#and you also really understand the importance of family that way

[elleloquently]

i honestly don't even really like to talk about tlou2 but something that will absolutely baffle me until the end of time is how many people romanticize the farm sequence and view it as happy. every time someone says the game should've ended there or that ellie threw away her whole life and she could've been happy etc etc etc, it really makes me realize how many people do lack literacy and the ability to read between the lines. because how are you seeing the farm scenes and not realizing how devastating it is?? it feels so empty and lifeless.

yes ellie laughed and they listen to music and dance but those are such small snippets. anyone with severe ptsd / mental trauma can be okay for a moment. but ellie was quite literally killing herself on that farm and absolutely would've ended up dead by her own hand (which is not a crazy assumption to make it is quite literally context clues)

like she’s always been skinny and lean but she’s even more thin on the farm?? she literally says she doesn’t eat or sleep?? and the panic attacks that she has?

also when ellie says “i’m not like you dina” and dina instantly snaps back with “you think this is easy for me?” like no that’s not what is being insinuated at all, but the fact of the matter is that dina is still able to function and cope in healthy ways and ellie is not. and the fact that dina doesn’t understand that kinda kills me. also telling ellie to “prove it” when she tells dina that she loves her is so fucked considering everything.

she would’ve died! i will stand by this forever, ellie would not have lived much longer. (confirmed btw in directors commentary, ellie was severely suicidal at this point. so not sure how everyone views the farm as her happy point.)

i don’t think ellie had an obligation to suffer in silence for the sake of what dina wanted.

i don’t blame dina for leaving obviously, that was the best choice for her and i don’t blame ellie for going either!! i think their relationship is very doomed, it was quite literally built on years of miscommunication and it only continues as they’re together.

i don’t blame ellie for leaving the farm whatsoever, she did not “fumble dina,” she didn’t throw away her life, she was barely functioning in the first place. if the game ended with ellie on the farm and the last thing we saw of her was her trying to play house while knowing how much she was suffering, that would’ve been so damn depressing. her leaving may not be the “morally good” choice but it was necessary considering her own mental state.

i think it’s also so important to remember the way in which joel died. she’s not just grieving and dealing with survivors guilt, she’s also living with the brutality of what she experienced. watching the person she loved the most get brutally tortured/beaten to death while she was held down and begging for it to stop?? and you guys expect her to just move on and deal with it so she can keep living on this isolated farm and play happy family??

and it’s not like ellie was fine until tommy showed up. she was already on the edge. the evidence is in her behavior, her journal, the clues around her house (the whiskey glass at her bedside) and her literal mannerisms.

this is very messy and disorganized i just don’t understand how many people STILL oversimplify the farm stuff or act as though everything was happy and good. every time someone says that ellie owed it to dina to stay, i lose a year off of my life.

basically a ramble instead of a proper analysis/breakdown bc i’m trying to focus my energy elsewhere but hopefully it makes enough sense to be understood

[phoenixyfriend]

Okay so we have like. An unusually high ratio of royalty/nobility among the Jedi. Dooku, Quinlan, Oppo, you can sort of count Adi or Xanatos or Bruck, etc. Lots of Jedi 'just happen' to come from royal, noble, or incredibly wealthy/powerful families.

So from this I want to posit four things:

If a royal family has a Force-Sensitive child, and hasn't had one in generations, they may think that sending that child to the Jedi would be a little like sending a child to join the Catholic Church in the middle ages: you get to influence the political choices of the highest religious power in Europe the Galactic Republic Government. (That said, Dooku was sent to the Jedi because his parents didn't want him and ||left him to die of exposure, basically, so that if the Jedi arrived too late they'd be picking up a baby corpse|| because they were so disdainful of Force-Sensitive individuals, and Quinlan wasn't sent to the Jedi so much as he escaped to them.)

They are all incredibly wrong about this, and royals raised as Jedi generally do not give any more of a shit about their home planets than any other planet. They care, of course, but they are not attached, because they are Jedi. Xanatos was an exception (afaik his dad sent him to the Jedi because he wanted to do the Catholic thing? and then Xanatos lost his mind). (Don't correct me on this, it's not really important if it was actually intended or not.)

This is achieved by way of Jedi from royal backgrounds having a mandatory high-level political class on how to handle royal court politics and general intrigue. It's not exclusive to the royal kids, but it is a prerequisite for them. They usually end up doing their home planets as case studies for capstone projects, in part because

Sometimes the planets try to call their errant royals back. It might be because the planet is struggling and genuinely running out of heirs/needs a change in leadership (Serreno) and it might be because it was the plan all along, but on the off chance that the Jedi decides they HAVE to leave the Order and take up a throne to keep an entire planet from kind of imploding on itself... that royal Jedi has to be ready to play the game. OR if they don't actually think they're REALLY needed there, they have to be trained on how to go, and be polite/avoid getting trapped/play the game until they can get the hell out of there, while also installing that cousin that nobody thought was strong enough but DOES understand how to run the treasury as the new king.

I'm just imagining this like. Very specific set of classes that are open to any Jedi that's taken the necessary prereqs, but is mandatory for people like Quinlan and Dooku and Oppo.

This was inspired by a post of mine that's getting circulated regarding QuinObi stuff and my thoughts about how Quinlan might have needed preventative training in case of political upheavals trying to pull him back to his home planet. I want to mess with the Politics Classes that Quinlan is taking because he has to and Obi-Wan is taking because Qui-Gon said he should.

Qui-Gon: You should take this class because I'm training you up as a negotiator and diplomat, and you will need it to interact with people when brokering trade deals or peace treaties. Tholme: You are taking this class because your aunt is insane and you have to be ready in case she tries to pull you back into the bullshit.

And as @firebirdeternal offered:

Quinlan: God this is the worst. So boring. At least Obi-Wan is stuck here too. Obi-wan: This is fascinating wow, I can't believe I almost didn't get to attend, Quinlan is so lucky he's automatically in these classes.

[justtheclippy]

hi Amanda! I have a question for youuu (this ones a little more serious so its okay if you don't want to answer)

so my partner recently asked me if I could start using different pronouns for them, as well as a chosen name. I'm trying to get used to it, but it's hard to adjust to since I've known them for awhile and I'm really scared I might dead name them on accident or something @_@ do you have any tips for practicing using their pronouns?

thank you, o humble monarch of queerness🙏

One thing you could try is speaking about them to yourself out loud when you're alone, which will help to start changing those ingrained habits in a low stakes environment.

But in general, change is hard, and it takes time. I understand being anxious, you want to do the 'right' thing and be a 'good' person and partner. But you're also a human being. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect right away. Making a mistake is not an irredeemable failing, your entire moral worth is not defined by one single moment. Accidentally falling into a habit does not make you a bad person.

Think about it this way- how many times have you accidentally used the wrong pronouns or name for your cis friends and family? With strangers even? I certainly have done it. My dad still mixes my name up with one of my siblings to this day. Like it happened yesterday and he's the one who named us lol Sometimes, your brain reaches for a word and pulls the wrong one.

What's more important is that you care and you're making the effort to grow with them as they are exploring themselves! It will get easier little by little, day after day, as long as you keep trying. There is no one right way to go on this journey, but not matter what that path looks like, it's much easier with support and understanding.

My advice is to keep those lines of communication open. Share your fears with them, work together to develop systems that will help both of you adjust to these changes. And, when you do make a mistake, simply correct it rather than turning it into a huge deal and guilt spiraling. Do regular check-ins with them to see if there's anything you could be doing differently to make them more comfortable.

As long as you're making a genuine effort to be there for them, I promise, they will forgive the stumbles. ❤️

[anomaliex]

Bad Kids (partially shameless projection) queer identity headcanons be upon ye

Notable that I think culturally literally anything that is not human has different ideas of gender than us. Some are very close to the point it hardly matters in a discussion like this (like elves and dwarves. It's mostly the same but I do think most elves are what humans consider to be feminine because they have a different idea of masculinity ((grace)). Or like, most dwarves seem masculine to humans for the simple reason that they all tend to have beards. Stuff like that.), but the further away you get from being hey pretty close to what a human is (like orcs or goblins) the further you stray from human understanding of how things work.

What if being intersex is way more common in a race of people, the concept of gender immediately becomes either way looser and less important or important with completely different values. Also I work under the assumption that whatever counts as "humanoids" (which is a very human-centric term but I like to think that's just because our POV is from a language that is inherently human) is a mammal and will generally have two sexes. But like, there's organisms with more or less than that, and in a fantasy world there's absolutely societies of intelligent species with similar characteristics. Imagine a weird hand wave, not relevant to this specific discussion as the bad kids are all human-shaped but it's something I find interesting. What would gender be like in that society if they had it at all? Living somewhere where that concept isn't really a thing (or at least not a thing in the way we understand it to be) sounds kinda awesome.

That said. Solace is a society mostly shaped by human standards and everyone who lives there somewhat conforms to them; and anyone who grows up there is probably socialised accordingly. Also Gorgug is adopted and doesn't seem all that connected to his roots and Riz is a third gen immigrant who doesn't get to see his extended family all that much. What I'm saying is everything I just said hardly matters in the context of the Bad Kids. Yeah. I just wanted to say it. I'm. I'm autistic. Thanks for reading my word vomit you're a real one for sticking through this far here's what I actually wanted to say.

Kristen. Obviously a lesbian. she/her and calls herself a woman but ultimately doesn't really. Care that much? About gender? And would not mind being referred to with masculine terms, it's more a matter of being afab so that's what she's going with.

Adaine I think has experimented with she/they pronouns. Often times she feels like her perception of life goes far beyond whatever societal constructs influence the present and she does not feel particularly attached to the idea of womanhood. I think she's aro spec but probably allosexual? Develops interest in all that a bit later than her friends and even then it's not. The same. She thinks guys are attractive, maybe girls sometimes, but doesn't actually feel inclined to do anything about that? Isn't looking to get into relationships or anything but yeah.

Riz is aroace because yeah. Personally I think oriented aroace because Baron being masc-ish does mean something to me, so he doesn't necessarily say it / find it relevant for other people to know but Riz personally IDs as gay + aroace. He does think some guys are attractive he's just sex repulsed lmao. I think he's the flavour of aroace where he'd happily engage in deep emotional bonds he just really doesn't understand what the fuck romantic feelings are supposed to be and how it'd be different than just loving his best friend(s) truly so much and is discomforted by the societal expectations and restrictions around the concept of "dating". ALSO about gender he's a he and its whatever. Does not care. Gender apathetic in the way Kristen is.

Gorgug isn't particularly attached to any labels, I think. He just likes who he likes, which is several people sometimes because he's also polyam. I think his lax view of his own inherent queerness has a lot to do with how open (and also inherently queer) his parents are. He just never really thought about it. Hit puberty and started thinking guys are hot and went okay this is not in any way special I'm way more worried about my favourite emo band breaking up rn. The only reason he ever came out to his friends was because he asked them for advice on how to bring up that he's polyam with Zelda (who I think was super cool with that and honestly from what we know that might be culturally normal to her), he does not consider it to be particularly noteworthy. Gorgug is similarly not particularly concerned about gender. I think he goes by any pronouns but also doesn't bring that up unless someone asks because he truly does not care or think it's a big deal.

Fabian's entire general person-ness feels queer to me idk. Bisexual and polyamorous. Probably aro-spec but he needs more time to figure that one out. Exclusively finds himself interested in women who are taller than him, this has nothing to do with being queer I just wanted to note that. He's the only one of the Bad Kids where I want to confidently say yeah this is a he/him man and he feels both comfortable in and connected to his masculinity. He ventures into gender nonconformity (starts with painting his nails, then make up, maybe a skirt when he's chilling at mordred manor) more and more as he gets older and more comfortable, I think, but that kind of only reaffirms to him that he's a man and loves being a man? Idk lol. Also for the record this is nonconformity in the context of Solace. For (high-)elven standards he's not like hypermasc dude bro but he's a pretty "manly" guy. Fallinel is like twink nation idk what to tell you. Now whether he's cis or not is a different question, while I personally think he is I do make a little mental cheer every time someone makes him trans.

Fig. They/she/it. She struggles with the disconnect she feels between her and the girl she thought she was a lot and it sucks, but eventually it does lead them to reexamine how they see themself and their identity and stuff. I think she eventually comes to the conclusion that yeah she has some attachment to femininity but ultimately exists in a space beyond the binary. Which is cool. Idk what label Fig would use, if any at all, but maybe something loose like genderqueer.

I know it's very commonly accepted that she's bisexual but like. Honestly. I think that was comphet. I think Fig is a lesbian who had some of the most horrendous comphet imaginable. None of their interest in those (concerningly) older men was genuine and it was all pretending to be someone else to get something and she isn't even sure why she wants that something that she can't quite place. And even though it longs so badly for the validation and confirmation that it's fitting into whatever role it is Fig is trying to emulate, she doesn't ever actually dare to get "serious". That's not actually what she wants. Uncomfortable and deeply concerning desperation for sexuality from a teenage girl who probably isn't a girl and certainly isn't actually interested in any of the men she's pursuing, and is so scared of just having to exist as herself deep down is such a real experience and if d20 wasn't a comedy show this could be the most visceral arc.

[ambriel-angstwitch]

You may have asked someone to prove you wrong but I shall do the opposite and prove you right because I’ve written 5 essays on autism and consumed soooo much academic and non academic information on it.

Anyways let’s start out with the most obvious

Chase

So while it may be one of his bionic abilities I’d definitely count his super senses. He can hear more things than normal which is common in autistic people. And he can get super overwhelmed by it (think him screaming at the first school bell)

He stims. Like his “I did it! I did it!” and dancey dancey when he saved Adam. (I think he does this other times when he succeeds as well)

Often folds his arms. Could be a storm but also autistic people often don’t know what to do with their arms. Crossed arms, hands in pockets and raptor arms are common things to do.

Any nerd/smart character is often very autistic coded. He has an advanced vocabulary and that’s make him not understood. He likes to infodump even though people are often uninterested or don’t understand. He got so excited and stimmy for the sci fi con thing (Bree said he’d been excitedly saying just a few more minute for “hours”).

Not understanding things frustrates him (like the superhero’s)

Chase has emotional outbursts. Think him smashing his computer for being a useless hunk of junk.

Leo

Leo is a nerd. He wears graphic tees that he finds entertaining even if other people don’t like them.

He’s unpopular at school, and gets picked on.

He’s very stubborn.

Big emotional outbursts when annoyed.

I could totally see Markus being autistic intuition. Some autistic people just know when someone’s untrustworthy without being able to explain why.

He was pretty literal with the night shirt vs night gown convo. Like they’re different things and he won’t stand to hear they’re not.

He’s brutally honest. Like he says what he wants and does not consider the consequences or how it makes people feel.

But also insists on the importance of manners even in situations where they should be forgone.

On multiple occasions he’s said things in different ways like unintentionally rhyming or in a rhythmic or musical way.

Adam

He notices things but doesn’t realize they’re relevant till people point them out like the off button in the recycling plant.

He does not recognize what is appropriate for the situation. He does the goofiest stuff during serious moments. He forgets manners most of the time but suddenly remembers to use them when talking to an enemy.

Has an alternative form of affection instead of expressing it normally (playful bullying)

Protective of his family. Very loyal.

Bree

Obsessed with being a normal teen girl and thinks it’s like TV. She tries to follow it like rules. She needs to get best friends and then she has to back stab them.

She researched for her sleepover

Also the desire to be normal in general is really relatable to a lot of nuerodivergent people.

ADHD and autism are often comorbed, and she literally operates on a faster speed than everyone like her attention switches so fast.

She gets really caught up in relationships. AuDHD people can hyperfixate on people. While some autistic people can be specially tuned to intentions like Leo others can be easier to manipulate like Bree because theyre blind to intentions and pay attention to what the person is directly saying to them.

Davenport

He admittedly didn’t have a lot of friends growing up.

He was very emotionally attached to his action figures and gets emotionally attached to other material objects.

Still really enjoys stuff from childhood like video games and action figures

He’s super smart. He’s created a whole bunch of advanced tech.

He needs a specific environment to work on things though. He got really annoyed by quiet sounds like Leo’s breathing and prefers to work alone. He needs to be get in the zone and can tend to ignore people when in it.

He gets really annoyed when people touch his stuff. Big emotional outbursts.

Can be kind of oblivious of how people might feel about what he says, and does. Like he was super proud of the Lab Rats when Tasha and Leo found them and confused when she wasn’t supportive of how he raised them and upset that they existed without her knowledge.

[mr-culper]

You know, one thing amazes me, I see it all the time, in real life, in books, in movies. I don't understand why people don't realize one simple true. There's a really interesting scene in episode six of season two of House of the Dragon. The scene where Alicent steps up to Aemond after the Small Council meeting and says: “Have the indignities of your childhood not yet sufficiently been avenged? ” She doesn't understand everything that Aemond had in his life, especially in his childhood, made him the person he is now. It's not about whether his indignities were avenged or not.

He is already the person his journey has shaped him into.

In this scene, Alicent kind of asks Aemond to stop, but she doesn't understand he has passed the point where retreat is possible; whether he still wants to or not, turning back is no longer an option. There has to be something so important to Aemond in the balance pan so that he stops from turning Westeros to fire and blood. And that something, I think, is love.

Love could stop Aemond. But no one wants to give it to him. Even worse, no one in his family has thought to measure off Aemond a little bit of love and compassion for years. If we want a man to give up war, offering him something instead is the necessary thing to do. However, Alicent in this scene asks Aemond to stop being a war criminal, but gives him nothing. She provides him no alternative. So he continues to push forward on this destructive way he's taken.

There is a similar scene in Black Sails, only there the character is given a different path, and ultimately, he makes a choice in favor of this proffered alternative. In season four, Silver asks Flint would he trade the war to have Thomas Hamilton back again or not. And this alternative that Silver offers, albeit theoretically – they didn't yet know Thomas is alive, although Silver already guessed it, but wasn't sure of it – this alternative is so significant and serious for Flint that the scales are balanced. On the one hand – war, rage, revenge, destruction and death; on the other – peace, tranquility, love, future and life.

It would seem that for most people, sensible ones, the choice is obvious and simple here, and in the end, Flint abjures violence and chooses love. However, this decision was not easy for him to make, because both he and Aemond are on the same path: he is already the person his journey has shaped him into. Even the theoretical probability of returning to who Flint was, taking into account what kind of person he has become over the past ten years, seems utterly inconceivable to him.

Flint doesn't even answer Silver when he asks. Only after a long while does Flint say: John, you asked me, I gave you no answer then, but I'm telling you now – I don't know, in truth, I have no idea what I would do if I really faced with such a choice. Flint said, in all honesty, he doesn't know would he choose love over war?

When Flint was James McGraw, he would have given up on the war right then and there, without a second thought. But he is not James McGraw anymore. He is Captain Flint, and Flint is a completely different person. It's the same with Aemond. It is totally unimaginable for him to turn back when Alicent asks him if the indignities of his childhood have not yet sufficiently been avenged. We remember, by that time he had already killed Luke and crippled his brother. Aemond has taken his revenge. So why doesn't he stop after that? Whom is he taking revenge on now?

The matter is that at some point Aemond, in exactly the same way as Flint does, begins to avenge every bit of pain that was caused to him not only on his offenders, but on the whole world, on the entire personification of what has been hurting him for so long. It's quite possible, by the way, Aemond takes revenge not only for the insults, but also for the love that was not given to him, I mean, for its absence.

Before Aemond had his eye cut out, he would probably have let go of all his grudges, chosen some kind of peaceful path. I already said in the previous episode that, firstly, Aemond has a heart, and secondly, it is merciful. (I didn't come up with it, Ewan Mitchell talked about mercy himself.) But Aemond had to turn his heart to stone because of everything surrounded him. Joe Abercrombie has a character, Isern-i-Phail, who often repeated to one of the main characters next words: “You must make of your heart a stone”. I think somewhere inside Aemond has a similar Isern-i-Phail, giving to him the same advice. Because Aemond has made of his heart a stone as well.  

His heart was very soft, but it became very black.

Ewan Mitchell even said in one of his interviews Aemond would most likely have become a maester. But Aemond's eye was cut out – just like Flint's heart did when Thomas was taken away – and he became not a maester, but a dangerous and skilled warrior. Aemond chose the path of war and revenge. The same one Flint had been moving along for ten years.

Actually, there are many parallels between Flint and Aemond. They are both extremely tender and vulnerable on the inside, but absolutely bulletproof, stern and explosive on the outside. Both bear an open, constantly bleeding wound in their hearts. Both are without equal in how far they are willing to go for the sake of their goal or their revenge. But the most interesting thing is that both of these characters have enormous potential of doing good works. Only the pain caused to both of them turned out to be so great it has just about blocked all that is good in them completely. Both Aemond and Flint had gotten burned so badly that later they are almost unable to deviate from the path they took because of it, because of this old burn wound.

Perhaps Alicent doesn't understand why Aemond acts the way he does, why he cannot change his course, because she perceives life differently. Easier in a way, although she has many her own overwhelming internal affairs as well. Because again, Aemond, like Flint, takes things that happen to him very personally. So personally, it ultimately leads to wars and catastrophes. This element of resistance inside them both, it is so strong, their rage and inability to leave the dark and ugly road they are walking, at the very end of which there is the gaping mouth of the grave. They didn't want to enter upon this path, Flint didn't want to, Aemond didn't want to, but they did. When it happens, one can't do otherwise. There are things that affect us, and we become who we do. Some people are made of good things, while others consist of unhealed wounds. It's a matter of luck, in a way.

Neither Aemond nor Flint would have chosen this path of their own free will; pain forced them to take this step. Now, turning back to what was before is almost unthinkable for them. Although it is possible. Only for that a powerful alternative is required. In the case of James Flint, we see he pulled round, he got out the dark towards the light. But this happened only because he had an alternative. Aemond has no alternative and never had one, so he began to descend into the darkness lower and lower, and according to the book, he will end up in the darkness. According to the show, most likely, he will too.

That's an excerpt from the new episode of the Tea & Rum podcast 'No one is born to be a villain'.

To find more episodes go to Boosty.

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT REICH

JAN 31

Friends,

The following is by Jean Chrétien, who served as prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. It appeared in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s most widely read newspaper, on January 11, 2025. 

Canadians will never give up the best country in the world to join the U.S.

Jean Chrétien

Today is my 91st birthday.

It’s an opportunity to celebrate with family and friends. To look back on the life I’ve had the privilege to lead. And to reflect on how much this country we all love so much has grown and changed over the course of the nine decades I’ve been on this Earth.

This year, I’ve also decided to give myself a birthday present. I’m going to do something in this article that I don’t do very often anymore, and sound off on a big issue affecting the state of the nation and profoundly bothering me and so many other Canadians: The totally unacceptable insults and unprecedented threats to our very sovereignty from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

I have two very clear and simple messages.

To Donald Trump, from one old guy to another: Give your head a shake! What could make you think that Canadians would ever give up the best country in the world — and make no mistake, that is what we are — to join the United States?

I can tell you Canadians prize our independence. We love our country. We have built something here that is the envy of the world — when it comes to compassion, understanding, tolerance and finding a way for people of different backgrounds and faiths to live together in harmony.

We’ve also built a strong social safety net — especially with public health care — that we are very proud of. It’s not perfect, but it’s based on the principle that the most vulnerable among us should be protected.

This may not be the “American Way” or “the Trump Way.” But it is the reality I have witnessed and lived my whole long life.

If you think that threatening and insulting us is going to win us over, you really don’t know a thing about us. You don’t know that when it came to fighting in two world wars for freedom, we signed up — both times — years before your country did. We fought and we sacrificed well beyond our numbers.

We also had the guts to say no to your country when it tried to drag us into a completely unjustified and destabilizing war in Iraq.

We built a nation across the most rugged, challenging geography imaginable. And we did it against the odds.

We may look easy-going. Mild-mannered. But make no mistake, we have spine and toughness.

And that leads me to my second message, to all our leaders, federal and provincial, as well as those who are aspiring to lead our country: Start showing that spine and toughness. That’s what Canadians want to see — what they need to see. It’s called leadership. You need to lead. Canadians are ready to follow.

I know the spirit is there. Ever since Mr. Trump’s attacks, every political party is speaking out in favour of Canada. In fact, it is to my great satisfaction that even the Bloc Québécois is defending Canada.

But you don’t win a hockey game by only playing defence. We all know that even when we satisfy one demand, Mr. Trump will come back with another, bigger demand. That’s not diplomacy; it’s blackmail.

We need another approach — one that will break this cycle.

Mr. Trump has accomplished one thing: He has unified Canadians more than we have been ever before! All leaders across our country have united in resolve to defend Canadian interests.

When I came into office as prime minister, Canada faced a national unity crisis. The threat of Quebec separation was very real. We took action to deal with this existential threat in a manner that made Canadians, including Quebeckers, stronger, more united and even prouder of Canadian values.

Now there is another existential threat. And we once again need to reduce our vulnerability. That is the challenge for this generation of political leaders.

And you won’t accomplish it by using the same old approaches. Just like we did 30 years ago, we need a Plan B for 2025.

Yes, telling the Americans we are their best friends and closest trading partner is good. So is lobbying hard in Washington and the state capitals, pointing out that tariffs will hurt the American economy too. So are retaliatory tariffs — when you are attacked, you have to defend yourself.

But we also have to play offence. Let’s tell Mr. Trump that we too have border issues with the United States. Canada has tough gun control legislation, but illegal guns are pouring in from the U.S. We need to tell him that we expect the United States to act to reduce the number of guns crossing into Canada.

We also want to protect the Arctic. But the United States refuses to recognize the Northwest Passage, insisting that it is an international waterway, even though it flows through the Canadian Arctic as Canadian waters. We need the United States to recognize the Northwest Passage as being Canadian waters.

We also need to reduce Canada’s vulnerability in the first place. We need to be stronger. There are more trade barriers between provinces than between Canada and the United States. Let’s launch a national project to get rid of those barriers! And let’s strengthen the ties that bind this vast nation together through projects such as real national energy grid.

We also have to understand that Mr. Trump isn’t just threatening us; he’s also targeting a growing list of other countries, as well as the European Union itself, and he is just getting started. 

Canada should quickly convene a meeting of the leaders of Denmark, Panama, Mexico, as well as with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to formulate a plan for fighting back these threats.

Every time that Mr. Trump opens his mouth, he creates new allies for all of us. So let’s get organized! To fight back against a big, powerful bully, you need strength in numbers.

The whole point is not to wait in dread for Donald Trump’s next blow. It’s to build a country and an international community that can withstand those blows.

Canadians know me. They know I am an optimist. That I am practical. And that I always speak my mind. I made my share of mistakes over a long career, but I never for a moment doubted the decency of my fellow Canadians — or of my political opponents.

The current and future generations of political leaders should remember they are not each other’s enemies — they are opponents. Nobody ever loved the cut-and-thrust of politics more than me, but I always understood that each of us was trying to make a positive contribution to make our community or country a better place.

That spirit is more important now than ever, as we address this new challenge. Our leaders should keep that in mind.

I am 91 today and blessed with good health. I am ready at the ramparts to help defend the independence of our country as I have done all my life.

Vive le Canada!

[koremakaria]

Nan Xu Yue / Tian Ming Shu Character Analysis and Appreciation Post

OMG! The characters are so complex and Wang Duo did such an amazing job bringing them to life. I adore him! I really do!

I've only seen him in Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity but he also killed that role like bro, this guy is so good at exuding Sad Boi Energy. Nothing can make me hate you! Nothing!

So he and MXL/Pearl go way back. They were created by the Supreme God as Immortal Weapons. An Eternity with no emotion, no attachment, the only purpose was to serve their Master. These two were different from the very start. Tian Ming was like 'cool, I can deal with being an emotionless artifact' while Pearl was like 'ummm, excuse me, but do you know what love is?' And if you were curious, Tian Ming was like 'no, but like why? Is it something important or something?' Yeah. Haha. Clueless didn't even begin to cover this.

Because he is FATE, he viewed life from a deterministic pov. Like there is no free will because the book of fate determines the outcome so even if you rebel, that very act of rebellion was part of your fate. Basically, this dude is the very definition of 'it is what it is' and so we have to view his decisions from this perspective. I love that xianxia dramas are always asking about love. Like what is love? What does it mean to be in love? And the most important question is always 'Is love worth the pain that comes with it?'

As Nan Xu Yue, he thought that to love meant that he had to eliminate threats to MXL's life including killing the one that she loves. After all, it's all for her own good. Bro was really like 'I'm doing this for you! It's ALL for YOU!' The only problem was that he never asked MXL what she wanted. This love was the epitome of selfish love. It was possessive love. Which ultimately killed her and then he killed himself. In this incarnation, he knew that he loved MXL but didn't know how to properly address his feeling.

As Tian Ming, before the cycle of reincarnations, I don't think he knew that he loved Pearl. I don't think he even knew what love was. All he knew from his long existence was that he didn't want to lose his companion. The Supreme God wanted to destroy the human realm and so he altered this fate by imprisoning Zhaoming to avoid possession. Maybe he did so to prevent his own death or Maybe he did so because he knew Pearl wouldn't want the human realm to be gone. It didn't really matter why, this was his first major act of 'free will' or at least it's free will in the sense that he went against the wishes of his Master.

Another act of free will was when he took the punishment from Pearl when he knew it would kill her. But again, this was done without asking Pearl what she wanted. His purpose was keep her alive hoping that she'd return home with him one day and that everything would return to how they were. 'We can be one happy family again!' So again, selfish love.

Then when NXY regained his memory as Tian Ming, we get a different kind of awareness. I think he finally figured out what it meant to love. In a selfless way.

Instead of keeping secrets, Tian Ming learned to communicate. And most importantly, he learned to accept death and free will. Since the first incarnation, Tian Ming has been obsessed with keeping Pearl alive so that she'd be with him. Even if that meant she hated him. Even when she loved another man. Even when she was willing to die for another man. That didn't matter to Tian Ming as long as they get to live. She didn't have to love him, she just needed to stay alive. That all changed in the last arc when he finally let go of Pearl/MXL. He understood that Pearl/MXL had the right to make her own decisons. That not everything was up to him (FATE) to decide and that he, too, had free will. Ultimately, he exercised this free will by dying so that her vision would come true. [Me sobbing 😭]

This convo basically foreshadowed his own fate. He didn't understand why Pearl chose to love Zhaoming knowing that she will die in her first incarnation. Then in his last incarnation, he finally got it. He really did. My Super Sad Boi.

Tian Ming and Nan Xu Yue are such interesting characters and I love them. They are deeply flawed and so so so human.

[vi-is-badass]

I really appreciate that you took the time to respond! This is all really interesting and I'd like to respond to your thoughts one by one.

I hadn't thought of the "feel" of this season like you described here. I actually would like to understand this point a bit more. I definitely think this season got way bigger than the last and leaned a lot more into the arcane rather than the personal and political stakes of the first season. Is that what you mean? Or does it have more to do with a shift in tone?

I think this bit in particular is very interesting because I don't know if I really think of the "vibe" of a show when I watch it, so I'm curious.

I definitely understand the "not enough time" complaint. It's a frequent and genuine critique of the show that I do feel like compounds from little things into much bigger things. And I agree that the pacing was too fast.

I've actually talked with quite a few people about aspects of this and even the best-paced act of the season (act 1) has this same issue where it feels like certain scenes were cut for time. One big one that many people have mentioned is a scene where the strike team decides to use the grey in Zaun. The use of the grey is a very important plot point in the first act. It's something that should be a major decision for Vi's character, but it's skipped over.

I agree that I would have liked expansion on a lot of the things you pointed out as well.

I will admit that Vi is my favorite character (obviously) and I felt like a lot of corners were cut in regards to her character and arc. I absolutely love her writing in acts 1 and 2 (I do know that others have mixed feelings on it though. I'm curious about your thoughts if you're willing to respond!) but the lack of screentime makes it so her resolution is ultimately unsatisfying to me and a lot of the character arcs they set up for her felt incomplete.

In season one and the first two acts of season 2 Vi is struggling to find her place between the cities of Piltover and Zaun. She doesn't quite fit into either one. In the first season she's alienated from Zaun because she's just gotten out of prison after 7 years and Zaun has changed without her so she doesn't recognize the city or its people. She struggles to find the community she once held dear in a Zaun morphed by the man that killed her family. In the second it's due to her choice to join the strike team. Even if it was with good intentions she still joined their oppressor and became a "traitor". And she doesn't fit into Piltover because of the prejudice held towards Zaunites even though her only real tether after getting out of prison is Caitlyn-- a pitovan.

Unless you want to believe that the answer is simply "by Cailtyn's side" that thread isn't resolved. At least not in a direct way.

She also doesn't know her place in the world. She was never allowed to be an adult and discover what she wants to do or what she wants to be. League lore dictates that it's eventually to be an enforcer, which I guess we can infer she became off screen either between the meeting and the final battle or between the final battle and the epilogue, but the fact that it's not really addressed and doesn't happen onscreen I don't really count that.

They don't really allow Vi to move past her guilt and responsibility. She feels responsible for what she did to Powder as a child, she feels responsible for what happened to Mylo and Claggor and Vander at that warehouse, she feels responsible for what happened to Caitlyn and her mother. She feels immense guilt and responsibility due to her parentification as a child and what she perceives to be her failures as a big sister to Jinx. I am a little confused at to how the last act allowed Vi to move past any of this. Maybe I missed something the writer’s implied or something, but I didn’t see what moment or beat was meant to be Vi moving out from under the weight. I get that Jinx tells her that she isn’t Vi’s responsibility (absolving Vi in a sense of the responsibility she feels for her and what Jinx went on to do) but if that’s the conclusion (plus her getting together with Caitlyn) it felt half baked to me.

Why would Vi move past her guilt after all that? Wouldn't the way that Jinx "died" (Jinx isn't dead but she believes that Jinx is) just add more guilt onto her shoulders? Wouldn't she view this as another failure on her part? She "made the wrong choice" and Jinx had to sacrifice herself for Vi as a result. (I don't view it this way but Vi likely does unless she worked through it off-screen)

Maybe other people felt differently. If you have a different view of Vi's arc or the conclusion to it please let me know. I think it would be interesting to hear.

Caitlyn is very interesting because the writing for her in the first act is incredible. I loved the writing for her in the first three episodes even if I was frustrated by her actions. But I feel like the rest of her arc fell flat.

Though I do agree that Caitlyn’s arc ultimately didn’t work, I think I differ from other people in what section of the story ultimately hurt her arc the most. I felt like it was the second act that hurt her arc the most rather than the conclusion. I want to explain a bit more.

I think the way they framed her eventual betrayal of Ambessa is the biggest issue for me. Her half of the story in act 2 is centered around her growing distrust of Ambessa rather than confronting her actions against the undercity or showing the self-hatred over her actions she tells Jinx about in act 3.

This makes it so that what she says about her actions "We can't undo our crimes" and "hating you, I hated myself" rings hollow.

I think this hits me as especially odd because Arcane really likes to make characters have to look at the consequences of their actions. Look at Vi and Jayce. They're the two most consistently well intentioned characters in the show and despite those intentions they constantly make mistakes that the narrative makes sure they have to confront the consequences of.

Jayce's decision to resort to violence over peace when he raids the shimmer factory leads to the creation of hextech weapons and the death of a child at his hands. It warps his dream and puts them on the precipice of war. He has to face the consequences of how he gave ground on his morals and confront the privilege he has had. He immediately shifts focus to broker peace and destroy hextech weapons.

In season 2 Jayce's creation of hextech-- his dream-- is revealed to have worsened the class divide between piltover and Zaun and will lead to thousands of deaths. Even though his intentions are good he is forced to face the negative ramifications he didn't consider in his desire to bring about his dream through his experiences in the future. As a result he resolves to destroy it and stop Viktor.

Vi is an even more extreme example. She constantly loses everything despite her desperate attempts to protect those she loves because of her flaws. Her impulsiveness and anger led to her leading the heist that kicked off the series. Her impulsiveness and struggle to accept change in season 1 inevitably push Jinx further away. Etc. It's only when she grows from her flaws that her actions bring about the outcome she desires. The end of episode 5 is only possible because Vi trusts Jinx, sees her as an equal/adult rather than someone to protect, and embraces this changed version of Vander, something she wouldn't have been able to do in season 1.

It's a very basic “character does things with negative consequences and they are forced to face the consequences and grow” type narrative. This it makes the moment they change feel earned and you understand their change. Caitlyn's arc in act 2 lacks this.

Caitlyn doesn't have to see the police brutality happening at the barricades and checkpoints that we see in the "paint the town blue" montage.

Caitlyn doesn't have to confront the fact that people and children were imprisoned in Stillwater without true cause by enforcers and ambessa's soldiers in episode 4. She only sees Warwick's rampage and comments on the fact that she thought she'd seen the most warped creations of Zaunites, but apparently she was wrong.

She doesn't have to confront the fact that illegal arrests were happening under her watch or that some of those people were beaten for information as well.

She doesn't have to come face to face with the brutality that's happened with her at the helm. The show doesn't have her acknowledge or confront the fact that she has become the oppression she swore to Vi she would oppose in season 1.

Even if Caitlyn opposes these actions (something the show makes sure to remind us of), it doesn't change the fact that she's made the oppression of Zaun worse and actively participated in it through her role as the strike leader and the commander.

I can in some ways be okay with this because Ambessa is implied to be hiding the worst from Caitlyn so she can keep her hold on her (at least I think that's what the show was implying), but with that in mind I wish the show had scenes where we got to see her hesitation and self-hatred.

There was a cut scene of Caitlyn breaking down alone that I feel like the second act sorely needed. She hates this and she hates herself, but she feels like she has to continue because she's already in too deep.

Or even have Caitlyn look conflicted in the background when she realizes Ambessa plans to attack a peaceful commune. Just some sort of conflict over her actions towards Zaun.

If there had been some variation of these things I would have found her turn more believable. As it is it's incredibly abrupt and they rushed Caitlyn and Vi's reconciliation and them getting together IMO. (I love them as characters. I promise.) The lack of time left also made it so people forgave Caitlyn too quickly too.

This isn’t meant to hate on arcane, but rather to point out the fact that I think this is very noticeable when it comes to Caitlyn’s arc in act 2 for me because of how well Arcane does it with every other character. It’s one of the biggest strengths of the character writing.

Wow. I talked about about Caitlyn a lot and I didn't even fully scratch the surface of what I thought of her arc and I’m not sure if I articulated it well. Sorry for the ramble. If the second act worked for anyone please let me know.

Even with these issues I definitely had a lot of highlights too! I bawled in the finale when that shot of Vander looking at little Vi and Powder after he adopted them while Warwick and Jinx fall in slo-mo in the present. I tear up thinking of the remember me montage and what it says about Vander and Vi as characters. I love episode 5, the interactions between Vi and Jinx, and the family hug! I love the "To ashes and blood" sequence in episode 3. That was so well-edited and built to the climax of the act perfectly.

The animation is also absolutely gorgeous. You can see the love and care in every frame of the show. It’s the most incredible piece of animation I’ve seen purely from a visual standpoint. Fortiche Production is so talented and brought so much flare and life to this show.

There's so much to love, but a lot of things that bothered me as well. That doesn't make this a bad show. I still really like it. And I still absolutely love the first season. It affected me in a way that literally changed the course of my life (which sounds hyperbolic, but it's true. That's a story for another time haha) and I will remember and love it forever because of that.

If people have different opinions on any of the things I just wrote about please let me know. I genuinely want to hear other people's thoughts!

I actually think this video is really interesting. Not because I fully agree with it (there are a lot of points in the video I don't agree with and a lot that I do), but because I appreciate its intent.

I also fall in the same boat where I really liked the second season, but I didn't love it like I did the first and I appreciate that this is a video that wants to start a conversation. He wants to talk about why things didn't necessarily work for him, why it didn't seem to have the same impact as the first, and about how he wants to hear why those things might have worked for others.

So much discourse about this season has framed it as either the best thing ever, above any criticism, or the worst thing ever with no redeeming qualities and it's made it very frustrating and demoralizing to try and talk about it online.

I want to talk about how I loved aspects of this show and that I was also let down by certain aspects of the show as well, but anytime I try and talk about criticism it's rarely met with a genuine conversation.

I would love to hear how people interpreted things differently from me, why they felt that way, how it connected with them, because I feel like that's the purpose of stories. It's never going to resonate with anyone the same way and there may have been things I missed.

I also know I haven't always worded what I've wanted to say and my criticisms the way I want to get across what I mean. It has never been my intent to sound like I wasn't open to discussion, different interpretations, or counterpoints. I would like to actually talk more about this season and hear other people's thoughts as well.

[anatolienne]

im honesty glad that i lived away from my family for 4 years bcs of school

[turtleblogatlast]

I think a lot about Leo standing up for his brothers in the things that really matter to them.

Like- Leo is the one who immediately pushes Mikey and Donnie into finding Raph the second it’s clear that their oldest brother is missing because he knows Raph can’t handle being separated like that.

Leo is the one who stands up for Mikey when Mikey wants to go on a solo mission, actively vouching for him and being the one to convince Raph into letting Mikey go, because being independent and proving himself just as capable of standing on his own two feet as everyone else means so much to Mikey.

And Leo defends Donnie’s honor in particular when his brothers’ intelligence is insulted because Leo is well aware of how important Donnie’s smarts are to him - and how important having those smarts valued and acknowledged is as well.

All this goes right into just how well Leo knows his brothers. For as much as he’ll tease or fight with them, he knows them, and he loves them.

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

[boneathin]

Ok. First off I thought we were having a debate, not a middle school argument. Second, let dive into your supposed points then.

"there is incest in the show, but Rick doesn't want to kiss Morty"

Literally just stating a fact, followed by an opinion with no evidence.

"I like selfcest, I don't care if you ship incest, I just don't think Rick would do it"

Three opinions in a row there, in direct response to a BUNCH of instances I referenced that directly prove my point.

"I'm only talking about Rick c-137"

Me too, and on top of that rickorty isn't JUST for 'our' Rick and Morty, it's actually more common in a citadel setting. But most importantly not at all a point.

(an out of context frame of one panel of a comic that you yourself admit is not important to cannon)

"also what about Rick killing king jelly bean!!!!?!!"

There's no evidence to support Rick knew what happened with king jelly bean and Morty, he just knew that jelly bean upset Morty to a point Morty was willing to give up his chance of having a choice with the adventures. There is literally nothing in that episode that says Rick knows what king jelly bean did. He just saw Morty upset, and reacted. I want to point out this is the ONLY real point you tried to make.

"beastiality and pedophilia are different!"

No shit. My point was not that it's the same thing. My point was that Rick has loose sexual morals and this is openly shown on the show several times. He takes pride in fucking anything with the ability to consent.

"I just don't think he would do it"

Oh man. This is an absolute dog shit take. You're not his buddy, you don't know him personally. He's not a real fucking dude. You don't KNOW shit about him because he's not fucking real. The real issue is you coming into a tag you don't like just to talk shit and claim a higher level of understanding of a FICTIONAL CHARACTER who could do anything that the writers want him to do.

"codependency isn't inherently romantic"

Your right, but I don't even understand why this came up honestly. It's not really codependency when it's so predominant that you want other versions of yourself to also be in the same situation. That word doesn't even fit into the context of the situation.

"my family kisses me on the lips, it's normal"

But very clearly not for their family, as by the way Rick commented on it. It's very clearly more than just a kiss in a familiar way when that's not how they express familiar love to anyone else in the family.

"Morty sexualization is only on the screen to make a point"

Ok, so by that logic there's no point in analyzing anything that happens on the screen because it's just a dumb cartoon that is just a metaphor for capitalism. Oh wait, why are you fighting other people for their opinions on it then? Right, because you want to take the show as it is with its world building techniques. So in other words, either take it as it is or just admit you have a double standard. Because I could say him killing king jelly bean was just a pr move honestly, but I didn't because I recognize that all of the show should be received from the same perspective.

"but---he doesn't try to hurt the people he loves :'("

Oh. My god. How did space beth come to be? Or what about the entire car of fake acid episode. Or better yet, what about summers first job? Let's just slide past this one because you are wrong on this point and you know you are. Rick is a narcissist and an asshole who takes what he wants and makes people pay for disagreeing with that outcome.

"ricks established morals say he wouldn't"

No they don't. Because he doesn't have established morals. He is a morally grey character, intentionally. It was created that way specifically so that he could be the character he is, which is a cut and paste evil genius who does whatever he wants and makes inventions to get away with it.

"I know I'm right"

Again and proving the point that your entire argument is based off of the face that you won't be wrong regardless of how WRONG you may be. You haven't been met with a compelling argument because you're not fucking listening. Your over here in a God damn echo chamber.

You made about two points in this whole thing and only refuted the millions of points that I made with 'i don't think so'. I derailed your topic by actually backing up my points, and it hurts your feelings to know that you might actually be wrong.

I can say , that about many shows there is no base for the 'proship' of favoritism. Dipper and Bill weren't doing anything, sans and frisk weren't doing anything. But this has more than enough evidence on its side. You just don't have the guts to take the media as is. Justin Roland is actually openly proship, and had formulated the show this way on purpose cus he's a little creepy just like all his fans.

Anybody who ships rickorty or thinks Rick is in any way a predator fundamentally misunderstands his character ❤️

[makiswirl]

can i just say. and this is probably a niche hill to die on. that i am so gobsmacked every time someone vaguely hints at the idea that jotaro doesn't care meaningfully for the other crusaders, usually particularly kakyoin and joseph, when those two actually tend to be the ones he reacts to being hurt the hardest

like he cares for his loved ones!!!! that literally plays into his character motives in every single part he shows up in!!! stop lying to me!!!!!!!

[borgialucrezia]

something something cesare always falling for rodrigo's ploy to pit him against his younger brother by rubbing in the fact that juan leads the papal army (aka cesare's greatest desire) so he mocks juan out of bitterness at every chance vs. rodrigo threatening juan to strip out his position (aka his honor and entire sense of being despite his incompetence) and giving it to cesare but juan doesn't fall for their father pitting him against his older brother and doesn't spitefully put him down but only begs their father not to take it away...

[wimpy-imp]

I remember many times when my grandmother would make off hand remarks about how testosterone would make me look like a joke. that it would be funny and unnatural for someone like me to have a beard.

before that i remember my mother outing me to my grandparents without my knowledge or consent. and then having to sit with both of them on different occasions for a year while they tried to tell me i was just a masculine woman. One where they thought it was okay to ask if I'd get pregnant if a potential partner "really really wanted it 🥺" (Which. sidenote. what the actual fuck??)

i remember the day after one of those conversations my mother took me into town for a "suprise" from my grandma. and they tried to make me get my ears pierced. even when i said i didn't want to. the only reason they stopped was because i had an autistic shutdown in public and they were too embarrassed to keep trying to force me into it. That happened 2 years ago. i have very real trauma from that day.

They never cared about my gender nonconformity until i came out.

They still seem to believe that I'd only be a man if i actually secretly hated myself.