Happy Pride Month, Don't Lose Focus On The Movement Going On Tho. Be Gay, Do Crimes. Be Gay, Protest.

all this talk about how weaponizing the fold will only increase anti-Grisha sentiment when it's already been established in canon that they're still undergoing heavy persecution is so strange to me. they're already being sold out to the enemy by their own countrymen as well as experimented on and burned alive overseas...how much worse can it possibly get? they're already balancing on the knife edge of being at risk of genocide. (sidebar: I hate how this show attempts to justify their persecution by laying the blame at Aleksander's feet. that conversation with Baghra where she tells him he's responsible for the 'war on Grisha' even before the creation of the Fold is so awful.)

if Alina and the gang had just let Aleksander usurp the king I'm inclined to believe the situation for Grisha in Ravka could only have been improved. and for all that I see claims of Aleksander's belief in Grisha supremacy, I've yet to find any support or evidence for that in the text. if he wanted to enslave all otkazat'sya or get revenge on them surely that would have come up at some point? instead he's a loyal patriot to the country of Ravka and is more interested in cleaning house of the corrupt Lantsov regime.

if I'm wrong please feel free to correct me, because I actually would be interested in seeing if there are passages in the books where the Darkling goes full Magneto.

“She can’t be gay! She’s obsessed with men!”

The men:

Me: I just think that if Leigh wanted to write a cautionary tale about a manipulative man who is beautiful but not as he seems, she should have made him a non-grisha prince like Nikolai. Because then you have someone who pretends to sympathize with the oppressed Grisha but is actually just exploiting them for his own gain which is a much more interesting commentary on society. And then Alina could have been the revolutionary trying to overthrow the system and help change things for the Grisha, opposed by a non-grisha who wants to control them. 

Instead, she makes the villain the one person actively fighting to improve things for the Grisha and ultimately gives Alina very little interest in the cause and makes the non-grisha characters nice and understanding and gives us a message of ‘you just need the nice people to be on the throne and then it will be fine’ which is a naive point of view. Its not about whether or not the Darkling is good, its about where she ultimately decided to place the villain in the story/world that bothers me.

Therapist: Can we please get back to your trauma.

so systemic oppression and state-sanctioned witchhunts of grisha leads aleksander to create a sanctuary for other grisha but because of how shitty the world treats him, he drives off the moral event horizon and tries to gain more power and put a stop to the endless wars while the "good guys" show up at the last second and decide he's evil and must be killed but after they kill him things are worse for grisha and the wars continue and all the systemic issues that led to aleksander being the kind of man he was still exist so....wtf did they accomplish or even learn?

sexy man bad?

We are an opportunistic bunch but only because 1)we have dealt with badly written shows before and know the pain 2) we want everyone to experience the catharsis & euphoria of your favourite (queer) characters being treated right 3) Black Sails really is the best thing out there and we are bitter it never got the exposure it deserved Tldr: Please watch the show to have outdone all shows & ended homophobia ☠️🏳️‍🌈

Guys!!!!!! As someone who has only discovered him recently, I've never been happier!!!

EVEN NICKELODEON WONT STAND FOR RACIST BULLSHIT

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S 

Don't forget about the Palestinians.

Don't forget about them now.

Don't forget about them tomorrow.

Don't forget about them in a week from now.

Don't forget about them in a month.

Don't forget them next year.

Don't forget them in 5 years.

When the history books start to update, don't let them put lies in there.

When documentaries come out, boycott the ones who call this a victory for Israel.

When books release talking about soldier's personal experiences with Palestine, remember the victims. Remember the truth.

Don't forget about what we've seen.

Don't forget about what we've heard.

Don't let them tell lies about Palestine.

Don't forget about the Palestinians when the world tries to make this go away.

What she says: I'm fine.

What she means: Alina's relationship with Aleksander is heavily framed as something shameful,as a stain on her character and very existence and how people around her are supposed to be doubtful of her because "she almost fucked the bad guy!! she could be corrupted too!!" While her relationship with Malyen serves heavily to the puritan culture with the "pure,chaste love" trope,defying any passion or sexual chemistry because those things are considered shameful in the society. Malyen is viewed as someone who saves her from said corruption and is considered noble for loving her despite her past with Aleksander and the "bad decisions" she made. Aleksander plays such an important role in her growth but we're supposed to hate that because Aleksander is the villain meanwhile Malyen does nothing but hold her back, limiting her development as a person. The only conclusion I can derive here is that if you were associated with someone wrong in the past,who helped you unleash your full potential,it can all go to shit and you're not going to be valued for that because the very reason for your growth is a monster. Your entire arc is going to be villainized because it's associated to the bad guy. The whole concept of moving on and being your own person is demonized because "you did it once and you ended up in the wrong hands. You started becoming your own person and were so dumb, someone almost made a weapon out of you for their own gain" Alina and her past attraction towards Aleksander makes Alina bad and if she still wants him despite his deeds,she's wrong and "oh so corrupted". That's why Alina goes back to being the same underdeveloped protagonist, because hey,even if she had zero character development at the end of the day, atleast she's not with the bad guy,at least she's one of the good ones. Her only mistake was being unaware of Aleksander's plans,it could've been called a "bad decision" if she was fully aware and yet chose to be involved with him. And it's so funny how Baghra ONLY tells Alina the truth about Aleksander before they're about to have sex,when she had multiple opportunities to tell her the truth AND help her train into being stronger. This only simplifies into "silly girl,thank god i told you the truth,you were about to fuck the bad guy but you didn't so you're saved,you're still pure" What does Aleksander and his behaviour have to do with Alina and her character? How long are we going to let the men in our past define how pure or impure we are? Is this the feminist conclusion I'm supposed to derive from this mess? Is this not what slut shaming is? How long are we going to shit on our heroines so they stay Good™?