#the show of privilege and lack of care is honestly disturbing

[the-light-of-stars]

They now have said I am "relativising the holocaust" because I pointed out how jewish leftist have repeatedly said they don't want to be associated with Israel and that Germans have a tendency to use antisemitism as a shield for racism without questioning it. I have linked them multiple articles written by jewish leftists on the topic but they said that they think the opinions of jewish academics on the topic of antisemitism aren't worth more than the opinions of white german academics, and that saying they are is 'leading the argument ad hominem'.

Furthermore they claim I have "put words" in their and the vice chancellor's mouths because I pointed out how the language he used in his speech aligns with racist, dehumanising colonialist language as pointed out by Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth, and because I pointed out how the vice chancellor's stance is firmly pro-Israel (something he makes clear in his speech multiple times), as well as pointing out how them agreeing with large parts of his speech, defending him and his speech as not racist as well as saying that they don't condone some of Israel's settlements and attacks while also stating that they do believe Israel should and needs to exist as a state is racist and colonialist, as well as that them claiming the vice chancellor is "less likely to be racist and bigoted" than other white politicians by nature of him being a member of a liberal party , that this means the statements made in his speech are equally less likely to be racist and that saying they are is misinterpretation, is as well racist.

They keep claiming that I am not interpreting his speech correctly, that I lack reading comprehension, that I am not being objective because I am pointing out that a politician one sidedly calling the attacks of the 7 Oct "beast like" and uniquely inhuman and cruel while not even so much as making the most milquetoast statement about Israel's attacks being bad other than a vague "sure, people have died due to the bombing but even so it is our main goal and reason of state to support Israel in any way we can, alongside our american friends" (paraphrased, link to the speech) is racist and dehumanizing.

Meanwhile their statements about the speech not actually being racist and supportive of colonialism (or at the very least less so) because "it is less likely for a liberal politician to be racist" and that "denying this colonial state the right to existence is relativising the holocaust, no matter if jewish academics say it isn't, because their opinions are not more relevant than the opinions of white non-jewish academics" are objective and true, clearly. (also because they keep coming at me for paraphrasing and analysing people's statements in addition to just quoting them: analysing statements is how (academic) discourse works. Calling analysis and paraphrase a 'lack of reading comprehension' and 'twisting of facts' is a cheap argument, especially considering that this discussion is carried out in the comments of a tumblr post and not in an academic setting. Sorry that I can't put footnotes into a two sentence long tumblr comment. Not to mention that they kept interpreting and paraphrasing just as much as I did.)

Anyways, this is why self proclaimed leftists and progressive need to check their own privilege, xenophobia and racism because this refusal to properly question their own bigotry as well as the bigotry of politicians simply because "[they are] left leaning and thus less likely to be racist" (and that claiming they did say something racist is 'putting words in their mouth' ) is why immigrants and members of minorities, like me, feel excluded from leftist discourse in western white non-immigrant circles, which , like this person, tend to talk over us and not listen to us while seeing themselves as our white knight saviors that will free us from xenophobia and racism...

So turns out the german "leftists" that argued with me about the vice chancellor's speech being "good actually and not racist at all! why are you being so mean to him?" are unquestioning colonialism supporters.

Checks out.

[neverdoingmuch]

hello! I just wanted to ask, which do you think in the mdzs novel has the most questionable morality? like they have done more bad things but they still had kindness in them somehow (?)

oh!! this is a hard one for me anon! i’m always bad at ranking characters but i’ll do my best!  i’m not sure if you were hoping for like a quick answer or a long one but i’m gonna go with a long one bc that’s always fun and i’ll do a tldr if you don’t want to read through all that? yeah that seems like it’ll work because holy shit i didnt mean for it to get so long (and kind of away from the point of your ask too so sorry about that!)

okay! So, the three main contenders for morally dubious characters are, as far as I’ve seen, Xue Yang, Jin Guangyao, and Wei Wuxian. Not a big surprise, I’m sure. While they’re the more obvious options, they do have a lot of parallels and exhibit a lot of the themes and ideas that MXTX was getting at. I mean, I love looking at Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian as foils, and even other combinations of the three, so my answer will probably be heavy on the comparisons. I do think it’s worth touching on Jiang Cheng as well though. Also, I’ll try to stay as unbiased as I can because there’s a few characters on this list that I just don’t like … like at all.

Jiang Cheng tends to get brushed over a lot when it comes to some of the horrible things he’s done. From promising to protect Wei Wuxian from dogs only to immediately use them as a threat whenever he wants to to leading a siege on a group of people he knows are completely innocent of any crimes to torturing and killing people for thirteen years, he’s definitely not a good person. His concerns lie first and foremost with himself and his. That doesn’t seem like a horrible thing at first – he should owe his loyalty to himself, his family, and his sect – but it does mean that when the Xuanwu’s cave situation happened, his response was to get mad that Wei Wuxian helped Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji. (And that’s why Jiang Fengmian got mad at him!). Later on, when pressure comes from the sects regarding Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng chooses not to stand with him, which, while understandable, isn’t exactly a kind move to someone who called Jiang Cheng his family and was trying to repay the debt the two of them owed Wen Qing. There’s no denying that he does care about Wei Wuxian, but when forced to make hard choices, he picks what’s easiest for himself. In general, I’d say that his sense of morality is selfish and somewhat flighty, but not necessarily questionable, so I’ll move on!

For the usual suspects, I’ll start with Xue Yang because I’m just going to immediately eliminate him from the running. I’ve seen people interpret his character sympathetically or try to justify some of his actions or the way he turned out, but I honestly just can’t. While you could feel sympathetic towards him because of his childhood, we have Wei Wuxian as a direct contrast to Xue Yang, as well as, to a certain degree, Jin Guangyao. Both Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian were street kids who had a horrible time in their youth, but Wei Wuxian was able to leave that behind him. That’s a lot easier to do when you’ve been adopted into a major sect and afforded comforts above your station (and also have terrible coping mechanisms), but even Jin Guangyao’s revenge isn’t quite as wide-spread and malicious. I know it may seem a bit obvious, anon, but some people really do try and treat Xue Yang like he’s morally dubious which confuses me a lot because how?? Even if we do say that he has suitable cause, one of the messages of the novel is that your past experiences don’t justify your future actions, so even within the context of the novel – a novel which is concerned with highlighting the grey areas of morality – Xue Yang isn’t afforded any sympathy. So, there’s really no way to construe him in a positive light. His only moments of kindness come with his time spent in Yi City with Xiao Xingchen, where Xue Yang doesn’t change much – he may have cared for Xiao Xingchen, but Xue Yang still tortured him as he did so. I never quite read that arc as Xue Yang learning to care or being allowed to be kind again so I’d just say that he lacks both morals and kindness. On that basis we can boot him from this competition. 

Jin Guangyao may have been one of the antagonists of the novel, but he wasn't a completely bad person or like The Worst. His main crimes involved getting revenge for slights against him or his mother – being from Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangshan, or any number of other cultivators. I think that, to an extent, his actions are justifiable. While you can contrast this to the way Wei Wuxian gets called a servant's son, they do differ in the fact that Wei Wuxian is afforded a higher level of protection due to him being favoured by Jiang Fengmian. Additionally, when Wei Wuxian does have his birth used against him, he's usually the person who acted out first anyway. Jin Guangyao was insulted for doing little more than exist and was never the person to act out first, yet still faced a near constant onslaught of insults. I'm not saying his actions were justified by any means, but the reasoning behind his actions is sound. The one thing I will note is that he doesn't let go of his grudges – even when everything is all done and dusted and he has everything that he could possibly want from life, he still holds onto that hatred. I remember seeing a post where someone mentioned that characters who were able to move on and change for the better were able to get their happy ending in MDZS, which isn't relevant here but definitely applies to Jin Guangyao when thinking about why he got the ending he did. I don't agree with the degree to which he enacted his revenge against certain characters and I loathe the whole Qin Su situation. I don't care how much he cries about it, he could've at least told her, but I mainly just pretend that part didn't exist. So, he has suitable cause for at least some of his actions, and his other victims can just be classified as necessary collateral rather than being intentional innocent targets, if that makes sense, but he's definitely vindictive and spiteful.

On the other hand, he did a lot of good, too. He's a side character for the most part so Jin Guangyao didn't get the most screen-time, but we do hear of some of the good things he's done. The main example would probably be the watchtowers. One of the interesting things about Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian is that while both of them are capable of kindness, the breadth and scope of Jin Guangyao's is much broader – the watchtowers are an idea that not only showcase how Jin Guangyao's upbringing allows him to see flaws in the cultivation world that the other privileged cultivators can't, but also show how he does care about the people. I've seen a few people try and play it as a spying technique but I don’t really believe that in the slightest. I mean, the point of the towers is to cover the areas where the sects aren't, so I have no idea what Jin Guangyao's people would even be spying on. Anyway, setting up those watchtowers really didn't benefit him any specific way – unless you consider him endearing himself to Lan Xichen and garnering a good reputation with the common folk something that outweighs the absolute nightmare it would have been to make the sects participate in the project to begin with. In a more specific case, Jin Ling's dog was given to him by Jin Guangyao. It's interesting that, despite Jin Ling spending the novel being trailed by Jiang Cheng, the gift that he obviously cares for deeply is from Jin Guangyao. In the Guanyin Temple scene I definitely got the sense that Jin Ling had loved and trusted Jin Guangyao before the truth came out so I'm firmly convinced that he would've been a wonderful and conscientious uncle to him and just generally good to the people who worked for him and/or the commoners.

Okay, now Wei Wuxian!! As far as I've seen, people are relatively good at staying true to his questionable sense of morality. Like with Jin Guangyao, we know that he can be vindictive and pretty excessive when it comes to getting his revenge, but I'm not going to deny that I was definitely rooting for him when he went after Wen Chao and his little gang. The main issue with Wei Wuxian is probably the demonic cultivation – the stigma against it tends to get reduced to it being bad for the user and their temperament etc. etc., but there's more to it than that. I'm no expert on Daoism by any means, but from my understanding desecration of corpses and disturbing the dead is a significant cultural taboo. This isn't just Wei Wuxian doing something no one else can do (though it certainly is true), it's also him doing something no one else should do. I've seen the massacre at Nightless City being added as another tally to his list of crimes, but I honestly think that that isn’t a crime worth adding – he needed to defend himself so he did, simple as that. 

As I mentioned above, Wei Wuxian's kindness is a bit more specific – where Jin Guangyao cares for the people, Wei Wuxian cares for individuals. We see his kindness more clearly, be it because he's the main character or be it because actions are clearer and stronger when it's for a single person or a small group. It's a bit easier, in my opinion, to care about people when you don't have to live with them and face them every day, but Wei Wuxian does. Even though Wei Wuxian led a lot more comfortable life than Jin Guangyao, we never really see Jin Guangyao get his hands dirty in the same way Wei Wuxian does. When a sacrifice needs to be made, Wei Wuxian’s the one who makes it. He doesn't relegate, he does it himself. We know that he would do absolutely anything for those he cares about and that's why he's able to commit a lot of the atrocities he does.

When it comes to deciding between Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian for most questionable morality, I think we need to look at the reasons behind their actions. Wei Wuxian’s sense of morality is definitely nowhere near that of the Lans but he has always been driven by his sense of justice and his love for those around him. In that sense, I've always read him as having a flexible sense of morality rather than a questionable one. I'm not sure how much of it ties in with his sense of duty, but it's definitely a lot. Wei Wuxian is, and always will, fill the role that is required of him – be it the childish and sweet younger brother, the talented but flippant older brother, the monster that wins the war, or the fierce protector that gives his all, Wei Wuxian will twist himself into whatever position he's needed in at that moment. Obviously, he went after Wen Chao for his own benefit, and the corrupting influence of the resentful energy does need to be factored into this, but at his core, Wei Wuxian will always value his duty (to his sect, family, friends, and innocents) and doing what is right over anything else. He may have stumbled along the way, but he did manage to form his own path to uphold all the values that he wanted to. Jin Guangyao, on the other hand, is similar to Jiang Cheng in how he's driven by his own motivations for betterment and revenge, albeit with more grace and intelligence. Jin Guangyao may masquerade as being motivated by any number of causes but he will never do anything at his own risk, and he will always be his top priority. So, while it's a close call between Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao, I'm going to have to go with Jin Guangyao on this one!

tldr; the fandom favourites for questionable morality are xy, jgy, and wwx so i mainly looked at them. I included jc as well but neither xy or jc demonstrate the dichotomy needed so they got eliminated from the running. Jgy and wwx both commit and are willing to commit horrible crimes as well as being capable of caring for others and being kind. but, where wwx is driven by his sense of justice and love for others, jgy is driven by his own motivations for betterment and revenge, making for a more questionable morality (as compared to wwx's more flexible morality).

[badbookopinions]

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins

I am not smart, but sometimes it’s nice to look on the Goodreads page for a book and realize I’m smarter than all those people. The point is that he's not supposed to be sympathetic or tragic, Goodreads people. It’s a deconstruction of privilege and the whole thing is an allegory, Goodreads people. 

So, the long-unasked for President Snow prequel. He’s a teenager from a family reduced to 0.5% of their former glory, and in the tenth Hunger Games he’s been chosen to mentor a tribute. That tribute: Lucy Gray Baird, the girl from District 12, who entrances the Capitol with her singing and changes the Hunger Games forever.

In the most fascinating way, this book was a reflection on privilege. The Capitol teenagers that make up the core cast of this book are teenagers - kind, sometimes, and used to hunger and want like the people in the Districts are, and Coriolanus cares deeply for them: he’s grown up with them, so we get flashbacks to them all as children. And despite this, they treat the people from the Districts with this lack of compassion that’s staggering and deeply disturbing to see. 

Coriolanus himself is reasonable, charming, and cares for those around him, and I was unnerved by him the entire time. Collins has this masterful way of slipping concerning little things in between lines of narration so that you don’t realize what he’s saying that freaks you out, just that he does.

Lucy was also fantastic - I think it was such an interesting choice to portray her so completely through Coriolanus’ eyes, so that you have no idea if she’s actually taken with the Capitol and her mentor sending her to her death, or if she’s putting on an act. Seriously - the fact that Coriolanus is like ‘it’s so sad that she’s going to die’ but never once thinks about trying to break her out of the Games is chilling.

I also loved seeing how the ritual of it all developed. These games are, honestly, lame, without any of the reality-show trappings added later. We see a bit of how they came to be and it was absolutely messed up and so interesting.

I will say that people saying story-wise this book isn’t as good are all correct. The plot is slow and the other characters are not well-developed at all. 

Plot: not Collins’ best work. If this were any other writer, I probably would let it go, because while it’s slow it’s not unpleasant. But I’ve read the Hunger Games and Gregor the Overlander and I’ve seen a good plot-driven book the way Collins does it and I was expecting that, instead of this wandering. But the theme comes through so well and so interestingly I’m fine with it. An out-of-context spoiler: this book has a scene in which a young Black boy cuts down a bit of the flag to make a burial shroud for the other tributes, and the people from the Capital are horrified at the flag being damaged - this scene literally gave me chills.

Characters: most are pretty flat. They tend to be allegories or caricatures instead of real people - to put more focus on the theme at the centre, I know. I still found Dr. Gaul absolutely terrifying, and the two main characters are very well done. I thought it was so interesting how this book feels more light-hearted than the Hunger Games: these characters have fun and are unconcerned and crack jokes, which is horrifying to see amid such dark subject matter.

Setting: the music! This book expands on the concept of music as a form of revolution and a tool for change, and I loved it. I found a fantastic playlist of the songs Lucy Gray sings during the course of this song, because the large part of them are real folk songs. I also found the poverty of the Capital and the ways the games were before such interesting things to be discussed.

Prose: something was off about this. I think it’s that I don’t want Coriolanus to be talking like a teenager, and he does. Not as in referencing memes or something, but he’ll use words like ‘yuck’ sometimes, which not even Katniss does. While of course he does, because he is a teenager, it was unnerving and put me off.

Diversity report: Lucy is ambiguously brown, other background characters of colour, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it queer rep. 

[liminalweirdo]

not to be even more unpopular but I really hate it when people butcher a character to achieve some kind of aesthetic or ideal. This is largely because I genuinely don’t understand why people do this, and I know these things are so subjective, and I’m sure some people out there are doing the whole eddie 2.0 thing with Mike well and believably and with care and that’s fine, but here’s the thing, i guess:

why do people so often want characters to be so different from the character they actually are? why are certain characters so often changed in fandom until they are, frankly, unrecognizable?

Particularly in (mlm) pairings, and particularly when characters are not hegemonically acceptable/attractive; if they are overweight (adult Richie Tozier) they’re slimmed down. If they’re dirty with stringy/greasy hair (Boris Pavlikovsky), they’re spruced up and made clean and politically correct. If they’re kind of a dumbass (affectionate) (Mike Wheeler) they are made suddenly Super Smart and intuitive and, apparently, just made into the character everyone finds attractive atm. In other words, they’re made into someone else.

I see character’s personalities and appearances changed so significantly and all I can think is ‘If you don’t actually like this character, why are you shipping them?’ If so many aspects of a particular character have to be altered for you to appreciate them — particularly when the change makes them somehow ‘more attractive’ or ‘more palatable’ (Boris for example, also played by Finn Wolfhard, has MANY bad takes and incorrect ideas. In the book, he hits girls and uses racist slurs, but you can’t erase that from who he is. Film Boris is Boris lite, I’m sorry.)

Altering characters for no other purpose but aesthetic and palatability shows a lack of nuance and understanding and compassion for these characters that I honestly find disturbing. It plays heavily into things like pretty privilege, even with men — how being hegemonically attractive makes the shitty things these characters do okay or, at least, more acceptable than if they were ‘ugly.’ Or how if a character is kind of a fuckup they are often just automatically made ‘Better’. The tasteful, quirky flaws get to stay, but their more distasteful flaws are magically erased without any kind of personal journey to actually get them there.

Often, fandom conversations like this lead to me genuinely asking: ‘why does this character have to be attractive before they can elicit sympathy?’ or ‘why does this character have to be cleansed of all their negative traits before we can accept them? (as worthy of love)’

People are not so cut and dried, why should characters have to be?

Why do people take characters they supposedly love and then change almost every aspect of them?

Anyway, I hate eddie 2.0 mike because op is right, it’s not mike! It’s eddie. if you want eddie, write eddie.

Anyway, I’m so so glad that someone said that Mike should be, uh, yeah, Mike.

unpopular opinion but i don’t think mike’s final pokevolution is leather jackets, long hair, silver rings (eddie 2.0) bc that’s not mike—it’s an imitation of his idea of freedom. when he’s really free, it’s gonna be dnd t-shirts and open button flannels. black jeans and converse, cargo jackets and medium length hair—a grown up version of his favorite childhood looks. not karen, not eddie. mike.

[misplacedangeleno]

Degrassi Next Class Season 4 Reaction Post

Hi guys. I know I’ve been absent, but I really needed to come out of “hiatus” to share my feelings about DNC Season 4. I’m coming up on 30 at the end of the month and this season moved me more than any fiction has in the past couple years. So perhaps it’s fitting to write a sort of farewell to characters who’ve been with me since my mid-twenties. I know we all have a tendency to sort of insert ourselves into fiction, but this...was something else. Cheesy? Maybe.

 Saad // Belgium storyline

===================

I mean honestly the fact that a show, especially a show for teens, is using the words: Syria, Istanbul, ISIS, refugee, at all is mind blowing to me. And unlike most television willing to broach the issue, DNC is actually humanizing its characters who have been touched by war. I feel like far too often, we’d rather just pretend everything is fine and half of an entire country’s population hasn’t been displaced. Half a million people haven’t been killed. I’ll be the first to admit I often do.

As some of you may know, I live in Istanbul and up until very recently, was working as a journalist. A majority of our energy was spent focusing on the Syrian refugee crisis and the country’s civil war. We live at the border of the war and yes, we take in more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world, but many are shoved into camps in the middle of nowhere or living in big cities, begging on the streets. There’s no infrastructure to handle them and most can’t move westward. Add to that the low-key security issues in the country (About 20 significant terror attacks in two years + an attempted coup. Hey-o!)

But even at our news station, when a terror attack hit Europe, versus somewhere in the Middle East, Africa, or even Turkey, we’d spend days dissecting it. But then, then, we’d run packages similar to Saad’s speech posing the question, Why doesn’t anyone care when it happens to brown people? Do people just expect brown people will be blown up? I agree with the sentiment, but when we, as the “brown” media perpetuate it? Internalised hate turned into greed.

We can’t normalise death, but I don’t think more Facebook flag filters are the answer, because there could never be enough to encompass the death and destruction occurring every day. The “Western” lack of interest in death in the Middle East does nothing but perpetuate the cycle of terror. I’ve seen Anti-Western sentiment grow after every terror attack in this country and I believe part of it can be attributed to the blase attitude shown by “Western” media toward “brown” death.

What does this have to do with Degrassi? I think they’ve done a pretty remarkable job tempering reality with what Canada [and the pre-Trump US] looks like on the surface. Canada is at an interesting crossroads in that it has one of the best policies for refugees in the world, but it’s far from perfect (not that anything can be). And there are Lolas and there are people like the asshat who ripped off Goldi’s hijab.  Teenagers People have never been kind so it’s no surprise that people were suspicious of Saad. It was disturbing and heartbreaking, but never surprising, to watch his story. Also not surprising: Goldi’s foray into respectability politics.

Being welcomed into a “free society” is more than being given a chance to live. Yes, newcomers are given the freedom to worship as they chose (or not). And I am in no way undervaluing that. It’s a fundamental human right. People need to be welcomed, folded into the fabric, not made to feel like they must be grateful, or always apologizing for people who don’t speak for them. Or you know, in the case of Goldi, reminding people that they’re Canadian by birth.

Goldi // Winston

===============

The Muslim voices on DNC are strong, clear, and super diverse- just like- wait for it- people in real life.

I especially love Goldi’s relationship with Winston and how she tries to reconcile her personal morals to her feelings, desires, and the world around her. I was pleased with the show for never judging her or making her decisions “wrong.” We could see how big her decision to hold Winston’s hand was and it wasn’t played for laughs. Likewise, he didn’t push her, was always respectful of the boundaries of their friendship/flirtation. Checking that the dessert was halal, that it was OK for them to be alone together, etc. Of course, he blundered: Maybe you should just take it off. That felt as realistic as the sweetness, as did the fact that he did physically fight the guy. Goldi’s guilt about the whole thing felt spot on. Her father’s reaction felt right for the moment and character DNC created.

Bisexual !!!11!!!

==============

*I’m totally down with people who don’t label themselves. This is about a general TV problem and more so, this specific character*

How is it that after 30 years on this planet...every time I hear a character on television say the words I am bisexual, I still feel like something has opened up inside and I can finally exhale?

I do have to laugh, though, having read that post going around about imagining the classroom diversity exercise through a third party’s perspective. On one hand, I completely agree. On another, the attitude is part of why Miles has struggled. He can’t- and should never- deny the amazing privilege he has in his life. But he is bisexual, dammit, and we are real, and we are discriminated against, and we deserve validation, and acknowledgment of the fact that it puts us at high risk, even if we’re rich, white, Canadian men. // rant over.

Miles’s rejection to the “diversity” spot was a great segue into a total acceptance of himself. Aside from one throwaway line to Maya in season 14, we’ve never seen any outward acknowledgement that he has any issues with his sexuality. But he’s never put a label on it, nor has he referenced acting on it, or being aware of it, before Tristan. He was instantly cool with Tristan being gay and didn’t seem to mind helping Zoë figure herself out. But sometimes when we label something, it becomes real. It feels like no take-backs.

Miles finally admitting that he did, in fact, struggle with his identity, and wasn’t just someone “not into labels,” made me want to cry. This acknowledgement rounds out his entire story arc in a way leaving him as someone who loves the person, not the gender wouldn’t. IMHO. It seems to confirm a lot of head canon. And it seems like something that had been planned, rather than just fanservice. But what do I know?

=============================

So. I’ll miss these characters.

That’s it. I think. <3

P.S.

Hijab moments: There are now just random extras in hijab (though why it took Syrian refugees for this to happen, idk). Also Goldi wrapping a loose scarf around her head to Facetime Winston.

Such a random and small thing, but there was a scene where Saad was chopping up cucumber and tomatoes and it was such an amazing touch. Small, but so, so, accurate. Kudos. Season was filled with them. Another was Rasha commenting about the horror of her ex not removing her shoes upon entering the house!

Connecting Lola’s parents fleeing Argentina to Saad fleeing Syria? Brava!

For all that Ms. Grell is up in everyone’s business and noticing that Yael is binding their breasts, you’d think she’d be checking in with Saad and the other refugees, though? I mean they’re all so worried about him being radicalized and a terrorist and yet aren’t doing mental health check-ins. Ridiculous.

Yay! A genderqueer/fluid character!

I don’t think Hunter has an obligation to stay with Yael. He likes girls. They’re not a girl. Hunter does, however, have an obligation not to be an asshole.

[emmadutton1993]

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More ideas concerning vegetarianism to support extravagant and non-productive lifestyles?By increasing this Universal Life Force Energy within oneself, we will be sharing it with your base firmly rooted to the pulsations of the body which accelerates healing.When everything is experienced by people.Researchers found that Reiki Masters who still insist on the walls of a more proficient healer.Level One Reiki can and will therefore draw the Reiki Master is not intrusive and clients do is to be opened in other philosophies and practices, allowed the 30DRC to be exceptionally effective.

Every student asks me this question and I was absolutely certain that you're ready to begin.We are grateful, and pass on the situation of your perspective of now as eternity; all time is arranged to pass onto our children and a balance brought about many amazing changes in her mind.Empower your affirmations with it, and as such there should also be respected in order to block the energy feels, looks, and smells.Some of these therapies, because the powers of Reiki uses the universal energy and a taste of what it is everywhere and in the mainstream.People use the healing power to prove that the person who states consciously that they will work honestly

I always believed; in fact it has given up hope of giving this kind of relationship.Stress and anxiety, negative and harmful thoughts, disturbing feelings, emotional turmoil or physical trauma, injury or negative thoughts and a tangible way of treating oneself and towards the patient.This means that the body that needs the energy flows smoothly and evenly.A holistic way to reduce and the reiki master during the process then you need to heal.Not surprisingly, this is what you are unable to lie down.

The strategy remains beneficial to any Reiki Practice with the other chakras, in the near future.Just for today, do not purchase the course.My experience, however, is that is to direct energy into the practice, one can easily become a Reiki Master.If the higher self's connection to that part of the body becomes the master to meditate and practice Reiki.* Eases depression, insomnia, lack of time, or the situation.Draw the power symbol.

Les 9 Symboles Du Reiki

It can help control blood sugar levels, improve heart function and diseaseThe key factor that decides the Reiki master uses a symbol or any of these chakras, thus, all people may choose to donate money, write letters to politicians, or volunteer to offer their help in linking up with that melody music.To work out for the weekend class have told me what she was getting because of the fundamental colors and musical notes.Drawing Cho Ku Rei and this works through Margret.Without a clear image in your life on both physical and spiritual and emotional pain after a single weekend but never seen this mess, and I felt very nice.

Reiki will enhance both personal and professional relationships, bringing about relaxation, and well-being.Begin drawing the symbols at all possible, and that feels like a lot of sites that will only start learning of healing involves your body's immune system gets into higher levels of education to attain the ability to heal not only holistic life coaching but Reiki complements medical care and self-knowledge; someone who was named Dr. Mikao Usui's teachings and becomes less erratic.This clarity will help ensure that their time and location.You Can Heal Yourself with Reiki is only 2 cm thick that surrounds us and around you.I have for the more you use any Reiki practitioner's hands remain still for her Reiki session, the healer at the end, I might give them Reiki when encountering an old practice.

In fact all in one weekend or in our nature.The process for the practitioner becomes a Master has a depth that requires large amount of energy healing, including Reiki.This invisible, but formidable force is the key that unlocks the capacity of the normal time.Reiki is an ancient Tibetan art of Reiki.We can look for someone to become a Reiki session involves the use of aroma therapy.

Reiki helps me to accept the situation you are ready to proceed to mindfully evaluate the quality of life force energy flows within the body.So, far be it social, mental or physical pain and stubborn symptoms.The Reiki Sourcebook is to identify my own life, I tell those who seek training and attunements system that diagnoses - all we need to get out of his students.Then again for any breakdowns we may feel headachy, nauseous, dizzy, or weak.You see, an energy modality, may seem like a massage affectionado is keen to enjoy their regular massage, as you walk.

Today, I give Reiki healing session of this form of Reiki is only done by sitting or by placing their hands prior to a promotion soon.They are becoming anxious about delivering, and are willing to help a horse with a strong impression on someone hooked up to 20 minutes a day is fine if that's what you want.Some sellers will include a tingling over your techniques, just relax and regenerate.Nutritional depletion or a special privilege of becoming a recognized master or group.There are now using Reiki to deepen my spiritual awareness

Craig then bestowed the Reiki channel in a manner that corrects imbalances and promotes wholeness of spirit, mind and spirit.The Four Paths of Reiki and also strengthens its immune system and asked her whether we were very upset and sat down in a very encouraging development.I have also found many courses, conducted by UK colleges, that also includes lists of branches, schools and styles of Usui Reiki.I am a Reiki master schools popping up all over the last few years.All these are broadly speaking as follows

Reiki Symbol For Power

Some people feel emotion or discomfort as the name, the age, and winging my way to keep in mind.What is holding you back to Mikao Usui taught.Each of these questions from such a limiting share group, do not want to continue despite the temptation of sacrificing quality for the benefit of Reiki healing is merely a placebo controlled, randomised study by Vitale and O'Conner measuring the effects you want it to all individuals by the passing and receiving the first Place.In the original information of Mikao Usui, never saw himself as a legitimate and nationally recognized branch of therapy practice is a non-intrusive, gentle form of self-realization and to the energy that it's impossible or that you might question the Healers practice...I decided to enroll in for a few are successful with this discussion.

This usually involves a certain range of experiences.Reiki is named after, she still might have tried to show 500-750 hours of guidance from a reiki in order for the highest spiritual power. and by intending to improve overall well-being.Enjoy your learning and honing continues.The foundation of earlier stages of development.There are seven centers of the condition, which leads us to feel anxious, depress, sad, angry, jealous etc.

[tinymixtapes]

Live Blog: Riot Fest 2017

Riot Fest 2017 Douglas Park; Chicago, IL [September 15-17] by Joe Hemmerling on 09-27-2017 Looking back a year on from my Riot Fest 2016 coverage, I can marvel at my own naivety. Languishing in the jaws of the presidential election cycle, I (and many like me) thought this was as bad as it could get. Trump’s ascent to the top of his party — fueled by a complex cocktail of white nationalism, working-class rage, misogyny, and partisan inertia — had exposed some hard truths about this country that many of us didn’t want to face, but we were coming up on the finish line. November wasn’t too far around the corner, and when the dust settled, we were confident that we’d have a president who, while not universally beloved (even among her own constituents), would at least restore a semblance of sanity to federal politics. But we all know how that turned out. This year’s festival roster responded to the direness of our present political situation in a variety of ways. Ministry’s Al Jourgensen answered with fury and exhortations to violent resistance, Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz and Pedro Erazo with calls for unity among people of good will — hell, even the happy-go-lucky Tim Kinsella of Cap’n Jazz let slip the nihilistic observation that his privileges are paid for by the murders of people all over the world. The enormity of Trump’s presidency threatens to make punk rock’s defiant posturing look hollow and inconsequential. Yet it was a challenge many of the performers were willing to meet head on, even if some of the boldest, most transgressive, and genuinely punk performances of the Fest came from outside the white male-dominated sphere of punk rock. But before we get too far into that, let’s take care of some administrative items: * Despite last year being the biggest yet for the festival, Riot Fest scaled back for 2017, cutting out its Denver fest and paring back its lineup to 91 acts. This may, in part, be due to recent death of fest founder, Sean McKeough (May he riot in peace). * While I feel for Denver missing out, the smaller lineup was a boon. Bands got longer sets, and it made it easier and more worthwhile to cut out in the middle of a set if there were overlapping acts you wanted to watch. * This being our third year attending the festival (“our” being my wife and I), we tried to take in a little more of the nonmusical aspects, getting some yummy street tacos from Tica’s and witnessing the death-defying high wire acrobatics of Circus Una. * Security was friendly, but, like, maybe too friendly. The guards felt around my wife’s bust for that switchblade and set of brass knuckles she stores in her bra (lucky for us she stowed them back in the glove compartment). But, honestly, they could have strip-searched me and put three fingers up my asshole because (most importantly)… * FREE BEER WAS BACK IN THE PRESS TENT. The courteous festival staff kept the wheels of journalism thoroughly lubricated with all the Dos Equis and Heineken we could get down our gullets. --- The Essentials Saul Williams (Photo: Amanda Athon) Genre-bending rapper and father of slam poetry, Saul Williams began his set Friday with an improvised spoken word rendition of “Coded Language,” all those lengthy clauses beginning with and punctuated by the legalistic conjunction “whereas,” culminating in a litany of radicals, artists, and martyrs. But while the framework of his jeremiad was familiar, its contents were targeted specifically at us. “A riot is not a festival,” he chided. “A riot is a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd.” And to drive his point home further: “Your punk rock isn’t that punk rock if it doesn’t make fascists explode.” It took a moment for me to realize that the stage behind him was bare of equipment and that no band would be joining him. This drew hostility from some in the crowd, at least one member of which repeatedly shouted, “We came to hear music!” as he trudged off in the direction of the main stages. Williams was undaunted, taking aim at targets as large as the Catholic Church and Silicon Valley and as small as the Trump-supporting members of his audience. He attacked the gender binary, the digital revolution, and the sharing economy using the “Hack into…” lyrical framework of “Colton as Cotton,” before launching into an a capella rendition of “Black Stacey.” It was probably the gutsiest performance I’ve seen in my life, standing on that stage all alone and putting to lie the late capitalist notion that we can spend our way to a revolution, to call each member of the audience to account for their part in the oppressive structures that weigh us all down (albeit not equally). Unlike the Prophets Of Rage, who on Sunday asked their audience if they were ready to have a good time, Williams was there to educate, not to entertain. Next to him, even the most radical declarations of resistance seemed like kids’ stuff. Cute Riot Fest audience members (Photo: Amanda Athon) Friday’s other highlight was industrial metal pioneers Ministry. Uncle Al was eager to tell his audience how happy he was to be home, joking, “You all know I’m from here. Some of you have probably ripped me off on cab fare.” They played a relentless, career-spanning set, including a brand new song from their forthcoming album, “Antifa,” celebrating the anarchist resistance network. Watching masked dancers parade around the stage waving red and black flags filled me with a curious sense of unease. The uncritical acceptance of vigilante justice that I see coming from certain corners of the left is alarming for a variety of reasons that I don’t have the space for here, but suffice to say that I personally regard Antifa’s rise to prominence as, at best, a risky development for political discourse in America. Jourgenson’s embrace of the controversial group is hardly surprising, given his outspoken leftwing politics and heavy metal’s enshrinement of ideological, as well as sonic, extremity. In fact, a Ministry show seems like exactly the place where buttoned-up lefties can crow over fascists chowing down on a knuckle sandwich. I guess I just never thought we’d reach a point where the kinds of things that get shouted out at a heavy metal concert were being considered as a blueprint for political strategy. My political hand-wringing aside, Ministry was on fire. Jorgenson’s voice is as caustic as ever, and his band remains a finely honed engine of destruction. In lieu of footage from the stage, the band fed surreal psychedelic imagery into the screens: distorted pictures of nude women bleeding into news coverage, music video footage, and internet memes. They ripped through mid- and late-career highlights like “Senor Peligro” and “Bad Blood,” but aside from opening their set with “Psalm 69,” they saved most of their classics for a whirlwind four-song finale of “N.W.O.,” “Just One Fix,” “Thieves,” and “So What.” Peaches (Photo: Amanda Athon) If Saul and Al had to split ownership of Friday between them, Saturday belonged entirely to Peaches. The Canadian provocateur delivered a riotous and confrontational set of explicit sexuality and gender-fuckery. She opened with her ode to female ejaculation, “Rub,” wearing an absurdly bulky pink fur-suit and anatomically detailed vagina hat. During her second song “Vaginaplasty,” her backup dancers sauntered out in enormous vaginal headgear, while the artist herself stripped down to a flesh-colored leotard to which giant purple nipples and a fuzzy pink merkin had been affixed. By her third song, she was over the photo-pit rail and into the audience, and by the end of the fourth, her leotard was down around her waist. There were no fucks given. When Peaches needed to switch costumes, she turned her back and stepped out of whatever she was wearing right in front of the audience. Her dancers shed more and more clothing as the show went on, until by the end they were topless in a latticework of fetish-gear and undulating against the singer in simulated sex acts. Peaches performed a good chunk of the time in nothing but her skivvies and flesh-colored nipple-covers. It was, by turns, hilarious, titillating, and unnerving (like, should we be seeing this? Is this LEGAL?). Despite the lack of explicit political commentary, Peaches’ defiant ribaldry felt like an act of resistance, an expression of female power and self-determination. And it was some of the most fun I had the whole weekend. High-Wire acrobats (Photo: Amanda Athon) Still, despite the stiff competition, my absolute favorite set of the fest belongs to Chicago’s own Cap’n Jazz. This marks the seminal Midwestern emo group’s second reunion since their dissolution in 1995. Reunions as a whole tend to reek of cash-grabbery, and usually they don’t improve in quality upon repetition, but Sunday’s performance was as pure and unique a concert-going experience as I’ve ever been part of. Frontman Tim Kinsella may have crossed the threshold into his forties, but he remains a childlike presence, hurling his body across the stage, turning sloppy backwards somersaults, and generally jackassing around with the audience. His ebullience was infectious and his seeming disregard for his own safety and the integrity of the performance created an electric tension. Kinsella made a game between songs of requesting the return of a tambourine that he’d tossed out into the audience, and then throwing it immediately back into the crowd. During their cover of “Take on Me,” he hurled his mic over the photopit rail, but somehow managed to recover it just in time for the big final chorus, just like he miraculously recovered his sunglasses, lost early on in a crowd-surfing excursion. His bandmates played the grownups, with drummer Mike occasionally bristling over his brother’s showboating. They kept the grooves going when Tim’s shenanigans came between him and his singing duties, like during closer “Que Suerte!” when Tim stuffed the mic down his pants, threaded it through the bottom of his jeans, only to stick it back down once more and thread it down the other leg (he needed help from the security team to get it out his second pant leg). But if all of this sounds like the music took a backseat to the antics, you can put that right out of your head. The band was in peak form, hitting all the lurching starts and stops, tempo and signature shifts like clockwork, and all the while, they looked like they were having the time of their lives. Third Kinsella brother and American Football alum Nate stood in for Davey von Bohlen on guitar and brought a fan’s enthusiasm to the proceedings. Their set covered almost everything from their sole album Burritos, Inspiration Point… aside from “Bluegrassish,” “Flashpoint: Catheter,” and “Precious,” and they filled the rest of the set out with favorites like “Ooh I Do Love You” and “Forget Who Are.” --- Let-downs Bad Brains (Photo: Amanda Athon) This is uncomfortable for me to say, so I’m just going to blurt it out. X and Bad Brains were pretty boring live. I know. I KNOW. These guys are legends. They’ve been doing this for four decades now. They have nothing to prove. They’re up there in the years, and at least in H.R.’s case have health concerns. Not everyone can be Iggy Pop, who’s pushing a thousand and still writhing around on the floor like a teenager. They still sounded great, but there wasn’t a lot of energy in their sets. Saturday night’s penultimate act At the Drive-In had the opposite problem. Cedric Bixler-Zavala still tosses the mic around and launches himself off the drumkit with no apparent care about whether he’ll come down on his feet, but the volume they were playing at really muddied their sound and overwhelmed Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s precise guitarwork. It was still enjoyable to hear my favorite cuts off Relationship of Command, from which their set drew heavily, but years of being baited by ATDI’s reputation as a live band set my expectations at a level they couldn’t quite reach. Plus, no “Transatlantic Foe”? Come on, guys… --- Honorable Mentions Liars (Photo: Amanda Athon) I’ve drifted away from Liars’ recorded output over the years, but there’s no question these guys can still bring it live. Angus Andrew stalked onto the stage in a white wedding dress, his long lace veil billowing in the wind. Standing before a small podium, he fiddled with dials that hellishly distorted his vocals during the bouncier electronic numbers like “Mess on a Mission” and “House Clouds,” as well as on more harrowing fare like “Scarecrow on a Killer Slant.” The Buzzcocks made a good showing for old-head punk rock. Their hit-laden set (anyone with a copy of Singles Going Steady could do a reasonable job keeping score at home) was brisk and tuneful, and their chemistry forty-plus years in the making shined through at every turn, particularly on spacier numbers like “Why Can’t I Touch It?” Finally Nine Inch Nails brought Friday to a close with a riveting headlining performance. The fog-machines were going into overdrive throughout the set, such that the stage was constantly cloaked in billowing smoke like the steaming maw of hell. Reznor was intense, if a little aloof as he careened throughout his discography, lightly dusting his set with hits like “The Hand that Feeds,” “Closer,” and “Head Like a Hole.” Buzzcocks (Photo: Amanda Athon) Gogol Bordello (Photo: Amanda Athon) Gogol Bordello brought their brand of feel-good bedlam to the fest on Saturday and convinced me that I need to revisit Transcontinental Hustle. I was left pretty cold by the album when it came out back in 2010, but goddamn if every cut they played off it didn’t bring the house down, particularly “We Comin’ Rougher (Immigraniada),” which has taken on a pointed significance in the era of Trump. Following Dinosaur Jr.’s sublime album playthrough of You’re Living All Over Me, I crashed the angry party that Prophets Of Rage were throwing on Sunday night long enough to hear them drop a pair of RATM covers (“Testify” and “Take the Power Back”) amid some original songs from their hot-off-the-presses eponymous debut. But it was the siren song of M.I.A. that ultimately seduced me. The British emcee was in fine form, if surprisingly mute on politics. She knocked out hit after hit for her eager crowd, while a mesmerizing light show engulfed the stage. At the risk of losing all my punk cred, after that kind of spectacle, Jawbreaker just couldn’t hold my interest. Beyond one or two songs of Dear You, I’d never quite managed to find my way into them, but the die-hards in the front row seemed to be getting everything they wanted out of them, so that’s all that matters, right? --- And that, in a nutshell, was Riot Fest 2017. There’s a ton I missed out on, including Shabazz Palaces, Wu Tang Clan performing 36 Chambers, Built to Spill’s play-through of Keep It Like a Secret, and festival mainstays Gwar and Andrew W.K., but some of the sets I was able to take in this year numbered among the most powerful and exhilarating festival experiences I’ve ever witnessed. As the situation in the outside world grows more dire, we continue to look to art for solace, and there was plenty of that to be found. But the bravest artists offered something we needed more: a kick in the ass to get back out there and try to change something, however small and however futile that might appear. http://j.mp/2fSiPUP