#whether voluntary or not

[lemonys-place]

heyyy gentlest reminder, my friends, that you do not have to disclose your trauma and mental illnesses to justify your age regression. it's perfectly fine to regress/dream "just because" and strangers are not entitled to your sensitive information/past just because they want to validate it FOR you. don't let anyone make you feel like you have to explain yourself just for coping/soothing/self-parenting in a way that feels good + healing for YOU. there is no criteria to meet to be yourself!

but also, it IS sensitive information and there are some people around the community especially predators who will use that information to get closer to you and/or hurt you. so please practice internet safety, be careful who you share your details with, and block ANYONE who doesn't seem right or play nice.

protect your space and be safe everyone! 🙏

[racke7]

Sooo... I got bored and started trying to make crossovers happen again.

And basically, I've realized how very close BNHA and Worm are to each other, as far as settings are concerned.

Like, there are underlying differences in the world-building, but:

Powers appeared from an unknown source

Heroes and Villains are a thing

Powers are very unique, but tend to be "thematic" in families

In my opinion, the biggest differences between the settings are:

BNHA takes place in Japan, Worm in the USA

Scion is a well-known "all the powers"-cape, AFO is an unknown "all the powers"-cape

Worm has Endbringers

And... that's pretty much it.

Which lead me to think about "BNHA with Endbringers" and... it sure does fuck with the setting a LOT.

[lorephobic]

just read (from an extremely unreliable source) that booth had wanted to give his diamond stickpin to one of secretary seward’s maids who he had a thing for. which is extremely unlikely, (the source also suggests that booth might have already given the pin to her, which is why it wasn’t found on his body—a claim that i have a whole host of issues with) BUT. it does make me even more insane to think that booth had wanted to give the pin to a girl he was in love with, but had promised it to david instead.

or that david knew that booth wanted to give the pin to a girl he was in love with, and tried to claim it for himself after booth’s death.

[syndianites]

anyone wanna finish my paper on operant conditioning for me so i can go write girls being gay af but being too shy to admit it to each other

[unopenablebox]

ok i actually seriously can’t handle the fact that that post was in the second person. “when i see people who i’ve smugly decided are less functional or well-adjusted than me, i want to impose my will on them and make them into productive citizens by sentencing them to TWO YEARS OF HARD LABOR ON THE OCEAN”

are you a press-ganger trying to justify kidnapping street urchins onto your ship? are these the wilde trials??? come the fuck on!!!!

[erinmcsave]

I don’t think Erin retired. Her ACL happened in the top of her career, sadly, and never got the spot back because they had moved to Labbé on that year. Getting back to someone who just came back from a long injury and that was “old” was not a smart move (even if she was better than the new ones), so they didn’t. They kept her in the squad but not playing at all, for veteran situation, teaching the young etc. and eventually stopped calling her. I don’t think she took the decision to retire.

I think you may be right

[genderqueerdykes]

going insane thinking about how a lot of people don't understand that the labels FtM and MtF can also be used to describe intersex experiences and don't always necessarily reflect willing changes or inherently trans experiences. it makes me go insane when i realize i'm MtF but it's impossible to talk about because people don't understand that intersex experiences do not mirror trans experiences 1:1 and they don't have to because they're unique experiences that aren't shared by anyone else.

both trans and intersex experiences deserve equal space to be discussed. sometimes someone's sex changes multiple times. sometimes that's willing, sometimes it's not. whether or not it's voluntary doesn't make it any more important or valid to discuss. people who were born one way but were placed on hormones and/or had corrective procedures done still had a sex change done to them.

i'm MtFtM because i want my body to go back to the way it was before i was forced to undergo "corrective" treatment and procedures. that doesn't make me cis, this is an inherently intersex experience, and it does encompass being both MtF and FtM. it's complicated because of what i've gone through, both of my own volition, and against my will.

let intersex people discuss these experiences and be heard. break down the binary in your mind of what these phrases mean. our lives depend on it.

[ken-katayanagi]

Plus, SPOILERS: in other books we see how often the chance to go to battle school is kind of held over kids heads. Zeck deeply opposes Battle School as a concept but they basically threaten him with exposing his 'satanic' photographic memory to his father if he doesn't attend (his father who is shown in the first few pages to be abusive to the point of obvious scarring and Zeck letting an insect just crawl all over him (hell I think it might've been his eye) to avoid being accused of 'not listening' in church and thus again being beaten).

Bean attends partially to escape horrific poverty but also because part of his education on planet is predicated on the idea he's going to Battle School.

Hell, even when kids go voluntarily, they go because something big and scary happened and they, being children, feel it's easier just to go to Battle School. Bonzo goes because his parents are on the brink of divorce and he reacts very normally for a child, basically running away from the idea of his family structure changing. Han Tzu's dad gets arrested helping him cheat to get into Battle School (which he rlly didn't need to), and Han is like well my dad just went to jail for this guess I'm going. A less, well, evil system might wait until these big life events have calmed down so that these kids can make more rational decisions.

It's a system very aware of the people it's 'recruiting', and its only voluntary if they can afford to not have you attend.

anyone contrasted Starship Troopers (movie) with Ender's Game (movie) in the way that they both involve teenagers being drafted by a fascist state into genocidal war against aliens?

[lackadaisycats]

I hope you know that literally nobody is going to be able to live up to the standard you, V*v, and Glitch have set and your arrogance and exploitation of your fanbase and connections has screwed millions of creatives out of their dreams because Hollywood is a joke that isn't worth telling and wealthy e-celebs like yourself have claimed the indie scene all to yourselves and moved the goalposts into the stratosphere.

Nope. This isn't a zero sum game. There is not some limited, prescribed number of indie trophy slots that a few studios greedily filled up, blocking everyone else out. That is not how it works. Nothing any other creator is doing - short of personally sending hired goons to your doorstep or stealing your credit cards - is taking anything away from you or preventing your success. In fact if an indie creator can manage to demonstrate that they've got something viable going, it may help to map out a pathway for others.

I think I'm not going to bother trying to address whether or not cartoons in return for support from fans - an entirely voluntary exchange - constitutes exploitation. And I'm living in the Midwest driving a 2007 economy car with 200k+ miles on it, but let's just skip past the assumptions that I'm wealthy and connected too.

Instead, let's get to the weirdly myopic notion that the indie scene is held captive by three studios. Maybe YouTube algorithms or Twitter bubbles are somewhat to blame, but in actuality there are so, so many individual people, friend groups, and small production houses out there making independent animation, I cannot possibly name them all.

Here are some anyway:

Far-Fetched Worthikids Satina | Scumhouse Noodle and Bun Punch Punch Forever Ramshackle Noodle Papajoolia | Pipi Angel Hare | The East Patch Jonni Peppers Salad Fingers Monkey Wrench Studio Heartbreak Felix Colgrave JelloApocalypse Odd1sout (started indie, got picked up by Netflix) Allie Mehner JaidenAnimations Lumi and the Great Big Galaxy Cloudrise | The Worlds Divide Telepurte RubberRoss James Lee ENA Godspeed | Olan Rogers Ollie and Scoops Meat Canyon Port by the Sea Kekeflipnote Boxtown Kevin Temmer Weebl Joel Haver CircleToons Long Gone Gulch Atlas and the Stars Animist Skibidi Toilet A Fox in Space Alex Henderson Talon Toniko Pantoja Sr. Pelo Hullabaloo Kane Pixels (started indie, picked up by A24) Homestar Runner Fennah Gods' School Alan Becker Dungeon Flippers JazLyte Psychicpebbles (started indie, Smiling Friends picked up by AS) Piemations vewn Metal Family Dead Sound chluaid Jacknjellify Betsy Lee | No Evil My Pride Cranbersher GeoExe | Gwain Saga Horatio the Vampire Mech West Playground | Rodrigo Sousa The Brave Locomotive Finchwing (+ many other Warrior Cats animators) Quazies SamBakZa Kamikaze: Trial by Fire

By no means a full list. That's just YouTube, and mostly just English language stuff, and I didn't even get to the multitudes of Warrior Cats animation collabs.

The point is, the indie landscape is vast and populated by creators new and old, making all kinds of animated media from skits, to shows, to ARGs, to films. Audience sizes vary as much as the content, stylistic approaches, subject matter, and budgets do. There are no compliance standards, no gateways to entry, no goalposts. There's not even any preset definition of success except what you decide for yourself.

Anyway, instead of nurturing your resentments, consider making something. I assure you, it's a far more rewarding use of your time and energy, and pretty much no one can stop you. ------------- EDIT- Made some additions to the list based on comments. Thanks!

[read-marx-and-lenin]

There is no magic "abolish the state" button, which is why I'm an anarchist, as "when the state has socialismed enough it will just magically poof away in a cloud of smoke" is the leninist position.

That is not the Leninist position, the Leninist position is and always has been that the state cannot disappear until the material conditions for its disappearance are achieved. The withering away of the state, first outlined by Engels, is not a magic process but one that proceeds from the abolition of class and the dissolution of the bourgeoisie.

How are you going to get rid of the bourgeoisie without a state? Are you going to simply ask them nicely to leave you alone? If you are organized and if your organization is suppressing the bourgeoisie as a class, then you have created a state, you have created an authoritarian imposition on the free organization of some section of the people. If you are not doing any of this, then the bourgeoisie who you have left unmolested will invariably come to dominate you once more.

Anarchists have always played word games to get around these simple facts. There are the practical anarchists who will admit to some amount of authority, but always with the caveat that theirs is *just* authority, *necessary* authority, and that is is the *unjust* authority that they condemn. Just authority is not the State, because the State is unjust, and so if they see an authority as just then it cannot be the State. Fair enough, you can call things by whatever names you like, but if you put these ideas in practice you basically end up with Leninism. You want to create dual power? You want to abolish the bourgeois state and replace it with a democratic organ of the working class? Well so did Lenin, and now you know why the Mensheviks accused him of anarchism.

Then there are the quite impractical capital-A Anarchists, who are adamant that anarchy means anarchy and that even voluntary hierarchy and submission to democratic authority is impermissible. Whether pacifistic or militaristic, they are generally unremarkable and ineffective at their goals because they eschew most effective forms of organization as ideologically impure. Even the most advanced anarchists, the CNT in Spain and the Maknovists in Russia, were plagued by economic confusion and disorganization. Their lack of discipline led to their downfall.

If you want to read more, here are some pertinent links:

[xinganhao]

cherry on top 🎩 seungcheol x reader.

picture this: you're taking home an attractive guy you met on your night out. you're both a little drunk but still very much willing to go at it— that is, until you try to handcuff him and you realize you've lost the key to said cuffs. and if the guy happens to be a mafia boss? well, that's just the cherry on top.

★ vignettes from accidentally kidnapping the mafia boss in svt x reverse tropes. additional content here.

📰 Excerpt from "The Ethics of Mafias: A Complex Web of Power, Community, and Morality," a think piece by Xu Minghao

... A particularly intriguing ethical question arises when examining the leadership within mafias. Allegations about a mafia boss allegedly named S.Coups, for example, highlight the dualities often associated with such figures.

On one hand, leaders are seen as ruthless individuals who consolidate power through coercion and fear. On the other, they are often viewed as protectors of their communities, imposing order in chaotic environments. This dual role complicates ethical judgments, as it forces us to ask whether the ends— stability, loyalty, and survival— justify the means of violence and corruption.

There are rumors that S.Coups' persona is carefully curated, blurring the line between myth and reality. He may leverage this mystique to maintain power, creating an image of both invulnerability and approachability. Some speculate that this duality is part of a larger strategy to keep adversaries guessing and to foster a sense of obligation among those who depend on him.

Darker allegations persist— stories of betrayal, silencing dissent, and the ruthless elimination of threats. These rumors reinforce his shadowy status, making it difficult to distinguish the man from the legend. Whether S.Coups is a protector, a manipulator, or a bit of both, his name continues to spark intrigue and speculation, embodying the complexities of power and morality in the underworld...

📰 Excerpt from "Gangnam cops nab suspect planning grave threat, assault", an article by Lee Jihoon

Seoul, South Korea — Authorities in Gangnam announced the voluntary surrender of a suspect allegedly involved in planning a grave threat and assault, averting what officials described as a potentially dangerous situation.

The suspect, whose identity remains undisclosed pending further investigation, turned themselves in at the Gangnam Police Station early Thursday morning. PCol. Wen Junhui, Chief of the Gangnam Police Public Information Office, addressed the media in a press briefing, expressing both relief and caution.

"The suspect's decision to surrender voluntarily demonstrates an important opportunity for dialogue and resolution," he stated. "However, we remain vigilant as we investigate the full extent of their intentions and any potential connections to larger networks."

While officials declined to comment on the specifics of the planned assault, they assured the public that there was no immediate danger at the time of the surrender. "We are grateful for the cooperation of all involved in ensuring this matter concluded without harm," PCol. Wen added. "This case serves as a reminder of the importance of community vigilance and proactive policing."

🧾 iPhone note of mafia soldier, Lee Chan

S.Coups order - Tealive Wintermelon, 75% sweetness, CHERRY POPPING BOBA PEARLS (DO NOT FORGET ‼️‼️‼️)

NTS: Explain what a meme is to S.Coups

Purchase 100 of Skeleteen Metal Handcuffs With Keys

NTS: Search up what 'I ate' means

NTS: Teach S.Coups how to take a 'proper' selfie (???????????????????) wtf

Tip off P.Col Wen

Warn HOSHI to stop gossiping ab S.Coups 'getting bitches'

› scroll through all my work ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ my masterlist | @xinganhao

[jewishvitya]

I remembered this essay from years ago when I was unlearning what I knew of Israel and zionism and I couldn't find it again, and now I see it in a Shaun video, with the source.

Ze'ev Jabotinsky, "The Iron Wall." I downloaded it from the Jabotinsky Institute.

These are the titles he gave this essay:

I said that Zionist leaders explicitly talked about Zionism as a colonialist movement. This is an example of what I was talking about.

Some quotes:

There can be no voluntary agreement between ourselves and the Palestine Arabs. Not now, nor in the prospective future. I say this with such conviction, not because I want to hurt the moderate Zionists. I do not believe that they will be hurt. Except for those who were born blind, they realised long ago that it is utterly impossible to obtain the voluntary consent of the Palestine Arabs for converting "Palestine" from an Arab country into a country with a Jewish majority.

My readers have a general idea of the history of colonisation in other countries. I suggest that they consider all the precedents with which they are acquainted, and see whether there is one solitary instance of any colonisation being carried on with the consent of the native population. There is no such precedent.

He's saying openly: no land was colonized with the consent of its indigenous population. So we have to do it without that consent.

Every native population in the world resists colonists as long as it has the slightest hope of being able to rid itself of the danger of being colonised.

That is what the Arabs in Palestine are doing, and what they will persist in doing as long as there remains a solitary spark of hope that they will be able to prevent the transformation of "Palestine" into the "Land of Israel."

He said that any zionist who depends on the Arab population accepting a Jewish state on their lands, might as well withdraw from zionism because that's impossible.

Zionist colonisation must either stop, or else proceed regardless of the native population. Which means that it can proceed and develop only under the protection of a power that is independent of the native population – behind an iron wall, which the native population cannot breach.

And then he says that this Iron Wall is the British Mandate and the Balfour Declaration - they're the power that stops Palestinians from resisting us.

He says that despite this, zionism is moral and just, so justice must be done, zionism must move forward. He just wants to be honest about what it takes. He wants to discourage talks of an agreement to avoid signaling to the British that they must try to reach one between us and Palestinians. Just stop them from fighting us, we'll colonize the place.

Zionism was openly colonialist until this language was no longer politically useful.

Editing because I was kinda shocked by the response this got, in several moments. When the slavery of US founders was brought up to dismiss this whole thing. When First Nations reservations were brought up on the same list as the United States as equivalent to Israel, because I said I oppose the existence of a country that prioritizes one ethnic group at the expense of others, and I support democracy that protects everyone equally.

But another thing that's still nagging at me is the idea that this whole essay can be dismissed based on semantic arguments, like sure this uses the word colonialism, but is it actually the colonialism that we talk about and oppose? And what if this word is only used to appeal to the British for support?

This isn't the the first time that prominent zionist thinkers talk about zionism as a colonialist movement. I saw it in old publications, things like magazines, I'd be posting them too if I found them again. I did my own deconstructing years ago, I don't remember where I found all my sources.

I do remember that they talked about the two concepts together - the idea that we're here to colonize, and that we're here to come home. So nowadays there's the arguement that people can't colonize their own homeland, but to them there was no contradiction. I saw it again looking at Herzl's diary last night.

I say I define colonialism through actions and tactics, through the harm that's done to the victims of colonization. Because if we knowingly repeated the actions of colonizers and used the help of an imperial force to conquer a land, having a historic connection to it shouldn't absolve us.

Jabotinsky didn't write to the British in this essay. He wrote to other zionists who wanted to aim for something more collaborative with Palestinian Arabs. And it's true that word choice can mean different things in the context of the time, but there's a reason I chose those quotes. What is he actually saying in this essay?

Consider colonization throughout history - the native population never agreed, so we must do the as colonizers did in the past.

Palestinians will never agree to a Jewish state - so we must do it by force. We should use an imperial force as an "iron wall" to prevent them from resisting. Stop talking about an agreement because then the British will try to reach one instead of holding them back and letting us do our thing.

He's comparing the zionist movement to other efforts of colonization, to talk about emulating them.

This isn't a game of semantics. I'm not just bringing this up just because he used the words.

What he's describing - conquest by force, preventing a Palestinian state, forcibly creating a Jewish majority - is what happened. And it's still what's happening.

This is the branch of zionism that went into practice and founded Israel.

[eowynstwin]

This truly is the last thing I want to say on this blog and then I'm done psych I lived bitch, but given how the fucking catastrophe started it's only appropriate this is how I end it—

You have racist bias whether you like it or not. Particularly if you are US American, racism was baked into your worldview no matter what kind of household, liberal or conservative, you grew up in. Racism is quite often far more covert than it is overt. It is not just a voluntary behavior; it is more often the subconscious ways you organize and hierarchize other cultures and people.

In the case of Gaz—sure, you might actively believe that he deserves to be more included. You think he's a good character and people really should think about him more! But you personally headcanon him a certain way, and really it's not a headcanon you're actually all that into, so that's why you don't talk about him as much. It's not because he's black, it's because he doesn't fit the thing you like talking about the most. The fact that he's black is really just a coincidence, you're not excluding him because of that. In fact, you're sure other people like him for exactly the reason you're not all that into him, and you'll just leave it to them to pick up the slack. Or you'll get to him later! In fact, you have some ideas for him. You just haven't gotten around to them yet.

Take that and multiply it by thousands of white women in fandom—not just this fandom, not just Gaz's character, but every fandom and every character of color. It doesn't matter that there's no active malice behind not personally liking black characters and other characters of color. Non-white characters still take a backseat to their white counterparts, because white women in fandom cannot wrap their heads around black, brown, indigenous, and Asian characters as complex, complicated characters worthy of their interest or frankly, their desire.

They cannot wrap their heads around this because they were conditioned not to by decades of racist culture.

Case in point; plenty of white women in this fandom have fallen head over heels for Makarov and Graves. The sins of these out-and-out villains are totally forgiven by virtue of their sex appeal, and because they are portrayed by attractive, charismatic men who put a lot of passion behind their performances.

But can we say the same for Hadir? Can we say the same for Hassan?

The sins of these two Middle Eastern characters do not outweigh those of their villainous white counterparts, yet how many angsty fix-it fics have been written exploring Hadir's complicated relationship with violence and imperialism? How many enemies-to-lovers or even lovers-to-enemies fics have been written about Hassan, the face of whose homeland has been irrevocably marred by US interference?

No one who points out the racism of this trend is accusing these white women of active, militant white supremacy. I'm not saying any of you even have to like Gaz, Hadir, or Hassan. But your preferences have been tuned for you by a culture shaped by slavery, imperialism, and white supremacy. That is not something you can escape merely because you support the BLM movement or reblog vetted Palestinian gofundmes.

The only way you can truly fight your own racism is to be actively anti-racist. It is about far more than who you give money to or what graphics you pin on your instagram. It is an everyday practice of learning how racism has shaped your worldview for you.

This is not work that is done in a week, a month, or a year. Becoming anti-racist takes as much time as it took to make you racist in the first place. For some of you, the work may turn out to be easy. For others, it may be hard. You must do it either way.

Some good places to start:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Ain't I a Woman? by bell hooks

We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity by bell hooks

A Burst of Light by Audre Lorde

The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Being Palestinian edited by Yasir Suleiman

[omgellendean]

In an embarrassing but completely predictable turn of event, it's revealed that at least 330 out of 553 names on the Memorial to the Victims of Communism have potential links to Nazis or fascists.

A 2023 report for Canadian Heritage recommended more than 330 names be excluded to be on the safe side, the records noted. The exclusions were recommended because of the lack of information about the individuals or organizations and whether they might have links to fascist organizations or the Nazis. Some of the entries could also be removed because they have no direct link to Canada. The memorial, which is located near the corner of Wellington and Bay streets, is supposed to honour those who suffered under communism. But concerns have been raised over the years by Jewish organizations and historians that names of eastern Europeans who collaborated with the Nazis in the Holocaust have been put forward in an attempt to whitewash their past. The memorial was supposed to be unveiled in November 2023 but that was put on hold after members of Parliament honoured Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian soldier with the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis. That incident became an international embarrassment for Canada.

[orange-orchard-system]

I think... something I want singlets to understand is that switching, by and large, isn't inherently a bad thing. It can happen at inopportune times, or come with amnesia, or have any number of other complications, yes – but for many of us it's just part of being a system (any negative effects included). Switching is just something that happens, whether it's involuntary, voluntary, or some mixture of the two. You don't have to pity us for switching. You don't have to worry if we tell you that we feel like we're going to switch. It's just something that happens, and if we're telling you, it's because we trust you to know why we may be out of sorts for a bit before we find our footing with the new fronting situation. It's alright. It's just a part of life for most of us, so don't stress about it.

[cannabiscomrade]

This Disability Pride Month, I want people to picture US healthcare and food scarcity in a different way. Let's get into some anti-work discussion while we're at it. A lot of you need to remember how broad of a class "disability" is.

This is what I eat. This is adult formula and I use it as enteral nutrition. This is all I can eat and gain nutrients from, and I have to have access to consistent electricity and clean water to maintain it. I cannot tolerate a blended diet (also requires electricity) nor can I safely tolerate gravity/bolus feeds. I also get 100% of my hydration via tube- not pictured is the water necessary for my survival.

Despite the room it takes up in my kitchen, you may be surprised to learn that this is less than 2mo of formula. Less than 2mo of food.

I need 15 cases a month, which is $840/mo. My individual monthly food cost is almost $300 more than the average for Hawaii, the state with the highest US grocery costs. It is more than $500 over my state’s average. My medications also cost >$2200 a month on top of that.

Mine is 100% covered by my insurance- which is tied to my employer. This puts my disabled ass in the position of meat puppet for my employer because all of my needs are interconnected- food, drinking water, medications, running water, stable housing, and electricity. My employer has the power to choose whether I live or die and in this "mutually beneficial relationship", being a working disabled person serves them even more than the comparative able-bodied person because I have my hand forced towards company loyalty.

I really like my employer. But if this were not the case, changing jobs isn't really a safe option. Even if I had a job lined up, it can legally take up to 90 days (or longer in some cases) to get onto employer insurance. That's over $9,120 for 90 days (or more) of insurance lapse. COBRA is also a joke- my state charges $675.45/month for individual health insurance ONLY. That's still $2,026.35 and only if I was terminated, not voluntary resignation.

I think a lot of you need to remember how much disabled people are still an oppressed class- in the US disability law really has not done much for us and it has an extremely narrow view of what disability looks like. The ableism I've been seeing from the left has always been around, but during Disability Pride Month it has especially been a slap to the face.