#and also since there's less people to worry about

[welshrarebit]

Just as an additional context to his nonsense:

I'm assuming this is about the birth rate in the US around 1850, right? In addition to the fact that women were prevented from accessing the human rights the incumbent regime is attempting to strip from them, there's a host of other reasons for the birth rate being so high.

lack of functional contraception (first hormonal contraceptive wasn't invented until 1960, and extant barrier methods were significantly less effective, accessible or safe compared with modern counterparts)

The death rate for children under 5 in 1850 in the US was approximately 399.72 per 1000, with estimates that 60-110 of those were specifically infant deaths. The mortality rate in the US now for children under 5 is about 7 in every 1000. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, children on average started working at age 10, with some being employed as young as 3-4 years old.

I also want to know where he got the 300 births per 1000 women statistic from (aside from his own ass I mean) because the only statistics I was able to find specifically detailing the US birth rate from 1800-2020 listed it as 48.8 births per thousand people, meaning an average of around 5-6 births per woman. as of 2020 the birth rate was about 12 per every thousand people.

It's also worth noting that the maternal death rate in 1850 in the US was estimated to be about 50 per 10,000 births based on records, but could have been much higher as women from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds would have had significantly poorer access to adequate care. The maternal mortality rate for the US as of Jan 2024, according to the CDC, is around 18.7 for every 100,000.

Other issues of note - despite poor working conditions, lack of worker's protections and everything else:

$1 in 1850 was the equivalent of $41 dollars of modern currency. A family of 5 in 1850 was estimated to spend about $20.15 per week on food and fuel - about $826.15 in modern currency. An adult labourer at that time would've been earning about $25 a month on average (based on $300 year average income) or about $820 in 2025.

The average spending of a family of 4 in the US now is about $7101 per month (though this will vary state-by-state) with a median income of $4935. To put that into perspective, $7101 in 2025 has the same purchasing power as $173.20 did in 1850, and $4935 has the same purchasing power as $120.37.

$20.15x4.325 (avg weeks in a month) = £87.15, which is worth about $3573.14 in 2025, which is only 50.32% of current living costs.

$300 in 1850 - the estimated average yearly income for a labourer - is worth about $12,299.96 now. Split that by 12 for an estimated monthly income and you get $1019.16 (and a lot of recurring 3s) which is 20.65% of current wages.

In addition to the thing listed above by alarajrogers to improve the birth rate, if that's really what Matt Walsh is worried about (doubt), there needs to be a significant overhaul in wages vs cost of living. My personal recommendation would be Universal Basic Income (UBI) since multiple studies (California, Finland and Kenya being the largest examples) have shown it improves not only health and wellbeing but also improves productivity cause *gasp!* people who aren't spending their entire time worrying about how they're going to pay their rent this month are less stressed and can focus more!

Also people whose basic needs are met(food, water, shelter, affordable access to healthcare etc.) are generally happier, and having disposable income means *even bigger gasp!* that there is more money circulating in the economy.

But apparently nobody can do that because the rich don't want to pay their taxes and apparently seem to have forgotten what happened to the French aristocracy when the peasantry could no longer afford their basic necessities.

Also Idk about you guys in the US but in the UK we were told "the earth is overpopulated and we could soon run out of everything if everyone keeps having kids so have fewer kids" and "Don't have kids at all unless/until you can afford to look after them" to an almost absurd degree when I was a kid and looking at the way things have gone globally just in the last couple of years? They brought this on themselves - you can't tell people "the government doesn't owe you anything don't have kids you can't afford" and then complain when they take your advice.

Republican policies and misogynistic rhetoric are killing the white birth rate.

White conservative single men are broken.

White conservative single women can't find a decent partner.

Republican lonerism is coming home to roost.

[cowboyhattedcrow]

levi scout headcanons

tags: established relationship, gn reader, no use of y/n, sfw, mostly fluff

desc: headcanons about levi during scouting missions and general life as a scout

during/before/after missions:

kisses you and hugs you before the two of you leave for a mission

i don't think he's the type to be overprotective to the point where he doesn't let you go on missions at all

but during dangerous missions he likes to keep you close. will abuse his position as captain to try to influence erwin to move him closer to you or vice versa

during regular missions, he prefers to be in the same section as you

if you're not within his vision for the most part, he'll be worrying about you during the missions

if you're in the same section, he'll most likely come find you and either talk to you, get close to you or reassure himself that you're okay

before and after missions, levi helps you with taking off/putting on your odm gear if you need the help

if your cloak gets dirty/torn up he'll offer his to you and take your ruined one back so he can fix it up for you

he wouldn't be amazing at sewing but he would probably know how to fix a tear or two.

the patches he adds on your cloak are from spare fabrics and old tshirts he has lying around so sometimes it doesn't match the deep green of the scouting regiment cloak

he tries to find fabrics that look similar to the cloak's colours but you like the way you can see his care on the cloak

sometimes he jokes about you ripping up the cloak on purpose so he has to patch it up for you (but that's actually not a bad idea because his needlework isn't too shabby and it's nice to have traces on him physically on your uniform and clothes :) )

if one or both of you come back injured from an expedition, he'll make a point to get closer to you so the two of you can stay in the same wagon to recover before you head back into the walls

he won't baby you, but he'll be really worried about you if you get hurt. he doesn't want to overstep your boundaries and annoy you, so he just takes better care of you and stays closer to you for the next few days, but he won't yell at you for being reckless or smth

regular life as a scout:

levi has some amount of paperwork to do as a captain, but not nearly as much as hange or erwin would have to do

he likes it when you sit nearby while he does paperwork

if you bring him something while he works, like a cup of tea or a small snack, he'll be really grateful to you

his ears turn red really easily so when you kiss him on the forehead after bringing him a cup of black tea, you can see his ears turning a faint shade of red through his bangs

he doesn't like snacks that break off really easily because he'll have to clean up the crumbs or remnants they leave behind

this includes pastries, cookies, chips, etc foods

but he'll like things that don't leave remnants a lot, like fruits or other stuff

if you're in a position that requires you to do paperwork and you have more to do/he finishes his work before yours then he'll lay on your lap or bring you some refreshments

he'll remember your favourite type of tea and what you like to eat and drink and what you don't so he'll only bring you stuff you like once you're far enough into the relationship and he knows enough about you

his love language is definitely acts of service and maybe also quality time but he doesn't hate pda or words and stuff, he just prefers the others more

he likes to bring you little things when you're not too busy but he won't show direct favouritism to you

everyone in his squad or people that come over to visit his squad still have to do cleaning work, you included. (but maybe if you're really tired from work earlier that day, he'll let you do a little less and do a bit of your portion himself)

you're not part of his squad but you visit quite often. if you lead another squad, your squad members will probably grow quite close to his as well, since you two visit each other so often

levi will hold your hand or rest his head on your shoulders in public sometimes, but he's not one for overly big acts of pda, like making a scene or doing something dramatic

he likes to reassure himself that you're still alive and you're still next to him, so a lot of times he'll just stick close to you when you're walking together or spending the day together

he doesn't talk a lot, but he definitely talks a lot more to you than anyone else. he's not great at showing affection either, so he'll struggle with saying "i love you" for a bit, but eventually just gets used to saying it

he's never had to deal with receiving or giving affection much before in his life, so he struggles with it upon meeting you initially

[hungarianshinobi]

Red flag? I'm colorblind - Fushiguro Toji x F!Reader

-Chapter 1 https://www.tumblr.com/hungarianshinobi/781641513633562624/red-flag-im-colorblind-fushiguro-toji-x?source=share

Chapter 2:

(Y/n)'s POV:

I managed to get off the train with that huge suitcase in my hands. I took a look around for any source of my best friend because she told me she would come here to pick me up.

I didn't see her yet, so I decided that until then I would call my mom. I promised her I would call her once I arrived to Tokyo. Though I won't mention to her what happened on the train with those troublemakers. She would only begin to worry about me and ask me to go back home. I didn't want that.

So I dialed her number and waited for her to pick up. Meanwhile I sat on my suitcase and put a finger in my other ear to muffle the noises of the train station and the crowd that surrounded me.

"(Y/n), my honey! How was your journey? Did you arrive safely?" I heard my mom's lovely voice on the other end of the line, causing me to smile.

"Hi mom. Yes. Everything is fine. I am waiting for Anna right now." I told her and took a look around if she was there yet.

"I'm glad you are okay. Don't forget to rest in the evening, alright?"

I opened my mouth to speak when I heard a familiar voice not too far away from me on the right. "(Y/n)!!!" Anna yelled to me as she begun to run towards me.

"Okay, mom. Anna has arrived. I will call you later. Love you." I told her.

"Take care, honey. I love you too." She said and I barely had time to hang up, because Anna jumped on me, causing us to land on the ground.

Fortunately the impact wasn't too big, because I was wearing my backpack which prevented me from hurting myself. "Anna!" I laughed.

"(Y/n), I can't believe that you are finally here!" She said excitedly and climbed off of me, offering her hand for me to help me stand up on my feet as well.

It's been a pretty long time since we last saw each other and I was so glad to see her again. She grabbed one of my bags and we walked out of the train station together towards her car. She told me stories about what I've missed out until now, also flooding about the cool apartment she found for us.

She showed it to me already through a video call, but we all know that cannot compare to reality.

Of course when we were out in the streets I couldn't help but stare around in awe. All those huge skyscapers, the led signs, the enormous crowd and everything else I could only see on pictures and movies up until now was in front of me. I was so excited, because all of it felt unreal. It caused adrenaline rush through my mind and body.

"You look like me when I first came here." Anna laughed, unlocking the trunk to put my belongings into it.

"Why?" I asked, helping her with all the heavy stuff.

"I was as awestruck as you. Tokyo looks like as if it was an another world compared to the small village where we came from." She said, closing the trunk and walking to the driver's seat.

I followed her, sitting in the passenger seat. "Yes. It's so modern. The village is like as if we were stuck in the age of ancient Japan. Even though I like it's traditionality, this is better."

Anna drove off, heading towards our common apartment. On our way I watched my surroundings with a smile that nothing and no one could wipe off my face. The people, the shops, all those tiny and bigger restaurants, booths... sport cars I never saw in reality before. All of it was a dream. Tokyo was lively both at daytime and night. Calling myself excited was an understatement.

About half an hour later we reached a bit quieter part of the town. This region was rather full of apartment buildings. Less bright street lights and much less led signs than in downtown. The neighorhood looked friendly to me.

Anna parked the car in the parking lot, stopping the engine. We both stepped out of the car, grabbed my stuff and begun walking towards one of the buildings. If there weren't any numbers on them as a sign, I would definitely get lost and never find our home again.

My best friend however was living in the town for a while now, so she is definitely used to it and could find anything with her eyes closed too I guess. Probably later I will get used to it as well.

She led the way inside, telling me to code for the door lock of our apartment building which I forget like a moment later.

Just like when somebody tells me their name. We introduce ourselves and I swear to myself I won't forget this time, eventually failing of course. I am as bad with codes as with names. It's a miracle I didn't forget my own name yet.

Anna pushed the button for the elevator, dropping one of my heavy bags down on the ground which landed with a rough thud. "What the hell are you carrying in this? Bricks?" She asked, rubbing her shoulder, feeling a slight of pain due to the weight of my bag.

I begun laughing at her remark sarcastically. "Ha-ha... Very funny. I just brought all my necessary and personal stuff I will need."

A faint sound echoed on the main floor, signaling us that our elevator has arrived. Two unknown people which were probably living in the building as well exited, before we could get inside. Anna pushed the button to the 11th floor and soon the door closed, slowly carrying us up to our desired destination.

Once we were on the floor whereas our apartment was located as well, we exited the elevator and Anna took her keys out of her purse, opening the front door soon.

We dropped everything in the room which is going to be mine. Anna just moved in as well, so the entire place was full of boxes and unorganized stuff, but we will put everything in it's place later. She showed me around and it definitely looked betterin life than on the video call as I mentioned earlier. It was not that big, but for the two of us it will be enough.

I made my way to the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for literally anything that is edible, but it was completely empty, expect for a half bottle of milk and a half eaten tomato.

Much to my disappointment I sighed in defeat, closing the fridge as I turned to Anna. "Guess we are ordering something huh?"

She was already dialing a number and ordered a pizza. That will make it for today, but we will have to go and buy some groceries so we could make and eat proper food. Not that I'm against pizza or something, but I wouldn't want to eat fast food everyday. Besides that it's ridiculously expensive, it's unhealthy as well and I would only gain weight pretty soon...

Me and my insecurities about my body shape doesn't like the idea of junk food either...

Almost an hour passed and the pizza has arrived. Since the television wasn't unpacked as well as many other stuff, we had to rely on Anna's laptop and watched a movie as we ate our lunch... or dinner. It was getting late in the afternoon, so yeah, it was rather dinner.

"We must go out tonight." She suggested, chewing on the huge slice of pizza she took out from the box.

"Ah, no... I should rest for tonight. The train journey was so goddamn long." I whined.

"That's another reason to go out tonight. It's been so long and the guys here are so much hotter than in the village. Please~" she begged me.

I averted my gaze from her when she mentioned guys. She knew it very well that I never had a boyfriend before, so the mere thought of it made me embarassed. She wasn't a dating type either, but at least she knows a bit more about men than me.

"I don't want to go out just because you want to drool for hot guys. If we go out, then at least focus on each other." I suggested. I wasn't too much in the mood to go out, but if it was just a girls only night, I'm okay with it.

Anna sticked her tongue out. "Party pooper. You're so damn innocent. You need someone in your life to break that wall of yours. It's always the innocents who are the most perverted." She remarked, causing me to turn even more embarassed.

Why would she think about such a thing...

She continued. "But maybe you are right. Let's go out and have a girly night like in the old times."

I grinned back at her, remembering all those great times we spent together. Our sleepovers, the hot cocoas, making each others hair and makeup to make a fashion show at home. It was always so fun with her. Perhaps we could repeat it tonight with a small difference because we would actually go out and not stay at home like in the past. There was nothing in that village anyway.

After eating and finishing the movie we watched, we took turns in the bathroom and prepared for tonight. Makeup and other beauty products were spread across the counter and the sink, making a complete mess.

We did each others makeup and hair just like in the past. Anna didn't let me choose my dress though. She said she won't let me go out in my casual clothes, so she chose a dress herself from my suitcase.

"Isn't this too much?" I asked her, looking down at myself. The dress was actually sexy. It was skin tight and my favourite pair of heels matched with it, but I felt like there was too much skin exposed.

"Not at all! You look stunning! You just stay in this." She insisted, causing me to sigh in defeat.

Soon she dressed up too and we were ready to go out. She said she knows a place which I would like too, so we called a cab. She also said she is planning to drink a few rounds, so that's why she won't drive.

During our ride I told her about what happened on the train with those troublemakers and that man who saved me. She was totally hooked on the story, asking millions of questions as I continued speaking. She couldn't leave out the detail about my savior and asked me how he looked.

After we paid for the ride, we walked inside the cafe she was talking about earlier. Though for me it rather looked like a bar, but the vibe of the place was to my liking, she was right about that, so I had no problem with it.

"Well, as far as I can recall he had black hair, he was as tall and muscular as a giant. He looked quite young, but definitely older than us. There was a detail though that surely made his face unique." I told her in a nutshell as we sat down in one of the corners that seemed comfortable.

"Yes yes, what was it?" She was so excited.

"He had a scar on his lip."

I grabbed the menu on the table and scanned it's contents with my eyes, looking for a drink I might like.

"Like him?" Anna asked.

"Hm?" I looked up at her and saw her pointing at something. Or rather someone.

I didn't want to show my surprisement too much, but the gasp that left my lips didn't go unnoticed by Anna.

The man who saved me from those thugs was walking up to the bar, sitting down on of the barstools, wearing a lazy looking outfit which contained of a white shirt and black sweatpants. "Hey Johnny. The usual." he said before looking around the place to see the faces.

And of course he spotted me... A sly smirk appeared on his lips before he grabbed his glass to take a sip from the alcohol he ordered, sending a wink to my direction.

Anna elbowed me and whispered. "He remembers you!"

I'm doomed...

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

End of Chapter 2

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Extra content continuously being uploaded

-Hungarian Shinobi

[guardianspirits13]

Ok I now have the sugar and caffiene to respond to this how I meant to earlier:

Foggy has got to be the only character in the extended MCU that wants nothing to do with heroes/vigilantes/superpowered individuals.

Most characters in the MCU who aren't heroes themselves go out of their way to aid/abet/enable said heroes. They think heroes are cool or exciting or at the verly least a benefit to society.

I think a lot of Foggy's character and the Defenders saga as a whole exists in a unique pocket of time post-2012 Avengers where they are more or less regular people negatively impacted by the "incident" and the general impact of heroes on the broad populous.

Being fresh out of law school and experiencing the impact of these events shaped Foggy's perspective on the whole 'hero' schtick, which is why it is such a deeply personal blow to learn what Matt has been doing as Daredevil, beyond the law and the personal betrayal. Foggy was under the impression that they both had a very similar sense of morality, of right and wrong, and that creates an even larger crevice between them.

Even once he knows Matt is Daredevil, he wants nothing to do with it. He worries about Matt getting hurt and the possibility that an identity reveal could rebound and ruin both of their careers, but he doesn't take any interest in whatever ninja/resurrection/extracurricular bullshit Matt has going on at any given moment unless it affects him directly.

On top of this, he cares about Matt despite disapproving of vigilantism. He knows that Matt has Catholic guilt and pent up rage and how indulging in violence only results in more violence down the line. It's addictive for Matt and will one day kill him if he can't learn to control it.

It's rarely discussed in superhero movies how their heroism and self sacrifice can also be a maladaptive coping mechanism or even a form of self-harm. The only instance I can think of this happening other than Daredevil is in Iron Man 3, as Tony copes with his PTSD by obsessively creating new suits for protection and Pepper sees right through him. Most people who know heroes worry about them only in a physical sense, not wanting them to be hurt. Foggy knows Matt more deeply than that, and cares for him more deeply than that.

Just having a character who is supportive of the person behind the hero but not the heroism itself is so so interesting, especially since Foggy is only ever a force for good in Matt's life. He's not framed as being selfish or pessimistic for calling Matt out on his martyr complex, and accepts Matt's desire to help people beyond the power of the law without condoning it.

Also he's hands-down a better lawyer than Matt and that is non-negotioable 😤

ok but seriously how did the daredevil writers (squints at born again) MOST daredevil writers manage to make Foggy not just the comedic relief, not just the softer counterpart to matt’s harsh fearlessness, but ALSO the rational competent one?? like that’s an INCREDIBLE character right there! he’s definitely the funny one when situations call for it (though matt isn’t too dark and broody for comedy either lol), but he’s also the one who grounds matt and reminds him that sometimes you need to talk things through or let the law handle it, because not every fight is won with fists. BUT while he’s strong and capable in that sense, when it comes to a fight, he’s not above running away. he’ll help out if necessary, especially if you’re hurting his friends, but if not? yeah he’ll leave that up to matt thank you very much. he’s not a sidekick who can fully hold their own, but he’s NOT a damsel in distress either! HOW DO YOU PACK ALL OF THAT INTO ONE CHARACTER!! foggy nelson the man that you are

[thisgardenofromance]

You know, ever since maybe my... second viewing of the anime, I've had a sense that this was total bullshit, but I think I just figured out why.

I love him (partially because of this), but Kyoya's a bit of a fuckhead, right? Like, the whole reveal of his character over the course of the anime/manga is that he DOESN'T do everything purely for selfish reasons, but the reason that assumption was there in the first place was because he does act selfish fairly consistently. Moreover, if he's not worried for anyone's well-being and he doesn't benefit, he's likely to give all of 0% effort for a task he may be presented with the option of doing. So why tf would he give half a shit about getting into contact with and consistently updating the father of a fucking nobody? He's nowhere close to that chivalrous I guarantee you.

So. He's fucking lying. But he still contacted Ranka, so the next question would be "why?"

My personal theory has two options: heterosexual reason, or homosexual reason (I'm partial to the second one because I believe Kyoya is full gay, but to each their own).

Heterosexual reason: He has a thing for Haruhi, and is hoping to get a leg up on dating her over literally everyone else with obvious feelings for her by becoming familiar with her dad. If someone's close to their family, not only is getting a parents approval usually a factor in choosing a partner, but seeing somebody you're possibly interested in getting along with the people you love is usually something that sets off green flags in your head.

Homosexual reason: Sometime during his general research that he's explicitly confirmed to conduct on everybody he regularly interacts with, he discovered that Ranka is queer. He wanted to talk to someone 'like him', probably assuming he would just the once to satisfy curiosity and loneliness, and as soon as Ranka figured out what was going on, welp. It was over for him 😭 Ranka's your gay dad now Kyoya

(Also neither of these reasons are something he'd want to advertise, much less to Tamaki, which I think lends credibility. And he really would just. Decide to tell Tamaki exactly what he knew would fuck with him instead. Just to be a fuck. <3)

But what do y'all think

[lemotmo]

Most OOC episode ever and you didn’t hate it?

Well…

*looks around in confusion*

I mean…

No? I didn’t. 🙄

Did I miss something here Nonny? Are people not allowed to have different opinions anymore? Did someone appoint you to be the fandom police?

You do know it’s perfectly fine for you to hate an episode while other people still found some enjoyment there right?

Look, I’m not saying this was the best episode ever. Far from it… believe me. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the things that were good about it and that I really liked, next to the things I really didn’t care about and were badly handled.

These are the things I didn’t like:

A. I didn’t care for the nonchalant way a few of the characters acted about Bobby’s death. Buck, Eddie, Hen and even Maddie’s characterisation felt off somehow. They weren’t completely OOC, but a few of their reactions didn’t ring true to me.

Buck because he hardly reacted to anything in this episode, which does make me think (and hope) they’ll get back to that in a future episode.

Eddie, because the Eddie we know and love would have been on a plane the moment Bobby died. Chris would have been fine at his abuela’s for a while, because Eddie would never leave Chris with his parents. Isabella also lives in Texas now, remember?

Hen was understandably worried about Athena, but she didn’t seem all that much affected herself, which was odd.

Maddie just kinda ignored Chimney’s ordeal and sent Buck to talk to him? The Maddie we know would have forcefully sat her husband down and made him talk.

B. Tim said he killed Bobby off for realism, but where was the realism in this episode? Chimney was in organ failure two weeks ago and now he’s fine? He’s exercising himself to death and drinking copious amounts of vodka? Athena is allowed to just exhume the body of a baby and embark on an investigation around it? Where was her boss in this? She should have shut this down.

C. The lack of a logical Buddie continuation. Eddie came back from Texas, but we didn’t even get one single scene where Buck picked him up at the airport? No hug and short conversation about how the other is feeling? Buck’s feelings for Eddie were questioned in 8x11 and up until 8x13 we saw they were in regular contact. Are we just supposed to assume that they talked about Bobby over FaceTime?

D. While we’re on the topic or Buddie. Why was Ravi there in their scenes together? Don’t get me wrong, I like Ravi, but he there was literally no use for him in those scenes. He felt shoehorned in.

E. Outside of Athena and Chimney, we hardly got any of the characters reactions to Bobby dying. But we got an entire emotional scene with Gerrard’s reaction to Bobby’s death? What?! 😶

F. Athena’s investigations took up waaaaaaay too much time. Why did we have to focus so much on the fire and then the mom? Why did we need to see the scene where that woman wanted to kidnap the boy? They could have just talked about it. Why was is necessary to show the scene? It took away precious screen time from all the other main characters.

G. Finally, this was Bobby’s big goodbye. Why was it so short and kinda void of emotion? They filmed the funeral for an entire day and then we got two minutes or less in the episode? Where were the emotional beats we are so used to on 911? Remember the shooting? Or the lightning strike? The characters reacted accordingly to one of their own almost dying. But ever since Bobby’s heart-attack in season 7 the character’s reactions have been bordering on ‘not interested’ to complete ‘indifference’. What is up with that? Bad writing perhaps? Bad direction?

These are the things I liked:

A. Even though the mother & child story took up a lot of time, it did hold value for the story. It helped Athena get to grips with her feelings of Bobby dying. The story was engaging enough to keep my interest.

B. Angela and Kenny shone in this episode. Athena and Chimney’s process of grief and guilt was really well written and it made me choke up a few times in the episode. Athena kneeling down next to Bobby’s coffin in the end? Had me bawling.

C. BUDDIE! EDDIE IS BACK! I missed him and the Buddie dynamic so much! Eddie stayed at Buck’s, had stubble, felt guilty for not being there, ate crumpets and hugged and talked to Ravi. That is my Eddie all right.

I like how him and Buck snapped right back into that rhythm of them trying to comfort and reassure each other. I love how Buck told him it wasn’t his fault when Eddie blamed himself for not being there.

It was short and brief, but it opened the door for Eddie to return to LA, which he will. We already saw a lot of Ryan bts for episode 18, so we’ll get more Eddie!!!

I already complained about the fact that I wished it had been just them in those scenes, without Ravi. But on the flip-side of that, I do think Ravi was put in those scenes on purpose. (I really didn't like it though, but this was Tim's decision so I've got to deal with it.) It kept Buck and Eddie from communicating about Bobby. So I do think the show will get back to that somehow. Well—that’s what I hope anyway. 🙄🤞🤞🤞

D. The amount of ‘Bobby is alive’ foreshadowing in this episode was insane. His body was kept for 14 days? Nobody bothered to check the coffin to see if he was really in there? Not even after the empty baby-grave?

Combine that with all of the other information we already had from ‘leaks’ to hints and cast reactions? Yeah, that man is alive and well somewhere. 😏

Notice how the scene went almost exactly like the ‘leaked’ script from 1 April. The only thing missing was Bobby calling Maddie from the coffin. So my bet is that he’ll show up alive and well in 17 or 18. I don’t think they’ll go into hiatus with Bobby’s fate still undecided.

E. I loved how Athena decided to bury Bobby in Minnesota with his first family. It was so fitting for him. A perfect resting place. Bobby would have approved. It made me cry. 😭

What about the rest of season 8 and beyond that?

I’m interested in the rest of the season because I’m convinced that Bobby is alive. My guess is that they’ll show us the 118 trying to move on with their life, navigating the grief. Right up until the moment when Bobby returns.

I know I know, all of this hinges on the fact of whether or not Bobby is alive. But I’m not willing to give up on him yet. It’s all too dodgy in my opinion, so I choose to believe he is alive. If we get nothing hinting at Bobby still being alive by the end of season 8? Only then will I start accepting that he might really be dead. 🤷‍♀️

Most importantly, I do still have faith that they’ll return to Buddie in the two last episodes. The foreshadowing in 8x09, 8x10, 8x11, 8x12 and 8x13 was too big of a set-up for the show to just drop that or put it in the fridge until season 9.

I have no idea how they’ll get Eddie back to LA though. Maybe Bobby’s death put some things into perspective?

I’m also completely lost on the timeline and I refuse to speculate anymore, because at this point I truly haven’t the faintest idea how they’ll go about the Buddie of it all. 🤔

All I know is that it will be crucial for this show to make it crystal clear and very very very concrete that Buddie is a sure thing and is going canon. If there is absolutely nothing? I know that a lot of people in this fandom might not watch season 9 at all.

Personally, if we don't get anything concrete in season 8? I might just go into season 9 allowing myself to get spoiled again before each episode, just like I did at the end of season 6 and 7 when things looked so bleak and dire that I had lost a lot of hope. That way I can prepare myself for whatever is coming for Buddie: good or bad.

I also don’t think this show is doomed and that season 9 will be the last season, just because they killed off Bobby and handled his goodbye in the worst way possible.

Was it a good move? HELL NO! Will the show lose viewers because of this? Yes, that’s very likely. But a lot of them will say they won’t tune in again, but they’ll be there at the start of next season anyway.

Next to that, they will probably also gain a few new viewers along the way. This show is still one of the strongest shows ABC has. It has Oscar-winner Angela Bassett and a lot of other fan-favourite actors. So yeah, I do think this show will be just fine in the end.

But just imagine how many viewers it would gain if Bobby would turn out to be still alive? What an amazing twist would that be? And if they throw in Buddie with that? Well, you’d have an unbeatable duo right there.

So yeah, I still have faith in both here.

Does that mean that everyone should share my opinion now Nonny? No, of course not. Everyone’s opinion is valid here. If you hated the episode? I completely understand. I get why and I support you 100%. If you loved it and thought it was the greatest episode ever? Great! Good for you! Once again I support you 100%.

All I’m saying is that I’m somewhere in between right now, trying to see the bright side of things. My opinion might change at the end of this season, but this is where I'm at right now.

That’s just how I roll Nonny. Sorry not sorry. 🤷‍♀️

[perfectblves]

still annoyed at infold for how they handled sea of stars storyline so heres a rough rewrite/redo/whatever you wanna call it

firstly, its part of the main story, but is a new chapter instead of a random retcon to the beginning. i personally think it flows best after unlocking silvergale, but if they really want people to unlock it asap, the earliest it can be introduced is after nikki learns about the coma cases. i think the old introduction is really well done and an important tutorial for the basic gameplay loop (so it really confuses me that they just scrapped it)

this way, the nikkiverse can be introduced OR expanded on, without burning down what was already established to players. bc the game *does* mention alternate timelines, they just chose to deal with it in the most obnoxious way. if it canonically happens after giovannis timeline quote, then it gives more weight to it. if it happens before that, then it doesnt come as such a random surprise lol

ANYWAYS. onto the (semi) rewrite.

- after fulfilling whatever requirement, you get a new quest notification that tells you to go to the stylist guild

- once ur there, you get a short cutscene of nikki being like "momo .. lately somethings been off about the heart of infinity... it hurts and it feels like someones calling for me" (if it happens earlier than after silvergale, nikki just says the heart of infinity hurts and she feels someone calling for her)

- obvs momo is like what!!! lets ask dada

- before they can enter though, nikki goes "ow momo, its happening again-" and momo panics as she wobbles on her feet and passes out

- this could go momo-less or have momo. choose what u wanna believe in lol

- we then see the cutscene of A Different nikki and ruined miraland. *our* nikki is watching all this happen and is really worried, and she tries to use her floating outfit to reach the other nikki

- she doesnt make it, so she wakes up in the water... space... thing like the intro screen

- seer is there and shes like Oh my pink star thank goodness i managed to save you. obviously nikki is confused and lost, and worries about her friends in miraland, and especially the person she just saw.

- seer replies that it wasnt *her* miraland that was destroyed, so she shouldnt worry too much. also there should be some dialogue that heavily implies that The Other nikki tried to summon Our nikki for help, whether on purpose or accidentally.

- the rest proceeds mostly the same, just without the random ass tutorial shoehorned in. seer can infodump as much as she wants since NOW it makes a little more sense

[rafeyscumangel]

adding onto my last ask since i reached photo limit

trying to say that hannah and moony weren’t anti semitic when they’ve been targeting jewish people and are clearly uneducated on the troubles of jewish people and are generally uneducated. also they really seem to have this narrative of you calling them anti semitic when from what i recall, you never did.

i also want to bring attention to how they’re now defending someone who has evidence of being a zionist but it is tearing down a good person just for not letting them walk all over them, that’s weird. they most likely switched up just because they got called out on their anti semitism. gladiatorcunt, moony and hannahs behaviour is all very anti semitic and it seems like they’re trying to desperately disprove it.

if you need to call stuff bait, then clearly you’re in the wrong. because how is simply mentioning someone’s acting anti semitic bait? if you responded and people would be able to call you anti semitic for it, then you simply are anti semitic.

desperately looking for excuses to talk about you but not to you. and then mentions mis gendering, which is ofc wrong

then they get called out for hypocrisy and they’re just completely unbothered and acts like someone accidentally using the word girl when referring to them is as bad as anti semitism. if i’m remembering correctly these are the people that said you calling out anti semitism was trying to create a diversion.

someone they’re defending also called out anti semitism, and they were all for it. but when you do it it’s wrong?

they then try actually diverting the main problem.

this entire thing is hypocritical and i’m sorry you’re experiencing this. us jewish people will never be left alone, we’ll always be dramatic and in the wrong and less important.

That ‘someone’ was cameronsbabydoll. we used to be close but then she honestly through her own people under the bus so that she can get away with the shit she’s doing. And moonys going along with it despite that twitter account clearly being hers. That shows her little care for the actual situation.

The way she tries saying she ‘doesn’t see it’. I also thought that it was odd that while all this stuff was going on she was still worried about reaching 10k…

And anti semitism is so normalized, they’ll never accept or take responsibility for the bit of anti semitism they displayed today. And i agree 100% about the bait stuff.

I really wish i could handle this privately but they obviously have 0 care and their’s always so much lying about me i can take. And when my mutuals start to get dragged into it that’s a completely different story. All the anti semitism i and others have been experiencing is tiring.

[centrally-unplanned]

I definitely liked this essay, and think it contains a real truth, but I do think it is missing something because the explanation doesn't quite hang together. To summarize for the fuck-clicking-links crowd, it outlines how the value of commerical real estate is a function of its expected rents, and that most commercial asset ventures are funded by debt from banks with the terms of that debt set to the asset price - a building is worth $20 million because you expect net rent paid by tenants to be $1 million a year (and due to market norms people typically expect a building to earn 5% of its value per year, don't worry about the cap rate rn). So if you have a ton of vacancies, you could lower rents and make more money...but then you are essentially saying the building is worth less, and since you took out a ~$20 million dollar loan to finance it, you just lost a ton of money on paper. And the bank now has a negative asset on the books. So you both "pretend" the vacancies is a temporary blip to keep the asset value up.

This logic has that nice, 'first blush' appeal to it, but it is handwaiving away a bunch of things outside the frame. Like who decides on asset values, after all? Not the bank! They say they do, but that is just a claim they have to make good on if they ever sell the asset. Someone has to buy it for $20 million for it to be worth $20 million. And if you think that buyer wouldn't notice that the building had a 50% vacancy rate for a decade, you have even less faith in markets than I do! This trick doesn't work, right? Bank balance sheets are heavily investigated by investors, business partners, etc. They notice these things.

Now, this is not to say the world isn't full of accounting sleight-of-hand, it absolutely is. But typically, and I mean really typically, that accounting sleight-of-hand is not done by forgoing revenue. People will absolutely pretend coal is a diamond, but not to the point of refusing to sell it to a willing buyer. There are a lot of downstream consequences of trying that - like in this scenario the commercial real estate holder is losing money on an investment! Which affects their creditworthiness, and thus the financing terms on their current and future projects. They can't just eat losses willy-nilly in order to do fake accounting, they need money to do The Business.

And if you can accounting-trick your way into not depreciating an asset, you can double-down and trick your way into renting it out too - as the essay itself admits:

Misha Valdman asked: If the system allows you to pretend that the vacancy is temporary, why doesn’t it allow you to lower rents on the pretense that lower rents are also temporary? This does happen sometimes: it’s packaged as “incentive offers,” like 50% off the first 12 or 24 months rent, or 6 months without rent, etc, that lower the average rent over the life of the lease without lowering the “list price.” That’s common in residential leases, and I know it happens sometimes in commercial leases, but I don’t know how prevalent it is.

He inserts this as like a handwaive, right, like "oh yeah you could do X, maybe", but like, no, everyone would do this, right? Tons of money is on the line here, this wouldn't be something that some companies dabble in for fun.

Which I can showcase, as the above comment alludes to, because the structure of the commercial real estate market is virtually identical to the structure of the residential rental market. The homeowner market is totally different, but large apartment buildings are absolutely built by large enterprises using a ton of debt, building financial assets for which the price of the asset is of high importance and is derived from the inputed rental income. And residential real estate just doesn't have high vacancy rates! When rents do go down, like in Covid, in the short term buildings absolutely do that whole 50% off thing, and if that doesn't stick they lower rates. Hell, they have more of an incentive to stick to fake numbers because rent control and the like restricts their freedom of pricing! But they fill units because that is how you make money.

Okay, all of that said, I am not saying that this is fully false - for one, I am sure it is a thing that occurs, particularly "at first". I can absolutely see companies refusing to admit to reality for ~6 months or w/e because that would make for some awkward convos with the bank and they would rather pray the vacancies away, very typical stuff. But in the longer-term that doesn't hold. However, it could hold if there is some kind of regulatory issue here - some tax rule, accounting standard, something, that would explain why this market doesn't clear the way it should. I believe that could be true very easily - it just isn't outlined in this essay, I want the details on that.

Still, my instinct is that we don't need an explanation for this because...we don't have high retail vacancy rates! They are actually incredibly low. This might be a fake problem, outside of micro contexts where you know life happens like in every industry. The essay mentions that big 5-and-1 style residential units in places like SF are mandated to have ground floor retail that the building pretty much treats as an amenity to the residents as opposed to a money-making endevour, so there you go, that situation is explained. And of course office vacancies are super high because of hybrid work, but you can't trivially convert office buildings to apartments, right? That is a fundamental use mismatch, and also a zoning story, etc.

I'm not convinced there is truly anything big here we are trying to explain. I am open to the idea, to be clear, it is very possible. But what is equally possible is just that people really notice when their favourite store goes away and the lot sits vacant for 3 years, before a new chain moves in and pays a higher rent for ~20 years in a totally smart move on the owner's part; they read the market correctly. Or we notice the one building that sits vacant for a decade because the owner OD'd on ketamine while on a "business retreat" in Palm Springs and his three kids by as many mistresses have plunged his estate into probate for so long the legal fees have eaten away the entirety of the equity and at this point paying off the accumulated property taxes in arrears could never hit the black so everyone is just pretending the asset doesn't exist anymore while it blights a corner on 5th and Main. Sometimes that is just how it be! Our intuitions on this stuff just aren't good data on how a market functions.

This is a much better and more thorough explanation of the “why does commercial real estate sit vacant instead of lowering rent until they find a tenant?” phenomenon than the ones I saw spitballing on Tumblr. Those were close but didn’t have the full answer to my satisfaction.

[turtleblogatlast]

Leo getting hit with a truth curse but instead of forcing him to admit to super sad or worrying things it’s things like “it was me who broke the remote” “I saw Mikey prank Donnie and helped hide it because it’s way funnier if he didn’t know who it was” “I rip my clothes to look more like Raph’s because he’s really cool” “my stripes aren’t even red they’re pink!”

[bookwyrm-art-stuff]

I analyze fandoms the same way I analyze the media they're built around and that should concern all of you

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Hello, me again.

Thx for answering :)

I guess Zhongli really is a catch in the eyes of everyone, and no one really knows Childe. So maybe they wouldn't get what Zhongli sees in Childe. At least not at first. Maybe we'll get to see more of his badass side later on? I'm also curious if he got some powers from Skirk and the Abyss.

Anyway, their relationship is really cute and developing nicely.

Looks like I mixed up some of Guizhongs and Hu Taos actions ^^"

as another ask just said, there is sort of like a jessica and roger rabbit situation going on there from the eyes of everyone else. like you said, nobody really knows childe here, so for everyone to consider zhongli liking him (zhongli, legendary thaumaturge, certified gentleman, gorgeous man) is kinda like ????? out of left field hahah

i think if they stop to think about it the folks close to them would kinda get it but still be confused. like- you like childe? ...i mean yeah i guess he's very nice. he's also pretty. and yeah he's very generous and kind. and he cares a lot about the kids and he's very good w them. and he gets along with like everyone if you give him some time- ok yeah i can see it. yeah nevermind i get it.

(whereas when they realize childe likes zhongli the reaction is an immediate "of course you would")

[shinra-makonoid]

If you have no counseling, no vacation, no way to have money to retire etc, it is exploitation. Just because it's the norm or that you consider yourself lucky because at least you have a job and don't starve, doesn't make it less so.

That's a pretty bitchy and guilt-tripping way to ask money and it's pretty disgusting. I frankly don't really want to support you, I don't know you, and it's not my habit to give money to literal strangers who claim things out. And that's even without considering the fact that I am currently jobless and I am barely above the level of poverty in my country myself. Politically I'd rather support the politicians who will support helping other countries to grow, and I've been doing so for the countries my country has invaded and used as slaves.

Sources from the blog you posted itself says there is a lot of use of power dedicated to the usage of AI:

The NVIDIA bit you talked about is regarding IA usage too, it increases the max power consuption per server:

And your blog link doesn't understand the rebound effect, which has been happening with every outbreak of technology. We find something that is more effective and cost less energy by being more effective? Then we do much more of that technology, which increases the overall usage of energy compared to before. Because that's how people make money. It's been a consistent trend in human history. I sadly do not think that the trend of generative AI will end, but I do hope I'm wrong obviously.

In another source from your blog post:

Image generation is faaaar more greedy in CO2, which is what it's been very much used these past years +++ like the usage exploded altogether (your blog is from almost a year ago, there were a tremendeous amount of change regarding AI since then). And we're moving more and more toward the generation of movies. All of those will need to be stored in servers too.

Here is an article that shows the difference between a google search and other artificial intelligence usage regarding prompts:

And your blog post doesn't talk about the water. Edit: oh yeah it actually does, but from guesses and strange equivalences (? Using 2 hours of your PC doesn't automatically consume water as a form of electricity, at all, that's a super weird simplification and equivalence), meanwhile the sources inside the source given by the blog says this:

Which in turn increases the issues with access for water to populations who are already in a difficult position. All of this for something we could completely avoid.

And look, you gotta do what you gotta do to survive, if AI is good for you money wise, then go for it, but don't pretend it's green or that it's not going to harm people or that it won't cause worrying issues worldwide. If you're okay with that, and if you're ok to be exploited and mistreated by your job, then you don't need to argue about it on the internet.

Finally, again, none of those arguments have anything to do with your first post, which was a straw man of the position people take in regards to AI, as demonstrated here.

also this iea that AI is uniquely evil for how it bastardizes or repurposes great sacred works of art into undignified profane cynical purposes, like the whole studio ghibli style thing.

buddy, did you never see porn of your favourite character being drawn before? you never read a fan fic of a story that meant a lot to you with all the characters being wildly OOC? you never saw a movie or a song that had deep emotional resonance being parodied and reduced to a dumb fart joke? did you fall off the turnip truck this morning?

art WILL be bastardized, it will be repurposed and it will be profaned, that is the nature of art, that is what you open yourself to when creating art and releasing it to the whole wide world, people will grab it and do something weird and uncomfortable that will offend your sensibilities with it.

but like, this is nothing new, this is like the first thing i learned when i made a deviant art account when i was 15 back in 2008. i saw drawings of aang making out with the fire lord, i saw fan fics where ginny weasly was deeply catholic, i saw a parody of schindlers list called schindlers fist where he just fisted hitler. the first thing you learn online is to grow a thick skin around that.

ive seen deeply humilliating porn based on ghibli characters in the past! this is not new! this is not some new kind of evil that AI brought forth! i feel like im the only person who ever used the internet!

[birthclod]

thinking about ch0mpkin's evil evbo post (evilbo, if you will) and going "How can I align this with My Interests (the axes)" and the answer is Very easily actually

[gobblewonkrs]

Been doing a bunch of cleanup + maintenance on my laptop for the past few days and it makes me so happy lolol. I just like seeing her all cleaned up and getting to brush the dust outta her. Its fun and i'd bet it makes her feel a lot better than she was...

I also had a new SSD come in for her today that a friend helped me install so she also has more space! plus after moving her files over/cleaning up some apps i don't use it feels like she's running a bit quicker now (that could just be the new drive tho) <3<3<3

[this-should-do]

me when i meet with my colleges first out trans teacher who is like a celebrity with me after one of my teachers puts me in contact with her again (i had interviewed said trans teacher 4 years prior and hadnt met with her since) and she tells me tjat my teacher had so many positive things to say about me, about how i was one of her brightest most well spoken students and that she (within like 5 minutes of having been talking) immediately sees exactly what my professor had been talking about and so many super implied positives about me that i would never had known about and i dod everything in my power to avoid prying for more details but even what i heard was soso nicies