#I'm adding that because it's complicit

[aingeal98]

The part of the Zionists rhetoric I've seen online especially here on tumblr that really... not so much confuses or disturbs me because every part of supporting racism and genocide is disturbing, but the part that makes me nauseous in a very specific way, is how many of these people claim to be leftists. Not the Israeli government or the majority of Zionists obviously, they're proud racist right wingers. But here on tumblr you have people who believe in feminism and queer rights and would agree easily enough with surface level takes on how racism in America is bad. And when it comes to conservatives and red fascists they can easily tell when a right wing racist or homophobe is arguing in bad faith, they can make long posts explaining the harm behind terf rhetoric and how it differs from the actual fight for women's liberation. They can look at the Russia and Ukraine conflict and use critical thinking to call out bad actors with ease.

But then with Israel and Palestine they just... Flip. All the bad faith arguments they criticised before is now their modus operandi. They ignore the ongoing genocide and the Palestinians talking about it and focus on the oppressors, only reblogging the same one or two Palestinian voices once every now and then that say everything they want to hear and nothing more.

I think the most striking example is that "antisemitism bingo" someone made where the ongoing genocide was something to be laughed at and the blog made fun of Palestinian civilians being tortured. And yet when a blocklist went around of people who interacted with that ghoulish blog, clearly explaining why we should avoid them, (Hijt:The racism and dehumanisation of Palestinians) these "leftist zionists" immediately were like "Oh its a block list of Jewish blogs! It's only blocking us because we're Jewish!"

Like it's the most bad faith easily disproven illogical argument that every random 4chan troll can make. It's not my actions it's because I'm white! It's not my homophobic remarks it's because I'm straight!

I still struggle to understand how they're able to flip so easily from intelligent historical and societal discussions of oppression and intersectionality to denial of the Nakba, denial of the apartheid and racism that has ruled the Israeli state since its conception, denial of the Israeli terrorism and colonisation ongoing in the West Bank that Palestinians have been speaking up about for years (The save Sheikh Jarrah campaign and the murder of peaceful Palestinian activists predates October 7th by quite a bit and yet received far, far less coverage by western media) and denial of everything the government and soldiers and many citizens are currently doing to murder as many Palestinians as possible. How do you go from pointing out cult tactics to a Maga style tribalism enthusiast just because it's Palestinians being oppressed and not another group?

The only reason I can think of is that unlike say, white people or straight people, zionists DO have an understandable, real fear that they can use to promote their racist cult. Antisemitism exists worldwide and is a problem in every single country. Unlike ridiculous concepts like "white genocide" or misandry, there is grounded, factual and understandable reasons for Jewish people to want a community where they can feel safe. And anyone who truly cares about equality for all must be committed to stamping out and dismantling antisemitism in every country and neighbourhood, because Zionists sure as hell aren't. The more antisemitism exists the greater their fuel for justifying and promoting Israel as the One True answer to it all.

But the solution of Israel involved ethnic cleansing in order to built their majority Jewish state, and relies on racism and genocide to maintain it. Just like any other coloniser state, it's not sustainabile and is constantly spiralling towards fascism. (America currently contending for loudest spiral) And that is obvious to anyone who reads up on the history or just like. Talks to Palestinians for five seconds. Israel exists due to racism and dehumanisation of Palestinians, and anyone who considers that an acceptable sacrifice is blatantly morally bankrupt. But the tribalism is simply too strong for that sort of logic and understanding, and whatever reasons they may have for falling into Zionism, it's still unacceptable. If you're still on here talking about "demonising Israel and exaggerating genocide (for the woke agenda, is what they're two steps away from saying) then I have no sympathy or time for you. One day you will be forced to reckon with your cognitive dissonance and willful ignorance, and the self righteous racist narrative you cling to will no longer be enough to protect you from judgement. Normal people with their morals screwed on right don't support fascism and racism. Leftists sure as hell shouldn't support facism and racism. (And yes this goes for those who defend Russian and Chinese imperialism too.)

You talk about feeling isolated, about having no one but fellow zionists to rely on. No one else will accept how complicated the situation is, you say over the sound of ten thousand murdered children killed and celebrated by the fascists you're carrying water for. Everyone else is just too antisemitic! You say as the Israeli government and military celebrates Hannukah by bombing Palestinians and joking that they're lighting one of the candles.

I genuinely can't tell if these people are aware they're full of shit or just so scared that they've dived deep into cult mentality with zero critical thought allowed. But either way, there should be no more space for them in our community than a nazi, a homophobe or a Trump supporter. They may have parroted similar ideals of equality and justice for long enough, but when push came to shove and the issues began to hit too close to home, they decided that supporting facism is how they want to cope. So be it. Palestine will be free with or without them and I will mourn the intelligent principled people they could have been, but at the end of the day you have to draw the line somewhere. And supporting genocide is generally a solid line to go with.

[tea-cat-arts]

Ranking mxtx couples by whether or not I think they'd be good parents

(I'm 90% sure I'm forgetting someone)

Yep, next question (S)-

Wangxian: tried and tested good dads. I wish them luck with the whole “trying to get wwx pregnant” thing 

They have some shit to work through, but after that I think they'd be fine (A)-

Ling Wen/ Bai Jin: if we're just going off the original publication, I would put them in a much lower tier, but since the revised edition added that thing about them raising orphans together and said orphans turning out alright before unfortunate circumstances, I'm putting them up here. I think they'll be alright once they work through the miscommunication

Xiao Xingchen/ Song Lan: They obviously have a lot of trauma they're working through, but I'd like to think they and A-Qing will be a loving family in the long run 

One of them would be a good parent, the other wouldn't be a bad parent (B)-

Jiang Yanli/ Jin Zixuan: there's no canon reason for me putting them this low. Jin Zixuan just gives off a mediocre parent vibe to me (and we all know Jiang Yanli is the best)

Yushipei: Yushi Huang has good mom energy, and Pei Ming has been shown to be a not terrible mentor. I'd want the misogyny fully beaten out of him with a mace before I'd think he should have kids of his own though 

Lang Qianqiu/ Little Guy: at the very least, they're making sure Guzi is fed, clothed, washed, vaccinated, and has access to education. Neither of them know what they're doing, but I think Little Guy is good at faking it. I wish them luck in their upcoming custody battle  

You know what, surprise me/ I'll hear you out (C)-

Bingqiu: My first instinct is “no, do not bring kids into this,” but then I remembered tharnShen Qingqiu has a surprisingly decent track record? Like, Ning Yingying and Ming Fan both turned out a lot more health than they did in the original novel, and though I wouldn't call him in a good place, Binghe is doing a lot better than Bingge. The wild card for me here is Luo Binghe because I have no idea how he'd be with kids

Quanyin: Yin Yu had a decent track record until he was pushed into snapping. I think rn, he needs a couple centuries of being a babygirl before he's ready to parent again. No idea how Quan Yizhen would do though 

Born to “dual income, no kids, rich uncles/aunts” (D)-

Fengqing: Feng Xin is canonically a bad dad. I know he's working on it, but it is what it is. Mu Qing has been shown to be decent with kids, but I think he’d have a melt down if he had to deal with the mess constantly. 

Hualian: I mean, Xie Lian has raised three kids at this point and one of them became a god, another became state preceptor and then sorta complicit in a genocide, and one became god AND committed genocide + he babysat a ghost king for months and didn't even realize that's what he was because it was a miracle if he remembered to feed him… so, a mixed bag. Hua Cheng may be schrodinger’s child hater, but I'm intrigued by the idea of him raising kids just because I want to know how his own childhood would influence his parenting abilities. They should probably just stick to babysitting for now though 

Mingling: Liu Mingyan is too busy writing gay porn to be dealing with kids, and I just can't imagine Sha Hualing as a mom

Please don't bring a kid into this mess (F)-

Beefleaf: Do I need to explain this one?

Mobeishang: Shang Qinghua should not be put in any position where he has to teach someone about consent (Binghe’s early attempts at flirting being a prime example of why that's a bad idea). I also think Mobei Jun is still working on the whole “why hitting people is not cool” thing. 

QiJiu: I think the original timeline is a prime example of how they're just not in a place to be raising kids 

Jun Wu/ Mei Nianqing: Xie Lian would like a refund on his adopted father figures. They had one kid and he only made it to age 20 because he was cursed to not die

[deepfakefart]

EDIT: please see @cliffsideview's replies for more info! Tragically it is sounding more probable that it was a suicide spurred by a long period of bullying. Every person who participated, every teacher who stood by, every legislator who is a proponent of the anti-trans bills – every one of them is complicit in Nex's death. Ryan Walters specifically has blood on his hands.

They're ruling Nex Benedict's death a suicide. Death due to "combined toxicity" of fluoxetine (Prozac) and diphenhydramine (benadryl). Let's explore this.

Fluoxetine is known to cause seizures at very high dosages but rarely causes death. In one case study, 1.4 grams of Prozac likely caused a seizure but not death in an adult woman. "A dose as low as 520 mg of fluoxetine has been associated with a lethal outcome, but there’s record of someone taking 8 grams of fluoxetine and recovering," according to Healthline. ("Associated with" does not necessarily mean the sole cause!) Diphenhydramine overdose has been known to cause death at doses of 20mg/kg or greater; in the USA in 2017, it was involved (but not necessarily the sole factor) in 3% of OD deaths according to the CDC. I've no clue how much Nex weighed but I based my math on a 100lb person. A lethal dose of diphenhydramine at that weight would have been approx 900mg. There is no known lethal dose of fluoxetine for humans. It can vary greatly but is generally safe and generally requires very large doses to cause seizures let alone death. There are no known serious drug interactions between these two drugs.

But let's say there is some interaction at unusually high doses that I don't know about because this is an extremely unusual combination for a suicide attempt. We know that Benadryl is much easier to OD on than Prozac is. So let's pull some numbers out of our asses and say 750mg of diphenhydramine plus 3g of fluoxetine equals lethal dose for a 100lb teenager.

The typical upper range of fluoxetine dosage is 80mg/day. If we assume that Nex was taking 100mg of fluoxetine/day and he had access to a full 30 day supply, that's 3 grams. Add confounding head trauma and diphenhydramine toxicity and...maybe???

But we're talking about someone downing a full or nearly full 30 day supply of high doses of fluoxetine AND about 30 tablets of Benadryl. And there were no signs until he entered the living room and collapsed? Fluoxetine toxicity can cause rapid heartbeat, irritability, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, etc. Diphenhydramine toxicity can cause confusion, irregular heartbeat, agitation, nausea, vomiting, etc. This combo seems like a very uncomfortable and unpleasant way to go and I'm meant to believe he was quiet, not vomiting, not agitated, not terrified – just walked into the living room and collapsed? Unless he was exhibiting those symptoms and Sue didn't say anything about it which doesn't add up either. She said Nex went to bed with a headache and we have audio of the 911 call. She mentions their eyes rolling back and their hands "posturing" (both those things could be related to brain damage or a seizure).

With the added complication of head trauma (blacking out due to head injury = concussion = brain injury), I guess death is feasible but this just doesn't feel right. I don't know. Maybe it was a perfect storm of circumstances but those two drugs are so hard to OD on, not to mention unpleasant to OD on, and this state is so hostile to trans people it's hard not to approach this with a TON of skepticism.

I hope the Benedict family had their own toxicology and autopsy done.

ETA: for the record, im not saying I agree with the suicide decision, I'm saying "I mean I guess technically it's possible but it seems highly unlikely and incredibly sus and I am not convinced"

[lover-of-mine]

I was just rewatching dosed (im rewatching random eps) and well the intro of og tk in this ep made me think a lot of fake tk (lol not sorry) and the fact that they are both presented as "enemies" of the 118, or well not liked by bucks family... and i think you already talked about this (and tim said it was by chance because lucys actress couldnt come back-) but it made me think of how conscious the writers are in terms of they put buck once again with someone who hurt his family... idk it made me think, like the way bobby was instantly wary of her to say the least... like its lit more or less the same formula (obv different cause one of them is lit racist and mysoginist) but in the sense that they are presented as enemies then they are more or less accepted as time pass but never part of the family. I guess my question is do you see a patern? And do you see how this could parallel to bt break up?

I'm sorry, you're asking me if I see the bucktaylor parallels??? I've been screaming about them since Tommy was reintroduced. I have a set about it. People hate me for it. The bt 2.0 breakup paralleling bt 1.0 would be done for me specifically. It would be the show's gift to me. It would be Tim Minear looking me in the eye and telling me he's sorry for this hell I'm in. Sorry, I'm passionate about this particular angle lol. (Tommy actually parallels all of Buck's love interests, sets on that here)

Anyway... Do I see how this could parallel the bt 2.0 breakup? Yes, considering the Taylor breakup is about Taylor proving she has not changed while involved with the original thing that makes us, the audience, dislike her aka using Buck's family to get ahead, the fact that Gerrard is back and Tommy was complicit to his behavior, could very much be the thing that breaks them, because, well, it's right there, and to show Tommy's true colors while Buck struggles with the fact that he's not sure if he wanted to hurt him or not, is a very simple way to make that happen. Tommy is introduced as an antagonist of sorts and the thing that makes us dislike him is because he is complicit to the toxicity of the 118 at the time, it would really easy to have him tell Buck to just enjoy it and go along with it. I've been toying with the idea of Tommy saying something like that while maybe adding "it's not like Bobby is coming back" since the whole thing with family and the jealousy came up more than once, but I don't know how that would work. I think a core part of the way the bucktaylor breakup happens is the way that Taylor is hurting someone he loves, he could live with her hurting him, with her not fully getting him, with them hurting each other, he can't live with her hurting his family, and that could come into play again with Tommy, I feel like Buck is willing to let things go if they only affect him, but if he finds out something about his family being hurt, he won't stand by it.

[canonicallyobserving911]

100% agree with not wanting buck to talk to temu about The Will! 📢📢📢

It would give temu and bommy relationship a significance and focus that is unearned and undeserved and I simply don't want him to have! Same reason i wouldn't want temu to get killed off, and i don't want them to break up over the issue of wanting/not wanting to have kids 🙄 i don't want bommy to be anywhere near having that kind of conversation

Ajfjgkdksk i swear, if they confirmed in canon that temu was trying to date eddie and just settled for buck 😂😂😂 i would never ask for anything more in life lol so unfortunately it's not going to happen. But OH it would be so satisfying!

As it seems they're not going to address temu's past, I'd be happy if they broke up for some really superficial shallow reason, which would just underscore how insignificant and tenuous the relationship actually is.

Good day @blutterlie and thank you for the ask.

[Link to my original post here.]

You're correct and I agree with your assessment because Buck and Temu talking about Eddie's will and it being a reason for them breaking up would give the "Bummy" relationship too much of everything. It would be like you said, both undeserved and unearned and IMO, T*mmy isn't a significant enough side character to be included in that intimate part of Eddie's and Buck's relationship.

Case and point, Eddie's NEVER told anyone on screen other than Buck that he added him to his will as Chris' legal guardian but he didn't tell either of his two on screen love interests. He never told Ana and he never told Marisol. Also, Buck never told Taylor or Natalia so why would he tell T-Rex? He shouldn't because he doesn't deserve to know. T*mmy's a plot device just like all the others which makes him that much more insignificant.

Furthermore, Buck hasn't told Maddie, his own sister and he hasn't told Bobby either. I know a lot of fanfic writers indulge and include Eddie telling Bobby in their fics for emergency purposes but that's not CANON, it's FANON. Do I suspect the 118 knows how important Chris is to Buck? YES! The shooting is evident of that since no one, not even Bobby questioned Buck being the one to tell Chris what happened even though Eddie was dating Ana at the time. But I don't think they know Buck's in Eddie's will and I don't think the Diaz parents know either. Isabel might know and I believe that's because Eddie's close to his abuela but I don't think anyone else does. Also, KR stating Chris knows about "the will" doesn't make narrative sense because if he did, he would have called Buck when he was upset with Eddie instead of his grandparents like he did in season 4. Actually, he ordered an Uber with Eddie's phone and ran away to Buck's loft and that was before Eddie was shot.

As far as the breakup of Buck and Tonsilitis is concerned, I WANT T*MMY TO ADMIT HE TRIED TO DATE EDDIE FIRST TOO! It's my villain origin story because it would highlight how ridiculous the writing was handled last season. I know it won't happen either but it would be so fantastic. I wrote a fanfic about it, it felt great and I also let Eddie tell Buck he deserved better than a dismissive asshat who doesn't listen to him and who only wants him for his body.

I'm sure the writers won't go there because they don't want to defame Tonka Toy's character but they sure didn't have a problem letting him be complicit when Gerrard's 100-year-old ass was saying racist and bigoted comments to Hen and Chimney.

At this point, I don't care how and why they break up, I just want T.K. 2.0 GONE ASAP and I don't want Buck getting advice from someone telling him to stick it out🙄. It's time for Buck to be single so he can figure out he was trying to get Eddie's attention this whole time and not T-Rex's. There's no more time for doubling down on the ridiculousness of these one dimensional and lackluster relationships for Buck or Eddie.

As always, thank you for the ask and have a great day.

[patiann345]

EXACTLY. This looks.. AWFUL on them. BOTH of them for the record.

I'm gonna be very blunt; look, I know Meatly is like fandom's darling compared to Mike,, but gang? They're both awful people and are going about handling this in the worst way possible. I'm holding both of them accountable, because where Mike is blatantly awful on the main, Meatly has been quiet the entire time. He's complicit.

Actually, they've been awful for a long time! Really this isn't anything new; I know of two extremely well-made videos going over how terrible they really are! Here :)

Some things never change, and Mike particularly hasn't. Did you know his sister was the head of HR for their company? Did you know she was super immature and many an issue stemmed from that alone? Did you know that there were accusations of discrimination in the workplace? Not confirmed ofc, but with how Mike is handling the stuff with Norman rn? With what he's said about adding minorities like queers, about fucking,, gamergate? Personally, I believe those allegations. This isn't new.

I think some people in the fandom either don't know their history or have forgotten. Here's your reminder; don't forget.

[morlock-holmes]

This article to me sums up the logical conclusion of the whole White Fragility thing: abelateiner(.)medium(.)com(/)grieving-the-white-void-48c410fdd7f3#.6liiw3xfp

It's a really sad thing to do to people and I feel really sorry for the person who wrote that.

Also a good thing to link to if anybody ever wants to pretend that "Woke" isn't at least gesturing vaguely towards something real.

I'm really tempted to follow Ibram X. Kendi and call this attitude "White assimilationism" because it really does follow the logic of black assimilationist scolding:

The reason there is so much racial strife in this country is mostly due to the fact that one of the racial cultures in this country has become corrupt. Each member of that race is, by virtue of their skin color, raised in, and complicit in that culture, and therefore responsible for everything produced by it. You have white skin, Donald Trump has white skin, that means that you are responsible for Donald Trump and that anybody who looks at you and sees your white skin has a perfect right to assume that you are Donald Trump unless you work really really hard to convince them otherwise.

Of course, the good side of Black assimilationism is that much of what people from that tradition advocate is actually good; it's good to support your family, to hold down a productive job, to be educated, and to contribute back to your community. All worthwhile things in which you can take pride.

This white assimilationist narrative is that the crafty whites have essentially cheated themselves into success, and that means that any success you have is probably due to a white supremacist society putting its thumb on the scale to give you things you don't deserve.

And this makes almost every white person who believes in it a hypocrite.

You get a handful of people who are sincere or neurotic about it to actually severely self-sabotage themselves, and then everybody else is just a giant hypocrite because, like, yeah white flight is bad but I have a one year old and the money to get him away from crime so.

When you hear that straight white male voices have been privileged too often in fandom, you don't shut up, you start a podcast with your two other straight white male friends and make an occasional self-deprecating joke about how problematic that is between sponsor ads and plugs for your Patreon.

I have a ton of resentment towards this cult; I spent years in it trying to crush myself down and follow rules that nobody actually followed because everyone else just instinctively knew that if you followed them you'd destroy yourself, so you just ignore most of them and then occasionally, carefully explain that you feel guilty about it.

[positivelybeastly]

X-Men #1

So. The big day!

Let's go.

Absolutely adore that it takes Hank the space of one panel to get Chief Robbins to go from shouting in surprise to smiling at him. Hank is honestly just effortlessly charming, and it really shows here.

This entire first issue is very Morrison in terms of continuity, with what I'm pretty sure is even a direct callback to New X-Men #115.

Feral bash brother and sister Magik and Juggernaut will never not make me smile. I'm genuinely so here for them to be a chaotic gremlin BrOTP in this series.

So jazzed for Idie to get some spotlight again. Outside of WatXM and her role in the Krakoan Exiles, she really hasn't gotten a lot of love, and I very much enjoyed her turn as the Storm of the team, deploying ice cover for the combat landing.

Glob Herman, you will always be iconic. Also, Hank, you're enjoying yourself entirely too much.

"B-But my husband lost his job at the Lockheed Martin factory where they make the bombs that cut children into a billion pieces! Won't you please think of our jerbs?!"

No.

Jesus Christ. Literally taking it out of him in chunks. Last time I saw Logan fucked up this badly by someone with a knife, it was in X-Force, and it was - oh. Oh yeah. Oops.

Well, anyway!

Always here for telepathic relay bullshit. There's something really just delightful about the sentence 'Dumping them into the common knowledge pool.' It's just very Morrison.

John Sublime and the U-Men . . .

I love supportive, nurturing Scott. Legitimately one of the best hats that Scott gets to wear. Also, rebound shots are always fucking cool.

That refraction is cool shit. There's just a lot of really neat visual flair going on in the combat, and it shows rather than tells us that Scott really is just as good as Hank hypes him up to be.

Cute.

One: who the hell put that needlework up on the wall? Because that's brilliant. I desperately want to see a "Bless this Mess," or a "Live, Laugh, Love," at some point.

Two: Hank bakes! He bakes Jewish shortbread! I wonder if MacKay knows that Hank speaks fluent Yiddish and decided to expand that to a wider interest in Jewish culture and food? Fucking cool shit.

OIHEPOAIGHSDAP[OUIHGOUHG

ADE[OIGHJEADPOUIGHSGOIUH

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS.

This is so good.

That one-two punch of Hank's burning, bristling fury at his previous self for denying himself the pleasure of Krakoa as well as denying him his memories of it, and the meaningful nod in the direction of X-Force, is so fucking good.

This is exactly how I figured Hank would react, and, like, I'm not gonna go ahead and say Jed MacKay is an amazing writer just because he writes Hank like I do, but fuck, it sure as hell makes me happy!

I also really like Stegman's art here because it evokes a simple fact of Hank's appearance - he's meant to be slightly uncanny and scary and able to switch from cuddly teddy bear to beast on a dime. The Morrison is strong here, the pleasant, bubbling layer of frothy cultured genius hiding a whirlpool of complicated emotions and self-hatred, and I couldn't be more enthralled.

I can't believe I'm actually getting acknowledgement of the fact that the rest of X-Force was just as complicit in what Beast did as he was, and that they do not, in fact, get a free fucking pass for being shitheads who did morally bankrupt things on a whim.

Giggling. Squealing. Kicking my feet.

Hims.

Hank is so deeply tired of Max's shit, I love it. "This is the fourth time this week you've pulled the intimidating hover chair flex on a passing human, Max, are you going to get tired of it eventually?"

Hank is rolling his eyes at this. God, what a good voice for Magneto here, honestly, and a decent continuation of the whole Ewing retcon about how 60s Magneto's characterisation fits into the wider whole.

Hank is the open hand. Scott is the fist. Max is the sleeping dragon. God, what a fucking good trinity, I adore it.

"Henry has a soft touch. He always has."

I've run out of image space, but Magneto's, "Tell me he will die on a mission soon," in response to Quentin is hilarious.

Genuinely adore the quiet moment on the roof between Hank and Scott. It's so nice to see these two as friends again, like it all never changed. I'm deeply curious to see if the knowledge of X-Force and everything that happened will change how the rest of the team views Hank, or if Hank's the only one who holds that against himself, but regardless, it's nice to see these two just kicking it with some beers.

Love the power move of leaving the Sentinel looming, midway through powering up its laser, over the town for a bit. "Don't forget, you owe us, we don't owe you."

That teaser is nice and ominous, even if it doesn't mean a ton just yet.

Overall, really good #1! I'm intensely excited to see where the rest of the run takes us, even if we do have to wait until August to see the next part.

Now, to go make caps . . .

[renaultmograine]

I'm just saying adding that it is something Blizzard does often, that is have a character do terrible awful things and than be presented as a saintly neutral quest giver that has done nothing wrong.

You know, I see where you're coming from, but I have to disagree on it. When we take quests from, say, Illidan in Legion, the narrative has already gone through all of Illidan's history and addressed them. Maiev has had the narrative address her history (loosely, in terms of Wolfheart, but they have acknowledged that book again). Jaina is a shining example of literally always having to pay her karmic debts.

The narrative does not acknowledge that the Red Dragonflight, the protectors of life, kill and magically alter unborn children. In Cataclysm, a red dragon is experimenting on the black dragonflight so that they can have a purified black dragon that they could keep as a slave. This is deemed as okay, because the blacks are crazy anyway, and you go and help this red dragon who basically goes "don't judge me on this it's important" as you beat an enslaved mother into submission and steal her children from her to experiment on. This is something Deathwing does later on the reds, and it's largely considered a bad thing to have done.

So what happens in Dragonflight, a dragon focused expansion where Wrathion, the victim of the red flight's meddling, who narrowly avoided being a slave to the red flight after they murdered his mother and killed all his siblings? Alexstrasza insults and belittles him for wanting to reconnect with his ancestry, repeatedly, one time right after he saved her life and was just politely asking her for aid (you know because the black dragonflight was driven to near extinction). All Wrathion gets to do is look annoyed at her in the cutscene and leave, and from then on we see him, Sabellian, and Ebyssian all try and kowtow to her as she insults their family and them for wanting to take up the good and noble parts of the black flight's legacy.

Yes, Horde and Alliance members have bickered between each other, but this is the queen of dragons, the protector of all life, and here she is belittling the few remaining victims of the Old God's plot and spitting on everything they do.

That's not even mentioning the other shit that happens to children. In Dragonflight, like was said earlier, you're immediately smashing and killing the whelps inside of eggs for having the audacity to be changed with elemental magic. There's no mercy for them, there's no trying to save them with the magic aqueducts of order magic, there's just smash smash smash and you go onto the next one. In Wrath, we smash blue dragon eggs that were just there (you know the blue dragons live there) because the reds wanted us to. These were not combatants in the war. That was a blatant attack on a decimated flight meant to wound Malygos, just as killing his mate and dragging her corpse around to insult him was.

One of Garrosh's crimes was being associated with the Dragonmaw clan, as they enslaved the red dragons before (reminder, Garrosh wasn't even on the planet when this happened). Alexstrasza gives this testimony about how horrible and cruel it was in her time enslaved by the Dragonmaw, but that she forgives all those orcs, because she just loves life so much. Never once is it mentioned that the red dragonflight has done worse things themselves, and that Alexstrasza either gave the order for it or was complicit in it the entire time. Never once has the narrative ever addressed this past occasionally going "Wrathion doesn't really like Alexstrasza" which is the most mild aspect out of all of this.

Magni was never presented as saintly. In Before the Storm, Sylvanas makes a point about how she doesn't trust him because he's still a dwarf and (IIRC) Baine tells her that. well. he is a rock now. Repeatedly his mistakes with his daughter were mentioned—The Shattering, Before the Storm, BFA, off the top of my head—and the narrative does go "Hey, this character is flawed." Yeah, maybe they didn't specifically address the fact that Magni okayed a dig site on tauren land, but that's kind of comparing apples to child murder imo. The most Alexstrasza gets dinged on is Vyranoth going "I thought it was fucked up that you helped the Titans corrupt and change my children" and she STILL joins team Titan at the end of the day. Alexstrasza faces no real repercussions for her actions on this past she lost some friends twenty thousand years ago in a book no one seemed to want to read.

That's why I harp on how the narrative presents Alexstrasza so much.

[slowlypalefire]

Harrison vs Victor

Event Story

Part 3- Victor's ending

*The translation are not guaranteed to be entirely accurate, so expect some errors

Harrison & Victor: "Come on, let's check the answers."

Victor: "I'd like to get excited, but you're better at deduction. I'll leave it to you, Harrison."

At Victor's call, Harrison response with a look then open his mouth.

Harrison: "At first, we thought you were in charge of distribution. I guessed that there was some kind of evil behind it."

"...However, there was nothing suspicious about the conversation that was taking place in this mansion."

"That's why, we have to ask why you bought all the chocolates."

Brown: "Well, that's because it's to treat the people who visited the mansion today! There's nothing unnatural about it, right?!"

Harrison: "Yes, it’s a lie."

Brown: "What...!"

Harrison flatly dismisses the claim. Mr. Brown's nose turned white.

Harrison: "There are two clues here."

"The fact that you only allowed men into this mansion. And how you reacted when you found out there was a woman."

"It was obvious to everyone that your face turned red like an octopus."

As if to add to Harrison's reasoning,Victor opens his mouth.

Victor: "If you had malicious intent, you could have taken all of England's chocolate."

"After all, you are a talented trader who is the president of a company that got recognized by everyone around you.''

"But you didn't do that. That's because you added some extra effort... . Am I wrong?"

(Not only was he not complicit in any criminal activity, but he also did not completely obstruct distribution and did his best to cut corners...)

*corners: control (a market) by dominating the supplies of a particular commodity.

(When it comes to work-related matters, you don't go easy on things. )

(In other words, this commotion is-... completely personal?)

Brown: "It doesn't have to do with you guys, you're opinion doesn't matter "

Mr. Brown seemed to have come to terms with this, as he began to speak in a slurred manner, like rain falling under the leaves.

Since childhood, he has been physically weak and has lived a life without relationships with women or love.

When you grow up and become physically strong, you can work and become successful... .

However, when it comes time to start dating a woman he couldn't speak well.

Valentine's Day without being able to find a lover he have lived a life where he have only been looking at people sideways.

sideways: looking people with deceitful and scornful

Brown: " ...That's why I was trying to vent my jealousy by stealing chocolate from a specialty store."

"Isn’t this a tough treat for people who want to prepare special chocolates for Valentine’s Day?"

(It made sense that only specialty stores and their affiliated stores were affected.)

Brown: "You can just laugh at how silly it is. You guys have no idea how I feel."

Victor: "Oh, I don’t know. You and we a different person."

(...... Victor?)

I was surprised by his words, which were uncharacteristic of him.

But as soon as I saw the calm look on Victor's face, I realized that that wasn't the only thing he wanted to say.

Victor: "But we can imagine your pain."

"I can imagine the feelings that are in the corner of your heart that I cannot understand."

"...You must have been lonely."

Brown: "..U..U.." *croaking voice*

"Uwa...!" *he's crying*

Harrison: "Hey, you… hugging Victor. Are you ok ?"

Victor: "Ahaha, I don't mind. You're always welcome in my chest."

"It's okay, I'm sure you'll meet a girl who will cherish you someday."

After Brown stopped crying, this time we apologizing for the uproar, he declared that he would try his best again.

He promised to stop the hoarding of chocolate and hampering logistics.

Victor: "Harry showed me a brilliant deduction, so it looks like I've lost the game."

Victor laughs and quickly leaves the place.

Kate: "....Viktor!"

I hurriedly chased after him, trying not to lose sight of his back, which seemed to disappear into the pitch black.

Viktor: "Kate…what happened? The case was solved."

Kate: "Um, Harry told me this earlier."

Flash back

Harrison: "Kate, that guy, it seems he's telling 1 more lie again"

After Victor admits defeat,Harry spoke before he was out of sight.

Kate: "....Viktor lied?"

Harrison: "Ever since we set foot in this mansion,his two eyes were always chasing something else."

"He must be pursuing some other case at the same time, separate from the Brown case."

"He was the one who found out the truth of the incident first. In other words, the game is my loss."

Harry said that, looking into my face and he grinned.

Harrison: "On your next holiday, let's invite Liam to eat something sweet or anything"

Kate: "Eh?"

Harrison: "Even if I can't get it from you, it doesn't matter if I give it to you. See you then."

End of flash back

Kate: "- So it's like that"

Viktor: "As expected of Harrison...that kid has become an adult."

(So, what Harry said was true after all.)

Harry's insight is obvious,/ Not to mention Harry's insight,

but... I was surprised at Victor's depth as he tried not to let me realize this.

And to myself, who had followed Victor without any hesitation after learning from Harry.

(Why did I want to go after Victor in the first place?)

Viktor: "Kate"

Kate: "Ye, yes."

Viktor: "Did you approach me because Harrison told you to? Or was it you?"

Just like when I showed my reasoning to Mr. Brown,

I feel like Victor knows my heart, even if I don't say it in clear words, and my heart skips a beat.

Kate: "it is..."

Viktor: "We'll check the answers after we've solved the problem. Come, Kate "

Kate: “Y-yes…!"

Sharing with me the incident you were following behind the scenes is making me happy.

Besides, I felt like I had saved my life by not being investigated any further as to why I had followed him.

Victor was chasing someone behind the scenes.It was a trading company that secretly traded illegal cannabis.

The people reportedly tried to contact Brown in order to take advantage of him.

And that night. The company was plunged into darkness by Victor, and I made sure to record his actions.

Later, Mr. Brown sent me a large amount of chocolate ingredients as an apology.

Using those materials, Victor and I are making chocolate cake together.

Viktor: "You want the inside to be moist!"

Kate: "Yes, please be careful about the baking time,Victor."

While the two of us are making something to everyone at Crown-

I secretly making 1 big chocolate cake.

Of course, I'm happily making sweets next door. The purpose is to give it to someone who is working on it.

Viktor: "Is there something wrong?"

Kate: "N-no. It's nothing."

I panics and avert my glance from Viktor, thinking he's been staring at me too long.

-When I was asked why I chased after Victor that day, I was shocked.

However, as if Victor had forgotten that day, he never bothered to asked me again.

(Maybe this is a good thing.)

(I didn't know what to answer from)

I was inwardly(secretly) relieved to be back to normal life.

Kate: "...That's right, Viktor . There is one question i would like to ask of you"

Viktor: "Yeah, what is it?"

Kate: "That day, you challenged Harry to a match. Isn't that intentional?"

Viktor: "What made you think that?"

Kate: "In the first place, Viktor really like Harry"

"I don't think you would ask for a fight for no reason."

"Also, as a fairy taler, when I'm writing a report.Then I realized..."

"Victor regularly works with the Crown's and has the opportunities to observe them one by one."

Viktor: "And so this case is a great opportunity?"

Kate: "Yes"

Viktor: "Kate, you now know how think by yourself."

"Half the answer is correct. But half of the answer is incorrect."

Kate: "Eh"

Viktor: "As you said, the reason I offered the fight was to observe Harrison."

"The other half of the answer is that I've already given to you"

I thought about Viktor's words, but I can't find the answer.

I don't have the talent for reasoning like the two of them do.

Kate: "I am sorry, I do not understand,Victor"

Viktor: "I do, Kate"

"I wanted some chocolate from you. Even if I took it from Harrison."

(Ah...)

Victor took a step closer to me.

Viktor: "Kate. Then I already answer, what would you do?"

"That day, you followed me,was it because Harrison told you to? Or was it you yourself?

"Is this your own intention?"

[rjzimmerman]

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse tells it like it is: 'one crew, one plan, one cancer in the body politic'. (Daily Kos)

I'm cutting and pasting this text from one of today's Daily Kos newsletters that land in my inbox. I think that Senator Whitehouse is possibly the smartest senator among the 100. He's a Democrat from Rhode Island and always has the smartest and bravest observations when matters are particularly ugly.

"Below is an unrolled string of tweets from Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse about our political predicament. More of our Senators should be talking like this and joining Whitehouse’s relentless attacks on the corruption and authoritarianism eating away at democracy. 

Our current situation should give Dems a rejuvenating chance to focus better on fixing what’s gone wrong in America.

We face three huge threats: persistent internal attacks on our democracy, unbridled climate upheaval, and a captured Court with some deeply corrupt justices

Behind each threat is dark money; massive anonymous political spending by special interests who hide their identities from the public.

The political class has reoriented itself to this new reality, pivoting to the big secret spenders. Voters notice they’re not so important anymore. An entire dark-money ecosystem has been spawned, with front groups, ‘Donors Trusts,’ coordinating 501c3s and c4s, and superPACs.

This whole filthy bestiary of influence is new (or refocused and expanded) since Citizens United. It didn’t used to be this way; it doesn’t have to be this way.

Democrats keep voting to get rid of dark money, and Republicans keep voting to protect dark money, but voters have no idea. We basically haven’t told them.

Which is pathetic because voters hate dark money with a passion, Republicans, independents and Democrats alike. Polling is off the charts.

(When done, that is; too often pollsters blow the dust each year off their polling questions from the ‘90s and this question doesn’t get asked!)

Climate change is out of control because of a massive dark-money politics and propaganda operation run by the fossil fuel industry.

Before Citizens United, climate was a bipartisan concern (see McCain 2008 platform); fossil-fuel dark money killed bipartisanship.

The Court was captured by a dark-money operation funded by creepy polluter billionaires and managed by their creepy minion Leonard Leo.

The ‘amenable’ justices are instructed via coordinated flotillas of dark-money amici curiae, with correlation near perfect between instruction and result.

Republicans are complicit in all this because the dark money behind these schemes is also the dark money billions behind their political operations.

It’s a trifecta; dark money is behind climate denial, Court capture and corruption of Congress — one crew, one plan, one cancer in the body politic.

Democrats should be blowing the whistle on the whole dark-money rot.It explains so much, it has obvious villains, and it has the added benefit of being true.

We are in a war for our future and we should behave that way.

[li-nox]

sorry to make your askbox the discourse hub but i feel like i just have to add, when ppl are talking abt tommys 'racist past' it is literally based on ONE comment abt chimney being a delivery guy, before he'd met him? obviously, it is 100% implied in the show that he's complicit to the hostile and discriminatory work environment when chimney, and later hen, join, but that is mostly shown as staying silent for gerrards shitty behaviour, and being closed off. it is certainly not good, and he needed to grow from that and it wasnt fair to make chim and hen suffer from it. but when people act like he was some racist monster i am never sure if they have actually watched the begins episodes lately or even at all rather than just listening to obsessive buddie shippers 'call out' tommy for being satan himself when it was mostly like two lines of dialogue 💀

Oh, I really don't mind at all, anon 🤗 This is kinda fun and I'm happy to provide a more neutral ground ☺️

So, thanks for adding! This is actually a very dear point to me, because I know from (different but still) personal experience, why some rather stay silent and thereby add to bullying and/or discrimination because they're too scared themselves.

And to quote Tommy himself: Gerrard was “like the dad I already had” This being a fictional series aside: Things you're used to (no matter how shitty they're actually are) can give you a false, fucked up sense of security. Until you manage to break away from it.

[horizon-verizon]

Alysanne is treated awfully by her husband, who is never once confronted by the narrative for his horrible behaviour. Who would rather risk her dying in childbirth than take any steps to prevent pregnancy as she requests, forces her beloved and mentally disabled daughter to be married off despite the obvious risk to her life and refuses to take responsibility when Daella inevitable suffers an awful death, and who values people of Alysanne’s gender so little that he completely goes against Westerosi custom by passing over his own granddaughter.

If Alysanne, powerless apart from what Jaehaerys deigned to grant her, helpless to stop her daughters being out at risk or to decide for herself to see Saera again, is GRRM’s example of a good queen, it’s pretty sad.

I understand the frustration, since again we never get more queens exactly like Rhaenys or Visenya and even here we may comment on how un-feminist or anti woman it is to not have them as "ideal" queens when Rhaenys died in the violence of war (the eradication of women in fiction) while Visenya enables a tyrant to rule...but really F&B and the Targaryens' history was not really supposed to be a feminist tale BECAUSE the history--though not-- was meant to show the decline of royal female power & agency that happened due to the assimilation into Andal patriarchy for power and/or to get a foothold and unified state to fight against the Others if you think of the theory of Aegon having a dragon dream about this. Especially in connection to Dany's rise.

AND I will say I do agree to critique on how GRRM's writing sometimes inspires anti-woman-ess through a paltry (thought we can't say nonexistent, there is a punishment against rape or sense of social taboo on rape in Westeros, but...) pushback or punishment for rape and violence against women [joannalannister]. I'm saying that GRRM's work is not meant to be taken as actual feminist literature but a series that really sets out to dramatize already obvious and present/past truths and conditions...sometimes to the detriment of its female characters and the impression made on readers. GRRM is still a liberal-ist white man.

AT THE SAME TIME, SINCE THIS ISN'T A FEMINIST SERIES BUT A "LOOK WHAT CAN HAPPEN" SORT OF THING:

I think that the whole point is that, yes, this is sad and it stems from how limiting such a set up/social conditions are AND Alysanne was a politically "good" queen. How she treats her own kids and is complicit in how they died or ran away should be a part of how "good" one is as a general sort of leader, yeah, but unlike Jaehaerys and the "good" he did, Alysanne's "good" acts for the realm had much more of a necessary impact in the sociopolitical landscape of their subjects. And I mean towards more marginalized groups, esp women. It's like she made sure to "round up" those left behind in other aristocrat's projects.

la-pheacienne says this:

Whether that someone has been chosen by the people, or by the gods, or by destiny, or by circumstances, and regardless of the political system that allowed them to yield that power, the point is that someone has power ad hoc at any given time, and power equals responsibility. What do you do with it? How do you govern? How do you choose between two equally grievous alternatives? Who do you listen to? Who do you trust? How can you learn? What if everything you've been told was a lie? How do you move on from there? What if the promises you made contradict each other? What if you fail? How do you live with the guilt, how do you go on? How do you instigate a structural change? What if you try to do that and people die? What if you try to do that and it kills you? Was it worth it?

On top of that, Alysanne was still a Consort, not a Regnant. (POST & POST) She had less power than Rhaenya or Visenya, who though were not exactly Regnants they also weren't just Aegon's wives but consummate and active politicians themselves, making deals in the open, riding dragons into wars, enacting laws, and creating institutions.

Alysanne had to rely on her husband's power to have and hope to have her thoughts on legislation come to reality. It is just a fact that queen consorts, unlike Queen Regnants, had to depend on their royal husband's favor, regard, or perception of need of them to have any semblance of power. Because they were women and consorts. It's part of the deal, the sociopolitical conditions. In reality and real history, it was such for MOST queen consorts.

Yeah they had more power at court and influenced their husbands, but you are seeing in Alysanne something that looks like what that sort of power could have been like. Even Alysanne had more influence over Jaehaerys than some real queen Consorts and those that came after her! Think of Rhaella, Naerys, Myriah Martell, etc.

Were there female consorts in real history who practiced more influence, power, etc. than their officially ruling husband or were their active equals in terms of policy making while showing some power over their kids lives than just, of course! But this is not the rule of the land, but exceptions. Nor the most common experience of medieval/early-mod-period women/female consorts precisely bc it was thought women didn't make good rulers. There is Empress Sisi, who couldn't even keep her own children close to her because royal children are not considered the Queen's but those "of the state", so the emperor and/or his mother could force them apart for any reason.

Juxtapose this to the Viserra situation. Alysanne actually was the one to arrange for the marriages she knew her husband wanted (esp after the whole deal with Daella refusing nearly every man/boy), and insisted to Viserra she had to marry Theomore Manderly. She had more power over her kids than you may think...it's not perfect because she is of course anticipating & complying with Jaehaerys' desires for the girls to be married off quick enough to build certain alliances or to just get rid of them, but she does not allow herself to really think the match bad and refuses to listen to her daughter. There was will here, from Alysanne not present in Sisi, and again, she had more power than later Consorts...yet based in Jaehaerys' will because she is a Consort and a dragonrider (helps the impression and image to gain "respect").

So we're presented with another question this series inspires: when & how should someone lay blame or responsibility on marginalized groups, identities, etc. like women of aristocratic classes, men of lower classes, either of different "races" (fiction and reality), and with what evidence?

First, Alysanne married Jaehaerys as his companion since she was 13. Before that, they were very close and were more or less each other's most important and intimate companions for years. She saw him as the default king, the leader, and herself as a necessary ingredient to Westeros' prosperity. That they would work more together than other couples...She was both right and wrong, and I think/headcanon she was sorely and quietly disappointed well before she observed Jaehaerys pass a girl over the 2nd time. So she acted the way she did at "home" towards her kids to feel more in control bc that is where Jaehaerys left her to act with some agency or authority more.

Second, Daenerys is the example of a "perfect", ideal, but also realistic "good queen"; someone that realistically and optimistically chooses to do good with the power she has and has managed to find value and meaning to use said power for others other than herself despite all that she went through. How those things would likely have turned some other women out, who were compelled to be more self-oriented, like Rhaenyra or Daena. She is purposefully different from her ancestors this way, but also similar to a lot of them, in that particular inner strength that she has to reinforce her altruism. That doesn't mean that people who don't do that special balance of strong altruism to her level are completely incapable, evil, or "bad queens".

Cersei? Hell yes, but even with Cersei we must acknowledge how while she is how she is bc she herself is pretty narcissistic and has been since young, most of her circumstances also has her try to make things better for herself due to certain circumstances and most criticism against her in the fandom--or the loudest--are sexist or just unfair. Alysanne? She at least did something where most did nothing and went against the clear wishes of her husband, and within the timeline she still is a source of inspiration for people like Dany. That has to mean something or there really is less of a source to compare oneself and learn from or to be able to analyze the good, bad, and how things developed the way they have.

This is a world where you are not encouraged to think outside of your own class, much less the principles and ideology about your gender. There are little to no thinkpieces or essays about how sexist some men and women are, what gives them the feeling that the way they think is correct, etc. There was and is no vocabulary for that; there is just experience and having to respond to your environment. You have to do the legwork yourself, and your group and support system, your own connections, and play the game. Sometime, you will fall off and especially when you have been bested or someone has used their socially given advantage over you...was Jaehaerys has done to Alysanne a few times or what courtiers and other lords can do.

So, with this in mind, I think it's important to acknowledge that yes while GRRM did not supply more examples of ideally acting "good queens", he does provide a clear outlook on how women could, would, and did act in real life history and TODAY. Because those questions about how to be a good ruler or a good person or how to differentiate. But it's not GRRM's personal example, necessarily or what he thinks a woman is capable of in his idea of a what a good medieval queen cold be. Alysanne is a "good" queen in that she does try to think of her subjects' needs before aristocrats' even with her behavior towards her daughters. To undermine that in our understanding that she did what did to her daughters is probably on GRRM, but more on others.

Jaehaerys was that sincerely altruistic: right of first night abolishment, the KL drinking water, her attempts to convince maesters of girls and women becoming maesters, etc. Again, It is Queen Consorts, unlike Queen regnants, had to depend on her royal husband's favor, regard, or perception of need of her to have any semblance of power because she is a woman and a Consort. I

I suppose I'm trying to say that in the process of understanding rather than being told what is right or logical, it's important to "good queens" from the context of which they come and take serious their conditions to understand the nuances of how truly "good" they were...even if we can say being a "good" queen needs to be an absolute in the first place.

Does Alysanne need to be a perfect feminist to be a good Queen? What if she is also responding to the setbacks against her AS she is trying to rule better, these setbacks that are designed for a man, her husband, to have more power than her and even to stop inhibit her ability to address certain problems without fear of losing said power given to her in the first place bc of her connection to him and official subordination to his paternal rule?

Outside of how he writes sexual violence and general violence against women, the line b/t power of self vs power from men, present in women's authority (especially in pre-feminist movement history), must be studied with some more nuance than with men's power. On our part as readers.

I'd say that GRRM uses violence against women as too much of a "gotcha" or flagrantly uses it as a device of emphasis than it needs to be, which simultaneously converts it to something psychologically insubstantial, something we shouldn't pay as much mind to, yes. The specific events of violence or normalization of violence done to women in ASoIaF that doesn't match real historical realities for women is definitely a huge concern because of this, but to mistake the power dynamics b/t a Consort and her ruling husband and most women to men does not help matters.

[pointless-party]

an informal analysis of mood doom or: please just let the rat be morally questionable

this got longer than i expected it to so i'm putting it under a cut. keep in mind i am in no way a professional at character analysis or media criticization, i'm just some guy that likes reading about neon furries, so if this comes off as unorganized then that's why. also keep in mind this post is image heavy.

skimming over the reboot made me realize how kinda... flanderized mood is now? besides there always just being more attention on doom i mean. she was shown to be kind of petty, dismissive and even a bit cruel (though not to the patients directly) in v1.

even in her + doom's cameo during v2, mood was still snarky and talked back to cuddles in what is probably annoyance (also noting her insistence to refer to patients by name, presumably out of respect while simultaneously insulting them).

yet in v1 she's still visibly uncomfortable and remorseful of being the one to bring barry to the hospital (and back when they leave).

it might just come off as inconsistent as many of the earlier characterizations are, but i personally think it set up a good balance for her character: though she's not willing in any of this nor does she want to cause any harm, she is still complicit and not innocent in any way, a distinction that i think is important not just for her but all of the staff members.

yet in v3 and v4 her more negative traits are basically forgotten about. she's seen scolding barry and cyn in v4, but those are seen as more reasonable things to be upset about rather than her being petty for no reason (and she seems to forget both of these things very quickly anyway).

the only thing that really hints to her having a personality besides "worries about everybody and tries to be optimistic to help them feel better" is her expressing her anger towards cuddles, which is also brushed off very quickly for more kneevil shenanigans. it makes sense character wise why she wouldn't talk about something like this openly, but it's still a peek into her actual feelings that feels horribly unexplored so we can get back to Even More Barruni.

plus, it's aimed at cuddles, so any negative or possibly immoral feelings she may have toward him are justified as, well, it's cuddles.

she's also openly more easily upset and caring toward the patients, which, though it may just be in-universe time passing (iirc these volumes happen over the course of 3~ months), still feels pretty jarring considering her previous dismissal of (at least barry's) personal interests and medical history that would otherwise be important.

it's a subtle difference but she definitely feels more flanderized into the main "token good staff member" with what little time she has on-screen. her previous snark and, honestly, rude/petty characteristics really added a bit of depth to her character that's desperately needed. and it's been five years since v1 was published, of course there are going to be character changes over time (god knows none of this is mentioning doom), but it's kinda disappointing imo.

she can be petty and dismissive while still being an inherently kindhearted and well meaning person. it's a dichotomy that can exist. people are complex and, given her trauma of working at the hospital and (presumably) having killed people, it feels unreasonable to me at least for her to be Happy And Invested In Others All The Time.

her actions in v1 came across like this to me: though she feels terrible about her job and very much is an unwilling participant, she's still complicit, and she's still kind of cold if only just because she knows the nature of her job means people are going to be hurt and killed. why wouldn't she come across as uncaring? yes, she's going to be kind to patients, but she also knows that many of them will end up dead anyway, maybe a few of them by her own hands. she might mean good, but that doesn't mean she's a good person.

but now it just kind of feels like... oh poor baby mood is trapped in the big evil hospital that forces her to hurt and kill people! look at her giving everyone cute nicknames and crying at the slightest hint of confrontation! don't you just feel terrible for her? don't you just fucking hate cuddles for putting her in this situation? it completely downplays the fact that mood (and all of the staff) aren't innocent either, whether they're willing participants or not.

i like mood in theory, but the lack of on-screen time makes it impossible for her to be developed (and of course that could be changed! i hope it is sometime in the future because i'd like to know about anything OTHER THAN BARRUNI). the big reason i loved sick doom is because of the contrast that existed between his words and his actions, the way he was emotional and seemed to care while still committing horrible acts and dismissing traumatizing experiences. sure, he may not have been a well written character, but i personally think something like that is more interesting than whatever mood has going on right now.

tldr; mood deserved to stay petty and rude instead of being uwu-fied into someone we're supposed to think is entirely innocent. please god just let characters be complex and immoral in a comic about a hospital that kills people. -🐍

[mr-laveau]

The more responses I see to the earlier post regarding the fraction of issues regarding people's hcs and the way they enforce problematic racial stereotypes, the more I see people missing the point.

So! Let's revise the point in simpler terms!

POC: Hi! We've noticed this pattern of portrayal and we just wanted to know what's up with that? It's kinda weird as shit to see–

Fandom: You're telling us what to do! Mind your business! We were fine without this before!

POC: ...

POC: WE JUST WANNA KNOW WHY YOU DOIN ALL THAT–

No one, and I mean NOT A SOUL, gives a shit regarding who you headcanon as whatever race–not a damn soul.

We do think it's weird that these headcanons are depicted awfully similar to the racial stereotypes prevalent in the media and all we're asking is for you to examine where that's coming from because it's making the minorities who have been ever so patient about this uncomfortable. We don't need you to put on a show about how racist you aren't, validate your ethnic HCS with racist scenarios or change your shit. We just want you to consider what those headcanons look like and how they particularly affect others when done in negligence. If you're not willing to do that and you're not willing to look outside of your view point and get the idea then at least do us a favour and say your shit with your chest so you can get blocked instead of hiding behind anons and spouting your bullshit. It's disgusting and your ignorance is tiring to see. At least let me use the algorithm to take you off my feed so I can see the people who don't make me feel shit for existing and asking for consideration.

No one is calling you racist. No one has made this implication. We all just want you to unpack something because it's weird and we can't exist in a space where everyone is blatantly reinforcing damaging stereotypes and denying POC a welcoming space. But if that's too hard for ya then all I'm gonna personally say is:

It's pretty fucking hypocritical that y'all wanna consume media that discusses and critiques systemic racism enforced in schools, the media and society, but you wanna act like you're not adding to the problem those literary allegories represent.

P.S. Centrist behaviors and silence can and will be read by me as being complicit, and wanting to sweep this under the rug is telling of how fucked your mindset is.

[maxbegone]

Do you have any tips on handling election stress? I'm 18 this year and completely and utterly terrified about the idea of trump getting elected. It's not something I'm dealing with very well to say the least

And I know I can vote and it'll still be making a difference but when the time rolls around to do so I don't know if I can even get to a polling place which is adding to the stress

Sorry for asking this and I completely understand if it goes unanswered! I hope you have a good day and if not, that it gets better <3

hi anon! while i can't give you a cure-all here, i'll do my best to ease the stress.

first and foremost, and this is an understatement, i'm sure: you're not alone in how you're feeling about this. fear is valid. look to your left, look to your right, look at your friend groups — everyone's worried right now. a presidential election is a stressful thing, especially with who our two candidates are. i personally think the recent debate is yet another blatant example of how we should put a cap on how old a president or presidential candidate should be before they're unable to run. if you have to be 35 in order to run for president, why shouldn't there be a cap? i hope that makes sense.

we're settling this year for biden, sure, but remind yourself that you're not voting for a person, you're voting for an administration. project 2025 was never going to appear silently, someone was always going to make it known.

i'm someone who deals with a lot of existential dread and has gone through phases of "this isn't going to happen," and then it does. spiraling isn't good, but sometimes it isn't something you can help. still, don't let it all fester; let it out, talk to someone about it, and if you don't like how a conversation is going, you have the power to step away. and if anyone pressures you, just remember you are not obligated to tell anyone who you're voting for or what you might be registered as.

politics, in general, is a tough topic to talk about. sometimes you really have to dig in order to find people you trust enough will have the same morals as you in order to really feel some relief that the ways you think the world should change are worth fighting for. and try not to let older adults' opinions get to you — this is something i deal with constantly, and while i'm vocal here on this platform, i can't find it in myself to be vocal within my own family for fear of being talked over and told, "You don't know how the world works yet. You don't know what you're talking about. You're too woke." if no one has told you yet and you need to hear it: you're smarter than you're giving yourself credit for, and your compassion is so, so important.

what's so wonderful about this generation, which i've said before, is that we are very, very aware. gen z and millennials are constantly researching and spreading awareness, and we do have social media to thank for that, despite all its faults. allow yourself to be scared, because that means you care and that you will take action. being complicit won't help anyone.

remember that you're curating your own experience here. if you want to follow along on social media, make sure the accounts you're following are credible, informative, and offer reliable information. you don't want constantly see things that will bring your mood down and cause you to doom scroll. make sure whoever you follow is uplifting, inspiring, and shows you that there is hope.

and you said it yourself; voting will make a difference. is it stressful? absolutely. is there a lot of information to absorb? of course. but in the wake of the incoming election season, try and take things in bits and pieces.

if you're too overwhelmed with what you're seeing online, log off, delete the app you're using, whatever works for you. step away. we're not made to constantly have our fingers on the pulse. everyone's fighting, a lot of times with each other, but remember that there is always something to fight for. find hobbies and activities that you can do regularly that will ease your mind, or even find something new to try. you don't want to exhaust yourself.

@hagface gave me some great advice, which is to get off your phone and remember that world doesn't exist in your pocket. there's more out there than just politics, no matter how looming the whole thing may feel.

as for finding your polling place or getting a ride there, good news: you have a lot of time to figure that out! often times rideshares will give free rides to the polls. for instance, lyft just announced a voting access program for 2024 that will give you free or discounted rides to your polling place on november 5th (i have not been able to find anything on uber doing the same, but we have some time i suppose). and hey, if rideshares don't work, see if you can carpool with friends! not only will it guarantee you're able to vote, but your friends who are eligible will, too! and when you're done, don't stare too long at when the numbers start rolling in; try and take a step back for the day and do something enjoyable. it'll be hard to ignore, of course, but just know that once you've voted, you've done your job.

vote.org has all the information you need from who's on the ballot, to voting by mail with an absentee ballot, and even checking to see if you're registered or not! it also shows how many days until the next election, and can help you get information for the specific state you live in, just scroll all the way down on the home page (absentee ballot due dates, registration deadlines, etc).

additionally, while not a federal law, some states have laws which require your employer to give you time to vote or even provide paid time off in order to do so. this article gives you all of that information. you have the right to vote. if your employer gives you a hard time about letting you do so, this article gives you some pretty good tips on how to deal with that. my advice is to always go to the polls as early as possible, but i know that isn't always feasible.

something else you might hear from time-to-time is to "vote down the ballot." what does that mean? it means filling out the entirety of the ballot, from president and national officials at the top, to local governments toward the bottom. for instance, a lot of people will "vote down" the ballot for candidates who are all in the same party. here's some info.

this next part might sound silly, but there's some truth in it. there are MAGA extremists out there, groups of people who love to parade around with memorabilia and be loud about their beliefs. to put it lightly: they're bullies, they're dangerous. if you happen to get caught in one of those parades like i did while driving back in 2020, try your best to keep a wide berth.

it's all a lot to absorb and very scary, but again, you're not alone. you have time before november to gather information on the policies that are in threat of being protected, of who these candidates really are, and who they want to bring into the cabinet with them.

one final thing: congratulations on your first time voting. i know it's not the most exciting thing in the world, especially with this election year, but deciding to vote and doing so means you're doing a great job. remember, you're one person, but one vote can still make a difference.

i hope this helped some ♥️