#whiteness as a shield

[harpersplay]

Some key parts of the video (any errors are from my quick transcription):

Cait Corrain did an interview, an exclusive interview, with The Daily Beast and wanted to reiterate that she is not in fact racist at all and she goes into this in-depth explanation of how she is not racist.

I'm going to preface this with a couple of things. As someone who struggles with mental health […] I don't want this video to come off to say that whatever mental health issues Cait has are not real.

The thing that I think I struggled with while reading this—because I did read it trying to be taken in as much good faith as possible—is Cait saying that it was just a mere coincidence (transcriber note: in the article, Cait actually uses the phrases "sheer, awful coincidence” and "unfortunate coincidence") that she picked out books by authors of color. I don't know how that's a mere coincidence based off of how GoodReads already functions.

People are going to look at this and say where she was struggling with her mental health. I respect that. But what I struggle with sometimes as someone who does have mental health issues and is a Black woman. Like, I don't get to weaponize my mental health for being a complete ass to another group of people. I don't have the luxury of doing that and I feel like that's where white women have that advantage.

Just because you know that someone is struggling doesn't mean that you can't do them harm. Just because you yourself are part of a marginalized community does not mean that you cannnot do another marginalized community wrong. We need to get that out of our our heads completely.

The article goes further and states that at one point she woke up the next day and realized that she had created GoodReads accounts but refused to delete them because she didn't want to face the fact that she needed help. So you knew that this was happening because, granted yes, I understand you were having periods of blackouts. But you knew that you had done this. You knew that you were actively harming people. You didn't delete the accounts.

I've been in this position. Sometimes when you do wrong there's not an excuse or an explanation that you can give that's going to justify the behavior. This is one of those situations where it's, "I did wrong. I accept responsibility. And I need to do some self-healing. I need to work on myself." Not continuously try to reframe things, trying to do press control, trying to do damage control, trying to control social media so that you're not seen as the villain in this narrative. You are the villain in this narrative and it happens to all of us. Not at the scale that you are at but all of us have been the villain to someone's story at some point. You have created so much harm to these authors. It doesn't matter what story you put out at this point the damage is done. These authors have had to delete their GoodReads accounts. These authors have been permanently damaged for your action.

I want to emphasize once again I do not deny that Cait has mental health issues. I do not deny that. I can't in good faith do that because I have been in that situation. But there's also a certain sense of lack of accountability in this situation […] Take responsibility and move on and stop trying to flip this in a way that you are getting sympathy for the situation the way that it happened and now you want people to to feel sorry for you because you have mental health struggles and you want people to not perceive you as being racist. You don't want people to perceive you as being bigoted but what you did was a very bigoted and racist thing.

I can't take this as justification. I can't even take this as an explanation. I genuinely can't. I feel like, you know, you can say: "I've had mental health issues. The behavior that I did was wrong and I need time to reflect and get my life together." And that is it. But putting out this whole narrative where it ultimately feels like, you know, "oh I want to tell my side of the story." There is no explaining this away.

PLEASE watch the entire video. It is so good and I honestly would have transcribed the entire thing if I had the time. Weaponised white feminity/fragility is a real issue and we need to talk about it. It is not only antithetical to intersectional feminism. It also keeps white women trapped as these infantile people who will break if they have to take accountability for their actions. The patriarchy wants this idea to thrive because it makes room for the good, brave white men to protect their innocent women from the big scary reality of the world. A gilded cage is still a cage, y'all.

(I came across some contradictory information regarding if Cait Corrain uses she and they pronouns or she or they pronouns. Since this article—that appeared in a publication Cait chose to give an exclusive interview to—consistently uses "she," I have as well. The article has been up about 2 weeks as of this post and I think Cait would have called for a correction by now if unhappy being referred to that way.)

[josie-and-the-pussycats-2001]

Reeve Carney (with Eva Noblezada) leaving the Hadestown stage for the final time [x]

[reesieroo-spark]

Early route BFFs

[retrogamingblog2]

[sausage-rolll]

I love when pokemon games use a character’s team to tell us more about them.

Take Ghetsis from black and white 2 for example. Did you know that his Hydreigon can use the move frustration at maximum power? frustration is a move that gets more powerful the more a pokemon dislikes their trainer, which means that Ghetsis’ Hydreigon literally hates him.

Did you know that his Hydreigon is also a whole ten levels below when the pokemon would normally evolve? While this isn’t uncommon for NPC’s in pokemon games, you could make the argument that this specific instance of it suggests that Ghetsis somehow forced his pokemon to evolve earlier than it ever would have naturally, which isn’t exactly out of character for him.

I’m not even done with Ghetsis and his affront towards nature yet lmao. Did you also know that his Hydreigon is specifically designed to counter N’s team? Y’know, his own foster son.

It has dragon pulse for his legendary

Fire blast for his Vanillux and Klingklang

And focus blast for Carracosta, Zoroark and Archeops

He also has a Cofagrigus who can nullify the legendary’s ability with his mummy ability.

It’s very likely that no matter the outcome of N’s battle with us, Ghetsis was always going to turn on his son to take the dragon for himself. And looking at his team I could believe he would succeed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Let's look at a slightly more recent example.

In pokemon sword and shield, chairman Rose actually does some preparations before waking up Eternatus, specifically it seems that he did some research into Eternatus’ typing (Poison/Dragon) and designed his team to counter it. He brought a full team of steel types to fight it, which are not only immune to poison but also heavily resist dragon as well. With everything he knew, it really was one of the smartest choices he could have made.

But if he was so prepared then how did Eternatus wipe the floor with him so quickly? Surely he could have easily defeated the legendary and capture it himself right? 

Well there was one thing Rose didn’t take into account when designing his team. One thing he couldn’t have possibly known, even with his extensive research into the creature.

Eternatus knows flame thrower.

He brought nothing but steel types.

He never stood a chance.

[hydriiaas]

Some memes with legendary/mythical pokemon

[randomnessoffiction]

♫See, someone's got to tell the tale Whether or not it turns out well Maybe it will turn out this time On the road to Hell On the railroad line!♫

[389]

dwale / weald anagram synergy Theodora Allen

[kizzer55555]

Core Gems

So when a ghost becomes injured, they have a last ditch defense where they retreat into their core. And I mean, injured badly where their body is rip apart to the point they can’t hold a solid form anymore. And they basically go into a hibernation state until they are strong enough to form again.

Ellie, Danny, and Dan are all injured in a final battle against the GIW. The organization was destroyed and the ghosts were safe but the halfas ended up being so injured that they reverted to core form and then went to sleep for a bit. When they woke up, they were still weak but at least recovered enough to gain consciousness. And realize…they are in some kind of auction…in the middle of a heist. It appeared that two furries (one in a bat costume and one in a cat costume) were ducking it out. And they…they were a necklace. All three of them had been turned into a necklace with their cores as gems accompanied by sapphires, pearls, and opals. And frankly gorgeous craftsmanship as the metal was crafted around their cores as if to cradle them and the other gems.

Unfortunately, they were too weak to take a form properly, they could still feel the strain on their bodies. But at least they could still communicate through their auras. Then the cat lady punched a hole in the glass container surrounding them and grabbed their necklace.

However, the bat grabbed the other end and it resulted in a sort of tug-a-war. Meanwhile, Danny, Ellie, and Dan were having a back and form commentary on the situation and what they should do. Completely unheard by the other party.

In the corner of their eye, the three halfas finally noticed a third contender. Some kind of clown who was…hold on…holding a gun?! And it was pointed straight at the two fighting furies who had yet to notice him. The ghosts’ protective instincts went into overdrive and they frantically tried to shout, yell, move. Just do something to warn the two but their cries fell on deaf ears. All they succeeded in doing was faintly glow which immediatly caught the attention of the fighting duo. The two turned to look at the strange necklace but right at that moment, the clown fired and a gunshot rang throughout the auction room. Having no other options, Danny and the others poured every ounce of ectoplasm they had to try and phaseshift, making the two furries intangible as the bullets passed right through them, but in their shock, the two jumped away in opposite directions and accidentally ripped the necklace apart. Gems and pearls went flying and the three cores bounced along the ground.

Luckily, the two finally noticed the clown and went to deal with him and his minions who had appeared. Seemingly putting their fight on hold and forming a temporary truce. The three halfas could only watch as the battle finally wound down, ending with the cops barging into the place and arresting the clown and his grunts, the cat managing to escape with half the scattered gems and pearls from the broken necklace along with a few other jewelry pieces (none of their cores though) and the bat leaving through a skylight.

The auction continued and in the end, despite being broken, their necklace seemed to have caught someone’s interest. A man named Bruce Wayne bought up every piece of the shattered jewelry wear. The auctioneers appeared relived that the item managed to sell in the end and gratefully gave it to him.

Bruce had no idea what happened at the auction, but he could have sworn that some of the gems faintly glowed right before he and Selina were shot. If the necklace was some sort of magical item, then he needed to understand exactly what has been brought to Gotham. It was unfortunate that Selena had taken some parts of the necklace but he utilized his vast wealth to make sure all the other parts ended in his possession. Now he would take them back to the mansion for examination.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 47

Hear me out. Amity Park gets shifted in universes slightly- maybe it’s from Pariah, maybe it was a wish, maybe they did so on purpose to escape something- and they end up in the DC-verse. The thing is, thanks to the media blackout and the shields, no one in the new universe notices. The Amityville Paekers know about outside, can go on the internet and leave whenever they want, but they’ve all become more than a little liminal. More than a little off. Movements too graceful, eyes too sharp, ears too pointed and teeth more akin to predatory fangs. Skin with a soft glow, hair moving as though underwater or being tussled by the wind- bodies seemingly unaging after a certain point. They’re so ecto-contaminated that they’re unsure they can even be counted as human anymore, and it wasn’t like the city wasn’t already practically self sufficient. Add in a portal or two through the Infinite Realms to get supplies to start a few fields or some fish farms and well, they’re pretty good. Sure it’s resulted in them using a mixture of modern and older money and having several extinct plants and animals running around but that’s fine. There’s magic in this world! Actual magic, that they can learn! And use? Oh this makes rebuilding after a sparring incident go so much faster! 

This results in the hero who stumbles across this place to believe they’ve stumbled across some sort of city of fae or elves. 

[aycief]

a liar and a thief

[ID: a digital illustration of a shiny Liepard and a shiny Thievul. they are circling each other playfully and smiling. there is a spotlight over them, creating harsh shadows. /END ID]

[v-3-rdure]

trying to free myself from generic anime face comfort zone with some pkmn characters i like

[jadeazora]

Here's all the player character cameos from After Epochs!

[tomorobo-illust]

See hi-res version here: patreon.com/posts/88642174

Finally got around to drawing this silly thing that's been stuck in my head XD Inspired by this clip from the Harely Quinn show [ youtube.com/watch?v=6hzUHE-yEhs ]

[console-pokeballs-rupees]

Friends from birth by hattsuman

[venusaur-propaganda]

Drawing Venusaur with every Pokemon pt. Beheeyem