#I hate to say that he wasn't wrong but he was 100% correct - we are living in a time where AIs can now do everything.

[singnorequiemtonight]

I've been thinking about looking into becoming an IT since I was a teenager because I learned a lot from Ken (especially about anti-malware softwares) but also I never wanted to follow in his footsteps because he was a shitty role model. But with the direction the internet is going these days, and the fact I already know that computers and their networks are well-within my capability to get an online / tech school degree in because he started teaching me about them early on like ... I might just talk to my community support specialist next time I see her about looking into going to school for it. Not for or because I'm like my father, but for myself, to prove that I can do it, and because it sounds like our generation needs more people doing this work and less AIs.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Look, This is gonna be one of those things that sounds bad until you read the whole story. Please don't read the title and go to 'yta' without reading.

AITA for yelling at our friend that my brother isn't trans?

Look, My brother ISNT trans. He likes to wear kilts and sew, Which is what kind of started all of this. My brother is NOT trans, He loves being a boy (trust me, I can hear him enjoying being a boy in his room all the time. Theres no way he'd wanna chop it off(I mean this as a joke I don't actually know how the surgery works), He's told me multiple times that being told by others what he likes is 'feminine' and 'girly' upsets him because he's proud of being a boy and doesn't like being called a girl. Its not because he hates girls or thinks less of them, He just does not like being called the wrong gender which I'm sure you want to be called the correct gender too.)

Anyways lets begin. I (16F) am my little brothers (15M) best friend, Basically. We grew up together and do everything together, Including sewing. I liked it when I was younger, And eventually convinced him to try it as well. He loved it, And we love just sitting together and making random crap we usually end up selling at our yearly garage sale. (Our mom makes us sell all our unneeded crap every year, But we aren't complaining when we make like $100 for it, Mom and dad even help us figure out what we actually wanna keep (we sometimes see old things and go 'Oh I could never get rid of this' and then throw it away))

Sorry for the rambling, But you'll see why some of this is important to know.

Basically, We were getting our shit together for the garage sale, And invited over a mutual friend of ours, Who I'll call uhhh Ley (16F). Shes kind of obsessed with the LGBTQ and loves to help people 'realize' they're gay or trans or non-binary. By this I mean she'll literally bully people she 'knows' is gay or trans by always telling them they are and spreading rumors about them saying they are. The way she 'knows' these things are from gut feelings. I thought maybe she needed friends who would be honest with her and tell her gently that it needed to stop. She stopped being so bad with it and we even convinced her to admit to the rumors she started being fake. We've known her for around 3 years now, And she's stopped doing it as aggressively for 2 of those years. She still makes jabs and 'jokes' saying things like "Oh thats so girly, Are you sure you're not trans?" and "Oh thats such a boy thing to do, Are you a lesbian?", Both quotes she's said to me and my brother less than a week ago. I am straight and cis, So is my brother. We have nothing against the lgbt, We just aren't apart of it. We support the lgbtq as much as possible (with my part time job I like to donate some of my paycheck towards point of pride so people who need the surgeries or binders can get them), And are very open about supporting them.

While we were cleaning out my brothers room and finding stuff to throw into the 'sell' box (we like to do precleaning before our parents help us, It makes everything faster and less work on the people trying to help), And Ley found my brothers kilt. She did a long exaggerated gasp, Looking at my brother.

"So, How long have you been trans? Why didn't you tell me?? I knew it the whole time!"

My brother tried to explain that it was a kilt for men, And he wasn't trans, But she kept interrupting him saying crap like 'you don't have to lie I know now' and 'Its nothing to be embarrassed about, I knew ever since you started to sew'. The last straw for me was when she continued not listening to him and started to ask about how he was gonna come out as school. I yelled at her to get out, That neither of us were gay, Neither of us are trans, And neither of us are apart of any of the lgbtq. We are allies and nothing more. She tried to argue that he had a 'skirt' which OBVIOUSLY meant he was trans, I basically screamed at her that she was a stupid know it all who made everyone who wasn't apart of the lgbtq's life hell because she made sure everyone knew them as someone they arent (I know, I shouldn't of brought up 2 years in the past) and that I was tired of her trying to force everyone to be in the LGBTQ when its just not realistic. Not everyone is gay or trans, Some people are cis and straight. She started crying and left, We haven't spoken in a few days but I think I'm justified. I'm tired of living my life being told I'm something I'm not, I'm tired of seeing it happen to my brother too.

My brother later thanked me for standing up for him, Telling me it made him really upset when she said those things. To cheer him up we watched his favorite movies and I made him his favorite dinner (mom and dad both work day jobs so we both make lunch and dinner)

And for those who are gonna say that allies are apart of the LGBTQ I strongly believe the A is for aro/ace. Being an ally isn't a gender or sexuality

(unless people identify using ally/allyself of course or whatever it is, I'm not quite sure how neos work or whatever but I love to see how creative people get with it and am happy it gives people who don't identify with any of the normalized(? Idk the correct term but yknow the man woman and nb) genders a chance to be who they actually are)

Extra info on why I think I could be the asshole: I feel like we might've been able to explain it if we got her to shut up for a minute, But she kept talking over us. I feel like I went too far by insulting her, And I feel like I might be TA because she's also autistic (so is my brother though, And I have ADHD).

Why I think I'm NTA: My brother is really quiet and doesn't really defend himself often. He doesn't really know how to stand up for himself and is 'easy' to talk over (soft spoken, Quiet talking voice and nonconfrontational) which is why I believe I had to step in in his place, And I don't believe I did anything wrong defending my brother and making her stop calling him what hes not.

Anyways. AITA for yelling at our friend that my brother isn't trans?

To see later: PINK PANTHER

What are these acronyms?

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Things from the ruin dlc that keep me up at night.

Spoilers under the cut.

SERIOUSLY DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE AVOIDING SPOILERS.

Disclaimer: I wrote this before I had seen Everything the DLC has to offer or all the endings yet. I was on the wrong track, but I think my cooking before I knew everything was good cooking. I have more concrete theories now under #danachan's rants

Something that I was 100% right about that I was going to write into Lofi eventually.... But I guess I'll talk about it now since the dlc confirmed it.

But Balloon Boy world was literally Eclipses cage as I suspected. It was suppressing them. It wasn't an evil arcade or Eclipse was living in there. Eclipse's AI was being suppressed in the arcade cabinet.

Eclipse is how they talk to eachother, and Eclipse was asleep and completely blocked off from the Virus. So Sun and Moon had no communication with eachother anymore. Which is why they were both so stressed and lost.

I was astounded I got that completely correct in regards to what Eclipse is, and what the balloon boy game is.

(the dlc does not explain the Dcas weird connection to Vanessa and why the arcade cabinet was in Afton's boss fight room though)

Bonus points Moon talks exactly how I write him when speaking about the Sun and the Moon.

Another thing that has been mind-blowing me that all the comic book endings are scenarios that GREGORY DREW.

And according to the dlc....

The Afton Burntrap Blob ending is another one of those endings that he drew.

Which means Peepaw Afton and the Blob were never real in the first place.

Which is why no one could really figure out what the blob is.

It doesn't exist.

Princess Quest ending was the canon ending.

Vanessa leaving the Pizzaplex with Gregory is the canon ending.

The ending where you fight Afton in the basement.... Never happened and was just Gregory attempting to make sense of the FNAF lore that Vanessa probably explained to him. Since in the DLC, we do find a book about Fazbear History in Vanny's room.

I honestly don't know if Steel Wool retroactively made Burntrap non-canon due to everyone making fun of him, not taking him seriously and hating the blob, or if this was always the case. Because despite the Afton ending being the hardest to get.... It's still a two star ending.

So it's hard and too early for me to tell if I want to give them points for that soft retcon. I mean I don't blame them honestly.

But yeah. Skeleton man Afton in the basement and his best friend the Blob isn't actually real, and neither is Freddy's "I am not me" speech either.... Which honestly makes sense. Because it's all Gregory's comic book trying to make sense of FNAF Lore he doesn't understand.

Also, I can say definitively, and finally, Afton is not the Mimic. Glitchtrap exists as its own entity in this, and the Mimic seems to have its own agenda. It's unclear if Afton is possessing the Mimic via virus corruption, but for now, I believe the Mimic is acting of its own will.

And man oh man. I feel so sorry for people who haven't been keeping up with Tales of the Pizzaplex Books.

The ending of the dlc is just really "who's Henry???" From pizzasim all over again huh....

Anyways. Those are my thoughts. I will be streaming the dlc again tomorrow. Gonna try and get a better ending, but I have a suspicion they're all sad.

[heretherebedork]

Hi,

I have a question about your comments on Love Sea. Genuinely no hate, I’m just curious. Are you saying that, because we should have clear, enthusiastic consent 100% of the time in real life (which is obviously completely correct and I’m not disagreeing with that at all), we cannot/should not ever explore anything other than that in fiction? I’m not disagreeing that Mame romanticises a specific dynamic that includes ignoring ‘no’ in a way that would be completely wrong, immoral, and criminal, in real life, but this isn’t real life. If people enjoy that dynamic in fiction, and that is the dynamic Mame wants to write, and that viewers expect from her, isn’t that up to them? Even if they do also praise better representations of consent in other shows, isn’t it possible they enjoy seeing this dynamic explored, in fiction, but are also glad it’s not the only representation of consent out there and that there are also others that are closer to what would be appropriate in reality. It doesn’t have to be either/or, does it?

So. The answer to this is dear lord I didn't tag the show for a reason.

But also.

The answer to that is that sometimes it works. When Mut was carrying Rak into the sea and Rak was saying no and they were both laughing and it was fun and teasing? That was fine! That was a no that obviously wasn't meant as a serious no and was joking.

But when Mut was dragging him out to his motorbike and he was protesting the entire time and telling him he didn't want to go and didn't want to be there and to stop and Mut had to literally scare him to make him go with? That's not okay. Because that is literally takin g no means no and making it a joke.

The dynamic being explored here works in so many contexts without specifically making 'no means no' into a joke. There are so many ways that this kind of dynamic can work that doesn't have to specifically be 'man, isn't it romantic the way he ignored his no?'

I don't tag the show in my posts because I don't want to show up in the tag or bother people who enjoy this. I use specific tags to let people easily block my posts.

But the honest answer is that making it works and exploring the dynamic also includes acknowledging what you're exploring in the process. And neither MAME nor her fans are doing that. Typically fans write this off as romantic and sexy and not as anything they wouldn't want in real life. I've had people argue with me for literal pages about the diary reading scene in the Other Show and how it was so needed and romantic and just...

Look, I like codependency in fictional romances! It's not romantic in real life but I love it in fiction. It's one of my favorite tropes. I love Love Syndrome III and it's toxic as fuck. But that show knew it was toxic and fully embraced that it was toxic and didn't try to write that as the romance but rather as a fucked up relationship that was what the two leads wanted despite how toxic it was. And I loved it! A+!

The problem with exploring a dynamic without acknowledging that you're exploring the dynamic is that it turns no means no into a joke in the show and that's... that's just unpleasant.

People are free to explore things and enjoy things and I specifically don't tag my criticism with the show for that reason. But the problem is that people talk about how sexy all of this and enjoy it and will be very clear, just like MAME was last episode about 'people asked why characters do things' that what they want is... whatever that means, I guess?

I post criticism that is specifically tagged to let people avoid it because I want people to know what I think and that I do see these shows and can offer criticism but also that it's not for the fans of the show because it's specifically tagged for them to avoid.

[bibibbon]

lately i’ve seen some ppl talking abt how the scene where shiggy and compress cut off overhauls arms is pointless.

i 100% don’t think so because it shows that the lov have motivations outside of destruction and dismantling society.

(you could say that their personal motivations already show that but they all relate to destruction or dismantling society in one way or another.)

ppl say that it was just to get overhaul out of the way and yeah maybe it was but my point still stands.

they intercepted the convoy not to try and take overhaul or anything like that, but simply for revenge.

(yes ik they killed a pro hero but that was just a symptom of their goal, and im more specifically talking abt the taking of overhauls arms anyway.)

the need for justice or revenge is probably one of the most human things someone can experience.

the feeling of being wronged and no one doing anything about it so you feel the need to take things into your own hands. it’s something that everyone has or will probably experience at least once in their life.

compress takes overhauls left arm as revenge for taking his own. and shigaraki takes his right arm as revenge for killing magne.

the hero’s and basically anyone who’s not in the league don’t know how much they care about one another.

they’re a family, a very strange family, but a family nonetheless.

but no one understands that, they don’t understand why they go to such lengths to save each other. because they don’t think villains are capable of feelings other than hate and anger.

so that scene shows that they cared enough about someone to get revenge on her killer. that they didn’t just see her as a random co-worker. she was their big sis, she was their friend.

tl;dr the scene (probably unintentionally knowing isayama) very subtly show the lov’s humanity. it also makes me wanna cry and throw up aggressively.

anyway thanks for listening to my rant

I can't help but think that a reason as to why overhaul was taken out by the leauge was also to get him out of the plot so he wouldn't be too op but I do actually agree and see your point.

No I don't think that the scene was useless but I do actually have some problems with the build up to that scene.

Overhaul losing his arms is ironic especially after he made compress lose an arm. Compress and the league got revenge and like you fantastically worded revenge and anger are very human emotions. The problem I have is that there isn't much material we have on magne. Her death didn't evoke much on the readers and it wasn't a huge talking point within the league. I get the point that her death was supposed to serve but I just wish that we have more material of her before she died.

Magne's death is also supposed to be the first death we see on screen so it does end up being a bit underwhelming since we're still so distant from the character.

Sure there is like one scene that shows that the league were close with magne which is when toga and twice correct overhaul when he misgenders her but then again my point stands that we needed more material before and after her death to really drive the point home.

The overhaul arc is the first true dark arc of MHA. This is the first arc where shigaraki asserts his role as leader and the parallels between overhaul and shigaraki drive that clear. At the end shigaraki is presented to be the much more caring leader whereas overhaul would do anything for his goal shigaraki actually cares for his team.

Shigarakis actions do matter because by doing what he did he shows the leauge that he cares for them and that anyone that harms them would be punished. This helps shigaraki build trust with the league, trust that he maybe lost after the training camp arc and magne's death.

Ironically this scene manages to humanise the lov in more ways than one. Yes, the league of villains are humanised by their feelings of anger and wanting to get revenge for what happend to compress and magne but we as the audience are also aware of just how much of a bad person overhaul is. We as the audience are aware of what Eri had to go through and we're also aware of overhauls hypocrisy so we look at the scene in a way which the leauge are serving both revenge and justice and we also end up feeling satisfied and joyful when we see what the league does to overhaul rendering him completely useless.

[itachis-eyes]

Naruto's Good Faith VS Kawaki's Upbringing

Good morning, yes, I'm Borutoposting again.

One of my favorite things about the introduction of Kawaki into the series and his eventual hyper obsession over Naruto is how real it is.

Naruto did not expect and was not prepared- and would have never been prepared for how attached and ultra protective Kawaki would become of him. It's not Naruto's fault, nor is it Kawaki's, no one was equipped to deal with this correctly. It reached the only natural outcome it could.

Kawaki's life sucked. It really just did! Out of many characters he definitely had the right to excuse his behavior on his upbringing- he literally did not know anything different. His biological Father used him as a punching bag, sold him off for cash, and then his new "father figure" Jigen experimented on him and ruthlessly trained him to become his next vessel. There was literally no love in his life, Jigen reminded him of this every chance he could. Jigen is not even an effective manipulator (like Orochimaru was), Kawaki hated every second he spent there and had no loyalty for Jigen. He directly expresses in conversation with Boruto that he wishes the experiment was a failure and he had died.

So Kawaki just has...no one! No one at all he can trust. Everyone is an enemy to him, and it's not until Naruto holds him and tells him he's safe after Kawaki accidentally triggers himself that his feelings for Naruto begin to change.

For the first time in his life, he has a Father figure who cares. Who genuinely cares about his health, well-being, and about forming relationships with other people (seeing as he wants him and Boruto to get along as well). Despite Kawaki consistently testing him (because it has to be a farce right? I'm just some punk nobody--), Naruto never resorts to physical violence to "punish" or "correct" Kawaki. There's plenty of chidings for him misbehaving and starting fights, but not a single blow.

I'd say that's great strides for a man who very often used to boast about wanting to break every bone in Sasuke's body to drag him back to Konoha. I like this development. He knows Kawaki needs a gentle hand and a figure he can trust implicitly. He gives that figure to Kawaki, and it works.

But Kawaki doesn't just go from 0 to 100. He goes from 0 to 1000. There was never going to be any reality where Kawaki forms a normal Father/Son attachment to Naruto. He became Kawaki's everything, and Naruto was not prepared for the intensity of Kawaki's attachment and desire to protect him.

And nothing could be done about that! Naruto didn't do anything wrong, he treated Kawaki incredibly well. He gave him the security and shelter that Kawaki craved. But he- nor anyone else, was not ready that Kawaki would go that far.

To us readers- the writing is on the wall. We could see it from a mile away. But to the characters within, they just didn't have any tools to predict it nor deal with it, nor prevent Kawaki's attachment from progressing to the point he unintentionally used Eida's omnipotence to completely rewrite everyone's history of his and Boruto's positions in their lives.

Kawaki's transition makes perfect sense. It really wasn't gonna go any other way. I'm so glad it was written that way.

[applebyraven]

i'm rambling to myself about dead poets society like i'm literally talking to myself and making points but maybe i'll just make a post so i don't sound too crazy. so... anderperry and chameron and how they have parallels, according to me.

disclaimer: this is just my opinion, just my perception. if you think otherwise you're wrong, just know that it's my point of view.

i Hate it when they write richard cameron as nothing but the uptight character of the group when he's pretty much not that. i mean, cameron was literally the Second person to join the dead poets society. right after charlie.

and of course, he was always reminding the poets about the rules and what could go wrong (which charlie clearly hates), but despite that and even though he could perfectly well have stayed in his room and not risked anything, he was the SECOND to join and attended the DPS meetings.

and it's important to emphasize that he did it right after charlie did it. i think a part of cameron always wanted charlie to accept him (as a friend. or more. i fervently believe that cameron comes from a very traditional family and is repressed. and liked -or even loved- charlie).

my point is that cameron was willing to "bend" his righteousness, step out of his comfort zone and take a risk. things went to shit when they went to shit, but the intention to actually carpe diem life was there when it wasn't even necessary for cameron to do so. he just wanted to.

i even believe the reason why he was always reminding them the things that could go wrong weren't even to protect himself because, again, if he wanted to protect himself, he simply would've stayed in his room and call it a day, but he didn't. i think he just truly cared about the poets' safety and well-being. even when he "betrayed" the poets, i feel he knew it was already a lost cause and everyone would lose (continue to lose, that is) if they kept going against the grain. but that's another issue.

that brings me to one of the reasons why i love chameron. besides the scene of charlie wearing cameron's shirt and the face cameron makes when charlie brings the two girls to the cave, i 100% believe they could be good for each other. which is crazy taking into account what happens in canon.

but charlie is like so fearless and kind of rebellious, that i really think that pushes cameron to get out of his comfort zone and try new things. like anderperry, but in a different way...

both neil and charlie are like two faces of the same coin in that sense of fearlessness and kind-of-rebelliousness. and they encourage todd and cameron, who usually prefer the comfort of the status quo and don't tend to try new things. one pair more directly than the other, but that dynamic is somewhat similar. and at the same time, that same fearlessness tends to get neil and charlie into trouble, which is why they also need someone to remind them of the possible consequences. and that's when todd and cameron step in.

we already know that cameron usually does it and charlie hates it and i don't think i should specify when cameron does it, because it's a frequent occurrence. and with todd, when he tells neil that keeping the lie from his dad about the play is impossible and when neil was writing the letter pretending to be his dad and he told him he was crazy for doing such a thing.

i don't know if it would be correct to say that they're their voice of reason, but at least they're the voice that tells them, hey, before you proceed, this could go wrong... and they don't do it with the intention of preventing neil and charlie from doing it, they do it simply because they care.

but then we know what happens and how it all goes to shit for both anderperry and chameron... i guess that's just another parallel: how it ends so tragically for both pairs. so, anyways, i just wanted to ramble about this random thing i thought about and that's it.

if you read this, thanks? and if u have thoughts, share them (only if you agree. i don't want to read wrong opinions /j).

[liaa--qb]

Your take on darklinas is 100% correct. Saw so many darklinas in team black stans and they were shitting on Aegon and Aemond. How can someone like Darkling if they like Rhaenyra as if Darkling wasn't far worse for girls than Aegon. Yes they type whole big paragraph about Daemon did nothing wrong and he never groomed anyone. I am not fan of alysmond but I assure you I don't find them more problematic than Daemyra, Rhaenicent. They said Aemond killed Alys's entire family but I don't think she ever gave fuck about her family.

Iol😂 Ik that btw n firstly let me tell u that in book Alys didn't give a single shit about whatever family that was.That wasn't even her family !

That was house strong who was keeping her only as wet nurse servant just bcz she was a strong bastard herself if talk about book only. She wasn't any princess there😭. Wtf TB Stans think while making these bullshits which wasn't in the book. Atleast should make something sensible.

I already told that dere relationship was not any romantic which some Alysmond Stans want it to be. It was just kind of toxic profit n gain relationship bet them. But she was only with Aemond for her profit n survival. She clearly gets pregnant with his child. Most logical reason is only that she would also hold the power in throne. That's it.

Alys was a witch who killed a man just in secs...do u really think that she would make herself as a crying hostage to a 18 yrs old boy😭. She would have killed Aemond easily if she wanted to right there while slaughtering whole house strong but she didn't bcz she would easily get profit from removing every other man from her strong family. Whole wealth indirectly goes to her or larys.

TB be saying anything rubbish as we don't even get much about her in book. She was neither team Black or team green. Now what tv series would do about her ? I can't say that......but Ofcourse they would say thousand non sense reasons on daemon which even GRRM would die on hearing.😹

N about Darklina stans🤦🏻‍♀️...they r really stupid. Their whole ship is extremely problematic. Even alysmond or every ship from hotd itself is less problematic than darklina honestly 😂.

Darkling literally abused n harmed Alina physically and he gave small girls to get r*ped by King for his own need🤢

n the audacity those idiots have to say anything about any ship way less problematic than them. It's funny when Darkling Stans would say they like Rhaenyra. Even Aegon was less harmful than him like bitch.. be fr😂which drug u guys r taking

I don't hate or not any anti Darklina. I don't even like that book. It's so fucking boring😭.Ship is very much ok. Like you can ship the fuck u want. I used to ship it too but if u r liking a problematic ship urself then u should better keep ur mouth shut about any other ships. They are embarrassing sometimes

(Believe me only thing I shipped it because they have that light and dark dynamic, if it wasn't about that. I would have never shipped them either. Plus Ben Barnes was the reason I went to watch that show 😑)

As I said they can't even like their favourites as they are🤷🏻‍♀️ so don't take them seriously. I am waiting for that clown show when they are going to say Daeron is a r@pist while writing big stupid paragraphs on ' how Maegor was correct'. U can see that very soon.

[kaladinsspear]

🔥 for way of kings & words of radiance? (since those are the two that I've read haha)

(also wouldn't complain about more lokitty 👀👀👀 no pressure tho)

either way hope you have a good day/evening/insert correct time of day <3

Ohh! I actually have a really spicy opinion. I went back and forth about sharing because I don't want to get soul cast to smoke in a back alley, but this is a work of fiction, and I have seen some truly rancid takes so hopefully anyone who sees this wont hate me personally, just my bad takes. (My blog is generally not spoiler friendly, but this does not have spoilers past WoR I promise.)

Well, here goes...

Amaram is a lot more nuanced than the fandom makes him out to be

That's not to say that I agree with his actions or that he is a good man! It's just that we have other examples of characters being forgiven for similar actions, and I don't see any reason to believe his entire persona is an act. Again, I'm not defending his actions. He is a coward and a manipulator and I would probably hate him if I ever met him, I just don't think he is irredeemable or the worst example of evil in the books.

As we see with Moash in WoR, being a shardbearer is a landed title and holds significant political and physical power. As Adolin notes, you cant imprison a shardbearer, he does what he wants or you kill him. If you can.

Shards are not just glory, shards are vast and poorly checked power, and Amaram had no way of knowing that Kaladin is a main character.

I promise this is relevant, but let me switch gears here for a moment. A lot of people believe that Moash was justified in wanting to kill Elhokar. At the very minimum, most people wouldn't have been particularly angry if Moash had succeeded. As Elhokar himself points out, his sin is not wickedness, its incompetence. Incompetence that gets people killed.

One of the questions asked by WoR is how much responsibility Elhokar holds for the consequences of his incompetence, especially when he really is trying his best. Moash answers that Elhokar holds 100% responsibility for the consequences of his incompetence, and that removing Elhokar to make way for somebody more competent is justified. Moash is a fandom beloved character, even if the fandom broadly (though, not universally) disagrees with his decisions.

Amaram had no reason to believe that Kaladin would stick to his decision that he didn't want the shards, and every reason to believe that a random country foot soldier would wield that power incompetently. It was a cruel choice to make, but it was the kind of brutal logic that Jasna is praised for.

Personally, I believe that Amaram and Moash are both wrong, and Amaram was even more wrong than Moash. Elhokar had already demonstrated that his incompetence was dangerous, whereas Amaram made the choice to kill several men in order to avoid risk. As risk averse as I am, I still name Amaram a coward. My point is not to defend Amarams actions, it is to say that they are much more nuanced than a simple lust for shards, and reducing them to a lust for shards really diminishes the impact of Kaladin swearing the 3rd ideal. If you can understand Moash and Graves, you can understand Amaram, and that is what makes Kaladins decision to defend Elhokar so powerful.

You could also say that Amaram stole a second shard, but again, there is more nuance there. Amaram believed that the hidden blade belonged to a herald. He wasn't stealing it so he could have 2 blades, he was trying to get it back so he could return it to the herald it belongs to.

Trying to reignite the desolations and return the heralds was stupid, naive, and arrogant, but the fandom treats that almost as an afterthought. His scheming was ultimately ineffective because other forces were at work.

So yeah. That is my hot take. Amaram is shit, but he is vehemently hated for things that other characters are forgiven for, and the inconsistency bugs me. Also, very few people seem to acknowledge the reflection of Amaram in Moash and I wish they would.

(I am always ready to share kitty pictures! I'll make a separate post for Lokitty though, that way people can look at pretty kitty pictures without having to think about Amaram, haha)

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

i know this is an unpopular opinion on this blog but the more i think about it the more i come to the conclusion that emma being arrested really had nothing to do with classical dv. i know people and even myself used to come up with the comparison "what if the genders were reversed" but i've come to the realization that you really can't compare women on men violence to real domestic abuse towards a woman, who is physically inferior to the man. it just doesn't hold the same weight knowing that a man would always have the power to physically get himself out of a situation. that he never seriously has to fear for his life (except when weapons are being used ofc but there is no indication of that) the fact that evan did not fight back and "took the punches" makes him a real man in my opinion. he has probably been raised to never raise his hand against a woman regardless of what, and probably just to restrain her and try to calm her down; which i think is what happened in montreal. (purposefully excluding the emotional abuse here which i'm confident is just as bad, not trying to debate that here.) by the way i say this as someone who used to fight everyone who defended emma. which i'm still doing by the way. i think it's safe to assume that emma is one pathetic excuse of a human being for so many other reasons but especially for using violence. so don't get me wrong, she is anything but a victim. i'm just saying that you really cant't put evan in the position of a battered boyfriend as so many fans do, like he was somehow defenselessly cowering in a corner while she was beating down at him. evan at all times had the physical power to end the physical violence. if he did not, that was due to him being a decent human being and being better than to use violence, not because he couldn't. he is the more powerful one of the two. we need to stop infantilizing him in that regard. and i'm sure he never even saw himself as a victim until social media called it out. oh god i know this sounds so wrong and i sound like an asshole because it looks like i'm trying to excuse abuse, but i'm definitely not. evan was 100% abused and a victim and emma is an abuser. i'm rambling. i guess what i'm trying to say is you can't compare the impact of trauma here. while i'm sure evan was traumatized he will still never know what it's like to be a woman in a domestically violent relationship always living in fear and intimidation and never knowing if she makes it out alive. i hope i got my point across and you all don't hate me. i have thought about this for so long from so many different angles. if there is a gap in my conclusion or something i missed feel free to correct me. or maybe this was common knowledge already in which case i apologize! i hope this wasn't offensive or ignorant i'm open to learn.

the gap in conclusion here is that you have a limited viewpoint of what constitutes ''real domestic abuse''. the very concept that some victims deserve to be treated as such, while others don't, is why so many people (male and female) experiencing it live in fear of how they will be treated if they report it. people who say things like you have prove that this is a legitimate concern. the same logic you apply to men's physical abilities is so often applied to women who appear strong mentally, emotionally and have a strong support system who would ensure their safety. who seem like they would never stand for it, yet are hiding bruises from their partner or spouse and living in shame and secrecy because they know others won't understand it. someone doesn't need to be small and fragile, cowering in the corner to be a victim. man or woman.

yes, you're absolutely right - evan had the physical ability to restrain her, which i'm sure he often did. i just ask - why do you need to de-legitimize someone being a ''real'' victim, regardless? everyone knows that men have a physical upper hand and it is not the same scenario as far as ability to fight back, to free yourself physically from someone trying to hurt you. but violence that repeatedly occurs in a romantic relationship can only happen because a perpetrator has mentally broken a victim. many women technically could safely flee from DV situations but don't because they, just like evan did, love the person who is doing this to them and are psychologically conditioned to believe they deserve it, or that they can adjust their own behavior to keep their abuser from hurting them again, and that they will change. you cannot separate these two things and the impact it has on when and if someone leaves.

"you can't compare the impact of trauma here. while i'm sure evan was traumatized he will still never know what it's like to be a woman in a domestically violent relationship always living in fear and intimidation" i'm sorry, who are you to say this? seriously, WHO are YOU to say this about a person? i'm gonna stop here because i think deep down, you know you are wrong and saying things that are incredibly offensive and insensitive. please re-evaluate your line of thinking. it seems like you drank some twitter faux feminist talking point koolaid that's gonna inch you closer and closer to the ''men actually deserve abuse'' vitriol that's all too common. we do not need to compare victims of domestic violence. it can really be as simple as saying that it is never acceptable - it's not a pissing contest. what purpose did this message serve? i am genuinely asking. if this was just rage bait, it worked because this message infuriated me and i had to take a minute in case you're serious and indeed not trying to be a bad person. i really hope that's the case and you consider why there is no need to write me a long message to assert that evan did not suffer enough to qualify as a true-blue victim in your eyes. i didn't need to know you're withholding empathy due to him being male, that's completely on you.

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 33 Week 9: Guess This Is the Norm?

So we're back. And before we get started, we have a 5 person finale. I think I already spoke at length about how dumb that is to have no elimination during the semis, so I won't do more there. What I will say is that I'm only okay because if Chandler and Brandon were the ones to be eliminated (I feel like it might've been Danny and Witney), it saved them and allowed us to have the first all Black couple make it to the finals in DWTS history. And for me as a Black man, that's bigger than anything else. The judging wasn't atrocious this week, so I'm happy about that. As for the recap, I'm gonna rank them on how I enjoyed their performances (not where I think they will finish tonight).

Chandler and Brandon- These two gave us two very solid dances. I wouldn't say either one was my favorite from them this season, but both were very good and the best dances of the night. There was like one missed hand connection at the beginning, but great otherwise. The lack of content critique from Derek was a load of bs, especially when you look at another salsa later on in the night that wasn't given the same critique with even less content. This foxtrot was the showstopper for me (not the other one). I hate when CAI randomly pulls out the lift rule for things that are clearly not meant to be lifts. Loved the dance. Loved the choreo. I loved that Derek said Chandler helped Brandon grow and pulled the best out of him, cuz I would definitely agree.

Ilona and Alan- These two had their best night of the season. Ilona I think fully settled into dancing and for the first time, was 100% comfortable out on that floor. Their paso was very good. I wish she had stretched through her lines and shaped them better than she did. But she owned the dance. I know folks were looking forward to that dance, but I was looking forward to that Viennese waltz from her. I love a Viennese waltz and I love Ilona's slower and more lyrical dances. I think that's where she really shines. And for me, this Viennese waltz was my favorite dance of the night. Ilona was beaming. She was moving beautifully. Her lines were gorgeous. This was the best I had seen her all season. I know people think Joey is a lock, but I actually feel like this is Ilona's win. She has peaked at the right time.

Joey and Jenna- So remember how I talked about how the cast plateaued early last year. The same thing is happening this year and Joey is the first victim of that. He's good, don't get me wrong. But the judges have not really given him constructive criticism throughout the season and now, we have a man that hasn't been able to elevate to greatness because of the feet problems he has had every single week in every single dance. He's flat footed and he does this shuffle foot thing and the fact that the judges never corrected it will forever piss me off. Both dances were good. I'm just so mad that we are in an era on this show where a handful of dancers that make it to the end won't reach their full potential because the judges are lazy and scary. Joey also had a bit of a problem with his frame from time to time in that foxtrot.

Stephen and Rylee- Stephen's tango is the only reason why I put him in 4th. That was a very good dance. He soldiered on even with the glasses mishap. Any glasses wearers out there will tell you how embarrassing and hard it is to navigate things with your glasses sitting up on your face sideways. But he locked in and got through it. He still needs to relax with his frame and count slightly better. But it was probably my favorite dance of his. That cha-cha? They are lucky they are on DWTS in season 33 and not back in an earlier season. The judges back then would've quickly pulled out 6s and 7s for a dance like this back then. So that 25 was a gift. That's all I got.

Danny and Witney- So these two are also suffering from rarely getting constructive criticism. Danny peaked in during his jazz and it's kind of all been the same since. Not saying he would be amazing, but he had the ability to be way better. I will say that his frame in the few bars that they did in hold for that Viennese waltz was better than the other two men. So there was progress there (Witney was smart not putting as much in hold because it probably would've started to cave in). His posture was not good. He had his butt way out. His footwork wasn't super clean either. As for the salsa. If Chandler didn't have enough content, then wth was this, Derek? The lifts were fantastic. The performance (not the dance) was lively. The actual dancing though? There was very little of it from Danny. And the dancing that he did do, was atrocious. It didn't help that the song was piss poor for a salsa (and I love that song, but come on). Danny is the weakest dancer left because he has all of Ilona, Stephen and Joey's problems, but none of the pointers that Ilona and Stephen have been given. I find that sad because he does have potential and I think he could've been a better and more consistent dancer than at least Stephen.

So that's my thoughts on last week. I'm excited for tonight. I hope you all are too. I usually don't say who I hope you all vote for, but I do hope y'all vote for Chandler and Brandon. This is a huge deal to have this couple in the finals and idk when we'll see this again to potentially get them a win. I'm fine with anyone winning, but a Chandler and Brandon win would be a special moment. Anyway, let me know y'all's thoughts and I'll talk to you soon/throughout the night/hopefully get the finale post up tomorrow.

[cbrownjc]

Hi dear! Can i ask a question? I don’t mind spoilers at all!!! If you suspect lestat is in the penthouse. Why is Louis sad/depressed?. And are they not in good terms? I mean i always thought louis was the love of lestats life. But if he is gonna wake up and then run off with akasha it rubbs me the wrong way. And What do You think Will wake him up? Will it be ha happy reunion?

Hello Anon,

So, slight spoilers for the books Memnoch the Devil and Merrick below, and how they might be brought into S2.

So when I say I think Lestat is asleep in the Dubai penthouse, it's not that I'm saying he's taking a nap or something. I mean that he's in a coma. And not just a regular vampire sleeping-to-heal coma. I'm talking specifically about the coma state he went into after the events of book 5, Memnoch the Devil. The state of that coma was so different that everyone pretty much thought that Lestat was, for all intents and purposes, the vampire-equivalent of brain dead. That he was never going to wake up from it.

During this period, Louis spent a lot of time with Lestat's body, reading to him and such.

Anyway, the events of Merrick happen, which are spearheaded by the retrieval of Claudia's diary btw. I won't go into all the details - which also include the bringing back of what might or might not have been Claudia's spirit/ghost - but between learning just how Claudia hated and manipulated him, as well as thinking Lestat will never wake up again, Louis decided to end his life via sunlight exposure.

So Louis tries to end his life, however, because he was not only turned by Lestat but has lived as long as he has (over 200 years by that point) the sunlight can't reduce him to a pile of ashes anymore. He just ends up extremely, and I mean extremely, burned.

However, Louis trying to kill himself in this way is what ends up finally waking up Lestat. Lestat feeds Louis his blood, which not only restores Louis but gives him a power upgrade as well.

So if my hunch is correct, I think S2 will end in a similar way to this event in Merrick. Armand has already said that Louis is attempting suicide with this new interview. And while I think Louis' original plan was to not only use the book to warn humanity of this "great conversion" thing as well as put a target on himself for other vampires to try and kill him, I also think the book was a suicide note Louis was leaving for Lestat. I think, just like in Merrick, Lestat is asleep in such a way and has been for many years, that there is a real belief that he will never wake up again. But, just in case Lestat ever did - either in the near or far future - Louis was leaving the book as a last thing for him. (In Merrick too, Louis left a short suicide note for Lestat as well.)

However, on the show, I think Daniel upended everything when he broke through the narrative Louis set out to tell. And I think whatever original plan Louis had set out for all of this is basically going to continue to fall apart until he's not going to wait for Daniel to write and publish the book before he attempts to end his life. I think whenever Louis is done telling Daniel whatever else he feels he needs to about what happened, he'll make the attempt to end his life almost immediately afterward.

There is a reason we saw Louis stick his hand into the sunlight and burn in the first episode, aside from establishing the vampire lore of the universe. As well as seeing Louis badly burned in the second episode.

However, we've also seen Louis drinking from Armand who is resistant to sunlight. That also wasn't random.

Louis has no idea that he can't fully be killed by sunlight. Neither does the audience. AMC-Louis is also about 100 years younger than book-Louis was when he attempted to end his life. So it isn't age that'll stop Louis from being turned into a pile of ashes on the show. It'll be the fact that he's been drinking Armand's blood for who knows how many years at this point.

However, like in Merrick, he'll still be badly burned to almost the point of death I predict. And, just like in Merrick, I think Louis attempting this will be what finally ends up waking up Lestat, and Lestat restoring Louis with his blood.

What will happen between Louis and Lestat after that, I don't know. Since all of this I'm speculating about would happen at the end of S2 IMO. We'll likely have to wait until S3 to get a full picture of the dynamic between them. Though, you know, saving Louis and healing him I expect will make Lestat rather emotional, at the very least.

But no, Lestat ain't running off with Akasha at this point. We already know that S3 would/will be an adaptation of The Vampire Lestat. General audiences who never read the books or seen the Queen of the Damned movie have zero idea who Akasha even is. She's a character you have to introduce first for her to have any impact wrt such a thing. And where was Akasha first introduced? In The Vampire Lestat, during Lestat's backstory.

Lestat still has to tell that backstory and, as I said in reply to another ask recently, the most dynamic way to do that visually is continuing to do it in the interview format. Plus we know the title of the show isn't changing when they do adapt TVL in S3. So I don't think it's a stretch to think Lestat will tell his backstory via an interview with Daniel, just as Louis has been doing in S1 and will continue to in S2.

[icebearinacornfield]

Rating Alex Rider Villians on a scale of 1-10 on how supportive they'd be of me telling them I'm Agender: SCORPIA addition

[Just so we are clear, the concept for this came from a TikTok-er who does a good amount of Alex Rider content/analysis!)

Julia Rothman: 0/10 She'd call me 'girly-pop' in a heartbeat. Julia Rothman is such a Girl Boss (derogatory), that she'd become transphobic. She'd not believe that I was actually agender and be fully convinced that I'm only saying this because of internalized misogyny or something. She'd be calling me 'young lady', 'girly', 'Ms./Miss', any and all gendered terms because she'd know that it made me uncomfortable and that I hated it. Also, seeing as I'm not a literal underage boy, she probably wouldn't care too much about me in the first place... I don't think that Julia Rothman should be around children in general. She needs some Jesus...

Zeljan Kurst: 4/10 I get the sense that he'd find me pretty annoying as a person, so I'd already be on thin ice as it was. He wouldn't understand what being agender was and he probably would just have me labeled in his head as a girl, but he'd use the correct pronouns and otherwise not make a big fuss out of it. Zeljan Kurst really would just be trying to do whatever he could to not have to deal with me more than he absolutely would have to.

Max Grendel: 10/10 He gives supportive grandpa vibes! He might not always understand or get the pronouns right all the time, but he cares! A bit lost at times, but immaculate allyship!

Major Winston Yu: -1/10 Not only am I an American (i.e. NOT British) and am actively beefing with the concept of England in general, he'd already be having issues with me. Not only that, but he wouldn't understand what was going on and absolutely refuse to learn/get an explanation. He'd be misgendering me left and right in the most oddly polite way ever. Like, bro would look me dead in the eye and say "My dear girl" and then start ranting about his plans and how great England is or whatever.

Brendan Chase: 7/10 It'd start off fine with him being very accepting and supportive, but I could see it getting really weird real quick. He'd probably start asking me some really personal/probing questions about being agender and wouldn't see anything wrong about asking about it. But if/when I told him that it was personal/I wasn't comfortable with the questioning, he'd back off and apologize right away!

Abdul-Aziz Al-Razim: 0/10 He'd want to study the psychological pain of experiencing gender dysphoria and transphobia... He also just gives homophobic/transphobic/misogynistic energy in general. He'd actively hate crime me and observe my response for ~ScIEnCe~ and pleasure.

The Grimaldi Twins (they'd want to be counted as a single person): 6/10 They'd be pretty chill about it, I can't see either of them taking issue with me being agender. They'd be supportive, but they wouldn't care too much. It's pretty much just that. Nothing really to say here. If they killed me mafia style, it'd be because of something I did to fuck up their plans. Not because I'm agender. We stan equal opportunity kings! (Not really though.)

Doctor Three: 11/10 He's a strong ally! Dr. Three understands and respects how gender is fluid/relative/a social construct and he'd be very supportive! He'd also be out there actively fighting transphobia in the medical community through normal personal measures, but also through murder if he must!

Oliver D'Arc: 4/10 He just wouldn't care that much. If I told him my pronouns, he'd just be like 'ok' then immediately proceed to misgender me. He would never do anything outside of that though.

Yassen Gregorovich: 10/10 As a professional, Yassen would be using my preferred pronouns no questions asked! He'd also politely correct people who got the pronouns wrong or kill them because he's a ride or die like that (I may not be a Rider, but I feel like Yassen would still have my back in this area though).

Desmond Nye: 100/10 HE IS AN ALLY YOUR HONOR!!!! DESMOND NYE HAS PRIDE FLAGS IN HIS OFFICE AND ALWAYS ASKS FOR PREFERRED NAMES AND PRONOUNS! AND HE RESPECTS THEM! WHEN HE WAS IN CHARGE THERE WERE VERY STRONG ANTI-DISCRIMINATION POLICIES IN PLACE AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL! (As you can see I am very calm and normal about this headcanon.)

Nile: -11/10 He'd only be this level of unsupportive because he'd hate me and want to make me feel as uncomfortable/invalidated as humanly possible. If it was anyone other than me, he'd be fairly supportive, like, a solid 5/10! But we do have to take into account that Nile is totally very petty and that I'd bet good money he'd get very creative with his transphobia in a not-good way. In short, NILE IS A HATER!!!

Karl Steiner: -2/10 He'd psycho-analyze me and try to gaslight me into being cis. He'd straight up become a conversion therapist in an instant, but he'd also try to ease into the role to not scare me off and then go from there. But that would be his secondary goal. His primary goal would be to see if I'd make a good assassin and IDK how I'd do on his tests and that's not what we're talking about here. All in all, would not recommend this man as a therapist for anyone ever.

Anthony Sean 'Ash' Howell: 5/10 He'd just nod and say "nice" before going back to smoking and being angsty which, honestly, slay! (Not the smoking part! Don't smoke kids, it's very, very, extremely bad for you!) I can't see him being transphobic, but I can't see him being an ally either. He's just a guy. He's just Ken.

Gordan Ross: 8/10 He is a supportive man! As long as I was tuned into his lessons and knew what was going on, then we'd have no problem! I could also see him correcting people if they misgender me which is an added bonus.

Eijit 'Jet' Binnag: 8/10 Jet would use the correct pronouns and would have a general understanding of what being agender means, she'd also occasionally correct people if they used the wrong pronouns. Mostly all she'd care about was whether or not I put effort into her classes and knew what was going on.

Amanda: 10/10 Asks for pronouns, uses pronouns, corrects people when they use incorrect pronouns, not notes! Only good ally vibes!

Walker: 8/10 He's got nothing against being agender and would definitely use they/them pronouns, but he'd also just say some really out-of-pocket stuff about trans/non-binary/agender people and unintentionally make things uncomfortable. So, he gets points off for that, but having said that, Walker would totally correct people if they got my pronouns wrong and it wouldn't JUST be because he's a little bitch who likes to correct people to be annoying!

Klaus: 1/10 He worked with so, so, so many terrorist groups and is a mercenary. This man would not be out there saying trans rights! He probably wouldn't hate crime me if we were both students because he wouldn't want to get in trouble with Jet, Gordon, Amanda, Walker, or Yassen. I also couldn't see him going out of his way to hate crime me. Klaus would refuse to use the correct pronouns and constantly refer to me as a 'girl' when he thought he could get away with it. If he did use they/them for me, it would be because he was forced to. That being said, it wasn't like he would've been talking to or interacting much with me in the first place, so he'd be easy to ignore and it would be mutual.

[liber-what-ia]

So this post was supposed to be a reblog of another post I saw, but tumblr shut down while I was replying and I can't seem to find it again. It was about how Din's interactions with other characters make evident how devoid of chemistry the ones with Bo-Katan are. Feel free to point me at the post if you saw it, and I will reblog it since I 100% agree with them. EDIT finally found it, it was @turkwriter who wrote it, you can find the reblog earlier on my blog.

Anyway, here's my addition (spoilers for S3 ahead).

I don't know if the writers will go down the Din/Bo route (it seems so surreal, even for SW and even for this season) but it's clear how limiting Din's interaction with other characters was a deliberate choice to put Bo-Katan on a pedestal.

What follows doesn't solely concern Din/Bo. I have this odd feeling, that Favroni/the screenwriters took a trip into the fandom space and tried to implement fan tropes and wishes in the show (without even distinguishing between actual, serious wishes, and inside jokes carried out by memes).

Like, did you notice how Din and Bo go on a first-name basis as soon as the second episode? Bo-Katan even gets to be called by nickname (Bo). We all know how names are relevant to the fans and I think all of you are familiar with the trope of being called by name as an act of intimacy, especially for someone (Din) who doesn't share it easily.

Then there's the sheer amount of times Din has to be saved by Bo-Katan. I.e. "Damsel in distress" applied to a very competent character who is also jokingly labeled as a himbo, and his himbo side this season went through the roof for no apparent reason. He forgot about at least half of his fighting equipment, for istance.

Also, all the physical contact Bo and Din have. Not that much actually, but she puts a hand on his shoulder several times and we all know about touch-starved tropes with Din (big fan here too but no thanks).

Then, the overall growing silliness in the season. Don't get me wrong, Star Wars can and will be silly. But having Lizzo+Jack Black+Christopher Lloyd in the same episode was like reading a tumblr post about improbable cameos we wished to see in The Mandalorian (which in turn is irony on how the writers love their cameos).

Also, how Grogu has been completely turned into a puppet. I'm gonna say it: I hate his somersaults. They're ridiculous, they make it apparent how fake he his and they're overused as a cuteness treat. Apart from that, Grogu's development was close to non-existent if not for the flashback he got and the cringe mech suit of his deceased nanny allowing him to comunicate (and enrages me cause was it so difficult to give him a YES/NO pocket device to communicate??). Sorry if I'm digressing. But Grogu this season felt 95% the merchandise Disney sees him as.

And finally, but there's probably a lot more, how Paz is suddenly made relevant through having a son. Admittedly this is an old trope and I knew since episode 1, when they hinted at the connection between Paz and the yet unnamed Ragnar, that Paz wasn't going to make it out alive. It's the old trick of emotionally investing the audience though an universal tragedy (losing a parent) in order to make their death more significant without having to explore them. Which they didn't of course.

This is just from the top of my head. I'll admit I have trouble remembering other details because my investment sunk a great deal and I can barely tell the episodes apart, so feel free to add on or correct me on my impressions.

[hematomes]

Fighting the urge to murder I wish YouTube had a proper blocking function there are so many people just being completely wrong and I can't keep fighting the urge to correct them.

This is about Baizhu leaks.

I just...why are Genshin fans like this?why can't we just learn to make sure of stuff before we start throwing opinions all over the place like they're true?

Like Baizhu as a character seems to either be the second dendro unit in a bloom team(and all other variants,which in turns gives them the dendro resonance so more damage) or the second dendro or only dendro in an aggravate/spread team right? he's a support/healer/shielder(though his shields seem more for interruption resistance than actually shielding but that doesn't matter because he heals) I'm not wrong to come to that conclusion correct?

So then why are people saying he isn't good because he doesn't play a role he wasn't meant for??? JUST GOD I HATE IT HERE (can leave at any time,is too stubborn to do so)

Don't mind me I've just been having this rant going in my brain all week

probably bc a good chunk of loudly wrong players only care about big pp numbers

i think the inherent issue with dendro rn is that every support character coming out after nahida is (understandably) compared with her. but what ppl who just idk play brainlessly or smth fail to understand is that different supports will have different roles

nahida is mainly a buffer and a driver. if you privilege dmg input then yes, she's better than baizhu. but she doesn't provide a shield (which is needed, especially in bloom scenarios), and she only provides healing with the craftable hp catalyst, which in turn demands additional effort into balancing her build bc she otherwise doesn't benefit from hp.

baizhu is primarily a shielder and a healer. he has a weak dendro application because, as you said, you'll want him to be the 2nd dendro in a bloom-based comp (typically paired with nahida but DMC is a viable alternative). in quicken scenarios his dendro application can be enough as long as you build him to have his ult in every rotation. he could use a battery, which makes him a perfect fit in double electro + double dendro comps. he's therefore really good for cyno, who's uptime is so long no one except zhongli can keep up. now you get a shield and a heal in one character (so it's not as important if you don't have 100% shield uptime), who's the perfect element to pair w him.

then they compare him to yaoyao. she's a good f2p alternative, but he's objectively better (as in comfier). she doesn't have a shield, and her healing requires her to be on-field.

anyway the "theorycrafting" (as in fake TCs who don't know shit and just watch zy0x with their hand down their pants) scene is a nightmare, and everytime a character comes out in the beta there's doomposting etc etc. honestly i stopped caring after kokomi's beta 💀 pulling for her was one of the best decisions of my life, not bc she's now meta but bc she's my special girl

[noosesurroundsme]

I'm really tired of being the trainer at work for all these lazy hires. I really wish they'd find people who don't spend all day absorbing tiktoks or calling people constantly. I'm tired of having 4-5 orders in my hand while they're busy goofing off. I sometimes wish I was a smoker so I could take 5-10 minute breaks every hour.

I also really hate men who try to argue with me and when I tell them or ask them to stop because it's not a productive conversation or argument, they still find the need to keep going. We're on day 5 of this new hire and I had to tell him 5 or 6 times to go away from me and stop talking because the argument is not going anywhere. He then went outside for 10 minutes to talk on the phone while I did the paperwork (that he's supposed to be watching me do so he can close on his own, but I was also irritated so I was happy to not talk to him for that time), then he came back and tried to start the argument with me again. All over his drawer being over 15¢ that was probably left by someone who didn't want their change, which he said didn't happen. I don't believe that either because for my purchase he kept trying to talk me out of taking my 9¢ in change so who's to say it wasn't from someone.

The drawers were all counted to exactly $100 this morning so it had to come from somewhere, yet it's my fault because I made him use another coworkers drawer (that didn't do any sales all day, except for the one new hire did over there). I only did this to keep the money with whoever did the sales and we had a $100 bill from his sale and not enough $20's to break it so I had to spend cash to bring the drawer over $100. It makes more sense to keep the money with him since it was his sale. My manager would do the same thing.

I really hate fucking men who just want to argue for the sake of arguing, even if it just goes in circles. It's not the only time today he kept arguing with me. He looked at his time card and told me it was wrong. He thought it was short. He works 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. He should have 50 hours (or close to) by the end of his shift Friday night. It was completely correct but the he was looking at the wrong amounts the whole time. He was looking at the two week pay period which had already added the 4th's paid holiday hours. It's just dumb, time wasting arguments. I could spend my time better doing something else, and if he just thought through things before asking he'd see how it actually is but doesn't give it a chance. He assumes he's right before I get a word in and talks over me just for him to realize minutes later he is wrong.

He's also another meat foodie and asked me "how can I eat just vegetables" since he just assumes that being a vegetarian I must only eat vegetables. Humans by nature are more like omnivores. Except for Native Tribes, Europeans who migrated to North America initially ate more plant based meals. It wasn't until coming here were people had to hunt and kill for food did people here eat more meat. My homemade Vegan Chili (or vegetarian if I put feta on it) is all plant based. It's so much richer in flavor than it's meat based counter part. Every single person who's tried it has loved it and said it's so much better than if it had meat in it. There's more to food than murdered animals, but I don't try to force that onto other people, the least they could do is learn a little instead of trying to argue with me about all I eat is carrots and lettuce and veggies have no protein as if meat is the only way to get it.

Idk maybe I'm an intellectual person and live in facts. I don't like being wrong. I will accept it if I am and try to learn the thing I was wrong about instead of uselessly arguing the incorrect point.