#states are bad actors

[silviakundera]

Underrated aspect of A Journey to Love is how the ensemble's perspective is being widened & complicated by their experiences. Intro talks about a war that just ended between An and Wu. An are assholes, going around kicking everyone's ass for $$

First the spy squad from Wu country just want to complete 1 stupid doomed mission, in order to clear their sworn brothers' names who fell in the final battle. No real agenda or deep thoughts besides this personal obligation and Employee Following Orders. Avengers assemble! Our FL Ren Ruyi is on the run and was a Scarlet Guard spy member from enemy country An who are holding the Wu emperor hostage... but the Wu spy chief ML does only a spot of mild torture and basically tolerates this secret because (a) he's determined to retire and (b) she is retired (c) her identity doesn't match any know big enemy of his spy org and the state. But he doesn't want her around.

... record scratch: He compromises. Ok. I do want her around. I won't get attached but ok, she's helpful. I'll even trust her to mentor the princess as we travel to rescue the Wu emperor.

She is only a tutor, though! Won't get her involved in his country's buisness.

Yet then she joins a battle and risks her life to save a bunch of theirs. Ok, ML widens his POV again. She can be their partner!

Everyone loves the mysterious friendly & feral assassin.

Then the squad finds out her identity and tries to kill her. His defense of her inclusion in the group has expanded: (a) her identity doesn't match any known enemy of his spy org and the Wu state, (b) she saved our lives, and crucially (c) she Isn't Born in An Country [isn't truly An] + (d) she was working at the command of her superiors just like we do, a cog in the war machine, and also only killed shitty members of our spy org we don't like

Ok. Now she's on the team. ML & FL are dating now and all the kids ship it. There is 1 (one) Scarlet Guard enemy county spy they accept and support.

But at the same time, she's begun to care about them in return. And we're really IN IT now.

Let's mentor the princess and throw shade on the Wu emperor, considering how our actions matter & how powerful people affect the average person. Caring for the citizens of Wu. They deserve better than their ruling class.

Being generally supportive & respectful of Ren Ruyi's love for the fallen An empress and RR's quest to avenge her.

The Wu delegation willing to (tentatively) ally with RR's former disciple, a marquis of An.

An marquis revealed to have gone against orders to respectfully bury the bodies of their Wu soldier friends, because in his view all loyal soliders deserve it.

The Wu delegation digging up the bodies of their dead friends, to give them a final send off, and mastering their grief to wrench it back from turning into hatred of the An people - focusing their rage and hate on selish & war hungry leaders, not the soliders and generals ordered to fight.

The focus of their resentment now turned to the right direction, expands their thinking & their plotting to have a consideratiom for all the residents of An and Wu, a care for humankind. An citizens are no longer the automatic enemy. ML tells the emperor of Wu to go fuck himself, directly to his face.

Caring about injustice done to some Scarlet Guards and wanting to save active !! "innocent" Scarlet Guard lives. (So far from the starting point! No background check to validate that X, Y, Z don't apply to these people. No rejection of the ML by the delegation or threats for daring to care about a random Scarlet Guard's life or death.) I sure hope the An emperor pays big for being bad at his job, but we gotta be careful about how we deal with him and not mess up An for the nice jewelry makers & brothel workers who live there.

"Having compassion doesn't mean irresolute."

[awesomecooperlove]

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[everwalldigan]

I’m not really into arcane like that but I’ve watched s1 with my friend, who has been reporting to me the really abrupt tonal changes in the show and the many contradictory directions to the first season that the political scene in the show has taken.

I really can’t help but notice that those certain tonal changes seem to be very conveniently aligned with the values that a certain state has been trying to push in western media since October last year…. It honestly really sounds like the original season 2 plot was scrapped in favour of turning it into bland propaganda as a way to desensitise people to what’s actually happening in the world (through “humanising” the real life perpetrators’ actions by cloaking them in the skins of established beloved characters (AND ITS WORKING!! YALL ARE FALLING FOR IT!!! WHAT THE FUCK?) because the talking points both in the show and the fandom ESPECIALLY are really starting to sound familiar and it’s actually maybe kinda terrifying.

I’m very open for CIVIL discussion on this, I’m just giving my opinion as a third, comparatively unbiased party because I’m not emotionally attached to the show. I’m not outright saying s2 is outright propaganda for that state. What I AM saying is that you should not trust any creators who claim their work isn’t political because ALL ART IS POLITICAL (that statement in itself is political) and the way you interact with it is too, by association. Consume media with a critical lens please I’m begging.

[proselles]

watching dead poets society with my mother and i cant make a single queercoded analysis this must be hell

[originalleftist]

WARNING for US Protesters:

There have been calls for a large "50 State" protest to be held at state capitols across the country tomorrow.

However, there are increasingly worrying signs that this is actually an op by bad actors.

Just a couple posts by people I know on Spoutible, warning that their local Democrats have put out warnings about infiltration and unreachable organizers (names redacted):

The worry is that this might be, as mentioned above, a ploy to gather information, or even an attempt to cause a conflict or stage/instigate a violent clash in order to give the regime a pretext for a crackdown/martial law (something the Felon claimed he would do on day one).

Recall also that after the 2016 election, Russian propagandists notoriously backed opposing rallies at the same location.

I don't know if that's what's happening here, but I would be very sceptical of any "protest" who's organizers can't be reached, or who's QR codes link back to pedophilia advocates.

Probably best not to attend, and whether you do or don't, exercise extreme caution tomorrow. Be on the look out for provocateurs and misinformation.

[wanderinghedgehog]

Every Javert actor ever collectively decided that they did not see this line.

[threestargirls]

happy want that cookie wednesday!

[todayisafridaynight]

they could not have chosen ANY MORE different games to make this point

[bi-chimneyy]

I think we all need to go back and relearn what canon means

[dykebeckett]

can you people be normal about red states for five minutes please

[awesomecooperlove]

OBAMA OPENLY ENCOURAGES ILLEGALS TO VOTE

💩👿💩

[mootmuse]

Trans men in fandom spaces: anyone else feel isolated from other fans by a really widespread enthusiasm in fandom for making every male character a woman?

Fans who love genderswap AUs or trans woman headcanons: find your bliss, I'm happy you're having a good time. I say this gently and lovingly, this post is not directed at y'all, please pretend you do not see it.

[allthebestcowboyshavedaddyissues]

"SMG is the only one acting well in this scene" Angel is completely disoriented after months of not being himself and she stabs him within a minute of 'gaining consciousness'

[fideidefenswhore]

occasionaly i like to treat tudor castings like a pick and mix when i'm making edits, and while tobg was an overall dismal example, they really slayed with kristin scott thomas, natalie portman, and david morrissey. 

[unproduciblesmackdown]

another day another "applying the concept 'disposability' to 'someone withdraws from a personal relationship, & that wasn't signed off on by the other'" kill me