#(at least outside of politcs)

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

The zoomer anon, you know that official works with the malice part remind how I got into comics

“Man I love this complex character I sure do-aaaand the next writer character assassinate the living fuck out of them because of personal bias or editorial mandates”

I could work at the marvel and dc comic divisions, I would either murder about 50% of my coworkers or burn down the HQs

Actually both most likely sorry with modern “takes” on Tony stark, Damian Wayne, and dear LORD what they did to Starfire and Barbra Gordan

I often wonder

“How the FUCK did these writers went with such interpretations?!”

Welcome to the pain of being a long time comic reader, my friend.

I've said a few times that I gave up on Marvel with Civil War, but what made me give up on mainstream comics as a whole was twofold. One, I hated the New 52 reboot. It ripped everything up everything I liked about DC and replaced it with cheap knockoffs and diversity hires. But after Rebirth, I started to soften a bit on DC. I read a few of the Scott Snyder Batman comics and didn't hate them. But the thing that really intrigued me was Peter Tomasi's Super Sons. I discovered it late into the run through image sets and meta a mutual from my old, non-politcs blog posted and it looked like a lot of fun. I heard the book was ending and I decided to wait until it was done to start reading it properly, so I could have a nice contained story to read and maybe use as a jumping on point to dip my toes back into DC full time. Maybe I'd even finally get into Superman, which I've tried a few times over the years, but he'd never really caught on with me the way Batman did.

Then I heard what Bendis did to Jon Kent, and I realized there was no point in ever getting invested in any of the Big Two ever again. Anything you like will inevitably be changed, and changed in a big, negative way. Editorial mandates and writers with a grudge against a character will always find a way to mess up anything that manages to somehow be good. Mainstream comics is a fully compromised art form. The days of Denny O'Neil, Chuck Dixon, Greg Rucka, Chris Claremont and the like were well and truly dead. The days of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seem like a fever dream, because how could comics ever actually be that good?

Honestly, the best thing that could happen to our favorite characters is entering the public domain. The horrible takes will multiply, but there will at least be a non-zero chance of seeing a long running story with those characters done right for the first time in years, if not decades.

Until then, if that ever happens, we either reread the books we used to love and ignore the rest, or we try to find new voices outside of mainstream comics. For the latter, I can't recommend Eric July's Rippaverse enough. They even have Chuck Dixon writing for them now, and his first book, Alphacore, was great.

[toxictac]

Got some of that "ai translator vs localisor" drama on my twitter feed, here is my unsolited two cents

On one hand i think is the undenyable that there are bad localisacions be that small or big, some localisacions directly or undirectly can change the tone and information a scene displays in many ways While it can be to the benefit of making it easier for an outside audience of another country to understand or simply add on some fun extra characterisation, it more than not it can and sometimes does affect how that dialogue is percive This can mischaracterise or maybe create a seudo narrative the original work did not have

This is the biggest draw back and what i feel most people are upset about localisations, because localisations by nature modified in small or big ways how the text is conbaveyed it can alter the original intent of the game/story This is potencially even more so when things like politics or lingo enter to the mix (as someone who lives in latino america and watched cartoons, i can atest the last point) I am not saying that "those damn localisors made the games political", but it is undenyable for me there are too many examples to not say there isnt at the very least a passing intent, whenever you belive its good or bad goes more out to the person

That being said the ai translation is dumb, just for starter i am not a suporter of making people lossing jobs (shocking i know), nor people getting payed less because of ai (double shocking) A lot of the time ai supporters, gravitated to the idea of translators being "lazy" or "buyest" to an idology they spray on everything they touch, while i feel there is a point to it, the idea that a direct translation is better is kinda bafeling to me I mean for starters direct translations arent always possible, sometimes somthing either doesnt have an equivelent or it does but it has multiple ways to be said or added meaning (or both) There is a sence of the belive of "sanctity" to the idea of the "original intent" to this people, which leads to an almost elist way to look at the work, kinda ironicly regardless of the original intent or the autors intent Not to even say even tho they sell themselfs as almost apolitical they are (more likely than not) people with extreme politcal views that will be angry if an ip does something they dont like

Then looking at both groups it is quite clear why that both groups are both right and wrong in some aspects, and there is a deeper discousion about the works as is, the way that lenguage changes its meaning, to what extend we can change what was another autors works to fit more in what is consider "correct" and many more that are always promply shove aside for the sake of our daily dosis of politcal drama Personaly, i am a very beliver of enjoying the autors works as is, meaning that i always prefer a more closer to the original translator, however i am able to conside with changes for the sake of reading compreantion, some changes can be fun and make the reading expirience better, some feel out of place and detrimental Overall my biggest problem always come with online discousion and to consilidate what a story does, because you need to make it compreinsible but to add stuff that isnt on the text carelessly or even more to add contridictory stuff to "fix it" is bad in many cases However ai translation is bad because it takes away jobs, give you a mediocer version of a translation, does not have nuence about things like intent or context and is just kinda a shitty thing to propose In my humble opinion, translation has to be done carefully and with the direct intent to not change the overall idea of the translated story, in my view if this is not meet, you should be told you did a bad job, however to amke it so all trasnlations are bad because a select few are bad is dumb

[progressivemother]

Veterans Day, Remembrance Day, Armistice Day

As someone who comes a from a military family, veterans day is important to some extent. But knowing the history of Veterans Days and the military is also of great importance. This is something I remind me children of each year.

Regardless of politcal leanings or attitudes, am I sure we can all agree that the military does have an important part to play within and without a country. My family tends to be apart of the Marines on both sides (mother's and father's) and two are veterans. My brother broke unspoken family "rule" and joined the army. But we celebrate them and others who joined and lived through different wars.

A brief history of the military is important to teach ourselves and our children in order for them to learn where is came from and why it was created. Violent conflict, and the organization of society for such conflict, has always been a vital part of history. No matter what country you are in, there is a history of the military and why it was needed from the oldest battle accounts of the Egyptian king Thutmose III to Mongols. Armed force is a constituent element of a country’s combined military services. Modern armed forces are commonly divided into specialized branches dealing with land, naval, and air warfare. The military is a socialist program that citizens pay for members and their families to be well taken care of so that citizens are protected from potential threats.

The most amazing thing about the military, at least in the USA, is that it is one of the most diverse groups you will ever see. There are different races, cultures, lgbtqia, religions, political leanings, etc and they are able to forget those differences and just be together in a symbol of brotherhood while watching each other's backs. It would be amazing to see this outside of the military.

November 11th was chosen for a reason. In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America’s veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). It's significant.

Here are some ways to teach children about veterans day:

1. Let them speak to veterans. It could be someone in your family or simply someone you know.

2. Read a book about veterans and what it means to the people of country you live in. The website Teaching With Children’s Books has a number of options for kids of all ages.

3. Raise money. I have noticed within my country that many veterans are forgotten about and forced into situations such as homelessness due to health issues from war that they don't have control over. It's saddening to see. Find veteran organizations near you amd have your kids give some money to those organizations. Our veterans need to be cared for.

4. Talk about the freedoms that the country has due to the military. Discuss these with your child to help make them aware of the everyday liberties they have thanks to veteran and explain how many of those in the military often cannot see family members due to fighting for the country.

5. Watch a Veterans Day video for kids. A great way to impart Veterans Day knowledge on your little one while providing visuals is to show them a Veterans Day video for kids.

So let us not make this day about something political. Make it about the ones who survived the horrors of war and who deserve to be recognized for that. Make it about the history of the day and of the military what it represents to us and why it something worth having. Make it a teaching moment for our kids about the history of the military and the history of the day and what it represents. The sacrifices of each nation’s military are big and small – made up of heroic moments that define a person and lifelong concessions for the sake of defending freedoms.

[bitchfitch]

Tbh on the watsonian level I kinda think it might be more than just a politcing thing. Im chewing on it while i wind down for the night and to me at least the three of them as a throuple feels a lot better than just sidlink now. Like I love me some angst, but this version of Link has never felt to me like someone who would stay put very long or like someone who could come back quickly when he does eventually need to just Go. and Sidon sorta deserves better than that even if that wildness is something he admires and loves in Link.

Sidon and Yona Vibe well and the whole childhood friends getting to be in love and eventually marry as adults after actual decades of growing up in this long distance friendship feels Good, can you Imagine the pining? I need to spend more time with Yona to continue getting a feel for her personality and Whole deal and like what she'd get out of an arrangement like this. But from what I've seen of her so far, she really doesn't seem like someone who would be ultra fussed about her guy having a little something on the side with his 'closest companion'.

I do have some anxieties that are far more doyalist in nature but those are like. Idk. It makes sense for a prince character to end up engaged in a sequel, but I've seen so many showrunners and creative teams behind projects i enjoy give previously single characters opposite sex partners purely bc the character in question was too popular amongst the queer community or were too commonly shipped in same sex pairings to not be like a Little sus about this.

I guess my tldr is that i feel Yona really balances things out and makes something good better. but her existence within this work feels a Little icky especially when the developers spent so much time in the last game establishing just how single Sidon was. Like i love him, but Sidon was very obviously written to appeal to women in that kinda misogynistic corporate way where the thinking is that Obviously the only reason a Girl or young woman would care about a video game is if there's a man she can crush on and, for lack of a better term, ship herself with in it.

Its probably even why he was written to be so affectionate towards Link, the vessel these suits were expecting the women to wholly project onto. Its a form of fanservice people don't tend to recognize As fanservice because it's so disconnected from the reality of how people are going to interact with this world. Maybe if Link was just a blank slate character you could customize at the start of the game it wouldve been more obvious and actually worked. but he's not. he's Link. the characters in this story interact with him and not his puppeteer. Sidon being ultra smiley with Link even when he's not smiling outside of their conversation animations, extremely friendly towards him, and telling the player how much he wants Link to visit him more often doesn't read as crush material for 15 to 25 year old women. it reads as deeply homosexual.

Those kinds of characters basically never get cannon love interests because it defeats the point and destroys the 'illusion' that would let the ~silly girls~ who only care about boys and Romance in a story self ship with them.

So in that context with the knowledge of how Insanely popular Sidon is with gay men, and fanfic writers... Yona's existence within the narrative Feels Weird and kind Rough and Bad even if i like her as a character and think she works well even in the context of the broader fanon surrounding Sidon and Link.

this post got away from me. you can tell from the tldr where i meant it to end. but Yeah. Watsonian good, Doyalist is suspect.

MOTHER FUCKER SPOTTED T POSING. GAY SHIT IM GOING TO HAVE TO BANISH THE CHILD FOR TO ENSUE.

[ahnsael]

Semi-long post, but no “read more” because I’m just too ANGRY to even bother.

So...we have a guy who comes into my work once in a while Maybe two-three times a week (although I only saw him once this work week, and he left without being served before I could tell him he wasn’t welcome).

He’s usually already VERY drunk when he arrives. Once in a while, he’s not, and we’ll sell him a beer or two before we decide he’s had enough (he’s “perma-drunk” enough that it doesn’t take much to get him back to his normal drunken state). I mean, we’re a casino. We usually give away drinks for free. But this guy doesn’t gamble, so we make him pay for his drinks. Despite what some people think about drinking in casinos, we’re not an open bar. Maybe it’s different in Reno or Vegas, but...we’re a small casino in a small town. We’re GOING to notice, when there are less than 10 people in the casino, when you’re asking for a drink but not gambling (or, in the case of other people we charge for drinks, if you’re gambling 1¢ per game, in which case we’re gonna charge you for your drink -- we have certain levels of gambling you have to meet if we’re gonna comp you a drink).

But we’re also not “all-you-can-drink.” We do our best to serve responsibly. Even our big gamblers have to wait 20 minutes between drinks. The human body can process two drinks per hour, so even at 20 minutes in between, we’re serving more than the body can process in an hour -- but we don’t mind people getting tipsy (if they have a designated driver)...that’s good for business, in all honesty, in the casino game. But...what’s bad for business is letting people get HAMMERED and creeping out other guests (or our staff).

When we cut this person off (we know his name, but we mostly refer to him as “Tall Guy” since he’s about 7′ tall), it’s final for the night. Which the shift before me, knowing that I have dealt with this jerk many times, is very good about telling me that he’s been there and that they cut him off or refused to serve him due to him already being drunk when he showed up.

I mean, even when this guy is deemed okay for a drink or two at my work until we cut him off, he then walks to another casino a couple blocks away and drinks more there until THEY cut him off (and they take WAY longer to cut someone off than we do), and then he comes back to our casino to try to drink more. I’ve honestly turned this guy down for drinks WAY more often than we’ve served him.

I tried to talk one of my bosses into letting us permanently cut him off -- just not serve him any alcohol, ever, no matter how sober he may seem. I lost that battle. To be fair to this boss, he fought the same battle over someone else, and lost that battle to HIS boss, so he was basically just giving me the same answer he got.

But last week, on one of my days off, he came in. Drunk, of course.

Our other graveyard manager is a lady. And he came in on my night off and was not just hitting on her, but following her around after she said she wasn’t interested, accused her of “leading him on” (trust me, I know this lady -- she does NOT lead people on; she’s not looking for a man), and apparently badgered her for quite a while during her shift. She has been nice to him in the past because IT’S OUR JOB TO BE NICE TO PEOPLE. And she’s been on the job for maybe 5 months. It took me three years in this job to realize that sometimes you HAVE to be an asshole to people (like one guy last night, different guy than the one I’m talking about, who came in drunk off his keister, and got mad and me for not being willing to give him a beer even though he was gambling; he said “why can’t I get a beer?” and while all my Disney training says to respond in a kind and non-confrontational way, my current state of mind had me ready with my reply of “because you’re already drunk” -- no sugarcoating required on a casino graveyard shift; when he argued that he wasn’t drunk, I just replied with “yes, you are” and walked away).

I found out about this situation four days ago from another guest who was there and saw it. The next day, the manager involved texted me to tell me about it herself (which I was glad she did, because the guest who told me about it is known to embellish things). And I unfortunately know this guy well enough from his past behavior in the casino to know, once she told me about it and it wasn’t hearsay from another guest, that it’s true. I don’t NEED Tall Guy’s side of the story (even if he actually remembers it in his perma-drunk state).

I’ve been nice to this guy in the past. It led to my first dates in 11 years (not with him, obviously), but more on that below.

So I reminded our other grave manager when I worked with her this week that she DOES have the power to 86 this guy for up to 72 hours without getting higher approval. I also showed her how to get our county sheriff’s department (the non-emergency line) on speed dial, which I have programmed into our wireless phones (obviously if she feels in danger 9-1-1 is best) in case she doesn’t have time to look up their non-emergency number, and told her that if this happens again when I’m not there to help, CALL THEM. And if she wants to 86 him, CALL THEM before she presents the trespass notice so a deputy or two can be there in case he has the urge to react in a stupid way -- he’s usually good at rejection from me, when I refuse to serve him or ask him to leave, but...given what I learned about him this week, that may not be the case with my other grave manager (and honestly it pisses me off more that he reacts differently to her if I’m not there than he does to me when I am there than anything else -- if he’s treating her as “less-than” because she has boobs, that is inexcusable). In this county, at least, deputies are MORE THAN HAPPY to back us up on stuff like this (and, trust me, I much prefer being on their good side to being on their bad side -- they LOVE doing their jobs).

But, aside from policy and aside from “call the cops if you need them,” the next time I see this guy, he and I are going to have some SERIOUS words with each other.

I mean, it’s gonna be off the record. I’m not going to report it unless it escalates (and I will grab my cell phone, which I’m not supposed to carry at work, just in case I need to call for backup, though I doubt I will need it), and it will be on surveillance since the door I take him out of leads to an area that is covered by several cameras, but...the next time I see him, which will likely be within the next week, I’m going to ask him to accompany me outside for a conversation, so I can do this out of the view/hearing of our other guests. And then I am going to verbally LAY INTO HIM. In more crass terms, I’m going to CHEW HIS ASS OUT.

I had to clarify with the other manager last night that when I said I was going to “take him outside and have words with him” that I wasn’t saying I was going to take him outside and beat him up. Even though I kind of want to, that’s not my style. I’d rather use words than fists. And I’m honestly probably more effective that way in an altercation.

I mean, on the off chance that he does square up against me, I am confident in my ability against him (I’m not overly confident in my fighting abilities overall, and would rather not test them, but if it came to that and deputies couldn’t get there in time, this guy is perma-drunk enough that I’m pretty sure I could fake an uppercut or left hook and then go for his knees to take him down, and hopefully hold him in place until the law arrived).

But I’m gonna go off on him. He can NOT treat my fellow employees like that. Manager or not. He cannot keep bugging guests, like he was doing before I tried to get my boss to let me permanently cut him off from alcohol.

(Come to think of it, I think I’m going to make the solo call to permanently cut him off anyway, despite my boss -- who has never seen this guy -- saying no; that’s a liability that we do NOT need, and I’d rather get in trouble for refusing to sell someone a $2.50 beer than to end up on the hook for him doing something stupid after we served him alcohol -- the basic rule of running a bar is that if someone does something stupid, or gets hurt, or worse, hurts someone else while drunk, it’s on the last place that served them, unless they were drinking out of a bottle at home in which case there’s no bar to blame).

But...

I mean, this is the guy who set me up on the two dates I had a few months ago (and then immediately acted like he was jealous that she was going to go out with me when she wouldn’t go out with him, even though HE was the one who tried to get us together). He later told me he tried to set me up with her because he had offered her a place to stay, and he hoped that after a couple dates I’d let her move in with me so he could get her out of his house (I’ve learned to know better than to do that -- through experience). She moved on from his house before our second date and was staying with a co-worker -- she wasn’t for me, but she WAS smart enough to get away from this asshole.

So...aside from the fact that I’ve had to tell this guy on at least a dozen occasions that I’m not going to let him drink at our casino because he’s already drunk as heck, I’ve got history with him.

And I’m DONE being nice to him, regardless of his blood alcohol content when he shows up.

I can handle my own stuff (most of the time, until about 6-10 years later when I have a total meltdown like I did recently -- but since I just had one I’m hoping I should be good for a while now). But...you fuck with my co-worker? You’ve fucked with me, whether you meant to or not.

I had a TERRIBLE co-worker’s back when a regular guest flirted with her to the point it made her uncomfortable (in that case, he was pretty much harmless, but I had to tell him to back off, but in a friendly non-confrontational “Please lay off on that, she’s not comfortable with that kind of flirting” sort of way).

But this situation is different. Tall Guy followed this other manager around wherever she went. He kept interrupting her while she was doing regulatory things that she HAS to do. He told her that she was LEADING HIM ON because she’s been nice to him in the past -- but IT’S OUR JOB TO BE NICE TO PEOPLE. She ended up hiding in the women’s restroom to get away from him. And I CANNOT have my co-workers having to fear dealing with our guests. That’s not on her, she’s a strong woman who, in the time we’ve worked together, I’ve seen stand up to things that I would struggle with. This is ENTIRELY on this one asshole who doesn’t know when to say when -- on alcohol, or on interpersonal communications. Because no matter how many times she excused herself, or how blatant she was about “I have work to do, leave me alone,” he just kept at it.

So...the next time I see this guy, I’m going to tell him that he is not welcome in our casino. I don’t have the power to permanently 86 someone, but I’m going to pretend that I do, and I’m just going to start issuing 72 hours trespass notices as many times as it takes for him to take the hint. And if he comes in DURING one of those 72-hour periods, I’m going to have him arrested for trespassing.

But none of that is going to happen until I have my chance to CHEW HIM OUT. I don’t know that I can teach him manners, but I’m certainly going to let him know that he lacks them.

[drwcn]

Hi,

how do you feel about that whole scene where it was revealed jc had wwx's core. Because reading it in the manhua now (I've read in the translated novel and watched cql) I really hate wwx and lwj during that scene. I think they were in the wrong (wwx had himself expelled from the sect and lwj is an outsider that has no business being in there) and I was curious how you see that whole thing.

Hope you have a nice day.

Hi friend!

My personal opinion is that the only person in the wrong in that scene is Wen Ning.

I'm referring to more or less the cql plot line.

I don't feel either Jiang Cheng or Lan Wangji or Wei Wuxian are in the wrong based on the stance that they take and the information they know.

If you take Jiang Cheng's stance: you don't know jack shit. Nobody tells you anything. You still don't really know why after your shixiong went missing, he became a sith lord. You tried approaching him about it when he was alive the first time around but he just pushed you away. I mean at that time you were barely more than a kid yourself, trying to keep it together for your new found sect, trying to play at being an adult and incidentally being played by every other adult who was way better at the politcs game than you were. And then your shixiong chose to protect the Wen Remnants, which in and of itself was not a bad thing and you knew it. But you couldn't help. You wanted to, at least for Wen Qing, but you couldn't. You knew you couldn't because you're a Jiang and the Wens killed your family- slaughtered your parents - and maybe not these specific Wens, but that didn't matter and that was just how things were in the world you lived in (if you're not cn and you don't get it, just trust me on this trope, take my word for it). That was why you went to find Wei Wuxian and tried to talk to him about it but instead of explaining shit to you, Wei Wuxian decided to "defect" and then you had to fake fight about it. And then you had to pretend to hate him in front of other people. And you know...you were faking it until you made it and you thought everything would be fine. Things were kinda quiet for a while. You invited Wei Wuxian to your nephew's celebration and then HE KILLED JIN ZIXUAN. WHAT?? And then before you knew it the Wen Remnants were giving themselves up and everyone was storming Nevernight and Wei Wuxian was Sith Lord on Meth and giving Anankin Skywalker a run for his money.

And then your sister died and you just lost it. Yeah you tried stabbing Wei Wuxian, but who didn't those days am I right? Besides, he let go of Lan Wangji's hand himself...

The point is, it's been 16 years and you still don't know anything. You don't know why Wei Wuxian is doing ANY of this bullshit and you just wish you know something for once for fuck sake. The running theory is that Wei Wuxian = Evil, and you know that's not true. Wei Wuxian = Jackass, yeah, that might be true. You just don't understand why Wei Wuxian doesn't give a shit about being a Yunmeng Jiang, why he would stand with literally anyone else - the Wen Remnants, Lan Wangji, Wen Ning - but not with you.

And you're SO angry, you just want to fight him. Like the ways boys do, one fight to settle the score. Maybe you can punch the truth out of him. How did he get resurrected in the first place huh? What the fuck is that all about?

And then you know. Because Wen Ning tells you in the cruellest way possible. You know now why he couldn't stay because Wei Wuxian had given you everything he could give, and that there was nothing else left he could offer.

The truth is worse than you ever imagined, and knowing the truth doesn't fix you. You're still alone, still broken.

If you take Wei Wuxian's stance: sure you might have "defected" but you never really defected, not in your heart. You'll always be a Yunmeng Jiang. Lotus Pier is your home. You swore to Madam Yu you'd protect Jiang Cheng and you did that. Look at him, he's a sect leader now, a goddamn strong one at that. That's a success right? Then why doesn't it feel like one. Why are you still miserable, still cast out, when all you want is to come home.

Oh, yeah you know why. Because shijie is dead. She died more or less because of you, at least it feels that way. That peacock Jin Zixuan too. You still don't understand how it all went so wrong. But you're tangled up in the thick of it, and you can't extract yourself. You are responsible, at least in some sense. Responsible for being stubborn, for thinking you had everything under control. Responsible for your pride and arrogance.

You know why you can't come home. Because you still carry that one giant secret you swore you'd carry to you grave and never let anyone know. And you did technically carry that shit to the grave, but now you're alive again, and honestly who the fuck prepares for this kind of scenario? This is not the kind of truth that should ever see the light of day. You don't ever regret a single goddamn thing you ever did on that hill in Yiling, but jesus christ you miss home and you just want to come home. So now that you're here, in the ancestral hall, how can you not pay your respects?

And of course Jiang Cheng is angry, you know why he's angry. YOu never told him jack shit. But you're too tired to fight him. It's been so many years and you just want to move on. Let Jiang Cheng hate you if he wants to; you've made peace with that.

If you take Lan Wangji's stance: this fucking Jiang family drama is worse than soup drama. You're not really sure what the ever loving fuck went down between Jiang Wanyin and Wei Ying but at this point, it's too late to go through all that history. The love of your life was dead and came back to life!! Who else gets that kind of second chance?! You have your priorities, and that's to keep Wei Ying safe. There is a conspiracy going on and everybody has bigger problems now, problems like Jin Guangyao and what he did to all those people all those years ago, and the things he's still doing. That's what the focus should be.

And besides, you look at Wei Ying and you know that he never stopped loving this place - Lotus Pier. That this place is his Cloud Recesses, and no matter how far he goes, even as far as death, he will never stop seeing this place as home. So of course you follow him into the ancestral hall to pay your respects. This man is the man you want to spend the rest of your life with; his family is your family. It's only right. Of course Jiang Wanyin is angry about it, but that guy clearly has problems and you're above starting a fight with him as long as Wei Ying wants to keep it civil.

Wen Ning - fuck this guy. I don't like him and I don't care to explain it.

:)

[tevinteredeemer]

Can I also get a little “Dear boyfriend”

Accepting || Dear... (x)

Dearest Makani,

     I hope you are faring well. I know we didn’t part on great terms, but I still believe it was for the best. You’re a former slave who ran off with the son of a well-known upper class family! You simply aren’t safe here. Even more so now with your connection to the Inquisition. I’m waved away as simply having a one-time fancy for adventure. You... Well. I will simply say they would not treat you well. Even if I were to keep you on my residence, you would likely be secreted away upon a quiet night. I regret that I’ve put you in such harm’s way... But I don’t regret our time together. I meant it when I told you I loved you. I still do. Maker, imagine the scandal this would cause! I almost wish I could have you here simply for that drama alone.

     Mae and I’s movement is going well. As well as a new politcal group founded by outsiders can do, I suppose. We’re making headway, at least. More have joined us as allies. Undoing the laws and traditions of slavery in the Imperium will be quite the feat. Seen as impossible by most smart individuals. But that simply makes me all the more determined to accomplish it. You know me, I love a challenge.

     All that aside... I think of you often. Too often for my own good. I miss you terribly, Tevinter simply isn’t the same without you. It never was. From the moment we met as children all those years ago, you changed things for me. For the better. I endeavor to make Tevinter safe for you. For us. One day, all will be okay. We’ll be together and safe and happy. I hope you can wait until then. Please do stay safe either way, I don’t know what I would do if I heard you were harmed in some way. I will do the same, of course. I have quite the incentive not to perish, after all. A rather handsome and loving elf I must see again.

Yours forevermore,

Magister Dorian of House Pavus of Minrathous

[asparklethatisblue]

Was talking to @hattedhedgehog and here’s our Hobbit Characters in Lockdown (modern AU):

Thorin: sitting outside in swimtrunks, a hoodie, and crocs, don’t touch him, he is tuned out

Fíli and Kíli: have their own home, Fíli is doing 100% of what he can, only leaves for essential stuff or to help others, always wears a mask, quietly dies inside as he watches Kíli do the same but keeping forgetting not to touch his face or removes his mask or do tiny bad things because he forgot

Óin and Glóin: retired, but tries to leave the house every single day because he was a doctor, Glóin has to force him back inside every single day because “YOU’RE OLD”

Balin: works from home, does quite well, is quite content other than the worry for society/his family, tries to do what he can to influence city politcs

Dwalin: does crafts all day, is content but is extremely frustrated occasionally, has used every item of furniture for work out, posts videos or photos of his DYI home-workouts, only leaves the house if he has to, doesn’t go to shops other than food every two weeks, he has what he needs

Bombur: cooks lunchboxes and meals for those who need it all day, tries to find things to occupy his doyen kids

Bofur: Delivers said meals on his moped, wears novelty masks, kind of chats with everyone at least 12 foot distance, is freakishly cheerful

Bifur: sort of doing well, was keeping to himself anyway, goes on frequent walks a lot, tries to make little gifts for Bofur to deliver to people, doesn’t like the general anxiety around him

Dori: going stir crazy, hates everything, polite and wears neat clothes while at home, THIS close to murdering Nori

Nori: bored as all fuck, contemplates to cut off his hair at least once a day because he’s bored, contemplates breaking into other people’s houses cause he’s bored but everyone is at home, THIS close to murdering Dori

Ori: has locked himself into his room with more books than were in the house before, where are they from??? Tries to make Dori forget he’s in the house

Bilbo: writes passive aggressive letters to extended family regarding them leaving the house, tries to write carefully worded letters to people living on his properties to assure them he’ll help if he can, quite happy that nobody visits

Thranduil: posts all the fancy things he’s up to “we’re all in this together locked inside our mansions houses UwU” 

Legolas: currently living in the small lakeside cottage belonging to the family, quite happy, buys more food than he needs to donate the surplus, goes to shops way too much cause he remembers a thing, is glad his boyfriend is there

Gimli: staying at Legolas’ lakeside cottage, pretends to be in his dorm when calling Glóin 

[catbountry]

I saw that post telling people to block you because you were a KF mod and followed you lmao. I don’t have an account but I’ve been lurking pretty hard for a few years now

I try to stay out of the heavily politcal forums because they quickly tend to fuck me off. What happened with Null? He always struck me as a fairly decent guy

Null is, like most people, complex. I have given him a lot of credit for his work trying to help Chris-chan, which was one of the biggest reasons I never wrote him off completely and was convinced that he was not entirely bad. But this is also a guy who, in a post detailing his dilemma between continuing to keep the site up and quitting to have his desired tradwife with multiple children, felt the need to say that single parents and gay parents cannot properly raise children and that children raised by those families have a higher rate of becoming criminals. You know, that type of shit. This was a completely unnecessary tangent to the point he was trying to make about how much the site was eating into his life, but he felt the need to make it anyway, just because.

His handling of the request from the New Zealand police to take down the footage of the Christchurch shooting also probably did more to draw in Christchurch shooter fanboys, who infected the thread on the situation. While Null was legally within his rights to deny this request, he did so in the most inflammatory way possible, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that after he posted his open letter to the NZ police, calling New Zealand a “shithole country” among other things, that you had more posts in support of the massacre. There was one post I remember responding to in which the poster was mad that the shooter didn’t kill himself afterwards or die in a shootout, because then he would have been more of a martyr for the cause and he wouldn’t do damage to it by, say, having one of his cringey letters from jail posted to the Farms, exposing him for the fucking edgelord loser he is. This poster was mad… because the shooter made the cause of white nationalism and his plans to start a race war though accelerationism via gun control laws… look bad. Like, bruh.

For me, I feel like Null’s reluctance to do anything about these people, even though he knew they were a problem in the community and they were driving away many of the old guard users, spoke a lot about his character. I felt afraid to ban any of these people for being fucking idiots because I thought I’d get shit for overstepping my bounds as a mod. I know Null felt very strongly about First Amendment protections; I do as well, and it’s probably one of the only bits of common ground we share politically. But at the same time, by creating an environment where merely challenging these guys feels more and more like a lost cause because they keep coming in, well, it’s not exactly conducive to free and open discussion, now is it?

This approach worked a lot better when the forum was smaller, where the community itself would dogpile upon these type of posters to make fun of them. Yes, they would be allowed to say the shit they wanted to say, but they always had pushback from the userbase. Hell, we had an entire subforum dedicated to at least one flavor of the types of users that made the site less tolerable, that being the Manosphere subforum. These were in the days where Null was less overtly political. As Null began to more openly espouse his opinions on topics outside of the realm of free speech, it acted as sort of a signal to these potential posters that they’d be welcome here, because, well, the admin shared a lot of their racist and homophobic views.

I should also note that Null is often mistakenly attributed as being the founder of the Farms; he wasn’t, though he was head admin when Kiwi Farms changed its name from the CWCki Forums. The original founder was a user named Champthom, who from what I’ve seen, seems pretty chill, but either couldn’t or didn’t want to be in charge of keeping the site running. Null had experience from 8chan in running a site, and in the early days, Null did try and keep his politics to himself, which allowed the forum to not be very hostile when discussing politics. I remember many users saying that this was a benefit to the Farms in the early days, as they felt like they could express opposing opinions without feeling like Internet Bloodsports… which hadn’t even become a thing yet. Boy, that candle burnt bright and fizzled out quickly, huh?

After Trump got elected, Null just kept getting bolder and bolder with expressing his views, like when Null practically welcomed self-proclaimed and proud fascist Weev into his own thread with open arms. There’s a lot of free speech advocates who view Weev as something of a martyr due to his time in prison (it’s also worth noting that Weev became a fascist in prison, while under the protection of the Aryan Nation), but when I asked Weev about his conflict of interest in advocating for absolute freedom of speech while also wanting a fascist government, Weev flat-out stated that freedom of speech was little more than a means to an end for him before spewing a bunch of nonsense about the fall of Rome or some shit I didn’t even ask about. Null, to his credit, has begrudgingly allowed threads on people who he would prefer didn’t have threads and doesn’t see as lolcows (like Emily Youcis, who he definitely has or at least had a crush on), but he makes sure to complain about it in those threads. By that point, I felt like I was managing a bunch of threads and felt that, should I leave, that those mini communities might fall apart. I could have left at any time, but didn’t, because I kept inventing reasons in my head about why things might get worse if I left. I felt like I was one of the few voices willing to challenge these points of view. This was all me doing this to myself, though. Null never forced or pressured me into staying. And as I’ve said before, he accepted my resignation quite gracefully, and dissolved the Tumblr subforum upon my departure, since that subforum was the main one I managed.

Null has done some good things, like helping Chris out after the house fire, or getting him out of the grasp of the Idea Guys. Null also regularly likes to drop slurs in his posts and make some jokes that are pretty nnnnyyyeehhhh, but as soon as two dudes on YouTube try and make fun of a pitiful apology from a zoosadist, he fucking loses his shit because that’s just too far. At first I used to just attribute a lot of his actions due to him just being a *chan edgelord libertarian dude. He’s fallen deeper and deeper into the siren song of the trad dream, however, but he also will never be able to attain it so long as he keeps the site up. He knows this. He’s said as much himself. But he keeps the site up and running out of spite, because he knows a lot of people, including a lot of very bad, nasty people, would celebrate when it shuts down. He almost did shut the site down on the day of Trump’s inauguration due to threats his mother was getting, but it came back up in a month.

A part of me looks at Null helping Chris, or Null’s very personal and intense involvement in covering the zoosadist leaks, and I think he is capable of doing a lot of good. That part of Null I admire. But it’s really hard to say that he’s a decent guy when he sees a clip of Stephen Colbert making fun of Emily Youcis being fired from her job as the Pistachio Girl for the fucking vile, racist shit she said on social media and his response is to call Colbert a “kike.” Like Jesus, dude. You even got the man’s ethnicity wrong; he’s Irish. I know he hasn’t been that funny for a long time but god damn.

I’ve said a lot about Null here, and a lot of my criticisms of him, and admittedly, I feel a twinge of regret for it because despite all these disagreements and clashes we had, he still seems to have some respect for me for some reason. I mean, I was a jannie for like five years; I did this for free. It’s very strange. I don’t wish to make an enemy out of him, but he’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle some criticism on the internet, and I think I’ve been more generous than some people would prefer. Realistically I don’t think he’d be too miffed but, you know. Anxiety and all.

Also, if nothing else, Null making Ethan Ralph’s life even more of a living hell is pretty funny. Unlike Null, I have absolutely nothing nice to say about Ethan Ralph at all. That man is scum of the earth and I will gladly watch from the sidelines as Null’s continued existence torments Ralph, who is already tormenting himself enough with literally every single decision he has made and will continue to make in his life. I know it’s not much of an accomplishment to be a better person than The Gunt, it’s a pretty low bar, but between the dude who was willing to help Chris-chan out of multiple situations with trolls and even raise money to send him to a brony con, and the dude who recorded Chris-chan on his livestream to try and get an interview with him solely for clout and to get back at the first guy, I will side with the first dude. That’s just me, though.

[argyrocratie]

when discussing the reason there is no increase (so far) of electroral success for the far right in the belgian french speaking region of walonia in comparaison with the belgian dutch speaking region of flanders and with the rest of europe in general, it is sometimes point out (mostly by flemish commentators) that it’s due the clientelist nature of the politcal parties in walonia, an explanation which never convince me in part due to the fact that i don’t think that walonia is that much more clientelist than flanders and secondly i don’t see how in itself it would prevent an increase of the electoral score of the far right, an other explanation (given by francophone journalist) is that the belgian french speaking media do a good job at respecting the so called “sanitary cordon” a no platforming  principel against the far right, which i find a more concrete explanation but only a partial one and in need of it’s own explanation

my own (limited) explanation is that it is in part due to the the “subaltern” position of present day walonia in belgium which reduce the hand of far right parties even if there is still part of the french speaking population (at least not much less than elsewhere) that might resonate with far right theme. they can’t seriously play the card of belgian nationalism in a federal belgium where the richer and more populous flemish region lean regionalist/regional nationalist, they can’t play the card of of walloon nationalism  or anti european union when it is nowadays pretty clear that a more independant wallonia or one outside the EU would just be poorer, even a french unionist type of pan nationalist has not much appeal in the general belgian french speaking population in whom the inner “little man” often like disliking the french.

[hanahaki-cure]

Truther Tagging Game

The lovely @academic-glowup tagged me for this game. Thanks, dear, and sorry it took so long to actually answer!

RULES – Bold the statements that are true

APPEARANCE

I am over 5′5″ / I wear glasses/contacts / I have blonde hair / I wear sweatshirts a lot / I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing / I have one or more piercings / I have at least one tattoo / I have blue eyes / I have dyed or highlighted my hair / I have gotten plastic surgery / I have or had braces / I sunburn easily / I have freckles / I paint my nails / I typically wear makeup / I don’t often smile / I am pleased with how I look / I prefer Nike to Adidas / I wear baseball hats backwards

HOBBIES AND TALENTS

I play a sport / I can play an instrument / I am artistic / I know more than one language / I have won a trophy in some sort of competition / I can cook or bake without a recipe / I know how to swim / I enjoy writing / I can do origami / I prefer movies to TV shows / I can execute a perfect somersault / I enjoy singing / I could survive in the wild on my own / I have read a new book series this year / I enjoy spending time with friends / I travel during school or work breaks / I can do a handstand

EXPERIENCES

I have had my first kiss / I have gotten drunk / I have told a crush I like them / I have traveled outside of the country / I have flown on an airplane / I have stayed awake for more than 48 hours / I have had a near-death experience / I have caught something on fire / I have performed in a talent show / I have shot a gun / I have been on TV / I have gone scuba diving / I have broken a bone / I have slow-danced / I have gone on a shopping spree (and hated it, I dislike going shopping)

RELATIONSHIPS

I am in a relationship / I have been single for over a year / I have a crush / I have a best friend / I have known a friend for over ten years / I have a brother/ I have dated my best friend / I am adopted / My crush has confessed to me/ I have had a long-distance relationship / I am an only child / I give advice to my friends / I have made an online friend / I met up with someone I have met online

AESTHETICS

I have heard the ocean in a conch shell / I have watched the sun rise / I enjoy rainy days / I have slept under the stars / I meditate outside / The sound of chirping calms me / I enjoy the smell of the beach / I know what snow tastes like (like water?!) / I listen to music to fall asleep / I enjoy thunderstorms / I enjoy cloud watching / I have attended a bonfire / I pay close attention to colors / I find mystery in the ocean / I enjoy hiking on nature paths / Autumn is my favorite season

MISCELLANEOUS

I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle / I am the mom friend / I live by a certain quote / I like the smell of Sharpies / I am involved in extracurricular activities/ I enjoy Mexican food / I can drive stick-shift / I have memorized an entire song in a day / I believe in true love / I dream up scenarios to fall asleep / I sing in the shower / I wish I lived in a video game / I have a canopy above my bed / I am multi-racial etchnic*/ I am a redhead / I own at least three dogs / I am LGBT

tagging @bengalaas, @rainhalydia, @anaeeve, and @kisamesfacioplegia. I hope you’ve fun with these!

*sorry to be politcal here, but the places, and evironemnts in which I was raised “race” was a term only neo-facists use.

[vangoghsunflowersposts]

Isource https://www.repubblica.it/dossier/la-repubblica-delle-idee-2019/2019/06/05/news/repidee_per_tre_giorni_bologna_capitale_dello_spettacolo-228018561/?ref=RHPPTP-BH-I226924226-C12-P2-S3.3-T1&refresh_ce

Mahmood “Art breaks barriers”

"Soldi” is taking you abroad more and more often.

I’m really happy, it’s always been my dream taking my music also outside Italy. That means there is an interest, like music has really no limits and a person could keep striving for more.

Speaking of duets, there is one very exciting online by a sign language intepreter

I have found it out surfing the web too and I shared it immediately, because I really like it. That’s another way to break down borders “Soldi” at Sanremo has immediately drawn politcal criticism far beyond the song’s meaning.  What remains today of those criticisms?

Salvini has texted me only once, to explain that his was a comment of his taste. I never heard from him again. Those critics ended up as they should, after a month it was all over, people are not stupid What pleased you the most and the least in this period of great media exposure?

I enjoy the possibility to do what I love every day: singing. My least favorite is not be able to fully understand what I’m doing, my private life is a little difficult to handle

Could it be an ispiration for a song?

I have already written two, as a matter of fact: there’s the theme of flying and I talk about how ruining fast could make me lose the people that I love

Among the good things there is also the public meeting with Giuseppe Sala, mayor of Milano

It has been a very pleasant meeting and it was educational both for me and the guys who were there, I think. We talked about how young people could grow up in Milan today and how the state could help out. The idea of building places of meeting for young people is really beautiful

You brought the urban music at Sanremo Festival: had it been an event or do you think to have scored a trend for the future?

I don’t call myself a champion, I’m champion of nothing, but I think this event has prompted many people to think italian music can be also like this. Next year the festival will certainly be different, a movement has emerged, a music openness to Europe and the world. And like me Achille Lauro and Ghemon have contributed doing that. There is a rash of young italians who want to do nice things, especially things competitive with the rest of the world

When will the new album be released?

I don’t know, I have already lots of pieces, seven are pretty much ready now.

After so much glory with “Soldi”, have you heard from your father again?

Yes, we went to eat together a couple of time, we talked a little, he congratuleted me, he was shocked that people came out to me in the street: “Who’d have thought it?”

The song has been therapeutic

I wouldn’t go that far, what could have been solved it’s solved, for the rest we have to live

Now if he asked you some money, you would surely have something more in your pocket

Don’t get me started, I have gotten nothing with these 90 working days contracts. But now I can say I have a job 

[irrfahrer]

‘ why did you book us one room? ’

There was a permanent buzzing in Zivs ears like the humming of a instect that was biting, biting, biting her constantly. The vibrations of the walls caused by the starstations engines wore the Tynnan down like a fever- it was a permanent remainder that she was not on a planet and free to leave, that she was caged on the starstation like a animal in acage, that past those durasteelwalls there was nothing but coldness and airless death. Accordingly Padmes question did not earned her more than a tiered flick of the Tynnans ears as she walked wobbly into the room.

"I booked us two rooms, but under my name and as it happens my kriffing name is the name of a kriffing nobody and not the name of the kriffing famous senator Padme Amidala, so I was treated like the kriffing nobody I was and instead of two rooms I got one room. Kriffing pity." , Ziv explained and dragged her rucksack with her to put it unlovingly down in one cornr of the room, as far away of the scuttle behind which was nothing but darkness and stars as if someone had poked holes in a black cloth- Ziv did not wanted to look outside the scuttle as she did nto needed any other remainder that she was (trapped, ) (trapped, ) ( trapped !) spending time on a starstation. The room was big at least in the Tynnans eyes who not only grew up in the Jeid Temple and had been teached to be humble but who also susally lived in small quarters in the enrichment domes on planets that were in the process of terraforming and where every inch used was a precious as gems. Accordingly with the lack of interest from somone who was used to small, humble places and felt in a strange way exposed in big rooms the young woman simply grabbed a datapad out of her bag and scuttled to one corne rof the room where she could sit down on a stool with her back to the wall , her knees puled up to her chest and her fluffy tail like a blanket put over her hindpaws. "Good kriffing night, pup, I think my kriffing insomnia will another night have the krififng fun of its life with me so make yourself comfortable in the bed, because I will probbaly not use it.", she explained, already tapping her razorsharp claws nt he datapad to continue reading the text about flora that she had started to read during the flight: "Sweet dreams of kriffing politcal debates or whatever you have fun with."

[ @peacefaithed ]

[pxndxrasbox-archieved]

A Job Like Any Other

    Well, as far as palaces went- this one was rather impressive on the outside. But, the redhead didn’t feel at all welcome here (when did she ever?), more for the ominous feeling surrounding this place. Her mama always said that her senses were far too sensitive for her own good, mother always knew best. Rest her soul. Still, a job was a job and at least the opulence assured her that she would actually get paid this time.

    Last time to she had to break into the fortress to get the money herself- and the idiot general’s eyes as warning to anyone else who tried to skint her. She’d rather not do the same to any royalty, messy business. Still, being hired to help solve some deeply rooted politcal matters seemed almost too much trouble for what it was worth- but, something in her gut told her to at least scope it out. Her gut was usually right.

    The guards didn’t seem all that keen to let her through to the main hall where she was to meet her employers- she gussied up for no one, royalty be dammed. Her clothes, already foreign in nature, were weathered and bore the lingering marks of past exploits. Hardly the clothes befitting a woman. Who gave a fuck. The guards did, only letting her through after she waved her summons bearing the royal seal in their arrogant faces and letting her pass. Some footman announced her name- and tried for her country but failed, settling for ‘of the west’ instead. Typical. Still, she stopped at a respectable distance but didn’t bow until her employer addressed her, and even then it was only a slight tip of the head at most.

    “I hope I’m not late, would hate to miss the party after coming all this way. Are you the one who summoned me, highness?” she held up her papers for emphasis. Some people were probably appalled by her coarse manner, but then again she wasn’t here for their approval now. Besides, it was easier to gauge just what kind of employer she’d be dealing with.

@antimundi

[ramrodd]

What were Robert E. Lee's greatest tactical errors?

COMMENTARY:

Michael Hutton’s answer to this question is my point of departure for my response. It is not a catagofical rebuttal of his essay, to which I can largely stipullate, but a perspective I would bring to any lecture on the subject I could bring to Georgetown’s school of National Security Studies from the American Universtiy School of Public Affairs and the Army Ranger School. And experience running a recon platoon on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. And from the first generation of US Army Starship Troopers, the Vietnam combat veteran and the paratroopers of the 101st AirMobile “Screaming Eagles” Division when Jimi Hendrix was part of the morning report.

It’s not that it’s wrong: it’s that it is a concise example of what I call the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam applied to military history. Such as, the history of why 4 Republican and Democrat Presidents fucked up Afghanistan in the same manner Vietnam got fucked up. Based on “Sleepy Joe” Biden’s speech yesterday regarding January 6, he is the President since Clinton who has managed to escape the orbit of the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam.

It is my intent to give Michael Hutton, as a proxy for the the generation my daughter’s age with basically the same cultural profile as the Russian Pussy Riot generation who are already running the world in everything but the US Presidency and Kamala Harris is what the next 500 years will look like, globally. And, in this, I include the Tucker Carlson demographics just because of your ages.

I’m 74. I was 24 when I made my bone and killed a wounded prisoner. He wasn’t my first kill. The other guy turned to be a nurse. We were right in the middle of an NVA hospital district underground in the Central Highlands, and these guys wandered into our ambush, which was designed around what we called, affectionately, a “Vampire”: it was a Claymore rigged to a rrip wire across a game trail.

The prisoner I shot tripped the wire and his legs were blown sideways from below the knees: he was in terrible pain. If he had been one of my troops, we would have called in Dust Off during a monsoon and we would have pumped him full of morphine so we could move him quickly and painlessly, if not as a pleasant morphine high kind of out-of-body experience. But I wasn’t in charge and I don’t even know if we had morphine with us.

The situation was we were an 8 person recon patrol and I was the FNG being introduced into the battle space. I was the official platoon leader but the actual squad leader was in charge and I my role was a a grunt, just like in Ranger School. These guys knew what they were doing and I subordinated myself to their routine and SOPs.

Now, I could write a compelling description of the entire patrol, but my point is to provide an aspect of command that is left out of Michael Hutton’s calculus that has to do with killing people and who bears responsibility and at what level of authority. Like the Binding of Isaac,which is a study in the nature of Duty in response to Yaweh, Queen of Battle, it comes down to where the authority for homicide originates. The Uniform Code of Military Justice is an expansion on that question and comes down to us from the Roman secular rule of law in the tradition of inquiry which originates with the Chritian ethical aspiration of Just War theory. Clausewitz and Jomini contribute the social engineering involved. war as a Newtonian mechanism, Hegelian in aspect and subordinate to the politcal structures priginating with the executive role and subject to the secular rule of law, in my case, the US Constitution, RM Nixon, presiding.

In the case of this wounded prisoner, SSG funk left it to me to decide what to do. It was getting dark, we had just made a lot of noise and somebody had taken a shot in our direction from outside effective range of his weapon in hopes of drawing return fire and fixing our postion. I could tell he didn’t know where we were by the angle of the shot he fired from at least 50 metres away: from his position, he was shooting at 280 degrees and we were 360. We were there for two more nights and that was the last contack we had.

Shooting the guy gave our position away, but somebody had to do it and I was the ranking officer. We didn’t talk about it. I was actually covering the trail these guys had come down as security in my role as grunt and this guy is moanng behind me while SSg Funk does his thing behind me, including diagnosing this prisoner with his shins lying perpendicilar to his knees, sideways. Not a word was spoken, but the squad drew away from the prisoner and left it to my judgement and, at the time, William Calley was being court martialed for being a platoon leader and if killing a wounded prisoner needed to be done, I was going to make a command decision and accept full responsibily on the grounds of a coup de grace. I didn’t want the guy to suffer any more than he already had and I wasn’t going to risk the saftey of my men to evacuate him, given the circumstances.

That is one element of command that is missing from Michael Hutton’s case study of Lee. Lee understood perfectly what the cost of his tactics. If you consider that the deciding factor in determining his historic status as a General Officer, you have led a very sheltered life.

The thing is, there are a lot of people on the faculty of the Army War College that would echo your assessment. The fact is that the premise of the All Volunteer Military originates with the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam that was reflected in the operational profile of the occupation of Iraq until the Surge.

There are two different schools of thought at the Army War College, as it reflects Army politics: those who reflect the military virtues of George Marshall and those who are aligned with the Tucker Carlson politics of nation building is for pussies and, by proxy, the January 6 Conspiracy. This split has been around since at least MacNamara’s tenure at the Pentagon. It’s a difference between Eisenhower and Patton. However, they are currently both captive to the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam primarily because of Boomer politics.

Now, in regards to Napolionic warfare, Napoleon introduced two strategic innovations into the Clausewitz paradox: massed populist armies and artillery as an anti-personnel system.

Napoleon used up two 1 million man armies during the course of his military career, Grant observed that warfare is progressive and, within that context, the arch of the Napoleonic Age had its roots in the French Revolution, which cut loose a huge swath of the French population from its traditional prolitarian structures and made it available for military adventurism on a scale not achieved since the Roman legions. Both Lenin and Trotsky studied this unseating to implement Marxism through deliberate insurgency and the US Constitution is designed as a counter-insurgency process to coop these dynamec and exploit them as capitalist tools.

But Napoleon employed this displacement to go out and conquer the world for the loot involved. Twice at 1 million men per iteration. And the relationship between this displacement and the French economy was the introduction of the modern total war model that extends from the fall of the Bastille to Eisenhower’s Military Industrial complex by little more than a hop, skip and a jump in terms of technological advancement. The atomic bomb attacks on Japan ended the Napoleonic Age and ushered in the age of the US Army Starship Trooper.

I never did this, per se, but an air mobile combat assault into a hot LZ, one slick at a time, is the necessary legacy of Napoleonic Warfare at its most basic expression, and isn’t all that much different from the assaults against Mayres Heights or Cemetary Ridge. Or Omaha Beach.

The other thing that characterizes the Napoleonic Age is Napoleon’s development of mobile artillery as an anti-personal system. That’s why the US Army Artillery calls itself the “King of Battle”, as a tribute to Napoleon the patron saint of US Army Artillery. As far as I know, Tommy Franks campaign to capture Baghdad is the first time in history where artillery defined the operational kenetics and became the leading manuever element that defined the campaind since the Children of Moses followed the Pillar of Fire at night and the Column of Smoke during the day in the Wilderness. Both that campaign and the Afghan campaign that routed the Taliban will be studied in the same context as Grant’s advance once he got on the same side of the river as Vicksburg. If ever a specific military campaig marked the advent of a new operational paradigm, Tommy Franks’ capture of Baghdad defines the Starship Trooper Age in the eternal mesh of the Clausewitz Paradox.

Napoleon observed that the Moral is to the Material as 4 is to 1. By “Moral:, what he meant is what Karl Jung referred to as “Geist”, that is both mind and spirit. “Moral”, in this sense. has nothing to do with of the Sunday School sruples of Pro-Life Evangelicals but the metaphysical elements of the human condition, in a Mind over Matter kind of way. This is the 19th Century origins of the “Triumph of the Will” Great Man theory of history and national destiny. This is Steve Bannon’s whole trip, his stock in trade. Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” develops this theme in much the same manner as Mary Shelley in “Frankenstein”. Ayn Rand’s conceit of “Will Power” and the “Virtue of Selfishness”.

But Napoleon had something else in mind that is another dimension that is missing from Michael Hutton’s calculus in his measure of Robert E. Lee. The one thing I absolutely agree with is Hutton’s opening sentence: “Lee intimidated the first half dozen or so Union commanders that he faced in combat. That’s what Napoleon meant by “The Moral”,

One fact Hutton gets wrong is his assertion Lee was not present when he sent successive waves against Malvern Hill. I have stood where Lee sat on Traveler and observed the progress of each successive assault, measuring the effect. His “Will to Win” was palpable to me, the projection of his intentions into every man that rushed against the flame and death of those ranked cannon.

The sinews of the Army of Virginia were forged at Malvern Hill. Whatever chance the rebellion had to secure its independence were created during that afternoon. And, in the context of Hutton’s understanding of “intimidated”, it is useful to remember, while Lee sat serenely eating an apple on Traveler, sending troops against massed artillery, McClellan was having a nervous break down on a Union gun ship in the middle of the James River. He never recovered.

And that’s what made Lee, metaphysically, a great General totally justified to deserve Eisenhower’s characterization as a paragon of American military virtues, surmounted only by Grant, the Alexander the Great of the American Illiad.

Grant was never intimidated by Lee, but he had a serious “Come to Jesus” moment after his first encounter with Lee’s “Will to Win” on the first day of the Wilderness. The thing is, Grant had been faced with that sort of Moral collapse during his years as a civilian, when he broke down at the end of the day, sitting on a wagon load of wood he couldn’t sell, an abject failure. He cried himself to sleep and then woke up, refreshed from a good night rest, and went on to win the war. And, of course, his “Will to Win” was transmitted to his troops’ satisfaction, when he turned right to continue the fight instead of left to retire back across the Rapidan with his tail between his legs but with great dignity.

Malvern Hill is the reason behind McClellan’s “deer in the headlight” performance at Sharpsburg and why Joe Hooker lost his nerve at Chancellorsville and the reason why Jackson was able to drive his troops through the briars and the brambles and the bushes where the rabbits wouldn’t go into Slocum’s Poor Boys on Hooker’s right flank and the reason why Lew Armistead was able to put his hand on a Union cannon beyond the Stone Wall at Gettysburg. That sort of “Will to Win” goes beyond the Hollywood charisma of the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam.

Lee’s strategic paradigm was defined by Fortress Monroe and the Third World economic development of the South resulting from chattel slavery and parasitic plantation economcs, the Reaganomics of its day. Lee had literally closed Jomini’s 4th wall on the rebeillion when he hung the gates at Ft Monroe in 1824. The significance of the Battle of the Monitor and Virginia in Hampton Roads is that, if the Virginia had prevailed, it could have destroyed the naval screen protecting Ft Monroe, which controlled the Atlantic mouth of the Chesapeake and, possibly, captured Ft Monroe, which became the linch pin around which Scott’s Anaconda Plan coiled. For all intents and purposes, the rebellion declared itself in a state of seige with it’s first shot against Ft. Sumter and it was never relieved.

And, because of the destitution of the South, the only reliable strategic advantage Lee had at the start of the war was the elan of the southern patriot. And the only way it was of any use to the larger purpose of independence was to conduct a battle that anticipated the Tet Offensive of 1968, which was a crippling military disaster for the godless commie cocksuckers in Hanoi but won them the war.

Lee was trying to do the same thing. Like John Wilkes Booth, he was engaged in theater. Unlike John Wilkes Booth, he was a lawful participant in the Christian Just War paradigm of Clausewitz’s Paradox. As Clausewitz observed. Lee’s evolutions were a continuation of poltical intercourse by the intermixing of means. If he had the means to successfully conclude a war of decision, he might have been more conservative in his willingness to close with his opponents, But Fortress Monroe denied him those means and, in a state of seigg, time was working against him. The only path he had, given that he had been betrayed by Virginia, was through the blood from the covenant cutting ceremony offered by patriots willing to refresh the roots of liberty, in Thomas Jefferson’s formulation of Calvinist rebellion as a civic duty.

So, Lee proceeded on the basis that the effusion of blood would either ratify the righteousness of the southern rebeillion in the Moral calculation of the world or the the last ditch would convince his patriots that their valor could no longer sustain the aspirations of Jefferson Davis’s failed theory of property, labor and the means of production and the killing could stop. It was the political will of the perpetrators of the Lost Cause that this effusion of blood should be sacrificed and Lee was perfectly subordinate to the dictates of his civilian masters.

And that’s why Eisenhower nominated him for the Parthenon of the Profession of Arms as a Paragon of military virtue. I agree and, if you disagree, you have led a very sheltered life.

[stay--satan]

Don’t do this to me, I beg you - Jason Todd x Reader

@scrayon1  14 15 And 16 sound amazing together for Jason Peter Todd.

PROMP LIST (be sure that the number wasn’t already taken!)

14. “I don’t wanna do this anymore” 15. “Please put this down” 16. “This isn’t you”

WARNING: SO MUCH ANGST AND BORDELINE SYNDROME

Here's a thing: Jason Todd wasn't the boyfriend material typo. Sure, he could be romantic at special occasions when he felt like Y/N had enough with the entire bad boy atitude, or the mornings of when he came home covered in other's people blood (she was too scared to wonder of who or why), but he was enough.

Y/N never had a previous relashionship to compare, but she knew how much she needed Jason as much he needed her. It was a simple combo. She never asked for him to be the boyfriend material she once imagine as a kid by seeing other people around her finding their personas. And she didn't believe that she was all that to complain, so it was enough. He accepted and supported her with her Bordeline Syndrome and she supported him through his entire PTSD

But lately it felt like they were so distant back in home. She would come so tired from work that it was a routine: She came home, lay on the couch skipping her meds, Jason would come to see her asleep and leave on patrol and when he came home in the morning, she was already leaving for work and he would take his meds and go straight to bed. Jason was on a huge mission to rescue some kids at some slavery mafia and Y/N was trying to sell her idea for her boss, trying to gain some kinda of promotion and finally get a office with some windows. Jason was so tired that Dick, who was helping him to study the building, catched him falling asleep on duty. He laughed and hitted his... partner? on the arm "Dude, the building is on fire!" "W-what?" Jason got up on his feet so fast and got his gun ready to shoot "Wow wow wait. Calm down, it's a joke." Jason rolled his eyes under the mask and went to his side "Sad Hoodie, why the sad face?" "I'm just tired and frustrated." "Trouble in paradise?" Dick chuckle but got back to the serious face when nothing came in response. Jason remained in silence getting back to business.

Weeks had gone by and the situation was getting worse and worse. "But it'll be worth it" They both think while getting sink at work.

The truth was that Y/N hasn't take her meds in so long that she didn't even remember why she was taking them for. She was so busy that she really didn't have to much time to think about life. Y/N had really difficult time convincing her boss that she was the perfect employee that he could send to the Australia conference with all paid. She planned to go celebrate her late anniversary with Jason, they could really use the vacations. They were so busy that she only remembered that it was today that marked the 3 years together, sending flowers to his warehouse where he constructed his base with Roy for working and a funny note of a old joke of them. Her phone in the desk ringed and it was a call from her boss secretary telling that he wanted to meet her on her way out. Finishing her call, she was so excited that her moment had finally arrived. All the hard work that she's been pulling for the last 3 months would give the results.

Jason was checking on his guns with a frown face trying to ignore the massive hammer that was hitting on his head. He hasn't been sleeping for days, he couldn't even remember the last time he spoked to his girlfriend and now he had to deal with the news that Batman wanted to interfers and take over his mission. The mission that he has been studying for so long and just he showed up right when he was about to attack. Plus, Roy thought it would be funny to make fun this situation and sent a stupid bouquet saying "Thanks for your services". He gotten so mad with the guy who was delivering that he just threw on his face screaming that if he came back he would shoot on his face and the person who send it. Honestly he was just done.

"He-He did what?" Y/N listened as the owner of the flower shop talked to her in a little agressive tone "I'm so sorry but are you sure it was a black haired man with a white streak? It's really not easy to not notice... It was him?" she took a deep breath "Oh, alright I'm so sorry for what happened and don't worry about paying me back. Goodbye" she hang up the phone taking another deep breath. Why would Jason be so angry about this? Was he mad to her? Did she make him... Oh boy here we go.

She puts her hands in her temple trying to control. She could not have a crisis right now, she was about 20 minutes away from speaking to her boss about the promotion.

But what if Jason had enough with her obsession on this job? She was just trying to make him happy! "That probably not enough" she whispered with her eyes shut "I made him not love me anymore" She took another breath with shaky hands and start to look for her extra pills. She pushes her drawer so hard that it goes straight to the floor as she keeps searching for them "Probably that's why he's so mad. He can't even count on you for anything. Stupid stupid stupid!" She says as she tries to put her drawer back in the place but ends up just hitting on the desk repeatedly

She's out of her breath as she keep searching for any kind of her pills and creating theories for Jason to act like this. Her phone rings and she knows it's her boss pretty secretary "Maybe Jason would like her better." she says on her way out to Mr Downey office.

Trying to recompose herself and getting in her best form, Y/N's thoughts didn't stop as she expected to at least look better on the outside. Trying to get rid of her shaky hands, she nods to the secretary on her way in. Knocking 3 times before hearing the "COME IN"

She entered in the luxurious office, with a huge window that would make her feel slightly better "Good evening Mr Downey, you wanted to talk to me?" "Yes, Miss Y/N. Take a sit please" She walked over the chair near his desk "You have being with us for almost two years now and I've noticed you've been improving for the last few months" She genuinely smiles "As you know, we're always changing our politcs here and creating a better environment for all your employees. And honestly, I think you are great. Very good worker so that's why it was a tough decision for all of us..." She was about to interrupt him as he finished with one of the worst senteces she ever heard "...To let you go. I need you to remove your stuff from the office. Don't take me wrong, I think you're gonna make it so much bigger out there than here. We're just trying to cut the costings." She probably said some excuse that her mind didn't pay attention and runned back to her car. Everything she worked and loved was gone in a matter of a day. "You never meant anything to anyone. Always invisible" She put her head into the steering wheel crying her heart out for the first time in months.

She started to remember the little things she missed in noticing over the past months, when she started to loose Jason and her job consequently. One time she was asleep on the couch when Jason came from the patrolling early. He sat on the floor with his back to her as he sighed "I really need to talk." he whispered looking across from her. She opened her eyes "Can we just do this tomorrow? I had a really long day" "Well I had it too and I need to talk" "Well you have Roy don't you? Can you just text him?" "Whatever, Y/N"

"How could you forgot about these files, Y/N?" "I'm sorry Catherine, I swear I'll get it done by now" "It doesn't matter anymore. I send to Phillip, he'll do it better"

It was her fault as always. There's always someone better it doesn't matter how hard she tried. And after crying for almost an hour in the parking lot, she lifted her head with dead eyes. She was tired. Tired of always giving the best shot she had and never being enough. Tired of being in the same spot. How could God do this to her after everything she worked? Someone had to see that she was really trying for years and nothing in return. So she just turn her keys e drove back home decided.

Jason was already packing to leave the warehouse when Roy opened the door "Dude, I heard about the noisy Bats. I'm so sorry" "Fuck you, Roy. You think you're so funny" The red haired boy look at him confused. Jason look at him saying sarcastly "Pretty flowers, but it looked better shoved down in your ass" "What on earth are you talking about?" "The stupid flowers with the 'Thank you for your services' card?" Roy took his hat off as he shut his eyes off thinking about the stupidity of his friend "Dude... Do I really look like I would quote your stupid joke with Mrs Todd?" And just like that Jason's eyes poppedd out of his head. What. A. Fucking. Idiot. "It's our fucking anniversary" he mumbles with his hands on the face "And I fucking forgot" "You are. Now go home"

Jason kept murmuring words under his helmet on the way home, trying to come up with some last minute surprise to Y/N. He was such a mess lately, but nothing would justify that. He runned back home noticing her car was already there, took a deep breath and walked through the door.

As he walked in, he already notices something strange. Y/N's bag and shoes were spread on the floor on the way to the bedroom. He hears the loud and heavy breathing coming from his room where he kept some emergency armory for Red Hood. He runs back in there to find out the door half closed and carefully looks inside.

His heart jumps out of his chest as he sees Y/N with a gun in her head whispering things to herself sweating and crying her ass off on the floor.

"What are you doing?" he says in a low tone trying not alarm her on his way in the room "Y/N... Baby girl what are you doing?" She jumps out of the floor seeing him "GET AWAY" Y/N screams in the middle of her sobs "JUST TAKE YOUR STUFF AND LEAVE" she turns back to the wall adjusting the gun in her throat Jason dry swallows starting to feel his legs shaking "Baby, please put this down and look at me. What are you saying?" "I... I can't. It's the only chance I have" His heart starts to race when she activates the gun "I don't wanna do this anymore" "Do what-what honey? Y/N please don't do this to me" he feels his tears coming down. He usually is around whenever she has a crisis, but it never look like this before. "Talk to me" he tries to go closer to her as she leans on the wall "Living. I'm done of carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, I'm tired of not being enough, I'll never be" "Love, this isn't you. Please hear me out, I'm not going anywhere" "That's the problem Jason! You're stuck so hard with me that I made you hate me, like I did to everyone" Jason stopped on the way to her when she adjust the gun once again in her throat "I love you, please don't do this to me. Y/N I won't make it, I beg you" he said with a shaken voice. He noticed the one second that she loosened her hand and jumped on her getting the gun away and holding her from the back. She got scared that accidently shoot and the wall as she falled back on the floor being held by Jason.

They both started to cry harder as he kissed on her temple whispering

"It's okay now. I got you baby girl, I always will."