#this is not the same as blaming a middle class or poor person for their choices because the ultra rich have so much more resources.

[contentvortex]

Not only do I not care if the vast majority of the submarine fuckos make it I'm actually getting more and more pissed off the more I read.

They chose to step into a tiny metal tube piloted by an off brand ps2 controller, and then descend to levels that would make rescue nearly impossible if not objectively impossible. Now that the "this shit is going to fuck up" machine has fucked up they're scrambling governments and likely spending millions of dollars of tax payer money to rescue them, when a fraction of that would have stopped the incident from happening in the first place. When the regulations that were ignored could have prevented this.

I do not have sympathy for a Mt. Everest climber that dresses in shorts, a t-shirt, and bought his climbing gear off wish who (who could have seen this coming?!) needs rescuing. Not only do I not have sympathy but I'm pissed off at their recklessness and the immense impacts that their dumb actions are having on others.

My only sympathy for any of the 5 is with the 19 year old, because at that age you're gonna trust your dad wouldn't put you in an inescapable deathtrap.

[pastlight]

i'd truly love to read if there's some sort of like. sociology study on not just de decline of the middle class, but what people are willing to consider middle class. and i don't mean just in the USA.

i just watched a clip of a newscaster/commentator from my country talking about all the "small" sacrifices people will have to make in the upcoming crisis, and she told the anecdote of a middle class family considering doing "one big meal a day" for the kids. and like, even if that anecdote is real, even leaving aside the pure evil of that segment equating cancelling your netflix subscription to eating once a day, trying to normalize this... in what universe is that middle class. how do you say that and not immediately implode.

and worse of all, im sure there were people watching and nodding along.

idk Marx probably predicted it or smth but there's something fascinating about how people will cling to the label of "middle class" in the modern economic climate when upwards mobility feels progressively less attainable. how do we redefine a luxury year after year. how much are you willing to give up for your pride, to the point when your only hope month after month is "not starve and pay rent" but you have a big tv bought with your hard earned cash! so you still believe you're a step away from living comfortably like your parents did.

[scara-writes]

change of heart

Sugar Mommy Reader X Y! Gold digger Male

Let's make a story about the reader falling in love first :>

Yes, this yandere is an asshole.

Might make a part two?

CW: yandere, manipulation, consensual-smut, gold digger yandere

No proof read. Will edit it later on.

cerise=cherry🍒

(THIS IS REPOST BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT SIDE BLOGS HAS LIMITED ACCESS ;-;)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Sheon wasn't rich nor poor but he wanted an easy money to make his life easier.

He knows he was becoming addicted on spending money. He can't blame himself, he was getting picked on for not having enough money to buy what he wants unlike his rich classmates that will flaunt their items at each other. He even sneak out of his way to take his father's credit card to buy him useless things that would entertain himself for a little bit like games and toys, Sheon would also flaunt them that his parents has the money when in actuality he is in the middle class. Although his arrogance did not last long after his father finds out about it, grounded him for a whole year for that. He still kept on spending money, he was pretty good at accounting which pretty weird coming from someone who spends a lot.

Now that he became a college student, with his major being aligned in accounting. His parents literally forced him to move out and gave him a right amount of allowance every month for him to study from his dream university but it wasn't enough. He just wants more money to spend, either to indulge himself or to avoid being picked on by his peers.

Not until he met you.

A kind person who introduced yourself to him, your cheeks were bright red as you told him that you fell inlove at first sight.

Sheon do look good. He was popular among women around the campus but those said girls can only glance at him as they feel bad that he was only a middle class. So don't blame him when he was surprised at your sudden confession, and he wanted to reject you right away, the red haired doesn't have the time to find a love, he wants money not a freeloader. But when you told him your last name when you introduce yourself to him, it caught him off guard.

"what was...your last name again?"

"(l-l/n)!" You exclaimed as you bashfully waited for his response about your confesion.

There are three siblings that is going to inherit three companies. If he remembered correctly, he saw an article of on one of them inheriting the biggest company once they graduated. Your face is somewhat coincidentally look the same as it is in the article.

A dark idea pop up to his mind. His greed was whispering at him.

If he can be with you. He can get what he wants right?

Easy money is easy life!

"…so… C-can I court you?" Your hands fiddling as you wait for his response. He looked at you up and down. You looked pretty average for his taste. The only thing that is pretty about you is the money you will inherit, but hey that will do if he wants to get what he wants.

The greedy man grinned and traps you between his arms and lean down to meet your face. Not even caring at the other student passing by looking at the both of you by either cringing or looking weirdly.

He boldly gave your left cheek a quick peck before answering your question with another question.

"… If I say yes, what's in it for me love?"

Not long after, the two of you became official. Your courting lasted around two weeks and that's about it. He always request for you to buy him this and that and you gave it him the very next day as you love him very much and trusted him wholeheartedly. He would taunt the said gifts he received from you to his old peers that he got himself the items that is much worth than their brand. Their frown look satisfies him.

Some of them asked where did he got the money to buy, but he will answer one word. cerise.

No one knows about his plan except for his ex friend, Tyr.

The ex friend of his cut ties off with him immediately after knowing he was using an innocent person like you for his greed.

Oh well his lost! He was about to share his dimes and gold with him.

Sheon thought about what will he give you something back for all the items you gave him. Well, His exchange for everything was himself of course!

His body is probably enough to make you feel something close to heaven. It made you whine out in satisfaction whenever he hit the right spot. Sheon could tell you never experienced this, a virgin at that. The way you moan out his name make his heart swell with pride.

"…is.. this what it..nghh… f-feels..uuhhmm..l-like?" You whimpered when he hit the same spot that made you cried out it on pleasure. Your hands were trembling around his sweaty shoulder, eyes rolling when he hits it again. He leaned to down to peck your parted lips. "… Do you like it?"

He fastened his pace up to chase down the ecstasy that you were feeling. He felt the walls grip of yours tightened around him feeling that you are getting close.

"I… I love…i-it..p-please don't s-stop!" You moaned out, unconsciously digging your nails to his skin. Sheon smirked at your reaction, wiping off your sweaty temple before giving it a soft kiss, then giving what you asked for.

You must be missing out from parties, seeing you had never experience like this before and that's okay. So long as this is a payment to get what he wants.

"Your wish is my command, cerise." He whispered his pet name to you.

"I-I love Sheon." You whimpered as you feel him pulled out when he gave you released. Sheon sighs, his load went through your stomach, giving you one last kiss before cleaning you up. Dabbing the towel around your body, cleaning you gently, asking you if he hurt you too badly. You answered meekly, telling him that you are fine, he was a sweet for giving you an aftercare.

He scoffs at you, teasing you. "It's a bare minimum, cerise. It's normal to take care of their partner after their love making." He carried you at the bathroom of your own apartment. Putting you down at the bathtub as he twist the faucet open.

Sheon joined you in the bath, he gently massage your scalp, making you shudder in relaxation, "do you like it?"

"I love it." You meekly replied leaning your back between his thighs. He wash down the foam around your hair, he rinse the shampoo out after he was done. He took a soap and was about to clean your body too but you insist that you will do it yourself. Sheon stopped and heed your words and starts washing himself up, the male was the first one to finish, he dried himself off by his own towel and starts to wear the pajamas that was already prepared besides the lavatory. After he was done, he told you that he will prepare you a snacks and turn on the tv for the movie you requested yesterday.

The red haired male's relationship with you went pretty well. Of course his body and his face shouldn't be the only thing he could do for you. He needed to act like a good boyfriend, being the fast learner that he is. He found himself, he was rather good at cooking and baking.

He would lie if he say he doesn't enjoy it when he cooks for you.

He would give you your favorites, something you cannot eat in your household. You told him you were on a strict diet ordered by your very own parents. They didn't know your relationship with him, Sheon was a secret affair and you revealed you were in arrange marriage during the time you courted him. It worried him seeing that his source of money will leave him for the arrange marriage.

You held his hand and you promised him that it will never happen, that you will fight for the "love" the two of you had.

The greedy male stared at you for a minute, realizing you are too naïve to think that he actually loves you. Were you that oblivious?

He wanted to laugh at your face but…

Why does his heart starts hammering when you told him that you will fight for him against your parents?

A little guilt went up to his throat before swallowing it by his pride.

The two of you lasted for three years as a couple, graduated and help him out to hire him to your company. His colleagues at his work respected him quickly seeing that he is the boyfriend of their soon-to-be boss, Sheon enjoyed the power he had over them, no more people looking down on him.

It didn't last long because your parents immediately confronted you about him and you had enough of it. It was the first time you neglected your parents orders and Sheon was there to witness it.

"I don't care about the agreement! The arrange marriage, I didn't agree on that! Mother, Father! I've been nothing but a good child since the day I was born! I have never ever went against you and I am obedient child who never goes against your will just so the two of you can be happy! But this is the only time I asked for you to let me have something I want in my life!" He felt the grip of your hands on him. The red haired male stares at your quivering form but he saw how determined you are about him.

He felt guilty knowing he was the cause of why you arguing with your parents right now.

Wait… He's feeling guilty?

"He's using you for your money! Look at your ridiculous amount you spent! From the moment you had a relationship with him!" Your father shouted at you, before glaring at him.

Truthfully, your father wasn't wrong. He used you for your money.

"And so what? I am willing to give everything he wants because I love him!"

Do you love him that much?

"The least I could do for him is to give what he likes because he is the only person who showed me what it feels like to be loved!"

Throughout the heated argument with your parents. He was silent for the whole time until you broke down to tears. Just a droplet from your tears made himself go blank. Sheon didn't know what happened to himself, all he knows that his body act on its own and went to cover your vulnerability from your parents.

You were surprised at his action before letting yourself be buried in his chest.

"I think it's time for us to leave." He told your parents before guiding you out to leave the mansion, not looking back.

He hop you on the passenger seat of his car before closing the doorway after he heard your parents trailing behind him, yelling. He doesn't want you to hear what he was about to say.

His blue eyes glared at them.

"I have never throughout in our relationship witness (Y/n) weep and broken down until this day, I always ensure her happiness on everything I'd done. If we have disagreements we will let each other agree to separate for a little bit until we are calm enough to discuss it again."

His mouth continued to flow out the next words he didn't think he would find himself struggling with his words. Thankfully, he didn't stutter.

"...I love her more than you could ever know. I won't let her cry and force her to do the things she doesn't want to. If she doesn't want something, she will let me know and I will stop because I don't want her to feel sad, bothered and suffocate. Truthfully, your daughter is the most sincere person that I've known in my entire life. She always gives out her best to make everyone happy."

He let out a deep breath. "I cannot believe she went through all her years of her life of enduring your demands and pressures the day she was born. It's no wonder your children are starting to neglect you. Most people might have called an authority because of your abuse if it weren't for the money you have. Every child deserve a parents but not every parents deserve a child." He paused before continuing again.

"If I see her cry again because of the both of you.No matter how much money you used to separate us. I will make sure you will regret it." With that he walk around his car before opening the doorway of the driver seat and drive away from your wrecked family. The whole ride was silent. Sheon never felt his heart rate beating this fast.

What happened to him?

Why did he do that?

What if his job from your company is going to make him terminated from his internship?

You were still on your way to become boss but your parents still owns it as long as they are alive.

"… I-I'm sorry.. you witnessed that." You sniffed as you tried to wipe off your tears trying your best to minimize your hiccups.

"… Don't mention it." He grunted before tossing you a box of tissue carelessly, eyes trained at the road not caring if you catch it or not.

You blew away your snots, as his thoughts were clouded of doubt.

"Stop crying." He said before parking the car after reaching his home. You nodded, trying to minimize your tears.

He exited the car and you did too before following him behind. A small squeak was heard from the car indicating that his car is locked.

Sheon didn't bother on walking beside you as he went to unlock the door of his home.

He went himself in, he doesn't care to tell you to follow because you will.

You sat on the couch and collect your thoughts for bit, staring the tiled floor of the living room. He look at your form and rolled his eyes before changing his clothes. What's next? Are you going to be stuck with him, onwards?

He went to the kitchen and starts to cook. Trying his best figure out something but nothing comes up in his mind.

He put the food in to two plates before serving you a lasagna. "Eat, cerise."

You thanked him and starts to eat your food slowly, your appetite isn't in good shape after your burst of emotion to your parents.

Sheon just picked his food but not eating as he stared at you.

What is he going to do with you now? He can't have you here! You… You need to come back and apologize! What if your parents cut off your card? Most of your money were from your parents! Then what about his money? What about the items you promised him to buy it for him?!

what about your feelings?

…what about her..?..

Stop... Stop making him feel guilty.

He quietly sigh and starts to eat. This mixed feelings are eating him up.

"Does it taste good?" He asked. You nod, sniffing.

"Leave the plate, I'll wash them up later. You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

You tried to reason him that you can sleep on the couch but he insisted.

You were stuck with him for three months. Your card was indeed cut off and you and him were evicted temporarily at your company by your mother. At that time he was conflicted whether or not he should just ditch you…. Since you don't have money anymore. You just stay at home.

Seeing you apologize for being inconvenient at his home he felt guilty for thinking about it. But for some reason... he can't bare the thought of you wandering around depending on no one.

Sheon went outside to get a hose to water the outdoor the plants until he saw a man who looks similar to you.

"Hey." The said stranger called for him. He must be one of your sibling, seeing almost all of your resemblance to him, except his demeanor. People would feel intimidated when they look at him but not him, Sheon wasn't scared of him. He is one of the siblings who neglect his parents.

The red haired male raised his eyebrow before walking up to him.

"Yes? Do you need something?"

"… My older sister, (Y/n)? Are you perhaps her boyfriend..?" The way he spoke the word boyfriend. Sheon can feel the distaste from him.

"What about it?"

His (e/c) eyes was staring at his soul. They both of knew they are never gonna be in good terms.

"(Y/n) can go back to the company. Our parents needs her."

"And what? Are they gonna invalidate her again?"

Your brother scoff. "If that were to happen, she can call me right away. They can't complain when it comes to me. They know I don't act like my soft hearted older sister." He tossed an atm card at him. Sheon catches it confused.

"What's this for?"

"Give that to my sister. It's her new card."

Your brother pulled the handle of his own car before going in. "What about (Y/n)? Do you not want to look at her?"

"No need… I'm sure she will be fine."

After that, He left without a bid of farewell.

Sheon looked at the card in his hand. Greed went on his mind to keep the card and hide it from you. Just telling you the details that you can go back to the company. He should get back the payment he used to buy the items he wasted on you for the past few months—

"Sheon?"

You called to him. Snapping out of his thoughts when he realized he was already in the kitchen, cooking food for the both of you.

"You almost burned the eggs… Is there something wrong?"

Sheon blinked before smiling at you.

"Your brother went to see you but he was in a hurry so… He told me that you can go back. Your parents need you back to the company."

Your eyes lit up."really?"

"Really."

He went silent. Deciding that he should just give your atm card. It was stupid idea to think of him hiding your card, that will result of him being arrested and making you abandon him. He can't ruin his hardwork for making you his bank.

You blinked when you stiffly take the card from his hand. "What's this?"

"Your new card. Your… Umm.. brother wants to give it to you."

You look at him in the eyes for a second before leaning in to kiss him.

"I love you." You smiled, your eyes were brightened. As if something cleared up your mind and he noticed it.

He gave you a tight grin. "I'll put this on the plate before it actually burns."

Just like his first week on a relationship with you. His life went back smoothly. Everything went back to normal. The next three weeks, the two of you went on a date, suggested by you of course.

The both of you enjoyed the rides at carnival. He laughed when you didn't like the taste of the sweet corn of the nearby shop, telling him you preferred the street food sweet corn he brought on your first date with him. After having a snack,Sheon went to take a picture of the two of you capturing every moment he can find.

You told him that you book a private resort nearby the beach. So he drove there. Enjoying the night ride with him.

His heart fluttered when he hear you humming happily while you were scrolling on the phone, probably buying an item that he request yesterday, you ask him what color he liked on the item. Right now, the red haired doesn't care about it and tells you to keep humming the tune and forget about the item he wanted.

He just found himself, liking the sound of your voice.

The first thing he did when the both of you went inside the resort was to pop out a wine and serve you one before quickly kissing your lips. The both of you enjoyed gazing the night at cozy fireplace lit on the modern table. You cuddled with him and he held you, warming you up. As he sighed, relaxing himself.

"Sheon…."

You let yourself go on his hold before toying his hands with yours until you let it go."What's wrong?" You look down, staring through his shirt.

"I have… Been meaning to tell you this.. I don't know if it's the right time but…"

Sheon held his breath. Did you find out that he was using you?

He looked at your right hand that is tapping something from behind of your pocket before showing it to him.

A small black box was given to him.

He looked at you confused before he assessed your new gift to him. The box looked liked it could store a jewel.

His world stops when he opened it.

"I know… you went all the trouble of taking care of me when… when I was kicked out from the house but… I never felt so indebt to you after all the love you showered m-me… I-I'm not good with this kind of things… and might even call it corny so….W-would-you-like-to-spend-the-rest-of-your-time-together-with-me?" You fiddle your hand nervously as you look up to him, rushing the last sentence. Awaiting for his response, whether he will reject you or not.

Before you could call his name again. His lips had already met yours, arms wrapped around your torso, pulling you closer.

You were shocked by your boyfriend's action before returning your kiss. Slowly wrapping your arms around his neck.

He pushed tongue inside your mouth, caressing your caverns and sucking your tongue, drinking the sound of your whimpers and moans. He loves the whimpers that you make, it makes him want to keep going.

You tap him by the shoulder, signalling him to halt his actions but he continued to assault your lips until the thirst in him quenched. It was the first time he ignore your orders, but he just can't help himself.

He felt euphoric.

Sheon was grinning, widely. One of his hands went to your buttoned shirt. Slowly unclasping them, one by one.

His cheeks matches the color of his hair. His voice laced with love and affection."I'm officially yours, cerise."

For the first time, he felt genuine towards you. He felt everything was clear. He doesn't know when, where and why he didn't realize it sooner but…

He actually like you more than the money itself..

No...

He loves you that no money can replace you.

Fuck all the items, he got. You're much more valuable, the most treasured thing he wants.

He went to kiss your collarbone before softly gazing on you.

For the first time, your relationship with him. Sheon uttered the words that are genuine and meaningful from the bottom of his heart.

"…I love you."

This might be a mistake in your part.

He will never let you go now.

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

Part 2?

[onnahu]

Why Bruce and Jason can't have a relationship we all want them to have

Disclaimer: I mostly ignore things that new-52 changed about their backstories bc new-52 is dumb when it comes to it

The thing about relationship between Jason and Bruce is that their upbringings were so different, and they both are so stubborn, they never could've agreed on some things.

Bc let's be real. Bruce went through a traumatic even as a child, and that was terrible. But before, he had two loving parents, and even after, he is a white, rich man. He is the definition of privilage and that's what made him Batman. I assure you, if he was poor, or even in middle class or whatever, he would never become Batman. Not only for a lack of funds.

On the other hand, we have Jason. From comics, even if fandom kinda streches it, his parents did everything they could. Jason for sure loved them, taking from his reaction at Willis's death, and everything about Catherine. We know he loved them, and they loved him. There is no hint for abuse in his early life (beside new-52 but new-52 is dumb), even if classist beliefs make us assume that. They had many problems, not much money, and Catherine was sick, and later an addict. So even in their poor financial status we can assume Jason's childhood was as good as it could be. He never complained about it, at least. Also, I personally headcanoned it earlier, and in the Hill it was pretty much confirmed, that Jason's latino.

That leaves us with two differences between them already, that gives them opposed perspectives on life. Bruce could never understand Jason's life no matter how he tried. Then, we have Catherine's death. It's a similiarity. Traumatic even where they lost their parent/s. But it's also very different. Even in their reactions we can see how they're not the same. Because as Dick's and Bruce's were similiar, Jason was complitely different.

Jason knew he doesn't have time for grief. He did what he had to keep himself alive, and took care for himself, that he in some way did already. He even menaged to do well for himself. We know that he survived on the streets alone for at least few years, and didn't really need Bruce's help for that. Although survival is not the same as life.

The other, propably more important thing: there was noone to blame for Catherine's death. He could blame her dealer, but he didn't really murder her. Dick and Bruce had the person that murdered their parents. They wanted revenge and they worked for it. Jason hadn't had anyone to take revenge on. He had no one to avenge.

Then, Jason got adopted, and could taste Bruce's life in some way. He learned how it is to have money to throw everywhere, and be priviliged for high quality education, food and entertainment. His poin of wiev on it was of course screwed up, but he got to expirienced it. Also saving people. Because saving people is a privilage.

If you struggle to keep yourself alive, you can't keep the others alive, unless you have a martyr complex. We, as animals, are programmed to keep ourselfs going no matter what. We have to be our own priorities, and if you can prioritiez others it's because you no longer need it for yourself.

Anyway, Jason saw how it is to be Bruce. To be a hero. But Bruce bever knew how it is to be Jason. How to be anyone that's not him. He can have empathy, he can try everything, but he could never understand. Some things you can know only if you expirienced. The same way I know I, however I want to, I will never really understand some things.

Also the whole thing with dying. That's important to. Jason knows how it is to die. He knows how it is to kill. Bruce doesn't know either.

Anyway, it's all kinda messy, but the point is - they could never see eye to eye in some matters. They can try, but especially after Jay's ressurection, they can never have a relationship we wants them to have, not in canon, at least.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[melmedarda]

Oh,I have so many HCs surrounding Mel and Elora, but here's a few:

Elora's a member of Noxian aristocracy, but not as high-ranking as the Medardas. Her family still retain their titles, but very much are middle class people.

When Mel got banished in her teens, Elora was actually sent with her in an attempt to monitor the situation. Her family arranged for her to be sent to the same boarding school as Mel (unbeknownst to either girl), paid for by Ambessa.

She was actually Kino's friend first, but she and Mel got closer during their Piltover saga. Their closeness led to accusations from others of her "wanting to be a Medarda at any cost".

Elora was always hyper-organized since childhood, so it shocked absolutely no one when she became Mel's personal assistant. Ambessa wasn't a fan when she got wind of the whole thing, but her husband thought it was nice that Mel hadn't left her friend out to dry.

Elora's relationship with her family is pretty messy, but not as bad as Mel's dynamic with Ambessa. She sends letters to her mother once or twice a month and sends money for her siblings on special occasions. But she refuses to even acknowledge her dad because "he knows what he did".

Mel and Elora bonded over having poor maternal figures. As a result, they use the other as an excuse for why they can't do something to their parents. If Elora has a family event that she doesn't want to go to because it'll devolve into hell, conveniently Mel's just given her some new workload to bear or event to organize, so really,she'd love to come, but she just can't. And vice-versa for Mel.

Oh, I love this anon! Thank you so much for sharing! Women with mommy issues unite <3 I wonder what Elora would have thought of Mel going back to Noxus. I'm sure she's completely devoted to Mel, but to see her go back in her mother's place. To see her powers. I know Mel must feel so guilty. She was able to save Jayce, and Caitlyn, but she wasn't able to save her dearest friend, keep her family safe, or save Viktor, which Jayce blames her for. I suppose Elora and Kino's faces will be joining Mel's nightmares </3

[alphyser]

Akaashi Keiji in my DR things 🌕 because I have plenty

His coffee order is a flat white with an extra shot of espresso or an iced americano with an extra shot of espresso and a splash of milk. He likes his coffee in a very particular way. It needs to be strong and packs a punch, not too bitter but not overtly sweet, and it needs to be smooth and light.

He loves astronomy. Despises astrology though. He always gets irritated when people say that the two are the same thing. "Of course they're not the same. One is a science that studies the universe as a whole and the other is something that people made up because they're not satisfied with their life so they find a way to take the blame off themselves instead. It's like you're saying Chai Tea on opposite day." He says not even taking a breath in between those sentences with the most deadpan voice ever.

His favorite song is F • L • Y by Spectrum. He listens to 90's city pop because that's what his mom listens to. His favorite artist is Taeko Onuki. This man blasts 4:00A.M. and 空をとべたら/Sora Wo Tobetara on his NW-S230F Sony Walkman MP3 player with his ATH-EM700 Koss headphones. (P3R reference 🦋)

Akaashi's seen as a "rich" person. He's not, by the way. He's just in middle class but he saves his money and rarely splurges. His parents give him an allowance and he still brings a packed lunch and packed snacks so he saves a lot actually, especially since he bikes to school.

College Akaashi on the other hand is the definition of a poor college kid. He has enough to pay dorm rent, tuition, and to not starve. Which is good enough for him. But sometimes he actually needs extra so he does work as a paid intern in a publishing company. (He makes bad financial/health decisions sometimes by buying A LOT of coffee instead of buying his lunch which usually consists of bento boxes from your local 7/11.)

You know of back handed compliments. But have you heard of front handed insults? Well, neither have I until Akaashi Keiji. A girl once walked up to him and Bokuto trying to fish for compliments or attention going all, "Wow, I'm really just so unathletic compared to you senpai. I can't even catch a volleyball." and Akaashi responds with "Yeah. You look like it." GAGGED. WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS GAGGED. I was watching from the sidelines with Konoha and this man kept going. "Your arms look like they would break if they even just brush against a volleyball." SIR. THAT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

[gadawg-404]

The cartoon about Trump being picked on at the debate is funny. I equate that theme as juvenile. Trump does not have the ability to be an adult when someone is baiting him. Kamala got him hook, line, and sinker and you all, including Trump, think it was 3 on 1 because she won. The debate with CNN moderating was a Biden failure and the moderators asked hard questions of Biden also but Biden didn't say it was 3 on 1. He knew he didn't do well and didn't blame it on anyone.

First, I’m am not a “conservative”.

I am a pragmatic constitutionalist. The debate should have been an offense to any thinking person. The moderators were obviously biased. Incorrectly “fact checked” Trump more than once. Never fact checked Harris or called her out for not really answering any questions or saying outright lies. So Trump didn’t simply reply with talking points every supporter of his wanted him to. So what?

Not one question on an assignation attempt a few weeks earlier? Seriously? Really?

Bottom line? In spite of his many faults Trump in his first term delivered:

An economy that saw more gains for blacks, Latinos, Asians, the poor, the working middle class and women than any other administration in the last sixty plus years. He had a border under control and passed justice reform that was working to set wrongs right. He also delivered on no new wars, the lowest death rates in the military in decades and a world where there was stability. Iran was kept in check and had about 8 billion in total to work with (his sanctions were working, but the Harris Biden admin turned them off and now Iran has over 10 times that amount to spread terror through the world. Because of b Harris Biden were have the highest public antisemitism raging in the USA since WWII.

Under Trump we were were energy independent and gas costs were stable and cheap. Housing, food, and everything was affordable.

Trump has a fantastic record of success for America! Harris has a record of disasters and wants to increase the policies that brought disasters.

Early voting started this week. It’s not about party, making history, personal preference or any other thing save this:

Who has a record that has worked for ALL AMERICANS? Everybody did better under Trump. Under Harris Biden we can’t afford food, housing,or gas. The world is on the edge of war. She says the Harris Biden administration has done great while set the same time saying she will fix things. I guess she is unburdened by what has been, by what she’s done.

There is only one person running who has actually delivered great things for every American. His name is Donald Trump.

Early voting is here.

VOTE WISELY

[solarwoniii]

OUR SPRING, OUR BLOSSOM !? na kamden written fanfiction

chapter one ; i think he's fine

your opinion on na kamden?

he was fine. you barely knew him anyways.

he was just the quiet boy who sat at the back of class by himself, who you occasionally saw at the cafe you worked at.

sometimes you would try to shoot him a smile whenever he glanced in your direction. he would almost immediately divert his gaze from yours whenever it happened.

which you had no issue with. he was clearly an introvert. you understood him. you were once there. all by yourself. and it wasn't easy.

sometimes you still felt like you were all by yourself.

which was dumb. because you were anything but all by yourself. you were loved and cherished and envied by almost every single person in the school.

your family was filthy rich. and you were grateful for all of it. you had strived to be here. you weren't always here.

you used to be just like na kamden. just a normal middle-class student trying to get through high school. surrounded by no one a lot of the time and constantly sitting at the back of the class so you weren't disturbed. bullied for the things that were out of your control. the punching bag for all the popular kids for no apparent reason.

sometimes you really wanted to be his friend.

clearly the stars had aligned to grant you your little wish.

you set your things down on the table space beside him.

"looks like we're partners!" you smiled, sitting down. kamden looked awkwardly at you.

"yeah."

the silence was defeaning.

you gulped.

in all of your life, english had always been your favourite subject because it was the easiest to you.

so, it surprised you when for the first time, you were finding yourself worrying that this wasn't going to be an easy project.



DAYS LATER . . .



progress had started.

although it wasn't a lot.

you had done work during class, at least.

but your extroverted senses craved more. you didn't like not talking.

and you wanted to talk to kamden. you wanted to be his friend.

clearly he didn't feel the same.

you didn't blame him. the poor boy was probably traumatised from the relentless bullying he received from all the popular people like you. if you were him, you wouldn't want to be friends with yourself either.

what could you do that could possibly show him that you didn't have the same intentions as the rest?

in the midst of your deep thought, your pencil slipped out of the grip of your fingers.

you watched as it rolled across the desk to kamden's side. as his fingers reached to grab it, your own flew on top of his out of instinct.

oh.

his pupils dilated as you quickly retracted your hand. he put the pencil back on top of your notebook.

you were one of the most popular girl in school. you'd talked to plenty boys before.

crushed on them.

hugged them.

kissed them.

gotten heartbroken by them.

forgotten them.

repeat cycle.

but there was something about this tiny interaction that made your heart soar.

stop it, y/n. you don't even know him.

but now you wished you did.

you found yourself staring as the sun shone in from the window, illuminating him and his pretty face. his eyelids heavy as he read. his lips just slightly agape as he wrote. his cheeks a warm shade of peach from the interaction prior.

you could get used to this.

the bell rang soon after. it was lunch now. you had probably five minutes to get your things together, buy yourself food and then run to your student council meeting.

you stopped by the bathroom on your way to your locker bay, probably losing you a whole minute before you finally arrived.

as you started to put your books away, some commotion from the hallway made you draw yourself back.

a large crowd had formed around two people.

you recognised one of the voice yelling instantly.

it was chulsoo. you'd known her for your whole life, way before your family's business had received all the traction it now got today. she had been your enemy since you were both just little kids in taekwondo class.

she was constantly getting into arguments and fights with everyone and their mother. this was nothing new. she seemed to have an issue with every person she knew. you included.

you ignored it. she wasn't worth anyone's time. someone with status would come along to break this up at any point and she would be shaking in her boots and apologising like she meant none of it. which was always entirely untrue. but all that mattered to the people like her in your school was status.

your attention went back to your locker.

"who even is that guy? what did he do to chulsoo?" you heard someone ask.

you really could care less.

"he's na kamden from class a." someone else replied.

your head shot around so fast you almost hit your face on your locker door.

you quickly ran over, pushing yourself through the crowd of students with their phones out, recording the whole thing.

there he was. kamden was on the floor, his entire backpack with all of his belongings being emptied out on top of his head, in front of everyone by chulsoo.

"hey." you spoke up, standing in front of kamden before she could touch him again.

"y/n." chulsoo wasn't surprised that you would ever go against her like this. it had happened many times now.

your eyes found a pair of smashed glasses on the floor. you gritted your teeth, kneeling down and picking them up.

"were you the cause of this?" you questioned, inspecting the cracked lens and the broken off arm of the glasses.

"yeah, i was. so what?"

"what the hell is wrong with you?"

"wrong with me?" she scoffed, "this idiot can't even watch where he's going." she pointed to kamden behind you, who was clearly willing to do anything to get out of that hallway, quickly taking all of his things and stuffing them back into his backpack. you felt so horrible for him. nobody deserved to have to deal with chulsoo.

"are you really so entitled? you of all people should know that people make mistakes. you're making them all the time!"

she looked behind her, to one of her friends who were recording.

"miyeon, are you hearing this? i think y/n likes this loser!" she laughed.

the urge to kick her was strong.

but you were better than that. you were an advanced matrial artist only for good. you would never stoop down to chulsoo's level like that.

"listen, chulsoo. if i see you anywhere near kamden again, i will get my father to make the heftiest donation this school has ever seen and get you out of this damn place in the blink of an eye. do i make myself clear?" you threatened, feeling the rage burn in your eyes.

chulsoo rolled her eyes and laughed.

"i broke his glasses because they clearly don't work. he bumped into me, and i taught him a lesson, simple as that. he's a pathetic loser with no friends, y/n."

"don't call him that."

"or what? are you gonna call daddy to come and fix your mess because you cant fend for yourself?"

you didn't know what to say that would fully convey the anger you were feeling at this moment.

but actions speak louder than words, right?

sometimes you wished your brain thought faster than your taekwondo trained hands.

you slapped her across the face, chulsoo's eyes widening from shock.

you quickly brought your own quivering hand back.

what had you done?

you had broken your one rule.

you had stooped down to her level.

her fisted hand raised, intention clear as they zoomed to your face at the speed of light. normally you would defend yourself. but you felt you deserved it this time. you squinted your eyes, preparing to get beat up on front of everyone, before her punch was stopped by a hand from behind you.

your eyes shot to your best friend, park hanbin, who was now stood beside you, holding chulsoo's punch just before your face. if he was any later you would have definitely broken your nose. thankfully today you didn't have to wish farewell to your sense of smell.

"what the fuck?" chulsoo yelled, as hanbin put her hand down, holding the back of your collar and dragging you behind so you wouldn't get yourself into anymore trouble.

"god, y/n. you need to stop getting into fights." he sighed, "chulsoo, why can't you just leave people alone?"

finally.

someone with status to break this up. clearly you weren't smart enough to do that. that the lord for hanbin.

"h-hanbin, i-"

"leave it. and leave these two alone, okay? we don't want what happened last time to reoccur, do we?"

the audience around you gasped, and then 'oohed' at the tension. chulsoo hung her head and bowed.

"i'm sorry!"

"i'm not the one you should be apologising to." he said, "just get going, okay?"

you had never seen chulsoo and her friends run away so fast.

your best friend, park hanbin was just intimidating when he was mad.

he looked to the crowd of people still watching.

"alright everyone, fight's over. let's go." he smiled passively. the students quickly dispersed through the hallway. it was moments like these which reminded everyone of the reason why hanbin was the perfect student body president.

hanbin looked back at you.

"are you alright? she didn't do anything to you guys, right?"

you held up the broken glasses to him.

"god. i can't believe her." he looked down at kamden, "y/n and i are on the student council. we can get this reported if you want?"

"yeah! i've known chulsoo my whole life, her dad is strict as hell. he'll probably get her to buy you a new pair! it's a win-win, you get brand new glasses and chulsoo learns not to mess with you again." you smiled. hanbin scoffed.

"never put 'chulsoo' and 'learns' in the same sentence again. she doesn't learn, she never will."

"hm, that's true. what else can we do, then?"

kamden rose to his feet, taking the glasses.

"it's okay, i have a spare pair in my locker."

"really?" your eyebrows knitted together from confusion, "b-but glasses aren't cheap! she completely destroyed yours, you can't just let her get away with that."

"it's fine. really. i need to get to my locker now." he muttered.

he started to walk away, and you wanted nothing more than to run after him to convince him otherwise. he couldn't just let her off the hook like this.

hanbin put his hands on your shoulders and pulled you back.

"let him. c'mon, we have a meeting to get to."

"but- !"

"no buts." he sighed, dragging you as he walked, "you know it's not possible to help every single person in the world, right y/n? sometimes it's okay to let things go."

you grumbled, "what kind of student body vice president would i be if i did that?"

"a normal one. who doesn't let every single person around them affect them."

"chulsoo was being a bitch! i'm not going to just stand by and watch my classmate getting completely harassed and humiliated in front of everyone." you argued, "i was there once. i of all people know how difficult it is to be bullied. i wanna help where i can."

hanbin smiled.

"you're amazing, y/n."

of course everything you had said was true. nobody deserved to be treated that way because of a harmless mistake that could've been easily resolved with a simple 'sorry'.

but deep down, you knew there was another reason why you had been so bold to do that.

after all, you never really cared for chulsoo and her constant cravings to hurt other people. she never changed. no matter how many times you lectured her about the importance of being kind to everyone, no matter how many times her father would scold and punish her for doing the wrong thing, no matter how many times she got suspended from school because of the way she treated people, she always went back to the same chulsoo.

and you had come to terms with this a while ago.

of course, if you saw a student being bullied by her, you would step in and protect them just the same way you had done so today.

but there was something else about today's incident which lurked in your head. a want. no, this was a need. a need to be there for him. a need to protect him.

whatever this need was, it was quickly growing.

you had work after school today. you hoped that you'd see kamden there again.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ prev ; masterlist ; next ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

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[caterjunes]

I think I see what ur saying but 100k a year is in fact a lot of money and $50+/hr is a crazy luxury that most of us will never experience, like you don't have to be a one percenter to be rich. Its not private jet rich but that kind of money still affords opportunities that are simply not available to most of the population.

I promise I'm not trying to be a dick, but it is also very much a rich person thing to be talking down to working class people about money. Coming from someone whose family made 10k on a good year, I do see your basic point (like, rich people are not all on the same level and the richest rich people are the most to blame) but if you start talking like that around lifelong poor people we're all gonna be side-eyeing you I'm sorry

i absolutely understand and i appreciate you reaching out to me, i don't think you're being a dick at all. i guess i was trying to say that like. the world isn't divided into The Rich and The Poor, the middle class does still exist & it felt reductive of so many commenters on that poll to be like "oh yr highest earning parent makes at least 100k? you're Rich." rather than acknowledging the complexity & breadth of income/wealth inequality, or talking about like performative poverty on tumblr? which is ya know. something i've been guilty of when trying to ~make it on my own~ or whatever.

but i am talking from a very limited us-ian raised-upper-middle-class perspective, and i have safety nets (and yes, luxuries) that many or most people don't. which definitely affects how i look at & react to this sort of thing. so.

[buzzdixonwriter]

Why Do People Take Drugs?

To feel better.

Duh.

It doesn’t matter what the drug is, we take it to feel better,

Have an infection?  Take penicillin, feel better.

Headache?  Take aspirin, feel better.

Cancer?  Chemotherapy.

Stress?  Nicotine.

Loneliness?  Alcohol.

Name the problem, there’s a drug for it.

The hypocrisy we spew is that some ailments are entitled tp use some drugs, but other ailments are blamed on the sufferer, who ios either expected to endure their suffering with stoic silence or seek relief through socially approved health care providers.

Gawd help the poor schmuck who opts to self-medicate.

When we talk about “the drug problem” we never mean it in the sense of big phrama charging too damn much.

Rather, we talk about it in the sense of denying that we as a society have failed many of our citizens by ignoring the myriad root causes of their psychic pain and instead demonize their efforts to seek relief.

Healthy people -- physically / emotionally / mentally -- do not need drugs to feel better; they’re already feeling good and / or at peace with themselves.

Only when something hurts do we seek relief.

A person sound of heart and mind may suffer some illness or injury that requires strong pain relievers, but once the cause of the pain is successfully treated the desire / need for pain relief vanishes.

But we see far too many people suffering psychic pain / illness / injury / trauma who hide it from public view, who succumb to drug addiction when treated for physical pain.* 

The prescribed drug does its assigned job well, it numbs the physical pain, but in many cases it also numbs the invisible pain, the emotional pain, the eternal internal pain.

And that’s when people get hooked.

Hanks to pious self-righteous blue-nosed progs (looking at you, my fellow Christians), people with internal damage are denied pain relief.

“If you feel bad, it’s because you sinned.  Pray the sin away.”

Yeah, calling shenanigans on that.  “Sin” means falling short of the mark.  It means not giving a damn about others or their pain, just relieving in self-preening pride over our own lack or fecal odor.

There is a sinner in most sermons, typically the one casting stones from behind the pulpit.

This is not to say people with addiction issues can’t be hurtful or harmful to others,

I don’t care how much you need to drink to forget whatever-their-name-in, DON’T GET BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR!

Addiction related problems arise by forcing users to seek expensive black market drugs which often propels them to commit crimes to finance their drug use.

Many sex workers are classic examples of this.  They feel guilt or shame over their profession, turning to drugs to assuage those feelings, requiring more sex work to buy more drugs to numb more feelings, etc., etc., and of course, etc.

Even in supposedly nice middle class Norman Rockwell homes the same issues arise.  Homemakers need “mother’s little helper” to get through the day which makes them less likely to meet their obligations be they self-imposed or even worse, imposed by whatever group the homemaker identifies with.

Which of course leads to more drugs to soothe the pain which only causes more pain requiring more drugs…

You get the picture?

The first step towards helping people with addiction issues is for society to stop being so damn moralistic and judgmental.

Stop laying imaginary sins on them from the pulpit, accept them for what they are where they are.

The next step is to accept responsible drug use.  There are people who are alcoholics and drug addicts who know how to keep their consumption under control.  People like that are to be encouraged.

Drug addiction is not a moral issue but a health problem,

Cure it, don’t punish it.

  © Buzz Dixon

 * Because gawd forbid we show we are vulnerable on the inside.  Whack off our arms and legs, gouge out our eyes, rip out our tongues, but never reveal any mental or emotional weakness.

[vermillioncourt-if]

Kutuo reactions to mc naming their child after her please

Hello! ❤️ This question actually unlocks some REALLY in depth lore about Nian (and real life info!) that I, honestly, wouldn't blame you for skipping since it's long and a lil complicated and all under the cut! So I'll answer your question first!

Kutuo would be pretty confused, but flattered. She doesn't see what would cause MC to do that, but she's honored they think of her like that.

Now for lore, it's not a Thing to name children directly after family members/ancestors/etc in Nian! A name is supposed to be unique to a child within a family and naming a child after ancestors/another person is generally seen as disrespectful and an insult, as well as saddling the child with the burdens and expectations expected of the person they're named after. It's just all around considered bad. This is culturally across all of the continent and through all classes, from the poor to royalty.

Of course, this doesn't stop people who wish to name their children after family members/ancestors/role models/etc, so a common way they move around this taboo it is by using the same first or second character of that person's name and then coming up with the other half. Let me explain.

Naming conventions in Nian follow real-life Chinese naming conventions and language. So middle names aren't a Thing and all names follow a Monosyllabic Surname and a Disyllabic Given name. Names are also not gendered, although some reoccurring trends are seen in boys vs girls.

I'm about to give a very rough and quick explanation of the Chinese language, if you know this already, feel free to skip ahead!

Let me give a quick rough run down for those new to this! Chinese (umbrella term) is a character-based tonal language. What that means is that depending on the tone inflection of your voice, it can change the meaning. You know how when we ask questions, our voices rise slightly at the end vs when we're speaking normally? Tones work like that but there are 4 of them and it's for the whole language.

What this means is that you can have two people who use, let's say... Shen (we'll use my name) in their names, but it can mean two different things because of the tones. For Shen Sandong, her Shen means "monkey" and it's spoken using a flat even tone. The Shen in my name is spoken with a rising tone (like you're asking a question) and means "lively"!

All Chinese (and Nian!) first/given names are disyllabic, except MC's since I'm not about to make you guys come up with a disyllabic name, although I will provide options for you to pick, if you want one. Disyllabic means that the name, in this case, is made up of two monosyllabic characters. Monosyllabic means one syllable.

In the case of MC wanting to name their child after Kutuo, they would most likely take a monosyllabic part ('ku' or 'tuo') and use the same character for it Kutuo does. Then they would find another monosyllabic that's either 1. Completely different, 2. Uses the same tones but means something else, or 3. Means the same but uses different tones. Putting the new combination together will make a unique name for the child that also honors Kutuo in a non-insulting way.

I can expand SO much on this, but I fear it has gone on long enough! If you guys are curious for more, please let me know and I'll make a post about it!

[lheautontimoroumenos]

cops + govt are absolutely bastards and i wish the one who killed nahel would get more than whats (probably) going to be given to him, and i support the riots going on for justice and to bring this issue to the forefront. but honestly how hard is it to not attack schools and places where people live? there were families in danger with the car on fire releasing fumes into the building. little kids aren't going to be able to go to school or will have to have counseling to understand whats going on

hi anon! I'm glad you're asking this and I'll try to be careful and kind in my answer. If my tone comes off kind of angry I apologize, I just meant to avoid this kind of reaction with my post.

I'm gonna try to answer this in two big parts where it seems we disagree : first the "how hard is it not to attack schools" side of the problem.

Then I'll go more widely on the questioned necessity of destruction and its nature.

(also I apologize if not everything is clear, the French to English brain on this topic is kinda weird, I'm open to more asks if you want something more precise).

Alright, PART UNO, Why Burn Down Schools

Okay, so absolutely no offense, but I'm gonna guess you were a good or at least okay student and therefore had a good relationship to school. I'm also gonna assume you didn't go to school in the banlieue or in establishments on the REP/ZEP list (Network or Zone of Priority Education), this classification is done based on the IPS or Social Position Indicator. Etablishments in REP in Paris today are around 90; the one I went to as a kid around 74; in Nanterre, where Nahel was killed, high schools are around 90 and middle schools between 80 and 90. By comparison Henri IV and Louis Le Grand, two very prestigious high school in downtown Paris have an IPS of around 140. The point being that in those spaces, even if you personally do well as a student, most of your peers have a very different relationship to the institution that is "school".

It has been widely accepted since Bourdieu's Les Héritiers (1964) that school is a machine that reproduces and legitimizes inequalities. We know children of workers, little employees, and people working low wage jobs do worse in school than children of teachers, or state workers, or people working high paying jobs, or that have already done high level studies. We also know these kids get to school at the same time but with a different baggage, and that the baggage from relatively rich (in economic or cultural capital) kids coming from relatively rich families is favored over the baggage from kids from poor families. That is because the first one belongs to what Bourdieu calls "legitimate culture", which is not legitimate in and of itself but legitimized by the dominant class to keep itself where it is. I'm not gonna talk about Les Héritiers the whole time, but in addition to the class difference and struggle in legitimate culture is a struggle especially present in banlieues of foreign culture being considered illegitimate.

The point is not that poor kids or kids of color are bad at school and that's just how it is, but that school as an institution is already a violence to them. It is traumatizing, built to make them fail, all the while telling them it's their fault because school is fair and based on merit. But it's not, because it values things and abilities as if all students start off from the same point (which is false) and make them believe the run was fair (which is false as well). Sometimes the blame is on the teachers, but most often it is the institution that inherently fails them and lowers their self-esteem. (Also, fun fact, I think it was a study done by IPSOS that showed that if they had the same grade, let's say an average of 9/20, in CE1, kids of workers were more likely to be made to redo their year, whereas rich kids would go to the next level anyway).

So you're right, it's easy to think that you shouldn't burn down a school when your rapport to it is: "what a great place, even if it pisses me off sometimes, I learn things and I can see my friends and have fun, burning it down would not help". But when school is a) a violence to you, and b) a lot of the time already breaking down because regardless of what they say on TV the State does not allocate enough resources to banlieues, well it's easier to burn it to the ground (this way maybe they'll actually rebuild it and be careful about abestos/amiante).

That doesn't mean it's good or right or forgivable and therefore forgiven (that's to your own discretion), but what it is, is understandable. These kids are fighting against a whole system, the police, its support by the State, and more widely the State itself and its shitty handling of banlieues and their inhabitants.

Okay, PART DOS, Is Violence Necessary, If So Which Kind

I'm gonna assume and hope you're not one of the people jerking off to theoretical revolution and praising the black block but getting scared when things actually get serious.

You're saying you wish they would be capable of keeping the riots to actual figures of police violence, I guess, or at least try not to harm innocents or do too much collateral damage (thinking about libraries, etc. I hope you can understand how schools also stand as violence to the rioters now).

My gut reaction is to say that's just not possible. If you really want the revolution and the change that comes with it (not just repealing the 2017 law), you have to be prepared to make sacrifices and for collateral damage (again, not saying it's good or right, or that you should thrive for it, just that it's virtually impossible to do without it).

I know some people have been saying they should go to actual places of power, go shake Darmanin out of his fascist bubble, but I also think people don't realize what this means. In the banlieues, they are in known and mostly friendly territory, which makes it easy for them to use the "be water" strategy (scatter when cops arrive). They know these streets and where to run, where to climb, where to hide. If they were to go to downtown Paris? they wouldn't have any of these advantages, plus they would be faced with the anti-riot plan built into the very architecture of the city streets (Haussman and Napoleon III I hate you). Just like the Parisians demonstrated against the pension reform in Paris, the place they know, the banlieusards are doing the same in the banlieues.

Now endangering kids is not the way to go, there we agree. The point of disagreement is that you think the rioters are going to be the ones making victims whereas I think the cops will, and already have (see the guy killed in Marseille by a flash ball impact, or the one from Mont-Saint-Martin in a coma).

(If you want to read something about the price of revolution, I'd recommend Les Justes by Camus, it's pretty short and you can come to different conclusions when you're done.)

You wrote "people need to have consideration for other kids in France". That sounds a tad condescending to me but I don't think you meant it that way. The problem is that they are not considered by other kids in France! as was showed in 2005 and as is showed today by the reactions on social media. You are asking the oppressed to make the first act of love here, and in a way you're right, Paulo Freire would say that next to violence, a revolution is only successful if it contains radical love, and that cannot come from the oppressor, but it is also a hard thing to ask of people. Especially when they know they will be ignored if they don't shake the political landscape a little.

I think you would enjoy reading Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, it's not too long and it's very interesting regarding this topic.

Now I'd be careful with how you talk about the kids needing to "control themselves" because it sounds condescending here as well (though again I don't think that is how you mean it) and can be understood quite badly. I think what you may be alluding to however is the crowd effect that the riots can have. Once you start, breaking things with your friends, it does feel good, you release energy, you laugh, it's a good time really. The risk is to take the euphoria too far and not realize what you're doing, which of course happens but is really magnified by the media and is actually pretty marginal in the actual riots. But you're right that being in a group makes you forget about yourself (see: demonstrations, sport fans, etc.) and the rioters are not exempt from that.

I think, if anything, what one could fault the rioters for is that they are alienating themselves sometimes from their own communities. That is really going the same as in 2005 I feel like, with some worried moms, or people who agreed at the beginning but think it's lasting too long now. The problem is that politically, the people saying they will stop the riots are the National Rally (fascists) and at a smaller scale Rebirth (Macron's party, right wing). But Macron won't be able to run again next time (we wouldn't want him to) and I doubt his party is gonna hold without him. That leaves us with the fascist RN. So the kids could be building up to their own destruction.

(It is still important to say that even if the RN is elected next time, it will NOT be the rioters fault but the fault of the people who voted for a fascist party to lead the country.)

I don't think I have anything left to say right now, if you have other questions/need precision my ask box is open!

If you want to read more about school as a very imperfect institution I would recommend reading stuff from François Bégaudeau, Entre les murs (it's fiction inspired by his reality as a teacher, there was also a movie), he also mentions it regularly in talks that you van find on YouTube. I'll recommend again Paulo Freire's The Pedagogy of the Oppressed because it really is an amazing book.

P.S. I wrote this with less than 5 hours of sleep so I might be repeating myself and/or forgetting things

[betterbemeta]

A huge component of injustice in the modern world is flattening image and reality.

That has always been sort of timeless, and it's sort of part of how societies that skew heavily towards hierarchies use aesthetics as the means to clock the 'place' of a person, environment, or object. But given that many more people see... stuff, every day, thanks to the internet and advertisements the effect is not local to what you personally witness, it's extremely widespread.

Don't get me wrong-- the power to spread imagery has also had positive impacts. Modern anti-war protests wouldn't be the same without photojournalism that spread witness of war realities to the greater world. Images that depict ordinary people, and especially marginalized people in daily life are self-evident proofs of humanity and existence when art can be skewed by wealth towards being a self-portrait of the rich and powerful. Stuff like that.

But the structure of our world and how it thinks and breathes now is still very powerful and all tools will reinforce that first unless purposefully turned against that structure. The power to assert reality is also the power to create alternate reality and you can see it every day today. Entertainment and news are blended together in new ways. "Lifestyle" content depicts curated imagery as a form of reality, often imagery that reinforces what a successful person looks like, what a rich person looks like. Or the ideals people with that wealth would prefer others hold.

I challenge anyone to find an 'aesthetic' or 'curated imagery', 'a look that invokes emotions or a sense of intuition' that 1) isn't just a form of discrimination like racism or sexism or ageism, or bias against fat or disabled bodies, and 2) can't be achieved by borrowing items, cooperation, paying artists as you have ability to, collecting secondhand things, travel to another location, and a time investment (something that our modern world blames working-class and poor people for having if they don't have money, tries to eliminate.)

'You actually CAN'T tell anything from the image' is the core of many seemingly baseless freakouts by hierarchical conservative mindsets. In fact, it's the most effective way to sell those mindsets to people who don't have any wealth at stake: fear that they can't discern actual reality, a need to control the images around them instead. Transphobia and also control of gender expression in all people. Bias against those who don't have or don't publicly display markers of hitting certain life goals like marriage or householding. The need for poor people to 'look poor,' the insecurity of the middle class in physical space and the resulting surveillance culture in many neighborhoods, the hatred of any marginalized classes enjoying luxuries as 'tacky', or even just seeing them in public. Hatred of seeing children they do not control in public. Thin people of the majority race in plain clothes as 'a fit' but fat people and people who aren't the majority race in plain clothes as 'not caring enough,' and more.

Hell, even the whole 'hatred of piercings dyed hair tattoos' thing plays in. It wraps 'the bliss of the Other being easily identified by Shibboleths, even when they're my same race' and 'I need others to look the same around me, I don't want to stick out as living incorrectly,' in a neat little burrito. Both of which easily are gateways to, 'Support for Austerity: Poors Don't Get Nice Things, 'How To Clock Queers,' and finally 'Nazi Phrenology.'

Caring so much about imagery seems like a vanity thing. But the anxiety is actually about 'reality' and seeing conflicting images that 'compromise it.' Flattening complex reality into imagery that can be sorted without fail onto a hierarchy has always been a part of top-down, oppressive structures. Think like, feudal systems where the only art or imagery that has power 'belongs' to the church, to magistrates, or to nobility. But now with the ability to broadcast images to the entire world, hierarchy's alternate reality can feel like it envelops the globe.

[gothicprep]

i read a guest essay written by a couples therapist in the new york times a few days ago and its pricked at my brain pretty much nonstop since then. the person who wrote it seems utterly incompetent.

it opens up with a man (med student) and a woman (essayist and slam poet) arguing because he wouldn't buy her a slushy. his position is "i want to keep our budget tight until i get my MD and we're more financially stable". she's like "wah wah wah. i grew up poor. i don't trust plans because the plans always fail. my family was always on the verge of bankruptcy. you grew up middle class." and the therapist's reaction to this is "this is very good. due to #metoo and black lives matter, people are getting better at realizing how their identities inform conflict".

and frankly, this is kind of appalling. how the hell do you not immediately clock that as her being manipulative? like, not to say i'm the universal arbiter of relationships or anything, but i'm in the same situation with my wife where my upbringing was economically comfortable, while she was a high school oops baby with the financial background you'd expect from a situation like that. riddle me how we've never had a blowout argument like this. we've had conversations about impulse spending in the past, so i guess it's something like "she isn't projecting some weird victimhood complex onto me".

tangentially – coming by it well aware that this isn't the fault of the therapist – i think a lot of people seek out couples therapy as a way of litigating blame. the "who should wash the dishes" iasip episode encapsulates what i mean here. every report i've heard of it seems more ego driven than coming from a genuine place of wanting to understand your partner better. but that's just my anecdotal review.

anyway, matthew, please leave this woman for the sake of your own sanity. i promise there are women out there who won't make your life a living hell.

[jacquelinesbookclub]

Monks - Des Dillon

I’ve been in a Funk. A Funk with a big fat capital F. Let me explain.

I had a whole thing lined up to talk about this book, about how sometimes a story is written in such a way that it begs to be read out loud. The difficulty in teaching Shakespeare to kids in English class is that it’s not meant to be read, but heard. It’s written with performance in mind, and trying to untangle it wholly within your own head won’t give it the space it needs to express itself. Monks has an element of this as well, and I can see why Dillon took it and turned it into a play after its initial publication, it’s expressive in a way that needs to be performed. I read the first third or so of this book out loud to myself, pacing my living room gesturing wildly like I was on stage again for the first time in twenty years, and it was fun! It felt like that was exactly how it was meant to be experienced, out loud, in person, in real physical space where it can breath and shout and play, where it can exist. But then disaster, I broke my glasses.

I broke my glasses while cleaning them on my shirt, snapped them clean in two, right down the middle. Less than a week later I broke my backup pair in the exact same place in the exact same way. Broken glasses means I can’t see which means I don’t see and by don’t see I mean I’ve stopped looking. I can’t read, I can’t write, I can’t diddle away on my phone for hours on end. Driving hurts my poor soggy little brain, as does literally anything that requires focus, no riding my bike, no video games, no model kits, no painting, drawing, sketching. I can’t see properly so I’ve not even bothered trying, I’ve let the Funk in and its made itself at home.

...

And stayed there. I wrote these first two paragraphs a month and a half ago, which was two weeks after finishing the book, I’ve barely left the couch in eight weeks. I’ve had new glasses for a while now and I’m still not out of the Funk, so it isn’t that. I tried to blame the weather, it’s been below freezing in the mornings and constantly wet and dreary, but no-one believed me. “I’ve been busy”, I say from my comfy chair, they’re not buying it. I’ve gotta come clean, I’ve been depressed. Not just sad and mopey, but real, teeth in the flesh depressed. Like a bulldog’s lockjaw around my ankle, the ol’ ball and chain dragging me down. But it’s me, I’ve created this, the Funk is coming from inside the brain, and I’ve sealed all the doors and closed myself in with it.

Dillon’s unnamed protagonist continuously refers back to time spent in “the Ward” with Jimmy Brogan, and those of us who know, know that there is often very little healing to be done in places like that; locked up with your own thoughts, ruminating between bouts of sedatives, only people to talk to are like minded or trying to fix your mind like. It’s suffocating, there’s no fresh air to be had, no way to stick your head above the clouds and feel the sun on your face even for a second. You’re in with the Funk, and you’re not goin’ till the Funk is gone. But where is it supposed to go? You’re trapped in there playing hot potato with the Funk, back and forth, bouncing from hand to hand, feeding it with every touch, with every contact. The Funk has seeped into the walls, it’s a sticky film over all the furniture, the entire place reeks of it behind the bleach, you can’t get clean of it because it’s everywhere, you can’t get clean of it in there.

Breaking my glasses might have been the catalyst, but what I’ve actually done is built myself my own personal Ward, not of wood and bricks but of Funk. Dillon says “at some stage we level our eyes to the earth and don’t look up the rest of our lifes”, that’s what I’ve done, I’ve stopped looking out at the stars and turned in on myself. We’re all guilty of this, in our own way, building up walls and keeping our whole world inside. It’s scary out there, and comfortable here in here, I tell myself, but in here there’s nothing but Funk, a circuitous bubble of the same thoughts ricocheting off each other. I need to get OUT.

This is what Monks is telling us, to get out. “We’re over here to stretch our lifes. Make them bigger. Experience things”. Healing happens not in my Funk in front of the TV, but out there, in the world. It happens when I meet a neighbourhood cat, or feed some ducks. It happens when I improvise a silly song with a friend in the moment, when I say something embarrassingly wrong on the phone and the world doesn’t end. It happens when I laugh about missing a shot in a game of billiards, and when the room cheers once I get it right. It happens when I breach above the Funk for a moment and take some space for myself. Every time I get out of my comfort zone and come back safely, my zone expands. Yeah, it’s hard, fuckin’ oath it’s hard. “But strugglin’s good. Strugglin’s perseverance an indomitable spirit. Strugglin’s searching for something stronger inside. Strugglin’s what it is to be alive”. The struggle is what helps the healing, It’s like training my muscles, I push them so they can grow bigger, without resistance I’ll never grow.

So that’s what I’ll to do then, push through the struggle to get out. Get out into the world, Run up a mountain, kiss a beautiful woman, laugh with friends, have a wierd conversation with a wierd guy, share a knowing glance with a cashier at the shops, feel the cold on my face, and see that it’s real. It’s really really really real.

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S7 E12 (Chapter 129) After The Fall

Jughead is back to narrating. He says things about Archie and Reggie which in some ways could have applied to himself in earlier seasons but also not because Jughead did not have as much in common with Archie as Reggie evidently does. 

Jughead really is making up a story here- he says things like "they think about the same things" when in every instance we've seen from Reggie and Archie it is clear they most certainly do NOT do that.  This is a bit of sour grapes and/or anti sports bias from Jughead towards Reggie, which is nteresting because he and 50s Reggie have more in common with each other than either do with Archie.  And Reggie was spot-on to not bother learning Soup Can's name because Jughead is wrong to say Reggie thinks mostly about "cars and girls." He escapes his real thoughts using cars and girls actually. 

Perhaps Jughead is cranky because Reggie and Archie are jointly THAT kind of morning person - the kind to go running before dawn and then commit to a day's activities. Reggie focuses on "his true love," basketball, Jughead says, "while Archie gets some writing done."

Is this why Archie and Jughead can’t spend time together in this au?  That is, can they not both be writers at the same time??

Julian, who had been driving, crashed the car into the river and himself into a coma. Archie sits next to the shell shocked looking Reggie in the hospital hallway while the other boys stare blankly at the TRAUMA sign on the door to Julian’s hospital room.   “All the Bulldogs most likely would have drowned if not for Reggie,” is what Jughead says. 

Ok but I’m confused because that was an open top car that Reggie got into.  In any case, Julian looks very corpselike and his father wants someone to blame.  The easy person is apparently Reggie.

This is very entertaining because the show pointedly added a black extra to play one of the Bulldogs that got saved from drowning in an open top car (but really, how??) in a river without sustaining any visible injuries (?!!?) by Reggie, which means Clifford Blossom's prejudices operate as one of the follows: (a) he only hates Koreans in particular (b) he only hates Asian minorities or (c) he only hates poor people (so if you're middle class, race doesn't matter to Clifford).  

In any case, Clifford wants to foist blame for all this right on Reggie.  Maybe because he is in a hospital, Clifford chooses his words carefully - he calls Reggie Punk and Thug rather than some more choice words. Uncle Fucking Frank states a truth- that it was Julian who was driving  - but completely fails to stick up for Reggie or directly defend him.  This struck me as very true to life. 

Reggie and Archie hear this whole exchange, including Clifford demanding that Reggie be kicked off the team altogether, but Reggie still doesn't have a reaction.

Jughead says that the Bulldogs' brush with death was a tragedy and so was the whole sequence of events leading to Ethel killing the Milkman.  Jughead also friendzones Ethel hardcore at this particular moment too, in his narration:  "My BUD Ethel.”  S7 narrator Jughead has an unplesant sneery side which I don’t know what to do with.  At the moment, the two of them also look very shell shocked.  Jughead is sitting just like the rescued-by-Reggie Bulldogs were, while Ethel, with a halting, affectless voice, tells the very useless Sheriff Keller what happened:  “It was the same milkman that I saw leaving my house. after he killed my parents.”

Ethel is a goddamn hero, and oh to be a big strong girl like her, to be able to overpower a crazed knife wielding asshole.  Good for you Ethel. 

When Ethel basically confesses to killing the man, Jughead comes out of his shock to interrogate the oddly silent Sheriff. “It was self defense!” he says.   

But then Keller says a series of weird things.   All his questions are answered, he says. He doesn’t want Ethel to make any sort of statement at the station, he says. This whole situation - a teenage girl runaway from a home for troubled kids stabbing a man dressed up in a milkman’s outfit in the abandoned apartment of a man possibly murdered by te same milkman is… “an open and shut case.”  

Jughead gets very annoyed - as he always does with Kevin’s dad in every universe, because that man sucks - and wants some answers.  “Who is he? Who is the milkman?!”

Keller doesn’t even pretend to have any sort of respectable answer, instead stammering about “fingerprints on a file” and so on as Ethel finally starts to feel the gravity of what she just faced and begins to weep.  

So rather than do any sort of crime solving this American cop’s priority is to take the unjustly incarcerated girl with no one in the world back to the site of incarceration.  Jughead and Ethel vociferously disagree with this plan.  I guess because he is faced with incontrovertible evidence that Ethel is capable of killing a man when she needs to, Keller doesn’t insist, other than to say that he needs an adult to be involved in the care of Ethel.

But why not Jughead?  Why doesn’t JUGHEAD need to be in the care of an adult?

Anyway, the person that Jughead decides is a worthwhile bet in this town is Mary Andrews.  She really must have some sort of allergic reaction to there being too many men in her house, because now that all three are gone she can suddenly occupy her kitchen.  She is wearing a robe, with her hair up in a net.  For some reason Betty and Alice are in the kitchen with her, also in very elaborate robes.  

This culture is very strange to me, this business of wearing printed robes. It looks nice but like, if you have time to find the thing and tie it on, wouldn’t it take just as much or little time to change into shorts and a blouse?  Anyway, the three women are very startled that it is Jughead calling about Ethel and not Frank or Archie calling about Julian or Reggie. 

Mary must’ve given Jughead permission to come to the house with Ethel because the next time we see them Jughead and Betty are sitting either side of Ethel, who is holding onto her knees with all her might.  Honestly who can blame her?  I would be in total hysterics in her shoes.   Jughead is back to looking shocked, and Betty is calmly checking out the blood stains on Ethel’s coat. Ethel is always covered in blood.  

Mary doesn’t want Ethel and Alice is willing to take her on.  When Ethel objects, Alice says that it wasn’t her idea to ditch Ethel at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. She’s being evil and creepy, is Alice, but Ethel has no other viable choices, poor thing.  Betty is very skeptical of what her mother is up to.

Later that night, Archie and Reggie are trying to get to sleep in their shared room.  Archie tries his best - he calls Reggie a hero for saving everyone.  Reggie is very, very realistic.  He says that he did what he did - repeatedly dive into the raging(??) river to haul out boys he doesn’t like and one who was particularly hateful to him because he knew that if any one of them died - “especially Blossom” - he would have been “locked up for the rest of his life” or worse than locked up.  Archie doesn’t know what to say to that, but because Reggie performed the Very Useful Minority function of opening his eyes for him, Archie at least knows not to say any Pollyanna shit in response.

The next morning, Betty comes down to see Alice serving a very uncomfortable Ethel some breakfast.  (When she rejected Betty as a daughter, she enacted that by telling her to make her own breakfast.)  These two not very nice women start fighting over Ethel.  Betty invites Ethel to walk with her to school, to which Alice ups the stakes and says she’ll be DRIVING Ethel to school that day.  Ethel really wants to get away from Alice, but dares not. 

As soon as she’s at school, Betty vents to Veronica about how phony her mother is.  She wants to run away from home now.  Veronica unburdens herself too, finally admitting that she has been locked out of her own apartment.  

The post has already been made about how Veronica is sort of living Jughead’s S1 storyline except better - instead of a bunk bed in a rundown building at the drive in, she’s living in a well appointed office attached to her movie palace.  Veronica still feels like “a common squatter,” however.  Betty gets a very shiny look in her eye as she asks Veronica if she has tried “breaking back into” her home. 

We’re in English class now, where the teacher thinks that the solution to their current town doldrums - a boy in a coma, several traumatized from a car accident involving a submerged vehicle, ETHEL KNIFING A MAN TO DEATH IN SELF DEFENSE AFTER RUNNING AWAY FROM ASYLUM -is … a poem written by a classmate.

Phantom. 

They tell me I’m solid

They pat me on the back 

They see a son

A student

A Team Player

They see a boy like any other

But I look in the mirror

And there’s no one there

Just smoke and mirrors

And I do not know how to be solid.

…. This is Archie’s poem.  He is mortified by this public reading.  Ethel says this poem, which uhhh I am not a poet so I don’t know but it doesnt seem … all that great?  But anyway  - Ethel says it’s Beautiful but also she just stabbed a man to death in self defense literally last night and then had Alice Cooper practically spoon feed her breakfast fruits this morning before driving her to school so Ethel cannot be trusted.

Kevin is the most cringe anyone has ever been on this show, this show with the infamous I’m A Weird Weirdo Speech. He assumes Clay wrote it, turns around all googley eyed in his chair to tell him thati it was “incredible.” Clay has caught all the smug from Kevin though and smoothly says back that he didn’t write it. Kevin is this close to sucking off his boyfriend in class like right now.

Then the teacher outs him - Archie wrote it. She thinks he has a lot to say. Everyone - but especially Reggie - is more perturbed than impressed that it was Archie.

This is a good day that doesn't feel great for Archie because the next thing that happens is that he is named interim captain of the basketball team by his uncle. Both Reggie and Archie thought it should’ve been Reggie. Archie isn’t happy.

The crazy aged boyfriends that run the school are interrogating Ethel and Jughead again, but pretending to do it all friendly-like. The child psychologist says the most insane thing ever: He says that Ethel has proven her sanity BY KILLING THE MILKMAN. He could have literally said anything else - like, You were telling the truth after all! or something but no. Silencing that weird milkman outfit wearing person by KILLING him was the way she got to prove her sanity.

The psychologist insists on calling the milkman ‘a drifter’ because Keller said so, then he launches into a whole speech about how comic books (not murderers, not cops unable to solve murders) were the problem all along. Jughead and Ethel wearing matching forest greens, put on their innocent faces to ask if drifters don’t in fact just ‘drift’? So how to explain the fixation on killing all these people in this particular zip code?

The principal looks more and more disturbed as the psychologist waxes on, but doesn’t say a word in agreement nor disagreement when his boyfriend says "We have told you exactly what happened.” He’s a single issue crusader, and his target is still comic books.

Archie goes to visit Frank to try to get out of being captain. “But shouldn’t it be Reggie?” he says. Frank says that it wasn’t his call because Clifford wanted the only other red haired boy to be captain of the basketball team. Instead of addressing the weird redhead religion, Archie points out that Clifford Blossom has been giving Reggie a hard time from the start. Frank knuckles him down into silence, then brings out the kryptonite - a relic of Saint Fred. “Your Dad’s Captain’s Patch.” So that completely bowls Archie over. His fetishization of his father is astonishing.

Betty has packed up to run away, politely announcing to her mother where she’ll be staying. Alice doesn’t try to stop her.

Lickety split, Betty breaks into the apartment. A skill she learned from Tracey True books! Veronica is elated, telling her that they can be as loud as they want inside the apartment but can't be too careful when using the back stairs to get in or out. Then she says that she has invited “the boys” who are most definitely not Reggie or Archie because she “actually wants to have some fun.”

This is possibly the most callous thing that Veronica has ever said. lololol I mean! Reggie is not ‘fun’ because he’s just been through a terrifying ordeal of a car accident, and Archie is not fun because he’s taking over as captain from Jason when he thinks it should be Reggie. I mean, I think what she means is that they’re not fun for her because they both rejected her as being too much for each of them and then both got fixated on Betty, but that’s not any better right? And then things really go sideways because it turnso ut who she has called are her employees: Clay and Kevin.

These are the two least fun people in Riverdale. Clay is stultifyingly boring, pompous and self absorbed. He’s a bit too comfortable lapping up his boyfriend’s slavering adoration in public for my liking. And Kevin should not be let anywhere near Betty. His coming out as gay DOES NOT ERASE all that hateful truly misogynist shit he said and did to her while he was using her as an unknowing beard. This is so sad for Veronica too - she is still so lonely, but the only people she can find to keep her company are the girl who needs to get away from her psycho mom and her two gay employees.

Meanwhile, at the Blossom house, Cheryl is furious that the basketball season is to continue. Though initially at the hospital Clifford was angry enough to want blood for blood, now that he’s had time to think about his real priorites (uh the possibility of the basketball team having an actual winning streak), he’s decided that his moderately capable son being in a coma may not be such a bad thing. When Cheryl says she will not be cheering on this team while her “brother languishes between life and death” her father gets physically violent and verbally abusive: He threatens to put her in a coma (or I guess kill her) if she doesn’t perform to expectation. Cheryl runs away, upset.

Now we’re back at the Pembroke, where the Beronica and the Icky Gays are putting on some sort of show to some sort of unknown audience. Things get very surreal very fast. Is this music diagetic or not? Why do they keep looking at different corners of the room? Are they aware of the camera somehow? Is this fourth wall bursting but only implicitly? Did they rehearse this?

I kind of wish the show had made a clean break of it for this number, you know, like Bollywood. Where you’re in the market putting bangles on the girl and then the music starts and suddenly you’re 2 kms apart in front of the pyramids at Giza and running towards each other singing.

In any case, the boyfriends help the two girls sing about washing some man right out of their hair.

Then they all settle down in front of the fireplace to do some underage drinking. Betty says to Kevin that this is “more of a kick than when” they were going steady.

The misogynist gaslighting he put her through has permanently damaged Betty’s brain, I swear to god.

The thing is this line of questioning that Kevin starts makes me hate him even more. As I’ve said, Veronica went after and got rejected by both Archie and Reggie, and now, WHILE UNDER HER ROOF, you ask Betty how her threesome date with those two exact men went? C’mere, Kev, there’s something right at the crotch of your pants, let me kick it off for you with the steel toe of my boot.

Veronica even looks a bit bereft when Betty says that she and Archie did kiss after “percolating” on Halloween night.

Unsurprisingly, Veronica changes the subject. She wants to know who has the biggest dick in Riverdale. For a virgin she has a weird amount of confidence about what happens in the boys’ locker room - “having a steam” and “snapping towels.” Kevin - of course Kevin - coughts it up immediately: Both Reggie and Archie are sizable. Then we go down the roster - Jason and Fangs both have small penises, but the true event is that Dilton Doiley is superhung.

The girls scream about it. I’m - skeptical. If the dude is very narrowly built, normal size junk can look more substantial. Trompe l’oeil if you like.

At the basketball game the next day, the hungover bad girls are wearing dark sunglasses indoors for the starting line up presentation. Cheryl looks extremely unhappy to be introducing Archie as the new team captain. Her mother is wearing the most extravagant ribbons. Cheryl looks so unhappy that Archie asks her how she’s doing. She says she’s fine but then tosses him to the wolves, making him give a speech.

Fortunately, we are not subjected to the speech, which apparently was merely ‘nice’ according to Mrs. Thornton, the English teacher. She comes to find him to tell him that he writes better than he speaks. She hopes that Archie will put as much energy into his writing as he does into his sport.

Fieldstone, the shady publisher of disreputable comic books, is the only adult with the correct take on Ethel. Oh! It just occurred to me that Fieldstone and Werthers might be exes. And that’s why the fixation on comic books in particular as the source of all evil! She “survived those crazy nuns, took out a killer and cleared your name!”

Yeah! ETHEL IS AWESOME.

Immediately, he offers her employment and something else to think about, both of which she needs very much. He coassigns Jughead and Ethel to a project. “I am looking at the dream team!” he says.

Ethelhead are nuts. Jughead has picked up some of the sleaziness and says that he thinks it's a good idea to capitalize on the media attention the milkman case has gotten by working on the sequel to the original comic. Greater commercial considerations must take precedent - there is too much "heat" around the milkman comics and killings so they are not to touch the milkman topic at all. Ethelhead seem disappointed.

Betty and Veronica are shopping at Mary Andrew's dress shop. She's being a bad saleswoman- eavesdropping on their conversation before interrupting, not offering any assistance and then being super nosy about where to send the clothes to. Betty tells her that Alice is copacetic with Betty staying with Veronica but I guess Mary still hasn't forgiven Veronica for setting up that beauty contest between the boys because she is suddenly determined to do something about their situation. I mean . . . Mary, you yeet out of existence altogether because Frank is in the house. Don't poke your nose into these girls' business please. But more than the idea of Betty spending a lot of time with Veronica, it’s really her use of the word Copacetic that really sticks in Mary’s craw. She doesn’t approve when children use big words I guess?

We cut to a bronze looking statue of a bulldog seated in a car in front of Riverdale HS. Fangs screams out that the thing’s name is Peppy, and Archie also supplies the fact that this statute is “our mascot.” The villain of this scene is of course Bret Weston Wallis. He calls Archie “Red” (and ignores Fangs altogether, which - he is so right for this!) before he baits Reggie by calling him “a choker” which sounded very sexual to me until he added that he meant that Reggie cracks under pressure. Archie and Bret almost come to blows over Reggie’’s honor.

In the main timeline, of course, Archie and Bret came to fisticuffs over sports too, but the the time when Archie successfully physically assaulted Bret was over the alleged death of Jughead.

Jughead in this universe is completely split away from Archie, where Archie probably has no idea whatsoever what Jughead is doing and they barely interact, which means Reggie is firmly in Jughead’s previous role vis a vis Archie.

One of the difficulties that the narrative keeps having to contend with in Riverdale - which I’ve tracked in my retreads of earlier seasons - is that while the narrative is certain that Archie is The Lead and furthermore is backed up by Jughead the narrator thinking Archie is The Lead, in fact this show has two leads (and it’s not any of the girls, awesome as they are). Jughead is the other lead of this show, which sometimes he wants and other times he doesn’t. When Jughead interacts too closely with Archie, he inevitably tends to push Archie closer to the villains, to become the anti-hero. This is why, in this timeline, with minimal interaction with Jughead, Archie is so wholesome and bouncy and innocent.

End of sidebar.

In any case, Archie threatens violence on Bret, but Reggie stops him. Before they drive off cackling like mustache twirling villains, Bret gets a last dig in about Reggie’s poverty He’d bet a wager with the Bulldogs, he says, but he doesn’t “play for food stamps.”

Reggie was never implied to be poor in the og timeline, but because he’s Jughead in this one, he has also inherited Jughead’s poverty.

At the Andrew’s house, Reggie is talking his teammates through a game plan about how to handle each of the Stonewall Prep players. Reggie has really pretty, clean handwriting. He’s being very commander-in–chief, giving encouraging, bite-size instructions. He’s also hyper observant, so Reggie reads all of Archie’s microexpressions accurately. He knows something is off.

Later, doing dishes side by side at the sink - the exact kind of activity that Jughead would’ve loved to do by the way - Reggie asks his boyfriend, I mean, Archie, why he’s upset. Archie is upset because Reggie should be captain of this team. Reggie says having a title is not that important - he wants to keep winning games “until I can go pro. Archie says he only plays basketball so he can feel close to his dad.

Reggie, looking lean and sexy as fuck with a very thick belt tight around his hips, asks him “So what’s your passion? Cars? Girls?” as they two of them stand shoulder to beefy shoulder. These are the two that he can think of Archie exhibiting some sort of interest in from their time together, but Archie doesn’t say yes to either. He instead puts a hand on Reggie’s shoulder (does he mean to say, YOU?) then gives him a very intense look deep into his eyes before he says “You wouldn’t belief it even if I told you.” This is the Archie that only learned through his Uncle of the sexual pervert mustache what gayness was, so I think he thinks Reggie would also find gayness unbelievable. (The show wants me to think Archie is this passionate about ‘poetry’ but I just don’t believe it).

At Jughead’s train car, Ethel is sketching away.

Ok but seriously, there’s not gonna be any sort of publicity or trial or anything about the fact that she straight up stabbed a man to death? Riverdale is such a scary town. Keller is a man who will force a prostitute to rape his teenage son, so I’m not surprised or anything, but a whole person DIED at the hands of a teenage asylum runaway and nobody bats an eye in Riverdale. Don’t ever go there. Holy shit.

She is almost done with a scary sketch of  a menacing milkman.  When Jughead asks her to be mindful of what the publisher said, that there was to be no Milkman reference anywhere, she says that it’s really important to her to keep a hold of what she knows to be true because “everyone is still trying to tell me what happened and how it happened.”   She says, through her tears that she wants to tell her story, “even if it’s just in a comic book.”  Jughead is in full support, so he wants to find a solution, to have their cake and eat it “without a glass of milk, of course heh.”  He’s so sweet, but I’m annoyed that this doesn’t seem to be leading to Ethelhead.  It should.  She’s a (literally) tortured artist with a dark past and resilient spirit and he’s her understanding squire and helpmeet and THEY SHOULD KISS.  Give me Ethelhead, Roberto!   Support women artists, goddamn you!

Over at the Pembroke, Betty and Veronica have dressed up in sheer nightgown type things for each other (Veronica in periwinkle and Betty in pink).  They’re sitting in front of the fire as Veronica paints Betty’s nails.   The one bonding activity Veronica remembers with her mother is a manicure at bedtime.  Betty says Alice stopped interacting with her in any sort of tender way as soon as her period started.  

Then Veronica says something that startles me by reminding me that these girls are supposed to be “sixteen years old, living without our mothers.”  Right. Sixteen. 

And then Veronica and Betty have an intensely Bughead moment, which sent me reeling.   Alienation from (Betty) and abandonment by (Jughead) their families of origin, as well as the reassurance stated as a prayer (from Jughead to Betty) to not be like either of their parents was a major note in the Bughead relationship. Now that beat is given over to Beronica, with Betty taking the lead to break away from the previous generation.   They link their pinkies on this promise then seal it with a kiss on their own thumbs.

There’s a sudden swerve, where Betty terrifyingly says that she finds Kevin and Clay to be a “happy, healthy couple” and Veronica even more terrifyingly agrees that they are “the dreamiest.

I’m about to get racial so hold on to your hats.

The degree to which white American women are never allowed to get angry at white men is very terrifying to watch from the sidelines.  The exact way when Kim Ilsung died and North Korean television kept showing people coming out of the subway pretending to bawl their eyes out as they hurried to work the next morning?  That’s the level of alarm (so vast it brings on disassociation) that I feel when when Betty says that she finds this ex boyfriend’s very unbalanced, very fetishize and bizarrely obsequious relationship with his first boyfriend “happy and healthy.”  It’s so sick.  Betty being raised in an insane environment where white girls like her are simply not allowed to feel anger at white men (hating the woman who created her and birthed her is fine, by the way, she just can’t be angry at MEN) means that she has to simp for this misogynist (before he’s anything else to me, gay Kevin is a man who hates women)  who called her a sexual pervert for being horny and didn’t bother to hide how much he wanted to throw up in his mouth whenever he had to touch her boob and was moreover fully willing to sexually assault a woman for pay so he wouldn’t lose face in front of other men.  

Veronica though is so eager to get into Betty’s pants that she (without being able to maintain eye contact with Betty) pretends to go along with this bit of crazy (because we all do that, when we have the hots for someone and we’re 16) (....or 26 ahem), before she quickly changes the topic.

“It mus be easier for two boys to date than a boy and a girl.  None of that battle of the sexes stuff to navigate.”

This is the ultimate statement on Yaoi.  Yup. Yes. This is what girls who get off on eroticized/ exoticized depictions of gay relationships assume. 

Betty picks up on where Veronica is going with this immediately, chiming in with the “fun fact” that 81% of girls experiment with other girls before they turn 18.   Veronica says she’s kissed a famous girl before.   Betty says that she’s thought about kissing Veronica before.  And then they play a really pretty version of the theme song - the Riverdale theme song  as the two girls lean in for a kiss.

Only to be interrupted by Mary Andrews, wielding Smithers.  She wants to know everything.

We’re supposed to hate Mary, but guess what Roberto - I still hate Kevin more. 

Meanwhile, Cheryl is weeping at Julian’s bedside.  She says - and this is partially a lie - that she misses Julian and loves him.  I think it’s true that she misses him. She’s seen that her life is going to descend to a new circle of hell without Julians’ mediating male presence in her misogynist household. The combined force of her parents’ insanity is too  much for her to shoulder alone.  Julian wakes up at her plea.

Mary Andrews is having a very presumptuous evening, taking a seat at the head of the table at the Pembroke to express outrage about “a parent disowning their own child” and “evicting” their own child.   Except in the OG timeline, Mary Andrews completely abandoned Archie for long stretches before selling him a bombed out house for actual money.  If her outrage at how other women are doing something she did to her own in another timeline is supposed to be her redemption arc, I am not buying it.

Same time that night, Cheryl somehow knows to go creeping to her father’s study just in time to overhear that Featherhead has been tasked with bringing in a replacement for Reggie - K.O. Kelly from Boston - at her father’s instruction. After his great Yellow experiment, Clifford has had it and wants “a real” American boy so he can “send that Mantle packing.”

He wouldn’t call him Mantle in private like that. I don’t ever want or need hatespeech against Asians on American TV but this is getting ridiculous.

The next morning, Mary is yelling at Alice about being “no good” and “rotten” to which Alice reacts like a teenaged 'bad girl’ getting told off by an irate nun. She’s already had a go at Hermione Lodge, and now is demanding that Alice tap into her sense of ‘sacrifice’ to “regain your moral footing.” Veronica made out ok - she got her key to her home back - but Betty is right back in Alice’s clutches, which I’m not sure is a solution. The way Alice’s compliance is shown is by her doing Betty’s laundry and delivering to her while the daughter sits cross legged on the bed. It’s not at all clear to me why Mary Andrews yelling is going to change anything for Alice, but Alice forewarns about future battles. She tells Betty that Ethel is as much her daughter to her now as Betty.

Cheryl tells Archie, who tells Reggie, about the plan to cut Reggie from the team. Reggie hears it, and then says “How much you wanna bet the new ringer is a few shades lighter than me?” which is very funny in a bad way because a) the actor playing Reggie is mixed race so he’s not particularly dark skinned and b) the actor playing KO Kelly was very tan with black hair and so side by side COLORING wise they are identical. Archie is freaking out, and pushes Reggie to say what he really wants which is to be captain after all, at least for what might be his final game. Archie is going to help with that.

So. This is where I must speak up for Cheryl. Archie is doing an exceptional thing - he was given white insider privilege (being named captain because he is white with red hair) which he wants to give up for the meritorious candidate who isn’t those things. Cheryl on the other hand is given the third degree for something she can’t do anything about (not having any not white writers on the high school syllabus) plus being put through the ringer just because she wanted to see what her girlfriend’s club was. What the hell.

At Pep Comics, Ethelhead of my heart are presenting Ethel’s latest work to Fieldstone. They’ve made the milkman a mailman. The panel shows the deranged mailman holding a decapitated woman's head by the hair while Ethel in the foreground screams in horror. Is… is this how Ethel’s parents died?? By decapitation?

Fieldstone loves it! He thinks it’s brilliant. He does warn them though that “a storm is coming, like the wrath of God.” Jughead, wearing a very strange shirt with repeats of a six sailed ship in a bottle, pedantically tells him that since sticking their head in the sand won’t help, they “run headlong into the thunder and thumb our noses at it.” But the real talent of the pair is Ethel, who earns the sobriquet “girl genius” from the publisher. They decide to publish!

Archie, Reggie and the team all show up to see Clifford Blossom. Archie really has a thing about organizing people - into white supremacist vigilante gangs (Toni Topaz wording, not mine), labor unions and now whatever this is. The entire team will walk (stage a strike) if Clifford won’t name Reggie captain and also promise not to replace him. Clifford is furious, but it looks like the boys will win!

Betty can’t sleep but just then, Veronica calls! Just to say that she loves Betty, who says it back to her. They’re gonna go to the basketball game tomorrow.

Poof and now it’s tomorrow and Uncle Frank yields the floor to Reggie to give his speech as Captain. Reggie thanks them, and tells them that his parents are in the audience. Do we get to see Reggie’s folks at last? As the last two to leave the changing room, Reggie and Archie have this very manly exchange: “Don’t even give them a second to breathe.” “Count on that.”

Then they have a slow-mo walk out to the court. Reggie faces off with Bret, as a narrator takes over because the show understands (I hope) that nobody cares about the actual game. The Bulldogs dominated all the way to a victory. Montage shows - patrons of Pop’s glued to the radio, Julian & Cheryl listening in, Clifford bitter and drinking, the changing room in a disarray, the bulldog statue returned! Archie rounds us off letting us know that Reggie is MVP and record breaker. he also apparently saw the Parents of Reggie Mantle who can never be shown to the audience.

It was a huge mistake to give his parents a specific Asian ethnicity and to pick Korean at that. I suppose the actor or twitter may have objected, but in the historical context, making Reggie Japanese American or Chinese American would’ve made so much more sense, and been much easier to deal with.

Archie pins Reggie as they sit in their underwear in their shared bedroom. I mean. That’s what giving the captain’s patch to Reggie means, right? After all that fuss made over what Kevin did with Betty?

Reggie reveals that he knows fully well what Archie’s secret passion might be: Poetry. But with Reggie now in his rightful place as captain, Archie wants to stick aroundf or basketball.

All of a sudden, Jughead narration comes back, specifically to deny the intense homosexual emotion that the Reggie and Archie pairing are exhibiting. They are ‘wrestling’ after doings some very intimate conversation, after Archie has pinned Reggie using a totemic item symbolizing his FATHER, so Jughead insists they are “friends, PRACTICALLY BROTHERS.” Jughead is so jealous that when Reggie picks Archie off the floor to hoist him onto his shoulders (and rubs a hand up his thigh) to literally spin him out of our view (onto an awaiting bed, because there is literally nowhere else to go), he makes it thunder, then starts shouting about “the wrath of god” that was coming. “All of us would be smashed to pieces by it” could’ve sounded prophetic, but, actually it has all the bitterness of the whole “if I can’t have her nobody shall!” cry of rejected lovers.