#and it will affect those who are the least privileged the worst

[baronvontribble]

are people really using the lying hallucinating machine to: -weigh in on decisions about what is and isn't humanly edible -give coherent and true summaries of literally anything -GIVE YOU ANSWERS TO ANY SERIOUS QUESTIONS?? -FOLLOW BASIC MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLES OF REALITY EFFECTIVELY???

take it from the person who loves writing about robots: chatGPT is fucking dumb. it works based on repetition, SEO, memetics, and feedback, none of which promote accuracy. it is the worst way to search any info you could possibly want. not only does it lie and just make shit up to make you happy, it bases those lies on aggregate sources that are boosted not by any method of actual verification, but by SEO.

what's SEO? well that's Search Engine Optimization, baby. strap in we're gonna do an example.

think about tumblr bots, alright? now, why do we block a tumblr bot? because they're annoying? no, we block them because they use their like-spamming to add search engine legitimacy to their scammy links in their bios. essentially, because of the way tumblr links to every user that ever likes or reblogs or interacts with a post on every post's individual linked page, every single one of those links is telling google's search engine that THIS scammer's page is totally legit. this boosts its algorithmic potential and makes it so that it appears higher up on search results than its scammy competitors.

but andy, you think, why are you going into a description of tumblr bots? well, reader, it's because this same principle also applies to viral posts. and what goes viral on tumblr? really funny trolling, lies, and people being generally obtuse and digging their own graves. tumblr is the town square and our algorithm is each other's interest; we delight in pointing at the latest pair of squeaky clown shoes being worn, and will drag the wearer out for everyone to see.

this. is bad. when you are an AI 'search' tool based on repetition, memetics, and SEO. because you were never taught to separate 'viral' from 'real'.

a search tool based on virality will tell you to eat a tide pod because they're a secret kind of candy. a search tool based on virality will tell you poinsettias and lilies are great to keep around your cats, and that you should put garlic in their food. a search tool based on virality will tell you that the best way to figure out whether bread is done is to stick your dick in it.

(it should go without saying but i'm going to say it anyway: DO NOT DO THESE THINGS BY THE WAY. YOU WILL DIE AND BE IN HORRIBLE PAIN AND SO WILL YOUR CAT.)

remember this rule, kids, and remember it well: a lie will go around the world twice while the truth is still getting its pants on. while it's fun to dunk and debunk, dunking and debunking doesn't reach the same eyeballs as the original thought, and by the time you're done you have five new ones to dunk on and debunk. and AI 'search' tools will never be able to distinguish the truth from the lie by design.

because here's the nastiest part of all: AI 'search' tools' results are then fed by the way people engage with the results. If the insane result goes viral, it doesn't get corrected, it gets reinforced. engagement, ragebait, corrections, all of these don't bring attention to a problem, they tell the AI it's done a good job making something that people engage with, and it will keep right on lying.

you can't if-then your way out of every lie it spits out because it's like trying to keep a lawnmower from making grass cuttings one blade of grass at a time. it's what it's designed to do. it's baked into the concept because people didn't think that their fun new toy needed to be able to tell the truth, and didn't realize what that would mean when it was asked serious questions. they just wanted it to earn more clicks, more eyes, more engagement, so that they could use that to farm more data that they can sell.

when you can't see what product being sold is, you are the product.

AI 'search' tools are genuinely dangerous, genuinely harmful to discourse, and genuinely something you should be critical of. even beyond their environmental impacts, intellectual property violations, worker's rights violations, this shit is bad, and its cousins in image and longer form text generation are worse.

we cannot allow our critical thinking skills to be eroded by these things. fight them. fight them at every turn. do not allow them into your spaces and do not allow them into your life. complacency is how they get their foot in the door to normalization, and normalization of this kind of shit is another nail in the world's coffin. i'm not kidding. it should be enough for you people that it's a theft-based hallucinatory lie machine but apparently it's not so here we are.

thank you for reading. now if you'll all excuse me, i'm going to go chug something caffeinated and deep-clean the microwave

[dr-zeddy]

Miquella is a deeply tragic character and saying he's a villain just because he used someone, who was probably way worse than him to create an order lead by kindness, makes you come off as pretty short-sighted imo Miq was as much of a victim as Mohg. He had good intentions, he truly believed he could make the he could make the world a better place.

*exhales deeply* Are you the person, I think you are? nonetheless....

I'm going to shed my opinion on Miquella now because I seriously can not tell if this is bait or not from things we see and know in the base game and DLC and want to clarify my thoughts on him and why I believe rendering him as a victim is extremely problematic, also outside of the entire Mohg situation.

Is it so hard to internalize that the things Miquella did were actually highly morally questionable? I got to admit, he is a way more interesting character to me after the DLC because of the things he did (and I enjoy villains, so yeah.) I guess the »villain« term is as much accurate as some of you folks justify brainwashing to be ethical , when it is done with good intentions and keeps the peace, with which I personally do not agree with at all.

I don't see Miquella as tragic because honestly we have nothing to suggest that this guy suffered in any way before he decided to rip himself off of his personality. And that is the point, he decided to do that himself. No one forced him to this. Miquella had a choice, unlike Mohg. Yeah sure, you could argue that he suffered through his immense »empathy« but honestly, Miquella's empathy for the weak and shunned always came off as superficial. Why does he not care for the Albinaurics being tortured in Castle Sol, which is clearly allied with him? Where are the Misbegotten and other creatures in Elphael? Where are the Albinaurics? And the Omens? The Nomads?? Miquella claims to want to create a perfect world where everyone is equal but honestly except for words we hear, we do not see any fucking action or effort to truly include them in his world order.

And that's the thing, Miquella reeks for me at best of naivity and at worst of white saviour complex. He grew up as a fucking empyrean, he had a good relationship with at least one of his parents, he was a golden child. From the things we see and hear in the base game, and now the DLC, it feels like Miquella does not seem to grasp the complexity of the situation when it comes to subjugation. If that is due to his child-like thinking, infused by his curse or actually just his personality, is up for debate. Can you truly care for the subjugated as someone more privileged? Absolutely. But only if you truly educate yourself on the matter and actually listen to the needs of the excluded and shunned.

What does Miquella do instead? He rips everyone off of their autonomy to make decisions themselves if they refuse or challenge his beliefs. That is textbook tyranny. You can not save someone, who refuses to be saved by someone like you. Doing so anyway is extremely ignorant. In the end, Miquella actually puts his needs & beliefs before that of those he claims to desire to save. He is so convinced of his own agenda that he loses track of the moral dilemma, his approach to worldpeace poses. That is not tragic. These are the thoughts of a megalomaniac. If Miquella's selflessness was truly genuine there would be no need of compelling affection. However, he bewitches people. Over and over.

Of course, there are his efforts of curing Malenia still. But even that is, in the big sight of things, not really a selfless act because Malenia is a.) close family and b.) he gets and actual use out of Malenia's talent as a skilled swordswoman. I do not think Miquella bewitched her, I truly believe Malenia followed him by his own will and I also do believe he really did want to help her! However true kindness lays in how you treat those who can do nothing for you. Bewitching those who can do nothing for you and refuse to follow you, is not exactly a very pretty picture of his character.

And in comes Mohg to this occasion. The game is so fucking obvious about the fact that Mohg was the exploited one and I seriously do not understand why people still insist he isn't and exploited Miquella?? He is the only demigod we know for certain of, who was brainwashed. With Radahn and Malenia we do not know for sure but with Mohg we do. The fact that Mohg was bewitched implies that Miquella could not be sure that Mohg would have agreed to a deal and that would have been a way safer route than to bewitch him and his closest consult. I mean, Miquella almost DIED because he underestimated Ansbach's knowledge on how Mohg behaves. Why the fuck risk that if you could have just openly made a deal with Mohg, if he was as power hungry and crazy as the game implied?

In contrast to Miquella, Mohg is actually one of the most tragic characters in the game. This motherfucker was told his mere existence is a crime, grew up in the sewers locked away for years, he had no one except this one Outer God who seemed to care for him and showed him maternal love, something he was deprived off his entire life. Not getting into the speculation on how the cult operated before Miquella took over but it's very clear that he ruined Mohg's life. Mohg just wanted to get away from the toxicity he grew up with and created his own haven, from which he too thought, was the right thing to do. However he never forced anyone to join him. He never mind controlled people. People followed him by their own accounts.

The cult in itself is probably morally questionable too but we also have no idea how the Mohgwyn Dynasty worked before Miquella essentially took over. But by that standard, everyone is in the Lands Between is a twisted bastard with their different agendas ….

The point is that Ansbach is still right though when he says that »Mohg deserved better«. NO ONE who is genuinely interested in helping the shunned and subjugated, would chose one of the most excluded and tormented souls as their pawn. NOBODY deserves to be treated like this but the fact that Mohg is a product of extreme racism and social exclusion makes it so much worse and makes Miquella look so much more hypocritical. It suits the stuff we see in Castle Sol and the Haligtree … Miquella wants to be seen as the world's saviour so badly but seems to have no understanding on what suffering actually means. Because he never experienced it. His empathy is superficial and short sighted. The fact he is convinced he is doing everyone a favour in bewitching them, and does everything in his power to achieve his dream, makes him a truly terrifying villain. And that is something I like Miquella for. Is that really so hard to accept for people like you?

Sure, you can still live out the fantasy in your head that the mindcontrolling intermitted in Mohg to "grape" Miquella (even tho the game also never confirmed this????) if that pleases you, but for the love of God stop acting like it is a fact that Miquella was used by Mohg because he wasn't. I guess a lot of personal feelings from my side bubble up regarding this topic and I'm sorry of if I come off as passive aggressive but as a survivor of abuse as a minor by someone "popular", and nobody believed me, and Mohg being one of my comfort characters, that shit hits different. Just not a fan of turning victim-abuser dynamics upside down, sorry.

[sailorgoon13]

Lorenzo Berkshire

Basics:

Full Name: Lorenzo Berkshire

Nickname: Enzo

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: 10 June, 1980

Heritage: English, Portuguese

Blood Status: Pure Blood

Wand: Mahogany, Dragon Heartstring, 11 1/2", Stiff

Appearance:

Hair Color: Chestnut brown

Eye Color: Brown

Skin Tone: Olive undertones

Height: 5'11"

Body Type: Lean and muscular, with defined muscles in his arms, legs, and abdomen.

Style: Sophistication, elegance, and a hint of edgy flair. Favors fitted pants paired with tailored button-down shirts. For formal events, he gravitates toward sleek suits in rich fabrics like velvet or silk, often in deep, bold colors that command attention. Loves his accessories like a bold watch or thin gold chain necklaces.

Features: Jawline, Intense gaze, Well Groomed appearance, Confidence, Style

Personality:

Traits: Funny, Charming, Competitive, Loyal, Complex

Likes: Fashion, Socializing, Intellectual Challenges

Dislikes: Incompetence, Losing, Close mindedness, Disrespect

Hobbies: Quidditch, Dueling, Drawing

Fears: Failure, Mediocrity, Rejection

Family and Friends:

Father: Mr. Berkshire

A shrewd businessman who oversees the family's investments and enterprises.

Values hard work, ambition, and determination

A dynamic and adventurous wizard

Mother: Mrs. Berkshire

Comes from an old English wizarding family known for their wealth and influence.

A socialite who is actively involved in wizarding society

Down-to-earth and compassionate. Values kindness, integrity, and loyalty

Friends: Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, Mattheo Riddle

Magic:

Special Abilities: Exceptional flyer

Boggart: His friends turning to the Darker side

Patronus: Falcon

Polyjuice: Rich golden hues. Would smell like expensive cologne and freshly-cut citrus. The taste would start with a sweetness like ripe figs or dates, followed by a warm, spicy kick of mulled wine or aged oak. The after taste would be like sipping fine brandy.

Amortentia: Cologne, Subtle notes of wet grass from the Quidditch pitch, red wine

Backstory:

Lorenzo Berkshire was born into a world of wealth, privilege, and magic. His parents were prominent figures in the wizarding community, known for their influence, intellect, and refined taste. From a young age, Lorenzo was immersed in a world of luxury and sophistication, surrounded by the finest things money could buy.

Growing up, Lorenzo was groomed for success from the moment he could walk. His parents instilled in him the values of ambition, determination, and excellence, encouraging him to pursue his dreams with unwavering confidence and tenacity.

As he entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Enzo quickly established himself as a formidable presence among his peers. He excelled academically, earning top marks in his classes, while also demonstrating exceptional skill and agility on the Quidditch pitch as a Seeker for the Slytherin team.

Outside of academics and Quidditch, Lorenzo's magnetic charm and charismatic personality made him a natural leader among his classmates. He effortlessly navigated the complexities of social dynamics, forging alliances and friendships with ease, while also earning the respect and admiration of those around him.

He also had a penchant for romance, enjoying the thrill of courtship and showering his romantic interests with attention and affection. He loved taking girls out on extravagant dates, wooing them with grand gestures and heartfelt compliments. However, despite his best intentions, his relationships often fizzled out quickly, leaving him feeling disillusioned and disheartened.

Academics:

Best Subject: Charms

Favorite Subject: DADA

Favorite Professor: Snape

Worst Subject: Arithmancy

Least Favorite Subject: Transfiguration

Least Favorite Professor: Trelawny

Student Life:

Always eager to learn and expand his magical knowledge.

Quidditch is not just a sport for Enzo; it's a passion and a way of life, and he pours his heart and soul into every match

A social butterfly

Well-liked and respected by his peers, known for his magnetic charm, quick wit, and kindness

The nicest asshole you'd ever meet

Grapples with his own insecurities and fears like any teenager

Template: @hazyange1s

[urfave-masc]

America, God bless you if it’s good to ya.

(A letter to those who voted or voted third party)

Ive had plenty of time to think about the weaponized words you all have used against us. “I don’t think you’re who I thought you were” and “you’re misunderstanding me” no, I hear you loud and clear. What you’re not doing is listening to us.

A third party or non-vote is the same as giving a vote to someone who wears genocide as a shiny pin on his suit. At least maybe with Kamala, we could save some unfortunate victims of assault, rape, incest. We could’ve protected our own trans kids, now we are going to fight a genocide of our own. We are going to have to fight and riot because someone got killed for “walking while black” under this administration.

I beg of you to organize. That’s an important thing to do while the world is going to crash and burn, because it already is, and nobody is going to be happy with either party. We clearly did not do critical thinking when it came to our own issues. I’m specifically looking at my third party and non voters here, whatever your reason may be from “i don’t like either” to “children are dying overseas” well, now our mothers and trans children are dying here. what have we solved. apart from enacting horrible tariffs the likes of the economy will have never felt since the great depression, and giving tax cuts to the billionaires to make the working class even poorer than the ruling class, which doesn’t sound like we are solving anything at all. it doesn’t sound anything like the reform we need, the revolution we need, right?

ah yes, because your activism for children overseas while you can’t be an advocate for your mother, or her mother, or her mother, or her mother, while you can’t be an advocate for yourself, while these women and kids are getting raped and assaulted you thought a non vote meant more than a impending genocide on POC and trans people and control over women in our own damn country wasn’t as important as kids in gaza. “if it means i don’t have to have access to gender affirming care or hormones, ill live.” well im very glad you’re privileged enough to live. i’m extremely glad you will never feel some of the pain trans kids feel who took their lives because they got beat so bad at school, or their parents left them homeless.

Nex Benedict, you were a child who should’ve been able to feel safe at school.

Kids should feel safe in our schools. 513 mass shootings and counting in 2024 alone, kids doing lockdown drills monthly and posting video of police stampeding their school complexes wasn’t enough for even a vote for basic mental health issues and addiction issues? Was issue 12 nothing to somebody who is almost a year sober? Who has almost died 2 fucking times in the span of a year because of drugs? Is abolishing the department of education really what we needed here, to put behind kids like me who had IEPs and those with autism, adhd, and other mental disorders and even physical disorders from receiving a proper education?

Where was your voice while protesting the genocide in gaza when the 20 kids in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting should’ve been able to vote yesterday. Where is your support for “March for Our Lives?”

Where was your voice when black men and women are being subjected to some of the worst systemic racism in modern times? “Kamala jailed thousands of black people for weed charges” and if you look at what’s law right now, she gave 95% of them a slap on the fucking wrist if you actually did your research. Doing her job, and then trying to do a job for the people where weed could be legalized and charges could be expunged, which affects majority black people. This issue hits close to me. Because you want to paint someone out to be an absolute monster, which there is some merit to, but you neglect to see that the other monster wants nothing to do with the community and won’t give an inkling of hope to give people a safe way to make community. It’s like a damn pitbull at the shelter. Stay in the crate and potentially get adopted someday, or get euthanized.

Tamir Rice, you should still be breathing, you should still be alive.

We should organize regardless of who was elected but I guarantee you now there are going to be repercussions the climate, people, and world have never known with an outcome like this.

With major climatologists begging you to vote for somebody who isn’t going to immediately continue burning fossil fuels and continue the meat industry, to continue doing the things we are doing now and you still let a non vote out of “making a message” happen when the most crucial part of our climate journey is NOW. Because of the political divisiveness in our country and unwillingness to vote for somebody that’s “less bad” than the fascists, we are going to make absolutely no progress. You really think rioting under Trump is going to work? It may not work either under Kamala, but damn it was sure a fucking shot if it meant that my grandpa still had access to healthcare while he steadily declined.

This isn’t about parties for me. This is about my grandpa, who drank from colored water fountains and couldn’t enter certain stores because he was too dark. Or when he was told he would never amount to anything in life and went to college all while having two kids and three jobs.

This is about my grandpa who we fought long and hard to get the ACA for his parkinson’s to work out with the VA to make sure his succumbing to death was as painless and humane as possible.

This is about my grandpa who always said to “love your neighbor no matter how much they hate your skin color” because we have too much fucking infighting to make an actual revolution work.

This is about my grandpa and his family who had their fucking land taken away in a broken ass system who even then knew better than to vote for a fascist fool. This is about the millions of undocumented immigrants who are now at an even heightened risk of deportation. this is about my teenage best friend, D. R, who’s mom is living in a trailer park with 3 kids and can’t get citizenship because they might deport her. And leave her DACA children and US citizen born children at the hands of child protective services.

This is about our broken ass system which only became more fascist because of your non fucking vote. do better. even if you don’t agree with everything i am saying from my own experiences or lived experiences, do fucking better. support minorities and people in need instead of running away or giving salutations to what you think is right in your mind. Personally, we are upset that you did not vote. Very upset. Because you couldn’t decipher when to look out for yourself and your own marginalized community while making a difference in another. It’s like a black person voting for Trump. Do. Better. We are so deeply involved in a two party system that this election would not have been swayed by your non vote or third party vote and your privilege and naivety is really showing based on your ability to vote, and yall didn’t anyways. Until we come together as a community and start disassembling the system starting at a local level, you have no fucking reason to let a christofacsist win to help bring down the system.

[lxndmine]

so i just saw the tiktok of that one creator i dislike out of curiosity. i got some strange looking anons that im not responding to- and ive seen jiraitwt and jiraiblr say she put up a relatively negative vid on jirai recently and. ill be ranting quite a bit here because i had some THOUGHTS.

yeah. still dont like her. i didnt like her before bc an irl friend of mine is a gyaru! and apparently quite a few gyarus dislike her as well. dont get me wrong- i genuinely believe shes had bad experiences. i agree that you dont need to be mentally ill to wear dark girly. i think some of the harassment shes received is awful.

my problem is she has constantly spread misinformation about jirai kei. she does shit like this and pokes at a community quite literally known for being explosive. its in the name and all. poking at a community known for mental illness and for not always being a "safe place", having tons of people who aren't in recovery for one reason or another? not the best idea. constantly spreading misinformation about those people is even worse.

i think i wouldn't be making this post though if it weren't for the part of the video that feels so very? "trauma olympics" like. i dont think it was the intention- yes, a lot of people are privileged for not being in a "worse" situation than we could be. but i kinda really hate that you're bringing up that "you have it better" because a community that centers mental illness... wants it to remain that way? i dont know, it feels gross. a lot of the people who want to preserve the jirai community the way it is are struggling- i dont think its particularly fair to bring up the "you could have it worse" card to a community of people who often feel at their worst. a lot of people in "lifestyle jirai" spaces relate to a struggle, the struggle of mental health affecting your ability just to live and not being able to do anything about it.

more privileged? sure, some of us are. but different kinds of struggles exist and you're generalizing us all as privileged brats? saying we're all putting on an aesthetic is also just- odd to me, because ESPECIALLY on tumblr, jirai ISN'T an aesthetic. she's generalizing lifestyle landmines that gatekeep jirai, but we don't view it as cute clothes to put on and take off because we INHERENTLY DO NOT VIEW JIRAI AS THE CLOTHES. our mental health isn't an "aesthetic" to us- us being a "landmine" isn't an aesthetic so much as a signal to others in the community. if ur gonna generalize the people you dislike at least do it correctly- im not as sure abt jiraitwt but i know plenty of lifestyle jirai who don't care about the clothing. plenty of us advocate that you dont need to buy into dark girly to be jirai!

i feel bad for how much hate she gets but she CANNOT keep misrepresenting different styles and people then immediately double down on it when she gets backlash. and you just... don't get to play trauma olympics because people disagree.

[l-e-i-n-t-h]

Me judging every character in HOTD

I read the book in 2019, and even then I was Team Black and believed many of the things depicted in the book could be propaganda or deformations cause I happen to be a historian and it's not that uncommon. I'm also 39 and no longer believe in pretty privilege. I've been in tumblr for more than 12 years and I've seen rivers of ink (or bits) flow trying to excuse or overanalyze the actions of all sorts of male characters because they happen to be played by beautiful faces. I've done it myself, but I'm too old for it now.

As a good historian I already declared my biases, so here I go with the characters:

Alicent is a bad mother. Her motherhood wasn't desired nor joyful, so it's understadable but it does affect the way her children are. Viserys was also quite neglectful, due to his health and his personal flaws. Alicent's family reeks of generational trauma, and it's not a surprise coming from such a cold and manipulative patriarch as Otto, who didn't even want to hear his daughter's troubles. As I saw in another post, all of Team Green is touch deprived: they need each other's arms but they don't hug each other as they long for.

I don't give a rat's ass about Alicent's sins. Sin away, woman, and enjoy.

I do slut shame Criston Cole cause I enjoy despising him. Being the genuine murderer he is, slut shaming is just a very small fraction of what he deserves. I see him as one of those guys that resent a girl for rejecting them and then go on to commit mass murder, blaming her for it. I'm not in love with him so I don't excuse nothing of him, specially sending ser Arryk to his death so stupidly and hypocritically.

Aegon is a bad king, who enjoys cruelty not at the level Joffrey did, but to a certain point, considering he raped a girl and celebrated his nephew's death with a feast. Another pretty face I'm immune to.

Helaena is a sweet angel. I miss Blood and Cheese tha way it happened on the book, but the result is pretty much the same.

I already talked about Otto, and we all know Larys Strong is a thousand times worst.

Aemond has always been a little psycho. He was bullied by his brother and nephews, but there's something else to a child who almost smashes the head of a boy 4 years younger than him with a rock. His scene in the brothel makes a lot of sense, and the fact that he believes Daemon is afraid of him is just... hilarious.

Speaking of Daemon, that's another pretty face that doesn't move me in the least. He's an asset for his team, probably the best warrior in the entire show, but he's also unpredictable, violent, irascible and not much of a good father or husband. Matt and Emma have chemistry, but their characters' ship doesn't give me feels, only red flags. Daemon is a walking red flag, the only maladjusted person in Team Black right now.

Team Black is family. They do touch each other. The parallel between Alicent being unable to console her child and Rhaenyra interrupting her son's teary eyed report to embrace him is sublime. Rhaenyra enjoys being a mom, loves her children dearly, and expresses it.

Rhaenyra does suffer a lot. In like ten days she loses her father, her daughter, her throne, her son, her trust in her husband, and sees a brave man off himself in front of her. I think that she is well adjusted, or at least as well as you could expect of a Targaryen in the GOT universe. She loves freely, she grieves as she needs and doesn't choke on her tears, trying to keep a facade. She hasn't become cruel yet.

Team Black's council passes the Bechdel test, and I find it so refreshing. Rhaenys and Corlys make for the perfect power couple, and the fact that Alyn and Adam of Hull are grown men gives me hope their conception wasn't a blemish on that marriage, cause in the book it was.

Rhaenys is the second most powerful asset in Team Black and she's just SO GREAT. I enjoy tremendously the way she doesn't walk on egg shells around Daemon.

Ultimately, if you're in doubt, ask yourself which team do the Starks of Winterfell support. That's all you need to know.

Disclaimer: love whatever character you want, and write whatever meta gives you feels and joy. I just think it's funny, when the episode just arrives, the tag is full of kind of what actually happened, but a few days after it, it's full of metas oozing with love for toxic male characters and eternal hate for the writers for doing murder baby wrong. A character doesn't need to be moral to be enjoyable, though I understand the appeal for having both.

Damn I was young and less asexual once, I swear XD

[originalleftist]

Something I dearly wish more people, especially those who identify with progressivism and the Left, understood is Intersectionality.

I don't claim to be any kind of expert on the subject myself, and I have my own biases and privilege, so take my position for whatever its worth, and feel free to dissect it. But very basically, "Intersectionality is a sociological analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these factors include gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, height, age, and weight. These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empower and oppressing. However little good-quality quantitative research has been done to support or undermine the practical uses of intersectionality." (Wikpedia)

Put very simply, its about how different aspects of someone's identity affect how they are privileged and disadvantaged/discriminated against- and, crucially, how one can be both privileged in certain ways, and discriminated against in others.

I had heard the term previously, and probably had a vague sense of what it meant, but I believe that, as with so many things, I first started to really realize its importance, and the deficiency of awareness of intersectionality, while following the Depp v Heard trial (full disclosure: I actually used Depp v Heard as an example of intersectionality on a college anthropology exam, and I will undoubtably repeat some things from that here, though I do not have the exam on-hand to refer to).

One of the recurring arguments raised by certain Depp supporters (presumably those sympathetic to the Left, or perhaps more astute at manipulating the Left) was basically that Amber Heard did not deserve support because she was wealthy/famous/privileged. A recurring line (and example of how, despite being deeply rooted in Right-wing MRA/Incel ideology, "the Justice for Johnny Depp" crowd coopted Left-wing and social justice rhetoric) was to mock and dismiss Heard's obvious distress as "white woman tears".

Of course, this term is typically used to call out white fragility/defensiveness around race, and white women who play the victim against Black people- not a white woman who is in actual distress because she's being forced to publicly relive r*pe trauma in court before a jeering mob of her r*pist's fans. And the entire narrative ignores that Depp enjoyed far more power and privilege than Heard did (those who claim otherwise are generally adopting the misogynist "Men's Rights Activist" narrative that women are actually the privileged gender in society and are always believed, while constantly making false accusations against men- which was probably their whole point). It also means ignoring that Heard was repeatedly and viciously targeted based on her gender, her sexual orientation as an openly queer woman, and her mental health. Depp was subject to some ableist attacks as well, for example, in that he was stigmatized for the illness of addiction, but Heard, as with most things, got by far the worst of it.

One could and should also point out that much of what was directed at Heard and her supporters-the censoring of her freedom of expression, harassment and death threats against her and her child, abuse of the legal system, etc, as well as the horrific and life-threatening abuse inflicted against her by Depp and previously found to be true by a UK court-would be unjustified against anyone, regardless of their relative privilege, at least assuming one believes in universal rights or the rule of law. But the argument of privilege on Heard's part is itself selective, and misleading.

Now, flash forward to October 2023, for case study number 2. Among the arguments of the anti-semitic Left since October 7th have been that Israelis (primarily Jewish citizens of the world's only Jewish state) do not deserve sympathy or consideration, and that anything that is done to them is justified as "resistance", because they are the oppressors- they hold the power and privilege. Often, this has manifested as attacks not only on Israel and Israelis, but one anyone who supports them- and anyone who is Jewish. Again, one could and should reject outright that atrocities such as murder, r*pe, slavery, and torture are justified against anyone, for any reason. But the premise of the argument, that Israel holds the power and privilege, is again over-simplistic. Certainly, Israel has more economic and military power than Hamas, Gaza, or Palestine. But on a world-wide scale, the Jewish people are still a very small, marginalized, and vulnerable group- and would likely be far more so without a nation capable of defending itself. Jews amount to less than half a percent of the world's population, and the vast majority live in one of two countries- Israel and the United States. Further, regardless of the power disparity that exists between Israel and Gaza or Palestine, it should be self-evidently preposterous to argue that a random Israeli civilian, confronted by a Hamas gunman and facing imminent murder, r*pe, abduction, or all of the above, is in a position of power. But all of this is frequently ignored to try to justify bigotry, terrorism, and collective punishment of Israelis- and, very often, Diaspora Jews as well.

One should also consider how many Leftists have reacted to the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is unquestionably the smaller, less powerful party in a war with Russia, and it is unquestionably the victim of aggression. So, how did the Putinist/Tankie wing of the Left justify supporting Russia over Ukraine? Easy- they just treat Ukraine as an extension of NATO/the US, rather than as a sovereign nation, and argue that NATO aggression and imperialism caused the war, which Russia is then the underdog resisting (this of course is basically a Kremlin propaganda narrative).

Now, let's jump forward to the present, where Joe Biden's political future is being imperilled by relentless attacks asserting, on little to no solid evidence, that he is both mentally and physically unfit to run for or serve as President. One would assume that if any person on Earth is immune to systemic discrimination, it's Joe Biden. He is a fairly wealthy, heterosexual, cisgendered, white, Christian, American man. He basically won Privilege Bingo. And he currently holds the single most powerful position on the planet- one which just became frighteningly more powerful with the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling (albeit a ruling they obviously only made for Trump's benefit, confident that Biden would not abuse the immense and utterly unprecedented power that they have bestowed upon him).

And yet, as we saw with Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama before him, even climbing to the heights of political power does not shield a marginalized identity from attack. Hillary Clinton is a former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State, and was a major party's nominee for President. But she was subjected to relentless attacks, some obviously misogynist, and it certainly played a role in her defeat and the election of Donald Trump- a serial r*pist who was taped boasting about being able to get away with grabbing women "by the pussy". Barrack Obama won the Presidency twice- but not without a widespread movement denying that he was even a real American, allegations that he was a "secret Muslim" (which would not be disqualifying for the Presidency in any case), and a backlash that also likely contributed to the election of Trump, a virulent racist.

Biden, as a white man, has advantages that Obama and Clinton never did. But Biden too can still be attacked and treated unfairly based on his association with various marginalized identities. As soon as he showed signs of age and frailty, he was subject to the relentless contempt of our society for the geriatric and the disabled. Add to that his life-long stutter. Granted, Biden has far more power than most to resist such attacks, so it would probably be a big stretch to say that he is a victim of systemic oppression. But these attacks, using ableism and ageism to declare someone unfit for the Presidency, are ultimately also attacks on the dignity of all older and disabled people (there's also a good bit of racism and misogyny underlying it, as at least some of the hyperbole and fear-mongering over Biden's age and fitness is clearly driven by fear that a Black woman might succeed him- see in particular the recent piece in The Washington Post calling for Biden to stay in but replace VP Harris).

So what is my point in all of this? It is that peoples' identities are complex, and that just because someone is privileged-even immensely privileged-in certain ways does not mean that they cannot be underprivileged, marginalized, or oppressed and discriminated against in others. And that if the Left/progressives as a whole had as solid a grasp of intersectionality, and its importance, as they do of privilege, they would be far less likely to fall so easily for fascist psy-ops trying to convince Leftists that no, this whole class of people are okay to persecute because they're actually Oppressors, in order to divide and conquer us all.

Because the thing is: privilege is real. So is systemic discrimination. Certain people and groups of people do have unfair advantages over others based on their identities and how they are perceived, which contribute to bias and must be accounted for and rectified. But this is also true: everybody has multiple different identities. Everybody has ways in which they are advantaged over someone else, and ways in which they are disadvantaged. Some people have far more things that fall on one side of the scale than the other. But you can find something about just about anyone that gives them an unfair advantage over someone else. So if you focus only on that, and define someone's worthiness to receive sympathy accordingly, then you can reframe anyone as the Oppressor, and therefore unworthy of sympathy, and deserving of anything that is done to them.

Of course, one might also cynically argue that many people WANT to fall for that ploy, because it gives them an excuse to engage in harassment, bullying, and abuse; to join in the mob, while pretending to be righteous. I might also observe that the Left's fixation on determining who is worthy of sympathy based on who holds the most power essentially commits them ideologically to always being on the losing side- should any Leftist ever actually succeed in achieving major political success, they will become part of "the establishment", and immediately suspect. And I wonder how large a role this sort of thinking plays in Leftist third party "purity politics", and the infamous "circular firing squad".

[cherrybomb107]

On the topic of Cait stans downplaying her actions and defending her by using whack ass excuses like “grief” “nuance” “complex female character” and so on and so forth, something just occurred to me. With the recent wave of fans(on arcanwtwt anyway) who seem hellbent on refusing to critically engage with the show or its politics, it become clear to me that people who do that or, “it’s just a show warriors”, as I like to call them, are almost always Cait stans.

Their refusal to think deeply about the show or its themes prevents them from being able to meaningfully defend their fave. Now, do I think they should be defending Caitlyn? Absolutely not! Tryna downplay the actions of a character who gassed minorities, hit her partner, unlawfully arrested people, almost killed a child just to get to one person AND had a highly inappropriate relationship with her subordinate is ridiculous at best, and highly insensitive at worst if you believe that the way you consume media affects your real life politics. I am definitely a believer in that.

However! I am also someone who likes to argue! So! If you’re gonna sit up here and try to defend the indefensible, then actually try! Give me something to work with! Don’t talk about Caitlyn’s “micro expressions” after she literally hit Vi with the butt of her gun not 10 seconds beforehand! That’s one of the more ridiculous excuses for her actions I’ve seen! Her macro actions involve becoming an authoritarian dictator. You need to do better than “micro expressions” if you want to change my mind after she did all she did. Plus, that argument falls flat because you can literally see her curl her lips and hear the way she pronounced all the syllables in “animals” when referring to Zaunites. There’s no defending that, sorry!

In any case, if you want to defend her for real, you’ll have to interrogate the crooked system of Piltover and see Caitlyn as another victim of it. Caitlyn, by virtue of being not just a Piltie but also a Kiramman, has been heavily propagandized against Zaun. So much so that she doesn’t even realize it. She is not a kind person. Not to say that she isn’t capable of kindness ofc, but, she is not a kind person overall. She is literally incapable of being that, because of how she was raised. Caitlyn was raised to see people from the Undercity as criminals. She may think herself kind because she understands that there are “good people down there”, but that’s not good enough.

Unless and until she interrogates her subconscious biases towards Zaun, she will never be the kind person so many people in the fandom make her out to be. But, it’s not all her fault. It’s the entire culture of Piltover. They prime Pilties to view Zaunites as beneath them from birth; it’s part of the reason why Marcus acted the way he did. He literally lived in the slums of Piltover but still had the audacity to look down on Zaun. Why? Because of the way he was raised. His predjudice ran so deep that he thought he was better than them just by virtue of living in Piltover, despite the fact that the conditions he lived in were equal to that of many Zaunites.

So, I believe that Caitlyn has plenty of kindness and love in her heart buried deep within her. But because of the system of Piltover brainwashing her to believe Zaunites are beneath her, as well as her privilege as a result of being a Kiramman, she won’t unlock her true potential until she confronts her biases. Until then, she will do what all privileged people do when they experience a fraction of what the oppressed have: lash out and cling to oppressive power structures. Rush to put all those people “back into their place”. If the circumstances were different, Caitlyn would be the kind, caring, well meaning but incredibly naive goofball she was meant to be.

At least, that’s the defense I’d use if I were a Cait stan. But I’m not. So fuck her and her “grief” lmaoo🤣🤣🤣

[team-mythic-beasts]

Phantasmia’s Most Notorious Witch Family: The Blackwood Brothers

By Lucas Reynard

“As if you alone isn’t already enough trouble, Arthur… you’re telling me there’s four of you?!”

— Jones Fitzgerald, upon learning about Arthur’s three brothers

Victoria “the Vile” Blackwood is widely regarded as one of, if not the worst witch in history. In fact, legend has it that she pissed off the gods so hard that they cursed the Blackwood bloodline to end with her kids.

Aladsair Scot Blackwood

A.K.A. Alasdair of Crafts, Blue Witch of Alvskog

Born to Victoria’s first husband, Duncan Brown.

Due to bullying from Arthur, the oldest of the Blackwood Brothers usually goes by his middle name. Scot strives to at least be a positive influence towards his younger brothers, even if they don’t usually return the favor. Well, not that he was an objectively good guy to begin with… after all, he’s still the son of Phantasmia’s worst witch.

Scot’s heart lies in arts n’ crafts, as he did not become a full-fledged witch until early adulthood. After Victoria’s death, Scot abducted a band of witches to the northern island of Alvskog, where he would start a coven selling handbags and clothing. To his delight, his “victims” saw appeal in his art where his family failed, so much that they stayed behind even after their contracts had long expired.

Arthur George Blackwood

A.K.A. Arthur of Potions, Dark Witch of Haar

First child of Victoria and her second husband, Edward Griffith.

Unlike Scot, Arthur realized his talent for witchcraft as a toddler, for which his mother branded him a prodigy (heh, ironic) and her heir. She would later divorce Duncan for Edward and (forcefully) teach the marriage curse to Arthur, hoping he would be the one to continue the family legacy.

Without a doubt, Arthur is the worst of the four brothers. He would blatantly insult his courses, teachers, and peers before dropping out of witch school. His Potions Coven only lasted months due to his foul temper and abrasive personality. And soon enough, those fed up with Arthur’s bullshit would succeed in getting him banished to the Isle of Haar at the ripe old age of 23.

Dylan Elis “Dylanelis” Blackwood

A.K.A. Dylan of Morphs, Red Witch of Alphica

Second child of Victoria and Edward. Despite being Arthur's full brother, Dylanelis did not receive as much affection from his mother. Instead, she considered him so ugly that she denied him the marriage curse, claiming he wouldn't be able to “defend” a partner for a year anyway.

Being another reject of Victoria’s only made Dylanelis a dangerously ambitious man, stopping at nowhere to achieve his grandest, wildest dreams - one of which happens to be proving his mother wrong. Though if he can’t manage that, he can study Morphs, the art of turning people into animals, until he can become a dragon.

Dylanelis was the only one who got to form a close bond with his father. Once the brothers parted ways after Victoria’s death, the Morphs specialist set up his cottage closest to Alphica, Edward’s hometown. He also keeps a copy of his book, So You Married A Witch, in case his future partner needs it.

Uilliam “Liam” Blackwood

A.K.A. Uilliam of Ailments, Green Witch of Zefora

Believing Liam to be a demon child due to his cursed eye, his birth parents left him to dead in the woods, where he would be discovered by a mourning Victoria. She would die soon after Liam turned four, leaving him under the care of then 20-year-old Scot.

Perhaps it is because of her mother's neglect towards him and treachery against his father that Scot strove to give his baby brother a healthy childhood - and a healthy childhood he gave him, as Liam turned out to be as normal and bearable as a witch can possibly be. For this same reason, Liam also had the privilege to meet Duncan.

Unfortunately, even with his reliable older brother’s gift of an eyepatch, Liam is banned from every sizable settlement in Phantasmia due to his death-inducing eye... and also because of his other curses. So he made the windy hills in the far west his home - and fortunately, he’s doing quite well!

[surreality51]

One day, your name will be the one that is called

...and on that day, you will be grateful that laws are written to support personal liberty and autonomy, and not to impose the moral judgments of the few on the many. 

I’ve been tracking the abortion debate in the US for decades, but I never thought the issue would impact me personally. I thought if I ever had an unplanned pregnancy, I would choose to keep the baby. But I was staunchly pro-choice and voted as such, because I supported every person’s liberty to make their own choice, even if it was different from my own.

Last week, the abortion debate suddenly and unexpectedly became very, very personal. 

I’m currently 22 weeks pregnant with our third child. Our first two children were delivered without complications; my first pregnancy was so smooth that even my OB (joking but not joking) commented that she was jealous. We went in for our 20-week anatomy scan thinking things would be the same this time around. 

They were not. 

For those who have never had to face a doctor delivering devastating news in a compassionate voice, words cannot describe the tsunami of emotions that slam into you in that moment. It was without a doubt the worst moment of my life. My doctor explained what she did and did not see in the scan, potential diagnoses and further recommended testing, and what our options were. Because we live in California, we had until viability (24 weeks) to decide if we wanted to continue the pregnancy. As a medical professional, she would support us in whichever way we decided to go.

I knew from all my years of reading that only 1% of abortions are performed after 20 weeks. I just never thought that one day I might become part of the 1%.

The abortion debate in the US after the overturning of Roe v Wade has ranged from liberal states like New Jersey and Oregon protecting access to abortion with no gestational limits, to conservative states like Idaho and Tennessee with full bans that provide no exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities, or risks to the life or health of the pregnant person. 

For many people, abortion bans are theoretical, rather than an immediate threat to their life, liberty, and family. Many people, including many women, think that they will never be personally affected. And it is easy to pass judgment on others, and assume that your position is the only moral position. 

My experience last week shows that this is a privilege that can be taken away at any time. My husband and I debated going for a third child for a long time, but finally decided “you only live once.” We were shocked and elated to get pregnant on the first try. I took my prenatal vitamins, abstained from deli meats and undercooked food, and did everything you were supposed to do during pregnancy. We took out the newborn clothes from the storage box and put them in the dresser with our older children’s clothes. We dusted off the baby carrier and newborn car seat. And then we went in for our 20-week anatomy scan.

When you’re facing the worst moment of your life, the last thing you want to be thinking about is “at least the government has granted me the right to choose what’s best for me and my family.” And yet here we are, in the year 2023, in that exact situation. I never thought I would be here, I never wanted to be here, but because my state government and my fellow citizens understand that pregnancy is a life-changing, uncertain, fraught, frequently life-threatening, and intensely personal situation, I at least have the freedom to choose the right path for me and my family.

One day, your name will be the one that is called, and on that day, you will be grateful for the rights and liberties granted to you by a compassionate society. 

[scarluxia]

Opinion: People don't need to be "good" in order to deserve basic human compassion.

Treating people poorly because they're "bad" can actually lead to even more destructive behavior, coupled with poor coping mechanisms that may prove fatal. That's not my background in abnormal psychology studies talking. That's me, the person behind the screen. I've always tended towards, for example, Slytherin House, Team Valor, the factions with the bad reputations... not to be cool or edgy, but because I know what it's like to be ostracized and unwanted. I know many of you will relate to me on this, and it brings me comfort to know I'm no longer alone. I grew up with a few different disabilities and disorders. I was bullied in school and, whenever I retaliated, I was the one punished for bad behavior. I was suspended and expelled from so many schools, for what I saw as "trying to stand up for myself when no-one else would." My family was... critical, to put it kindly. I was a straight-A student for most of my academic career. 100%, A+, got me praise and affection. Anything less, even 98%, was met with disappointment and "What did you do wrong?" I was a dutiful student and I was embarrassingly obedient as a child, at least until it came to not retaliating. I was labelled a problem child because I had a TEMPER. Actually, what I had was an undiagnosed personality disorder that no-one knew how to name or treat back then. So they punished me for it. I became the type of person who was afraid to get attached to anyone. When I did have a friend-- usually just the one, maybe two if I was really lucky-- I was extraordinarily jealous and protective of our time together. Those friendships didn't tend to last long as a result, so I went through life feeling abandoned, because I was too young to really comprehend what I was doing wrong. I could have easily become just as evil as any villain you see in books, movies, or TV. Actually, in my mid-teens, some would argue that I was, and I wouldn't disagree. I remember trying to invite classmates to my 16th birthday party; the teachers told them not to come, and the parents threatened to call the police. When I was 19, I got back in contact with someone I'd hurt. I apologized and explained to them how karma had gotten me back. This person has the most amazing, loving heart of anyone I've ever met. She forgave me, sat patiently with me (both online and in person) through many outbursts and meltdowns, helped me process relationships where others were causing more damage to me and my personality. Without the compassion and kindness she showed me, I could have spiralled and been an even worse person than I'd been before. In my life, I've been abused and taken advantage of in every possible way. I could have easily succumbed to misanthropic nihilism, and for a time, I did. When my friend dropped contact with me in our mid-teens, she made it clear that I was actually the worst. After a period of self-pity, followed by a period of self-loathing, I noticed there were so many kind, pure, loving people I would have loved to be friends with, but they didn't want anything to do with me because of my awful reputation. So after some time, I decided to try to become better. I wanted HER forgiveness, and the fact that she granted it several years later was just so extraordinary to me. It's what pulled me back from the brink. She's guided me towards becoming a better person bit by bit. I need people to understand that that is a PRIVILEGE I was granted. Not everybody has that kind of connection in their life. Not everyone HAS SOMEONE who can model healthy behavior or offer unconditional love. That is why I'm so quick to offer compassion and forgiveness towards villains. I'm analytical of their behavior and the *reasons* behind why they do what they do. I can be sympathetic and compassionate without CONDONING their actions, and that's a nuance that I feel is lost to a lot of people, if some of the fandom discussions I've been witnessing are any indication. Unfortunately, that also means I've gotten hurt a lot by continuing to give people the benefit of the doubt long after it became unhealthy and unreasonable to do so. After they'd already shown me their true colors. I try to see the best in people because someone saw the flickering possibility of good in me. And once someone betrays my trust, well... that's their mistake to make, I guess. I'm here to encourage empathy, not make threats right now. I was, due to a series of misfortunes and traumas inflicted on me, once a horrible person. Someone showed me persistent compassion and kindness, and I was careful not to throw it back in her face once I understood how valuable that kindness was. That's it, that's the point of this essay. My favorite characters are the people I most see myself in, whether old or new. Make of that what you will. And PLEASE, try to let people have opinions on THEIR favorite characters, factions, what-have-you, without making judgment calls about their personal morality. Don't be tacky 💚

[mialovesharry]

I wonder where these people who said liam is nice people blabla and they love him blabla when he needs them years ago? Years ago before liam wasn’t very addicted to drugs. Why they made this long statement in social media after he died. Why didn’t they check on him when he was still alive? I bet people close to him aka these people who made long post statement on social media they’ve know that liam was broken inside, drugs and alcohol become his daily routine. I know maybe that was not easy to get contact with him and knowing he was high many times. But at least they can check on him if they really love him like they posted on social media but they didn’t. Even his past just got exposed and his past behavior wasn’t what “nice people” do, i don’t know why his hotel room looks very messy so many broken stuff in there, and i don’t think that nice people will do that. But i remember in maya’s book she said that when liam was trying to stop doing drugs when he was in rehab he was nice at her and they had beautiful days together but that was stopped when liam started back to drugs (I feel bad for maya) So i think in his case all of his worst behaviour was cuz of drugs and how he can be so addicted to drugs? Maybe because no one care about him like no one really care about him, even these people who made long long post on social media wasn’t really care about him.

Drug can affect your brain, I’ve seen many people wonder why Liam’s ex had only nice things to say about him after his passing but not Maya. Well, people don’t understand that you can hurt someone but not the other. He was suffering since One Direction but at the time it was only reported he had a drinking issue. I think it went really bad after the band broke up and his career didn’t do as good as the others.

For the « where were all of those posting tribute about him that knew him personally » well, as someone who experienced this with someone, at some point you need to save yourself. The state of someone can affect you, and the moment it starts affecting you, you cannot help the person in need because yourself you cannot function at a normal state.

The person didn’t want help we offered to her, and at some point she went against us and made us the bad person who were responsible for her mental state and her issues. We had to escape, it was getting too much. Even her own family went against us and threatened us. At some point you have to let them go from your life, as sad as it is.

I’m sure Liam was well surrounded by his family, Cheryl and Louis for sure. Maya did try to help him too but someone can only be saved by themselves. It’s not easy to deal with mental illness so when drug and alcohol are involved it’s even harder to fight against them.

I think all those people tried to help and we do not know if they were still in contact or not, look at Danielle post, they were still talking apparently, who would’ve thought?

Im as disappointed as you in why Liam was so alone when he was always here for everyone but that wasn’t probably easy for them.

Today I’m more angry to the last person who were near him before his passing, the hotel staff, the client, and that man Roger.

THEY could’ve saved him but they preferred to let him die because they had no time for him.

As someone said, if Liam would’ve been someone random, they would’ve done something for him. They would’ve hold his hands while calling the ambulance and reassure him but he was a celebrity, he was a privileged person who just caused a scene and gave bad image to the hôtel so it was his fault and he had to take care of it himself or his friends should’ve but Roger decided running his errands was better because this man wasn’t his friend.

I’m also mad at the boys for having to wait till something like this happened for them to realize their ego and pride they hold is stupid, and I really hope they won’t do the same mistake anymore.

[actualdraccus]

I realize I’ve reblogged two things in a row that are in line with my despair and determination in the wider world right now.

My roommate caught me staring into space over my dinner last night, and when he said I looked like I was deep in thought, I told him that I had started thinking about how things are. And specifically, that I am so lucky to have known my great grandfather and grandfather as long as I got to. There is a point and connection to this.

Great grandpa was a WWII vet. He signed up after Pearl Harbor happened, and we think he might have been on the cusp of being too young to technically do that. He might have lied about his age. I don’t know. But the point is that he as a boy (younger than I am now, to the point where I would look at a kid that old and call them a kid), went to war and saw the absolute depravity of humans. He saw the best and the worst of people on both sides, and spent the rest of his life regretting that the world had come to that, feeling that he had only done what he felt he must, and trying to challenge the prejudices that going through that time had given him. (I remember when I was maybe 13 or 14 and had mentioned to him that I was watching some anime that I brushed against what was certainly a very complicated emotion about the Japanese in general. It was a few months later that I learned that he was among those who got sent to the bomb sites after the fact, and that he therefore saw firsthand the terrible thing that we had done to them. I don’t think he ever really forgave the US for that, and I don’t think he forgave the order that sent a Japanese plane into his ship, either. He knew the pilot of that plane was just like him, though.)

My grandfather on the other side of the family was only 6 years younger than great grandpa. It was the six years that made a difference between going to the war and only being aware of it in a vague way. I never talked about this with him, but I think about it sometimes. I also sometimes think about how his parents chose to have two kids in the middle of the depression. And how his wife, my grandmother, is just enough younger than grandpa that when she was living in the time of the war, she asked her dad what would be on the news when the war was over, because she had never known anything else there.

And of course there have been other horrors since then. Other wars, other political agendas of control, other social movements—

And my parents never knew this sort of thing growing up. Even if when happened in their time, they were privileged enough not to be personally affected by it. We’re all living this one out together, and to be honest, I think they’re more scared for me and my brother than for themselves. So I guess they probably know, or at least think they know (in a way that matters), what it’s like to have been a young adult over the last… what, 6-10 years?

I say all this because I live every day with the kindness of individuals and sometimes the evil of policy. And because my grandparents and great grandparents didn’t even do most of their living in the worst times they’ve seen. They—every one of them—has found something fulfilling in life despite the doom they saw when they were young. Despite it!! They’ve lived happily! Normally! With all their delightful weirdness intact, and yes, alongside the trauma (personally and culturally) of having seen the things that are arguably the highest example of how terrible things can get. But they are proof enough to me that none of this—none of it—will be the permanent state of things. And it isn’t everything. Even when it feels overwhelmingly damning. It is not the only thing in life and it will not last forever.

I just felt the need to clear that up after passing along the sentiments of others in relation to this topic.

[gamer-goo]

@sickkickedpup that’s not what pander means, pretty sure that’s not what hold space means, and the use of Nuance here is. Ironic.

But lets add nuance!

Nowhere have I said trans men and cis men are the same, that would be stupid! You’ve interpreted my unqualified “men” to mean cis men which is wrong! Trans men are men, cis men are men, disabled men are men, gay men are men, so on and so forth. Nobody would argue that any of these groups is incapable of misogyny, and I hope to god that nobody would argue any of these men has zero structural power over women of the same demographics(this is basic intersectional feminism ftr).

But in this particular situation, you are transmasc, I am transfem. I won’t ask if you’re disabled or a person of color or what have you, but I will readily volunteer that I am disabled and white. I will also volunteer that neither of those marginalizations particularly matters at the moment so much as you being transmasc and me being transfem, specifically a nonbinary transgender woman who uses she/it pronouns. I am not a man, I am not proximal to manhood, and I am certainly someone who understands a complicated relationship to gender, at LEAST as well as you do, if not a little more.

You are not a woman. You are transmisogyny exempt, I am transmisogyny affected. That is a VERY important part of this as you have access to the structural power of transmisogyny, and I do not have access to that. I CERTAINLY don’t have any degree of male privilege and yours is, at worst, conditional depending on context which again is that you’re TME and I’m TMA. You have argued a couple times that it’s misogynist for me to call you a bitch, for me to call (trans) men “Aiden’s” and “tbros” which for the record, if I am demeaning men on the basis of being men, that isn’t even close to misogyny. That’s me having a pejorative name for people with power over me. So on the most basic level, you are not a woman, and you are taking issue with the words a (trans) woman uses, particularly pejoratives. The word for this is Tone Policing. You have also, in a roundabout way, called me an incel, hopefully knowing full well that is a demographic largely consisting of men, largely cisgender men. While I wont call this misgendering, I suggest you be more careful with the comparisons you make about transgender women.

To put it bluntly: transgender men are not women. A woman cannot be misogynist to a man, transgender or not. Anything resembling that has another name, and that is transphobia. Now if you wanted, you could accuse me of transphobia! That would be something that I’d take more seriously! Obviously my resentment of transgender men is in no way because of their being transgender but rather their being Men and therefore having structural power over me, so it wouldn’t be an accusation that holds any water, but it wouldn’t be nothing. If I can return to the incel thing, I’d like to call attention to something subtle you’re doing when calling me misogynist. It sort of suggests a divide between Me and Womanhood! Now I don’t think you’re doing this on purpose but again, be careful! And maybe check yourself for any externalized misogyny?

What you’re doing here is keeping one foot rooted in womanhood specifically to deflect accusations of misogyny and transmisogyny, which again has a name that I won’t say here for fear of making you Really Mad which uh. A woman talking around certain words to avoid upsetting someone who is not a woman is sort of reminiscent of misogyny. But obviously this implication that you have some lingering connection to womanhood by nature of your ASAB has some pretty fucking bad implications when we look at the inverse! Wether you like it or not, you’re implying that I have some lingering connection to manhood. It is a flawed analysis that implies transgender women are sort of men. Don’t do that. Just take the accusation of transmisogyny in stride, and maybe look up what Pander means.

If you have anything else to say to me, don’t say it in the replies. Say it with your chest

I’m genuinely so confused about how that is misogynist. It’s women coming up with insulting names for men. Like what are we doing here.

Also! You do make up names for us! That’s where bitch and tranny and broad and bimbo and harpy and hag and slut and whore come from! Maybe YOU didn’t come up with those but don’t act like Men didn’t invent those names for women they don’t like. Are you from mars?

[sparkymediaseminar]

Net Neutrality and Advertisement Hell

Before I started this course, I'll admit that I had no idea what net neutrality even was in the first place. I feel ashamed in having been so ignorant, because the very lack of net neutrality in our current digital landscape is one of the many obvious symptoms of a digital, corporate dominated hell [aside from the presence of advertisements, which I will discuss as well].

From what I've learned, net neutrality is really just the policy which ensures that Internet Service Providers will grant equal internet speed to all sites, content, and applications with not exception. Essentially, that means that ISPs can't give give special privileges to some sites while neglecting others.

Or at least, that's what it should be doing. The problem is, net neutrality has been a very contentious topic for many years. Some people argue that it helps prevent online monopolies and is essential for a free, accessible internet, while others argue that it stifles innovation and discourages investments in new infrastructure.

Eventually, it was decided by the Trump administration in 2017 that net neutrality would be repealed in the US, and it's stayed that way ever since. Given the former president's policies and billionaire background, it's should be obvious why he'd repeal net neutrality in the first place -- to line the pockets of him and his scummy rich buddies. Granted, this decision has not been popular with Americans. In fact, this Huffington Post article from 2018 details the backlash against the repeal, revealing that a whopping 83 percent of Americans disapproved of it.

But what kind of impact would a lack of net neutrality have on the country's online access? What kind of people would be affected? When ISPs are allowed to gatekeep something as basic as internet speed with a paywall, it should be no surprise that the first people to suffer would be the poor. If you don't have to cash to pay for that premium plan, you're screwed. This can very much be said for people living in indigenous reservations, who are especially poor compared to other people in the US. Once again, the Huffington Post covers this issue, exploring how the lack of net neutrality disadvantages Native Americans who use the internet to make a living [such as those who sell art online], as the lack of quality internet access in most areas restricts them severely.

Let's take a break from net neutrality for a moment and instead turn our attention to online advertising. Why do these things need to be so intrusive? Do they really need to sift through so much of our data just to sell us their stuff? For reference, this really good video from CrashCourse offers a good breakdown of how online advertisers do what they do.

The strangest part about advertisers would have to be how complacent we are with them. Most of us already know how much information is accessible to companies and how much control they have over us, but we kinda just accept it. Granted, there are alternative browsers and other programs [like Firefox and uBlock Origin] that promise privacy, but most people don't bother with them and just side with Google Chrome. Oh well, I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

Really, I just want to finish writing this thing so I can move on to the next.

Sources: “Net Neutrality Supporters Launch New Campaign To Reverse Unpopular FCC Decision” URL: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/net-neutrality-fight-for-the-future_us_5a4d0428e4b0b0e5a7aa4496?utm_hp_ref=net-neutrality “What The End Of Net Neutrality Means For Native Communities” URL: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-the-end-of-net-neutrality-means-for-native-communities_us_5a343379e4b02bd1c8c60693?utm_hp_ref=net-neutrality

[bohemian-nights]

So true! GRRM even mentioned recently that he would love to write a book about N so no way are they cutting her or replacing her with Rhaena.

I feel like because this show is focused on the Targ family it attracted the worst type of fans who think Targs are really gods and believe in the blood purity BS so I’m not surprised they’re into Daemyra who’re the poster child for that(no offends to those who just ship them and don’t buy into that crap but the amount of people I’ve seen on twitter making those arguments is ugh)but like exploring the relationship between D who’s a literal Targ supremacist and N a low born bastard girl and how things like class and race(I know ASOIAF doesn’t have the same construct of race as we do but N’s treatment as well as the Dornish shows pretty clearly there’s racism in their society even if the author didn’t intend did that to be the case)affect them,etc. I mean we see hints(maybe foreshadowing even?)of that conflict on the show when everyone’s scandalised over D saying he will marry Mysaria and that she’s pregnant. It also pushes her to break things off with D because she knows the consequences it would have on her while pointing out D’s privilege. Btw,I feel sorry for Matt Smith you can tell he wants D to be more dimensional and maybe the writers wanted that as well but they had no idea how to write a character like him(possibly because he doesn’t really start his character arc before he meets Nettles?)so they ended up cutting a bunch of scenes of him being more affectionate/emotional which led to Targ stans believing they have vendetta against him imo. But he was def one of the characters that suffered the most due to these time jumps the last time we see him before the first big one is him killing his wife and intending to reclaim her land but then later on he self exiles himself like why? If they wanted him to have a complicated relationship with his daughters fine we don’t really know what kind of a father he was in F&B but then make the effort of having him interact with them instead of tearing them like extras who just smile and stand around. And don’t get me started with how they treated Laena seriously WTH was that ?! You make her a black woman on the show and then proceed to have her be a second choice for her husband (with one of their daughters being ignored by him)and dying the most awful way possible away from her family while trying to make it look “empowering”.Sorry for the rant but the way the POC have been treated so far makes me very nervous about Nettles like FFS don’t treat her like a plot device and while we’re at it have her be friends with Baela and Rhaena this show needs more well developed female characters and friendships as well!

I would so love to read a book on Nettles. She(and Daemon) is/they are my favorite characters in the ASOIF universe. Her story does not end/begin with the Dance so I’d like to see more about her. Replacing her with Rhaena will not cut it.

Some Targ/Daemyra stans are willing to miss out on a fully fleshed out story in favor of Targ supremacy. There are parallels between our world racism and racism in ASOIF universe as well as classism. Writers can’t really escape their biases. I hope season 2 fleshes things out a bit because the story can be much more than it actually is.

I’m actually a Daemon stan so I think the HOTD writers do have a vendetta against Daemon. Daemon is described as less jerky to those he loves. In the show it seems like Daemon is really only there for Daemon. The only one he actually seems/seemed to love was King Dumb Dumb(Viserys), but now he’s dead so he’s got nothing.

Daemon leaves Rhaenyra alone to fend for herself multiple times. He even abandons her in a sex dungeon in the sketchy part of town. And yet she is supposed to be the love of his life? 🫠 Well I guess so since he literally murders his first wife and bangs his niece at his second wife’s funeral. At least Rhaenyra only got choked out by her man!

If I was Matt I’d be shaking my head cause the writing is just 🫠 Daemon has recieved essentially 0 character development since episode 3. Thank God Matt is charismatic because otherwise Daemon would be the least likable character on the show.

Rhaena and Baela do seem like extras/window dressing. It irked my soul when Rhaena kept calling Rhaenyra “my queen.” I understand she’s the queen, but she’s also her cousin/stepmom. It makes it look like Rhaena is the help. Some of Baela’s lines were cut which is also irritating considering the lack of screen time for both her and her sister.

The Laena situation is just 🙃 I could do a whole essay on that. The fact that you have delusional racist stans arguing that it’s somehow empowering to watch a Blackish woman light herself on fire is just🙃 I have no words. Like please go read a book on misogynoir then come back to me on it(it probably wouldn’t help, but can’t hurt to try).

That was one of the most traumatizing things I have ever watched. I am not joking when I say this. That hurt. Her book death was a 1000x more “empowering” than that crap.

What’s “empowering” for Black women is not the same for other women especially white women. Black women are rarely seen as soft, being taken care of, and loved in media.

Laena is supposed to be mixed(and the actress’s that played her were mixed as well), but the casting seemed deliberate. They picked a brown skinned mixed woman to light on fire(literally) and be someone’s unloved second choice(again not book canon, but people will gloss over this and try to claim that is somehow is). While the white woman is somehow the first choice and Daemon’s one and only love.

Having Daemon literally ignoring his Blackish kids(who by the way should look white/whiter than they do since they are at least 75% white, but the HOTD writers don’t know how genetics work🫠) is also a choice. Someone said that you could start watching HOTD at episode 7 and you wouldn’t know that Rhaena and Baela are Daemon’s daughter’s. Which isn’t far off from the truth.

You can’t make this ish up and yet people will deny it all the damn day long 🫠 They don’t have a problem with it cause if anything, it helps to solidify their wack ship. I’m going to leave it there cause I will literally start ranting all day long.

Bottom line is I hope season 2 is better and the HOTD writers see fans complaints and try to develop a more fleshed out story. I am kinda dreading what they might try with Nettles, but I’m cautiously optimistic(I love to disappoint myself). Limiting her characterization will limit Daemon’s as well since she’s his final arc, but as I stated, the writers seem like they hate him so 🤷🏽‍♀️

A friendship between Rhaena, Baela, and Nettles would be nice, but they are all supposed to be in different places during the war. Who knows what they will do.