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sabugabr · 3 years

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Why the Clone problem in Star Wars animated media is also a Mandalorian problem, and why we have to talk about it (PART 2)

Hi! I finally finished wrapping this up, so here’s part 2 of what has already become a mini article (you can find Part 1 here, if you like!)

And for this part, it won’t be as much as a critic as part 1 was, but instead I’d like to focus more on what I consider to be a wasted potential regarding the representation of the Clones in the Star Wars animated media, from the first season of The Clone Wars till now, and why I believe it to be an extension of the Mandalorian problem I discussed in part 1 — the good old colonialism.

Sources used, as always, will be linked at the end of this post!

PART 2: THE CLONES

Cody will never know peace

So I’d like to state that I won’t focus as much on the blatantly whitewashing aspect, for I believe it to be very clear by now. If you aren’t familiar with it, I highly recommend you search around tumblr and the internet, there are a lot of interesting articles and posts about it that explain things very didactically and in detail. The only thing you need to know to get this started is that even at the first seasons of Clone Wars (when the troopers still had this somewhat darker skin complexion and all) they were still a whitewashed version of Temuera Morrison (Jango’s actor). And from then, as we all know, they only got whiter and whiter till we get where we are now, in rage.

Look at this very ambiguously non-white but still westernized men fiercely guarding their pin-up space poster

Now look at this still westernized but slightly (sarcasm) whiter men who for some reason now have different tanning levels among them (See how Rex now has a lighter skin tone? WHEN THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN KKKKKKK) Anyway you got the idea. So without further ado...

2.1 THE FANTASY METAPHOR

As I mentioned before in Part 1, one thing that has to be very clear if you want to follow my train of thought is that it’s impossible to consume something without attributing cultural meanings to it, or without making cultural associations. This things will naturally happen and it often can improve our connection to certain narratives, especially fantastic ones. Even if a story takes place in a fantastic/sci fi universe, with all fictional species and people and worlds and cultures, they never come from nowhere, and almost always they have some or a lot of basing in real people and cultures. And when done properly, this can help making these stories resonate in a very beautifull, meaningfull way. I actually believe this intrisic cultural associations are the things that make these stories work at all. As the brilliant american speculative/science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin says in the introduction (added in 1976) of her novel The Left Hand of Darkness, and that I was not able to chopp much because it’s absolutely genious and i’ll be leaving the link to the full text right here,

“The purpose of a thought-experiment, as the term was used by Schrodinger and other physicists, is not to predict the future — indeed Schrodinger's most famous thought-experiment goes to show that the ‘future,’ on the quantum level, cannot be predicted — but to describe reality, the present world.

Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive.”

[...] “Fiction writers, at least in their braver moments, do desire the truth: to know it, speak it, serve it. But they go about it in a peculiar and devious way, which consists in inventing persons, places, and events which never did and never will exist or occur, and telling about these fictions in detail and at length and with a great deal of emotion, and then when they are done writing down this pack of lies, they say, There! That's the truth!

They may use all kinds of facts to support their tissue of lies. They may describe the Marshalsea Prison, which was a real place, or the battle of Borodino, which really was fought, or the process of cloning, which really takes place in laboratories, or the deterioration of a personality, which is described in real textbooks of psychology; and so on. This weight of verifiable place-event-phenomenon-behavior makes the reader forget that he is reading a pure invention, a history that never took place anywhere but in that unlocalisable region, the author's mind. In fact, while we read a novel, we are insane —bonkers. We believe in the existence of people who aren't there, we hear their voices, we watch the battle of Borodino with them, we may even become Napoleon. Sanity returns (in most cases) when the book is closed.”

[...] “ In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find — if it's a good novel — that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have been changed a little, as if by having met a new face, crossed a street we never crossed before. But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.

The artist deals with what cannot be said in words.

The artist whose medium is fiction does this within words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words. Words can be used thus paradoxically because they have, along with a semiotic usage, a symbolic or metaphoric usage. [...] All fiction is metaphor. Science fiction is metaphor. What sets it apart from older forms of fiction seems to be its use of new metaphors, drawn from certain great dominants of our contemporary life — science, all the sciences, and technology, and the relativistic and the historical outlook, among them. Space travel is one of these metaphors; so is an alternative society, an alternative biology; the future is another. The future, in fiction, is a metaphor.

A metaphor for what?” [1]

A metaphor for what indeed. I won’t be going into what Star Wars as a whole is a metaphor for, because I am certain that it varies from person to person, and everyone can and has the total right to take whatever they want from this story, and understand it as they see fit. That’s why it’s called the modern myth. And therefore, all I’ll be saying here is playinly my take not only on what I understand the Clones to be, but what I believe they could have meant.

2.2 SO, BOBA IS A CLONE

I don’t want to get too repetitive, but I wanted to adress it because even though I by no means intend to put Boba and the Clones in the same bag, there is one aspect about them that I find very similar and interesting, that is the persue of individuality. While the Clones have this very intrinsically connected to their narratives, in Boba’s case this appears more in his concept design. As I mentioned in Part 1, one of the things the CW staff had in mind while designing the mandalorians is that they wanted to make Boba seem unique and distinguishable from them, and honestly even in the original trilogy he stands out a lot. He is unique and memorable and that’s one of the things that draws us to him.

And as we all know, both Boba and Jango and the Clones are played by Temuera Morrison — and occasionally by the wonderful Bodie Taylor and Daniel Logan. And Temuera Morrison comes from the Maori people. And differently from the mandalorian case, where we were talking about a whole planet, in this situation we’re talking about portraying one single person, so there’s nowhere to go around his appearance and phenotypes, right? I mean, you are literally representing an actual individual, so there’s no way you could alter their looks, right?

(hahahaha wrong)

And besides that, I think that is in situations like that (when we are talking about individuals) that the actor’s perspective could really have a place to shine (just the same as how Lea was mostly written by Carrie Fisher). In this very heart-warming interview for The New York Times (which you can read full signing up for their 5-free-articles-per-month policy), Temuera Morrison talks a little bit about how he incorporated his cultural background to Boba Fett in The Mandalorian:

“I come from the Maori nation of New Zealand, the Indigenous people — we’re the Down Under Polynesians — and I wanted to bring that kind of spirit and energy, which we call wairua. I’ve been trained in my cultural dance, which we call the haka. I’ve also been trained in some of our weapons, so that’s how I was able to manipulate some of the weapons in my fight scenes and work with the gaffi stick, which my character has.” [2]

The Gaffi stick (or Gaderffii), btw, is the weapon used by the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, and according to oceanic art expert Bruno Claessens it’s design was inspired by wooden Fijian war clubs called totokia. [3]

And I think is very clear how this background can influence one’s performance and approach to a character, and majorly how much more alive this character will feel like. Beyond that, having an actor from your culture to play and add elements to a character will higly improve your sense of connection with them (besides all the impact of seeying yourself on screen, and seeying yourself portrayed with respect). It would only make sense if the cultural elements that the actor brought when giving life to a fictional individual would’ve been kept and even deepened while expanding this role. And if you’re familiar with Star Wars Legends you’ll probably rememeber that in Legends Jango would train and raise all Clone troopers in the Mandalorian culture, so that the Clones would sing traditional war chants before battles, be fluent in Mando’a (Mandalore’s language) and some would proudly take mandalorian names for themselves. So why didn’t Filoni Inc. take that into account when they went to delve into the clones in The Clone Wars?

2.3 THE WHITE MINORITY

First of all I’d like to state that all this is 100% me conjecturing, and by no means at all I’m saying that this is what really happened. But while I was re-watching CW before The Bad Batch premiere, something came to my mind regarding the whitewashing of the Clones, and I’d like to leave that on the table.

So, you know this kind of recent movies and series that depicted like, fairies in this fictional world where fairies were very opressed, but there would be a lot of fairies played by white actors? Just like Bright and Carnival Row. If you’ve watched some of these and have some racial conscience, you’ll probably know where I’m going here. And the issue with it is that often this medias will portray real situations of racism and opression and prejudice, but all applied to white people. Like in Carnival Row, when going to work as a maid in a rich human house, our girl Cara Delevingne had to fight not to have her braids (which held a lot of significance in her culture) cut by her intolerant human mistress, because the braids were not “appropriate”. Got it? hahahaha what a joy

Look at her ethnic braids!!!

One of the reasons this happens might be to relieve a white audience of the burden of watching these stories and feeling what I like to call “white guilt”. Because, as we all know, white people were never very oppressed. Historically speaking, white people have always been in privileged social positions, and in an exploitative relationship between two ethnic groups, white people very usually would be the exploiters — the opressors. So while watching situations (that every minority would know to be very real) of opression in fiction, if these situations were lived by a white actor, there would be no real-life associations, because we have no historical parameter to associate this situation with anything in real life — if you are white. Thus, there is less chance that, when consuming one of these narratives, whoever is watching will question the "truthfulness" of these situations (because it's not "real racism", see, "they're just fairies"). It's easier for a person to watch without having to step out of their comfort zone, or confront the reality of real people who actually go through things like that. There's even a chance that this might diminish empathy for these people.

Once again, not saying this is specifically the case of the Clones, majorly because one of the main feelings you have when watching CW is exactly empathy for the troopers (at least for me, honestly, the galaxy could explode, I just wanted those poor men to be happy for God’s sake). But I’ll talk more about it later.

The thing is, the whole thing with the Clones, if you think about it, it’s not pretty. If you step on little tiny bit outside the bubble of “fictional fantasy”, the concept is very outrageous. They are kept in conditions analogous to slavery, to say the least. To say the more, they were literally made in an on-demand lab to serve a purpose they are personally not a part of, for which they will neither receive any reward nor share any part of the gains. On the contrary, as we saw in The Bad Batch, as soon as the war was over and the clones were no longer useful as cannonballs, they were discarded. In the (wonderful) episode 6 of the third season of (the almost flawless) Rebels, “The Last Battle”, we're even personally introduced to the analogy that there really wasn't much difference in value between clones and droids, something that was pretty clear in Clone Wars but hadn't been said explicitly yet.

In fact, technically the Separatists can be considered to be more human than the Republic. But that's just my opinion.

So, you had this whole army of pretty much slaves. I know this is a heavy term, but these were people who were originally stripped of any sense of humanity or individuality, made literally to go to war and die in it, doing so purely in exchange for food and lodging, under the false pretense that they belonged to a glorious purpose (yes, Loki me taught that term, that was the only thing I absorbed from this series). Doing all this under extremely precarious conditions from which they had no chance of getting out, actually, getting out was tantamount to the death penalty. They were slaves. In milder terms, an oppressed minority. And again, I don't know if that was the case, but I can understand why Filoni Inc would be apprehensive about representing phenotically indigenous people in this situation. Especially since we in theory should see Anakin and Obi-Wan as the good guys.

(and here I’d like to leave a little disclaimer that I believe the whole Anakin-was-a-slave-once plot was HUGELY misused (and honestly just badly done) both in the prequels and in the animeted series — maybe for the best, since he was, you know, white and all that, and I don’t know how the writers would have handled it, but ANYWAY — I believe this could have been further explored, particularly regarding his relationship with the Clones, and how it could have influenced his revolt against the Jedi, and manipulated to add to his anger and all that. I mean, we already HAD the fact that Anakin shared a deeper conection with his troopers than usual)

Yes, Rex, you have common trauma experiences to share. But anyway, backing to my track

As I was saying, we are to see them as good guys, and maybe that could’ve been tricky if we saw them hooping up on slavery practices. Like, idk, a “nice” sugar plantation owner? (I don’t know the correct word for it in english, but in portuguese they were called senhores de engenho) Like this guy from 12 Years a Slave?

You know, the slave owner who was “nice”. IDK, anyway

No one will ever watch Clone Wars and make this association (I believe not, at least), of course not. But if we were to see how CW deepened the clone arcs, and see them as phenotypically indigenous, subjected to certain situations that occur in CW (yes, like Umbara), maybe some kind of association would’ve been easier to make.

I mean, come onnnn I can’t be the only one seeing it

You see, maybe not the whole 12 Years a Slave association one, but I don’t think it’s hard to see there was something there. And maybe this could’ve been even more evident if they looked non-white. Because historically, both black peoples and indigenous peoples went through processes of slavery, from which we as a society are still impacted today. And to slave a people, the first thing you have to do is strip them from their humanity. So it might be easier to see this situation and apply it to real life. And maybe that could lead to a whole lot of other questions regarding the Clones, the Republic, the Jedi, and even how chill Obi-Wan was about all this. We might come out of it, as lady Ursula Le Guin stated in the fragment above, a bit different from what we were before we watch it.

Maybe even unconsciously, Filoni Inc thought we would be more confortable watching if they just looked white (and because of colonialism and all that, but I’m adding thoughts here).

And of course I don’t like the idea of, idk, looking at Obi-Wan and thinking about Benedict Cumberbatch in 12 Years a Slave or something like that. Of course that, if the Clones were to play the same role as they did in the prequels, to obediently serve the Jedi and quietly die for them, that would have been bad, and hurtfull, and pejorative if added to all that I said here. But the thing is that Clone Wars, consciously or not, already solved that. At least to my point of view, they already managed to approach this situation in an incredible competent way, that is giving them agency.

2.4 AGENCY AND INDIVIDUALITY

So, one of the things I love most in Clone Wars is how it really feels like it’s about the Clones. Like, we have the bigger scene of Palpatine taking over, Ahsoka’s growth arc, Anakin’s turn to The Dark Side, the dawn of the Jedi and rise of the Empire and all that, but it also has this idk, vibe, of there’s actually something going on that no one in scene is talking about? And this something is the Clones. We have these episodes spread throughout the seasons, even out of chronological order, which when watched together tell a parallel story to the war, to everything I mentioned. Which is a story about individuals. Clone Wars manages to, in a (at least to me) very touching way, make the Clones be the heros.

Can you really look me in the eye and say that Five’s story didn’t CRASH you like a full-speed train???? He may not have the same amount of screen-time as the protagonists, but his story is just as important as theirs (and to me, it might be the most meaningful one). Because he is the first to break free from the opression cicle all the Clones were trapped into.

His story can be divided into 6 phases.

1 - First, the construction of his individuality, in other words, the reclaiming of his humanity.

2 - Then the assimilation of understanding yourself as an individual of value, and then extending this to all his brothers, not as a unit, but as a set of individuals collectively having this same newly discovered value.

3 - This makes him realize that in the situation they find themselves in, they are not being recognized as such. This makes him question the reality of their situation.

4 - Freed from the illusion of his state, he seeks the truth about it.

5 - This then leads him to seek liberation not just for himself, but for all the Clones (it's basically Plato's Cave, and I'm not exaggerating here).

6 - And finally, precisely because he has assimilated his individuality and sought freedom for himself and his brothers, he is punished for it.

His story is all about agency. Agency, according to the Wikipedia page that is the first to appear if you type “agency” on Google, is that agency is “the abstract principle that autonomous beings, agents, are capable of acting by themselves” [4], and this abstract principle can be dissected in 7 segments:

Law - a person acting on behalf of another person

Religious - "the privilege of choice... introduced by God"

Moral - capacity for making moral judgments

Philosophical - the capacity of an autonomous agent to act, relating to action theory in philosophy

Psychological - the ability to recognize or attribute agency in humans and non-human animals

Sociological - the ability of social actors to make independent choices, relating to action theory in sociology

Structural - ability of an individual to organize future situations and resource distribution

All of them apply here. And this is just the story of one Clone. We know there are many others throughout the series.

Agency is what can make the world of a difference when you are telling a story about an opressed minority. Because opressed minorities do exist, and opression exists, and if you are insecure about consuming a fictional media about opressed minorities, see if they have agency might be a good place to start. So that’s why I think that everything I said before in 2.3 falls short. Because the solution already existed, and was indeed done. Honestly, making the non-agency representation of the Clones (the one we see in the prequels) to be the one played by Temuera Morrison, and then giving them agency in the version where they appear to be white, just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

And honestly, if they were to make the Clones look like Temuera Morrison, and by that mean, take more inspiration in the Māori culture, maybe they wouldn’t even have to change much of their representation besides their facial features. As I said in part 1, I am not by any means an expert in polynesian cultures, but there was something that really got me while I was researching about it. And is the facial tattoos. More precisely, the tā moko.

2.5 TĀ MOKO

Once again I’ll be using the Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand as source, and you can find the articles used linked at the end of this post.

Etymologically speaking,

“The term moko traditionally applied to male facial tattooing, while kauae referred to moko on the chins of women. There were other specific terms for tattooing on other parts of the body. Eventually ‘moko’ came to be used for Māori tattooing in general.” [5]

So moko is the correct name for the characteristic tattoos we often see when we look for Māori culture.

These ones ^. Please also look this book up, it’s beautiful. It’s written by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, a New Zealand academic specialising in Māori cultural issues and a lesbian activist. She’s wonderful.

According to the Tourism NewZealand website,

“In Māori culture, it [moko] reflects the individual's whakapapa (ancestry) and personal history. In earlier times it was an important signifier of social rank, knowledge, skill and eligibility to marry.”

“Traditionally men received moko on their faces, buttocks and thighs. Māori face tattoos are the ultimate expression of Māori identity. Māori believe the head is the most sacred part of the body, so facial tattoos have special significance.”

[...] “The main lines in a Māori tattoo are called manawa, which is the Māori word for heart.” [6]

Therefore, in the Māori culture, there’s this incredibly deep meaning attributed to the (specific of their culture) tattooing of the face. The act of tattooing the body, any part of the body, is incredibly powerful in many cultures around the globe. The adornment of the body can have different meanings for these different cultures, but all of which I've come into contact with do mean a lot. It’s one of the oldest and most beautiful human expressions of individuality and identity.

And in the Star Wars universe, the Clones are the group that has the deeper connection to, and the best narrative regarding, tattoos. In fact, besides Hera’s father, Cham Syndulla, the Clones are the only individuals to have tattooed skin, at least that I can recall of. And they do share a deep connection to it.

For the Clones, the tattoos (added to hairstyles) are the most meaningful way in which they can express themselves. Is what makes them distinguishable from each other to other people. Tattoos are one of the things that represent them as individuals.

And I’m not BY ANY MEANS sayin that the Clones facial tattoos = Moko. That’s not my point. But that’s one of the things I meant when I said earlier about the wasted potential of the representation of the Clones (in my point of view). Because maybe if it were their intention to base the culture of the clones after the polynesian culture, maybe if it were their intention to make the Clones actually look like Temuera Morrison, this could have meant a whole deal. More than it’d appear looking to it from outside this culture. Maybe if there were actual polynesian people in the team that designed the Clones and wrote them (or at least indigenous people, something), who knows what we could’ve had.

Even in Hunter’s design, I noticed that if you take for example this frame of Temuera from the movie River Queen (2005), where we can have a closer look at the design of his tā moko

Speaking purely plastically (because I don’t want to get into the movie itself, just using it as example because then I can use Temuera himself as a comparison), see the lines around the contours of his mouth? Now look at Hunter’s.

I find it interesting that they choose to design this lines coming from around his nose like that. But at this point I am stretching A LOT into plastic and semiotics, so this comparison is just a little thing that got my attention. I know that his tattoo is a skull and etc etc, I’m just poiting this out. And it even makes me a little frustrated, because they could have taken so many interesting paths in the Bad Batch designs. But instead they choose to pay homage to Rambo. And I mean, I like Rambo, I think he’s cool and all that.

Look at him doing Filipino martial arts

But then, as we say in Brasil, they had the knife and the cheese in their hands (all they had to do was cut the cheese, but they didn’t). Istead, it seems like in order to make Hunter look like Rambo, they made him even whiter???

2.6 SO...

Look, I love The Clone Wars. I’m crazy about it. I love the Clones, I love their stories and plots. They are great characters and one of the greatest addings ever made in the Star Wars universe. They even have, in my opinion, the best soundtrack piece to feature in a Star Wars media since John Williams’ wonderful score. It just feels to me as if their narrative core is full of bagage, and meanings, and associations that were just wiped under the carpet when they suddenly became white. It just feels to me as if, once again, they were trying to erase the person behing the trooper mask, and the people they were to represent, and the history they should evoke.

I don’t know why they were whitewashed. Maybe it was just the old due racism and colonialism. Maybe it was meant for us to not question the Jedi, or our good guys, or the real morality of this fictional universe where we were immersed. But then, was it meant for what?

The Clones were a metaphor for what?

(spoiler: the answer still contains colonialism)

Thank you so much for reading !!!! (and congratulations for getting this far, you are a true hero)

SOURCES USED IN THIS:

[1] Ursulla K. Le Guin, 'The Left Hand of Darkness', 14th ACE print run of June, 1977

[2] Dave Itzkoff, 'Being Boba Fett: Temuera Morrison Discusses ‘The Mandalorian’', The New York Times, published Dec. 7, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/television/the-mandalorian-boba-fett-temuera-morrison.html (accessed 15 September 2021)

[3] Bruno Claessens, 'George Lucas' "Star Wars" and Oceanic art' , Archived from the original on December 5, 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114353/http://brunoclaessens.com/2015/07/george-lucas-star-wars-and-oceanic-art/#.YEiJ-p37RhF (accessed 15 September 2021)

[4] Wikipedia contributors, "Agency," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Agency&oldid=1037924611 (accessed September 17, 2021)

[5] Rawinia Higgins, 'Tā moko – Māori tattooing - Origins of tā moko', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ta-moko-maori-tattooing/page-1 (accessed 17 September 2021)

[6] Tourism New Zealand, ‘The meaning of tā moko, traditional Māori tattoos’, The Tourism New Zealand website, https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/ta-moko-maori-tattoo/ (accessed 17 September 2021)

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the-observant-frisbeetarian · 4 years

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George deValier (2015 profile)

since: 05-02-10, id: 2348750, Profile Updated: 06-02-13

country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Author has written 17 stories for Hetalia - Axis Powers.

If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light. If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you. – Henry Rollins

Hi! I’m George. One day, I will be a professor of history, who wears tweed suits and lives in a library. Right now, I am a graduate student, who wears jeans and t-shirts and… um… lives in a library.

Reviews and PMs.

I don’t demand or even expect reviews. They do, however, make me happy. So if you are kind enough to leave one after reading, please know that even though I may not reply, I read every single one, and I am incredibly grateful - your few words of praise have brightened a moment of my day. :-)

If you send me a Private Message and don’t receive a response immediately, please know that I am not deliberately ignoring you. I find it a little difficult to keep up with replying to PMs; if I haven’t responded to your message in at least three months, it’s usually because I’ve, er, lost it. Feel free to send me another one calling me a giant prat and demanding a response.

Fanart and Translations.

I am perfectly okay (quite ecstatically happy, actually) with people doing whatever they like with my fics – whether that be translations, fanart, cosplay, AMVs, whatever. You do not need to ask permission - I will always say yes. All I ask is three things. One: please credit me as the author (and a link to the original story would be fantastic). Two: please let me know so that I can check it out and thank you profusely! And three: something I hate to have to mention, but please never do anything to make money out of these works. Obviously, Hetalia does not belong to me – it belongs to the amazing Hidekaz Himaruya, who is incredibly awesome for giving us such fantastic characters to play with. :-D

MY STORIES

THE VERAVERSE

The Veraverse is a Hetalia World War Two AU, of fics involving different characters and pairings, all living within the same time period and all interconnected in some way. As each story in the series is named after and loosely based on the lyrics of a wartime song sung by Vera Lynn, I flippantly dubbed it the ‘Veraverse.’ The name has sort of stuck, however. I have posted a list of character's birth dates here: http://george-de-valier.deviantart.com/art/Hetalia-Veraverse-Birth-Dates-340315828

This series is, at its core, about the power of love over war. It's about the real reasons people fight, and the real reasons they survive. It's about finding something beautiful in the midst of something ugly and evil. But overall, although I hope there is more to these stories than just romance, they are essentially about love.

Don’t expect every fic to be updated quickly. These stories intertwine, and will be published simultaneously, and it may be a while between chapters for each specific story. Most can be read separately, however a few will require that you read at least one other story in the series to make sense of it (e.g. ‘My Echo’ does not make much sense unless you also read ‘Lily of the Lamplight.’) Rest assured, they will all be completed.

We'll Meet Again Alfred Jones/Arthur Kirkland (America/England)

Complete - Thirteen Chapters

‘We’ll Meet Again’ is about love arriving when you least expect it, and how it can transform loneliness.

Keep Smiling Through Alfred Jones/Arthur Kirkland (America/England)

Complete – One Shot

Just a little mini-sequel to ‘We’ll Meet Again’ about a brief moment in Alfred and Arthur’s lives.

Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart Ludwig Beilschmidt/Feliciano Vargas (Germany/Italy)

Complete - Eighteen chapters

‘Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart’ is about love being blind, proving stronger than hate, and lasting longer than war.

Bésame Mucho Antonio Fernandez Carriedo/Lovino Vargas (Spain/Romano)

In Progress – Fourteen chapters

‘Bésame Mucho’ is essentially about love overcoming fear.

Lily of the Lamplight Gilbert Beilschmidt/Roderich Edelstein (Prussia/Austria)

In Progress – Eighteen Chapters

‘Lily of the Lamplight’ is about selflessness, survival, and how love can change you for the better.

My Echo Unrequited Vash Zwingli/Roderich Edelstein (Switzerland/Austria)

In Progress – Six Chapters

‘My Echo’ is about how true love is selfless – even if it is unreturned.

Jealousy Ivan Braginski/Yao Wang (Russia/China)

In Progress – Six Chapters

‘Jealousy’ is a little different to the other stories in this series. It is about control, madness, and how love has the power to destroy as well as to save.

Something to Remember You By Sadik Adnan/Gupta Muhammad Hassan (Turkey/Egypt)

In Progress – Three Chapters

‘Something to Remember You By’ is about losing love, and yourself with it.

UPCOMING VERAVERSE FICS

Somewhere in France With You Francis Bonnefoy/Matthew Williams (France/Canada)

Darling, where better to meet again than the most beautiful city in the world?

It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow

Toris Laurinaitis/Feliks Łukasiewicz (Lithuania/Poland)

Art. Music. Passion. Destruction. Young, wild love, in the streets of Berlin, on the eve of war.

When I Grow Too Old to Dream Berwald Oxenstierna/Tino Väinämöinen (Sweden/Finland)

“What would you do if I just… took this tree? Claimed it for Finland?”

“I’d let ye take it.”

“This lake?”

“Ye can have it.”

“This entire forest?”

“’t’s yours.”

“Would you let me take your whole country, Berwald?”

“Yes. And you? What’f I just… took this rock?”

“You can’t have that rock. That’s a Finnish rock.”

You’ll Never Know

Elizaveta Héderváry/ Lili Zwingli (Hungary/Liechtenstein)

“But who knows? Maybe you'll meet a charming little Swiss girl with plaits and a basket who likes to yodel on mountaintops."

Elizaveta always hated it when Gilbert was right.

When the Lights go on Again

Eduard Von Bock/Raivis Galante (Estonia/Latvia)

"I will stay with him through this darkness. I will give my soul to keep it from him. And I swear, whatever I must do, that Raivis Galante will live to see the lights go on again.”

Room Five-Hundred-and-Four

Herakles Karpusi/Kiku Honda (Greece/Japan)

“Life's most important conversations take place in bars. Perhaps in places not too dissimilar from this - perhaps between people not so different from ourselves. Bars, after all, are where people meet, and where they rejoice; where they forget, and where they say goodbye. They are the crossroads of life."

"You sound like a philosopher. Though your name suggests a hero."

Faraway Places

Bad Friends Trio (France, Prussia, and Spain)

“Ah, those were the days, huh, Gil? Remember the time you tried to take on the entire Parisian police force?”

“Or the time you knocked yourself out running from that bull in Pamplona?”

“Or that time Francis tried to seduce your grandfather?!”

“Francis what?”

“Oh, look at that, I’ve finished my drink.”

Autumn Leaves

Augustus Roma Vargas (Ancient Rome)

But I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall.

OTHER FICS

THE MAPLEVERSE

This is a currently small modern AU, set in modern day Canada.

La Patisserie de la Rose Francis Bonnefoy/Matthew Williams (France/Canada)

Complete – Six Chapters

A birthday present for Claudia, aka ThisCouldTheoreticallyBeSparta

An essentially fluffy Franada with lots of cameos and cake and general silliness. I like to think this story is about friendship as much as it is about love. It's also about seeing something in someone that no one else can - not even themselves.

Libelle Hall Gilbert Beilschmidt/Roderich Edelstein (Prussia/Austria)

In Progress – Three Chapters

A Gift for Kay, aka Kay the Beta

‘Libelle Hall’ is about change, and about love growing from self-realisation. It’s also an examination of Gilbert and Roderich’s characters, and how they aren’t that different from each other, after all. And it’s a gift for my beta Kay, because she loves PruAus, and she’s awesome.

Of Ponies and Edelweiss Gilbert Beilschmidt/Roderich Edelstein (Prussia/Austria)

Complete – One Shot

A Valentines’ Day present for Claudia

Just a fluffy, romantic little fic for Valentines’ Day. Well, as romantic as Gilbert gets, anyway.

ONGOING MULTI-CHAPTERS

Catch Perfect Berwald Oxenstierna/Tino Väinämöinen (Sweden/Finland)

In Progress – Twelve Chapters

‘Catch Perfect’ is basically proof that I can’t even write crack without some semblance of plot and angst. I am still writing this, just ever so slowly.

The Tiger and the Dragon Ivan Braginski/Yao Wang (Russia/China)

In Progress – Seventeen Chapters

I first posted this story almost three years ago. Last year I started re-publishing it, mainly to fix up the writing quality and some plot points. Yes, it’s melodramatic; yes, it’s a bit cliché. Basically, if this were a published novel, it would be the type to have GAY EROTIC ROMANCE in tacky writing across the cover. But really, what the hell, it’s fun. :-D

COMPLETED ONE SHOTS

Stay With You Germany/Italy

A rare story with the characters as nations, and my very first posted fanfiction. I had just discovered Hetalia when I wrote this, and loved the random humour of it, but also wondered what it could be like if it was a more serious take on the Second World War. Also, it has always been blatantly obvious to me that Germany and Italy are in love with each other. Like, duh.

Gallipoli Australia and New Zealand

Another nation story from me, about a conflict embedded in the consciousness of every Australian. We haven’t been given much to go on with Australia’s characterisation, so I went with my gut instinct – he’s anti-authority, he’s an easily broken optimist, and he cares deeply about his men. Gallipoli shattered the romantic idea of war for this country. I think it would have shattered Australia, too.

Sleep, Little Bird Berwald Oxenstierna/Tino Väinämöinen (Sweden/Finland) and Peter (Sealand)

There is not much I can really say about this one, except sorry. Oh, and that it’s not in the same universe as ‘Catch Perfect.’ I wouldn’t do that. ;-)

LINKS!

http://george-de-valier.deviantart.com (deactivated account) - Where I fave and comment on the wonderful artwork that people have drawn for my stories. I adore fan art, so please tell me if you have drawn any! If I happen to come across art for my stories that I haven’t been told about, be warned, I WILL proceed to fave and comment on it anyway. :-)

www.youtube.com/user/ykwyh26 - My lovely and talented beta Kay’s YouTube site, where you can hear all the songs from my Veraverse stories.

VIDEOS

I am incredibly flattered that the amazingly talented Alyss Lane has written a gorgeous song based on ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart.’ It is called ‘Auf Wiedersehen,’ performed by Willow, and you can hear this beautiful song here – www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N8T4oIppS0

The following are awesome AMVs for my fics, made by some very talented artists.

The Veraverse

Sanctuary, by Insomniac3Ltd

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfvTV5b9Zwk (unavailable)

We'll Meet Again

We’ll Meet Again, by Shokora15

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4COUwq9yzA

Wild Horses, by SirenShadow95

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaiMnawL3hM

Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart

Stereo Love, by snobo52

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH8-zY-3qiI

If I Die Young, by NightmareCCL

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkoVnwzwLlU

Stay, by PastaWithWurst

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i61AAOfNm4 (unavailable)

Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart, by Sydney Amber

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM9anzT81tM

Home, by Sanity4Fire

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjPTML1vjXA (unavailable)

Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart, by ShiroBaraLuv123

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qltINwf-ZkU (unavailable)

Bésame Mucho

Fear, by ykwyh26

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua5Ak4O9P88

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, by Kayleigh Turgeon

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pDaLTw5wIs (unavailable)

The Only Exception, by InuLoverNr1Hitomi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pt_sHtZfIw

Don’t Tell Me You Love Me If You Don’t Mean It, by AnnoyingGirl1234

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkcTKOAN8Y8 (unavailable)

Lily of the Lamplight

Lili Marlene, by xxEmoxxChibixx

www.youtube.com/watch?v=otYq31Qnct8

Sleep, Little Bird

Sleep, by Hetaliagirl96

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tOCsWjpNsk (unavailable)

La Patisserie de la Rose

Take Me Home, by Ahogemako

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwsX1rJ2CDo

Something to Remember You By

Lullabies, by Lanie P

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnRXhe2cdZw

STORIES WRITTEN FOR ME

These are all fantastic. Please check them out, you won’t be disappointed!

Mi Piachi perché Mi Piaci, by ThisCouldTheoreticallyBeSparta

(GerIta, Spamano, PruAus, BelgHun and teeny mentions of Franada, Netherlands/Australia, UsUk)

A wonderful birthday present of fluffy GerIta goodness from my wonderful friend Claudia.

www.fanfiction.net/s/7601790/1/Mi_Piaci_perche_Mi_Piaci

Maple Street, by fubibliophile

(Canada and America)

A really cool, atmospheric one shot from the very sweet fubibliophile.

www.fanfiction.net/s/7796628/1/Maple_Street

Chapter Four of Hetalia Fairy Tales, by Kitty-Kat Allie

(GiriPan)

An incredibly sweet GiriPan fairy tale from a wonderful author and a lovely person.

www.fanfiction.net/s/7730679/4/Hetalia_Fairy_Tales

1. Something To Remember You By » reviews

VV AU. 1914. Constantinople, Turkey. On the eve of war, street dweller Sadik Adnan's way of life and existence is called into question by the strange, beautiful Egyptian imam, Gupta Muhammad Hassan.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Tragedy - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,732 - Reviews: 73 - Published: 5-30-13 - Turkey & Egypt

2. Lily of the Lamplight » reviews

WW2 AU. Austrian musician Roderich and German soldier Gilbert are forced into an army prison unit and a fight for survival on the Russian Front. But in the midst of blood and death and hell on earth, how long can they fight their desire for each other?

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Angst - Chapters: 4 - Words: 27,329 - Reviews: 557 - Updated: 5-21-13 - Published: 11-20-11 - Prussia & Austria

3. Libelle Hall » reviews

Modern AU. When Roderich Edelstein – student, musician, and reluctant activist – attempts to save a local music hall from destruction, he is not prepared for the conflicting emotions evoked in him by arrogant demolition worker Gilbert Beilschmidt. Gift fic for Kay the Beta.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: T - English - Romance/Friendship - Chapters: 2 - Words: 8,900 - Reviews: 174 - Updated: 5-6-13 - Published: 2-20-13 - Prussia & Austria

4. Jealousy » reviews

WW2 AU. Insane Russian Commander Ivan Braginski is the terror of his battalion and his enemies alike. He controls the lives of thousands - but it is the memory of one that controls his own. Tie-in to 'Lily of the Lamplight.'

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Tragedy - Chapters: 1 - Words: 3,077 - Reviews: 80 - Published: 11-29-12 - Russia & China

5. The Tiger and the Dragon » reviews

Human AU. Awkward, average chef Yao Wang is sick of being thought of as boring and predictable. When he meets the enigmatic and slightly unnerving Ivan Braginski, Yao is immediately captivated. As he falls deeper it becomes apparent just how dangerous Ivan really is… but Ivan is just as smitten, and Yao may be too in love to care about the consequences…

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Drama - Chapters: 4 - Words: 12,967 - Reviews: 155 - Updated: 11-15-12 - Published: 8-25-12 - Russia & China

6. My Echo » reviews

WW2 AU. Captain Vash Zwingli is a soldier in someone else's war; a man mad enough to lead where others will not. He treads a fine line between life and death, between sanity and madness, in a constant battle to forget. But when Vash's past confronts him in the worst place on earth, will it finally tip him over the edge – or give him a chance for redemption? Unrequited SwissAus.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Angst/Drama - Chapters: 1 - Words: 2,378 - Reviews: 73 - Published: 11-15-12 - Switzerland

7. La Patisserie de la Rose » reviews

AU. Accountant Matthew Williams is used to being unnoticed, ignored, and forgotten. That is until pastry chef Francis Bonnefoy appears like a burst of colour in his dull, grey life. Gift fic for TCTBS.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance - Chapters: 6 - Words: 35,111 - Reviews: 573 - Updated: 10-10-12 - Published: 12-9-11 - France & Canada - Complete

8. Catch Perfect » reviews

AU. When Berwald loses everything he is forced to move into a share house with an insane Dane, a sociopathic Norwegian, an unfathomable Icelander and a perfect Finn who makes it all worth putting up with.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: T - English - Romance/Friendship - Chapters: 8 - Words: 36,538 - Reviews: 582 - Updated: 9-22-12 - Published: 10-10-10 - Sweden & Finland

9. Blue, White, Red » reviews

Human AU. 1777; The American Revolutionary War. Three times, American rebel Alfred Jones meets British soldier Arthur Kirkland. One blue; one white; one red.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 3 - Words: 5,981 - Reviews: 369 - Updated: 9-20-12 - Published: 8-26-12 - America & England/Britain - Complete

10. Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart » reviews

WW2 AU. Feliciano Vargas is a passionate, if slightly scared, Italian resistance member. Falling in love with a German fighter pilot was the last thing he expected... and it will test his national loyalty, and his heart, to their limits.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Angst - Chapters: 18 - Words: 104,322 - Reviews: 3246 - Updated: 8-11-12 - Published: 12-18-10 - Germany & N. Italy - Complete

11. Keep Smiling Through » reviews

'We'll Meet Again' mini-sequel. Keep smiling through, just like you always do; 'til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away! USUK

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: K - English - Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 2,376 - Reviews: 172 - Published: 6-28-12 - America & England/Britain - Complete

12. Bésame Mucho » reviews

WW2 AU. Lovino Vargas only ever wanted something exciting to happen in his boring, everyday Italian village existence. He never expected war, Resistance, love, passion, treason, or a cheerful, confusing, irritatingly attractive Spanish freedom fighter.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Angst - Chapters: 5 - Words: 39,037 - Reviews: 817 - Updated: 5-30-12 - Published: 8-1-11 - Spain & S. Italy/Romano

13. Of Ponies and Edelweiss » reviews

Gilbert Beilschmidt is not, generally speaking, a romantic man. Which makes his behaviour this particular Valentine's Day a little odd for Roderich to understand… Gift fic for TCTBS; spin-off of 'La Patisserie de la Rose.'

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: T - English - Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,143 - Reviews: 130 - Published: 2-14-12 - Prussia & Austria - Complete

14. Sleep, Little Bird » reviews

Human AU. Tino, Berwald and Peter are the perfect family. Things like this don't happen to people like them. But when they do, how are they supposed to accept it?

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: T - English - Family/Tragedy - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,169 - Reviews: 294 - Published: 9-26-11 - Finland & Sweden - Complete

15. Gallipoli » reviews

Gallipoli, April 25, 1915. Australia is a young nation with plenty to prove. And war is where nations prove themselves.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: T - English - Drama/Angst - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,966 - Reviews: 48 - Published: 4-28-11 - Australia - Complete

16. We'll Meet Again » reviews

WW2 AU. London pub owner Arthur Kirkland is driven to distraction by loud, brash American fighter pilot Alfred Jones. Unable to stop it, Arthur finds himself falling for Alfred's charms... just as the pilot is preparing to leave for war.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: M - English - Romance/Angst - Chapters: 13 - Words: 43,415 - Reviews: 1376 - Updated: 1-20-11 - Published: 7-18-10 - America & England/Britain - Complete

17. Stay With You » reviews

Germany lies defeated and alone in the aftermath of the Battle of Berlin... but not everyone has abandoned him.

Hetalia - Axis Powers - Rated: T - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 1,325 - Reviews: 66 - Published: 5-4-10 - Germany & N. Italy - Complete

THANK YOU MARVINHERE FOR FINDING THIS!

#George deValier #George devalier profile #George devalier profile transcript #George devalier summaries

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loopy777 · 4 years

Note

Republic city ended up being one of the blandest settlements in avatar, a town withouth a personality, and with a people withouth a culture. If you were rewriting season 1 of korra, what sort of culture would you have given its people, and what changes would you have made to make the city itself feel alive(compared to how ba sing sei, or the northern water captital very much feel like they have their own personalites).

I like what was implied by Republic City in its earliest promotional material, so I’d go with something like a mix of 1930′s Shanghai and Chicago and New York.

As opposed to the fairly clean, modern look of the thing, I’d like a wild, disorganized mix of cultures and buildings and materials in play. It shouldn’t look like a planned city; it should be something that sprang up haphazardly and only over the last decade or two has even really started to really think of itself as a unified city. Roads vary wildly in width and construction material, and aren’t laid out in a grid. A brand new skyscraper is right next to a 50-year-old graffiti-covered Water Tribe pub. The people have been there for enough generations to intermarry and forget their old cultures, but they’re also just arrived after fleeing jailtime back in the old country and need to find a job right now.

There’s also kinds of “Little” neighborhoods that not only evoke the various three nations, but individual areas within them (Little Omashu, Little Whatever That Island Where Aang Had The Dance Party, etc). There should also be a ‘downtown’ section where everybody mixes. That’s where the Probending arena should be. There should be casinos and dance clubs and underground boxing arenas and streets where kids race cars while the cops try to stop them and gilded opera houses and lots of other stuff.

See, the main thing that I think should define Republic City is that it’s the city of the world- it has a little bit of everything in it. I don’t want it to be the shining utopia that Aang and Zuko built; I want it to be the experiment that wound up mutating and growing beyond their wildest hopes and it was all they could do to keep it from collapsing in on itself. It should be More. More decadent, more corrupt, more crime-ridden, more colorful, more compassionate, more enthusiastic, more fun, more dangerous. You think you’re tough because you survived in Ba Sing Se’s lower ring? Ha! They just have poverty and dark alleyways where you’ll be robbed at knifepoint; the Dai Li keep things quiet, there. In Republic City, you could be beaten to death for walking into the wrong neighborhood and the poor people eat the candle nubs they steal from their millionaire employers. But in Republic City, you could be begging in the street one morning and an eccentric wealthy banker will buy you a house because he remembers begging when he was a kid and worked his way up so that he can help people.

LoK went with the idea that RC had lost some of its spirituality, but dropped that subplot pretty quickly, and I don’t think it’s really worth trying to recover if we get to do what we want with the city. (It’s more relevant to Book Spirit, anyway, and that really only exists because canon Republic City is boring.) Republic City should need Korra because even its elected officials can’t keep control of it, and Korra’s unexpected strength should be that she’s more than willing to jump into whatever culture or trouble is in front of her- while her challenge is that she needs to balance those instincts against her duty as the Avatar and the need to keep things from getting too out of control. In that way, the city is a mirror for her; fully pacifying it would ruin what’s great about it, but complete chaos is just going to lead to pain and suffering.

Individual adventures should focus on individual aspects of the city. The organized crime stuff should have gotten a focus, perhaps with Korra cleaning it out of the Probending industry. I like the idea of using street racing to involve Asami and give her a chance to work with Korra. Korra trying to operate in the gilded upper class of the city should have been a recurring subplot with ups and downs. The council should have been shown to be blatantly corrupt, to Tenzin and Korra’s combined frustration, and they need Chief Lin Beifong’s help to strongarm a judge into doing something about it. I also like seeing riots growing in the city over the Equalist movement, with some neighborhoods coming out to meet Equalist protesters with sticks and violence. Ooh, and maybe Korra can get caught up in union drama, with the lightningbenders wanting to unionize and the electric company hiring Fantasy-Asian-Pinkertons to rough the ‘zappers’ up!

In this way, Republic City can be a bit of a metaphor for the increasingly connected world as technology advances, and a kind of proving ground for Korra. If she can step in and help when Little South Pole and Little Caldera are having a race war, she can bring her Avatar Wisdom (TM) to diplomatic negotiations between the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation.

Obviously, though, I’m not describing something that would quietly sit in the background while Korra deals with the Equalists. Frankly, I think too much time was spent on that plot for the anti-climactic way it resolved, so the Book Air I’m envisioning is lots of little Republic City adventures, with the Equalists as a running subplot, before it explodes into citywide riots (rather than the Equalists bombing the city and a majority of the citizens howling for the genocide of the Air Nomads, yeesh) that Korra needs to bring balance to using her knowledge of the people. I don’t care about Amon’s backstory, but I care about how the Bricklayers’ Union is reacting to the Equalist movement.

Oh, and Mako and Bolin are our window into all of this. They know every single street, building, neighborhood, and major figure by heart. They’re friends with criminals and cops. They’re Probenders and bet their winnings on illegal boxing matches. Bolin has an ex-gilfriend on every block of the city. Mako has been banned from every dance hall in the city.

They’re full-blooded Republic City boys.

#thekingofwinterblog

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bimboficationblues · 6 years

Note

I'm technically new to all this political stuff, so I hope you can help me out! - How would you briefly explain to someone why capitalism is bad? Why is the US also bad, and how would you respond to someone who claims that it is a "free country" and that we "at least have the freedom of speech and the freedom to protest", etc. I'm very bad with words, I'm just a dumb kid. Sorry for bothering, and thank you. (:

I will answer these questions, but first off, I would say - read, listen, think. Ultimately it’s better if you can develop your own conclusions through a mutual dialogue and learning process with others rather than getting your talking points entirely from others, especially on a social media platform. But if you want resources or recommendations from others, Tumblr can be useful, and I’m happy to provide if you want.

As for answering your questions, it really depends: who is the person you’re talking to, and what do you want out of the conversation? Not everybody has the same interests or concerns or values, and sometimes they’re intractable for whatever reason. So there are other factors that should be taken into account. If you’re just trying to “win” a discussion, I don’t personally think that’s a worthwhile use of time - but if you are trying to convince someone interpersonally or just get better at clarifying your own perspective for the future, that could be valuable.

So, answering your questions under the cut:

How would you briefly explain to someone why capitalism is bad?

A) Capitalism stifles human freedom, and does so in both passive and active forms. This seems counterintuitive because capitalism is peddled as the fulfillment of human freedom (by way of innovation and freedom of choice - Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman have claimed that so-called “economic freedom” is a necessary condition for political freedoms), so bear with me.

Passive forms: In order to live under capitalism, most people have to work - and for that matter, they have to tailor skills and interests to be rewarded on the labor-market. Furthermore, since capitalism is predicated on the principle of private property, some kind of state is necessary to enforce that principle through the law, and the state and law are blatantly forms of social control (see David Harvey’s A Brief History of Neoliberalism for more info on this). As a Christian myself, this is the essence of idolatry. The capitalist world-system was made by humans, ostensibly to serve human needs, but is both bad at serving those needs in many ways (for reasons to be explained below) and uses us as the fodder for its self-perpetuation!

And this generates alienation. There is nothing necessarily “wrong” with depending on other people - humans are social creatures and are themselves influenced by the conditions under which they live no matter what those conditions are. But when your labor and the product of your labor benefits others far better than it sustains you, when you are pushed to view all other people as competitors, when you are subjected to various forms of interpersonal and structural domination (detailed below), this produces quite a bit of psychological distress. (Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism and Deleuze & Guattari’s Capitalism and Schizophrenia touch on these in different ways.)

Active forms: Historically, in order to get people to be wage laborers, they had to be forced to do so - in England, which is generally regarded as the birthplace of capitalist modernity, laws were established to oblige people to work for a certain period and punish them if they didn’t. Similar legislation cropped up in Germany and France. And, of course, there was also the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the abuse and exploitation of indigenous populations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean, the confinement of women to the household for free labor. Though not all contemporary evils are the result of capitalism, they have all been shaped by capitalism. Primordial prejudices and mistreatment of “aliens” has been around for a long time, but anti-black racism and “scientific” racism developed out of the economic functions of slavery and capitalist development; though patriarchy predates capitalism considerably, it has been absorbed and reproduced by capitalism’s dynamics.

One of the common selling points for capitalism is the voluntary character of the contracts, but again, I don’t think it’s a meaningful choice when your other options are “starve” and “beg.” But let’s grant that people enter into voluntary employment contracts to sustain themselves. Within those contracts, bosses behave like dictators, and this is a pattern of both small businesses and large corporations precisely because they want to get as much work and value out of you as they can in order to make a profit. (Vivek Chibber’s book Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital, while not about interpersonal domination by capitalists and employers, has a great chapter on the subject - “Capital’s Universalizing Tendency.”)

Now, although the standard of living and wages for American workers has been rising for a long time (only recently stagnating despite the growth in productivity, again the result of the neoliberal turn in the 70s and 80s), we have seen the most brutal forms of exploitation and domination displaced to other places - Southeast Asia, China, India, and Latin America being the most prominent cases. And still, as the article linked above demonstrates, there are lots of forms of interpersonal domination still going on in an American context.

B) Capitalism is anti-democratic. The concentration of wealth into a select few hands, and the associated political and social power that has become attached to greater social wealth, means that wealthier people have greater access to political power and influence. The Koch Brothers are probably the best example of this, though lobbying in general is an expression of this function. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one because I think it’s the least compelling argument personally even though I agree with it, but it is a popular and common one!

C) Capitalism is also fundamentally irrational. I think this is true in the way that we think about value and the way capitalism generates regular crises, but I’ll just use one example.

The convenient thing about money, as both Locke and Marx point out, is that it is potentially infinite unlike other resources. There is the possibility of limitless growth, of maximum expansion - which is why the capitalist mode of production began in Western Europe and the United States and has since spread around the world. (There is, of course, no such thing as limitless growth for anything, except perhaps cancer.) But capitalism takes this possibility as gospel and as a result, will do anything to maximize growth.

Sometimes those things are good for working people (farm subsidies enabling cheap food - though without those subsidies there would probably be a famine from capitalists not investing capital in food production). More often they aren’t, whether that’s mistreatment of workers, lowering or stagnating wages, destruction of the environment, or outright warfare. Plus, because there is a limit to natural desires or even luxury desires, capitalists have to constantly concoct new desires for us to latch onto, which is why so much money is sunk into advertising.And this is not merely the result of the ethical whims or personal behaviors of individual capitalists (though those do factor in), but the necessary and logical result of a mode of production that has an internal logic of constant, endless reproduction.

Why is the US also bad? how would you respond to someone who claims that it is a “free country” and that we “at least have the freedom of speech and the freedom to protest”, etc.

This is, paradoxically, an easier argument to make empirically but a harder case to sell because American nationalism and American exceptionalism are pretty ubiquitous, and they’ve only gotten more intractable in the past four or five decades. It really depends on what you mean by “bad,” anyway. On one level, the United States is not that different from any other state historically (since they are usually founded through violence and domination) or contemporarily (since they all act in their own geopolitical interests, and that often means fucking other people over undeservedly).

But, on another level: The United States- were built on indigenous and later African slavery- regularly violated treaties or used duplicitous means to gain access to Native American land for investment and expansion purposes- deployed genocidal tactics and sexual violence against Native Americans throughout the expansion process (especially in California and the Southeast)- fabricated a reason to wage war on Mexico to seize territory from it- botched Reconstruction after the end of formal slavery while still allowing black Americans to be abused and exploited and criminalized en masse- had racial policies that the Nazis found inspirational- engaged in imperialist warfare in the Caribbean at the turn of the century- overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii for economic reasons- nuked a Japanese civilian target (TWICE) when their surrender was already in the cards- used its new hegemony to start launching coups against (mostly democratically elected and socialist-leaning) governments (Iran, Guatemala, Chile)- held the rest of the world in a hostage situation alongside the Soviet Union by threatening nuclear annihilation- waged war on Vietnam after violating the agreement to allow democratic elections and unification to take place- illegally bombed Cambodia and enabled the Khmer Rouge to gain traction- financed Islamist fighters against the Soviet Union that were the precursors of al-Qaeda- engaged in Iran-Contra, basically the shadiest thing in existence, and failed to deliver any real consequences to the people involved - supported and continues to support dictators (Batista, Saddam Hussein, etc.) as well as death squads (right-wing paramilitaries in Latin America)- has the highest incarceration rate in the world- has massively expanded the surveillance and police apparatuses since 9/11- invaded Iraq under false pretenses and let Islamic State develop out of the chaos

This is just a minor selection. And to top it all off, the Constitution of the United States is designed to make government as dysfunctional and anti-democratic as possible. The powers of the President have been perpetually expanding for a long time, and the Supreme Court is such a shamelessly broken, unaccountable institution that I cannot believe we take it seriously. The Supreme Court’s rulings on free speech have been up-and-down, often determined by war and nationalism, and the social backlash and hostility to political protest every time the United States goes to war suggests that even with the freedom of assembly granted by the Constitution, nationalism takes priority over freedoms.

This post is long enough, but if you (or anyone else) want me to elaborate on anything I’ve said here, feel free to ask.

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disgruntledexplainer · 4 years

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A little bit of a paper I wrote for a class, edited for your viewing purposes:

The impact of globalism and modernity on religious practices has had a very... mixed result. To put a long story short, extensive interactions with a huge variety of religions across the globe has lead people to question an absolutist perspective on religion. There has been a rise of syncretic practices which attempt to capture the best aspects of each of the different religions, which effectively amounts to something of a build-a-bear spiritualism where what is considered spiritual truth is customized for the sake of the individual. As you might guess from my tone, I am not a fan of this development. Another movement, which I am even less on board with, is the movement to explain all religions as different manners of getting to the same spiritual goal. In fact, I view the concept as an insult to practitioners of traditional religions everywhere.

The benefits of global awareness of world religions is self-evident. The ability to compare religious beliefs, which are in effect (though not in nature) reflections of our souls to the exterior world, has been an inexpendable aid in understanding other cultures and peoples; something which as a historian I can and do appreciate highly and enthusiastically. Studying world religions is important because each faith represents a set of values and beliefs which help one better understand the people they belong to; understanding of this sort breeds empathy, which leads to peace. That is the hope, anyway. Likewise, belief in a faith doesn’t mean much if you have never been exposed to other ideas, be it another religion or philosophy or flat out atheism, in order to have faith it also must be possible to disbelieve. The final benefit is that learning about the intricacies of other faiths is just interesting, a good in and of itself.

ON THE OTHER HAND, the syncretic movement that has spawned from global awareness is absolutely awful. I have already mentioned my primary issue with it, but I will reiterate: the syncretic movement have lead people to trade truth, structure, and morality for a system of beliefs of their own creation designed to scratch their backs and nothing more. Hollow, false spiritualism.

There are other issues, however. One of the most prominent of them is cultural appropriation. When a individual (usually from a western nation) seeks to create a syncretic practice for themselves, they typically extract poorly understood pieces of other faiths and shove them together. The result can be extremely insulting for those whose practices are being appropriated. For example, native American tribes in the western united states have been using specially prepared herbs and drugs in very specific quantities to help them contact their ancestors and gods for countless generations, and hippies come along and decide to distill them and snort as much as they can at once because “more is better”, apparently. Many hindu gurus are still upset about Yoga being appropriated as a form of exercise by westerners; the issue here is that Yoga is supposed to be used as a form of prayer to the hindu gods. As for my own culture, I am Roman Catholic. You might think that my culture has not been appropriated; after all it is a branch (arguably the primary branch) of Christianity. However, it’s rites and rituals have been shamelessly appropriated by syncretic movements, either if merely superficially (as with wicca borrowing just about everything used in the mass for its purposes with none of the context) or blatantly (with the Satanic Temple purposefully committing sacrilege against them in the so-called “black mass”). The Jews have it just about as bad, with much of their mystic practices being essentially pirated and watered down by just about every single group that claims to practice “magick”. By taking it out of its context, it denigrates the source. It’s an insult to the people who are interested in sincerely practicing their faith.

Next we come to the attempts at reconciling distinct faiths as simply different approaches to the same goal. I find the subject laughable, to be completely honest. Even faiths with such similar roots as Buddhism and Hinduism are utterly irreconcilable, due to a distinct difference in the essential premise of the two faiths: to put it extremely simply, hinduism holds that everything in the universe is an absolute unity which must be fully understood, while Buddhism holds that everything in existence is an illusion which must be systematically denied. These two cannot be true at the same time. Trying to reconcile Abrahamic faiths with paganism is equally futile; not only is there a discrepancy between the number of gods worshiped, but there is also a vast gulf in the understanding of what the term “God” actually means. Not only are the premises of the faiths irreconcilable, but so to are the goals. Abrahamic and Zoroastrian faiths are at least somewhat consistent with each other: do the will of God, enter heaven. But then the differences pile up; since Christians view God as a heavenly Father, then heaven means being with Him in His house; Muslims on the other hand view God as a Master, albeit a benevolent and caring One, and so heaven is seen as more of a direct reward for obedience and service. The Jewish people put very little emphasis on the afterlife at all, and more on doing His will in the here and now, making similarities and differences between the other faiths rather irrelevant. Now compare that to a religion like Buddhism, where the goal is detachment to reach a state of personal enlightenment; or Taoism and living in harmony with the world, or paganism and making the gods happy so they might do the same to you. If you talk about it in abstract terms they may sound similar, but when you sit down and look at them frankly, they are essentially alien to each other.

But that’s the point isn’t it? If all religions were essentially the same, they would have merged into one a long time ago. Instead, each has unique aspects to it, unique features that appeal to the groups and peoples who practice them, and each is beautiful in its own way, and worth preserving in their pure forms.

I believe that religion can either expand or contract one’s intellectual capacity, depending upon one’s approach to it. In the case of someone who simply takes on a religion and never really thinks about it, it could produce a narrow mindset which is not conducive to independent or critical thinking. On the other hand, someone who is legitimately interested in faith is also by extension legitimately invested in seeking the truth. They may look outward to other faiths and philosophies, or inward and dig through centuries or millennia-worth of religious tradition and further explore the backgrounds of their existing beliefs. In other words, faith can lead to a greater degree of intellectual capacity the moment it is challenged, because it encourages investigation and introspection, when properly cultivated.

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p-r-i-d-e-b-l-o-g-blog · 5 years

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“the beginning”

For the majority of these events, I’m going to be using a timeline put out by GLSEN as a general guideline as far as major and impactful queer events. Each topic on the timeline is getting its own post where I delve in and try to find a bit more info and just generally fact check and such.

If you don’t know what GLSEN is, they are “the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe and affirming schools for LGBTQ students.” It’s an amazing organization that not only does research on the pervasiveness of bullying and discrimination of queer youth in schools, but they also work with the students and teachers in those schools to help make safer spaces.

Anyways, their timeline starts off with Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, and… before I get into this story I want to reiterate a point. Queer history, by and large, has not had records kept. Or at least not kept well. Most things in life as a general rule have a large amount of bias, and let’s just say… double that amount for the topic of queer history. Now, I wanted to reiterate that point because Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum lived in about 2380 bc and if we find poor record keeping of things that happened even within the past century just take a moment to let the fact that this is a pair of people who lived about 4000 years ago.

Before I get into the controversies surrounding this particular pair lets take a look at some things here. Thing one: the tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum was discovered in 1964. In the United States around the 60′s was when the gay rights movement was just starting to pick up a bit. Illinois had just become the first state to decriminalize homosexuality which, while not changing the fact that the major popular opinion was still quite anti-queer it was a stepping stone. Thing two: Homosexuality in present-day Egypt is a prosecutable offense. Thing three: Sexuality was perceived quite differently in ancient Egypt, it was not frowned upon or shamed in the ways that modern cultures tend to do.

While homosexuality has been referenced in ancient Egyptian text the connotations are not exactly clear. We know that religion in those times had stories of homosexuality, incest, masturbation, and adultery. We know that gods in those times were portrayed as having lots of sex and sometimes having homosexual relations. We know that lesbian sex was acknowledged in writing at least once on purpose and once that may or may not have been an accident. We don’t, however, know to what extent homosexual relations were accepted. Typically the views seem to point to it being that homosexual acts were frowned upon from a religious standpoint, but also that it was kind of alright or at least not as bad so long as you were the dominant one?

So now that we have a bit of background information, let’s talk about Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum. As I already said the tomb was found in 1964. Already an oddity in the fact that two men of equal status shared a tomb, something else was quite peculiar, although the two men were shown to have wives and children, they were also shown several times in various embraces with each other. The type of embraces used to denote married couples. One of these embraces even showed one of the men kissing the other on the nose, and while their wives were shown in the tomb they were never pictured in any sort of embraces with them.

Naturally, when Mounir Basta (The first explorer to find this particular tomb) saw the images of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum in these embraces that we know to have been used in other tombs to denote marriage his reaction was that these two men were… You guessed it. Twin brothers.

Now, I made the points about how homosexuality was being viewed in the US at the time and how homosexuality is still being viewed in Egypt for a reason. In a country that is still very anti-queer, why would they put any sort of resources into looking for queer history? Why wouldn’t they actively try to continue erasing that history? Why would they tell us anything other than that they definitely must have just been brothers? No homo here guys, you’re looking for something that doesn’t exist.

That may sound like the start of a bad conspiracy theory, but the three main explanations of this pair are that 1) They were twin brothers, 2) They were conjoined twin brothers, or 3) That maybe they gay lovers who had children for the sake of having children because of the fact that that was something that was very culturally important at that time and fathering children was how they proved their masculinity back then and oh yea, also they believed in sex in the afterlife but the wives weren’t buried with the husbands which is something that totally would’ve been a thing back then- But no. The official explanation at current is that it is generally accepted that the two men were brothers, most likely twin brothers.

While the fact that something with so much potential to be analyzed for the sake of understanding the place of queer peoples throughout the history of the world is blatantly overlooked by most Egyptologists upsets me, I found a quote that I think sums up this issue quite well; “Queer Egyptian history is thus caught in a double bind: it is rarely seen as queer, and rarely seen as African.” alluding to the fact that while Egypt is part of Africa it is almost never looked at or combined with other notable African empires. It is instead compared to Greece and Rome or examined from the viewpoint of its impact within the middle east. That plight though, is a tale for another person at another time.

On that note, I will leave a link to the Additor post that has all of the different sources I looked at and used while learning about this topic. There is much more information there that I have conveyed in this post. I will not apologize for the cluster fuck that this post or that page is in, however, I can almost certainly guarantee you that the more of these I do the better the posts are going to get and the nicer my source pages will look.

Additor link (sources and things):

https://app.additor.io/p/Y7YnYsEK

#queer history #queer #queer pride #queer egypt #lgbtpride #lgbtqai #lgbtq #lgbt pride #gay history #gay pride #gay #egypt #tomb #long post #history #lgbt+ history

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sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 5 years

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Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Czech Republic to Eurovision with an unexpected geographical sight name

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Another year, another Czech attempt at a national final that wasn’t televised also BUT this time we got some excitement announcements out of them - even if they were blatantly boring, kind of.

Keep in mind though that I know that the revamp's out, BUT this whole review is just me reviewing the version we all witnessed back when ESCZ hit. The one and only.

So the NF’s here because we saw Mikolas succeed from it the last time (eventhough it’s just a secret internal selection for just the Mikolas’s song and there’s no no denying hihihi), right? And thanks to that we got pseudo-official-but-not-so-official hotel music videos of each contestant’s songs just in case they decide to... like... change it for something different. Like those lyric videos last year. Eventhough they looked so very lowbudget this year, I still liked them to some degree, and eventually I had to witness this one video (set in presumably mostly the living room) where the lead singer confettis all over himself win this year (well not really the video as much as I only got to first hear that song on ESCRadio hahaha). Well, just the lead singer of it. As the buddies were on the other official video (the one I’ll talk about in my revamps update I guess but has anything changed other than the singer singing one of his talking parts?). As a whole the Czech entrants this year are known as Lake Malawi (it exists) and “Friend of a Friend” is their A-game! Let’s listen!

I liked it ever since my first acknowledgence(??) of it through ESCRadio. It reminded me of those happy-clappy 80s synth sounds (eventhough the 80s songs were mostly about gloom and doom), somehow somewhat mixed in with a bit of that ‘modern’ synthpop sound from the British music scene (Years & Years maybe? Nah that’d be too far-fetched). The lyrics, while cheap enough, at least paint a bit of a picture? I don’t think the person in the song was “making love” to his ‘old’ neighbouress back when she was 13, anyway. She’s, afterall, the “friend of a friend”. Who is a friend of a friend. Who is a friend of a friend. Who is a friend of a friend’s COUSIN~

The thing is that some songs out here are enjoyable besides their lyrical content. Or even without the singer’s background (still looking at those who’re shading Sheppard’s family business - shut up and enjoy “Geronimo” in peace, geez!). I, for example, jammed to RiRi’s “S&M” for my lifetime - yes, even since when it got big, and the pop music was being made to sound trashy, and not like something that sounds too somber and ‘foggy’, and with lyrics from r/im14andthisisdeep, and then later slapped on those a e s t h e t i c moodboards with tulips and liquid (of colour blue/red) splashed onto them to make it loof more effective, and placed in front of a yellow background on a white table. I miss late 2000s-early 2010s pop a whole lot, because at least it had fathomable-to-the-ear hits of the time - cheap, fast food, techno melodies with overproduction and lyrics that actually mean something more intimate and grotesque (with sometimes even hinting to the love surface) - that was the shit. Now it’s just drowsy stuff with blurry melodies and lamentings of lost love and devotion in an equally slurry, pathetic, vocal whine. I’m so tired of it. It’s unsettling. Get it off me. And thankfully, none of that invades this small little bubble of Eurovision’s just as of now (unlike the other pathetic musical cliche of nowadays that’s Soundcloud rap - ‘thanks’ a lot USNK). And I guess I shouldn’t be blessed that Lake Malawi brings this “this bangs but the lyrics are... a choice, but it still bangs so idc” back onto Eurovision? Like, come on, we all have had such kinds of songs like those all of that time. From “I Can’t Go On” (a man being a slut for love???) to countless of national final shlocks made by these usual suspects from rent-a-songwriter corner, ESPECIALLY in the 00s, to some of those actual 00s entries that made it - so stupid to sing along to, yet so infectious you can’t drag your earworm out of your ear canals just now. What does “Friend of a Friend” have for itself? Keyboard melody in the 2nd half of the chorus that is easily stuck in MY head, with a female voice (I assume it’s the song’s protagonist’s subject of speech - the neighbourina herself) reassuring that “[she’s] only [his] friend” - not in a “haha I’m friendzoning you forever >:)” way, but “ehhhh there’s truly nothing between us as he says, we’re just friends, not lovers, don’t give me that look” way. Sure it’s believable, sure. It might as well turn out that these neighbours are indeed doing the same thing as in all those local anecdotes where a family’s mother or father has an affair with a next-door neighbour for shits and giggles to move the joke’s plot forward.

So it is, as a whole, a fun little throwback-ish piece of fine and smooth music, accompanied with the lead singer’s ‘British’ ‘accent’ (aha so this is why I get a lot of British radio vibes from this - not to mention, tropical beach ones too for some reason!), some sort of spoken dialogue, energy and the ability to raise you up from your seat the 45875th time you’re actually giving in to all of this. You know you want to, despite this song possibly not being your cup of tea. But I see you, and I look forward to seeing you bopping to this fully in May, no matter if this isn’t Mikolas you’re dealing with anymore, and no camel spaghetti. Ahw yeah!

Approval factor: Although it’s also slowly wearing off me like it already wore off everyone else back then, I’m still giving it one hell of an approval. Yay!

Follow-up factor: I definitely like it more than “Lie to Me” as well. Somewhat. Honestly. Don’t bash me in secret.

Qualification factor: the naysayers are saying this will flop but imo they’re mostly just upset that Barbora didn’t go (even if they were only still upset back in the say), STILL. Ugh can’t they just leave. I am positive about this song’s chances somewhat, just hoping it gets a really memorable and stand out staging and maybe it will escape this hellhole of its semi. Not very confident, just positive. (Also they rocked the Vidbir stage so hard even the uncomfortable question queen Dramala couldn’t not give in the dance, lolz.)

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

Honestly, the best possible thing that came out of this NF was the oh-so-unexpectedly-expected winner choice, and it is like this because, yet again, people couldn’t get over Barbora losing at first, to which I’m like “to be quite honest, you were all into it because that’s the closest thing to Lana del Rey you’d ever get in Eurovision because Lana herself is American and America should NOT set their foot into ESC... besides, she wouldn’t probably do it anyways”. ESCZ wasn’t pretty bad of a NF honestly:

• people actually laughed at the fact every single video of this NF is so low-budget that it looked like it was all filmed in the same hotel room! (in reality I’m just jealous at the slick-ass hotels they’ve had on there, feels like someone’s house more than a hotel actually)

• Pam Rabbit, one of Mikolas’s last year’s backings, brought the second-best NF song this year imo (Barbora for me is likeable but not to THAT degree, lol calm yer tits), as it was a lowkey bop and I can’t not appreciate one!

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(her officially official MV is here but in the spirit of this NF’s, you’re gonna have to subject yourself to this above in order to witness spectacular budget-MVs that happened for this NF especially, come on. Hardly a cool NF without its own little perks!)

• Fine, I’ll bring up Barbora Mochowa too. I gotta say she DOES sound like Queen Bee Lana, same to say on her earlier works which, among them, has one enchanting and haunting forest-like ballad. “True Colors”, her ESCZ entry, is just a pop ballad, which is not THAT bad, it’s just that... did y’all see any more in that song beyond the Lana vocals? Sure sure the melody is pleasant but... did ya?

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(Lord alive, she also has a live video for this song on her channel, which is in fact the ESCZ’s unplugged version video!)

• The ex-ESC entrant jury is back for another year! This time though, the votes of all of the participants in it were all up and public (unlike secrety mcsecret ones from 2018 where I’m not even sure if the Eurojury panel was correct), and most of them were #TeamMalawi or #TeamBarbora... up until AWS (yes AWS are relevant enough for their own panel!), being the “wait do we still have to do Eurovision related things??? it’s sooooo 1 year ago already, let us go goddammit!!” type of participants that they are, totally and utterly half-arsing their own experience in there by 12ing Andrea Holá. The thing is that she’s first alphabetically from the artists so that’s probably the best possible theory why. “GIVE ME A HINT, ANDREA!!!”

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• The best part? The NF itself taking place in the second floor of an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Czech Republic (Czechia go to hell), in the middle of the day, with no live performances, just that video above played in full motion and some random people speaking in between. Silly of them to leak my ideal NF design location if I ever were a Lithuanian HoD. And yes, it was streamed on Facebook, the platform that I can barely play livestreams on my 11-year-old laptop on, while suspiciously enough, it worked for FiK 56... which meant that I was barely able to grasp a screenshot but I managed!

Well of course I didn’t get to watch much but after someone said Lake Malawi (or, in their words, Lake Malala <333) won, I almost believed it until I found out that the show’s still going... and only saw the thing on the projection screen later out of nowhere. IDK who’s hugging who and if that audience on the right are all the participants then I may have an idea but for now IDK. Ahh, relevant video media being projected on projection screens (duh) <33 giving San Marino, Albania’s Powerpoint scoreboards and Belgian 2013 radio NF runs for their money.

I might find mistakes and off-the-wall blabbers in this write-up later but for now I’ll carelessly submit this beauty to Tumblr today and wish the best of luck to Lake Malawi in Tel Aviv! May you qualify for the 2nd year in a row for CZ ^^

#eurovision 2019 #tel aviv 2019 reviews #czech republic 2019 #lake malawi #friend of a friend #czech republic

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heidi--97-blog · 7 years

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Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s love: a dilemma for her detractors...

It is actually quite disgusting seeing and reading the vile abuse levied towards Meghan Markle on the ‘mail online / daily mail’ website. You only have to read the commentary sections on articles Meghan Markle related to fully understand the level of base prejudice that resides on that site. The scurrilous slurs, insinuations and often times potential libel, are racially motivated. The racism both the outright & subtle shines right through. I feel it has now become a sadistic sport of sorts for this so-called National newspaper website to induce as much hysteria as possible from its commentators as the website churn out article after article and comment pieces (mainly unfavourable) on anything Meghan related on an almost daily basis. One could be forgiven for thinking they have an agenda to fulfill and my goodness don't they just pursue it with a vigour and vengeance. I mean it's like: ‘how dare a woman of colour fall in love and how dare she conduct a mutual relationship with a man, who just happens to be a Prince of the realm’... For the warped minds out there, they find the fact that this relationship is actually happening, despicable. The constant disbelief from said quarters, the malicious rage is all too palpable - even In this twentyfirst century nevertheless.

How do these twiits justify the obsessive hate they spew you may ask? Oh, it's the usual blather - she's ‘unsuitable’ because she's an actress oh dearie me! Well then, the late Grace Kelly was an actress, she went on to become Her Serene Highness of the Principality of Monaco, she of course, where required - partook in sexy love scene. And today still hailed & revered in all cases circles. Lord Frederick Winsor a Royal also in line to the British throne, is married to an actress. And in a world where a Prince of Sweden is married to a glamour model who has done full frontal nude, Ms Markle’s haters would have us all faint with the vapours for her tame romantic/sexy scenes with her onscreen love interests. No full nudes and nothing untoward. Scenes, which by any standard, are, in this day & age, par for the course on almost all TV, theatre, Big Screen movies & Drama that are rated over (12). But hey, ‘it's only the mixed-race woman so let's continuously denigrate her to hell & back’. 'If we scream porn star enough times, the mud wil stick’. Really?? Yes, this is the level some have sunk to, sadly. She's a divorcee, yes, but so is the immediate heir to the British throne, as is his current wife, formerly Camilla Parker Bowles . The current Queen of Spain was once a divorcee. As was Princess Michael of Kent before she too married into the British Royal Family.

Ms Markle is a foreigner cum commoner her detractors insist on reminding us. Ah Ha! So Meghan Markle is indeed an American based for sometime now in Canada. The Queen’s eldest grandson is married with children to a Canadian. Denmark’s immediate heir to the throne, Crown Prince Frederik is married to an Australian commoner, formerly Mary Donaldson whom he'd met in a pub in Sydney,

Just like to add that the delightful Mette-Marit, Norway’s Crown Princess was once a commoner single parent before she too found her Prince. Plus Britain’s very own third in line to the throne, Prince William is also married to a commoner, the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton.

I guess the point I am trying to make here with all those mentioned above is that people, commoners of ordinary backgrounds are now marrying into the Royal dynasties of Europe - A move never allowed before in the past. Monarchies are moving with the modern times. Love reigns supreme, and where you are from and Class background is no longer and shouldn't ever be an impediment to falling in love with and marrying someone who just happens to be royalty.

No, what really ought to matter is compatibility. Mutual love, passion, respect and common interests. Both Harry & Meghan obviously have feelings for each other, they also share a background in humanitarian issues and raising awareness. Yes, Meghan Markle was long involved in charitable work long before she had even met Prince Harry. And haa made it absolutely clear that aspect of things was one of her missions in life and will remain so. Not satisfactory enough for her detractors though as they persist in branding her as an "opportunistic” villain forcing herself on a Prince. Which is frankly absurd.

In actual fact, Ms Markle is an accomplished lady, a University Graduate with a Major in International Relations & Theatre. She is also a gifted calligrapher and financially supported herself whilst at University by doing bits of calligraphy here and there. She also spent time working at the American Embassy in Argentina, before deciding to focus on a career as an actor. Again, her detractors try to understate her achievements. It appears to just Zoom over their heads the fact that her education background is easily verifiable. And that any discrepancy in her resumé would have been exposed by the exposers in chief of the moment. Uhmm, I meant the "investigative journalism” (sarcasm) undertaken by this particular mainstream National newspaper website that affords the vile deplorables, and stuck up Snobs everywhere the chance to congregate and spout bile at will that feeds into their obsessive Meghan hate.

Again, I repeat: that particular newspaper website would've been first in line to throw down the gauntlet, given their dubious agenda.

Another baffling thing that continues to puzzle me is the moniker the Meghan detractors furnished her with.."Media Meg”... Err, hello: she is in the media by virtue of her job as an actress and her role as an humanitarian campaigner. Both require a medium of exposure and it would be practically impossible not to have some form of media interest in her line of work, anyway.

What exactly do the detractors expect, in a line of work she's been involved with since before her relationship with Harry began ?

The paparazzi problem; Meghan Markle gets criticised if she's papped taking a stroll to her yoga class. Or simply going about her daily business, the ordinary things people would normally do. It is not her fault the media paps have begun taking even more of a keen her interest in her comings and goings than ever. It's a way of life celebrities in general have to live with or at least adapt to. As a matter of fact, paparazzi and press intrusion is a subject matter that blights the life of royalty just the same as celebrities when the opportunity arises. Which thankfully isn't very often but it does happen. Take for instance the Duchess of Cambridge, pictured in a state of undress at a private villa during a holiday with her husband. Illicit (some might argue illegal even) these were pap pics taken by the paparazzi and sold to magazine outlets a few years ago. And the now infamous Sophie Rhys-Jones newspaper scoop. Photo exhibits of the then Sophie Rhys-Jones now Countess of Wessex. Photo shots of a clearly jovial Sophie, her bare breasts exposed in a clinch with the TV presenter Chris Tarrant. Old photos released just weeks before her wedding to the Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward. Then there was that newspaper sting in which Sophie (now the Countess of Wessex after her marriage to Prince Edward) was disgracefully set up by an undercover journalist posing a rich Arabian Sheikh. She was caught on tape making disparaging remarks about political figures, and members of the royal family. Completely going against Royal Protocol.

You see we are all human with flaws. Meghan is a human being with feelings. She has dragged herself up, gotten herself a good education and works. Now she gives back to society in her own way. And yet she has to endure the pure evil bile with the unpleasant undercurrents of racism added to touch. She's of mixed-race heritage her mum is black and her dad white. It doesn't make her any less of a human being or less deserving of love wherever & however that comes by. But to listen to the twisted creatures that dedicate an enormous amount of time and energy in pathetic attempts to ruin her reputation and bring her down, to read the sickening bile these rabid bunch of deplorables from across the Atlantic and elsewhere spew day in and day out about Ms Markle, says more about them than her. She can take heart in the fact that out in the real world the majority of people here in Britain are decent people with no time for the base prejudice seen displayed on fringe websites.

Ms Markle is an only child of her mother, but is constantly blighted by the poor life choices and display of envy by her half siblings. Step siblings she lost contact with since early childhood. Children to her dad from a different marriage to her mum’s. Her parents separated when she was six years old. And yet these half siblings claim to be experts on her current life, sellIng fake tales to the press including childhood photos, when they have no first hand knowledge of her personal life and relationship and how it is panning out, other than what they read or make up themselves. One particularly nasty half/step sister spends her time on Twitter ranting poisonous rubbish about Mrghan. Ah well, I suppose it goes with the territory with some step siblings. After all, there are strong rumours the North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un did away with his half brother. And it is blatantly obvious Barack Obama’s half brother has been a pest in his side throughout his Presidency, sucking up to Donald Trump of all people and helping spread the vile birther conspiracy. I hear the kraken’s raised its ugly head again recently.

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elizabethleslie7654 · 6 years

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Why 3rd World “Immigration” Is Actually Colonization Against Us

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When people ask me what is the #1 problem the West is facing, I always have a simple answer to give. They may be a little surprised to hear it at first, but after I explain it to them, they instinctually know at a gut level that my answer is 100% correct.

What is the simple but hard hitting answer?

“Immigration” Is A Nice Word That Conceals The Truth

What do you think of when you hear the words immigration and immigrant?

I’ll tell you I used to think; false ideas based on an agenda put into my head via public school indoctrination, the Corporate Media, and Hollywood.

What used to pop into my head was: A person who comes to America for a ‘better life’; who wants to work hard, loves freedom and democracy, and who wants to become an American. Someone that once they touch our ‘magic soil’ is just as American as someone whose family has been here generations and can trace their ancestry back to the first English settlers.

Unsurprisingly, I don’t think such silly things anymore.

Yes, it is true that people with similar backgrounds can accomplish that American Dream scenario above, such as Europeans immigrating to the United States.

Just your typical Dutch traditional outfit

But that’s not how this all works.

How is actually goes is more like this:

More and more non-European foreigners start coming into your nation. They start creating little enclaves (also known as colonies) in your cities. The vast majority of them are on some form of public aid. They can’t speak your language, nor are very interested in your culture at all.

Although none of them have paid into the school systems (your ancestors have been paying into the public funds for generations), they get to send their 4+ children to schools that you paid for at no cost to themselves. Not only that, but taxes must go up in order to hire more teachers to accommodate these students, who generally can’t speak your language well/at all and can’t keep up academically.

What exactly do you and your people get out of these foreigners from the 3rd world entering and occupying your territory and nation?

-Loss of space: you can’t enter certain areas because they are literal 3rd world colonies

-Higher crime: “Poverty causes crime” is a myth. Certain people, cultures, and IQ levels are the ones that cause the vast majority of crime.

-Less say in your own nation: These imported 3rd world people vote against your interests at every chance they get. They will vote for a bigger government (raise your taxes), open borders (more of their cohorts coming in), and restrictions on free speech (silence you)

We Must Call It What It Actually Is

By not calling things by what they actually are, we are actually helping those that wish to harm us.

Purposefully flooding our nation with 3rd world people is not “immigration,” and those 3rd world people coming here are not “immigrants.”

We must speak the truth of what is going on in order for people to actually realize what the dangers and consequences of what is happening really are.

To put it bluntly, mass 3rd world migration is really an invasion, colonization, and conquest of our nations.

Those that come here are colonizers who wish to take from us our wealth, our culture, and ultimately our nation.

The mass flow of foreign people into our nations is nothing short of a form of warfare against us, our families, and our people.

Those that scoff at, dismiss, or refuse to see it for what it really is are either benefiting from the colonization of our nations or cannot put together simple data on demographic trends and changes happening to us.

Let’s look at an example of how this colonial warfare actually plays out in Britain.

Muslim growth world wide is exploding, while at the same time the White European population is quickly shrinking.

Britain has a large (and growing) Pakistani population, with somewhere around 3% of the population of Britain now made up of Pakistanis.

Assuming the rest of the population is actually British (it’s not), the British people now control 97% of their own nation, while Pakistanis control not only 3% of Britain but still 100% of Pakistan.

Why must we die off and be replaced, while non-Europeans must be allowed to keep expanding their population and territory?

If nothing changes in the next 50 years, the British are expected to be less than 50% of the population of Britain. What this means is that the British people only control 49% or less of Britain, while the Nigerians, Pakistanis, Indians, Afghanis, and others control 51%+ of Britain, but while also still retaining 100% control of Nigeria, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan.

What does this mean?

It means Britain becomes less and less British, while also becoming more and more Pakistani, Indian, Nigerian, and Afghani. Essentially, these nations and people are expanding their territory and influence, while the British people keep losing more and more territory and influence.

Ask yourself: How is demographic replacement via third world migration any different than any other take-over by foreigners?

Let’s look at another example to see this even more clearly.

Note: This is from 2012. It has only gone up in the past 6 years.

First off, what do you think of when you see such a map such as this one?

I’ll tell you what I think of.

Territory of the First Mexican Empire

The colonization and demographic warfare by Mexico of sending its people into our nation to re-take its supposed ‘lost land’ is so blatantly obvious that all you need is 2 maps to know its true.

There is no ‘magic dirt’ that transforms Mexicans into Americans just by crossing a line on a map and entering into American territory.

In the future if nothing is done to stop this demographic replacement, the states that are majority Mexican can simply vote to leave the U.S. and join Mexico, as they will de facto be Mexican territory anyways.

As stated above, what is happening is that the American people lose land and influence to Mexican colonists, while Mexico and its people gain land and influence in its new territories.

To sum up how this works: We LOSE and gain NOTHING from millions of foreigners colonizing our lands, while they WIN and take OUR nation from us.

What is conquest?

– a territory that has been gained by the use of subjugation and military force.

What is subjugation?

– the action of bringing someone or something under domination or control.

What is domination?

– the exercise of control or influence over someone or something, or the state of being so controlled.

What is having foreigners numerically outnumber you and your people, losing your homeland, and becoming a hated minority in your now conquered nation?

– Istanbul Pogrom

At least the Greeks who were attacked, discriminated against, and kicked out had a homeland to go to.

If this happens in the United States, Britain, France, and other European states, we will have no where to go.

It Is Not Too Late to Fix This

I don’t see what is happening to our nations as the inevitable destruction of our way of life. Rather, I see it as a test by nature and by God; to make our people struggle, so that we will come out the other side stronger than we have ever been before.

This whole ‘let’s flood every White European nation with 3rd world non-Europeans’ is not something our people and our society have ever faced. This is a new threat and challenge that we are facing.

We just happened to be the ones born into this mess.

I don’t really like too many modern day movies, but my favorite movie as a child was the Lord of the Rings movies, especially the second one, The Two Towers.

Who else didn’t imagine themselves at Helms Deep; on the walls with all of your brothers, looking down at the vast hordes who were hell bent on wiping you and your people off the face of the Earth?

We are at that point in time now.

We are the ones on the wall. We are the ones standing between total annihilation of our people, our culture, and everything we hold dear, and saving everything we cherish and love on this planet.

This task was given to us; and we will either rise to the challenge and save ourselves, or our people and culture will forever be a footnote in the book of human history.

We only live once; we might as well be known as the heroes that saved our people and saved the West. Let’s go.

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traviswsoul · 7 years

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Day 24 Oregon Dunes KOA to Beachside State Park 68 miles

July 22 6:30 time, 3,064 calories, 3,363' climbed, 10.5 avg mph The couple from Alberta who were on their way home from a Harley Davidson rally were up shortly after me. He and I had a lot of great conversations about sailing, he was a big sailing enthusiast and also spent years at a time building models of famous old boats. He would build everything down to the pulleys from scratch and by hand. I could tell he was excited I was exited about his hobby and he was very proud to show me pictures of them and the beautiful cases he builds to display them when I asked. You have to keep them covered, if they get dusty their ruined, they are way to fine and detailed to be cleaned. Their little pop up bed towed behind her tri-bike and was a really cool design, it was like a pop of camper but just the size of queen size bed when folded out and the entry expanded with nylon to make a vestibule you could stand in to get ready to climb in. The only reiterated how much I love Canadians, at one point he was literally wearing a Canadian Tuxedo, denim pants and shirt, with his hat featuring an embroidery of a bald eagle backed by a waving american flag. Although I do not understand why the bald eagle is our symbol in USA because the only times I have seen one is in Canada. In all the places I have traveled around the world I meet Canadians, they are simply the best travelers, always great ambassadors of where their from and appropriate adaptors of where they are. When we said goodbye that morning he shook my hand and said to me "you really added to our trip." I was honored, what a meaningful thing to say, full of honest expression, direct and not overly emotion, classic old man, whoever is his grandson is a lucky guy. On the road by eight I was determined to make up some of the miles I lost backtracking the day before. I rode through Lakeside, Winchester bay, over the Umpqua River at Gardiner, and into Dunes City before stopping after 30 miles. Well actually I stopped once before at a little bakery because the draw bridge up ahead was raised and there was a line of traffic stopped through town up to the bakery so I dipped in and grabbed and Odwalla green juice and a mini loaf of Zucchini bread that I munched on all day. The stop in Dunes City was to get cash because I remembered the call yesterday during the rain cover fiasco from the bank saying they were sending me a new debit card, the old one had been compromised and expect the new one in the mail in a few days, in Solana Beach, 1350 miles away. So I got a wad of cash just in case, I still need to have a debit card send to Portland. Several things happened when I rolled into Florence, the first was the pot shop. I was knowing full well I had a long way to ride and over the last few days was starting to feel strong muscle fatigue toward the end of long rides so I decided to stop and see if I could find a solution that wasn't anti inflammatory pills. I walked out with a bottle of cannabis extract of CBD in coconut oil. 131 mg of CBD and only seven mg of THC. This I could take a half a ml of at lunch and ride through the end of the day with the pain, and it worked! I rode a long, hard day and felt the best I have of any days after a 70 miler. Another thing that happened here was I was low on air, I rode through one RV park scoping the possibilities with no luck then I saw a tire shop. I rode up and around along the bank of service entrances and saw one guy near me, we made eye contact, he had a numatic drill in his hand, and I asked him if I could get some air. At a tire shop air is simply the force that allows all of their tools to work, so to ask for air, is well, like, asking for air, no big deal. He was more than nice about it! He said, "yeah but do you have the ..." and he hesitated right as I answered him before he had to finish with a resounding "yes" as I was parking my bike and retrieving what was needed. I applied the air pump adaptor and we fell into the usual conversation about my trip. "where you coming from?" "what?" "no way!" "how far you going" " you know that's against the wind don't ya?" Things brings me to a point I have observed for a long time, nod you're head if you agree, the guys that work at tire shops are the nicest most professional guy I come across in service roles. (here this turns into rant about the "good old days" and the confederate flag, see if you can follow along, its quite ridiculous) With his parted hair, pressed mechanic's shirt and handson smile this guy should have been in the start of some of romantic comedy as the local small town guy, he says his yes mam's and no mam's, meets the girl from out of town, they fall in love that summer but her daddy won't have it and rips her away from what her heart longs for. they correspond through letters until she runs away and they jump in his restored muscle car and ride off into the sunset, he treats her right, he doesn't become some depressed, self loathing, womanizing piece of shit, this is a love story! Set in classic Ameriana with old cars, home town values, hard work and where you don't see it, but on the other side of the tracks is the happily segregated parts of town for the brown people, school and church and cemetery, like separate but equal... you know. The one where "it wasn't racist, that's just how it was" and some times they lynched people, and didn't go to jail for it, that kind of separate but equal. The kind of unapologetic sentiment with which some southerners are protesting taking down statues of Robert E Lee across the south because it's "Their Heritage" Some parts of Germany don't keep the swastikas on their local flag because when you make some of the worst decisions as a population in modern history you tuck your tail and humbly ask if you can go on, you don't get to wave your fucking flag. You don't get to keep your symbols and some fond memory of the good old days as if they weren't stained by the facts of life as experienced by the suppressed, abused and owned at that time. But it's taken until 2017 for white southerners to have to face the removal of the confederate flag from their flags, license plates and city centers and even that is being protested as violating the heritage and culture! Yes, Fuck Yes, we want to violate the heritage and culture so much that it is blatantly taught as insane and a deep black scare of how terrible we can be as a people. We don't get to wash it away saying that's just how it was, fuck that, I really want to be sure I do my part to insure that the facts of the southern heritage do not get white washed and that children do not get taught that it was anything less than a monstrosity committed by none other than those children's very ancestors. The Germans have done an amazing job owning up to the shit their forefathers did and we need to do the same and have a conersation in a way that does not distinguish one philosophy of evil as different from the other. Why is the Holocaust known no well as the crime against humanity that it is but America can barely converse about the slavery that we build this nation upon. I wont even start on the genocidal foundation we build with our treatment of the previous tenants of this land, but we don't really talk about that. anyway, sorry for that, I just got distracted by imagining that classic Americana, it was quite disgraceful, but way off topic.... After I met that friendly mechanic and got air I stopped by Sand Masters in the same town, Florence. Jack Smith told me to stop there because his friends own it, I wish I had know sooner, I would have loved to spend a half day there. They rent sand boards to ride on the dunes, like snowboarding on the sand. I've gotta go try that one day! We visited a while then I was back on the road. The Yachats brewery was a great brewery, I had a big healthy falafel salad which I had been missing, a good beer, a cup of salmon and smoked jalapeño chowder and flat melon kombuca. It was all delicious but I was baffled why such a killer shop that did so many things so well didn't bother to do anything to carbonate their kombucha, it was great buch, the honeydew melon flavor couldn't have been done any better but it was flat as water. I was so tired from the day already I could have fallen asleep there on the table I was at. I had conversation with several people around me for a while and used my muscle roller until I finally worked up the energy to go. By the time I did a thick fog had rolled in. It was cold and misty riding to the campsite, so much so that I had water droplets on my lenses and it was dripping off my helmet. Technically not my first ride in the rain but it still was wet riding home through that cloud. When I checked in the ranger offered to stick me with the others or a secret spot he described as the little hobbit nook, it was tucked in some dense woods away from the hike and bike site, which was right on the road. A tiny path took me past an old picnic table surrounded in over head plant growth to a small tent sized clearing where the back side had a narrow path right onto the beach. By far the coolest camp site I've had yet. I hung up my tent to dry a little because it was wet from the night before, then I showered, set up for the night and climbed in. I made an intricate system of lines in the ceiling of the tent in order to hang things to dry, the mist and dew outside wouldn't allow it to happen there so I had to improvise.

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