#the catastrophic hypocrisy if they’re a thing

[uselessalexis165]

i know some of us have been thinking this

[joker-daughter]

alright let me add my two cents because clearly you aren’t allowed to be frustrated in this fandom…

who the hell blamed Tomdayas for Tom’s career choices? like where the fuck did that happen? how does that even make sense? like do you all really think we’re that dumb to think that you guys (or we) have some power over his career or are you all being dense on purpose? we can have opinions and discussions about it though (because what else is there left to do? lmao) and someone pointed out the hypocrisy behind not wanting Zendaya to claim that she owes everything to Euphoria (which is valid and I remember not just Tomdayas, but their stans, meaning the ones who claim to stan one or the other or both, criticizing that at the time) to not questioning when Tom straight up says that about Spider-Man, which again, is an attitude not just shared among (some) Tomdayas, this is not an attack on them for being Tomdayas or on Zendaya, so stop interpreting it that way too ffs

also about “catastrophizing” stuff or whatever because of what he said about his future projects, we heard him say the exact same thing years ago and we’ve gotten one project since then, like you can’t blame his fans for pointing that out, and we’re not saying that we should have gotten these projects by now, we know that he was burned out, we know that he took a break, we know that there was a strike, we know, we’re not stupid, all we want is to know what these are because we keep hearing about it…also about the script reading, I don’t have much of an opinion on it but Tom tends to exaggerate so again, you can’t blame anyone if they want to be cautious in that regard, some of you all are acting like people aren’t allowed to be critical like sorry, we don’t look through rose colored glasses at everything he does and says ffs (also looking at those who clearly weren’t thrilled about that challengers script when it came out) but again, if we didn’t look forward to all of it still (even if we don’t know what it is) we wouldn’t be here wasting our time, that’s for damn sure

and about us wanting “to win stan wars”…what stan war? on tumblr? most of the very few Tom blogs moved from twitter to here because they’re tired of these so called stan wars, but why is it that when we say want to see him work with acclaimed directors, actors or whatever and be in a good and acclaimed project that you all jump to that conclusion? are we not allowed to want success for him outside of the box office? especially after how people (and I’m not talking about fucking stans) have been coming down on him in the past couple years when it comes to his career? and don’t you dare and twist my words into us forcing him into anything, again neither you nor I have the power for that and if he was to come out tomorrow and say yeah, nope, I’m retiring and I don’t want to do this anymore or I don’t care how my stuff is perceived* then fine but clearly he wants to keep working and seems excited about it so why can’t we wish for him to be successful across all fronts with that??? lord

and yes, I know at the end of the day what matters most is what we personally think about his projects, especially as his fans, but you can’t deny that it’s nice to see when they’re more universally celebrated and he gets his flowers for his work and talent…

*which btw he never did but some act like he did, not saying that he’s focused on that but he was clearly thrilled about that CCA nomination so do what you want with that

anyways, crucify me now, Idc

[stabbythespaceroomba]

People get so obsessed with the book canon that they kinda don’t watch the show for the show , y’know?

Like they’re taking things at face value and the messages aren’t even really implications?? Maybe the guy in the interview fucked up when he said that Meleys was ‘beloved’, but the show shows her not as beloved but as feared and respected because she was a dragon - there’s no retribution bc the small folk see her as a god and are not saddened but Wary when she is paraded around dead - that’s not subtext

Gods are usually loved and feared in equal measure - that is more how Meleys is shown

But like that moves on to other stuff. Daemons Haunting in Harrenhal (honestly some of my fave parts of the season) and people saying it’s ‘not character development’ when it is Quite Literally character development. He is being forced to face his past and his injustices and his hypocrisy and is developing. S1 Daemon would Not sit crying in Harrenhal. Just bc you don’t like the development (which has made sense for the character from S1 who was often all swagger and sex appeal and taking what he wants) doesn’t make it not character development

And Rhaenyra literally says she wanted to be Daemon. Literally says it only moments before kissing Daemon’s ex. Like that’s textbook ‘trying to emulate’ a figure by putting a character into the same situation/relationships as the character you’re emulating

Almonds whole things are from the ‘injustices from his childhood’ his whole thing is that he’s hung up over Luke taking his eye and over Aegon bullying him (which Aegon was shown to do) and that he’s upset they chose Aegon to be king when it was Aemond who put the work in. Like of course he’s gonna go a bit crazy with the power when he’s finally coming out on top!

And yes this episode wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I thought it’d be more dragon based, and yes it’s not like the books, but also it’s not all bad.

People are catastrophizing

[pineapplerightsideupcake]

Why are you shocked people care more about what makes their news? You personally don't give a rats ass about violent regimes elsewhere either. Why is your argument well you didn't care before so you shouldnt care now and also you only care because Jews are doing the mass murder now!!! Like... That's crazy It's always bad. War crimes are always bad, but you seem to think they deserve a pass because ???? People didn't care before they started carpet bombing Gaza ??? Do you hear yourself ???

I like that I’ve repeatedly said that I don’t think war crimes deserve a pass but you’re still here insisting that because I think calling for Israel to be dismantled is transparently antisemitic I must love civilian casualties and are thus doing precisely what I just wrote a damn essay on.

Did you read anything I wrote? War IS a crime. There is no pure or ethical war. And no one cared what it looked like until Jews started doing it.

That doesn’t make it okay, but it lays bare the hypocrisy and antisemitism festering in the left.

And to a point you’re right in that I can’t know based only off of what people don’t post on tumblr what they care about but I can tell from their stubborn ignorance and blatant misinformation that they aren’t doing the work.

The type of people cheering for Hamas and Houthi’s in Yemen have demonstrated a catastrophic lack of understanding and empathy. These are people so lazy they can’t be bothered to do simple google searches. People so smug in their righteousness they can’t imagine their ‘good intentions’ might be misguided or weaponized. People so sure they’re more intelligent than conservatives they don’t bother to check if they’re posting propaganda or downright lies.

And because I’ve watched the left do this 100000 times I know you’ll all get bored.

Remember all those migrants in what are basically interment camps at the US border? The ones AOC cried tears in front of? They’re all still there. It was the policy before Trump and after to cage them like animals. Trump just amped it up to 11. I’m the only person I know that still brings that up. Because everyone else stopped caring.

Because they only care about what’s trendy.

And I wouldn’t mind nearly as much if the narrative was “look you can’t care about everything always” because you can’t.

But white leftists only say that after the fervor has died down. They only say it about yesterday’s tragedy. During the fever pitch they demand that you stop everything and weigh in. Even if you don’t know a single fucking thing you’d better repeat the Party Approved lines and hashtags.

I have FAMILY in Israel. Do you really think this is the first time I’m hearing about these things? The first time I cared?

[britishassistant]

So imagine that Reporter Yuu and Student Yuu have to meet up to drop off the heads to their respective worlds , V!riddle and s! Riddle are comparing which version of aduces is worse. V!leona is telling s!leona to drop out. V! Azul and s! Azul are comparing business models and leech twins. V!jamil is flexing his independence on s!jamil, whose planning to hex him to hell and back. V! Vi and S! Vil are being shady drama kings towards each other. V! Idia and S! Idia are swapping anime recommendations and ortho upgrades. And v! malleus and s! Malleus are having an argument over favorite gargoyle architect or something lmao

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

Riddle is a little confused by the fact this supervillain in a half red and white mask insists on talking to him about Ace, Deuce, Trey and Cater, while simultaneously insisting that he has no relation to him.

All the same, he advises the supervillain to tell Dr. Rosehearts to try talking to his mother— it was hard for Riddle to do over the holidays, but he at least managed to get her to look at him and see him as himself rather than as her “project”, even if it was only for a moment.

It’ll still be hard from here, but Riddle knows it’s better than just blindly following his mother’s rules and letting her have her way.

Royal Flush is taken aback by the words from his younger self. Personally, he’s unsure if that will really change anything, or just make his life harder than it has to be, but if there’s a chance...

Leona isn’t sure whether to be offended or not when King tells him to either graduate or drop out of Night Raven College already. He’s leaning towards it on principle, because this adult version of him is just presuming to tell him what to do with his life.

King asks him if he has any better ideas for flipping the bird to Farena—after all, sitting around on his ass is the same as admitting his goody-two-shoes brother has already won by doing nothing, isn’t it? King has an entire evil lair and an army of minions at his fingertips, and his version of Farena is forced to deal with him disrupting the peaceful little realm he inherited, unable to bring King to heel or make him toe the line.

An evil kingdom of his very own that can’t be taken away from him.

Leona points out that King still has to babysit Cheka. King changes the subject.

Octo Dealer places his hands on Azul’s shoulders and offers his sincere commiserations for having to deal with the younger Leeches.

He then tries to make a contract with him to ‘make poor unfortunate Azul’s life easier’.

Azul smiles thinly and offers a counter-contract to take the adult Leeches off of Octo Dealer’s hands if he believes dealing with them is so difficult. Azul can personally think of several things he could achieve off the top of his head if he had adult versions of his friends under his control, and the competition would be interesting enough that he could play them off each other masterfully...

Octo Dealer has never felt so proud.

Snake Charmer is pretending that he’s conversing with the younger version of a hostage he’s taken while talking to Jamil, not that he thinks for a moment that his younger self actually buys the lie. But both of them know the importance of keeping up appearances in front of others, so neither address what both know.

Of course, Snake Charmer can’t resist taking advantage of this to subtly boast about all he’s accomplished, partly to challenge his younger self to aspire to the same heights, partly because he can’t resist showing off to someone who knows his true identity but cannot expose him. He has freedom, the power to do whatever he wants whenever he wants, followers who are lousy with loyalty, admirers throughout the city and nemeses who cannot touch him no matter how they wish to bring him down. But a mere babysitter to a spoiled heir wouldn’t know what that feels like, now would they?

Jamil grits his teeth behind his calm smile, and rolls his magic pen between his fingers.

He retorts almost innocently whether all those things are really accomplishments if they can only be achieved while hiding behind a mask and fake facial hair.

The way Snake Charmer’s eyes narrow at him as he smiles back lets Jamil know he’s won this round.

Vil admires the high quality of Poison Queen’s costume and persona, even if he personally scorns the ugliness of stooping to supervillainy to try and surpass a rival who’s little more than a glorified flasher with good publicity. He’d hoped his older self would have the dignity and beauty to be able surpass someone who plays around in bows and frills.

Consider the costume itself—if Poison Queen could use their skills in designing to market a line of clothes aimed both at consumers and costume departments, whoever his civilian identity is would have his prestige boosted to new heights the likes of that crass ‘White Neige’ could never hope to reach.

Why waste all this talent and effort on supervillainy instead?

Poison Queen scoffs at Vil’s moralizing, making a snide comment about the rasp that’s audible when the little prefect from Vil’s school breathes and talks. It catches them off-guard a lot when they hear it, so it’s a new development, one that’s been induced artificially rather than developed naturally. What, exactly, would Twst!Yuu have needed to be exposed to in order to develop an affliction like this? Some kind of airborne toxin perhaps? A potent one, to be sure, requiring extensive and perfectionist experience with poisons to be able to brew something that left that kind of damage. But what circumstances would have necessitated the creation of such a thing, hm?

Vil goes quiet after that. Poison Queen takes it as a sign of victory. It may be ugliness, but Vil of all people shouldn’t pretend that he’s free of it. Hypocrisy is the ugliest thing of all.

Idia has some questions for Charon about the few robots he caught sight of in the lair before escaping to go to Yuu’s apartment. Charon, who has never been to Yuu’s apartment in person, starts muttering that it’s typical that even an alternate version of himself has better luck than him.

Idia struggles with this idea for several minutes.

Eventually Charon grows impatient enough with his blue-screening that he orders Idia just to ask what he was going to ask. He softens a lot once Idia begins asking about how to reproduce some of the taste sensors and digestive systems of the giant robotic three-headed dogs so that Ortho can eat candy with him while they play games together.

They quickly descend into a jargon-filled back and forth as they debate about how to best merge the technology of the supervillain world with the magitech of Twisted Wonderland so that Ortho not only can eat candy, but convert the sweets into fuel to supplement his current power source.

Twst!Yuu is very confused at how two people can hold a conversation entirely through tablets while standing right in front of each other and looking at each other.

Tsunotaro and Malleus appear to get along at first, chatting quietly about the different gargoyle architecture available in each of their universes, and if the loneliness ever gets more bearable.

And then R!Yuu claps their hands and says everyone needs to get a move on back to their home dimensions as they’re burning daylight, and Tsunotaro nods, picks up Twst!Yuu, and tries to walk back through the portal to the supervillain universe with them safely tucked under one arm.

When R!Yuu grabs him and asks what does he think he’s doing, Tsunotaro just blinks owlishly. “That dimension isn’t suitable for this child to grow up safely in. Wouldn’t it be better to taken them home so we can look after them together?”

R!Yuu is reduced to sputtering at the insinuation, the other supervillains feeling supremely irritated at the display.

Malleus seizes onto Twst!Yuu’s arm. He refuses to just stand by and just let his older self take away his first friend. Tsunotaro asks menacingly if his younger self really thinks he’ll stand a chance against an adult fae’s power, if he can’t even protect one human.

From there it devolves into a standoff between the two powerhouses, the other NRC students preparing to draw their magic wands if it turns into a fight for the prefect, Reporter Yuu trying desperately to get Tsunotaro to just let the other version of themself go before the colliding magic and superpowers do something catastrophic to both portals.

It only calms down once Twst!Yuu pipes up that while they appreciate the offer, they want to go back to Night Raven College with their friends, pointing out that they’d be even less safe as the child of a supervillain in a world they have no idea how to navigate than they currently are as just a magicless student. Besides, they say, a thumb brushing over the bandages on their throat. They have a friend they need to go talk to. If they just left without doing that, they’d probably hate themselves for it for the rest of their lives. They can’t turn their back on him and leave him alone.

Between the two Yuus, Tsunotaro is convinced to reluctantly put them down and let them return to the other students. He’s sulking a lot though.

[qqueenofhades]

Trump's SCOTUS pick scares the ever loving shit out of me. I'm trying not to have a full blown panic attack actually.

Sigh. I know.

I’m not going to say that picking someone literally, un-exaggeratedly out of The Handmaid’s Tale for SCOTUS, especially to replace someone like RBG, isn’t mother fucking terrifying. It is.  Especially since Mitch McConnell is trying to set her final confirmation vote for October 29, literally five days before the election. Yes indeed, that would be a third Supreme Court seat filled by an impeached president who lost the popular vote by three million votes, (possibly) confirmed by Republican enablers (some of whom are absolutely going to lose their seats in this election) who represent a sizeably smaller fraction of the US population than their Democratic counterparts, in a display of outright, staggering, truly breathtaking hypocrisy about the protocol of election-year vacancies on SCOTUS, which they themselves shouted about to no end with Merrick Garland in 2016. This is how tyranny by minority rule works, and... yeah. It’s bad. It’s awful. When is this going to end.

That said, however: we do not yet exist in this theoretical grimdark future where some dystopian 6-3 (or even 7-2) conservative SCOTUS strips us of our rights at every turn, with no recourse except for us to sit passively and take it, and there are a lot of things that we ourselves can do between now and then to make sure that it never happens. First off, House Democrats have proposed a bill to introduce 18-year term limits for SCOTUS justices, rather than it being an automatic lifetime appointment. This would also give every president the ability to appoint two justices per four-year term. Because SCOTUS has become such an instrument of partisan warfare, and because the obvious implications of having a partisan head of state pick the senior federal judges for a lifetime is part of what has fucked us up now, this would be a GREAT improvement. House Dems can’t make it into law right now, because Democrats do not hold a majority in both chambers of Congress and they do not hold the presidency. You know how this COULD be passed? If Joe Biden was elected with a blue House and Senate. That way, even if God forbid the GOP horror show snuck Coney Barrett onto the bench just before the election, this could be fixed.

Here’s another way to think about it. I myself have a HUGE problem with catastrophizing: a bad thing happens, and then it seems like an inevitable chain of nonstop bad things until everything gets irredeemably, unfixably even worse. This year, obviously, has not done much to help that, because yes, the bad things keep coming. But they’re still individual events and have not yet crystallized into some unbreakable, unavoidable future. History is made up of thousands of millions of choices, accidents, unforeseen developments, total random bullshit, and much more, as much or more as it is made up by the macro-scale actions of oligarchs. Obviously, globalization and capitalism have made us all more connected to each other, and thus changes to the system can ripple more broadly, but they are not the only people who make history. If there’s one thing I can tell you as a historian, it’s this: the future is just history that hasn’t been made yet, and it is subject to the exact same unpredictable bullshit that has constituted history throughout, well, history. Nothing is unavoidable and we have never existed in a world where we can’t do anything at all. Also, authoritarian regimes (especially those imposed without the consent of the people -- willing subjection to authoritarianism is one thing, but the other, yeah) have a relatively short shelf life, historically speaking. That won’t help all of us who could be hurt right now (though we can STILL fight back and speak up and help our neighbors), but it’s the truth. Authoritarian rule (especially when it’s not balanced by economic security, which sure as hell isn’t happening right now) can last for a while, sure. But it is always its own worst enemy, and it will always be ended. How that ends is a choice we can make.

This isn’t the “get out on the streets and Start The Glorious Revolution!!!” nonsense that the armchair internet leftists, none of whom are actually starting a glorious revolution or doing anything except bitching on Twitter about how Biden and Trump are alike, are fond of. This is an active choice to realize that there are always things you can do, that there are things you can do right now, and one of them, most obviously, is voting. This mess was all completely goddamn avoidable if people had voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. But well, they didn’t, and we get one last shot to fix this by democratic process. Trump is already openly setting up to contest the election results/try to invalidate them/throw out ballots. This is all old-school fascism. This is what is happening. He is counting on another razor-thin margin of votes that he can then contest in his hand-picked SCOTUS; he wants another Bush v. Gore very, very badly. The only way to blow away any legitimacy for anything like this is to vote in such overwhelming numbers that there’s no question of Biden’s victory, no need to wait for mail-in ballots (another reason the GOP has been trying so hard to destroy the post office) or anything else. At heart, Trump is a coward. He’s also an egomaniac. If it comes to stepping aside peacefully or being dragged out of the White House by the FBI for everyone to laugh at for the rest of time, hmm, I doubt he’s going to go for that. (And if he does, well, I will also savor the sight of him in handcuffs for all eternity.) However, that doesn’t mean the GOP machine won’t TRY, because Trump is not just Trump, but is his entire miserable cabal of enablers. I have written my fingers raw about how badly people need to vote. This is literally your last chance to do it.

I’ve seen a lot of the-sky-is-falling, we’re-doomed, they-have-the-votes-so-don’t-even-bother handwringing in the last few days. To some degree, yes. We all feel doomed. We have all been asked to find strength to deal with massive and unending waves of terrifying bullshit past anyone’s normal capacity, and we’re tired. We want it to end. But it’s SO CLOSE to ending, if we can all just get out and vote for Joe Biden in massive numbers on November 3 (or if your state has early voting, sooner; BANK YOUR VOTE). That’s such an easy thing to do. Nothing is set in stone. We can still fix things and make it so, you know, we’re not living in a fascist state ruled by Gilead. (And besides, all this Chicken Little rhetoric is super easy for the Russian troll farms to exploit. Don’t listen to it. Shut it down. Reject it.)

They want you to think you’re powerless. You’re not.

They want you to think this will never end. It will. We decide how.

They want you to think this is a foregone conclusion and you should just go back home and let it happen. You don’t have to.

They want you to think your vote doesn’t matter. It does.

They want you to think your rights are gone. They’re not.

They want you to think this future is inevitable.

IT’S NOT.

Hang in there.

Lots of hugs.

[salamandermemes]

KROWNS sentence starters.

High While the World Ends:

“Trying to build a life with broken parts.” “Trying to hold on tight with a stitched up heart.” “Caring is anarchy, filling up your head with dreams 'til it all goes dark.” “So, baby, let's face it.” “You know that we could be the last generation.” “Ain't complicated.” “Drink in our hands, twenty-two grams.” “We can get high while the whole world ends.” “Take a ride on my spaceship.” “We can take it on a permanent vacation.” “No destination.” “Climbing these towers to the clouds.” “Levitate while they tear this whole place down.” “Diamonds in ecstasy, ripples in our gravity 'til it all burns out.” “Feel like you're choking, the life that you ripped open.” “Every way's the wrong way going nowhere, bruised and broken.” “Don't wanna be here when I wake up.” “I wanna be in outer space. Up like the comets, they blaze up.” “Some of the hurt, we can't foresee.” “Some of the hurt that never bleeds.” “Our schemes, and machines, and our dreams that we never see.” “Now we're standing on the brink.” “It's getting harder not to think.” “We messed this up, and now we're sinking.” “And it's all gone in a blink.” “There ain't nothing in the world I want more than this.” “Now we're flying like kites through a black abyss.”

Triumphant:

“Cut down by the fear and the judgement.” “'Cause no ones ever given me nothin'.” “Now I’m triumphant.” “Rising up to the sound of the trumpets.” “No one's gonna see me comin'.” “Was a prisoner all through my youth.” “Always caught between dazed and confused.” “Found my only escape in the tunes, smokin' cigarettes, flippin' tape cassettes.” “Tryin' to choose when you don't have a choice.” “Tryin' to scream when you don't have a voice.” “Stealing sun through the crack in the void.” “I felt so low that I stopped running.” “Now there's only one way to go.” “And I always remember the view.” “In a world of lies, she was the truth.” “We had nothin' and nothin' to loose.” “There's a fire in your heart when you know.” “You're so low you got one way to go.” “You gotta rise up, rise up.”

Phony:

“They're so phony, phony, phony phony.” “Got all those riches, they don't own me.” “You an ivy league, but you don't know me.” “Just fakers wearin' crowns.” “You're never gonna bring me down.” “Watch me now.” “Gives me the creeps, it could be me.” “Maybe I'm jealous.” “Call me a cynic, ain't tryna spin it.” “Just overzealous.” “I ain't buyin' the shit they sell us.” “I ain't drinkin' the lies they tell us.” “Won't make a scene, 'tween you and me; it's just not my thing.” “They play pretend until the end.” “Lie through their teeth, hypocrisy; the way that they work it.” “March in a line, dressed to the nines.” “Throwin' back Percocet.” “Under their disguises, afraid of what they're hidin'.” “Gives me the creeps, so make-believe.” “It's just not my thing.”

Fake It:

“We fake it all the time.” “I'm sorry I have to be so dishonest.” “Practice my perfect face in the mirror.” “I'm sorry I have to be an apologist.” “It's all I can do to tame my hysteria.” “They don't know me.” “They don't know you.” “We fake it to survive.” “We fake this plastic life.” “Fake it to make it.” “They don't know what it's like, to be locked out of paradise.” “Always hiding behind this disguise.” “I never intended to hide in plain sight.” “But we aren't all made of the same material.” “Some of us wear the camouflage and fight.” “Protecting ourselves from feeling inferior.” “Afraid that you're paralyzed.”

Forget Life:

“It doesn't matter anyway, so never mind.” “Chem trails found in these acid skies.” “Countin' down the minutes 'til it fades to black.” “Don't care what they say right behind my back.” “Put me in a coma.” “Take me far away.” “Give me some disorder.” “'Cause at the end of the day, I just wanna forget life.” “I just wanna forget life.” “Go get out of my mind.” “I can't take any more of these dead-end days.” “My eyes bloodshot and I can't see straight.” “Sitting here killin' time like I'm Son of Sam.” “It's just another day in this hologram.”

All the Money in the World:

“Vandalizin' this masterpiece.” “We're catastrophes, broken symphonies.” “Castles built on tragedy.” “We're home.” “Crooked corners and our edges frayed.” “We're all marchin' in this shit parade.” “Through the streets 'til our dyin' days.” “No I won't let go.” “I wouldn't change for all the money in the world.” “I wouldn't trade for all the money in the world.” “Burning right out of gasoline.” “All these wolverines, they're surroundin' me.” “Gotta find a way to find some peace and let go.” “Damaged goods and we're goin' bankrupt.” “Yeah, they sold us out, morally corrupt.” “Hard to swallow when they spit you up.” “All the money in the world.”

[jelan-bike]

I'm fucking tired of western SJW hypocrisy

I'm tired of your double standards. I'm tired that you no nothing outside your country and your form of society.

I'm tired that you talk so much about the harm of colonialism and rights of indigenous peoples and people of color, but only if it's about your people, about your system, about your country. I'm not saying that you're obliged to speak for other nations, but you don't even know about their existence. You live like the whole world is US and west. You freak out and send threats to a person from a country that didn't have a blackface phenomena for doing a make up as a black person. You don't care that the person might not even know about a blackface. But the whole world should know every nuance of US history, while you know nothing about anything outside your country. An artist puts all their effort in doing an accurate representation of your culture and you blame them for cultural appropriation. And you don't give a shit that in their country cultural appropriation isn't a thing, but lack of representation is a serious problem. When they genuinely don't understand you, you blame them for white supremacism, not giving a shit that they're not even white and they come from a nation that not only has nothing to do with your oppressors, but suffered from colonization itself. Suffered a lot. But sadly there isn't anyone who fights for their rights. And when someone tries to end a conflict and asks you to explain them something they don't understand, you make fun of them or just ignore. At the same time you proudly call yourself someone that educates these ignorant people. You're ready to speak about the problems of racism and colonialism in your country 24/7 with an unbelievable emotionalism but when someone outside your country tells you about literally the same problems of their nation or their place, there isn't even a single reaction from you. You care about the climate and ecology only if it's inside your country. A frigging ecologic catastrophe might occur and you won't even bother to know about it. You demand everyone around you to be as angry with trump as you are, not giving a shit that people has been living for all their lives in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes with whole governments of their country made of people like trump, where voting has zero meaning, where even the most peaceful protests are punished with unbelievable brutality. You blame other countries for agression, seeing them as a pure evil and your country as good guys TM forgetting that US has the biggest army and weapon complex, that whole world is covered with your military bases.

And yet no, I don't hate you. The only thing I ask about, the only reason I write all this about, please, PLEASE educate yourself about other people around you, about other countries, about other cultures. I don't demand you to solve their problems, I ask you to stop being so hypocritical, to learn something outside your own world, outside your system, outside your country, or at least don't be aggressive and indifferent towards others.

How can we fight racism, colonialism, climate change etc ignoring the most of the world aside our own place?

[lunarfanfics]

Impulsive

Words: 1,638 | Rating: T

Pair: Eren Jaeger & Annie Leonhardt

For ereannieweek, Day 6: Predator and Prey 

I’m using my timeskip au for this one! The timeskip au is just an au I made up in which Annie never crystallized herself and is saved from Paradise and thus grows up along with Reiner & Co- and she is the one who is hailed as Vice Commander instead of Reiner etc. 

[ FF.net / AO3 ]

– —————— –

Boots splashed into pools of water, one set of feet trailing after the other. Rain pit-pattered softly on the cobblestones, and on the trash bags that littered the narrow path. Forgotten quilts hung on a clothesline two stories up between the two tenements. The stench of mildew, damp linen and moldy food permeated the air.

The two strangers stopped walking. Or rather the first one had halted suddenly, that then caused the second one staggering to a stop before they collided into the others back.

He sighed, “How long are you going to follow me?”

She countered, “How long are you going to keep ignoring me?”

“Annie…” He turned to look at her, running a hand through his wet hair, his face a mask of indifference except for the crease between his brows that gave away the irritation he was feeling than. “Go. Home.”

“I should be saying that to you.” The small blonde folded her arms, drenched and as agitated as he was. They were both such stubborn people, neither wanting to back down. He hated how similar they’d become.

He sighed again. He was too exhausted for this.

“If it helps you sleep at night, I will be… soon.” He turned from her, “Now, go home. I’m sure your father must be worried.”

He didn’t get to take one step before he was pulled back by the little force behind him. He nearly fell on top of the damned woman if not for catching himself.

“Get. Off.” He growled, trying to wretch himself free from her hold. Annie clutched onto his overcoat tighter, her pale knuckles tinting whiter than the starch overcoat he was wearing, now soaked gray from the rain.

“You think I’m going to believe you’re just going to leave like that?” She narrowed icy blue eyes, “You have a plan, I know you do…”

He squeezed his eyes shut as he exhaled. He was irritated. Wet. Tired. “I don’t want to hurt you… Just let me go, please?”

“Hurt me?” Annie loosened her hold on him, and he pulled away instantly. She cocked her head, “How exactly are you going to hurt me?”

“I’m not.” He shook his head. “I don’t want too… Just, stay away.”

“Why should I stay away?” She pressed. “What is it that you’re planning?”

He blinked, his clothes felt like they weighted tons, the dress shirt he’d stolen was sticking to his body like a second skin—he was so tired.  

“Eren.”

“Annie.”

“I know you don’t trust me,” she stepped forward, boots sinking into a rain puddle by his feet, “And I certainly do not trust you. But I have never been loyal to the Marley, I do what they tell me to do because I have no other choice, because the odds are against me. Do you understand?”

“If you’re trying to empathize with me, it’s not going to work.”

“I’m not.” She was closing in on him. “My point is, I do what I do for survival. To make a living in this cruel world. And you… there is a reason you’re here, and I want to know if you’re going to be disturbing the peace here, otherwise hindering what years I have left in this world.”  

“Peace?” He scoffed. Pausing for a moment just to peer down at her, take in her questioning icy gaze and down turned lips. She was probably afraid of the outcome of his plan—even if she did not know it.

But with Eren, she knew things always ended in guttural screams, and fire. So, she was taking an educated guess, and she was right too. But he will not relent. So again, he told her to go home. And again, she pushed, and prodded him for information.

And again, and again, and again.

“Is it so catastrophic that you’re not willing to tell me? Does the Survey Corp even know of this? Do they even know that you’re here?”

“Why do you want to know?!”

“Maybe I want to help.”

That sentence stunned him into silence. He could only open, then close his mouth because no words were coming through. Yet he managed one— “Why?”

And Annie, nonchalant as ever, shrugged. “I’m not going to live very long, so I want to spend every second I can with my father—and if your grand scheme involves leading a revolt against the Marley, it’s going to put me and him in further danger, I don’t want to be on the losing side if that’s the case.”

“You’re making a gamble with me?”

“Why not?”

“This isn’t a game Annie.”

“If you have a big secret plan—then you’ve already made it into a game. And you’ll be gambling lives… is that it?”

He looked away.

“I don’t want my father’s life to be thrown into the fray, the Marley has ruled for years… and I know, I can feel— you’re going to change that.”

“… You’ll take back those words, once you see.”

At this, Annie glared at him, “Then tell me what your plan is, and who is involved.”

He huffed a laugh, “Go home, Annie.”

She was on him before he could react, grappling his damp shirt collar and forcibly tugging him down. But he did not cower—instead he wrapped his hands around her thin wrists, and shoved her back, he was stronger than her, he always had been, she was just more technical than he was. Not this time, though.

He pushed her against the dirty brick wall—using his height to his advantage. Annie craned her neck so she could stare him in the eye, intensifying her glare, hands still fisted at his collar.

She blew wet blonde tendrils from her face. “Let go of me.”

“You let go first.”

She did, slowly. At the same time and same pace, he released her wrists, but opted to instead rest an arm above her head, leaning over her. His damp hair fell limply over one shoulder.

He grumbled, “You are so very persistent.”

“It gets annoying doesn’t it?”

Eren cracked a small smile at that.

“I’m not going to tell you anything, don’t you know that?”

“I’m not going to leave until you do.”

“You’re going to make me hurt you.”

She straightened her spine against the brick wall, hands limp by her sides, her nose upturned to stare at him in defiance. “I’d like to see you try.”

He just shook his head, not because he was refusing her challenge, but because of the sheer audacity that was Annie Leonhardt.

He leaned down, got in her face, so they could see eye to eye. “What… you’re going to make me shift right here? Right between these two buildings? Don’t you care about what happens to these people? Do you ever think about anyone else but yourself and your father?”

That got a visible flinch out of her. Still she spat, “Speak for yourself, you don’t give a shit about these people, you only care for the Eldians back on that island.”

She shoved a finger into his chest, baring her teeth, “Actually, I’m going to guess that you don’t even care about those back on the island. No, to you, they’re expendable. You do care about your friends though, don’t you? You can sacrifice anyone— everyone in the world, as long as it’s not Mikasa or Armin, or anyone else in your precious little circle of a family. Talk about hypocrisy.”

Their names on her tongue felt wrong to him. Yet everything she said was true… but she was only attempting to get under his skin with those jabs. So, he was just going to have to get into hers.

He tilted his head, so instead of leering at her face, he breathed hotly onto the pale skin of her neck. The sudden change of position made Annie stiffen, “What’re you doing?”

“Why don’t you just go home?” Eren with his free hand, played with the collar of her uniform—the Marley’s uniform, that was hanging off her lithe body like a loose skin from all this wet weather.

“I already told you—”

He roughly pulled at her collar before sinking his teeth into the juncture of her neck. She gasped, blue eyes widening, her hands immediately coming up to his chest, but she didn’t shove him off, just rested them there. Unsure of what to do, unsure of how to react.

He applied pressure, locking his jaw, until he could feel the supple flesh give way—he could taste the slight tang of copper, and warmth in his mouth. He could hear Annie make a soft— “Uh!”—sound.

He didn’t stop until the steam flooding his mouth made his eyes water, only then did he tear himself away from her. Wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his coat.

Annie was clutching at the fresh wound on her neck, staring at him incredulously.

Eren licked his lips, tasting blood and rainwater. “Go home, Annie. Go back to your father. Forget you ever saw me, and don’t worry about what I have planned.”

He turned his back to her, started walking down the alley before stopping halfway, looking over his shoulder to where she was still standing, still holding her neck like a toddler who’d just been struck.

“And… don’t go to the Liberio Festival.”

Annie furrowed her brows, puzzlement and fear washing over her at his words. “Why?”

But he had already continued down the narrow path, leaving her there in the light afternoon drizzle with his teeth marks melded into her healing flesh.

She didn’t follow him this time.

[destroyseverything]

((Okay okay okay so I know I’ve been joking about writing different flavours of the same asshole and I’m still gonna meme the heck out of Fire-Rufus-parallels, but this did actually make me think about their differences.

“Horrible person” isn’t exactly a concrete character trait.

This is gonna be interesting to at most two people but still. I’ve asked which one is worse as a joke, and it’s interesting because copper boy is by far the worse person, but rust man is more hurtful towards others.))

  It’s repeatedly shown that Rufus does care about people, and not just when he sacrifices himself at the end. He never would’ve had second thoughts at the end of the first game if he didn’t, though I imagine even he thought he didn’t care about Deponia before its destruction was on the table. He was bitter, and it’s easy to say you don’t care when you don’t think it would change anything anyway.

Rufus hurts people, because he acts impulsively, because he says whatever he’s thinking without even considering that it could be hurtful, and when people do get angry he doubles down because he’s the good guy. Why would people get angry when he insults them to their face? He’s just sayin’! Rufus doesn’t actively intend to make enemies, but his complete lack of empathy and unwillingness to admit it as a fault means he repeatedly does, and this extends to his actions as well.

Meanwhile Fire has the self control and patience of a saint (haha very funny), and when he says something hurtful you can be sure he picked his words with the intention of doing as much emotional damage as possible, and this as nothing more than a game. But most of the time, he gets along with people just fine, and they can’t tell he’d stab them in the neck for half a corn chip because they’re simply not worth him revealing his true nature to.

When Fire says he doesn’t care, he actually means it. He’d purposefully sacrifice and/or kill people without a second thought if there was a point to it, because he truly does not see worth in most people’s lives, and the main reason he doesn’t is because for the most part there is no point. And sure, there’s exceptions he considers friends even beyond Red, but apathy is his default and even when it comes to his friends there’s a thick layer of denial.

Funny thing too, is that Fire obviously wasn’t always this bad, and he unlearnt how to care about people and became bitter the closer he got to giving up on his dreams, when it became more and more clear that he’d never get the title he wanted, and recognition he needed. Let’s compare this to Elysium for a moment, and Rufus’ dream of a better life surrounded by people who treat him like a person instead of a catastrophe.

Fire doesn’t give two shits about anyone or anything because he gave up. Rufus absolutely refuses to. And that’s the key difference between the two.

For the heck of it let’s look at some more similarities though, aside from the fact that they’re both Schrödinger’s gingers, clowns, have a tendency to commit arson, and would absolutely jump at the chance to bang their own twin (in the broadest of senses)

No empathy is an obvious one, though Fire compensates by understanding how people tick on a rational level, and Rufus is at least capable of sympathy/compassion once he understands that someone is hurt. Both of them strongly lack awareness as well, but while Rufus’ extends externally and makes him seem completely deluded and detached from reality at times, Fire’s is entirely focussed internally and mostly shows itself in double standards and hypocrisy. As a result Rufus, while chaotic, comes off as much more cohesive, while Fire is two-faced even on occasions where he’s not consciously putting on an act.

[sonicfanj]

Seeing Shadow in his Friends, Enemies, and Maria

So, I’m always one for my odd opinions and outlooks and the one that been on my mind of late is one about Shadow. Now I know Shadow is a very easy character to like and make fun of all at once, but one of the things that I like about Shadow is his nuances and his tendency for self-reflection and introspective moments. Like Sonic he is aloof, but unlike Sonic who knows himself, Shadow has difficulty even approaching himself and as a result tends to attract attention from those who reflect aspects of himself in different ways. How responds to these people says a lot about him and how he views himself which I find to be absolutely fascinating.

Friends

So I’ll start with one that is both easy to see Shadow in, but shows a lot of the interesting nuance mystery still about Shadow and how he views himself.

Omega

So, Omega being the Eggman hating machine that he is should be a pretty straightforward character to see Shadow in. Primarily in his need for vengeance no matter what. Shadow himself when he debuted no matter the reasoning behind it perceived himself as a weapon that needed to fulfill his vengeance. Omega is clearly no different and it is obvious that Shadow sees a lot of himself in the machine. They were both made by members of the Robotnik family and find themselves not living the lives they were created for. They are almost family in a way and considering at least through 06 how much trust and care Shadow showed for Omega (why would you take that away SEGA?) there is no doubt that he is extrememly important to him.

Where it gets interesting with Omega is not in the similarities he shares with Shadow and how much of himself that Shadow sees in him, but how Shadow generally treats him. Though Omega is almost entirely a cold weapon of a machine living for a singular vengeance much like he was until Amy reminded him of what Maria asked of him, Shadow did not distance himself from Omega once they were a team. He showed concern for him, considered his insights when appropriate, and trusts him to have his back. This is even after he lets go of his own need for vengeance, yet in a way he constantly has a reminder of it beside him in the form of Omega making Omega serve as much as a warning for what he can devolve into even while he is one of his closest friends. It is such a strange contrast and I believe it would be quite engaging to see what we can learn about Shadow through this relationship.

Rouge

Now Rouge might be a bit more difficult to see Shadow in, but I think a lot of that has to do with their personalities at a glance. Both of them are for the most typically self absorbed individuals, even if for different reasons, but will step up and do the right thing when they need to, no matter how dirty they get in the process. They also typically keep their true feelings on matters hidden unless really pushed, though they have opened up to each other on occasion which is always fun to see. This is especially interesting since the biggest similarity they share is keeping up a facade that makes them seem more unapproachable and callous then they really are which makes Rouge a very kindred soul to Shadow.

Shadows unspoken trust in Rouge says a lot about how he values those parts of himself but fully embraces the importance of keeping himself at arm’s length from everything around him. Shadow values this quite a bit and rarely lets anyone through his icy shell, including Rouge who he will actually grow visibly irritated with when she doesn’t respect his shell. This reaction is kind of interesting to me as to an extent it is an irritation that to me reads of fear. Considering how he lost everything when the Ark was raided though it should not be a particular surprise. He lost everything that made him who he was then and his exterior shell like Rouge’s is a part of him, and something that he values to keep himself whole.

Enemies

Shadow’s enemies are an interesting batch of characters who all reflect Shadow in different ways and clearly highlight how shadow feels about those parts of himself.

Black Doom

Another easy one like Omega, Black Doom is a clear representation of Shadow’s potential to be a complete monster. But as Shadow at the time was craving an identity for himself and a sense of purpose, being a monster was more tempting than it probably ever should have been. But sure enough Shadow listened regardless to what Black Doom had to say and did not finally truly take action until he had seen the full extent of Black Doom’s plans.

Now this puts us an interesting place as it shows that Shadow has a great deal of patience for dealing with the monstrous nature that he possesses. He humors it. Listens to it. Lets it stretch its legs and show itself completely. Yet when it comes time to deal with it, he doesn’t just chase it back into the shadows (sorry for the pun) but chooses to utterly eliminate. Shadow kills Black Doom, destroys the Black Comet, and turns his back on the Ark and everything it represented, even joining forces with G.U.N. in 06. Shadow didn’t just face his the monster inside of him, once he allowed himself to see all of it, he destroyed every trace of it that he could and distanced himself from everything else he couldn’t bring himself to destroy. Too me this makes him look like he is absolutely terrified of the type of monster that he could become and actually makes it easier for me to come to terms with how he acts in the IDW Comics to an extent. Knowing full well the type of monster he can and his unique relationship with Eggman it is little wonder the whole Metal Virus Saga left him in a very foul temper. The terror he possesses for what he can be drives him harder than probably any other motivational force in his life, especially having turned his back as much as he can on his memories of Maria.

Mephiles the Dark

The recolor of a recolor in the flesh, and yet still one of my favorites if only for his relationship with Shadow (06 had it’s problems but Shadow’s campaign was not one of them to me). Mephiles and his plan are one of the biggest messes in the Sonic franchise and that allows him to encapsulate Shadow perfectly. He’s a mess of an individual driven by vengeance and hung up on his power and need to see the plan he follows through to its end. He will let nothing stand in his way but will gladly accept the aid of any he can manipulate to his ends. Almost a perfect description of how SEGA wants Shadow branded right now, even to the extent of wanting to ignore everything that made Shadow who he is, only dwelling on the most trivial of aspects. He is pettiness and arrogance in Shadow’s form and acts as a constant temptation towards deification through his own power while trying to stir his fear of being nothing more but a tool that has outgrown his usefulness to his masters.

So how how does Shadow face this enemy and part of himself? He pretty much tells it to stuff it, and is backed up by Omega who is a kindred soul and has nothing against turning on his masters if the need be (you only did it to yourself Eggman). When presented with all of his fears, insecurities, and everything that his power can bring him, Shadow chooses to fight everything. Be it his master, himself, or anyone else. Shadow has a very firm grasp on what he is, and as much as he fears it, he has no intention of ever giving in, fighting on without end. But like Mephiles, it also shows that Shadow feels the need to keep himself under control, but has to fight against himself to keep himself under control. The consequences of not doing so could be catastrophic (the destruction of the Earth, mankind turned into food, the end of time itself, etc...). That Shadow stays so cool through it is a testament to his resolve, but without his friends as support he buckles under the weight of the responsibility and lashes out like in the IDW comics (so why are you seperating him from his friends SEGA?).

Infinite

Now there wasn’t nearly as much interaction between Shadow and Infinite as there should have been, but that doesn’t stop the daft jackal though from reflecting a part of Shadow. Above all else what Infinite represents is Shadow’s pride, arrogance, and hypocrisy, especially as Shadow has pretty much become him. The constant boasting about himself and his power. The need to dismiss the strength brought on by friendship, and sole the belief that no matter what he can resolve any situation. Infinite is nearly everything that SEGA is trying to make Shadow today, yet they simultaneously tell a story about how wrong it is to be like that through Infinite. It’s a mixed message on SEGA’s part, but not so for Shadow.

Where SEGA says that Infinite is in the wrong even as they try mold Shadow into him, Shadow’s response is so much more in character. Arrogance, pride, hypocrisy; they’re all parts of him that he readily accepts and as a result is completely indifferent to Infinite. It is a curious form of acceptance, yet when it comes to these aspects Shadow just is both physically and philosophically. it isn’t that he openly embraces or rejects these parts of himself, but rather pays them little heed, accepting them as a part of him that does not require his attention. As a result, Infinite proves no threat to Shadow as this is one part of Shadow that he just accepts without thought allowing him to judge the jackal on his actions, not even recognizing how well reflected he is by him or the effects that those aspects can have on others and the world around him. In this regard Shadow reads to me as neglectful of this aspect of personality even though it drives a lot of his actions and personal agency. Yet it reflects him so well as it highlights why it is so easy for him to be so reckless and actually makes it easier for me to see why he’d end up messing up so badly against the Zombots. Go figure.

Maria

Finally wrapping up and giving them their own entire category we get to girl who gave Shadow his heart. No matter how much he tries to walk away she is always right there with him when he is kind, and when he is curious. She is the innocence in him that allows him to occasionally step outside of his icy exterior and the force that drives him to protect. And even his 25th Anniversary comic shows that he still thinks about her and that he walks in the direction illuminated by her beliefs. Or in short, she is everything that Shadow wishes he could hold inside of himself and keep safe no matter how hard his exterior has to grow. Yet with her is soft, gentle, delicate, as likely to break as she. She is as said above, his heart, made even more intriguing as some scholars believe the name to be derived from a word for love. This makes Amy being the one to snap him of his end the world kick all the more symbolic than I ever realized as her name can be interpreted to mean beloved or love )depending on how bad you’re butchering the French origins), especially since other possible meanings include “sea of bitterness” which reflects his personality most of the game, and “rebellion” which in turn relates him to Sonic and his rebellious personality. Again, it makes Maria his heart. And how does Shadow respond to this?

He protects it with everything he has, and is utterly devastated when he loses it, clinging on desperately to the memories and keeping them deeply buried inside himself. At his heart Shadow is extreme frail and knows it, building layer after of protections to keep himself safe, Be it his cold exterior or the lies he tells himself abut himself and leaving her behind which again the 25th Anniversary comic proves is a lie he tells himself in my opinion. His reaction also kind of puts him in the role of the Beast from beauty and the Beast as it is this simple girl who gives him his heart and keeps him from being the monster he fears becoming more than anything else. In a way it’s kind of beautiful and makes me appreciate Shadow that much as a character.

As I stated at the start of this opinion piece, part of what makes Shadow one of my favorites is his nuance and self-reflective and introspective tendencies. Writing it out it opened him up to me in more ways than I really realized he could be opened up and actually brought me a lot of peace with how he is being handled in the IDW comics so far. I may not like, but it actually is more in character than I realized and that is a feat that heavily impresses me with Ian Flynn’s writing considering what SEGA is doing to him. Still though, these are just my opinions and I wonder what everyone else thinks of them and how they see Shadow in his friends, enemies, and Maria.

[meltedjasmine]

types of people as the weather

cloudy has sticky hands, wet with the effort of anxiety and forever ready to be held. she tastes like black tea; a little like a reassurance to an insecurity or a hesitant reply to an i-love-you but she can hold on and see it through. she's strong enough to know that it's okay to be vulnerable in the warmth of something safe. her eyes can stagger any man or woman, leave them slackjawed depending on how they looked at her first, or convey the barest, the sweetest notes of adoration.

sunny is crying over his favorite netflix shows but is quick to move on. his emotions are extreme but genuine; he really is that euphoric when you reassure him that the metal bird clips in his hair look good. as afraid as he is of being left behind, he's unforgettable to those who have the pleasure of getting to know him, getting to know all about him.

stormy has untamed hair and patience belied by their short temper. they're the same pair of battered boots and distressed denim that pair nicely with the bags under their eyes and the weight of the world on their breath. quick to spiral out of control, they give themselves timeouts to take a breather, take in the smell of petrichor and disappointment before deciding that to give up wouldn't be as worthwhile as trying again.

rain sits in her car in the middle of an empty parking lot and searches for the perfect song to listen to. her hair is a wave that refuses to straighten and she is the excitement over new things offset by the unfathomable terror of change. zoning out is but a second nature and it's not that she's disinterested, she's just got better things to be interested in.

snow does it himself. anything, everything. he isn't very good at it but he tries nonetheless: puts himself back together after catastrophes, microwaves tomatoes to satiate the munchies, makes his own phone cases. he's frozen in his state of hypocrisy and incapable of taking a compliment despite the glow he emits that isn't just the glitter he manages to slather on his blushed skin.

windy is a force to be reckoned with but also a fragile soul, afraid of hurting and of being hurt. she can contort her face into the funniest expressions but still deliver the sultriest looks. she likes her gold hoops, doesn't mind them in silver either, and would jump through hoops to prove that she's more than falsified courage.

clear skies is a lover of classic movies, feeling loved and the softest grunge clothing fashion can muster up. they like their short hair, never miss an opportunity to run their fingers through it when fretting the endeavors to reach their self assigned expectations but all anyone could wish for is for them to see how kindness swims in the depths of their eyes and silver linings run bone deep within.

[monicalorandavis]

J.Lo and Shakira’s halftime show was good

I have watched it and rewatched it and taken my time to mull it over. The verdict is: I thought it was good. I didn’t think it was “OH MY GOD, cancel my plans I must learn this choreography immediately”-good and I’ve been there before.

In fact, four years ago when Beyonce performed at the half-time show with Bruno Mars (and Coldplay), I did need to shut my life down and recuperate. I was shook. Beyonce, you see, invoked another era and still thrived in the present. She, like the very best artists, hearkened back feelings, moments, nostalgia of yore and challenged it with the full toolbox of the culture at present. She was a Black Panther and an alien and everything in between. I am not even a die-hard Beyonce stan like that but as far as Super Bowl half-time performances go, we’re all still waiting for anyone to top her.

I know, I know, Prince sang in the rain and his two dancers somehow managed to avoid devastating catastrophes on stage. Guitar solos, sex appeal and, again, all that rain. I don’t know how it happened either. Prince was a beautiful pixie-sex-god. Simple as that. Don’t overthink his contributions to the culture. His sex appeal exists in a different realm than the physical. We do not yet have the words to describe the colors he painted with. So, no, I will not compare Beyonce’s performance to his. Beyonce is many things, but she’s firmly, confidently a woman. Meaning she’s of this world, not fairy land, so we can not explain away her drive or success as coincidental. She is the hardest working woman in show business (though J.Lo appears to be right behind her). But she is a woman nonetheless. All of her hard work is pounded out step by step, day by day, meal by meal, soundcheck by soundcheck. She’s a craftswoman and, in addition to her talent, I believe that’s why she’s the queen. No one can outwork her and I love a work ethic. I believe we all do.

And that brings us back to the matter at hand, the halftime show was good. They clearly worked hard on a dazzling show. No if’s and’s or but’s about it. Anyone denying that is either racist or sexist and I won’t engage with a third option.

Let’s now take a moment to address the blow-back from the right wing (who, I fear, is being stupid on purpose at this point), J.Lo and Shakira have beautiful bodies that they’ve clearly spent decades toning and gyrating and choreographing with. I will not tolerate any bad-mouthing about their overt sexiness and lack of taste. I hate America’s prudishness when it comes to our female artists. Especially when we’ve promoted Britney Spears since she was 17 talking about ‘Hit me baby, one more time’. It always feels like we take greater offense when the women being discussed are non-white (yes, I am citing the Janet Jackson nipple-gate scenario). We (the larger “we”, not me personally) applaud the Victoria’s Secret fashion show but now we want to condemn these beautiful women, over 40, for loving their bodies and showing them off on the biggest stage of their careers? Make it make sense. Is it because they’re Latina? Or have thicker thighs than those models? Or is it because they seem totally self-possessed and in charge of how they present themselves? Do we hate women being in charge that much? How is one sexiness acceptable and the other isn’t?

The Victoria’s Secret fashion show appears on CBS. That’s as basic cable as it can get. I wonder if it boils down to the Super Bowl being a “family-friendly” show and the VS fashion show is explicitly sexier. Perhaps these critics were just caught off-guard and they hate surprises! (But just take one look at the asses on some of these players in those see-through pants and tell me that the whole premise of the NFL is not the lovechild of a horny Grindr executive! I dare you.)

Plus, to the point about J.Lo and Shakira being half-naked, they better be! They are athletes and athletes get hot! (We don’t expect tennis players to cover up.) Of course they wanted to show off what they’ve worked their entire lives for. Nobody gets in that kind of shape on accident. Plus, it felt right to showcase their athleticism on America’s greatest stage surrounded by other athletes for the world to see. To dance that hard and work all that hair and appear to be having the time of your life is grueling! They pulled it off swimmingly. Dare I say, joyfully??

Now, where the show falters for me is this, it did not shock or stun or educate me. And I know the last one sounds funny but let me explain. I do not need live performances to give me an education in a classic sense. But I do like art, and that includes cheesy half-time shows, to reveal something of the artist. So in that sense, I do look for some emotional or spiritual education to take place. Show me something I don’t know, if you will. Give me some reveal, some baring of the soul. And, I don’t think anyone can say we got that.

Yes, J.Lo referenced ‘Hustlers’ with a gorgeous pole-dancing number which I adored as a political statement to the Oscars (a real, ‘How you like me now?’). And, Shakira played guitar and the drums and did some very cool Afro-Latino dance moves that broke from her tradition of wacky inflatable tube man gyrations. We could say her performance felt very global and that felt cool. And yes, most overtly, little kids sang in cages. They might’ve been Cinderella-inspired beautiful, shimmering, easily-escapable cages...but, didn’t we want more?

It’s not J.Lo or Shakira’s job to stick it to the man at the most watched television event of the year. But I did leave the performance really craving a more biting indictment of our country’s hypocrisy. Remember, this is the year after every artist under the sun (except Adam Levine) refused to perform the half-time show as a show of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. In spite of the NFL’s hardest-hitting attempts at addressing police brutality with some pointed commercials, no NFL executive or spokesperson made a statement in regards to it. They left all the explanation to the families of the victims of the violence. And needless to say, those people were black. Because, as always, we expect black people to solve racism.

So, I think you’ll excuse me for expecting a heavier hitting political statement. Is it unrealistic? Yes. But so was Beyonce pulling off a Black Panther inspired performance in the face of the NFL and entire country. I wanted to love, love, love the half-time show and I certainly enjoyed it. I mean, how could I not?! They’re both so gorgeous! And fun. And cool. God, I’d love just one day with either of their hair stylists but amazing hair simply can not make a political statement on its own. And I wanted juuuuust a little bit more.

[shirtlesssammy]

14x20: Moriah

The Road So Far:

How is Team Free Will 2.0 ever going to beat Michael, the Big Bad of the season?

Now:

We open right where we left off last week. Jack escaped the Ma’lak box by blowing it to smithereens, and took most of the bunker’s storage room with it. “You lied to me.” And then he blasts Team Free Will before flapping off.

The guys assess the damage and discuss Jack. And by discuss, I mean Dean and Cas continue to fight about their differing parenting choices. Dean wants to kill their son; Cas wants to save their son. Quite frankly, it’s obvious their therapist is done with it all. And by therapist, I mean Sam. #prayforSam. (I particularly liked the last bit of the fight when Dean had to walk closer to Cas then he already was, and Cas had to clip Dean’s shoulder as he walked away.)

Sam and Dean continue to discuss the plan for Jack. Dean insists they have to find him and “do the hard thing.” They have to kill him. Sam is visibly upset by the prospect.

Jack, meanwhile, is wandering around a city, listening to people lie to everyone around them. I particularly liked the lines that were filler for the lines that we were supposed to pay attention to:

“You should have seen it. I caught a steelhead this big.”

“I saw ‘em at Coachella last year!”

“That’s not porn. I don’t know what that was.”

Jack flashes his gold eyes and commands everyone to stop lying. This is going to solve all the world’s problems! (Sidenote: I liked this post by @eveiswaywardaf)

Sam and Dean pull up to a company called Mirror Universe. Ahem. Sam’s on the phone with Rowena (oooOOOOooo) --she’s in on their little plan.

The brothers head inside to hopefully use the company’s facial recognition program to locate Jack.

Dean calls the whole room nerds, but Sam calls him out on that bit of hypocrisy. DEAN WATCHES JEOPARDY!, guys! (ofc, he does.) Dean tries flashing his FBI badge at the receptionist, but instead of giving a fake name and reason for being there, he spills the truth.

Oh, it seems Jack’s truth command works on everyone everywhere. Dean tests the situation by asking Sam who his favorite singer is and Sam responds, “Celine Dion.” Oh Sam, Vince Vincente (and Balthazar) are very disappointed in you right now. Dean tells Sam that they can’t lie.

Then, all hell breaks loose in the company. I mean, what show are we even watching? (iloveitwithallmyheartandamnotsurewhatiamgoingtodowithoutit) The brothers escape to an empty room. There’s a TV broadcasting the news that the president spilled his tax history, deep ties to Russia and North Korea, and a “demon deal” with Crowley. Out of context, this might be my favorite part of the episode. I mean, the absolute shade! I can’t think of another show I watch doing this --especially one with a conservative audience like we know Supernatural has. In any event, the brothers quickly put it together that Jack’s behind it all.

And then we’re gifted with my favorite part in context (if that’s possible):

THE STAPLER QUEEN!

Cut to Cas in the alley trying to get access to Hell. The demon monitoring the door won’t let him him. Blerg.

For I’m Going to Hell Science:

But Chuck shows up! Uh-oh. He says he’s here because Cas called him, and “him.” Jack’s a problem.

Jack shows up at his grandmother’s place.

The poor lost cause wants to talk about Kelly. (bby boy, you’re so creepy rn.) She’s visibly upset and tells him that they made phone calls and no one knows who he is, and that others think that Kelly is dead. “What did you do to my daughter?!” Agh, her screaming makes Jack get angry and he demands that she stop (so much like his other grandmother...AUGH). The next shot we see is Jack fleeing from the house. Oh dear.

Meanwhile, Dean’s living his best life NOT lying and talking about the parenting blog he follows. MY HEART. Cas and Chuck show up. Dean wants to know where he’s been. “It’s a funny story. Reminds me of a song.” And the Chuck proceeds to pull up a guitar, which Dean promptly smashes to bits and pieces.

He shouts at Chuck to answer him, and with equal force Chuck responds, “Don’t!” Ugh, I think Dean just remembered he’s not just dealing with cuddly, affable, nebbish Chuck here. He’s dealing with God. To lessen the tension, Chuck snaps them all back to the bunker.

That doesn’t stop the questions that Sam, Dean, and Cas have though. Chuck admits to being around, but he’s hands off. If they want to <insert bad event> that’s on them. He only needs to step in when there’s an Apocalypse.

He stops the truth tellings and sets all the world back to order. Sam wants to know if Chuck can stop Jack. He tells them not exactly, but they can with a special gun. He just made it and hasn’t named it yet, but is leaning on “The Equalizer” or “The Hammurabi”. It’s a gun that sends a wave of multi-dimensional energy across a perfectly balanced quantum link. So shooter and shootee get the same treatment with this gun. Cas asks why he can’t just fix Jack’s soul. “Souls are complicated, even for me.” Dean says that this is it. Cas utters Team Free Will’s motto: There has to be another way. Dean doesn’t think so, and tells Cas to “get on board or walk away.” Cas walks away. (Spoiler: DID Y’ALL SEE CHUCK’S LITTLE SMILE AT THAT!?!)

Jack walks the streets replaying his conversation with his grandma. He’s troubled…

So is Dean! He’s tucked himself away in a corner of his bedroom, steadily working through a stash of liquor. He sits Sam down for a special talk. No, it’s not about how two people can still love each other very much, but need to be apart for a while. (#DeanCasBreakup) Dean is, of course, ready to kill himself to take care of the “Jack problem.” Dean. Bean.

Sam refreshingly calls him on his self-sacrificing bullshit.

“We always have a choice,” Sam tells him. He admits to Dean that he’s angry about their mom and a part of him does want Jack dead as well. But they have a responsibility to try to save Jack first. Jack lost his soul to save the Winchesters. Furthermore, he’s FAMILY. “You want my permission?” Sam asks. “You want me to say I’m cool with losing him and losing you all at once? ‘Cause I can’t do that.” GOD, SAM I LOVE YOU. This was the best, most emotional, most needed speech.

Cas continues his desperate search for Jack, heading to the cemetery where Kelly is buried. Jack isn’t there.

But Jack flaps in. He’s been looking for Cas! Castiel, that beautiful, majestic raven, pulls Jack in for a big hug.

Back at the bunker, Chuck’s a giant dork, playing with an AU archangel blade. Sam asks how many AUs exist. Chuck’s not sure, but we do learn about:

Reverse

No yellow

All squirrels (Thanks @consulting-cannibal for your contribution to the world’s cumulative joy)

At the cemetery, Jack talks through his failures with Cas. The lying experiment? Huge fail. Coffee and love with the Klines? Catastrophic strike-out. Grandma Kline accused Jack of killing Kelly, and Jack says that he did, just by being born. UGH that is a terrible guilt to lay on a child, soul or not. (Of course, she didn’t know…) Anyway, Cas is a good dad and talks about Jack’s experiences with him. Jack used to hate himself for Kelly’s death, but the feelings are gone. We also learn that Grandma Kline survived her interaction with Jack. Phew!

Sam asks Chuck an ultra-mega-pertinent question: is their world just another throw-away experiment? Chuck insists that this world is the best and he LOVES following the adventures of Sam and Dean. Sam gets pissed off at the idea of Chuck just watching them suffer through terrible near-ends. “You’re my favorite show,” Chuck says with a little side smile.

Sam demands an answer for why all these world-saving burdens have to fall on them, but Chuck offers up the “non-interference” answer. Anyway, he’s not here to argue cosmic ethics with Sam. It’s time to address the Jack problem. Sam finally asks where Jack is, and Chuck reveals that he’s already told Dean. Dean has left the bunker, gun in hand. Y I K E S.

At the cemetery, Jack and Cas talk.

For Beautiful Feelings Science:

Jack is desperate to do the right thing, but he doesn’t have a soul to guide him anymore. Oh, Jack. Cas will be your Jiminy Cricket! Jack WANTS to love. He wants to feel. But he can’t. “You can’t yet,” Cas tells him. They need to go hide somewhere in the world until Jack gets better.

Enter Dean with his metaphorical gun. Cas stands between Dean and Jack and EMOTIONS ARE HAPPENING PEOPLE. Jack refuses to run. He knocks Castiel away and faces Dean, knowing why Dean is there. Jack kneels. He’s ready. And I’m getting tears in my eyes. Because Dean looks at Jack. He REALLY looks at him while Cas and Sam watch the story unfold.

This metaphorical gun, while almost a joke because of its obvious symbolism, is actually perfect. This death would tear into Dean’s soul just as much as it tears into his body. And when Jack tells Dean that he knows he’s a monster just like Dean’s been saying all along, Dean looks at Jack and sees……...

Sam, meanwhile, has been joined by Chuck who is having the time of his life. Drama! Yes. Despair! Yes. Terrible soul-killing sacrifice! Mmmhmm good. Chuck watches Dean while Sam watches Chuck with growing horror. “Are you enjoying this?” Sam asks and Chuck shushes him like he’s in a freaking movie theater.

Dean cocks the weapon, grits his teeth. Finger tenses. He looks at Jack. And he LOWERS THE GUN. And here, I’m going to take a little crying break. This moment means so much to me.

Dean tosses the weapon aside. Chuck springs to life and orders Dean to pick the gun back up. “This isn’t how the story is supposed to end.” And HERE is where Chuck flips from adorable weird bunny to, idk, red-eyed god-bunny of doom.

The gravitas dies. Chuck goes on a rant about wanting to watch the father-killing-his-son storyline. The epic man paaaaaaain! Sam tells Dean that Chuck’s been playing them for fools. Playing WITH them like they’re game pieces.

“Our entire lives. Mom, Dad, everything. This is all you because you wrote it all, right? Because, what? Because we’re your favorite show? Because we’re part of your story?!”

Chuck tells Dean that if he picks up the gun and kills Jack (and himself) that he’ll bring Mary back. Dean confesses that his mom is his hero (cries) and he misses her (cries more) but she would not want this (cries the most).

“Why the games, Chuck?” Dean demands. The Winchesters unite in outrage. “When does it end?” Sam asks.

Chuck snaps his fingers and SMITES Jack. It isn’t fast, or painless. Cas tries to help him while Jack screams. Meanwhile, Sam picks up the metaphorical gun and shoots Chuck. NOOOOO SAAAAAAM!

(Okay, but the metaphorical gun symbolized Dean’s self-destruction but for Sam, it symbolizes how he fights to protect the people he loves. SAM you have come into your own this season. Truly. I am so proud.)

Sam only shoots Chuck in the shoulder and, as Chuck advertised, gets a wound in his shoulder as well. (At least he won’t have to dig out a bullet?) Pissed off now, Chuck throws a cosmic tantrum. “Story’s over,” Chuck says. “Welcome to The End.”

The sky goes dark. Jack’s dead, wing burns scorching the ground.

Sam’s still injured as they gather around Jack. We fall into a camera spiral, dipping down into Jack’s burned out eye socket (ew?) to the tune of Motorhead’s “God was never on your side.”Jack wakes in the Empty and looks around.

The Shadow greets him and draws a smile on their face. (What Would Mister Rogers Do?)

Billie greets him!!!!!!! “We should talk,” she says. Suddenly, all my crops are watered and my skin has cleared!

Down on the world, shit goes down in the cemetery. As an epic score screams about God’s betrayal, the dead claw themselves from the earth.

The woman in white appears. Gacy resurfaces. Bloody Mary rides again. These souls are all back, despite all the work and the death and loss…

It’s The End, and Team Free Will stand together as the dead converge on them. The camera cuts away and we lose sight of them in the pressing of the zombie horde.

I AM SO EXCITED. What a damn gloriously operatic note to linger on for…months.

D:  h o l d   m e

Quotes Lie:

Dad, none of this woulda happened without you.

You should never have tried to lock him away!

We’re gonna have to do the hard thing. We’re gonna have to do the ugly thing. It’s not like it’s the first time, right?

I’m Dean Winchester. I’m looking for the Devil’s son. This badge is fake.

“Hey I slept with your wife.” “I know. I’m kinda into it.”

And I saw Springsteen on Broadway, man’s a genius.

You want to go up against the British Men of Letter? Little weak, but ok.

Souls are complicated, even for me.

I’ve already lost too much.

What are you?!!

No offense, but your brother is stupid and crazy.

This isn’t just a story. IT’S OUR LIVES.

Writers lie.

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[pointsofpride]

I do not tend to make posts of my own here, but I happened across this, and I have seen far too much of this same horrible rhetoric, and this was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back, and I felt that it warranted addressing. I’m blurring this person’s name and avatar, hopefully to avoid any unnecessary drama, because I do not want to invite it, and, looking at this person’s blog, they have made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that they are not willing to concede or consider anything in favour of the a-spec members of our community. So, instead of making an attempt to bring awareness of our community’s history and purpose to one person who’s demonstrated they are unwilling to receive it, I’m just going to use this person as an example, to talk about this virulent attitude toward a-specs.

“There is n o  g o o d a r g u m e n t for w h y aces / aros are a u t o m a t i c a l l y L G B T”

Every single one of those links is a reason. There are many. Some statistical, some anecdotal; some made by a-specs, others made by the trans and bi members of our community; some historical, and some current; some examples of why a-specs are already a part of the community, and some examples of what’s wrong with this kind of gatekeeping rhetoric.

Now, if I were to outline every point in all of those links, this post would be obscenely long, and I’m already concerned it will be, as is, so I will just hope that leaving all of those points in the links will be enough. But I’m still going to talk about this problem as a whole.

Aces and Aros are - and always have been, whether you’re aware of that history or not - a part of our community. They’re already here; they already belong. They are, by default, included, and they do - whether or not you personally decide to not believe or even listen to them - face more than enough to warrant their place in our community, without people in that community adding onto it like this. And their place in our community already exists. It is not an issue of whether they're automatically LGBT, because they already are; this is an issue of “why are you trying to remove them?”. And those who want to exclude them, either by lack of knowledge of LGBT history, or by lack of awareness (or by, as seems to be the case here, direct and intentional denial) of what they face, or by lack of understanding of what our community represents, or by true malice, are in the overwhelming minority within the whole community. The community, as a whole, categorically includes and respects a-specs, but some people. Some few extremely unpleasant people... defy the community.

In spite of this, there very much is infighting, and this is a direct example of it, and it is severely disheartening to keep seeing people - people who ought to know better than this - trying to remove a-specs’ place in this community. And using Stonewall as a gatekeeping rhetoric device, firstly, profoundly disrespects what those riots meant, and, secondly, ignores not only the full extent of our community’s much more detailed and extensive history, but also the fact that the Stonewall Inn itself, right at this moment, celebrates a-specs as a part of our community. That remark also belies a misunderstanding of a-specs’ preexisting place under the LGBT umbrella (which is mentioned in several of those links), and of the community’s purpose. This community is one of support. It does not exist to exclude a-specs, and absolutely exists to support and include them. They are marginalized for their sexual identity in many ways, regardless of people burying their head in the sand to those issues. Members of their own community treating them with this kind of willful disdain does no service - no benefit of any kind - to anybody, in or outside it. The until-very-recent (and still current, in other parts of the world) pathologization of asexuality, the sexual violence, the dehumanization, the emotional abuse and trauma, the harassment and aggression, and the outright fear that a-specs face are not some fabricated myth. No person capable of reasoned thought, knowing what a-specs deal with with, would think they should be excluded. And, as evidenced by this example, exclusionists have catastrophic misunderstandings and/or gaps of knowledge that lead to their insistence on a-spec exclusion. Unfortunately, often those gaps of knowledge are voluntary, due to willful avoidance and wholesale refutation of LGBT history and of a-spec voices, and, perhaps even more bizarrely, of the voices of the non-a-spec members of the community.

Nobody “wants” to be ostracized. To think a-specs are dreaming of stigmatization is nothing beyond a mentality that is, in totality, ignorant. Nobody “wants” to be stigmatized. They simply are. A-specs are. The refusal to listen to their voices, or, perhaps worse, the disturbing outright zeal for denying them, that some seem to have, is telling. It comes not from a place of any real understanding of our community’s history, or of its purpose, or what it faces, but from a place of genuine contempt. It is that contempt that leads people to simultaneously convince themselves that a-specs face no forms of oppression, of any kind, while in the same breath bemoaning the fact that a-specs are now pointing out the validity of their inclusion in this community, in direct response to exactly this kind of exclusionary rhetoric. And that very citation of the fact they face those issues, made in response to people like this saying they don’t, ends up getting called “fearmongering” in an attempt to further delegitimize a-spec voices.

If a-specs say they’re part of the community, aphobes will say they’re fantasizing their oppression, or “fetishizing” oppression. They very obviously are not. Hell, if you’re so eager to tell a-specs they don’t face real oppression and that your oppression somehow has more “value” or whatever, then it sure sounds like you’re the one fetishizing it. And if a-specs point out their oppression in response to being told they don’t experience any, then aphobes will call it fearmongering. And if a-specs benignly make positivity posts, apbobes react with “all you talk about is being ‘valid’” without the self awareness that they are a direct example and contributor to why a-specs are now having to vocally fight back against those people trying to invalidate them. If a-specs point out the hypocrisy of this exclusionism and its direct parallels to rhetoric used against trans and bi people, aphobes (in spite of the vocal concurrence and solidarity of the other members of the community) dismiss that too.

Hell, I sure as fuck am not cis or straight, and I’M telling you your opinion is fucked to hell and blindingly ignorant. Just goddamn listen to a-specs. And learn your history. Don’t pretend Stonewall is the only history we have, and don’t use it this disrespectfully as an excuse to hate on a-specs, because if you knew your history, or gave a single damn about what we actually stand for, you wouldn’t be so fervently trying to kick a-specs out of a community in which they very clearly belong. People like this have just... totally shut themselves off from any willingness to consider why a-specs are a part of the community. Actively, intentionally refusing to consider anything said on their behalf. And when all of this behaviour is pointed out to them, they say “you’ll call people aphobic over nothing”.

The willful ignorance against, and intentional attempt to exclude, a-specs is not “nothing”. It is against everything this community stands for, and this mindset is flat out, in every possible way, morally wrong. The fact is, people like this demonstrate a complete unwillingness to concede anything said in favour of a-specs, regardless of sapience or content, so, more than likely, all those links above would not change their mind. And that, I would hope anyone can see, is a detrimental mentality to choose. I have seen too much of it. Most of what I see is positive solidarity and support. But, even though this disgusting hate is far between, it is still happening far to often without contradiction.

And this hatred of a-specs that aims to remove aces and aros is an incredibly recent, bewilderingly sudden thing in the community. They seem to think a-specs are “invading” our community. They’ve been here the whole time; there’s no “invasion”, but this sure is an attempt to exile.

I would hope that most people that are hesitant to include a-specs are not that amount of closed off to being corrected on this issue. I would hope that most are either just repeating what they see, because nobody’s telling them anything otherwise, or because they just don’t know much about a-spec issues. But I assure you, A-specs are very much LGBT. The acronym doesn’t end at four letters, and it was never created to be an unchangeable prescription of who we are as a community, and I very much doubt that Stormé DeLarverie or Marsha P. Johnson or Sylvia Rivera or Miss Major would have shown this kind of disdain for aces and aros during the riots. I mean really, just... really think about it... for a moment. When you reduce the community to only the L, G, B, and T, you ignore the fact that most of the contemporary terminology surrounding gender and sexual identities either did not exist or was almost entirely unknown, until well after Stonewall. Agender people are LGBT, and many don’t consider themselves trans, but I don’t see the same hate toward them. Those riots were not about a prescribed definition of the community. They were about getting respect for those who weren’t given it. They were about acceptance and fighting back. They were about pride, and the community existed before those riots, and during other demonstrations, but even if you believe Stonewall is the only history we have, those riots were about demonstrating for all identities that didn’t fit inside the heterosexual, cisgender idea of “normal” gender roles. The purpose of the community is to represent and support, and it exists for a-specs as well. Do you think those who rioted would harbor this level of contempt and exclusion? Really? Do you believe you represent what they stood and stand for by trying to be a gatekeeper? You absolutely do not represent their spirit. And you benefit nobody by doing this.

A-specs belong, and they always have, and they have always been a part of this community, and will not be cut off from it by hatekeeping. I won’t allow these people to get away with trying it. Not without pointing to, and shaming, this piss-poor behaviour.

Also, just... fuck this person for spouting this during pride month. PRIDE MONTH. Of all times to say this. Fuck’s sake. Fuck. Fucking hell. Wow. During pride month, you do this. Holy hell. It’s just vicious and making pride month into the rest of the year, condensed, but coming from people who really should know better. Support your a-spec community members. I am sick of people like this thinking they speak on behalf of all of us. It’s gross, and it’s malicious, and harmful.

There is no good argument for why aces/aros aren’t automatically LGBT. There is only the bad argument “aces and aros being included makes me feel bad :(”.

Links and additional resources under the cut:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/asexual-discrimination_n_3380551.html

http://sveriqueer.tumblr.com/post/143833364554/my-favourite-thing-is-when-aphobes-try-to-tell-me

http://asexualawarenessweek.com/docs/AsexualityBias.pdf

https://www.zotero.org/groups/950137/asexual_research

http://twilightalpha.tumblr.com/post/138052104372/when-people-accept-sgamganon-cis-aces-and

https://asexuality-and-aphobia.tumblr.com/post/148413220633/hey-about-the-data-on-asexuals-there-has

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/without-prejudice/201209/prejudice-against-group-x-asexuals

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/without-prejudice/201508/attitudes-toward-asexuals-ata-prejudice-scale

https://fuckyeahasexual.tumblr.com/post/144810204477/the-ace-of-weasels-it-really-annoys-me-when-i-see

http://redbeardace.tumblr.com/post/141092188480/mainstream-lgbtqqueer-support-for-asexuality

https://acephobia-is-real.tumblr.com/post/145731848039/just-a-thought-how-many-straight-people-do-you

https://asexualsurvivors.org/tag/corrective-rape/

http://train-heartnet-xiii.tumblr.com/post/141269386225/a-lot-of-what-i-see-in-regards-to-lateral

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/asexual-disorder_n_3361472.html?1371562287

http://asexualmew.tumblr.com/post/143692156709/youre-not-protecting-me-by-being-an-acearo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ5pbNj73jg

http://courteousmingler.tumblr.com/post/148002580835/courteousmingler-yknow-i-typed-this-up-a-while

http://officialqueer.tumblr.com/post/147848132058/ace-discourse-is-really-a-tumblr-only-thing-and

http://theasexual.com/article/2017/8/7/most-asexualace-people-identify-as-queer-or-lgbtq

https://acephobia-is-real.tumblr.com/search/conversion%20therapy

http://queeraro.tumblr.com/post/143069633039/corrective-rape-in-relation-to-asexuals

http://www.utdailybeacon.com/news/article_c3ada048-6d60-11e5-821c-db75108bfbc3.html

https://autismserenity.tumblr.com/post/142035894961/the-acesaros-were-part-of-the-bi-community-until

https://theacetheist.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/religion-and-asexuality-overview/

http://the-ace-of-weasels.tumblr.com/post/146275488100/okay-you-wanna-know-why-im-for-including-all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQPBjRnxRQs

https://prismaticentanglements.com/2011/04/05/do-you-want-to/

https://kaz.dreamwidth.org/249758.html

https://findyrway.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/asexuality-and-victim-blaming/

https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/asexual-erasure-mental-health/

http://www.asexualityandislam.com/2015/09/im-queer-grappling-with-orthodoxy-as-an-asexual-muslim-woman.html

https://epochryphal.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/grey-and-nb-in-therapy-on-cbt-and-the-sneakiness-of-therapeutic-abuse/

https://acephobia-is-real.tumblr.com/tagged/suicide

https://wetwareproblem.tumblr.com/post/141923181706/thisisntgoodbi-thisisntgoodbi

http://dukeofellington.tumblr.com/post/144725858535/invisibility-is-not-a-privilege

https://banal-adventures.tumblr.com/post/143619386105/anyway-since-i-see-people-harping-on-this-heres

http://historicallyace.tumblr.com/post/146262756292/where-were-you-when-a-history-of-asexual

http://historicallyace.tumblr.com/post/146268437437/where-were-you-when-a-history-of-asexual

https://prokopetz.tumblr.com/post/142851841977/im-not-ace-myself-so-im-coming-at-the-whole

http://www.asexualityandislam.com/2016/02/coercion-violence-and-queerness-in-the-context-of-islamic-orthodoxy.html

https://stepchildofthesun.tumblr.com/post/131766997010/feathersmoons-autismserenity

⁂

Many of these, and further additional resources can be found here (this list, however, is not regularly updated, and some links therein are defunct):

http://theasexualityblog.tumblr.com/post/148745974859/the-aphobia-masterpost

[dfroza]

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Proverbs and book of Psalms

for july 10 of 2021 with Proverbs 10 and Psalm 10, accompanied by Psalm 21 for the 21st day of Summer and Psalm 41 for day 191 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

[Proverbs 10]

[Wisdom for Today]

The wisdom of Solomon:

When wisdom comes to a son,

joy comes to a father.

When a son turns from wisdom,

a mother grieves.

Gaining wealth through dishonesty is no gain at all.

But honesty brings you a lasting happiness.

The Lord satisfies the longings of all his lovers,

but he withholds from the wicked what their souls crave.

Slackers will know what it means to be poor,

while the hard worker becomes wealthy.

Know the importance of the season you’re in

and a wise son you will be.

But what a waste when an incompetent son

sleeps through his day of opportunity!

The lover of God is enriched beyond belief,

but the evil man only curses his luck.

The reputation of the righteous

becomes a sweet memorial to him,

while the wicked life only leaves a rotten stench.

The heart of the wise will easily accept instruction.

But those who do all the talking

are too busy to listen and learn.

They’ll just keep stumbling ahead

into the mess they created.

The one who walks in integrity

will experience a fearless confidence in life,

but the one who is devious

will eventually be exposed.

The troublemaker always has a clever plan

and won’t look you in the eye,

but the one who speaks correction honestly

can be trusted to make peace.

The teachings of the lovers of God are like

living truth flowing from the fountain of life,

but the words of the wicked

hide an ulterior motive.

Hatred keeps old quarrels alive,

but love draws a veil over every insult

and finds a way to make sin disappear.

Words of wisdom flow from the one with true discernment.

But to the heartless, words of wisdom

become like rods beating their backside.

Wise men don’t divulge all that they know,

but chattering fools blurt out words

that bring them to the brink of ruin.

A rich man’s wealth becomes like a citadel of strength,

but the poverty of the poor leaves their security in shambles.

The lovers of God earn their wages for a life of righteousness,

but the wages of the wicked are squandered on a life of sin.

If you readily receive correction,

you are walking on the path to life.

But if you reject rebuke,

you’re guaranteed to go astray.

The one who hides his hatred while pretending to be your friend

is nothing but a liar.

But the one who slanders you behind your back

proves that he’s a fool, never to be trusted.

If you keep talking, it won’t be long

before you’re saying something really wrong.

Prove you’re wise from the very start—

just bite your tongue and be strong!

The teachings of the godly ones are like pure silver,

bringing words of redemption to others,

but the heart of the wicked is corrupt.

The lovers of God feed many with their teachings,

but the foolish ones starve themselves

for lack of an understanding heart.

True enrichment comes from the blessing of the Lord,

with rest and contentment in knowing

that it all comes from him.

The fool finds fun in planning to do wrong,

but the wise delight in having discernment.

The lawless are haunted by their fears

and what they dread will come upon them,

but the longings of the lovers of God will all be fulfilled.

The wicked are blown away by every stormy wind.

But when a catastrophe comes,

the lovers of God have a secure anchor.

To trust a lazy person to get a job done

will be as irritating as smoke in your eyes—

as enjoyable as a toothache!

Living in the worship and awe of God

will bring you many years of contented living.

So how could the wicked ever expect to have a long, happy life?

Lovers of God have a joyful feast of gladness,

but the ungodly see their hopes vanish right before their eyes.

The beautiful ways of God are a safe resting place

for those who have integrity.

But to those who work wickedness

the ways of God spell doom.

God’s lover can never be greatly shaken.

But the wicked will never inherit

the covenant blessings.

The teachings of the righteous are loaded with wisdom,

but the words of the evil ones are crooked and perverse.

Words that bring delight pour from the lips of the godly,

but the words of the wicked are duplicitous.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 10 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 10]

The Cry of the Oppressed

[The Lord is Concealed]

Lord, why do you seem so far away when evil is near?

Why have you hidden yourself when I need you the most?

The arrogant in their elitist pride persecute the poor and helpless.

May you pour out upon them

the very evil they’ve dreamed up against others!

How they brag and boast of their cravings, exalting the greedy.

They congratulate themselves as they despise you—

these arrogant ones, so smug and secure!

In their delusion the wicked boast, saying,

“God doesn’t care about what we do.

There’s nothing to worry about!”

So successful are they in their schemes

and prosperous in all their plans!

Your laws are far from them;

they scoff at their enemies.

They boast that neither God nor men will bring them down.

They sneer at all their enemies, saying in their hearts,

“We’ll have success in all we do

and never have to face trouble.”

Their mouths spew out cursing, lies, and threats.

Only trouble and turmoil come from all their plans.

Like beasts lurking in the shadows of the city,

they crouch silently in ambush, waiting for the innocent to pass by.

Pouncing on the poor, they catch them in their snare

to murder their prey in secret

as they plunder their helpless victims.

They crush the lowly as they fall beneath their brutal blows,

watching their victims collapse in defeat!

Then they say to themselves,

“The Lofty One is not watching while we do this.

He doesn’t even care! We can get away with it!”

[The Lord is Concerned]

Now arise, Yahweh-God! Crush them once and for all!

Don’t forget the helpless and oppressed.

How dare the wicked think they’ll reject God and escape judgment.

They say to themselves,

“God won’t hold me accountable.”

Lord, I know you see all that they’re doing,

noting their each and every deed.

You know the trouble and turmoil they’ve caused.

Now punish them thoroughly for all that they’ve done!

The poor and helpless ones trust in you, Lord,

for you are famous for being the helper of the fatherless.

I know you won’t let them down.

Break the power of the wicked and all their strong-arm tactics.

Search them out and destroy them

for the evil things they’ve done.

You, Yahweh, are King forever and ever!

All the nations will perish from your land.

Yahweh, you have heard the desires of the humble

and seen their hopes.

You will hear their cries and encourage their hearts.

The orphans and the oppressed will be terrified no longer,

for you will bring them justice, and no earth-dweller will trouble them again.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 10 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 21]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

The king is glad because You, O Eternal, are strong.

In light of Your salvation, he is singing Your name.

You have given him all he could wish for.

After hearing his prayer, You withheld nothing.

[pause]

True blessings You lavished upon the king;

a crown of precious gold You placed upon his head.

His prayer was to live fully. You responded with even more—

a never-ending life to enjoy.

With Your help, his fame and glory have grown;

You raise him high and cover him in majesty.

You shower him with blessings that last forever;

he finds joy in knowing Your presence and loving You.

For the king puts his trust in the Eternal,

so he will not be shaken

because of the persistent love of the Most High God.

King, your hand will reach for all your enemies;

your right hand will seize all who hate you.

When you arrive at the battle’s edge,

you will seem to them a furnace.

For the fire of the Eternal’s anger, the heat of His wrath

will burn and consume them.

You will cut off their children,

lop off the branches of their family tree.

The earth will never know them,

nor will they ever be numbered among Adam’s kin.

When they scheme against you,

when they conspire their mischief, such efforts will be in vain.

At the sight of you, they will sound the retreat;

your bows, drawn back, will aim directly at their faces.

Put Your strength, Eternal One, on display for all to see;

we will sing and make music of Your mighty power.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 21 (The Voice)

[Psalm 41]

I Need You, Lord

King David’s poetic song for the Pure and Shining One

God always blesses those who are kind to the poor and helpless.

They’re the first ones God helps

when they find themselves in any trouble.

The Lord will preserve and protect them.

They’ll be honored and esteemed

while their enemies are defeated.

When they are sick, lying upon their bed of suffering,

God will restore them.

He will raise them up again and restore them back to health.

So in my sickness I say to you,

“Lord, be my kind healer.

Heal my body and soul; heal me, God!

For I have confessed my sins to you.”

But those who hate me wish the worst for me, saying,

“When will he die and be forgotten?”

And when these “friends” come to visit me

with their pious sympathy and their hollow words

and with hypocrisy hidden in their hearts,

I can see right through it all.

For they come merely to gather gossip about me,

using all they find to mock me with malicious hearts of slander.

They are wicked whisperers who imagine the worst for me,

repeating their rumors, saying,

“He got what he deserved; it’s over for him!

The spirit of infirmity is upon him,

and he’ll never get over this illness.”

Even my ally, my friend, has turned against me.

He was one I totally trusted with my life,

sharing supper with him,

and now he shows me nothing but betrayal and treachery.

He has sold me as an enemy.

So Lord, please don’t desert me when I need you!

Give me grace and get me back on my feet

so I can triumph over them all.

Then I’ll know you’re pleased with me

when you allow me to taste victory over all my foes.

Now stand up for me and don’t let me fall,

for I’ve walked with integrity.

Keep me before your face forever.

Everyone praise the Lord God of Israel, always and forever!

For he is from eternity past

and will remain for the eternity to come.

That’s the way it will be forever.

Faithful is our King! Amen!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 41 (The Passion Translation)