#they live in this weird world where they're still being oppressed

[bxdtime-ceai]

rough

[katakaluptastrophy]

You know how it goes: through some incredible circumstances, God and a young woman living under the shadow of an oppressive empire have a metaphysically unusual baby who grows up to be a general nuisance, won't stay dead, and sports a few additional holes...

It's the third Sunday of Advent and I'm a little concerned Bible studies for weird goth kids might be turning into a series... Let's talk about the Blessed Virgin Mary and Commander Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity.

Wake was probably never described as "gentle", "meek", or "mild", but there are a few similarities: distinctive outfits, snazzy shrines, commitment to putting down the mighty from their seats, and of course babies with great and terrible destinies niftily conceived without sex.

On the topic of conception, let's clear up a common, uh, misconception: the term "immaculate conception" does not refer to Mary becoming pregnant with Jesus. It's Mary's own conception.

Why are we talking about how Mary was conceived and what does this have to do with lesbian necromancers?

To answer that question, we have to go back further still, way before Mary's conception. Back to these guys and their unfortunate snack cravings:

Remember how last time we talked about the concept of being in a state of grace? Well, the Christian read on Adam and Eve is that a state of grace was, as it were, the factory setting for humanity. They were fully in tune with God, there was no sickness or death, there was no sin. Until, that is, the whole unfortunate business with the apple. The first sin. The world is fundamentally altered. Humanity is expelled from paradise, burdened with sin, death, disease, patriarchy, and work. Worse, this sinful human nature turns out to be sexually transmissible: every human being is born tainted by this "original sin" of Adam and Eve.

This is why Catholicism is so big on baptising babies: even if they're many years off being able to commit any sins themselves (a sin has to be something consciously chosen and understood), they're still contaminated by that original sin of Adam and Eve. Baptism is understood to erase original sin, wiping the slate clean.

Bear with me, we'll be back to necromancers soon I promise. Have a picture of Mary beating up the devil while an angel holds baby Jesus:

OK, but what does Adam and Eve's danger snack have to do with Mary's conception?

The "immaculate conception" refers to the idea that unlike every human being between Adam and Jesus, Mary was conceived without the contamination of original sin. The rationale for this is complex, but essentially boils down to something like the saving power of Jesus not being bound by piffling things like time and space and thus saving his mother before her own conception and allowing himself to also be conceived and born sinless.

But the important bit is that something specific about Mary means that she is uniquely able to be pregnant with Jesus.

You may be starting to guess where this is going...

Because while unconventional pregnancy seems to have been the plan from the get-go for Jesus, it was not with the artist formerly known as The Bomb:

“I had the baby,” said Wake. “The baby I’d had to incubate myself for nine long fucking months, when the foetal dummies these two gave me died.”

“Oh, God, it was yours,” said Augustine, in horror. “I thought you’d used in vitro on one of Mercy’s—”

“I said they all died,” said Wake. “The dummies died. The ova died. Only the sample was still active, no idea how considering it was twelve weeks after the fact, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“So you used it on yourself,” said Augustine. “Anything for the revolution, eh, Wake?”

We have to assume the foetal dummies plan was hatched by Mercymorn, a brilliant scientist with a myriad of experience. If the problem encountered by Wake were as simple as Lyctoral infertility, I suspect Mercy would have spotted that long before.

But what do Wake and John have in common that Mercymorn or any of the other ova-having residents of the Mithraeum did not? They are both (to some extent at least) factory setting humans: unlike everyone else in the Dominicus system, they never died and were resurrected, nor are they the descendants people who were. John's abilities, while macabre, are not straightforwardly the necromancy otherwise practiced in the Houses. That necromancy is a direct result of one specific act of taking that resulted in the very nature of the world changing: a thanergetic system, inhabited by human beings who, necromancer or not, are fundamentally tainted by thanergy and by the after effects of that action of John's. You might call it a sin. An indelible sin. He does.

It's not an exact parallel, but necromancy certainly occupies a space not dissimilar to original sin: the result of a single action, tainting every descendant of its progenitors regardless of their actions of abilities.

And then enter Gideon, born in space away from the thanergetic energy of the Dominicus system to a mother lacking the 10,000 year intergenerational burden of the resurrection and necromancy. The child of Jod, born to die.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Having story thoughts about the fourth wall:

It defines the difference between allegory and applicability. An allegorical story leans on our world to find its full meaning. Ideas, characters, settings, all symbolize something else that's in our world, thus obliterating the fourth wall and bringing the two worlds together. This can be useful for a message-forward story, but it has the side effect of making the world and characters seem less real, because it's not a place with its own independent existence--it relies on our world.

In an applicable story, the fourth wall is firmly in place. The character is a character. The setting is its own setting. They have an independent existence within their own little world. We can draw parallels to our world, but even without that meaning, the characters and setting still feel like they exist in a real, independent world.

An applicable story often has more impact and a stronger message, because the message comes out of the story and character, rather than being pulled from our world and pasted on top of the story.

As an example--I was thinking about this because I saw Ratatouille recently. In Remy's situation, there are a lot of parallels that can be drawn between his world and ours--an oppressed subculture, a life of poverty--but instead of trying to map that onto a specific real-world situation, they're still just rats, living in this weird version of Paris where sometimes the worldbuilding elements are just weird. The actual message of the movie is about art, which comes from character, not from the way the world is built. Compare this to something like Elemental, which started out as a way to explore real-world racism and the immigrant experience. Because the message is built into the world, commentators get distracted by the ways it doesn't map onto our world, and have a harder time connecting to the characters.

The fourth wall is also important to romance. The reason so much of the romance genre feels so fake and unreal is because it's so often concerned with the effect the story has on the reader--reaching through the fourth wall to give the reader things the reader finds romantic or arousing, regardless of anything that's specific to the characters or world of the book.

In a well-done romance, the fourth wall is firmly in place. The characters are not avatars for the reader and their romantic ideal, but people with their own independent existence and relationship. They live in a well-built world that has shaped both of their personalities and affects their relationships. The development of their romance is specific to these two people, and would exist independent of any audience reading about it. The story has more impact on the reader, because it's coming from outside our world and gives the reader unique characters to love, instead of just pulling the reader's desires out of our world and pasting them on top of the story.

[bumblepony]

Tess Lives Fic Rec (No Outbreak Version)

Here are my Tess Lives fic recs in no particular order! These are all fics where no outbreak happens. I have a separate list of Tess in the QZ fics coming in the next couple of days.

Making Mirrors, a Tess/Joel Modern AU by @hypnotisedfireflies - A parallel universe to Drifters - the life lived had Cordyceps not conquered the world. - Mature

Tin Star, a Tess/Joel Western AU by @hypnotisedfireflies - The Sheriff and the Outlaw: sweethearts, bandits, soulmates. Magic horses. - Mature

Night Fever, a Tess/Joel 1970s AU by @hypnotisedfireflies - 1970s Bodyguard/Boss AU. - Mature

Of Artists and Architects by @emilylawsons - A Cordyceps-Free Tessjoel AU. - Mature

littlest digit, you've got the world by the handle by @ketchupchipsaregross - Ellie turns one surrounded by family.

smoke, ash, and strays by @ketchupchipsaregross - Joel (a firefighter) just wants to do his job and go home smelling like a campfire, it'd be great if the raccoon child from the alley would let him do that in peace.

dodors (and other birds) by @ketchupchipsaregross - How Tess and Joel accidentally restarted parenting in their 40s.

put it down in the pleasure of your company by Nyxierose on AO3 - "Normal functional people who live in mid-ring suburbs occasionally ask favors from people nearby and it’s not weird at all." Or, in which Tess gets into a lot more than she plans, but what else is new. - Mature

sweeter than sin by @raffinit - MODERN AU: Joel is a single dad of tweeny bopper Sarah. Tess is a single mom of teeny bopper Ellie. They've established a pretty comfy routine of being strictly fuck buddies. Until they're not. - Mature

the conjuring by @bradfordchens - Married demonologists Joel and Tess Miller hunt the supernatural together, all while raising two daughters.

we could walk forever, walkin' on the moon by @boopernatural - The one where Joel, Tess and Ellie take a family road trip to see a shuttle launch.

If I Had To Stay In A Haunted House With Anyone, It Would Always Be You by Steph_Puppet on AO3 - If someone had told Joel a few years back that he would end up traveling across the country with a self-proclaimed medium, sending ghosts back to where they belonged, he would not have believed them.

This section includes stories in which Tess is a Part of the story, but the story revolves more around a different pair's dynamic. So, Tess is more of a supporting cast member. These are still great stories, but Tess is just not a primary player.

a light in the dark of this danger (bookshop!au) by @two-birds-alone-together - The Bookshop AU! Joel Miller owns The Back Shelf, a bookstore located in Back Bay. He has no idea that his life is going to change when a girl walks into the store on an oppressively hot Boston day.

Ellie Williams' Guide to Teenage Rebellion by @simoncowellstits - Ellie is the president's Daughter, and Joel is her secret service agent.

Right Where We Belong by cauldron_zeta on AO3 - Frank has upheaved his life to move to almost the middle of nowhere. His closest neighbour isn't really a people person but Frank has always liked a challenge. - Mature

Compassionate Friends by @mildredellie - Ellie & Joel meet at a grief support group they were both forced to attend.

move so quickly (it can't catch me) by @howtotrainyourdoofus - Ellie navigating her first job as a professional ballet dancer and all the joys and strife that come with it.

Stubborn Love by @renegadeknight - Your favorite feral father-daughter duo repackaged, now with 95% less zombies and 99% more modern problems (golfing isn’t one of them)

world around you by @boopernatural - Joel's first date in two decades gets interrupted when his kid needs him.

To Have Loved Someone by Joels_revolver on AO3 - On her way back to Jackson, Ellie is teleport into a world where the cordyceps doesn't exist and Joel is very much alive.

At the end here, I am adding a few authors who have written so many good Tess Lives stories it's best to just go pursue their AO3 pages.

tessaservopoulos - @bradfordchens on Tumblr - Mature

Glitter_Gecko - @seethesunny on Tumblr - Mature

sillylily07 - Mature

Last, I am going to add my Tess Lives fics under the cut because I really am not trying to toot my own horn, but I want to have them on the list so I can have them all in one place.

Fate Makes Fools of Us All - Tess is Ellie's foster mom AU. - Mature

A Soul For Sale Or Rent - Ellie is a Ghost, and Joel is the only one who can see her. She needs his help to figure out what happened to her before it's too late.

In Another Time and Another Place - Joel and Tess meet at a bar in an Alternate Universe where the Cordyceps Outbreak never happens. - Mature

Ashes denote that Fire was - Behind Closed Doors - The Firefighter Joel Miller AU that only a few people asked for and I just had to write it. - Mature

Construction Corner with Joel Miller - Joel has his own TV Show on HGTV and Ellie is a foster kid who comes on as a helper and things progress from there.

And Baby Boy Makes Four - An AU where no apocalypse happens, and Joel has two kids with his ex-wife, Sarah, and a son called Junior.

[fairuzfan]

Hey, I've been wondering why you like the Hunger Games. Is there anything that makes it special or appealing for you?

Oh boy, Hunger Games discussions! Here's an essay for you :)

When I was growing up, I read about the districts and the way the capitol profits off their labor — how they have every luxury in the Capitol with doing absolutely none of the work whereas the people doing all the work are the ones that are the most oppressed, facing restrictions in speech and movement to the point of being in literal cages — and I thought "Just like in Palestine!" And not just in Gaza either. The West Bank with their settlements are the same way in that their movement and speech are so vehemently restricted despite the fact that much of the labor (in farming, manufacturing, etc) is being taken to feed the imperial empire.

With the games themselves, I saw the way in which Palestinian children are expected to play in the world stage — pander to millions for the hopes that they would take pity as they walk into a death arena and perhaps donate to help them. It's dehumanization to an extreme scale, but it's what happens in real life. Some people decide to help certain Palestinians because of what Palestinians say or don't say — not because they're actual human beings who deserve life for no other reason than being born. People can coo and coddle the Palestinian children who articulate their struggles well, pretending to care about them, but they don't really. They're just there for entertainment. They're there for people to feel like they're helping some poor kid who they have no hand in their oppression at all. The fact that the children of the districts feel like they have to sell themselves is the same in real life. Just think about that conference where that kid in Gaza did a whole speech in English pleading for people to stop the bombing campaigns.

What I really liked about Katniss, narratively speaking, is her romances with Peeta and Gale not because I felt like she was especially interested in either one of them romantically (Katniss ace/aro rep to the max) but because of what the romance signified and how each one had a specific purpose. I remember reading analysis about how Peeta represented "peace" and Gale represented "revolution" and at the time I agreed, but now I feel a bit differently.

Peeta might represent "peace," true, but he was abandoned and abused his entire life. He was sent off to the games where even his parents had no hope for him. But even though he suffered physical and verbal abuse, he still gave Katniss that bread even if he personally suffered for it. I'm not sure if that represents "peace" so much as it represents "love." Even thinking about it now, how he risked his safety to give bread to the girl he loved... for some reason in these days, I cry whenever I think about it. The whole world had abandoned Katniss and her family, leaving her to starve. But that one little boy cared so much about her that he gave her bread despite what his mother told him to do. He risked everything — at the time, a little boy can only comprehend having his safety as a possession — for Katniss. For someone to love Katniss so much... in a weird way to me, that's heartbreaking. Even as I type this, I'm actually sobbing. My sincerest hope right now is that someone gives the people of Gaza and the West Bank that bit of bread, that bit of love, even if its at their own expense.

And this is not to say I think Gale wasn't necessary and important to the story too. I think Katniss needed both of them at different points. The fact that Gale had wanted to leave and live in the woods, and it being a serious consideration instead of it being ridiculed as "cowardly," was something I appreciated. I don't think its especially valid of us to tell people who are under the worst oppression imaginable how to live their lives and whether to put their lives on the line or not. That's not our choice to make. Katniss ultimately stays of course, but she constantly thinks about how the world would have been different if she did accept Gale's request to leave. I think a lot of people do think about that, honestly, when they're fighting oppression. What if they just left it all behind?

Katniss, herself, though, never really wanted to pick either boy. Throughout the story, she feels like she's forced to pick between them, being pulled in either direction, feeling pressured by each boy to choose. And I think that in itself is a perfect metaphor. She's being put in this situation — forced to participate in the games, forced to pretend to marry Peeta (which, false "peace" marriage orchestrated by Snow btw, great narrative choice there), forced to participate in the games AGAIN, and finally forced to lead an entire REBELLION... to me that's a pretty apt summation of what its like under oppression. The people who are the most oppressed don't WANT to fight — they just want their humanity to be recognized. They just want to live. They're not jumping through hoops because they want to, they're just doing it because they have no other choice.

But, I think my absolute favorite part of the Hunger Games Trilogy is probably the last part of Mockingjay, the third book. I find myself rereading the ending of the book quite often. The part where Plutarch says "Who knows, maybe it might stick this time" in reference to the newfound "peace" they have now. The part where the people of District 12, despite having their entire village bombed and destroyed, coming back to rebuild and bury their dead. The part where Katniss lives with this almost unbearable trauma for the rest of her life. And this one quote that she says, after she kills President Coin — who herself took this rebellion as an opportunity to profit and oppress:

"I no longer feel any allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despise being one myself. I think that Peeta was onto something about us destroying one another and letting some decent species take over. Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children's lives to settle its differences."

And honestly, that's what I kind of feel sometimes as I watch children get shot down and murdered on TV both in Gaza and the West Bank. I can't understand the... unadulterated cruelty that these people show to Palestinians. Today, I heard Lindsay Grahm (an USAmerican politician) talk about Palestinians as if they all deserve to die in some of the most horrendous ways possible. I look at zionists online deny the humanity of Palestinians and ruthlessly call for their slaughter. I just genuinely can't comprehend why people hate us so much, why I continue to watch the destruction of my people for months on end and how I'm expected to live my life as normal. What is the point of life if we do not value it? What's the point of living on like this, putting money over each of our lives? What's the point? Truly?

Why do we live in this life to watch skyscrapers be built on top of graveyards?

But then I think about how Katniss comes out of this again. She builds a family. The people that were around her from before, although a smaller group... they're still there and they're alive. They care about whether she lives or dies and force her to eat. To live. Greasy Sae made her food for months. Peeta came back to be with her. Gale's friend came back and buried the dead and rebuilt District 12. Buttercup, the cat that loved Prim more than anything, came back. Haymitch helped with the book of memories, raising geese for himself even if he was drunk. But they never forget. And they never forgave.

Katniss, she plays this game where she recounts all the good things she's ever seen anyone do, and I think "maybe that will happen to us. Maybe we will live our lives remembering the good to counter the bad."

So yeah, that's a big part of why I love the series so much. Throughout the entire three books, first and foremost we care about Katniss and we want what's best for her. That's something I think a lot of people forget. We say "Free Palestine" not for some abstract political concepts, but rather so that we can treasure the sanctity of life and live in a society that puts humanity over power.

I want the ending of Mockingjay to come true, for the Liberation of Palestine to be the peace that sticks.

[whitehairedanimeboyfriend]

"Why are we still arguing about anti vs pro ship in 2024"

I don't know, I mean you're right. We live in a time where young people are being radicallized by seemingly innocuous things. By people telling them what to think and how to act. By asking them to create a cop in their head to punish them for thought crimes and then be on the lookout for anyone too weird to punish them as well.

We live in a world where trans people are called groomers just because they want to be themselves. Where the regressive right is using religion and "traditional values" as an excuse to oppress others.

So yeah, what a great question. Why be invested at all at the start of the pipeline, back where any serious discussion about the issue can be dismissed from public discourse with "they're arguing about fiction and fandom." And when you do that it allows another layer of the echo chamber to be laquered on.

We care about anti vs pro ship discourse because cracking into the echo chamber now when antis are arguing about whether or not an adult anime girl wearing pigtails is minor coded is a lot easier than burrowing deep down into the pit of regressive real world politics.

[voxofthevoid]

Hey, Ukrainian follower here. Big fan of your goyuu works, they are delightful 😊. A bit weird to introduce myself like that especially with such sensitive topic I'd like to bring on here, but I couldn't help myself when I stumbled upon this weird interaction between you and the anonymous person, who wrote that hell of a text about being against Russians on ao3 and you being anti-censorship regardless of what is discussed (at least that what I've got from it, correct me If, I'm wrong), then scrolled to the post about Ficbook just to understand the context. While both of you went really harsh on each other, I think it does bring an interesting perspective on that matter in general. See, I'm a little bit torn between "ban privileged russians from everywhere" and "no content should be banned, if we want to live in a democratic world". I try to be open-minded towards civilians in Russia, even if sometimes it's a very hard thing to do, because I can speak Russian and I see pro-war channels on Telegram cheering on bombing children cancer hospital with thousands of comments supporting that, even among younger generations (and no, those are NOT bots unfortunately and it's honestly heartbreaking). I kinda see what that person tried to convey in your anon requests - that basically every Russian content creator is essentially a thief (?) or pro-war supporter, thus should not be allowed to have a platform, which is a big stretch in my opinion. On the other hand, I fail to understand and completely agree with your anti-censorship point, too, because Russia is a country that build itself historically on a imperialistic basis, culturally appropriate and conquer indigenous peoples culture and traditions of Central Asia and Far-East. So, essentially, it's not really Russians, who are silenced, nor their culture, but people who are still fighting for their independence: Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Belarussians, Ukrainians included. We should not support a state, that basically has the permission from the whole world to do such awful things and I personally think it's okay to separate yourself from it by any means necessary. Another problem with censorship is that by now even the most liberal anti-war Russians are no longer active, oppression got to the point where the entire topic about Russian invasion in multiple countries is no longer discussed and now it's just silence. My Russian moots are no longer in contact with me or acting like nothing is happening anymore. They chose to keep on living their ordinary life, while soldiers of their country bombing my hometown every day, but I am not allowed to mute/block/censor it, because any form of censorship is bad? It's really hard to judge from far away, and I get it, but the nuisances in such matters are really important. It's a shame, really, that we live in such times, where authoritarian states are now more common and have more support each day, but it's important to not lose our heads and empathy towards struggles of the real people. I have no ill-feelings towards Russian civilians, who just want to share their art and fanfiction on whatever existing platform, but for me it got to the point of no return I'm afraid, and I don't feel anything towards those people at all. Russian language with each passing day associates with more violence and misery and it's really frustrating or more like a reality check, when not all people think that way. Honestly, I experienced a catharsis while writing this, so If you're still reading it, I just want to thank you for your time and patience to read another monstrosity of a text from your random reader. Regardless of your stance, I respect your work and admiration for art and creativity. I hope your inner kindness towards people will last much longer, than mine, unfortunately, did. Have a great day!

Yo 👋

Honestly, I have no idea where that other anon came from or how they found me. They're 100% certainly not one of my followers, and the post they were talking about is a reblog essentially informing people that Ficbook has been banned in Russia and that Wattpad has been banned in Turkey. The other anon apparently took issue with the final reblog encouraging Russians to migrate to Ao3. They also helpfully came back and showed that it's not that they care about queer people or the sanctity of Ao3 or whatever.

My personal feelings toward Russia as a state is the same as yours, though I'm geographically and culturally too removed from the situation to be affected the way you are. And I am genuinely sorry about the horrific things you're going through, for what it's worth.

You're allowed to mute or block or entirely avoid anything you don't want to see; that's not censorship in any sense. A person enforcing their personal boundaries and ensuring their comfort does not amount to censorship in any way. Similarly, if you were to create a fanfiction archive and disallow Russians or Russian-language works, that would also be well within your rights.

State censorship is a different beast, regardless of who's the target. I live in a country where that's rampant, and while it's not to the extent of, say, China, it's still pretty bad and getting worse, so I have been seeing my entire life what happens when the government is allowed to censor things for the apparent moral good. It's not the privileged majority that gets fucked over, it's the marginalized, always: women, queer people, racial minorities, etc.

I will always be staunchly against state censorship regardless of the country and the target. That's all.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, and I'm glad getting it out could be a form of catharsis for you.

Take care ❤️

[cafffine]

god the barbie movie i knooooowww like i do not understand what the people who rave about it are seeing. like even structurally it's not good!! the writing was so heavy handed and obvious with what it Wanted To Say i felt like it was treating me like a child being taught to share for the first time; the daughter was basically nothing after getting her "lol look how cringe and inflammatory high school sjw girls are, calling everything fascist" line and then "look "she's sooooo much nicer when she learns to Accept Femininity and get rid of her gross baggy black clothes"; the executives bit was so weird and just like abruptly dealt with and ended without really any action by the characters; america ferrera's monologue was just made me go "yeah, and..." like misogyny isn't fixed by just telling women they're being oppressed and then they can use their Feminine Wiles to Trick Men and fix it

it felt like something that wanted to be campy and lovably cheesy and self aware but it was so shallow it did not have nearly enough substance behind it to say anything that makes the cheesiness bearable

You’re so right about all of this. The longer I think about it the more angry I am about the way the ‘real world’ men were written. Like ok fine! The Kens are just goofy and dumb because they’re not ‘real men’ they’re just concepts they’re just Kens, but why are the real life men who live and enforce the patriarchy ALSO goofy and harmless??? Why did they get to stay in charge at the end? Why did they have to ‘approve’ the concept of a ‘normal barbie’ and why did their approval only rest on the idea that a normal barbie would make money? Why did they never face any repercussions? What are the consequences of their oppression?? Oh haha don’t worry. They just want to tickle each other don’t worry about it.

Women are still products by the end of this, the men at the top get a happy ending where they give up nothing and continue to profit off women, Ken is finally willing to end his reign of patriarchy once Barbie preforms emotional labor for him, race is hardly even touched on except to be like ‘haha lol see we called her white savior barbie because she’s a white savior’! Ok! And??? The woman who created Barbie is a ghost!! She’s a ghost who sits in a kitchen!!!!

I’m ranting sorry 😭 but genuinely this movie let me down on so many fronts, I’m grateful to hear that there’s people who share my insanity.

[scarletanpan]

.

Tw for transphobia ig? Not super serious I just cant focus til i scream abt this so sorry

Tumblrs tryna get me in something I keep seeing out of context discourse abt transandrophobia , tried to avoid it bc it was hitting a sore spot but finally looked and. Don't get why ppl arguing it shouldnt be a term for transmascs/trans men bc they only experience transphobia while being benefited by the patriarchy. Like u are still. Trans? Rlly its a weird cocktail of transphobia, misogyny, and misandry where ppl dont see u as a man if they know ur female, but get uncomfortable abt u presenting as masc, like ur ruining urself and hrt turns u into some evil scary creature bc men are bad apparently and bioessentialism is a curse upon this world that needs to be eradicated like.

The timing of this got to me bc the one person I came out to fully was a guy(who had a crush on me the whole time unfortunately) that immediately responded by letting me know he was into femboys. Then clarified he also liked masc women, and every time we talked from then on he brought up guy stuff but would stop and go 'yeah idk if i should say it.. ur like a girl u know, right?' Exact phrasing no matter how many times I said haha ig but 80% of the time i feel like a guy, but I couldnt be anything other than a girl to him unless I was a femboy. He confessed that multiple times like it was some suggestion..? Great way to get ur gender fucked up like back tf up damn cognitively I am Not there yet i was just excited abt sharing my identity w someone.. I dont have an issue w them they're cute I just felt wildly dysphoric abt it. Which is why I'm complaining ig my bad its wild but minimal in comparison to stuff I read the Actual point is.

This seems to just be a handful of ppl holding these opinions and they get spread around, and they have issues w afab nb ppl like?? The complaints I've seen seem to be targeting some idea of afab nb ppl being able to use their status as a privilege which. Idk what imaginary yt skinny middle class easily able to pass being they think comprises all afab nbs and transmascs? Like have yall never heard of intersectionality a little?? Even within that group there is so much variation yall are gonna lose it when u realize race, physical appearance, money, social status and abt a million other factors impact most ppls ability to be trans while receiving any respect or affirmation like

Show me where most ppl dont look at afab nb ppl and treat them like a girl or ignore any of ur pronouns besides she/her like. It's just dumb to deny ppl the right to talk abt how they experience transphobia bc u assume every nb person can pass or wants to idk?? As an nb I don't ever rlly expect to reach passing one way or the other but we live in a society so ppl will not respect that and thats the real issue! So weird like we need to be focusing on the transphobes that don't want any of us to have the right to transition or express ourselves. Which is what I plan to do now I've said my piece but idk afab nb ppl get behind me I'll fight to the death like. I'll fight to the death for all of us we all experience oppression in one way or the other and attacking certain communities over preconceptions doesn't help imo

And last note I don't wanna seem like idk how pressing of an issue transmisogny is ik how heavily targeted trans women are on a public scale comparatively there's always something to be said abt that. And a lil nervous abt using afab I don't wanna be exclusionary but couldn't find anyone using another term for nb ppl like me I'm tryna educate myself on intersex liberation on the side.. just don't think we need to infight we should listen to each other

[fierceawakening]

@notthateither (I think that's your username) I keep meaning to come back to your post on what we agree with and what we don't, and I keep getting distracted by various shiny things. So I'll just say:

Starting off, if you're cool with people transitioning even though you don't understand it and maybe even find it weird or, hell, maybe even a bit scary, then I'm cooler with you than I am with a lot of people. I believe creating the least oppressive world possible involves giving people freedom to make decisions for what we think are bad reasons, so If you're doing that, we're broadly aligned in political terms even if I don't like some of what you believe. (An example for me here? I'm deeply troubled by "I wouldn't have an abortion if my fetus were "normal," but I would if there was evidence of disability." I think that's very, very often going to be influenced by growing up in an ableist society and is rarely going to be about realistic expectations. But a world in which women are forced to carry to term is a more oppressive one than one where they are not, so I cannot stop someone even if I'm 100% certain that is her only reason.)

But as for where our beliefs differ and why, I'd say the core of it is that radical feminism often asserts things about men and/or males (not defining these here although to me they are different; it's not relevant to the point I'm making) are particularly dangerous, threatening, or destructive. I worry that singling out a group of humans and calling them the source of destructiveness is wrongheaded, and in fact the first step on a very long yellow brick road to fascist thinking.

It's not just that I think trans women aren't men, that there's a relevant difference between sex characteristics and social role (though I do indeed think that.)

It's that even if I DID literally see trans women as "males who wish to be women," and this switch as something that people can only sort of do and never manage completely, I still don't see how that's something inherently wrong to want, or that there's something suspicious about people wanting it. It's maybe a little weirder than "I was a stamp collector, but now I want to be a skydiver," but it's that sort of thing. There's nothing inherently untoward about it.

Body modification should be undergone after a great deal of thought. But most humans fly by the seat of their pants a lot, much more than I generally do or generally understand. I used to think it was my job to warn them against this, but... now I don't. People who live high risk, high reward lives are allowed to do so. All that's necessary is that they acknowledge and own the risks they take, and not blame it on other people if those risks are presented to them truthfully and without spin.

(And hell, I'm one of the most cautious, risk averse humans I have ever met, and MY medical-reasons, justified-to-most modifications went wildly wrong. Sometimes stuff really is just life being fucked up and not making sense.)

Why do we have gender? I don't know. I suspect it's a mix of nature and nurture, social factors and vague, difficult to pin down biological ones too. I don't know that I'll ever know for sure.

What I do know is that the oppressive stuff I've seen seems to happen, and really mess people up, when they're demanded to fit into one box and not another. I'm not sure what abolishing gender would mean or would look like, or how we'd make sure we do it justly, but I do know that letting people be is something I can do right here and now, and something I can encourage others to do, and a thing that seems, from the evidence we have, to help most of the time.

Which is why I'm not... well, I'd say why I'm not "gender critical" but it feels very weird to think of myself as not critical of gender when what I mean is the much weaker not sure we should abolish it. So instead of saying why I'm not GC I'll phrase it as "why I'm not a radical feminist."

Fair?

[pumpumdemsugah]

I really don’t care about consensual polyamorous relationship because it’s like whatever do what you want but positioning assess inherently ‘queer’ thing is weird and annoying. Where I come from polyamory is common and a lot of my extended family are in those relationships and like it’s not fun not sexy, my cousins don’t love having like 12 other siblings and three other stepmoms and obviously I know it’s different in a consensual polyamorous relationship but still, seeing people act like it’s this progressive western thing is always so annoying to me. Do what you want but don’t act like it’s revolutionary when men around the world have been polying it up to the detriment of the women around them. And people comparing subversive, sexual acts/relationships to gay stuff is so transparent and getting old like you’re choosing a relationship structure and I’m just living my life pls be a little serious lol

!!! Thanks for sharing

Right. The women and children aren't having fun. Polyamory is often a more efficient way of oppressing a lot of women all at once.

People's egos get in their way of being honest. Don't bring up how polyamory is decolonisation when the most common application is marrying off teen girls to be baby factories for patriarchal men that want 60 children

What does anyone have to gain by pretending women don't suffer ? It's like with sex work where these people all of a sudden only care about the best outcomes in urban western countries but love saying intersectionality but in a strangely hierarchical application ( intersectionality isn't oppression ranking system or additive ). You're expected to close your eyes about what's happening to others

It's obvious when some people's activism is purely self interest at any cause and they love comparing it with the gays because of how much success the gay rights movement has had to the point right wingers have been forced to be less aggressively homophobic because even some of their lot thinks beating gay ppl up is bad but definitely think they're going to hell

[sapphire-weapon]

If you're still looking for asks while you wait for your new drive, I wonder if you have any thoughts pertaining to Ashley/Leon/Luis? Never before in my life have I cared for poly ships, but those three have been living rent free in my head for a while.

For me, I kind of envision Leon finding an odd sense of security and comfort in having two partners. Like, it's weird and unconventional but nothing in his world turned out how he'd expected, so at least not every twist was devastatingly negative and there's one element of his "new" life he can embrace. (Theoretically, imagining they could realistically all be together, lol.) In the best of times, he can find some degree of solace in knowing that Ashley and Luis have each other as well as him, but when his mental health is at its worst he's struck by just how much he has to lose.

I also have this scenario in my head of the three of them watching a movie together where Leon keeps trying to shush Luis and tell him they don't need his running commentary, being just as disruptive in the process. Ashley thinks its funny until she actually wants to hear what's going on on-screen and points out they're just as bad as each other, finally putting an end to it.

Sorry, I got carried away xD Don't worry about answering this if it's not your thing.

Also wanted to say I know how scary and upsetting it can be to have a drive die, so I'm really sorry to hear that.

thank u re: my drive. fortunately my brother is the exact type of nerd who's been working in tech for abt 15 years, so he can at least crack the drive open and scoop the data out, even if it'll never work again.

poly is not my thing, tho. I ship both ships individually, but I'm oppressively monogamous in nature. the only way my brain would allow all three of them together at the same time would be like a one-time threesome for the sake of porn.

[tovaicas]

oh yeah I finished 5.4 as well so thoughts:

I can appreciate that there is an attempt at addressing eorzea's own racist issues re: merlwyb, and I appreciate that it's stated that the peoples she's oppressed are entirely in their right to fight for their own survival, and that they are not required to forgive her for the shit she's pulled. I also appreciate that it's directly stated that their beliefs are not the issue. I know it's a low ass bar, but that's more than most MMOs are willing to admit.

On the other hand, I can't help but notice that a) merlwyb never actually offers to sacrifice anything of personal or national significance in her desire to make amends, and b) her 'offer' in exchange for a renewed peace treaty is awfully easy for her to exploit. In what world is 'we'll take your shit and sell it for you!' in any way a reasonable and fair offer to make to the people you've been stealing from anyway. literally the whole plot two minutes ago was about this. it's unfortunate bc it undermines the whole scene bc while it wasn't the intention it makes merlwyb at best look insincere and unwilling to actually put her money where her mouth is, and at worst like a conniving bastard who's just looking to fuck them over one last time. how abt we give the kobolds their land back and let them do that themselves.

again I wish it were acknowledged more often the scions' role in perpetuating the status quo. what message does it send when you bring the wol, godslayer and beating stick extraordinaire, to your peace talks. I think alisaie's last jab of 'just let us know if you have problems with summoning, we'll send our personal executioner to deal with anyone being a little too uppity :)' to be in exceptionally poor taste.

I have never liked the tempered as a concept, I think they're a very weak and flimsy excuse to justify the oppression of sentient beings. Mostly glad to see that it can be cured, but still.

I get they're just trying to quickly clean up loose ends for EW and that's the nature of live service MMOs (which is why they're interesting to break down narratively imo), but the whole tower thing feels like it came outta nowhere. I find fandaniel to be completely and utterly insufferable and I hate it every time he's on screen VHFHBSVHSF

g'raha's characterization is....strange. granted I am biased bc I really don't like him, but his character change from the first to now is...jarring. like he's always held the wol on a pedestal and he's always done the frankly imo uncomfortable hero worship thing but as exarch he wasn't tripping over his own feet in his excitement. I find it kinda weird.

all in all it was ok. it's a good start and it's better than a lot of the more dogshit takes I've seen, but. y'know. could be better.

[davidmariottecomics]

Comics Job Security

Hello! 

This week, Amazon gutted Comixology. Roughly 75% of staff was laid off in one fell swoop, with the remaining staff kept on with the knowledge that they are there to "mop up" and then will be let go. I've said it before, and we all live in the world and should be aware of this anyway, but Amazon sucks. And this is the latest in a series of bad practices that they've had. 

Also this week, the HarperCollins Union hit their 50th day on strike. One of those "post your cancellable comics take" tweets did the rounds over on Twitter. I questioned what, if anything, ever happened with all the creators who took money from Substack and said they'd be following up with the company in light of the amount of transphobia, nationalism, fearmongering, and misinformation spread through their distribution system. In publishing at large, there's also a lot going on in terms of the relationship of the author/editor and the reviewer, particularly on Tiktok and conversations around the general disconnect between decorum and actual professional behavior in the industry. And across the larger landscape, there's a lot of job instability happening in entertainment/tech--from massive layoffs at big tech companies to continued layoffs and restructuring (often merger based) at some of the media conglomerates to the lingering concerns about increased use of AI. 

This week, I want to talk about what that all means on a creator level and how you might be able to help cushion yourself from some of those blows. 

State of the Industry Just using publicly available information, we can say 2022 saw a weaker year across the entertainment industry as a whole. Bloomberg reported it as the worst year in like 3 decades for some of the major media companies as the split between the idea of theaters, traditional TV, and streaming become more complicated with things being reopened and, generally, some amount of fatigue over streaming's big swing changes and increased segmentation. And this will always matter to comics because Warner Bros owns DC, Disney owns Marvel, and various other comics companies are owned by other big media corps. 

In the book industry, overall book sales are understood to have fallen by about 6% last year. However, some categories still saw growth, one of which being adult graphic novels (which includes a lot of manga). That's an especially important number given that the previous year, 2021, may have been the greatest year of comic sales on record. Which is also very interesting given that comics sales records are getting increasingly hard to track. 

So overall, it's kind of a weird landscape. While a lot of comics and book publishers themselves might in okay shape after last year, their parent companies might not be doing so hot. And when the parent company isn't doing so good and is looking to tighten purse strings, publishing is an easy target. But also, maybe publishing is in a good place because while book sales were softer in 2022, books remain one of the last bastions of physical media (go to your local Target, chances are GOOD that you now have a book section in what used to be the Movies and Music section--not that they're all gone, but that the ration has inverted). 

Overall, I can't predict where publishing itself is going, but I think these factors are important to keep in mind, particularly when we're seeing things like the Comixology layoffs. 

On Cancellation In terms of staying afloat and secure in this industry, a lot of that for a creator comes down on the personal level. To that end, I wanted to talk briefly about being "cancelled". Projects get cancelled, people don't. Everyone knows that J.K. Rowling is a transphobe who has decided to double-down on her public persona being an advocate for anti-transness. Folks have extensively gone over her works and pointed out when they are transphobic, racist, and otherwise inherently engaging in the language of oppression against different groups. By all means, were "being cancelled" a thing, she would and should be. And yet, the upcoming game based on her works (and based specifically on one of the most antisemitic aspects of her work) is apparently the top selling game on Steam of the year so far even though it won't release for a few more weeks. 

There are also sooooooo many other celebrities we can look at, some of whom have not just been convicted in the court of public opinion, but LITERALLY CONVICED OF THEIR CRIMES who, uhh, lemme check my notes, continue to receive regular work, tour, and otherwise be hyped up and make money. The good news for dirt bags, I guess, is you can be a dirt bag and suffer relatively little punishment for it as long as there are people who enjoy your work, even if the work itself is also compromised by your dirt bag views. 

Relatedly, I think when we're having the conversation of "cancellable opinions" and using that language instead of, lightly controversial opinions or hot takes or whatever, it normalizes the idea that both "cancelling" is a thing and that it doesn't/shouldn't actually have any effect. And as a result, it makes accountability that much harder. 

So, no, you aren't going to get cancelled in comics. But there are a number of people who are in hiring positions who are paying attention to creators' behavior and who may want to hold those who are acting poorly accountable for their behavior. And I think that standard, largely, is like "hey, is this person fearmongering against a group of people" or "acting in a criminal manner" or "being a bully" or "closely associating with a person who does one of those things". So you should probably try to be a cool person to avoid losing work for being a dirt bag. 

Positive Considerations to Make

With that all understood, not being a dirt bag does seem like a pretty good way to ensure future work. But with the changing landscape, that's not enough. What else can you do to keep yourself in a good place? 

1. Be informed about this stuff. A big part of my personally following up about Substack is I still see a lot of people gravitating toward it and signing up and issuing their newsletters there. I understand that some of those people are being paid by Substack to be there--some are even receiving health benefits. I also know a lot of folks are defaulting to Substack because they've seen other people--including those who got paychecks from them--be successful there. It's similar to Patreon, right, where at least in the US comics community, it kind of blew up to be the standard quickly, and while there are definitely people using alternatives like pixiv fanbox or Subscribestar, there's some safety in name recognition of the platform, regardless of it's problems... This is not to say that I won't work with people who have a Substack, just that to be informed, it's worth pursuing and seeing if there was follow-up from people who theoretically were being courted and had some amount of power in that dynamic to make a change and whether or not anything came of it. I'll also say, Trung Le Nguyen shared a public Patreon post about declining Substack's offer that I think is worth reading. 

2. Be considerate about who you work for. I feel for the people who've lost their jobs at Comixology. I am in solidarity with the folks on strike at Harper. I inherently dislike their parent companies (Amazon and News Corp) and unfortunately find those companies disrespect for their employees unsurprising. Which is not to blame the folks at Comixology or at at Harper--there are many lovely people working there and fighting the good fight within the larger corporate megastructure. But between, say, not crossing the picket line and signing a deal with Harper while the workers are on strike to, say, using the Creator Resource publisher page to check in on the latest about various comics publishers as organized and vetted by your peers, knowing who you're dealing with can go a long way for you. 

3. Be considerate for those you work with. This is one of those things that gets repeated again and again, but comics is a collaborative medium. You can point at all the ways and times that isn't true, but, generally speaking, comics are often not made on an individual level. And a lot of us have very different takes on what behavior is acceptable--some folks are very comfortable producing NSFW work and some aren't, some are open with their political views and some only speak up occasionally, some people are very private and some are very open. It does you good to know the comfort levels of your peers and collaborators because sometimes a misstep might come off as a larger slight than it's meant to be, which is always unfortunate. 

4. Last and not least, don't buy into NFTs or AI or whatever the latest criminal "art" fad is. Y'know, that one seems pretty easy, but boy howdy. Just avoid that stuff. 

5. If you write a blog about the actions of various companies, know you may be putting yourself in a precarious position in the future, but feel secure in standing by your morals and the facts. 

And, again, a lot of that all folds in to if you act nicely and respectfully and professionally, other people in the profession will meet you at that level, which can be helpful when things are uncertain. You certainly can find success in comics outside of the industry, and different people have different standards of what they're looking for, but not being a jerk is a good thing. 

I think that wraps up this week. Next week: The brandification of nerd culture, or how Funko became the new Band-Aid. 

What I enjoyed this week: Abbott Elementary (TV show), Blank Check (Podcast), Honkai Impact (Video game), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Book), Kaguya-Sama: Love is War (Manga), Drip Drip by Paru Itagaki (Manga, I actually read this a few weeks ago and think I just forgot to mention quite enjoying it), Coraline (Movie), 17-21 by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Manga, I've only read the first story so far, but quite looking forward to the rest), Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast)  New Releases this week (1/18/2022): Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island #4 (Editor)

New releases next week (1/25/2022): Godzilla Rivals: Round One TPB (Didn't work on this, but plugging Zilla)

Final Order Cutoff (1/23/2023): Sonic the Hedgehog #58 (Editor) 

Announcements: Arizona Comic Book Arts Festival - 2/25! It's a one day comic-focused event in Phoenix, AZ. Tickets are only $10. Attending artists include me, Becca (who once again is dropping some new stuff on their Patreon, see below), Mitch Gerads, Steve Rude, John Layman, Henry Barajas, Jay Fotos, Jeff Mariotte, Marcy Rockwell, John Yurcaba, Andrew MacLean, Alexis Zirrit, Meredith McClaren, James Owen, Ryan Cody, and many more! Come and see us! Becca'll have some very cool new merch, too!

Becca contributed to Aradia Beat, a Magical Girl Anthology Magazine! It's now on Kickstarter! It's both a tribute to 90s magical girl stories and part of a larger project about the overall preservation of magical girl stories! 

We're also waiting to hear back on if Becca got in to another con on their own, but may have another update soon. 

And finally, happy Lunar New Year! 

Pic of the Week: This is just our little banner pulled from the AZCAF site! It came out really well! See ya there in just over a month! 

[local-demon-in-your-area]

Alright, this post has gotten super big and attracted tons of controversy and weird opinions so I thought I would clarify my position one last time :

No a militarized intervention, be it UN, US or whoever else, isn't a good idea. Bombs are never the answer, violence is never the answer, forcing an enormous change on people who's culture and ideas you don't understand is never the answer.

It seems the Malala Fund is seen as controversial for reasons that are unknown to me at the moment. In the meantime donating to Women for Afghan Women or to RAWA for those who can or want is still a good thing.

No Islam and religions aren't necessarily the problem. I am atheist myself, although raised in Christianity and while I absolutely believe that religion can be used and is used as a weapon in the world today, I do not believe that blaming them (instead of the people fostering an unsafe environment using them) is helpful.

Afghan Women don't necessarily want to live European/US women and that should not be the goal. The goal is for them to be safe, first and foremost, and have a choice as to what they want. The biggest thing that feminism can do is listen to Afghan Women. What do they need ? What can we provide ? They are the ones living in the situation, they know best than anybody.

Afghan Women being part of an Islamic culture doesn't mean that everything happening to them is normal or desired. The Taliban regime arrived by force and rules by force. Their society is not built on solid foundations, and without change it's certain that it won't last long. The problem is the damage they will do until it crumbles, and the damage that will be done while it's happening. The main victim of catastrophes are always the ones at the bottom of the social pyramid and in Afghanistan, it's Women. That's why we're fighting with them.

To clarify : I am against the very idea of a social pyramid. But because it exists, it has to be taken into account when deciding how to deal with things and how to provoke change.

I've had some wild comments about transidenty somehow so : to know if Afghan trans people are in danger, ask Afghan trans people. If you look at what witnesses and refugees are saying, all trans people are in danger. No they're not the danger. No transwomen are not just men trying to touch women by hiding as women. They face the same stigma as any other woman, and can be treated even worse when outed. How did you all decide they were the problem or that Afghan Women could just "become trans" to escape the oppressive regime like. How. Please. What the hell.

Stop being mean. I'm just a person who made a post on tumblr. This post may have gotten big but I still don't have the influence of other bloggers or people reblogging this post. I can't monitor everything. I can't even look at all the reblog because I don't have time. I can't answer everything. If you feel wronged because somebody said something in the reblogs, confront them, not me.

Once again I insist : I tried to educate myself but I can't guarantee I knew where to look and remembered it all correctly. Once again, I am just a random person on tumblr. If you think I should truly know something, you can go to my asks directly, otherwise there's a chance I won't see it. I don't know everything, be kind.

This post was made in the present tense but is in fact about the new law announced recently. Its details are unclear but it would essentially stop women from hearing each other pray (at least in public spaces) and other added things which many fear could lead to a total ban (if the details in the law don't immediately put it in action). As some have pointed out, women are currently still able to speak to each other in Afghanistan, but that may not last long.

I'm not american. Stop bringing the whole "Americans say this because they want to invade" argument, I'm not fucking American. I don't think of myself as a saviour. I don't think of myself as better. I just made a post about an info I saw that was bugging me, and needed to express just how wrong it felt somewhere. Don't assume I have or should have all the answers. I'm not even old enough to vote in my country. Keep that in mind when interacting.

This is one post out of hundreds people will see today. Yes it has an impact, but that doesn't mean it somehow makes me responsible for every single deranged idea somebody may have when seeing this. The average person will just like this post and move on with their lives, whether you think it's good or not. When interacting remember that I can't be expected to carry everything on one post's shoulder, nor that this post will somehow determine how people see Afghan Women for the next 30 years to come.

The amount of comments and people deciding that I was responsible for all of this because I made one fucking post about the subject is making me sick so. This is the last time I interact with my own post. I will stop responding or looking at reblogs and comments. I'll keep this post up because I do hope it reaches somebody who decides to donate or join local action to help but for the sake of my mental health (once again, just a random teenager online) I will not update it any longer.

And please remember that supporting local actions will always be more helpful than arguing with some strangers on the internet

This has been a psa or whatever

Women can't speak to each other in Afghanistan

Women can't speak to each other in Afghanistan

Women can't speak to each other Afghanistan

Women. Can't. Speak. To. Each. Other. In. Afghanistan.

No conversations

No hearing another woman's voice, no hearing her speak or pray

No way to share experiences no way to ask questions no way to organize

And if you ban education then they can't communicate by writing either

Women can't speak to each other in Afghanistan

Women can't communicate with other women in Afghanistan

People can't communicate with other people

That's how low we've gotten

Please don't forget about them.

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #118: UXM issues 235-238

God I forgot how good the Outback era is. Broodfall was great and this issue starts A Green and Pleasant Land, another standout arc, which heads right into Inferno. It's the most creative and interesting the book has been since From the Ashes. This arc is maybe the most politically overt story Claremont does, with a blatant allegory for South African apartheid, which was a huge global focus at the time. The opening line of narration reads "This is the present. This is the world," which is a really bold stance to take in Marvel's biggest book at the time. It's not something Marvel would have published a few years before when Jim Shooter was still in charge, and it's not something you'd see now with Disney as the parent company. We open with a man sneaking through what looks like a military installation to hide his toddler son on a plane about to take off. Some soldiers take notice, so he runs off to draw them from the baby, and we learn that he's a mutant. They call him a genejoke, I think the first time that slur has been used. The soldiers, Magistrates of Genosha, pump him full of bullets, and in his last moments, he smiles because his son can live free. Cue a brutal jump cut to the next morning, where some Genoshans, are given the assignment to go collect the baby from an Australian hospital. First, though, they're ambushing another runaway, an adult mutant named Jenny who is living in Australia as a traveling emergency doctor. When her plane lands, the Genoshans try to arrest her, but luckily Maddie has picked up some shifts as a service pilot and was flying with Jenny. She sends a distress signal before being arrested herself by the Genoshans, who are not in Magistrate uniforms, call themselves the Press Gang, and have powers themselves. They tell Jenny that she fled from her duty and zap her with a scifi ray that digitizes her and sends her as a phone signal back to Genosha, before doing the same to Maddie. The X-Men arrive soon after and track the kidnappers scent to the hospital, where they're kidnapping the baby. They get into a fight, but one of them uses the fancy zapper thing to summon a bunch of Magistrates. They take out Logan and Anna and zap them away with the baby while the rest of the team engages in battle. Alex, who could barely bring himself to kill Brood last arc, is shooting to kill against mysterious enemies who hurt Maddie, which is a telling detail both about that relationship and the character. In a weird little detail, the final panel of the issue is some Aussie cops arresting the Magistrates that got knocked out by Logan and Anna. They tell them that they sure hope whoever beat them up to save the baby is doing well in the fight, which is a weirdly supportive and hopeful note to end part 1 on. Maybe it's to contrast with how evil and oppressive Genosha is in the next few issues.

This issue opens with Anna and Logan battling their way through Genoshan Magistrates until a man named Wipeout uses his powers to turn off theirs. We're then introduced to the Genegineer, a mad scientist who does experiments on mutants, whose name is Dr. David Moreau, and his son Phillip. David gets called into work by some Magistrates who pick him up in like a little rocket helicopter thing, and Phillip has a slave zap the lawn with superpowers to fix it. He arrives to study Logan and Anna, who thanks to Roma's spell are invisible to all the fancy scanning devices. He's shown the prisoners in their cells, Logan sedated and Anna curled up in a ball. He asks what's wring with her, and the head Magistrate mentions that some of the guards sexually assaulted her. He's so casually cruel and dismissive about it. If possible, it's made even worse by the fact that Anna has never in her life had a sexual experience. Her first kiss activated her powers, and since then no physical contact. She loves making jokes about it, flirting with everyone and wearing sexy outfits, but with the understanding that she'd never actually have it. And now, for the first time, she may be able to touch someone with her own hands, and that choice is immediately taken away from her. It just makes my skin crawl in a way that this book never has. Jean was violated in the Dark Phoenix Saga by Mastermind, but even then it was telepathic, which gives it at least a little distance from real life. Sexual abuse was also heavily implied in the Magik miniseries, but not as directly in your face. But this is something explicit that's happened to people I know and love, treated as lightly as real life monsters treat it. Back in Australia, the other X-Men telepathically interrogate the Magistrates in the prison, and after Betsy does a little psychic torture they're off to rescue their friends. The Press Gang, Hawkshaw Pipeline and Punchout, arrive soon after to free the Magistrates. Side note- the fact that Genoshans give their mutant slaves superhero style codenames is so insidious, especially through the lens of modern X-books, where those names are a sacred part of mutant culture. Even that gets twisted and mocked. Before we get back to the action, we cut to X-HQ, where the demon N'astirh shows up on the screen. Is this his first appearance? I can't remember. That's such a Claremont demon name. I like N'astirh. He's really polite and has a pretty humany speech pattern, which is a fun contrast against S'ym who's more the classic Christian demon. In Genosha, Phillip sees Magistrates arresting the human family of Jenny, which freaks him out. A Magistrate is rude to him until he recognizes him as the Genegineer's son and tries to apologize, saying he was only following orders. Every time that phrase pops up in X-Men, it's a very intentional Holocaust reference. Claremont, a Jewish man, equating the Magistrates to Nazis feels like a show of solidarity to those suffering under apartheid. Anna, meanwhile, has withdrawn so far into her own mind that she sees the psychic residues of all the people she's ever absorbed. It's a neat concept with a ton of potential for character exploration, which is why later writers keep coming back to this mindscape with her. Most of the residues want to attack her, except for Carol Danvers, who's as real as Anna herself. Since Anna is breaking down, Carol offers to take over the body and get them out of there. There's something very interesting about the fact that Anna, who's just had her autonomy take away by force, is now giving it to Carol, who despises her. This confident, brave hero has been so traumatized that she's afraid to face what may be her last days on Earth. And while it is scary to think there's another person inside of you who could take over, there's also a bit of wish fulfillment here, the idea that when you can't go on anymore this other part of yourself can take over and protect you. And she does; Anna!Carol (probably gonna just call her Carol) beats up two guards who Anna absorbed earlier who want revenge.

One of the guards is a woman, which I think is telling about how other marginalized communities will ally with the majority group if it can protect them. Carol then rescues Logan, who without his powers looks like a shitty old man. They look for Maddie and Jenny, but they've already been taken away. It's here that we finally learn the full, sickening truth of Genosha. Every mutant child is take away at age 13 and altered by the Genegineer. He rewrites their brains to make them obedient slaves and then alters their genetics to change their powers to whatever is the most useful for their slavers. This is called the mutate-process, turning people from free mutants to slave mutates. Suddenly the Press Gang and Wipeout go from complicit villains to heartbreaking victims. Jenny ran away from this, but now that she's been caught she's due for the slaving process. Phillip is upset because he was in love with her as a child, but his father tells him it's her duty to serve. In the room where they do this process, Maddie is also strapped down until N'astirh pops up on the screen and asks if she has a minute to talk. She says she can't so he's just like "okie dokie" and then blows up the power to the building as a favor to her. The lights going out gives Logan and Carol the chance they need to escape and begin planning their revenge.

/I don't know why but the cover of issue 237 has always been stuck in my brain. It's just Logan and Anna!Carol holding on to the top of a train. I have always thought action scenes on the top of moving trains are the coolest, maybe that's why. Anyway, we open with the Magistrates chasing a stolen aircraft which they assume holds Carol and Logan trying to escape, but it's actually empty and rigged to blow when someone opens the door. Right off the bat, this issue has two superheroes using bombs to fight back against an oppressive regime, which is a powerful statement. They're actually still in the city, trying to stay ahead of the Magistrates till the X-Men arrive. They've worked together before, and Logan is glad to see Carol again, even at the cost of Anna, who he does also consider a friend. You have to wonder how she feels about it though. All though the city, there's propaganda posters and videos advertising Genosha as a utopia for all, regardless of gender, race, or anything else. It's a pretty scathing commentary on minorities looking the other way when they aren't the one being oppressed, which is another Holocaust parallel. It's a refreshing and important theme in a book which often, especially in older stuff, strays uncomfortably close to model minority politics. They run into Phillip starting a bar fight with some Magistrates and getting arrested. It's the first human on human violence they've seen, and they hear the Magistrates mention the "mutie train," so they tail them. In the Genegineer's office, he's talking to Jenny before she goes through the brainwashing, telling her she's making an important sacrifice for the good of Genosha. She begs for freedom, so he guilts her for abandoning her duty. Finally defeated, she asks if she'll still be a nurse as a slave. He can't even give her that small, selfless comfort, planning to assign her to manual labor and use her to breed future healers. In the bonding room, they're about to start the process on Maddie when she lets out a scream that sends waves of energy. The rest of the X-Men, meanwhile, have finally arrived, and immediately start beating up Magistrates. The Magistrates are, to the X-Men, about on the same level as the Brood, to the point that Peter of all people suggests they execute them after they knock them out, but Ororo tells Betsy to wipe their minds instead. But when she opens her own mind, she's hit with a wave of psychic force that knocks her for a loop, and then we cut to Maddie's room, where the scientists have been sent flying and impaled on machinery. Back on the train, Logan and Carol are discovered, but have stolen Magistrate uniforms and IDs, so the other Magistrates send them on their way with Phillip to return him. As they drive off, Logan swears to Carol that he's going to bring this country down.

The final part opens with a telepathic transcript from the psychic studying Maddie. In her minds eye, she's a young girl picking flowers in a field and singing "Going to America" by Steeleye Span. The Magistrates call attention to that, which means Claremont wanted to. It's a song about losing your husband because he was arrested and taken away. That's an interesting insight; does she view Scott as having been forcibly taken by Jean? Or Jean as a punishment for Scott? Anyway, in the interrogation, Maddie perceived the telepath as the Genegineer, which is freaking the Genegineer out now that he's watching this. Just to freak them all out, she turn the field into Genosha and blows it up with a firebomb, and the only thing left is the Genegineer/telepath, now dressed like Mr. SInister. Maddie shows up in like. A loincloth and the highest crop top you've ever seen. It's her Goblin Queen outfit premier, and it's ridiculous slutty comic book villain, but it's also very interesting in that it looks like Jean's Hellfire outfit but instead of fancy and expensive looking it's all tattered and ragged. And instead of the Hellfire Club she's gonna throw actual hellfire at people. That part's probably a coincidence cause Claremont likes hell though. She tells the telepath he needs to be careful striking matches, and then kills everyone in the room, which is where we last saw her. We now jump to Logan, Carol, and Phillip, who they've brought into their schemes cause he wants to save Jenny. He's shocked when he sees the prison camps that the mutants live in, having turned a blind eye to the details of the slavery. The trio are caught and brought before the Genegineer. Phillip yells at his father that this is wrong and the humans deserve to know the truth of how the mutants are treated, but he says that it's no secret and people just don't care enough to look. But since Phillip won't shut up about it now, he's an enemy of the state. Logan drops a backstory hint that he's been a slave before and won't do it again, and starts fighting back while in another part of the building, the X-Men attack. Phillip runs off looking for Jenny and teams up with Alex, who's looking for Maddie. Maddie has gone to the nursery, where she finds the kidnapped baby, who she learns was the only natural mutant birth in the country in a long time. Usually they're grown in a lab from mutant DNA, and Maddie feels a strange connection to the body growing tubes. The Genegineer shows up and tries to kill her, but Alex and Phillip stop him and demand to be taken to Jenny. It's too late, though, as she's been turned into a mutate. The X-Men discuss just toppling the entire nation, but Phillip asks for a chance to rebuild the government, starting by getting the word out locally and overseas about how mutants are treated here. The X-Men agree, but tell him that if he fails, they'll be back to take down the country. Alex blows up the entire Genoshan citadel as a threat to everyone remaining on the island, and Maddie kisses him before the X-Men walk through a portal back to their homebase.

There's not a whole lot left to say, because while this is an incredibly powerful story, it's not a very subtle one, and everything is kinda right there on the page. It's maybe Claremont's most chilling story. One of the shortcomings of the mutant metaphor is how few mutants there are, which is why introducing a whole nation of large scale oppression is so effective at getting those themes across. The random mutants in the background as slaves, the father who got shot in the opening pages, and poor Jenny, who only wanted to help people, make the suffering feel very real. I said this before, but it was really important for this book to do commentary on South Africa. Most of Claremont mutant metaphor stuff has been allegories for gay and/or Jewish people, but it's really important for the metaphor to be available to every marginalized group. It never works one-to-one, and it doesn't map onto racial politics quite as well as it does queer politics, but it's there and it's important. This was a great story for Maddie, who's hardcore embracing her new demon friends, and Anna, who hasn't gotten much focus for a while and got some really interesting stuff with Carol in her brain. One of the problems with this arc is that it takes so long before the X-Men actually go back to Genosha. In universe, it's not really that long, the book is just about to get really really busy, and they also have to wait till the big three mutant books are all available for the crossover, X-Tinction Agenda. It just makes the X-Men come across kinda negligent, which is unfortunate. Nowadays they would immediately release a followup miniseries about how Genosha changes, but that's just not an option when you have a handful of X-books and a crazy number of plots going on. That doesn't take away from this story in a vacuum, though, which is really good.