<a href='https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org'>The Wordsmith&#39;s Forge

I think Cap is just like that. He sounds like an ordinary fella most of the time, but if you push the wrong button, BLAM, out comes the epic. He's done it in my series a few times and I just sat back and went, "Woah, I think you just broke someone." Depends on whether anyone's watching when he says it, to write it down.

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redsixwing

Chills.

I think he's learned a thing or two in the same vein as Phil, about flaying an emotional weak spot.

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I think so too. After all, Steve grew up being targeted by bullies. He's smart. He learned how to fight back in ways he could.

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He's got this way of getting right at the quick of matters, and then leans into it.

The prejudice against the Catholic Irish reminds one just how stupid things can get. It's like stars on and stars off Sneetches. Hate is about hate, no matter what 'justification' is used. Once that's clear, it's all Jenga on top of a speaker turned to 11.

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>> He's got this way of getting right at the quick of matters, and then leans into it. <<

Absolutely.

>> The prejudice against the Catholic Irish reminds one just how stupid things can get. It's like stars on and stars off Sneetches. Hate is about hate, no matter what 'justification' is used. Once that's clear, it's all Jenga on top of a speaker turned to 11. <<

Agreed. The Asgard/Jotun thing also reminds me of the Sneetches, especially with Loki.

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Well, I think it is an apt reminder that there is likely nothing 'natural' about the Asgardian form. They like to walk/fight/revel among people, so they look like beautiful people.

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Valid points.

0_o

Holy fuck I just realized something.

LOKI STRAIGHTENS HIS HAIR.

Okay, I noticed that in the first trailers for Thor 2 -- it's fluffy and wavy, not slicked down straight. I've always considered that the Odin-Thor-Loki dynamic was extremely close to the Big House triangle of slaveowner-legitimate son-mulatto bastard. It's clear early on that Loki is "passing" for Asgardian, but Odin knows the truth so never really treats Loki as Asgardian.

The parallel with the hair just hit me, because hair is political, especially for black people, all the more so for black women, and let's not forget how much feminine energy Loki carries. The fact that Loki straightens his hair has a lot of hidden weight.

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Ah, but it has a wider application than that. Recall marcelled hair, putting a wave in a flapper's otherwise straight hair? That was a touch of ethnic exoticism, while the curling hair of boys in the 50s would require hard brushing and tonic to tame 'respectably'.

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Yeah, there's clearly a control issue going on.

Poor Loki. Somebody needs to take that boy aside and talk to him about hair politics. Within Love Is For Children, Betty and Bucky have already discussed some similar issues, and there's Sam Wilson as a possibility too.

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Well there is Natasha straightening/flattening her hair right before the big battle in Cap2.

I'm currently working on themes of repatriation and recovery via Bucky.

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>> Well there is Natasha straightening/flattening her hair right before the big battle in Cap2. <<

True. I think Natasha's hair is a perfect metaphor for what she is. Its natural state is irrelevant. It is whatever she needs it to be; whatever she needs to be. Like liquid takes the shape of its container.

>> I'm currently working on themes of repatriation and recovery via Bucky. <<

I really like that. I've done something different with it in Love Is For Children, but I'm enjoying what other people do.

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Bucky and Steve are flip sides of a coin that expresses quite a bit about soldiers and war. Bucky is the extreme example of poor orders and total inability to contravene them.

I've actually got a couple posts up at my dw on some of these issues, esp as relates to Pierce.

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>> Bucky and Steve are flip sides of a coin that expresses quite a bit about soldiers and war. Bucky is the extreme example of poor orders and total inability to contravene them. <<

Yes, that's true. The Winter Soldier was someone's idea of a perfect soldier: one who was incapable of saying no.

>> I've actually got a couple posts up at my dw on some of these issues, esp as relates to Pierce. <<

Cool.

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And, once again we learn the danger of:

I was following orders.

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Well, you get what you reward. If you punish whistleblowers, you get people who will commit atrocities rather than disobey an unlawful order.

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It has been chilling how they have felt carte blache to be cruel and/or unusual when people have tried to go via channels.

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It's meant to discourage other people from doing the same. Explicitly and with malice aforethought, it is meant to protect abusive practices. That's a problem. It's bad enough when the victims are individuals, but when someone is fucking up the whole country? That could be civilization-wrecking.

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Actually, there is fun to be had here too with James Buchanan Barnes in his various iterations- I have to believe the Winter Soldier we see in the movie is not quite as he'd been for his whole career as a seized weapon; he'd be more effective as a ghost if he could blend in.

I think Pierce is using this as a rah-rah for the forces of Hydra. The Winter Soldier as he is in Captain America 2 is very akin to the over-inscribed masculinity that's been running over the toy aisle, including LEGO.

Notice the contrast of the 'live past' hair, slicked back, versus the current unkempt mane, and the stills from Captain America itself.

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LEGAL immigration I have no problem with. ILLEGAL immigration is a major issue. Why are /we/ the only country vilified for actually trying to ENFORCE our immigration laws? EVERY other country in the world is allowed to enforce their own immigration policies and laws without the kind of hue and cry against America. It's bull. It's hypocritical, especially from countries like Israel and France.

Our INTERNAL reaction to immigration isn't going to be resolved any time soon.

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>> LEGAL immigration I have no problem with. <<

Agreed.

>> ILLEGAL immigration is a major issue. <<

That's because people are stupid about it. I feel that human beings have a right to life, which includes fleeing an uninhabitable place for somewhere they can actually survive. So I support letting in immigrants unless they are proven dangers (for example, murderers). Why do people hate them? Because folks rattling around loose and unconnected to the social infrastructure cause problems, whether they are immigrants or native discards. So they should be immediately connected with health care, employment, housing, etc. and put on the tax rolls. Problem solved. Nobody wants to do that because it would work, and they're afraid other people will take over, much as the European Invasion did originally.

>> Why are /we/ the only country vilified for actually trying to ENFORCE our immigration laws? <<

We're not. Australia is turning away boat people who frequently drown. Greece has done the same. The EU is denying 75% of asylum claims, which has got to involve a lot of refoulement. It makes for very ugly news.

>> Our INTERNAL reaction to immigration isn't going to be resolved any time soon. <<

That would be on account of how the country was founded. Nothing is going to wash that out.

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Sigh. Not a good day for this discussion; I hadn't seen enough information about Australia, definitely, but I'm getting very in-yer-face information about Hispanic illegals locally. Frustrating.

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*hugs* I've been studying this a long time. The current fiasco is just the latest in a perpetual fracas, and there's nothing much new in it ... though I have to admit I wasn't expecting to see guys dressed up like supervillian minions WTF who let the dogs out.

Bear in mind that finding accurate, unbiased information about immigration, why it happens, what works and doesn't work, etc. is almost impossible. You have to do a massive amount of digging and reading between the lines. It's fair to table it if you're not up for it, because it will probably make you want to chuck the planet into the sun.

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I will be the first to admit that I am having one of /those/ days. You know the kind, where you wonder if the dominant life form is actually in the ocean someplace, avoiding the bipedal plague? Or whether humans have actually evolved /communication/ rather than just echolalia?

I'm not even certain I can post something other than a grouch-fest on the blog today, so I'm trying not to make /others'/ moods just as crummy as mine.

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>> I will be the first to admit that I am having one of /those/ days. You know the kind, where you wonder if the dominant life form is actually in the ocean someplace, avoiding the bipedal plague? Or whether humans have actually evolved /communication/ rather than just echolalia? <<

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day.

>> I'm not even certain I can post something other than a grouch-fest on the blog today, so I'm trying not to make /others'/ moods just as crummy as mine. <<

*hugs* I know the feeling. When I realize that I'm just bitching, I tend to do one of two things: stop communicating, or switch to echo mood and post pictures of quilts and flowers.

Really, if you need a way to keep your schedule without ranting, go look up some neutral things that you like, post links or images of them, and add a few lines of commentary. Like "Here are three types of quilt -- applique, block, and freeform art -- which is your favorite?" or "Pollinator gardens need to use native plants. Here are some from the major regions of America. What flowers do you have in your garden?" It's more relaxing than looking at more examples of how the world sucks.

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AGH. We went to see "Guardians of the Galaxy" today, which is every inch a comic book movie with "sci fi" trappings. BARELY.

And one of the previews of a movie I am going to miss and make rude gestures at in the privacy of my own bedroom is "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day." Absolutely NOT going to watch the train wreck of a beloved book for the preschool-grade2 set turned into a nightmare of disappointment, stereotypes and "stupid human" humor... Or maybe "humor" should be the word in quotes...

ACK.

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fred_mouse

Thank you for mentioning what is happening in Australia. It is horrifying, as an Australian, what is being done by the government "in my name". I happen to think that previous generations of refugees have assimilated well into our country, and made major contributions - there are rural towns which are only surviving due to an influx of immigrants in recent years.

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>> Thank you for mentioning what is happening in Australia. It is horrifying, as an Australian, what is being done by the government "in my name". <<

*hugs* I reckon you feel about that the way I feel about America putting small children in dog pens. I did some research recently for "To Save Those in Peril Upon It" and the list of best and worst countries for people with superpowers, so the trouble is fresh in mind.

>> I happen to think that previous generations of refugees have assimilated well into our country, and made major contributions - there are rural towns which are only surviving due to an influx of immigrants in recent years. <<

People underestimate how much load-bearing support the undocumented immigrants are providing. Like, when Arizona kicked theirs out, the crops rotted in the fields for want of workers.

Hell, everyone in Australia who isn't blackfella is immigrant-born, and everyone in America who isn't Native American. Funny how most people want to forget that.

This is my favorite cartoon on the topic.

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