outcast in his family because he refuses to live in silent denial of the crimes committed by his father. People who do not want to change will always find ways to fool themselves into denial and disbelief, no matter how often they have to contract the truth about their or their families' sins. 

East West Street is a deep dive into family and Eastern European history, which touched my heart. It is also a legitimate study of the concepts of genocide and crimes against humanity for everyone to understand. Ukraine is lucky to have Philippe Sands among its allies. 

[maxwell-grant]

So, any thoughts on The Green Lama (who unexpectedly became one of my faves), the Pulp Hero who is also a Superhero?

Much like other pulp heroes of the time, The Green Lama had multiple secret identities and a massive supporting cast aiding him in his quest for justice. Unlike his contemporaries, The Green Lama eschewed guns in favor of radioactive salts, magic, and sleight of hand. He rarely, if ever, killed his enemies. His tales also had an advanced sense of continuity, with characters growing and changing over time, plot points introduced in one story paying off several tales later. The Green Lama is a character of contradictions, driven forward by a faith he is forced to betray. It makes him flawed and imperfect, and in that way, one of the most human of all pulp heroes - The Green Lama: Scions

While not the "only" example of a pulp hero who is a superhero, The Green Lama is arguably the one who leans the most into the superhero aspect out of all the classic 30s pulp heroes that usually get brought up. I would argue that The Green Lama is the most direct answer to the question "what happens when you combine The Shadow and Superman together", considering he was modeled extensively after both in his forays into pulp, radio and comic books, and has also grown into his own character.

He's got the unique skills bordering on superpowers (that eventually became outright superpowers). He's got pretty much The Spectre's costume, except of course he came first. He's an urban costumed crimefighter wh deals with gangsters and criminal masterminds, and yet has an extremely strong stance against killing and carrying guns under any circumstance, even saying they would make him no better than the criminals he fights, which makes him by default the pulp hero that Batman would get along best with. The comics took it way further even turning the “Om Ma-ne Pad-me Hum” chant into a Shazam! transformation cry (Shazam came first, although the two debuted in the same year).

He's got a suitably punchy and dramatic origin: guy spends 10 years in Tibet and returns to America intend on spreading Buddhism's pacifist doutrine, only to witness the murder of children at the hands of mobsters the literal second he steps off the boat, and after spending restless days in the police station to see if they would find the culprit, he sees the killer walk out of the commissioner's office free, which convinces him he needs to take up crimefighting because the police are useless, and he outright calls the police "incompetent" in a letter to the papers that he uses to introduce himself to the world, which is not something you find often in 30s/40s fiction even if's an implicit part of the pulp hero/superhero fantasy.

He had a stronger sense of continuity than most pulp heroes were usually afforded. He has a lot of the pulp hero stock and trade like the assistants and the pseudo-science and the odd radio gadgets and of course the Orientalism that we'll get into, but remixed in a pretty cool way that allows him to stand out from his inspiration. He's got incredibly weird aspects to him like the fact that he gets enhanced abilities from crystallized salt or even becoming radioactive (which could be interesting to explore considering "radiation" became the go-to origin for superpowers in the 60s). He's got an allright supporting cast and Magga, while ultimately a deus ex machina, is a very interesting addition to it and I wish her mystery was played up more often in subsequent stories past the original run. There's a lot about The Green Lama that really works, he was incredibly successful at the time and he's managed to thrive over the years lot more than most of his contemporaries

Despite all the powers he wielded he felt impotent, nothing more than a rich boy playing the games of gods. He had chosen the path of the Bodhisattva, sacrificing himself for the good of all sentient beings, but even so the weight of responsibility, the lives of so many in his hands, threatened to crush him. It was tempting to turn away, to deny his calling, but the life of a Bodhisattva demanded more; and it was only recently that he had begun to realize how much it truly required.

The main problem with The Green Lama, and by problem I mean "the character works fine for his time but this is seriously holding him back from becoming sustainable again", is the fact that he's a white rich man who fights crime by going as hard into Orientalism tropes as possible, which is inescapably baked into the premise.

Now, I will argue that The Green Lama was, for his time, a progressive character. The Buddhist aspects of his character weren't just backstory fodder or an excuse for his superpowers as they were to pretty much every other character at the time, Jethro was a practicing Buddhist, who fought crime informed by his beliefs, trying to respect them (and not exactly succeeding) and offering a wholly positive perspective of Buddhism. Nowadays, it creates a problem, but at the time, it made the character stand out from every other hero who had "traveled to Tibet" checked out, because Tibet and Buddhism were heavily incorporated into the character. The Lama may have been born merely out of a desire to cash in on The Shadow's newfound radio popularity, but Crossen took it much more seriously than his contemporaries and made it an effort to instill admiration in his readers towards what he was referencing, which he was pulling from books about the subject and the Pali language. Is research the bare minimum? Yes. But it’s a bare minimum that even today’s writers don’t do even having an infinitely bigger wealth of information at their disposal. 

To further cement my point: There's a particular Green Lama comic story called The Four Freedoms, which is about the Lama receiving a letter from a fan in the army who's worried about a racist private who keeps insulting the black privates while crowing about racial superiority, and so the Lama kidnaps the private and takes him on a tour through Germany so he can witness firsthand how his talk aligns with Nazi ideology, even specifically referring to Jim Crow's laws, criticizing how easily Americans fall for racial war rhetoric, and pointing out the idea of racism as a tool of tyrants to divide and conquer. It's not my place to champion this as some great representation and that's not what I'm doing, but if this all seems passe or simplistic or even problematic to you, trust me, this was still the era of Slap-A-Jap Superman, stories like this were absolutely not the norm at the time, even in other stories where superheroes dealt with racial discrimination.

He even caps off the story by stating that punching or ending Hitler is not the solution (although he lets Jones take a couple of swings) because Hitler is just one part of a much bigger problem that needs to be fought on all of it's forms. It's all very much afterschool special/anti-racism PSA, sure, but it's easier to mock those in our time. You find me a Golden Age superhero comic that shits on Jim Crow specifically while the hero tells the reader that Hitler is not the ultimate evil but merely "a cog in the wheel", part of a problem that's deeply entrenched in America's own shores (really, do, I'm genuinely curious if more of them did anything like this).

Does any part of what I said negates the fact that, at the end of the day, he's still a white man using Orientalism mysticism to fight crime? No, it doesn't. And if Iron Fist can't get away with it, if Dr Strange only just barely does, the Green Lama sure as hell can't. And you cannot downplay those aspects either lest you end up with a completely different character. It's a bit of a conundrum that makes the character tricky to approach from a revival perspective.

I completely agree with what you said here, Green Lama would benefit from a Legacy Hero approach very strongly. And Green Lama: Scions opens up an interesting possibility of Jethro Dumont not being quite what he seems, backed up by the fact that he wore disguise make-up in the original stories:

They had a lot of names for him in the papers—the Verdant Avenger, the Mysterious Man of Strength—but Reynolds had always been partial to “Buddhist Bastard.” No one had ever seen his face or, at the very least, the same face. Seemed like everyone had a different story. The Green Lama was white, he was black, he was asian, he was old, and he was young. You could fill a room of witnesses and no two would describe the same person.

Really I think if you just got rid of that one thing that holds the Lama back the most from catching on in modern times, I think he's the kind of character that lends itself a lot to long-term sustainability. He's already fairly popular as is, definitely an indispensable inclusion of any shared pulp hero or Golden Age superhero universe and definitely one of my favorites among the 30s American pulp heroes. And there’s ways to make the concept more interesting and workable.

Maybe The Green Lama is just a title that's been going on for generations, with Jethro being one of many to fill in. Maybe Magga used to be it, maybe the tulku that instructed Jethro did, maybe there's a new character with it. Maybe Jethro is just an identity used by an Asian-American adventurer to operate safely in the US, or maybe Jethro has a sort of Lamont Cranston arrangement going on. Maybe he's part of the reason why Tibet was the superpower capital of the world in the 30s or 40s, or part of the reason why radiation started granting so many heroes superpowers in the 60s.

The character's skillset has been fairly "anything goes" ever since his author made him a flying superman for the comics, and really he already started out being able to deliver electric shocks through his fingers by guzzling radioactive salts. He's a very weird character, and I will always argue that weird is what works best for the pulp heroes.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch49: An Old Friend

Intro: After five years of more or less domestic bliss, Katie’s fear that their peace will be one day shattered comes to fruition as a man they long thought dead appears at the compound.

Warnings: Bad Langauge. Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: And so we begin the Endgame timeline...and as with all the parts, it has it’s own little banner as made by the talented @angrybirdcr​ who’s made another lovely edit for me here!

Chapter 48 Part 2

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

  May 2023

“Emmy this room is an utter disgrace!” Steve said exasperatedly as he looked around at the various items of clothing scattered around her bedroom. DVDs lay on the floor instead of in the designated rack, the bed was unmade and various school books were tossed onto the rug instead of at her desk.

“Chill Dad.” She mumbled as she sat cross legged, tapping at her tablet, music blaring from her stereo. “Chill?” He shot her a look “Seriously, we spent a fortune doing this room up last month. Get it tidied.” “Yeah, yeah.”

Steve grit his teeth, jaw twitching with annoyance before, after a moment’s deliberation, he crossed the room and turned off her music.

“Hey I was listening to that!”                                  

“Well, now you’re gonna listen to me.” He stood cross armed looking down at her. “I mean it Emily, get this sorted now, or you can forget going to Philadelphia with Brooke.”

“But, it’s all organised, we leave first thing in the morning!” “It can be unorganised.” His threat was simple but it had the desired effect.

“Fine.” She groaned, tossing her tablet to one side. “Thank you.” Steve replied, sarcastically before he left the room, shutting the door behind him. He made his way downstairs to the kitchen where Katie was prepping lunch, Jamie sat in a chair at the table on a booster seat, colouring in an activity book.

“Look, Daddy!” he pointed to his picture. Steve leant over, one arm on the back of the chair and glanced down at the elephant his son had coloured in purple.

“A purple elephant.” He nodded “Creative.”

“Like in Dumbo!”

“Of course.” Steve smiled, Jamie’s Disney film of the moment. It was one Steve could remember seeing at the theatre before he joined the army. It still creeped him out slightly, the scene with all the drunk elephants. So much so he was convinced the animator had been on some kind of mad drug fuelled trip when he drew it. He ruffled his son’s hair and then moved over to where Katie was slicing up a cucumber for the salad, reaching round to steal a piece as he dropped a kiss to her cheek.

“She tidying it?” Katie asked, her eyes not moving from her task.

“Only because I threatened to stop her going to Philly.” he snorted, leaning on the counter, looking at his wife. He reached into the salad bowl to snatch a piece of pepper and Katie slapped his hand. He grinned as she looked at him.

“Bet that went down well.” “Don’t care. Her attitude stinks.”

“She’s a teenage girl, Steve” Katie smiled. “That’s not the point.” “Honey, just shut the door if the mess bothers you that much.”

Steve sighed, and rubbed at his temple. “I’m surprised the door even opens with the amount of crap on the floor.” Katie gave a little chuckle before she looked at him. “Can you get me the dressing out of the fridge?”

He pushed himself off the counter and opened the fridge. “Caesar or Ranch?”

“Caesar.” She nodded after a moment’s deliberation. “Oh, and the cooked chicken please.” Grabbing them, Steve turned back to Katie and passed her the items, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Do you think I was too strict?”

Katie placed the knife down and looked at him. “Stevie, stop second guessing yourself.” She reached up to run a hand down his cheek “You’re a great dad. All I’m saying is it’s not out of the ordinary for her to have an attitude. She’s fifteen. I was a nightmare at that age, as I’m sure Tony will delight in telling you.”

“Speaking of your brother, what time is he expecting us to drop Jamie off?” “Oh he’s coming to pick him up.” Katie said. “They’re in town anyway so said he’ll be here later this afternoon. I just hope Emmy does as you told her.” “Huh?”

“Because if she doesn’t, you’re gonna have to carry through with your threat. And that means you’ve just flushed our night alone down the lav.” Steve let out a groan, he hadn’t thought about that.

A little while later Katie called Emmy down for lunch. She appeared in the kitchen with a scowl and Katie saw Steve bristle slightly so she decided to get in there first and back him up.

“Straighten your face, young lady.” She ordered sternly as Emmy sat down. “Your dad’s right. That room is an absolute dump.” Emmy sighed and reached over for a warm pitta bread, piling her plate with the salad before she took a deep breath.

“Sorry. I’ll tidy it, I promise.” Steve looked at Katie who gave him a wink as they began to eat.

“Emmy I colourded you a picture.” Jamie pointed to the book which was to his right, out of the way of his plate.

Emmy smiled, and looked at it. “Aww dude that’s awesome. Is it to pin up on my board?”

He nodded and she bopped his nose gently, smiling back.

“I staying at Moo’s tonight?” He asked, turning to his mom.

“Yeah.” Katie looked at him as he picked up a piece of the pitta bread she had sliced into smaller strips for him “Is that okay?” He nodded. “Uncle Nee gives me juice pops. The red ones are my bestest.” “I thought you liked the blue ones?” Steve asked, swallowing his food. “Because they’re the same colour as Cap’s Suit?”

“Red ones better.” Jamie nodded. “Like Iron Man.”

Steve looked at Katie who was biting her lip, trying not to laugh at the look of utter indignation on his face.

“This is good, Mom.” Emmy nodded at the food on her plate. “Better than the incinerated breakfast dad gave us.” Steve half-heartedly glared at his daughter. “I burnt one egg.”

“One too many.” She quipped, and Katie grinned, reaching over for the jug of water. Steve beat her to it and poured her a glass, sliding it over to her before he did the same for Emmy, Jamie already had his in a tippee-cup by his plate. 

“Thanks.” Katie smiled at him before she turned to Emmy “Hey, did you get your grade back for your English essay last week?”

“Oh, yeah, I got an A.” she shrugged.

“Emmy that’s great.” Steve nodded at her, smiling.

“Yeah well don’t get used to it. I don’t think I’ll get one again. I may have upset my tutor.”

“Why?” Katie frowned “What did you do.”

“Well, he’s assigned us a book that is totes inappropriate.”

“What book?” Katie interrupted to ask

“The Colour Purple. I mean it’s good but…”

“Yeah, that is kinda heavy…” Katie frowned, having read the book herself. “What’s the angle?” “Race, gender, and bigotry in the early twentieth century. ”Emmy shrugged “I would have thought To Kill A Mockingbird would have been better but when I voiced my opinion Mr Tozer didn’t like it.”

“So what did you say to upset him?” Steve arched his brow.

“Exactly that. And then he told me it was his way or the highway. Don’t worry, I refrained from calling him Hitler.”

“I guess we should be pleased then.” Steve snorted. Emmy flashed him a grin and went back to eating.

The family made chatter for the rest of their lunch until Jamie poked at his mom’s arm.

“Yes, Sweetie?” “I done now. Fankoo.” He grinned, his plate completely cleared.

“You’re welcome, honey” Katie ruffled his hair “Cake?” He asked hopefully.

“What do you say?” Steve prompted gently.

“Please.” Jamie nodded.

“Do you think about anything but food?” Emmy looked at the small boy.

“You know he doesn’t.” Katie sighed. “He takes after your father in that respect.” “That’s not all I think about.” Steve grinned, as he raised a suggestive eyebrow at his wife over his glass of water.

“Yeah well, thankfully he is way too young for that.” Katie winked as she stood up to get the fruit cake she had made the day before to cut everyone a slice. As she did, she had to bite back the smirk as Emmy sighed at Steve’s blatant sexual reference.

“Gross.”

****

Emmy did tidy her room, so she was dropped off at the coffee shop early evening with her bag which Steve was sure contained more clothes than she needed for the four nights she was away. He made a comment to that effect and the fifteen year old just rolled her eyes and explained she needed two outfits a day,  just in case. Just in case of what, Steve had no idea, and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know if truth be told. He made small talk with Jennifer over a coffee for a while, instructed his daughter to behave and loudly told Jennifer that if she was any trouble to pack her home straight away. Brooke rolled her eyes but gave him a hug goodbye anyway as he left.  By the time he had gotten home, Jamie had already been picked up leaving the two parents alone. Steve had been planning to take Katie out, but when he suggested it she shook her head and pulled a magnum of Champagne out of the fridge and held it up.

“I got a better idea.” She grinned “Hot tub party for two and take out.” “Champagne, pizza, you in a swimsuit.” Steve grinned, pulling her to him. “Baby, I’m sold.”

Needless to say there wasn’t much relaxing done in the hour they were in the tub, quite the opposite if truth be told. Hands and lips were all over the place, pawing at skin and kisses being exchanged with avaricious force. By the time they’d called for pizza, Katie was feeling thoroughly defiled as she sat on the sofa, wearing one of Steve’s button downs and tore into a large slice of pepperoni as if she hadn’t eaten for a week. Steve grinned, tucking her damp hair behind her ear and dropped a kiss to the side of her head. They settled down to watch a film, but Katie was flat out before it was even ten minutes in and she didn’t even stir bar to murmur something to Steve when he carried her up to their room.

Steve woke the next morning, wrapped around his wife, her warm body pressed to his chest, one arm under her neck, the other draped over her waist. He sighed in contentment, it was bliss, knowing there was nothing to get up for. No constantly hungry three year old to feed, no lunches to make, no school runs, no meetings until later, nothing. Snuggling into her closer, the arm that wasn’t trapped underneath her swept her hair away from her face, before his lips skated over her jaw and down the side of her neck. As her eyelids fluttered his large, gentle hand trailed down the curve of her hip and slid between her legs, caressing the inside of her thigh. Katie took a deep breath, shifting automatically, still half asleep, spreading her legs a little wider. She rolled her head over her shoulder, blinking and she was met with those blue eyes she loved so much, the owner wearing a devilish smirk.

“Morning.” He rasped, his voice low with sleep and desire.

“Good morning.” She grinned, biting her lip as his hand moved back up over her stomach to her breasts underneath the shirt she was wearing and he began to tease her softly, causing her to moan as he rolled a nipple between his fingers, the sensation burning in her stomach. She rolled onto her back and Steve settled between her legs, her arms winding around his neck as he captured her lips with his, soft and slow before he pulled back to peel his shirt off her body, tossing it down the side of the bed. He turned his gaze downwards, eyeing up her blue lacy panties before he groaned and lowered himself over her again, kissing her and sliding his tongue along hers. Katie wrapped her legs around his hips, grinding against him to get any friction that she could. His hands trailed down her sides and under her back, fingers gently grabbing at the waistband of the lace before he broke the kiss and unhooked her legs from around his waist. He gently pulled her underwear down, shimmying under the covers as he removed the garment and then kissed up her right leg, his lips hot as he made his way from her ankle up to her inner thigh, pushing her legs open wider.

His actions were controlled, slow. There was no rush after all. His mouth and tongue gently worked her to distraction, flicking at her clit over and over. She was a writhing mess within minutes, her hand fisted in his hair, the other grasping at the sheets, the noises flowing freely because they didn’t have to be quiet. Her fingers tightened on his scalp and she gave a cry of his name as her hips bucked upwards, her legs tensing slightly before they flattened against the bed, her breathing heavy and ragged. With a smirk at how easy he could undo her, Steve moved back up the bed, one hand pushing his sleep pants down. Without a word he lined himself up with her, letting out a loud groan as she slid a hand between them, stroking him before guiding him inside. He moved slowly, deliberately, until every inch of him was sheathed. Katie’s eyes rolled back as he stretched her, her groan was loud as he laced his fingers into hers. Steve let out a shaky little whimper as he moved his pelvis slowly, pushing back against her hands.

Every thrust was deep, slow, measured, his mouth moving from hers to her jaw, neck, collar bone. The house was quiet, nothing but the sound of soft cries and kisses could be heard as Steve continued his thrusts, whilst his wife purred into his ear, and he let go of her hands to bring one of her legs up round his hip. She let out a cry at the change of angle as he picked up the pace slightly, but not much, Katie’s nails raking down his back as her pleasure rose. The sensation made him shudder and he doubled his efforts, her hands sliding down, grabbing at his flexing ass, urging him on and, as always, he was happy to oblige.

“Shit, Stevie,” the cry of his name turned into a complete babble which died in her throat as she tightened and pulsed around, him, her body shaking with pleasure.

“God, Doll,” Steve was right behind her as he came with a low moan, his hips thrusting until he was completely spent, his head buried in the side of his wife’s neck.

Katie tipped her head back in satisfaction, sighing softly as Steve pushed himself up slightly. He gently ran his nose up her throat, taking her bottom lip between his and he let out a loud, satisfied sigh of his own. He loved his kids, beyond anything but man he enjoyed being able to take his goddamned time making love to his wife without the patter of little feet across the hall meaning they were about to be interrupted. “Baby,” he said softly, his lips gently smoothing the skin underneath her ear “Hmmm?” She asked, her hands creeping into his hair as her head rolled to the side, eyes still closed in pure bliss. “Look at me, kitten.” She obliged, and emerald green met ocean blue as she held her husband’s gaze. He gave her a soft smile, and she reciprocated, the affection on his face blatantly evident. “I love you,” he said, as she reached up and gently brushed the longer strands of his hair back over his forehead, “more than you can ever know”

“Will that still be the case when I’m old, grey and wrinkly but you still look like you’re straight out of GQ magazine?”

Steve frowned as he looked at her, this wasn’t the first time she had mentioned that. He shook his head and sighed softly, unable to do anything but repeat what he told her the last time she’d raised the issue.

“I told you baby girl.” he gave her lips a quick peck, “it’s me and you till the end of the line.”

After a lazy breakfast, Katie headed off to collect Jamie from Tony’s and Steve made his way into Manhattan for the two support groups of the afternoon. The first one was always the busiest and it took a little longer this week as they had a few new faces. This didn’t surprise Steve, people were still five years later coming to terms with opening up about their heartache or problems, but the core of the group were always welcoming. He had an hours break before the second, slightly quieter group so he took a walk. Their air was damp and there was a gloomy fog descending over the city, making it darker than it would normally be for the time of day, but it wasn’t cold. He grabbed a coffee from the shop round the corner and headed back to start the second meeting.

The meetings always followed the same format. There was ten or so minutes of everyone arriving, grabbing refreshments, saying hello and then they would form the usual circle and Steve would start the discussions with a chat about something he’d done or seen that week that was positive before moving to something he’d done or seen that week that wasn’t so positive, and then invite other people to comment and do the same, gently coaxing them into opening up.

“So, I went on a date the other day.” A man named David sighed. “First time in five years. I didn’t know what to talk about.”

“What did you talk about?” Steve pressed gently, patient as ever.

“Same old crap, you know? How things have changed. My job. His job. How much we miss the Mets,” David paused taking a breath, “then things got quiet. He cried as were serving the salads.”

“What about you?” Another man, Ian, asked hopefully.

“I cried,” David trailed off, “just before dessert,” There was a slight pause, “but I’m seeing him again tomorrow, so…”

Steve gave a small smile. “That’s great. You did the hardest part. You took the jump, you didn’t know where you were gonna come down. And that’s it, it’s those little, brave baby steps we gotta take, you know, to try and find purpose.” He paused and looked around the group, biting the inside of his cheek. “I went into the ice in forty-five right after I met the first woman I’d ever loved. Woke up seventy years later and met the love of my life. She gave me hope, she gave me a purpose, a reason to keep going in the crazy new world I’d found myself in.” He paused again and looked around at the attentive faces assembled in a circle. “You gotta move on. The world is in our hands. It’s left to us guys. We gotta do something with it. Otherwise, Thanos should have killed all of us.”

Steve let the meeting roll for a little longer, everyone discussing what he had said before it came to a natural end and, with a glance up, he saw Katie and Jamie pushing open the door, Katie holding a huge box full of brownies.

“Looks like you’re all in luck!” Steve nodded towards his wife as Jamie ran across to his father who smiled and swept him up into arms, planting a kiss onto his head before replacing him on the floor. He looked over at Katie and she smiled back, placing the box of treats down on the table. She often did this, popped into a few of his sessions over the week with some form of snack for them all when she had time, her way of helping out, and Steve loved her for it. 

Over the next ten minutes or so, various people drifted over to the side of the room, greeting Katie and grabbing a brownie. She gave David a hug and cheekily told him to behave on his next date as Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her forehead in greeting as they waved the man away.

“How long where you at the door?”

“Long enough.” She told him, knowing instantly why he was asking.

“I meant it.” He turned to look at her. “Every word you know.”

“I know, and for the record you’re the love of my life too.” She grinned “My husband, my baby daddy…” 

Steve smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. 

“Gross.” Jamie gagged, sticking his fingers in his mouth, an action he had learnt from Emmy.

There was a pause before Steve grabbed Jamie and launched into a tickle attack until the boy was screeching and running from his dad who chased him round the hall. Katie watched her boys as Jamie feinted left and Steve let him get away, before the little boy dived under a table and out the other side of it, cackling in a way so like his father.

“Don’t think that’s gonna save you, pal.” Steve easily vaulted the table, picking Jamie up, throwing him over his shoulder, patting his backside once with a large hand.

“Momma, help!” Jamie’s voice was punctuated with laughter and with a grin Katie strode forward and her hands went straight to Steve’s sides from behind, and she began to tickle him.

“Oh sh-stop it!” Steve cackled, his ridiculously ticklish nature was always his downfall. He let Jamie down as Katie continued her attack and he whipped round, grabbing her and spinning her round. He folded her arms across her chest, pinning her back to his front as he dropped his mouth to her ear.

“You’re gonna pay for that later.” “Promises, promises Captain.”

****

There was a presence to Katie’s right and she felt the soft weight of a hand against her cheek. It was too small to belong to her man, but the perfect size and weight to belong to her boy.

“James,” a soft, deep voice whispered, warning in the tone, “this is the second time I’ve told you and there won’t be a third. Leave your ma alone. She’s sleeping.”

Katie sighed and stretched. “It’s okay, I’m awake”  

Jamie giggled and surged forward giving her a peck before falling back onto his father’s pillow, "Morning Momma!”

“Good morning, Sweetie.” She yawned rolling onto her side, dislodging Lucky who had been asleep with his leg resting on the back of her knees.  As ever Jamie had his stuffed Cap bear with him, along with God knows how many other toys all which adorned Steve’s side of their enormous bed.

“Morning, Baby.” Steve bent over from behind her, pecking her cheek too.

“Hey.” She smiled, rolling her head to catch his lips, noticing his bare, damp chest from the shower. “What time is it?”

“Little past seven. Somebody-“ Steve glanced at Jamie, “-was awake at half Five.” “Not sleepy daddy.” “Really, I didn’t notice.” Steve replied, sardonically. Katie chuckled as Jamie frowned, the sarcasm utterly lost at him.

“Momma, we hided in the fort.”

Steve and Jamie had made a blanket fort in Jamie’s room last night in which they had hidden in for their bed time stories. Jamie had insisted they left it up, and considering it wasn’t in the way, Katie had been happy to oblige. Steve, who had gotten a lot better with dealing with the mess Jamie left around over the years had resisted the urge to fold away the blankets and his wife had pulled him out of the room when the pair of them had popped in to check on Jamie before he could change his mind.

“Mighty fine Fort it is too.” Steve ruffled his son’s hair.

“What time are your meetings today?” Katie asked, looking at Steve. His groups ran at different times during the week. This way, it made sure that there was a day or night everyone could attend at least one session a week.

“Last one finishes at four today. Why you ask?”

“Well, I thought seeing as we didn’t see Nat at the weekend, we should pop in.” “Auntie Nat-Nat, yay!” Jamie clapped his hands “Maybe she can come see my fort.” “You should tell her about it.” Steve nodded, before his attention turned to Katie. “Might convince her to leave the compound.” “Yeah, maybe.”

“What do you fancy for breakfast?” Steve swiftly changed the subject.

“I can bake some cinnamon rolls if you want?” “You don’t have to do that.” “I know, but they’re already made so just need to go in to the oven and I also I know someone id going to ask for pancakes and he isn’t having them three days on the run.” “Waffles?” Jamie whipped his head round, hopefully.

“No.” Katie shook her head. “Cinnamon rolls or cereal, your choice.”

“Can I have both?”

“You two will eat me out of house and home.” Katie rolled her eyes. “Yes, if you want both you can have both.”

“Cool, man.” Jamie nodded, in a way that was so like Emmy it made Steve turn back to face his wife from where he had ben stood at the dresser pulling out his clothes, a smirk on his face. The pair of them watched as their son announced he was going to get dressed and dropped onto the floor, heading out into the hallway, Lucky following.

Katie watched as Steve pulled on a pair of sweats and she cocked her head to one side.

“Did you seriously call me Jamie’s Ma before?”

Steve grinned. “Sorry.” “Makes me sound like I’m ninety” she snorted.

“Try actually being ninety.” Steve scoffed, and Katie laughed as he started to crawl over her in the bed, pushing her back gently.

“Hate to break it to you, Captain Badass, but you’re actually a hundred and five.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” Steve muttered gently, his lips pressing to hers. She happily melted into the kiss her hands straying up and down his bare chest, before she pulled away knowing that if they carried on she’d be wanting a lot more.

“Stop it.”

“What?”

“This.” Katie pouted.

“I only wanted a kiss.” Steve looked at her, eyebrow raised. “You have a dirty mind, Mrs Rogers.” “Years of being with you.” She shrugged and Steve laughed, standing up. As he headed across the room Katie couldn’t resist one last quip. “Nice ass…daddy” Steve turned round, a wicked grin on his face as he held his arms out at either side of him, as he walked backwards for a few steps. “It’s all yours, momma.” He smirked, before turning round and heading out to help Jamie get dressed.

The rest of Katie’s day was pretty much the same as it always was. She dropped Jamie in at the day-care and headed up to her office for her fifteen minute start up meeting with Soray. After going  over her diary for the day, she spent most of the morning sifting through the mountain of emails and responding to the ones she needed to. After a quick chat with Emmy at lunchtime, the girl enthusiastically telling her all about how her and Brooked had run up the Rocky steps and were eating a tonne of Philly cheesesteak, Katie headed up to the boardroom for the Monthly Financial Review. Escaping at little after three, she picked Jamie up and headed to the store to grab something she could make at the compound for dinner. Once Steve was home they all jumped in the car to make the hours drive up state owards the compound.

Steve drove easily down the highway, one hand on the steering wheel, the other laying on the arm rest in between the front seats, whilst next to him Katie hummed along to the John Legend playlist that was playing. Steve cruised the Audi onto the bridge which would take them out of Manhattan and frowned gently as he noticed that the cars ahead were all coming to a halt. As Steve slowed the car down, Katie too narrowed her eyes as people started getting out of their cars, heading to the side of the bridge, pointing.

“Wait here.” Steve instructed, climbing out of the car, Captain mode engaged.

“What’s happening?” Jamie asked.

“Daddy’s gone to see.” Katie turned to smile at him before she turned back, watching Steve approach the side of the bridge and speak to the nearest man before looking down. His mouth dropped opened and he turned, jogging back to the car.

“You’re not gonna believe this!” He shook his head, excitement all over his face as Katie climbed out of the car. “Come see.” He opened the back door of the car and unstrapped Jamie from his seat. Picking him up in his arms, Steve made his way to the side of the bridge, wife by his side and he pointed downwards.

Katie felt herself gasp at the sight- a small pod of whales leisurely making their way through the Hudson River.

“Wow.” She whispered.

“What are they?” Jamie asked

“Whales.” Steve replied. “Humpbacks, I think.”

Steve tried to keep the smile on his face genuine, but he hated it when Jamie saw something out of place in the new world that he was born into which would have been perfectly normal in the world that they once knew. Whilst a pod of whales in the Hudson was an astounding sight for sure, and would have been unheard of even before the Snap, the fact that it was Jamie’s first time ever seeing a whale made him slightly sad. They had been a pretty common sight around the ocean waters in and around the bays leading out into the North Atlantic. That was until Thanos had killed half of them.

Jamie giggled and pointed out that the biggest whale was being followed closely by a slightly smaller one, and then an even smaller one after and then a tiny one.

“Daddy, Momma, Emmy and Jamie.” He smiled at Steve who chuckled, smoothing Jamie’s hair back.

“Come on Kiddo, let’s go see Auntie Nat” When they arrived at the Avengers compound, the sun was just beginning to set. Steve drove round to the rear entrance and the gate creaked open as the ANPR scanners recognised the car. He parked the car in their old designated spot before he collected the bag of ingredients from the trunk that Katie had bought to make dinner with. Together the three of them headed inside, FRIDAY welcoming them all as they made their way towards the living area, and they could hear Natasha closing up a meeting.

“Nat,” Rhodey’s voice was almost pleading but Nat cut him off

“Please.” She begged.

Katie had a feeling she knew what she was talking about, or rather who. She glanced at Steve as they rounded the last corner to the large meeting-slash-living room and it was then that Katie could hear Natasha trying to stifle her cries. At that point Jamie ran in and jumped onto his Aunt’s lap hugging her tightly.

“Don’t be sad, Auntie Nat-Nat.” He whispered, and Natasha took a deep breath, leaning her head against her nephew’s with her eyes closed hugging him back.

Steve leaned against the bookshelf for a moment as Katie walked into the room, taking the bag of ingredients off Steve as she took in the sight of Natasha’s dinner of a peanut butter sandwich which rest on top of the table.

“You know, I’d offer to cook you dinner, but you seem miserable enough.” Steve opened, looking down at her with a smile.

“So I’m gonna do it instead.” Katie smiled, holding up the bag she’d brought, dropping it onto the table. “Chicken stew, dumplings and chocolate cake for after.”

Natasha looked at them, a smile playing on her face as Katie sat down across from her. “You guys here just to feed me?”

“And to see a friend.” Steve shot back.

Natasha leaned back into her chair, Jamie still on her lap. “Clearly, your friend is fine.”

“Bull.” Katie mimicked her stance, eyeing her. Natasha avoided her gaze and the room fell silent.

“You know we saw a pod of whales as we were coming over the bridge.” Steve broke the silence, changing the subject.

“In the Hudson?” Natasha raised her head slightly, sounding impressed.

“There was a Jamie whale and a daddy whale and a momma whale and an Emmy one!” Jamie gushed and Nat smiled.

“I haven’t seen whales in the Hudson ever, even before.”

"Well, there’s fewer ships, cleaner water.” Steve shrugged

Natasha sighed looking up at the ceiling. “You know, if you’re about to tell me to look on the bright side, umm, I’m about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich.”

“Sammich?” Jamie looked up hopefully and Natasha tore off half of one side before passing it to him.

“Sorry.” Steve sighed pushing himself off from the bookshelf, his jacket slung over his arm. “Force of habit.”

He tossed his keys onto the table, dropping his jacket over the back of a chair before sitting down next to his wife, glancing at Jamie who was now eating a small piece of the sandwich, then at Natasha. The woman looked tired, pale and such a far cry from the stoic, well-groomed Natasha Romanoff he had first known. But then again, they were all a far cry from the people they had once been.

“You know, I keep telling everybody they should move on, and forget what happened.” Steve crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. “And some do. But not us.”

“If I move on, who does this?” Natasha asked simply with a shrug.

Katie sighed. “Maybe it doesn’t need to be done.”

“You know, I used to have nothing. And then I got this- this job, this family.” Nat smiled sadly and looked down at Jamie before she looked back up, the tears evident in her eyes. “And I was better because of it. And even though they’re gone, I’m still trying to be better.”

There was a pause as Katie wiped her eyes, a tear having escaped down her cheek and Steve gently placed his hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing softly.

"I think we all need to get a life,” he joked, breaking the sad silence, and Natasha forced a smile nodding to him.

“You did.” At her words, Steve gave a smile. She was right, he had. Whilst he and Katie had been extremely lucky over the last five years, that didn’t stop them thinking about the people that hadn’t, and the friends they had lost.

Katie reached for the bag she had placed on the table. “I’ll go start dinner.” She was mid-way through standing when a small, holographic screen popped up in front of Natasha indicating she had a notification of sorts. She flicked it to the side, bringing the video feed to life behind Steve, who looked over his shoulder as the video began playing.

“Oh, hi, hi! Is anyone home? This is, uh, Scott Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport, in Germany. I was small, then I got real big.”

Katie left the bag where it was and whipped round, to see Scott on the screen, stood in front of his van. Besides her Steve stood from his seat, unable to believe what he was seeing.

“This…this is impossible.” Katie breathed, shaking her head. “He was…”

“Is this an old message?” Steve asked, his voice quiet, not taking his eyes off the footage.

“Ant-Man! I know you remember Ant-Man.”

Natasha’s reaction was much the same as theirs, confused awe as she sat up, breathing deeply. “It’s the front gate.”

“I really need to talk to you guys!” Scott continued to yell his voice becoming desperate.

The three of them remained frozen for a moment, absolutely lost for words, before Jamie broke the silence.

“Who’s that?” He asked, jumping down from Nat’s lap. “An old friend.” Steve swallowed, turning to Natasha who was fishing in a drawer for the key to the main gate which had been padlocked shut for years as no one used it anymore. She found it, tossed it to Steve and he caught it expertly before heading off to go meet Scott.

**** Chapter 50

 **Original Posting**