#and for a majority of the marks to stem from active choices they made

[sparky-is-spiders]

If I may be weird and petty for a moment, I don't get AUs where Martin is the Archivist when Melanie and Sasha are right there?? I mean I get why: roleswaps are popular AUs and martin is a popular character. And maybe its just my specific headcanons re: archivist requirements but I feel like the other two would be so much better?

Yes, Martin reads statements and yes, he gets marked, but I really don't think those are the Only Requirements to do the big ritual? Cause at that point Elias could've chosen any web-marked dude off the street, especially if they have the mark of another entity as well already.

Melanie and Sasha shared several important traits with Jon, most notably a burning curiosity, a willingness to put themselves in trouble for information, and (in Melanie's case (and Sasha's too, arguably) an ability to antagonize extremely dangerous fear avatars. Sasha's whole statement is her putting herself in a dangerous situation without telling anyone or acquiring any help (remind you of any main characters?) and running face first into supernatural dangers (sometimes to protect her friends, sometimes out of curiosity). Useful for collecting marks, but also useful for collecting information and developing her own powers as the Archivist. Considering her seemingly unrepentant willingness to look through her friends' and coworkers' personal files via accessing their accounts, I'd argue that her curiosity and boundary crossing could easily get stronger when investigating supernatural entities. Obviously, this never happened because of how early on she died, but I think you could make a strong case for Sasha's strong curiosity making some avatars incredibly mad. Not to mention how incredibly Beholding it is of her. None of this is criticism btw, I think Sasha should have access to whatever personal info she wants and I love it when characters are so obviously Eye-aligned. I know "Sasha wasn't promoted because she'd solve all the problems and find a way to kill Jonah" is also a popular headcanon but please think for a MOMENT about her appearances in podcast. There weren't many, but there's a very obvious through-line in almost all of them. She's curious, she takes risks in the face of the supernatural, she wants to Know. It's literally what caused the circumstances of her statement. Those traits are arguably the ones that got her KILLED. I'm sorry this went off on a tangent. I just love Sasha very much and I'm constantly filled with Thoughts of Sasha.

Melanie also has curiosity about the supernatural AND a much more obviously antagonistic personality!! Her first appearance is being a total asshole to Jon, mocking him, the place he works at, the equipment they use, and what they do. But she also dedicated basically her entire career into uncovering the supernatural? She ran a Youtube channel about it, and when she discovered that everyone was sticking to the same "safe" sites, she started looking off the beaten path for the real stuff. And she found it! She went looking for ghosts of war and violence and even without access to statements, probably working alone and sifting through bunk on the internet, she found them! She got stabbed by a ghost and instead of trying to avoid ghosts in the future, she decided to look for more violent ghosts. The slaughter tendencies might be a drawback for her becoming the Archivist, yes, but by that point Jon had already survived multiple marks and was developing his powers. If he failed by that point, Elias might've wanted an Archivist who'd be better able to defend themselves. By S4 Melanie was probably far enough gone to the Slaughter (and hated the Eye enough) that she was probably off the table as a candidate. By that point, however, Jon was expected to fully Become and only needed a few more marks.

I understand that Sasha was approved for a transfer to the Archives because Elias let Jon choose who take with him and Jon chose Sasha. And Melanie was almost certainly chosen to keep Jon in close proximity of a Slaughter-aligned person who'd be likely to mark him but unlikely to kill him. But I think that they served a secondary purpose of being backup Archivists in case something happened to Jon.

Obviously this is more headcanon than theory (not to mention it relies on other headcanons to fully stand) but I'm very fond of it. I guess I think that, even if Elias wasn't really looking for another Archivist when Jon seems like the perfect candidate in every way (and I'm not saying this JUST because I love him), I think that if something did happen to Jon, they'd be Elias' next candidates.

[itsclydebitches]

If we want to give RWBY the most generous interpretation possible, I'd say the whole thing was meant to say that the mistakes Ruby made in previous volumes were a result of trying to emulate Summer/fairy tale heroes, and the whole arc of the volume is her learning that these heroes are flawed and she shouldn't try to emulate them perfectly. Of course, this really wasn't set up well if that's the case, but hey I'm trying to throw a bone here.

I do think that's the general vibe they were going for. Like the generic "be yourself" message, it's a great takeaway on the surface, just horribly executed to the point of, at times, actively undermining what RT wants to say. Example: accepting yourself is the ultimate end goal so that's why, uh... Ascension turns you into someone entirely new? Unless you're the protagonist, of course, because what story wants to deal with that can of worms.

Beyond the numerous issues I have with Volume 9 itself, I find this "Ruby needed to accept that she was trying to live up to the impossible standard of Summer Rose" to be incredibly unpersuasive given that Summer hasn't been portrayed as a perfect hero for the majority of the series. Maybe at the very start when Ruby was more naively optimistic and less informed, but definitely not past Volume 4. She learned fairly early in the story that Summer didn't just die on a random huntsmen mission doing Good Hero Work, but that this was something connected to Salem - AKA, the super morally ambiguous fight that the group has been criticizing since they learned of its existence. Ruby herself has experienced being a huntress in this world, making gray choices left and right (if I'm being kind), so how in the world would she have maintained this idealized image of Summer's own career? To say nothing of how Ruby never expresses any opinions about Summer, warped or otherwise, because no one ever talks about her. The supposedly ~emotional~ trinket this Volume was a rose emblem Ruby gave up after never ONCE mentioning it before she's given it back from the tree and... proceeds to continue not mentioning it. After 9 Volumes Summer has remained firmly in the personality void of Dead Mothers. All we knew about her going into this Volume was that she was a SEW and liked to bake cookies. We couldn't even emphasize her reading Ruby impressionable, highly inaccurate fairy tales because the early Volumes told us that Yang read her those. Summer doesn't exist as a person, so all we have to work with is Ruby's own experiences which consistently undermine the idea that her mother was a flawless hero. She was part of what Ruby now knows to be a highly, systematically flawed career, working for Ozpin, who then died. Without some inkling as to how Ruby sees her mother - and how she's maintained that narrow perspective in the face of everything in Volumes 3-8 - what about this says Perfect Person, Impossible to Emulate?

Which makes the whole "My mother LIED? Omg she wasn't perfect?? Clearly I don't need to be perfect either! 🤯" revelation... not really a revelation at all. Which isn't even taking into account a) Ruby's own choice to give a doozy of a lie a couple weeks back (if anything, she should consider that a mark in Summer's favor) and b) the fact that this depression, self-doubt, and suicidal ideation stems from the very real problems Ruby has no idea how to fix. It's like watching someone collapse because their house is on fire and they don't have any means of putting it out. "Don't worry," the mystical therapist says, "Your mother loves you and you don't have to be perfect." Fantastic takeaway! The house is still burning.

[spectascopes]

Without a Second Thought- Chapter 1

Undertale Fanfiction (Gen, SFW) No relationships or pairings Tags (from AO3): Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Trauma, Mental Health Issues, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Trust Issues, Sans is a Mess, Good Parent Toriel, Toriel is Frisk's Mom, Manipulation, Flowey isn't a great friend, but nobody is surprised, Soriel Lightly Implied, Past Child Abuse, Narrator Chara, Major Character Injury, Injury Recovery, Crying, lots and lots of crying, Reader is Frisk Link to AO3 version

"You got through the Underground with the help of a ghostly companion nobody else could see, and you made a lot of friends along the way, but Chara didn't come with you into the sunlight. Now you have a new mom, and a new family, but no extra brain to help you make the right choices. It might have lasted, too, if you hadn't messed it up."

this is called frangst (Frisk Angst) and it's mostly about Sans and Frisk and a really bad situation

anyways I've been kinda on/off working on this for months, so most of it is already written! BIG HUGE SHOUT OUT to @kaliawai512-v2 for reading this and giving me some insightful and super helpful feedback, go read their stories if you haven't already!

TW for some intense emotions and results of emotional and verbal abuse in later chapters, I'm a bit of a wimp myself but I kinda maybe definitely cried maybe more than once writing this- allegedly

You sighed, laying in the backyard under the shade of the big oak tree mom tended to so well. She was inside making dinner- you could hear her humming to herself through the open window. She insisted it remained open, because-

"Ugh, is this really all you do? Just sit around? You've been spending too much time with Trashbag."

You sighed again, this time in exasperation. You opened your eyes and turned to see the plant in question giving you a dirty look. It was no wonder mom didn’t exactly trust him.

"It's a little mean to still call him that," you said. "He gave you a sandwich at that party one time, remember? That was really nice of him."

"Uh, yeah, you asked him to do that and Papyrus said if he didn't he’d be disowned. I bet he tried to poison me with it."

You rolled your eyes, but it was with a smile. "How much?"

Flowey groaned, blew a raspberry, then hit you in the face with a floppy leaf. "Fine, you called my bluff. He's not really the type to do things, I guess."

You sat up, pulling your legs in to sit criss-cross. Flowey's pouty, ever-cranky face had a bit of happiness in it. He poked a bruise on your leg.

“What’s this from? That’s probably a more interesting story than anything to do with Sans.”

You swept his vines away. “I ran into the coffee table. Papyrus was chasing me.”

“Stupid. You two are like dogs- like little baby dogs, you know that? Chasing each other around the house, you’re-”

“We’re dogs,” you finished, smiling. “I get it. We both like to run and play- is that a crime?”

“It should be,” Flowey said. “If I had my way, it would be. And no more of the idiotic play-fights you have with Smiley, those are just horrible to watch. You don’t even hit each other enough to do damage! Weirdos!.”

“C’mon, you should come with us and get suplexed by Undyne sometime. It’s her favorite activity.”

Flowey shuddered, and it was funny to watch it run up his stem and shake out into his petals. “Eugh. I don’t understand how you shrug off getting bruised and bloody ‘playing’ with these losers while also being the biggest wimp I’ve ever met.”

You smiled, idly touching the small mark. Mom had scolded you (and Papyrus) thoroughly and made it quite clear that any chases had to happen outside from then on. It was funny watching a grown skeleton sheepishly twiddle his thumbs in shame.

"Where have you been, by the way?" you asked Flowey, reaching over and brushing some dirt off of his petals. You pretended not to notice him flush and straighten his stem, but it was funny regardless. Maybe if he came around more he'd get used to casual, platonic dirt-wiping.

"Oh, you know. Here and there. Doing some research, sight-seeing, that sorta thing," he said, flipping a leaf nonchalantly. "You wouldn't get it since you're stuck here all the time with Miss Fussy Paws."

"You mean your mom?" 

Flowey gave you a real dirty look this time, and you shrank away, a quick 'sorry' coming out.

"She's your mom, idiot. She's... not mine right now."

"Right now?" you pressed, feeling at-ease enough to risk angering this one friend. Actually, he was probably your only friend you felt this comfortable with. It wasn’t like you could really hurt his feelings- he didn’t have any.

"Yeah- well- maybe not forever I dunno GOSH let's stop talking about this!" Flowey complained, dramatically flopping his head on the ground. "I didn't come to talk about that!"

You nodded. "Well, what did you come to talk about? I haven't seen you in months." Flowey had first popped up half a year after they'd all made it to the surface, going back on his self-promise to stay underground and out of their hair. That had been almost two years ago, and he'd come around only a handful of times since. They were always welcome visits despite his propensity towards being a pot-stirrer.

"You, silly goose!" he said, popping below the ground for a quick second and then back up on your other side, even closer. He slapped away another attempt at keeping him dirt-free. "I was thinking about your SAVE!"

You raised a brow at him. "Uh... okay?"

"You can still do that, right? You didn't turn into a spineless wimp?"

"Yeah, I think so, but it's been a long time since I have. If I'm never going to reset or reload or whatever again, what's the point in bringing up a SAVE?" You’d reset only a handful of times, always because you died and lost your nerve- deciding it was easier to go back to the beginning than to press forward and keep dying. You shivered at the thought.

Flowey grinned. "What if you could do something cool without resetting?"

You went quiet. You looked up at the window, heard mom still humming away, and then back to the flower.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, listen- you know that one part in that one god-awful movie where that wizard finds a wardrobe that rewinds time kinda but ONLY on the one object? I think he does an apple but I honestly don’t remember, it was boring. Do you know it?"

"Ew, you watched that? The author is a mega-bigot."

"Okay, I don't care! Shush!" Flowey said. "Humans are WEIRD and I'm not learning about all the ways you hate each other- my point is that it made me think about you and your resets!"

You rubbed your face. You needed a haircut, you noticed as you pushed the longer-than-normal bangs aside. You'd have to talk to Mew Mew soon, she’d been getting into that sort of thing.

"Flowey, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want to mess with stuff like that anymore, I promised myself and everybody here that I'd never do it again."

"And you won't!" he said with a wink. You opened your mouth to protest the wink and whatever implication he was making with it, but Flowey was quick to stretch his stem way up and put a leaf to your lips. "But that and some other stuff got me thinking about the possibilities of all that determination in you. Do you see where I’m going yet?"

"No, not really," you said, arms crossed. "You had practically eternity to mess with all that before I came along, if it could be done you would have figured it out."

"Not true! I might be clever but I never had the full picture."

"Inspiration from Transphobe Supreme?"

Flowey stared at you for a second. You groaned, knowing full-well that most monsters didn't know what that meant, and moved on.

"Look, I just... I just don't want to mess with it," you said, rubbing an arm. "I might not have cared so much before, since I didn't know anybody that well and things felt too good to be true, but... but now I know they are true and I'm not going to risk any of them getting mad at me."

Flowey rolled his eyes. "Really? You're not going to try and figure out if you have super powers cause you're scared mommy will get mad?"

You looked away. Yeah, that was exactly what you were saying. Mom, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, Sans, Asgore- all of them knew about the resets and if they found out you were messing with determination and SAVES, they'd be mad. Well, one person in particular would be way more mad and it was because he knew way more than the others. You weren't going to put family grocery excursions with the skeleton brothers at risk.

"Friiiisk," Flowey whined, laying his head on your thigh and warping his face into a big-eyed, pleading expression. "C'mon, I've done a lot of poking around the SAVE-data and all that reality-fabric stuff, I know what I'm doing! We just have to alter some of it, not all! Imagine how cool it would be to reset just a little bit! Sans and Papyrus have some irregularities in their data and it lets them do that cool stuff they do!"

"Nope," you said, turning away from him. "I won't imagine it because it's pointless."

"It's not pointless, you just haven't thought about it!" Flowey exclaimed, annoyingly popping up right in front of you again. "What if you could reset the brown bananas on the counter to be yellow again? Or- or reset a plant all the way back to a seed?"

You tried to pivot away from him, but he popped right back up. You opted to close your eyes instead, arms crossed tightly. 

"... dust back to a monster?"

You looked down at the flower, staring up at you with a smile.

"I know you care about all these losers, but what if something bad happens to them ? If Alphys keeled over tomorrow, are you telling me you wouldn't be tempted to reset to last week?"

"Well... well, maybe I’d think about it, but-"

"What if Undyne begs you to, and you do, but then Sans never forgives you?" Flowey asked. You bit your lip- you knew he was just trying to get what he wanted, but he was way too good at it to ignore. Especially when it hit so close to home and what kept you up at night.

"You can't say it wouldn't be nice to just bring her back."

"Of course I can't, but... but that's not how life is. Nobody else gets resets and it- it isn't fair to them." You stared at the dirt between your legs. "...I heard mom and Sans talking one night, and he said that he knew about me a long time ago. He said I was an 'anomaly' and that he'd spent years trying to figure out how to..." You swallowed. "... to stop me."

"Stop you?!" Flowey balked. "Stop you from what, existing? That guy is a trashbag if he-"

"He didn't know," you said softly. "Him and mom had drank a little bit and they thought Papyrus had taken me outside to catch lightning bugs, but he'd actually just fallen asleep on the porch cause he drank a little bit, too-"

"Love the details but I'm dying to know the point," Flowey pressed.

"The point is he didn't know I was there and he said he still doesn't really believe I won't reset again, all the way back to the beginning. Mom said she knew me and she knew that I wouldn't, but that she understood. I didn't hear the first half of the conversation, but Sans sounded kinda sad." You sniffled, not quite crying but almost there. "I think he blames me for something, and I don't want to make him mad."

Flowey stared at your shirt for a few moments as he processed what you'd said. Toriel's humming could be heard in that time, occasionally turning into singing and then back again. The sun was going down in earnest.

"Well, for one," Flowey began as he crossed his own leaves, "we aren't going to reset on accident, but also- if Sans ends up not trusting you, would that really be the end of the world?"

"Yes," you said with a waver in your voice, and the tears won out. Flowey seemed surprised, leaning his stem away from you, and it gave you a chance to rub at your eyes with the sleeve of your shirt. You grit your teeth, eyes closed, before taking a few deep breaths like Alphys had taught you to, letting the anxiety ease. She knew about your anxiety, and that was all she’d know.

When you opened your eyes, Flowey was looking up at you in... worry? It was something close to it, at least. Mixed with disgust, as usual.

"You, uh... you good?" he asked.

You wiped your nose as you pulled your knees to your chest. "I know you think you know everything, but you don’t ." You felt a little bad being so blunt with him, but you didn't know how else to communicate with the soulless plant. "They're my family, Flowey. My only family."

Flowey's brows knit in confusion before his expression evened out again. After another moment, he frowned.

"I don't want to lose them," You mumbled into your knees.

For once, Flowey didn't  have something smart or rude to say. He wilted a little bit, looking off at nothing. You did your best to hide your face, embarrassed to have cried so easily. Flowey- Asriel- had been through so much, but he had grown up with a family who loved him. A mom and dad- a sibling- people who would still love him if he let them back in. It had taken you ten years to find a semblance of that in a bunch of monsters you hardly knew, and you’d do anything for it. 

You didn't talk about how things had been before you wound up Underground. You didn't want to just be the scared kid from a bad home who cried too much, and you'd been doing such a good job. When the fear rose up- when you felt even the slightest bit rejected or annoying- you had kept it in. You only cried when nobody was around. You didn’t have Chara to help you make the right decisions anymore- it was on you to do that from here on out. And that pressure was suffocating after a brief time of having a second, smarter opinion in your brain. One that everybody liked more than the real you, probably.

So, yes, if even one of them suddenly decided you were not worth it to keep around, it felt like your world would end. 

"I try to forget a lot of the stuff that I learned when I was still a monster, but I don't think family is supposed to be conditional," Flowey finally said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. He looked up at you, face as normal as it could be in his state. "Sure, they might be losers, but I'm pretty sure none of them would show you the door over one little mess-up."

"But you don't know that," you whispered, looking over at the kitchen window where mom was busy baking. Your mom, in your house, where you felt safe. 

What if something happened to her? What if she got really sick and then you were left with nothing again? 

You wouldn't reset- you would never reset or reload, even if thinking about anything bad happening to Toriel made your stomach twist up in knots. But what if Flowey was actually right... what if there was a way to use your power for something else?

"I know them, though,” Flowey continued,  “and I know Toriel would never just boot you out. Papyrus would overlook literal murder."

You wrinkled your nose at that, and Flowey was quick to shrug and say:

"Don't ask. But, pal, even if they do get mad at you, isn't it worth it to find a way to protect them? Some might not understand, but if we can mess with your SAVE without resetting- which we can- isn't being able to bring them back from the dead worth a little bit of emotional turmoil? We might even find some crazy, less reality-bending thing you can do! You’re a human with determination, after all- I’m just a houseplant."

Flowey had a point and you hated it. You looked at him, tears tucked safely away again, before you reached down and patted the top of his petal-y head with your hand. He groaned in not-quite protest.

"Yeah. I'd do anything for you guys."

Flowey's blush at the sentiment quickly faded as he flapped his leaves together in excitement. "Really? You'll do it?"

"I'll help you look into it. But I'm not promising anything- if it looks even a little bit dangerous-"

"Then we stop!" Flowey chirped, moving forward and hugging your wrist. "Oh, wow, I'm so glad I got through to you! I'll be back tomorrow evening, friend! I have to get a couple things ready!"

You smiled. Even if you were uneasy about this, seeing Flowey so happy made it feel far more bearable. 

"Okay. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Nope! See ya tomorrow!" he said, and just like that he was gone. 

You let out another big, deep sigh. You looked up at the leaves, swaying gently in the breeze, dappling the ground below with soft patches of light.

Toriel came out ten minutes later to get you for dinner. She still wore her flour-covered apron and a loving smile, though the latter of the two was hardly ever absent.

“Dinner is ready, my child.” Toriel called. She looked around the yard. “Where is Flowey? Is he not joining us tonight?”

You got to your feet and went to your mom, giving her a big hug. You laid your face on her torso regardless of the powder on it. She smelled like the kitchen and cinnamon. She smelled like home.

Toriel hugged you back, getting down on one knee to be easier to reach. She nuzzled her soft cheeks into your hair, something so sweet and affectionate that you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to it. 

“He had to go. I tried to get him to stay but I think he’s still a little nervous.” You didn’t mention that it was because Toriel was his mother, because Flowey had not told her that in this timeline and it wasn’t your place to do so.

Toriel laughed. “He does not strike me as the nervous type, but we all have our fronts, do we not?” she said, standing and swooping you up into her strong, furry arms. 

You squeaked, then giggled. “You don’t have to carry me to the table, I can walk,” you said as you snuggled close to her. Even without your second opinion brainworm/safety net combo, you felt safe with Toriel. She was the only one that you trusted to be there no matter what, even if you said the wrong thing. Even if she maybe didn’t like you as much as she’d liked you with your plus one.

“Of course I do not have to, but I want to, and so I shall,” she said, kissing the top of your head. She hummed as she began the walk back to the table, a hand shifting to run across your forehead and move your bangs. She was always so mindful of her claws. “Do you want me to contact a hairdresser soon, dear child? Your hair is getting longer than you usually wear it.”

“Yeah,” you said simply. Toriel noticed the hair, too- it really should have felt normal by now, but having someone care so deeply still felt alien. You closed your eyes and let yourself be carried back indoors. Tomorrow you’d see what Flowey had planned, but tonight you wanted to help Toriel clean the kitchen and watch a silly movie with your newly-acquired mother.

[katsidhe]

coffeecustard

replied to your post

“Love your blog!! Your meta is *chefs kiss* So! I made an observation...”

I'm very curious what that makes me, because I was never shocked at Sam's decision, never felt he was disgusting, in fact I found and still find the s4 demon thing to make 100% sense in light of the info he had. I love your meta and I'm hoping one day you'll write what you think makes ppl like me feel this way -- accept Sam's actions and motives 100% no questions, because they make absolute sense to us.

You know, I think there is something interesting here. In some ways I’m in the same boat as you. The first time I watched s4 I was on Sam’s side, but while I never felt that he was disgusting or unjustified, I definitely understood why Sam felt he was doing something transgressive/something that potentially crossed a bright moral line. And that struggle, and the fear of intrinsic evil, was real for Sam (even without Dean/the culture surrounding him driving it home), and frankly added to my respect for him. 

So, textually I think it’s inarguable that the Show itself regards Sam drinking demon blood as morally questionable at the very least. Even setting aside Dean’s moralizing, the literal in-universe author of their books tells Sam it’s not right. Can’t get much more explicit than that.

But Sam’s guilt is a lot muddier compared to whatever Dean struggles with in s9, because it’s not just ~bad bc the show said so~. Sam’s lifelong feelings of innate uncleanliness, interwoven with the degree of suspicion with which Dean tends to treat him as a matter of course (which stems from John’s suspicions, the Family Cult, Dean’s absolutism, etc etc.), combined with the Show’s bias, make the separate factors really, really difficult to parse. All three have narrative effects that influence how the audience is likely to perceive Sam’s decisions. 

Like I touched on in my previous post, one first obvious reaction is to take a stance that most closely resembles Dean’s (and arguably the Show’s): something to the effect of, Sam means well, and some version of him is Good deep down, but he’s misguided; surely he can see that this stuff is Bad News and is all going to end in tears; really, he should go back to Normal. 

But sometimes, like in your case and mine, that isn’t the first reaction. Part of it for me at least is that pragmatism is a really attractive trait in my fictional characters, and I deeply respected that Sam was willing to set aside his own deep self-disgust because he could acknowledge that making use of the blood and his powers got undeniable results. But I also wonder if it might be the naysayer in me who wanted to be on Sam’s side in the first place, that wanted to revolt against what the clear narrative authority was trying to tell me. If it’s an instinctive reaction to be on the side of the party being assigned blame and called out for wrongness, the one being called abnormal and freakish in the face of persecution. 

The blood is a continuous action on Sam’s part, and an addiction with side-effects that are debatably causing harm to him. Sam has to make the active decision over and over to keep using it, and it’s one he visibly struggles with while the necessity wars with his shame, and while we as viewers fear for his safety in the face of both his friends and his enemies. All the while, Sam is painted as overtly deviant, in ways that tie in with his sexuality and with addiction, with his mental health, with him being, somehow, innately tainted. This, I think, can easily be fundamentally sympathetic. 

The Mark, in contrast, was one ill-informed decision, with inarguably harmful fallout for both Sam and Dean. Interestingly enough, Dean’s grappling with the Mark of Cain is basically never addressed as a choice? He finds out about the thing, accepts it without asking about terms and conditions, and is branded all in one episode; following this, his struggle is all about him internally trying to repress, control, or channel the urges the Mark gives or intensifies; never (to my recollection, anyway; feel free to correct me if I’m forgetting something in some s10 episode I’ve never rewatched) is he significantly wracked with regret over taking the Mark in the first place. I think this is typical of Dean. He felt he did what he had to do, so he’s not going to agonize over a decision that was made that he cannot take back. Sam doesn’t react the way Dean did in season 4, either--Gadreel aside, he’s on Dean’s side, quick to reassure Dean (and himself) in s10 that the Mark’s influence isn’t Dean’s fault. 

This definitely contributes to how we the audience view that decision, and since Dean is tormented but not terribly guilty, and Sam is supportive even while a victim, it’s easy to assign pity rather than blame. But for me, as a viewer, it’s a lot less interesting to watch Dean grapple when there’s little acknowledgment of how he made his bed in the first place, and, indeed, when there’s NO ONE in the narrative, not Sam, and not even Dean himself, who is in major conflict with that decision. 

In s4, Sam is resolutely the moral outsider. I think for some people it can have the effect of making his point of view MORE attractive rather than less, because it is transgressive on a level intrinsic to the fabric of the show itself. And that’s plain fun. 

[homestuckexamination]

What do you think about the characters becoming who they are in epilogues and HS2 like Dirk, Jane, etc.

For them, as people, it’s a step in the wrong direction. Dirk succumbed to the multiplicity of Bad Selves he’d been trying to fight back against for years due to Bullshit Ultimate Ascension Shenanigans. Jane fell for toxic systems of old Earth, mixed with a good slathering of biases stemming from subliminal influences and a wrong reconciliation with her Aspect that Maids go through. They’re not irredeemably evil, though. Dirk is afraid to show weakness, doubts and fear and tries to cover it up with a mean brand of narcissism. Jane pushes away her doubts through sheer stubbornness and doubling down on what she’s doing through emotional outbursts. They’ve gone really far, SPECIALLY Candy Jane, but also they don’t mark an unchangeable and inherent evil in their characters, just a bad road taken, a lack of communication with the people they used to care about. It’s painful to see them fall for their worst flaws.

As characters though it’s kind of really cool for me, I actually love Dirk’s verbosity and his justifications for his actions, while embracing the role of the Villain, and Jane going off the deep end and mirroring Condy’s ideals and Aesthetics, to the point of being called the Batterwitch? That’s fascinating to explore.

Other than them though, each character develops in different ways. Jade, isolated all her life, starts to crave excitement and action and other people, and I love love love love her new characterization personally, but you all know that. She’s made some major mistakes in Candy, yes, but I adore the... I don’t know. Open bluntness of her? Taking no shit attitude? All packaged into a still extremely-loving dog girl that adores her friends and family.

Rose, manipulated in Meat? Heart-wrenching, missing Kanaya but trying to justify ‘her own’ actions. In Candy? Spur of the moment decisions, past mistakes. Inability for foresight. But still a deep care for her friends, and now, the conflict with the wife whom she loves so much, but whose trust she’s betrayed and couldn’t DARE to tell her for over a decade, in fear of the retaliation. Unable to face the consequences. What a disaster of a woman, I love her.

Kanaya? Heart-broken, Rose taken away by Dirk in Candy, she sets out on a Galactic Quest, pinning over her, to get her back, rescue her. In Meat? A rebel leader, fighting for the freedom of Trolls, alongside her wife, and just having found about this major breach of trust. Angry, but trying to be understanding, a balancing act of high emotions, with knowing their love for each other has not faltered, but will need time to mend. The drama-

Dave and Karkat? Comfortable, domestic, in Meat, but complacent with the little pocket they have built for them, eventually pushed too far by Dirk, and deciding to take matters into their own hands before others can push them to it of their own accord. Actively dating, and searching for Rose, and Dirk. In Candy, lovers, split. Karkat cannot leave his race to suffer again, not like in Alternia. And he doesn’t want Dave and Jade to risk their lives. Dave, who keeps pinning after him, even with Jade by his side, Jade, who stays with him to cheer him up, because he lost Dirk, too, and knows it doesn’t work as a relationship, but can’t simply abandon him. And in the end, he just can’t, he succumbs to an offer from another Dirk, and finds catharsis in Other Iterations of Himself, led down a path of Narrative Relevance, but abandoning those he seemed to care so much about in the process.

Jake, oh poor Jake. He gets a rough deal, complacency, inaction, a lack of drive to push forward, he remains rather static. Dumped and manipulated by Dirk, in Meat, is left lost and aimless. Making bad choices in Candy, ending up in a loveless and abusive marriage, but eventually, oh, eventually, better late than never, takes his Kid from Jane, and stays by her side as a counter-spy attempting to outdo her. He hasn’t done much yet. But he’s in a fantastic position to actually show some drive for his family, and stop Jane from doing something even more awful.

John, depressive, isolated, fated to fight a fight he doesn’t want to and die in one Timeline, and stuck seeing a surreal and fake reality on the other. Aware that something is ever so slightly OFF with Candy, it consumes him, as the Heir of Breath he is, detaches himself once more from those he loves- But finds catharsis thanks to Jake, the drive to actually talk things out. Revelations, introspection, the slow return to form of the Protagonist, the realization that there may be more in them than they ever thought there was.

Roxy... The exploration of their gender. In Meat, leaning transmasc, non-binary, trying something that feels right for him. Friendly and open to those around him, going through his own journey of self-discovery. In Candy, they don’t transition. Finding solace in a familiar structure, she is stuck in complacency. Inaction. Not standing up to Jane and trying to gloss over that things will just work out! They won’t. She cares deeply for her family, and has found a purpose and happiness in trying to just, be a good Mom. One she never had herself. And although those potential feelings are still in there, isn’t life about being happy with what you’re doing, rather than torn up about what could have been? Mistakes can be made, bad things can happen, but... You keep pressing on.

Terezi, fuuuuuuck. Her pinning for Vriska? Vriska, stuck in Candy, isolated from contacting with her. Giving up on Vriska JUST as Vriska would’ve tried to contact her. Unable to let go of Dead John, clinging to him still. No place for her on Earth-C, no home to return to, torn up about her feelings, she joins the Narratively Relevant Journey of Dirk and Rose, only to find what she’s seeing is two broken up people who try to act tough, but are entirely unsure of what they’re doing. She’s trying to make Rose See, but those robot eyes of hers are too closed. Pitch feels arise. A fling, to try and stave off the need for a connection they both have lost.

Calliope, poor sweet dear Calliope. A Muse of Space. In both Timelines, cast aside. Ending up an Observer of what’s going on. Unable to assert their want to still be with Roxy, and ending up scared away by Alt Calliope, they at least seem to have been with her and Harry off-screen, so she’s probably Harry’s cool alien... Aunt? Gender-neutral aunt. In Meat, shocked out of their wits by Callie’s Jade-possession. Venting through gruesome art- Maybe even influencing the Candy Timeline unknowingly, which would explain so much of the Candy Timeline in general... Jade is now awake in the ship, and they may stop being so reclusive and coming back into the picture, which may also mark a shift in some things, as the scared, horrified fan regains their trust on the story, and takes on a more positive outlook on what’s to come.

Like I would love of they were all HAPPY on EARTH-C and exploring these things in healthier environments instead of being thrust into Angsty Space Adventures or Fascist Dystopias, but I looooove these characters, the good AND bad, their ties with each other, the unwarranted lashing out sometimes, the driving others away, the self-blame, the healing, the trying to make things better, the realization they have made something wrong... And the NEW characters? The Omega Kids... Just. *Chef’s Kiss*

[the-redacted-line]

Oddly Specific Details in The Stanley Parable 

-In early versions of the game, props that were supposed to be fillers show up in the latest edition in certain events or endings. The Confusion Ending being the strongest contender.

-Despite it almost never mentioned by the Narrator or hinted outside the Games Ending itself, Stanley enjoys puzzles and critical thinking.

-The Narrator rarely refers to himself in first person, said his name once in third person, and almost never uses defining pronouns; Before the sudden reveal in the Ultra Deluxe trailer that is...The Curator was the first one who specifically defined the Narrator as male. 

-The Adventure Line™ was there before, and It™ first appeared during the Demo’s narrative contradiction.

-The Narrator states that he have trouble reading human emotions. Specifically, Stanley being visibly expressionless the whole time, and his inability to speak for himself.

-The Narrator gets very uncomfortable when they ended up in the storage room during the Confusion Ending, the one place in the Demo that revolves around putting a mug in the trash can.

-In the game mechanics, Stanley can't physically jump. But, unused dialogue in the Museum shows at one point the Narrator prompting him to jump in a river.

-The Apartment Ending heavily implies that Stanley is suffering from maladaptive daydreaming, and schizophrenia. And, that says a lot about his character once those “throw away lines” are closely analyzed. 

-Stanley has trust issues, and the Narrator has no idea why he can’t follow simple choices without negative assumptions. Until the step-by-step process is shown in the Confusion Ending.

-The Narrator has an amusing fascination about mostly aquatic creatures, such as crabs, shrimp, and sharks. His main source for those random facts is Wikipedia.

-The Narrator’s term on torturing the player is playing the guitar, and read a descriptive limerick about Stanley until they eventually restart.

-Stanley has an usually fast walking speed, as the Narrator hates when he gets “impatient”, and can’t keep up; That aspect is made apparent when completing the speed run achievement. In addition, that what makes the Ultra Deluxe trailer much more terrifying.

-Despite the Narrator reminding Stanley that he has no one who cares about him, as it’s ironic that he’s the one that narrates his every action and literally can’t exist without him. During the Confusion Ending, the Narrator gets excited when working together with Stanley in creating a new story; And, the Baby Game during the two hour mark, “Bonne chance, mon ami!” (French: Good luck, my friend!) being the few examples.

-The Narrator has an strangely high view about “Art”, what it means metaphorically, and literally by spelling out the meaning of the Baby Game to Stanley. In addition, a personal vendetta in proving that video games can be art.

-The Narrator hates any negative criticism about the story, that is essentially his job. Even if the Narrator asked for critical feedback from Stanley, which is in turn is just a rating system to boost his ego.

-Stanley has a soul patch, and long eyebrows that was generally unnoticed for the majority of entire game. And, apparently the Narrator describes that he also have freckles as well.

-The Ultra Deluxe Delay trailer shows new, and returning environments in the office that ties back to the previous games; Such as the Demo and the original Gmod version. 

-It’s unclear if the Narrator remembers everything and/or certain key points that happened in the game, as it was revealed that specific restarts can wipe his memory. 

-During the Games Ending, it’s revealed that one of the many motives the Narrator follow is to actively make Stanley emotionally distressed; Usually stemming from the Parable’s claustrophobic design, and unsettling random dialogue.

-In certain events in the Boss’s office, Stanley is described to get emotionally incapacitated when he’s faced with stressful situations; Specifically to the point that he gets sick, and unable to do anything rational. The Narrator does recognize when Stanley’s anxiety gets the better on him, and is noticeably unhealthy.

[valleywomen0-blog]

Cryo treatment - What Are The dangers?

Vivo facility Birmingham Reviews

Content

more Fat Freezing info & guidance:.

What You required To understand About Femiwand Treatments

genital firm treatment tested!

eliminating Skin Tags.

evidence From scientific research Studies On The efficiency Of Laser Vaginal tightening Up.

paying For Your Own treatment.

that Is a Prospect For Femiwand Vaginal tightening treatment Edinburgh?

Your specialist exists to pay attention carefully to you, and also to aid you achieve the objectives you want. This also indicates letting you recognize if your expectations are not sensible.

Do you poop when you die?

The body may release stool from the rectum, urine from the bladder, or saliva from the mouth. This happens as the body's muscles relax. Rigor mortis , a stiffening of the body muscles, will develop in the hours after death.

MACS has the advantage of smaller marks and also generally a shorter recovery time. If you choose to go ahead with the facelift, we'll allow at the very least 2 weeks in between your examination and the date for surgical treatment.

Modern technology and fine-tuned methods indicate that a Mini Face-Lift operation currently lasts around 1 to 1.5 hrs, it is painless and healing time is much faster. Just a brief time earlier, we recommended individuals to wait up until they really could not put up with indicators of aging and then, at an older age, have a full facelift. The patient would certainly be pleased with the remarkable renovation and also would be unlikely to need any type of more surgery. Currently patients are normally not seeking a major adjustment, but just not to age. This therapy is especially appealing due to the low danger that it presents.

Outcomes have actually been specifically great in younger people who don't want the risks as well as recuperation time connected with surgical procedure.

The HIFU is suitable for any individual from 18 years of ages, men and women.

The therapy tightens the muscular tissue layer as well as tightening the skin as well as boosting collagen.

The high intensity regularity ultrasound targets the same layer of skin dealt with in cosmetic surgery, the SMAS, the surface musculoaponeurotic system.

The HIFU body therapies are an ideal remedy giving three therapies in one, skin firm, fat loss as well as cellulite treatment.

You will see results show up after around 3 months, once the collagen generation has actually started to occur.

We are not able to carry out the therapy if you are expecting or breastfeeding.

Nevertheless, as with all surgical procedure, some complications are feasible. Your doctor will certainly go over each of these dangers adequately at your appointment. We suggest patients ought to be able to go back to their regular everyday activities after concerning one week - we would certainly advise a few day of rests of work with the choice of a complete week need to you need it as swelling is biggest throughout this moment. We ask our individuals to be conscious their face area and also not to do way too much ahead of time. We likewise recommend staying clear of UV light for 2 -4 weeks to aid the scarring procedure. On the day of your treatment we ask that you arrive for your admission an hour before the concurred beginning time of surgical procedure. Now a nurse will certainly come and also tape high blood pressure as well as other appropriate tests, you will consult with your anaesthetist as well as your doctor that will make the final mark-ups.

further Fat Freezing info & guidance:.

What are the negative effects of CoolSculpting?

Some common side effects of CoolSculpting include:Tugging sensation at the treatment site. Pain, stinging, or aching at the treatment site. Temporary redness, swelling, bruising, and skin sensitivity at the treatment site. Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia at the treatment site.

Mini Face Lift Surgical treatment intends to correct the indications of aging as well as gravity, boosting the look of the lower face and jowls with minimal threat as well as downtime. The objective is to look fresh, more younger without transforming you-- all-natural renewal!

What You required To learn About Femiwand Treatments

Infection is infrequent (less than 0.5%) as well as will need a course of suitable antibiotics. Facial muscle weakness is rare, may affect the temple or corner of the mouth as well as is short-term long-term 6 weeks. Some modified sensation around the cheeks is anticipated as well as will generally go back to regular between 6 to 12 weeks after surgical procedure. At LBPS, we understand that your choice to have Face surgical procedure can be a difficult and distressed time for you. Our goal is to completely comprehend your issues as well as needs, as well as analyze your face precisely, prior to agreeing on a therapy plan which is in your best interest.

How many times can you do Cryolipolysis?

More than one session may be needed to achieve a person's desired results. If more than one treatment sessions is needed, the next session can't be performed until 6 to 8 weeks after the first session. This is because it can take this long for damaged fat cells to be eliminated from the body.

Keep in mind that these contemporary lifting procedures are frequently integrated with fat transfer as well as stem cell transfer to bring back volume in the appropriate areas and also revitalize the skin. This treatment begins with the production of a tiny cut listed below each ear. The connective tissue below the skin is pulled as well as held back to develop a refined structural lift in your jawline and neck. Historically, face-lift procedures have actually been lengthier treatments, causing greater pain degrees and also longer healing time.

Clients who do not have excess skin due to laxity, generally do not need a Mini Face Lift, much of these patients will certainly benefit from Mid-Face Lifting or Shape Face Raise or non invasive face rejuvenation. The procedure which is best matched to your objectives will certainly be determined at your consultation. Your result can recover self-esteem as well as boost self-worth. Many patients are back to their routine regimens after simply a couple of days. In addition, the smallness of the face incisions implies that your skin's recovery procedure will be quicker as well.

genital firm treatment examined!

Typical to all surgical procedures there are always threats connected with surgical procedure. cryolipolysis can occur and might take 2 weeks to settle, while significant blood loss is uncommon.

getting Rid Of Skin Tags.

With this strategy, the surgeon will certainly make a smaller sized incision that does not reach the ear. The cut is much more superficial and does not go under the SMAS layer. This strategy is less substantial than the SMAS strategy, so is better matched to correcting milder laxity of facial skin.

If for any reason you disagree for Mini Face lift surgery, you will certainly be advised against this form of surgery. We will certainly provide you with all the details you require and also sustain before, during and after your surgery.

The benefits of this technique is smaller sized scars and also a much shorter healing time. A facelift can give you an extra younger, rejuvenated look. As we age, our skin gradually loses its flexibility as well as our facial muscles slow. This develops the appearance of old and wrinkly, drooping skin, specifically on the face. Way of living factors such as sun direct exposure and also stress can also add to these changes. This can affect your confidence as well as make you look older than you really feel. Thus, a facelift aims to recover the vitality in your appearance.

evidence From scientific studies On The performance Of Laser Vaginal firm.

The Principle ™ Facelift is not limited by age; however, people in their twenties are not likely to have the loosened skin as well as age-related adjustments that can take advantage of a facelift. A typical age where people present often tends to be around 50, particularly for ladies. That's due to the fact that the hormonal changes of the menopause can influence the look. Most of Bella Vou's patients age from late 40s to 55 and also claim that they feel they look tired and also desire a much more renewed appearance.

I was extremely satisfied with the care and therapy I got at the Cadogan Center. My doctor was friendly and informative and also clarified the treatment fully. My procedure went extremely well and also with the outstanding care of the nursing team, I made a speedy and also full healing. The Mini-Facelift is an excellent therapy for individuals wanting to reverse the indicators of aging and also accomplish an extra youthful look without undergoing a full facelift treatment. A mini - lift can be done with very little trouble, scars as well as danger.

Bella Vou uses customers a distinctly individual technique to plastic surgery. The state-of-the-art clinic supplies the very latest medical, cosmetic, and also visual treatments in an elegant, comfy, and welcoming setting in the heart of the attractive historic town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The advanced Idea ™ Facelift is exclusively offered at Bella Vou. The ingenious, trademarked method was developed by the center's renowned cosmetic surgeons as a less intrusive choice to typical facelift surgical procedure as well as draws in clients from around the world. An additional type of facelift surgical treatment is called marginal accessibility cranial suspension. Much shorter cuts, contrasted to a typical facelift, are made in the holy place as well as in front of the ears. https://celerywomen4.webgarden.cz/rubriky/celerywomen4-s-blog/hifu-treatment-is-it-needed under the skin are tightened up with irreversible stitches that are dealt with to tissue near the cheekbone or the fibrous connective cells under the skin.

If you pick to wage surgery, the next time you come into the Facility after your final assessment will certainly be the day of your treatment. I was treated with care and given with extensive understanding concerning the treatment I was embarking on. My surgeon was very methodical and I felt I got A class therapy.

How much weight can you lose with fat freezing?

CoolSculpting can naturally diminish between 20-25% of the fat cells in the areas it covers. It will not help you lose weight, however, it can improve the shape of your body, making it appear as though you've dropped pounds. This is because a 20-25% reduction can make a huge impact on the appearance of stubborn bulges.

The size and place of the scars will certainly differ according to the method utilized. Make sure you have actually reviewed with your cosmetic surgeon what scarring you can expect. Many scars will be minimal as well as your doctor will certainly make them as discreet as feasible. Just how much they discolor will certainly depend on the healing capacity of your skin.

Your surgeon can also offer you some ideas on exactly how you need to care for your wounds, to reduce the scarring you are entrusted to. Throughout your facelift consultation, we suggest that you are as open as possible with your specialist.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

The Problem with Rey, or Where I Fail to Ignore the Bad Trilogy Yet Again

So, in a grand tradition of ignoring my New Year’s resolutions the second after making them, I hereby give up on trying to be less of a sourpuss this year and am going to once more plunge into the pit of negativity that’s the sequel trilogy. Namely, I’m going to put my two cents in that scene in TROS.

Or rather I’m going to try and sus out why it raised no eyebrows with me as I was watching it in the theatre, beyond the obligatory “Oh, callbacks! Cameos! That’s nice. Fuck off.”

After all, it absolutely should have. It’s an ostensible backslide in what passes for character development in these movies, a reversal in the texture of the hero’s journey, of the ST’s sketchy hint of the characters changing from broken immature children into self-actualized adults. And let’s not forget about the horrendous messaging that sees Rey forever entombed in the role of a pure virgin maiden, a replacement golden child that’s vindicated in her tendency to define herself through relations to others instead of becoming her own person.

Christ, the thing is literally golden.

And then it clicked why none of this raised any alarm bells with me.

I just fundamentally don’t take canon Rey seriously as a fictional character.

Mind you, this goes well beyond my inability to play with TROS on its own terms and stop riffing it (though it is a problem) or to view it from the Watsonian perspective instead of constantly remembering that the only reason the movie even exists is not to tell a story with any narrative integrity and artistic honesty, but to make a bazillion dollars and thus it can do without my emotional investment (though that’s also true).

My chief issue is that Rey as a character barely exists.

Now, what I mean by that is that Rey doesn’t conform to the definition of a fictional character as a purposeful construct, a set of distinctive traits making up a defined psychology that informs one’s behaviour and allows one to dictate the plot as its active agent, thus driving the story forward.

What’s confusing about this is that at the start of TFA, Rey had by far the strongest characterization out of anyone, original characters and new (although this stops being true pretty much the moment you notice it).

When we first meet Rey, she’s busy living what can only be described as the Star Wars equivalent of a Dickensian existence—a parentless teenager forced to fight for survival, figuratively and literally, and earn her own living from a very young age. What her life lacks in support and stability, it makes up for in hard labour, hunger, and a crushing sense of cultivated loneliness. There are no meaningful relationships—friendly, familial, or romantic ones—and no prospects, only a desire to escape, or to be more precise to be taken away under a set of specific circumstances. And of course there’s the nagging fear that this might actually be it for her.

This will never stop being ingenious.

What’s most interesting about Rey at this point, though, is her contradictions. As we later learn, she has lashed her sense of identity to the idea of being a temporarily abandoned child, and thus she’s forced herself to live a life of perpetual childhood, waiting for her parents to come back and pluck her from Jakku instead of moving on and carving out her own existence. In a very real sense, although her life has many outward marks of adulthood, she refuses to grow up, going as far as styling herself after her former childhood self and naively asserting her belief that of course putting her life on hold and spending it stuck and waiting is eventually going to be rewarded.

At the same time, though, there are already some cracks in the childish façade that allow us to see the real person beneath—someone with a strong sense of right vs. wrong, to the point where she’s willing to put herself in danger and accept hardships on behalf of others. But her willingness to engage in conflict without a second thought can also be read as underlying anger issues stemming from her sense of abandonment, and a sign that a certain jaded bitterness may have already set in, as evidenced by her unwillingness to deal with BB-8, a non-familial entity, as a friend after saving him.

All of this creates a character who’s barely holding it together, someone bursting out of the childlike costume they’ve constructed for themselves, their mask about to disintegrate and reveal a deeply broken person underneath; a little girl who’s too busy looking into the past instead of living in the present, who doesn’t see herself as an agent in her own story but as someone who’s given meaning by others.

In other words, Rey’s challenge at the beginning of ST is to confront the truths and issues she doesn’t want to face, destroy her shell, and emerge into adulthood as a fully-realized woman.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of psychology as much as I did back in 2015 because it’s the last one she’s going to get.

The moment the movie dies.

From the second Rey meets Finn, she leaves TFA as an agent who shapes the story by her own psychology and development, and spends the rest of the runtime as a passive object that’s dragged along by the plot while having no effect on it, instead being jostled around by the actions of others. Up until the final fight, Rey:

runs away from an enemy she never engaged, who means nothing to her and she nothing to them;

is ambushed by a guy and his pet fuzzball, neither of whom she’s ever met;

is forced into defensive action by a bunch of gangsters who, yet again, have nothing to do with her or her journey;

accidentally releases a convenient plot device she didn’t intend to release. This doesn’t amount to anything;

is introduced to a map she didn’t search for, leading to a person she doesn’t know, has no connection to, and no reason to be interested in;

ends up on a planet she didn’t know about and had no plan to visit;

has her inner conflict verbalized to her by discount Yoda;

has her lights punched out and is bridal carried by the galaxy’s most try-hard Bad Boy Who Ever Baddied for unintentionally viewing the central McGuffin of a storyline that has nothing to do with her or her character conflict;

gets interrogated by an admittedly gorgeous mop of hair which triggers her Force powers, somehow. She never reflects on this;

gets saved by the screenwriter by using a Force power she had no reason to suspect existed.

Only then does she wake up from her slumber to:

fight Kylo Ren in order to protect the unconscious Finn, a type of action she’s performed twice already in regards to BB-8 and thus is nothing new for her;

and finally, having failed to reflect on being Force sensitive or express an ounce of political opinion, join the Resistance for some reason and decide to take on the responsibility of finding Luke Skywalker, a person who still means nothing to her on any level.

Simply put, Rey spends the majority of the movie treading water and then being catapulted into a position the screenwriters want her in, without first sending her on a journey which would bring her to the Resistance and Luke as a natural result of her own choices and actions, not of a series of plot contrivances.

This is further made worse by the fact that Rey’s psychology from the start of TFA when she was still in that wonderful character study test tube? Yeah, it stops existing. Or rather it stops dictating her actions and behaviour. Gone is her unwillingness to permanently entangle herself in the affairs of others and only doing so after a reluctant flare-up of empathy. Now she’s a good sport who’s just happy to be included, guys! There’s also this slight problem where her background leaves no marks on her. She has no interpersonal problems, no trust issues, no bitterness, no jadedness, no sense of abandonment, she isn’t clingy or stand-offish like most people with her experiences would. There’s only the face of childlike joy as she simply goes along for the ride because the movie needs to happen.

And these checks J.J. signed in TFA? They get cashed in TLJ where Rian Johnson is asked to wave his arms and work with a character who’s in a situation she has no internal reason to be in. As a result, instead of having a solid, meaty foundation to examine why Rey has immediately latched onto the Resistance and Jedi after spending so long defining herself through her parents and having no personal or ideological reason to be interested in either, we’re just asked to nod along and pretend that Rey being so deeply invested in any of this makes sense and isn’t worrying in the slightest. And then comes the end where any notion of moral complexity is flushed down the toilet as Rey pulls a Kylo and instead of incorporating what she’s learned into a new worldview and altering her journey, she digs in her heels and returns to the Resistance as, sigh, the last Jedi while, yet again, never examining her attachment to either. The found family trope is awesome, guys, let’s not question it.

So I must admit to not really understanding where this outrage about Rey being locked in permanent childhood by the end of TROS is coming from. She’s never stopped being a child. The sequel trilogy has always preferred to view her as a pure ray of sunshine (pun very vomit-inducingly intended) and an embodiment of good that’s free of internal conflict; a figurative representation of a child who’s spent the movies in a state of arrested development (a few unmotivated moments in TLJ being a notable exception), cycling through different parental figures until she’s finally gotten it right and can now restart her childhood, new and improved.

You may call it yucky but I don’t see how it’s surprising.

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 124 Poll Results

The chapter 124 poll closed with 2,065 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

This month’s poll team: @erensjaegerbombs @momtaku, _Puppet_ ,  @shifter-lines and @ladymoe6​

  RATE THE CHAPTER 1,926 Responses

Fours and fives still dominate but there’s no denying that this chapter lacked the hype we’ve seen recently. “Thaw” had the lowest number of 5’s this year, performing similarly to the Zeke-centric flashback chapter in 114, “Sole Salvation”. (There’s a pun to made here about us “warming up to Thaw” but sadly I am not smart enough to make it.)

The Chapter of Necessary Filler & the Obligatory Cliffhanger

I love that Isayama isn't rushing everything and is actually focusing on little details and small interactions between characters. He really isn't glorifying an "apocalyptical scenario" just for the sake of destruction in itself or shock value.

This chapter felt like a nostalgia trip, but I wasn't in for the ride.

This chapter was a breath of fresh air ngl. These past chapters were mostly full of either a flashback, monologue or just having two characters talking in a realm where nothing happens and time is frozen, but, at last, the plot is moving foward in the real world too. Not only it contained long gone titan action, but also great character development/moments as well. I missed this.

The leaks didn't give this chapter justice

A weaker chapter overall, I hope all this buildup will be well spent in the next chapter.

I actually loved everything about this chapter, I can't believe Isayama finally gave me a reason to kind of like Gabi. I'm sure she'll do something to immediately change that…

Isayama-sensei is the best, each chapter is a 10/10 for me. I do agree that this chapter is not as great as as the last 5, but it's still great. This year is impossible to choose the Top 5 Best Chapters of SNK

It was good, but I was hoping for a crazier year closure.

  WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

1,995 Responses

There were many great moments in this chapter, but Annie’s highly anticipated return to the active plot takes up the largest amount of votes! Other notable moments were: Shadis taking command, Armin realizing Annie’s crystal must have unhardened, the 104th discussing Eren, and Jean’s salty reaction to Floch’s continued survival.

A N N I E is BAAAAAAACK!!!

as someone too invested in the gabi-nicolo-braus plot thread by i love sasha i am absolutely Fed with that excellent "get out of the forest" talk. thank u for the good food nicolo

It's great to see the other 104th members discuss about Eren's actions. At least we got a glimpse on what they think about Eren's plan.

For once I'm gonna forgive Isayama for putting off Levi and Hange. I FEEL BLESSED TO HAVE ANNIE BACK ON MY BIRTH MONTH!!! BEST PRESENT EVER

I like the parallels to Trost, especially the part with the thunder spears sort of mirroring the thing with the guns and the elevator from S1

  WHO WAS THIS CHAPTERS MVP? 1,988 Responses

Despite the influx of negative commentary, 38.2% of respondents agree that Gabi’s persistence to save Falco and reconciliation with Kaya earned her the MVP title this month. The strongest contenders were Shadis and Jean.

Annie saved this chapter from the Gabi / Kaya focus

Connie- the underrated suffer boi

Gabi best girl!

I am proud of Jean for taking charge, he acted like a real commander.

Reiner Best character 😔👌

SHADIS IS THE MVP AND I LOVE HIM

  WHICH CHARACTER WERE YOU MOST DISAPPOINTED WITH? 1,998 Responses

“None of the above” was a popular suggestion (25.2%) but Connie edged that choice out by a percentage point (26.3%) . At least you guys listen when the evening news says that stealing children is bad.

Silly of you to ask us which character we're most disappointed with. We're always disappointed with Floch in every panel he shows up in

it's good to have a connie development, but I was a little sad about his attitude

I'm not so much disappointed with Connie in this moment as I am with the direction his character arc has gone lately in general. I miss when he was fun instead of angry all the time.

I think everyone is acting super irrational. Eren is going to destroy the world but all the SC are "accepting" of it. I think deep down they are all horrified and in a completely insane mental state causing irrational decisions and thoughts such as Jean being okay with genocide.

I understand that Connie is desperate to find a comfort after all the ppl he lost, but I'm still extremely disappointed in him for wanting to murder a child. Not just Connie tho, the same goes for Jean and Armin. Armin didn't say "Let's not kill a freaking child" he just objected because he didn't want to provoke Reiner and Pieck.

  WHAT DID YOU THINK OF REINER’S ROLE THIS CHAPTER? 1,889 Responses

Reiner takes a back seat this chapter, and just barely over half of the fandom believe he deserves that nap after all he’s been through.  Another quarter, at 25.8% are wishing he could just die at this point, for better or worse.

"Enough already. Just sleep." - Reiner to Eren in 117

Can Reiner pick an opinion and stick with it for .2 seconds. he's like hardcore ready to kick ass and then immediately turns around and is ready to die again

Game over man

He's cute. End of the story.

I think it was bizarre that Gabi just let him fall asleep and left him in an enemy territory where he could be captured or eaten by a mindless titan

I understand him being tired an all, but sleeping in the middle of a warzone and at the start of the apocalypse???

Helos needs his rest and good dreams of Bert

I think it is set up for his future death : saving Falco by being eaten by Connie's mom (he was there with Connie in Ragako village)

Madlad goes to sleep instead of dying

Man literally too tired to die

There were certainly worse ways than "passed out from exhaustion" that he could've been written out of the chapter. At least we know his current status this way, unlike a certain duo...

He need some milk

Reiner votes for “Can’t he just die already?”

  WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE EREN PARALLEL IN GABI AT THE MIRROR? 1,869 Responses

Gabi’s design is based on Eren, and she’s had similarities and parallels to him in the past, what does the parallel in this chapter mean stacked on top of all of that?  About 70% say it’s to further emphasize how similar she is to him at her core.  12.7% don’t think it was an intentional parallel to that Eren scene, 7.7% say she’s going to receive his titan, and a solid 1% wrote in the eloquent thesis of “Fuck Gabi.”

A bit too on the nose

Both have the common factor of determination and the desire to fight to save someone else. "Fight, fight" = "Like I'd give up" In Eren's case, his scene in the mirror is portrayed in a darker, more aggressive environment, he must fight to save his loved ones, but for this goal he must destroy everything. On the other hand, Gabi shows a more heroic/pure attitude, the light is predominant, and his words refer to the desire to fight to save Falco without taking this violence path unlike Ere

Eren cant copyright this hairstyle

How dare she stand where he stood.

I didn't like any parallels that include Gabi. Not this one, and most certainly not the one with Sasha.

It definitely foreshadows something, but I don't think it's that she'll inherit his titan. I think she's going to be the one to end this madness and break the cycle. Unlike Eren, who fights for freedom both for himself and his loved ones, Gabi will fight for peace and equality: a different kind of freedom.

It symbolizes Gabi's character arc starting to go in the opposite direction of Eren, rather than showing them being similar.

It symbolizes Gabi's change in motivation to do anything to save her friends. Just as Eren's motivation in the mirror scene really marked the moment he turned genocidal to protect his friends.

  DO YOU AGREE WITH JEAN’S CONCLUSION THAT EREN IS DOING WHAT HE’S DOING TO PROTECT THOSE HE LOVES? 1,950 Responses

Jean believes he’s figured out why Eren’s doing what he’s doing, does the fandom agree?  The large majority think that’s at least a part of it, as 40.8% think it’s solely that goal in mind, and another 53.5% believe it stemmed from that desire but has evolved and become more complex.  3.3% of fans don’t believe that’s where his motivation stems from at all.

But if that's his goal it still doesn't explain chapter 112

EREN is doing it to protect his friends. YMIR wants vengeance and bloodshed.

I agree, because I really don’t know what else could have been done. The Eldians were hated all over the world and Talk-No-Justu is a folly.

I don't know what to think. At first, Jean seems to be in denial (like most of the 104th), but perhaps it's his way of realizing things. No, Eren must love them a lot, there's absolutely no way that his genocide is unjustified. Right...? Wait…

I think he's being pragmatic and analytical. Like a real leader. Something I expected from Armin. However Armin has strokes of genius during critical times so I'm expecting something.

In a breaking bad way, yes

Yes, although I believe Eren's old and complex relationship with the idea of freedom also plays a big part in this situation.

No, because he isn't doing anything about the mindless titans and treated his friends like trash. I didn't see any kind of concern while they were in danger. I think he's more eager to set his ideals into action.

  WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE CORRECT RESPONSE TO WHAT TO DO WITH FALCO? 1,958 Responses

Another serumbowl type discussion arises, yay!!...?  The vast majority, at a combined 81.4% don’t want to feed Falco to anyone, and just want to wrap him up and not start any more conflict.  11.6% think he should be fed to a known titan such as Pixis, and only 4.3% side with Connie’s reaction of feeding him to his own Mama Springer.

Falco is too important. He and Connie will probably have an arc.

Feed him to Floch, jaw titan always dies stupidly and Floch never dies so it should cancel out

Feed him to Levi that way we get jaw Levi and his hand back.

Feed Zeke to Connie's mom instead and take Falco somewhere safe

I don’t have anything against Falco personally, but it makes since to feed him to someone else

I like Falco, but Connie has lost far more than anyone outside the Walls. If feeding Falco to Connie's mom gives Connie some semblance of peace, so be it

NILE !

In a perfect world Connie can have the satisfaction of feeding ZEKE to his mother. Kinda proud that I predicted the “Connie tried to revive his mom” plot point but I think the fact that it’s falco means that Connie fails

There's no right answer here, but I can't imagine any mother would be able to live with the fact that she ate someone else's child in order to live again, so that's probably the worst option.

Well, logically speaking, Falco should probably be fed to Pixis. But my heart calls out for me to wrap him in a blanket.

  WHAT DID YOU THINK OF CONNIE SEEMINGLY SNAPPING ON THE OTHERS AND INSISTING FALCO BE FED TO HIS MOTHER? 1,947 Responses

Understanding prevaled with close to 80% of the fandom selecting “I don’t agree with his actions but I wholeheartedly sympathize with his reasoning”. Only 13% indicated that they were disappointed with him.

Falco's a kid, man! You don't cross that line!

Connie, if your mom needs a kidney transplant, you don't just shank another person to steal their kidneys. Just saying.

Connie has been pushed to his limit. He needs a nap and a minute to cry.

Although Connie is not thinking clearly, I'm glad they're not blindly hating on him like some have been doing for Eren.

Connie's break is truly amazing to me. The guy was always so good and chill and dedicated before these hard times. To see him at his breaking point, horrified by everything that is happening and overwhelmed by the situation, and thus reverting into single-minded dedication to one fundamental goal - saving his mother. It's tragic to see him like this and it's probably not the best "logical" action, but it makes complete sense that he'd do this. He's sick of this clusterfuck. He has a ticket to save his mom and he's gonna take it. Poor Falco though, of course.

I didn't see it coming, but it's not like it's unthinkable. When the world collapses we often want to run back to our mama.

I disagreed with him, but I thinks his feelings are understandable and, also, I liked a lot that he pointed out 104's hypocrisy. The serum drama is coming back to bite their asses.

I understand he wants to see his mom again but does he really want to give her the cruel fate of becoming a titan shifter?

I understand his reasoning, but this is literally the WORST possible time to cause an internal crisis

I'm sad for him & deeply uncomfortable by it.

I’m mad at Connie only because he straight up abandoned his duty to pacify the Titan situation.  He left Jean, Mikasa, and Armin to take care of it without him. Lucky Shadis was there to help.

  REGARDLESS OF YOUR VIEWS ON CONNIE’S ACTIONS, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HIM FINALLY GETTING SOME TIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT? 1,946 Responses

More than half the fandom was happy to see him speak his mind and get some character development (53.3%). 16% were absolutely thrilled. Those who don’t care, and those whose disappointment over how he returned soured the moment came in at 10%... I’m willing to bet at least one of those votes is because he doesn’t have a new hair style.

Going to the dark side doesn't suit the former sunshine called Connie.

My man has been in the story since the beginning. He is well overdue for an arc.

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

But why FALCO? He's the ONLY character outside the Walls I actually LIKE!

Finally we get to see him say something about his mother. Yeah, maybe he's not one of the most important charcters overall, but what he lived through when he saw his mom on that roof finally deserves some thoughts and emotions. Connie was on the margin of the story for way too long, and I'm happy we get to see him talk about how he feels.

Glad he’s doing stuff but he’s 100% going to die

I haven't really liked his development. He's, altho understandably, just an angry dude that can't help himself from getting overcome by his emotions. Not a good look.

I really liked his whole "Eren's crossed the line", now he's making the same mistake. A bitter irony, but does Isayama have time for that?

I'm really disappointed in Connie's "friends" for basically telling him to "chill out, you can't save your mother because we need to make our enemies happy". Hell no to that, I completely sympathize with Connie far more than his "friends" especially since Armin is being the world's biggest hypocrite

It's good because it now opens up the possibility of Connie finally getting his revenge on Zeke

My Boi Connie deserves his own plot-line, so I'm really excited

  TITAN ACTION! BUT OF THE PURE AND AVERAGE VARIETY INSTEAD OF COLOSSALS, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THAT AS THE FOCUS OF THE CHAPTER? 1,936 Responses

A chapter in the endgame that’s almost reminiscent of the defense of Trost with respect to mindless titan action and defending a base.  Despite many other happenings such as the rumbling going on currently, 46% were totally fine with the focus on mindless titan action and thought it was written well, whereas 35.6% enjoyed it, but wished there was a bit more beyond checking that box.  10.8% wanted a larger focus on the titans in the rumbling, and 5.5% would have preferred a focus shift away from Shiganshina entirely.

I love the fact that shows how prepared and easy fighting mindless titans is for them now. When the titans attacked Trost they were hopeless and Jean was the one frozen in fear. Now we get to see him clear up the titans with ease.

I think showing smaller happenings before the big reveal of Eren's titan and the effects of the rumbling are important buildup.

I would have rather focused on what's happening to Pieck and the others near the wall.

I didn't feel that was the focus, but either way, I liked it.

I wish more would’ve happened outside of it BUT it’s important to show them being dealt with otherwise readers would be like “wait, what about all those people who turned into titans?” So not the best, but necessary.

I'm not crazy about fighting scenes, I prefer the ones where they discuss stuff, but these were really emotional with Shadis and Pixis and everything. Like, it wasn't even so much about fighting itself, for me at least, but about Shadis uniting people again and Armin setting Pixis free finally.

I wish the chapter had explored the idea of Titans appearing now that the Military has begun using weapons which are more effective against humans than Titans. I had thought that the reappearance of Titans would do much more damage since the Military is no longer equipped to handle such threats.

Reminds me of the Trost arc and I love it, but it will probably end up being the last time we see pure titans as this much of a threat.

I love the Season 1-esque fan service. How this series has evolved.

I just wished they didn't have to kill their comrades...C'mon this poll question is so heartless wth?

  AFTER EREN GAINED THE FOUNDER, WHY WHERE THE MINDLESS TITANS STILL ATTACKING THE SOLDIERS? 1,944 Responses

Nearly half of the fandom are giving Eren the benefit of the doubt that he simply cannot control the titans, rather than not caring about them or using them. Although many believe that he’s too focused on other things to concern himself with them, and many others feel certain that mindless titans attacking the soldiers is part of his greater plan.

3 times it was mentioned that Eren/Zeke can't control the Titans, I think someone else is controlling them. Possibly Ymir, maybe we'll see Eren getting betrayed.

Eren can't control the mindless Titans because they're Zeke's Titans

It's highly likely the Founding Titan's power and control over Pure Titans has a collective effect of sorts. That is, it can turn Pure Titans back into humans, but if it did, it would happen to ALL Pure Titans, not just a specific group of them. It's possible that is how the Fritz royalty used the Pure Titans while maintaining the Eldian population during ancient times. Here, if Eren were to use that aspect of the Founding Titan's power, both the Military Branch Officer Titans AND the Wall Titans would be turned back into humans. Right now, Eren is bent on using the Wall Titans to flatten the World, so he most likely does not want to use the power of the Founding Titan to turn all the Pure Titans in Shingashina + Connie's mom into humans; otherwise, the Wall Titans would turn into humans again too, and that would ruin his rumbling plan.

Regarding Eren and the mindless titans, control issues aside, I just don't think he cares.

  WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE TITAN KILL THIS CHAPTER? 1,968 Responses

In a chapter full of titan action, several titan kills stood out as both awesome and tear jerking.  Just over half of respondents, at 51.6%, most remember Armin taking out Pixis after thanking him for his service to the cause.  In a very narrow battle for second place, Keith Shadis sowing the recruits how it’s done won out over Gabi taking a cue from Sasha and saving Kaya.

All of them were pretty darn cool

Gabi's and Mikasa's tie for me

Hard to choose, they're all good

I didn't find any of them memorable if I May be honest

Can I choose all? Because I am.

It's a tie between Shadis arriving to save the recruits, Gabi saving Kayo from the Nile Titan, and Armin killing the Pixis Titan. If I was forced to pick, I'd say Armin's scene because of his sorrowful dialogue upon seeing Pixis as a Pure Titan and the flashback to one of Pixis's earliest highlights when he believed in Armin and Eren shortly after they first met.

Literally all of them what kind of sadistic question is this how could I possibly choose

Loved all the kills!!!

ALL OF THE ABOVE

  THERE WAS A LOT OF DEBATE AS THIS CHAPTER WAS COMING OUT ABOUT GABI, AT THIS POINT DO YOU LIKE HER AS A CHARACTER IN THE STORY? 1,985 Responses

Nearly two-thirds of of the fandom currently enjoy Gabi’s overall character, despite what their first impressions may have been (65.1%) . Though there are still many who have yet to warm up to her, if they ever do (34.9%).

Gabi is beginning to grow on me enough I feel neutral about her.

Gabi is a LITTLE more favorable to me, but I still hate her and I wish she never existed. She can never earn forgiveness for Sasha.

gabi is good you guys are just mean

  WHICH THOUGHT BEST MATCHED HOW YOU CURRENTLY FEEL ABOUT GABI? 1,977 Responses

One of the most controversial characters in the story is of course Gabi Braun, but what do fans truly think of her?  Almost half, at 45.9% don’t profess love for her character from the mountains, but understand why she’s important to the story.  In contrast, 19.6% firmly believe the story would be better off if she never existed, and 17.6% want to see even more of her in the upcoming chapters.  16.9% just think she’s been in the spotlight a little bit too much.

Fuck Gabi, Eren will always be better, not this carbon copy Mary Sue

gabi fucking GANG

Such a great chapter! I’m glad that the Gabi hate is stopping now.

Don't know why are people surprised about Gabi. Her closure with the Braus family is something I figured was gonna happen eventually. Guess Isayama wanted to get that out of the way early.

Of course my opinion of Gabi is unchanged. I still hate her no matter how much "development" she gets.

Gabi is a super uninteresting character to me

i really liked gabi’s character development in this chapter, especially since i was previously a gabi hater.

She is the new MC now. Upgrade.

I see why Gabi exists but she’s just such a forced character. The parallel between her and Sasha was so forced and just felt wrong. Don’t care about her killing Sasha her character is just a forced rehash of eren.

I'm disappointed in her as she is becoming more likeable

Gabi's character development finally completed in a brilliant way

Like Eren, she's fighting for people she cares about, even if she's wrong/vicious with her methods.

I’m tired of Gabi

Really wish we wouldn't have Gabi shoved down our throats, she's not a good character, let alone person

I'm really proud of Gabi and how far she's come from her original POV. I'm really hoping that this influences Eren and I really hope Falco and Gabi get to reunite.

yams wants us to like her more

She has the same motivations as Eren once had, to save the world, basically.

I will admit Gabi has gone through a lot of development. But that doesn't mean I have to like her. I still hate her, and I will NEVER EVER forgive her for what she did to Sasha.

Gabi's haters being mad is so funny. My girl truly shined this chapter, I love her even more.

Gabi.... I feel like I would absolutely hate being around her irl but I guess I do appreciate her as a character in the story.

Never wanted to kill a child so badly in my existence

Death to Gabi Braun!

I don't hate Gabi enough to want her dead, but "too much spotlight" is the understatement of the year, especially when there is still a lot that has yet to be resolved with the main characters

She just wants to protecc

I love Gabi but she gets too much screen time at this point in the story. I want to see Historia and hopefully Eren later.

I LOVE GABI SO MUCH SHE IS THE BEST GIRL

I like Gabster. Gabi Gang Gabi Gang

Me no likey bad bad

  NOW THAT ALL OF THE ORIGINAL BRANCH HEADS ARE GONE, WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF THE PARADIS MILITARY? 1,955 Responses

The head of all of Paradisian government, Darius Zackly, went out with a bang, and now we’ve lost the interim head Pixis, as well as Nile Dok.  Who’s going to pick up the torch?  There’s a big three that seem to have emerged as popular choices, with Jean winning out, Hange coming in second, and Shadis taking up third.  

A combination of several people noted above.

Hanji+SC Armin+Garrison Jean+MP

Anyone but Floch

Jean. He's the only one that can view the Rumbling objectively and not rule it out as bad because their enemies are destroyed

Armin for strategy, Jean for leadership, Hanji for progress

Daz

Shadis should take over, but only untill Jean can get a little more experience leading.

As long as they agree Marley needs to be wiped out for the sake of Paradis, I'm okay with any leader that accepts that responsibility

Definitely not Hange. She wanted to make peace with Marley. Not leadership worthy at all.

Rico ;-;

Hange may be commander, but they are unfit for taking on as the head of the military. Same goes for Keith, though in this chapter he shows courage by stepping up to push the trainees to fight, I doubt he is willing to go back into a similar position as he was before as the Survey Corp's commander. Among the candidates, Armin may seem like a promising candidate, but aside from his proven intellect, just like Hange both do not possess the level of prowess of leading all three branches (four if count the training squad)of the military. More I think about it the "best" candidate in this list may surprisingly be Jean, but so far he hasnt been giving me the impression as someone who can take on such a massive role.

Erwin

  WHY DID FLOCH ARREST THE VOLUNTEERS? 1,903 Responses

The fandom is fairly divided on Floch’s motives, with a three-way split that comes close to being even. The highest amount of respondents feel he is arresting the Volunteers because he doesn’t trust them based on past actions. In the middle, people feel that he doesn’t want to be associated with any non-Eldian people. And in third place, people felt that he doesn’t trust Yelena specifically, and is taking her group down with her.

As far as I've seen, Floch is on Eren's side, not Zeke's. So that would make Yelena, who hasn't heard about her boss and the euthanasia plan, dangerous as fuck. Even with that, Floch's following his own principles. He has different reasons than Eren, but he just needs the "devil" figure to project his own will.

He always knew Yelena and Zeke's intentions because of Eren, and now he's arresting them to prevent more trouble caused by them. I think Eren "trusts" and is working with Flcoh more than the fandom expect.

Because they conspired to sterilize/euthanize the Paradisians.

He's a completely inconsistent character whose personality and character motivations change at the drop of a hat in order to create conflict in the story.

He thinks Yelena can take over his position of the best Yeager fanboy and he can't have that.

He was never really on their side at all! Just like how Eren saw them - they were a means to an end, a useful tool but a dangerous one that could never really be trusted. Now that Eren has made his intentions clear and the ideological split is visible, he's fully turning on them and suppressing them from potentially pursuing their own agendas further.

There’s not enough room on Paradis for both of those eccentric hair cuts

  GABI AND ARMIN BOTH SEEM INTERESTED IN PUTTING ASIDE THEIR DIFFERENCES: WILL THE SURVEY CORPS AND WARRIORS TEAM UP? 1,928 Responses

After having been warring factions since the beginning, will the warriors and Survey Corps finally team up as one?  62.9% feel a team up will happen, but not everyone from both sides will want to be involved, and a solid 30% believe a full team up is in the cards.  Only 5.8% don’t feel that it’s possible at this point.

Any cooperation will be a compromise, so maybe?

At this point I really don't know. Their passivity disappointed me fully this chapter. They need their TRUE leaders who are MIA at the moment.

I hope it happens but I think Armin is acting under Bert's influence

I hope not, it sounds lame.

i think maybe they will be forced to work together to stop the titans because they are attacking both sides.

It's the ideal scenario I suppose

Only until the Rumbling stops. After that, the SC needs to dispose of all the remaining Warriors to end the war for good.

PLEASE MAYBE REINER WILL GET SOME CLOSURE OUT OF IT

Probably but it’s waaay to cliché. Please don’t Isayama

They'll team up to stop Eren, if that works they'll be enemies once again

Yes and Yes! I've been saying this for months: warriors and SC are going to have to work together. Magath is going to play a role in this too.

  ANNIE!! THOUGHTS: 1,948 Responses

91 chapters.  91 Months.  7 and a half years.  Longer than we were with the characters pre-timeskip.  Annie has been in a crystal, but now she's free!  33.4% think she came back at the perfect time and Isayama has nailed his writing once again.  18.4% are excited for her return, but don’t feel there’s much time left in the story for the wait to be worth it.  15.7% aren’t worshippers at her crystal, and so aren’t too hyped out of their minds.  29% however: A N N I E

akueeoekskfnfjyfjekqwiruuri MY GIRL IS BACK BITCHES, AND I NEED POST-AWAKENING MIKANNIE FANFICTION NOW

glad she's back but the plot has nothing for her to do anymore

How he brought her back makes perfect sense and I love it. If she chose to come out at this time rather than being forced, it would have been awkward and forced to be honest. But Eren taking away all hardening is the best way to bring her back AFTER SEVEN FUCKING YEARS.

glad to have her back but sceptical of her importance

go back into hibernation

Good in-story reason, great writing, but waited far too long. Not sure if she will even be relevent for the remainder of the story that already has a lot of loose ends.

Hentannie

I am not hyped because it took too long and the series has gone too far down a path I can no longer follow.

I DID MY WAITING! TWELVE YEARS OF IT! IN AZKABAN!

I don't know what Annie can do at this point of the story that will make her return worthwhile

I don’t think Isayama and his editors would allow her to be brought back for a poor plot point/reason, so I’m curious to see what role she’ll have.

I wasn't too concerned about Annie at this point in the story but I'm glad that her return makes sense with the events currently taking place and I'm interested to see what Isayama has planned for her.

I'm no fan of her so I'm not excited at all, but I assume she'll drive the plot somewhere soon.

She's got a lot of catching up to do. Concerned it won't be handled well.

The reasoning is sound, and I am glad that Isayama thought that part through, but we have a limited number of pages left, so I am worried about how this will play out.

Took too long so it ended up being very 'meh' for me, but congratulations Annie-stans, have a drink tonight

Should've been way sooner, her potential as a character feels wasted since we're almost done now. All she'll have time to do is get caught up on what happened and then have a couple reunions.

I honestly have no idea what Isayama plans to do with her but I’m just GLAD SHES FINALLY FUCKING BACK!!!! MY BABY GIRL IS BACK!!!!

  ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT ANNIE WILL DO NEXT? 675 Responses

Annie will have a run-in with Hitch, get things explained and head towards the main conflict.

Dare I say it, Assist With Armin’s Talk No Jutsu with Eren

"Run"

Definitely try to get to her dad.

Try to find her warrior friends

Determine her situation and act accordingly

She won't be too surprised at what Eren's become. She remarked how when the "good guys" take power, then it's all over to Marlowe in Season 1.

A girl can dream of her and Pieck being badasses.

All the titan shifters will come together (location-wise), it seem like a flag? Since all the shifter's powers is a part of Ymir herself, having them close might have significant meaning.

ANNIETHING

Be traumatized by manga spoilers? Wonder wtf happened?? Try to find Reiner??

Annie will join Eren.

Not give a shit about anything apart from Papa Leonhardt

Annie will play a huge role in stopping Eren, in some way.

be a badass like usual and FEMALE TITAN ACTION?????

Change her clothes because why is she wet

umm take a shower lol

Character development and teaming up against Ereh

I think Hitch will be the one to find her - she was in charge of guarding the crystal. I think she'll be too weak to fight right now though, so I'm worried that she's just going to be used as a Titan Shifter snack :(

Somehow affect Eren's mindset. Not sure exactly how.

Go kiss Armin pls

I'm hoping for Armin to transform into the Colossal Titan. Annie will see this thinking it's Bertoldt, and then have a good character moment upon finding out that Armin ate him.

Her endgame is to at least partially counteract the rumbling with her scream ability.

Confused --> Shocked --> Mad --> or all at the same time. Anyway, she will probably meet up with Armin and the gang and they will explain the shit situation to her and somehow they will come up with a plan or smth.

I think she’ll be forgotten about for a few chapters then show up in the battle. It’ll be interesting to see what side she takes at that point. I’m sure someone will conveniently fill her in on the last few years.

She's a wild card, but the last we saw her she wanted to get back home. I'm sure she will be invested in saving the world from annihilation.

She is FAR away right now. I think dealing with Annie is a good wind-down after all this World-ending stuff has been dealt with, like when they save the Shire after defeating Sauron

Crystallize

Yeet to Marley and die with her papa.

Annie's first move will be to find a toilet sure she must be dying for a pee like

  HOW HAS YOUR OPINION ON THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS CHANGED?

Shadis, Jean and Gabi are the big winners in the opinion poll this month with the majority selecting “More Favorable” reaction to them. Shadis had 1379 respondents selecting “more favorable”, Jean had 1076 and Gabi came in third with 980. Fighting titans so soon after surviving a bear attack is impressive, so I’m not surprised with these results. At the other end of the spectrum, Connie (542) and Floch (496) had the most number of “Less Favorable” selections. While the good outweighed the bad, Gabi again proved to be polarizing with 432 people choosing “Less Favorable” despite her positive development this month.

  FAVORITE NEW TITAN DESIGN? 1,926 Responses

Isayama’s nods to his television viewing habits continue with the appearance of the “Better Call Saul” titan. Our appreciation of Isayama’s sense of humor continues with more than 50% of us selecting it as “Favorite New Titan Design” (51.5%). Pixis was a distance second with close to a quarter choosing his titan form (23.7%) as their favorite.

Still laughing over the Saul Titan. Good ol' slippin' Jimmy

the Better call Saul titan looks more like Bolsonaro (Brazil's president)

one last hurrah to the Pure Titan mayhem the series was originally known for, and witnessing the tragic end to Nile and Pixis

  WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,926 Responses

The three elements of the story which have been absent for months, or even years, take the top overall votes for what the fandom would like to see next. 33.6% are dying to see present-day Levi and Hange again. 24.1% are still eager to get Historia’s perspective. 23.6% are still hoping to one day see Eren’s inner thoughts.

All I want for Christmas....Is Historias POV

I'm missing Connies adventure on the 'What are you hoping to see next chapter?' question.

Bitch give me Levi. It’s been more than half a year.

I literally only care about the 104th characters so the more of them we can see next chapter the better

Give me more Eren action pleaseee

So why is Annie pov not an option for next chapter?

I have waited for 7 years, finally, Annie is back. I wanna see more of her story and  character development. I cant wait to see her conversation with Hitch and Armin!

Please Isayama give me more good Shadis content

I really want to see Eren's full complete titan. Issayama, stop blueballing us please!

I would actually like to know more about that spine creature that is evidently the source of Titans.

Is there a Kiyomi option?

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,843 Responses

With close to 200,000 members it’s no surprise that Reddit continues to dominate the discussion field (47.7%), followed distantly by Tumblr (15.5%), Real Life (9.8%) and Discord (6.7%). Amazingly, 9% don’t discuss it at all. This month, FIVE of you said Snapchat, up from four last month, so while there’s still technically a possibility that you guys are actually forming some weird snapchat cult and this isn’t an elaborate psyop, I’m still not convinced. But regardless of where you discuss the series, or if you even do, we truly appreciate your participation in the chapter poll!

  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS? 416 Responses

OMG! Okay, it's happening! Everybody stay calm! Annie! Annie! Annie!

Annie got crystalized in chapter 33, and now she's out, 91 chapters later. Since 12 chapters are published in a year, we have been waiting for her (not including flasbacks and her just chilling in the crystal) 7 years and 7 months. I salute all the diehard Annie fans, you had a long wait.

Once again I have marked my calendar. May 9, 2012 - December 5, 2019. After 7 excruciating years our queen is FINALLY awake. This deserves a new record for longest amount of time a character has been comatose in real life. Thank GOD it's finally over I still can't believe it.

I'm a big fan of all of the smaller storylines coming together, hoping for everything to be wrapped up nicely and characters from different factions (i.e Hange, Annie, Historia) all coming together to address the rumbling.

It felt a little like a breather chapter, despite all the action. It was nice to slow down and get some character development for everyone.

“Everyone has a devil in them” is a great message. Hope they all team up and stop Eren. Very curious about what Annie will do!

The parallels to Trost arc were nice, but I felt like the endgame was finally amping up only to be put on hold.

Great chapter! I like Pathland, and the flashback with Levi and Hanji was great, but it was a relief to get some current time action. Gabi is best girl, Armin just went up by leaps and bounds in my book, and Annie is back!! So excited for the next chapter…

Great one ! The fear from the mindless titans in back, like in Trost. Many side characters development/deaths (Nile, Pixis, Shadis, Kaya, Nicolo, Gabi, Annie, Connie, Jean...). So much good stuff, I almost forgot about the rumbling going on !!

Amazing. If Isayama maintains this quality til the end, then this will be one of my favorite series, of any media, ever.

I'm wondering what Annie can realistically do at this point. Sure she beat Eren before but now he's in another level.

Guess we don't have to deal with the genocidal jock for a while

REINER HELOS BRAUN WILL SAVE THE WORLD (after his power nap)

ANNNIIEEEEE; Shadis' comeback was wonderful. I hope he can make up for the loss of Pixis and Erwin and such. He has great potential and he's a well developed character. Jean is asking the real questions, but the showdown between him and Floch is about to go down.

I said previously that if Floch survives I wanted my money back. But you know what? I'll take my refund in Annie store credit. Thanks for that bright spot, Isayama!  Also: this chapter pointed out how many good people in the world will suffer if Eren succeeds. And I felt as frustrated with the remnants of the 104th as Gabi. Nicolo and Shadis became my unexpected heroes this chapter.

Is Zeke still alive? Is he still controlling the mindless titans?

Floch didn’t do anything particularly bad this chapter but every time I have to see his face my opinion of him becomes less favorable. When Jean said “so you lived...” I FELT that disappointment lol.

I love the Braun siblings interaction in this chap. And Nicole's "we'll try to get out of the forest" sends chills. I think that's one of the point ISTM is trying to get across.

Does Connie realise that if his mother was given one of the nine titan powers she would be made to fight? Getting one of the titan powers is very much a curse not a blessing (especially with the Jaw titan)

At this point the Eren/Gabi parallels are feeling a little overdone and forced.

If Gabi receives Eren’s Titan it will be the stupidest most disappointing thing to happen in this- no all of manga! Besides, what is the damn point of her “paralleling” Eren anyways? But the Sasha paralleling was even more gnarly YUCK!

It's true that the people of Paradis will benefit from this shit, but I highly disagree with any justification when it comes to Eren's horrible actions. GENOCIDE IS NEVER THE OPTION. I think Jean is disappointed too but he's trying his best to rationalize the crap Eren's carrying out for he still doesn't want to believe his friend is committing genocide. I expect he comes back to his senses soon otherwise I no longer will appreciate him as a character.

That "who are you most disappointed" will sadly be filled with Armin hate tbh. And in the end he was just wanting to avoid unnecessary conflict... tbh Anyone hating on Connie, Gabi and Armin doesn't seems to know how humans emotion work in helpless situations...

What Yams is doing to Connie is further proof he is ruining his main characters (the good ones) to make room for his precious Marley characters (the crappy ones)

Connie's regression and frustration was more and more visible since Sasha died. He's lost everyone close to him. I am happy to see him finally snap at Armin and go his own way. This was foreshadowed for a while now.

I hope Isayama sensei doesn't forget to include World Millitary's raid in the action. They already mention in some previous chapter by Zeke.

Quantity-wise, the chapter wasn't centered around Gabi, okay. But. BUT. Gabi got quite a few powerful scenes, very Gabi-centric scenes, and I'm not happy about that. I don't see how and why the fandom so easily forgave her for what she's done. Isayama drawing parallels between Gabi and Sasha was insulting and distasteful.

It is highly likely that this is the last time we are going to see Pure Titan mayhem in the series now that the Rumbling is taking place, so I think it was great to that focus in this chapter. I thought it was handled well, especially with Shadis's scenes, the parallel of the new recruits seeing the Pure Titans peaking through the hole of the fortress tower much like a similar scene in the Trost arc, the tragedy of seeing Pixis and Nile (two of the last remaining head honchos of the military not counting Hange and Shadis) as Pure Titans and getting killed off for good, and how characters like Armin and Jean fought those Pure Titans.  

WARMASTER FLOCKE, TO LEAD THE ARMIES OF ELDIA TO VICTORY! Haha no I guess not. I'm torn between Flocke, Jean, Eren, and Shadis. All could be good picks but all outcomes would have different implications on the story and what it means. I guess if I had to pick, it'll be Shadis or Eren for now and then perhaps Jean later when things have settled and they've grown up more.

I honestly can't keep up with how many faces Floch has.

With how the pacing is handled there's no way this is ending in 6 chapters. The real climax is Eren having to go against his friends because there's no way in hell Mikasa is allowing him to genocide kids

As heartbreaking as this chapter has been, I already had my hopes destroyed when 119 was released. Today has been the confirmation for two awesome characters, who fell because of the non-veteran rule. I don't know why I still hope to see Keith staying alive, but at least we got an awesome moment of his.

Characters are being balanced relatively well. Isayama's got a lot of characters and plot threads to deal with, and while Levi, Hange and Historia are getting less focus than I would like, I think he's doing a pretty good job of keeping each character relevant and giving them all some good arcs/ moments

Everything (except for Gabi scenes) was perfect for me!

Eww Gabi-focused chapter…

I simply hate how cowardy the 104th is acting. It's clear they're only fighting in their own interest and are just pulling excuses after excuses for supporting Eren. At least Floch is honest about it.

Man, the 104th always been the group I care the less in the story, but this chapter they're being so annoying (apart from Mikasa). Well, I can forgive Connie because of everything he went through, but Jean... why are you saying this ""there was no other choice, eren is protecting us"" bs ? Nice of you to be complicit of mass genocide. (Yes, I know his face shows he's conflicted, but he still sides with eren) Also Armin... at least he's horrified at what's Eren's doing but when he said that if they don't kill Falco there would be no conflict with the warriors since Marley will be gone....that's just dumb. Their home and families are going to be destroyed, but ok Armin, go off. And getting into another serumbowl situation, with one of my fave uncounscious while the SC decides who will eat him... I don't like it. (I don't think Falco will be eaten tho, the whole thing raised many death flags on Connie)

Great chap, Isayama seems to finally give closure to certain plot parts. End is near.

Here's a crazy idea: feed GABI to Connie's mom instead of Falco, there would be nowhere near as much arguing with that

Highlights that people can rise above their conditions to become better people, offering a counterargument that humanity should be wiped out.

I don't get why the story pacing was disrupted so much. Why build up to a climatic cliffhanger with the rumbling, only to basically ignore it for the entire following chapter?

I honestly wonder if titan shifting still works as it used to. I'm afraid of seeing Falco get eaten for nothing. Honestly I'm worried about Falco dying for nothing while people right over him as a pawn in general.

Quite interesting chapter. Had fun with it. Much, much slower paced than expected almost. But then again we need time to cover all this stuff. And I'm happy it all took place in the current rather than another flashback. Not really a fan of the Gabi stuff but it is what it is. The other character developments were quite nice. Reiner literally just falling asleep tho lol. Overall I guess I wouldn't say it's a "big" chapter but it is necessary to bridge what came before with whatever comes next. And at long last Annie is back, so that's GLORIOUS.

I hope Annie will have such a big role she gets repaid for the all years she's been gone😞

I hope Isayama uses the slowdown in the pace to better sell the scale of the rumbling, we already see part of that by hoe Eren's dino titan still isnt complete, even after all this time

I love how the story is progressing.The next chapter is always something I personally don't expect and it's always exciting. The hype at the beginning/end of the month is unreal. As for the chapter itself, it's always refreshing to see Jean's perspective on Eren's plans because I love his interpretations on him. #TEAMJAEGER

i love my waifu annie i missed her so much

I love you Connie and I'm sure your mom is nice and all but Falco is a precious bean who needs to be protected.

I really hated the Gabi-Sasha and Gabi-Eren parallels. I also still think Gabi was never needed in this story, in fact I don’t know how I’ll be able to stomach season 4. Ugh, the first half will be completely and utterly Gabified. Gabi in color and motion plus speaking, YUCK!  Anyways I hope that the next chapter will have an update on Hange, Levi, and Historia. And maybe Floch getting punched by Shadis that would be the Cherry on top.

It was an average chapter, not bad but nowhere near as good as the previous ones. Plus I'd appreciate if other characters, outside of Gabi, had more spotlight. Her arc and development is done, give more development and screentime to other characters such as Mikasa please.

Just being disappointed. The pacing is very slow. Also the main cast's reactions were too passive. I hated it.

Just great. Just great. The drawings were incredible and the plot just keeps getting better.

Less Gabi, more Historia!

Levi and Hange better return in some way, shape, or form, or Yam's is in for it.

Levi is the new Annie

Love getting to see thoughts from many different characters and where they stand. A lot of them are still left behind trying to rationalise things to make it emotionally palatable, or simply stuck not being able to accept the reality, whereas Gabi has kind of gone ahead and realised there's evil on both sides, and she's willing to kill Eren or work with him if she can best protect the people she cares about (eventually probably not just her friends and family either, but the outside Eldians as a whole).

My baby is back!!!!!!!! I wanna see more of ANNIE!!!!!!

Nicolo talking to Kaya and Gabi was cringey af. Did they really do back to that derpy forest analogy? If this series ends with them holding hands and singing around a campfire imma legit be so disappointed. I need me my Rumbling!

This chapter felt like a nostalgia trip, but I wasn't in for the ride. It was a mess of short catching-up moments when I just want to pick Eren's brain. I want to see Levi and Hange alive or hear what Annie and Historia think about the events, but at the moment I don't care about even those storylines. I just want to know what the relationship between Ymir and Eren is now that the walls came down.

The first panel being Mr. Leonhart was a pretty strong indicator to me that Annie would be released in the last panel, and it was. I felt that to be extremly poetic, and the timing is good too. Another wildcard in the plot. Excellent.

Compared to the previous chapter, this one turned out to be very disappointing. I was excited to see the rumbling and getting a glimpse of Eren’s thoughts and feelings. But instead I got Reiner going to sleep, Gabi being paralleled to Eren (again) and Sasha, the 104th busy arguing over what to do with Falco instead of, you know, focusing on THE RUMBLING

Good chapter, but if S4 is the final season and airs Autumn 2020, and with a monthly release, curious as to how isayama might tie up these "last minute" plot threads such as the new developments with Connie and Falco.

What else can I say except it's amazing and it was worth the wait

Where is Levi damnit

[almukhtar121035]

assignment 2

ID:121035

Number of words :1245

Date:31/5/2020

cource code :26

Name of the course :Issue of mass communication

an introduction :

In this spring semester of college 2020, I studied with media students media issues in English with Dr. Sonia Nelson

I will talk about this assignment in particular about this subject and about the topics that I studied during this semester from its inception until the end of it during our studies on campus and then we completed distance studies at home. I will talk about this material extensively and in detail

I will link the topics of Templar to each other and talk about them

At the beginning of this assignment, I will talk about the lectures on the model, then I will talk about the topics of Tumblr, and then I will talk about the interconnectedness between them and my benefit from the material

The first lecture talks about critical thinking.

Critical thinking is a process that challenges an individual to use it

Reflection, reasonable, and rational thinking to collect, interpret, and evaluate information in order to extract judgment.

In order to demonstrate critical thinking, students need to develop skills in: interpretation, analysis, logic, and assessment

The importance of critical thinking at the university:

In general, students who develop critical thinking skills are more able to achieve better scores, becoming less dependent on teachers, textbooks, and knowledge creation.

The second lecture talks about understanding the media.

It is an attempt to gain a critical understanding of the media by asking embarrassing (difficult and stubborn) questions.

The challenge is to engage critically with the everyday media world in which we live, such as asking questions about the media

in politics.

The media provides a forum for discussion and a set of channels for policy-making, interest groups, and government agents with the means of advertising and influencing , The media is the main channel for cultural representation and expression, and the primary source of identity pictures.

By asking important questions, we can gain new insights into a completely familiar world.

The third lecture talks about the media: the agent of transformation and social changes

At the macro level, the media is an important factor in transformation and social change.

The media played and continues to play an important role in transforming societies from traditional to modern and from modern to post-modern.

Targets and drives: Targets constitute information processing tasks by defining what is filtered and what is being ignored.

• The more aware you are of your goals, the more able you will be to direct the search for information - however, if your focus is poor (not familiar with certain goals and your engine power is low), then you will default to media control.

In the fourth lecture, we spoke about combating cleansing and misinformation

Media and Information Outreach Concept 121 (MIL) to understand news as a way to uncover "information disruption" in clear and sub-emotional messages.

MIL is increasingly an essential life skill - it is necessary to know what is involved in shaping one's identity and how one can navigate the haze of information and avoid the mines hidden in the haze.

The MIL program informs our consumption, production, discovery, evaluation, and sharing of information, and our understanding of ourselves and others in the information society.

The first part of the fifth lecture talks about media culture

(Methods, questions and evaluation of information

Evaluation information)

Information is now available in many forms for this reason. It is very important for students to know the appropriate ways to evaluate information and improve media literacy.

• Media literacy provides the tools necessary to recognize that "where" and "how" choices are made.

• This awareness can help the student to develop from a negative vessel to an active reactor that breaks down the packaged message and examines its contents and design.

The second part of the fifth lecture talks about agencies and responsibilities.

Attention to the impact of the media on individuals and society.

The hypothesis that media representation is not just a mirror of society but rather rather very selective and structured images.

Historically, the vast majority of psychological research on the media has been related to television.

• Recently, there has been an increase in research in response to concerns about the effects of violent video games and exposure to the Internet.

from studying

• The paper begins with a review of psychological theories that attempt to explain how exposure to television may lead to changes in values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.

The sixth lecture talks about the history of the media, the power of the media.

Our understanding of the media should be placed in a historical context.

Estimating the history of the media allows us to reflect not only on changes and developments in media technologies.

The second part of the sixth lecture talks about how to help yourself increase your understanding of the media.

You need to develop a control strategy

About the process of influence currently dominated by the media.

Boost your personal focus:

- You must be clear about your goals.

Once you clearly understand what your goals are, you need to analyze your driving energy to achieve your goals.

The seventh lecture talks about marking.

Theory of Signs - David Shulman

Poster theory (also referred to as societal reaction theory) analyzes how social groups create and apply definitions of deviant behavior.

The second part of the seventh lecture talks about the second bias

Liberal bias

Sometimes liberal bias reflects a conscious choice by the reporter or editor. Sometimes it stems from laziness.

In the last part of the seventh lecture he talks about bias in the media

My party_constructive

• For citizens and consumers of information (who are one on the same day), it is important to develop the skill of detecting bias.

In the eighth lecture we talked about here comes the newest

The old model is replaced ...

New tools and communication platforms that have changed the world we live in.

In the second part of the eighth lecture we talked about misleading coronavCOVID-1

Social media was forced to take a more active stance against media misinformation during COVID-19

Lecture 9 We talked about cartooning as an information medium

Visual novels, such as comics and cartoons, are becoming increasingly popular as a tool for science education and communication.

The first part of the tenth lecture talks about challenges for the media

• The media is undergoing a profound transformation

• Technology driven

Social Change

• A consumer of segmented media

The last lecture talks about the spread of information - interconnected

The interconnected nature of our society and globalized economy, and the continuous spread of information on many media platforms, quickly transformed a public health event - the Coruna virus into a global political, economic, psychological and social crisis of legendary proportions.

Templar topics

The doctor assigned us several assignments that we make on the Tumblr program on a weekly basis, among which is a video that we designed and sent via e-mail and Tumblr. These topics are as follows:

Disinformation

Cognitive strategies in media

Communication used in War

Selfie and narcissism - fame online

Hate Speech

THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN HEALTH EDUCATION

COMICS IN THE TIME OF COVID_19

Competition between media and social networks for ads.

Discussing two hypotheses

Perspectives about media ethics challenges

Conclusion :

I benefited a lot from this article and learned many things about various media issues

Writing in the English language improved and my understanding, comprehension, analysis and critical thinking skills developed with me

In conclusion, all thanks and appreciation to Dr. Sonia Nelson

#MASS2620_20 #Spring20 #SQURTV

[windingriverherbals]

No modern medication can rival the range and variety of therapeutic effects that can be induced by ginger. However, the full awareness of the health benefits and value of the herbal ginger remedies is rather limited because of the monopolistic health-care systems and a historically biased regulatory environment in most countries. Out of the hundreds of species in the plant family Zingiberaceae, the ginger remains the most famous and popular herb. Ginger is a rhizome, according to the correct botanical classification, though the underground stem of the ginger is often mistaken to be a root. Many different varieties of the ginger herb exist in the wild and in cultivation, these varieties range from mild to spicy in taste, and all of them require tropical conditions and fertile soils to grow at an optimal rate. The ginger herb has traveled out from Southeast Asia to the new world, over a period spanning 5,000 years, and most regions of the world now cultivate it as a food crop.

The ancient trade in ginger helped shape nations and insured the universal cultivation and survival of the herb, it is considered a botanical treasure by some of the great figures of history. The interaction of over four hundred chemical constituents present in ginger produce the observed effects of herbal ginger remedies, these result producing compounds can be grouped into four major classes: those which affect the taste, those responsible for fragrance, and chemicals which act as nutrients and synergists in the human body. The pungent compounds which affect taste are the focus for most of the therapeutic value associated with ginger. These taste compounds are known as gingerols and shogaols, the protein-digesting enzymes and antioxidant compounds present in abundant quantities in the ginger are also key elements in its overall effects over the body. Most of the observable physical effects on the body, such as the anti-inflammatory action, the anti-parasitic effect, and the anti-microbial and the digestive remedial actions, may all be due to the presence of one principal action – which is enzyme action on the body. At the same time, the observed effect, namely an anti-inflammatory action, can also be due to the presence of a number of principal actions at the core, it can be due to enzymes, because of eicosanoid balance and due to the presence of antioxidants in the herbal remedy. The main key to understanding the diversity of the ginger’s overall action may lie in the dynamics of the eicosanoid compounds; indeed, these may represent the point to develop a full understanding of the various beneficial effects of the ginger remedy. The physiologically active compounds known as the eicosanoids are synthesized by the body from essential fatty acids already present from absorbed food. The development of an imbalance in these vital elements is the reason for a wide variety of diseases and conditions, which evolve in response to the imbalances. The modulation and control of the compounds known as eicosanoids have been attempted by pharmaceutical companies, in order to develop treatment methodologies for a host of disease conditions, this step is essentially a failed step, because of the many serious side effects such compounds can induce in the human body. The advantage of herbal ginger remedies is that the ginger helps in naturally bringing a balance to many of these vitally important eicosanoid compounds, without inducing any corresponding side effects in the body of the person using the herbal remedy.

The benefits of ginger herbs have been enjoyed by many millions of people, over the course of millennia, as part of herbal treatment strategies. Thus ginger remedies have been utilized for spiritual upliftment, they have been used to provide digestive comfort and physical strength, they have also been taken to stimulate and bring relief from an infirmity in the body, the herbal remedies made from the ginger have been touted as the herbal remedy of choice and most traditional Eastern herbal formulas consider ginger remedies as a part of their herbal treatment methodologies. The ancient Indian Sanskrit name for the ginger very appropriately vishwabhesaj, translated as the universal medicine. The early twentieth century saw more than 25,000 U.S. physicians called the eclectics, praising the pain-relieving and cold-fighting properties of the ginger. Traditional use of the ginger remedies was also made by many different cultures historically in many different regions of the world – these societies used the herb for some of the same basic therapeutic applications to which we put the herb to use. Some of these herbal remedies and applications of the ginger included its use as an analgesic, its anti-arthritic ability was utilized universally, the wound healing properties were utilized widely, the antihelmintic and anti-ulcerabilities were widely known and put to use, its actions as a stimulant and its aphrodisiac properties also found great use in traditional medicine.

At the same time, traditional treatment of a variety of respiratory diseases, and problems in the reproductive and digestive systems were treated using herbal remedies derived from the ginger. For many types of cardiovascular diseases, ginger remains a primary preventive treatment especially in the treatment of critical cases of such conditions. Similar in action and usage to the common drug aspirin, the herbal remedies made from the ginger possesses a therapeutic potential and an ability to prevent thousands of deaths arising from sudden heart attacks and strokes as well as in the treatment of diseases such as cancer of the colon. The ginger has an advantage over aspirin, in that it will produce no side effects in the body whatsoever even after prolonged and continuous use. Ginger’s anti-ulcer effects are complemented on the whole by a host of other important beneficial properties pertaining to the digestive system, which includes immense relief from both diarrhea and constipation; it helps protect the liver and is an effective pro-biotic support agent. Ginger has also been documented as clearly having an effective anti-nausea effect. The ginger-based herbal remedies can thus be used to rid the body of nausea arising from the continuous use of chemotherapy and those which affect people during oceanic travels, it is also helpful during nausea from a term of pregnancy and in treating nausea following gynecological surgery, in all such cases, herbal remedies based on the ginger is the natural treatment of choice for nausea. The assistance that ginger gives to the digestive system marks it as a prominent bio-availability herb, and the ginger assists the digestion of other consumed nutrients and is a greatly recommended addition to the natural supplemental regimes during treatment processes for many digestive complaints. While not generally recognized, intestinal parasites pose a much greater threat to the industrialized world than they are credited for. Here too, the potent range of anti-parasitic activities displayed by the ginger can play a great role in the treatment of parasite infections. Historical observations of the ginger, place it in a role of an effective remedy for cold, this ability of the ginger arises from a combination of principal actions and benefits which can include eicosanoid balancing within the body, its pro-biotic supporting role, its anti-toxic and cytoprotective influences on the body among other beneficial effects.

The remedies based on ginger also have a very significant anti-mutagenic potential, and these can be used to beat powerful carcinogens such as the compound benzopyrene and the more toxic burned byproducts of the amino acid tryptophan in the body. Ginger’s reputed anticancer abilities also deserve further research and study, this property of the herb must be further investigation and its role in cancer-treatment programs must be studied in the future so as to take advantage of any beneficial effects. In addition, to all of these abilities herbal remedies made from the ginger positively affect all other parameters of health such as levels of the compound cholesterol and the levels of blood sugar, at the same time, the herb helps in balancing a variety of vital body systems such as the performance of the circulatory system, the functioning of the respiratory and reproductive systems besides others. Topical remedies made from the ginger also have very positive and beneficial effects; the potency of the ginger in this topical role has been demonstrated during external treatments which showed dramatic results and improvement from a variety of skin disorders in many patients.

The safety of herbal remedies made from the ginger is remarkable. It can be said that almost no modern pharmaceutical products can compete with the range of therapeutic properties displayed by this herb and this does not even include the complete absence of all adverse physical side effects from prolonged use of the herbal remedy. However, when using ginger products during a term of pregnancy and before surgery, patients must be careful about doses and use the herb in moderation at such times. A general safe and preventive dosage of the herbal remedy for the use of the general population can be up to 1 gram a day of the powdered herbal remedy. Dietary use of therapeutic ginger remedies must be gradual and over a long period of time in all cases, as this will ensure the optimal benefits. The quality of the rhizome will also greatly influence the effectiveness of the remedy made from ginger. Organically certified ginger products are the best, as many of the commercial ginger products are normally subjected to many potential levels of chemical contamination, at different stages of the manufacturing process. For regular supplementation, both the fresh and the dry ginger herbal remedies are recommended and these two can even be used in tandem. Though the properties and benefits given by each will be slightly different and both will have specific strengths and weaknesses. Commercially the herbal remedies made from the ginger are available in many forms, which include the fresh and dried forms, ginger syrups, and as herbal capsules and extracts.

A Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Oil; Ginger Oil

Ginger Essential Oil or Ginger Root Oil is derived from the root of the Zingiber officinale herb, better known as Ginger, which is named after the Greek word “zingiberis” meaning “horn-shaped.” This flowering perennial belongs to the plant family that includes Turmeric and Cardamom and is native to the south of China; however, its growth has spread to other parts of Asia, India, the Moluccas – also known as the Spice Islands, West Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean.

For thousands of years, Ginger Root has been used in folk medicine for its ability to soothe inflammation, fevers, colds, respiratory discomforts, nausea, menstrual complaints, upset stomachs, arthritis, and rheumatism. It has also traditionally been used as an anti-microbial food preservative that prevents the growth of harmful bacteria, and it has been used as a spice for its flavoring and digestive properties. In Ayurvedic medicine, Ginger Oil has traditionally been believed to soothe emotional difficulties such as nervousness, sadness, low self-confidence, and a lack of enthusiasm.

The health benefits of Ginger Oil are the same as that of the herb from which it originates, with the oil even being considered to be more beneficial due to its higher Gingerol content, a constituent that is most reputable for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. With a warm, sweet, woody, and spicy scent that has an energizing effect, especially when used in aromatherapy, Ginger Oil has earned the nickname “The Oil of Empowerment” for the feeling of confidence that it is known to inspire.

BENEFITS OF GINGER ESSENTIAL OIL

The main chemical constituents of Ginger Oil are Camphene, B-Phellandrene, α-Pinene, Geranial, Zingiberene, β-Bisabolene, β-Sesquiphellandrene, and Curcumene.

CAMPHENE is known to:

Exhibit anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

Be soothing

B-PHELLANDRENE is known to:

Exhibit a pleasant odor that has been described as peppery, minty, and/or slightly citrusy

Exhibit anti-septic, antiviral, bactericidal, and decongestant properties

PINENE is known to:

Have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and expectorant properties

Be a bronchodilator

GERANIAL is known to:

Be a fragrance ingredient with a Rose-like scent

Have insecticidal and anti-oxidant effects

ZINGIBERENE is known to:

Be the fragrance ingredient responsible for the characteristic scent of Ginger

Exhibit anti-viral, anti-oxidant, and antiseptic properties

Β-BISABOLENE is known to:

Be a fragrance agent

Exude a warm, woody, and fruity scent characteristic of “oriental” aromas

Exhibit anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy properties

Β-SESQUIPHELLANDRENE is known to:

Have anti-viral, carminative, and stomachic properties

CURCUMENE is known to:

Have hypotensive and analgesic effects

Exhibit anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

Used in aromatherapy applications, Ginger Oil is known for its stimulating and warming effects, which can enhance concentration while soothing and reduce the feelings of stress, sadness, anxiety, lethargy, agitation, dizziness, and fatigue.

Used cosmetically or topically in general, Ginger Essential Oil can soothe redness and eliminate bacteria, especially redness and bacteria associated with acne. Its antioxidant properties are known to have a protective effect on the skin, inhibiting the signs of skin damage and aging, such as wrinkles and fine lines. Its stimulating properties make it an ideal ingredient in revitalizing moisturizers that restore color and radiance to a dull complexion. Used in hair, Ginger Oil’s rich mineral content contributes to the health of the scalp and the strands, while its antiseptic, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties contribute their cleanliness while soothing dryness and itchiness characteristic of dandruff. By stimulating and improving circulation, it is known to enhance healthier hair growth.

  Used medicinally, Ginger Essential Oil’s detoxifying and digestive properties facilitate the elimination of toxins and boost digestion. Additionally, it eases discomforts associated with the stomach and bowel, including flatulence, diarrhea, spasms, dyspepsia, stomach ache, and colic. For those with the intention of gaining weight, Ginger Oil is known to enhance the appetite. Its expectorant property works to eliminate mucus from the respiratory tract and to effectively reduce symptoms of respiratory ailments, including breathlessness, asthma, cough, cold, flu, and bronchitis. When massaged into the muscles, Ginger Oil’s analgesic property is known to soothe and reduce aches as well as inflammation, thus benefitting complaints such as headaches, migraines, arthritis, back pain, and contractions of the uterus, which are commonly referred to as menstrual cramps.

Ginger Oil is reputed to have many therapeutic properties. The following highlights its many benefits and the kinds of activity it is believed to show:

COSMETIC: Tonic, Stimulant, Warming, Anti-Inflammatory, Firming

ODOROUS: Tonic, Stimulant, Warming, Expectorant, Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory, Aphrodisiac, Memory-Enhancing, Soothing, Anti-Nausea, Appetite-Boosting, Immune-Boosting

MEDICINAL: Antiseptic, Laxative, Tonic, Stimulant, Warming, Digestive, Carminative, Expectorant, Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory, Antispasmodic, Soothing, Anti-nausea, Appetite-Boosting, Circulatory, Diuretic, Detoxifying, Immune-Boosting, Sudorific

GINGER ESSENTIAL OIL USES

Used in aromatherapy applications, diffusing 2-3 drops of Ginger Oil in a diffuser of personal preference can improve a negative mood and low libido. By facilitating the onset of sleep and improving sleep quality, diffusing Ginger Oil is known to benefit those suffering from insomnia. It is also believed to enhance energy levels by inspiring positive and hopeful feelings and promoting a balanced and grounded mindset.

For a calming and heartening diffuser blend with a tropical nuance that releases anxiety, fatigue, and sadness, combine and diffuse 3 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 2 drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil, and 2 drops Wild Orange Essential Oil.

For a diffuser blend that is reputed to enhance the feeling of self-empowerment, combine and diffuse 3 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 2 drops Bergamot Essential Oil, and 2 drops Patchouli Essential Oil. This blend is also known to create a sense of mental and emotional balance. For a blend that eases the mind and lifts the spirit, combine and diffuse 2 drops each of Ginger, Geranium, and Orange essential oils.

For a diffuser blend that eases congestion and irritation of the respiratory tract by reducing mucus and inflammation, simply combine 2 drops each of the following essential oils before adding the mixture to a diffuser, based on the amount indicated by the diffuser: Ginger, Tea Tree, Sage, and Eucalyptus. This blend also eases stress, balances the hormones, and alleviates symptoms of allergies. To soothe nausea and an upset stomach, blend and diffuse 3 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 3 drops Grapefruit Essential Oil, and 2 drops Peppermint Essential Oil.

Ginger Essential Oil blends well with any of the following oils, contributing to scent combinations that are aromatically appealing: Bergamot, Cassia, Cedarwood Atlas, Cinnamon, Coriander, Eucalyptus, Frankincense, Geranium, Juniper Berry, Lemon, Lime, Myrtle, Neroli, Orange, Palmarosa, Patchouli, Rose, Rosemary, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Vetiver, and Ylang Ylang.

Used in cosmetic applications, Ginger Essential Oil is known to inhibit cellular oxidation that is responsible for skin damage and signs of aging. For a facial scrub that reveals a softer, healthier layer of skin by removing dead and dull skin, combine ½ cup Brown Sugar, ½ cup Fractionated Coconut Carrier Oil, 10 drops Ginger Essential Oil, and 5 drops Lime Essential Oil in a bowl, then transfer the mixture to an airtight container. To use this Ginger Oil-infused facial exfoliant, with the fingertips scoop a small amount into the hands and gently massage it into the face until the sugar softens. Rinse off the scrub with warm water and pat the skin dry with a soft, clean towel. This scrub is known to soothe inflammation, such as that associated with acne, and to smooth the look of fine lines. For a scrub that diminishes the appearance of cellulite, an exfoliating mixture can be made by using the aforementioned recipe and replacing the Brown Sugar with ¼ cup Coffee Powder and ¼ cup Cocoa Powder.

To create a toning and nourishing face mask with softening, illuminating, and even aphrodisiac qualities, thoroughly combine 5 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 2 Tbsp. Raw Organic Honey, and 1 Tsp. Lemon Juice, then refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes. Apply this blend to the face like a mask and leave it on for 30 minutes before rinsing it off with cool water. This mask is known to have a rejuvenating effect on the complexion.

To naturally and effectively soothe a scalp afflicted with dandruff, 2 drops of Ginger Essential Oil can be added to regular shampoo. For an anti-dandruff Ginger Oil hair mask, combine 10 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 5 drops Extra Virgin Olive Carrier Oil and 1 tsp. Lemon Juice. Massage this anti-septic hair blend into the scalp and leave it on for 15-30 minutes before rinsing it out with a regular mild shampoo. This treatment can be repeated three times a week to prevent a dry and itchy scalp and to stimulate hair growth.

For a hair mask that stimulates hair growth by boosting circulation to the scalp, combine 10 drops Ginger Essential Oil and 10 drops Jojoba Carrier Oil in a small bowl. In circular motions, massage this blend into the scalp and leave it on for a minimum of 30 minutes, before rinsing it off in the shower and shampooing the hair as usual. This mask will not only inhibit the thinning and loss of hair, but it will also nourish the strands with fatty acids, thereby stimulating hair growth.

Used in medicinal applications, Ginger Oil eliminates bacterial infections on the skin with its antiseptic property. To avert or treat topical infections, dilute 1-3 drops of Ginger Essential Oil in 1 tsp. of Coconut Carrier Oil – or any other carrier oil of personal preference – and gently massage it into the affected area.

To soothe sore muscles, headaches, backaches, and menstrual cramps, simply dilute 2-3 drops of Ginger Essential Oil in a bathtub filled with water that is comfortably warm rather than hot, as the oil itself has warming properties. Soak in this Ginger Oil-infused bath until the water cools. This also alleviates inflammation while soothing the digestive system to enhance its function. For a bath blend that is reputed to promote an overall sense of well-being, dilute 3 drops Ginger Essential Oil and 2 drops Cardamom Essential Oil.

For a massage blend that soothes aches, in a dark bottle mix 5 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 5 drops Orange Essential Oil, and 5 drops Jojoba Carrier Oil. Cap the bottle and gently shake it to thoroughly combine all the ingredients before applying it as any massage oil. For a more complex blend that can be used in both a hot bath and a massage, combine 4 drops Ginger Essential Oil, 4 drops Rosemary Essential Oil, 2 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil and 4 Tsp. carrier oil of personal preference.

A GUIDE TO GINGER OIL VARIETIES & THEIR BENEFITS

GINGER ORGANIC ESSENTIAL OIL / GINGER ROOT ESSENTIAL OIL (DRIED) / GINGER ROOT ESSENTIAL OIL (FRESH)

Botanical Name: Zingiber officinale

Method of Extraction and Plant Part: Steam Distillation; the Ginger root is macerated and distilled over high heat, from which the oil is extracted.

Country of Origin: Sri Lanka / China / Indonesia

Believed to:

Ease nausea, menstrual discomfort, upset stomach, anxiety, muscle soreness, and joint pain

Even out skin tone and enhance skin elasticity

Have a warming and stimulating effect on the skin and mind

Exhibit anti-septic and anti-inflammatory properties

Display tonic, laxative, digestive, and anti-spasmodic activity

Reduce or eliminate mucus from the respiratory tract to soothe irritation and congestion

Promote easier breathing by opening up airways and diminishing inflammation

Reduce symptoms of colds, flu, and fever

Enhance libido by arousing sensuality, calmness, and confidence

Replace negative emotions such as stress, fatigue, and sadness with enthusiastic energy

Boost circulation and thereby stimulate the growth of stronger and healthier hair and skin

Facilitate the fading of scars and cellulite

Promote a smooth, clear, and radiant complexion

CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR GINGER OIL

Ginger Essential Oil is for external use only. It is imperative to consult a medical practitioner before using this oil for therapeutic purposes. Pregnant and nursing women are especially advised not to use Ginger Oil without the medical advice of a physician, as it may have an effect on certain hormone secretions and it is unclear whether these effects are transferable to babies at these stages of development. The oil should always be stored in an area that is inaccessible to children, especially those under the age of 7.

Those with the following health conditions are recommended to be advised by a physician: diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and other heart-related ailments, skin disorders, liver damage, or hormone-related ailments. Individuals that are taking prescription drugs, undergoing major surgery, or who are at a greater risk of experiencing strokes, heart attacks, or atherosclerosis are also advised to seek medical consultation prior to use.

Prior to using Ginger Oil, a skin test is recommended. This can be done by diluting 1 drop of the Essential Oil in 4 drops of a Carrier Oil and applying a dime-size amount of this blend to a small area of skin that is not sensitive. Ginger Oil must never be used near the eyes, inner nose, and ears, or on any other particularly sensitive areas of skin. Potential side effects of Ginger Oil include low blood pressure. Due to the potential phototoxicity of this oil, it is recommended that the areas of the application be protected from sunlight exposure for 24 hours.

Those seeking medical care to manage moods, behaviors, or disorders should treat this essential oil as a complementary remedy rather than a replacement for any medicinal treatments or prescriptions. In the event of an allergic reaction, discontinue use of the product and see a doctor, pharmacist, or allergist immediately for a health assessment and appropriate remedial action. To prevent side effects, consult with a medical professional prior to use.

GINGER ESSENCE…

Ginger Essential Oil or Ginger Root Oil is derived from the root of the Zingiber officinale herb, better known as Ginger.

Ginger Essential Oil has earned the nickname “The Oil of Empowerment” for the feeling of confidence that it is known to inspire.

Used in aromatherapy applications, Ginger Essential Oil is stimulating and warming. It can enhance concentration and it can soothe and reduce feelings of stress, sadness, anxiety, lethargy, agitation, dizziness, and fatigue.

Used topically, Ginger Essential Oil soothes redness, eliminates bacteria, inhibits the signs of skin damage and aging, and restores color and radiance to a dull complexion.

Used in hair, Ginger Essential Oil contributes to the health and cleanliness of the scalp, soothes dryness and itchiness, and enhances healthier hair growth by stimulating and improving circulation to the scalp.

Used medicinally, Ginger Essential Oil facilitates the elimination of toxins, boosts digestion, eases discomforts of the stomach and bowel, enhances appetite, clears the respiratory tract, soothes aches, and reduces inflammation.

  The Essence of Ginger No modern medication can rival the range and variety of therapeutic effects that can be induced by ginger.

[scifigeneration]

'The Big Bang Theory' finale: Sheldon and Amy's fictional physics parallels real science

by Adilson Motter

The cast made it through 279 episodes. CBS

After 12 successful seasons, “The Big Bang Theory” has finally come to a fulfilling end, concluding its reign as the longest running multicamera sitcom on TV.

If you’re one of the few who haven’t seen the show, this CBS series centers around a group of young scientists defined by essentially every possible stereotype about nerds and geeks. The main character, Sheldon (Jim Parsons), is a theoretical physicist. He is exceptionally intelligent, but also socially unconventional, egocentric, envious and ultra-competitive. His best friend, Leonard (Johnny Galecki), is an experimental physicist who, although more balanced, also shows more fluency with quantum physics than with ordinary social situations.

Their steadfast friends are an aerospace engineer and an astrophysicist. The story revolves around the contrast between their intellect; obsession with comic books, video games, science fiction and fantasy; and struggles with the basics of human interactions, including those with their female counterparts.

Physicist David Saltzberg makes sure the show’s science hits the target. Warner Bros. Studios

Science, especially physics, is a recurring theme in the show and the scientific authenticity and contemporaneity are noteworthy. Part of the credit for that goes to David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA who served as a technical adviser for the series.

Even though it is not intended to educate, “The Big Bang Theory” frequently refers to real science. Many science communicators and distinguished scientists have made guest appearances, from Bill Nye to Stephen Hawking. But perhaps nothing is more recurrent in the show than the use of the “scientist” trope as the punchline of joke after joke.

So how would a physicist like me get interested in this show? Not only is it the most popular sitcom on American television, but it’s also a pop culture bridge to science. While it is not the first time science has been represented in mainstream media, “The Big Bang Theory” is currently its most visible representation. In addition, it just happens that the fictional research in the show makes contact with my own real research.

A science-y setting on a popular show

I was first exposed to “The Big Bang Theory” through interactions with people from outside academia, who would often refer to it as soon as they pegged me as a physicist. Reports that their teenage kids loved the show were common.

But what really got my attention was a Guardian article in 2011 that suggested, albeit anecdotally, that the show was helping increase the enrollment of physics majors. Why? Possibly by bringing the attention of a broad audience to the subject or by making physics look cool. Now that I am familiar with the show, I believe “The Big Bang Theory” is to physics what “CSI” was to forensics. It has brought physics, and especially the people doing physics, to a young audience of prospective science students.

As a physics professor and educator, I have a vested interest in attracting and nurturing talents in physics – and even in 2019, television can influence choices people make. While only good physics teaching and mentoring can convert interested students into talented scientists, a TV show like “The Big Bang Theory” can be what gets them into the classroom in the first place.

The show’s somewhat stereotypical image of physicists also has weaknesses, of which the most significant are the use of misogyny as a point of humor and a lack of diversity in the main cast. The perpetuation of stereotypes can reinforce the perception that certain groups don’t belong in physics. An entertainment show is not obligated to mirror real life, but this is a sensitive issue because physics still suffers from a lack of diversity and the dropout rates are high among certain underrepresented groups.

The show underwrites scholarships at UCLA for STEM students, including Kemeka Corry, on set here with actress Mayim Bialik, who herself holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Mike Yarish/©2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Notwithstanding, as the show developed, leading female characters took the stage: an attractive, down-to-earth neighbor, a successful microbiologist, and finally, there was the intelligent, accomplished Amy (Mayim Bialik), a neurobiologist selected through an online dating site as Sheldon’s perfect match. They married in the finale of the 11th season.

The same episode also marks one of the most celebrated moments of the series: Sheldon and Amy’s serendipitous discovery that put them on track for a Nobel Prize in Physics.

A fictional theory worthy of a Nobel

It all starts with groom Sheldon’s difficulty straightening out his bow tie. Amy tells him “I don’t think it is supposed to be even. Sometimes a little asymmetry looks good. In the Renaissance, they called it ‘sprezzatura.‘”

When later he explains to his mom why he’s leaving it a bit off kilter, she says, “Sometimes it’s the imperfect stuff that makes things perfect.” It’s one of the best lines of the entire show, and the one that gave Sheldon the final clue to their scientific breakthrough.

Sheldon: My equations have been trying to describe an imperfect world, and the only way to do that is to introduce imperfection into the underlying theory.

Amy: So, instead of supersymmetry, it would be super asymmetry?!

Sheldon: Super asymmetry! That’s it!!

When the light bulb turns on, Sheldon scribbles out equations in lipstick on a mirror. CBS

The entire last season gravitates around the merits of “super asymmetry” and the threats of a competing group getting credit for it. In reality, no theory with this name exists, but the name was clearly inspired by supersymmetry, which does.

Supersymmetry concerns subatomic particles from which everything else is made. It proposes that every subatomic particle in the current standard model of particle physics has a so-called supersymmetric partner – essentially extra particles that exist in tandem with the already identified ones. This means that the underlying equations would remain unchanged under certain transformations, which has deep predictive implications. Supersymmetry has not yet been proved experimentally.

Now, how plausible is Amy and Sheldon’s super asymmetry as a physical theory? Depending on how you interpret what’s described in the show, it is either not sound or somewhat trivial in the subatomic world. However, it is highly nontrivial for collective behavior, which just happens to be my topic of research.

The real physics of asymmetry

I am an interdisciplinary physicist studying collective behavior in natural and engineered systems. Think of heart cells beating together, a power grid operating as a single system, shoals of fish schooling together, genes in a cell coordinating their activities and so on.

For a number of years, I’ve been working to understand why such systems can exhibit what we call behavioral symmetry – or homogeneity – even though the systems themselves are not symmetric – or homogeneous – at all. For example, your circadian clock can be well synchronized with the 24-hour cycle despite the fact that the individual neurons in the circadian system are quite different from each other. They exhibit the same period only when interacting with each other.

And here is how my research relates to Amy and Sheldon’s hypothetical theory. It’s generally assumed that individual entities are more likely to exhibit the same behavior if they are equal or similar to each other. Imagine lasers pulsing together, birds singing the same notes, and agents trying to reach consensus. My research shows that this assumption is in fact generally false when the entities interact with each other. Being equal doesn’t mean they’ll sync up. Since individual differences are ubiquitous and often unavoidable in real systems, such asymmetry (or imperfection) can be the unexpected source of behavioral symmetry.

There are instances in which the observed behavior of the system can be symmetric only when the system itself is not. My collaborator and I called this effect asymmetry-induced symmetry, but could have referred to it as a form of super asymmetry since it epitomizes the notion that imperfections make things perfect. Asymmetry-induced symmetry exposes scenarios in physical and biophysical systems in which we observe consensus because of – not despite – differences, thus adding a new dimension to the advantage of diversity.

“The Big Bang Theory” ends, but the message from the most gifted couple on television remains: We do live in a “perfectly imperfect universe.”

About The Author:

Adilson Motter is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[comeondowntosouthparkrpg-blog]

Karen McCormick

out of character info

Name/Alias: Alison Pronouns: she/ they Age: 21 Join Our Discord: Already there b Timezone: mst Activity: 7 Triggers: n/a Password: jimmy can fastpass my ass Character that you’re applying for: Karen McCormick Favourite ships for your character: Karen and a shower is my otp

in character info

Full name: Karen Ashe McCormick Birthday: April 14th Sexuality, gender, pronouns: Bisexual, cis female, she/her Age and grade: 16, sophomore. Faceclaim: Meandra [ig: meandradri]

Appearance:

From afar, Karen looks like a pretty brunette in flowing clothing, like her loose blouses and skirts, and her mom jeans with iron on patches to cover fraying. When you get closer, she has pretty honey brown eyes, freckles, and she’s bony. Her skin often looks pale or even yellow from the years of malnutrition, fine downy hairs cover her arms, shoulders, her back. Lanugo is one of the body’s last efforts to keep her warm. She’s not very tall, standing barefoot, she barely scrapes the 5’3 mark, and wouldn’t tip the scale at 90 pounds sopping wet.

She likes to wear loose clothes, because it hides her wiry frame, her swollen joints, and the lanugo. It’s not something she’s proud of, she’s just been underfed for the majority of her life, and pop tarts and toaster waffles don’t offer much in terms of nutrition. She had to save up money from babysitting to pay for her braces, though she still feels insecure about needing them, it makes her feel better knowing one day her teeth will be straight. Personal hygiene is a big deal to Karen, after growing up a dirty poor stereotype, she got a gym membership so that she could take regular showers, and she makes sure to do her laundry at a laundromat frequently. A lot of her clothing is things she’s gotten at thrift stores or made herself, as buying brand new clothes isn’t something she can afford to do.

In terms of her actual style, she likes to wear things that don’t look out of place on her. Things like knee length dresses and baggy pants are her go to, as they’re just fashionable enough she won’t be made fun of, but just conservative enough her parents won’t be upset, and her poor health won’t be made public knowledge. Just about anything she wore could go with her spring complexion, and her soft youthful face.

Personality:

Despite growing up loved by her brother and friends, the bullying she underwent severely affected her self esteem. That coupled with her body that she thought to be abhorrent, she’s very self conscious. Though she doesn’t like to bring attention to herself, there are times she snaps. She can only handle so much, and with a deteriorating physical state, her mental health only would naturally grow weaker as time passes. For the most part, Karen likes to put on an optimistic facade, because it made everyone worry less.

Due to the fact, a parents job is to care for their kids, a job her parents ultimately failed her in, she has deep trust issues. She often insists she’s fine and everything is as perfect as it could be, because she’s terrified of getting used to things being better just for everything to be taken away from her. Like when she was temporarily put in foster care, and the fear of it happening is still there, even though she’s the only one still living at home.

Karen is as neurotypical as she can be, she isn’t depressed, she only gets anxious is certain situations; this one beacon of health in her life stems from knowing what the root cause of her trauma is. Poverty, instead of feeling sorry for herself and letting the self pity and victimization consume her, it gives her a drive to succeed. She’s dedicated to the work she does, and hopes to one day own a successful restaurant that makes enough to be able to donate meals and goods to others in need. She has a very good heart, good intentions, and a love for the world. The world just doesn’t seem to love her back.

History:

Ever since her birth, Karen was never in charge of her own life, she watched her parents fight since before she could talk, before she could really understand what was going on. The air of fear in her childhood home throughout her crucial developmental stages left a lasting impact. Since she started school, though the first grade, she was treated poorly by her parents and classmates. At first she thought it was her fault, that at 7 she should be doing more, doing better. Without a caring environment and parents she felt safe enough to turn to, she turned to the self help sections of libraries. It made her ultimately feel worse that she was so insecure when no one abused her the ways others had. 

Being raised in a church family, that was her next step. What would Jesus do? He was persecuted, again much worse than she ever had, nonetheless she still tried. The next year or so, she spent with the hope in her heart that the Lord’s salvation was what she needed to stop the bullying. It didn’t work, and she kept it internalized, always turning the other cheek. Jesus wouldn’t retaliate, he’d spread peace and love. Thus her optimistic facade was really cultivated; needless to say, the bullies only upped their game. After all, how dare Karen try to be happy? She was in foster care once, so surely she’s unwanted, unnecessary, etc. Of course the unkind words and the violence hurt her heart as much as her body, but she didn’t feel like a victim.

Stuck in her own mind that her trauma wasn’t bad enough to be abuse and that she couldn’t really be a victim, she made a list of things she was bullied for, and worked out a plan to fix them. She was dirty, so she made a point to at the very least, hose herself off and to make sure to always brush her teeth and wash her hands. As she worked on the list of things, the bullying decreased, and it strengthened her mindset that it wasn’t really that bad. Until eventually the list got to things like never having new or clean clothes. That was the first huge turning point in her life, she offered her to babysit kindergartners and preschoolers for a very low wage at the age of nine. Over the course of the year, making almost fifty dollars biweekly, Karen was able to afford to wash her clothes at a laundromat, and even an old used sewing machine. She started taking up sewing classes, home economics, and for the first time in a long time, she started being happy again. At the age of eleven, as she was starting the sixth grade, she came to the realization that she worked. Not just that she was practically working part time to be able to afford the new clothes and school supplies she needed that her parents were supposed to buy for her; she realized she was never really taken care of. Not the way kids should have been.

It made her start to resent her parents, though she debated on it a lot, she never went back to being vamp. The physical rebellion that was getting a new wardrobe and going though all the steps was more than she could do. They neglected her for a long time, but she still loved them. Rebellion of her choice was to do what she needed to do, for years they practically told her she’d never be anything because she was poor growing up, so she used actions to tell them to fuck off. She started babysitting almost daily, and sure it sucked not having smoothies with Tricia after school as often, but when she did, she felt less guilty about not making more money.

The next two years really just went by the same, until at fourteen she learned about Van Life YouTubers, they taught her things like that she could get a membership to a gym to take showers, so she got one in her mom's name. Then she went on to discover the dumpster diving side of YouTube, it taught her about minimalism, how much waste corporations made, and that at the end of the day, most grocery stores threw out their produce. Now she thought getting berries and stuff from the trash was gross, but that didn’t stop her from getting things like bagged salad, and returns boxes. Taking home her trash treasures on her bike, which helped her develop a love of candles, and over the next year it helped her furnish her room. Rich people threw out perfectly good furniture that she balanced on skateboards and brought home with her to clean up and even repaint.

When she turned 16 in April, she got her first job part time as a cashier at the grocery store she dumpster dived at. Her life isn’t much, but she keeps it stable, and her savings aren’t too bad, but she couldn’t live on her own.

Sample paragraph:

In most cases, Karen liked to think that the moment she clocked out of work, that customer grievances didn’t matter anymore, or well, that’s how it was supposed to go. She had just started to unchain her bike, putting the lock and chain in the basket of her bicycle, starting to walk beside it through the lit parking lot. Her plan was to check the dumpster for a returns box, then go home, but certain external forces prohibited that from happening. A large silver soccer mom car came slowly creeping along beside the brunette. The parking lot was rather large, and it was still well lit, so she wasn’t concerned about anything yet, they could be lost.

Her work uniform could be seen under a loose track jacket, slowly making her way towards the back of the store, by the dumpsters, when the mom van sped up, and making a sharp turn to cut in front of her. Instinctively, Karen swings her leg over the bike, her shoe resting atop of a peddle. She wasn’t one to assume she was in danger, and as the stranger rolled down the window, her panic began to subside. It was a nice enough looking middle aged lady, but her words threw Karen for a loop.

“My son likes that bike, he’s a good kid you should give it to him.” This brought everything to a stand still. What? The only intelligible thought that popped into her head, her fingers tightening on the handle bars. Her heart pounding in her chest, reverberating through her body, the confrontation was nothing like she thought it’d be, and she wasn’t even sure what to say.

“But it’s mine?” The statement came out sounding more like a question, her voice sounded almost uncharacteristically shrill, but that happened sometimes when she was uncomfortable. The woman in the car just rolled her eyes, sending Karen’s stomach plummeting, she just knew this wasn’t going to resolved quickly, and being the bag of bones she was, she had no way of defending herself if the woman exited the car.

“You work here, I can see your uniform, bikes are for kids, and kids can’t get jobs.” The strangers logic, left Karen silent, this bike was something she saved up her hard earned money for, so the thought of just giving it away was painful.

Slowly creeping backwards on her bike, giving herself more space to turn around, and her light wasn’t on, which could potentially be really useful. The woman didn’t seem to notice that she was trying to escape. She just looked stern, and if it weren’t for the fact she needed the bike to get back and forth, she would have handed it over. Instead she mustered up every bit of courage she had, her foot springing into action. “No.” Peddling past the car into the darkness, trying to go as hard and fast as she could, going the direction away from here home. This woman was not finding Karen’s home, not if she could help it. After pedaling through a bike path, she stopped at a small out of the way park, in a place she recognized, it wasn’t the park by her house, but it was well lit, so she felt safe enough being here for half an hour, until she could be sure, it was safe to go home.

Headcanons: 

She's not really into astrology, but likes knowing what her sign for each planet means, it's more or less a curiosity thing. 

Karen's very hardworking, especially in her classes, and has no fear of failure. She'll get right back up again. 

The most useful hobby of hers, in her opinion, is her love for cooking. She's been taking a culinary arts class at the community center, and adores it. Not only does it help her fill out her life skill repertoire, she gets to take home good food. 

Due to her health, which she's aware is piss poor, she's terrified of going to a doctors office. Her root fear in this, is that she might be taken from her parents again, and she'd be stuck back at square one. 

Ever since Kenny and Kevin moved out, naturally the McCormicks' had more money, which results in Stewart being more drunk than per usual. Though her mom fights that the money should be saved, it never is.

The only "useful" tip her mother ever told Karen, was that if she was going to get pregnant, the father better be rich. 

She desperately wants a pet, but she can't afford one, so she visits the dogs and cats at local shelters, because it helps her fulfill her emotional need for an animal in her life.

No doubt about it, Tricia is Karen's best friend. 

Anything else: i love u gays

[eerythingisshaka]

#Fictober Day 27

“Remember, you have to remember.”

(Panther!T’Challa x Reader)

Word Count: 5.9k

Warnings:  Gore, violence, smut, assault tw

Graduate school was proving to be more than a challenge for you.  You thought you were done with the 8 am classes, stress, overnighters, poor diet choices (when you remembered to eat) but that was your fault because why would a bioengineering major need the best in life to succeed?

Alas, here you were, taking the chance of a lifetime to further your education with the world’s most elite STEM student’s to continue to advance the potential of humanity, with a more diverse facet of people at that.

Your HBCU had expanded their STEM department, which thrilled you as you did not want to take your talents to a PWI.  You maintained a high GPA with honors as an undergrad and with a recommendation from one of your professors, you were practically begged to continue, with a full ride.  

The auditorium was packed occupants, buzzing and milling around for spots next to their peers.  You hadn’t arrived early enough to get a spot that you really wanted but there was an end seat at the front of the auditorium for you to take a spot.  

As you got your laptop powered up, the professor walks in hurriedly, typing in his credentials into his computer and starting the projection.  The schedule had his name listed as T’Challa Udaku, he only did his class during the Fall semester, and it was about Molecular and Genomic Evolution.  You heard he was a bit odd and he didn’t make it easy on anybody, so curving should be left at the door.  But you were focused and ready to get the year off right.

Once his set up was ready, T’Challa started things off.  “Ok,  good morning class.  I am Professor T’Challa Udaku. We will be spending the whole semester together to get our brains in gear for some appropriate learning and discipline.  Congrats to you all for making it to higher learning!  As you should have seen the syllabus lists….”

You look up from your laptop to study him instead, and getting a boost of educational motivation.

When class dismissed, you took your time to get ready to introduce yourself, making a plan once class let out.  Once the other overachievers came and went, you walked up to him.

“Professor Udaku, thank you for a really informational first day!  I’m really looking forward to working with you over the semester!”  You say beaming, offering a hand.

He smirks humbly, taking your hand firmly.  “Thank you.  I appreciate the compliment.  As you know, I am new here and look to be of service any way that I can.”

“Of course.  Annnd, even if you turn out to be a bit tough, that doesn’t bother me.”

“Good!  I’d categorize that as a good quality for myself anyway.  Nothing good comes out of something that is easy.  What is your name again?”  His hand still grasps yours.

“Oh, of course, (Y/N)!  Professor Udaku, I’m really excited to pick your brain.  I usually go to the office hours just for the fun of it even.  I love to go deep with the coursework.”

He smiles, pleased with your enthusiasm.  “Thank you, again.  And please call me T’Challa, I’m not that formal, though my accent would make it appear so.”

You giggle goofily.  “Of course, thank you.  I’ll see you Wednesday!”

He waves you off.  “Yes, hump day as I’ve heard it called.  Sounds good.”

T’Challa had assigned a reading for the class to discuss during the next meeting.  You go to the university library to read up as much as you could on the topic of the chapter and understood it pretty well, but you wouldn’t miss the meeting with T’Challa for anything else.

The library was as cold as the eighth circle of Hell, which was probably best; can’t be too comfortable while studying, or the books will start to resemble pillows.  It was almost 6pm, but being Fall, outside looked more like it was almost midnight.  You grab the bridge of your nose and check your phone for any missed messages.

Will I be seeing you later?

Just seeing him text you gave you a pang of arousal.  You straighten up in your seat and prepare a reply.

Maybe, I have office hours to go to first, remember?

Of course,  education comes first.  Just don’t be too long, ok?  I have plans for you…

You take a deep breath of longing as you set your phone down.  You didn’t want to be at his beck and call, but you cursed yourself for wanting so bad to abide by his request as well.  It was always a give and take, who held the authority in your relationship, but tonight it was going to be you.  No way in hell you were going to let business slide before pleasure.

Walking down the brick street you pass the few shops that are still open, advertising soaps, books, food, convenience stores, until you reach the cafe Professor T’Challa marked as his place for office hours on his syllabus.  The door rang as you opened it, activating a hello from the barista behind the counter.  You give a small smile as you look around the lightly populated business, searching for your professor.  The low lighting making it all the more difficult, you spot a broad shouldered gentleman with his back to you who resembled him.  You hated meeting people in places for this very reason.  What if it wasn’t him?  You’d be walking slowly to stare and smile at a stranger in the end.  

All the same, you take a deep breath and stroll over to his table in the corner.  You walk past and look around to have luckily found your target.

“(Y/N)!  So glad you could finally join me!  I thought you would be earlier due to your enthusiasm when I saw you last.”  Professor T’Challa says, smiling a wry smile at you as you take a seat.

“Well, I got a little too caught up on my self-studying, that I lost track of time.  But I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.  No other students saw you this evening?”

He shakes his head, picking up his cup of coffee.  “No, it’s typical though for this early in the year.  But come midterms,  I’ll be booked.”

“Well, it’s good I can get you while I still can.”  You smile, taking out your tablet.  

Professor T’Challa clears his throat.  “Did you want to order something?  I hate to have something and you don’t.”

You look up at him from the glow of your device.  “Oh, um, no that’s ok…”

“It’s really nothing.  I can just order and bring it here.  No harm, no foul.”

You look around the coffeeshop a little.  “Maybe that’s ok...just a green tea is fine.”

Professor T’Challa nods, getting up with energy to go to the counter.  You take the time to look over your notes, finding the highlighted sections that you wanted more explanation on.  When you take your eyes off of the screen, you see to women from your class looking at you over their drinks.  When you meet each other’s eyes, they look away giggling into their notepads and biscottis.  

Your heart drops when you recognize the behavior.  You look at T’Challa waiting as the tea gets made, without a care in the world.  He never came off as the bothered type, it made you nervous.  Why didn’t he seem to care about what others thought?  Did he have any anxieties or insecurities about anything at all that could cost him anything?

You couldn’t risk being there any longer with the gossiping females, so you begin to put your stuff away.

“Hey!”

You look up at the direction of the high pitched voice and see one of the women from the table across the way standing in front of you.  Even in leggings and a ratty hoodie, she appeared more gorgeous than you.  “You are so lucky to have a class with Professor Udaku.”

Your guards are turned up to the max as her voice dripped with snobbery.  “Yeah...he’s a great instructor…”

She nods dramatically.  “Mhm!  Teaches you a lot, I imagine.  A mature, educated man’s man like him should know...a lot of things, yeah?”

You shrug, standing up.  “That is his job and that’s why I’m here.  To get some study help, so is there anything more you needed?”

The woman looks away biting her lip.  “I just needed a little review from one of his students to help me decide if I should transfer myself to a course of his this semester.  He is raved about so much already, I think I could fall in line with him too.  A little after hours work to some things done…”

You click your tongue at her walking past her.  “It’s your life, your money.  Do what you gotta do.”

“Oooh!  See, what I said?  Must be good, she tryna keep it all to herself!”  

Walking out of the coffeeshop, you hit a jogging stride to get away from the area as quickly as possible.

“(Y/N)!  Hey, slow down!”

You recognized his voice, but didn’t think twice to stop.  You pick up your pace to round a corner and cut through the quad to get back to the main road.  As you huff along, you see someone coming from the side of your peripheral.

“Whoa!”  you exclaim, putting your hands down once you find out it is Professor T’Challa.  “How did you come up on me so fast?  And from that direction…”

“Are you ok?  I heard the last part of what that woman was saying, did she insult you?”  He puts a hand to your arm and you brush it off.

“It’s fine!  I handled it.  No big deal.”  You say, annoyed as you walk away.

Professor T’Challa walks beside you.  “Listen, I get it-”

You turn quickly.  “Do you?  Do you honestly, because I haven’t heard of anyone coming at you like that girl just did to me?  I could risk academic dishonesty or misconduct because of rumors like that.  You might could lose your job, but even if it’s proven false, I’m the whore and you are still the irresistible professor who finangles girls into dates.”

Professor T’Challa looks at you sourly.  “I don’t finagle ‘girls’.  Don’t use that kind of wording when you’re talking about me.”  You cross your arms looking at the ground in shame but refusing to apologize.

Professor T’Challa stares at you a moment before holding your tea out to you.  “Here, take this.”

You hesitantly take the warm, not spilled drink in your hands.  “How did you run without sloshing it around?”

“I have a very steady stride.  Can we continue this conversation in the privacy of my office please?  I don’t want to call attention to us, and I think it’s important we get past this before going down any other roads, ok?”

You sip the tea and nod as you both turn to the annex that his office was located in.  The building was empty, as no other professors would be there in their right mind, so maybe that was a call to his character.

As Professor T’Challa opens the door to his office, he switches on the light and gestures for you to have a seat.  The small office was surely a repurposed closet, but you take your spot in the chair across from his desk.  Professor T’Challa takes the stacks of folders and documents off his desk on the floor, to sit on the corner like a man of wisdom, hands clasped and all.

“(Y/N), what’s going on with you?  And I don’t mean that accusingly, I’m genuinely concerned.”

You shake your head looking at him.  “I don’t know how long I can keep this up without it getting out or without me feeling insecure about it.”

Professor T’Challa looks down, pursing his mouth.  “I had a feeling similar to that.  I figured you thought the same.  But...as long as things don’t get messy, it should be fine.”

“Well, shit, T’Challa.  What happened back there?  Was a whole damn pigsty of a fucking mess!  Someone I don’t even know, knows me and my business, I worry who else does?  Who would report me?”

T’Challa gets up to kneel at your feet.  “I understand you, completely.  Having a secret that you wish was more accepted and understood but accepting it a non-reality is just the world we live in.”

You make a whining noise while hanging your head down.  “This semester just started, and it’s already my worst.  We have to be more discreet!”

T’Challa takes your chin, raising your face to meet his.  “Discreet or not, I’m by your side.  There’s nothing that will keep me from you at this point.  You have my heart.”

You sigh, feeling your defenses falling.  “Are you sure some undergrad can’t come waltzing into your office asking for an A to tempt you?”

T’Challa kisses his teeth, standing up to go back to his desk.  “That’s another thing.  What is this ‘finangling’ business you speak of?  Like I am a casanova of students hearts.  I recall you being the aggressor in my office over the summer.”

You put your drink down, smiling all big as you walk up to his back, wrapping your arms around his waist to inhale his scent.  “It’s because you are such a professional, I had to make it clear how I felt.  I needed the study help as well, but we are grown after all.  And you impressed me so, I just had to take a chance.”

T’Challa turns around to face her with your arms still wrapped around his waist, he holds your face in his hands.  “I’m a slow learner believe it or not.  But I am glad I came around eventually.”

Your lips meet tenderly, audibly smack as your mouths open up to one another, exploring each others depths as your nails carve into his back.  T’Challa’s hips slowly grind against you, giving rise to his excitement.

“You think it is time we christen my new office?”  T’Challa smirks, gripping your hips to turn you around and lift you onto his desk.

You giggle, unbuttoning your jeans.  “These walls have to be about as thick as a strand of hair.  Is this the best thing to get into right now?”

T’Challa takes off his Henley sweater, before going to undo his jeans as well.  You’ve seen his body before, but it never fails to take your breath away at the width of his chest highlighted by his necklace resting upon it, firmness of his abdomen, and veiny paths winding his hearty forearms.

“Ok, point taken.”  You kick your jeans and underwear off quickly.

T’Challa raises his hands before resting them on your thighs.  “Ah ah, please.  Slow down, I want to savor this.”

Kneeling down, he pulls you forward to edge of the rickety desk, spreading your legs apart for proper dissection.  Your head rolls back as your pussy is fully exposed.  You weren’t sure if it was relieving to be uninhibited or more torture to be waiting for his touch, but you were ready to progress either way.

T’Challa’s eyes remained glued to your center as his lengthy fingers painted across your lips, spreading your wetness along them.  “This is what I’ve been waiting for all night.  I told you not to keep me waiting with the office hours, and here you are making a scene.”

You scoff, running your fingers over his curls to urge him closer to you.  “I’m not apologizing for my behavior.  You owed me a discussion, and I got what I needed.  Now, you can get yours.”  

T’Challa tweaks an eyebrow at you as move his head side to side, letting you take control as he unfurls his tongue, you pull his head into your center so he can go to work.  

You squeak out loud as he teased your opening with his serpent-like tongue, darting back and forth between your lips, holding you apart to keep your thighs from squeezing his head into pulp.  Your stomach contracts as your hips buck against his mouth while he flicks your clit like a light switch, coaxing a moan with every stroke of the tip of his.  His eyes smiled at you as your writhed from his mouth, he reaches to lift your shirt up along with your bra so your titties are hanging out for his enjoyment.  

You play with one of your nipples as you moan his name, no longer caring who heard you through the halls of the annex, before T’Challa stands to take his member in his hands.

“(Y/N), you know this is my favorite place to be; between you, inside of you, with you.”

You pull him down for a kiss, tasting yourself off of his lips as he plays with the tip of his dick against your vulva, eliciting moans between your mouths as the vibrations tickle each others lips.  

Entering you made time stand still a moment.  Both of you froze under the pressure of one another’s muscles; you squeezing around him, he expanding your walls.  Neither of you could barely stand it, but neither of you refused to call timeout.  You make moves first, bringing your legs around to try and lock your ankles behind him, making him laugh breathlessly as he leans on the desk to dig into you further.  You whine, pressing your hand on his chest, trying to breathe and relax around him but seeing his length inside you threatened to bring you over the edge.  

“Bast, how do you do this every time?”  T’Challa curses as he begins his rhythm inside of you, you grip his shoulders as you try to keep from seeing stars, but the climax was too good.  T’Challa grunts under the waves of your walls around him, coaxing him to cum at once, but he holds out.

“I’m glad I studied before getting here.  I ain’t reading shit after this.”  You groan, as he picks up his pace inside of you, skin to skin slapping happily your pleasure act.

“How far did you read?”  T’Challa asks looking at you in your eyes as he pumps you, biting his lip to maintain concentration.

You shake your head to think.  “Uh...fuck, I think halfway through 3? Ahh…”

“Molecular diagnostics?  Inspiring chapter…”  T’Challa groans, laying his head down to kiss your neck.

You hold him close.  “The strides made to be able to study….shit, the inner workings of the diagnosing deficiencies and diseases….God!...have made for a notable impact in lengthening life expectancies….Yes!  There, please, like that!”

T’Challa looks at you stressed, grabbing your hair.  “That is what I like to hear.  Your mind and body, in sync…”

T’Challa pulls out of you, you reach down to stroke him as he spurts his seed along your hip and thigh.  Feeling him in your hand, cumming onto you sent you into a sweet elation.  You both heave breathlessly as your love wafts in the air, pecking each other adoringly before dressing again.

“I think you will have a good semester with that christening you gave.”  You say pulling your shirt down and pants up.

T’Challa smiles, picking his pants up.  “It always was going to be.  No matter the situation, you have my attention.”  He takes your hand.  “You won’t have to worry.  I have your back, you just let me know about any other disruptions, and I can handle it this time.”

You didn’t want to think about it after the high of good sex, so you just kiss him and let him walk you home.

Hand in hand, your apartment was right on the edge of campus, which was ideal despite the less than appealing people you lived with.  It felt so good being with T’Challa, you almost forgot the area you were in.

“Hey!  I see you!  Hot for teacher, yeah!”

You both turn around and see some frat boy three sheets to the wind stumbling form a house.  “I love it, frankly.  My TA last year was so hot, it’s just a shame she couldn’t see how much of a catch I was.”  He takes a swig of his beer before breaking the glass on the ground.  

T’Challa steps up to him, pushing you back.  “I think it is time to go to bed, young man.  You have had too much to drink.”

The frat boy laughs in his face.  “Really?  Are you my Dad now, Mr. Rwanda?  You can’t tell me what to….”  As he lost his train of thought, the frat boy froze, staring at T’Challa in elongated horror before stumbling backwards and tripping to get back into his house and slamming the door.

You looked at T’Challa’s back in confusion, his back hunched, but not facing you, he appears to relax before turning to you again.  “Are we close to your house?”

You look at him suspiciously as he takes your hand.  “Yeah, but-”

“Let’s head on then.  Class is in the morning.”  T’Challa says quickly, walking briskly with you in tow.  

He refused to explain the situation, opting to pepper you with loving compliments and recollections of the escapade in his office.  It was a good distraction as you kissed him goodbye, promising to meet after the next class.

The following Wednesday, students pool into the lecture hall, awaiting the arrival of Professor T’Challa.  You sat in the front, getting your laptop out and opening to your most recent notes, ready to start your day.  You look behind you and almost instinctively lock eyes with that woman that confronted you at the cafe.  She is chewing gum, smiling and waving at you with fake charm.  You roll your eyes and go back to your laptop to wait for the start of class in as much peace as you could muster.

Except, class does not start for the next 30 minutes.  Students start to leave, because if they knew anything, they knew that class was automatically cancelled after a certain time frame of a professor’s no-show.  You sat there in confusion, pulling out your phone to text him as you gathered your things to leave.

“Well, you got him kicked out, huh?”  

You hated to look to the aisle for the source of this statement, but turned anyway.  “The fuck are you talkin bout?”

She shrugs, holding her hands in front of her.  Who wears heels to class, honestly.  “I mean, here you are, still probably washing the cum out your throat and he is not.  So if he can’t be yours alone, no one can get a turn?”

You step to her, taller despite her shoes.  “He wouldn’t want your loose, funky pussy ass any damn way.”

She makes an ‘o’ face, clapping her hands together.  “So!  You know what he likes!  Ok, well school a bitch.  You suck him off in between hours under the desk like a good little girl?  You setting the curve for the course with that ass, bitch?  Don’t know how you gonna graduate now though, surely you’ll have to suck some wrinkly white cock, which isn’t going to be as much fun-”

You grip her wig and snatch it from the top of her head ripping it apart.  She screams in horror and a wig cap, running and tripping up the stairs in her heels.  

“Don’t come back to this class in synthetic again, bitch!  If you had a scholarship, maybe you could afford better!”

The remaining students looked back at you in awe, but you ignored them.  She had it coming, and they knew.  You look at your phone, no reply.  You curse out loud, praying he really didn’t get kicked out for his interaction with that frat boy.

You spent the remainder of your day studying on your own, yawning as you check your phone.  10:30pm, and no reply from T’Challa.  You tried calling him but it went to voicemail.  You were beginning to worry, but there was not much more you could do than to wait for his call.  You pack your study materials and head out to get home.

The chill of the air, made you feel uneasy as you looked up to the sky.  Full moon, clouded over a little didn’t help the need to check over your shoulder every so often.  

“Heeeyyyy, baby!!  You walkin by yourself?”

“Fuck!  I don’t need an escort, thanks!”  You yell, picking up your pace as you walk past the trees along the conservatory.

“Ohhh, don’t be like that!  I can’t raise your grades, but I can make you feel better, no doubt!”  

You look over your shoulder to see the frat boy with two friends.  This makes your heart rate pick up exponentially as you begin to run.

“Fuck away from me, damn assholes!”  You scream, praying someone would hear you, but the campus was vacant along the environmental sciences side.  You run through the trees.

“We got a runner boys!  I love me some fast food!  Bet she tastes like chicken, come on!  WOo!”

You start to well up with tears, this impacts your vision as you run through brush and limbs, hoping you can shake them off, but their voices get closer and closer.

A limb on the ground catches your ankle, sending you forward against a tree trunk, hitting your head.  You roll on the ground in pain as you hear them clobbering towards you.  You attempt to get up, looking ahead of you to see some animal just a few feet away.  It was too dark to make out, but it was either a mountain lion or small wolf-like creature bounding towards you while you crawled away.  You were in tears now, between the guys behind you and the wild beast ahead, you weren’t sure which fate was worse.

“HEEELLLPP!”  You screech, not sure what else to do, you curl up, praying somehow you may not be seen.

“Whoa!  What the fu-”

The frat boy was cut off as you heard growls and the screams of someone getting attacked.  Looking behind you, the frat boy was being torn apart by the creature.  You saw blood.

“Shit!  What do we do, Mark?!”  One of his friends exclaim in despair.

Mark shrugs, “Fuck if I know!  Yell at it!”

They curse and try and spook the creature, but judging by the silence of the frat boy, it was too late.  The creature looks to Mark, aiming for him with claws and teeth.  Mark turns to run but is taken down from behind.

“Shit, Mark!”  The last standing guy looks to you.  “Stupid bitch, do something!”

You look at him blankly.  You didn’t mean to not help, you were just so frozen in fear.  Two people were dead and they didn’t seem worth risking your life over.

He takes out a knife and walks towards you.  “I’ll finish what you had coming.  Tell your boyfriend not to fuck with us anymore.”

Just a couple of feet away, he is brought to his knees by the creature.  Closer now, you could get a better look at him.  Glowing eyes, all black and furry.  Some sort of mountain lion for sure, possibly panther?  It was so large and brutish you couldn’t believe it to be of the cat family.

It clawed away at his clothes, exposing his skin which quickly turn red as he cried out for mercy.  Knife still in hand, he stabs the arm of the creature, making it growl a horrendous noise, before taking his head in his mouth.  The horrible crack of bone guaranteed an end to his defense.  The creature’s head snapped up, looking at you as it crawled towards you.  You crab walk backwards, not wanting to be next, but too shook to stand.  You could feel its hot breath on you as you sat there, closing your eyes.

“Please!  Leave me alone!  Don’t kill me, shit!”  You beg, tears streaming your face as you prayed silently for it to be over soon, whatever was to happen.  The creature snorts an exhale on you before you feel the cold air surround you once again, and a gallop growing quieter away from you.  You slowly open your eyes and see that it left you, sending relief over you that felt sweeter than anything else in the world.  You got up and found the strength to run home finally.  You didn’t want to call the police.  What would they think of her being in the woods with three dead white boys?  No way in hell you’re getting caught up in that.

Class began the next week, you make it to T’Challa’s class anticipating his absence only to be pleasantly surprised.  There his was at his podium like any other day made your heart swell.  You couldn’t wait to tell him about the day you had earlier that week.  Surely he heard about the guys, but he’ll be so surprised to hear your involvement.  You were so glad to see him, you forgot about being mad at his absence.

When class finished, you took your time packing things away as the last of the students filed out.

“Hey!  Where you been, man?  I tried calling you?”

T’Challa looked at you sadly, taking your hand in his.  “I know.  I shouldn’t have ignored you, but it was a trying week.”

You look at him worried.  “You too?  God, it’s the full moon, I swear.  Brings out the worst in people.  But I’m glad you are here, I really needed you this week though, and maybe you needed me from the sounds of things.  What happened to you?”

T’Challa stared at you, mouth agape.  “I...don’t want to talk about me.  Tell me your week first.”

You sigh nodding.  “Well, the day you weren’t here for class, I went to study late at the library.  Well, I go and walk home and that guy that came to you before when you walked me home?  He came onto me, with friends!”

T’Challa looked at his feet solemnly, biting his lip.  When he looked at you again, his eyes glistened with tears.  “I’m so sorry…”

Your face dropped as you took him into your arms.  “Oh, baby, it’s ok!  You didn’t know!  You can’t be everywhere at once!  I’m alright though.  It was just, a lot.”  T’Challa holds you as you pull back to look at him.  “It was crazy because, they were crazy and surely up to no good, but I’m from the city, I know how to get going, do I did.  But then this creature thing came and attacked them.”

“The three boys, they are dead…”  T’Challa wipes at his eyes.

You take his face in his hands.  “Oh God, you’re taking this so hard, I can’t even process.  T’Challa, if it’s any solace, they had it coming.  It’s a shame their lives are done, but they weren’t kind to me, even if one of them stabbed that thing.  It was the only thing not set to hurt me.”

T’Challa nods, eyes red and wide.  “Stop comforting me, it’s you!  I just...it shouldn’t have come to that.  But I couldn’t-”

You shake your head.  “You couldn’t do anything, it’s fine.  You had to do, whatever.  Even if you had come to class, what would you have done, huh?  It was three against one!”

You pull T’Challa to you, rubbing his back again.  “I’m just glad it’s over.  They were so vulgar, it was infuriating.”  He says.

You nod, taking in what he says you then become confused.  “What do you mean?  You weren’t there to know what they said.”

T’Challa pulls you back stammering.  “Uh, I just assumed the three-”

You rest your hands on his arms, focused on him.  “And how did you know it was three boys?  I know it made the news, but how did you know my creature story was related to that?  They don’t know what attacked them.  T’Challa…”  You squeeze his arms lightly, making him wince and walk away from you, rubbing his arm.

You step to him suspiciously.  “Oh, did something happen to your arm while you were away?  Let me see…”  You life his sleeve to see it bandaged, bleeding through the wrapping.  “God, that’s awful.  Did you get stabbed or som-”  You stop talking to peer up at him.  The room was eerily quiet as T’Challa paces the floor cursing himself, “Remember, you have to remember...”

“T’Challa, were you in the forest?”  He remains silent.  “T’Challa, what was that-that THING?  T’Challa!  What’s happening, you’re acting so damn guilty!”

T’Challa shakes his head, holding the bridge of his nose.  “This isn’t how you should know but...I reacted to the frat boy in a way that would’ve been the end of me here.  He just gave me a good reason to get rid of him.”

Your body froze over as you were transported back to that night, T’Challa’s hunched stance, him appearing out of the blue.  “Why weren’t you in class?”  you ask.

He sighs.  “Full moon.  The daytime is horribly painful for me as it comes on so I take the day until I...transform and…”  He holds his hands out in a voila kind of way.

You back up, hands shaking.  “You killed three people...in front of me!  So viciously!”

T’Challa walks up to you indignantly.  “What was the alternative!  Eh?  They take turns with you and take your life??  That was not going to happen!  It’s not my fault you ran in just the right direction for me to get things done!”

You cover your mouth to mask the sobs, breaking T’Challa’s heart instantly.  He holds his arms out to you, but you fall back again.

His eyes widen with sadness.  “I don’t know what to tell you.  I do not regret my actions because I told you I would handle things if someone bothers you, right?  I did that, and it is done.  Bast’s sake, I just hate you had to see it and find out this way.”

You sit on the step of the lecture hall trying to calm down a little, reevaluating how things transpired.  You weren’t afraid of T’Challa but this werewolf-type shit, what were you supposed to do with that?  

“Do you have control when you are…”  your voice trails off.

“As a panther, yes, I am still in my right mind to recognize right and wrong.  I would not have hurt you.”  He walks slowly to you, putting a hand on your knee.  “I would never hurt you, that is consistent.  But I won’t hesitate to protect you, at any cost.  You have my heart, and I want you to keep it for as long as you want it, because I will always want you.”

Your head plops on his shoulder.  “How long would you have kept this from me?  Meeting you over the summer classes, getting involved with me, you had so many chances.”

He shrugs.  “I honestly don’t know.  I just hoped I could be seen as normal forever.  This is by no means easy for me to keep to myself.  I didn’t want you to think I’m crazy or a monster.”

You look at him as he looks over at you, taking his hand.  “The last thing I see you as is a monster.  I was scared, but...you saved me, how can I be mad at that?”

You felt T’Challa relax as his lips met yours again.  In the quiet seclusion of the lecture hall, you had no clue what the world had in store for you both, but as it always does, time would reveal all.

[sunbeambisexual]

Checks and Balances Eroded Long Before Trump

By James Goldgeier and Elizabeth N. Saunders

In the age of Donald Trump, it often feels as though one individual has the power to chart the United States’ course in the world all by himself. Since taking office as U.S. president, Trump has made a series of unilateral decisions with enormous consequences. He walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He imposed tariffs on Canada, China, Mexico, and the European Union. In June, he single-handedly upended the G-7 summit by insulting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and withdrawing the United States from the group’s joint communiqué. In July, his European travels produced more diplomatic fireworks, with a NATO summitin Brussels that raised questions about his commitment to the organization—before his deferential press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Each choice has brought howls of outrage—but little real pushback. Congress, for example, has proved unable to block the president from starting a trade war with China and with U.S. allies. For all of Trump’s talk of a shadowy “deep state” bent on undermining his every move, the U.S. government’s vast bureaucracy has watched as the president has dragged his feet on a plan to deter Russian election interference. Even the United States’ closest allies have been unable to talk Trump out of damaging and potentially withdrawing from institutions of the liberal international order that the country has led for decades. How can a political system vaunted for its checks and balances allow one person to act so freely?

In reality, the problem goes well beyond Trump, and even beyond the well-documented trend of increasing presidential power. Constraints on the president—not just from Congress but also from the bureaucracy, allies, and international institutions—have been eroding for decades. Constraints are like muscles: once atrophied, they require bulking up before the competitor can get back in the game. Trump did not create the freedom of action he is now routinely displaying. He has merely revealed just how difficult it is to prevent it.

In Congress, the combination of declining foreign policy expertise among members and increasing political polarization has reduced the ability of legislators to supervise the executive branch even if they had the appetite to do so. The bureaucracy, meanwhile, has lost its incentive to cultivate and wield expertise as decision-making has become centralized in the White House and congressional action and oversight on foreign policy have declined. And U.S. allies, for their part, have become less able to check the president’s foreign policies as the alliances have become ensnared in U.S. partisan politics. Similarly, the post–Cold War era has frequently seen presidents circumvent international institutions.

Going forward, any attempts to stem the growth of presidential power will have to confront not just the damage done by Trump but also the deeper problem that damage has exposed: that the bodies charged with constraining presidential power have been steadily losing both their willingness and their capacity to rein in presidents. Many have written eloquently, particularly since 9/11, about the need for checks on presidential power. But the reality is that Congress is in no shape to reclaim its role in foreign policy—and neither are the other traditional sources of constraint on U.S. presidents. It may take a major shock, such as the rise of China, to reboot the system.

Legislators gone awol The Constitution grants Congress the ability to constrain the president on issues such as trade and the use of force. Although formal votes on presidential foreign policy are rare, the legislative branch can act as a check on the president in several other, more informal ways. Senators and representatives can hold hearings that generate debate and expose decisions to public scrutiny. They can also force the president to anticipate congressional reactions to policy, leading him to check himself before Congress checks him—an important, if often invisible, form of oversight. For example, he might shape the details of a controversial international agreement to make sure members of Congress will not balk.

But Congress’ oversight of U.S. foreign policy has declined markedly since the early Cold War, and especially since the mid-1990s. As the political scientist Linda Fowler has put it, “Something is amiss in the Senate and its national security committees.” The two Senate committees tasked with oversight of foreign policy and national security—the Foreign Relations Committee and the Armed Services Committee—have held substantially fewer hearings (both public and private) over time, resulting in far less supervision of major foreign policy endeavors, such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, than was the case for Cold War–era military interventions.

Why this decrease? The rise of partisanship is one important reason. Although foreign policy has never been fully isolated from politics, political polarization began to rise in the 1970s, and it increased sharply in the 1990s. Today, members of Congress reflexively support their own party. In periods of unified government, this means extreme deference to the president. In periods of divided government, it means congressional gridlock. Neither scenario yields much in terms of congressional oversight.

Polarization also gives presidents reason to simply ignore Congress when making foreign policy. As the political scientist Kenneth Schultz has argued, with members less willing to cross the aisle, it is “more difficult to get bipartisan support for ambitious or risky undertakings, particularly the use of military force and the conclusion of treaties.” And so presidents opt for alternatives such as executive agreements over formal mechanisms such as ratified treaties. Consider the Iran nuclear deal. In 2015, President Barack Obama, concerned that he could not get a treaty with Iran past the Republican-controlled Congress, chose to make an executive agreement (which made it all too easy for Trump to tear up the deal later).

Another trend that has sapped Congress’ influence is the decline of congressional expertise on foreign policy and national security. Simply put, legislators used to know more about foreign policy than they do now. Greater expertise strengthened Congress’ formal and visible role, since committees could engage in greater oversight of the executive branch. Expertise also reinforced Congress’ invisible means of constraining presidential power. Presidents had to think about how a seasoned committee chair or member would assess a policy. During his initial escalation of the Vietnam War, for example, President Lyndon Johnson was careful to maintain the support of powerful committee chairs, such as Senator J. William Fulbright, who led the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1959 to 1974. Fulbright shepherded the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through the Senate in 1964, but two years later, his probative hearings helped shift public opinion against the war.

Congressional expertise also led to serious, bipartisan policies that could force the president’s hand. A good example is the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, an initiative for safely securing and dismantling weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union. Senator Sam Nunn, a Democrat from Georgia, and Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana—two defense stalwarts who had been deeply involved in arms control agreements during the Cold War—proposed it in 1991 as an amendment to the annual defense bill. The George H. W. Bush administration initially opposed the legislation because it diverted $500 million previously authorized for other purposes, but Nunn and Lugar prevailed, backed up by 86 votes in the Senate. They were able to pass their bill because the existing polarization was still manageable and because both senators were respected experts on defense and foreign policy.

The program was a high-water mark of expertise-informed legislation. In the years since, legislators have become less and less interested in the details of foreign policy. In 1994, a small group of newly elected congressional Republicans even proudly declared that they did not own passports.

Several factors explain the decline in expertise. Changes in the way senators now divide up committee roles, by increasing the number of committees they sit on, have led to greater breadth at the expense of depth. The media, facing fragmentation and declining budgets, have paid less attention to the crucial committees, especially the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, thus diminishing their value as reputation burnishers on Capitol Hill. Increased turnover has led to less seniority, particularly on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reducing the number of specialists to whom other senators can look for leadership on complex issues. Add in polarization and gridlock, which, by reducing overall congressional activity, also reduces the incentives to develop specialties, and the result is a Congress with decidedly less expertise.

An inflection point in the long-term decline of congressional oversight came after 9/11, when Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force, a measure intended to combat terrorism but that presidents ended up interpreting broadly. For nearly 17 years, the AUMF has served as the legal justification for expanding military operations across the Middle East, many of them only tenuously related to the original intent. But legislators have shown little appetite for seeking a new AUMF, which would constrain the president when it comes to the many counterterrorism missions the United States now conducts in places such as Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. That’s because the status quo actually suits many members of Congress. It lets them avoid voting on military operations—always risky, since they can be held accountable for their decision on the campaign trail—and it allows them to fixate on the legality of the operation without having to take a position on its wisdom.

Obama’s decision in August 2013 to seek congressional authorization for the use of force in Syria in response to the regime’s use of chemical weapons may at first glance look like a sign of deference. But it actually exposed how weak legislators’ war-making powers had become. Unable to gain backing even from the United Kingdom, Obama announced that he would seek congressional authorization before launching an attack. Apart from a few Republicans who insisted that the president could not strike Syria without legislative approval (something they would not insist on later when Trump carried out strikes in 2017), most members were visibly eager to avoid being drawn into the debate—thereby proving how much Congress had been sidelined. As Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, confirmed in his memoir, the president sought a vote knowing he might lose, which would firmly demonstrate legislators’ lack of support for greater U.S. military involvement in the Middle East. (As events played out, the issue became moot when, at Russia’s prodding, Syria pledged to give up its chemical weapons.)

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies at a hearing of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington, DC, May 2018

Congress is equally reluctant to stand up to the president on trade. Despite misgivings over Trump’s protectionist measures, Democratic and Republican legislators have essentially given up on the issue. In June, Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, proposed a bill that would require the president to seek congressional approval for tariffs enacted in the name of national security. But he has not been able to gain sufficient support for the measure from fellow Republicans, who, with midterm elections looming, are reluctant to cross Trump.

There still are some dedicated foreign policy hands willing to fight to give the legislative branch a voice. In 2017, for example, Congress managed to impose additional sanctions on Russia against the president’s wishes. But overall, Congress has relinquished its authority on foreign policy and trade to the executive branch—and would have trouble reclaiming it even if it wanted to.

The bureaucracy sidelined The United States’ emergence as a global power a century ago required the development of a strong civil and foreign service to manage relations with other nations. Knowledgeable and experienced bureaucrats came to serve as ballast against impulsive changes. Naturally, presidents have found it frustrating that they cannot get the bureaucracy to do their bidding. President Harry Truman, for example, complained that the “striped pants boys” at the State Department were failing to implement his policies. But in recent decades, some of the same forces that have weakened Congress have also undermined the bureaucracy’s ability to check presidential power.

Ever since Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which created the National Security Council, presidents have tried to sideline the career bureaucrats at the State Department in favor of a more politically attuned White House cadre on the NSC staff. Building on President John F. Kennedy’s establishment of a more White House–centric foreign policy process, Henry Kissinger, as President Richard Nixon’s national security adviser, cut the bureaucracy out of important initiatives, such as the opening to China and arms control talks with the Soviet Union. His counterpart during the Carter administration, Zbigniew Brzezinski, ensured that White House dominance over foreign policy continued, for example, by keeping the State Department out of negotiations in 1978 over the normalization of relations with China.

Although President Ronald Reagan reempowered the State Department for a brief period under the leadership of George Shultz—in part by shuffling through six national security advisers in his two terms—the pendulum swung back under President George H. W. Bush. His powerful secretary of state, James Baker, sidelined his own bureaucracy and relied on a handful of political appointees to manage such policies as German reunification and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The following three administrations steadily expanded the NSC, whose professional staff doubled in size with each presidency. From just 50 staffers under George H. W. Bush, it grew to 100 under Bill Clinton, 200 under President George W. Bush, and 400 under Obama. No longer was the NSC functioning merely as a coordinator of policy; it was also implementing it, largely at the expense of career officials in the State Department. Even officials at the Pentagon came to feel overpowered. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates complained of “White House micromanagement of military affairs.”

Presidents may find a more powerful NSC useful, but it weakens the bureaucracy’s ability to provide strong, independent expertise. Political insiders chosen by the president to run White House operations because of their loyalty may have little experience crafting policy. Clinton, for example, came into office after 12 years of Republican administrations; his relatively inexperienced White House team struggled mightily on policy regarding Bosnia, Haiti, and Somalia. But the more that policies are crafted and implemented by the White House, the less incentive bureaucrats have to use their expertise to fill the void. If bureaucrats aren’t given a hand in crafting and implementing policy, why bother?

Far from stopping presidents from steadily drawing the machinery of foreign policy closer to the Oval Office, Congress has played its own role in the erosion of the bureaucracy as a check. With the increasing importance of quick presidential action during the Cold War, Congress acquiesced in the growth of presidential power, not only over itself but also over the bureaucracy. As the political scientists Sean Gailmard and John Patty have argued, if Congress could not restrain the president, their next best option was “to ensure that the president’s policy choices [were] supported by trustworthy advice that the president [would] heed.” If the president was going to centralize foreign policy and listen mainly to officials in the White House, Congress at least wanted the chief executive to make informed decisions. So it has done little to restrain the growth of the NSC staff.

There is, however, one part of the U.S. government bureaucracy that has seen growth rather than decline: the Pentagon. Especially since 9/11, U.S. foreign policy has been steadily militarized, and Congress has funded the Pentagon at higher and higher levels without increasing oversight concomitantly. The main victim is the State Department. In Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, regional military commanders can eclipse U.S. ambassadors in bilateral relationships. The military does have an impressive ability to get things done quickly, but the risk is that policy will tilt too much toward using force to solve problems. As Secretary of Defense James Mattis has said, “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.”

Despite these trends, the State Department was able to maintain its deep reservoir of expertise for many years, which gave it some power to shape presidential decision-making. But under Trump’s first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, the executive branch’s disdain for the State Department reached its apex. Positions at the undersecretary and assistant secretary levels were left vacant. In December 2017, Barbara Stephenson, a former ambassador and president of the American Foreign Service Association, reported that the U.S. Foreign Service officer corps had lost 60 percent of its career ambassadors since January of that year. And despite congressional outcry, Tillerson refused to spend funds that had already been allocated for countering Russian and terrorist propaganda, and he even supported further cuts to his own department’s budget (one thing Congress did not allow). Tillerson’s successor, Mike Pompeo,announced in May that he would lift the State Department’s hiring freeze and bring its “swagger” back, but as of July, it remained to be seen whether he would fulfill that promise.

No allies to lean on Amid the declining power of Congress and the bureaucracy at home, one important check on presidents’ foreign policies has been consultation with allies. Following World War II, the United States coordinated closely with its allies on major decisions, often acceding to their domestic needs. In part, such deference was driven by the necessity to maintain unity in the face of the Soviet threat. Presidents understood that if the most powerful country in the world flexed its muscle without regard to the concerns of others, it would create a backlash. And so less powerful allies were largely able to act as a check on American power.

In the late 1940s, during negotiations around implementation of the Marshall Plan, Truman allowed the United Kingdom to maintain privileged trading accessto its colonies and dominions for the sake of avoiding a rift in the transatlantic alliance. In the late 1970s, the United States reassured Western European allies through NATO’s “dual-track” decision, whereby the United States would deploy long-range theater nuclear forces in Europe while pursuing arms control negotiations with the Soviets. And in the aftermath of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Baker went around the world meeting with every head of state or foreign minister whose country had a seat on the UN Security Council (as well as with those of many countries that ended up contributing troops to the eventual operation), while George H. W. Bush worked the phones to secure passage of a UN resolution authorizing the use of military force if Iraq did not leave Kuwait. As Baker later acknowledged, Bush’s decision to stop short of capturing Baghdad as the U.S. military was routing Iraqi forces was partly due to concerns that doing so would break apart the international coalition.

But in the 1990s, the United States increasingly came to believe that as the lone superpower, it had both the ability and the duty to shape the world to its liking. By the end of the decade, U.S. allies felt tossed around, as exemplified by French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine’s bitter reference to the United States as a “hyperpower.” The UN, too, came to constrain U.S. power less and less, in part thanks to the efforts of congressional Republicans who deeply opposed the institution.

In the run-up to the 1999 war in Kosovo, Clinton bypassed the UN altogether because he knew that China and Russia would veto a resolution, but he still led the U.S. military operation through NATO in order to enhance its legitimacy. The United States willingly ran all target options through a vetting process within the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s political decision-making body, and the French, in particular, slowed down a number of American requests.

After George W. Bush came into office, he took unilateralism to new heights. But he did seek minimal allied cover for the invasion of Iraq, and he even attempted to secure a second UN resolution, in part to help British Prime Minister Tony Blair domestically. A first resolution had been passed in late 2002 giving Saddam Hussein a final chance to comply with Iraq’s disarmament agreements but not specifically authorizing war against Iraq. And when France and Russia said they would veto a second resolution, Bush declared that he was acting with a “coalition of the willing.” Going it completely alone was a bridge too far. Still, the invasion is rightly seen as a clear example of the United States ignoring some of its closest allies. Part of the resulting fallout was the politicization of U.S. alliances, with American supporters of the war criticizing those countries that stayed out (as when a Republican legislator overseeing the House cafeteria renamed French fries “freedom fries”).

Obama ran on a platform of repairing the United States’ relationships, and as president, he brought allies and international institutions more squarely back into the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. But the damage had already been done. No longer were alliances basic commitments to be upheld regardless of who occupied the Oval Office; increasingly, they were objects of partisan debate. When Obama decided to intervene in Libya through NATO in 2011, with UN Security Council authorization, Republicans, instead of championing the inclusion of allies, criticized him for “leading from behind,” as one of his advisers characterized the strategy. And later, when he negotiated the nuclear deal with Iran, the support of U.S. allies did little to bring Republicans on board, showing the declining effect of allies as a domestic consensus builder.

If alliances continue to be viewed in such partisan terms, as the political scientist Daniel Drezner has argued, “the stock of allies will rise or fall depending on the partisanship of who is in the White House.” This would damage not only the visible, legitimizing role of alliances, whereby the public is more likely to support foreign policy initiatives that are backed by allies or multilateral institutions, but also their quiet, consultative function. During crises, allies can serve as both useful checks and valuable resources. But some future presidents may find themselves dangerously unfettered by allies. Others may want to turn to them, only to find that they are unwilling to pick up the phone.

The future of check and balances U.S. presidents have long had more leeway in foreign policy than in domestic policy, but their control has never been total. Yet since the end of the Cold War, checks and balances that once limited presidential power in matters of foreign policy have been eroding. Trump’s unconstrained exercise of executive power did not come out of nowhere: it was made possible by the culmination of long-term trends. As a president who seems distinctly uninterested in the views of others, Trump could hardly have asked for a more suitable system.

Many of the constraints on foreign policy are invisible. Presidents will anticipate pushback from Congress and restrain themselves accordingly. They will worry about generating enough international support and offer concessions to allies in closed-door meetings. The invisibility of these constraints makes them difficult to appreciate until they are needed. What Trump is exposing is that these constraints are already largely unavailable, and they cannot be reconstituted instantaneously.

Can anything be done? The end of the Cold War unleashed the power of the American presidency. It may take the rise of China as a peer competitor for the American people and their leaders to realize that in order to make better foreign policy, the United States needs the wisdom and restraint offered by a Congress and a bureaucracy that have real power and serious expertise, as well as allies and international institutions whose utility is valued. The rising threat that China poses to U.S. interests could lead to a revival of congressional expertise in foreign policy, support for strengthening the United States’ diplomats, and a realization that allies and international institutions enhance U.S. power in managing the threat.

Short of that, Congress will likely continue to have little knowledge of or interest in foreign policy, the White House will still fail to take full advantage of the talent of the U.S. diplomatic corps, and presidents will go on ignoring the views of even close allies. This is now the unchained, unconstrained presidency. It didn’t start with Trump, but it has exploded since he took office, and Americans will be living with its consequences for a long time to come.

[seedfinance]

The world’s big tech firms are gearing up for a massive fight with Modi’s India, IT News, ET CIO

Saritha Rai and Vlad Savov

India is becoming increasingly confident in its efforts to control online communications, challenging the practices of Twitter and Facebook and threatening to set a precedent that could go well beyond its borders.

The largest US internet companies are fighting against new intermediary rules enacted by Narendra Modi’s government in February that restrict privacy and freedom of expression. Officials have urged Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to remove hundreds of posts this year, divulge sensitive user information, and submit to a regulatory regime that allows for potential jail sentences for executives if companies fail to comply.

While government efforts to exercise more control over user data and online discourse mirror global efforts to control tech giants and their vast influence, Internet firms are particularly at stake in India because – excluded from China – it’s the only billion people market themselves to the market. In contrast to authoritarian regimes like Beijing, critics fear that measures by the world’s largest democracy could offer other governments a blueprint to invade privacy in the name of internal security.

“India has made draconian changes to its rules,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in April. They “create new opportunities for state surveillance of citizens. These rules threaten the idea of ​​a free and open Internet based on international human rights standards. “

Holding internet companies accountable for published content – and in some cases making executives personally liable – goes beyond what many countries require and is a key point of contention. Trapped in this tug of war are hundreds of millions in India whose use of the Internet is now at stake. Facebook’s WhatsApp is on trial, arguing that the new rules would bypass encryption, a key feature the company has touted in global marketing.

Modi’s government has been targeting Twitter for the past few months as it is considered the social platform of choice for politicians and celebrities. Cabinet ministers have accused the US company of defying orders and proposed removing it from its intermediary status, which should make it directly responsible for the content posted by its users. In May, Twitter tagged tweets from multiple accounts linked to Modi’s party as “compromised media”. Police investigators have since called officers and their offices, putting business in the world’s second most populous nation at risk.

“Twitter is in a no-win situation here,” said Mike Masnick, founder of tech policy blog Techdirt. “Giving in to excessive government demands not only suppresses important speeches, but opens the company to even more pressure to silence government critics in India and elsewhere.”

Representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), which oversees regulation, did not respond to multiple calls and emails asking for comments. WhatsApp and Twitter representatives declined to comment beyond previous statements that they were anxious to comply with state regulations.

India has stated that it welcomes criticism and dissent and its new rules are aimed at protecting public order and preventing harmful content such as child pornography and abuse videos. The country has been grappling with an explosion of fake news on social media in recent years, much of it targeting a largely first-time internet audience unaccustomed to sifting through online falsehoods. It came into conflict with Facebook in 2018 when the government asked WhatsApp to curb the spread of news related to two dozen lynchings. Facebook’s response then was to restrict the forwarding of messages and mark them as “forwarded”.

WhatsApp has more than 530 million users in India, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube has about 450 million, and Facebook has over 410 million users, making it the largest market for all three. Twitter, a comparatively small minnow with 17.5 million users, is one of the fastest growing areas in India. But that limited reach makes it vulnerable in a nation that was ready to ban popular foreign services a year ago when it banned TikTok – which had 200 million users registered in the country – WeChat and hundreds more China-made apps after a violent clash on the controversial border between the two countries.

As in the US, however, Twitter exerts a disproportionate influence in relation to its size. It is vital to the political discussion in India, and Modi himself is an avid user and has a following of over 69 million, demonstrating its international reach. While ministers have tweeted belligerently on Twitter, no one has yet openly threatened to ban it.

Even during the conflict with China, India can still draw inspiration from its neighbor’s experiences, where the void left by foreign social platforms blocked to resisting strict censorship has created space for domestic alternatives to develop. In fact, Modi’s colleagues have been actively promoting Koo, a local microblogging rival.

“I have to imagine Modi looking at China thinking it can achieve economic prosperity while exercising a lot of authoritarian control over language and communication,” said Katie Harbath, a former Facebook director of public policy with the US the country’s officials worked together in the fall of 2013, ahead of Modi’s first election as prime minister, through earlier this year. “So the big question is where will India go?”

An open letter signed by 14 nonprofits urged the government to suspend implementation of India’s new IT rules that went into effect last month.

Much of the current resentment stems from the government’s drive to control discussions since November over peasant protests, which have centered on proposals to tax farm inputs and remove minimum price support. The government forced Twitter to block some popular figures expressing support for the protesters – such as Punjabi singer JazzyB, whose account has 1.2 million followers but is inaccessible within India – although the company does not have all of its Has implemented demands.

US and EU lawmakers should pay more attention to the South Asian country, Harbath said. Like Masnick, she sees few good opportunities for private companies to oppose laws from above, and it would be up to the international community to steer India back onto a more liberal path.

The US has embraced India as a counterweight to China in recent years and has strengthened defense cooperation as part of the four-nation quad group, which also includes the other democracies of Japan and Australia. For its part, Modi’s government has sought to attract companies looking to diversify their supply chains away from China – which gives it an incentive to maintain good relationships with the Biden government and the American business community at large.

Relationships with American social platforms were much warmer and more cooperative in the early years of the Modi administration. In 2015, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg invited Modi to a town hall event at the company’s headquarters. The two men hugged and smiled at the cameras. But, Harbath said, whenever the government’s popularity has waned since then – following measures like the sudden currency demonetization in 2016 – it has become more aggressive to steer public narrative.

Most recently, Modi’s government was targeted on Twitter by critics who say it botched efforts to fight Covid-19. In response, she has tried to block recent criticism on Twitter, which shows anger and disappointment with the Indian leader.

“Silicon Valley’s social media platforms have a huge base in India and the confrontation is who controls these users,” said Tarun Pathak from Delhi, research director at Counterpoint. “In the next three to five years, around 300 million new users equal to the US population will go online in India, shifting the balance of power for these companies eastward.”

Twitter appointed an interim compliance officer two weeks ago, long after its colleagues assigned permanent representatives, and that person is due to leave the position. A company spokesman did not want to confirm or comment on the reasons.

Meanwhile, Kenner told ET that Twitter had given the government “in writing” details of its newly appointed interim chief compliance officer. Previously, she had contracted a lawyer to act as a complaint and node officer.

On Friday, the head of MEITY, Ravi Shankar Prasad, temporarily blocked his Twitter account because of a complaint about alleged copyright infringement, according to the company. When the frequent Twitter antagonist regained access, he wrote that his “actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of the freedom of expression they claim to be, only interested in pursuing their own ends.” Twitter declined to comment, but cited its original statement that Prasad’s account was temporarily suspended for copyright infringement.

Twitter was recently quoted by Uttar Pradesh police along with journalists and opposition party leaders for hosting a video provoking communal discord, according to local reports. Delhi police also said they are investigating another complaint against Twitter’s Indian chief Manish Maheshwari related to this video allegedly alleging that majority Hindus are attacking a minority Muslim man. The company has since removed the offensive clip and has left no comment other than its statement of compliance with local laws. The government of Uttar Pradesh has petitioned the Supreme Court of India to have Maheshwari lifted from arrest by a lower court.

Without pressure on India to reclaim its online power – as the Washington Post editors called this month – companies like Twitter must carefully weigh their decisions to avoid being ousted by a huge market while upholding their principles, said Harbath.

It is a delicate dance that is becoming more and more common around the world. Countries as far away as Australia, Poland and Nigeria are cracking down on social platforms, claiming they have undue power to determine what is acceptable and meddling in domestic affairs. Nigeria banned Twitter this month and Germany’s hate speech rules will require platforms to remove illegal content quickly or face penalties.

“It’s complicated. A decision by these companies in India will not apply to India alone,” said Prateek Waghre of Bangalore, a research analyst with the Takshashila Institution who studies digital platform governance serve the rest of the world. “

IT and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was in the thick of it as the new social media guidelines became a focal point for a showdown between the government and Twitter and WhatsApp on privacy and free speech issues.

source https://seedfinance.net/2021/07/05/the-worlds-big-tech-firms-are-gearing-up-for-a-massive-fight-with-modis-india-it-news-et-cio/