#'not that i disagree with you but im pretty sure it's also because human beings tend to follow their internal clock >'

[one-winged-dreams]

Me at 4 am, about to scream in frustration from the shitty "sleep" I've been getting: I literally can not fucking do this.

Aki, immediately sitting up with no indication he was ever even asleep: That's okay, sleep is a social construct anyway.

Me:

Me: Aki what the fuck does that mean.

[sexhaver]

i guess i should preface im not anti ai but how is "everyone can make art it comes free with your humanity" ableist? i could see the argument for illustration and drawing and stuff as i agree with that the other statement is ableist ("oh this guy picked up paintbrushes with his mouth oough") but art is a lot more than that especially cause ive seen people make pretty interesting works of art using AI as a tool

in a vacuum it's not an objectionable statement but in context it's being said as a response to disabled people being like "hey, i like making visual art but can't move the pen/mouse too well, this new technology seems like it could help me make some cool art with minimal physical effort on my end". and in that context, "everyone can make art" stops meaning "humans have an inherent creative drive that manifests in a variety of ways" and starts meaning "okay, sure, you can't make visual art any more, but you can still do poetry or writing, right? like you can type the prompt for AIs, so you can type words, right? just do that instead, it still counts as art. what? you wanted to make a specific kind of art instead of just any random form of expression, and you don't particularly like writing, and also you're bad at it? well too bad, shouldve thought of that before you lost the ability to draw, because your only option to continue doing that without me yelling at you for using Ontologically Evil Technology is holding a brush in your mouth, and if you disagree with that then i'm going to call YOU ableist and post inspiration porn".

tl;dr it treats all different forms of art as fundamentally interchangeable and completely disregards the feelings and desires of disabled people

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

throw back to when you said richard was smarter than henry. im not disagreeing w you but i /gen wanna know why you think that. bc most people in the fandom would say henry (mostly i think because his aesthetic). i personally have never really thought about it.

anon MULTIPLE reasons. MuLTiPlE-

richard was naturally smarter because he attended high school. why is that? henry dropped out in junior year i believe and that year is so darn crucial, you make most of your friends in that time, you become comfortable in your class, with your teachers and within your family at that point. like your real personality and image starts forming in that year. junior year defines your social status and even tho henry was richer, richard still attended high school which means he was just that more emotionally intelligent than henry.

henry was apolitical and socially unaware. richard being from the suburbs had really been a part of the world and not just been a passive observer, unbothered by shit going sideways around himself because his daddy had money. he is canonically a socialist in 80's capitalist usa that's insane, that means he had an understanding of finance and floating monetary systems which was basically being revolutionized in the 80's. the structure of the us economy was changing, there were socio-cultural revolutions going on, feminism, the end of the black panther party, marxist-leninism, over-consumerism, hippie culture, fucked up geopolitics and the sins of the american government, i could seriously go on about how politics must have fascinated him at that time.

also, can i just say that although he dropped out, richard did about a year and a half (i think?) of pre med, that means he had stem related aps in high school and he must've scored well in them as well as his sat to actually land a pre med college.

richard was actually good at greek, that was actually why julian let him in the class besides the fact that he was prettier than all them pretty bois in hampden.

ONLY PERSON IN THE GREEK CLASS WHO GRADUATES™.

he's actually the only person amidst all of them who realises that they are going insane.

he didn't want this life, he actually wanted to be successful in his life but every twenty-something person makes bad decisions.

he's not completely innocent, nope, but he's incredibly inquisitive and he has a way with people. like all of them tell him something that they wouldn't tell anyone had they not been like him. and yeah most of the fandom still thinks that they were trying to set him up for their crimes but there's a separate explanation for why i think that's not actually true and it's voiced by someone else i'll try to link that here.

richard is also indeniably loyal yet extremely shrewd. as i said earlier, he has a way with people and that's because he understands them and unconsciously his attitude changes towards them, making them naturally trust him. like judy and sophie instantly just trusted him to do shit for them and talked to him. like it was the 80's, every other normal guy was a serial killer but they never really gave a second thought about it. same was the case with francis. like ik francis can be a bit of a dummy but he sure as hell fell for richard's- idk- richard-ness.

he was kinda like this weird glue between the nerds and the rest of the college. like soon after richard joins college, the greek class starts interacting with people outside the group, like, sophie, judy, cloke, bram, jack, spike, laforgue, roland. like idt that they would've ever interacted with anyone but each other had richard not come into the picture and that just makes him like a little bit more of the human element in the group and i believe that indeed does make him smarter than not only henry but the rest of the class as well.

[fairuzfan]

hi! I've seen you talking about archiving a few times and I wanted to ask:

how do you think we should go (if at all) with documenting israeli atrocities?

i am specifically thinking of that horrible trend on tiktok where IOF soldiers kidnap west bank palestinians, blindfold them, and force them to listen to that godawful kid's song. i feel like it's important to keep an archive of the people doing these things, because once palestine is free, they should be held accountable for their crimes

but I've seen your posts saying you worry about uploading that kind of content to archive.org, in case israelis use this to punish the palestinians in the video. so, im wondering if you have any idea of how we should go about keeping this kind of evidence - if you think we should keep it at all

thank you for replying. i know it's not worth much but im sending you love and strength. and I will do everything in my power to ensure palestine is freed

Hello, thanks for sending this in.

I'd suggest taking a look at this post (click) for more info about social media archiving. But I do want to let you know about some personal thoughts regarding those videos:

I'm honestly not sure (at least personally) if videos like that should be saved without explicit consent of the victims, mostly because they're visual accounts of Palestinians being humiliated and, frankly, just tortured for pure enjoyment. Archiving is a wonderful practice that can allow us to remember some things or hold people accountable to their crimes. But regarding these sorts of videos, I'm not sure saving them on our personal drive will be of much help in the long run, when there's videos of Gazans saying their last words being taken down — of course I am *not* suggesting we shouldn't save those videos at all. I'm also not a seasoned veteran archivist. But I can say, that I question for who those videos will most benefit in the long run. Will they be needed to hold the perpetrators accountable? I don't know, really. In what way would they be held accountable? Through international court? I have very little faith in the methods we've currently established to hold people accountable.

I cannot think of a reasonable way to hold them accountable that cannot just rely on the testimony of the Palestinians affected, the witnesses, and the proxy-witnesses (meaning us and people who view those videos) giving their accounts.

I'm not discouraging archiving these types of videos — I do think it's important to a certain level to archive them but I'm unsure of ways we can do that safely and respectfully so that the victims don't have to live with this looming over their heads for the rest of their lives. Again, though, if you receive permission from the victims themselves, I can't exactly disagree with any sort of archiving as long as they give the greenlight with everything you do. I feel like it (personally) is a better choice not to archive them.

SO really, this is just a long-winded way of me saying I don't know LOL. I've yet to reach a conclusion about this myself. I can only point you to resources of people who have been doing this much longer than I have, which WITNESS is pretty good. I can only ask you to do what you feel is right as a person who wants to fight for the safety and sanctity of each human being. Just so you know, I myself won't be archiving those videos. I know what they do to my people — we've been passing down stories for nearly a century now. I think leaving it in the control of Palestinians who are affected is probably the best course of action and the one I plan on taking.

[theerurishipper]

Marinette a cruel person tbh. Even a psychopath or hell maybe im raising the bar a little too high but a stranger would be able comfort ChatNoir seeing his situation. The New York special and him spiraling made me despise her because someone fucking died to make this partnership work.... this isn't even inconsistent characterization from past seasons this is very consistent she's always been like this. Girl ain't willing to even see what underneath the mask eh? or believe he has other things to do besides fucking risking his life as a teenager im surprised their dynamic lasted as long as they did because she comes off very cold when it comes to her partner compared to Alya. Why she like that hell if I know had it been me i'd cuss her out or at least tell her off. How the hell you don't comfort a human being when they show their insecurities I don't know especially someone you've worked along with that saves paris numerous times.

I gotta ask if Chat Noir was more vocal and angry and actually lost it on her would it finally stick it in her damn head that he isn't someone who pops into existence defeating akumas but a very real boy underneath? You know I have know fucking clue personally what is so hard for her about that being a respectful partner and understanding that Chat is human. I remembered in origins he took more of a leading approach I think sorry my memory is dogcrap these days and yet he encouraged her and gave her confidence what so hard returning the favor back?

I mean, comparing her to Chloe? That's like choosing between a rock and a hard place. Chloe's got that villainess aura, sure, but at least she's upfront about it what expectation is there to be had for a cannon fodder villain like Chloe with a creator who hater her to the point even in-universe she still the story punching bag . Now Marinette, oh please, she's got this pristine "heroine white lotus" thing going on. It's like she can do no wrong, and the world just eats it up.

And don't get me started on Ephemeral. Talk about a masterclass in betrayal! She pulls a stunt that would make Judas proud, corrupts herself with power, and what? No consequences, no rules, just a free pass to wreak havoc. Must be nice living in Marinette's world where the rules only apply to us mere mortals.

And let's not forget her emotional boy toys, Luka and Adrien, just waiting there like loyal lapdogs, ready to clean up the mess she leaves behind. It's the Marinette show, and everyone else is just playing supporting roles in her drama.

But hey, who needs nuance when you've got that heroine Marinette halo shining so bright? It's the perfect excuse for her to mess up royally, and everyone will still be there, cheering her on with no accountability taken . The world's her playground, and we're just living in it.

I'm sorry for ranting it's just im done with her sorry if I made it negative for you.

Calling her a psychopath is too harsh ngl. I disagree with you on that. I don't think we should be throwing around words like that lightly.

But I do agree with your overall point. Very harsh, but pretty close to the mark. I also personally wouldn't compare her to Chloe, but then again, that all went out of the window after the Season 5 finale. I wouldn't call her cruel or evil, but she does benefit from the protagonist centered morality the show adopted in Season 4. Chat Noir shouldn't expect anything from her, and he should apologize for her mistakes because she can do no wrong. It sucks.

Thank you for your ask!

[uriekukistan]

how about some school related hcs for your favs ^_^

hell yeah thank you for the ask :D this is gonna be a very mixed fandom post slfkgj but im sure you were expecting that

i think i once said mello would be a classics major, but i think he would also have a double major in psychology? or really some combination of a humanities and a stem major. he likes to exercise both types of thinking equally. he's also a very serious studier, definitely pulls a lot of all-nighters. he's not super organized about it though, he just jumps from assignment to assignment randomly depending on what he feels like doing.

i think misa would either be into studying something more creative like music or fashion, or something more human-focused like anthropology or sociology. very active in class and asks a lot of good questions. but she doesn't study. wings every exam. her gpa rides solely off of her passion for the subject, which shows in her projects/papers.

i can see urie being into something like math or some science idk because everything is very formulaic and orderly. also a serious studier, similar to mello in intensity, but different in that he completes one assignment at a time. always works in the library. color coded notes. very organized. top grades of course. goes to study sessions with the TA and everyone's like "what is he doing here" because he's just that good.

saiko....girlie please go to class. probably only shows up if there's a test or she has to present something (everyone's annoyed because why is her presentation so good when she's never been to class). can see her studying graphic design or computer science but in like a video game designing type way not an engineering type way. her grades suffer from her lack of attendance but not enough that it matters. cs get degrees and whatnot

a lot of people say megumi would study to be a vet but i actually disagree. i think he loves animals too much to actually watch them suffer and perform surgery on them or put them to sleep. probably started on that path but realized quickly it wasn't for him and stuck to volunteering at the shelter. he would probably switch into something like ecology, focused on like preservation and protecting habitats for wild animals. he's not super into the outdoors but again. animal lover. he canonically gets more sad for animals than humans, so it just seems fitting for him. also a pretty serious student and gets good grades, but never pulls all nighters. i had a roommate who had straight a's as a neuroscience major and slept at 10pm every night, that's megumi.

was gonna talk about choso but tbh i dont see him attending college. i've seen him depicted as a tattoo artist or a firefighter too many times for my own good, so i'll talk about my fav wet cat boy yuuta. was gonna say med student but i think that was the white jacket talking, so i'm going with archaeology, i don't really have a reason, just that he seems like he would be very good at handling artifacts. a good student, but not good at studying. always loses focus. pulls all nighters bc he fell behind during the day only to get distracted again

this got so long...oops :D

[f0point5]

https://www.tumblr.com/f0point5/749814103048110080/im-surprised-yn-hasnt-gotten-fired-as-fake-gf-yet

You mean august? Not april?

I think there’s still time for her to get fired 🤷‍♀️

As much as I like her honest approach to his fame and the way he’s treated, I think his PR team won’t be too happy. Cause, there’s been quite a few twitter treads, insta stories about her being bitch. Sooner or later, Zak’s gonna hold another meeting to warn her, because it could affect Lando’s image.

Also, we need our insightful king (OP81) backkkk!! Especially after the shit race he had in Miami. Or at least Carlos. Girlie needs human interaction, with someone other than her so called bf.

P.S. I’m so excited that the next 2 races are in Europe.

If Ferrari PR is letting Carlos date Rebecca, who consistently has threads calling her a prostitute, I’m pretty sure McLaren PR could deal with Y/N being called a clout chaser who doesn’t smile enough 😂 let’s not forget this same department let Donald Trump in the garage and did not brief Lando not to say he respects him. Whether you agree or disagree he with what he said, you can’t argue that McLaren PR always follow the path of least resistance with their publicity opportunities 😂

Fundamentally, also, Lando is getting away with a lot here. Whereas fans gave him a lot of shit for his escapades with women and even called him a misogynist for talking about girls on streams and asking for nudes, Y/N has diffused all of that. The worst that’s been said is that he’s dumb for falling for her but ultimately that’s not anywhere near the worst negativity that could be directed at him. It’s preferable, even, for him not to look like the douche who has the upper hand.

At least, that’s the way I’ve decided to go with it.

Lol poor Oscar, victim of Carlos’s reputation era. One of those two is definitely somewhat important to the plot… ;)

[urfavnegronerd]

I just found another Miles smut

They literally “aged them up” because it was like hcs ig and said that MINORS WEREN’T ALLOWED TO INTERACT

Literally barfing

i hmm this is such a convo

bc which miles? comic miles (ew)? itsv/atsv miles? PlayStation miles? i lowk hope it was play station miles bc that one is 17, and while he still is technically a minor, in a lot of places 17 is considered an adult. its still gross but slightly less gross? i'm-- so many thoughts about this.

its not like i don't condone smut, its just hard to figure out where the disconnect is with smut writers. below 18 in the u.s is considered a minor, however in different places its different. for example, in s. korea 19 is adult, not 18.

so likeeee very multifaceted in the sense that laws are different everywhere, and atsv was released in most countries.

bc i was born in the united states w a v rigid view on adulthood, yes this shit is fucking disgusting literally let him be a black boy not a fucking man. that's gross and rooted in racism bc i fine boaf miles' fine but i ain't never once thought about fucking them hello?!? i am also fairly certain that the people writing them are either a) sheltered or b) white. the sheltered thing i can understand because im first gen and my version of the sex talk was when i was really young at an art museum w some paintings of nudity with my aunt (who attended catholic school) who told me to 'hold an aspirin between your thighs', and i also didn't get sex ed in school. so i understand the 'draw' of writing taboo shit and consuming it but. baby. come awwwnnnnn. like yeah, good on you for acknowledging ur very human sexual desires, but what the fuck miles is a minor please stop.

i love love love that this fandom has opinions/ visions for characters but yall needa chill. that 'hobie is in love with miles because he turns pink!' is cute when its just your opinion, however the color doesn't necessarily dictate his emotions (at least we don't know for sure, we don't know much abt hobie), and he also turned from yellow to pink while holding mayday. the pink can symbolize adoration if u will. that's not to say you cant have ur punkflower hcs, js don't PUSH it yall. ur human, okay? a lot of people have sexual desires which is cool but stop pushing ur horny on a minor and animated character. its not cool, does not pass the vibe check.

unrelated but in the same vibe as the previous rant-- gwens character. there's a lot of discourse rn about her possibly being trans WHICH IS COOL but I've seen people attack others for politely disagreeing. i love that a lot of people are feeling comfortable and recognized with possible hints towards peoples identities, but please calm the fuck down. it was never that serious, never that deep babes i promise. because, yes, representation is quite wonderful (speaking as a queer black girl) but it doesn't always spark change, sometimes it causes the latter. and in this instance of yall projected ur opinions to the absolute max, is not inciting change. its inciting anger, disagreement, and toxcity. i'm not gonna lie, i'm on the side of lets js leave things where they are until animators disclose something. but rae their color schemes-- yall do know that pride flags were also created with aesthetics in mind, right? blue, pink and white go pretty together, AND they compliment lighter skin tones (like gwen). purple blue and pink go good together too, and we see a lot of that in miles' palate. BECAUSE IT COMPLIMENTS MELANIN. i love love love how people are incorporating themselves and their identities into this movie, shit i even do this, but can yall CHILL? for the love of god.

moral of the story: stop and think for a sec, okay? i promise your brain has good thoughts, but not everything has to be shared with the world.

[godsofhumanity]

SUPERNATURAL 5.19 “Hammer of the Gods” | REVIEW

i said i'd be reviewing SPN episodes, hee hee so here's the next.

OVERVIEW: Pagan gods hold a meeting to determine how they will respond to the Christian Apocalypse.

RATING: 7/10. i liked it!!!! there's only so many myth references you can cram into 45 minutes of screen-time, but i liked it tbh. there isn't much media with different myths interacting with each other, so i think this was pretty good!

AVAILABLE AT: again, idk where u can watch this for free sorry. if you have Prime or Binge, or maybe if u live in the US u can watch it on the CW or something

previous episode // all episodes // next episode

if you haven’t seen spn and intend to watch, do not read below unless you want spoilers!!!!!!

THINGS I LIKED / FACTS:

Mercury portrayal!!!!!!!!!!!!! the actor looked mischievous just like you'd imagine Mercury to be.

i liked the little nods to his speed with him typing on the computer extremely fast and nicking Dean's neck without being seen.

also, i think it's immensely suitable that Mercury was in charge of the hotel since he's the god of commerce (hotel is great for business!), travellers (travellers will stay at a hotel), messages (he's communicating with different gods to bring them together under one roof), and trickery (since the gods are conspiring to trick Lucifer).

Kali- disclaimer; idk much or really anything about hindu mythology, but Kali is the goddess of time, doomsday, and death according to Wikipedia..

this suits her character pretty well since she's appearing at Doomsday (the Christian Apocalypse but still)... and also she had a necklace around her neck that i think looked a little like a head of some sort? and a skull chain around her waist! i think this is a nod to the chain of heads that she's usually depicted with.

Elysian Fields as the hotel name. Elysium is not part of the Underworld, but usually considered a separate place entirely, and was pretty exclusive-- only certain heroes and righteous mortals specially chosen by the gods could enter Elysium, and this is paralleled on the show because only certain people enter the hotel-- Dean and Sam are intentionally let in to the place so the gods can hold them hostage.

funny Ganesh elephant moment- not strictly accurate because im pretty sure Ganesh just has the head of an elephant but isn't an elephant himself..?

the gods poking fun at their myths lmfaooooo and forgetting their own ages.

Baldur and "Loki" tensionnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!! i know it's not actually Loki, but yeah i liked it. nice nod to Loki being the cause of Baldur's death.

the whole concept of "what happens to the other gods during one team's end of days"... it's such an intriguing idea, and i honestly like the way SPN dealt with it.. all the gods at odds with each other, undermining each other's apocalypse beliefs.. having to team up together to deal with another apocalypse. but i think the team of gods they chose was strange.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE / DISAGREED WITH:

Odin looked like an Odin, but he had BOTH eyes??? i feel like it would have been so easy to make Odin more distinct by giving him an eyepatch, or a monocle, or maybe 2 different coloured eyes or something!! just something about his eyes because that's his most distinct feature. and a hat!

Baldur. handsome sure, but i'm hesitant about his role here. Baldur is the guy whom everyone loves, so for him to be having a romance with Kali who is kind of violence and the opposite of Baldur seems strange and out of place. i think Baldur could have been replaced by Tyr-- still not as mainstream as "Thor" but closer to accuracy?

also. Baldur should be in Hel so i'm not sure how he got out and how he's walking around free-spirited. it's a pretty essential part of his myth tbh.

also we know Ragnarok hasn't taken place yet to free Baldur from Hel because Odin himself says "lol the apocalypse hasn't started yet" and he makes a joke about getting eaten by Fenrir.

the gods having humans as their "meal". honestly i don't think i've heard of gods consuming mortals as a snack-- usually it's taboo for the gods to eat mortals, see Demeter and Pelops. so i thought this was kinda strange.. i know it's just a gore factor for the show but i meannnn really?

minor thing really, but Kali's shirt was red? i think it would've been a better nod if it was blue because like she's usually depicted blue.

[bthump]

I wouldnt read berserk in public and i wouldnt watch game of thrones in public on full volume its just about being appropriate not necessarily that there is any issue with violence/sex. I think people are too comfortable viewing art that caters to them. Ultimately art is used to speak on certain truths without necessarily being pleasant. The violent and dark nature of humanity is often not depicted enough and i think the lack of viewership leads to people being less whole in their personality. For example ignoring or denying ones dark nature can lead to more outbursts/repressed emotions causing damage. I dont like or condone the rape, violence or brutality of berserk but i see its value. I like how it portrays reality. People are monsters as well we have serial killers, rapists, and beheadings in our modern world. These are all real things that people deal with and im not sure why that cant be depicted in our media. Some people will not understand this and thats ok but it will be something that you have to deal with if you enjoy dark media. What do you think?

All right I'll answer you once because you went to the trouble of rephrasing this according to my suggestions and I do appreciate that you've been polite about it.

I like a lot of dark fiction, and I like a lot of the darkness of Berserk. Part of the reason I'm a Berserk fan is because it's a dark story with a lot of violence and trauma. I think the rape of women in particular is, however, poorly depicted in Berserk, for a myriad of reasons that I've discussed extensively. Here are some links to things I've previously written on the subject.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to enjoy dark fiction while criticizing it, because it's always reasonable to criticize writing. Sometimes writing(/art) is bad and/or offensive, regardless of what the subject is or whether it happens irl. Depicting the darkness of humanity isn't a get out of jail free card for bad writing. A story can depict something that happens in real life, and it can still be poorly done because of how it's framed by the narrative and the storytelling tools available to the creator, which is how I feel about a lot of the sexual violence in Berserk. And honestly, I personally am actually pretty lenient when it comes to depictions of rape, imo. I certainly don't think it's automatically offensive (and I don't think many people do), and I even think it can be done well in casual, comedic, sexualized, aggressor/bystander-centric, etc contexts (though I def understand why that can be a contentious opinion). But I don't think Miura does it well, most of the time.

It's also reasonable to enjoy some dark things and not others. I understand why someone might enjoy Berserk's sword swinging violence but not its sexual violence, and that's fine. Not everyone should have to "deal with" every form of dark media if they like some forms of it, and I think that phrasing is very dismissive of very real reasons someone might not be willing to read a story featuring a ton of rape, or reasons they might take issue with the particular depiction of rape in that story.

Finally, these things obviously can be depicted in our media, we're discussing a professionally published manga, and your other reference was to one of the most popular tv shows of all time. Some people not enjoying fictional rape or other violence, or criticizing it, isn't a threat to these stories existing. I'm sure there will be plenty of rapey fiction for as long as fiction continues to exist.

And just as a heads up, I'm not interested in having a discussion about this. I'm guessing that we're probably not going to see eye-to-eye on whether Berserk's portrayal of rape is worth criticizing or not, and I'm not interested in convincing anyone of my perspective, so I'm fine with agreeing to disagree on this topic.

[max1461]

im dumb, too autistic and ocd to read and also stupid. what was kropotkin specifically wrong abt? is there any anarchist writer you'd recommend?

The main anarchist thinkers I've read anything by are Kropotkin, Bookchin, James C. Scott, and Noam Chomsky. All are interesting in their own way, and I'd recommend them all. I don't agree with any of them on everything, but I think if you find a writer you agree with on everything it is very likely that you're not engaging with them in a productive way. Nobody is right about everything.

What Kropotkin gets wrong, IMO, is that he appears to believe that humans only behave competitively because of the competitive systems we live under; that antisocial behavior and competition are products of capitalism and the state. He's not entirely wrong—humans are, I'm pretty sure, way more cooperative and good-willed than your average conservative gives them credit for being. People do, in fact, help each other expecting more or less nothing in return. And capitalism does actively disincentivize this, so we might fairly expect it to be more widespread in a non-capitalist system. Where he falters is in the assumption that you can base on entire society on this kind of natural good will.

For one thing, I think it's unjustified to assume that all or most self-interested competitive behavior is born of capitalism, and that in the absence of capitalism (and in the presence of sufficient cultural shifts) these sorts of behaviors would become minor enough not to worry about. That's a pretty strong claim about human nature! A claim I'm not sure Kropotkin can back up...

In addition, even supposing that all or most self-interested competitive behavior was born of capitalism, it remains the case that self interest is not the only source of competition. People have different visions of justice, different visions of an ideal world, different visions of fairness, different visions of what they and their loved ones are rightly owed, etc. Even a society of people totally unengaged in the kind of self-interested competition that is the core of capitalism will still find themselves competing over scarce resources, because "how should scarce resources be put to use" is not a question with an obvious or widely-agreed upon answer even among pro-social altruists. Thus, Kropotkin's implicit claim that in the absence of oppressive and competitive structures, people will just organize naturally to distribute scarce resources in a fair and just way looks untenable—nobody can agree on what a fair and just way would be!

Kropotkin wants to undo the present order of things, and let humans' natural inclinations for self-government and pro-social organizing create a new, organic order from the ashes. And certainly this is possible, but the assumption that this organic order would be better than the present one is, I think, founded on some very strong and not particularly well justified beliefs about human nature.

The idea is still very compelling though, and to be honest Kropotkin is just quite a good writer. You should read the Conquest of Bread, even if you disagree with his conclusions. He paints a compelling picture of a better world, does some interesting calculations about Victorian-era land productivity, invents the concept of a hackerspace, points to a few successful and interesting examples of organizations structured along anarchistic lines, and has some interesting stuff to say (probably said elsewhere more clearly, admittedly) on market inefficiencies. He was also a biologist, and his work on mutualism (though clearly infused with his politics) still forms the groundwork for the generally accepted theory of how it evolved. So that's neat.

[moonlarked]

in your opinion, who's Sophies dad? why do you think so, how do you think he'll be introduced, will it be a big deal to the story? im sure you've talked about this before but I on't remember so

my theory is Timkin Heks. it just makes sense

It’s gonna be a pretty big deal. Forkle said that if the identities of her parents we revealed, it would be a huge revelation, not just for Sophie, but for the entire Elvin world. This makes sense with Oralie, because she’s a Councillor, and Councillors aren’t supposed to have kids or be affiliated with a rebel group. Realizing that one of the rulers of the world had not only violated the no-kids rule but also had helped an illegal rebellion operating against the Council is big.

So, whoever Sophie’s dad is, the reveal will be major. I’d bet it’ll be even bigger than Oralie’s because we’re getting into the last book(s) of the series and the reveals are going to get bigger and bigger at this point as we built to the climax.

Timkin Heks is an interesting theory. He’s a fairly minor character who is shown to be antagonistic to Sophie but also helps her cause even if he disagrees with the Black Swan at points. He’s characterized as an unlikeable but not awful person who understands the need for change - he’s haughty at times but understands his status and what he had to do to get to where he is now.

If he was Sophie’s dad, she would have to grapple with someone who has been antagonistic to her being her parent. It would be sort of the opposite of Oralie - not a betrayal, because she never trusted Timkin like she did Oralie, but a revelation in a different way.

However, it would feel anticlimactic. The identity of her parents are kept secret because they could shatter the Elvin world. You could argue that Timkin being Talentless could play into this, but I don’t see it being big enough.

It would be interesting for character dynamics, but I don’t see it working in the larger narrative.

One of my favorite dad theories is Fintan Pyren. What if Fintan was a member of the Black Swan at first? The Black Swan is supposed to be centuries old - what if he joined them, but left after disagreeing with their methods about how to deal with humans?

He wouldn’t even have to know about being her father. The Black Swan could’ve gotten his dna before he left and then used it in Project Moonlark.

The revelation that he was her father could “shatter their world” because Fintan is a pyrokinetic, former council member, and a member of the Neverseen. And him being her father would add additional conflict to both of their characters.

But.

My favorite dad theory is a human.

Sophie’s father being a human would be amazing. A half human half elf connecting the two worlds together? Bringing to the forefront all of the human-elf issues that have been brewing in the background of this series?

Think about the conflict this would bring! The way so many characters would have to confront their prejudices and worldviews and confront the fact that the person bringing change to their world is part human!

Thanks for the ask!

[swanchime]

#1/2309482309482 posts about how fushiguro megumi and ryomen sukuna are girls (But Differently) no i dont have a good reason for the second one i simply know it in my heart

(umineko voice) if you are viewing this with love in your heart then you may choose to believe me after all. if you are not viewing this with love in your heart nothing i can say will convince you.

MEGUMI IS A 99TH PERCENTILE GIRL'S NAME BUT FUSHIGURO MEGUMI'S NAME IS NOT A JOKE

do u remember..........The Swimming Anime. in that anime, there's a running gag how the swim team is all "boys with girl's names" (haru, makoto, rin, nagisa, rei). however, all of these are more thoroughly unisex names, as in, boys and girls have these names. a student of mine who was a japanese high school boy said that haru is probably a boy's name nowadays, but in the year of The Swimming Anime, it may have been closer to a 50/50 split.

im pretty sure there was a haru (girl) in Ye Olde katekyo hitman reborn.

anyway. this is not about That.

it's about how "megumi" is a 99th percentile probability of being a girl's name. it's not at ALL a mixed split. it's unambiguously A Girl's Name. but there's 0 gags about how megumi is "haha a boy with a girl's name" she's not even included in the "crossdressing" gag, and im pretty sure is deliberately excluded from that jujusanpo extra.

early on in jjk, megumi talks about how her father named her "without regard for her gender," because 恵 is the kanji for "godsend / blessing," but "blessing" means something different than it does in english as in "God (mr. christ or his dad or whatever)'s Blessing!" it means "from the heavens / heavensent / godsent" <-- from A god, not necessarily The One And Only Guy Up There Who Is A Cis Man And Also White Or So White Xtian USAians Love To Espouse To Everyone Who Will Listen

INTERLUDE:

when you watch jjk, you have to do it the umi way. you shouldn't be looking at jjk as a mirror of YOUR (english-speaker / english-native) HEART. you should be looking at it as closely to a japanese perspective as you can, as a story borne from not just a human heart, but a japanese heart.

when you look at jjk, if you look at it like a mirror, only to seek your own reflection or what YOU can gain from it, you will fail utterly and completely / the mangaka's mirror will shatter.

jjk is the precious egg of akutami gege's heart. it is also their 天与呪縛 (tenyo jubaku), as muta kokichi (mechamaru) says. it is a mirror of their soul, and i firmly believe it should be handled with the utmost care and respect. and love, too. and love.

/end interlude

so when you look at megumi, you can't dismiss her as just "HAHA ANOTHER BOY WITH A GIRL'S NAME JUST LIKE IN THAT SWIMMING ANIME!"

megumi is a name borne from her father's spite and hatred of the zen-in clan.

(yes, i know the official transliteration is zen'in but i personally disdain the ' as a marker in names, so i use the - ; it is a translation decision. i disagree with most of the ones in jjk.) toji wanted megumi to inherit the famed jujutsu-shiki (curse technique affinity / ability) of the zen-in's despite toji no longer being one of them.

it's basically done with the intent of naming ur kid a huge FUCK U I HOPE THIS SPAWN OF MINE PROVES THAT I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG! but with 0 regard for the designated gender at birth of the child or any regard for the child as inhabiting a human soul and not just an object to prove a point.

of course, megumi DOES inherit the "ten shadows" --> i dont like this translation. it has no flair. my stylistic choice would be to translate it in an intuitive latin root way, since "invented words" in english stem from ancient greek/latin roots, so a stylish way that conveys the "oooh cool!" factor of the original japanese instead of dulling it down into nothing this blade would not even pierce paper, like trying to cut a piece of paper in half with a river stone. good luck! anyway

i would translate the 十種影法術 as (decima umbra). latin for 10th and shadow. it's intuitive to anyone who has read a lot of english, and it just sounds cool to anyone who hasn't, yet it looks like some kind of harry potter spell so it has that flavor to it.

ANYWAY the whole point of megumi's name is that toji named a """""cis""""" boy a 99th percentile girl's name bc he didn't give a fuk about the kid. it was just an object of revenge to him.

ANYWAY STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT POST IN THE MEGUMI AND SUKUNA TRANS'D GENDER SERIES

ON MEGUMI'S CHARACTER DESIGN AS REFLECTIVE OF HER 別に ATTITUDE REGARDING SEXUALITY AND GENDER AND HER (fear-based) NONCOMMITAL APPROACH TO...BASICALLY ANYTHING! but also inclusive of her keeping her own selfhood close to her chest and her hair (as the hedgehog's dilemma)

with bonus...................sukuna. he's also in there. did i say he was also a girl. yes he is. a very beautiful and wet meow.

[felidaefatigue]

so me n my partner spend a lot of our couch time watching stupid youtube things right. and i have a fuckin rant abt something we watched.

[[MORE]]

And he is a lot more... willing to humor white male shit essentially right. cause hes a white boy. and hes like, pretty leftish mostly, enjoys talking politics and philosophy, is very social, very community oriented. But also is like, rural alberta farm boy and also very openly has some views that are like. "counter" mainstream leftist talking points; which honestly i rarely have problems with and usually agree with the nuances of or at least see where they come from; and im talking like. naunces of gun control and him leaning more anarchist and having issue with some of canadas un issue points- which i generally dont disagree with. like hunters wanting access to rifles that can have more than one shot so they can humanely kill aninals they might not have got a clean shot on. like i can fuck with that logic. Not like. white suprem shit or anything.

ANYWAY. back to the youtube point. so we also both like to watch thing that lean right just to like. keep informed stay out of the trap of insular bubble sometimes. and were watching this one guy who like. honestly generally pretty politically unoffensive, more just vulgar and absurdism. but he did a video about (mainly) women posting videos from the gym painting men in a predatory light, with a lot of emphasis on how illogical and unfair the women are, how the men are "just doing normal if not polite things".

and i have a lot of beef with it. like im genuinely quite angry and started seeing if i could feasibly contact this man to have a more nuanced discussion. which im pretty sure no cause hes p popular and im sure the video is at least to some degree clickbait.

but this idea really gets me. because its one of the misogynist talking points my partner is more vulnerable to as well. like the.. frustration white men feel often of being ostracised, demonised, pushed aside for the sake of other demographics nowadays. and i dont want to sound like i think that is a more important talking point, but its where he often sticks right. like why do they get priority type vibes. But this whole video is predicated on the fact that "oh men cant exist in public without being villainized on the internet" bUT LIKE. THE WOMEN ARE JUST SCARED.

like a lot of the women wERE saying and doing dumb shit. sure. but what men cANT GET THROUGH THEIR FUCKING HEADS. is WOMEN. FEAR. YOU. not YOU. or what your doing, just MEN. ENTIRELY. yea these dudes WERE doing things that may have been completely nuetral. glancing towards movement, asking about equipment, etc. nothing they did was outright predatory. but MEN as a concept are predatory. as many women die every year as some entire war death counts. largely at tge hands of men. men are literally the biggest risk to their lives. you dont HAVE to be doing anything wrong. your physical proximity is a RISK. that nuetral glance could be one from someone taking stock of if you are a potential victim. women dONT KNOW you are safe. they have NO REASON to assume as such.

like i agree a lot of the videos are unnecessary and probably only are posted for content and rage farming and would be better not existing. but like. god men need to check their egos and their hurt. like white women tears are one thing but white mens tears are MMM. Somethin else. youre mad cause a woman assessed your nuetral actions as a threat. but why does she have to do that. why do we see eye contact for a millisecond as a potential threat. why are you a threat. even when your not. bECAUSE MEN HURT WOMEN. ALL THE FUCKING TIME. its FEAR. not logic. get over your fuckin butthurt if your not an abuser gREAT DONT WORRY ABOUT IT. god damn.

[larnax]

Path actions ranked by how much they would ruin my day from least to most

bribe. i don't have to do anything and i get money out of it. 5000L for the location of one healing grape not so bad

inquire. well i don't get any money but it's still not that bad, also i get to talk to castti

scrutinize. well i don't get any money and if someone was save scumming so i had to stop for 20 minutes while osvald failed dice rolls to pry my spicy food preferences out of me i would be pretty annoyed but again i don't have to do anything and a successful scrutinize is just an inquire but i get to talk to osvald

purchase. i only have to sell the things i want to and i get money out of it. idk why you're trying to purchase my wallet for more than the money in my wallet but-- aw what cute puppy dog eyes, a little discount just for you my man-- wait

entreat. well at least she's cute

soothe. hey i get to save one night's worth of sleep meds hey wait a second. where did the contents of the three gold chests that take up my entire house go...

steal. losing my wallet and my singular grape leaf sucks but nobody in solistia seems to have more than like one olive's worth of cash on them at any given time

ambush. throné might be an expert but like he is knocking me unconscious and the icon implies hes using a knife. also all my stuff is gone

provoke. to be perfectly honest with you i think this one would probably ruin my week. ive never actually been attacked by 5 consecutive shadow remnants but it seems like it would hurt.

challenge. again i feel like having brand's thunder unleashed on me would suck. slightly more annoying than provoke because if he wins hikari also steals my finishing move, which, like, cmon. im townsperson #54, please dont copy my triple stab, its all i have.

mug. metatextually the fact that you dont lose reputation for this apparently means people dont have a problem with it but idk man. i would still personally rather you just stole from me instead of hitting me with triple-boosted peacock-strut elemental barrage and THEN taking all my shit

coerce. i would actually rather have the shit beaten out of me and my precious singular grape leaf stolen than have temenos force me to play a stupid minigame where he uses his empath powers to force me to give a false confession. can i fucking go home

hire. you might disagree with this being so high but even if he pays me 2000L once i do not want to be dragged around all of solistia and forced to participate in battles, again i am random townsperson #54. why am i fighting the deep one. mr partitio sir what is that large machine mr roque is piloting and why are you pointing at me and then it and saying "go get em tiger". however at least i do get paid once

befriend. sure i would love to be buddies with ochette and eat her delicious cooking but again ms ochette my 9 to 5 is standing in front of the item shop even if i get to stand behind you i still dont want to fight glacis.

allure. well at least shes cute and i get to dance???

guide. 0/10 he kidnapped me into following him because "the flame said so" dragged me around the entire continent for 80 ingame hours forced me to commit like ten human rights violations and took me to racism village. i didnt even get a tshirt

[alyimoss]

to me, xpap is pretty close to a "perfect" swap papyrus by my own metrics. bc ill be honest, i personally have never liked the traditional "sans is now just papyrus, papyrus is now just sans" swap. ive always preferred swaps like ts underswap, where their roles (and maybe some aspects of their personalities) are swapped, but theyre still distinct characters rather than preexisting ones wearing a different shell. xpap is that to me.

he retains classic's positivity. he retains his energy and his motivation. pretty sure jakei has explicitly said that, like classic, xpapyrus has that belief in every single person, though id say he takes a different approach to it.

he's more violent. more likely to kill. classic is actually more violent than people give him credit for: sure, he wont kill you, but hell give you a pretty fucking brutal beating, and he's always stoked to spar with undyne, which as you can imagine is not a harmless process on eother side bc its fucking undyne. but he wont kill, because a huge facet of his character is his own moral code (his integrity if you will gets shot gets shot gets shot), and that includes not resorting to killing because of his belief that anyone can be a better person if they try! and you cant really try if youre dead.

xpapyrus has killed and will kill, most likely because thats something he has been trained for. not necessarily in the royal guard - i dont see them training to kill bc their whole thing was protecting frisk and not rlly agitating humanity too much?? which wouldnt work too well if they were killing them constantly. but i do see them resorting to it in extreme situations - i think xgaster and the way he raised them plus his own pushing his sons (and others) in certain directions to better suit his future wouldve contributed to that a lot more. however, we dont have much on that really (or if we do i havent seen it. sigh why must so much xtale content be deleted...)

despite his positivity, he is noticeably more jaded than classic, most likely because he knows the circumstances of his universe and his being. he's more laid-back, im pretty sure in the timeline x comic he tells cross to take a nap and says something implying that they have the classic swap thing of "now papyrus is the nap guy while sans hates naps and sleeping", which i think fits.

at least from what weve see so far, xpap seems less. "performative", lets say. because despite his morals, classic pap is also known for sort of. playing a role. he plays the confident cool guy who has lots of friends and admirers and therefore doesnt need any more, and thats not to say that he isnt cool and awesome, but that he feels the need to compensate for his insecurities via the "fake it til you make it" method. also, if you pay attention to things like his phone call dialogues, you see him constantly contradicting himself and switching what he does and doesnt know depending on who's with him. he has a delicately and deliberately crafted persona, tailored to the people around him so they can find him more likeable. i dont really see xpapyrus doing that.

he seems more open, less willing to be pushed around. thats not to say classic is a pushover - hed object to something like, that, too. but hes more likely to go along with certain things if he thinks itll make him more likeable. like his phonecall with undyne in grillbys. she says she fucking loves grease, so papyrus backtracks on his grease hate to talk about how much he loves it (but also, i believe if you talkto him in front of his house when undynes there too, he outright admits he doesnt like grease?? so idk what changes between that and the grillby's phonecall. maybe the fact that in the latter, undyne specifically expresses an opposition to his own opinion and he feels if they clash like that, their friendship will be tarnished?? idfk this man is a mystery to everyone but himself but probably himself also). i think if it was xpap instead, hed just agree to disagree, or maybe start a like. play-argument of sorts.

same thing i can see with a scene like the one where you see undyne for the first time - he tries to tell her that frisk is cool and friendly and they dont have to fight and she doesnt have to kill them!! but undyne is clearly unhappy w this idea and papyrus backs down pretty quickly (though he obviously still works to help you bc he wants to be friends rather than enemies). xpapyrus i think would not back down, at least not so easily.

and i think his belief in people is different from classic's in the way that, yes, he does believe people can be good. he does believe in choices and the ability to make the right ones. he also, however, believes that he doesnt have to stick around for that shit if he doesnt want to. he believes that sometimes, too much is too much, that anyone can make the right choice, and in this moment his right choice is getting rid of whoever has wronged him. "dont kill" isnt imprinted in his moral code like it seems to be for classic, so hes more. "flexible" in his options for dealing with people who just wont listen. he wont go out of his way to injure or kill, but hes not above doing those things for whatever reason he deems necessary (and i do believe it has to be a necessity for him, he wont do it otherwise).

like overall he very much still evokes "classic papyrus" - hes full of positivity and energy, he sticks to his morals and beliefs, he loves to fight, he believes in people. but hes also more "mature", a bit more mellow. he's laid-back. he's measured in his views and expectations of people. he's more "open", more willing to be himself no matter the situation or who hes around. honestly, id say hes a swap papyrus if, rather than the swap being in relation to being more "sans-like", it was more about being the opposite of being "papyrus-like", if you know what i mean.

idk theres a lot i dont know. what i do know, however, is that i love and care him. if he doesnt play a big role in 0.8, either part one or part 2 (or both) i will riot.

if you do find the comic you were talking abt... tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell m

ok so. i talk a lot about how cross is a swap sans, and his au is a mashup of a classic and swap timeline, right?

well. xpapyrus also acts like a swap papyrus too i feel. obviously he’s not entirely a swap pap, given how he’s in the royal guard and has a lot of energy and more outgoing personality. he’s a blend of a classic and swap papyrus. given the outgoing ability and efficiency while keeping some swap papyrus traits. notably, how willing he is to harm others. obviously he’s not going around beating the shit out of people, but unlike classic papyri, he would hurt or even kill people. this includes cross, his brother. “he remembered the cruelty of xgaster”, classic papyrus in underverse after remembering all of the resets didn’t dare harm frisk, the person making his universe’s resets happen.

crazy how xpapyrus says this given he completely had the intention to kill cross. like he was 100% willing did you see those blasters. also stop deadnaming your brother :(

he’s also generally been a fairly snarky kid compared to cross. cross fears xgaster as a child (because xgaster is implied to beat the shit out of his kids. crazy how we ignore that one), and still does as an adult, but as a child it’s. it’s obvious yk? but papyrus never really gave a shit. xgaster can mistreat him all he wants but he’s going to call him out whenever applicable. in the ‘looks like we have to kill this guy steven’ meme, he would be garnet. he and 1-S would be friends as kids because both would most likely let their gasters die under certain circumstances, whilst 2-P and cross would be more similar (both want approval and acceptance from their fathers/gasters, and both defended him despite how there is literally no reason to not let him die, etc).

also, compared to classic papyrus, xtale papyrus is more laid back at times. there’s this comic jakei made ages ago which shows it really well and i’m trying to find it but god it’s so old and also deleted i think. i have it saved somewhere hold on. WDYM I DONT HAVE IT SAVED. hold on. wow ok 2 hours later and i have no idea where it is. but he’s chiller than the other papyri and more comparable to swap papyrus at timessigh

idk just thinking