14 foods that improve your smell of your body

We all have a natural perfume, but whether we are aware of it or not, the things we eat affect our smell. There are some foods that can make you smell beautiful and increase your attractiveness, just as there are some nutrients that make us stink (like cabbage, broccoli, and other vegetables containing sulfur). Here are the top foods that make your body smell wonderful and act as an au naturel perfume, proving once again that "you are what you eat." 14 foods that improve your smell of your body

1. Citrus

14 foods that improve your smell of your body When consumed, citrus acts as a sort of deodorizer. If you eat oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, or strawberries, you'll take on their aroma, which is fresh and energizing. If you don't like these fruits, you could want to add some lime or lemon to your beverage.

2. Jasmine tea

All herbal teas aid in toxin removal, which improves your natural odor. Jasmine has a very alluring perfume. In addition to relaxing your digestive system, jasmine tea accomplishes this. Who doesn't want to smell like fresh jasmine, after all?

3. Apples

14 foods that improve your smell of your body Apples have several ways to eliminate odor. In addition to serving as a natural detergent, apples also help to remove plaque from teeth and any food particles that may be lodged in your mouth and producing bacteria and bad breath.

4. Yogurt

Yogurt has several advantages, from your skin to your digestive system. Feel free to indulge in your parfait because the naturally occurring probiotics in it can aid in the battle against and neutralization of body odor. Simply avoid using too much sugar.

5. Apple cider vinegar

14 foods that improve your smell of your body ACV is your greatest option if you have bad foot odor. It works as an antibacterial bath and when taken, it has the same cleansing properties. Additionally, it dries extra sweat and is a cheap approach to maintain the harmony of your system. Whenever possible, dilute in water to reduce the acidity.

6. Celery

This underappreciated vegetable is bursting with fiber and has the ability to burn calories. Most significantly, androstenol and androstenone, which are odor molecules, are abundant in celery stalks. These pheromones increase arousal in your body as soon as they leave your lips, causing it to generate signals and odors that increase your attractiveness to potential partners!

7. White fish

Even though you won't have an enticingly seductive aroma, this will eliminate unpleasant odors, which is especially useful if you're a carnivore who frequently overconsumes red meat. When our body breaks down fish, no offensive odors are produced, unlike with that burger or steak. Cod, halibut, haddock, or tilapia are examples of white fish.

8. Water

Although technically not a food, dehydration is a major cause of unpleasant odors in individuals. Our bodies use water to clean out and get rid of things that make us stink. If you absolutely detest drinking water on its own, consume fruits and vegetables that are high in water content and add a lemon slice.

9. Fresh herbs

With their fragrant, botanical character, herbs like basil, mint, and rosemary have the power to upend order. It functions as mouthwash by disguising odors from anything garlicky or strongly flavored that you would not want to linger in your mouth thanks to the essential oils in these herbs. Think about serving your dessert with some mint or basil.

10. Truffles

Truffles are pricy for many people to include in their diet, however truffle oil is less expensive and contains the same amount of pheromones as celery. Androstenol is abundant in both celery and truffles. The rest of the population will enjoy the musky perfume even though 25% of people cannot smell these pheromones.

11. Fenugreek seeds

Fenugreek is frequently pulverized and added to a curry because of its strong antioxidant content, which aids in the body's detoxification process. They may be used as salad toppings. Additionally, fenugreek seeds aid in digestion improvement and odor elimination. If you enjoy making Indian food, including this should be simple. Fennel seeds work just as well.

12. Kombucha

Consider this fermented beverage if you don't like yogurt but still need your daily dose of beneficial bacteria. It helps prevent bad breath and maintains a healthy digestive system. Since kombucha from the store can be pricey, you might want to try creating your own DIY version at home.

13. Ginger

Although ginger can have a strong flavor, if you add some to your food and beverages, you won't smell like ginger. Instead, it will eliminate any more offensive scents; a lemon and ginger tea will be especially cleansing and combat offensive odors. A few ginger slices can aid with stomach issues if your odor is caused by gassiness.

14. Coconut oil

14 foods that improve your smell of your body One of the main causes of body odor is poor digestion. Your sense of smell may be impacted. While there are many meals that can aid in healthier digestion, it's useful to be aware of a cooking oil that can also mask odors. With just a tablespoon added to your meals, coconut oil can significantly improve that stench.   Read the full article

Why Jungkook will fall in love with his future spouse

First of all I hear, “Can’t help it”. It’s a strong magnetic pull that Jungkook simply can’t resist. “Before I even knew what it was, I was already in love”. “I try everything to stay out and stay away, but every time I fall deeper and deeper”. I’ve already mentioned that I strongly feel that his is a twinflame connection. There’s an intense and all-consuming attraction between him and his partner that neither of them seem to have any control over. The connection has a mind of its own and instead of getting normal with time, it just keeps intensifying. There’s the typical push and pull dynamic, where one moment they try to get rid of the connection and the next moment they want to cling to it. One moment it’s a gift from the heavens, then the next, the biggest curse. They love each other but don’t always know what to do with it or how to handle it without anyone getting hurt. Specifically speaking of Jungkook, he finds her when he was a bit... lost, for the lack of a better word. She brings in a sort of newness in his life, something exciting to look forward to everyday. Twinflames are reflections of each other, so as the connection grows, he sort of “sees” himself in her, both physically and personality-wise. He finds another him in a world where he was feeling a little lost and lonely. Typically in a twinflame connection, Divine Feminines are the advanced spiritual journeyers who sort of lead the connection from a spiritual standpoint (whereas Divine Masculines lead in the physical world), so Jungkook finds “answers” pertaining to his life, from both her and the connection in general. He gains overall clarity about some things. But that’s not all that a TF connection does, therefore he also gets hella confused about a lot of things. This is because he is in a process of awakening spiritually which is why his perceptions of life are being challenged and changed. This is why, while on the one hand, he gets more clarity, on the other, he gets more tangled up, until those tangles are sorted out and then he gets tangled up about something else again. So on and so forth. This is of course frustrating for him, given that he is in a stage of his life where he doesn’t have the luxury of time for sitting in silence for spiritual awakening to happen. However, he also feels an overall sense of growth and calmness that comes with your spiritual journey, whether or not it is welcomed. This connection propels him to a new direction of knowledge and awareness and there’s almost a supernatural, otherworldly aspect to his life because of this. There are moments when he wants to make it all go away but he also feels himself becoming into a new version. This whole process is one of the reasons he loves her. This “new” perspective that she gives him. Before her, his life was a tired cycle of old thoughts, beliefs, habits and practices. One thing that must be mentioned is that this process starts even before she comes into his life. He starts slipping into the “dark night of the soul”, an indispensable stage of spiritual awakening, a few years before he meets her, where he is a little disenchanted with the world, the people in it, and life in general— including love. There is a sense of despair and hopelessness about what the world has to offer. Everything feels meaningless and purposeless— not like he hates his life, but more of the drudgery of everyday life, the same things happening over and over again without any real growth or advancement on life. This was the stage where he was, consciously or subconsciously (mostly subconsciously, because when you “awaken” is when you find consciousness), seeking answers and some kind of a purpose to it all, that would give him the motivation to move ahead— heck, to even get up from bed every morning. Like, “What is the point of all this? What is the point of life at all? Why am I doing what I am doing everyday? Is this the best way I can live my life? If yes, then why do I only feel OK and not exhilarated every moment? Is there a way to feel happier than what I feel right now?”

TFs typically meet at this point of seeking answers. Like I said earlier, the DFs (gender neutral) tend to be ahead in their spiritual journey so they are the ones who tend to have some of the “answers” before the DMs. So when the meet, the DMs almost feel “initiated” into their spiritual journey. Note, the journey starts even before they meet, but now it starts to make sense, albeit at a very slow pace. Nevertheless, compared to the state of mind the DMs are in prior to the meeting, this new and fresh change in their life situation is very welcome to them. This is Jungkook’s first reason of attraction towards his twin. It’s a fresh change in his life, but not in a superficial way, rather in a deeper spiritual way. Of course, twinflames don’t immediately see it as that, as real twinflames typically know absolutely nothing about either spiritual terms or twinflame concepts UNTIL they meet. (Those who say they’ve met their twinflame AFTER they learn about twinflame connections, aren’t really in a TF connection but that’s a topic for another day). It’s like, they’re thrown into water without knowing how to swim, where they are then expected to learn how to swim. It sounds harsh but spiritual awakenings are about being out of your comfort zone without having a clue about it. Twinflames though, are selected for the job because they are innately endowed with personality traits that won’t allow them to drown in the water. They are problem solvers and answer-seekers. If they sense something is wrong around them, even though everyone else is silently following it, they won’t do the same. They would like to first understand what is wrong and then work on righting the wrong. Jungkook, as the DM, naturally has these personality traits, a rebellious, go-against-the-grain attitude being one of them. He was created to question, he was created to seek answers. “Doing the right thing” is important to him. However, when the whole world around you operates directly opposite of your ideas and beliefs, it’s natural to feel alone and also frequently doubt your own beliefs, or end up doing certain wrong things believing that they might be right, or just ignoring the whole soul-yapping. In this situation, he alternatingly chooses between 1) adapting and adjusting with what others are doing, which gives him some moments of conflict-less peace, 2) getting tired and drained of adapting and behaving opposite of what his soul tells him to do and shutting the world out and being alone with his own thoughts and feelings, and 3) feeling lost with no direction or conclusion to his thoughts and then going back to 1 again.

So when he meets his DF, there’s a sense of having another person who understands his POV unlike anyone else ever has. This is because DFs have already gone through this stage before their DMs. She was also thrown in that water and she has figured out a little of how to swim. This makes him feel not alone anymore. And because she is able to articulate these struggles, she also helps him figure out his own way, which gives him a nudge towards the direction that he had been looking for since even before they met. This is why DMs fall in love with their DFs. This is the outer manifestation of the soul connection that they have. As mentioned in the Ideal Type reading as well, when Jungkook said in his interviews about wanting someone to teach him new things, someone maturer than him, it’s all DM behaviour. As is common knowledge, twinflames, from the time they are born, seek their soul counterpart— subconsciously of course. This is why their ideas and concepts about love are really different from, say, their friends or siblings or parents’ ideas. There is something very specific they are looking for without knowing what it is. Their crushes, previous partners etc. all have some attributes very similar to their twinflame counterparts’. Because they were looking for their counterparts in all those people. So when they meet, they have this sense of FINALLY! that they feel deep in their bones without consciously knowing about it. It’s a strange kind of overwhelming happiness in finding your twinflame counterpart for the first time. You don’t know they are your twinflame, heck, you don’t even know the term “twinflame”, yet you feel like you’ve found someone so similar to you it’s unreal. You immediately want to lock arms, see the world together, have all kinds of experiences together because you now have someone with whom you have the purpose and the motivation to see more of this world. You’re not a lonely loser anymore who is a walk inconvenience for everyone with their unconventional thoughts and ideas. Well, if you’re a loser, then at least you now have a partner-in-crime together with whom you can judge the rest of the world. Although the twinflame connection is often confusing, frustrating and full of external problems and obstacles, just the feeling of having a partner who is truly your other half, in a world where everything is so temporary and uncertain, is unparalleled. Honestly, this is the main reason why Jungkook falls in love with his twinflame. Of course, they motivate each other to become better versions of themselves, but self-improvement is a trait they already had in them before they met. It’s the partnership, the “we got each other while we deal with everything else” vibe that is the main foundation of their love. Everything else, like her looks, talent, personality etc. are subordinate and variable— meaning, Jungkook does appreciate all of these things in her, but even if she looked different or had different sets of talents, he would still fall in love with her.

I feel like the only reason the dysphoria debate exists is because a lot of people misunderstand/misinterpret what dysphoria is and what it isn't. This doesn't just go for tucutes, I've seen it from radmeds as well. So, because I have nothing better to do with my time, I'm going to break down GD into the most *layman* terms I possibly can, mixed with my own experiences as a trans guy. This is going off of the DSM-V's definition and criteria for gender dysphoria in adolescents and adults.

The Definition: A marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of at least 6 month's duration, as manifested by at least two of the following ...

What It Means: Gender dysphoria is defined as a disconnect, dissonance, or distance between one's gender and their physical sex. Primary sex characteristics refer to the genitalia, which is colliquy known as bottom dysphoria. Secondary sex characteristics include but aren't limited to voice, facial hair, chest, fat distribution, hips, and bone structure.

The Symptom: A marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics (or in young adolescents, the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)

What It Means: We've established that "incongruence" can be defined as a disconnect, dissonance, or distance. The dictionary definition describes "incongruent" to mean "incompatible". Your physical sex is incompatible with your gender. Your physical sex doesn't represent your real self, and it creates a feeling of discomfort. Some trans kids who are pre-pubescent may dread puberty because of this fact. Some trans folks may not realize anything is wrong until they're a good way through puberty already. Personally, I didn't fully grasp the differences between the sexes until I was a bit older. I knew boys had penises, and that I wanted one, but that was it.

The Symptom: A strong desire to be rid of one's primary and/or secondary sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with one's experienced/expressed gender (or in young adolescents, the desire to prevent the development of the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)

What It Means: Have you ever had a fantasy about sawing your breasts or penis off? Throwing your uterus in the garbage? When your gender and sex are at odds, you want to get rid of the parts of your physical sex that are deemed "incompatible" with your gender, or prevent them from becoming a problem at all through the use of hormone blockers. Some trans people feel this less strongly than others, and may focus more on the desire for the sex characteristics of the opposite sex -- which is also a dysphoria symptom.

The Symptom: A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender

What It Means: Have you ever let your thoughts wander about what it'd be like if you were born in a body that accurately reflects your gender? What does that look like to you, and how does it make you feel? For some trans people, they are saddened by this because of what could've, should've been so from birth. Others are overwhelmed with joy at the thought and are excited for when they can pursue transition. Some trans people experience a mix of both! Gender euphoria and dysphoria are intrinsically tied. If you feel all giddy at the thought of being the opposite or some in-between sex, that's a sign you have dysphoria.

The Symptom: A strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one's assigned gender)

What It Means: This is probably the most straightforward symptom. Have you had long fantasies about being of the opposite or an in-between sex? How did that make you feel? Did you feel happy? A sense of longing? Bittersweet? If you have a strong desire to live as closely to a different sex socially and physically as you possibly can given your circumstances, it's very unlikely that you're cis.

The Symptom: A strong desire to be treated as the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one's assigned gender)

What It Means: Commonly referred to as social dysphoria, this symptom refers to wanting to be perceived as a different sex by the rest of society. This manifests most commonly with pronouns. Males are referred to with He/Him, females She/Her, and They/Them is a neutral pronoun. For many, this also implies trying their best to pass. This doesn't mean trans people can't be GNC, but those with higher dysphoria may be more inclined to prioritize passing over free gender expression as to not risk being misgendered. You may also feel like you don't "fit in" with people of your assigned birth gender, and will gravitate more towards people of the same true gender as you.

The Symptom: A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one's assigned gender)

What It Means: This one is a bit hard to explain. Feelings and reactions aren't necessarily always different between the sexes. Any such differences are usually a result of socialization, e.g. a man being told that crying makes him weak, or a woman being told that she's too weak to do "men's work".

"A Strong Desire"

A criticism I've heard towards transmedicalism is not everyone experiences, or can identify, strong emotions. This is very much true, especially if you have autism or depression, which is common in transgender folks. Some autistic/ADHD people have alexithymia, which means they have the inability to identify and/or describe their own emotions and the emotions of others. Depression can only amplify this, making you feel numb and empty. And as someone who has both autism and depression, I can safely say that my dysphoria overpowers my low-key emotions, personally. Even though I have 5/6 symptoms, which is considered severe, I thought for the longest time that I had mild dysphoria because I wasn't really "feeling" much of anything. I don't at all blame someone for downplaying their own dysphoria because it's "not as bad" as what they read about. It's okay if you don't feel your dysphoria symptoms strongly! That doesn't necessarily mean you're not trans or are faking it.

"If you don't have both primary and secondary sex dysphoria, you just have body dysmorphia!"

This is something I heard from a radmed that I find downright hilarious. Body dysmorphia is not what radmeds think it is, AT ALL. Body dysmorphic disorder is described this way by Mayo Clinic:

Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health disorder in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived flaws in your appearance -- a flaw that appears minor or can't be seen by others. But you may feel so embarrassed, ashamed, and anxious that you may avoid social situations.

Yeah. I was told I just have body dysmorphia because I said I didn't have high bottom dysphoria. Trust me, I know why y'all dislike transmeds as a whole if you've only ever interacted with those types. They fucking suck and tend to downplay anyone who just has less dysphoria than themselves. Body dysmorphic disorder and gender dysphoria are completely different, complicated conditions that cannot and should not be placed on a spectrum with eachother. "Ph, you hate your body but don't have dysphoria? You have dysmorphia!" Don't diagnose people like that. You aren't a medical professional and you look stupid.

If anyone has any questions about this, any at all, feel free to ask in the notes or in my asks. I try to be as civil as possible as being snarky is not the best way to actually educate people.

do you have any thoughts on trans girl jake? i thought their narrative and character arc on being specialized by the others, and being comfortable about themself will wrap up nicely with them ending up as a transgirl!! it defies what people expects of them, and breaks them out of the traditional idealized reoccurring masculinity theme (which jake was obviously uncomfortable with)

(what follows is my personal thoughts, i’m not laying down the word of God, i just have Thots on Jake English ALSO THIS IS A PRETTY LONG POST? IM SORRY. i promise i will include pics.) 

Jake English is a gender mimic. He’s the ‘raised by wolves’ trope, except instead of literally being raised by dog like Grandpa Harley he had a few years with Jade and then mostly nothing but the monsters at lusii island and a crap-ton of escapist media. He’s used to having a full playing field where he can indulge in unquestioned fantasy, and that comes in the form of his Indiana + Croft sexy 2000′s hero persona that is comfortable for him (and its worthy of note how one is Peak masculinity and the other is Peak femme fatale) until he has to really interact with real people with Expectations and Biases. 

This is where i need to talk about the alphas. It’s nearly impossible to talk about Jake without talking about how he adapts around other people, specially the ones that he truly gives a shit about. Jake selectively picks the opinions that matter to him, and these are mostly what the other alphas think. (Compare to how he speaks over Erisol, jesters around Caliborn, and mostly pumps his own self pity with Tavrosprite for compliments- If you don’t want to count the epilogues scene he has with Davekat which mostly boils down to “you might have a point, but i’m loyal to jane, so you’ll have to really convince me of politics.”)

What holds him back from dating Dirk is Jane’s opinion, and What Jane Could Think (which is in no way jane’s fault, just his overthinking) because unlike dirk’s high octane masculinity, she’s the pillar of sitcom normalcy in his life. She lives in the real world, mostly removed from the bullshit the rest of the alphas are in, and she’s written to be the ideal generic romcom youth living a perfectly picture worthy life. The disastrous conversation where Jane denies her feelings is prompted by Jake finding confirmation she’s into him via Roxy- and he immediately grows nervous of that meaning she wouldn’t “approve” him going any other way, or that it’d be weird for a boy like him. And he needs to be sure before anything else- and also every step of the way, which will eventually exhaust her because its a load of bullshit and not her responsibility.  It’s not that he doesn’t want to, it’s more that he’s afraid what others will think if he wants.

But he’s never direct about it. He just brings things up and lets people get their own opinions from it- because he’s REALLY passive about conflict and he’d rather solve things with the least amount of struggle possible, always. He just needs confirmation. And then comes this bit:

I read this bit of text in 2 ways: 1) Jake realizing pretty soon that his attractions aren’t limited to gender. & 2) Jake realizing pretty soon that gender is just a big ole scam, and that he couldn’t care less if it weren’t for outside perception of him. It’s just another performance!

Jake’s ongoing theme is that he hates being perceived (be it sexually, mentally, personally, in the sense that he abhors judgement and objectification and is afraid of being known) just as much as he gets by freely by allowing others to project whatever they want onto him- and he’s not bound to complying unless it’s shit he enjoys. He’s an indulgence chamber. He doesn’t want to be bound by rules or expectations partly because he’s sort of a lukewarm coward and partly because he thrives in contradiction. And all that sounds pretty dandy, but it doesn’t means he’s exempt from anxiety of what others think of him every step of the way and what that means to his projected image. Brain Ghost Dirk is part dirk splinter, part jake constantly asking himself ‘what would dirk do?’ because he thinks he’s not capable on his own.

and its where we get my favorite line:

��i dont WANNA be a man and i dont WANNA punch her in the face!” Maybe 2000′s action heroes who shoot first and ask questions later are, generally, sort of pretty stupid? And his fantasy can only go so far before it becomes something all too real he doesn’t want to be a part of? THIS is the line. I’ve already written about this bit before, in how Jake’s sexuality and the denial of his agency over it are traditionally a feminine narrative applied to a character desperately trying to be the quirky male lead of an adventure story. He really wants to be both. He doesn’t want to be forced to choose or to subscribe to one extreme. He wants his cake and he’s going to fucking eat it, too.

The crockertier Jane/Jake scene encapsulates everything jake wants to project, Indiana & Croft, and spins it on its head: he would rather die than be the big man hero and hurt jane (and he does die for it, later) & becoming the femme fatale means giving up what little agency he has for other people’s eyecandy benefits. and maybe that really fucking sucks? He loves these concepts but he also really hates the reality of them? That’s the concept of Jake.

But despite all that, he’s generally comfortable with his masculinity to the point of neutrality unless somebody else brings up The Norms and how he’s betraying them by not being the definition of a cishet dude. All the alphas have a very tricky relationship with gender performance, and they rely on notions of eachother. ( https ://twitter. com/hulknaps/ status/1133205821024800769?s=20 ) But Jake relies on the alphas to define him based on the moment. He adapts to different people in different ways. he switches often, because the persona he’s constructed is not solidly him, just one of many detachable masks of convenience. the aspect of transformation or characters with chameleon features is all over his intro page too, even if it starts as a red herring that he might be lord english.

Just count how many references you can make to alter-egos, transformations, ‘avatars’, multiple personalities or forms in this one page. i’ll make some of them easy: Mystique, Ghost rider, Hulk, his beloved Avatar, all rely on the concept of having fluid forms. Two of them are also blue ladies! did you know there’s a blue hulk and he’s a goofy jock? i’m going offtopic, but you grasp the idea.

I’m utterly subscribed to the idea of Jake being GNC/nonbinary/genderfluid or simply slapping a big ‘agender’ on it. I give dirk shit for always running from the gay label out of fear, but jake sort of does this too, relying strongly on not being defined and doing whatever feels best at the moment. It also fits his aspect and denizen, but those are more abstract references.

and since i dont know how to better end this bit of meta, here’s a little section of Mystique, blue lady extraordinary and one of his beloved characters. make of it what you will.

Hey anon! I’m posting this as a textpost because Tumblr formatted the ask weird when I tried to insert a readmore, so I’m just going to copypaste what I said there :p

DON’T be sorry for all the questions I love answering oc questions!!! But for the sake of not rambling too long and also making each answer easier to find, I’m going to answer them one by one instead of in a big essay lol… But it’s still kind of long so I’m going to cut it!

Can you tell me about Buttercup and Heather?

Buttercup grew up as a little rich girl who pretty much was always affirmed that she is special and one of a kind and completely unique and she’s meant for greatness, so she’s kind of spoiled and has an inflated ego, but she never really acts out of malice (unlike Heather) she just sees herself as the protagonist of the world (ironic, she’s a side character in class 3). But she doesn’t necessarily think that everything comes easily either, Buttercup is a smart girl and has worked very hard to get where she is today, and she does have very high standards for herself that she always works to meet. She just needs to step out of her own spotlight a bit. Also, fittingly, buttercup flowers symbolize ritches.

When Heather was a kid, her mother was a big and famous hotshot wizard, she idolized her mom more than anything in the world, she wanted to be a wizard like her, but things turned sour after a very bad marriage that left her mother unable to continue her career, and Heather felt betrayed by her mother when the illusion of a perfect hero was shattered because her mom didn’t protect her, but Heather doesn’t really understand her own feelings, she just sees her mother as a coward, and she claims she hates her but part of that is also just projection. Heather watched her mother lose control of her situation, and Heather as a child had NO control, so Heather became a bitter control-freak who condescends to people and pushes them around and is generally kind of just… Mean. The heather flowers symbolize admiration and good luck, but beyond that it should be obvious what else her name is a reference to (I mean she’s got the shoulder pads).

What’s their friendship like?

Honestly? It’s pretty shallow at first, they mostly just become friends because they both see each other as someone that’s worthy of hanging out with them, due to their mutually high standards, and a lot of their actual dynamic is kind of built on either building up their own image (Buttercup) or tearing others down (Heather). But at the same time they’re also both the closest thing to actual friends that the other has and there IS grounds for a genuine friendship to be formed if they would both kind of just loosen up and actually drop their acts.

When they hang out with Delphi what’s that like?

Delphi isn’t particularly close to either of them, but she does think they’re fun to hang out with specifically because she’s completely off her shit and absolutely lives for any semblance of drama, and both of them can honestly vibe with that but Delphi can also be… A lot. She can be kind of violent and vicious without a second thought, not in the high-school-mean-girl way that the other two are, like actually scary… She’s a lot. She’s better in small doses, so they don’t hang out with her too much, and they partly just want her around because it gives their little girlgroup a bit more of a fear factor, and Delphi knows this and honestly doesn’t care, she just wants to fuck shit up.

What do other people in their class them of them?

Class 3 came around to see Buttercup’s huge ego schtick as kind of charming after a while, like “oh haha that’s just Buttercup she’s at it again” but classes 2 and 1 aren’t used to dealing with her like they are. She’s generally pretty well liked on her own but if she’s with Heather it’s a different story

Heather is kind of just seen as a domineering bully, but class 3 doesn’t actually take her as seriously as she would like them to, aside from Lisia and Lotus who are kind of just pushovers. In Lisia’s case, Heather kind of fakes friends with her for her own benifit, and in Lotus’ case she’s actually outright cruel.

Delphi is the only one actually taken seriously because they all know that she wouldn’t hesitate on literally anything, so it’s generally better to just kind of stay out of her way and let her do her, because she herself won’t actually bother people without prompting… So their feelings on here are kind of neutral because they don’t know her, but still a bit anxious around her.

What’s their dynamics with their partners?

Heather’s partner is Celosia, an heir, who is 100% someone who lives up to the high standards that Heather has set so she has her respect, but Celosia isn’t someone who would be impressed by her being a bossy attitude, but she also isn’t someone who cares too much about the affairs of other so she doesn’t hold any particular moral grudges, so she just lets her keep acting Like That. They’re both people that are capable of working together because of their own determination, but they aren’t really friends. Heather has a few things to learn about ACTUAL leadership from Celosia, and Celosia kind of has to learn when to intervene and not be fully conflict avoidant.

Buttercup’s partner is Nep, who’s entire schtick is being a copycat (She has copy magic lol) so you can see how that’s kind of annoying for Buttercup to deal with, because her whole thing is that she’s a one of a kind, a diamond in the rough, the brightest star in the sky, but then Nep wants to mimic her simply by proxy of being around her… Clearly this causes a lot of contention between the two but ultimately they both need to learn the opposite lessons that the other should be able to teach them. You’re your own person but you’re not above anyone else. (mp100 voice: if everyone is not special maybe you can be what you want to be)

Delphi’s partner is Lisia who as mentioned before is kind of a pushover, so she’s intimidated by Delphi, but Delphi has no interest in taking advantage of her in any way… She just kind of lets her be, and if anything she wants to help her with her magic simply because Lisia can’t control it well even though it’s super powerful and Delphi TOTALLY wants to fight side by side with a potential powerhouse like that. Meanwhile Lisia has some lessons about like, compassion to impart, it’s like Delphi is Lisia’s physical instructor but Lisia is Delphi’s life coach, it’s actually a pretty mutually beneficial relationship.

How do their different types of magic work well/clash with each other?

Heather’s perfume magic is basically fragrance-based potion magic, with more or less the same applications with the added benefit of just needing people to smell it to take effect (Note: She’s immune to all of it, could be a good or bad thing depending on the perfume). And Celosia has straight-up fire magic, pretty self explanatory. Their magic types don’t particularly have a lot of overlap but certain perfumes work well with fire or could be used like gas to set on fire.

Buttercup has summoning magic, it’s a type of magic that allows her to make tangible projections of types of monsters she’s defeated, but of course they follow her commands (You know, like Pokemon) and Nep has copy magic, it basically lets her make copies of any non-living object she touches, which can include Buttercup’s projections! However there’s a limit to the amount of Projections Buttercup can control, and a limit to the amount of the amount of time any given copy will exist before disappearing (They’re not actually real, like Buttercup’s monsters they’re just projections too and will only stay around for a while, so sadly she can’t make counterfeit bills)

Delphi has water transformation magic, her body is made of water and of course this also comes with the added ability of hydrokinesis as a whole. Lisia has transformation magic, she has different sorts of forms she can transform into that come with different powers and abilities, but it all depends on her mood. When she transforms she gets a different outfit and her little horns become different shapes each time, the transformation that works the best with Delphi’s magic is the one that’s (sadly) based on the emotion of sadness, because it’s the one that also has hydrokinesis powers, but if they’d want to be a tagteam, the one based on anger has fire powers. Lisia is kind of insecure about her magic because she’s only ever really able to use it when she’s feeling that emotion very strongly, she hasn’t learned to just tap into it naturally yet, but don’t worry she’ll get there.

Working Through Two New Polls on Antisemitism and BDS

Two very interesting surveys have just dropped on the subject of BDS and antisemitism in America. The first is the AJC's survey of American Jews on the subject of antisemitism in America. The second, a "Critical Issues" poll out of the University of Maryland, surveys all Americans on various Middle East policy related questions, including BDS. Both have some intriguing findings that are worth discussing. Start with the AJC poll. There's a lot of great stuff to unpack in here on how American Jews assess the lay of the antisemitic land. For one, it finally gives me some data on what American Jews think about BDS. Unlike Americans writ large, who've barely heard of BDS (we'll get into that more in the other poll), Jews have definitely heard about the BDS movement (76% are at least a little familiar with it, and 62% of "somewhat" or "very" familiar). There isn't a direct "do you support BDS" question, but they do ask about BDS and antisemitism. 35% say BDS is "mostly" antisemitic, 47% say it has "some antisemitic supporters", and 14% say it is simply "not antisemitic". Of course, that middle response is vague -- it could mean anything from "BDS is not inherently antisemitic, but it's got a significant antisemitism problem" to "BDS is mostly fine, but sure, obviously it has some antisemitic supporters." Nonetheless, paired with some of the other responses -- such as the 84%(!) who view the statement "Israel has no right to exist" as antisemitic -- I think it is fair to infer that the majority of American Jews are, to say the least, not BDS fans. In terms of broad assessments on antisemitism in America, things don't like great: 88% of Jews say it is a "very" or "somewhat" serious problem and 84% say it has increased in severity over the past five years. The silver lining is that most Jews have not been victimized by either physical or verbal antisemitic attack and most Jews are not avoiding Jewish spaces or advertising their Jewish status out of fear of antisemitic attacks. But perhaps the more interesting data comes in terms of where American Jews think antisemitism is coming from, and who is mostly responsible for it. It's no surprise that most Jews are Democrats, most Jews lean liberal, and most Jews have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump (by a 22/76 margin -- whoof!). It might be a little more surprising -- at least given how the issue has been covered by both the Jewish and non-Jewish press -- how Jews assess the threat of antisemitism and the response to it on an ideological level. Jews strongly disapprove of how Donald Trump is handling the threat of antisemitism in the United States -- literally, 62% "strongly disapprove", the overall approve/disapprove spread is 24/73. In terms of where the threat of antisemitism is strongest in America, the answer is "the extreme right" -- 49% of respondents say it is a "very serious" threat, compared to 15% for "the extreme left" and 27% for "extremism in the name of Islam". Add in the "moderately serious" threat respondents and the extreme right gets 78%, the extreme left 36%, and Islamic extremism 54%. But that's dealing with "extremists". What about mainstream political parties? Here we see something that I think should blow some doors off. Asked to assess the Democratic and Republican parties' responsibility for contemporary antisemitism on a 1 - 10 scale (where 1 is "no responsibility" and 10 is "total" responsibility), Democrats saw 75% of respondents give them a grade of 5 or below (i.e., the bottom half of the scale), versus 22% at 6 or higher (the mode response was a "1" -- no responsibility -- the second most common response was a "2"). For Republicans, by contrast, just 38% of respondents gave them a 5 or below score, while 61% scored them above a 6. Their mode response was an "8", the second most common response a "10". The way it's been covered in the press, one would think that Jews are fearful of left antisemitism and furious at the Democratic Party for not tamping down on it. In reality, the consensus position in the Jewish community is that the most dangerous antisemitism remains far-right antisemitism, and that in terms of political responsibility the Republican Party is a far more dangerous actor than the Democratic Party is. That consensus has the added advantage of reflecting reality -- it's obviously true that right-wing antisemitism (the sort that gets Jews killed) in America is more dangerous than other varieties, and it's obviously true that the GOP has been nothing short of abysmal in policing itself and reining in its antisemitic conspiracy mongers (thinking instead that its Israel policies entitle it to a nice fat "get-out-of-antisemitism-free" card). Now the question is whether Jewish institutions and the Jewish media (or -- dare to dream -- the mainstream media) will follow the lead on this, and start reallocating attention and emphasis accordingly. Now let's move to the Critical Issues poll. It covers a bunch of ground on Mid-East policy, but it is in particular one of the first I've seen to try and gauge American attitudes towards BDS, so let's focus on that. Perhaps the most striking finding is being slightly misreported -- the Jerusalem Post says it found that 48% of Democrats support BDS. But that's not right -- the true number is probably around half that. The survey first asked how much people had heard about BDS -- and for a majority of respondents (including 55% of Democrats), the answer was "nothing". They hadn't heard of BDS at all. The next-most common response was "a little" (29%), while "a good amount" and "a great deal" combined for just 20%. Only those who had heard at least "a little" about BDS were then asked whether they supported it or not. Overall, 26% of respondents supported it ("strongly" or "somewhat"), while 47% opposed it, and 26% were neutral. For Democrats, that split was 48% support (14% "strongly", 34% "somewhat"), 37% neutral, and 15% opposed. So that's where the 48% figure comes from -- but again, it excludes the majority of Democrats who've never heard about BDS at all. Add them in (and assume they'll be at "neither support nor oppose"), and the percentage of Democrats supporting BDS probably falls into the mid-20s. Now obviously, that's itself noteworthy. But it's hard to know what to make of it, especially given that most of those who have heard about BDS still have only heard "a little" about it. That in itself is worth pointing out -- for all the indigestion this issue is causing the Jewish community, it's barely made an imprint on the polity writ large: 80% of all Americans have heard little or nothing about it. It's hardly some sort of generational wave that's caught the attention of the nation. Still, it would have been interesting to know if those who had heard more were more or less likely to support the campaign -- my guess is actually it would yield greater polarization (those who've heard a lot about BDS would be more likely to either strongly support or strongly oppose it). But -- probably because the number of respondents who've heard more than "a little" about BDS is so small -- we don't have data at that level of granularity. In any event: What does seem to be the case is that there is a sizable -- though still minority -- chunk of Democratic voters who (a) haven't heard that much about BDS and (b) say they support it "somewhat" (recall the "somewhats" vastly outstripped the "stronglys"). My suspicion is that this represents a set of voters who (a) are pretty pissed off at Israel and Netanyahu right now, and don't feel particularly inclined to think it is pursuing an end to the occupation in good faith, and (b) view BDS vaguely as a means of exerting pressure on Israel to change course, or if not that, at least signal that they don't endorse its current tack. In practice this probably means only supporting more "moderate" forms of BDS (if you even want to call it that) -- sanctions against settlements yes, full-fledged academic boycotts no -- and as I've written before that is actually a predictable consequence of BDS going "mainstream": it will lose some of its harder edges (much to the consternation of its founding, more radical core). Basically, these are people who are looking for ways to signal "what Israel is doing is not okay", and while I strongly doubt they are ride-or-die on BDS, absent other avenues for expressing that sentiment they'll at least be open to some form of "BDS" -- albeit probably not the more radical iterations of it that, say, characterize the PACBI guidelines. The challenge for pro-Israel Democrats isn't, I think, that the 2020 Democratic electorate is going to demand that the US treat Israel as a pariah state. The challenge is that these voters are looking for ways to vent their frustration at Israel, and are going to want their candidates to speak in terms of sticks as well as carrots with respect to how Israel is engaged with. We're already seeing a bit of that -- and it's frankly a healthy move. The survey asks a few more message-based questions about BDS (again, only to those who've heard at least a "little" about it), leading questions of the "is it antisemitism or is it legitimate" variety. I'm very much not a fan of the wording of those questions, and don't think they tell us much other than effective messaging frames to make people more positively disposed towards BDS (including that "Opposing Israeli policy does not equal anti-Semitism" is the salt of Israel discourse -- there's no recipe that isn't tastier with at least a sprinkle of it, so why not just toss it on everything?). The final question the survey asks on this topic returns back to all respondents (not just those who've heard of BDS) and asks about "laws that penalize people who boycott Israel". One can quibble again about the verbiage here (the laws in question impose no criminal penalties, they just bar government contractors from also boycotting Israel -- but then, wouldn't many naturally view that as "penalty", albeit a non-criminal one?), but the numbers are nonetheless striking: 72% of respondents (including 62% of Republicans) oppose such laws. So that's probably something worth keeping in mind (again, might I recommend replacing those laws with general prohibitions on nationality-based discrimination? I bet that would poll much better). via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/340Hop9

9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors Tarot Analysis.

One of 999′s greatest strengths will always be its character writing, imo. It’s able to take these seemingly stereotypical characters, and through various late-game scenes focusing on them, subvert a lot of the stereotypes! Of course, being a huge fan of Persona, whenever I try to think about or analyse multifaceted character archetypes, my mind immediately turns to the Major Tarot Arcana.

With that said, I think that it gives a really interesting look at each character if you consider their personalities boiled down to an Arcana, then look at how that reflects them in the Upright, and Inverse positions (remember, the characters in 999 often seem one way before revealing a hidden side).

(For context, the Upright card represents, usually, the positive aspects of an arcana, while the Inverse represents the negative traits. With that in mind, let’s begin). 

The Magician archetype is that of an opportunist and a showman, not so much a "master of the arcane" as a "master of sleight of hand". However, the reversed Magician can be manipulative, condescending, delusional, emotionally abusive, and sometimes unlucky. 

Number I - The Magician - Junpei

While it’s often tempting to make the protagonist of a story, I think Junpei fits the Magician far better. Junpei is above all else, a “guile hero”, as TV Tropes would put it. He knows probably the least out of the cast the events of 9 Years Ago, yet as the protagonist is the one to uncover it all.

There’s also the scenes where he chooses Door 3, or rigs the 1/2/6 Vote in his favor, or manages to outsmart Ace. Even with very little resources at his disposal, Junpei manages to turn things around magnificently, a textbook Magician move.

However, Junpei’s more negative traits are also embodied by the Magician. He’s most certainly manipulative, as his choice of Door 3 can show, he also tends to run his mouth sometimes, and has generally poor luck (at least in the bad endings).

The Priestess symbolizes wisdom and mental fortitude. Common positive traits include being highly intelligent, wise, and patient, along with having plenty of hidden potential within them. On the flipside, one under the Priestess Arcana may be calculating, have ulterior motives in mind, have frail emotions, or can come off as pitiable and weak in their passivity.

Number II - The High Priestess - Akane

If you’ve read that description and played through 999, you’ll most likely agree that it all fits Akane fairly well. As another bonus, the Magician and Priestess are sort of “foils” to each-other, representing similar ideas in a masculine and feminine ideal.

Akane is a veritable font of trivia about pseudoscience (or, in the world of 999, actual science), and comes across, at least for the most part, as fairly calm. She shows wisdom and patience in her desire to leave nobody behind.

However, on the flipside, Akane has incredibly obvious ulterior motives for almost every action she takes in the game, and even before this is revealed, shows a great deal of frailty and passivity through her fevers.

The Empress represents maturity, elegance, and also strongly embodies the archetype of motherhood, maternal feelings and instincts. Reversed, the Empress may find it difficult to cooperate with others. They may infantilize their peers in their pursual of leadership, making it difficult to truly connect with or understand them in the process of “mothering” them.

Number III - The Empress - Lotus

Lotus is pretty much the Team Mum of the 999 crew, and The Empress Arcana really fits her in that respect. However, unlike Junpei and Akane, (and as a part of 999′s habit of building unlikable characters only to reveal their softer sides), Lotus arguably shows her Inverse aspects before revealing her more positive side.

To begin with, Lotus is hardly a team player. She constantly brings up the need to sacrifice at least 4 people once they reach the 9 Door, and can be flippant to the point of seeming uncaring. In terms of “infantizing”, this is a more lose connection, but she does tend to ramble off stories about telepathy that she doesn’t really believe herself.

However, her softer side solidifies herself as the Team Mum of 999′s cast. She’s also the only character confirmed to have children, which plays into her backstory heavily and gives her an edge of maternal instincts. Furthermore, it’s revealed she’d be willing to be one of the 4 people sacrificed, totally changing the tone of her reminders.

The Chariot Arcana is a very broad one, gender-neutral. It symbolizes pride, control, and goals. A person under the Chariot are usually very extroverted, have a strong sense of will, and are resolute-- striving for an ultimate goal that they desire. But on the negative side of things, they can be extremely aggressive and unpredictable, and often reckless and insecure.

Number VII - The Chariot - Clover

Clover starts the game in an upright state, but when Snake goes missing, reveals the negative inverse side of her arcana. However, Snake coming back for the endgame is enough to push her back into her positive aspects.

Clover fits the terms of the upright Chariot to a tee, being extroverted with a strong sense of will. Her ultimate goal is usually as simple as defending the people who matter to her. On the other hand, when displaying more negative traits, Clover swings wildly between the extremes of heartbroken silence and reckless rage.

Overall, there’s almost not much to say in regards to Clover and the Chariot, seeing as she fits it so well that the blurb seems to do most of the job for you.

The Justice Arcana is one that symbolizes morality, fairness, and truth. A very dynamic card, the positive sides of the Justice Arcana include being truthful, analytical, rational, and fair. But the negatives are violent, one under the Justice may seek vigilantism and vengeance, or are rather dishonest and unhappy with themselves.

Number VIII - Justice - Santa

Santa is an enigma for most of the game, not revealing much of his arcana at all. However, it’s quickly established he’s dealing with a lot of personal demons, and is very much hiding something. This establishes him as someone who begins the game representing the inverse Justice arcana.

Come time for the True Ending, during the moments when it seems like he’s the sole mastermind behind the Nonary Game, he exceedingly represents the inverse Justice. He’s violent and seems to be behind the vigilante killings of the Cradle Pharmaceutical members, all in the name of revenge. 

Though this is all a facade, and he happily explains the truth behind the Nonary Game once this facade breaks. Further (much like how Ace put it 9 Years Ago), there was always a fair chance to escape, and during the Safe Ending, it’s implied Santa returned everyone to their normal lives. Santa is fair to the point of only being an assistant to the real mastermind.

The Hermit Arcana, one that symbolizes self-searching and guidance. They are often very positive and introspective-- nearly to the point of being almost philisophical in nature. They often give someone guidance when needed. But at the same time, they are also very lost themselves. They don't know "where" they are, or what they're doing, making them rather isolated and alone.

Number IX - The Hermit - Snake

Snake is a very on-the-nose application of the Hermit arcana. With his blindness, he is in some sense “lost”. However, this is misleading, and as a part of subverting character archetypes, Snake shows that his other senses more than make up for his lack of sight.

Otherwise, Snake fits the upright aspect of his arcana very closely, fitting for a character the narrative wants you to sympathize with after his “death”. Snake is very knowledgeable, and often comes across as the most level-headed member of the group.

However, in another interpretation of being “lost”, Snake spends most of the game locked away, in another form of darkness. In a less literal form, he also loses his head when placed under extreme stress (such as learning of the loss of Clover), subverting his wise level-headedness.

The Strength Arcana, represents discipline and simple honest to goodness strength. The Strength is shown by courage, self-control, patience, and honesty. But deep inside, it also shows a lack of integrity, will, control, and actual power.

Number XI - Strength - Seven

Unlike a lot of other characters, Seven mainly represents himself through the upright meaning of his arcana, Strength. While the arcana at first seems far too on-the-nose, the concepts of “courage, self-control, patience, and honesty” are all very core to his character as a Detective.

Other than that, Seven does display some negative aspects at first too, with his amnesia making him seem more suspicious than he is, and making him prone to hesitate. This could be described as a seeming lack of integrity and any actual power.

Befitting “self-control” however, Seven is generally who he appears to be, with any suspicion from Junpei being undue on his part.

Mostly a somewhat negative or unpleasant Arcana. The Devil symbolizes addiction, lust, and a will to gain. The Devil is one about seeking something, or being tempted. This may include finding more power or letting their impulses control them, to simple greed and arrogance.

Number XV - The Devil - Ace

Much like how many characters in this game begin in the inverse interpretation of their arcana, only to reveal the upright side, Ace surprisingly follows this pattern. The Devil Arcana is a more negative card, so its inverse position represents a positive state of mind.

Quite often, Ace insists that everyone should trust each other, and, importantly, not to give into temptation to Zero’s traps. Ace insists that everyone should stick together, and overall he puts out an air of level-headedness.

However, once his facade drops, Ace is revealed to be the most temptation-driven member of the cast. 9 Years Ago, Ace wished for the ability to see faces so much that he orchestrated a deadly experiment that put the events of the entire game in motion. You can’t get much more driven by temptation than almost killing children.

The 21st card in the Major Arcana, Judgement depicts absolution and realization. At best, Judgement represents a person who has found their calling in life, and is on their way to their true calling. But at worst, this also depicts a person who is in doubt-- unsure if the path that they're going on is the right one at all, leading to self-unawareness.

Number XX - Judgement - The 9th Man

Out of the four Cradle Pharmaceutical members, the 9th Man is the most clearly anxious, leading to an interpretation of being unsure over the ethics of his actions. Even if this is not the case, his anxiety during the second Nonary Game very much impairs his self-awareness, leading to his death.

Another interpretation of what the Judgement card means (in this case referring to an event rather than a person) can be the appearance of consequences from a long time ago. Considering he designed the system which eventually kills him, his death can be considered quite karmic.

Otherwise, the 9th Man doesn’t have much else to him, dying quite early on, before his character had a chance to shine. Despite this, his death is still relevant, as it’s the first example of Zero’s “judgement” of Cradle coming into effect.

my queer perspective and analysis of early TSwift discography 🏳‍🌈

Even though I was not in the south, my community was a lot like Taylor’s country fan base. I’m a bi woman who grew up in a Catholic family, going to Catholic school. My peers and teachers were largely conservative and homophobic. I would like to share my perspective on Taylor’s music and lyrics as I experienced them growing up.

I’ve included dated screenshots from my Facebook. (Please respect my privacy by not sharing these screenshots outside my post.) 

I identified with Taylor’s music beyond any other single artist. Her music was so cathartic for me. That’s not to say I didn’t connect other artists, but many of Taylor’s songs felt very intimate. I posted (cringy) things online about how Taylor was ripping lyrics from my diary.

My comment to a friend below this post emphasizes just how close to home her lyrics hit.

Everyone else said that Taylor Swift wrote like she was inside their heads so I figured everyone else felt the same way as me. But looking back, I likely had a lot more in common with Taylor than the average girl. 

Her songs lean heavily on a sense of longing, uncertainty, and loneliness that I felt every day as someone trying to figure out who I was with few people to talk to openly.  She also returns again and again to what I’m calling “friendship romance.” (This friendship theme is stronger than ever in her recent 1989 and Rep love songs.) We also see the start of a theme of forbidden love that only gets stronger in her later albums.

Let’s explore a few key songs from the Taylor Swift and Fearless albums!

Two caveats:

Liz Rose co-wrote most of the early songs with Taylor. However, she has said on record that she was more of an editor when it came to Taylor and lyrics. 

It’s not my goal to argue who Taylor wrote these songs about, merely to point out the gay feelings and themes in the songs through the lens of my experience. I do link to some other Gaylor analysis of these songs that does reference specific people if you are curious.

Taylor Swift

Tear Drops on My Guitar

I fake a smile so he won't see, What I want, what I need, And everything that we should be

I spent a lot of time listening to my girl friends talking about people they had crushes on. I was oddly possessive/protective of my friends but tried to hide it. That possessiveness came from non-platonic feelings for them even before I acknowledged it. They knew me and understood me. We were so close. I always wanted more of their time and attention and affection.

The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart, He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do

Because of my attachment, it felt like a betrayal when they turned their attention away from me to a cute boy, even though I knew it wasn’t really. I didn’t understand why this bothered me so much or why I thought about them so much. 

In my experience, the intimacy of female friendship (and thus the need to hide non-platonic feelings) is much stronger (and more painful) than between a guy and a girl.

It’s important that the demo version of this song is gender neutral. Instead of Drew, the song is addressed to “you.” Honestly, that’s really what I heard when I listened to the song anyway. It especially helps explain this line that I really connected to:

And there he you goes so perfectly, The kind of flawless I wish I could be

You can’t tell me this self-reflection of a lovers’ attractiveness is hetero. What straight girl ever looked at a guy and wished she could be as flawless as him? I know I looked at girls I wanted to like me and wished I was as beautiful/cool/perfect as them. I did not feel that way about the guys I was interested in. The only reason that I might feel that way about a guy was if I was enamored with his girlfriend and jealous that she liked him.

I’m Only Me When I’m with You This song describes an incredibly close friendship that is romantic, the most straightforward example of “friendship romance.” You feel everything this other person feels. You feel like you can’t live without them because they matter to you more than anything. I related to this song like crazy and still do.

I don't try to hide my tears My secrets or my deepest fears Through it all nobody gets me like you do

The romantic nature is emphasized in the chorus when Taylor describes trying to convey her feelings for this person. 

I'm only trying To let you know that what I feel is true And I'm only me when I'm with you

Less compelling, but I have to add, knowing everything about you includes knowing you are gay. Sharing that secret created a bond unlike any other. In a community where that was especially taboo, you couldn’t tell just anyone. So anyone who did know was extremely special. (I only told other gays initially and then subsequently fell in love with them because we shared everything.)

The Outside

You saw me there, but never knew That I would give it all up to be A part of this, a part of you

Besides the obvious trope of young queer people feeling different, I always felt like I was on the outside of social circles and cliques of girls I connected with. They tended to be freaked out by how much I liked them or just completely unaware of how much young sweaty-handed me was hanging on their every word. Not being included became extra painful when it was not only a social rejection but a romantic one as well. She writes that she wants to be “a part of this, a part of you,” which implies a romantic interest in addition to the more general social one. This really rang true to young gay me.

Invisible

She's never gonna love you like I want to And you just see right through me but if you only knew me We could be a beautiful, miracle, unbelievable Instead of just invisible

Like shadows in a faded light 

This song again focuses on pining for someone while they long for someone else. Taylor writes ���if you only knew me,” but then says “we could be ... instead of just invisible”, implying that they do know each other just not in the way Taylor wants. This feeds back into this theme of unrequited (friendship) love that it so common for young queer women.

She can't see the way your eyes Light up when you smile She'll never notice how you stop and stare Whenever she walks by

This songs also brings in the idea that her (presumably) straight friend is pining after a boy--because who do we usually categorize as unobservant and careless with feelings? Not girls. The song makes a lot more sense with the pronouns switched around. *He can’t see the way your eyes light up, but I can!*

(Taylor even dedicated this song to the gays on Rep tour B-stage.❤)

Fearless

This was the album that I sat up at night listening to over and over again. I think it is extremely gay.

Fearless

On the most basic level, you don’t need to be fearless unless you would otherwise be afraid, as one might be when embracing the gay. One could argue it’s scary to be vulnerable and open yourself up to any new relationship, but she says this is unusual for her. So this song is about something new and different, something that could be scary but is so intoxicating.  This is exactly how I felt about embracing my desire to be with women. (This breathless feeling is also expressed on Jump Then Fall.)

Well you stood there with me in the doorway my hands shake I'm not usually this way but You pull me in and I'm a little more brave It's a first kiss, it's flawless, really something, it's fearless.

She describes having a first kiss, but it’s important to note she has stated her first kiss was when she was a freshman in high school at age 15, long before she was working on the Fearless album. So this was the first kiss of a relationship, or maybe as I’m inclined to believe, her first kiss with another woman.

You Belong with Me

This song again emphasizes that she knows this person better than anyone else and should be with them-- friendship romance anyone? Taylor told the media this was based on a phone call she overheard between her guy friend and his girlfriend, but I have to believe this was an extension of her many previous songs on this theme.

Love Story

Gaylor fans have written so much about this song, which is written partially from Romeo’s perspective about a forbidden romance. She says the love is difficult but real, a sentiment I attached to as a young gay navigating expressing my feelings under the watchful gaze of homophobic adults and teens. 

What I want to add is that it’s so important that she references the sense that this has been building up without words. 

 Is this in my head? I don't know what to think

If she was writing about a more typical relationship, this wouldn’t make sense, but between two closeted young gays, this makes perfect sense. I experienced “relationships” that were unspoken or only referenced in a joking tone, but when it came down to it, there was an acknowledged bond beyond any of our other friendships. We held hands and slept together at sleepovers. If she was upset, she came to me to be held. She was my someone. (And yes, she turned out to be gay, too.) Imagining a day when we both proclaimed our love was so cathartic. 

Forbidden desire is also the main theme of the deluxe version track Untouchable.

Breathe

And we know it's never simple, never easy Never a clean break, no one here to save me You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand

This song is another one of the exceptionally gay and well-discussed Gaylor songs. Taylor again refers to someone she knows better than anyone, similar to the above friendship love theme.

In the song she says goodbye to someone who wasn’t quite her someone--which is very gay. She chooses to sing “feeling like I just lost a friend,” rather than saying she actually just lost a friend. Despite how Colbie Callait described the song--“ it's about having to let someone go and say goodbye to a really good friend”--it’s clear this was more than a platonic bud. This resonated strongly with my unspoken romance experiences and the unspoken “breakups” that followed. 

She references a variety of different reasons for this situation in the verses, none of which are concrete. The gentle “sorry” repetition at the end further complicates our murky understanding of what caused this separation. It reads to me like a meditation on the “maybe” & “later” world of closeted gays and the repercussions that has on their relationships. 

The Way I Loved You

In The Way I Loved You, Taylor compares her current love interest (a guy who is sensible, charming, endearing, and everyone else likes) to her past flame who made her feel everything all at once. (Please see this eloquent lyric analysis from @all-my-possessions for more about this phenomenon of Taylor comparing relationships with vague pronouns in a super queer way.)

Breakin' down and comin' undone It's a roller-coaster kinda rush And I never knew I could feel that much And that's the way I loved you

This song has an easy gay reading but is still strongly relevant for this bi woman. (That is to say, whether gay or bi Taylor might have felt this way. Despite eventually realizing that I was bi, for a while I felt like I was gay simply because liking guys often felt so forced and dull in comparison.) Discovering your affection for women is intoxicating, and actually being involved with one is addictive. If you have repressed your feelings for women then suddenly allow yourself to feel and express it, those feelings come on strong. Any other relationship seems just “comfortable.”

Add in the pressure of hiding as I felt the need to do and a young country musician definitely did, a young gay romance makes for an intense, even explosive, relationship like she describes in this song and references throughout the album (on Tell Me Why, You’re Not Sorry, and The Other Side of the Door).

(x) (x)  suggested further reading

Change

This powerful anthem is about the sense that the world will improve and we will get what we deserve. There were so many “walls” politically and socially preventing gay people from being themselves, especially in a conservative community like mine. When I was exhausted from hiding my feelings, lying, and listening to nasty comments about gay people, I would listen to Change and think about how we would knock those down and be free.  

You can walk away, say we don't need this But there's something in your eyes says we can beat this

These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down This revolution, the time will come For us to finally win 

It always reminded me strongly of the gay rights and gay marriage movement I read about in the news. With each new setback, activists rallied and came back stronger. 

(Taylor sang  an emotional version of this on Rep tour.)

White Horse

I used to really mourn the loss of the white picket fence life my friends and family all expected for me. I figured as a queer woman that wouldn’t be in the cards for me, especially if/when my community found out and rejected me. (Luckily that has not been the case, but it seemed likely at the time.) 

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale

This song hit that sore spot, but it also reminded me there was a lot more of the world out there. The opinions of some people were small and easy to leave behind for other dreams.

This is a big world, that was a small town There in my rear view mirror disappearing now And its too late for you and your white horse to catch me now

I’m not the only one who saw a broader homosexual theme to this song.

SuperStar

I didn’t know this song from the platinum version growing up, but the lyrics focus on forbidden love. 👀 

This is wrong but I can't help but feel like There ain't nothing more right babe Misty morning comes again and I can't Help but wish I could see your face And I knew from the first note played I'd be breaking all my rules to see you

I would love to follow up with more from Speak Now and Red, but this post is long enough for now! I spent a lot of time compiling and organizing this. Thank you to @all-my-possessions and @kaydar for inspiring me with super thoughtful queer lyric analysis and to my friend for feedback. I hope this is helpful. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

In yet another sign of our tortured political moment, the most meaningful civic discussion currently raging is being waged not by our elected officials, spiritual leaders, novelists or celebrities, but by two writers engaged in what may appear to be an intramural intellectual quibble in niche publications.

It began last week when Sohrab Ahmari, the op-ed editor of the New York Post, took to the journal First Things to point out what he believed was wrong much of American conservatism, a bundle of self-contradictory tics embodied, he argued, by National Review writer and dedicated Never Trumper David French. It didn’t take long for French to jab right back. A host of other pugilists, including New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, soon entered the arena, framing the argument in personal, sometimes quasi-slanderous terms.

…

Even worse, today’s social justice warriors, Ahmari continued, see any dissent from their dogmas as an inherent assault. “They say, in effect: For us to feel fully autonomous, you must positively affirm our sexual choices, our transgression, our power to disfigure our natural bodies and redefine what it means to be human,” Ahmari wrote, “lest your disapprobation make us feel less than fully autonomous.” This means that no real discussion is possible—the only thing a true conservative can do is, in Ahmari’s pithy phrase, “to fight the culture war with the aim of defeating the enemy and enjoying the spoils in the form of a public square re-ordered to the common good and ultimately the Highest Good.”

…

Almost immediately, French delivered his riposte. Ahmari’s call to arms, he wrote in his response, betrayed a deep misunderstanding of both our national moment and our national character. “America,” French wrote, “will always be a nation of competing worldviews and competing, deeply held values. We can forsake a commitment to liberty and launch the political version of the Battle of Verdun, seeking the ruin of our foes, or we can recommit to our shared citizenship and preserve a space for all American voices, even as we compete against those voices in politics and the marketplace of ideas.”

Which means that civility is not a secondary value but the main event, the measure of most, if not all, things. Bret Stephens agreed: In his column in The New York Times, he called Ahmari—who was born Muslim in Tehran and had found his path to Catholicism—“an ardent convert” and a “would-be theocrat” who, inflamed with dreams of the divine will, had failed to understand that it was precisely the becalmed civilities of “value-neutral liberalism” that has made his brave journey from Tehran to the New York Post possible.

…

You don’t have to be conservative, or particularly religious, to spot a few deep-seated problems with the arguments advanced by French, Stephens, and the rest of the Never Trump cadre. Three fallacies in particular stand out.

The first has to do with the self-branding of the Never Trumpers as champions of civility. From tax cuts to crushing ISIS, from supporting Israel to appointing staunchly ideological justices to the Supreme Court, there’s very little about the 45th president’s policies that ought to make any principled conservative run for the hills. What, then, separates one camp of conservatives, one that supports the president, from another, which vows it never will? Stephens himself attempted an answer in a 2017 column. “Character does count,” he wrote, “and virtue does matter, and Trump’s shortcomings prove it daily.”

To put it briefly, the Never Trump argument is that they should be greatly approved of, while Donald Trump should rightly be scorned, because—while they agree with Trump on most things, politically—they are devoted to virtue, while Trump is uniquely despicable. The proofs of Trump’s singular loathsomeness are many, but if you strip him of all the vices he shares with others who had recently held positions of power—a deeply problematic attitude towards women (see under: Clinton, William Jefferson), shady business dealings (see under: Clinton, Hillary Rodham), a problematic attitude towards the free press (see under: Obama, Barack)—you remain with one ur-narrative, the terrifying folk tale that casts Trump as a nefarious troll dispatched by his paymasters in the Kremlin to set American democracy ablaze.

…

Conspiracy-mongering doesn’t seem like much of a public virtue. Certainly, the Never Trumpers should have known better than to join in the massive publicity campaign around a “dossier” supposedly compiled by a former British intelligence officer rehashing third-hand hearsay and paid for by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. You can still find many faults with Donald Trump’s behavior in and out of office, including some cardinal enough perhaps to merit impeachment, without buying in to some moronic ghost story about an orange-hued traitor who seized the highest office in the land with the help of Vladimir Putin’s social media goons. All that should go without saying, especially for people who ostensibly devote their lives to elevating and enriching the tone of our public discourse.

…

It is true that French took care to sound unfailingly fair, a lone voice for reason in a political reality inflamed by lunatics left and right. The thing he was being reasonable about, however, was an FBI investigation that emerged out of a blatant politically motivated forgery. Now, it’s perfectly plausible that French was carrying on his arguments in good faith, even when overwhelming evidence to the contrary was always there for a slightly more curious or skeptical journalist to discover. What’s disturbing, from the public virtue standpoint, is that French has yet to admit his own failings, which are compounded by his less-than-courageous misrepresentations of what he actually wrote: In his reply to Ahmari, he strongly denied he had promoted the collusion story, a point of view that’s difficult to defend when your byline appears on stories like “There Is Now Evidence That Senior Trump Officials Attempted to Collude with Russia.”

French and the other self-appointed guardians of civility, then, should do us all a favor and drop the civic virtue act. They’re not disinterested guardians of our public institutions; they are actors, working in an industry that rewards them for dressing up in Roman Republican drag and reciting Cicero for the yokels. This is why Bill Kristol, another of the Never Trumpers, could raise money for his vanity website, The Bulwark, and why he could expect his new creation be lauded on CNN as “a conservative site unafraid to take on Trump,” even as the site was staffed by leftist millennials and dutifully followed progressive propaganda lines. Like anyone whose living depends on keeping on the right side of a leftist industry, they understood that there’s only so much you can say if you care about cashing a paycheck—especially when the president and leader of your own party won’t take your phone calls.

…

To tell an Iranian immigrant that he doesn’t understand the way American liberalism works because he ended up on the side of faith rather than on the side of deracinated cosmopolitan universalism isn’t just an impoverished reading of America’s foundations or a blatantly condescending comment; it’s also indicative of a mindset that seeks to immediately equate any disagreement with some inherent and irreparable character flaw.

…

So much for the cocktail party chatter. The larger problem here is that at no point do Stephens, French, et al. deliver a concrete explanation of how they propose conservatism go about opposing, to say nothing of reversing, the new social and moral order that the progressive left has been busily implementing in America for a decade or more. At best, they claim that there’s no real crisis after all.

…

Ahmari, not unlike the zealous left he opposes, has a very distinct idea of where he wants the country to go. He doesn’t want it to end up where objecting to lunatic theories, forged by crackpot academics and defying millennia of lived human experience, gets you called a bigot and fired from your job. He doesn’t want to try and engage in dialogue with people who believe that disagreeing with their opinions causes them some sort of harm and that speech must therefore be regulated by the government or large tech companies. He doesn’t want an America in which color of skin and religious affiliation and sexual preference trump or mute the content of your character. Looking at public schools and private universities, Hollywood and publishing, academia and social media, Ahmari sees the threat posed by progressive doctrine to established American norms and values as entirely real. That he wants to fight it doesn’t make him, as Stephens suggested, a Catholic mullah-in-waiting. It makes him a normal American.

Which is why American Jews, too—whether they identify as liberals or conservatives—would do well to take this squabble seriously. The liberalism that American Jews have defended so ardently, the reason so many of us ended up voting for the left and supporting organizations like the ACLU and cheering on firebrands like Bella Abzug, was geared to secure precisely the values and rights that Ahmari champions, without which it would have been impossible for us to survive, let alone thrive, as immigrants to a white, Christian-majority culture.

A religious minority cannot expect to last very long in a society, like the one the progressive left advocates, that is allergic to tradition and intolerant of dissent. Only in an America that takes faith seriously, that respects and empowers community, and that shudders at any attempt to censor wrong beliefs and incorrect thinking, can Jews hope to thrive.

Perfume: English Translation of the Interview on Ongaku to Hito 2018.09 (vol.1)

Vol. 1

The introduction and a personal interview for A-chan

Perfume

Future is in your hands

"You have not been mistaken. And it will start again from now on” 

I felt as if someone talks to the 3 like that. Unlike our expectation, Perfume's new album "Future Pop" does not have the future-bass tasted sound arrangement that was strongly expressed in the single "If you wanna". Despite having tracks with that taste, the impression I had after listening the whole album was that their vocals were strongly featured, and that there is a perspective of mature ladies, not innocent girls. In this interview, this big change expressed in the album was examined through personal interviews of the 3 and a group interview. I guess the 3 ladies would have expressed anxieties and confusions if they had faced a great change like this. However, Perfume of the present has an overwhelming confidence. I can see their absolute conviction that they would absolutely be alright. Where do those come from? I took time to ask them about this in these interviews.

And now, this is a new start from here. You will not awake from a dream you dream with Perfume, not yet.

Interview: A-chan

"Perfume is something that must continue. I don't have a sense of vocation like that now"

- Did you go to the Budokan concert of Chatmonchy?

A: Yes, I did!! My eyes were full of tears. The set list was crazy as well, you know? All the 3 songs for the encore were the ones written by Kumiko-san!!

-That's right.

A: I had goosebumps all the time during the concert. In the past, Chatmonchy evolved again and again, and was born again and again. But at the time when they brought down the curtain, they made us realize that all of those processes were Chatmonchy. They showed off how talented they are when they close the band, and left the stage after making it so obvious that everyone was going to miss them. That's what a real hero does. If stocks of Ecchan and Akko-chan were available, I would definitely love to buy and invest them, LOL!

- LOL! But when you witnessed the end of a band you love that much, didn't you identify yourselves with them?

A: Recently, I think less and less about those stuffs. Not only Chatmonchy, Namie Amuro-san is also retiring. However, when I listen to a news like that, now I don't really think like "This will happen to us someday..." I guess it just doesn't connect. Although a day like that will come to anyone in some way, I still don't feel that the day is coming to Perfume, not yet. But it's not that I don't want that day to come. It's more like it exists in a different dimension.

- After covering you for nearly 10 years, I've seen the times when the 3 of you held anxiety or chancy-ness. But recently, your conviction like "Perfume is absolute" is getting stronger and stronger, I feel.

A: Exactly. Right now, I really enjoy being Perfume. In the past, I used to be pretty strict to myself during a tour or interview period. 'Cause I thought I had to be in the best shape as Perfume for concerts, interviews, shootings and things like that. So I put myself under the pressure and tried not to meet friends, strictly checked what to eat and so on. I pushed myself pretty hard to be Perfume everyone wanted me to be.

- Like you had to be like this as A-chan of Perfume?

A: Yeah. I just can't help it, 'cause all of my family members act like that so... LOL!

- So, that's caused by the blood of Nishiwaki family, LOL!!

A: I guess it's from my father's side, LOL! But little by little, I have been able to forgive myself.

- So you mean you can face Perfume from a neutral point of view now, right?

A: Well, you know what? Things like "Perfume is something that must continue!" I don't have a sense of vocation like that now. We can keep on our activities if people want us to, and we can take a rest a bit if we're tired. We can try anything if we find it interesting, even if it's something we've never tried before. And if we're asked to do something, we would go for it if we feel like it. Now we can stay honest to ourselves. When trying something different from what we have been doing, there definitely would be negative things. But if we think we would find positive things more than negatives, we can try, no matter what it would be. And even if we fail, we can just start it over again. Now I can take everything positive.

- I know what you mean. In the past, you used to be scared of losing something when you were taking a step for something new, and when you decided to try something new, you also became so desperate to meet the expectation.

A: That's right. We squared up when no one asked us to do so. And one more thing, until recently, I had to take an initiative to announce what the 3 of Perfume would like to do. But nowadays, the other 2 started to express their wills little by little. That might make it easier for me.

- Ah, I see.

A: In the past, there were times in which they didn't tell what they really thought or didn't say their opinions in front of others. But when we talked by ourselves or texted each other, our real feelings we couldn't tell on those moments came out. "Then you should have said it at that time" there was a time I sometimes thought like that.

- Ah, I see. And I can't imagine it happening to you recently.

A: Nowadays, both Nocchi and Kashiyuka express their opinions when we discuss with our team. That might be why it becomes easier for me.

- I guess it was difficult for them to express their opinions.

A: I guess it was because of the lack of confidence, rather than difficulty to express opinions. Because expressing opinions means that you've got to be responsible for what you've said. But it was same for me as well. I wish I can be more confident. But it would have been kind of weird if it was only me who gained the confidence despite working on same activities all together, right? I guess it's our characteristics to be in sync in those points as well.

- So, even though you didn't have confidence in yourself, just like the other 2, you regarded that it had been your role to express Perfume's opinion. Because someone had to say that, right A-chan?

A: Yes, and now it's changing little by little. That might be why things going so well recently. I can enjoy things more and more.

- I see. Then, what do you think is a right way for Perfume of now to aim for?

A: Personally, I'd love to see Perfume performing stuffs like "Reframe (*"Perfume x TECHNOLOGY" presents "Reframe", held at NHK hall in March)" more. It would be wonderful if Perfume has a show studio or something like permanent theater where people from all over the world can visit to watch our performance when they come to Japan.

- So you mean a stage combining technologies and entertainment together?

A: Yes, it's like a stage combining technologies and humanity together, I guess. When you listen to a word "Technology", you might have a cold impression. But actually it's not. There always are human hands involved with it and it has warmth as if it has flesh and blood. And it can convey the emotions men can not directly put into words. That might represent a kind of "Japanese-ness" in some way, I guess. We could only hold "Reframe" show for 2 days. So I'd love people in Japan and around the world to watch a performance like this as a new entertainment of Japan.

- You think in that way because you'd like to meet the expectation?

A: Because I love to challenge! However, this 3 women has always had a desire to meet the expectation, since we had spent a long time without being expected.

- Until you made a breakthrough, right?

A: Not being wanted and expected is such a sad thing and makes you so miserable. I used to blame myself like "I dedicate myself to this job without hanging around and having fun with friends and yet we remain unwanted and unexpected, why? Why do we get our greetings ignored even by the people of our management office? It must be our fault..." Those feelings I had back then have never gone away, even though we're so privileged to have so many amazing jobs like we do now. Since we remember so well about the fear we felt back then, the joy we feel when we see someone paying attention to us and we're wanted has never changed even now. A cover page of a magazine like this, TV commercial, things like that..., because those mean that there're people who would like to use us.

- Those are what you've been waiting to happen.

A: As we're expected, we would like to meet the expectation at any cost. I really wish Ongaku to Hito magazine would sell over 1 million copies, LOL!!

- That would make this magazine the best-selling magazine in Japan, LOL!!

A: However, we would love to work as hard as we can for that goal, rather than taking responsibility of the result, I feel. Oh, by the way, I started to learn English again recently. And my current teacher is Gyaru.

- What? Gyaru?

A: Yeah, her mother is Japanese. She has lived in LA for a long time and started to live in Japan 3 years ago. She and I have girls' talk in English and that's so much fun! For example, she was trying to tell me "Isn't he trying to hit on you?" in English but...

- What kind of English lesson is that? LOL!!

A: It's basically girls' talk, so..., LOL!! But I couldn't pronounce the phrase well so I said like "Ah, that's difficult..." And she told me "Alright then, listen to this!" (*starting to play a song from her smart phone) This song basically sings like "I'm a man who hit on" all the time.

- I see. You 3, including A-chan, are about to turn 30's. Do you realize any change of your perspective?

A: I do. People from younger generations started to appear on the scene more and more. People you see on the screen come and go through the time, and it's same for the bands appear on rock festivals. Therefore, I do realize that we get older pretty much. You can see that from our outfits, recent costumes are more conscious of those mature-ness and elegance.

- Ah, that's right.

A: 'Cause you know what? I even started Yoga! And I actually enjoy it pretty much!

- So, you are pretty positive and active on what you do now.

A: Exactly. I enjoy getting aged, and as I get older, I've got more things I'd like to try. It's such a pleasure to reach the end of my 20's with the mindset like this, LOL! As for Nocchi and Kashiyuka, they're reaching the end of 20's this year. Moreover, both of them are turning 30 during the upcoming tour. "What should I do on those days?", I'm thinking right now. Since we stick together all the time during the tour, it's pretty difficult.

- Difficult to give them surprises, right?

A: They'll be keeping eyes on what I do, you know?

- I'm so sure that they'll notice like "Ah, A-chan is up to something"

A: Nah, Nocchi tends to be like that, but Kashiyuka is not that kind of girl! But when I give her a surprise, she would tell me like "Ah, I knew it's coming". I'm so sure about that, LOL!

- You haven't changed ever since when you were teenagers about those points.

A: That's true. But back then, we had never imagined that we would be able to remain to be Perfume until this age. We thought it would be pretty lucky if we could continue Perfume for 3 years. After the hit of "Polyrhythm", there was a time we were in a mood like "This will be a great memory for us. There's nothing left to regret anymore"

- Like "We could come this far, so it's enough for us", you thought?

A: Yeah, I think we felt that our hard work paid off and we were finally rewarded. Since then, we have been kind of like updating every year, like "Can we go any further? We made it, we could reach further! It seems we still can go further! ...Is it okay to go further? Shall we go? ...Let's go as far as we can get!" And it seems we still can go further on this year as well.

- But you don't feel anxious when you think like that, do you?

A: No, not at all. I guess it's because we're now confident on what we have piled up until this day. And also because there're so many people believe in that, not only our staffs, but also our fans. Therefore, we have confidence about that and we would feel sorry for them if we're not confident in that. So now I'm trying to make all of my dreams come true, no matter how small it is. I'd like to be a hope for them.

- What's your small dream you fulfilled recently?

A: Sleeping on a bed I've been longing for a long time, for example?

- A bed you've been longing?

A: Yes, placing a huge bed in my room has been my dream for a long time. There's a furniture studio I really admire in Shizuoka Prefecture and the bed called "CONTINUE" manufactured in the studio is the one I've longed. It's all hand made by a craftsperson. I don't know for how long I've been dreaming about this and I've finally bought it after the fan club tour! And it's huuuuuuge!! I can even fall asleep like this! So happy!

- Huh? Ah, I see. You can sleep with your both hands wide open.

A: Like "Am I in heaven or what?" LOL!! Though it might be such a tiny dream, making it come true gives me a confidence. It also makes me think "I've got to work hard 'cause I've bought this" and gives me a strength to move forward in the hard times. I can't help thinking what an easy person I am, though.

- But it represents your personality very well, I think.

A: Money-wise, I could have bought that bed much earlier than I actually had. However, I used to hesitate fulfilling goals a bit, even a tiny one like this. I was kind of scared like "What should I set as a new goal if I fulfill one?" But now, I've got a tons of new dreams and enjoy fulfilling them one by one. That's what I come to think. What's left is... marriage maybe? That's the toughest one, LOL!!

- You had never imagined to turning 30 without getting married, yeah.

A: It's like I've kept walking uncharted territory, LOL! But oh, as we all know, the Olympic is coming to Tokyo in 2 years. So it would be wonderful if we can show our achievement, something we've been doing through the career, on the stage like that. I feel that my life will become different whether we can do something for that big stage or not.

- ...Ah, may I ask you? Is there any project you're involved in actually in progress?

A: Nope, not at all, LOL!!

- Oh, I thought something is actually under way behind closed doors, LOL!!

A: No way! We don't have a power like that, LOL!! But I really want to do something for the Tokyo Olympic! Please, I'm begging you! I'll do anything!!

- Hey, I'm not an appropriate guy for you to beg, LOL!! However, what you said means that you'd like to give shape to what you've piled up, right?

A: That's right. Like "We fulfilled this, we fulfilled that..., we were able to do that so we should be able to do this" As we piled up so many stuffs, we now have more things we're capable of doing. And it's same for our dreams, we still can have more to expand our dreams.

- I think Nakata-san himself knows it, too. That might be why he tries to tell that the future of Perfume who are about to turn 30, is starting from here with this album.

A: I'm so glad about that. But I once again feel I can have dreams like this because Nocchi and Kashiyuka have always been with me. You can't dream alone. Since the 2 are with me, it becomes alright.

"In sandy soil, when deep you delve, you reach the springs below; The more you learn, the freer streams of wisdom flow." - Kural 396, Thirukkural, Thiruvalluvar.

Hana's first truly individual scene in Book 3 follows the pattern that a number of her diamond scenes have followed: learn from Hana, use her skills, get her insight to gain an advantage. These scenes are usually my favourite, because often Hana gets to give us an insight both into courtly life and into her inner mindscape.

The Cordonian Waltz scene gives us an insight into her broken engagement, the Moonflower Scene into her dilemma between staying true to herself and not being able to let go of her parents yet, and the Patisserie and Champagne scenes allow us to view her at different phases of her journey towards self actualization.

The Polo scene is, likewise, meant to improve the MC's skillset and provide her with an added edge in the next day's fundraising match. As is the case with dancing, baking, modelling, ice-skating and dressage, polo was one among the many skills Hana learned in order to bag a noble suitor. Skills whose uses she is beginning to question now.

Polo Moves

Playing polo for Portavira is not entirely about winning a match - it's about putting up a show worth watching for the crowd. This is a benefit match, meant to raise funds for the disaster-struck area, and it doesn't matter so much who wins or loses as it matters that people get their money's worth watching it.

Hana's gift does not lie simply in knowing how to impart skills, but in knowing which skills to impart. She understands the context of this match and what is truly important - she anticipates the needs of their audience and helps the MC deliver accordingly. Her polo lesson is as much about artistry and performance as it is about winning this match.

Hana imparts three important pieces of advice that will help us gain an advantage during the match: one focussed on the game aspect, and the other two on entertaining the crowd.

"Watch the line of the ball" helps the MC figure out how to ensure that she strikes a goal and wins. Her advice that "you can only cross [the ball's] path if there's no chance of someone running into you, or if no other players have the right of way" becomes effective in the match when the MC races Maxwell to the ball, understanding that if she distracts him adequately (either by mentioning a corgi or a dance party) she can earn sole right of way and score for her team. This allows the former Queen Regina, who is mostly silent the rest of the match, to compliment the MC on her skills ("what a play!").

The half-pass is primarily a well-known and often-judged dressage move, and a very challenging one. Unlike the easier leg yield - where the horse is bent only slightly away from the direction of travel - the half-pass is seen as more advanced, requiring greater balance, engagement, and collection from the horse. Denise Cummins, in her website The Thinking Equestrian, describes the half-pass thus: "The half-pass is not a trick. It is a skilled movement that requires the horse to have the proper muscle development and agility".

Essentially, Hana has managed to teach the MC an immensely difficult - and risky, were it a different horse (the MC's personal steed, if she has bought it, is a Derby champion and has proven to be skilled enough for dressage routines) - skill in the course of a single night.

Teaching this dressage move benefits the MC and her horse into two ways: it allows her horse to wow the crowd, and the "diagonal motion" ensures she reaches the ball before Neville does. The half-pass is more about the agility of the horse than it is about the grace or skills of the rider, so teaching her this move allows the crowd to "applaud [the horse's] elegant gait".

The other secret move that Hana passes on is one of her own invention: the windmill. She exhibits this skill when the MC asks her if there are moves she - and not just her horse - can exhibit to win over the crowd. Hana acknowledges that "riders don't usually do anything showy" but nevertheless has the perfect trick up her sleeve:

I think this tells us a lot more about Hana's intuition and perceptiveness than it does about her polo-playing skills. While yes, this move is largely a mark of her creativity and initiative, it also shows us her ability to go above and beyond the game itself to think of what could entertain the audience. For the windmill is a move that was clearly invented to be a crowd-pleaser, to draw attention to the player. This is a move that relies as much on dramatics and showmanship as on timing, allows the MC to look good, and is easy for the crowd to do as well.

If one opts for this diamond scene and gets the additional option of exhibiting this move, it results not only in the crowd enjoying it but also emulating it. Dozens of people are described "mimicking the 'windmill' with handheld flags and anything they can find at hand". Hana definitely knows what the people on the stands are looking for in a match, and is able to mould her skills to deliver just that - and in this lies her biggest gift. I will elaborate on this in a later section.

Skills and Passions

Before I go into the crux of this section - which is what Hana knows vs what interests her, I'd like to look back at a very interesting point Liam made about Hana in his Diplomacy diamond scene:

Hana's a tough one. She's clearly had the kind of lessons I'm giving you now, and then some. Her posture's almost always polite and attentive...but when she feels strongly about something, you can sense her real feelings even before she speaks up. Her eyes grow darker and more serious.

While the book does not explicitly mention her eyes, there is a clear change of tone when Hana is talking about skills she has picked up, versus things she is passionate about. Compare, for instance, the way she speaks about ice skating to piano:

(Screenshots from the Abhirio YouTube channel)

Throughout the books, we see Hana adopt a largely neutral stance about things she has learned but isn't entirely interested in (ice-skating, traditional dancing, baking, dressage, modelling, polo). In these scenes, the moments where she does show joy in the activity include her friends. Dancing becomes more appealing to her when she's competing with Maxwell, cooking and baking when she has someone to pamper with her food. She confesses to enjoying polo more after teaching the MC.

With the activities she loves doing, however, Hana is more involved, more expressive. She shows a range of emotions and is a lot more talkative on the subject of playing piano, or books, or flowers, or tasting good food.

None of these sequences mention her eyes much, but you can differentiate by her reactions what she loves and what she does not. She becomes emotional while talking about her connection to music (specifically piano), gazes in wonder with the MC as the moonflower unfurls, whispers excitedly and conspirationally about reading Wuthering Heights in secret, and does a 'happy dance' in her seat at the simple joy of tasting a french fry dipped in her milkshake. When Hana is excited about the things she is doing, she seems to be a different person altogether.

Where Do I Go From Here?

Prior to her journey in Cordonia, Hana had always assumed that the skills she was pushed into learning were all she would need. She had expectations to fulfill, she had a future mapped out for her, and her aim in life amounted to that future becoming a reality and her life as the wife of a nobleman being set. Because she grew up with the notion that her needs were deterrents to her aim, rather than an aim in and of itself, it never really occured to her to think any differently.

Which was why she was unable to properly answer Peter when he asked her if she loved him. Which was why she constantly assumed that no matter how many Pinstop boards she made, her wedding plans would happen the way her parents wanted it to happen. Because she spent long enough believing what she wanted didn't matter, it took her a while to even be able to discover what she wanted, much less articulate it.

Hana's background made her acquisition of skills that would appeal particularly to aristocrats essential. As a woman who has some Cordonian noble blood in her (through her mother) but may be at a disadvantage because she may not have a title of her own, her parents' expectations had always been focused on ensuring a marriage to a titled, reputed noble who could not just look after Hana but provide her the kind of status and stature in society that (I'm guessing here) her mother may have lost in marrying a foreign businessman. They were clear about the direction they wanted Hana's future to go in, and prepared her only for that kind of future.

In the old, hierarchical Cordonia, perhaps Hana would have been well prepared enough. A Cordonia where she was expected to be the perfect hostess and giving wife all rolled in one, where her skills would equip her for the occasional court activity and increased possibilities for hosting. But post the Homecoming Ball, there has been a phenomenal shift: she is in a position of power at court (even more so if she is marrying the MC), in a country torn apart by civil strife and filled with citizens who do not feel safe and are therefore wary of the monarchy's ability to protect them. The skills she learned were meant for activities suited to court and an aristocratic home, but what matters now is what she has to offer outside of court.

For the first time Hana has to now think of what she can give to the country that has given her refuge and a sense of freedom, and she is now confronted with how little her upbringing has actually prepared her for this. Cordonia's well-being is incredibly important to her, and now more than ever she needs to prove to herself - as much to everyone else - that she can be an asset.

Some of her skills do come into use: particularly her penchant for negotiation and now her proficiency with polo, but how long are her particular talents going to prove useful and at what point will Cordonia see how ill-equipped she feels, with regards to handling this situation?

I would argue that even within this, it's possible to see that she has gifts beyond just the things she has learned. As I have specified earlier, this scene not only highlights how talented a polo player she is, but also that she has an eye for what will appeal to people and encourage them to get involved. She has oftentimes managed to help the MC secure allies by paying attention to the other person's needs and passing that information on to the MC (funnily enough, in all of these instances it is Hana who does the research and coaches the MC, and it is largely the MC who reaps the benefits and gets the credit). While this may not seem like a skill in and of itself, it is a pretty strong foundation for other, newer skills that she can use to help Cordonia.

Hana is often seen measuring her usefulness, and her skills, by whatever goal she has set herself out to achieve. She considers herself a failure when - despite her talents - she is unable to get/sustain a match. Right now her goal is to be a useful citizen, to help Cordonia out of its crisis, and this doubt manifests itself in this question: "Are the skills I have enough to save Cordonia? Am I enough?"

Romance

(The first two screenshots are from @kennaxval s playthrough, and the third is from the Abhirio YouTube channel)

As with Liam's Diplomacy scene, most of the romance emerges from the MC's choices rather than as a part of the default narrative.

The romance options are interesting, particularly in terms of timing and placement. All three of them revolve around the MC's desire to be a little playful, to distract Hana and get her to relax when she overthinks. The MC balances her out: she is playful to Hana's serious, gut-instinct to Hana's strategy. She gets Hana to think beyond the logistics of the activity and to enjoy what she's doing.

However, there is one problem.

The above options present themselves at a crucial point in the conversation between Hana and the MC, where Hana is unsure about what she'd like to try out if she could choose to do something she loves. In both the LI and non-LI scenarios, the "full-time best friend" is given as a choice. This makes plenty sense in the non-LI playthrough, and very little in the LI one because "best friend" doesn't even begin to cover what Hana represents to her fiancèe now.

The major problem here lies more in what has been left out in this scene. So far, Hana's future in both playthroughs have remained largely the same. Like Drake, she may acquire a title when she marries the MC. Unlike Drake, she doesn't get the opportunity in the narrative to ask questions about her future position as duchess, which is strange considering that it is so extensively analyzed in the Drake LI playthrough.

In Drake's playthrough, they discuss his upcoming new position as a Duke, his discomfort in being part of the nobility that had shunned him for so long, his need to be taken seriously in court as the MC's future husband, what he wants to do with his title, his need to provide for and protect his future wife and children. There are a number of stumbling blocks in his way, the biggest being the class barrier and how the court sees him.

Hana's marriage to the MC has, in contrast, only been discussed in the first two chapters, where she worries that she is imposing her desires and dreams on the MC and not adequately listening to her partner. This would have been perfect, had the MC not become a duchess and was not such a prominent political figure in Cordonia.

Ideally, Hana's playthrough should involve discussions on what her marriage to the MC should entail. This would include the following:

1. In what ways has her training prepared - and not prepared - Hana for this role?

2. In their first conversation with Neville and Rashad, the MC has the option of promoting Hana's advantage as a suitor primarily by extolling her skills as a hostess and housewife. Very little mention at this point is made of Hana actually running an estate. This is an arrangement that I'm sure Hana and the MC will never adopt in their marriage, considering Hana wants to be more involved, and the MC sees her as an equal in their relationship. It is not entirely clear whether there is a distinction, given that the only aristocratic women we have seen are largely heirs to their estates - Adeleide, Madeleine (to her county Fydelia), Emmeline, Olivia.

3. Shouldn't we have a discussion, then, on how her skills will translate into running their estate? What can she do to make Valtoria better than what it was earlier? How will they manage to run things and revive this duchy? What are their plans?

4. In keeping with her potential future crisis point, why do we not see Hana giving us a clear idea of whether she can run the duchy or not? Like Drake, her future is uncertain if she does not marry the MC, so both their efforts are channeled towards helping Liam and/or Cordonia. If they are married to the MC, both Drake and Hana face differing conflicts with regards to becoming landed nobility. Both deserve to be discussed in depth.

5. With reference to the above option list given, why can there not be an option for "duchess"? Why is she still "professional best friend", when Hana's closest friend in their circle is the MC herself, and their relationship involves a bigger role once they get married?

6. What Hana can do for Cordonia as a Duchess is also a question that needs to be raised in the story. It would still fit in with her overall narrative arc, but it would also present different issues and avenues compared to what she can do as a member of the MC's court.

Overall, I feel that while Hana has an interesting character arc in this book overall, it isn't being explored as extensively as it deserves to be, and doesn't seem very different from a non-LI playthrough of her story.

Sources:

"How to Ride a Half-Pass", by Denise Cummins from The Thinking Equestrian website.

Special thanks to @kennaxval and the Abhirio YouTube channel (@abhirio) for screenshots from their Hana-centric playthroughs.

I felt the dire need to talk about Korosensei and Aguri, and more precisely why I don’t see their relationship as romantic. Somehow, this ended up pretty long.

(Note : for convenience’s sake, I will use ‘Korosensei’ even to talk about his past human form)

It’s not a matter of “Korosensei is to blame for Aguri’s death”. It wasn’t intentional on his part, and even if he had taken time to think about it, would he really have imagined Aguri doing such a reckless thing as she did ? (doesn’t mean he is to blame any less, tho). Heck, stories where a person kills their love interest for a good reason could be really interesting, like some kind of twisted Trolley problem, but that’s not what happened so let’s leave it at that.

If I were to convey my feelings into words, I think there would be three main points that makes me unable to appreciate this relationship:

1)We don’t actually see much of Aguri in her other relationships. Before Kayano’s arc, we have two mentions of Aguri ; one in chapter 1, a brief flashback from Korosensei ; and in chapter 76, between some students, which can basically be summed up as one page of ‘we had a former teacher that disappeared’, one panel of ‘I liked them, they were nice’ (keep in mind that the sentences were gender neutral), and then one panel to reveal said teacher was called ‘Yukimura’.

Then come Kayano’s reveal. When the story stop to explain us how and why she got tentacles, we don’t really focus on why is Akari so attached to her sister. Chapter 131 had one and an half pages to explain Aguri liked her teacher job, and she was nice and passionated.

Since the past time arc is mostly from Korosensei’s point of view it’s even a bit weird that it’s not solely his, given he’s supposed to be telling the story to his students, most of what we see of Aguri is with her developing relationship with him. We see her interacting with the former class E for two pages, sure. We see her interacting with Yanagisawa. But, the moment with our class E or the phone call to Akari ? It’s mostly to tease Aguri that ‘she found a man’ (we will come back to that later) ; it does imply some friendliness between them, else they wouldn’t say such things, but not much else.

The story post-tentacled!Kayano isn’t that much better. A brief half-page mention during Volume 17 saying Aguri wanted Korosensei to live, one case in chapter 153 on how she put her life on the line to save Korosensei, a photo of her on a chocolate on Korosensei... You can start to see a pattern here. The moments on the top of my head who break this are Yanagisawa’s flashback in chapter 157 and a mention from the Chairman in chapter 160.

A lot of those relationships are really... informed. We hear people say she was this or that, but we don’t actually see a lot of those interactions. For all the ill I could say about the second live action movie, at least they have a small scene of a young Akari baking with her big sis ; those are those kind of little moments that would make us understand why is this relationship valuable. This contrast a lot with Aguri’s relationship with Korosensei, that start from ‘this person could be useful to me’/”Eeeh you looks nice but if I release you you will kill me” to the tentacle hand scene (each wanting to express their thanks to each other and wanting to touch the other).

And then Aguri dies, the sacrifice saving Korosensei from becoming a bloodlust-fueled beast and motivating him to become a better person (and to teach class E).

So... a character that exists mostly for Korosensei’s development and motivations (yes, even more than for her own sister), that is then disposed and appear really occasionally for a one-panel flashback. Matsui, may I direct you to Tv Tropes ? I think you will find the example list on Disposable Woman and Stuffed Into the Fridge are long enough as it is.

Not that tropes are necessarily bad, but when it becomes recurrent that a female character exist solely to be killed so the main male character get development, it’s really tiring. And so, Korosensei and Aguri’s bond feel in retrospect less like a genuine relationship and more like a plot device. And by relationship, I do include the possibility of it being platonic, even if the manga would rather us see it the other way. Speaking of that, next point...

2)The story forces us to see it as a romance. I said we would come back to Aguri’s interaction with class E, so here we go. The students see their teacher is particularly happy, and are quick to jump on the conclusion that she must be meeting with a man she loves after school. Silly middle schoolers, no wonder they jumped on Irina’s signs of a crush as soon as they heard about it.

Next chapter starts with Akari asking her sis if she’s in love, since she sounds more cheerful, and despite her sister’s protests she says she wants to her about ‘that guy’ on her mind later.

Did you see the parallel? Wait, let me rephrase it.

Aguri seems happy, so others assume she’s in love. With a man, obviously ; same-gender romance can’t exist in the main story if it’s not a joke on Kataoka, else it’s best left as a mention on extra-material (right, Yada ?).

But... why? Why couldn’t she be happy because, say, she would met a friend or a family member after classes and just packed a gift she know would make them happy? Well, Akari know about their family’s situation but it’s unlikely Aguri told her about the gift, so for all the knew her sister could just be happy because she had time off-work or got rid of a very stressful thing, no need to see a relationship in this.

It’s tied to the idea, even more prevalent in Japan, that all women seeks romance and need an happy love life to feel fulfilled. And, just like a game telling me not to push that big pretty red button only makes me want to push it even more, when a story insist that, of course a female character is/needs to be in love, I will sit here hoping my judgmental glaze travel across time and space to hit the author on the head.

I like relationships that could work either way. If Matsui had kept this ambiguous, I would be way more appreciative of it ; instead of what he’s pretty much saying “Yes, of course they’re in a relationship” while winking unsubtly and nudging me with his elbow enough to make me fall from my chair.

If you think I’m taking my analogies too far, I can’t exactly say you’re wrong since the appreciation of this is subjective. But think of Kayano post-tentacles. When choosing whether to kill or save Korosensei, she does think ‘I wonder if it’s because we’re sisters that we both fell for assassins’. Karma wants to give poisoned chocolates to Korosensei for Valentine’s day? She bring him a photo of Yukimura in a more-or-less sexy swimsuit. Seriously Akari, that’s your dead sister we’re talking about. 

Sure, we could say she’s coping with her sister’s death by trying to think at least she got to be in love with a man that isn’t Yanagisawa (in case you hadn’t noticed, Kayano... don’t really like him *Understatement of the week here I go*), because if Aguri wasn’t in love with Korosensei that meant she never found happiness before dying. But we never had signs that this was what Matsui was trying to do.

Why Aguri couldn’t be happy with Korosensei as a close friend? Wouldn’t her death have influenced him as strongly if he saw her as a found family? Heck, this one might as well be better, given the close relationship Korosensei have with class E. 

Now, those two problems are shared by lot of stories, be they manga or novels, destined to teens or pre-teens just as for adults. The third one is a specific story point, precisely in chapter 138. It might be more subject to interpretation (to translation, too), and as such personal tastes might play more of a role in it.

3) How Korosensei treated Aguri after learning he would die. The moon just exploded, Aguri had barely learned that the lab would dispose of the God of Death that she was already running to him to inform him of the truth. Of course, he is crushed by th- nevermind, the narration talks about ‘embracing a cursed death’. That sure was quick. So, Korosensei’s first reaction is to want to try his new powers. When Aguri wants to stop him, does he listen to her, even knowing full well she won’t make him change opinions ? Nah, better to point out she have less talent than him, and even add how little value she have. Uncalled insults are sure to make her feel better after all. (One might see these as a way to make sure she would leave and not get caught up in the events, because Aguri is Aguri and any less rude way to persuade her to do so wouldn’t work. I do not share this vision of things). 

Even the ‘it will be better if you leave before you die in vain’ is dismissive. Sure, he warns her and waits for her to leave the room before acting, showing a tiny amount of care left he wouldn’t have for probably anyone else in this building. But there also the underlying meaning that he won’t restrain himself in his destruction solely because she’s here. 

As soon as Korosensei was reminded of his values on death, he pretty much threw this relationship away. relationship for which Aguri put a lot on stakes by telling him about his imminent death. This upsets me for a personal reason, but even without that, this does throws a wrench in the whole relationship. 

Sure, when Aguri died next to him, Korosensei ended up regretting the whole thing and had a change of heart. But a ‘Ooops, turns out I do care after all’ doesn’t erase all the damage he did by his preceding action (or the damage he could have done, rather, because Aguri is too good and still tried to save him).

So, what am I telling with this post ? In the end, very little. I wanted to present my opinion on the subject ; if you do ship Korosensei and Aguri and it brings you happiness, feel free to continue. Those are points that I feel one should be conscious of (though I feel the last one is hard to ignore), but liking this pair despite this does not makes one a bad person. However, as one must do anyways, please tag your content accurately so people like me can blacklist it.

From the article:

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Google Folds, Restores Accounts of Banned Statistics Professor

The story is that for some reason Google shut down all the accounts of a statistics professor who used to do work for the Obama Administration, who has done work for the Trump Administration, and whose blog is strictly a statistics blog, but which uses real-world examples.

My guess is that he used some examples from the news in order to discuss mathematical techniques, someone took the post as a political post, and reported him for a violation of Google’s terms of service. And some customer service person pulled the plug.

Now had this happened in a vacuum, we could chalk this up to a mistake made by some random customer service person. But coming directly on the heels of Google’s public statements against neo-Nazis (and their silence on the far more violent AntiFas, originally founded as a violent paramilitary arm of the Communist Party in Germany), and Google’s public pulling the plug on The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist web site, which garnished strong criticism by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, it’s hard not to think that Google is taking political sides–and some college professor of statistics got caught in the crossfire.

Of course picking on neo-Nazis, the KKK and white supremacists is like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s just too easy. It’s like publicly announcing your support for cute babies, good apple pie and The American Way. It’s shallow virtue signaling: an easy way to signal your “morality” to improve your social standing, without taking any risk.

(The irony here: the less risky the virtue signaling, the more you hear about people “standing up” and “taking risks” to show their morality. I mean, it’s the equivalent of saying “the earth is round”, and “oh, how brave you are for confessing such a hidden truth in the face of flat-earther opposition!” Please.Next you’ll be telling me that breathing oxygen is an occult mystery hidden in the shadows of time.)

The problem, though, is that in all this virtue signaling by powerful corporate monopolies–one which eventually even the most die-hard left-wing liberal will realize–is that powerful corporate virtue signaling quickly becomes powerful corporate bullying. And powerful corporate bullying has two effects: it quickly becomes David verses Goliath, for example, by limiting our ability to express ourselves on the Internet. In Google’s case this is a clear violation of one of the tenants of the principles of Net Neutrality that Google supposedly supports.And second, as Google stumbles around as the 800 pound gorilla, taking political stands and knocking math professors off the air, they start acting more and more like the corporate villain Leftists abhor.

Corporate villains tend to lose market share, and come under the scrutiny of the Security and Exchange Commission.

It’s why Silicon Valley looks less like the crossroads of capitalism and liberal virtues, and more like the home of today’s modern Robber Baron class.

For corporations it’s very important, especially as you grow larger, to be very careful protecting your public image. Part of that means either taking very milksop political positions that are so vague no-one feels repressed, or to take nopolitical position other than upholding the laws and principles in the country or countries in which you operate.

McDonalds is actually quite good at this. Do you know McDonalds position on free speech? And they’re very good about local culture: go to a McDonalds overseas, and you find McDonalds selling regional favorites. Local chain operators have the McLobster Roll in Maine, kosher meals in Israel (including the McShawarma and McKebab, both served on flat bread), and a completely halal menu in Pakistan.

Large corporations should also carefully research the charities they make donations to. McDonalds has done the best thing you can with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which support the health and well-being of children. Do you know anything about the charity other than it helps children, in part by providing homes for abused children to escape to? The Ronald McDonald House Charities works because McDonalds has complete control over the charity’s branding and image–and can keep it rigorously on message as a charity to help children.

By contrast Apple recently started taking donations for the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization criticized by the Right as lumping think-tanks who oppose illegal immigration alongside hate organizations like the KKK. (The former being a valid political position many of us can disagree with, the later being a hate organization that has historically engaged in violence.) In contrast, the SPLC has been relatively silent about the current AntiFa movement, which has been very clear about their use of violence to silence conservative voices.

While Apple’s support has been relatively quiet, they run the risk of touching the third rail and looking partisan: providing implicit support of violent left-wing paramilitary groups while implicitly denying the right of conservative voices to organize in support of certain valid political positions.

If I were in charge of a large corporation I would do everything I could to be studiously anti-political, and keep statements in the realm of general principles rather than specific political positions. Thus, I’d talk about “inclusiveness” in general terms, and talk about how we are “striving” to do better. Otherwise, you come under fire for your culture and hiring practices, which stand in sharp contrast with your political position. I would talk strongly about supporting the principles of individual freedom, but avoid talking about specific positions (such as Freedom of Speech), instead taking the position that, within the framework of laws in which we do business we side with individual freedom of expression.

And I’d avoid specific political actions like the plague, instead waiting for a valid legal warrant before shutting down sites like The Daily Stormer–which, as repulsive as it is, is engaged in legally protected speech.

That’s because unlike principles, politics changes. And if you take a political position, either you have to change–and look hypocritical–or find yourself on the wrong side of current trends.

And a company like Google on the wrong side of current political trends is a company who loses profits, credibility and eventually can become in real trouble with legal authorities.

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TAGGED BY:  @enshrxned

↪ REPOST!! DO NOT REBLOG!!

━━ FULL NAME:  Vergil Bellamy ━━ GENDER & SEXUALITY:  male, (heteroromantic) demisexual ━━ ETHNICITY & SPECIES:  seemingly North American; nephilim ━━ BIRTHPLACE & BIRTHDATE:  Limbo City (state N/A), United States; November 26th (year N/A)

━ GUILTY PLEASURES:  I don’t think anything he likes doing makes him feel guilty. Excessive consumption of sweets, maybe? Like if he’s caught downing a whole pint of Häagen-Dazs-- wait maybe that’s more embarrassing than anything.

━ PHOBIAS:  Fears he has, but phobias? Perhaps mysophobia, but I debate this with myself.

━ WHAT THEY WOULD BE FAMOUS / INFAMOUS FOR:  Forming, heading, and actively taking part in The Order, a known “terrorist” group; being the “masked freak on the ‘net.” Aiding in the demise of a former demon king. Aspiring to rule over humanity, unlike Mundus, though still poised to take his place (though that depends on if word of any of this spreads around).

━ WHAT HAVE THEY / WOULD THEY HAVE GOTTEN ARRESTED FOR:  He has eluded the law thus far, and he’s done so by breaking it. Hacking into state and government databases, manipulating his public and private records, forging "legal” documents, identity theft or manipulation to a degree, falsification of credit or financial records---to name a few. I would also lightly suggest murder, but as I’m aware it was done out of self-defense, and then there’s also indirect mass murder, but that one’s totally unintentional. Haha.................

━ A CHARACTER YOU SHIP THEM WITH:  No canon ones. Only an OC, Bianca, which I’m sure has already become well-known as his lifelong ladylove.

━ CHARACTER MOST LIKELY TO MURDER THEM:  Mundus, if the opportunity were ever there. Though I mean Dante almost did and Vergil pretty much died by Dante’s hand even if it wasn’t instant I mean--

━ FAVORITE BOOK GENRE:  Anything covering the occult/paranormal, though he will prefer nonfiction in regard to these subjects. Handbooks and codices, journals and studies are among those he reads primarily. He’s also keen on reading ancient poetry/prose, or teaching himself to read this. Historical accounts and biographies are quite fun, more than anything, to read. But in any case, he’s always willing to learn something from the material. If it’s educational, he won’t mind reading it: the more knowledge he accumulates, the better.

━ LEAST FAVORITE BOOK CLICHE:  Forced/pointless romance I guess? I don’t think he really cares.

━ TALENTS AND / OR POWERS:  Electronic hacking/infiltration, data manipulation, computer programming, being multilingual, analytical thinking, superhuman senses (and having a sixth sense), swordsmanship and close quarters combat, firearms training. Powers include psychokinesis, memory erasure; his angelic gifts allow him to glide a limited distance, while his demonic gifts allow him to transition instantly from one place to another, though also a limited distance, and to enter a state of enhanced power, Devil Trigger, from which he can generate a doppelganger. He can also conjure projectiles in the shape of swords.

━ WHY SOMEONE MIGHT LOVE THEM:  I think his loyalty and reliability might be the first thing someone would find anchoring. Out of all the things he is, or does, the most comforting part of getting to know him would be finding out that he will defend you, or do something for you which he may have promised previously. He’s true to his word, he won’t fail you. Even if he doesn’t know you all that well, he will hardly find himself betraying or deceiving. He does have a sense of justice to follow, and his own morality will push him to doing right by you---if you deserve it. That alone, I believe, would be more than enough to put him in someone’s favor. Superficial traits aside, he’s fairly lovable depending on you.

━ WHY SOMEONE MIGHT HATE THEM:  AND THE FLIP SIDE IS that he’s just as easy to hate. It might be easier for an outsider to take note of the traits that make him unappealing, even repellent. Perhaps his critical, keen eye might become annoying very fast. His tendency toward suspicion might tire you. I believe it’s his arrogance and his pride that may very well discourage people the most. He will always place himself above humanity, boast of his blood and his prowess. He’s going to distance himself from human nature, even deny that he is much like a human for the sake of perching atop his pedestal. His ego is swelled, thus rather sensitive. You may think he’s pretentious, self-entitled, and self-serving, and you’d be right for the most part. No one really likes a prima donna.

━ HOW THEY CHANGE:  He doesn’t in any way that would lend him grace. The period encompassing his downfall and his own ascension is a short one, but it impacts him in deep ways. Maybe when he was once naive, tolerant, and good-humored, he would have become more cynical, prone to impatience and frustration, and less likely to extend amiability. If he was cautious before, then he’s as good as paranoid now. He is less willing to trust in others, less willing to form bonds. In fact, it’s a heavy challenge to clear these hurdles if you’re the one trying to get close to him. In the past, he may have held a neutral position toward angels; leaving Hell, however, has damaged his view of them almost irreversibly. He hates them now, can’t stand them. And I’m just listing off a handful of changes he’s gone through, from post-game to post-Vergil’s Downfall. I haven’t even touched upon the physical and mental impacts the trial has had over him. From growing more powerful, he’s lost mental stability. In fact, he is continually losing his mind to the corruption he harbors. This, as well as entering Devil Trigger, also takes a toll on his physical health---mainly that of his heart. It’s all a slow progression, however, probably meant to prolong the inevitable so that he may feel it and struggle through. In short: he becomes darker, more demonic, more twisted in his points of view. BUT you can’t really tell at first glance. It takes some digging to realize what’s happened to him.

━ WHY YOU LOVE THEM:  He’s cute and a baby. The fruit of my loins. I really do see him as a good boy even though he’d fucked up along the way. His intentions were good, albeit not entirely selfless, but it’s his sentiment behind his actions that led everything to happen in the first place. Aside from some plot holes and iffy writing and vague shit that hasn’t been fleshed out, I feel like his reactions to everything, though exaggerated or just plain questionable, are realistic and justifiable based on who he is, how he thinks, how he deals with his emotions, etc. He’s not supposed to be a “normal” person (because he ain’t human to begin with lmao), he’s grown up differently, he’s fueled by different instincts, and on top of that he’s got a few personality issues, an inferiority complex to some degree, and all of these things are meant to make him the way he is. And because of this, I feel strongly that he is believable. He has things wrong with him, he’s totally wrong in some ways, fucked up in others, and I love that. It helps reinforce his characterization; like he can build justification upon justification with personality traits alone. There’s always a reason that a part of him is, whether or not it’s flawed. He might be blind to some flaws and accepting of others, and all of this helps build his layers. I find that he’s very complex, has many facets to his being. I’ve always been impressed by that. I, myself, have a hard time on occasion to explain one thing or another about him because there’s so much there to explore and understand, and every point has an added side to it. I’m not blind to the wrongs, but I’ll admit I’m so biased and defensive of him that I’m always going to deny the idea that he’s a villain, your classic antagonist. He shouldn’t have been treated that way, reduced to a foil, which I honestly think is pretty unfair considering how the twins handled one another’s differences? In the first place Vergil is just too careful to say outright that he’s gonna rule humanity?? Like I’m sorry but it’s totally unfair in my eyes that he was set up to be the bad guy and IT HURTS MAN, IT HURTS. And yeah I’m gonna blame Dante for choosing to put up his dukes rather than talk it out with his brother who, by the way, hadn’t suggested in the slightest that they fight out their differences. I mean your own flesh and blood who you’ve just started to rebuild a kinship with? Who really wanted you in his life because damn it he loved his brother and he didn’t want to lose you again?? And you want to fight him so fast??? Sorry that’s wrong, you didn’t even give my boy a chance to save face smh. Bitch all I’m saying is he ain’t a villain at heart because he’s got no evil intent during the main game; post-Downfall he’s pretty fucked up because of that dark shit he embraced and now he feels betrayed beyond belief and I have more to say I will fight everyone--

TAGGING:  whoever’s inspired to fill this out tbh