labingi: (ivan)
[personal profile] labingi
Interesting video by Jessie Gender on the "redemption" of Syril Karn in Andor. It prompted some thinky thoughts I'd rather put here than throw at YouTube. (Andor S2 spoilers)



I agree with Jessie's contention that white men are often treated with kid gloves when it comes to creating space for them to see the error of their ways, while marginalized people's lives are dismissed and errors castigated. Jessie cites the difference in fan discourse between sorrow that Syril died without a chance at redemption and near silence that Cinta (a queer woman of color) got summarily killed off. I'd add that this is partly because Syril is a better written character—but, then, white men have long been better written characters. That is evidence of her point.

But I'm frustrated by recent fandom's/leftwing YouTube's discourse on "redemption." I love a good redemption story; it's my favorite kind, but I think we need to dig deeper into the concept because, too often, it gets used without being explored.

"Redemption" is (at least primarily) a Christian concept. Traditionally, it refers to being saved from damnation, and this entails is a mix of personal responsibility and external acceptance. It requires personal responsibility in the form of actions like repentance of sins, penance, baptism, truly reformed behavior, etc. It requires external acceptance because ultimately it's God's to accept or withhold, and in many versions of Christianity, it cannot fully be attained without God's grace, that is, without that mystical quality of salvation that one cannot earn but is given.

When we use in secular discussions, as of characters like Syril Karn or DS9's Garak, or real people (Jessie mentions JK Rowling), we often end up with formulations like video commenter elanthys makes: "But not everyone deserves redemption, and not everyone who does gets it...." What does this actually mean? "Deserves" according to whom? "Gets" from whom? In the theological context, the answer is God. God can grant grace to someone who doesn't "deserve" it. (In traditional Calvinism, no one deserves it.) All redeemed people ultimately "get" it from God.

So who grants redemption in secular society? I think, by default, it usually translates to "us," the people having the conversation, the good people, the good leftists, the anti-fascists, etc. "We" judge that some do not deserve redemption. "We," sometimes in error, withhold it from those who may. What does it mean to be redeemed? In Christianity, it means heading to heaven. In the secular context, it means being socially forgiven, I guess? No longer cancelled, etc.? Slate wiped clean?

I do not trust myself to determine who metaphysically "deserves" anything. There are people I have not forgiven, but that says more about me than them. I do believe in accountability, which is, in essence, what Jessie is calling for. Accountability is a comparatively easy concept, if hard to achieve. If you've done harm, own it and take proportionally appropriate steps to repair it or—if it can't be repaired—do other, ideally related work to bring more good into the world.

Syril is never accountable for his actions. If he hadn't died and was to have a "redemption" arc, I think he would have had to spend the rest of his life trying to repair the damage or, more accurately, change the system so similar damage does not continue. But did he "deserve redemption"? I don't like the God-like insight that question presupposes.

Personally, I'm a Buddhist, and I prefer a Buddhist framework: that we are all on the path to awakening. We're just in different places, going at different rates, and taking different "side trails" to get there. The question of what we "deserve" is fairly meaningless. We are where we are; we carry the karma that we carry and work through it as best we can. And we can, to an extent, recognize that in each other and help each other through it.

第四年第一百五十二天

Jun. 10th, 2025 21:44
nnozomi: (Default)
[personal profile] nnozomi posting in [community profile] guardian_learning
部首
凵, kǎn
凶, terrible/violent; 凸, convex; 凹, concave; 出, to go out; 击, to strike pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=17

词汇
题目, subject; 标题, title; 话题, topic; 试题, test question; 专题, special collection pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
你看到的凶手有多高, how tall was the criminal you saw?
现在当务之急是要理清楚这些题目之间的关系, right now the urgent matter is to clarify the connections among these subjects

Me:
他是什么时候出去的?
这个题目我不太了解。

🔗 Links of interest

Jun. 10th, 2025 20:39
bluapapilio: a ship with hearts around it sailing over a rainbow (ship over the rainbow)
[personal profile] bluapapilio
 Our love-hate relationship with Asian drama remakes and adaptations - This post is from over 10 years ago but still interesting.

 fun behaviors to give dragons that aren't feline/canine based - Yes, please!!

 [Dragon Age] "idk there's something about the image of the inquisitor back in skyhold after ten years." - This literally made me cry. This is why games like this are important though, you literally fill the shoes of the character and then you play the next game and see the efforts and failures of that character even as you're playing the next one.

 lyn's danmei reading list

12 Highest Rated BL Series So Far! (2025)

 It Was Just One Night… Until He Couldn’t Let Go 💔💋 - BL drama romances that started from one night stands.
lannamichaels: Astronaut Dale Gardner holds up For Sale sign after EVA. (Default)
[personal profile] lannamichaels


Title: And If You're Under Him, You Ain't Getting Over Him.
Author: [personal profile] lannamichaels
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga
Pairing: Ges Vorrutyer/Aral Vorkosigan, Ges Vorrutyer/Serg Vorbarra
Rating: R
A/N: The title is from New Rules, sung by Dua Lipa, written by Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren, and Ian Kirkpatrick.
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: Ges Vorrutyer has ex-boyfriend problems.


This has languished in Scrivener since 2019... )

china_shop: Zhao Yunlan looking quizzically at the camera (Guardian - ZYL quizzical/skeptical)
[personal profile] china_shop
Title: Raw Nerves, Old Scars (5967 words) [Teen and Up]
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Relationships: Chu Shuzhi/Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei & Ye Zun, Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei, Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, (sort of), (except Ye Zun), Anger, effects of past trauma, Complicated Relationships, Poly Relationships, Shen Wei misses his didi, Zhao Yunlan hates Ye Zun, Zhao Yunlan is triggered, Loyalty, Friendship, Sharing Clothes, Unreliable Narration
Series: Part 3 of Breakage and Repair 'verse (CSZ/SW/ZYL)

Summary: Feel the anger and do it anyway.


I started this for the Anger prompt last year, and finished it (15 minutes after the deadline /o\) for the Charity prompt. Ha!

Challenge 482: Yield

Jun. 11th, 2025 11:29
china_shop: Jin Ah sneaking a peek around the corner, holding her phone to her chest. (Kdrama - PN peeking round the corner)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Our new challenge is:

YIELD



As always, you can interpret the prompt literally or figuratively, in whatever way works for you.

Each work created for this challenge should be posted as a new entry to the comm. Posting starts now and continues up until the challenge ends at 4pm Pacific Time on Friday, 20 June. No sign-up required.

Mods will tag your work with fandom and challenge. When you've posted entries to three consecutive challenges, you will earn a name tag, and we'll go back and tag all your previous entries with your name.

All kinds of fanworks in all fandoms are welcome. Please have a look at our guidelines before you play. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact a mod. And if you have any suggestions for future challenges, you can leave them in the comments of this post.

Also, keep an eye out for the next [community profile] ffw_social post, which will go up in the next couple of days. If you haven't joined the [community profile] ffw_social comm, it's never too late to come and check it out. (Posts are locked, which means you have to join to see them.)
china_shop: Close-up of Da Qing looking conspiratorial (Guardian - Da Qing conspiratorial)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Raw Nerves, Old Scars
Fandom: Guardian (TV)
Rating: T-rated
Length: 1176 words
Notes: A million thanks to [personal profile] mergatrude and [personal profile] teaotter for beta. <3 <3 <3
Tags: Chu Shuzhi/Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing, Shen Wei & Ye Zun. Post-Canon, Anger, Effects of Past Trauma, Complicated Relationships, Poly Relationships, Shen Wei misses his didi, Zhao Yunlan hates Ye Zun, Zhao Yunlan is triggered, Loyalties, Friendship, Clothes Sharing, Unreliable Narration.
Warning: This is set in a post-canon ‘verse where the canon events happened except that Da Qing took Zhao Yunlan’s place in the Lantern. Three difficult years later, Shen Wei and Da Qing came back. So Zhao Yunlan still has a lot of issues. This fic deals with intense feelings that aren't easily resolved.
Summary: Feel the anger and do it anyway.

Raw Nerves, Old Scars )

Recent theater

Jun. 10th, 2025 18:36
troisoiseaux: (colette)
[personal profile] troisoiseaux
Emily Burns' new adaptation of Frankenstein at the Shakespeare Theatre Company is phenomenal— I've been struggling to explain it in a way that a. doesn't undersell how well it works and b. isn't just the Jenny Slate Drunk History meme, but trust me, it's so good. It's a reimagining of Mary Shelley's original plot— the first half takes the events of Victor's return to Geneva and re-centers it on his foster sister/fiancée(!) Elizabeth, and on Justine, the servant framed for the murder of Victor's younger brother; the second half departs from the book entirely, but has more than a little of Mary and Percy Shelley's history in its DNA— with a distinctly contemporary voice, but it weaves in Mary Shelley's original text in ways that carry new meanings: ... ) The dynamic between Victor and Elizabeth is messed up in a way that makes for delicious theater— Victor is the worst, in an "abusive boyfriend learns therapy words" way that, I swear, you could feel the audience (which, at least where I was sitting, skewed towards younger women) mentally screaming for Elizabeth to throw the entire man out; this play leans into the Gothic faux-cest vibes with flashbacks to the pair of them sniping like siblings— and the main theme is one of parents and children, explored through three different plot threads: obviously, that of Victor Frankenstein's refusal to take responsibility for the creature he created, which hangs over most of the play as an unspoken but omnipresent rebuke; the undercurrent of grief (mutual), resentment (Victor's), and guilt (Elizabeth's) over the fact that Victor's mother died because she'd nursed Elizabeth when she was ill; and spoilers! )

Also saw The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical at the Signature Theater, having finally wised up to the fact that if a new musical is being produced in DC it's probably on its way to Broadway, so I might as well see it now. (Cheaper tickets! Potential bragging rights!) This is exactly what it says on the tin - a rock musical by Joe Iconis about writer Hunter S. Thompson, father of Gonzo journalism in the 1960s-70s - and certainly timely; to lean into the inevitable Hamilton comparisons, Hunter...'s Burr is Richard Nixon as a so-sleezy-it's-camp psychopomp haunting Thompson's final hours as he runs through his life story, and the parallels to, you know, that other guy are about as subtle as a bonk to the head. Very meta, overall: as it goes on, the other characters begin to confront Thompson over his version of events and demand to speak for themselves. There was a frequent use of puppets, including a peacock, a baby that could make a fight the man! fist and flip the bird, and a giant Nixon head. (Yes, in addition to the actor playing Nixon. It was a whole thing.) I enjoyed this a lot!! But the one downside of seeing a show so early in the pipeline is that I've had random snippets of lyrics and melodies floating around in my head for days and there's no cast recording to listen to. (ETA: There is an official trailer, though!)

in a moment close to now

Jun. 10th, 2025 18:16
musesfool: Michael from the Good Place, facepalming in existential horror (oh no here's a lower place)
[personal profile] musesfool
ugh how is it only tuesday???

*

[ SECRET POST #6731 ]

Jun. 10th, 2025 17:49
case: (Default)
[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6731 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 26 secrets from Secret Submission Post #963..
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links (broke twice now? maybe imgur is deleting it) ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Greek Myth: Fanfic: Charity

Jun. 10th, 2025 16:43
drabblewriter: (Epic - Troy Saga)
[personal profile] drabblewriter posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Charity
Fandom: Greek Myth
Characters: Apollo/Admetus
Rating: G
Length: 220
Summary: It's the end of another long day, Apollo's head against Admetus's shoulder as they watch the sun go down, when the god-turned-mortal blurts, "Tell me you're not only kind to me out of a sense of charity."

Read more... )

cats: a visitor!

Jun. 10th, 2025 15:42
kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (undercut)
[personal profile] kellan_the_tabby
2025 03 19 16.07.35

[Marisol, a tiny longhaired calico, is curled up in a dark den. She’s looking directly at the camera, ears and whiskers perked forward.]

We had Marisol visit us in the house for a day! She usually lives in the cargo container with Morgyn & CJ, but they were going to be away overnight & it was forecast to be cold, so Morgyn wanted her to be somewhere warmer.

The above picture, where she’s so happy & at ease, was obviously not taken during this situation; I got it a week or so beforehand. She’s a lovely little girl who just really wants to be with her Mumma.

She did NOT like being away from her Mumma.

2025 03 20 09.07.59

[Marisol is curled up on top of my blue sweatshirt and a pile of books, all on top of a set of shelves. She is glaring at the camera. She is ANGRY.]

I do feel bad about scooping her up to bring her over. She’d finally decided to trust me again after mostly not seeing me over the winter, & she reared up to rub her head on my hand, which is the MOST ADORABLE & SWEETEST THING EVER, & I grabbed her & stole her away. SO MAD.

(She did come over for love a couple times while she was visiting, but I didn’t get any pictures of _that_, I don’t want to _die_.)

She did better in general than she has on previous enforced visits, & did a fair amount of exploring, instead of just staying wedged under my bed the whole time.

2025 03 20 13.00.27

[Marisol is standing on my extremely cluttered floor with her head stuck under my comfy chair. The space beneath it is also full of things. I need more place to put my things.]

But eventually it was time to stomp off & sit in the window.

2025 03 20 12.58.10

[She’s stomping off, through my extremely messy room, in search of a window from which to view the world.]

Fortunately for all her Mumma was only gone for ONE night instead of NINETY THREE nights (that’ll be in August, when Morgyn goes to Pennsic).


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

wychwood: You could call science fiction my escape / but if so mainstream fiction was my prison (Fan - escape from mainstream)
[personal profile] wychwood
Survived the Week of Church (Tuesday night, Wednesday night, ten hours on Saturday), and am looking forward to a whole! week! off! work! next week - the expected project go-live date is Thursday that week, so I'm probably going to have to log on for a couple of hours to make updates to student-facing content that can't be done until live day, which is annoying, but I'll get the time back and I've made it clear that anything else launch-related will have to wait until I'm back on the Monday!

In the meantime, there's plenty of tasks that need to be done before we go live, and I'm only avoiding some of them... some tasks are just freakishly intimidating and I can never tell why; half of them only take ten minutes once you actually face them.

The buses took a long time to recover after COVID - there was a phase where it felt like I was waiting 25 minutes every time I caught a bus - but the last year or so things have been much more reliable. Of course, sometimes that doesn't work in my favour, like how my bus home from church reliably arrives three minutes too late for me to catch the bus that stops by my house instead of having to walk ten minutes home. But the other day I was waiting for a bus which was twelve minutes away when I got to the stop... five minutes later it was thirteen minutes away... seven minutes after that it was fourteen minutes away... after that I stopped checking, because I was a little bit afraid of what might happen, and walked home instead.

Mum's started chemo now, and is doing OK-ish. I'm going over to see them on Sunday for Fathers' Day, possibly along with my brother and his tribe, but we'll see. Ticking along!
analogbasilisk: (FICTION)
[personal profile] analogbasilisk posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Prompt: 481. Charity
Word count: 695
Rating: T
Summary: there are three versions of what happened to Prett when she was sixteen.
Warning for homophobia, mentioned conversion camps, mentioned teen pregnancy, implied child abuse.

Read more... )

Mudlarking - 16 & the Mudlark

Jun. 10th, 2025 20:48
squirmelia: (Default)
[personal profile] squirmelia
It was just before low tide and the foreshore was busy with people, teenagers on a guided mudlark tour, and others searching.

The foreshore emptied and then there were more geese than humans and the goslings pecked at the wall, green with algae.

That day, I kept finding stripey pottery sherds. As I was going to meet Ingress players afterwards and our team colour is green, I started to concentrate on picking up green sherds. Green triangles!

I found another pipe with an “S” on it, different to the last. The other side looks like it could be a “P” so perhaps it was made by Solomon Price.

Another piece of Staffordshire Slipware, some more pink slag, and a sherd with a letter “E” on it.

It seemed appropriate to go to the Mudlark pub after that to meet friends and show them my bag of finds. On the walls of the pub were pictures of the foreshore and of pipes.

Mudlarking finds - 16

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