#A. I haven't personally read them I'm just tracing the way they use a particular phrase and

[psychotrenny]

Liberals say a lot of dumb shit, but if you're going to bother critiquing it then you need to understand what they're trying to say in the first place. Like "Late Stage Capitalism" isn't an especially useful or coherent term, but you can't dismiss it with "just say Imperialism" because that is very obviously not what people are talking about when they use it. Even just by contemporary usage, you should notice how it's nearly always employed by people complaining about declining quality of life (i.e. cuts to social safety nets, reduced domestic regulations, growing mismatch between costs of living and wages) within the Imperial Core. You never hear left liberals use it to discuss even the most obviously evil manifestations of Imperialism (i.e. coups and election subversion, "unjust" invasions, dropping napalm on children etc.) that even they are willing to criticise sometimes. In the contemporary discourse, it's functionally just a way to critique Neoliberalism by comparing it to Social Democracy- both are still equally Imperialist systems. Like "The Highest Stage of Capitalism" is consistently used by ML to mean imperialism, while "Late Stage Capitalism" is mostly used by Liberals to complain about getting an insufficient share of the loot.

There's also a need to consider that the idea of "Late Stage Capitalism" wasn't even popularised by left liberals; they merely adopted it and became its most enthusiastic users/abusers. The original use of the term "Late Capitalism" was in the early 20th century by reactionary (but Marxist influenced) German sociologist Werner Sombart to describe the state of capitalism in his time. However, by the 1960s it was most popular among members of the Frankfurt school of Marxism when discussing the features of the Post WW2 era. Its first popular use in English was in the 1975 translation of the thesis Late Capitalism by Belgian Trotskyist Ernest Mandel, but the person who popularised it the most was probably USamerican Marxist Frederic Jameson. He used it in his 1991 essay "Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, which effectively engaged in the sort of "society has become soooo superficial and consumerist" critique that liberals are happy to eat up. This implanted the phrase firmly in the heads of Anglophone Imperial-Core Left Liberals and adjacent revisionists, and by the 2010s as more and more people were drawn into that whole milieu ("became radicalised" as they like to put it) the phrase spread and spread and now you see it everywhere in any vaguely "leftist" space.

Now this whole summary isn't an attempt to defend the phrase by discussing its pedigree; I don't think it was ever a very good or useful phrase and that developments in global capitalism can be discussed without declaring the dawn of a new epoch based on a disconnected jumble of often superficial changes. My point is that the phrase has a whole history of its own; it's not something that got thoughtlessly made up one day and any meaningful critique of the phrase has to consider this. You need to meet people where they are at, based on what they're actually saying and not what it roughly sounds like they're saying. When you treat "Late Stage Capitalism" as just the Liberal version of "Highest Stage of Capitalism" because the two phrases sound kinda similar, it's criticism of the most superficial and idealist type. In your attempt to "pwn the liberals", you've ended up talking like one

[antianakin]

I think I'm able to perhaps put a few words to why I really dislike that the Ahsoka show had her choose to come to the conclusion that Anakin was GOOD, that he was a good person and good teacher to her, rather than having her refuse to forgive him and just having to let go of him entirely.

Ahsoka is a character who has been, for her ENTIRE RUN on Star Wars, defined by Anakin and her relationship to him. She's never been able to escape that. She was created as an explanation for why Anakin "matured" over the three year gap between AOTC and ROTS, but her lack of existence in the films means she can have no greater impact on Anakin than that. She is wholly irrelevant to his character but she does not EXIST without him. In Rebels, she is only in one season where all of her appearances are fixated on her discovery of Anakin's betrayal and how that impacts her, leading up to their final confrontation where she appears to die fighting him. She comes back only so her relationship with Anakin can be used to help Ezra let go of Kanan. In TOTJ, she has an entire episode dedicated to explaining that the only reason she survived Order 66 was because of some kind of special training Anakin gave her that made her stronger, better, faster than any other Jedi. In The Mandalorian, her appearance was full of subtext about her trauma regarding Anakin and the way she reacts to other Jedi as a result of that. In The Book of Boba Fett appearance, that subtext is still there, primarily in her conversation with Luke where she even tells him how much he reminds her of Anakin. Which leaves us with the Ahsoka show itself and how it REVOLVES around that relationship, from Sabine being turned into Anakin 2.0 to everything in episode 5 to Ahsoka claiming she'll support Sabine in everything because this is what Anakin did for her to Anakin literally showing up in ghost form to Thrawn predicting everything Ahsoka will do because he has some familiarity with Anakin.

Ahsoka CANNOT escape this relationship, she cannot move out from this particular shadow and become her own person because her character seems to ONLY EXIST to be "Anakin's student." She can almost literally not stand on her own at this point. If her story doesn't revolve around Anakin in some way, it doesn't seem to really exist (please keep in mind here that I am mostly looking at HIGH CANON appearances for this because that's what I am familiar with; I'm sure that some comics have probably managed to move away from her relationship to Anakin a little bit sometimes but I haven't read any of them so they're not being counted in this analysis, especially since I don't think they're really impacting her higher canon characterization anyway).

It's even just visible in how other characters perceive her. She is constantly being COMPARED to Anakin, we keep hearing how like Anakin she is. The only time I can think of that she is compared to anyone OTHER than Anakin is when Trace and Rafa tell her that she acts like a Jedi even if she isn't currently calling herself one (bless their SOULS for this moment, they deserved so much better than the hate they got and one single appearance on fucking TBB). We never hear anyone say she reminds them of Obi-Wan, or Yoda, or Plo Koon. It's ALWAYS Anakin even though she's known Yoda and Plo Koon longer and she seems to spend almost as much time with Obi-Wan as she does Anakin.

By having Ahsoka decide to deal with her feelings about Anakin by just... setting aside all the bad shit he did and focusing ONLY on the good moments that he had and letting that define him, it makes it nearly impossible to separate her from him. If he's good, then it's a GOOD thing to compare her to him. If he's good, then his influence on her HAS to have been a good one. For me, it ruins ANY nuance that could have come from going the opposite direction and recognizing that while he had some good moments, he was in fact an overall bad person who was a terrible teacher to her. He betrayed her, he tried to kill her (and only failed because she was saved by someone else), he abandoned her. I don't care WHAT he did before this, this automatically makes him a BAD TEACHER.

And recognizing that Anakin was a bad teacher would force Ahsoka to look at HERSELF more critically, too, to recognize the places where she has made the same mistakes perhaps, where she's started leading herself down a similar path to his, and then choosing to NOT BE LIKE HIM. Anakin should be (like he is with Luke) the personification of her own darkness. Palpatine represented Anakin's greatest demons and personifications, Anakin can represent something similar for Ahsoka. He is an indisputable part of her now, but she doesn't HAVE to become him, she doesn't have to let that CONTROL her. And by making that choice, she frees herself from being defined by him for the rest of her life.

But now, the narrative has bound Ahsoka to Anakin forever. She'll never be anything more than Anakin's student because this has become what defines her as a person and a character. And it just... it sucks. Ahsoka deserved better than that.

[demonic-mnemonic]

(EDIT: I'm going to leave the main text of the original theory as is, but I did want to just add that I don't think the original reasoning of how memories are getting lost necessarily holds up considering what we already know about the angels' ability to erase memories and the fact that Metatron is in this up to his eyeballs. But what I am still sure of is that memories are being erased, and not just in the present)

I just had a fun thought. What if Crowley and Aziraphale's 25 lazari miracle was so ridiculously overpowered that it didn't JUST work on Gabriel. What if they overshot the mark so badly that it just started affecting random other people to varying degrees and THAT'S why there are some characters that some people don't seem to remember fuck all about meeting.

What if it doesn't always affect everyone the same and THAT'S why, when every other angel in the room straight up forgot who the fucking Metatron was, Crowley (and I'm pretty damn sure Saraquiel, but that's a whole other conversation) still recognized him.

What if it started to affect people in unintended ways? What if it started to affect not only someone's ability to retain memories of a specific person, but started being able to affect their other memories too?

We still haven't talked about how Muriel, a fucking scrivener, does not seem to know how to read anymore in the present day.

Her entire job, her entire existence in heaven revolves around reading and writing and keeping records and she almost never gets to see or interact with any other angels except for once every couple of centuries when someone wants something from her. This is an angel who has spent millennia with only her books and records to keep her company. She has probably read more than every other entity in existence combined, and she still clearly has a deep love and affinity for books...

But when she tells Metatron that she's reading a book, she uses air quotes. Not reading a book, but "reading" a book. She's so drawn to books, the desire is there, but the knowledge is gone.

What else is being forgotten? Who else is losing pieces of their memories and themselves?

What if Crowley and Aziraphale are starting to lose memories of their history together piece by piece? Even worse, what if it isn't even confined to the present?

If their memories of their time together were to be damaged or lost early enough in their history, if each time they met they misremembered or couldn't remember the time before... It would affect the way they approached one another every single time. It would alter their entire timeline. Their entire history together could be wiped out without a trace. Or worse.

And there are signs. Subtle ones mostly, the faintest glimmers. A fleeting sense that something isn't quite right, that passes so quickly you're not even sure you didn't just imagine it. But there is one in particular that's slightly more there than the others. A tiny crack instead of a glimmer, so faint you don't even notice it at first, but once you do you can't unsee it.

Remember when Crowley and Aziraphale are working out how to give Job and Sithis their children back without letting an audience of onlooking angels know that they're giving them their exact same children back? Bildad the Shuhite antics ensue, we all have a good laugh at Gabriel's dead set conviction that the human reproductive system consists entirely of ribs, Crowley pokes a little light fun about how he needs to be on his toes under the eyes of an expert, it's a good time. But the thing is...what if he was? What if Gabriel was an expert on human birth?

Here's a fun fact. You know how many times Gabriel shows up in the Bible specifically to discuss someone's womb? Twice. On two separate occasions this angel is sent to Earth for the express purpose of womb related discussions with someone. I mean technically the discussions were more about who was going to be coming out of said wombs, but still. The womb is directly mentioned both times. And when he's talking to Mary he explicitly mentions conception.

He damn well used to know how the human birth process works. Who knows, maybe even enough to be considered an expert. Maybe that's why he was the one chosen to deliver those messages. One thing is for certain though, at the very least he was familiar with conception and he knew what a womb was and understood its role in childbirth. So what happened? Did he just not learn about any of that until after the events with Job?

Or did he have that knowledge all along, only to have it taken from him by something that wouldn't even be set in motion until centuries later?

What if that enormous surge of miraculous energy sent a backlash cascading unchecked throughout history, doing things they never meant it to do, now entirely unpredictable, capable of doing anything from making someone forget the name of an old acquaintance to washing away entire swaths of memories that are intrinsic to who they are? Eroding them away like a river, little by little, until eventually they're barely even an echo of who they once were, an empty shell of their former self.

The expert on human birth who can't remember exactly how it all works, but remembers God doing something with a rib once, and so he clings to that. The scrivener who's still inexorably drawn to books, to the written word, even though she no longer remembers quite how to decipher them, only that she loves them.

Maybe even an angel and a demon, the love and trust and devotion that they built over the course of 6000 years, that has outlasted every empire ever built, strong enough to withstand the wrath of heaven and hell combined, its roots as old as humanity itself and older.... torn down brick by brick even as the foundations were being laid.

Empty houses, almost remembering where the things used to be. Looking at where the furniture isn't

[memoirsofareddittroll]

AITA Shitpost #1: If you're from Africa, then why are you white?

So, here we go with the first one dating back to January, 2022. This one I'm particularly proud of, as it was my first, and it reached over 100 comments shortly before being recognized as fake by the mods. You can find the original post here (although, since it was locked, you won't be able to read it). Luckily for you, though, I still have the account and can thus share the post with you below.

"AITA for not knowing a lot about geography?

I use a throw away, because this situation is apparently embarrassing for me, so I would prefer not to be traced to my real account.

This started when I (24M) overheard some friends M (24M) and G (25M) talking about economics. I decided to join in, because one of them said the phrase “African immigrants,” which I thought was quite humorous, because it is an oxymoron. I pointed this out, and they both just looked at me. G asked me do I know what an oxymoron is? And I answered yes, I think it is a contradictory phrase. G then asked me what was the contradiction? to which I responded that “immigrant” implies to leave ones country, and one doesn’t leave ones country when he or she goes from Africa to the other states. Then M asked me what had I meant by “other states”? I responded that I had been fairly certain that Africa was a state, and that if it was not then it would not make sense to say common terms like “African-American,” as then being African would not make you automatically American.

Indubitably the conversation devolved to M and G mocking me for having thought that Africa would be apart of the United States. It became particularly bad when M said that what I had said was stupid, which obviously angered me, so I told him to shut up, cursed him out, and then remarked that him being a knowitall was the reason why no one liked him. M and G became really defensive after I said that, therefore I have seen neither of them since the argument. Since then, all of our mutual friends have been phoning me and saying I was rude.

On one hand, I feel that I may have been a bit harsh on them. On another hand, I have always considered myself a considerably intelligent person, so I think it rude and dishonest for M to insinuate that I am stupid. So, Reddit, AITA?"

Looking back on my first piece after a year of shitposting, the most striking part to me is that my work has gotten kinda sloppy over time. I put a lot of effort into my first post—here you can clearly see a well-defined character (well, more like a caricature, but in r/AITA terms they might as well be synonyms) which was carefully infused into the writing in a way that I unfortunately haven't been able to replicate since. I'm sure you noticed how pretentious I sounded throwing in clunky grammar and misusing words like "indubitably" and "therefore."

I also had a good bit of lore prepared—my character was eventually intended to whip out the fact that he was a member of Mensa as a last resort (as if that somehow excused thinking that Africa was a state in the US). Unfortunately, this is where I got a bit carried away with the commenting and eventually got my post taken down.

My personal favorite exchange in the comments was my third (and last!) comment here, which I think might have been what gave me away to the mods.

I learned from my mistakes that Africa is not a state in the US, and I now know that it is a country in its own right!

The thread got reposted to r/AmITheDevil, which is one of my main criteria for success in these stories. Most people there were calling me out as an obvious troll (one even dared to call me a low-effort troll, which I took particular offense to), as opposed to the maybe one or two comments on the original post calling it out as a shitpost.

Maybe I leaned into the dumb American stereotype too much, but I guess that's the whole point of these shitposts. Either way I still look back on it as a success, even if it did have some rougher aspects.

Anyway, my second post was more successful and was never removed (and even includes some DM action!) so I might post these out of order to let it stay up for a bit longer. Let me know if liked this, thought I was a pathetic loser with no life, or want to see more, or just generally what you think.

[echojulietfoxtrot]

Artists, I'm totally down with all of this, but speaking as somebody who actively seeks out people to commission semi regularly, help us out to meet you half way!

Notes and Tips from a Client.

- Does your profile actually indicate you're an artist and that you're open to commissions? That might seem like a goofy question, but you would be absolutely amazed how many artists on here do not have any trace of that. (Several artists in these very notes don't!)

- If your slate's full rn, do you have a wait list? Can I tell? How does somebody get on it?

- Is your askbox open for enquiries? Have you checked it lately? Is there some way I can make a quick enquiry with you - and this is important- *without leaving Tumblr*? That extra layer of clicks makes a big difference.

- Is there a standard package of info requirements and material you want from a client to consider/work with them? Even a template? Your client may be in a different timezone or work schedule to you, so teasing this stuff out one message at a time can take foreeevvverr - try to make it clear in advance what you need to know so everything is said/asked in as few chess moves as possible.

- This will be a theme.

- Please, please don't expect people to just 💫DM you for info💫 about anything you already know they'll have to ask - that info should be just about impossible for them to miss. By the time they're DM'ing you, they should pretty much just be clarifying something they've read or pitching the particulars of this specific transaction. Everything they have to ask is one more little obstacle to contacting you at all.

- Do you have lots of diverse and easily found examples of your work? Have you tagged your work consistently and properly? Have you told me what what that tag is? Have you distinguished between Commissions and Personal/commercial stuff? Your style is probably great, but I need to know if it's my vibe! Again, several artists in these tags have not done this. I have no idea what kind of work you've done!

- Have you made it clear what you're capable or interested in working in, subject wise? For example, I look for artists I know can pull off f/f tv/movie fandom ship stuff, and female bodies and musculature, in relatively realistic proportions. Maybe you can do that! But if I can't see any indications of it, and all the stuff I find is m/m or OCs or D&D, I won't assume it and I probably won't cold call to find out.

- If you do LGBTQ+, furry, fetish, mecha etc - anything anyone else might not do, for any reason - make sure to say so. Again, try not to make people have to ask.

- Also, make it clear if you work in Spicy flavor or not, or what kinds of Spicy you will and won't. (And on a personal level, if you do, try not to draw those boobs so high, Tumblr)

- If somebody approaches you with stuff you can't or won't do just out of preference, is there someone else you can steer them to? The favor might just come right back around.

- Is there somewhere I can find your ballpark prices? I don't need to know to the penny, but I do need to know if my budget and your pricing are at least in the same orbit. At least tell me how many digits to expect. Just saying "It depends!" is a psychological brick wall for a would-be client; I promise you that "contact me to discuss pricing" without any indications of floor or ceiling will cost you work.

- Also I strongly suggest a two-chunk payment structure, with some upfront and some on completion. I personally prefer to pay the whole lot upfront where possible, but at least for your first commission with someone, getting part upfront is safest for you, and "the rest on completion" is reassuring for them.

- Consider different tiers if you haven't already. A 60 buck quickie sketch is 60 bucks you didn't have yesterday, and if you agree to post it, it's essentially an ad for you. But maybe I'll like it so much I'll ask you to go further with it, and stump up for a more developed version? If that's an option, it should be clear to me too.

- I strongly recommend having a look around at the all-in-one commission info sheets some folks put together, with pricing, payment, wills and won'ts, and FAQs and making one of your own, and then - and this is important - *pinning* it, or linking to it in your profile. It should smack folks in the face, they won't seek it out, and it should be like a used car ad, every fact or figure you can anticipate them wanting to know should be plain to see.

- And keep it, and your Tumblr, active and up to date. If your commission info sheet and your Tumblr hasn't been touched since 2012, I'll assume you're in space or dead. I will not check your Twitter or Patreon for signs of life.

- Reblog other artists, and actively engage and tag in fandoms/tags you have worked in and want to work in. Branch out into new subjects/fandoms/tags now and then just to experiment and broaden your footprint. Tumblr is a bunch of circles glued together, that's how you get out there. (And personally, I tend to find new artists through previous artists more often than via tags or Recommended feeds.)

- There is absolutely nothing wrong with reaching out to a high profile blog in a given sphere and asking for a shout out. They'll likely be more than happy to.

- Reblog yourself plenty, for the day and night crowd, weekends and weekdays etc. Gas yourself up a little, nobody minds. Add a few new comments about your process or something now and then, it's interesting. Try not to talk shit about your art, even just in jest - it's not good for you and it's kind of a bummer to onlookers. If something wasn't perfect, think and talk about what you learned from it.

- And don't go doxxing yourself or anything, but maybe give some idea of when and how you work on your art - it's probably not a great idea to commit to an ironclad timescale, but if your posts give a sense of how and when you fit the work into your life, people can have some sense of what to expect and be a little more understanding than they might be otherwise.

- Blaze it. If you're sure you can tune out the whiney clowns, Blaze it. Yes you'll get whinging edgelord nitwits in the comments, but you will also get seen by potentially interested folks who would never have stumbled over you otherwise, and they'll stick around when the other dummies are gone.

So you've been Commissioned.

- Keep in touch! Generally speaking, just staying in touch to say "Hey, this is still in the pipeline" now and then is plenty. Don't weird yourself out about it, don't psyche yourself out of getting in contact if it's been a while. Just message. It's cool! I don't mind waiting for the art itself, at all, but long periods of ghostly radio silence are disheartening. If you're art-blocked up the wazoo, it's nbd to say so. If you're taking a break to work on some personal stuff or casual no-pressure sketches, say so! Literally any contact at all is better than no contact. If nothing else, all you have to say is "Hey, just checking in. I have been making progress on your piece/I plan to get some work done on your piece today/this week/this month. Hope all is well!". Bam, done.

- Some would-be commissioner types like to have their shiny completed art piece revealed all in one go and kept all to themselves. Some (me) love to see WIP updates that they can reblog from you, so they have an extra chance to roll around in their fandoms and tags a little. Some artists don't like showing their WIP stuff publically though. All of that's fine - regardless though, make sure you're both on the same page about all of that, and what format and what channel they'll get their piece in, from Day 1.

- Let the client know if you'd be up for working with them again, or if you'd like x and y conditions if they want to work with you again, or if you're all done and you never want to see these damn characters or this bloody setting again. As a client, you can feel a bit weird about hitting the same talented creative up five times in a row for the same two blorbos in a situation, so it's a good idea to intercept that if it's not an issue for you.

Remember - commissioning something has the potential to feel a little like a weird awkward Tinder convo for money. As an artist... well, you're already an artist, but it’s in your interest as somebody who eats and uses electricity to make it obvious that working with you will be easy and hassle free for all involved. What can you do to ensure that, and signal it?

All the love to Art Tumblr. I'll come knocking on some of your doors again next time I have spare cash and a hankering for some more angsty Dani and Grace McTerminatorDarkFate stuff.

The only thing I need tumblr to do is to get like... cool with the idea you can hire people here to do commissions for you and to like.. consider monetary support for artists cuz one of the reasons and the biggest reason I moved to twitter in the first place is because people there buy my art. I make a living there doing art. And the vibe here is **we don't do that here** If you want artists to be here and do art you gotta be okay with the concept of artists trying to make money. I hate capitalism as much as the next person but I'm also 30 years old living with my fucking parents because I can't pay for a 1 bedroom apartment. Artists are not 'big business'. We're not Disney. We're just people trying to make a living or some money for groceries and shit.

[thetwominuteshate-blog]

Hello, cruel world.

I am exhausted with living on this earth.

I could throw literary quotes at you. I could tell you that society at large has become what the dystopian science fiction authors of yesteryear predicted it would. I could start this blog with a call to arms, urging you to riot in the streets and tear down the prison we've built for ourselves.

But the truth is I'm just tired. I'm tired of constantly living in fear. I'm tired of feeling no connection with the world around me. I'm tired of seeing so much suffering that spans continents, in "the greatest nation in the world", while criminals look down on us with derision from their ivory towers. I am tired of feeling as though, no matter what I do, my decisions are of no consequence. I'm tired of the world slowly eroding me until there is nothing good left in me. I'm tired of feeling alone, and I am so, so tired of seeing the world as it could be--as it SHOULD be--and always coming up so short I can't even see the finish line.

I've been rejecting the reality I've found myself in for far too long, escaping into worlds of my own making or the worlds others have created for the sake of escaping my own despair. But it doesn't have to be this way. I still reject this reality, the efficient brutality of a race that has been born into an environment so unforgiving that we fail to put our own violent natures behind us. I reject the notion that the world cannot improve. I have had enough.

Those of you who have read George Orwell's 1984 might remember the Two Minutes Hate. For those of you who haven't or have forgotten, the Two Minutes' Hate is a daily ritual put in place by a maddeningly restrictive government with the intention of directing the fear and anger of common individuals living in such a repressive society by placing them in front of a television screen that projects images of whomever the Party deems is an enemy. The Other. When I first read it, this excerpt in particular stood out to me:

"The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp."

These days, most of what I see in the media is the Two Minutes Hate. Talking heads on two dimensional screens telling us who we should hate. Vicious propaganda that those who lack the will to fight the ones keeping them locked in misery buy into wholeheartedly. Instead of directing their rage at the ones responsible, people punch down, ostracizing people less fortunate than them.

But this isn't the reason why I chose to name this blog after the Two Minutes Hate. Because hate is a funny thing--when we don't let it eat away at us, it gives us the strength to fight without abandon. It causes us to reduce things to rubble and burn the remains so there is no trace of its existence. It can be a powerful tool. But it is fire, and most of us, if not all, aren't well enough equipped with the knowledge to know which things are worth burning.

I've been filled with hate nearly for as long as I can remember. Full disclosure: I'm a 27-year-old white, bisexual cis male. For most of my life I lived in a small town and have largely kept myself in seclusion due to bullying throughout my childhood into my teen years. I only recently became aware of the deepening aspects of my sexuality, but over the years I've faced baseless accusations of homosexuality to the point that a cowardly bully had his friend fight me. As a result, I faced suspension. My school district, like most, put on a public face that disavowed bullying, but enabled it when it occurred. The culture I was surrounded by swam in toxic masculinity, boys that pretended to be men through the ownership of trucks flying the Confederate flag and other meaningless, superficial displays of their own insecurities. My "community", which is so very important to conservative culture, treated me like a stubborn weed long before I could even grasp cruelty. I felt suffocated, unable to flourish because there was always someone watching my every move. As a result, I've come to loathe authority in all its forms.

That's just backstory, though. Over the years I've come to realize that my circumstances were relatively fortunate. I'm privileged; people have been murdered over the merest suspicion that they might be gay. There are people who face severe bullying on a near-daily basis, and that's in this country alone. The atrocities committed in our world's history dwarf mine to a subatomic level. I've had friends who have been raped, faced child and domestic abuse, and even now are in circumstances far more dire than my own. It's no longer for my own sake that I hate, it's for those who are beaten down and cannot fight back, whether on an individual or cultural basis.

I'm not here to play white, straight(ish) savior. In fact, I wouldn't even consider myself to be an ordinary person. I am on the verge of mental instability--for years I've felt the effects of severe depression, which is finally in check. For a time I was so suicidal that I abused substances on a daily basis because the only calming thoughts I had in sobriety were of my own death. I have a deep desire to hurt and destroy, to get back at the world that I feel cut me open and left me to bleed out. I'm a sadist and a masochist in the BDSM scene. I have twisted fantasies that run so deeply to my core and no outlet for them outside of the scene. I want to make others suffer for the injustices they inflict upon those who are undeserving of pain. Because whoever came up with the idiom, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" should have been tortured without cause, broken by suffering that held no ultimate meaning. Then he'd have a greater grasp on the state of the reality as it is.

Hate is addictive. Orwell was right; it spreads like a wildfire, and it's impossible not to be caught in the blaze yourself unless you sequester yourself with comfort and ignorance. And turning a blind eye to the problems others face, whether it's next door or on the other side of the globe, is possibly worse. Until now, I've feared the repercussions of acting against authority, the odds of my successful retribution stacked heavily against me. Even now, I fear the things I will express will draw fire from all sides, so I'm shielding myself through an anonymity browser in order to ward off potential enemies, whether they are a collective agency like the NSA or some alt-right IT cunt with internet access. Those of us in the United States have been officially granted a right to free speech, but we live in an era in which seizing that right can go so far as to get you killed, especially if you call for progress and your voice is heard by millions.

But my end goal is not society's complete collapse. There are pieces of this world worth preserving. I may only be useful for tearing things down, but someday I hope someone will build them back up into something better that works for all people. I long to help individuals understand that all people are just that--people. Not secondary or tertiary characters in your life, good-or-evil projections onto a screen for you to scream at. It's this mentality that causes entire populations to suffer, and I know my work will never be done until the most marginalized find a place in society.

But this is not a call to empathy. Part of recognizing each other's humanity is holding each other accountable for their actions. I believe no person can be perfectly good--we all do terrible things, myself thoroughly included--but there are those of us who are so mindlessly destructive in their actions that I honestly believe the world would be better off without them. This quality of malignance does not discriminate between race, gender, or age. We are among self-made monsters on a daily basis, and they deserve as much sympathy as they dole out.

Words without action are meaningless. I don't intend to sit here and tell y'all to start a French-style bloodletting while I sit comfortably in a downtown loft. This is a time for action. This is a time for violence. This is a time to stand up against the birth of fascism in the so-called "Land of the Free". This is a time for hate.

I am Winston Smith, and this is my Two Minutes Hate. This is my war. Will you join me?

[maneaterwithtail]

The politics are the cough. the disease is flooding to chase the trend of personal brand building. Events and confusing communities and arguably the arrangement of the direct market itself. No simplicity and lots of expense with shakeup one after the other.

And some transparently business or out of story disrupting existing (in humans versus mutants)

Starting Marvel, as an example, is harder than figuring out where to come in on the Fate series. I mention this because Comics are often compared to manga and yet however convoluted in silly may get for the most part you buy one collection, or let's not kid ourselves pirate, or wait until an animated adaptation comes out realize that it's pretty much faithful, go back to the core comic and so long as you start from the beginning you can follow to the end. Even if it's based off of a visual novel chances are everything will progress from beginning to end. It's usually when that models messed up with that something becomes destructive and difficult to follow or deal.

Unlike with manga where if you're having trouble following where to start with, like the Fate series, you can at least enjoy the latest Nasu verse offering. especially if you can turn your brain off and just engage with one example. Or if you don't want to deal with that you can just go to an entirely different property from a similar publisher that scratches a similar itch.

Like the premise of America Chavez buts I think she did it wrong? Well it's not like you can just switch over to Champions because that's a mess as well along with Miles Morales Spider-Man and ms. Marvel or spider woman.

it's expensive, patchy, filled with all sorts of weird continuity that you end up having to buy just to start. As such only the dedicated fanbase could possibly tolerate it but that also is exclusive in the sense that it's so to them with a history that it feels kind of off-putting.

I like the comicsgate comics I have heard of. I can also understand why we try to move away from that. Such as very obvious p*** tracing. And so on. Yes supposed diversity has basically led to a similar story of we're here now we're going to f*** the status quo too strongly relating to the audience or the author's pandering.

But it's not just they're going to have a trans person in an announcement. Which is a pretty major character trait I imagine that they want to talk about that or include it in the announcement.

the discontinuity does not help you build upsetting characters characterization and Circumstance. This is what I mean you're following themes story and events building to something then a new author will come in and he or she will wreck all that up so that they can go in an entirely different direction. Okay maybe you don't like the homosexual overtones of Eddie Brock and Venom. Maybe you want to stick it to all the slash shippers on Tumblr. But they've been the people who been following the comic and there's been a multi-year build up with sleeper, Eddie Brock and Venom's son.

going no now Eddy has a son he doesn't know about. oh and he was in the car that killed a child and him and Venom hate each other? Basically says f*** that other story we're going back to this story because I liked it better when I was young and I like it this way. And this kind of hostility is constant with every Changing of the Guard which can happen almost every two to three years. This keeps happening right when things are starting to get good or conclusion is reached. this undermines any death any major event or twist especially when it's in the headlines as if it's going to be meaningful

we can't even engaged in the illusion that someone has a plan charting something out when it feels like it's always fly by the seat of the pants the slightest whim can blow off the direction. We know in our conscious nothing that happens matters or at the very least when things end and we don't move on to something else then realize that there was a change but it seems seamless. Or at the very least it's a damn good seem that makes a very likeable and unique and distinct quilt. Again comparing and contrasting with manga

basically constantly ragging on the Politics as if that's what's causing the problem as opposed to Poor practices is off. yeah the customer service is definitely a no-go. But let's not kid ourselves Fanboys started it

I can straight up say that if you had a book that was straight up gay. like it starred the gay couple that once was Rescued by Captain America including his childhood hero And they were joined by the gender-bending exiled courtesan. you know those girls that always hang around in the background of Thor comics and everybody talks about winching and all that stuff? What if we actually focus on one of them and we threw in some mythological deviant queerness with the idea that men who practiced a certain form of Witchcraft had to be ladies. Now in practice this often meant anything from cross-dressing to performing ceremonies with a freaking dildo. But this is Comics so instead I can just go with the idea that after he uses magic so much he can turn or does turn into a lady. At first it's inadvertent but then he Masters the power so much that can transform into any lady. So he can go from weak little nerdy witch man to a Vanir (super durable pretty strong) or she giant.

It gets even more so when apparently he can change not just to a generic woman but any specific one. so he can literally clone an individual lady alive or dead. If she's dead you can act as a vessel for her soul so effectively while he might be booted deep within he can resurrect anyone's female loved one. Until changes back. The Twist is that while he won a beauty contest to be one of Odin's many many side pieces due to the politics and sociology of the time and the setup Odin didn't like admitting that they were both men or equals. Now the crossdressing courtesan isnt necessarily the nicest person. In fact the number one thing that characterizes him is that he hates the alpha male warrior culture or at least what he perceives of the negatives of it of Asgard. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he provides a good alternative. This will be a total retcon. not only would this make Odin effectively bisexual -although it's long since established that it seems like he's banged about so much he has had a child with everyone but his wife- but the idea that Loki and Thor grew up exposed to this weird gender-bending courtesan who tried to compete with the affections of their Queen Mother just so that that way he could get ahead and hated showing the absolute loyalty and Devotion to Asgard seeking glory in battle and death as opposed to conniving Gatling favor and trolling for booty while having to serve drinks for the Warriors that came by and were celebrated in the castle Hall.

Probably make up all sorts of relationships with other lesser-known Danny's that haven't been as much part of Marvel Thor but are important or at least well-known for the tradition. I would also shamelessly ripoff @gumon and her take on Norse mythology. With giants that just naturally produce children whether male or female. anyway ignoring all the continuity just so I could bring in the mythology that I want I would have it so that he was ultimately exiled because he got set up on a failure assignment. He got assigned to the Blue Mountain the traveling planet or set of rocks now that was the home of one of the Warriors Three the blue guy well the guy who wears blue and looks kind of like Angus Khan

The entire point of this is to get a different eye view of the Marvel Universe. What was it like to be one of those disposable pin-up girls. What is the gay population in gay culture and gay people been doing and light of the world that's been invaded from the ground been in a Perpetual fight with remnants of terrorists from World War II. And of course how they've been in for you property and making their lives and how are they responding to the fact that New York finally recognizes their marriage and of course life in the Twilight years as a gay couple that's constantly facing mortality. Also with the usual hey I'm an immortal mystical being who's having to relearn how to be human after having lived a life with a God's but neither being loyal to them nor a particular loyal to my own people. Along with the issues of the shapeshifter gender Dynamics and identity and all other sort of things. Pretty damn gay book. But I read it

Kids like imitating what they see so ripping the idea that someone's going to take some of the more iconic X-Men looks and style themselves after them when they know that their mutant doesn't seem wrong. I like the idea that we're going to open with someone who manages an online community for mutants. I like the idea of Trailblazer I like the ladies thick and I like the fact that she has a more utility power that she's going to have to work with and around hopefully being clever though that backpack does run the risk of becoming the Omnitrix and having the solution for every problem that you need.

Basically I like the children of the atom a bit more than the whole lineup of the new Warriors. I think people really should give the characters a chance so if you're turned off by yet another set of incest siblings in Marvel ya no problem or argument here.