Xeha Mom And Baby Xeha! Requested From My Last Post!

It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.

There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!

Stitch's Media Mix

What Fandom Racism Looks Like: The Problem With Preferences

Outside of the fandoms for Japanese media (anime and manga primarily) or the powerhouse Korean pop music Real Person Fiction (RPF) fandoms,

Stitch lays it out thoroughly, as usual, so there's no commentary I could add that would be better than just quoting what she says. I definitely recommend reading the whole thing, but here are a couple excerpts to give you an idea of the gist.

Excerpt 1:

Let’s return to the myth of preference. In fandom, as with online dating, folks think “preference” is a neutral word that shields them from the mere potential of having to interrogate why they seem to “prefer” white people as their faves. The thing is that this “preference” for white dudes isn’t all that neutral. A “preference” for white men is tied into centuries of racist propaganda that portrays whiteness as an ideal to the point where even people of color have trouble finding themselves or other people of color attractive.

[...]

Of course, that translates to fandom because fandom isn’t born in a vacuum. We don’t leave our ingrained prejudices in “the real world” when we log on to Tumblr or go for a scroll on the AO3. In fact, because many people in fandom curate their timelines to only show them their like-minded faves, they’re more likely to surround themselves with fans who think like they do and fanworks that reinforce the validity of their interests.

Excerpt 2:

Fantasies are just that – fantasies. On their own and in our heads, they can’t directly hurt people, and they provide the pleasure of partaking in the forbidden or the denied. For many people – especially marginalized people in unsafe or unhealthy positions in their daily lives – fantasies are all they have, and that’s important. However, in fandom spaces, fantasies don’t stay in people’s head, and they’re never on their own no matter what nonsense we fed about fandom and fiction not influencing/being influenced by reality. These fantasies come loaded with expectations, prior knowledge, stereotypes, trauma, politics, and a whole bunch of other stuff from the person fantasizing as well as other people who are aware of the fantasy. They get turned into fanworks that get thousands of views and hundreds of readers. After all, nothing we do or like or create is formed in a vacuum. In fandom spaces, fantasies that either exclude people of color entirely or reformat them as stereotypes for easy consumption (erotic and otherwise), are harmful because they are put forward without any awareness to a potential audience of thousands.

BABY WOLFWOOD BABY WOLFWOOOOOOD

i like drawing meryls for my mental health tbh

how does electing trump lower the gun pointed at palestine?

how does electing kamala? how did electing biden?

you know what. let me answer this in good faith.

this ask is in response to my previous post, where i stated:

"keep your eyes open about what you are voting for, so that your vote does not become another vote in service of genocide, and you are part of a structure of accountability for your government. yes, you are voting in self-preservation. but no, you are not being asked to protect anyone to your own detriment. let me put it more simply: as a nation, you aren't being asked to jump in front of a bullet to save palestine from genocide. you're being asked to lower the gun."

as a matter of fact, the US is a partner in the genocide. through weapons funding, through diplomatic immunity, through the media apparatus and through boots-on-the-ground soldiers. this was only further reinforced by netanyahu's address in congress today, which affirmed (needlessly, as we already knew) that israel and the US are "standing with civilization against barbarism" and other genocidal dogwhistles. but he said that for a reason: he's letting american politicians know they are just as culpable for this genocide. it is their genocide too. under international law, biden is liable for delivering weapons to a nation plausibly accused of genocide, not to mention under american law as well for delivering weapons to a nation preventing humanitarian aid.

this is bipartisan policy. both democrats and republicans support the US war machine. US foreign policy has been uniformly bloodthirsty for the past few decades, with some variation that ultimately led to nothing. democrats might kick up more fuss about human rights, but they will ultimately wage the same wars with the same disregard for international law, and have shifted right on israel in ways that even george bush did not entertain.

because this is so deeply entrenched in US politics for myriad historical, political and financial reasons, there is currently no electoral solution for palestinians within US politics, and more urgently there is no electoral solution for the genocide in gaza within US electoral politics. long-term, there might be. the increase of democrats boycotting netanyahu's speech, the election of democrats like rashida tlaib, and the pressure from constituents are indications of an enormous shift in US policy towards israel. but this is very slow change, and people in gaza are dying very quickly.

prior to 2020, there was a certain belief that democrats had some red lines that republicans don't wrt gaza. however, bidens management of the past nine months have completely disabused everyone of that notion. even someone like rashid khalidi, who believes firmly in the power of persuading americans in the imperial core, has been caught off-guard by biden's management of the war, stating that he will not vote for him.

as you might have realized over the past few years, the way the current system is set up leaves very little avenue for constituents to affect policy in the US right now, especially since democrats are extremely adept at pacifying the masses with nominal acts (notably on items like policing and environmentalism in particular) in service of their donors. mass protests are actually an indication that the political system has failed at providing an avenue for political participation except taking to the streets. it is normally a last resort. for some issues it is a first resort, because there are few other options unless you've got lobbying money. now multiply that x100 for foreign policy, where popular opinion has little sway and there are few democratic pathways for the average american to engage with, especially since it is not considered a priority as american deaths in wars have become negligible.

what does this mean? it means it is very, very difficult to pressure politicians on palestine, even though they are wholly involved in palestine and using your tax dollars to do it. in regular times, it is participation in apartheid and occupation, which is bad enough. but right now, it is participation in one of the worst crimes mankind can commit: genocide. the US is not just dropping bombs, it is also a partner in a starvation policy that is deeply sickening. it is medieval to deprive 2 million people, 50% of them children, trapped in a blockaded area of food and water, but this is a strategy the US has not only endorsed, but also assisted israel in carrying out.

because biden has been so batshit insane, there is functionally no way trump can be worse. biden (and blinken) spoke of red lines, but have gradually walked every single one of them back, because this is what democrats do: they pacify you until you no longer notice the boiling water. there is no more money trump can send, and there are no more weapons trump can send, that would make a difference to what israel is doing. they have enough money and weapons and diplomatic immunity to nuke gaza if they want to. they are not being held back by biden, they are being held back by their own limitations, their own internal disagreements, partially by saudi arabia, partially by egypt, by the palestinian resistance factions, and more significantly by hezbollah, yemen and iran. when people say "trump can do more genocide" they're not wrong that things can get worse, but they are wrong that they need trump to get worse. they can also get worse under the next democrat, just as they got worse under biden, because there is no mechanism in place to stop it.

now unlike biden who was ideologically and fanatically zionist, trump is an unpredictable opportunist. he might have done worse, and he might not have. he is actually far more likely to be influenced in any which way—but not by people, by other countries such as saudi arabia, egypt or russia. it doesn't really matter because again: the genocide didn't happen under trump. it happened under biden. it is an atrocity that the full scope of which has not been truly uncovered, and it is still really, horrifically bad—not just because we've seen kids being ripped apart daily for nine months, but because we've also seen the democratic establishment categorically prevent every international mechanism (including the highest court in the world) from stopping it. so even if trump wants to do More Genocide, the biden admin has conveniently removed all diplomatic obstructions that would stop him from doing so, and set a precedent for ignoring both the ICJ and the ICC, which was already in place since bush and further cemented since by obama and then trump and biden. it has simply been a two decades of Things Getting Worse in the middle east, and electoral politics of voting for the lesser evil have played no small part in that, and intentionally so, but there's no need to confront that right now i guess!

so where does kamala come in? well, as i said, there are few avenues for voters to influence foreign policy. the only window that exists is when a politician requires your votes. democrats are notorious for lack of follow through. they campaign, they lie, they hope you forget. if kamala is elected, she may be better on palestine. but nothing in her track record suggests that, and there would be absolutely no leverage to force her to be. but as long as she needs to be elected, there is still critical time for pressure, and it is also critical because people are dying right now.

this is also the answer to those of you stating joe biden is still president and its unfair to talk about kamala: joe biden is barely sentient, and when he is he's a geriatric genocidal racist who couldn't be moved on gaza even when he did want to be re-elected. but now he no longer needs to be elected, and has even less incentive to answer to his base (but will hopefully someday answer to the hague).

so again, when you tell me about "electing" trump or "electing" kamala—none of this is what affects palestinians right now. we have no evidence either way of what they might do. we don't even have a promise from kamala to be better right now, aside from generic vp statements on humanitarianism. she boycotted netanyahu's speech, but neither she nor pelosi have mentioned palestinians, who are still undergoing a genocide they are knowing participants in, nor have they acknowledged that israel is formally an apartheid state and netanyahu is a war criminal (bc of course, then they'd have to admit so is biden). everyone is hoping that she is better, and that she can be pressured, but as of right now that remains to be seen.

your concern is the election, my concern is the present. kamala, as a partial incumbent, will be affected if she can't change anything within the next four months. she doesn't have joe biden's record on israel yet. but as netanyahu's speech showed, the genocide was not joe biden's alone. it is a bipartisan genocide from the US political establishment that joe biden presided over and allowed to escalate unencumbered. kamala was part of this, and doesn't have anything to the contrary—yet. all we have to force her to lower the gun is the knowledge that she wants to be elected. trump's base does not want him to lower the gun, but presumably you (kamala's base) do.

so to answer your question: the upcoming presidential election is not the solution for palestine right now, but it is one of the tools that can be used to stop a genocide that both parties are responsible for. electing kamala may be beneficial in the long run—or it may not. but pressuring kamala is now, and it is urgent.

The 3 Keys Theory

@nikutsuneart made a post about Kairi’s involvement in Melody of Memory to find Sora. In isolation, this part of the story also made me scratch my head. However, looking back at this with the context of Dream Drop Distance, it all clicked for me.

In Melody of Memory, the Fairy Godmother says,

“To find Sora, we need three keys… With Riku's dreams and Kairi's memories, you two have already done your part.”

Key and three is used very specifically, she says it multiple times in the conversation. The third Key is the Nameless Star. However, we are not told specifically what the Nameless Star’s key is (as specific as dreams and memory are).

Luckily, Ansem has our answer:

“The three realms of our world--light, darkness, and between--these are all places we can travel to because they are on "our side." This also includes the worlds of memories, data, and dreams.”

Memory, Data, and Dreams, then, must be the three keys.

But my mind began to wander. What if it’s the same ritual from Dream Drop Distance?

You see, at the end of Dream Drop Distance, Ansem also tells Riku about a key:

“You were questioned by three young people. That was the final key to awaken him. Sora is awake.”

The way “key” is used, the audience initially thinks, oh this is just a matter of phrasing. But what if Roxas, Ventus and Xion also represent the same 3 keys?

To talk about this, I think we need to look at that DDD scene a little differently. Is it really Roxas, Ventus, and Xion during that scene? They’re sort of apparitions, not reacting to Riku’s surprise; appearing and disappearing suddenly.

What if, like Ansem the Wise, they’re also forms of data? The knowledge that there are people in Sora’s heart that need to return to the real world: analogous to Sora in that moment needing to return to the real world, as well.

Essentially, the trio are supposed to represent something, here. Given that, who represents what? I think Roxas is Memory, Ventus is Dreams, and Xion is Data.

The Three Keys

First, Roxas as Memory. During Sora’s descent into darkness, Roxas provides Sora with all of his memories and experiences. Ergo, Sora’s heart chooses to represent that component, Memory, with Roxas’ data.

Next, Ventus as Dream. Of course Sora’s heart would use him to represent Dream. He’s been asleep, dreaming alongside Sora, during his whole adventure.

Finally, Xion as Data. Xion has ceased to exist in memories or dreams, yet her data and hurt still remains. It is through others believing and wishing for her to return that she may find her way back to her friends.

I think this works best because it follows the same order as Melody of Memory, ending on Data. However, I do see the argument to switch Roxas and Xion. Afterall, Data Roxas was a major player in Re:Coded.

Furthermore, isn’t this what the power of waking is? “For traversing hearts to reach worlds”? Each of these components, Memory, Dreams, and Data— Riku is using these 3 hearts to guide Sora back to his world.

To Sum It Up

I believe Melody of Memory makes more sense if we understand it as the same ritual. In DDD, although Riku freed Sora from the nightmare, he was still lost. Riku was presented with 3 keys held by 3 people. Each of these people once existed in the real world and represented the desire to return to it. By answering the questions, Riku was able to use the power of waking to pull Sora away from Quadratum—out of his Memories, Dreams, and Data—and into his reality.

Then, Melody of Memory is Riku doing it again. 3 people 3 keys, Riku dreams, Kairi’s memories and the Nameless Star’s heart filled with data of Unreality. Riku is instead traveling away from reality and in the opposite direction: into Quadratum.

“everyone interprets characters differently” unfortunately so true! thankfully I was blessed with an intense preternatural insight into their core beings (watched and paid attention) and I don’t have to worry

yall do realize just because something has been a target of misogynistic criticism, that doesn't make stanning it completely uncritically in response some kind of revolutionary feminist praxis. right.

Here’s the transcript of the explanation from episode 7.03: Lance: Wow, a lot of things have really changed over the past few weeks. Acxa: “Weeks”? What are you talking about? Allura: The last time we saw you. You were fighting us alongside Lotor. Acxa: That was three deca-phoebs ago. No one has seen you since your fight with Lotor. Keith: That’s impossible. Acxa: It’s true. After Lotor jettisoned us, we managed to make it to cover on a meteoroid. There we saw both Voltron and Lotor disappear. Eventually Voltron re-emerged… alone. But then there was an explosion and after that… nothing. That was three-deca-phoebs ago. Lance: Whoa. Allura: So, as far as everyone else in the universe is concerned, Voltron has been gone for three deca-phoebs? Pidge: That explains the discrepancies in the star charts in our Lions. I thought they were off because of our inter-dimensional jumping, which I guess they were, in a way. Because when you think about it, that must have been the cause of the time slippage between our experience and that of the rest of the universe.

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Adult Skuld/X because time passed, fun to design, and also please give Isa and ESPECIALLY Lea more friends that aren't kids 😭

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