#I don't even remember the context for this or the campaign

[iknowwhatyousaidlastsession]

Stronk zambie dna? ... what??

[robynrocksforbrains]

I love you ×9

Ok so I am probably not the first person to notice this or point it out since I've only been a byler for like six months... BUT I did maybe go a little crazy about this. So I'm gonna talk about it.

So a few days ago I was thinking about the mlvn endgame argument "well Mike said 'I love you' nine times". And like, first of all, saying "I love you" doesn't undo a year's worth of deliberate lying and miscommunication. That's not how relationships work. Their issues are still very much real and very much not going anywhere because they're not even TRYING to do anything about them. But also... I was thinking: why nine times? Why that number specifically? Was it just random? Is there maybe anything to indicate that nine is significant? Is there maybe a scene in the first episode of s4 that tells us how we should react to the monologue?

So, the DND basketball montage. Great stuff. Amazing foreshadowing. Everyone loved it.

I got to thinking about it. Decided I needed to know what Mike's roll was. I kinda spiraled about it on twitter because I could not see it clearly and I couldn't tell if it was an eight or nine. Desperate times called for desperate measures so I recorded my tablet with my phone and found the perfect frame.

IT'S A NINE

CLEAR AS DAY! IT'S A NINE! GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!

Anyway, I don't know how DND works. I don't know why this roll evoked the reaction it did from the party - most significantly, Mike's very disgruntled reaction (I don't mean The Party™ I just mean literally the party that is playing this campaign) I genuinely don't know what the fuck is going on in this game. But what I do know is they wanted us to associate this roll with failure. That's why it corresponds with a missed basket in the basketball game. That's why Eddie gets this ooo that sucks for you guys look on his face. That's why we hear a chorus of "nooo" from the party. That's why Mike says "no no no" and looks extremely upset. I don't know anything about DND, but I can read context clues.

So I'm not going to try to understand what's going on in the game, I'm just gonna go off what I think they wanted us to subconsciously pick up on.

So they show us all of this. They associate Mike with the number nine in the first episode and then that number shows up AGAIN in the last episode.

The monologue cannot be associated with anything but failure. Whether that be mlvns failing relationship, or their very real failure to save Max (at least before El revived her), and their failure to save Hawkins. The monologue does not stand apart from that. It is completely interwoven with these failures. If you have average media literacy, you know that. Even before I was aware of just how important byler is to this entire story, before I was aware that they've been setting up byler endgame since day one, you would never catch me thinking that the monologue was supposed to be received positively by the audience. You would never catch me saying mlvns love saved the world. (Although that's because I genuinely forgot about mlvn a few weeks after I watched s4). I think I received the monologue in the way it was intended to be received. I didn't fully understand it, or why they would execute it the way they did, but I still received it in the way I believe it was intended to be.

So I know the general agreement among bylers is that the monologue kinda sealed the deal for mlvn bones. Like I'm not saying anything new really. But I genuinely do think that Mike's roll in episode one, the reactions to it, and the missed shot it corresponds with were meant to foreshadow the monologue and how they wanted the audience to receive it.

This is fiction, everything means something. Everything is thought of. The timer (and maybe scores, I genuinely can't remember) in the basketball game had significance. Other rolls in the DND game had significance. Why would that be any different for Mike? Especially when his roll was a nine and that number shows up for him again when he says "I love you" nine times. And both of these things are associated with failure.

Not that we need any other reason to interpret the monologue as a less than good thing. It's just the way that it is, it's pretty easy to figure out how they wanted us to take it. But they still did give us a hint. I think it's really cool.

[best-transgender-character]

Hi everyone. I've been putting some thought into the best way to bring this up without making light of it, since this is a serious topic and this is a very unserious blog. I don't want to reblog a bunch of individual posts without context and explanations attached, but if I find posts that I feel are thorough and explain what is going on, I may reblog them. Here is a summary, for anyone completely unaware of what is happening:

A trans woman (Rita, URL was Predstrogen, now Cyprederone) has had her account falsely flagged as NSFW and banned multiple times as a result of a transmisogynistic harassment campaign against her. You may have seen people talking about how her transition timeline has been flagged mature content, multiple times.

Support have been unhelpful when it comes to the harassment, and dubiously helpful about restoring accounts until this latest event.

People reached out to Photomatt about the topic, who is the CEO of Tumblr. He decided to respond, claiming that Rita was personally harassing him and posting death threats about him. This does not line up with the official reason why Rita was banned, which was "sexually explicit materials". The "death threat" was a slapstick post about an exploding car full of hammers. Matt threatened to contact the police or FBI about the threat, used neutral pronouns for Rita despite being informed of her pronouns, and even referred to her as 'it' in one sentence. He referred to Rita as "pergstrogen" in one post, which may be a particularly unfortunate typo, but may also be an ableist slur. He also sent people direct messages about the topic. Matt denied any possibility of transmisogyny playing a part, and suggested that people who feel this site is not safe for trans women should just leave to a different site.

Rita has been banned for life. Several people criticising Matt for this have also been banned.

Please pay attention to this, read other posts about it, look at Photomatt's blog (archived as of 21/02) to see the way he has handled this and Cyprederone's blog to see Rita's statement.

Here are all of Photomatt's posts about the topic, please check the notes of them to see people's responses as well as people archiving his comments. Edit: These posts have been deleted. I'm unsure if there is an archive somewhere of the comments, but these links are now the webarchive links to these posts.

You gonna do anything or make any statement about the rampant transmisogyny on this hellsite (original post with they/them) (first edit with "the account") (second edit with she/her) (archive of most recent edit)

I love this site and I’m sorry so many people are determined to ruin it.

So, the terfs and neonazis are fine, but a trans women giving threatening you is where you draw the line?

You should really feel bad about how transphobic tumblr is

all you ever do is drop the ban hammer on trans women you don't like, while casually ignoring the harassment they face

can I report your beahviour, or?

it's been four hours and nothing you've said has made this decision look better

Why did you misgender her lmao

❤ (heart emoji) [I don't yet have an archive of this. Please reach out if you have an archive of this, although there wasn't much relevant in this post.]

I'm continuing to get harassment and death threats here

My Beliefs and Principles

Tweeting Rita's saved URLs

He is further arguing with people on Twitter.

[Edit] Staff have now made a PR statement about the topic.

Please give trans women your love and support, and remember that this is deeply serious transmisogyny, not just an excuse to joke about car hammer explosions.

[daarka]

Actually fucking nuts. Capitalism ruins everything.

Push back against this. Be loud. Use #OpenDnD liberally.

Staying in 5e and ignoring 6e/"OneDnD" is not an option. I'll try to summarize below the cut, but I'm not an expert, so please seek out resources that aren't me for full info. This link is a good start. This is the full deep-dive I read up on a few days ago. Listening to the community is also worthwhile to understand from the voices of those affected most. To be more involved in the discussion yourself, a lawyer has set up a Discord server for the community to gather and converse in regarding this issue.

Again, for full context and information from more knowledgeable sources than me (including actual professionals), please go to the links I included above. If you don't have the time/patience/spoons to read those articles, scroll a twitter feed, or poke around a Discord server though, here are the things that made the most potent impression on me and why you should care about this issue.

As mentioned, staying in 5e and ignoring 6e/"OneDnD" is not an option. While OGL1.1 was made for 6e, the extensive parts of the document that have been leaked make it clear that with OGL1.1 going into effect, OGL1.0a (which has been the OGL for the past decade) will no longer be functional. 3rd party creators must choose to either sign the OGL1.1 and comply with it's insanely restrictive and predatory terms, or face legal repercussions for publishing the content they have made their livelihoods off of the past decade.

Per the leaked document, all 3rd party creators must register themselves and their creations with WotC. - 3rd party creators making over $50,000 USD per year must also report their earnings to WotC. - 3rd party creators making over $750,000 USD gross per year must also pay WotC a 25% royalty. This means it is not 750k in profits, it is 750k before any expenses that they are taking the royalties from. Anyone whose profit margin was 25% or less would be financially invalidated by this royalty, and can even end up losing money. Furthermore, the nature of Kickstarters for example is that there is no upper ceiling on earnings, so a KS for a 3rd party sourcebook will suddenly be facing a massive expense they may not have planned for if their campaign exceeds the 750k mark, potentially destroying their ability to deliver on the rewards when they otherwise could have. While currently only a small number of creators are known to make over 750k/year (gross, not net), that does not mean this will not affect you. It creates a very dire argument for why 3rd party creators should not even make the effort in the first place, especially with crowdfunding where too much success can suddenly ruin them.

Remember how those who make over 50k have to report their earnings? Well, the 750k threshold is one WotC says they have the right to change at any time in OGL1.1. This means they can see what people are making when creators are forced to report their earnings over 50k, and use that data to lower the threshold of income for their royalty fee, and they can do this at any time, however much they want. Per OGL1.1, they are telling you that they can decide on a whim that actually, anyone making over $5,000 USD gross a year has to pay the 25% royalty.

D&DBeyond / OneDnD are working towards creating a VTT to host OneDnD/6e. While Roll20 is licensed by WotC if I'm not mistaken, virtually no other VTT is. Platforms like Foundry VTT (my personal favorite and most beloved VTT) will not be able to host the D&D system on them under OGL1.1. What does that mean? Hard to say. But it will objectively become much harder to play D&D outside of WotC-approved spaces in the near future, and that is by design. They want to monopolize how this game is played, and that means making it difficult, inconvenient, or even illegal to play the game outside of their personal playground.

Under OGL1.1, WotC claims full and complete ownership over any and all 3rd party content created for D&D, and the rights to use it however, whenever, and wherever they want without paying you royalties. You made this? Hasbro made this.

I've only ever played 5e. But this link I put up above was very informative about prior editions and the drama surrounding them. 3e had an OGL, and the community began to flourish with 3rd party content. WotC didn't like that people who weren't them were making money off a passion for D&D, and they regretted the OGL--but that OGL was irrevocable, and could not be cancelled, removed, or in any way undone. So they put together 3.5e. They promised 3.5e would be backwards compatible, and all your resources for 3e would still work for it. So people jumped to 3.5e, only to find all their 3e content was now worthless, because that hadn't been true. And 3.5e, of course, did away with that open and welcoming OGL from 3e. Sound familiar? "OneDnD" is touted to be backwards compatible. And yet also comes with crushing restrictions in their OGL1.1 that make it impossible for the D&D community to exist as it has been. It is transparently clear that for WotC/Hasbro, an ideal world would be one where all the money people have spent on flourishing this community over the last decade would have gone exclusively into their pockets. D&D makes hundreds of millions every year, but it's "under monetized" according to their new CEO. It doesn't matter if "Honor Among Thieves" flops at the box office, WotC has already green-lit the production of multiple D&D movies. It's not about fanservice, it's about fan exploitation. Because they can't fucking stand that the game they made can be played obsessively and passionately for decades with only the one-time purchases of the DMG and PHB. And instead of fixing the apparent "under-monetization" problem by publishing more official content, they choose to poach 3rd party creators. The very lifeblood that has caused D&D's success. Because capitalist greed is a soulless poison to whatever it fixes its attention on.

The only way the community has any shot in hell to fight this is if the pushback is intense and loud. WotC has released statements mentioning an openness to listening to the community and revising their choices based on feedback; whether that proves to be lip service or not remains to be seen, but either way: the only thing they seem to care about is money. Fine, let your money do the talking, then. Wholeheartedly support the boycott. Proclaim your support of it loudly. Let Hasbro know that their attempts to milk more profits out of this franchise will be the very thing that kills it if they don't ease the fuck back and allow OGL1.0a to persist. They apparently didn't learn shit when this happened in 3e/3.5e. They can either wise up now before they fuck up beyond repair, or they can be fully destroyed by their own greed. Time will tell.

Edit:

Good catch, thanks! You're right, I must have had some wires crossed when writing that bit. They couldn't revoke it, but they did publish new content for 3.5e that made 3.0e content feel worthless; this is not something I personally lived through, but is based on the reporting from this second article I linked. Likewise, that article explains how 4e did not have an OGL and was consequentially a bit of a wasteland, presumably prompting WotC to bring the OGL back for 5e. Which flourished. And now we're here.

Edit II:

I'm Super not the best source of information for this because I'm absolutely all over the place, but 2 things.

Please check out OpenDnD.games for full, proper info and a place to give your signature in support of the community's pushback.

Something else I failed to mention above: OGL1.1 has a "poison pill" clause. Anyone who signs it permanently forfeits their right to publish under prior versions of the OGL, even if they are unable to take down those prior versions. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING FOR OGL1.1. Even if the community pushback yields results, you may have trapped yourself. "Predatory" does not even begin to cover it.

[oopsallfictives]

I'm gonna take a stab at creating an alternate definition of the word delusion, since I'm not a fan of the one commonly used in a medical context. This is gonna deal with some unreality and paranoia-inducing stuff, so read at your own risk.

The definition most commonly used for delusion is a false belief that a person can't be persuaded isn't real or true, even if they're shown evidence to the contrary. This is a flawed definition for a number of reasons, chief among them that sometimes people are just wrong and stubborn about it. We know that it can be incredibly difficult for people to change their minds once they're personally invested in an idea, but that's not the same as being delusional. A person who still believes vaccines cause autism probably isn't delusional, they're just personally invested in the idea because it validates their view that autism is bad and gives them a scapegoat to blame for the existence of autistic people. That's an ideology, not a delusion.

Another flaw is that some things can't necessarily be confirmed to be untrue. One of the most well-known (and commonly mocked) delusions is some variation of "the government is spying on me". This isn't something that's easily verified as either true on untrue, and it's also something that literally does happen to people. I live in the US, where we know the government spies on people. We know that in the wake of 9/11, US intelligence agencies undertook a massive campaign of surveillance of Muslim and Middle Eastern people living in the US. So "the government is spying on me" might not actually be a false belief, and you probably can't know that for sure.

Attempting to rely on a belief being false can be dangerous, too. I remember reading the story of a person who was labelled as delusional for saying Obama followed them on Twitter, and was incarcerated in a psych ward until they lied and said they'd realized they were delusional and Obama didn't follow them. The thing is, he did. It was true and verifiable, but the medical professional evaluating them refused to check if it was true so they didn't "encourage the delusion". Sane people tend to believe they have an absolute and correct understand of reality, and a lot of them would rather call you delusional than adjust their worldview. And if that person is a medical professional, they can completely turn your life upside down and stick you in conditions that the UN has called torture.

So here's my proposed alternative: a delusion is an involuntary belief that isn't rooted in logic or evidence, and that a person can't stop believing even if they know it isn't true.

Let's break that down. The involuntary part is important. Delusional people don't have control over our delusions. We don't believe them because we want to or because we think they're true, we just believe them. It's true that delusions can draw on voluntary beliefs, including bigotry, but believing the delusion isn't a choice. We can't just stop. In the case of delusions rooted in bigotry, the person is still responsible for holding those bigoted beliefs in the first place, even though they don't have control of the delusion that came from them. This is an important caveat, because people love to call bigots delusional for things they chose to believe.

The second part is that it's not rooted in any kind of logic or evidence. If a person believes something untrue due to faulty logic and/or misinformation, that's not a delusion. That's called being wrong.

Lastly, I chose the wording "even if they know it's not true" very deliberately. Some delusional people know, either always or sometimes, that our delusions aren't real or true. I personally always know, but that never stops me believing them. If you've never experienced this, it can be hard to imagine what it feels like to know something isn't true and still be unable to stop believing in it. It's contradictory and confusing and really hard to put into words. Of course, there are also delusional people who don't know their delusions aren't true, or who're confused and can't figure it out. It's not the same for everyone. This part of the definition also covers being presented evidence and being unable to accept it as true.

For some people, being told their delusions aren't true can also be extremely distressing and even push them further into it. Never reality check a delusional person unless they ask you to, or it's part of a crisis plan you made with them. The same goes for playing into or confirming a delusion. Do your best to remain neutral on whether or not their belief is true, and try to focus more on their emotions and how it's affecting them. If you know a psychotic person, it's a good idea to ask them (preferably while they're not having a psychotic episode) how they'd like you to handle it.

I'm open to critique from other psychotic people, but if you're aggressive or mean I'll probably just ignore you. This is just an idea, a rough draft, and I'd like to know what the community thinks. Nonpsychotics can reblog, but keep your thoughts to yourself

-Oliver (it/its)

[fearnesbells]

so about that laudna-has-no-future 4sd chat...

marisha ray has throwaway lines and that is her god given right like anyone else and truly this may mean nothing

BUT

me personally i bluescreened when marisha said "what does laudna have to look forward to, she's dead" in response to a question of would laudna rather make contact with her future or past self.

i think laudna and her evolving worldview over the course of this campaign is sooooooo interesting so thoughts under the cut

"the worst thing that’s ever happened to me has already happened."

we all remember this! this is the response that laudna gave to orym when he softly pointed out that laudna seemed like she had the most positive outlook of the group. it was a central tenet of laudna's character up until that point, that despite the darkness that coated her soul, she was probably the one with the most zest for life.

she tended to believe the best in npcs that the party encountered. she had a rat marionette that got boners and made her laugh. she was wholeheartedly devoted to imogen and never, never believed that the end was the end.

and then, when orym asked her how she accomplished that, she responds in a framing of perspective.

she was murdered by the briarwoods at twenty years old. how can anything seem awful in comparison to that?

she died, and then she got to join an adventuring party. she died, and then she got to use her strange, eerie powers for good. she died, and then she met imogen.

she has hope because she's seen the lowest possible point her life can come to, and can only climb upwards from there.

she had a hope for a future, because of this. a good future. at least one that was better than the worst thing that had ever happened to her. and that future included imogen—

"can keep you from that. can keep us from that."

she had hope.

we all know this quote. this quote is the cottagecore lesbian life that marisha spoke to in four-sided dive. but i think to look at where laudna's at now, and to understand "what does laudna have to look forward to, she's dead", we have to look at the quote in greater context.

laudna is speaking to a possible future here. but in her words she's also saying that she understands that that future might mean abandoning what they feel called to do by the gods. in this moment, she's not guaranteeing a future, she's explaining to imogen that they have a choice.

and as of now, episode 82, arrived on the moon, they've made that choice. they're orpheus. they've descended into hell, and they can't look back if they want to make it out.

it's important to note that laudna wasn't lying way back in heartmoor when she was talking to orym. the worst thing that could ever happen to her had already happened. but she was operating then on her very human understanding of the world.

since then, she's died (again), been resurrected, seen magic beyond comprehension, and surrendered herself over to the spirit of her murderer that lives in her head.

there are no rules anymore. and laudna has learned that there is always something worse.

the quiet life she talked about with imogen might have been taken from her forever. the narrative has grown teeth and it has sunk them into both her and the woman she loves.

"what does laudna have to look forward to, she's dead"

she's orpheus, yeah? we know how this story ends. her love's been called to the hell planet by fate. she won't get out without losing something.

maybe—maybe—there's still hope for that cottage together somewhere. i don't mean to rule it out entirely. but i think that laudna herself, the character, has lost all belief in that possibility at this point. and that presents such a foil to the laudna that we met in episode 1.

sometimes the tragedy comes built-in.

even if. even when.

(all quotes pulled from critical role wiki's transcripts page)

[menfenced]

I've seen a lot of posts in the last 24 hours about why Kamala lost and I feel like most of them are failing to actually look at reasons voters are giving. Instead, they're putting forward what they personally didn't like about Kamala's campaign. But here's the thing to remember... You didn't like that thing about Kamala's campaign. You still voted for her. There's something else going on.

Because people didn't just vote against Kamala. They voted FOR Trump, and early polling results are showing they did it across the board in almost every demographic.

I've seen the calls for investigations into voter fraud and voter suppression because "this doesn't just happen!" and I agree with one thing. This doesn't "just" happen. There's a reason and democrats aren't listening. Because it's not just a handful of counties that got hacked or had crazy people trying to stop votes or didn't get all of their ballots counted. That's not to say that none of that stuff happened, of course. There may have been serious issues in some counties. But across the board, in nearly every state and every county, even if he didn't outright win, Trump made gains. The only two states where he didn't make gains: Washington State and Utah.

If that's due to voter fraud or hacked elections, it would have to be on a scale unlike anything we have ever seen before and honestly, we don't have any evidence of that right now.

So what happened? What do we know?

We know that since the pandemic and since the record inflation that caused, incumbent leaders all over the world have been losing elections at higher rates than usual. That crosses all political persuasions and again, has been seen across the globe.

Based on polling prior to the election, which remained fairly consistent throughout the election run, 3/4 US voters think the country is on the wrong track and 2/3 are unhappy with the economy.

Biden's approval rating when this election started was 40-41%

This is all a recipe for an incumbent losing, which to be frank, most people still saw Kamala as, even though she was running instead of Biden.

In addition to all of that, let's look at what the exit polls showed.

Kamala's approval rating in the exit polls was 48.5%

Donald Trump's approval ratings in the exit polls was 44.54%

And I know he wasn't running, but just for context Biden's approval ratings were 40%

When asked if Harris's views were too extreme, 46% said yes, 51% said no.

When asked if Trump's views were too extreme, 55% said yes, 43% said no.

So how did he win?

People like him less and think he's more extreme. Why did they vote for him?

Well, let's look at some other polling data.

45% of voters said that their family's personal financial situation was worse off than it was four years ago.

Only 25% said their financial situation was better than it was 4 years ago.

75% of people polled said that in the last year, inflation has caused them either severe or moderate hardship.

When asked who can bring needed change, 73% of voters said Trump and only 25% said Harris.

What that means is that a majority of American's don't like Trump. They don't think he's a good person. They think he's too extreme. And yet they still voted for him because the issue that was most important in this election was the economy.

Will Trump be better for the economy?

No.

But there's a perception that the current administration did not do everything they could have to fix it and people were willing to roll the dice on someone different.

Maybe we could have done more. Kamala only had 110 days to make her case and no matter what she said, the fact remained that she is the sitting VP. Maybe there was no way for her to escape the incumbent/status quo perception.

I hope we can learn something from the behavior of the American electorate this year, and I really hope Trump doesn't fuck things up too bad before we get another chance to step in, because the Republican Party is learning things too. They're learning that they can be as extreme as they want, but if they can make people believe the economy will work better under their leadership, even if it's not true, they'll still get votes.

[evidence-based-activism]

regarding your vote post, I’m pro trump and not homophobic at all. It’s insane that you all believe this. Trump was the ONLY president to be PRO gay marriage even before taking the office. If you remember back when Obama was in office he was against it for years. Then he came around to it. Biden was against it then came around to it. Trump was the only one who was pro gay rights/ gay marriage before taking office. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Also people bring him up being “misogynistic” for that audio of him saying “grab them by the p” which was taken completely out of context. Let’s talk about the point he was actually making which is that when you’re rich there are women out there ( we all know the kind to which he was referring) who will allow you to do anything or act anyway. He said you could “grab them by the p” and they wouldn’t care.

I'm bumping this up the queue given the current election timeline. So, here you go Anon (and audience):

"regarding your vote post"

They mean this post, where I implore everyone who cares about women (and other similar groups/causes) to vote for Harris (and down your ticket) in the upcoming US election. Check it out!

"I’m pro trump and not homophobic at all. It’s insane that you all believe this."

It's insane to me that anyone can actually believe that "supporting Trump" and "not being homophobic" are not mutually exclusive. You are supporting a man – and a party – that wants to dismantle the rights and protections of the LGB community.

I'll detail all the ways he's hostile in another section. First,

"Trump was the ONLY president to be PRO gay marriage even before taking the office"

This is just factually inaccurate.

In 2011, on Fox News [1]:

"I just don't feel good about it," Trump said. "I don't feel right about it. I'm against it, and I take a lot of heat because I come from New York. You know, for New York it's like, how can you be against gay marriage? But I'm opposed to gay marriage."

In 2015, on CNN [2]:

"I’m just for traditional marriage.”

In 2016 (election year), on Fox News [3]:

WALLACE: But -- but just to button this up very quickly, sir, are you saying that if you become president, you might try to appoint justices to overrule the decision on same-sex marriage? TRUMP: I would strongly consider that, yes.

"If you remember back when Obama was in office he was against it for years. Then he came around to it."

In the meantime, Obama directed the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA, explicitly stated his support for same-sex marriage, and signed an executive order protecting LGBT employees working for government contractors [4].

Did Obama start out opposing same-sex marriage? Yeah, and that was terrible. But he also opposed (and pledged to repeal) the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – which was, I must stress, a bipartisan policy at the time, supported ‘strong civil unions’ that ensured the same rights as marriage, and pledged to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – all during his campaign.

And the thing is, most people at that time opposed same-sex marriage [5]. In 2004, 60% of Americans opposed same-sex marriage and only 31% supported it. By 2019, this flipped with 61% supporting same-sex marriage and 31% opposing it.

All this is to say, that at the time, Obama's policies concerning same-sex relationships and discrimination protection for same-sex attracted people, were overtly liberal. More so than even the wider Democratic party or the American public as a whole.

The fact that he was responsive to the public, and became more supportive over time, Anon, is actually a sign of a good politician.

In contrast to all of this, Trump's explicit anti-gay campaign rhetoric took place during a time of unprecedented tolerance and acceptance of gay people, even among Republican moderates/leaners.

"Biden was against it then came around to it."

Biden "came around to it" around 2012, where he said [6]:

"I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men and women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying men and women are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties and, quite frankly, I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that."

You'll note that 2012 is before 2020, meaning that Biden was the actual first President to be pro-gay marriage prior being President. (You'll also note that this was around the same time as Trump explicitly stating he opposed gay marriage.)

"Trump was the only one who was pro gay rights/ gay marriage before taking office."

I have explained in detail how you are wrong about this above. In addition to that, let's take a look at Trump's actual track record for gay rights:

Attempted to deny citizenship children born abroad to married same-sex parents [7]

Supported allowing adoption agencies to refuse same-sex parents on the basis of them being homosexual [8]

Appointed dozens of homophobic judges with a track record of anti-gay rulings/statements [9]

Removed or restricted protections based on sexual orientation in health care, and, just as importantly, failed to enact any protections [10]

Asked the Supreme Court to allow employers to fire workers on the basis of their sexual orientation, and, just as importantly, failed to enact any sexuality-based employment protections [11]

Selected a Vice President (Pence) with a long history of anti-gay remarks and legislation [12]

Prevented essential data collection about the LGBT community [13]

And a lot more general (e.g., immigration, economic) policies that, while not directed specifically at gay/bisexual people, still negatively affected the communities

"You have no idea what you’re talking about."

I have listened to Trump's words and watched Trump's actions and seen substantial proof that he – at the very least – would sacrifice homosexual/bisexual people to achieve his goals (e.g., winning the election, persuading Republicans on other issues, etc.). His actions have threatened our rights and encouraged hatred of and violence against our community [14].

Tell me Anon, what exactly are you talking about?

---

"Also people bring him up being “misogynistic” for that audio of him saying “grab them by the p” which was taken completely out of context. Let’s talk about the point he was actually making which is that when you’re rich there are women out there ( we all know the kind to which he was referring) who will allow you to do anything or act anyway. He said you could “grab them by the p” and they wouldn’t care."

Yes, Anon, let's talk about that audio. Let's talk about his exact words [15]:

"I've got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

And let's count all the ways this is misogynistic:

Admittance of sexual harassment/sexual assault ("I don't even wait.")

Justification of sexual harassment/sexual assault ("they let you do it. You can anything")

Support of the "rape is irresistible/uncontrollable" rape myth ("just in case I start kissing her", "it's like a magnet")

Support of the "women secretly want it" rape myth ("they let you do it")

Support of the "some women deserve to be assaulted" rape myth (in this case the "some women" are presumably women in proximity to rich men)

Objectification and sexualization of women ("grab them by the pussy")

Let's talk about your implied support for many of these ("we all know the kind to which he was referring"), as if any behavior could ever justify sexual harassment/assault.

Let's talk about all the other objectifying, sexualizing, harassing, misogynistic comments he's made [15, 16]:

"She's probably deeply troubled, and therefore great in bed. How come the deeply troubled women — deeply, deeply troubled — they're always the best in bed?" About his daughter, Tiffany Trump: ' "Well, I think that she's got a lot of Marla. She's a really beautiful baby, and she's got Marla's legs." Motioning to his chest, Trump added: "We don't know whether she's got this part yet, but time will tell." ' About his other daughter, Ivanka Trump "She does have a very nice figure ... if [she] weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." "If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?" "I think the only difference between me and the other candidates is that I'm more honest and my women are more beautiful." “They said, ‘How are you going to change the pageant?’ I said ‘I’m going to get the bathing suits to be smaller and the heels to be higher’.” “It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees”

This is just a small sample of what he's said publicly, Anon.

Not enough? Then let's talk about the dozens of women who have accused him of sexual assault and harassment [17]. (I guess they didn't really "let you do it", more like "couldn't stop it".) Let's talk about how many more there must be, who have not been able to come forward.

Let's talk about how a jury has found Trump did in fact rape at least one women [18]. (And about all the ways our legal system is broken, that this had to taken to a civil court.)

(And what act, Anon, could be more misogynistic than rape?)

More than that Anon, let's talk about all the ways Trump and his administration has hurt women (and other, connected, vulnerable groups):

Limiting access to abortion and contraception [19, 10]

Appointing three anti-choice justices to Supreme Court and claiming credit for overturning Roe v. Wade [19, 10]

Targeting anti-discrimination and equal-pay programs which will harm working women [20]

Advancing economic policies that will affect all poor and middle class individuals, but particularly women [10, 20-22], including, but not limited to: threatening Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, housing and rental assistance, and cash assistance; threatening child care assistance/family leave; cutting the National Domestic Violence Hotline budget; threatening global health cooperation; threatening unions; etc.

And remember how he took credit for overturning Roe v. Wade [19, 10]? That was via his nomination of anti-choice Supreme Court justices. And let's all remember that, in his concurrent opinion , Justice Clarence Thomas stated:

"In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell"

Which, if you're not familiar, refers to the court cases that protects women's right to contraception without government restriction, made it legal for homosexual people to have sex, and legalized gay marriage. (And, while we're at it, let's all remember that, as recently as 2003, states could make consensual, homosexual, sex illegal. Let's all remember the states that still have sodomy laws on the books, just in case Lawrence is overturned.)

So, let's mark that down as another way Trump has threatened the rights of women and gays. And let's all remember that the next President will – most likely – be appointing Supreme Court justices that will determine whether the court upholds or rescinds these very basic rights.

---

And, also, just for fun, let's also remember all the ways Trump and his administration has threatened and harmed the environment [24, 25].

---

In summary, Trump is a homophobic, misogynistic, rapist who will trample the rights of the poor and the vulnerable.

This is the man you support, Anon. These are the actions you endorse.

And for everyone else, please, go vote.

References below the cut:

Clark, D. (2016, August 15). Donald Trump is against same-sex marriage. @politifact. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/aug/15/sean-patrick-maloney/donald-trump-against-same-sex-marriage/

Donald Trump on CNN’s State of the Union: “I’m in it to win it… I will make our country great again.” (2015, June). https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/06/28/donald-trump-on-cnns-state-of-the-union-im-in-it-to-win-it-i-will-make-our-country-great-again/

Fox News. (2016, January 31). Ted Cruz attacks Donald Trump’s financial record; Trump responds. Archived at http://archive.today/2016.05.05-023428/http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2016/01/31/ted-cruz-attacks-donald-trump-financial-record-trump-responds/

Steinmetz, K. (2015, April 10). See obama’s 20-year evolution on lgbt rights. TIME. https://time.com/3816952/obama-gay-lesbian-transgender-lgbt-rights/

Attitudes on same-sex marriage. (2019, May 14). Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/fact-sheet/changing-attitudes-on-gay-marriage/

Crowley, M. (2023, March 17). Tracking the shift before Biden’s same-sex marriage epiphany. @politifact. https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/mar/17/tracking-the-shift-after-joe-bidens-same-sex-marri/

Trump administration loses fight to stop child born abroad to gay couple from becoming US citizen. (2020, October 16). The Independent. https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/trump-same-sex-marriage-parents-children-citizenship-b938265.html

Adoption agency should be able to reject gay couples, Trump administration argues. (2020, June 4). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/adoption-agency-should-be-able-reject-gay-couples-trump-administration-n1224911

Lambda Legal. (2021). Courts, Confirmations, & Consequences: How Trump Restructured the Federal Judiciary and Ushered in a Climate of Unprecedented Hostility toward LGBTQ+ People and Civil Rights. Retrieved from https://legacy.lambdalegal.org/sites/default/files/judicial_report_2020.pdf

Compare trump and harris health care records and positions. (n.d.). KFF. https://www.kff.org/compare-2024-candidates-health-care-policy/

Garza, A. de la. (2019, August 25). Trump administration asks supreme court to legalize workplace discrimination against gay employees. TIME. https://time.com/5660956/trump-administration-anti-gay-brief-title-vii/

Drabold, W. (2016, July 15). Here’s what mike pence said on lgbt issues over the years. TIME. https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/

Wang, H. L. (2018, September 20). Trump officials “did not want” census survey to ask about sexual orientation. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2018/09/20/649752485/trump-officials-did-not-want-census-survey-to-ask-about-sexual-orientation

Lohr, D. (2018, January 22). Report shows massive increase in anti-lgbtq violence since trump took office. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lgbtq-violence-trump_n_5a625035e4b002283002897b

Schwartz, R., & Lange, T. W. U. last updated C. from J. (2024, September 20). 87 things Donald Trump has said about women. Theweek. https://theweek.com/donald-trump/655770/61-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-women

All the sexist things Donald Trump has said. (2016, October 9). The Independent. https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-sexist-quotes-comments-tweets-grab-them-by-the-pussy-when-star-you-can-do-anything-women-fat-pigs-dogs-slobs-blood-her-wherever-miss-piggy-miss-housekeeping-insults-hispanic-hillary-a7353006.html

González-Ramírez, Andrea. (2024, October 24). Trump Accused of Sexual Misconduct for the 27th Time.Archived at http://archive.today/2024.10.25-185528/https://www.thecut.com/article/new-trump-allegation-stacey-williams.html

Blake, Aaron. (2023, July 19). Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll. Archived at http://archive.today/2024.05.03-172431/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/

Ranji, U., Salganicoff, A., Sanchez, B. C., & Published, L. S. (2024, October 1). Harris v. Trump: Records and positions on reproductive health. KFF. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/harris-v-trump-records-and-positions-on-reproductive-health/

McGahey, R. (2024, October 9). Trump’s economic policies will hurt working women. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardmcgahey/2024/10/09/trumps-economic-policies-will-hurt-working-women/

100 Days, 100 Ways the Trump Administration Is Harming Women and Families (2017, April 25). Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/100-days-100-ways-trump-administration-harming-women-families/

Trump administration budgets and social programs. (n.d.). Brookings. Retrieved October 27, 2024, from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/trump-administration-budgets-and-programs-for-people-of-limited-means/

Sullivan, B. (2022, June 24). These 3 Supreme Court decisions could be at risk after Roe v. Wade was overturned. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/05/05/1096732347/roe-v-wade-implications-beyond-abortion

Gross, S. (2020, August 4). What is the Trump administration’s track record on the environment? Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-is-the-trump-administrations-track-record-on-the-environment/

Popovich, N., Albeck-Ripka, L., & Pierre-Louis, K. (2020, October 16). The trump administration rolled back more than 100 environmental rules. Here’s the full list. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

[spheciform]

Sad she only got one album out before everything went to shit, but what's a girl to do?

This is a fake album cover for my dnd character, Helvia, and her fake band THREAT DISPLAY!!! Context for this piece and Helvia as a whole under the cut because once I start I can't stop talking about her <3

SO the campaign hasn't started yet, but Helvia is my character for a science fiction campaign. She's robot!!! Well I guess that's obvious now. BUT the basic gist: Helvia was manufactured as an industry-controlled and maintained electronic "punk" singer. When the project ended up making no money, everything related to it (including her), was abandoned. Three years later, she wakes up out of stasis with no clue what happened, an insane debt, and a failing memory. You will look at her !! Her full name is Helvia Cardinalis. This is just a genus of mantis it doesn't have any special meaning I just like bugs <3

-she has generated "background" memories of an entire life, but there's no telling which of those are real. I don't actually know which of them are real. My dm does!!! We'll be finding out together!!

-sometimes she uh. Doesn't know basic information. Whenever something she should reasonably know gets brought up I get to roll a flat d20 to do a "memory check", the checks getting harder the older the memory is. When she fails, she gets to lie or change the topic etc because she would rather DIE than admit anything is wrong with her.

-the album cover is kind of an intentionally really poor introduction of her character. She's more silly than anything? The entire project was meticulously micromanaged by the company that made her. The "novelty" and aesthetic of having a construct as their lead took forefront in its advertisement. There were two other members of THREAT DISPLAY!!! But she has no memory of them because they were considered comparatively SO unimportant to advertising and to her that they have gone... forgotten.

-Helvia herself is. A real character alright!!! Based entirely in what a corporation thinks a "cool alternative girl" is, she's impulsive, selfish, and just. So fucking stupid. She's firmly a "might makes right" type of person who was designed to appear counterculture but still ultimately serve and be fine with the status quo as long as it benefits her. She's going to do anything that grants her immediate satisfaction, and is obsessed with maintaining her image as "cool and above it all", even as her body is actively breaking down. She easily falls for flattery.

Notes about the piece: yeah I downloaded and used splatoon fonts for the nonsense text. I think I typed gay sex like twice I'll be real none of it translates to relevant information. I think there's something in there about how I hope it came across as an adequate parody of machine girl album covers (my main inspiration). The composition of the piece itself is meant to feel kind of skeevy and exploitative because well. It is!! It's drawing the fine line between 'wow this is so cool and counterculture of us wow!!!' and fetishistic? Etc etc missing the chestpiece as an analog for putting a woman topless on the cover. There's actually a separate sketch I did as a canonical "mock up" for the design that originally included the other members, treating them like props because they're so unimportant, before they were scrapped from the final design because they were That Unimportant.

Notes on Helvia's design: I pulled from a few sources for this!! Notably I looked at so many pictures of that band Tramp Stamps. Remember Tramp Stamps? I don't. They're like the direct analog I think to her. I also pulled from vocaloid designs!! Impractical, cool, kind of "anime" feel. This comes across most in her hair I think which is just so beautifully impractical. The yellow gloves are so stupid important to me actually they're kind of ugly but it's the only way her name ended up being important: helvia cardinalis (mantis) is Bright Yellow and raises its 'arms' in its threat display, which I wanted to pull from for potential posing of her!! So. Bright stupid yellow gloves <3 they're an easy way to tell her character apart too & mean I don't have to worry about drawing all the nonsense on her arms. The translucent skirt also comes from the mantis, sort of pulled from its wings!! Original concepts for her included synthetic skin rotting away but her design was already more complicated than I normally go for and we ultimately ended up realizing her being openly and visibly a construct was important for her image in her music career so it worked out well! She is at least missing an eyeball :] doesn't affect vision since the mechanics are still in place but I guess she just gets that fun sans glow socket <3 her outfit is meant to look simultaneously cool, vaguely expensive, but also super super cheap?? Overall I'm happy with the fact that she looks both cool and really stupidly impractical in that classic 2000s deviantart oc way <3 it's important to me! Ultimately:

[sneeg-snag]

The hero’s journey and Shilo, an in depth analysis.

HI GUYSSS I was tasked with outlining how a character of my choice followed the twelve step process of the hero's journey. Due to the fact I am chronically obsessed with JRWI, I decided to pick Shilo as A) he is a very well rounded character who has very interesting dynamics and follows the journey quite closely and B) His story is “ended” (and I also remember most of it LMAO). 

Black is anything I turned in for my assignment and is a bit more barebones as it was supposed to be a minimum of 300 words and I wrote… 900… and red is all of my added and more in depth analysis of Shilo’s journey for those who have actually Watched The Show and understand what I mean when I say “The character of Edward Twilight is a formidable and powerful villain against the main characters''. also thank u @codecicle for egging me on i probably maybe wouldnt have gone as in depth if u hadnt asked for it <3. Lastly, THERE ARE SO MANY SUCKENING SPOILERS IN HERE I DO NOT HOLD BACK PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!

Without further adu… ENJOY!!!

For my character that follows the hero's journey, I picked Shilo Bathory from the ttrpg podcast Just Roll With It. Some context to the character and the story, he is a character in a game the players of Just Roll With It play called Vampire: the Masquerade (think Dungeons and Dragons but with a different ruleset and Vampire themed), where he is one of the three main characters. It is a comedy drama podcast, with some things being on the sillier side while still retaining a story. He is a vampire prince who was locked in his mothers castle from birth Rapunzel style, and we start the story when he is itching to get out. (Had to give some people a like. Overview cause you will a) always find me promoing jrwi and b) there is like. So much going on all at once in this damn podcast) 

1.Call to adventure: Shilo, sick of being trapped in his room, searches outside and finds several papers in his mothers study detailing how one person was being tracked and followed in the streets of Los Angeles. He decides he wants to escape said entrapment and searches for a way to escape. Shilo is an interesting figure when it comes to the call for adventure, because rather than being called by an outside force like many other stories (ex, Rapunzel is egged on by the appearance of Flynn Rider or Rolan Deep being called back by his parents funeral) Shilo makes his own call. He is the one who breaks into his mothers study and he is the one to decide to go. This is influenced by a lot of things- like how it is the start of a VTM campaign and Bizly cannot just sit and wait for forever, but it also opens the question of would Charlie have made one if Bizly did not already take action? 

2. Refusal: Shilo notably skips this step, mostly ready to jump into the adventure due to his nativity and belief he will be safe as he is the prince of his vampire clan. However this can be interpreted as his mother blocking him from leaving and even restricting him by magical means from even speaking about the documents he found. Referencing back to the last step, it's very interesting how the refusal manifests as someone else rather than Shilos own inner turmoil. It is like the characters that would normally play in these two steps -his mother and himself- switch, creating a more interesting story when it is himself who has chosen to leave and the juxtaposition later that causes when he enters LA. 

3. Supernatural aid: Shilo himself, as a vampire can be interpreted as his own supernatural aid, however notable at this point he is overtaken by a supernatural anger at being treated like a child. His player rolls very well for the stealthy and supernatural actions he takes to push past any obstacles facing him getting to Los Angeles. The seer at the door can also be interpreted as said supernatural aid, as she tells Shilo how to go through the door and is sort of the classic “old person helping the young protagonist” type. I think she will 100% be more important later and possibly assume this role in Shilo and possibly Emiezl's life due to her being there when the twins were born and being the overseer of Salem (Pepper) but in the current season we have now, she is simply a guard to the door. 

4. Stepping through the threshold: Shilo physically and mentally steps through the threshold in his story. He finds his way through The Darkened Door, a physical door that can take him wherever he wishes. The physical one comes to Los Angeles, which is a complete turnaround for Shilo from his quiet castle room. The lights are bright, the city is busy, and the people are mean. Shilo throughout the story remarks on this and how he is very much a fish out of water. I personally love his “LA sucks” phrase because to him, it really does and plays off comedically on how he was the one to want to visit LA and get out of his castle doors. Of all places to go, it was LA, the complete juxtaposition of the Umber castle. ESPECIALLY since he can’t even dress like a normal human and must dress like a gaudy victorian vampire. (a trait I REALLY wish was brought up more. Granted who knows maybe people think it's just someone doing a late night cosplay (clown walk /ref))

5. Belly of the whale: Shilos first belly of the whale conflict is when he realizes he is not 24/7 protected and regarded as infallible royalty in the city of LA when he tries to enter a club that seems to be a hideout for vampire society and proceedingly gets arrested. He is taken from his group and quickly placed in jail where he will later get bailed out after repeating how cops are heroes to him. This one was hard for me to choose what Shilos “first” trial was. Originally I was going to go with his altercation with Emeziels (his?) father, due to the fact he erases his memory without an afterthought and that emphasizes the whole lesson of “consequences” later on. However, I really do think Shilos first moment of being in deep- in the “belly of the whale” was the aforementioned club altercation and his subsequent jail time. He is no longer this kid who can bat his eyes at the primogens or his mom when he gets caught out of his room, and is now a functioning member of society that must abide by both vampire and human laws. It’s a moment of “oh”, although this is kind of overshadowed by the fact Shilo is like “yay police ride!! They're the good guys!” and later sets in when they are not on his side and when he speaks to Soda. 

6. Road of trials: This is where most of the events of the podcast take place. Shilo and his group have many trials, through the story, including but not limited to getting into a huge vampire party, finding information on the main villain he meets at said party, finding out his mother has died due to vampire hunters that are now hot on his trail, all while avoiding the consequences of his own actions. Okay this one's kinda self explanatory. I trust yall to get it and I really don't wanna go in depth because i'm LAZY. I really considered mentioning things like the unseen one but I wanted to make it seem like a much more cohesive plot to my classmates than what the suckening really is (cause looking back good lord is it all over the damn place bro)

7. Meeting with the goddess: The character(s) I would consider the traditional “goddess” in Shilo’s story is the group known as The Midnight Circle. They are a group of female witches that help Shlio and his companions on gaining knowledge on both how to deface and bring down the main villain of the story and their curse as vampires. They can only succeed however, by working through their own personal doubts and gripes with their curses and helping each other. Shilo succeeds with flying colors, and he gives up his eye (mechanically, in the game, his insight and perception bonuses) in favor of knowledge of the main villains and his own mothers origin. This one is also kinda self explanatory. Though I am kind of sad that the midnight circle is like. The only figures who could be considered the goddess in this story. You could technically argue that both The Midnight Circle AND the Unseen One could be the typical “goddess” figure, but I digress.

8. The temptress: The temptress character on the flipside is actually quite a stray from the regular idea of a sultry maiden in this story. Some might say it can even be skipped, but I'd like to interpret it as the main villain. Early on in the story, the main villain had Shilo “drink his blood” several times unknowingly, leading to a game mechanic called a “blood bond” where the drinker is entranced by the vampire whos blood they drank and on higher levels (eg. the more blood they drink) has to obey their beck and call. In some of the final episodes of the story he makes Shilo a victim to his wills, leading Shilo to accidentally give up all the proof they have to defame him to said villain. It’s quite a huge roadblock in the final parts of said story, and the players must find a way around it. You can tell I really wanted to get this point across and went all out explaining the blood bond LMAO. I really do feel like for Shilo, Edward is the temptress in a less-orthodox way of a woman who the protagonist might lust after, and instead is this force that physically calls Shilo and interrupts his plans. On Tumblr, people have pointed out how because Shilo is very aro/ aroace coded, this very well can be interpreted as a sexual assault metaphor. Unknowingly drinking Edwards blood, several times, the fact he was undressed and redressed in matching clothes as Edward, the way Grizzly describes the music (that we cannot hear, only the players) Condi put on as “romantic” only fulfills this. Hell, Nathan Hanover himself said Edwards original music was supposed to have a chorus of moans. Imagine that playing over the scene where Shilo wakes up? I could very much go on about Shilo being treated narratively “like a girl” and how that affects his story and progression but this thing is already so long and id want to find and quote the tumblr posts this idea spawned from because it's important to me people actually get credit <3. Overall though, Edward Twilight ABSOLUTELY fits the temptress role in Shilos story, especially in the scene where he calls on Shilo while Shilo has the evidence of his wrongdoings and all Shilo can do is just. Follow along. 

9. Atonement with the father: This is actually one of the few steps Shilo skips, as he does not really have a father figure and this step falls more on his companion through the story, Arthur, who’s entire arc revolves around his past family and father. <- I actually LIED here. Shilo DOES have an atonement with the father- and that is with Deacon! I didn't want to introduce this new character and have to explain who this new guy was to the story on step nine LMAO. However, Shilo doesn't have an “atonement” with Deacon, and in fact after Edward takes all the proof of him breaking the masquerade from Shilo, Deacon does not believe him. It’s a very sad moment, and really plays into Deacon and Shilo’s relationship and dynamic through the whole story. Shilo believed Deacon was a person to go to for safety and protection, someone who would believe him though and through, and instead Deacon is fallible. He attacks Shilos friends after Club Crepuscule is blown up, he does not answer any of Shilos messages after he calls a billion times, he brings him straight to Edward after Shilo is hurt, and he does not believe what Shilo says about Edward. He shows again and again how he really only does things for his own gain, and honestly, I think if Shilo wasn’t the prince he would have left him to die many times. A vampire cop is still a cop y'know. 

He also has a strange fucking voice/person?? In his room??? I feel like we don't talk about this enough hello????

10. Apotheosis: Teehee. Apotheosis. This stage happens when Shilo’s previous actions throughout the road of trials comes to bite him, and consequences are on the horizon. An old man Shilo has accidentally let into the world and knowledge of vampire society is kidnapped and left up to be food for the main villains “end all be all” game (a hunger games style arena). Shilo does his best to save this old man, but in the end fails, and realizes how his actions have consequences in a very heartbreaking moment. I do think Shilo actually has TWO apotheosis, but I thought for word count and explanation I’d only mention Ben. The second (and honestly my and probably many others) first thought was when Shilo loses his innocence trait when making Edward Twilight “ugly” in front of all vampire society. Both of these events play into different traits and lessons Shilo has been learning through the course of The Suckening. Ben represents the fact he does have consequences to his actions and what he does matters in the grand scheme of things, not only to him but to others. His loss of innocence is about how he is no longer a child who is protected by his mother in the castle, and instead is someone who has the power to do what he wants when he wants. These two apotheosis also play into each other. Without the realization of consequences Ben brings Shilo, he could easily fall into being a manipulative creature without much humanity or care for those around him just like Edward and the other vampires of vampire society. Without the loss of the innocence trait and bringing down Edward Twilight, he could shrink into himself and become an anxious defeated child, whose mother is dead and who is a slave to the whims of someone much more powerful than him. It creates a very interesting end to this chapter of Shilo's life, and with the promise of a second season, creates suspense for where this new version of him is going to go. 

11. Ultimate boon: Playing off the last step, Shilo realizes how he isnt a small child protected by the castle walls anymore, and does have consequences to the actions he takes, especially on those he cares about. I forgot what the ultimate boon thing was. Give me a second. OH okay for more context the ultimate boon is the accomplishment of the goal the protagonist set out to do. Shilo’s “main goals” move a lot through the story. At first, it’s escaping the castle to find who his mother is tracking. Then its getting used to LA. Then it's taking down Edward Twilight and finding a good replacement, which morphs into becoming a good leader himself. At the end of The Suckening, a couple of Shilos goals are not met yet, and Charlie and Bizly actually speak in the QNA how originally the Suckening was supposed to be on a much bigger scale than LA, so we can imagine in the next installment we will possibly see Shilo’s goals of a good ruler being met, or they will shift as he grows into himself outside the castle walls. 

12. The return: Shilo, after finally defacing the main villain, Shilo is picked up by one of their companions' helicopter, and flown away from the other companion, watching as said other companion is burnt to a crisp by the rising sun. This ones really simple, as Shilo does not “return” to his home. Instead he is picked up by Real Taylor Lautner, and the story ends. 

13. Crossing of return threshold: This is where Shilo’s story truly breaks from the hero's journey, as his story is cut short and left open ended. There is a whisper of season two in the works (although it seems very far away), and hopefully we will see Shilo return to his broken castle home, a changed person without his mother and new knowledge of the outside world. I really do hope we get to see him return, as it is a very interesting dynamic and as mentioned earlier, the trio was supposed to take on all of Vampire Society rather than just Edward, so I really do hope we are not cut off from Shilo’s heroes arc too early and maybe we simply restart back to the road of trials when we get season two. 

Shilo is a very interesting character, who one may argue isn't even a hero. He follows some of the steps of the hero's journey, but also subverts some of the traditional steps with his beginning and ending. He is a very complicated and interesting character, and this analysis is also here to show how the JRWI boys follow said hero's journey in one way or another. Not to sound like a cringey youtuber but if you have more thoughts/things to add PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME!!!! I would love to speak about this more (not just to myself lmao) and there are a lot of points I missed (LIKE SHILO RIPPING OUT THAT ONE GUYS THROAT BEING A TURNING POINT IM SO MAD I COULDNT FIT THAT IN). Overall, I love The Suckening, and I think how Shilo is handled and played as a character is very intriguing! And also I might need to get tested for autism. 

[kalianos]

Context: So ages ago I ran a game in one of my custom worlds. It was a False Hydra game. Kept the players in the dark about it. Along the way I had kept some light notes pointing out bits here and there I felt were important. These eventually made it to the scene I am going to describe below.

As you walk along the town, the ropes tied around your waist. However everyone alive hear and feel the rope snap and sounds of heavy slapping. Along with the distinct chink of something small bouncing on the cobblestones.

Party starts to immediately asking who died, who they don't remember anymore. I calmly tell them that they are fine. Except the druid. I hear an exasperated groan from the player thinking he died since he was at the end of the rope. I tell him no, his character is still alive and as he looks back. He see's another length of rope behind him that wasn't there before. Leading to a mess of half-eaten green skin, bright armor and a book covered in blood on the ground.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon looking at the journal. They found this in the book. It's a bit lengthy.

1994 DR, 14th of Midwinter’s Torment

The adventurer’s guild has tasked us again. We are holding out a campaign against some rogue goblin elements outside of town. I have my doubts about the job. Acanthes is a chill human at least. He still smells like the swamp though. Somehow got saddled with a warrior from Chaton. Chaton! How the feth did he make it over the many fathoms?

Must have paid an orc ship all his coin to be taking work with the adventurers’ guild.

1994, 16th of Midwinter’s Torment

We made camp at the edge of the their base. It took a two days and a night to get here. By Moradin, The rogue we brought along has cheese. I suspect she is part of the “cheese makers” in more ways than one. She can be useful. Kai is a decent sort. Got too sharp of a tongue. Sharp dagger as well thankfully. In hindsight it was funny how well she threw a dagger into that goblin scouts skull. The tabaxi is being quiet.

1994DR, 17th of Midwinter’s Torment

We managed to break into the first barricades. The guards have been taken down. The patrols are aware of us now unfortunately. I have only a few vestiges of my power left. By Moradin I wish I was stronger to channel his divine will. Time. Time is all we need. They are banging on the doors.

1995DR, 4th of Summer Song

We have gone on for so long. We only had a few days rest from taking down the halfling raids to the north along the steppes. Those plains scare me. We passed by a few ghost towns. Ravaged by the halfling mongrels, taken down by Gnoll war bands. Or worse. Being consumed by the false hydras.

Since we have earned bronze rank over the last several months. We were warned that our jobs are now going to be “real” jobs. True monsters and terrors can now be assigned to us. It can’t be all bad right? I heard in the officer lounge while being debriefed that a blue dragon is potentially going to recruit some of us to acquire a rare gem for a courtship ritual. Apparently we would be guests of honor at the wedding if it goes well. I like weddings. Though I don’t think anyone knows how dwarves wed themselves. Buying themselves from their significant other’s parents, crushing gems under their iron boots. Growing up as a half-orc in the tunnels was interesting. Strangely did get a few interested lookers.

1995 DR, 11th of Summer’s rest

I am fuming now. I had slight hope we would get the deadly mission to help out the blue dragon, I could have worn a pretty formal chain-mail shirt or maybe plate armor. I had even looked into our major library to learn how blue dragons interacted and proper protocol.

All for nothing. Ackerson had come down pale and shaking after the letter flew in and he handed me the pack. I noticed it was much thicker than usual. Usually a manifest was just, “Supplies, guild resources rented, gold reward, gold reward deductions, and a small line for our major injury expenses to be compensated.” All on a single sheet of paper, then the outline written by a desk jockey with no legs. This was a full blown book in size. When I asked what it was about Ackerson just leaned up and whispered into my ear the one thing I didn’t want to hear ever in my existence.

“There is a report of a false hydra by guild watchdogs up in Ohmsford. Your team is the only one capable at the moment to handle it. We have taken measures and given you major bonuses to increase your chances of success. We need you to do this, and…I’m sorry. In case any of you fail, the stone of false hydra adventurers has already been carved upon so we will at least know you all in name and what your designations were in the grand library.”

I’m scared, no I’m terrified. Reading this book made by two wizards accounts is the most terrifying thing ever. These monsters are born from lies in folklore but we have no idea how they spring up? The drawings and the life-cycles of these things are downright horrific.

This is the most I’ve written in this thing in a long while but I can help but think; that I am sending us to the worst kind of death imaginable.

I took precautions just in case. I sent my adoptive father a memory stone explaining everything. Remarking that if he forgets his emerald treasure that its because she died fighting one of the most horrifying monsters of this world for their safety.

I’m going to tell the rest of the party later. Right now they are just going to be aware that its being caused by some cultists at the moment.

1995 DR 12th of Summer’s rest

We are having a last blow out party in the town. Drank myself silly. Kai brought in some amazing cheese. Had a fondue fountain and everything. We were only a little miffed when we found Acanthus floating a maple leaf boat through it. Claimed it would help give it more depth of flavor. I think he’s just being dumb. It does taste mapely though. Lucky bastard that I like maple syrup.

1995 DR, `13th of Summers Rest

Fucking potatoes, cabbage, farm lands and wheat for miles. I don’t want to eat ever again for as long as I live. Well except for pork. Never can give that up. Met some weird farmer named Perry. Claimed he had a scarecrow problem. Exorised it easily enough though Weevil got a small cut. After that a Slaad had erupted from the ground. How the hell this farmer survived with a Slaad on his land I will file into “most definitely an agent of chaos” column. Dispatched it well enough. Had to cast a spell of some power to cure Kai though. She got hit with the chaos disease. Was not interested in having to mercy kill my own party member at the start of the adventure.

We decided to make our way as fast as we could through the evening to the mountains. I knew a place that would give us a good deal on room.

Turns out I was right. The dwarf still remembers me from the good old days down in the caves. Got my friends set up in their own suite while I spent extra for my own private one.

I’ve never enjoyed a bath like this in so long. I’ll have to ask Harriet for a crystal. She finally perfected in making light crystals for the caves and it looks beautiful. I’m sure dad would like one. Who knows, if I managed to send it in time it’ll be a good marker for my memorial on the memory stone.

1995 Dr, 14th Summers rest

Bloody chilly, hellish sky whale. And those two idiots nearly drowned themselves trying to get light crystals when I told them that they were buyable. Claimed it was for the adventure of it and effort. I think they were just being stubborn.

Going into town, everything seemed off. We parked our mule and cart in the stables next to an inn. Ordered drinks as our Tabaxi went upstairs to do his ritual armor cleaning. The rogue managed to convince our druid to steal from an old man who looked like a banker. Greedy morons. Didn’t they see all the guards on high alert everywhere? They were caught by of all things another thief. Chatting with the bartender illuminated a lot. Whatever this is, it started in the northern-western area of town. I asked what the local authority here is. He could only shrug and tell me that it was the Captain of the Guard, Wilma; who runs things as usual. In a weird way it made sense. But it doesn’t make sense. I know there is a big mayoral estate here for a local authority.

1995 DR, 15th of Summers Rest

Dealt with a tailor who had been attacked. The halfling that sits in front of her shop is a creepy old hag of a woman. While here the tabaxi had claw daggers from the slaad start being made. On top of that I managed to convince them to make a nice maul in the old style but big enough for me. The dwarf was amenable when I spoke to him in the tongue of our fathers.

We talked with Leah for a bit. Our rogue tried to do some weird mind trickery that seemed to do something. It appears that not all memories can be completely erased I guess even by magic. The mind is a funny thing. While searching around, I found the picture of her husband and two children. It was hidden in the nightstand drawer. I think she didn’t know what to make of it and it disturbed her.

We met the local cheesemaker by accident. He had been ransacking the town since perfectly fine magic shops and alchemists were just there. Seeing as how the people who run them probably don’t exist anymore to the world. I am letting it slide. Moradin forgive me. Habbakuk and Zeboim as well to appease my sea orc ancestors.

We fought a troll. I burned so many spells and kept a wall between the troll and the everyone else. I got banged up pretty hard. Still that troll got a few lucky swipes on the druid and samurai. They’ve never seen a troll before and I hope they get to remember what happens. Felt prudent to spend most of my spells on healing. There is still a Troll colony here and they are completely feral apparently. I asked about trolls to the Town Captain who apparently has “always ran this town.”

She claims that Trolls are a very rare minor problem that only happened recently. This resort town can kiss my green ass.

Was told to investigate the retirement village for adventurers on the other side of this box canyon. I acquiesced to this request since we being paid. Paid to go and ask questions in that will help our initial investiagion no less. I love when the stars align to throw us a bone.

Met Gloria. She seemed nice. She had a love of ale that rivals some of the heavy drinkers back in the caves.

Acanthes got knocked out something fierce from a quarter shot. He came too and told me he had a weird dream. I suggested he follow his heart which he determined to mean go and meditate to the green father. What he told me afterwards is a puzzle of itself.

A shimmering pillar above the city? The singing I belive is from the false hydra. But this shimmering pillar? What does it mean?

We dealt with an Alemental. Talked to the Destroyers. A nice couple. Maybe I can find a strong man someday. Heh, will it be a man of the earth or a man of the sea like my ancestry wants?

The witch has a crazy love obsession with purple. Quisayle is a strange one to be honest. She seemed more fascinated than concerned about the false hydra.

Mentioned that there is an old tower to the northwest ohmsford that probably held a wizard of some report. She only mentions it because she has no memory of anyone living yet it’s a very nice tower. She is scary good at putting two and two together apparently.

1995 DR.

Had a nightmare. I was back at the inn room with some lady. A giant pale white face came in through the open window and gorged itself on her. As I tried to help another face and long neck came through and tried to eat me. I’m too strong and punched it back.

Woke up in a cold sweat over it. I’m writing this in the morning due to the oddness of this dream.

I clutch my holy symbol of Moradin. The warm glow of his forge comforts me through it. I run my finger over the engraving. If I am going to disappear this will be the one thing I will make sure to survive. It holds the needed identifier for the memory stone and for the guilds false hydra stone. Actually, I should keep this journal out and keep writing in it!

As long as I can see the thing in the moment, I can write about it! By the hammer fall! I can trust myself to keep a good record. I should share this with the group. I also devised that we can use a length of rope to keep us together slightly. This way we know if we have been attacked at least.

Itsafterusanditstryingtoeatmeohmoradinthisis bad. Its tailing us. Dropping its song to attack us!

Oh this is bad. I don’t know what do. If I had a decent mace on me I could beat the hell out of this thing. SHIT TH~

This journal is covered in blood. Inside is a portrait of a Large Half-Orc proudly displaying a Silver rank medal towering over the rest of you looking happy showing off your bronze medals.

A caption below it reads, “ The Squad”

So throughout the campaign they had encountered random weird oddities. Helpful people offering healing, random potions just...inside wolves. All explained away as just some weird quirk of a world they hadn't seen yet. When actually it was their Half-Orc Cleric they never knew they had. I had shamelessly stolen the idea from a D&D community when they were brainstorming about how to bring out a false hydra to be fair. But I think the execution was alright.

[utilitycaster]

Can you write about what you thought of how the Craven Edge consequences were adapted?

Sure!

[again, spoilers for C1 below if you are avoiding that]

I think a really big thing to remember is that when you strip away the D&D context, some beats in C1 just don't totally work, and a big one is that half the party died repeatedly during the Conclave arc and were resurrected each time. You want to make those feel like big moments, and so honestly the only deaths I'd keep (aside from Vex's that already occurred) are Percy's at Ripley's hand, and then, assuming we get more seasons, outside of that arc, Vax's death with Vecna, possibly Artagan, and obviously at the end, since those are "The Raven Queen has made you a revenant"). Vex and Percy's other deaths aren't terribly relevant to the narrative and are resolved quickly, and Scanlan's deaths could be exchanged from a particularly harsh encounter with Kaylie and some near death experiences plus some social rejections.

Anyway, what that means is that instead of having Grog die, you want a different negative consequence. (I also like how Grog is able to destroy the sword himself here, so that while he does have an arc of being a pathetic noodle man, he gets a good moment first.) So, anyway, pathetic noodle man hours. It fits well because the "where do you get your strength" line has been repeated (with Kamaljiori, not just with Groon), and it lines him up to discover his strength through relying on his friends and standing up for people (or so I presume, but like, the themes are constant even if exact plot notes differ), which also saves the second trip back to Vasselheim which I'd cut (make Vax's Raven Queen Temple Scene happen elsewhere). And, I think, it's worth noting that again that this show is trying to convey character themes and motivations that were revealed through hours of subtle gameplay in the campaign in like, five minutes. So having him extremely dependent on the others and quite literally being saved again by Wilhand and Pike (and, this time around, Scanlan as well) is a good strong parallel to drive it home.

The other good thing is just that removing any dignity he had is funny as shit and I support it.

[scribblue]

Speaking as someone who loves Dareth I hate the way his misogyny is written.

I mean I don't want it to exist in the first place, given that Nya already faces sexism from pretty much every angle, and in the context of the whole publicity campaign thing she was recieving enough of it from the public already without Dareth excluding her from every opportunity and offering makeup segments etc. Do I understand its inclusion anyway? Sort of. I suppose it is "realistic" in the context of Dareth playing the sleazy manager role, because that is the tragic reality for a lot of women and teenage girls in the entertainment industry. I also HC that Dareth represses his homosexuality which, unfortunately, sometimes leads to misogyny in the real world. So I can't exactly write it off as something Dareth isn't capable of or that isn't necessary to the story or Nya's development at all–

However.

If it is going to be included, I would have really preferred Dareth to have an arc where he learns the things he said/the beliefs he held were wrong, akin to Sokka's arc in ATLA. Like let Nya beat Dareth up over that comment, let him see how wrong he was, let him at the very least apologize to her for his past actions. I know that sometimes misogynists are just that, and anyone can harbor those beliefs without changing or realizing they need to. Even people that seem "safe." But Dareth is a recurring character and a friend to the ninja, not just some random shmuck in the entertainment business they'll never see again. I would really have liked to see at least a tiny bit of growth from him. Even if Nya would never forgive him she is, at the very least, owed that apology and acknowlegement.

Anyway I saw someone talking about this earlier and it made me remember how much I hated this writing decision that's all

[perplexingly]

just so you know you are the reason I watched almost 1 hour of a polish musical despite the fact that I don't speak a word of polish because I liked the songs and the actors looked like they were having fun. didn't even have subtitles :(

Anyways to be fair this isn't the first time something like that happened I'm just weird sometimes.

I enjoyed it, btw, in case that didn't come through in all of this. (haven't got a clue about the plot tho)

SFDGFJFK I admire the dedication bless you !! I think I’ll try to translate it, I’m very slow at making subs though so I don’t know how long it will take 🙈

About the plot, it’s a rather fictionalized story of Mieszko I, who became the first king of Poland. But for now a summary:

Mieszko’s father announces that he retires and Mieszko shall now rule over the tribe of Polans, and orders him to conquer. So Mieszko does, he conquers the nearby slavic tribes, each time marrying someone from them. Then Hodon enters the stage and introduces himself: he’s the markgraf of the Saxon Eastern March, a devout Christian, and although he used to be friends with Mieszko, campaigning together, Mieszko „took something close to [Hodon’s] heart” (a piece of land neighboring his) and therefore must die.

The ending of Hodon’s song introduces another conflict: Mieszko, a pagan, falls deeply in love with Dobrawa, the Christian princess of Czechia. Mieszko tries to convince Dobrawa’s father to allow their marriage but to no vial. (That’s why there’s this dance between Dobrawa and Jesus - to show that Jesus is in the way lol).

Then Pope has a song about teaching the pagans with sword and fire and sends Hodon - his bulwark of Christianity - against Mieszko. Then Hodon challenges Mieszko to a rap battle and wins (Mieszko’s lines are objectively better tho 😞)

Later Dobrawa and Mieszko have a romantic picnic but she asks him to convert and it ends up in an argument because he will never. Anyways, the time skips to Mieszko’s christening. (Hodon has a fun scene where he tries to sneak in but Dobrawa doesn’t let him and when Mieszko comes in they have this exchange „Excuse me” „I won’t”)

The Pope is delighted how big the Christian lands have become and how there’s a new bulwark of Christianity. Hodon still wants to fight Mieszko and the Pope doesn’t understand why, now that Mieszko is a Christian. No matter, Hodon’s army goes to attack Mieszko’s (in his song, Mieszko tells Hodon that he’s attacking the bulwark).

In the meantime Mieszko’s father dies, and Mieszko informs us that the final battle will take place in Cedynia. Hodon sends him a letter asking him to settle this with a duel (using sabres) and Mieszko agrees. Dobrawa is worried but he remains unmoved.

The time for the duel comes, and Mieszko asks Hodon to explain himself, now that the earth will be soaked in one of their’s blood, which Hodon does: “You took everything I wanted” “All of this is because of a piece of land?” “Not that, you Pope’s shameless pet. Don’t be daft, it’s about the bulwark. It’s that the markgrafs won’t be counted among the saints. It’ll be your fault if all that history remembers is that you defeated me in Cedynia”

Mieszko dies in this musical but it’s completely not accurate lol the battle (which indeed Hodon’s army lost) took place 20 years before either of them died.

Sorry for this wall of text 🙈

Also for these who haven’t seen the context, it’s this:

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

The BBC is already not being impartial during the UK election 2024

I shouldn't even be surprised but here we are. So much for any kind of journalistic standard.

Those of you who were around for the last election campaign may remember at that point a far-right party member's claim, which was repeated uncritically and as if it were factual by many media outlets, that he was 'assaulted' by 'a youth on a bicycle' throwing a yogurt at him while he innocently campaigned for his party, which was an example of political violence against his beliefs.

Except it turned out that there was CCTV in the area and no 'youth on a bicycle carrying yogurt' was seen.

What was in fact seen, was the man in question had brought a packed lunch with him for his day out, which contained... a yogurt. Which he either accidentally or deliberately spilled on himself while campaigning, and then took the opportunity to report to his party leadership and the media as an assault, which was then spread around as if factual and it definitely happened, inciting sympathy for the poor innocent far-right people.

Well folks. They're at it again this year.

Here's a fun uncritical headline from the BBC that dropped today:

"Reform election candidate 'attacked' in Cornwall"

What evidence is given for this attack, I hear you ask, given that the BBC has reported it as a factual event in the title?

Well, the chairman of Reform, the party in question, has claimed that it happened, and has made a social media video stating that it happened. Three days ago.

Here's how the article describes it:

"A statement from Reform UK said Mr Rubidge, 51, was handing out election leaflets in Event Square when he was verbally abused by a man believed to be in his 20s. The party said that, as Mr Rubidge tried to leave the scene after two other men turned up, he had a bag he was carrying grabbed off him by the first man.

He was eventually able to "wrestle the bag" back off the man, but he was punched and kicked multiple times, leaving him with injuries to his ligaments, Reform added. The incident left Mr Rubidge shaken and shocked, the party's statement said.

In his social media video, Mr Tice said he was "appalled" after hearing about the alleged incident. He said: "This is no way of having a democratic debate and discussion. "We can disagree, but we don't fight each other. That's not what our democracy is about."

He added Mr Rubidge did go back on the campaign trail for a further four hours on Saturday."

Nowhere in the article (archived ver. June 18th 2024) does the BBC make clear that this is not an impartial account of what has been determined to have actually happened, but rather, a biased account from a political party representative that has likely been crafted in conjunction with a PR specialist in order to stretch the truth as far as possible in order to present the campaigner as innocent, a victim, and suffering due to his innocent political beliefs that are UNDER ASSAULT by vicious strangers who are JUST INTOLERANT for no reason.

The article, of course, comes complete with a smiling image of the campaigner in question, looking as innocent as possible. The article is careful not to mention any of the content of the leaflets that the campaigner was handing out which may have caused some backlash if, perhaps, the camapigner was also shouting about some of the content of the leaflets while handing them out in a city center at midday on a Saturday: for context, Reform UK as a political party want to ban ALL immigration to the country, to deport international students even if they have already paid for their education in the UK, to remove all unemployment benefits from citizens who are struggling, to stop investing in any kind of renewable energy sources, to get rid of all diversity and inclusion practices, and to ban 'transgender ideology' including the admittance that trans people even exist from all schools and educational institutions. They also believe that 'the majority of mothers want to stay at home' instead of working.

Going back to the article, apparently the poor campaigner in question who was definitely ASSAULTED HORRIBLY and completely UNPROVOKED ended up with 'injuries to his ligaments'. This is a serious injury and would be quite debilitating to deal with and would require immediate treatment and some bed rest and gentle exercise for days therafter to aid recovery.

Interesting then, isn't it, that the campaigner in question was then able to then keep campaigning for a further four hours with such a horrendous injury?

The BBC and other media outlets need to realise that this isn't a fun RPG or game of who can present something the most quickly to 'win', accuracy be damned, or a situation where it's fine to save time doing your own research by just repeating a political organisation's press release about an incident as factual, verbatim.

This is a real election, the only election that will happen between now and 2029. The BBC is supposed to be impartial. Reporting an alleged assault as if it were factual and exactly as described by somebody with an interest in making it out to be as bad as possible, and trusting that all readers will be able to read between the lines of what is said and understand that your write-up of the event is actually just reporting what someone else SAID about the event rather than an unbiased record is at this point in time EXTREMELY irresponsible.

Journalists, your job, especially now, is to report what's happening to inform the public. You can report what someone THINKS is happening, but only if you make very clear that you are doing so, and ideally only report that within a larger piece that discusses just the facts of the situation. It's okay if details are unknown - it's better to note that than to put anything in, no matter if it's been fact-checked or not. The BBC is publicly funded, it and its staff don't need to be the first on the scene to react or comment on any given situation, it's not like anyone's going to get more funding or any reward for doing that.

You can't claim to be impartial on the one hand and on the other, uncritically report something that a political party has a vested interest to lie about as if it were definitely and wholly factual. And the BBC keeps doing this, as if there's no way anyone could ever lie about a situation in order to advantage themselves.

Wake up, BBC.

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

Sometimes I fall down this rabbit hole of trying to understand the Tenjo Gender Paradox, like; Why do Bang, Kagura, even Homura call her a man throughout the games when surely they would have know otherwise? People say she was passed off as a man after her death in Ikaruga to help hide the fact that it was the Imperator Herself leading the 'rebel' faction, but how would her closest companions, her own family, not know the truth? If Bang was really her direct disciple, if she trained him, there's no way he wouldn't know, right??? They'd have to have met??? This makes no sense...

I need to remember that this whole paradox only exists because of localization error. In the original text, no gendered language is used for Tenjo in the main series. The male pronouns, and the confusion they cause in the fandom, were only introduced in localization as the singular 'they' had not been adopted in mainstream media at the time. So the whole 'paradox' just doesn't exist in the world of the games themselves; it's an issue unique to our world.

If I'm not mistaken, 'Tenjo of Ikaruga' being described as a 'big scary man with a scar' was still a rumor passed around during and after the war as an NOL misinformation campaign, but that doesn't cause the same narrative issues. It makes sense that characters like Bang and Kagura wouldn't bother to directly refute the rumors. They were valuable to keeping the truth of the war a secret for both parties.

Besides, speaking of Tenjo directly as a woman, even as her subordinates, may have been seen as disrespectful. The Imperator is meant to be a divine figure, and in several cultures this divinity can be reflected by avoiding gendering a person, classifying the position they hold as something 'above' gender. But now I'm just musing about a fictional society's cultural practices.

Homura would probably be an exception to this, able to refer to Tenjo as their 'mother' (contradicting the use of "father" they use in CP) but considering Homura is also never gendered, they may also avoid such terms, possibly as a sign of respect for the station they've inherited. Thinking about that, I went to find the scene in Japanese to figure out what Homura says... and heard them use "chichi," which I believe generally means 'father'???

I have heard some people talking in such a way as to suggest that masculine language can be interpreted as gender neutral within certain contexts in Japanese; for example, "兄弟" can be used to mean brother or any sibling, and would be the word used when asking someone if they have any siblings.

Assuming that's true, this use of "chichi" may be the same; used to refer to either gender of parent. I actually have seen it used in this way on some websites! But I can't be sure if this is entirely correct, as I don't actually speak Japanese. Hmmm...