#'but it's really helpful for people who-' at what cost?

[hyperlexichypatia]

I don't think that will happen with the Gaza genocide, though, because that doesn't have the same factors that led to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars since becoming unpopular with Americans.

Like, in political discourse at the time, there was a sharp pro-war/anti-war divide, with the anti-war side being heavily marginalized, but there were basically four distinct political arguments being made.

There was the basic jingoism/militarism/security state/collective punishment argument of "We have to Get The Terrorists and Punish The Bad Guys and Secure Our Homeland" that was by far the prevailing view.

Then there was the """humanitarian""" reasoning of "We have to overthrow these brutal dictators who oppress their people, and spread democracy, and the people will greet us as liberators, and we will rebuild their countries like the Marshall Plan, and build a better world." And this is the reasoning that seems to be most misremembered in the collective national memory as Transparent Politician Bullshit that Nobody Actually Fell For, but no, Americans actually believed this. Even some (some) Iraqis and Afghans briefly had hope before quickly realizing that all this "we're here to help!" stuff was a lie.

Then there was the broadly progressive/pacifist stance of "War is wrong because killing people is inherently wrong, and the lives of people in other countries matter just as much as American lives do," which was a category that included Teenage Me, but was never more than marginally relevant at any level of society, certainly not electorally.

And then there was the paleocon argument that accepted the premise that the war was "humanitarian," but considered that a bad thing, and used the basic argument "Why should we sacrifice American blood and treasure to help inferior, savage foreigners? We should look out for our own people instead. And why would you want Muslims to have democracy anyway? Everyone knows that violence and destruction are intrinsic parts of Their Culture anyway, so it's best for everyone involved if they're oppressed by a 'stable' dictatorship."

I mean, I'm wildly oversimplifying; there was a lot of overlap in all of these arguments, a lot of people arguing "We should bring democracy and prosperity to Afghanistan and Iraq so they'll be our allies and trading partners!" and people arguing "Why are we spending money on bombs when we should be building schools here?" and whatnot. But. Like. In broad strokes. Those were the four factions.

And most of the shift in the Iraq and Afghan wars becoming "unpopular" among Americans definitely seems to be a shift to the paleocon view, not a shift to any sort of view that conceptualizes non-American lives as having intrinsic value. This is the basic prototypical Obama-to-Trump swing voter. Killing hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq never became meaningfully unpopular any more than killing people in Korea or Vietnam was; only getting Americans killed in the process became unpopular.

So tl;dr, that's why I don't think the Palestinian genocide will ever reach that tipping point in American popularity. We don't perceive it as costing us anything, so we're not going to turn against it as a bad return on our investment. Obviously it actually does cost Americans something, and people have tried to make some kind of argument out of "Why are we giving billions of dollars to Israel when we could be using that money to fix our bridges?" but it's not that effective, because it turns out most Americans also don't understand large budgets very well. And the Gazan genocide doesn't even pretend to be humanitarian. Yeah, Israel has used some rhetoric about "Freeing Gaza from Hamas," but nobody really believes that. If Israel were framing their genocide as humanitarian, and the U.S. were subsidizing it, then, maybe, Americans would turn on it. But indiscriminate slaughter is what we've decided we do want our tax dollars to go to, so. We don't even accept "We should value the lives of people in other countries" as an ethical precept in the first place enough to lie to ourselves about having retroactively supported it.

Honestly it really frustrates me how the historical narrative has shifted vis-a-vis the popularity of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like, i should go find some polling but I remember being corrected by my very liberal parents that i shouldn't be upset we were bombing afghanistan. I was nine.

It is unimaginable how uncontroversial that invasion was.

[doublejango]

for @botanikos -- for post-Mastermind feelz

Blitz had never felt this strange in his life. He watched the sky, watched the fireworks, listened to the gunshots. All across the city, imps were celebrating. Not just that he had lived, but than one of them had survived. Against all odds, he was still here, an imp had been thrust into the eye of damned near every power in Hell, but he was still breathing--

Because of Stolas.

He turned his head, listening to his former lover's steady breathing. Half-comforted by his presence, half-heartbroken, Blitz felt like a mess, but a calm one, a happy one. He shouldn't be happy, and he knew there was going to be fear and trauma to come from all of this, but so be it. That was just life, and it was for tomorrow. For right now, for tonight? Everything was okay. Even if nothing was really okay, because Stolas's world had just been torn apart, things were okay. Right now, right now, they were okay.

When the celebrations died off, Blitz silenced his phone. He got up and went over to the couch, just standing there for a moment and looking down at Stolas, heart full to bursting with how much he loved him, with the depth of the gratitude he felt. He kissed his forehead again, not wanting to wake him. "I love you," he whispered, as soft as a breath, his lips near Stolas's ear. "I love you, Stolas. And I'm gonna take care of you. Whatever it takes."

Blitz went and showered--

And that was where it hit.

Everything about the day caught up with him all at once, and he had to press his hands and face against the tiled wall, focusing on just breathing, just letting the tidal wave of emotions brush over him. In a way, an odd, fucked up way, this all felt... wrong? That axe had descended towards him and he had accepted it, he had lowered his head willingly, proud to die for the people he loved, trying to will his love out into them, and he should be dead. Blitz had had all kinds of close calls before, but this? This felt different.

There was a difference between a public execution and a firefight that just came up in the course of doing one's job.

And now?

Now, he knew what the situation really was in Hell. He knew it wasn't just a bias. He didn't have a chip on his shoulder. He had an entire world of his people, all of them as vulnerable as he was--most of them, a fuckton more so. All of the lesser Hellborn, the lowest of the low, were nothing more than bugs to be squashed in the eyes of Hell's nobility, with no protections, no one who would come for them the way Stolas had...

Blitz toweled off slowly, letting his mind and heart wander, feeling numb and strange. He knew that things were going to change, knew he was going to--to what? To overthrow the tyrants who chose not to value the lives of their people? To champion his own, whatever it cost, whatever it took? Knew he was going to make Stolas pancakes, and try to help him laugh, and try to help him feel safe? That. And that. And that, and that, and that.... So many thoughts buzzing through him, but he didn't try to fight them. He didn't try to put them down or chase them, too tired, too worn out.

Satan was an idiot who had just put his star on the ascendant, and Blitz wasn't going to waste that opportunity.

But ambitions were for tomorrow.

Tonight was for love.

He had one stuffed animal left from his childhood. It didn't take long to dig the soft little horse plushie out of the closet. Blitz tucked it into Stolas's arms, then slipped a hand under the blanket to feel his chest. His place was colder than Stolas's ever was, he worried, so he grabbed his leather jacket and draped it over Stolas's torso as well.

"I love you," he whispered again. Vision blurring with tears, Blitz smiled at him for a long moment, then went and changed into his pajamas. Content, he stretched out on the floor--with his tail up on the couch, loosely draped over Stolas's legs. He was sure there was no way he was ever going to fall asleep, not now, but...

-

The apartment smelled subtly different in the morning. Stolas. Stolas and heartache, and even the air felt fragile somehow, but that warm, feathery scent was enough to make Blitz smile the moment he woke. He tried to tone it down, trying to be respectful of the fact that his beloved probably wasn't going to be okay, or anything near it, for a long, long time, but still... Blitz was happy he was here. Selfishly so, maybe, but better that Stolas was here than dead.

He sat up and looked over, trying to gage if he was awake or not, unwilling to disturb him if he wasn't. Everything felt complicated, they had an entirely new set of rules to figure out, who and what they were to each other, all of it, everything had changed--but all of that major shit could trickle in slowly. There was no need to rush. No need to overwhelm Stolas, who was probably already overwhelmed, already a mess. How could he not be, after everything that had just been ripped away from him?

"You up?" Blitz whispered, his voice quiet in the dimly lit room.

[whencyclopedia]

Interview: Dithmarschen Republic

Located in what is the present-day German province of Schleswig-Holstein, the Dithmarschen Republic (1227-1559) was a republic by commoners who developed quasi-democratic institutions, including their own written constitution. Fiercely independent and freedom-loving, these peasants successfully defended their political independence against the forces of Holstein and the Scandinavian Kalmar Union as the Middle Ages came to a close.

House in Burg, Dithmarschen

Z thomas (CC BY-SA)

James Blake Wiener speaks to Dr. William L. Urban, a medievalist and the author of Dithmarschen: A Medieval Peasant Republic, to learn more about the Dithmarschers in this interview.

JBW: Dr. William L. Urban, many thanks for speaking with me. As your main research interest is that of the Teutonic Knights and the Northern Crusades, I am curious to know how you first became interested in the history of the Dithmarschers. What was it that led you to Dithmarschen?

WLU: In a very real sense, this book began at the University of Hamburg in 1964-1965 when I met a retired school teacher named Maria Krüger. Of Dithmarscher extraction, she often entertained my wife and me for tea, with cookies and tales of her native land. At her suggestion, I later read some of the local color novelists in the library of the University of Kansas. Thereafter, I went to the works of serious historians where I discovered that the novelists’ descriptions of Dithmarschen and its people were not exaggerations.

I was lucky enough to be able to travel to the countries north of the Elbe. After cycling across Germany three times, I lived in Hamburg and the neighboring town of Ahrensburg for almost a year. This gave me the confidence I needed to write a very rough draft of this manuscript before turning to the revision and completion of my dissertation, which appeared in 1975 as The Baltic Crusade. In the same year, I received a Fulbright-Hayes research grant for supplementary studies at the Johann Gottfried Herder Institute and the Philipps University in Marburg/Lahn. The opportunity arose for me to visit Dithmarschen twice that summer and again in 1976. In 1976-77, the University of Chicago awarded me a part-time faculty research grant in its main library, the Regenstein Library, to further develop my manuscript in discussion with Prof. Karl Morrison.

In the fall of 1982, Monmouth College provided me with a student assistant, Janet Fox, who typed the manuscript into the computer for editing. In the summer and fall of 1983, I was back in Marburg/Lahn with the help of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service and a sabbatical from Monmouth College. At that time, Professor Walther Lammers was kind enough to read the manuscript and discuss it with me at his home. I really appreciated his support and friendship. In January 1988, with the help of my wife and a new student typist, Kris Wang, I began a two-year editing process. Hardly a sentence remained unchanged. Eventually, after being tutored to use PageMaker by Daryl Carr and Marta Tucker, I prepared the manuscript for publication during my spring semester sabbatical. In June 1990, my wife and I took a car tour of Dithmarschen to visit places I had previously missed. In the fall of 1990, Monmouth College provided another small grant to cover the cost of preparing the manuscript for publication, and Erik Midelfort (with whom I had discussed the Dithmarscher project on several occasions in the past) responded to my request for a final reading with several helpful comments on the text.

JBW: It is true that there was a notable absence of feudalism and serfdom in nearby Frisia during the Middle Ages. Were the political traditions in Dithmarschen similar to what many historians would term as 'Frisian freedoms'? If so, how 'free' were the Dithmarschers?

WLU: There were many similarities, but the Dithmarschers had a more strongly developed clan system. This communal spirit made it possible to build dikes and canals, to develop a legal system capable of dealing with crime, land disputes, and inheritances; it also made it easier to raise a fighting force of men who could stand up to feudal cavalry and neighboring militias.

16-century Map of Dithmarshen

Abraham Ortelius (Public Domain)

This evolved over time so that local communities (Kirchspiele) became more important, and then the more prosperous farmers became a quasi-aristocracy that dominated the 48 representatives of the final government.

JBW: Many of the characteristics of Dithmarschen – the presence of clannish families, a militia, and a fiercely independent populace – strike me as similar to other medieval peasant republics, like that of the Old Swiss Confederation or the Icelandic Commonwealth. Are such comparisons worthwhile or even valid?

WLU: In my book, I tried to analyze why most peasant republics failed. The Swiss survived because they had geography and poverty on their side. That is, the mountain cantons were difficult to attack and hardly worth the effort, while the other members of the Swiss Confederation managed to negotiate the complex political and military challenges by raising a well-drilled military force large enough to defeat the regional powers, then providing mercenaries to more powerful neighbors who became allies.

What Dithmarschen lacked was numbers, and both the Dithmarschers and the Hanseatic League failed to see the advantages of allying against their common enemies as the Swiss had done.

JBW: Relations between Dithmarschen and the medieval Hanseatic towns, like Lübeck, were close. Was this so that they could protect their common interests in commerce while maintaining a degree of political independence?

WLU: Yes, but their common interests were limited. There were Dithmarscher fishermen, just as there were in Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, but no international network of trading partners for selling their catch. There were also too many tensions, especially Dithmarschen traditions that bordered on freebooting (and sometimes crossed over it)! Dithmarschers defended their citizens even when they were in the wrong, which was not always the case with the Hansa.

JBW: John I of Denmark (r. 1481-1513) and his brother, Duke Frederick of Holstein, attempted to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen in the 1490s. At the Battle of Hemmingstedt in 1500, Danes and Holsteiners were soundly defeated by the Dithmarscher peasants. What ensured their victory of what was seemingly a more powerful and better organized military force?

WLU: First, the invaders did not have the money to pay their mercenaries and allies for a long war, so they needed a quick victory.

Second, dumb luck. The king sent his army north from Meldorf toward Heide along a narrow road on a dike, expecting that the good weather would last. Instead, a winter storm blew into the invaders’ faces, making it difficult to see until they finally blundered into fortifications the Dithmarschers had hurriedly thrown up across the road. When they trained their artillery on the redoubt, the wind, snow, and rain doused the wicks and ruined the power.

Battle of Hemmingstedt

Max Friedrich Koch (Public Domain)

Lastly, Dithmarscher fighting skills were more appropriate to this battlefield – they opened the dikes, waded barefoot and half-naked through the freezing water to get at the foe, and then pursued the panicked enemy relentlessly.

JBW: What became of the Dithmarschers following the Protestant Reformation? Moreover, how did they ultimately lose their cherished freedoms?

WLU: The Dithmarschers were very pious, but because they had always been suspicious of clergymen, they had limited their authority. Since they had long managed their local religious affairs themselves and used the churches for schools and political assemblies, they found the change to Protestantism easy, which is quite something.

JBW: Are there any unique characteristics of the medieval Dithmarschen Republic that merit further consideration and study? If so, what are they?

WLU: First, we should not think of every European society as an inferior reflection of England and France, but of each possessing characteristics that are still important today. Second, these characteristics can be good or bad, or both at the same time. People are complicated. Third, not everyone can be moved by what they see in others.

Dithmarschers admire Britons; Americans are liable to see in the Dithmarschers what they once were, and everyone can remember that freedom is not free but must be earned and defended by patriot blood.

JBW: Finally, if there is one thing that we ought to remember about the Dithmarschen Republic, what is it in your opinion?

WLU: Someone inscribed a motto on the organ in Hemme, Germany: "Dithmarsia libera fuit." The implication was that it could be again, and today it has become so again.

JBW: Dr. William Urban, many thanks for lending your time and expertise!

Professor William L. Urban was educated at Baylor University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Universität Hamburg. He received a Ph.D. 1967 at the University of Texas, taught at the University of Kansas and Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois, at Knox College, Fort Hays Kansas State College, the Estonian Institute for the Humanities, and the Eastern Michigan University Cultural History Tour in Europe. He was Director of the Arts of Florence, then the Yugoslav and Czech programs of Associated Colleges of the Midwest. He received a senior Fulbright grant for research at the Herder Institut in Marburg/Lahn, Germany; several DAAD grants, NEH grants for summer study, and a United States Military Academy Military History Workshop. He is a corresponding member of the Historische Kommission für ost- und westpreußische Landesforschung and the Baltische Historische Kommission. He has published The Baltic Crusade, The Prussian Crusade, The Livonian Crusade, The Samogitian Crusade, Tannenberg and After, Lithuania, Poland, and the Teutonic Order in Search of Immortality, The Teutonic Knights: a military history, Medieval Mercenaries, Bayonets for Hire: the Business of War, 1550-1763, Matchlocks to Flintlock, Mercenaries in Europe and Beyond, 1500-1700, Bayonets and Scimitars, Arms, Armies and Mercenaries, 1700-1789, and Small Wars, and their influence on the Nation State. With Jerry Smith, he translated The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, The Chronicle of Balthasar Russow, and Johannes Renner's Chronicle.

Continue reading...

[messangerforthestars]

“We need more morally gray characters” you guys can barely handle topaz and jade.

[samueldays]

This is interesting advice, but Yudkowsky nonetheless runs into the same problem he's describing!

A character who masters a world you invented to be masterable, or finds flaws in a world you designed to be flawed, can potentially possess a kind of “cheating” or “easy” feel.

In the original Harry Potter books, the Dementors represent depression. One can drive them off with the Patronus Charm, a spell that requires thinking hard about a happy memory, but this is best done with preparation beforehand or as a group, because the Dementors drain away happiness and blot out happy memories. A single wizard attacked by a Dementor will find it difficult to cast the spell for that reason. To spell out the analogy: being depressed makes it harder to take actions that would help against depression.

In the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality fanfiction, Yudkowsky invents the flaw that depression is a superficial appearance, what the Dementors "really" represent is death. He has the protagonist find and exploit this flaw to destroy Dementors completely with the Patronus Charm Level 2, a spell that requires thinking hard about immortality, which is one of the author's obsessions projected onto his self-insert. This has the "cheating" feel to me.

I would also take this advice lightly for a more general reason, which is the No Limits Fallacy in fanfiction.

Good original authors (and their editors) usually trim for relevance. If a device is only going to be used on-screen for one scene then it's not relevant to say that the device's maintenance schedule requires a daily recharge and a monthly parts replacement for continued use. Readers don't need to be told every limit and cost and drawback and edge case. A good mainstream book is not a technical specifications sheet.

Fanfic authors, particularly the ruleslawyering nitpicking D&D-reading authors found in the "rationalist" community, are more accustomed to rulebooks which set out constraints at great length, and are writing for an audience which has more patience for a work of fiction that stops to give lengthy infodumps. This sometimes leads to fanfic authors assuming that if the original work doesn't specify limits of a device, then the device has no limits, and can be exploited for superpowers or infinite resources.

Sometimes the original author gestures to limits, within the constraints of brevity and good pacing, and it still doesn't help because the fanfic writers imagine ways to bypass those limits that the original author didn't pre-emptively rule out, and so assume those limits aren't real.

To use a Harry Potter example again: Veritaserum, the magic potion that makes people tell the truth. Rowling gestures at three limits: it takes a month to produce, there's an antidote, and the potion can be resisted with a trainable skill. There's another implicit limit: this is a setting with memory-altering spells. There's plausibly more boring constraints that it wouldn't be interesting to infodump about.

So Veritaserum is canonically a controlled substance, used sparingly by the plot, and characters are sometimes threatened with it to build tension without having to drink it.

HP fanfic writers, over and over and over again, disregard these limits and then complain that it's a stupid plot hole when Wizarding Britain doesn't routinely make everyone in a courtroom drink Veritaserum, the potion that Severus Snape needs a month to make more of. Because surely Wizarding Britain can train up arbitrary numbers of expert potioneers on short notice, right? /s

There is a very murky grey area between finding flaws in your own world you designed to be flawed, and finding flaws in someone else's world as viewed through the No Limits Fallacy.

“I wouldn’t phrase it exactly that way, but I agree that this is the primary reason for rationalist fanfiction. A character who masters a world you invented to be masterable, or finds flaws in a world you designed to be flawed, can potentially possess a kind of “cheating” or “easy” feel. The morals of American prisons are no better than the morals of Azkaban; if there are no Dementors there it’s because American politicians have no Dementors to use, not because they’re better people than the Wizengamot; and American prisons are worse in ways that Rowling couldn’t have imitated without breaking her reader’s suspension of disbelief, at least the wizarding world isn’t imprisoning marijuana users that we ever saw. But even so if Azkaban were a feature of a world of my own invention, someone might ask whether Harry’s reaction to it, or the fact that other people in magical Britain seem not to notice it as a moral horror (just like Americans don’t notice the moral horror! Rowling was not being unrealistic!) would rest on wobbly floors. They might accuse me of having constructed an absurd parody for political purposes, where Rowling is not as easily subject to this charge. There are stories you can tell in fanfiction, in someone else’s universe which readers nonetheless aren’t pre-blinded to the way they’re blinded to the opportunities and horrors of real life, which you can’t easily tell in any other mode of literature.”

—

Eliezer Yudkowsky http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/28m5iu/quick_question_about_the_sub/cicxxma (via illidanstr)

People not understanding how horrible prisons actually are is something that upsets me a lot.

(via yxoque)

[add1ctedt0you]

What a plot twist you were. [x]

[yuridovewing]

i understand the frustration with “i made this gay pairing cis x trans so they can still have biological babies” with no thought to other methods and how ppl assume thats the case when it comes to mothpool aus where mothwing is also the mother of the three, but also…. idk i kinda dont give a shit if someone wants to do that and i dont really think its inherently transphobic as long as its handled with care and respect.

what really concerns me about this debate is how some people are adamant that you cannot portray trans people having biological children in media or youre being disrespectful. and im gonna say as a nonbinary person who doesnt want children for themself- thats kinda fucking weird? like i understand that for some people, theyre trans themselves and theyre speaking from a place of dysphoria, and i absolutely get that, which is why i think the topic should be handled with nuance and diversity in trans characters, but like…. guys. pregnant trans men exist irl. trans women get people pregnant irl. trans ppl’s ability and right to parent and have biological children are being debated irl. we get denied the opportunity to adopt as well.

in a climate like this, are we SURE we want the stance on rewrites and headcanons in the silly cat books to be “if you portray trans characters having children, especially with a gay couple, youre a transphobic freak no matter what!” does it really matter? especially if its being done by a trans person handling the topic with nuance who has a lot of trans characters with varying perspectives?

obviously yes, remember that thats not the only way certain gay couples can have kids, remember that not every trans person is fully comfortable with it and keep that in mind, remember that surrogacy and adoption are also perfectly valid ways to give fan babies- but remember that there are OPTIONS. not that you need to condemn the idea of transgender parents in the first place unless they fit the very specific criteria of “proper transgender representation” and anything that dares deviate from that is proof the op is a transphobic monster (bonus points if theyre a trans creator bc i mostly see trans people getting shit for this and it kinda pisses me off. although idm if cis people do it either as long as theyre handling it with respect)

[northwest-cryptid]

I literally feel like I'm dying and I need to see a doctor, but I can't worry about that right now because

My bank account is literally in the negatives because I'm too disabled to work and can't make money but I can't worry about that right now because

I'm months overdue on getting my car new tags, but it won't even start if I could drive it so I need to jump the battery and get gas which I don't have money for, but I can't worry about that right now because

People are still expecting me to be social across numerous friend groups and it's pulling me in so many directions that I'm stretched so thin I'm running on no social battery for the last month, but I can't worry about that right now because

I still need to actually clean the house, do the dishes, clean the cat litter boxes, vacuum, and do my laundry... but I can't worry about that right now because

I still need to actually set up my new desk so I can stream since I haven't been able to do that for weeks and streaming is unfortunately my only source of income for how little I make every month, but I can't worry about that right now because

My partner is going through a really hard time right now and I need to be there for her and do what I can to make sure she's okay.

[nie7027]

WAIT WHAT HOW DID WHISPERS FOUND OUT ABOUT WOLFGANG?? HE WAS THE ONE WHO HAD SHOWED THE LEAST TO HAVE SENSATE CONNECTIONS!!

will Riley and Nomi were obviously found out by the bpo and known to be connected (although I don't remember how whispers learnt about Nomi and Will being connected)

sun was probably the easiest to find out that was related to them since Nomi did a lot of hacking to help her which is something Sun couldn't have done on her own (and while the point of hacking is to leave not trace of you behind every person has its own style and no doubt the obp would be on the lockout for any hacking activity that smelled like something Nomi would do)

After that Capheus and Lito would be next in that order. Both showed out of the blue extraordinary capabilities that didn't make sense they knew and clearly marked them as sensates(just no way to know who they were connected to) just like the people visiting Capheus said. The only difference was that Capheus acts were widely known while Lito only had Dani and Joaquin as witness.

And finally Wolfgang mad Kala who showed it the less. In fact they didn't show it at all.

Kala with her perfect idyllic life never needed to make use of the others abilities (besides that one time will helped her defend herself at the temple).

And Wolfgang although did use the others abilities and pulled of amazing feats thanks to them all of those instances were stuff that would be credible he did on his own because they were in line with the type of person Wolfang is and what he's capable.

So yeah... HOW THE FUCK WAS HE FOUND OUT? While it made sense Lila would tell the obp about him she also said that the Cannibal was specifically looking for him!

So how???

Ugggh it really goes way too fastpaced in the last episodes and it doesn't make sense... the Wachowski sisters would never leave such a big pothole...

I know they had to skip a lot of explanations but...

Dammit netlix

[get-more-bald]

the fuck do you mean I have to leave....

[medicinemane]

Mike johnson has so god damn much blood on his hands, obviously Ukrainian blood, but also plenty of American blood

Refusing to renew something that helps vets exposed to atomic blast and Americans who were downwind of the fall out... it's just sick. I can't fucking stand mike johnson, he's one of the worst scum to ever be in congress, and that's fucking saying something

"Johnson refused to allow House members to vote on bipartisan legislation to renew and improve the program"

Fucking quivering little pimple seems to have a real MO for just wringing his hands while insisting it's not his fault, he just can't do the one fucking part of his job of putting shit up to a vote... oh boo hoo, so sad, he'll just have to unilaterally let funding expire on things instead of literally just putting it up to our elected representatives to see if they want to vote yay or nay

Single handedly make the choices but it's not his fault when they work out how they do

Murderer

[dukeofriven]

In Star Trek TNG the Enterprise computer is my informative and caring friend who only gets things wrong sometimes because sentients gave her confusing orders. In real life smash every Alexa with a hammer. Rip Siri out of your phone with your bare hands if you can. Laugh at the four people using Cortana but then drive a tire iron through the built-in microphone before gouging-out the CPU with a grapefruit spoon. (Then please recycle your electronics responsibly.) Robots are not your friend. AI is not your friend. VAs are not your friend. They are not sentient, they are not people, they have no intelligence, they have no being, they are not proto-people just waiting for the fancy line of code in a future patch that will make them real like Pinocchio. They have no intrinsic pathos save what marketing teams would love you to grant them. All of that is fiction, it has no grounding in reality, these are objects that harm. They are not there to help you, they are there to exploit your need for aid.

For future reference

[arionaleilani]

1. it’s my 24th birthday today, so my goal of being published by the time i’m 25 is now a one year looming monster, but i never specified what kind of published and am currently looking in various literary magazines that are recommended for writers who have yet to be published, so i’m surprisingly confident that i can make it work? and tbh even if whatever i write isn’t officially published before my 25th birthday, if i have someone in the process of being published then i’ll be happy!! no matter what though, i’m gonna try to be proud of myself for at least giving it my best shot!!

2. i honestly love that my birthday is on the ides of march because the ides of march meme shitposting is only a thing on tumblr but it also being my birthday makes it easier to like. be excited about the ides of march outside of tumblr. like even in person i can be like “it’s my birthday! i’m an ides of march babe (:” and if someone is like oh what’s that? or if they say something along the lines of oh like julius caesar? i can be like yep!! and even if it’s a small thing outside of tumblr it brings me immense enjoyment and amusement being able to bring it up off of tumblr

3. transportation situation has been very rough since june 2023 when i totalled my car, my gap insurance are being assholes and i ended up putting my foot down on the phone with them yesterday which i’m pretty proud of because i am NOT a confrontational person (something i’ve been working on this past year, so seeing some improvement with my ability to hold my ground and not be a pushover yesterday was very cool!!) i was told i’d get a response from them by friday next week no matter what, and if i don’t then friday of next week i will continue to wreak havoc upon them. but my moms car which i’ve been using since my accident broke down yesterday, hopefully it’s fixable but my parents were saying it might be done for, so trying to think of how i’m gonna get to work next week is kind of stressing me out lmao, but for now i’m just gonna focus on enjoying my birthday the best i can because i don’t want to start off being 24 with an overwhelming anxiety for something that won’t be a potential issue until monday. plus i already messaged my boss today to let her know that i’m going to do everything i can to make it work out but just so she’s in the loop and knows of the potential of me not being able to make my morning shifts (one of my coworkers said she’s more than happy to give me a ride for our afternoon shifts which does help relieve some of the stress!) and i told her i’d let her know for sure sunday so that if necessary she can have time to figure out someone to fill in for me in the mornings!

overall: life is weird and i ended being 23 yesterday with a shitty situation but a positive outlook and i am going to enjoy my first day of being 24 no matter what because honestly i fucking earned it. happy friday everyone, i hope it’s a good day for you and me both!

[ddesertmoon]

Fuck, guys… the urge to write a fic that puts Anakin in a situation where he has to examine his flaws critically and question whether his actions are a proper reflection of his true morals is soooo strong… but am I the man for the job… that is the question

[yappacadaver]

im still so tired mang like fuck. fuckkkk

[quietwingsinthesky]

i think deep down even still believes the doctor can save anyone. everyone. and that’s the worst part.