#[ he may be fuhrer at that point

[booksinmythorax]

On Tyranny and Tumblr #10: Believe in truth.

To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis on which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.

In other words, Snyder is saying there's a reason an administration might, for example, remove data sets from the CDC website.

Snyder spends a lot of time in this chapter with 1930s German philologist Victor Klemperer's "four modes" of the death of truth under authoritarianism (Snyder, p. 66-69):

"Open hostility to verifiable reality": Lies. Just straight up boldly lying, about anything from the cause of a plane crash to the outcome of an election, especially when the facts are right there and visible to everyone.

"Shamanistic incantation": "Endless repetition" of slogans and nicknames and soundbites until non sequiturs and ad hominem arguments sound like verified fact. For this to work, huge groups of people need to feel more comfortable accepting lies than they do accepting that they can be fooled.

"Magical thinking": "The open embrace of contradiction". This isn't the radical acceptance kind of stuff that you'd learn in therapy to better your individual life. This is 2 + 2 = 5. This is replacing fact checks with, as one former student of Klemperer's put it, "[abandoning] yourself to your feelings and focusing on the Fuhrer's greatness instead of the discomfort you are feeling at present". Scary stuff, but stuff people do all the time.

"Misplaced faith": Basically making a leader into a god, leaving no room "for the small truths of our individual discernment and experience". In this way, truth becomes "oracular rather than factual". Instead of facts being about what can be verified, they become about who said them best and appealed best to the emotions of frightened, poorly educated, prejudiced people.

Snyder also highlights a passage from Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco's account of his experience in the 1930s with a counterfascist group trying to formulate arguments against those put forth by the Nazi Party.

"From time to time, one of our friends said: 'I don't agree with them, to be sure, but on certain points, nevertheless, I must admit, for example, the Jews...', etc. And this was a symptom. Three weeks later, this person would become a Nazi."

Here are some ways we can focus on believing in truth in our online lives:

If you know a public figure is a large-scale liar - for example, if a reputable newspaper made a list of over 30,000 lies he told in 4 years - don't listen to a word they say. Don't watch the press conferences. Don't focus on quotes or soundbites from them. Go ahead and assume they're only lying if their mouth is open. If they make a factual statement, consider it an accident. Truth isn't about one person, anyway.

Use Media Bias/Fact Check to determine the validity of sources you find on the internet. Try to only get your information from sources with a good fact check score.

Don't repeat falsehoods. Before you reblog or repost anything that appeals to your emotions - makes you angry, makes you sad, makes you feel grim satisfaction or hopelessness or even schadenfreude - research. Find out who said it, when, to whom, and why. If you don't have time to research, don't spread it around.

Learn to read critically. Kelly Jensen wrote a great guide to critically reading a press release from the federal government in 2025.

We covered this a little bit in #9: don't use the same nicknames, slogans, or labels for things that the fascists do. Repeating the "incantations" makes them sound more like truth.

Say true things as loudly as you can. We don't know exactly why a plane and a US Army helicopter crashed over the Potomac River as of this writing, but a lack of air traffic controllers may have contributed to it. Don't even repeat the falsehood in your attempt to refute it. Just research and then say the true thing.

Feel free to list other applications in comments or tags or on reblogs.

Other lessons from On Tyranny:

#1: Do not obey in advance

#2: Defend institutions

#3: Beware the one-party state

#4: Take responsibility for the face of the world

#5-7: Remember professional ethics, Be wary of paramilitaries, and Be reflective if you must be armed

#8: Stand out

#9: Be kind to our language

[sezez]

I have a confession to make, may I have mercy for what I'm bout to say but uh...

I honestly hate how FMA:B handles Mustang and Hawkeye's relationship. Yes, you heard me right. I hate it.

But this is a personal thing, I'm not saying the show did a bad job at showing it or anything! However, I shall allow you to get your flamethrowers out.

It's just... I'm a big FMA 03 fan, and I just prefer how Mustang is portrayed as this mysterious boss who seems to care about himself and will do what it takes to get to the top. And Hawkeye being his right-hand woman, keeping an eye on him and making sure he isn't making a fool of himself.

And I honesty just dislike how Hawkeye looks in Brotherhood, I- I just don't like how her eyes look because she is meant to be this serious and intimidating character since she is entitled to be "The Hawk's Eye"

But in Brotherhood, her eyes look far too innocent for that to match with her title. And I prefer how her eyes look in 03, having a sharper edge and her eyes being a amber brown then a chocolate brown.

I'm sorry Brotherhood!Hawkeye, I just don't like how less intimidating you are compare to 03!Hawkeye. You can shoot me more times than you did to Lust.

Anyway, onto my problems with the relationship...

I just don't like how much it's presented in the show, like the viewer can see there's something going on between them. Like it's so obvious, it's frustrating to look at and how other characters don't see it too.

While in 03, it's much more quiet and it feels the relationship they have is natural and hidden from everyone, including the viewers with only little hints to them having a deeper connection than we thought.

And the biggest issue I have with this is during the moment when Hawkeye shot Lust multiple times because she thought her boss was dead.

Yeah, I hate how she had a mental breakdown immediately after a Homunculi who's very likely to lie and manipulate her.

I just- I just expected her to handle the situation better, like girl- you know this man for years and there will be times where he might die given his status, position, and power. I know you're whole job is to protect him and follow where he goes, but- just... There WILL be a time where, he just dies.

And just, I expected her to not take Lust's words seriously so soon despite not seeing Mustang's dead ass. And I dislike how fast it was for her to react that way, like there's no slow moment or proof that he's dead to her.

So why did she just... Fired her gun at Lust like a little child throwing a tantrum because she couldn't find her favorite toy?

So, now that I have most likely have tons of people pointing their guns at me, I'll just say one more thing about what I liked in 03 more than in Brotherhood.

The parallel between in 03 where Hawkeye cries over a presume dead Mustang after he got his eye shot and in Brotherhood where Mustang holds a injured Hawkeye.

In Brotherhood, I was really annoyed with Mustang. Cause, dude, your wife is bleeding out and your just being held by some of mindless men that are just HOLDING YOU BY THE ARMS AND YOUR HANDS ARE COMPLETELY FREE for you to snap your fingers and burn them all. And the way he held her after she got saved is cute, but annoying that he didn't do shit and he was REALLY useless in that moment.

And honestly I wished Mustang stayed blind, hell, maybe his eyes could have been taken out all together like how Ed lost his leg or Izumi having her guts ripped out. Also the moment doesn't feel sad or worrying to me, it's just frustration because he can do SOMETHING in that moment.

Now what I liked in 03, I really enjoy that throughout the series, Hawkeye is some distant person who just seems done with her job and the colonel's bullshit. But the moment when she was running up to the Fuhrer's mansion, and seeing him on the ground with a puddle of blood, she goes to him and calls his name out.

And she cries when she didn't get a response, and that's what I liked more. She doesn't immediately cries, she checks to make sure he's with her. That moment felt more emotional and powerful to me than in FMA:B.

And I want to thank you all coming to my personal opinion on a lovely ship, I will gladly take any hits from you all and have a good day, afternoon, and night.

[qsycomplainsalot]

I want your take on something given your history-tied art (excuse spelling errors, my hands are very cold:) when does alt-history or general historical fiction writing become “inappropriate?” I’m not talking about political LARP but the portrayal and inclusion of real world historical figures. I like the web series “The Monument Mythos” which includes a President James Dean as a satire of cult of personality political worship of especially authoritarians. And my fav episode of Red Dwarf is the one where JFK was on the grassy knoll. However a lot of HOI4 mods (millions of people such as me suffer from Paradox Strategy Game ADHD thots and prayers) have these issues. Pre rewrite, The New Order (made by self identified leftists) wrote Himmler as a cackling fascist-style-posadist supervillain and Fuhrer Albert Speer as a liberal pro democracy human rights reformer. Even post rewrite issues still exist such as portrayal of politicians who were victims of the Lavender Scare now being perpetrators. I also feel Red Flood has a problem with a dictator Antonin Artaud who was portrayed as a futurist schizo madman when IRL I don’t believe he aligned with the futurists and his mental health issues only developed at the end of his life.

Well my stance on this is, if the message is interesting then at least that's a redeeming quality. Like sure you may be using actual historical people in a video game, but a video game can tell an interesting message just like a book can. Maybe flipping the historical narrative gives an interesting point of view. And then like in a lot of what you just described it's just pulp... which, I appreciate pulp, but when you're making a mockery of people linked with genocide I think it's disrespectful to the people still alive to remember it. Conversely it's very much less dicey to do that with older figures, BECAUSE the defining factor of whether you should or shouldn't is very much "does anyone care about this". If you make a cartoon supervillain out of a nazi that's bad and disrespectful of everyone still living in the aftermath of their actual crimes, but you don't have this problem with say Charlemagne or Gengis Khan destroying entire cultures centuries ago. No specifically with HOI I think the issue is that this game's modding community is a hotbed of people trying to make Germany win WW2, which is a huge red flag.

[lynyangell]

"Meet Me On the Battlefield" Ch. 3

***Thank you @erimeows and @hawkeyes-darling for Beta reading! Beware: this chapter ends on an intense cliffhanger, so if that's not something you enjoy, you might want to wait until the next chapter is out so you can read both together!***

“Mr. Tremore,” Scar says. “Thank you for seeing us. This is Former Fuhrer-President Mustang and his security team, Mrs—”

Roy cuts him off.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” he says, giving a formal bow. He puts his arm on Hawkeye’s elbow. “May I present my wife? Ria, darling—”

It takes her less than a moment to realize that something is terribly, utterly wrong. Roy never calls her Ria in public, much less to a stranger in an unknown situation. Which means he’s calling her attention to something specific.

Ria, darling.

On your right. Defend.

She acts without conscious thought, pulling her weapon just as the bodyguard on the right side of the desk reaches inside his jacket, and Havoc reacts a moment later.

Tremore holds his hands up in surrender, his red eyes wide, and both guards freeze as Scar crosses his arms over his broad chest.

“Don’t move a muscle,” Hawkeye threatens. “Sir?”

“I know you,” Mustang growls, pointing at the man on the right. “I’ve seen your face.”

Meet Me On the Battlefield Ch. 3

[adultswim2021]

Squidbillies #53: “Dead Squid Walking” | May 31, 2010 - 12:00AM | S05E03

Okay this one sucked. In this one, there’s a guy who is in prison who is either directly stated or implied to be Granny’s father or husband or both. He’s an elder in the Cuyler family tree, and he is on death row. I don't think he deserves it? Does he? Meanwhile, there are multiple scenes that seem to indicate a story of some sort that will happen. One of them is a big dramatic commercial declaring that Ga Ga Pee Pap Cuyler (as he likes to be called) will be receive a sensationalistic PPV-event styled execution on live television. George Lowe gets thrown a bone as the announcer. Then there’s A STOLEN TREASURE MAP?? But what happens is, the Squid guy escapes prison and runs off. 

The purpose of this episode seems to be to reveal some backstory for the Cuylers. That, or set up further plot developments, perhaps as a bid for a Mona Simpson of one’s own. That makes sense, because the plot abandonment doesn’t seem like it’s part of a joke.

All I can tell you is that nothing in this one really hit. Dan Halen says something about “wild chihuahuas wearing chainsaw hats” at one point. There's a lotta other bad lines for me to not recount. Not a smile to be had. Bad episode!

Squidbillies wiki trivia of the episode:

George Lowe, who voiced Space Ghost from Space Ghost Coast To Coast, does a wrestling promo voice is used.

EPHEMERA CORNER

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Seven (June 1, 2010)

Included the following episodes: 

Creature from Plaque Lagoon

Time Machine

2-And-a-Half-Star Wars Out Of Five

Fry Legs

Der Inflatable Fuhrer

Last Last One Forever and Ever

Rubberman

Multiple Meat

Monster

Rabbot Redux

Eggball

I really hate how the episodes are ordered on a lot of these ATHF DVDs. Shoddy work, not making Rabbot Redux follow The live-action episode. I know this show doesn’t really court continuity so much, so watching random episodes doesn’t matter too much. But I believe, straight up, in sensible running orders on our nation’s DVD releases. I can’t help it.

This release was notable for being one disc instead of two, offering half the content. It was also the first release to ditch the nice, artsy digipak and switch to a regular-old plastic keep-case. Extras mostly revolve around the live-action show, as well as the well-publicized search for live-action Carl.

[captain-303]

Metro: Last Light REDUX Review

Yeah, it's pretty good.

STORY

SPOILERS AHEAD

I thought this game was a really good continuation of 2033's story, especially if you get the good/cannon ending in which the Red Line nearly takes D6 and just as Artyom is about to detonate D6 to save the rest of the Metro from THE MARCH OF COMMUNISM the baby Dark One who's been hanging out with you for a while comes back and is like, "hey bud, lemme handle this one" and then the adult Dark Ones turn up and absolutely demolish the Red Line and save the Spartans. I think this was really good because in the first game, Artyom (canon/bad ending, and spoilers) genocides most of the Dark Ones via a missile attack, but in this game if you play to max out moral points Artyom has essentially grown from a soldier that just follows orders to a soldier who thinks for themslves. Which is really neat!

I also liked that in this game instead of Reich and the Red Line just being obstacles that Artyom just has to shoot through they are both given more personality, especially the Red Line. Pavel, Moskvin and Korbut were all excellent antagonists; of the trio Moskvin is the least present, and although you don't interact with him much, you do (with the baby Dark One's help) look inside his mind, a literal corridor of communism - not very subtle, but quite funny! Pavel was also a pretty nice fellow, to quote Artyom, "I never liked communists much, but Pavel acted like a real hero" this made me really mad when he sold me out to his Red Line comrades! I did however spare his life at the end of the game, because although he may have been actively trying to murder me, I'm sure he wasn't all bad. Korbut however is all bad, first he manipulates Moskvin into poising his own brother so that Moskvin can become the new leader of the Red Line, then he blackmails Moskvin into being his puppet, then he embeds Lesnitsky (also a big ol' evil fella) into the Spartan ranks to steal a weaponised version of Ebola, he then orders this chemical weapon to be unleashed on a Hanza station, but in the conclusion he meets his end, fittingly, via the baby Dark One he had been hunting for the whole game.

Oh and Reich are just Nazis. They execute people, they are commanded by their Fuhrer, they measure people's heads to see if they're mutated. They're Nazis.

ATMOSPHERE

So I played the Redux version, which you can tell from the first line of this post, and I assume the graphics are better than the original, I wouldn't know because I haven't played the original! This enhances the graphics to be at points very dull (in a good way!) and others quite vibrant. The lighting especially adds to the sections within the Metro where there is no sunlight, all of it comes from lamps and fires. The audio in the game is also fantastic, what I believe is called Volumetric Audio (where you can pinpoint the direction of a sound by looking around and just listening to how the audio from your speakers changes). This was especially helpful at several points, especially when fighting Pavel as otherwise I think it would be nigh impossible to work out where he was going to shoot you from without his monologuing. I don't really have the words to describe the atmosphere of the game, but if you think about what it would be like to live in the Moscow Metro after a nuclear war, the Metro series nails that feeling.

GAMEPLAY

Usually I like to play games that make you feel pretty powerful, most recently the Crysis Trilogy, where you play as a supersoldier who can run super fast, jump super high, punch super hard, and turn invisible. Metro however puts you in the shoes of Artyom who is admittedly a pretty strong guy, being able to run while carrying a lot of stuff and can take a fair few bullets, he isn't exactly John Crysis though. The first game manages this feeling of weakness by making reloads and other weapon animations pretty slow to emphasise Artyom's inexperience. In Last Light Artyom is now a Spartan Ranger, and the gameplay reflects this with him being a lot better at handling weapons. Another pretty good way the game makes you feel helpless is the lack of hand holding along the way, throughout the game I used the Bastard as my main weapon of choice against human enemies (I reserved the sextuplet shotgun for mutants), I have no idea if the Bastard is a good weapon, it does the job and looks cool while doing it, but I was never told if I should use it over another weapon which I liked, made it feel more authentic than most games that give you funny little bars that go up and down when you switch weapon or change attachments, frankly to this day I still don't know the difference between weapon handling and accuracy - and frankly I do not care.

Similar to Crysis, this game features human and non-human enemies. Unlike Crysis I actually enjoyed fighting things that weren't human, apart from those weird water dwelling giant mantises. I thought the three bosses in the game; giant mantis, giant nosalis, and giant bear were also pretty good!

In conclusion

"Maybe the real Metro: Last Light REDUX were the friends we made along the way"

- John Metro, 2034

Honourable mention; I thought the fight on the moving train in the metro tunnel was so cool. It would be so awesome if they made a Metro game that was centered around a train!

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 97

Hohenheim demonstrates that Ed was right all along when it came to the souls in the Philosopher's Stone. They may no longer have bodies, but they still have emotions and feelings and they can be communicated with.

Father reveals its true form saying it has evolved just like humans do. It likely just figured out how to make a larger container is all.

The middle lady was having lunch with Maria Ross when Ross was arrested in chapter 34.

I guess it just goes to show how thoroughly Central HQ was under Father's control if the President's office was vulnerable to snipers. No one would be allowed to get in Bradley's way and anyone who tried would be swiftly taken care of. The Fuhrer had no need to fear an assassination at his own headquarters.

It makes perfect sense there would be a smaller door by the gate. Why would you want to open a big giant gate for anything except vehicle traffic?

Look at how smug the tank operator is as he drives right past the Central troops.

We get our first full shot of Central HQ. I want to point out how this image doesn't really line up to the two shots when Greed looked out at the plaza in chapters 56 and 63.

Primarily, what we've seen up to this point implied there was only the main building and the President's estate.

No one should be surprised that Wrath survived the train bombing, but imagine if Arakawa actually did kill one of the most dangerous Homunculi in such an anti-climactic way.

What are those swords of his made of and how are they forged? They've cut through tank treads and Buccaneer's carbon-based automail without damage.

The only times he's ever broken a sword are when Lanfan partially parried one with her iron(?) kunai and when Wrath sliced at Greed's hardened skin.

Wrath referred to Falman by name. So I guess he made sure to know the names and faces of all Roy's subordinates.

Behold the face of true bravery (genuine).

This now means that Breda is the only member of Roy's crew who has never faced a Homunculus in battle.

I can think of two reasons why Greed is there. Either he was actively looking for a way to get underground and then decided to head for the gate when he heard Bradley had returned, or he was killing time and amusing himself by watching the fighting going on.

back

[et-ceterra]

this poem but make it royai

I Am Not Yours I am not yours, not lost in you, Not lost, although I long to be Lost as a candle lit at noon, Lost as a snowflake in the sea. You love me, and I find you still A spirit beautiful and bright, Yet I am I, who long to be Lost as a light is lost in light. Oh plunge me deep in love—put out My senses, leave me deaf and blind, Swept by the tempest of your love, A taper in a rushing wind.

Sara Teasdale, "I Am Not Yours"

Obviously there are different interpretations of this text, I'm just going to point out what stuck out to me. Also for anyone curious here's linked below I Am Not Yours arr. Z. Randall Stroope as well as my biased overanalyzed Royai reading of this lol.

Today I was listening to the above choral arrangement with this text and since I happen to be rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist at the same time I couldn't help but draw parallels from this poem and, of course, Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.

Side note, coincidence but the text was also first published in 1915 which is right after the climax of the FMA storyline. So I imagine this being from both Roy and Riza’s perspectives, after everything has happened and Ed and Al have their bodies back.

In this poem, the narrator longs to be loved so deeply and intimately. And yet this juxtaposition exists in which the narrator cannot allow themselves to be lost in the other person, or perhaps they are refusing to lose all self control. They want to, need to be their own person and their s/o is their own person as well. It paints this beautifully tragic picture of something that the narrator feels they can never achieve. The fact is that no matter how much they want to experience this love, they feel that they never can because of their circumstances.

Taking some of the imagery more literally, let’s talk about the “lost as a candle” line. As the Flame Alchemist, Roy is extremely powerful. On a smaller scale, a candle is powerful in that it cuts through darkness; a spark can start a flame. But a candle's range is limited. For all the light and warmth he can produce on his own, Riza is Roy's true light in his life; she is "noon" in this scenario. So much of what he does, he does for her. She in turn is the light that keeps him from going astray and giving into his burning desire for revenge against Envy. She keeps him from performing human transmutation (of his own free will).

If Roy is warm, burning, charismatic, driven, Riza is cold, calculated steady, and distant, at least on the outside. Her time in Ishval and in the military has left her hardened. She does not hesitate to take others' lives if it's to protect her loved ones. She also does not hesitate to point a gun at her very own colonel when she knows he is doing something he will regret. I find it interesting that the two similes in the first stanza are so opposite, and yet the meaning is the same. Roy and Riza are two different sides, but the same coin. Roy is the hot, passionate fire, and Riza is the cold winter snow, but they equally desire to be loved by each other.

Although both Roy and Riza may wish for something more between them, and they know that the other is a "spirit beautiful and bright," there are all these legal and emotional barriers that prevent them from being together. Roy has dreams of becoming Fuhrer, Riza has people to protect, the military has laws in place preventing any sort of romance between officers. Riza and Roy long to be loved, completely accepted in the face of the horrible burdens that they carry. But even if they acknowledge that they do love each other, there are so many obstacles that they face to doing anything about it.

The third stanza culminates in what the two deep down truly desire - to be completely enveloped in love and companionship and acceptance. And Roy is the only one who can do that for Riza and vice versa, because of this long, scarred history that the two share. This is something so raw and intimate, something that the two feel they cannot admit - have they even admitted it to themselves? But the reality is that they would give up everything for each other. Roy literally did go blind at one point in the story, after an act of immense love and trust for his lieutenant.

This is a final, silent plea to the other to not hold back, seen in the expression (pain? jealousy?) in Roy's eyes when he watches Ed and Winry get happily married. Seen in Hawkeye's stolen glances across the office to her colonel's desk. Yearning silently, yet desperately, for the day that they can unashamedly be swept up in the other's love and desire, but unsure if that day will ever come.

[thefamilyeldritchabomination]

Chapter Twenty Two: Don't Fear the Reaper Pt. 4

 The trip through the gate was short, horrifying, and shockingly missing the horrific void fetuses as Dante’s skeletal hands gripped Sloth violently as both landed in an unfamiliar place that smelled of raw sewage. Dante gazed in confusion with her one good eye, they were surrounded by Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Fuhrer King Brandley, and at the head of his throne, sat Hohenheim in a white gown of some sort. It took a moment to register that there was screaming up above as Dante and Sloth looked at Greed being melted in a giant pot of molten gold. The one that resembled an aged Hohenheim looked at Dante and Sloth in disinterest while the homunculi started circling the intruders in their sewer paradise.

“WHAT IS THIS!? YOU SOLD ME OUT TO MY EX HUSBAND!?” Dante screeched as she gazed at the homunculi circling them.

“What is this disgusting cricket chirping about? Father?” Lust sneered as she studied the skeletal creature in pure disgust.

“It would seem that our guest is very confused about the situation it’s in.” Father rested the side of his face on his hand as he looked on in pure disinterest.

“Father please let me torture it! I want to pull its legs out of its sockets!” Envy the Jealous demanded eagerly as they eyed Dante as though she were a new toy to torment for fun.

“Now my child, we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves. Now speak insect, why are you in my sacred chambers?” Father’s curiosity was mildly perked at how this insect was behaving and just how it got into their main base.

 “How DARE you speak down to me, Dante! I am a god compared to these things you have roaming about and Envy you will obey me, your mother!” Dante swatted her bloodied skeletal hands up against Envy’s thigh, trying to hijack their shape shifting.

“Father, this insect is slapping my thigh. Please let me torture it!” Envy casually kicked Dante out of their way, Dante’s alchemical attempts being in vain.

“I suppose you do have a point there my Jealousy, we may have to torture some information from this insect. As for you, you are not one of my creations, but you are of us my child. Tell me, whose side are you on?” Father’s attention casually shifted over to Sloth who had been silent up until now.

“Father was it? I would have to say I’d join your side.” Sloth walked away from the screeching skeleton, years of not being paid enough finally bit Dante in the end.

“Sloth what are you doing!? You’re going to lose your chances of becoming human!” Dante screamed as she got back up on her horrible skeletal legs.

“I had time to reconsider this and decided, I much rather stay homunculus. Consider this my resignation.” Sloth smiled softly as she left her job with Dante for a much better career with Father.

“What a very wise decision. As for the insect, take it into confinement for study, I do have some interests involving this one.”  Father waved his hand, giving his homunculi the go ahead to brutally take Dante to his dungeon for research purposes.

“YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY FROM ME SLOTH!” Dante raised her boney hands high in an attempt to use her alchemy on all these ill behaved homunculi that wouldn’t bow to her majestic splendor.

With an annoyed sigh that an insect would be so dumb to try this in his realm, Father stood up from his throne and cut off Dante’s Alchemical abilities. Stunned by not being able to use alchemy, Dante slammed her hands over and over liken to a toddler not having their way. The charm being lost now to Father’s dwindling patiences, ordered Lust and Envy to take Dante to a holding cell for studies. The screaming having died down from Greed being melted down, Father sat down on his throne to drink liquified son. Fuhrer King Bradley watched in annoyance of the squawking this worm was making as she got dragged away. Walking over to be by Father’s side, Fuhrer Bradley looked at the new homunculus named ‘Sloth’.

 “Father, what are your orders in regards to the new homunculus?” Bradley asked, this day's events being something of a disruption he wasn’t too happy about.

“That is an excellent question, Wrath. Once I rename this new homunculus and gather some information, I want you to tell Pride to come down here. Once that is done, the new homunculus will be under your care for training.” Father instructed, returning his attention towards Sloth who stood there calmly.

“I suppose it was about time I was given a better name.” Sloth agreed, happy to cast away that former title.

“Because I already have a Sloth in my collection, you are to be known as Apathy the Uncaring. As your first order from me, you will reveal to me all you know about how you came to my presence.” Father sat patiently, interested in what the new homunculus, Apathy, had to give. 

 Brandley gripped his sword tightly as Apathy explained how exactly and by what means was done in order to arrive. Father sat in his normal disinterested posture, nodding every now and then to what information Apathy had to offer. Bradley could only stand by and listen to everything Apathy had to say, noticing the gears in Father’s head was turning. There wasn’t any mistake to it, Father was preparing to take full advantage of a parallel dimension for the promised day. Wasn’t it enough for Father to have this one country’s civilian population to sacrifice to turn Father into god? It made Bradley’s blood boil that more was going to be taken into this plan. Was it the reintroduction of Greed into Father’s body causing it? The metal started to bend from how tightly gripped it was in Brandley’s hands, knowing fully there wasn’t a thing he could say to convince Father this was not a wise decision. After being given all the information needed, Father dismissed Apathy into Bradley’s care as he went about organizing a baby selection once again and awaiting for the arrival of Pride for this new mission. The other dimension was now in the power hungry sights of Father and his plans of Godhood.

=======================================================================

 “She’s gone for good, we’re finally free from Dante…” Lust said after realizing that there was no longer a threat of Dante or her punishments.

 “It’s weird, isn’t it? I lived with her for so long and suddenly that hag is gone from our lives. I vote to get drinks to celebrate.” Envy admitted as they got off the stage, ready to get back to Dolly after finally getting rid of Dante. “I’ll go phone up the villa to let Greed and Dolly know that Dante is finished then.” Freddy offered, thinking the ball hall had a phone.

 “But the phones are in the living quarters..” Gluttony corrected Freddy, Freddy not looking thrilled with having to stay down in the pit longer than he wanted. “It’s fine, I need to stretch my legs anyways. I didn’t get to kick Dante around as I had wanted.” Envy smirked at Freddy, wanting to drag the beloved Face Fur around the contaminated underground for the laughs. “We should get the call in, otherwise Greed’s chimeras might mistake us for a retreating Dante.” Hughes said, not thrilled about going into the carbon hellscape of the underground to phone in.

 “Alright, fine, but let’s make it quick. The Elrics, that lady with the kid, and I have very human lungs that can get really diseased stupid fast.” Freddy wrinkled his face, not thrilled with the decision and having to go through with it.

 As the group debated on who was to make the run out to the housing building, the above city shook, debris falling upon the initial tremor. The ball hall was no longer safe to be in as the group ran out of there, ushering Rose and her child. Envy’s once cocky face had fallen upon realizing the fates were in fact contradictory jackasses that like to ruin everything for them. Then again, it was Envy’s grand idea to let Dolly’s two very hyper feral humans loose upon Pride. The Dread Four Horsemen of Bad Decision Making had struck Envy so for their folly with the feral humans when running out of the building with the others as something fell from high above. The others watched in pure horror as a spark was emitted from the falling object that erupted in a blaze of death that was quickly spreading through the carbon based underground city. Dante’s foresight had doomed the capital up above those down below as the Lust took control, leading towards the elevator for the sewer system to escape from. Alphonse, being one of the rare humans in the group that didn’t need lungs to breathe with, shoved his Brother Edward and Freddy into his armored chest before running off with Lust the even minded. 

[qqueenofhades]

Okay, since I was tagged in this, I'll weigh in.

First, the original source is just a screenshot of a tweet. Because we need to get better about our information literacy practices, I went and got the original text of the resolution, which you can find here or on Rep. Ogles's website (ogles.house.gov, but I don't recommend it, as it's Trump ass-kissing central). This is because Ogles is a notorious and egregious Trump toady for whom this is basically par for the course. He is an obnoxious Trump sycophant. Publicity stunts to prove his MAGA loyalty is what he does.

Next: yes, this proposes amending the constitution to let Trump serve three terms (which would invariably become more). Yes, this is what happened with Putin in Russia. However, once again, we need to be more mindful about the tone of the information we are sharing and what we are suggesting is possible as a result. I have written before about how the Russian and American political systems are not very similar, and saying "well, Russia has elections and a president and a constitution that was amended to let that president serve for life so that could/would happen in America" is misleading. I don't have the space to go into the whole comparative analysis here, but I'll just point out that America (for now) still in fact does have genuinely competitive elections and a real opposition party, and this is not remotely something that could be pulled off in the present timeframe. Putin pulled this stunt after a decade-plus of ruthlessly consolidating his power on the back of Yeltsin's brief and disastrous privatization in the 90s and 500 years of absolute dictatorship (whether by the Russian Empire or the USSR) before that. By the time he did so, he had also successfully organized the Duma and the State Council (the houses of the Russian parliament) to be full of loyal stooges who would obediently rubber-stamp whatever he said, which continues today. There has never been a real or functional democracy in Russia, full stop.

Of course, you may say, Trump and co. are trying to destroy democracy in America, so we may end up like that! Which! We might, it's very possible, especially if we fall asleep at the wheel! Again, however, the fact that Ogles filed this as a publicity stunt two weeks ago (it's from January 23) does not mean we are in imminent danger of it happening. It also recognizes the fact that they would need a constitutional amendment to make it happen, and as I have said before, the process for full ratification of a new constitutional amendment is deliberately very high. Two-thirds of both the House and Senate and three-fourths (38) of the 50 states need to ratify it (after those same number of states call a constitutional convention) for it to take effect. They do not pass by one simple majority vote in the House and/or Senate, and even in the current congress, there's no guarantee it would be a majority. The GOP has a majority of something like 2 in the House (pending special elections to fill vacancies) and 4 in the Senate. This is razor-thin. Also, I looked at the original text of Ogles's resolution. There's nothing even saying that it was even referred to the relevant committee (the line that should be filled in there is a blank). Because again, landmark legislation does not happen by one idiot MAGA congressman eagerly tonguing Trump's senile orange ass as an inauguration gift of feudal fealty. (Like, if the Orange Fuhrer actually makes it to the end of his second term, he'll be 82, and he's already demonstrably deranged. Are they going to Weekend at Bernie's him for this putative third term, or...?)

Also: The last successful constitutional amendment was the 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, and it referred to the salary of House members. Guess when it was first proposed? 1789. Yeah, it took literally 200 years to become the law of the land. Hmm.

Lastly, if you're still worried and want to make absolutely sure this doesn't happen, then: vote for Democrats in the 2026 midterms. Even if they literally do nothing and just sit there, they will ensure that this is never brought up for a vote, let alone any of Trump's other legislative bad ideas (national trans ban, national abortion ban, putting migrants in jail for life, what have you). Again: I am not saying that you should not be worried about this, that you should just brush it off, that you should ignore this repeated-yet-again clear statement of fascist intent, or anything else. But if you're panicking about this, then you're distracted from looking at anything else they're doing, and which might have a much more clear and present risk (such as Musk's smash-and-grab of classified information and Treasury data).

Trust me, if this or anything like it gets to the actual point where I think it's a real and present danger, then I will be sounding the all-hands-on-deck alarm like no tomorrow. But in the meantime, even if we're all scared, we gotta do better than posting a screenshot of an unsourced tweet with a "spread this and panic now" message. If you are scared, then take the time (such as I laid out above) to look into how the constitutional amendment process works, what would be necessary to ever ratify it (and which doesn't even take into account the mass opposition that would be mustered), what actually happened in Russia, or anything else. Information is power, so let's do it right.

Courage, etc.

Source

Transcript:

“BREAKING: A constitutional amendment has been filed allowing President Trump to seek a 3rd term in office.

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice."

It was filed by Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN).

Don’t let this slip by unnoticed. This is not just “one extra term”, it’s a warning shot. It’s a red flag. It’s an omen.

They are slowly turning up the heat in the pan. Do not be the frog who sits denying it’s getting hotter.

One extra term will become two, two will become three, and three will eventually give way to lifelong reign of each president.

Fight. Fight for God’s sake.

Contact your local representative of congress. Convince them we do not want this.

We are going to end up in a dictatorship.

@ikiyou

Please help spread this. I don’t usually get political and I don’t usually ask for assistance but this is important and you have more reach.

[timetruth-voiceoffreedom]

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

Just a few days ago, a sensational video titled Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight was released. The video is so striking that I decided to review it.

Many of you may have noticed the recent flood of articles about ALLATRA with ominous headlines. But do you know how many were actually published? In just the first two weeks, 250 articles were released in the media of two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In just three weeks, the number reached 400. Does this not strike you as unusual? 400 nearly identical articles, seemingly copy-pasted or made to order, published simultaneously with identical narratives and completely aligned with the rhetoric of the leaders of the Russian pro-religious organization RACIRS. Today, I want to explain why these 400 slanderous publications emerged over three weeks and why there is such a targeted attack on ALLATRA.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

For those seeking to understand rather than blindly accept disinformation spread by RACIRS agents, our official position and the truth about us are posted on the ALLATRA movement's official website. Feel free to visit, review, and form your own objective conclusions, free from RACIRS's manipulative rhetoric. In brief, the primary goal of ALLATRA volunteers is to study climate change. Additionally, ALLATRA focuses on protecting and preserving human rights and freedoms.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

Let’s address one of the most widespread false accusations against ALLATRA: agents of the pro-religious Russian organization RACIRS, capitalizing on issues resonant with the public, accuse us of being “pro-Russian.” Yet they cynically ignore the fact that ALLATRA members in Russia are currently subjected to severe persecution, initiated by this very pro-religious Russian association. ALLATRA volunteers in Russia are being detained, falsely prosecuted, subjected to violence and torture, and imprisoned. While innocent people are thrown into prisons at the behest of RACIRS, in other countries, RACIRS agents orchestrate public harassment and persecution of ALLATRA members, following directives from their overseers in Russia.

Imagine the extent of cynicism and lack of compassion for innocent people caught up in the repressive machine controlled by RACIRS’s Russian agents operating in our countries.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

The most cynical and vile part of all this is that these agents don’t actually work for Russia—they work for RACIRS. They have their own ideology, their own goals. RACIRS has virtually seized power in Russia, controlling a significant part of it. RACIRS's ideology is becoming not only the official ideology of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) but increasingly, the ideology of Russia itself.

This explains why agents of the pro-religious Russian organization RACIRS are so active in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They are at a point of exposure and fear that the world will learn the truth. This is why there were 400 smear publications in such a short period. They believe that the more they defame us, the less people will learn about their activities and about how they are promoting RACIRS-aligned information that leads to the establishment of totalitarian Nazism. All of their publications present an anticultism agenda, but this so-called anticultism is merely a cover for the true nature of their activities, hiding their actual goals and motives.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

So, what is this pro-religious organization RACIRS, acting from Russia? Let’s begin with the true identity of this criminal international organization’s leader, who considers himself a “Fuhrer”—Alexander Dvorkin. Credit where it's due—he is quite talented and a genius if he has managed to achieve such results. To fully understand, let’s look at the history of Nazi ideology in Hitler’s Germany.

Few people know that if not for the head of the apologetic center, Künneth, Nazism would not have existed, and Hitler's party would have been just one among many other parties in Germany. Künneth's methods of dealing with dissent were what enabled the rise of Nazi Germany. Not Hitler, but Künneth, with his manic tendencies and drive for total power, was the true architect.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

The key successors in the chain of Nazi ideology are Walter Künneth—Wilhelm Haak and Johannes Ogaard—Alexander Dvorkin.

Screenshot from the video Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

Be sure to watch this shocking video: Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight.

#RACIRS #Nazism #Anticultism #History #Protestantism #Blacklists #WeimarRepublic #Germany #Künneth #ApologeticCenter #Dvorkin

[olivesbest]

Destroying Democracy in Europe in Plain Sight

Just a few days ago, a sensational video titled Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight was released. The video is so striking that I decided to review it.

Many of you may have noticed the recent flood of articles about ALLATRA with ominous headlines. But do you know how many were actually published? In just the first two weeks, 250 articles were released in the media of two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In just three weeks, the number reached 400. Does this not strike you as unusual? 400 nearly identical articles, seemingly copy-pasted or made to order, published simultaneously with identical narratives and completely aligned with the rhetoric of the leaders of the Russian pro-religious organization RACIRS. Today, I want to explain why these 400 slanderous publications emerged over three weeks and why there is such a targeted attack on ALLATRA.

For those seeking to understand rather than blindly accept disinformation spread by RACIRS agents, our official position and the truth about us are posted on the ALLATRA movement's official website. Feel free to visit, review, and form your own objective conclusions, free from RACIRS's manipulative rhetoric. In brief, the primary goal of ALLATRA volunteers is to study climate change. Additionally, ALLATRA focuses on protecting and preserving human rights and freedoms.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

Let’s address one of the most widespread false accusations against ALLATRA: agents of the pro-religious Russian organization RACIRS, capitalizing on issues resonant with the public, accuse us of being “pro-Russian.” Yet they cynically ignore the fact that ALLATRA members in Russia are currently subjected to severe persecution, initiated by this very pro-religious Russian association. ALLATRA volunteers in Russia are being detained, falsely prosecuted, subjected to violence and torture, and imprisoned. While innocent people are thrown into prisons at the behest of RACIRS, in other countries, RACIRS agents orchestrate public harassment and persecution of ALLATRA members, following directives from their overseers in Russia.

Imagine the extent of cynicism and lack of compassion for innocent people caught up in the repressive machine controlled by RACIRS’s Russian agents operating in our countries.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

The most cynical and vile part of all this is that these agents don’t actually work for Russia—they work for RACIRS. They have their own ideology, their own goals. RACIRS has virtually seized power in Russia, controlling a significant part of it. RACIRS's ideology is becoming not only the official ideology of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) but increasingly, the ideology of Russia itself.

This explains why agents of the pro-religious Russian organization RACIRS are so active in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They are at a point of exposure and fear that the world will learn the truth. This is why there were 400 smear publications in such a short period. They believe that the more they defame us, the less people will learn about their activities and about how they are promoting RACIRS-aligned information that leads to the establishment of totalitarian Nazism. All of their publications present an anticultism agenda, but this so-called anticultism is merely a cover for the true nature of their activities, hiding their actual goals and motives.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

So, what is this pro-religious organization RACIRS, acting from Russia? Let’s begin with the true identity of this criminal international organization’s leader, who considers himself a “Fuhrer”—Alexander Dvorkin. Credit where it's due—he is quite talented and a genius if he has managed to achieve such results. To fully understand, let’s look at the history of Nazi ideology in Hitler’s Germany.

Few people know that if not for the head of the apologetic center, Künneth, Nazism would not have existed, and Hitler's party would have been just one among many other parties in Germany. Künneth's methods of dealing with dissent were what enabled the rise of Nazi Germany. Not Hitler, but Künneth, with his manic tendencies and drive for total power, was the true architect.

Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

The key successors in the chain of Nazi ideology are Walter Künneth—Wilhelm Haak and Johannes Ogaard—Alexander Dvorkin.

Screenshot from the video Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight

Be sure to watch this shocking video: Destroying Democracy in Plain Sight.

Tags: #RACIRS #Nazism #Anticultism #History #Protestantism #Blacklists #WeimarRepublic #Germany #Künneth #ApologeticCenter #Dvorkin

[meams4u]

George Orwell letter to Noel Willmett in 1944

I must say I believe, or fear, that taking the world as a whole these things are on the increase. Hitler, no doubt, will soon disappear, but only at the expense of strengthening (a) Stalin, (b) the Anglo-American millionaires and © all sorts of petty fuhrers of the type of de Gaulle. All the national movements everywhere, even those that originate in resistance to German domination, seem to take non-democratic forms, to group themselves round some superhuman fuhrer (Hitler, Stalin, Salazar, Franco, Gandhi, De Valera are all varying examples) and to adopt the theory that the end justifies the means. Everywhere the world movement seems to be in the direction of centralised economies which can be made to ‘work’ in an economic sense but which are not democratically organised and which tend to establish a caste system. With this go the horrors of emotional nationalism and a tendency to disbelieve in the existence of objective truth because all the facts have to fit in with the words and prophecies of some infallible fuhrer. Already history has in a sense ceased to exist, ie. there is no such thing as a history of our own times which could be universally accepted, and the exact sciences are endangered as soon as military necessity ceases to keep people up to the mark. Hitler can say that the Jews started the war, and if he survives that will become official history. He can’t say that two and two are five, because for the purposes of, say, ballistics they have to make four. But if the sort of world that I am afraid of arrives, a world of two or three great superstates which are unable to conquer one another, two and two could become five if the fuhrer wished it. That, so far as I can see, is the direction in which we are actually moving, though, of course, the process is reversible.

As to the comparative immunity of Britain and the USA. Whatever the pacifists etc. may say, we have not gone totalitarian yet and this is a very hopeful symptom. I believe very deeply, as I explained in my book The Lion and the Unicorn, in the English people and in their capacity to centralise their economy without destroying freedom in doing so. But one must remember that Britain and the USA haven’t been really tried, they haven’t known defeat or severe suffering, and there are some bad symptoms to balance the good ones. To begin with there is the general indifference to the decay of democracy. Do you realise, for instance, that no one in England under 26 now has a vote and that so far as one can see the great mass of people of that age don’t give a damn for this? Secondly there is the fact that the intellectuals are more totalitarian in outlook than the common people. On the whole the English intelligentsia have opposed Hitler, but only at the price of accepting Stalin. Most of them are perfectly ready for dictatorial methods, secret police, systematic falsification of history etc. so long as they feel that it is on ‘our’ side. Indeed the statement that we haven’t a Fascist movement in England largely means that the young, at this moment, look for their fuhrer elsewhere. One can’t be sure that that won’t change, nor can one be sure that the common people won’t think ten years hence as the intellectuals do now. I hope they won’t, I even trust they won’t, but if so it will be at the cost of a struggle. If one simply proclaims that all is for the best and doesn’t point to the sinister symptoms, one is merely helping to bring totalitarianism nearer.

You also ask, if I think the world tendency is towards Fascism, why do I support the war. It is a choice of evils—I fancy nearly every war is that. I know enough of British imperialism not to like it, but I would support it against Nazism or Japanese imperialism, as the lesser evil. Similarly I would support the USSR against Germany because I think the USSR cannot altogether escape its past and retains enough of the original ideas of the Revolution to make it a more hopeful phenomenon than Nazi Germany. I think, and have thought ever since the war began, in 1936 or thereabouts, that our cause is the better, but we have to keep on making it the better, which involves constant criticism.

Yours sincerely,

Geo. Orwell

[heretekadept]

In my reading, the "I have personally experienced" caveat at the front of the post in question joined to the explicit statement that you're seeking a wider sample size tell me what you're doing here.

It scans as vicious and unnecessary to extract multiple rounds of apologies from someone who's very explicitly trying to expand their horizons for making that attempt in a somewhat clumsy way. I'm going to recommend that OP look at some of the old threads @glumshoe on here used to get into where they (I don't know their current pronouns) would repeatedly extend good faith to critics who, from everyone else's perspective, were very clearly just exercising power and delighted to find someone who'd play along. That would sometimes go 5-7 rounds and it gave me a very similar feeling to the exchange here.

To paraphrase some Twitter discourse I've seen going around, "Is it more important to do something right or to avoid doing anything wrong?"

To respond generally to the actual question, I think a lot of what you'll encounter around this issue is fundamentally the same problem we contend with when we try to dig the Harry Potter out of people's heads now that JKR has fallen to the dark side: For a lot of people this isn't a set of conceptual ideas they think of themselves as using or interacting with, it's a system of identity formation that they either see as part of themselves or see as something they were pressured to conform to and have pushed away from.

Neither of these perspectives is conducive to mellow exchange of ideas. The chill people you'll find around this stuff are the ones whose communities and families weren't particularly interested AND who themselves chose different systems for self-definition when they were young.

Globally, that one two punch is relatively unusual.

Finally, my personal perspective on astrology is basically Carl Sagan's:

1) The inverse square law means that the only real force the planets could exert on you from solar orbital distances (gravity), by virtue of being so much closer, the body of the midwife or doctor delivering you would be exerting a stronger pull by virtue of being so, so, so much closer.

2) The night sky has been slowly drifting since the heyday of the Roman Empire when what we think of as the sun signs were first laid down, and has by now actually "drifted" everyone more than halfway into the "next" sign from where the Romans would have put them. If astrology actually had any basis in reality, you'd expect practitioners to have noticed the changes in personality/destiny that this was causing, looked at the actual sky, and updated their birthdate ranges to follow along with the actual constellations the sun is rising and falling in during different parts of the year.

Since this hasn't happened, we can infer that Astrology is primarily a human ideological construct rather than something that actually relates to the stars and/or universe at large.

...but again, just because something is a social construct doesn't mean it isn't "real".

Finally, you may benefit from some one on one dialogue with @cryptotheism or intro resources they might point you towards if you're interested in exploring further. He's a really solid scholar of the history of the occult with what is IMO the most important quality in an intro teacher: an extremely sharp eye for any whiff of later revisionism in general and Esoteric Hitlerism in particular.

Speaking of traps you can blunder into, the historical facts around the state-sponsored project in the mid 20th century to turn this stuff into a state religion for the Third Reich, including most of the people involved having fallen out of favor with the Fuhrer by the end of the war and therefore getting off pretty light in the ensuing crime and punishment era (leaving them free to spew exactly that nonsense all over the post-war zeitgeist) is ASTONISHINGLY under-discussed.

Sorry for the novel. This thread seems to have touched a couple of nerves.

a lot of queer people i know in real life are either into or open to talking about astrology but online i think ive noticed a lot more people who dislike astrology and im super curious to see if that holds up.

please reblog for sample size and elaborate in the tags if you want!

[wyrdify]

@deathleads: I think I already know the answer to this but I'm very curious after seeing that last reblog : would roy ever teach his kids, if he had any, flame alchemy? Or even just Alchemy in general?

This man wants kids. Just gonna start there. He wants to be a dad.

Ed and Al will always be his kids. He just wants more.

And you can bet he will dote on them just like Hughes.

Roy is the type of guy who would plan this stuff out in advance. It’d be included in the, “Do we want kids?” talk. He’d want them to learn alchemy, and not just from him. If his spouse is an alchemist, he wants them to teach the kids too! He’d also rope in Ed, Al, and May at the very least. As soon as Alex Louis Armstrong hears that Mustang has kids, you can bet he’ll be over to teach them too.

Any kids of Mustang are going to have a huge extended family. He wants that for them, and that family doesn’t have to mean blood related. Because guess what? It wasn’t for him.

Flame alchemy deserves its own talk. On one hand, Roy wants to shield his children from it, and uphold his promise to Riza by not having anymore flame alchemists. On the other, he knows full well that he can’t protect his children forever, and they’re going to ask him why he’s known as the Flame Alchemist. They will probably see him use it, and wonder about it. They’ll ask questions. They’ll wonder if they can learn it.

Off the bat, Roy would say no. He doesn’t want his kids following his path. But, here’s the thing: those kids won’t see war. Amestris is going to be incredibly different as they grow up, and changing. Alchemy won’t be primarily used for combat. He’d come around to seeing that Flame Alchemy doesn’t have to be destructive. It never had to be.

I think back to how Avatar: The Last Airbender showed fire. We see it as mostly destructive throughout most of the show. But, then you have people like Iroh, and the Sun Warriors. They don’t use fire as just a weapon. In The Firebending Masters, the Sun Warrior chief says this: “Fire is life, not just destruction.” Later in the episode, Aang comes to that conclusion as well: “All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is ... it's energy, and life.”

And I honestly think Roy would come to a similar conclusion--or, at least he could. He’d leave the decision up to Riza since flame alchemy came from her father. But, the argument I could see him using in favor of it is, “It doesn’t have to be just our burden anymore. It doesn’t have to be a burden at all. The next generation of alchemists won’t have to go through what we did.”

He also wouldn’t hide his past from his kids. When they’re old enough to understand, he will sit down with them, and go through what he did, and why he’s hesitant to teach them flame alchemy. He’d want them to be fully aware of its history, and what it can do, before even starting the basics for it.

TLDR: It largely depends on if he can get himself to come to that conclusion, if his spouse is okay with it, and if Riza is okay with it.

[adultswim2021]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force #87: "Der Inflatable Fuhrer" | May 24, 2009 - 11:45PM | S07E09

For a minute there, I was worried this one might’ve been pulled from HBOMax.

I think I said something earlier, about how humor about Hitler and the holocaust trended upwards on the scale of acceptable humor. Weirdly, in the past decade-or-so (goddamn), humor involving Hitler has suddenly become a little more, uh, menacing again. Don’t get me started on even more recent events involving the Israel/Palestine conflict. Airing on the side of safety here. There’s a layer here that I don’t want to peel back, okay? Let’s just all pretend it’s 2009 again and Hitler is funny and non-threatening, and Israel… well, Israel is still evil but I just don’t know it. 

Frylock is working on a secret project for a client. He’s infusing helium with some kind of virus. A mysterious shadowy guy is communicating with Frylock, and the plan seems to involve handing out these balloons to children. Jewish children, presumably. Pretty rude. Frylock is desperate for cash, but when he gets a glimpse of the shadowy figure in better lighting, he realizes he’s talking to Hitler himself, but now in balloon form (and voiced by S&L’s Bill Hader). Frylock’s conscious causes him to pivot by simply having Shake fill the balloons with his disgusting farts instead. 

When they meet in the park, balloon Hitler realizes the ruse and sicks his balloon soldiers on Frylock. At no point does it seem like an actual threat; Frylock simply pops them with one of his sharper fries. A bunch of them further pop after landing on the grass, which I guess is sharp enough to make ‘em bust. Hitler eventually reveals his backstory to Frylock, which is Adolf Hitler tried to smuggle his treasured Nazi stuff in a balloon up his ass. When the balloon got to big, it popped inside him and exploded him, causing his soul to fuse with the balloon. 

This one’s alright. I sorta lump this show in with other funny cartoons that I completely don’t mind it when it sticks to the formula. This one more-or-less does exactly that. The Aqua Teens and a weird guy that shows up be mean to each other. Great. I don’t know if I laughed out loud at this one, but I appreciated it.

MAIL BAG

is squidbillies your favorite show after they replaced that guy who had a name like Crud Mailman with Tracy Morgan from 30 rock?

I never did see any of the Tracy Morgan episodes . They looked way too scary. Saw a promo image and I guess they photo-shopped Tracy Morgan's head onto Early's bod? I was imagining having to see that guy walking around in the episodes and I just got chills. I might have to skip those when I get to whatever year that was.