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boreal-sea · 3 months

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The Hamas charters

Hamas has had two charters, the first in 1988 and the second in 2017.

I have posted about this before, where I reviewed the charters and exposed their antisemitism, but I cannot find that post, so I'm making a new one.

The 1988 Charter:

Hamas is also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement.

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" "Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious." "Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement." "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad." "In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised."

Hamas was not formed to find a peaceful solution, it is a nationalistic militant group formed to wage what they consider to be a holy war.

Hamas' original charter states that they believe Jews have "infiltrated" all kinds of organizations and have caused several wars, all with the goal of achieving Zionism. When they say "the enemies", they mean Jews. This document does not differentiate between Jews and Zionists and uses the terms interchangeably. Article 22 is where the antisemitism really hits the fan. The following is all one single long paragraph; I've broken it up to single out the individual antisemitic conspiracy theories:

"For a long time, the enemies have been planning, skillfully and with precision, for the achievement of what they have attained. They took into consideration the causes affecting the current of events. They strived to amass great and substantive material wealth which they devoted to the realisation of their dream."

Antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews are all immeasurably wealthy? Check!

"With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others."

Antisemitic conspiracy theory that that Jews control the media? Check!

"With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there."

Antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews have caused many wars throughout history? Check!

"With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests."

Oh hey it's the Judeo-Masonic antisemitic conspiracy theory!

"With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there."

And of course the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews secretly control the governments of major countries around the world. I remind you, all of this was in one single paragraph.

This document is wildly disorganized, so we go back to blaming Jews for wars, this time, WWI:

"They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it."

I just cannot believe anyone who claims Hamas is not an antisemitic organization. Hamas blames Jews for both world wars and is claiming Jews literally "rule the world" and control the UN.

"They aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion."

Jews are also apparently behind drugs and alcoholism and want to annihilate Islam. This would almost be funny if this document was not the charter of a real-world organization.

This document goes on and on. It cites the "Protocols of Zion", which is a known fake document written by antisemites and not by Jews:

"After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."

So that's the 1988 charter. THIS IS WHAT HAMAS IS FOUNDED ON. These are their FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS. You cannot separate Hamas from this document, nor all the foulness and hatred it contains.

The 2017 Charter

Let's look at the 2017 charter now. For fairness. Maybe they've cooled down the antisemitism or desire to kill every Jew in the Levant?

"The Zionist project is a racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project based on seizing the properties of others; it is hostile to the Palestinian people and to their aspiration for freedom, liberation, return and self-determination. The Israeli entity is the plaything of the Zionist project and its base of aggression." "The Zionist project also poses a danger to international security and peace and to mankind and its interests and stability."

Um. No, not really. They've decided to pretend they're separating Zionism from Judaism - "I'm not antisemitic, I'm just anti-Zionist!", but the message is the same.

"Hamas is of the view that the Jewish problem, anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews are phenomena fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of the Arabs and the Muslims or to their heritage."

Uh, that's some major denial of literal history there, Hamas. Islamic and Arab countries have absolutely perpetrated violent antisemitism against Jewish people. Like, a lot of antisemitism.

So, through historical revisionism wherein they claim antisemitism is a "Europe" problem, and by pretending to separate "Zionists" from "Jews", the 2017 charter downplays its antisemitism and focuses more on Palestinian liberation. Notably though, it still calls for violent resistance, and though it cedes they would accept the 1967 borders (aka, full Palestinian control over Gaza and the West Bank), it states over and over that Israel is "illegal", and that it does not recognize it as a legitimate state. It does not, at any point, recognize that Jews are native to the region, of course. Zionists are "colonial invaders" and nothing more. It is more polite about its antisemitism, but the antisemitism is still very much present.

#hamas #hamas charter

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txttletale · 10 months

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Okay so two questions that I think most people probably have when they first hear the phrase/concept of family abolition:

Does this mean removing children from the homes of their biological parents, by default, and by force if necessary? At what age does this happen?

How do you propose to balance the concept of bodily autonomy and self-determination for children with the fact that, if left to their own devices, the vast majority of children will only eat candy and never learn math? Surely sometimes you have to force a kid to brush their teeth so they don't get gum disease or whatever.

children should be given absolute freedom and self-determination in where and with whom they want to live. the idea that biological parents have a 'right' to their children is founded in the idea that children are property & is an ideology that enables & encourages abuse. obviously family abolitionists do not want to rip screaming children from their mother's arms and send them to The Scary Facility. much like any abolitionist project it is a substantive and long-term political goal that involves building out altertnatives to 'the family' and creating a society where the family is obsolete, not just pressing the big 'abolish the family' button

& idk children can learn things like 'cause and effect' at a pretty young age. family abolition doesn't mean sending children off to live alone like lord of the flies--if children are surrounded by adults that they trust who model healthy behaviour then they don't need to be forcefully coerced into basic self-care innit. being free of 'the family' as a system of control doesn't mean 'left to their own devices'. family abolition doesn't mean the absence of all adults or mentor figures from a child's life, it just means that children should have legal protections and rights in their interactions with those figures.

#ask

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welcometothejianghu · 4 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 民国奇探/My Roommate is a Detective.

My Roommate is a Detective is a 2020 drama about the Jazz Age shenanigans of a terrible OT3: a useless noodle boy, a spoiled journalist girl, and a handsome thug-turned-cop, who together solve Agatha Christie mysteries in 1920s Shanghai.

I mean, seriously, have you ever wondered what Hercule Poirot would be like if he were a 6'2" Chinese rubber man? If he had a long-suffering sugar daddy from the wrong side of the tracks and a spunky sugar mommy who owned their shared apartment? The answer is, it would be a laugh-out-loud-funny series about a ridiculous and charming assortment of weirdos solving only slightly believable murder mysteries in charming period clothing.

This is another one of those shows where I'm kind of shocked at how not well-known it is, except I'm not, because I can see exactly the problems that keep fandom from descending on it like horny little vultures. Nonetheless, I think it's a good time that more people would enjoy if they gave it the chance. Here's five reasons why you should:

1. Equal parts smart as heck and dumb as butts

On the one hand, especially given its tone and tenor, this show has many surprisingly clever turns and thoughtful moments, carried along by some talented actors. On the other hand, [.gif of a guinea pig in a rollerskate being pushed merrily down a hallway]

This show is not a complicated intellectual exercise. It's an action comedy about a goofy sleuth, a rich-girl reporter, and the cop who should be the straight man in this trio, except he's as much of a goober as the other two are. If the promotional tableaus are giving you real "cover of a Clue box" vibes, you've understood the kind of pastiche it's pulling off.

The mysteries are preposterous. They're all the kind of thing that exemplify the Doyle line about how, when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever's left has got to be the answer, no matter how ding-dang improbable it may be. You know the type: tons of overly elaborate setups, unbelievably perfect timing, coincidental long-lost relatives, people hallucinating right and left. They're also very short -- most full cases take only 2-3 episodes to introduce, investigate, and resolve, even when interspersed with the larger goings-on in these weirdos' lives. The DramaWiki page for the show lists 23 separate arcs over 36 episodes, so you do the math.

And yet, it's way more thoughtful and clever than its doofy little setup would indicate. Its attention to detail surprised me on more than one occasion. Add to that a bunch of solid performances from an ensemble of real characters, and what you get is definitely more substantive than a junk-food waste of time. You can't turn your brain off while watching it, but you sure can turn it down, and that's great.

It also doesn't hurt that everyone is super attractive and wearing great outfits. The whole show's worth it for the wardrobes.

2. THE GIRL

Fuck the haters, fuck everyone, I am going to climb right up on my little soapbox and tell you all why Bai Youning is awesome.

She is insane. She's a troll. She's a clever little monster. Every other character's response to her is, oh my god, you are literally the worst. And she is! She has been spoiled beyond belief by her incredibly rich Crime Dad, and she has learned to leverage her uwu just a widdle girl status to get her whatever the hell she wants. She simply cannot hear it when someone says the word "no." She will look her future sister-in-law in the eye and point a loaded gun at her own head without blinking. Every ball she has is made of brass.

She's hardly perfect. During the course of the show, there are some times where her entitlement runs face-first into the brick wall of reality. She's not nearly as good at her chosen career path as she's been told (mostly by the people who get paid to tell her she's good). She's rarely prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions, especially when she can't just throw money at the problem.

So she learns, and grows, and changes. She's always going to be a stubborn bitch, but she can become a stubborn bitch with a more accurate conception of her relationship to the world around her.

She's actually a really good romantic foil for Lu Yao, who is equally stubborn and spoiled and obnoxious as hell. It is a pure brat4brat relationship, where each one thrives on comically enraging the other. What this means, though, is that when they actually start showing one another some vulnerability, it's really sweet.

Now: I'm pretty sure that you could not have made a female character in her position that everyone did not hate, no matter how cool you made her, because that is the fate of all girls who theoretically keep the two boys from kissing. (More on that next point.) If she were less outgoing and friendly, she would've been hated for being too cold. If she were less headstrong, she would've been hated for being a pushover. If she weren't as into the boy, she would've been hated for being frigid. I know the "god forbid a woman do anything" meme is a joke, but ... man, god forbid this girl do anything. She gets a level of hate entirely disproportionate to what she's actually like. As I said with Eom Dada, it's not always sexism, but sometimes, yeah, it's sexism.

(Real talk: Her character is also fighting both how she's definitely not written as well as the boys are and how the plot sometimes needs her to be artificially stupid and jealous for Straightness Drama Reasons, so that's a legit problem on a structural level. Also, she's dubbed by someone else and the boys aren't, which gives her voice an annoying not-quite-there quality that's hard to ignore. The deck is stacked against her real hard even before she steps onscreen.)

So here's my advice: Go into this show wanting to like her. Embrace her terribleness as a positive, intentional quality. Don't be mad at her for straightening up an endgame that was never going to be gay, even without her. Welcome her contributions to the chaos. Realize that she is exactly as entertainingly irritating as her boys are.

Truly, this is a story of three terrible people in love. They're all just awful, and you wouldn't want to be in a room with any of them for longer than you had to. Left to right up there, Bai Youning is spoiled and self-absorbed, Lu Yao is arrogant and lazy, and Qiao Chusheng is suuuuuch a fucking cop. If you're into the kind of dynamic that can only be described OT3: You All Deserve One Another, then this one's perfect for you.

3. Do you really miss '00s queerbaiting?

Like, really? Are you just super-nostalgic for being able to see the showrunners go, ha ha, girls, we know you're watching and we know you want these cute boys to kiss, which they never will -- but what if we pretended for just this one scene??? Do you just carnally ache for that with every fiber of your being?

Yep.

Now, why am I calling the occasional really gay moments between these two gentlemen "queerbaiting" and not "bromance"? Because these moments are a) obviously intentional, b) completely sporadic, and c) never spoken of again.

For example: There's a scene (which you can see a gifset of here) where the two of them are at a restaurant frequented by the cop, who brings a lot of ladies there on dates. When the waiter points this out, useless noodle boy says, I'm his date. The waiter looks mildly surprised by this, the cop says not to listen to his bullshit, and that's the end of it. The scene moves on. There is no further discussion of this comment. It does not affect their relationship.

That's the essence of queerbaiting: that little on-purpose nod to the homoerotic tension between the two, in a way that isn't a joke but also isn't not a joke, and either way is never going to happen. (In fact, the show is going to go out of its way to make sure that ship gets sunk, so, uh, get your fanfiction lifeboats ready for that.)

A true queerbaiting move is something that should make a difference in a relationship, but doesn't. It should make a difference that our cop is so comfortable in the noodle boy's personal space that he invades it at will. It doesn't. It should make a difference that noodle boy keeps getting real weird every time the cop has a date with a girl. It doesn't. Those are some real romantic moves the two of them keep pulling, and then nothing comes of them.

I had this show sold to me as being incredibly shippy, to the point of being even more so than its censored-BL contemporaries. And ... well, it is and it isn't. It has textually gayer individual moments, but it is much less pervasively gay. It's clear from the start that it's going to throw all its actual relationship points into its canon het romance. When it comes to these boys, the show is toying with you. It knows you want to see those boys smooch, just as much as it knows (and it knows you know) they're never gonna.

How you feel about this is entirely up to you -- and indeed, it may be a dealbreaker on the whole drama for you. If you are inclined to pitch a fit when your ship does not become canon, you'll be happier somewhere else. If, however, you see this as a delightful opportunity to do whatever the hell you want with the situation as it is presented, all the while enjoying little moments of startlingly blatant homoeroticism between two handsome dudes, well, here you are!

(I mean, if you want my take on it, what needs to happen is that the cop and the girl need to fuck while the useless noodle boy watches with asexual bisexual interest, and then they all need to snuggle with the noodle boy in the middle so they can both annoy him appropriately, but your mileage may vary.)

4. The multicultural extravaganza!

1920s Shanghai had a lot going on in terms of cultures and languages, and this show actually does a fair job of representing that.

By now, I've seen a number of shows set during this era, and they all at least acknowledge the international nature of the city -- usually by mentioning the French Concession and having a handful of evil Japanese characters. However, this is the first time I've seen a show go to such lengths to actually show so many non-Chinese characters onscreen, even to the point of making one a recurring character supporting the main squad.

Salim is the best. Whatever he is being paid, it's not enough. He's Qiao Chusheng's right-hand man, which means he is also the dude who most often has to put up the main trio's bullshit. (The actor himself is also a dude with a pretty cool backstory, which is another great layer.) He's sharp, he's loyal, he's patient, and he looks great with his shirt off. He's got it all!

Other non-Chinese characters include a white Jewish art collector (I'd issue a warning for period-typical antisemitism, except … honestly, it's mostly just confused), a sadistic priest who maybe is supposed to be Italian, a completely different priest who [last episode spoiler], and three whole sinister white dudes behind it all.

It's not just the world coming to China, though! A large number of the Chinese characters are said to have spent significant time outside of China, whether for business or for schooling. Near the end, when some characters are discussing moving away from Shanghai, they consider a number of foreign cities as potential destinations.

Here's a delightful detail: When Lu Yao and his sister speak English, they're dubbed by actors with posh British accents who sound like native (or near-native) English-speakers. This makes perfect sense, because both of the siblings did a lot of their schooling in the UK. When Bai Youning speaks English, she's dubbed by someone who speaks English very well but also has a noticeable Chinese accent, which makes perfect sense for her character's background. And Qiao Chusheng never speaks English at all, because he's a street tough who has no reason to know more than three words.

...This is also kind of weird to say about something literally made in China, but go with me on it: Everything's kind of got that Art Deco Orientalist vibe to it. It looks like China's idea of what Britain's idea of China during that period would have looked like. The result comes across less like what 1920s Shanghai would actually have looked like, and more what an ad for 1920s Shanghai would have looked like. It's a fascinating aesthetic, and more so for how it's mostly pretty subtle. The show isn't some visual extravaganza, but it's always very nice to look at, and I appreciate that in a show.

5. A wonderful horrible protagonist

A lot of mystery-themed prestige television involves an asshole genius detective who gets away with being a dick to everyone because he's sooooo smart, while all his long-suffering friends and colleagues spend a lot of time doing damage control for him because, sigh, he's an asshole but we need him, genius excuses all dickhead behavior, we'll always make exceptions for him because he's just ever so special. (Watch histrionic sage hbomberguy's video on Sherlock if you're unfamiliar with the trope.)

Lu Yao is an asshole genius detective, but one who winds up spending most of his time being an asshole to a) people who deserve it, or b) his horrible friends who will be assholes right back at him. When he is awful to the people who don't deserve it, the show smacks him pretty hard on the nose for it and makes him apologize.

This is a show where you'll figure out pretty quckly if you'll love it or hate it, because if you love Lu Yao, you'll love it, and vice versa. He carries most of the show himself, with his goofy charm and his incredibly bendy slenderman body and his ability to make the one competent person he knows both protect him and give him money.

Like so.

For my own part, I find him intensely charming, and I think a lot of this has to do with Hu Yitian's ability to play him as an affectionately bullyable weenie who needs to get shoved in a locker for his own good. He's the worst, and it's comically endearing instead of offputting because at the end of the day, he really does have a good heart. He's just also lazy as heck and disinclined to do anything that he does not want to be doing, and really, aren't we all?

As I alluded to in point 3, he comes across as real asexual. He's just not that interested in sex, and he is in fact pretty uncomfortable in situations where he finds himself the subject of someone else's sexual desires. He's perfectly capable of romantic feelings! I mean, not only does he get Bai Youning as a love interest, we actually meet one of his ex-girlfriends. He's just not partciularly horny about them -- which is even more noticeable as a sharp contrast to how extremely horny Qiao Chusheng is for just about everyone, but this exasperating little dork in particular.

(Like seriously, 90% of the time, Chusheng is about to explode with sexual frustration at Lu Yao's skinny oblivious ass.)

This isn't to say you couldn't get Lu Yao into bed, because you absolutely could, and he'd probably have a good time. You'd just have to remove all distractions from the room, lest his ADHD ass wind up running off to solve a crime mid-coitus.

Twiggy little nightmare man. Garbage-animal boy. Love him.

sidebar: A word about the ending

I'm going to be vague and talk about general vibes instead of specific events, but you should still skip this section if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Jump to the picture of Chusheng holding the sledgehammer.

Okay, so, a lot of people do not like the ending, and I'm including myself in that number. I honestly don't know if they got rushed and had to wrap everything pretty last-minute, or if they thought they might get a second season out of it and were leaving things open-ended accordingly. Either way, it's incredibly unsatisfying.

I think there's a clue that the show didn't actually want to end this way, and it's not actually in the text of the show itself. Every episode, between the last scene and the start of the credits, you get to see a couple still frames from the episode (usually some of the queerbaity ones). After the very final shot of the series, you get two images: the boys hugging goodbye, and Chusheng's upset face. That's not a resolution! That is at best a "to be continued..." ending!

But no, that's it. That's all, folks.

It's not quite an ending so bad it ruins the rest of the show, mostly because it doesn't feel finished, so it's less like you're watching a car being deliberately driven into a wall because someone thought that was the best route to take, and more like you're watching someone leave a car on the railroad tracks because they figured they'd have time to move it later.

As far as I know, there has been no noise made about a second season. These 36 episodes are the entirety of the narrative. It had the distinct misfortune to start airing in March 2020, which wasn't exactly prime time for planning sequels, and that seems to have been that. (There is a 2022 show called Checkmate that stars the two main guys in extremely similar roles, also adapting Agatha Christie stories, but it's apparently pretty meh? Somebody else who's actually seen it, go ahead and weigh in here.)

I'll say that if you turn off the episode right after Lu Yao gets out the handcuffs, you'll save yourself the worst of it the awkward and unsatisfying moments (though I'm impressed at your willpower to stop watching something five minutes from the end). That's not all of it, though. Structurally, there are several situations rushed to a resolution and loose threads left flapping untied in the breeze. I guess stopping before the last five minutes simply saves you the hope that it'll pull a good ending out of the fire, because it won't.

And let's be real: The more you hate Bai Youning and her romance with Lu Yao, the more you'll hate the ending. (Not that liking those elements will necessarily make you like the ending, of course, because I'm a fan of hers and I still think the ending is butts.) The ending is already like a pair of uncomfortable shoes; if the het romance especially makes you grind your teeth, the ending becomes a pair of uncomfortable shoes that also have a rock in them. A lot of the comments online indicate plenty of people dropped the show when they learned the het romance would be endgame. It's a pretty common dealbreaker.

Oh well. Bring on the fanfic, I say! Those of us who are used to taking a sledgehammer to canon are unafraid.

Smash it, baby.

Still want to see some of these mysteries?

Both iQiyi and Viki have the answer to your sleuthing!

It's not a perfect show -- as evidenced by my digression about the ending -- but it's a lot of fun. If you can handle the occasional foible and some eyebrow-raising moments, you're in for a good time with some attractive people that occasionally tastes very gay.

Every roommate crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man

#my roommate is a detective #民国奇探 #rec post #i made this

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eisforeidolon · 4 months

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Sure, the premise of the poll itself is hilarious enough, thinking that after everything they'd been through, Sam accidentally (let alone on purpose) offing Castiel would have any lasting, substantive effect on the Winchesters' relationship [X]. But it's some of the comments that really got me as a fascinating window into just how skewed all the bizarre projective meta desperately trying to create a storyline that doesn't exist has left heller memories of the show.

Times Dean legit offered to kill Sam just for Cass: 0 vs. Times Dean offered he and Sam would try to kill each other for the resurrection of the entire rest of the world which included Cass: 1

Times Dean committed/tried to commit suicide over Cass: 0 vs. Times Dean threw his life away/gave up on life/committed suicide/threatened to commit suicide over Sam: at least 3 vs. Times Dean put himself directly in unnecessary mortal danger/committed temporary suicide for VoTW: at least 2

Times Dean killed someone Sam cared about or got someone Sam cared about killed and it didn't fundamentally change their relationship after the plot arc ran its couse: 2

Times Dean killed someone he cared about for Sam: 1

Times Sam was blamed for getting someone Dean cared about killed while Dean had the KILLYOURBROTHER murder mark of rage and it didn't "heavily damage" their relationship: 1

Like, writing six thousand tons of meta does not actually make Dean's lip service "best friendship" with Castiel his first priority in canon, let alone make him in lurve with Castiel, and certainly not to the point of wanting to die without him. It does not make temporarily killing himself explicitly to talk to ghosts with the stated intention of being right back about Castiel. It does not make the recklessness inherent in that decision magically unrelated to Mary being sucked into an alternate universe and probably killed by Lucifer, Jack's unpredictability and powers, as well as Crowley's sacrificial death for them. Seriously, the amount of scenes angsting about all the other things in that stretch to pretend it's some kind of ~*widower arc*~ about Castiel's death alone is fucking hilariously massive. It does not make his getting killed by monsters suicide, any more than literally every hunt they ever went on was an attempted suicide. Dean is depressed and reckless when the whole world is gone to shit and there's another looming apocalyptic event and Castiel is also dead ... wow, he must lurve Castiel! No, don't you dare remind me of the interlude in the finale where literally nothing else is wrong and he's clearly happy despite Castiel being dead, lalalala can't hear you! Or how much fun he was clearly having at that wrestling match immediately after finding out Castiel was possessed! Or or or. I'm not even going to touch the assertion Dean's relationships to Sam and Jack are fundamentally similar, because ... I can't.

TLDR; no amount of credulous, blinkered meta and reinterpretation alters that the canon directly shows over and over again ...

Times Dean chose Castiel over Sam: 0

#destihellers #shipping goggles of inanity

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wheredafandomat · 1 year

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The Royal Ruse 👑

Prince Loki x Asgardian reader

18+ | this fic contains angst, eventual smut, probably some bad language, little bit of a slow burn?

Chapter 2 Next

“OUCH OUCHHHH OUCH THAT HURT!” You exclaimed, teeth bared as you scowled at Loki.

“You wouldn’t stay still.” He excused, taking a sip of his water.

“I tried to” you argued “I’m not sure if you’re aware but it’s hard to stay still when someone is literally burning through your mind.”

“Don’t be so overdramatic.” Loki huffed, putting his glass back down. “Look y/n, if we’re going to do this, you’ve got to be a little less dramatic okay” he nodded along as if prompting you to agree “and we’re going to have to get along.”

“I thought that’s what we were doing.” You replied, confused.

“Yeahh.” He answered, clearly in disagreement. “Anyways, I should be going” he excused himself, standing up “thank you for the um—the water.”

“Wait, shouldn’t I be coming with you? You said—” you began before he cut you off.

“Yes I know what I said” he dismissed you “your job is to stay put until I come back and bring you to the palace myself. I can’t just show up with you, people will be like who’s that, who is this concubine leaching off of Asgards most handsome prince and eligible bachelor? I’ve got to introduce the fact that I wish to wed first and then they’ll ask to meet you.” He explained.

“Who?”

“The family. And we’ll have a grand dinner, with wine and then they’ll begin the questioning which you’ll prepare for and then you will stay in the palace for the duration of the wedding planning and then the wedding itself of course all the way up until I am crowned king. You can even stay for the coronation” he offered excitedly “and then you get your payment, I get my throne and we part ways. How’s that sound?” He clapped happily.

“Great, the only problem now is having to tolerate eachother until then.” You sighed.

Once Loki left, he began spreading the word of his desire to marry throughout the palace, gaining the attention of both his parents and his brother. Inconsequential conversations turned into substantive ones that related to Loki and his position if he was to wed. He liked the attention. Day in and day out people would ask him questions about his suitor, wondering when they’d be able to meet her. All the attention almost made him want to keep you hidden, he knew that once he introduced you, he’d lose all attention until he was king. Nonetheless, he knew it was time to finally begin.

Hearing a knock at your door, you stood up to open it before gasping at the sight of Loki. You had to restrain yourself before your hand flew up to connect with his cheek; the reminder that he was a prince kept you tame as you pulled him inside, closing the door behind him.

“Where have you been?” You almost shouted at him, hands on hips as you grew angrier and angrier.

“I told you, spreading rumours of our courtship around the palace.” Loki smiled in reminiscence.

“It’s been over a month.” You stressed, raising your voice.

“I am aware of the passage of time y/n” Loki tutted “anyways, are you ready to go?”

“I’ve been ready for over a month.” You exhaled sharply.

“Great.” Loki beamed, rubbing his hands together. “Where are your things?” Silently, you took a few things out of your pockets, presenting them to him. They were your essentials. “I meant your belongings?” He specified.

“I don’t own much.” You spoke.

Looking around, Loki inspected your place again, remembering just how small it was. The lack of space paired with the lack of things which reminded him of his own wealth. Usually he’d gloat about his riches, flaunting them to the other princes of the realms yet in this moment, his wealth only made him feel materialistic, small. Just like the room he was standing in. Your whole world crammed between four walls.

“Nevermind” he smiled “we’ll just get you things once we arrive.” He suggested, guiding you towards the door. “Come along.”

When you followed him outside, you were surprised to see no horses and no carriage. Instead of questioning him, you walked alongside him assuming that the horse drawn carriage would meet you closer to the palace but you were wrong, you ended up walking the whole way. The journey was quiet, only a few words exchanged between you both at a time before a comfortable silence would fall over you. You noticed Loki slowing his steps whenever you’d fall behind, unable to keep up with his strides. The gesture painted him out to be almost compassionate, a trait you hadn’t partnered with him yet. You smiled to yourself wondering what else you’d discover about him during this escapade.

“Are we sneaking in?” You asked once you reached the place, Loki walking in the opposite direction of the entrance.

“No” he lied, causing you to narrow your gaze at him questioningly “fine yes, yes we’re sneaking in, are you always so observant?”

“Why are we sneaking in?” You queried.

“Well I couldn’t possibly present you as you are” he answered, unaware of the insult in his words “I thought it better if you changed first and bathed perhaps.”

“I do bathe.” You seethed.

“Well more thoroughly then.”

“You know, you’re really rude.” You confronted.

“Hey, you’re the one who lives—” he began to defend before you interrupted.

“You know what, maybe this was a bad idea.”

“Y/n—”

“We didn’t all grow up in a fancy palace. Not all of us are royal and rich and completely oblivious to the world around us.” You protested.

“I apologise” he said almost convincingly “but by doing this you’ll be making a lot of money. Think about your future children, they wouldn’t have to suffer like you have. Plus, once I’m king, I’ll bestow on you a boon that you’ll be able to redeem at any time.” Listening to his words you began to picture your future children, you wouldn’t want them to have to go through what you had to.

“Fine, I’m back in.”

“Great, now, let’s go get you cleaned up shall we.” He smiled before seemingly walking through a bush towards a palace window.

After you and Loki’s rather undignified entrance, you were finally inside, your excitement alight as your eyes scanned all the walls.

“These are my chambers.” Loki spoke, presenting his rooms as you gasped, eyes darting around the grandiose decor. Loki tried to bite down his smile as he observed your fascination with everything including the floor.

“Wow wow wow, it’s hugeee.” You beamed.

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.” He jested to himself before growing concerned as you stood still, face falling a little. “What is it?”

“This is real” you uttered “this is real. I’m standing in the royal palace” you continued, a stray tear rolling down your cheek at the realisation.

“Y/n?” Loki tried to comfort.

“No, no I’m fine I just— I wish my parents could see me.” You smiled sadly, Loki taken a little aback by your sentiment.

“Well I’m sure they’re looking down on you from where they are.” He offered, tapping your shoulder awkwardly before he showed you to the washroom, showing you how to draw a bath whilst also explaining that it’s something you’ll never need to do as you’ll have chambermaids for that. Before you got into the bath, Loki excused himself.

Sinking beneath the hot water, you let it wash over your skin, soothing all of your aches, pains and worries. From now on, you knew things would be different.

Once you were finished, you wrapped yourself in a towel Loki had left out before you entered his room again to be met with a gift box on the bed and no sign of Loki. You approached it, picking up the note.

For you. P.S. Try to make some noise whilst you’re in there, chambermaids love gathering outside my room and listening in. If they hear you they’ll no doubt run to my parents and then they’ll demand to meet you at once.

Smiling to yourself, you put the note back down before lifting the lid of the box, smile widening at the sight of the beautiful dress inside. You took it out before changing into it. Glancing at yourself in the mirror, you already looked different, better. Strangely, you found yourself a little excited knowing that Loki was going to see you in it. You wondered what he’d think.

Lokis reaction

Tags:

@lokiprompts @mischief2sarawr @lulubelle814 @lokisgoodgirl @mochie85 @eyesbluelikethetitanic @vickie5446 @mcufan72 @fictive-sl0th @peaches1958 @xorpsbane @sailorholly @anukulee @yukio369 @12-pm-510 @lovelysizzlingbluebird @bunny24sstuff @thenotoriouserg @newtomofgods @simping-for-marvel @a-daughter-of-poseidon @huntress-artemiss @thedistractedagglomeration

#loki x reader #loki x female reader #loki fanfic #loki (marvel)#oc fiction #loki fanfiction #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki angst #loki of asgard #prince loki x reader #asgard #loki imagine #loki au #loki au fics

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fans4wga · 10 months

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Interview with Chris Keyser, co-chair of the WGA’s negotiating committee, on 100 days of the strike

'Chris Keyser, the co-chair of the Writers Guild of America’s negotiating committee, doesn’t see the 100-day marker of the ongoing strike as a moment to celebrate. In fact, Keyser has a few choice words for the Hollywood studios and streamers who comprise the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, calling the anniversary of the work stoppage “shameful” and “a day of infamy.”

In an interview posting Friday as part of The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast, Keyser talks about the stalled state of negotiations with the AMPTP, why companies boasting about cash savings during the work stoppage is a “smokescreen” and his thoughts on what it will take to get both sides back to the negotiating table.

Below is an edited and condensed version of the TV’s Top 5 interview with hosts Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg. You can listen to the full conversation when episode 226 posts on Friday morning. (Subscribe here.)

Walk us through what happened with the Aug. 4 talks where both sides reunited to see if there was a path forward to resume negotiations.

Keyser: It didn’t go perfectly well, obviously. The conversation turned on Carol [Lombardini, president of the AMPTP] saying, “We’re going to talk about some things” and Ellen [Stutzman, chief negotiator of the WGA] saying, “You’re going to need to talk about everything.” And Carol saying, “I need to get back to you and talk to my member companies.” We’re waiting to hear. So, a stutter step but not really worth worrying too much about in the long run. [After the meeting THR reached out to the AMPTP, which did not comment.]

How was the temperature of the room when you walked in versus when you walked out?

Keyser: Things are cordial with the AMPTP. People are not yelling at each other. Everything is very professional; coldly professional, probably. The coldness is metaphorical. But no one needs to worry about that. The WGA is not particularly interested in playing games. Talking is the only way forward. There’s a sense somehow that you label something 100 days like it’s some kind of celebration. It’s an anniversary of shame for the AMPTP, let’s be clear about that. There was that early comment in the press about trying to starve us, and then they walked that back. But of course they are. We can make a TV show in 100 days; they can’t seem to get back into the negotiating room and have one substantive conversation. It’s a day of infamy for the AMPTP. It’s shameful. Either they cannot get it together or they intentionally are not getting it together. Or the AMPTP is doing precisely what they claimed they wouldn’t do, which was to try to create a situation in which people who are hungry and desperate no longer have the will to fight for their own survival. That’s not going to work.

Do you have an idea of when talks are going to resume?

Keyser: I don’t know. It’s impossible to get inside their heads. They could be negotiating among themselves about what they’re willing to offer. They could be delaying for the sake of delaying. At some point, I almost don’t believe that anymore. There’s a difference between the companies and the AMPTP itself. There were reports that said Carol didn’t want to meet last Friday. I don’t know if that’s true or not. You can never quite tell [what’s going on] behind that curtain. All the chatter you’ve been hearing from the companies — all of the reports of outreach — that’s because the companies have come to understand that this is no longer a tenable strategy and Wall Street’s repeating it: “We don’t understand what the companies are doing.” “This no longer makes sense.” “They can’t work without product.” It’s an inevitability that companies that make TV and film have to go back to making TV and film — with an asterisk that who knows what Amazon and Apple are up to because they could never make another program and it wouldn’t affect their bottom line. That’s part of the problem with the industry: It has players in it for whom the thing that we all love and value is an asterisk.

One of the things that you’ve been talking about is the possibility that the individual members of the AMPTP do not necessarily have the same agenda and that at some point they could splinter. As we are at 100 days, from your perspective, does that seem more or less likely?

Keyser: It’s hard not to look at the situation and see the differing interests of the companies and the ways in which this strike affects them differently means that at some point, they may need to assert their own interests rather than the interest of the group. I’m not surprised that no one has broken off yet because the AMPTP process has been highly effective for them in putting downward pressure on labor. So, in some sense, I think it needs another step for that to happen. I can easily imagine that Carol would say, “You have to give me a chance to go back in and negotiate.” She’s going to have her chance. It does not entirely make sense for Warner [Bros. Discovery] to tie its future to Apple’s point of view about the industry if Apple is intransigent. Apple [for example] would be fine, and Warner would disappear.

There was a sense of optimism, going into Friday’s meeting, from guild membership that seems to now have evaporated. How important is it for both sides to be at the table talking?

Keyser: There’s always optimism because you can’t be in a struggle for 100 days and not say, “There’s a tiny light at the end of the tunnel.” I just don’t know how long the tunnel is. We put out an email to the membership the Thursday before reminding them that of the AMPTP “playbook.” I use that term meaningfully because they do tend to go back to the same strategy over and over again — not to come right back in and say, “OK, what do you need? Let’s make a really good deal” — but to see how little they can give us. In 2007-08, they did it and talks led to breaking off. Even if we get back into a room, I don’t put it past them to continue to say, “We’ll give you a little bit.”

The AMPTP’s line is the DGA pattern and then a few other things. That’s the same way they negotiated a non-conflict negotiation. That’s what they did in 2020, during COVID. But they’ve got two guilds — 170,000 people — out on strike. You can’t just use the same line over and over again and expect it to apply to every single situation. At some point, that becomes useless obstinacy. We’re going to talk at some point because the companies can’t afford not to.

When you hear concretely that the DGA deal is going to be what they’re offering, how do you respond?

Keyser: The DGA deal was never going to be a meaningful pattern for us. There are pieces of this — like success-based residuals — that the DGA felt like it didn’t need and we feel that we do. The DGA doesn’t get to make our deal. The DGA made the deal that it needed to make. But the companies can’t use that deal as our settlement, because 170,000 people are on strike telling them that that’s not going to be sufficient and it doesn’t allow us to survive in this industry.

Companies are caught between a Wall Street regime that requires certain things of them that are hard in the middle of transition — free cash flow and growth — and the ability to deal with the fact that practices that they have adopted over the last decade have driven their workforce closer to being unable to survive. They have to figure out a way to compensate their workforce fairly, even as they have that sound in their ears saying, “Wall Street wants profitability,” “Wall Street doesn’t want to spend money.” They’re going to have to get through that, because not having us working only hurts them in the long run. It only diminishes their power in the business. It’s disruptive. They don’t even have to listen to me; they can listen to all of these Wall Street analysts.

The 2007-08 strike lasted 100 days, with negotiations resuming after 21 days. What is your expectation for how long the writers strike will go on?

Keyser: There’s no way for me to know that. Once they get into a room and they’re open to having real conversations, you do go very fast. Real negotiations don’t take very long. It’s really a question of how long it’s going to take the companies to say, “We understand that we have no choice but to sit down and have a real conversation.” I can’t determine that. When the broadcast season begins to evaporate, when Sony moves all of its movies from 2023 to 2024, when you look ahead to next year and you say, “What is Warner going to program on HBO once they get through this?” How do they manage that, month after month after month? They’re going to make a deal with us. That deal is going to be some version of what we’re looking for. If they keep us longer, that price doesn’t go down. All that’s going on now is they’re compounding their losses.

Taylor Sheridan is one of the most successful working TV writers in this moment. He told THR in a cover story this summer that he didn’t support the minimum room size, which is one of the WGA’s core issues. Others have echoed those sentiments, including John Ridley. What do you make of their comments?

Keyser: I’m not going to emphasize any one of our areas of negotiation because we had five or so, broadly speaking, areas that we need to make progress on and to make sure that writing is sustainable. One of them is the dismantling of the writers room process, and part of the solution to that is to make sure that writers are hired. We’re committed to that. We have 11,500 members. I don’t worry if somebody disagrees. Taylor Sheridan makes a lot of TV shows, and he’s good at doing that. But he’s still just one voice. And John Ridley can do the same. That’s fine. I think they’re wrong. I don’t negotiate with Taylor Sheridan. He doesn’t determine our bargaining. Whatever he wants to say, he can say.

What concessions might the WGA make in order to get back to the table?

Keyser: It’s a valid question, but it’s not a question you could possibly expect a negotiator to have with you. We have said to the companies that the solutions to these problems that we face can be negotiable. If they have an idea of what formula they want to apply to success-based residuals, they should feel free to suggest one. What we want to negotiate is the solutions, not the existence of the problems themselves. We’re not going to walk out of this negotiation with a company saying, “There are like five different ways for you to die, you can be saved three of those ways and then we’ll kill you the other two.” That’s not going to happen. All of [the issues] have to be dealt with; they can be dealt with in other ways that we have proposed or there may be variations inside that, although I don’t want to promise that every one of them is infinitely flexible. For example, we’ve got to be really careful about the language on AI to make sure that AI does not have the power to replace writers.

Has the WGA considered asking fans — or even members — to boycott streamers?

Keyser: We’re not in the business of running nationwide boycotts. But if fans feel like doing that, fans should take that on. I think the fans, without coordination, will begin to do that. All of these companies know that churn is a big problem and as their original offerings become sparser and sparser, people are going to say, “Why am I spending all this money?”

SAG-AFTRA has drawn the ire from both performers and writers for its willingness to grant waivers during its strike. I’m hearing that the WGA would oppose waivers. But if someone came to the WGA and agreed to such things as room minimums, health insurance for any length of a mini-room, and as well as acceptable AI language, would the WGA grant that network or studio or streamer a waiver?

Keyser: We’re not granting waivers. We will if a meaningful player comes and wants to make a full deal with us. That changes the complexion of this negotiation. We’re open to making that deal. But we’re not granting waivers. We did that in 2007-08 and it wasn’t advantageous; it led to complications. That is not a commentary on SAG and I’m not going to comment on their official policy.

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount revealed in earnings reports that they’re saving money by being media companies that aren’t actually producing media right now. Why do you think that’s a message that they’re putting out?

Keyser: It’s a smokescreen; it has nothing to do with the way things are going to work going forward. I think we really need to be concerned as a country about when Amazon and Apple have their quarterly earnings calls and don’t even mention entertainment because the results don’t matter. So, if the argument is, “We can take control over and decimate the entertainment business because it’s irrelevant to us,” that’s a real problem for writers, actors and directors, but also a problem for the public. Having said that, Warner, Disney, Sony, Comcast, Paramount and Netflix need to create product. And a pile of money on their shelves without anything for people to watch next year is only going to come back to haunt them. And they know. But I don’t think any Wall Street analyst is fooled by the short-term vision that says, “Look at us, we didn’t spend anything, we didn’t make anything. We’re rich.”

We’ve heard of back-channeling going on, and there’s been a lot written about who could be the white knight — the Lew Wasserman of this era — with suggestions ranging from everyone from Peter Chernin to Ari Emanuel to Nancy Tellem and Mark Pedowitz, as well as political folks like Gavin Newsom or Karen Bass. Who has the potential to do so and who do you trust?

Keyser: We don’t need a mediator. That’s an old wives’ tale that you need somebody to come in and have a conversation. We’re perfectly OK. Talking about whether the companies need a mediator internally is an entirely different question. I appreciate everyone who wants to help. But what’s necessary here is for the companies to get it together and be ready to talk about the issues on the table. They know where to reach us.

What is your message on day 100 of the strike to the AMPTP and to writers?

Keyser: My message to the companies is we are your allies. We are your asset, we are the way in which you create value. And we are here and ready to have a conversation about how that’s going to happen where we share enough of that value that’s fair and allows us to survive in the business as we have over the past half century. It’s good for you, and it’s good for us. So, we need to get past the rhetoric, and we need to get into a room and talk.

As writers, the real job now is to fight through the fear and the uncertainty and the tendency to think, “How can we end this without getting exactly what we need?” Hold firm and remember why we got here in the first place. With SAG by our side, we’re more powerful than ever. There will be no path forward for writers or for actors who do not say, “Enough.” There is no mercy here; there is only a revolution that comes out of our power. And that’s what we intend to achieve.'

#chris keyser #amptp #wga strong #union solidarity #i stand with the wga #long post #wga strike #writers strike

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stardustprompts · 8 months

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the outsider - stephen king sentence starters change tenses/pronouns as needed !! some lines have been edited for clarity / length / ease of roleplaying tw ; death , language , mental health

‘i’ve got a good feeling about this.’

‘how’s the other guy look?’

‘I think I’ll wait for my lawyer.’

‘doesn’t look like a monster, does he?’

‘please stop nagging me!’

‘this is a nightmare.’

‘you’re in shit up to your waist and it’s getting deeper.’

‘drop the bullshit and confess.’

‘you have the wrong man.’

‘this is awful. it’s like the whole world turned upside down.’

‘I don’t like that. I don’t like it at all.’

‘you got him. you got him, so what’s wrong?’

‘i’ve made some mistakes, but nothing like this. it’s as if I went blind.’

‘it made sense then and it makes sense now.’

‘that happens to be the dirty truth.’

‘I don’t expect you to believe it, but it’s the truth.’

‘don’t you want to know what happened?’

‘don’t you want to get this right?’

‘you are going to die.’

‘this is your chance to clear your conscience.’

‘you did what you had to do.’

‘did you come here to convince me or yourself?’

‘it’s just a loose thread that isn’t loose anymore.’

‘I haven’t said a word against you. why would I?’

‘your fucking point is fucking taken.’

‘belief isn’t the point. it’s a metaphor.’

‘sometimes the tracks just stop, and we have to live with that.’

‘time to do something besides brood.’

‘let’s go back to bed. I think I can sleep now.’

‘I don’t believe in the supernatural.’

‘you scared the hell out of me.’

‘you had your think-face on.’

‘you need to get out of here.’

‘I need to talk to you. please let me talk to you.’

‘I had my reasons, but they weren’t good reasons.’

‘I feel broken.’

‘you’re in a hell of a mess.’

‘i’m tired of this. and I’m tired of you.’

‘I made a mistake i’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.’

‘what I’m saying is that I understand why you lost perspective.’

‘it doesn’t make things better, but thanks.’

‘maybe we’re all on the same side here.’

‘I have a crazy idea. want to hear?’

‘that is weird, but probably not substantive.’

‘you see what I meant when I said this just keeps getting weirder and weirder.’

‘so is that what you think we’ve got here? the boogeyman?’

‘do you think I’m crazy? is that it?’

‘there is something very wrong about this. the more you find, the wronger it gets.’

‘wake up, (name)! wake up to what's right in front of you!’

‘I can’t accept it. it goes against everything I’ve believed my whole life.’

‘you’re stronger than that.’

‘(name) is dead. you can let it go.’

‘can’t you let this go now?’

‘i’ll tread with utmost caution.’

‘don’t expect any sympathy from me.’

‘I think it’s good that you’re sad. I hope you’ll be sad for a long time.’

‘anything is possible. anything at all. the world is full of nooks and crannies.’

‘if you tell anyone that, I’d have to kill you.’

‘you know what they say, there are none so blind as those who will not see.’

‘so what? he went crazy, and crazy people don’t give a shit.’

‘don’t move. if you move, I’ll kill you. if you scream, I’ll kill you.’

‘i’ve been threatened before.’

‘i’ve been threatened before. any cop worth their salt has been threatened.’

‘may I say that I think you’re being sort of a fool?’

‘you may be opening the door on things far beyond your ability to understand.’

‘I can’t believe that. I will never believe that.’

‘I believe that you believe.’

‘I know you made a mistake. I know you’re trying to atone for it. but what if you’re making a worse mistake by keeping on?’

‘i'm no genius, but I didn’t hit my head falling out of the dumb- tree, either.’

‘this case is like a zombie that won’t stay dead.’

‘I know how far out it is, we all do, you don’t need to keep telling us, like you’re the only sane man in the lunatic asylum.’

‘you’re making leap I’m not ready to make.’

‘I’m not a hundred percent on board with this myself.’

‘you need to at least keep the possibility in mind.’

‘if you run into something you can’t handle … back off. and come home to me.’

‘I need to tell you something, and it’s important. are you listening?’

‘you’re a good man, (name). a good man who made a bad mistake. you’re not the first to do that, and you won’t be the last.’

‘you have to live with that, and I’ll help you. make it better if you can, but please don’t make it worse.’

‘you need some sleep. you look very tired.’

‘sometimes it seems as if the more tired I am, the harder it is to go to sleep. especially if I’m worried and anxious.’

‘if you want to live, you better run for it!’

‘I have no appetite for your bullshit.’

‘you’re sort of amazing.’

‘no offense, but your sense of humor is a little weak. you should work on that.’

‘this is a horrible place, isn’t it?’

‘I can’t let you leave. it seems we’re at a standoff.’

‘people are blind to explanations that lie outside their perception of reality.’

‘you never should have come looking for me.’

‘overconfidence breeds carelessness. cops see a lot of that.’

‘that’s all you are to me—- cattle.’

‘I can’t do it again, (name). not ever. ever ever ever!’

‘that’s not me being funny, that’s true admiration.’

‘you’ve been through this before. or something like it, haven’t you?’

‘I don’t think I’ll ever be together again.’

‘sometimes life can be very poopy.’

‘is it over? that’s all I care about. is it really over?’

‘dreams are the way we touch the unseen world, that’s what I believe. they are a special gift.’

‘i'm a very curious person. sometimes that gets me into trouble.’

‘if you can’t let go of the past, the mistakes you’ve made will eat you alive.’

‘what you’re feeling … and I’m feeling … that’s normal.’

‘reality is thin ice, but most people skate on it their whole lives and never fall through until the very end. we did fall through, but we helped each other out.’

#rp sentence starters #rp prompts #rp memes #literature prompts #literature sentence starters #horror prompts #horror sentence starters #anna's 31 days of halloween #the outsider prompts #the outsider sentence starters #stephen king prompts #stephen king sentence starters #31 days of halloween: 8

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samheughanswife · 27 days

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Jazz Estate (@thejazzestate)

instagram

Hearing it on the tumblr grapevine does not make it fact.

Come back when you have substantive evidence and arguments.

Enjoy the incomparable Marvin Gaye 🤎 🎶

#Instagram

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antifainternational · 2 years

Note

Republicans will be all like "save the children" but then turn a blind eye to the horrific abuse of children in ICE custody and throw their own LGBT children to the wolves by kicking them out to the Streets. 🐸☕

(content warning for discussion of child sexual abuse)

If right-wingers were actually concerned about saving children from sexual abuse, they'd be focusing their efforts on where most children are being sexually abused. The trouble for them is that the same institutions they actively participate in and/or support (e.g. their fellow right-wing extremists, the Southern Baptist Convention, CPB/ICE, the Catholic Church, Donald Trump, etc.) are regularly accused of the worst examples of systematic child sexual abuse, with the accusations coming from actual people making credible allegations, usually backed by substantive evidence. There are media reports from well-respected outlets; publicly-accessible court documents and hearing transcripts; and public statement made by some of the victims that anyone could find to verify the claims with just a little effort. But right-wingers don't actually care about child sexual abuse. They don't raise money for counselling and therapy for survivors of child sexual abuse (and as politicians they often block access or prevent funding for therapy for survivors). They don't support NGOs that do credible work fighting human trafficking. They actively work against providing the kinds of supports that are the most effective at preventing children from being sexually exploited to begin with. What they do instead is use terms like "groomers" and "paedophiles" to tar-and-feather any outgroup they want to portray as "the baddies" in an effort to rally their troops to attack a scapegoat - both to distract people from the actual problem and what could be done about it and to build their followings and encourage violence against those outgroups. Currently it's trans people that are being subjected to this abuse; previously it was Muslims, then LGBTQ+ people before them, and so on. We're not saying that child sexual abuse is not horrific and that the problem does not have to be addressed, obviously. But the way the right accuses any group they're currently scapegoating as "groomers" allows the institutions the right supports that are currently and have historically engaged in the systemic sexual abuse of children to get away with it and even continue the abuse and shelter abusers without accountability. It also does real harm to legitimate organizations doing legitimate work combatting child sex trafficking because it takes resources away from them and diminishes the credibility of the movement as a whole. It's a cynical weaponization of child sexual abuse to gain political points against the perceived "enemy du jour" for the far right. It is especially ironic that people holding this viewpoint would then use it to justify ostracizing and rendering their own LGBTQ+ children homeless, since doing so makes their own children extremely vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse. That's a long way to say that the right-wingers are disgusting hypocrites, but there you go!

#antifa #save the children #antifascist #child sex abuse #antifascism #groomers #grooming

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twig-tea · 2 months

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Get To Know Me Tag

Tagged by @telomeke @lurkingshan @my-rose-tinted-glasses @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle and @hyeoni-comb thank you all! 💕

Do you make your bed?

I like a messy bed, it feels more welcoming to me somehow. The only time I make my bed is when I'm without heat and it's winter, then you gotta do it to keep in any residual warmth! But normally I'd rather keep everything loose.

What’s your favorite number?

I....don't think I have one? Is this a thing people have, how do you choose?

What is your job?

I manage a team of Product Owners in the Operations division of a multinational company. In other words, I go to a lot of meetings.

If you could go back to school, would you?

Absolutely not. Beyond the fact that I was formerly a substantive editor of university textbooks, which included both editing the textbook content and sometimes writing their ancillaries (tests, powerpoint slides, etc.) so it feels like I took first-year Sociology at least ten times, I just don't love formalized education. I love learning but on my own terms and at my own pace.

Can you parallel park?

I can't drive at all! Technically I learned how, took lessons and everything, but never got my license.

A job you had that would surprise people?

Hmm. I was a call center person for half a day, it was terrible and I left without getting paid for the work I did because I was so eager to get out of there I didn't want to fight them for my pay (even though I needed the money which is why I was there in the first place). I hate phone calls, I can't hear well on the phone, and it was clear the call center script was designed to be exploitative. It was one of the worst jobs for me I could have taken lol

Do you think aliens are real?

I think it's extremely likely!

Can you drive a manual car?

Nope, even when I learned, it was only on an automatic.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I'm not guilty about it but I can decimate an entire family size mac and cheese when I'm feeling down.

Tattoos?

I have 3 tattoos; one on each foot and one on the back of my neck. They form a rainbow.

Favorite color?

Blue-green! The shade of preference for any given moment varies, but anything in the region from mint to aqua to teal to turquoise will do; I love them all.

Favorite type of music?

My music taste varies widely but the common denominators are 1) fast tempo or upbeat, 2) solid harmonies, and 3) if there's a tempo or key change I am doubly sold.

Do you like puzzles?

Love puzzles of all kinds. I have a collection of jigsaw puzzles I do regularly, and word puzzles, logic puzzles, sudoku type stuff is all very fun. I don't make a lot of time for them but I do them occasionally and always enjoy it.

Any phobias?

I am afraid of falling. Not heights, but falling. The difference is: I can lean over the railing at the top of a 20-storey building or walk on a glass floor over a big drop and just feel a minor thrill, but am terrified to the point of maybe crying if I have to balance on a single step of a ladder or walk across a patch of ice. I had several brushes with death related to falling when I was a kid, and a few bad falls that caused injury as an adult, so it makes sense. Luckily I am pretty tall so I rarely have to do any kind of ladder-ing!

Favorite childhood sport?

American-style tackle football. We used to play at lunch on the pavement because the soccer kids got the field; we played in all seasons including snow, and we did it for love of the sport. I loved it a lot.

Do you talk to yourself?

Occasionally I'll provide a little commentary on what's happening aloud to myself; but I don't really have fully conversations.

What movies do you adore?

I have loved a lot of movies in my time! A few random ones that come to mind right now because I've been thinking about them for whatever reason are Saving Face (2004), Monster (2023), Practical Magic (1998), Moonlight (2016), and Clue (1985).

Coffee or tea?

Despite my username being a type of tea, in this as in all things I am a perfect Kinsey 3. Love both equally and drink a ton of both (coffee more regularly, tea in greater volume).

First thing you wanted to be growing up?

Lifeguard, I think! And then when I was in elementary school I wanted to edit textbooks (I was that kid who got annoyed whenever there were mistakes), so I did actually get to do my childhood dream job.

No pressure tags just going with vibes based on who I've interacted with recently (if you've done this already tag me in the comments!): @rocketturtle4 @visualtaehyun @sollucets @troubled-mind @jimmysea @ginnymoonbeam

#tag game #thank you for tagging me #typed so that i can stop thinking it

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tanadrin · 1 month

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Advice on fleeing the US and somehow getting all my poor and/or disabled loved ones out with me?

I don’t have good advice on immigration. It’s context-dependent for one—rules on acquiring long-term residence in permits depend heavily on the country you want to move to. Citizenship generally requires several years living somewhere and speaking the local language to some degree. Generally speaking, immigration authorities want people who they think aren’t going to be a burden on their social care system and who will be a benefit to their economy—so, people with solidly middle class jobs or skills.

Probably the easiest (comparatively speaking) option would be to get a job somewhere else where they’ll help you with a work visa or something. But that still may be difficult in practice depending on your education and professional background. And generally that won’t enable you to bring anyone but immediate family (spouse and children) either. It is a phenomenally cruel system, and one day I hope to live in a world with open borders, but sadly we are very far from that goal.

If you are concerned about things like anti-trans legislation and abortion rights and the persecution of undocumented immigrants, it would be much easier to move within the US, to a big city or a blue state (if you can swing it, a big city in a solidly blue state). I hear Massachusetts is nice. If you are anxious about Trump winning in November and what might result from that, I’m afraid I don’t have any substantive advice. But you have my sympathy. I too am anxious about that, and I don’t live in the US.

#I’m sorry I don’t have more for you anon

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heartslobbf · 11 months

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could you talk about food in rgu as a kind of symbol for incest? it doesn't have to be anything too coherent or anything i just loved that post and would like to hear a bit more abt it!

hello yes absolutely!!!!! i appreciate you enabling me to be incoherent because whilst i claim to be a writer, i am godawful at putting anything polished out thanks to my perfectionism. you do not want to see my rgu essay drafts.

anyway. food and incest in rgu. i made a post saying that every food item in rgu at least tangentially relates to the show's exploration of incestuous abuse and how that is directly enabled by the institution of family. underneath the cut im gonna talk about my favourite and most notable examples of this. note that i will be closely discussing examples of incestuous abuse and csa in rgu.

my big thesis on this topic stems from the fact that anthy can't cook but akio can. anthy is capable of making non-substantial food, and otherwise entirely incompetent in the kitchen. she can't really provide for herself, and thus is dependent on others (namely akio) to live. akio is an adult who prides himself on his supposed independence (note how that independence helps shape his americanised masculinity), and not only does he cook and therefore provide for anthy, later utena and nanami, but he's shown to be beyond competent in the kitchen. he bakes a cake in episode 30 which both utena and wakaba comment on as being impressive, and in episode 32 he makes a rose hip jam that suggests his culinary skills go beyond standard measures.

the family institution makes it incredibly difficult for people to leave abusive families, especially when they are children. the ability to feed oneself in rgu determines how stuck in ohtori's system a character is. wakaba, for instance, is presented as an amateurish cook, and despite having proximity to the duels and akio is never fully subsumed by them. saionji and tsuwabuki are probably the other characters most notable for culinary skills, and for both of them they are only ever shown preparing food for themselves or nanami. with tsuwabuki, this is another of his unintentionally sinister attempts to be close with nanami. he is essentially trying to make her depend upon him to live, but he's literally 10 and doesn't really understand the implications of what he's doing. he just wants to provide for her! saionji offers to make nanami eggs when he notices that she's distressed, and i think this gets at the nuance of dependence on others, and being a provider. namely, you will and should be dependent upon others to an extent. offering and accepting help alike is important. saionji offering to make nanami eggs is a nice and genuine moment between them, and is distinctly different from some other instances ive discussed because their relationship isn't abusive or toxic or pseudo-incestuous or whatever else.

i'd like to suggest that miki and kozue's milkshake is actually quite similar to the eggs, even though their relationship is both toxic and incestuous. when kozue asks miki for a milkshake at the end of episode 15, she's extending an olive branch. the milkshake is complicated undoubtedly, but i think it pretty effectively summarises the issues in their relationship a la purity and knowledge and independence. i would write more on this if i'd rewatched ep 15 recently but it's worth noting that the milkshake is textually childish and non-substantive, and that's why kozue initially rejects it whilst miki makes and drinks it.

my magnum opus of incestuous food is the shaved ice, which is kind of like saying the sky is blue. like gee i wonder why anthy tells nanami in episode 4 that mixing the red and yellow syrrups together tastes so good like i just cant work it out its too subtle as utena always is. and of course the shaved ice reprises in episodes 31 and 32, or as i like to call them, Hey Check Out This Show's Thesis On Incestuous Abuse. dont think i need to explain whats going on when anthy feeds akio shaved ice in front of nanami and theyre both horribly uncomfortably coy and flirtatious the whole time. i definitely think theres something in anthy's shaved ice facilitating incestuous implications in all its appearances, but im not sure what. the ice isnt about forcing people to depend upon their family members, it's childish and indulgent and there's certainly something in that which relates to anthy. i actually have a lot of thoughts about anthy's perception of incest, namely because she loves to make jokes about it and all of them make me very sad. all instances of shaved ice are about taunting nanami, also. lots of thoughts here.

final big cornerstone in food = incest relates to a throwaway moment at the start of ep 11 where utena reveals that she intended to eat a single pre-packaged piece of convenience food for lunch, and wakaba and anthy both provide elaborate bentos for her instead. utena is an orphan. there's no one to provide for her in any socially conventional way, her parents aren't making her lunches nor have they taught her how to. returning to my Akio Can Cook point, in episode 26 akio tells utena that he considers her 'practically family'. there is a pseudo-incestuous nature to akio's relationships with both utena and touga, which is a broader point for a broader topic, but what's really important here is that utena feels she can depend upon akio to provide for her. and, horribly, she can! this makes it all the more difficult to reject him, because he is everything she has wanted ever since her parents died. you can also link to tsuwabuki here with pseudo-incest, and returning to touga momentarily there's something about the kiryuu family and all of their food being made by staff and also, you know, incest and pseudo-incest.

i think these are the big things to hit in regards to this idea. the curry episode is also absolutely fascinating, as is kanae and the apple, as is the cantarella scene and tea and cookies in ten years time. im kind of just throwing ideas around now but im not trying to write some deeply considered essay here, more so throw around some ideas ive had and see if anything sticks with anyone else.

#hope this was interesting lol its kind of just a thought dump!!#anon #answered #rgu #incest mention

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