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ginazmemeoir · 3 years

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okay so i know you're super interested and knowledgeable about mythology, so i thought that there's no harm in asking for help, right?

i kinda have to do a 60+ page project on the Mahabharata and the role of women in Mahabharata. do you have any fun facts or anything? all of it will be greatly appreciated

ok the reason this has taken me a significant time to respond is because i was thinking - what best way to answer this. so i have chosen the analysis of different aspects of their lives, rather than do a full character-by-character analysis cause that would end up being a full fledged book. also this is still gonna be like 6 pages. so here we go.

1. BIRTH :

Most of the women in the Mahabharata have an unusual birth, all predestined to do something. Ganga is said to be born from Vishnu’s feet and descended form the heavens. Urvashi and Menaka were the Queens of the Apsaras, born from Brahma’s thighs. Devayani and Sharmishtha were the daughters of Shukracharya and the asura king Virupaksha respectively. Shakuntala was Menaka and Vishwamitra’s daughter, who was found abandoned beneath some flying cranes. Satyavati was born out of a fish which ingested a king’s sperm and was then adopted by the chief of fishermen. Gandhari was born to bear a hundred sons, which she requested from Shiva in her previous birth (some also say her present birth). Amba was reborn as a transman after she burnt herself alive to have revenge on Bhishma. Draupadi was born out of literal fire, cursed to bring the destruction of a thousand clans, and gifted to marry five husbands, each with a quality she wanted. Subhadra was born as an incarnation of Yogamaya, while Kripi (Drona’s wife) was born from a deer.

2. LOVE AND MARRIAGE :

There is a pretty contrasting change in the way women choose their partners, and got married in the Mahabharata. This reflects their declining status in society.

Urvashi and Menaka have had several affairs and marriages. Urvashi left Pururavas when he failed to fulfill her conditions, and later asked her descendant Arjun to have sex with her. When he refused, she cursed him to become a transwoman for a year, which he could choose.

Devayani and Sharmishtha ended up getting married to the same man. Devayani’s husband Yayati, whom she married out of love, cheated on her with Sharmishtha. Devayani, however, had Yayati cursed with sterility and old age as revenge. So technically, women also had a right to a divorce i guess? not officially, but they could definitely leave their husband’s house or humiliate him.

Shakuntala marries Dushyant through the gandharva rites, with the forest as her witness. Their conflicting accounts about the end of her story - Vyasa states that mortified by her indignation at Dushyant’s hands, she leaves him with her son and returns to the forest. Kalidasa states Dushyant ends up remembering her and bringing her back as his lawfully wedded wife.

Ganga is the first wife of Shantanu, and she married him only on the condition that he would never question her. Finally, when he stops her from drowning their eighth son, she breaks her marriage and goes away with the child who grows up to be Devavrata.

Satyavati actually has two meaningful encounters - once with Parashara (son of Vashishtha) and the other with Shantanu. With Parashara, she was ferrying him across the Yamuna when he professed he wanted to have sex with her. Satyavati agreed on two conditions - if she gets pregnant, she would deliver within a day and the child wouldn’t be her responsibility and secondly, Parashara would grant her any boon she wanted. Thus, she gave birth to Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa (the dark skinned boy born on an island) who was brought up by Parashara, and plus got blessed by an intoxicating smell. With Shantanu, even though she was young enough to be his daughter, she holds up a condition that only her children would inherit the Kuru throne, to fulfill which Devavrata takes his terrible oath and becomes Bhishma. Only then does she marry Shantanu. She literally forged her own destiny and had control over her decisions, something which she herself denies later to other women.

Satyavati orders Bhishma to abduct the three princesses of Kashi - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika, as brides for her drunkard son Vichitravirya. Thus, she snatches away the same freedom of marriage she had enjoyed. Amba resists her abduction, however ends up being rejected from her boyfriend King Shalva, for she was now “another man’s property”. She demands Bhishma marry her to salvage her honor, which he denies due to his oath of celibacy. Satyavati could’ve made him break the vow, which she doesn’t. Amba goes to all the kings in the world, seeking one who would salvage her honor. None do, for all are afraid of Bhishma, so she curses all that their lineages would go extinct in a war fought to salvage another woman’s honour in another time. Finally she approaches Parashuram, Bhishma’s teacher. Enraged, Parashuram fights Bhishma but realizes that their fight could end the world. That is one Amba burns herself alive, and curses Bhishma that she would be reborn, and reclaim her revenge. Later, Satyavati forces Ambika and Ambalika to undergo niyog with Vyas after Virya’s death (niyog was practiced when a man died without an heir, so another male member of the family was called to produce an heir with the widow). Thus she also snatches the same sexual freedom which she enjoyed from her daughter in laws. Some say this was also a part of Satyavati’s plan to ensure that only her lineage sits on the throne, because biologically Vyasa is Satyavati’s son, and not Shantanu’s, thus making the children he fathered Satyavati’s blood, and not Kuru blood as they legally claim.

Kunti was forced to have a child with Surya, just because of a childish boon she wanted to try out. Later, she choses Pandu, Ambalika’s son, from a select swayamvara of princes. She couldn’t have chosen another man as others before her had.

Satyavati yet again snatches the same freedom she took for herself. Bhishma is ordered to march to Gandhara and get it’s princess, Gandhari, as a bride for the blind prince Dhritarashtra. When her father Subala resists, Satyavati has him destroy the entire kingdom and kill all of Gandhari’s family, sparing her and her youngest brother Shakuni. Thus Gandhari has no say in her own marriage, for the first time in the Kuru dynasty. Even her act of remaining blindfolded in solidarity with her husband is often pedestalized, the pain behind it overlooked. This is also what gives birth to Shakuni’s burning thirst for revenge and the destruction of the entire Kuru dynasty, just like his family was killed in front of his eyes. One has to understsand that the Mahabharata was simply the sum of past sins and curses and boons and births. Pinning it on Draupadi, who was the last character in this play of power, reduces this epic’s magnificence.

Duryodhana��s marriage with Bhanumati is like the typical fairy tale we hear - she specifically tells him to abduct her and marry her so she doesn’t end up marrying some random dick she doesn’t even know. Again, the woman is in control of her marriage, however the fact that a marriage is being forced on her comes to the fore now.

Hidimbaa, Bhima’s first wife, was a rakshas princess and she marries Bhima by having him kill her brother who wanted to eat him instead. Hidimbaa never goes with Bhima, and instead raises her son Ghatotkacha single handedly and looks after her queendom. This shows a major shift in the status of a woman - the so called “civilized” society keeps reducing the freedom and space given to them, while tribal customs continue to uphold individuality.

Draupadi’s marriage symbolises the status of women perfectly at the time. She’s not a woman with a say in her marriage - instead she’s reduced to a prize, a political alliance to be won in an archery competition. Had Arjun not won, Draupadi would’ve had to keep her head down and just marry the other person because she has no choice.

Subhadra’s marriage is in stark contrast. Arjun is her second cousin (barf) and she abducts him from her own wedding (which was happening to Duryodhana) and marries Arjun with Krishna’s blessings. Subhadra takes the same freedom that Draupadi was never offered. Also, Draupadi and Subhadra would become Arjuna’s only wives - none of his other “companions” would get the same title or status.

Dushala is married to Jayadrath, king of Sindh. The marriage was an unhappy one.

Balarama’s daughter Sulakshana runs away with Ghatotkacha’s help and marries her first cousin Abhimanyu, while Uttara is offered as a political alliance. Again there’s a stark contrast between the two, and it holds a mirror to society - how once the same freedom offered to women had now become a thing of legends.

3. POLITICS AND AMBITIONS

Devayani had wanted to snub Sharmishtha her whole life because of the one major fight they had which she lost. Being the daughter of Shukracharya, Devayani had more resources at her disposal, and she makes good use of them by transforming Sharmishtha, a princess, into her slave. Later, she also makes sure Yayati is punished for his adultery.

Shakuntala played kingmaker - according to the Mahabharata she went back to the forest only after securing her son’s right to the throne. According to Kalidasa, she has no ambitions whatsoever.

Satyavati’s political ambitions have already been discussed above - her rise to power, her way of ensuring that only her blood claims the throne, and the fact that she was willing to do anything for what she wanted. Another factor into this is caste - Satyavati is often ridiculed as Daseyi (daughter of a slave) and is discriminated against because of her caste as a fisherwoman.

Amba’s ambitions have also been discussed above - her burning desire for revenge. When she is reborn as Shikhandi, she deliberately has her gender changed before her marriage so that she transforms into a man.

The tussle between Kunti and Gandhari for power is an actual stuff of legends. While Kunti is mostly projected as a hapless widow raising five boys, most people forget that she’s a powerful princess, and was originally the Empress of Hastinapur, later turned widow. She knows the deadly game of politics and it's nuances, and the same goes for Gandhari. According to the epics, the game played between these two queens was subtle, and not open. For example, Gandhari had took over Kunti’s quarters and had her sleep close to the servant’s quarters. Kunti too secures her own future by convincing Bhishma to back her and her son’s claim to the throne. One famous tale recounts that during a particular festival, Gandhari calls in a hundred elephants covered in gold for the worship. Since Kunti has no resources of her own and instead has to use toy elephants made of clay, she asks Arjuna to do something, who promptly goes to the heavens and brings back Airavata, the king of all elephants and Indra’s vahana, for Kunti. This rivalry comes to the open when the kingdom is divided and the wastelands and forests, Khandavaprastha, is handed to the Pandavas. Kunti accuses Gandhari of deliberately giving the useless part to her sons, while Gandhari accuses her of nurturing the wish for the throne in her sons’ hearts. This rivalry, however, comes to an end with the war, and both reconcile.

Kunti is also shown to be heartless/overprotective when it comes to her kids, which is understandable given the circumstances in which they were brought up. However, that doesn’t justify the fact that she made Bhima leave Hidimbaa in the forest. It also doesn’t justify the fact that originally, when she got to know that she and her sons were to be burnt alive in the Varnavata Summer Palace, she burnt alive another mother and all her children who had come there from the forest as guests, along with the caretaker Purochana who was in on the plan, as a cover so they could escape. It also doesn’t justify her making Draupadi marry all five brothers so there could never be “a fight over a woman”. Her masterstroke, however, comes during the War. What I believe is, she should have told Karna the entire truth and accepted him the moment she saw him. However, she waited, and then finally when the War arrives, she tells him the truth and emotionally manipulates him. Softening Karna’s heart, she protects four of her sons, and she had enough faith in Krishna to protect the fifth. It could also be genuine affection, but I refuse to believe that.

Draupadi has to face a much tougher life though. Kunti had already tied her to all five brothers as their “mutual” wife. One can only imagine the pain and endurance she goes through, battling her in-laws and her own family. She later has the Pandavas promise that no other wife of their could get the title of wife or the status, and couldn’t enter the Kuru household or Indraprastha. Even Subhadra was never allowed inside Hastinapur and Indraprastha, and instead spent her entire life in Dwarka. Her “laugh” at Duryondhana’s stumble in Indraprastha could be genuine fun, and also her own way of getting back at him for all those years of injustice. In the forest during exile, she has to keep all her wits about her, as she encounters wrathful sages, vengeful spirits, and kings with ill intents. As a hairdresser, she had virtually no power and so could do nothing herself when the queen’s brother, Kichak, tries to rape her. However, she invites Bhima over (who’s living as a cook) and he easily kills Kichak. What’s really infuriating is the way people pin the entire carnage that follows on her head - essentially victim shaming. People say “so what if she was disrobed publicly? does that mean she would destroy that entire clan, who stood mum and watched?” Yes. Yes it does. And you can’t give the excuse “she is fire’s daughter” and all. NO. Then, she wasn’t the weapon summoned to destroy a thousand clans, daughter of fire, Empress of Indraprastha or Princess of Panchala. At that moment, she was a woman being disrobed publicly. A woman lost in a wager like cattle. Nobody rose to defend her, except Vikarna, a Kaurava and Krishna, the man she regards as her own brother. This is what makes a bold statement about women - she’s no longer a person, but a commodity to be owned by someone. It reflects the rot and decay of our society, which increases day by day. What I believe is, Draupadi’s demand for retribution is perfectly justified - her wish to bathe in the blood of the one who disrobed her, dragged her by her hair all the way to the Imperial Coury, perfectly justified. Her wish to see the corpse of all those who stood silent as she was being disrobed, or those who mocked, pile up in the great blood soaked field of Kurukshetra. Her heart however melts the instant she sees the “great army of widows and orphans” who arrive at Kurukshetra.

4. CHILDREN

A recurring, patriarchal theme in all Hindu epics is the fact that a woman’s happiness was linked to her children, most of all sons.

All of Devayani’s five sons were banished and cursed when they refused to take up their father’s old age and sterility while in their youth. The same fate awaited Sharmishtha’s sons. Only the youngest, Puru, agrees and is then pronounced king after a thousand years, when Yayati returns him back his youth. Moreover, Devayani has to give her daughter Madhavi to a priest on Yayati’s order, who is later raped by four kings as a teenager and gives birth to four great sons. These sons are later asked to give up a quarter each of their merit earned on earth to Yayati, who was denied passage to heaven for all of his sins. This shows the fact that Indian/South Asian society continues to be dominated by those before us – our parents and their parents – and we have to comply. This is in contrast with Western philosophy, which makes way for the younger generation. In South Asian society, both have to co-exist, with the older often domineering.

Ganga’s sons were actually the eight Vasus who were cursed to live terrible lives as humans. By drowning seven of them the moment they are born, Ganga ensures that they spend minimum time in the mortal realm and return back to the heavens. The eldest, Prabhas, was cursed to live the most terrible life of them all, which ends up happening - Devavrata, later Bhishma, couldn’t be killed after birth. He lives a terrible life - a prince reduced to a slave of the throne, innocent blood on his hands, no family of his own, and he couldn’t even decide whom he wanted to fight for. This shows the theme of overlapping stories, something which keeps recurring in Hinduism in general.

Satyavati’s elder son Chitrangada was killed in a war with the gandharva king, Chitrangada. Her other son, Vichitravirya, gave himself up to wine and intoxication and died young. Her son with Parashara, though, outlives till the time of Janmajeya, Arjuna’s great grandson. Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa ends up compiling all the Vedas and writing the famous Mahabharata. He also keeps coming here and there in the epic, for example Satyavati inviting him to perfrom niyog forcefully with her daughter in laws and produce heirs.

Ambika had her eyes shut the entire time during her rape/niyog, and so the child born - Dhritarashtra, was blind. Ambalika was shaking and fearful the whole time, so her son Pandu was born weak. Vyasa had consentful sex with a palace maid, and the son born to her, Vidura, would’ve been the perfect heir. However, Dhritarashtra was denied kingship by virtued of his blindness, while Vidura was denied the throne by virtue of his mother’s caste. Pandu later retires following a curse, and so Dhritarashtra takes up the kingship. He is shown to be a spiteful character initially, frustrated that despite being the elder one and perfect, he was denied the throne because he was blind. He passes on the same frustration and poison to his children.

Gandhari’s pregnancy was special. She was pregnant for two full years, in which time Dhritarashtra had another son, Yuyutsu, through a palace maid. Gandhari’s gestation period was equal to that of an elephant, and had she had just a little more patience, she would’ve given birth to a literal god. however, frustrated with the fact that her husband had cheated on her, she kept beating her womb each night with a red-hot iron rod, until she gave birth to an undeveloped foetus. Vyasa intervenes by cutting it up into 101 pieces and “hatching” them in vats of ghee in an incubation chamber (historians and scientists say this could be the earliest documented evidence of IVF or incubation chambers), resulting in the 100 Kauravas and their only sister, Dushala. Some say that evil omens were there during their birth. This also demonstrates that a woman’s social holding was also related to the no. of children she had, especially sons.

Kunti had received a boon from Durvasa that she could have a child with any god she wanted. Her experimentation with the boon leads to her unwanted and forced pregnancy of Karna. Historians suspect this could be a teen pregnancy, logically, and ill equipped emotionally and physically handle a baby at that stage in her life, she cast him away in the river (still unjustified i think). This baby grew up to be Karna, filled with resentment over his fate. Later, when Pandu is cursed with sterility and the fact that if he dares touch a woman out of love he would die, Kunti uses this boon again to have three sons from three gods – Yama, the god of death and law; Vayu, the god of wind and Indra, the king of the gods and god of rain and thunder. Historians speculate this could be a cover for niyog (mentioned above). Later, Kunti begrudgingly bestows this boon upon Pandu’s favorite wife, Madri, who begets twins from the twin gods the Ashwin Kumaras.

Draupadi has five sons with her husbands - Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bhima), Shrutakarman (from Arjun), Satanaka (from Nakul) and Shrutasena (from Sahadev). None of them have children of their of their own and die a gruesome death, killed by Ashwatthama in his murderous frenzy.

Subhadra’s son Abhimanyu features more prominently in the epic. Legends say he knew how to enter into a chakravyuh from the moment he was born, but not how to exit. During the war, he enters a chakravyuh formed by the Kauravas, where he is unfairly killed - surrounded by ten men, and defenseless. He dies trying to defend himself by using a chariot wheel.

The other wives of the Pandavas suffer for a war that they weren’t even a part of. Hidimba’s son Ghatotkacha helps the Pandavas and turns the tide towards them. He grows into a strong Asura and uses his magic, and is eventually killed by Karna using Shakti, the weapon he received from Indra. Uloopi’s (Arjuna’s Naga wife, daughter of the Naga king Vasuki) son Iravan is killed before the war itself as a sacrifice to appease Chamundi, and his head is mounted on a hill so he can survey the war. The same fate awaited Ghatotkacha’s son Barbareek. Since he was the strongest warrior any side and could finish the war in a second, Krishna demanded his head as a sacrifice so that he couldn’t participate in the war, in return promising him eternal worship (Barbareek is worshipped as Khatushyam in Rajasthan). Chitrangada (Arjuna’s androgynous warrior wife, Queen of Manipur) strategically protects herself and her kingdom from harm. However, owing to a curse Ganga gives to Arjuna, Chitrangada’s son Babruvahan ends up killing his own father Arjuna and then later commits suicide. They’re both revived by Uloopi using the Nagamani.

Duryodhana’s wife, Bhanumati, also suffers. Her son Lakshmana, who was originally a poet, was killef by Abhimanyu when he was defenseless, while her daughter Lakshmanaa was raped by Krishna’s son Samba and then later married to him to save face.

Karna’s first wife Vishakha loses all her sons and commits suicide. His other wife Uruvi’s only son, Vrishaketu, is spared because he was only 9 at the time of the War and thus, lived.

Dushala’s sons die defending Sindh from the Pandavas, and only Dushala and her grandson are spared. Another account says she forced her sons to enter the war, and they all died there.

Uttara’s son Pareekshit was killed within the womb by Ashwatthama, when he fired the most powerful missile in the world, the Brahmastra, at her womb. Krishna revives the child through his powers, and then curses Ashwatthama to remain immortal, yet suffer through a thousand diseases every second for the sin of trying to murder an unborn.

Vyasa’s son Sukadev, blessed with “the memory of a parrot” memorises the entire Mahabharata.

Pareekshit is later killed by the Naga king Takshak, as revenge for the murder of his family through Arjuna’s (Pareekshit’s grandfather) hands when he burnt the Khandava forest. In revenge, his son Janmajeya conducts a powerful Sarpa Satra where all the nagas of the world are killed. The genocide is stopped by Asita, a Naga sage, who along with Sukadeva and Jaimini recited the entire Mahabharata to him and made him revive the snakes killed.

5. DEATH

Satyavati dies along with Ambika and Ambalika in the forest after taking retirement. She drowns in the very same Yamuna which turned her life around.

Amba, reborn as Shikhandi, dies in the war.

Gandhari dies heartbroken, while Kunti dies in a fire.

Draupadi dies while trying to reach heaven via the Himalayas. None of her husbands so much as even look at her as she falls to her death.

Subhadra dies with the tsunami sent by Varuna (god of the seas) which destroyed Dwarka.

The deaths of all of these women are ironic, but also demonstrate the rule of Karma .

Not much is known of the death of the other women in this magnificent epic.

I hope this serves as a good and honest reminder about the women of the Mahabharata, and helps with your project.

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arcticdementor · 3 years

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Hindsight may very well be 20/20, but with that caveat out of the way, some events truly come across as historical in their importance even as they play out in realtime. We might not know what the results will be, but we can feel that something quite big is happening. Watching the fall of the Berlin wall was one such moment in recent history, and watching the twin towers fall was another one.

The retreat from Afghanistan should not have made the list, or least not the top of it. Yet, it has clearly already made its way there, being widely seen as something truly momentous by most if not all the people observing it. The reason it shouldn’t have had those same connotations as the fall of the Berlin wall is because it was not only planned in advance and decided upon by the 45th president, not the 46th, but because almost everyone at this point wished for the war to just end. But it is how it has ended that has really thrown back the curtain and shown the world the rot festering beneath. The Soviet Union was dying in 1989, when it completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan. It still managed to do so in an orderly fashion, with a symbolic column of russian APCs crossing the bridge over to Uzbekistan. The leader of the war effort, one Colonel-General Gromov, symbolically rode in the very last BTR, and then proclaimed to the gathered journalists that there wasn’t a single russian soldier behind his back.

The American withdrawal, by contrast, is a grotesque spectacle, laid bare to the eyes of the world in realtime thanks to the wonders of modern technology. The Soviet attempt at braving the graveyard of empires could, if one was charitably inclined, at least be construed as some form of tragedy (”we tried to help, but in the end, we accomplished nothing”), and the russians did their best to make the entire thing appear somewhat dignified and solemn. Thirty years later, the scene is closer to a black form of comedy. The American consulate was evacuated by helicopter, about one month after president Biden referred to just such an evacuation from Saigon as an example of how Afghanistan and Vietnam were not comparable. The entire government collapsed within a matter of hours, not months. Throngs of people gathered around the airports, desperate to escape; American authorities had no more guidance to offer american citizens stuck in Afghanistan than to ”shelter in place” and then presumably ask the Taliban for a visa once regular flight traffic resumes. Desperate people even clung to the airframes of departing cargo planes before falling to their deaths, like a grim re-enactment of frozen and starving german soldiers trying to escape by clinging to the last planes leaving Stalingrad.

…

There may be a deeper aspect to this than a lot of people might perceive at present. On the level of pure geopolitics, the utterly embarrassing debacle of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan can only serve to make China more bold in any future confrontation over Taiwan. The American eagle is faltering, and its rivals will not sit idly by for long. But this is probably the lesser of the big consequences of Afghanistan. There is another, much more significant implication of the collapse of the American project here, one with much more acute bearing on the immediate future of American society itself. To understand why, it’s useful to reflect on a certain political and historical point made by Carl Schmitt in his by now nearly hundred year old essay, whose english name is often rendered as The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy. The essay is well worth a read in full today, and the reader might be surprised (or maybe not) at how relevant many of the descriptions of the ongoing political crisis in 1923 may seem to us today, nearly a hundred years later. The most relevant passage, however, deserves to be quoted in full:

”In the history of political ideas, there are epochs of great energy and times becalmed, times of motionless status quo. Thus the epoch of monarchy is at an end when a sense of the principle of kingship, of honor, has been lost, if bourgeois kings appear who seek to prove their usefulness and utility instead of their devotion and honor. The external apparatus of monarchical institutions can remain standing very much longer after that. But in spite of it monarchy’s hour has tolled. The convictions inherent in this and no other institution then appear antiquated; practical justifications for it will not be lacking, but it is only an empirical question whether men or organizations come forward who can prove themselves just as useful or even more so than these kings and through this simple fact brush aside monarchy.”

What Schmitt is saying here is very important, and it might very well end up being the true cost of the Afghanistan debacle. Every ruling class throughout history advances various claims about its own legitimacy, without which a stable political order is impossible. Legitimating claims can take many different forms and may change over time, but once they become exhausted or lose their credibility, that is pretty much it.

…

What Schmitt is saying is that when the legitimating claim for a particular form of elite is used up, when people no longer believe in the concepts or claims that underpin a particular system or claim to rule, the extinction of that particular elite becomes a foregone conclusion. Once Napoleon came along, it became increasingly impossible to actually believe (or at least effect a suspension of disbelief) that kings were born to rule and had a right to rule. As such, the only argument kings were left with in order to be tolerated by their own subjects became practical in nature: look at how useful this king is, look at how well his administration runs, look at how much stuff you’re getting out of letting him sit on the throne. But once you are merely left with practical arguments of that kind, as Schmitt rightly points out, your replacement becomes a question of simple empiricism. The moment someone more useful is found – like, say, a president – out you go, never to return. The replacement of Louis XVI with a republic was a world-shattering event. The fall of his nephew, Louis Philippe I, in favor of another republic, was a mere formality by comparison. By the time of his fall, not even Louis Philippe himself believed in kings being some sort of semi-divine beings. Certainly almost none of his subjects did.

…

Moreover, on a more practical level, the war in Afghanistan became another sort of crucible. In very real terms, Afghanistan turned into a testbed for every single innovation in technocratic PMC governance, and each innovation was sold as the next big thing that would make previous, profane understandings of politics obsolete. In Afghanistan ”big data” and the utilization of ever expanding sets of technical and statistical metrics was allowed to topple old stodgy ideas of dead white thinkers such as Sun Tzu or Machiavelli, as ”modern” or ”scientific” approaches to war could have little to learn from the primitive insights of a pre-rational order. In Afghanistan, military sociology in the form of Human Terrain Teams and other innovative creations were unleashed to bring order to chaos. Here, the full force of the entire NGO world, the brightest minds of that international government-in-waiting without a people to be beholden to, were given a playground with nearly infinite resources at their disposal. There was so much money sloshing around at the fingertips of these educated technocrats that it became nearly impossible to spend it all fast enough; they simply took all of those countless billions of dollars straight from the hands of ordinary americans, because they believed they had a right to do so.

…

Put plainly: managers, through the power of managerialism, were once believed to be able to mobilize science and reason and progress to accomplish what everyone else could not, and so only they could secure a just and functional society for their subjects, just as only the rightful kings of yore could count on Providence and God to do the same thing. At their core, both of these claims are truly metaphysical, because all claims to legitimate rulership are metaphysical. It is when that metaphysical power of persuasion is lost that kings or socialists become ”bourgeois”, in Schmitt’s terms. They have to desperately turn toward providing proof, because the genuine belief is gone. But once a spouse starts demanding that the other spouse constantly prove that he or she hasn’t been cheating, the marriage is already over, and the divorce is merely a matter of time, if you’ll pardon the metaphor.

I suspect we are currently witnessing the catastrophic end of this metaphysical power of legitimacy that has shielded the managerial ruling class for decades. Anyone even briefly familiar with the historical record knows just how much of a Pandora’s box such a loss of legitimacy represents. The signs have obviously been multiplying over many years, but it is only now that the picture is becoming clear to everyone. When Michael Gove said ”I think the people in this country have had enough of experts” in a debate about the merits of Brexit, he probably traced the contours of something much bigger than anyone really knew at the time. Back then, the acute phase of the delegitimization of the managerial class was only just beginning. Now, with Afghanistan, it is impossible to miss.

It is not just that the elite class is incompetent – even kings could be incompetent without undermining belief in monarchy as a system – it is that they are so grossly, spectacularly incompetent that they walk around among us as living rebuttals of meritocracy itself. It is that their application of managerial logic to whatever field they get their grubby mitts on – from homelessness in California to industrial policy to running a war – makes that thing ten times more expensive and a hundred times more dysfunctional. To make the situation worse, the current elites seem almost serene in their willful destruction of the very fields they rely on for legitimacy. When the ”experts” go out of their way to write public letters about how covid supposedly only infects people who hold demonstrations in support of ”structural white supremacy”, while saying that Black Lives Matter demonstrations pose no risk of spreading the virus further, this amounts to the farmer gleefully salting his own fields to make sure nothing can grow there in the future. How can anyone expect the putative peasants of our social order to ”trust the science”, when the elites themselves are going out of their way, against all reason and the tenets of basic self-preservation, to make such a belief completely impossible even for those who really, genuinely, still want to believe?

…

I find it very likely that most future historians will put the date of the real beginning of the collapse of the current political and geopolitical order right here, right now, at the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Just as with any other big historical process, however, many others will point out that the seeds of the collapse were sown much farther back, and that a case can be made for several other dates, or perhaps no specific date at all. This is how we modern people look at the fall of the french ancien regime, after all. Still, it is quite obvious that the epoch of the liberal technocrat is now over. The bell has well and truly tolled for mankind’s belief in their ability to do anything else than enrich themselves and ruin things for everyone else.

How long it will take for their institutions to disappear, or before they end up toppled by popular discontent and revolution, no one can know. But at this point, I think most people on some level now understand that it really is only a matter of time.

#malcom kyeyune #afghanistan #read the whole thing

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lov3ofmylife-blog · 5 years

Text

Finally Home

Colorless. In this world, your life is black and white until you meet your soulmate. So when Natasha married her husband, James, and no color appeared she began to worry. Natasha was raised in a very strict religious household. Never even considering to bat an eye towards the same gender, she always assumed her soulmate was male. She met her husband through her family, they met at church, they hit it off but natasha never saw color. James had claimed when the moment they met his life bursted with color. But natashas had experience the quite the opposite. The world had never seem more duller, but she kept up the lie. Her parents seem to be very satisfied with natasha's choice to marry james. The only escape natasha seem to get from her dull life was when she went to get drinks with her fellow coworkers at her office where she works. Natasha works at a paper company based in New York, LandLock Com. But every saturday she goes to get drinks with a couple of coworkers, but one saturday when she knocks into a girl at a bar her world is full of colors. She stumbles a bit as her dull world of black and white turns into a vibrant splash of color.

She turns around to look at the face of the woman who brought an array of colors with her. Natasha though did not want to reveal that she found her soulmates as she is married. "Hey", said natasha. The woman turns and natasha studys her features very obsvertantly but briefly. The mysterious woman's hair a dark shade of brown with a couple of strands ginger hair, curled to perfection. Her hair stopping at her shoulders, her lips painted red. Deep chocolate brown eyes, and olive skin. The woman spoke after what seemed like an eternity of natasha studying her features, "Hey stranger", spoke the woman. Little did natasha know that the woman was also studying her delicate features. Natasha's curly long red hair, fair skin and plump pink lips was enough to interest the woman.

"Come here often", spoke natasha. Not really knowing how to flirt despite having a husband.

"wow, nice pick up line. You're lucky you're cute.", spoke the woman. "Leslie"

"Natasha"

"What a pretty name, but don't worry pretty soon you'll be screaming mine all night long."

Natasha nervously trying to hide her blush. James was quite the ladies man but never had she blushed at someone trying to swoon her with a cocky attitude.

"Sorry but i don't swing that way", natasha managed to push out.

"Such a shame, such a pretty doll. I would've loved to make you mine" Leslie spoke twisting one of natasha's fiery red curls with her index finger. "Well it's time for me to take my leave, see you again doll." she winked and blew a kiss towards Natasha.

Natasha stood in place, speechless she just found her soulmate but the biggest problem that she feared her entire life, her soulmate is a woman.

How does she even deal with this problem. She was married to a man who is not her soulmate, she just met her soulmate, but her soulmate is a woman

******

Ever since that fateful day at the bar, she has gone every single day and stayed at the same stool for weeks. But Leslie hasn't come back, also natasha has seen james start to pull away from her, he seemed very distance.

One day after Natasha came home from work she saw James sitting on the couch staring blankly at the dark T.V screen.

"James? "

"Natasha, we need to talk"

"Yeah, sure anything you need", natasha spoke softly.

"When we got married i promised to always tell you the truth no matter what. So that's why i wanted to talk to you. When we met i didn't see color, i only said that because my parents like yours thought i was the perfect match for you and you for i. So when my parents told me i had to marry you i felt satisfied, i mean you're a nice, caring and badass woman. But i never saw color and i felt guilty, i deprived you of finding your real soulmate. And for that i truly apologize, but one saturday when you were gone i went to a business meeting for the company and i met my soulmate. His name is Taylor Grant. At first i didn't want to admit, i mean as you know coming from very religious who don't really support homosexuality it's hard to come to terms with. But i did i wanted you to know that i'm not your soulmate, and you're not mine. My soulmate is Taylor Grant, and natasha i sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. You're an amazing woman and any man will be happy to have you. I'm glad to have called you my wife but i thinks it's best if we get a divorce", said james. Nervous to see Natasha's reaction to his confession.

After a couple seconds of natasha taking in what James had said she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok james, i understand why you did what you did, and i wish you nothing but luck. Also i'm glad to say that i did find my soulmate, um her name is Leslie", natasha replied. "Now if only i could find her again would be great, but also yeah it was fun while it lasted but turns out we're both super gay so yeah it's over."

They both chuckled softly, at their situation, at what the future might hold. But right now they know they have a friend in each other. Natasha walked over to James to give him a big hug. Discovering new friends coming out of a failed marriage.

"Wait, did i hear you right, you said Leslie, short girl with brown hair and sly attitude" spoke James softly against natasha's hair.

"Yeah, why?", natasha said in a very hopeful tone. Maybe finding a connection that could lead her to her snarky soulmate.

"She works with me, she's my assistant. You want me too set you guys up?"

"Wow, never expected my soon to be ex husband to become my wingman. Never thought i'd say that sentence", said natasha.

"Consider the beginning of a new best friendship, also yeah technically we still married but that needs to change cause i'm trying to get my manz, and you trying to get your womanz", said james.

"I'll say yes as long as you never say womanz again. Also let's go get divorced", said natasha in a very gleeful attitude.

After a week of a very quick divorce, Natasha was finally a single woman again. Natasha and James still have a close friendship always checking in on one another, giving advice or just a shoulder to cry on.

But today was the day, after a whole month or more of not seeing the face that caused the colors in natasha's world, she finally get to see her again. Walking into the bar natasha began to panic. I mean how would Leslie react to seeing her again? Would she storm out? Would leslie even want to see her? Would leslie even believe that natasha wants to spend the rest of her life with her even when she said she's not into girls? All her thoughts vanished when she peered in the corner of the bar she saw Leslie in a booth sipping on a drink in her black cocktail dress the same one she had on when they first met.

"Hey stranger", natasha said as she approached the booth leslie was seated at.

"Hey there doll", Leslie purred.

"You might be wondering why i brought you here. I know i said i wasn't into girls and that-", natasha blurted out but lucky leslie interrupted her.

"Doll you talk to much, you and i both know we both saw color when we met. And i doesn't take a scientist to figure out we're soulmates. So i guess you can say you were born to be mine", finished off Leslie. Natasha tugged her lips in a smirk and was about to finish off her thought before she felt soft lips against hers. She kissed back, and although it lasted a couple seconds its was the sweetest kiss ever mostly because it was by the person she was destined to be with.

After 2 years of dating Natasha and Leslie decided to tie the knot. In the beginning of their relationship Leslie got to meet Natasha's best friend/ ex-husband James and his partner Taylor. And to be honest Leslie loved James, i mean they had met earlier through work but she began to really become closer friends through this ordeal. Leslie rather easily becoming friends with the couple.

Although a lot of their family opened them with open arms, both Natasha's and James' parents did not approve of their partners, and they still don't. So in a double ceremony all four of them got married in a double wedding. They all spend their days going on double dates, and watching Game of Thrones.

Natasha almost laughing at her old self when she thought she was "straight". Yeah no, she's super " straight" with her wife and their 2 kids. But looking at the sight of her family she's finally realizes she's finally home.

A/N: If you like it reblog or something. Also please give me feedback it would be v helpful. Also if you actually read it thank you.

#soulmate au #gay shit #girls #fluff #gay story #lesbian fiction #lesbian #short stories #wlw #wlw story

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seasaltmemories · 6 years

Text

For Hunger

A little concerned that Alm refers to Celica as “his”, as if he can claim of ownership over her.

Alm can’t even parse out what Celica is to him.

Alm still thinks there’s a significance to their matching birthmarks, even if he’s not sure what it is (at this point, it’d be easier to count the things Alm (thinks he) knows for certain).

Either they’ve had no need for the dungeons (which I really doubt) or it’s Rigel policy to execute their prisoners.

Whatever Alm pictured it hadn’t been this. Celica bound and naked, presided over by Father Jedah, who he knows for a fact detests him and his whole family (which is interesting considering one doctrine of his religion is to submit to “rightful authority.” Well, even if he personally dislikes them, he’s smart enough not to be (openly) treasonous).

Alm’s reacts with indignation. Demanding Jedah explain himself. How much of it is him peeved that someone else is messing with his wife/archnemesis and how much of it is genuine concern for Celica isn’t outright stated but I have to say it seems more of the former than the latter.

Even Alm’s unnerved by Jedah’s (obvious) creepiness. I wonder what duties he performs or sway he holds that make him worth keeping around.

Alm’s motivations aside (which are far from pure), in this situation, I approve of him roughing up Jedah and getting Celica out of his hold as quickly as possible.

Celica’s legal position is dicey. Technically, she’s still married to Alm, which does make her a princess of Rigel, but she’s also, by choice, opposes Rigel too, so…

It’s weird how Alm is simultaneously so emotional yet so detached. He’s screaming and manhandling Jedah yet he feels divorced from the situation, as if someone else were piloting his body.

Jedah doesn’t seem to be afraid for his life, calmly explaining to Alm that he’s performing an important ritual to “cleanse” Celica’s soul of “evil” (or whatever his definition of it is) and that he’s not planning to do anything “untowards” to her.

Alm realizes Jedah’s true aim. He means to strip Celica of her free will and turn her into a servant of Duma. A practice deemed so abhorrent that it has been expressly forbidden (by anyone who’s not Jedah).

Jedah subjected two of his daughters to that fate. Creep.

Alm’s resulting anger is very relatable and a part of me wishes he followed through on his threat and beaten the guy to a pulp.

I’m as surprised as Alm is when Celica speaks up for the first time. Looking and sounding far more composed than she’s probably feeling on the inside.

Alm’s taken aback. It’s decidedly awkward to be seeing her so exposed (both figuratively and literally).

Celica, despite her weakened state, gives Alm a thorough dressing down. She knows Alm and she knows he’s only getting worked up because of his possessiveness and his pride.

Alm, stunned, lets Jedah go (unfortunately). He’s indignant that she’s not more gracious for his rescue (which was totally his intention from the beginning, yep, definitely no self-deception going on here). Celica doesn’t buy his bullshit and presses on. Alm, meanwhile, tries (and fails) not to be turned on by this. Getting distracted by the look of her lips and her breasts (really Alm?).

Celica lampoons him for his “I’m the only one allowed to lay a hand on her” mentality.

Alm snaps, gets up in her face and yells at her to shut it or else. He hadn’t counted on Celica actually clamming up.

Alm has the gall to be surprised that Celica’s terrified of him. Who wouldn’t be? If they were at the mercy of their emotionally unstable (ex?) husband, who bears a grudge against them.

Alm’s sickened to the point of nearly barfing when he realizes this. But rather than self-reflect, he’s insulted that she’s treating him like the “bad guy” (which he isn’t, he tells himself) and focuses instead on covering up his panic attack (as a ruler cannot afford to show “weakness”).

It’s frustrating to watch Alm so close to a revelation and then balk from it (but realistic as well).

When it comes to Celica, his mind and heart’s a mess and he can’t decide whether he’d preferred for her to look at him in disdain or terror.

One thing he’s sure of is he doesn’t want Jedah to see him breakdown. So he runs out of that cell like a bat out of hell. Not stopping till he’s in his room and can take care of his inappropriate erection.

He’s so shaken up, he can only repeat, “I’m sorry,” over and over again. Though if he’s apologizing for a specific something or just in general, it’s hard to tell (though I lean towards the latter interpretation).

When a second messenger comes to fetch him, all Alm wants to do is curl up and forget his shame but that would be conduct unworthy of a brand bearer (a role he tenaciously clings to) so he forces himself to get up and answer his father’s summons.

Jedah tattles on Alm (boy, did he give Jedah plenty of ammunition) and he has to endure his father’s Stern Look of Disapproval.

The King is Not Pleased about his son’s behavior. Although he expresses his anger subtly in front of Jedah, it’s exceedingly obvious from Alm’s pov (someone’s in trouble).

Jedah exits like the smug bastard he is.

Alm looks to his cousin for support but whatever Berkut’s personal opinion on the matter, he’s already decided to side with the king.

Alm, unable to take this silent stalemate any longer, tries to justify his actions to his dad (no one who’s serious about an apology adds in a but).

But the king’s not having any of it. And rebukes his son for his insubordination (it is not Alm’s day).

Alm tries to wriggle out of the accusation. He believed he was following orders since he assumed his father would want him to see Celica (so he wasn’t acting impulsively or selfishly at all).

The king sees through his son’s excuses. He berates Alm for so openly and cavalierly disobeying him when the kingdom’s already in so much turmoil.

Alm becomes defiant. He was only trying to protect Celica (ignoring that he stomped into her cell for a different reason altogether) so in his mind that makes his actions righteous and just.

The king’s mad that his son apparently thinks so little of him that he believes he would condone sexual assault, even on prisoners. Besides, he’s secure in the knowledge that Jedah’s order wouldn’t stoop to such a measure either (but torture’s totally fine).

But, as Alm rightfully points, if they’re willing to forcefully convert women into witches, what wouldn’t they be willing to do?

The king’s ensuing outburst reveals underneath all his anger and disappointment, he’s scared for his son too (which goes a long way in humanizing him).

Unexpectedly, Berkut speaks up, saying they’re concerned that Alm is taking this marriage far too seriously and that it’s interfering with his judgement (which is a surprisingly fair point).

Alm is at first enraged at this assertion but when he remembers how he’s acted in the cell and what he might have done to Celica, he’s shaken.

It turns out (if the king is telling the truth) that if Alm hadn’t jumped the gun, he would’ve gotten what he wanted. To see Celica. Now, there’s no chance he’ll be seeing her at all and, more importantly, Jedah will have free reign to do whatever he wants during the interrogation.

If being denied something he wants after screwing up is, “the most humiliating moment of his life,” then Alm’s lead a very charmed life indeed.

Approaching the prince when he’s boiling over with rage (which Jedah had no small part in) and then threatening him (not that he’s very successful in scaring Alm) is not the smartest move Jedah’s ever made.

Alm makes a brief counter-threat and then marches straight to the barracks to calm his mind and body through physical exertion (though I have a feeling it won’t work).

At first, Celica conducts herself in a clinical, matter-of-fact manner. Noting that she’s probably alone and that the blindfold and exposure are effective tools for psychological warfare.

Celica feels she should be use this opportunity to analyze her surroundings, scrutinize what she already knows and formulate an escape plan, but she can’t concentrate. She can’t just flip a switch and turn off her emotions. And she’s terrified of how vulnerable she is, how easily her captors could take advantage of her.

Celica has to blank her mind before she can get her body marginally more relaxed. She also has to carefully think around reminders of her helplessness to avoid another panic attack. Her prioritizes shifting from escape to survival.

To fortify her mind, Celica prays to her Goddess for strength and resilience. Celica senses she’s going to be doing a lot of praying.

Then, without preamble, we jump straight into the first interrogation with Jedah.

Interesting that he starts off talking about a Zofian Duma Faithful, as if to say Celica could also “rise above” her Zofia blood and upbringing.

To make her more pliable, the interrogations are “supplemented” with starvation and dehydration.

In a subsequent interrogation, Jedah elaborates on the doctrines of Duma. Specifically, that only certain people are worthy of wielding power. Celica remarks it’s a good justification for maintaining the status quo.

Jedah switches to the attack, calling Zofians spoiled brats unable to do anything for themselves. Interested only in their own self-gratification. Celica can’t completely disagree with his assessment when it comes to her father. She recalls how she had to hide the real reason she wanted to learn sword-fighting behind a frivolous one.

Jedah proclaims that they did Zofia a favor by disposing of their ruling class so therefore Celica’s mission to take back the throne is inherently egotistical and self-serving. In her mind, Celica calls Duma an idiot because she’s working her butt off to protect Zofia. She’s done more than could be asked or expected out of anyone to ensure Zofia’s prosperity.

Jedah tells her coldly that Milla would be so disappointed in her and her methods. Celica just affirms she’ll do what is necessary to restore Zofia, even if she seethes with resentment at her father as she thinks it.

Jedah harps on her “tainted” lineage and Celica, at the end of her rope, retorts would he have her murder her own father then? While she intended for it to come across as a sarcastic joke, Celica realized that in the heat of the moment she really meant it. It’s enough to offset even Jedah.

I love how you write all of the interrogations bleeding into each other like this. It compresses and confuses the passage of time, putting us in Celica’s shoes.

Jedah changes focus to Duma scripture (which, judging from the snippets, results in a mind-numbingly boring theology lesson).

Celica can still keep track of the interrogations. They’re given her water but only to keep her alive so she’s still starving.

Jedah impresses on Celica that the Duma don’t revel in senseless violence. Unlike the Zofians, who let their lust and their passions run rampant.

Celica had never fit in at court for this very reason. She cared far more about running the country than she had about parties or sex or fun.

Jedah tries again to frame her rebellion as folly, as the campaign of one rogue agent acting without the consensus or support of her fellow countrymen.

Celica knows he’s wrong on that account. There are Zofians who feel the same as her willing to fight for Zofia’s liberation (case in point, Mathilda).

Celica, sadly, doesn’t consider herself worth anything, much less fighting for.

Celica appears to be losing it. She laughs uncontrollably (mentally and out loud) at the audacity of Jedah to say that Rigel did nothing wrong (because they conquered Zofia “fair and square”) when she witnessed them ransacking their temple and taking Milla captive. It’s the second time she’s managed to stun Jedah and she “apologizes” to him for her outburst (though she’s clearly being sarcastic).

Jadeh continues the interrogation, claiming that everything he’s done to hurt her (physically, mentally, emotionally) is all a part of the process to teach her a valuable lesson. She needs to toughen up and be grateful.

Celica is more concerned with her empty stomach and parched throat. They’re only feeding her the bare minimum.

He moves on to the story of Sage Vega. Someone who faced life’s hardship head on and let suffering be his teacher. Celica quips that while pathetic may not have fitted the sage, “[pathetic] suits [Jedah] just fine.” Then worries that she accidentally said it out loud.

Unfortunately, right at the most mortifying moment, Celica has to pee.

“..Even the king grew jealous of his following, as royals are prone to do so around holy-men.” Wow, Jedah has quite the persecution complex.

At the mention of Sage Vega’s charisma, Celica thinks of her own allies. If they’d still follow her if they saw like this (naked, scared, at the complete mercy of the enemy) and deciding they wouldn’t. Their relationship doesn’t go much deeper than their shared cause.

Celica doesn’t even think her own brother loves her, just the sister she used to be before the fire. She still cares about him, though.

Her bladder is bothering her more and more. It’s doubtful that Jedah will give her a bathroom break.

Sage Vega was apparently put in the exact same position as Celica. But he endured it serenely and came out of it a better person. So that’s the origin of this ritual? They turned the method of this guy’s torture into a purification ceremony? That’s messed up.

Jedah’s earlier words about both sides in a war needing supporters (or else it’s just wanton violence) seem to be worming their way into Celica’s head as she questions whether she’s fighting for her people or for a nation. She questions if the average Zofian citizen gives one hoot about her either.

Celica’s hunger is becoming more pressing. To the point where almost every thought is punctuated by a mention of how hungry she is.

Celica begs her Goddess not to let her wet herself. To let her keep a little shred of dignity.

In a complete 180 from before, Jedah claims that with her lineage and Milla’s favor she could go on to do “great things.” Though it’s very unlikely Jedah’s definition of great things matches up with either Celica’s or the reader’s.

Celica can’t hold it in anymore and, to her everlasting shame, she soils herself. Which was probably set up in advance as a humiliation tactic (such as stripping her naked).

Jedah’s faux kindliness as he pontificates on how Duma can “save” Celica and give her “peace,” honestly creeps me out more than anything else he’s said so far (which is saying a lot).

Things are getting more muddled in Celica’s head. She’s lost count of the number of interrogations. Not a good sign.

It’s jarring to read Jedah go from “loving” and “compassionate,” (saying they’re all one big happy family) to callous and cold (telling her to shut up and just do as she’s directed). Sometimes from one sentence to the next.

He claims that even if she were to successfully drive Rigel out, Zofia would be in an even sorrier state then they are under Rigel’s “benevolent” rule. All to break her will.

Celica ruminates less on Zofia or family or power now, then she does on the fact that she really wants to be put out of her misery already.

Jedah hammers in his point that continued resistance to Rigel’s “rightful” rule will just bring about more suffering in the long run.

Celica remarks bitterly to herself that she knows she should just die already, like her mother did after fulfilling her baby-making purpose.

Jedah startles her when he bang something (who knows what) close to her body. It’s all the more shocking since it’s the closest he’s come to physically striking her in these series of interrogations.

Celica pleads her Goddess for death, rather than suffer the degradation of crying openly in front of her tormentor. She keeps begging for death, it’s like a mantra in her head (my heart break for Celica here).

And then he suddenly touches her and does…something that causes her to pass out.

He promises not to scream at her or touch her (anymore) before popping the big question this has all been leading up to. All she has to do to end this torment and finally be “at peace” is agree to “repent” and swear fealty to Duma and Rigel (Duma, of course, taking precedent).

Was…was Celica able to hold out? Even extremely weakened and her very sense of self under attack? Wow.

What a nail-biting cliffhanger! It somehow managed to leave Celica even worse off than the last chapter did. I hope she’ll be okay but I know it’s unlikely she’ll be anywhere approaching okay after all that. Still a very magnificent, psychologically thrilling chapter! The best of the story so far and I’m excited to see where you take things from here!

This was a quite a wild chapter (I saw as if things aren’t always crazy in this au) I didn’t intend to go into such detail for the torture as I wanted to remain a sensitive writer, but it felt necessary for Celica’s story and so I’m glad it has gotten good reception, I feel as if this really solidified the identity of the story and the direction is shall be heading

Starting with Alm’s part, he’s a character that really doesn’t know himself, looking back it’s why it took so long to get his POV bc for the most part he has been exactly as he has presented himself, while he did hide his intentions to help kidnap Mila, his worldview is slowly unraveling apart piece by piece and he doesn’t know what to do

I joked while discussing his part here that his struggle is less “too horny to function” and more how power, sex, and violence are so connected to each other and all stem from his bubbling frustration, that they kinda substitute each other and switch out he directs his aggression towards different targets, he’s always been sure until now so it as if his brain keeps trying to swap out different reactions to see which one fits, so will beating up Jedah help? Will sleeping with Celica do the trick? He doesn’t know the answer and that’s one of the most terrifying dilemmas for him to face

Feeding into that is Rigel’s public attitude towards punishment, despite their value of power, Rigel hasn’t engaged in legit warfare for centuries outside of domestic, inter-regional conflicts, so as a prisoner of war, Celica is still pretty unique, and while Jedah’s horribleness doesn’t come from nowhere, he is an extremist that certainly doesn’t reflect everyone’s values, especially an anti-theist like Rudolf (Alm’s father) but then comes the moral quandary of what can/should be allowed, sexual assault and physical torture is condemned yet they turn a blind eye to the psychological harm they inflict, not to mention Celica’s state certainly suggests an implicit threat of sexual violence, which they might never intend to fulfill but certainly helps breaking her, it’s one of the reason Celica’s dressing down of Alm is filled with such sexual innuendo (aside from goading and passive aggressively agitating Alm), because while they lay certain boundaries, allowing others to be crossed in the end have the same effect, whether she is pierced by Alm’s blade or “blade” the violence wrought is all the same, when he promises to take care of her, that can mean two very different things

Alm has a very self-victimizing attitude as he sees himself as tormented by Celica, so I thought having the realization that she’s frightened of him, would perfectly encapsulate that identity crisis of his, he’s never critically reflected on whether his actions are “good” or not, just trusting his base intentions and so when faced with the question “would I have done something I find unforgivable simply bc I felt justified” he is unable answer yes or no, despite how desperately he wishes he could say no, and that is going to weigh on his soul for the rest of the story

Going into Celica’s side, while she hasn’t trusted Alm for most of their relationship, she has never seem him so volatile before and very all her brutal truths and cutting remarks, she is still a teenage girl in a terrifyingly vulnerable situation, so logic is hard to mantain

Also I can never get enough introspection each session was fun to play around with, Jedah’s arguments are circular and self-contradictory but they boil down to

1) you are inherently sinful and evil

2) Through submission to authority and what he deems the status-quo you can be purified

What makes her sinful changes from statement to statement, her father’s sins, her defiance of Rigel, for simply being born Zofian, he’s simply throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks, and what cuts the deepest are the scars already left by Zofia, that because she cares and can’t turn a blind eye from injustice like her father can, that is what makes her broken, people would like her and her life would be easier if she went with the passivity ultimately both Zofia and Rigel demand of her, if she didn’t fight and resist, she could have enjoyed the pleasures her father indulged in or the comforts Jedah promises her, but that is equivalent to wanting her dead, maybe not physically but spiritually as they essentially want her but without everything that makes her Celica

Also a minor point of clarification but it was less an actual spell but more the fear and stress taking a toll Celica that causes her to pass out at the end, gripping her chin mirrored the same action as Alm basically sent her into the same panicked response

After promising a breather for like three chapters I think it is around the corner now, both Alm and Celica have new things to contend with and for now they both have to chart new paths to take, thanks once again for your amazing reviews, they always seem to be timed to hit just when I need them

#seasalt talks #cute things #arranged marriage au #seriously this means a lot to me #submission

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militiapax · 7 years

Text

I Was There(Great)...Again

Trumpur(i)nations to us All! We’re all bout to get pissed on!

Washington DC resembled that of a (I’m told) harry potter fog/ whitey? people game of thrones dystopian nightmare. But mostly Dark Knight. I don’t know if it was Trump jacking Bane’s speech with grim, hitler-esque tones of totalitarian madness or the bird flocks looming feverishly around the white house like a wild pack of bats, but it was a spot on parallel to everyone’s worst knightmares rolled into a huge piece of frightful blockbuster entertainment. And the reality show rolls on.

The sky looked like dark knighttime and blinding day white at the same time (and not just the fact that trump’s fan club was almost exclusively white).

Insane amount of security, took 45 minutes to walk through a checkpoint. These did not exist at Obama’s inauguration, where there was WAY MORE PEOPLE, who was gloriously happy, singing Bob Dylan, and being vaguely observed by like 14 snipers. That brilliant day eight years ago, people flooded the mall, search-free, and though it was far colder, everyone was warm. It was a great day. This, this was something entirely different. Took almost an hour to get through the ridiculous line, but not after security dramatically broke the stick that was supporting my NODAPL sign, with white priv trump bros taunting me with “just like your broken dreams”. Once inside, it was clear no one was there, just a hitler-esque speech about carnage and a war on muslimism. It was bleak to say the last. This is what the end of America sounds like.

Had to get away from the terrible sounds of hatred and racism and found far more people protesting nearby. Saw a busted up limo, though no evidence of who did it, and it was claimed later the vehicle was set on fire. So the chants got louder and then the masses came out, still peaceful, but heated. They used the limo thing to justify pepper spraying everyone ever, including elder women who were just singing. Then they started dropping bombs like WW7 and people were running down the streets for their lives. The blockbuster movie again. Retreating in the park nearby, hearing the bombs dropping, there was talk of a soldier who was experiencing PTSD by being there; chaos was everywhere. I heard everyone smoked at 4:20 into trump’s speech, which I distantly smelled, but mine was a smoke cloud of terror. When it was all said and not done, peoples’ eyes were burning, horrid smells of berning encompassed city blocks, chemicals were taste-able in the air, 200 arrests of people rounded up in the area that did nothing now facing insane felony charges; the city was on fire….not a strong start.

The Awokening

The following day was like a waking of a dead collective unconscious. There were so many people flooding the streets. Just maybe there are some good people left. It was reassuring, yet heartbreaking to think what they and their children will have to endure. On the way out, saw a Muslim man being arrested outside an apartment building in VA. Probable coincidence but weird sight nonetheless, chilling past future reminders of the madness ahead and behind.

Walking with all the people, the women, the children, so many clever signs, it was a breathtaking image. The celebrity scene was tight too. Lil’ bigg Mikey Moore was there again, inspiring us to action through his humor, his confessed crippling social anxiety, and the beginning of an anti-trump satire movement. Scarlett Johansen seemed to get it, and Ashley Judd’s words chilled to the very core. Madonna was a little questionable, particularly her performance, but the indigo girls soothed with a once popular uplifting 90s vibe, we have to bring that sound with us into this uncertain future. There’s something about the wonder of the unknown that seemed exciting, not frightening, on the capitol that day. That if there are enough good people still left in this country, we really might use this horror show to create something amazing. The revolutionary shift is truly upon us now, people are getting woke AF, etc. Uplifting, inspiring, and lots of chanting. “Show me what democracy looks like “ “This is what Democracy looks like. “ “Whose streets?” “our streets!” (not wall street), we even threw a couple “Bernie would have wons” into the mix; it was not difficult to get that one going quick et loud. Flooding through the streets with the largest crowd I’ve ever marched with, full of so many passionate, compassionate women and human beings, was truly glorious expression of an engaged political process that works of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Non-Alternative Facts

To be clear, There were WAY MORE PEOPLE at the womens’ march than the Inauguration

The women’s march was a reassuring, hopeful bucket of sunshine compared to the apocolypto ****show I had witnessed the day before. And there were a ton more people there. I repeat : There were way, way MORE PEOPLE AT THE MARCH ON SATURDAY, no matter how much the fake media actual photos tries to lie to us with facts. And for the record, way more of those who actually showed up Friday were there to protest Donny, and everyone there Saturday was protesting him except twelve embarrassed/angry trumpets, so the numbers are not in his favor. FAUX FACTcheck

There was a point with an engaged discussion between trumpets and non-trumpets that was uplifting, hopeful, and something different to see. Most of the exchanges between us were heckles.

One month Down…so far Down to go

My journey was wrapping up in DC, but only beginning to unwrap for life after Donny. As long as maniacs roam free in that tainted house I kept staring at in wonder and disgust, the fight will continue. As long as injustice and inhumanity occurs, WE the people will be here.

I walk past the massive sign displays lining a fence, greatly resembling a certain future Mexican wall, only these were expressing messages of hope and peace, not division and hatred. I left a couple of the signs I had been carrying around all day against the fence. I hope this incredible art piece stays here until Trump is impeached, but I am told they were all burned later that night by Trump’s thug brigade fan boys. Ew L Though this week has been a shakey start (understatement of the century), the marches and protests come to confirm what we knew all along: this country is great because of those who stay involved, not those who stay in charge.

REVELATION NATION

It’s more than kinda crazy we rejected a qualified woman running for prez for the most sexist, sexual assaulting, and least qualified man to ever run for prez. Double Slap in the face for women, and now trumps tryin to close planned parenthood and ban abortion so it as a reaction to all those things and much more. nobody there cared that hill dawg didnt get a divorce. i know i dont.

This man can shove his way into our heads and twitterings and blood and infect us with the new old fascists amerika that was always there but you tried not to talk about til that black dude left the room.

What has happened here today leaves many stunned, punched, and wanting to move to Europe. But there’s no escape from tyranny, there’s no escape from dictatorship or racism or the few with so much wanting to keep it at the expense of their fellow people. (well maybe Sweden?) When there is enough for us all but some want more and that’s ok because “I worked for it” but don’t see how it’s the rich we should blame. The working poor felt the sadness, the women felt it--

Do you believe us now, do you feel how fragile your life really was and the floor slipping out from under the poor. “I wont be affected” you will, plus that kinda makes you sound like a dick bag, big time.

We are each other, one people. If there is injustice , it must be made right, and especially by those more so in the position to do and not suffering the same as those oppressed most, our Fellow Humans.

And we’ve lost Ourselves, only to find Ourselves

We have much to fight for now, don’t you see?

This is the point in the world… this is it.

No exaggerating, no whammy—just WHAM

I saw it but I still don’t believe it.

The sinking feeling that swept the crowd under a fog that was darkness but blinding white

Is it snowing

Are there bombs going off

YES, and you will have nightmares for weeks, but that’s nothing compared to four years, four more minutes

and the city burns, and not in the good berning way, the way that makes you see that the inherent flaws within capitalism and this great experiment of democracy that has truly succumbed to the inescapable corruptions of man. THAT kinda way

8 years ago it was all different. Funny to think. Makes you laugh that painful cringe that turns a stomach

In the way that Ashley judd could catapult southern words into our shivering goosebumped souls-

It wasn’t even cold, not raining like the yesterdays of inaugurations-

How long ago that must have been

We are Fighting for what we are Living for

Why bother? Everyone has their reasons—the families gathered here are fueled by love

Why did people vote for trump? Everyone has their reasons

Mostly action comes from places pushed to walls, bumps of dissatisfaction

we’ve grown too irritated to keep scratching, maybe we’re just tired

Meryl Lynch Streep

And even when the most beloved women who the public idolized like a star in the sky, defended the cripples and those who were different, and even those who weren’t. she herself was not defended, instead the public began to question even her trusted voice of wisdom, they questioned very facts as presented by a corporate fueled source-well I guess that part did make a little more sense-but they weren’t asking the right questions

Who made the choice---when we think we’re doing something on own , hand tied to its pupeteer.

“You’re a puppet. “no YOU’RE the puppet”

We’re ALL PUPPETS, getting played by the puppeteer, and now it’s gotten worse,

How do we get out of this nowwwww ---sinkink sinking sink holes earthquakes?

You did technically want it this way. depravity enforced, we can all speak our filthy little minds now

But it pushes you somewhere when things got lost so lost

We can cry and be babies and we are but we need to get out there now

Put bodies in ideas, action in passive, standing but sitting (in)

Just to clarify in a time where Nothing is Clear:

man-hating feminists? they been calling women who stand up for womens' rights that forever-don’t let it get to us now !! and not on our big day !

the trumpers sc(r)ewed perspective is less credible than Trump thinks CNN is. yeah no, i was there, the women were standing up for themselves, with a bunch of men with them in solidarity. if anything they might have been angry at specific white dudes taking away their rights...makes sense. This blind love of trump twists reality, and reasoning has mostly gone out of open close-minded windows. 1) they weren't specifically anti-pro life, whatever that is, they spoke to maintaining planned parenthood and affordable womens' healthcare. 2) there were tons and tons of organizers who've worked on a variety of campaigns, so it's possible one has questionable ties. this should in no sense discredit the event. 3) i saw no volugarity, just an inspirational crowd of men and women who care about the future for them and their children. im sure some would be offended by some things throughout the march, but that will happen in a ginormous crowd of passionate people, made up of families, women, and men all coming together peacefully. thought it was super non-vulgar

Inspiration Nation

honestly, there is something very wrong and darkly twisted within this current ray of disarray, trump, all his cabinet picks, all of it. Examine the true direction of this country, the true nature of the people living here. Stop allowing misinformed, destruction to keep circulating as news. This will not stand but know there are many to resist on all sides, that’s why we need to all join the same team. There are 99% of us getting wrecked and everything else is a distraction, keep us fighting, keep it us vs. us, when everyone knows it has and will always be (until we unite) US vs THEM. In the past, people waking up to it, those who are hip to it and get others on board, well we know what happens to them. That’s why this many of us getting pissed off, standing up to corrupt leaders across the world, we will finally reach the ultimate level of our strength in numbers (plus there’s more people on the planet now than there’s ever been, and that’s a hard fact to be faux).

Is it possible we can actually win now, again, yet for the first time? We have no other choice. The tipping point is upon us, environmentally, there is no choice. Socially, religiously, economically, there is no choice. Make or break, do or die, stay WOKE but get WOKER, and much, much quicker. People have been fighting for this for years , they’ve laid the groundwork, now for the berners and youthers and lovers and thinkers and dreamers-- to bring it home. You’ve been informed (shout out to Bernard on this one), you can no longer keep your heads sandy and your hearts wavering. Join us, the militia pax, the war of peace, THE fight-it must be fought, has been fought, will be fought. No choice left but to WIN.

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#stillsanders womens'march

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