#genocide mention

[daloy-politsey]

If you cared about Jewish students, you would demand Harvard not fuck over its Yiddish Studies department, not stifle the speech of anti genocide students, faculty, and staff.

[jewfrogs]

this post sucks so bad massachusetts takes its name from the indigenous massachusett people who were genocided and whose land was stolen and that would be obvious if you would think for a single second and look up the etymology before posting. mocking a native language that was eradicated for centuries and is only now beginning to be revived is not fucking funny it is ignorant and racist and cruel

[sonicreferencephotos]

Paramount, Palestine, and This Blog

With the Knuckles series rapidly approaching, I feel it necessary to make a statement about how we will handle media created by Paramount. I have endeavored to keep this account dedicated exclusively to Sonic reference photos. However, as this issue is directly related to a piece of Sonic media, it has become relevant here.

For any who are not aware, Paramount Pictures, the company behind the Sonic movies, released a statement last year expressing their support for Israel and its "right to defend itself." As you probably know by now, Israel's idea of "defending itself" is committing genocide. I won't go into detail here (that is definitely out of this blog's field), but I would recommend doing your own research if you aren't aware of the atrocities happening at the hands of Israel right now. Needless to say, companies publicly supporting genocide is unacceptable; which brings us to the echidna in the room.

Many Sonic fans, myself included, have been looking forward to the Knuckles series. But, given the situation, supporting Paramount by subscribing to Paramount+ to watch Knuckles (or anything else) is not something I can condone.

I would like to humbly request that anyone who reads this avoid watching Knuckles through Paramount+. Please either watch it through "unofficial" channels, or abstain from watching it at all. Show Paramount that we will not ignore genocide.

And now, we return to the reference photos. I have thought long and hard about how to approach Sonic cinematic universe references. On one hand, giving publicity to the SCU will encourage people to watch Paramount media; on the other, refusing to post references will force people to collect their own. In the end, I have decided to approach SCU media similarly to Sonic Speed Simulator (albeit for very different reasons): I will post references, but all Paramount related posts will include a disclaimer condemning Paramount's support of Israel. I will also prioritize non-SCU refs, although you are all welcome to request any SCU characters you would like pictures of.

This is a difficult situation, and I welcome feedback on how best to continue. I ask that everyone remains civil in the notes. If anything changes, I will be sure to let you know.

Stay safe

[magz]

On Juneteenth, one must remember how Haitian Revolution inspired revolt against slavery and against genocide across the Black / African diaspora.

To know what is possible for liberation, but instilled fear in the colonizing oppressors of what they could lose and oppressors being tricky and awful to maintain the status-quo.

June 19, 1865 - enslaved African Americans in Texas, United States "learned" of the Emancipation Proclamation. Of their freedom from slavery.

But this is slightly misleading propaganda. Many enslaved black Texans were aware, but weren't allowed their freedom. Taking to their own hands in much cases.

The tenacity and resilience of the Black diaspora should not be downplayed.

For the oppressor does not easily "give" true freedom away.

And the atrocities have been whitewashed in history to be more palatable or ignorant, even with ethnic cleansings and tortures.

[notaplaceofhonour]

There is no version of a conflict between two historically oppressed peoples who both claim one piece of land as their ancestral homeland that isn’t nuanced & complex. The only simple “solution” is genocide.

Israel-Palestine is complicated. Anyone telling you differently is selling you genocide.

[queerbauten]

people care more about whether the “I Miss Us” vid contains AI (Tantu said it doesn’t) than they do about the fact that it’s a charity single for musicians in Palestine, the Congo, and Kosovo, don’t they

[vague-humanoid]

Conditioning Aid to Israel Would Boost Support for Biden in Key States, New Poll Finds

In the survey of Democrats and independents in five battleground states, 2 in 5 voters said a ceasefire and conditioning aid would make them

its wild to me how low the bar is. the Biden admin has already directly supported mass murder, and even that isn't enough to disqualify them from our support. people who have lost literal relatives have stated if the dems just stop.. just quit supporting the killing going forward.... they will have their vote.

no punishment for previous actions, no refusal to "engage with politics". just stop these actions moving forward.... and even that massive compromise is seen as unreasonable and fringe. even as poll after poll shows its actually a winning move.

I have seen dead children everyday, and in the face of that, people are going "we'll let that slide, just don't do it again" and that's positioned as the unreasonable position.... not because we'll overlook the horror, but because we won't overlook MORE horror.

[sassydefendorflower]

Something I don't see discussed often is the absolute genius dichotomy between dialogue and background scene during the conversation between Roy and Hughes in Ishval.

No, not that one.

I mean the one where they talk about the letter Hughes got from Garcia - one of the only "comedic" moments in all of episode 30 (and issue 15 of the manga).

Because it's horrendous.

In the anime (which unfortunately cut most of the juiciest and most fucked up stuff out of the chapters about the Ishvalen genocide) the scene begins with an establishing shot of Roy in which we see this:

Blood on the ground, covering an Ishvalen garment (and probably a body just out of frame) with a smiling Roy in front of it, since Hughes just got mail and Roy probably knows what his best friend is about to talk about. The conversation continues, the camera focused on their faces as if to make us forget just where we're at, and then, as their banter comes to a close we get this:

A wide shot of Roy and Hughes next to each other, now from the other side of the camera. Where before, we could only see their faces, alight with a rare smile, talking about the love of Hughes' life and joking around, we now see what scenery this is happening in front of. One of destruction. One of death.

Just as they ignored the dead body on the floor as they started talking about Hughes having to defend his girl back home, neither of them are really looking at Ishval in the end either. Hughes and Roy are still looking at the letter in Hughes hand - not the buildings Roy himself probably burned down only hours earlier.

It's framed a bit differently in the manga, though not by much. If anything the implications are only much darker.

(please excuse the German text, I only have the manga in German and Japanese)

But in the manga, this scene is not framed by a destroyed Ishvalen town, but by literal mountains of dead people. The speech bubbles in the left corner reference Hughes asking Roy when he'll get a girl to write home about.

I think it is very telling that Arakawa focused on the dead bodies in the foreground. I think it is incredibly clever and smart to show us Hughes and Roy only as dark shadows, as we see arms and faces stick out of the dirt.

Because as much as this moment of levity both in the manga and anime is a human one (people adapt to all kind of horrors, and most soldiers are known for a rather dark sense of humor), it is also a reminder that Hughes and Roy get to go home.

They both survive the war (even if Hughes dies later on), unlike the people over whose dead bodies they are sharing jokes.

It is a haunting imagery, but an effective one.

It's not overly aggressive, and it's easy to miss the bloody garment, especially in the anime version, but I do think it is a deliberate part of storytelling.

Because no matter how much Hughes claims he fights to survive (and i believe him, I really do), there is a difference between the Amestrians fighting and the Ishvalens they are killing.

And it's probably the fact that only one side is getting letters from back home, promising them a family and a future once they get back. Because the other side is lying dead on the floor, their blood a backdrop for two people to reminisce about humanity.