These may be my last words or the last time I write a post, so I will not forgive anyone who sees this post and does not support me with a single word and ignores me.
I write these words in great pain, my eyes brimming with tears. I can no longer bear this situation. I am exhausted by hunger, severe anemia, my father's cancer, and the exorbitant cost of the medications he needs.
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Nader's father needs pain relief. Donate what you can. This is campaign number 4 on the @gazavetters account. I personally assure you that your donations will go directly to Nader, his family, and his ailing father.
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i don’t know how risky of a move it will turn out, it being the writing of a probably controversial fandom opinion when my blog isn’t even a thimble years old. i’ll try to be good about it in the tags so people outside Intended Audience don’t find it, although... ironic, that. i think the people i’ll be trying to keep out are the ones who need to hear all this.
whatever, i’ll not muck about. i’m writing this for my own peace of mind, and because i am consistently tired of illiterate discourse--especially from people who live in countries that can very well afford good education.
zutara is a problem upon Avatar: The Last Airbender. or, rather, the way some fans engage with this dynamic is quite a problem.
k, let’s unpack this bitch.
ever since becoming more politically engaged, i have resented invoking Identity Politics frequently or flippantly, seeing as arguments must stand on their own legs no matter who argues them. in this particular instance, however, my identity as an indigenous person could prove useful. we are not a monolith, of course, but there is this thing i’d like to call the unprocessed colonised mindset. i’m sure qualified folks have done research on that, and officially it must be called something much better. i’m bringing this up because i used to be a zutara fan myself, and that Mindset is my theory as to why.
to colonise is to subjugate an indigenous population to a metropole’s will, with metropole being the coloniser country, otherwise known as the imperial core (for any of you possibly american zutaras already seething at my post--america is an imperial core. shut the fuck up). means of colonisation range from outwardly violent, especially in the settler variety of colonialism that necessitates the full extinction of the native population, to something cosmetically peaceful and thus more covertly sinister, like welcoming a subjugated group into the imperial economic structures with the purpose of neutering resistance. example: black people, or any minority of colour, in the us who serve in their country’s military in order to chew off their government-given privileges on that basis, all the while killing/aiding the killing of brown individuals overseas.
those not on board with these concepts and definitions, go read a book. moving on.
psychological warfare is an essential component of oppression. the ash makers (yup, i’m calling them an anti-coloniser slur because Role-playing is Fun) in the ATLA narrative bent to their will these countries and peoples:
the earth kingdom via attempts at siege and the eventual seizing of power by azula;
the water tribes via constant raids and the heinous history of bender extermination (more so the southern tribe, since their northern sister is a little more well-protected, yet nonetheless affected by terror and anxiety).
of course, the air nomad population was fully annihilated bar one individual. there was no populace to bend.
to the point. i mentioned the Colonised Mindset because it is a direct consequence of historical pillaging and the above-described psychological warfare. subjugated, raped, dispossessed groups begin to adapt to their circumstances by becoming a little bit (or very deeply) blind to the realities of imperialism. which is why i--and perhaps many others amongst my indigenous brothers and sisters both in the past and present--was completely shut off from material analysis as recently as three or four years ago. there is no shame in this admission, and thus no compensatory ego right now in my writing this post. it is a scary reality to recognise and deal with, and so the road to realising one’s position in this colonial world (i ain’t calling it post-colonial, not a chance) is difficult. that much is self-evident.
of course, it is extremely easy, and to a point understandable, to divorce zutara from heavy consideration and the sort of scrutiny that accounts for the historical context in ATLA itself. oh!!! enemy-lover!! red-blue!! wow!! oma and shu?????? WOW!!!!!!! (the comparisons between zutara and oma&shu are quite lobotomised, to be honest, but i will not be discussing that at length.)
my question would be, though, what for would anyone engage in a piece of media that portrays the reality of genocide in its very first few episodes, only then to transform the obvious, and narratively important, circumstances into something palatable? what is ever the point of diluting the tangible complexities of zutara? to be unproductive and defensive, to harp on about how zutara is the true canon and absolutely not a Coloniser Ship Situation?
by standing on defence like brainless jock dudebros, part of the zutara fandom rob themselves of meaningful analysis and deep interaction with the source material. you cannot possibly ship the Crown Prince of a murderous imperial power and the Daughter of the current indigenous Chief, and not address/admit the tensions that are simply there on the surface.
what happens instead is internet slap-fighting between uneducated five-year-olds who are willing to turn off critical thinking for the sake of a ship, to protect it against the sort of analysis ATLA as a show blatantly encourages and at times facilitates, though with fluctuating degrees of accuracy. ( to clarify, when i say encourage/facilitate, i mean the inclusion of poignant subject matter in specific episodes, like Appa Alone or Zuko Alone (which, respectively, deal with 1. the devastation and loneliness appa experiences as the last of his kind -> directly a lament upon colonisation and genocide; 2. the self-reflection zuko must begin in order to atone for what has been done under his nation’s flag -> an attempt at an ego-less admission of his origins and customs, what he has been taught as part of ash maker brainwashing) )
is the central argument here that one must not ship zutara? no. i’m not brain-dead, and i vastly do not give a shite. the argument is: if one does ship it, let one use one’s intelligence as ordained. analyse material. allow yourself the sad pondering about zuko’s stolen childhood, while very much saying that he grew up a privileged weapon of the regime. a weapon bent and broken, but a weapon nonetheless.
with that in mind, just to get everyone up to speed. a crown-adorned soldier prince does dubious things in serving a Genocidal Fatherland before redeeming himself fundamentally, and then... goes on to date--sometimes marry--a waterbender woman whose mother was tactically annihilated by that ash maker Fatherland, and part of the zutara fanbase will die on the hill of ‘not colonial suck a dick!!!!!’?
i began writing all this while enraged, but now i’m left with uncharitable mocking in my mind. described step-by-step, the behaviour is nothing if not childish.
to be clear, i have not constructed a straw man. i need not even go that deeply into tumblr to find the echo chamber filled not only with uncritical, bland zutara praise, but also with vehement vitriol for kataang. this, again, comes back to Defence Mode. what are y’all compensating for? what are you fighting? in fact, position a mirror where you will always see it. you prefer a Crown Prince of Genocide Central to a heroic survivor of crimes against humanity. in itself, that ain’t my business. it becomes an object of attention when coupled with shouting that zuko’s roots aren’t fundamentally evil and colonial and imperial, and do not, in someone’s uninformed opinion, deserve to be processed as such within the confines of his character. he would not give himself this sort of leeway, but i constantly see some zutaras shoot themselves in the brains and never reflect on their thinking patterns.
i can sympathise if there are victims of colonialism in this part of the fanbase who live out the futile fantasy of being considered human by the Shadowy Oppressor, to the point of becoming shutters-on uncritical, but unto mayonnaise bottles turned homo sapiens i say... do fuck off.
on the topic of zuko as the face of ash maker legacy. let us proceed.
i am a sincerely passionate fan of his character, and especially of his redemption arc. the brightest, most quintessential reason lies in his own words to his genocidal father in the Day of the Black Sun:
The world hates us! And we deserve it!
it is understood by zuko himself within the narrative that he is part of a system that benefits from genocide (both physical and cultural) and constant subjugation.
it is then a baffling development that some fans of the ship ardently try to peddle a whitewashed version of what happened to zuko and how/why his redemption was such a roaring success. it was so because he admitted the material reality and gave no excuses, no caveats. his family’s legacy very much defines him as a person, it very much does dictate his actions; to be different from the fire lords who came before, he needs to realise how and why they were wrong, as well as his own responsibility as a direct descendant of genocidal maniacs. to presume that his final point of redemption is a very naive ‘oh this doesn’t matter, he's a good person!!’ is extremely... lacking, i’d say, and also gives fans/shippers an excuse to ignore anything a nail’s breath complex about zuko’s journey.
he is--at end of ATLA, and in its beginning was born to be--at the top of a violent, pillaging machine. he represents that machine, which is something he has clearly made peace with in the narrative, evidenced by his readiness to try and change ash makers as a nation. whom is this whitewashing for? the softening of it?
16 or not, (this said 14 before redaction! fellow user corrected me!) boy or not, we all do remember he ordered a raid upon katara’s home in s1. these are the actions of a coloniser, of a terrorising entity; he was a child, so his level of independent decision-making needs to be evaluated accordingly, but he was a child taught by figures of authority to enact the same carnage that had been enacted years before. when he dared fight against, quite nobly so, he got a scar for his trouble. in s1, then, he tried very hard to model himself after the sort of behaviour that would earn his father’s approval, which really means the empire’s approval. that can only be gained if a person raised in the oppressor group exhibits everything this group deems standard issue, from casual violence and threatening (s1 raid) to destroying everything that belongs to the Other, the Orient (s2 crossroads where he had to choose what to do with a chained appa--he chose well, but it was nonetheless a real choice in his mind because he’s a product of colonial philosophy).
the least zutaras can do is accept that zutara is the colonised x redeemed coloniser dynamic. which... sure. to each their own.
a very special place in this discussion is reserved for the concept of katara as zuko’s consort/fire lady. oh the gods of old.
a descendant of hitler decides to put a stop to the holocaust/its legacy, to reform the german society, and we over here romanticise a romani/slavic/jewish person whose family have died in that genocide, going as far as to appoint that survivor as second leader to a people who carried out that genocide? are we sure?
is this not asinine? is this not utter disrespect to katara, whose culture is heavily inspired, by the way, by the quite real inuit cultures? a slav/inuit or brit/inuit enemies-to-lovers arc when, folks?
now, why does any of this matter?
i’m not a lily-livered bulshitter, do with your dolls whatever you will, but extend to me--and to other indigenous people--the basic courtesy of not sitting on an illusory fucking high horse that only, and i mean only, serves to protect your nervous systems from ever analysing any material on a level deeper than the kindergarten requirements.
this point matters, this point should be talked about honestly, whether at the expense of people’s Colonial Feelings or not, because katara’s tribe takes from real civilisations for a fucking reason. a substantial one, at that. to ignore this complex aspect of zutara, if you do choose to ship it upon having had a concussion, is to spit in the faces of indigenous folks; not because i think ATLA is end-all-be-all of media activism, that would be laughable, but because the way people consume said media tends very much to bleed into how they think about us--the dispossessed, the forever raped and killed.
if part of a population feels justified enough to die on the hill of ‘Crown Prince of KKK Industries isn’t ever connected to the activities of the KKK!!!’, simply for the sake of shipping their dolls without being uwu uncomfy, how can we ever begin any conversation that centres indigenous voices? some of you cannot stand the most genteel form of critical analysis from us, and we all the Folks Who Walked Before deserve fucking more than that.
much more than that.
we are owed much more than we have been given, and i, for one, will not be polite when demanding the respect i am due within political discourse, wherever it happens. neither should my fellow first nations folks.
as you witness it, this post is about zutara, yes.
but not really. not fundamentally.
_________________
correction courtesy of @0bscvr1ty
thank you for pointing out my factual slip-up :)
Specifically, in how other dwarves like Senshi's old mining party treat him. Even knowing Senshi was still a child, they still expected more "dwarvenly" behaviour from him than he exhibited.
The text tells us multiple times that Senshi isn't your typical dwarf. He doesn't have the usual dwarf skills and his interests are pretty unusual. It's hard to tell early on because the only other dwarf we see is Namari and she reads as pretty butch to us...but I think it's actually Senshi who moreso doesn't conform well to dwarf gender roles.
Sure, he might seem like a macho, stoic, spartan-living survivalist to us, but, I think, to other dwarves he's kind of an effeminate nature-loving hippy pretty-boy.
I think that his mannerisms get overlooked because he's a beefy guy with a big beard; but, if you look closely, he's always been prone to pretty poses:
And some of them aren't really that different from his elf-form poses...
(that first pose is actually in the manga but he's partially blocked by Laios so it wasn't as clear of a visual for this purpose)
Senshi has always had a bit of a flair for dramatic and emotive posing, it just becomes more evident when he is in elf form because of our own gender biases: to us, dwarves seem more masculine and elves seem more feminine or androgynous.
To half-foots, Senshi might be the epitome of macho manliness, but to other dwarves, Senshi is unusually feminine. I read Senshi as a gay bear-type. He might be big, bearded, and buff, but he still has a queer flair to him. He is confident in himself and changes for no one, even if his behaviour and interests make other people uncomfortable.
I wanted to add a few more examples but I hit the photo limit on my earlier reblog.
I think the biggest difference between elf-Senshi and dwarf-Senshi is that elf-Senshi doesn't know what to do with his long limbs and hair.
He is used to wearing a helmet all the time which keeps his hair in place, so he has to keep flipping his hair out of his face dramatically.
He keeps crossing his legs because I don't think his legs were long enough to really DO that before.
He also usually carries a big pack on his back and hanging onto the straps kept his hands busy. His pack is too heavy for him now so he isn't wearing it and keeps resting his hands on his upper arms or face instead.
He often touched his face or stroked his beard when he was in thought, but now he doesn't have a thick beard to stroke so he just looks like he's voguing
Ryoko Kui is a master at depicting the different the anatomies of the different races. Things like the length of characters' limbs inform how they have to carry themselves and that influences how they are perceived.
This is just a smaller observation that will hopefully someday be part of a larger analysis on Kabru's view of Laios & how Laios impacts him...
But I think it really interesting that Kabru surrenders something for Laios twice, and that these moments are inversions of each other.
The first time, Kabru gives up his life to maintain his control. He changes the course of the entire story with this action, and is willing to die to achieve that. Kabru is (supposedly) entrusting the future to Laios, but he is still very much the primary actor in the overall narrative. He is still the one choosing what the story should be.
The second time, however, Kabru gives up his control to keep hold of something personal and selfish (in the way of dungeon meshi selfishness - it is a good thing to keep this desire. It small piece of what makes him a living creature). He steps aside to let Laios choose the way forward. He surrenders narrative agency for personal agency... not changing the story, but changing himself.
#something i've been chewing on lately#is this question of 'what did Kabru sacrifice in the end?'#'what did he let go of?'#compared to what laios and marcille lost it feels like so little but i know i'm missing something#maybe it's just the scales balancing out - why should the boy from utaya have to lose anything else?#a subversion of the tragic figure who sacrifices themself so no one else has to go thru what they did. a 'what if /they/ got to heal too?'#maybe it's this. his control of the narrative. his abnegation. his canary-style training and its rotten principles.#food for thought#(heh. food.) (via @yuri-puppies)
VERY INTERESTING THOUGHTS.
I'll say first of all that I do slightly disagree with the idea that Dungeon Meshi would have like scales/universal balance... I feel like it resists the idea of universal justice the same way that it resists the idea of anthropomorphizing animals instead of loving them as animals. I think Falin is saved not because people have sacrificed and earned a happy ending, but because people come together as a community and CHOOSE to be there for her. It's a very "If you choose to care, then the universe cares" kind of story to me (thank u Fantasy High for putting it into such good words).
Not to say that's entirely what you are saying, but I just want to establish that as the viewpoint I'm working from.
So, from there, the first thing I want to say is that I have always viewed Kabru's first fall as a very real death for him. He survives, but it's a turning point - everything after that is the afterlife of how Kabru believed his life would go. He was always willing to die for his beliefs. He's always been weighed down by the need for his survival to have a purpose, and I think in some ways probably views himself as already dead in a way - everything since Utaya exists not as a life, but as a mission.
And then he dies. Not really, but narratively. He dies, and he keeps living. The story even slows down to kind of just be about that living, in many ways, for a bit. 61 & 62 have a lot of important information, but in terms of the present tense of the story, they are about the mechanics of living. The same mechanics of living (and eating) that we've seen explored for the main party throughout the whole story, but that Kabru hasn't been willing to engage with.
He then gets to (what I view as) the climax of his arc: telling Laios he wants to he his friend. Kabru fails to articulate the big picture his life has been dedicated to, and instead reaches out with something personal, vulnerable, and selfish. It is a desire born not out of guilt, but one that arose from the life that Kabru doesn't even fully allow himself to live.
As I noted in the original post, he then lets Laios carry on the story in his place - surrendering control, this time, instead of sacrificing himself.
BUT. THE INTERESTING THING IS. HE ALSO BACKSLIDES AFTER THAT.
The most explicit Survivor's Guilt Kabru Panels happen after this personal climax and sacrifice of control.
And even after the crisis is resolved, he goes back to trying to control the narrative (and to control Laios, too), at least a little bit:
He even doubts himself and the very choices that led them to their happy ending (including his own choice to be selfish and to give up control to Laios).
This isn't to say that Kabru hasn't changed or grown at all, that's definitely not true. His speech to Mithrun is proof of that.
But this speech, importantly, isn't about things that have already changed. It's about things that can change. It is about choosing to carry on despite the sometimes imperceptibly slow progress of that change. After all, vegetable scraps can sprout again, but it won't be immediate, will it? You have to trust their potential before they show their growth, if they are ever going to get there.
This all to say... I think Kabru's story doesn't feel the same as Laios' and Marcille's because he's not at the same place as them.
After all, Marcille's growth through the story isn't just about what she gains and what she loses.
It's about what she learns to let go.
And letting go is hard for Kabru, but he's proven that he can, now. He's let go just a little bit, and he can do so again, just like Mithrun can find new desires. This growth, like hunger, is inevitable, so long as you make room for it.
I really like that his ending isn't as clean or conclusive as Laios and Marcille's. I think, much like Falin, actually, he comes out of the story not with a concluded arc, but with an opportunity - the chance to move forward and finally find himself. The chance to live.
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Part 1 (you are here) || Part 2 || Bonus (not… not ready yet) ||
I HAVE BEEN PART OF THE JJK FANDOM FOR TWO WEEKS NOW, AND I NO LONGER KNOW WHAT SORT OF LIFE I HAD BEEN LIVING BEFORE IT.
The main comic is split into two posts because the images were too big to fit onto one. I have some extra bonus stuff I am wanting to make, but they’re not finished enough for human viewing.
I have a long spiel that I’ll write in the part 2 post.
✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #641 )✅️
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Hello friends, I am Abdullah Salem Abdullah, 26 years old, a graduate of the University College with a degree in Information Technology - Mu
Hello friends, I am Abdullah Salem Abdullah Jaafar, 26 years old, a graduate of the University College with a degree in Information Technology - Multimedia. I used to have a beautiful family; I’m married and have four children, and my wife is pregnant.
I previously worked at a multimedia company, but because of the war, I lost my job, my home, my car, and now I have no place to live or work.
During the war, we were forced to evacuate more than four times. Each time, we had to leave everything behind without taking any of our personal belongings.
I live in northern Gaza.
We were displaced to southern Gaza, then to Deir al-Balah, then to Rafah, and now we live in an uninhabitable tent that is not suitable for living.
My daughter Rahaf was martyred in the war due to Israeli airstrikes. Now I have Iman, Malak, Basel, and my wife is in her seventh month of pregnancy.
Please, I am in desperate need of your help just to provide food and water for my children.
Hello, I was too busy & exhausted earlier to make a new post but I'm experiencing some work instability this month bc I'll be visiting relatives after a recent death in my family.
As a result, this will cause a loss of income. With that, groceries, & meds, I anticipate needing about $400 in financial assistance this month. I greatly appreciate all of the help I have received, thank you sm ❤️ & please boost!
Hi, so the good news is that I've picked up a consistent gig with my 2nd job but the bad news is that it doesn't pay much. My hormonal issues have also worsened, I recently had a cyst on my chest & am on my 5th period over the past 2 months. My dr. wants to wait it out until June to see if my hormones stabilize on their own before discussing other options & I'm fine with that, but as a result, I've been dealing with a lot of pain & have gone through many packs of menstrual pads which can be a bit expensive at the rate at which I have been getting my periods over & over again.
With that, groceries, & meds, I anticipate needing about $600 this month. I am extremely appreciative for all of the help I have received, thank you so much! ❤️
$110/600, thank you! 11 days left of May & I'm still panicking bc there's only a week & a half left of the month & I still have an insanely long way to go!
The notes on this post mean 0 bc this has made little traction & I'm seriously running out of time! I'm drowning in expenses & I really badly need to pick up more meds & groceries soon. This is an extraordinarily stressful situation for me financially, especially bc I'm in limbo w/ my 2nd job, & I REALLY, really need help, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep boosting!
Mods to Make School Better (High School Years + Discover University)
I really love The Sims 4, but I love The Sims 4 because I play a heavily modded game. I know that option isn’t for everyone, but for those who do… Sometimes it’s hard to know where to look. It’s like when you’re hungry and you open up your food delivery service of choice and are just overwhelmed by the options these days.
Luckily… I look around a lot.
This post is inspired by the other amazing posts here, here, here and of course here. It started as something just for High School Years but grew… very quickly…
This list was last updated 17 September 2022 / Patch 1.91.205.
Let's help get Nader to safety. Remember, the Zionists on this site have attempted to undermine his escape. His family consists of teenagers and a baby as well, and because of Israel's blockade, its been harder than ever for people to get food & supplies in Gaza. Your donation and/or sharing gets a Palestinian family one step closer to safety.
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I am a young man who loves my studies very much and I drea… Nader Alanqar needs your support for Help Nader Al-Anqar and his family overc
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I hope all friends share this post and I hope all of you guys share this post please let us reach 40 thousand euros this is our short goal please all donate to us
Hello my friends, unfortunately, although everyone is participating, only a small percentage of people are donating. Donations have decreased significantly, and we still need 768 euros to reach 39 thousand euros. Please all of you donate to me and my family and do not ignore us. Your donation will help us a lot.
We have helped Nader a lot, but he still needs our help and support in a big way. He needs 768 euros to reach his next goal, and donations have decreased and decreased a lot. If my followers donated 20 euros each, Nader would close his goal in a few hours. I ask you to donate to Nader immediately.
Everyone knows that Nader is a 17-year-old young man who is trying to do well for himself and his family, which consists of two teenagers, a little girl, and his father who is sick with cancer. I ask you all not to hesitate to donate to Nader, as he is in dire need of all the support.
Nader really deserves all the support and assistance from all of us. Donations to Nader's campaign have stagnated and he is afraid of this and needs as much donations as possible to keep him and his family alive. They need 768 euros to reach their short goal. I hope that all of you will donate to Nader as much as you can. He deserves all the help, guys. Donate to him now.
Unfortunately, what Nader is going through is something no one in the world should have to go through. Nader is suffering a lot at this age and he is the breadwinner for his family. Please support him and donate to him.
Hi, so the good news is that I've picked up a consistent gig with my 2nd job but the bad news is that it doesn't pay much. My hormonal issues have also worsened, I recently had a cyst on my chest & am on my 5th period over the past 2 months. My dr. wants to wait it out until June to see if my hormones stabilize on their own before discussing other options & I'm fine with that, but as a result, I've been dealing with a lot of pain & have gone through many packs of menstrual pads which can be a bit expensive at the rate at which I have been getting my periods over & over again.
With that, groceries, & meds, I anticipate needing about $600 this month. I am extremely appreciative for all of the help I have received, thank you so much! ❤️
The computer, which is widely used for playing solitaire[1], calculating large prime numbers[2][3], finding gay hook-ups[4], and organizing political extremism[5][6][7],
My 32nd birthday is next week (May 6th, one day after Marx’s birthday!) and I’m broke. I would like to at least get some food for my workdays until I get paid, but if you also want me to be more of a miserable prick you could always send some money so I can get some more books.
I’m a white Latina and Jewish trans woman, I’m a union steward at a local homeless shelter, aspiring punk guitarist and goth synthesizer player, local troublemaker and socialist labor organizer living in Portland with my Salvadoran soon-to-be-wife and our small terrier/chihuahua mix Karl Barx.
If you use Duolingo, maybe don't anymore? The company is moving to be "AI-first" and is using AI to generate their content. Meaning, AI is now generating your language lessons.
They announced that they were going to use AI for this a while back but now they're annoucing that they're getting rid of the contractors reviewing the AI generated content. So, very soon Duolingo is just going to be AI generated slop that might not even be correct.
For alternatives, I'd recommend checking with your local library. For instance, mine offers Rosetta Stone for free if you have a library card.
I have found there is a way to nuke my duolingo account from orbit and god they don't make it easy, putting instructions here for anyone else who would like to. I am unsure if it's possible on mobile (already uninstalled the app on mobile) but I'm pissed off enough + suspect that they might pay slightly more attention to account deletion en masse rather than app uninstalling en masse. also I cannot see myself ever using this bs again, so...
step 1: log onto duolingo.com
step 2: there's a sidebar on the left. mouse over "more" and then "help."
step 3: scroll down the list of frequently asked questions to the "account management" category. click on "how do I delete my account an access my data" and then on the link to "duolingo data vault."
step 4: hit the big red "erase personal data" button. do not be swayed by the crying owl. he cares not for you, only for your data.
step 5: they should send you an email to whatever account is connected to your duolingo account. you can tell which email it is based on the spam you've gotten for the past several years reminding you to maintain your streak.
step 5.5: if you have a super duolingo subscription or got suckered into their free trial that does not cancel automatically, cancel that separately, they explicitly state that they will keep charging you even if you do not have an account which tracks for the company duolingo is now
step 6: find the email, click on the link listed after "delete my data link"
step 7: wait 7 days. you cannot get your data deleted any faster than this, but you can cancel it during this 7-day grace period.
step 8: apparently it will take "up to 23 more days" to delete your data entirely. pat yourself on the back. you're free now.
jokes aside, I'm still on step 7 myself, but I cannot see myself WANTING to undo my account deletion even if I could, so... for anyone who's confused about how to do this but wants to, hope this can help.
and on a final note, fuck gen ai all my homies hate generative ai.