#King of Dystopia

[demi-pixellated]

Z District Heartthrob

[enbycrip]

[tallysgreatestfan]

Lovely teaser featuring a really cute Tally/Shay moment yesterday for their birthday!

Can't believe I only saw it now

[arcadialedger]

Uglies was so bad it was nostalgic.

[randomperson1234sblog]

Evangeline Samos 🩶🗡️🌪️

“You lost your brother, don’t take mine.”

My favourite badass lesbian

[sumquiasum]

Rank your hirarchie AUs/concepts based on how often they cross your mind

Not just mine because hirarchie is a group effort

Vampire AU. Any version of it really. The Lodges just work so well as vampires.

Hiram actually gets Archie to murder someone while Archie's still in high school.

"What if the abuse was textual and also (usually) worse" (Usually set in s2 but also works well in other seasons; s2 is the primary jumping off point though)

Archie is not the first. He is special but Archie is not the first boy Hiram has groomed. (This is connected with my standing headcanon that Arthur Adams was in a similar yet different situation from Archie a decade back, just that he never rly broke with Hiram. That's why Hiram uses him as the fake FBI agent. It's not just a test for Archie, it's a demonstration of his power over Adams as well. "You know what I'm going to do to this boy and you will play an active role in facilitating it." And Adams goes along with it until he doesn't which is crucially after Archie demonstrates his loyalty to Hiram and Hiram calls him a 'good boy')

AU where Archie becomes Hiram's henchman post-graduation (semi-related)

[violent-femmess]

imagine if we put the kings coronation money towards fixing food poverty in the UK, the cost of the queens funeral + the coronation is enough to solve the child food poverty crisis in the UK but instead tax payers money was wasted on a dead woman and a dying princess in a golden fucking cart. the potholes in the road were temporarily filled with sand because they "didnt have the funds" because apparently £100 MILLION POUNDS of TAXPAYERS MONEY is better spent on a cunt in a cart than itd be if it was spent on fixing our roads for our safety or saving children in poverty from dying due to malnutrition, they wont get a fucking gold cart, they wont even get their gcses because the government DONT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE THEY CARE ABOUT THE PROFIT.

THEY DO NOT CARE IF WE DIE AS LONG AS THEY ARE LIVING IN LUXURY

[kittythegengarmonarch]

Out of Context Quote: “Guys like to hear that they’re hot.”

This video had a HUGE inspiration (no pun intended) for me to draw this. I’m obsessed as fuck with it. I’m really not in the mood to do my damn schoolwork… I’d rather do this…

[schlock-luster-video]

On November 13, 1987, The Running Man debuted in Canada and the United States.

[demi-pixellated]

"I'm into you" --

I'm a Hanza x Anji past relationship truther

[marsmachtmobil42]

Title: The Fever King (Feverwake #1)

Author: Victoria Lee

Page length: 375

Synopsis: In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia. The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear. Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

[tallysgreatestfan]

Uglies Trailer: Tally/Shay

[motherbookerblog]

Film Review - Uglies (2024)

⭐⭐ Rating: 2 out of 5. This is a YA series that came out when I was too old for YA books. It’s one that I’ve heard of thanks to all the time I spent on YouTube back in the day but I never felt compelled to read it. It’s one of those series that has passionate fans but just never felt like my kind of thing. I’m not the biggest lover of dystopian books anyway but one set in a world that…

[damien-wolfram-art]

Part of a collaboration with @flawlessstriker

Here it is!

@teamminatoweek

Content

Minato leaned on the second-floor railing that overlooked the living room of his small cabin home and sighed.

“Someone’s looking content,” cooed the warm and familiar voice of Sakumo Hatake, his third love. He joined Minato at the railing to see just what had made him so happy. Below, Minato’s son, Naruto, was laughing away. He was being tickled on the lower bunk of his bed by a larger boy from the Uchiha clan, Obito. The couple had adopted Obito into the family after a long series of unfortunate events. The boy was troubled, but with some help from his son, Kakashi, Sakumo had come to see the good in Obito.

“Content? Haha I guess so,” Minato agreed, remembering that it hadn’t been easy for him to reach this peaceful moment either. He had lost his first love, Kushina, during Naruto’s birth. This was something Sakumo understood all too well and although Kakashi hadn’t a Tailed Beast sealed within him, he was spending some time in prison with his own demons to attend to.

Minato tried to start anew after leaving Naruto under the care of the Senju, though perhaps it was too fast; it was a bad habit of his to rush into things after all. His second attempt at love came and went, but when he stumbled across Sakumo, it felt like life could finally start slowing down for him. He rekindled with Naruto who was much older now–thirteen years older in fact and by some cosmic coincidence, he had inherited the kind, forgiving nature of his mother. Minato swore to protect him and Sakumo promised to be by their side.

Now, Minato spent his days with his little found family in their cabin, farming or finding ways to make work just a little easier for the older man who had made the house a home. He had never really stopped to think about it, but Sakumo was right. He was content.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Two more entries under the cut vvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Unexpected Visitors

It was a beautiful spring day in The Hatake Territory. The birds were singing and the air was crisp after a few showers earlier in the week. Minato took the pleasant weather as a sign that he and his son should spend some quality time outside together. The two were working on the completion of a jutsu that Naruto had picked up from a “frog” somewhere during his travels. As ridiculous as this sounded, Minato never questioned Naruto for he had also met “The Frog”.

The two were just beginning to make progress when Minato felt every hair on his body stand on end. There was an oppressive chakra approaching. It rivaled Naruto’s and that of the beast inside of him as well. “Obito,” Minato called over to the young man resting at the base of a tree who had been watching them train. “Take Naruto to Sakumo.”

“What? Aw c’mon! We were just gettin’ somewhere!” Naruto protested.

“It’s just a quick break Naruto. Besides, Sakumo should have lemonade,” Minato bribed the boys.

Obito stood up quickly. Sakumo’s lemonade was almost always a bit too sweet and Obito had a sweet tooth. The bribe worked on him. “Well, Naruto, you heard Pops. Gramps made lemonade. It’s break time,” his raspy voice ceded and he dragged Naruto inside–kicking and screaming.

Minato turned toward the source of the disturbance and clutched tightly to one of his custom three-pronged kunai. There was a rustle and then, he was gone. Only the kunai remained.

In an instant, Minato transported himself to another kunai near the source of the rustle. He had his kunai scattered all over the territory just for this purpose. From his new vantage point, he saw one of the intruders, Tobirama Senju.

By now, he knew what the intruder was looking for. It had been a few years since Naruto had escaped Senju containment. He had been on the run ever since. Since they had settled down, it was a simple task to find him. Minato wouldn't allow it though. He had to throw his idol off of the track somehow, but when he blinked, the man was gone! “Crap! Where did he-”

“Go?” Asked the deep self-righteous voice of Tobirama from behind him. He had already marked the tree where Minato’s suspicious kunai was with a seal of his own and used it to flank him.

Minato felt the man move to slash at him and so he was forced to transport away again. This continued for a few minutes until Minato found one of his kunai that Tobirama hadn’t. From there, he rushed home.

Upon arrival, he was relieved to see that everyone was alright, but there was something that just didn’t sit right with him. Tobirama was in the forest, but what was that chakra? It wasn’t Tobirama’s. It was a chakra he had never experienced before; it was similar in strength to Hashirama’s. Though it was much more ominous. He had only begun to explain himself when there was a knock on the door. His brief explanation was more than enough to spur Obito into action though. With his own transportation dojutsu, he took himself and Naruto to a place only he could access normally.

Then, Minato answered the door. Nothing would have prepared him for what he would see outside of his home. A masked man with white side-swept spiky hair wearing a bland prisoner’s uniform gave him a curt wave and a pleasant, “Yo~”

“Kakashi?” Minato greeted him with disbelief. “Aren’t you supposed to be in prison?”

Before Kakashi could answer, a heavy shadow loomed behind him. Minato was suddenly struck by the imposing chakra he felt before at full force. Two red eyes pierced the silhouette. Three tomoe resided in each, framing the pupils. A full head of hip length teased midnight blue hair made it very apparent who Minato was dealing with. “M-Madara Uchiha,” he croaked.

The formidable beast of a man stepped forward, gently pushing Kakashi aside. “So, you recognize me? How fortunate for you. That makes things a bit easier.” There was an air of casual confidence when he spoke, but this did nothing to diminish his intimidation factor. “I’ll make this quick then: I’ve brought you Kakashi Hatake; I want The Nine-Tails.”

Precious

“Death comes to all. But life comes first. Cherish it. Death is the destination. But the journey, that is life. That is what matters.”

Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings

Madara Uchiha was at his door, demanding his son. Using Kakashi as leverage, he cornered Minato and gave him a choice, but deciding was impossible. When his mind was taken over by a genjutsu, Sakumo stepped in. The White Light Blade struck true. Madara was bleeding.

“Take Kakashi and go,” Sakumo ordered.

Minato’s mind flashed to the night he met him. He was searching for Naruto and just happened across a campsite. The fire was crackling away in the lonely night. There he found many crumpled notes which shook him to his very core. “My name is Sakumo Hatake,” one read. 

“Those who seek my bounty know me as “The White Fang”. I have grown tired of this chase; I feel the weight of my sins and can run from them no longer. To the one who finds me: please take my bounty and leave my son, Kakashi, unharmed. The legacy of “The White Fang” shall die here with me.”

Sakumo was both furious and embarrassed to find that Minato read his drafts, but Minato begged him to reconsider. First, he listened to the broken man’s story. The two of them had both been separated from their boys. Though he sympathized with Sakumo, he argued for Kakashi’s sake, “The way you talk is like you’ve given up on something precious to you. Your boy, Kakashi, he’s precious to you, but that’s not it is it? You’ve lost something else: the strength to go on. It’s true that we all will eventually move on from these lives, but will dying here now truly satisfy you? Kakashi needs you! Don’t you want to protect him? As his father, your will to protect is strong. Are you really going to throw all that away and give up?”

Sakumo had been deeply moved by Minato’s words, but Minato wanted to make sure he remembered them. When he found the noose, he cut it down and etched the three words “Never Give Up” into the trees surrounding the area. He left one of his Kunai in the center tree. He was not sure what he expected, but he never expected Sakumo to eventually hand deliver it back to him.

Now the older man was between him and Madara Uchiha. Minato tried to protest, but Sakumo wouldn’t allow it. He had changed. “Take Kakashi and go. This is my home. I will protect it. It is precious to me!”

“Cute,” uttered Madara. And then there were flames.

Minato panted heavily. There was a lingering warmth on his face from the flames he had narrowly escaped. In his arms he clutched Kakashi’s injured form protectively. When he looked up to see where he was, he saw Obito and Naruto staring back at him.

“Pops?” Greeted Obito. “Where’s Gramps?”

[critical-skeptic]

There Are No Gods or Kings, Only Man

A Scathing Critique of Trumpism and the Rise of Populist Extremism

The era of Donald Trump has left an indelible mark on the political landscape, both in the United States and globally. The ascent of Trumpism, with its cult-like fervor, has emboldened extremist rhetoric and actions reminiscent of a nascent Fourth Reich. This dangerous trend has profound implications, and it is crucial to dissect its roots, impacts, and the broader issues it reveals about contemporary society.

The Cult of Personality

Donald Trump's presidency was characterized by an unprecedented cult of personality. His followers, often referred to as the MAGA (Make America Great Again) crowd, elevated him to an almost god-like status. This idolization is antithetical to the principle that "there are no gods or kings, only man." By placing Trump on a pedestal, his supporters disregarded his numerous failings and embraced a narrative built on lies and demagoguery.

Trump's appeal lay in his ability to present himself as an anti-establishment figure, a billionaire who spoke for the "common man." However, this facade masked his true nature as a self-serving opportunist. The QAnon conspiracy theory, which flourished under his watch, further exemplifies the dangers of blind faith in a singular figure. QAnon followers believed in a shadowy "deep state" and saw Trump as their savior, leading to real-world violence and a distortion of democratic discourse.

Populist Rhetoric and Authoritarian Tendencies

Trump's rhetoric was marked by extreme populism, scapegoating minorities, immigrants, and political opponents. This us-versus-them mentality fostered division and hatred, eroding the social fabric. His infamous slogan, "Make America Great Again," harkened back to an idealized past that never truly existed, promoting a reactionary agenda that sought to roll back civil rights and social progress.

The rise of Trumpism also saw an alarming embrace of authoritarian tendencies. Trump's frequent attacks on the media, judiciary, and other democratic institutions undermined the checks and balances essential to a functioning democracy. His refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and the subsequent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, highlighted the dangers of a leader who refuses to relinquish power and incites violence.

Global Impact: A Fourth Reich in the Making?

The impact of Trumpism has not been confined to the United States. Around the world, populist leaders have drawn inspiration from Trump's playbook. Figures like Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, and Narendra Modi in India have adopted similar tactics, leveraging nationalism, xenophobia, and disinformation to consolidate power. These leaders, emboldened by Trump's example, pose a significant threat to global stability and democratic norms.

The comparison to the rise of a Fourth Reich is not hyperbolic. The parallels between the current wave of populism and the conditions that led to the rise of fascism in the 20th century are stark. Economic uncertainty, social fragmentation, and a distrust of established institutions create a fertile ground for demagogues who promise simple solutions to complex problems. The dangerous combination of charismatic leadership and a disaffected populace can lead to the erosion of democratic principles and the rise of autocratic regimes.

The Broader Problems: Idolatry and Centralization of Power

The rise of Trumpism and global populism underscores a broader issue: the human propensity for idolatry and the centralization of power. In times of crisis, people often seek strong leaders to provide direction and reassurance. This tendency, however, can lead to the elevation of deeply flawed individuals to positions of immense power, exacerbating the very issues they purport to solve.

The idolization of leaders like Trump distracts from the reality that they are mere mortals, subject to the same flaws and limitations as anyone else. This deification creates a dangerous feedback loop, where leaders are emboldened by their followers' unwavering support, leading to increasingly authoritarian behavior. The principle that "there are no gods or kings, only man" serves as a reminder that power should be dispersed and accountable, not concentrated in the hands of a few.

The Way Forward: Embracing Rationalism and Egalitarianism

Addressing the rise of populist extremism requires a fundamental shift in how society approaches leadership and governance. First and foremost, it is essential to reject the notion of infallible leaders. Political discourse should be grounded in rationalism, critical thinking, and empirical evidence, not in blind faith and conspiracy theories.

Egalitarianism must also be a guiding principle. A healthy democracy thrives on diversity of thought and a robust system of checks and balances. Power should be decentralized, with strong institutions that hold leaders accountable and protect the rights of all citizens. Education plays a crucial role in this endeavor, fostering a populace that is informed, critical, and resistant to demagoguery.

In conclusion, the era of Trump and the rise of populist extremism serve as a stark reminder of the dangers of idolatry and the centralization of power. The quote "there are no gods or kings, only man" encapsulates the need for a more rational, egalitarian approach to leadership and governance. By embracing these principles, society can resist the allure of authoritarianism and build a more just and democratic world.

[foxsketch6543]

Please forgive me for whatever I do,

When I don't remember you. ❄️🌨️