#The other one is an actual assassin anarchist

[keroncommand]

Canonically living together. (blabbing under the cut ⭐)

I don't think that's too surprising, but yeah. Office boy and his weird house plant...that cries a lot.

(They've been shown in close proximity before so I don't think the association is all too surprising)

The plushies Onion have are not canon, except maybe the Keroro one. There was an episode where they mentioned that there was merchandise of the platoon being sold back on Keron (and that Kururu merch didn't sell very well), so I don't think it's so odd that merchandise of 'Random People' (of some significance) exists, and it's probably not too odd to own some. On a highly militarized planet like Keron, why shouldn't they want / normalize the population having their Scrunklies be Real People In The Military.

[tanadrin]

The impression I get from Revolutions is that in the 19th century there was a real uncertainty about the empirical question of how to achieve socialist aims in politics. On the one side you had forces like the Russian Narodists, who eschewed engagement with the system (and "the system" was, in the Russian context, Tsarist autocracy), fearing that to do so would be to legitimize the system and allow the desire for reform to be coopted, and thus allow it to be stalled out. This was framed in somewhat Romantic terms, with language about, like, the "vitality" of the "revolutionary spirit," but I think the underlying concern is one I'm sympathetic to, even if I would use different language to describe it. And, after all, the system you want to build is pretty politically and socially divorced from the circumstances around you, and it's hard to envision how you get from the current system to that one, in any kind of reasonable timeframe, by purely incremental reform.

On the other hand, you had agitators like Martov and also social democrats willing to work within the (limited, and definitely undemocratic) parliamentary systems that European states were grudgingly establishing, or even the pretty powerless zemstvas in Russia, but whose engagement of the system also came in the form of, like, strikes and demanding concessions from bosses and capitalists, which is something that a lot of anarchists and Narodist and others on the "anti-engagement" side thought was a waste of time, and tended to grant the legitimacy of the position of these bosses at the top of the hierarchy. Equality and freedom and the like wasn't something you should be granted, it was something you should take. At its most extreme, this dichotomy expressed itself in political terrorism: 19th century anarchists really thought that killing a king or a tsar (or even a president) might spark a national revolution and cause the whole system to come crumbling down.

But the course of the 19th century, especially the latter 19th century, pretty much answered these questions. For one, assassinations just provoked brutal crackdowns that tended to destroy radical organizations. For two, the labor movement proved effective. Wildly effective, in fact. For three, the fears of arch-conservatives proved correct: a little bit of parliamentarism was a foot in the door for genuine democracy, and once your foot was in the door you could keep pushing, and revolution was still an option on the table if progress stalled out too hard or for too long.

And yet I also have the suspicion that the long 19th century was a period where revolution was an unusually effective tactic, and that in the centuries before and the century-and-change since, it has proved to be a much dicier proposition. Revolutions are of course hard to kick off even under ideal circumstances--you can miss your chance one day because it rains and people stay home, or a protest over one pastor getting evicted can bring down your whole regime. But autocracy is brittle, the 19th century (and early 20th) was a period of extremely rapid social change and an extremely entrenched reactionary ruling class, and the alternative a lot of revolutionaries had in mind--liberal parliamentary democracy--can actually be surprisingly stable once it gets entrenched.

Revolutions that switch out one strongman for another, or install more oligarchic republican forms, or otherwise create governments with weak legitimacy can instead devolve into a generation of political chaos. But by the 19th century, Europe was starting to converge on a pretty durable model of governance, one pioneered in Britain (which managed to avoid revolution entirely throughout the period!). And I think in this framework participation in the system is both easier to justify and is inarguably more effective than abstention. Abstention, in both its more peacefully separatist and its aggressive kill-the-king-and-hope-everything-collapses forms, proved too utopian; building a parallel drop-in replacement for the state is simply too vast a coordination problem, and the whole reason states exist in the first place is that they solve big coordination problems (even if in deeply suboptimal ways). You can secede to form your own little community in the wilderness, if that's the flavor you want your anarchism or agrarian socialism to have, and if it is, more power to you--but if you want to remake society, rather than just remove yourself from it, ultimately you have to confront and engage with the channels of power that already exist.

[tossawary]

So far (partway into the Hueco Mundo arc, I skipped the Bount arc completely), "Bleach" seems to... shy away from interesting consequences for the issues it directly brings up. (Also, oh, man, all the filler varies in quality so much and it is BRUTAL on the pacing of the main storylines.)

Like, I think a lot about the Soul Society arc had a lot of missed potential in general, but I also thought the end of it is where things get genuinely exciting. The Gotei 13 has been repeatedly shown to be uncaring, incompetent, cruel, authoritarian, etc. and it seems like the characters are fighting against this hollow structure built on unsustainable tradition finally cracking under the weight of whatever unjust powers are obviously behind Rukia's execution and apparently Aizen's murder. Multiple captains start turning against each other for different reasons. It seems like Ichigo is just one small part of a much larger world.

And then Aizen is revealed and things still feel pretty delicious! What he did to Momo was REALLY fucked up and painful to watch in many ways. It's not unreasonable that Aizen's betrayal immediately halts a lot of ongoing fights. It makes sense that the Captain Commander doesn't want to turn around afterwards and start executing people for turning against him after losing three captains and all of Central 46. But... I would still expect there to be more lasting cracks and broken trust between the remaining members of the Gotei 13. The top four members of Squad 11 briefly turned against the Gotei essentially for funsies and yet characters like Toshiro and Rangiku don't seem to have any real resentment or suspicion over this casual disloyalty. I vaguely hope the psychological weight of and anger surrounding Aizen's fuckery is explored more later on, with more seriousness, but I can't trust this show not to essentially drop the issue completely.

I don't need this show to have Soul Society turn into some socialist / communist / anarchist utopia. But it is a downer to have a character as absolutely vile as Kurotsuchi thrown in my face during his fight with Ishida, knowing that not only does Kurotsuchi survive, but he's presumably continuing his utterly inhumane work in the Soul Society while everything else is happening. And the show seems to treat him as more of a joke mad scientist in the background than someone as or even more evil as any of the hollows. And I can't fully trust that this aspect of the Soul Society will ever be honestly confronted, even as simply a deeply tragic element representative of the Gotei's unchanging hypocrisy.

The Gotei 13 has an assassination squad! You don't have an assassination squad unless you're regularly killing people who are "undermining" your power, probably including lots of poor people in the outer districts trying to organize communities, based on actual history. These aspects are what made the soul reapers such effective and complicated antagonists in the Soul Society arc! And the flip to "yeah, they're Ichigo's allies now, mostly" was very sudden and kind of... underwhelming.

I don't care if parts of this story are tragic and this obviously broken system is left mostly unchanged at the end, it's just annoying when the story treats certain aspects as happy endings or just a funny joke, instead of delving more seriously and deliciously into just messed up everything is! How the soul reapers are unable to handle the burdens here!

From what I vaguely remember overhearing, Aizen ends up being a relatively flat villain, with relatively shallow goals and motivations regarding taking over the worlds and rising to godhood, which feels like missed potential when there's so much about this world that sucks! If Aizen had any honest motivations about making things better for any group of people, including hollows and their shitty deal in all this for example, then we might actually have a more interesting dialogue happening about the state of everything. I would like to see him honestly appealing to Orihime's kindness and sense of mercy in order to get her to join him. Her brother turned into a hollow! She has reasons to care about hollows potentially wanting to be more human again and living better afterlives than fighting forever in the sands. Maybe Aizen could just be lying about helping other people, but it would be more interesting to see this type of persuasion, and I'm already fucking sick of so much of Orihime's motivations focusing on helping Ichigo instead of her feeling torn about her tragically and traumatically dead brother who turned into a hollow.

(Side note: I don't fully understand why Aizen didn't just take over the Gotei 13. Between his hypnosis and his minions and his plots to take out rivals, he could have surely installed himself as the next Captain Commander eventually. Neither Ukitake (chronically ill) nor Kyouraku (relaxed drunkard) seem to honestly want the weight of that position. Aizen just seems to like drama, I guess. Fair enough.)

I've just reached the fight between Rukia and Aaronerio who is pretending to be Kaien, and it feels like the story is bringing up a genuinely cool idea only to throw it aside as a trick by a relatively boring hollow character. What IF Kaien had become a hollow? What IF Kaien had joined Aizen because he had some legitimate grief with Soul Society and the Gotei 13? I have vague memories about Aizen having Kaien killed and framing the Shiba Clan because Kaien was investigating him, but it's sooooo boring to have Aizen be at fault for EVERYTHING. The fallen lieutenant / almost captain from a disgraced noble family treated badly by Soul Society... turned into a hollow and forced to survive tragedy he wanted to kill him and unable to return to the Gotei 13 for help? Joining up with Aizen because he wants to take down the Soul Society and make a better world? That's COMPELLING. That's COMPLICATED. That's something that promises to get MESSY if Aizen is lying to Kaien and/or Kaien has genuinely lost his way and/or Kaien HAS A POINT. But the show brings it up only to bail on the concept.

Maybe some of the things I've talked about here will be brought up later on. I expect them to keep bringing up many of these issues, actually! I honestly just don't expect satisfying explorations and resolutions to anything, given what I've seen so far. They're just not going for the good stuff.

(I have this playing in the background while working on other stuff. If I put on a better anime, I would actually want to pay more attention to it.)

[presidentmckinley]

10+ people i’d like to get to know better

Tagged by @elephantlovemedleys 💛💛

last song i listened to: Everybody’s Trying to be my Baby by the Beatles. Last night I listened to the Beatles For Sale album again 🤷

favorite color: yellow!

last book i finished: I recently finished Catch 22. One of my favorite books ever UGH 💙♥️honestly some parts were really hilarious and other parts were really scary so 🙂‍↕️I recommend

last show i watched: I actually have no idea. I haven’t watched TV in so long. I’m about to watch shardlake though. I mean I guess I watched Jeopardy with my dad the other night!

sweet/salty/savory: SWEET. It’s a big problem

relationship status: I have a girlfriend she’s very nice💛💛🌹🌹

most recent google search:

see for yourself (screenshots from last night)

current obsession: US HISTORY!!! More specifically, the presidents, and even more specifically, WILLIAM MCKINLEY and PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATIONS. You know the deal 🙂‍↕️. I don’t think I have th heart to let go of it, and I have so much I want to learn still so. Yeah I love learning stuff 💛💛 also EMMA GOLDMAN and ALEXANDER BERKMAN, those anarchists…. Also the Civil War

looking forward to: hmm. Seeing my family in the mountains, seeing the Outsiders on Broadway in January, history class today, orchestra class tomorrow, model congress, THE 1920s PARTY!!!!, etc

@czolgosz @lorephobic @bwrtl @orangegloom

@olliedoesthings @doodle-blight @pranklinfierce @allysah @riddled-forensic

tagging you guys in this 🌹🌹

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Should this conflict of interest actually go through, its gonna be real interesting.

Tazercraft have plans to target and potentially assassinate Baghera, who they see as a core competitor. They are still family to/allied with Forever. Forever is not only Baghera's brother, but her political ally as them + Badboyhalo have a pact to work together so long as one of them wins the election. Cellbit is also running as a front to aid Forever, and is presumably allied with Baghera, but also has butted heads with her over policies, meaning the two could see each other as potential threats. This isn't even getting into the other French members: Etoiles is very down for assassination, more so than actually being president, and is backing up Baghera, and the other French presumably as well (yet some of them are also friends of Tazercraft). Then you've got Fit being a friend of Tazercraft, and whatever strange secrets he's got up his sleeve. Felps is running by himself it seems, but I wouldn't be surprised if he allied with another Brazilian candidate at some point (or even became forced to choose between Forever/Cellbit and Mike).

Outside of this web, you've got Foolish running independently and only having an official ally in Jaiden as his ghost writer, and as such (along with his motivations for the server being very superficial) he'll most likely lose and ally himself with another candidate (either to help himself or them). BBH is allied, but he's also not fully trusting Baghera and Forever due to his own paranoia, which could cause a rift (I'm predicting now a BBH and Foolish team up behind the Ordo's backs). Quackity doesn't currently have any solid allies save for a potential and very mysterious connection to the Federation, making him a wildcard. There's a chance the Spanish speakers may favor him, though Roier doesn't want to get involved (his marriage to Cellbit could make him either support Cellbit or go against Cellbit since he doesn't want his husband involved either, which could lead him to Quackity's side), Vegetta would most likely support Foolish (which would give Foolish a very powerful ally and assassin on his side), and Maxo has pledged his support for Forever (they are also both Ordos and Maxo would most likely support the Forever/BBH/Baghera/Cellbit alliance). Gegg is a joke but Charlie is a menace and a friend of Quackity who could stir things up in his favor when it comes down to it (that or he commits to being Mike's brother and another ally goes into TC's field). And Philza is an anarchist who would kill everyone involved if given a motive...

I can see the train crashing...

[guiltycorp]

Just finished replaying Dragon Age II (first time i played it i was a teenager) and I have so many thoughts on Anders, as one does...

I think the centrist message of the game is strengthened many times by Anders being the only main character actively working to change the status quo of the story? When every other character opposes drastic change it feels like Anders is ‘betraying’ the core group by making those story-changing decisions on his own, and a random player’s allegiance will likely be to the mc and all of their chosen companions rather than those specific in-game groups like mages or elves. As Hawke, you can’t really directly participate one way or the other, you are simply giving your support to decisions made by the other characters, and so the first side to do something drastic is the one that feels like the more wrong one — narratively it’s of course more satisfying when it comes from the othered side (so, Qunari in Act 2, mages in Act 3).

Also, the nuance that the writers tried to include with numerous mentions of the mental toll of growing up in isolation against your will, the abuse that templars can easily cover up, swift executions — all of that is countered by blood magic and the existence of the Tevinter Imperium, and so again a random player walks away thinking ‘it’s a difficult situation but yes, perhaps there’s just no better solution for the mage problem’. Which is by design, of course, but leads to conclusions like 'ehh Anders only proved the other side right'. There's also of course the disconnect between the Chantry and the templars, the game is careful in painting the Chantry as 'blind to the abuse' rather than as the actual source of it. The Chantry came up with Magi Circles and the Templar Order is its military subdivision, but that can be easily overlooked when the local Grand Cleric was written as completely neutral despite her position of power, and so a major part of the audience reacts strongly to the destruction of a religious building as a parallel to modern real life burning of churches and mosques rather than recognizing the in-game context. Destroying the Chantry meant that Anders sought to change the system itself rather than targeting the symptoms (specific evil templars), and it is a much more powerful symbolical gesture in that way. As somebody who grew up in the faith, in one of those Circles, he is declaring that the Chantry failed him and others like him - he is not an outsider in this situation, no matter his current apostate status... And tbh I've always read Justice/Vengeance as more of an allegory than a straightforward demonic possession, pledging yourself wholly to the cause.

Also I have to mention… So Disco Elysium’s list of inspirations included the novel Germinal which is why I read it, and without spoiling too much I’ve been wondering if DA2 writers were also inspired by it. It’s a story about miners striking against their employers after being driven to it by abject poverty and hunger - everyone in the novel is aware that this strike is, unfortunately, beneficial to the company and so eventually the only available method of further protest is violence… There is an anarchist that reminded me of Anders, a man called Souvarine who has already been through a failed uprising (failed assassination of the russian tsar), who has a soft spot for a pet rabbit and who has a much better understanding of politics & socioeconomics than most other characters. Despite his educated background and delicate physical features, his personal ideology is alarmingly violent in a way that both impresses and scares the main character. He is absolutely not meant to be either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and the author carefully avoids casting judgement on his actions despite their severity - I am pretty sure that his role in the book is representative of political revolutionary movements as a whole.

I absolutely recommend the book, especially if you liked Disco Elysium or Les Mis (or have been an Anders defender for a while lol), it is less hopeful than either one of them but in a very sympathetic way, sadly still very true to our lives. Best thing I've read in years. But yeah idk ANYWAY, DA2 has way too many mining-related environments for me not to at least consider this might not be a coincidence ahaha, in which case it’s a shame the message of the novel was interpreted through a much more ‘fun fantasy video game both sides are always wrong’ lens.

[amymbona]

Criminal x detective au with a famous killer Patrick Zweig who's lowkey a Robin Hood kinda guy, stealing from the bad giving to the good, only killing capitalists and abusers and all the bad men. He's never been caught, a sly fox, always finding a way in and out. The whole FBI is after him, like he needs to be caught asap. But nobody seems to be getting even close to his trail.

Nobody but you. A shy but determined little detective, who has dedicated the last few years of her career to his case. You rarely ever go home to sleep, spending all the time in your office, trying to connect the hints, study his last burglaries and assassinations. He's so in your brain, completely filling your mind.

But the thing is, nobody has even seen his face before. You have some hints, that he's 6 foot 1 and has curly hair and a pointy nose, but honestly, that could be just any tall man. You're dreaming about an unknown man, a faceless entity who, for what you all know, could be a completely made up person to cover for a group of anarchists. Patrick Zweig has completely consumed your career, but your life too, and you're not only dedicated to catching him, but mainly uncovering whatever there is to be uncovered.

Until, one day, you wake up, tied to a chair and blindfolded in some cold basement, definitely not the comfort of your apartment. For long moments, you're left alone, left to ponder and trying to figure out whatever the fuck is going on. Is this some sick joke? A prank from your friends? Or have you actually been kidnapped?

Then you hear it, the door opens, and a pair of footsteps approached. "Who are you? Where am I?" you ask, but nobody responds. Instead, you feel a touch of a gloved hand on your cheek, on your shoulders, making you shiver. And you wonder, are you going to get killed today?

Not a single hair on your head is twisted, he never punches or slaps you, simply examines your face. Or so you guess, still unable to see a thing. "Finally we meet, detective." the first time he speaks, it sends shivers down your spine, the voice is low but kind of posh, very much confident, belonging to a unique individual.

Finally we meet? And who is the person standing in front of you? Is he a criminal you once wronged or a member of the sicilian mafia ordered to kill you? Unbeknownst to you, Patrick knows more about you than you know about him. He's been watching you, quite amused by your dedication. You're so different to all the other cops and detectives going after him. He can sense you want more and he's willing to give you that.

So he plays with you for a bit, giving you tricky questions and caressing your cheek with the sharp blade of his pocket knife, threatening to hurt you badly if you give him a wrong answer. He really isn't looking to hurt you duh, it's Patrick Zweig, he can't resist a tiny cut on your cheek Bone. He wipes the trail of blood with his gloved finger, licking it off and tasting the metallic leather in his mouth. Yummy.

It lasts for days, actually, at least you think so, and he's generous enough to bring you some water when he comes back. Unfortunately, you haven't earned any kind of luxury yet. It's amusing to see you struggle, to see you so afraid for your own life, and still stubborn, desiring to know more. In some sick sense, it turns the both of you on.

And finally, you guess it. The blood in your veins runs cold upon realising it is Patrick Zweig who has kidnapped you, who's holding you captive in his basement. The criminal you've been after for so many years, the man you've dedicated your whole career and life, as well, to. You should be afraid, you should be begging him to spare you and let you go. But no. You're excited.

"Be a good girl and nothing's gonna happen to you." he says, now standing behind you, his big palms planted on your trembling shoulders. "I know you want answers, so I'm gonna give you a chance to find them. But be careful, darling. One wrong move..." his hand suddenly wraps around your delicate neck, lightly squeezing it to the point when you gasp softly, eyes filling with tears under the blindfold. "One wrong move, Y/N, and I won't be able to hold back."

[mariacallous]

It is a measure of the divisiveness and tolerance for violence in the United States that the possibility of civil war looms so large over the 2024 presidential election—no matter which candidate wins. It is even the subject of a hit dystopian thriller. Though an actual civil war resulting from the election’s outcome remains unlikely, a range of sufficiently alarming politically violent scenarios are nevertheless quite possible.

Former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records has sharpened frictions, with threats to the judiciary and his opponents immediately intensifying. “Time to start capping some leftys. This cannot be fixed by voting,” was one typical reaction tracked by Reuters on Gateway Pundit, a right-wing news site. Far-right media personality Stew Peters said on his Telegram channel that “our judicial system has been weaponized against the American people. We are left with NO option but to take matters into our own hands.”

Meanwhile, our assessments suggest that elements on the far left in this country are also escalating militant threats. A call to “Fuck the Fourth” recently appeared on an anarchist website, heralding a day of action on July 4 targeting the ports of Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore. Additional summons to “Flood The Gates: Escalate” over the Gaza War both on college campuses and in communities across the nation this summer and fall are circulating on social media. At a pro-Palestine protest at the White House in June, one protester held up a decapitated likeness of President Joe Biden’s head, while crowds chanted “Revolution.”

These would-be violent extremists represent a microcosm of a U.S. political landscape that is increasingly willing to tolerate violence. A survey conducted last year found that 23 percent of Americans agreed with the statement that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” Another more recent poll similarly found that 28 percent of Republicans strongly agree or agree that “Americans may have to resort to violence in order to get the country back on track.” Meanwhile, 12 percent of Democrats agreed with the premise.

Among gun owners in the United States, these sentiments are even more prevalent. According to a survey conducted by the University of California, Davis, “About 42% of owners of assault-type rifles said political violence could be justified, rising to 44% of recent gun purchasers, and a staggering 56% of those who always or nearly always carry loaded guns in public

As the United States approaches its November election, the risks of violence will thus rise. This should not be surprising. Historically, violence is actually quite common in the United States, especially during election seasons. During the Reconstruction era, much of white supremacist violence directed against freed Black men and women was intended to intimidate would-be voters, ensuring that segregationist Democrats maintained their grip on power in the Deep South.

More recently, the 2022 midterms saw an assassination attempt target the speaker of the House of Representatives in an attack that seriously wounded her husband. The 2020 election, of course, sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. In the 10 days leading up to the 2018 midterms, there were no fewer than four far-right terrorist attacks, most notably the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The mail bombs that circulated that same week showed that threats to politicians have in fact been particularly frequent during the Trump era.

Despite that disquieting pattern, 2024 appears to provide even more fertile ground for militant responses to electoral developments. Trump’s court cases, coupled with the insistence from both parties that—in Trump’s words—“If we don’t win this election, I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country,” have painted the election in existential terms.

As the United Nations Development Program concluded from its research into election violence around the world, “A common cause of election violence is that the stakes of winning and losing valued political posts are in many situations … incredibly high.”

Rendering the threat yet more severe is the range of possible locations and individuals that extremists may target, spanning the duration of election season. But how might violence differ at various stages of the campaign? Before the election, extremists may be more likely to target politicians on the campaign trail, seeking to intimidate them into changing their policies or deter them from running in the first place. Presidential candidate Nikki Haley had, for instance, requested Secret Service protection during her Republican Party primary challenge, while prominent Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher hinted that he was forced into retirement by threats against his family.

Based on experience, the election itself will likely feature armed intimidation at polling places and threats levied against election officials. A database analyzed by scholars Pete Simi, Gina Ligon, Seamus Hughes, and Natalie Standridge found that threats against public officials are likely to hit an all-time high in 2024. The data initially jumped in 2017, the year of Trump’s inauguration.

In the weeks after the forthcoming election, depending on the results, extremists will likely direct their animus toward representatives of the government—especially on one of the many ceremonial dates accompanying the transition of power—such the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, for instance. An exact repeat of that attack is probably less likely; law enforcement agencies will be far better prepared this time, and the groups that led the assault on the Capitol have been effectively dismantled by seditious conspiracy charges targeting their leadership.

Although white supremacist and anti-government extremists will be the likeliest to lash out, in line with trends over the past decade, violence from the far left cannot be discounted. Stabbing attacks have repeatedly targeted right-wing political leaders in Germany, for instance, and the harassment and violence targeting American Jews on U.S. college campuses have highlighted a more militant political left that has historically been quite open to violent action, including in the United States. This violent fringe has frequently deployed armed threats against politicians in particular—never more seriously than the lone gunman who targeted the Republican team practice for the congressional baseball game in 2017, or the far-left extremist from California who brought weapons to the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to threaten him in 2022.

Salafi jihadi actors are also emboldened by recent successes in Afghanistan, Iran, and Moscow, and they may seek to take advantage of this particularly divided moment in the United States to elbow themselves back into the national consciousness. FBI Director Christopher Wray has suggested that his organization is growing increasingly concerned about the “potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, not unlike the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russian concert hall back in March.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has similarly warned that “threat actors” will likely “converge on 2024 election season,” with foreign adversaries using influence operations to further divide the U.S. populace and create new sources of divisiveness and violence.

Is the violence likely to lead to civil war? Trump and many of his allies have repeatedly warned that another election loss—coupled with forthcoming trial verdicts—would trigger one or lead to revolution in the United States. A post on Truth Social shared by Trump, for instance, suggested that 2024 might resemble 1776, “except this time the fight is not against the British, it’s against communist Americans.” The threat doubled down on Trump’s previous warning that his defeat would spark a “bloodbath” in this country.

Punditry, however, is not prophecy. Despite the warnings from scholars, policy wonks, journalists, and others, civil war is in fact unlikely in this country. Geographic distinctions between would-be warring factions today run urban-rural rather than north-south, robbing any potential seditious movement of the geographical safe haven it would need to engage in nationwide conflict. But political rhetoric and the proliferation of threats is almost certain to lead to some level of violence.

Making the threat even more serious is that the Biden administration carries little-to-no legitimacy among most hardcore Trump supporters���who still persist in believing that the 2020 election was stolen. The vice grip that these conspiracy theories hold on many mainstream Republicans means that any response by the Biden administration will be regarded as illegitimate—whether that response is deploying additional law enforcement or even the National Guard to polling places or seeking to educate the public about the veracity and integrity of U.S. elections.

In other words, the United States finds itself in a security dilemma, where any defensive measures designed to safeguard the electoral process will in fact likely be interpreted as an offensive strike—that is, to ensure a repeat electoral fraud. As the aforementioned White House protests have demonstrated, Biden also has little legitimacy in the eyes of the far left, meaning that particular movement would not likely be sated by a Democratic election victory.

Countermeasures will need to focus on education and law enforcement preparation. In particular, the Biden administration should champion education tools that reassure the U.S. public about the resilience of its electoral system from hacking or cheating while also pioneering digital literacy measures that might help protect Americans from disinformation and conspiracy theories shared online, including through artificial intelligence.

In particularly high-risk areas, which might include swing states, the administration should also consider raising the law enforcement presence to deter violent actors from targeting such locations. Successfully stopping violence, however, will require a bipartisan commitment to accept election results and publicly praise the integrity of the election and its many officials—which seems completely unrealistic at this stage.

Americans are therefore left with a political landscape defined by existential rhetoric and violent threats, with very little that the government can do to effectively counter these charges. Accordingly, the threat may be less of another civil war than of the total breakdown of the democratic electoral process that has defined the country since its creation.

[st-armand]

Hobie Brown & Anarchism: A Discussion Pt 1

Authors Note: This is my dissertation for the discourse about Hobie’s politics being misrepresented as your friendly community radical leftist

Warnings: Political Ideologies, mentions of violence and oppression

Hobie Brown is an anarchist, he would be considered a radical leftist, not just by the ideological title of anarchism but by his own actions, he has killed cops, fascists, not just one, probably many considering the Oscorp and V.E.N.O.M worldbuilding where the police and military are symbiotes.

One of the primary bases for a fascist regime is a overly abundant police force, and the police worldwide are authoritarian figures meant to protect wealth and property not people.

Anarchists can go 70/40 on the violent revolutionary means discussion, but Hobart Brown is definitely pro revolutionary violence (we will define this later on), he doesn’t like violence in his everyday life but sees it as a measure to protect people, he also understands that not everyone’s place in the revolution is through armed liberation, but that all roles in the revolution violent or otherwise are all valuable to the end goal.

That being said a very contested discourse around radical leftist politics is the divide between Marxists/Maoists/Leninist etc vs Anarchists because Anarchists believe in a non-centralized, organizational systems, some anarchists can be anarcho-primitivists; they believe in a post-revolutionary society without the heavy industrialized civilization we have now I don’t think Hobie is, he enjoys technology too much to do so but he does believe in a social organization that is communally centralized, but regardless of his ideas of the organization of people post revolution he happily shares space and works in solidarity with leftists of other thinking and practices in the struggle and fight.

What is armed revolution and revolutionary violence? Armed revolution is the act of taking arms through guerrilla warfare, community protection, clandestine operations. Revolutionary violence is pretty self-explanatory, but these two interconnects as an understanding that liberation won’t come from within the systems that oppress us, and to instead arm the people towards liberating themselves from fascism, and state sanctioned violence.

I head canon that Hobie as Spiderman works within a clandestine underground armed forces with mixed ideologies and skillset, they’re all civilians who act as an unassuming threat who focus on assassinations and bank robberies, through those victories they help Spiderman redistribute funds.

Hobie’s praxis doesn’t just extend to revolutionary violence, but he puts labor into community gardens, refurbishing abandoned lots and buildings to be used as clinics, or schools, or housing, his skills especially are shown through his engineering and technical capabilities, like siphoning electricity from higher class neighborhoods for their buildings for free, fixing heating systems, or adapting heating and water systems so that they’re controlled in the community rather than by heating and water conglomerates.

He's also a part of a group of boosters who donate and barter clothes, food and other necessities, they sell their spoils in the middle of the people’s market.

Hobie is also the best comrade during protests, he’s a human shield whether as Spiderman or as a civilian, he’s the kind of person to go head to head with five police officers to de-arrest people who get snatched during protests, he’s returned with so many broken bones and large purple bruises from being wailed on by cops, but however much they hurt him, he can return much worse, especially with his enhanced strength, its actually a pretty cool sight, he’s more likely to kills cops while masked as spiderman, he’s almost entirely focused on defensive and evasive methods as an alternative since he has many warrants out for his arrest as Hobart Brown, but Spiderman has a list of federal and international offensives that he can easily navigate with the obscured identity.

During protests he’s evacuating people to safe zones, distracting cops from looters, defending people from being arrested, creating evasive plans to destroy or disable V.E.N.O.M. technology and weapons, he’s especially adept at guerilla warfare, navigating the skyline, sewers, and alleys of New London to gain a territorial advantage because the cops can’t traverse the projects and slums as easily as someone who lives in the grime of New London.

Books I think Hobie would’ve read;

Anarchism and the Black Revolution – Lenzo Ervin

A Soldier’s Story – Kuwasi Balagoon

Black Jacobins – CLR James

Conquest and Bread – Kroptokin

Anarchy & At the Café – Malatesta

 More in the next parts! Platonic, Romance, Racial and Cultural

[petrichormore]

-LIVE-BLOGGED THOUGHTS ON TODAY’S STREAM-

FIRST OFF - one little thing that I want to say:

(This is about the characters, obviously.)

I am totally on Bad’s side about locking his base down and not letting anyone in. If he wants to do that, there’s nothing wrong with it. I get why Forever and Baghera might be upset but holy shit it’s his house. And also: Trust is always gifted, never owed. The fact that he’s letting them inside his base at all is a privilege that very few people on the server have and I don’t think they realize that.

Yes, maybe they trust him with everything but that’s their decision and Bad isn’t somehow required to reciprocate equally as they see fit. I’d even argue he is reciprocating equally - but his idea of “I trust you as much as I possibly can” is just different from theirs.

I saw a lot of people telling Bad in chat that Baghera had a point but like - trust is not really a transaction like that, or at least it shouldn’t be - trust is something you earn. Forever and Baghera have earned more of Bad’s trust than any other people on the server but that doesn’t mean they’re entitled to anything he doesn’t feel comfortable sharing with them if it doesn’t concern them. Especially if it’s his LITERAL ACTUAL TOP-SECRET PRIVATE HOUSE WHERE HE LIVES.

That’s not to say I don’t understand where Forever and Baghera are coming from - obviously it probably does come across like he doesn’t trust them but. Even if they’re right (they’re not), if he doesn’t trust them then trying to guilt-trip him into giving them complete access is not gonna. make him trust them more so. Y’know. Skill issue.

OKAY NOW THE LIVE THOUGHTS

- Lmao Bad is explaining his potential proxy representive democracy style government to Antoine and he really just said “if any candidate tries to assassinate anyone else I’ll just kill them” like he knows how stacked he is. People ask “What if someone assassinates Bad?” And my answer to that is: they can certainly try but they’ll probably fail miserably.

- Bad: “Everyone thinks they’re powerful until a mine is placed in the right location.” I am so glad he’s not evil because everyone else would be screwed if he was

- Bad: “I’m gonna be honest: I don’t want a government. I do not want a president. But if we have to choose a president, I want a president that will do as little as possible [without full community support].” My anarchist king. A man of the People.

- Bad has decided he wants to talk to Phil and try and convince him to run because he doesn’t trust anyone to be a ‘good president’ and thinks someone who doesn’t want the position at all would be the best choice. He also said if Phil won’t, he will run himself with an anti-government stance. If he doesn’t have a chance of winning, he will throw his support behind Forever or Baghera and help them win. I really want to see a Phil/Bad team-up though, or at least see them discuss it.

- Overall, Bad’s whole monologue about his stance on the election was super cool and he’s so Right and Correct. He didn’t explain it very well during the debate but god damn is he cooking

[jisreal64]

Hi, my name is J (it’s not my actual name, but it’s the first letter of my name). I am a white 20 year old agnostic cisgender man (my pronouns are He/Him/His) with ADD, OCD, autism, anxiety, and depression who identifies as heteroflexible (meaning I’m a straight person who falls on bisexual/multi spectrum). I am also an aspiring creative writer/novelist as well as an aspiring femboy and catboy <3! This account is a safe space for people of all races, sexes, genders, physical abilities, mental abilities, incomes, sexualities, and religions (except for cults and hate based religions).

Likes:

-Disney

-Marvel

-DC

-animation

-comics

-superheroes

-video games

-Super Smash Bros

-Mario

-Assassin’s Creed

-Bioshock

-Castlevania

-Red Dead

-FNaF

-Bendy

-Half-Life

-Portal

-TF2

-Spongebob Squarepants

-South Park

-The Simpsons

-Supernatural

-Lost

-The Good Place

-Phineas and Ferb

-Invincible

-The Boys/Gen V

-Theme Parks (Especially Disney and Universal)

-Nintendo

-Mythology

-Musicals

Among many other things.

DNI:

-Racists

-Homophobes

-Transphobes

-Queerphobes

-Sexists

-Misogynists

-Antisemitics

-Conservatives

-Trump Supporters

-Pedophiles

-Mapsexuals

-Zoophiles

-Zoosexuals

-Disney Haters

-Bullies

-Wish Haters

-One State Solution under Palestine Supporters

-One State Solution under Israel Supporters

-Hamas Supporters

-Netanyahu Supporters

-Rad Fems

-TERFS

-MERFS

-Rad Queers

-Ableists

-Pro-Lifers

-ACAB Supporters

-Anarchists

-Anti-AI shills/People who want to ban generative AI outside of commercial purposes

-Putin Supporters

-People asking for money (you won’t get any)

-anti-golfers/people who want to ban golf

-Islamophobes

-Christian Zelots

-Terrorism Supporters

And anyone who is basically mean spirited and toxic in general.

With all that being said, have a great day! 🥰

[kbkirtley]

Renegades Series - Marissa Meyer

This was my favorite series I read this year. All my life I’ve looked for superhero novels, but there weren’t really any in the mainstream. And while I’ve learned to enjoy Graphic Novels this past year, I still don’t fall into those the same way I do with books. Finding Marissa Meyer’s Renegades series was such a fun experience for me because of that.

Nova being a villain at the start shifts the perspective of the book and raises a lot of questions as to whether the heroes are actually the good guys. Moving from Renegades to Arch-Enemies to Supernova, Meyer creates a really interesting world of superpowered people and the struggles that go with keeping people safe in such a world, especially when the government is being run by people with powers.

The characters are really where the series shines. Nova/Nightmare/Insomnia and Adrian/Sketch/Sentinel are the two main characters whose perspectives we see. Both of them have secrets that they’re keeping from each other and the Renegades as a whole, leading to much of the tension in the book. They are one of the best pairs I’ve read in YA in a long time and both of their desire to see the Renegades be better than they are is the driving catalyst for the series.

The supporting characters are maybe even more enjoyable. Max/The Bandit is my favorite character in the story. The rest of the team Oscar/Smokescreen, Ruby/Red Assassin, and Danna/Monarch are a delight. The council as a whole is fantastic, but Adrian’s dads Hugh/Captain Chromium and Simon/The Dread Warden, do a ton of the heavy lifting in helping to understand what the Renegades are and what they stand for. The other Anarchists, especially Leroy/Cyanide, help to humanize the other side of the Renegade’s battle and allow for Nova’s story to carry the weight that it does.

The Renegades series is one that I would absolutely recommend and it’s one that gives me hope there is an audience for books like mine!

[reigen-small-naturals]

like it's so insane to me that in the political climate where everybody denounces violence we got a movie in which the Wise character's inspirational speech goes like 'you actually need more violence, your problem was not enough violence'. in any other movie it would be framed like an indoctrination into a cult, a terrorist organization!

and that's what his character does in the end, terrorism! the inspiration comes from the ancient legends, in which killing the king means you are the new king. that's not what would happen in modern realities! that's not a coup, no government was overthrown, there is no political movement behind these people, it's just a group of people who did some murder, this assassination would actually most certainly strengthen the right wing in India, imagine the media frenzy, the blame that would be put on all and every marginalized group! but the movie isn't interested in that, it's only interested in MC having his revenge and then die.

and i want to make one thing clear: i am not opposed to this kinda of art nor i think that this movie will actually radicalize anybody into being a suicide bomber. it's a power fantasy, and not an uncommon power fantasy actually, it's not like we don't post memes about killing bad guys in power, and we understand that this is a jokey joke and nobody needs to come into our inboxes to preach to us peace and love and logic and how this won't help the actual change and whatever. i only pointed out that his direct action would be hurtful for the political climate irl just to stress how bananas is this movie. it's obviously not a manifesto that is interested in strengthening our understanding of oppression and how to live with it, it only offers us a power fantasy. a power fantasy that is wild to see anywhere outside of anonymous blogs or writings of 19th century anarchists, and here we got it in a work of art made by a worldwide star. insert here a picture of dev patel with a caption 'welcome back manuel pardiñas' idkkkk

[painted-kneecaps]

yk what i don’t care.

Woe, OCs be upon ye…

Emrys “Ducky” Montague (The Neverking), He/him

Generally considered to have the worst luck of anyone in Faerie

His first fiancée left him at the altar, his first wife got poisoned, and his current husband is a political fugitive

His daughter’s existence was kept a secret from him so that she could be used as a pawn by his mother and first fiancée to steal the throne left to him after the assassinated his wife, the queen

Hates the ocean, married to a selkie

Very talented clothing designer, owns a tailor shop next door to his husband’s bakery

Extremely high pain tolerance. Usually does not notice injuries to his person. No longer allowed near stoves.

Gave himself the nickname “Ducky” when he was younger, reasoning that people were more likely to trust him if they felt close enough to use a nickname. He would later use this to his advantage and manipulate them into telling him their true names.

Kept a book of true names when he was younger, as an assurance that he would never end up alone.

Didn’t technically kidnap his daughter

His hair is actually made of microscopic feather shafts, which lift into a crest in response to strong emotions. Uses an ungodly amount of gel to prevent this. He also preens like a bird when in distress.

Used to be the lord of his family estate before the discovery of his cousin’s existence. She hunts him for sport sometimes

His favorite food is plain bread. This is fortunate for his husband, the baker.

Has perfect pitch. A very skilled pianist and singer, due to being half siren, though any enchantment in his voice only seeks to work on Graeme.

Demi and Pan. Has always been an incorrigible flirt, but balks at the first sign of intimacy.

Graeme Bickett, He/him

Owns a joint bakery/bar with his twin sister called the Bake&Brew

Hated his husband when they first met. Thought he was a stuck up elitist snob (he was)

Adopted his husbands adult daughter without a second thought after helping to “kidnap” her

His parents were part of an underground anarchist revolutionary group in the Sea Court and were caught and executed when he was a child. He and his sister spent most of their childhood in the mortal realm hiding from the authorities.

Hid his selkie identity from Emrys at the beginning of their relationship out of lack of trust. This was their most major fight.

Extremely close with his twin, over whom he has been very protective since they were children in the mortal foster care system.

Adopted a tough, cynical exterior at a young age that he only began to break through upon closer acquaintanceship with his now husband, a man who had been through absolute hell and somehow managed to hang onto his ridiculous whimsy.

Doesn’t like Freddie on principle because she hunts his husband for sport. Emrys insists he’s used to it by now, but Graeme still bolts the doors and windows at night, just in case.

When he first met Emrys and heard about his nickname, he thought it was hysterical and would call him the name of any bird he could think of that. This annoyed Emrys to no end at first, but as they grew to enjoy each other’s company, “Dovey” was the nickname that ended up sticking, and neither one has any objections.

Gay, though he hasn’t had much time for relationships in the past- they were doomed to fail in the mortal realm, and he eventually lost interest.

Their Majesty, Queen Verne Redwood (Montague) of the Earth Court, They/she

A Changeling. Spent the majority of her life very sickly from using her energy to channel the appearance of the late Queen Amalthea Redwood, of whom she was the supposed bastard heir.

Forced to keep their true appearance a secret as she looked far too much like her actual parents, Lord Montague and Lady Maripol of the Sea Court, which would throw their legitimacy as Monarch into question.

Had no real control over the regency. Ruled as a figurehead/puppet king from childhood, under her mother’s thumb.

One of the palace guards took pity on her lonely existence and slipped her an ipod full of pop punk music when she was a teen. Somehow this did not make things better. It did make her a devoted emo.

Has a somewhat rocky relationship with her father, seeing as he unknowingly abandoned her as a child. This is still worlds better than her relationship with her mother, however, and they are working on it.

She and Graeme are thick as thieves. He sees her as a daughter and helps Emrys teach her skills she never learned in the palace, such as family recipes and how to overthrow the government.

The kidnapping was consensual

Adores their father’s cousin and her partner. Calls them Aunt Freddie and Cousin Carlisle, to Emrys and Graeme’s concern, and works in their yarn and bookshop part time.

Despite her lack of involvement in actual government, she is very interested in the inner workings of the monarchy and has many ideas of what she would do if she were allowed to be in charge, which she discusses at length with her Aunt’s partner, whom she is greatly inspired by.

Considering studying law in the mortal realm to better understand how to govern Faerie, if she ever re-takes the throne.

Loves music and has a lovely voice, due to Siren heritage on both sides. She and Emrys often duet at the Bake&Brew karaoke night, though they have very different music tastes.

Winifred “Freddie” Montague (God of the Elder Wood) She/her, and Prof. Carlisle Elsbeth (They/them)

Freddie:

Freddie is the bastard child of the late Thaddeus Montague, heir to the Montague estate, who was assassinated, alongside his lover, at the hand of Emrys’ mother.

Born in the heart of Faerie, she is a reincarnation of a tree spirit that her parents cut down in order to keep themselves warm while fleeing Lady Montague’s wrath. After their death, she spent the first century of her life wandering the woods, seldom making contact with other people.

Her hair grows at an incredible rate, and it is prehensile. When it becomes too long, she cuts it all off and weaves it into yarn, which she sells at her shop, or uses to knit scarves and sweaters for loved ones.

If severed, her fingers, limbs etc. grow back like those of a starfish. If segmented, there are rings inside like those of a tree. It is unclear if she is capable of dying.

She can grow and summon plants at will

Upon inheriting the Montague estate, she promptly let it become overgrown with vines and turned it into a ruin. Emrys did not particularly care, as he had no real affection for his parents or their estate.

She and Emrys were roommates for a while before he married the late Queen Amalthea. She knew him at his worst and actively made his life more difficult. She thinks back upon those days fondly.

She is very well traveled, both in Faerie and the mortal realm, and very intelligent. Despite this, and to her partner’s dismay, she never learned to read, and has no intention of starting now.

Hobbies include fibercraft and hunting her cousin for sport.

Her dearest dream is to become a dictator and rule Faerie with an iron fist. She has gotten unsettlingly close to this goal more than once.

Aroace

Carlisle:

A brilliant and studied academic, Carlisle attended Oxford during the Victorian era, and has not progressed past it in their personal style.

An experienced lawyer in both Faerie and the mortal realm. Also taught as a Professor in their younger years.

Runs a combination yarn and bookshop with their partner, who cannot read. This irks them to no end, and they have long suspected that Freddie’s refusal to learn is simply a means to irritate them.

Quite reclusive, rarely ventures out in public, and almost never without Freddie. Very quiet unless you get them started on politics or law. They find their partner’s family rather too loud for their tastes, and would much rather retire early with a book.

Despite many olive branches extended by both the Montagues and the Bicketts, the only person they willingly seek out is Verne. They find her political views quite fascinating, and the two of them will debate and bounce ideas off of one another for hours if left uninterrupted.

Served in mortal government at one point, but always changes the subject when asked about it.

Has had many near death experiences and fatal injuries, some of which they should not have recovered from. It is unclear whether they are capable of death. They suspect that Freddie has something to do with this, but have no proof as of yet.

Their dearest wish is to thwart their partner in her goal of becoming a fascist dictator. So far they have been successful.

Aroace

[jaymber]

My OCS

⌈Vaea⌋ | | ⌈Silver⌋ | | ⌈Linda⌋ | | ⌈Flavio⌋ | | ⌈Amy⌋

Vaea Temarii (V)

Born on a farm from Tahitian parents who fled their sinking island, Vaea was abandoned at age 8 at a gas station. The owner took him in but had no good intentions. He was rescued by the Bakkers three years later but never fitted in the nomad clan. He only trusted a girl, Amy, whose name sounded like "Friend." She became his sister.

In 2074, Vaea, who was taught combat netrunning in his teens, inadvertently caused the death of Amy. Riddled with guilt, he left the clan and ended up in Night City. He met a soon-to-be best friend, then roommate, Jackie Welles, as they tried stealing the same car. Together, they dreamt of becoming renowned mercs, but the events at Konkepi Plaza took that dream away.

Fearful at first of the engram eating away at his mind, V quickly fell for Johnny's charismatic personality, and softened the rockerboy's heart just enough to make him care about the merc. As he felt like he was living his last days, V made more and more reckless decisions. He pushed the limits of his netrunning skills and dated music legend Kerry Eurodyne without even knowing if he actually liked him that way.

In the end, V couldn't let go of Johnny, and tricked him into keeping their body while the netrunner joined Alt beyond the Blackwall. She spared him so he could share his knowledge with her. V eventually tricked Netwatch into believing he had secrets worth their time if they broke him free and let him come back as an AI.

With Kerry's money, and Lizzy Wizzy's ripperdoc, they built Johnny a new body so Vaea could regain his, losing his netrunning abilities and half his brain in the process.

Vaea now owns the Atlantis with his two inputs, Johnny and Kerry. He works as a programmer, and a fixer. Always trying to be useful, he's also learned to drive AVs.

Silver

Silver grew up in an anarchist, netrunning community that took refuge in a ghost town. Trying to reach the Blackwall, an AI fried every person connected to the server, killing Silver's parents instantly. They roamed the Badlands, using their netrunning skills to hijack trucks. That is, until they tried to take over a convoy owned by Netwatch. They got caught, and spent the next 15 years of their life working as a hunter tracking down any netrunner that tried to breach the Blackwall.

After Bryce Mosley's disappearance, Silver was sent to Night City to keep an eye on the Voodoo Boys.

During a mundane dive, Silver sank too deep within Cyberspace and met with an AI they now carry with them. It calls itself Ghede, and somehow knows Mr. Blue Eyes. After learning they were infected, Netwatch fired Silver and tracked them down to end them. Ghede made a pact with MBE, and Netwatch left its host alone ever since.

Trained hunter and killer, Silver is now MBE's assassin. No one can stop them from getting things done, except Ghede, who can take over the body whenever it wants. This cohabitation has a cost: Silver is losing their sense of self.

Linda Llorente

No one knows much about Linda, not for lack of her talking. Her story changes. Sometimes, she's a rich kid who fled the corpo lifestyle. Others, she's the daughter of a joytoy and a legendary merc. It doesn't matter, her past is behind her, and she aims to keep it this way.

When the Atlantis reopened in 2079, she took the job as a bartender. Charismatic, but not so customer friendly, she got hired by beating Johnny Silverhand at arm wrestling after they both got high out of their minds. That's the only reason she got in. It has nothing to do with her self-centered personality and her addiction to Glitter, making her a raging asshole who keeps hurting everyone, even herself.

She's often dating multiple girls at the same time, just for the thrill of getting caught and the assurance that she's got a place to crash. She's also evading her feelings for childhood friend Bea, better known as 8ug8ear.

Flavio Llorente

Flavio Llorente is Linda's older brother. He lives in Rancho Coronado, in the family home he recently bought with a loan he'll carry his entire life. He enlisted for the NUSA Armed Forces at age 16, living behind his sister and their grandma, who raised both kids after a car accident that took their parents. After training, he'd come home and leave on missions periodically, but Linda never forgave him for leaving her behind.

While participating in the Unification War, he realized something about himself. He left as a tomboy and came home as a man after burying his old dog tags and ordering new ones with his new name: Flavio.

He now works in construction but doesn't earn enough, so he's taken to street fights, using drugs to distract himself from the hemophobia he brought with him from the war. He's trying to reconnect with her sister, who's doing her damndest to avoid him.

Amy Withers

Amy was born in the Bakkers clan to loving parents that might have given her too much freedom. She spent her teens with her adopted brother, Vaea, and whoever wanted to tag in, roaming around ghost towns miles behind the rest of the clan. Motivated by the anarchist theory shared by the older nomads, she dreamt of living in the most chaotic city of them all: Night City. In the meantime, she distracted herself by annoying the corpos they met along the way.

That is until a fateful day in 2074, when she and Vaea failed to hijack a convoy stopped at a gas station. The station exploded, as Amy was getting into the truck.

She survived, somehow, and was found by the Wraiths who were klepping what hadn't been destroyed in the explosion. It wasn't a rescue, no. Amy was treated as a guinea pig, a toy to pull apart and back together, using all sorts of broken cyberware. The experiment turned against them when her mind broke, and she let her hands be guided by cyberpsychosis.

Fully aware there was no going back now, with too much blood on her hands, Amy officially joined the Wraiths, living a life in which her pulsions guide her every move.

[czolgosz]

vivian i have to ask: as a czolgosz enjoyer what do you think of this whole situation?

(this was sent shortly after the trump assassination attempt. i slacked severely... btw i am rambling in the below post; i don't feel like editing it. & maybe not everything i say about the more recent assassination is true idk)

my official opinion on the mckinley assassination is "well that (like all assassinations without an actual movement behind them) was pointless and therefore leon czolgosz shouldn't have done that However how can i be expected to sympathise with william mckinley." same sentiments toward this. except the motives of this recent assassin are unclear so maybe just the last part.

well another difference is that some anarchists at the time of the mckinley assassination said that it caused some people to look into anarchy seriously. i don't know if that's even true and if it is i don't think that outweighs the other negative (for anarchism in the usa) consequences. the circumstances here are quite different considering that both the perpetrator and victim are of the same political party, but there seems to have been almost no effects, not even a noticeable change in polls. the only thing i've really seen is that many people thought that an upcoming trump presidency was more likely.

so i guess the main conclusion to be made in regards to the two assassinations when set side by side is that the mckinley one had a larger impact, but that's unsurprising considering that that one was actually successful; the attempted assassination of theodore roosevelt didn't even get him a third term, after all, while he too tried to make a big moment out of it...

anyway now i'm just comparing because i don't really have any other opinions. in both cases the security was strongly criticised for not preventing it. and the reason why the guards at least initially ignored the assassin are similar. in the mckinley assassination the guards were basing their concerns on the "general appearance and looks" of the people in the line and therefore didn't pay attention to leon czolgosz because he was white and otherwise inoffensive-looking to them; in this assassination the guards didn't initially see the assassin as a significant threat because of his appearance (from what i've heard at least). the difference here is that the police apparently knew he was there and was considered suspicious, unlike with leon czolgosz; the few people who said that they noticed the handkerchief simply thought it was a bandage. also after that assassination the secret service, while it did already exist and was present at the event, was given more responsibility and basically became what it is today. obviously that didn't happen again...

another similarity: post- mckinley assassination, william randolph hearst was censured for publishing a poem the previous year that had called for the assassination; however, this poem was actually anti-assassination, and it was no coincidence that the leading decriers were from political & business rivals of hearst. and some time before the attempted trump assassination, joe biden said "it's time to put trump in a bullseye" which was very obviously not advocating for assassination, but some republicans said it was, though i honestly doubt they all believed that. however this is also different because the backlash against hearst was far worse & had relatively substantial consequences for him. <-also emma goldman &c. got a lot of backlash as well that was far far worse, but the comparison is less direct as they weren't having quotes misinterpreted. and i didn't think of them at first tbh.

i guess another similarity is widespread ardent condemnation of political violence, including by people you wouldn't expect it from, but that's pretty typical...

one last small thing because i can't think of any more: george w bush called the assassination attempt a "cowardly attack on [trump's] life" which i still do not understand. why is everyone always calling assassinations cowardly?.. how are they?!

now another thing that's off-topic so it doesn't count: apparently the trump assassin (can you tell i don't remember his name?) didn't seem to initially care between assassinating trump or biden which reminds me of giuseppe zangara and his ambivalence toward whether he should assassinate herbet hoover or franklin d roosevelt... maybe they had similar motives then...