#attrocities happen

[stromuprisahat]

Matthias; Six of Crows- Chapter 20 (Leigh Bardugo)

There's nothing to gain by sending a Grisha-only unit to burn down a random village or two. Fjerdans already hate and fear Grisha, and this would only cement such belief, which is the exact opposite of the Darkling's long-term goal. Now, there are several options to explain the discrepancy:

a.) Brum lies. We don't know how much did Matthias see, so the lie can be anything from Grisha presence in general, through the level of their involvement to harmlessness of said village. When you have a chance to gain a loyal fanatic, you won't explain you made a target of their home in the first place.

b.) Not every Grisha is Second Army. Sure, Matthias calls them "Inferni soldiers", but (See: a.))... Even though we know very little about Second Army organization, Inferni work in pairs, and having a whole unit consisting of a single specialization- especially if they're supposed to be infiltrating enemy territory- makes little sense. A group of rogues would have less options to pick from if their talents don't differ.

c.) The Crown's order couldn't be ignored. If for some reason the Darkling's superiors decided Grisha are to do their dirty work, they couldn't refuse no matter how pointless the order.

[nebulaeyedfish]

Breaking news!!! Local evil fox does big steppy!!!

[duskdragonxiii]

i need to start a riot i think

[autopsytableromance]

I am going to commit murder.

[reality-detective]

This really happened, this freudian slip, he said the truth first and tried to cover it up, this is treason of the highest order, the truth must be known, how he and many others involvement plotted 911, with the mossad, the ashkenazi, roths, with the world govts, to commit this attrocity to change our world and to take our rights away forever. Listen to what he says and let that sink in. 🤔

[superhardlikesteel]

I'm begging the pro-Palestine movement to inject even the slightest bit of nuance into their rhetoric. I'm basically pro-Zionist at this point, but even I believe you SHOULD be pro-Palestine to an extent.

Here are some things to consider.

Israel has a right to exist. They didn't steal the land. You can say Britain did, but it doesn't matter. It's their land now and they have a right to live there, just as Canadians have a right to live in Canada despite the history of the indigenous people. Apply this to basically any other nation.

The October 7th attack happened. It was bad. It was an act of terrorism. They killed innocent civilians on purpose. The civilians didn't deserve to die for living in Israel. You condemn the attacks.

Hamas is a valid military target. They are a terrorist organization who are constantly attacking Israel. They're not freedom fighters. They may use the plight of Palestinians as an excuse, but they cannot be taken in good faith. You condemn Hamas.

Israelis are not Nazis. There are far right people in Israel as there are anywhere. Right now Israel's right wing is exaggerated due the attacks they've experienced. People's rhetoric can get extreme when such a thing happens. It's certainly something you should be concerned about, but comparing them to Nazis is not useful at all.

Generally speaking, Israel has a good track record of taking a lot of care to avoid civilian deaths. They have a strong history of calling areas by phone to warn civilians. They will then drop a knock bomb onto the roof to scare people out before dropping the actual bomb. They do not have a policy of killing Palestinian civilians.

The reason why Israel has the reputation they do for killing civilians is threefold. 1) Palestine is densely populated which creates huge complications in war. 2) Individual IDF soldiers or groups sometimes commit attrocities, on purpose or by accident. 3) Hamas has one of the most devious PR strategies the world has ever seen.

Hamas uses human shields. And I'm tempted to say they use them more effectively than anyone has in the history of the world. They operate in or under civilian infrastructure... seemingly exclusively. They make damn sure that, if you want to bomb them, you are taking civilians with them.

Combine that with the fact there's basically no way to identify a member of Hamas from a civilian and Hamas can generate an insane civilian death toll. Why? Because they can sell it to us. The western liberal is horrified by civilian deaths. Especially if the skin color of the victims is darker than the people doing the killing. It's the perfect plot for a terrorist group to pretend they have noble intentions of freedom fighting and whatnot.

So is being pro-Palestine just utterly foolish? Absolutely not. Palestinians are in an utterly horrible position in this world and you'd be absolutely insane not to care about that. They absolutely should have their own nation with their own government. They should have the opportunity to live in peace. They should have the opportunity to live in freedom. It's almost self-evident.

Of course Israel is too expansionist. The settlements are a disgrace. The IDF's reputation is not totally unearned and neither is their government's reputation. There is the stench of far right rot in both their military and their government. Netanyahu is absolutely a religious zealot.

All I'm saying is you can't look at this as a totally one-sided thing. Most of the people posting pro-Palestine stuff are being misleading at best and spreading flat out lies more often than not. This is not a valid strategy to enact change. And, frankly, you deserve better for yourself.

You do not need to lie about Israel to be pro-Palestine.

[rainydayscore]

i saw someone say "congratulations america" about the death of henry kissinger

not any of the countries he bombed or commited attrocities in, america, the country that carried out and benefited from those attrocities

americans quite frankly are incapable of concieving of people from other countries as being human or mattering, war is simply something that happens to other places and is no more real than the fictional middle eastern country that serves as the villain in a video game

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

After taking some time to consider the insane reactions some Zutara fans have been having about the Roku book, I've changed my mind. It's not just that zutarians like Zuko (or at least the idea of him) and treat Katara as the exotic trophy-wife he deserves for redeeming himself - they're Fire Nation dickriders that want to use the ship to go "See? The Fire Nation was right all along!"

That's why they act like Aang, the scared 12-year-old, is to blame for the war, instead of Sozin, the guy that chose to start that shit.

That's why they're obsessed with acting like Katara's tribe is as sexist as the North, then pretend the Fire Nation is a feminist utopia. Why they act like it being the more industrialized nation means it isn't "stuck in the past" like her tribe and thus Katara would admire it, meanwhile that insdustrilization is literally being used to kill the whole world, AND even harming the Fire Nation itselt - something Katara felt so strongly about, she went full eco-terrorism mode.

That's why they want to crucify Aang for completely misreading the moment on Ember Island and kissing Katara, but say nothing about Iroh very deliberately taking advantage of the fact that June was paralyzed to cuddle up with her because he KNEW he'd get slapped otherwise. Why they call Katara "a broodmare for airbenders" for having three children with Aang, yet are constantly writing about her being Zuko's Fire Lady (often in AUs in which she starts off as his actual slave), having his children, and potentially obsessing over the quality of Zuko's genes and how their interracial marriage will potentially fix any "bad genes that skipped his generation".

That's why they're "mad" that the new Roku book "romanticizes the air-nomads too much" and "doesn't call them out on their intolerance" (because saying people shouldn't murder each other is the same a genocide somehow) yet treat Legacy of the Fire Nation as a great book even though it made Katara say Iroh, the guy that was helping Zuko torment her and her friends for months and that was a war general helping his father commit GENOCIDE, "was always doing the right thing, no matter which side he was on."

Hell, a ton of them believe that "Good Grandpa Azulon" bullshit. They think the guy that ordered Zuko's death, by the hands of his own father no less, was a loving grandpa that adored his grandson - after all, he favored Iroh over Ozai! Clearly that's a wise, kind man! Please ignore the fact that most of the attrocities of the war, including the raid that killed Kya, happened while he was in power.

They really are just so fucking desperate to go "The villains were secretly right! The Fire Nation IS superior, there were just some bad apples that needed to be dealt with! That's why Katara would fall for Zuko once she stopped seeing them as this 'elusive' threat that is totally not super real and specific!" that at any second now they're probably gonna complain about all the "everything changed with the Fire Nation attacked" memes or start making theories that the air-nomads totally DID have an army, Aang just thinks they were innocent pacifists that were randomly ambushed because HE was fed propaganda.

[hello-nichya-here]

Man, nothing makes me double-down on my support for palestine quite like seeing zionist say EVERY VILE THING a group of people that support genocide would say about a group they want to systematically kill, and then go "See? Palestine is horrible and therefore what we're doing is not just okay, we're the GOOD guys!"

Even worst when they go "Oh, why are people making excuses for Hamas" when literally no one did - that's why zionists keep using october 7 the same way americans use 9/11, "Bad shit happened to me and that apparently means I can do something just as awful or even worse, and if you say that's absurd you're just trying to get away with saying I deserved it."

Nah, dude, that's a whole other sentence. Hamas is vile and proved it's fully willing to commit every kind attrocity with zero justification, and so is Israel. If you don't wanna be told you're as bad as them, stop deliberately trying to outmatch their cruelty.

[madwomansapologist]

notes on The Illuminating Storms

"We remember the good times and the bad ones, forgetting that most times are neither good nor bad. They just are." - Kaladin, chapter 21.

I need to explain something that really bothers me about Dalinar. He's wrong. Even if he's right, he's wrong.

I agree that fighting this war won't led them anywhere. That going after gems while ignoring what's happening on their nation is not very inteligent. I also don't think Elhokar is... smart.

Still, Dalinar is on the wrong for being so openly about how he would rather not fight this war. This is a stupid thing to say and to do. His brother was killed. It doesn't matter if he feels the lack of Gavilar: in what world one of the leaders could act as if this war wasn't the most important thing to ever happen and not be on the wrong?

I think he's right. Since I haven't finished the book I can't say anything about if his methods worked or anything like that, but as a politian Dalinar was the absolute worst. You can't not listen to your family that has the same goals as you but listen to your enemies who wants to make you look worse than you're and expect things to work the way you want to.

He's Ned Stark. Good, but stupid. You need to understand when to voice your believes, or else you might ended up telling the queen that you know her children are bastarts.

Again, I think Dalinar is right. But you don't build a reputation about being a fucking monster on the battlefield just to wonder about morallity during the war to avenge your brother.

All that being said, i love Dalinar. I think he committed attrocities, I'm pretty sure he killed his wife, and I expect him to fuck his dead brother's wife.

His whole "don't make your soldiers do what you wouldn't" is fucking basic human decency, but everyone on camp disagrees. Is like telling your parents that if they have covid they need to quarantine just to see you ENTIRE family laughing at you.

It's not a pacifist doing that. This is a man known for being good at killing. And even he thinks that using those bridges is too much. Of course we all think this is a horrible thing, but to have him react this way about it makes it even clearer how dehumanizing this is.

The way he wants to protect Elhokar makes me want to cry a little. That feeling of being responsible not because Elhokar is his nephew, but because he is his brother's son (yes, there's a difference), makes me so sad. As the eldest daughter, everything about siblings hits harder.

I hate Elhokar.

His horse is smater than him.

If your uncle says he isn't sure if fighting is the best thing, you don't tell every other leader around you.

When your uncle asks you for a rise, you don't ask his ex-best friend what he thinks about it.

I want Dalinar to fuck Navani just so Elhokar will get hit -999 psychic points.

Wit I love you. I know he's important for the Cosmere, if I'm right his name is Hoid, but eitherway he's so amazing. Even with me not knowing who exactly he's, that man is iconic.

The way he hates Sadeas... iconic.

The way he likes Renarin... iconic.

The way he talks to Navani... iconic.

@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.

[alpaca-clouds]

Great Men Theory - And Why It Sucks

When I already rant on my Sundays about historical misconceptions and how history is taught wrong, I cannot help but also talk about the entire Great Men Theory and how much it has influenced how we teach history to... basically everyone. This entire fucking theory goes back to a dude called Thomas Carlyle, who wrote in one of his books:

Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here. They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modellers, patterns, and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of men contrived to do or to attain; all things that we see standing accomplished in the world are properly the outer material result, the practical realisation and embodiment, of Thoughts that dwelt in the Great Men sent into the world: the soul of the whole world's history, it may justly be considered, were the history of these.

And sadly... This way of talking about history is nice and convinient, no matter how factually wrong it is. Because instead of having to explore historical society and what made people back then "tick", you can can do: "And then this one dude did this. And this other big dude did that." And done.

Before I knew about this theory, I already encountered it. In the way many German kids will encounter it. Nazi Germany. Because while we have this big thing going about "rememberance culture" and what not... Yeah, we mostly talk about Nazi Germany, as if Hitler and some of his dude friends, like Himmler and Göbbels, did stuff and nobody else could've done something about it. And we will talk about the few folks who tried to do something about it. This leaves many under the impression that actually Hitler and his fellow friends were subjucating the German populus, who were unable to do a thing about the Holocaust or the war. And that... Just is not how it played out in reality. Most people in Germany at the time supported Hitler, knew about the Holocaust and were A-Okay with it.

And this is something that happens again and again in the way we talk about history. We talk about the big dudes and whatever they did or didn't do. Either as heroes or as villains. But we leave out all the people who were there to either enforce their policies, suffer from it, or rise up against it.

This creates a version of history, in which 99,99999% of all people were basically just "NPCs" in a game played by the few. Which not only does wrong by this majority of people, who might as well have had a hand in some of the things happening, but it also is used as a constant propaganda tool. Be it to ignore, how many attrocities have been supported and partaken in by a lot of people, so folks today do not need to deal with that fallout. Or be it to ignore the man, who have fought for a better outcome - often to either make protest seem senseless, or to make those few great man seem more heroic. (See also: Basically any anti-colonialist movement that got erased from history.)

I am not even denying that those in power had a bigger influence on history than anyone else. But not because they were born with some traits that made it so, but for the most part, because they were born into power through their bloodline, or at least into riches.

And it does not mean that nobody else had an influence, even if we like to forget the "everyone else" usually.

[earthyleo]

you can see the level of interpretation illiteracy of targ stans when they use Fire and Blood quotes to say that Targaryen rule was good for Westeros and that Aegon's conquest wasn't that bad, when actually Fire and Blood is meant to be an unreliable source of information, it was written by a biased maester during the reign of Aerys II, also known as the Mad King, the guy who would kill anyone who would speak even the slightest insult or critics to his dynasty. There is no way that book portrays history as it REALLY happened, every insignificant good thing the Targaryens did for Westeros was written to be the most grandiose event ever and all the attrocities and mass murders they commited was downplayed and hidden from the records. And we can imagine how awful Targaryen rule really was when even a book written with the purpose to portray them in the best way possible still can't ignore all the wars and crimes they did.

[nando161mando]

As the half Israelie I'm not just ashamed, but also feel responsible for the attrocities Israel does to Palestinians. And not just the current situation, but since the start of Nakba in 1948. This is beyond massacre, it's another catastrophe that Palestinians experiences. And yeah, I'm also shameful that Israelies would block the track and litterly cheering on the innocent death of people.

I do also boycott products that support Israel and I even start educating myself about Palestine. Plus I also watch news and I share/talk with a few online friends about it. So as a half Israelie I do support Palestine and once I'm able to afford to live somewhere else, I plan to get out of from Israhell.

I understand even the working class (slavery class) is oppressed majorly under the israel nazi fascist zionist dictatorship/regime, which 99.9% of humans on earth are oppressed by fascist nazi capitalist control systems, and not all israelis are to blame for whats happening in Palestine as many of us understand the Israhell government would assassinate people in israel trying to stand in support of Palestine. Solidarity and keep fighting, fascists have no right to exist on earth. Peace 🚩🏴

[cladestruction]

ok but do you guys think the curse of dethklok is like... what? something that's been there during the boys' entire lives? like, ever since they were young? or is it something they started experiencing once they Became dethklok? is the curse the prophecy?? what exactly was the prophecy??? help????

also (and i'm sorry if i'm asking questions that aotd already answered): do you guys think dethklok have powers themselves? or is it not theirs and instead it's just something that the Doomstar lends them and thus only happens on specific times? (example: when they kill the metal masked assassin and when they banish salacia)

me personally i love the idea of dethklok being pretty much Destined to be together, therefore they all have little attrocities happen to them throughout their lives but then it just makes sense when they become a band and realize that the other guys Also were surrounded by tragedy. like "oh, maybe i wasn't cursed bc these guys also have had horrible shit happen to them!" kinda thing. but that's just me.

and yeah i also gotta admit that i personally love the idea of dethklok having powers themselves and not as something lend by the doomstar. idk, i really enjoy the premise of a bunch of stupid, messed up men having godlike power and: having no idea of what to do with them. better yet, not even being Aware of them. like Murderface miraculosly surviving a horrible accident during religionklok, Pickles being straight up inmune to substances that would pretty much kill anyone else, etc. it's cute that in aotd's ending dethklok and the fans all share the power but i still rather think that it is the band that is special. the band is its own deity.dand they all together are a god or something at least close to one.

[phanboyo]

Okay I'm gonna rant a bit about the "Anti-Ecto Acts" trope for a minute so feel free to scroll past if you aren't interested but

It just feels so unnecessary in almost every fic it's used in. Like, okay, there's definitely some fun angst in Danny's existence being made illegal but people either take it too far or not far enough.

Okay, so when people find out that he is legally considered nonsentient and property of the US government for experimentation, they don't really do anything about that but get mad on Danny’s behalf. The only people who would hear about it and even think about turning him in are literal supervillains, why is Danny so worried about it, as if most humans go out of their way to obey obscure laws that require action. It's hard to find a person unwilling to jaywalk, let alone someone who cares about the law (and doesn't care about human rights) enough to actually figure out how to contact some hyper-specialized branch of the government.

It makes way more sense for it to be just a passing comment when talking about how obnoxious the GIW is. Like "oh yeah and they passed a law that makes my existence illegal, as if that would make them any less incompetent at ghost hunting haha."

And then when the Acts actually become a problem? Just let any random character know and suddenly its been repealed and the GIW is under investigation and the bad people are in prison and everyone lives happily ever after as they work through their trauma together <3 You know what would actually happen? A few puppets would be arrested to make it look like the courts are actually taking action, effectively nothing would change, except the public would incorrectly think that they saved the poor mistreated ghosts from the bad guys. If he were in their facility, Danny would disappear to a new facility with even less of a trace than before, and if he weren't, he would still be on the run and the GIW would be after him all the same, just as willing to hurt and kill people to get to him as when they were "government sanctioned."

My biggest issue with the Anti-Ecto Acts? Why on Earth would the GIW even pass them? You think the US government isn't ready and willing to break the law and commit unthinkable human rights violations at the drop of a hat? Even if they "snuck it in another bill" (which. What.) Drawing any attention to their organization or even the existence of "ectoplasmic entities" is incredibly counterproductive for their goals. That's why they're called the Guys in White. They don't give out their organization name because it's so secretive that it's even questionable whether they actually have any authority at all (and that's a point that I wish people explored more often, the possibility that the GIW isn't even part of the government at all), or if it's all just empty threats. If people go on thinking that ghosts aren't real, that's all the better for them. Can't commit moral attrocities on creatures that don't exist.

I could go into it more, especially when it's used in crossovers like DC or Marvel where there are existing enhanced/metahuman rights politics but really, the Anti-Ecto Acts being used as an actual plot device almost never makes any sense.

[canonically47]

I'd love to hear you rank all the All Stars from fave to least fave (and why)

i'll do least fave to fave since theres more to hate in this season, but here we go:

18. yul. idc how bad tom and jake get, riya can annoy me all she wants, alec could commit a crime and drastically drop down in my rankings, AND YUL WOULD STILL BE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY DC LIST!!!!!!

i just... despise him. he has brought nothing of substance in any of his seasons and hes just homophobic, fatphobic and racist constantly. the only thing that annoys me more than yul are his fans defending him because hes FiCtIoNaL and because its fUnNy. bunch of idiots

17. jake. i dont like jake. fuck jake. he and tom used to be so high up in my list but oh how the mighty have fallen, i can barely remember a time when i was genuinely excited for their arc, now whenever i see them on screen i just beg for their scene to end as quickly as possible

16. tom. only higher than jake because he has a fun character arc in s1 and i love his design so much it redeems him a smidge in my head

15. hunter. so forgettable. idgaf about that emo white boy

14. ally. same as hunter but more annoying. ill give her a pass and place her higher because she was actually fun in s1. now shes just a whiny bitch whose gone from wah wah hunter doesnt listen to me to wah wah jake sucks

13. ashley. even more forgettable but at least shes bearable

12. tess. wait who? oh the prettier and more chill ally?? WAIT SHES IN THE SEASON???? oh wait shes gone? oh no!! anyways

11. lake. s2 is altogether very forgettable and i remember not giving a fuck about anything that had to do with her character arc. i wish we either got rosa maria back, or she got an actual arc in DCAS, but hey tomjake need to make up sooo... yeah.

10. riya. higher than lake because shes not forgettable but i still dislike her. her voice annoys me, her strategies are jus petty drama. her character design is awesome tho and i like her friendship with alec.

9. miriam. oh how the mighty have fallen. they had her here for four episodes yet they still managed to massacre her character in that time, incredible. ranked so high because her s1 self was awesome and my fav alongside alec and... tom <//3

8. connor. the fact that he is so high up should tell you a lot about the attrocity that is this season. not that i ever hated him, i just dgaf about him. this season did absolutrly nothing to make me root for him and he was useless as always, but when you have riya and yul in the same team as him, suddenly i want him to make finale. connor confuses me because jhst like fiore, he was clearly brought back to reconcile with someone (riya and alec respectively) yet he was barely given relevance or screen time and then they just eliminated him. because TOM AND JAKE GUYS!!! THEYRE STILL HERE!!! anyways yeah connor. wow

7. aiden. i used to have such deep and fun feelings about aiden and now hes just there to be toms friend. you would think getting james out gained him some independence, he would get a fun character arc outside of anyone else, but nope, hes not independent just decided to pull the lamest bitch ever. someone take him out already

6. fiore. so sad to see her so low but she was absolutely useless this season. if she doesnt come back then this show is fucked. her whole character arc built up to a reconciliation with alec yet it... never happened. radio silence. the season is still ongoing but my hopes ended with season 2

5. james. it is laughable that someone from season 2 (the second worst season) who i initially despised both for awful acting and bad morals is in the top 5 of a season he was eliminated first in but hey DCAS is really annoying me. so yeah. james!!! i miss james. do you guys think james could come back and just fucking kill jake. thatd be cool. love you james miss you sm

4. gabby. her villain arc could prove so fun but the fact that tess went all flower power at her elimination and forgave gabby for her actions might make gabby back out of her villainy which I DO NOT CARE FOR!!! I WANT MY EVIL GABBY FUCK YOU!!! anyways fun fact i also dislike gabbys voice actress because she thinks YELLING REALLY FUCKING LOUDLY = excitement so that made me dislike gabby for a long time. so now there are two characters in the top 5 whom i originally disliked. something about two nickels

3. grett. my love, she has done nothing wrong ever, my sweet little creature, my adorable cutsie patootsie, FUCKING DUMP YUL ALREADY OH MY GODDD her. i love her, ive loved her since the very beginning, i always rooted for her, if she doesnt make finale then this is rigged

2. ellie. my wife,,,, the way they treated you is abysmal come heal im my arms take as much time as you need,,, "oh but she bad-mouthed everyone on the show" IDC SO HAVE I GOOD FOR HER!!! GIRL FUCK EVERYONE THATS NOT IN MY TOP 7 IDC I EVEN AGREE WITH WHAT SHE SAID ABOUT MY FAVS!!! yall want more complex female characters but cannot handle ellie,,,, so weird to me that this trainwreck of a show has her in it someone free her

1. alec. is anyone surprised? ive loved alec since the first moment i saw him. he was the first decent, not over the top actor i heard, the best personality, the best arc, the best relationships. if he doesnt make finale then i WILL be upset because he deserves it and always has. that finale was bullshit and they pulled that thing with fiore and alec strictly for shock value. i miss them,, anyways ALEC!!! HE IS THE DISVENTURE CAMPER EVER!!!!!!! NEVER RUINED NEVER MISCHARACTERIZED PLEASE GODS ABOVE STOP GIVING ONC CRACK AND STEER THEM AWAY FROM COMMITING WRONGS AGAINST ALEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

side note: top three can sometimes mix depending on mood but they remain the same three characters just different positions sometimes :3

thanks for the ask this was fun and as you see i am so normal